#also my favorite season has been s2 since it aired but the other seasons used to be ranked differently lol

[userlaylivia]

you know s2 of the 100 will always be my favorite season, it was brilliant and the writing was absolutely incredible and I don't think any season will ever top it but saying that, S4 does come close!!! it was exciting and the writing was good and the storyline of trying to save everyone was so good and bellarke actually interacted most of the episodes maybe that's partly why I loved it lol also loved s6 though mostly for bellarke but also the storyline was decent! i understand why some didn't like s5 it wasn't my favorite but I never would've wanted the 100 to be cancelled before s6 because some of those bellarke moments in S5&6 were incredible and 6x10 is one of my favorite episodes and if we hadn't had that episode I would've been so sad!! jroth is a petty pos they wrote a scene where bellarke got together in 6x11 then he changed his mind because he sucks and they did a total 180 and rewrote it ugh anyone that watched the show and didn't think bellarke was leading to endgame was in denial truly!! all the foreshadowing, all the parallels and quotes about love and etc they were supposed to be endgame end of the story! whether you hate them or not it was supposed to be them together!! I got off topic I always do because I'm so upset and angry they weren't endgame but yeah!! I'm actually on the S4 finale in my rewatch and I genuinely did love that season for more than just bellarke but yeah!

also s7 doesn't exist bye lol

[chirpsythismorning]

Fun fact: the shot of Mike stepping off the cliff in s1 was likely a visual parallel to Sarah jumping off the stairs in this shot from Labyrinth (1986).

For those that haven't read this theory, please do because I didn’t make these observations myself and the original post goes a lot deeper into the details from Labyrinth, which in some ways align a little too conveniently with the narrative we’re seeing unravel on the show with Mike over the seasons.

For some basic context, in s4, we even get a reference to M.C. Escher’s Relativity hanging on the wall in Mike’s room, which is also on the wall of Sarah’s bedroom, along with that work being what inspired the scene in Labyrinth. 

This next part has actually been talked about before quite a bit in the fandom, even outside of tumblr, so it’s not exactly some breakthrough as a concept on its own.

Every season, in the first scene (re)introducing the main characters, Mike is running late in some capacity. In 1x01 it’s around 3 minutes, in 2x01 it’s around 6 minutes, in 3x01 it’s around 8 minutes, and in 4x01 it’s around 13 minutes. 

So technically not the literal season opener, as that’s usually reserved to a flashback at some different location, but obviously still within those first 15 minutes, following directly after the opener…

And since we already have an idea of what the opening of s5 is going to be, what do we think the scene directly after it is going to be? You know, in the scene that Mike has been consistently running late in, for four seasons now?

Speaking of 15 minutes, I think that if they were to keep this trend going for the final season (the full circle-ness of it all is honestly too epic to pass up), it’s likely that this final time it will happen around the 15 minute mark of 5x01, as that would make the build up for it each season pretty consistent.

And not only that, but it would also literally be a callback to what Karen says to Mike that first time he’s late in s1: 

And here’s my other favorite line from one of these scenes, in the context of this theory, because it literally acknowledges this concept directly and with this air of foreshadowing I cannot stress enough:

Interestingly, another detail that ties all these ‘Mike being late’ scenes together, is stairs.

In s1 he’s running up the stairs to convince his mom to let them keep playing.

In s2 he’s rushing down the stairs trying to avoid Nancy’s wrath.

In s3 he’s awkwardly bumping into strangers going down the escalator in Starcourt Mall.

And in s4 he’s hurrying down the stairs on his way to school.

The whole point of Labyrinth is that it’s an allegory for growing up, with Sarah going from dressing up as a princess to reenact one of her favorite fairytales after being chastised by her step-mom for not going on more dates like girls her age, to Sarah rejecting her childhood and it leading to an unfortunate series of events, forcing her to face reality and take responsibility of her own life.

Does this sound like anyone we know?

Mike, who starts the show in s1 playing DND animatedly with his friends before being interrupted by his mom to end the campaign despite protests, to his mom in s2 punishing his bad behavior by having him get rid of some of his favorite toys, to him in s3 insisting that they’re 'not kids anymore' and that it was inevitable for them to stop playing games and grow up and get girlfriends, to him now in s4 reverting back to this earlier version of himself, sporting the Hellfire shirt proudly, to then reverting back to pretending when showing up at the airport with Argyle calling his outfit a shitty knock off (aka calling Mike a shitty knock-off), and without the story ever acknowledging why those shifts happened in the first place, and with one season left?

Hint? Forced conformity. That’s what’s killing the kids. That’s the real monster.

They literally told us already that out of all the monster we've seen in the show, this is what is worse than all of that. Meaning that what is about to go down, most likely topping everything we've seen up to this point, is likely going to involve forced conformity.

I also think it’s interesting that the scene in Labyrinth happened during the climax of the film, because arguably if you were to watch Stranger Things in its entirety, from s1-5, the beginning of s5 is going to feel very much like the climax to the overall story. 

Things are going to be happening fast. The stakes are insane because they need to top everything that they’ve done up to this point. Something’s gotta give. And Mike is just not looking safe out here guys.

I could go on and on about all the hints that Mike is danger, but I’ll just share my favorites. 

How am I gonna survive a whole week without you guys? Mike says, at the tail end of his opening scene in s4, and with s5 set to start at the end of said week.

Mike sitting in front of an antique funeral home fan in the s4 promotional pictures of the party in the Creel attic.

Nancy saying she saw Mike die in the vision Vecna showed her, with the early stages of said vision coming true as season 4 nears its end.

Mike getting hit in the head with an arrow front and center by Suzie’s brother, in a sequence that was loaded with foreshadowing for the end of s4 (and beginning of s5?).

Watch out dominos. Your dominos are gonna fall. Argyle says, with Mike equally in the frame behind him.

Without heart, we’d all fall apart. Will says, after telling Mike he’s the heart.

A Karen lookalike standing in front of the missing person's board at the end of s4.

Mike’s very first line in the show (also the literal first line in the show) being A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you into the darkness. It is almost here…

So maybe, theoretically speaking, what we could get by that 15 minute mark going into s5, is Mike running late one last time, and it potentially being a callback to that cliff scene ie. Labyrinth.

Another scene that I think might've been foreshadowing what is currently going down, is Max and Mike both getting knocked out by Billy at the end of s3. Max goes down first and Mike follows right after, though Max is the first to come to and help them both up.

We know Max is unlikely to be separated from the rest of the characters the whole season, that’s just not feasible. She'll at least be on-screen despite maybe not being back with the others right away, even if it’s just a cryptic cliffhanger at the end of 5x01, followed by her returning more consistently on screen after that leading up to her rescue. With the way things ended in s4 though, we need to know where she’s at and get to finding her. Which is why I think at most it will be a 1-2 episode arc.

So maybe, this moment from s3 was a hint about Max and Mike’s impending doom at the hands of Vecna, as a result of not only their emotional states, but also their bonds with El, and them then being isolated for a short time (presumed dead), only to find their way back?

It’s also worth noting Mike was the only person to witness any of Max’s symptoms from the curse prior to her finding out about it, with the camera focusing on him beside her and looking at her worriedly as her nose bled. We don’t know who Vecna’s fourth victim was going to be, because Max threw herself in as bait, but could it have originally been Mike?

I know a lot of people don't like the Mike getting Vecna'd theories or Mike is depressed takes and so if you find yourself in that position, feel free to subtweet away or whatever you need to cope with my nonsense.

I'm not a big Mike is suicidal truther or anything even, nor do I think it makes sense for him to get Vecna'd in the traditional sense like how it happened with the others in s4 because the gates are open. But Vecna still hasn’t carried out his entire plan, a plan that includes Mike dying. And the imagery surrounding it all leading up to this is compelling regardless.

If one shot at the end of s3, with Max sitting in Billy's room while Hopper was in the background saying and yeah sometimes it's painful and sometimes it's sad was enough to hint at her whole depression arc in s4, then Mike being focused on for multiple shots while Hopper was in the background saying But, lately, I guess I've been feeling... distant from you. Like you're pulling away from me or something.-- And I guess, if I'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change, with Mike looking longingly at the Byers house, cutting to Will looking out the car window crying, then cutting back to Mike walking into his mom's arms with a dead stare on his face, has gotta be enough to justify dude going through some shit, which coincidentally matches up with everything talked about here.

Turns out getting to Mike, now that was the key…

Maybe the first episode of s5 is about Mike ending up wherever Max is, somewhere caught in between, and them ‘crawling’ back ie. The Crawl.

Definitely might add some context to that funkopop shot-listing video Ross posted, followed by one other photo a few days later with the caption being that they finished shot-listing for 5x01-5x02. Meaning the initial video posted was likely from 5x01...

[tea-earl-grey]

I watched every Star Trek episode & here are my opinions.

as the title says – i finished all the Star Trek shows as of today yesterday and since i watched most of them while i wasn't using tumblr, i want do do some mini-reviews – both what i think are objectively the best shows and which are my personal favorites. i might make a couple more "ranking" posts for theme song/pilot/finale/favorite epsiodes/etc eventually but this post is already long as hell. i'll also probably do a movie post sometime but i want to rewatch the AOS movies first since i haven't seen Into Darkness since it came out (before i was actively a Trekkie).

also just as a note, these are fully my own opinions & tastes. i'm not trying to argue that any of these shows are bad (nor are any flawless), i'm just Some Guy giving my opinions.

continued under the cut. apologies for how long this is but there sure is a lot of Star Trek.

Watch Order

my opinions are probably a bit influenced by the order that i first watched these shows in so just as some background – i watched sporadic episodes of TOS & TNG when i was a kid which was enough to be familiar with the characters, general vibes, & world but not enough to really get into it. in late 2020/early 2021 i watched DS9 per a friend's recommendation and really loved it and decided to give all the different shows a shot. i watched all of TNG summer 2021, watched some of Disco & (what was then all of) Lower Decks in fall 2021. i started Voyager spring 2022, was interrupted because of Life Stuff and finished it spring 2023. i watched the first season of snw & prodigy sometime in between then. watched Picard spring 2023 just before s3 aired. watched Enterprise summer/fall 2023. finished Disco spring 2024 (just before s5). did a slow march through TOS between summer 2023 and summer 2024. and finally i watched TAS this past month. and i've been keeping up with all recent releases since 2023.

i've also rewatched a large amount of Trek either with my mom or friends at various times so i've ended up seeing most episodes twice (or more in the case of DS9 & Voyager).

Somewhat Objective Ranking:

there's a large difference for me between shows that i think are objectively good & ones that i'm personally attached to so here's just my attempt at ranking Star Trek shows by how good i think they are from a critical lens, not necessarily my favorite.

for me – a good show, and specifically a good Star Trek show, should have in my opinion a) a diverse & strong cast of characters, b) have unique & compelling plots whether they're based in science fiction, politics, or philosophy, c) has a strong moral center & explores the nature of humanity in some way, d) allows the audience to believe in a better future, e) is consistent (both with continuity and episode quality), f) does something to differentiate it from other shows, and g) is actually entertaining.

i don't think any shows come close to fulfilling all of those qualities but some do better than others.

11. The Animated Series: probably not a surprise that it comes in last. it's a fun show by the standard of kid's cartoon in the 70s and i genuinely do like it but it has a lot of the flaws of TOS (lack of continuity, lack of character depth, flimsy plots) with few of the upsides. though i do like how the secondary characters get more of a focus than in TOS.

10. Enterprise: big jump up in quality here from TAS but Enterprise does fall flat compared to the other shows. the Vulcan & Andorian stories are almost always good but so much of s1 & s2 lacks creativity and a lot of the a plots end up feeling generic & reused (though the b plots are often great). s3 falls into an obvious & uncomfortable 9/11/war on terror metaphor that has not aged well. and s4 is a huge improvement but doesn't make up for the faults of earlier seasons. additionally, i think returning to "the Trio + secondary characters" was largely a mistake as characters like Hoshi & Travis remain horribly underdeveloped (and what a coincidence that they're characters of color...) all in all. some great ideas and a handful of great episodes but it doesn't make up for how meh large swathes of the show can be.

9. The Original Series: i'm going to be honest that it this is the hardest show to objectively rank just because it's the first and it's so hugely impactful not just on the Star Trek franchise (obviously) but also on science fiction, pop culture, TV production, and American culture. its impact is quite literally immeasurable and i think unfortunately it means the show will always feel small in comparison to the shadow it casts. don't get me wrong. some episodes are great even by today's standard, not to mention by the standard of the 60s. but so many episodes, especially as the show went on, end up being pretty mediocre, poorly paced, misogynistic/racist, and have thin plots. TOS is enjoyable for me because of the camp & exploring the foundations of this fictional universe i love so dearly but i'm not going to pretend that it's objectively better than other shows on this list just because of its legacy.

8. Picard: now i could pretty easily judge each season of Picard as its own show and each season would get spaced out in entirely different places on this list. i genuinely believe s1 of Picard is one of the best seasons of Star Trek. the writing fumbles a bit at the end but the characters, direction, & acting is some of the best of the franchise. unfortunately the choice to present each season as a separate anthology reallllly let's it down because of the lack of continuity between seasons. the pandemic definitely threw a wrench into the show but s2 (while i enjoy it), has a very messy meandering plot that feels insecure in its skin. s3 (which i also enjoy) has tighter writing but suffers majorly from having been outlined before the end of s2 therefore having a weird discontinuous transition between seasons and unfortunately excluding so many great characters from s1 & 2. i love it dearly (not to foreshadow my personal favorite ranking) but it is a mess.

7. Discovery: most of the critiques i have of Picard also stand for Discovery which also opted for the "anthology" style series which i think fundamentally doesn't work. Discovery took awhile to find its voice and after s3, still sung somewhat off key. Michael is easily one of the best & most well developed Star Trek characters and the rest of the cast is good but are painfully underdeveloped as its hyperserialized format doesn't really leave time to get to know the characters unless it's essential for the plot. like Picard, it also got screwed over by pandemic-era production leaving some episodes clumsily written. some seasons, in my opinion, end up with an overcomplicated plot that becomes difficult to follow. nevertheless, there are some episodes and scenes that are stunning and somewhat make up for the mis-steps. and ultimately, the later seasons of the show really do understand the heart of Star Trek.

6. Strange New Worlds: going back to an episodic style for the next live action show after the mixed reviews of Picard & Discovery was definitely a good choice. the writing is much tighter, the characters generally feel more whole, and there's more to grab onto compared to entirely serialized shows. and after a lot of the darkness in Discovery and Picard, it feels like a breath of fresh air to have a show that feels joyful & fun. however. so much of SNW is built off of pre-existing Star Trek (mainly TOS) that it struggles to form its own identity and when it tries to be a new show, it gets caught in the trap of betraying existing continuity. the episodes focusing on La'an, Uhura, M'Benga, & Una are great – some of the best of new trek – but episodes focusing on Spock, Chapel, and Pike end up feeling... off with messy writing and being Kinda Weird about disability/genetics. since it's only had two seasons, i definitely think SNW could ascend or descend in the rankings in the upcoming season(s).

5. The Next Generation: TNG wasn't quite as hard for me to rank as TOS but it sometimes struggles with a similar problem that its legacy in pop culture sometimes overshadows the show itself. it's also tricky because when TNG is good, it's phenomenal; when it's bad, it's really bad; but most episodes land somewhere in the middle. s1 is borderline unwatchable, s2 is just a step above, and from there it gets a lot stronger after behind the scene problems were worked out & it found a stable writing staff. it ends up striking a good balance of stories between straightforward science mysteries, deep explorations of philosophy, space politics, and fun romps. it ends up getting dragged down more than a little by Roddenberry's lingering insistence to have the characters avoid long term conflict and the very episodic style resulting in less ongoing story arcs. characters like Geordi, Wes, Beverly, & Troi also end up feeling somewhat underdeveloped in comparison to characters like Picard & Data.

4. Voyager: this is probably one of my more controversial picks (judging by how others tend to rank the series) and maybe i'm biased but i do genuinely believe that Voyager deserves its place this high on the list. Voyager is an inconsistent show which certainly pulls it down a little but manages to strike a better balance in episode quality and is able to have more dynamic characters & more ongoing narratives than TNG. Voyager still has its share of bad episodes and gets off to a somewhat shaky start (particularly struggling in early s2) but finds its groove more easily because of the experienced writing team that already had years of Star Trek under their belt & an excellent cast. Voyager's biggest stumbles are definitely in regards to under-serving some of the characters (especially Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry) in later seasons.

3. Deep Space Nine: a somewhat obvious pick for top three Trek shows. DS9 has deservedly been getting its praises in recent years for its darker narratives, its bold approach to some of TV's first serialized stories, its exploration of politics & religion, and the masterful way it can bounce between nuanced episodes on serious topics & fun comedy. it flails a little bit in the first two seasons while finding its voice but compared to some of the other shows, it starts off strong and the quality is generally consistent with seasons 4 & 6 being the obvious highlight. however despite the strength of the characters, actors, and writing, there are certainly times when the show fumbles: episodes that get a bit too dark to bounce back from (and aren't followed up on), stories that present some troubling ethics without much pushback, and its fair share of the mediocre scifi mystery episodes seeded throughout 90s Trek.

2. Lower Decks: based on its first season, Lower Decks is a fun but non-serious entry into the Trek pantheon. so it was surprising when what seemed at first glance like a typical irreverent adult animation show, developed so much genuine heart for both the the Lower Decks characters & the wider Trek franchise. Lower Decks could have been an excuse to string together a bunch of fan-servicey references but it becomes genuinely heartfelt with great new characters, fun worldbuilding, actual insightful commentary on existing Trek, and the ability to laugh at itself while still being made with love. while the first two seasons drag it down a little bit (i think they went in too hard with the raunchy comedy vibes), season 3 and especially season 4 are really great especially with the exploration of Mariner's PTSD that strengthens her into one of the best character in Trek.

1. Prodigy: plenty of people have been singing Prodigy's praises since its untimely cancellation and no joke – it is, in my opinion, the best Star Trek show. it is more of a kids oriented show than the other entries on this list (except TAS) but that doesn't mean it lets up on having complex plots & characters. it might be the only Star Trek show that i genuinely believe doesn't have a bad episode (albeit a couple in s1 that are just okay) and s2 as whole is a masterpiece. the only things that let it down in my opinion are: somewhat clunky animation on close-ups (though the background animation is gorgeous) and the plot getting so over complicated by s2 that i had to draw a diagram to keep track of the time travel (and this is coming from someone who loves over complicated time travel stories.)

My Personal Favorite Star Trek Shows:

11. The Animated Series: as i said before – it's fun, i'm glad it exists, it doesn't really offend me, but with the exception of the episode Yesteryear, it doesn't really do anything for me.

10. The Original Series: yeah... i'm sorry. i just don't click with TOS that much (or TOS era in general as you can tell from the rest of this list). i can recognize its importance and there are definitely some episodes i really enjoyed (either for the camp factor or because they're genuinely good) but the majority of the episodes i either don't have much of an opinion on or i think are genuinely bad (in a not fun way). i'm also fine with looking past some of the bigotries of the time but even so the misogyny & racism in the show was just too much for me. sorry.

9. Strange New Worlds: i enjoy SNW for the most part but it's definitely dragged down because 1) i strongly dislike how Spock is written, 2) while i definitely like episodic Trek more, the short episode order does make the episodes i dislike stand out a lot more, 3) a lot of the show is built on nostalgia-bait for TOS era which... i just don't really have. there are great episodes but as a whole, i'm just not attached to it.

8. Discovery: i really disliked the first two seasons of Discovery when i first watched them and though they've grown on me, it's just too dark for me to really get into. seasons 3-5 i like a lot more and i appreciate how earnest & hopeful it is (especially compared to seasons 1 & 2) but the writing can be a bit heavy handed. and as much as i do really love Michael, i definitely prefer shows with a stronger focus on the ensemble as a whole. that said, i am definitely attached to the characters and really love the 32nd century worldbuilding that's done.

7. Enterprise: i'm honestly a bit surprised that i ended up liking Enterprise this much but the fourth season (with the exception of the finale that definitely doesn't exist) is banger after banger. and while the episodes of earlier seasons might be a bit uninspired, the general worldbuilding is genuinely interesting to me with the exploration of Vulcan politics, the Vulcan-Andorian War, the Temporal Cold War, the pre-Federation politics of Earth, and more. i'm also greatly endeared to all the secondary characters (Hoshi & Phlox particularly) which means it's also a shame that the non-Archer, Trip, & T'Pol characters get so little screentime. and while so much of the first two seasons is kinda bleh, the B plots & runners to those episodes end up being really fun and ends up creating a world & characters that feels worth exploring.

6. Prodigy: i think with time (and a possible third season...) Prodigy could become one of my favorite Treks and as i already said – it's very very good. the core cast of characters is really strong with all of them (except for maybe Murf & Jankom Pog) being well developed and compelling. the plot is interesting and feels relatively unique while still feeling like Star Trek at its core. it's also the rare example of a series that has a lot of fan-service while still retaining its identity and the strength of its own characters. ultimately, it ends up ranking lower on here than my more objective tier list because some of the angst & darkness i enjoy in stories doesn't quite deliver (which is very much not a fault of the show since it is a family show), the way Janeway is written doesn't always quite line up with my own view of the character (again, not a fault of the show), and the fact that i just haven't spent as much time with the show & characters yet.

5. The Next Generation: TNG is very much a comfort show to me. i don't have all that much to add from my objective review (there are very bad episodes, very good episodes, but most are somewhere in the middle). i really like all the characters and the behind the scenes friendships really translate well to the screen but none of them really compel me the way characters do further up on this list. i do give the show a lot of credit though for continuing the worldbuilding established in TOS and taking it in a new direction and a new vibes (rather than continuing the space western format) that is hugely influential to all of the shows that came after it.

4. Lower Decks: pretty much the same as my objective review – it's a fun show that ends up finding a good balance of humor, strong characters, and pointed commentary at past Trek shows. it's a show obviously filled with a lot of love for the franchise and i'm very glad it exists. aside from Mariner, i'm not quite as attached to the other characters but i do love them all.

3. Deep Space Nine: as i said before, DS9 is undoubtedly one of the strongest shows in Star Trek. it has the most recurring characters, pretty much all of which i find compelling, and a fantastic cast of regulars as well. the overall plot of the show is incredibly strong and allows it to have a lot of good commentary on imperialism, war, religion, race, and more. it has my two favorite episodes in all of Star Trek (The Visitor and Far Beyond the Stars) and so many other bangers as well. it's the show that first hooked me into Star Trek & the Star Trek fandom and it really is fantastic. the reason it doesn't rank higher here is entirely subjective in that i just don't feel as compelled to explore the characters & fandom as the last two shows on this list. other people have talked about how shows that are too objectively good aren't necessarily the best for fandom and that's how i kind of feel about DS9. it's great. i love it. i'm not necessarily compelled to feel like i have to add to it.

2. Picard: i can recognize that in many ways Picard kinda fails as a show (for reasons i've already stated) but that absolutely does not stop me from loving it. it's extremely messy and i've wanted to fix it ever since i saw it. it might be an unpopular opinion but the worldbuilding developments in s1 (the destruction of Romulus, the synth ban, the general darkness of the Federation) are incredibly compelling to me and i really do like deconstructing Picard as a character (even if i wish he was in the show a little less). and despite some major inconsistencies between seasons, i find the characters wonderfully rich and well written and every time i watch an episode, i feel like i want to explore them more and more. (not coincidentally, it's also the Star Trek show i've written the most fanfic for.)

1. Voyager: Voyager has enthralled me mind, body, & soul. i've never had such a fast turn around from a show that i was meh about to one that constantly consumed my thoughts. it's undoubtedly imperfect but it's imperfect in a way that i feel compelled to want to study and fix. with the exception of maybe DS9, Voyager has the strongest cast of characters and one of the strongest premises of any show. i firmly believe that Kathryn Janeway is the best (and certainly my favorite) Captain in all of Star Trek and most of the characters rank among my favorite Trek characters of all time. even if there aren't a ton of obvious ongoing narratives, the subtle ways the characters change over the 7 years is great and leaves the door open for fandom to explore so much (which as you can tell is definitely something that draws me to a lot of shows). and while DS9 might have my favorite episode of Star Trek, Voyager ends up having more stories that rank amongst my favorites (Year of Hell, Latent Image, Endgame, Barge of the Dead, Bride of Chaotica, Riddles, Survival Instinct, Timeless, etc).

anyways.... that sums that up. i'll probably type up my list of favorite episodes sometime in the next few days because i need to milk the "i watched all of Star Trek" thing for a little bit.

[memoria-99]

Wizardess Heart: Personal thoughts about seasons and routes Part 1

S1 was very basic yet written very well.

Elias: At first I was like, what kind of jerk is this, but he turned out to be rather cute. But story is kinda boring. The first half is all about Elias yelling at MC and MC apologizing for how she messed up. Their relationship kinda lacks something. If it weren't for the mirror they'd never even get along I suppose. Another thing that annoyed me was MC being way too nosy. I mean why the heck would she accept Merculova's request 'for the academy's sake' when she even doesn't know whether she'd be accepted or not? Please MC mind your own business.

Luca: My favorite route in S1. I found him quite attractive, MC and him had fun chemistry, plot was interesting. There're two things that bother me though; first, he used MC, and second, I'm not so sure what was genuine and what was lie... Still, I quite enjoyed him and his story. I wonder why in the world Schuyler would lock the child in the cellar. Ofc the child would be traumatized. Anyway, I know Luca's not the likeable type for all people but still he's one of my favorites.

Yukiya: Overall good route. I was very curious about his 'curse' and this story was really interesting because everything was a mystery. I enjoyed it. Both MC and him were literally the saviors to ach other. I also liked the last part, MC solving the 'contract' issue with another contract. He's like a 'closed' person but his nature is kindest among S1 characters. I dunno about the chemistry though... Still, he makes a great pair with MC. Both gave a positive impact, more like both were saviors to each other. Oh and I won't forget that chubby rabbit either.

S2 was a decent season as well.

Klaus: Nice route, and I found "time travel" very interesting but I still don't like the guy. I just can't stand this Mr. Stickuphisass sadist. Though he's super popular(idk why) I don't see any chemistry between him and MC whatsoever. He has a sharp tongue and kinda looks down on her.

Randy: Think in MC's perspective: wouldn't it be wonderful if your role model truly respects you and loves you just as who you are? This relationship is good for him as well, since she accepts all of him and helps him overcome his trauma. This route had good plot twist, and he was literally an angel. The only one who sincerely respected MC's lousy magic. A real breath of healing air between two jerks in S2. This route was just so heartwarming to read.

Azusa: Should I even talk about this jerk? Fake flirt, deceived, used, and physically+emotionally abused MC. He was even ready to kill her when we chose the wrong answer. But he never properly apologized to her till the very end. He doesn't deserve the happy ending with the MC. ...Yet, I don't think this route itself isn't badly written. Seems like Solmare tried to make some awfully dark story but turned out to be too much.

S3 was, um... so so?

Joel: Kinda close to canon cuz he loved MC for a long time and shares special memories with young MC so... hmmm he and MC was a fine pair, him being honest and caring and all, but I should say that if Eress wasn't there to save the day it would've been rather boring.

Vincent: He's way too old to be with MC, and I don't understand how come he loves the MC and vice versa. All that happened were just him rescuing her all the time and he's awfully cringy somehow. And worst of all, MC was worse than useless. She literally did nothing in this route, even when her boyfriend was on the verge of the death. All she did was crying. And last but not least, the happy ending ends with him saying "it's adult time" or whatever and it bugs me a ton. Hey, what're you exactly gonna do to her. Don't tell me you...

Leon: Is it possible to fall in love in less than 2 weeks when he is in a completely blank state? Leon was literally a blank sheet of paper and his route was all about MC throwing all her business behind to stick around this boy she had just met and teach him very basic stuffs as if she's a kindergarten teacher. There's nothing really interesting about Leon himself either. I mean, his real identity was something that we all could notice before the revelation and that's all. The story and the romance were very bland too. He seemed to love MC because she taught him emotions, and... MC loved him because... because... why did she love him? Maybe because he loved her? Or because he's handsome? Who knows.

S4. When the plot actually started to go downfall.

Cerim: I don't remember anything besides MC shone better than him(she saved him) at this route. Not bad, but that's because nothing was very memorable. No chemistry at all.

Guy: This kind of route seems to be everywhere. Good boy with a huge friend-like vibe. Their chemistry was good, as friends. They are best friends.

S5. Slightly better than S4 but well...

Leslie: Kinda bland route. Leslie nicely supported MC, and she wasn't very pathetic but she was always busy self deprivating which annoyed me a lot. Chica did a good job putting her into senses.

Sigurd: The route with best "newbie" MC. She really shone a lot in this route. I can't think she's the same MC from Vincent or Leon's MC. And this Sigurd... though MC stole the scene most of the time, he wasn't so bad. Though he did deceive MC it wasn't because he wanted to use her or something. He never looked down on her and considering he was her pen pal their bond is quite strong too. Storyline was interesting too, considering nothing really happened in Leslie's route.

[purrincess-chat]

X

I hear fans saying that ladrien sucks because canon doesn’t give us any crumbs but ummm hello? How is marichat the most popular ship then because marichat is also not very much prevalent in the show. Ladynoir and adrinette have always been the primary focus. And ladrien and marichat have been equally shown. Like in s1 we had evillustrator and Simon says and volpina, in s2 glaciator and befana and style queen and gorizilla, in s3 weredad and desperada, in s4 glaciator 2 and ephemeral and strike back. I think the only time ladrien got less than marichat was in s5 but even then there was deflagration. So I definitely don’t understand the narrative that ladrien is given less attention than marichat. It’s just that mc stans dgaf about canon and make outlandish claims.

(I think I submitted this ask before but I’m not sure it reached. So I’m sorry for ranting in your inbox twice.)

It did not reach me the first time (yay tumblr!) So good call. I was actually thinking after I responded to a previous ask recently about how people want Adrien and Marinette to breakup to restore balance, and my thought was: what balance? Because you're right the love square has never been "balanced" between the sides. LN and Adrinette always had the most screentime and development, and up until s4 MC actually had the least. Yet, it was the most popular ever since Evillustrator aired. It's only been in the last couple seasons that Ladrien has had less screentime than they had been getting (s4 and 5 didn't have a designated "ladrien" episode like prior seasons, I mean), but we still had some pretty big moments with them.

It's just always some people's excuse to shit on Ladrien because they see it as a threat to their favorite side because instead of recognizing that the love square is the same two people, they view each side as its own ship that's competing with the other 3. That's why the Ladrien tag gets filled with bullshit rankings and favorite ship polls because people don't understand what the love square is or how it operates. The sides aren't working against each other. They're all working in tandem toward one goal: an eventual post reveal relationship between the two where all sides converge and form a singular dynamic. But peoples response to Adrinette being canon just proves that people don't understand that. I think that's the most annoying part of it to me is that it so clearly demonstrates that people don't understand the show/this ship. Like it's one thing to be a bit bummed your favorite side wasn't the one that got to be canon official (and stick for longer than an episode) but it's another thing to claim the show is ruined, it's bad writing, bad for the characters, toxic, unfair, unhealthy, boring, etc.

Honestly, it's so wild to me how this fandom treats the requited sides of the square. Up until s5, people didn't like Ladrien because it was requited and "boring" and "they don't even have to try" and "all they do is blush and stammer" (which isn't even the Ladrien dynamic at all, but I digress) and now that Adrinette is canon I see those exact same arguments being flung. Interestingly, I saw posts after Elation aired from MC stans whining that MC is boring and "like Ladrien" now, and it honestly melted my brain a little. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the point of ships that they get together? Is that not what we want? I'd get it if it were some random background ship with no hope of ever coming to fruition but this is the flagship of the whole show. We are supposed to want them to like each other back and get together...

This fandom is a cesspool honestly. I see people hurt themselves in confusion every day about this ship. Ladrien has always gotten the short end of the stick in this fandom, for no real reason other than people are weird and lack the ability to comprehend the media they consume. It's annoying, but that's what the block button is for. 🤷‍♀️

[tdp-fandom]

Shipping Poll Results: 1. General Stats

Next: Favorite Ships (Part 1) · Shipping Poll Main Page

Thank you everyone for waiting! I would like to start with the general statistics.

1.1 General Information

The poll was open from June 1, 2023 til July 22, 2023 and gathered 216 responses. The links to the poll were shared on Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, Discord (several servers), Instagram, Dreamwidth and later Mastodon.

Please note that with 216 responses, the margin of error is 6.7%, which means that not all of the results will be representative of the fandom as a whole or statistically significant. More on error (link to an explanation I wrote for the S3 shipping poll).

1.2 Where People Found the Poll

Vote breakdown for this question

211 responses out of 216

Tumblr - 77 votes (36.5%)

Twitter - 53 votes (25.1%)

Reddit - 52 votes (24.6%)

Discord - 26 voted (12.3%)

Instagram - 0 votes (0%)

Dreamwidth - 1 vote (0.5%)

Through a friend - 2 votes (0.9%)

5 people skipped the question

Mastodon was not included as a choice.

Discussion

Tumblr has always been the most active hub when it came to the fandom events I organized. Reddit used to be more active in the past. Instagram varied but I didn't expect to get zero responses. This was probably due to changes on Instagram itself, which removed the ability to view new posts. I will probably not post any future events on Instagram.

1.3 Participants' Age

Vote breakdown for this question

207 responses out of 216

13 or younger - 3 votes (1.4%)

14-17 - 36 votes (17.4%)

18-21 - 57 votes (27.5%)

22-25 - 41 votes (19.9%)

26-30 - 38 votes (18.4%)

31-35 - 22 votes (10.6%)

36-40 - 4 votes (1.9%)

41-45 - 4 votes (1.9%)

46-50 - 1 vote (0.5%)

51+ - 1 vote (0.5%)

9 people skipped this question

Discussion

With a small sample size, these results are very likely unrepresentative of the whole fandom, meaning that while the majority of the participants in this survey fall in the age group between 18 and 21 years old, they might not be the actual majority of the active online fanbase.

Moreover, as one participant pointed out, having fixed groups instead of separate ages might skew these results even further.

1.4 When the Participants Joined the Fandom

I can immediate say that I must've worded the options badly, because I got a large number of manual input answers, some of which correspond to my suggested options. For this reason, I made my own pie chart which accounts for that.

Note on the vote options

By "After S1" I mean starting from the release of season 1 until the release of season 2. Thus the hiatus was included in the option "After S3). I will try to word the options more clearly for the next poll.

I didn't originally have the option "Before S1" and added it because three people mentioned that in their responses.

Vote breakdown for this question

212 responses out of 216.

Before S1 - 3 votes (1.4%)

After S1 - 69 votes (32.7%)

After S2 - 29 votes (13.7%)

After S3 - 69 votes (32.7%)

After S4 - 28 votes (13.3%)

Don't remember - 13 votes (6.2%)

4 people skipped the question

Discussion

It appears that seasons 1 and 3 were the main times when people joined the fandom. It makes sense for S1 and 2, since they were released very close to each other (September 2018 and February 2019 respectively) but S4 came after a three year hiatus. I really expected more people to join the fandom after it aired, especially since the poll was held 7 months after its release.

1.5 Relevance of Shipping

Vote breakdown for this question

213 responses out of 216

1 out of 5 - 20 votes (9.4%)

2 out of 5 - 34 votes (16%)

3 out of 5 - 58 votes (27.2%)

4 out of 5 - 64 votes (30%)

5 out of 5 - 37 votes (17.4%)

3 people skipped this question

Discussion

Unsurprisingly, most people taking a survey about shipping do actually care about shipping. However, I'm also glad to see that people to whom shipping isn't as important also took their time to take the survey. Overall, of a scale from 1 to 5, the participants would rate the important of shipping as part of their fandom experience as 3.3.

Next: Favorite Ships (Part 1)

[terraether]

Watch and Rewatch List

Tagged by @munsonsbabygirlie !! ty fren :) I’ve had this in my drafts for so long that I have to update what I had LOL prepare for the infodump

Watching (airing)

My Hero Academia - this show fr genre swapped and increased to like mature rating this season and I’m living for it but am also scared

The Last Of Us - mutual s already know this is my latest obsession…it’s soooo good and also has traumatized me so much already oops imma keep watching tho. Bella Ramsey is PHENOMENAL

Watching (complete)

Trailer Park Boys - stupid funny show to turn off my brain but also has great found family tbh. I just finished the last season but there is an animated series and TONS of other content like half seasons and movies I’m working on

12 Monkeys - TIME TRAVEL MADNESS !! PRETTY PEOPLE!! EMILY HAMPSHIRE WHO PLAYS STEVIE BUDD IN SCHITT’S CREEK PLAYING THE BEST CHARACTER IVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME !!!

Rewatching

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay - I’ve rewatched this many times, it only has 2 seasons bc it was cancelled but it’s one of my favorite shows ever. It has 2 autistic leads, a gay man and the other is in a wlw relationship with a homo romantic asexual girl who is also autistic!! All autistic characters are played by autistic actors!! The lead of the show is the creator/writer and his character is semi autobiographical, and he found out he’s autistic from fans who watched the show!

Broad City - I recently finished a rewatch so I’m not currently rewatching it but let’s be real I will be again soon enough, this show is my life and accounts for half my personality

Upcoming shows/shows I plan to watch

Demon Slayer - s3 is coming NEXT MONTH and I’m SO FUCKING EXCITEDDDDD this anime is STELLAR

Arcane - I watched this a few months ago and IT’S SO GOOD. I can’t wait until they announce s2 release date!!!

Attack On Titan: The Final Season: Part 3 - pls put us out of our misery 🙃 the final season has been going on since 2021 i swear

Tagging: @readyforcombatt @starkdusk @swanthief and anyone who wants to talk about their shows :D

[mlchaelwheeler]

I like this season, and I like the vecna plot but the episodes are so long and there’s just a lot going on. For me it makes me realize that less is more. The first two seasons had shorter episodes and were generally simpler, but they were still able to focus on the key characters. The first three seasons only took like six months to film (not including editing ofc etc), and the first three seasons didn’t take as long to write, especially not season 1 and season 2. From the return to filming in 2020 season 4 took almost a year to film the season. Like I can understand that covid would have really impacted the filming upon the return, but I also think a hugee reason why it took so long was because it would’ve been complicated to film with the three plotlines being set in different locations, not to mention how long the episodes are. 

Tbh I’d prefer shorter episodes like in s1 and s2 that don't have too many plotlines to follow, the first two seasons felt so effortless but this season sometimes feels overly complicated. The duffers said that they structure the seasons like they’re a movie almost and I do see that with the first three seasons, but this season it almost feels like we’re watching 3 separate movies lol. Idk, I know they were only going to do one or two seasons at first and sometimes it’s kinda evident imo especially considering s1 started filming almost immediately after season 1 aired and idk it feels like the same show but it also doesn’t at time lol. I want them to go back to the basics honestly lol, and can they just have the byers in hawkins next season because i don’t really want another cali road trip plot even though it’s entertaining hahahaah. Sorryyy this is a bit of a rant lmaooo

No, I totally get your frustration! I also miss the simplicity of S1 and S2 where there was really only 1-2 main plot lines going on. With S4 however, there are 4 main plots, but I feel like only 2 of them really got well-fleshed out: Hawkins and the HNL. The Hawkins plot was my favorite this season, since everything came together really well and all the characters worked so well together. The HNL plot line was also super interesting and connected so beautifully to the Hawkins plot line when 001 was revealed to be Vecna.

The cali plot line was a missed opportunity imo, since they were given almost no scenes compared to the other 3 plots (they weren't even in 4x07!) and 2 of the characters are main characters from S1. It was really sad to see Mike and Will sidelined so bad in comparison to new characters like Jason and Eddie (i love him, but the main characters deserved a good portion of his screentime imo). The Russia plot line also kind of felt like a missed opportunity, mostly bc I feel like Hopper's plot didn't really pick up until 4x06 when he was put in the demopit. His scenes in the first 5 episodes didn't seem to have really any impact on the rest of the plot this season, so I wish they would've allocated this time to the cali crew.

Another thing I was unhappy about is that only the Hawkins and HNL plots seemed to be important to the overall story. The Russia plot has no connection to Vecna at all, and only involved the upside down when the demogorgan was introduced. Now, I know the mindflayer is somehow captured in Russia, but this will probably only play a role in 4x09, or the back half of 4x08. Similarly with the cali plot line, I feel like it started off good--establishing tension between Mike, El, and Will and allowing El to struggle without her powers--but once El was "taken," the plot was seemingly put on gold. It's like the writers forgot Mike, Will, and Jonathan used to be main characters and shoved them aside in favor of El. As someone who loved that stranger things used to be an ensemble show, I'm getting really sick of how much El has been spotlighted recently. I absolutely love her, but her storyline can be developed the same without giving her 50% of the screen time of each season.

This also kind of turned into a rant 🧍🏼‍♂️ oops

[technofantasia]

Rise of the TMNT Timeline

Alright, by piecing together some clues from the show and making some educated guesses, I’ve put together a tentative chronology for Rise!

(Note: not all episodes are included, just a couple that either have timeline evidence or are somehow plot notable. This is assuming the canonical episode order is also chronological order.)

[EDIT] Added some more information (namely Splinter’s birthday month).

1600s-ish: The Shredder was created and sealed away September 1960: Splinter was born 1966: Splinter’s mother left (Finale part 1 flashback) 1979: Splinter left for America (Finale part 1 flashback) 1980-1984: Splinter became an action film star, dated around 1984: Splinter started dating Big Mama 1987: Splinter’s “Hot Soup: the Game” was released 1989: Splinter proposed to Big Mama, was imprisoned in Battle Nexus November 2002: April was born April-August 2003: (Presumably) Raph was born April-August 2004: (Presumably) Leo and Donnie were born April-August 2005: (Presumably) Mikey was born October 2005: Splinter and the Turtles were mutated February 2014: The first Lair Games was held 2014-2016: Donnie made his first battleshell, goggles, and tech bracer Early 2018: Piebald was flushed August 2018: Mystic Mayhem (the series begins), Down with the Sickness September 2018: The Turtle Tank was created (The Fast and the Furriest), Bug Busters, Hypno part Deux October 2018: Bullhop,  Evil League of Mutants, Shelldon was first created (Smart Lair), Shadow of Evil November 2018: April’s 16th Birthday (Warren and Hypno), April meets Sunita (Operation: Normal) December 2018: Snow Day January 2019: S1 Finale February 2019: The sixth Lair Games was held (Lair Games), Repairin’ the Baron March 2019: Air Turtle April-May 2019: S2 Finale

(Reasoning below the cut!)

So. Assuming that the episodes occur in chronological order, we can reasonably assume that the course of the show proper takes around or slightly less than a year.

In Hypno Part Deux, April is going to a homecoming dance; homecoming dances happen usually around the beginning of the school year, in late September or early October. Since she is canonically 15 at the time (she says she’s 16 in Always Be Brownies, which happens after her birthday) and has a birthday that comes after homecoming, that would likely make her a high school junior! That’s not important, just a fun fact. Placing the beginning of the series around August makes sense, then, since it’d be before April started school and during flu season, giving Splinter a good reason for catching the rat flu in Down with the Sickness.

The other solid time marker we have is Snow Day, which obviously takes place during snow season in New York (which is usually December to March). It’d likely be closer to December, since I’d like to imagine that they would have gone out to have fun in the snow as soon as they could have, potentially even at first snow. Since Lair Games comes chronologically after Snow Day and confirms the year as being 2019, we can assume that most episodes that happen before Snow Day happened in 2018 while those after happened in 2019.

Another, slightly more tenuous time marker is Bullhop, where a calendar is shown that says the 21st of the month was on a Sunday; by our previous assumption, this is 2018, so a calendar shows this must have been during the month of October, which falls in line with the rest of our timeline here! Neat. The 2018-2019 NBA season went from October 6 to April 10, so, since Air Turtle presumably showed a late season game with potential for turnaround, early March seems like a fair bet. All of those episodes combined give a pretty good sense of time throughout the series, spanning from probably around August 2018 to Mid-2019. The finale could have happened any time after March and before June (when high school would end, meaning Sloppy Joe wouldn’t have had to be working Draxum’s kitchen). Because there were quite a few episodes that should have happened before the finale, though, I’ll split the difference and say the S2 finale happened in or around May.

Fun detail: by this timeline, April’s birthday is sometime between October and December/January, likely November (seeing as it comes after Bullhop but before Snow Day, and judging by the fall colors of the foliage in Operation Normal which comes directly after her birthday episode.)

As for the brothers, we can assume that they might have different birthdays judging by how in Lair Games, Mikey says that one of his favorite days is “my birthday”; if they all shared a birthday, he might have been more likely to say “our birthday”. They were mutated sometime close to October, but since they didn’t seem to see the date of their mutation as anything special in ELoM, we can assume they don’t celebrate it as their birthday. We know that at the beginning of the show, Mikey is 13, Leo and Donnie are 14, and Raph is 15; at no point during the show do any of them have a birthday, which leads me to assume that they are the same ages by the S2 finale. They COULD have had a birthday offscreen, but since birthdays are a pretty big thing for teenagers, I’d think that if one of them had a birthday it would be pretty noteworthy. I’ll just guess and say they didn’t have one. If that’s the case, then all of their birthdays would be some time between April-ish and August-ish. By the time the show starts, then, they would have already had their birthdays, confirming for us their (probably only guessed anyway but whatever) birth years as 2003, 2004, and 2005. Realistically, Splinter probably didn’t know how much older Raph was from any of the others or anything like that, but the years are still somewhat important for age calculation purposes. I could try to guess their birthday months by saying they might all have wanted a unique birthday month, but that would be complete conjecture on my part (as compared to the rest of this which is just mostly conjecture), and would honestly be more headcanon territory than an educated guess? So for the timeline I’ll just say that their birthdays are between April and August.

Now, reaching further backwards to figure out Splinter’s life timeline!

In Splinter’s memories in E-turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we see a clip of a teenage Splinter. Said “teenage splinter” looks to be on the older side of teenager, as he seems to have his own apartment and just looks older besides, so I’d place him at either 18 or 19 (leaning towards 19). Additionally, taking a look around his room, it looks like he might be using a Sony Walkman (first made in 1979), and has what looks to be a Star Wars poster on his wall (1977). Additionally, he has a TV in his room that looks to be a Toshiba Blackstripe model that was popular in the mid-to-late 70s. While I can’t tell if he does actually have a walkman or not, I’d probably place this scene as being 1978 or 1979 anyway, so let’s just say it’s 1979. If he was 19 in 1979, that would place Splinter’s birth year as 1960, which is nice and even so I’m keeping it. That would make Splinter 58-59 during the course of the show, which seems to track! He has a birthday in Mascot Melee (the turtles are buying him a new robe as a birthday present), which, according to my episode timeline, puts his birthday around early September.

The flashback of Splinter as a kid is a little bit tricky, since he looks to be about five or six judging by how he acts in the scene? But he’s also holding a Kamen Rider doll, and that show didn’t exist until 1971. I nonetheless place the scene in 1966, since this is a cartoon and hey, maybe the Kamen Rider equivalent came out a few years earlier in this world, who cares. The bottle flip challenge already apparently happened in 2014 here, why not move some other stuff around? This exercise has already had me comparing calendar days, I will not be deterred

In Many Unhappy Returns, the clapperboard for the film “Crouching Shrimp, Hidden Tiger Prawn” in Splinter’s flashback shows that it was 1984 when he first met Big Mama, meaning that he was not only Lou Jitsu by then (at just 24 years old!), but that he had been making movies for at least a few years. After all, he and Big Mama were supposedly inseparable after meeting, and in The Shadow of Evil, it’s shown that Splinter did date around a bit as a star. Assuming that rat dad isn’t the cheating type, that would have had to be before meeting Big Mama. In Fists of Furry, Splinter mentions that he hasn’t seen any of his dojos in thirty years; while he may not have meant literally thirty years on the dot, assuming he’s at least close, that would mean that he was first abducted around 1989 (age 29). At that point, he and Big Mama would have been dating for around 5 years, which seems like a reasonable amount of time for him to wait before proposing. He also would have had time to build up quite a bit of fame as a movie star; the game he had of him looks to be on a system similar to the Atari 2600 and in fact looks pretty similar to the real life game “Kung Fu Master” that came out on Atari in 1987, a year which would have been the prime of his career. Sure, that date works as well as any. After that point, we know he was imprisoned in the Battle Nexus until Baron Draxum kidnapped him in order to use his DNA to mutate the turtles 13 years before The Evil League of Mutants. That would have placed his kidnapping and their mutations at around October of 2005, judging by the monthly timeline of the show. So, Splinter would have been around 45 when he adopted the turtles, after having been imprisoned and forced to fight for ~16 straight years. Dang.

Finally, I figured that the whole deal with Shredder and Karai would have happened at some point in the 1600s as it was 18 generations ago, judging by the number of “greats” in Karai’s grandma title, and if you average out a generation to be about 20-25 years, that lands you in the range of the 15th century. That works especially because Ninja apparently first started becoming a thing in the 15th century, so the timing checks out well enough.

(and, just as an extra fun note for the timeline, the lair games was said to have been going on for 6 years as of early 2019, meaning it must have started in 2014. We see that, in 2014 (year 1 of the Lair Games), Donnie doesn’t have his goggles or battleshell and is instead wearing glasses. In 2016 (year 3), though, he looks about the same as he does in the present, meaning he must have created all his tech that he wears on him (battleshell, goggles, tech bracer) between 2014 and 2016.)

So, the above timeline is a guesstimated and shoved around compilation of all this totally meaningless investigation, typed in a form that makes some kind of chronological sense! I hope that someone finds it useful, or just fun to think about :D

[sapphicscholar]

Rebecca Welton, Frankie Bergstein, Deborah Vance

Ooh thank ya for this grouping! And sorry this got long!

Rebecca Welton:

My favorite thing about them: regardless of shippiness, I love what a good friend she is to Keeley (and becomes to Ted, in part because she was willing to do something hard and painful because Keeley told her to)

My least favorite thing about them: I think we've seen a few moments where, in trying to grow and letting herself be a little more open to new experiences and happiness, she's ended up more impulsive than is wise and has given out advice that might work for *her* (or maybe that she needs/wants to hear) to someone where it's really not right for them

My favorite canon relationship: her and Sam (unpopular opinion, I know). Would there have been problems? Yeah, of course. (Then again, the whole budget crisis of early S2 never came to anything despite losing their primary sponsor in Dubai Air, so who knows! Realism went out the window ages ago! It's tv, and I don't come to tv for a step-by-step model for healthy relationships haha) But anyway they were two very attractive people who carved out a bubble for a little window in time where they made each other and themselves very happy, and I love that for them

My favorite non-canon relationship: Rebecca and Keeley (nothing against her and Ted, but my femslasher heart thinks we should all be looking for our ride-or-die bestie who's ready to invade France with us and who will also make sure we know how hot we look the whole time)

The sexuality I headcanon for them: maybe bi

What I’d do if I could spend the day with them: ooh, I think I would want to let her plan the day... She was in a relationship for so long where her desires and ideas were written off, and I feel like with her job it's been a long ass time since she's had a whole day to just do what she wants, so I'd want to give that for her and come along for what would probably be a very fun day (that is so so far above my paygrade haha)

Random fact about them I like: that she fucking loves shorbread. Me too, Rebecca, me too (I say around a bite of the shortbread I baked for myself last night)

Frankie Bergstein:

My favorite thing about them: she cares so deeply for the people in her life, and while it isn't an instant "in" to the close inner circle I feel like 1) it's really hard to get kicked out of there; she holds her people close even when it's painful to her for a time; and 2) I think people generally start closer to in than out (exact opposite of Grace) - like, she genuinely seems to want the best to be true of those around her

My least favorite thing about them: as a Type A myself, the times she shrugs off work or the less fun responsibilities grate. Like I know Grace fucked up in bringing the cake to the wedding at the end of last season, but it's also 100% something I'd do after what *seemed like* a total lack of a plan around stuff like Vybrant (the urge to fix things without asking first is real!)

My favorite canon relationship: I liked her and Jacob! He was sweet and willing to meet her where she was at after the divorce and all the hurt and mistrust that had built up after the reveal of the years-long affair.

My favorite non-canon relationship: her and Grace <3 love that enemies to friends to lovers arc for me

The sexuality I headcanon for them: bi/queer (I feel like she'd own both terms)

What I’d do if I could spend the day with them: I'd go to the farmers market with her because I feel like she'd know everyone and end up telling me a million fun stories while we walked around. In exchange for cooking dinner (and cleaning up), I'd also love for Frankie to teach me how to paint! It was the one form of art I could never manage (to stay on brand, it always seemed too messy and chaotic), but I feel like she'd be a great teacher

Random fact about them I like: oh man there's so many good ones! Let's go with the fact that she's been making homemade yam lube for ages!

Deborah Vance:

My favorite thing about them: her strength - like, god, to come back from being so publicly left by someone you thought of as the love of your life for the only family you have left, then blamed for something you didn't do while having the opportunity of a lifetime wrenched from your fingertips at the last second? Goddam. So much respect. And to do it all as a single mother? In an industry that, esp then, was so deeply misogynistic? Phewwww, fucking hats off, Deborah Vance

My least favorite thing about them: the tendency to assume the worst in most of the people around her - she has so many reasons for it, so it's understandable, but sometimes ya just want to sit her down and be like okay wait please take 2 full breaths and maybe ask someone before assuming the worst of intentions!

My favorite canon relationship: oof, in the face of Frank (may he rot in hell), I guess Marty? It's fucked up for sure, but I think they've both been screwing each other (over and otherwise) for way longer than what we see in the show, and that Deborah might take some degree of pleasure in the antagonism. It's a relationship where she can feel justified in assuming the worst (and in giving it right back) - she doesn't think she has to worry about being hurt because at least it'll never come as a surprise; he's always going to go for those 20-somethings while wishing he had her

My favorite non-canon relationship: her and Ava <3

The sexuality I headcanon for them: not straight, but nothing more labeled or set in stone than that

What I’d do if I could spend the day with them: oh man I want a behind the scenes tour of Vegas from the Queen of Sin City herself! And then I would 100% go antiques hunting with her - nothing like shopping when none of it's my money (and the person I'm shopping for has more money than god)

Random fact about them I like: that she gives her dogs fancy dinner (plus all my HCs about Barry and Cara haha(

[tl-notes]

Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 5 Notes

Better late than never! Hopefully I’ll catch up with these before next week’s episode hits.

私は、種族全体の目的よりも自分がやりたいことをやっているエルマに、興味がありました。

当時の私、そんな感じでしたし。

What Tohru is saying in these shots is a little different in the Japanese:

“I had an interest in Elma, who was doing what she wanted to do instead of advancing the goals of the species [her faction]. Since that’s how I was at the time, too.”

That is, for the first sentence, Tohru is saying Elma wasn’t interested in the broader dragon goals, not Tohru herself.

Then in the second sentence, instead of a wishy washy “I think that’s how it was?” Tohru says that she was like that too, hence her interest.

So it goes from like:

 “I was interested more in Elma than in faction goals, because she was acting freely. I think, anyway.” 

to more of a:

“I was interested in Elma because she was acting freely, not bound by faction goals. That’s what I was like too, after all.”

Not sure if it really counts as a translation note, but since I had some questions about it, here’s a few words on the Tohru/Elma disagreement scene.

Tohru thought Elma was like herself: acting not according to what dragon (or human) society asked of them, but according to their own personal set of values. Elma, by allowing herself to be placed in the position of “god” by the humans, had changed that; she locked herself into permanently being a (large, important) cog in the human society. From Tohru’s perspective, she’d lost the one person she felt kindred with, her fellow “free actor.” She doesn’t particularly care what happens to the humans, hence the 私が言いたいことはそういう話ではない (“That’s not what I’m trying to talk about”) when Elma says she’ll just stop the wars from happening: that’s all well and good, but it doesn’t solve Tohru’s issue.

Hence Kobayashi’s response: both grand (involved the fate of nations), and petty (Elma got “trapped” by food, and Tohru’s initiation of the fight was for personal reasons).

喧嘩するほど仲がいい kenka suru hodo, naka ga ii

This is one of those sayings that is often a giant pain in the butt to translate, because it’s not an odd concept in English, but for whatever reason* there is no common pithy saying for it like there is in Japanese, so it’ll almost come off less smoothly. 

The idea is that, in order to “have a fight” with someone, you have to already have an established relationship that’s at a certain level of closeness.

Two strangers? Why would you even have a reason to fight, who cares. Two acquaintances? Why deal with it, just smile and nod and go on with your day. Two close friends though? You probably care enough to want to convince them of whatever it is, and/or you don’t want to have to hide your real thoughts/feelings around them like you might around, say, just random coworkers or something—meaning more chances for friction.

*My theory on this is that it comes from the same place as the “wow Japanese people are so polite” stereotype and stuff like honne/tatemae as discussed in a previous episode’s notes: in a situation where two strangers/acquaintances might get into a shouting match in the US, in Japan there’s a comparatively higher chance they just tatemae it up to prevent direct conflict and end the situation early—hence less likely to “have a fight” per se. As always this stuff is just on a continuum though.

What do you call these “clouds” left by planes as they fly? In Japanese, they’re called 飛行機雲 hikoukigumo, lit. “airplane clouds.” And they’re not a season word! 

Officially, anyway. 

However, they are heavily associated with summer, to the point where you if you google around to find out if they are a haiku season word, there are a whole bunch of sites to tell you no, they’re not, stop asking. That doesn’t mean they’re not a great way to tell the audience it’s summer anyway, though! 

If you’re curious as to why the summer association: how long vapor trails like this remain visible depends heavily on how humid the air is. More humidity, longer trails. And Japan has very humid summers (and very dry winters!).

If you’ve heard the song Tori no Uta, the OP to Air (also animated by Kyoani), hikoukigumo is the very second word in the lyrics—no coincidence given the heavy summer theming! If you haven’t heard it, I suggest giving it a try.

“Candy shop” here is 駄菓子屋 dagashi-ya, which is a kind of store that specializes in very cheap varieties of “candy” (maybe more accurately snack foods?): dagashi. If you’re seen/read any of the series Dagashi Kashi, you’re familiar with this variety of snack. 

Dagashi is so called because, back in the Edo period, quality white sugar was super expensive and not something commoners could typically eat. Cheaper brown sugar was, though, so you ended up with different terms for stuff made from each: the expensive 上菓子 jougashi and the cheap 駄菓子 dagashi. 

Later, in the Showa period after WW2 when the average person was able to afford a bit more, the term stuck around but more generalized, referring to a wide variety of cheap snacks. These snacks are not necessarily always sugary, and they often have some sort of gimmick so it wasn’t “just” a piece of candy—toys attached, or games/puzzles, or requiring some interesting way to eat/drink them. If you grew up with Dunkaroos: that kinda thing.

Similar to “penny candy,” dagashi was/is cheap enough for children to afford several different varieties of with just a bit of change from their parents, and small stores specializing in them—dagashi-ya—sprung up all over the country, quickly becoming a popular spot for kids… and, not too long after, a symbol of childhood nostalgia. 

They’ve been on a big downtrend in the last few decades however. The spread of convenience stores as a competitor for snack buying is often cited as one reason, while a greater variety of ways for kids to spend their playtime now (video games etc.) is another.

You’re probably aware, but of the many reasons to bow in Japan, to show humility when making a request is a big one. 

Of note here is that Tohru doesn’t push Ilulu’s head down, which other characters in other shows might have done here, but just lightly reminds her: yeah okay you’re a dragon talking to a human, but you’re the one asking—act like it. She does, and her sincerity is rewarded.

The word here is ぱねぇ panee, which is a heavily abbreviated form of 半端(では/じゃ)ない hanpa nai, ~lit. “not halfway/half-done/half-assed.” 

hanpa ja nai→hanpa nai→hanpa nee→panee

It’s used probably how you’d expect: describing something intense af.

(I’m mostly just bringing it up because I love super-shortened slang like this!)

The phrase for “like” here is 気に入った ki ni itta, which is basically to have an interest in something/someone, to take a liking to, to say something is a favorite, etc. When said of another person, there’s typically an air of the speaker considering themselves in a higher position. It generally isn’t “like” in a romantic sense.

Take’s “hey that’s my line,” comes from the fact he’s (in his mind) in the position of power and was judging her on whether he’d try to kick her out of the job. You can tell he was thinking of it as “I like the cut of your jib. I guess you can stay.” kind of thing.

Normally a new employee would not say this about their new boss/job, even if they did like it, though a boss/senpai could of a new employee, hence the “what?”

Notably, Ilulu used “like” earlier in the episode to refer to Tohru as well. In that case it was 好き suki, which is a more literal “like,” with the various implications that may or may not have. Personally, it strikes me as a little odd to translate them both as “like” in the same episode.

And that’s it for episode five! I’m

[wildflowers-of-trolberg]

Top 5 favorite episodes of Hilda

Okie so:

1:

This is absolutely my comfort episode, and I think I've rewatched it more times than any other. I make it no secret that I love the Bellkeeper, and the scene where he and Hilda talk in his cabin is so soft and comfy - it's possibly my favourite scene in the whole show. But I also really like Operation Deerfox Thunder Team; every member of the main cast gets a chance to shine, including Alfur and Tontu, and they call back to the S1 character details they otherwise largely forgot in S2 with the codenames. There's a really sweet Frilda moment, and we also get a little bit of Gerda which is always nice. And finally, I really appreciate the ending for what it didn't do - it would have been very easy to have this be the incident that Johanna grounds Hilda over (the novels did it unfortunately), and you know how I feel about that plotline. Having Johanna react like she did in S1 and just pull Hilda into her arms was amazing. And of course, there's that mysterious Bellkeeper moment at the very end...

2:

I'm cheating a bit with this one - this would absolutely be on this list, but it's this high up for a very specific reason. Victoria van Gale is my favourite antagonist, and seeing her again was something I never expected and really appreciate, but the one thing this episode really did for me was feed into my headcanons and specifically one of my AUs. Canon having her build a portal device, when her whole plan in that AU involved a similar portal device, was just too perfect. Besides that I really like her nisse, and the general use of Nowhere Space; it was really nice to see David vindicated, since I think he can be a little overlooked; and This Is Nowhere was the perfect ending song for the mood of the finale.

3:

This is just here because of Victoria van Gale. I've already mentioned how much I love her as a character, but I also really like her laboratory. The aesthetic of the Weather Station is just so perfect, and the whole sequence where they try and fail to summon an air current is another I could watch over and over. Hilda ultimately solving the issue with understanding, helping the weather spirits stop arguing and freeing the trapped baby, was also really nice to see.

4:

Honestly, this is here because it has the absolute best of Johanna and Hilda's relationship. They aren't perfect, and they both make mistakes, but they both own up to it and Johanna's a super supportive mum and it's just the best thing ever. The scene on the belltower especially gets me now, with what season 2 did, because it has a moment where Hilda thinks her mum wants her to change and Johanna reassures her that no, she doesn't want her to change, she just wants Hilda to have the best childhood she can. This is what I missed more than anything else in the new season; it's sweet and soft and it's why I call S1 Johanna the best fictional parent in any media I've ever seen, period. If Old Bells didn't exist, this would be my comfort episode.

5:

Johanna and Hilda's argument gives me hives, but apart from that this episode hits everything I love. We get reintroduced to everyone, we meet Gerda and the Bellkeeper for the first time, there are trains and an airship and Hilda's joint best design in the entire series. But more than all that, I really like all the foreshadowing in this episode. So much of the season is set up here, and it took me a couple rewatches to notice some things, like the ruined belltower becoming the one in Old Bells or Alfur talking about how truthful and widely-read his reports are. It's honestly briliant.

[tickle-bugs]

aight. im about halfway through episode 2 of S2 and u were right it's soooo good. i wanna hear your opinions on favorite characters bc like im kinda tornnnn. laurits is definitely my favorite but i kinda like fjor a lot? which might be a mistake idk LMAO

- ragnarok anon

MY TIME HAS COME 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

Spoilers for Ragnarok S1 under the cut!

- Laurits is hands down my favorite and has been since S1! I adore him. I just find him so fascinating and he’s genuinely so!! Ahh!!! I love him!!! He’s clever and observant but also so earnest? Plus he’s just. Hilarious. I have so much more to say about him but I want to wait until you finish S2 entirely so I don’t accidentally spoil the season for you (I am horrible at remembering which events happen in which episode)

- Okay so last time I talked about Laurits and Magne being evenly matched? Magne gets his powers and things...don’t change all that much. Magne is power-drunk because he can wrestle Laurits down with ease and finally get him back, right? and Laurits is panic giggling because this is new, oh no, he’s losing his bullying crown. But Laurits tries tickling Magne back one day and it still works--if anything it’s more satisfying because Magne still goes down he’s tickled. Plus Laurits doesn’t hurt him anymore with his flailing. Win win!

- Fjor! I love him so MUCH okay...it pained me not being able to talk about this in the other headcanons batch BUT I love thinking about the Giants as Frost Giants. Sweet, dear Fjor melts around Gry. That melting...gives him certain vulnerabilities.....that he was not previously susceptible to.....which is why he doesn’t know what to do with himself when tickled :’)

- Thinking about Gry poking Fjor’s side and he’s like !!!! and grabs her hand just a little too fast. Gry gets this wicked smirk and starts tickling him because!! He’s cute!! and his laugh is just as cute as he is. He’s like “what are you dOING?” Between squeaks and she realizes he’s never been tickled before? Like ever? So she starts doing it more. He picks up on it rather quickly and starts getting her back though. They’re so soft for each other :’)

- Fjor having the time of his life scooping Gry up into his arms and nuzzling his face into her neck like ‘i love you so much’ and she’s shrieking and thumping on his back because it TICKLES fjor you FIEND 

- Saxa catching Fjor and Gry and just...not understanding what’s happening okay. Fjor tries to tickle her and it doesn’t work but she pokes him, just like Gry did, and he !!!!!! and swats her hand away. Saxa gets this evil grin because uh oh, he’s got a human weakness, and she’s gonna have lots of fun with it. 

- Saxa is not prepared for when Fjor starts fighting back, because apparently she’s gone soft too? She’s immune until Fjor presses his fingers into her lower ribs and she squeaks and oh, she gets it now. Okay, yeah, it tickles. Saxa’s melted a little too :’)

- Isolde is still one of my favs and I miss her so much :(((((( Why did they take her from us love LOSES. Oh the fics I could have written (and....maybe still will) with Isolde among the gods and giants. Very human, very good Isolde knowing Magne’s spots, teasing him with Laurits, etc. Isolde warming up to Fjor and Saxa (she can’t quite get rid of her crush on Saxa, but friendship is...a step). Isolde and Gry being besties. I MISS HER GIVE HER BACK

- No but I just am thinking about Isolde and Magne. He’s all buff now and she’s like “huh” and pokes him and he still jumps like ten feet in the air, just like old times, and nothing’s changed, not really. 

- I am also thinking about giggly Isolde. Literally no further thoughts just she <3

- I am also also thinking about Isolde and Saxa, if they could be healthy, because the parallels of the Jutul children finding a human to melt them has me weeping actually. Like I just...if it wasn’t for *gestures at show plot* they would be cute. Saxa being mean and petty, always used to having the last word, but Isolde never gives her the last word. Isolde is quick-witted and teasy as hell and passionate and observant and Saxa’s down bad. Just...also a moment of Fjor and Saxa sitting together in silence and Saxa being like “I get it, y’know. You and Gry.” and Fjor being like “...Isolde?” and Saxa just nods. and they have a moment. 

- I like Magne more this season. I didn’t like him all that much in S1, though I warmed up to him by the end. He’s a dork and I love him so much now. Thinking about Magne throwing open Laurits’s door, hair a mess, like “wanna wrestle” because he still can’t get over the rush of being able to fend for himself for once. Laurits shouldn’t agree to it, he shouldn’t, but he always does because it’s fun to take Magne down with tickles >:)

- Laurits, Fjor, Isolde, and Magne are my top four but Saxa is easily number five. Queen of petty and rockin outfits I love her so much. 

- Not to reintroduce my minor character brainrot syndrome but Oscar is so cute this season. He’s just vibing with the pals at all times in his funky lil outfits and sweaters. Not to rarepair about my niche show but...Oscar and Laurits. Laurits fluttering his fingers over Oscar’s neck as he walks by, Oscar figuring out that Laurits’s palms are ticklish (not even Magne knows) and he cannot handle it. Giggly kisses. Softness. That is all. 

- Edit: FORGOT THIS BUT Magne has lightning now. Highly improbably but imagine lil zappy tickles and Laurits is wheezing like I will KILL YOU. and Magne just :) *zap*. Also a quirk I’d give Magne is that he likes physical contact and the best way to ground him is thru hugs/hand holds right? so imagine Isolde sitting next to him holding his hand she yelps and pulls away because it tickles. and Magne can’t help but laugh. ALSO since we have just established Laurits’s palms being ticklish: Magne and Laurits get into a spat and Turid makes them apologize....and Magne is a little shit....so he takes Laurits’s hand like “I am so sorry, dearest brother” and *zap* and Laurits is just wheezing and trying to pull his hand away because it tickles so bad.

[guyinlovewitheremika]

The new key visual looks awesome!! Finally getting more Final Season artwork is so satisfying and this is pretty great! The marley arc is probably my favorite in the manga and getting even more promotional art for it is really cool : D Since we’re still 3 months from the airdate I hope we’ll get another Warrior-centric one, with the new and old crew, but rn, especially with manga context, I love this, and I need to ramble about it.

First of all, Mikasa!!! Mikasa front and center!!! lets gooooo ahh I’m so happy about this! I don’t think she’s ever been this focused on in any of the promotional key visuals and it’s been about time! She looks gorgeous and absolutely ruthless, I’m here for it. It’s also relieving to see that the scarf did in fact stay red which wasn’t totally certain in the pv. I also think it’s interesting that both that shot of her in the pv, as well as her in this visual both kind of highlight her more badass/ruthless side--I’m all here for it cause like, look at her!!! But she also spends a good amount of time in marley being sad and distressed which I hope they’ll do justice to. Either way, she looks amazing and I can’t wait to see her finally in motion.

Levi I’m a little less sure on--his face looks a little odd? Maybe it’s the nose? I’m not really sure. To be fair, his design has probably been the least consistent across the whole anime, and he’s certainly looked worse! But yeah, I’m not 100% sold on his look yet. Also just as it was in the first key visual, his cape is green? Even tho its specifically dyed black in the manga? I’m sure why and I’m kinda sad about that cause I would’ve loved to see that all black look on him, it’s an odd change.

Connie, Jean and Sasha all look good to me (I’m glad we’re getting Sasha artwork before, you know), but Armin gets pushed to the side pretty hard kind of? Given his rather small role this arc, I think it makes sense, tho hopefully key visuals for the later arcs will improve on that. Also sidenote, his pose reminded me a lot of Jean in the S2 Group visual lol

Hange being a bit smaller, but also being centered and depicted as the leader fits well here, especially with her being closest to the airship since she never leaves it. It reminds me of Erwin in a few other posters, kind of continuing the commander position, in a way

That’s some solid continuity!!! (also, Hange :/)

One thing I also dig about this visual is the look of certain textures, specifically metallic objects, like the blades, thunderspears, even the airship. 

It has this like..shiny glow? I can’t really express what I mean with it, but all these objects feel very tangible, very three dimensional, which is cool!

Unfortunately I don’t really feel the same way about all the textures present in this visual. See, non metallic textures, like clothing, skin, and the characters outlines in general have this kind of rough, or gritty look to them. The lines are clear and straight like they used to be, but it’s a little messier? The first key visual did the same thing, let me show you.

Compare it to something like this, where (even tho the resolution is a bit botched on tumblr) everything looks much smoother, cleaner, softer. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to Kyoji Asano’s style of drawing these key visuals for 6 years, but I think I prefer it over the approach of Tomohiro Kishi’s style. But this only is the start of seeing new artwork, maybe I’ll get used to it. It’s a bit odd as Wit’s animation style in the show was known for generally having thicker lines, and even tho they cut back on that in later seasons, it’s still not as thin as in the final season pv, yet its artwork has lines that feel thicker. It’s an odd back and forth.

My honestly biggest gripe with this key visual is it’s actual get up--having characters kind of float around in nothingness isn’t something I really love. I much prefer most of the older group visuals (like the recap movies or the S2 one) where characters at least seemed to stand on surfaces and physical space, and those who weren’t were either shown to be mid air, or obscured enough so you couldn’t see them stand in nothing. As a result, this reminds me a lot of the 3rd S3 visual

I wasn’t a huge fan of that one as it just reused and rearranged the Vol13 poses without really any effort. Like it just plants everyone there and I don’t think the result is really all that impressive. This one does this a lot better, as it has a bit more synergy going for it, there’s a bit of motion (the soldiers flying next to the ship looking like speedlines is a cool touch), and it just looks more interesting in my opinion. I also think it does the manga-ripoff better, as it clearly is meant to resemble vol 26 with the airship and the squad, but it doesnt just reuse the poses--they’re new here, and the overall positioning of everyone reminds me more of the Vol 25 alt cover, or the new 32 one. It feels true to the spirit of the manga without outright copying! I still don’t like the mid air floating, but other than that it’s a solid grouping!

One additional neat thing is that the new gear is drawn with so much detail! Just as in the PV. Which is awesome! Sometimes its a bit though to get a good look at all the specifics in the manga, but here it’s just---exciting. I never even realized that Mikasa has to swap to an entirely different set of 3DMG handle/trigger/grapple that’s attached to her gear as well--everyone else has only one set for either the gun+thunderspear combo or the swords, but Mikasa has both sets on her since she does switch to swords on 103. And its just fucking crazy just how much gear this girl has on her lmao (did you know a single thunder spear weighs 5kg? thats 20 on each hand! plus all the heavy gear that comes with it! she is too strong lmao)

Ultimately, I like this visual a lot. It’s not perfect and some things are gonna take a while to get used to, but overall, I’m so excited to see everyone’s different looks highlighted as the season goes on. And getting so much Marley arc promo atm is very much appreciated! Hopefully we get another one focused on the warriors soon, and, man, even tho it’s a spoiler, I would kill for one visual dedicated to Marley Eren specifically...like...please. 

Bring on the Final Season!!

[bowenandjohnson]

Hi Sarah 🙋‍♀️

Well, since you asked... 😉 Can you rate your favourite “Sanas”? & perhaps could you include both Imaan and Esra (🇳🇱) in the ranking? 👼 (since Esra was in a sense also a Sana and she’s soo precious! 😻)

Thanks in advance! 💐

Love,

anonacht 🌃

P.S. Yes, I’m everywhere! 😈 Only friendly fire though! 💚

P.P.S. “nacht” = the Dutch word for night! 🤓 And it’s still a shame skamNL never moved beyond season 2! 😭

Hello, Twitter anon aka anonacht :) I love you too (also thanks for putting up with me on Twitter, because I am insufferable, at least to myself lol)

Thank you for indulging me, and requesting my Sana ranking. 

1. sana bakkoush - skam

It’s kind of sad that no other Sana season has been able to top the original, at least in my opinion. But Sana Bakkoush deserves this crown, because she is a character who redefined Muslim representation onscreen. Iman Meskini was such a force in her season, and everything Sana felt, she managed to make me feel like that too. When she cried, so did I. When she was angry, I was pissed, and so on. I love her and her Yousef so, so much. She is everything, honestly. I hope Sana is out there, being a doctor and revolutionizing medicine as we know it.

2. amira naybet - skam espana

Ooh, okay. I know a lot of people won’t agree with me on this one, and that’s fine! Amira Naybet means the world to me. Like literally, she is my comfort character. As I began this past fall semester as a junior in college during a freaking pandemic, she and Hajar Brown took my heart and ran with it. I personally love that she was also the Jonas in Cris’ season, as it gave her so much depth before her season aired. Ultimately, I agree that her season was flawed, and I definitely think that her season needed actual Muslim writers involved, and not just consultants. Her season production was also hindered by the pandemic too, which sucks, because I think a whole episode was cut from her season, and there was a lot of rewriting in the back half so they could meet COVID guidelines. But overall, I’m glad the writers tried to be different with their Sana and change some things up. I still love Amira, and I do love her relationship with Dani (although I will never understand that Al-Queda joke in his first clip, it feels like a misguided attempt at Spanish humor that did not translate well at all). And I’m glad Hajar felt safe and secure with this team and was happy with Amira’s story, given the circumstances. (ps: she deserved the full nine episodes, I don’t care what Movistar thinks.)

3. amira thalia mahmood - druck / zoya ali - skam austin

AMIRA THE SECOND. I love her too. I especially liked that she was technically the first Girl Squad member introduced in Hanna’s season, instead of Miss Mia. I liked that change. I also love the friendships she had with Matteo and David, and that Matteo was saved as “idiot” in her phone. She was truly a queen. Mohammed is also a king, one of my favorites. I also liked that Druck also tried to change some things and make their Sana season more relevant, with the Christchurch references and setting her season outside of Ramadan. But sadly, like Amira N.’s season, it failed to really delve into the racism that Amira had dealt with in the GS from Kiki. If Nadia was able to apologize well, I don’t understand why Kiki couldn’t have done the same thing. Again, I feel that her season needed Muslim writers to really delve into these issues. Also, the whole eight episodes thing? Dumb. They could have delved more into Mohammed’s immigrant experience and Amira reintroducing him to Islam, etc. Why can’t Amiras just get their full seasons for once? 

Onto Zoya, who sadly didn't get her season, but I feel like she was a great character, perhaps closest to the Sana from OG in terms of characterization. She was “no bullshit,” but also the fiercest, loyal friend out of the Austin GS, besides maybe Jo, who really had Kelsey’s back at the end of s2. I feel like we really missed out on seeing her story, as she was a Muslim teen living her high school experience under a Trump presidency and a Muslim travel ban (that’s now thankfully been repealed). I loved that she got Prom Queen in s2, but I hate that literally everyone dropped the ball when it came to supporting her. The GS basically ignored the locker graffiti aka a literal hate crime? *cough cough* hire POC and Muslim writers. She was a queen though, like all Sanas who came before her.

4. esra aydin & imaan elami - skam nl

Imaan was cool, I enjoyed her entrance in s1, which I rewatched just for this ranking. Her little car? The music? I love it! It sucks that she was absent for chunks of s1, but apparently the actress had personal issues, which is why she did not return for s2. Understandable. Long reign her entrance clip.

ESRA! I loved her! I’m so glad that after Imaan’s exit that they decided to cast another Muslim woman for Linn. I love her, I loved her relationship with Ralph and the other characters, and I have a feeling that Skam NL’s season 4 would have been about her. An Esra season would have been great because it would have given us an young adult main outside of high school, and probably further depth into the Esklid character. Again, pour one out for Skam NL :(

5. imane bakhellal - skam france

Imane seems cool. I haven’t watched much of Skam France outside of s3, parts of s6, and s7, which is currently airing. I’ve been wary to watch her season, because I’ve heard about her having to apologize to the GS, and things dealing with Ingrid and her brother... and Sofiane actually dating Manon???? Like, WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. Her Yousef seems cute but dumb. But otherwise, Assa is really pretty and really supportive of her fellow Sana counterparts on Insta, which has endeared her to me. And due to that fact, I will defend Imane to the ends of the earth, and I will watch her season eventually. I promise.

6. yasmina ait omar - wtfock

Yasmina is still a bit of a mystery to the audience, I think. But I do plan to watch her season, if only for Nora Dari, who is very pretty. Bel!Yousef, treat her right!

7. sana allegui - skam italia

No words needed.

[likea-black-widow-baby]

New post again to spare you guys scrolling through long posts

GHOST RIDER????

“The legend of Peggy Carter”

Every time she’s mentioned, a year is added to my life

Hey what the bloody heck is this ghost thing about and why is May seeing Snapchat filter demons

Oh god I’m gonna hate seeing May like this

“May machine broke”

“Did you try turning her off and on again?”

My other cat has joined my binge

This season is wack

Giving SHIELD a public relations plot with a new white bread director was not a good idea

Fury would never tolerate this BS

ISODYNE??? LIKE FROM AGENT CARTER S2????? Bruh they had a scientist go ghost too but Jason never gave people visions

And he did a bit of touching I mean Peggy never saw demon faces

This would’ve been a good chance to tie in the zero matter since it has the same effect

This season is probably my least favorite

YO THEY ARE REFERENCING THE ZERO MATTER

Still, they’re adding a ton of new weird effects to an already batshit plot device

Oh great now Uncle Power Trip is the fullmetal alchemist

Omg are they building the containment cage thing that made Jason corporeal from Agent Carter

No they are not but Phil and Fitz are back so I am not complaining

First Cartinelli’s bottle of schnapps, now it’s Philinda’s bottle of... something I can’t spell. Alcohol is Marvel TV’s substitute for sexual tension huh

AOS just keeps coming up with more brutal ways to murder people don’t they. Fire chain through the chest, coughing up rough diamonds, self sacrifice in space-

Yesss slo mo Yo Yo!! All we need now is Time In A Bottle :,)

HEY AIDA WHAT THE HECKY DIZZLE ARE YOU DOING TO MAY

Not ANOTHER May double??? Wasn’t one enough!! WhY???

If robot May tries coming onto Phil I will be mildly disgusted

Oh shit she doesn’t even know she’s a robot that’s kinda cool

Okay this season is getting better as it goes on

Oh shit confirmed one sided Philinda

SHIT MAN

NOT EVEN THE SIDE I EXPECTED

AH

HOW MANY FUCKIN ANDROIDS ARE THERE????

holy shit he’s using May’s most traumatic memory against her this is BAD, BAD MAD SCIENTIST BAD

NSICHSIDJIEJFIF BILLY TALKING ABOUT QUAKE X BLACK WIDOW FANFICTION

Holy shit robo May was about to kiss Phil this is a TEASE

THEYJDOXKXKDOODHSIFJSIXJSIJFIDJFIFJODJDODJ

BRUH SO WE KNOW PHIL WANTS TO KISS HER TOO

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

May and Phil went on an undercover mission as husband and wife and they banter about his inability to remove her bra I am CRYING

Annnnd this season has gone back to weird territory

Hey what the DUCK is this Hydra AU and why I am I again being forced to look at Grant Ward

Even brainwashed Coulson can’t resist one-liners, that’s my man

So they made May into an entirely different person and as the rules of the universe has described it that shouldn’t be the case

Also I miss her

Oh thank god May’s turning against Hydra took long enough

Also way to nerf Madam Hydra

May just called Jemma “poptart” and I have never heard a more precious thing

THEY FUCKIN SHOT COULSON

And of course May is going to save him this is some Winter Soldier save-my-love-despite-lost-memory BS

Oh thank god they’re getting out of the framework I was about up to here with that

Give May one (1) break challenge

Every time May asks what happened with her robot self and Phil short circuits trying to avoid it my face gets hot

Also bless that May is allowed to yell and growl while she fights 11/10

I will never be sick of Fitzsimmons comforting each other

Christ of course Ghost Rider is back what IS this season

Why is PHIL Ghost Rider now?????

The whole team sticking their hands in the air at a breakfast counter is an entire aesthetic, looks like the last supper, and I want it as my wallpaper

WHY ARE THEY IN SPACE??