#also i’m just annoyed it’s so long bc so much is just filler that doesn’t matter at all and they keep having the same arguments and worries

[toxicrevolver]

Omg ok for Stranger Things: 1, 6, 8, 16 and 21 let's GO!

I love Stranger Things let’s go!! This got hella long so I put a break in. I have a lot of feelings and I think way too much.

1) the character everyone gets wrong

- Billy easily. Especially here unless you find the right people. Billy Hargrove is such a dynamic character and everyone keeps calling an abuser and such when he was the one who was abused. Plus the Suffer Brothers (duffer brother. Around here I call them suffer bcs they’re trash) didn’t even fully flesh out Billy’s character and if it weren’t for Dacre Montgomery we wouldn’t have gotten shit. Sorry for the tangent I have a lot of feelings about Billy.

- side note on this question. People also get Eddie wrong in my opinion. Everyone constantly tries to make him into a savior or a victim of circumstances or just a lost soul type of character. Like yes he kinda is a victim of circumstances. But not totally. His uncle was a good caregiver from what we saw but Eddie still sold drugs and most likely did drugs (the ketamine was in his personal belongings for christ sake). Stop making Eddie into a saint and stop making Billy into a demon. They’re two sides of the same coin if you actually sit and really compare them.

6) which ship fans are the most annoying?

- worst ship fans have got to be Steddie (Steve/Eddie) fans. As someone who does ship Steddie, the loudest fans are so toxic. I remember there was a fandom war bcs Harringrove (Steve/Billy) was the biggest ship on AO3 so Steddie fans flooded the tags with basically filler fics to pad it out. It was insane.

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

- So I don’t interact with much ST fandom anymore but the biggest opinion I disagree with is that Billy is racist and homophobic. Like. Dude was an abused child and heavily queer coded so I don’t personally see the homophobic. I’m not a POC so I can’t really say much about the racism opinion other people have. However. I don’t see how Billy acts towards Lucas as racist. I see it as an older sibling interaction. His first encounter with Lucas is Lucas stalking Max (the kid Billy is put in charge of and if he loses or let’s her get hurt he will be hurt). So do with that what you will.

16) you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

- I don’t understand why people love to characterize Steve as an asshole all the time. Like yeah he was kinda an asshole in season one. But after that he wasn’t that bad. Especially when he learns Robin is a lesbian. He could have a complete dick and ruined her life but he didn’t. Instead he chose to keep her secret and keep her safe.

21) part of canon you think is overhyped

- The whole Mike/Eleven relationship is so over hyped. First of all those are children. Second of all. One of those is an extremely abused child who doesn’t understand relationships and definitely shouldn’t be in one. Idk I find their whole relationship really weird and it kinda gives me the ick. Same goes for people pushing the Mike/Will relationship idea. It’s weird.

[lovelygirlinbleu]

Thoughts & comments on HIMYF 2x02 maybe with analysis bc I’m bored 

(this is 3 weeks old and I wanted to rewatch the episode to see if it was really that bad but that's just too much)

the episode was weird and long and I feel like it was a filler episode but who knows 

Sophie, Sid and Ellen centered with Val, Jesse and Charlie as supporters

humor was good sometimes

C Plot: Ellen & Charlie are a wonderful duo and I love how supportive Charlie is

I feel like sometimes they stop to early before they go the maximum with the humor and THAT’S annoying 

I was very excited for some chaos in that plot but nothing really happend 

but I liked the neighbours and the effort tho 

and I hope they reappear 

Rachel was cute but she’s also a lot like Ellen we’ll seee

B Plot: Sid is like the perfect character fr 

I mean he has some flaws but he still manages to be such a good character I love how Sophie narrates him :D 

It’s like she really adores him he’s just such a good person

I’m a little bit afraid where this is going to lead because I have some thoughts about him, Jesse and Meredith from this episode ( for another post lol) 

I have said this last season and I’m saying this now again: Not a fan of them trying to create a villain out of Meredith

that’s just lazy writing 

in my opinion a character like Meredith is very much needed on this show and she could be a perfect grey character

If she don’t love Jesse, dating him is very nasty and what she said was also very mean but turning down the proposal I fully support

Jesse might be one of the worst written characters in this series universe

I always feel extremly bad about my thoughts but he is written so bad 

or maybe I didn’t connect or don’t understand his character ? 

He’s always compared with Ted but honestly I lowkey liked Ted after multiple rewatches because I can somehow understand his motivations and why he’s acting the way he is

I love those little parallels with sidphie:(

I would love to write something about them but I don’t even know where to start 

but I love Sophies and Sids dynamic and how they can go from banters to caring and being concerned about each other and everything still feeling natural 

the crumb in front of the Pemperton’s was cute 

A Plot: What is wrong with you Sophie lmao

she’s just so chaotic and from what I’ve heard this is not the end of her liabetes  

I need more of Valentina she really felt too much like the sidekick best friend and I know it’s supposed to be like that but I would’ve loved to hear one thought about her break up or life in general

I hate how Sophie was comparing herself to Meredith idk 

I have no connection to Meghan Trainor but I think she was cute guest star 

 Some other thoughts

Up until last weeks premiere I never understood why people were always talking about how different future Sophie is from present Sophie and I never questioned it or cared to rethink this

But everyone is so right last week made me realize this but this week present Sophie had some future Sophie vibes 

I guess she is just developping into that person 

The extreme is still missing I mean I see what they are trying to do with Sophie now but it has to be crazier

also I thought that future Sophie is 50 ? or that ist 2050 ? but she said that she turned 40 last year which doesn’t make sense at all with present Sophie turning 30 in 2022? 

Can someone tell me what I missed

I realized that it’s really hit or miss with Ellen. I mean I love her energy like I said last week and think she’s an entertaining character BUT the jokes ... last week they were great but this week hmm

[stubborngoalie]

nothing against fic (though i’m an ao3 girl) but the book i’m reading was so clearly a self indulgent watt pad fic before they self published and it’s fine but it’s so fucking long for what reason and it’s so corny. i’m reading it though it’s cute.

[mandareeboo]

ok now im curious what your most petty thing is (regarding the dp post)

Oooh boy, here we go! Buckle up fuckers this is gonna be a longer one.

My senior year of high school, I took a creative writing class. Partially because I needed to fill the slot, mostly because I wanted to improve my writing (spoiler: I did not). Now, my high school was a three floor building- first was mostly gym, second was general, and the third was senior lockers and art classes. I spent a good chunk of my schedule senior year on the second and third floor, going between an art class to my earth science (I took that one entirely as filler, but also bc I like science) to my locker and so on.

Creative writing? Creative writing was in the fucking basement. Go to the first floor, go to a corner generally used for health and development classes, to another corner, follow a ramp and some stairs, and boom there it is kind of basement. (Side note but this teacher was REALLY into attendance and would get you in trouble if you were late which was really annoying since basically no other class was in that part of the building).

My creative writing teacher wasn't bad, per se. I've had worse teachers. I had an algebra teacher who delighted in making freshman girls cry and mocking them for it. I had a journalism teacher who would use her class time reporting how Hilary was secretly ill during the election. I had a history teacher say trans people weren't real to an openly gender nonconforming student (I didn't know them well enough to ask for specifics on their alignment, but they were using they/them at that point) and set up assignments just to mock students on the take they were told to make. It was more that she was uncreative and took it out on the kids doing creative writing.

She gave us two books to read. Basically “how I write” by published authors. I don’t remember the first one well enough and I donated it ages ago, but the second was Stephen King’s “On Writing”. It was 3/4′s personal stories about his life and 1/4′s “also write a bit every day”.  I mostly remember the first author bc she had those fake dreadlocks white people do when they destroy their hair and she gleefully told a story about making her son have a meltdown at a party or wedding or something bc he got overwhelmed and she wanted him to learn that “sometimes you don’t get what you want”. So. You know. Not much there.

She also instructed us to write in a journal every day, which she would check every few months or so. It had to be at least half a page. She would leave little comments in every one else’s journals when she checked them, but not mine- I realized pretty quickly she was a bit uncomfortable with LGBT+ content, so I made it my mission to make every journal drabble as gay as possible bc I was bored and she couldn’t mark them WRONG when she just stated we needed to write.

But it doesn’t end there! Through the entire class, we got exactly five writing projects. Stories that follow very specific guidelines that we would then read in front of the class, group proofread, and then have the teacher give final grades for. These things were approximately like a thousand words a piece, and I was writing out my 10,000 word “It Starts off Small” story in class when I got bored, so it wasn’t difficult. 

Our first project was a character going through a difficult decision. Or... something? I honestly forget the criteria. Anyway, I was HYPE. I’d had this idea for a long time now a human choosing between peaceful death or reincarnation, and this gave me the push to write it! I had a whole thing planned with death being a deer and reincarnation being a wolpertinger (bc reincarnation leads to many possibilities, ed boy, so a Frankenstein bunny made sense to me). Anyway I poured my heart and soul into this bastard and, bright eyed and bushy tailed, handed it in. My classmates all thought it was pretty good. Not to toot m’own horn, but there was some pretty bad ones going in, so I thought I’d get a solid B or something.

I got a D. I guess the struggle was too metaphorical, or it didn’t perfectly fit her criteria. I was devastated. Then I was mad. Bc I was a bored senior who thought they’d made something pretty decent for this completely optional class and her refusal to see that really hurt me at sixteen (I was always a year younger than my other classmates, so despite being a senior I didn’t turn eighteen until almost a year after graduation)

Well, fuck it, I decided. I’m going to parody the shit out of this class.

Our next project was a fantasy story. I was bitter and grumpy. The other fantasy stories read aloud were stuff like “yeah this dude fought a wizard and got a girl, then they went home and banged” (this was not hyperbole, he would’ve written and read the smut if allowed, I knew him personally) and “this girl that NO ONE UNDERSTOOD was called CRAZY but this S@!$ cheerleader who Stole Her Boyfriend so she killed them all” (fun fact: the girl who wrote that was my age and a sort of half-friend from middle school. She was a yaoi fangirl who didn’t mind lesbians as long as they, you know, didn’t FLIRT with her or something.) 

So I get up there. It’s the last day of presentations. And I present with a polite cheer. My story is about two magical shepherd type figures who are called Sister Brighten and Brother Dick as they chase down a werewolf who was drunk off his ass and accidentally bit someone else. They then revealed they were basically supernatural designated drivers for the whole town. I made Brighten mention that Dick’s name wasn’t even Richard. I titled it “His Favorite Brand is Grayhound”. It fit every single criteria. I got an A. I could tell she didn’t want to, because there was no comments or anything like everyone else’s, but she had to follow her own criteria.

Our third was a conjoined effort thing so I didn’t pull any fuckery there, but the fourth one was about common myths and spinning them into real or fake. One girl did the hook-handed door handle thing and the boyfriend ended up above his truck hanging (somehow???). I think someone did the age-old adage of a haunted wedding dress? I kind of read through those presentations. 

Now, I’m salty-salty at this point. I wasn’t expecting His Favorite Brand is Grayhound to get me a good grade. I half-assed a lot of it. I am in full Not Happy Teenager at this point. I grab a daddy long leg and settle in.

My fourth story of the year is “Paperskin.”

Paperskin is about a boy named Billy with the thinnest skin membrane ever. Just full on body horror. You could see his teeth behind his lips. Billy gets bored one day and wanders out of his house, tries to kick a soccer ball, and breaks a leg. As he’s laying in the grass a daddy long leg bites him- and his skin is so flimsy the fangs sink in and he dies. I’m actually still pretty proud of Paperskin. It’s a horrifying, Edgar Allen Poe of a monstrosity, but it made people squirm, which was the point. The teacher is clearly a bit unnerved at this point, but she gives me another A. 

I wrote a more “normal” story after that of a contentious objector forced to house kids going to see if any confirmed soldier deaths were any of their parents as my final one and I could feel her spite as she gave me a B.

So, yeah. That’s the story of when I tormented my creative writing teacher with The Gays and my weird ass sense of humor after she called one of my best works at that age a piece of shit.

 Here’s a google drive of these bad boys, because yes I do still have these things. I turned these fuckers in for grades, people.

[dancing-withthedoctor]

i finished the timeless children and i have so many thoughts. i usually post on mobile, but bc i know there are people like me who are new to doctor who, i switched to my computer to add the read more thingy. so beware spoilers for the timeless children below the cut !

this is going to be a long post of bear with me

the doctor and the master

OKAY SO i first want to start off with the theory i had: when the master first mentioned that the doctor wasn’t who she thought she was. I had mulled over what it could be and the theory i came up with was that she was immortal and that gallifrey wasn’t her home planet. it was the only way it would make sense and i’m honestly glad i was right in that regard. however, my theory also included the master. i had thought that he had burned gallifrey to the ground because they lied to him about who he was. i really wanted the doctor and the master together in this because the master even said “they lied to us, we’re not who we think, you or i”. so imagine my disappointment when it was revealed that the timeless child was only just the doctor. the implication that the doctor will live forever is heavy, but making it so that the doctor’s enemy, her friend, her rival, her lover would also live forever is even worse and that’s what i wanted. 

the relationship between the doctor and the master is unique to say the least and they’ve been through ever single kind of relationship with one another. thirteen had anxiety and stress over this for episodes over who she is. the way her mind goes a million miles a minute, no wonder she was so on edge the whole time. obviously it annoyed her that the master knew more about her life than she did. if the master was also a timeless child, i think it would have hit home more. like they’re destined to revolve around each other all the time, always intersecting. also the episode is titled the timeless children, was that supposed to be misleading or? the fact that the master cheats death more than the doctor does would be a perfect plothole filler for the whole missy dying and not being able to regenerate thing. the doctor literally got handed extra lives from river and from the time lords. as im typing this all out, i am getting a little upset at that choice. it’s not like the master deserves to live forever (far from it honestly), but if he did, wouldn’t it have been better for the doctor to be the one to keep him in check. obviously, it’s not her job to make sure that he doesn’t hurt or kill people forever, but i think with all that infinite time, they’d be able to reconcile. that was the hope at least. 

yaz, graham, and ryan (aka the fam)

i said this in a brief post earlier that i was so happy to see yaz act like and essentially become the doctor while being separated for her. personally, i felt like yaz was in the background for a bit, but she really shined through in this episode. the way she was constantly encouraging the people around her even though she was scared herself. literally walking in the doctor’s footsteps. 

the conversation between graham and yaz was really touching to me. i started tearing up the same time yaz did. the way graham said “You said to the Doc that you thought she was the best person you'd ever met. But you know what, Yaz? I think you are.” melted my heart and it’s so nice to finally see them bond like that. i know that ryan and graham aren’t in the flux special (im very excited to meet dan) so it feels very bittersweet for him to express his feeling like that to her. and the fact tat yaz literally rushed into the boundary without a second thought because she knew the doctor was on the other side. if that’s not love then what is?

ryan sinclair my beloved. first off, i wish they did more with his character. i think he had so much potential as a companion. the way he threw that bomb made me feel like a proud mother watching her son grow up lol. also, when he said he wasn’t sure about using weapons was a callback to their first adventure in ghost monument when the first thing he did at the sign of trouble was pick up a gun. to see him hesitate to resort to violence was a really nice nod to how much he’s grown as a person.

overall i think the episode was fantastic. im going to be thinking about this for a long time. i know i still have the flux to go, but it makes me wonder about the future of doctor who. rtd is coming back and with his genius writing skills, I’m hoping we can really flesh out the whole timeless child thing. and as for future predictions, i hope the show eventually takes us to go beyond the universe we know, so that maybe we can eventually find the doctor���s real home planet. maybe even their family? one can only hope :) 

and last but not list a list of quotes from the episode that i will never stop thinking about:

“You said to the Doc that you thought she was the best person you'd ever met. But you know what, Yaz? I think you are.” - graham

“And the history between us does mean something. It's the rage and pain in my hearts.″ - the master

“I ransacked the Matrix of the Time Lords, distilled all the knowledge, all the experiences, all the discoveries, into these brains up here. All the Cyber knowledge, all the Time Lord knowledge. Put it together, what do you get? Absolute supremacy in the universe. Choose me.” - the master

“You always behaved like you were different, like you were... like you were special. And you were. You can see... you can see why I'm angry. A little piece of you is in me. All I am is somehow because of you, and believe me when I say, I cannot bear that.” - the master

“You think you've broken me? You'll have to try harder than that. You've given me a gift. Of myself. You think that could destroy me? You think that makes me lesser? It makes me more. I contain multitudes more than I ever thought or knew. You want me to be scared of it because you're scared of everything. But I am so much more than you.” - the doctor

“You may have made me, but I have destroyed you. Become death. Become me.” - the master

if you read this whole thing, ty for taking the time to read this. i love you mwah <3

[mndvx]

please enlighten me as to how much this episode sucked 🤭 bc from what i'm reading, it was even worse than last week

Turns out we finally found which episode of Titans is the worst!! (So far, at least.)

I have a feeling that the finale will be the most absolute insane pile of dog shit this show has ever had. And it's had a lot lately!! They really baited us into thinking there was a slight chance of it being good with the first four episode. I'm so mad.

Last week was a filler episode. And it was bad. But they really outdid themselves with this one, it's... yeah it's the worst episode of Titans, so far.

The GCPD is incompetent, that we already knew. So it's not really surprising when Random Nameless Cop #4 ends up being easily bought by Jason/Crane after we saw him have a little feely chat with Barbs about someone he knew dying from the fear induced riots or whatever

but before that, Crane sends all of gotham a little fanvid he made in his garage using footage from episode 1, not in any way shot differently, it's just episode 1 intro fight against Gizmo Guys copy pasted with a few flashing random buzz words, like "thief" "con-man" or whatever and him narrating about how the titans are bad guys and the reason why gotham's water is poisoned and says he put a bounty of 500K on the titans dead or alive. We get a little montage of every main character seeing the vid. With Conner and Komand'r spooning together in the living room d'aww and Gar reading up on Lazarus Pits then having a little DCney Prince moment with the bats in the cave before Kory comes in to tell him about the video.

So with that, what does Dick do? First he tells Barbara he's gonna fix this(tm) then he goes back to the batcave (off screen) and i guess tells the rest of the team (off screen) to get into a parking lot or something?? where they get surrounded by dozens of people and like... Fight four of them before Dick tells them to come back??? Also, at some point during this Dick is like "Me staying here, it's a mistake I should be with you guys" and Kory tells him "No! You got a bounty on your head, it's safer" so why is Gar not staying in the cave with him, he's not invincible either!!

Meanwhile, Donna is taking a taxi to get back to Gotham, because I guess she can't teleport anymore, that must've been some of that Purgatory juice that sent her from Themyscira to that other Wayne Manor to save Bruce (who we hear NOTHING about. I mean good, we're not here for him, but she literally just stopped him from kiling himself in another country and now she's on the way to Gotham all alone... That's weird

Same thing about Tim, we saw him come back from the dead last week, but he's nonexistent in this episode. No one, not a single person all titans included, even speaks about him or even vaguely mentions him being shot or asks if he's okay or anything.

and then that random Lydia amazon shows up saying she's been following Donna "for 10 minutes" which is really weird, because Donna definitely was moving for longer than ten minutes, i mean she was IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, so how the fuck did you show up specifically on that road to Gotham just ten minutes ago, CAN YOU TELEPORT LYDIA??? I guess she can because then she slams Donna down and she wakes up in some random woods she calls "The Training Grounds" like it means something. blablabla this is the B Plot i guess? It's dumb, it's pointless. It's Lydia fighting Donna for way too long, some random shit about Lydia's daughter Angela dying and how she's sad or whatever who cares, then telling Donna she has to rise, she was born to lead people etc etc (can you tell how hard they're trying to make a spin off happen?) before Donna can finally go back to going to Gotham (no she doesn't get reunited with the team.)

Dick and Babs meet in a bar for some reason, random pointless and annoying reminiscing about their past before Dick tells her he's gonna turn himself in as Nightwing, pay bail then vanish from Gotham so the people can supposedly keep faith in the GCPD and not turn against them?? idk, if Nightwing vanished like that right after being caught by them, I wouldn't trust them to protect me but that's just me!

Jason and Crane have a weird and cringey chat (again. they had one before as he prepared his fanvid, talking about... Breakfast?? Jason was annoyed and didn't get the point of it, same) and he goes on this rant about how Jason needs to believe in himself and all that, makes him go "Red Hood!! Say it with me! Red Hood!" for like... what felt like at least a whole minute before he suits back up and goes back to being the murderous little shit he CHOSE to be, Molly calls him and asks him to stop he says no i have to </3 (you don't dumbass)

Dick tells everyone his plan, they all eventually agree because that's totally not gonna go wrong 🙄🙄 so they suit up and go to the GCPD to make a little show of their surrender. The cop that was bought out apparently has a lot of friends bc most of the cops present during the thing start acting up and one of them pushes Komand'r first (geoff johns, i'm in your walls with a knife) which is only so Conner can go "HEY BACK OFF 😠😠" before they then start attacking everyone. You already saw Kom gets shot, so yeah... That happens. Con stopped one bullet and stood there just 🖐🏻😠 while another was shot and hit Komand'r in the stomach or something, the most boring fight scene ensues (gar gets shirtless yay! sorry.) Barbara kills the cop who had his gun drawn on Dick and she's later on arrested by Vee for it, which... what the fuck??

so everyone left after the whole boring fight, separating and hiding. Kory and Kom go to a church where Kory decides to use her powers to try and heal the bullet wound that is KILLING her sister, and Komand'r somehow (unconsciously) absorbs all of Kory's powers, which makes Kory mad and go on a whole thing wondering if this was her plan all along, making Kory care for her so she could betray her or something. Komand'r says it's not the case and asks what will it cost for Kory to trust her etc. (honestly this whole episode is badly written, but 🥺🥺 Kory admitted she cared about Kom). then they have another argument, because Kory wants to return to the Titans and help them, but Komand'r tells her they should leave and go somewhere alone the two of them, and that Kory is a queen and was never meant to be fighting a war that's not hers and they then separate because Kory is not going anywhere. Komand'r then leaves, Kory asks where she's going and Kom tells her she's not "the only one with unfinished business" which... what? So yeah, now Komand'r has Kory's full set of powers and Kory is COMPLETELY depowered. 

And then we have a little montage of the city going to shit and full chaos, with Barbara being arrested for killing that other cop. Donna beats up a soldier who wouldn't let her come in Gotham. Because of course she comes back when everything's gone to shit, how convenient.

Gar is all alone in an empty warehouse type of place, after having been shot with a tranquilizer dart while the whole fight in the GCPD happened, (which was like half a day ago, idk how animal tranquilizer work but that must be strong stuff because he's still a little knocked out from it) he sees a raven that then turns into our beloved little Rachel!!! She tells him she found him because she felt his energy, and they have a quick recap chat where he tells her Jason and Crane turned the city into chaos she doesn't react in any particular way, so i guess she knows Jason is evil? whatever. the good thing about this scene is Rachel using her powers!! (and Ryan Potter's abs)

Then we see Dick and Conner on their own, with Conner insisting they need to go out there and help people but Dick being the dumbfuck he is tells Conner they can't, that they need to stay hidden and not be caught, so going back to Wayne Manor is also out of the question. But CONNER IS INVINCIBLE!!!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE GRAYSON!!!!

And for our last scenes, Jason and Crane are in Wayne Manor. He makes Jason destroy a painting of Bruce and his parents because of course you have redecorate the place now that it's yours, Jason has quick flashbacks of his conversation with Bruce in Crime Alley in the shitty episode all about Jay and angrily stabs the painting like 20 times?? And Crane actually says "Welcome to Crane Manor", it wasn't just the synopsis being cringe!

ANYWAY. TERRIBLE FUCKING BAD EPISODE.

[overanalysingfandoms]

How I would rewrite Teen Titans

I'm not actually probably going to write this, this would just be the direction I would have taken the show if I had the choice.

My version will have 6 seasons and 2 movies.

Season 1

The exact same, only maybe have Robin and Starfire get together at the end.

I don't really have any major problems with this season

Season 2

Pretty much the same except build up Raven's friendship with Beast boy more e.g. show her supporting him after Terra's gone both times or have her have a moment with him in Titan rising.

Season 3

Oh boy. A lot. I want to change a lot. First of all I want the tone to be a lot more like Deception. Have both Robin and Starfire as his secondaries instead of switching it to just Robin, so they balance eachother out with Robin being harsh and arguing with Cyborg while Starfire is gentle and supportive with him even though she isn't happy about his decision, this would also mean Robin and Starfire's relationship could be built up and tested, whether or not they're dating.

Second of all, motivations, this is my main problem with the season, I think it would have been far better with better motivations from the main hero and villian. Brother Blood has so much potential but since he has such vague motivations and we don't know what he wants he becomes far less interesting, they tried to recreate the Slade and Robin dynamic and it really didn't work. So I would have Blood less focused on Cyborg and more focused on his crime school before beginning to get more annoyed at the Titans for getting rid of his schools. I would have his main motivation to be something generic but believable like using his students to take over the world and using Cyborg as a stepping stone to do it. As for Cyborg I would use the theme they originally introduced in Deception, his struggle with his robot and human sides, and not have it resolved in one episode but rather the whole season, take away his whole 'I want to be a leader' thing and Brother Blood being 'his villian" and instead have him join the Titans East to get back his blueprints which wouldn't be retrieved in Wavelength.

Also have more focus on the og Titans when Cyborg's away to show how it's effecting them.

I would also have Sarah Simms show up at some point in this season and cut out the thing with Jinx in Deception and Sarasimm in Cyborg the Barbarian later on, make it one sided. Maybe have had Cyborg argue with Sarah at the start and be reminded of her by Sarasimm so he goes back to apologise.

That was long, sorry, there's just so much wasted potential in Season 3.

Season 4

Make this season 5. Now this is a massive change but it would be so much better, season 5 felt very anticlimactic after season 4, so if it is instead put before season 4, with a few tweaks it would work a lot better. This would also mean the stakes would be raised each season.

So the changes, so many to make.

First of all have the same episode structure as all the other seasons, some plot, some filler, it's just a better format.

Secondly make the Brotherhood of evil smaller and also have the main villians be on a council instead of the Brain ruling them all (think V.I.L.E. from Carmen Sandiego) this will add more spice to the villians as the brain being the main villian with everyone else as his got boring due to his utter lack of charisma.

Make the Doom Patrol come later on in the season.

Have newer Titans show up in more than one episode to allow them to develop friendships with eachother and so the team up at the end of the season feels more natural. Season 5's finale would also come as more of an emotional gut punch if we saw all the other teams frozen after Trigon takes over.

Season 5

I wouldn't change a huge amount, just a few little tweaks.

Have more emphasis on Slade and I still don't want to redeem him, I think he should stay bad.

Make Raven and possibly Trigon less powerful. I know this sounds strange but a problem I've always had with season 4 is how it treated the other Titans, except from Robin they were mostly didn't do anything about the plot. Have them at least do some damage to Slade and the army when they show up at the tower so they don't seem really weak for example have them used against eachother and defeated one by one so they seem less useless.

Also have the powers Raven has given them have a small effect on Trigon, which gives them some hope (this could be mentioned by Robin in his later conversationwith Raven)

Put more emphasis on Raven's relationship with Beast Boy and have him be another secondary who she comes to for comfort, giving the penny and beast form more meaning later on.

I would also have Starfire, Beast boy and Cyborg have to team up together to beat each of their evil selves instead of just switching.

For defeating Trigon I have a few very specific ideas, have Raven try to defeat him on her own but fail in the final blast in her speech but then look at the penny, take her friends hands as they stand in a circle and all say Azerath Metrion Zinthos together, emitting a huge wave of white light and defeating Trigon together, Raven later saying she couldn't have done it without them.

Also during the start of the second part of the finale have a montage of everyone else frozen in stone before going back to the Titans.

That was a lot for just a few tweaks but oh well.

Season 6

The Starfire season, yay.

Now, I'm not entirely sure what I would do for this season but I have a vague outline and a few ideas.

Have the season focus on Starfire with both Robin and Raven as her secondaries with a subplot about Raven and Beast Boy.

I would have Slade come back working for the Gordanians as a mercenary who has been told to come to Earth and recapture Starfire for them as the first plot episode and the thing that kicks everything off because I just love this idea so much.

I would keep the same format as the rest of the series still, but maybe throw in a couple of space adventures.

I would have a more deep exploration of Tamaran's lore and culture as well as Blackfire's return, maybe as the season's main villian or working with the season's main villian or perhaps just for one episode but I think it would be good to have her back.

I would have the finale have the whole universe at stake, maybe giving the Gordanians or some other bigger alien race we're introduced to later on in the season (perhaps the Psions) have dalek like motivations of wanting to get rid of anything that isn't them and either Starfire or Tamaran is the key to this.

Slade once again doesn't redeem himself and gets away.

That's all I have for that.

Movie 1

Be like a Trouble in Tokyo but for Raven and Beast boy, I have no ideas apart from this.

Movie 2

Have a movie to wrap everything up with Slade.

Have all of the extended Titans help out on this with a focus on Jericho and Ravager.

Have a huge final battle with a lot of personal stakes and have Slade finally captured.

Have a cute little flash forward scene at the end, possibly with all the Titan's children taking over and showing how they've all grown.

Tada!!!

So that's the end and WOW did it take forever to write that.

Hope you enjoyed reading it and feel free to add anything on.

I might do more little rewrite things later, not as long as this bc this took me like half an hour but episodes or other shows or books because this was actually quite fun.

[yue-muffin]

@mejomonster I’m sorry I wrote an ESSAY AHH. The thought of squishing it in the messages was horrifying haha.

Ok ok. First, I genuinely LOVE open discussion about translating. :3 If it was a more stable career, I would have gladly thrown myself at it in a heartbeat. You bring up some excellent points that I’ve lovingly stewed over with no one to talk to about for years haha.

In my early translation days I also preferred more direct translations even if they ended up stilted, but nowadays I prefer looser translations that prioritize the original intent over the original wording. Part of it is, that direct translations help you learn more. If every translation omits the original chengyu for an English equivalent, you’ll never end up learning that chengyu and its cultural context. So I get where you’re coming from! It took me a long time to get over that stage myself...

Ok, now my Translator Brain will step up lol.

Backing up a bit, the first step, assuming no language limitations, translation is…you’re basically the god of your own little world, haha. Before you translate a single word, you have to decide your intended audience. This is also where you decide whether you’re making a translation or a localization. People get all up in arms about localizations, and I have strong (negative) feelings towards some. But localizations have their place, they get new fans into a work, bc they’re geared perfectly for the average, casual player/reader/watcher. Pokemon (the game) is actually a really good example of this. The names of the Pokemon are brilliantly clever in each respective language bc they went for localization instead of literal translations. 

Early translations of the Tale of Genji, while…problematic and heavy on the orientalism, had their place at the time bc it made people interested in the work and Japanese culture, whereas they wouldn’t have cared nearly as much probably if the translation was not approachable. Nowadays, we have much more accurate translations of Genji :) with delicious footnotes :). This is why I don’t understand why people get SO up in arms about translation poaching. Imagine if there was only (1) one version of Genji?? Or any other classical work?? If someone wants to use their valuable time to make a translation on something that already has one, that’s entirely their perogative.

When not going for a hard localization, the choice then falls on: what do I translate more literally, what do I NEED to convert to fully “English” wording to make sense.

Oooh yeah, and stilted characters/narratives! That’s a great point. You also have to recognize when some characters or situations just…do sound stiff in the original, and you should keep that stiffness in English. I think this is a skill that comes with fluency with the language (ex: Lan Wangji from MDZS, I THINK he’s supposed to just be succinct and reticent, but depending on how you translate him, he seems rude or bad with words. Unfortunately, English is a language that does NOT deal in word economy, so you pretty much have to make him say a lot in English or else people will get the wrong idea…like I did.)

In the novel I translate, one character is this exact scenario and idk know how to word him in English sometimes. He speaks informally (inappropriately so sometimes), but it’s a little stilted bc he’s not had much exposure to the outside world, and speaks like he’s regurgitating what he’s been taught by his parental figure. It’s really difficult to get that across in English without making him sound too much one way or the other lol.

I could talk for DAYS about good and bad Japanese localizations/translations. :D I have never played Kingdom Hearts but totally understand- there are SO many games/movies where I was sad at the stuff lost in translation, but some of them are so good at maintaining the overall context and feel, and that’s just a trade-off that has to be made. I do get sad when a localization isn’t as good, or outright changes a character’s story arc tho. >:|

It’s also definitely a choice whether to keep much of the original terms (Shimei/shidi etc). I tend to prefer them to stay in too, but minimally if that makes sense? Sometimes I see translations where they keep a lot of them in, which is great for me but my inner translator cringes at how hard it would be to keep up for someone who doesn’t know the language.

(Asura to Vanquishers is 100% unacceptable I Do Not Care About Excuses lol. Also, yao/yaoguai, and yokai I feel are ones that should stay untranslated 100% of the time. You run into so many grey areas and issues if you try to translate these terms into English bc there’s simply no equivalent (or...you will translate 1 thing as “spirit” and later encounter a totally separate word that can also be translated as “spirit” and be left unable to explain the difference without a footnote) and the English terms are too loaded with their own cultural context…

Ooh yeah I…”love” those phrases that NEED to be worded differently in English. Some are easy, some are ??? HOW do I- and GAH I hate filler words lol. You really need to learn when they’re used by exposure lol bc all explanations/definitions I’ve found do not really explain when to use things like 就 lol yeah, emphasis but how do I convert to english?? Japanese has a lot of little particles like that (not as many as Chinese tho) and occasionally I’m all ?? OK, so DID this change the meaning of the sentence or nah…Part of dealing with those, to me, is learning to tell when you can just drop them like a hot potato and convey the feeling in the overall sentence instead haha.

AHH Sha Po Lang…that translation sounds like it speaks to my heart and also very difficult to craft. The Most Difficult VN I Have Seen, Ever is one where the original writing is so…good but also ridiculous? Like, the reason this VN is so annoying to translate and read (native speakers had to get the dictionary out lol), is bc it uses many obscure terms, its word economy is off the charts. But the narrative isn’t that dense just for the lolz. It’s bc the MC is a scholar? Or, like, a well educated and thoughtful student who feels very deeply about the world and things happening, so he just…waxes poetic. GAH when the narrative Fits the characters and their world so well, my heart just gets happy.

[shikakunaras]

Iruka, hayate, aoba, and kotetsu for the ask

Under the cut bc it's a long post.

Iruka

First Impression: He got on my nerves until the Mizuki and then I loved him

Impression Now: Every so often he annoys me but I don't hate him.

Favorite Moment: When he saved Naruto's life.

Idea for a Story: Iruka gets to adopt Naruto and they live in a happy household.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think he and Kakashi would be anymore than acquaintances and they probably hate each other bc of how they each teach Naruto. But they both hate J******

Favorite Relationship: Iruka and Naruto like a brother bond. I wish there was more of that esp in Boruto but.

Favorite HC: Iruka cried when Naruto became Hokage and he was there for Boruto and Himawari's birth as an honorary Uncle.

Hayate

First Impression: Holy shit someone get this dude a doctor.

Impression Now: HOLY SHOT SOMEONE GIVE THIS DUDE A DOCTOR ;w;

Favorite Moment: When he was resurrected and he got to say goodbye to Yūgao

Idea for a Story: He doesn't die and he lives happily ever after (most of my ideas are fix its and happy endings)

Unpopular Opinion: He should've been shown more pre death bc his sword skills are solid as fuck.

Favorite Relationship: Hayate and all the Tokubetsu Jonin as like a family. Yūgao/Hayate as romantic.

Favorite HC: He gets pegged. :)

Aoba

First Impression: Cool Glasses dude who isn't a pervert

Impression Now: YO his jutsu is cool as hell

Favorite Moment: When he saved Shikamaru's life during the first Hidan fight. And the Gai Kakashi ship filler ep.

Idea for a Story: I can't really think of one just with him.

Unpopular Opinion: Is there an unpopular opinion with Aoba?

Favorite Relationship: The Tokubetsu jonin family.

Favorite HC: I don't have on I'M SORRY ;w;

Kotetsu

First Impression: What the fuck is that bandage for why do you sound so sick???

Impression Now: I'm so sorry I misjudged you I should be ashamed.

Favorite Moment: When he was holding hands with Izumo and Tsunade walked in.

Idea for a Story: He gets to have a nice day off to hang out with his boyfriend :) Like a Tokubestu day at the beach or something.

Unpopular Opinion: He is one of the best. Better than Genma. oop

Favorite Relationship: Izumo/Kotetsu. The Gays.

Favorite HC: He loves Izumo so much but Izumo was the one that said 'fuck it will you marry me'. Kotetsu also cried.

[sakucrossing]

whats your opinion on sassusaku?

not sure how long this ask has been here, so sorry if it’s super late!

I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but I’m sure it’s very confusing bc I reblog both anti ss and ss content. 

I’m of the opinion that canon ss sucks ass. There’s no development; their peak was a few moments in the chunin exams then it was practically non-existent from there (not counting fillers/next gen shit). SS was always about how Sakura felt, how Sasuke affected Sakura, and how Sakura unconditionally loves him despite all the wrongs he did. 

We get CRUMBS of how Sasuke feels about her. Beginning of it he was very annoyed with her (rightfully so), then he sees her as a friend/teammate in chunin exams arc, he expresses gratefulness towards her before he dips konoha and knocks her out, then in Shippuden there’s nothing but a “Sakura” when they first meet....aaand nothing till she tries to kill him where he’s batshit, and then (some) good crumbs during fourth shinobi war thats also between lots of bad crumbs. I kinda roll my eyes when I see ss fans zoom in on Sasuke’s blushing face in the manga as if that’s any evidence that he feels in any way romantic interest towards her when she had a very shallow infatuation with him. It just doesn’t sit right with me that ss was always about Sakura’s feelings. Just very poorly developed and executed overall. 

And at the VERY END OF THE DECADE LONG SERIES they’re just married with a kid and its like...........ok? I can’t really remember them ever having a meaningful convo..........like...............ONCE

There’s aaallll that.......but its also like.......they look good af together so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. If you follow me its pretty obvious I love multisaku content, and though I usually don’t touch ss with how much its ingrained in canon and how poorly it affected Sakuras character, in the world of fanon none of that shit matters. It’s like the top hetero pairing I think? so obvi there’s gonna be a lot of good content for them to where I can just shut my brain off and just enjoy it sometimes. If I can enjoy madasaku/gaasaku/sasosaku why shouldn’t I just let myself enjoy the abundance of ss content when the fans do it better. I very rarely read fanfics of them so I mostly just reblog fanart on tumblr.

Brotp ss would have been so much more compelling and this is a fact I don’t care what anybody else thinks. A sakura who got over her infatuation with him, who actually sees him as HIMSELF and is still there for him. A reformed (?) sasuke who also sees sakura just vibin and being HERSELF with him, still caring about him even if she no longer has romantic feelings. They become friends with no romantic/sexual tension (much at least) who just vibe and occasionally beat the shit out of each other. Sakura prescribes him medicinal marijuana and they smoke a blunt. 

[kalosstarters]

A long and messy DP commentary (you’re welcome)

Like I said earlier, yesterday I finished my dp rewatch and here’s a few (1000+ words of) thoughts (warning: opinions):

The second watch definitely made me appreciate certain aspects of this series more. Dawn’s development is awesome and like I told my friend once, it probably makes more sense than May’s (as much as I do love May, the girl had a Lot of luck on her side). Dawn already knew a thing or two about ‘mons and coordinating once she left to her journey thanks to her mom, yet she had her own hiccups. She had to learn to lose and how to overcome it, and she did! Her friends seemed worried after she lost in the grand festival finals but she seemed genuinely fine and happy for Zoey. That was very different from the Dawn who lost her first contest.

Speaking of Zoey, appealshipping is a criminally underrated ship. I mean, people ship ikari (now, I have to mention I used to ship them too thanks to a couple of well written fics, but boi, I do hate the canon Paul) based on like 2-3 interactions in the entire series. Meanwhile, Zoey supports Dawn basically from the moment they meet and they’re an epitome of a wholesome, healthy relationship (of any kind you want). Zoey seemed to always be there for her when Dawn had her lowest lows and she gave her some of the most valuable advice that she needed to overcome her slumps.

Cris would probably kill me if I didn’t mention Piplup, and I have to say that I too did get more fond of the blue penguin too :3 Piplup seemed to be even more visible than Pikachu most episodes and I love how colorful, goofy personality he has. And if you need a reaction pic, there’s no face that Piplup hasn’t ever made :’D And Dawn and Piplup’s bond is awesome too, the way Piplup is very enthusiastic about cheering Dawn up when she’s having a bad moment, how Piplup doesn’t want to evolve because he wants to protect Dawn the way he is, etc, etc. (If you want an essay on this topic, ask @criis55 / piplupsbubbles)

Piplup also reminds me that I actually really enjoy the voice acting in the English dub of DP! We were always a bit disappointed when we couldn’t find the English version of the episode on the site we were watching dp from because we wanted to hear the iconic sounds like ‘pippippip’ or ‘starrrravia’. And even Ash, Brock and TR’s new voices grew on us despite us being kinda iffy towards them in the battle frontier arc (I think it also proves that the voice actors developed as time passed).

I also have to admit that in general DP felt more ‘balanced’ than OS (esp Johto era) and AG. What I mean with this is that it had less episodes that felt like fillers (and even the fillers it had were often p fun and showed some character development instead of being all about tr stealing mons and the character of the day helping out). Contests also were very good additions (just like in AG) so we had more to look forward to than just Ash’s gym battles. The rivals/friends showed up frequently unlike in some other seasons where we meet them just before the league (I always hate it when that happens) and it felt like Dawn and Ash had an equal amount of focus. I also like that this season still has a clear continuity which starts to change a bit in BW and more drastically in XY that has almost no past references.

Speaking of rivals, I do have to talk about Paul a bit more too. I already said I hate him. But he’s still a good rival to Ash because he’s someone you /really/ want Ash to win. And even though I was occasionally annoyed that adults like Cynthia never really called Paul out (because his behavior especially towards Chimchar /was/ abusive, there’s no way around it) I do like that Ash ends up teaching him a lesson or two and he already seems a bit nicer towards his ‘mons at the end of the series.

I already mentioned this in a post few months ago, but anyway: I know many people enjoy DP for its seriousness/darkness (bc it’s true that the ‘dark arc’ is darker than in the previous seasons) but if I’m honest, that part isn’t my cup of tea. I can’t really even explain why, that’s just how I roll. I personally just liked the funny and chill parts more, which probably explains why I also enjoy S&M.

The league, Wallace Cup and Grand Festival were all enjoyable! If you ignore Ash’s last league battle (which you should bc it’s BS. They literally had to bring that guy with 6 legendaries so Ash wouldn’t have a chance to win. I still think the best possible development for Ash would have been to win this league and give the anime a new protagonist, but that’s not what happened and many were frustrated with the ‘weaker’ Ash in BW. But that’s a whole different story…) this league is definitely among my top 3 because it felt like despite the loss Ash was kind of a moral winner there. Ash vs Paul is obviously an awesome battle and the bits with Conway (can’t believe I only mention him now) were hilarious.

This text is already way too long but I’m still quickly gonna mention that I loved the teams of basically all 3 main characters (gliscor, buizel, happiny and croagunk some of my personal favorites) and I also liked that Brock found his true calling in the end! I think he’s gonna make an awesome doctor and I wish we had seen more of that serious side of him instead of the writers only making him see the ladies. But hey, can’t have everything.

Overall, DP was a really fun ride and I would definitely recommend it to everyone who considers watching the older seasons of poke/ani!

[batbaffle]

Ok so I never send asks like ever... but every time you reblog (I have your post notifs on bc your blog is gold!) something about yugioh I get more and more interested,, any tips on where and what to watch?

(。･o ･ ｡) Well, the Yugioh franchise is mostly nonlinear, so it doesn’t really matter which series you watch or what order you watch in. They aren’t very dependent on each other plotwise. I’ll just tell you a bit about each one in release order under the cut, and some other important info. Whoops sorry I kinda wrote an essay, I used this an excuse to ramble...

I usually watch on Crunchyroll, but I use Gogoanime for anything not on there, like the movies (with adblock). I think most of the dubs are also available on Youtube. The dubs make lots of changes to characterization and character motives, plus censorship and general localization stuff (thanks 4kids). GX and 5Ds weren’t completely dubbed, and the Vrains dub is harder to find.

I’d personally recommend learning the basic rules of the game (with youtube vids) before watching the show, just because it makes the duels easier to follow. Each series usually introduces or focuses on a particular “summoning method”. DM and GX use “fusion”, 5Ds uses “synchro”, Zexal uses “XYZ”, Arc-V uses “pendulum” and all other methods besides “link”, Vrains uses “link” and all other methods besides “pendulum”, and every series uses “ritual”. They don’t really teach you how each summoning method works within the show.

Yugioh Duel Monsters (DM for short) is the first (and most iconic) one. The overarching plot revolves around spirits residing in ancient egyptian artifacts, so there’s some interesting lore. The rules of the game weren’t fully established at first, so they pull some weird bs moves xD. DM is a bit weak character-wise imo, but some of the characters are really interesting and have legit arcs. My main complaint is that the duels can get long and boring sometimes, especially since the game was much simpler then. 

Yugioh GX takes place about a decade or so after DM, and they’re actually closely connected (unlike every other series). GX has frequent references and cameos from DM, but you could probably understand most of it via context clues if you don’t wanna see DM beforehand. It starts off as a lighthearted slice-of-life highschool anime™, but it gets really dark (and pretty gay) over time, and there some interesting themes and concepts addressed. I personally like it for its absurdity and character arcs.

Yugioh 5Ds takes place later on the same timeline as DM and GX, but that isn’t really relevant. It’s generally pretty dark, except for the more chill (technically filler) section halfway through. The first half has strong themes of class divide, corrupt authorities, fighting the police, stuff like that. Almost all of the main characters are very likable and interesting, plus they’re badasses who ride motorcycles. There’s a big focus on bonds between characters, and there are lots of good scenes involving that. 

Yugioh Zexal is a series I haven’t really watched, so I can’t give a fair opinion. I’ve heard good things about it, but a lot of the fandom brushes off the protagonist as an annoying idiot, since he isn’t an incredible duelist right off the bat like the other protagonists. He has a spirit partner trying to provide him with guidance, and they have a really entertaining dynamic (plus they’re fairly gay-coded, just like Yugi in DM is with his own “spirit partner”). The main plot involves an alien war, and things get darker over time. 

Yugioh Arc-V isn’t one I’d personally recommend, but it can still be enjoyable. There are some alternate versions of characters from previous series, and it takes some other elements from each series. I don’t wanna spoil much, but there’s an interdimensional war as the main plot, which turns into a bit of a clusterfuck at some point, and the writers didn’t do a great job with juggling the excessive amount of characters imo. 

Yugioh Vrains mostly takes place in virtual reality, and it’s shorter than the others. The whole plot revolves around a group of sentient AI, an organization trying to destroy the AI, and the protagonist who is seeking revenge for something the organization did in the past. Some of the main characters experienced traumatic events, and the topic is actually addressed. I think I actually cried at the end? My main issue with Vrains is that the gameplay is really complex and gets hard to pay attention to sometimes.

Yugioh Sevens is currently airing, and I’m planning to watch it all without spoilers once it’s finished, so I have nothing to say about it xD.

There are three main movies: Pyramid of Light, Bonds Beyond Time, and Dark Side of Dimensions. Pyramid of Light is just a cash grab connected to DM, and it takes at some unspecified point in the show after season 2. Bonds Beyond Time is a time travel crossover special between DM, GX, and 5Ds. It takes place partyway through season 3 of 5Ds, after GX, and at some point after season 2 of DM. Dark Side of Dimensions is actually connected to the original Yugioh manga, so it’s a different DM canon, and it takes place after the series. 

There’s also what the fandom refers to as Season Zero, which is a 27 episode Yugioh series made by Toei in 1998, based off the first part of the original Yugioh manga. It doesn’t revolve around the card game like the later shows do, and it features a different type of game almost every episode. I’d actually recommend it as a general anime. It’s pretty difficult to find, but all episodes are on Youtube with slightly altered audio.

I hope this was helpful :) feel free to message about anything, I’m always down to talk about yugioh

[initiumseries]

Which parts of BTVS did you not like and how would you have changed them?

Yes! Great question. 

So, if I’m being honest, most, if not all, of my issues with BTVS start after she graduates high school. I feel like the show lost the magic of the Scoobies bond and the older they got, the more distance we had from them as characters, the more OOC it felt like everyone started behaving, So, I’ll start with s4, buckle in this is gonna be long lol.

Season 4

So as usual, I like the idea of season 4. The gang has graduated, they’re growing up, and trying to find their place in such a big pond. On top of that, the Initiative is on campus (which makes sense, you can’t just blow up a high school and there are no repercussions for that, and it’s kinda cool the idea of instead of a govn’t lockdown, they infiltrate Sunnydale and are running experiments to weaponize demons. Clever, fun. I like it.), and ofc Buffy’s given up having a normal life, but now she just wants a normal relationship, and doesn’t even get that. I’m on board. Especially the idea that the gang inadvertently drifts away from each other because that’s real. That happens when you go away to college, even if you go away together. So my issues, are rooted in the details. 

Maggie Walsh turned into this weird obsessive surrogate mother, who wanted to get Buffy out of the way, except the execution was so sloppy. I LIKED commanding, no nonsense, bitch monster from hell Maggie Walsh, and I would have liked to see that follow through in how she attempts to dispose of Buffy, and how she handles Riley. She becomes this soft, weirdly maternal unhinged force after trying to kill Buffy, and I don’t really understand why. I would have liked to see more of that motherly role, while still rooted in that commander in chief sort of aura she exudes when we first meet her, when it comes to Riley. I also thought her death came too soon, like they just didn’t know what to do with her after she executed her function *coughs in the Anointed One* of creating tension between Buffy and Riley (which, honestly, his being in the Initiative at all would have been enough conflict if they had leaned into that without stuffing so much stuff in there). I definitely would have had Maggie maintain that strength and authority, while softening where necessary to emotionally manipulate Riley. I’d make it really clear that Riley is deeply confused because we believe the hold she has on him, and withdrawal on the drugs would have been a nice touch, but I think it came too soon. Which leads me directly into: 

Super cool. I remember when I first watched this on TV and the gang finally rebonded (after a HILARIOUS episode of them finally addressing their conflicts), they’d reached the climax with the Initiative and Adam and Buffy does a very Sailor Moon thing of all the different emotional strengths of her friends bond together to give her enough power to defeat Adam. LOVE IT. 

Except what’s the point? Prof. Walsh created Adam...for what exactly? We never really get a clear, salient reason for that, bc they kill her, and Adam’s exposition is...not sufficient to explain why she had an off the books project to stitch together a...demon son. It’s weird and especially because Adam doesn’t really do all that much, it really leaves me wondering like, what was the point? For me, I feel like, instead of making Adam a spectator for a lot of the drama that takes place in s4, I would have preferred him be the driving force. behind most things. 

Also: Riley’s Black friend would not have been such an angry misogynistic raging asshole because I’m tired of Black people being The Worst to make the white characters look better, more reasonable.

I would have needed a stronger explanation for Adam trying to turn Riley into...whatever that was. 

Willow would have been bi and I absolutely would have, if I went in that direction, had a much more fleshed out discovery of that fact (Because in this world Seth wouldn’t have left lol). I also would have made sure Willow and the actress who played Tara would have had the chemistry they deserved.  

Anya would not have stayed in Sunnydale. She would have left. She was a poor man’s Cordelia and had 0 character growth or interest. 

Season 5

Again, love the ideas. Suddenly Buffy has a sister we ALL knew wasn’t there before? A God shows up? What I love(d) about Buffy is that the escalations felt so natural? Like it didn’t feel like the show was like HoW dO wE oUtDo oURsElVes aGaIN?! It felt more organic like, well, yeah, the govnt. Oh shit, a GOD? D A M N! And Glory had personality! She was crazy! And it also matches alongside Buffy’s coming to grips with her own abilities. She’s one of the oldest slayers on record at this point, watching her in s1 and in s5 you SEE, her skill level is above and beyond, and now she meets a foe that still provides such a challenge, Buffy is scared. LOVE IT.

So Spike, getting neutered, was interesting at first, but it really starts to wear out its welcome for me, about this time. My problem being, he poses so little of a threat, that all his scenes start to feel like filler and not like they’re driving the plot forward in any useful way. His obsession with Buffy becoming sexual, was INLINE for Spike, but I liked Spike because he was a DICK, he was also dangerous, and after a lot of hilarious moments in S4, watching his basically creep around Buffy’s house and try to manipulate her into spending time together (which felt soooo pathetic to me in a way I didn’t like) and like, the Buffy bot (fucking ew) all season was just, not a fun time. I think, for me, I would have had Spike maintain his dignity as a character and I absolutely would not have had him threaten Dru’s life to drive home his obsession for Buffy. Ew. Yuck. Cringe. I just think there had to be more that Spike could do this season than run around chasing Buffy’s coattails. 

One again, Tara/Willow. Tara had no character development (even in an episode that was created to provide her with development? I definitely would have made use of that episode to create more ACTUAL depth for her character) so then to turn around and have her become mindless for basically the REST of the season, is just, rude lol. And because they have no chemistry and their relationship feels so...baseless, when this moment happens, I don’t feel anything. I don’t believe WIllow would be this angry, this heartbroken, this devastated that she’d take in such dark magicks and blindly go after Glory. I’d believe it if it were Oz, but Tara/Willow do not get the same level of build up and relationship establishing for me to buy this. I would have changed that.

Unpopular opinion, but I also would have made Dawn less of an UTTERLY irritating, shrill, whiny, screaming white tween. I get it, she was supposed to be the baby. But I get nothing from watching a white girl who is mostly just bored and irritated with her life, start shoplifting from her sister’s friends and in general, because she’s kinda sad sometimes. Get a grip. The only time I feel bad for her is when she finds out she’s not real. Actual problems. Wicked, I’m on board. But I think I would have just made her less fucking annoying and whiny and a lot more sympathetic. She still could have been frustrating and bratty, but in a way that was a bit more likeable, so that in those moments where she’s *genuinely* struggling, you feel for her on a broader scope. I would not have made her do all of those incredibly infuriating, incredibly stupid things, like running away in the middle of a dangerous situation. Because it ends up reading to me, like Buffy’s anger, frustration and criticisms of Dawn aren’t her being too hard on her as the eldest, as the Slayer, but accurate because Dawn is a horrendous nightmare of a new human being with no real redeeming qualities. Definitely a better ways to execute that. 

Also, I feel like this season is where the Scoobies drift again, but this time we aren’t really addressing it? Buffy’s dealing with Joyce getting sick, Riley being a POS, Spike stalking her, and she never leans on Willow for any of it. They never even really talk about any of the things going on. It’s such a missed opportunity to lean back into the core gang navigating growing up together. Willow is now basically the guardian of her new partner, and again, we don’t really see WIllow lean on Buffy at all. And Giles is preparing to leave, which, to me, felt organic. He felt like Buffy had outgrown him, but I think he was also trying to rediscover himself, but is pulled back into being a Watcher and he seems both grateful and disappointed. I would have liked to, I donno, make that a little clearer. Also what is Xander doing at this point? He’s outgrown his usefulness as well, so he kinda just becomes a hanger’s on. If Xander doesn’t just leave Sunnydale after s3 or 4. He needs to do *something*, he should have been reintegrated into the group in a new way if it wasn’t through school. 

Season 6 

This is so hard. I feel like this season is just, SO dark, SO heavy, and absent the levity that had been established up til s4. But it’s also really earned. Buffy is going through it. The layers are wonderful. I LOVE IT. But I also needed like...emotional breaks? And this is also kinda where I needed the scoobies to feel like scoobies, and trying to figure out how to help their friend.  Xander and Willow have been friends their entire lives, and season 3 really fleshes out that emotional shorthand they have, but it’s so quickly abandoned in s4 and onward. Suddenly Willow/Xander feel like strangers with Anya and Tara between them. I feel like there should have been more moments of Xander and Willow just..being, and struggling with Buffy’s loss together in a way that only the two of them really understand because like Buffy said Xander has a piece of her that Oz, and so then Tara, can’t reach. That should be a constant thoroughline. Xander should have been the first person to see something wasn’t quite right with Willow and the magic. 

Giles should have left earlier to give more time between him leaving and Buffy coming back. I like the idea of Giles beginning to build a life for himself in England and literally dropping everything once he found out Buffy was back. I emotionally hate the conflict of Willow threatening Giles, but I like it as a character development issue, and Giles definitely should have side eyed Willow, maybe even brought up his concerns later with Xander. 

I think I also would have had Spike leave Sunnydale and come back when Buffy does. I didn’t need a reformed Spike, and it would have been interesting to see him ingratiate himself with the group now that Buffy is back, and he’s the only one who sees how much pain she’s in. 

I HATED Warren and the group. The disgustingly overwhelming and unchecked misogyny and Warren was INSANELY unlikeable. I don’t need to like him, but I needed some catharsis way before we got it. He was HORRENDOUS. 

Even in death, Tara is bland. 

Willow’s magic addiction legit comes out of nowhere. I needed more organic build up than Amy, who has been a rat for like 3 years, suddenly being like “hey I know this guys who can give us magic drugs!” 

The chasm between Willow and Buffy this season would have hit if they hadn’t been distant since s3. 

I think we needed the seeds for Dark!Willow planted a lot earlier like I described. 

Also a lot more evidence that Willow was running away from her nerdy past because when it comes up here, it’s completely left field.

This would have hit harder if they still felt close. 

Season 7

Fuck man, the whole thing was awful. But I ESPECIALLY would have thrown out that left field retcon of Buffy having been in an asylum. I lost sleep over that shit lol.

 But I would have totally rewritten season 7. If Spike’s involvement was necessary (it wasn’t), then I absolutely would not have had her defend him against Wood and Giles. I would have had her treat him extremely coolly. Like a tool they require. There would have been *some* level of redemption for him that was believable within the confines of his character, but not so much that we forget he’s an assaulter.

 The Potentials would have been WAY fucking less horrendously annoying and I really would have leaned into conflict avoidance with the scoobies that reaches a peak when Xander loses his eye. Giles and Buffy would have renegotiated their adult parent/child relationship in a far healthier way and we would have had a lot more interiority with Buffy like we’ve had, pretty much since the show’s inception. 

Angel would have been there when Buffy was isolated and alone, not Spike. Because #bangel4lyfe lmao. They still woulda kissed as a “greeting” lol. Buffy would not have told Spike she loved him, or that she ever loved him. She woulda told that dude thank you and dipped out of the cave lol. 

[stubborngoalie]

I posted 6,046 times in 2022

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#also i’m just annoyed it’s so long bc so much is just filler that doesn’t matter at all and they keep having the same arguments and worries

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

hello

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#4

@ people who have hockey jerseys do y’all only wear them to games or do y’all wear them in public or wherever you want

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#2

i wish i could commit to anything like lars commits to the deep v

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My #1 post of 2022

the funniest thing about getting into hockey for me personally was learning wayne gretzky is still alive

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Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sasukerevolution]

Any chance you have a list of Naruto episodes that mainly focus on Sasuke? I kinda want to rewatch, but only remember the arc with Sasuke vs 5 kage/Dei/Ita/Danzo.

Not right on hand, no, but I can comb through and let you know which parts I tend to watch when I miss him! You only listed eps from Shippuden but I’ll include original series anyway ^^ I organized this by arc; beginning part has my commentary and then just a list after. I bolded the ones I actually do rewatch a ton.

This got really long so here’s a tl;dr for the parts I recall/can be bothered to find and the rest is under the cut.

ORIGINAL SERIES: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479.

ORIGINAL SERIES

Prologue - Land of Waves

There’s pretty decent focus on him for the first part basically up until he passes out in the Forest of Death. Episodes I like to rewatch a lot for Sasuke specifically are 3-5, and 16, which is where Sasuke sacrifices himself protecting Naruto (I usually prefer to read the Zabuza arc bc I feel like the battles drag out too long in the anime). A more comprehensive list would probably be like… 3-7 (one of Sasuke’s first battles with the Demon Brothers is there), I really don’t like watching Zabuza’s battle with Kakashi in the anime but episode 8 has Naruto and Sasuke tag-teaming to help free him, episode 11 and maybe (?) 10 have Sasuke and Naruto eating a lot and training and etc., and then 12-16 cover Sasuke fighting Haku and Naruto eventually showing up to help. Sasuke wakes up and they ask Kakashi some insightful questions in 19.

3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19 

Chuunin Exams & Konoha Crush

I don’t really rewatch this one a ton but episode 22 is the Rock Lee Beats Sasuke’s Ass ep, 24 is the Sasuke Figures Out You’re Supposed to Cheat on the Chuunin Exams Test ep which I enjoy personally but also don’t really watch a lot, 28-30 for the Sasuke vs Orochimaru stuff in the Forest of Death, 33 for Sasuke going sicko mode on the Sound ninja, 39 for Sasuke using Lee’s jutsu to beat that one guy’s ass in the prelims, 66-68 is Sasuke vs Gaara but I don’t rewatch this a lot and prefer reading it in the manga bc the anime drags it out way too much imo, I actually don’t rewatch their confrontation in the forest much either but I think (???) it’s eps 75 & 76.

22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76

Search for Tsunade

I watch 81-85 a lot. That’s where Itachi returns to the Village and we get our first real bit of insight into Sasuke’s past– this is usually one of the first things I’ll rewatch when I’m missing Sasuke. He’s in a coma for the rest of the arc, though. I also watch 101 which is the Kakashi’s mask filler ep and doesn’t really focus on Sasuke particularly but it’s fun watching him freak out.

81-85, 101

Sasuke Recovery Mission

107-110 cover Naruto and Sasuke’s rooftop fight and Sasuke making up his mind to leave the Village. A lot of things about this piss me off a lot lol so I actually don’t rewatch a lot. 128-135 is Sasuke and Naruto’s battle at the Valley of the End. There’s a lot of Uchiha lore embedded here and I like his fight with Naruto so I rewatch this battle a lot.

107-110, 128-135

I don’t watch any of the filler after this.

So to summarize, the Sasuke parts of original series that I can recall are: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN 

Kazekage Rescue Mission

The first episode teases Sasuke’s later return and is also just generally nostalgic if you’re into that. I also just like the opening for this arc lol.

1

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission

Sasuke’s first appearance in part two and his reunion with Naruto are episodes 51-53. I don’t rewatch these a lot mainly just because I rewatched them all the time when I was 14 and got bored of it.

51-53

Itachi’s Pursuit Mission/Master’s Prophecy and Vengeance

Finally good stuff. Episodes 113-114 cover Sasuke killing Orochimaru– I prefer reading this in the manga to watching it so I don’t actually rewatch it a lot. In 115 Sasuke picks up Suigetsu and the episode is a bunch of filler stuff that wasn’t in the manga but it’s fun so I rewatch that one a lot. 116-118 are where he picks up Karin and Juugo and forms Taka which is *chef kiss* golden content. 121-122 are Taka looking for Itachi… I find this stuff kinda boring so I don’t rewatch it so much unless I’m in a particular mood. 123-126 cover Sasuke’s battle with Deidara, which is awesome, but I prefer reading it in the manga, and Taka taking care of him, which is very cute… 135-138 and the beginning of 139 are Sasuke’s battle against Itachi, which is also golden content that I rewatch a lot (though admittedly I tend to just type “Sasuke vs Itachi” into YouTube and watch it there than actually watch the episodes for some reason). 140-141 are Sasuke finding out the truth about the Uchiha clan– I think along with episodes 81-84 in the original series and Sasuke vs Danzou these are the episodes I rewatch the absolute most. 143-144 are Sasuke and Taka joining the Akatsuki– 144 specifically is the Taka vs Killer Bee fight which I watch a lot. 

113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144

Pein’s Assault/The Two Saviours

If I recall correctly, episode 152 is where Sasuke speechifies at Tobi and tells him he doesn’t care if people see him as childish, he wants to destroy the Leaf, blah blah. This speech is real good but I tend to read it in the manga– I’ll bold it anyway though because I read it a ton.

152

Five Kage Summit/The Assembly of the Five Kage

You mentioned this one in the original ask but since we’ve come this far anyway I’ll say the parts I like. I love this arc, it’s definitely one of my favourites in the entire series. I think 202 is where Sasuke fights all the Samurai, 203 is where Sasuke meets Gaara again and they fight (lmfao I opened the episode on Crunchyroll to check that I’m thinking of the right one and look where I stopped last time)

Maybe I like SasuGaa? Anyway, in 204 Sasuke ditches Taka to go after Danzou, then Danzou vs Sasuke and Sasuke’s betrayal of Karin is 208-211, which I mentioned above is among the like, top three things I watch the most when I’m missing Sasuke, along with Itachi vs Sasuke in both original series and Shippuden. 212-216 are Team Seven finding Sasuke again and Sakura trying to kill him and Naruto and Sasuke talking to each other in their heads and blah blah… the only part of this I tend to watch a lot is Sasuke’s interaction with Kakashi because I find this part really annoying. In 220 Sasuke gets eye surgery.

202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax/The Great Ninja War - Sasuke and Itachi

Crunchyroll’s not super great about breaking the next parts into seasons and I’m lazy so I’m basically just gonna talk about the rest of the war arc. I know it’s a million parts long but I just think of it all as “The War Arc” anyway.

Sasuke’s out cold recovering from surgery from most of the beginning of the War arc and doesn’t wake up til 331 (there’s also good Taka content in this ep– Suigetsu and Juugo looking for Sasuke, and Karin breaking out of jail). He catches up with Itachi in 333 - I rewatch this one a lot but I’m more likely to reread it. 334-335 is Sasuke and Itachi vs Kabuto, and 336 is too but it’s more Kabuto-focused. Focus comes back to Sasuke and Itachi for 337-339– and 339 is where Itachi says the “I will love you forever” line. I rewatch that episode a ton. In 341, he meets up again with Suigetsu and Juugo and brings back Orochimaru– I tend to reread this a lot in the manga but not watch it. 366-370 are when he gets Orochimaru to bring back the Hokage, but most of it is Hashirama talking, so the Sasuke-focused ones are 366 & 370 (I tend to rewatch this entire part a lot though because I love the Hashirama & Madara stuff). In 373 he joins back up with Team Seven and says he wants to be Hokage and blah blah blah. I think that’s basically the last episode of the anime I actually bother watching sometimes. I thought about combing for the Team Seven stuff where they’re fighting aliens and the prophecy and whatnot, but everything is really fucking scattered after this part and I tend to just skip around for Sasuke content in the manga because I can’t deal with the anime, especially because this is around where the anime famously released a new episode weekly for a year and only eight of those episodes weren’t filler. The Naruto vs Sasuke stuff is 474-479 and a whole metric ton of it is filler that makes me sick to my stomach so I never watch it, but I figured I’d mention it anyway.

331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, ?????????, 474-479

So to summarize, the Sasuke parts of original series that I can recall/bother looking for are: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479 (which you couldn’t pay me to rewatch).

I love recapping so, tl;dr:

ORIGINAL SERIES: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

SHIPPUDEN: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479.

Happy watching!

[litrallytrixie]

My review of Barbara

1) Malibu - Generally good. It’s catchy & fun, this style just doesn’t really do it for me. Despite this, the chorus has been stuck in my head ever since One Night Only came out.

2) We Got The Look - I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. But it’s definitely on the skip-list. You can tell that this song wasn’t written by Trixie—seems like they added it because they needed a filler that generally fits the tone of the first half of the album. On the third listen, it’s actually ok—but at first it sounded so derivative that I straight up wanted to skip so bad.

3) Girl Next Door - also on the skip-list. Aspects of the production of this song are just annoying to me, and when I first heard it I really didn’t like it. The chorus is bad, but the song as a whole is slightly warming up to me the more I listen. There are aspects of the song that keep it interesting, and it gets better towards the end. It’s fun, but not the type of song I like. I don’t think this tone suits Trixie’s voice. And, like the first three songs, I don’t think the lyrics are particularly witty or interesting.

4) Jesse Jesse - Kinda iconic actually. It’s camp. One of my fears for this album, based on Yellow Cloud, was that the quality of Trixie’s lyricism goes down the more she tries to sound pop. While this song isn’t profound or filled with poetic imagery, the lyrics are more clever, more tongue-in-cheek, and just more narratively interesting to listen to. I also love that she wrote a whole ass song Jesse Eisenburg, what a psycho lol. If I had to change something, I would cut a couple of the repetitions at the end, it lags slightly too long for me.

5) Gold - So Good! This is where shit starts getting serious. I love how the song builds. The production on this song is definitely a step-up from her past two albums. It’s really clean, and much more contemporary folk. All-around great songwriting.

6) I Don’t Have a Broken Heart - Also liked this one. It builds in a similar way way to Gold, but starts off sounding more like traditional folk. I would say the lyrics of the chorus are quite generic and pop-y, but the verses were folkier sounding with some really nice wordplay and intersting imagery. I liked the instrumental break, this song really reminded me of the Dixie Chicks for some reason.

7) I Do Like You - This song is very sappy and sweet. It takes a while for it to pick up. On first listen, I wasn’t impressed until halfway through. But I legit cried at the bridge—it sounds so so sweet. Out of all the songs, I keep specifically replaying this one from about 1:52 on bc I’m soft.

8) Stranger - An incredible cover! I love this! I listened to the original first, and Trixie really made a version that is much more contemporary and musical, it sounds like a great song for cozy coffee shop. Or the soundtrack for a mellow drive through the country. The lyrics are fantastic and very country. I love Trixie’s take on it, her voice sounds great, the guitar sounds great, the way the harmonies are layered on, just *chef’s kiss* all around.

Overall, it’s an impressive album. The whole A side/B side concept makes sense when she explains it, but honestly I think two separate EPs would’ve been better. Had she released side B first, the contemporary folk sound would sort of bridge her past work to the 00s/60s pop/surf rock thing she’s going for. I also think that the production got predictable. I think the product would’ve been better had she distinguished the genres into separate EPs and worked with different producers, rather than trying to marry them in one piece.

I’m happy that she’s experimenting with new sounds and styles, but I’m mostly releived that the second half is still folk. Her folk songs are stronger, in my opinion. That genre suits her voice and comes off as more authentic. But if she chooses to continue in this direction, I imagine she’ll only improve, considering Malibu and Jesse Jesse are clear improvements on Yellow Cloud.