#frothing at the mouth I need episode 5 NOW

[pinimi]

“we should wait for him” … “probably” I could cut the sexual tension with a knife

[zeepz-art]

Spoilers for Arcane season 2 Episodes 1-6 ahead, tread with caution:

Also keep in mind everything I rant about here are just my current opinions and concerns, this could change after the next three episodes' release.

Ok.... first of all, never has a show made me sob as hysterically as this one has. The end of almost every episode has had me in tears so intense that I'm sitting there hiccuping oh my god. Like when Vi and Vander hugged at the end of Episode 5, or when the 'Remember Me' flashback happened GOD

The art and animation is as STUNNING as usual holy shit. This show is so beautiful and the visuals are addicting. It's all such good inspiration for fanart and just future artworks in general, it's honestly an artist's paradise and I genuinely can't believe something like this exists.

Anyway, initial gushing and ranting aside, here are some of my... gripes? concerns? about Season 2 for now.

(Please keep in mind that these opinions are not set in stone since the season isn't fully released yet but I still want to rant about them and get it all out of my system.)

Overall the season has been really really good, I am really enjoying it. But I can't help but feel SO confused. Maybe it's the fact that it seems a lot more focused on League of Legends storylines and references this time (I have no knowledge of League lore), but so many of the different plots throughout the episodes have left me so confuzzled.

For example, in Episode 6, it feels like so much happened that was so out of pocket. When Vi runs into Caitlyn, even though Cait was the one who literally left Vi to rot in a hole to continue her quest to kill Jinx, she immediately agrees to stabbing Ambessa in the back and just seems to forget entirely about what she's been doing for the past 2 and a half episodes?? It just felt like her mentorship with Ambessa, her 'relationship' with Maddie, and her obsessive search for Jinx were kind of tossed aside in favor of her and Vi making up.

Don't get me wrong, I love to see them together again, but I'm so confused as to WHY they're back together already. Not to mention Cait's reaction to seeing Jinx again is so tame in comparison to how much she seemed to despise her an episode ago.

Another Episode 6 example: Jayce... What the fuck?

I know we'll probably get context and exposition in the next few episodes as to where he's been and why he's like this, but still, it feels so strange that he went from sacrificing everything to save Viktor's life in Episode 1 and 2 only to show up and kill him in Episode 6. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU JAYCE PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW WHY YOU ARE MURDERING YOUR POOR WET CAT BOYFRIEND

My other concern with season 2 so far, is that the pacing/storylines and plot feel really fast? it kind of feels like so many plots were crammed into season 2 that they now only last a few episodes until they finish or are forgotten? Like Isha was only there for 4-5 episodes until she died, Vander/Warwick's existence was built up across 3 episodes only for him to die really soon after he was revealed? Vi's breakup era only lasted for a few minutes in a montage? Viktor's 'Jesus' era had maybe 10 minutes of screentime? the list goes on.

I enjoyed all of these plots and storylines a LOT but I wish we got just a bit more time to appreciate them instead of getting emotional whiplash every episode. And that comes from someone who LOVES emotional whiplash.

To be fair though, none of the 'deaths' I'm talking about are necessarily confirmed yet since they're just implied until the next 3 episodes, So I do hope that at least Vander/Warwick is still alive because we barely got to dive deeper into the emotions the sisters must have experienced after seeing him again.

Anyway, Season 2 is honestly still so good it's a solid 7.5/10 for me so far. It has its flaws but it feels unfair to focus on them too much considering the season hasn't even finished its release yet. So yeah I'm really enjoying myself over here and am frothing at the mouth for the next few episodes to come out. Until then I will be curled up in the corner drawing infinite amounts of Arcane fanart to sate my endless thirst for more of this show.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk and thank you for your patience.

[ninthhousedyke]

Arcane Season 2 spoiler thoughts!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

After the events of the election in the US, I really needed something to keep me from offing myself and Arcane season 2 could not have come at a better time honestly. I’m literally frothing at the mouth over this first act and I cannot wait for the rest of it. I’ve been looping all the released songs aggressively and I love almost every single one. This will be my new personality for the foreseeable future, gang.

Alright lets get the few negatives out of the way first:

1. I…do not like the new intro. It feels way too muted and strange compared to the energy of the season 1 opener. I would have preferred they kept the first season opening and just made minor tweaks, like having Ambessa’s shadow appear instead of Silco’s or something.

2. I’ve seen some discourse already about it being “fast” and like….I didn’t think that would be shocking to people. This is the season of action. We built up all the plot threads so now they can explode into their brilliance. We know this world and these characters and we can be tossed into the thick of the action and the emotions without handholding anymore. We aren’t building to a climax anymore; we’re IN the climax! Of course shit is hitting the fan quickly, that’s what happens when shit hits the fan. We’ve been away from this world for 3 years, but the season is picking up seconds after the last one ended. Reacquaint yourself with the world and it won’t feel so out of no where.

Alright onto every other thought I have:

1. LESBIANS ARE WINNING RAHHHHHHH

2. LESBIANS ARE LOSING NOOOOOOOO

3. Ahem how could you do that to me in the same episode? Like oh my god it’s so heartbreaking how well both sides of this debate are constructed. Seeing both characters in real time look right past the experience and perspective of the other. It’s just another example of not having a conversation like this in the heat of the moment. I love both my girls and I know they’ll make up….right Riot? They’ll make up right?

4. Ambessa orchestrating all out war like this, escalating it where it didn’t need to be and bringing Caitlyn up to be her warlord apprentice makes me so apprehensive for the next act!!! God the way Ambessa immediately clocked Caitlyn was the person she needed for her little takeover is so calculating!! Caitlyn is already making impulsive choices on her own and now she’ll be under the wing of a woman who wants nothing more than power and bloodshed. I cannot wait to see how far Caitlyn is going to fall before she realizes what this stray from her morals has done to her. I hope we get a final showdown between her and Ambessa where she rebukes being what Ambessa is grooming her to be.

5. That episode 1 fight scene was INSANEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Okay all the fights were insane and so well executed and fuck everything is so perfect and exactly what I was expecting from Arcane. The chainsaw went crazy and Sevika’s new arm is just so simultaneously Jinx and Sevika. It’s brutal and chaotic and I know Sevika can work wonders with it. Also Sevika please call me.

6. I love how all these characters that were mostly background people in season 1 are now getting moments in the spotlight instead of just introducing brand new characters. Like yes utilize the remaining chembarons for the Zain power vacuum rather than bringing in new people! Yes have the remaining councilors become bigger players on the board instead of more Noxus people! Yes utilize existing background characters to bring in the Black Rose!! I love that we have more room for important new characters / champions because we’ve utilized existing background characters in this way.

7. Rip Smeech, I liked your voice buddy.

8. Viktor Jesus arc here we gooooooo! Glorious Evolution tis time!!!

9. I love how the arcane itself is becoming a character. It’s influencing the plot and characters in a way it didn’t before. Now it’s actually an agent of its own power. I am so excited to see what consequences this will have.

[antitheticaally]

I like speaking in asks better (like letters!) so lemme just yap

I love villanelle so villanelle focused I will eat up I’m just afraid they will make her like…remorseful. Like no I prefer her crazy (what’s that say about me lmao someone do an analysis)

but Fr it feels dishonest to her character like she’s literally a psychopath

I do know the ending and FUCK the ending. Like wdym your gonna kill villanelle wdymmm that’s so stupid. I might watch the third season and then just say they’res not a 4th season cause numerous people have told me that it ruined the series for them. Or perhapsssss I will just watch the first season again

I do really like the second season tho just for like. The kills? Like the doll guy (🤢) and Raymond (wit the ax! Frothing at the mouth) and just all so good.

and then they killed Kenny and I was like •_• what the hell. Why are you gonna do him like that

anyway it’s literally so good I need to force someone to watch it with me immediately

oh my god i just tried to type this all in my phone and it VANISHED before i could post it so i'm trying again???

like letters!!! oh i love that.

okay okay okay SO idk how you will feel about season three then. i'm very curious. it's definitely very villanelle centric, but they do make her.... softer? i guess? more emotional? I wouldn't necessarily classify it as remorseful, so much as her being like, tired and fed up with everyone using and manipulating her for their own gain her whole life and like, to what end?? but it could definitely be taken as remorse in some instances so... hmm. that's just my opinion though.

I also totally prefer her crazy. I love a hot woman who could murder me at any given moment so no judgement here lol. BUT I am not. Entirely convinced that she is a psychopath. Now hear me and my psychology student delusions out for a moment, I definitely think she has anti-social personality disorder (the official DSM-5 diagnosis that psychopathy comes from) but I think she leans more towards sociopathy than psychopathy for a few reasons. That I will not get into right now. BUT I COULD DO AN ENTIRE PSYCHOANALYSIS OML.

seriously FUCK the ending (and fuck killing kenny too, my boy deserved better than that) literally WHAT was the point.

don't watch season four. you will HATE the beginning of season 4 especially if you hate the idea of villanelle being remorseful at all. they really went off the rails and butchered both her and eve's characters it makes no sense especially from where they leave off in season three.

literally the only thing in season four worth watching are a select few scenes between eve and vil during the last episode, including and absolutely beautiful kiss scene. but literally JUST GOOGLE IT and spare yourself the rest. or i will literally hand record all the scenes remotely worth watching and inbox them to you. straight up.

i have the (unpopular???) opinion of season two maybe being my favorite? i just adore the dynamics of eve and vil trying to work together, and vil just looks. incredible. that whole season. (the axe scene!!!!! the axe scene makes me INSANE.)

anywhoooo it's a beautiful show and please continue to yap. always. anytime. <3

[chomperzzzz]

AAAAAAHHRFR THE FIRST EPISODE?!??!

CHEWING, SCREAMING, SPINNING IN A CIRCLE

WOW. Okay,,,. can we please please PLEASE talk about the first episode because. AAAA

SO. here are some of my like IMMEDIATE thoughts

WOWOWO Teeth!!!!! Oh my GOD (gods?!?!?!)!!!! obsessed. actually so fucking obsessed. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

WHY IS TEETH'S HOUSE A MUSEUM?!??! clearly they aren't like a celebrity (well at least not a LIKED celebrity akjdshadj) but they're also like clearly VERY well known. Apparently they've committed every single crime ever?? I mean iconic tbh but why a museum?? DId people think they died?? were they EXILED?? so many questions hhrngnh

AS LONG AS WE'RE TLAKING ABOUT TEETH did anyone notice Olive exists as a STORYBOOK in Teeth's reality?? HUH?? THat can happen? AND MARIS LOOKED LIKE TEETH'S ""EXALTED" (spelling??) WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? How are the "realities" connected??? What connects them?

OKay also on that subject -- that biography Teeth picked up i -- aksdhasj WHO IS THAT ON THE FRONT COVER??? pic included for ref btw vv

SO WHO IS THAT?? I mean that's clearly Teeth's hand??! It's clearly some sort of scandalous affair i mean but if Teeth is accused of EVERY CRIME then why is this one such a big deal?? Was the person their relative?? Friend?? LOVER?? A celebrity?? (i mean w those boots we can see outlined..,,,,, slay tbH??? in multiple ways??)

5. Teeth wrote SPECIFICALLY "they're lying to you"... THEY?? I assume that means Teeth isn't guilty of ALL of those crimes (hopefully??) but is they the govt?? A group of critics?? evil people?????!?! what the FUCK /pos

6. ALSO worth mentioning i mean this house clearly had a lot of people living in it... you can see the wedding clothes, childhood objects etc etc -- where is everyone else?? were they kicked out/??? did they leave willingly??????? AHSDJASDKSJADHKDHHHHHH I NEED TO KNOW MORE

7. OKAY SPEAKING OF OLIVE -- omg i'm so obsessed w her hhrnrhghr talking to snails is the gender of the day folx

8. so Teeth has Olive's storybook -- how far does it go???! do they know everything that's going to transpire?? stuff that's already happened?? frothing at the mouth /so so pos

9. OLIVE JUMPS THE WALL BAD BITCH but what's the deal with the wall?? WHERE IS SHE GOING WHY IS SHE GOING TOWARDS WATER WATER IS OBVIOUSLY AN ISSUE HERE QUEEN STOP NOOO

10. WHY is grey green dude ("Scholar"??? i think i'm starting to get a hang of this) following her?? OLIVE WHAT DID U DO GET BACK HERE!!! I'm also starting to get the vibe each "reality" has v v v v different pantheon members bcz this dude is so crazy

11. OKAY NOW 42 -- omg. WOW. the vibes holy SHIT my smol bean <3 sinnamon roll <3 <3 <3

12. SEE IT'S GREY GREEN GUY AGAIN BUT HIS VIBES ARE SO DIFF?? okay so like. he's clearly 42's boss but their relationship is kinda wack bc WHY IS "BOATMAN" STEPPING IN?? does this mean 42 is like their warlock now or something?????

13. WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH 53?? he did NOT look happy to see 42 omg omg does 42 have a reputation?? or is there just beef between them in particular????? AAAAaaa i can't evennnnnnfjsdj

14. 42 looked HAPPY to see signs of "traveler".... *eyes emoji* bc what is THEIR relationship???

15. DARLINGWHATISINTHATTRUNK??!?!

16. Okay Darling is aligned w BLUE GUY (exalted again!!) this is so interesting omg i wouldn't have expected that?? like pink person is beauty and high achieving stuff so that's super interesting

17. NOTABLE ABOUT THE DARLING STUFF -- so Darling is like WORKING with the pantheon??? she's also like the only non-pantheon person we see -- HOW DID SHE GET HERE WHAT DID SHE DO TO GET HERE??? like everyone else is either MEGA separated in power or they're all chill but she is like THE ONLY NON-GOD??! tf

18. why do I stan Donny tho I --

19. MARIS??! MILF ALERT????? LITERALLY CW: MILFS AAAAAAAAAAAAA I AM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

20. MARIS IS ACTUALLY LIKE FIGHTING THE GODS. HOLY SHIT okay so clearly there's gonna be some ~conflict~ here bc WHAT!

21. maris is tatted too...... omg... ANYWAYS

22. okay so who tf is Maris afraid of??? like she squared up w stone guy and seems to have fought krackens so WHO SCARES MARIS??? I'm scared hold me,,,,,,

23. TUCKER HAS MY WHOLE HEART IMMEDAITELy

24. KYYYYYYYYYLE okay so this is SUPER interesting Tucker is literally just CHILL w the pantheon like?? they're not gods or anything they're just dudes??

25. ALSO tucker is like totally fucking w the pantheon!! why are there no consequences here??? it seems like this place like. doesn't have any laws?? okay why is this place so idyllic and perfect for everyone except for tucker??? NO OFFENSE QUEEN I LITERALLY LOVE U BUT PLS SEEK THERAPY

26. WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE GRAVE HEY UH WHAT

27. FOLLOW-UP QUESTION??? WHOSE GRAVE IS IT????? BC UHHHH TUCKER IS BRINGING THE GRAVE FLOWERS AND AHHH TUCKER MY SWEET PRECIOUS BLORBO ALSO WHY THE *FUCK* DOES THE GRAVE SAY "I'M SORRY"??? WHO'S SORRY????

28. all i can say after that is. omg. why did Telos take all of them????? why these people??

29. also shoutout TELOS bc omg <3 my sweet summer child ASLKJDjsdklja why is he so baby

30. WHY ARE THEY ALL AT TELOS' HOUSE WHERE IS TELOS' HOUSE WHAT'S GOING ON W ALL OF THEIR REALITIES

FUKCKJDJKSHC okay this is going to be my whole personality for LITERALLY forever now I'm screaming crying scratching

it also must be said... the shipping potential here is >>> heheheheee but that will have to be it's own post

okayokayokay i just needed to get that out of my system hrfshnasd LOVE YOU ALL KTHXBAI

[toh-tagteam-au]

so uh. how we feelin right about now

Bro, I don't even know anymore. I'm STILL processing everything that happened in that episode.

I'm probably going to ramble about it beneath the cut. Spoiler warning!

1)The palisman egg. It's such a PERFECT thing for Luz to carve but PLEASE I JUST WANT TO SEE WHAT IT IS OH MY GOD. Literally praying that it's a bat. Still have to wait a week (or possibly until season 3 ;-;) to find out. Frothing at the mouth.

2) The Day of Unity. I will BET MONEY that Belos succeeds with the Day of Unity and season 3 is the gang dealing with the aftermath. That seems to be the pattern for stories like this (the end-of-arc-2 failure, etc)

3) The collector. He literally made a deal with Belos with a pinky swear. This kid is obviously being taken advantage of/lied to but is ALSO evil. I love how his interactions with Belos vs his rambles to himself keep us guessing. I have a lot of thoughts about his connection with King, and how Belos definitely lit the Moon Mirror on fire the same way King was made to. They're probably the only ones that can see and hear the shadow, and the only reason why Luz and Hunter were able to see him in Belos's memory was BECAUSE it was a memory. Lowkey hoping that he has an actual name reveal too. Calling him The Collector feels vaguely de-humanizing.

4) You know when they explain the plan in a show that it's going to go wrong. No one is safe and I am so scared. Also those "Steve/Eber is the Traitor" theories out there. If either of them are, I will literally riot. If ANY of the CATTs are a traitor I will riot. This show is giving me STRESS.

5) GUS WILLOW AND HUNTER. I WAS NOT EXPECTING THEM IN THIS EP. HUNTER'S FRIENDSHIP W GUS. NEW OUTFITS. HUNTER AND LUZ TALKING ABOUT HOLLOW MIND. That ENTIRE section of them kicking ass when getting to Amity. These kids man.

6) LUMITY KISS WITH HIGH ANIMATION QUALITY. NEED I SAY MORE.

7) Epic divorce, Blight parents. We love to see it. Does anyone else think there's symbolism in the oracle magic being used against the abomination magic? Hope Ed and Em are okay.

8) I have. SO many emotions over The Switch. I went into this episode BLIND and I knew Luz's plan that she whispered to Gus was still in play, but I had no clue what it was. I couldn't trust anything on the screen knowing that Gus was doing something. Was Alador an illusion? No, because he had King with him, and Gus wouldn't have known that. Kikimora was actually hitting stuff, so those weren't illusions either. When "Luz" teleported and saved Willow I just thought "Oh, maybe Luz's palisman helped her out there?" When "Hunter" blew a raspberry at Kiki I was like "I... guess he can put aside his trauma and literally do nothing to save himself for the sole purpose of antagonizing Kiki?" I literally had NO IDEA they switched until the illusion was broken. I lost my goddamn mind.

9) Even with all these emotional whiplash moments the only time I outright gasped was seeing Willow go sicko mode. Cape flapping in the wind and everything. Yes girl give us murder. Coven officials are LUCKY they have Luz to hide behind or else these witches would have killed them.

10) I am. SO EXCITED for more Belos and Luz interactions. It's going to be terrifying. It's going to be GREAT. Two humans in the demon realm what will they do.

[bottombaron]

spoilers for what if...?

some quick thoughts on the first Marvel What If...? episode that are almost all Bucky related big surprise:

i froth at the mouth at any small moment of pre-ws!Bucky like a stranded survivor of a shipwreck. yes pls all of it, i need more. my desire to know who traumatized characters were pre-trauma is like an un-quenchable thirst.

that being said, i'm loving the idea the Bucky was just...a big fucking himbo. a nerdy silly himbo. there's nothing more satisfying than a super pretty competent person wowing you with some big time dork energy.

his lines were so groan worthy which is why i loved them. looking back it's a pretty obvious choice to make Bucky Barnes pre-Winter Soldier just Bucky Barnes from the comic books. he tells bad jokes, he's a damsel in distress, he's there for a reaction shot or two, and best of all he's got the worst one-liners.

my kingdom for Bucky of today going back to his bad one liners, honestly i would pay marvel to have Bucky throw a knife in someone's face, blood is everywhere, and he just goes, "knife to meet you." (Sam is floored. he goes through the 5 stages of grief in ten seconds and ends up laughing so hard his lungs hurt. redwing has it recorded and sam revisits it when he needs to)

the part where Steve gets back into the Hydra Smasher and falls on his face is peak stevebucky tho. Bucky is unconcerned, makes light of it, and there's even some light teasing. i have to highlight this for the purpose of Bucky's characterization in fanfic in terms of how he treats Steve, especially pre-serum Steve: he doesn't baby him. he doesn't mother-hen or overprotect Steve. he knows Steve is tough, he's spent years picking him up off of alleyway pavements, he's not going to act like a helicopter mom.

which i really appreciate because i'm tired of the treatment of Bucky as not also being a reckless kid in this war. Steve and Bucky don't have the dynamic of the Reasonable Adult and their Troublesome Kid i've seen sometimes in fic. they're both hooligans. Bucky comes off as the more cautious one sure, but it's just slightly. and that very slight difference gets overblown sometimes which feels disingenuous to a character that's in his 20s (like do you know bros in their 20s,,,do you?? they're still trying to run up walls and do backflips. they still think they're invincible. 20 year old men are the stupidest people on the planet. and i can say that as a man almost 30) and, by all accounts, ran mayhem in Brooklyn right next to his best friend.

just. don't forget Bucky Barnes is a young stupid pretty himbo okay?

speaking of disingenuous characterizations: what was that hetero bullshit with Peggy being more distraught over Steve's 'death' than Bucky????

are.you.kidding.me.

i feel this righteous anger burning over this, which i'm sure will come to a bigger rant at some point but really? fucking really?

this is it. this is what straight people do. this is the straight agenda.

this isn't even just about Steve and Bucky they do this kind of bullshit all the time in media: character 1 has a long-lasting deep friendship with character 2. character 1 has a romantic subplot with character 3. character 1 and 3 barely know each other. character 1 dies and character 3 is somehow more distraught about this than character 2.

i fully expected Bucky to start trying to climb down the mountain to find Steve but nope!

he's just 'oh nooo~ he ded. whelp lets go hoes'

while the woman who knew Steve for maybe a few months is doing the Darth Vader 'noooo' moment

this does not make any character, story, or emotional logical sense. there's no fucking reason for this bullshit than blatant homophobia.

like fucking fine, lets not see Steve and Bucky interact in any way because I WONDER WHY

but even better

lets have Bucky not really emote over Steve's death, because a. that's gay, we don't want people to think we write gay characters (don't worry marvel we don't) so two men can't care or mourn for each other onscreen. and b. we've got our hetero romance to sell

Peggy Carter is a professional military woman. with experience.

Bucky Barnes is some kid from Brooklyn whose been fighting in a war he's been drafted in for maybe some handful of months.

but sure. yeah. his childhood best friend dying. he's the one whose going to have the professional cool head in this moment.

and it's the PROFESSIONAL MILITARY WOMAN whose going to forget her job and training and need to be pulled from grieving BY THE MAN WHO'S BEST FRIEND JUST 'DIED'

SURE JAN SURE

it's the homophobia that betrays the logic of the characters that really fucks me up y'know?

if you're betraying the honest emotional reactions of story and character because you're afraid of those things being perceived as gay: you're homophobic.

it's really that simple.

'i'm in. for Steve' lol. like god. i'm as tired as seb sounds i swear

and i know Sebastian '~the truth of the character~' Stan probably felt like his teeth were being pulled out with hot pliers reading these. how many times did the voice director have to say, 'ok. can we try it like you're not slowly decaying from the inside, hunny?'

barely any howling commandos and none of them had any lines other than Dum Dum. ok. yeah. ok.

so some high notes:

return of my favorite Stark: 1940's Howard!

i would die twenty times just to be able to see more of Dominic Cooper's Howard Stark. he's just the fucking best. earnest and cute and a bit of a mad scientist and i fucking adore him

i need the Howard Stark + Bucky Barnes sitcom now. pls and thank you.

i'll even take 5 minute vinaigrettes of the antics they'd be up to. two playboy nerds together is just a magical event, don't waste it! i can't believe i've been sleeping on this dynamic it's too good.

"BARNES STOLE A CAR"

i will be replaying this single moment for years. the serotonin it gives me.

stark is just. the most excited man ever to have seen someone hotwire a car??? how did this scene go i need to knoooooowwww

all frustrations aside, it was really cool to see Peggy Carter as Captain Britain. she's a great character and i love her so much. every moment she was legit thrashing n*zis with her big butch arms was thrilling and satisfying.

that truck shield flip is still doing things to me...

honestly upset that the sword Peggy was wielding wasn't a Zemo easter egg like i was hoping it was 😩

[volfoss]

how about ranking bucciarati's team?

regret to inform you that ur gonna get a very long answer bc i have passionate feelings about them all! also trish is in this bc she is part of the team and no one will tell me otherwise and will also include some rambling bc it is me and i have so many feelings towards these characters and none of them r cohesive

under the cut just in case (post writing yes it was long)

Giorno Giovanna:

way way more complex than ppl normally give him credit for (i will not go into feelings on how a majority of the fandom treats him unless ppl want me to then i will in fact make a very long ranty post and will not be stopped)

mildly op (esp at the beginning with how hes kind of able to just use his stand really well w no problems altho i think thats true of most of the jojos that we have seen animated?)

i am emotionally attached to him and want to give him a big hug

hes just a kinda goofy kid and is maybe a bit not good with figuring out hey this is a semi dangerous situation maybe i shouldnt be taunting him (leaky eye luca for example)

has the actual best theme

i love how he works off the rest of the team so well (even w members who do not like him)

is in my top 3 jojos i love this kid sm i would adopt him if he was real

7/10

Bruno Bucciarati:

the fucking way his character develops from licky man to best dad material is my favorite thing

his outfit is so so so good i would die to wear it

in general this man is one of my fave jojos characters and i get a lot of comfort from him

hes just really neat and has a good taste in music

he did his fucking best and i will always love him for that

imo the way that his death was drawn out was genuinely one of the most heartbreaking deaths in the entire series and fucks me up each time i think of it

i feel like he really is the one to hold the team together in a way that everyone feels cared for and saved

def has a savior complex tho for sure

dilf but im ace

also manga superiority bc he either makes the stupidest faces or looks very nice (anime has a lot of weird animation in regards to his face) and also because its lingerie there instead of a tattoo that changes thickness and placement every second

10/10

Leone Abbacchio:

guilty pleasure liking man

i am obsessed with his vibes and wish to become him

i cannot physically express just how much i love him but hes one of my faves of all time (not obvious by my theme at all wdym)

i miss his manga palette but also the colored manga isnt my beloved but also black lipstick abba

hot take maybe but anime abba looks better than manga minus the lipstick debacle

hes so so tall and i will steal his height in a nice way

his past man his past it fucks me up

his death fucks me up normally but when i was rewatching recently, i saw he gave this tiny lil smile after helping the kids get their ball and i could not take it anymore

him and brunos relationship (canonically and out of canon too) is one of my favorites in the series

also fandom hot take as i guess i am doing those for everyone- but ppl either have him as cosntantly trying to murder giorno or being like good son and v out of character, and it is really weird? not sayign that ill do better when i write them but also like im convinced some ppl havent seen the show or smth

i will steal both him and bruno and marry them both <3

this man is beloved i love him to death

10/10

Pannacotta Fugo:

i cannot spell his first name to save my life

also fandom take- ppl make him constantly only angry boy all the time and it really irks me. ik araki did not give him 2 much to work w in terms of canon personality but its frustrating

the light novel purple haze feedback is so so so good and adds sm to his character and i really like it for that!

fugo is one of those that imo deserves a lot and didnt get that

genuinely the vibes between how he treats narancia is v interesting to me, like its clear he cares about nara but nara not doing great w math really frustrates him

i love their interactions and how he is genuinely a kind person at times

the manga colors r superior here, my strawberry boy <3

i just really love and appreciate him a lot and wish that ppl gave him more love

i keep getting assigned him on kin quizzes

very smart good boy

ALSO ok fugo did not do any wrong by leaving

unsure if thats a hot take but i genuinely dont blame the character one bit for leaving and again purple haze feedback really delves into that and why he did it

if ur a fugo fan go read it

his past is really upsetting esp in the anime i will cry over it

his stand is adorable and i wanna hug it

his vibes r fun and i wanna gift him strawberry dangly earrings

8/10

Narancia Ghirga:

this boy i am also adopting (i am adopting most of them sorry)

i really hate how ppl act as if hes stupid bc bad math skills do not equal stupid like did ppl not see the fight w formaggio??

the way he just fucking dove into the water after the boat and how brunos face went all soft and happy it will never not make me cry

he is constnatnly making me wanna cry if i think too much about him for 2 seconds i love him sm

how can anyone not adore him when he set an entire street on fire yk

hes just happy despite his past and it makes me sad i love nara sm

torture dance is one of my favorite memes from the show

ALSO ok the way he died so suddenly absolutely broke me bc the remaining team members r really just seeing everyone die in front of them so quickly

his goofy and laid back moments r my fave

i love just how loyal and caring he is to his friends

his stand is really cool and again the fight w formaggio was so fun to watch

8/10

Guido Mista:

probably my least favorite member of the team for a semi good reason:

the jokes towards trish are really really uncomfy and how fugo doesnt wanna be involved but he is pushing him to do something that makes him uncomfortable did not make me like him a lot

hes goofy but not goofy enough for me to be ok with the repeated jokes about that esp in the body swap episode (ik it was supposed to be funny but it just felt off)

his vibes r good but i wish we got to see his hair

the fandom interpretation is normally pretty good of him overall?

despite not loving him a lot, i really enjoying writing for him (one day might open up headcanon requests or smth but unsure)

hes someone id wanna watch movies w but his taste in movies and mine r very different

love how he and his stand get along

honestly has very very good comedic potential

i really like how he and giorno interact as the series goes on (in a platonic way i need to clarify that i love their friendship)

again him in purple haze feedback was really interesting

probably a 5/10?

Trish Una:

beloved and deserved better

her first outfit in the manga > outfit in the anime

actually in general i believe in manga trish superiority like her hair in the manga looks so cool

her stand her stand her stand i love sm

if u dont include trish in the group i am murdering u <3

HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! IS SO GOOD!!!!!!

fandom gripe is how people either pretend she does not exist or has the trish first introduction thing where shes using her defense mechanisms and acting a bit spoiled

OK but her in purple haze feedback!!! mild spoilers but how bruno was taking care of her post the ending of vento aureo makes me so happy each time i think of it

very mad that she canonically didnt really get an ending and yet again PHF my beloved actually gave her that

how spice girl starts out as a stand thats helping her thru a very stressful situation is so cool and i love it

DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO *frothes at the mouth*

but more seriously how she leans on bruno and begins 2 trust him and nearly point blank is referring to him as a father figure always fucks me up

esp because of the resulting fight afterwards

and the very ending of the arc that ends w bruno being like bye gonna go in the clouds and look ethereal now, oh man it makes me so sad

bc giorno is the only one that knew what happened and people that were closer to bruno due to knowing him longer didnt

i wanna see how trish coped w that personally

despite being introduced not at the beginning i think her arc and character in general were as well paced as it could be!

9/10

finally done! sorry that took so long but oh man i have so many feelings towards these guys its not even funny

[planet-crait]

Oversaturation in Star Wars

Before we start this is a warning this post gets very salty towards Ahsoka so if you like her character and are excited for her to be in the Mandalorian I would advise you skip. If you want to see my opinion on her overutilization then please feel free to read on. 

Whilst everyone is frothing at the mouth at the thought of Ahsoka being in the Madalorian I have to admit I am much less pleased about this development. Ahsoka has been shoved into media after media with no regard for whether or not it actually makes sense or works to do so. Back when season 4 of Rebels ended, Filoni specifically said that he did not show any snippet or scene with where Thrawn and Ezra wound up because he didn’t want to write himself into a corner later on should he decide to write the search for Ezra. With Ahsoka’s appearance in the Mandalorian makes all of that seem like complete bullshit. The Mandalorian takes place 5 years after the fall of the Empire, this is important because Ahsoka and Sabine do not start their search until after the Empire has fallen. The Mandalorian implies Ahsoka has been on this planet for some time which carries the implication the search for Ezra is over and they’ve found him. How can this not be seen as anything but writing oneself into a corner? They are literally deciding the ending of the story for the search for Ezra with seemingly no thought put into what happens before that moment. In shoehorning in some fanservice they potentially ruin the chance at writing a meaningful and organic story for Ezra and how he finally comes home. 

 Now it is possible this all takes place before Ahsoka and Sabine decide to go out and search for Ezra but I highly doubt that. In the Rebels epilogue it is heavily implied Sabine and Ahsoka head out to search for Ezra not long after the Empire has fallen given Jacen’s age. While yes, it is doubtful the search for Ezra would take five years to complete, there is still the issue of the fact that odds are the search for Ezra will in one way or another inevitably come up, which will reveal some information as to how he was found which later on in order to keep from creating an inconsistency will need to be kept in mind when eventually writing about the search for Ezra. 

It is certainly possible that the story of how Ezra was brought home will never be written, my biggest fear is that that entire plot will be resolved in this episode which is a massive disservice to Ezra’s character. He suffered over and over again throughout his lifetime and sacrificed everything, he fought to save his planet. That kind of sacrifice deserves to have the search and him coming home again be devoted to its own media, however they choose to do so. Not shoehorned in as an afterthought in a show with characters that have never even met him before nor care about him. 

With all of this in mind, there is also the burning question of why Ahsoka and not another Jedi we have not heard from we know on some level is probably alive. Why shoehorn in a character over and over again into media when there are so many other characters that could be utilized that we know nothing about what happened to them, like Ventress, Barriss, all of the kids from TWC arc who Ahsoka took to get their kyber crystals? Any of them would have been a very interesting addition and would have allowed us to find out what happened to them instead of throwing in a character who is becoming overutilized, creating a “small galaxy” conundrum. Why would Ahsoka keep getting involved with all of these different people who in the grand scheme of things have very little connection to her? Why not allow other characters to have the spotlight and have an influence on the story? Why is this one character who regularly claims she is not a jedi keep getting to do cool Jedi stuff? It’s infuriating given the fact that she is allowed to live because she “is not a jedi” but then does all this jedi stuff and is called a jedi by other people. Either she is a jedi or she is not, she cannot have it both ways. Either stop acting in the role of a jedi or fucking die like all the other Jedi are forced to. This will get me a lot of hate, but if Kanan had to fucking die for being a jedi then so does she. (Or bring Kanan back, that is a viable option but one that will never happen because only Ahsoka is beloved by the force enough to bring her back over and over again). 

I know I get really salty over Ahsoka in this post but I am just over her being in everything. She comes back in TCW even though she makes a point of leaving the order, she shows up in Rebels to be a wise Jedi mentor despite saying she isn’t one (which feels more like an excuse to keep her alive rather than something that actually makes sense for her character.) In the final CW season she decides she wants to be a Jedi again, only for order 66 to happen shortly before she can. I bring this up because she keeps saying over and over again that she is not a jedi. Having Ahsoka decide to go back to the order though completely undermines this viewpoint she has and again makes it come across as more of an excuse to not kill her off rather than something she believes in. 

I could write an entire essay on why all the Jedi having to die is the dumbest decision I have ever heard but that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to point out how Ahsoka being brought back into media so much is creating issues and plotholes LF and Filoni keep claiming they are trying to avoid. 

Though the Mandalorian episode has not come out yet, I have a lot of concerns as to what will happen in the episode: that Ezra will be revealed to have died in some bullshit way to save Ahsoka to keep the status of no other Jedi alive, that Ahsoka will take away baby yoda and he will die for bullshit reasons to again continue that thread or give him to Luke to once again seal his fate of dying later on by Kylo’s hands. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but when it comes to Ahsoka so far all I have been is disappointed and frustrated so I won’t hold my breath. 

[meanderings0ul]

Nathaniel vs Sybil

Now that it’s done, I don't understand what the point of Nathaniel Malick being there episode after episode frothing at the mouth about anarchy was.

What they did to start things off with Freddy Malick worked, how he became worse and worse of a person over time, how there's not usually a convenient arrow reading evil pointing at people who will become so. It let the characters have some thoughts and conversations about the nature of time, some disillusionment, cameo Gideon whose actor has passed on. Nothing glaringly off about any of that.

But Nathaniel...when you add up all the tag scenes and intros and and everything else where that dude was just blathering about his hot takes, it probably took up around half an hour of screentime this season. 

And for what? None of the main characters were really tempted by aNarChY. He was never going to be a more serious threat in the long run than an invading army of Chronicoms. The idea that we were supposed to worry he’d be more powerful than Daisy or something is...laughable. Showing profound disruption to the timeline from someone living rather than someone dying, they’d already made that point when the Chronicoms ensured Freddy survived too long. He killed a bunch of people, but Hunters could have done that too.

The Chronicoms were the threat of the season, their self-centered arrogance and callousness towards other species leading to them being fine with wiping out the population of a planet if they thought they needed it more. Picking Earth as a convenient target to move to after Team bus kids-B squad escaped their ships and humiliated them in the process, that all works, and they had the intel stolen from Fitzsimmons to help them along. 

But we got hints of a fascinating three-type society with Predictors, Hunters, and Anthropologists that was never expanded upon. They made a point of telling us there used to be other Predictors guiding the species but now there’s only Sybil. Why were they the last survivor? What made Sybil so different from the Hunters and Anthropologists? Or Enoch as the last Anthropologist not reassigned and reprogrammed? 

A good portion of Nathaniel’s screentime should have gone to Sybil and the Chronicoms. That he was just their pawn was obvious to everyone but him and they never even had a real confrontation. The chess game arguments between Sybil and Coulson were great, especially with Sybil viewing him as someone she ought to be in control of. 20-30 minutes spent on the Chronicoms over the last 5 or so episodes instead of aNarChY would have made a big difference in selling them as the final Big Bad, even though this time it seems Team Shield was able to save more of the enemy in the end than they killed.

[disabled-queen-hc-blog]

Your blog is amazing, I've just spent several hours reading through everything you written. Could you write about John with epilepsy? My husband has it and it can super stressful to deal with

Jumping.

That’s what John called the phenomenon of absence seizures. While his brain paused, rendering him unconscious, the world kept going. When he came to just seconds later, people and things have moved considerably. Or jumped.

Like that time Freddie was laughing at a joke and then seconds later was halfway across the room, drinking water. Or the time Brian was discussing a song and seconds later, was quiet, looking at his fingernails.

Jumping or absence seizures weren’t so bad. John would freeze up for a few seconds but wake up and immediately recover, leaving him able to do pretty much anything he wanted to. Stairs were daunting when the episodes were frequent, but other than that, no big deal.

That was the part of his epilepsy he didn’t care too much for. Easy to handle, and most importantly, easy for others to handle. ‘Spacing out’ was of no concern to those around him. Just make sure John doesn’t fall over or slip if you notice he’s having an episode, but really, it’s a nonissue.

The issue was the type of seizures that popped into everyone’s mind when they saw the word Epilepsy.

John was proud to say his convulsive seizures happened far and few in between. Only in times of stress did he really have to worry about an episode.

And who knew being in an internationally famous band was stressful?

“That sounds hideous,” Roger said, voice rising in pitch as the tensions in the recording studio grew.

“Maybe to you, but that’s how I wrote it and it sounds nice,” Brian snapped, eyes narrowed at the drummer who sat tall on his stool.

“It could afford to be quieter,” Freddie threw into the debate, not necessarily wanting to get in the midst of a Roger-Brian spat. They were ugly.

“Oh fuck getting quiet. It’s atrocious and should be cut entirely! Have you all lost your bloody ears?” Roger erupted, throwing his drum sticks on the floor.

All the while, John was in a corner, not saying a single thing. He didn’t like fighting, really. Not unless he found it imperative. He preferred to let the others toss hands while he just watched. 

Today he was tired though. The whole entire session had been nothing more than petty fights and venomous quips, for hours. The sun had long since set and they’ve been at it since 12pm. Not only was he plagued with a significant annoyance, he was hungry as all hell.

If only the other 3 could just shut up and play whats on the paper, they could all be home now.

But nooo. Roger always has to say something and Brian has to be the ass he is and Freddie just revels in fanning the flames.

John rolled his eyes as they all started getting into it for what seemed like the 40th time. Bite your tongue, John....

Not today!

“Can you all please shut the hell up and either play what’s on the goddamn papers or can we all just go home already?” he exploded, not even realizing all those words had erupted from his mouth.

Everyone went wide eyed, a few mouths popping open into surprised ‘o’s. You’d think that would be enough to get them all to act like adults but John had unwittingly entered his name into the match.

“Oh, so then you agree the section is good, Deacy?” Brian was the first to pipe up, finding the outburst to be a point for his team.

“That is not what he meant and you know it, you bastard!” Roger yelled incredulously.

Most people would’ve ripped their hair out from the idiocy, but John was busy with the sudden feeling of his fingers breaking.

Every joint felt like it had snapped in a grotesque manner, a familiar and hot pain searing from his digits all the way into his core.  His stomach erupted in butterflies, the one you get not after a kiss but when your roller coaster is about to drop from it’s highest peak.

And then, John didn’t feel anything.

♚

“You two ne- oh shit!” Freddie yelped when they all heard a thump and the chaotic strumming of bass strings.

John was on the ground in a heap, body starting to shake. 

This wasn’t any of their first rodeos, so they knew the drill. Didn’t make it any less scary.

Before the seizing got bad, they took off his bass, putting it aside. Roger made busy work of clearing the area around John, whose eyes were rolled back, foam already frothing at the mouth.

Brian tasked himself with watching the clock. No more than 5 minutes, he reminded himself. If John seized for longer, they needed to call an ambulance. 

Freddie put a jacket under John’s head just in time for the thrashing to grow particularly violent. His limbs tightened and relaxed, flailed and flopped. His head wouldn’t stop jerking from side to side, his torso popping off the ground in a manner that looked painful.

Of course, it wasn’t painful. It was something that took a few episodes for them to solidify. John was completely unconscious and couldn’t feel a single thing. There was no need to try and comfort him during an active seizure. They’d only be putting him or themselves in danger.

It still was a hard thing to feel in their hearts, watching as his lips turned blue or he gasped for air. They all were just thankful he wasn’t awake to experience it.

It was only 2 minutes and 27 seconds exactly, according to Brian, when John finally stopped. He went limp like a ragdoll on the carpet and that’s when they all approached him.

Freddie mopped up the sweat and spit with a towel. Roger petted his hair, talking to John to get him to wake up and Brian was rubbing John’s knee.

John was always bad at waking up. He took an hour or more to have complete clarity. He’d be in a daze or state of confusion for so long, mumbling the whole time about needing sleep.

They all knew this naturally and just needed John to show that he was okay before he was allowed to sleep.

“Wake up sweet boy,” Roger cooed as the youngest murmured absolute nonsense. 

“Yes, wake up, sweetheart. You're safe and fine. Just wake up so we know you’re well, alright, Deacy?” Freddie said, now smoothing circles over John’s chest. 

It wasn’t 20 minutes before John said anything intelligible.

“Floor,” he slurred.

“You’re on the floor, John. You had a seizure. Are you with us?” Brian chimed in, a break from all the sweet talk to two mother hens were doing.

“Seizure?” John groaned. He still was far from being 100% conscious but he seemed to be coming around a lot faster than usual.

“Yes, mate. You had a seizure. Everything is alright though. Not even a bruise on you,” Roger answered, giving his cheeks some light smacks to see if that’d rouse him up faster.

“Sleep,” was John’s last words before the rotter fell asleep. 

♚

“Careful, Deacy, careful,” the other 3 said as they helped a considerably awake John to his feet.

His eyes were alert, looking around the room squinted, as if trying to piece together how he wound up convulsing on the floor.

Once stood up, John leaned against Freddie who had his arms wrapped around the bassist tightly. He let out a sigh and crinkled his nose, the post-seizure feel being just slightly better than having a full blown flu.

His head pounded. His muscles were sore and some pulled. His brain still felt wacky and all he wanted was to sleep for a week straight.

Freddie asked if he felt safe to go home or if he needed to go to hospital. No matter how miserable a seizure was, this was pretty normal in terms of an episode. So no doctors, just a king sized mattress, please.

Being the concerned friends they were, they all drove John home, led him into bed and tucked him in. It wasn’t necessary, but they stayed a few hours afterwards, making sure he was okay and didn’t seize again. Maybe concerned friends wasn’t the right word.

More like guilty.

They knew stress was John’s biggest trigger, but selfishly they had all bickered like children all day, even when it was apparent he was getting weary. And for what? For John to suffer.

They all came to that realization quietly, twiddling their thumbs and anxiously twirling their hair. 

When they all met up again at John’s house the next morning, that was the first thing out of their mouths. An apology.

John sat up in bed, craving at least another 24 hours more of sleep, but he listened, nodding every so often as his bandmates confessed their sins.

He put on one of his infamous Deacy smiles, lips tucked in and eye crinkles deep and said, “It’s alright, guys. I should’ve said something, y’know? It’s not your faults.”

Roger shook his head, a hand squeezing John’s shoulders. “Naw, it’s our faults too. We never wanna be the reason you drop like that again. We’ll promise to be more civil,” he said, blue eyes sad.

There was nothing for him to be mad about, but he accepted their apology, shrugging off last night’s fiasco. 

Well, almost.

“Now that I am saying things I feel, I do have something to tell you all. Brian, that section you want is horrid,”

“Oh go to hell, John,”

[captainderyn]

Lance from VLD for the character meme.

Oh boy..*cracks knuckles* here comes my super unpopular opinions. Good character choice my friend, I got a lot to say on Lance xD. Thank you for asking!

Why I like them: I think Lance is a really funny, interesting character at times! I really love the bond he had with Blue and how despite that he willing stepped aside to make room for Allura and found just as strong a bond with Red. I love how he struggles and how he needs to work through those crisis of self worth and how he sees himself on the team (as they get a bit hardcore relatable sometimes). Overall I think he has a lot of potential as a character and he’s really become more endeared to me over the past two seasons.

Why I don’t: The above being said...I don’t really like Lance all that much. It’s in part his fanbase frothing at the mouth going “MY BBY PRECIOUS LANCE IS SO ABUSED BY THE WRITERS D: D:” that really tainted him for me when I was originally looking for VLD fan content (that was prior to me learning to specify who I wanted to search for and sticking to my one ship with an army of blacklisted tags). But I also find him a bit...tiring. Sometimes he’s just a bit much for me with his constant humor and schmoozing of the earlier seasons. Not that I have an issue with people who do like him, I know the part of the fanbase that I encountered isn’t everyone, but Lance just really isn’t my jam for character archetypes. *shrugs* 

(It’s really funny to me that I don’t like Lance because the silly, punny, out of the blue humor that is Lance’s thing is extremely similar to the sort of humor my boyfriend uses all the time. *All* the time. You know Lance’s bad pickup lines? Think that. And then puns. When I was live texting LOTR to him he was making LOTR puns back at me. And that will put me into hysterics laughing. So you’d think I’d like Lance but...eh)

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Uhh...I have to say the scene I’ve most loved is the scene when Shiro’s soul is returned to his body and Lance realizes that he Shiro had tried to reach out to him and he hadn’t realized it. That was just a strong moment to me where I really saw how Lance can be serious and how he cared for Shiro/was so struck by the...gravity of the situation. I dunno, I just really like that scene. 

Favorite season/movie: This past season! I loved seeing Lanec with his family and I felt like he really stepped up his game this season and matured a bit. 

Favorite line: “Let me tell you, as someone who’s made a million mistakes; all you can do is get up and try to make it right. You can’t doubt yourself now.”

Favorite outfit: Hm....paladin armor without question. 

OTP: I don’t really have one for Lance...I wouldn’t be too mad about Plance or Allurance as endgame. 

Brotp: Eh...Lance and Hunk or Pidge. 

Head Canon: *flails* I got nothing. 

Unpopular opinion: OH BOY. Here we go. I do not think that Klance should or will be end game. I don’t think their dynamic is secretly true love, I don’t think they’re going to confess their undying love for each other. I think he and Keith knock heads too much to really be compatible and I really wish that the aggressive Klancers would back off the other ships and stop taking things so extreme. That’s just the tip of the iceburg of it, and goodness knows I will not say MY ship after saying that because it’ll get me burned at the stake but that’s my hot take. 

A wish: Let Lance find some peace from his self questioning and self worth struggles--let him be happy, he deserves it. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: ....I think I covered the fact that I really don’t ever want Klance to become canon (or “canon king” as some idiots in that side of the fandom (again, the aggressive ones) like to chant), but also killing him off ever. Don’t kill my pala-dudes.

5 words to best describe them: Funny, loyal, expressive, a flirt, averygoodfriend (yes that’s one word fight me)

My nickname for them: “Lance, my buddy, my dude, WHAT���RE YOU DOING!”

[hedgehogonice]

acc to freeform execs (you can google int if you want) they were satisfied with show ratings (for this channel, it was decent), they did it for ecomics reason-that they caused by themselves. Freeform wanted to order less episodes so they could have more time for their new projects, that didn't sit right with netflix and it got out of deal (many media outlets wrote about this). But the main thing, people want to save show that is dear to them, they want to fight for it, leave them alone

I can’t find anything on how Freeform Execs were specifically satisfied with the show’s ratings for Season 3, sorry. There’s plenty of articles on the cancellation and none that I read mentioned them being happy about the ratings. They’re more likely to talk about the fanbase and fan reactions, and how they were “proud” of the series, and creatively happy with it.

One key element, Burke explained, was the overall strategic shift at Freeform toward ordering shows in smaller batches. That decision triggered the end of the valuable Netflix output deal with the network’s co-production partner, Germany-based Constantin Film. “We went back and forth with them but ultimately we just couldn’t make the economics work,” she said. “We were very happy creatively with it.”(x)

“Overall strategic shift“ sounds like Freeform is not doing A-okay economically, and ordering shows in smaller batches is likely to help with that and keep them running. They didn’t make this shift to personally fuck with Shadowhunters fans. Sometimes you gotta make changes to survive in such a cut-throat industry. Shadowhunters isn’t one of their top-rating programs, after all.

Season to date, Shadowhunters is averaging barely 400,000 total weekly viewers, down sharply from Season 2 and ranking fifth of all current Freeform programs.(x)

And Netflix cutting off their support isn’t a great indicator of their continued interest in the series, or it’s success on Netflix.

But the fact that they (Netflix) have turned away from getting more seasons internationally must mean that the show isn’t performing well. This would mean if they picked it up they’d only add the US market. Even then, the viewing figures aren’t especially exciting. The latest episode only garnered 310,000 viewers, down from season one’s peak of 1.82 million.(x)

Now, if Freeform were truly happy with ratings that went down -40%, that’s great for them. However, Freeform did also cancel Fosters, which had 0,2 mil more viewers than Shadowhunters. Freeform did also cancel 5/6 of their shows that took a nosedive in ratings, and Shadowhunters dropped 2nd most out of all their series. So comparing to other Freeform series, shows that did similarly to Shadowhunters, and even with better ratings, also ended. (x)

It’s obvious that they were on the chopping block with ratings like that without Netflix’s backing as a shield, and with a fantasy series being very expensive to produce. Sure, it’s unfortunate that Freeform had to make an overall shift in their production, but it’s not a personal insult to victimize fans. They likely made that shift for a good reason.Also, maybe it was the excuse that Netflix needed to discontinue their support. Netflix’s decision also tells that, at the time, they had no special interest in the show. “Ordering shows in smaller batches“ doesn’t automatically mean “Discontinuing shows“. If it was a valuable show for them, they would’ve fought to keep the international rights, surely.

I guess I don’t understand the overt negativity, and jumping at everything and anyone, including spam filters, calling Freeform homophobic, telling them to die, starting hate blogs for them etc. To me, that’s off-putting and extremely negative, and does put me off the show and fans completely, and I’m not alone in that. That together with the false fact that many fans have about how Shadowhunters has “high ratings“ is entitled and tiring to watch.

I’m not opposed to getting the show going again. The charity donation is a great positive way to draw attention to it. Frothing at the mouth at spam filters, a bit less so, after literally telling people in mass posts to spam Freeform. That kinda thing might even put potential new watchers off from watching Shadowhunters. And new viewers are, let’s face it, what the show desperately needs if it gets picked up again.

[oldtumblhurgoyf]

Top 10 Products I want from Magic

Not even precisely products but more the aspects of products that I think really shined and which could be utilized in other ways to wonderful effect. And if anyone from Wizards happens to see this, #1-5 are literally just “this is what I liked a lot about this product and want to see more of.” #6-10 are things you maybe shouldn’t look at but if you can then go for it. Oh, actually 8 and 9 are cool for you as well.

1. Conspiracy and Conspiracy II were a ton of fun. I have fonder memories of the first since I got to draft it more but these are just right up my alley. Draft matters is definitely a big part of that but I think just the deal where you split a draft pod into smaller multiplayer groups instead of running a swiss tournament is what really defines these products. That’s such a fun way to enjoy Magic and I think even without draft matters you could make a really fun product by embracing that multiplayer aspect.

2. Unstable is just the best damn thing! Silver border is such an absolute and unadulterated joy that I will be real sad if we don’t see another one in future years. But again I think another aspect of this set is something that at least part of Magic’s audience doesn’t get enough of and which I think most of Magic’s audience can really enjoy; the lighthearted fun nature of it. You don’t need just silver border to convey that. Conspiracy definitely brought some of that (I think of them as unofficial silver border sets). But especially if the expert sets are going to focus more on big and serious world threatening conflicts, then the supplemental sets are places to have a little more fun with it. Literally give us a supplemental product where the “plot” revolves around the Gatewatch being on vacation. And it’s unlike any vacation we’d ever go on, but it’s definitely not a world ending thing and we get some fluff and fun stories for like a month while we draft something maybe even a little less serious than Fiora.

3. Less Commander stuff? Personally I’m growing a little bored with Commander and this is stuff I personally want from Magic so I don’t have a problem saying it. Obviously the numbers still currently merit producing the Commander product every year and maybe just eventually I’ll determine it’s not worth my buying it but they are still able to do some cool stuff with it. If not less, then I just want to see more done with it. Commander Draft like I’ve been talking about lately. The boat’s kind of left on putting out a Tiny Leaders thing as the Commander product one year, but maybe explore stuff like that?

4. Planechase and Archenemy! I’m always surprised by how much my friends (who don’t have cards and only play when I bring packs or decks for us) want to play Planechase. Like it’s fun for sure, but this quickly overtook draft as their hands down favorite way to play Magic (or more accurately, draft and then do a Planechase multiplayer game replaced just drafting and playing multiplayer with draft decks). They hardly have interest in doing something else and of course you can always throw a Planechase deck onto any other way of playing Magic (we haven’t yet done Explorers of Ixalan Planechase and the story logic of that is frightening at best...). But at any rate, I would love to see new planes and locales get some Planechase treatment. But outside of that you’ve got two fun formats that utilized a shared library of a sort (well, not shared in Archenemy but still, only one such library in a multiplayer game) and you can do so much more with this I’m sure. In a similar vein, I’d love an official Wizard’s Tower product, likely with some augmented rules and story trappings. I’m imagining perhaps “Battle for the Tolarian Academy” as the Explorers of Ixalan-type product to go alongside Dominaria.

5. Art books are amazing! I’m not sure how well these are doing (whether good or bad) or what it means with the changing block structure (if we theoretically went to three different worlds in a year, they just don’t have the resources to give us an art book for each) but these are some of the best things on my bookshelves. The art is stupendous and the world and story snippets have me coming back months later to get another little taste of these awesome worlds. I hope we can at least continue to get them for new worlds and for revisits that haven’t yet gotten an art book.

6. A Gatewatch cartoon! The Professor has already talked about this and for all the reasons he’s mentioned and more, this could be really cool. I think I’d actually prefer to see it done in partnership with Netflix (or at least along the lines of that sort of model) with a set and closed plot with about 10 episodes or so. I’d rather an Over the Garden Wall style totally enclosed story in one season (even if they never did another) than a meandering and open multi-season affair with no promise of finality or pay off. At least see how that first season goes and then consider how to revisit it.

7. Cube support beyond cards. I’m thinking explicitly a breifcase sort of thing with some reusable plastic sleeves that probably velcro shut or something and hold 15-18 cards neatly. Maybe complete with a little booklet with cube construction advice, “collating” your boosters to accomplish different things and make better drafts, stuff like that. It would have dividers for tokens and dice but the bulk of it would just exist to hold 720 cards ready to go in the provided boosters.

8. I understand a lot of reasons why the story is limited to mostly being a once a week thing online. But I’m also among those (if #5 and #6 weren’t clues enough) who desperately wants more story. There are definitely more stories to be told in Magic than just what sees focus in a set and which we get to see on Wednesdays. The issue here is actually with budget and best use of the taxed creative team resources, but I’d love a situation where some resources are allotted for a Magic Fiction column that is explicitly not focused on the main plot. Wednesday would be the main story. Perhaps on Monday or Friday we would get a story that could be anything--in between some major plot events with the main characters (ok that’s technically main plot but the difference is this isn’t as essential), or a look in with some planeswalker we haven’t seen in awhile (perhaps to seed their reappearance a la Nahiri’s treatment), or just world building and tone setting (Sacrifice featuring the Gitrog Monster is still my favorite Magic story ever and nothing about Shadows Over Innistrad’s plot necessitated that story be written). So many of us are frothing at the mouth for nuggets from the Multiverse. Please give us more.

9. New casting structure for tournaments. I mean specifically the “telecasting” aspect of tournaments. I want the option to watch a much more layman level casting of it where the announcers explain more of what’s going on at a new person’s level. For one, especially for formats I don’t play, that is so damn helpful (it’s such a pain to have Gatherer up trying to figure out what plays are occurring and trying to figure out why, so much so that I don’t watch much tournament Magic at all unless I know the formats/decks going into it and it’s particularly high profile). This would also open it up more as something that I could potentially watch with friends (like those mentioned above) who aren’t nearly as into Magic as I am. This is a weird one and I don’t think this one paragraph does it justice, but essentially I want like the Spellslingers of tournament casting as an outlet to the less enfranchised. That’s not even the best way of putting it but I think you have the gist of the idea now.

10. Scratch off cards! This would go in an un set and this is just a pet idea of mine but I’m real big on it. Variants in Unstable show us that isn’t out of the question. The next step is slapping some scratch off bits over the rules text and figuring out how to do it so you can cast those and scratch ‘em off only as you do that. (targeting is the tricky bit with these but I think there are ways to work around that)

[hall-of-merlin2]

Magic, Monsters and Merthur - 1x01 - (Monsters)

Hello hello. Welcome back.

By monsters I used to mean the magical creatures of the episode, like the afanc, the fomorroh and so on and so on.

But... I kind of realized that there aren’t that many monsters in the show. Not in every episode, at least, sometimes it’s just... people doing shitty things with magic.

*gasp*

I said, dramatically. What if... the people... are the MONSTERS?!?!?!?!?

Not a... An amazing revelation, since... Well, since season 4 I realized just how much I actually talk about the villains. I like the villains, surprisingly, when I know that in the end they don’t win. First time through, I was fuming literally every episode, wishing someone killed the bastards already.

During the re-watch? I started admiring them, and what they did, and their thought process. Call me a psychopath, but if I know that my boy Merlin and my sunshine Arthur don’t actually get permanently hurt by the big bad of the episode, I’m able to just sit back and relax, think of it as a battle of wits instead of screeching at my screen to someone fucking notice the villain.

I like battles of wit.

Sadly, I don’t usually have much to say about the villain. Most of it comes down to the magic they use, and I decided to make a separate post for that, so...

How about I throw in a few character moments too? Just to... Not make this post 2 paragraphs long.

I think I managed that and more already...

OH WAIT I JUST REALIZED I HATE KILGHARRAH.

HELL YEAH LET’S TALK ABOUT BITCH ASS OVERGROWN LIZARD.

AND UTHER!

OH I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE MAIN BIG BADS. HELL YEAH, THIS PART OF THE RE-WATCH IS NOT GOING TO BE EMPTY WHATSOEVER.

(I get really fired up at times... Please understand that I am ranting to a fictional character that will never actually hear me, and knowing that doesn’t dim my anger, it does the opposite since I know they can’t retaliate :))

<_><_><_>

“No young man, no matter how great...

Can know his destiny.

He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold...

Like everyone, he must live... and learn.”

00:09

Already, ALREADY, not even a MINUTE into the FIRST EPISODE, Kilgharrah is contradicting himself.

How the fuck can anyone think this dragon is anything but a manipulative little shit that has his own unknown agenda.

Fuck Kilgharrah.

NOT EVEN A MINUTE IN.

(I just thought that maybe Kilgharrah means it literally when he says "man", as in, human.

BUT I THREW THAT OUT THE WINDOW BECAUSE THEN KILGHARRAH WOULDN'T TELL MERLIN'S DESTINY TO HIM, SINCE MERLIN IS STILL A MAN, "HOWEVER GREAT".)

<_><_><_>

02:14

Let’s start the “Uther is a sick fuck” book early.

Butchering a man, and then calling it a “lesson”? Yep.

<_><_><_>

02:42

You think Uther does this whole speech every time he orders someone to be hanged, just to stroke his own ego?

I believe it.

Prick.

<_><_><_>

08:56

Why is the chopping block still there? Don’t they dismantle the execution areas after the execution?

Are there more people scheduled to be killed later or is Uther just that afraid someone’s going to overthrow him and keeps his “intimidation” block to try and fail to prevent it?

Uther’s a sick fuck anyways.

<_><_><_>

<_><_><_>

“Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then, even the dragons.”

“All of them?”

“There was one dragon he chose not to kill. Kept it as an example.”

21:11

One for the “Uther is a sick fuck” book!

<_><_><_>

26:17

And who tells him he’s supposed to stay a nobody, a servant pushed around and berated constantly, to this little insecure bean who is incredibly confused about everything that’s happening to him, just to fulfill some bullshit “destiny” of his?

Kilgharrah.

Fuck Kilgharrah.

<_><_><_>

32:24

Fucking hell Kilgharrah...

Just two days ago he was talking some shit about “nO OnE cAn KnOw ThEiR dEsTiNy” and now he’s just outright saying what’s going to happen.

FUCK IT IF IT’S THE ONLY WAY FOR THOSE THINGS TO COME TRUE, THIS IS MANIPULATIVE AND THE WAY OF A HYPOCRITE IT IS NO BETTER THAN UTHER AND WHAT HAPPENS LATER ON DOES NOT EXCUSE THIS PRICK, BECAUSE THE NOW IS NOW AND RIGHT NOW ALL I’M SEEING IS ONE BITCH ASS OVERGROWN LIZARD BEING A SLAVE TO HIS OWN PROPHECIES.

<_><_><_>

33:22

Perhaps it is not someone’s duty to change someone for the better, because a relationship where someone is a slave to the other is not healthy and inherently abusive.

This should be more hated, the fact that this is how Merlin and Arthur got to be their dynamic duo. But since it’s not, I’m just going to keep seething here in my corner about how Merlin was never allowed to be his own person, to try to become great simply because of his magic and unite Albion all on his own, instead was thrown an identity that didn’t even suit him and just barely got by not losing himself completely, which you could say he managed to do only up until season 5, maybe 4.

Just the fact that everything could have gone in a much more different direction and the fact that MERLIN NEVER ACTUALLY NEEDED ARTHUR to be himself or do magic or save all of Camelot repeatedly makes me froth at the mouth and forced me to make that theory you read before you dove into this. That there were two prophecies of how Albion was united, and only one of them spoke of Merlin being under a boot for years and years. The other was made solely for me to cope with this shit and think of a better way for Albion to be united – since that seems to be the focus here, not Arthur becoming king. Arthur could have been thrown aside and Merlin could have been the benevolent sorcerer king who brought peace to everything, but nO.

Justice for Merlin. My boy deserved way better than this.

AND THE TRIUMPHANT TITLE MUSIC PLAYS RIGHT HERE I FUCKING CAN’T THIS IS WHAT’S TRIUMPHANT – MERLIN BEING SOLD TO ARTHUR BY A FUCKING DRAGON HUH???

…

As you can quite clearly see…

I really hate how Merlin ended up as a servant.

But I come around quickly because Arthur isn’t a complete prat all the time and he doesn’t abuse Merlin like he could if he truly hated him. I come around to this whole thing as quickly as Arthur does – by episode 2.

<_><_><_>

38:56

Anyone else kinda bothered she didn’t even try to hide the body? Well I know that what she’s about to do will probably result in her death or at least jail time, and it doesn’t even matter if they also find a dead body in her chambers and put two and two together, but like… What if someone walked in before it was time to leave and go do her one-in-a-lifetime performance and they caught her? Would she have killed them too? Would she also have left their body just lying there and people kept coming, and she kept killing them, until there was a whole pile and someone would eventually come by looking for all the dead people and they’d see it and they’d scream and then more people would be alerted and her plan would go to shit?

Just an… Alternate universe idea. Would have been a hilarious first episode.

<_><_><_>

39:12

What if Uther just dropped a ton of cloth on himself, called it fashionable and hanged anyone who dared point out how ridiculous it is?

<_><_><_>

Heh... Mostly about Kilgharrah, huh? Yeah... I can’t wait for season 5, just to watch this old fuck wither away.

Fuck Kilgharrah. There’s a reason that’s a tag.

Also, a thing.

The Villain List

1. Mary Collins (what a surprise...)

It’s episodic villains, for now. The true evil is too much to be compared to these cute witchy-poos...

<_><_><_>

The Magic

The Merthur

[21stcenturymen]

Period

RATING: Teen (and probably sooner)

This week’s anecdote comes courtesy of researching for this week’s post. Do a google search relating the words “men,” “women,” and “period,” and you will find vast swaths of information about how men and women relate gender, communication, and relationships (intimate and otherwise) to women’s periods. Normally, I can find valuable resources relatively quickly, but it turns out there is a ridiculous amount of info (and plenty of garbage) out there on this. There are literally hundreds of articles just about men’s periods (apparently, a thing). Hundreds of articles about women’s exercise regimen while menstruating. Thousands of articles about dating and attraction while menstruating. And even a number of articles about period sex (also, yes, a thing - don’t say “ew”). We’re also not 100% sure why women even have periods. In any case, Facebook and Google have now decided my targeted ads are exclusively for feminine hygiene products. At least it’s a break from the hippie dating websites.

But I want to start out by flipping a comment that’s been going around since the late 1990s thanks to Matt Stone and Trey Parker. I’m sure they never intended the phrase to take on a life of its own, but, well, it has.

Do not ever say this: “I just don’t trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn’t die.”

1. You are talking about human persons. It’s “anyone” not “anything.” This is the “othering” of women. By calling them things, it absolves you of having to respect them. Back that truck up and start over. We have to get beyond this.

2. How about you be in awe of someone who bleeds for 5 days and not only lives, but manages not to murder you when you say something like that? Any idea the amount of pain they might be in while you’re judging them? It is, at times, on par with a heart attack.

3. Equating your trust for a person with their biological processes means you refuse to see them as people who are capable of thought and self-determination. How would you feel about being judged for nocturnal emissions? “Oh, men drop semen while they’re sleeping? That’s gross! I don’t trust them.” It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Then stop judging women for their biological processes.

Next is the judgment over women’s behavior when they’re menstruating. “Are you on your period?” I want you to banish this question from your lexicon. Let’s say that having one’s uterine wall shed into a state-taxed sanitary device actually caused women to behave less rationally than at other times of the month. A. You’ve never had to go through it, so don’t judge. B. Odds are, it would make a person more honest, not less, because who’s got time for bullshit?

Except it turns out that men are more rapidly cyclical in their hormonal moodswings than women.

...recordscratch.wav...

Get up off the floor and keep reading before you pen a frothing rebuke. This is real. Men have a 24-hour hormone cycle as compared to women’s 28-day cycle. For both men and women, testosterone is what makes them the most aggressive. And, we men have significantly more testosterone and do this daily. So, no judging women for their moods, okay?

But this gets political, too. Just a few paragraphs ago I said “state-taxed sanitary device.” At least 39 states assess taxes on feminine hygiene products, regardless of the fact that they’re considered a necessity. Though the aforementioned study points out all products should be taxed regardless of necessity, consider what it says when a woman is told that her bodily functions should be taxed. That their act of existing as a woman is a taxable event. Not only that their regular bodily functions should be taxed, but that men’s dysfunction shouldn’t be. Only Illinois currently charges a tax on Viagra, and even then only because they tax all prescription drugs. Dubious win, Illinois.

image from the Netflix series Big Mouth, S.1. episode 2

While it is true that there is technically no specific “tampon tax,” politicizing, and then taxing women’s functions serves only one purpose, and that is to tell women that their humanity is a cultural expense. It’s not that we should allow it because “Well, all products are taxed,” but that we should probably be looking at human bodily functions - the things we are biologically engineered to do - as exemptions from state taxes. And that we should be examining more sustainable options than taxable tampons.

For instance, I’ll wager a number of men reading this have never heard of a menstrual cup, much less that there’s an entire website just for reviews of said products. Know why? Because they’re not profitable long-term to companies like Procter & Gamble, who would prefer the monthly purchase of $5 to $20 versus a one-time purchase of between $30 and $70. They advertise and create brand loyalty that’s hard to break through. Additionally, some menstrual cup companies make it simple to donate their products to women in developing countries. Go ahead. Click on one of the products in the review website link above and make a donation. You never have to tell anyone you’ve purchased feminine hygiene products and you get to be a good human at the same time.

PURPOSE: If you’ve read this far, I’m grateful. Thank you, men, for putting in the effort to learn a little bit about this. I’ll be honest, I learned a bit, too. I want you to view women’s periods, the pain, the taxes, and the shrouded availability of alternative products differently than we have in the past. Menstruation is not gross. It’s an amazing, complicated, and evolutionarily unique process our partners on this planet undergo with a regularity you can’t even imagine.

Avoid judgement of something you don’t have to experience. If you are in the fortunate position of being in a relationship with someone who menstruates, realize that you can support them. Don’t ask “How can I help?” because then you’re making it about you. And whoa, boy, is it not. Instead, ask “What do you need?” and when they answer, take a note and just go do it. Save that info for later. Do it again without having to be asked. Be a partner in human processes. Because without the process of menstruation, you wouldn’t exist. Stop “othering” women by demonizing their body and start realizing that their bodies are part of the same human processes as yours.

Next up: Yelling Is Violence