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watchingblsnowandforever · 6 months ago

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We Are Ep.11

Part 1

*sits with half a tub of ice cream with both AC and fan on because my AC is old and needs a little help and puts my cat on Do Not Disturb mode (aka scratching his belly)*

Hello!!!!

Welcome back to my crack posting! =D

Warning: long post, and since I have like 60 screenshots, there will be a part two 😊😅

I wrote that intro before I'd watched the ep. Me as I was watching the ep was mostly incoherent screaming (so much so that my cat woke up from his nap to give me "what the hell, hooman" look).

This episode was amazing, and I loved it, and I'll probably die of too much fluff, but that won't happen before I finish watching We Are (which- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE JUST 5 EPS LEFT?!!).

I was giggling and kicking my feet (just like Peem the morning after that Prince Charming kiss) from the very first scene.

Oh, they are so gone for each other (and I am gone for them 😭). The smiles, the trying to hear what the other is doing just across the door ah

So, so true. As a writer that hits.

Also, I'm very glad they decided to showcase creative blocks, even if it was for a few minutes.

Me to PhumPeem: yes, Peem, I would love to know too.

Also- I really wanna know what Ciize was doing back there 😭

Too cute to handle 😭

Jokes (and puns) aside, this scene is quite significant. Previously, whenever Phum was seen in the vicinity of the Fine Arts building, it was only because he wanted something from Peem (yes even that scene in ep. 8, he wanted company from Peem), but now, he's just sitting there waiting for Peem. And when Peem comes down, he's pinching his cheeks right there and acting cute with him and asking what's wrong.

And he keeps on asking, because he can see that Peem is a little moody, and not his usual self. "You're usually livelier than this."

Phum: "Actually, I want to be water too..."

Me: No way, is this what I think it is?

Phum: "I want to be the reason you feel good."

Me: yeah, yep, that's what I thought

No but, you can't tell me Phum doesn't binge watch BLs with his beloved teddy bear. Of course he has a whole arsenal of cheesy flirting lines.

All this time, it was always Phum telling Peem how comfortable he is around him and his friends, how fun it is.

Welp, it's Peem's turn.

I love Phum.

This is both him asking for consent as well as making sure they're on the same page and going at the same pace (which he always does, as I'd said before).

Also, no, he wants you to get closer.

HANDS.

Hear how polite and soft Q is with Toey now? Once Q knew for sure that he's allowed to show affection towards Toey as more than just a mentor/mentee, he decided to be fluffy as heck and never went back (because his love language is giving and showing through actions).

Love that for them both <3

This is such a valid fear.

He was afraid that his love would be too much, and in the process he'd lose the person he loves again, so he thought it better to just suffer alone than confess. Not gonna lie, my heart broke just a little here. (Also, because I'm currently rewatching MSP, I'll be pulling a lot of parallels, and this reminds me of that scene where Sound tells Gun that he's afraid to confess to Win because he's pretty sure he'll get rejected).

Oh, and I keep forgetting to say this, but Satang is such an amazing actor. Watching Sound and Toey, I almost can't believe they're played by the same person.

Phum's lethal weapon and Peem's fatal weakness 😭

Let's be honest though, no one would be able to resist that smile, those eyes and that soft, "Na, krab". Oh yeah, he used polite pronouns here by the way.

I can't always notice the shift from formal to informal or vice versa because I'm not that well-versed in the language (yet) but this was pretty obvious.

Bonus (Peem's reaction):

Tan: flirts with his theerak non-stop 24/7 Fang: *brushes his hair a little and apologizes for making him wait* Tan: *melts into a blushing mess*

That man is so whipped.

And in this house, we stan all whipped men.

This actually reminds me of when I was a wee baby (around 3 or 4 years old, I think) when I rescued a baby sparrow and took it to my dad and told my neigbours my dad would be able to heal it because he's a dcotor (he isn't a vet either) 😭

Also- naming a bird by another bird is so true to Pun's character.

This so relatable oh gods 😭

Also, we got the princess carry for Pride month! Twice if we count Chain lifting Pun in the waterfall, which I totally do.

We finally get being carried to bed but realizing they're laying on top of the blankets instead of just being magically wrapped in them by morning!

*sighs fondly* such a simp. <3

Uh huh, you said that last time too.

Don't lie, Peem, you'd let him hug you every night.

👀

Is this the reason behind the NC rating?

Also, this singular line just gave me a brain worm that is making me write my first smut fic. I blame y'all for getting me into this series.

Yes, of course, Phum, everyone believed your "snort mi mi mi".

Don't think I didn't see your little secret smile, Peem.

(Also, I have a headcanon that Phum just loves to be the little spoon)

Now who's hugging who, huh?

"Go away", he says, while putting his arm around his (not) boyfriend.

See, it was all fun till this point, but you can't be giving me this level of domestic fluff while at the same time telling me they're not even dating yet. That just doesn't work.

So, for me, from this point on, they're an old married couple <3

Frankly though, all the four couples in this series are old married couples that just don't know they're married yet.

Toey: HELP ME!!!

Q: WHAT HAPPENED WHO NEEDS BEATING UP-

Toey: I forgot to do my assignment and today's the deadline 🥺

Q: ... 😑

You don't...?

I thought that was the perfect time to start working on it?

jk jk, kids, I'm a chronic procrastinator, please don't learn from me, learn from your P'Q

(Q reminds me so much of @desi-yearning when she scolds me after I pull an all-nighter to submit an assignment or study for an exam 😭)

Oh. Oh.

Oh my.

I love this scene so much.

This pencil box is very very special to Q, and he's asking Toey to draw on it - something that is irriversible, as Toey himself says.

But this is Q's way of putting together both his loves. This pencil box was picked up by Toey the first time, but back then, Q only knew him as Milk Frappe Boy.

Now, he's asking Toey to do something Milk Frappe Boy would never have been able to (remember, Toey started taking an interest in art only after meeting Pencil Senior), because Pencil Senior disappeared on Milk Frappe Boy, but Q would never disappear on Toey.

On this note, I end Part 1.

Part 2 will be out tomorrow, because as much as I try to deny it, I have these pesky things called responsibilities to attend to, and it's very late here now (not past my regular bed time, but way past my ideal bed time 😭)

Thank you for reading! 😊

Here, have some pizza and a cookie🍕🍕🍪

[If you want, my previous posts: Ep. 8 Ep.9 Ep.10]

And here's Part 2

#we are the series #we are #we are series #thai bl #watching bls: we are #let's talk bl #phumpeem #qtoey #tanfang #chainpun

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bestworstcase · 7 months ago

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How do you (and everyone else) have such an encyclopedic knowledge of the rwby show? I can’t remember shit, is there a Salem all scenes compilation somewhere? I feel like I need it for like notes on a test. help (I am having a good time but feel lost sometimes and would like to be able to follow the discussions)

i can't speak for anyone else but i do actually. take notes. whenever i rewatch, which i've done...i don't know how many times since i got into the show in the first place a few years ago. my copies of the ebooks have highlights and notes all over 'em. and i just sort of have a mental catalogue of when various things happen so i can open an episode and click right to the relevant time stamp if i need to double-check something, or reference transcripts on the wiki (this is the only thing the wiki is good for).

<- im aware that this sounds like way too much but idk how else to enjoy things. bfhks i get bored otherwise. 😭

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daswarschonkaputt · 2 years ago

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so a few select people know that i've been working on these bad boys for a few weeks now. this collection started because @mortimerlatrice had the audacity to try and tell me that fem!kinn wouldn't wear skirts and dresses and i pretty much broke my tablet pen in the rush to prove her wrong. also i felt like redesigning my fem!kinn and fem!porsche ideas. beneath the cut are my thoughts on these outfits plus the fashion collections they're inspired by/referencing.

fem!kinn businesswear looks

fem!kinn i feel like is the type of person who weaponises her gender expression. every part of how she presents herself is a carefully cultivated power play. she smokes cigars and drinks scotch and can talk at length about stocks and cryptocurrency, but she wears high heels even though she had to teach herself how to run in them, has long hair even though styling it is a nightmare, and is never seen without make-up, because every part of her must straddle a line of being masculine enough to be respected without being dismissed as butch, or a transgressor of gender norms. so: power suits and heels.

most of these are just riffs on the show's suits, so no real reference images, though hilarious @elnotwoods and i managed to parallel brain the exact same corset + suit look bc we are bloggers of TASTE.

fem!kinn occasionwear looks

the product launch -- upon rewatching clips from this episode i realised that the product launch apparently has a roaring 20s theme? which be wildin'. i spent so long looking at pictures of 20s style dresses until i found eliza jane howell who is a tiny british designer who has an entire collection of 20s inspired gowns. the inspo for kinn's dress was the miranda dress from her eveningwear collection.

the diamond auction -- i've drawn fem!kinn in this dress before, and i stand by it. this is a dress from ralph and russo's fall 2015 couture collection, specifically look 12. i first saw this dress months ago when i was looking for clothes for a project i was working on and it's lived in my brain rent free since.

date night i and date night ii -- both of these dresses i saw on pinterest somewhere and forget to save the link bc when i do art i usually have abt 50 billion tabs open. (i make firefox weep each time i open a new one.)

looks that almost made it in: michael cors rtw fall 2022 look 24; and schiaparelli couture spring 2022 look 24.

fem!kinn misc looks

okay so the theme for this one was actually "iconic kinn looks" and you know what? the towel was iconic. there i said it.

the sleepwear look -- *cries in detail work* yes all that lace is hand-drawn YES MY WRIST ACHED SO BAD AFTER FINISHING IT, this one is just conjured out of my head, no inspo look

the suspenders -- real ones know which kinn look this one is based off. just google kinn in suspenders or something i guess because we were ROBBED that it wasn't in the show. ROBBED.

the towel -- since drawing it multiple ppl have told me that they think fem!kinn would just wear the towel on her hips, tits out, no shame, and they are all so valid.

family portrait -- when i was drawing this, i got sent a look by siv that i initially discounted because it was a skirt suit and fem!kinn all about those power suits. and then i was looking for thai designers and i saw the same look and i was like, "okay but she'd only wear this in a family portrait," and then i was like hhrrrrnngngn family portrait outfits for all of them, so now it's a category. this is a recoloured version of poem bangkok's fall 2022 rtw collection look 19.

fem!porsche "pre-kinn" looks

okay so my thoughts on fem!porsche are as someone for whom gender is almost an afterthought, whose main friends are all guys, who drinks bear and kicks ass and cuts her own hair whenever it gets too annoying, who buys male toilettries because they're cheaper, who's made a career out of being rich girl's experimental whirl into lesbianism, and who can get them off real easy but isn't so good at getting herself off. she's hooked up with her fair share of guys, and considers herself more of a male-leaning bisexual. like, girls are fun and all, but she tends to have a better time when she hooks up with guys. (kinn's gonna blow that out of the water, hahaha.)

the fighter outfit -- originally this was going to be just a sports bra + jeans, but then i saw a pic of a cropped hoodie and my brain just sort of blanked out and when i was done the art was finished. porsche's abs are very important to me. as are her arms. and her thighs. she's an itty bitty titty committee member tho and i stand by that.

the bartender outfit -- i've drawn this one before, but yes! all the buttons undone! cheapest black shirt and slacks! converse!!! YESS

the casual outfit -- bike shorts, big t, big shirt? yes. fem!porsche sits somewhere between jock and gonna-fix-your-appliances on a fashion basis and i am here for it.

fem-porsche "kinn era" looks

one of the big ideas i had going into this project was the idea that porsche feels divorced from her femininity in a way that she's not altogether satisfied with and that kinn helps her reconnect with it. because, like, let's be real: porsche has no major feminine influences in her life growing up, and she's literally always got bigger concerns. she defo plays up the idea that she's above it all, whilst also completely lost as to how to get to there. kinn is probably both an object of envy and attraction for her.

(also i have in my head that the sauna conversation goes something like: porsche: do you have a boyfriend, then? kinn: i've never once found a man that truly wants a powerful woman. porsche: huh, that's weird. i've had no trouble finding guys who want me to hold the up against a wall.)

anyway it's important to me that kinn makes porsche feel dainty and feminine.

the bodyguard look -- hrrrrngngng waist. that is all.

clubbing with tankhun -- you know how i said somewhere between jock and owns a monkey wrench? meet porsche out clubbing. love it for her.

first public date with kinn -- so the background i had imagined for this outfit was that porsche and kinn are going public, and kinn sends her a box with a dress to wear plus heels, only porsche can literally not stand for more than two seconds in the heels and hates them, so she wears her converse instead. this is almost a direct copy of look 12 from monse's spring 2021 rtw collection.

black tie date with kinn -- obvs this is a dress that kinn picked out for her, so i thought long and hard about what kinn would choose. in the end, i figured kinn would probably want her to look regal. i looked at so many dresses for this one, esp bc there was a secret requirement where i wanted the skirt to be loose enough that kinn could eat her out in it. look, i just think it would be gender if kinn dressed porsche up in this dress and porsche felt all pretty and feminine and then kinn ate her out in the bathroom at the event or something. you know. girl things. this dress is look 6 from valdrin sahiti's spring 2022 bridal collection and i had to download a pdf to get a reference picture, so appreciate my work. also shoutout literally the only time porsche is wearing heels. kinn had to give her like three hours of walking lessons.

fem!porsche minor family head looks

michael kors collection saved my bacon here. i really struggled to figure out what fem!porsche's overall aesthetic would be for her minor family head position. i wanted something distinct from kinn, but didn't think she'd go full androgyny. in the end i settled on a well-tailored suits with a military flare in their cut.

first business look -- this one is based on look 19 from michael kors collection's fall 2022 rtw collection. dem arms.

second business look -- same song, different verse. same collection, but look 7. the thigh-high boots were added by me, though. i wasn't drawing lesbian kinnporsche without putting one of them in thigh-high boots.

visiting mum -- a couple of things. this one is based on this photo i found on pinterest, because i just really liked the neckline. details you might miss: this is arguably porsche's most femme outfit here, but she doesn't have the perfectly styled hair that she has when she's on mafia business, and she's still wearing her ratty beat-up converse. she's feminine, but trying to be authentic. it's a specific kind of messaging she's trying to get across to her mum. she probably agonised for hours over what to wear. kinn definitely really likes her in it.

family portrait -- again, plucked from my own imagination. the original inspiration for this look was look 9 from altuzarra pre-fall 2020 but if you click that link you'll probably be able to tell i went completely off-script. the more i drew it, basically, the more the altuzarra look looked too japanese, which is understandable, because that collection's whole thing was about blending modern and traditional japanese fashion. in the end, i pivoted, and brought it more in line with kinn's look, because i really did want them to have similar vibes. (couples outfits? couples outfits!!)

near misses -- these ones almost ended up involved: altuzarra pre-fall 2020 look 6 for the family portrait; michael kors fall 2020 look 60 also for the family portrait; michael kors fall 2020 look 30 for minor family mafia business; look 17 from alexander mcqueen's 2011 pre-fall collection also for mafia business; this look from pinterest for mafia business that got discounted bc i was going in a different direction; and this dress from rouba.g's spring 2019 rtw collection for the black tie dress which literally only avoided inclusion here because i couldn't make the sheer fabric look right.

anyway the takeaway here is don't get into an argument with me because i will bring receipts. mort learned their lesson, don't worry.

also @yeetlegay i gave you adequate warning. you knew it was coming.

#kaputt suffers in art #kinnporsche #kinnporsche art #fem!kinnporsche art #look i was good i drew only men for like literal months #so i think i deserve some pretty women for my hard work #also this set almost got derailed bc i started drawing fem!zhou zishu from woh #and zzs's face is so fucking hard wtf #oh and before people ask #yes i do have a plan to do fem!kim and fem!chay and also fem!vegas and fem!pete #select people have been let in on some thumbnails #but in the case of kimchay i have very few ideas #feel free to send me ur fem!kimchay fashion hcs #currently all i have for chay is just ''dungarees?????'' written in a discord chat somewhere #i don't tend to post my art but i figured you guys deserved this one #it's all just flat colour bc shading would take too long #anyway i'm going to bed now

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aaaarsonist · 1 year ago

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Okay, here goes nothing. Some spoilers ahead.

Today will be my first time rewatching "Rise of the titans".

Context of the first time I watched this movie: I binged Trollhunters and 3Bellow in a month while preparing a final exam, and Wizards was my reward the same day I took it. They were literally my emotional support during that awful month, and I'll always be thankful for them. Even 3B, although I didn't enjoy it as much as the others and seemed endless, it served to keep me company and distract me a little from the stress. So, when the movie was confirmed, I was super excited. I talked a lot with two of my friends who watched the series, and arranged with one of them to watch the movie together the night it came out with a Netflix party. It didn't end well.

As I said, Trollhunters was a very important emotional support. Not just because of that month, but because everytime I felt down, I watched my favorites episodes, the one that made me laugh, and the one that made me cry, "Hero with a thousand faces" and "Jimhunters". So what did I do when the movie ended?

I cried from the anger. I cried because they erased everything I loved, like all the things that helped me feel better were absolutely nothing. I cried because I had lost something that made me feel good, complete, and had been left with a hole in my chest. Yeah, I could still watch the series whenever I wanted, but then I'll remember "oh yeah, this is pointless, Jim's not the Trollhunter and will never be, and all of this will never happen" aaaaand I would cry again. It's like, why did I even watch Jim overcome his fears, his insecurities, form bonds, grow up, if none of this will ever happen? Just to have the knowledge that Jim remembers everything and will suffer from it? Yeah no, fuck you.

I know it sounds dramatic, but I've always felt strong emotions towards the things I formed a strong emotional bond with. I remember sending my friend voice messages crying my heart out and then falling asleep completely drained.

So, yeah, I don't feel a lot of good things about this movie. The wery few things I enjoyed from the movie (again, I'm talking about the first time I watched, we'll see if it changes) are:

The animation.

The only thing I can't argue with is that the animation is fucking amazing. The backgrounds, the fights, the magic. It looks fucking great.

Eli's design and Aja in queen mode

Ignoring everything that comes with it (the reunion with Steve, the stupid pregnancy thing) I'm a simp for them, they can step on me whenever they want. My feelings towards Aja may or may not change today though lol

The Jlaire moments

Not much to say here, I cried with everyone one of them and I love their relationship so much.

Aaaaand that's it. I don't remember any more good things. I wish I could listen to the voice messages I sent my friend but there's no sign of them.

#this is not going to be fun #btw I didn't talk much about wizards cuz my feelings are still the same. it needed the time they gave 3B #trollhunters #jim lake junior #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #toa 3below #toa wizards #toa trollhunters #toa rott #toby domzalski #blinky galadrigal #walter strickler #toa aja #eli pepperjack #steve palchuk #hisirdoux casperan

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einsatzzz · 1 month ago

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give me your favorite manga or anime of all time. NOW. like, the ones who changed you as a person. if you are okay with questions like that!

Charlotte!!!! More anime/manga asks yipeeee I'll give you the three I can think of rn! For this one, Gintama is definitely my all-time fave but the others are in no specific order at all

Gintama - This one started off as a comedy at first and it really took its time endearing me to all these quirky and funny characters, while also showing glimpses of the layers beneath them. Then comes the "serious" arcs, that's when I start screaming and crying when I get to know more beneath those layers. The comedy is definitely still the highlight in this series for me, whenever I feel down I would pick a random Gintama episode and just watch it. Tbh, even if it has 300+ episodes, I can confidently say that I probably already rewatched it at least three times by now. But another highlight for me here is the mangaka's godtier ability to shift the tone between say comedy and serious/heartwarming moments, the transitions feel really smooth and it doesn't feel forced or out of place. I mentioned this in Jojo's ask, but this series really helped/supported me through my most depressed teenage years and it's probably not an overstatement to say that its one of the reasons I'm still alive rn. One of the quotes there that I can still vividly remember is "It's always darkest right before dawn". On the more goofy side, even to this day, I still have that one monkey's long ass name memorized lmao (the tagalog version specifically) Even if I change interests and fandoms, it will always be #1. The writing style, the characters and the comedy in Gintama are all such a huge inspiration, as well as a standard, for me. If you're familiar with Gintama, you can see lots of pieces of it in the way I want to portray and execute my own stories.

Pandora Hearts - THIS ONE CERTAINLY CHANGED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY AS WELL. ITS ALSO VERY MUCH A MASTERPIECE. But my brain treats it the opposite of Gintama, in the way that after I finished reading the manga - I never reread it again. That's just how much the story destroyed me so thoroughly. I'm so afraid to re-experience it lmaooo I cried a lot of times for the characters there and the plot twists are nothing short of insane. I really love how complex the characters, their relationships with e/o and their lore are in this story. This series really fuels the angst + extremely complicated story lover in me. It's also a huge inspiration for my stories 🤭🤭🤭 If you're not familiar with this one, I recommend searching this one anime ost it has called "Lacie" (to avoid spoilers, don't go for the sideshow ones dkdhdj). I'm so attached to that ost, it has been a source of both comfort and sadness in one package. One of these days, I'll get enough courage for a reread...

IDOLiSH7 - I discovered this idol series when I was in college! (specifically experienced it first in the mobile game form) I thought its gonna be the usual happy lighthearted idol story that I'll move on from after a few weeks BUT NO! BRAIN CHEMISTRY CHANGED!! I didn't expect them to go so much deeper than that and I didn't expect to love & be attached to all the main characters, it's insane. Some of the characters' problems like Mitsuki's even hits so close to home, it really made me go *pause and starts walking around the house*. And thats just part 1 of the story, and then it's gets even worse (in the best way possible) in further parts. It doesn't help that the anime for it was done with a lot of love and care in it, elevating and improving the source material even further (adding/emphasizing symbolisms, more foreshadowing, etc). I just know that the main people involved in the creation/production of its anime were also as much of a fan as I am 🥺💖✨ (THE SONGS ARE BANGERS TOO!!!)

That's all for now, let me know if you want me to list more hehehe I rambled a lot for each of these three, but tbh, I still don't think it's enough to express hm these series meant to me dkdbmssbsn

#ask #charlottepuddingposts #i love these series so much #i am insane abt them #the only reason i didn't have gintama and pandora hearts in the yknrm inspo post is bc its gonna be a spoiler lmao #no beta we die like gintoki's balls in that one episode

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hermit-searching · 8 months ago

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TMNTposting Raphael edition (Part 2):

Part one can be found here. I really wanted to talk about my favourite little guy but I didn't feel like I had enough space to get all my thoughts down in the last post. So technically the entirety of part 2 is dedicated to 87 Raphael.

When asked who my favourite version of Raphael is, my answer is always a tie between 03 and 87 Raphael. I'm probably biased because they're the versions of Raph I grew up with, well 90s movies Raph is also in there but I really don't remember enough about the movies besides the Ninja Rap scene and I haven't rewatched it yet. The point being, 03 Raph tickles that itch for "more traditional Raphael" while 87 Raphael...I kinda just vibe with the little guy.

At face value he seems about as much of a traditional 'hot head' Raphael as Rise. Neither of them really fit into the "explosive temper" territory as 03, 12, 07 or the original Mirage comic Raph. He's a silly little dude. He likes playing dress-up, stand up comedy, and acting. Of all the versions of Raphael, he's definitely the most 'kid-like'. He's childish, he'll heckle his buddies for laughs, he even tells Shredder to go suck a lemon in the first episode. He's hilarious! But that type of comedy usually ends up getting him, and the other 87 turtles lets be real, into crossovers that horribly mischaracterize the poor kid.

As much as I loved TMNT 03, Turtles Forever is such a disservice to what TMNT 87 was, and who the 87 turtles are. 2012's second crossover with 87 also follows the TMNT 87 hate train, and it's so frustrating as a fan of most TMNT media. I get that the OG cartoon was super silly and tame compared to the others at face value, but every time someone says this I need to remind them it's 1) a cartoon from the 80s, and 2) lowkey really dark the more you think about it.

Such as:

-every time slavery is brought up and a plot for some other planet

-the entirety of the Red Sky seasons

-the humans of TMNT 87 always threatening to eat and or shoot the turtles because they're mutants

-the whole mutant hate sentiment being an allegory for the civil rights movement

But this is a post about Raphael. He's definitely still a funny little dude. But a lot of his humor stems from sarcasm and his cynicism towards the world. Raphael, is well aware humans are not fans of him or his compadres, and often sides with Donatello whenever he and Leonardo get into arguments about helping the humans. Their human friendship circle pretty much just ends with April and that's a dubious friendship at best since they're more or less a bridge towards her next scoop. None of them are really fans of Irma, Casey rarely appears, and the other human characters in the show are usually trying to turn them into kebabs until Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter which already kind of says enough for itself.

This poor kid is honestly the bravest little dude. More often than not he'd rather run from a fight, or push Michelangelo into one for him. He's scared a lot, really giving off those youngest sibling vibes that are rare for Raphael. He's such a little scaredy cat that he his voice will sometimes sound like a squeaky toy. If Turtles Forever was correct about anything, it would be that Raphael would absolutely burst into tears meeting his Mirage counterpart.

But despite this all, Raphael is still probably the bravest version of Raphael they've ever created. Even though he'd rather scram, and read comics or watch TV. Despite knowing humans have it out for him, and will never accept him into their society. Even though he knows every time he saves them it will be a thankless job, Raphael will fight until his last breath. Like every other Raphael, he will protect the people and city he loves because that's who he is!

One of my favourite episodes in TMNT history has to be Raphael vs the Volcano because it really shows who 87 Raphael is as a person. There have already been a few posts about it recently who have all been far more coherant than I ever will be but let's do it anyways.

Raphael vs the Volcano:

-Donatello's latest invention, a health machine, malfunctions leading Raphael to believe he's unhealthy

-after panicking in the sewers a little bit, he goes back to the lair, only to overhear Michelangelo and Donatello lamenting over the loss of their dear friend.

-assuming they're talking about him, and that he only has a day to live, Raphael runs off, deciding that despite the fact the world sucks he's going to use his last day to make the world a better place

-he does a bunch of good deeds, increasing in danger, wearing a musketeer costume while the other turtles and April try to catch him

-some botanist is mad that a rich lady is taking credit for his discovery so he decides to eliminate all organic life on earth...not really important for Raphael's character except the fact he catches wind of this and takes this as his last deed before croaking.

-Raphael literally jumps into a live volcano to get the canister of anti-life juice, only escaping seconds before it erupts because the turtles arrive in time.

-the lesson of the day? don't jump into live volcanoes.

There's so much to unpack about this episode, but it'd mostly be reiterating the same things I said earlier about him. With a time limit on his life Raphael, despite the way he's been treated by the world will let go of his cynicism and crankiness to help people if it benefits everyone else. The kid shakes the moment he realizes it's been a huge misunderstanding and he's perfectly fine. Throughout the episode he's even saying things like "yeah too bad this is gonna be my last day". Like...he is CONVINCED he isn't making it to adulthood. If you think about it, it's basically what the other Raphs are as well, without the super explosive tempers. They're all just good-natured kids who have circumstances weighted against them, but they'll do whatever they can for the safety of their friends and family.

Please PLEASE give the 87 TMNT cartoon a chance if you've never seen it before. I promise it's actually good, and it has some extremely funny episodes.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #theotxt #87 raphael #he means so much to me your honor #tmnt 12 #tmnt 03 #rottmnt #tmnt 1987

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lokigodofaces · 1 month ago

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Hi how are you ! I saw you mentioned ward in the tags of the recent post is it the grant ward from agents of shield ? If yes then may I request that you share your thoughts about him pls

Sorry for the delay, I got an unexpected job so I'm a little behind on this and my whumptober entries. And also Tumblr ate your ask when I saved it as a draft, I was pissed but decided to just write my own post and say it was in response to a lost ask. But just now Tumblr decided to return this ask to me! Yay for not having to rewrite part of it!

I think that Ward was a pretty well written character overall. A few random things here in there dude literally was raped by Lorelei and they never bring it up again D: but generally speaking very well done.

Whenever I introduce anyone to Agents of SHIELD, after two or three episodes I always ask who their favorite character is. To this day everyone has answered Ward. To which I have to smile and say, "he's an interesting character" without spoiling anything. I like to share this whenever talking about Ward. He was written to be likeable. He's a lone wolf sort of guy that is protective of his team. Skilled combatant. Attractive. Seems like your standard action hero. I don't know, I think most of us liked him when we first watched the series. His character archetype is pretty well liked by most people.

Then you have the development he gets in the first half of the season. He becomes Skye's SO and we see him teach her different skills. We learn that he did not have a good family life, and later we get more information on this when we see his flashbacks of the well. We see him care for the team. He jumped out of a plane to save Jemma's life. The episode when Ward and Fitz go on a mission together is personally one of my favorite episodes from that season and he clearly worry about Fitz. He and May became close. He started to trust Coulson and fit in alongside the Bus despite it being very different from what he was trained for. He genuinely does fall for Skye and he kills the supposed Clairvoyant out of anger and worry for Skye. He genuinely did learn how to be a team player in some regards.

To this day, after multiple rewatches, I struggle to identify what was manipulation and what was real. Some of it we do know to be real, he was very straight forward about his attraction towards Skye when talking to Garrett. We also know that Ward genuinely cared about FitzSimmons. I mean, y'all saw his face when he dumped them into the sea, y'all saw the regret. Honestly, his connection with May was probably only to get her close to him since we know he canonically liked Skye while sleeping with May I'm so sorry May that probably SUCKED. But even still, there are things I'm unsure of. I need to rewatch season 1 with the sole intention of analyzing Ward in the first half and try to determine what was genuine and what wasn't.

I don't think I've ever felt so betrayed watching a movie/series in my life, and I love AoS for it. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best plot twist in the world personally I'm still amazed over Empire Strikes Back but it definitely is up there. And throughout the fandom we all had a similar response: we all had gotten to really like him, some of us were shipping him with Skye, we were upset that his SO is Hydra and feeling bad for him, and we trusted him perfectly. Then he shot Victoria Hand. Revealing he was Hydra the whole darn time. Massive betrayal. I had literally spent half a season liking this guy because he was the guy we were supposed to like, the narrative made him sympathetic. Just to find out he was Hydra.

And we feel that betrayal for the rest of the season. The rest of the team also feels very betrayed, and they all feel it in different ways. Listen, I was not on the Internet when AoS season 1 was released, I was young. But I can imagine that there were lots of theories that Ward was actually being controlled by a prosthetic eye, mirroring Fitz's concerns. Because, hey, Hydra is known for controlling people, it kind of makes sense. Of course, we find out that that isn't the case, what I'm trying to explain is that there was such a huge emotional response that the characters and the audience had to try to find a way to understand what was happening.

Then we're shown the flashbacks of Ward joining Hydra. Which I think we can all agree that he was groomed by Garrett. Ward had been suffering from familial abuse his whole life at this point (to the point that he only loved his younger brother and hated his parents and older brother) and tried to kill his family via arson. So, yeah, not a great thing, definitely good he got arrested for that. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to justify what he did ever or anything. Just point out where he was a victim for a moment, but we have to recognize the bad things he did. But he is at his lowest point for sure. We aren't given much info on the arson, but he must've been very unwell for him to resort to killing his parents. Well, Garrett shows up and takes him away. Garrett specifically chose Ward, which means Garrett saw him as someone in a bad place that already resorted to violence because of said situation that he could manipulate. It was a purposeful decision, not random.

As we know, Garrett dropped him off in middle of nowhere Wyoming (I think it was Wyoming, but I might be mistaking myself. Either way it was the middle of nowhere). With only a dog. Well, luckily Ward is also a resourceful guy and he made it work. How? By breaking the law. Stealing from the cabins nearby. So you know we've got kidnapping of a minor (in police custody at that) and purposeful neglect of a minor on Garrett's list of crimes, yay. And this continues for the next several years. So Ward isn't completely dependent on Garrett, he is perfectly capable of hunting, cooking, etc. But now he's dependent on Garrett for the bigger things. The biggest thing, leaving the middle of nowhere. And Garrett talked about Hydra early on without delving in its history so Ward knew that this was training to enter a secret government organization. And look I'm not a psychologist so I can't say much more, but Ward was so groomed during these years.

Which is what makes Ward interesting to me. In some ways he is sympathetic. We know about the child abuse, the grooming, all of that. We know that he suffered and has trauma. We saw glimpses of him truly being a good person at some points. But he remains a villain. He remains a villain that is undoubtedly villainous. Yes, we should talk about the abuse he faced when talking about Ward. But we are shown that he doesn't leave. He continues to be Hydra. Even though he had several chances to leave, he keeps coming back. And that's something I like about Ward as a villain. Sometimes it's fun to see a redemption arc. But sometimes I like to see a villain that doesn't redeem himself despite the chances, that keeps doing what is wrong. Because it happens so much today.

Ward entered SHIELD/Hydra, and to be honest for the first long time Garrett was his SO. Garrett didn't stop manipulating him, though we don't know the specifics. It would have been hard for him to see through the lies during this constant manipulation, and we see real people fall for this with much less grooming in the real world.

But then Ward got the biggest chance he had to see the grooming and leave Hydra: he joined Coulson's team. Which was Garrett's choice, he needed someone on Coulson's team. But Coulson ran the Bus differently than the rest of SHIELD, and everyone but Ward were genuinely good people. And we know that Ward was affected by them! He fell for Skye. He grew attached to FitzSimmons. He worked with them as a team! And he literally watched Coulson give Skye a second chance, give May a second chance, give Mike Peterson another chance, and give Akela Amador a second chance. Obviously very different situations than what Ward was in, but Coulson was willing to help instead of pull the trigger. That is a constant throughout AoS: Coulson gives everyone second chances, he believes in everyone. Imagine if Ward had come out about Hydra to Coulson and explained what happened to him. Coulson would've helped him through it and then punched Garrett in the face for it.

But Ward didn't do that. He never stopped.

Even in season 2, Ward doesn't stop, only kind of. He escapes, and he immediately goes back to Hydra. Granted (lol "Grant"ed), he claims this is to help Skye since Garrett and Raina gave him information she doesn't have. But regardless, he could've been normal about it and tell Skye what he knew instead of working with Hydra to get what he wants. Then he temporarily left Hydra with Kara because he pissed off everyone at Hydra. But he just...did what Hydra does while not labelling himself as Hydra. Listen, genuine real world advice here: you can't fight fascism with fascism. Dehumanization is the tool of a dictator and dehumanizing fascists isn't gonna solve any problems. So, yeah, advice for y'all out in the real world, don't dehumanize anyone ever even if they have horrible opinions! But Ward was kind of wild in season 2 with the idea of getting "closure." Killed his brother and helped Kara get revenge against Hydra for brainwashing her. Said revenge was...brainwashing Bakshi. Hmm...left Hydra just to do...exactly what Hydra did...hmm...seems like he didn't change.... And he worked with the team, not willingly and only because Coulson was desperate. And he used it as a way to get to Bobbi and torture her :). Definitely did not change at all despite leaving Hydra.

Then season 3 he dubs himself a head of Hydra and forms his own thing. All because Kara died. So yeah no change at all. Then he joined up with Malick to bring back Hive. Captures FitzSimmons and is wildly creepy with them. Oh, so he promised to not hurt them before? Well he never promised to stop someone from torturing Simmons! And forcing Fitz to an alien world!

And, as we all know, Coulson followed them and killed Ward, just for Hive to use Ward's corpse as his host. First off, shout out Brett Dalton for killing it as Grant Ward, Hive, and Framework!Ward (give me a second, we'll get to him in a moment). Dude basically portrayed three different characters and did amazingly every time. But I find it interesting. Ward literally could've left Hydra in season 1, he did leave in season 2 (while not changing his morals), and no one forced him back in season 3. This guy keeps falling back on Hydra. He told the team in season 2 that he was a victim, and May rightly counteracted him. All of them had traumas, very intense traumas, and only Ward became a Nazi because of it. And okay, yeah, I understand that he was groomed into it as a 14 year old (or round abouts, don't remember exact age) and literally wasn't able to leave for years because he was stranded in the middle of nowhere so it's a little different, but he had plenty of chances to leave once he was on the Bus and before when he joined SHIELD. No matter what, he is attached to Hydra. Then his body became the face of the literal Hydra. He refused to leave, he refused to see his faults, he refused to take responsibility. And Hydra took his corpse. He became inseparable from the literal Hydra. I don't know, I find that interesting.

Okay so OG Grant Ward TL;DR: very cool villain. Interesting back story and interesting interaction with characters. Had potential to be redeemed but he chose repeatedly to not change himself. Was groomed into Hydra but as an adult away from any other Hydra members he didn't change. Compelling villain, lots of emotions, I enjoy watching his character, but undoubtedly in the wrong. I am not a "stan," but I do enjoy watching his character. Impressed with the writing, it's hard to find a villain that's been through a lot that doesn't have a redemption/isn't "misunderstood."

Okay as promised, let me talk about Framework!Ward.

For starters, we're gonna start with an assumption. No one is born is evil. Ward was not born evil, he became evil because of the choices he made. Usually people agree with that.

Now here's where it may get controversial. I actually have a post about Framework!Ward only (not gonna find it because I doubt the tagging system will be of any help and that was forever ago) and when I said this second opinion people tried to argue with me, but I never responded. Listen, I don't care enough to argue about this, so don't even try. But I believe that humans are innately good, but that we have great potential to do evil. I'm not gonna argue for that, this is a post on Ward and not philosophy. I don't care to argue for this right now. But that is my belief: humans are innately good, but have the great potential to do evil if they choose to do so.

Also, let's quote Radcliffe for a moment: "One person in your life, one decision, one sentence has the power to change you forever...One sentence like 'I love you,' or 'We're having a baby,' or 'She's gone.'" Which he said in reference to the Framework.

Framework!Ward demonstrates all of these beliefs.

He explains that Victoria Hand found him when he was in custody and helped him out, helped him become better. Hydra took over, and he joined SHIELD and was undercover at Hydra, opposite of what happened in the real world because of one difference. He had a different SO. And he was so good in the Framework! And when Mace died, he became director of SHIELD.

To me, it was very bittersweet and made me think a lot about the nature of humanity and how small events effect our lives. It was one thing that happened that made OG!Ward and Framework!Ward so different, one person. Now, obviously I'm not dispelling the fact that both Wards had their agency. OG could've quite Hydra, and Framework didn't have to fight against Hydra. They still made choices. But their different pasts affected them. And I find it very interesting. I quite honestly loved seeing Ward in the Framework because of this.

Okay, I know that was long and likely made no sense, but I'm gonna post anyway. This about shows my thoughts on Ward. Compelling character, but definitely evil.

#grant ward #agents of shield

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deathsbestgirl · 6 months ago

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My jet lagged braincell is reaching for something irresistible/redux ii linked. Probably my two favourite episodes. Do you see it?

i think i have thoughts!!

as i'm rewatching irresistible, i keep thinking of elegy and the way scully tries to handle everything on her own, the visions she has (seeing herself in the dead women, seeing the dead woman before they get the call). which obviously also reminds me of christmas carol/emily, all souls & orison. christmas carol/emily scully is getting phone calls from melissa and only calls mulder once she learns emily is biological daughter. in the end, she asks mulder for time alone with emily and she stands alone at her casket, with mulder waiting behind her. in all souls, she's working a case as a favor and initially only asks him for help finding the girls in danger. he stays on when he becomes worried about her. and the whole time, she's seeing emily. it starts & ends with scully at confession. and in orison, she's hearing that song. which she heard when her sunday school teacher was murdered, and it's that song that gets mulder to her apartment in time. scully leaned on mulder more in orison than she did in the others. in irresistible, she's trying very hard to be okay with the case. she peppers mulder with questions but handles her emotions about it on her own, as mulder tries to tell her it's okay to have a hard time. he lets her know he's there and she can take a step back, and she goes back to d.c. and meets with karen kosseff, afterwards ready to come back and help people. but in the end, it's her that needs help, she fights hard against donnie pfaster, and in the end she falls into mulder's arms. the consistency of mulder trying to support her and respect her boundaries, worrying when she believes or sees signs is consistent throughout the series. and every time, she lets him to an extent and he gives whatever she accepts. it also reminds me of patient x/the red and the black, maybe one father/two sons but that one is more of a struggle for them and yet, she still calls him when jeffrey spender calls her about cassandra.

i think these are the maybe more obvious connections my mind makes. like they are consistent thoughts i have whenever i watch these episodes, and i'm sure i've talked about it some before.

as i'm watching irresistible, what i think of in reduxes is how mulder tries to be strong for scully & support her. mulder lifts her chin and hugs her at the end, in reduxes, he's holding her hands, kissing her hands cheek forehead. when she turns to her faith, he accepts that. she tells him 'i'll be praying for you' and he jokes 'say a few hail mulder's for me' but so sincerely. i love that when they think she's about to die, her faith is not an issue at all. they'll struggle with it when it comes up a bit longer, but to me, this helps him get to where he is in season seven (all things) and the revival (nothing lasts forever)...and when they eventually work out a lot of their issues through season six lol

there's a very particular vulnerability in all of these episodes, things scully shouldn't handle alone. but because of who she is, she tries. so she goes to therapy, she denies, she closes up but can't hide how she's feeling. especially not from mulder, so she slowly lets him in more & more. even as they struggle, this stays consistent. they're still taking steps forward. she trusts mulder and relies on him, his strength. she relies on the work. (she's a workaholic just like him, especially when it becomes personal and not "just" because she believes in him.)

there's something specific in mulder's tenderness with scully when she's hurting, feeling more vulnerable.

i also keep thinking about 'because i knew you'd talk me out of it if i was making a mistake.' the way they rely on each other, him saying she could change his mind if it was right. she wants him to blame her for the man killed but he won't, and he won't name skinner as the responsible conspirator either.

something about the grace she shows everyone in these horrible situations (mulder, bill, maggie, the victims).

okay. so now i'm watching gethsemane/reduxes and i feel like my brain is on fire!! i'm still not connecting it to irresistible, so i think you need to share your thoughts!

but my mind is connecting it to pine bluff variant and fight the future. the start of redux, where mulder is talking about treason — how he can't let it persist directly connected to scully's confusion & worry in pbv. because mulder would not commit treason.

something about his voice when he tells her the dod agent died from a gsw to the face, that he can't go to the fbi, that someone in the fbi is part of it...reminds me of e.b.e. they create this whole plot to get answers. scully has to lie. they can't communicate this time. the worry & pain & grief (also at the end of gethsemane) is so reminiscent of her abduction, a uselessness & inadequacy that consumes him. but this time they can do something. (similar feeling to the red and the black, when if he could give scully her memories & prove it to her, he would. his determination to stop it from happening to her or anyone else again.)

mulder is always so careful with scully. scully believing her cancer was given to her to make him believe, because of him...he never wants her to be hurt and yet he can't protect her. all of this turns into saving her. (directly to the revival even where he has to be the rational one, support her through her grief & hope.)

redux ii: the thing that makes me crazy is mulder getting to the hospital, making a scene so similar to one breath. (obviously this is my first thought!) he's not as violent until skinner tries to stop him going in to see her. and my god, mulder's face when he sees her lying there. it's almost worse than later in the episode when he sobs silently next to her. it's the way that in one breath, he has no idea what's wrong with her. here he does but he still doesn't know why she's in the icu. he doesn't know that her cancer metastasized.

there's something about the way mulder is fighting so hard for scully that reminds me of lazarus & one breath & irresistible. withdrawn, worried, angry. at a complete loss without her but he does everything he can. lies to the government, breaks into the dod? the pentagon. the affection is next level compared to those. it's the same gentleness & support, but there's hand holding & kisses & caresses. she begs him to let her help him, save him. to not protect her. like scully telling him she was fine all through irresistible (telling him she's back & not going anywhere in firewalker) but she can't tell him that this time. all she can do is beg him not to protect her, to let her give her death meaning, but that wouldn't be something he could live with. tarnishing her name, hurting her family on top of losing her. something here about beyond the sea too. the first time mulder uses her first name, touches her cheek in comfort. gets angry at her for endangering herself. the second time she's shown him inclination to believe, and it scares him this time. because she's vulnerable. the start of physical affection beyond touching her lower back, the hug in the pilot. in season one, tooms, he goes on about her record. later in requiem, he'll talk about family & living and everything she's lost. leaving her behind while he goes back to oregon. (i used to wonder how he convinced her to stay, but i think she couldn't take the risk of leaving him behind again.)

this is worse than colony/end game with samantha. the cruelty. before it was clones, trying to fight their creators and save themselves, hopefully others. ultimately willing to die to protect the original samantha clone. this time, his sister is calling csm her father. and he's trying to expose csm's lies and she flees. dangling his sister this way, with another painful story. "please don't, fox!" fucking CRUEL.

mulder saves scully but he's bearing even more scars from this. this is another reason i don't know if he could have kept going without scully. samantha rejecting him...mulder's vulnerability to csm is almost too much. he could so easily fall for it, like he does with diana in one son. but everything csm tries, only makes him more obstinate. csm has given him nothing and taken everything. mulder is so close to losing the only person he has. the only person he trusts, the only person who trusts him, follows him, loves him.

"maybe they are miracles, but i don't dare call them that." scully's faith is something so special. she's been struggling with it, and turns back to it when she has nothing else. when she has no idea of the chip or treatment will work. and she's talking to her doctor about medicine & miracles. to scully, ultimately, they are the same.

something else that does remind me of irresistible is how hard scully fights too. she tries the chip, she accepts her doctor's treatment, she opens up to her mom and tries to return to her faith. she does everything she can (she always does). scully tries so hard to put up a strong front for mulder, for her family all throughout the series. and like she did in irresistible, it falls away when she just can't do it anymore. she fought donnie pfaster, she got her gun despite her injuries from the crash & falling down the stairs. she crumbles when mulder lifts her chin to look her in the eyes. she crumbles when she feels a miracle is all she has left and she can't turn to mulder in the moment. but she can turn to maggie & religion. she only turns to others when she has no other choice. and ultimately, i think we know it's the chip that saves her. she chose to listen to mulder and tells him "you'll be in my prayers."

i wish i could figure out why exactly "because i knew you'd talk me out of it if i was making a mistake" hits so hard. it's like a preface to fight the future hallway scene.

something about the way mulder doesn't care what happens to him and scully can't do anything and what's more important than his own life is holding someone responsible for what was done to her, without her knowledge or consent and now she's dying. and he gets at least one of them, even if he wasn't at the top. blevins & csm dead. scully in remission and alive. mulder not being prosecuted. this is one of the best endings mulder & scully have. (skinner having not betrayed them and not getting wrongly accused.)

okay i can't keep ruminating on this. please share your thoughts !!!

#calimanc #irresistible #reduxes #cancer arc #mulder and scully #the x files #txf meta

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zepskies · 6 months ago

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Happy Sunday evening to you my friend! (we're going to ignore the fact work is tomorrow morning again lol). Question for you! I know you write quite often but do you have any kind of set schedule as to when you write? Certain days of the week that work better? Certain times? Does it change? I know you work with writing/editing for work and probably see it all day long so are you ever like, man I want to write today but I need a break from it? 🤔

Why hello, Michelle! (Yeah let's not think about the fact that our Sunday is almost over. 🥲🥲)

Ooh great question!! I don't have a set schedule, but because I'm a night owl it's often in the evening/late night for me. Because my schedule is lighter mid-week, I tend to write more then (Tues - Thurs), and even more on the weekends when I'm able to block out time in the afternoon and off/on throughout the night, if possible.

I actually just started another SPN rewatch from season 1. 😮‍💨 So I've been alternating between watching episodes and editing stuff that's coming out soon/attempting to sketch out new stuff lol.

I know you work with writing/editing for work and probably see it all day long so are you ever like, man I want to write today but I need a break from it? 🤔

Oh my God, yeah. Just this past weekend I was trying to outline a new Dean Winchester x Reader one-shot idea that I've been wanting to work on FOREVER, but my brain was literally pudding. 🫠

I couldn't focus because of the week I've had. So I had to turn off my laptop and curl up with the last few eps of SPN S1.

But on the whole, my brain is often able to compartmentalize:

"Okay, that was work writing in a subject that's not very creative. Now you can be your full creative self with something fun." 😂

What about you? Is writing a set schedule for you, or whenever inspiration strikes? Do you have a favorite time to write?

(AKA: When the magic happens. 💖💖💖)

#ask me stuff #lovely mutuals #writing habits #dean winchester x reader #maybe something coming soon?#lol #writing process #writing stuff #on writing #writing is hard #supernatural #spn #spn season 1 #dean winchester #zepskies answers

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owl-of-fandom · 8 months ago

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info dump th-unday

Thank you for the tag @emsuemsu and @dahlliiances ! I loved reading yours 💕

Last song: I've been listening to the hazbin hotel songs on repeat since I first watched the show. So it’s probably been poison or loser 🤷‍♀️

Favourite colour: *hear me out* ✨green✨ like all and every shade of green is beautiful and I adore it. Extra points if it’s Slytherin green 💚

Currently watching: adventure time. I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched that show and somehow whenever I get into Uni stress I put it back on. It’s just so comforting for me

Last movie: I’m not really a movie girlie I’m more often watching series (sometimes over and over again) but the last one I actively put on and watched is four weddings and a funeral. Those early 90s romcoms just hit differently 😌

The last one I watched at the cinema would probably be wonka I think

Sweet/Savoury/Spicy: right now? I’m going sweet. I can’t really do spicy but otherwise give me all the snacks. I just love eating I guess 😂

Current obsession(s): hazbin hotel. I first watched the whole season about five (?) weeks ago I think. And I’m crazy about it. I’ve watched it a few more times since. Like maybe 10 times completely and selected episodes over and over again 😌 what can I say? I love those sinners 😂

In spirit of boop day (I know it's been two weeks now don't come at me) I will be (no pressure) tagging a few people from my notifications💕 @crazybutgood @squintclover @stargazing-enby @textrovert-01 @otpcutie @getawayfox and everyone who sees this and wants to play! Tag me so I can be nosy 🥺💕

#tag game #thank you for tagging me 🫶🏻#personal

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enemyoflactose · 9 months ago

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I finished rewatching season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh. My redemption arc is 1/5 complete. (I have to watch the dub because I don't wanna support Crunchyroll and I don't know where else to watch the sub)

My main thoughts are about voice acting since of all the arcs, Duelist Kingdom and Domino City side stories make me the least angry.

So to start off, a comparison between Dub and Sub acting and which voice I like more as of now.

Yami: His sub voice in season 1 is honestly so cute. He just sounds like he's having a constant blast.

His dub voice on the other hand, sounds so hot 🥵. And Dub Yami is what's keeping me from doing drugs.

Overall, I like both a lot. I do however think Dan just makes the character.

Little Yugi: similar thing as Yami, only his dub voice doesn't sound hot. Just cute. I love both voices and honestly can't pick between them.

Joey Wheeler: I like his dub voice more. That's where the personality is. His sub voice just sounds generic.

Tristan: For the first few episodes of the dub, Tristan has this really stupid voice that I just don't like, so for that alone I like his sub voice more.

But then from the Rex duel and onward it's Greg Abby, and then I like both his sub and dub voice.

Téa: I think I prefer her sub voice. Just a little less grating. (I still love you Téa)

Ryou: He sounds like Gachapoid in the sub 🥺. I love Gachapoid!

His british accent tho 😩

Yami Bakura: Gachapoid doesn't suit him unfortunately. I like his dub voice more.

Pegasus: stunning. Both of them. The performance is impeccable. But Dub Pegasus never said "Jesus Christ".

Seto Kaiba: a hard one. In the sub he screams so much, but in the dub he doesn't sound like he's one insult away from killing himself... I can't decide.

Mokuba: they both sound the same.

Mai: I think I prefer dub. Just sounds deeper idk.

Weevil: I love him and his voices.

Rex: I prefer his sub voice. Just less grating and he doesn't sound like he has bronchitis.

Everyone else: meh. Could go either way.

Now to talk about the characters, and if I relearned anything:

Téa's friendship speeches are so sweet and cheesey I can't believe people don't like them. She is always there for her friends and clearly cares so much. I will never forgive Téa bashers for what they did to her during the great Yaoi Revolution.

Joey isn't as stupid as I remember him being, just a beginner at Duel Monsters. Nothing wrong with that. He's trying. His utter determination to get that money for his sister's operation is seriously so heart warming. I love whenever he says "Time roulette go!"

Tristan threw a dead body at Satan. And grabbed Ryou's leg while climbing the tower because he was getting impatient.

Yugi being uncertain of Yami until the Bakura duel is crazy. Like he wasn't even having memory issues. Bro huh? He's also so supportive! Like baby boy was the one to suggest he and Yami fight PaniK for Mai. He told Yami not to attack Kaiba and send him falling to his death. He gave Joey Time Wizard! Yugi is a bro.

Yami is such a good friend. Helping Joey out with duels, got Mai her star chips back, freed both Mokuba and Kaiba's souls because Mokuba asked, tried getting pink shirt his star chips back, and never believing that Joey couldn't duel by himself.

Ryou was, certainly there. Honestly his impact doesn't really matter. He just explains Duel Monsters to Tristan and Téa whenever Yugi is dueling. His first appearance isn't even that impressive because instead of killing himself to save everyone like in the manga, Yami switches the places of Ryou and Yami Bakura. So even if he tries to help, someone else always helps way more.

Yami Bakura is so hot. I'd suck his dick if he asked. I also just love how his deck can not only do tarot readings, but is also really annoying to go up against. Like boy had 3 morphing jars, an electric lizard, a man eater bug, and change of heart. Those cards were fucking devastating back in the day. He also would have won that duel if he used Just Desserts one turn later, but oh well. Why did he lick the millennium eye tho? I get the tarot reading, but why did he lick the eye?

Mokuba. Oh sweet Mokuba. He just wants to help his brother, but he suffers so much.

Kaiba is awesome. He hacks into Industrial Illusions and causes a satellite to crash into an office. Killing people. He helps Yami win a duel. He rips a Blue Eyes. He annihilates with Crush Card Virus. My man uses Saggi the Dark Clown. His devotion to rescuing Mokuba is amazing and is really what has me start caring for him when I first watched the series 5 years ago. His comebacks and sheer distaste for the Yugi gang are fun and amazing to watch.

Pegasus, the star of season 1. He's in my top 5 favorite characters list. I absolutely love eccentric villains, especially when they love cartoons and are actually threatening. Pegasus is a beast. If we ignore his millennium eye for now, he's a fantastic and fun duelist! His deck is interesting and entertaining to watch, neither of his duels were boring, and the man is so funny. "Do I spin it like a top, or roll it like a ball!" I love him. He's also (so far) the only villain I feel genuine empathy towards. Y'all, I'm a sap. If a villain's reason is being evil because they lost their Significant other than I'm sorry I'm crying. My poor guy.

Grandpa: he trained Joey and Yugi, he gave Yugi his deck, he appeared in dream sequences to help Yugi beat his opponents, and he gave Yugi the puzzle. If this man didn't exist, Yu-Gi-Oh wouldn't happen.

Duke Devlin: I forgot how much I hated him when I first watched his dumbass Dungeon Dice Monster 4 episode showdown. He's so fucking mean.

Rebecca: not much to say other than I like her.

The duels:

Seto vs Yami (first duel of the series): a fantastic way to start off the series. Kaiba finds out Yugi's grandpa has the Blue Eyes White Dragon card he's been searching for, he steals it, rips it, and Yugi challenges him to a duel.

Yami takes control and is surprised by Kaiba's duel arena having the ability to make life-like holograms of the monsters on the cards.

The duel begins and for the entire thing, it's honestly pretty equal. Yami summons a monster, Kaiba destroys it. Kaiba summons a monster, Yami destroys it.

It's a back and forth kind of deal until Kaiba pulls out his own Blue Eyes White Dragon card, shocking Yami. He surprises Yami again by summoning another Blue Eyes, but then gets hit with swords of revealing light.

Kaiba summons Judge Man, and it gets Destroyed by the Dark Magician.

During this, Yugi is having his doubts about winning because of Kaiba's Blue Eyes and can't seem to draw cards. Especially when Kaiba summons his third Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroys the Dark Magician.

This leads into Yami and Yugi having an inter monologue with Grandpa about Exodia. How Exodia is split into pieces. Pieces like a puzzle.

Yami gains the courage to draw and he gets all five pieces of Exodia! Instantly winning the duel!

Kaiba is then given a mind crush and starts to question all his life choices.

Rex vs Weevil (half a duel): in this not really a duel, we are introduced to two characters. Since they have names they are obviously important to the plot.

The duel starts with Rex summoning King Rex and instantly getting vortexed. Then Weevil summons his Basic Insect and equips it with Insect Lazer Cannon. This lets him wipe out all of Rex's Life Points.

Weevil is then named Regional Champion, and Rex is the runner up.

Yugi vs Pegasus (second real duel): this is where we are introduced to Pegasus as a villain.

He makes Yugi duel him on a 15 min time lock.

During this duel, Pegasus is cheating. Not just with his millennium eye, but he's sending subliminal messages to Yami. It's not mentioned in the dub, but it still happens.

Yami finds out that duel monsters was created in ancient Egypt and Pegasus starts talking up a storm so he can waste time.

Pegasus wins the duel due to the time limit and steals Grandpa's soul.

Weevil vs Yami (the third duel): This duel was initiated because Weevil decided to be a little dick and threw Exodia off the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Yami bets his deck and star chip, Weevil bets both his star chips.

The duel begins, and we find out about field power bonuses. Insects get lower from the forest, warriors get theirs from the meadow, dragons and winged beasts get theirs from the mountains, zombies get them from the wastelands, and fiends get theirs during night time.

Unfortunately, Yami doesn't get many bonuses.

During the duel, Weevil summons a full board of monsters. He gets mirror forced.

Then he plays his Petite Moth and Cocoon of Evolution combo. He gets Burning Landed.

He then summons his Great Moth. He gets Makiyued and Summoned Skulled.

This is a simple explanation of what happened, but Yami wasn't met without struggle.

A lot of his monsters that he summoned got destroyed. They usually only lasted one turn.

Anyways, Yami won and has three star chips. Joey steals Weevil's dueling glove.

Joey vs Mai (Duel 4): this is Joey's first duel! Hooray!

He doesn't understand that his land monsters can't attack flying monsters, and gets demolished.

Mai adds several equip spells and uses Elegant Egotist to multiply her Harpie lady card.

Joey finds out Mai is cheating with perfume.

Joey then summons Baby Dragon and the Time Wizard and uses them to win the duel.

He got a star chip and his first rival!

Mako vs Yami (duel 5): Yami duels Mako Tsunami.

Mako's monsters are in the water and can't be attacked.

Yami attacks the moon and then uses his Burning Land card.

Yami wins

Mokuba vs Yami (half duel): Mokuba is trying to keep Yami from dueling Pegasus because he wants to save his brother's company.

He loses the duel.

Yami vs Ghost Kaiba (duel 6): Kaiba jumped off a cliff and died. Now his ghost is dueling Yami.

He's psychology tormenting everyone except Tristan. Mokuba quickly became distraught.

Ghost Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes one at a time, and they all get destroyed.

The first one is destroyed by the real Kaiba because OH MY! He ain't dead! That's just some fat ass pretending to be Kaiba! (Or he's Kaiba's dark half)

The second Blue Eyes gets destroyed because Yami summoned Mystical Elf and Raised the Attack points of the Blue eyes he stole from the graveyard.

Yami wins the duel!

Mokuba got rekidnapped tho.

Joey vs Rex (duel 7): Rex is dueling Joey because he wants to duel Mai, but Mai will only duel him if he beats Joey.

Joey again gets his ass beat and is saved by Time Wizard.

His spoils are some chips and the Red Eyes Black Dragon!!!!

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 8): in this duel we are introduced to two new characters. Ryou Bakura and Yami Bakura.

Before the duel, the gang and Ryou are talking about their favorite cards (important). Then Ryou challenges Yugi to a duel, Yami Bakura appears, takes them to the Shadow Realm, puts the squads souls in their favorite cards, then tries to steal the puzzle.

Yami challenges Yami Bakura to a duel and when he summons the Cyber Commander, he finds out that all of his have had their souls placed inside their favorite cards.

Tristan dies to the white magical hat or some shit and Joey Flame Swordsman gets summoned. Then Tristan Cyber Commander gets resurrected, then Yugi Dark Magician gets summoned, then Téa Magician of Faith gets places face down. (She's a flip monster)

Throughout this whole ass duel Yami and the gang are getting their ass handed to them.

Yami gets Morphing Jared like 3 times, had Man Eater Bug eat Joey, had Just Desserts taking life points from him, and Yami Bakura was looking at him like

(𓁹‿ 𓁹)

The whole time.

Anyway, Yami Bakura plays the Change of Heart card and we get to see Ryou in a dress.

We get to see Ryou in another dress because he betrays Yami Bakura and takes control of his Lady of Faith and tells Yugi to attack him.

Yami then thinks about how Yami Bakura took the souls of his friends out of their bodies and put them in the cards and then wonders if he can do the same. He can he does.

We then see Yami Bakura in a dress but he doesn't slay as hard as Ryou.

Yami Bakura is defeated but he took a page out of William Afton's book because he comes back instantly.

Yami vs PaniK (duel 9): This duel starts immediately after Mai gets defeated by PaniK.

Yugi calls this fucking giant of a man a bully, PaniK tries to kill him with fire, and the duel starts.

PaniK is hiding in the dark and Yami calls him a pussy multiple times.

PaniK sure is a duelist. He loses his temper easily and doesn't think about the opponent's strategy. This Leads his Reaper of The Cards to get caught in a Magic Circle (I can't remember the name) and destroyed by his monster.

PaniK gets Swords of Revealing Lighted and his Castle of Dark Illusions has its floatation ring knocked off. His monsters get destroyed and he loses.

Mai got her star chips back :D

Joey vs Kaiba (duel 10? Does this one even count?): the entire duel is Joey getting annihilated. He loses. Badly.

And Kaiba gets insulted.

Joey vs Bonz (duel 11): This duel happened because Joey got kidnapped.

We also get introduced to Bonz, Sid, Zygor, and Bandit Keith.

Bandit Keith used to be the intercontinental champion, and he hates Pegasus.

Bonz is just a little guy who doesn't really like Bandit Keith, but he wants to duel with his zombie cards. Keith is helping him out. So they just gotta work together.

Sid and Zygor are Bonz's friends. They're just kinda there.

During this duel, they are in a cave and Joey is getting scared because Bonz is ugly (no he's not 😤) and zombies are spooky.

Joey is managing pretty alright for the first half because Keith keeps making Bonz play not zombies and they keep getting destroyed.

However, Keith wanted this. Because he put a Call of the Haunted in Bonz's deck. This means that Bonz can bring his monsters back from the graveyard as zombies, they're indestructible, get stronger each time they come back, and they keep destroying Joey's monsters.

Bonz then summons his Pumpking and makes his zombies stronger, but it gets destroyed by the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Then Red Eyes gets destroyed by ways I don't remember.

Now all Joey has left is his Battle Warrior and Sword and Shield.

He summons Battle Warrior , uses Sword and Shield, wins the duel!

The Yugi gang are now trapped in a cave and Bonz and his friends get their shit rocked by Bandit Keith.

Joey and Yami vs the Paradox brothers (duel 12): Ryou leads the gang here.

We meet the Paradox brothers. A pair of eccentric twins who can't shut up and keep rhyming.

The duel is a tag duel. Meaning they take turns, if one opponent loses all of their life points that team loses, and they can help each other out.

The duel is in a maze. Each card can move up a space for as many levels as it is.

Beaver Warrior gets destroyed instantly by the Wall Shadow, which gets destroyed by KUNAI WITH CHAIN.

Some other shit happen, Yami and Joey gotta face some tank and a worm and spider.

Don't know what happened to the tank, the spider got stabbed with Mystic Box, and the worm had something something Magical Hats.

Gate Guardian is a thing and Yami says it's in the class of Exodia even tho it's not an instant win. (Shout out Gate Guardian for getting support 😔✊)

Yami and Joey won the duel with Black Skull Dragon and make it out of the maze with some coins.

Yami vs Kaiba ( Duel 13): this duel starts after Pegasus told Kaiba that dueling him was a privilege, not a right.

Yami and Kaiba duel with the new Duel Disk system. They're using the advanced rules, that's why it's one monster at a time.

With the duel system, you can recall your monsters and replace them with a different one.

Yami falls for the Crush Card Virus trap and can now only use weak monsters.

He makes his Kuriboh wall, and Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to try and get past it. He doesn't.

Yami then uses his stupid fucking arrow card that I can never remember the name of because it's so stupid and dumb to fuse his Mammoth Graveyard to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

The dragon starts to decay, Kaiba has a panic attack and threatens to kill himself, Yami says "Bet", Yugi stops him, Kaiba wins.

Téa vs Mai ( duel 14): Téa wants to get Yugi his star chips back and challenges Mai to a duel.

During this duel Téa summons a bunch of wimpy cards like Petite Angel and most of them get destroyed by Mai's Harpie Lady.

Mai has a bunch of equip spells on her Harpie and Téa Wabokued her once.

Shining Friendship gets summoned, gets an equip spell, and Téa activates De-spell to remove Mai's equips.

Mai surrenders and Téa gives Yugi some chips.

Pegasus vs Kaiba (duel 15): in this duel Kaiba is trying to get his brother back.

Kaiba tries to get Pegasus to use his new Duel Disk system, but it doesn't go well.

The duel begins and Kaiba destroys some of Pegasus's monsters, but then Pegasus steals a Blue eyes and turns it into an Ugly Ass Toon.

Kaiba starts losing.

We learn that toon monsters are hard to destroy because they hide in a book.

Also Kaiba falls for his own Crush Card Virus trap and loses.

Mai vs Yami (duel 16): I'm pretty sure Yami was originally being sexist, but I watched the dub so Yugi is the one actually doing most of the dueling here. He doesn't want Mai getting hurt.

Yugi and Yami keep falling for the stupid Mirror Wall thing and their monsters keep getting wrecked.

Then we see Harpies Pet Dragon.

Yugi Mind Controls it and puts it on a catapult to destroy the Mirror Wall (shit looked epic).

Harpies Pet Dragon comes back and we get three Harpie Ladies.

Yugi let's Yami help and they do the Black Luster Soldier ritual and win.

Joey vs Bandit Keith (duel 17): I love this duel.

Joey gets his entry card stolen and Mai gives him hers, so wholesome.

During the duel Joey is fucking shit up. He's doing so good.

Then Keith starts cheating. But Joey prevails.

He uses trap hole, kunai with chain, time wizard, baby dragon, red eyes black metal dragon, and time machine!

Bandit Keith is using Machines and everyone is wondering why. Like bro, machines are a good monster type with a lotta cards.

Anyway Keith is pulling cards out of his wrist band, tries to use Shield and Sword to wipe out Joey, it doesn't work, Keith loses.

Then Keith tries to say that Joey didn't use his own tournament entry card, but Joey shuts that down

Then Keith gets accused of cheating and is sent falling to not at all death.

Yami vs Joey (duel 18): we have to sit through a long ass montage.

Joey throws some cards away, Yami wonders why.

Yami falls for a few traps, then Joey falls for some traps, this whole time Ryou is explaining the birth of the universe to Téa while Tristan kinda stares off into space.

Joey uses his last Time Wizard of the season to bring out his Thousand Dragon, but Yami planned this.

Yami's Dark Magician has become the Dark Sage and he uses Makiyu to stop Joey's attack and wipe out Joey's life points.

Yami wins and I cried the first time I saw this duel.

Pegasus vs Yami (duel 19): the final duel of the arc.

Pegasus tells Yami that if he wins he gets whatever he wants, but if Pegasus wins he gets his soul and the puzzle.

Yami says he wants Mokuba, Kaiba, and Grandpa's souls to be released and Pegasus says "Damn I thought you hated Kaiba", but Yami just doing that for Mokuba.

The duel starts, and Yami is immediately having trouble. He can't destroy the rooms and the Gorgon's Eye is keeping him from defending.

Pegasus also turned Summoned Skull into a toon and it's being creepy.

Yami keeps getting his mind read and Yugi comes in like "what if we switch places?" And Yami says they should.

This gives Pegasus some trouble. It gives him so much trouble that the toon world gets destroyed and he takes the duel to the Shadow Realm.

Yugi dies.

The Yugi gang feel this and send him some good vibes.

This means Pegasus still can't read Yami's mind.

Pegasus does some shit with Relinquish and Yami tries his Kuriboh stunt and his Magician of Black Chaos is there.

Yami wins and gets the souls back.

Pegasus does like 10 minutes later.

Other shit that happened that was interesting/Important:

During the Pegasus and Yami duel, Tristan and Yami Bakura go off on an adventure to find Mokuba's body. This leads to the ring getting thrown in the forest.

The ring goes back to Ryou because love or something.

In the sub Mai offered Rex anything he wanted during their first encounter. This was changed in the dub.

We still don't know how Ryou snuck in the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Shadi doesn't even try to find Yami Bakura. He just goes to one person (Yugi) and gives up.

I'll never forgive 4kids for editing out Yami Bakura sexily licking the Millennium Eye.

If Joey had a Magic Jammer he would have won his duel with Yami.

Domino City side stories:

Rebecca's cool. I like her.

Rebecca vs Yami (duel 20): this duel happened because Grandpa got accused of stealing Rebecca's Blue Eyes White Dragon card.

Rebecca's strategy is also pretty good for the time. Her deck is centered around milling cards to power up her Shadow Goul, and she uses cards like Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan to do this.

During the duel Grandpa is having flashbacks because he had a duel go exactly like this. We find out Rebecca is the granddaughter of Grandpa's friend, Arthur.

Yugi drew Soul Release, but didn't use it because... I don't know. We find out that's how the duel between Arthur and Grandpa ended.

Arthur appears, says some shit, and we never see Rebecca again.

That dumbass game thing:

I wasn't paying attention to this because there weren't any actual duels and I didn't like this part.

Duke Devlin:

This bitch really gonna say Yugi cheats in his duels and steal all the girls. Bro.

Duke vs Joey (duel 21): Joey almost wins, But Duke does an ass pull and wins at 50 life points.

Duke vs Yami (Dungeon Dice Monsters): Duke doesn't explain shit because Yami is King Of Games and should know how to play a game he's never heard of.

Duke makes fun of Yami for not knowing how to play the game he never explained, gets angry when Yami figures stuff out, and is just an ass this whole game.

I wasn't really paying attention, until shit actually started to happen because there was just a whole lotta nothing.

Eventually both players have monsters on the field, some are doing magic, others are just standing there.

Orgoth the Relentless is certainly a thing. He gets beat by the Dark Magician.

Yami wins.

Other thoughts on the Domino City stories:

I laughed when Joey told Duke "I like ya game, just not you."

More characters gotta duel like Rebecca.

The existence of Adina is weird. If Kaiba made her, ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ. If the Big Five Made her, then fine I get it. Mokuba is like a damsel in distress. I just don't like it.

I hope you enjoy this long ass wall of text. My redemption is going steady. I have noticed no change other than being slightly more unhinged.

Imma do this every time I finish a season.

#yugioh #yami bakura #ryou bakura #personal post #weevil underwood #rex raptor #yami yugi #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #maximillion pegasus #mai valentine #bonz yugioh #my own redemption arc

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snorlaxlovesme · 9 months ago

Text

thoughts and feelings about the Netflix's Live Action Avatar, now that I've finished:

overall, net positive! as i said in my previous post about the first 3 episodes [x], i'm someone who goes into adaptations with minimal expectations, treating it more like fanfiction, so I can spend more time enjoying myself than being a butthurt baby, so with that in mind i can say that I enjoyed myself a lot! there are episodes that i'm actually really excited to rewatch (5 and 6 are bangers and i won't be told otherwise)

i'm not going to lie and claim that any of the actors will be winning Daytime Emmys, but there were a few standout performances for me at least:

-Zuko was incredible. i love the way this version leaned into Zuko's desperation to capture the Avatar, because now he finally had a real chance of being able to come home after all these years. his acting pre- and post-Agni Kai in the flashbacks felt so sincere. his optimism was adorable before the war meeting and his shattered expression after Ozai banished him was fucking heartbreaking.

-i really loved the boy who played Aang. he was so charming and cute! and i think as the episodes went along he gradually got better at displaying more subtle emotion. for such a young child actor i thought he was doing amazing

-Sokka's actor was putting in work in the back half! i was impressed! the first half of the show I was pretty neutral about Sokka's acting but the more development he got the more I appreciated what his actor was bringing to the table. i think he just needed to be paired with the right acting partners in a scene to bring out the best of his abilities. Katara didn't give him much to work off of, but his scenes with Sai and Yue really hit

-Zhao was great too! they really re-worked his character to be a lot more important from the jump and i loved seeing how underhanded he was being during all of Zuko's quest. normally seeing Zhao on-screen just annoys me but i loved this version and how patronizing he was to Zuko

-idk man every time Gyatso was on screen I was crying. that's just how it is. every time i saw his face it felt like a warm hug

i think the weird part of this adaptation is that the parts that were adapted were pretty mid (or sometimes just bad) in a lot of cases, but whenever they added in their own original ideas it really shined! i feel like that's not the case with a lot of adaptation, people want to see what they know, but honestly if they added in more of their own original writing in s2 I would not be mad because i loved what these writers were bringing to the table (for the most part)

-i've already said that the way they structured ep 1 to include the start of the war was awesome. that was a cool change to show the audience from the jump that they weren't planning on boring everyone with a one-to-one(but worse) adaptation. it also set the tone really well bc my GOD do firebenders be setting people on fire in this show

-big fan of the early inclusion of Kyoshi and the idea that Aang can only convene with past Avatars at their temples. that was not a Hard Rule in the original and it always felt weird to me that sometimes he needed to be at a certain place on a certain day to communicate with his past lives but then in the finale he just had to meditate wherever he was. but yeah, they used Kyoshi lore from the novels and did indeed lose my mind about it

-Zuko and the 41st division. that was SUCH a cool storyline that was woven in starting at episode ONE and i was genuinely impressed with how hard it hit. i didn't see that coming and it had me CRYINGGGG. so yeah, BIG thumbs up for that original storyline. and also they inclusion of the post-Agni Kai Zuko recovering in the hospital and getting banished for claiming that maybe the weak just need the opportunity to get strong. heartbreaking, devastating on its own (Zuko's actor truly was killing me, i loved him so much) but once we see Zuko and Azula start going toe-to-toe next season that line will hurt me even more

-the bonding moment about calligraphy between Aang and Zuko was a really good bait and switch. in the original Blue Spirit episode Zuko didn't talk to Aang at all before firing at him. i like that i was expecting it to play out the same way as before but instead they had a moment of connection before Aang triggered Zuko and all potential for empathy was lost.

-which seems like a good time to address Zuko's character. i want to be clear when i say that i liked something because it was different from the original, it doesn't mean that i like it BETTER than the original. i simply think the new version is fun fanfiction that was written better than i expected. so when i say i like how they dealt with Zuko's obsession with honor, i'm in no way implying it's superior to the original. simply a good different

-anyways. in the original, Zuko's obsession with honor is fully connected to his need to be wanted by his father again. OZAI is the only one who can restore it, and it can only be restored by completing an impossible task for him. in the Netflix version it almost seems like Zuko's honor is tied to the disillusion that the Fire Nation itself is honorable. the bit about Lieutenant...Yi? sorry i'm getting his name wrong, but Lieutenant Yi gossiping about a superior officer, Zuko's disbelief that the Fire Nation would ever use such underhanded tactics like planting spies in Omashu, it was clear to me that Zuko bought into a rigid sense of morality and honor when it came to the Fire Nation. i hope we see more of that in s2 so that we can see Zuko's world truly rocked when he and Iroh become refugees

-Katara being hailed as a master was very sweet! i wish she would have gotten SOME training from Paku (could still happen at the start of book 2) but I did enjoy that during the Siege of the North that she got her own little battalion to command bc she was seen as worth warrior

-OH and I love how they explored Sokka's character. again, them taking out Sokka's blatant sexism didn't bother me, so i was happy to see that in taking that out they DID work hard to make Sokka's character motivations rich and meaningful. having him have the same complex about being a lacking warrior as the original cartoon but with the added twist of overhearing his dad's harsh words about his abilities really added something to Sokka's insecurities. i loved the inclusion of Sai encouraging Sokka to become an engineer because it was clear how much that meant to him. considering in the cartoon he does become a pretty badass warrior (while still being mainly an Idea Guy) i wonder how this storyline will play out later. if he'll try harder to fit into the warrior box he thinks he belongs in or if he'll blatantly begin to reject that role for himself and identify more heavily with his engineer side

-the cave of two lovers had me worried for a second because Sokka and Katara were paired together for that and im like UMMM so i thought it was pretty funny how they reinterpreted "love is brightest in the dark" in that scene. not as good as the original, obviously, but a funny reinterpretation that i didn't hate

i probably have more to say on the additions but this is getting long so i think it's time to get to some criticisms. this show was not perfect by any means and i have several gripes with it so i might as well get that out now

-WAIT first i must say that a lot of the bending looked phenomenal. particularly Zuko and Aang's bending. both actors (and their stunt doubles) were great martial artists and the fire effects and air effects were done really well. i was really worried about how they'd adapt airbending (since air is invisible) and they did a great job adding in dust cloud effects and making sure the props in the scene moved they like would if they were blasted by air

-AND i must emphasize that i was not mad at them chopping up storylines and mixing them together. the Mechanist/Jet plotlines had similar themes of seemingly Good People doing unethical things for what they believed to be a good cause, so putting them in the same episode made sense to me. and having Sokka and Katara getting spirited away and caught up in that mist (a fun LOK reference that time, i loved the easter eggs) and then captured by Koh was a good way to separate them from Aang the Blue Spirit arc could take place. that also made sense to me. people who get mad about the re-shuffling of episodes frustrate me to no end.

okay, now onto critique:

-unfortunately, Iroh was a giant flop. i don't know how else to say it. i didn't really like any part of him, from his costuming to his writing to his acting. something about him felt like he was plucked out of a campy low-budget stage play and just thrown into this show while only know his campy stage play lines. both Zuko and Zhao give pretty grounded, emotional performances and Iroh is SO jarring by comparison when he's in the same room as them acting like a caricature of himself for no reason. his wig was terrible, i wish they had made it more flowy because it stayed the same shape and position the whole time, he used the WEIRDEST announcer voice the whole time (like why are you using a voice?? no one else is using a voice??), and his robes seemed out of place when everyone else was wearing leather armor. and they had a moment in episode 4 where an Earth Kingdom soldier really laid into him because back when Iroh was a general he was responsible for the death of Earth Kingdom soldier's brother. i was interested to see this bc we BARELY get to see Iroh's Bad Side in the cartoon and i was curious to see where the live action would go with it. but it ended with Earth Kingdom soldier slugging Iroh or slapping his face or something and Iroh made some snoody remark about how war changes people, and he WASN'T talking about himself. like bro this man just told you you COOKED his brother alive he has earned the right to slug you, what are you talking about! i was expecting remorse, or at the very least a solemn look of guilt over the person Iroh once was, but nothing. it was bad. obviously having the iconic Uncle Iroh be so terrible is a huge mark against the show. i simply cannot defend that

-circling back to Iroh's wig. well. the hair and make-up department went out of their way to make important characters look like their cartoon counterparts and that was not always beneficial. why did Yue look like she was from Whoville. who okayed that.

-many people have already pointed it out, but it was weird in ep 1 that Aang's decision to leave was because he needed to clear his head, not because he was running away from his responsibilities. i have no idea why they made this change, unless the reason was to have every single person (including past Avatars) dog on Aang for not being around during the past 100 years. but even that doesn't hit the same bc it truly wasn't his fault! he went for a drive and got caught in a storm! he intended to be back in a few hours! idk that change didn't make sense to me. i know Aang felt guilt regardless but the guilt was supposed to be from the intentionality of Aang running away

-the way Katara broke Aang out of the iceberg was weird?? she wasn't angry at Sokka for his sexism, but she could have been angry at him for SOMETHING that caused her bending to grow out of control. or at the very least when she was bending the canoe towards her she could have done a sharp pulling motion towards her that ended with her arms behind her, therefore forming the cracks in the ice (kind of a callback to how in the pilot Katara could really only waterbend backwards at first). instead her hands were fully facing forward and she was gently bending in front of her and that led to the ice sphere exploding behind her. its been bothering me. whyyy

-character-wise, Katara was pretty one-note. like the addition of her guilt for getting her mom killed with her subpar waterbending, while not bad, didn't make up for how much she DIDN'T have going on. it felt like they toned down a lot of Katara's character strengths AND flaws to give Sokka more room to arc, then shoved all of Katara's development into the last 2 episodes. they didn't show much of her resilient hope in the face of adversity or rage towards injustice or how petty she could be. part of this could be her actor, who i won't dog on because she is a child actor who will get better with time, but i don't think the flimsy writing of her did her any favors

-score wasn't nearly as good as Jeremy Zuckerman/The Track Team's. remixing some of the A:TLA's score doesn't make up for the fact that all the original scoring in this adaptation was flat by comparison

-Bumi's whole thing was....weird. i didn't mind at first that they speedran through his reveal because i don't think there's a point to try and surprise the three people who haven't seen the original. 99% of the audience knew the King was Bumi, so I didn't see any problem with that. but the set-up flashback of Bumi lasted like 10 seconds and basically just showed him snort. it didn't give you a reason to get attached to him as Aang's past friend. and his current actions didn't help at all. the acting was very Michael Meyer's Cat in the Hat-esque. so. uh. SCARY AND OFFPUTTING. was not a fan of that all. and having him do a few random goofy tests for Aang AFTER already knowing his identity felt...weird? like what's the point of these now? and then having the reveal that he's NOT kooky, he genuinely IS pissed at Aang for being gone, well. hmm. it's not a bad idea in theory. i liked the concept of having someone FROM THIS TIMELINE (looking at you, Kyoshi, Roku, and Kuruk, and your unjustified rage toward Aang) be upset at Aang for leaving the world in such a state of imbalance. having Bumi be like DO YOU KNOW ALL THE SHIT I'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH SINCE THE WORLD HAS HAD NO AVATAR, was an interesting line of thought i could have rocked with, butttt.....idk man. it's BUMI. he's supposed to be a living memory of Aang's past to give him comfort and wisdom! it hurt to see this version be so cruel to Aang and basically force him to try to kill him just to prove a point. i would have rather had them write out Bumi altogether and use that episode for something else than to smear his name like that

-i'm tentatively alright with Azula's plotline right now. the Zuko line "Azula was born lucky, I was lucky to be born" is really essential to how their rivalry worked in the cartoon. Azula was a cold-hearted prodigy while Zuko was compassionate boy but average bender. i liked the idea of showing how Ozai intentionally pitted his children against each other. i liked seeing Azula's moment of defiance where she claims she's DONE being tested because she know how good her abilities are. i liked seeing the origin of her lighting bending. all of those were cool fanfiction. the thing that worries me is that we, the audience, have already seen Azula's doubt in herself, something we weren't privy to until the very end of the series. plus showing how hard Azula trains kind of undercuts the fact that Zuko is supposed to think he can't measure up to her because of her natural abilities that he DOESN'T have. they DID plant the seed to Zuko that Azula was the one backing Zhao the whole time, so we do have some of their rivalry primed to go. but the rivalry in the original is extremely one-sided. it will be odd to see Azula fighting just as hard to earn Ozai's affection, because intrinsically she should think that game was won a long time ago. so yeah. i'm not mad about it YET, just interested to see how it plays out

and then there are little nitpicks that could be resolved in season 2, should it get picked up again

-Aang not learning any waterbending or burning Katara with firebending can be woven into the early eps of season 2 before Toph's introduction

-the gaang's chemistry will only grow stronger with time. as the cast becomes better friends, as the kids become better actors with age, and considering they don't separate much in s2, i have faith that will iron itself out naturally

-tbh im sure there are more but this is so long i'm fizzling out. i'm fading. i must stop.

but yeah! good and bad! there's lots to unpack but in general i think it was fun. i'm excited for more.

#netflix avatar #long post #i am. exhausted.#writing this took so long

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