#TV series discussion

[perseidlion]

The Interview With the Vampire TV show is a perfect example of how adaptations do not have to follow the source material closely to be an excellent adaptation.

(This is a spoiler-free commentary, but it does discuss the dynamics of the characters in general.)

I read the books back in the day, and of course, saw the original movie. Despite a laundry list of big changes, the series still feels extremely true to the books because it captures the spirit. It gets the characters and their fucked-up dynamics right. It doesn't shy away from them being melodramatic monsters. It keeps to the rules established in the source material. The show also makes sure to preserve key moments and key scenes, but always with a twist.

Since they did that, they were free to shift things in time, amp up and adapt certain dynamics, and change the race of characters in a way that deepens the story and complicates already extremely complicated power dynamics.

The original movie stuck more closely to the era and the appearance of the characters as described by Anne Rice, but I don't think the story loses anything by changing those two elements. In fact, it gives it modern relevance and room for political and social commentary.

I have never ascribed to the idea that an adaptation has to be slavishly accurate to the source material to be a good adaptation. It just has to be smart enough to identify what to keep and what can change. An adaptation adapts. Honestly, I find it boring when I see exactly what was in a book up on screen with no surprises. Where's the fun in that?

The difference between a good adaptation and a bad one is not how accurate it is to the source material, but how well the adaptation respects what made the story compelling to begin with.

What's important here?

Lestat is dramatic and powerful and a monster who is deeply charismatic, but also manipulative.

Louis is overdramatic and self-hating, but oddly drawn to Lestat.

Claudia is fierce, but bitter about her eternal childhood.

Their relationship is deeply toxic but with true affection. They are monsters, but monsters capable of intense love and devotion - to the point where it has the power to destroy them.

THAT is at the core of this story. THAT is what they keep intact. This frees up all sorts of avenues for play around a few key plot beats.

This room for play also gives opportunities to expand on thinner characters or rewrite them entirely. It's been a long time since I read the books, but I don't recall Daniel standing out as more than a framing device, especially in earlier books. But in the show, he's one of the best parts. Not only does he take a much more active role in the story, he delivers some of the most hilarious and cutting lines of the entire series. If the show had stuck closely to the source material, we wouldn't have this Daniel.

It was also smart of them to make Claudia a few years older. The eternal child element is preserved, but the layer of arrested teenaged hormones and womanhood that will never blossom adds an extra layer of angst and sadness. She is stuck forever in a state of rebellion, never allowed to settle and come into her own.

Having her be a young Black woman also deepens her attachment to Louis, visually, socially and symbolically. They are different from Lestat and they understand each other in a way he never can. She's still very much the Claudia from the book but with layers added to deepen her character and add new, fresh dynamics and complications.

It's also delightful to see the show take the homoeroticism that was subtextual in the early books with Louis and Lestat (and in the original film) and making it unapologetically text. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles have always been incredibly queer and subversive, but it's amazing to see that side of it fully embraced and stated plainly with no ambiguity or qualifiers or hints. It's queer and that queerness is woven into the fabric of the entire narrative. Louis and Lestat are the toxic beating heart of the Vampire Chronicles.

It's also important because we need messy, dark, fucked-up queer narratives. Sweet, coming-of-age stories and romances are of course, important - especially for younger queer people. But us older queer folk not only want to see ourselves in multiple genres, we want permission to see imperfect, messy, and yes, even evil characters. It's a way of reclaiming the monstrous queer that was villainized for so long and making it our own. We want to find something beautiful in the dark.

If we all thought about it, we could probably think of dozens of examples where a show or movie went far off-script from the source material and was still an excellent adaptation.

Interview With the Vampire is just the most recent and one of the best examples of a stellar adaptation that respects the source material but also builds and expands on it.

I look forward to seeing how they surprise me next season.

[irradiatedpiratebooty]

fallout tv show ghoul discussion

the only thing i dislike about the show is their retcon of ghoul lore- everything else is a banger i had a great time but the lore changing the ghouls baffles me, as it retcons and changes literally every other game in the franchise. its funny, im not mad about it, im ok with the show having different lore than the games. i just hope they make it clear that its an AU kind of thing haha mainly because if someone gets introduced to the series from the show, and they go off to play the games, theyre going to be confused. so, what are the changes? well-

in fo3, theres an entire side mission involving the underworld, where the ghouls there really hammer in that the rumors like; that they regen and so can only be killed by headshots, that they eat people, that they can go feral at any point, and that they're zombies.

all of this is just propaganda spread by the brotherhood and bigots to justify murder and genocide.

none of it is true. they bleed and die like anyone else. but in the show, these things are not rumors, and they are completely true. cooper constantly has to take this drug from a vial that prevents him from going feral. theres no explanation on where this medicine came from, who makes it, whats its made out of, etc.

so, while in the game, turning feral is unknown, seemingly at random (theories range from genetics, lack of socialization, insanity, radiation exposure, and time) and ghouls dont just- randomly turn feral. but in the show its enevitable and therefore the hate towards them is justified. the only things that are special about them is that they; age much, much slower than non-ghouls, that they can heal faster using radiation. (to my knowlege, they still need to be patched up. they do not just regen. they can still get shot to death, or maimed. they just heal a little faster.) and they need more potent drugs, as it doesnt affect them as strongly (mentioned in fo3 by some ghouls in a subway) the changes made in the show heavily changes the stories of a few characters and places in the entire series.

for fo3: changes the entire underworld. these ghouls cannot leave this place. if they do, they're shot and killed immediately by the brotherhood nearby. they discuss how they're discriminated against. in the fo3 dlc, point lookout, the ghoul there presumably hasnt left the manor he lives in for well over 200 years. he wouldnt have access to these vials. tenpenny tower. their ban on ghouls would be justified then. the entire narrative involving the water purifier and putting the serum in that will kill off all mutants. with the changes the show makes, the decision whether or not you do this has no weight and eradicating mutants becomes justified. for fallout new vegas: dean domino. he hasn't left the Sierra Madre in over 200 years. he wouldnt have access to these vials either and would have probably gone feral a long time ago. for fallout 4: diamond city. diamond city's ban on ghouls wouldnt be an issue anymore. since in the show, ghouls cant die aside from headshots, the ghouls being thrown out into the wastes to the elements wouldn't really be as heavy of an issue.

(i cannot comment for fallout 1 and 2, as i am not as knowledgable about the ghouls in those two games. feel free to add on in reblogs if you know more about them than i do)

i love the show, i think its awesome. im basically consuming it now with the idea that its canon -within its own story and lore- and is separate from the game itself. cooper is a badass and the changes work for the show itself, not so much the entire series. which is fine in my eyes.

[wesen-grimmopedia]

I don’t see enough people talking about the fact that Nick is a really good artist. He can briefly see a wesen woge and then hours later draw a highly detailed and accurate sketch of what he saw. From what I remember this is just… not really discussed in the show.

[mostlyvoid-partiallyflowers]

The most recent episode of Interview with a Vampire let's us see Lestat's side of the story and see how it compares to Louis' accounting of their relationship. As a result, it reaffirms just how unreliable of a narrator Louis is, but it also further illuminates elements of his character that the director and writers have been playing with since the beginning of the show.

There's this part in the episode where Lestat turns to Louis and apologizes and it's framed with Lestat turned to Louis on one side and Claudia on his other side. They're the angel and devil on Louis' shoulders, but who is the angel and who is the devil? And as my friend said, Armand and Daniel are placed into that same dynamic with Louis later on. We are being asked to decide who to trust, who's telling the truth, who's the good guy, but the fact of unreliability robs us of that decision.

This whole story is about Louis, he's the protagonist, though not the narrator, and he is constantly being pulled in two directions, no matter when or where he is in his story. He's a mind split in two, divided by nature and circumstance. He's vampire and human, owner and owned, father and child, angel and devil. He's both telling the story and being told the story. His history is a story he tells himself, and as we've seen, sometimes that story is not whole.

Louis is the angel who saved Claudia from the fire but he's also the devil who sentenced her to an life of endless torment, the adult trapped in the body of a child. He's the angel who rescued Lestat from his grief and also the devil who abandoned him, who couldn't love him, could only kill and leave him.

He's pulled in two directions, internally and externally at all times and so it's no wonder that he feels the need to confess, first to the priest, then Daniel, and then Daniel again.

He's desperate to be heard, a Black man with power in Jim Crow America who's controlled by his position as someone with a seat at the table but one who will never be considered equal. He doesn't belong to the Black community or the white community, he can't. He acts as a go-between, a bridge, one who is pushed and pulled until he can't take it anymore. He's a fledgling child to an undead father, he's a young queer man discovering his sexual identity with an infinitely experienced partner. He's confessing because he wants to be absolved, that human part of him that was raised Catholic, that child who believed, he wants to be saved. He wants to be seen.

Louis wants to attain a forever life that is morally pure, but he can't. He's been soiled by sin, by "the devil," as he calls Lestat, and he can never be clean again. Deep down, I think he knows this, but he can't stop trying to repent. He tries to self-flagellate by staying with Lestat and then tries to repent by killing him, but can't actually follow through. He follows Claudia to Europe to try and assuage his guilt. He sets himself on fire, attempts to burn himself at the stake, to purify his body, rid himself of the dark gift.

Louis is a man endlessly trying to account for the pain he has caused and he ultimately fails, over and over again, because he can't get rid of what he is. A monster. He's an endlessly hungry monster. He's hungry for love, for respect, for power, for forgiveness, for death. He's a hole that can never be filled. He can never truly acquire any of those things because he will always be punishing himself for wanting and needing them in the first place. He will never truly believe he deserves them and as a result, can't accept them if they are ever offered. He can never be absolved for he has damned himself by accepting the dark gift and thus has tainted himself past the point of saving.

[karpachev]

some old homelander sketches yay

and redraw of a comics panel

[modawg]

im bored let’s dissect “alison”

firstly this is what i’m talking abt incase anyone doesn’t know:

this is so far the ONLY news we have abt this character rick hasn’t said anything about it the official pjo show insta/twitter hasn’t said anything abt it this is it

and this is a fan account which is smth i feel like many ppl don’t know; here’s that account

here are some other accounts:

both the actual along with another pretty reparable fan account both have stayed silent abt this which seems a little sus to me

you might be wondering “but mo that original pic has screenshots of interviews/articles!! they have sources!!” this is true however the source has no source lmao

from the article the original post pulls from they simply said “we’ve heard” girl heard what and from who

this article was written by nexus news point which idk abt y’all i’ve never heard of

so i took my ass to twitter

this is the only post i found “but mo it’s verified!!” that’s what i thought i thought “well shit there’s the end of that” but when i was looking at the account i realised three things

rick does not follow this account

who’s that linked in the bio? oh wait is that..is that nexus ???

anyone can pay to buy a verification

here’s the actual pjo account

followed by rick

not verified bc why would they have to when rick literally follows them

has said nothing abt this

after all this i don’t think alison is real im gonna be honest however if she does show up in season 2 i will be apologizing with tears

unlike nexus however i will be tagging my sources and will also be adding that rick hasn’t updated his website since may which is the exact opposite of what he did when he was looking for the cast of season 1

lmk y’all’s thoughts bc this is kinda wack if they just made this shit up LMAOO

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Aof Noppharnach has everything he needs with The Ex-Morning to write that show as his hot insider meta-take on the BL industry

[ravi-is-my-beloved]

There’s a theory going around that Tommy is going to confront Eddie about being a bad friend to Buck and every time I read it my brain short circuits

Eddie being a bad friend to Buck is very OOC for him in my opinion.

I mean, Eddie is such a good friend that Buck goes to him in season 6 after the lightning strike when everyone else is essentially smothering him with how much they're around him. Buck sees him as a safe space to get away from everyone else and he knows Eddie won't force him to talk about being dead for three minutes.

Yes, Eddie and the rest of the 118 tease Buck a lot, but they have so much history with him and so much trust between them to be able to do so. Buck knows that nine times out of ten, they're not being serious about what they're teasing him for. They don't mean it in a negative way.

And quite frankly, and we can disagree on this, I don't think Tommy would confront any of the 118 simply because he and Buck's relationship isn't that fully developed. They've canonically had only been on like three dates, that's not a lot of time for most people to be allowed to interject themselves into a situation on behalf of whoever they're dating. If he tries to do that, then I think everyone in the 118 is going to raise their eyebrows at that.

Tommy's essentially not in with the rest of the 118 as far as we can tell. Chimney didn't even invite him to the wedding (or the bachelor party), Hen canonically didn't even remember he was working at Harbor, Eddie has a little bit of a friendship but it's very quickly never brought up again, and Bobby has never really interacted on screen with Tommy that entire season.

Long story short, I just don't think there's much evidence of Eddie potentially being a bad friend to Buck and Tommy confronting him on Buck's behalf. It's a nice theory to have, but it's not entirely canon-accurate, the way I see it.

[wishingforserendipity]

idk how many people will actually see this but i appreciate the input my dudes

[mimir-anoshe]

Save what we love. #RenewTheAcolyte

Renew it Disney you cowards.

[noctusfury]

Is There a Dragon Flyer "Elite"? (RTTE Headcanon/Theory)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to another HTTYD post! Sorry for the hiatus, but I'm back with another article of lore on the Dragon Flyers. Please enjoy!

This article is a continuation of my previous post on this topic (here) about dragonskin uses. Today's topic will discuss if these skins provide an established hierarchy of elitism in these Flyers (and Hunters) — particularly the Malevolent Twelve, a squadron of Flyers personally led and taught by Krogan who defeated the Dragon Riders in Season 5's episodes "Dawn of Destruction" and "Wings of War".

This is probably just me, but I have a headcanon that there's an elite among the Dragon Flyers under Krogan's command. Of course, naturally, there'll always be an elite group — "veterans," in other words — in every organization or unit. Doesn't matter if it's a small unit, a military or business organization, or anything else. The same with the Dragon Hunters and the Dragon Flyers.

In fact, Viggo even talked to Ryker about moving the "elite guard" (of Hunters or more possibly the Grimborn Family's personal guards) to prepare for the Riders' attack on their secret base in Season 4's episode "Twintuition".

But back to the Flyers. I've noticed something very interesting. As you know from both the picture earlier above (the top photo), and down below, you'll see that the only Flyers that are often seen with Krogan are these guys. Particularly this guy below that's standing next to Krogan in Season 6's episode "Chain of Command".

Of course, since this is DreamWorks Dragons, and since there isn't any rhyme or reason when it comes to the minion character design, I may be just imagining things and that them being near Krogan is just a coincidence.

However, as I've stated in my previous article, when it comes to the Flyers with the Zippleback skins and the gold dragonskins, respectively, they look to be more seasoned and ruthless compared to the Flyers with the poorly tanned Nightmare skins (or whatever those skins are), who often look nervous or act like they just graduated from Dragon Flyer Cadet Academy. 😂

In the Season 6 episode "Darkest Night", one of Stoick's main attackers is this guy in a gold-dragon-skin outfit, and also the Flyer with a similar outfit but different dragon (compare to the Flyer above) who tag-team to grievously wound Stoick.

(You'll find him again in later photos)

It's possible that these two were part of the "Deadly Dozen" from Dawn of Destruction and Wings of War, since it's likely that Krogan or Johann would've sent some of their best Flyers to take out an important figure, especially since Johann would've known about Stoick's legendary martial prowess and would've most likely not wanted to take any chances. Taking out Stoick would've stalled Berk's capability to continue their fight against the Hunters.

in "Dawn of Destruction", this Gold-skin Flyer was able keep up with Astrid and was able to hit her if it hadn't been for Hiccup's trap.

And let us not forget the infamous Mr. "Murderous Pile of Yak Dung", the Gold-skin Flyer that the Gang captured and interrogated in the Season 6 episode "Guardians of Vanaheim". Even while held captive, "Yak-dung" not only tries to recruit the Twins and use them to help him escape, but takes his chance to break free and steal the Dragon Eye Lens that Fishlegs and the Twins were turning Osvald's hut upside-down and inside-out to find, before leaving to escape the island. That is, if he hadn't fatally run into a pack of very hungry Grim Gnashers. RIP. His sacrifice will be remembered. 💀

"Krogan's Best"

In the Season 5 episode "Dawn of Destruction", we are met with a squadron of 12 Flyers who commence a surprise early-morning raid on the Dragon Riders' main base and quickly neutralize the Riders and forcing them to make a tactical retreat.

These Flyers are well-trained, well-armed, and well-coordinated, able to work together to out-maneuver the Riders and corner them. It's obvious that Krogan trained them in air-to-air combat for this very purpose.

In this very same episode, Ruffnut and Tuffnut even commented after nearly getting roasted by a passing Flyer protecting his wingman's six:

|| Tuffnut: Hey, not for nothing, but these guys are pretty good! || || Ruffnut: They're are kicking our butts! ||

And Snotlout even warns Hiccup that:

|| Those Flyers are all over the place and well-trained. ||

In "Wings of War, Part 1", after getting harassed and pursued by those Flyers from Caldera Cay (DOTW's home), Snotlout and Tuffnut say this about the Flyers:

|| Snotlout: Whoa! Oh, man, those guys are good! || || Tuffnut: I'd like to train with their trainer. ||

In the same episode, talking about that particular team of Flyers — whom I'd like to call "Krogan's Disciples" and "The Malevolent Twelve" or "The Deadly Dozen" — that were chasing the Gang from Dragon's Edge, Krogan himself told Viggo:

||"Those are 12 of my most fearless and gifted warriors. I doubt they'll have much of an issue."||

The Flyers which made up those 12 elites are those with Zippleback and the gold-scaled dragonskins. So it's very much possible that these skins are only given to elites, of a sort.

Furthermore, most of the Flyers I saw in those shots had Nightmare dragonskin skirts (kilts? lol). The Flyers with the gold-scaled dragonskin shirts seem to have vambraces made of Gronkle dragonskin, based on the coloring. Don't quote me on that, since I could be wrong. Since these dragons are hard to kill, that would definitely make them skilled dragon slayers.

Also, speaking of which, there was at least ONE Flyer amongst the "Deadly Dozen," wearing Nightmare(?) skins and a Nadder wing skirt, and flying a green Singetail. You can find him if you squint in "Wings of War, Part 1".

I've edited the shots to make them more easier to see, but please forgive me for the blurry close-up shots. Nothing I can do to prevent that unless somebody has a better photo editing software than I do (I use Canva).

You see him again, here, with the others when they hit the fog bank, which covers the length of the Inner Isles.

(That alone makes me wanna do an article that goes in depth into the reason the Inner Isles in Berk seem to have a different climate from the rest of the archipelago.)

Here's a clearer shot from "Chain of Command", in S6. Considering that he's wearing the same garb and riding the same colored Singetail, he could be the same guy. However, with DreamWorks Dragons being DreamWorks Dragons, who enjoy making clones of the minions, we can only guess. 🤷‍♂️

Not gonna lie, though: that's a really nice getup. 👀

Flyer Leader: Krogan's Right-Hand!

In several episodes, but most memorably in "Family Matters," one notable Flyer stands out from the others: the Flyer Leader.

As far as elites go, he's probably as far up as one can go outside of Krogan's position as Headmaster of the "Flyer Warthunder". He's his right-hand man. His leftenant/lieutenant. His chief subordinate.

Sadly, we don't know anything about his past or about his history with Krogan and the Flyers. 😔 (I should just go and write a fanfic and create my own lore for the Flyer Leader at this point. 🤩) However, at some point, after passing his training as a Flyer, I assume he became a direct disciple under Krogan in the same way Krogan was under Drago, and he was competent enough to be entrusted with various administrative and martial tasks and to lead warthunders out for certain missions whenever Krogan either wasn't available or couldn't be bothered to do it himself.

As seen in every episode he's been in, the Flyer Leader is shown to be a capable and reliable man to whom Krogan can leave things without much thought. This is amazing considering Krogan isn't the type who shares power with anyone but himself — as evidenced by his treatment towards Viggo and Johann. Though it probably helps that, so far as we know, the Flyer Leader isn't interested in more power and authority and is content being the Chief Lieutenant. (Though it would be pretty interesting if he is capable due to his ambition to aim higher and eventually replace Krogan as Chief of the Flyers.)

Anyway, the Flyer Leader is, aside from Krogan, the head honcho of the Flyers, and, as such, has much field command whenever Krogan's not around. He's Krogan's representative, almost (if Krogan was interested in allowing that).

The fact that Krogan was confident enough to entrust the all-important task of protecting the Singetail Rookery from any intruders once again proves, in my opinion, how adept the Flyer Leader is and how much Krogan trusts him enough to leave this vital facility to him.

And he's not stupid. Even when the Riders were able to free the Singetails captured in Deathsong amber, the Singetails, in order to protect the eggs, didn't leave as expected, unexpectedly giving the Flyer Leader extra pieces to drive the Riders into a corner. And instead of attacking them, knowing that doing so in cramped quarters and risking attacks from the Singetails due to the rookery being in the cave labyrinth, he instead orders word to be sent to Krogan about the incident and to focus everything he has onto the cave entrance and pin the Riders there until help arrives.

Little did he know that the Riders (thanks to Fishlegs impromptu problem solving) did something completely unexpected and did something that no-one could've thought that they would dare to do: lure a Cavern Crasher — an egg-eating dragon — into the Singetail Rookery and cause a disturbance that would cause a panic, allowing them to escape.

Honestly, if they hadn't done that, I think he would've been able to either capture them or kill them. The Riders themselves, before Fishlegs came with his crazy plan, were beginning to doubt they'd be able to break out before reinforcements arrived.

He is sadly left behind in a cocoon of amber. How tragic. 😔🙏🏻😂

I kinda find it ironic how he lost because of plot armor. I mean, when you watch the episode, you notice that he was given everything he needed to make sure that the Rookery stayed in their hands: About 100 or so Hunter grunts to do the patrols, guard-duty, and menial tasks such as taking care of the dragons; a squadron of Dragon Flyers, assumedly all elites from his own squad (so probably between 4-8 Flyers, certainly no more than 12); no more than 5 or so catapults and ballistae; presumedly several trap devices like net ballistae or whatever; and I'm assuming he has a reserve force of men at hand to rotate shifts and replace any troops that are injured, killed, or absent. So around 100-200 men, give or take a hundred. This is a LARGE GROUP to be commanding and organizing.

I don't care what the episode showed, you'd need that much personnel, if not more, just to do patrols, manage the dragons, man the catapults and traps, etc, etc, AND have a reserve to use to rotate shifts — this is an important base, after all! It's a BIG JOB!

That being said, I could be overestimating the numbers here a bit based on my assumption that they'd need that much personnel to deal with the Riders AND any Singetails they capture and guarding the two Deathsongs and Singetail eggs as well. With that being the case, I will minus this and assume that he has, at minimum, no less than 100 men, split into companies of 50 men so that they can rotate around the clock.

Regardless of the actual numbers, the fact that he was given a lot of resources, and still lost due to an unexpected wild card the Riders played on him is just bad luck.

Personally, I don't think that Krogan would let him live for having failed his expectations and mission so thoroughly. They basically lost their source of Singetails and the island is now useless and can't be used further.

However, that being said, perhaps after hearing the explanation, and not wanting to lose a valuable fighter, he could've just let him live but demoted him, since after this, we no longer see him again, and Krogan takes over direct command in the finale episode.

Or heck, maybe the Flyer Leader deserted, knowing what his fate would be, and didn't want to be there for Krogan to find.

I'm considering the possibility that losing his Singetail Rookery didn't waylay Krogan that much, since he had a bunch of Flyers scout out and attack the Sentinals and the Riders for the next two episodes. And in the final two, it appears that Krogan came with a force no greater than 50 Flyers, including himself. I don't know if he already had this force gathered up some time before "Family Matters," or if he had another Rookery(ies) besides the one handled by the Flyer Leader.

If that's the case, then it could be likely that Honcho is doing swell but demoted. But since we know that Krogan dislikes failure, much like Drago does and — like master, like apprentice — punishes his failure with DEATH.

For more on the Flyer Leader and his possible fate after "Family Matters", click the link to my old article here.

What's also interesting is that the Flyer Leader is also the one who led that certain "Elite Dozen" team that pursued the Gang in "Dawn of Destruction" and "Wings of War, Parts 1 and 2" as well.

Personally, I love this character, and I personally wish he showed up in more episodes. He was quite the competent minor villain who was able to corner and pressure the Riders more than a few times. (He certainly did a better job than Savage and Vorg did.😤)

Conclusion:

So I conclude this article by stating that I believe that those 12 Flyers — and any other Flyers with the same garb — are elites due to the garb they wear and experience in combat. They're also, presumedly, among the most fanatical and ruthless of Krogan's Flyers (though the same could be said for all of the Flyers, as a whole). Plus, they were the ones who gave the Gang the most trouble with their excellent training, coordination, and teamwork.

What do you guys think? What are your thoughts on this? I'm curious.

Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article! See you in the next one!

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury

[the-irreverend]

It's easy to watch this scene and think that Shin Hati is just another run-of-the-mill megalomaniac, but I think she is so much more than that.

When I watched this scene, I didn't see a person who wants power just for the sake of it, I saw a person who wants power because she's never had any to begin with (before Baylan took her in). She strikes me as someone who wants it because she wants to give herself the freedom she has been deprived of for so long and no longer be at the mercy of the chaos, turmoil, and malice found across the galaxy.

Baylan Skoll is a fantastic character, but that doesn't mean we should overlook the complexity and nuance that's found in his apprentice.

[adamghm]

[marubien]

How would you rewrite Mulan 2?

I'd just begin from scratch really. I tried to come up what would I keep from the existing sequel and I think that's maybe just the yin-yang necklaces. Which were a deleted idea from the first movie anyway.

Easy and lazy answer would be to go with whatever idea they had in Mulan 2's deleted scene, battle sequence, (check it out, it's super cool). It's like spy-ninja-duo of Mulan and Shang working like a badass couple. Mulan 2 concept arts (part 1, part 2) are not too bad either, and although they definitely have some usual Disney sequel cliches(eg. having the girl Mushu dragon), I'd still think I could enjoy it a bit more than what they ended up with.

Then there's Barry Cook's draft, aka the co-director of the original movie wrote synopsis for the potential sequel when he heard that Disney was considering of doing sequel to Mulan. In fact there was going to be Mulan 3 as well, apparently Mulan 2 ruined it as it was too badly received. There's hardly anything known of Barry Cook's draft details, just that soon-to-be-married Mulan and Shang are sent to north since things are happening there, and at the end there would have been an epic battle between Mulan's ancestors and Shan Yu's deceased army.

Actually I lied earlier what would be easiest and laziest. That would be just doing the visual novel The Palace of Secrets. Seriously I wouldn't change a thing.

There's many directions where one could go with the sequel really, some fanfics have done pretty amazing job exploring different options. I have made a post where I put up some fanfic recommendations, but some are like one-shots so they could hardly be sequels.

Personally, rather than a sequel movie I really really would like to see Mulan tv-series. Something like Tangled: the Series. It could have the sillier filler episodes but the main plot could be epic. Series could also make possible to explore side characters' character arc in more detail. I have played with this idea before too, with my friend @mulanxiaojie.

I'm quite satisfield how the first movie ended, but I'll list some pointers that I and I think most would like to see in a continuation story:

Mulan getting a career

Mulan and Shang getting together

Chi Fu x Matchmaker :P

And then some that are not really necessary but would be really interesting to see, just to list some of the potential sequel tv series could have:

Fa Zhou's past

Mulan's and Granma Fa's relationship

seeing the other guardians besides Mushu (and the Great Stone Dragon)

developing Gang of Three as invidual characters

exploring historical China

an actual villain (should be basic but the sequel didn't have that)

[witchthewriter]

The things for me about Victor, is while he is still very childlike in many ways, it’s very easy to forget that he’s still an adult and still very capable of taking care of himself. He’s not a helpless child nor a standard functioning adult. So for some people to say he’s one or the other seems a bit odd to me. Not saying any of it is rooted in ableism, I know some people would, but I want to get that out of the way now. Victor is just another exceedingly complex individual. I’m not entirely sure if he could handle a romantic relationship at this time. But I also don’t think he’s incapable of romantic feelings either. He seems to understand familial and platonic relationships, and is capable of both. So unless he’s full on aroace, I wouldn’t say he’s incapable of feeling that way, but he would most likely struggle with expressing those feelings, just like how he struggles communicating with others. I also don’t want to be strictly of the mind that people with trauma and/or are possibly on the spectrum are incapable of feeling romance or receiving it. So I don’t think I’ll say ‘He can’t be romanced bc he’s got ptsd or autism’ because that feels reductive or like a generalization as a means of rationalization. I think that if Victor is romantically interested in someone, he definitely won’t express it in a traditional way, and may not 100% know how to deal with it, like all his other relationships he has. But that’s not to say he’s 100% incapable. I hope what I said made sense and wasn’t just a weird rant.😅

I see where you're coming from 100%. You're allowed to express your opinion! And this is how I like having conversations/discussions - no one has to be rude or put others' opinions down.

I think if Victor was going to therapy, he would be able to come out of his shell more and have more grown up experiences.

What people must mean is that he's very vulnerable; he's been alone, kinda like being stranded on that movie Blue Lagoon except with monsters, and being the only human there :/

[afraidofmediocrity]

PJO SHOW - MY OPINION OKAY

Spoilers btw

This is slightly controversial but I think the show is missing the mark on several aspects. Firstly, they have a 'stakes' problem, as in it feels like there are no stakes. In episode 1, when Grover comes to the cabin there seems to be no real sense of emergency. In episode 4, when they're escaping Echidna and Chimera the kids talk about it being a hunt but they walk towards the monument (the refuge) when they should be running or at least speed walk (lol). The fight scenes throughout the season have been short and lackluster, in many cases the fights are over the minute they start. Tone and pacing are also lacking creating a monotonous feel throughout the episode save for some light humor scattered throughout the episodes. Also, the exposition dumps are getting old, for a hit show I just feel like they should show more than they tell but alas. In Episode 1, Luke tells Percy that Annabeth comes first always and that she's like a little sister to him but we never see the two of them interact in an affectionate/teasing/sibling manner like you're just supposed to take Luke's word about their relationship. Finally, while the actors are really talented (and in some scenes they really encapsulate the characters) some scenes feel like reading and not acting. I think the show is suffering from a monotony problem and it is making these actors feel wooden and the show lackluster. That said as someone who loves the PJO universe I have a lot of love for the show but it desperately needs some revamping.