#and ive already rewatched s1-3

[plut00nline]

Twd baby never leave me

[motts-fruit-punch]

saw the new maddy design. may have girlbossed her a little too hard

[bi-buck-coded]

Next WIP Wednesday on god you will get part of the 118 NPCs fic that I literally have already started writing. What website do u guys use for the fake texts again? 

[addictedtostorytelling]

hiya! im starting (yet another lmao) csi rewatch in hopes of getting as many timestamps as i can, for fics. ive seen through your posts you've done something similar and i was wondering whats your earliest one? im only a few eps i to s1 but already im remebering the first few are vastly different to later episodes. there are less crime scene pictures, less evidence layouts, etc. i'm just wondering how far i have before i get an actual point to plot! 🤣

(please keep up your csi metas i love themmm <3)

hi, rewatch anon!

good to hear from you again!

so i actually have dates for the first couple of csi episodes, not based on documentary evidence—as you state, the early episodes are very sparse on any kind of helpful paperwork or timestamps, a la evidence photos, lab printouts, cctv footage, etc.—but rather on some extrapolation.

remember how in the pilot warrick places a bet on an nfl football game between green bay and san francisco for judge cohen?

well, during the 2000-2001 nfl season, the green bay packers played the san francisco 49ers on 10.15.00—which makes that our date for episode 01x01 "pilot." this date aligns with the episode's original air date also being in october 2000 (10.06.00).

while the air dates and in-universe dates for episodes don't always line up, the writers did generally try to set episodes during the same months in which they originally aired where they could.

from there, we can deduce that the action for episode 01x02 "cool change" takes place one day later on 10.16.00.

which makes that date the anniversary for when sara first comes to vegas!

coincidentally, grissom and sara get engaged to each other exactly seven years and one day later, on 10.17.07.

in episode 01x03 "crate n' burial," it is mentioned that nick has been a csi level iii for about two weeks by that point, which means that the action for that episode primarily takes place on 10.29.00 (approximately).

unfortunately, after that point, the in-universe dates trail goes cold for a while.

the next one i've been able to find is for episode 01x10 "sex, lies, & larvae," which is the first time (to my knowledge) a date shows up based on documentary evidence: the paper marker on the morgue drawer where kaye shelton's body is stored allows us to determine that the main action for this episode takes place between 12.10.00 and 12.15.00 (as kaye has been dead for five days by the time of her body's discovery).

from there, dates continue to be extremely hit or miss throughout the rest of s1. it isn't until s2 that they start to more consistently feature, appearing in most episodes.

of course, even then, most seasons still have at least one or two episodes in them i've never been able to find dates for. the first and only completely dated season i have charted out is s7! all the rest of them have gaps.

which is to say nothing of the internal chronological inconsistencies, which are a whole problem unto themselves.

anyway, good luck with your endeavors, anon! enjoy your rewatch!

please feel welcome to send another question any time!

[tinyplanetss]

lego monkie kid s5 spoilers !

i won't say too much here as it definitely needs a rewatch but. i enjoyed many of the character moments but was utterly BAFFLED by the overarching plot. i felt like i had NO idea what was going on the whole time, and they didn't introduce their antagonist until episode 8 and then he disappeared saying it was up to mk or something? i dont know. im baffled. this was very much the Hey guys! We have a lot of questions to answer and instead of taking our time and letting the answers come out naturally we are going to speedrun them! so we get one samadhi fire episode, one mystic monkey powers episode, and i just wish they had taken their time!!!!! idk. i did enjoy a lot of aspects of it but ive been so spoiled by s1-4 i forgot was it was like to watch a show with major lost potential. man. i probably wont say much on the animation, besides the fact that wildbrain clearly did their best with what they had and had a lot of moments that emulated the cartoonish style pretty well. although the animation definitely took me out of the moment fairly often. but again. please put me in the alternate universe where lego just waited for flying bark to be free and gave these subplots time to breathe. okay im done i dont want to be too negative i just want to get my thoughts out👍 when i rewatch i may try and do some rewritten oneshots if i feel up to it because so many of these moments were barely touched on that couldve been HUUUUGE scenes!! will ponder it. lots of spaghetti was thrown at a few too many walls we just gotta let the ideas breeeeeeeathe <3

tldr; this is something that will probably become more clear with a rewatch but the plot did not feel immersive to me though i enjoyed the silly and emotional character moments, the latter felt a bit bogged down by the animation unfortunately. i wanted to be on the edge of my seat again like with the lbd or azure finale!!! but i was kinda just sitting here like but. we talked about other options. why is this his only choice i thought we threw off destiny alreadyyyyy why would they write him fated to die if he already BEAT the whole destiny controlling him thing idk

post post script: THEY DIDNT LET THE MONKIES HOLD HANDSSSSSSS <- remembering the stuff i really liked about the season because I SWEAR THERE WAS POSITIVE my literary analysis brain just took over tryimg to solve it 😭😭 i promise i liked soooo much of the voice acting and stuff

[driftwooddestiel]

ive got this system going where i watch at least one episode of peep show and gravity falls a day and its actually great . last time i tried to watch gravity falls i only got 3 episodes in but now im nearly finished s1, last time i tried to rewatch a show i didnt get past s2 but now w/ peep show im already in s3 (granted this is helped by the episodes being 20 minutes and there only being 6 per season, but still)

[tonydaddingham]

okay so... we do agree that the most sense for the first scene of season 3 is to show in some way the fall, right? we saw the before, we saw the after (as in eden), we now need to know why there was this schism in the first place

and so, my question is, since i've just finished rewatching the job episode - what do you think, in gomens' universe, is the point of that schism? why did the fall happen? why was there a Great War? who started the war, was the war just between the different angels? who actually cast the losing side away?

the whole bit with "an angel/demon who goes along with Heaven/Hell as far as he can" really made me think about this all. plus, i personally would find it very satisfying to finally find out at least a little bit of context of why this separation happened in the first place for the moment (i hope) when the whole system is finally broken down and dismantled

hey lovely!!!✨ i do think it will open with some reference to the fall (as you said, imo it makes the most narrative, poetic, and thematic sense!!!), but i also feel like a lot of the show's answers are going to be within the fall, so idk if we'll see all of it in the beginning cold open, or if some will be continued towards the end of the series?

as for the fall questions, wowzers, i'll do my best to answer what i potentially think could factor in here, although they may not answer your qs outright!!!✨ and probably link to some other specs/metas that ive had jumbling around!!!

i think aziraphale knew or suspected something about why it would be risky to question god; maybe not that the fall was already bandied about as a concept, but maybe that there were Things Afoot that made him think that going against her will and plan could be bad news

i think that god is ultimately a very neutral, very amoral party. i don't think she is good or bad, right or wrong, well-meaning or malicious; she just is. i even possibly think that the ineffable plan, if there is even such a thing like she says in s1, is that she has no plan at all. everything is up to everyone else. (don't really have a singular meta on this, but perhaps a bit of this and that)

metatron is the Big Bad. dunno why, necessarily (ie what are his motivations other than Power?), but i think when god goes AWOL somewhere between job (or maybe actually after golgotha?) and present day, he fills the void and acts like he is still the voice of god, that he is still receiving orders. (again, no singular meta on this, and ive kinda got it sprinkled across many posts tbh!!!)

so with those kind of things in mind, here are my possible thoughts (not committing to any singular one) on the fall and the schism you've mentioned.

the fall was not necessarily meant to be what it turned out to be. i think ultimately angels came to god asking questions, or questioning her and her Ineffability, or the plan, whatever.

god wanted all of her creation to have free will. if that free will was to break away from heaven and from her, and act in their own interest, under their own orders, by their own conscience, i don't think she ever had an issue with this. even if - in the presumed case of lucifer - the intention was to break away as a direct challenge to god, to have the same power as god, i similarly don't think she wanted to stop this. that is literally free will. so she does nothing to stop whatever happens when they choose to break away.

metatron however has other ideas; heaven is good, and is correct, and is right. anyone who even questions it, even if out of love and devotion to god, those who just want to understand, were forfeit. god has removed herself from the picture, not even there at the (literal? figurative?) trial, so metatron acts as judge, jury, and executioner. in some cases, i think there were angels who were pushed, not fallen.

we know there was a war, but i think it was out of the angels that remained 'on heaven's side' being told lies about their fellow angels - told that these defectors were actively working against god to jeopardise her creations and her plans. that heaven will fall if they are not cast out. conflict ensues - from their perspective - to protect the sanctity of heaven.

then, possibly, i think a memory wipe kinda thing did happen, but specifically on the events of the fall. i do also wonder if this is where the book of life comes into play, but not overly confident (on any of this, really)

and ultimately i think the whole concept of true free will might have been god's plan - if you can call Nothing a plan - all along? that she completely steps back, and let's heaven and humanity kinda work it out for themselves.

like, this is the kinda stuff that i hope they reveal later on s3; crowley falling with lucifer, and possibly meeting aziraphale again etc. would, imo, be great for the ep1 cold open, but the actual events of the fall i think needs to be the belter that comes out in maybe ep5 or 6. obviously i haven't gone into where i think crowley and aziraphale may slot within all of this, but most things can be found in my masterpost anyway, or indeed happy to summarise for anyone who wants it!!!✨

[winryrockbellwannabe]

29/july

well, this last couple days have been a bummer and i haven't had the energy to act like a human being yet. {so if i didn't answer smth, that's why!}

{also today was so hot, it definitely didn't help my mood at all}

today im just trying to:

finish course 3

finish s3 of infinity train

{also finished rewatching s1 of Anne with an E with my mom!! }

daily duolingo - hopefully ill do a bit more later tonight

start packing - im coming back to [college city] saturday and will stay there next week, since i have meetings for my internships, and im going to be making plans with my sister and my friends

(im putting here the stuff ive already done today to feel accomplished lol)

Also, today i spent a huge part of my evening just cooking, bc our neighbor offered some pumpkins from her garden, and we didn't know what to do with all of them bc we didn't want them to go bad, so there was i, all evening cooking stuff like pumpkin soup to take with me when i leave to [college city] again.

so yeah, that's it. hope y'all having a better couple days than i had, and remember to take things easy! :))

[ralexsol]

can i just say that after rewatching loki s1 i have so much more appreciation of s2. watching it back to back with the first ep of s2 is incredible. it's such a smooth transition, and you can really tell they took all the best parts of s1 and focused on them in s2. not only that, but they gave us a bunch of awesome new characters as well as expanding on older ones!! d-20, casey, and miss minutes have all gotten way more screentime than in the first season. OB, victor, and brad <3 love them ALL. OUGH THEY'RE SO WELL WRITTEN. THE WRITERS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING. and everything looks soooo gorgeous. and they KNOW that the best locations in s1 were a) the tva and b) historical places. and they've gone for that way more this season!! it's like!! they really want to make this show really cool and!! ive already said my piece on how cool sylvie actually is as SUCH a trans-coded character but i think her character is really interesting to see play out against loki's - someone who changed, and someone who hasn't. also lokius being WAY more emphasized could either be classic disney/marvel queerbaiting or maybe they're actually planning smth - either way, it's very intentional, but not in the regular queerbait way. either they somehow got REALLY REALLY GOOD at queerbaiting people all of the sudden or they actually decided to say fuck it we ball

[latibulater]

Venture Bros Rewatch notes: The Incredible Mr. Brisby

Dean being a nerd of course and the fifth leg comment the rapscallion energy is off the charts and Rusty is already THIS close to tranquilize them - I wonder how often Rusty was tranq'd before he learned to be quiet

ON THE RAG this whole sequence makes me call over cackling between Hank being foul not knowing what hes talking about, Doc getting offended for no reason, Brock being unapologetic.

UGH More racism whoo!!!!! Mandalay is interesting because if we stay strictly with Watsonian reasoning, yknow he probably is some man from the city who used racist stereotypes to snag a job under a very wealthy man, but writing wise all we got is that he is a big silent black bodyguard stereotype

"trapped beneath an unstoppable metal lincoln for two hours" this made me laugh really hard

"pandas milk" seriously nailed how weird rich people are. do we think the panda is actually thee david bowie's panda or the sovereign's panda

dean's enthusiasm about animals is still so cute

brock trying to start up conversation with mandalay...i need to reread that fic where brock bottoms for mandalay liteally amazing fic

brisby and jonas......so many nightmares within that. how many people besides doc and brisby know about jonas' cloning. also what do we think rusty's pills are?

"profits have gone zippety doo da"

rusty took over, at most immediately after jonas died while rusty was in college, or sometime a little bit after as we know rusty has said professor impossible didnt fail him out of sympathy for jonas dying, so maybe the company was managed by the board or someone else ran it.......so many possibilities.

"IVE COME AFLAME AGAIN" seriously burst out laughing

EW Hank's spit landing in Dean;s mouth. Whyyyyyyyy. Like obviously. to play into Themes. but blegh.

The Brisby dome makes me laugh. "You knocked me out and put me in a bag to bring me 50 yards?!"

MOLOTOV INTRODUCTION.

The Orange County liberation Front.....CACKLING. "ANIMATED ABOMNIATION [BRISBY] CREATED BRINGS DARKNESS TO THIS WORLD!"

"Did you forget about no?" Man okay Doc......

Brisby falling down the wheelchair inaccessible stairs mid way through his villain speech.....that is classic Vbros.

Sorry to Brock but if Molotov Cocktease wanted me to join with her I would never leave her lap

The way their whole argument sounds SOOO scripted they have had this argument.a million times.

OKay what motel is this...................

The whole sex thing with the cigarette....PEOPLE WITH ORAL FIXATION UNDERSTAND

okay but the orange hat is so funny and actually appealing design.

okay but this whole b-plot about how the way disney feeds and feeds and eats up people and land and resources by displacing people and managing the districts

MY FAVORITE SCENE IN S1. DOC ON TRUTH SERUM.

"Reading from top to bottom: lisa, carol, freemont " "ive always depedned on the kindness of stranger oh mercy which one of you strapping young bucks will catch my fall!" HOW DO PEOPLE NEGLECT TRANS FEMME RUSTY IN THEIR READINGS

the little misogyny bit with the orange leader wife is like. SO, bad no reason to do that.

brock JUUUUUUUST missing the plane and chucking a rock at it. do you think he has insecurities about not being enough one day. like do you think the boys dying so much makes him feel like shit at his job at night before bed 3 beer 6-packs in

the elegant acrobatics of the bee mascots.....LMAO.

Molotov staying to true feminism not letting her boy toy's goals get in the way of her pay check

okay but rusty getting shot at by the nail gun thrice is both so compelling to me this man must have the worst aches and pains

brock vs mandaly being set up just for mandaly to say hes gonna leave is as the inversion of the racist trope is the whole joke which is like. not worth the racism and it sucsk!

okay so brisby is on fire and molotov leaves with the panda

the way brock pulls the nail out of rusty's wrist makes me SO ill for a split second everyTIME i get a little baby barf feeling  i can just imagine the sinking of the nail sinking through the wrist and it being the only thing youre hanging off a wall of with ll your weight hanging and BLEGHHHHHHHHHHH

I used to hate this episode and now I like it a little better but still not overly much. 5/10

Venture Bros Rewatch notes: Home Insecurity

Fucking hilarious that Underland is designed like a disney princess villain lair but actually with all the executions.

tiger balm....tiger....bomb.....makes me laugh EVERY time honestly all i can think of when i hear tiger balm

Knowing that there are many kids with amputations in Underland from the child mines, like that is crazy the child amputee rate must be one of the highest in the world. i get that its played for jokes and it was funny, but if we are gonna be serious about all of it this counts and is like. mind boggling

whoo! use of the r slur! the way ive had to fucking campaign in my family to get them to stop using it and then i turn on this show and theyre saying it like every other episode makes me want to hunt down hammer and publick

okay but thats a waste of tiger.....

ik we dont learn this till later but i have questions about underland apparently being located right next to michigan.....PLEASSSSE LET ME SEE THE WORLD MAP IK ITS SO FUCKED UP

Brock's blue shirt is so beautiful on him...wish I could unbutton it off him. Dean and his hover boots, honestly those boots should make a come back

Stupid ass racist costume!

I literally choked on my spit and coughed at the same time Doc coughed at Brock's fumes

Okay I think Rusty is just doing a bit with the whole "big man think you can take me on? i knew this day would come" like seriously, the twins are so fucking silly but rusty is so beyond sarcastic he really is just projecting his own issues onto his kids all the time.

HELPER!!!!!!!!! Him going to take care of Rusty and so comically seeing NEW ROBOT blueprints and packing up a knapsack including a pic of child Rusty and Helper, oh my god it is just the sweetest robot and makes me wonder if there is a similar situation like with the red Helper happening with the whole....human brain.

the henchmen fighting and getting distracted till doc wakes up an slides into the panic room LOL

also i do love the underland footmen look as someone who loved tmnt it looks very foot clan

hank and dean may be a little over the top but they did take care of the scorpion and tarantula pretty handily.

Dean and Hank in the panic room and not even knowing when it was built....like seriously how many memories are they missing, consider they repeated being 15/16 over 10 times

Hank choking out Rusty is SO FUNNY Hank is just trying to help!!!!!!! just send them both to a first aid class you will be better for it doc

Rusty lactating!!!!! Milky king!!!!!

The animation and storyboard in this episode flips between dynamic and very getty stock images which is pretty funny

Dr. Girlfriend getting insulted and telling the monarch to use the phone himself...him trying to get an outside line....god i feel so old.

bigfoot baby!

"GUARDO" you fucking idiot Rusty. "I fell asleep" Okay but have we considered the fact  that you just don't have a head for mechanics and need to switch science majors

THE SNACKS FOR COMPANY. And Monarch apparently seeing the Baron for the first time since college and them trying to kill each other at first in a big dick measuring contest.

"how do you even mix it up! augh its like having my dad do the shopping!" ok i need more orphan jokes from the monarch stat seasons 1 he kills with this

its funny to see bigfoot and brock and steve summers meeting is so funny...considering that they all fuck when brock stays with them after he leaves the osi

"do you know how long 6 million bucks takes to pay back on a government salary!" fucking screammmmmmmmmmm

"lab partnership is a sacred trust" SSTILLLLLLLL want to know about how this happened

The Monarch fucking around struggling with his old ass computer makes me SOOOO nostalgic i remember we had a similar computer in the kitchen growing up.

Dean reading Helper perfectly and Doc going through a slumdog millionaire flashback before emotionally manipulating his mommy robot

One henchman became a hench after the plant closed and he only had a GED. one had a crack addiction and got off it. one (gary) got kidnapped) underland minions are drafted and then executed at 38.

"SASBURGER"!!! GOD "Sasquatch gave me a new life" Brock trying not be grossed out but like trying not to let it show (but only because he thinks Sasquatch is a woman at that point and he's bigoted but pro-str8 people always.

"Go team Helper!"

Jesus I really SSOOOOOOOOOOO would fucking fucking fucking kill for an expose episode on how henching works in the world as a job

all the army men are idiots very appropriate. brock getting SOOO weirded out. It is homophobic but also I choose to believe Brock has never seen a cock bigger than his own and got so horny and emasculated he got wigged out.

First mention of the Guild in this episode about filing paperwork on collaboration which i think is funny

Helper not letting Rusty out is SO funny me and my siblings would do that all the time. Truly, there is a lot to be said about Rusty and Helper's relationship. No other relationship has been as long for Rusty as Helper, who has been there sinvce he was a young boy and has always looked out for him.

Overall this episode is really fun and enjoyable, it does very well with having very silly concepts being treated seriously and then serious situations being treated clownishly. always love steve and sasquatch, altho the vbros design is so............he has a face only steve summers loves apparently. and the conversation on paying back the osi for the bionics was good worldbuilding/commentary on real world disability issues of how disability devices are often very expensive and only work at the behest of whoever made the device. my own cousin had a cochlear implant that worked very well but then he was told it was being recalled and he could get new one and now its works awfully for him

would rate this one like a 7/10. very solid but nothing too rib crackling funny or show pausing overly interesting

[goldiipond]

he is so cool

[ghostlypawn]

hi besties should i make a autistic gideon thread <3

[lvtvr]

i just finished rewatching season 2 and fuckin

when haggar goes “summon prince lotor” i just god damn break down man. im flashing back to january ’17. that’s when i hoarded this url. that’s when i first googled the character. that’s when i Knew, friends...............

[love-killed-the-superstar]

for most of seasons 1-4 i don't have any issues with the writing/characterisation but that first episode feels super mean-spirited for no good reason. just super out of character writing for the brothers. i know it was s1 and they were still figuring out their personalities for this iteration but i just think it was badly done.

they understand enough about the overall story and i have explained certain plots in depth before, but when i start going into how i would rewrite a season they have never watched it tends to lose them lol. no matter... this is way more fun, just two unhinged turtle fans airing out their fast forward opinions

I HAVE NO CLUE IT'S SO ANNOYING. WE GET IT GUYS. VIDEO GAMES WERE GETTING POPULAR. THAT'S NO EXCUSE TO SHELVE INTERESTING STORIES IN FAVOUR OF THE TURTLES + VIDEO GAMES OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I'M BORED. SICK OF IT EVEN.

NO...? i thought i'd read all there was on turtle titan ii but ive never heard of this scrapped episode with bishop please tell me more??? i really liked what they did with bishop in ff so the idea of him teaming up with my fave boi for an episode is already making me nuts, I NEED TO KNOW MORE

starlee was another character who deserved more spotlight. her story about living away from her home planet at such a young age is compelling and i wish they'd done more with that than one episode about how annoying her family is lol. they could have really dug into the pressure she's under as, by the looks of things, o'neill tech's ONLY EMPLOYEE?? AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE? i also wish she'd done more outside of existing to crush on cody. give my girl a friendship with one of the turtles who isn't don because raph and leo are in dire need of storylines

oh that's a fun idea! i think a similar premise was floated for season 2, i definitely remember a season x episode synopsis that had some time and space portal shenanigans that were making cody disappear from the present and stuff. jail and/or darius getting erased via time travel hijinks are both fitting conclusions to his arc lmaooo

i'll be so real, every time i reach btts i fall off. once they're back in the present but with the same blah writing as ff my interest is entirely drained and i just can't do it. i was doing a rewatch this year and got about 3 episodes in and just kinda... left it. one of these days i'll continue and give you my thoughts then lol but rn i don't really have a whole lot to say about btts sorryyy </3 mikey and his big baby blues are adorable in btts tho that is my only take

mikey ask game, 8 and 13!

(these answers will be about 2k3 mikey unless stated otherwise because he's ~my~ mikey. i apologise for the length of these answers, it seems i had a lot to say?! i also apologise for how much i bring up fast forward here, it seems that i'm fixated on it really hard right now.)

8. what’s your favorite dynamic of him and any other character? what makes it your favorite?

It's so hard to pick just one!!

i thought a lot about this, but i think splinter? he's exasperated that his son can be a bit lazy and distracted from ninja training, but still had him specialise in nunchaku, showing that he believes in his ability to master a difficult weapon. splinter surrendering in the battle nexus so that mikey could advance was so heartwarming and honestly makes me emotional to remember. in the first turtle titan episode even though he doesn't understand why mikey admires superheroes so much he acknowledges that his intentions are noble and he needs to follow the path truest to his heart. veering a little more into headcanon territory, i do think that being the most openly affectionate, baby mikey was a master manipulator in terms of melting his rat dad's heart. i can picture him climbing onto splinter's lap every time he sits down and being the most reluctant to go down for naps. and in a particular au i'm cultivating that delves more into mikey's potential romantic life, i think he would go to his father for advice. splinter may not be well versed in romance outside of his soap operas, but he will always be here for his kids when they need him.

(this, of course, makes me very bitter over the flanderisation of their relationship in fast forward. ff!splinter might as well walk around wearing a shirt that says "i hate my lazy video game addicted son" and it breaks my heart.)

honourable mentions for other characters i think he has a great dynamic with: leo, silver sentry, klunk, serling, angel, april, renet and turtle titan ii.

13. what’s something about mikey that nobody seems to talk about that should be talked about more?

tbh i think a lot of people love mikey and have analysed him in just about every way possible and what i end up saying is probably not the most groundbreaking take, but here is something that i've thought about a fair bit but haven't really seen from anyone else?

in fast forward, mikey is depressed. it is handled by the narrative about as delicately as a bull in a china shop, but it's there.

5 seasons of being bombarded with trauma-inducing storylines culminates in temporarily dying, going full dragon avatar mode to defeat the demon shredder and then finally they are able to relax, breathe easy, process some of these emotions - but noooo, instead they get ripped out of their timeline and dropped 100 years in the future with no way home and the studio execs wouldnt let them rightfully lose their shit at cody so instead we see the turtles bottle that rage and slowly descend into semi-flanderised madness. /lh

mikey in particular becomes very sensitive to rejection (see: losing his goddamn mind and going on an all out offensive against turtle titan ii, after being talked down the first time he raged out, because raph made One Comment about how his successor is better at heroism than he is), prone to emotional outbursts, especially anger (remember that iconic clip of him beating up cops and stealing their cars because they pissed him off?), loses interest in his ninja training, maintains very poor hygiene/living conditions, grows addicted to video games, and in rare moments of vulnerability (namely in graduation day of 2105) he expresses that he sees himself as lazy, unfocused, a 'goofball', and undeserving when it comes to being recognised for his ninja skills like his brothers. my man's self-esteem is in the toilet, he is craving normalcy after years of constantly fighting for his life, and his dopamine is clearly critically low because he is dependent on all the fancy material goods of 2105 to be happy. his method of coping with the difficult emotions being stranded in the future has brought up, while still maintaining the silly funny guy routine that his family expect from him, is to bury himself in VR. and why wouldn't he, when among the uptick in mikey roasts over the course of this season we literally hear splinter say the words "where did i go wrong with that boy?" THOSE WORDS STAY WITH YOU WHEN THEY COME FROM YOUR PARENTS. THEY HURT.

he's very empathetic to leo's own depression in season 4, being the voice of reason at the beginning of samurai tourist when raph is ready to fight him. we also see at several points in seasons 1-5 that his loud ego is a front and he is actually very aware of his shortcomings, especially seen in grudge match. in a different timeline where 2k3 wasn't neutered following insane in the membrane, i do wonder if the turtles would have been able to explore their turbulent feelings regarding the 2105 situation. since mikey and leo are often paired up for adventures in 2k3, it would be an interesting parallel to see leo recognising signs of depression in his brother and helping him, imparting some of ancient one's wisdom (and, in the great year of 2105 where mutants are equal citizens and cody has money to burn, finding him a good cognitive behavioural therapist).

i don't think the writers INTENDED to code mikey as depressed / struggling to cope in season 6 - i think it was a toxic combo of writing more 'mikey is lazy/immature/irresponsible and needs to be taught a lesson' episodes than the usual season average + thinking it was a funny social commentary gag to make him obsessive over video games. but i saw a lot of those traits in myself when i was deep in a depression hole. the show has already told us that the turtles' mental states have been impacted by the ridiculousness they have gone through. why would mikey be any different?

I DIDN'T MEAN TO WRITE AN ENTIRE THINKPIECE, BUT IF YOU REACHED THE END, THANK YOU FOR READING. AND THANK YOU FOR THE ASKS!

[omegawolverine]

total drama? (for the ask game)

The first character I first fell in love with: duncan but wbk 🙄

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: honestly noah + heather? im not even a huge heather fan but i have such an appreciation for her character and i genuinely think if i ever met her id want to kiss her on the mouth before curb stomping her which is something only SHE could do to me

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: courtney <3 like i know she has her haters but she has wayyy more fans than i ever expected her to have considering she like. highkey sucks imo.

The character I love that everyone else hates: im gonna be honest. i kinda liked dave in pahkitew. i wouldnt say love but. i enjoyed his annoying ass.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: tbh kiiiinda gwen. like i still like her but not nearly as much as i used to. also after rewatching all of her seasons earlier this year im pretty sure i only liked her before bc every alt chick ever has a place in my heart. her character still holds up in s1 and even a bit in s2 but past that it's like half the time i just want her off the screen.

The character I would totally smooch: scott. he is so fucking stupid and i love it.

The character I’d want to be like: all of them kiiinda suck in some aspect lbr but like. leshawna. we are already decently similar but she has a confidence that ive never had and would kill to have some of.

The character I’d slap: alejandro i actually despise u xoxo

A pairing that I love: wbk im a scuncan stan. sorry </3

A pairing that I despise: gwent and duncney die challenge

[macgyvertape]

Castlevania kinda had a pacing problem

spoilers for all of Netflix’s Castlevania. I haven’t seen much analysis for the show on tumblr, im honestly curious if discussions I had with irl friends mirror what fandom talks about

tldr: Castlevania seems inconsistently paced from season to season, and within season as well, leads to a lot of characters motivations feeling unclear so characters repeatedly explain why they are doing something while they’re doing it

overview of the seasons:

S1 I know somewhat of a test for Netflix but it has good main trio character establishment and sets the scale of the conflict

s2: pretty complete emotional arc for most characters and resolves the plot of killing Dracula while setting up additional characters to continue the story. Isaac, Hector, Carmilla all established with the audience as characters whose story would continue

honestly I would bet this is the most popular season

S3: s2 did a bit of worldbuilding, but this season really fleshed out the world with both a wide range of locations and exploring the question of “what now, Dracula is dead but vampires and night creatures remain”.

There were basically 4 plot threads: 1) Sypha/Trevor investigating the cult & Saint Germain; 2) Hector & Carmilla (also introducing Lenore, Striga, Morana); 3) Isaac’s journey of revenge & self discovery; 4) Alucard sits around the castle and is betrayed.

overall characters roughly feel like they are in the same place if not worse. A big criticism I saw at the time, which hold up after rewatching this before s4 is nothing felt resolved for the main characters

I would say this season is where the pacing issues start to become apparent, juggling 4 plot threads that lack a central theme or even mutual character connection. If there was a central theme it would be “humans are awful to each other”. The Judge doing Hot Fuzz style murders, The Wizard in the tower, Sumi & Taka

S4: it starts with the same 4 plot threads, though upfront it is made clear that the plot theme is “people are trying to resurrect Dracula”, and the progression of the plot works to resolve unrelated plot threads until the main trio reunites for the boss fights. To me and my friends watching it was obvious that the show would reunite the main trio, the question was how and how far into the run time.

Season 4 is why I’m writing this essay, for the past 2 days I’ve been like, yeah that character sure explained their motives repeatedly maybe with some philosophical discussion, but it’s just such a weird place considering where they were in s3

Alucard’s arc:

Where he was left in season 3, it was after killing people he had trusted in self defense and impaling their corpses. It was clearly meant to parallel Dracula’s dislike of humanity. However overall his character lacked a proactive motivating force.

Honestly the most interesting thing I found in s3 was Alucard clearly misses Sypha and Trevor, however they don’t miss him or refer to him

One reason Sumi & Taka betray Alucard is for the secrets and power of Castlevania. After inviting the village including St Germain who Alucard was warned of into the Castle, Alucard makes 0 effort to secure anything, not even his personal childhood room. Guess he really learned nothing

Discussing St Germain, I think it’s funny that they had a several minute flashback sequence for his lost girlfriend (who doesn’t have a name or a voice actor), to remind the viewer of who he is, and to justify how he’s suddenly back and down for murder.

In s4 there is the call to help the village, and the walk back to the castle is a montage of Alucard opening up to Greta and becoming friendly literally overnight. He laughs off the impaling, and basically all of the darker things he went through in season 3, which has me asking what was the point of his season 3 arc then? 

Honestly writing this I realize the biggest parallel he has with Dracula is the call to action from a bold woman with a dramatic entrance speech which then leads to a romance

Isaac’s arc:

in s3, with all the other themes of “humanity sucks” I was always unsure if the townspeople were meant to appear irrational while attacking a larger force instead of letting him pass through an leave, or him not caring about how he’s provoking them is meant to show his insanity

ive seen the discussion elsewhere, curious about the Discourse here

is s4 Isaac has the whole monologue about how he now has agency but him gaining that agency was his s3 arc. In s4 he’s already at the point of accepting it. By the end of s4 he’s one of those who comes the furthest from his first character appearance to his last.

s4e5 where of Isaac attacking Carmilla in Isaac’s 2nd appearance had him resolving like 4 plot threads at once (Carmilla, Striga& Morana, Hector, and Isaac himself).

but i do wonder if Trevor, Sypha, or Alucard even know any of these people exist. I think not

I was honestly confused if I missed a scene from his dialogue about building something and what is inherent nature, to “My plan has evolved, my plan is now conquest” because he only conquests the one castle and the rest is left unclear

Upon rewatch the connection there is “killing [the wizard] felt just ... I liked that feeling”, so the show says that Isaac in the end attacked Carmilla for the sake of justice and not revenge.

Isaac in his last conversation expresses the theme of s4 “build something new on these old bones, where people can live for the future”

however, his arc honestly feel scenes were cut, and then dialogue was written around it. He’s the only living character who doesn’t show up in the epilogue and the sentient night creature “what if I could empty hell” dialogue was some of the most interesting worldbuilding. Night creatures with sentience and possibility of regaining memories!!!!

The Council of Sisters & Hector’s arc:

oh I’ve already seen s4 discourse about Lenore/Hector while searching for character analysis, a chunk of it seems to be rationalizing the absolute difference between how s3 ended with these characters and s4. It was extremely confusing for me and my friends; wondering if 1) was Hector showing more emotional intelligence than before and putting on a facade to cover up hatred? Nope 2) did more time pass than 6 weeks for there to be some kind stockholm syndrome? No, Hector seems fine to let Lenore kill herself

The slave control ring: played up in the climax of s3 and easily solved s4. s3 Lenore says if he tries to harm them, flee, or take it off it would cause crippling pain, in s4 Hector just easily cuts off his own finger.

for a control ring that they take time to show a version being on the Rebus, it doesn’t do much controlling of Hector

also guess the definition of “do harm” just refers to direct action

Lenore in s4: has no purpose in conquest, has that useless remarked on by multiple characters, is imprisoned, then kills herself after a genre aware philosophical discussion. This essay is long enough, but what the fuck happened to this character who ended s3 clearly physically and sexually abusive? Seriously this was one of the biggest writing changes to the point where she was treating Hector as an equal. Compare her last words in s3 “shh the real people [vampires] are talking”. The change in the relationship is actually something I would have taken being shown, or atleast told of what exactly caused this change other than the vague “you adopted him”

Striga&Morana get the best arc of the Council. 3 scenes: the tent argument, Daybreak armor fight & argument resolution, declaration of feelings and turning away. You could argue Castlevania is plot to be connective tissue between fight scenes, but for all the dialogue about human resistance in different seasons it was nice to see it. Overall the scenes were short but had a lot of showing what their relationship is not just telling,

unlike Carmilla. For as much hyping up as they did with her, and as much power as she had, she only appeared in 2 episodes and no other group except Isaac knew about her military conquest.

the map scene where she states her motive for conquest of wanting to take things from old men is the key example of how characterization became tell not show. How interesting was that monologue compared to the past seasons flashback to her murmuring the old vampire lord, or all her repeated insults of men/man-children that shows how she judges people??

That monologue had to carry the weight of justifying the Sisterhood bonds falling apart as well as why her motivation changed from building a human pen from Styria to Braila to world conquest. I think it did so poorly

Sypha & Trevor

really Sypha & Trevor have the main plot in the show. I checked and post season 1 the only episode they don’t appear in is s4e6, which is entirely devoted to the Isaac, Hector, and Council of Sisterhood arc. Their partnership and adventures are the main plot of the show.

Its easy to see what Trevor’s arc was over the show: coming to peace with the deaths of his family, taking up the mantle of being a Belmont, and starting a new family with Sypha.

With Sypha I actually had to scroll through tv tropes for what is her character arc, and I guess hers is disillusionment from adventure and life outside the speakers? My friends joke that Sypha’s magic is what the plot demands to look cool in a fight, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Tangent: the ending of their arc was easy to guess: as soon as Trevor went to fight the final boss alone I literally said “oh i bet Sypha’s pregnant, Trevor’s doing a heroic sacrifice, theyll use the unexplained magical dagger mcguffin, and 60/40 odds that he goes through an infinite corridor to outright come back vs just the implication he might come back”

I guess my final thought of the show, was overall the SUPER Final Boss got my by surprise. It was a good twist I enjoyed. Not that Death appeared, I had guessed that from the heavy foreshadowing, but I was surprised by who it was, because I had thought I thought the characters involved feeling shoehorned into the plot was just more bad writing. The Alchemist who put St Germain on the path or murder for no discernible motive for helping? Sure gotta move the plot along. New Dracula court member Varney who has a whole introduction with almost every character he meets and banter about his smell? Sure thats basically how all characters talk with a snarky and acerbic voice.