#anyway once again i think it’s funny to make meta do very anime things lol

[quinn-pop]

mtdd week day 7 - love language

all that to say “i love you”

[polar-stars]

☕️ + megumi and hojo?

(Give me a ☕️ + a character/ship and I��ll ramble off whatever thoughts and opinion I have about it)

Oho, interesting! Thanks for the ask!

Megumi Tadokoro

Megumi is a character I love and adore. She has given me no choice in that matter, lol. I cannot possibly dislike a character who portrays such a huge amount of real, genuine kindness. Adding to that, she's incredibly easy to relate to (I know that I am not the only one who does).

In my opinion Megumi has had some of the very best moments in all of Shokugeki, especially in it's earlier parts. The Shokugeki against Shinomiya in Trainings Camp is still my favorite battle in the whole manga after all. Her performance in the Autumn Election Premlins was also really satisfying and sweet to see. (Monkfish Preperation Scene Supremacy)

Tsukuda really did great on making Megumi a character that I really want to see succeed.....But that is where the problem comes in.

The problem is that Tsukuda struggles with the Show, Don't Tell-Rule from Central Arc onwards.

Pre-Central, Megumi's character development was solid in my opinion. It was believable and not too fast-paced. But once focus was shifted to Azami-Drama, Megumi and other characters had to take a little step back from the action. And Megumi's character arc started to stagnate.

Through Training Arc. Autumn Elections and Stagiares, Megumi had visibly gained some more confidence in herself and her stage fright problem from the beginning of the series was ceasing. However there was something missing: pay-off. Her character arc lacks proper pay-off.

You see, throughout all of Central Arc Megumi has not won any single fight on-screen. She was given one victory against Shigemichi Kumai but not even second of that fight was actually shown to the reader. But when it's time for a more detailed fight against Momo, she looses.

In her fight against Momo, the judges do find the time to point out tho that Megumi might hasn't been able to beat Momo however there is quote unquote ✨potential✨.

Thing is that the "potential"-thing has been getting old at that point. It felt very reminiscent to Megumi's fight against Ryo back in the Autumn Elections. Ryo was able to win, however it was made clear through multiple dialogue-lines that Megumi did give him a good fight, defying the expectations the audience had from her. So basically that fight was like: Yes, she lost now. But she is on the right path. There is a lot of potential.

The issue is that time has progressed ever since the AE and it was about time for us, the readers, to see that potential unfold.

But we never got that.

We get a lot, a lot of talking about Megumi's potential throughout Central Arc but never an actual showcase of it. And it does not get much better with BLUE Arc either (I mean, what do you expect from that trainwreck of an arc anyway?)

First off, despite all of her potential and her participation in the Regiment de Cuisine & the retaking of Totsuki as a whole Megumi somehow ends up with the lowest seat in the Neo-Elite 10??? And I'm just: Why??? Why is she the only explicitly ranked below Eizan & Nene (who got a massive downgrade) with everyone else far ahead? (Tho the Neo-Elite 10 Ranking as a whole is one confusing mess and I should probably stop trying to bring sense into it if I do not want to go insane, lol.)

The infamous Hot Spring Fight against a Noir is where we finally see Megumi shine a little on-screen (at least in the manga). And well....I enjoyed seeing that but...

It is still not the proper pay-off she deserves, I'm sorry. Because ultimately that Noir-Guy is some random One-Off we never saw again. And that's a problem.

This character had no time establishing himself to us. We barely know him.

To put it into perspective: Satoshi Isshiki beating Julio Shiratsu in the RdC did not feel like a very impressive thing. Because we have only come to know Julio in that one fight and had absolutely no judgement on how powerful he may be (not to mention, that he was mostly placed in a very ridiculous light). It would have been a lot more impressive to the reader had Satoshi won his later fight against Eishi Tsukasa, because Eishi is a character who we have spent a lot more time with and who has repeatedly been portrayed as absurdly skillful and an actual threat.

See what I mean? As much as I loved seeing Megumi being an absolute badass in that Hot Spring Saga...It was not the satisfying pay-off I want for her.

The few victories she gets are always against random One-Offs while her fights against the more important characters are always a loss for her. Case in point: BLUE. She gets anOTHER off-screened match against some Noir in Chinese clothes, whose name I won't bother looking up if he even has one, where all characters talk about how talented she is but once it's time for her to go up against big bad bitch Asahi she looses. And that sucks.

Not to forget the fact that Megumi always gets strung along to every big event but we never get much justification for her participation (other than the obvious Meta-Reason that she's a main character).

Think about it, her and Takumi got extremely lucky in Train Arc by having Rindou giving them a free pass just for the lulz, while everyone else got expelled. Then a good number of messy chapters later, Megumi and Takumi get invited into BLUE without even a shred of reasoning behind it. Why them? How random is it to invite the 1st, 7th and 10th seat but no one else? Meanwhile when BLUE Arc was first mentioned in the manga they told Jouichiro that it's actually extremely rare for a student in that age to get into this tournament. And Jouichiro was a 3rd year back then, what are those three 2nd Years doing there??

The anime at least addressed that by having Totsuki's students fight for the participation (I appreciated that, if only the episode that covers it wasn't so lazily done)

I'd have much less of an issue with that if they actually gave Megumi something to work with in that arc. But really in RDC and even more so in BLUE, she's mostly just there I feel. She barely really impacts the story meaningfully in both of these arcs, I feel.

And it's one big shame.

As I said, I love Megumi and Tsukuda set her up as someone who I wanted to see succeed and defy expectations. Her journey up till Central Arc was a lot of fun and very compelling but then it just...came to a halt. And her arc never got any real, proper closure I feel. She was instead pushed more and more into the background and she just did not deserve that, man.

Never forget that she is one of the mains after all and she should have been treated as one.

damn I did not think this would get this long ahhdhdf

Miyoko Hojo

When realising that Miyoko's speciality is Chinese cooking, I was super excited for her! I really love Chinese food and I've been waiting for it to be covered in Shokugeki up till that point.

I like Miyoko quite a lot, she's definitely one of my faves from the...well, I don't think "secondary" cuts it...the tertiary cast. Unfortunately we've got to see so painfully little of her.

I like that Megumi, in the most Megumi-ways, made her learn a lesson like "Feminism =/= You can not possibly get along with a man. Ever.", but it was also interesting to see acknowledgement of the inequality of men and women within the culinary business through Miyoko.

Miyoko's friendship with Megumi is something I adore and I would have very much liked more of it please. I enjoy the thought of Miyoko, this tough, unapproachable woman, having her face soften whenever this pure, little angel approaches her. Also 100% sure Miyoko would drop-kick whoever gives Megumi a funny look.

I also would have liked to see Miyoko interact more with Kuga, because I imagine it could have been a lot of fun. From the one, tiny interaction they've had I feel that Terunori actually respects Miyoko quite a bit. Which I think is interesting, because Terunori otherwise seems to enjoy bitching at people.

Honestly? If you ask me??? Miyoko should have been in the Regiment de Cuisine.

I'll never get over how she's shown in the audience, alongside Nao, smiling when the rebels are about to snatch victory. Like ahdhFJG, excuse me Ma'am what business do you have just watching??? You can not tell me that from what we've seen about Miyoko that she would not be up to kick Azami's ass out of Totsuki. I generally think it's stupid for the Rebels to go up against the Elites in a number even to them.

Azami. Explicitly told you guys. That you can bring more than that.

You were up against the Elite 10 Council.

YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED ANYONE YOU CAN GET!

YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED MIYOKO

(and Nao as well tbh)

(The Regiment de Cusine could have been a lot better to buy for me if the Rebels had shown up with more participants tbh but that's a different subject)

Anyways, as I said I wish we could have seen a lot more of Miyoko. But it just wasn't meant ot be :( I mean, when characters like Alice and Akira get pushed to the side, what chances does the tertiary cast have?

I'm at least glad that she is sort-off shown being the new president of the Chinese RS in Les Dessert 1? I like that for her.

But yes, ultimately...another criminally underused character. I look forward to write her being a cool mom in my fanfic tho.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails of Cold Steel II:

they still haven’t told me why it’s Class VII

So I liked this WAY more than CS1, thumbs up

I am annoyed that the only new location was Ymir (WHAT A COINCIDENCE that all the important places in the war were specifically ones Rean had been to already)

I just really wanna go to Parm idk

Bless Anton for showing up right at the end and giving me just enough AP to make A0

(fav Anton and Ricky subplot yet, god I love those guys)

I LOVED how tactile all the reunions were! I love it when fictional characters hug it makes me happy

I found it extremely funny that the final boss straight up tells the characters ‘hey, there’s literally no point to fighting me, you’ll gain nothing except closure I guess’ like that’s VERY on the nose and meta for a final boss

The game does have some real ending fatigue though, I don’t think we needed the epilogue

I did like the final boss though - up until that point, I had become so good at using my Dream Team of Rean, Elliot, Machias and Jusis (or Nuke-sis, as I call him, for his insane levels of arts damage output) that everything had got kinda dull for me. But final boss was actually a challenge, I had to think rather than just using the strategy that had worked on everything else

Which was Rean delays, Elliot heals/deals arts damage, Jusis drops arts nukes, and Machias does miscellaneous support/uses his link ability to keep Jusis’s EP topped up

Oh yeah I had them linked through pretty much the whole game and they hated it and it was super funny

So OH MAN, in their linked victory battle ending screen thing, Jusis goes ‘not bad, you actually held your own for once’

And it’s a little muffled, so the first time I heard it I swear I thought Machias responded with ‘you know what you can hold? Your damn top!’ and I dropped my controller. Had to go out of my way to win another battle with a link attack because no, no way-

He

Um

He said ‘tongue’

Anyway, characters!

Rean: Immediately upon starting up the game I found Ride Along Estelle in my DLC inventory and equipped it in the hopes that it would inspire Rean to be a better protagonist. It... kinda worked? I don’t hate him anymore, and I was pretty hyped to learn he was Osbourne’s son

And then Lloyd showed up immediately afterwards and I was like ‘oh wait here’s a protagonist I actually LOVE, nvm bye Rean lol’

Alisa: I literally never use Alisa unless the game makes me lol she was there and I don’t hate her but also I cannot remember a single interesting thing she did. Even during her one bit of plot relevance she was overshadowed by Angelica it’s hilarious that the marketing makes her out to be the deteuragonist 

Elliot: A GOOD BOY who served me incredibly well with his off the charts healing crafts, I can’t believe I started CS1 not liking him much and thinking him useless. I love the little dance he does in his idle animation

Laura: I still like Laura, I wish she was more plot relevant. I don’t feel strongly about her, but she’s always a welcome addition to any scene

Machias: Unpopular opinion probably but I really like him, even if his outfit in this game was awful. So are his alt outfits. Fashion disaster. I bought him contact lenses from a shady highway business man because he looks better without glasses. I made him ludicrously bulky, if he’d just had some kind of taunt craft to protect Jusis (squishy mage) with he’d be a perfect tank

I’m a fan of him in a ‘this is my trash son’ kind of way lol

Emma: Uhhh kinda boring which is impressive since she’s actually important and pseudo-related to Vita and all. Btw I guessed she was a witch in chapter goddamn three of CS1 after reading the folklore book, and I find it extremely wild that it’s either a dragged out, foregone conclusion if you have read the book, OR witches even existing is completely out of nowhere if you haven’t

Jusis: My favourite, because I’m basic. But like, he’s seriously the most interesting of the guys, and I made him Rean’s best friend (only one I got to rank 7 with lol). And his bonding event in Bareahard was so gooood!

I find it incredibly funny that he insists he and Machias aren’t friends because 1. Yes you are and 2. Do you even have any other non-Rean friends, guy? You literally never hang out with anyone else unless it’s plot related

Still low key ship it. Enjoy that Rean does too, apparently. Still reeling over their Trial Chest’s quote

His second S-Craft is ridiculous looking

Fie: Most interesting girl, love how she just doesn’t get flustered ever, funniest character, best girl in the game, what the HELL was that outfit

Gaius: I keep forgetting Gaius exists lol. I don’t dislike him, but he’s not very interesting to me. He’s Zin, or Noel

Millium: Man do I want to know more about Millium. Her whole thing about learning to cry... so sad and SO fascinating. What is the deal with her and Altina?!?

Sara: I hated Sara at the start of CS1. Now I adore her. God she’s just the best. Please let her interact with Schera please please please Falcom

Towa: Cutest! She’s so cute and I still love her and I did her final event even though she is TOO GOOD for Rean! She got to be a captain! I love her!

As for more minor characters - still think Angie’s great, just wish she wasn’t kinda creepy about her love of girls, deeply dislike that the game ship teases her and GEORGE, who I still otherwise find inoffensive but also, you know, male, Alfin is great, Toval is great too and I still can’t get over him being Toby, stop teasing Claire with Rean let there be one woman who isn’t into him please, oh good Sharon’s here and they don’t do that with her and she’s awesome also can’t believe I used to not like her, more Olivier always please, same with Mueller, Celine is Morgana from P5 except better in every conceivable way, Crow :(, all the Ouroboros lot are great as always, and Elise is easily my least favourite character in this franchise and can get in the sun for all I care 

I read a transcript of the drama CD and hey Rean’s dad can also get in the sun for saying that his adopted son isn’t good enough to marry his biological daughter like where do you even start-

I love that I’ve gone from reacting to Ouroboros appearances like ‘oh shit oh no’ to going ‘oh shit it’s these fucking clowns (affectionate) again’

Still love Beryl. Also love Lambert

When they mentioned ‘Mueller’s friend’ I thought it would be Julia and I was so excited and then so disappointed that it was Neithardt who I still don’t like

Elliot’s dad looks ridiculous riding on top of that tank

I loved riding the bike around SO MUCH, even if it took me a while to get a hang of the controls  

Aurelia Le Guin is just Edelgard Fire Emblem, right? And Bardias is Claude? Except I guess this game came first, so like, other way around

Man I loved flying around on the Courageous. Also I FINALLY got a map, all I wanted in CS1 was to see a map of the country 

However, Act 1 was definitely my favourite part - the sequence where the kids have to sneak through the railway lines under the bridge to get to Garrelia is one of my favourite parts of this entire series. I kind of wanted the whole game to just be this group of teenagers trying to lay low and survive a civil war while also travelling and helping out from place to place

I uh... I want JRPG Life is Strange 2

Why is there a snowboarding minigame. I mean, I loved it, but... why is it there?

I still really miss the old battle orbment designs from Sky. The ARCUSs just aren’t as cool :(

I watched the secret Black Records scene on YouTube and I am so happy to finally have an explanation for Rosine, it was really bothering me that she seemed so out of place at a military academy

I’m very very hype to play CS3 based on the spoilers I have for who will be making appearances...

:D

Seriously why is everything in these games azure though just say blue-

[momo-de-avis]

1, 3, 10, 15, 20, 21 and 25?

hello friend!

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Currently, what I am just wrapping up is the thing I want to narrate on voice (yeah... imagine that) that I had locked up for AGES because I knew where I was going and got stuck mid-way unsure how the hell how I was getting there. It’s sort of light horror magical realism about dealing with trauma and recovery, and I’m happy because JUST recently I passed the checkpoint of THIS WAS THE PART I COULDN’T GET THROUGH! I GOT IT! I REACHED DENOUEMENT BITCH! 

Also, it was really hard to write, I won’t lie. And it reached the point of weird. Not fantastical weird, but weird to me. I hope I manage to capture that with my voice 🥴

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Honestly? I don’t think there really is one... anymore. I do everything chronologically. Unfortunately, I can’t do that thing writers often advise, to leave blanks to fill in later. If I do that, this damn ADHD brain will NEVER AGAIN bother itself to do it. If I don’t have the motivation to do it now, it will never happen. I have also learned to trust my instincts: if it’s too boring to write, don’t write it at all. If it’s too boring to write, it will feel too boring to read. Just straight up skip it, nobody cares. Reduce it to a sentence, that’s it. So I end up getting to the exciting-scenes-I-really-want-to-do pretty fast. 

Also, like... I love experimenting with so many genres I don’t think there’s one I REALLY would like to try but never did? I would like to do better, much better, but never actually dipped my pen in it? I don’t know, man, I don’t think there’s one big ass scene I haven’t tried that I can think of.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

Re-read what I last wrote. Always. This works as both a quick revision of my last writing and a way to get in the mood and also to remind myself of what last happened, because I forget everything except the head God gave me and which I carry on my shoulders.

Set the music, or the ambient sound.

Stare at the blinking cursor for five minutes.

Start writing.

Erase a whole paragraph.

Write another 3 paragraphs.

Stop for 10 to 25 minutes to check if the correct usage in this context should be “white-out”, “liquid corrector” or simply “corrector”, and then it turns out I don’t even use the goddamn thing anyway.

Write another 3 pages.

Coffee and cigarette break.

5h have passed. Time is an illusion.

Oooooh, Discord messages! Everyone is talking shit about their relatives, why not make another 40 minute break for the chance of some juicy gossiping?

What do you MEAN, 1h has passed?

You have another hour before dinnertime. Why not get furiously in the mood and just miraculously gain every goddamn inspiration point lost in the previous 7h you were trying to fish for brain cells in the atmosphere? So furiously type out 10 pages that, once you revise in about 3h later, are full of typos, missing a THOUSAND words, and good luck understanding what the hell you meant with all those broken sentences and so many goddamn commas and M dashes.

But ah, completion.

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Gonna be real honest here. Summaries. I’m not so bad with titles. Mostly because I use the same principle for them that I did with academic papers: only bother myself with those after everything is done by pulling a sentence or an idea straight out of the text of the source of inspiration. But ask me to SUMMARIZE THE DAMN THING? It’s an hour and a half of me stammering bullshit punctuated with a million “AND THEN--” and nobody understands a damn thing.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I do a LOT of repetitions I don’t think people pick up on. I mean, literal transliterations of chunks of texts, either from a previous page to the end, or from an existing source to my text as like, an homage I guess. With this one I’ve been working on, I literally repeat entire passages but they’re so far apart they’re hard to tell (at least for people like me, who Have No Braincells), but there’s a reason it happens and it also has to do with the narrative too.

This is completely irrelevant but I am going to say anyway, for Wordtober, for the Prompt uhhhhhh I think it was Legend I did this story about a bunch of pirates who go after the legend of Lover’s Cove and it’s from the perspective of a pirate named Largo. That’s actually a character from something major I’ve been developing, and at the very end he meets a fiery-red-haired woman who happens to be Anne Bonny, I just thought it would be funny to explain how they meet, and also, Largo is a reference to Largo La Grande from Monkey Island because that guy is so funny and I love Monkey Island to death. Nobody cares but this matters to me 😔

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

I’m boring, so none. I’ve worked on film before, did a couple of music videos (yes...), and right now I’ve been attempting illustration but LOL. Right now I’m stuck with writing only

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Definitely the process of creating. Even the revision part is fun for me. I don’t know this process is fun, but I love it. Just... birthing something from scratch and shaping it into something real, whole, complete, is immensely enjoyable. These days, is the only way I manage to get out of the world and feel something akin to... peace, quiet, you know. I don’t even particularly enjoy the researching part, though I very easily get way too lost in it, don’t get me wrong, but the creation part is just so compelling man...

[octaviadblake]

Ὀδύσσεια + τό ἑκᾰτόν

OR The Odyssey + The 100, an in-depth look at parallels to Homeric canon in season 6, and how the themes and motifs present on Sanctum mirror Odysseus’s 10-year journey back to Ithaca.

DISCLAIMER: I was a Russian Lit major, not a Classics major, so I’m not an expert on this. I did study Ancient Greek and Ancient Greek Drama for 6 and 2 semesters in college, respectively, though, but my expertise is more on The Iliad than The Odyssey so just...cut me some slack lol

If you’re not down for this 2.7k word mini-dissertation, here’s your chance to turn back.

So for those of you who don’t know me, I’m a major Classics nerd. I studied The Iliad in the original in college (and yes, I will be writing a series of metas about how s1-5 are The Iliad so keep an eye out for that), but The Odyssey remains, arguably, Homer’s most prolific epic. I’ve never parsed the text in the original, so I’m not going to be doing any sort of text-to-quote analysis because I think using a translation would be a disservice to the text (major Classics nerd. cannot stress this enough.), but I’m gonna be doing a rundown of all the major stops on Odysseus’s journey and how The 100 has mimicked each and every one of those stops in season 6 thus far.

Still reading? Cool, let’s do this thing.

Some of you may have already read my theory on the anomaly and how I think what lies inside is something like the Island of the Lotus Eaters. If you haven’t read it, you can check it out here, but brief summary: the Lotus Eaters is the first stop Odysseus and his crew make. The Lotus plant is so entrancing that it makes people forget all about their lives outside the island and coerces them to stay there, stuck in a sort of opiate-like blissed out haze of chillness for the rest of their lives, and I think that may be what’s happening in the anomaly, not time travel like others have theorized. Cool, moving on.

The next stop of Odysseus’s journey is the island of Polyphemus, the cyclops who intends to eat him and his men. 

(Giulio Romano, Polyphemus)

They manage to escape when Odysseus (using the fake name of “Nobody”) blinds Polyphemus and they hide under the bellies of his sheep in order to avoid detection as they escape his cave.

Let’s think, how does this relate to our heroes? What’s happening right now on the show, going into episode 6x12? 

(gif credit: @commander-anya)

Clarke is pretending to be Josephine in order to blindside the Primes and help her people escape.

In The Odyssey, this is a continuation of the theme of “hosting” or “guest-friendship” (a term I’m borrowing from wikipedia since I’ve been out of school for over a year and don’t feel like actually thinking for this pseudo literary analysis). We saw this with the Lotus-Eaters, and we see it again with Polyphemus. But the Cyclops is a bad host. So are the Primes. 

Polyphemus’s host gift to Odysseus is that he tells him he’ll eat him last. He won’t spare him, but he’ll give him longer to live than the rest of his men. One of the drawbacks, is that means Odysseus is going to watch all of his people die, one by one, until he meets his demise. 

God, how many times have Clarke and Bellamy watched their people suffer? And now the Primes have a way to make nightblood. They’ve turned Echo into a nightblood. Who’s next? Presumably all of them, one by one, until all the Primes are brought back to life. And with Clarke masquerading as Josephine, how many of her people is she going to watch be tortured? How many might she lose in tonight’s episode and in next week’s episode before they manage to beat the Primes and escape? How much have they lost? How much more must they lose?

We also get our first hint of the theme of “cunning over strength” (a term I’m borrowing from SparkNotes because, again, I really don’t feel like putting more effort into this than I already am lmfao) at this point in The Odyssey. Odysseus devises a plan to escape the Cyclops that involves very little violence compared to the blood-soaked battles that we saw in The Iliad. Rather than brute force, he uses his cunning to escape. 

Clarke is going in as Josephine. She's not going for brute force. She’s not barging in with an army (that part comes later). This move is pure Clarke, all head. Going with the most cunning plan, not the most direct, not the most violent, the most strategic. 

Clarke Griffin is Odysseus.

GODDAMN IM LOVING THIS. I digress.

The next major plot point in The Odyssey is Odysseus running into Aeolus, the god of the winds. 

(source unknown by me, but this image is public domain)

He gives Odysseus a bag containing the four cardinal winds which, when opened at the right time, will send him straight home to Ithaca. His men think that the bag secretly contains a treasure that Odysseus is hoarding for himself and they open the bag, releasing the winds, and sending their ship even further off course than before, prolonging their journey.

I stumbled over this one for a second because it could be a few different moments in season 6. Gabriel giving Clarke info on how to take down the Primes? No, where’s the sabotage there? Murphy attempting to help Josephine to get mind drives for him and Emori? No, he ends up doing the right thing and puts them on the right track. Spacekru & friends devising a plan to defeat the Primes and Madi attacking them, sending them off the proverbial course? Hmm, sounds about right.

To make this easier for me, let’s call Bellamy, Echo, Emori, Murphy, Jordan, Miller, and Madi Spacekru 2.0. Well, they’re trying to make their plan to “work with” the Primes so they can get a compound, a home, for them and their people. But Madi is the crew to Spacekru 2.0′s Odysseus. She has her own agenda. She wants the treasure, she wants her revenge. 

She attacks the Primes, releases the winds as it were, and all hell breaks loose.

(gif credit: @bellamyblakepositivity)

They’re thrown off course. How will they ever get their compound now? How will they get their home? 

[Fun etymology fact break: Homecoming is stylized in The Odyssey as “νόστος” (nostos), when an epic hero returns home via voyage by sea, aka the MAIN theme in this epic. We get the word “nostalgia” from nostos, mixed with άλγος (algos) which means pain. Nostalgia is the pain of yearning for the past or for home. Is nostalgia/homecoming not one of the key themes of The 100? Is it not one of the key themes of The Odyssey? (also you could probably write an analysis of how nostos is a hero returning by sea and the way that space and the sea are often visually/metaphorically compared, the way you navigate both domains in a ship, the way you have an odyssey and a space odyssey....but that’s a discussion for another time)]

Next up on the journey? Aeaea, Circe’s island. 

(gif credit: ? if anyone knows, hmu so i can give credit please!)

Circe was a witch who turned men into animals (mainly pigs in The Odyssey, but in another myth, into a woodpecker, which isn’t relevant, I just think it’s funny). Here we get the motif of transformation and false appearances, a continuation of the Nobody plot, and a motif that we also see with the Primes taking over other people’s bodies, constantly transforming their appearances. 

While climbing a mountain to reach Circe’s palace, Hermes points Odysseus to a plant which will make him immune to Circe’s transformation magic. Why does this sound familiar......

The neural mesh in Clarke’s head gives her resistance to the mind drive allowing her consciousness to survive the “transformation.”

 Like the Island of the Lotus Eaters (and the anomaly) Circe has the ability to manipulate the passage of time, or rather, the perception of the passage of time. Odysseus loses quite a significant amount of time trapped on her island. (It’s not actually 5 years, the mini-series fudged that bit a little since Homer never specifies how long it is, but I’ll forgive you, The Odyssey mini-series, because I love you so very much that I cried when I found you on DVD in a tiny Wal-Mart in the backwoods of Tallahassee two years ago)

We also get another look at the complicated theme of guest-friendship on Circe’s island. She is, quite simply, a terrible host. She traps Odysseus’s men, just like the Primes trap Spacekru 2.0. Odysseus frees them. It’s on Clarke to free her people from the terrible hosts that are the Primes. There’s a joke in there about the Primes bodies being hosts to the mind-drives. Anyway.

Odysseus’s next stop is the land of the dead. He descends into Hades (a very perilous feat) to talk with the blind prophet Tiresias. He also talks to Anticlea, his deceased mother.

My god, if that stop isn’t exactly 6x07 Nevermind. 

Clarke talks to Jake Griffin, and tells him she thinks she’s dead, she’s ready to give up, she’s ready to let go. Odysseus tells Anticlea he feels the gods are against him, his journey is fruitless, he’ll never make it home. I don’t think that parallel could be more obvious if it punched you in the face.

I think maybe Monty is Tiresias in this scenario, giving Clarke advice and helping her navigate the mindspace so she can send a message to Bellamy that she’s alive which will give her the advantage of having an ally on her side. Odysseus promises Tiresias he’ll make a sacrifice to him once he gets back into the world of the living bc the dead feast on blood or something like that, but that’s like Clarke promising Monty she’ll do her best to continue to honor his challenge to her to do better. So cool. Love it.

(gif credit: @janemichaels)

Thematically, this mimics the theme of “testing” that’s present in The Odyssey (thank wikipedia again for helping me on this one lmao). You get Odysseus’s men’s loyalty being tested, and you get Odysseus’s identity itself being tested.

Clarke is tested when she is faced with the option of giving up and letting go. Spacekru 2.0 (and particularly Murphy and Emori) are tested when they learn Clarke is gone, then learn she’s alive. Will they be loyal enough to her to save her? Hint: yes, obviously, because Spacekru 2.0 is way better than Odysseus’s crew. Will Clarke decide to push forward and fight for her life? Hint: yeah, duh, because she’s just as badass as Odysseus. 

Next comes the sirens. 

Odysseus’s ship sails through the isle of the sirens, whose song lures sailors to their deaths. Odysseus makes his men stuff their ears with beeswax so they won’t be tempted by the song, but he ties himself to the mast, wanting to hear it. I kinda struggled with this one, but then I realized, at this point, we’re not looking at Clarke as Odysseus.

We’re looking at Octavia as Odysseus.

Octavia is faced with her greatest fear. She ends up running into the anomaly after Diyoza. If I’m right about the anomaly being sort of the Lotus Eaters, then we could assume that the anomaly holds Octavia’s deepest desires; that might have been what she’d have seen if she’d chosen the green box. She hears the call, and resists. The temptation and the overcoming thereof. 

I think that’s clear enough, so I’m gonna skip ahead to the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.

Earlier, Circe had warned Odysseus of this choice he would have to make. Choose the 6-headed monster on the left and lose at best, 6 of his men. Choose the whirlpool on the right, and lose them all.

[Sidenote: how interesting is it that the anomaly is associated with a spiral shape, mimicking that of a whirlpool? Should we believe that if they enter the anomaly it is, in fact, certain death that awaits them? Or is it a metaphoric whirlpool, and they’re just being sucked in, never to return to their original mission of returning home (*cough* Lotus Eaters again *cough*)?]

(gif credit: @aryastarktheshewolf)

So I think this choice is reminiscent of Octavia’s choices of the red box versus the green box. Presumably, face her greatest fears or her deepest desires. She chooses the red box. Better to face her fears and risk dying that way than face her desires (the same green of the anomaly anyone??) and risk getting sucked in like Diyoza was, never to return. 

She never saw her deepest desires in the forest (from what we saw) so it makes sense that she would choose the red box. She knows she can escape her fears. Blodreina no more. But if she faces her desires, who’s to say she could ever turn back? 

(gif credit: @daeneryskairipa)

Cool cool, so freaking cool, I love these parallels so much, y’all. 

Now we get to explore the most Prime-like example of “guest-friendship” in The Odyssey.

Ogygia. Calypso’s island. 

[Fun etymology fact break: “Kαλύπτω” (kalupto), the word that lends its root to Calypso’s name, means “to conceal” or “to deceive.” Calypso is “the one who conceals,” she’s “the deceiver.” “Ὠγύγιος” (ogugios), which lends its meaning to Ogygia, means “primeval” or “primal.” The Primes...the first settlers of Sanctum...the ones from the earliest ages (another interpretation of the word). The Primes, the deceivers. The Primes, the primeval ones. Hmmm.]

(screencap from The Odyssey mini-series, 1997. btw, Vanessa Williams will ALWAYS be Calypso in my mind)

Calypso offers Odysseus a home on Ogygia, but he will have to abandon his dream of returning to Ithaca, to his home, to his wife, Penelope, and to his son, Telemachus. She actually prevents him from leaving for seven years (more warped passage of time a la the anomaly), effectively keeping him prisoner. But he wants for nothing there. He is fed and clothed and bathed and sheltered. 

Our heroes are offered a home on Sanctum, but it’s not all it appears. It’s not the paradise they’re lead to believe it to be. They’re deceived. 

[EDIT: Leah @braveprincess offered an interesting take on Calypso, which I absolutely HAVE to share with y’all:

Anyway, let my rant continue]

In order to stay, they must sacrifice Clarke, Madi too, and well, now, all of their people the Primes want to make into nightbloods. They’re prisoners in Sanctum. They can’t leave, not only because the Primes won’t let them, but because what awaits them is the Children of Gabriel and the mysteries of this new planet. Their best chance at survival is with the Primes. But that also means compromising and losing people they refuse to be without.

Bellamy is Odysseus now. Clarke is his Penelope. 

(gif credit: @bellarkedaily)

He won’t negotiate with the Primes. He won’t sacrifice Clarke. Shut up, I’m not crying, you’re crying. 

Athena asks Zeus to intervene, so he sends Hermes to tell Calypso she must release Odysseus. Odysseus leaves to continue the next, and last, part of his journey. His return home. 

Bellamy leaves Sanctum to save Clarke. Once he has her back, they can continue their final journey, building a home on this new world. Or so we hope. 

But who knows? We haven’t seen the finale yet. Maybe they’ll stay on this world. Maybe not.

Some people have been theorizing that they’ll return to Earth (via time travel or whatever it is, which I don’t really buy but whatever), which would be a really nice conclusion to the theme of nostos, but the problem with that is right now, there is no Earth to return to. Nostos only works if there’s a home to go back to. And that home, usually, must be unchanged from when the hero left to fit into the proper meaning of the word.

So, what would be the best way for The 100 to get our heroes back to Earth to fulfill this Odyssey-esque narrative that they (probably unwittingly) have set up? 

SEND ‘EM INTO THE ANOMALY!

Let them chill there, enjoy a little bit of paradise, let time pass super fast in the outside world while it passes normally for them, let Earth recover, and send ‘em back. But that bit is more of a pipe dream than anything else and I doubt that’s what they’ll do. I’m not a big fan of most anomaly theories, but I think that could be a cool one. Who knows.

Anyway, that’s all I have for today. Next week post-finale, I’ll probably work through the rest of The Odyssey, with Odysseus’s return to Ithaca, defeating the suitors, and winning his wife back, if all goes to plan with beating the Primes. So if you liked this (admittedly rambling half-cocked mini thesis paper), keep an eye out for that one. 

After this season, I’m gonna be doing a series on how seasons 1-5 are actually The Iliad, so if you wanna scream about Classics & The 100 with me, just drop a line in my ask :)

[yaboylevi]

Hello! I find your theories very appealing. I would like to ask you what do you think about bond between Levi and Eren from the perspective of recent informations? Eren said that Ackermans form that kind of relationship "in order to protect Eldia`s king" on subconsscious lvl. Do you think that Levi dismissing the idea of killing Eren almost immidiately while having a hedache means that he is influenced like that? Thank you for your time!

Hello everyone, I was surprised to receive so many questions about this topic. This meta has become massive, as I analyzed some interactions throughout the whole manga. Feel free to add your thoughts on it.

Disclaimer:

I’ve seen people argue that Mikasa’s actions make sense even if she wasn’t controlled by her blood, and I agree (112!Eren was probably exaggerating, anyway). And it certainly stands for Levi’s actions as well.

The chances of Levi being bonded to Eren are very slim, in my opinion, and I don’t want him to be, if I had to be honest, but for the sake of answering these questions, and because the most recent chapter is purposely asking us to consider it, I will now ramble about it.

More under the cut.

My experience with ch112 has been me reading the Japanese script first. I was crushed by the EMA talk, then I expected the worst even from Levi’s part, as the page that first leaked seemingly had Levi losing faith in Eren. So I read the soldiers announcing that the plan was to feed Eren to someone, then Levi starting wondering if it even had been worth it to protect Eren, considering all the sacrifices humanity had made. Then it shifted to Levi completely shutting down the idea. No, he said, he would have none of it. He didn’t even care if Eren was controlled or not, he would not kill him. He would kill someone else, feed it to a random person and then titanize Historia. I was blown away. Because I thought Levi to be very opposed to this titan-Historia plan. And I always knew Levi cared about Eren, but it was crazy to read Levi so explicitly confirm it.

Then the chapters images dropped. Mikasa held her head because of a headache, just when Eren was challenging her about it. And right after that, when Levi was debating if he would allow Eren to be killed, he held his head in seemingly (emotional) pain and/or frustration. An Ackerman holding his head just when Eren has just finished talking about Ackerman’s headachesーWait what?!

Images of Mikasa softly placing her hand to the side of the head came immediately to mind. I think it was intentional on Isayama’s part. The coincidence was too obvious to ignore.

So I started thinking about all those times I made fun of Levi for being overprotective of Eren, starting with one of the most recent examples, with Yelena. There is, of course, a logical reason for it, but…But.

What about that time in the Forest of Giant Trees, when Levi was way too much in synch with Eren, just like Mikasa.

This one always felt weird. I loved this parallel. I always attributed Mikasa’s reaction to her overbearing protectiveness, plus she had actually heard Eren’s roar once, in Trost. But Levi had never heard it, as far as we know, he had barely known Eren for a month. It just looked weird and funny in my eyes, and I often joked around with my friends about it, like “Levi, you fool, you’ve known him for like 10 minutes, why are you acting like Mikasa”. But now…I’m reconsidering every interaction Eren and Levi had, from the very start.

Curiously enough, Levi’s first thought when thinking about Eren in 112 is also the very first time he saw him. Eren, so vulnerable. It’s a sweet memory. Levi had found EMA at just the right moment and saved them. When hearing about Eren’s most recent deed, Levi thinks of Eren’s face in a moment of weakness and confusion, instead of, like, this other panel below. Once, the first thing Levi thought about when talking about Eren was this:

Now it’s this.

I feel like Levi’s opinion of Eren has subtly changed over the years, from someone who inspires power and fear, to someone who inspires protection. 

The panel above could be attributed to Levi’s next line of thoughts about all the times he had to save Eren, but that time in Trost is the exception because no one had ordered Levi to save Eren. Yet, he still somehow found him. Mikasa says her bond “wasn’t born by chance”. It’s because it was Eren. Now I wonder if it wasn’t fated that the two Ackermans would find Eren.

This put aside, their next meeting is the famous one, in the courtroom prisons. It’s the first time we see one of the most stoic character, as stoic as Mikasa, show such a strong, impressed reaction to someone. Even before Eren proclaims his intent, his vision we could say, Levi is shaken. 

He decides he will protect him. Erwin probably had already decided this, but I feel Levi was kinda opposed to it before this moment. Levi chose to do so only when hearing such strong-willed words from Eren’s mouth. Words that seem to match Levi’s own vision, as he had just proclaimed as much just hours before on the battlefield.

I’ve always liked this interaction, but I’ve never really thought about the meaning it had in the story. It could simply be a means, like in any other shonen, to show the protagonist’s efforts and value be acknowledged by a not-so-easily impressionable character. Here, Levi’s decision is based simply on Eren’s will, which is Eren’s main trait. But there could be more. Every panel seems to always convey something specific in this manga, and as time progresses and more info are revealed, the meaning of certain panels changes.

Particular focus was put on Levi’s reaction in the anime, too. Could be a strategic move to stir female fans, but the manga focuses on it, as well.

Then, some other interactions have a kind of weird feel when it comes to Levi’s behavior in regards to Eren.

Levi stands in the middle between people who might decide to kill Eren (Zackley, and in 112, it parallels to Pixis, who is in Zackley’s place now) and Eren himself. No need to mention that Levi’s beating was merely a farce, due to Erwin’s orders with the goal to save Eren. Levi, in the visual novel, says he didn’t like it, but it was necessary to save his life. In this occasion, Eren screams “Bet on me!” and I idly wonder if this could be the order an Ackerman needs.

Currently, Levi is totally betting on Eren still being their only hope for freedom.

After that, a totally unjustified gut feeling tells Levi to protect Eren, even if he was absolutely pissed just mere seconds before and he has no reason to trust Eren with his titan.

Then, in the forest, again for no reason at all, he jeopardizes Erwin’s plans when he gives free choice to Eren. If Eren had decided to fight the Female Titan, it would have never reached the point where Erwin and the other soldiers were waiting for it. Levi has always given precise orders to his subordinates. But he left free choice to Eren.

The same happened in the Reiss cave. They were about to die, and instead of thinking about a solution himself, or giving some orders, he recognized Eren’s will and left him a choice. They could’ve died, but he decided to trust Eren. These could simply be ways for Isayama to let the protagonist grow and gain experiences that will shape him in the future, but usually, the characters act for very specific reasons. I’ve always believed it was because Eren and Levi are fundamentally really similar and Levi understood this and respected and accepted Eren because of it. It could still be it. But now I am reconsidering Levi’s reasons for trusting Eren so much in the first place, since the very beginning. 

Now, when it comes to Erwin’s orders conflicting with protecting Eren…

In Stohess, Levi, upon Erwin’s orders, couldn’t participate in the battle, and, when hearing Eren’s roar again, he looks like this.

In the Forest of Giant Trees, when Erwin prevents Levi to get to his squad and to Eren, it very much looks like Levi wants to oppose it, but he trusts Erwin, his current liege.

In Shiganshina, the same happens.

Towards the end of that battle, when Levi sees Eren again, he looks distraught. 

Then he recomposes himself and comes up with a half-assed plan that would cause his own demise and that of everyone else, but Erwin and Eren would survive, and that’s all that matters because they are the hope of humanity for Levi. Sounds familiar? Yeah, it sounds like the plan in chapter 112, a pretty bold plan that goes directly against orders ー its faults clearly pointed out by othersー and is based on sacrificing important people in order to protect “hope”.

The timing of Levi clutching his head in the latest chapter was suspicious. It might not be a headache, but I think Isayama wants to make us wonder, of course.

I…honestly don’t want Levi to be ackerbonded to Eren and he probably isn’t, as I said before. I want every one of their interactions to be nothing but genuine, between two people who understand and trust each other on a basic, instinctual level, without even an ounce of magical and/or scientific stuff in the middle.

But Eren has the Founder and it looks like Ackermans were made to protect it. I wouldn’t find it farfetched if fate, or “Paths”, whatever, brought all the Ackermans to be around Eren. Mikasa and Levi specifically, both with the self-appointed mission to protect Eren. Levi’s has never made us suspect anything because it was also his official mission in the SC. But both Ackermans are making the same pained expression when finally confronting Eren in Marley, and it can’t be a coincidence.

The images are so painfully similar, they overlap (my friend checked lol).

I am aware Ackermans can still have independent feelings for their host. If Kenny’s granddad’s story taught us anything, it would be that the Ackermans can ideologically oppose their host’s decisions. I am unsure if they can, physically, but I bet they can. Eren seems to think the bond works both mentally and physically, like a twilight imprint, minus the romantic aspect of it. But I don’t think the Ackermans’ most inner feelings are influenced, albeit the bond possibly forming during an “extreme situation” when the Ackerman (or the Liege?) is in life-threatening danger is certainly worrying. You know, trauma and bad coping mechanisms.

About those knee-jerk reactions Eren called Mikasa out on, I’d like to point out Levi’s punch to Eren in Shiganshina (possibly in response to the instinct to protect Erwin) and Mikasa’s subsequent violent reaction to Levi (possibly in response to her instinct to protect Eren). 

But there’s another instance, in Levi’s visual novel “Burning Bright in the Forest of the Night”, that happens when Levi hears Eren’s roar.

“Facing that conclusion head on [that Eren is in danger], he flies like a released arrow. His heart - it is as cold as ice.”

I have no idea what will happen next, if Levi will survive or how he’ll react to Eren’s new…personality. But not even Eren using the SC to attack an entire nation could make Levi lose faith in him, not even knowing that Eren is working with Zeke and most probably asked Levi not to kill his brother, not even hearing Eren has escaped from prison and he’s leading a coup. Just like when Levi found out Erwin’s dream was more important than humanity’s survival, even if shocked, Levi has decided to accept and trust the man. 

I can’t wait to see Eren and Levi meeting again. A mentor-mentee relationship surely calls for more, even if Levi’s headache in 112 isn’t really a headache. I don’t think the story requires a new Ackerbond with Eren when there’s Mikasa’s already, but it would be interesting to see Levi protecting Eren once more, in spite of everything. It might be the last time, too.

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Masterpost

5x19: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Previously on Glee: Everyone else is doing things - while Kurt has his collections of neckerchiefs.   Kinda wondering if Chris wrote that one, lol.   

So....  Yeah, this is the episode that Chris Colfer wrote.  And what do I think of it? Because I know you guys are all here for my very professional opinion on all these things... lol.  It’s... fine.  There are some things that really work -- Santana as a publicist - excellent!! Sam and Mercedes’s relationship issues -- great.  Dogs dragging Lea Michele down the road because of her bratty behavior - totally here for that.  Honestly, I think the Kurt portion of the story may be the weakest aspect of this episode, but this is Chris’s first try at a TV script, and I think he’s done a lot better than a lot of people out there -- including whoever wrote I Kissed a Girl, ug.  

I do think there’s some dialogue that’s a little stiff, and Chris has a tendency to write a little on the cheesy side, but I’m really sad that season 6 wasn’t longer to give him another go at it, cause I think TV writing might have been a good avenue for him.  And I really hope that some day he gets to head his own TV show - because I think it’s something he’d do rather well at.  So - that’s my two cents. 

I will say - this episode is mostly stand alone.  And with the season drawing to a close -- I really am missing those extra two episodes that were chopped off the end of the season.  I really would have liked to play around in this sandbox for a tad bit longer, as I think there were most definitely more stories to tell.  At least I am grateful for what we got. 

Problem Child

So, I’m not going to spend much time (or really at all) trying to figure out how Chris feels about this or that as evident through the script.  I mean -- TV is a collaborative process -- and even if Chris wrote the script, I’m sure a lot of people still had their input, and he didn’t direct it, so...  But I think this still is a good indicator about how he felt about Rachel.  I mean...  yeah, it’s probably how we all feel about Rachel, tbh.  

 So as we open -- Kurt wants to see a movie, but, well, Blaine is too busy doing stuff with June, Santana just doesn’t want to, and Rachel’s freaking out that image is being tarnished because she fucked up in the previous episode.  And, as most things do, it becomes all about Rachel.  Santana, however, steps up to be her publicist -- which is -- incredibly inspired!! Can I just keep the headcanon that Santana sticks to being a publicist, this is a fantastic choice for her.  Thank you, Chris, for this.  

Anyway - Kurt’s more than annoyed -- and even has to tell Rachel to keep her voice down because they’re in side -- because he is, more often than not, Rachel’s care giver.  Because seriously, this girl cannot seem to function on her own.  

So -- here’s my thing.  This script is a little awkward going forward -- a lot of it is Kurt harping on how his ‘friends’ aren’t there for him, though only specifically focusing on Rachel.  And while I think the Rachel was the safest route to go, and one that’s been clearly building for a while, I do think it might have been interesting to see how that played out with others -- such as Mercedes or Santana or even Blaine.  (Though, honestly, I’m glad Chris did the smart thing and not include a lot of Blaine in this script.  I totally get why he did -- because he really didn’t want to be harassed about it -- and that was the wisest choice for him.) 

Oh and then to everyone’s shock - Rachel goes to yell at someone for putting their dog in their purse.  I mean, is this an LA thing? I kinda wonder if this is an LA thing that pisses Chris off and he gets to yell through Rachel.  It kinda feels like it, lol.  Anyway... Kurt’s in the background, but his ‘wtf are you doing’ look is classic. 

Pillsbury

So - this episode has to do with three of Chris’s favorite things: 1. Dogs (animals); 2. Old People; and 3. Fairy tales.  I mean - I don’t think it gets much Chris-ish than that -- unless you wanted to throw in aliens.  I do find it hilarious that he brings all these things to Kurt, because they aren’t really there before -- but it seems to fit in pretty well.  

Anyway - we get June Squibb in the form of Maggie Banks (Do you see -- it’s a combo of Maggie Smith and Mrs Banks from Mary Poppins -- at least that’s what I assume is the inspiration.) I’m not going to talk too much about June Squibb’s performance -- because it’s awkward at best  (I can’t tell if it’s her acting or if it’s the lines).  But it makes a ton of sense that this actress just coming into her own in her 80s is who they got to play the part.  I assume Chris adored working with her.  

Anyway, this old folks home is doing a rendition of Peter Pan (get it - cause they’re old, and they want to stay young forever -- this script is full of stuff like this.  I can’t tell if it’s clever or not.)  And Maggie’s gonna start screaming elder abuse if the poster doesn’t go up in the diner.  But -- that doesn’t stop her from noticing that Kurt’s full of his usual ennui.  

Hilariously, he says he files all his problems away and lets it out during an episode of Long Island Medium.  (This is another Chris-ism.  Yeah, I can’t stop pointing these out.)  While questionable choice of reality TV aside, I do think this is a fascinating beat for Kurt -- he’s internalizing all of his issues.  Maybe it’s cause no matter how far he gets in his life, and partially cause he does have super involved in themselves friends, Kurt’s not one to reach out when he’s got issues.  THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING KURT!!

You wanna know why Kurt and Blaine break up a second time? Cause Kurt pretty much sucks at letting people know he’s struggling with something.  He thinks he can fix everything himself, and you know what? You can’t sweetie -- so talk to people! 

Well -- here he gets to talk to June, and let’s it out that he’s feeling a little left behind lately.  Santana’s starring in vaginal cream commercials, Mercedes’s is becoming the next Beyonce, Blaine has found a sugar mama, and Rachel has already hit her mid-40s where she’s fucking up her Broadway career for a shot at TV.  And Kurt feels like he’s gotten nowhere.  Which -- yeah he hasn’t.  And that’s not a bad thing, not really, since he’s the only one on a sure and steady course, but when everyone around you feels like they’re miles ahead in their lives, it can feel heavy being the only one not /there/.  (I getcha kiddo, I really do.) 

Also - I think it’s hilarious that he says he’s the mother in a Nancy Myers movie.  (That is so Kurt, and so Chris.)  And, god, yeah, let someone else take over handling Rachel.  Geez. 

Kurt then finds out that his therapy session is with /The/ Maggie Banks -- the woman who once starred in the worst Broadway show of all time, a musical about Helen Keller.  (Eesh)  And after being awkwardly asked to come back to the home, she invites him back to watch them rehearse.  Sure - why not, he doesn’t have anything else to do.  

Look at what a happy little goober he is -- he’s gonna hang out with old people! 

Broadway Bitches

Oh Broadway Bitches.  I have a heancanon that Chris came up with this at 2 in the morning and immediately texted Ashley cause he thought it was so funny.  Is it clever? Yes.  Is it something I’d use as a name for an organization dealing with kids? No...  But moving on... 

Can I just reiterate that Santana as a publicist is hilarious.  Also her line -- ‘a designer so fancy I can’t even pronounce his name, there’s hardly any vowels’ is a line Chris probably came up with way back on the season 1 press tour and never got to use. 

Anyway -  to rehabilitate her image, Rachel, Santana, and Mercedes are going to do a show.  And Kurt wants in -- cause Chris remembers continuity and Dani’s off doing roller derby and Elliott’s at a yoga retreat so no more One Tree Hill.  You know - I hate to say this - but I kinda see why he’s not invited here, cause it is about imaging - but they don’t have to be such awful people about telling him no.  

Santana actually says if he’s there he’d probably pull focus which is a) meta and b) probably true.  But Kurt’s rightfully hurt.  They get to continue to roll around in their self-involvement while Kurt gets to be shoved aside.  Again.  

I’m kinda surprised Kurt hasn’t taken up a drinking problem at this point. 

Memories

So Kurt goes to check out the retirement home.  They’re getting ready for their production -- and there are three different headshots of Maggie on that board.  Just saying.  Kurt thinks it’s pretty cool.  And I mean -- I think there is a cool story there to be told about actors who are now considered over their prime when in fact they’re still awesome and kicking butt.  

This episode is going to be a bit heavy handed about it -- cause as much as I love Chris, he’s incredibly heavy handed in his writing -- but it’s a nice sentiment.  And I do think it’s proper that Kurt would be infatuated with stars of old.  

I don’t really have any thing to add -- it’s just a nice shot of Kurt.  He’s amused by this sweet little production. 

Also! I suppose it’s time to bring up Billy Dee Williams and Tim Conway, who have really minor roles in this episode.  I kinda wish they were in it more - their characters are a bit fun.  

And then the woman who plays Peter dies.  Okay, so I kinda find the dark humor funny.  (Also Chris-ism.)  It’s fine guys.  I’m sure she had a delightful life.  

After the commercial break, and after Maggie’s irritation that the dead woman was selfish for dying and ruining the production, we get some more heavy handed commentary about how old people need a reason to keep on living.  Which -- is fine? Chris not to edit your script but you gotta work on more showing and less telling 

And then we get this weird beat of Tim Conway wanting to sit on the chair.  Move kid - it’s his chair! idk. I think it’s funny? 

Kurt claims he can fill in, unless they have rules against that.  They only really have two rules -- a) don’t loose your teeth and b) take the correct meds.  Sure.  The guy claiming he was a pterodactyl however steals the show with his delivery. It’s absolutely hilarious.  

Meanwhile - Kurt goes on to say how much he adored Mary Martin’s Peter Pan back in the day (which explains a lot.  Also Chris-ism.  Five bucks that was one of Chris’s favorite movies as a kid.)  Anyway - he also still sings like a girl so he can totally take it on.  

The retirement home has standards so they have to at least have to hear him sing -- which is great! Cause Kurt always carries around sheet music just in case, lol.  That’s such a Glee-esque line.  What?  

And then Kurt sings a perfectly adequate version of Memory from Cats.  

Okay - I don’t have a lot to say about it, tbh.  It’s nice, Chris sounds just fine on it -- and I’d guess this would be his last solo of the series if Maggie didn’t come in at the end.  But, you know, the song is more about cherishing the memory of these actors -- and people in general who are worth remembering for their great accomplishments - even if they aren’t doing as such any more.  Again - a nice sentiment.  But I don’t really have anything to meta about on Kurt.  

Also I don’t like this song (I’m sorry! don’t send me hate mail).  

By the end - Kurt’s inspired everyone to get up and keep on living.  And has proven to himself that he can handle Andrew Lloyd Weber.  

Btw - the couple of guys dressed up as the lost boys are super cute.  

Homocchio (Ha!) 

The scene before this, btw, is Rachel being dragged by dogs a block.  I mean - it’s funny, yes, but also, c’mon -- are you really going to tell me it’s not at least a little bit of payback? 

Anyway - Kurt bounces in to let Rachel and Santana know that he’s scored the role of Peter in a retirement home’s production of Peter Pan -- to which they are like - eh, okay, nice try Kurt.  And well, Kurt doesn’t take that too well.  I mean, sometimes a role is a role -- and Kurt’s obviously excited about it -- so if you’re a good friend, you suck it up and at least congratulate your friend.  I mean seriously.  But this is Rachel and Santana -  Santana mocks him and Rachel gets incredibly self-involved.  This has been the case since season 1 - so I’m not sure what Kurt was expecting. 

Kurt asks them to go - but they say no.  Santana’s honest about it being dumb, but Rachel claims she has her image to keep up and her stuff is more important.  And Kurt finally lets her have it -- he’s right, she calls him day and night to fix her shit, but when is she ever there for her? Honestly, this rant could have gone on for another five minutes.  It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one irritated by the unbalanced Hummelberry dynamic that’s been going on since season 3.  

Kurt storms out of there cause seriously, he’s had enough. 

Dress Rehearsal 

Hey - it’s time for an awkward dress rehearsal with some pretty entertaining jokes and some more heavy handedness about how you’re only as young as you feel.  I don’t think it’s a bad idea -- but does every scene have to have a speech about it?  

Anyway - Kurt’s sweet in his attempt to inspire them and himself, and suggests updating the music.  

Btw - there’s this line: Ever since you were a question on Jeopardy, you’ve been a know-it-all.  (ha! that made me laugh) 

And then we get some back story on Maggie - how she sends herself flowers because her daughter is estranged.  And Kurt feels sad.   I mean there’s some stuff in there about how Maggie’s daughter is like Kurt’s friends -- not really there when needed, which again, is a nice parallel. I’m just not really fond of Kurt feeling like he’s gotta fix things with Maggie instead of trying to fix things with his friends.  YMMV.

I Hate This Scene - Yup, I’m Going With That as a Header

So - Kurt claims he caused an oil spill in a national park and gets himself in to see Maggie’s daughter.  Oh my god - Kurt, no... At least Clara directly calls security (one guy - cause it’s Kurt) and then when Kurt claims it’s about his mother -- she thinks he’s ‘dating’ her to get her money.  

Oh, god, Chris, why did you write this scene?? 

So here’s my real issue.  The crux of it is about Kurt trying to get Clara to see her mom again cause Maggie misses her so much.  But Clara tells him that basically -- Clara was emotionally abusive to her, which is why Clara doesn’t go see her.  And then Kurt gives a song and dance about why she should just get over that -- and omg NO KURT NO! 

Look - I get the sentiment here -- that we should maybe try to make amends before it’s too late.  But - Clara made the healthy choice of cutting out an abusive family member and looks like she’s just doing fine on her own.  And to have a stranger, who has no understanding of the situation come in an tell you to try to fix it is over stepping like whoa.  Kurt is so in the wrong here - and I can’t even a little bit defend him.  

This story would have worked just fine if Maggie had her regrets and talked to Kurt about living his life and not having them -- it wasn’t needed for Kurt to fix Maggie and give her a happy ending.  Stories don’t always need to have happy endings to make their point.  

Anyway - Clara rightfully throws him out.  But not before Kurt goes on to talk about how his mom died and he wished he’d had one - so she should be grateful that she does. And be the better person and take care of Maggie now that she’s old - even if she sucked as a parent.  Again - no - this is also emotional manipulation.  Kurt, no! Stop! This scene is just... no!! 

I am glad that Clara just doesn’t say anything and gets him out of there.  

My Old Ladies Are Better Than Yours

To make up for the atrocity that was that previous scene - we get a Klaine scene that is really quite beautiful in its simplicity.  Chris didn’t have to put this in here -- but he did, and I’m grateful, because it’s sweet and warm and old married-like, and while Blaine really isn’t in this episode, I’m glad that they were allowed to have this small moment and leave the drama for someone else to write. 

So -- Blaine jokes that he’s missing stuff with June to be there for Kurt -- but ultimately, of course he’s there for Kurt.  Because he’ll always be there for Kurt.  Like I said earlier -- this story is more about Kurt’s issues with Rachel (and himself for feeling like he’s going nowhere) more than anything having to do with Blaine.  

I do think it’s interesting that Blaine comments on how happy Kurt’s been -- and how that hasn’t been the case lately.  I like that Blaine’s checking in, even if Kurt isn’t fully open.  Kurt admits that he feels like this role is finally a step forward in his life, and being with the retirement group is giving him something that he’s been missing -- but I do think there’s an underlying sadness that Kurt’s not addressing.  

Kurt’s not opening up to Blaine about his insecurities and his feelings -- and that is going to cause a problem.  While they are mostly fine -- I do think Kurt’s continued withdrawal from admitting how he feels is going to blow up in his face later.  Communication is key, guys, do it! 

How adorable is Kurt in this outfit? :) 

The other thing I really love about this scene is the casual intimacy of familiarity.  They are an old married couple in this scene -- from Blaine helping Kurt with his costume, to Kurt telling Blaine to sit a row back cause Gladys can’t keep solids down.  It’s not in-your-face affection - it’s light touches and smiles and I really love that during this arc they finally allowed Klaine to have that. 

Peter Pan

Before the show - Kurt asks Maggie if she’d like to be his family, since their own families are too busy for them.  It’s a sweet moment - but I’m also like -- Kurt, seriously -- talk to your friends!! But yeah, sometimes you do need to carve out your family where you can find it.  Non-tradition is an okay thing. 

For reasons I don’t fully understand, Kurt breaks down and calls Rachel -- apologizing for yelling at her (seriously?) and tells her he hopes her own show goes alright.  Kurt’s a good egg.  Rachel’s lucky to have him as a friend.  

She rushes him off the phone -- but only because she’s sitting with the rest of the gang waiting for his show to start.  And he’s stupidly excited.  See -- they love you Kurt -- they do!!  (Plus, it’s my headcanon that Blaine had something to do with rounding them all up...) 

And... then we get the whole reason Chris wrote the episode -- so he could fly around as Peter Pan while singing Madonna’s Lucky Star, with an entourage of old people in the background.  Lol.  The whole thing is cute and ridiculous and cute.  And of course, it works for the show, and gives a chance to Chris Kurt to completely geek out.  I mean, yes, I know, Kurt in that costume, but the old people are also ridiculously adorable in this scene. 

I’m not sure about the whole old people turning into little kids thing (man with the heavy handedness, the metaphor works fine without it) but it’s nearly blink and you miss it, so I won’t really even comment. 

Clara ends up showing up and reconciling with Maggie.  And I have a cold, dead heart because the scene just doesn’t work for me.  Like I said earlier -- not everything has to have a happy ending. 

But at the end of the day, this show is still Glee. 

But the important thing is that Kurt’s friends all showed up.  Rachel gushes that some day they’ll be old folks in a home (eesh) and Sam goes straight for the crotch to comment on the harness squeezing, um, things, lol.  But ultimately - Rachel’s set it up so that the old folks can come do the performance again -- so we can combine old people with puppies and could this episode be any cuter?  The only thing missing is aliens. 

Kurt: What do you say, Maggie, you think you got a second act in you? Maggie: I never used to believe in second acts.  But you’ve proven me wrong.

Omg.  Chris - this should be your submission for a place on the staff of a Disney show. 

Take Me Home

See -- look how adorable? 

After a rousing speech from Rachel about being shallow is dumb and you should care about things that are bigger than you are -- they break out into a chorus of Take Me Home.  And this is where I appreciate Lea Michele - because she’s able to sell the incredibly cheesy dialogue better than June Squibb.  I mean, look, I like cheesy - I do -- but it’s dialed up to 11 in this episode.  Chris, I love you to death, but you don’t have to try so hard to get your point across <3 

I’m sorry if I came off as extra harsh about the episode -- I don’t think it’s bad, and it’s certainly better than about half the other episodes of the show.  I think it’s just me nitpicking - cause I do adore Chris and I really want him to push himself to be better.  This is a great first try, and I really do hope he gets more tries in the future -- cause I do think he has potential.  I just want someone there to soften the rougher edges of his writing.  That’s all. 

And the episode ends with a mutual love fest for everyone.  Cause it’s not a true Glee ending without everyone barfing glitter and rainbows.  Lol, I’m only half being facetious - it’s cute, and a little wrong about Rachel, but fits the episode perfectly.

Oh my goodness - one more season 5 episode left... 

[lvtvr]

s4 thoughts under the cut

i have criticism and i have praise, but most importantly i have common fucking sense and i dont lose my mind if a kids cartoon doesnt go my way so dont worry about that palios

please read this post in a neutrally speculative tone because that’s my voice in my head as i’m typing it. also of course my opinion is just a star in the sky and your mileage, as always, may vary. warning its the Great Wall of Text

sweet stuff

most importantly its a great time to be a lotor stan. i love my boy my problematic trash fav i love him so much hes officially my favorite character now 1000000000% (it used to be lance, but he’s been dethroned for real now)

not only is he a fucking babe but whenever he appeared the plot was guaranteed to move forward so every time he came onscreen i got my two favorite things in one

listen im just not going to go overboard w this but lets just say i think about him and grin a lot what a fucking GREAT character he’s so MORALLY GREY so FUCKED UP so INTERESTING so sexy

matt holt is in fact a meme! good job fandom, well predicted. the allura heart eyes stuff was lame stock cartoon humor which imo added Nothing of value, but that aside he’s an angel boy and brilliant addition to the recurring cast and i love him

i thought the rain and the big no during the cemetery scene were kinda over the top cheesy but that episode was, overall, really great

okay but real talk that one dog looking captain has to be somebody’s fursona???????????? somewhere a furry is fucking thriving right now

fighting animations and space backgrounds were gorgeous, as always

i adore where they’re taking keith’s development!!! i had some pretty serious concerns post s2, but they’re taking him in exactly the direction i had hoped for

i feel like he’s honestly really happy with the blade, their style really suits him and i mean that both figuratively and literally *wink wonk*

he’s a loner, but he’s not alone. he’s in a position where he’s expected to function as an independent unit within a team, instead of being literally connected to the others in his squad; at this point in time that autonomy is what’s important for his development. he has both the insight to realize that and the empathy to be concerned that it might be selfish or wrong in the eyes of others

but his friends support him!!!!!!!! the group hug oh my god

his self sacrifice... i almost died that was just so. beautiful

im just really emo about keith

why does zarkon hate lotor SO much? i have a feeling it must be connected to the circumstances of his birth. SOMETHING is up and i can’t wait to find out WHAT

and what the fuck is going on with haggar

shes still the most aesthetic character in the show sjlgdjsdgjsg PURPLE WITCH PURPLE WITCH

LANCE AND ALLURA!!!! OMG IM CRYING honestly i am still rooting for no canonical romance but at this point i wouldnt even mind canon allurance, because the way they’re having lance mature and act around her is just... im still crying dont look at me

that said i think its beautiful how canon lance, in stark contrast to the awful character that is fanon lance, is a selfless and insightful boy who -- once he steps out of his theater-kid attention-seeking leo persona -- has a better grasp than perhaps anyone of the true dynamics of the team

he gave allura the speech that shitty lance stans want the rest of the team to give him. i can’t believe he single handedly screwed over all bad characterization. im so proud of him.

salty stuff

lance’s sweet moment at the end of ep6 aside, i’m still pretty bitter about the fact that we know virtually NOTHING about either lance or hunk. to some degree shiro is also still a mystery.

the reason it’s so frustrating is because to varying degrees, keith, pidge, and allura all have some sort of backstory and ongoing arcs

in comparison, hunk and lance have been kind of stuck in support roles for four seasons now. they are occasionally shown maturing, but im just lacking a foundation for what’s driving them?? besides lance’s insecurities, what do we really HAVE?

episode 4 was a waste of time that i hope the under-12 demographic enjoyed more than i did. the meta wasn’t on point like, for instance, the avatar theater episode. also, it treated hunk terribly. like, lampshading how horribly he’s treated as a fat comic-relief character isn’t funny when your writers are the ones giving him that treatment in the first place lol???

it was, how u say, a shitty filler that could have been dropped entirely without affecting a thing

the sailor scout poses were pretty okay tho

why would you create a setup for whatever is going on with shiro and then not so much as allude to it during an entire season? 

like, a forty-second scene implying some weird juju would have been enough, but completely dropping one of the plot threads for six consecutive eps makes for a pretty porous story-tapestry. im assuming they’ll pick it up again but this season is just... a gaping hole, dramaturgically speaking.

if i had written it i would be kicking my own ass for lack of continuity

seriously this makes me feel less bad about my first-draft mess of a fanfic because holy shit lol its a lot tighter than this was

lotor killing narti came literally out of nowhere, and im not saying this to defend him (she was my favorite general and im incredibly sad she’s gone?? im lowkey hoping haggar’s mojo will revive her tbh) -- but, again, we have some really weird writing decisions going on here

lotor was set up in season three as someone who values mercy and explicitly orders his people not to kill. like, im not trying to excuse what he did -- im just saying it seems like a contradiction, based on what we’ve been shown

why wouldnt he just incapacitate her or kill kova instead?? the nature of the psychic bond was never addressed enough to make killing her seem motivated, and his character was never built up as someone who would succumb to a random murderous impulse, so tl;dr I Don’t Get It

also we havent been given enough background on the team to be able to say for sure, but what i assumed was a tight-knit elite group with history seems to have actually been a ragtag group of neutral-aligned mercenaries, temporarily banded together for personal gain.

while i’m okay with a plot-driven show that doesn’t spell things out and leaves most things as implied subtext, i still feel like there is such a thing as being too subtle

like you can’t set up plot threads only to put them completely on pause to have some ships blow up, it will only frustrate the audience and make the action seem like a cover-up for the writers having no idea what the fuck is going on

its not hard!!! to just throw in allusions to things!!!! like we’re talking literally just tossing out HINTS so people remember that “oh yeah that thing existed at all” @ dreamworks please uh... do that?

the pattern seems to be that we get a mindblowing season followed by a mediocre season so time to hype s5!

so anyway those are my two cents ("its more like ten dollars char" yeah yeah i know!!!) and i’m very happy to discuss the events of this season, and for people to disagree with me (as long as its polite and... at least relatively motivated lol)

[tumblunni]

OKAY WOW I just started reading a lets play of Tales of Graces and HOLY SHIT I love Sophia! I think I was amoung the majority of people who got umm.. Really Put Off by her character design prior to actually learning more about the game. Cos seriously, prelease stuff was like a fuckin minefield of ‘loli’ trope red flags, it looked like she was gonna somehow be pushed into a romance route with the protagonist despite being 14. And her design is just kinda boring and doesnt really say anything about her ACTUAL plot role and personality which were HOLY SHIT so unexpected and amazing and life affirming and jesus christ she is already my favourite tales character in all of history and I’m barely two hours into the damn game!! seriously I had to go look up spoils just to be ABSOLUTELY SURE I wasnt gonna be surprised with creepy fanservice of a young child, like in some of the older goddamn games in this series, and instead i found FUCKING AMAZING EVERYTHING FOREVER and like.. ACTIVE SUBVERSION OF LOLI TROPES but lol i cant really talk about it without kinda spoilering?? So UMM YEAH rest of my thoughts under the cut:

okay seriously its LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ALL EXPECTED, HOLY FUCK nobody had ANY CLUE before the game came out that she’d be introduced as the twice-your-age figure to the protagonist instead of the other way around! getting to play a flashback prologue of everyone as kids was a really unique awesome feature that I wish we could get in other tales games its SO COOL to see the design and personality changes for everyone between their flashback selves and the ones you actually play as later on plus its a playable flashback! very short section of getting to see the kiddos actually have unique battle animations even! also it is REALLY EMOTIONALLY DESTRUCTIVE HOLY SHIT it explains everything about everyone’s personality forever why did these poor children have to suffer AAAAA

so umm yeah ANYWAY BACK ON TOPIC Sophie is introduced as this mysterious older teen while everyone is tiny babies, and takes on a kind of simultaneous big sis lil sis role cos of her amnesia and unfamiliarity with the world and like THANK YOU we dont get any weird fetishization of that as a concept! (look up the ‘born sexy yesterday’ trope for how this kind of plot tends to go down... yikes...) And like, even tho she’s comically oblivious about basic emotion concepts and stuff, she’s also A MASSIVE BADASS who’d have thought that such a cliche pinky pretty loli design would have a stoic badass superweapon personality??? THANK YOU. I feel so bad for assuming things, but seriously THANK YOU for being like THE ONE GAME where that kind of character appearance isnt given just One Same Plot Again And Again And It Is Gross and seriously man I WILL NOT STOP BEING HAPPY THAT THERE IS NO LOLICON HERE HOLY FUCKIN SHIT (well.. except some of her dlc costumes seem to be the actual lolicon characters from earlier games, which is Annoying.) but yeah seriously she’s fuckin like CONSTANTLY PUNCHING DOWN DOORS AND SHIT and I’M LOVE HER and like her earliest establishing moment is her oblivious of human culture norms actually leading to her being like.. the wise one in the conversation her cutting off asbel’s ‘wah but I should be the one protecting you cos I’m a boy, even though you’re like eight years older than me and i can barely lift my sword’ and her making this declaration of protection to him is the moment that shapes her entire character and becomes like the emotional core of the whole plot and she gets THE MOST BADASS scene of (seemingly) sacrificing herself to save his life, ending this cute kiddie flashback on a super somber note and then Asbel dedicates his goddamn life to becoming a knight in her memory after she fuckin SUPLEXED A GODDAMN DRAGON WOLF THING WITH ITS CLAW STABBED THROUGH HER STOMACH and just... I REALLY LOVE SOPHIE!!! seriously kid asbel literally said ‘i’m embarassed to be protected by you cos you’re a girl’, like HOLY SHIT DUDE and this is ACTUALLY SHOWN AS WRONG and he CHARACTER DEVELOPS OUT OF IT and HER PROTECTING HIM IS LIKE THE WHOLE FUCKIN GAME and just THANK YOU seriously tales of beseria had a bunch of weird sexism issues despite being the most recent game, its so annoying how the series has such inconsistant quality on this stuff, so im just REALLLLLLL FUCKIN GLAD to see this, thankz

oh and like... they even do... LITERALLY the ‘but she’s really 700 years old’ excuse for ‘loli’ characters BUT NOT AS AN EXCUSE FOR LOLI CHARACTERS she’s a thousands of years old magic soldier homunculus thing that will forever look like a young girl, but NOBODY USES THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO FUCK A YOUNG GIRL THANK YOU GEEZUS CHRIST cos like.. goddd... being super immortal and eternally a child is A COOL PLOT that has SO MANY OTHER DIRECTIONS it could be developed in, instead of just fuckin pervy lazyness and this game ACTUALLY DOES THOSE DEVELOPMENTS aaaaaUUUUAUAAAUUUUA god its SUCH A RELIEF we start the game off with the intriguing wonder of how everyone changed post time skip yet she still looks the same age (plus of course ‘how on earth did she survive that apparant death’) And it just keeps having even more cool meta discussion of being so ageless?? and really sad philosophicalness about outliving all your friends?? and all the plots these dumb loli excuse things always ignore and just SERIOUSLY THANK YOU

hell she doesnt even ever really have any romantic plot with anyone ever, except kinda Pascal? tho that’s just a weird ‘lol gay as joke’ thing where its supposed to be funny that Pascal doesnt take no for an answer and like.. seriously why is Sophie even instantly repulsed by Pascal anyway? ‘hey i have no concept of any human social norms except heterosexuality apparantly’. It Is Weird. So yeah lol the game isnt absolutely flawless but I mean geez AT LEAST THEY DIDNT SHIP THE FUCKIN KID WITH ADULTS seriously she has NO ROMANCE PLOT and protagonist man ends up with someone completely different and its just NEVER EVEN DISCUSSED AS AN OPTION like fuckin CHRIST thank yooooou god, just, HOW TERRIFYING it was to see her listed as ‘the heroine’ of this game next to a guy way older than her usually whichever female character has the biggest plot role is automatically the love interest I cant believe i fuckin DIDNT PLAY THE GAME FOR ALL THIS TIME because of that!!!

oh and OH AND the endgame!! the endgame final relationship of her and protagonist? DAD. He not only doesn’t romance her, he ends up adopting her as his daughter by the end of the story its so surreal and interesting tho, cos she was like an older sister to him when he was younger, and now they’ve met again they ended up having such a vastly different relationship and like... well, they’re still like family, just in a different way! i’m so happy seriously DEAR GOD for once a ‘immortal child’ plot actually ended well and no grossness ever and ALSO SHE IS A REALLY ENDEARING BADASS HOMUNCULUS WARRIOR PERSON and aaaa

ok this has been bunni’s rambling post ok back to watchin lets play im SO HAPPY i got spoiled for that thing of the ending like seriously HOW RARE is that???

[knightofbalance-13]

Weird RWBY dialouge Episode 2: Rebuttle

https://rerwby.tumblr.com/post/158160531704/weird-rwby-dialogue-episode-2

So my question is, what the fuck are you talking about Yang you went from Vale to another part of Vale, how is the view any more impressive? Is it just because you’re standing right in front of the school because in that case, no shit the view is better. 

Probably because the characters always refer to Beacon as being a separate entity from the capital of the region, Vale. She says that Beacon is better looking than Vale.Not a hard concept.

This is sin incarnate…. also why does a girl have her fire sword out and active? And a collapsible staff isn’t terribly impressive lol.

He, is it considered a potshot if I say “Well, neither is your observation.” without adding anything?

It is?

Someone should tell @rerwby that.

Anyway, due to the fact that they don’t say what is so terrible about the line, this is useless as criticism. If it’s the line then that’s crap as it reinforces R8uby’s love of weapons as well as her childish personality. If it’s the delievery, it was actually pretty decent and if it’s the chibi thing A.) That was actually pretty funny and B.) That’s animation, not dialogue.

Another classic inconsistency in that we never hear of those friends again.

Dude, RWBY has enough trouble getting stuff together as it is with just the normal amount of characters. This is a common criticism and you’re response is to add more? Even if it’s saying t5o show Yang hanging out with them latter, RWBY has problems with pacing as it was so that would have been just a superfluous thing.

Also, since when has RT cared about logic in their jokes? Wasn’t a recurring joke in RvB literally “This isn’t physicall possible!” It’s a style of humor and if you don’t get it then the humors not for you.

It’s really weird that Weiss is spelling out what Dust is for a dozen obvious reasons. Lazy exposition.

Or Weiss is emphasizing how dangerous Dust is by pointing out the elements that Dust controls and energy being akin to an explosion. It’s also being used to emphasize her condescending attitude. This is basic writing techniques and this person isn’t catching on!

I realize Blake is setting up her little slam against Weiss for her family using unethical labor, but she sounds way too happy here. Blake should just resent Weiss flat-out and skip trying to be clever.

Also, god, “energy propellant?” Seriously? It’s like they needed to look up synonyms for “fuel” and found the weirdest fucking one. This pisses me off so damn much because absolutely no one would call Dust energy propellant. Do people irl ever call gas “combustible fuel source?” Hell no. Just. Use a normal word!!

How was she happy? Her words were very neutral and factual. If you’re talking about Blake’s delivery once again A.) She sounds neutral and factual and B.) That’s voice acting, not dialogue.

Also the word propellant was probably to set up Blake as being intelligent early on. Just as well, you’re freaking out over one word which is never said again.

Generally “crater face” refers to someone with a lot of acne. Considering there wasn’t much of a crater left when Ruby sneezed this nickname makes no sense. Something as simple as “Sneezy” would make more sense and have some meta value since Sneezy is one of the seven dwarves and Snow White is a prominent theme here…you get it. 

That seems to be a limitation of the animation at the time and usually when someone explodes, they leave a crater. It’s a reference to her explosion and the crater that should have been there.

Sneezy doesn’t work because Jaune is not talking to Weiss or Klein, the only two that have any connection to the dwarves. Ruby is obviously Red Riding Hood and she has been nicknamed as such (Torchwick’s spiteful “Red” or “Little Red”) Thus, it would not work.

Omg remember what I said last time about “so” being used for lazy transitions? Because this is it right here. There is NO transition from the previous topic to Ruby showing off CR. She just decides to whip it out. Lazy.

Or “So...” being used to show Ruby’s discomfort around people and her comfort coming from weapons, which she changed the subject to. Socially awkward people do this the entire time: I do it all the time which is why I find Ruby relateable.

Potshot: Omg is just as lazy to show frustration. Don’t go calling kettles black, senor Pot.

Otherwise, this is like, one of two times Jaune is tolerable in the whole series, the next being episode 4 or something I think, where, despite having a bunch of dialogue, he actually meshes with the other characters. Whatever, I just thought it was weird how I only had a problem with a single Jaune line this episode lol.

And I find it weird someone who says they take criticisms better than miles proceed to block their only critic, hence why this is not a reblog.

And yay, the Ruby and Jaune dynamic is going to downplayed, probably ruining some of the best moments in the series.

Potshot: Also big surprise,, rwde poster hates Jaune and thinks RT queerbaits.

Yeah, this is going to great. Probably OOC out the ass, boring as hell writing, complete disregard for creators and banning anyone who criticizes them.