#but I’m actually watching doom rn so it’s relevant

[theministersdoom]

Portman’s little sing song hum <3

[illusion-reality-steve]

Reaction to RQ!Reverse episodes (Librarian, Nightmare’s Return, Sandwich Boi’s brief moment of glory, Chaos vs Ultra)

First of all.........wow.

...I have many negative feelings about these episodes.

Ok. These episodes.

It’s all RUINED, Can I fix it? Can Chaos Steve be STOPPED? I’ll find out IMPORTANT tips on how to STOP the DARKNESS 1 reason NIGHTMARE STEVE is still ALIVE This is how Nightmare Steve TRICKED me! Mysterious Figure CONFRONTS Nightmare Steve TRAPPING Chaos Steve and STEALING his power! I created ULTRA STEVE, and you won’t believe this but... WOW...Ultra Steve did THIS to Chaos Steve Why would Dark Steve BEG Rainbow Steve for THIS? This Steve actually RETURNED!! NO WAY! The ONLY way to defeat the ULTIMATE Steve in Minecraft How to make a PORTAL to the VOID! Reverse Steve finally LOST IT

14 episodes. 14 episodes total after the Faceless arc to finally deal with Reverse Steve.

Compared to how long the arcs in the Steve Saga are, 14 episodes seems like a short, clean amount of plot advancement.

But while I was bingewatching these episodes, it didn’t feel like 14 episodes of story to me. It felt like....chaos.

The plot in these episodes is really jarring to me because it was doing WAY too much in a SMALL amount of time. And most of the plot was the heroes reacting, rather than being proactive. And I...didn’t like it.

Let me explain:

So, the Steve Saga did a “Villain of the Week” format. Where one (1) villain is introduced and dealt with, and then the next villain is introduced. It was repetitive, but easy to follow.

Examples from the Steve Saga: Dark was a threat. Dealt with. Shadow was a threat. Dealt with. Nightmare was a HUGE threat and Shadow and Dark were added, but it worked because we know who Dark and Shadow are. Dealt with. Then Reverse, then Positive/Negative/Infinity, then Plague, then Faceless, and so on.

Rainbow Quest doesn’t follow that formula. It’s connecting all of its villains into one arc, where one villain is naturally the consequence of another villain.

Rainbow Quest Season 1 mainly set up the villains, the main plot, and a sequel hook. This is unlike the Steve Saga because while the villains just spawned into the story line, Rainbow Quest is showing us the rise of the villains. We know Nightmare’s origins, Dark’s origins, and Reverse’s origins, and they were all spaced out and connected to the main plot (getting the crystals) well.

We had Nightmare as an antagonist, or an obstacle in the main plot (finding the 7 crystals while saving Steves from doom), and his actions created Dark Steve. That worked. And since Rainbow Red was established early in the series and had little cameos before his transformation to Reverse Steve, that helped set up the sequel hook for Season 2. That also worked. imo, the format RQ Season 1 uses is a lot better than TSS’s formula; it’s less repetitive so it feels fresher to long-time viewers, and it connects to the overarching plot well.

But Rainbow Quest S2 didn’t follow the format S1 used.

While Season 1 has a good balance between main plot (finding the crystals) and subplots (setting up villains and future story), Season 2 had WAY too much and an unbalanced amount of subplots. S2′s subplots TOOK OVER the main plot.

What even is the main plot of S2? Well, based on the first episode where we heard Rainbow’s voice, I think the audience was expecting the main plot to be Rainbow Steve saving Steves and adjusting to becoming the new hero and keeping his identity secret to boost morale, while Reverse (later Chaos) will be the main villain.

We were supposed to see Rainbow and Sabre go from color to color to help everyone defend against the Darkness and restore hope.

But then that got hijacked by Reverse, who drained all of Rainbow’s powers and forced him to be saved by the Orange Steves, outing him as being Main Orange reincarnated as the hero.

Rainbow and Sabre haven’t even saved anyone yet at this point. They just went to the Yellow Steves to receive Light’s training and the Orange Steves to see that they’re doing well.

The beginning of the season made a huge deal of keeping Rainbow’s true identity a secret. It was going to be part of his character development about responsibility, bravery, and being someone else. But S2 just did a speedrun of that character arc because he was immediately outed, and the Orange Steves were ok with the truth. So why was there so much stress on Rainbow’s secret when it wasn’t going to impact the plot anyways??

Anyways, then they did their side quest of helping Ghost Steve (which was a valid thing to do), which led to the Faceless sideplot. And immediately after Faceless’ defeat (with hints of Void’s debut), Reverse and Dark just came in and destroyed everything. Not even a moment to breathe. They just caught Rainbow and Sabre off guard. This makes these two look easily distracted. They should had done better to prepare for Reverse and Dark (especially since they asked Leader to help increase defenses in the Rainbow Hub).

Like, there’s a difference between struggling with your new responsibilities as a hero and being just completely uncapable, and it felt like Sabre and Rainbow were the latter.

And finally, for once, Sabre did something proactive and found Light Steve, bringing him to the library to get help. But they got side tracked and decided to go investigate Nightmare’s “death”. But was that even relevant to rescuing Rainbow?

And then they went to the Void (proactive), but they were just pushed around, given a villain monologue by Nightmare until Galaxy saved them (reactive, deus ex machima)

Basically.....S2 sacrificed its main plot of having Orange adjust to being Rainbow in favor of all of these subplots that were made to set up the third season (which will probably be about Void Steve), and I dislike this approach. It makes S2 feel chaotic and unfocused. It felt like the heroes accomplished nothing. It seemed like things were handed to them too easily (help from Ghost Steve, the Orange Steves, and Galaxy), or they were completely unprepared and not suitable to be heroes (not even getting a chance to save Steves and fight villains until later).

And worst of all, this arc just made the heroes look reactive, bending to the will of the villains. We didn’t get a good story of Rainbow learning how to adjust to his new life as the hero. We didn’t get a story of Rainbow learning how to be brave. Instead, we got a story of villains always having the upperhand and the heroes looking silly trying to stop them last minute. And a bunch of events/subplots that weren’t even connected well together.

It’s just really hectic.

And it’s a shame. Because the content IS good. But the way the season was structured and what it chose to focus on...just ruined the story.

So....yeah.

I really disliked the Reverse Steve arc. The Void and Galaxy arc better make up for it, so I can forgive its setup for ruining the Reverse Steve arc.

Disclaimer: I’m aware that the Void Steve arc isn’t the third season, but another part of the second season. Keep in mind that these reaction posts are just my initial reactions and opinions and me explaining them. Rn I’m behind on Rainbow Quest and trying to record my genuine first reactions as I binge-watch this stuff. Overall, these posts aren’t meant to be about facts or theorizing what the future episodes will be about, but me just discussing my thoughts on these episodes as they are (and people are of course welcomed to join the discussion regardless of their opinions). Just wanna clarify in case anyone is confused XD

[directoravasharpe]

lucy’s spoilery thoughts on 4.01 (FINALLY)

under the cut is a literal scene by scene breakdown of the episode. i’m trying to pre-empt questions i might get but i’m sure i miss things but. eh 

the first scene cracked me up, with zari not being able to tell the beatles apart (very lesbian of you) and ray knwoing them all (very bi of you)

i loved the sequence in the waverider. i got sad wally is gone. i love nate’s kissy faces when ava calls, i love how sara goes soft when ava calls, i love how her face changes when her kids start making fun of her. the call between ava and sara is SO SOFT like wow i love them

i think it’s so funny that sara always uses that gary is scared of mick as the way to motivate him. gary’s ‘i wish’ about john getting him to squeal was fucking HILARIOUS #get gary laid

the surprise party is adorable. ava’s face when the confetti cannon fails is amazing, as is her face when gary doesn’t get out of the way. THE WAY SHE LOOKS AT SARA AND THE WAY SARA LOOKS AT HER just like. fuck me up

when they snuck of to have a ‘tour’ aka fuck in ava’s office was the first time i died these two women are not subtle AT ALL like come ON i know you’re both hot and horny and riding a high of fixing time but give me a BREAK. also idk why they shot sara so close up but i LOVE IT

the little dahrkatom bit was so cute, and i loveeee ray and zari’s friendship.

AND THEN THE BED SCENE. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO /SAY/ IT’S SO SOFT THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH. how in love they are is SO OBVIOUS. sara is such a soft top. ava is such a soft bottom. she’s so NERVOUS about asking sara, and does all those cute hand gestures and sara is just. so reassuring and loving and THREE FUCKING BED KISSES EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU CW FOR LETTING US HAVE THAt.

ava’s look at the end literally KILLED ME she is SO SOFT AND IN LOVE I’M SO FUCKING. I LOVE HER SO MUCH MY LITERAL SOFT BABY CHILD

anyway they definitely had sex at the office and then at their house

the scene with john is so funny. he just fucking. turns up. to be like. stop having sex with ava and fix the damn timeline. and sara’s like. no i will not stop having sex with ava we have a House and a Throw now so you can suck it

i’m really incredibly glad that they didn’t make a bigger thing out of ava finidning them together - like it’s iNCREDIBLY sketchy but she is mostly joking when she’s like ‘should i be worried’ which is just. very nice. it shows they’re comfortable and that she doesn’t actually think there’d be a thing with john.

the nose boop was SO CUTE. and the neck kiss was EVEN CUTER BUT ALSO INCREDIBLY HOT LIKE WOW. and that smile that sara does at the neck kiss. they’re. so in love. also they have sex again before sara leaves i don’t make the rules they just do

the mick/nate stuff was very entertaining, and i’m interested to see what the hank/ava relationship looks like

i love love LOVE with a passion the scene where they all get to woodstock. it’s so funny and campy and i love the editing and it’s just. generally a joy. i love the hugs and high fives when they join up. i love my children.

i also love how low cut sara’s top is like everyone say thank you legends costume department

ray and nate are bronies which is. so cursed. murder unicorn is murdery, sara hides behind her teammates - classic sara. like obvs it’s just a plot device to make sure she doesn’t get high but still. very funny. poor zari and the blue goo.

john and his threesome cracked me up, as did nate and micks hallucination with the rat and nate’s dad, and the dahrkatom bit absolutely KILLED ME ray has such a crush wow

and then john trying to be all dramatic and telling sara she should ditch ava and like. it’s so refreshing to see sara pushing against that, and ACCEPTING being in a relationship and that it’s a good thing and not letting john be all doom and gloom

and then them seeing the high legends just. tops it all off it was SO FUNNY just like yes your kids are great sara but also right now they’re high

the bit where ray offers to cut off a finger like. baby boy. please. and like. why does sara know who john is talking about when he suggests a virgin. the answer is that gary tells ava about all of his escapades and so sara knows that he’s a  virgin and it is. terrible for both sara and ava

ALSO GOD SARA’S ARMS IN THAT SCENE. SHE LEGIT WORE TWO SLEEVELESS SHIRTS IN THAT EP IT’S WHAT I DESERVE

the whole scene where they’re convincing gary is. gold. so many good facial expressions from all of them

and then ‘are you sure im a virgin because that *hand gestures* thing we did’ like oh my god the writers are just like. going for it, huh. AND SARA’S EXPRESSION AFTER THAT JUST LIKE LOOKING AT JOHN LIKE ‘OKAY I SEE’

murder unicorn is murdery. not sure how gary’s hand didn’t get bitten off. sara throwing the knife was very hot.

‘maybe the bureau will up our ratings. people really do love the supernatural’ VERY META

RIP gary’s nipple

zari’s scene with ray was just. wow. astounding. i’m so glad theyre still going into her past, but, god. that scene was rough and important and SO EMOTIONAL my heart ACHES for her and it is. so horribly relevant rn. and it’s just like. god. she’s from the future but she was. alive in 2018 and it’s. so hard.

and then. god. GODDDD

THIS END SCENE. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE WATCHED THIS END SCENE

sara coming home to ava. ava having COOKED FOR THEM. ava hanging up the medals because she’s endlessly proud of sara. ava going in for another neck kiss. that face sara makes before she confesses everything. the face ava is making when sara is confessing

i am never going to be over how you can SEE sara relax as ava says she knows. i’m also not over gary calling ava about his nipple. more proof he tells ava everything sexual. also the way ava says nipple rt your kink

AVA SAYS I LOVE YOU LIKE FUCK ME THE HELL UP LIKE /SERIOUSLY/ THEY’RE IN LOVE AND YES I’M SAD WE MISSED THEM GETTING TOGETHER AND THE FIRST I LOVE YOU FROM HER BUT G O D SEEING THEM JUST BE IN A COMFY PLACE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP??? I WANT TO DIE

and when sara is like ‘even after constantine’ and ava is like ʸᵉᵃʰ ᵒᵏᵃʸ ᶦ ᵈᶦᵈⁿ'ᵗ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵖᵃʳᵗ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵗᵃˡᵏ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᶜᵒⁿˢᵗᵃⁿᵗᶦⁿᵉ and it’s just like baby i love you but i’m so glad you love sara more than caring about that like wow development and she’s so reassuring and lovely and wow when can i get an ava.

and then we get another i lve you from sara and at this point i have died about a million times and ava’s smile when sara has her hands on her face is. so soft and lovely and THEY KISS AGAIN

and then sara ditches the living together thing but it’s OKAY because their relationship is going to GROW and they’re going to FIGURE IT OUT

AND THEN ANOTHER KISS AND AVA MOVES HER HAIR FOR NO APPARENT REASON WHICH MEANS THERE WAS SOMEONE TELLING  JES TO MOVE HER HAIR SO THE STANS COULD SEE OR SE JUST DID IT HERSELF LIKE WOW JES IS THE ONLY TRUE GAY ALLY

AND THAT KISS FUCKED ME UP SO MUCH AND I THOUGHT IT COULDN’T FUCK ME UP ANYMORE AND THEN IT ZOOMED OUT AND SARA’S LEGS ARE ON TOP OF AVA’S WHICH MEANS SHE’S BASICALLY I N  H E R  L A P AND I GENUINELY. ASCENDED.

and then there’s the scene with poor miserable john and i’m so hot for how sara says misrable and then some stuff with demons happens

ANYWAY THAT’S MY RECAP I HOPE I PRE-EMPTED MOST OF PEOPLE’S QUESTIONS BUT ALSO I’VE HAD A MONTH TO THINK ABOUT THIS SO I’M SURE I MISSED SOME STUFF OUT. ANYWAY. LUCY OUT.

[princess-stabbity]

@liam-kostco:

babe, i didn't have exactly the same kinds of problems, but I know how it feels to suddenly start realizing how much of your fucked upedness actually DOES go back to those early formative experiences .  Even one time incidences of my parents (usually my dad) yelling and getting frustrated with me over something have stuck in my mind my whole life.

(this is why i’m afraid of being a mom tbh like i love kids i love the idea of having kids but i’m so full of sharp edges i worry abt being the cause of these kinds of memories) 

or like realizing that probably the reason i have severe anxiety probably goes back to how intensely doom and gloom my parents were about the state of life and the world after bush got elected and 9/11 happened (my dad working for united + having his own anxiety problems = constant fear of the company going bankrupt and him getting laid off, which never happened, but still).

this is...very relatable, tbh. i tend to kind of write it off as “oh, i was always just an anxious kid” but like...it’s probably relevant that i lost my first grandparent at about age...4-5, i think, and another at 6 (plus 2 pets as well). it didn’t even occur to me that that might’ve been unusual until my friend’s mom commented on how early i’d been exposed to death, and like...she wasn’t wrong? i mean, after my grandfather died i started having recurring nightmares about death, to the point that our golden retriever sarah had to start sleeping in my bed with me to make me feel safe again.  i had my first panic attack at about that time when i realized that i and everyone i had ever loved would die. 

then, as a bonus, there was my dad’s general poor health and dangerous career choice, so like...i just kind of internalized the idea very young that my dad could die at any minute. i remember having a nightmare and subsequent panic attack about that as late as age...13? 

and, y’know, even to the extent it is simply Who I Am, did you know that emerging research suggests that ptsd can basically be passed down? both mouse and human studies have furthered evidence that parents and even grandparents with ptsd have children with a tendency toward anxiety and fucked up cortisol levels, even if that parent or grandparent had no part in raising the kid. 

guess whose dad developed ptsd in the 80s?? 

anyway, i therapy can be expensive, but if you can find something covered by insurance or even just get on medication (not sure if you are or not atm?), I would absolutely recommend doing so.  I have both been the person who didn't do anything about my mental illness and watched it literally kill multiple family members, so uh...pls do ur best to get help bc ilu very much

i’m on zoloft rn, and tbh it’s been pretty good at boosting my mood, i think, if not my ability to function. it’s only a limited scrip, tho, so i gotta at least go back to my gp if not give in and go to therapy. tbh i’m p sure we could find somebody our insurance will cover....it’s just that i don’t know how long i’ll have insurance. i’ve been joking abt trying to use up all my insurance while i’ve got it, going to see all these docs, but i’m not really joking. i think i only have until my birthday. :/  so it’s like...do i really want to start this when idk how long i’ll be able to keep it up? and when i feel like i’m already using up all my spoons going to the doctors i’m already seeing? also what if my psychiatrist turns out to be a murder wizard who wants to have me at his next dinner party

and ilu2 babe 💖