#I'm sure there are other nitpicks for this episode

[tossawary]

The longer I sit on and look back at it, the more I unfortunately dislike "Star Trek: Discovery", especially the episode featuring the Kelpian homeworld. It's been bugging me. Sure, I'm maybe too soft on older ST shows comparatively, which are Trying, but also usually Should Have Known Better even back then; but ST:D happened at a point where the writers DEFINITELY Should Have Known Better, so I'm petty. Like, you have decades of people criticizing "Star Trek" for various reasons, so act like it.

So, spoilers for the Kelpian homeworld episode, because I am going to explain and then complain about it as best that I can remember it. Warning for discussion of character death, suicide, genocide, and non-consensual medical procedures. Long post.

One of the characters on the "Discovery" ship is a Kelpian named Saru, a refugee who escaped an oppressive homeworld and was permitted to join Starfleet. This homeworld is somewhat unique in that it has two sapient species: a prey species, the Kelpians, and a technologically advanced predator species that subjugates them in the name of a "necessary" balance. (I do not recall the name of the second species.)

At some later point in their life, all Kelpians experience something that I'll call Death Puberty. (It has a canonical name, I just don't remember it and this gets the point across to anyone without context.) Saru is not Human, but he is at a stage in his life that is equivalent to Human adulthood. When we first meet him, Saru has yet to undergo Death Puberty, which he believes will cause him to lose his mind and become a danger to everyone around him.

In his society, Death Puberty is when all Kelpians are required to present themselves to the ruling predator species so that they can be killed. It's the Great Balance.

Before we go to the Kelpian homeworld, there's an episode in which the ship encounters a sapient star. The star being emits some sort of signal that causes Saru to enter a premature / induced / unnatural Death Puberty. Saru is so completely convinced that he will go insane after this process that he tries to kill himself for everyone's safety. He persuades another character to kill him; and it's only the process abruptly being completed, apparently without ill effects, at the last possible minute that prevents Saru and his friend from going through with this.

Saru almost immediately concludes that his homeworld's narrative surrounded Death Puberty and the Great Balance is a lie. On one hand, this assumption makes sense, Saru is the one who actually had to experience this lie and surviving Death Puberty sane may have felt like everything clicking into place. Death Puberty also had the side effect of making Saru stronger, more assertive, and less afraid. I don't think it's unreasonable for Saru to feel angry and suspicious, nor was it necessarily unreasonable for him to emotionally jump to conclusions here.

On the other hand, I thought this was a little annoying (this is a really petty nitpick, I know), because Saru is supposedly a scientist. His Death Puberty, which neither he nor Starfleet have had the opportunity to study before, was unnaturally induced prematurely through an encounter with a sapient star, so his experience is presumably unique among his species. "What if my society is built on a horrible lie?" is a good question. I just wish that another character had brought up the uniqueness of the situation to Saru as a consideration, given that the future of a species may be on the line going forward.

So, in a later episode, the ship goes to the Kelpian homeworld to investigate.

Saru does quickly confirm that his society is built on a horrible lie. It turns out that the Kelpians were actually the predator species all along? Death Puberty does not cause insanity and is actually the process by which Kelpians enter their final, deadly form. The other species, which is actually a prey species of the Kelpian predator species, somehow became technologically advanced and created this "Kelpians are the prey species and must adhere to the Great Balance" oppressive setup. Final form Kelpians scare the shit out of them.

(The supposed logistics of evolution here are more than a little silly, but whatever. It's ST. Let's go with it.)

Plot happens and Saru and other characters end up in danger. The other species is more than willing to kill Saru to bury the truth and preserve their deadly lie.

I can't remember the exact order of events here, but somehow, the crew of the "Discovery" decide that the only way to save Saru's life and to forcibly push the truth through is to induce Death Puberty for the entire planet of Kelpians. Which they can somehow feasibly do using the signal they recorded from the star.

Supposedly, this planetwide forced Death Puberty for the Kelpians will scare the other species into backing down or some shit. After all, the other species can't just suddenly cull the entire planet, right?

This is one of those cases where I want to sit ST writers down and ask them: "Hi, what do you think that the in-universe Prime Directive actually means and why it might exist?" I don't know about you, but I think that the Federation probably has rules and regulations against subjecting an entire planet to a medical procedure that they did not consent to? I think that if you violate the bodily autonomy of a single person in that way, Starfleet should haul that captain up in front of a panel and say, "What the fuck??? What the fuck is wrong with you???"

Their solution is to VIOLATE THE BODILY AUTONOMY OF AN ENTIRE PLANET using an UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE that NOT A SINGLE MEMBER OF THAT SPECIES CONSENTS TO. (Not that a single Kelpian can consent to this on behalf of the entire fucking planet, but you get my point, right?) Ethical fucking nightmare.

This is also one of those situations where I have to put my head into my hands, because FUCK, the science fiction genre is never beating those "you guys sure love a White Savior (derogatory)" (and ST is never beating the "the Federation is just USAmerica in space (derogatory)") allegations at this rate. The "more advanced" and "more enlightened" Federation swooping in and getting to make decisions on behalf of these "less advanced" and "brainwashed" new worlds is essentially what "Deep Space Nine" was criticizing back in the 90s.

This random fucking crew is deciding what happens to these people's BODIES!!! I don't even think there's a doctor on the bridge when this is decided! Not that it would be okay if a doctor signed off on it! You CAN'T just subject people to a medical procedure they can't consent to! And with how often ST tries to say something about eugenics and sapient rights, this action SHOULD BE in-universe explicitly about a hundred different kinds of illegal.

Even if the entire planet of Kelpians sign off on that shit afterwards, it still wouldn't be okay. Everyone involved in making this decision and making it happen should be, at minimum, kicked out of Starfleet, on principle. Someone should be put on trial for this. You don't get to decide what to do with other people's bodies for them.

So, that's a problem. I don't think ST can meaningfully claim to be about seeking a better future if it's going to have a Starfleet ship violate the bodily autonomy of an entire planet without any consequences. But this action just flies casually by as though it's not one of the most hideous things that I've seen anyone do in a ST show.

But, you know, setting aside the violation of the bodily autonomy of an entire planet thing... Let's pretend for a second that this truly is the only option and that the captain of the ship is willing to accept the severe consequences for it... (And there's no opportunity for any other crewmembers to say, "Wait, this is wrong. You can't change people's bodies like this. I can't condone this. And, in fact, am morally obligated to stop you from doing this illegal thing.")

This is still an untested procedure. They don't even know if it will work when they do it. They're forcing a medical procedure on an entire planet and they don't even know whether or not it will work.

They're supposedly using a signal emitted by the sapient star, a remarkably unique being in many ways. There's no guarantee that this one ship will be able to perfectly replicate EVERYTHING that a sapient dying star did to induce Death Puberty in Saru, on a planetwide scale. Death Puberty has not been studied by Starfleet in more than a single individual, who had many unique experiences that his fellow Kelpians cannot have had, so it is not by any means well understood. If they fuck this up in any way, they could kill the entire planet.

Death Puberty is a natural process for Kelpians, occurring later in their lives. There is ZERO discussion of any potential health problems from inducing this change early in Kelpians. This could cause life-long, life-ruining health problems for even adult-equivalent Kelpians, and there is absolutely no mention of infants, of children, of juveniles. For all anyone on this ship knows, trying to induce Death Puberty in every single Kelpian on the planet could cause the agonizing death of every Kelpian child not ready for that process. They don't KNOW. They currently CAN'T know, because they haven't TESTED that.

But, okay, let's pretend that every single Kelpian survives induced Death Puberty with no health problems. The signal miraculously didn't affect child Kelpians at all. It was totally fine.

Remaining Problem: every single Kelpian has been raised to believe that Death Puberty will cause them to go insane and become dangerous.

Saru's initial reaction to going through Death Puberty was to kill himself. He persuaded his own friend to cut his throat before it could finish. His situation was one of unnatural inducement, but he didn't even have them lock him up in a cell to be sure of its ending first; he was CERTAIN.

Upon returning home, before everything goes to shit, Saru learns that his father naturally underwent Death Puberty while he was gone. As is tradition, before the process was complete, Saru's father surrendered himself to the other species and was killed. Kelpians are raised to believe their early deaths are necessary.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the majority of the Kelpian population would panic during planetwide Death Puberty. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a significant fraction of the Kelpian population, none of whom know what the fuck is happening, might try to commit suicide or murder-suicide. Even when the process completes quickly and they still feel sane, they might think, "Well, it probably takes a few minutes for murderous insanity to kick in. I had better kill myself while I still have a clear head, as per our planet's accepted spiritual tradition and for the safety of my loved ones."

Parent Kelpians trying to protect their children? Lovers trying to die in each other's arms? Some Kelpians reasoning to themselves: "Well, I'm still sane. But it's my civic duty to off anyone who seems like they're going insane." And the entire planet has just gone through what they understand to be The End Of The World, so everyone is probably panicking and probably seems more than a little insane right now.

Do I think the majority of the planet would turn murderous or suicidal? No. We don't really know enough about the planet to choose hard numbers. But the Kelpians have nevertheless all been raised to believe they need to be culled for the greater good, there was nothing like informed consent happening, and with Saru as our main and only example here, we can be pretty sure that the number of other Kelpians who panicked and died because of that panic is not zero. Personally, I think that the number would be sadly significant.

So, I think that Starfleet is directly responsible for some murders and suicides here. Even if there were no medical issues, which is a big fucking if that I do not believe, you are still up against generations of an oppressive death cult here. If you spring the apocalypse on these poor people, it will be bad. They did not consent to this. They're, according to the worldbuilding here, all going to think that they're dying!!!

And you know what? In this episode, the main characters force Death Puberty on an entire planet, in order to scare the other species into letting the Kelpians be free or something, and it doesn't work. The other species immediately activates the emergency "Explode The Planet" system they had installed, in order to kill all of the final form Kelpians. Inducing Death Puberty just made the other species panic.

So, the captain of the "Discovery" essentially has to threaten the fear-motivated other species into submission, or something. I don't remember how this episode ends exactly. I think that the captain more or less says that destroying the planet with make them the enemies of the Federation and that the Federation is a very scary enemy, scarier than the Kelpians, so it's better to stop this and be the Federation's ally instead. Or something like that.

The other species backs off on destroying the planet and the Kelpians are free, maybe. They all went through Death Puberty and learned they were living a horrible lie, so they have a lot to work out. No mention of health side effects or panicked suicides, but I don't believe that these consequences didn't happen out of an entire planet of potential bad reactions.

And no one on the "Discovery" suffers any serious consequences for forcing an untested medical procedure on an entire planet conditioned to view it as being worse than dying. I know that the other species wasn't really open to friendly dialogue and there was a time crunch of sorts, but I still think "blustering the enemy into backing down by threatening them" should have been attempted maybe a few more times, before the "violate the bodily autonomy of an entire planet with an untested medical procedure that will make them think they're going insane" option. I think maybe that's not okay to do to a single Kelpian, much less an entire planet of Kelpians, even if Saru's life was on the line, actually.

"The ends justify the means" is another thing that past "Star Trek" has repeatedly criticized. It's especially insulting to have the characters do this shit without any of them bringing up any of the potential risks in their stupid, condescending plan. I want to like these characters, but shallow writing like this makes me hate them. It makes all of Starfleet look like hypocrites. They're supposed to be scientists??? No one here has taken an ethics class, apparently.

They really just... forced an entire planet through Death Puberty, potentially killing or hurting any Kelpians who weren't ready for that, probably killing a significant number of Kelpians who didn't know what was happening and panicked, even though they didn't know whether or not it would work and could have killed everyone, and nearly got all the Kelpians killed anyway. This clusterfuck should be both against countless Starfleet regulations and EXTREMELY illegal under Federation law. But we can file this under a "whoopsie daisy!" because the professionals involved panicked and meant well?

Fuck off. Awful episode. They definitely killed a significant number of innocent people here, even if they didn't show those deaths because the writers apparently didn't think about the obvious medical and social risks, and what these characters did to the Kelpians wouldn't be okay even if everyone miraculously lived. Don't mess with other people's bodies???

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

If you could cut out specific episodes/scenes to make our canon square healthier, which would you cut our? Like, if you wanted to convince someone that the canon love square was OK at least, which episodes would you avoid them watching?

I know Derision is an easy one, but I think s5 has a ton of other crap it tried to pull to give us some "tension" on adrienette getting together. The show already HAD reasons for them to struggle! (Waves at the whole reasons lukanette and adrigami broke up?? They could have had them wondering if those issues would mess with this new relationship??)

I haven't enjoyed the canon square since season three, though I think it still could have been salvaged after season four. I'm not sure if there's a way to make the square healthy while including any of season five. It was such a mess and that mess goes beyond the romance, making it so that I wouldn't want anyone to waste their time with canon. There are just better shows to watch so why bother.

However, I'll look through the episode list and list the ones that strike me as having done the most damage to the square in seasons one to four. I'm only including episodes that need major changes to work. Episodes that need minor tweaks aren't on the list (ex: Oblivio is 95% golden, you just need to remove Chat Noir's flirting getting them hit and replace it with standard bad luck which is a really minor change).

Animan - this is the one with Nino crushing on Marinette which was a terrible idea. It's awkward, undermines Alya and Nino's relationship, and makes it feel like Adrien sees no romantic potential with Marinette which is a questionable move in a romance

Gigantitan - this is the one with Marinette and her friends making that awkward rickshaw date plan (Operation Secret Garden). It makes Marinette look a little too pathetic for my tastes. Her failing to ask Adrien out only "works" when it's not a major focus of the episode. Stick to more minor failures like the gift in The Bubbler

Glaciator - while I like this episode in a vacuum, having Adrien confess was a terrible idea because it makes Chat Noir's flirting come across as pushy in later episodes. She said, "no" dude. Let her go. This episode only works if it's close to the characters getting together.

Syren - Chat Noir comes across as selfish and a poor communicator here, issues that are never addressed thereby undermining the square. Either address the issues or don't introduce them!

Troublemaker - this is a nitpick, but letting Adrien see Marinette's wall of Adrien and having it lead to nothing was disappointing. The wall of Adrien is also just a generally questionable addition as it makes Marinette's crush feel more like a celebrity crush by undermining Adrien and Marinette's friendship. You don't have a wall of Adrien if there's a chance that Adrien will come to your house.

Frozer - Chat Noir is a jerk here showing off why Glaciator was a bad call. Ladybug doesn't owe you a relationship, dude. She said no. Stop pushing.

Animaestro - Marinette is a jerk here. Adrien is allowed to date other girls. He's not even on a romantic date! He's just Kagami's escort for a movie premier. Sabotaging Kagami makes it feel like Marinette isn't ready to be with a celebrity because Adrien will likely be seen with other famous ladies.

Cat Blanc - don't let the male romantic lead knowingly kill the female romantic lead if you want them to feel meant to be

Mr. Pigeon 72 - same issue as Gigantitan. Marinette's crush is just taken a little too far for comfort if this is supposed to be a romance for the ages

Glaciator 2 - while I like the later half of this episode, the opening is painful. Ladybug hating the idea of being with Chat Noir is not a good look this late in the game if this is your end game couple. Chat Noir's pushiness is equally uncomfortable. Ladybug's disinterest needs to be played way softer, especially since this isn't that long before the crushes flip.

Ephemeral - Ladybug's plan is horrible and makes her look terrible. Plus we're rehashing the Cat Blanc issue: don't let the male romantic lead be unable to resist betraying the female romantic lead if you want them to feel meant to be

Kuro Neko - no one looks good here. Terrible addition to the show. Completely unsalvageable. Burn it with fire.

As for season five, I think the only episodes I'd keep are Evolution and maybe Kwami's Choice. That second one is terrible in a lot of ways, but the Adrienette bits are genuinely cute.

Reading through the episode list made me really appreciate something I've said before: for the first four seasons, it really was just a handful of episodes that killed these characters. While there are consistent issues, most of them are minor ones that really only pop because the bad episodes are so bad, making you judge the minor issues harsher than you would if the bad episodes went away. Many of the ones I picked could still work if you let the characters actually learn lessons and improve.

Reminder, this isn't meant to be an ultimate list or anything. It was just me reading through the list and noting any one that made my brain go, "oof, yeah, that one was dumb."

[nabi-unveiled]

Help! I'm beginning to overthink.

You see...I watched ep 3 of Secret Relationships when it was about 3-4 in the morning. I was also balancing tasks and watching it in spurts during wait times. I'd be lying if I said my brain was firing at all cylinders. At that point, it seemed like everything Sung-hyun was doing was squeeworthy.

BUT....I've now slept. I've now had all day to think about it between work tasks. I've now pondered the whole time I made scrambled eggs for supper (which I did NOT burn 🎉) .

And I now wonder if Sung-hyun isn't just a different type of manipulative. Obviously not the same type/level as the other two. But I'm no longer sure this is all green flags.

Because this sentiment is nice.

But it's a lie. Because Sung-hyun DOES want something in return. He may not EXPECT it, but he WANTS it.

He even tells us that he wouldn't be doing it for anyone else.

And while Da-on desperately needed someone to step in and he needed someone to take the phone away, is he really in the right frame of mind for building a new relationship? The answer is no. The boy is barely able to sleep at night.

And Sung-hyun KNOWS that he's dealing with a lot. He's seen his dad. He took him to the hospital. He's seen Da-on tremble over Su-hyeon's mere presence. If I want to nitpick, it's actually Da-on's vulnerability and difficult situation that seems to have attracted him in the first place. Does he like Da-on? Or does he like being the knight in shining armor? Because Da-on is pretty (very), but I'm struggling to see why all of these men are down so bad for him.

All signs point to Sung-hyun being a good boy. After all, he helps his grandma. He has the happy music and the light. He's taking care of Da-on. Da-on can sleep around him. But I'm hesitant to call this "good".

Sung-hyun's still excited that he managed to get Da-on into his own home to sleep and wear his clothes, and we know he isn't waiting to shoot his shot. What seemed "smooth" last night, now feels manipulative given that he KNOWS Da-on is in a very fragile place. This isn't only about caring for Da-on. It's maneuvering.

So help! I'm becoming super conflicted. Is this squeeworthy? Or is this bulldozing? Is this care? Or a different type of control?

Maybe watching episode 4 will help. Alas, I won't have time until later tonight. Avoiding the tags for now.

[ann-atar]

After the season 2 finale episode I've been thinking about how skillfully TROP 1) shows how things fell apart in Eregion,* and 2) so accurately depicts codependence and the stages of gaslighting and abuse as Sauron tries to control and manipulate Celebrimbor.

*If I had to nitpick I would say that it was hard to tell how much time was passing and the only sure way to see that progress was by checking Elrond's hairstyle, but anyway.

I have quite a few thoughts about both of those things and I'm still trying to get them settled, but I am quite focused on Celebrimbor's relationship with Sauron, and on what motivates Sauron-Annatar, consciously or not, to take the actions he took during his time in Eregion.

I just reblogged this gif post from @cuthalions that shows Celebrimbor working alongside his smiths, and celebrating with Narvi, and I'm sure it's been said before, but I believe we can see one of Sauron's conscious and unconscious motives for manipulating Celebrimbor if we look at those scenes; they show Celebrimbor working happily with others, including dwarves, to create things that are new, powerful, and exceptional. The scene with Celebrimbor and Mirdania when the mithril "disappears" and is only visible in moonlight -- that's beauty for its own sake, there was no utility for it at that point, just Celebrimbor trying something with this new material that was novel and lovely.

And that's what was happening in Eregion after the forging of the Three and just after Sauron arrived, and Sauron could only sit back and witness it. Even after they forged the Seven for the dwarves, that fellowship was still intact. Celebrimbor and the smiths were still following their creative instincts and forging friendships along the way. And Sauron ... couldn't truly participate in either thing. Not the truly creative acts, or the friendships.

Sauron can't belong, or won't let himself, and by the end of the season everyone else pays the price for his jealousy. He's jealous of what they are able to make/create, and he's jealous of their closeness with Celebrimbor so, consciously or not, he steps in to disrupt it, break it down, manipulate and destroy what he cannot have in favor of forcing the creation of artifacts that will deliver a corrupted facsimile of the closeness and fellowship he craves. But domination is not fellowship and abuse can never stand in for love, so he's doomed, not just by Celebrimbor's prophesy but by his own hand, to be a prisoner trapped in the pattern of abuser and abused.

His Annatar persona was a pretty fiction, a depiction of himself he thought Celebrimbor would like, and a shadow of Mairon that he believed might fit with Celebrimbor's worldview and expectations. In a twisted way, Sauron was trying desperately to please him. And I think Sauron was trying to resurrect a version of himself that existed before Melkor broke him, and that's (almost) heartbreaking.

Because rather than live as a shadow of Mairon, with a fraction of the light he had when he awoke, but still enough light to see a way forward and out of the dark, Sauron is still only Sauron, a shadow of Morgoth instead.

[trollhunted]

Oh boy, now that I'm done with the rewatch it's time to air out some of the grievances I have with the writing choices made regarding the antagonists...

Starting off a little more positive – Merlin's portrayal worked fairly well overall as this arrogant manipulative old jerk of a wizard, who may have noble goals but achieves them via not so honorable methods in the name of the greater good.

It was a pretty good bait-and-switch with the way the show had built up this image of the mysterious and benevolent mage, but left enough hints to his true character via little details that quickly turn sour in hindsight once you've actually met him. He's not a villain, but they did make him a decent morally gray character in the few episodes he's around.

However, I think he should've been held more accountable for his actions and behavior, especially when his grand plan doesn't work out because he was too wrapped up in his own head to see the truth.

That leads me to Morgana, the big evil "mastermind" of the show. I have to say, I love how utterly unhinged they made her in the first half of season 3, though she loses some of that by the end of it. I don't really have many complaints about her as a villain, but rather like to nitpick aspects surrounding her character and some missed potential.

Design-wise I find her a little lackluster as someone called "the Eldritch Queen" and while it definitely was a fun idea to contrast Merlin's dark armor with all that gold, I believe they missed the mark a little. They should've gone a step further and contrasted the design even more by giving it a creepy and organic direction. Her "armor" could've been more insectoid and reminiscent of bones or dead wood.

Also, a small thing that always bothers me are the green accents on her, when that was being established as Merlin's color. It does connect them visually in a way, but mostly just feels out of place to me. Now, about that missed potential...

As a queen of shadows, I would've liked if they'd played up her insidious nature a little more. As Claire, instead of immediately trying (and badly failing) to kill the Trollhunter, they should've dragged out the possession a little. She could've used this position to destroy the team from within, test their limits, tear them apart to weaken their will, only to have it all backfire with how much they trust and care for each other. It would've paralleled Angor's approach, because considering his background, he must've picked up these methods from someone, no?

Another writing point that bothers me is her imprisonment. No matter how you look at it, sealing an ancient evil sorceress inside (or even near) the heartstone – a MAJOR source of pure energy – just sounds like an all around bad idea. Wouldn't it make sense for her to feed on that energy? And even if not that, shouldn't you be worried about her corrupting it??

I get that from an animation standpoint it's an extremely convenient way to have everything happening in one place, so you don't actually have to set up so many new assets, but man... it's just kind of stupid lol.

Honestly the way I would've rationalized this whole deal is: instead of having her sealed up in Arcadia Oaks, California of all places (why did they even end up there?) she could've been imprisoned within the previous Trollmarket in europe. Her and Gunmar have tried to bring about the Eternal Night before and almost succeeded, which led to the battle of Killahead, where both were sealed away.

Imagine Gunmar and his forces had taken the old Trollmarket and used its heartstone for that spell, draining it in the process. Although they were stopped and defeated, Trollmarket was destroyed and their rock of sustenance dead, which would prompt the trolls to leave and seek a new home across the globe.

Merlin could've trapped Morgana in the empty heartstone as a way to contain her powers, using the last of his magic. Maybe the reason he was so sure she would be weak and easy to vanquish after her imprisonment is because he had intended to slowly syphon her energy to empower himself and never considered that she would figure out how to reverse the spell to drain him instead.

And to add some flavor to this location, Morgana's presence could've twisted the old Trollmarket into something eery and barely recognizable, giving others reason to avoid this place. It could've served to show the heroes what may become of their beloved Trollmarket if Gunmar wins, given them more incentive to fight for what they have.

That's just an idea though.

Angor Rot was always a big pot of missed potential to me and his return in season 3 just ended up feeling, well, hollow lol. He was introduced as a great antagonist but in my honest opinion kinda fell off the moment they destroyed his soul and just turned him into an angry beast. Besides the overall bad taste it leaves behind, we really didn't need a Bular 2. And it's a little annoying they somewhat continued with that direction even when he was revived and supposedly got his soul back.

I like that they cared enough to dig a little into his conflicting emotions given his history & enslavement, but these moments should've been brought up in the climax of the first season. He should've regained his soul back then and suddenly be forced to reconcile with the atrocities committed in the name of his mistress. His revenge on Strickler should've conflicted with his newly regained conscience...

And, oh man, Strickler is a bit of an annoying case. It's kind of absurd to me that they would choose to give this man an easy "redemption" while tossing around Angor's corpse like that.

Angor Rot literally had his soul and autonomy taken from him and while these actions definitely twisted him throughout the ages, at the end of the day it was never his choice. Strickler was in a somewhat similar situation as a changeling made to serve Gunmar, but the major difference is that he did have a choice. Multiple even.

Even in his predicament, Angor chose to offer the Trollhunter a deal to free both of them of Strickler's control. Whether he actually would've honored that deal is hard to say, but I think even if he'd betrayed Jim's trust, it would've made for a good opportunity to speak of who he used to be and what he's become, and have his first real choice in centuries be to spare them.

Strickler on the other hand is far more vile and self-serving at his core. At first you could argue that it's mostly the (very real) threat of Bular breathing down his neck that pushes him to harm Jim despite his soft spot for the kid. But when both Bular and Gunmar are out of the picture, instead of using this freedom constructively, he doubles down on killing the Trollhunter while finding every opportunity to get under his skin.

This man literally chooses to continue beefing with a teenager and don't get me wrong, I love it. Comedy aside, it is genuinely a fun exploration of his character and what makes him work as a complex personal antagonist. But the fun quickly stops when they try to rush him into a lackluster "redemption arc" to get him on the main team.

I'm aware that tons of people love the stricklake pairing and "lady x monster man" is very much a del Toro staple, but I really don't think Strickler should've been "redeemed" given everything he did, there should've been FAR more serious repercussions. It would've made more sense to me to put him in a "reluctant, not entirely trustworthy, sort-of-ally" position than suddenly have him be one of the Good Guys because... romance?

Not to mention the quality of their writing and characterization took quite a dip to mend their relationship and make said last minute romance happen. The drama surrounding it was cheesed up to such a degree it felt like they were putting on a play and didn't tell anyone.

Nomura's turnaround makes perfect sense narratively speaking because she was a straight-forward, impersonal antagonist, who only began to sympathize with the enemy when they were forced into the same position and she had nothing left to lose. She probably gave Jim a few nightmares, but the Lakes don't have anywhere near the number of reasons to hate her as they should with Strickler.

Oh and on the topic of changelings, let's get to the Janus Order. In my honest opinion, I think the Order was an overall waste. What made the changelings fun to me was precisely how they jumped between playing human and the cruel brutality of their monstrous nature. They weren't really a blend of these two worlds, but rather just putting on an act.

That's what made examples like Strickler, Nomura, and NotEnrique emotionally toeing the line of what it means to be human so interesting. Because they aren't human, but have learned to love the world they live in. And it's also what would've made Jim's transformation so strange/special, because he actually would've embodied joining those worlds.

The Janus Order both visually and narratively throws a wrench into that for no reason. (And don't get me started on the whole "evil, politically powerful organization secretly controlling the world" deal..........)

The way I could actually see a point to that direction, is if it had been a relatively inconsequential side-plot where the Janus Order is more like a small-scale cult of humans or even low-grade sorcerers worshipping the Pale Lady. It could've been a one or two episode issue that would've mainly served to build up some lore & foreshadowing surrounding Morgana, before she would've made her big entrance in the third season.

Ah... and even Gunmar could've been handled much better in the later seasons. Bular isn't a perfect character, but he serves his purpose as the introductory villain fairly well and for a kids show like that, it's a sensible execution.

Gunmar's character started out very strong – as the presumed endboss, they combined Bular's intimidation factor and Strickler's conniving nature with him and added some class as a millennia old monster warlord. It works fantastically. While that image falls a little here and there, his portrayal in the Darklands still makes sense as someone who seemingly lost all hope and resigned himself to his eternal prison... and even then he displayed a malicious sort of patience by wanting to break Jim's spirit instead of simply killing him.

So for that to quickly turn into an impatient old man, who just barks out threats and orders and blindly follows whatever anyone tells him the moment he's on the surface... it, well, is pretty disappointing. It's understandable for Bular, the younger and less experienced son, to be rash and impatient, but a warlord? That's a position that requires a ton of patience and tactical prowess.

I really wish they would've kept the way he was presented in the first season and give us this big villain who's not only physically scary, but observational and dedicated enough to send Chompsky back with a message saying he'll kill all those Jim holds dear for killing his son and then listing literally everyone the kid knows.

Plus, his origin as some kind of actual monster born from a corrupted heartstone should've been explored! They could've gone into that endless hunger he apparently displays, that would've made him consume countless living creatures and even drain the magic energy out of crystals...

Instead we ended up with Bular 2 again, but even worse somehow, and it just made Gunmar about as threatening as a parked truck.

[hkthatgffan]

Do u have any criticism of the owl house?

Well, I've never made it that big a secret I'm not personally the biggest fan of The Owl House. I mean, back in 2018 when it was greenlit, I was actually more excited for it than I was for Amphibia, but in the end, I came to love Amphibia more so. That's not to say I dislike TOH. Compared to SVTFOE, I love it. But it never really was my cup of tea.

I mean, I never personally to begin with was a big fan of the whole magic, witches and wizard stuff. No prizes therefore for guessing that I never grew up watching Harry Potter as a kid. I mean, I never even finished watching all the HP movies till years after they came out. I just never have been a fan of that kind of stuff (and quite frankly these days with Harry Potter at least, that's probably a bullet fucking dodged so, thank you 8 year old me for being more into planes, Top Gear and Phineas and Ferb instead of anything JK Rowling made).

But seriously, I can love and appreciate TOH for the show it was and all it did. Plus, there's no denying it was a beyond important show for what it did with Lumity and LGBTQ+ rep in Disney cartoons. No matter what else, to have gone from Alex Hirsch being told he couldn't have a lesbian couple in Gravity Falls to Luz and Amity dancing in Grom and becoming girlfriends is a massive achievement and something that no one can ever take away from TOH, Dana Terrace or her crew (though, also credit to SVTFOE for being the first DTVA cartoon for having a same sex couple kiss, Jackie having a girlfriend by the end of S4 and Star even once being implied as bi, as well as Gravity Falls for Wendy who is technically also bi as we now know and Mabel too as it's been theorized)!

That said, looking back, I find some of the episodes to be somewhat forgettable and boring. In fairness, Amphibia had some like that too, but whereas I've found rewatching Amphibia episodes from season 1 for example to be pretty fun, I don't as much see so with TOH. But that's just my personal nitpicks and quite frankly, the overall show is solid...even if season 3 and the ending felt super rushed, though that was more so the fault of the show being cut short than maybe problems the writers didn't address.

And speaking of the cut, the way it was handled is quite possibly, my single greatest piece of critique for The Owl House. In case you don't remember, the very same day the trailer for season 2 was released, Dana and other news sources revealed TOH was greenlit for season 3 and it was a shorter order due to the show being cut short.

Now, I get that Dana announcing it the way she did was partly out of frustration and tbh, I'm sure I'd think the same if it was my show on the chopping block, but the choice to say that so early on before season 2 had even started opened a sorta pandora's box that TOH fandom still suffers from today.

Suddenly the focus was not as much on season 2 and what would happen in it and more on the cut and anger at Disney about it. I mean, we had TOH fans bombarding the comments section of DTVA posts about it, changing their pfp's to be anti DTVA, etc. It was crazy. And I mean, I get it. I was frustrated too when this was revealed. I still am. But I wish they had announced this not before season 2 had begun, but closer to season 3 starting.

It was like all anyone ever talked about after that in relation to TOH was always in the shadow of this. Even as season 2 improved in quality more and more and I too found myself being interested in TOH again after taking a break from it to focus on the end of Amphibia the following year, this was still a huge chunk of the conversation. Hell, in some ways the cut even became a good scapegoat for a lot of shortfalls with season 2, even though S2 probably had already been in production before the cut and many issues or plot holes in it may have been resolved with a full season 3.

What I'm trying to get at basically is that announcing The Owl House was ending before season 2 had even begun, when the fandom was as mainstream and popular as it was, just caused a shift in tone with fans not as much seeming to enjoy, theorize and watch the show and instead be left with the impending knowledge that it was nearing the end.

Comparably, Alex Hirsch did not reveal that Gravity Falls would be ending until November 2015; when there were just 2 episodes left. I go on about this in my video back in February about Alex's Tumblr post but I said basically that compared to TOH, it was a better way of announcing the show was ending.

Announcing Gravity Falls was ending when only 2 episodes were left meant fans had time to accept the end was coming, while also being made clear that there was nothing that could be done to reverse this. And even if fans before hand had assumed GF was nearing the end, they couldn't say so with assurance as Alex had not said anything confirming or denying it. Simply put, GF fans until the very last second, watched the show as if it was ongoing and not nearing a close. There was no worry about how many episodes were left or begging for season 3 to the same extent, given fans didn't know if this was it or more was to come. They just enjoyed the show and not worried. At most, if there was a season 3, it would be a longer wait. I mean, that was the mentality I had with DuckTales season 3 and thinking season 4 may be a longer wait until they finally revealed S3 was the last just a few episodes before the end.

Of course, I'm saying this all from what limited knowledge I got from GF fans who were there and my personal experience with DuckTales and TOH, but comparably, TOH fandom knowing it was ending so early on left them a lot more angry and upset. Now anything that happened in S2 was overshadowed by the impending end. And while much of what I said here is based on what I saw in my experience, it got tiresome real fast to see TOH fans complaining about the show ending and yelling in the comments of DTVA posts about it, as if any executive at DTVA who really could reverse that choice would see that.

Should be clear, I'm not saying I have issues with Dana telling TOH fans the show was ending and being upfront about it or her critique of Disney and how they treated the show. Nor am I saying I dislike that fans were angry about it. Both had every right to be so and I would probably be as upset myself if it was Amphibia instead that got this treatment.

But IMO, it should've been revealed AFTER season 2 ended or just before the season finale. Maybe there was a hope the fan reaction would make Disney change course. Maybe it was just a case of announce and get it over with. I feel personally that TOH fandom would have benefitted from learning season 3 was the last season a lot later than when they found out.

For me, it made the fandom experience less enjoyable and made me not as interested in TOH probably in turn. After my bad experiences in the Star fandom, I had a feeling TOH fandom would have similar issues once the show began to get more popular post Grom. So, I jumped ship off it and chose to be more a fan on the sidelines and enjoy it on my own. And I have no regrets about doing that. I'm a GF fan first and foremost and I ended up having fun being able to work on my GF projects more so without having to commit to another show's fandom and instead enjoy it at my own pace. But I always heard stuff and what I did see was what I've mentioned here.

Maybe you disagree and your TOH fandom experience was better and not as full of this type of stuff. I've heard this was more so a TOH fandom on Twitter and Instagram issue than say, Reddit TOH fandom. But IDK enough to make a firm answer so, I'll just say what I know from my own experience.

Long story short, Alex Hirsch made the right call announcing Gravity Falls was ending 2 episodes before the end instead of just before Scary-Oke even began. I mean, imagine going into GF S2 in 2014 knowing you had just this season and no more after that. Easier as a post finale fan but maybe a shocker if it was back in the day.

Then there's Matt Braly who did the best of both worlds and announced Amphibia would end after season 3 in 2021 too on his Reddit AMA but with fans knowing it always was gonna end that way.

Long story short, of all the criticism I have for TOH, that's probably my main issue that I feel I can at least explain. Anything else is just personal preference I have for Amphibia more so over it.

Still, all this to say, The Owl House deserved better. Fans should've gotten a full final season just like Amphibia got.

Also, I miss Hooty!

[xerith-42]

Some quick, early morning thoughts about Jess' newest video.

Uhhh, I sure did watch it. For those who somehow aren't aware, yesterday a video was uploaded to Aphmau’s channel that celebrated the ten year anniversary of MCD by throwing SMP Aphmau through a series of bastardized versions of MCD Season 1 plot lines mostly for the sake of fanservice for old fans.

And I won't deny I actually quite enjoyed some of this fanservice. The whole bit with Garroth and Aphmau recreating the Garmau episode 81 tree scene did put a smile on my face, I really liked Aphmau with a flamethrower it felt very in character for even MCD Aph, I loved hearing the va's all return, and the fact that Jess used the exact same establishing shot for the Irene Dimension, ostrich on the roof and all. And I did giggle at the Wizard of Oz reference at the end when SMP Aph is talking about all her friends in her dream and kinda narrows her eyes and voice at Zane to say "And you were there." That was funny. Good job, Jess. Also Aphmau causing Laurance more brain damage by dragging him down a set of stairs and hearing the thunk of his head on every step got me giggling like crazy.

But thats kinda where my enjoyment of the video ends. Because then I get into a series of issues I had that range from minor nitpicks to my personal vendetta against the worst episode of MCD flaring up again. And the rest of this post is going to be getting into those.

For one, this is a modern-day Aphmau video, so the pacing is so fast that a breakneck pace doesn't adequately describe it. This video made me so overstimulated to watch all the way through that I spent the next three hours afterward trying to calm myself down like I was a scared horse. I think if I watch another one of these videos, I'll have a heart attack. And this pacing is why I described the plot lines as bastardized, because it takes the surface of MCD plots but then rushes the viewer through them as fast as possible so we can get to the next one.

Next is a very minor issue, and I'll fully admit this is me being pedantic, but when Aphmau finds Laurance in the Nether, he has his post episode 53 design, instead of his episode 26-40 design that he went into the Nether with, probably because Jess wants us to forget his original fuck ass design (but I never will). Again, this is a very minor nitpick that does not matter.

But what does matter is that Laurance got a new VA, and I'm... mixed on my feelings. I don't think he got enough lines for me to make a solid judgment, and when he was speaking, I got this sort of. What's the word, uncanny valley vibe? Like his new VA was sometimes trying to emulate Sebastians' old performance, but also wasn't at other times, and I wish that he'd just stuck to one or the other. I'm sure DJ Hansen is a fine voice actor, but I wish Jess had just let him cook with a new Laurance voice instead of trying to make it sound too much like the Laurance we knew.

And speaking of voice acting-- I could not stop laughing at Jason Bravura's performance as MCD Aaron the entire time. I know he was doing what he did with his voice to differentiate between MCD and SMP Aaron, but it just sounded so bad! It really sounded like he was forcing his voice to be deeper and more aggressive, which is especially not fitting for Season 1 Aaron, who did have a deep and mysterious voice, but it wasn't so... Batman esque. It just sounded like Jason was speaking in a lower tone, not that he was actively growling his way into every line to make it sound more bad ass or whatever.

And the final major thing I want to talk about is just a personal experience watching this video that I thought might be amusing. When Aph first showed up at Malachi's castle I was actually really excited because I could tell they updated the exterior of the location to make it bigger and more dynamic, and Malachi's voice actor was easily giving my favorite performance in the entire video. And, quite foolishly, I had this false hope for what was to come. I knew what episode we were getting into. But given the context the video established of Garroth and Laurance literally barely knowing Aphmau in this series of events, especially Laurance being a Shadow Knight without her presence, I thought that they'd either not arrive at the castle at all, or if they did, there'd be a modified version of the scene because Garroth and Laurance getting violently jealous of a guy they don't know kissing a girl they barely know would somehow be even worse than Episode 65.

Oh how wrong I was. I genuinely wish I had a recording of the cry of anguish I let out when the illusion of Dante and Aphmau kissing showed up, I was utterly in shambles, and I don't think I picked myself back up through the rest of the video. How foolish was I to get my hopes up that Jess might be re-examining her writing choices in this video...

At least Lucinda was hot.

Oh, and one final thing... this video sucked and gets a 0/10 for me because despite being an abridged recap of the "most important plot lines from season 1 of MCD" it somehow failed to have BOTH of my favorite characters (Jeffory and Cadenza).

[cmyk-anaglyph-honeycomb]

Some thoughts on HB S2E12

I'm hoping the plot about millie being pregnant is just an excuse to shove her and moxxie further into the background. I do not want to watch that shit show go down. HB has handled none of the serious topic within the show with any grace.

Seeing millie cry about being pregnant hurt to watch. Not that I care for the character, but that is such a shit situation and again, I'm not looking forward to see how it's handled later on. I really hope this plot thread is drop and never mentioned in season 3.

In contrast, Sally May sliding out of the house to say she was alone was one of the best jokes in the series. Really wish we got more comedy like that.

Also, I don't think the message with the human family was supposed to be it's okay to cheat if you're gay. I see a lot of people on here saying that, I'd I think that mark is off a bit.

The message seems more like 'its okay to cheat if your partner is an asshole'. Which, idk, break up. Anyway, not better, but I think it being about two men is just to bash us over the heads with this could be stolas and blitzo +daughters. (It's funny how blitzo imagines that little scenario, but how often had he and Via even spoken? Not checking, but I'm pretty sure up to this pint it was only is ep two when he was telling her to be quiet so he could complain at stolas. They are nowhere near a family dynamic.)

I know it's a nitpick but cheating on a partner that's sucks anyway as been an excuse for stoliz since the series started and I think this episode is just hammering that in.

Its funny how Via had enough magic to defend stolas and blitzo from ice bird but stolas needed to get help literally every time he was attacked.

Stella is more of a prop than an actual character so I pretty much ignored her during this ep and will continue to. But she does bring up a good point that stolas waited way too long to try and contact Via. At best it's the next day. He was so worried about her when he lost his powers but not once thought to call her?

He says that he can't see her for another 100 years but like, giver a week or so to cool off and try again? Via deserves to cut him off but stolas gives up way too fast for how much he claims to love her. Dude isn't going to try at least one other time, no, that's it? okay

All in all I can't wait for season 3. I love a good trash fire.

Also sinsmas is a dumb name and a christmas ripoff is so uncreative and what do you mean they don't know what christmas is

[im-not-a-virgo-im-a-lesbo]

I know that I'm not particularly known for being critical about fandoms I'm in, but I want to take a post to explain precisely why I'm not getting too deep into any issues I may or may not have with tlous2

Spoilers ahead, obviously

Short version: I am viewing this TV show as an adaptation to my favorite video games, not as new content with writing I've never seen before

Long version:

I do have several issues with the new season

These are the main ones

Abby's physical build in the games is incredibly important to her arc, I find it disappointing that she isn't as built in the adaptation (NO hate to Kaitlyn Dever, she is incredibly talented, and other than that, I'm sure she'll do incredibly)

I'm disappointed that Dina's Jewish heritage wasn't kept, her relationship with religion was particularly interesting to me when I played the second game for the first time, I tried to get every single line of dialogue from her in the synagogue to see what her pov was.

Ellie and Dina's relationship isn't particularly to my liking, but that might just be a me thing

There are others, but we'd be here for years if I listed them all

I am watching this show while keeping in mind that I will always like the games more

I am watching this show while keeping in mind that I am completely happy with the storytelling of the games and that there are bound to be changes that I'm not a fan of

I am watching this show while keeping in mind that if I don't like it, then I can just go back and replay the games.

I am watching this show while keeping in kind that it's an adaptation

Anyway, all this to say

I hail from the Percy Jackson fandom

That was my first ever fandom

Which arguably has one of the worst fucking adaptations ever.

I will take this fairly faithful adaptation of some video games over those godawful movies any day.

So, I won't be nitpicking anything, I'm just here to watch and compare, and then watch arcane when I finish the new episodes

[allisonrw96]

TL;DR: it's not my ship, but they were done dirty

I always always always come back to that weird little reveal that when they were first floating the idea to bring Tommy back, they said it was to do a storyline with Eddie and it got switched to Buck because it was too weird or tricky to have them both break up with their LIs offscreen but only one actress could come back.

Because a stepping stone relationship makes perfect sense for Eddie. Something short and intense with angst and softness for him to get to this moment of letting himself feel joy and to taste how truly good it can be. He didn't need an endgame relationship right now. He did need to have his "first."

Buck didn't need that. Buck is absolutely ready for his forever and he has been for a while and giving him the "inviting Natalia to move in and then catching his own bad habit for once and backing out" would have been great.

But that didn't happen. Instead Eddie had to sit like a hot dog on one of those rolling warmers for a season while Buck started the queer dominos falling (and I admit this is a little bit from a Buddie endgame perspective because it doesn't feel to me like the show was deciding to explore the a character's sexuality just for exploratory purposes and I'm willing to admit I have a blind spot here.)

And honestly I think the fact that Oliver cares so much about Buck and telling this story well both for the character and everyone who sees himself in him and that Lou met that energy turned the storyline and the relationship into a more beautiful beginning than it would have been in the hands of other actors.

Which gave the show it's next problem. Because we can all see that Buck is ready for his forever love and you introduced a new love interest and then instead of sticking to a few episodes of awakening and moving on, I think they saw that people were starving for it and latched onto it and Tommy harder than they expected. So it's an easy thing to do to milk that for a little bit longer, but it was absolutely the wrong choice because people got invested in a way they wouldn't have if this had ended after the original number of episodes we expected.

And Buck and Tommy worked! I think you can nitpick relationship things if you weren't that into it and write a breakup narrative using those seeds, but their puzzle pieces absolutely fit together. So much so that they definitely had forever after potential that everyone could see and a lot of people were excited about and investing in and oops wait that wasn't the plan.

So what do you do? You either abandon the plan and embrace the accidental beauty that you discovered and let it ride or you write your way out of it. Give them some hurdles, some angst. Give them a tear-jerking breakup that respects what you built and the viewers who are invested in it and slowly work your way back to where you wanted to be.

They didn't write their way out of it.

And I so don't want to believe that after the work the actors put in and the viewer feedback that they were still viewing the relationship as a placeholder ready to be yeeted once Eddie's arc got back in position again, but I'm not sure what the alternatives are?

Either it's being talked about that this is the last season and so if they're really doing buddie then it's now or never? Or actually the internet is not a valid reflection of the viewership as a whole and someone from on high said the plug should be pulled?

Or the storyline was stumbled into and fumbled around from the beginning and never treated with as much care by the people in charge of it as it was by the people who loved it.

IDK it's just messy messy storytelling and I say that as someone who is not a multishipper but who does value a good story and a good narrative. They let the relationship go on for too long to end it so abruptly. If there was going to be a breakup, there was a better one to be had and it doesn't make me feel good that my preferred happy ending could come from one that breaks the heart of so many of my friends. And if it isn't in the service of a bigger, already in motion endgame, literally what the fuck?

[oodlyenough]

dw christmas special no. i lost track: joy to the world

I went into this with low expectations because I generally don't really like 1) Christmas specials, 2) Moffat, 3) Moffat Christmas specials. Because of these things I also wasn't really paying attention to promo and was pretty much unspoiled for everything besides "time hotel" and "Nicola Coughlan".

Anyway possibly for that reason, this exceeded my (low) expectations and I mostly had fun, lol. Cynicism pays off

Spoilers:

I think this had a lot of the basic problems I have with most Christmas specials, and it speedran through a lot of the cliches that mark them, but... tbh whatever I guess, I mean, there were some enjoyable bits and at this point it's a Christmas special, right, you know what you're getting.

Time Hotel was a very cool idea and was executed pretty well. Put Disney's money to work

Fifteen abruptly having to spend a year waiting was not an angle I anticipated at all, though perhaps I should've. I think at this point "omg I've NEVER done this EVER before" is just so comically untrue it's an inherent eye roll BUT I'm also at a point with this show where I'm like... it's been over 60 years... of course they've done everything. I'll look the other way. It's fine. The Doctor in mundane scenarios is fun when he's not being an asshole about it and Anita and the Doctor were fun to watch. I also appreciated that they addressed the obvious elephant of "call Ruby ffs" lmao. (Or call the other guy who literally has a TARDIS ... but again, I'll give it to 'em.)

Fifteen's angst about being alone doesn't hit quite right because Ruby didn't leave him, he left Ruby behind. I think you can argue he left Ruby behind because he was trying to get ahead of it -- you can't break up with me I'm breaking up with you! -- but, well, in this era of Doctor Who character stuff comes at you fast and you either roll with it or are miserable I guess. Ncuti is very good and that helps a lot

The general plot of "they want to sell a star so they are using a time hotel and will sacrifice Earth to do it" like. Sure. That's fine lmao whatever it's a DW plot it's serviceable

Joy herself was kind of a letdown ... I def felt more of a connection to Anita than to Joy, unfortunately, and as the Anita montage was wrapping I thought why wasn't the whole ep about this... But I did like the mom-died-alone-during-covid reveal and particularly the jab at the tories. I thought that hit. Fuck em.

It's not a Moffat episode without some generalization about human nature that makes absolutely no sense to me and the "hotel rooms reveal who you are as a person" was way up there lmao. Hotel rooms reveal how much disposable income I have at the time of booking actually.

Moffat's humour is hit or miss with me but it was more hit than miss here, I think. The mansplain bits for example made my eyes roll back into my skull but I liked the plunger joke, the TARDIS toys from the internet, I even thought Joy's boner joke was funny lmao

The ending w the star and Bethlehem and stuff ... pretty naff imo but hey it's a Christmas special. I liked the fakeout of Ruby getting a call and it being from her mom too ... I know they'll reunite next season so I don't mind the tease here.

tl;dr I had fun! I could nitpick a lot of this but what's the point. it's Christmas. is this character growth? hm. tbh I think I enjoyed it more than Boom lmao

[welovemonstergirls]

KittyDragonDraws' Intermission arguments: Debunked

Okay, gonna be real, KittyDragonDraws is really starting to piss me off. Her adamant insistance that the Murder Drones fan project Intermission is bad has been absolutely beaten into the dirt, she's been completely insufferable about it. The problem is not the fact that she doesn't like it. I don't care about that at all. She can make her one video explaining why she doesn't like it, and I can move on and forget all about that, no harm no foul.

But there's the problem: She won't LET me forget. She refuses to just STOP. She clearly has some kind of vendetta against Intermission and its creator, and she wants to try her best to make sure everyone else does too. She's constantly combing over it, looking over every single minute detail in search of things to nitpick and present as a bigger problem than it actually is. And every time, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It gets brought up in a positive light here on Tumblr? You can absolutely gurantee she's GOING to be there. She is GOING to do everything she can to drag it down. She's going to rant about how awful it is because apparently its mere existence is an affront to her personally and the idea that others might like it seems to offend her.

And do you know what the worst part is? Her criticisms are pretty much all WRONG. Like... She's so laughably incorrect it's almost sad. I'm gonna go over the criticisms of hers I've seen and explain why they don't hold any water.

I'm gonna be mainly focusing on her 'A Masterclass in Missing the Point' video, but I will bring up a few things she's said in other videos for my own arguments. ...What an ironic title, considering it's actually a much better description for all of her awful reviews.

First off, her complaining about Uzi being 'goofy' and 'a background character'. ...Uzi IS a very goofy character, her whole character is that she's an edgy tryhard that wants to be taken more seriously than she actually is. She's always gotten enthusiastic about her interests, it makes sense she'd be excited about flying and act a little goofy, that's how she typically behaves when she's excited. As for the voice acting... I mean, it's not like they're getting Elsie on board, she doesn't have the easiest voice in the world to replicate, it's fine for what it is. As for being a background character... Yeah...? That's... kind of how stories work...? This is supposed to take place between episodes 4 and 5, and in shows, sometimes the main character takes a backseat so that the supporting cast can have a moment in the spotlight. This is a V centric episode, something that was sorely needed. Uzi was sort of in the background in episode 7 too, because that was primarily an N-centric episode, it's not even new to the series.

She spends the entirety of her reviews saying V is out of character because she doesn't understand the concept of a midquel. She keeps talking about how it ruined V's character development without realising the fact that it's supposed to be taking place in the MIDDLE of her character development. She's acting like V needs to be acting like she did in episodes 5 through 8 when Intermission is meant to take place after episode 4. V's development is not at all lost in Intermission because Intermission is V MID-DEVELOPMENT. Honestly, at this point I'm surprised she's not complaining about Cyn not being defeated with how much she loves to use episodes that chronologically take place AFTER Intermission as her example. She talks about V not being in character because of the end of Cabin Fever, when... she doesn't look like she's having that much of a change of heart after N calms Uzi down? If anything, she just looks pissed off about it, she doesn't look like she's had any sort of realisation, she looks annoyed and contemplative. Even on the bus, after taking the fall, she has a look on her face like she isn't sure what she's supposed to do. Like... How does it make sense for her to immediately decide she trusts Uzi after that point when afterwards, the only other real interactions they have are either hostile or Uzi isn't conscious for them? You think it's realistic that she would just change on a dime like that? She complains about V trying to convince N to kill Uzi and biting his hand when he refuses. Because it's not like she shot him in the head for not going along with her prom murder or punched him in the shoulder for ratting her out to Uzi for hiding stuff, right? You want other examples of V acting childish, since she thinks that's a problem? The bubble blower? The aforementioned shoulder punch, combined with "You SUCK!"? How about literally whining that he "always takes her side" when he saved her from Uzi? She uses their argument from Cabin Fever as her example of how she's 'canonically' better than that without any regard for the different tones the scenes are going for. N, in that moment, was actually pissed off and snapping at V, which caught her off guard because he'd never done that before. In the Intermission scene, he's acting like his usual loveable goofball self, which makes it easier for V to be her pre-character development self as well.

Whining about V 'calling dibs on Uzi's corpse'? She has a dark sense of humour. It's that simple. She's sure N won't let anything happen to Uzi, she's just making a poor taste joke. This is just nitpicking and scrambling for things to whine about.

Another thing she complains about is V's lack of enthusiasm. ...Why does she need to be enthusiastic about helping Uzi? They aren't friends at this point. Hell, I don't think they ever fully become friends by the time the series wraps up, they never have any big 'friend' moments, when Uzi survives eating Cyn's core, V literally groans and rolls her eyes about it, her not being excited about teaching Uzi how to fly is on brand for her character. KDD whines about how she doesn't respect N or his feelings. This whole point proves her wrong because she is very clearly going along with this whole thing to make N happy. And peer pressuring? Really? KDD thinks one instance of puppy dog eyes followed by her rolling her eyes and going "Fine..." is peer pressuring? N barely had to try, she is once again nitpicking to try and add more krazy glue to her flimsy arguments.

She then starts complaining about Uzi snapping for 'literally no reason'. ...Uzi went crazy when she flew through the school bus. Which was a reminder of the camp. Which is where she murdered all those people and almost killed V. How did you miss that?! It was literally SHOWN via her PTSD induced vision of the corpses she created! 'Literally no reason'... Yeah right...

After that, she says V intimidated N into going along with her plan. At what point, exactly, did she intimidate him? Yes. Her voice was raised a bit because she was urgent. Yes. She sounded a bit aggressive. But do you know what she also did? She explained to him WHY it would work. She told him Uzi was going to be fine afterwards. She made it clear this was to SAVE Uzi. She said 'Come on' in a gentle tone of voice. N wasn't intimidated, he trusted her. And... Didn't bother to explain her thought process? First of all, Uzi was literally in the process of going on a rampage, do you think she had time for an in-depth explanation of how this worked? Second, uh... did you miss the part where she literally did? Yes, it was short and to the point, but 'If she's anything like us like you said, she'll just shut off and reboot' seems like a pretty clear explanation as to WHY she should be blasted to me. N goes along with it because what else is there to do? V made a clear point, the situation needed to be dealt with fast before Uzi killed someone, so he went along with it because it was the only real option they had. Clearly talking her down wasn't going to work this time because Uzi directly attacked HIM.

She calls N wimpy for having a hard time fighting Uzi. N was 'wimpy' because he was trying not to hurt Uzi. Ain't rocket science. He was in a stressful situation and had yet to lock tf in like he did in episode 7.

She says N is out of character because he makes stupid decisions. ...Yeah. N is a scatterbrain. I love the guy, but he isn't smart. He himself has admitted as such when Nori asked if he was stupid. This is the same guy that easily fell for Uzi's obvious lies about being a disassembly drone, eagerly called her over to join him and the campers despite her explicitly signalling him to be quiet, gave the guy that was literally vivisecting him advice on how to do it better, N is a bit of an airhead. His stupid acts of dropping Uzi to see if she would fly is just him not fully thinking things through, and he still saved her regardless, and his other stupid act of going to look for Uzi instead of chasing down V can be explained as him being flustered and panicked because the two people he most cares about are at odds and he's not handling it well.

KDD continuously fails to grasp one very clear, very obvious, very simple concept that anyone with half a brain could understand: V WAS TRYING TO KILL UZI BECAUSE SHE WAS SCARED. HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THIS, KDD?! Uzi has the Solver. She was speaking in Cyn's voice. Cyn and the Solver were the ones torturing and abusing her for YEARS. She is TERRIFIED. She's acting on PRIMAL FEAR. Frankly, just seems like a way for her to lash out against her tormentor on top of already being scared. Oh, and need I remind you... UZI LITERALLY JUST TRIED TO KILL HER FOR THE SECOND TIME?!

She says N had valid arguments against V when Uzi ran off and she was planning to kill her. WHAT 'valid arguments' did N make? Frankly, V's arguments seem more valid to me. They did things N's way, and it didn't work, Uzi snapped and tried to kill both of them. V said that. It was true. Yes, Uzi didn't MEAN to go crazy. But she DID go crazy, and she tried to kill both of them because of it. So what, is she supposed to just continuously give her chances and pray that the next time Uzi snaps, she manages to get lucky every single time it happens? Just sit by idly and live with the fact that she and N have a ticking time bomb right nearby at all times that has the capability to kill them and has actively attempted to do so? Or is the 'valid argument' N saying 'Because she's our friend!'? In what world are you living in where V replying 'She's YOUR friend' is not a valid response? Because like I said. They aren't friends at this point, and they don't fully become friends by the series end, so yes, V's response IS valid, because she got attacked by someone that wasn't her friend and N expects her to be fine with it and just let it slide. So yeah. No valid arguments were made by N. Not a single one. He just had impassioned pleas. Also like how she willfully ignores the emotion in V's voice when she tells N that he's all she has and she isn't willing to risk him getting killed for Uzi's sake, she's not taking pleasure in it, CLEARLY, she doesn't want to hurt N, but she also doesn't want him to... y'know... DIE?

She seems very adamant that N should hate V by the end of the episode. Y'know, KDD, for someone who's been moaning and complaining about the episode not 'getting' the characters, you sure as hell don't get N. At ALL. He doesn't hate V, because he understands she's not wrong. Uzi IS dangerous, she HAS attempted to murder them, she is NOT. WRONG. She isn't RIGHT in how she handles it, but she's not WRONG, and he understands she's scared. He doesn't have any reasons to hate V because she treats him and Uzi better here than she did in any episode up to this point. Up to this point, she has willfully ignored his existence and turned a blind eye while J abused him, told him she hates his personality, shot him in the head, told him he sucks and punched him in the shoulder, gloated about killing someone's parents, and made multiple attempts on Uzi's life, yet he still liked her by the end of it all. Of COURSE he doesn't hate V, he didn't even hate J when they met again in episode 6 despite the abuse she heaped upon him, as evidenced by him laughing fondly and saying "Classic J!" Why would he hate V, despite the fact that everything turned out okay, and he can clear as day see that she and Uzi patched things up and are getting along, when he didn't show any kind of animosity towards his literal abuser? Oh, and KDD thinks that 'what if' scenarios are a good argument, because she then proceeds to say 'For all he knows, he could have arrived to see her pointing a knife at Uzi's throat and he arrived just in time to prevent her untimely death'? ...Well it's a good thing that isn't what he arrived to then, isn't it? Did you even pay the slightest bit of attention? He arrived to see the two of them just casually walking together with no murder attempt being made. So good job, your horrible argument fell facefirst into a dog turd!

Then there's the scene between V and Uzi in the abandoned building where V calms her down from her panic attack. She said it was 'bad' because 'V only cared because she saw her past self, she was being selfish!' ...THAT'S JUST HOW EMPATHY WORKS! She is seriously misinterpreting that whole scene, she wasn't feeling sorry for HERSELF, she was seeing HERSELF in Uzi, which allowed her to realize that the two of them are very much the same. When she saw that image of her past self, it was meant to convey that she now understands Uzi is just a scared young girl struggling to come to terms with what she was forced to do, allowing her to fully empathise with her and realise that yeah, she was wrong and Uzi deserved to be helped, not harmed. She understood that Uzi didn't have a choice and was just a cog in Cyn's machine just like she's been for the last who even knows how many years.

She then proceeds to completely and utterly misunderstand V's entire monologue near the end, saying V was guilt tripping everyone and trying to pain herself as the victim and complaining about being mistreated. ...What are you TALKING about, she was complaining about feeling mistreated?! That isn't even CLOSE to what she was saying! She was saying N is messing around in things he doesn't understand, because HE doesn't have his memories! SHE is the one that's stuck with the knowledge of the Solver and the horrible things it can do! She was ranting about the SOLVER and how powerful it is and how hopeless their situation is! When the hell did she say ANYTHING about feeling mistreated and misunderstood?! EVERYTHING she was pertained to the Solver, how it hurt her, how it slowly deteriorated who she used to be as a person and rendered her an unhinged murderous psychopath, how she feels hopeless to do anything about it! Once again, you fail to understand basic nuance! V IS tragic and sympathetic! She used to be an innocent, shy, gentle little worker drone but she got tortured and ripped apart and forcibly altered into something she's not by an eldritch abomination that forced her and her two closest companions to slaughter the entire human race, it wiped the memories of her best friend and love interest and forced her into a position where she had no choice but to push him away to protect him! A character can be morally twisted while still being tragic and sympathetic, that's where every tragic villain ever made comes from! Guilt tripping? Where's the guilt tripping? She didn't say anything to make them feel bad about something they've done! She literally just vented to them about how hopeless she feels!

And then, she just straight up lies and says V refused to take responsibility for her actions and refused to apologise. Even though... she DID apologise. She very blatantly, in-your-face, DID apologise. Just skip to 17:09 of the video. There. She apologised. So now we know KDD is willing to flat-out lie to support her narrative, lovely.

Where does she even get the idea that V implied N was in the wrong to be upset with her? She did NOT imply N was in the wrong to be upset with her, she implied that he didn't know what he was dealing with, which is CORRECT.

She said V spent the entire episode being confrontational. V did NOT spend the entire episode being confrontational, she literally went along with N's plan to teach Uzi to fly for his sake, she only became confrontational when they were actively in a dangerous situation and then lashed out in fear when they were OUT of said situation. So no. N would NOT see V as a toxic person. V was ALWAYS disrespectful and rude towards him in canon, frankly, she showed more consideration here than she ever had before this point in canon and yet he still liked her. She gives him more reason to like her here than in episodes 1 through 4 simply because she starts being kind to Uzi and helps her out. And he didn't even have to stop her from killing Uzi, she came to the conclusion all on her own and he arrived to find them hanging out, she literally showed development from being a toxic person ffs! And besides, even if she was confrontational all episode, that is very much in character to who she is at this point in the story. Like I said. She doesn't seem to process that this is supposed to be V MID-DEVELOPMENT. Complaining about V not being fully developed in what is supposed to be a singular episode that is chronologically BEFORE the episode her arc concluded is like complaining that Anakin wasn't acting like Darth Vader in the prequel films. WE AREN'T THERE YET. What point does she think she has here?!

She keeps complaining that V's entire arc with N isn't completely wrapped up in this episode and that it just focuses on her issues with Uzi. ...KDD, You do realize this is meant to be seen as just a singular episode, right? Like... an episode that takes place in the middle of the series? You seem to think that it has to cover literally every single base possible, when really, what character gets fully developed in the span of a single episode? Her mistrust and dislike of Uzi is not THE main issue she has, but it is AN issue she has that needs to be dealt with. It's an issue that gets dealt with in this episode, leaving the rest of the series free to deal with the rest of her issues, which it did in episode 8. One aspect of her character that never really got dealt with in canon was dealt with here, and you're whining about it because for some reason you think this fan episode needs to resolve V's issues with N too when that's the actual show's job.

She complains that the episode never calls V out on her behaviour. Hey, you know what else never has her directly called out on or suffer consequences for her behaviour? THE ACTUAL SHOW. WHICH THIS EPISODE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF. WHY ARE YOU SINGLING OUT A FAN PROJECT WHEN THE ACTUAL SHOW IS JUST AS GUILTY? Is it just because V apologized in the end? Well good for you! That episode was probably what the creator of this episode that took place in the MIDDLE OF THE SHOW was banking on! She KNOWS her treatment of him was wrong, it got dealt with in the show when she passionately apologized to N in episode 8, WHY IS HER NOT WRAPPING UP HER ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOW SUCH A PROBLEM TO YOU?!

Aaaand whining about the EPISODE focusing on her relationship with Uzi, when the actual show NEEDED an episode that focused on her relationship with Uzi. Kek. I mean, my god, how one-note do you want this character to be? What, you WANT N to be the sun her entire character revolves around? Heaven forbid this EPISODE THAT TAKES PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOW actually explore the relationship between two of the main characters that never actually gets developed in canon, right? Nah, that's wrong and stupid!

In conclusion, KDD needs to just STOP. She is extraordinarily bad at reviewing. She doesn't know the first thing about how storytelling works. All she sees is everything on an absolute surface level, with no level of understanding of anything deeper than that, all she can think is 'Well, this came out AFTER episode seven, so OBVIOUSLY this V needs to be held to the same standards as the one that chronologically comes later!' She has an AWFUL attitude, she is insufferably smug about her blatantly wrong arguments, she refuses to just let other people enjoy the episode because she feels the need to drag it down as much as she possibly can. She could have just made one video and left it alone, but she refuses to do that, she wants more than anything to try and force as many people as she possibly can to hate it just like she does. Frankly, I'm convinced that her hatred towards Intermission is done in bad faith and she's actively malicious towards its creator, she acts like it killed her grandma or something, I'm convinced there's some sort of bad blood there, why else would anyone be this obsessed with combing over something as much as possible in search of tiny, inconsequential things like a single frame of Uzi having an extra finger to complain about?

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Thordak's Throne (3x09)

Oh shit, I can't believe they did that. And by that I mean... well, I'll talk about it in a bit.

Cons:

I have one small and one kind of medium-large complaint to lodge here before we go into how much I really did adore this episode.

Okay, obviously Travis broke my heart with his line delivery on "can you fix him? Please, you gotta fix him." But I do kind of miss his original improvised version that had more heat to it. The bellowed "FIX HIM" lives in my head rent free and we didn't get that here. Small nitpick, this version also tore out my heart, but thought I'd mention that. The thing about Grog is that he's our big lovable dummy, but the other thing about Grog is that he can be scary sometimes, even to the people he loves most.

Then there's the bigger thing. Pike's big moment was like... well, I'm not like, super angry, really, it's more of a "let's see where they're going with this thing", I guess. I have thoughts. Honestly, the stuff with Pike and the Everlight in this show has always been kind of muddy to me, and a plot progression where Pike finds strength in herself instead of in her goddess is totally fine with me in theory. But I thought in the past seasons the setup was more like... her faith as an anchor to her own strength. Or believing that she is deserving of the Everlight's favor and that thus the power she wields is her own, but the goddess is her supporter as much as Pike is a follower of her goddess? Like, does that make any sense? Pike having a complicated but ultimately loving relationship with her deity is what I was looking for here. That image of her actually throwing aside the Everlight's symbol was kind of... Not It, for me. I wish it had been more like "It's not just the Everlight's magic, and it's not just the Dawnfather's armor. It's me, who I am, being worthy to wield the powers they offer." That's the nuance I would have wanted here.

Maybe they're setting shit up, I don't know. There's clearly something going on with Pike here that I don't fully understand, since it's new material added to the show! But her big triumphant moment of using the armor to deal a devastating blow to Thordak left me a little uncertain, if I'm being honest. Pike does love her goddess, it's part of her strength. I don't want the story to take that away from her. Maybe whatever Zerxus was on about, that whole thing about her being "special," will shed further light on this, and what seemed like a triumphant moment in this episode will ultimately turn back on itself? That's kind of what I'm hoping for, in a way. I want Pike's final resolution as a character to be her reconciled and comfortable with the Everlight's place in her life, even if it's a relationship that has evolved, somewhat.

Pros:

But okay. Enough of that. This episode kicked ass.

Let's get back to the "oh shit, I can't believe they did that." I can't believe they killed Kash!!! Like, okay, there are so many things to talk about in this episode but I have to start with how fucking shocked I was by this. Totally out of left field, did not see it coming, completely crushed my soul. Because that's not just Kash, character who has been in like... two episodes of this show and cracks wise and flirts with Keyleth and how he's dead. That's who the character is to animated series watchers, and I'm sure his death is very sad from that perspective, but... but that's... fan favorite guest PC, played by Will Friedle, that's a character who gets to live happily ever after in the world of Exandria as far as the campaign story is concerned, and they killed him dead! And like... he's dead dead, we all know it, don't we? Yikes, this was so depressing! They did that very effective thing of having him and Zahra being all cutesy and kissing and then engaging in banter and doing cool battle combos together and then... SQUISH.

It was an enormously effective change, I can't even be mad at it. This show is not beholden to the streaming canon, they've told us that a thousand times. And let's be honest, we know what's coming up for certain other beloved characters. It makes a lot of sense to me that some named characters needed to be casualties of these big bad dragons before the end. This was... a fucking heartbreaking choice but I found it enormously impactful in exactly the right way. Zahra's despair was so moving, and I love how she got to give Pike that final angry pep talk to push her into her final moment of figuring out how to use her vestige. I also loved the imagery, of Kash standing up and looking down on his own mangled corpse, looking over at the group, and... seeing Vax, seeing him? Then the Matron imagery behind him as he turns and walks into shadow. Just... masterfully done, a super emotionally devastating death for a character who didn't need a lot of screen time to make a huge impact on my heart. Also, just, it was so MEAN! Ouch!

So much else to say. I don't know how to go in a linear order just talking about all the moments that I loved, so get ready for me to jump around just listing things that totally destroyed me and/or I totally cheered at.

All of the cool NPCs and side characters getting shown in small moments, kicking ass! Allura and Gilmore with their spells, and Kima and Groon as always being cool as shit, and Vex and Vax's dad being just kind of... shell-shocked by the mass destruction but then bickering with Cassandra about how to evacuate the troops. It just makes the world feel so full and like we've been to all of these places and met all of these cool different people.

Grog really got a lot of shining moments in this episode! I loved how when their original plan went to shit, Grog is the one who steps up and comes up with an alt. That was such a clever way to adapt one of my favorite aspects of the campaign, which is that Travis often had interesting strategic ideas at the table, but Grog wasn't allowed to be smart enough to think of them. So Grog would occasionally have these tactical insights, but Travis had to hold back a lot of the time. This was a fun way for Travis to possess Grog's body and come up with a good idea and get the ball rolling!

Seeing Grog and Scanlan teaming up was such a joy, you get this sense that theirs is a friendship full of wacky shenanigans and so much heart and love, that Grog has some of his best fun times with Scanlan Shorthalt and really enjoys his company. I loved Scanlan getting him into the rage mindset to defeat the eggs, and I loved Scanlan acting as bait with Thordak. And then... man, this show knows how to turn your emotional reality on its head. I was waiting for how the Scanlan death stuff would translate here, and despite wishing for the more angry version of "FIX HIM," I still was emotionally crushed by Grog's realization that Scanlan wasn't moving! Noooooo. He's gotta wake up, if only because Grog couldn't live with it otherwise!

We get a Keyleth moment where she turns into her fire elemental self, but it doesn't seem to work, which I thought was a cool moment - it makes sense within the mechanical logic of D&D that a big powerful fire thing wouldn't work that well against a big powerful fire thing, but it was also such a cool subversion of expectations to hear that amazing musical theme and see Vax and Keyleth do such a bad-ass combo and then have it not play out the way you would expect it to!

The final beats of everyone circling up around Thordak, then Pike getting that moment to really take him out and get rid of the soul anchor, was visually very cool even if (see above) I'm a little worried about the implications for Pike's character journey.

And then. Man. I knew I'd cry about Vex and Vax's mother, and this is one of those things I think is really enhanced by having watched the stream, and knowing how much this story became healing for Liam in particular. The visual of Thordak getting away, and Vax holding Vex's hand before launching himself into the air, the way he himself became the final weapon, punching through Thordak's body... so fucking beautiful and intense and cathartic. And then we get the twins holding each other in relief. They can't do anything to bring their mother back, or Percy, but at least they've stopped this dragon from doing any further harm.

Tracking Keyleth's mistrust of Raishan through the season has been so interesting, because here she turns up, seems like she might be about to turn on our heroes, and then she plays her part and attacks Thordak in a vulnerable moment instead, forcing him to fly off to lick his wounds, and setting Vax up for that final kill shot. Then you have Keyleth being the bigger person and going to tell Raishan she knows she was wrong, and thanking her for the allyship. But of course... Keyleth was fucking right, y'all, she was right all along, don't mess with my GIRL lol. Raishan is doing something with runes, and then before Vox Machina can stop her, she's vanished with Thordak's corpse in tow. Dun dun dunnnn.

I'm really curious about how we're fitting in the events I think we still have to hit in the next three episodes. Obviously things are so topsy turvey and out of order here. Percy didn't get to do the Thordak fight in this version! Keyleth doesn't have her vestige! Scanlan is unconscious and out for the count and I have to assume that's dealt with... before the Raishan combat? Or maybe Scanlan sits that one out? I don't fucking know, man, everything is so out of order that I'm on the edge of my seat as much as the just-animated-show viewers!

I'm not going to dock too many points for my big Pike question in this episode. I still want to see where they're going with this in the final three episodes. Other than that aspect, I really really loved this episode. RIP Kash, you really caught a stray by showing up in this episode and getting squished so bad. Gonna miss that guy.

9/10

[bogkeep]

grousing about ai art stuff

every time i open twitter (my mistake) there's a new thread on how to spot ai art or ai photos by finding all the mistakes in it, and like obviously this is useful and it's good to watch out because they kEEP SHOWING UP EVERYWHERE AHHH HELL WORLD HELL WORLD, but it's also a little depressing that we're training ourselves to nitpick all kinds of details within a piece of art.

like even before the artifically generated image boom randos on twitter would reply to fully finished illustrations with the most asinine unsolicited advice possible. art's gonna be flawed sometimes! i'll draw someone in a weird pose because of vibes! i'll wing a hand! i don't fucking know what a house actually looks like!!! like yes of course the way a human artist creates flawed art is different from the way an algorithm doesn't actually know what anything looks like because it has no mind. it doesn't know shit. so it's not that it's UNRELIABLE but it's like. it's like... i've been telling myself and others every time i'm struggling to make something look Just Right that actually nobody i going to be staring as hard at my art as i am while making it. if i don't point it out people aren't likely to notice unless they are going through it with a fine toothed comb BUT NOW WE ARE DOING THAT APPARENTLY. WHICH IS ANYONE'S PEROGATIVE AND FAIR ENOUGH! PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT MY ART HOWEVER THEY WANT IT'S FINE

but it's ALSO so depressing to consider having to analyse every single piece of art you come across like that my goddddddd i just wanna enjoy it!! i wanna enjoy art!!!! i mean the main reason i finally stopped going on twitter regularly was during the NFT boom and i got so tired of having to vet every single artist i came across to make sure i wasnt retweeting nft stuff. like that really ruined my previously enjoyable experience of LOOKING AT NICE ART ON MY FEED WITHOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.

god another thing that happened during the dark nft times was how certain art styles tended to be nfts. and i don't mean the ugly apes and stuff, like of course there's those, but there were a lot of artists who sold their souls to crypto and there was just a certain Vibe to a lot of those styles. like i got a sixth sense for it, i would see a piece of art by an unknown artists and when i checked - yep, that was a crypto guy now. and you know what!!!! i hated that!!!! i hate that it ruined entire art styles for me!! AND NOW ARTIFICIALLY GENERATED IMAGES ARE DOING THE SAME!!!!! like what tends to tip me off is less because i spotted some wonky hand or a weird flap but because the style is a popular one for the ai bros to imitate. you know what i mean right!!!!!! it's kind of how the ai photos look a bit too clean and crisp and smooth in an unsettling way. it just pings the brain a bit.

ULTIMATELY the absolute main method i have for filtering away ai images isn't so much looking for mistakes, but by checking sources. it's the same way i check that i'm not reblogging from reposting accounts Because That's A Thing I Care About Too - if there's no description or the description seems off and i don't recognise the OP, i check the original post/blog to see what's up. if the image gives me a weird vibe, i check where it comes from and who posted it. oftentimes the comments on posts with ai images will point it out - they're not always accurate and there's definitely been times where people are a little too trigger happy to accuse art of being AI... but it can be a good lead or confirm suspicions. on one hand, i don't want to do detective work while im having chill scrolling time, but on the other hand - i already had this habit for other reasons, so it's less disruptive to me than the alternative. it also helps that it's very rare for ai shit to turn up in my tumblr feed. i don't want to keep looking over my shoulder!!

(also for anyone who wants a little bit of optimism in the middle of all this, here's an episode of Better Offline podcast that outlines how it's very unlikely for generative ai to actually get much better. here's the part two also.)

[darkfeanix]

I've got conflicting feelings about the new episode of Vows and Vengeance. Under the cut in case of spoilers.

On the one hand, great to finally have some real Taash content.

On the other hand, it feels like the people behind the podcast had only a passing knowledge of Dragon Age. The way the Temple of the Lost Dragon was handled felt too... religious, for starters. If it was meant to be sacred to the Qunari, I feel like it should have been tied more directly to the Qun, perhaps a site visited by Koslun or something like that? My understanding of the Qun is limited, but I actually wonder if they would even have sacred sites in the way that it seems to suggest in the discussion of it between Taash and the Qunari soldier.

Speaking of the Qunari soldier, there was at least one, maybe even two, that sounded a bit too feminine. I don't know which actor was voicing them, they listed a few for additional voices. It just broke my immersion a bit when one of the biggest things about the Qunari is their extremely restrictive gender roles. Could this soldier have been Aqun-Athlok? Sure. But that feels more like a Watsonian explanation than a Doylist one.

Really, the portrayal of the Qunari as a whole felt just... a little off. The whole "kadan" exchange... I could almost dismiss it as an intentional case of miscommunication, but it really feels like they were writing it to just mean "friend", when we know from past uses that it has a much deeper meaning than a friendly stranger.

Also, saying Taash will be hanged? It feels so un-Qunari like. Wouldn't they send her to the Tamassran to be re-programmed, or if not that, to be subjected to qamek? I feel like executing an able-bodied woman like Taash would be considered wasteful under the Qun, which feels like it ties back to the idea of the temple being "sacred".

Unrelated to any of the above, Nadia is really starting to frustrate me as a protagonist. I'm trying to interrogate those feelings, asking myself if her behaviour would annoy me as much if she were a man... and to be honest, yeah, I'm pretty sure it would. It's a really unfortunate combination of selfishness, self-pity, and angrily lashing out at everybody that is hitting all the wrong buttons for me. I get where it's all coming from, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Also, this is absolutely the nitpickiest of nitpicks, but at one point Drayden asks how Taash knows the Gamordan Stormrider is female, and Taash says it's the "ridges and colouring of her spine". But it's established in lore that only female dragons can grow into high dragons, so it should go without saying that the Stormrider is female, because a male wouldn't have gotten big enough to cause the damage done to the Qunari settlement.

As I said, it was great to finally get some Taash content, and I absolutely loved Jin Maley's performance in the role, but this was probably my least favourite episode so far.

[sirfrogsworth]

Thoughts on Live Action Avatar: TLA

I'm sure people are going to hate this. Some for valid reasons. Some because of endless nitpicking that really has no bearing on how good or bad it actually was. Some because they have already chosen to hate it and it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But I always root for things to be good. I want them to succeed. And I always go into everything I watch with the hope and expectation it will be good. I turn off my critical brain and try to just experience the show for what it is. As I said, I saw no trailers. I read no reviews. I knew almost nothing about the production of this going in.

Initially, things were rough... buddy.

And I think that is a longstanding problem with live action TV shows in general. I am always reminded of Star Trek TNG and how it took two seasons (48 episodes) before they figured out what the hell they were doing. Back then shows were able to find their footing and grow and learn. Actors were given time to find their characters and understand them and finally become them.

But now, every show has to be amazing from the start or they get cancelled. And I think people have become very unforgiving of first seasons as well. I feel like not enough people consider the potential of something getting better. And I think that is a shame.

So, yes, Avatar started out rough. They tried to cram all of the exposition into the first 20 minutes. And that was unpleasant. The effects were jarring at first. It is incredibly difficult to translate animation into live action. And please don't say the CGI was "bad." It wasn't. There was just so much that needed to be packed into every frame of this show to make it work, and finding a way to make it all seamlessly blend is a monumental task. I think the artists did an amazing job with the constraints of essentially making an 8 hour movie in the time usually given a 2 hour one.

But as the show continued, the actors seemed more comfortable in their roles. The showrunners seemed to figure out what worked and what didn't. The quality across the board started to improve. Especially when they started to deviate a little bit from following the cartoon. I also noticed that the effects that were jarring in the beginning eventually stopped bothering me and breaking immersion. I got used to them and was able to just focus on the story. And I think they got a little better as well. The bending was much more convincing as the show progressed. And it was a bajillion times better than the slow-motion bending of that movie that shall not be named.

And by the final episode, I was all in. The Avatar monster was really cool. And I was crying my eyes out and having all kinds of emotions. And there were some changes they made to the story which I actually thought made more sense. And I was glad this show was doing a few things to differentiate rather than being an exact carbon copy.

It won me over.

And I know it won't do that for everyone. And perhaps I am forgiving a lot of sins just because I wanted it to be good. The original was my absolute favorite show of all time. I just liked spending time with these characters again.

But I liked it more than I didn't and I'm hoping that is the general consensus, but I fear that is not the case.

Things I really liked...

I thought the actor playing Sokka was really great. They didn't give him enough humorous material. But I think this kid absolutely nailed the role. And if this gets another season, I do hope he can show Sokka's lighter side a bit more.

Ken Leung also did amazing as Zhao. I think he surpassed his cartoon counterpart in villainy. I loved hating him.

The final battle was beautiful. I think they probably dedicated a lot of resources to that. Maybe at the expense of other things. But I think it was worth it to end strong.

In the first season of the cartoon, the trauma was often skipped over or kept very brief. I'm sure the idea of dealing with genocide and war time trauma was not an easy sell to Nickelodeon initially. But they did actually take the time to show some of that trauma, especially with Katara and Sokka. And I cried a bunch.

They seemed to go to considerable effort to have a diverse cast. I am glad they learned that lesson from the movie.

That said, they probably could have brought back Dee Bradley Baker to make the animal noises. This might have been an overcorrection...

I guess this will give the anti-wokesters something to complain about since the original was already super woke and it is probably a challenge to complain about the new thing being woke as well. Though I'm sure they are up to the challenge.

Things I didn't care for...

The compressed timeline caused a few stories to be combined and accelerated. I understand why that was necessary. But there were some important moments of character growth that got lost.

Sokka's missing sexism. I think it is much more useful to see someone grow and change and let go of their problematic traits than to pretend that never existed. Sokka's sexism was a symbol of the conservative views within water tribe culture in general. It was also foreshadowing for the conflict with Pakku (which was also minimized). I just think young viewers seeing a character overcome ingrained ideals has a greater influence than just erasing that aspect from the character.

Things I hated...

Princess Yue's hair. You get the amazing Amber Midthunder to play Yue, and she does an amazing job with extremely abbreviated screen time, but I couldn't stop staring at whatever that was they put on her noggin. I know I criticized people for nitpicking, but that was very distracting. I don't know exactly how it could have been done better, but I worry a great performance is going to get overshadowed by... hair.

In conclusion...

I think the people making this show loved the source material. I can see that love. I think they tried very hard to make the best show possible. And I also know they are probably going to get a lot of hate. I still haven't looked at the reviews because I didn't want to be influenced when writing this. But I can feel the review bombing as we speak.

But this was not a Witcher situation where the writers didn't respect the source material. This was displaying how incredibly difficult it is to convert one of the most beautifully animated shows in existence into live action. Maybe that is an argument for not making live action versions. Though I usually love them when they work and am happy both versions exist.

I really hope people can remember the original still exists and they can completely disregard this and watch the cartoon any time they wish. This doesn't have to "ruin their childhood." These two things can exist and everyone is perfectly capable of ignoring all of the live action material.

But I do hope this gets another season. I think that final episode showed the potential. I think the cast was getting comfortable in their roles and they deserve another chance to show what they can do.

I love Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and I think he was a great choice for Iroh. But Mako's shoes are probably the biggest shoes in the existence of shoes to try and fill. I do not envy the task he was given. But every once in a while I saw that Mako spirit come out in his performance and I think he could use another season to really find that and show us what he is capable of.

This felt a lot like The Phantom Menace to me. There was actually a ton of amazing stuff to love in that movie. But it didn't quite work the way the original movies did. But I think this was good enough to hope for the future.