#but i have a lot of complaints about seasons 9 through 11

[florida3exclamationpoints]

I still watch marvel movies because my partner likes them and sometimes I enjoy them. I'm not about to deprive myself unnecessarily of anything that brings me joy

Exactly!!! I was a little too young to be interested in marvel during its peak popularity I think, when I started watching the movies it was 2016. And I had soooo many people be like HOW HAVE YOU NOT SEEN IRON MAN????? bro bc I was like 5 when Iron Man came out sorry. It became a genuine interest of mine later than was mainstream and now marvel is smth to be laughed at and everyone (especially my age I think?? I feel like gen z HATES marvel with a passion) expects you to hate it. And I find it so interesting bc Endgame is the highest grossing movie of all time and yet,, the most widely hated in a way??? Idk if it's bc people don't wanna like things that are popular ?? I probably see more hate than the average person bc i engage with the marvel fandom but I remember people in real life hating it. The criticisms of the cgi and disney as a company etc etc are valid but the rest of Disney hasn't been written off the same way. I complain about some things they've done to characters bc the characters are really important to me! So I hold onto the fact that they created characters that are really important to me! I personally HATE kevin feige (president of marvel) I think he's an idiot and doesn't know what he's doing 💔 and yet I generally enjoy most marvel content. He's behind all of it. If they ever completely ruin it for me then I'll stop and I get that it's been completely ruined for some people but I think it's crazy how it just switched to being the Thing To Hate

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Any Classic Sans x Reader recs? 👀

Smut is welcomed!

Howdy, thanks for asking! Here are some fics that might fit what you're looking for!

Lonely Eyes by TooObsessedForMyOwnGood (Mature, Complete)

I made this entirely and got up to about chapter 11 before deciding to post it. I've been into undertale since the day it was born and OH MAI GAWD. Excuse me if i happen to make any typos along the way. Hopefully not as I will be editing and reading these over as best as possible. Don't expect frequent updates after chapters 10 and/or 11. Also, i'm sorta new to posting stuff on here, so please forgive me if i'm slow with this sorta thing. The first at least 9 or 10 chapters will be short and more of a slow burn type of thing, but hopefully I can make them longer in the future. here we go guys. ______ It had been at least 15 years since the last human had fallen down. They'd been a mercilious human, one that had dusted almost every monster in the underground. Leaving the rest to lose hope as their king, queen, and all of the royal guard had been taken down by a measley human. A child, at that. Now, the next human to fall was one that had no intentions of such things, but Sans was prepared to put this one down much quicker if they proved to be a threat. Though, they both find out quickly that things were going to be much different then they'd both planned.

You're Not Alone Anymore by alexrun (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

I'm just gonna say this right off the top - I am not entirely sure where I'm going with this fic but if you like fLUFF AND SKELETONS YOu are in the right story!! >w> Uhm I suppose this is a very domestic plot with the whole "monsters living with humans but human don't like 'em" thing, also you are a little bundle of insecurity and anxiety who doesn't have a lot of friends and is just trying to make it through the day ;v; Enojy!?

Integrity (Sans Undertale x Reader) by xylocorpse (Not Rated, Incomplete)

Y/N L/N. A young adult who helps monsters settle in on the surface in your free time and is shit with making friends. On this beautiful day in particular, you happen to be helping two brothers move in and find yourself drawn to them. Thanks to persistent efforts (by you) you find that your life is permanently marked with new faces and new events that you hope will be for the better. .... and what's wrong with having a huge crush on a skeleton along the way? ALL OF THIS IS A HUUUGE SELF INSERT LMAOOOO. i have the fattest juiciest crush on sans and there is not enough love for classic on here. so now i have to do it myself. (but the reader being lowkey a loser is not me i am very cool irl)

Seren(dip)ity by Absent_Enigma (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

Life is pretty swell on the surface, Sans supposes. There have been no resets or reloads for years. No drama or violence from the human populace that monsters now live amongst, but for some minor complaints and scuffles. It’s just a bit lonely at times now that Sans’ friends and brother explore what the surface has to offer. Your life gets a little better when you enter into a tentative relationship with a funny skeleton monster who makes you laugh. It goes well, chip-dip fiasco and all. Five years later and the relationship is going steady, with less cultural misunderstandings now, as you and Sans go about daily life together. [Drabbles of you and Sans, in an established relationship, with little to no angst. It’s self-indulgent fluff, honestly]

Can we stay here? by TiredInBed (Mature, Incomplete)

You just recently moved to Ebott for college; it's nice here. The seasons are varied, the town is lively, and the school you're going to is manageable. The only thing that seems to be missing are friends and lovers. It feels so hard to get involved with anything or anybody new these days. They're all isolated in their own little world, and it's hard to become important to somebody. That's why when you get spontaneously involved with a new group of friends, you're happy! And when you meet a special man in Sans, you're overjoyed to watch your relationship blossom. You slowly forget what life would be like without them, the daily chaos of your new reality becoming very comfortable. You like it here in Ebott; you think you might stay.

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - A Psychological Analysis Series Part 11

Season 2 Episode 9 - “ The Lady of the Lake”

Writing this post proved to be a challenge as I had to condense all my thoughts and ideas in a coherent manner without it being all over the place.

While providing a synopsis of the episode, I will be highlighting the subliminal themes portrayed here in CAPITAL LETTERS AS WELL AS MY ANALYSIS to cover every aspect of the episode.

____________________________________________________________

Merlin is introduced to the character of Freya, a Druid girl trapped in a bounty hunter's cage (RESTRICTION) belonging to a man named Halig.

Despite Gaius's warnings not to interfere and against a background of a stormy night (INTERNAL CONFLICT) Merlin openly uses magic (QUEERNESS) in-front of Freya to reassure her that he is there to help and frees her, before narrowly escaping Halig.

Merlin hides the girl in the catacombs (THE PLACE THE OVERWROUGHT SUBCONSCIOUS MIND BURIES ALL OF THE PROBLEMS AND SECRETS ) beneath Camelot (SOCIETY) and promises to look after her.

She asks Merlin why he saved her and he says it could have easily been him in the cage (BOTH MERLIN AND FREYA ARE MAGICAL CREATURES LIVING IN A SOCIETY THAT CONDEMNS THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE)

Halig goes to Uther and notifies him of Freya's escape with the help of an accomplice. Uther assigns a detachment of guards to capture them.

The next 30 minutes of the episode becomes the main core of my analysis.

_____________________________________________________________

Merlin performing domestic duties for Arthur:

IN THE PATRIARCHIAL WORLD OF UTHER'S CAMELOT, MERLIN PERFORMS TASKS WHICH ARE CONSIDERED FEMININE.

MERLIN PREPARES AND SERVES ARTHUR FOOD.

MERLIN PREPARES ARTHUR'S BATH.

MERLIN CLEANS ARTHUR'S CLOTHES AND SHOES.

MERLIN FUSSES OVER ARTHURS WEIGHT AND APPEARANCE.

ALL WHICH HE DOES EVERYDAY FOR WHICH HE IS NEVER APPRECIATED OR THANKED.

SOUNDS LIKE A COMPLAINT A LOT OF WIVES HAVE.

_____________________________________________________________

Arthur views Merlin as feminine and lacking masculine traits:

ARTHUR SEES MERLIN CARRYING A BLACK DRESS AND ASSUMES IT IS FOR MERLIN HIMSELF

_____________________________________________________________

Merlin steals food from Arthur to give it to Freya:

FOOD AND SEX HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED FROM ANTIQUITY.

EVEN MODERN STUDIES HAVE CONFIRMED THE STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN SEX AND FOOD.

SOURCE: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Correlations-between-sex-and-eating-variables_tbl1_290219210

JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY SEES GLUTTONY AND LUST AS INTERCHANGEABLE, BOTH SINS OF THE FLESH.

IN MEDIEVAL TIMES, AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE WAS OFTEN ACCUSED OF HIDING FOOD FROM HER HUSBAND ONLY TO GIVE IT TO HER LOVER (MAKING HER ADULTERY AN ECONOMIC PROBLEM AS WELL).

USING THE CONTEXT ABOVE, IT IS QUITE FUNNY TO SEE HOW MERLIN STEALS FLESH (MEAT) FROM ARTHUR TO GIVE IT TO FREYA.

_____________________________________________________________

Freya reveals to Merlin that she is cursed:

HERE THE CURSE THAT FREYA IS TALKING ABOUT IS HER BEING A TRANSGENDER PERSON.

THERE ARE FEW BETTER SYMBOLS FOR SOMEONE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF FEMALE-TO-MALE TRANSITION THAN THE HUMAN TO CREATURE TRANSFORMATION TROPE.

WHEN YOU ARE ON HRT TESTOSTERONE THERAPY, MOST PEOPLE BECOME HAIRIER AND STRONGER AND GAIN MUSCLE, WHICH IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE BASTET CREATURE TRANSFORMATION BY FREYA.

PLEASE NOTE, I AM NOT SAYING THAT TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ARE CURSED. I AM SIMPLY SAYING IT CAN FEEL LIKE A CURSE CONSIDERING THE BIGOTRY AND HATE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE FACE.

______________________________________________________________

Freya and Merlin profess their love for each other and kiss.

Against this background, Halig is narrowing in on Freya's hideout.

Freya decides to escape Camelot, believing that Merlin is better off without her. She is then confronted by Arthur, Halig and a group of knights.

Arthur manages to badly wound Freya in her Bastet form before being distracted by a gargoyle which was toppled by Merlin.( IT IS A REAL COINCIDENCE THAT ARTHUR ATTACKS FREYA WHO HAD KISSED MERLIN A FEW MOMENTS AGO, SIMILARLY TO HOW ARTHUR WOULD ATTACK LANCELOT FOR KISSING GWEN IN SEASON 4 EPISODE 9)

Merlin runs after Freya to find her mortally wounded. (IT IS THE OBJECT OF MERLIN’S HOMOSEXUAL DESIRES (ARTHUR) WHO KILLS THE OBJECT OF HIS HETEROSEXUAL DESIRE (FREYA) )

A heartbroken Merlin places her body on a boat and uses his magic to give her a traditional funeral by the lake. (I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY POIGNANT IN HINDSIGHT BECAUSE ONCE FREYA DIES AND BECOMES LADY OF THE LAKE THESE TWO NEVER SHARE A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP AGAIN. SHE IS LITERALLY SUBMERGED INTO THE LAKE WHICH IS A METPHAPHOR FOR MERLIN’S CONCIOUSNESS. LOCKED AWAY FOREVER)

Back at Camelot, Arthur aware that Merlin is upset helps cheer him up before delegating him more tasks. (MERLIN'S HOMOSEXUALITY HAS FINALLY WON OUT AND HE HAS ACCEPTED HIS DESTINY I.E ARTHUR ROFLMAO. PRIOR TO THIS EPISODE MERLIN DID SHOW HINTS OF ATTRACTION TOWARDS THE OPPOSITE SEX. THIS IS EVIDENCED BY HIM ADMIRING MORGANA IN SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 AND NIMUEH IN SEASON 1 EPISODE 4. HOWEVER FROM THIS EPISODE ON, MERLIN SHOWS NO ATTRACTION TO ANY FEMALE CHARACTER WHAT SO EVER. THIS IS EXPRESSED EXPLICITLY IN SEASON 4 EPISODE 8 WHERE THE LAMIA SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO ENCHANT ALL THE MEN EXCEPT MERLIN. GWEN EVEN ASKS WHY EVERY MAN EXCEPT MERLIN HAS BEEN ENCHANTED.)

I TRULY ENJOYED THIS EPISODE AS IT IS RIFE WITH SYMBOLISM FOR ME TO PICK APART AND ANALYZE !

[cleoselene]

the top 5

So I'm not really a film buff. I like a lot of movies, but I'm a tv person. TV is my love, TV is where my passion is. And I've been mulling over the question of what are my actual top 5 favorite TV shows of all time?

I can tell you the top three easily:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - uncontested favorite show of all time. Perfect characterization. Covers nearly every genre you can think of. Intricate, deliberate, patient storytelling. Gets a reputation for being the "dark" Star Trek but is still loads brighter and more hopeful than anything labeled "Star Trek" after 9/11. The writing is so strong, the characters are so lovingly crafted, there are over 100 incredible episodes to dig into. It doesn't overwhelm you with anything, when the story is very serialized, it gives you a break. When the story gets too intense, it takes a turn and gives you something lighter. I have SO MANY OPINIONS about how fandom kind of lets me down in its appreciation of this show but my appreciation of it is perfect.

Six Feet Under - beginning to end, uniformly wonderful quality. Claire Fisher and I went through a few too many of the same experiences as young women in the early '00s. I think if we're lucky, we find a television show that portrays experiences in a way that are true to us, and Six Feet Under speaks a certain kind of truth for me. Claire and I had the same cynical views, the same confusion in early adulthood, the same flirtations with sinister older men, the same asshole artist boyfriend who got us pregnant and then acted like when she/I had to get an abortion it was all about HIM. That complicated, painful relationship a young woman has with her mother, that's fraught with fighting and pain and a fierce kind of love. And the most perfect, beautiful ending in television history. My only complaint with SFU is that Nate Fisher is an incredibly difficult character to sit through on rewatch (and on first watch honestly) but I forgive it because through Nate we get Brenda, who is the Difficult Woman that fandom always claims they want to have to love but always hates when they get her. Brenda is amazing. I love Brenda.

Twin Peaks - a multi-decade obsession that I don't think I need to get into too deeply here because I have been fawning over it on this blog for months, but a few notes: This show takes a single tragedy and doesn't allow you to get over it, in a television landscape that encourages you to consume a new violence every week and then forget about it, Laura Palmer's death has lingers with us for over three decades because it should. It should be terrible and awful and painful. Twin Peaks also came about when crime media like Silence of the Lambs was telling us that the true evil scary bad guy was a crossdressing serial killer, when television soap operas coded crossdressing as a deviant, evil behavior, and said, "one of our explicitly coded good people is transgender." Twin Peaks told us that the killer is not some weird other, but as it is in reality, someone more familiar and mundane that we try to imagine is a terrifying monster to cope with the brutal mundane reality. And that's just the tip of a massive iceberg when it comes to what this piece of interpretive art is tackling. The wonderful thing about Twin Peaks is that you can read a million theories trying to define exactly what it's about and they can all be correct, because it's not just about consumable tv violence or trying to make monsters out of the mundane, it's about how we perceive our realities and so, so much more. The iceberg's depth is endless.

and then after those top three, I struggle to round out the top five. I have other shows I LOVE, but hesitate to put in with these elite three, for a variety of reasons. I love Star Trek: TNG and Voyager, but the uneven quality I think kicks them off the top five. Voyager has brilliance but some really dog bad episodes, TNG has some whole bad seasons.

HBO's "Rome" is an obsession that was so potent while it lasted that I am tempted, but it was a 2 season show and the quality fell off badly because the plot was majorly rushed in S2. I don't think it qualifies for top five, either.

My most recent sci-fi obsession is The Orville in that it really comes close to hitting the sweet spots the 90s Treks hit within the limitations of shorter modern television seasons, but I don't know if it's a complete work yet. I HOPE NOT. Season 3 was as beautiful and wonderful as modern television gets. It's got major top 5 potential.

Legend of the Seeker is up there with Rome in that the obsession was potent but way too brief: a 2 season affair. It's tempting to put this one in the top 5 because honestly I had almost no complaints about it. It adapted absolutely dog-awful atrocious shit source material and Raimi/Tapert gave it the same magic they infused into Xena to make it a really fun, progressive show. I want to give it a top 5 spot just because IT DESERVED BETTER AND EVERYONE ON IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. Also the fandom was super fun and I made really good friends in it and it was just a really joyful show to watch. It made me feel happy. TV doesn't make me feel happy enough anymore. Usually it makes me feel depressed *cough all the new Star Treks, cough* but Legend of the Seeker just lifted me UP. It was syndicated and I worked graveyard shift and I would get home after working all night at 7am and watch the new episode before bed and it was just. Such a boost of happiness.

Finally, I think Farscape deserves a slot. I don't know where. I am WAY overdue for a Farscape rewatch. After the roommates and I get through DS9 (one of them has never seen it!!) we are going to Farscape next. I always love telling people that Farscape is like Star Trek if Star Trek allowed itself to be kinky. What was that one TWOP description of Farscape? "American man lost in the Australian S&M scene." Roflcopter. Also, John/Aeryn is one of the more epic ships of all time. OF ALL TIME.

[madsmilfelsen]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @thenookienostradamus, quyanaa!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 22 :)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 237, 409, yeehaw!

3. What fandoms do you write for? Magic Mike (allegedly), Always Sunny (allegedly), Killer Joe, True Detective (season one, I get too weepy if I think about season four too long but someday!), Midnight Mass, Shadow & Bone, Tell Me Your Secrets, Loki, and I've got an original work snuck in there, too

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments? Typically! I have a habit of hoarding my favorites in my inbox so if I take a week or three months to answer you it's because I've been thinking about kissing you on the mouth. Comments really make my day so I do my best to show gratitude to those who take the time to make them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Maybe Sinhound? I don't set out to write angst.................. ever, but ending with Mildred's funeral wasn't what I was expecting either.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them :) I'm a sucker for love and happy endings :)))))

8. Do you get hate on fics? no and that gets more and more shocking each time I post a new work lately as my ao3 becomes a pit of depravity while I work through everything I can't put in my novel manuscript.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? hell yeah fuck yeah. I like playing in varying degrees of consent, unhealthy or unbalanced dynamics, girls who come too fast and have weird relationships with sex, yada yada. I have a really supportive husband who I am disgustingly, deeply in love with so a lot of genuine warm and fuzzy feelings for one old man in particular generates a lot of material.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I simply don't have the mind processes for it and admire those who can mix media like that.

11. free space / no question here, send me an ask with one instead please :)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of! would be awfully neat though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Oh man, I had a fun star wars piece I was writing with my dear friend, Jess, when impostor syndrome struck too hard to finish-- I still have the embroidery she did of our title (the inverse must also be true) in my office hanging below my first rejection letter :)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? every goblin couple that make out nasty style, so uh, rust/sugar :( they're so special to me and pulled me out of a Hellacious writer's block

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My only wip is Sunday School Dropout because I sort of forgot where I was going with it, it'll come back with light voyeurism, blood drinking, virginity taking, the usual order

16. What are your writing strengths? I feel like this is question to really sell myself but honestly, hell if I know, creating place? mannerisms maybe? Beyond my general insecurities, some of the nicest compliments I've gotten are for things I did unintentionally so hard to say! I have crafted some fuckin nonlinear bangers I'll give myself that much.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAINTAIN TENSE and I HAVE NO WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF SENTENCE STRUCTURES, which annoy me and are my father's biggest complaints so I can't take them seriously enough to consciously attempt to improve on them yet. Lately, I've been smoking weed and flipping vocabulary flashcards before bed because my diction feels stagnant, a bit repetitive across pieces like.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I can't even speak english well enough to write coherently I'm not going to fuck up further with google translate. I did some ballet au's a few years back that I know have some french in it but I think I did a firmly okay job with the sprinkles of dialogue-- I know damn well my terminology is correct.

19. First fandom you wrote for? technically game of thrones, I have a sansa/sandor reunion very angrily tapped out in my notes app when season eight skipped it. The first work I posted was Seduction of Odile after I saw a post here about the potential of a rey/kylo blackswan au, reached out and asked if I could give it a try and here I am 22 works and years later :)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I'm going to be corny but I have a soft spot for every fic that connected me with other writers who are so talented and inspiring and force me to be better so I feel like I can talk to them lmao

tagging tagging tagging @the-heartlines @labyrinthphanlivingafacade @littleredwritingcat @abeadofpoison @teeth-ing @itstendereye @barbie-nightmare-house

[heyclickadee]

Some Tipping Point Thoughts about Crosshair (mostly):

1. There is a small part of me that is a little suspicious that Crosshair was allowed to partially escape on purpose, buuuuuut Emerie wasn’t the one who put that blaster within Crosshair’s reach, and she looked genuinely frightened when she realized that Crosshair really was going to stun her. It was one of the stormtroopers who put that blaster there, and, yes, it was a stupid move, but no one ever accused stormtroopers of being smart.

2. “Pushed to the limits of his extreme in the most heartbreaking way,” didn’t just apply to “The Outpost,” I see.

3. Speaking of blasters, these early stormtrooper blasters are the cheapest looking blasters I’ve ever seen in a star war—and I mean that as a compliment to the show. Those things look and feel like something that would be mass produced without much concern for quality or durability, which is exactly the Empire’s approach to the stormtroopers themselves.

4. Sooooo…this might sound counterintuitive, but this episode really put the final kibosh in any lingering worries I had that they’re killing Crosshair this season. You don’t do something like this (gestures broadly at Crosshair’s whole thing) and then kill them off. Especially not in some kind of redemptive self-sacrificial death. Especially when what we watched him do in this episode is so pointedly self-sacrificial. Crosshair might try to die for his family in the next two episodes, but there’s no way the narrative is going to let that happen. There’s no way to kill him off right now that isn’t empty, no way to have him die for anyone that doesn’t make the other person look careless by comparison (if only because viewers react to stories emotionally as much as they do otherwise), and no way to end his story in a way that isn’t just an ocean of untouched possibilities. The writers are sitting on a narrative gold mine with this character and I think they know that, otherwise they could have just let him die on that platform. And I’m stoked, because this means that we’re going to get to watch these characters deal with the difficult mess that’s going to be rebuilding their relationships.

5. Crosshair loves his family SO DAMN MUCH.

6. Evil thought: What if the batch gets to him, and he doesn’t realize they’re really there at first? I mean…he’s going to live, and he’s not getting brainwashed, but he is almost definitely going to be in a lot of pain and potentially pretty disoriented. I could see him taking a few minutes to realize that they’re really there and they finally came for him (but OH NO they weren’t supposed to come for him this time WHAT ARE THEY DOING THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO HIDE).

7. Eviler thought: Man, I really hope Dr. Hemlock doesn’t clock the fact that Crosshair will take any and all abuse that’s thrown at him without complaint but will absolutely lose his shit if that same abuse is thrown at another clone.

8. The look on Crosshair’s face when Omega says, “You’re still their brother, Crosshair. You’re my brother too,” back in Kamino Lost is going to kill me ten times over after this episode.

9. I’m looking forward to the absolute murder we’ll get to see in Echo’s eyes once he sees what Hemlock’s been doing.

10. You know…I’m not sure Crosshair couldn’t have made it outside if he hadn’t stopped to send that warning—if sending the warning wasn’t his only goal in the first place. He could barely stand up straight and he still went through about eight people like they were tissue paper.

11. I don’t know what is up with Emerie besides definitely something, but I sort of like the idea that Crosshair stunned her instead of killing her because he maybe got the sense that she’s a prisoner, too.

12. You know, there sure are a lot of clones in Mount Tantiss. In the cells, being commandos. Sure would be a shame for Hemlock if they all revolted at the same time somehow (I feel like this is wishful thinking, but I can dream).

[jasper-book-stash]

May 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

Alright, I can finally work on this, after being a full week into June. I read 11 books in May - one religious text, one occult/witchcraft book, two romances, two nonfiction books, and five poetry books.

Religious Text

Los Agvinaldos del Infante: Gloda de Epifania // The Child’s Gifts: A Twelfth Night Tale | Tomas Blanco

I found this book on the free books table of the library I work at, and I yoinked it immediately. I'm utterly fascinated by translated works, so being able to look at both the Spanish and English versions of this story was really neat. It's a story about the Three Wise Men heading to Jesus's birth and it talks about the gifts they brought from each of their kingdoms. It was neat.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Echoes from the Orient: Wisdom of Lao-Tse With Parallels in Western Thought | Robert Wood

This is a book I found in a secondhand book store for dirt cheap, and my main complaint with it was that the comparisons were usually weak and drew from too many places. Not bad, but not good either.

Confessions of a Reluctant Optimist | Phyllis McGinley

Remember this post? This author is who that was about. This compilation of poems was a fascinating look back into the author's time and place.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

Bending the Binary: Polarity Magic in a Nonbinary World | Deborah Lipp

I went back and forth so much on this book, but ultimately landed at 8 out of 10 with the caveat being that you're going to go back and forth on if the book is worth reading for quite a few chapters. There are a lot of places where it was like "Bestie, what the FUCK does this mean?" but most of those instances were explained in more detail. We love seeing elaboration on wild claims, at least. It delivered exactly on what was promised. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: The author is cisgender, and this is very apparent in many places, and not just in the places that the author outright says it.

Love For All Seasons | Kitty Clevenger, Fred Klemushim, Rick Cusick

This anthology was put together by Kitty Clevenger, and honestly, my main complaint is that they could have done better. Sure, the artwork is gorgeous, but not every poem felt attached to that central theme - it just felt like the compiler just grabbed whatever poems mentioned one of the seasons in them. And the font (by Rick Cusick, apparently) is difficult to read at times - some of the letters are hard to decipher/identify.

Yesterday I Saw The Sun: Poems | Ally Sheedy

Apparently this author is known for other things. This is my first instance of hearing of her. And I enjoyed the book. Not much to say, other than giving a warning that it gets heavy. Which is a good thing tbh.

Swimming Shelter: 100 Days of Coronavirus: An Exercise in the American Crawl | Al Ortolani

Nothing like reliving the coronavirus (and, in some of the later poems, murder and police brutality) through poetry. My main complaint about this one was formatting. I feel like I could have done better. Let me edit your book and fix your formatting, PLEASE.

9/10 - Very Very Good

February Poems | John Mooney

This was gearing up to be a deeply middling zine of poetry until the fucking clown poem hit me. 9 out of 10, no notes.

Pounded By The Classics: Seven Literary Tales Of The Tingleverse | Chuck Tingle The Lesbian Classics Get Me Off: Seven Ladybuck Tales Of The Tingleverse | Chuck Tingle

Chuck Tingle's tinglers literally never miss.

Ancient Egyptian Literature, volume II: The New Kingdom | Miriam Lichtheim

I didn't get volume two read in time for the May book club meeting, much less volume three, but this was still a damn fine read. I love analyzing old literature told through a modern lens.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

None applicable.

[kojandra]

✨dramas i watched in 2024 and my ratings for them✨

May contain spoilers <3

1. A Shop for Killers, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh this has set the bar for 2024 already....where is next season!!! Had me hooked I didn't even realize it was a series and not a movie. Only complaint is that it needs to be longer!

2. Doctor Slump ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Watched it for the mains but fell in love with the characters. Burnout talk is necessary and I loved seeing Ha Neul's mom/family grow...as a family. The acceptance of Jeong Woo and his story was so so heartwarming and heartbreaking. I would have ate this up three years ago, but I feel like I've seen this before.

3. Flex x Cop ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nice story that kept me engaged though a bit cheesy! A fun watch but I feel like it will not my best "fun" watch this year.

4. Queen of Tears ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ all the rom com tropes and soo hyun x ji won .....need I say more?

5. Military Prosecutor Doberman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Decided to try another one of Ahn Bo Hyun's drama after Flex x Cop was not a hit. This was MUCH better. I learned a lot about military corruption....but something isn't hitting.

5. The Whirlwind ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Okay, political dramas are Kim Hee Ae's THING bc this was so good. Only thing I hated was that her character was a bit weak in such crucial times....opposite of what she preached and not very girl boss of her smh.

6. Connection ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Watched it for Mi Do but oh my godddd????? A story about friendship in sick and twisted way that I can't help but love. Beginning to end...pacing was amazing, casting amazing, binged it so hard....wish I could watch it for the first time again.

7. The Frog ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (ngl i watched this for chanyeol). Did I just watch a masterclass in acting or what!? Must watch. But I am also in a thriller/murder mystery vibe this year I guess.

8. Collectors (Movie, 2020) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 no 'cause why did I like that??? A story about a corporate chairman that likes dynasty relics and a group of grave diggers that are hired to find a very specific relic. That's all I'll say. But c'mon....

9. Good Partner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The last divorce law drama I watched was Divorce Attorney Shin, I believe (highly rec that one if you like law dramas!). Attorney Shin focused a lot on the main character's personal vengeance and this one focuses on the job itself. Justice for

10. Sweet & Sour (Movie, 2021) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Girl, just watch it. Quick synopsis: how a couple navigates a long term relationship. I thought this was gonna be fun and not that deep but oh myyyyy I was seated. Watch until the end!!!

11. Love Next Door ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh they're so cute. They're so cute! The last time I saw Hae-In was in D.P. and this was so refreshing. Neighbourhood friends....fall in love? Sign me up!!! Took off a star because the characters got on my nerves after a while. Seung-ho loser era was not cool!!

12. Miss Night and Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Watched for Lee Jung Eun and Choi Jin Hyuk but got hooked! Fantasy drama about a 28 year old that cannot seem to pass the civil exam and find a job. She got possessed by her dead Aunt though. That's when the fun starts ;) Annoying last two episodes though....

13. Work Later, Drink Now ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you liked Hello, My Twenties! you will LOVE this. Loved this trio. Watch it! (Slice of life-esque).

14. Work Later, Drink Now 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Something different but the same magic as the first series. Love the introduction of new characters and their significance in the girls' lives. Important character development too. Fight and then make up! That's life.

15. Mr. Plankton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Took off a star not because it was bad, but because it was so SAD. Must watch for this pairing and this chemistry. It's currently January 9th...as I'm looking through this list.....I got reminded again how sad this drama was. NEVER again.

16. Virtuous Business ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a fun! one! I loved seeing the friend group develop. The need for a thriller sub plot in all dramas is killing me though ahhaha

17. Marry My Husband ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ binged this and honestly wTF just happened? That was so good LOL. All the characters the viewer is supposed to hate is just soooo hateable. Good on MC! For living her life!

18. The Judge from Hell - y'all I dropped it. It got repetitive :( But it was so good at the start. Not my cup of tea, I guess.

18. When the Phone Rings ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Honestly this was about to be a five star in December. I waited until the last episode aired to finish this list. Chemistry was off the charts, story was so wattpad but I ate it up, pacing was soooo good.....but..........all of a sudden there were two episodes that had their own crazy story line at the end. Using an ongoing genocide for plot rubs me the wrong way, I cannot get over that.

Dramas from this list I'll rewatch in the future: A shop for killers, queen of tears, miss night and day, work later drink now

[quartzroolz]

Fuck it Rider run through rankings

welp, this is it. My magnum opus. Back in 2023, I decided it was a great idea to watch through every Heisei kamen rider season and keep this post as a little tribute to my journey. well, that fell apart, because I eventually decided that "oh, 25+ years of karate bugman isn't enough, let shoot for the full 50+". so this is it. my opinions on every season of kamen rider, ever, without exceptions, updated as I finish seasons. Original Description: OK so, I have decided to go through kamen rider from start of heisei to end of heisei, in order. Kuuga to Zi-O. And I already Regret it but here goes a long form attempt at consolidating my feelings on this stupid fucking franchise. Currently Watching: Showa: 1971 (part 2: Nigo) Heisei: Decade Reiwa: Gavv

KAMEN RIDER (1971) EPISODE 1-13

Here it is. the one that started it all. so In part for digestibility (the original kamen rider series is 98 episodes long) and in part because of factors I will doubtless get into, I have made the decision to tackle 1971 as multiple parts. the main reason, aside from aforementioned digestibility, is that 1971 changes a lot over those nearly 100 episodes.

as it stands, episodes 1-13 are the bits of kamen rider which everyone who has watched the original series agree are great. this is because, put simply, its what the show was meant to be. those 13 episodes are the purest version of Shotaro Ishinomoris' vision for the character and the world.

And... yeah its really good. Like its shocking how good the series is off the bat, for something 50 years old at this point. The action is fun and mostly well filmed, and the sometimes herky-jerky techniques employed to sell the super-heroics really work. Its also really violent. like its still a "kids show", I don't think I would be worried about younger people watching it even now, but like... people die pretty frequently and in a few cases quite gruesomely. The extent of how horrific it can be is undercut by the interesting and creative ways by how its chosen to be depicted but like... there are man-eating scorpions in this show that disintegrate people and its legitimately pretty horrific, especially when put into the mindset and context of 1971 in japan.

thematically its on point too. so much of these episodes go to hongo dealing with the loss of humanity in his transformation into a cyborg. its genuinely effective and evocative. the tragedy of hurting a child when he goes to comfort them cannot be overstated.

maybe the one factor I think is potentially lacking is costume design on the Kaijin, but I also acknowledge that we have been spoiled by modern techniques in that regard. for the time, most of them are pretty good and evocative with this designs. only really weak links are in the last couple episodes, especially Tokageron who is so clearly a case of "we need another episode to fill time, heres a half finished costume".

and... yeah, as to why they needed that extra episode and why I am only doing the first 13 episodes here and splitting 1971 into multiple parts. during these first 13 episodes, Hiroshi Fujioka, the actor playing Takeshi Hongo, was doing his own stunts, both in and out of the kamen rider suit. however, during filming for... probably episode 11 but I dont know if there is any conformation on that, a bad motorcycle accident took fujioka out of commission for an extended amount of time. episodes 11, 12 and 13 where completed using a combination of reused footage, and Takeshi Hongo doesnt even appear in person until the closing shots in 12 and 13. behind the scenes, this was taken as an oppertunity to heavily rework the show as well, as Kamen rider had been receiving complaints from parents on the content, which lead to changes in the next batch of episodes, 14-51, and overall the rest of the franchise moving forward.

overall... I mean its got to be a 9/10 on this doesn't it? its the purest, most unrefined version of an IP I love. its the bit that gets remade every time they decide to remake Ichigo. its the bit that The First and Shin draw on the most directly, and its probably the most foundational part of so much of the Henshin hero genre. and most importantly, ITS STILL GOOD. it is still worth watching, still worth checking out.

KAMEN RIDER (1971) EPISODE 14-52

it took me a while to complete this batch of episodes because, while 1971 is still good and Takeshi Sasaki as Hayato Ichimonji is a great replacement for Hiroshi Fujioka as Takeshi Hongo... but its also where kamen rider starts to drag a little. Like this show has 98 episodes and no over-arching stories. some more modern seasons, with only 50 episodes and more long-term storytelling suffer from dragging and being slow, and 1971 is double that.

like to be clear: its still really solid. this second batch of episodes goes lighter and funnier, introducing a larger supporting cast which includes a set of stupid idiot bimbo girls who hang around with Hayato and I love them so much, as well as Taki who is functionally 1971s secondary protagonist/rider, hanging around and helping out in more episodes than either of the actual leads combined. we get introduced to the Tachibana racing club as a location which serves as the origin for Home-bases in the franchise, which is fun. also, the monsters are pretty decent. theres less that specifically stick out in this batch, but as shockers plans grow ever more cartoony in-line with the new tone, the monsters get more interesting. in this batch we also get 2 main commander-type figures, being colonel Zol who I liked a lot and Dr. Shinigami who I do not as much. Like Shinigami has the Menace and gravitas but hes an old man with weird ill-defined powers who spends half of his time in a wheelchair.

finally, towards the end we get a few episodes with Hayato and Takeshi hanging out and fighting together and its always a lot of fun. the two have an undeniable chemistry and I love them a lot.

overall I think the second part of the series is fun but it lacks the weight of the early show and suffers for it. still highly recomend, but I would say its lesser overall than what came before.

KUUGA (2000)

kuuga is the best season of Kamen Rider I have seen. Its not my favourite, but its basically as close to "Objectivly perfect" as this dumb bugman franchise gets.

the characters are likable, the plot is well structured, Godai and Ichijou are gay as hell and I love it, The Mystery works really well, the action is well choriagraphed and outright brutal on occasion (y'all who have seen this show know exactly the occasion I am talking about), and it is paced really well.

if I have to compalin about anything, and I probably do, yeah forms are spaced out a bit weird and if your watching in the modern age the gurongi are subtitled which might hurt your experience somewhat (It didnt for me but I can see an argument).

9/10, amazing show.

AGITO (2001)

I would like to give a solemn Apology to the Agito stans: I don't like this show, and I honestly do not get why some people do. Yes, the suits are really cool with all of the mechanical stuff they can do, like Agitos horns or Gills mouth, etc. but as for the actual Plot itself... its painfully slow, the mystery aspect is boring and poorly executed, and the show meanders around for the majority of its run.

Shoichi regains his memories briefly midway through the show, just to basically imediatly lose them again, delaying any actual story progression even further. Ryo Spends 4 episodes (a month IRL time) dead in a river, and once again it really goes no-where.

Now I do like G3. I think its hilarious that the G3 Armour is literally in the wrong show. I like Hikawa (even if hes just Diet coke Ichijo from Kuuga) and I think that actually tying back the story of Agito to Kuuga is cool and something I wish rider would do more.

I also think the show picks up significantly once another Agito is introduced and the plot gets going. problem is at that point the majority of the season is already gone and potentially interesting character arcs and stories are speedran. whats there is good, I just wish it started earlier and lasted long.

3/10. sorry agito stans. glad you like this one, it aint for me.

Ryuki (2002)

Ryuki is the season of all time. its... kind of similar to agito, which is strange because I actually ended up liking this one. I think this works because its the first time Rider did a season where everyone, sans main Character Shinji Kide/Ryuki, is a massive prick, and that works because your going to see all of these characters die on screen so that helps soften the blow.

which is not to say that Ryuki suffers from unlikable characters, even the most detestable characters (exceptions of Gai and Ouja not withstanding) have moments which help humanise them.

pacing wise, yes, it kinda has the agito problem where the main plot happens all in one go right at the start and right at the end and the middle is mostly kinda filler, and I do think that if ryukis time had been used better we could have seen all 13 riders in the actual tv show, rather than relegating Femme, Ryuga and Verde to the Alternate ending movie, but its not a huge deal really.

also, the Mirror monsters almost certainly gave some japanese kids nightmares and I count that as a good thing. Mirror monsters, while their designs can be kinda so-so, are a wonderfully scary concept. Consider how often there are Mirrored or reflective surfaces in your day to day life. the extreme paranoia the concept conjures is wonderful

Final score, 7/10. Ryuki could do a lot better in some places (and was, in seasons like geats and also Dragon Knight or so I hear? IDK not watched dragon knight yet) but for what it is it is more than solid.

Faiz (555) (2003)

Faiz is one of the less talked about entries within the western sphere of the fandom... which is Fair. I think Faiz is an OK season but I did find myself tiring with it. the suits are rad but none of the characters ever really stuck, Powerups are often barely utilised which raises the question of why have them in the first place and like... Yeah IDK it just never really Gel for me.

the ending kind of comes out of no-where as well, plus I think (Spoilers) MURDERING A CHILD FOR SHOCK VALUE at the end is bad writing and was not very fun. Kiba becoming a major villain also felt forced as his fall from grace and redemption happen very quickly just do not feel congruent with his character up to that point.

I think my biggest Faiz Takeaway is the surprise that this is japans favourite season? this kind-of-just-ok entry into a franchise which has far better and more re-watchable entries? this?

(also this is not the fault of faiz but DO NOT FIND YOURSELF READING ORPHENOCHS AS A TRANS ALAGORY, WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. I acknowledge that this is a me thing, it was almost certainly not what the writters where going for... but Damn Sweaty that aged.)

so its like a... 5/10? that feels right. am I maybe lowballing the ranking for the sake of a "haha kamen rider 555 is a 5 out of 10" joke? maybe but honestly I just did not feel this one.

Blade (2004)

Frankly all I can say is that blade sure is another Early Heisei series. I don't want that to come off as bad or negative, its not meant that way, but once you have watched from agito to here back to back you start to notice how repetitive things feel in terms of pacing and story.

not to say that anything about blade is actually that bad, however, I did end up quite liking this series even if the hostility between its main characters got really grating at times. like seriously guys, can we go 5 episodes without someone being labelled a traitor or evil?

also on negatives, Kenzaki is kind of a wet cloth of a protagonist. Hes not bad, I do like him, but Hes far from the most interesting MC the series has produced. luckily this is made up for with the supporting cast, all of whom are great characters. Tachibana and Hajime especially are compelling secondary Main characters and I did really want to see them happy.

on the subject of happy, the one thing that always has to come up in blade discussion is the ending, which while I pretty imediatly picked up on other ways the characters could have resolved it the second they found out about the whole "the joker cant be the last undead standing" thing (Mutsuki just mcfucking use remote on shima before you defeat the catagory King of diamonds, then you wouldnt have had to go through any of this shit) I do feel that, with how the series plays out, its ultimately the best ending the characters could have hopped for. its not perfect, but it means that everyone gets to live, and despite what I know about the post series novels, I do firmly beleive that, yes, one day Kenzaki would figure out a way to defy their fate.

oh and one other thing. I dont like Chalices design. or, rather, I guess, I do like it but it feels weird to find out that chalice is visually just the catagory ace of hearts undead despite looking nothing like any other Undead in the show. it kinda reaks of contrivance and I dont like it, but honestly its fine all things considered.

7/10. Good show, enjoyable, but god I want early heisei to stop repeating itself.

Hibiki (2005)

Oh Hibiki, I was so torn on how to talk about this fuckass seasons. Because, like... heres the thing. This should be easy. This should have been a 10/10. This season should have been the second coming of kuuga, and for 30 episodes it was... and then it happens.

Hibiki is infamous for its production history, with the entire creative team being fired and replaced around episode 30, with the new team being sent in by toei to make the show "more kamen rider". And thats the problem.

Hibikis first half is brilliant because it breaks so many series rules. Its different, its fresh, its so cool. The tone is so different from anything that came before. Being a rider in this season isn't a great thing, its a job. More than any other season Hibiki is a coming of age story, one where we watch the shows real main character, Tag-along kid Asumu, grow into an adult. The characters are charming and grounded. The world of Hibiki is steaped in a level of fantastical realism which sets it apart from anything else. Fights take place in the Forests and natural areas rather than cities and quarries. Its all just perfectly different enough to be unique

And its great. Its so good. Its near perfect. And then the writers change. and the show gets bad. its gets so bad that for me it tainted the first half of the show. gone is any of the creativity or freshness of the series. Now Hibiki feels like any other rider season. And thats what killed it for me. My response to Hibiki as a whole is driven purely by an emotional response to its last 18 episodes, but its a rough 18, and frankly and 18 I have no desire to ever experience again.

To give the second half its due, the Movie is pretty decent and the final episode actually kinda sticks the series's thematic landing despite the majority of the second half fumbling most aspects. I can believe that it ends how it was always going to, even if characters like Kiriya would not and should not have been there.

If you only watch episodes 1-30 (and the movie fuck it) then Hibiki is an easy 9.5/10. Top Tier season. But that's not Hibiki. Hibiki is the full 48+movie run. and that full run is, to me, and I am sorry to say this, a 1/10. Maybe 1.25 due to sticking the landing on the ending.

Writing about Hibiki makes me sad. I hate this season because I loved this season, and I just hope what comes after can get me past this massive blemish.

Kabuto (2006)

god finding a gif for this one was hard, given I am reliant on the tumblr gifs feature and most people seem to have been simping for the hell twins which like... fair tbh.

Kabuto is a very good season, working pretty heavily on a pure "cool" factor because like... yeah the kabuto riders are kinda inherently cool. cast off, as an idea and an in universe mechanic are amazing and the clock up idea is brilliant. this show, from 2006, made on the budget of, well, a kamen rider season, achieves some stunning speedster action sequences that surpass some higher budget productions (I am looking at the CW flash here, to be clear).

kabutos story is a little slapdash, its kinda all just happens at the end and there's not a huge build up but it also really doesn't matter. the cast is excellent and that carries the show. again, operative word here is "cool" and thats really all that matters.

all of that about it being "cool" said though... I think it suffers in hindsight. I am gonna ignore the potentially problematic aspects of the depiction of the Worms and the Native, "aliens as allegory" being a well documented minefield and to be fair Kabuto never really goes there. no I think the real hindsight problem is Geats. Because frankly for as good as Kabuto is, and it is good, Geats is "Kabuto, But better, and cooler". Its not really fair to look at it that way but like... that is how it feels. then again when it takes 18 years to do better than this I guess that is acheivement.

8/10. Souji Tendo is a Mary Sue (complimentary) and gods Favourite child. and he deserves it.

Den-O (2007)

you know the most frustrating part of watching a highly popular and loved season of TV? when it really is that good.

Den-O is revolutionary. Its lighter, its funnier, its more actively episodic, it more or less sets the tone and style which would later be picked up by W. its defiantly a prototype for that style, and theres still some of the more infuriating aspects of early heisei present here, but overall den-O is the first time I saw aspects of what I like In later kamen rider manifest in early heisei.

and Thats great, because it gives Den-O an identity, unlike Blade or Faiz, because even if I liked those seasons they where so samey. Den-O is fresh, its new, and its all carried by an extended cast of fun side characters.

the taros (and also Seig and Deneb) are great. They are all very simple, almost archetypical characters, but they all bring something fun to the group dynamic. obviously Momotaros is the standout, probably having the most defined Characterisation out of the bunch, but all of them are very enjoyable characters to watch and follow.

RYOTARO IS A GIRLFALIURE. HES GREAT. we need more cringe fail rider protagonists to balance out the borderline Mary sues like Tendo and Ace. but hes also a compelling MC and fun to watch.

the story does bog itself down a little right at the end and I do kinda wonder what was going on with some parts. its not that they are not explained but the ending is maybe a little quick to wrap up. still, theres a decade and a half of postseries to clear that up, which I am eagerly awaiting to watch.

8/10. Ore Sanjou indeed

Kiva (2008)

Kiva, Kiva, Kiva. How I wish you where better. This is probably the show with the most interesting premise I have seen so far. The Main story is set across a 22 year time gap, with one half being set in the past of 1986 and the rest being set in the (then) present of 2009. Thats a really cool idea, and it bolstered by the Castlevania/Gothic horror aesthetic of everything. The Kiva suit is really cool (albeit notoriously heavy, resulting in the need to the final form to debut early), the Fangire as monsters are a really nice concept design wise, Being styled after Stained Glass windows which is such a rad concept. the only problem is that the actual main character SUCKS!

Ok Lemme just step back a bit. Wataru, the Main character of the 2009 section, the Person who is the titular "Kamen Rider Kiva", is fine. pretty likable actually. No the problem is his dad, the main character of 1986, Otoya. Otoya is a creep, Hes a Womaniser, Hes a Perv, He Gaslights 1986's secondary Protagonist Yuri into being in love with him Taming of the shrew style then dumps her for a WOMAN WHO IS ALREADY MARRIED (albeit to a different abusive asshole) and who is also A FANGIRE! I think Otoya might be the most despicable Character Kamen rider has dug up, which would be one thing, but the biggest Issue is that he is a creep and most of the plot is love triangles.

and these repetitive, boring and occasionally creepy (Jirou tries to Assault Yuri at one point, which is ick and also kinda feels out of character, more on that later) Love Triangles never really stop, and drag on, and frankly it was the most tedious watch ever.

no I do like somethings in this show. the Arms Monsters are all fun characters and I really liked Jirou as a character, I thought he was fun for the most part and kinda cool. issue is that, once Otoya gets in range, everyone in this show has a % chance to be corrupted into as much of a creep as he is. Jirou was always Kinda weird about yuri from his intro, but the moment Otoya starts his beef with Jirou the man just falls off and becomes as bad as his opponent.

In general I think the Present cast is stronger than the past one, mostly because no Otoya (apart from that one time)... but also once again, Kiva only knows tedious love triangles so the Wataru V Taiga over Mio arc is long and drawn out and dull. again, this series has one level, and its love triangles, and they all kinda suck.

Despite ALL I have said above, I will say the final arcs are a lot of fun... mostly because of how stupid they get. Time travel is re-introduced, because that will certainly help us clear up our plot, and Wataru goes back in time to Commit self-abortion by making sure his parents never bone, which is frankly a hilarious setup and it leads to some really fun interactions and briefly even makes Otoya borderline likeable, which is then immediatly followed by the final arc where Wataru Gets dripped out of his Goard and there are some really fun action sequences.

if it wasnt as necessary for the story as it is, I would recomend kiva with all of the 1986 sections edited out... but that is a terrible idea as in a lot of way the 1986 story is more of the main story than the 2009 story. with that in mind... its got to be a 4/10, right? I wanted to like it, Kiva has a sick as fuck design... but its not good. its really not good. Fuck Otoya Kurenai. All my Homies Hate Otoya Kurenai

G (2009)

ok wtf do I even say about G? that its shockingly good for a 15 minute special designed to celebrate TV Asahi's 50th anniversary? that its so ridiculous that I burst out multiple times? that I think the idea of the driver is legitimately cool and I kinda wish this was a full series for that alone? That I kinda Love G's Design unironically? that the villain is gonzo nuts and its great?

IDK there isn't really anything to analyze here. Its a short special that has only ever aired like once because of complicated legal stuff with the actors agency. its fun, its fast, if you like kamen rider already theres no real reason not to check it out for the bit, I mean... its good?

like 7/10 but also, again, 15 minute short. that 7 does not mean nearly the same thing it does for a proper series. I know Fuck all about SMAP btw, sorry if you where expecting more.

W (DOUBLE) (2009)

I have like 3 go to series which I use to introduce new people to Rider, and the one I think I personally am Happy re-watching the most is W. Yes, its very episodic. Yes, because of this the background plot ends up getting resolved in 2 episodes ultimately. Yes, Akiko can be really annoying sometimes. Yes. I know its not perfect. I do not care.

W is pure fun. It is one of the funniest seasons the show has to offer, and also one of the most heartfelt. The show can go from sidesplitting comedy to actual serious moments in a heartbeat and it manages this without once experiencing tonal whiplash. the entire cast is likeable, the story is light and not super high stakes but fun, the individual clients that the cast encounter are great, the Music SLAPS (nobody's perfect is an under-rated rider banger IMO, love that song), and the suits are immaculate (even if most of the riders are just W retools).

speaking of other riders, the side content here is A+ too, with the WXDecade movies W portion being a really solid explanation of the backstory and giving us time with the best kamen rider who unfortunately doesn't have more screen time, and Gaia memories of fate is also just a good time, with a good set of villains and some really cool action.

also Phillip and shotaro are just funny. I love Wikipedia and crap sherlock holmes, they are great.

8.5/10. cant give better because it is not perfect but I love it.

OOO (2010)

OOO is a mess. Like, the plot changed 5 times behind the scenes kind of mess. like I hear that during the seasons development and even airing who the final boss was going to be was constantly shifting between Ankh, Date, Maki and the eventually Cut-save-for-one-canonically-questionable-movie Giru. This, like many things, I blame on Decade... because its all Decades fault. However, despite all that... yeah OOO is kinda good innit?

OOO still stands as the, objectively, best execution of the Mix-and-match Rider gimmick. OOO does not have super forms in the traditional sense, everything is just a variation on the base form, and the closest to super forms that you do get, the combos, are not very reliable long term. also, what forms the character has access to change constantly through the series based on what Medal Eiji has, meaning that you never get OOO at their full power. hell the series ends with Eiji with almost no medals, making them (debatably) the weakest they are in the whole series. its a very interesting dynamic and its something I wish would be done more often in rider. (Geats does get close and I applaude that.)

Also... you know, its just well written. I love all of the characters, Ankh is an amazing foil to Eiji, Goto and Date make fun Secondary Riders, Mr Kogami is Amazing and I love that they keep bringing the character back in unrelated media, best part of super hero senkei fight me.

yeah. OOOs good. I wish I could be more analytical with this particular season but I cant. my brain does not allow it. 8/10. great season.

Fourze (2011)

how the fuck do I talk about Fourze? Its a great season, don't get me wrong, but I think its the most uncomplicatedly "good season" I have ever seen. like its just good. its not good in and interesting way, its not good in a way that is worth talking about in any depth, its just Good.

and theres my problem, because I dont like that, I really want to have thoughts on these seasons because otherwise... what am I doing here, wasting my time writing about funny Bugmen on the hellsite. but really, fourze is just good. its got good characters, its got a good story, its got good vibes, its just good in a very uncomplicated way.

my biggest criticism, which isnt even really that much of a criticism, is because the show has to get through 40 astroswitches, a good number either never re-occur during the show or are just kinda weird and pointless in their function outside of their specific focus period. But even then thats so minor because the 40 astroswitches are never really that much of a focus and also, once again, the weird and whacky ones are just fun.

9/10. I wish I could say more, but its fourze

Amazons (season 1) (2016)

it has occurred to me after finishing Geats I should probably include the oddities in this post/run-through because even if they are not "Main seasons" they are certainly worthy of discussion (and also I do intend to include showa here at some point, even if I am not watching it yet. who knows, by the time you are reading it maybe the showa shows are included). they give us a glimpse at ideas and characters which cant be explored normally in rider, and grant potentially interesting re-interpretations of age old characters.

with all that said... I don't really care for Amazons. season 1 specifically, I have not yet finished season 2 and it was removed from amazon prime so there goes one of the few ways to legally enjoy this franchise.

on its own its fine, like I dont think this is a particuarly bad attempt at "kamen rider but adult, violent and edgy" but I do feel that ultimatly thats all that Amazons really has. its unbearable dower and dark and features so few really likeable characters. I get why its so violent, the violence was the defining feature of original Amazon and so of course with an adult re-imagining you lean into that, but it still feels really tryhard, and more than anything, just miserable.

I might come back to this particular entry at some point because Honestly I think season 1 warrants a re-watch from me and maybe I will get it more or care more for what its doing. but all that said, 7/10. its fine. if you want Violent rider this is violent rider. I just dont feel like its that much more than that.

Zero-One (2019)

Zero One was my first season, and its a pretty well loved season by the wider community. its one of my 3 go-to "if you want to get into Kamen Rider, Start here" seasons, and its the one I point too most often when that question comes up because its the most recent, and therefore has the best VFX of any of my go-tos.

so when I say that I fucking hate this season, that might come as a surprise. if I hate it, why do I recomend it?

well its simple really. Zero-One has major, Ground up Writing and stakes issues which makes it, at best, a very frustrating watch.

Death is meaningless. most of the characters who die are AIs who are revived in the very next episode with no cost, and remembering everything that happened to them prior to their death. only 1 character death, in the whole show, Sticks, and thats Wazu (I will be using Izu, Azu and Wazu because Is, As and Was would get confusing), and that episode set is ultimatly kinda unimportant and Wazu's death is forgotten, never to be bought up again.

the ending is a mess, mostly due to covid causing constant changes to the series plans, but those final few episodes are rough and I wish that the series had ended with the Ark as the main Badguy, rather than having Aruto Heelturn and then making Horobi the final boss.

also, and I try not to bring up post-series in this because its broadly unimportant, but zero-ones post season content is utter dogshit. the movie is ok, although reviving Izu not only retroactivly makes the series ending dumber but also effectively means new Izu was murdered and her body was jacked by old izu (WHICH THIS IS NEVER EXPANDED UPON, IT JUST HAPPENS), but what the hell was zero-one Others? yeah, sure, just kill off all of the interesting characters who could have had really interesting post-series stories, Lets character assassinate everyone in this show, and then lets also kill off the secondary rider in the cruellest way possible because fuck you I guess. No I am not over Fuwa, I will never be over Fuwa, but even more so I am not over Ikazuchi and Naki. those two where Criminally underused in the show, but now we will never get a chance to get more time with them. Thanks toei.

with all that having been said... IDK, Zero one is fine. its far from the worst season I have seen, and I do still recomend it as a starting point for the franchise as a whole because its a good "onboarding" point if you will. its about as basic as a rider season can get.

Despite everything I have said: 5/10

Saber (2020)

Saber is also really bad, but kind of in the same way that Fourze is really good. Its bad but I don't really have much to say about it. by all accounts, it would have worked much better as a Sentai season rather than rider given the heavy team focus and a core Red-Yellow-Blue Main trio.

Saber is largely forgettable. its plot meanders around, its characters exist, and its individual story arcs tend to just happen. its not a very interesting series, and I think that really its problem. if it was as bad as it is but in an interesting way, i would probably prefer it because at least I would get that it was trying something, but really the Series is just kind of bland.

However, its not completely pointless. The henshin jingles and standby loops are A+ tier, Special shout-outs going to Slash. Desast, while he does nothing most of the season and his existence is confusing, is a fun character and I am glad he is back in recent media (although I... haven't watched any of it yet, maybe it sucks). and, of course, the Crossover Movie with Zenkaiger is Excellent. you do not have to watch saber, but you owe it to yourself to watch that film. its a wonderful, heartfelt love letter to both franchises and I love it.

but in all... saber kinda bad. I think the biggest example of why is found in Durandal, who is introduced as this big problem... but then the moment Touma figures out his gimmick hes now nothing. while this is the biggest example, its kinda an inherent repeating problem for the whole show.

2/10. not 1 because it has some good aspects... but ultimatly I would rather be angry at a season than bored with it.

Revice (2021)

So its... kinda a catchphrase of mine to say "Revice is fine, y'all are just mean" but also like... I do Get why some people dont like it. the second half can feel strange as compared to the first, Vice is a very Abrasive character to have around for every episode, and a lot of its best aspects are in side content.

but like... man I like revice. I like its themes of Freedom VS saftey, I like how it handles the aspect that being a rider pretty universally sucks for all of its characters. I like how Morally ambiguous the majority of the cast are. I like how no-one is treated as irredeemable, even if some of them are.

and mostly I like Ikki and Vice. this season lives or dies for you based on if you like the two characters at the center of it. all of the awesome suits and interesting villains mean nothing if your main characters are not likeable. and I think these two work. they bounce off of each other well and I really like the sort of broadly unstated fact that vice is all of the parts of Ikki which Ikki rejects. Ikki is humble and selfless to a fault, mostly quite and reserved, while vice is loud and narcissistic and energetic. I think their dynamic works really well.

it also plays into a theme of the season which I really enjoy, the Idea that the characters inner demons are the parts of themselves that they reject and that they ultimately have to come to terms with those parts of themselves. by the end of the series, Ikki is a bit more like vice, and is much more comfortable with the "Vice" parts of himself (even if he doesnt know why because of tragedy and heartbreak). In comparison, the other igurashis have done the same. Sakura is much more comfortable with the parts of herself she considered weak, while not letting that over ride her kung-fu Girlboss attitude. Daiji has come to terms with his Middle-child angst and insecurities. and Genta has come to terms with the mistakes of his youth and is looking to grow past them.

revice is not perfect, its storytelling can be a mess sometimes, its barely a crossover/anniversary season, the last 4 episodes feel more like Vcines than actual episodes of the show... but Damn it Revice meant something to me. this was the first season I watched as it was airing, but even regardless it stands out to me on how well handled this was. I have yet to really dive in on post series and god I hope they dont fuck it up like they did with zero one... but For me, Revice is special.

8/10. Revice is Fine. Y'all are just mean

Geats (2022)

Kamen Rider Geats is... something else. I am writing this literal seconds after finishing the final episode, because I have known what I want to say about this season for a long time but after seeing its ending just... wow.

Put simply: Geats is the first time (as far as I have seen) since Kuuga that the show has reached this level of pure, technical "greatness". Not since Kuuga has the writing been this good, the suits this good, the fights this good. and remember, I consider Kuuga to be the best season this show has done. Geats is that good.

its rich, its deep, its beautifully shot and choreographed, Its characters are layered and interesting. Geats is a tour-de-force in terms of this franchise. I thought revice was going to be a hard act to follow but geats blew it out of the water.

I do want to stress that while I consider Geats to be up there in terms of quality, I don't necessarily enjoy it as much as other seasons. Reminder that Enjoyment and "objective" quality are frequently two different things, but I would be lying if I said that I did not also still love this season.

also Geats says eat the rich. I will not elaborate further but if you have seen the show you know what I mean.

9/10. only losing a point because the disaster arc kind of never went anywhere

Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

fuck it this counts. As of Writing this part, I have not actually seen the original 1971 Kamen Rider series. I wholly intend to some day, I just haven't gotten around to it. so please bare in mind that some stuff I have to say about this movie may just be accurate to what that show is like.

now I am going to leave the Pacing of the film alone as far as criticism goes. even though Shin deviates heavily from the source material, it is still trying to adapt the broad strokes and tone of a 90-odd episode TV show from the 70s into under 3 hours. Plus, this is nothing new for the Shin Japan Heros films, Shin Ultraman also suffered from this.

what I will criticize is the fight scenes. Hot take but like... Geats was better. a TV show with a fraction of the budget and half the development time has better fight scenes than the big budget movie. so much of the action, especially in the first half, is weirdly edited and lacks cohesion. this does pick up towards the end, and, yes, I cheered in delight when Takeshi and Ichimonji went sicko mode on the shocker riders. like audible yell of "YEAH!" chear, but again those first few fights are weird and not great to watch.

beyond that honestly pretty major criticism, the film is very good. its kind of melodramatic and dower a lot of the time but given its specifically aiming for the tone of those 14 episodes of 1971, from what I know that's fine, that's how those episodes went. Plus, I am not going to say it isnt effective. I cried, I cheered, a good time was had by all.

This is not my favourite piece of Kamen rider media. honestly I dont know If I will revisit it for a long time. it lacks a lot of what I enjoy in this franchise. that said, this is a phenomenal work. I respect if for what it attempts, and enjoy it regardless of my aversion to the style. 9/10. Kamen rider in its purest, most raw, most uncut form.

Gotchard (2023)

Geats was always going to be a tough act to follow, so when I say that Gotchard is kinda mid in comparison to its predecessors know that I still think its good. Gotchard is, for better and for worse, a lighter season. Its not taking itself too seriously, its here for a good time and it knows that. its perfectly average as a rider season and that's fine.

If there is one thing which Gotchard does excel at, its suit designs. I love Evocative Kaijin and the Malgam are damn evocative. the additional arms, the look of being made out of strips of metal. this of course continues to the main antagonists, the Abyssal kings. this is not to diminish the riders designs, Gotchards use of chrome is striking and Valvarad and Majade are both very solid designs in their own right. I think the only real costume miss is the final big bads design with his fucking HUGE tits, like holy shit Glion calm down

oh yeah, and Majade. the first Girl secondary rider. I wish she did more tbf, Rinne is very important to the story and yet also feels sidelined alot, but she is a historically important character and a big step on the way to a Girl MC for the series.

Aside from that... yeah Gotchard sure is a kamen rider season. big up for its distinction of only introducing secondary riders at roughly the mid-point, it has been a long time since there wasn't 2 riders basically from day one. Also uh... the ending is kinda underwhelming and they very much fridge all of the abyssal sisters with the half-hearted promise of "oh we will revive them in the post series its fine" which is super dumb. Did lachesis really go through all that just to die as part of Spanners character arc? Big cringe.

Gotchard gets a 6 out of 10. pure average, but average is fine and I think that if you want a fun season of kamen rider you cant go wrong with Gotchard.

Gavv Section Coming once Gavv is done and not a second sooner.

[cookies-sports]

I know that it's not uncommon for there to be a recency bias in people's knowledge and discussions about women's football, with the growth in interest since ~2022, bit it's still odd to see it played out sometimes.

This season (and over the pre-season), I've seen discussions about whether it would be beneficial to have two relegation spots in the WSL. That wasn't the odd part, and the discussions around that are interesting. What was odd was that West Ham were frequently being used as an example of a team just "getting by". With sentiments like 'West Ham have been coasting through for too many years now' and 'West Ham just do better than the newly promoted team and call it a day'. Meanwhile, Brighton are often being described as "mid-table teams".

But neither of these are completely accurate descriptions.

(More below the cut)

I've seen both these sentiments a fair bit in comments on Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok, and even from a few big name accounts and WoSo journalists. They seem to have simply become accepted or assumed to be accurate, but how did the tables actually play out?

2023/24 - West Ham were 11th on 15 points, 9 points off relegation. Brighton were 9th on 19 points. Newly promoted Bristol City went back down with 6 points.

2022/23 - West Ham were 8th with 21 points and 10 points from relegation, above Tottenham, Leicester City, Brighton, and Reading. Brighton were 11th on 16 points and Reading went down on 11. Liverpool were the team promoted into the WSL the previous year.

2021/22 - West Ham were 6th with 27 points and 16 points clear of relegation, above Brighton, Reading, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City and Birmingham City. Brighton were 7th on 26 points and Birmingham City went down on 11. Leicester City were the newly promoted team the previous year.

2020/21 - West Ham were 9th with 15 points and just 3 points clear of relegation (that relegation battle was tight that year!), above Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Bristol City. Brighton were 6th on 27 points, and Bristol City went down on 12 points. Aston Villa had been promoted the previous year.

2019/20 - West Ham were 8th with 16 points and 10 points clear of relegation, above Brighton, Bristol City, Birmingham City, and Liverpool. Brighton were 9th with 13 points and Liverpool went down on 6 points. Manchester United were the team promoted the previous year.

2018/19 - West Ham were 7th with 23 points and were technically 26 points clear of relegation due to Yeovil Town losing 10 points to end up on -3 for going into administration, but were realistically 13 points clear. They were above Liverpool, Brighton, Everton and Yeovil Town. Brighton were 9th on 16 points. This was both Brighton and West Ham's first year in the WSL and their first year as professional teams (on paper, at least, the threshold for a fully professional team and the wages needed to live are not always in alignment).

So, in summary we have:

West Ham: 7th, 8th, 9th, 6th, 8th, 11th

Brighton: 9th, 9th, 6th, 7th, 11th, 9th

Which are very damn close, with West Ham doing a bit better on average over the years.

There's a lot to criticise about West Ham the club, who very much do not care about their women's team and this is well documented. (At various points in the last decade, for example, the women have been forced out of the training grounds and had to train in a roadside field, had to crowdfund their own kit, and the women's team joint-chairman lodged a formal complaint against the club for alleged discrimination).

However, fans of the club seem very split with discourse on the team. More of the fans who came in through the men's team seem less inclined to blame West Ham the club and more likely to blame the players and Rehane Skinner. Other fans rightfully point out that the players and coaches are completely hampered by awful structure and club support, so any failings from individuals are just worsened by the situation they're in.

I absolutely think the club itself should be called out for how they treat their women's team. Also, I completely understand the discussions around how people would prefer West Ham's place be taken by a team where the club do care about the women's team. I just don't think the failings of the club equal that of the women's teams and it isn't accurate to suggestion that the team have been content to sit just above relegation year-after-year. Maybe West Ham then club don't care, but...the players certainly seem to.

It's definitely not accurate to call them a relegation zone team and Brighton a mid-table team. Before this year, Brighton weren't challenging the top half of the table either.

[anosci]

Media Thread 2024

im making a list of media ive watched/played/etc this year with brief thoughts. its going to be far less featured than my music list, but still a bit long.

list below the cut

January

1/ Portal Revolution (2024) i went in expecting a very polished set of portal 2 styled test chambers. i was NOT expecting a story that captured my imagination very good experience

2/ The Ancient Magus' Bride (2017) every review i saw for this said it's bad. huh??. sure it's not perfect but i quite enjoyed it. a bit soft, a bit atmospheric, a bit girly. amazing job actually drawing me into a british fantasy setting.

3/ Violet Evergarden (2018) at worst, it feels a bit like its on rails, maybe eager to lose focus. but overall i rather enjoyed the story of the most traumatized girl in the world slowly learn to be human. idk if its "65th best anime ever" good, but… a lovely ride!

February

4/ Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) i heard this was somewhere between nfsmw 2005 (which i love) and burnout paradise (which i just Couldn't get into). i heard correctly. i fell in love with this. with the semi-open world. the daynight cycle and weather. and with drifting somehow! (but mostly weaving through traffic.) captivated. also worth mentioning: the cop mode was an interesting variation in gameplay. not my fav, but good.

March

5/ Titanfall 2 (2016) finally playing this and.. yeah I see why ppl were comparing it to HL2. I'm more "nodding along with this assessment" than feeling it, tho… idk. it's good but it doesn't resonate with me. the movement, though! that slaps! is this… schmoovement?

6/ Need for Speed: Heat (2019)

this was hard to get into, specifically because the pacing was just kinda... wack(?) for me anyway. plus a lot of other small little spots of friction. but it was never enough to turn me away (mw2012, burnout paradise)

by the end of the "storyline" races, i found myself having a good time. maybe a mixed bag, but well worth the 3 dollars or w/e it was.

April

May

7/ Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2018)

a damn good bait and switch. i feel the focus got a bit wobbly in the middle, but i found myself enjoying the overarching exploration of Puberty Syndrome nonetheless. i do not like tsundere but this was played honestly enough that i evaded cringing. the show is an interesting web of relationships centered around a bit of a straight shooter. i think it worked nicely, though i fear it wasn't focused enough to truly stick with me. i cant help but imagine a heavily trimmed version with just the first and final arc. that would've blown some socks.

8/ Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (2019)

yeah the show was good enough that i watched the movie immediately after. (im not as interested in the 2nd movie tho.) i feel like i chugged a pint of stupid juice before watching this but i still followed the key plot points i think. is madoka genre? there's something satisfying about this explanation of the loose anime thread, though i think this might've worked better as The Anime (RE: trimming etc). a bit of kudos for giving some weight to "it was all just a dream"

9/ Kaguya-sama: Love is War (2019) this show is at its best when it's needlessly dramatic and convoluted. sometimes, it's brilliant. but, sadly, it also wants to stay in the episodic high school romcom genre, complete with serious pining. maybe that part's ok but it's surely not for me. i do not trust this to stay fresh for 3(?????) seasons.

June

10/ Dungeon Meshi (2024) i have the opposite of a soft spot for high fantasy stuff. hate it. this reeks of it. and yet, whenever im watching it, i am FULLY drawn into the world with a sense of wonder and anticipation. there were so many characters and all of them were delightful. my only real complaints were that, especially towards the end, the pacing was wack. feels like they chopped it to bits for the anime... and for what? a つづく? man... ill probably actually grab the manga.

July

11/ Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu (2019) it's cute before it's anything else. i was drawn in by a very relatable protagonist that literally has a panic attack first episode, but… that didn't last. I got 3 episodes in before deciding that the show isn't for me. the person that this show is for, though, i think is in for a treat. nako is alright.

12/ Ride Your Wave (2019)

very…. summer. maybe a little too bright for me (not literally but. vibe. ily.) i somehow missed the "supernatural" tag and wasn't sure how grounded to be, which was fun lol everything is connected in a satisfying way, but something didn't quite click for me. not sure what it was. or wasn't. i'd still call it a good watch

13/ Weathering with You (2019)

I saw a review of this that went as follows: "discout kimi no na wa". that's… almost right, but really reductive. it didn't hit as hard for me, but carried an atmosphere all of its own. i think its biggest weakness was deploying the damsel in distress trope for the climax. absolutely throwing away a lot of character development... second weakness was not leaning into the supernatural angle, but I also think that's 100% a matter of taste. I think the two could have been solved in one stone, but meh... aside from that: vibes were off the charts, and the art direction wall to wall great. every frame a painting etc

August

14/ Mother 3 (2006)

for the first time since November 2008 (apparently), I decided to revisit Mother 3.... via Lauren the Flute's Let's Play. I remember way back then that I thought M3 was a little weaker than EB for me. Revisiting it has solidified that opinion for me: It's super strong at some parts and really weak at others, to my taste at least. For the most part, everything I remembered as "my fav bits" from 16 years ago are my favorite bits today. To comment on Lauren's playthrough specifically: at glance, she seemed to be the most emotionally invested. and. yeah! It wasn't the best stream setup, but it was the most resonant. another LP of hers may appear here lol

September

October

15/ Beastars (2019)

Furry anime? "Yes", but the nontherian kind. Zootopia ass. This immediately had me suspicious from episode 1. But then, I kept trying to see if I was wrong. and the show kept delivering some fascinating symbols! the hype was back! and then it threw all of that away. "you were reading it backwards the whole time dumbass". augh. if I hadn't done that, I think it'd be an ok watch. what kills me is that some of the plot threads here would make an INCREDIBLE anime. but they withered away from a lack of focus as some really annoying threads were added instead. also the icky biological essentialism. what a terrible aftertaste. :(

props for having (half of) a really good sex scene though i guess? I was kinda impressed.

16/ Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! (2020)

what a delightful nod to not just the art of animation, but the practice of it. the shitty parts. the deadlines. the overworking. said with reverance!

each of the characters were interesting foils for each other, though to varying degrees. Kanamori became my favorite. she took the role of manager, a role thats somewhat antagonistic usually. yet in here she looked like a badass mob boss, fighting for the creatives, brandishing huge clever strength.

lovely show!

November

17/ BNA (2020)

it is ASTOUNDING how much more I enjoyed this than Beastars. I can't help but make the comparison since they're kind of companion shows: 2020 furry anime. but. god damn.

treating beastmen (furries) as a separate class, like humans with "superpowers", did wonders for the plot.

I think both BNA and Beastars tried to show a rigid system of thinking and say "it doesn't have to be this way. tear down the barriers.", but BNA actually pulled it off. the bad guy became a Big Bad obsessed with racial (species-ial?) purity, whos downfall was literally in mixing blood.

what im saying is BNA is the pro-choice + antifa version of Beastars.

watching this was fun because it was well structured. i picked up plot elements from their foreshadowing. fun! animation great. idk. all around good time, even if i dont think itll stick with me. fun watch!

18/ Haibane Renmei (2002)

I had an itch to revisit this again. it's a flawed masterpiece. and the flaws are all petty things. budgetary stuff. i wish the soundtrack were longer and the shots larger and the folly higher quality. as-is it feels like peering through a foggy window into a beautiful garden.

but MAN it's a good damn garden.

the finale is a bit too "hardcore action" than it needs to be but every other aspect is just. a delight.

i realized this time that my initial reaction to the show was probably heavily influenced by these surface level complaints. "i wish the soundtrack were less orchestral" i probably said at the time. but now i think it should've been more. i can't imagine it veering too far away from what it has. mushishi has its sound and haibane has this sound. iykyk

19/ Charge!! Cromartie High School (The Movie) (2005)

the live action adaptation of the manga, on kenny lauderdale's rec. it's very...... low budget and 2005-core. but despite that, it does a great job at being CLEAR with its delivery of jokes and information. clear hilights for me: the hijacker scene (until the ***ism) and the "getting the team back together by walking towards the camera" scene. also the drugs scene lmao.

there were quite a few jokes and gags that misfired or just didnt work at all, but that might be to-be-expected for a film like this. a fun watch as a fan of the source material, but only just.

20/ Arcane S2 (2024)

holy shit this is drop dead gorgeous 110% of the time. every frame a god damn painting.

the plot felt like A LOT of threads that weave in and out of each other. just when everything feels like it's starting to resolve nicely, a thread you forgot about barges in and undoes everything. rinse and repeat. it's fun actually.

very underwhelmed with the ending but w/e. a nice watch

December

21/

[justsalpals]

I should be sleeping, but the post-special MisMag thoughts wanna come out NOW. So forgive my late night incoherency as I type out my thoughts in whatever order they come to me.

1. I would pay money to see art of K's legendary Tad Party outfit. They are gorgeous.

2. Any pronoun K my beloved, I will continue to project my entire gender on you

3. I can't remember the exact context, but there was a moment where someone called Evan a man and he said something like "not for long!" Which I'm sure was just an offhand joke in context that meant something else but also: trans!femme Evan my beloved. (Edit post rewatch: this was when Evan made the wild decision to magically track Tad by scent, to which Aabria argued "You're a man!" and his response was "For now!" Clearly a joke but I stand by what I said.)

4. Axelby screentime!!!!!

5. Dr. Boodle is NOT the headmaster after all, which I do like (even if it's a retcon) if this is going to be a continuing story. If things ended season 1 it would've be a nice setting detail for the ending, but this feels more appropriate for both the world that's been established and also for interesting plot moving forward.

6. Mismag timeline my beloathed

7. Evil things suddenly pausing to go "Hey Sam" is now my favorite running bit

8. Pleased and relived that they're actually calling Khan her preferred name now. I'm sure last season it was a mix of forgetfulness and trying to lean into Jammer's nickname angle, but it always set really wrong that they had that whole touching scene and then called her Cleo the rest of the season

9. I ended season 1 completely loving Jammer and Khan's entire dynamic, and mildly distasteful of Sam and Fergus (in that fun "oh they're Not Lasting way" rather than an actual story complaint). The special Immediately made both their relationships feel Doomed in a hilarious, believable, and bittersweet way.

10. In season 1 K was goth and edgy at first, and then overcorrected into Pink Princess territory, and then evened out into a more true to herself middle ground. I adore that Evan went through a kinda similar, though not as obvious, journey. At first he was overly awkward and constantly backpedaling, desperate to fit in and not be weird about his background or literal demons. Then after having his friends for a few months, he kinda absorbed in their personalities and actively seemed to reflect back and match the energy of the others. Now he's more evened out: more confident in himself and outspoken, not shying away from his shitty background especially when he believes that he has helpful knowledge to bring to the table.

11. Similar note: hyper vigilant Evan, ready to commit atrocities at a moments notice for his friends, is so damn important to me

12. I am once again back on my poly pilot program bullshit. Sir I'm love them.

13. If Brennan doesn't tell me what Evan got for the rest of the pilot kids I'm going to Scream. Directly in his ear. For an extended period of time.

14. The little details implying Evan and the nurse meet a lot <3 Evan has a stash of tiny cokes and an adult he can trust

15. Jammer's echo location. Just. That whole bit.

16. Sam wearing a slutty Mrs. Claus outfit, stabbing a horrible cryptid with a broken whiskey bottle, streamed live to thousands (if not millions) of watchers. Icon. Queen shit. I am free on Thursday please call me if you are available on Thursday when I am free.

17. I got you Fortnite coins

[anarchyforcanon]

I have a lot of deeply opinionated issues with Gabriel's characterization and arc throughout season 13 so I thought I would create a post compiling them:

I was never happy about how he was captured. The explanation of Loki's children selling him out because they blamed Gabriel for the death of their grandfather was such a reach. I know in mythology, the Norse gods were never the most rational, but Lucifer wasn't present in Hammer of the Gods because he was after Gabriel, so I'm not sure how you can blame him. The second part of this I don't like, is how was Asmodeus able to capture him? We saw in season 13 that Gabriel was able to kill Asmodeus without even being fully powered, so how was Asmodeus able to get the drop on him as only a Prince of Hell? Another issue with the whole capture, what made Asmodeus believe he could survive pumping Archangel grace through his veins? It felt like another reach of just trying to "underpower" Gabriel to then show how powerful he truly was except they didn't...

I'm not a fan of how they made Gabriel almost satirical to the plot. I've made a post about how Lucifer's characterization for seasons 11+ was canon to his Hallucifer personality instead of his actual season 5 personality but this same character mistake can be drawn for Gabriel as well. Gabriel's personality seemed more reminiscent of Castiel's hallucination in season 9? created by Metatron instead of his personality from season 2-5. Maybe this is because he didn't have much screen time in the early seasons to fully flesh out his character compared to season 13, but a lot of Gabriel's actions he made in s13 just rubbed me the wrong way, almost as if the writers had written a more fan favorited personality for him.

This is my biggest complaint; his trashed character arc. There was numerous references to Gabriel's growing importance to the balance of Supernatural that would've surpassed his presence from just season 13. It started with him killing Loki and stating that he was giving up his title as the Trickster. Then we had a scene of Naomi telling Castiel about the lights going out in Heaven as there wasn't any angels powering it and this lead to Castiel alerting her of Gabriel being alive - that he could possibly help. And we had another conversation between Castiel and Gabriel in the AU about the same topic, with Castiel convincing him to return to Heaven after they leave the AU. All this should've lead to Gabriel reclaiming his title as an Archangel and him becoming the new ruler of Heaven, as Lucifer, Raphael and Michael had done before him. Instead we got Gabriel being killed in a piss poor fight to AU Michael. It seems the writers of Supernatural could never understand that dying as a "hero" isn't actually an interesting way to go.

I love Gabriel, he was one of the highlights of season 13 in my opinion but the way every aspect of him was written for it will always be one of the reasons it's my least favorite season.

[naivesilver]

Oh, and of course, the 'free space' ask. Pick out three questions (from either ask game) of your choosing and three ocs to answer them with 🥰 THAT or maybe number 38 for a handful of them?

I mean I can do BOTH, can't I ☺️☺️☺️💓💓💓

OC Ask Game

Picture OC Ask Meme

9.What is one universe/story an OC would fit in to besides the one they live in?

Grace would be the ideal protagonist for a story like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor, because honestly? She wouldn't be so out of place in a mansion full of ghosts with a candelabra in hand, since it's already most of her life anyway.

11.What’s one canon character all of you OCs LOVE? One they all HATE?

The person they hate is so easy I shall only describe her - blue clothes, magic wand, terribly smug face - but the one they love...honestly, they all think that Emma is THE SHIT. Nova is good and Regina is super cool, but many kids have a sort of complicated relationship with either or both of them. Emma, though? Emma is a near-permanent fixture in some of their lives, she helped others, and a few got reunited with their families because she was out Savior-ing. She'd probably be all of their "one phonecall"s from the police station if she weren't already the sheriff.

33.Which OC has the most genre awareness? Which OC has the least?

It depends what one means with "genre awareness". The genre they think they are in? Plucky modern fantasy that alternates comedy and tragedy and the comfort of domesticity? Pierrot is the most aware of them all, because he notices the wacky rules their life follows, with Eugene as a close second because...he's Eugene. But the genre they're actually in? Well. Currently, none of them. Pinocchio during his stay in Camelot, on the other hand....

The least awareness belongs to Fabian, either way. He doesn't give a shit about the grand scheme of things, so long as he can keep playing Super Mario Maker.

AND, for a great final round, 38. Drop a fun fact about your OC!

(In no particular order):

Igor doesn't like showing up in photos a lot, but he has pictures of Twinkle everywhere - itty bitty girl with missing front teeth, elementary school graduation, birthday party with her friends, everything. He's the kind of parent who puts their kid's most recent school picture in a frame to see how much they've grown, honestly.

you know that thing Emma does in later seasons where she just. Barges into Archie's office and flops dramatically onto his couch? Pinocchio definitely does that, though he probably texts Archie a couple minutes beforehand, just in case - I mentioned it in an earlier reply, okay, but sometimes he does need to recharge. Archie doesn't mind, mostly because hey, after the absolute HELL both of his former charges put him through, a teenager quietly laying on the carpet and cuddling his dog? Piece of cake.

Coppelia does ice skating and her main complaint about the Dark Curse is that it put them all in a town with limited athletic prospects.

Mignon's family (both bio and adoptive) have roots in the Land Without Color, but she has no plans to ever return there.

Marco behaves around Tortilla the turtle just as any other dad who originally said they didn't want a pet does - he spoils her and addresses her very politely, to Leona's fond exasperation.

speaking of which, final one: the boys always treat Leona for Mother's Day, i.e. making her breakfast and getting her a gift, but they also usually deliver a little card to Nova, and she cries. Every. Time.

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched This Summer

Summer 2020 has officially come to a close. It’s fall in Animal Crossing and the trees are beginning to turn. Much like quarantine, I spent a lot of my free time watching anime when I wasn’t stressing over starting college. Now that the school year has begun, I thought it would be nice to reflect on everything I’ve watched! 

These Anime were seen between 6/14 - 8/31 (my Birthday!) and are listed in chronological order.

They will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn't like about each show!

1. Bakemono no Ko - 8/10

This was such a great way to start out the summer! I love the dynamic between Kumatetsu and Ren. Overall its a little cliche, but it’s also very wholesome. It’s by the same studio that made Wolf Children (which I loved!). so I knew it was going to be good. My favorite aspect of this movie was its backgrounds and world building! 

2. Wan Sheng Jie - 9/10

Oh my gosh! I know that this is technically a donghua, but its on MAL, so it counts. This show quickly became my favorite slice of life of all time. I adore the art style and all of the characters. The comedy, plot, and design blends so well together. Everything in Wan Sheng Jie feels warm and comfy. It’s also confirmed for a second season! After seeing its cliff hanger ending, I’m so anxious for what comes next! 

3. Dororo - 7/10

I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for studio MAPPA. I really liked the historical aspects of Dororo. From the outfits to the ways characters behave, its grounded in the constraints of feudal Japan. I would have given this show a higher score if it was a little more grounded in science. I feel like more time should’ve been given to the demons and antagonists of the show. Our MC was so over powered, which made the final fights of the series more lack-luster. I think its less of the anime’s fault and more because the original source material is from the 60s. That being said, I loved this show! It was cute and action packed. Though it isn’t perfect, it holds its own.

4. Bungou Stray Dogs - 5/10

The concepts and action are misconstrued in Bungou Stary Dogs. This is one of those shows that I chose to watch because it was all over Tumblr. The powers themselves are cool, but I can’t understand why this series is so praised. At it’s core its predictable and basic. The fights seemed low stakes and low energy. None of the humor really felt like it belonged. It tried too hard to be something it isn’t. I don’t think I’ll watch beyond this first season. 

5. Kami no Tou - 4.5/10

First off, fuck Rachel, me and my homies hate Rachel. I really really had high hopes for Tower of God. It paves the way for Webtoon adaptations in the future. Its such a shame that this adaptation SUCKED. I have not read the source material, I’m going solely based on the anime. It wasn’t good? It was horrible. I hate Bam, I hate Rachel. I think all the characters expect Rak were awful. Please don’t make a season 2. Please. If you’re interesting in Tower of God, just read the webtoon. 

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - 7/10

Shoujo anime is my guilty pleasure. I especially liked the way Gekkan Shoujo tackled Sakura and Nozaki’s relationship. Besides just the main characters, even the side characters were enjoyable! It was a fun and creative show. My only complaint is how dense Nozaki is, but I also absolutely love that part of him.

7. Jojo no Kimyou no Bouken (Parts 1-2) - 6.5/10

Jojo is not the saving grace of shounen anime. It isn’t something super revolutionary and it certainly will never be a 10/10. Part 1 was so slow and boring. Jonathan was just mediocre at best. I definitely liked Joseph a LOT more than Jonathan. Part 2 overall was much easier to watch than part 1. The fights are good, but there’s just something about Jojo that I can’t get behind. Although I’m completely bashing this series, I’m going to keep watching it. At this point, I wanna know what a stand is. 

8. Clannad - 5.5/10

I was expecting Clannad to be sad, but instead I got a cute, slice of life, romance. It wasn’t unenjoyable, but it was also a pretty slow-burning show. I loved watching Nagisa and Okazaki slowly fall in love with each other. It was funny at times and sad at other points. I am currently watching Clannad: After Story (which I’ve heard is heartbreaking), so I’m hoping to get some catharsis out of that. 

9. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai...  - 6/10

This show is only 12 episodes, and yet it still has filler episodes for some reason? I’m a person who doesn’t typically watch isekai because the genre is so over done. However, when it’s done in a very specific way it’s really fun to watch! This show was definitely a lot of fun, it’s also cute and has so many interesting character-character interactions. The ending is painfully cliche, but I think it adds to this shows charm. 

10. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen  - 8/10

I loved Love is War so much! I love their weird romantic dynamic. I love the characters, and I love the animation. It’s over the top and executes it humor masterfully. The entire show fills you with anticipation for the two main characters. Kaguya is my favorite character. Although I haven’t seen season two yet, I most certainly will! I’m so upset I hadn’t seen this show sooner.

11. Great Pretender - 8.5/10

This show is so colorful and bubbly. The animation is so smooth and they are able to tackle so many different kinds of things given its plot. The whole show itself just feels like summertime. It came out not to long ago, so some people may not be familiar with it. On top of the show itself, the music is great, with a Jazzy OP and and ED that features Freddie Mercury

12. Steins;Gate 0 - 8/10

 I loved the original Stein;Gate so much! So it’s no surprise how much I liked the second season. It builds significantly off the first season in a sort of “off shot” OVA kind of way. The events of Steins;Gate 0 don’t actually happen, but that doesn’t stop it from being meaningful. The big “twist” was predictable and a bit of a let down, but I still enjoyed this. Granted, I’m bias. 

13. Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai - 9.5/10

I sobbed. So much. This movie was phenomenal, it was such a trip. Having watched the original series, this tore my heart apart. It gets a high score for being able to take the characters I love and creating a wonderfully emotional experience. If you haven’t seen Bunny Girl Senpai, please watch it, and then watch this movie. You won’t regret it! 

14. Hotaru no Haka - 6/10

Grave of the Fireflies made me stop watching anime for a while. Studio Ghibli created something grim, something that leaves the viewers feeling hollow. Its a movie about WWII from Japan’s perspective. As an American, all I could feel while watching this was immense guilt. I will say though, that some of the movies main plot could have easily been prevented if the main character had swallowed his pride. His younger sister was also my least favorite character. I get that she’s a kid and that kids are fussy, but you would think that during wartime, she’d be more understanding and at least try to eat the things she dislikes. 

15. Yagate Kimi ni Naru - 9/10

This was a great way to end the summer. This is more that just GL romance, its a love story. Its about growing up and learning to understand your feelings. I related to Yuu so much, which made this more emotional than I expected. It’s really unlike another romance anime I’ve seen. I hope it gets confirmed for a second season. If not, I’ll be reading the manga. 

Seasonal Shows: (Things that are still airing as of 9/5/2020)

1. The God of High School  7.5/10

Another thing done by studio MAPPA. Are you surprised? I absolutely love the action in GoH. The plot however, is all over the place. The story seems fragmented and hard to follow. Like Tower of God, it was poorly adapted. I’m giving it such a high score, because it’s SO much more enjoyable then Tower of God. 

2. Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou - 4/10

My thoughts on season 2 are about the same as my thoughts on season 1. The only difference is that this season has more Jojo references. I’ve rated it lower because its so repetitive. I’m so sick of watching it, but I’ve got to see it through the bitter end.   

3. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8.5/10 

All I’m going to say about Re:Zero is that I love it. I can’t give an accurate review of it because I’ve been hyping this season since it was announced. If you’re into non-typical isekai, watch Re:Zero, its so enjoyable!

[liliaeth]

Fix it’s for Teen Wolf

I can think of a few things that would have made Teen Wolf better.

1.  I wanted more focus on Scott’s emotional response to what happened to him.  I don’t mind that Scott isn’t the type who complains about getting hurt. The problem for me was that the show rarely dealt with the consequences of Scott’s pain, and thus to the casual viewer often made it look like he simply didn’t mind, that being hurt didn’t bother him at all. Or worse, that nothing all that bad had happened in the first place.

 Doing this undermined many of the hallucination scenes.  For example, in Season 2’s Party Guessed, we get hallucinations for Stiles, Jackson, and Allison which give us a view into psychology, letting us know their issues without spelling them out.  For Scott, we got Allison making out with kanima Jackson.   Compared to the others, it felt shallow and confusing.  The writers couldn’t even bother to give us dialog.  He received the same treatment in Season 5, when they read the book designed to trigger their memories about the Dread Doctors. Stiles gets yet another scene about his dead mother who has been crucial to his story since Season 1.  Lydia sees her grandmother and her connection to both Lydia’s powers and Eichen House, as well as foreshadowing her treatment at the hands of Valack.   Malia about her Mom and sister’s death at the hands of the Desert Wolf, which is her entire arc.  And Scott?  He gets a nightmare about a dog that was never mentioned before and would not be mentioned after.

 2. I wanted more focus on Scott’s trauma in general. In Season 1, Scott was repeatedly mentally and physically violated by Peter, terrorized and abused by Derek, and hunted by the Argents, and it was taken as a given.   Even the recaps at the beginning episodes in other seasons barely show any of that.  For example, Gerard attacking Scott in clear view at the hospital, stabbing him, and threatening his mother, never appeared in any of the recaps, even in episodes where it would have been important to remind the viewers about it.

While the show had no issue showing us over and over again how Stiles or Derek or Isaac or Allison or any white character really was hurt, they did not focus on the pain Scott was put through, and thus let the viewers conclude that those events didn’t matter.

The show literally had Scott try and kill himself, twice in less than two days, first in Frayed, by refusing to let himself heal, and then again in Motel California, yet neither of those suicide attempts are mentioned even once afterwards. And this while it would have been a good call back in s5b, when Scott is once again not letting himself heal after Theo killed him. and yet again, no mention whatsoever.

 3. I wanted more consequences for certain characters.   I liked that Scott and to a lesser extent Derek were confronted with the consequences of their actions. When they screwed up, they got called out on it. When they did something wrong, it wasn’t excused.  Then they made up for it.

In contrast, certain characters, especially Stiles, got to do whatever they wanted and it was either dismissed as funny or used to make them look sympathetic.  Stiles got to be mean and cruel, and the narrative still treated him as if he were the best friend ever.  He got to assault people, hurt them, and it was treated as if somehow he was the victim. 

For example, I would have liked Stiles a lot better, if when he tortured Scott with lacrosse balls, punishing him for who-knows-what, if someone else had called him out on it or if Scott had got to defend himself, instead of just taking it because Stiles was angry.  Scott allowing Stiles to hurt him to maintain their friendship was a pattern between them, just as much as Scott taking responsibility for things that aren’t his fault.  He keeps on doing it over the course of the show, but it would have been nice if the show at the very least had made it clear that that didn’t make Stiles behavior acceptable.

Just like I wish that Peter had actually faced consequences for his actions – and/or shown some kind of true remorse for his misdeeds--instead of the others just letting him hang around after all the horrible things he’d done or reduce it pettiness.

 4. I would have liked more time spent on Melissa and the McCall family in general, especially on Melissa’s initial reaction to Scott being a werewolf. In the show, they barely spent two minutes total on Melissa’s reaction to finding out her son has been turned into a werewolf.  By the end of s6b, she was barely even behaving like a mother anymore. Even to the point where we don’t even get a conversation between her and Chris about his attacks on her son before the two of them start dating.  Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Chris and Melissa in a relationship, but it was missed opportunity to humanize both her and Scott that they didn’t bother to show her finding out about that and her reaction to it.

Instead we got the whole horror reaction, of her being horrified at seeing her son’s other face, the reaction that any LGBT kid fears when they come out to their parent. Which could have been a great metaphor, especially if they had then made it clear that Scott was bisexual.

 5. I would have liked more focus on Boyd.   The production time spent on Isaac and Erica, while Boyd’s arc was treated as almost an afterthought. We barely even got any hint on his past, in the episode before they killed him off.    They started out with Boyd as the one who wanted to be like Scott, and then never explained it.  Why not focus more on that, and their relationship?

(similar complaints go about Mason, and how little we knew about Mason, outside of him being Liam’s friend. Like... what was his relationship like with his parents? What is Mason interested in, what does he want to do with his life... how did he deal with the after effects of the Beast...

 6. I would have liked more focus on Alan Deaton. The show had such huge potential with this character’s backstory, not just with the Hales but as an emissary in general.  There was this whole mythology about druids that they barely even delved into.

To not even start on how little we knew about his personal life? Why did he and his sister have different last names? What was their relationship like?

Does he have any romantic relationships? Friendships, relationships in general?

Or how about more time spent on his role as a father figure to Scott, we got so few crumbs of their relationship when we should have gotten so much more

 7. I would have liked more focus on Scott and Theo’s interaction in Season 6.   I get that in 6a, they had Scott primarily focused on getting Stiles back, but I’ll never understand why they then didn’t use 6b, to deal with the fact that Theo had tried to murder Scott and was trying to make it up to him and the pack for what he’d done to Scott and the others.

I don’t mind Theo interacting with Liam.  Those scenes were great, but they should have at least one scene with Scott and Theo dealing with the issues between them.  For Theo’s sake, as much as Scott’s.

 8. I would have liked a complete rework of Season 6A in its entirety.  If you’re going to focus a season on an actor who isn’t available, then you have to make it about his impact on the others. Show us what difference this character made, by showing us the effects of his absence, rather than just try and make it about a romantic ship. (I’ve written a post about this already in greater detail, so limiting it to that, but seriously, that season was such a huge wasted opportunity.)

 9.  Actual character growth for Stiles. For a character who had as much screentime as Stiles did, it’s shocking just how little character growth Stiles had over the course of the entire show. This contrasts in a really bad way, when you look at how much every single other character grew and changed over the course of the show.

Just look at the last four episodes of 5b, to give an example. After almost an entire season of watching Stiles at his worst, focusing on emotional scene after emotional scene with him, he suddenly got relegated to comic relief. Why? Because they didn’t want Stiles to grow, because unless he grew, there was no way for him to go but down. If Stiles had taken responsibility for his actions, then they’d have had to admit that he did wrong in the first place. And they couldn’t have that happen.

 10. And last but not least. More moments of the kids being kids. Even if it’s just proms and beach parties. Moments where we see the characters spend time together, when they aren’t trying to stop some bad guy. Where we can see them be friends, hang out with kids their own age. Even just to remind the audience just how young these children are. And where the viewers along with the characters can rest in between the horror, because doing so makes the horror hit far more strongly in contrast to the light.

 11. Also, a better lighting budget, pretty please Davies, were a few more light bulbs that much to ask for?