#and the entirety of season 4

[eddiestattoos]

Miami truly said we're gonna write some really wild experiences for our main characters that make the ones other main characters actually die from seem minor.

Horatio: shot in the abdomen (roughly), lays there, proceeds to dive into the ocean to save Nat (who was fine btw) shortly after hallucinating his wife. He goes back to work. Collapses again after an arrest but he's fine don't worry

Speed: gunshot to the chest, gone within the minute 😭

Calleigh: severe smoke inhalation not once, but twice! Literally categorized as lung disease. A couple comas. Her heart stopped. Weren't even sure she could recover. But she did! And she's a mom now and I couldn't be happier for her

Jesse: inhaled the same gas as everyone else in the lab, but he was the only death because he... hit his head

And the biggest miracle, Eric: shot in the leg and then the head, where most if the bullet still is. He flatlined for several minutes. He was on plasma. But he pulled through eventually. Back to work in a few weeks, no big deal. Some amnesia, had to relearn some of the basics of being a csi. Even hallucinated a dead colleague for a bit (though it helped with the side case and I adore that ep cause SPEED MY BOY) but after some more minor trauma he achieves his happily ever after, don't worry guys

[renthony]

The term “filler episode” is blatantly misused in fandom spaces and it's really goddamn annoying.

In the book "Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood: The Amazing Rapidly Evolving Relationship Between Hollywood and Japanese Animation, Manga, Television, and Film," by Northrop Davis, Davis explains the that concept of a “filler episode” in animation comes to us from anime adaptations of manga. Anime is frequently produced at a faster rate than manga, which means that anime adaptations of manga often have to come up with their own “filler” stories to slow down the pacing of the main narrative, because the manga isn’t finished yet.

"Filler" does not mean "low-stakes episode that doesn't progress the main plot." Filler does not mean "character moments that you did not like." "Filler" does not mean "anything that isn't breakneck-paced main plot."

It's a specific term and you are misusing it.

[sskk-manifesto]

HE SAID THE THING

[s0up1ta]

ARCANE SEASON TWO TOMORROW

EVERYTHING IS SHIT BUT ARCANE SEASON TWO TOMORROW 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[i-still-mask-because]

i still mask because i have conditions that share symptoms with covid, and i cant afford to get tested (rapid test or pcr) every time i have a single symptom (also covid spreads when your asymptomatic, i dont want to spread illness when im feeling fine either)

Hey anon, thank you for sharing! You're absolutely valid and right!

And just in case you or anyone else that sees this isn't aware, I would encourage you to reach out to your local mask bloc and/or covid action group to inquire if they have any free rapid tests (and free masks) that they're able to give out!

Free PCR testing for the public should be a right though regardless, so I encourage everyone to sign this petition to Congress and the CDC, urging them to 1) make free PCR tests available for all, and to 2) demand the CDC to get back to tracking and reporting COVID transmission.

[yardsards]

it's mostly just a throwaway joke but it feels Very Fitting that at the end of book 4 when kez apologizes to everyone and they all start to make amends, it's the sheriff/judge character that says "‘sorry’ ain't no justice i ever heard of!" and escalates to violence instead of joining everyone else in trying to fix things. of course it's the fucking *cop* who is singlemindedly fixated on punitive justice and refuses to accept restorative justice.

[freakadr0id]

HEY SO GUESS WHAT JUST RELEASED!!!

THAT'S RIGHT! The English release of LMK just dropped!

You can find it on the Lego app on Smart TVs, Roku and Fire TV (you have to search the individual names of the episodes, though). Finally, after all this time, we have a legal way of watching and enjoying these episodes! There are people recording it to let people access it on PC, but I beg beg beg of you to watch it legally if you can. Seriously, we need to give this show as much support as we can!!

[rationales]

"It's been a long time since I've been on The Challenge, I found my glow again […] I still have that toughness though, so you're never gonna see Cara cry in the corner anymore."

[dont-offend-the-bees]

What's the best comedy ever made and why is it Wooden Overcoats

[navree]

i will pay money for john to stop making fucking deals

[bibibbon]

Worse, is that this general is the one who cannonically suffers from abuse and being treated like a monster for his magic ability to raise the dead by his mother and folks in his hometown. AND HE'S THE KINDER ONE OF THE GENERALS WHO STILL CARE FOR HUMANITY DESPITE BEING ON DRACULA'S SIDE! Oh, and he ended up leaving Dracula and fought against him and his former general friend in the games! Yet, the show treats him so cruelly (mainly because the screenwriter was getting back at his coworker who was telling him he should stop disrespecting the franchise their doing the show on(that screenwriter was fired for allegations but the crew still used his scripts regardless). And that's just an icing on the cake with Netflix Castlevania. 4/5

Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

Hector is probably my favourite castlevania character in the series just because I find his character arc so intriguing. However, I was quite disappointed by how his character arc in season 4 was handled and how they tried to paint it so that hector x Lenore was somehow a healthy ship when it never was.

Iam guessing that you're comparing netflix hector to the OG hector which to be fair netflix castlevania has very much done a complete spin on many of the OG characters hector included (if I read the OG spoilers right hector ends up fighting Issac and being much more active in the plot to the point I have seen people describe him as alucard 2.0)

Hector's character starts with him being a general for dracula and working for him. The depicts Hector and Isaac to be on equal footing during season 1 especially during their shared scenes either them together or with dracula. Heck even their own individual scenes interacting with other characters like camilla or godbrand held weight and showed the importance and power they held.

During season 2 we see the differences between Hector and Isaacs ideologies and we see the different paths that the characters are narrativey built up to take with Hector getting manipulated by camilla and betraying dracula which is contrasted to Isaac who chose to stay by dracula's side and had to be manually teleported away by dracula to escape safely.

We learn that Hector's ideology and belief when making the truce with dracula is that the human population will live like livestock and be controlled as such. Hector wanted humanity to be controlled in a "merciful" way pigs raised to slaughter in a way where they can be used tools to feed the vampires and for them to be raised in a way where they cannot harm and kill other humans.

What's interesting is that Hector clearly states that he doesn't love the rest of humanity but still views their existence as valuable and and important to the world. Ideally, with this ideology Hector shouldn't mind if dracula did change his plan and resorted to killing all of the humans that plauge the earth but in as we see from his conversations with camilla he very much does mind that. The whole reason that Hector was able to be manipulated to betray dracula is because of that change within his character. What's even more interesting is that Hector was able to tell that dracula was grieving and a "a shell of his former self". Hector could tell that over the past year that the death of lissa truly took a toll on dracula and this could be linked to the reason as to why Hector is considered somewhat empathetic especially when it comes to his night creatires whom he treats like proper beings.

Hector believes that by forging night creatures they become their own beings that need a merciful master and he believes that the act of brining night creatures to life is an act of mercy. He believes that he "brings life from death", giving a new purpose or meaning to a soul and saving them from hell.

Hector holds the belief that humans should be controlled like livestock to limit them from their evil actions and an interesting thing that both dracula and isaac bring up is that Hector only knows how to treat others like livestock and he only knows how to also be treated as such. All of Hector's psst relationships whether that be with random individuals or his parents have all been negative. They have all been so bad that Hector decided that the perfect way to live his life was to be completely isolated away from civilisation. This twisted view that he has ends up ending into quite the tragic irony later on.

From birth Hector was unwanted by his mother and his father used him as a tool to get money and power from him because Hector could do alchemy. So yes from the beginning of Hector's life he was abused by both his parents (it got so bad that he literally burnt them alive in his old house to get away from them) so that's a major reason as to why he doesn't understand how a normal healthy relationship works because sadly he never had one. The only joy Hector could receive was his friendship with his night creatures and ultimately this led him to develop a dangerous belief that things should be controlled by a "merciful" ruler ultimately the term merciful is incredibly vague and may not even be what the standard belief of the word is as he fully described that having humans be pigs raised to slaughter as somehow merciful?!?!

We then move onto season 3 where we ultimately should see Hector at his worst state and we see the complete dehumanisation and manipulation that Hector goes through. In the beginning of season 3 Hector arrives chained up like a dog and walking barefoot. He is literally being treated like an animal, like livestock which is ironic considering his previous beliefs.

After he arrives he is physically stripped off any clothes and gets cold water poured all over him as a way to clean him and gets a mouldy piece of bread as food. Yep castlevania goes out of its way to show just how badly Hector is being treated and the utter dehumanisation of his character. This can also be interpreted as a form of karma for betraying dracula and showing him that his previous ideologies by having humans be controlled like livestock is a bad idea (he literally suffers the consequences of his ideology).

This dehumanisation isn't only done by camilla but also by lenore who in their first scene together literally compares Hector to a dog and treats him as such (actually you can argue that she treats him worse than a dog). We see lenore actively manipulating and stripping Hector of his own autonomy and agency as a being keeping him trapped and only allowing him for a walk if he had a collar on?!?! (Handcuffs exisit but i think the collar thing was intentional by her) and she goes further to basically ignore his experiences with vampires and say that "they aren't monsters" like she and camilla aren't committing vile acts towards Hector (this is just another way of lenore's manipulation on screen)

Hector and lenore's first meeting is clearly staged in a way where we can see that ultimately lenore has more power whether that be from the proxmeics where we see that lenore is clearly above Hector and she has to sit down to reach his level. Heck even when she is sitting down she is still above him (literally and metaphorically) she is also clothed elegantly and has a veil on her that she removes to make herself seem more friendly and make herself seem like she is getting down to Hector's level all while Hector is naked and barely has anything to cover himself. The two are separated by a jail cell quite literally showing us that they have two different lives and showing us just how separated the two are with lenore still leaving a huge gap between them (enough to show that she still cares but also enough to command respect and show authority)

Ultimately Hector is at his worst and lenore is at her best. Hector is practically bribed into making a pact or a deal with the devil. A deal where he is exploited day and night for simple human rights (the right to decent food, clothing, some autonomy etc etc). This from the very beginning is an unequal deal one that lenore cleverly frames as a business deal where Hector is somehow on equal footing when he is literally their prisoner and foremaster.

(Am I ignoring some aspects of season 4 when ir comes to lenore's characterisation? Yes! Yes iam because I liked her so much more as a character who manipulates, who wants to be seen as important and is kind for image purposes. I liked her evil more than her being whiny in season 4)

Throughout season 3 and 4 we see lenore get closer to Hector and ultimately do more manipulating. She uses sex as a means to overpower him and show him whose in contorl. She traps him both mentally and physically with the ring on his finger and she tries to depict herself and her sisters as the good guys. Her phrasing going around the whole "yes camilla is angry and has an attitude but she would never kill you" (because you're valuable and needed to be a forgemaster although she doesn't say it). Heck even in the very last episode she still clings to that belief that after everything vampires (specifically her and her sisters gave done) that they aren't monsters and that in a way her actions are justified.

Like I said I hated season 4's characterisation of Hector, lenore, the sisters and Isaac's (not so much isaac though)

It made sense for isaac to spare Hector and heck I think it may of been a bit foreshadowed if we take the conversation isaac had with the pirate into consideration.

Hector should (but never got to) of stood up and betrayed the sister's. He should of learnt that his ideology of having humans being controlled like livestock is wrong because it will never be and can never be done under "merciful" conditions since good must always exsit with evil and the other way is also true. Hector learning such a thing would also have his character betray lenore and go back to his previous beliefs that she was indeed exploiting him.

The sisters should of ended things together. Season 3 established the undying loyalty and trust that they had for each other and in my opinion it would of been imapctful to stay that way even if camilla's ambition was the thing to cause their downfall.

Lenore should of lived and died, lived and been taken down by Hector ultimately escaping and landing om top pr she should of died with the sisters. She had potential to be a cunning villain who in her words shouldn't be looked down upon or underestimated for wanting peace or little amounts of violence as possible.

In the end I agree. Hector was treated horribly by the narrative specifically when it comes to terms of abuse and how the narrative treats the topic or theme.

However, I am not fully aware of the controversy surrounding the nextflix castelvanina especially the things to do in the writing room but I have started to look into it and yikes it's not good (and that comment is an understatement)

[darlingboydiaz]

one thing i find absolutely hilarious about 9-1-1 is the way they do flashbacks. like, yes, that's an episode set ten years ago, but also that's just ryan guzman in a dad cap. kenneth choi doesn't have the scar, but he looks the exact same. oliver stark's hair is down on his forehead instead of swept up. peter krause wears a different shirt. aisha hinds wears a wig.

and then there's angela bassett. they had an entirely different actress cast to show us how young athena is.

the dedication to make everyone play themselves, with that one exception. pure hilarity.

[luckykittysshowerthoughts]

Simeon's Punishment

I want to start this off by saying that I agree with the masses that Season 4 was VERY poorly executed. I honestly have actual trust issues with the writers after how that season was handled, to the point that it actually prevented me from getting into Nightbringer until very recently.

...that said. I think that beneath the poor pacing, vague wording, misplaced focus, lack of closure, hidden signals and all-around awful handling, there is something here that deserves to be analyzed. So I'm writing this because I want to decode whatever the fuck the writers were going for. So, here we go.

The reason for Simeon's punishment was... confusing, to say the least. Yes, he did steal from the Celestial Realm, and from Michael personally. However... the reasons he did so are not only just, but reasons Michael should have personally agreed with. Even if Michael didn't give a damn about MC, he very clearly still loves Lucifer- and if Simeon hadn't done what he did, MC would have driven that knife straight through Lucifer's chest. What Simeon did saved the life of one of the most important people to Michael... not to mention protected the Celestial Realm. MC's ring of power was dangerously close to destabilizing all three realms, with the effects already starting to hit the Celestial Realm. What Simeon did was in the best interest of everyone, including Michael and the Celestial Realm. So, why was he punished...?

Well, this post is going to take a similar direction to my post about the fall. It wasn't actually meant to be a punishment at all.

When you look at Simeon's situation from a lens of punishment, certain details don't add up. It wasn't like Michael left Simeon out to dry. He sent arguably his most important angel, Raphael, to ensure Simeon's safety. He reached out to and to some extent collaborated with the Devildom- which he's made clear in the past that he distrusts and dislikes- just to keep everyone on the same page about Simeon and his protection. These acts don't exactly scream "punishment".

Then there was what Michael said to MC in season three- "I have to think about Simeon as well, after all."

This reads to me like Michael is- albeit subtly- angsting over the situation. Like he's still actively looking out for Simeon and his best interests, in his own way. It certainly doesn't sound like someone who has ill will towards him or is apathetic about his wellbeing.

Raphael doesn't seem particularly unhappy with Simeon over the whole thing either, and we all know how much of a stickler Raphael is for rules and doing the "right" thing. His full support of Simeon the entire time tells me that this is a little more complicated than a broken rule.

So... what exactly happened?

It's made very obvious that Simeon being turned human was because he stole the ring; that isn't up for debate. But that doesn't necessarily mean it was a punishment. What I think happened was that the incident made Michael realize a few things about Simeon- and that this was a long time coming, it's just that the situation with the ring was what made him feel that Simeon was better off not being an angel.

In the act of stealing the ring, Simeon made a very loud and clear statement about where his heart truly lies and what's important to him.

If his first and foremost thought was to be a good loyal angel, he would have let that dagger go straight through Lucifer's chest for the "greater good". Lucifer would have died, and MC would be worse for wear, but the Celestial Realm would be safe from the chaotic magic MC possessed.

...but that wasn't what was important to Simeon. That wasn't what mattered most to him.

What Simeon did saved the Celestial Realm, but that's not why he did it. He did it to save Lucifer and MC. That was what was important to him. His heart doesn't lie with the Celestial Realm, not anymore. It lies with MC, and with the brothers, and with the spirit of the exchange program- the fight to make bonds between the realms work.

I'll get into MC and Lucifer in a moment, but for now, that last point. His full and undying belief in doing what's best for all three realms. In Nightbringer, if MC tells Solomon that they want to find a way that's best for everyone instead of choosing between the demons, angels, and humans, it raises intimacy levels not with Solomon, but with Simeon. Who wasn't even in the room or anywhere near them at the time.

That is who Simeon is.

And the rules of the Celestial Realm confine him from doing what he was meant to do, the person he wanted to be.

As an angel, Simeon was only allowed to even see Lucifer and his brothers due to the exchange program- he wasn't allowed to venture down to visit his dear brother freely; in the original game's timeline he likely went centuries without being able to contact him.

He was even more restricted with MC, with whom he had to express clear restraint to avoid lustful sinning. Though most of the examples of this are locked behind Devilgrams (one of the many ways in which this whole arc was poorly handled)- one example I remember was one of his birthday cards from the year of S4 where he's shown sending MC away to hold himself back from "temptation". He couldn't love MC in the way he wanted to love them, because he was an angel.

And the relationship between the realms? Well, he can't do what's best for everyone if he's bound by the strict and oppressive rules of one. The rules that a very drunk Simeon in the devilgram "Simeon's Hidden Side" confesses were severely burning him out. The rules that, in Season 2, he spat in the face of with zero hesitation to pursue what he truly believed in. Simeon is a free spirit, one being slowly strangled by the Celestial Realm's jungle of rules and restrictions.

I don't think Michael did what he did because he was angry with Simeon. I think he did it because he knew it was time to let him go.

But that may not have been what he said. We all know by now that Michael isn't the brightest socially-speaking. When even Raphael, the most tactless being across the three realms, calls you socially inept, that's saying something.

I think what Michael meant to say was that the incident with the ring made him realize that Simeon is better off elsewhere. But what came out was "this is because of the ring"- which bears some very obvious negative implications. Especially when spoken to someone who is most likely in immense shock from the daunting situation they're being faced with. Simeon may be great at reading people and interpreting their motivations under normal circumstances, but it's very likely a part of Simeon's brain just turned off the moment he learned he was going to be human- honestly, who could blame him.

I think the whole "punishment" aspect was, largely, a miscommunication. Something that's backed up further towards the end of the season.

When Satan asks Simeon if it's because he stole the ring, Simeon's answer is rather vague.

"Something like that". That's... a rather strange response. It's rather roundabout. It indicates that it's a little more complicated.

Then there was what Simeon said later in that conversation.

"You-know-who has been waiting for me to figure that out."

Michael's been waiting for Simeon to realize why he actually did what he did. It wasn't about what Simeon did, but who he was. After all, as Simeon says, "this is who I am".

In short...

Yes, Simeon's transformation into a human was because he stole the ring. But no, that doesn't mean it was a punishment.

Simeon's act wasn't just a broken rule, it was a statement about who he is and where his heart lies- a statement that made Michael realize that he's not meant to be an angel. But when Michael said that he was turning Simeon human because he stole the ring, that was not what was gotten across- an in-shock Simeon interpreted it as a punishment, and viewed it as such until the end of the season where he realized what Michael actually meant.

And, honestly, I'm alright with this. I still have a bone to pick with the writers regarding how it was handled, I could rant for ages about that, but I can appreciate the idea itself. My only real concern now is that I hope Simeon keeps his angel lifespan. If he doesn't, then turning him human is essentially indirectly killing him down the line- which has moral issues I can't overlook or justify. That's really my only big problem here after looking at it under a microscope.

I'm also noticing a trend here, if my analysis is in any way accurate. It seems like Michael is the kind of person to make very big, very strange, morally dubious decisions that start to make a lot more sense when looked at more closely. It really lends credence to Simeon's whole "he does everything for a reason" thing. It's a part of Michael's character that I'm interested in seeing where it goes- but hoping for no more Simeon angst in the process, please. Please don’t hurt my boy again.

But, that's my two cents. If this doesn't make sense, it's because I wrote this in an ADHD-induced frenzy at 4 AM and apparently didn't edit it well (or at all) in the morning. Either way, I'll go ahead and claim my title as this hellsite's biggest Michael apologist before anyone can stick it to me. Kitty out.

[littiaye]

gahh i hate that guy so much!! always acting like hes so cool

[racetheskies]

NOBODY WAS GONNA TELL ME THAT SEASON 4 HAD THESE BADASS TITLE SCREENS FOR THE CHARACTERS????

[friedbabyteeth]

The original said “your baby FUGLY”

But I had to take a break mid word. And thus created this. Yay~~~