#and i mean whole of series 5 spoilers cos i binged the whole thing on i play

[danrifics]

them letting the captain be outwardly gay at the last possible second of BBC Ghosts is so iconic i’ll be real

[tvdversefanfiction]

Thoughts on Legacies Season 3 Episode 1

Warning: Spoilers below, do not read if you are still to watch the season 3 premiere of Legacies.

“We’re Not Worthy”

Okay so I’m going to start with the acknowledgement that I know Legacies is a different tone to The Vampire Diaries, and that TVD was a different tone to The Originals, I am also going to acknowledge the fact that out of the three The Originals is by far my favorite, with TVD firmly in second place to which I am starting to believe Legacies will never manage to take said place from TVD.

For me the stronger episodes of Legacies are always going to be the darker ones, although I must admit there have been extremely cheesy moments that I’ve found to be a guilty pleasure...however, the overall softer more child friendly tone of this show has been hard to get behind but as a HUGE TVDverse fan, and fanfic writer, I’ve been pushing pass it and it sure does help that we have had several solid episodes per season, just no solid season, in my opinion.

My favorite character in Legacies has to be Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson was hard for me to love because of the epicness of kid Hope but now I’m a strong fan of hers, and Josie Saltzman has her moments too.

Now on to the actual episode “We’re Not Worthy” thoughts...

Okay so Hope is MIA once again in another series premiere but instead of the show allowing it as a chance to further the supporting characters I found myself screaming at the television for Hope to just wake up already! (more on her waking up further down) This was an episode very much centered on Lizzie, Raphael, Josie, and Landon with some strong MG moments, and where I normally love any episodes Lizzie centric this one was a total dud for me!

Lizzie reverting to her old self is always a pleasure, especially seeing her protective sister side kick in towards Josie, Josie who just comes across completely ungrateful towards Lizzie, I know their co-dependency has a lot of issues but for me it gives me ugh feelings towards Josie and I know the word ungrateful is strong especially considering I did get Josie’s side but still, I’m glad we are going to have some Josie time out (talking about that further down too) to which I hope allows Lizzie, and her friendship with Hope, my favorite friendship Hizzie to grow, as well as allowing Josie to come back feeling lighter and being more fun as a character in general.

Raphael who is easily one of my least liked characters trying to force Landon to come back to life was some reasonably good filler, Landon’s quirkiness is often a pleasure to watch, especially alongside the over-campy guilty pleasure villain The Necromancer, a villain that could only work in the Legacies format. However, the idea of Landon in Raphael’s body was all kinds of wrong and I’m so glad they did not go down that route, I mean Hope waking up to find Landon in Raphael’s body would just be too cringe, mostly because Haphael or Rope, or whatever shippers call that one, should never happen IMO.

MG is a character who is just kind of there most episodes but then come the odd episode he really shines when given the chance and he really did in this episode, his team spirit was almost inspiring so major points for that and his cuteness.

So, in this episode we find Legacies tackling Camelot, with easily the worst CGI from the show so far, with the worst villain of the week the green knight, and the worst acting Nimue by far! 

This is easily the worst take on a rather epic tale I have seen to date it just felt all kinds of rushed and far too much like a theatre play on school that a kid wrote :(

Raphael turning out to have royal blood and being the descendent of Arthur would be interesting if it were any other character like MG for example, but with Raphael’s ill advised sudden love for his best mate’s girlfriend and him being MIA for a lot of season 2 his character just feels very misplaced to me and this plot feels to me like hey he does have a purpose after all, no thanks writers!

Lizzie and MG feel to me like their going down the route of a romance now more than ever, and although I did briefly ship them in an episode in season one I just feel like too much and at the same time not enough has went on for them to just wind up together this season, I’d like to see more growth between them both, changes, and development before they wind up together, if they wind up together but for now I’m not a shipper!

Now when Hope finally does wake up after Landon is brought back to life that whole scene just feels so lackluster, now I know what your thinking one minute I’m like wake up Hope next I’m complaining about her waking up but seriously her wake up could’ve been a bigger moment and I wouldn’t have minded next week’s episode being inside Hope’s mind which I reckon would have been a whole lot less Disney than Josie’s mind, a cheesy episode I enjoyed.

I just feel Handon reunited after one died and the other woke from a coma could have been more romantic or something, I do not ship Handon but they have had some really good shippable moments that I can not deny to the point I cannot deny them having a moment that forces me to ship them, this episode not being one of them.

So, we tackled Nimue’s involvement, Hope’s coma, Lizzie and Josie, Lizzie and MG, Landon’s brief death, and Raphael’s royal lineage which means it’s time to discuss Josie leaving to spend some quality time with her mother CAROLINE (Caroline Forbes easily being one of TVDverse’s greatest characters) Now a break from Josie I think is a great time not only to further herself but others when dealing without her, although I have a feeling her brief departure will not be very long at all.

Any mention of Caroline gets me screaming “Come back, Queen, come back!” and I know Candice King keeps saying never say never so each season I await only to be broken hearted for now two seasons in a row :( 

I get actors wanting to pursue other things, TVD was 8 years of that cast and crew’s life and TO was 5, so they deserve the break 1000%, I loved Freya’s return and I was never much of a fan of her character but it felt so needed for Hope and I cried at that reunion unashamedly. Which is why Caroline’s return would mean so much not just for fans of her character but for fans of the twins and finally getting to see mummy Caroline with grown daughters, on that same note bring back Rebekah Mikaelson, crazy aunt Bex would be perfect for a pop in to see her niece Hope.

Overall, this episode of Legacies easily goes into my do not rewatch unless your binging the show as a whole! It does have some great moments such as: Landon’s defiance over being revived, the overall campiness that is the necromancer and Lizzie putting Alyssa in her place, but it also has some horrible moments like Chad’s untimely death (loved him) Alyssa’s non exit, and literally everything Nimue related including the Shrek in armor villain of the week that they called the green knight.

NOTABLE MENTIONS

1) Chad’s dead, again! Only this time I feel like it’s a proper exit for the character, although hoping they bring him back. Love his scenes with the necromancer and even found myself shipping the two (Chad and Ted forever)

2) Josie’s off to see mummy Caroline, any mention of Caroline is notable. (Come back to us Caroline)

3) What the heck is going on with Lizzie’s hair? Is it a really bad wig or just styled so awful? It does not do the character or actress any justice whatsoever. (justice for Lizzie’s hair)

4) The Necromancer is clearly sticking around! Not to mention Alyssa and Raphael are still very much tied to him which we found out by Chad’s death (my heart keeps breaking)

5) MG, who is not my favorite character, is easily the character that shines the most in this particular episode. (MG on the rise?)

Episode Rating - 2/5 (Not the worst, but close)

[thecartoonarchivist]

Weekly Spotlight #5

Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the Weekly Spotlight!

This week’s spotlight is~

*panting... and a weak drumroll*

Batman Beyond!

Some of my earliest memories of this show was watching reruns of it on Toonami at oddball times back just before Toonami got moved to a daytime time slot. During this time period, I found it to be a little mature for me, a little dark, and a little hard to follow since around this time I was about 4 years old. Still, I remember thinking it was cool, simply because Batman was cool, but otherwise, I wasn’t all that interested.

Back a couple years ago however, something in my mind trigger my memory of this show, and it became pretty apparent to me that I had never actually sat down and watched this show all the way through. So, I did some searching, found out Netflix had it on demand and I sat down and watched it whenever I was free to do so. I’d watch it a couple episodes at a time as I didn’t want to binge the entire thing in one sitting and leave me wondering how I was going to fill the void after finishing such a good series. It became a nice treat to watch on evenings and weekends and became a nice ritual for me. I enjoyed it. 

However life became a little bit busy not too long later and I put the series to the side for a later date when things got a little less hectic. Besides, I was on the last episode and I really didn’t want to end the series just yet, so stepping away from the series didn’t seem like such a terrible thing to do. 

I didn’t get back to it. Netflix took it off streaming. I pretty much admitted I was never going to finish the series and that was the end of that. I knew that it also had a movie afterwards to wrap up the series, since it was suddenly cancelled and since THAT wasn’t on Netflix either, it was pretty easy to just walk away from the show altogether.

However, a couple months ago, I saw a clip on Youtube that went into the origins of Terry McGinnis, the star and Batman of this series. It was in a completely different animation style, so I assumed that it was the direct-to-video movie. I was intrigued. And seeing as there was no hope that I was going to see this movie any time soon, I thought, “What the hell? Spoilers never hurt anyone.” The info, that I’ll get to later, left me so disgusted and outraged that I vowed never to watch the movie.

All of these things swirled in the back of my mind the next couple months and here we are! It’s getting it’s own Weekly Spotlight! So let’s get into it’s background, shall we?

Batman Beyond is an animated TV series that was premiered on Cartoon Network’s Toonami and even showed over on Kids’ WB’s Toonami on January 10, 1999. Yeah, you heard me right: Kids’ WB also had Toonami. So, let me throw down a little bit of history for ya’ll.

Cartoon Network is owned by the Turner Broadcasting Company, which is a subsidiary of AT&T’s Warner Media. Yeah--- that Warner Media. The Warner Media that makes DC comics, and DC TV shows, and just about anything DC under the sun. That means that they not only own the rights to Batman Beyond, they own the rights to Toonami, and Cartoon Network, and Kids’ WB. So as an attempt to diversify Kids’ WB’s afternoon line-up, Kids’ WB “borrowed” Toonami from Cartoon Network and began showing their own individual line-up, separate from Cartoon Network’s line-up. There was a little bit of an overlap, as I recall, since many popular shows were underneath the Toonami name, but overall, they’re line-up was fairly different. In 2002, Toonami was dropped from Kids’ WB and was replaced with syndicate programming and infomercials. (Kids’ WB wasn’t doing the greatest in the “kids” department and eventually, was absorbed by Warner Bros.’s other channel The CW in 2008.)

So, Batman Beyond was interesting in that it was showing on two stations at the same time. My research indicates that it premiered first on Cartoon Network, and then would show over on Kids’ WB not too long later, but there’s a lot of conflicting sources in that regard. Pretty much the only thing I’m certain of is that it premiered new episodes on Toonami, but as far as whose Toonami, I have no idea.

Batman Beyond was an intended continuation of the “Batman legacy,” or more importantly, a follow-up to the legendary Batman: The Animated Series. At the helm of this ship was a man named, Bruce Timm, who was a co-creator of Batman: The Animated Series. He would go on to co-create and produce Static Shock, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and produce for Green Lantern: The Animated Series. This guy’s a legend. Although extremely popular amongst fans and critics alike, the short-lived series only had 3 seasons before it was placed on hiatus and eventually cancelled. The simple reason? Time. Having signed aboard with the creation and production of Justice League, Bruce Timm simply didn’t have the time to be working on both series, despite attempting for a little while. All plans for a 4th season were discarded, and as to whether there were any episodes produced or if there were simply ideas on a sheet of paper, only the production team themselves know the answer to that question.

So! Let’s get to the premise!

So, the beginning of this series actually opens up with Bruce Wayne still as Batman. While his company of Wayne Enterprises is dealing with competition by the Powers Corporation, Bruce is on the look-out for a girl who has been kidnapped in association with the Powers Corporation. (At least, that’s how I interpreted it.) He finds her, fights the baddies to save her, but in the midst of the tussle, Bruce starts to suffer a mild heart-attack. He tries his best to continue the fight but is quickly overpowered. Having had the living snot beat out of him, Bruce Wayne does the only thing he can do in this situation (still suffering a heart-attack mind you) and pick up a gun and aims it at his assailant. Freaked out by the fact that Batman is threatening to use a gun for the first time ever, he runs away to meet the cops outside. The girl is freed and Batman hobbles away completely disappointed in himself. He places the suit inside the Batcave, seals it all away and vows never again to have the caped crusader to see another night.

Fast forward 20 years. Gotham is practically a brand new city. There are flying cars everywhere. Tech is crazy and out the wazoo--- think something along the lines of a Cyberpunk aesthetic--- and Wayne Enterprises is now dealing with a hostile take-over by the Powers Corporation with Bruce Wayne surprisingly absent from the whole affair. Gotham, as always, is dealing with rampant crime; one of the most vocal and trouble-making groups being the Jokerz--- a gang with its members dressed up in outfits very similar in style to the original Joker gang. Enter in Terry McGinnis: he’s just your typical teenager dealing with girl problems, bullies, and a real bad habit of placing his foot inside his mouth whenever he gets angry. 

Having been grounded by his Dad for punching a kid at school for spitting on him, Terry sneaks out to meet his girlfriend at a local club. While there, the Jokerz show up and Terry quickly comes to the aid of his girlfriend and tries to teach these pranksters a lesson. Quickly overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, Terry steals a motorcycle and thus a good ol’ motorcycle chase begins. Finding himself outside of Wayne Manor, Terry runs into Bruce Wayne, almost hitting him with the motorcycle. Bruce Wayne tells him to get off his property, but with the Jokerz showing up mere seconds later, they team up to fight them off (Bruce doing most of the ass-kicking despite his crazy old age.) Terry turns to thank him but finds that Bruce is near collapse and needs help getting to his manor where his medicine is. Having gotten his medicine, Bruce falls asleep and Terry takes this opportunity to explore a little bit. Finding a bat trapped in an old grandfather clock, Terry stumbles upon the Batcave and all its contents. Bruce finds him in the Batcave and subsequently throws Terry out of both the Batcave and his property.

Terry, miffed about the whole experience, returns home to find the police swarming his Dad’s apartment. Questioning his Mom what happened, apparently, the Jokerz surprised him while he was at home and murdered him. Having fought with his Dad only hours before he was killed, Terry is distraught, wracked with grief, and determined to figure out who it was who killed his father. Looking amongst his Dad’s old possessions, Terry finds a disk with some suspicious looking info on it and goes back to Wayne Manor to solicit Bruce’s help. After a series of events, Bruce agrees to take him on formally as his personal assistant who chauffeurs him around and picks up items that he is unable to get himself, but secretly, he’s training him to become his successor and to become the new Batman! 

Whew... I think that’s my longest premise to date! (I basically had to summarize the first 2 episodes because it sets up basic situation for the entire series. It’s a lot to take in...)

So...let’s start off with the animation.

As you can see from the previous gifs thus far, for how old this series is the animation is is really fluid. The fight scenes are clean. The attention to detail is so fantastic. Even the character expression are so subtle and beautiful that it’s just so hard not to feel for the characters whenever tragedy strikes. But... it’s also dated. Since many of the backgrounds are hand-painted, a lot of fights on city rooftops, or bridges, or even sinister laboratories are pretty generic and even recycled from time to time. The color palette, although unique enough to give it its own funky style, is... yikes... And the intro? God, it just screams the 90s.

Since I can’t get any other gifs of the intro to work, if you want to see it in all its 90s glory, here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMXjtvMAFlI It’s so cheesy and awful and terrible. I fucking love it.

The soundtrack is this weird... 90s punk with a twinge of metal, with its shredding electric guitar and electronically distorted bass as well as some... electronic additions? Honestly, if the intro didn’t sell you on how old this series is, the soundtrack does. For the most part, the soundtrack sounds like an regular action cartoon series, but went that electronic guitar kicks in.... *whistles* It’s bad.

As for the rest of the show? It’s... it’s fucking fantastic. You’d think that writing for a teenage protagonist, especially a Batman teenage protagonist, they’d really hype up the melodrama and the angst to the point that it’s just flat-out cringe-worthy. I mean, all you have to do is google the recent dystopia craze that’s been plaguing teen action movies to see how... cringey the protagonists are. And I mean, how was a 19-year-old action animation not only touch on the stress of being a teenager, but also one whose Dad is murdered in the first episode of the series? It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. 

Turns out... they actually did a really great job of writing Terry. He really does seem like any other male teen you’d meet in high school. A lot of people try to talk about how teenage angst is just so terrible and awful to watch and that it’s flat-out cringey. The problem is that teenage angst is a real thing and if it’s written-correctly, it actually seems believable. The interesting part about Terry’s case that makes him an actually interesting character instead of a walk-talking edgelord is that a lot of his “angst” comes from a place that he believes is injustice. He believes that a lot of people are being unfair (and in some cases, they really are) and so he goes out to fix these “injustices.” Problem is that in his attempt to “fix” things, he actually makes things worse. He doesn’t see that other people’s decisions are actually made to protect him, or made for other reasons that he can’t see. So instead, he rushes in headlong and unprepared, running his mouth because he feels he’s doing the right thing, and ends up getting himself in deeper trouble. I felt a connection with Terry because although he was a punk kid getting into trouble, causing fights and mouthing off to his parents, he’s just somebody trying to make the world a better place and ultimately, failing really bad at it. He makes stupid decisions because he doesn’t think things through. He thinks that he knows best, when in all reality, he isn’t even playing with a full deck of cards. And it’s because of these character flaws that I love Terry and it’s what makes him so interesting to watch. And the best part is? When Terry realizes he fucks up, he admits it. He apologizes. He even cries because he’s made a mistake that he can’t ever undo. He’s not some idiot who thinks he’s better than everyone else--- he’s just an idiot who’s trying to make the world a better place. And that’s really cool. They wrote him with real emotions and a realistic responses to stressful situations that never came across as melodramatic. Instead of writing him as a teen who has emotions, they wrote him as a person with emotions who just happens to be a teen. And that’s just fucking awesome.

I loved Bruce’s and Terry’s dynamic. You had grouchy, old Bruce who’s just way too tired for this shit, helping out sassy, back-talking teenager Terry that made for fantastic snark sessions. Like... the sarcasm was palpable between these two and I loved every second of it. The fact that this series won numerous awards when it debuted isn’t surprising because it’s just a treat to watch the misadventures of these two sass-masters is fucking great. 

As far as Terry’s home life, it seems pretty realistic. Terry’s got a little brother named, Matt, and as an individual who has a little brother myself, the interactions are pretty realistic. The little arguments, the nit-picking, the pranks--- all of them felt pretty true to life. Now, the interesting thing about this series is that the martial status of the McGinnis’s are unknown. Although Terry’s Dad gets murdered in the first episode, Terry makes a comment about wishing to live with his mom instead of his dad, which leaves the impression that the two are divorced. However, later on, as the origins of Terry are revealed in further detail, it’s pretty heavily implied that Terry’s parents were together before Terry’s dad’s death so... I don’t know. However, Terry still seems to deal with normal teenage problems: fights with his mom, annoyances from his little brother, stresses of schoolwork, a girlfriend that wishes he was more around, problems with kids at school and his friends. When you layer that on with the grace in which they write Terry’s character, it produces a very believable character that you can build a connection with and feels hella realistic. I completely approve.

Honestly, although all of it is so... dated, the aesthetic is pretty pleasing. It’s weird enough that makes you think, Ew, what the fuck? but also the fact that it’s set in an unnamed (yes, unnamed--- I’ll get to this later) future, makes you go, Oh. Okay. Weird, but interesting. If you want a famous example to compare it to, think Samurai Jack. Otherwise, see Cyber-six for a similar cyberpunk, futuristic tech vibe. Speaking of future timelines, the show’s idea of teenage lingo in the future is just so... laughable. You constantly hear teens say that things are so, “Schway” or let slip a fake curse word, “Frag.” It’s terrible. I legitimately thought it was something that kids used to say back then but after doing some research, I realized how ridiculous it actually was. Just as a tip: if you’re going to change the way people speak in your writing, you’re going to have to change a pretty much all of common speech in order to make something like this natural. Otherwise, it just looks more and more stupid as it ages.

Each episode is a villain of the week with a couple of two-parters here and there. Although there isn’t much in terms of an overarching story, there are references to previous episodes and encounters, so watching these in some sort of relative order is pretty recommended. There were also a number of interesting cross-over/reference episodes, which I found myself pretty surprised by. But I guess it also made sense, seeing as it was a very popular series that ended way before its time. In the beginning, the writing’s a little clunky, and the animation is a bit fuzzy, however, it’s a series that ages better overtime; the pilot is pretty fucking good one-two punch. But as I was watching it, I couldn’t help but laugh at the melodramatic close-ups and the pauses between some dramatic lines of dialogue. I never felt that the drama itself was melodramatic. Just the way they presented it.

In a lot of ways, this series is very dark and mature (especially the movie like holy shit it’s fucked up) which is really ironic considering it was intended for kids. However, they never really showed any gruesome deaths, showed pretty much negligible amounts of blood, and honestly, the majority of the “dark” stuff would pretty much go over kids heads. I say this as someone who has watched this show once or twice as a teeny child. I always knew bad stuff was happening, but I don’t think it ever really hit me as to the gravity of the situation. Yet, I also remember labeling this as a “big kids’ show” growing up so... who really knows. But for the best amount of enjoyment, I’d recommend this more to teens or young adults than for kids. It seems more up their alley. 

Now... let me touch a little bit about the movie and subsequent crossover episodes that were released after the series ended.

The direct-to-video movie that “wrapped up” the series so to speak wasn’t what I thought it was. It was a fantastic, dark, macabre, sinister ending to a great series. I think I’ll save my thoughts on that for a different post. But to give you a little taste: it involves brainwashing, a child murdering a fucking adult, a whole lot of guilt and regret, and even a bit of a hostage situation so... Yeah. It’s great. I highly recommend. Don’t be afraid of what I said before.

However. There is an episode in the Justice League Unlimited which is supposed to reveal the secret origins of Terry McGinnis. What supposedly happened is that Amanda Waller (or the lady that ran the Suicide Squad) saw that Bruce Wayne was getting older and would eventually have to retire as Batman. Knowing that Gotham wouldn’t survive without some sort of Batman out there, Waller concocted a plan in which she would make sure that Batman would live on forever. What she did was without Bruce’s knowledge, she took a bit of his DNA and made it into a serum that would overwrite the host’s reproductive code to that of Bruce Wayne’s. She found a neo-Gotham couple that had a psychologically identical match to that of Bruce’s parents, Terry’s mom and dad, and injected it into Terry’s dad in the guise of a flu shot. This means that Bruce Wayne is Terry McGinnis’s father. Waller, then, concocted a scheme to get Terry’s parents murder but after the assassin called Waller out on her shady tactic, the project was dropped. It was just sheer coincidence that Bruce and Terry met and that Terry’s father got murdered in an unrelated incident. Here’s the thing: the great and fantastic aspect of Terry’s McGinnis’s character is that we finally saw a Batman, a successful Batman at that, that was neither Bruce’s child nor a Robin or a Batwoman/girl that he basically housed and raised. He was a completely unrelated kid who took up the mantle of being the next Batman. The Batman was no longer a person, but a symbol, and that’s one of the things that made Terry’s Batman so fantastic! But this episode completely ruins Terry. It’s awful. Especially when you consider the fact that they didn’t even have the guts to make their own movie about it with the original crew, they simply slapped it on as in after thought in series that fans may or may not follow to. It’s terrible! A complete afterthought! 

It also comes with some interesting implications. As I said before, when the series begins, we get the implication that Terry’s parents are divorced and he resents the fact that he’s living with his dad against his wishes. If Terry’s parents are a psychologically identical match to Bruce Wayne’s parents (which, what the fuck does that even mean???) does that mean that Bruce Wayne’s parents were eventually bound for divorce? Something to think about.

For those Batman fans out there, I’m not entirely sure where this series fits into the whole Batman continuity. First off, there’s no reference at all to Jason Todd--- especially not in the movie, which seems kind of odd considering that Tim Drake plays a big role in the movie itself. Part of me says that it has to do with the fact that Jason Todd fucking died yo and you can’t really put that in a children’s TV show/movie. But at the same time, with the shit they wrote in the movie and the other dark and fucked up things they put in the movie, it seems odd they wouldn’t at least mention it... An interesting thing to note as well is the fact that this was before the movie Under The Red Hood was made, so the Jason Todd resurrection canonically hasn’t happened yet. So the fact that there’s no reference to The Red Hood makes sense. This is also before the rather... problematic origin of Damian Wayne has been created, so again, no references to Damian Wayne despite the fact that Talia al Ghul makes an appearance in the series. However, the TV show was resurrected into a comic book series that continues to this day. Having not read them myself, I have no idea what the current status as far as Terry’s origins/relevance within the continuity. But I am eager to find out.

Overall, this series was a wild ride! I loved every minute of it, and sitting down and watching not only the episode and movie that I hadn’t before but a couple of my favorites made me fall in love with the series all over again. I’m so upset that it ended.

Rating this series out of 10, this easily earns an 8.5 on my scale.

It’s aged pretty poorly. I can’t deny that. And for that reason, although I want to give it a 9, it really is deserving only deserving of an 8.5. Despite that though, this series is easily one of my favorites. I love sitting down and rewatching it and the intro always gets me hyped despite the fact that I’ve seen it a thousand times already. If you haven’t seen this series already, go fucking watch it. Seriously. It’s sssooooooo gooooooddddd. I’ll always have fond memories of this show. And the moment that they discuss bringing it back, given that they have a good writer/producer/animator and all that, I will be the first person on board for that reboot. It was such a good show for how short-lived it was. It’s simply tragic...

If there are any corrections you’d like to make in regards to this post, please feel free to send me a message with your corrections and I’ll get back to it as soon as I can!

Do you remember a cartoon your friends have never heard of? Got a scene from an animated film that you’re dying to know the name to? Send your questions to The Cartoon Archivist and I’ll see what I’ve got in the vault!

[donheisenberg]

Top 20 TV Shows of 2017:

So this is the bit where I talk about how difficult it is to write a top 20 list because of peak TV, yada, yada, yada. If you are into TV criticism you have read it all before several over the last few years, the thing is while it might feel like a cliche it is totally true and with every year it become more true. Trying to watch everything out there is impossible and trying to then narrow down what you have watched to a list of 20 is almost as difficult. Every show on this list had an outstanding year as shown by some of the shows I left off of the list. In any other year the likes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Americans would be givens even if they just had middling seasons but not this year. It was truly a great year for TV and here are my top 20 shows of 2017.

Shows I Did Not Get Around to Watching/Completing That May Have Made My List: The Deuce The Handmaid’s Tail (to watch) Legion (to watch) Better Things Search Party Difficult People

Honorable Mention: Rick and Morty (season 3): Shout out to Review as well, which was excellent but just had to few episodes for me to really count it. In terms of Rick and Morty it was often in the news (or at least the twitter news) for the wrong reasons this year as a group of its fans decided to act like complete dickheads for a period of time. All of which deflected from the fact it had its best season ever. I’ve always had issues with the show and basically how pro-Rick and his asshole behavior Harmon and co seem to be and this year didn’t necessarily dissuade me of that but on a week to week basis it was crafting, ambitious and well thought out stories, at a rate the show had never before.

No 20: Fargo (season 3): As many observed this was not Fargo’s finest year and it maybe took a while to get going. It is also the case that 3 seasons in it is tougher for a show as idiosyncratic as this one to surprise us. When a seemingly major character dies in episode 1 it is less of a shock than it should be because that is what happened in season 1. Yet at the same time I so enjoyed this season and the performances by the likes of Carrie Coon (more on her later), Ewan MacGregor and David Thewlis and you still had episodes as excellent as The Law of Non-Contradiction.

No 19) Veep (season 6): Similar to Fargo this was a just slightly below average year for Veep, but even then the quality of the ensemble is so far above any other comedy out there and the quality of the writing/jokes/insults is again just of the highest order. There are few shows I enjoy more than Veep.

No 18) Master of None (Season 2): In my review I did write about how aspects of MON did frustrate me. For it’s social awareness, it is a show that wants me to desperately feel sorry for the man with seemingly the nicest/most privileged life in the world. The extent to which the show is essentially lifestyle porn at times can be a problem and the extent to which the show never questions Dev’s actions can also be a little off-putting. Yet having said that the good outweighs the bad and then some. The show crafts so many beautiful fully realized episodes and months after watching it is episodes like Thanksgiving that stick with me, more than the show’s flaws.

No 17) The Young Pope (Season 1): I’m not sure I get The Young Pope. I love it but I’m not sure I get it. Even in this age of weird TV there is something truly odd about this show. So difficult to write about because it does not conform to any conventions or labels and that’s why it makes this list. Having said all of this I’m not quite sure the show ever hit the heights of its pilot (even if it remained excellent throughout) and that’s why it is not a little bit higher.

No 16) Brockmire (Season 1): Brockmire is exactly the sort of gem that can get lost in this golden age, but for those few of us who did see it we know that it was one of the most raucous, hilarious and endearing comedies out there. I don’t know or care about baseball at all but I do love Brockmire and can’t wait til it comes back.

No 15) Brooklyn Nine Nine (season 4/5): Just as Brockmire can get lost in a sea of amazing shows, B99 is the sort of show that you can take for granted so easily but 5 seasons in and it is still full of heart and brilliant gags. More than that though this year on a couple of occasions we saw the show break-out of its comfort zone with episodes about Terry being racially profiled and more recently Rosa coming out to her less than progressive parents. Those episodes showcased a different side of the show and demonstrated how B99 is not just a great sitcom but an important one. Nine Nine!

No 14) Preacher (Season 2): Parts of season 2 of Preacher were as good as anything on TV. The opening scenes of the first two episodes, as well as standout episode Sokosha plus a whole host of other moments, showed how Preacher could execute some of the most ambitious TV out there to near perfection. It was not all perfect and the season might have benefited from being 10 episode long rather than 12 but nonetheless I love this show and it seems to only go in one direction. Bring on season 3.

No 13) GLOW (Season 1): GLOW was sort of the perfect summer show. It was funny and likable and so binge-able. Netflix makes a lot of deeply serialized shows, designed to be consumed in one sitting so as you find out what happens next. Glow was not that. What GLOW was, was a show that quickly established an ensemble of distinct and interesting characters who you wanted to spend time with and for that it was a standout show.

No 12) Better Call Saul (Season 3): It pains me to put BCS at number 12, in any other year this could be a contender for my number 1 spot but here it does quite make the top ten. Part of the reason why it is a little lower than you might have excepted is that at this stage I don’t have to tell anyone how good this show is. Into it’s third season and BCS was possibly better than ever. Certainly episodes like the chilling Lantern and in particular Chicanery mark series high points and some of the finest TV I’ve seen all year.

No 11) American Vandal (Season 1): American Vandal is a curious show. It is ostensibly a parody, yet by the time you finish it you look back and think that was funny but not funny enough to be making this list necessarily. What it was though was the most engrossing show of the year. And it all centred on the question “who drew the dicks?” Yet for the silliness of the premise I could not have been more intrigued. AV found new ground for the most tired of sub-genres, the mockumentary and in the process delivered an absurd but in many ways tragic story of a stupid but well meaning kid in high school whose life goes array for reasons that have little to do with him. Defining the pleasures of the show may not be straight, but boy was it insanely watchable-the Netflix model at its best.

No 10 )Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 3): Similar to B99, UKS is the sort of consistent joke machine that you can take for granted, and that many have, but for me this year there were few shows enjoyed nearly as much as it. I thought the show delivered its best season. The work of Ellie Kemper and in particular Titus Burgess can match any comedic performers on TV. Again though amidst all the laughs is a very human character study piece of an abuse victim and maybe where the show’s genius thoroughly lies  is in the way the show balances these two sides of itself.

No 9) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Seasons 2/3): Rachel Bloom’s musical comedy/drama goes from strength to strength. Like many shows of this list it perfectly balances cartoonish sensibilities with discussions on mental health and never more so than in the first half of season 3. In addition to that though are the musical numbers. At times I’m just in awe of how spot on and clever their parodies, my favorite this year being “Let’s Generalize About Men” and for that it had to make my top ten.

No 8) Bojack Horseman (Season 4): In its 2nd and particularly 3rd seasons Bojack became a show that delivered some of the most outstanding individual episodes of television, possibly ever. Escape From LA, Fish Under Water and That’s Too Much Man are just incomparable half hours of TV. Season 4 did not deliver a single episode of quite that standard. What season 4 did do though is deliver quite possibly the show’s most consistent, revealing and hopefully season. Something we all needed at the end of the show’s previous season.

No 7) Catastrophe (Season 3): Okay it was only 6 episodes along, but I ask this question every year, is there a better written show on TV? There might be snappier dialogue out there, there might be more profound existential musings on some other show, but there is no show with more wonderfully naturalistic dialogue on now or possibly ever. Also there is not really a couple of TV I root for quite as much as Sharon and Rob and I really just want to watch the two of them on screen together as much as possible.Plus the final episode of season 3 was just the perfect send-off for Carrie Fisher and for that alone it deserves it place on my list.

No 6) Jane The Virgin (Season 3/4): Now four seasons in Jane the Virgin still has the power to surprise and hit me emotionally as much as just about any show on this list. I would go as far as to stay no episode of television this year hit me as hard as (spoilers) Michael’s death which was absolutely devestating. But when it comes to Jane the Virgin it is not just the big gut-punches that count, it is the smaller moments as well. The other scene that sticks with me most from its episodes this year is when Rogelio (often the show’s most comic presence) opens up to Xo about how he hasn’t been able to grieve properly for Michael, who was his best friend, because he knew he had to be strong for Jane while she was grieving. It is a comparatively small moment but every bit as resonant. I can take or leave all the intrigue concerning the Marbella but week after week the show delivers moments that really effect me, which even in this golden age can’t be said of too many show.

No 5) Twin Peaks (Season 3): It seems to me that Twin Peaks has either been number 1 or completely absent from every critics list. And I can understand both positions. Twin Peaks was fascinating in a way that television and art more generally rarely is. It was also incredibly and deliberately frustrating at times. I’m almost reluctant to point out how obviously frustrating parts of the revival were because I feel like I might be missing something. On the other hand because its Lynch and because he is a widely and rightly acknowledge genius I think some critics have been too forgiving of some pretty blatant narrative issues, that on another show they would have lambasted. Ultimately though it was the TV event of the year and nothing quite engaged me on a week to week basis like it did. More than anything though there were certain moments, particularly toward the end of the season, that were greater than anything else on TV this year. Moments I completely lost myself in, in ways that are quite difficult to explain and for that I won’t be forgetting the revival for a very long time.

No 4) Mr Robot (Season 3): If season 1 was clinically perfect, in a way no show since Breaking Bad has been, season 2 was an over-ambitious, definitely fascinating, mess. I was a bit of an apologist for the largely disliked second season-but even I was somewhat disappointed after the heights of season 1. Season 3 not only got the show back on track but it found a balance in the ensemble that neither season 1 (which was almost all Elliot) or season 2 (which felt like very little Elliot) had. It also starting making sense again and the show successfully battled the urge to be overly opaque or to have unnecessary twists. All of which meant that we got some of the show’s finest hours yet specifically the thrilling fifth and sixth episodes as well as the surprising and heart-warming eight hour, not to mention the finale which had a bit of everything. And for all its pessimism few shows made me happier this year, because I was so delighted to see this great show prove all the doubters wrong.

No 3) The Good Place (season 1/2): Michael Schur has secured himself a place in TV history with The Office, B99 and in particular Parks and Rec, already but with The Good Place he has gone one further. We all knew he could craft wonderfully funny and likable sitcoms, but here he has delivered a show as twisty and as engaged in huge philosophical issues as any prestige serialized drama. The Good Place is not necessarily a sad-com like many of the show’s on this list but it is possibly the most plot driven network sitcom ever. The thing is the plot has real stakes and is completely unpredictable as well. The huge twist at the end of season 1 showed that even in the age of Reddit you could pull out the rug from underneath your audience and I did not think that was possible. I don’t know how much longer they can continue it but as of now The Good Place is just about a perfect piece of television. 

No 2) Halt and Catch Fire (Season 4): Without spoiling what is number 1 on my list, when it aired I thought nothing would come near it but Halt and Catch Fire came very very close. Back in its much derided first season Halt was a jukebox spitting one antihero cliche after another. In some ways it never strayed too far from the conventions of the antihero drama but what made it different was that at a certain point it just wasn’t about antiheroes. Sure all the characters were deeply flawed, none more so than Joe, but their constant strive for something more, for some kind of connection felt so human you could not help but love them. The final four episodes were TV drama at its best and when it ended I really struggled with the notion that I would not be spending more time with these characters, but if anything made it okay it was how well they stuck the landing. Speaking of which..

No 1) The Leftovers (Season 3): No show has ever made quite the impact in such a short space of time. The Leftovers conclude its mere 28 episode run this year, just 28 episodes yet about half of them are nothing short of masterpieces. That includes just about every episode in this final run. It’s tough in just a paragraph to breakdown what made The Leftovers such a transcendent piece of television-so to be glib I’ll say it took the ambition and phantasmagoria of Twin Peaks and combined it with the heart and focus on character of Halt and Catch Fire. LOST-one of my absolute favorite shows of all time-will define Lindelof’s career but The Leftovers is ultimately a more complete and mature piece of work. The writing, performances and direction coalesced to give us something often hilarious and surprising and always deeply powerful. There may never be a show like The Leftovers again and for those reasons it was always going to be my number 1. 

[greyliliy]

Is it ok if I ask about your thoughts on BNHA canon content? It is about the, dynamics I guess, between Shigaraki, Deku and Kacchan. IMO Shigaraki seems like one of the few people we have seen Deku declare that he does not accept or understand and in return Shigaraki put Deku on his kill list and promised to kill him next time he sees him. Meanwhile, despite saying he dislikes rude people etc and after Kacchan blows the hand of his father off his face which by the way Kurogiri reacts is 1/?

is making a death wish, Shigaraki still thinks kacchan is important enough to tolerate. [I know it’s meant to signify Shigaraki maturing but like to think it might imply he still has some big and specific plans to tolerate Kacchan as much as he does given how petty he is with Overhaul later- which is another thing I’ll get back to.] On Kacchan’s side, when Shigaraki was having a break down at the sight of All Might, Kacchan is drawn taking particular note and I saw some thoughts that perhaps 2/?

[Long Post! See under the cut. XD]

(Post number 3 didn’t make it, Sorry!)

-this might signify, since Deku has a sort of block between him and Shigaraki even though their development parallels, that Kacchan will be the hero to get closer to this villain in the future. Going back to the Overhaul thing. Shigaraki takes Overhauls arms to take his quirk in revenge for Overhauls actions to the LOV but also because overhaul looked down on him. It makes me think Shigaraki have few traits in common, pettiness, sensitive about getting looked down on and emotional immaturity 4/?

-Shigaraki seems more co-operative and laid back than Kacchan and he is more like Deku in the sense of starting rubbish but getting better. Still the need to be the ‘winner’ (Forgot his pettiness over Stain as well) and what he thinks he can entice Kacchan to his side for (besides the 'being kept down stuff’). When Stain and Deku shared their All Might preferences, Shigaraki was all “your dead to me” whereas, again, Kacchan does exactly the same and he’s still “I need that”. To me it’s a 5/?

-to me, how I have understood events, it’s an interesting difference and potential plot point that is not discussed much and I am still wondering, does it mean Shigaraki will try to get Kacchan again, will Kacchan be someone who starts noticing Shigaraki’s behaviour more to start delving into Shigaraki’s complex over All Might? It feels like no one else brings those questions up so I feel like I missed the closure of it or something. Sorry this got so long, I felt the need to explain myself. End

It is always okay to ask! :D I don’t always answer right away~ But I love talking series meta. :3

Hm. I do think it would be an interesting turn of events if it does end up being Katsuki who is the ultimate one to reach out to Shigaraki. It might even tie into that “You’ll be heroes that win AND save” comment, showing that it belongs to both of them individually as well as together.

I don’t have a whole lot to add right now as I haven’t seen/read any of Shigaraki and Katsuki’s interactions yet (I’m waiting to binge Season 3 and I don’t read the manga outside of occasionally looking up spoilers when fandom makes references I don’t get), so I’ll have to wait and see, but I am starting to like the idea of them interacting.

But I can say for the All Might comment - I think Bakugou might have gotten a pass because of his reason for liking All Might.

“Winning.”

Katsuki wants to be a Hero because the Heroes WIN.**

That’s not the same attitude of “Heroes are justice and are always there to help and we should step back and let them save the day” attitude that Shigaraki despises.

Even Stain had a lot of big noble “All Might is the only true Hero that saves people” attitude, much like Izuku.

Katsuki on the other hand, with his “Heroes Win” declaration is a very simple, selfish, straight forward motive that is more instinctual and guttural, which is ultimately what Shigaraki seems to be looking more for and toward. (The “Do what you want.” attitude.)

To someone on the outside like Shigaraki, Katsuki’s a very simple, selfish, character and I think he can relate to that much easier than people with more complicated motives and ideals like Izuku.

Shigaraki likely genuinely feels that Katsuki would be more at home on the “Do whatever you want” side than a side that’s bound by rules and restrictions. He looks like a guy that would be even more amazing if he was allowed to cut loose freely, and Shigaraki wants to see that chaos.

It’s all fun to think about and now I know that’s what I’ll be doing when I finally sit down and watch this season. xD

**Or at least that’s what he tells them. I’m sure Katsuki started with this and is slowly moving on to learn what other parts there are to being a hero, but his shallow/outside motives are very clearly “Heroes win, Villains Lose. I win, therefore I’ll be A Hero.”

[dreamscript]

HEY IT ME AGAIN-- LITERALLY SAME I GOT SICK AND LIKE IM STILL COUGHING AND I WANT IT TO STOP. LIKE. RIGHT. NOW. I hope you feel better soon! I can only imagine how bad you're suffering! Make sure to get lots of rest and binge watch Naruto hehehehe// I got sick around Christmas so it's kinda just here// But yeah lol just excuse me late responses (; 7 ; ) and yas girl just embrace you're inner otaku its okay xD (i wanna re-read Naruto actually//) OMG YES PLZ I LOVE YOUR FICS AND-

{CONT} YO HOW DARE YOU WRITE THAT JUNGKOOK FIC IM SHOOKED JKSDFNKJD// LMAO IF THAT AINT ME IN ANY MATH CLASS FUKFFKFKKFKF BUT ITS OKAY YOU CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IN YOU! There was freezing rain here a day or so ago. That was fun . u . (sobs) IF YOU COULD TWEEK MY BLOG OMG ID LOVE THAT. But the theme isn’t originally mine and I’d assume the original owner wouldn’t want the original code changed?

{CONT} IDK I wanted to change my theme for a while now // Something not endless scroll but just boxes for previews? Also I wanted a minimalistic theme based with pastel colours and black and white hehe/ ANYWAY NO NO WORRIES SOMETIMES IM JUST HERE WONDERING IF YOONGI SUED BIGHIT FOR DYING HIS HAIR TOO FREQUENTLY AND NOW HE BALD (LOL) BUT YEAH APPARENTLY THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO HAVE A COMEBACK IN FEBRUARY AND MY WALLET IS UPSET. I ALSO WANT THE NEW ARMY STICK FOR NO GOOD REASON AT ALL LOL

{CONT 3 xD} I’ve only read Naruto Manga so if you wanna screech with me about that lets do it ahaha/ HECK YES I WILL READ THEIR FIC- I WILL NOT STUDY JAHAJSDSDKJF Shout out to Cat and Fae too like i seriously love their fics- your Christmas series had me shooked!! Anyways I have so much work to do and so i will bother you later :) - Sakura !

IM HEALED AND BETTER NOW THANK YOU I HOPE YOU’RE FINE NOW TOO??!?! but i remember my doctor telling me once that if you’re still coughing like a month later you should get it checked out or something D:

and oh. my. god.

naruto.

LISTEN I LITERALLY CRY EVERYTIME IT MAKES ME SO EMO. I WATCHED NARUTO THE ROAD TO NINJA MOVIE LIKE TWO NIGHTS AGO AND I CRIED LIKE A BABY WATCHING HIM INTERACT WITH HIS PARENTS AND ALL LIKE D’:: highkey still hated on sasuke though

but yeah no it’s okay! i have super late responses as of late…. and it’s really only because i’ve been too emotionally spent by the end of the day or tired or busy or just “not feeling it”

idk, but i hope to get back into being more active. i miss this place. i miss interacting with others, as little of it i seem to be doing right now (guh _ _)

LOL I HAVE SO MANY SEX SCENES ALREADY PREWRITTEN OUT FOR HTE JUNGKOOK FIC AND SO NOW THAT I’VE GOT THE HARDEST PARTS DONE, IT’S JUST DOWN TO FILLING IN THE PLOT AND SUCH. aaaand that’s kinda hard too, but i think i’ll manage. hopefully.

(help)

dude it was rainy and windy and cold today and i had to go outside and the entire time i was walking/running/dying to class i was thinking a) why b) this was a Mistake

ah well in regards to your theme, usually the theme makers are okay with minor changes (sometimes major ones too) as long as you keep the credit and the changes are for personal use (as opposed to commercial use/redistribution, etc). just to be sure, you can just check their rules. they usually have that whole page/pop up or will simply include it in their theme code.

hmm what do you mean by boxes for previews? i don’t think i’ve ever seen such as thing. it sounds interesting, though. are they previews for like posts or…?

YEAH OMG I’M REALLY EXCITED BECAUSE FEBRUARY IS BOTH MINE AND ALSO @taesthetes​‘ BIRTHDAY MONTH SO ITS LIKE A BIRTHDAY PRESENT WOOHOO

thank you for loving our collaboration! i’m still amazed on how quickly we got things put together and everything… honestly… cat and @zephyoongist​ are so talented i don’t know what i’m doing here :’) (or where i would be without them)

and now finally…

(for the maaaain event)…

okaY OKAY I WILL SCREECH WITH YOU ABOUT NARUTO. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. just under the cut because spoilers:

I’M SUCH AN EMOTIONAL WRECK OVER NARUTO THE ONLY BEST WAY I CAN TRULY EXPRESS MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AT THE MOMENT IS JUST THROUGH BULLET POINTS SO:

i love kakashi

i also love gaara. i can’t choose between the two, but lately i’ve been more biased towards kakashi. i blame it on my sister because she’s always had a thing for him

(i still love you gaara its okay my sand child)

kakashi’s backstory had me in tears… like… with obito died and he’s telling kakashi he’ll give him his sharingan (the sharingan that he’d always been talking about that would get him to hokage) to be his eye to see the future…

i just..

fucking broke down man like dude… stop… you’re killing me here… and then how kakashi really changes afterwards

(okay but listen child kakashi was savage as fuck though and it was hilarious)

(also i know it’s a filler but that one episode in which it showed guy and kakashi comparing dick sizes as kids….,,..,.

….,,..i wasn’t expecting that at all but i don’t mind the info heheheheh heh /dies)

OKAY BUT THEN RIN DIES WHY

literally if she hadn’t died a lot of the issues in naruto wouldn’t have occurred but they fucking did

no i’m not blaming her she died for a noble reason okay it just makes me really sad i’m sorry

AND FINALLY MINATO DIES TOO AND KAKASHI IS THE LAST OF HIS TEAM IM EMO

on a side note minato and kushina were cute as fuck

ANYWAYS GAARA OH MY OH MY GOD MY POOR BABY as a kid he was so cute and just wanted some friends and was out helping all those villagers and such but then his damned dad just had to go and screw those things up like STOP IT HE;S MY CHILD

even though i love those two, my favorites are actually the akatsuki

like. they hate each other but istg they secretly love each other like have you seen kakuzu and hidan’s interactions??? they tease and insult and threaten (and have killed) each other but kakuzu is actually patient with hidan’s rituals and such, and hidan will still accompany kakuzu to the collection centers

also, when he sees asuma’s guardian shinobi thing the first thing that comes to mind is kakuzu and how he’d want him for the money and he’s like u gh but like !!!

and AND when hidan at first thinks he’s accidentally killed kakuzu in his fight with shikamaru & co., he has that look of panic ooooh my god I JUST GASHUDFJSDIJASD

also hidan is just hilarious. like when they go to recruit him he’s like “who are you guys, all wearing the same clothes?? are you guys an orchestra or band or something?”

/points at kakuzu/ bet you play the bass

/points at konan/ bet the girl does vocals and keyboards

/points at itachi/ …or do you do vocals…?

and then the first thing hidan and kakuzu do to each other is kill each other

the look of utter disbelief on both of their faces

“what the–why aren’t you dead?”

“bitch that hurt–wait. why aren’t you dead?”

but anyways we can’t forget about itachi and kisame either, now can we?? like. they are actually like the only partner group that openly got along with each other, and they were sad oh my god they were sad upon realizing each other’s death’s

and idk just the way kisame says “itachi-san” does something to me

 i t a c h i

oh boy i have so much to say about this kid

but before i move on i must! address! the others!!

okay so like deidara is actually op as fuck and sometimes idk i feel like he doesnt get enough credit?? idk.

BUT LIKE LISTEN OKAY HE GOES THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS TO SEAL THE ICHIBI AKA SHUKAKU AKA GAARA’S TAILED BEAST and then immediately after decides to take on naruto (and kakashi)

AND HE ONLY HAD ONE ARM AT THE TIME HAVING JUST LOST ONE IN HIS FIGHT WITH GAARA LIKE WHAT IS THIS STAMINA AND HOW DOES HE NOT BLEED OUT THIS KID IS FUCKING AMAZING WHAT THE HELL

and he’s 19 like lol what bye

but anyways, after his “fight” he loses his other arm because kakashi and now he’s armless BUT THIS KID STILL HOLDS HIS OWN though completely on the defense AGAINST TEAM GAI LIKE WHAT THE FUCK HE’S AMAZING and then he manages to create a bomb without using any sort of handseals and fools them all into thinking he’s dead

like

i love this boy give him a metal why did he have to die so early why (yet another reason why i dislike sasuke lmfao)

black zetsu scares the fuck out of me (esp when i learned of his true past and intentions) but white zetsu!! he’s such a sweetie holy shit

I JUST REALLY LIKED THAT TIME WHEN HE BURSTS INTO THE 5 KAGE SUMMIT AND HE’S LIKE “HALLLLOOO!!!!!!” WITH THE ARMS AND EVERYTHING DAW OMG

and also unlike so many others he actually likes everyone and when he saves deidara he’s like “you’re a fun guy to be around” and then and then later when he’s talking to tobi he reveals that he’s sad that so many of the akatsuki members died like D::

let’s not forget when black zetsu called him weak (they had split in two at the time) and white zetsu just kind of D: and wilts a little like ooHH NO oo baby it’s okay it’s okay

ahem

konan is so strong… holy crap… like… her ultimate attack? with the bajillion paper explosive tags disguised as a lake?? that go off for 10 minutes? holy fuck.

yahiko’s pretty damn hot if you ask me (yes i know he’s a cadaver in the main time period but listen)

idk my favorite arc of the entire thing was pain’s invasion of konoha… like from the moment jiraiya’s message arrived to when everyone got revived…. and then kakashi almost became hokage…

it was fantastic

i think it’s mainly because it was a mystery, race against time, battle thing all in one and it was so neat i guess

also you could see everyone in the village working together, fighting their hardest, showing their potentials for like, the first time ever

um um um okay sasori mentally scarred me as a child, and now whenever i hear the rattling puppet noises i immediately think of these scary nightmares i had after watching his fight with sakura… yeah, puppets scare me a lot now

orochimaru is a creep ‘nuff said moving on

tobi! i love this alternate ego of obito/”madara” like idk he’s so jumpy and honestly it’s fucking hilarious watching him because he’s so secretly op certain people underestimate him at first (and then others overestimate him because of his association with akatsuki)

like. when he was warding off konoha from itachi vs sasuke’s fight (which i am still emo about) he was just like playing whack-a-mole with them and then he’s like lemme use this ability! frill-necked lizard!

and they all kinda stand and stare at him intensely execting something legit

but in reality that’s it. the extent of htat ability is just him hanging upside down with the cloack falling behind him to look like a frill-necked lizard

and it’s fucking hilarious

i also thought it was fucking adorable when he and deidara first confront sasuke

and the little bitch goes ahead and slices through him

literally through him

and HE MAKES THE MOST ADORABLE NOISE BEFORE FALLING FLAT ON HIS FACE GAH

but sasuke thinks that he actually killed him and sasuke’s all like “one down”

and deidara just kinda

ugh this kid

and tobi gets up and brushes himself off like wow that was rly fast!!! and sasuke just >:/

URM OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE AKATSUKI MEMBERS

sorry i thought i should make this clear but i lowkey highkey have this vendetta thing against sasuke like this little shit

i mean ofc i know the reason for his disillusionment really isn’t all his fault like @ itachi really?

like really when he goes back to konoha and sasuke tries to kill him… he goes and easily breaks his wrist

and he kinda just considers him for a moment like

…hm

how about i….. make his situation even worse…?

and then traps him in a genjutsu that forces him to relive their parents death for 24 hours like why the fuck this is literally all your fault

and also on a side note, fuck danzo. why the fuck did the 3rd not kill him when he was supposed to. why. all the wrong people lived for far too long.

anyways

but yeah no idk i just really don’t like sasuke after he defected and became a Vengeful Teen

AND ITACHI’S STORY MAKES ME CRY EVERY TIME HOLY SHIT IT MAKES ME SO SAD WHY DID THIS BOY HAVE TO SUFFER SO MUCH and then mess up his little brother’s psyche to the point in which he starts killing like everyone wtf

AHEM

another favorite moment arc of mine is the very beginning

like the first 15ish episodes

IRUKA SENSEI

he’s such a blessing. he’s literally one of those crucially important side characters and i appreciate him and i love him and it would’ve been nice to see more of him, but hey, that’s okay too.

(his part in the naruto road to ninja movie had me in tears. like at the end. fucking tears.)

like naruto and kakashi may be super close and stuff, but when he needs someone as a guardian, naruto turns to iruka and idk i feel that says a lot about their relationship and it makes me cry all the fucking time

um anyways yes i also love zabuza

he’s so strong and empowered

AND THAT WHOLE ARC MADE ME CRY A LOT TOO AND THE FACT THAT IT BECOMES SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE STORY MAKES ME SO FUCKING HAPPY

i have a lot more the say probably but it’s getting late and i need to take a shower and sleep and get up early in the morning to make food so i’ll just leave it at that

(i wrote a lot i know i’m sorry)

(hope i didn’t blow you away with any spoilers D:)