#because season 10 didn't give a shit about the characters

[edwinspaynes]

I was angry. I'm still angry. But sadness and exhaustion have overtaken that anger, and I have A LOT to say about this.

Dead Boy Detectives is a very special show to me. It occupies a ridiculously large place in my heart, and it's brought me joy in a way that only a few pieces of media ever have. When I watched it for the first time, Edwin Payne had my heart within minutes. By the end of episode one, Charles Rowland did, too.

It meant a lot to me, seeing such wonderful and nuanced queer characters brought to life in the type of paranormal story I have always loved. In these past months, Edwin and Charles have felt like real friends to me, and to never see them again without a satisfying conclusion to their story is something I have not truly processed. Same for Niko and Crystal and The Cat King - they should be back. But I haven't fully processed it yet, that they're not coming back, and yet I am still aggreived.

@netflix is, at this point, so fucking gagged on capitalism's dick that they're not even pretending to care about art anymore. Dead Boy Detectives is genuinely masterfully made on just about every level. The actors did a phenomenal job and I will be following all their careers heavily. Steve, Beth, and the writing team crafted an incredible tale. The sets, the lighting, the props, the effects were all on point. This was a well-constructed program, and you could tell that everyone involved with the project gave it their all because they cared so deeply.

(Also my heart breaks for the whole cast, but it's hardcore hurting for George since this was not only his first screen role but one he clearly thought he would be keeping as of two weeks ago. He seemed so secure. I hate this for him.)

In addition to being a good show, DBDA had good reception. It's got a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, was on the Top 10 for several weeks, got 4.7 million views within week one, and was getting daily articles posted on various review sites with NOTHING but praise. The fandom is incredibly active. We trend on Tumblr like five times a week and on Twitter regularly as well.

THE. SCRIPT. FOR. SEASON. 2. WAS. WRITTEN.

What the fuck happened?

Idiot executives at @netflix, choking on the dick of capitalism, probably just thought that they wouldn't get new subscribers for a second season of an existing show that didn't rake in Bridgerton-level cash. That's how they work - people who are interested in it are already subscribers, so who the fuck cares about them? Better to make some other shit, hope new people subscribe, and maybe that'll be a Bridgerton-level hit.

But also, Netflix has fun little trends to look into. And, when you look at the lineup of shows Netflix has canceled, they are overwhelmingly queer. The homophobia of @netflix and their operatives is clearly boundless, and it hits here really badly because this show was clearly made with a queer audience in mind. It was one of the most authentic pieces of queer media I have ever experienced, if not THE most authentic pieces of queer media that I have ever experienced.

It's fucking ridiculous that Netflix canceled a show that they commissioned a completed script of months ago. It sucks that they decided that their existing subscribers, their queer subscribers, did not matter.

Edwin and Charles are ours now. Well, of course, they're George's and Jayden's respectively, but the characters are no longer Netflix's to use and throw out. They're ours now, our fandom's, and we all love them so much.

And we deserved to see more of them, and we deserved to see their love story play out onscreen, but I for one am not going anywhere. Let's give Edwin and Charles - and the rest of the gang - millions of versions of the stories and endings that Netflix deprived them of.

[sweet-little-raven]

🚨 Everything we know about Wednesday season 2 (possible spoilers and trigger warnings for violence — don't read this if you don't wanna know anything about season 2. Also, remember that none of this is confirmed yet, everything is from a leaker supposedly working on the set)

1- Xavier left school so his character is completely forgotten

2- Enid is craving affection and attention a lot

3- Enid's scars healed (I'm so sad about that... bye bye our hopes of Wednesday comforting her about it)

4- Enid's hair is a bit shorter, closer to Emma's real haircut. It's still blond. They also talked about giving her a black streak, but they didn't do it. They will possibly add it next season

5- Ajax broke up with Enid because she kept missing their dates and wasn't really involved in their relationship

6- Ajax disappears through the season but is found at the end

7- Enid has a new boyfriend, Maxim (played by Owen Painter)

8- Maxim is predicted to be loved by the fans

9- Maxim is abusive towards Enid (he grabs her a lot and leaves bruises)

10- Wednesday hates Maxim from the start

11- Wednesday is really protective of Enid during this season

12- Enid breaks up with Maxim in episode 4 (I suppose, as it says mid-season) and it doesn't go well (he's really mad and they almost physically fight. Enid uses her claws)

13- After the break up, Maxim becomes very obsessive

14- Wednesday initiates a hug after Enid comes back to the dorm after the break up

15- Enid and Wednesday will investigate together in every episodes except the first one

16- Maxim takes over the Nightshades and kick Bianca out. His father is said to have old views (I guess similar to Crackstone)

17- Bianca will have a lot of scenes. So does Thing

18- Tyler is back and will work with Wednesday. He's not the villain of this season

19- Tyler has a lot of scenes with Bianca's mom

20- Wednesday, Enid, Morticia, Maxim and Barry (Maxim's father and Nevermore's new principal) have the most screentime

21- Enid meets the Addams and Morticia thinks her relationship with Wednesday is stupendous

22- Enid's relationship with her mom changes a lot (good or bad, we don't know)

23- There will be a camping episode taking place at Camp Jericho, where Enid and Wednesday will share a tent

24- There will be a musical number

25- Christopher Lloyd (original movie Uncle Fester) will come back as, apparently, a music teacher

26- Enid will have a major fight against around 5 creatures

27- One of Enid's fight is to protect Wednesday (who is immobilised during the scene)

28- Wenclair share another hug at the end of the season

29- Enid and Wednesday are very close friends at the end of the season. Wenclair is not comfirmed yet for season 3 but they said it's still possible

30- Jenna is producer this season, so everything that happens between Wednesday and Enid has gone through her. She and Emma are most likely the ones to decide if Wenclair will happen or no. Considering they both said in an interview that they would be good together, that the whole cast ships them and that so much fans does too, we are on the right track!

All of this is not officially confirmed. A leaker working on the set posted all this on Reddit in June (from what I understood). Recently, bts pics of Camp Jericho has been shared, confirming what the leaker said about it. So all of this is most likely true, but again, nothing comfirmed.

I really hope it is true, because holy shit, the plot is INSANE. I literally told my best friend I needed a camping scene in season 2 and more drama... well, there we are 🤌🏻 All this informations I have shared are from the leaker (the post has been deleted on Reddit but you can find some screenshots on @zstronz78's Twitter account)

What are you theories and thoughts about it?

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

The more I think about season 2, the more grateful I am.

In a lot of ways, OFMD's writers, cast, and crew were given an almost impossible task. S1 was brilliant and took everyone by surprise by how successful it became. I am still shocked every time I rewatch by how smart and efficient the writing is, how intelligent the social commentary. S1 is a masterclass in good television.

And for s2, expectations were incredibly high. OFMD found massive word-of-mouth success in a way I've never seen with any other show, and they suddenly had a big, incredibly passionate audience - the renewal was because of massive fan support, and that must have translated to an incredible amount of pressure in the writer's room. Plus, as if that wasn't enough on its own, they're having to deal with budget cuts and Max slashing them down to only 8 episodes to tell a 10-episode story. This is an incredibly daunting task.

And yeah, I've been critical. OFMD is my favorite show, no contest, and it's easy to be critical of the things we love. We can all see that the pacing was off this season, especially in those last two episodes. Some arcs felt rushed; some side characters didn't get enough screen time to set up what they're doing this season. Jim and Olu especially suffer for that. It's inexcusable that this show's budget was slashed the way it was and I'm sad for what we could have had.

But, on the whole? Holy shit, this season was incredibly successful! Despite an incredible amount of fan pressure, the writers told the story they wanted to tell. They never lost sight of Ed and Stede's story, and were smart about allocating screen time so our leads' arcs never suffered too much for it. There's so much creative problem solving - when they realized they'd need to be smart about which side characters to keep on screen, they turned Buttons into a bird in a way that underscored season themes of transformation and change. 10/10, no notes. They even remembered their audience and left us on a satisfying note for all our characters - we get to end with Ed and Stede, happy and together, starting their new life.

They had an impossible task and they did a fucking commendable job. Character beats and humor are balanced amazingly well. Ed and Stede feel so much more fleshed out this season. Just like in s1, OFMD will never be a show where you can catch everything with one watch - there's so many little jokes, hidden gags, small details to discover with every rewatch. And every single actor is giving it their all in every scene! You can tell how much this show was a labor of love for everyone involved.

I'm proper fucking impressed. Here's hoping they get a renewal and a better budget for season 3!

[twdgkidsdeservebetter]

Everything Wrong With Umbrella Academy Season 4 (Characters)

The way it felt like someone who had never seen the show wrote this season????

The characters were AWFUL and were almost entirely new characters with all their previous character development forgotten.

Allison - Honestly, I don't like Allison (after watching THAT scene w Luther), so I really didn't care what happened with her this season. I think it does suck that she wasn't able to be happy with Ray, they were nice together. Also, no rumours? Her power was one of the most interesting out of the family.

Luther - People were commenting about how childish and positive he was being this season and how it was out of character from him being so serious. Honestly? I love silly Luther, he's such a breath of fresh air. I also like to believe that because Luther was assigned the leader of the family (being number 1 and all), he's able to enjoy himself without that pressure. Also, I also love to believe that Luther is using being positive and silly as a coping mechanism as to not be overwhelmed by the sadness of losing Sloane and also his current living situation. Giving him his gorilla body back was so unnecessary and makes no sense cause it wasn't the marigold that gave him the body.

Ben - He sucked. I hate that Sparrow Ben was the one that was dragged with them because it meant that we had to deal with him sulking and being angsty the whole time. Also, the character development we witnessed 1-2 just disappeared instantly cause of Sparrow Ben. Also, his friendship with Klaus was the best thing in the show and I hate that we never get to see that in season 3.

Klaus - I was actually so happy for him being sober, even if he wasn't living the best life because of his paranoia with death and germs. So it really sucked when that immediately went down the drain the second his body got the marigold.

Diego - He deserved better. Yeah, his constant complaining about his "belly" (which wasn't even that big of a difference??) and wanting to go back to his old super spy life did affect his and Lila's marriage, but when he realised that he immediately accepted that he was at fault and was willing to improve their marriage to make Lila happy.

Lila - I liked Lila before season 4. I don't know what they were thinking honestly by changing her entire character. Yes, she and Five were stuck for 7 years together, but seriously? That plot added NOTHING to the story because in the end, Lila chose Diego and then they all DIED like 10 minutes later!!

Viktor - Honestly? Viktor didn't really stand out this season for me. Sure, he got kidnapped by Ian Hawk. I thought the idea of him trying to remove the marigold from Ben was a really cool idea but then it just didn't happen. I thought his interactions with Reginald were decent, since it's interesting to see how this Reginald thinks about Viktor compared to the original timeline Reginald.

Five - It's honestly kind of impressive how the writers were able to make the best character in the show the worst character by the end of it. They completely changed his whole character. First, his personality is duller than a door nail. He's so emotionless and so boring. Where's the excessive facial expressions and movements? Second, changing his motivations. For the past 3 seasons we have watched him with one goal in his mind; "Save the world and his siblings". So why would Five ever possibly consider both giving that up for Lila of all people. Third, giving Five a love interest was so useless and lazy. Why would he choose a girl over his siblings? Especially one literally MARRIED to his BROTHER. Fourth, him being all pouty and jealous over Lila choosing Diego (her husband and father of her kids - no shit she was gonna pick him over Five, literally have no idea why Five even thought he had a chance) to the point where he plans to just ditch his family in the middle of a big fight. Five, him fighting Diego in the middle of said big fight. THEN, Five just gives up??? Yeah, that's probably all he could do but seriously, this is Five we're talking about, the guy who survived in 45 years in the apocalypse to try and get back to his family and save the world. Do you really believe that he would just give up?

BONUS:

Jennifer - They could introduce a new character/love interest for Ben but they didn't do the same for Five so they just gave him the only other woman who wasn't his sister???? LAZY. Also, the amount of plot holes with Jennifer's character makes me queasy.

[thisgameissonintendo]

hellooo, some reassuring words 🫶 so, i know the upfronts have us all gone crazy and i totally get it - it would be great for my mental health to get renewal news asap too. maybe you've heard that 3 body problem was renewed, a show that came out a month earlier than dead boy detectives (congrats to them). a renewal for dbd now would be veeery earlier (but appreciated so give it to me) - less than a month after the show has been released. they did say dbd is getting mentioned so if it hasn't been so far, who knows what's to come? the list on twitter mentioned shows that were gonna come out later this year. we know for a fact that we're not getting a second season this early so no wonders it wasn't included. the press release also didn't mentioned the sandman and we know that has been renewed and is definitely gonna come out.

upfronts aside, have you all noticed that every social media account - netflix, warner bros, etc. - have been talking about dead boy detectives season 1 specifically? now, coming from the lockwood fandom i can tell you that this is a very good sign. like very good. lockwood has been canceled about 3 months after its release with no mention on social media, they were trying to pretend that show never existed. keep in mind that we're just 3 weeks after dbd release and we are getting lots of interviews and social media posts. would've been great to get that before the show was released but at this point i take all that i can get. we've also all noticed that netflix has a shit record of canceling fantasy/ghost shows so at this point it seems like they may need to prove a point. a huge part that is worth a mention and may help us with a renewal is the big part of the queer community + variety of characters. what might also help is that people like sza or misha collins have shown love and support and actively asked for a second season.

views on the show may have not been what we hoped for but: have you taken a closer look at the top 10 for this week (may 6 - 12) specifically? 4th - 10th place have less than 5 million views. and remember, they're the top ten + most watched shows for this week. dbd had 4.7 million views in it's first week of release (april 29 - may 5) which is - again, lower than 5 million - but ranked top 3 with that. people have been very vocal about the fact they're reluctant to start a new show because of cancelation news. and numbers like this definitely show that and how hesitant everyone is. i'm pretty sure netflix is aware of that or has at least seen concern online. every comment section is filled, asking for season 2. and i'm sure a renewal announcement as soon as possible would lead to a major boost in views. it would switch from "i don't want to watch this show because i might not get more" to "i know another season will come out so i'm definitely gonna watch it now".

also, neil gaiman is included & it is part of the sandman universe. i don't think that needs further explanation.

i could very well mention even more but i do think we're good for now.

with love - your optimistic capricorn

[neganerd]

I promised I wouldn't drink anymore, but I'm missing OG F&C Gumlee toxic yaoi like a mf.

Ok, but being serious...I miss them and their dynamic so much.

I miss them being jerks to each other (mostly Marshall) and having this unresolved tension cuz they weren't close enough to be friends but they 100% liked each other despite being complete strangers to each other.

These motherfuckers hated each other while thinking about each other all the time and that's the seasoning that made me like their ship. I WAS IN THE TRENCHES SHIPPING THESE TWO AT THE RIPE AGE OF 10!

Look at this shit, man...

They were interesting because they weren't like Marceline and Bubblegum who already had a previous relationship at the time, these two weren't even in friendly terms, they couldn't even see each other!

I was rooting for them to communicate and build the shit outta that relationship, but now we have a "perfect" relationship that was just rushed, honestly.

After all this time my feelings past the autistic hyperfixiation had settled down a little and I'm now able to pinpoint some things I didn't really like about the series.

And please don't get me wrong, I love the current Gumlee and how they make my king visibly black like they should, but it just isn't the same. It was rushed by a damn platform that only cares about producing rushed content and nothing else. I miss how the magical aspect of their world played a part in how they interacted with each other, all of them!

Speaking of, that's something I miss too and wished was different in the series: the lack of magic and the "get real" lesson they give us. What if I don't want to get real? What if I want more magical adventures??? I have enough with life already, I want some escapism! I'm sure there's a way of doing that without it being Finn, Jake, Marceline and Bonnibel all over again.

I wanted more of this:

Y'all have no idea how much the background-characterification of Ice Queen hit me, man. They really took away her own backstory, her swag and ambitions just to simplify it, use her as background character and make her a Simon clone/variant and I honestly hate it. She was supposed to be unique in her own way, just like the rest of the gang and now they're confused as their counterparts even more than before.

I just hope season 2 gives us magic again somehow, but it sounds so unlikely :(

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

I keep seeing so many people here getting angry that this season is "vilifying Ed", and it's depressingly fascinating to see how others can watch the same show and somehow see something completely different. Is it simply the lack of media literacy? Is it the inability to appreciate and enjoy complex, nuanced, morally grey characters without willfully blocking out anything even slightly unpalatable about them to the point where the character they think they love isn't really that character anymore?

Because, uh... Season 1 already "vilified" Ed plenty. Except "vilify" is the wrong word, of course. It wasn't in any way malicious or mean-spirited, quite the contrary, it was often played as comedic (until the end of episode 10 when it was anything but) - Ed was always meant to be a sympathetic character, he's a protagonist after all, and the show's portrayal of him is very compassionate. It merely refused to sugarcoat or shy away from his darker side. He's literally history's most famous pirate, you don't become one by being nice and treating everyone gently. He ambushed and strangled his own father to death when he was like 9 years old (100% deserved and justifiable ofc, but it still bears saying it out loud like this just to comprehend how unhinged this actually was). He loves torturing and maiming people for fun, and sometimes even animals (that scene with forcing a turtle to fight a crab). He didn't give a fuck about his crew members dying to satisfy his whim to meet Stede. He entirely failed in his role as a captain in ep 4. He effectively played a double agent with Izzy and Stede for a while before changing his mind. He attempted to murder Lucius. And while you could try to argue his punishment of Izzy was at least to some degree deserved, not only cutting Izzy's toe off but forcing him to eat went beyond punishment, it was sadistic torture.

So, yeah, please just read all that and take it in. And then remember once again that Ed is also a traumatised, lonely, depressed, sensitive, creative, curious, deeply passionate person yearning for true love and for something different in life... just like Stede. He loves music and can play the piano. He wrote a very vulnerable song and sand his heart out. He likes his tea with seven sugars. He enjoys fashion and dressing up. He has such a limitless sense of wonder for the world. He went on a trek with Stede just to make him happy, even though he hated nature and was in a shit mood that day. He wants to host a talent show. He wants to become free. He's clever and funny and fascinating. I love Ed.

Yes, it's possible to reconcile those two sides of him and accept both sides as the "real" Ed. You have to reconcile the two sides if you want to enjoy him as a character, because if you don't, you're going to either detest him to the core (which would make enjoying the show practically impossible since he's sort of a main character...), or you'll only be able to enjoy a diminished, crippled, cardboard cutout version of his character, which would be such a pity and a massive disservice to the creators of this show who worked hard to create interesting, multidimensional characters.

Not to mention you'd be missing one of the core messages of the show - the idea that people still deserve love and can be loved even if they're imperfect, or not necessarily good people. Because love is a human condition. It's not a sole dominion of "good" people. "Bad" people can fall in love too - even if, just like them, that love isn't exactly "nice" or "pure", and neither are the relationships that stem from it. They can be messy and exasperating. But "bad" people can also grow and change because of it. That's what OFMD is ultimately about - growth and change, learning to accept yourself but also become better. That can't happen if the character is already 100% perfect the way they are.Ed is far from that. So is Izzy. They can both become better, and they both still deserve compassion and understanding, because that's the environment people need to become better.

So, if you're mad that at the start of S2 the crew are sympathetic to Izzy's suffering and want to help him instead of kicking him when he's down, and what Ed did to him is being acknowledged as cruel and wrong... congratulations, you have completely missed what OFMD is all about.

[campbenji]

*JWCT SPOILERS* very messy first thoughts

OH BOY here we go

-ben and darius's dynamic was epic. the hug. the roadtrip scenes. "is your friend okay?" "no 😊". ben getting darius out of his isolation cabin and darius grounding him in ep2. the parallels with s3ep7. "you kiss your mother with that mouth?" i'm gonna be thinking about that scene for days. their ship is still a swim to me but please they better keep whatever the fuck they have going on in s2 because it's fucking wonderful

-i love that they took the chance to give more light to duos we didn't see much in jwcc. teamups we didn't often see like ben and sammy, THE B-DUO, and darius and sammy got very special moments here

-the amount of pictures/videos from the six years in between??? the brooklynn flashbacks??? we were so well fed

-BRAND!!!!!! i got so happy when i heard him the first episode, he's clearly been checking on his brother and i'm glad he's ok

-bowman family FEAST. brand and darius talking over the phone. the pictures on the cabin. kenji saying he calls mrs. bowman once a week and all the nice things he said about her. the whole mess between kenji and darius. "we're brothers, right?" i died dead. i love this family your honor

-sammy. she's got so much going on and we desperately need to talk about it. i'm so worried about her, she's desperately trying to avoid confronting what happened with brooklynn, with yaz and her own trauma, and then they casually dropped on us that her family isn't speaking to her and never elaborated on that?? sammy, who's love and care for her family was her biggest motivation in jwcc?? i need to know what happened because it must've been big

-mateo!! i liked him a lot, he definitely doesn't want to get into any of this mess but still dabbles around a bit to help the kids, which i respect. also i hope we get to meet his daughter hiraya, she sounds really cool

-MS MICROBANGS (or the handler, or whatever name we're calling her). what is her deal. who is she working for. she's so uncanny, literally almost robotic i need to know more about her

-brookenji over i cheered. don't take this personally i've never been a fan of this ship and a part of me knew they weren't going to last long

-the animation increased in quality so much. the scene after ben, yaz and sammy get out of the sinking van is so well done it's so pretty to look at. and the t-rex with the explosion behind her? it reminds me so much of toro in the tunnels in s1ep8, and i haven't tested this out but i feel like if you put them one next to the other the improvement would be so noticeable.

-also related to the point above: that thing when a character's eyes start filling up with tears but they don't cry just yet? 10/10. chef's fucking kiss

-sure jwct has the same tv-y7 rating as jwcc, but from minute 1 it's obvious it's not the same audience they're talking to. it's not a big change in tone, like for example adventure time/distant lands/fionna and cake, but it's there, you can tell they know it's not little kids watching anymore

-BUMPY IS HAVING A BABY BUMPY IS A MOM NOW they had me shit scared for her and then they pulled a freaking egg my heart was literally pounding. anyways i hope they get both bumpy and the egg somewhere safe and that they name the new anky "speckles" (i've gotten so attached to that name in the last 24 hours it's insane)

-YASAMMY THE QUEENS THAT YOU ARE. their relationship was stellar this season, i was scared when i saw that they were apart but their issues felt organic to their relationship and i just love how they were written in the show, they are still so in love with each other and i can't wait to see where they go next season. they're everything to me

-yeah they were apart for half the season but. benji crumbs. the egg cradle scene. kenji helping ben after he got hit with the stun gun. basically all they did was act like they knew each other but idc. we are so back.

-the brooklynn reveal was... meh?? it could've been more rewarding if they waited until s2 to reveal she's still alive, but at least i hope they take their time before reuniting her with the rest of the camp fam. also i can't believe ppl even guessed what arm she was going to lose y'all have prophetic powers or smth

-bringing daniel back to kill him the same episode was an insane move btw. i would've normally complained but it's all worth it for causing the panic attack scene in ep7. kenji's reaction felt so genuine, i'm forever in awe at how well this show writes grief and trauma

-i'm so conflicted about darius's confession. i like dinostar, but i feel like it wasn't needed for darius to be in love with brooklynn to explain the voicemails and the way he was dealing with her death. she was one of his closest friends, his grief made sense even with them being platonic. on the other hand, i love how he admitted it to kenji and the fact they didn't turn it into a huge fight between them; also, "i didn't know i could even feel that way" aroace/acespec darius truthers never lose

-maybe it's just that i need to rewatch, but i'm lost as to where they're going next season?? i know they're getting on a boat but where does that go?? what are they trying to do?? there's so much happening my head is spinning

-ben... he kind of felt like the comic relief for most of the show, the first episodes showed him as being really paranoid again and struggling with being alone, but halfway through the season they just sort of forgot about it?? idk something was off

-bring back kenji's old latin spanish va idk who this guy is but that is not kenji i can't do this. i'll survive the loss of ryan potter but i won't survive this

anyways yeah i think those are most of my uncooked thoughts, overall i really liked the season, i can't believe we got to see the kids again this is still so unreal to me

[autistic-crunchwrap]

I watched all of The Bear Season 3 and I have so many thoughts... SPOILERS BELOW

TL;WR: It was not all bad... There were high points and low points for sure, and I did enjoy the high points! but the stress and chaos this season brought was not worth the few and far between moments of goodness we saw.

First, the good:

Liza Colón-Zayas. Oh my god. A true standout, as always. If her episode doesn’t win her an Emmy, I will be fucking furious. Ayo also deserves an Emmy for directing that episode. Every second of the episode was beautiful and moving and added significantly to the overall plot and character development of the show (as every episode of a 10-episode season show should… but more on that later)

Abby Elliot, I love you. I am a Nat Berzatto stan through and through. Ice Chips was my favorite episode of the season. AE’s chemistry with Jamie Lee Curtis is unmatched. I was so genuinely touched by this episode. This episode was family therapy for me, I think. Thank you Abby Elliot, very cool.

Richie gets some great family time with his daughter and Tiff this season, and it’s genuinely so good to see him continue to grow and support his family even when it’s really hard for him. I see how hard he’s trying and I love him for it.

Ted Fak gave some really great energy that really worked this season. Him and Neil were consistently funny and entertaining to watch. I enjoyed their bit about haunting that came up several times throughout the season

JOHN FUCKING CENA being a Fak was an INSANE choice but I loved it. This show has gone off the rails and goddamn it I need more John Cena immediately

Joel McHale is back and as bitchy as ever! I love the havoc he wreaks on Carmy. His line from episode 10, “I don’t think about you” (paraphrasing, I’m not going back to watch it for the exact quote) made me gasp watching it. If Carmy wasn't such a prick, I would feel bad, but Season 3 Carmy deserves the shit Chef David deals him.

Olivia Coleman. That is all.

"You can go fuck" is my favorite Bear quote, especially when Nat says it

Always happy to see Will Poulter as Luca. His lil mullet is adorable and I love him. I hope he and Syd connect even more in Season 4

Pete asking Syd if different foods make different levels of noise was the funniest bit the whole season. Protect Pete at all costs.

Now for the bad…

Where’s the fucking character development??? Carmy and Syd in particular felt very stuck this season. The whole season is very stuck in the past and pays a lot of lip service to 'working through your shit'... but no one ever works through their shit this season (save for Richie, sort of) and it annoyed the hell out of me.

The whole first episode felt like a waste of time. Almost no narrative development, 20+ minutes of montage and fancy shots of cooking? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the food porn in The Bear. I live for that shit. But the narrative went NO WHERE in Episode 1 because of how much fancy cooking footage was there instead. Gurl, get on with it. I’m bored.

There are several secrets being kept this season. Syd being offered another (possibly better) position and never talking to Carmy about it, Cicero not telling Carmy that he's now broke and can't help pay for the restaurant anymore, and the details of the restaurant review being kept a secret from the audience (and the characters) for most of the season. And like, we just never really get any payoff from it?? We barely see the restaurant review at the end, Syd doesn't tell Carmy about the other job, and Cicero doesn't tell Carmy about being broke. We ended the season where we started. Re: a waste of time!

Another waste of time was the slight of hand/magic trick theme thing they tried to do but didn't fully develop. I was confused as to what the point of all that was, but it was never fully resolved. Don't give me that 'to be continued' shit because you didn't tie up your loose ends this season. I know bad writing when I see it.

Cicero was especially difficult to watch this season. More antagonistic than usual (which, fair, The Bear is a very expensive shitshow) but it makes a big deal about saying he wishes he would've shown up for the Berzatto kids more, but for what purpose? He says this twice, only for it to be revealed to the audience that he's basically lying to Carmy about having money. Bad writing makes this character more scummy than I think he needs to be.

The Claire subplot went absolutely nowhere this season. I think the only time we actually see Claire in present day (and not just in Carmy's blue-tinted 'Supercut' by Lorde memories of her...) is when Neil and Ted Fak are fucking with her at work about Carmy. She was a major trigger point for Carmy this season, but he never does anything to make amends to her, which I found strange considering there's a WHOLE EPISODE about Carmy "considering apologizing." Shut the fuck up. Apologize to her or don't, but she is not haunting you, Carmen. Goddamn.

Speaking of Carmy never apologizing, this season is SO full of callbacks to previous seasons and makes such specific references that the audience is expected to remember, but there are giant plot holes and references that are all but forgotten. The "I'm sorry" sign that Carmy taught Syd to do on the line when they're upset at each other is never brought up once this season, which feels lazy. Carmy did that sign when he was being an asshole last season, and it felt like that was missing. Also, some of the motifs this season just didn't make sense to me.

Finally, Carmen Berzattto is a grade-A asshole the whole season. Like, just a massive prick with no character development, no arc, no interest in healing or working through his shit or connecting with other human beings in really anyway, and honestly? He was antagonistic and demanding and harsh in a way we've never see him before, and I don't think it was for the better. I understand that it's because he's lost this humility and is turning into Chef David, which is the worst thing in the world to Carmy, but he shows 0 remorse for being an asshole this season. Him 'not being able to say sorry' isn't a good enough excuse for how truly grating his character was the entire season. I didn't enjoy watching him on screen. My favorite moments this season were the ones where Carmy was no where to be found. I loved Carmy in Seasons 1 and 2, but I wanted nothing to do with him this season. That's just bad writing.

PHEW, that was a lot! Okay my loves, thanks for sticking through all that. Please let me know your thoughts and hot takes too!! Anyway, stan Natalie Berzatto, and pick up some fucking C-folds, yeah?

[lemotmo]

https://www.tumblr.com/buddiebeginz/752112763763097600

So since this is the insider on Twitter saying this, should we take this as confirmation it’s not happening? Like if they shut it down again, I don’t really see what reason they have to change their mind. Nothing happened enough for Fox to do so, and nothing seems to have for ABC to be like yeah they were wrong if they are upholding that same No.

Hey Nonny!

Noooo, on the contrary! This is something that gives me hope for season 8. This season was packed with great Buddie scenes up until the finale, but it was also only 10 episodes long. This is a very short time to have two main characters come out as queer.

Remember, Buck came out in episode 4 and it wasn't that big of a deal to him. Eddie is different though. He will need time. They set him up to have a Catholic guilt arc and they went out of their way to show him interfering in the BT storyline.

So, most probably ABC told Tim that they didn't want two coming outs in one season. Which is still a pretty shitty thing to ask for, but it's network television and they have their audience to consider I suppose. Still shitty though.

Everything is set for Eddie to have some time to explore himself in season 8. He is now on his own with a lot of time on his hands to consider his relationships. Ryan told us in his interviews that Eddie will explore unexpected sides of himself and push that 'refresh' button. He said that he would leave the idea of Shannon behind. But where will that leave him? Combine this with the gender neutral terms and pronouns he has been using to describe his possible future partner.

After that interview he did where he talked about Buddie maybe happening, but with baby steps, he posted a picture over on Instagram with him walking up some steps. He added the quote: "One step at a time", which he then promptly deleted after a few minutes. Of course by then people had already screencapped it.

All of this combined paints an interesting picture for sure.

I have the feeling that there is a whole bunch of shit going on BTS that we don't know about. They are going hot and cold when it comes to Buddie. I suspect that Tim was asked to push the Eddie storyline to season 8, so he had to cool down on the Buddie promo as to not anger the fans too much.

I don't think a total shut down of Buddie is in the works here. If so, then they would have changed those scenes in 7x09 and 7x10 to put some distance between them. But instead they pushed them even closer together, setting them up as concerned about each other's mental health and co-parenting together.

So, no... this is not a NO at all. Quite the opposite. This fills me with renewed energy and interest about what they are planning for season 8. Although I will remain sceptical, because if Tim is, once again, planning on not planning out the story, it could all still go horribly wrong in the execution. Let's hope he is smart enough to start mapping out the storyline during hiatus, so he has a clear idea where he wants to take the Buddie arc.

What else can I say but: Never folding on Buddie.

[bluegirl-14]

Listen, I don't care how long ago the final season of Voltron was aired, I don't care if anyone is still in the Voltron fandom. I will ALWAYS be pressed over how they did these characters SO dirty.

First off, the final episode of the series was such a damn copout. Ending the series with Allura dying to 'save the multiverse' and having the paladins forgive Honerva? After everything she had done in the 8 seasons leading up to this? After she tore apart the same multiverse she destroyed because the one timeline she found where Lotor knew she was a fucking liar? Make it make so much sense Dreamworks.

And then the 10 years later shit. Shiro had a wedding. Okay, yeah, he got out of the Garrison and settled down. He should, after all he had been through. I bet dying and being stuck in Black for months would lead to some introspective work. But killing Adam so there was no gay relationships, and then to pair him with a character who had like, what? Two lines in the full series, and we saw Shiro interact with once, as a Captain and crew setting? No build up, no hints during the full season?

Don't get me wrong. If the writers wanted to give Shiro the chance to shed everything from his past life, then by all means, they had the right to. But the way they did it was not only poorly written, but it also left those who had been hoping to FINALY see Shiro interact with his partner, that had been teased at outside of the show.

Hunk is another one I had a big problem with. As a plus size person, who felt like she was just that 'fat best friend' during the airing of the final season, I related to Hunk. I loved how he was more than the foodie. He's an engineer, he's smart. He matches Pidge in intellect. He's kind, he's brave despite his anxiety. He had nausea a lot. He's fleshed out, he's more than fat and food jokes.

And they took that all away, to make him Gordan Ramsey of space. They took 8 seasons of character arcs to make him that. A fucking fat person likes food joke. Once again, I wouldn't have had a problem if that wouldn't have been it. Make it a soup kitchen for those displaced during the Empires rule. Make him donate food to needy planets. Hell, have him travel with Keith, giving food to the planets they go to for help. Just, something that acknowledges Hunks generous nature, his kindness. Not Food Wars.

Speaking of Keith, I found that while I expected his ending to be similar to what it was, I didn't have any real emotion about it. He was a displaced child, who was, from what we can assume about what little we really know about his childhood, outside of him meeting Shiro and how his parents met. He always felt like he didn't belong, with the Paladins, and struggled being leader because he didn't feel like he lived up to Shiro's expectation or his legacy after he died.

So Keith teaming up with Lotor's generals to basically continue what Voltron did makes sense, I guess. But, I would have loved to see something else. If anyone deserves to settle down, aside from Shiro, I think it would be Keith. I can see him as the type of person to give a child, either adopted or biological, the childhood he wished he had.

Pidge's end is as to be expected. She's working with her parents and her brother, working for the Garrison. Out of all the characters, I honestly think Pidge had the least amount of true character arks. She had the moment in season 1 or 2 when she wanted to ditch Voltron to find her brother, and Keith called her out. And when she bonded with Green in season one on Olkyn. But once she found Matt and Sam, Pidge had stayed consistent in her behavior and beliefs till the end of the show. She, like Hunk, was a stereotype. She was the nerdy, smart friend, the guy in the chair.

I would have loved to see her do something with botany, like her mother. Something that ties her back to Green. Because even though the Lion is gone, the bond and the respect she gained would have still been there. So for her to just immediately go back to that tech guy was a disservice.

Lance's and Lotor's endings are by far the ones I hated the most. With Lance, there was NO reason that Lance had to become a fucking farmer. After everything that happened to him during the season, for him to immediately quit was ill planned and just a bad move. If they wanted to write Allura out at the end of the series, then sure. Lance steps back to grieve, starts replanting the flowers on New Altea in honor of her.

But Lance has so much more potential than. Make him a pilot, make him a teacher. Hell, pull a Keith and have him volunteer around the planets. Anything that would show off his pride in himself, and to she Allura that he would live his life for her, because she died saving it. Yeah, he can keep a cabin close or in the field, so he always has a memory of her, but he needs something else.

The final season with Lotor was just dumb. The writing had set him up as this exiled prince, who never wanted to be like his father, who watched him blow up a planet that Lotor had spent YEARS on, because his son pissed him off. Lotor killed his father, was conspiring against Haggar, wanted to study Altean alchemy with Allura. He was finally going to learn about his mother's people from those who actually knew her.

And then they make him just like Zarkon.

I. Hate. That they made that planet of Alteans, and Lotor was harvesting them for quintessence. I get they were setting it up for Haggar to use them as pilot in the final season. But there were SO many other ways to do that with a similar affect.

Especially considering the fact that those people had been in hiding since Altea exploded, and Lotor was a fucking baby then. Like...have Haggar keep them hidden instead? It would have made more fucking sense. She still felt a sliver of a connection, despite not knowing why because she lost her memory.

Lotor grew up wishing he could know more about his other side, and having no one to ask about it, because no information remained after the race died. So to satisfy his curiosity, he started studying other cultures, other planets so he could compare. Maybe he'll find something similar to Altea, and can guess from that.

And then, wow, there are Alteans left. And they have Voltron, isn't that so great? But wait, my father want's the Black Lion, and his witch is acting shady. That's odd, I wonder what that's about?

Holy crap, she's been hiding more Alteans for the past 10,000 years, and they have no idea what's been happening outside of their planet. And even more holy crap, she's been harvesting them so they don't get to powerful, and so she can sap up their power for herself. Why didn't anyone know about this?

Then continue on, with Lotor eventually teaming up with the Alteans and liberating them, but obviously they don't all go, because they don't trust him (Galra, duh.) And the ship that is carrying them all is attacked, and the ship explodes, or something. The Alteans get angry and Haggar, now starting to remember and realizes who she is, uses this to her advantage, and now boom, we have the pilots in season 8.

And this way, if you want to keep Keith and Krolia finding the Alteans, you have it. If you want Romelle, you have it. If you want more Alteans living with the Paladins, or at least have Allura and Coran meet them, you have. And of course, Lotor doesn't die. And for his ending, have him and Keith work together. Have him travel the stars, studying the different planets. Have him become a scholar, a archivist, a librarying. Anything! The possibilities are endless.

Now, on to Allura. To be completely honest, and you can burn me for this, I never really loved Allura. It wasn't really anything specific I didn't like, I just didn't grow any strong attachments to her as a character. I felt bad for her, sure. But nothing much outside of that.

But I do believe that she deserved a better ending. Even if she does still die in the end, she shouldn't have had to bounce from guy to guy to hide grief, because that shit was still there. She should have been allowed to continue her relationship with Lotor, because that was cute damn it.

It wasn't fair for her to have been in a relationship for what, a month before she died? It sure as shit wasn't fair to Lance, who had spent the whole series chasing after her, to get her, and see her die directly after. Not cool.

And if the whole reason they did it was to stop Klance, or what the fuck ever people believe they did it, pull a Curtis, give Keith someone else. He meets someone after Allura dies, he settles down, or continues with his red cross in space shtick. Or have him stay single, because some people just don't want a relationship. It doesn't matter because people would have written them together in fanfic anyway.

And last, but certainly not least, Coran.

Coran, the gorgeous man, was done so dirty, it's not even funny. To start from the top, he was the only main cast who didn't get to say goodbye to Allura at the end, and is the sole Altean left who remembers Altea. What the fuck.

Even if they are making New Altea, it's not the same. He lost his child, the only other person who understood the grief of loosing a whole PLANET. Family, friends, homes, graves, photos, memories. Gone. History destroyed, never to truly be brought back. Anything that Coran forgets is gone. Well and truly gone, because the Castleship would have possibly had records still, but that was destroyed when Lotor died.

He doesn't have her crown anymore, because the crystal is in Shiro's prosthetic, he doesn't have the ship, he doesn't have the Lions. All he has are the Paladins, and the mice. And a handful of Alteans who never were on Altea, and probably don't know all the customs he does, because of the 10,000 years difference. That's a pretty shitty ending.

So, long story long, my ending.

Adam doesn't die. He is in the piolet accident, but survives by a miracle. He's in the med bay for the entirety of the final two season, and wakes up during the final stretch of season 8. The whole time, before they leave for space, Shiro has flashbacks to times spent with Adam, and we see Shiro have regrets for going into space. He talks to Keith about retiring after everything is over.

Either Lotor and Allura, or they end things in space and Lance and Allura go on their date (I personally would rute for Lotor and Allura, the are so cute) and get their heartfelt scene, foreshadowing the end of the series.

Hunk reunites with his family, and he watches the people of the camps struggle to get back on their feet, and Hunk help them out however he can. We get a scene of him watching a local soup kitchen that had been swamped with people, and Hunk rolls up his sleeves, make a remark bout cooking with less/weirder items, and knock the people in the soup kitchen off their feet with is food. A shot of him watching everyone eat, and Hunk feels pride, in watching the affects of his food. It's different than feeding his friends, and even different than the parades and the dinners planets through Voltron.

Pidge, who is still grounded for sneaking off to space, spends time in the greenhouse with her mom, watching her work. It reminds her of Reiner, and makes her miss Okyry. She mentions Green and nature to her mom, and her mom jokes back about her finally starting to get into nature. They bond over plants, and Pidge grows a little bit fonder to grass and dirt.

Them space time, series progresses, OMG Haggar is sending mechas after us, and Alteans are the piolets. OMG x2, the piolets are dying , what is happening. Allura, what are you doing with that symbiot, that literally just killed that piolet?

Then, the end.

The multiverse is falling apart, Haggar is going to destroy everything. What do we do?

Lotor, in a desperate final act, confronts Haggar as his mother, finally acknowledging that yes, the woman who he had despised his whole life is he mother. He finally speaks to her as his mother... and denounces her.

Honerva is heartbroken. She curses him, swears that if he will not be her son, then there will be no world period. In retaliation, just like he had his father, Lotor lunges forward, and kills Honerva. As she dies, he cradles her in his arms, and listens as she mumbles about her beautiful son, before finally passing on.

But the events do not end there, because time and space is unraveling apart. They can't fix it, only Allura has an idea, and she's crying. She tells them, and despite everyone's protests, they know what must be done. She says her goodbyes, parting with a kiss to Lotor/Lance, strong hugs to the other Paladins and then...

She turns to Coran, who despite his quietness, has been sobbing the whole time. He pulls her into a hug, face pressed into her curly white hair, breathing in the flower she adored so much, and says their finally goodbyes.

The universe is saved, and everyone grieves a tragic loss. They start traveling back to earth, the Paladins and Coran and Lotor keeping to themselves for the most part, Lance/Lotor barely making it from their room most days, when they come across an alert. A planet that had not been in the charted maps they had, and certainly not in the area they had traveled mear days ago.

Upon closer looking, it looks almost exactly like...Altea.

With the last of her quintessence, Allura had somehow made a new Altea for Coran and the other Alteans to live. Coran breaks down upon seeing a field of flowers that smell like his princess, and imminently starts planning for a tribute for her, right on the top of the hill facing out towards the flowers.

Time skip follows, and Adam waeks up, Shiro asleep at his bedside. Adam, with such slow, shaky movements, wakes up Shiro, and the two finally meet again after years of being apart. Shiro imminently proposes on the spot, not baring to loose the man he loves again.

Keith starts traveling the plants, heling out where he can. The remaining Marmora's help him, tending to villages or injured people, when Hunk asks if he can come too. He wants to help, and he's smart, and strong. And Keith mentions that the best thing these people need is a warm meal, and there's no one who knows that better tank Hunk. So they travel, heling the planets, meeting more people, bonding (Because yeah! Hunk and Keith are the best!)

Pidge is on Altea, helping Lance and Coran with setting up the Alteans. Her electronic skills are unmatched, and she takes this time to pick a couple samples for her mom. Lance catches her, and offers to take her around the fields, and they do. It's peaceful, the sun setting and breeze. The best sunset she'd seen since before Voltron, in her opinion.

Lotor slowly opens back up to the others, grief pushing him away from everyone. Coran is the first he goes to, asking the older man about Allura, and Altea, anything to keep is mind off his loss. Coran indulges him, going on about the old Castel (which still blows up some how, just cant think of it now) and Lotor listens like his life depends on it. After everything is set up on new Altea, Coran askes him to become and advisor, which Lotor accepts.

Then we go to the final scene, which is a couple years in the future. Lance is teaching fighter piolet classes at the Garrison, Shiro is happily married, Keith and Hunk are still red crossing it up in space, Pidge is a Botanists and Cyber Scientist (or whatever the hell she is) and freelances across the universe, and Coran and Lotor are co-advisors for new Altea with Romelle as one in training, which Lotor writing a full, in depth history of the Galran war and Altean history. Nothing will be lost again.

They are at dinner, under Allura's statue, it's growing dark. They finish, they have drinks, and go to bed. Lance wakes up first, in a symbolism for the first episode, him finding his lion first. The others follow, and soon, they are under Allura's statue once again. The lions are all active, which they haven't been since they saved the multiverse. The group watches the Lions stand, and roar, before a shimmering blue figure fades into existence. Allura. She doesn't see them, because she's only there for the Lions, or so the others think. As the Lions start flying into the sky, she turns around, waiving slowly to the Paladins and others, a smile on her face, before fading.

A camera shot of the group on the ground, like the series, zooming out as they all watch the Lions leave, for the final time feeling the connection of Voltron, before the Lions fly through the galaxy, into a new one, in the shape of a woman curled into a ball.

End of series.

Okay, its 6:30 now, I'm going to bed

[bengiyo]

I am curious for your perspective on the way the OF creators are interacting with fans and have even admitted to editing the show based on fan reactions. It strikes me as an unusual level of interaction and capitulation, though of course TV is a live medium that is nearly always responsive to reactions to some extent. My preference is for a lot less of this kind of thing, but I know you have experience with direct interaction with media creators and have found it enhances your experience sometimes. What do you make of how these dynamics are showing up in OF and the effect it’s having on the show?

TV and Critic Background

So, I am actually the worst person to talk to if you think the creators should be quiet about their work, because I really enjoy talking to directors, producers, actors, cinematographers, and especially editors about their work. I often go to film festivals just to talk to the creators about their processes.

I've also been in the TV space a really long time, and I am used to this kind of behavior. I don't think a lot of folks who are in BL are used to being in the process of TV itself, and I think a lot of people have let the Netflix binge model inform the way they view TV. TV is not like movies. When you get a movie, you are seeing the end product of filming, editing, test screenings, re-edits, etc. TV is usually only an episode or two ahead of the viewers.

It's extremely normal for a show to respond to feedback when characters test well. The 100 did this with Jasper. He was supposed to die in the pilot when that spear entered his chest, but he tested well with audiences so they revived him.

Fun Fact: This is why Kiseki: Dear to Me didn't just move their release schedule up when episode 8 was leaked early. They probably weren't finished assembling episode 9.

I followed Sense8 through its entire development process all the way from rumors and then J. Michael Stracynski's posts about it, to the things Lana and Lily said about it, to the commentary from the cast.

I have a special hatred for Rick Behrman over Star Trek.

I absolutely hate Russel T. Davies because of Cucumber.

I bailed on Supernatural because of the way the writers condescended to us at comicon after killing Kevin.

I know some fans are upset about the idea that scenes they wanted to see got cut, but I was there for Noah Galvin opening his fucking mouth to talk shit about other actors at ABC who were playing beloved gay characters and that subsequently getting The Real O'Neals canceled. The show had a very short second season and I feel forever salty about that.

What does this mean for Jojo and Ninew and Den?

I actually think Jojo, Den, and Ninew are fine. I don't think they usually poopoo on valid reads from what I've seen, and mostly they're having fun with the fans, too. I just don't think people are used to the creators being so honest about how feedback affects the editing process.

I think this is the first time we've had a big show in a while where the creator was fairly active on socials about the show. Aof and Au are usually pretty quiet when their shows are airing, and only give small tidbits while they show is airing. Jojo is silly and likes to play with fans. Den is feisty and has a gay agenda to pursue.

Truly, I don't think Jojo and friends are that bad about anything with this show, because they're mostly just laughing and stating things that are obvious to people who pay attention to how the sausage is made.

Shipping

That being said, the biggest struggle OF is having is shipping. The FK girlies are so loud and their heavy breathing has likely influenced the way Jojo and friends decided to write Ray. The FB girlies are so into them that it's made Jojo and them dial back some of their Top content because the audience hates him so much. Only Boston and Nick feel like they've made it through the shipping gamut intact because Neo and Mark aren't bringing a bunch of preexisting shippers to the table.

Coming off of episode 10, you can see this plainly with the nasty4nasty dynamic with Boston and Nick. The emotional core of their dynamic feels true, even down to the way their moments in the store mirror their first interactions again. Boston came in for service about his phone and intentionally showed Nick something on it.

I don't think Jojo has ever had to work with multiple acting pairs that were big branded pairs prior to this, and this is only his second time really dealing with that. With Never Let Me Go, Pond and Phuwin weren't that big yet, and he wasn't threatening their ship with anything complicated. OF is challenging for people who just watch BL as fap material and have to deal with their faves not being easy people to parse.

As usual, we go back to that post that goes around all the time, thought I think the OP deleted it:

"Never ever be normal about fictional characters but please GOD be normal about the people who play them, I am begging you" -tumblr user mantorokk-writes

[chuplayswithfire]

re the ask about stede not doing enough to make up for ditching ed - did it not balace out that ed tortured his crew for weeks and tried to kill lucius? idk why everybody is woobifying ed as if being sad or having a hard life is a justification for any of the shit he did like he has autonomy and chooses to behave the way he does when stede leaves. same goes for blaming all of eds actions on izzy as if izzy forced him to do anything? i think its weird and doesn’t do justice to his intentionally morally gray dimensional flawed character

okay so anon you are bringing up multiple things and conflating them, i think so let's take this one bit at a time

re the ask about stede not doing enough to make up for ditching ed - did it not balace out that ed tortured his crew for weeks and tried to kill lucius?

so first, let's be clear: ed's actions towards other people do NOT balance out stede's actions towards ed. that's uhhhh not how it works. when it comes to if stede did enough to make up for ghosting ed, that is a situation resolved only within ed and stede's personal relationship. stede leaving doesn't justify ed being callous and later cruel to the crew, but likewise, ed being callous and later cruel to the crew doesn't mean stede didn't owe something to ed if he wanted their relationship to work.

now let me further say that...i don't think that ed tortured (members of) stede's crew for weeks. in fact, i don't think he's physically harmed any of the crew aside from izzy, and I would argue that his dynamic with izzy is it's own special beef. if anything, i would say that between season 1 episode 10 and season 2 episode 1, ed's been a classic overachieving boss pushing his staff to the breaking point by having them work long shifts with no breaks and low pay.

this is not good, by the way, i am not saying he is being a good boss; kraken ed is fully that shithead boss who schedules 13 hour days and thinks a pizza party or donuts in the lounge make up for it. izzy tells him morale is low and he asks if they got cake, and then if they want drugs. the crew does not describe being worn down from specific fear of ed - they are worn down by day after day after day of endless raids without breaks; all the worst parts of piracy (the raids, the violence, the death) with none of the benefits (the break time between targets, the shore leave, getting paid).

again i say this is not good because it's not, but also, i think the fandom has marinated in this idea that because ed took izzy's toe he'd be doing all kinds of violence to the rest of the crew, and s2e1 doesn't really bare that out. they're shocked and horrified that he actually shoots izzy, and none of them are missing bits - in fact, the behavior is apparently so unique to izzy that they think izzy and ed have a toxic relationship. if it was any of them getting that, it wouldn't be an intervention getting plotted.

(he did for sure try to kill lucius though, which is why i'm glad lucius got to dump him overboard lol. lucky lucius. izzy tried to kill stede twice and stede didn't even get to stab him once.)

idk why everybody is woobifying ed as if being sad or having a hard life is a justification for any of the shit he did like he has autonomy and chooses to behave the way he does when stede leaves.

now half the fandom is woobifying ed because we love him and like him and also because the other half of the fandom is wildly racist about him so.

but, also, it's important context that the showrunner describes ed's actions as "a bit much" and "not entirely inappropriate". in the context of their environment, most of what ed did is not that shocking or stunning; he has hurt people, but even the people he hurt move on from it relatively soon, and we can see from spanish jackie (who doesn't give her employees enough money to pursue their own ambitions/perfectly fine with killing a husband to remove an obstacle) and ned low (literally all of that in episode 6) and izzy (in the like ten minutes he was captain and forced people to season his food and threatening folks with going hungry for laughing at him) that pirate captains are, generally, pretty shit, actually.

roach and archie at various points express sentiments that show this is all pretty normal for pirates; it's not that ed wasn't a dick, it's that he wasn't uniquely evil or fucked up. it's also that his behavior is sympathetic to many people because the show makes it abundantly clear that he's incredibly depressed and suicidal, and while it's definitely NOT okay to hurt people because you're in a bad way, the show is definitely more geared towards "even when you do all that fucked up shit, you still can be deserving of love and compassion if you reach for it" rather than "if you do fucked up shit you instantly are on the death list".

same goes for blaming all of eds actions on izzy as if izzy forced him to do anything? i think its weird and doesn’t do justice to his intentionally morally gray dimensional flawed character

izzy's not responsible for ed's actions in the sense that he put a gun to ed's head during every move, but he plays a critical role in making all that shit happen. it's like how stede wouldn't have ghosted ed if chauncey hadn't of dragged him out of bed - the festering self hatred that chauncey tapped into was there in stede, but he wouldn't have given in without a jolt from his past. the festering self hatred in ed wouldn't have broiled over into the kraken without izzy, but that was all still in ed.

izzy is pivotal in all that shit happening. if izzy hadn't of come in and jabbed ed in every sore spot he had and been a huge homophobia ridden pest that *also* threatened ed if he continued behaving in a way izzy didn't like, ed wouldn't have gone all kraken.

however, ed still DID go all kraken, so like, yeah, he did that shit. izzy is the explanation for why he did, but it's ed who did it so he has to make amends.

but also like ed is only as morally gray as literally everyone else. frenchie and roach are both in full support of torture. jim fully tried to kill a guy for throwing a glass at archie. all of them are professional murderers who make their living being the absolute living nightmares of people who are just living their lives doing their thing.

ed isn't any more morally gray than anyone else, but it's very weird how people try to make it out like ED is the intentionally morally gray character when it's just that this is a show about professional violent criminals, so the show doesn't really moralize about acts of violence.

now taking it back to the top though:

nothing ed did to the crew would change stede's need to re-earn ed's trust for ghosting him without a word and not being honest about his feelings and doubts. if ed wanted stede to atone for that, that would be ed's right as a person in the relationship - just like it would be the right of frenchie, archie, jim, or fang to want to ed to do something more before they offered their forgiveness. the fucked up shit you do to other people does not retroactively justify the fucked up shit someone else did to you. stede doesn't get a get out of the doghouse free card for ghosting ed just because ed was a dick to other people; he gets a get out of the doghouse free card because ed decides to forgive him and try again.

[keeneschoices]

I'm gonna miss one of my classes because I stayed up late to watch the finale of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and couldn't sleep afterwards... WELP, ANYWAY.

what a fucking good episode.

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10 AHEAD!

I've seen people saying they didn't like it that much because it was more relosution of past problems than anything else, but I did love it. The race didn't get to me nearly as much as I thought it would because after being presented with Cynthia and Lydia's situation, and the whole Olivia marrying that predator, I honestly had more things to worry about than any of that, but it was sort of fun.

Anyway, the whole song in the beginning of the girls telling Olivia not to marry that creep ("he's literally just a guy, hit him with your car" vibes) was just amazing. Everyone's vocals were great but holy fucking shit, ARI?? ARE YOU FOR REAL? THE TALENT.

We got a little more of backstory for Lydia and got some sort of hint regarding Cynthia's mom (my theory is she left them when Cynthia was young and sometimes she calls If she's in need of something). I'm loving to get to know these characters better, honestly.

The whole coming out scene between Nancy and Cynthia broke me. Like, literally had me crying and pausing the episode because I couldn't see anything behind the tears! I'm so goddamn glad Nancy talked to Cynthia and accepted them as they are (not that I ever thought she wouldn't), and seeing Cynthia cry, no, sob like that in Nancy's lap was so heartbreaking because their friend accepted them but it's still the fucking 50s and it's scary as hell.

AND THE MIRROR HOUSE SCENE?? WITH CYNTHIA SEARCHING THROUGH FOR LYDIA AND BEING VERY CLOSE BUT THEN AGAIN VERY FAR, UNTIL THEY CONNECTED AT THE END AND FINALLY GET THE RESOLUTION WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!! MY HEART MELTED. THEY'RE ALL IN, LYDIA!

God, I just love love love the mirror house song and scene, it was so well done (I SCREAMED OKAY?? THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THING). And Nancy not only preparing Cynthia to go in but encouraging her and even entering the house to make sure Lydia knew Cynthia was serious about their feelings? AMAZING. NANCYCYNTHIA BESTIES, YES.

I also sort of liked that Hazel is now a Pink Lady and sort of didn'? like, I love the message and I totally think If anyone else deserves a chance to be a Pink Lady, it's her... but like, the other four are so connected already because of everything that's happened between them. I'm not saying Hazel couldn't fit into that, but with a bond like theirs it's normal that she'll probably feel left out at least a little bit and that's not what I want.

OHH, AND THE LITTLE NODS TO GREASE AND GREASE 2 WERE SO GOOD. Potato's "speech" to keep things intereseting with Nancy mirroring Sandy's to Danny from the first movie made me cackle and I just looooveeee that they included the Pink Ladies' Pledge, not only the pledge in on itself but also that little part of the song from Grease 2. I loved it!!

The only thing that really bothered me from the episode was the cliffhanger in the end. Because I was expecting like, a cliffhanger and we got, well, name dropped. Which is not bad I guess, I just don't give a shit about whoever this Zuko is and what his relation to Danny is so I'm sort of hanging here for season 2 because If this is the main plot, I'm gonna be tuning in mostly for my favorite characters. Not saying the plot won't be good (because these writers are fenomenal), but it's not as interesting as of now for me personally.

WELL ANYWAY, I'M GONNA GO TO SLEEP NOW BUT I STILL WANT A SEASON 2, YOU HEAR ME PARAMOUNT?? LET'S GO.

[pixiedust-poppers]

you know funny enough, I feel like Jake and the neverland pirates would actually do really well as a Disney channel show for older kids (like say Gravity falls) instead of a preschool show. You’d be able to get more into lore and emotional stuff. Maybe even plot?

I don’t know, if they ever did decide to reboot the show it’s a neat idea.

*grabs your shoulders and shakes you excitedly*

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!!! LIKE!!!!

Ok, I think there is something to be done with Jake and his crew and his dynamic with Peter and Hook. Like for example how do the kids feel that Peter is only here for a day or a few hours, just enough to help with their issue? I'm sure the kids have a bit of an unhealthy attachment to him as he's really the only guardian figure they know, and as shown in Peter Pan's return, they all crave his attention so bad that they fuck up the mission trying to impress him! Like sure they can call him to bring him back to Neverland, but they don't perhaps he implemented a rule that they can only call him for emergencies. Which is also kinda hm. But you know he doesn't completely neglect them.

Word vomit incoming

Now let's take this a step deeper; what about Peter's relationship with them individually, it's clear he has a favorite, and it's Jake like that isn't a contest. Even if the show tries not to portray it in that manner it's obvious (I mean for fuck sake his name is in the title lol). His item(s)? A wooden sword personally hand-carved by Peter himself. After completing the Forever Quest, a golden sword called the Destiny Sword (towards the end of season 3) turns him into Captain Jake after giving the others a rousing speech about teamwork and how they can all get together to defeat Fathom with it. So it's clear he's the chosen (I'll touch more on that pressure later) by Neverland. But what does that mean for Izzy and Cubby? I mean sure they got items from him and he does care about them, but they're not as special as Jake. And they're never going to be, I mean god, Disney didn't even bother to make them Birthday episodes yet gave Jake two, then gave Skully and a minor character one. So it could develop into them realizing that while they are well-liked they aren't loved by Peter, Cubby is in denial about this revelation as he has gotten more gifts than Izzy. Izzy, the only girl in the main cast, is grated by this knowledge, she KNOWS and she has known for a long time. Enough to the point where perhaps she deserves a villain arc (then a redeemed villain arc) with the help of Captain Hook, who sees this opportunity to manipulate her for his gain.

Ok so jumping, let's go back to that Captain Jake issue. I personally didn't like Season 4, I thought it was shit BUT this new Captain Jake in a reboot could bring up an interesting little angst point called, "The pressure of being forced to be THE responsible one when you're only still a child." You might have all these other well-established Captains around you but, they depend on you to think of ideas, and come up with solutions to save the day, if you fail then it's on you but you're only 8 or 10 years old!!! A user mentioned this before but Jake could develop an entirely new personality as a Captain to make himself seem smarter and more capable than he actually is! This can go two ways A) he burns out and he burns out REAL bad and rather fast. B) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and the realization of how much power he holds makes him realize he can almost do whatever he wants because he IS the 2nd most powerful person after Peter. This then comes his Power-tripping arc and the consequences of Peter not dividing this power between the trio, and being gassed up everyone, which raises his ego through the roof. This can only end badly obv and it does, how? idk but just know it does.

As for Captain Hook, because this is New Disney he can't be 100% back to his OG self but he can absolutely be raised to be more of an asshole in a Disney channel show and probably a bit fucked up. But you also would have to thread carefully on how you do these things, because one wrong move and Disney will have you rewrite the whole thing and tone it down more than need be. I also think there would be more to explore with the kids and their dynamic with him, since they also would have more nuance to them. They could have more stakes with him, and could honestly do more messed up shit with them he could make them have an inner conflict, he could manipulate one to join his side temporarily. Put the kids in more life-threatening situations that they don't come out unscathed from. Hell, you know what, I want him to win some episodes and get his way with Jake and his crew being powerless to stop it. It would teach a lesson that some days, you just can't win, someone who is nasty will win and get away with it and you have to be ok with that! (if you have resourced all your options first) Life will not always go your way. As for him and Red Jessica, show a toxic relationship, I mean come on do you REALLY think she has a thing for hook lol, it was shoehorned Hetero-shipping bait and it worked now can we do something else with it? As for smee, sharky and bones? I guess they can be less friendly to the sea pups, it would be more of a loyalty thing rather than a personal thing.

Also, the show could bring back the lost boys, to make the island seem less empty than it is, and maybe a different set of kids to replace the Native Americans.

Finally, to end this word vomit, the relationship between the kids. I really beg it be explored more. Now don't get me wrong they can have a wholesome and loving bond but not everything has to be peachy-keen. Like sure Jake is their captain but do they, not envy or resent him in some way? For example, they're all bright but Izzy is shown to be the brightest she has more knowledge about Neverland and its artifacts, so why is she not captain? Is it because she isn't naive enough? She isn't as nice or forgiving as Jake? She has no issue snapping at you when she's fed up? Then there's cubby, does he even have the real guts to be cut up for this type of thing? The classic "why him and not me?" type of deal. Then there's Cubby, does he hate being just stuck as coconut boy by his peers and other pirates? Will he ever break out of his shell, does he have a breaking point with his friends? Then Jake gets annoyed that they're not as in sync as they once were, he kinda hates that they're developing on their own and steadily gaining more and more independence. They're willing to talk back to him, be rude, and do less trio activities. Which leads to more conflicting ideas, possibly fights, and less "what I say goes!". He is scared of them changing and becoming their own individuals, he's scared that they might be growing up.

Sorry this is so so so long and rambly, I just have a lot to say about a reboot for this show that I cannot help myself.

[sixteen-sugars]

satosugu - a review

pic by: Fanku19 on tw

(SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 AND SHIBUYA)

I am writing this in honor of Season 2 dropping! I am a manga reader so I know what's going to happen, but that's not the point. Its about seeing my boys! 

I literally am shitting bricks for these two. I would give up a kidney for these two to be happy. This ship has so much canon backing and parallels. Thus far, this ship has 2 parallels in canon;

The first one being Itadori and Megumi (ItaFushi). Itadori is from 'normal' parents and more importantly a jujutsu-society free upbringing. He is known as a curse eater. This is important because he parallels Geto. They both are either dead or going to end up dead, with Itadori hopefully being executed by Megumi. This death and execution is to parallel the KFC-breakup. Since the prodigy, and the one with the power to change to the world will have to kill the only person that could hope to understand them on such a personal level. Megumi here would parallel Gojo. Since both are treated like prodigies from birth, and told that they are the 'best'. Now, back to Yuji and the Shibuya incident. Both Geto and Yuji have killed millions of people (or monkeys, if you must) But, this is where their characters split, as this is a similar archetype taken different ways. As Yuji sticks to his guns, feeling absolute guilt for killing these people. Geto falls off the wagon, and he kills without remorse because he is a example of a very kind character warped by others and being used by them. I believe Itadori will also follow a similar path, albeit a little less intense towards the end of the manga. 

The other one being Yuuta and Rika. The score that plays during the KFC-breakup is the same that plays when Yuuta says, "this is pure love," That was a conscious choice, be it platonic or not both Rika and Yuuta were going to be the death of each other if they continued the way they did. And that is exactly what happened to SatoSugu, they saw they own eminent destruction and couldn't stop a  train on a dime. They came crashing together and destroyed so many in their wake. 

Tropes Associated: 8/10

(the friends to enemies to lovers is STRONG with these two, along with the only one that understands me etc. They are both insufferable. But the tropes are either soul-crushing and sad or like yay! Shibuya didn't happen and everyone is happy :D)

Dynamic: 10/10

(I love these two, they are such big jerks and so annoying to literally anybody but each other. But, they are also the only ones who every truly understood each other. Since both were burdened with Jujutsu society and trying to be the strongest.)

Looks:  9/10

(Sun and moon duo, contrasting hair. Also Geto has ass, Gojo has no ass to speak of, simply math, also Geto hot :3 sue me man) 

All in all: 28/30