#but I have 1 from the worst episode I've ever had and i can't throw it away

[sincerity--extreme]

Had an episode and for years now I've developed this coping mechanism (that doesn't always work but I still try to make it an instinct to always try it) to write and draw on a paper instead of on my skin, this time the episode caught me off guard and I didn't had real paper near me so I made it on the tablet instead...

[itsjustafia]

4x12 favorite moment #1

This scene.

Brenton and Anna's delivery and emotions are just amazing.

I've rewatched it so many times.

This is Dick's worst nightmare coming true. He spent the entire season trying to prevent Kory from having to make her sacrifice and in the end it wasn't enough.

Kory reluctantly telling him that it's time to say goodbye and him saying he can't. He doesn't know how to say goodbye to her? The tears in both their eyes? Heartbreaking.

And when you think about all the people Dick has lost in his life - his parents, Garth, Jericho, Donna, Jason and Hank - it makes his statement even sadder because he wasn't able to stop those deaths either. And he never had a chance to say goodbye to any of them before it happened. The closest to anything like that he's had was with Hank last season. But even then, he avoided saying goodbye, only talking about good memories from their past. Which is likely why he knew so quickly what Kory was really trying to say back in the rv. She was using his same tactics.

So finding out that this was potentially Kory's fate so early on had him in complete denial about the prophecy until the end. To the point where it was frustrating to watch at times. Because acknowledging something doesn't mean you believe it's going to happen.

But the scene at the beginning of the episode, where Dick makes a reservation for a party of 6, shows just how much hope Dick has. Yes, he was in denial, but he also felt that they could get through the worst of situations.

Even when Kory says that Sebastian will come back stronger again if they just throw him into the wormhole, Dick still has hope and tells her that they'll be stronger too as a solution. He doesn't give up. Especially when it comes to the people he loves. Even more so when it's Kory.

And I really enjoyed watching Dick fight for Kory this season. To see him being overprotective, fussing over her well being. From fighting to free her from the spell, saving her from mind control, and just refusing to have her deal with the prophecy alone. He was always there for her. I don't think Kory's ever experienced that before. To have someone care about her in that type of way.

Anyway, I say all this to say that this might be one of my top dickkory scenes from the series.

[me-a-mess-morelikelythanyouthink]

a dedication to someone that doesn’t deserve one

AroarA // june gehringer // sue zhao // ashstfu // ryebreadgf // sue zhao // rvbhleo // osamu dazai // ojibwa // ashstfu // anna ahkmatova // trista mateer // margaret atwood // unknown // mahmoud darwish // ocean vuong // yves olade // unknown // ocean vuong // lucille clinton // fleabag

[text IDs: Image 1: AroarA, #6: “that the house is slowly on fire / that the house is slowly on fire // and I can't get you to leave it / and I can't get you to leave it // and I can't leave without you / and I can't leave without you”

Image 2: june gehringer, I love you, it looks like rain: “the worst part of love is / that I remember it. // I walk around all day thinking: I'm going to die in the universe you loved me in. // I get so jealous of euthanized dogs.“

Image 3: sue zhao: He asks: “"how do I get over somebody I never had?" And says: // I did not love you but I almost did. At one time, I might have loved you - at least, I felt I might have. If you were never loved by me, then nevertheless you were lovable to me. Last night I dreamt that your head lay on my stomach and traced the rise and fall of my breath. It felt complete natural - even though I knew once, we had left each other. Even though I knew we had wounded each other. In the dream state, forgiveness comes easily. I never loved you but I almost did. There are days when the breadth of ambiguity feels much worse. There are days I wish I would have loved you so I would know how to stop.

Image 4: ashstfu, tumblr: “girls vs getting over anythings thats ever happened to them in their life”

Image 5: ryebreadgf, tumblr: “YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK! YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK! YOU CAN BITE AND SCRATCH AND BEG BUT YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK!”

Image 6: sue zhao: “How often are you violent against yourself? Does it horrify you? Can you stop? Do you want to? And if you did, would you know how to?”

the last three sentences spanning from “Can you stop?” to “would you know how to?” have been underlined in blue

Image 7: rvbhleo, all caps: “WHAT IS THE POINT OF LUKEWARM LOVE? IF IM NOT DROWNING IN IT I HAVE NO DESIRE FOR IT”

Image 8: osamu dazai, no longer human, highlighted in pink: “the wound has gradually become dearer to me than my own flesh and blood”

Image 9: ojibwa, tumblr: “Grieving, grieving, constantly grieving./I mourn what could have been, what will not be, what I can't save.”

Image 10: ashstfu, tumblr: sometimes getting over something is accepting you will never get over it”

Image 11: anna ahkmatova, parting: “I am very calm. Only do not talk to me about him.”

Image 12: margaret atwood, more and more: “there is no reason for this, only a starved dog’s logic on bones”

Image 13: unknown, all caps: “OTHER BOYS ARE BORING AND YOU ARE A BURNING HOUSE I WANT TO LIVE IN”

Image 14: mahmoud darwish, formatted as if in dialogue between two people: “ -Do you have any weapons on you?” “-I have a longing that's killing me.” 

the second sentence is highlighted in yellow

Image 15: trista mateer, honeybee: “I've gotten so good/about not flinching at the sound of your name/that people don't know I'd still throw myself/mouth-open into the ocean/for the chance to drown somewhere you might see it.“

Image 16: yves olade, bloodsport: “All that/matters is that you want to hurt me. // All that matters is that you want me/Say the word & I'll burn for ten days.”

Image 17: unknown, all caps: “LETS GO TO THE GARDEN./LETS BE KIDS AGAIN./I’LL CHASE YOU IF YOU CHASE ME.”

Image 18: ocean vuong, on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, highlighted in yellow: “When does a war end? When can I say vour name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?”

Image 19: lucille clifton, climbing: “maybe i should have wanted less./maybe i should have ignored the bowl in me/burning to be filled./maybe i should have wanted less.”

Image 20: fleabag, season 2 episode 6: a screenshot of the priest looking at fleabag, captioned, “It’ll pass.” below]

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

Lone Star Season 4 Thoughts: I love Season 4...mostly

With the prospect of season 5 filming beginning so soon, I've been thinking a lot about season 4 lately. I felt like rambling out some of my thoughts on here.

First, perhaps an unpopular opinion (?) but I love season 4. Sure, it has its flaws, but to me, the good far outweighs the bad. For one thing, I personally don't mind Gabriel's death. It's not what I would have chosen myself if I were writing the finale, and I think it could have benefited from a 3-5 episode arc rather than being squeezed into two already very busy episodes, but I appreciate a lot of what came with it and the potential it provides for season 5. Rafa's acting in the finale was incredible and the aftermath of Gabriel dying resulted in one of my top 10 Tarlos scenes of all time (the scene of them deciding to postpone the wedding at the beginning of 4x18) and one of my top 10 non-Tarlos scenes of all time (the Owen and Carlos scene). Season 4 also gave us the incredible soulmates scene, Lou II, lots of other excellent Tarlos scenes/episodes (4x02, 4x04, 4x08, 4x12, 4x16-18), some new love interests I really liked (Asha, Joe, and Trevor...NOT Kendra), a true showcase of Rafa's talent as an actor along with (finally!) the screen time he deserves, a Marjan storyline that wasn't perfect but had a lot of good stuff to enjoy, and a mention of the Tarlos wedding in every single episode. I enjoyed watching every episode (with the possible exception of 4x03...but even there I can find things to enjoy).

As far as the whole Iris/secret marriage storyline goes, yeah, it's not great. But I can still find a lot to appreciate within it. I love Iris, I love her friendship with Carlos (Rafa and Lyndsy sold me on their friendship with a single hospital scene in 4x03!), and I think it added fascinating elements to Carlos' backstory...like the fact that he was so lost and upset after his family's reaction to his coming out that he married a woman to try to be the man he believed they wanted and needed him to be. For the parts I don't like as much and that--let's face it, don't make much sense--I'm able to look past them or make up head canons to explain them away. (And the talented fic writers of this fandom have done a great service to help that process along...there are many great ones, but particular shout out to Where All This Love Comes From @carlos-in-glasses, which managed to make better sense of Carlos' backstory than I ever imagined possible...if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do so ASAP). I certainly don't blame anyone who can't do this...that storyline was a mess, I can't deny that! But for me, there's enough to appreciate that it doesn't mess with my enjoyment of the season.

Aside from the secret marriage thing, I think the worst storyline of the season was the Owen/FBI storyline. The sad thing is that this one could have been ok had it been executed better. The biggest issues here were (1) too much Owen off on his own time, which is never good--Owen is at his best when he's in storylines with the other main characters--and (2) they completely failed to stick the landing. BADLY. If you're going to do a white supremacist storyline, you need to commit! Instead, they tried to throw in so many twists that they ended up trying to make us feel sympathy for and see the white supremacist gang members as victims. Yeah, not going to work for me when, in a previous episode, you told us they were literal Nazis! But ultimately I don't really care all that much about a solo Owen storyline to begin with, so it didn't affect my enjoyment of the season as a whole.

All of that said, the thing that irritated me the most about season 4 was the 8 week deadline for the wedding. The ridiculous Lone Star timeline has always been a bit of a thorn in my side, but it really got out of hand in season 4. What bothers me most is the fact that the whole 8 weeks thing is both so completely ridiculous and so completely unnecessary! It is clearly there only to slightly raise the stakes for the first few episodes of the season. It's "Oh no, they have to get married in 8 weeks, which means Carlos has to hurry up and get divorced from Iris to make the deadline, only now Iris has gone missing and she hasn't signed the divorce papers yet so they won't be able to get married!" The exact same thing could have been accomplished with an even slightly more realistic deadline--say 4 months. A 4 month deadline would have still been an incredibly short amount of time to plan a wedding and it would have still required urgency in the divorce process. And yeah, 4 months would have still been a bit unbelievable, but it would have been the ordinary tv show timeline kind of unbelievable, and it would have fit far better with the other markers of time in season 4, like the fact that it's explicitly stated that it's January in the beginning of the season and May at the end.

To make matters worse, the urgency for Iris to sign the papers--once again, the whole reason for the 8 week deadline-- isn't really even addressed after 4x02 because once Iris goes missing, her safety is the main concern. Then, once they wrap that storyline up, it is literally never mentioned again. I spent the entire season waiting for it to become an issue, but it never does. The writers essentially forget about it and spend the entire rest of the season providing dates and stating that amounts of time have passed that add up to way more than 8 weeks. It's just so RIDICULOUS and it means NOTHING!

Ok, whew, got that out. Probably no one is still reading at this point, but if you are, thank you for reading my essay and I love you 💜

[the-things-ive-seen]

CWs Titans - DC

I'm not going to talk about Titans.

Of all the TV shows I might possibly crap on while typing posts on the internet, Titans is, hands down, irrefutably the worst TV show I've ever seen. Well, it's the worst live-action TV show, accounting for budget constraints and the year it was made. Velma is still the actual worst, and probably will be for a long time.

I wish I had something good to say that would at least contrast the bad. The show had funny moments? The story had an interesting concept despite execution? The Doom Patrol cameo episode still holds up from Season 1? Nope. It's all bad, it's all draining, and it's a nightmare to actually watch. Again, not as much as Velma, but comparing which TV show is less traumatic doesn't build sympathy.

But as cathartic as it is to rail on this series again, I need to stop. I can't convince people to stop watching something because I think the show is bad and they think the actors in the show are hot. And I'm not the first person to throw shade at Titans or CW content in general. I'm not even as good as HiTop Films, a YouTuber who off-handedly found themselves going over both Season 1 and Season 2. They found even more flaws with the show than I did, and I was just upset that they were wasting villains to save time for drama.

The reason I'm even going over now is the same reason to I started the blog. I need to get this sh!t off my chest; I'll yell till my voice reaches the highest heavens, just so everyone can hear me. I will proudly say that CW Titans is objectively terrible and I watched, I suffered, enough.

For anyone needing a quick reason why though, It's just teen drama.

Like, the CW is extremely infamous for grabbing IPs people are familiar with, hiring ten adults to act like sitcom teenagers, with mood and angst dialed up to eleven, and then recycling a script or two. They also have some dogsh!t directors, so don't be surprised if every side plot, plot twist, ex machina, plot-device, character revival, and sequel bait teaser goes completely unanswered.

I mean, see it from their perspective. You're already here, watching because your favorite characters might appear in it. They did their job, and it was quick and easy; cheap too. It's not like these people are here to entertain you.

[yaboisorzoi]

Square Enix Should Apologize To Deck Nine - And By Extension, Us - For How Terribly They Squeezed On the Life is Strange Remaster

Okay so I know it's old hat to say that the Life is Strange Remasters are… not good.

Everyone and their dog knows that at this point.

But I want to talk a bit about WHY they're so bad. And how it isn't Deck Nine's fault they are as bad as they are.

I've just finished my playthrough of Before the Storm on the Remaster, and while it is definitely a downgrade from the original release, it wasn't terrible. The new character textures are fantastic, the new meshes are impressive, the lighting changes are… fine. I only ever had one or two audio lines drop per episode, and the subtitles would commonly lag behind a full sentence but it was never too bad and was always worth a laugh.

But then I got to the Farewell DLC, and oh my god. It is just unplayable. Like, I straight-up gave up and just bought the Farewell DLC for the base game.

At the top of this post is a video excerpt of the straw that broke the camel's back.

I regret throwing Deck Nine under the bus in the video's editing. I was so frustrated at the time, though!

So let's talk about how we got here.

The development of these remasters was done while True Colors was still in development. They released 4 months after True Colors' release, and I have heard that the original goal was to have them all release at the same time.

Which is an absolutely absurd mandate for Square Enix to push. Like, just think about it for a minute.

Life is Strange 1 is about double the length of True Colors. Before the Storm is about the same length as True Colors. And while Deck Nine didn't have to write and build the games from scratch, the remasters still involved engine upgrades (Life is Strange is a heavily-modified UE3 game; Life is Strange Remastered is on UE4.23; Before the Storm was similarly upgraded to what was at the time the latest version of Unity for the remaster).

Beyond that, Deck Nine also upgraded character face textures and character outfit meshes (and for some reason remodeled the characters' noses; I don't know why…). None of which is to mention how, in order to apply the mocap facial animation upgrade to the base Life is Strange, they had to effectively rerecord all of the dialogue for the game - and then throw out the audio, to keep only the facial animation data.

Top is Life is Strange Remastered, bottom is original. Note how much higher-poly the outfit is, and how things like Chloe's tear or her bra are actually fully modeled now.

All of which is to say, they had to do a lot of work for these remasters. And Square Enix expected them to do all this work while working on True Colors? For games that equate to 1.5x the length of True Colors? Effectively working on 2.5 games within 1 dev cycle?

When playing through the remasters, you can clearly see what Square Enix's priorities were. Life is Strange is the star child, the one that launched this whole franchise (read: money machine for Square Enix) and is the fan-beloved. It very clearly got top priority from Square Enix, and Deck Nine very clearly spent the most time and money on it.

Next up was Before the Storm, and by the time you get to Farewell, it is clear that we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Farewell was Square Enix's last concern, and Deck Nine had to work with the dregs of what was left of their time and budget to remaster it. And it very clearly shows.

The absolute worst part of this all to me, though, is that of these three games (I am counting Farewell as its own game, given how it is a DLC expansion that was made in a separate development cycle from the rest of Before the Storm), two of them are Deck Nine's own babies. And of these three games, only one of them was given priority by Square Enix.

I can't even imagine how terrible it must've felt for Deck Nine, being forced by Square Enix to release their own games in Before the Storm and especially Farewell in such a broken state. To have to effectively cripple their own children, while fawning over their step-daughter brought into the marriage that is Life is Strange (developed by dontnod).

Obviously we're not going to actually get Square Enix to ever apologize to Deck Nine, and I doubt Deck Nine will ever be given the resources to properly fix Before the Storm and Farewell.

But dammit, the injustice on display is so apparent and so egregious, I just have to scream about it.

I hope I'm not alone in feeling this way. That the terrible state of the remasters is Square Enix's fault, not Deck Nine's. That Deck Nine deserved better than how Square Enix treated them on these remasters. And that, through extension of the sorry, broken state these remasters were released in, we the players and fans of these games deserve better than what Square Enix forced out the door on us.

Fresh out of giving up on the Farewell Remaster, I was upset. But now, thinking about it, about all the things that had to go wrong to get us to this point?

I'm just disgusted.

Shame on you, Square Enix. And I'm sorry, Deck Nine.

[goldensadnessdolphin]

Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen S2E16 ("Thunderclap 2") as well as brief mention of S2E17 (Right and Wrong), HeroAca and Chainsaw Man (the latter only gets name dropped) under the cut:

The latest Jujutsu Kaisen episode would've been really good if there was any tactics or good choreography involved. I don't think I've ever been so disengaged from an anime fight scene. Powerlevels felt pulled out of their arse. The explanation why Sukuna could beat Mahogara without giving Fushiguro a massive powerspike was contrived at best and unnecessary at worst. Felt like an excuse to animate a big battle to take a break from... animating big battles. And what would be the harm of putting "I need to save the world with my power" on more than Itadori's shoulders? Fushiguro isn't the type to take that in a healthy way anyways. USE THE DRAMA YOU CAN CREATE!

This whole season has sucked so far because the powerlevels are getting too high too fast. A lot of Shonen have that problem, especially modern Shonen (looking at you, worthless My Villain Academia Arc and Chainsawman in its entirety). I normally like Shonen, but it feels like everyone is ready to throw pacing off a cliff just to make a world-ending scenario 2-3 seasons before it'd be sensible. I know this sounds like advocating for padding, but my point is that you can have a gradual pacing curve and don't need to construct Everest in the middle of your shopping cart.

Like, we went from "One Finger might kill you!!1!1!!11!" to "with ten or so fingers in 2 minutes, I can haz Sukuna? Sukuna for 5 minutes? You spoil me, sir!"

I'm not angry, I'm disappointed. Actually, I'm both. Because I really admired the world JJK created and now it's effectively them fighting on Namek for all the world cares. Unless there'll be a major arch where we get a season+ of the world finding out about Jujutsu Sorcerers and how they shaped the world. So:

new politics

a "greater good" locking away of Itadori in a way that forces him to either absorb and destroy Sukuna with his godlike power of being the protagonist or be absorbed himself

a reduction and refocusing on freeing Gojo in the meantime (because I fully expect him to come back even more Deus Ex Machina than before in more dire straights)

Otherwise this either turns the show into the aforementioned Namek (i.e. Zero Consequence Zone - but we say there are consequences -) or just another They Fight Until The Author Is Tired From Wanking Themselves To Death.

EDIT: Just watched the episode after and it's so much better. In it's stakes and it's choreography. Felt way more gripping than Two Immortal Entities Have A Pissing Contest ALSO EDIT: These are the tags I had after the warning labels, but tumblr shows them even if you put the rest of a post beneath a cut. So here they are: #this whole ''the entire world is in danger'' shit is so trite and boring now#because emotion comes from connection#and you can't expect a world ending threat#- that comes so suddenly -#to make me do anything other than say#''wow; I really hope the animators got paid well for this bullshit. Wish I could follow it with any interest''

[rainparadefromhell]

My thoughts on season 3 of Never Have I Ever

SPOILERS AHEAD !

* author's note : it's long what can you do, i have an obsessive personality

• Things I disliked in no particular order

1. The pacing of this season.

The pacing of this season

The pacing-

I don't know what happened this season but it felt like someone pushed my head into a blender. Many things were so glossed over, I was actually baffled. People kept getting into relationships and breaking up like it was nothing and all sense of direction was lost. Everything felt like a fever dream. Ben and Aneesa break up. She cries one time, kisses Fabiola and now they are in a relationship only for that to not work out and Fabiola gets into another relationship (at this point i forgot Eve existed). No one reacts to anything, things just happen so there is no chance for the viewers to get attached to any new storylines/couples. Just borderline bad writing in terms of pacing.

2. What they've done to Aneesa's character

At the end of the show, the person I felt bad for the most was Aneesa. The writers just would not give her a chance. She wasn't a real character. She barely had any personality beyond being a plot device for multiple characters and getting into meaningless relationships every 5 minutes (the show does have a problem with doing this to all characters tbh). I wanted to know Aneesa better (I hoped for a pov episode) but all I've got was her getting left for another person in not one but TWO relationships? And they made her kinda not even care about it. It just wasn't realistic and I hated it.

3. Des.

Listen, I don't have anything against his character. Because his character doesn't exist. Des got, as well as all the new characters - Aneesa'd. His sole purpose was to give Devi an Indian boyfriend (which is fine). But he was just so.....unnecessary?? I'm sorry but while watching every scene him and Devi shared, I was begging for literally any other character to show up. Same with his two friends (extras) that had about two lines each. His and Devi's relationship, in my opinion would've been just fine as a fling not a real relationship. And it lasted SO. FUCKING. LONG. Why, just why were they wasting time (that could have been given to flesh out old characters) on something everyone and their mother KNEW wouldn't work out or have any meaningful addition to the show. Other things got sidelined, that's why I hated this storyline.

4. And save the worst for last. All of Devi's romantic relationships in s3

Oh God, here we go.

I understand that Devi is a teen girl that just wants to date boys, have fun, be in love. I really do. But as writers, it is the nhie showrunners' job to make this enjoyable for the viewers. And it worked, the past 2 seasons it really did. Team Paxton, team Ben, team Devi.... We've all had something to enjoy. So throwing in another boy - no, two actually (the guitar player she kissed isn't a big part of the show so I don't really care) made me so angry. They've disturbed a sort of a balance between silly/fun the show had with like 3 or 4 love interests all in your face at the same time so they all started to look kinda.... unimportant (except for Ben, but I am biased lol). It looked painfully unrealistic as well.

The show yet again suffered because of its format. you simply can't throw in a bunch of characters in a 30 minute, 10 episode long comedy show and just hope for the best. It felt messy, rushed and fleeting. Like there was no room to breathe, I felt so anxious watching the middle part of the show.

• Things I did like in no particular order

1. The adults' storylines

I found them much more tolerable and cohesive. I am a Nalini stan first and a human second. I just love her. I love watching Poorna be so brilliant in this role. I was thrilled they gave her a friend and quite sad that friend was taken away later on but oh well. Also, possibly my favorite moment in the show was this quote from Nalini : "You are never too much and always enough." This show was the first time I've truly seen my relationship with my own mother represented in a way that isn't black or white and just simple or complicated. For me this scene meant a lot - showing that no matter what may happen, Nalini will always love and support her daughter.

I also liked Kamala's storyline. Tbh I didn't like Prashant all that much. He felt like a more mature Paxton. I'm glad Kamala didn't rush into marriage, especially if it's something she does not want. I really liked the relationship between Kamala and Mr. Kulkarni, I just wish we saw more of them.

2. Trent and Eleanor ??

I totally predicted this!! I said they will be that odd couple that somehow works very well and I was right. They were really entertaining and I'm so glad we get to see more of them.

3. Trent and Paxton ??

I adored Paxton and Trent's friendship. You can tell they love each other in their weird ways. This totally made me like the characters more and I love love LOVE seeing healthy male friendships in media.

4. Paxton

And everybody gasped. (Hell, I gasped, too). Here it comes Paxton/Daxton stans....

I did really like Paxton this season. And he had his moments last season as well, I'll admit that. Is he my favorite character in the show? No. Do I still think he's kinda boring and overrated? Yes. But I did like him. My favorite Paxton moment this season was in the hospital with Ben (as well as his friendship with Ben as a whole). Not only was it very kind of him to stay with Ben and make him feel better, I also loved him admiting he doesn't really know who he is. How incredibly honest of him. I liked that he apologized to all the girls he hurt and that he was friends with Haley again. I also loved him telling Devi she can't love anyone until she loves herself (someone's been reading my posts 👀). He finally started to care about things (school) and even if his storyline is a simple one, it worked. I'm glad he grew as a person. For me, Paxton finally  became a full-fledged character with a unique storyline. It took only 3 seasons but we got there.

5. Benjamin Gross

I could write novels about Ben Gross. I could write about him until my hands hurt and then some more. He is easily one of my, if not my favorite fictional character of all time. He is one of the few characters that, in my opinion, isn't written in an episodic way. Jaren Lewison has this great ability to carry all of Ben's emotions in his pocket and whip out what he needs in a scene with such ease. The character doesn't forget his lessons, he remembers his past feelings and what they taught him which makes him develop and make progress so naturally within the show. Ben Gross isn't just a douche at the beginning of season 1 and a nice guy at the end of season 3. You can see all of his flaws as well as how caring and emotionally intelligent he is at the same time throughout the entire show. I'm so happy he learned to relax and not care as much about grades.

This kinda falls under Ben, but just 3x06 being the best episode (with the finale) for me. I don't know what kind of crack Mindy Kaling puts in the Ben episodes but she gets is right every damn time. Those 4 words being "I'm proud of you" from his dad made me so emotional. I wouldn't want them to be anything or for anyone else. Also I fucking loved Ben being into drawing?? We need more of that.

6. Devi Vishwakumar

My girl. I really liked Devi this season. I loved how they showed she's still grieving. Maitreyi's performance in the scene when Paxton tells her she doesn't love herself yet was so heartbreakingly beautiful. She knew he was right. Also can we talk about the best version of Devi aka post time jump Devi??? I love that girl! You can really tell she matured quite a bit. She's not as hot headed anymore. The only "bad" thing she did was throwing that book or whatever it was in the trash and honestly...? I didn't see how that was such a big deal at all. And the other team kinda cheated, too. Who cares? They're not in a courtroom. I really hope that in season 4 we see her growing even more.

7. The whole gang

One thing I also liked was that everyone was friends with everyone this season. We saw the Paxton-Trent-Eleanor group, Paxton and Ben's friendship, Paxton and Fabiola, Ben-Devi-Fabiola and so on.... I reallllly liked the different dynamics.

8. Ben & Devi

And finally - this is what (some of) you have been waiting for. As you can see the pacing and new characters really messed with how much I loved (or rather didn't) this season. But honestly, now that I had time to think about it, the character development and just the finale really saved the whole season for me. And yes, this includes Ben and Devi. This season we've seen Ben and Devi be mostly, friends. They didn't share many moments until the last few episodes which did frustrate me but that is exactly what made all of them feel so special later on. It was important for them to not spend as much time together then slowly be close friends for the finale we got. I really wasn't expecting it. For all my criticisms about the writing not being the best in some aspects of the show, the writers did such a good job with their storyline and it's safe to say that s3 is my favorite when it comes to them.

Last season we've only seen hints of them pining for each other. This season they were much more honest and comfortable with each other. I cannot stop thinking about how perfectly their little romance was sprinkled over the seasons, with season one's introduction and teasing of their feelings, season two's big conflict and hurt and finally season three's rekindling of feelings and big realizations. None of their storyline felt like sudden big explosions (like with Paxton), just a natural evolution of caring for each other. A sign that it wasn't just a crush (quick and overwhelming) but a first love kind of a situation. Realistic, messy, beautiful, simple. There isn't a doubt in my mind that these two will end up together in some way at the end of season 4. Truly one of my favorite on screen couples all thanks to the brilliant and talented Jaren and Maitreyi.

Overall, I still think the show's best season is season 1. It was almost perfectly set up. However, in terms of characters and our main couple, I have to say season 3 feels the most open, vulnerable and grown up. The last episode felt super special and teased season 4 in which we will see the gang prepare for college. I have huge expectations for season 4 and I really think it could be one of the best ones (best one?), but who knows...

Maybe I'm just a sucker for closures.

Also, I can't believe the finale??? Like they were evil evil for that one, not letting us see what happens! On the other hand I can't be mad bc as a writer that is such a me thing to do. Like, I can totally see myself be that much of an asshole and sadist so I kinda get it. Idk what I will do until s4.

[i-hate-ash-ketchum-and-pikachu]

hey, i don't mean to intrude but why do you hate ash and the pokemons?

MY DAY HAS COME. FINALLY. Thank you for asking the question I've been waiting so long to be asked. I hope you are ready for the can of worms you have just opened because it's going to be a LONG ride. Let's start with Pikachu because his issues are more technical, where as Ash is just a dumbass.

Pikachu should be level like 60 at this point(Thank you Matt Patt for actually doing all the work to figure this out.) and he still can't fight his way out of a paper bag. But Joe, it's a Pokemon show, there are no levels. WRONG. Season 1 Episode 9 "The School of Hard Knocks" The whole episode is basically pokemon school, TLDR they mention levels, weaknesses, ect. So now we know that pikachu is MILES ahead of his competition, but gets bodied at least 40% of the time(Chart of win rates).

But it isn't just Pikachu being reset to the point where he's useless again that's frustrating, but he's also a little prick. There is a whole scene where Pikachu is talking MAD SHIT and Jessie and James are like "Oh he's so cute" and Meowth is curled up in a ball going like "I can't bring myself to tell them what Pikachu is saying"

Also can we talk about how Pikachu should have killed Ash by now? Dude would send 100,000 volts into Ash like every Tuesday.

OK AND NOW THE MAIN EVENT. ASH. GOD HE MAKES ME SO ANGRY. Boi want's to be a pokemon master. IT TOOK HIM 22 YEARS. But we need to back up because that's getting ahead of myself.

Let's start at the very beginning. This man got a Pikachu because he was late, dudebro lives in the pokemon world. Could have had a real starter, but no. He slept in. Get's a Pikachu. Best of luck with the first gym OH WAIT LET ME JUST CHEAT the first gym. Uses an Electric pokemon against a ground type. Yea man, sure. The sprinklers. Regardless of him straight up breaking the laws of pokemon, Brock is even like "Dude we gotta stop this battle. I don't want to hurt your pokemon" and ash IMMEDIATELY disregards this and puts him back into the battle. Ash has proven time and time again he really doesn't actually care about his pokemon(basically replacing his team every single time he goes to a new region and then never uses them ever again).

On the topic of learning nothing from previous events, He falls for Jessie and James costumes. Every. Time. Jessie and James are the Parry the platypus of this universe and it makes me so angry because not ONCE can he see the blue and red hair duo and think. Hmmm. Maybe is Jessie and James. NOT ONCE. Which btw Jessie and James are canonically the worst team rocket members. He removes them, but like a baby has no objects permanence and forgets they exist and the process repeats.

He has 42 pokemon after two decades. I have more pokemon in my copy of silver that I played for like 6 hours. Which then we can bring up the fact that he has 29 TAUROS because he has the awareness of a blind chimp(actually that's not fair, I bet if you gave me 10 minutes I could teach a Mankey to throw a pokeball without hitting a Tauros). To compound this the man doesn't evolve pokemon if they don't want to, which while is actually a really nice thing for him to do(Yay first positive thing he's done) it still makes him a weaker trainer in battles ultimately making his goal of becoming pokemon master SO much harder.

Hey you guys ever remember when Ash absolutely trashed Misty's bike and then never paid her back for it. That was cool.

Moving along we have the fact that not only is he dumb, but he's TURBO DUMB. First episode "Is all you can say is Pikachu?" AS IF HE HASN'T SEEN A POKEMON ONCE IN HIS LIVE. DUDE LIVES WITH A MR. MIME. Have a comp of just the first season of him being a fucking moron. And it's not just like general knowledge like that, he also struggles with typing match ups. WELL INTO future seasons. But even when he has the typing match up he still somehow loses. The only example I need to make is this one. Dudebro CHEATED and got a "Mega" evolution that doesn't even exist because of love(I GUESS?), like this is next level protaganist bullshit. AND HE STILL LOSES WHEN HE'S GOT THE TYPE ADVANTAGE. on a side note, while looking up more things he did wrong, Man apparently almost never uses Items or abilities. How he's made it to finally become a pokemon master is BEYOND me.

To wrap up, Ash is by far one of the worst protagonists. Annoying with his limitless ability to be stupid, not actually faithful with any of his pokemon except for Pikachu, Pikachu which is a jackass and basically toying with his opponents because in no world should he be losing anymore. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[theamityelf]

(Fair warning, this is going to be a series of opinions, and there may be times when I seem like I don't know they're opinions, because I might forget to say "I think", but allow me to acknowledge it here: this is subjective.)

I honestly feel guilty for my degree of incredulity with the writing in the Loki series, because I don't like to be dismissive or condescending towards anyone's work, and there are good parts to it, but a lot of these choices are very, very strange. And I don't mean Loki falling in love with himself; that's probably one of the strongest, most on-brand choices, though I don't enjoy the execution at all. (As I've said in past posts, I don't like how they work to frame it as very monogamous, singular, and important despite not having had any buildup. I don't get a chaotic vibe from it, or even- despite how often they say it -a broken vibe from it. Or an in-love vibe, really; they just say it.)

And a lot of the problem is that the writers were given the worst starting point ever; we've got Avengers-era Loki, sans all the character development people enjoyed in later movies and isolated from any of the interpersonal connections people got invested in. We can't have any of the stuff we liked about Loki, except his history and the actor playing him.

And they had to build all of these heartfelt moments on characters the audience doesn't really know and who don't really know each other, pretty much relying on chemistry and charisma from the actors that isn't always going to be there, and that absolutely isn't the actors' or the writers' fault; that's pretty much the hand they've been dealt.

That being said, so much of the character potential is going un-utilized (If we were ever going to see Loki turn blue and actually explore the fact that he is a Jotunn, you'd think now would be the time!), and so many of the character decisions feel nonsensical or inconsistent, and not in a chaotic "You don't know what he's going to do next!" way, but rather a "literally just boredly throwing darts at a dart board and running full-speed into whatever situation the results dictate". I don't feel like he's been alive for centuries, I don't feel like I can trust him to be smart and competent (same goes for the other Lokis; why did Black Loki think President Loki would make him king in exchange for nothing??), I don't feel like he's good at persuasion or diplomacy or trickery.

I'm still invested in the show, and I'd watch for Wunmi Mosaku alone, and the overall plot and reveals are cool, but none of the emotional moments between the characters feel interesting or earned, to me.

It's like, Wandavision was cool and well-written, and it was Saying Something about mental health; it was just thematically incoherent, racially insensitive, and infuriating. Falcon and the Winter Soldier was fun and well-written, and it was Saying Something about race and class and a bit of mental health, too; it was just burdened by 1. being a Disney property that could only go so far, and 2. being too few episodes to really explore the concepts. (Or maybe I just wanted to see more; maybe that's a me thing. They definitely shouldn't have killed Karli; that was very bogus.)

But the Loki series has a cool plot but feels passionless, to me. It feels like it isn't really trying to do much. Maybe the color palette contributes to that; I find it desaturated and unsatisfying to look at (except when B-15 is onscreen). It doesn't have the electrifying chemistry of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, or the stylistic intrigue of old sitcoms. I don't feel like it's trying to say anything bigger or more complex than what it is directly conveying about the specific situations of the characters. It's like comparing the thematic, atmospheric excellence of Black Panther to the conceptual passability of Doctor Strange.

[elisela]

I associate you with 'hear it in the silence', I remember seeing the Taylor title and seeing road trip AU and getting so excited and I was not disappointed, so I'd love to hear all its secrets!

nearly a year ago i was making moodboards for various things in an effort to procrastinate from actually writing (i think i was starting liminal space and regretting all my life's decisions). i did three sterek ones, which i swore to god and everyone else would not become full fics:

derek and stiles road trip hale farms christmas in the woods ... clearly i don't have a lot of self-control, and thank goodness @redhoodedwolf wrote sock-stuffed stockings (and other traditions) because otherwise i probably would have been 0/3.

anyway. i wasn't gonna write the road trip even though i kept thinking about it, and i literally saw the post for @twsterekbigbang, messaged @tylerhunklin and said "tell me no" and then proceeded to write out probably the worst and most meandering, meaningless summary of my life (so thank god @delete-risks decided to go for it anyway hahaha). then i kinda had to.

the route never changed from the inception of the fic; i live in the pnw and have done the 1/101 trip several times, and a lot of the places i mentioned are places i've been. and the story only changed in subtle ways and mostly because i read episode recaps for everything i didn't watch (which was a lot of it lololol) and even in a future where derek lives in beacon hills, i don't think he would ever really fit in with scott's pack. work with them, be friendly with them, yes. belong with them? i also moved up the timing of stiles telling derek he loved him by a lot because that was originally supposed to happen in seattle, along with finally telling derek about school and everything else. clearly he had other ideas.

but! i didn't know how i was going to end that fic until about a week before it was due. they were supposed to drive back to beacon hills together and then i was stuck and said fuck it, they're just gonna keep exploring because that's what they deserve.

(also: stiles finishes his degree and works as a freelance data analyst, because it's work he can do from the road and he's always liked looking for patterns, and after derek graduates sometimes he'll wake stiles up by throwing a bag at his head and telling him to pack for warm weather and to bring anything he can't live without for a few weeks and damn it stiles, please stop trying to pack the x-box).

(also also it's called hear it in the silence because that's what i was listening to when i sent the document to lauren and i wrote it in the title and just never changed it because i got used to it hahaha)

tell me which fic you associate with me

[foreignobjecticus]

Top 5 Best & Worst Blake's 7 Episodes according to me because I've been meaning to arbitrarily rate the episodes forever

1.           2-11       Gambit

The best Avon & Vila bonding episode ever! I also love the hedonistic concept of Freedom City, as well as the primary plot with Docholli, and cowboy Travis is just the icing on the cake.

2.          4-11       Orbit

I love it. I hate it. I wish we had the uncut, Vila crying like a baby version that never made it to air. Egrorian is a pig and hammy as hell, but also the acting is amazing. This episode really made me think it was curtains, and elevated Vila to my favourite over Avon, the bastard.

3.          3-6        City at the Edge of the World

Vila gets the girl! I mean I wish he got the guy but we'll take what we can get. Also getting to see Vila in his element, a total expert, was such a lovely change from poor Vila being thought of as useless and bullied mercilessly. Suck it, Tarrant.

4.          3-8       Rumours of Death

Avon's Beautiful Suffering. From the very first FRAME, this episode hooks you in and doesn't let you go for 50 heart-wrenching minutes, and it totally turns the character of Avon on his head (though we had hints enough from Countdown which would be number 6 on this list).

5.          2-4        Horizon

Yeah, this is primarily on here because moobs; Blake's and Vila's. Plus the gayest scene EVER with Avon's eyebrows shooting off the top of his head at the sight of shirtless Blake. I mean come on. I also loved the characters of Ro and Selma, and the plot as a whole was nice. They'll always be welcome on Horizon.

-------

5.          4-3        Traitor

This made the bottom five primarily because I can hardly remember wtf happened in it. There was some scientist, a guy with an eyepatch, and not much else. I know it's probably a bit unfair to judge without even remembering, but so many other average episodes at least managed to stand out. This? Nah.

4.          1-8       Duel

Okay this is controversial as hell, but I have watched Duel twice now and I just can't really dig it. The premise to get them on the planet to fight seems weak, and it's just Blake and Jenna up one tree, Travis and his mutoid up the other. Unless they start throwing nuts at each other, I can't see this getting higher on my list. Sorry.

3.          4-7        Assassin

It could have been great. We had SLAVE AVON FFS. And we end up with this overacted whiny woman who I can hardly believe managed to even sick around, and then she turned into the worst, hammiest (in a bad way), overacted weirdo with the most ridiculous way of killing her victims. Take the script, scratch out everything after Servalan's line "I prefer that my slave address me as Mistress" or whatever, and rewrite.

2.          4-5       Animals

Another one where I don't really know what was going on exactly, but this one felt like they'd really dropped the budget more than usual with obviously bad effects, clunky audio repetition, and a weird sort of vibe for Dayna that didn't feel all that true to her character. Admittedly I'm due for a rewatch as I've only seen once, but I don't think this holds up very well at all.

1.          4-2         Power

Avon is a colossal sexist and everything is about how men will always be stronger than women and they need to subjugate themselves to men, yadda yadda Ben Steed. Points for the hot af line "oh it hurts" by Avon, but all points lost for the rest of his ooc bullshit.

[the-trashy-phoenix]

Supernatural season 4 review (part 2)

Link to part 1:

Irene and I have finished season 4, finally, and I was surprised I still liked it like the first time I've watched it. I couldn't wait to get there (who knows why?) and I was actually afraid I wouldn't get as excited as I thought I would; but fortunately it still gives me the idea that it is one of the best Supernatural seasons.

It all starts with Dean coming back from hell and being clueless about how he did it. He soon finds out the Angel Of The Lord Castiel held him tight and raised him from perdition and that he has a fundamental role in the intent to stop Lilith's plans to free Lucifer from his cage and unleash the Apocalypse.

Will this review (and probably the next 11 ones) most likely be a little bit biased for Destiel? Definitely. Will I try to stay as objective as I can? Yes, but this doesn't mean I'll be very objective, after all I'm writing this review knowing what is going to happen in the next seasons (and, more precisely, in the scene, you know which one I'm talking about).

I honestly don't even know where to start, so I'm going to comment on what I think is important as the season goes on.

I believe 04x01 is one of the best episodes of this season (and maybe even one of my favourite episodes ever) for several reasons. We have Dean coming back from hell and meeting again with Bobby and Sam (and both of these moments are very touching, especially Sam's one). Although the reunion might be heartwarming, Sam is already keeping secrets from Dean: he is collaborating with Ruby to defeat Lilith (and in the meantime he's using his powers, which are stronger than ever, cause he's drinking demon blood to increase them). He lies to Dean, telling him he stopped trying to use his abilities against the enemy, and that causes the biggest drama between the two brothers this season (that will continue on the next one). Dean (and the others) wants to find out who's trying to contact him and who brought him back from hell: I love the way Castiel is slowly introduced during this episode. At first with the ultrasounds and the handprint (which is definitely a fantastic touch, that kinda shows a little possessive side if you think about it, and it is inevitably funny if you know everything that happens later on), then through Pamela, showing already all his power, and at the end of the episode there's a "dramatic" moment where Dean (and Bobby) finally meets Castiel (in his vessel) for the first time, and this might be one of the most epic and iconic scenes in Supernatural. The dynamic between these two is fantastic from the beginning (am I saying this because I'm totally biased?) and the line "What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?" shows how Castiel has already understood Dean Winchester from just a look (and he's an angel who's not supposed to feel or understand feelings! Wow, the power of Destiel).

Moving on from this episode, in the second one we find out from Castiel that Lilith wants to break the 66 seals, foretelling the Apocalypse, in order to free Lucifer. On a side note, I like how bitchy Castiel is towards Dean at the beginning of their relationship ("Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier", "You should show me some respect, I dragged you out of hell, I can throw you back in").

I love episode 04x03 because I usually adore time travel (it often leads to some funny and very unusual situations) and I find this one extremely sad and touching, mostly because Dean has the opportunity to meet his parents when they are still young (and Mary and John's sides he didn't know about) and finds out how their family became cursed (and the worst thing is he can't change its destiny).

In episode 04x04 Dean finds out Sam has been working with Ruby this whole time and gets mad about it, which is pretty reasonable. As much as a part of me hates when Sam and Dean fight, another part of me loves it, especially in this season, and it's probably because I think both of them are right and wrong at the same time. Ruby seems reliable (for now much more than the angels) and Sam truly did some good with her, so it is logical for Sam to trust her, since she apparently hasn't done anything against him and she has also saved him (which Sam confesses to Dean on episode 04x09). On the other hand I understand why Dean wouldn't want his brother to continue his process of strengthening his powers: he's afraid Sam won't be the same. Plus his brother lied to him, so it becomes hard for Dean to trust him, and this episode marks a pretty sad change in their relationship that will only get worse later in the season.

I should also mention 04x07 in which two witches want to bring Samhain, a celtic god, back from the dead. By doing that another of the 66 seals would be broken so Dean and Sam, who were working on the case, are told by Castiel and Uriel (another angel) that Uriel has to destroy the city, since the two brothers can't stop the witches from bringing Samhain back. Dean wants to prevent Uriel from doing a massacre and convince Castiel to wait for a few hours and let them take care of the witches. They can't stop them and Sam confronts Samhain using his powers, although he promised Dean he wouldn't use them anymore. At the end of the episode Castiel confesses to Dean that his orders were to follow Dean's instructions and admits he has doubts towards God. I consider this conversation very important, since this is the first time Castiel lets Dean have a look at his inner thoughts, even if Castiel himself is afraid of them, which gets me thinking that he already trusts Dean.

I also wanted to point out that Dean starts calling Castiel "Cas" pretty soon, even if he doesn’t want to trust him yet (although I believe he already does unconsciously). And what's even funnier is that, by calling him "Cas", he removes from his name the part that means "of God", which kinda gives you already an idea of what it's going to happen to him.

In episode 04x09 we meet Anna, a fallen angel, who doesn't even remember she has ever been one, since now she's human and has lived a human life for years. Dean and Sam meet her because she seems to be capable of getting in contact with the angels and is suddenly wanted from both angels (who want her death because she rebelled from heaven) and demons (one of them is Alastair, who knows Dean from hell). Anna and Dean form a sort of bond and she tells him she fell from heaven because she fell in love with humanity (they also have sex in the Impala, but that's way less relevant, although I want to point out that she covers Castiel's mark on Dean's shoulder with her hand, which is a bit disturbing). They can't stop the angels from coming for her so when they arrive we see a beautiful totally not programmed and still hilarious scene of Dean and Anna kissing and Castiel looking at first intensively at them and then shamefully at the ground. I mean, what was that? I understand that Anna and Castiel are sort of parallels, because they are both two angels falling from humanity (they also talk about feelings and Castiel confesses he has already started having emotions), but isn't it the whole point of Destiel? An angel that falls in love with humanity because of one man (Dean, if that wasn't already obvious)? And we get this concept involuntarily since season four? That's… funny. Apart from all of that, Anna manages to get her grace back and hides from Castiel and Uriel.

Another important element in this episode, and in the whole season, is Dean's experience in hell, in which time works differently (four months equivalent to forty years). He finally tells Sam what it has been like and totally breaks down as he says he has spent thirty years being tortured and, since he couldn't resist anymore, the ten left torturing other souls. He also adds in the next episode, with shame, that in torturing souls he felt pleasure, because all the pain felt as a victim disappeared: this is what devastated him the most. I feel like Dean's time in hell inevitably shaped his personality a lot in this season, but it's a thing that changes him forever. He is more mature and somehow self-aware (and I love this aspect), but he's also way more desperate and hopeless (a trade I think characterises Dean way more than Sam in every season, but that's definitely more persistent in this one than it's ever been). I might be a bit sadistic, but I don't mind the bad parts Dean has kept from hell either: they show us a vulnerable side that Dean has always tried to hide. There's also the evident contraposition between Sam's physical power and apparent strong state of mind and Dean's unstable, weak and soft one (also relative to what Dean's big role is in this season and what Sam is actually capable of doing to prevent the apocalypse).

I'd talk about episode 04x14 just to mention the fact that the siren (who's supposed to turn into the person who should most sexually attract his victim) decides to show himself to Dean as a man. I get he was supposed to replace Sam's role as a brother, but the whole setting, the fact that sirens' attractiveness is usually sexual and the fact that even the actor who played the siren admitted the whole scene was a bit sensual should tell us something (it also seems funny that they had to precise multiple times he was trying to be his brother because otherwise that would have seemed too gay, it still seems gay, but whatever).

In episode 04x16 someone is killing the angels and Castiel asks Dean for help to find out who the killer is. The angels have the demon Alastair captured and Castiel tells Dean he's the only one who can torture him. The angel seems to be really upset about it, because he knows how this could hurt Dean, since this is what he has been doing for the past ten years in hell. Dean decides to do it anyway and he finds out from Alastair, during the torture, that he is the one who has broken the first seal (by deciding to torture souls) and made the first step to bring Lucifer back. This obviously breaks Dean even more, since he already hates what he has done in hell, and makes him believe he's not capable of doing what the angels want from him (and he admits it to Castiel, and in the next episode his superior Zacharia tries to convince Dean he's the right man by showing him that even in other realities he would end up killing monsters). We later find out that the one who killed the angels was Uriel that, hating humans, was on Lucifer's side. He asks Castiel to join him but he refuses and Anna, saving Castiel from a fight with Uriel, kills him. I don't have much thoughts on Uriel, I didn't like him even when he was supposedly on the good side. The only thing I like about him is that he had already acknowledged the fact that Castiel likes Dean (who would've thought?).

I have to mention episode 04x18 as I think is one of my favourites of the season and that starts a series of other fantastic episodes (and basically another reality). Sam and Dean find out their life has been written (and published) by Chuck, who's apparently a prophet of God (and turns out to be quite useful later on). This is one of my favourite things Supernatural likes to do: metanarrative. In my opinion it really brings out something new and extremely funny (especially since I know this won't be the last time the two brothers will have to deal with Supernatural).

Another important episode is 04x19, where Sam and Dean find out they have a stepbrother, Adam, who doesn't know about their dad's secret life of hunting. It's obvious the most hurt by the situation is Dean, who would have never thought John could lie about something like that and who's somehow jealous of Adam, since he had the opportunity to live a normal life that could have been possible for him and Sam as well. The one thing that surprised me was that he didn't want him to learn how to hunt (unlike Sam, who thought it could be a good idea for Adam to know how to protect himself). I think Dean shows how he has changed throughout the years and now believes that, since the kid had the opportunity to live a normal life, he doesn't want him to experience what they have. He's more mature and he has become way better than his father and it's funny how now Sam is the one who thinks more like John (although I think there is still a relevant difference between the two of them, fortunately). We eventually find out that it wasn't Adam, but the monster they were fighting, and that Adam is already dead: at first I was a little bit surprised because I remembered that Adam would be in the next season, but it's Supernatural, so I should be used to it by now.

The next episode is important especially for showing us sides of Castiel's life that were not entirely clear before: in this case we find out how the angel reached out his vessel, Jimmy Novak. As much as I can see why Castiel had to occupy Jimmy's body, it's totally understandable that the man wants to go back to his life and that he doesn't want anything more to do with Castiel and everything about him. I also understand that he doesn't want to be with the Winchesters, although objectively they are right to want to keep him away from his family. In general the situation is definitely complicated and, from Jimmy's point of view, quite tragic. We can also tell Castiel, as much as he is already more empathic than the other angels, is not human and can't quite think like one, even if he has Dean who shows him his perspective. Knowing everything that happens to him later on makes me understand how much he has changed throughout the seasons (and knowing who has made that change possible warms my heart). It was quite strange to see Castiel acting like this since at this point I'm used to the Castiel in the latest seasons, but overall I like him a lot in the earlier ones as well.

At this point of the season, drinking demon blood for Sam has become like a drug and Dean can't continue to let his brother ruin himself like that, so with Bobby he decides to lock him in Bobby's panic room. I understand Dean is scared of what Sam could become and is becoming, but at this point Sam is at a level so high that he can't make it without demon blood, and staying for a long time without it could really hurt him further. It also seems that Sam is the only solution to kill Lilith and end the arrival of the Apocalypse. Of course Dean continues to argue that it's best to exclude Sam from this matter given his status, but Sam runs away and tracks down Ruby, with whom he's been working all season trying to be as discreet as possible so as not to worry Dean.

Sam's series of lies, the concern that he might become a monster, and the close collaboration with Ruby increase Dean's anger and disappointment with his brother throughout the season. He no longer trusts him and this deeply saddens both Sam and Dean himself, because he realizes that something has broken between them by now. As much as Sam may have his good reasons for wanting to work with Ruby (and he has), I think he's handled this situation in the worst possible way and that Dean is right about not trusting him anymore (or maybe I'm just a little conditioned by my love for Dean).

I think another reason that has increased the anger towards Sam is the fact that he has repeatedly admitted that he has been decidedly stronger than Dean since he was in hell. It's probably something they both agree on, but Dean is used to considering himself weak and not strong enough to sustain a certain situation. The thing that saddens Dean the most is the fact that his brother thinks so too.

However, this conflict ends with a fight between the two after Dean is able to find his brother. As much as I'm on Dean's side, I hated it when he called Sam a monster, because he knows that's the biggest fear that haunts his brother and calling it like that must have really destroyed him. After the fight everyone goes for his path: Sam with Ruby and Dean, finally convinced by Castiel, with the angels.

Shortly after, however, he discovers that his real role is not to stop the Apocalypse but to stop Lucifer, because he will be Micheal's vessel, and that when Lilith is killed the last seal will be broken, giving way to the Apocalypse. Dean disagrees with the angels and tries to convince Castiel to side with him and abandon the angels to try to stop the Apocalypse.

The twist itself is well constructed, although in my opinion, to make it even better, they could have shown angels as decidedly more reliable creatures, and then break all our trust (and with it also Dean's hopes). During the end of the season, apart from Castiel, the most reliable one seems to be Ruby. And that's why I think this is a much better twist: Sam completely relied on the demon, who always proved to be there for him, and to kill Lilith seems like the most logical move to make to prevent Lucifer from resurrecting. Even when I knew Ruby was cheating Sam the dynamic seemed so unexpected to me that I didn't even remember how she would do it. On top of that Sam's willingness to kill Lilith (mostly for revenge) and to stop the rise of Lucifer is actually what permits Lucifer to rise. So I can only imagine how guilty Sam felt after he realized what he had done (and the worst but best thing at the same time is that it's not even his fault, not entirely at least). Eventually the two brothers open and close the circle of the Apocalypse's arrival, which adds a touch of perfection to the whole situation.

Dean, after convincing Castiel to side with him, goes to Chuck to find where Lilith, Ruby and Sam are. Castiel transports Dean to Sam and tries to stop the angels who want the Apocalypse to begin, losing his life. This is another great step Castiel takes for Dean against his own brothers, proving that he now considers himself at Dean's side more than any other person's side. Dean arrives too late to stop Sam, who has already killed Lilith, and the fourth season ends with a confused and desperate Sam, an angry and desperate Dean, and Lucifer returning.

In the end I believe that this is the best season of Supernatural so far for several reasons: the arrival of Castiel who adds new aspects both to the Supernatural universe (talking about angels) and to the character of Dean (and later also to that of Sam), the continuous struggle between the two brothers, Ruby's character (which I think has been made quite effectively and which has also improved this season, as well as her relationship with Sam), the plot twist and the change that hell caused in Dean.

Usually this is considered one of the best seasons of Supernatural, and I completely agree, but having seen the series with long time gaps I feel I'll be able to judge only at the end of the fifteenth if this (and the fifth) are actually the best seasons of Supernatural, at least for me.

- Carly 💚

[hunnyb-san]

"Miraculous season 3 ep 26: Miracle Queen" reaction

Ok, there is really too mucg to be said.

This episode made me cry more than the last one, if that's possible.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired because I've studied all day, and this episode took all my energy away.

So, there are soo many point... I think it will take a lot. This is not the Miraculous we all knew. This is a new, beautiful thing full of angst.

I need fanfictions.

Anywya, let's start.

1) Kagami and Adrien

I've chosen to talk about them first so then i can go ahead and forget about this.

And here, let's consider two different cases:

Objectively: Kagami never had friends, she just started hang out with them and actually she has only Adrien and Marinette, and for the first she developed feelings that go over simple friendship. Yes, she said that love is more important than friendship for her, and she acted like a bit-

But, we have to consider that she has never had people of her same age if not to fight.

In the other hand... SHE IS THE WORST PERSON EVER. I MEAN, WHO IN THE HELL SAY THAT LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FRIENDSHIP EVEN IF HE IS A FOOL WHO NEVER HAD... EVEN IF IT IS CHLOE.

OMG WHEN SHE SAID THAT AND SHE ACTED LIKE THAT WITH ADRIEN, THROWING HER HAND AT HIM!!!!!! MMMHHHH, THIS FUCKED BITCH.

But I think that this "relationship" will help Adrien waking up because everyone in this episode understood that he his SO MUCH CONFUSED AND TIRED THAT I'M conflicted... I love Adrien and god, that poor baby got rejected so many times from Ladybug, but how can he be SO confused? Didn't he love Ladybug? Is he giving her up? Why is he trying with... with the ice queen (Mari named her this)?

2) Luka and Marinette

Ahhhhh these two. They deserves the entire world!!!

Luka is a wonderful boy, because even if he fall in love with Marinette, he's okay with staying near her like just a friend.

He is there to comfort her when she cried, knowing it was because of Adrien. And he is even Adrien's friend. Luka never blamed him or Marinette, and even if his feelings are strong, she always come first for him.

He is amazing because when she was hurt, he didn't try to take a step forward, he just stayed there, hugging her.

Not like Kagami, who see Adrien confused and try to persuade him anyway.

And Mari... well, after I've seen her cry in the last episode, I can't stop thinking about what she said, about having too many responsibilities, not beeing able to be herself.

Beeing Ladybug is not only a positive thing, and she can't even talk about it with her friends. Especially now, that Master Fu lost his memories, she'll have to count only on Tikki.

This will be so much stressful for her.

Anyway, even if right now I want the both of them to be happy, I'll never stop shipping Marinette x Adrien because they are perfect for each other.

3) LadyNoir

Well, their relationship is a bit cracked right now because of that... that shitty little brat and many other things.

Chat Noir is spacing out from her because he is hurt, confused and wgatever, and she noticed it. She got jealous, cause yeah, that was jealousy, over him not calling her My Lady (OMG they are so DUMB) and flirting with... Ryuko?

Well, her name is not important right now (and it will never be).

But she has noticed it and tryed to understand why. At the end, nothing was clarified.

In this episode, Ladybug and Chat Noir had one of the most beautiful moment until now.

Because really, this is SO much going on here.

This is a totally wholehearted and beautiful hug. So beautiful that it makes me cry.

Behind everything, they trust each other, they are a team, they love each other unknowingly - and they'll laugh/cry so hard when they'll find out each other's identity - and this scene makes you understand all that.

They don't have to love each other - but they'll do - to be in sync, they are perfect, you can absolutely see that fron the FIRST episode of the FIRST season.

They don't need words, they complete each other and they'd do everything to make the other happy.

Why are they so dumb???? 😭

4) Papillion and Mayura

Who is Emilie?

Okay no, I'm just joking. But how can you not ship these two after everything? The way Mayura passed out between Papi's arms! I've laughed so hard at that.

When I see them, miraculous become a drama.

"Gabriel, I'm ready."

"Are you sure, Nathalie?"

"Never been so sure. I'd do anything for you, my love."

"What?"

"What?"

Ok no, seriously, I ship them, but I need Emilie back, because Gabriel will just keep friendzoning her.

5) Master Fu and Ladybug (guardians)

Ok, I know that I said I have cryed in every sentence of this post, but gosh, who didn't cry when Master Fu gave up is power as guardian to not reveal Ladybug and Chat Noir's identity?

He made many mistakes and WE know it, he is possibly the reason why Emilie got hurt or whatever so that Gabriel used the Miraculous of the Butterfly.

But, let's just say, that with this, he proved the affection he feel towards Marinette and Adrien.

He lost his memories to save them, to protect them.

And Marinette is now the new guardian!! I'm so happy!!

And about this: that thing in which there are all the miraculous, is she going to hide it in her room? Because, well, good luck.

6) Chloe and Papi

I hate both of them.

Chloe disappointed me so much, you can say she had her reason, she was unhappy, Ladybug's attitude towards her didn't help, but she betrayed her anyway.

Ladybug gave HER the possibility to change things, to prove herself, she trusted her more than a time, but she left her side to go to Papillion's (that I'll just call papi).

Papi is mean, so freaking mean. He is a really good antagonist.

Who else would be ready to sacrifice all Paris and ignore his only family member left, to save his wife?

I know he is suffering... but does he know that if he use ladybug and chat noir's miraculous to save Emilie, he will end up losing someone near him? Or maybe not, but I highly doubt that.

And I bet that this someone will be Adrien.

7) Adrinette

After this episode, I saw everyone comment videos with the same words "Lukanette is gone".

And I'm totally against it.

This is the perfect final no one wanted because it hurted too much, but it is perfect to give a new start point.

Marinette fall in love with Adrien because he gave her an umbrella to excuse himself, and she understood he is sweet, caring, kind, selfless and blah. But WE know that Adrien, the Adrien we and she see in every or so episode, isn't totally the real one. Because if he was, then who is Chat?

Chat is someone nearer its true self than Adrien, because with that mask, he feels free to do and act as he pleases without being constantly judged.

Even if he has the worst villain father, he tryes to not disappoint him.

Same goes for Adrien: he fall in love with Ladybug because he saw how beautiful, strong, bold and badass she was. But she isn't always like that. She is clumsy and she can't even talk with her crush because she gets flushed, awkward and begins to stutter.

He doesn't even know her that well, so its just good if he starts to know Marinette a bit better.

If it didn't end up like this, with the wonderful Luka and the shitty little bitch, they'd have kept loving just a part of the other self.

We have to be patient (like the song "The Wall Between Us", that I know they published now for this. Astruc likes to play with our hearts.) and wait until they love each other entirely.

They'll have to show us things like "Marinette or Ladybug?" And "Adrien or Chat Noir?" Or I won't be happy.

Just kidding.

So, my friends, let's not forget that Adrien and Marinette, just like Ladybug and Chat Noir, are meant to be together.