#all the plot beats are good im just nitpicking this one tbh

[glitchfang]

yknow, i defend jessie’s contest performances as being genuinely really good, and im glad the solaceon contest battles finally recognized that she’s really talented at all this….. buuuut tbh. i never understood the difference between jessie’s appeal and dawn’s appeal when zoey was like “the focus wasnt on ambipom”. because jessie’s appeal was focused on herself, not dustox. yeah dustox looked kinda shiny i guess but her being visible doesnt erase that the focus wasnt her

i get that ambipom disappeared under the stars and i agree that that’s dawn’s big fluke here, dgmw, but idk… maybe jessie’s win shouldve been moved somewhere else if they were gonna emphasize that here.

[jhan-jy]

Dream SMP War; Thoughts

Well its finally time for me to write this, after collecting all the events in my head and finishing my classes. Let me just start of with congratulations to the creators for making an exciting and memorable story of a simple smp, especially Wilbur who might as well be the director of the roleplay.  I loved the direction and the way the smp was made to be a glorified roleplay center. The stories were in different categories of amazing, we got angst, comedy, filler episodes and more. Everyone had fun, even the viewers had fun with the journey in the smp. I love Wilbur and I hope he comes back after his well deserved break. Also for viewers to watch his streams even if its not smp related >:0 

TLDR: I LOVED ALL OF IT and I wouldn’t ask for more from the creators, but I’m just suggesting a better route for the story? Kinda like a divergence au?

Okay, am I done with the praise? Yes.

TW: Mentions of Abuse, Suicide, Bombing, Killing and Dying in general.

(PS. This is for the characters not the ccs, I know they chill)

Now heres some of the things I didn’t like about the finale. Don’t get me wrong, Schlatt’s death had a poetic ring to it, but it didn’t have any support to hold as emotionally impactful to the audience. For the most part, I love Schlatt’s acting! He really gave emotion when he had his last ramble before dying, thinking Fundy was still with him before realizing he also switched sides and he just, beats him up in rage.

I mean, Schlatt actually had a very convincing sob story of an elected tyrant who has no one left, drinking away his problems until he died of a miserable death. It made you feel bad for him, but only just for that one minute.

We know Schlatt’s character had always been a drinker, that was one of his traits.

We also see him being manipulative and straight up abusive, but you know what?

Even with all characteristics Schlatt had shown to the audience, I still don’t get his depressing state of defeat. Its opposite to someone who was able to make Tubbo decorate his funeral or how Schlatt was able to make Quackity stay before the divorce. 

Like come on- He just DRINKS?!!?? No plan at all? 

Gear was given to him, people were trying to protect him, literally he was being an idiot according to Dream. 

He could’ve had a better purpose on his final days before dying. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Pogtopia being rigged with tnt. Schlatt could’ve hidden in Pogtopia while the battle begins outside, with troops looking for him.

He could’ve pushed the button to blow up Pogtopia.

HECK EVEN BETTER IDEA; Schlatt could have just stayed there until they come looking for him in Pogtopia, did his ramble about being left alone and all the shit to stall them. 

Notice how they didn’t immediately kill him? He could’ve taken advantage of that, as they get cooped up in Pogtopia, where a push of a button could detonate the tnt. SUICIDE BOMBING everyone near. No one kills him, he was miserable until the end but this time, he actually fucking did something.

We know Wilbur would’ve pushed the button to blow up Manburg anyway, he could still do it. Give a speech about forgetting the horrors of the past, finally gaining freedom or some shit. Everything would still go according to what happened in the stream, except Schlatt had purpose and closure. 

I’m sorry, I went on a ramble of what ifs and what could’ve happened for Schlatt because as good as a villain he is, his final moments were just anti-climatic in general, even with the poetic death.

Another thing I would like to include is that Schlatt didn’t die of a heart attack maybe? His drinking could’ve poisoned him or something, him being totally careless and drinking a potion of poison would be much better than a heart attack. 

Another thing:

No one questions the abuse Fundy gets from everybody, and thats another issue.People have little to no respect for Fundy. This guy grew up in L’manburg, the place his father built to protect him. Now its gone, blown to smithereens by his own father, who not only said he despised Fundy but also left without saying goodbye. His “fiance”, Dream, sided with the enemy and has almost no care for Fundy. Dream was the one to provide tnt to blow up Manburg. Keep in mind, Manburg wad supposed to blow up during the festival, where Fundy was still acting as a spy. Which means he would have died, his “fiance” would be the indirect cause of his death. And dont even get me started with the last Schaltt scene where he repeated smashes his bottle to Fundy, damaging him even with netherite armor. This man needs to feel happiness and warmth for once, or else he’s gonna become another antagonist in the story. (Which would actually be great tbh ^^)  Theres also Eret’s situation. He gained power and kingship through betraying L’manburg. That was his reward for betraying L’manburg guys.. now its been stripped away, leaving him with nothing at all. Pogtopians dont trust him a lot, they still see him as the first traitor. The Cain to the Abel in this story.  The betrayal he committed is now pointless and dull, he gained nothing in siding back with Pogtopia. His “friends” dont welcome him like they used to, and he knows why. Right now, he’s on a path to redemption. Eret just got recently given the redemption arc pass and is now trying to do good. I hope he succeeds in his endeavors. Other characters should be given their chance to shine. I feel like with Wilbur gone, people are gonna depend on Tommy and Tubbo for a new plot. And as much as I love them, more people should be given the spotlight. Remember the little Dreamon hunters thing? Ya that but with other people doing other plots! I feel like people need to be recognized outside the stereotype the viewers place on them. An idea would be having Niki Nihachu train with other people, Techno perhaps? Or maybe just chill times of building and redstone. Dont forget the draining the ocean thing, Im sure they’re gonna come back to that. I dont really have any other nitpick of how the story went. The only thing that bothered me was Schlatt’s death and how fast it went. Anyways- This is just my opinion! I still loved the war and the storyline! This is just me nitpicking on stuff- 

[blackstarising]

stranger things 2 thoughts under the cut:

okay, this season was good, so everything after this is just going to be details but the season overall was good. any roasting is meant to be more of a light grill or even a light toast, if you will

first of all, can they just mail noah schnapp his emmy early? because that boy literally did the Most™. honestly, i don’t believe i’ve ever seen a child actor come full force the way he did. seeing will suffer onscreen was incredibly heartbreaking and noah definitely brought that depth to his role.

the soundtrack, the bush and mandale signs, the arcades, the clothing, the houses, all 80s, all wonderful.

i think the duffer brothers are trying to actually kill me bc not only do we get hopper but we got hopper in flannel doing dad thing and i am left here very thirsty and very distressed rip i brought this on myself

tbh i forgot that hopper even had a daughter until the fifth episode, because everything he was doing looked so natural

and i know there’s some Discourse brewing about jane (i’m going to call her jane consistently from now on, she deserves to be called by her real name) and hopper’s relationship, especially their fight mid-season, so i’ll throw my proverbial hat into the Discourse Ring

i’m not going to excuse hopper, actually, and i’ll even confess that as a binch with anxiety who hates yelling, i had to turn down the volume of my computer and read the subtitles at one point because it really messes with me

definitely, threatening to turn jane back over to the authorities was wrong, and a new low. but i also saw that it was very much anger born of worry. like, parents get angry, and he had a reason to, because you could see that he was watching his daughter willingly put herself in danger, and it’s not like she’s unaware of the consequences

that being said, i don’t blame jane for leaving. you could see she was starting to match the whole experience to her time in the lab with papa and the fact that she was counting the days. damn

so in the end, they both acted shitty, but they both owned up to that and apologized. and i think david and millie did a really good job in really portraying a realistic father-daughter relationship. it’s not always cute, fluffy, one-shot, material, it’s messy and screamy and painful sometimes.

but ohmygoodness their relationship hurts so good the bedtime stories the waffles the halloween candy sorry i need a mome-

max!!!!!! i!!!! love!!!!! max!!!!!! ever since i learned what internalized misogyny was, i’ve been a bit wary of tomboy characters. but max didn’t play into those stereotypes at all, which is super refreshing. she was very content to be who she was, but she didn’t need to denigrate other girls to do so!!!!!! and it’s just good!!!!!!! 

(also the fact that the boys didn’t question that max beat their high score. also good, also pure, beautiful, beautiful)

[suddenly wearing a mourning veil] okay we need to talk about bob. right now.

i was one of the people who was suspicious of him (not because of shipping reasons, but the show makes you a little on edge, you know?) so i definitely squinted at everything he did but like he was so sweet and supportive of joyce and the boys and he didn’t like overstep his bounds but the way he tried to encourage will was so sweet and and and he’s just working at radio shack and he checks in on joyce to eat lunch with her and make out in the supply closet [hyperventilates a little] and and and the slow dancing in his halloween costume and he knows BASIC [is practically sobbing at this point] and he loves the byers and he died so that they could be happy and he’s a superherO AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM AND SEAN ASTIN HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO MEEE-

also when he’s talking about how he grew out of getting bullied and “I get to date Joyce Byers!” i get so close to tearing up every time you have no idea

i love how we get development for the rest of the party’s families, and barb’s families too. especially lucas’ sister, a gem, an icon™

and just!!!! lucas!!!!!! i really love how he’s the straight man of the group, but you can tell he’s matured over the year that’s past (also that voice drop, i see you caleb)

and lucas and max is now the only relevant ship on this show im sorry i dont make the rules

dustin is so sweet and big hearted and i really loved seeing more of his depth. tbh i may or may not have started projecting a little especially at the last ep when no one would dance with him!!!! but it’s so hard when you’re so loving and no one returns it in the way you’d want it to!!!! and the fact that he was even willing to love and protect a demon from another dimension dustin please don’t let the world rob you of your sweetness

i was crying about noah earlier but finn also basically killed it this season. you could tell that mike was Depressed with a Capital D and even though he didn’t get as much screen time as he did last season, every scene he did have was Quality,

especially the scene when he was talking about how he and will became friends and those TEARS FINN JUST DRIVE TO MY HOUSE AND STAB ME MYSELF

i really loved watching jane grow and come into her own this season! you can tell that she’s very aware of her power, but there’s that internal struggle about how to use it, which made the final battle that much more poignant.

terry’s backstory was immensely heartbreaking, i don’t have much left to say about it

i really did love kali, though! the detour from hawkins was a bit unexpected, but i love that world building aspect and im really intrigued about kali’s backstory and also her...front story? damn i hope she’s in season three because there’s so much more tea left.

and like....what about 1-7, 9, 10? are they still alive [insert eyes emoji here]

i’m going to be Agressively Heterosexual and agree that billy is pretty™ but at the same time i’m super worried that he’s going to be woobified because he is abusive, and i’m 95% sure he’s racist. so yeah i really hope that doesn’t happen but it probably will [sips wine tiredly]

STEVEN, MY MANS. the development that started last season really paid off here! tbh even i felt hurt when he asked nancy “you don’t love me?” like this binch has got feelings! and he’s not perfect but he’s a lot more genuine than i gave him credit for and the fact that he babysits kids and calls them shitheads but also lets himself get his ass beat for them. oh steve, keep growing but never change.

okay, nitpick and potential unpopular opinion, but i kind of hated the jancy development in this season

because there really wasn’t any, i don’t know, and this is really shitty of me for all my campaigning last year, but it just felt very cheap and superficial

like nancy and steve break up very early in the season, conveniently

and then when they’re at conspiracy guy’s house it just felt too explicit, too heavy handed and cliche, like Conspiracy Guy is basically spelling out their relationship to the audience

and then they do the thing where they just....have sex, and maybe it’s because i’m wearing my grey-ace hat, but like, honestly, two characters having sex doesn’t mean shit, anymore, okay?

its mostly because of hookup culture imo

so jonathan and nancy have sex, but there’s no confession of feelings or anything, so it just feels like a cheap way to show the audience THEY’RE TOGETHER NOW ARE YOU HAPPY

and then they don’t really interact as much in that context for the rest of the season, so it’s left kind of ambiguous

and i understand that it’s a 9 episode season and this is more of a C plot, but i think i would have rather had a slow burn throughout the 9 episodes [cough] like last season [cough] with a more affectionate moment at the end than just break up, nancy’s free, SEX, done

it’s not a very emotionally gratifying narrative as it is

second nitpick: tbh the final battle of this season felt a little too note for note to the final battle of the first season, and it felt repetitive at times, so i admit i kind of lost interest in the middle of episode 9

i really thought the “watering the story down” to get JusticeForBarb™ was really clever 

and just....joyce. i’ll never get over joyce. i have no complaints, she’s a mom who punches back and she’s tenacious and good hearted and amazing and she raised two amazing boys 

i don’t know i need a nap