#also i haven’t seen s2 yet-

[killrisma]

every age regressor watched stede treat the crew like his children in season 1 and went “yup that’s a cg right there” send post

[sharkycal]

Coping being American by editing this to show how I feel

[vanivanvanilla]

started watching link click a couple days ago and it’s. well

(it’s super fucking good just also a bit emotionally devastating at times ^_^)

[booksandpaperss]

getting a very sudden onset of jjk and itafushi brainrot. havent felt the need to read fanfic this strong in a whileeeee

[tana-draws]

please send me some. I will also do a “foetp” (like an otp or brotp but instead of being interested in a romantic or platonic relationship the interest is in an antagonistic relationship between the two)

Send as many as you want I crave yapping

Give me a character and I will give you my OTP, BrOTP, OT3, and NoTP for them

Because I’m boooooooored!!

[loverboybrightsideghost]

.

[buddiebeginz]

You want to know one of the ways I know most B/T stans are here first and foremost for T*mmy and Lou more than Buck and Oliver or anyone else?

Look at the way they talk about their ship. Most of it is them parroting stuff Lou or T*mmy has said.

They call Buck Evan.

They constantly say B/T are thriving (because Lou said it in that one video).

They say T*mmy had a difficult childhood because Lou headcanoned that.

They defend how T*mmy treated Hen and Chim in s2. They even say that Hen and T*mmy are besties now when there is no evidence of that.

They never see any faults in anything T*mmy does. Not a single thing he did in season 7 was wrong in their eyes. Yet they don’t shy away from pointing out the faults they see in other characters including Buck and especially Eddie.

They talk about how much the show needs T*mmy. Needs to make him a main. Needs to give him a begins episode while some of them haven’t even seen any season before s7. They make posts about how much more deserving of being a main character T*mmy is than Ravi or Karen who have been there for years.

Most of the posts about B/T are either sexual (likely because T*mmy constantly makes everything sexual) or them headcanoning them as a way more serious relationship than what’s presented on screen. They constantly talk about how in love B/T are when no one has even said the word boyfriend yet. This in my opinion comes in large part from Lou’s cameos where he continually used language that made the relationship seem more important.

They talk about how much Buck needs T*mmy and a lot of their posts make Buck the damsel in distress trope. Which just goes along with how much T*mmy patronizes Buck. Calling him Kid, calling him Evan (even though everyone else calls him Buck), dismissive of his feelings when he gets upset like an adult to a kid (like at the bachelor party), the daddy kink joke when Buck was trying to be vulnerable about his real father figure almost dying. Making decisions for Buck without talking to him (again like you would a child) like when T*mmy just abruptly told Buck he wasn’t ready and left him at the restaurant.

They say that Buck’s season 7 journey would be meaningless if B/T ends in season 8. They accuse us of making Buck’s coming out about Buddie but they have definitely made Buck’s coming out about T*mmy. They have said without T*mmy Buck wouldn’t have even realized he’s bi. Yet we know from Oliver he was attracted to Eddie in season 2.

They talk about how much T*mmy cares about Buck and how much he understands him but we've had so many examples of the opposite being true. At Buck's first date with a guy T*mmy didn't seem to have the patience for Buck's nervousness and left him at the restaurant with little explanation. The bachelor party T*mmy chose not to dress up and didn't seem to care even though the party meant a lot to Buck. The medal ceremony Buck was excited and T*mmy's response was "enjoy it while it lasts". In the deleted scene with Henren T*mmy seemed blase about his relationship with Buck. At the dinner Buck was opening up to T*mmy and T*mmy changed the subject to sex.

Also I rewatched a bunch of Lou’s cameos (pray for my soul 🤢) and in them he often will confirm whatever they ask him. This is why they continued to spend money on them because it was like an echo chamber with a “celebrity”. They’d headcanon something T*mmy was doing or thinking ask Lou and he would confirm it even though there was little to nothing to indicate that in the scene or script. His motivation I’m sure was to keep his little sycophants around and sending him 100/200 bucks a pop for his videos. But the main thing it did was create a monster of a mini fandom that believes everything they were told is the gospel according to Lou F*rrigno Jr.

They believe that not only is what they've seen on screen canon but so is everything Lou told them and they use that as a way to feel superior in the 911 fandom. Us looking at the many many years of Buddie's history seeing the depth of their relationship and seeing the logical place their relationship will go just makes us look desperate and delusional to them. Even though some of them used to be Buddie shippers. It's like they got lobotomized and removed the Buddie part of their brains.

They believe that not only are Lou and Oliver (he supposedly doesn't post on ig about Lou or B/T to protect them😒) on their side they also believe they have Tim on their side as well. They wholeheartedly believe that Tim is invested in B/T (despite all the evidence in s7 to the contrary) and that he can't stand the Buddie fandom and that he wants to punish us by never making them a canon couple. Nevermind the fact that since Tim has returned to showrunner Buck and Eddie have been together more than ever and in really important scenes that deepened their relationship no less.

I really can't help but wonder what they are all going to do when it dawns on them that their ship isn't going to last because Buddie or no Buddie I don't see B/T lasting beyond season 8. They have built this ship up to be some amazing love story when nothing in canon has given the impression that T*mmy is supposed to be anything other than the first guy Buck dates. In fact the relationship is like a lot of Buck's other relationships with women. Buck is still with someone who doesn't really get him. He only thinks it's different this time because T*mmy is a guy and there's been all that excitement that comes from exploring your sexuality for the first time. When that newness starts to fade Buck will have to look at his relationship with T*mmy and he'll realize he's been trying to be a version of himself to fit the relationship. Just like he did with Taylor. Buck wants someone who will love him to the core of who he is. Someone who he won't have to contort himself into a different version of so they will stay and love him. Soon he'll realize he's had that person in his life already for a long long time in Eddie.

[charlotteharlatan]

A list (non-exhaustive) of why the 1941 flashback scenes are haunting both me and The Narrative, Part 1:

1. Both S1 and S2 have scenes that take place that night - THAT CERTAIN NIGHT - in 1941. It is specifically revisited in S2, which leads the audience to believe that night was of particular importance, both to Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship and to the overall plot of the show.

2. In the same vein of things that are referenced more than once, the song “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” was first released in 1940, and it’s entirely plausible that they both heard it for the first time in 1941 while in each other’s company.

All evidence points to the song being personally significant to Aziraphale and Crowley. We know it as Their Song, and they seem to think of it that way as well - otherwise Crowley’s “no nightingales” comment in the last 15 minutes of S2ep6 would not have struck Aziraphale so hard; we can see by his expression that the words affect him. With that statement, Crowley seems to be referencing not only the song itself, but possibly also a specific memory they share that involves that song.

At first, one might assume he means the occasion at the Ritz at the end of S1, because that song is indeed playing in that scene. However, I think that scene itself is also partially a reference back to 1941, which I’ll get to in a later item.

3. When examined closely, many scenes and plot elements from the rest of the show may be nodding to 1941. When Crowley and Aziraphale discuss ways that humans fall in love in the pub scene in S2ep2, Crowley references being caught under an awning in the rain, a very transparent callback to Eden when they huddled under Aziraphale’s wing.

So, Crowley’s contribution harkens back to Eden, but what does Aziraphale mention? What is called to his mind when he thinks of falling in love? Cotillion balls. Music and dancing. Things he’s read about in Jane Austen novels, the moments therein where the protagonists realize they’re in love. On its surface, Aziraphale’s idea of falling in love seems more like an abstraction than something the angel has experienced himself. Except: perhaps he has. Perhaps, just like with almost everything Aziraphale says and does, we should be looking at it much deeper than surface level.

Maybe he’s projecting just like Crowley is, just in a less straightforward, more opaque sort of way, which you have to admit would be very in-character of him. Maybe he’s thinking of a moment we have not directly seen yet, a moment that has only been gestured to. In other words, “a joke the paleontologists haven’t seen yet,” the paleontologists in this case being, well, us. We know Aziraphale is actually capable of sleight of hand in the right circumstances, so maybe him talking about a ball is only a feint, a flamboyantly waving hand as a distraction to keep our attention away from what the other hand is doing. Maybe he is also recalling a specific memory of himself and Crowley, one that involved music and dancing, and the realization that the feeling between them was love.

So with all that in mind, what moment from the show do we have great reason to believe was Aziraphale’s realization of his own feelings, and to an extent, Crowley’s as well? Yup, you’ve got it: 1941 again. The aftermath of Crowley rescuing him at the church and saving his books. The face that launched a ship. (Sorry.)

4. Backtracking slightly to the topic of music and dancing and The Ball, let’s talk about this: just like Crowley “did a rainstorm” to try to get Nina and Crowley to fall for each other the same way he fell for Aziraphale, The Ball may have been Aziraphale’s effort to recreate the occasion on which he realized he’d fallen for Crowley. Perhaps it was intended to be a “do-over” of past events where they almost connected, with the aim of finally reaching each other this time. We’re all aware by now that while Aziraphale did fully intend to get Maggie and Nina together, he also threw a ball specifically to dance with Crowley.

It does initially seem odd that he thinks Crowley will respond well to such a big, ostentatious party, but perhaps Aziraphale has tried the subtle route before to little avail. Like when, you may well ask?

5. Well, for one: their rendezvous in 2008, right after the Antichrist arrives on Earth, in S1ep1. Crowley has been unsuccessful in convincing Aziraphale to help him avert the apocalypse, but the angel has fewer qualms about a lunch date at the Ritz.

After the Ritz, they go back to the bookshop, with Aziraphale telling Crowley he still has some Chateauneuf du Pape left “for special occasions,” which is an interesting comment - the reason why this is a special occasion to Aziraphale is never named, as Crowley glosses over it in favor of pointing out that nobody will be having any wine anymore if Heaven wins the upcoming war. Aziraphale reiterates his refusal to engage with that topic, and ushers Crowley into the shop.

All this leaves the vague impression that Aziraphale has his own agenda for the evening (because all appearances of passivity aside, the angel almost always has his own agenda). And Crowley, not noticing this or perhaps choosing to not notice it, is throwing a spanner in the works of said agenda by continuing to bring up the apocalypse. And so, stuck at this stalemate, they drink the ‘special occasion’ wine in the shop, and listen to music, and get very drunk. It’s a small detail, but we know the music is coming from the gramophone because it’s the same record Aziraphale was listening to when Crowley called him the night prior.

So, wine and music. Why are these elements significant? It isn’t named, but in S2ep4 when Aziraphale and Crowley have returned to the bookshop after the magic show, the bottle of wine they share in the back room is the same kind, Chateauneuf du Pape.

And while there is noticeably no music playing when the two of them are sitting in the quiet, private, candlelit back room of the shop, the gramophone can be seen over Aziraphale’s shoulder in many parts of the scene, looming over their conversation like a musical Chekhov’s gun.

And here’s the real kicker: the gramophone, as it happens, is normally positioned facing the opposite direction. In bookshop scenes from the rest of S2, even earlier on in that very same episode, we see it facing the usual way, in the direction of Aziraphale’s desk.

This means that it was intentionally turned so that the “mouth” of the gramophone would be visible in this scene, and turned towards Aziraphale and Crowley. You may well ask: “the background of this scene is dark and out of focus, how can you tell for sure which way the gramophone is facing?” If you look closely, you can see the gramophone’s crank is on the right side, visible in some shots past the lip of the wine bottle. If the gramophone were facing in its usual direction, the crank would be on the left and invisible in these shots.

And, to add another layer to it, we know how important cranks are as a symbolic object in this series, how much power these objects can hold in the hands of the correct wielder. Crowley turns a crank to prime the engine of the universe - in other words, to begin the music of the spheres; and much later, he uses the Bentley’s crank when he restarts time on the Tadfield airbase. What if the gramophone’s crank was used in a similar way in 1941, to temporally create a little universe of their own, either metaphorically or literally?

Great care was taken in planning every aspect, every little detail of this show; almost nothing is a coincidence; staging scenes especially is done with the utmost degree of care. All of this to say, we as the audience seem to be meant to relate the scenes from 1941, 2008, and 2023 narratively, even though they take place decades apart. Throughout the years, Aziraphale may be trying - subtly at first, but then less so - to recreate the events of 1941.

Okay, that’s items 1 through 5. I definitely have more but I hit the limit for gifs and images for posting via the mobile app, so I’m going to have to post the rest in at least two more parts. Because I still have ghosts in my head and I must write about it. Hauntings are easier to handle if there’s someone in the house with you who sees the ghosts too.

Link to part 2

[venear-tmblr]

…. so i’ve had an idea

C!Ven FableSMP In-Character Smash or Pass

Today we reject canon and embrace non-canom ships like it’s the 2000’s-10’s again. Let us begin heheheh (also im sticking to masc leaning characters because c!Ven likes 🅱️oys.)

Aax

5/10: Pass

I don’t think they’d be bad for each other, I just think Ven would feel out of his depth yk? Their communication type wouldn’t clash badly, they’d both be able to argue without killing one another, but they just dont click?

I just think Ven would be intimidated? and that should be a dealbreaker in any relationship.

Caspian

6/10: Smash

Caspian would be the cool ex that you still see sometimes in random places, and you stop for 10-15 min to see how he’s doing, before you both leave and forget about each other again.

Cas would keep Ven’s bossy streak in check, and they’d sort out their problems together well. They have aligning interests in knowledge and writing, and overall they’d work.

they actually seem like the kind of couple to fall out of love with each other? which is very sad to me ;-;

They’d care about each other a lot i think, in a Scott’s Street by Phoebe Bridgers kinda way

Centross

7/10: Smash

… there’s only room for one self-sacrificing idiot in this relationship.

Opposite of Rae; Centross is Ven’s type, personality-wise. Also Centross does the love-bickering thing that Ven and Feng would do. They communicate well, they’d argue healthily, over all they’d be pretty good tbh. The sleep schedule between the two of them would be bad though, Ven would forget to stop work and Centross would do the same, they’d forget to check in with each other.

Rae

3/10: Pass (edit, was 2/10 but i raised it by 1 for Zenni the beloved)

you already know what i’m gonna say about these goobers. they’re terrible for each other

the interesting thing to me; there’s only two reasons for Ven to date Rae. 1) they’re young, and social norms say you should date someone similar to you. So both Vena and Rae would go “he likes what i like” and call it a day. OR 2) Rae would be a rebound for Ven. neither of which can happen in canon. (i love the band au blorbos <3)

Seven

4/10: Pass

they wouldn’t be bad, Ven just wouldn’t know how to approach Seven? Seven has so much going in, and Ven would need to know every detail about Seven’s past in order to feel comfortable in the relationship. Seven can’t really give that, so the relationship is over before it’s begun.

Ulysses

7/10: Smash

Similar to Caspian, they’d get along, they’d be good exes. Ven would learn a lot academically from Ulysses.

bonus point because this fish sounds aussie and that is important to me ok

Will

4/10: Pass

Based on the emotional reactions seen in the spy arc of S2, I don’t think these two would get along. i actually think Ven would get on Will’s nerves in close proximity, if he were to open up and let Will in emotionally. Not that it’d be Will’s fault, they just clash. They would have common interests though, so all wouldn’t be lost.

Will would speak his mind, whilst Ven clams up and avoids conflict, but they’d get around to communicating eventually. (so they’re def not the worst pairing on this list.)

Wolf

…9/10: Smash

ok hear me out, you haven’t seen the half of it in canon yet, but these two work well. They have a lot in common (that i can’t share yet)

they argue so well, maybe even better than Feng and Ven did. Where Feng would speak up with Ven, Wolf sits and listens and waits.

Wolf is Ven’s type physically,tall with long hair and broad shoulders, and comes close to his type in personality.

nodders they should kiss

…So in conclusion; Let Ven join Wolftross, its time for Wolventross throuple takover

[redeclipsee]

This is just going to be a little rant about Galadriel, Haladriel, Celeborn and other thingies I've seen discourse about lately. And this is by no means discrediting people's opinions. I just wanted to talk about it lol

I've always been pro-ship. Ship whatever the hell you want. "Problematic" ships, morally wrong ships, just whatever. As long as you're not being an asshole to other people.

Which led me to Haladriel. Haladriel is easily the most popular ship of the show, and with the end of S2, I've seen people attacking the ship, but I've seen more people demanding for Haladriel to become "canon" and absolutely shitting on other characters, plots and fans who enjoy other parts of the show that don't revolve around the ship. And it's quite embarrassing.

In the show, Sauron and Galadriel are foil characters to each other. I don't think hoping for them to face each other each season is unrealistic or even bad. In fact, it's expected. Whenever Sauron chooses darkness, Galadriel will choose light. It's a dance with those characters. 

BUT demanding the romantic ship to become canon and being mean to everyone who says otherwise is bad. You don't need canon to ship them or read them as romantic (because let's be real, the show left it to interpretation, and it's fantastic). Sauron and Galadriel being canon makes absolutely no sense with the lore, the world and the characters. We already know what the characters end up like, so being childish because they won't kiss is embarrassing.

Which leads me to some people hating the character Celeborn. We haven't even seen him in the show and yet, top 5 hated characters. I've seen more people attacking people who want Celeborn and Celeborn and Galadriel giving the most absolute insane takes; "he's boring", "you want Galadriel to be a tradwife", "you just hate Haladriel shippers“, among others. Which all of them are insane. How can you say he’s boring when we haven’t even seen him on the show? Galadriel can be happy, have a loving husband and be badass, be for real. And well, people can ship whatever. If people like Celedriel more than Haladriel is their right? Just as people can dislike Celedriel and like Haladriel, just be kind to each other idk.

SAURON & GALADRIEL

For me, there was a little romance between Galadriel and Sauron on S1. I think Sauron fell in love with her light and her power. I think Galadriel fell in love with the understanding that Halbrand gave her that she couldn’t find in anyone else, her “darkside” was understood. But Sauron’s idea of love can’t be anything but twisted and Galadriel could never really love Sauron. So yes, for me, there was love, but it was twisted.

Sauron is obsessed with her light. He wanted her power just as he wanted Celebrimbor’s art. And he won’t ever renounce it, so he’ll chace it and tempt her at every occasion he can, because he wants her light. Sauron, who thinks he needs to control everyone on Middle Earth to “heal” it, naturally has an obsession with the Lady of Light.

But that’s all there is. Because Galadriel could never truly love Sauron even when he’s the only one that could understand her darkest desires the most. 

GALADRIEL'S JOURNEY

I’ve seen people saying that her speech of “all peoples of Middle Earth will always resist you” is bad because it makes Galadriel abandon her personal goal of hunting Sauron for the greater good, not allowing a woman to have her own agency and advocating for everyone else. And well, I would agree if we weren’t talking about a Tolkien adaptation.

S1 Galadriel is galloping alone. No one believes her, no one understands her, and she can’t stop her quest. She’s prideful and selfish to an extent, and it’s her choices alone, her own internal desire to bring Sauron down that, unaware, brings him back to Middle Earth. She fucks up monumentally. 

S2 Galadriel is about the consequences of her actions, but also, realizing she’s not alone. Her letting go of Finrod's dagger at the end of S1 was a beautiful way of letting go of her quest. Gil-Galad and Galadriel’s relationship in S2 shines because Gil-Galad is harsh on her as much as he believes in her, and he tells her that. S2 Galadriel has no company and has to deal with the tables turned around by being part of Elrond’s company. Elrond, who was also acting stubborn like a mule and refused to listen to anyone (just like her S1 self). S2 Galadriel is about her finding that she’s not alone and that Finrod’s quest is over, and it’s time to fight for Middle Earth, all of it.

Going forward is about her becoming the Lady of Light that we know in Lord of the Rings. And yes, she’ll always have a darkside, she’ll always be prideful and ambitious, and I’m so excited to see hints of that in the upcoming seasons, but I don't think saying her putting aside her personal and prideful quest is bad is fair to the story the show is trying to tell. This is Tolkien, and it makes complete sense for it to be like that.

So yeah, in resume… I love Haladriel, but I don’t want them to ever be canon. I can’t wait for Celeborn to show up, and I can’t wait to see how the show develops Galadriel’s journey in the upcoming seasons! Just remember to be kind to other people, even if they don’t like your ships.

[chronicsyd]

I think the problem that most people aren’t realizing (that’s probably going to bite them in the ass when S2 arrives) is the fundamental Problem when it comes to Vi and Jinx’s relationship:

Vi loves Powder, there’s No denying that. Every action she takes when she gets out of prison has been to find Power. And even though she has budding feelings for Caitlyn, Powder comes first. But the problem between the two is when it comes to Jinx. Because she Can’t love Jinx in the way that she loves Powder.

Which is why one of the last things she says to Vi, “I thought, maybe you could love me like you used to. Even though I’m… different.” Holds so much importance. You wonder Why Vi doesn’t say anything to Jinx before she leaves and fires Fishbones. You’d think that Vi would leap at the opportunity to insist that she still loves her, but she can’t. She can’t love Jinx. At least, not in the way Jinx Wants her to.

A lot of people have been claiming that “the trailer is lying to us!”, “She’s just placating Caitlyn!”, or whatever they’ve been saying when we hear Vi say, ���My sister is gone.” People are seeming to think that there’s a sliver of a chance that the two could reconcile or go back to what once was or whatever. And the thing is… I Highly doubt that.

Vi not only has to deal with the Drastic ramifications that Jinx has inflicted on Piltover but I think she also has to realize that this is who Jinx’s been for Several years at this point. (Cuz remember in ep 4, other people Know who Jinx is and what she’s capable of at this point, she’s made a name for herself inflicting that kinda terror in people)

As much as Vi doesn’t like it, This is who Jinx is now. I truly believe that Powder died in episode 9. And from what Arcane has shown us, this can really only end in tragedy for the two (not in a death, there are certainly things that are worse than that). And I think they may show Vi emotionally disowning Jinx (as hard as that’d be to watch) because there isn’t Powder to save anymore, there’s just Jinx and Jinx is the one that needs to be stopped.

(I know that people bring up Jinx’s champion storyline from Legends of Runtarra with Mr. Bunny but the thing is I’m pretty sure that happens way after this and, while I may not know a lot of LOL lore I know that a lot of Jinx’s storylines recently are about trying to prod Vi’s memory cuz she has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything about her past in the Undercity and all that soooo that’s what I have to say about that)

Do I think at the beginning of the season Vi’s probably going to be in denial and try to find “Powder” again? Absolutely. The way Jinx says “finally got the name right… sister.” Is implying that there’s a scene between the two that they haven’t shown us yet because I doubt there’d be That much venom in her tone if the two haven’t seen each other from Ep 9 all the way to whenever this fight scene takes place when Vi’s already an Enforcer. Hell, even when Vi calls her “Jinx” in that last part there’s hurt in her eyes and she slightly shakes her head before doing so, clearly not comfortable with calling her sister that. (Also fueling my belief that this isn’t the season finale fight that some people think it is)

[freedelusionshere]

Syd is just as driven and ambitious as Carmy. She’s also more impatient than he is. The Bear isn’t about black and white characters. People are messy and complicated.

There is a whole other side to Syd we haven’t fully seen yet, but have definitely had glimpses of. When she goes off on Richie in S1 it’s just like Carmy going off on him when he’s trapped in the walk-in in S2.

I am prepared for Ayo to be acting her ass off in S4 and for things to get messy.

[miyamiwu]

Since the games haven’t started yet, and we haven’t seen much prolonged motion, I can’t judge yet on whether the animation has indeed improved. But if there’s one improvement I like this season 2 is that there is a greater sense of depth in the scenes: Characters actually look like they exist in a 3D space alongside other characters and are moving around in that space and affecting those around them.

One of my biggest complaints in the later parts of season 1 was how, when a certain character only has to speak a few words, they are often shown to be simply standing in isolation against a plain/static background. Most of season 1 was obsessed with replicating manga frames as-is, without understanding that what would look good in a static manga won’t always translate well in a moving medium.

But so far, in S2, I’ve seen a lot of creativity and initiative in camera angles and body movements that it’s honestly a breath of fresh air!

Take these scenes of the top 7 intro, for example:

Rin:

Instead of showing Rin and Isagi in separate frames and be done with it, like what the manga did, they added a part where they are both in one frame: Isagi watches Rin as he passes by him. How this is framed is also good in conveying depth. Rin is closer towards us, the audience, while Isagi is further behind.

Shidou:

I made a different post about this before, but here ya go again

Shidou actually interacts with Rin directly! And he doesn’t just say those words to his face, but he also moves around him.

Karasu:

8Bit could’ve just given us a simple bottom-top camera panning in one angle when introducing Karasu, but instead they had him first do a little arm stretching while his body faces away from us before letting him turn around to face the audience

Otoya:

Otoya didn’t do much in either the manga or the anime, but I love the change of lighting here in the anime. It’s another testament that these characters are moving in a 3D space. Otoya moves away from the darkness and closer to Ego’s screen, putting himself in the light.

Yukimiya: Got nothing much to say about him here coz he didn’t really do much

But is that Kurona in the background???

Another thing I love about S2 so far is how 8Bit is no longer afraid to show us prominent characters in the background.

And of course, we can’t forget this extreme angle of Isagi in the anime that happened right after:

Moving on...

Nagi:

Reo watching Nagi pass by was such a delicious touch, but putting Kurona right beside him as well? That’s interesting. They were in the Second Selection together, but we haven’t really seen them interact in the manga. Nice to see 8Bit already laying down the seeds for one of Isagi’s best bitches.

Bachira:

Okay, not gonna lie, Bachira’s introduction disappointed me the most 😔

It’s not bad, per se… It’s just… the s1 formula. A quick bottom-top camera pan, before cutting into the next frame.

But overall, I still think S2 did a good job on the character intros. I just hope they treat Bachira better in the next episodes 🙏

[malkaleh]

It is not much of a gift, to a people and to a woman to whom Galadriel feels she had bought so much loss - but she can send artisans, supplies, healers. Even Elrond, to whom Bronwyn shares much with - they share their gentle kind wisdom like a balm.

Theo had not wished to become Prince of Dol Amroth after his mother - had looked at his little sister Soraya , her eyes bright and softly curved ears against her cradle with love and relief. He wished to build, he said - to learn all he could (and indeed, Dol Amroth is a beautiful place - there are pieces of the Noldor, of Numenor and of the Southlands and Arondirs sea lost home. Even parts of Elronds childhood rememberings of tales of Gondolin, of Doriath.

There are flowering vines, fountains and flowers . Stars etched in stone and wood that have long been buried beneath ash and malice and yet, yet they live on. Bronwyn has planted precious plants that also live - making dishes and recipes anew, fashions and clothing and stories and music as well - but Dol Amroth, the city upon the edge of the sea has always been a place of many meetings.

(And if perhaps, a power of the sea protects it, then other powers do not disapprove).

(I don’t write Tolkien fic (she says, writing bits and pieces) or read as a personal cake preference thing but I absolutely do make an exception for two friends works (sometimes /as my brain allows) and one of them is @nocompromise-noregrets and how she wrote a beautiful Bronwyn/Arondir about them founding Dol Amroth and this came into my brain. Also I haven’t seen the S2 eps that are out yet/ am not spoiled)

[saltywinteradult]

How would you have written 2x08 to be both pro Rhaenicent and pro Alicent/Team Green?

Gonna focus on the writing of Alicent here, as the show's treatment of the greens is such a big issue that I don't really have the spoons for right now. For the record, my issues with s2 in general and how Alicent and Rhaenicent were handled would unfortunately not be entirely solved by only rewriting 2x08. I'd need to rewrite every episode starting with 1x08.

If I were to only rewrite 2x08, well, first of all I would not make Alicent say she was "very fond" of her rapist husband. That line alone is... well, it's up there with Sansa crediting her abusers for making her strong 🤢 Removing that line alone would do a lot to make Alicent retain some agency and dignity.

I also just... would not have Alicent defect from the greens at all. I'd have her decide that the misunderstanding over the prophecy (which was a stupid and unnecessary plot point to begin with) doesn't matter. Even if this was all a misunderstanding it's too late to turn back and her family’s in danger, so she decides she's gonna do everything she can to protect her family instead of sacrificing one of her kids to save the others. Seriously, the real Alicent, the Alicent who violently attacked the love of her life on Driftmark in anger over her son's maiming would die before betraying her family like that. I will die mad about this character assassination. (Please do not try to convince me that this was not a character assassination - I've had it up to here with people trying to convince me that making Alicent betray her family was A Brilliant And Feminist Storytelling Choice, Actually.)

At this point in the story Alicent and Rhaenyra should be sworn enemies - sworn enemies who still miss each other deep down to be sure, but sworn enemies all the same. So I wouldn't make Alicent go meet Rhaenyra at all. I love seeing Emma and Olivia on screen together as much as anyone, but I don’t think the show is in danger of being cancelled anytime soon, so I don’t see anything wrong with putting that off until next season. Here's how I'd like that to go - book spoilers ahead.

Having Rhaenyra and Alicent remain enemies by the end of s2 would make their reunion when Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing hit all the harder, even moreso if we also remove the sept scene from episode 3. Like, they haven’t seen each other in a long time and they thought they hated each other, only to come face to face again and have a total ”oh fuck” moment in which they both realise that to some extent they do hate each other, and yet they still miss each other. They still love each other, but with so many war crimes and murdered children in the baggage, neither of them can forgive the other. Isn't that just so deliciously tragic?

Much like in the book I'd like for Rhaenyra to execute the rest of the greens but spare Alicent. In the book she said that was for the sake of Viserys's love for Alicent; she could say that in the show too, only it's really because she can't bear to execute Alicent. (It's hardly the first time one of these two used Viserys as a shield: "Your husband? Or you, his daughter's childhood companion?") But Rhaenyra also can’t set her enemy free, so she takes Alicent prisoner and hates every minute of it. Like @standbehindhousestark put it so brilliantly here, "imagine the queen in chains arc with the canon hostility mixed with their queer past." Can you imagine what incredible toxic homoerotic interactions we could get out of that? Maybe even have them on the brink of actually getting together, only for Helaena's death to drive them apart once and for all as Alicent blames Rhaenyra for it? I don't know exactly how I'd want it to play out, but as I have repeated ad nauseam, due to the story itself being a tragedy I think a tragic ending to their relationship would be more satisfying than a happy one. What can I say, I'm a tragedy enjoyer first and a human being second.

[rosakuma]

Feelings on FOPANW S1 Finale

Okay so the finale dropped…….that sure was a finale….Alright, let’s discuss this in full detail. Spoilers for Fairly Oddparents A New Wish finale, DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT OR CAUGHT UP YET!

Okay so this finale is a big mixture for me for a few reasons, to which I’ll explain in detail of listing out the good and bad, before then listing out personal thoughts and what I think they’ll do for S2(if we get one, to which Y’ALL WE GOTTA LOCK IN AND REWATCH THIS SERIES IN NOVEMBER ON NETFLIX OKAY??)

The good~✨:

▪️I absolutely love that they brought back most of the new characters Hazel’s befriend and seen throughout the season come back to help Hazel in taking back fairy world. ▪️ANTI-COSMO AND ANTI-WANDA ARE BACK! It was definitely a short time, but I’m just glad they reappeared and them with Cosmo and Wanda was so funny. I love them exposing their weaknesses like Cosmo being afraid of big words or Wanda not standing seeing someone read a book upside down. ▪️THANK GOD DEV WASN’T TURN EVIL! The boy definitely mess up, but I am happy he listened to Wanda and help out in the end despite the consequences of it. It shows that despite Dev doing all of this to impress his dad, he realizes that his dad not going to change and that he’ll just overlook Dev for other people or things. Plus it nice to see that he didn’t want any the fairies lock up or to blow up, he just wanted to get back at Cosmo, Wanda, and Peri(speaking of him). This definitely marks a great start to his redemption arc that I feel next season will go into more.

▪️You don’t know how much it means to me seeing Peri fricken dying and yet, he’s still worrying about Dev. The fact he still cares about him and just only was strict on the rules because he wanted to do right by Dev..MY HEART AGHHH! THAT’S HIS DAD RIGHT THERE, HIS REAL DAD! I swear they better reunite. Le bad~⚡️:

▪️Dev losing both Peri and his memory of fairies….WHY!? I get punishing him to teach him what he did was wrong, but he recognizes it and also, HE’S NOT GOING TO IF HE DOESN’T REMEMBER WHAT HE DID WRONG! Not to mention that Dev still needs Peri, he still needs a fairygod parent because he’s stuck with a neglectful dad who thinks boots are better than his own kid and doesn’t know how to make friends with him having trust issues! Plus Peri still cares for Dev and I doubt he wanted to give him up! THATS HIS FIRST GODKID, GIVE HIM BACK HIS SON 😭 ▪️The point above gets worse when Hazel could’ve prevented that from happening by including Dev in her wish for her friends to keep their memories of her fairies and magic OR that Dev keeps Peri(which is a two for one sale as he gets both his fairy and memory). I understand Hazel is probably still upset at Dev and does think that he needs to learn a lesson, but she clearly still cares about him. Enough for her to look sad at the end when he gets poofs away and to thank him for doing the right thing. Not to mention now Dev’s growth at the end for realizing he did wrong will disappear and he can’t reflect on himself now to grow from it. ▪️Speaking of memories. So Hazel decided to let Winn, Jasmine, and her brother Anthony keep their memories of all of this. I won’t lie, I am conflicted on this as while I don’t mind too much of Winn and Jasmine to know about her secret as that allows them to join more adventures and develop from there with Hazel now that they know! But…why Anthony? I can understand Hazel wanting to share her cool fairies with him, but girl you got those fairies in the first place BECAUSE he’s away at college. Even if Anthony currently visiting right now and she can have fun with him, he’s still going back to college sweetie. Heck Anthony might not worry too much of needing to visit a lot because now he knows his sister being taken care of by Cosmo and Wanda(which is good thing, but to Hazel, she might be upset to think Anthony will spend less time with her now that she has fairies to fill his role).

Alright, I definitely got that out of my system. Ultimately despite these problems I have with this finale, I still enjoyed it and this season entirely. And I feel like the writers with what they did with Dev wasn’t to be mean spirited of taking away Peri and his memory. I believe they wanted to show Dev starting to reflect on what he has done and grow with realizing his mess up, which is why he even admits that he does deserve this and Hazel agrees. And despite Hazel not including him in the wish or wishing for him to keep Peri, she does still care about him. She’s glad he did the right thing in the end and she does look sad when Dev gets poofed away after being memory wiped. And honestly….this might be good for both of them in terms of being able to rekindle their friendship. Now that Dev won’t remember the the arguments that happen when he had a fairy, it means that his jealousy toward Hazel having Wanda and Cosmo and knowing that Hazel wished to be friends with him(to which he took personally because it seemed like their friendship was based off of just wanting to get something out of him he feels and it’s fake). The only problem is thanks to the memory wipe, we don’t know exactly how much Dev remembers. Does he only remember his fight with Hazel at Founders Day or their fight during his birthday? If the former, then did he forget Hazel being at his birthday? And if not and it’s the latter, then does Dev still remember project H but without the knowledge of Hazel’s fairies? Is he still upset at her for his father paying attention to her? Does he think they’re still friends??? Really the problem is since we’re in the dark of whether we’re getting a season two and we don’t know these details, we’re stuck unsatisfied since there’s clearly more to explore and explain here. But all we can do for now is just wait and watch the show again on Netflix when it drops while spreading word of the series. We can do this and get that season two for everyone! Seriously Netflix you better listen to Peri and greenlit season two.