#IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A SILLY LITTLE CRUSH BUT THEN HIS REDEMPTION ARC HAPPENED

[jocelynships]

Anyways I hope if y’all followed me for an F/O that wasn’t Kurt or D.raxum I apologize bc let’s be honest I very VERY rarely talk about my other F/Os ever.

[starpiastri]

5, 6 or 21?

hiii!!! i’m gonna answer all these for good men die too just because it’s my only “proper” fic i have answers for!! tw for a mention of eating disorders, it doesn’t go into any detail but it is mentioned in one of my answers :)

5 - What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

ehehehee. i suppose people have kind of asked this (begged me not to) in my ao3 comments but. will seb and mark actually die ?

to be truthful i cannot decide. i am very much about them having a twist of fate and following The Narrative but to kill them a) would hurt :( and b) i wouldn’t be able to give them the “retirement” redemption arc they deserve.

i made seb bleach blonde before their “multi 21” (in whatever form that may be) which has frustrated me. so in terms of that maybe i should let them be happy?

but then again no that’s the whole fucking appeal of sebmark. i do have a brief draft where spoilers!!!! seb goes to prison. but i don’t know enough about the law let alone AMERICAN law to bring it to fruition… basically if they don’t have a multi 21 they’ll die if they do (painful sad more writing opportunities) they won’t die! these bitches gay and doomed by the narrative

6. What’s one fact about the universe of [insert fic] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

mark has an eating disorder. i wanted to write it into thoroughfare, i read his aussie grit and i’m pretty sure he mentioned abt the racing diet restrictions and people saying how ill he looked at the end of his career.

but everytime i wrote it felt super clunky and not good, i didn’t think i could do the subject justice in terms of really accurate representation so i decided to cut it.

21. If you wrote a “missing scene” in [insert fic], what would it be?

probably the former one about mark, as well as seb’s past life past crimes etc. but then also i might leave that as a vague mystery, as u know he’s the most unreliable narrator to ever narrate so! i think also i already wrote a lot of the missing scenes in crush from sebs pov in thoroughfare which i loveddddd doing. i will actually post a “missing scene” as such later!! it’s just a little ramble of them being all silly but still i like it and i hope other ppl will:)

thank you for all the questions!!!

[linawritestwst]

five nights at mostro lounge (april fools special)

we're doing it. we're really doing it. this is just a silly little drabble where azul asks you to help him at mostro lounge even though it's really late and there shouldn't be any customers.. or anyone at all, for that matter. so of course you agree like a smart reader character you are.

though it's a fnaf-inspired drabble, there are no warnings, it's all just for fun.

"y/n, may i ask you a small favor?"

when azul asks you something like that, you just know that it's not gonna end well. what could this octoman possibly need from someone like you?

"i need someone to stay at mostro lounge for the night. i can't ask jade and floyd, because they are.. kind of busy. but i trust you and i'm confident that you're gonna do well as a mostro lounge security guard! you're perfect for this kind of job, you don't have to do anything, just sit and watch.. um, i meant that in a good way, this is going to be a piece of cake for you!"

oh, he totally doesn't mean that in a good way. but wow, azul really needs someone to help him if he's asking YOU of all people. and what could jade and floyd be busy with? aren't they supposed to do anything azul asks them?

honestly, you don't really want to know what could those eel twins be busy with.

you don't have a good feeling about this. azul could easily ask someone else to do this job for him and azul knows just how much of a scaredy-cat you are and that the thought of you being all alone somewhere late at night makes you shiver. so yeah, his intentions are definitely not that pure.

but at the same time.. azul trusts you. he thinks that you're gonna do well. and if you do well, this could be a good chance for you to make azul "notice" you. you've had a crush on him for a pretty long time, so.. what if you agree to stay at mostro lounge for the night and then ask azul out when you're done? it's only fair, right? after all, you totally deserve a reward for this!

so after you were done singing "how could i refuse" from "barbie in princess and the pauper" movie in your head, you agreed to stay at mostro lounge for the night. come on, it won't be that dangerous! you literally live in the dorm filled with ghosts, you won't see anything more scary in mostro lounge! well, at least you won't see anything more scary than jade and floyd.

----------------------------------------------------------------

so, here you are, just chilling at mostro lounge. it's 1 am. azul asked you to stay there until.. uh, 6 am, if you're not wrong? so yeah, five hours to go, you can do this!

it did kinda worry you that right after you agreed, azul said something like "oh, you foolish and naive so- i mean, thank you so much, y/n! i owe you one!" but he probably meant it in a "omg you're such a dummy y/n <3" way.

and like, why did azul suddenly need a security guard tonight? maybe something was stolen and he wanted to catch the culprit? or it's exactly because jade and floyd were busy and he needed someone to replace them for the night? still, you had no idea what could jade and floyd possibly be doing right now. and you didn't want to think about it too much, because you wanted to keep whatever was left of your sanity, so you decided to play games on your phone while you work. hey, azul is not here, so no one will tell you what to do!

wait, azul is not here. but what is he doing right now? where is he? is he doing some kind of shady business again? man, and you hoped that this guy is gonna get some kind of redemption arc after he overblotted!

but oh well, now you feel less guilty for playing games while you're supposed to work as a security guard. azul owns mostro lounge after all, so if something serious did happen, he's the one who should stay here and watch if someone with bad intentions comes!

you reminded yourself that you're doing it to get azul's attention. he's totally gonna praise you after you're done! you just have to sit here for five hours, it's not a big deal! you spend whole nights playing games and watching anime in your room anyway, now you're just doing at mostro lounge! and mostro lounge looks prettier than your room, so it's a win-win!

you were supposed to lock all doors in case you see someone suspicious, but you felt like anyone who was walking around mostro lounge this late at night is suspicious enough, so you locked all doors right when you went inside. you're so smart, y/n!

okay, it's 3 am. you felt your eyes getting heavy because of your phone screen's light.

"ugh, i forgot to bring my charger." you remembered.

well, you have three hours left, the morning is gonna come so soon, you just know it! but now you have to keep yourself busy with something that doesn't involve a phone, because.. yeah, the battery percentage was low.

wait, is that- did you just hear someone knocking on the door?

maybe it's azul? maybe he came to tell you that you can go back to your dorm? you ran to the door and you were about to open it, when you heard the knocking becoming louder. it wasn't even knocking anymore, it sounded like someone was banging on the door.

why would azul do that? didn't he hear your steps, it's obvious that you were going to open the door for him! is he.. is he in danger?

"azul, i'm gonna open the door right now, don't worry!" you tried to calm him down.

"azul?~ haha, did you really think it was azul, (nickname)?"

oh no. oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-

you're about to find out what jade and floyd have been doing all this time.

"hm? why aren't you opening the door? didn't you say that you're gonna do it right now? did you lie to me, (nickname)?"

YOU'RE NOT GONNA OPEN THE DOOR FOR FLOYD. YOU'RE NOT GONNA DO IT.

"uh.. f-floyd, why are you here? did azul send you?"

"maybe he did, maybe he didn't~ now, please open the door."

of course, someone like floyd wouldn't give you a normal answer.

"floyd, i don't think i should open the door for you. azul said not to let anyone in-"

"oh, so you don't trust me? you think i'm suspicious?"

yes. yes, you did think that floyd was suspicious and a danger to this society. but if you said so, you would probably die right now and the door wouldn't stop floyd from ending your life.

"i'm just following azul's orders.." you tried to explain why you're doing this.

"LET ME IN, (NICKNAME)! LET ME IN!"

oh no, this is getting bad. well, it got bad right when you heard floyd's voice, so.. it's getting worse.

wait, is someone knocking on the other door? but who could possibly be- it's jade. of course, it's jade.

you quietly walked to the other door, but jade heard your steps anyway.

"ah, y/n, it's you. please forgive floyd for his behavior. you know, that's just what kind of person he is."

you really wanted to believe that jade will save you, but.. it's jade. this guy looks like the sane twin, but he's not, he's probably even worse than floyd, because floyd isn't trying to hide just how unhinged he is.

"jade, why are you here? no, why both of you are here? am i allowed to go back to my dorm now?" you asked in a hopeful tone.

"go back to your dorm?.." jade laughed. "now, y/n, that simply won't do. you still have some work to do here."

"but.. but you both will do a better job at being mostro lounge security guards! why am i the one who has to do this? even azul thinks i'm too dumb for this!" you admitted the fact that azul most likely thinks that you're an idiot and not in a "omg y/n you're such a dummy <3" way.

"oh, he asked you to do this exactly because of how dumb you are. but if you want to go back to your dorm and leave this to us, you can open the doors and let us in."

you don't want to do this. you don't want to stay here, but you also don't want to let jade and floyd in.

"um.. i don't think i.."

"so you think that we're suspicious, y/n? you think that we can betray azul?"

oh, you didn't think that they can betray azul, they were perfect at following his orders and they were definitely following them right now.

but while you were thinking about what you should say to jade, floyd already broke the other door.

oh well, this is how you die, i guess. and you don't even have anything to protect yourself with.

"now, (nickname), are you ready for the squeeze of '87?"

... what this guy just said?

"the squeeze of '87? floyd, what are you.."

suddenly, it all makes sense. staying at mostro lounge for the night, working as a security guard, locking the doors, jade and floyd scaring you..

"floyd.." you sighed heavily. "did azul tell you about fnaf?"

all the creepy atmosphere went away when floyd nodded and said:

"yeah, he did. well, it was you who told him first and he got interested and then he told us about it and he wanted to do something similar, but we don't have animatronics here, so he made us be the bad guys."

you slowly turned to jade.

"may i ask why azul wanted to do something similar to fnaf?"

"y/n, you already know the answer. this game may be popular in your world, but no one knows about it here and it could be something new and fresh to people, so.."

"it's because he likes money, right?

"yes, it's because he likes money. and he wanted to test it on you first."

[viscountessevie]

They’re setting S3 up to flop—inexplicably—since they could’ve tried rehabbing the characters next season before S4. It’s bad: Penelope and Colin are both assholes and not even In a fun way. Penelope is a villainous loser; Colin is useless and a prick. Luke is tbh just not attractive and has negative charisma. Like that he’s going to be in the company of RJP and JB insults me personally. There’s no chemistry to speak of over two seasons. Their story is pretty sad/pathetic. And they’re following Kanthony. Whew lmao.

S3 will probably be like S2 in that Kate and Anthony will make it worth watching.

You CAME for Pelican's wigs, anon and damn I was taken back because you DID NOT hold back. Thank you for sending this in - it had me shook in the best way!!

You're very right, Pelican has become unbearable on the show. I agree with every word said about Penalty in this ask. She clearly is the villain but constantly victimises herself - I’m so sick of her schtick. These are no longer the characters from RMB anymore. However, I will refute that Colin isn't so much an asshole but an idiot - a racially ignorant one now after his first interaction in S2 with Will. It felt so charged with racial undertones, it left with a bad taste in my mouth. Yeah, he tried to apologise for it with bringing Will customers but too little too late. He should have never talked to him that way in the first place.

While I used to bully (affectionate) Newts for not looking like a HR hero, but now I try not to put down his looks anymore it's not like he can control it. It was a mix of genes and the HMU this season who decided they needed to make him look homeless and got a bad tan from Beverly Hills. They did him so dirty this season. Aren't people coming from vacay supposed to look better??

I've talked about his lack of charisma on screen before: he is pretty sweet in interviews but doesn't shine on screen. More on that in this post and the exact snippet here for reference:

I think the smart decision would be to stick to the books order and just give Luke T his time to shine as Benedict in S3 - like Benny was just okay and a little creepy in his book but I didn’t know this as an S1 viewer and thought Luke T stole the show as Benny. He’s just so expressive and effortlessly hilarious, he definitely makes an impact every season with the limited time he’s got. So hopefully Luke T can join the ranks of RJP & Jonny next season - pick the right Luke, Shonda you can do this. 

Like you said, S3 needs to be for Pelican to have a rehabilitation of their characters - Penalty NEEDS to do an apology tour or her redemption will mean nothing but these writers hate making their protags take accountability so I’m not holding my breath. Newts as Colin needs a glo-up - either commit to a full beard or yeet it, and get him a better hairstyle. Character wise, mans needs an interest, personality and arc that is his own and doesn’t revolve around Penalty and Greece. As for the chemistry bit, I don’t know how I feel about it tbh because in S1 it was kinda cute because we’ve all been there with an unrequited schoolgirl crush that we eventually get over. He also seemed to get along with her well enough. So I was pretty neutral and their chemistry wasn’t overwhelming me in a good or bad way for me to comment on last season. This season, coupled with the fact that she almost killed Marina, her crush is very creepy and obsessive and now it may be a bias against them but I do not see any chemistry at all. 

Their book story was okay the overall plot was too 'perfect' and polished so they felt very superficial and their conflicts were silly. They lacked the depth some of the stronger couples of the series had (Kathony & Franchel babey - I haven’t read Hy & Greg’s books so cannot comment on those yet) Not to mention, the way he treated her in the books when he was jealous was problematic. I have no idea what they are gonna do for the show but I worry for his life. He's gonna fuck up one of these days and she's gonna fuck his shit up even more. As if imploding his first engagement and calling him stupid for it wasn't enough.

As much as I disliked 70% of the changes made to Book 2 and alll the stupid Featherington side plot screen time, the show as its own thing PEAKED this season. Jimone brought their A-Game and carried this season on their backs. The general audience ADORES them and they are going to be a tough act to follow not going to lie. Honestly I truly think Luke T’s Ben paired with an equally strong Sophie can pull it off! Someone call @sweetestviscount Lav's chiropractor, Kathony and Ben are gonna need him after carrying Pelican's season - may it be S3 or 4 (for everyone's sakes it better be in S4).

If S3 truly is about Pelican, I really want to send Shondaland a message and not watch it. I refuse to give them my views for making SUCH a bad decision and will probably pirate the season if my curiosity gets the better of me or as I’ve said in previous asks, I’ll just watch the YT scene compilations of Kathony and my other faves in S3. 

[baggebythesea]

In a peacetime modern AU of SPOP where the characters are fans of a show similar to our SPOP, how would they engage in fandom? For example: Who would ship whom? Who would write fic or draw art? Who would write or draw smut?? Who would have a wall of theories with evidence connected by a web of threads? Who would do their own thing shipping a rare pair and who would be a card carrying popular ship shipper? Who would strongly empathise with their parallel character and who would just not get them at all? Would anyone cosplay? Which older adult would shock the young'uns by saying 'Well I wouldn't say no...' as they sip their tea from the doorway? (Obviously answer as much or as little as you like!)

Ooooh! Great ask.

Glimmer declares the show the best thing ever (because it's pink and princessy and kicks ass), and the best friend squad watches it religiously. Adora doesn't really get what the big deal with shipping is supposed to be, but she think it's neat that Netossa and Spinnerella is a couple. Lowkey ships Glimmer with Bow because she likes the idea of childhood friends falling in love with each other. Also, she really likes it when the title character gets a horse. Hangs out a lot in fandom space but doesn't really produce content, at least until Bow and Glimmer manages to talk her into writing down some of her many, many theories of how the show will turn out and just what the logistics network through the whispering woods are supposed to look like. She secretly worries when one of her posts don't get as much attention as the last one.

Bow is just hung up on poor Catra and want for her to get some love. Mostly he cheers on Scorpia, but he would ship Catra with Adora or even Double Trouble in desperation for someone to take the cat away from the hole she spend most of the series in. He takes up sewing and makes a point of cosplaying every single princess. Comments on everyone's fanfic and likes everyone's posts.

Glimmer sees a bit of herself in Catra (because she too knows the pain of having a mother who doesn't understand her). She totally ships the cat-girl with the glitter princess and writes really messed up fanfics about them. So much passion. So much delicious, delicious self-destruction. Practically drools at the end of season 4 and all the angst that goes down there. She regularly asks Bow to beta read and traumatises him badly. Gets into fan-fights on social media about stupid shit. Cosplays Catra on a con and makes out with a Glimmer cosplayer.

Angella vaguely recalls the first show from when she was young and earns some much needed mom-points with Glimmer when she digs up a mint condition original She-Ra+Swift Wind toy from a carefully labelled box in the basement. She ships Glimmer with Bow because she really likes that boy. Micah used to watch the show as a kid and had a bit of a crush on the original She-Ra. Ships Bow with Sea Hawk and cheerfully fills the hashtag #SeaBow with memes at least a decade out of fashion. Mortifies his daughter when he take them to a con and insists on cosplaying as Hordak. Ends up in the bar together with George and Lance and sings karaoke to My Little Pony-songs.

George and Lance don't really get the show but are happy to take the kids to con. Cosplays as characters from old Belgian comics.

Catra thinks the show is silly (and watches every episode passionately. Shut up. Just humouring Scorpia, is all). She thinks the Catra character in the show is a wimp, but ships her with Double Trouble because she likes it when villains get their way. Draws really good fanart. A bit of a troll on social media because its so fun to rile up people like Glimmer.

Scorpia ships Catra and Adora and cries just as much as Bow in the First One's Temple part of season 1. She is completely floored by the large, femme and kinda clumsy Scorpia character hooking up with the beautiful, beautiful Perfuma because... um... Writes really bad but 100% heartfelt self insert fanfics. Draws stick figures of Perfuma and Scorpia holding hands. Reads and re-reads her favourite fanfics until her eyes are red from crying and in the end leaves a shy little "it was good"-comment for the last chapter. Tries to work up the courage to go to a con and talk to other fans. Wants to cosplay but has too bad self esteem.

Entrapta thinks the robots are unscientific for reasons she is happy to write hundreds of blog posts about. Ships Darla with the Velvet Glove (the word 'docking' is used extensively). Considers Hordak a total hottie and draws really - and I mean really - explicit fan art. Spends her first convention on the parking lot trying to fix her Emily cosplay.

Lonnie rage-quits watching the show the moment Adora leaves the Horde but thinks Adora and Mermista should just do it already.

Kyle ships Bow with an OC named Lyle who everyone likes and no one makes fun of. Has written a ten chapter fanfic which no one has commented.

Rogelio ships Tung Lashor with Sea Hawk. His fanart can melt through steel.

Sea Hawk ships EVERYONE with Merm-iiiiiiiiiista. Runs ten different fan-events simultaneously. Mermista just ships Adora with Lonnie or whatever. They do duo-cosplay on cons, much to Mermista's embarrassment.

Perfuma ships Entrapta with Hordak, writes post after post exploring their psychosocial dynamic and is downright gleeful when it becomes canon. Spends the cons friend-momming on the rest of the group and makes sure they are all hydrated.

Frosta thinks shipping is stupid and want to see more of princesses teaming up and beating the shit out of the bad guys with the power of friendship. Also has a really detailed backstory for her OC. Only ask if you have plenty of time. Has a pretty good Glimmer cosplay.

Huntara ships Juliette with Castaspella and writes surprisingly sweet fics about them crushing on each other. Keeps order on social media.

Castaspella ships Shadow Weaver with Angella and writes fanfic that could easily be published as high class erotica. She's a really good commentor on other people's fics, giving tons of support and little constructive hints where she feels it might be well received.

Juliette has better things to do than watching a children's cartoon, but she does enjoy some of Castaspella's stories.

Spinnerella ships Catra and Adora and is just so proud when it turns out to be canon. Tells everyone who wants to listen how little representation was available in her first fandom and how far things have come.

Netossa ships Adora and Mermista and draws really hot fanart of them making out in gym showers and the like. Prefers modern aus and couldn't care less about canon as long as it gives her hot characters to play with.

Shadow Weaver doesn't ship anyone because no one is worthy of the love of Adora who is the only worthwhile character. Writes a 40+ chapter story about a badly out-of-character Adora who takes over the Horde and laughs at her enemies from the throne. Is enraged when people dare having the wrong opinion about things but can't tell them so because she feels social media is beneath her. Secretly reads Castaspella's fanfic.

Horde Prime ships Horde Prime with Shadow Weaver. She is written completely out of character in a rather insulting and sexist way. Completely insufferable on social media and insist on everyone signing up to his headcanon.

Hordak says he doesn't ship anyone because romance is silly. Cries over Adora's redemption arc when he thinks no one watches and ships her with Glimmer because he just wants to the poor, rejected Horde soldier lost in a strange land she doesn't understand to get some love and kindness.

Wrong Hordak ships Scorpia with Perfuma because love finds a way. Draws the purest fluff you'll ever see.

Double Trouble trolls social media at every turn and gleefully ships the most messed up shit they can think of. Shadow Weaver and Perfuma, Catra and Sea Hawk, Angella and Hordak, Horde Prime and Swift Wind... Also ships the characters they deem to have most dramatic potential to derail the story such as Entrapta and Hordak, Glimmer and Catra, Glimmer and Double Trouble... kinda has a low key crush on the sparkly character but denies it if anyone asks. Really good at cosplay and runs a tutorial at the cons.

Swift Wind thinks there are too few horse characters. Ships Swift Wind with Rainbow Dash.

Light Hope only ships canon pairings because by definition canon is the only thing that is valid. Writes long, convoluted predictions that she updates after every episode. She gets an existential crisis when her predictions don't pan out in canon.

Mara ships Adora and Glimmer. Still gets hot and fussy every time she thinks of the s1 hot spring scene. Wants the hardworking perfectionist to get love.

Razz write novel length stories where she ship a character mentioned in passing in an unpublished Dickens novel with her old middle school math teacher. No one has any idea what she is going on about or why she posts it in the she-ra tag, but her stories are good and she's a complete delight at cons, so she's welcome in the fandom.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Thoughts on Mistborn Era 2 (Wax & Wayne):

My main take on these was “ah, looks like Brandon’s taking some time off from his magnum opus to write pulp Western/detective/crime novels”, and I was very amused to look up Brandon’s comments and see a ton of interviews with him saying, “so, this is absolutely me having some fun writing pulp Western/crime novels”. It’s nice to have a writer who’s not too proud to - accurately - describe his own stuff as pulp yet still do a good job of it. They remind me a little of the Dresden Files in terms of the mystery aspects, the urban fantasy tone, the wit, the lack of diplomatic/political subtlety of the protagonists and, of course, the rampant property destruction. But Brandon’s a much more thoughtful author than Jim Butcher, and treats his female characters better.

On the topic of gratuitous property destruction: Wax, for goodness’ sakes, stop shooting the ground! That’s infrastructure, Wax! Fixing the streets takes work, Wax! You’re not a dusty dirt road in the middle of nowhere any more, Wax! Just drop a coin like they dud in the old days! Or a shell casing or bullet if you desperately need to be hardcore. But rampantly firing off weapons in urban areas just to get a base for your Allomancy is a terrible idea.

This was a wonderful follow-up to Mistborn because it was a lot lighter and the stakes were a lot lower, which is nice for a change. I was reading the intro to Elantris where it was talking about people in Brandon’s early writing group telling him he needed to raise the stakes, and personally, I like low stakes. Well of Ascension/Hero of Ages were a grind, much as I liked the ending, and I would be up for more stories like Dawnshard, with low stakes and the heroes resolving the plot by non-violent means.

Marasi and Steris are both very well-done characters - I was definitely shipping Wax/Marasi in the first book and had no expectations of the Wax/Steris engagement lasting, so I was quite surprised, but the switch was well done and I liked it. Marasi and Wax’s feelings were a crush/hero worship and a rebound, respectively. And it’s nice to see a relationship grow gradually like Wax and Steris’ did. What Brandon did with Steris, starting out with a portrayal readers are unlikely to lije and letting her grow on them, is risky (especially with female characters) because readers may hold to first impressions, but I thought it worked very well.

Wayne’s backstory and reaction to it hit hard and was one of the best elements in the series. Another entry in the diverse array of Sanderson redemption arcs. It’s interesting because Wayne both is and isn’t haunted by it - he takes it seriously, it affects him deeply, but he doesn’t habitually brood, and it doesn’t prevent him from being a generally lighthearted, funny, silly person most of the time.

Wayne is absolutely right about the value of certain goids being an arbitrary thing invented by rich people. I’ve had caviar, once (as a garnish on a nice pasta dish at a fancy restaurant). It tastes like nothing. Entirely nodescript. The sole purpose of caviar is to communicate “this dish is fancy (and so, by connection, is the person eating it)”.

I’m deeply protective of Sazed and get very affonted when characters criticize him. I think he’s done an excellent job. It’s hard to wrap my head around the sheer scale of Bleeder’s overreaction to the possibility of her boyfriend moving back to the city. Though on one level it makes sense in that the kandra are of Preservation: she is going to see maintwnance of an existing situation as inherently better and more desirable, even if a change could still turn out well and be something Wax enjoyed. And I don’t feel like Sazed telling him about Bleeder being Lessie would have helped anything - it just would have made the decision to kill her harder, not less necessary, because she was incredibly malicious, destructive, and dangerous and there was no other way of containing her.

The resolution of Shadows of Self is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see, politically: the mass protests and risk of riot over poor wages, unemployment, and mustreatment of workers is resolved by a committment to address those problems, because the workers’ anger is legitimate and their cause is just.

I’m heartily frustrated by Wax, because it is his responsibility - it is literally his job, he has employees and a Senate seat! - to address the major political and economic problems of Elendel, and he neglects them. I don’t care if you’d rather be out shooting things! You have resposibilities! The workers in your factories are the source of the money and prestige that lets you engage in your gentleman-crimefighter hobby, and you owe it to them to see that the city operates in their interests. You can do far more good in that way than by shootin’ bad guys. Do. Your. Damn. Job. Steris seems to be nudging him in that direction, at least.

In general I’m impatient with a lot of the law-enforcement attitudes. Miles is a villain for whom I have absolutely no sympathy. Oh, so you’ve turned evil because, despite your 15 years of work in law enforcement, crime still exists? Yeah, maybe that’s because your belief that crime will stop existing if you shoot and/or hang enough people was never realistic. Likewise with Wax’s skepticism regarding Marasi’s ideas on how crime can be reduced through better urban planning and social policies - no, Wax, it won’t entirely eliminate crime, there will always be people who are just plain malicious, greedy, venal, or violent, but if you can reduce it by, say, 50-70% by better social policy, that would still be a good thing, right?

The period newspapers are great fun. I want a TenSoon plushie! Come on, Brandon, you’re musding out on a fantastic marketing opportunity! The one thing that bugged me was the ‘Pewternauts’ in The Bands of Mourning. In the first place, it’s a nonsensical name - real-world dreadnaughts, of which these are obviously supposed to be the equivalent, were called that because it literally meant ‘these having nothing they should fear’. The apex predator of military warships at the time, if you will. You can’t just create a random fantasy portmanteau amd pretend that it works - it’s like calling a scandal in a fantasy novel something-gate even though the Watergate scandal doesn’t exist in that world! Secondly, dreadnaughts were part of a massive military arms race in a world where European wars had been commonplace for centuries. The Elendel basin had never had a war in 300 years - these aren’t something that someone would invent just off the bat. Having similar technology to turn-of-the-century earth doesn’t mean it will be applied in the same ways, not with a completely different political context.

In general, New Seran’s complaints seemed overblown. Yes, the transit system treating Elendel as a hub and lacking effective connections between the outlying regions in aggravating. (It’s a provlem that plagues urban public transit systems even now - most routes are either local or feed into the city centre, with relatively few goung from one suburb to another, even as trans-suburban commuting vecomes more common.) But it’s not remotely the kind of thing you fight a war over! I feel like Brandon’s trying to recall the American Revolution, a bit, but the distances are so small (Elendel and New Seran are about as far apart as Ottawa and Toronto) as to make that ludicrous. What they really need is some kind of equivalent to a regional district authority, where representatives of multiple local governments can get together to work on issues of regional planning.

[bushybeardedbear]

Season 8 of Saltron: Laughable Disappointment

What follows is a stream of consciousness as I watched the series.

The TLDR? I am glad it's finally over and will always miss what it should have been.

It's another long one. But, I think it's the last one on this topic...

Maybe I can finally get back to writing fics. Who knows...?

I use the word mess a lot.

So, episode one. Months have passed as usual. And somehow the population of Earth, all crammed into a single base on the planet have somehow been able to produce an animated series. Earth is devastated, but there's still the ability to make cartoons. Somehow. It's as though the writers needed to tick off a “reference to the old series” and have only just been able to cram it in. Global devastation, billions dead. But hey. Cartoons. Yet another example of Voltron not knowing what the hell it's own tone is. Are we a happy silly space adventure, or are we supposed to be a bleak look at the horrors of war? Are we selling kids books and toys or are we forcing our characters to deal with global devastation and the loss of their lovers? Let's be both and excel as neither.

And for a show that isn't about shipping? Gosh they've already dedicated a lot of time to it, haven't they? Allura, Lance and Lotor, all major focuses of the plot. Oh and it's nice to see Romelle doing what Romelle does. Info dumping about the colony. “Before the Galra can reorganize.” Well, sorry Keith but it's been Five Years. Remember that time skip? If at least one group of Galra hasn't reorganized in five years, that would be absurd. If only there was some hint that the Galra HAD reorganized. Like a giant robot. Using the same magitech as the druids and Honerva. I know that as the viewer we're privy to more information, but sometimes they make the characters painfully stupid as to what's going on in their own reality.

Oh boy. An entire episode devoted to finding Allura a date outfit. For Lance. The boy with a lifespan of 80-100 years max. Whilst she could live to be 800+. We going to cover that? I mean, we had time to emphasize Pidge's age. We going to touch Allura's age? No? Ok, fine. We'll ignore it shall we? Do the writers assume people are too stupid to remember the show's own lore...? And look. More references to the old show. Remember the old show? Nostalgia points. Hey Pidge, having some fun being yourself? Well, make sure you give up something you love to make the popular girl happy. Arguably again but, doesn't seem like anything previously established or hinted matters. Nice. And I guess we know the names of Lance's family. Along with a nice bit of tell don't show. Lance is all talk and bravado. It's good of you to tell us that. Can't expect people to figure it out organically through storytelling.

And the only way they could figure out Honerva was behind a robeast...was via a cheesy death scene. Well, at least they didn't make the cast even more bloated and unwieldy. As for all the issues I've mentioned with Allurance before? Doubled down on here. Allura's not the strong capable leader we were shown, she was weak and in need of man to complete her. What a great 180 from powerful character to prize for toxic masculinity. And if you don't like the idea that pursuing a woman aggressively and jealously, even swooping in after a break up is toxic...? I don't know what to tell you. If you think this relationship happened organically and wasn't rushed? I don't know what to tell you. I don't think we were watching the same show.

However. I know me foreshadowing. Allura gives life. Allura and Lance photo. The flowers at her bedside last season that symbolize death. Let's see if they pull another “oh look, their relationship failed.” Because on screen romance is the kiss of death in this series. Also, the fact that so far nothing has even been hinted at Pidge's obvious crush on Lance... Yeah, can't say I'm surprised. I think maybe the writers forgot their own lore...

Oh, and off they go to space. What a great first episode. I'm so pumped to see the train wreck continue...

Is it just me... Or have they now made Honerva nothing more than defined by the men in her life...? So far her entire episode has been about how she serves no purpose without Lotor. Months she spent without purpose. This despite having knowledge of both Oriande and The Altean Colony via her mind link with Kuron... But suddenly, this fiercely intelligent multi-millenia old right hand of the empire...falls into a depression because her son is missing...? The most driven character in the whole series is just wandering aimlessly without the son that, let us not forget... She forgot even was her child for the majority of the show... I appreciate that they're attempting yet again to give the bad guys a little more humanity, but...There's a difference between a nuanced and rounded character and simply writing them to act differently at the drop of a hat. So, I get that they're pushing for her regretting that she had no connection with Lotor, that the act of coming back from the dead robbed her of motherhood...but in so doing, they're yet again doubling down on the fact that Lotor was always a victim of his upbringing. Or lack thereof. It feels almost like these sequences were written at a point before they realised they were going to make Lotor into Space Hitler. This screams redemption arc for a lost little boy being set up. Not the genesis of a heartless monster. Even their own backstory doesn't seem to gel with the show...

Well, I guess they answer the question of how the hell did a single nanny exist across multiple millennia. Dayak is a title, it seems. Not a name. That was a useful retcon I suppose. Maybe they should have thought more about their own continuity  And yes, it seems everything Honerva is now doing she's doing for the sake of Lotor. Not out of her own capacity or desire. And Lotor, somehow bathing in pure life energy, is dead. And now, we have further proof that Lotor's story about being an essentially good person who had to watch a planet of his friends and allies burn. Again, this whole thing screams redemption arc. Where and how, after this entire process of being exiled due to his pragmatism, in being in reverence of Altea...did he suddenly turn Space Vampire feeding upon the very people he revered...? This episode gave the opportunity to make the Altean colony and Lotor using them as a vampire make sense. Instead it just raises more questions. It makes it seem even more likely that at one point Honerva was the one harvesting to make druids. That at one point Lotor was supposed to be redeemed. Then changes were forced. Or maybe a half baked redemption is still coming? Willing suspension of disbelief is utterly gone. The story is plainly a patchwork of mistakes piled upon mistakes.

A beautifully animated, beautifully scored and beautifully voice acted incoherent mess.

Still got time for that transformation sequence in the middle of an inconsequential battle that doesn't further the main plot and further doubles down on the problems caused by the five year gap. Do we really have time to rebuild the Voltron coalition and bring stability in seven episodes...? And what part of this actually benefits from the five year gap? “The Galra Empire is at war with itself” this scenario could have played out perfectly well during a civil war cause by Lotor's 'death' and Sendak creating a splinter faction. The five year gap was in no way necessary, as I mentioned in previous posts. And...do we really have time for an episode that's one long reference to Alien...? Even now at the half way point of the episode, it seems clear they're either going to find something that mildly advances the plot or else is utterly pointless. Do we have the time to waste on this when there are so many other plot threads that need tying up? Pidge and Lance's lion moments for one. Lance needs to use his sword. Ever again. Probably to save Allura, just to really hammer home that she's weak and incapable without him now. Whatever's going on with Keith is another. Maybe Axca will just info-dump an explanation. Or not. Are we just going to get a bunch of things unsolved? A bunch of things forgotten? Are they going to make this a to be continued in a new season...?

Well, there we go. The secret weapon made with distilled Altean quintessence. Now we know where it went. So it devours quintessence, slaughters Galra but just...pushes aside Paladins of Voltron...? Ok, so it's probably engineered to hunt Galra. Which makes sense, right? A Galra super weapon. That only hunts Galra. Ok, so now comes the info-dump retcon. Whereas previously it was created by the Galra base they were infiltrating using the Distilled quintessence... It was now found in the Quantum Abyss... And trained and engineered by Lotor to hunt Galra...? Sure. Whatever. It makes no sense and feels shoehorned into the plot. But sure. Rather than being pragmatically working toward an empire that didn't rely on using other races for Quintessence, Lotor was actually secretly making monsters to kill only Galra for the sake of genocide...? Nonsense.

“How do you know so much about it?” Good question Lance. And guess what? It's not actually answered in the show. Go back and watch the episode where Keith and Krolia found this thing. Any hint of it being a weapon Lotor created...? Any hint of it being anything except built or engineered on that base? I think you'll find not because they just forced this into the plot now. Who knows what purpose the creature was supposed to originally serve, if any, but this is obviously nonsense. And Lance is quite rightly asking, “How does Keith know so much about it...?” And it's because the writers needed to info-dump another retcon.

And just a small aside... Lance not knowing the difference between an Altean Hour and an Altean Minute literally contradicts what was established about his grasp of the time system seasons ago. He wasn't born yester-quintant. But now he's too dumb to remember time units. Because who gives a damn about continuity or character progression when you can just have characters regress...?

And why are they acting surprised that Honerva can build more than one robeast...? I'm so tired of seeing them all written as complete idiots. If Honerva has access to Altean Alchemy, and they know she does and access to the infrastructure and resources to build one robeast then it stands to reason she can build more than one... That doesn't even need a genius like Pidge to figure out. That's just common sense. That they've all now written to be bereft of.

And split up? Ok, so with so few episodes to go that likely means splitting focus from the Paladins and the Atlas on an episode by episode basis, most likely. Plus the obligatory “comedy” episode to waste yet more time that could be spent telling the actual story. Then everything needs at least an episode to wrap up...? Guess we're not getting the endings and tied up threads we were expecting. Or if we do it will be brushed aside. Like Keith's explanation of how he knew so much about the Not-A-Xenomorph.

Still, on the bright side? Only a few more episodes to go...

Oh wow. If the ongoing saga of the girl that used to be Allura who will live for millennia and the boy who will live for decades that used to be a character developing wasn't cringeworthy enough, now we have the characters just arbitrarily deciding to go to the one place in the entire Voltron coalition that the Robeast arrived at. Such a lazy plot contrivance. Lance is right. Why couldn't there have been some means of tracking a quintessence signature or some kind of magical anomaly intrinsic to the Robeasts that Honerva is creating? A magical element would have given Allura something to do other than pout. What they needed was something to give them a CLUE as to where they next need to go. Seconds, literally seconds after Pidge has pointed out the vastness of the universe and how unlikely it would be to find the robeast with not a single clue... They just arbitrarily decide to go to the planet it landed on!? What the actual hell, writers? Can I have a crate or two of whatever you were high on when you wrote this, please?

Transformation sequence. Because we need that eating up the run time don't we...? Yeah, it's a nitpick, so what?

Oh boy. Another planet massacred. Another group of allies lost. Cheap emotional tugging at the last hurdle when it's largely irrelevant. Not that I suppose it really matters. After a few months they'll be back on their feet and making cartoons again, just like Earth. After all, they probably all escapedor mostly did. It seems absurd that they couldn't have. They're one of the most technologically advanced species in the universe. Escape pods wouldn't be beyond them. Makes a damn sight more sense than last season where we're supposed to believe the entire multi billion population of Earth fit into those prisons. Billions are dead on Earth, remember? So, 'dead' Olkarion yet another example of the Paladins being given almost no hope of a happy ending short of a deus ex machina that will somehow undo all the damage. Or it just gets ignored. Because who cares about Billions dead on Earth? Or across the rest of the coalition...? Which raises another point... Why did nothing happen to Olkarion during the five year gap...? Did they even try to contact Olkarion when they emerged from the quintessence field...? Because it sure didn't look like it was devastated in their absence. It looked, until the robeast, pristine.

Continuity? What's that? At this point it wouldn't even shock me if they had Pidge wake up and say “wow, what a wild dream...” As the last second of the series.

How can Hunk still not be good under pressure, after he's shown multiple times...to be good under pressure...? To have developed as a character...? You know what, never mind... So wait, this whole episode was just to establish... That Honerva has access to a Teludav...? Is that really information that couldn't have already been inferred? An energy detected on the Robeast for example? Or just, I dunno, putting two and two together? What thematically was gained by Pidge's vision quest that couldn't have been delivered by some survivors? I know they're going for a noble sacrifice on a planetary scale, but... When the noble sacrifice is to deliver information that realistically could have been gathered in countless other ways... It just feels, like a lot of the plot now, forced.

Well, escape pods. Who could have guessed that? And the episode ends with them gaining a tracker. Something that was probably necessary at least on some level to make the episode make sense. Would it have been so hard to say that between Pidge and Allura they made a magi-tech tracker that just about detects the Robeasts and then the Olkari data makes it work perfectly? Nah. Let's just have them find the aftermath of a robeast attack randomly a split second after saying how absurd that would be...

Unique Energy Signatures Interesting. An energy signature that's unique.

And the robeasts have them. Huh.

You know what's really easy to spot in a set of data...?

S O M E T H I N G    U N I Q U E

See, if you take the text so far as an example of background cosmic radiation and all the other stuff one might detect around Earth, the above two words would be a unique energy signature. Something not usually found in nature. Something outside the norm. Make's one wonder why there was no way to track these unique energy signatures before now. Say, with the Atlas or the established satellite networks around Earth. Makes one wonder why over months this data wasn't analysed. Of course, I'm assuming that anyone even turned on a scanner. Or remembered they had hands. Why would anyone think to scan space when a new an unknown enemy showed up. From Space. Don't be silly. That would require the application of logic.

And, I really don't care for the continued loss of time fixating on the MFEs and their wacky lunchtime with Axca... Or indeed all Axca's angst. Considering how much we still have to happen for The Paladins I'm not really feeling the need to develop a last second former general to be a half formed love interest for Keith. Basically following the same plot of learning to be more human and less angst ridden that Keith did. Well, this episode sure feels like filler. Random trap, with a bunch of old enemies. I mean, at least they remembered Alteans can change skin tone, I guess...? Just about the only thing that impressed me about this episode so far.

Well, that fight scene happened. Wait...left you...? The last we saw the two of them had blown up. And half of Zethrid's face is burned. Indicating surviving the explosion. Her entire crusade of gathering mercenaries, hunting Keith, the name of the episode being The Grudge... It all adds up to dead partner. But now Axca's saying... Ezor left Zethrid...? What the hell kind of absurdity is that...? She'll never take me back...? That has to be the biggest dumbest cop out... What could have been a really emotionally compelling look at a “bad guy” having more nuanced motivations... Made Zethrid look like she was having a tantrum.

And still, nothing of the wider plot advances. More filler.

Gosh, this mostly static series of shots of Allura telling us what's happening at Oriande sure is engaging. Thank goodness this isn't in a visual medium or we might have been shown this rather than told... And another big rousing speech about end the war. That will result in the war not ending, if any of the previous times were anything to go by. Except this is the last season, so... This time doing the same thing has to work.

Well, I'm surprised we didn't get two transformation sequences in a row. I would have thought that would be the best use of their time. Also, whilst I see the thematic necessity of Allura in charge, I'm not sure how the plot really justified it. And is it just me, or did Ezor always seem a bit...pasted in place and static...? Not even sure the voice was the same, maybe it's just me... Still no Lance and Pidge Lion connection. Just an aside really. Not sure if we'll ever see it at this stage.

And again, maybe this is just me... But surely we can only feel like every reality is under threat is a big deal once in the same show, right? One also has to wonder that given access to the same alchemical ability and greater knowledge, that Honerva could have retrieved the Sincline with... Another similar mech...? Seems like an unnecessarily massive ritual just to bring probably not Lotor back. Or was bringing him back just part of it and the majority was to collapse the white hole...? She's just controlling him...? Because why not. All this guilt and need to save her son, this massive magical ritual was just... To get a puppet Lotor and to kill the White Lion...? And damage reality in the process? Or is this just the classic trope of screw you all I'm destroying everything?

I mean, I know that these episodes want to keep you guessing, but... Maybe just a touch of explaining what all the bright beams of light and particle effects are would be good...? And preferably not sat at a conference table telling us but through the story showing us. At least the plot has advanced. I guess it's now time for the comedy episode to destroy the flow...? 

Well, seems like another filler episode. I really wanted an entire episode dedicated to a secondary character when there's already plenty of Paladin's stories left to tell. And the interview format is still more excuses for tell don't show as people talk at the screen to deliver information without it seeming artificial. The absurd necessities to make the found footage format work always bugs me. There's no difference here. I'm just not feeling Cloverfield but Voltron. I can't deny that it's been animated well, but, I'm tired of filler. And this season so far has been the vast majority filler.

If you want to do dramatic framing and filming, keeping one character in shot and then another, then swapping back... Then clearly your camera has a dramatically appropriate setting that works in micro gravity. If you're going to do found footage, don't also drop the ball and include impossible camera movements.

Honestly, Coran retelling the whole series would have been more entertaining than what it has been so far. But for what it's worth, the world building, finding out Colleen Holt is a biologist / geneticist of some considerable skill? Yeah. Interesting. But...how late in the game are we to be finding all this out...? Doesn't world building usually happen throughout, dotted about organically? This all just feels like... Here's some stuff we never got to mention before now. All delivered in a really artificial seeming way...

Adjusting for long range parameters...?

You're in orbit. Your ship can communicate over light years with no signal delay. Orbit is not long range for The Atlas. Just say you're adjusting for interference...

Also, they are finding new and creative ways to have meetings around a big table. The most riveting part of this show. Watch in wonder as three static characters hover over an action scene interspersed with static. Wonder if next time we'll get to see someone make coffee for the meeting. Puzzle over the filler to plot ratio. Thank characters talking directly to the screen telling us the status of questioning prisoners of war that could have been delivered in countless other ways. Wouldn't that conversation with the Altean have been more interesting if delivered in the interrogation room rather than through two cameras...?

Still not going to touch the lifespan gap? Ok.

And holy crap use Hunk more. That desert part? Brilliant. An actual stand out moment that shows his compassion and his intellect. Not just being a big worrying goof who eats. Finally, something I can genuinely praise in this whole mess. They haven't ignored Hunk. That was a wonderful moment, breaking barriers with cookies. And so far, in terms of writing, 100% the best part of the whole series. One diamond in all the rough... Or maybe something of more value than a diamond. Like a good writer on the Voltron team...

“Winning prizes is my speciality.” Uhuh. Once someone has been rendered a prize I guess.

And now it's time for yet another filler episode interspersed with a little plot. Sorry, by plot I mean an info dump. This time from “Lotor” or a vision of him at least. Lecturing us about the void creatures. It's about time they got brought up again. But thanks writers for yet again delivering that information and story in the least engaging possible way.

It's nice seeing the characters have a little fun. I won't deny it. I personally don't buy how eager Pidge is to help Lance out on his shiny thing for Allura quest... But, at this stage I think I should just cast aside anything that might have previously been established about the characters and just assume stuff will happen at the writer's whims. If I'm lucky, it will be entertaining. Maybe the inconsistency comes from writing? Or animators not being given clear direction by writers? Or executive meddling. Maybe I also think it's cheating to use a robot arm that has no resistance in an arm wrestling contest. Shiro's body provides no leverage. It's all down to the hand unit, but nobody brings that up in the show. Even though they should.

Also not digging the using both the men in her life to tempt Allura. It kinda draws even more attention to how flighty they made her. How sudden and how jarring her reciprocating Lance's feelings was when they first seeded it at the Omega Shield. One big gesture to win his prize. It's all so skin crawling. So diminishing for both her and for Lance. Honerva, through the void creature, can presumably see this in her mind. Why else would she shift between the two men? It's almost as though the show itself is acknowledging they made Allura indecisive, flighty, weak to temptation and easily manipulated. And then she puts her hand to the glass. Then takes what is effectively a demon into her, that she knows allows Honerva to kill a host at will. I mean, at least they included her Mother, rather than Alfor. That's something I suppose, to indicate that her entire character isn't solely defined by the men in her life now. Though, it's small comfort. I mean, I get that she's being manipulated. I get that she's being tempted. But she's not Allura any longer. Allura was the incredibly strong willed last daughter of a dead world. A genocide survivor who came out fighting. The princess who gave up her last vestiges of her royal office for her friend to have an arm. The woman who killed the last remnants of her own Father's uploaded mind. Allura is strong willed. Stronger willed than any of us could dream of being. Or at least she was. Much as they now try to devalue her in the show... She united two thirds of the Universe under the Voltron coalition. Now what is she...? A damsel in distress who's going to need to be saved from her own weakness and a prize to the nice boy. And I'd put money on Lance using his Altean Broadsword to save her, just to hammer that home.

Of all the awful choices the writers have made, destroying Allura is probably the worst. You'd think I'd say Plance, but you'd be wrong. As I've always said, I'd rather not have it be canon at all than have it be badly written crap. So even if somehow Plance is super late end game, it will be just a shoddily written piece of crap on top of a giant shitty cake. So I wanted to take my victories where I could. I wanted to hope that maybe Allura could be Allura again at the last hurdle. Nope. Destroyed.

And credit where it's due? That overly bombastic anime-as-fuck arm wrestle, complete with foe with a heart of gold trope played for laughs? Yeah. That was fun. It's not like they can't do moments. I will admit that. They have some among the writing staff who make wonderful moments. It's just a shame those moments are mired in so much dross...

That touch of self awareness about the robot arm from Iverson I appreciated. Again. Moments. The entire concept of using a void creature combined with Voltron's joining of minds seems like the worst idea ever. It puts them all in jeopardy. Lance is being the only sensible one there. Which is rare to say. It also doesn't feel like he's doing it purely out of his feelings for her. Just common sense. Also, I feel like the Astral Lions moment would have carried a little more oomph if... Lance and Pidge had had their Lion Bond moment. I'm going to keep coming back to that. Because it feels very present in it's absence. It feels as if it has been either removed or else forgotten.

The battle with their alternate selves was fascinating. One of the few fight scenes that acutally wasn't boring this season. Though, Allura inevitably giving in to and using the darkness... What did I say before...? They've made her so weak. It took her lion intervening to stay her hand. And was it just me or was Lance using his broadsword...? With no fanfare...? No dramatically appropriate moment for it to materialise in a meaningful way...? It's just... There...? They establish he can summon it only under intense need, then never use it and now suddenly it's just... There...? Wow. I was giving them far too much credit when I assumed it was foreshadowing some dramatically appropriate moment. Sorry to anyone out there I said as much to. They just forgot about it.

This may be bad of me, but there's something distinctly Freudian about Lance wielding Allura's Father's Broad Sword... That just me?

So... They're continuing together on life's journey now...? And we're still not going to even touch on relative human to Altean life spans...? Really...? Ok...

And this is just another aside...

Their minds are all connected. So, Pidge doesn't need to explain anything except for the sake of the audience. That's fine and dandy. I'm used to Voltron relying on prodigious amounts of exposition. But why is Alfor surprised at the knowledge of Allura being possessed...? Angry? Sure. Concerned? Sure. Trying to convince her it's a bad idea? Sure. But...surprised...? How...? The plot would have you believe they're all profoundly connected on a far deeper level than ever before... And yet, somehow he's surprised at this knowledge...? Whatever. Plot right? Who cares. It's not like a team of writers have been paid a large sum for this to be a coherent story...

Should I just rename myself Bitter Bitching Bear?

Probably... I guess palaces in the mind would make a Voltron and Persona 5 crossover possible. Not that I would want to lessen Persona 5 in that way. Just an idle observation. And again, despite the mind connection, Allura is revealing things to Alfor that surprise him. I know it'd make conversations pointless and thus the whole show would be a hard watch... But still, why even pretend there is a mind connection if they don't even pay it lip service?

If I was taking a shot every time there was an unnecessary transformation sequence... In fairness I'd probably just be a little merry. But still, for a show that's being so rushed, they seem to have all the time in the world for transformation sequences and filler episodes. And really lousy looking CGI corridors. That was jarring. Also, Lance and Alfor being one and the same in the cockpit. Freudian symbolism intensifies.

Now, I'm just going to spitball for a moment. Allura is filled with an evil tennis ball from the void. She needs the evil ball to find Honerva. Yet we've seen she can remove the entities from Alteans. Admittedly, a dead one but, what's to say it's not possible on a living Altean? It's not like anyone tried.

Take the entity. Sever their connection. Ask the Alteans where Honerva is. Literally no need to put her sanity at risk. No need to have her willingly being possessed by a spooky space demon. Would it be as visually impressive? No. But it was an alternative that wasn't even discussed. Or considered.  And it makes a great deal more sense. It also allows Allura to remain at least partially her incredibly strong willed self and not give in to the easy dark path. Yes, at this stage she's resisting. But let's be real. She's going to fall to the darkness. At least for a time. You don't foreshadow this hard about how bad the spooky space demon is unless you're going somewhere with it. Mind you, I've been wrong before about the writers doing something they're obviously building toward...

And now Lotor has gone from compelling conflicted character, to vampire space Hitler to a pile of gloop in a chair. Just one screw you after the next... Guess there's no redemption arc for him that doesn't involve a spatula...

Also, it suddenly strikes me that there's a whole lot of lazy asset reuse thanks to this episode's memory stuff going on. I'm also pretty sure I saw Lance's crazy gunning face against Alfor used elsewhere. Have the animators also given up? Well, with what they've been given to write, I wouldn't blame them. And...why is Zarkon's colour palette off...? His skin is literally the wrong colour... Come on guys, this isn't even funny... Why would Honerva remember her own Husband as the wrong colour...? Why would, what I assume is Zarkon's soul, be the wrong colour...?

Honerva's plan... So... Let me get this straight...

Honerva has Zarkon's soul in her mind. Possibly Lotor's somewhere as well, but that's just a guess.

She's made cloned bodies before. You see where I'm going with this?

Why destroy every single other reality, just to find the right one when she could just... Replace their souls in cloned bodies...? Or at the very least bring Zarkon back to aid her...? If Allura could do it it would be child's play to Honerva. Her motivation makes sense, but her method is utterly stupid. It makes her look stupid when she can't even use the tools at her own disposal.

What even is this daft speech and argument from Keith...?

Voltron is gone? Voltron is within us...?

Bollocks to your pseudo-deep emotional prattle. Just be sensible for once. The lions were never there to begin with. They were astral constructs. The lions aren't literally there so they aren't literally gone. You don't need a rousing speech about reaching for the lion inside you, because it's all in your heads as much as it's in hers... So stupid.

Also, pretty sure the entire blazing sword sequence was reused...

And something bad happened to Allura because she used the bad thing that was bad. Did we mention it was bad enough?

Well, here it is. The Big Robot they have to beat this season. Complete with seraphic imagery and form. That sure as hell hasn't been done to death, has it? And it's the board room of exposition again. Woohoo. And yet more Lance angst. And another Lance and Keith bonding moment. We get it, they're friends now. Ok, apparently removing the entity didn't kill the Altean...? So she could literally have just used their help...? Or even traced Honerva using one of the other's entity. And again, nothing was even suggested to do that.

I'm honestly not sure what would have been worse right now. The fact that Allura has been rendered bed bound and unable to do anything or if she'd been made a damsel in distress to be literally saved. Then again, I suppose there's still time for that. And in a sense, she is still in distress. Waiting to be saved by the plot. Oh, here it is. Lance going to awaken her with his love. Hooray. The damsel in distress is saved by the Nice Guy.

And the whole first part of the episode was literally just padding and wasting time. Are we any closer to finding out why Keith can do what he does...? Will we ever find out? Nah, I'll scratch that off along with Lance and Pidge ever getting their lion moments that everyone else got last season. But thank goodness we had time for all the pointless filler.

Ok... So, to be clear... At no point before going into the Astral Plane, did Allura think to remove the entities from the Alteans they have onboard...? I mean, yeah, sure, Allura getting controlled is one thing, she's just a plot device to be used these days and lacks any agency of her own any longer. But to have the irrelevant side characters not have their spooky space ghost taken out... When they know it directly connects them to Honerva... Even if they couldn't predict Honerva could control them, leaving them bonded with the entities was a stupid risk... Everyone is written like an idiot.

And, I'm not even sure how you can classify these void creatures as entities. They don't seem to have any will or agency of their own. They just seem to serve as brain bluetooth for Honerva and nothing else. Feels like they were supposed to be more than they ended up being. You can pretty much sum up the whole series as such. It was supposed to be so much more than it ended up being.

Now, I'm sure someone will point out that the Balmera we know is near Earth, so it shouldn't be here. Which is why they found a random new Balmera and new Balmerans. But, wouldn't it be more satisfying to have Shay and her formerly enslaved people being part of this final battle...? Wouldn't it be more compelling than watching New Balmera and the New Balmerans to see Shay and her long downtrodden people fighting back...? To just introduce a new Balmera with no previous stakes in the conflict is...mind boggling...

Mother and Son combined huh...? Freudian Symbology 3 – The Freudianing

Two episodes and then it's all over. Thankfully over.

And still time for another transformation sequence. We get it. Lions go click. I never thought I'd get bored watching a giant robot form... And at this stage, repetition seems to be a good topic. They're battling to save all realities. Again. There's a big space wobbly hole. Again. Only Coran with the power of breaking stuff can stop it. Again. I mean, I get this is based on a formulaic Japanese super robot show from the 80's, but it's current year argument... Can we maybe have something new in the season arc formula that isn't beat the big bad robot...? Right up until season 6 this show had so much potential and we've watched it all get squandered.

So...suddenly Balmera... That can travel at speeds at least as quick as Teludav...? Ok, sure. Whatever. And calling the other Balmera here...? Wow, wouldn't that have been more compelling if Shay, on her own Balmera previously wounded by Honerva, called out to the others? Wouldn't that have made this suddenly Balmera moment make more sense...? Nah. Screw sense. New Balmera and the New Balmerans happened. Then a whole bunch happened... It's like, they're missing all these obvious ways to tie things together using all they have in place... How can one writer never mind a whole damn team of writers miss something so elementary so repeatedly...?

At this stage, I genuinely think they stopped caring.

Deus Ex Balmera made Voltron and The Atlas fuse into a derpy generic looking Gundam.

You've got the rights to Voltron one of the most iconic combiner robots in history. Why the hell would you, for the final battle, turn it into yet another generic looking super robot in high heels!? Why!? Even that daft looking toy covered in blue bits was better than this...

Again, I can't understand how seeing two robots form a bigger robot is somehow boring... But they managed it... Makes me worry that the Voltron writers are apparently going on to do Spider Verse films... Somehow they might make multiple reality spider people boring...

And a big silly looking sword as well. Why not just cover it in belt buckles while you're at it?

And given this Alt-Reality Lotor and Alt-Reality Allura, they had the perfect chance to have them both be adorable little munchkins together. Couldn't even do that... And can we just stop with this? We get it, even if she wins she loses cause it's not really her world and not really her Zarkon and her plan was always doomed to fail... Yes, we get it. Hubris. Can we please just hurry up and end the series before I start listing all of the many plot threads you've overlooked...?

Ok, now the over-designed purple mess can fight the over-designed mess with a vaguely Voltron head. Then some shoddy deus ex machina will happen, probably.

Yup. Voltron just turns into a giant set of wings before ending up in the nexus of all realities. And Allura makes it all better with her magic. And predictably Allura makes the ultimate sacrifice because of course she does. Who didn't see this coming? And did she just magically make Lance Altean...? Man, I preferred Allura when she wasn't just a walking plot device. Though, now I think back, was she ever anything else...? How bad it's gotten makes me re-evaluate what it was... And finally we get everything tied up with a few sentences under some still images with the exception of Shiro's kiss, which was fine, but hardly the soul surging uplifting thing it wanted to be.

And that's that.

Previously, I was angry, I will admit that. And it was shameful. Now though...? I'm obviously bitter and sarcastic about it, but mostly a combination of relief and disappointment. Glad it's over. Disappointed at what it ultimately devolved into. Ironic as this may be, coming from a writer of shitty Voltron fanfiction... From season six onwards, this show has felt like shitty Voltron fanfiction. In essence, that's what it was. There are so many of you here on tumblr. who could have done a better job. A much better job. Maybe some of you will in future.

At least now, I can move on from the mess that the canon became. I won't waste my time hoping they'll make it better or wondering if they'll resolve every plot thread. Because I know they don't. I know they forget whole swathes of things they set up. And I'm sure people will point out more. I won't be writing fics trying to make them fit into the canon. If anything, I'll want to rewrite everything that went wrong from season six onwards. I will probably at least finish off some Plance pieces that I think The Garden needs now more than ever. Set in some of the alternate realities that didn't turn into this...utter mess... See you later, Space Cowboys. Sorry about the space dysentery.

Also, as one comment points out? That's not a gundam in my gif. But just a robot that looks silly dancing. pretty sure it's from a gundam series...but I only really know wing and beargguys. ...Here's a jolly thought. Altean Lance? He will live for centuries. Allura's last "gift" condemns him to spend nearly 1000 years watching his friends, his family over several generations, probably his entire lineage die and rot. All the while mourning her and never moving on. Fuck. This. Season.

[tjkiahgb]

Based on what we've been fed thus far, what do you predict being the next beat of the Tyrus storyline / Cyrus's storyline in general, and where do you predict the end of the season will leave us?

This is a good question that I don’t have a particularly unique answer for. Still, that’s never stopped me before, so…

Let’s tackle Cyrus, TJ, and then any potential Cyrus/TJ one-by-one.

Cyrus:

Here’s this thing about Cyrus’s arc regarding his crush on Jonah: it’s more or less complete. It began with an episode where Cyrus and Buffy spy on Andi and Jonah, Cyrus and Buffy discuss it, and then Cyrus admits to Buffy he’s jealous and has a crush on Jonah. This last week, we got the spying on Andi and Jonah with Buffy, the conversation between the two afterwards, the lack of jealousy and the acknowledgement of the crush again, though this time, talking about the end of it. That the two scenes share these similarities makes them nice bookends for his arc.

That said, I do think at some point, crush or not, Cyrus still needs to come out to Jonah.

I’m a little worried that, because we only have two real episodes with Jonah left this season, (because Asher went off to shoot Shazam and will be mostly kept out of the finale) we might be running out of time for this to happen. Especially because these next two episodes seem like they’re going to be tied up in a lot of Andi/Jonah story, with the art show this week and their trampoline date the next episode.

My hope is that, even with the lack of time it appears Jonah might have for Cyrus in these remaining episodes, they’re able to carve out at least a little piece to get it done, even if it’s somewhat quick.

Even if it’s not necessarily vital to the story at this point, it would put a nice button on Cyrus’s arc for the season (coming out to his closest friends: Buffy first, then Andi, and finally Jonah, who he now views as a close friend).

TJ:

I don’t believe that he’s back until the finale, so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of movement with him until then. (Maybe a couple more instances of off-screen good behavior? Characters bringing him up? Jonah mentioning their interaction at the Bar Mitzvah? It’s funny that he only appears in every four episodes, but his name seems to get mentioned in almost every one.)

In the finale, TJ still needs to apologize to the genuine Buffy to complete his redemption arc. And what better way to show the growth from enemy to ally than back on the basketball court where the conflict began? There’s supposed to be a big game in the finale, so we could get Buffy and TJ playing together, TJ passing her the ball, Buffy making a game winning basket. All that good stuff.

TJ/Cyrus:

I think once you complete both of Cyrus’s and TJ’s stories from this season, you can begin dropping hints for their next stories, including a potential relationship arc.

Assuming they win the basketball game, and I’m going to say they probably will (it seems silly to go through all this and then lose at the end when TJ and Buffy finally play together – that’s some message), there will be a celebration. Lots of smiles and hugs and things of that nature. Spirits will be running high. That, or soon after that, would be the clearest place for something to happen.

The show’s established language for the unspoken crush is the look back™. There are other options, of course, but that would be the most obvious thing to look out for. (@mackmeta had a good post talking about Buffy’s crush, but he also brought up how the show has introduced a couple of new ways to tell a crush without speaking it. For Cyrus, after last episode, we understand that hugs and a raised heartbeat would also be an indicator, so that’s a strong possibility to look for in the finale as well. Given that only Buffy knows that tell and given her history with TJ, if a hug happened, then Cyrus would have to explain to her that his heart started beating fast for TJ, and that could be kind of a fun scene.)

If we stick to the look back, I think it’d be an interesting move for TJ to do it, but if I had to guess which one of the two was more likely to look back at the other, I’d go with Cyrus. If that happened, it would allow for Cyrus to begin exploring the idea in early season 3 without TJ before he’s reintroduced in ~episode 5 and Cyrus can begin acting on it.

If TJ looks back, then that story sort of stalls until he reappears, which, you know, is possible. There are a lot of episodes to fill, and Cyrus’s romantic interests being put on the back burner for a little while wouldn’t be unprecedented in this show.

(Or, you know, they both look at each other? At different moments? At the same moment? That’s maybe too much telegraphing, but you never know.)

I do think Cyrus coming out to Jonah could be pushed to season 3.

And if we do get anything for TJ/Cyrus, I believe a small look back or similar such moment would be the extent of it. Just a hint, mostly setting up the potential for it in season 3. (Honestly, I would happily take that much just to let me know this storyline is still active in the producers’ minds.)

But mostly, all I want is for TJ to achieve full hashtag good boi status by the finale.I do feel sort of confident on TJ’s arc, but the rest… not as much.

[writingfromalterspace]

The  Brilliance of Voltron

[SPOILER ALERT:  This article discusses the final series and the events of the last episode.]

The big question at the end of the eighth and last series is:  what did you think?  I’m surprised to find myself saying:  IT WAS BRILLIANT.  Yes, it was flawed.  No, this isn’t what I thought was going to happen.  And no doubt the fandom is up in arms and raging with trillions of theories and “should have beens” flying across the interweb.  Fortunately, I live in a universe of one (me) where virtually no opinions colour my thinking on anything, so I can say, without knowing what anyone else thinks:  I loved it.  It was bloody brilliant.  And it ended exactly how it was supposed to.

The two main aspects of the eighth series were the Lance/Allura relationship and Allura’s death.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say:  it had to happen.  Both aspects HAD TO HAPPEN.  She had to have a relationship with Lance.  And she had to die.  No one wanted her to have a thing with Lance, least of all me.  The idea was put forward quite early on;  after all, Lance had a humongous crush on her from the moment he saw her.  But the idea of this rather young and immature guy with the extremely sophisticated, intelligent, powerful woman who was ten thousand years old (and counting) was just WRONG.

BUT!  The fact that it was wrong, meant it was perfect.  Wow, that’s going to be hard to explain!  For a start, the moment the relationship was established in the first episode, I realised she was going to die.  It was the Big Arrow:  the fact that their relationship was wrong indicated directly that she had to die.  They couldn’t be together forever.  There was no happy-ever-after for them.  Knowing she was going to die (and I promise, I knew NOTHING about this series when I started watching:  I go in with no spoilers at all, no knowledge, and no discussion with anyone) meant that I watched the entire series on edge:  when would she die.  How would she die.  How would this affect everyone.  How would this affect Lance.

Simply put, what we have here is a conflict in a relationship:  it was perfect and it was wrong.  How could it be both?  It was wrong, thus it signalled Allura’s death.  And it was perfect because of a little thing called STRENGTH.

Now I need to talk about Allura:  she was by far the strongest character, in every way, and also had the greatest strength of character.  She believed in the Paladins from the moment they arrived, before they even had a chance to believe in themselves.  She held them together.  She had knowledge.  She had power.  She was absolutely driven, too, and very focused on what needed to be done.  She had lost everything:  her family, her people, her planet.  She had nothing left and everything to live for.

ALLURA GAVE EVERYONE STRENGTH…….

……but who gave Allura strength?

Not Lotor.

Ah, Lotor.  Sigh.  Seriously hot.  Sexy voice.  God, he was yummy.  Please let me take a moment while I divert into fantasyland…….

Anyway, Lotor was the ideal partner for Allura.  Completely besides the fact that he was gorgeous, he was her equal in every way:  intelligent, educated, driven.  They talked the same language and they understood one another.  And they looked really good together.  The chemistry worked.  They worked.  It was an ideal match.  I wanted them to get married and have lots of babies all in different colours with white hair.  This was a couple that fulfilled my every romantic dream.  However, this would only have worked if Lotor was redeemed.  Just how he could be redeemed, I couldn’t imagine.  He had been broken by his godawful parents.  Was there any possibility of coming back from that kind of insanity?

Which leads me back to my question:  who was there to give Allura strength?  And the answer is:  Lance.  When she was broken after her foray into Honerva’s mind, who brought her back?  Who sat at her bedside and LOVED her?  Lance.  No one else could do it.  And THAT is why their relationship was perfect.  THAT is why it had to be:  SOMEONE had to give HER strength and that person had to be someone who offered her pure, innocent, devoted, whole-hearted love.  Someone who loved her utterly for who she was.  It was love that brought her back.  And however much I felt uncomfortable with their relationship, I could see it had to be.

It was also part of Lance’s story arc.

I want to look briefly at all the story arcs, because one thing that troubled me in the eighth series (and for the seventh as well) was that there was very little character development.  I only realised later, once I’d finished watching to the end, that the reason for this was because most of the character arcs had already finished.

Pidge:  Her story ended basically when she found her brother and father.  She was now complete as a person.

Hunk:  He didn’t have much of a story arc but it was completed right at the very end when he cooked for the diplomats, which was a really nice touch.

Shiro:  His story arc ended when he truly found himself, as it were, and became wholly himself (with that awful new arm that I really hated, but that’s another story).  He reached his pinnacle by running Atlas.  Before he’d been the leader of Voltron, but being the leader (captain or whatever) of Atlas, meant he was even more powerful.  So he had all the power he was going to get and didn’t need to develop much more.  I loved that he had a happy ending with a new partner:  as a character, he really suffered the most and deserved some joy.

Keith:  His story arc ended with his rescuing Shiro and finding his mother (not in that order, I don’t think!)  So as a person, he was complete before series eight and didn’t need more development.  I personally don’t think Keith was capable of a romantic relationship with anyone, boy or girl.  I think he is destined to be a lone wolf for the rest of his life.  His pinnacle was being able to lead Voltron:  this was Keith at his most powerful.  His friendship with Lance, I think, was extremely important, and I imagine he would always be there for Lance.  This was indicated in a scene towards the end and was a sign of his maturity.

Lance:  But no one matured more than Lance and we had to wait a long time to see that maturity.  He was silly and funny and excitable and jealous.  But he was also smart.  His perfect-but-wrong relationship with Allura gave him the maturity he lacked and I even wondered at one point:  who are you and what have you done with the real Lance?!  Not only did his chance to openly love the woman he had yearned for for so long make him grow up, he also actually grew a few inches and ended up taller than Keith!

So:  it was part of the crucial story arc that Lance reach maturity by having that relationship with Allura.  It was part of Allura’s story arc that she be given strength from someone who loved her because frankly, she was exhausted after giving up all her strength for everyone else.

And just because her death was signposted (to me, anyway, as I am a writer and have an understanding of story construction), doesn’t mean it wasn’t a shock.  The moment she said, “I’m not coming back,” I broke down and sobbed.  Her sacrifice was the right thing to do but it was still heart breaking.

More about that sacrifice:  why did it have to be Allura?  Because she was a goddess.  She may have been born a princess, but she grew into her godhood.  This was her story arc:  her attainment of power.  She became more and more powerful as the story developed until she was powerful enough not only to end Honerva but to REDEEM HER.

Before I do on, I want to make a note about the theme of Voltron.  To me, it was about strength.  Not just the characters and that whole “my robot is bigger than your robot” thing.  Behind every evil character was another evil character who was even stronger than the first.  But the strongest of all was Honerva.  She was, frankly, horrible.  But the more powerful she became, the more one pitied her because all she wanted was to be her little boy’s mother.  And there is no greater strength, if you can measure such a thing, than a mother’s love for her child.  Not all mothers.  Not always.  Not always in the right way.  And not all parents bond with their kids.  But if there is a bond, the pain when it breaks is truly terrifying.  And it was that pain and loss that drove Honerva.  It was that pain and loss that gave her the terrible strength to do what she did:  to tear through universes to find the right one where she could be a mother.

And – oh! – what a fantastic piece of writing!  THE IRONY!  When at last she found the perfect universe, when she found Lotor as a child, he REJECTED her because he was uncorrupted and pure and could see her for what she was.  The irony is that the only universe that produced an uncorrupted Lotor was the one in which Honerva had disappeared.  Honestly, even the Star Wars universe couldn’t produce an idea as good as this, as subtle, as complex, as brilliant.

So now it’s the end and we have the two most powerful beings in all the universes confront each other:  good vs evil.  I love that they were both women.  And I love that Allura showed her strength not by fighting, in the end, but by showing the greatest strength of all:  she helped to redeem Honerva.  And by redeeming Honerva, she also redeemed Lotor:  by recreating all the universes again in a new god-like big bang thing, it meant that that uncorrupted Lotor, in his universe, could grow up to be a good man, the one he wanted to be, the one I wanted him to be, the one Allura would have wanted him to be.  So he was redeemed after all.

Now who can truly offer redemption more completely than a god?  Or goddess?  Thus did Allura reach the level of godhood.  And gods and goddesses are, as we know, immortal.  So Allura isn’t dead.

She’s out there.  And she’s strong.

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 9: The 100 2x01, The 48

Okay, settling down to rewatch 2x01, the start of my favorite season...

I love this Clarke so much. Badass Clarke, sneaky Clarke, a Clarke who will fearlessly do what she has to in order to escape and to get to her friends. A Clarke with convictions and guts.

How DO they know everyone’s names lol? Is that ever explained? (ETA: Monty was obviously the informant.)

Mount Weather is one of my favorite parts of this show, honestly. I love that their mission is in part to preserve the beautiful things humanity created, like art; they gave their prisoner Starry Night. The ORIGINAL Starry Night. I just find that very moving. All of these non-essential parts of being human... the show has abandoned them and that’s part of why it’s so hollow for me now, I think.

Level 5: where it all begins and it all ends.

The Clarke/Maya relationship could have been so much more, tbh. Like they had their good moments, like threatening to kill each other etc., but they could have gone deeper.

Surprise! Underground executive branch family dinner! This is the sort of twist I can get behind.

Haha remember when actual delinquents still existed? I joke but truly the later canon has ruined parts of this show for me.

I forgot Tristan survived into 2x01. Not for long. Such Grounder hypocrisy: “That’s one. I lost 300.” He makes it sound as if Finn marched into a village and killed 300 people--they were fucking soldiers on the attack you dum-dum.

“Only our warriors speaking English.” Well that sounds like bullshit based on literally everything we see after this point.

The statue of Lincoln is “the place we go to settle disputes.” First, please don’t say they settle disputes to the death or some nonsense, and second, that’s his namesake... Significant? I mean, objectively, no, but can I make something out of it somehow?

I disliked Luna but she COULD have been so interesting and she and Lincoln COULD have had quite a dynamic. I headcanon them as exes. I want to know their whole backstory tbh. When they met. How. If he wanted to go with her to the sea. If he did perhaps and then came back.

Drink every time someone cauterizes a wound.

You know what else they should have done? Story line about the meeting of Grounder and Sky People medicine. Oh wait that would have taken away from the repetitive war story lines never mind.

That dropship is so fucking impressive. WHERE ARE THE AWARDS FOR THE SET PEOPLE?

And the costume people for those awesome masks.

Am I supposed to feel bad for this Grounder and his charred friend? I do not. Next time, don’t attack the children for no reason and you won’t get burned to a crisp. Easy.

The thing is I can never get behind the Raven + Murphy friendship 100% even though their S5 dynamic looked interesting because he literally fucking shot her and that’s just not a bygones are bygones thing. But they do have personalities that mesh well together so in that way it’s sort of a shame. Also he 10000000000000% had a crush on her don’t even try to argue.

She fired that gun at him. I forgot that. She fired but was out of bullets, that’s the only reason he didn’t die right there. “Yeah I would have shot me too.”

I’m p. sure that’s the real Mount Weather?

I know the Mount Weather people have no leg to stand on when it comes to the Grounders and that they’re...pretty obviously racist, but in their defense--the Grounders were written to be pretty savage, so “savages,” while unforgivably racially tinged, is a fair descriptor of them.

I know I’ve harped on this before but Mount Weather has a judicial system of some sort and it’s possible to press charges there. Somehow. The world building on this show sucks balls.

“They also said you were their leader” is like some retconning, okay. Because you will not convince me that for most of S1 BELLAMY wasn’t the leader in the eyes of the delinquents.

“Kiddo.”

Fucking love Dante. Where are my Dante + Clarke mentor/mentee or ex-mentor/mentee or different-gen-rivals fics?

“We prioritize safety over sentimentality.” As Maya takes blood she absolutely doesn’t need but is having just in case and that she knows comes from someone else’s tortured body because she’s accepted this as something they do, because she’s not sentimental. But she already feels guilty.

Clarke is already using the word “capture.” I had a discussion with someone once about Clarke’s vision of Mount Weather versus, say, Jasper’s, and why it was different and I said some poorly phrased stuff that didn’t really reflect my thoughts and opinions and it still haunts me but I feel like this is...relevant to that. How she immediately feels ‘captured,’ trapped.

Clarke’s devotion to her friends and her people was still so pure and right here.

Dante really does believe he “saved” them. I wonder what his thought process was... I really hate the “savages” so I must save these children? These children look interesting, let’s meet some new friends? She’s right of course that if they were really guests, they could leave.

Multiple crash sites over 100 square miles = I should go on google maps to confirm my Pennsylvania/Farm Station theory but I’m too lazy.

GOD THOSE CLOTHES. I love that Clarke picks the pants and the high heel shiv.

There’s no way there’s actually time for natural selection to work that fast in 97 years and also I’m pretty sure the Sky People are genetically modified because their original pool was way too small for the process Dante is describing but whatever this show is all la-di-da science.

Also: this is how you run an underground Bunker OCTAVIA.

Dante was the only rival/antagonist/whatever Clarke has ever had that rivals her instincts and intelligence yeah I said it; fight me. I know she needed to be on the outside for this season to work but he should have been her mentor. He basically set her up to be mentored and then she ran off and into L who basically destroyed her and she’s never recovered.

THAT REUNION. Heartwarming. Though hard to watch too because this show did both Jasper and Monty so dirty. (Yeah I said that too WHAT OF IT.)

“Dying. Same as you.” Murphy gets all the good lines. That’s why people like him, forget this “redemption arc.”

The Grounder Raven killed was Murphy’s guard and honestly--hilarious. He abandons his post, realizes all his friends are skeletons, pickpockets one, then is shot by what he must initially assume is a dead body. Better character than almost anyone introduced from S3 on.

This cake scene is the most iconic. Jonty were scene stealers stfu. They’re children--basically. They get to act their age. They get to be happy and silly and they loved each other so much.

“Pretend like you’re happy to see me.” / “We are happy to see you.” See? Adorable. I know he’s no cinnamon roll but gosh, adorable.

And then Clarke comes in like secret espionage time and they just look so Tired TM.

I feel like Monty knew, or suspected on some level, that Jasper wasn’t just ‘bummed out’ by Clarke’s suspicions, he was panicking a little.

I can’t believe Jasper and Maya have known each other for like 10 seconds and she’s already seen his O face.

“Clarke’s the only reason we survived.” Um ex-CUSE me but I know you didn’t forget Bellamy’s existence, Jasper.

Clarke’s so smart!

Maya brings out the big guns, literally.

“I’m the one who fired the rockets. Should I not have done that?” is so heartbreaking. Mostly because of the delivery. I love this entire scene. There are like 8 different scenes I love in this episode, like whole-heartedly and truly love.

Clarke’s suspicions really do look like paranoia. Like I see what she’s picking up on, saw it even the first time I watched this ep, but there’s a sense in which she does appear irrational.

There’s actually something kinda funny about Bellamy running out with a spear in one scene, looking around blankly, and then getting chained up as a prisoner in the next scene. At least he inspired his little protege Monroe. Scenes like this are the reason she joined Pike in S3.

Tristan’s like “Who are these fucking children running at me and screaming?” Then he gets shot in the head. Goodbye Tristan you won’t be missed.

“We’re here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” This sounds like Kane playing out a hero fantasy he’s had since he was a child. Except he’s talking to two mud-stained kids who are looking at him skeptically instead of, like, a captured heroine or something.

I feel like they set up this conflict where the adults/Sky People elite come in and, like Kane says explicitly, assume they’re in charge and everyone will fall in line, but then the delinquents don’t see it that way or want that: they have their own priorities (their friends) and their own relationships (Finn and Bell don’t even LIKE each other but they’re still communicating by look) and their own knowledge (the pipes that allow them to move through the dropship camp quickly and without permission). But then... it sort of plays into the rest of the season...but not that much?? Not as much as I would like.

“You are not animals. There are rules. Laws. You are not in control here anymore.”

This show sacrificed a lot of complex relationships to just either make people buddy-buddy who had no reason to be or just arbitrarily assign relationships to scenes or episodes without regard for continuity at all.

Raven took Jasper’s goggles.... never over this.

How was bringing Octavia to TonDC faster than collecting some beetles for her to eat?

“Loss, pain, regret. Time eases these things.” I’d say this is the sort of line the show should be repeating but God when it gets a line in its teeth it never lets the fuck go so I guess it’s better this one remains pristine.

I find Dante very sympathetic but also so creepy.

They weren’t really patrolling for other people, were they? Because like...surely they would have found them. They’re at the dropship and close by. He was just bullshitting here. But why don’t they want to make even more new friends?

Dante’s stationery is presidential themed lol. Glad we stocked up the bunkers properly with the important stuff.

The crashed Alpha Station is beautiful. I believe this was the first time it was shown on the show? Ugh, this whole sequence with the music, it’s perfect and so touching.

Jaha is the most tragic and heartbreaking figure on this show. He also doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Just...the image of a man alone in space, talking to his loved ones, hoping they can hear them, not knowing if they can... I almost can’t handle it. I used to be very unsure if I liked where his story line went after this (seeing it in its entirety, I defend it) but surely he could not have died this way.

....I really gotta sleep now.

[reylohasmyheart]

Wait what happened? :O I am out of the Reylo loop.

haha you’re not out of the loop! Nothing particular happened lately for me to say reylo is going to be canon. I just love to make prophetic claims about how reylo will be canon intermittently, just to balance out the antis denial. :) 

Truthfully though, it’s looking more and more likely. The new promo shots and stills that have been released all point to a more human and vulnerable Kylo, Rian’s tweets and likes do the same, all the little scraps of information we have- not least including the mountain of proof that Rey has no Skywalker blood in her- all point to the same thing: reylo is going to be canon. 

We know that star wars is about relationships at its heart. It’s why I love it and dislike so many other sci-fi movies. So far, star wars has explored familial bonds- Luke and Vader - and even marital bonds- Anakin and Padme -but never explicitly romance. Han and Leia have been the great love story so far but it, meaning the love story, has never been explored as a central theme. 

What other new angle could this trilogy thematically explore besides a love story? We know themes of family will still be important. Those have already been clearly established. But we still haven’t gotten to the core of this trilogy. And I really believe the core of this trilogy, the emotional core, will be a love story? 

It’s not going to be “normal”. It probably won’t have a pitch-perfect romantic ending with wedding cakes and balloons and a glorious space party. It’ll be more serious than that. It will be about the connection between a tormented, sad space prince who has to pull himself back from the edge of darkness and a brave girl looking for her family who will have to learn who she is without them. They both have journeys to make that are independent of each other. But they’re bound together. And I really believe that he will fall in love with her at the very least and that more than likely she is going to have very complicated feelings of her own for him, especially considering how similar in some ways their souls are.

 (And the movies have already established the parallel lines. Yes, antis, so far it’s clear that there is a comparison being made between how Rey and Kylo have handled abandonment and abuse, but in the end doesn’t it make sense for that comparison to narrow as they realize that truly they are not so different from each other, that she is capable of darkness and he is capable of light? Come on now, You know I’m right.)

It’s just, it’s the only thing that makes sense!! And this is not some silly imagining thing either. It’s…kind of glaringly obvious. I was talking to my sister the other day about the arc of this trilogy and about whether or not Kylo will be redeemed. And honestly my sister doesn’t really want him to be. She’s not a big believer in redemption. Or, more accurately, she is but she thinks that it’s hard for movies to be realistic about them. But even she can see absolutely clearly that if Kylo is redeemed (looking more and more likely) it’ll be because of Rey. And not because of anything she does for him! But just because she’ll set a fire in his soul that he won’t be able to ignore.

And like, rewatch the force awakens. That fire has already been set in motion. Kylo is clearly fascinated and awed by her. He clearly has a crush bigger than the whole of space. “You need a teacher???” imao yeah oKAY BUDDY. The point is not that because he has a crush she has to return it of course. At the moment she shouldn’t and doesn’t. (Seriously, why would she?)

But the only truly interesting main narrative thread for the rest of this trilogy to follow is what that crush will do to both Rey and Kylo, how it will draw Rey up short and force her to confront her abandonment and her need for love and the horror she feels when it’s present in the one person it’s not supposed to be present in, and how it will break Kylo apart until nothing remains of the ruin of his false ideals and he’s ready to be remade. 

It’s going to be canon y’all!!