#but idk I was expecting more story and stakes than we got

[buildoblivion]

did anyone else feel like that episode just didn’t get started?

[artyfartyperson]

ALSO!!!! finished Prime Empire!!!!! Uh basic opinions: Art direction was great, the music direction was great except for when the music track wouldn’t finish at the end of the episode but would fade out halfway through the song. Writing was ASS i cant believe they labelled this a Jay season, we had absolutely no focus on him at all in fact I feel like we had way more focus on Lloyd and then Jay like kind of ate up the last one. I would’ve liked if they had some sort of snotty communication with Unagami/Pixal and Zane or received snippets from rumours and Jay could sort out his feelings about his own past as well as Unagami’s. Unagami being the game itself held no weight whatsoever, neither did Kai nor Cole nor Lloyd nor Nyas death. I was more upset with Scott’s death than everyone else’s !!!

Deadass I feel like Skybound picks up the slack where Prime Empire falls short. It gives enough narrative to know what’s going on outside of Jays POV, but overall the plot follows him. It’s his season. If I was never told Jay was the poster child for Prime Empire I would’ve fully expected Lloyd to be the last to go. The deaths were deadass HEAVY because it left Jay more alone than ever. The odds were slowly stacking against him and he had to lock in to have a chance at winning. In Prime Empire it was literally like oh whatever….

Following up on that I miss the old formula they had when the villains would literally WIN for a hot minute, and the ninja REALLY had to lock in to beat their asses. Unagami really just felt like an every Tuesday villain by the end of it. Maybe it’s the general tone of the writing that changed but who am I to say… Jay did not seem to struggle in the slightest, and I genuinely think thats where the life system falls short. I would’ve MUCH preferred if it was a life AND hp system instead of “oh I got hit by a helmet bye guys catch you later” It would’ve added so much more stakes to the fight. The one hit only system just ensures the reader that no, they won’t get hit, sure how else are they going to win? It became so predictable once Nya, Lloyd and Jay had only one life left. Of course they won’t get hit, yeah sure everyone but Jay got cubed, but at THIS rate in the story you know for a fact Jay HAS to progress the story because the way they’ve written themselves into a worldbuilding corner ensures that the plot will go nowhere if he dies, so naturally he can’t.

Scenes in the season also held no weight whatsoever. Again, bringing up the deaths, and I’m also gonna bring in Lloyd and Harumi’s fight because even though she wasn’t real we still got to see him unpack some sort of emotions. It was also so…. glossed over though….. idk F in the chat ig.

Anyways I had my fun with this season!!! It’s definitely down there with Season 11 and 7 in terms of writing but it’s better than the two in terms of boredom. It was a fun watch but it’s definitely one of those seasons where you have to shut your brain off and accept that this season is just a big nothing sandwich.

Overall I think they hit some interesting key points, but fell short in the execution. Definitely a lack of focus as well I’ve noticed that a lot recently with the newer episodes.

Anyways I know I am like 4 years late but leave me be……….

[okkos-ferrum]

Unorganized helluva boss apology tour rant cuz I think I'm going crazy

Disclaimer, cuz I know helluva fans can get defensive: A lot of this is probably my subjective opinion. I'll state my tldr as my actual objective piece of criticism, but otherwise my gripes throughout this could be based on my tastes and expectations. I genuinely don't want to take away anyone's enjoyment of this show nor hate on anyone involved, so if u just want to enjoy helluva, totally skip this :]

I think I'll actually have to give my hot take here and criticize this episode, because everyone has given way too much praise for an episode I think - in the long run - hurts the show

Im not gonna even bother organizing my thoughts I'm just gonna rant, but to start, i think the decision to start the ep right after full moon chronologically wasn't the best move. The full moon episode cliffhanger was an impactful scene and a dramatic way to start the rift between stolas and blitzo. It's where the dam of two-ish seasons finally breaks, where to me, stolas and blitzo have already said everything needed to be said, at least at the emotional maturity they currently are at. Any changes in said conversation about their relationship would require growth from both separately in order to foster a healthy discussion.

So to undercut that tension by IMMIEDTLY having blitzo somehow wiggle his way back into stolas's private property to have both double down on their stance diminishes the weight new moon's finale had. The conversation, while it does add further clarity, feels repetitive and emotionally taxing to watch, because the show has literally zero scenes of either of them reflecting on the previous night. So it's just them starting up the same fight with the same talking points we already know.

Yeah, maybe it is in character for blitzo to demand a conversation after new moon, but it shouldn't have been the path the show took. It should've allowed the story to stew in the feelings brought out in new moon, both in a narrative and meta sense by taking a break from stolatiz.

Cuz honestly I'm a bit drained of it atm. The show sells itself on the premise of blitzo being a "boss" (a hell of a bos-) and him working with imp. But all of s2 has had this obsession with stolatiz ever since the popularity of ozzie's (for good reason that episode was amazing and one of my personal favs still).

Just abt half the eps in s2 carry an emotional weight around the stolitz relationship. (where s1 has stolitz is make out sessions and the occasional threat to their life, s2 takes it up to actual life or death situations and full backstories) . This increased tension and focus draws away from the intial episodic format to become a more serialized (and imo) melodrama abt the status of the stolitz relationship. Rather than concern itself over any of the imp characters and their emotions, helluva has made all of its emotional beats and stakes throughtout the whole season relate to stoltiz in some way (or it's parallel with fizz and Ozzie in ep 7).

To return back to the ep, I also take issue with its writing of verosika. I will admit that this could be subjective, as my partner, who loves verosika and was worried abt her writing going into the ep, enjoyed how the ep integrated her. But idk, I think it is so lame that an ep like full moon, which is marketed to be abt stolitz, is fine wasting its time writing the cherubs for 90% of the episode, while can't bother making verosika a larger character in her own ep.

Like she's a SINGER, but no she's back up for STOLAS'S SONG this ep. And it's not stolas's hasn't had the chance to sing love ballads before, he's got plenty. But no, the host of the party can't even be a duet to stolas, she's gotta be back up. Like it couldve been a way stronger connection between these two if they sang a duet, rather than the show AGAIN prioritizing verbalizing stolas's emotions again.

We get a full flashback to blitzo's relationship with both fizz and stolas, but nothing on his other significant relationship??? Just a line or two of how it went down and that's it??

Side tangent: It gets on my nerves how so many people are realizing now that verosika is not a bad person. Like it's clear from even in her intro ep in s1 ep 3 she's angry rightfully for how blitzo screwed her over. But now that she actually is being nice and forgiving to stolas and blitzo respectively, now she has earned the fandom's respect??? Like the amt of comments of "Oh wow, verosika isn't a villain, she's an anatognist" drives me insane

Like to me, this ep should've stepped away from stolas directly, and focus on blitzo and verosika. Have blitzo go back to ignoring his feelings by jumping back head first into business, now with the asmodeous crystal. Then bump into verosika somehow. However it may happen, verosika and blitzo, either angrily or calmly, reflect on their own past relationship at the end, which might have blitzo making a realization of how he is repeating his past mistakes. Use the episodic format to slowly allow blitzo to mature so the next time he meets stolas, he won't just double down like he did in the beginning of the ep.

I think, personally, the decision to have verosika host the anti blitzo party diminishes her as a character. It chooses to again define her by how blitzo hurt her, rather than touching on the other underdeveloped parts of her character. She has shown to be very petty yes, but to go through all this effort seems too much, since she is a pop star and should have better things to do.

Maybe explore how she, a succubus, who is meant to have primarily sexual relationships, goes abt on her day to day as a celebrity who went to rehab. Or her relationship with maybe knowing barbie. Or the other ways to explore the set ups for her in ep 3. But no, she plays second fiddle to her second focus ep for the stoltiz drama. But yeah sure, let's have full moon be abt the cherubs.

On a final and likely my most pettiest point, this ep made me cringe a lot. I'm sorry, this is very subjective of me, but I need to say it. So much of this ep felt like fanfic. Always hammering in how "he's a prince and you're an imp" kind of deal. Stolas getting overly drunk after taking a swig of one drink to have blitzo handle him being drunk. The million puppy dog eyes by blitzo, like it felt too pitying. The rushed pacing felt like a result of this indulgent kind of writing, where it priotizes creating the cute shipping scenes before thinking about the actual plot and its effect later on. Again, just my taste tho

Alright I think I ranted enough but ...

Tl;dr: Apology tour messes up the pacing and focus of the show by continously centering itself around the stolitz drama rather than allowing time to reflect by themselves

[tefifonconnoisseur]

The Peanut Butter Toast Incident (Miles Morales Unaware Vore)

I never promised I was posting these stories in order, mostly because the next story in the chronological order has 4 parts and I’m conflicted on sharing in parts as written or all in one piece. This was the first story I got a request for, and to my knowledge the first Miles Morales vore fic. This does contain unaware vore of a teenager, so be aware that’s below the cut. Enjoy! Or don’t, just please don’t burn me at the stake. I’ve got work tomorrow lol.

(We will say this takes place bedore the second one but after the first. Also Y/N for flavor points (which means your name). I know he has a roommate, but oh well. A Marvel plot with this plot was suggested by nickyjel123, and I figured I’d use my own Marvel pred “crush” [idk the term for preferred pred in a non-sexual way if there is one])

A normal morning in a dorm is, as you’d expect, usually plain and consists of mundane tasks one does to prepare themselves for a long, monotonous day of school work. Things like getting dressed, brushing teeth, preparing one’s backpack, making coffee in the communal kitchen or some cereal if you’re a baller. This is done with a level of grog often from bad sleep. For Miles Morales, this was that morning. Upon unceremoniously popping open his eyes due to a loud alarm and slowly stretching and making his way out of the bottom bunk, he began to get dressed in uniform, a typical suit that made him even more tired. Slowly, he lifted his pants onto his waist, weaved his black, slightly cracked leather belt through, and buttoned way too many buttons. Checking himself in the mirror, he had bags under his eyes from a study-filled night previously and his hair was somewhat greasy, although today Miles couldn’t be bothered to rectify his uncleanliness with anything but layers of deodorant and a spritz of gel. This was his appearance as he went through the door and towards the communal kitchen.

For Y/N though, this would be a morning that would live in infamy for its lack of luck and sheer stupidity that could rival certain programs on children’s cartoon programming. Upon awakening, Y/N popped up and slammed their head against the ceiling, causing a red circular mark to appear on their forehead. This awoke the folks in the dorm above them, who of all people were the worst ones to deal with. The particular gentleman involved in the forthcoming drama has chosen to remain anonymous, but shall henceforth be referred to by a fake name: Buford.

Buford was a STEM student pursuing the highest level of education offered at Brooklyn Visions Academy and in several of the same classes as Miles. Buford, however, was a rougher personality from old money who was not fond of Miles, but more importantly hated Y/N due to their pursuing of art and their more effeminate personality. He would often call Y/N names in passing or would steal their things and destroy them. This time though, he was in the mood to make Y/N’s day so much worse. See, his brother had created a device that could reduce matter to a fraction of its size, effectively shrinking it. Due to the nature of atoms, this effect would be temporary and last for a time that hasn’t quite been measured, but was less than 12 hours based on testimony.

This device was Buford’s way of payback: to shrink them so that hopefully they’d end up getting into hjinx. See, he doubted Y/N could be actually killed; the increased density of the atoms made the recipient of the shrinking much more resilient to things like falls or being stepped on. It would just suck and scare Y/N some. So, Buford set his action into plan and shot an orb into the floor vent, as the bouncing would inevitably lead to it reaching Y/N’s bed. The orb made a loud electric banging sound with each bounce, bouncing faster until it eventually sunk down the vent and directly onto Y/N’s sore head, making a splatting sound as it was absorbed into their hair follicles.

At first, Y/N found this to be an annoyance, slightly peeved that Buford had, at least in their mind, shot them with some sort of pellet. As they made his way to the ladder, they thought it might be a couple inches taller, but chalked it up to their grogginess and near-concussion a few moments prior. However, as they descended the ladder, they found that each step was farther away from their foot, until they had to leap off the bottom of the ladder. At this precise moment, they took a deep look around and started realizing what exactly was happening to them: shrinking, and at a pretty good rate. They noticed the details of the carpet become finer and finer, and eventually decently sized until each little follicle was up to their waist. Thankfully, their oversized shirt and pajamas had been afflicted by this orb’s atom reduction as well due to complicated things that we aren’t going to bother explaining because any attempt to do so would be so far off from logic, it would be a disservice to us and you.

As you’d expect when someone who’s usually decent height becomes a few inches tall, fear gripped their heart like a snapping turtle: unceasing and hard. At this moment, Y/N had nothing: no aid, no way to call for help, no method of finding anyone, and not much vocal power to even try. Some other factors included the fact that it was cleaning day, so someone would be in to vacuum them up, as well as it was a school day, so if they didn’t get help soon, they’d have to wait until 4, or later if Miles didn’t come back, as was a trend.

A trend that didn’t offer Y/N too many favors. Miles was pretty good at art, but Y/N couldn’t get pointers on theirs for often several days at a time. Typical schoolwork was not our protagonist’s strongest still, which made things even worse when help vanished from the dorm. They often had to find someone else to help them, which tended to be people who didn’t exactly know what they were teaching either.

However, it was the morning, and they knew that Miles would be eating peanut butter toast in the kitchen for an amount of time as he would often talk with a friend or two. If Y/N could make it over in time, they could get help. As quick as they could (which was honestly not bad pace), they ran off to the dorm commons.

Miles got distracted in the communal kitchen for a minute catching up on last-minute studying for a Physics exam that was inevitably going to nab him a decent grade. Whether this grade was up to scrutiny was another question. This setback didn’t matter too much; Miles tended to eat pretty quickly without his table manners being watched like a hawk by his parents. They had always done everything they could to raise Miles to become a model member of society: making sure he was putting in maximum effort into his work, learning life lessons, and other things that would keep him from a life of poverty and violence. Unfortunately, one lesson was not taught, a lesson that doesn’t matter nearly as much unless you’ve got an enemy around: check your food BEFORE you eat it. It was a lesson often learned by those with allergies and the picky eaters of our society, oftentimes the hard way for the latter who naturally assumed their sandwich wouldn’t have mayonnaise and made their server suffer for their lack of foresight. For those without that though, who cares?

Y/N panted, but as they looked up, an exhausted gasp emitted from them. Miles was gargantuan, his upper details barely visible from their view, but the smaller details of their shoes and legs were heightened. Every speck of sweat, every scratch and imperfection in the leather, every leg hair was visible as if it was under a magnifying glass. Those details were heightened at a level humanity often never gets to see. This daze that Y/N experienced didn’t last, as it was rudely shattered by the bellowing pop of the toaster.

Time was running out. Y/N found a stool and wrapped themselves around the leg of it, inching their way up like a caterpillar. After lots of pain, they managed to reach up onto the seat and pull themselves off. They jumped onto the handle of a drawer, but losing grip in one of their hands. Sweat from their hand transferred to the handle and loosened its grip too. Looking down, the hard tile promised a swift death to anyone who dared fall from such a height onto it. Closing his eyes, his grip let loose and he fell…

As Miles spread his peanut butter onto his toast, he thought about his roommate, Y/N. He heard a bang from their hall, and he wondered if it was Y/N banging their head hard or if it was Buford ding-dong-ditching him for the 2nd time this week. He was fully aware of the beef between the two, and hoped that he wouldn’t have to go to Buford’s again and risk losing their acquaintanceship. Then again, Y/N was a closer friend, so did he need to ditch Buford.

His thoughts lead the peanut butter toast to slip from the plate, landing upright below the handle of the drawer, exactly where Y/N fell. The timing was perfect, and Y/N survived by falling into the peanut butter. The impact still winded them for a moment, but they realized they were in this peanut butter. They didn’t realize yet that the peanut butter was slightly sticky.

Within the 5 seconds it fell, Miles gripped the toast, unaware of his roommate near the edge. A sense of vertigo fell upon Y/N as they rose up to Miles’ level. Their near-death accident not only had been prevented, it might nab them help. As loud as their baby little lungs could provide, they shouted out for Miles for assistance. Despite their effort however, their sound waves were unable to penetrate Miles’ large greasy ears, in part due to a loud fan keeping the air circulating in the room, an in part due to his minute size. At the very least, Miles’ eyes worked perfectly and hopefully would notice them waving their arms. It was with a degree of effort and their frustration that their arms had sunk into the thick, creamy peanut butter. Despite all of his effort into waving, they couldn’t penetrate the creamy butter. Their only hope was for Miles to spot them. To their utter fear, when Miles opened his mouth wide, revealing all of the details in their tongue and gums that they realized in fear that they had not been noticed. They couldn’t help but notice that his teeth were white and shiny, but sharp and somewhat pointy. The taste buds and other spots on his thick pink tongue were quite obvious at this size. Saliva coated it in a thin veneer, revealing Miles’ ravenous hunger. His throat looked healthy, with a lack of tonsils noticeable and his uvula being relatively short, not grabbable, that’s for sure. As their heart beat faster and faster with fear, Miles bit down on the bit of toast Y/N resided in. Quickly, Y/N was covered in moist toast and water-soaked peanut butter and was swished back and forth, somehow missing every single tooth that bit down on the clumps of food in Miles’ mouth. Hot, somewhat minty, somewhat rank breath filled the cavern and made the air stagnant. This was hell. Every single second that ticked by was filled with yelling and fear, filth and heat. Y/N screamed for help, begging Miles not to swallow. A wet sound rang through as their begging fell on deaf ears and they slid towards the awaiting opening to the throat.

Miles switched the fan off, and while continued chewing heard a familiar voice, extremely quiet but close at the same time. In order to hear this voice better, he decided to gulp down the food in his mouth, sending Y/N down the slick, wet tube known as the esophagus. He thought he had heard the voice say not to swallow, but he couldn’t imagine why.

Fear coursed through Y/N’s vains as the rhythmic gulping sent them further and further down the tube, squeezing them and keeping air from their chest, nearly making him pass out, until eventually they fell into the stomach, face first into the liquid below. This place was essentially a smelly sauna cranked. The place was immensely hot and stagnant, with a liquid smelling of acid hiked up to Y/N’s chest. White bubbles covered the walls like vines. Despite what they had just learned about the sulfuric acid present in the stomach, Y/N weirdly felt no pain or any other effect. It was just unbearably hot. They continued to yell, but were drowned out by the churning noises as the stomach processed the toast clumps next to him. Just when they thought this couldn’t be any more miserable, clumps of peanut butter and toast fell onto them and penetrated their already-ruined clothes and just made them feel even worse, as if the humidity couldn’t ruin their mood more.

Miles, finished with the meal, wondered what the voice had wanted him not to swallow for. It has sounded like Y/N, but it couldn’t have been them. Maybe it was his imagination or someone’s phone in the hall behind the wall they were facing. Around this time, Buford entered the room, eyeing Miles as he grabbed a protein shake from the fridge.

“Hey [Buford], have you seen Y/N this morning? I’m worried about them?” Miles inquired.

“No”, Buford said, giggling.

Miles didn’t believe Buford, saying, “Don’t lie to me. I know you two have something against each other. If you did something, I’m going to have to report you, and I don’t think that would be worth your time with how many warnings you’ve received already.”

Buford realized he wasn’t in the mood to go to the office despite the fact that his parents would make this charge go away like the others.

“Let’s just say my new atom reducer works…”, he replied, dashing away like a coward.

Miles, tired as he was, attempted to piece together everything in his mind. He wondered if Y/N had managed to get to him…

About this time is when he realized what had happened: he had somehow, someway, eaten Y/N. His closest friend here, he had just swallowed them, consumed them like they were nothing to him but just a garnish. Miles felt light-headed and a sense of vertigo at this moment and ran to the trash can, vomiting everything in his stomach out.

Around the time Buford came around, Y/N had gone from yelling to crying. They were now alone in this hell of an organ, with nobody knowing about this. He was going to die here, and nobody would even know what had happened. His tears were interrupted when the entire stomach sloshed to the side, knocking Y/N into the juices. The entire stomach squished up, and Y/N was shoved forcefully back up the tube and expelled past the uvula and every single tooth into the waste bin.

Miles quickly spotted Y/N and cupped them into his palm, hyperventilating and panicking.

“I’m so sorry dude, are you okay?! I’m so so sorry! I can’t believe I let this happen to you!”

Y/N replied hoarsely,

“It’s fine, I’m good,” Y/N replied, tears still stuck on their face indicating that they weren’t good at all. Miles grabbed a moist paper towel and washed Y/N off. This was an odd sensation. Here he was, holding his friend in his hand, cradling and protecting him in his most vulnerable position, like a baby is by their mother. Y/N felt like a baby, but felt nurtured and protected, cared about. Staring into Miles’ large spherical eyes, he saw Miles in a different way. More than a friend, but a protector, a caregiver, maybe even more. They almost didn’t want this moment to end.

Miles checked his watch and realized he was running out of time. Apologizing, he left Y/N on the dresser of the dorm with a granola bar and a cotton ball for a chair, and dashed out. Y/N was usually annoyed when Miles left him in times like this, irritated or just generally apathetic. But now, he wished that Miles would be there, not for his help, but for his presence and care. There was also the issue of their classes. They would have to miss them and had no alibi or excuse. Thankfully, Y/N generally had a good reputation and didn’t miss many classes, so punishment wouldn’t be that severe.

By the time Miles returned that afternoon, Y/N had returned to normal size, clearly having showered and changed clothes. They kinda looked cute in their Rolling Stones shirt and lounge pants, with their messy hair nearly covering their eyes. The situation earlier had been a nightmare for them both, and would be henceforth referred to as the “Peanut Butter Toast Incident”, but was more of a bonding experience for the two. Miles moved from peanut butter toast to other kinds of toast and refused to eat it with peanut butter up until the writing of this story at least.

We’d love to tell you that Buford changed or got any consequences for this, but nothing could be proven for sure. Burford improved none, as you’d expect. A few weeks later, due to separate circumstances, they did move a floor up in the dorms, but that’s about it.

As for Miles and Y/N, this was the start of a close relationship, whether platonic or romantic we don’t care to know. It was either way the start of something new between the two that started with Buford and some peanut butter toast.

[roccinan]

How do you feel when you watch the spin off? What do you think of it? And do you like it? For me, I sort of like eps 1-4, the rest are just meh, I couldn't bring myself to care for the other characters, I tried. And I was very confused, what year the spin off?. It started off good and... Idk. All I can say is that Andres truly belong in the asylum. That man creeps me out. If I were Camille, I ran away the second I saw that creep. Lol.

Hello anon! I couldn't answer you earlier because I didn't get to watch it. But now I've finished it and, hum, I certainly have a lot of thoughts that I'll probably post later LOL.

For now, here are the most fresh on my mind. I agree with you- eps 1-4 were surprisingly good, last one was pretty cool too, ralicia supremacy. I was mostly just surprised I didn't dislike it. Can't say I loved it, or that it's my ideal berlin spinoff, but for all the "factors" against it that Pina chose of his own free will asdfasdf, it turned out surprisingly OK.

Spinoff takes place around 2013, according to Pina. Which messes with the canon timeline so much we'll just have to see it as a parallel universe where time doesn't matter.

I now call spinoff!Andres my wife. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. So unfortunately, I cannot slander my bride like that.

But I liked that he was still a freak. The show didn't try to make him a better person thankfully, but I think a lot of the reviews were complaining about him being an asshole or complaining that he was ruined for not being enough of an asshole, missed the mark a bit. The main problem, if we have to pick one, about him, is that the context around him is too shallow to take seriously. His speeches about love have no substance (and they actually did in lcdp) because the circumstances have no substance. He's putting romance above the heist because well, why shouldn't he lmao? There's no personal stake here, and it's not like he'll get capital punishment for getting caught.

And that "problem" extends to everyone else. Their motives and actions are just very shallow and There for the sake of being there. Like Roi and Cameron could have had a moving romance, but instead Cameron made me cringe very badly with how much she felt like Alex Pina's idea of "hawt gurl with sad past!!" And said "sad" past was actually really fucked up but the story didn't seem to think so!? It wasn't a tragic romance--it was a 20-something musician sleeping with a 15yo fangirl, abducting her, and then traumatizing her so badly she entered the asylum and ended up hanging out with berlin. Like????

I'll say I misunderstood Keila though. Liked her a lot better in the show than the trailers. But everytime I went "oh, I like her uwu" she'd do something that makes me GAG like inhaling Bruce's sweat or licking his spoon asdfasdf Also the part where she confessed her love for him after the snake bite gave me secondhand embarrassment. None of the love stories felt lasting, believable, or touching to me. Probably because there were too many of them and it was even more convenient than lcdp proper!

Bruce was different than I expected. He's insensitive, but not "dumb" like the character descriptions made him out to be. Same as Keila. Everytime I thought "I like him uwu" he'd do something like talk about pubic hair or cover himself in oil/water, instantly making me die.

Damian is Sergio 2.0 and also Martin 2.0, but straight and old. No strong feelings for him either way. But it was funny that Andres got so mad about sharing a bed with him, when he was willingly hopping into bed with Martin LMAO. Also ngl, it stung my little berlermo heart to see Damian and Andres sing karaoke and go on a lover's bike ride together.

Roi was my favorite new member. He felt like a real original character, and his relationships with Cameron and Andres were nicely fleshed out even if they both confused me. Cameron because the romance was shallow to me. Andres because Roi never told us how they met or why Andres took him in. Andres giving Roi advice on temper control is also hilarious. We'll just have to assume that Andres is willing to raise everyone's kid except his own. He even took that one boy to the bathroom asdfasdf

But overall, I agree anon. I just didn't care for the new characters the same way I did the old gang or the cormorants. Maybe because the stakes were too low or because they were always beautiful and perfect (except Damian lol) no matter the situation. I personally think the producers were trying very hard to create new stars with this show, so they aggressively showed off Pina's flashy new blorbos (cameron, keila, bruce, and roi) but you can't force popularity. This is also my conspiracy theory for the lack of Sergio- they knew having the profesor here would take too much attention from the flashy new blorbos.

Not much to say about Camille. Was hoping she'd be cooler/smarter than this, but what kind of smart woman would not see the red flags in Andres LMAO. Wasn't surprised when Polignac turned out to be an asshole either- man just has the face of a jerk. Was disappointed that they didn't have a threesome with Andres. And the smartest person was Camille's friend.

Lastly, SAME ANON LOL Andres was an insane stalker, off the wall crazy and so annoying about it too. I wish Camille would have slapped him in the end, but oh well- at least their storyline didn't end as stupidly as it could have. She got her money at least XD Hopefully she's not dumb enough to reunite with him (and if she's wife no. 4 we know it didn't work out already).

Does the show deserve a season 2? No. Will I watch season 2? Yes LOL

Main takeaways:

Romance 1/10 Heist 7.5/10 Pedro's face 11/10 New characters 2/10 (not sharing all of their backstories or why/how they ended up in berlin's gang was a major weak point imo) Story 5/10

A solid 7/10 if we don't compare it to lcdp.

[cursedvibes]

To have such a long boring fight that I skimmed over every week just to have Gojo die feels kinda... Pointless?? Idk it just feels anticlimatic af. Villains winning in Jujutsu Kaisen is not a big plot twist at this point. Also I think Sukuna is ugly and needs to be humbled and more than Gojo dying I think he's gonna be all smug now. Unless Gege pulls the same shit that happened during the Toji VS. Gojo fight. Plot twist within a plot twist.

To be honest, I didn't expect him to die either. I thought he would get majorly depowered - just like Sukuna - to make the story more interesting because he clearly couldn't stay just as he was or everything would be over in 10 chapters. But I didn't think he'd bite the dust so soon. It does make some sense though because this entire fight it seemed like Gojo had barely any long lasting plan besides countering what Sukuna throws at him and trying to get hits in when he can, which only worked in Sukuna and Mahoraga's favour and destroyed even more of whatever is left of Megumi's consciousness. The execution was just terrible. I would have less of a problem with it if it was a team effort, but when you send Gojo in there alone with seemingly barely any prep, what did you (protag team) think was gonna happen? At least the other characters will finally have room to move and develop now.

I would have liked Sukuna to take more damage and come closer to losing to spur some character development, but a lot of that is probably saved for his confrontation against the students, mainly Yuuji. Same goes for using more CTs than just Cleave and 10 Shadows and bringing out Yorozu's gift. Yuuji is much better in humbling him anyway, especially in an emotional sense. He's not the strongest, he's Sukuna's ex-cage and in his eyes lowly vermin (that has a unique power over him). It's very easy to get a rise out of Sukuna when Yuuji is around, he's not as collected as with such a far removed opponent like Gojo. That's also why this fight happening at all confused me from the start. Aside from "strength brings loneliness", there is almost no connection between Sukuna and Gojo on a character level and even that barely got any focus. There's the task of freeing Megumi, but Gojo seemed to just forget about that. It's not even a concern to him when he's dying and Sukuna still alive and more or less well.

All that one eye foreshadowing did make me wonder if Gojo would come back somehow, but after the Hidden Inventory reunion and Gojo half lying on the ground it would just feel cheap. Not to mention, that this would be like the 6th death scare we got for Gojo during this fight? Just give it a rest already. "Gojo won!" "nevermind, he's dead" "jk he's alive again" that would just be...bad. These scenes would lose all impact they had. The death scare against Toji worked because it seemed realistic and wasn't danced around ad infinitum. Clearly Gege put more thought into the airport scene than the whole fight (at the expense of Gojo forgetting his students exist), so I think this is it.

While it was pretty bad, most likely the worst fight in jjk, it has to end somewhere and the plot has to move on. Put it out of its misery. The students and remaining sorcerers all working together to overcome Sukuna and Kenjaku is far more meaningful than anything we've seen in the last four(4!) months. There will be stakes, people will have to fight smart and not just rely on pure strength and I'm pretty sure with Yuuji back in action, the character writing will improve again as well.

[ac-liveblogs]

not the same anon but my favorite (/s) dissonance between the gameplay and the story in genshin is still fontaine's weekly boss. in previous weekly bosses at least we usually somewhat beat the weekly boss in the story, or we play the character that beats them (a la raiden in her sq2). there are few exceptions like apep/dvalin/andrius but i felt like the narrative explains the specific circumstances: andrius being an overworld arena, dvalin's mechanic focusing on cleansing corruption—

—apep’s weekly boss is actually the guardian of the oasis that arises after we restore the heart of oasis. i don't have to like the idea but i can swallow the narrative explanation.) but in fontaine … we just do not get that? we get SKIRK taking care of the whale in a CUT SCENE? and we lose to arlecchino in a fight that has a very confusing stake narrative-wise. like, idk, can we at least have a more interesting weekly boss? i'm ??? confused ?????

OHHHHHHH MY GOD you are so right on BOTH OF THEM

The Skirk thing in particular annoys me because like… HYV can't be bothered putting in real bosses half the times you'd expect them and replaces them with mob/generic enemies or cutscenes, which removes a lot of tension from the story bc like. This is a game. Showing the cool thing doesn't work the way it does in a TV show or book, YOU need to get involved and YOU need to feel challenged (that's why IT'S NOT EVEN MY FINAL FORM is a thing in boss fights), but like, the Skirk thing…

In the pursuit of HYPING CUTE GIRL HYV doesn't even let you complete the whale fight? Sure, there are games where you "lose" fights and get rescued or just get ditched by a villain all the time, but they at least let you finish the fight before they do it! We got blueballed narratively (deus ex Skirk saves the day despite all the effort the Fontaine gang is going to) AND in terms of gameplay because the fight ends at the 1/4 way mark or something! What the hell! I don't feel like this whale is a threat at all actually! It's not like /I/ struggled to fight the damn thing!

Arlecchino is just…. lol. Okay. You'd THINK you'd just fight her in Fontaine to stop her from taking the Gnosis or something but instead, because HYV wants you to like the Fatui (despite…. everything…?) instead of making them engaging antagonists they just totally defang them in every possible way… she gets the Gnosis for helping a bit, we fight her to save Lyney only not… really, because she doesn't kill anyone that wants to leave the Hearth… Tbh, us fighting Arlecchino instead of Lyney and co. is also very… interesting, given what that story was trying to do. Shouldn't we have played as Lyney or something… I guess only HSR can do that?

(never mind that genshin's power scaling is totally whack. the traveller is stupid strong, except when it comes to a bunch of boss fights, which is where they need plot armour actually, so they just… lose to arle? are we just strong by normal people standards? bc i feel like the average JRPG protag accomplishes more on their own than the traveller does in the AQ, given all the handicaps they get handed…)

But, speaking of the story being divorced from the gameplay, I'm confused by the fact we DIDN'T fight Clorinde. After all the hype she got in Act I of the AQ! No duels onscreen at all! Not even in her own quest!

[majorbaby]

i would love to hear any and all doctor who related thoughts you'd like to share (tenmartha related or otherwise!)

i'm currently very slowly rewatching s3 for the first time in over ten years so i'm not in a position to give a thorough breakdown but i can speak to my general feelings about her (until very recently) unique experience of a being black woman accompanying the doctor and therefore having to endure being thrown to multiple sets of wolves, the fans and the writers.

cut for essay (sorry)

aside from her just being a gorgeous and amazing character, i think was drawn to her for the same reason i think people were so viciously critical of her - her blackness means she's an anomaly. there was mickey, but he was more of a secondary character and he's also a man and doesn't have to content with the intersection of race and misogyny.... you know all of this already.

all companions deal with the fact that travelling with the doctor is fun and worth it, but it often comes at a terrible cost. it's dangerous, sometimes it's fucked up, but ultimately they still choose to do it.

what a luxury it is for most companions to be able to opt-in to venture to a planet where the systems and people you encounter on a daily basis may be hostile to you for something you can't control. that's the life martha is choosing when she decides to accompany the doctor, but it's also the life she's choosing when she decides to leave him.

for me it increases the stakes every time her life is in danger. the circumstances she finds herself in with the doctor are inhospitable to her but the genre she's in is also inhospitable to her. she deserves better from the doctor but she also deserves better from the story she inhabits and what kills me is she's aware of that! she knows she doesn't belong! her "i'm good" reminds me so much of this moment from my favourite movie, the matrix:

no! no one was expecting or knew what to do with a black woman in a major role in speculative fiction!

it's not clear to me that the doctor knows just how good martha is and that's a symptom of the writers not knowing either. tbf to the production itself, she's got lots of great moments, but the odds are utterly stacked against her and the fumbles (human nature/family of blood i'm looking at you) are painful to watch.

i get that the doctor needing his companions is a founding character trait of his and it was fun to watch martha save his ass but at a certain point it felt gratuitous to me. he spends the whole season fucking up terribly without acknowledging how much hell she goes through on his behalf and i think i'm still meant to feel worse for the him re: rose. and also i'm supposed to buy that that's the main reason martha is upset whenever she's upset, which i find kind of... laughable lol. unrequited love sucks but does it suck worse than all of [gestures] that? idk, maybe i'm just not 14 anymore but i find it pretty hard to believe that my crush not liking me back is worse than being trapped in early 1900s england, to say nothing of... what is it, vampires in that one?

sorry i didn't have more positive stuff to say.... there is at least 42 where the doctor screams that he needs her. yeah you do, we all do!!! that is ultimately how i feel about her.

[pumpkinsouppe]

I really wonder how dark TOTK will truly be. Is Link’s arm beyond repair? I highly doubt he will actually lose his arm by the end but I think leaving the arm permanently scarred or worse would put actual stakes and impact on the characters. The hero visibly and permanently damaged, the biggest testament to the horrors he has faced. Something not even the Goddesses can save him from.

On the same note, I love that they canonized Link’s scars. However I am upset they didn’t model at least some of the scars on his skin. I think at least in a faint white they should have left Link’s killing wound. We really just have to take Robbie’s uncomfortable word for it…

We got to see the major environmental impact the calamity has had on Hyrule, both in BOTW and in the TOTK trailers, but what of the people and creatures? We have seen the change in the enemies like Bokoblins which I am so excited about, but what about the horses and the wolves and whatnot? The Wolfos, like the ReDead, have had a very minimal appearance in the series, but I wonder if now is the time for them to return. Wolfos being the result of the common wolves corrupted by malice.

How have the NPCs been affected? We have already seen evidence of major disasters affecting different areas such as the malice volcano, the missing lost woods/Deku Tree, and the wind vortex that appears quite close to Rito village. As much as I absolutely love BOTW, there’s definitely a distinct lack of physically disabled people especially considering the environments they live in.

All of this is wishful thinking but I really hope the story telling and especially environmental storytelling is even more phenomenal than BOTW. I really hope they don’t take the cheap way out of everything is fine and repaired by the end. I’m not trying to set any expectations for myself in the game and I have full trust and confidence in the developers, but at least some day I hope that there can be more games like Majora’s Mask that delve into how much of an impact the prophecies have on the characters.

Idk how these always end up so long T_T my bad y’all LMAO

[zach-is-an-alien]

Please bare with me I been thinking about this all day and I neeed to write it but it might suck ,just pretend all these characters are near the same age despite what they cannonicly are,and they are kids (like I guess tweens?) in this story

Would this be an AU???? Idk man ,also again I can't write for shit but I need to get this idea out

This particular day in summer was hot and well,boring,like ,nothing was fun kinda boring. Franklin,Lamar and Lester were keeping themselves busy with cards, Amanda trying to teach wade how to cartwheel ,and wade was failing horribly. Trevor and Ron were digging,digging for what? Money apparently, some dude at the gas station told trevor money was buried around the park,and now he was making ron dig for it. Mikey however had been gone for a good hour without informing any one on why.

But he eventually did come back,sweat dripping down his chubby red face,and in his hands ,8 stakes and a sharpie. Every one seen and they all started to argue.

"I am not going to play that stupid fucking game! You always win and rub it in our faces!" Amanda crossed her arms and turned her back, mikey taking offense "you guys are just sore loosers! You guys can't handle loosing"

Lester shook his head "no,she's right ,everytime we play,you win and you won't shut the fuck up" he removed his glasses and cleaned them on his t shirt

Trevor shook his head and crossed his arms,Ron copying him "no cause if we should play ,we need motivation too,like a reward"

Franklin and Lamar looked at each other and squinted "ice cream" at the same time like some creepy fuckin twins I'm horror movies

"What?" Mikey questioned. "Ice cream ,if any of us win ,you have to buy all of us ice cream ,you win,then that's it,your just better"

"And I'm going to win us ice cream ,I'm going to beat your fucking 'record' and shove it in your fat fucking face" he got real close to micheal,chest to chest close. Mikey squinted his eyes and nodded "alright! If any of you guys win and beat me,I'll use my chore money to buy every one ice cream!" He threw his hands up,he didn't want to bother fighting,but he got cocky and believed no one could beat him.

Every one got a stake and took turns writing their names on it,once that was done,mikey sat on the swing ,stake in hand,and began to push himself back and forth till he got high enough,and then jumped off. He was in the air for a bit before his feet came down and hit the ground,landing 10 feet (more or less) away from the swing ,and stabbed the stake into the ground,turning around to face the group with a stupid smile and walked back over "who's next?"

Amanda followed next, getting high enough before jumping too,she landed about half way ,on her feet,she shoved the stake into the ground and struck a pose,being in gymnastics and cheerleading helped her but not enough.

Next was lamar,both Franklin and Lester helping him by pushing him on the swing ,trying to get as much power to launch him,and when he jumped,he derailed mid air and ended up to the side,they argued about wether or not that counted or if he should get a redo ,instead mikey said "he still jumped from the swing so it counts,and he didn't get far",so a really pissed Lamar stomped the stake into the ground and tossed his hat around because he couldn't get a redo.

Lester's turn was next but heights made him nervous so he gave up patheticly and just put the stake right under the swing and let Franklin get his turn. Franklin did ok,better than Lamar but not as good as Amanda or of course,mikey. He cussed a little but he beat his own record that time so he had that.

Mikey acted all cocky ,every one was doing horribly and his money was safe,for now.

"You just wait,your going to be crying real soon" trevor gave him that mean and nasty look ,and doing the 'I'm watching you' thing with his fingers.

Wade was next,he did about as good as you expected ,he got nervous and didn't get that high up,ended up about 2 feet ,that's the best he's done belive it or not "I juth got nerthus ok?" And did the walk of shame back.

Some how ron did the worst between wade and Lamar take off wise, Trevor was pushing him,incredibly rough and hard ,and forced him of when he thought he had enough momentum or some shit. he landed about a feet behind Amanda's but fell face first into the ground ,making snapping sound, he lifted his head and his glasses were snapped in half (again) and got a mouth full of dirt,rocks and dried cut grass,wich sucked because he has braces,Have fun getting that out,once he was done spitting he got his stick into the ground

Trevor rubbed his nose,and with force took the scrunchies from Amanda's wrist and put his nasty bowl cut mullet up in a pony tail and hopped on the swing seat. He went back and forth ,getting high,really way actually ,if he went any higher he'd make a full 360 on the swing,then he took the jump.

Every one had gotten their stakes into the ground,except for trevor. Mikey looked back at him "What? Scared? Not gonna do it? Gonna admit defeat?" He got face to face with him,smug smile "it's ok if you change your mind" he crossed his arms.

Every one watched as trevor was up real high and getting quite a distance practicly flying through the air,but on his way down he started to fall a bit funny,his toes barley grazed the ground, and he landed on his arm,making a loud CRACK noise and it got real quiet,even the crickets got quiet ,mikey nervously walked over ,and tapped trevor with his foot "Hey trev? You ok? ...Trev? T? Trevor???". Trevor sat there quietly and shifted a little,suddenly it wasn't quiet any more ,because trevor began to scream bloody murder.

Every one sat In the clinics lobby,waiting to be picked up by designated adults ,but were killing time by signing Trevor's arm cast. Every one but mikey,he was sitting across with his arms crossed and he looked pissed. Trevor looked over "awww you mad? Mad thay you have to buy us icecream!?" He laughed and kicked his legs frantically as he did. Mikey stood up "no I'm not done arguing! Because it dose not count! You broke your arm?!" And he pointed to the cast

"But his feet hit the ground first! We all saw it!" Amanda looked up from Trevor's cast ,decorating it with a few hearts.

"But he broke his arm?!"

"And? He made the jump and landed farther than you? I think your just a sore looser" Franklin snickered as he finished writing on the cast.

About an hour went by and every one was taken home or walked home. Trevor and micheal stayed behind, outside the clinic ,sitting on the grass

"Are you actually pissed at me? " trevor looked over to mikey

"What?"

"Are you pissed? That I beat you?"

"No I'm upset" Micheal awnsered him

"So your upset at me?" Trevor questioned

"No I'm upset at myself"

Trevor stared at him,confused on what he ment by that "why?"

"Look at your fucking arm,it was in half"

Trevor was still confused "you didn't break my arm dumbass,I fell on it"

"I know I didn't break it directly ,but I feel like it's some how my fault,I'm just concerned you know?"

"You should be more concerned about your money ,because you LOST and I WON"

Mikey rolled his eyes but smiled ,feeling less like a horrible friend "let's go home ,it's going to get dark,wanna stay over?" He asked and stood up,giving trevor a hand

"fuck yeah,also are you going to sign my cast or not?! I saved a spot and if you don't fill it I'll draw a dick instead"

Mikey pulled out the sharpie from earlier and wrote 'Trev's #1 Friend ,Mikey'

[whateverthedragonswant]

finally binged the last season of TWD and I have to say, I'm okay with how it ended. I won't lie, the Commonwealth arc was a little boring for me. It didn't feel as high stakes as other villain arcs in the past have felt like the Whisperers or the Saviors or even The OG Governor, but I think that's why they upped the ante on the walkers themselves. Which...maybe I missed it but did they ever say why the walkers were suddenly climbing up walls and picking up weapons? Talk about terrifying. LOVED that they brought back the Whisperer angle this season by the way, in all aspects. That was really cool.

I'm a hardcore Caryl shipper but I was okay with how they left things with their story. I know some might not be happy with it but Idk I got a very unfinished vibe from it? Like there's more to their story. Idr if Melissa McBride has said she'll make an appearance on the Daryl spinoff or not, but I still get the 'there's something there and it's still unspoken' vibe.

I felt absolutely horrible for Luke and Jules. I didn't expect that one. But it also kind of made me think they brought them back to be the ones to die so none of the mains had to. Again, the whole Commonwealth arc just didn't feel as high stakes, even when Eugene was on trial for his life, even when Ezekiel and the others were taken. The only other time it felt high stakes is when Negan and Annie were about to be executed and Ezekiel and the others stepped in. Not saying that I wanted any of the mains to die; they had more than earned those endings but I felt like it kind of got away from the theme of the show a little, if that makes sense.

Judith getting shot was indeed shocking and you do worry for her, but it was obvious they were doing a callback to the pilot, with us seeing her pov from the pain haze she was in at the hospital, Daryl blocking the door to her room like Shane did with Rick. Not a bad callback at all, I appreciated it, but you knew then that Judith wasn't going to die. (which thank goodness she didn't because I'd riot)

Rosita's death was tragic but at the same time beautiful. Christian and the others did a wonderful job and my heart broke for Rosita (she was one of my favorite characters too). I had heard Christian's explanation of why she wanted Rosita to die from it being mentioned by a fan at a recent SPN convention to Jensen (in relation to Dean's ending and how he felt if there was closure or not), but now having seen the season, it makes more sense.

Idk, overall, I just felt like it was a good tie-up besides some of the issues I mentioned. I was happy to see Rick and Michonne at the end but I do wish I could have seen them reunite with their kids, ngl. I'm hoping however the movie goes, that's the ending for the Grimes family. Like Judith said "we're the ones that live". After everything they've been through, they deserve it. Rick deserves to see Judith and RJ at least once.

One thing that popped out for me that I didn't expect was Maggie x Negan. Holy crap, I did not see that ship coming. It feels so wrong for many reasons but JDM and Lauren just have that chemistry as those two characters. And while I enjoyed Negan/JDM as a villain, and he was alright in his limbo phase, I never was a Negan fan so to speak. But after the bottle episode from season 10 and we see his backstory (which he and Hilarie crushed btw), I became very interested in his 11A arc, especially where Maggie was concerned. When he showed up with a pregnant wife in 11B, it felt off to me. Like I get that was his redemption arc in full swing and it was done to get Negan to the point where he earns his place at Alexandria 2.0 (3.0?) if he wants it, that Maggie can be the one to extend that offer (which leads them into the dynamic/place they need for their spinoff) because he finally understands how she must have felt when he killed Glen and he apologizes, and Daryl gives him a nod of semi-respect at the end, but idk it just felt off to me. It should be interesting to see how things occur for Negan and Annie moving forward. Will they be in the new series, too? And I'm not really a hero x villain kind of person (i.e. I'm not a Reylo shipper at all) unless it's something really great like Dramione but Negan and Maggie, I can get on board with that one a bit. And even if that never occurs, I am good with just seeing those two on my screen together. I can't wait to see the Maggie and Negan spinoff!!!

So yeah, an end to an era but I'm personally okay with this end. I still love the series and it's definitely one of my favorites.

[goldsrc-hl1]

"The show put in loads of time to build up to Qrow vs Ironwood, only for the fight to not happen at all, and had Qrow be a useless sack of dead weight the whole season. To top it all off they had Ironwood get taken out in 40 seconds by irrelevant side characters."

Wasn't useless at all for one, he played a huge role in making sure Mantle didn't get fucking bombed. On top of that, Qrow wanted to fight Ironwood out of revenge, which the show doesn't want to glorify. That's fine. If you want a good revenge story check out something like God of War, idk man.

Most of the characters that fought Ironwood have pretty much always been more relevant than Qrow. JNR are all main characters, Winter is certainly not irrelevant, Emerald is the only one there I'd say that's not as relevant as Qrow. Other than that, all of them are definitely relevant.

IDK what the complaint about him getting taken down in 40 seconds is about considering he was literally unarmed that entire time. No guns. That was just his fists. It was absolutely a fight from both sides that required actual effort to win, it was satisfying.

"Then the community went, "No! Winter vs Ironwood will happen and it'll be INCREDIBLY emotional!!" only for the actual fight to have no emotion whatsoever, infantilize Winter to high heaven, and then constantly cut away from the fight, further draining any sense of stakes or emotion."

The fight absolutely has emotion, even from the characters themselves.

For one, we literally have Ironwood shedding a tear. After an entire volume of shutting down his emotions, forcing himself to lose his heart to make more logical decisions, Winter finally turning on him is what gets to him. That's absolutely emotional.

On top of that, we've got plenty of emotional dialogue, and just really good dialogue in general.

Ironwood: I've chased a lot of shadows over the years, always expecting betrayal. But never once did I think it would ever come from you.

Ironwood: I know what's best for Atlas, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get that Staff. So, consider this my last order: step aside.

Winter: I've never wavered in fighting the enemies of this Kingdom--

Winter: ...And I won't start now.

This whole sequence is just really good lol

Ironwood: I have sacrificed everything!

Winter: No, you have sacrificed everyone else! You closed the borders, you squeezed Mantle until it broke!

Ironwood: I've only done what's best for Remnant, and no one is grateful!

Both of them being pretty pissed off at each other, Winter finally saying stuff she's wanted to say for quite a while, James continuing to feed his hero complex. Very emotional stuff.

Winter definitely wasn't infantilized. At all. Ironwood has always been a very capable fighter. So has Winter. Put two capable fighters up against each other, one of them comes out on top. Just cause it's not Winter doesn't mean she's infantilized, she's still highly competent.

There is one cut away.

"The show has Salem finally get off her lazy ass and show up, making a huge show of it by ending Season 7 on her arrival. Surprise guys! She still does absolutely nothing, has one lousy fight where she doesn't even do anything cool, and then gets blown up like a chump and is irrelevant for the rest of the season. She didn’t even kill anyone. (*insert that one Shrek meme here*)"

Does absolutely nothing?

Did you even watch the show?

She set up the whole Grimm river to start her attack on Atlas which took down the shields with hardly any effort, then landed the Monstra and fucking annihilated the Atlesian Military. She got a TON of people killed and was a pretty clever strategist with her attack, especially when it came to taking down the shield.

She absolutely does do cool stuff in her fight, she literally gets her face caved in and just... doesn't react. Simply binds Hazel with her magic and heals herself. Same thing happens earlier when she gets her entire fucking chest blown open and is completely fine. If that's not cool IDK what is.

On top of that... it was NOT a lousy fight. Hazel, who was already very strong, needed to push to his absolute limit in order to CONSTRAIN Salem. Not defeat her, constrain her.

She's not irrelevant at all, she's still a pressure on the main cast since they all know she's gonna come back eventually.

"The show has a whole season of Ironwood being the only interesting character and his slide into antagonist? Sure hope you just want to see him act like a blithering moron making one laughably incompetent decision after another the entire time!"

Did you expect him to be competent? He had a full on mental breakdown, no one would be competent. It's supposed to be tragic, it's supposed to show him completely crumbling into a bumbling mess after he finally cracked under the burden he put himself under.

And, to be completely honest, he didn't act like a moron at all. His decisions, though extremely amoral and inhumane, are good decisions from a purely logical standpoint.

"Penny, a beloved fan-favorite character has returned! Hope you enjoy watching her get put her through borderline torture porn, take away all the reasons people loved her in the first place, then have her beg one of the most controversial characters in the show to just murder her!"

People did not love Penny cause she's a robot, people loved Penny cause of her personality. Turning into a human doesn't change her, she was always a real girl regardless of being a human or not.

RWBY put Yang through borderline torture porn in V3 with her being framed, her friend not trusting her, her uncle not trusting her, getting her fucking arm sliced off, having aforementioned friend abandon her when aforementioned friend knows she has abandonment issues, has her ego and pride completely crushed, is afflicted with depression and PTSD, and has her sister abandon her on top of that.

No complaints.

RWBY has always been dark after Volume 3. If you don't like dark stories, don't watch RWBY.

Penny asking Jaune to kill her further reaffirms her autonomy. That's what her whole arc was about - making her own decisions.

"We finally got Cinder’s cliche and overly sappy and dramatic origin story! And we have her scheming again! Oh yeah, but she doesn't actually change at all and she's still as stupid as ever. She just made characters you actually enjoy watching take the fall for her this time! Hope Cinder’s arc of going in circles is still engaging the third time in a row!"

It's Cinderella. What did you expect? It's a fairy tale allusion based show lol.

She absolutely did change. Prior to the V8 finale she thought she could just win everything through strength, neglecting the usefulness of her allies for the most part. After Watts roasts the shit out of her, she finally gets smarter and starts manipulating Neo and Watts into doing her bidding.

She's still a salty bitch and did kill both of them for that, but she has absolutely gotten more competent and learned from her mistakes.

"Call my expectations "lofty" and "unrealistic" all you want, I wouldn't have had those expectations if the show hadn't given them to me."

Most of these expectations RWBY straight up did not set up and the other half... did happen.

"RWBY is a show that consistently sets up high expectations for itself and it's audience. And every single time it ends up choking on what it bites off and wrapping everything up in the most anticlimactic, underwhelming ways possible because CRWBY burned all of their time and money on setting up expectations it can't deliver on anymore."

No, not really. You're just... stupid.

FNDM will often go, “You need to watch RWBY with an open mind! Why won’t you just lower your expectations?” and never actually ask why people expected certain shit from RWBY in the first place.

The show put in loads of time to build up to Qrow vs Ironwood, only for the fight to not happen at all, and had Qrow be a useless sack of dead weight the whole season. To top it all off they had Ironwood get taken out in 40 seconds by irrelevant side characters.

Then the community went, “No! Winter vs Ironwood will happen and it’ll be INCREDIBLY emotional!!” only for the actual fight to have no emotion whatsoever, infantilize Winter to high heaven, and then constantly cut away from the fight, further draining any sense of stakes or emotion.

The show has Salem finally get off her lazy ass and show up, making a huge show of it by ending Season 7 on her arrival. Surprise guys! She still does absolutely nothing, has one lousy fight where she doesn’t even do anything cool, and then gets blown up like a chump and is irrelevant for the rest of the season. She didn’t even kill anyone. (*insert that one Shrek meme here*)

The show has a whole season of Ironwood being the only interesting character and his slide into antagonist? Sure hope you just want to see him act like a blithering moron making one laughably incompetent decision after another the entire time!

Penny, a beloved fan-favorite character has returned! Hope you enjoy watching her get put her through borderline torture porn, take away all the reasons people loved her in the first place, then have her beg one of the most controversial characters in the show to just murder her!

We finally got Cinder’s cliche and overly sappy and dramatic origin story! And we have her scheming again! Oh yeah, but she doesn’t actually change at all and she’s still as stupid as ever. She just made characters you actually enjoy watching take the fall for her this time! Hope Cinder’s arc of going in circles is still engaging the third time in a row!

Call my expectations “lofty” and “unrealistic” all you want, I wouldn’t have had those expectations if the show hadn’t given them to me.

RWBY is a show that consistently sets up high expectations for itself and it’s audience. And every single time it ends up choking on what it bites off and wrapping everything up in the most anticlimactic, underwhelming ways possible because CRWBY burned all of their time and money on setting up expectations it can’t deliver on anymore.

The irritating part is that instead of just… scaling back on what it’s capable of and setting up reasonable expectations (something the School Setting helped with in the Poser Era), RWBY just… keeps on biting off more than it can chew, and it keeps on choking.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Lovestruck - fic

Characters: Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, kinda Dick Pairings: future!jondami, implied-kinda?timkon, also timbernard Summary: Damian starts acting weird after Tim and Bernard begin dating. Turns out even this kid can be naive, and a total idiot, when he wants to be. A/N: idk a headcanon I couldn’t stop thinking about haha. Damian is absolutely one of those genius kids who don’t know the most basic things. Also if it’s not clear, Damian is comparing Tim’s answers to what he likes in people to if they match Conner. all ages are current canon so Tim is immortal and Damian is 14 mkay bye.

~~

When Tim started dating Bernard, he expected a lot of different things. He expected Bruce’s protectiveness, Dick’s softness, Jason’s gift of XL condoms, Cassandra’s date suggestions and even Stephanie’s own prepared shovel talks for his new paramour.

But he did not expect…well, this.

He did not expect to see Damian sitting on the front porch when Bernard brought him home from their third date. He did not expect Damian to start furiously writing in the notebook on his lap at the sight of them.

He did not expect to come down to breakfast and see the kitchen table scattered with notes and lists and images of way too pretty people, pictures of Bernard and Steph among them.

“…What are you doing?” Tim found himself asking sleepily.

“Research.” Damian replied simply, sipping thoughtfully from a mug on the island. “None of your concern.”

“Oh yeah?” Tim asked as he approached. Instantly he tapped the photos of Steph and Bernard. “So why are there pictures of my ex-girlfriend and current…boyfriend here?”

His stomach still did giddy jumps at the thought.

Damian’s lips twitched, like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he reached out and slid the photos underneath some papers. “Just…persons of interests.”

“For?”

“None of your concern.” Damian reiterated. Quickly, he began to shuffle all of his papers and pictures together. “Jeez, what does that Dowd boy even see in you…”

And then he was gone before Tim’s pre-caffeine mind could catch up.

After that, Damian was less obvious, but Tim could still catch on. In fact, everyone was catching on. But, like the emotionally constipated Bats they were, no one said anything, or tipped their youngest off.

They all just watched, as he suddenly began to distantly follow Tim around. Around the house, around the city, both as a civilian and in uniform. It was Cassandra who declared that Damian was watching who Tim was interacting with, not necessarily him.

He never followed him on his dates, though.

Then came the questions. Every time they were together. They’d go to lunch downtown near the office, and Damian would ask:

“Do you like that girl’s hair?”

“Would you ever wear those shoes?”

“How much do you respect a person if their suit jacket doesn’t fit them properly?”

When they’d be staking out a suspect on a building overlooking a street corner, he’d say:

“That belt is too gaudy.”

“You can tell he spent way too many hours in the mirror getting ready to go to that disgusting dive.”

“I can’t believe she’s walking on this street in those heels. Would you go for comfort or fashion?”

And it continued, the following, the seemingly random questions. After a while, Tim chalked it up to…maybe Damian was just getting to know him. Just trying to actually get along for once in their lives. They were both getting older, more mature. Maybe it was just time they started acting like what they were.

Brothers.

But then he came home one afternoon to find Dick standing in the manor’s foyer, back leaning against the wall that led into the central sitting room they all used. It was almost evening, which meant Damian was most likely in there sketching, or reading with his pets.

Dick noticed him open the door, and quickly put a finger to his smiling lips. Tim nodded and silently closed the door behind him, carefully took off his shoes and jacket, then tiptoed over to Dick.

He peeked around Dick’s shoulder. Sure enough, Damian was in there, but he was standing at the fireplace, staring down into the flames.

Jason sat in the loveseat behind him.

“Jay just got in there. He hasn’t said anything yet.” Dick breathed. Tim frowned skeptically. Surely Damian knew who was in the house. Knew there was something going on if Jason had just sought him out.

“What are we interrogating him for?” Tim whispered back. “Did he lose one of Alfred’s recipe books again?”

Dick just shook his head and pointed into the room. Tim looked back in.

Jason was relaxed in the chair, but staring intensely at his youngest brother. Damian must have known that, felt his eyes, because he wasn’t looking up. Kept his gaze glued to the fire at his feet.

Suddenly, Jason huffed, crossing his arms. “Spill.”

“Spill what.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“Spill why you’re stalking Tim.” Jason said bluntly. “Why you’re asking him all those dumbass questions.” A pause. “…Why you’re keeping tabs on his boyfriend.”

Tim inhaled sharply, glaring up at Dick. Dick waved both his arms quickly, implying that Jason’s words weren’t true, that it was just to catch Damian off guard.

“I’m not keeping tabs on him, Todd. That’s ridiculous.” Damian countered. “I’m merely making sure they’re still together.”

A moment to let the fire crackle.

“Well, I’m also making sure that boy isn’t hurting or manipulating Drake in some way.” Damian murmured softly. “But mostly, I’m just making sure they’re still together.”

Jason crossed his ankle over his knee. “Why?”

“What, I can’t be concerned for my brother’s safety and happiness?”

Jason snorted. “Not that brother’s.”

Damian glanced over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. Then back to the fire.

Jason waited a minute, let his eyes dart across Damian’s back, study his posture. “…Why are you so concerned if Tim and his new boy-toy are still together?”

Damian shrugged silently.

“Don’t do that.” Jason scolded. “Use your words, Damian. Like a big boy.”

Damian let out a frustrated exhale. “I’m just…confirming Drake isn’t looking elsewhere.”

“What, to cheat on his boyfriend?” Jason drawled. “Timmy’s not the cheating type, I can tell.”

“No. No.” Damian said sternly. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying!” Damian threw his arms out. Let them fall back to his thighs with a slight smack. “…I’m saying I’ve seen him look at others the way he looks at Bernard Dowd and that is…concerning. …To me.”

“Others?” Jason questioned. “What others?”

“Like Conner Kent!” Damian finally spun around now. Jason’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Damian rolled his eyes again. “Oh don’t tell me you don’t see it. Those two have been flirting with each other since the damn day they met. Drake dating this boy now only confirms the possibility of their eventual coupling.”

Jason let his face settle back into neutral, let the words bounce around in his brain. “Okay…I guess I can agree with that.”

Tim glanced up at Dick, who gave him a wink. Tim’s face instantly went beet red.

“But that still tells me nothing.” Jason continued. “So Tim and Conner maybe had or have crushes on each other. Maybe they’re attracted to each other. Maybe they’re forever star-crossed and nothing will ever happen. So what? Why does that bother you?”

Damian kept his lips pressed firmly together. After a moment, he spun back towards the fire.

“…Damian?”

“…Because it would be weird.” Damian said at last. “It would be weird if he and Conner…”

Damian’s voice fell to an unintelligible mumble.

“What?” Jason asked gently. “I didn’t catch that.”

Damian mumbled again, still impossible to understand.

“Kid, you’re gonna have to speak up, okay. I can’t hear you-”

“I said it would be weird if he was dating Conner while I was dating Jon!” Damian yelled, whirling around once more. “And if he breaks up with Dowd and starts dating Conner before I can gain the courage to talk to Jon then I’ll lose my chance!”

His last words echoed in the space around them. Floated into the hallway and echoed up the stairs, too.

Not that anyone noticed. Tim had grabbed Dick’s bicep, while Dick had thrown a hand over his own mouth in surprise.

“Oh my god.” Tim whispered. “Oh my god, oh my god.”

“That…” Dick murmured. “That’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Jason, luckily, had more composure than the two of them, and suddenly Tim realized why it was Jason doing the prodding, not Dick.

Jason’s eyes had just widened, no other movement than that. He remained still, remained calm, even as Damian’s face darkened, and embarrassed tears appeared in the corners of his eyes.

“Oh.” He said simply. “Oh, Damian.”

“Shut up.” Damian crossed his arms again, but they all knew this time it was to hold himself. “Don’t…don’t make fun of me.”

“Never.” Jason promised. “But also, not a thing you need to worry about.”

“Why, because Jon will turn me down anyway?” Damian whispered bitterly, turning away. Not towards the fire this time, just the window.

“He’d be an idiot to, and I’ll beat the shit out of him if he does.” Jason said as he uncrossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his knees. “No, I mean, you don’t need to worry about it because it wouldn’t be weird if y’all just so happened to be double-dating.”

Damian waited, then glanced back at Jason. “It wouldn’t?” Jason smiled and shook his head. “There isn’t like…I mean…a law…?” He inhaled slowly. “If Drake and Conner started dating, wouldn’t that make Jonathan and I…related?”

“That’s only if they got married, and even then, wouldn’t be weird.” Jason shrugged. “What, you’ve never heard those stories of like…twins marrying another set of twins? That shit happens all the time. You wouldn’t be the first.”

Damian blinked owlishly, let his hands fall back to his sides. “…Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Jason laughed, standing. “Besides, Tim seems to really like Blondie whats-his-name so…I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.” A second, to cheekily add: “At least…not right now.”

Damian twisted his lips. “I told you their chemistry was obvious.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so is Bruce and Clark’s if you ask the tabloids and half the Justice League.” Jason droned, reaching out for Damian’s shoulder and tugging him into his side. “But like I said, don’t worry about it. Who cares about your idiot brother and who he’s dating, let’s focus more on you and how you’re gonna woo one Jonathan Kent, mmkay?”

He quickly ushered Damian out of the room using a door on the far side, only glancing back once to mouth oh my god! dramatically to the ones watching from the hall.

“That…” Tim exhaled as Jason closed the door behind them. “…was the most precious thing I think I’ve ever seen.”

Dick hummed in agreement, then: “…But is he right?”

Tim glanced up at him.

“You and Conner?”

Tim felt his face warm a little. “…I’m dating Bernard, Dick.”

“Okay.”

“And…I think I should go call him. We haven’t talked all day.”

Dick smirked. “Okay.”

“…Don’t look at me like that.”

Dick let out a chuckle. “Okay.”

“…Stop saying okay.”

“…Okay.”

“Dick!”

He laughed again. “Sorry, sorry.” He ran his fingers through Tim’s hair. “Tell Bernard I said hello, and also warn him that your younger brother is absolutely ready to gut him, should he hurt you.”

Oh yeah. Tim forgot that little tidbit. He felt his face warm even faster.

“Yeah…” He sighed, turning towards the stairs. He ignored the little flutter in his heart, at the idea of his lovesick, protective, ridiculous little brother. God, that kid. “Yeah, I think that’s probably something he oughta know.”

[eyayah-oya]

okay spoiler free? tbb ep.14 talk

THIS IS WHAT WE WANTED !!!!

in terms of storytelling this episode is so much better, also in terms of character development and interactions between the characters. i mean we had the howzer episodes and the one with rex but this one actual being centered on tbb and other clones? best one yet imo

uhm actual stakes?? yes please

echo?? my king shone!! tell em off boo

there actually being discourse and planning between tbb and not just the hunter does whatever he wants variety show

captain traitor?? total babe as always, hope we see more of him/ possible lead up to the future

the cameo?? did not expect that and hope we see more of him and/or them

didn't think they'd go there for the ending but ooh am i excited for the next ep.

SLIGTH SPOILERS

the desperation in omegas voice broke me holy shit, and the way that they built up to it throughout the ep. with her being worried and wrecker kind of shrugging it off?? so good, i might be reading into it but it def seemed like she knew something would happen

also do we think we'll see wolffe?? i've been hoping we would see the seelos trio get together and that actually seems like a possibility now. was that what rex was doing?

really hope they continue with this

also costumary where tf is cody??? is that what rex was doing??? but have to imagine if he goes after cody he would actually tell tbb because they knew him too but idk

TBB EP 14 SPOILERS!!!

It was really nice to see Echo shine in this. There were some very interesting details that caught my attention throughout the episode. When Hunter, Tech, and Echo jumped down, the other two were soft thumps while Echo's landing was a lot louder. On the one hand, Echo is an ARC and should know how to land quietly, but also he now has metal legs to deal with so that was an interesting choice.

Echo's speech! He and Fives are so similar! I love Echo finally standing up and telling the Batch to stop being idiots! The regs are just as important! They don't have to be "different" to be special.

Gregor was a delight. "Insubordinate plebe." I love him. It would be nice if we got to see Wolffe, too, but at the same time, I feel like putting the Bad Batch in every major thing that Rex or the clones did after Order 66 is erasing what made Rex and the other clones special. I'd rather not have the Batch rescue Wolffe, personally. But it would be interesting if they show up to hand Gregor over to Rex and Wolffe was standing next to Rex, that would be okay.

Hunter's capture leads to a possible theory of the finale that I've shared with a few friends before. One that I think would be amazing but that Disney will be too cowardly to do.

I saw a tweet from one of the people involved in making TBB saying that they cried during the finale. And I've seen theories that Crosshair dies in the finale, and that's what is so sad. I can see Disney doing that, but then the show will go on as if nothing has changed and there wouldn't really be any major changes to characters or plot.

But . . .

I think Hunter should die in the finale. Not only would it be an epic twist, but it would allow growth for several characters.

1) Crosshair gets his chip removed but Hunter dies. He has to deal with all the trauma of being under the control of the Empire without his Sergeant there to lean on. Everything he knew gets shaken up again and he has to figure out how to be Crosshair again.

2) Omega. Omega imprinted on Hunter and she's been following his lead from the start, but she's still incredibly naive and innocent. She asked Tech what the war was like and he gave a very Tech answer. But now she's got a small taste of what it was like and it's awful. Maybe losing Hunter to the Empire encourages her to push the rest of the Batch into joining the Rebellion.

3) Echo would finally have his time to shine. There is no one else in the Bad Batch that has so many skills that they could feasibly replace all of them. He has experience at being a leader, giving orders, taking charge, and everything else that he is the only one that could feasibly take over. We'd get more than three lines an episode and see Echo bloom in a way we didn't have an opportunity to in TCW.

The others would struggle, too, and it would change the way the show and the plot developed. It would be a great way to add more character development and story development to the show.

Anyway, I'm not particularly thrilled with how they've done the show so far. I think the characters are really static and boring, as well as just being the epitomes of every American Action Movie Trope. I hope the writers give them more character development in the future, but 🤡. But this episode was significantly better than last week's, that's for sure.

Howzer's arc is still my favorite though.

[itsclydebitches]

I'm not the only one who thinks RWBY's relics should've been magical weapons right? One of the main appeals of the series early on was the crazy weapons like a rifle-scythe and shotgun-gauntlets, and you never thought to add magic/relic weapons into that mix?!?

You know, I've gotta admit that never occurred to me. I'm so used to seeing the Relics as the macguffins they are that I haven't given much thought to trying to incorporate them into the story better, rather than just getting rid of them entirely. Honestly, I think the main concerns with a magic weapon addition would be two of the same concerns we've seen elsewhere in RWBY: 1. Are the characters too over powered/messing up power scaling/winning their fights in boring ways? and 2. Are they not just growing (as characters are expected to) but outright being stripped of everything that made fans like them in the first place? Though less complex than, say, changing Ruby's approach to trust, I can't imagine it would go over well if her signature scythe was replaced with one of the Relics.

Of course, the easy fix to that is to make the Relics largely unavailable—weapons locked away in the vaults—or otherwise the sort of thing you can't use unless it's absolutely necessary. Ruby (or whoever) uses her scythe for day-to-day battles and the Lamp (or again, whatever) when it's truly needed/safe to do so. The thing is... we kind of already got that with Ozpin's cane? A normal-ish weapon with hidden magic capable of saving the day as needed. Trust me, I love RWBY's crazy weapons as much as the next fan (except the gun-gun lol), but at this point I don't think the problems plaguing RWBY's writing would benefit from more potential Get Out of Jail Free cards. The problem doesn't lie in the conception of the Relics as magical weapons the group will slowly accumulate and use at specific points, but rather the writers' ability to decide when it would be best to actually use them. Like the disappointment of seeing Oscar pull out a random anti-Salem blast that destroyed all the stakes of the scene and didn't even make sense to boot, I'm afraid that Relic-weapons would be used in the same way. Why aren't they just using it to win this supposedly hard fight? Idk, same non-reason why they didn't just put the Lamp in the vault to keep it safe. Why did a (comparative) side character suddenly use it when we were looking forward to an epic fight with our mains? Same reason why Oscar suddenly uses the cane against Salem while most of Team RWBY sits in the mansion. How in the world do the rules of that magical power make sense in this situation? The same way Ambrosius' Penny wish "makes sense." As a rule of cool concept Relic weapons are awesome. As an actual feature of RWBY's late-stage narrative? I think it would break the story even more than it already is. Fans are already frustrated by how the Relics are or are not used, are or are not hidden away, are or are not asked about. Toss in some magic that the group could be using in fights (but aren't), or are using stupidly in fights, or that Ozpin and Salem could have been using for thousands of years... and it would likely result in a lot of contrived, senseless scenarios.

[romanogers-lyrics]

TFAWS Ep 5: finally some good fucking ✨vindication✨

Scratch that rewind what I said- this is the best episode (maybe in comic book tv history). Closure, growth, and redemption 🙌 just when I was worried they wouldn’t be able to tie things up they fucking give me this 😩🤩👏✊🏽

Holy hell my poor heart died and ascended to the moon to hang out with Steve and Natasha. ✨Goddamn the mastery of storytelling in this episode is why I love the MCU so much ✨

The opening fight between Walker, Bucky, and Sam had me on the edge of my seat. Like in most fights you know the stakes are low because the main heroes always win but this fight... whew it was consequential and more personal than the civil war fight imo. I genuinely was worried about the outcome for Sam and Bucky physically and emotionally. Every beat was character driven! This was cathartic. 🙌 the stunt coordinators knocked it out of the park lovelovelove 💕.

“I am captain America” homie you giving me Gollum vibes. “It’s (the shield) MINE!” Like-

So many creative stunts with the wings!!!

Bucky and Sam working TOGETHER

BUCKY DROPPING THE SHIELD AT SAM’S FEET 😭

The golden light seeping into the frame at the end of the fight 🤌🏼

Sam wiping the blood off the shield. 🥲 I can’t even articulate but it makes me feel-

Sammy’s wings got snapped off and he eventually left them with Torres (passing the mantle?) which symbolizes Sam growing out of his old super hero role. It was cleansing. He’s ready to be more. He’s ready to take action rather than let things happen to him 👏

Baby boy Torres trying to talk to Mr Bucky 🥺. You have both sleeves today Mr Bucky sir 💕

I want no I NEED 😫Torres to fly in with the wings next episode.

How we feeling about Walker?? On the one hand I feel him. Us gov did him dirty but at the same time he made the choices he made. Maybe there is room for redemption? Idk... 🙃 or will he continue to get worse?

I am SO glad that Sam went back to talk to isaiah. He needed to know the full story. He needed closure. I could ramble on and on but the writers made the points so much better than I could but just-

Steve did the exact same thing as Isaiah in the first avenger. He went behind enemy lines to rescue Bucky- without permission! He was a hero for it. And Isaiah was thrown in jail? The double standard is so frustrating

I think Isiah’s point that “no self respecting black man” would use the shield makes sense with his background and story. It makes me sick what was done to him. Things really haven’t changed 😞. At this point I honestly wasn’t sure what Sam was going to do. More later on about this-

Zemo’s theme is so beautiful every time I hear it. 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

What a beautiful scene. Cinematography 💯 Such a great moment between Bucky and Zemo. Zemo fully expects to die and then Bucky does the one thing zemo didn’t expect- the one thing he wasn’t “programmed” to do. Fuuuuuckcjfkekxn

“I crossed my name off in your book” 😭. He obviously grew to respect Bucky and wants him to have peace at last with all the civil war stuff.

Ayo back to calling Bucky white wolf 🐺 love to see it.

The kids playing with the shield and tracing the star has me CRYING. Kids are our hope and they still see something special in the shield. They still believe in it. 😭 such a small moment completely floored me.

Wholesome boat fix up 🥺. I feel like this is the montage where SamBucky fall in love 😂

When Sarah and Sam are talking about the boat- how it is their history- I think again of Isaiah. His history was erased. Sam has to preserve his history ✊🏽

Sarah is a goddamn queen and I Stan 🤌🏼✨

The montage was just a sip of cool water in the desert of trauma that is the MCU.

OKEEEE the conversation between Sam and Bucky where they’re tossing the shield is great on so many levels 😍:

Physically the shield matches the dynamic of the convo. Someone makes a point and throws it. Someone accepts what that person said and catches the shield. Bucky physically offers the shield when he says “I’m sorry” and Sam accepts the shield AND the apology.

The difference between avenging and amending. I was surprised they even used that word bc it calls out the avengers for maybe not doing the emotional work involved in being a hero. Healing is part of the hero job now. #phase4

A small detail but as a person of color I valued it; when Bucky said I’m sorry Sam did not say “it’s okay” or “no worries” because he didn’t have to, I feel like as a POC I’m always making white people feel better and for once I’d like to be confident enough to just accept someone’s apology outright and know I deserve it.

Pivotal when Sam said “it doesn’t matter what Steve thought” at first I was like biiiihhh??! 😠 but he had a point. Both Sam and Bucky have been trying to do hold onto another person who is gone. They gotta heal but more importantly they have to find their own reasons to keep fighting.

The training montage 🤌🏼🙌🤩🥲🥺😭✊🏽. Like FEED ME YEs WE ARE EATiNG. Sammy deserves it all

Sam’s cap theme music is similar to Steve’s but still different. Goddamn so beautiful 💕💕😩

Sam has been pretty passive in this show- almost wanting confirmation he did the right thing. Isaiah didn’t give Sam that comfort but neither did Bucky at first. Sam had to make his own choice 😤✊🏽

It’s a heavy burden to be cap knowing all the shit that has come before but Sam is the only one who can make that decision to be or not to be. And he’s seen the alternative now. In life taking action and taking control of our situation is empowering but always harder than doing nothing. He says it best- what’s the point of all that struggle if you’re not going keep on fighting ✊🏽🥺 I love and respect Sam so much 😭 spoken like captain America! 👏

Show me the suit you COWARDS I WANNA SEe

Goddamnit damnit to hell... I need to SEE IT

Is Sharon setting a trap for Karli???

🚨 end credit: I’m not sure if they are making an iron man comparison. What do you guys think?

Ready for the showdown throwdown next week 👀

All in all it was fucking wild ya’ll and I felt catharsis watching this and so fucking hopeful. I cry 😭

Please feel free to share any thoughts you have about this episode💕

there’s so much in this show that is world building within mcu but also in greater conversations about heroism and power. It is a moral re evaluation of the superhero. Malcom Spellman being head writer you know this shit is not happenstance it is intentional. The took the long road and it totally paid off in this episode 😭

🙇🏻‍♀️ I am emotionally manipulated by this show 🙇🏻‍♀️

Huge shout out to all the cast and crew for making something both respectful to the lore but also challenging it to be better 🙌

My ep 4 review:

Tag list: @soliloquy-of-nemo