#This is written from my memory of the series. I've only watched up to season 20 so this may have changed. But I don't think it has

[terezicaptor]

Wait people talking abt the wilbur situation: this is such a bizarre piece of misinformation to be talking about but I wanna clear up who Jebediah Springfield is in the series because I've seen some misinformation.

Jebediah Springfield is the founder of the town Springfield. In the episode Lisa the Iconoclast he is revealed to be a pirate who tried to kill George Washington, but otherwise in the series is a neutral figure, sometimes used for jokes about shitty historical figures. He had an adventuring companion named Shelbyville, who started up a rival town by the name Shelbyville. In the series they are not depicted as abusive to each other (which is a piece of weird misinformation I've seen) and Shelbyville is not his girlfriend (another piece of misinformation.) Shelbyville is a man.

This is such a mild thing but it's so odd to me that people are miscontrueing it.

Anyway support Shelby Shubble.

[fanaticsnail]

I shared this w/ deerling before she’d deactivated. I’m sososo happy for her! she will always be loved n missed! But, I never got to hear her thoughts! And I thought you might humor it too!

I’m not sure if you’re familiar w/ the song Imitadora by Romeo Santos? A week or so ago I was hyper-fixated on it n it made me think about law. Growing up when the Donquixote pirates would have galas and such celebrations, would he watch Rosi dance w/ partners and just praying on his downfall? He needed something, some type of material to tease & embarrass Rosi w/ to get his lick back. But honestly? the only thing he picked up from observing Rosi dance was the way he danced.

I’m not very familiar w/ the correct type of dance that should be associated w/ this song, and anyone please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong! But the most common one I’d found was bachata, which originated in the Dominican Republic. I know you’d already written something in your series for Bachata, but just hear me out!

Law, after watching Rosi dance during celebrations when he was younger, would have to had learn something and picked up the basics at the very least. Now, I raise you this food for thought. Would Law be a good partner? Would he be rusty? Or maybe just outright refuse and dismiss it? Would he be embarrassed? Or would nostalgia wash over him when you offer, take him by the hand and pull him towards the floor? A bit more willing w/ alcohol in his system. Hand on the small of your back, one knee slotted between your thighs your palm falling to the nape of his neck n fingers threaded through the soft wisps of baby hair a bit before his nape n finally falling into the music. Now! Would he experiment w/ all of the fancy dips and twirls he’d remember Rosi do? I like to think he’s more seasoned n cocky even going as far as trying something on the fly!

Sorry for the ramble! I love your writing andhope to see your thoughts if you humor this!!

-🪼

Hello my love! I have so many thoughts and fics written and coming up for this particular concept. I love the thoughts, 🪼 Anon!

1. Donquixote Rosinante can dance.

This man can absolutely dance. He dances Flamenco, Tango, Salsa, Bachata, Conga, Rumba, Cha Cha: anything that involves hips swinging, feathers flying, legs intertwining, and passion igniting. This is the only time he is absolutely not clumsy. He was also taught the marines waltz while in basic. Donquixote Doflamingo, however, can not. He thought it was a waste of time.

2. Imitadora Romeo Santos

I am not familiar with the song, but now that I've listened to it on repeat a few times, Rosinante dances Bachata to this song. Hips flush against yours, one hand on your lower back while the other is expanded to the side in the hopes you'd take it to spin. Always with a smile on his face, twirling between the rapid brush of drums on the snare, tapping his feet while dragging his toes. He loves it, and makes it known my whispering the lyrics without vocalising them.

3. Bachata

I love Bachata. When my host-sister came back to my country for a visit, she took us all out dancing Bachata on the beach - something that I would love to take up on the regular. It's sultry, romantic, playful, everything you want wrapped in one dance. I see Luffy, Ace and Sabo dancing Bachata - and Rosinante also excels at it.

4. Law and Dancing

Growing up in Flevance, Law's cultural dances would be something similar to the folk dances in Austria and Germany. There is no way he wouldn't grow up learning these dances with Lami. Watching his parents engage in social events, letting loose with their colleagues, some of his happier memories would be watching them in the warmth of each other's embrace and slowly swaying to a waltz. Hearing a 3/4 rhythm beat on the den-den shoots him back to that moment: his parents love for one another swelling his heart and having him yearn for a fragment of the past.

5. Rosinante and Law Dancing

Law would gruffly pout in the corner at these social events, far before Rosinante had bothered to pay him any mind. He hated the events, especially when Doflamingo ordered him to dance with Baby 5 as "an aspect of his training". Once they opened up to one another, baring Corazon's secret mission with the marines, Law paid far more attention to his guardian protector. Watching in earnest as he demonstrated his skills by engaging with partners.

6. Law past the time skip

This man wants to dance. He would never admit it to anyone, but he wants the opportunity to keep a part of his heritage alive and pass on the knowledge of his cultural dances to anyone willing to listen. After Dressrosa, he is far less pent up and full of wrath, and wants to express it through dance. He is so rusty, he forgets a few of the steps, and will need reminding.

7. Law and Sanji

Sanji knows some of these cultural dances. When the Supanova trio catch up and engage in social drinking, firstly: the Victoria Punk crew demonstrate some of their highland jigs, and teach them to Luffy. Luffy, in turn, teaches Killer how to Bachata. Given how large he is in comparison to Luffy - he would opt to teach "Traffy" in response. Law knows these dances, has seen these dances with Corazon, and actually enjoys relearning how to do this dance.

And to repay Luffy, he would offer to teach him a dance from Flevance.

Given how long it's been, he forgets a few steps and slips up with the spins: finding the follow position rather than the lead. With how poorly he seems to remember the steps, Sanji lets out a huff of exasperated cigarettes and opts to "cut in" for Luffy: immediately takes the lead position, and guides Law through the steps flawlessly. Law would become extremely overwhelmed and quite emotional afterwards, having to excuse himself as he takes a moment to remember what was lost to him. After paying his respects to his parents, Lami, and Corazon's memory - he would return and witness Franky attempting to impress Robin with a dance fit for the Cossacks.

8. Dancing with you

After the event with Sanji, you would go and ask the foreign captain if he was feeling alright. You, being the councilor and negotiator for the Straw Hats. Waving away your worries with a flick of his tattooed hand, the music would change into a reminder of the Bachata earlier. Offering to pay you back for checking in on him, he would lead you into a dance immigrating Luffy's earlier twirls and sways.

Demonstrating a particular motion Luffy didn't teach, a twirl that had your back to his chest, hips pressed flush against your ass, and knee slotted between your thighs in the same way Rosinante would catches your breath in your throat.

Feeling a little more bold with his control, he wouldn't let you leave the floor until he was completely satisfied with the way you moved with him. Having cheers from Luffy, and taunts from Kid, would spur him on to keep you in his arms and hum to the music. He remembers his friend, he remembers his parents, he remembers his sister, and he remembers his past through dance.

He also remembers how to flirt. And he enjoys making you blush while he's so close to you. Eyes half-lidded, lips spurring soft praise, speaking his native tongue with a combination of Corazon's to have you squeak out a "thank you" with a hot flush igniting your face.

9. Further notes

I am incredibly grateful you shared these thoughts with deerling. She was such a joy to this fandom and I'm so glad she found her happiness. I have no idea how long this has been in my ask box, considering it had been not working properly for quite a while. Thank you for blessing me with some dance headcanons for the favorites. I love the thoughts, and I hope you enjoy my take on them!

10. I know this isn't a fic, but I thought I'd tag you just in case you wanted to see.

@mfreedomstuff @daydreamer-in-training @since-im-already-here @gingernut1314 @writingmysanity @sordidmusings @i-am-vita @indydonuts @feral-artistry @the-light-of-star @empirenowmp3 @racfoam @sunflowersatori @carrotsunshine @skullfacedlady @jintaka-hane @thenotsofantasticlifestory

[iovebarca]

can you write a pedri series inspired by a quevedo song for example like columbia

but plz make it a happy ending my heart hurts too much already bc of this season 😭😭😭😭

Fountain of Love - Pedri

Authors note: I've never written something like this so give me feedback! and please send in some requests!🫶🏼

+ I could turn this into a series but yall have to give me songs😭 and it doesn't necessarily have to be by Quevedo.

Warnings: incorrect grammar (probably), my first language isn't english so if you notice any mistakes please tell me

WC: 800 ish

Summary: You meet Pedri, a talented footballer, in the city. Despite challenges, your love grows stronger. Now, watching the sunset together, you find solace in each other's arms, knowing your love will endure.

Meaning of the song: Columbia by Quevedo is about a romantic relationship, with the lyrics expressing themes of love, desire, and passion. The song likely explores the ups and downs of being in a relationship, perhaps touching on emotions like longing, excitement, and devotion.

The first time you laid eyes on Pedri was like a scene out of a romantic novel, a moment etched into your memory with the vividness of a dream. It was a balmy summer evening, the kind where the air hung heavy with the scent of street food and the sound of laughter danced through the bustling streets. The town square was alive with activity, a vibrant tapestry of colors and sounds that captivated your senses as you strolled through its midst.

And then, amidst the chaos, you saw him—Pedri, standing by the fountain like a serene figure in a painting. There was something about him, something magnetic that drew you in, like a moth to a flame. Not too tall but incredibly handsome, with tousled dark hair and hazel eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe, he exuded a quiet confidence that set him apart from the crowd.

As you approached him, your heart fluttered with anticipation, unsure of what to expect from this enigmatic stranger. But when he turned to look at you, a warm smile gracing his lips, all your doubts melted away. "Hello," he said, his voice soft and melodic, sending shivers down your spine. "Enjoying the evening?"

His words were simple, yet they held a world of meaning, a silent invitation to join him in this moment of serenity amidst the chaos of the city. And so, with a smile of your own, you nodded, feeling a sense of connection blooming between you like a flower in bloom. "Yes, it's beautiful," you replied, your voice barely above a whisper, the words carrying a weight of their own.

And just like that, your journey with Pedri began—a journey filled with twists and turns, highs and lows, laughter and tears. He wasn't just any ordinary guy; he was a footballer, a rising star in the world of sports, with a talent that left spectators in awe and opponents trembling in their boots. But despite his fame and success, he remained humble and down-to-earth, a quality that only made you fall for him even harder.

Together, you navigated the highs and lows of his career, from the exhilarating victories to the devastating defeats. You were his biggest fan, cheering him on from the sidelines with unwavering devotion, even when the odds seemed stacked against him. And through it all, he never failed to make you feel like the most important person in the world, showering you with love and affection every chance he got.

But amidst the excitement of his career, there were moments of doubt and uncertainty, moments when you wondered if your love could withstand the pressures of fame and fortune. There were rumors and scandals, gossip columns filled with speculation about Pedri's personal life, threatening to tear you apart.

But through it all, you stood by him, your love stronger than ever in the face of adversity. You were his rock, his anchor in the storm, reminding him of the person he truly was beneath the glare of the spotlight.

As the years passed, your bond with Pedri only grew stronger, deepening with each passing day. You shared your hopes and dreams, your fears and insecurities, knowing that no matter what the future held, you would face it together.

And then, one magical evening, Pedri got down on one knee and asked you to be his forever. It was a moment you would never forget—the way his eyes sparkled with love and adoration, the way his voice trembled with emotion as he professed his undying love for you. And as you said yes, tears of joy streaming down your cheeks, you knew that your life would never be the same again.

Now, as you stand hand in hand with Pedri, watching the sunset paint the sky in hues of pink and gold, you feel a sense of peace wash over you. For in Pedri's arms, you have found your home, your safe haven in a world filled with chaos and uncertainty.

As the stars begin to twinkle overhead, you lean in to kiss Pedri, your heart overflowing with love and gratitude. For in Pedri, you have found not only a lover but a partner, a soulmate to share life's journey with until the end of time. And as you gaze into each other's eyes, you know that no matter what the future may hold, as long as you have each other, you will always find your way back home.

[masterj]

i'm kinda new to the chuggington fandom. i used to own the episodes on dvd but idk where they went. anyway! I figured it'd be cool to hear the thoughts of someone invested in the show, to get a new perspective on it, so i myself could become more invested! do you have any thoughts you'd share to an amateur train appreciator??

OMGOSH 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀WELCOME ABOARD!!!!! 🚅🚄🚈🚃🚂🚂🚂😄😄😄

I've been into the show since 2011-2012 I think... pretty sure before Cars 2 came out- or maybe after... memory's a bit rough in that area. I was first exposed to the show by my younger cousin who watched it on Disney Junior, or at the time, Playhouse Disney, and also had the DVD Let's Ride The Rails, which I now own, playing in my auntie's van one morning on our way to school. I would later track down Disney Junior myself to find the show.

It was pretty much the main reason I've hung around Disney Junior. As a kid who loved trains because of already being a Thomas The Tank Engine fan, it just to captured my interest so quickly and I was hooked.

I'd say the characters and designs are mostly what I love about Chuggington. While there aren't really antagonists in the show they all have their own quirks and distinction from each other which balances it out well.

Wilson is both my favorite to draw and favorite overall. While I haven't gotten to making my own scripts for my planned fanseries yet, his ADHD personality is just pure spirit animal energy when I look at how he's characterized by the show and by myself. I also relate to him to an extent in some areas. He's practically my son lol

The episodes are mostly well written, and miles better than Thomas was at the time... (*COUGH* SHARON MILLER *COUGH*)

Chris McHale's music for the show some of the most unique I've ever heard and the fact we don't have more of the show's score available in high quality than we do is a crime.

Production slowly went to hell since Season 3 onwards, due to investors pulling out for unknown reasons, resulting in S3 being cut from 26 to 14 episodes, Season 4 being rushed and strictly formulated towards the advanced training agenda, (but the episodes were not by any means terrible) and S5, while better than S4, was entirely funded by TOMY resulting in only 10 episodes. After that, Ludorum Entertainment was on the verge of bankruptcy resulting in the show being on hiatus for five years until Herschend Entertainment purchased them, but things weren't that much better.

Season 6 or Tales From The Rails is sadly where Chuggington truly dropped in quality due to Herschend's low budget and their inexperience with the show. Many characters and locations were written off and a number of the voice actor recasts were not too great. Not to mention occasional mischaracterization (mostly Brewster), continuity errors and overall rather shifty writing quality. The merchandise also plummeted in quality and the pandemic caused several delays, and this whole disaster ultimately led to Season 7 being cancelled as of November last year... 😔

While Season 6 was a failed comeback and is NOT fit to be regarded as canon to the first 5 seasons, it still has a decent number of episodes that are good to okay enough at best, and I do plan on rewriting the misfires of season 6 at some point.

Despite all the hardship this show faced, production, performance, and reception-wise, Chuggington is still very much an enjoyable and mostly solid series. I commend both Ludorum and Herschend for not going down without a fair fight and I've very much grown to love the show just as much as Thomas.

To the point where Thomas content is not my top priority anymore and hasn't been for some time now, seeing as thousands of people do Thomas content already while Chuggington content is very scarce and slow going, even with more people finally appreciating and warming up to it, since there's far worse out there nowadays... media ain't what it used to be so good f---ing luck... 😑

With all the moping and mourning aside, thank you so much for joining us, you don't know how much it means to me to have another person hyperfixating on this underated and criminally disregarded series, but it's important to remember that you don't choose the hyperfixation. The hyperfixation chooses you >:3

I am an artist, editor and headcanon writer, and slowly pushing to write up my own fanseries which takes place after S5, and I even have my own roster of original characters and locations in progress, one OC I've already revealed, and another that was actually created by a Tumblr buddy of mine, @lomotunes2008.

So make sure you follow my art account, @masterjarthub - with notifications on, cuz I may pump out surprises over there!

But for until then, welcome to The Chugger Cult! 🚂🚄🚅🚈😄😄😎😎

Enjoy your stay. 😊

[basicallyjaywalker]

Wanna ramble about a moment/character in ninjago you think people need to talk about more?

I don't know who you are anon, but I'm glad you asked!

I am desperate for people to character-analyze Wu. I'm desperate for a lot of character analysis including Nya but since I got a lot of my Nya feelings out with some lovely folks the other night (edit: the other night was a month ago dw about it. this took a minute) I'm going with Wu this time

Master Wu to me is such an interesting case of a character who it is so easy to ignore the bits of the show that hint at his wider issues and traumas. He is a man defined heavily by his family and by his past. A lot of criticism he gets, I think, is due in part to that.

I've mentioned before that I've been rewatching S1 with a friend of mine and intermittently pausing to infodump on them about interesting character things I notice from that season. A lot of that has been Wu-focused because despite having seen RotS dozens of times throughout my life (watching it on CN, watching it on Netflix when only it and Legacy were around, rewatching it with friends) I have only just started noticing the seeds of character written in.

I might also just be reading too much into things, but hear me out

In S1 (and by extension, the pilots), Wu is characterized as your typical old wise teacher. In the first few minutes of EP1: Rise of the Snakes, he is chewing out the Ninja for playing video games instead of training. The line he uses? "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today."

It's a line that gets repeated throughout the series. In fact, it gets repeated that very episode when the ninja go (pun not intended) to fight the Hypnobrai and a literal pre-teen. At first, it seems to just be a piece of wisdom. Some old proverb Wu's picked up over the years, possibly one he even coined himself. However, in EP7: Tick Tock, Wu tells the story of who, possibly, first told him this.

(Source: Tick Tock/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom, highlight added.)

It was Garmadon. Now, I'm not gonna dwell too long on Garmadon, if you spend five minutes talking to me you'll learn he was the first character whose story I obsessed over and I want this essay to be about Wu, but I think he plays a role in Wu's overall story, as does Wu's family as a whole.

Prior to this, Wu and Garmadon's relationship has been more of a sibling rivalry taken to a good vs. evil extreme. We didn't know why Garmadon was evil and we didn't know about Wu and his relationship as kids. However, this scene establishes the backstory. They were, as Wu puts it, "the best of friends." That is, until Garmadon gets bit by the Devourer going to get the katana Wu lost.

Now, I know the Devourer bite was destined to happen because of the Overlord or some shit, but Wu doesn't. As far as he's concerned, Garmadon getting bit was a direct consequence of both his mistake and his cowardice. He lost the katana. He was too scared to get it. Garmadon went over instead. Garmadon got bit.

The scene goes on to show the FSM tending to Garmadon in the aftermath. Wu is watching from behind the door, likely told to stay back, but concerned. And in his POV, we get this intense moment, where Garmadon turns, looks directly at him (his eyes turning bright red for the first time), and says "It's all Wu's fault!"

(This clip should begin at the start of Wu eavesdropping. If it doesn't, skip to 0:58. I highly recommend also paying attention to Wu's body language during this scene.)

The camerawork does a great job of showing how this probably felt for Wu. It zooms in, Garmadon's voice echoes, and the background blurs. We see in the flashback that this is a moment Wu has etched into his memory. Not to mention, he was likely a very young child when this happened. LEGO characters' ages are weird, but Wu in this scene has the Big Eyes, which always seem to be used for characters under 12. We don't know exactly how much older Garmadon is to my knowledge, but he doesn't have the Big Eyes, so he's probably closer to 12 and a few years older than Wu for sure.

Imagine that. Being in elementary school and your older siblings gets hurt. They're acting strange. They're lashing out at your father. Then, they blame it all on you. They're hurt because of you. Wouldn't you internalize that?

I could go on about Wu's relationship with Garmadon, but again, I think I've spent enough time on it and I don't want to only focus on that. It's an important part, but there are others.

Let's talk about Wu's relationship with his dad.

Now, I have not yet read the Spinjitzu Brothers series. I cannot speak to any development of Wu and the FSM's relationship in there. I have, however, read The Book of Spinjitzu and blogged some of my thoughts on it here, including some of what it says about Wu.

For those who haven't read it, first, there is a Google Drive folder floating around with all of the canon spinoff books/graphic novels in it. Here's the link if you wanna read them!

The FSM is an... intriguing figure. I mean, in the series he's basically god? He made the entire world. That's already a very high bar to live up to. Then, in Book of Spinjitzu, there's a few specific parts that, when I read them, signaled that Wu internalized a specific message when he was young.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 3).

Wu does not want to disappoint his father. It is up to him (and Garmadon until he turns evil) to "uphold the legacy of Spinjitzu" and, by extension, his family. He says he was "very young" when this was explained to him. Considering he seems to already be training at an elementary age, "very young" means VERY young.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 16).

Here, we again see Wu being very aware that he has some large burden to carry. Something else interesting here is that the thought of the Green Ninja Prophecy is already weighing on him too. His considering if he might be the Green Ninja is of extra interest because of how the Green Ninja Prophecy and the--I wouldn't call it obsession, possibly fixation?--with who it is factors into his later actions, but we'll get to that later.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 19).

This one in particular gets me because it comes after Wu mentions Garmadon becoming more evil. It is a statement of power. Wu knows that the legacy of Spinjitzu now rests in his hands alone. He cannot let himself fall the way Garmadon did. He cannot disappoint his father. Whether or not the FSM intended it, Wu always knew the fate of the world rested, at least in part, upon his shoulder. He knew this from the time he was a young boy and it remains in his mind to this day.

Now, these quotes are indirect, but they all point to one clear idea: As a child, Wu internalized the idea that he alone is responsible for keeping Ninjago safe. He will play a pivotal role in its history.

There's not evidence in this book that the FSM's was a bad father, per se. However, just because one doesn't set out to harm their children, doesn't mean they won't. I often say Wu has an "Atlas complex," which I have no idea if it is an actual concept but use it to refer to this idea. Wu feels as though he is responsible for holding up the world, much like Atlas. He must keep the balance, he must solve the Green Ninja prophecy, he must make his father proud.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, page 61).

I'm going to get further into what this means for Wu as a teacher to the current Ninja Team, but for now let's look at Wu's first foray into teaching.

Morro. Wu's Biggest Mistake.

That might seem like an overstatement, but it's not.

(Source: Ghost Story/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom)

Okay he says regret, not mistake, but I was paraphrasing.

Let's turn back to his quote about his destiny. Wu writes, "Is my life's mission to be the Green Ninja? Or maybe it will be to find the Green Ninja and protect him (or her)??"

From a very young age, Wu was not only aware of the Green Ninja but prophecy but also thinking about his place in it. We see this again when he takes Morro in and trains him.

(Source: Ghost Story/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom, highlight added)

A big thing Wu is criticized for here is making Morro believe he is meant to be more. That he is the Chosen One. And Morro, being a young homeless orphan just now given some semblance of power and protection, latches onto that. And I can see it, but when you take into account the above that he was trained from (likely) a younger age than Morro and given a similar level of responsibility, it becomes more understandable. Wu is just doing what he was taught. He doesn't believe that he is harming Morro until it is too late.

This is the entire story, but I'm specifically going to be discussing 1:36 onwards here. I also wanted to add that rewatching this scene made me lay down on the floor! What the fuck! But I digress.

There's a lot going on in this scene. For one, Wu washing his hands of Morro in some ways, but not others. He turns his back on Morro when he tells him that destiny has decided, but looks at him again when Morro storms out. He goes to save Morro from the Grundal, but decides that he cannot "teach those who would not listen." Most importantly, when Morro leaves to go find the Tomb of the FSM, Wu leaves the door open. He waits for Morro to return, but never goes after him. And Morro never comes back.

Wu gives Morro's fate a dismissive response at the end of his ghost story ("I am saddened he was banished to the Cursed Realm") but it's clear he still cares deeply about him in the finale of the season.

Wu's VA in this is phenomenal btw. That "Please Morro!" and "MORRO!" make my heart ache.

Morro believed Wu stopped caring, but he didn't. Even after all he's done, even after trying to destroy all of Ninjago--destroying what Wu had spent his life trying to protect--Wu tries to save him. He begs for Morro to come with him. Morro refuses, Wu watches him perish.

Someone else Wu is close to is gone. Wu again considers himself responsible. Everything is his fault.

And finally, we reach Wu today. A cautious, secretive man. He loves his students, this much is clear. Even as early as the pilots, he drops his wise teacher persona to joke around with them.

As with Morro, he trains them like his father did him. He even uses the same methods his father used when he trains them.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, page 32)

While he is hard on the Ninja, wanting them to succeed and training them to help defend the Realm, he lets his guard down more than it seems he did with Morro. He also learned a valuable message from his experience with Morro when he hides the Green Ninja Prophecy from the Ninja, getting angry when they start to push themselves in the same way Morro did upon learning about it. It's clear he doesn't want a repeat.

Now, I can't speak for later seasons (I will eventually) but this fear of repeats, his students going down a dark path because they're tempted by power or greatness, losing someone else, likely drives Wu not telling them other important information. That is just a passing thought though.

Final notes:

I'm currently in the process of rewatching S7: Hands of Time. I actually got this ask right after finishing EP68: Scavengers, which opens with Wu having a nightmare. In it, he and Misako are walking outside of Yang's temple. While walking, Misako delivers this line in response to Wu reminiscing about the time they've spent together:

(Source: Scavengers/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom)

This line, to me, is Wu's subconscious trying to tell him something he needs to hear. It's hinting at what might be his greatest flaw. Wu is haunted by his past, by his mistakes. He finds it difficult to tell others because of both his guilt and his desire to not put that worry upon them. In this very season, he makes the mistake of trying to face his past on his own, and he nearly dies for it.

In the same episode, you see Wu trying to make sure Lloyd doesn't make the same mistakes.

(Source: Prev)

Wu stresses the important of the team. It's as if he sees Lloyd blaming himself for what happened to Wu, sees him doing the same thing Wu has, and is trying to prevent him from doing the same thing. This is further emphasized when, after Wu falls asleep (well, fakes falling asleep), Lloyd says "Wu's mistake was going in alone. So was mine."

Master Wu is, like many characters in this show, someone who is more complex than meets the eye. He is not just a wise, old teacher. He is a man who, throughout his life, has made mistakes and carries the weight of each of them on his shoulders. He is a man who tasks himself with making up for those every day. He is a man who wants better for his students, his family.

Until the day he dies, he will guide and protect his students. And possibly? Even after death too.

[miaikon]

From learning a Sci-Fi script to picking up a Con-Lang (or, a very long very nerdy Star Wars rant)

I need to rant at this to the void, and this blog is my go-to for these things. I feel free to do so since no-one comes here anyways.

A bit of background

(or, the part you can skip if you want to get to the nerdy rant now): I've been into Star Wars on and off since my teens. I'm nearly 40, so that's a few decades. I do watch the new series, and became very fond of "The Mandalorian" really fast. In-between seasons, my spouse and I also re-watched most of Clone Wars. In early 2024, we started a Star Wars 5E TTRPG campaign with a friend, where my spouse DM's, Friend plays a Jedi, and I play a Mandalorian (and she's just so much FUN to play). My character is one I came up with around... 2017? Maybe? IDK if you can find her if you scroll down far enough. Currently re-designing her, though. I originally came up with her after working my way through the Travis books and becoming fascinated with Mandalorians for some reason.

Accidential Language Acquisition

My latest obsession (and distracion from the summer heat) started with me looking up some Mandalorian phrases and curses for RPG purposes. Yes, I know, none of this is canon any more. None of us cares. We kind of make our own canon. Then I found out there's a script - and I was lost. I loved codes and obscure scripts as a child, and I did learn to read Hiragana in my 20s, so how hard could this be? I looked for a chart and found this site, which offers practice reading (and a dictionary, amongst other stuff). So, I started learning the characters in, I think, late July. I read quite well by now, my writing does lag behind. Juuust... the practice phrases are written in the Mandalorian language.

I didn't set out to learn a constructed language. I really did not. I just wanted to know WHAT I was typing. So I looked up the sentences on the cheat-sheet after I got them right. And some words started repeating, and I picked them up. Kinda automatically. I swear, I only practice reading/ writing this for like 15 to 30 minutes a day. After a while, I half-understood what some sentences said. Reading Star Wars fanfiction did not help (or help a lot, depending on your POV) there. I looked up missing words, building a bit of a vocabulary. It's erratic still, but I noticed something. In conversations, my brain sometimes supplies the Mandalorian words I know now. (I usually do catch myself, although stuff tends to slip in when I'm alone with my spouse, to his amusement.) My language center does not know this is a con-lang, after all. I also tried to write a ransom note in Mandalorian, which was a fun experience (for a private project). Through fan fiction and looking up stuff, I also learned about the Legends version of Mandalorian culture. That stuff is fascinating, although I feel like a visitor to an abandoned city. Everyone's gone (since Legends is out of print and stuff is falling into obscurity), but it's still cool to look around. It gives me a kind of bittersweet, nostalgic feeling, too. So many passionate minds, and things I'm so happy to experience, but wished I knew about sooner. Aay'han, if you will, only it's memories I never made. Nostalgia for what could have been. Not gonna lie, I'm obsessed. It's a feeling I seldom get now, although it was quite frequent when I was a teen. It feels great and enjoyable and unhealthy and I think I need to stop. I'm an adult, and I'm too old to fangirl. Or, at least, I keep telling myself this.

Analyzing a Con-Lang because my nerd brain can't stop looking for patterns

Mandalorian actually HAS different words for the people, the planet, the ruler, and the language. Let me start with Manda, which is the collective soul (or the concept of) of the Mandalorian people. The people themselves are Mando'ade (Children of the Manda/ of Mandalore. Singular Mando'ad). The language is Mando'a (no clue why, language would be joha. Maybe Mando'joha was too long and it got shortened). The planet is Manda'yaim (yaim meaning home. Simple enough). The ruler is the Mand'alor (alor meaning, well, leader. Also simple).

Before long, my brain started making connections between some things. Simple things first - "Ke" or "K' " at the start of a sentence is always the imperative form of something ("Command form"). The words for "you", "I", and the third person pronoun. Then, between words, trying to fit new words with what I already know. Like [something] ad was most likely about people. I built myself bridges that are just theories - I am not a linguist in any fashion, and I'm just trying to make sense of what's there. Like mirsh meaning brain(cell), kot meaning strenght, and mirshko is courage - so, "brain-strength"?

And no, for all of you out there that are as nerdy as me, this is not a full language. There isn't a word for "call" or "get in contact with" I could find, for example. Some authors just wanted to add flair to their writing, so an incomplete thing is what we have. Even so, I am kind of hooked in the weirdest way. I play around, trying to make my own sentences and combined words. It's fun, and private, and nobody needs to know. Except for the two people I TTRPG with.

IDK any more where I wanted to go with this. There might be a part 2, someday. If anyone read this, I appreciate you. If anyone read this and had this weird kind of obsession happen to them as well, let's talk. It might just be the universe's weirdest midlife crisis.

[andreal831]

The pacing for season 4 and especially season 5 seemed extremely rushed to me. I’ve always thought the show could’ve used a season in between season 3 and season 4 to pace it better.

What are your thoughts about this? What do you think would’ve and/or should’ve occured had this of happened?

I couldn't agree more.

In fact, all of the fics I've written in the TVD universe have been fixing that period, (subtle plug for my fics) so I can tell you exactly what I would have done. This will have spoilers for my fics so feel free to go over to AO3 or Wattpad and read there first!

They could have done something so amazing. As someone who watched the shows from a young age, it almost felt like we grew up with the TVD gang, and then were watching Hope grow up which would have made Legacies so special to watch her come into her own. But we didn't get that. Instead, Hope grew up in the blink of an eye off screen. For a show about family, it seemed to constantly put the family aspects on the back burner.

They did all of these major time jumps simply because Julie Plec wanted to move on to Legacies. She liked the idea of what I just described but didn't have the patience to actually do it effectively. From what I've heard, The Originals was supposed to be like 6 or 7 seasons. Instead, we essentially got 4.

If they wanted to shorten the seasons, I would have scrapped season 5 completely. It was honestly a mess and didn't add much to the overall story. If you want to read how I would do that, I've written a story called The Last Sacrifice which shows season 4 as the series finale. SPOILERS for my story. Essentially, instead of splitting the Hollow in four, Elijah takes it all and sacrifices himself. To me, this gives Elijah a kind of redemption arc while allowing his family a chance at happiness.

Now my current work in progress, The Great War, starts in the beginning of season 3. I love season 3, but I think this is where things start to get messy. We see these constant character arcs and then destructions throughout this season. Deep traumas are brought to light and then quickly moved on from. The characters are all going through massive trauma but as an audience, we don't have a second to truly feel the impact because the next thing is already happening.

Then the show does a 5 year time jump and we don't even get flashbacks of Hayley trying to save the family or raising Hope on her own? It wasn't just the Mikaelsons missing out on Hope's life, but the audience as well. We finally get them reunited for about a week and then they are all forced to go their separate ways. And they cave in so easily. The Mikaelsons I know, especially after being separated for so long, wouldn't have gone down without a fight. Hayley sending Hope off to boarding school makes no sense. She fought so hard to keep her child with her only to send her off? Also, why couldn't Rebekah and Marcel have stayed in New Orleans than since Hope would never be there? Or Klaus for that matter? Elijah erasing his memories made no sense. Freya not working endlessly to destroy the Hollow and reunite her family for 5 years made no sense.

Then finally we get the mess of Season 5 and they all just give up. There's nearly no fight in them. Why can't they all just split up again? Why can't they send the Hollow to another realm? If you want to see how I would have written season 5, check out Don't It Just Break Your Heart. Essentially, how did Klaus not just force Elijah's memories back when everything started falling apart?

The last few seasons were rushed and poorly written because the writers were done, the actors were done, and Julie Plec didn't care.

But if you're interested, The Great War is planning to follow a lot of the cannon events but slowing things down a lot. I do have an added character to try and control the Mikaelsons slightly, but I'm trying to keep it true to how I see the events actually taking place if the characters are staying true to their character arcs.

As for the season between season 3 and 4, this is a little bit of spoilers for TGW, but yes, there definitely needs to be a season there. The time jump is ridiculous and we miss so much good character development.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry some of this is vague but I don't want to spoil TGW too much!

[kiss-my-freckle]

This is what Julie said about 3x22 a day after it aired:

At what point did you come up with the idea that Damon met Elena first and erased her memory of that moment?

The details of that scene happened as we were talking about the end of the season. But the question that we’ve always had since the beginning of the series in the writers room is, “Where was Damon while Stefan was entering school and meeting Elena?” Damon came into the pilot armed with a lot of knowledge, which, in my opinion, implies that he’s been there for a little while. So we’ve always wanted to ask and answer that question. It felt like the right answer there was [that] he was having his own experience with Elena.

Fans still call this flashback a retcon though. What do you think of this argument?:

Why couldn’t Stefan save both of them? Why couldn’t Elena just swim herself? Getting out of the car was the problem but Stefan tore out the freaking door. Drowning is not a quick death and you can even be resuscitated. The Damon scene doesn’t make sense narratively. Season 1 Damon especially in the first few episodes was a psychopath who would not have a nice chat with a pretty girl on the road that she looks like his lover who he has been obsessed with.

I felt the same way about the pilot episode. Damon implied that he already knew about Elena just as Stefan did. "I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word. Elena." He then implied that he not only knew about Elena, he met her just as Stefan did. "She took my breath away. Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine." He also implied that he knew of her parents' drowning just as Stefan did. The point of him slamming his crow into Bonnie's windshield in the first place. "Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." So he knew about Elena, met her, and even knew about their accident. The writers wrote their flashback scene around Damon's comment in the pilot, it's just in reverse.

"She took my breath away." "Oh, you - you just look..."

"Elena." "No - um - I - I'm Elena."

"She's a dead ringer for Katherine." "Katherine."

They pull the other side of his flashbacks when they do Sybil's arc.

"Any reason your dad would just drive off the road like he was trying to avoid something without braking?" "What was that?! Oh, my god! Elena, are you okay? It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere."

When I first watched the show, it never made sense to me why Damon acted the way he did towards Elena until I hit 3x22. It's not a retcon, and Damon most certainly would have a scene with Elena exactly as he does in their 3x22 flashback. As psychotic as fans believe he was, he was also being protective of Elena. And to be protective of Elena, he needed to act human for it to make sense. Only a person that cared about Elena would try to protect her as Damon did. In the pilot episode, he was straight-up trying to stop her and Stefan from so much as meeting. Fans believe Stefan was protecting Elena from Damon, but Damon was protecting Elena from Stefan. That's why he's pushing Elena to learn their truth. I've done several posts about Damon's actions in the first five episodes.

Stelena is written in death and Delena is written in life. They're "dead" characters because they're vampires, and Damon wanted Elena to have the "life" she deserves. That's why he slammed a crow into Bonnie's windshield. He wanted Elena to miss her first day of school because he knew Stefan would be there. Same with the cemetery. He knew Stefan would be there, so he kicked her out. If Damon wanted Elena to have a vampire in her life, he would've entered her life instead of using his crow. That's why their flashback scene in 3x22 makes sense. This vampire is using his crow because he doesn't want to be in her life, and he makes it clear that he doesn't want his brother to be in her life either. That's why Cade straight-up blames Stefan and Stefan only. Damon was the one truly protecting her. Oooh... how psychotic of him lol

[ciaossu-imagines]

Hi !

Just passing by to say that I really enjoy your writing! It's always so fun to read. I would like to read even more from you. Would you recommend any of your the other series you write for to me considering that I have read khr and bsd ?

Aww, thank you so much dear!! That's so nice to hear and I'm so glad you enjoy it! And it flatters me so much that you want to read more of it!

Now, as for recommendations, I will say that every single fandom I write for is one that I would recommend. I write for each of them because I love them and honestly do think they're amazing, in terms of story or character, but there's also caveats to each of them! So I'm just going to do the reasons I think you should check them out and what I think are their downfalls that might make them not your particular thing, just in case anyone else was wondering the same thing!

K PROJECT is definitely a huge one on here, and chances are that if you liked BSD and KHR, you probably will like this one too. It has a pretty art style and a tendency, much like the others, to have very bishie characters and cool uses of powers. The story is solid the entire way through and honestly, everyone will be able to find a character in this large cast of them who they really do love. Add onto that that, for the most part, the K fandom is large for an older anime, and really a very, chill, accepting fandom. Drawbacks: There is more noticeable fanservice in regards to female characters. And it is a big one to get into - on top of a two season anime, there are films, light novels, manga spin-offs (and honestly, Memory of Red is such a love of mine, same with Days of Blue)...I'm not saying that you have to consume all the content, just that there is a lot of it out there, if you do tend to be someone who really does need to read/watch everything for a show you enjoy, and some of it is hard to find.

NANBAKA is one I dearly love. It starts off a lot like KHR did, as a gag comedy series with some action elements and, a lot like KHR, shifts itself into a shounen with comedic elements. Again, much like KHR and BSD, you'll find a cast of very bishie men, and I do like all the female characters introduced so far, who are all smartly written. Again, it's another story with a huge cast of characters, so there really is something for everyone. It's got two seasons of its anime, and the manga isn't wildly ahead of where it's last anime season stopped (though I've only read until 192, where my manga app stopped, though I recently got a source to read further, so I'm planning on doing that), and I do feel you get pretty much the same story either reading or watching. Drawbacks: The first three episodes for sure are a bit of a slog to get through unless you really like gag comedy. Much like the Daily Life Arc in KHR, it's mostly just introducing characters. At episode four, the story for the first season starts to really shape up, but episode seven is pure filler for the most part and always seems really disjointed to me. For episode eight onwards, I was hooked - so hooked I had to go read the manga for more. I will also say that it has a very unique art style and character design, with a lot of very bright colours used, so if a very soft, pretty art style is something you're after, this might not be your cuppa.

WELCOME TO DEMON SCHOOL, IRUMA-KUN! is a more recent fandom of mine but a great one. It's one where I watched the anime first and am now just reading the manga, so I'm warning that most of these opinions are based mostly on the anime, which is three seasons long, so a bit more of a commitment than some of my other fandoms. I don't know how to really explain it, but it has a really nostalgic feel to me. It takes me back to when One Piece, Naruto and Bleach were these major things in anime. I feel like Iruma really has that classic shounen feel to it in some ways. I feel like, if you like shounen overall as a genre, you're going to end up liking this show. Drawbacks: That being said, there are drawbacks. Again, it's a bigger commitment and I do feel like Iruma, the anime at least, does have some serious pacing issues at times. If you are someone sensitive to pacing in your stories and need the story to progress rapidly from one thing to the next, you might not enjoy this one so much.

SERVAMP is one that I do think any fans of KHR and BSD will like. It's got a similar art style, really cool uses of powers, interesting characters, and a solid story. Drawbacks: The anime ended while the manga continued. While the anime was a good adaption of the manga up to the point where the anime ended, it does have a different storyline near the ending, because they just didn't have more material to work with. So, while it's a short anime, easy to watch with only 12 episodes, and is a really good show on its own, I will write about characters as a manga reader, with all the new twists and turns and all the new characters introduced so you might find yourself lost on some things as a strictly only anime person, if you are one.

SAIYUKI has been such a long time fandom of mine. I read the manga, but I think the anime adaptions have mostly been fantastic, though they do censor quite a bit. The characters are insanely easy to connect with and love, the story is well thought out and paced well. You can watch the original starter anime on youtube here. Drawbacks: That being said, there are definite drawbacks. It is an older series, with the art reflecting that. And it's a huge series, with there being multiple parts to it - the original Saiyuki, Saiyuki Gaiden (exploring the character's past lives), Saiyuki Reload, Saiyuki Reload Bast, Saiyuki Ibun (a prequel that explores the story of an important side character)...and another, major drawback, is that, much like Hunter x Hunter for example, I really don't think that there's ever going to be a solid ending for this series.

MYSTIC MESSENGER has so many interesting characters, and unlike some other otome games, the story is so incredibly well-developed, thought through so well, and it really has a way of breaking your heart at moments, with some fantastic character development and story arcs. Drawbacks: It is an otome game, so you do have to like those, and I argue that it's an otome game that takes a shit-ton of commitment to play, more so than any other game I've played.

IKEMEN REVOLUTION has beautiful art, interesting characters, and some of the routes they came out with had such amazing storylines. You will definitely find a favourite character. Drawbacks: It's an otome game, so you do have to enjoy those. Some of the routes can be a little bland, and because it's not getting any new content, there's a chance the person who ends up being your favourite might not ever have a route (FUCKING GIVE ME A BLANC ROUTE!!!)

EYESHIELD 21 is, in my opinion, everything a sports series should be. There's interesting and complex characters, well developed character relationships, exciting moments, moments that break your heart, and you really, really grow connected to some of these characters so easily. It spoiled me on a lot of other sports series, honestly. Like KHR, it really undergoes a fantastic art evolution which is also really interesting to see. Drawbacks: It's a sports manga, so you have to like that sort of thing. Also, I say manga because, while it does have an anime, I do think the anime has to be one of the ugliest I've seen and they did my favourites so dirty.

THE OUTSIDERS is a novel I've loved since grade nine. I love the story, the characters and their relationships with each other, the dynamics between those who were born with privilege and those born in poverty. All around, a fantastically written book. Drawbacks: It's going to break your heart towards the end.

RONIN WARRIORS is a long, long, LONG time love of mine. It's cheesy, it's fun, it's got a good overall story and I love the characters to death. It's easy to find, with the series on YouTube here. Drawbacks: It is an old anime, with the art, voice acting, and animation style reflecting that. I also find that the anime took a bit to get going, and I honestly find myself rewatching the OVA's a lot more than the actual series. I love all three but Gaiden is my favourite, and I probably suggest trying the movie first to see if you connect with the characters, since it takes a lot less time.

KEKKAISHI info. Drawbacks: I really don't think you can get as good a story or as much of an impact without reading the manga, which does take a little bit to really get going. I do remember the first volume being really slow and a bit of a slog to get going, though it's a slog that is well worth it for the story you get in the end and the interesting, complex, realistic characters you get and the amazing powers and power systems you do find in it.

GETBACKERS is a really fun anime. It has these wonderful, fascinating characters with well-developed and interesting relationships among themselves. The story line is really solid and well-paced. The power system is really cool, and in the anime, the fanservice isn't too unbearable. Drawbacks: This is one where I honestly couldn't finish the manga because of the horrific amount of gratitutious fanservice on the part of their female characters, so I do recommend the anime, which can be found here on YouTube. I do warn that it is an older anime, and the art can lean that way at times, though I still personally enjoy it!

BLUSH BLUSH is my go-to relax and forget the world game. It is technically an otome game, though one with a lot of grinding elements and it doesn't really have too much in the way of actual character routes, having more of a general storyline and fun dialogue. Drawbacks: You really do have to enjoy those kinds of games, and some characters and things like the fully voiced DLC and the 18+ DLC that allows you to see the guys naked do cost actual money.

CLASS OF THE TITANS is a really fantastic Canadian cartoon. It's an older one, but I really don't think that impacts it negatively at all, since the art was really unique and well done, the animation still holds up, the characters themselves are wonderful. Also, for Greek mythology nerds, you'll have fun with this series! You can find the first season here! Drawbacks: Worst ending to the series and worst final arc I've ever seen, but that is just my own personal opinions and I know some people who loved it.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN is arguably one of my favourite superhero cartoons. It was done by Disney XD, with a fun art style, good voice acting talent, and the fact that it's set in high-school is a definite difference from a lot of the typical superhero cartoons and something that really did work in its favour. It's humorous, the characters are great and they each really do get their moment in the spotlight. Drawbacks: It is a cartoon, not an anime, and that might not appeal to some people, and it might be a bit difficult to find.

There are also some fandoms I love and would honestly love to write for and add to the fandom list on here, but that I'm not sure if there'd be any interest in, so I'm just going to briefly list them here!

DOGS: BULLETS & CARNAGE - fantastic manga, though definitely goes to some dark, dark places and if you're someone who can't really stomach things that are more on the seinen side, I definitely don't recommend viewing it.

BLACK CAT - It's a pretty solid anime, but I really do feel you get a much better story and a much better look at the characters in the manga. However, just watching, it's still really good but again, as with a lot of my other fandoms, this is very much an older one, so the art style does reflect that.

HUNTER X HUNTER - Both as an anime and as a manga, it's a fantastic story, full of fascinating, complex characters and is definitely a shounen classic for a reason. However, much like Saiyuki above, I really don't think we're ever going to get a proper ending for Hunter x Hunter, just my personal opinion, and that is something that might bother some people.

KARNEVAL - It's a really pretty show and manga. The art is gorgeous, and the story is interesting, though I feel some of the characters do fall a bit flat at times.

THE ROYAL TUTOR - Fantastic show, beautiful manga. You're going to find a favourite character with no issues, because they're all unique and charming. However, it can be a little too slice of life or non-action packed for your typical shounen fan.

GANGSTA. - Fantastic show but an amazing manga. That being said, much like Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, it goes into some dark places and does have some things that might go over the line for some people.

PSYCHO-PASS - I cannot say enough good things about this and if you liked the character designs in KHR, you'll likely love these. However, again, it definitely crosses some lines that people might not be able to handle.

THE MIGHTY DUCKS - I love them, but honestly, I'll admit - it's a set of three hockey movies from the 90's, made for kids, so I doubt anyone else still remembers and loves them.

THE COVENANT - Long live the Sons of Ipswich! This is just a really fun movie, full of really pretty guys and some good action scenes, an interesting premise, and it's one of my favourites but...it's corny as hell and I admit that.

DATE WARP is a fun otome game that doesn't take a long time to play, has an interesting story line, and some really, really great characters! However, it is an otome game, so you have to enjoy those, and the art isn't as polished as it is in some other otomes.

SEDUCE ME THE OTOME is another really great otome game, with a sequel game that really, really fleshed out the storyline and characters so well. However, again, it's an otome game so you have to enjoy those and the art is very unique compared to some of the art used in other fandoms.

[e-l-forever]

What is your opinion on Smallville Lana and Clana?

Oh wow a Smallville question! And what a question at that, right? I feel like I should preface this with a lot of stuff, because I actually have huge history with this character and the ship (which, believe it or not, I used to ship at some point).

First of all, I LOVE Kristen! I adore her, I've seen several cons with her and she's the sweetest and kindest and is stunning inside and out. And looks like she's also aware of the problems with her character's storylines and wasn't much happy about it.

Second, I watched Smallville as it was airing in.... god knows what year.... meaning, I was very young at that time and coming straight out of Lois & Clark TNAOS series, which turned me into a Clois shipper for life. So once Smallville started and was a huge hit right away I was hesitating about getting on board, because: "How do I, a Clois shipper, watch a series about Clark and another girl's big love?" And I vividly remember reading an article in a magazine with one of the producers, who was promising that this was about school years ONLY, that there would be no Lois, so we were all free and safe to root for this cute young couple. So I trusted them and started watching and just loooved early Lana and Clana, it was adorable and just age-appropriate cute teen love for me at that time. (I keep mentioned my youth because I think the show aged with the viewers and the early seasons/ships were more younger viewers-appropriate, while the more adult and mature Clois relationship was more for the older viewers, like you would grow out of one ship into another. And I think that's also how the different age groups gravitate towards these ships). After the first couple of seasons it started to get a bit tiring but I was still holding on, to the point that when they announced Lois's arrival after S3 I felt so betrayed 😂, I was like "you promised!" and I tried not to like her, but nobody could resist Erica and I fell for her in 1(ONE) episode 😂

After that it just all went downhill for Lana/Clana. Storylines kept getting worse and more unbearable. The back and forth and the constant will they won't they was super tiring, especially compared to the breath of fresh air that was Lois/Clois. Whenever Clark and Lana were sharing screen it was sheer misery and they were just bringing out the worst in each other. Their plots separate from each other were so much better (whenever Lana was allowed to have one, that is, which wasn't often). I remember genuinely loving Lana with Jensen's character until he had to leave and went psycho, and - unpopular opinion - but I even loved her story with Lex and their own love-and-war twisted games they were playing, at least it made her interesting and exciting as compared to the horrible stuff she was given with Clark! Basically with time I could stand her less and less.

I also think she overstayed her welcome, because the writers had no idea what to do with her anymore, especially in an adult Superman's story. In S7 I felt they were nicely building up to her exit and showing in excruciating painful details how Clana just was NOT working at all, no matter how much they tried (and GOD, they tried gazillion tiring times!!), and even the characters were saying it like a million times how maybe they weren't meant to be, but sadly the Arc of Suck in mid-S8 shit on all over it obviously... That was the worst written, most offensive, character destroying bunch of episodes I've seen in any show and I'm embarrassed on behalf of Smallville producers and writers for doing that. That exit and the horrible taste retroactively ruined all my fond childhood memories I had of the character and of shipping that ship. I can't stand either anymore, sadly.

I think I would have loved if they had kept her as just a friend for her last couple seasons, like Oliver was with Lois, I think her character could have been redeemed that way and could have been made likable again. Because I know they brought her back in S11 comics as a friend and that was pretty nice. But oh well.

[sesshy380]

Can you do a 3, 4, and 8?

I apologize in advance for my answers (I'm sorry!)

-3. Dub or original?

I've only watched the Dub. I am aware of the differences, though. I prefer Dub voices, but would love it done accurate to the original (if that makes sense).

-4. Favorite season/story arc

Confession time. I've only watched parts of S0, all of S1 to the episode in Orichalchos arc where Yami loses Yugi, and Capsule Monsters. I still haven't watched Memory World/Final Duel. My entire knowledge of that comes from a few out of order Shonen Jump magazines, and lots of interwebs reading.

That being said, out of the ones I've actually watched, Battle City Finals. I do love the base idea behind the Memory World arc though. Even though my knowledge of that arc is entirely from a reader perspective, with a few Youtube scenes here and there, I still think TKB got shafted and deserved a better ending.

-8. Favorite antagonist/villain

I gotta pick just one? The Marik's were just so well written, and then you have Yami Bakura/TKB who had this amazing buildup across the series (even though his ending was blah). It's a close tie between them. I guess if I had to pick ONE, it would be Yami Marik. At first you think Marik is fucked up, then SURPRISE! There's an even more fucked up part of him that isn't an ancient spirit. He is so outta left field, and he's just entertaining with how he gives zero fucks about everyone else.

Thanks for the ask! Don't come after me with a pitchfork because in 20 years I haven't finished all the seasons :( I started rewatching recently, but finding time to sit down an watch a few eps here and there is hard since I have to wait for everyone else to be in the mood to watch (if I watch ahead people get mad *eyeroll*)

[lesbianmaxevans]

I might be in the minority but I was shipping Maria and Michael in the reboot I liked him and Kyle too but idk I was more into Michael and Maria at least Max and Liz didn't break up or anything too bad the show was cancelled D: (I know the showed ended a while ago but I was marathoning it recently)

sjghdaasdkjfdsjh idk what prompted this since I don't talk much about roswell anymore but hi 👋. michael/maria wasn't my vibe personally (I don't love that they had sex before she knew anything about aliens + the cover up), but I very much preferred it to m@lex. I was really into maria/dallas in the final season but if the writers hadn't gone that route I honestly think maria/kyle would've made more sense than kyle/isobel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also I'm a huuuuuuuuuuuge maria/max shipper like if we're specifically talking canon plot that's my #1 ship actually

and idk if you're looking for a rant or not akfjdhdsjkhf but honestly I have a ton of issues w how max and liz's rship was written post mid season 2. I loathed the mad scientist plot in s2 and it was worse when the writers revisited it in s4. the show from day 1 was promoted as max and liz's story and after s1 their rship takes a backseat - s2 they have like 2 episodes together before the mad scientist bullshit, s3 they only interact in like 5 episodes (3.03, 3.09, 3.10, 3.12, 3.13 if my memory serves me correctly), s4 finally seemed to be on the right track before liz basically threw a tantrum at max exercising some bodily autonomy and then she goes mad scientist again and max just reluctantly accepts it all when he should just walk away. and then the finale basically just rejects everything the show set up in s1 - I'm convinced if someone watched the pilot and immediately followed it up with the series finale they would not believe it was the same show. max has spent 4 seasons being self-sacrificing to a fault and now he's going to oasis to save everyone on that planet (literally the thing that clyde wanted to do and that the group killed him for???? make it make sense!) and as far as he knows this could kill him - he technically died when he revived rosa, what will healing a planet do to him?? and honestly the tail end of s4 plays out as the writers punishing liz - she starts losing her memories and literally cannot be a scientist anymore (which is teased that it is going to be fixed off-screen but.... still incredibly ugly given how important science is to her) and then rosa leaves, max leaves, she can't confide in her dad bc he was never let in on the alien secret (do not get me started on my rant about this)... 4.01 sets up her arc to be overcoming her abandonment fears and max's proposal is relentlessly teased all season just for the fake out with alex proposing and michael immediately accepting (cause that makes sense when just a couple months ago he could barely handle the thought of moving in w alex) and then the writers completely bulldoze a proposal it's just 'hey yeah I'm leaving but let's call ourselves engaged' and as I've already said, max leaves. so...... how is that helping liz overcome her abandonment fears lol. I just viscerally hate 95% of the final season. and pretty much every second of the final two episodes.

anyway..... long winded way to say that I am not sorry about the cancellation, I wish it had happened before s4 had been made.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

So, I was tagged in a "Top 10 Favorite TV shows" post a little while back, and I've sadly lost it (even though I really wanted to do it!):( And thank you to who tagged me in the post. I think it was @i-love-books-because-reasons? If I ever find the post again, I'll reblog it properly. But for now, I'll just answer it this way. (For some reason, I've decided not to included animes or cartoons, because no one did in their lists. Maybe that will be its own list. Or "younger shows," like Disney channel ones. But if I did, Lizzie McGuire would have made it:))

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series (though I'll be listing them separately) - have become my favorite shows of all-time (though they're also slightly tied with Dark Angel). They're just... so good and perfect, with such good writing and themes, and I could analyze and obsess over them for hours (and have), so of course they're here.

2. Angel the Series (mentioned above). - Though it and Buffy aren't exactly like. They're definitely their own shows and I love them both for different reasons.

3. Dark Angel season 1 - I just really latched onto Dark Angel, and have never been able to let it go... which is funny, because I didn't like it that much in the first few episodes: probably because they really went over my head as a kid. -shrugs- But I love my reluctant, badass heroine Max and how she grows. Speaking of Max? Love of my life. The love story between her and Logan is still one of the best written in all of TV to me. And the relationship between Max and her "siblings"--and just learning about this poor girl created in a lab, who had never even been in a house before when she was nine and things like that--has always spoken to me. The "fight the man" and "protect the downtrodden" plot is also great.

4. Tru Calling - It's thanks to my sister that I discovered this awesome show, and Eliza Dushku. The premise is just so wonderful: Tru having the ability to relive days and save people who died before their time. And whenever the show threw a wrench into the usual formula was fun. Particularly when Jack showed up, who was the opposite of Tru: trying to stop her actions, because he thought she was messing with the natural order of things and there would be disastrous consequences to it. The show was really finding its footing when it was canceled. And what the writers released of their plans for what they were going to do next? I cry that we didn't get to see that. But alas.

Smallville - Baby's first show for teens and up:) I have so many fond memories of discovering Smallville... and rewatching the episodes again and again with friends, and between new seasons. Also, watching new episodes when they aired. I feel like the idea of Smallville was great: tell the story of Superboy growing up on a TV show. It worked so well: and made so many people connect with Clark Kent/Superman, who otherwise might have trouble with it. It developed him and his relationships so well... and we won't talk about how well Lex Luthor was also developed (and played by Michael Rosenbaum): the best part of the show to many people. And how genius it was to have them start out the show as friends only to become the enemies they were fated to be. -sobs- Also, as it's been said, we wouldn't have the Arrowverse if Smallville hadn't come first. So credit where credit is due. And speaking of that, this was the time before the MCU and that sort of thing. So seeing hero cameos on this show was so shocking, new, and the best.

Alias - The first badass female heroine I ever saw on live-action TV--and fell in love with--was Sydney Bristow (aside from Xena: Warrior Princess, that I don't remember that well, because I was, like, five when I was watching Xena). Also my introduction to the wacky world of J.J. Abrams' writing. And as wacky as J.J. Abrams can get, and we all know it, I think he did a good job with Alias, and was pretty nuanced and tame here. There was just enough of his Mystery Box stuff to keep me intrigued, in this interesting spy story that I loved. And Sydney Bristow is seriously the greatest, and deserves the world. And Alias actually has one of the few TV endings that I actually like, for the most part.

Kyle XY - Another show similar to Dark Angel, in that it's about a human made in a lab (though that's a mystery for most of S1). And I really liked this show--and its main family the Tragers. Definitely one of the best things ABC Family ever did... and I'll forever be angry that it ended on a cliffhanger.

Roswell - A TV show about what if aliens did crash in Roswell, and lived among us as half-aliens, half-humans. This show is definitely largely a romance, but there's definitely more to it than just that: with some battles with other aliens, the aliens trying to get home, and stay alive from the government trying to kill them, etc. Maily it's the characters and their various relationships that make this show so great. It's certainly a product of its time, early 90's WB, but I'm nostalgic for it and love it too much. And we wouldn't have a number of shows we do today without it. Liz and Maria also have one of the best female friendships of all time. And this show is another one where I actually like the ending.

The Chosen - A TV show that tells what Jesus' ministry was like through the disciples' PoV. And I can't explain just how well made this show is. Seriously. People who aren't even religious watch it and love it. People have compared its quality to Game of Thrones... err, in a good way (I know that can be considered an insult now, after S8). This is what all Christian media should always attempt to be.

Bonus:

Dollhouse - The idea of this show is really neat (with people who have their memories and personalities wiped, and someone else's placed into them, when they're "bought" to live out someone's fantasy), but also hella problematic... though, granted, it's sort of problematic on purpose to draw attention to these problems in real life, but still. This show also becomes completely different by the end, than how it started out (I actually love this plot twist, and won't spoil it for those who don't know). But sadly, it didn't have too much to delve into this twist before it was canceled. But I do still love this show for what it did, and all the potential it had.

Game of Thrones - I loved this show so much, originally. As most people did. But then it really started going downhill when it ran out of books to adapt. Even before that, though, you could kind of see the cracks, with how they changed Daenerys so much... Or how they changed Robb Stark's marriage plot line from being about honor (like how Ned died) to love, etc. But even so, we still (mostly) have a few really good seasons, at least.

[capaldiera]

I'm thinking of getting back into nuwho - watched up to the end of 11's run in the day, but. You're the preeminent Clara enjoyer on my feed, so I'm asking to be sold on her/her dynamic with 12 (why did she get two doctors? Girlie is not Rose and sure is not Donna, but she carries multiple series?)

ultimately i think it's a matter of personal taste and i don't know what you like so i can't tell you if you would like it, but i can share some of my thoughts

i'm not personally interested in trying to determine which companions deserve more time than others (aside from maybe saying i wish bill had been the only companion of s10), but i do think for the story as it was written it makes sense for clara to have 2.5 seasons, and i enjoyed it. i only watched s7 once so i don't remember very clearly but from memory s7 clara is fairly different and maybe less developed than in s8 and 9, so i understand not being keen on the idea of more of her. definitely most people i've heard from agree her relationship with the eleventh doctor is less interesting than with the twelfth.

to me, clara having 2 seasons with 12 was a good thing because she was so integral to how he developed and who he grew into. like with ten and rose, he became a person in the context of her being the person he cared most about. but where i would say ten was shaped into someone suited to the young love thing he and rose had, it's more like twelve shaped himself into someone like clara. he's not clara, they very much have distinct personalities (and social skills), but he definitely learns a lot of his behaviour from her.

when it comes to clara enjoyerism, i think probably the only way to know if you'll like her is through experience, but i think if you tend to enjoy characters who are emotionally messy and demanding, or you like stories about characters being devoted to and obsessed with each other, she's worth a shot. but then i like seeing characters make bad choices and get tangled up together. also whether you read them as romantic or not i think twelve and clara have good chemistry.

beyond that, despite some issues (not overall any worse than the rest of nuwho) i think s8-10 are good seasons and twelve is a really good iteration of the doctor. and missy is there good god missy is there.

[kylekozmikdeluxo]

Madagasqueer, Or My Weird History With a DreamWorks Franchise (Part 1)

LOOOOONG POST... Incoming... Brace yourselves...

CW, just in case: Queerphobia, sexuality, mental illness

For whatever reason, I'm going to talk about MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA, DreamWorks' 2008 sequel to their 2005 CG animated comedy starring a bunch of zoo animals and many wild faces they meet on their adventures.

MADAGASCAR and I go way back. I saw the first movie when it came out, on Memorial Day weekend of 2005. I dug it! I wasn't as in love with it as I thought I was going to be. I was a young animation enthusiast, I was 12 going on 13 at the time, and I was really excited for MADAGASCAR. I was into what DreamWorks was doing at the time, was interested in where CG animated movies were going before a truckton of them all just debuted at once circa 2006-07, and I was also really excited to see a CG picture about animals. I've always had a fascination with wildlife, I write stories and have written stories about anthropomorphic animals... so I welcomed a new animal animated adventure. Surprisingly, at the time, not too many mainstream CG pictures were about land mammals. Heck, we got a movie about prehistoric land mammals before we got this. Everything else was toys, insects, dinosaurs, monsters, humans, fish, fantasy creatures. I mean, you had Donkey from SHREK and a few other characters here and there, but that was about it.

In fall 2004, DreamWorks released a CG animated sitcom called FATHER OF THE PRIDE. This show was quite something, to say the least. It's a show that I still can't wrap my head around, like this thing actually existed and attempted to be a CGI adult sitcom that aired on NBC. Network television. There was a lot of promo for it, for sure. I watched it and liked it back then, for I was 12 and my tastes were not really refined back then. And also Donkey himself made a cameo in one of the episodes, even went as far as plugging SHREK THE THIRD in one scene: "Tell the kids SHREK 3 is coming out in 2006!" (Of course, in reality, SHREK THE THIRD was pushed back to 2007.) The production of the show unfortunately coincided with an incident concerning real-life subject matter it was based: Siegfried & Roy. The show was about a lion that was part of their long-running Las Vegas circus act, and his family life behind the scenes. During production of the show, Roy was attacked by one of the tigers, nearly derailing the entire series... But it was seen through to completion, for the most part, and ran only one season with a few episodes either unfinished or unaired... It was... A thing... To say the least.

Weeks later, SHARK TALE had opened. The film had a teaser trailer for MADAGASCAR attached to it. When it started up, I was like "Wait a minute... What is this? Some FATHER OF THE PRIDE thing?" There was a lion, and there were other wild animals there. It looked interesting to me, and I had seen that trailer in theaters a couple more times, notably before THE INCREDIBLES. I sought it out online, and because this was before YouTube and because my family didn't have high-speed internet, it'd take like an eternity to load a 2 1/2-minute video... And naturally, once it loaded, I'd watch the trailer or whatever it was I was interested in at the time... Over and over, on that choppy little media player embedded into the site. So, I was really looking forward to MADAGASCAR. I liked what DreamWorks was doing at the time, and I was of course in love with the Pixar movies at the time as well. THE INCREDIBLES, circa November-December 2004 and into early 2005, was like my #1 interest and just one of my all-time favorite films.

Then we get to MADAGASCAR, which came out in May 2005, finally, and... I remember I *liked* it, but I didn't love it. I liked it better than SHARK TALE, but not as much as the SHREKs, nor the Pixars. I still liked it, though, and I just felt... I was not expecting the movie's second half to go the way it went. It also didn't help that my stomach hurt all night. When I saw it again on DVD, I watched it non-stop. I could probably quote most of the movie. I think the first MADAGASCAR is a solid movie, not exceptional by any means, but for a 2005 CGI animated movie, this introduced a more cartoony look and feel. Funky character designs, asymmetry, wild takes and movements. I remember back then criticizing the asymmetry of the New York buildings in particular, thinking it was all by mistake, but NO. That was the point, it was supposed to be this 2D cartoon but in 3D. I feel like MADAGASCAR, along with a few other movies of this era, kind of laid the seeds that would eventually step us towards... CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA... Coinciding with the techniques explored in shorts like PAPERMAN, FEAST, and ONE SMALL STEP. The experiments that would eventually step us through THE BOOK OF LIFE, THE PEANUTS MOVIE, CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS... And, the big one... SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE...

So yes, definitely, MADAGASCAR's cartooniness opened up new doors for what could be done in a mainstream CG picture. Visually neat to this day, groundbreaking in that regard, plus with all the amount of fuzzy animals and crowds of characters... Technically still impressive! I still think the movie is at odds with itself. There's an interesting thing where some people like the first MADAGASCAR the best and not so much the sequels because they like how the first one is about how Alex the lion realistically devolves into being a carnivore and a threat to his herbivore friends... Whereas in the sequels, that's just not a thing. Just like the humans in ICE AGE. I like the sequels more, personally, because I feel like this very dramatic "Alex is going to eat his friends" storyline is kind of at odd with the Looney Tunes/Tex Avery anything-goes cartoon energy of the movie. Plus this conflict is all resolved easily, they give him some sushi and that's it. That's the end. I still think it's a very entertaining movie, I really like the characters and the vibe of the whole thing. Good characters and a neat vibe is what makes a movie for me, even if the storytelling makes choices that kinda baffle me.

I can kinda see why it got mixed to negative reviews back in 2005. It clearly isn't trying to be SHREK or FINDING NEMO or THE INCREDIBLES. I think it's more in the league of ICE AGE, a sort of "cartoon animals on an adventure and they're all arguing and bickering with one another", there's pop culture jokes and such. Come to think of it, how come ICE AGE was given a relatively warm reception but this wasn't? Maybe because by 2005, it felt derivative? Maybe? I dunno!

That being said... Years passed...

Life changed in many ways. I was aware that a sequel was in the works, I believe I saw the announcement back in late 2005 saying that it was coming in 2008. I remember when it carried the title MADAGASCAR 2: THE CRATE ESCAPE. Most of MADAGASCAR 2's marketing missed me, because... When MADAGASCAR 2 was coming out, I was going through a tough period in my life...

I was mostly miserable at the time.

I was going through a prolonged depression period that was spurred by a lot of things that went wrong in my life when I was 13-15. Growing pains, all around too. The trials of being a weird autistic neurodivergent teen in a school system that wasn't for me, and many other things. What I went through affected me negatively, and there was also a falling out that hurt me bad, and then I also made the dire mistake of going on internet message boards as I was. In that state of mind. Imitating a lot of what was going on in my circles, my background, etc. etc. etc.

Short version... I probably shouldn't have been where I was on the internet at the time. Mainly IMDb message boards. I was eaten alive, and a lot of it was also my own fault. I acted like an asshole in retaliation. It was not pretty. There were things I said and did, if I went back in time to 2006, I would almost slap my younger self. All of this change and trauma and hurt turned me off to so many of the things that I was so enthused about prior. I found new things to latch onto at the time, many of which did become new special interests, so that is a plus.

I would say my biggest special in early-to-mid 2008 was '60s and '70s music, The Beatles and much of my parents' music tastes my gateway to that. I was SUNK in all of that stuff. I was exploring so much of the rock music world, and collecting records. Wasn't really deep-diving into movies at the time, I wasn't really following animated movie news, barely watched my Disneys like I always did annually... Even in a year like 2007 where everything was falling apart, I still was in the know about movies like SHREK THE THIRD, SURF'S UP, RATATOUILLE, and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE. Even BEE MOVIE to an extent. But in 2008? The likes of HORTON HEARS A WHO! and KUNG FU PANDA just passed me by. KUNG FU PANDA is now a favorite of mine and a movie that means so much to me, but back in mid-2008... I just knew it existed, had no real interest. I was also going through that weird phase where I found Pixar and Disney to be the real deal, and DreamWorks to be that "SHREK fart stuff". The only animated movie that didn't pass me by back then was WALL-E, which I made a special exception for.

In a time where I was unwilling to even go out in public, unless I was going to school (ya know, because I *had* to), I still made an exception for WALL-E... I remember seeing that movie gave me a bright spot of hope in such a dark time. Like, I felt I'd never get a significant other, but I just remember feeling hopeful when it ended. Just about things in general, not about having an S-O particularly. (I'm more of a "I'd rather have some really good friends than be married" person, anyways.) I just also really loved the movie itself, and still do. Blew me away, I remember stumbling out of that auditorium. An animated sci-fi epic of that caliber, it was just so cool seeing that come out of Pixar at the time, an American animation studio.

MADAGASCAR 2 was around the corner, and the trailer might've been before WALL-E... A couple months after WALL-E's release, I remember snapping out of this awful, dour mood that was in. This utter self-hatred and depression, and not wanting to be anywhere in public, thinking I had no friends. So, by November 2008, when MADAGASCAR 2 opened... I was a whole new person! And I was *game* to see that movie. HAD to see it, no other way.

I rounded up a friend of mine. He didn't even see the first one, but he went with me. This friend of mine, I hung out with a lot. Back in those days, we were such goofuses together, I feel a lot of our time together just gave me a needed place to be my weird-ass self when I couldn't in other areas of middle/high school. No surprise, during that period where I was miserable... My sophomore year of high school, he wasn't in ANY of my classes or lunch periods. Completely separated... Kinda shows how weak I was back then, that I fell apart because I didn't have that friend of mine with me. And I wasn't driving yet, neither was he, and we didn't see each other often - we were bogged down in schoolwork and other life stuff anyways.

So we went and saw MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA. Because I broken out of that awful, dismal mood, I was like indulging on everything I had left behind prior to it. I really got back into mainstream animated movies. Like, ooo, what's the next DreamWorks movie? What's this OOBERMIND thing? HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON? What's all this?? Possibly BOO U, even? I had a good time. I'll distinctly remember my friend leaning towards me and saying nonchalantly, "Kyle, this is one funny-ass movie." He'd never seen the first one, he was just like "yeah I'll see it", and we had a great time! Such a fun movie. One of the oldest ticket stubs I saved, too.

So... MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA... I'm not the first person to point this out, but I definitely somewhat sensed it back then... It's queer... Queer AF...

This post is getting to be very long, sooo... Part two!

We'll continue in the next post, to save digital ink space!

[missbolt]

Thank you for adding this very important perspective from your personal experience. This is so well put:

Owing a debt to a dead person is a life-altering obligation.

And:

the obligation Wille feels - even self imposed and a result of survivors guilt - is a massive burden, and not something he can just easily let go of

You are absolutely right that Wille's prison is caused by survivor's guilt and the trauma of losing a loved one far too young. It is also imposed on him by others (such as the queen and August), who weaponise Erik's memory to try to get Wille to do as they want. But the reason it is so effective at times is of course that Wille feels so deeply that it his obligation to honour Erik's memory by being the prince and person he thinks Erik would have wanted, which is what I mean by the prison being of his own making. Though it is extremely hard to free oneself of such an obligation, this means that Wille has to work on it himself, work through his trauma, in order to shed this massive burden. Like you, I am very glad he is going to therapy and is starting this work (on that note, though, it is also quite telling that he only starts opening up in therapy when he learns that Erik himself went to therapy, when he received Erik's permission to opening up to a professional, so to speak). I fyou'll allow me to get a bit personal as well, though my own experience isn't as extreme as Wille's or your uncle's, I can also very much relate to this. After losing my mother at Wille's age, I struggled for years with feeling like I had to live up to her, and it was in certain ways indirectly imposed on me by others as well. I only realised the extent to which that had affected and still affects me this year (after watching Bridgerton season 2, actually, where the lingering effects on having to take on great responsibility after a parent's death is a major theme).

My own experience of grief is probably also why, when reading through post after post about the snow globe shattering being a symbol of Wille's liberation from the monarchy, my brain was just screaming that this was an irreplaceable gift from his dead brother and that it shattering was absolutely devastating. It doesn't matter what sort of item it is or how silly it is as long as you feel it ties you to your dead loved one(s) - I mean, I wore a hairband my mother got in hospital for yeaaaars after she passed, until it just about dissolved. And a snow globe gifted to you by your dead brother would feel like it ties you much more directly to him. As I've written about before, I feel for grieving Wille so much throughout this series. But I actually feel for him the strongest when seeing his desperation when the snow globe shatters, though I haven't really been able to express why before. And the fact that he doesn't throw it out after it breaks, but keeps the pieces on a plate in his room....Damn it shook me. The snow globe shattering is definitely not just about a snow globe shattering. It is wild how many layers every little detail in this show has!

It's as if he felt trapped in that moment...

...just like the frog