#he is essentially saying what i thought immediately when i first watched the episode lmao
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
bizarrelittlemew · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Rhys Darby on the ending of season 2
223 notes · View notes
kim-ruzek · 2 months ago
Note
Regarding episode two, if you've seen it already. ;) The burzek of it all? Not enough? Too much (wha?? no way!!)? Exactly right? I have to say it was just right for me. It fit the atmosphere of the episode and sort of made my fanfick-y juices going... hmmm. I am very, VERY much looking forward to Kim being back on the show though. Adam needs her so much right now.
Sorry again for the late response: I actually did read this ask on thursday morning, right after watching the episode, but I had gotten like zero hours sleep basically and so needed to rewatch when my mind was a bit more alert which I did get more alert but only just remembered to rewatch! (Just in time lmao). So sorry about that - I really am enjoying these asks, I promise !!
ANYWAY. Yes. I have to agree - it was exactly the right amount of Burzek. The episode taking place essentially within the first few hours of Emily getting shot and the direct aftermath really set the tone for exactly where Adam's mindset was (and DAMN did Paddy play it excellently!) and so I found the little bits of burzek we got fit right in with the all round feel of the episode.
My biggest worry going into the episode was that it wouldn't just be set in those initital hours, and therefore the lack of Kim would feel glaringly obvious. The episode being set out this way immediately put those worries to rest.
But as I said, I did want SOME acknowledgement of Kim/Burzek and having Kim call (repeatedly! my girl knows not to give up, but also not call too much!) served as a reminder of how solid their relationship is, how Kim is there for Adam. And it also served to show a good insight into Adam's mind - he didn't have time for the comfort or decompressing about the day with his safety person, he had to keep in that go, go, go mode.
As I said, in these moments, Adam likes to just buckle down and address the immediate aftermath and doesn't like taking in the luxury of comfort because as soon as he does, he breaks down. And he wasn't even in the right mindset for anything - he just went through something traumatic and it was having an effect on his mental state, as what was beautifully demonstrated throughout the episode.
Although, his photo for her being of Kim and Mack made my heart grow like triple the size I swear, that was so fucking cute. AND the soon to be wife comment, ugh my burzek loving heart. You said it perfectly; it got the fanfic juices flowing, I swear.
Overall, I'd say it was exactly what I wanted from the episode. Even dealing with how traumatic it was for Adam with him spacing out and also being single focused (while also asking so many questions to Kiana, because it's Important for Adam to know the partner he's riding with, especially on the heels of Emily's death). I also really loved how she was introduced. But the little bits of Burzek just made it perfect - that Marina not being in the episode didn't mean that they had to cut out an important part of Adam's life - because it really wouldn't have been right without a burzek nod.
But yes, I totally agree. I am more than ready to have Kim back, and I'm SO SO looking forward to seeing her again. I've missed her, and Adam definitely needs her. So much. (A thought that also makes the fanfic juices flowing).
Thank you for asking!! Sorry again about the length of time, but my sleep issues are sorted now (hopefully) so hopefully if I get any more asks, I'll be a bit more on top of things!
3 notes · View notes
non-neutoniangender · 11 months ago
Text
So I finally got my life together enough to continue my C3 watch... I'm still at 33, I've made more progress on C1 recently. Finally the combination of finding Mini Metro and actually logging onto Tumblr on the web made the barrier of watching Those Episodes bearable.
Spoilers for ep 33 and minor vibe spoilers for episodes in the future that I'm not sure of but its all stuff I absorbed via osmosis and fandom.
It's been almost a full year since these episodes came out and I was mindlessly scrolling Tumblr during my 10am linguistics lecture and stumbled upon everyone panicking because of the lack of diamonds for the amount of people who died. Anyway.
The anxiety of not quite remembering exactly I learned happened is not doing me any favors, but good god, I can really only handle some of this stuff not watching live.
Anyway, here are some assorted thoughts:
Liam you really did not have to make me Feel Things about Orym and his husband while Orym is passing out.
Laudna what is that spell that adds hit dice, that is So Good
Good GOD Otohan is not pulling any punches.
.....this is so close to TPK wow.....
Matt hesitating before essentially killing his wife's character, but doing it anyway.....
It's really interesting to see so many of them up and huddled around the map, things are really getting heated, with Liam just living behind Ashley and Laura's chairs.
"I don't want to be the only one not dead" followed immediately by "soometiiimees you gotta cut a bitch" Yes Travis, that is the correct energy to bring to this clusterfuck.
:OOOOO Not the natural 20 to fucking save Laudna
Begging the DM for the extra hit point like its gonna matter lmao
"I should be more complete at my job" Good GOD
The sending stone 😢
And there's the first one
"We've met before" 😒😒
The sense of failure, the bitersweet feeling of seeing Will and Derrik again 😢😢
I hate it for them that they are getting important lore while they are on the verge of a TPK and loosing their characters
and yet they make jokes like "we can't afford that Sam" to careless whisper
"He is not a creature at the moment" :O omg. Ow. God that hurts.
I gotta say, I'm really enjoying seeing all these hail mary type moves.
You really only see the uber creative dumb shit Hail Mary calls when things are extremely dire.
I love how Beau's voice and mannerisms sneak out a lot as bits and jokes
And there's the second
"That was a helluva run" 😢
"Embrace it or be culled like the rest" oh my god
"That brings us straight to your initiative because everyone else ahead of you is dead" Oh my god Matt
If this actually tpk'd, this would probably be in the running for the longest, most painful tpk. Usually its all at once, rocks fall, everyone dies, the dragon breath attack....
Something about Travis repeating "do you fight it" to laura is so sweet to me.
Also Imogen is making such a wild decision mid potentially worst day of her life omg.
"Save your last line, you might still have a chance" Damn Matt you didn't have to be Like That
"I give in, and I fuck Chetney" "We all do at some point" 🤣
"Is she your favorite" and the immediate "I'll go with you, I give in" oh my god. Having seen that clip of Laura being like 'I didn't know Imogen was in love with Laudna' oh my god the pining is there.
Oh shit the whole city is turning red.
And THATS the end..................
I was gonna go to bed but........ Maybe I can afford to make 1 poor decision
I love the friendship, everyone congratulating each other and matt, no hard feelings. But I wonder how many people are rolling up characters just in case cuz oh my god.
18 notes · View notes
wow-cool-robot · 2 years ago
Text
Episode 27: A Spy on Board
guess spy girl from last time is gonna manage to sneak onboard?
amuro explaining all the stuff about the g-fighter is neat, but i do not care about any of this
had to go back and rewatch to try and see what kai was frustrated about
lmao at amuro stopping to let the stock footage play. the animators need breaks wherever they can get them!
so kai's not happy about being essentially conscripted into the army just because his home was destroyed? fair enough i suppose
wait is he the spy? that'd be a bummer
good to see the general seems to be on board with letting the kids go, but clearly that isn't going to happen
looks like he just wants to leave. hope he doesn't go to jail!
what happened to revil arresting anyone who left? i thought he was gonna have to sneak out
oh well, glad people are being cool about this i guess
we saw last episode that zeon had like 5 or 6 new mobile suits, i guess we're gonna see most of them get an episode dedicated to them
miharu inviting him over and then being like 'well, it's not my house, my family is just squatting' is kind of funny
is she gonna sell him out to zeon for interrogation?
good on him for noticing the gun, at least
he just immediately sells out the white base, huh
what exactly does char want him to do on the white base?
what's kai thinking right now? he seems concerned, but he already gave out the information. he thinks that this attack happened too quickly for it to be because of what she told them, but we saw them receive that info and then attack? not sure what's up with that
oh so she has a uniform and a captains letter? i feel like that isn't going to work too well, but we'll see
the gundam can just do anything. beats aquatic mobile suits underwater, beats planes in the air, they act like it wasn't designed for these scenarios, but that just can't be true
miharu saying goodbye to her siblings is a really good scene
zeon soldiers thinking the guncannon is the gundam makes sense. they don't have pictures!
also hayato just doesn't seem very good at this. how'd he end up with the job when there were other people around?
kai trying to convince himself he doesn't care about the white base, he needs to put himself first and stop worrying about others. very good stuff
kai's having what would be a good times flashback in another show, but instead it's everyone yelling at him and hitting him.
the shield has served its purpose yet again. now it drifts down to the depths, never to be seen again.
and now kai's back on board. it feels cliche, but it works. i completely buy that he was committed to leaving, but couldn't convince himself to do nothing while watching it all happen
it seems like maybe it isn't the guntank that's bad, it's the fact that hayato's piloting it
think maybe miharu's going to stand out a little as 1 of only 4 female crew members
the guntank is about 5 times as useful as it normally is in this episode, but that still just means it hit the enemy mobile suit into the path of amuro's attack
no ones even surprised he's back, though that might just be them reading the room after his very casual comeback
i guess the crew being so small in such a big ship does mean she might be able to just not be seen by anyone
0 notes
ichinoue · 2 years ago
Note
Whilst watching the anime did you at any point think that Ichigo & Rukia could’ve had a chance (since that’s what a lot of ppl that just watched the anime thought would’ve happened) before you read the manga, it’s quite obvious that the anime was biased towards a certain ship. Or was it always Ichihime for you ?
I started with the anime only. I went into it knowing about the ichiruki fandom popularity, and was fully expecting to ship ichiruki. And as I watched the first arc (AotS), I did see a few moments that definitely seemed to be hinting at an IR romance.
...Only to find out later on when I read the manga: all of those moments were anime-only filler. I explain more on that below.
But still, at that point, I was an anime-only fan. And then the next arc, the SS arc, began. And I was confused. Because a majority of the "shippy" moments of the SS arc went to RenRuki and IchiHime instead of IchiRuki. I talked about that more here in this post.
So the ships seemed up in the air to me. Because there were definite romantic IR hints in the first arc (or, so I thought, not realizing they were filler). But IH and RR were now presenting themselves as strong contenders for canon as well.
And then the arrancar arc began and IchiHime came in swinging like a wrecking ball. And the moment Ichigo bowed before Orihime, looked her sincerely in the eyes, and vowed to protect her, I just knew it would be canon.
But I kept in mind that I had only ever seen the anime at that point. And I thought, "well, maybe the anime is distorting things and downplaying IR while playing up IH/RR with fillers."
At which point, I decided to read the manga from the start to see for myself what was filler, and what was canon.
Come to find out, the few moments that I did think were hinting towards an IchiRuki romance?
They were all filler.
Linked below are episodes on crunchyroll with timestamps:
Episode 8 @ 15:05 The random shinigami dude who shows up and accuses Rukia of being in a relationship with Ichigo while blushing i.e. "are you finding pleasure with a human boy?" while she gets all flustered and tells him it's none of his business? Filler. (Literally, the animation team created a whole ass filler character just to tease at some IR romance that didn't exist lmao).
Episode 11 @ 4:10 Orihime watches Ichigo and Rukia run off together at school, followed by Orihime wondering if they're dating? Filler.
Episode 15 @ 17:40 Ichigo and Rukia staring at each other and awkwardly stumbling over their words, as if they're holding back from confessing their feelings, as the sun sets and soft music plays? Filler.
Episode 18 @ 6:34 Ichigo having a flashback to Rukia's glowing face while he thinks to himself "her place is here" (which immediately follows the peptalk Orihime just gave him, which takes away from an important IH moment 🤦‍♀️) Filler.
Episode 22 @ 12:04 Ichigo staring longingly at SS as the sunsets as if he's staring/thinking about Rukia? Filler. (And this moment actually replaced the canon moment of Ichigo offering Orihime a drink while she was healing Jidanbo.)
Episode 146 @ 20:04 Nel getting jealous of Rukia and demanding to know what her relationship is with Ichigo? Filler.
So, when I read the manga, I realized that all of these seemingly romantic shippy ichiruki moments didn't actually exist.
Meanwhile, I was introduced to a lot of canon IchiHime moments I had never seen before in the anime, such as Orihime's feelings for Ichigo being introduced in chapter two, Orihime and Ichigo meeting up on the way to Urahara's house, Ichigo bringing Orihime a drink while she healed Jidanbo, the guys in SS wondering if Orihime has a boyfriend and then saying "definitely" when they see her walking with Ichigo, etc. All of those moments were left out of the anime.
So, essentially, in the first two arcs, the anime added in some heavy-handed filler IchiRuki content, while removing canon IchiHime content.
And by doing so, they effectively bamboozled so many people into thinking IR was romantic and endgame. Especially those who only ever watched the anime and were fooled by all the filler.
The anime got better about all the butchering once the arrancar arc began, but by then, I think it was too late. The damage was already done. So many people had already declared IR as their otp and were reluctant to jump ship--especially to the ship they had already spent so much time bashing.
209 notes · View notes
mikaze-discord · 3 years ago
Text
HEAVENS: Love letters
Soooo this is the last of the love letter, I really must reiterate how thankful I am to the people who responded to my message. Specially thankful for the people who ended up writing for one of the boys, all of the love letter writers are so cool. If you wanted to write your own love letter for your oshi then feel free too!! Utapri Tumblr is kinda dead.... but! I hope you enjoyed the love letters
Please enjoy under cut!!!!!!!!!!!!
EIJI OTORI 
From Anon:
Eiji Otori is another member of HEAVENS and he is a down-to-earth type of character. One can say he is a cinnamon roll as he looks out for HEAVENS and his brother, Eiichi. Eiji talks in a formal manner to people outside of HEAVENS and addresses them by their surname like the time he worked with Tokiya for Mighty Aura, or when he was working with Camus and Masato for Feather in Hand. Around HEAVENS, Eiji talks casually, calling them by their first name. He is very mindful of other members of HEAVENS and Eiji keeps an open mind for ways to improve his skills as an idol and to help out his bandmates come to a solution where both sides agree. Eiji speaks very fondly of the people he works with formality and a lot of respect.
What I love about Eiji is his relationship with his brother, Eiichi Otori. The two have a strong bond as Eiichi looked after and took care of Eiji when growing up. The two of them are inseparable and do a lot together while looking after each other. Personally, their sibling bond is what I wish to have with my sibling as well, even though we're complete opposites like day and night! Their interactions are easily seen throughout the anime, you can even see their sibling bond show the most through HEAVENS Radio as Eiichi and Eiji are the co-hosts. If there is anything that I'd like to know more about Eiji, it would be about his hobby, gardening. He has a lot of knowledge on plants and perhaps agriculture. It'd be nice to see HEAVENS talk about their hobbies one day. But all in all, Eiji is a great character that I appreciate with a heart of gold!
From Anon:
Eiji Otori, the 4th member of HEAVENS is one of my two most favorite characters in Utapri. I was originally drawn to his kind and gentle demeanor, that made him such an easily lovable character. He was introduced in the 4th season of the anime in the cross idol unit episodes. The way he treated Tokiya besides knowing he was part of the rival idol group ended up becoming an essential part of Tokiya’s later character growth. Although Eiji is meant to be a foil for Tokiya’s character their personalities are completely polar opposites, their devotion to wanting to be an idol being one of the only similarities besides level headedness. Eiji is his own character, right down the way he speaks to the way he sings. Eiji seems to always carry the group in a loving and family-like way, even going as far as having domestic hobbies like gardening and baking. We always see him and even hear the way he interacts with the other members of HEAVENS on the radio show as if they were an inseparable family. Eiichi, his older brother and the leader of HEAVENS loves him in a way that is so complex but Eiji will always love him back with every fiber of his being to the deepest parts of his soul. There is a deep connection between the brothers that is so beautiful that even poetry couldn’t express, it’s more profound then words can show. It’s a bond they share that only they know, like a secret.
However, even then there is so much more about Eiji that makes him such a wonderful character. When it comes to myself, Eiji hits a bit close to home in a more personal way. Perhaps that is also a factor in why I love him so much. I empathize with him and I can see through his eyes in ways only a younger sibling would know. As a younger sister to a sibling who has always been in the spotlight in some form of way with a big presence, I always lived in her shadow, but I admired her and cared about her above anything else. The way Eiji feels about Eiichi is something that I can personally relate with and understand. Eiichi is an essential part of Eiji’s character and the anime does not lack to show this, nor does it lack to show that Eiji is just as much an essential part of Eiichi’s character. It’s more obvious in the radio show that is hosted by the two brother but it’s not fully ignored either in the anime. I love how Eiji interacts with all of the characters, and seems to find ways to treat everyone with kindness even if they aren’t kind to him in return. He admires those who show a deep love for the things he does, and respects those who are more experienced then he is. He’s always eager to learn
and please. He’s the kind of person you’d always want around and you’d want a hug when things get rough. Eiji is definitely the most pure hearted character of all the Utapri characters. And, I’ll always stand by that through and through.
VAN KIRYUIN
From @whereisvanderwood:
Kiryuin Van. Where to start? He’s cocky. He’s cocky as all hell. There’s something in his air that is poised yet undignified. Childish yet mature. The man is founded on juxtaposition, not dissimilar to a painting of Picasso. His ability to be unique in an industry that begs for individuality, to rise above a tidal wave of competition and stand apart from other fish in the sea, is awe-inspiring. Expectation is dead to him; though the oldest member of Heavens, the weight of bearing the role as ‘most mature’ or the ‘parent’ of the group couldn’t be further from his concern. He is only any dimension of himself he wants to be at any given time. Dumb bitch by morning, bad bitch by night. Much like his bandmates, his confidence and intimidating aura is unwavering. He claims his victory before a race begins, and I couldn’t say if that undying faith in oneself is a skill or a sin. Whatever it is, he owns it. He shamelessly, unapologetically owns who he is and shares it with his fans, friends and enemies.
Also, he’s hot. He’s very appealing to the human eye. His ruggedness reminds me of a warm blanket in winter. His voice, oh his voice. If the world was about to blow up and he just said “No it won’t”, in his own way, I think I’d believe him. Regardless of what he says being juvenile or mature, he’s always authentic. No sugar coats, no little white lies, only genuity. As just said before, he is who he is and wouldn’t change for anyone if it wasn’t in his own best interest. Who couldn’t love a guy like that?
YAMATO HYUGA
From @kusagiiiii:
I'll be honest, I used to forget Yamato exists alot LMAO I fell in love with him when I was looking at a HEAVENS group photo! I think he is a very stronk,very cute and a very soft boy! in some ways haha he's my type
I honestly wish there would be more story on the HEAVENS boys since they all seem like they had a pretty rough past so yee that's basically it~
From Sammy:
Everybody, listen up! It’s Sammy here! Are you ready for some strong appreciation? Let’s shout it out! Yeah!!
Where do I begin when it comes to Yamato? It took me a while to actually like him. At first, I wasn’t a fan of how he was when he first showed up in the anime. I still remember when Yamato was one of the few HEAVENS members people really didn’t like or care much for, next to Eiichi and Nagi.
I used to be one of those people too with Yamato. I found him to be very stubborn, but over time after listening to HEAVENS Radio; The Drama CDs; Watching Maji Love Kingdom, etc… I came to realize there’s so much more to him.
I’ve learned a lot more about him, especially through role-playing as him, and my love for Yamato skyrocketed. Even with all the new content that’s been coming out for HEAVENS lately like Black Garden and Endless Score, my love grows even more every day. Yamato sneaked his way up to being one of my best boys.
Yamato is HEAVENS’ Strongest member. (Seriously, how the heck does this boy train everyday and do so much of it?!) He’s not always aggressive and violent. He’s actually a really thoughtful person who cares about his friends a lot, even being very protective of them. Yamato is the kind of person that’ll immediately stop what he’s doing, and only think about how to help the other person feel better.
A lot of things tend to be overlooked for him cause of how he’s written in the anime, and there’s fans who only pay attention to that. Not even giving the extra content a thought or a single glance.
As Ryuya’s younger brother, Yamato has his own insecurities, especially since he’s always seen as just a shadow. He’s been trapped in darkness where he feels he’s not good enough to be appreciated and loved as his own person. He doesn’t know what to do and which path to take. Yamato only became an idol just to defeat and finally be better than Ryuya at something. I feel that goal is still there, but it’s not a major one like before. Now, Yamato has people like the other members of HEAVENS, the angels, and the other idols. He found his light and happiness.
Overall, Yamato is the kind of person he wants everyone to be proud of. He wants to always share his strongest power and energy, carrying the burden of everybody’s smiles. Wanting to see those around him happy and be the best they can be.
Another part that I really like about Yamato is whenever he gets embarrassed. I can’t help, but find that really cute cause it’s something we don’t see or hear out of him a lot.
There’s also the times he demonstrates how much he loves food. Even though he overeats and knows he can’t help it when he’s hungry, I really liked when Yamato stated that if eating makes you happy, go for it. Just make sure you train afterwards to burn off calories. It helps people feel good about themselves.
Even the times when Yamato struggles with difficult words, specifically English and kanji. It’s embarrassing for him to admit, but he knows he’s not good at that sort of thing. What I really like about this is HEAVENS is always willing to help him, even Tokiya and Cecil. They help keep things simple and easy for Yamato to understand.
There’s a lot you can say I just simply vibe with when it comes to Yamato, and I love him. Hope everyone enjoys this long appreciation of this strong boy, and I hope you all love him too!
SHION AMAKUSA 
From Anon:
When I saw Shion for the first time, he caught my attention with his beautiful appearance. His cream-white hair, his periwinkle eyes and his pale skin were a wonderful combination that I just couldn't ignore. Physically, he was exactly the type of character I love… Even his hairstyle is great! And what to say about his pretty face! To me, he looked like an angel.
His style in clothes is something I also like about him. With all this mixed, the only word I can use to describe him is "perfect".
But, of course, there's more than just physical appearance. Shion's way of speaking, as we all know, is quite… Particular. And those beautiful words made me be more interested in this boy, even if they were a bit difficult to understand. This characteristic is something that, in my opinion, makes him special, not only in his group but among all the groups.
That poetic way of speaking is a beautiful combination with his voice. When he speaks I find it so mystical… And when he sings his solo songs I feel relaxed and even a bit emotional. He's not an angel just physically, he also sings like one!
But what made me love him completely was his personality. To be honest, at first I didn't understand why he acted so hostile to Cecil and signed with him, but when it was explained later I could see his point of view and I felt sorry for him, for how he was feeling and the big sacrifice he was making if we take into account his thoughts.
Loyalty is something I value a lot, and Shion has a huge loyalty towards his friends. After that incident, he changes his way of thinking and he starts getting more friendly to the rest, something I find beautiful.
I also find him very cute, an extra point for me to like him. His -sometimes- childish attitude is adorable! And how he acts around his friends… So lovely!
I also feel a bit similar to him in some aspects, such as listening to the same song again and again, liking birds or even usually feeling sleepy, besides other things. These similarities make me feel connected in some way with him.
Shion is a very special character for me, and I can't wait to see more content about him, to know more about this wonderful boy, for example, about his family, where he is from, how he ended up in HEAVENS, how he started to speak the way he does… There are a lot of things we don't know yet and I hope we can get more information about Shion soon!
19 notes · View notes
classified-bluerose · 4 years ago
Text
WANDAVISION S1E5 SPOILERS ( & COMICS SPOILERS TOO ) !!!
here we go. this is very long, so. buckle up.
my original theory had wanda trapped within westview unknowingly - later episodes disproved that. however! i believe now that parts of my original theory are true. wanda is not in control. someone else is. she can alter certain aspects of her reality, and probably believes she’s in total control. she isn’t.
she notes that she can’t remember how it all began. she seemed taken aback during some of the episodes when the sitcom faltered and allowed reality to blink through. she didn’t summon pietro/peter - so who did?
behind every show is a writer, a director. wanda may be starring in her perfect sitcom, but who is directing it?
- agnes? is she mephisto? or perhaps she’s agatha, married to mephisto. her husband is mentioned several times but never shown.
- pietro/peter himself is mephisto in disguise. though why he would choose this particular iteration of pietro is uncertain.
- dottie is mephisto.
1. the sword director is shady a.f. why not share the information about wanda’s break in when he first sent monica out into the field? and, if part of vision’s will was to not be ressurected OR made into a weapon, then what the hell was sword doing with his corpse in the first place?
consider: the security footage from wanda’s break-in. vision’s body was disassembled. sword director immediately labelled wanda a terrorist. which was always going to happen - i mean, pre-endgame/infinity war, wanda was a wanted felon on the run from the government. which gives sword exactly the right ammunition to use against her. of course, monica was having none of it, and stepped up to defend her. hayword decided to use monica’s drone to launch an attack on wanda. he had no qualms about killing her - and potentially her children. he also chose to keep this information from monica, because he knew she would never have agreed. he is not to be trusted; and i think monica knows that now.
2. onto vision’s enlightening moment with norm. now, norm doesn’t ever name wanda as the one inside his head. instead, he refers to this person as ‘’her’’. not naming her has to be intentional. which means he may not be talking about wanda. of course, vision is going to assume it is wanda, having noticed how strange his life with her is. monica was shaken when she began to remember her life before westview. herb, when trying to tell vision about why monica was there, is visibly terrified. norm grows agitated and upset when vision lifts the manipulation. even dottie becomes freaked out when woo’s voice comes over the radio. who in the town doesn’t act disturbed or scared when the sitcom falters? agnes. she acts like a professional actor on a soap or sitcom. she looks to wanda for direction; but could it be she is the director of this whole thing? or perhaps she is an agent of mephisto, (or master pandemonium) who could very well be her unseen husband, ralph. that is, if she’s not mephisto herself.
3. now. the twins. the twins, whom i do not trust. they know too much. their powers and wanda’s powers combined could explain the aging up process. but i believe the twins are a product of the same thing as the comics: fragments of mephisto’s soul. while this storyline was rewritten to swap out mephisto for master pandemonium, it’s more likely that it’s mephisto behind this. regardless of mephisto’s identity within the show, it the twins were created using fragments of mephisto’s soul, they may be more like him than wanda or vision. i know in the comics they get reabsorbed into mephisto/pandemonium. i lowkey want that to happen because i don’t like them lmao. sorry wanda! but, we know that wanda is using whatever is around her to rewrite reality. so if mephisto is nearby, his soul would be powerful enough (even fragmented) to create two (semi) human children. agnes says you can’t control kids. maybe that’s why there’s no other children in westview?
4. and finally, the big moment. the introduction of evan peter’s peter maximoff. she calls him pietro, of course, as this is the name he used in this universe. there are plenty of theories to explain his sudden appearance. if mephisto is a resident of the town, and controlling wanda, they may be using her desires to keep wanda in westview. her mentioning him in the past 2 episodes would have had him in the forefront of her mind. mephisto may be aware that vision is beginning to fight the reality he’s in, that he’s ‘’waking up’’. so he/she/they bring in her brother to solidfy wanda’s fight to remain in her new home. what good does this do for vision, though? how will it convince him to stop fighting? he doesn’t even remember his own universes’ pietro. perhaps mephisto is hoping that with wanda now having her family complete will urge her to fully control vision. perhaps mephisto had to bring this version of pietro over from the x-men universe due to an inability to revive the mcu’s pietro? and another big question; is vision alive? if wanda was reanimating his corpse and making it seem as though he was alive, wouldn’t he just be whatever she made him be? surely he would have no independant thought, no capability to question the world around him. if he is alive - how?
working theory: wanda discovered that sword had taken vision’s body. heartbroken that the man she loves won’t get to rest in peace, she breaks into sword and ‘’rescues’’ his corpse. whatever her plan was following that, something happened that we haven’t seen yet. mephisto appeared, drawn to wanda by her pure grief, rage, and loneliness - and made her a deal she couldn’t refuse. bring vision back to life, place her in a familiar, comforting world where nothing changes (ex. a sitcom) and they can live a normal, happy life together. mephisto does not go into detail about wanda’s new reality; when she agrees, she isn’t entirely aware of what she’s signing up for. mephisto wipes her memory (and visions?) of the deal, and sits back in wait. the more wanda starts to realise that she can control aspects of her reality, she does what she can to protect it, not fully understanding what’s going on. only knowing that she isn’t willing to let go of her home. sword are panicking, because they’ve lost vision to a woman with exceptional abilities (who happens to be labelled, unfairly, a terrorist). hayward uses this to turn all heads in wanda’s direction, desperate to vilify her and keep the attention off of sword’s vision project. back to the deal - what would mephisto get in return for this exchange? my best bet is the children. although why he would want that, to lose 2 fragments of his soul for their creation. unless his soul was already in fragments and lost, and wanda’s creating her kids was one way for him to retrieve them? agnes is there to either help wanda, to take care of her, or to keep her in line.
the parts in italics and bold are linked to the evidence in the first paragraphs.
THE COMMERCIALS:
each commercial seems to link to wanda’s past; essentially retelling her path through the mcu.
1. first up, the toaster by stark industries. it was stark weapons that destroyed wanda’s childhood home and left her and her brother orphans. this is the inciting incident in wanda’s story.
2. the vonstrucker watch. following her parents demise, she is radicalised and volunteers for hydra, alongside pietro. she is experimented on by a hydra scientist named von strucker.
3. hydra soak soap. this could be another reference to her history with hydra. it could always be a hint that hydra is somehow involved in wanda’s current situation.
4. lagos paper towels. with no commercial in episode 4, episode 5 advertises paper towels by the brand name of lagos, the tagline is ‘’for when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.’’ at the beginning of civil war, wanda is part of an avengers mission in lagos. the mission goes wrong when wanda accidentally redirects a bomb and kills civillians. this incident is partially responsible for the sokovia accords - and we should also remember that wanda’s intentions with ultron were not the same as his. she didn’t mean for sokovia to be destroyed, or for her brother to die. she most likely blames herself for all of that.
the commercials are, essentially, a shortened walkthrough of her trauma, and there is plenty of it.
note: wanda is the defintion of traumatised. she has lost everything. she is alone. she has had no time to process the death of vision; those five years post IW never happened for her. she blinked, and five years had passed. she was then immediately thrown into a battle against thanos. for her it’s been about five minutes since she witnessed thanos crushing vision’s head for the mind stone. she then finds out natasha and tony have died, and that steve is out of commission for good. everything has been ripped away from her. there’s no avengers. no family. no boyfriend. no one. i want to see what happened in the three weeks between endgame returning the dusted and the beginning of wandavision.
29 notes · View notes
panharmonium · 3 years ago
Text
next round of in-progress naruto thoughts under the cut!  i haven’t done one of these in a while - been doing a lot of individual posts instead, but seeing as we just finished a season and started a long filler arc, it feels like a good time to collect my thoughts.
[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time.  i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]
okay uh where to begin.  UM.  so much is happening that this is not going to be a comprehensive commentary, just certain things that stuck out in my head.
two annoyances first, and then the rest is my usual lovefest:
- if i have to listen to one more speech about how amazing naruto is i’m gonna start fast-forwarding through them.  i’m sorry; i love him so much, but in the last couple of episodes there have been at least 10 separate speeches saying the exact same thing, and i need a little break from the naruto praise-fest.  i already know he’s wonderful!  you do not have make every single character tell me so.  spend that time on resolving the other characters’ arcs on their own terms, the way they deserve - naruto is very important to all of them, but he also isn’t the only reason they're here.
- i love how the show made such a big deal once again out of sakura refusing to let sasuke and naruto go on without her, saying “i’ve finally caught up to them; they’re not going to leave me behind this time” and then they literally just...leave her behind lmao.  the show has tried to resolve her arc in exactly this way multiple times and every time it goes right back to its old nonsense.  i don’t know why i keep believing it when the show says she’s just as integral a part of the team as sasuke and naruto.  i am charlie brown with the football, and i keep landing flat on my back.  
and now better things:
- i loved gaara’s relationship with shukaku coming back into play!  when he swooped in to pull shukaku out of obito like “come here, shukaku” because naruto had no connection with the one-tails...that was awesome.  and also him asking for shukaku’s help like “i’m not ordering you.  i’m asking you.  if you don’t agree, that’s fine” - i LOVED seeing that.
- that whole episode with the three-way deadlock...you ever see a particular shot and think “foreshadowing, foreshadowing, foreshadowing”???
- perpetually distressed over how entertained i am by orochimaru’s dynamic with taka and then needing to remind myself of how EVIL orochimaru is lmao.  like.  i’ve always loved his character; there’s never a dull moment when he’s around, but then in this arc they’re almost like...making you imagine what it would’ve been like if he had been on their side the whole time and you’re kind of...enjoying all these moments he has with the kids but then you have to be like NO!  THESE KIDS ARE HIS EXPERIMENTS!  HE’S THE ONE WHO STOLE BABY YAMATO AND RAISED HIM IN A TEST TUBE!!!  THIS MAN IS EVIL!!!!!!!  and yet...
- i was losing it laughing at sasuke’s snake calling him “lord sasuke.”  i’m sorry, you all know i love sasuke more than anything but this kid’s ego does NOT need further swelling.  my sister and i were both like “yeah ok kakashi’s gonna put a stop to that immediately” lmao - like there are some levels on which sasuke needs love and support but there are also some levels on which he needs an adult to bop him with an empty paper towel roll and tell him NO.
- i love that sai is still the smartest one in the room, telling sakura that they don’t really know sasuke’s true intentions and can’t trust him.  and i really liked the callback to his initial arc way back in season 2, where he looks at sakura and says to himself “your words may not be lies, but i can already tell that your smile is fake.”  
- i know it’s all going to go to shit eventually but in the meantime i love seeing team 7 sniping at each other.....“don’t drag us down, naruto”...... “remember, he can only be affected by sage jutsu!”/“i know that, i’m not YOU”...........just like the Good Old Days XD
- also how much did i laugh when minato was like “you and the others go and deal with madara” and naruto was like “OH RIGHT!  I FORGOT ABOUT HIM!!!”  ‘forgot’ about the antagonist.  in the middle of the war they’re fighting against him.  that’s the naruto we know and love. XD
- LOVED when shikamaru needed ino to connect him to the entire army and he asked “can you do it” and she went “that doesn’t matter; i’m GONNA do it!!!!”  i am crying for both of them forever but i love seeing them continue to be so amazing
- i talked about this on another post, but i have loved having minato around for these episodes.  i finally feel like i’m actually *fond* of him, whereas before, the best i could say was that he was an impressive shinobi and i didn’t DISlike him.  but it is so much fun to see what a massive awkward weirdo he is, with his ridiculous jutsu names and asking naruto “sooooooo......is this your girlfriend?”  the man is a DORK.  he’s a certified dork.
and yet at the same time - in a fight, he still possesses that sort of cold, “our family is shinobi” ruthlessness, which sounds like a bad thing, but isn’t how i mean it.  it’s just a “we do what we must” vibe, and i respect it, especially in this situation, when we really need someone like that on our side.  eg, when he realizes that it’s obito up on top of the ten-tails, he teleports there and cuts his throat INSTANTLY.  and it’s clear in the aftermath that it kills him to do it, but he does do it, without a second’s hesitation, because it has to be done.  
that sort of decisive action is what i would have expected from him, given our past introductions to his character, but i appreciate that this arc is also showing us his human side, and the depth of compassion he feels, and the weight of his guilt, and the fact that he actually cares about what happened to the kids who were his responsibility and whom the shinobi world swallowed whole.
- all of those images of what life could have been like if obito had just come home...........that was EVIL.  why would they make me see that.  the knowledge that he and kakashi could have gone through all of their suffering together, that neither of them would have had to ever be alone, that they could have had in each other what kakashi’s kids are going to have someday...that was too much.  i already think about that daily.  i did not need to see it animated for me onscreen. 
- i appreciate the fact that naruto’s attempt to talk obito over to the other side didn’t work.  i just think on a fundamental level that this isn’t really something naruto should be able to do.  naruto’s presence and what he represents make a difference, obviously, but i just think that reaching obito is kakashi’s job.  which is essentially what minato says when he sends naruto away, so i appreciated that. 
i’m sure there are lots of things i’m missing (so much is happening!) but just some yelling about the end:
- sooooo naruto is almost dead.  or temporarily dead.  my assumption is that gaara is taking him to kurama’s other half inside minato?  but that’s just a guess; i dunno.  (i’d be happy if that’s where they were headed, because it would at least mean that naruto and sakura and kakashi are back in the same place together, so i’d appreciate that.)
- sasuke is also almost dead.  hopefully taka can go pick him up...even though he’s been so terrible to them...he owes them so many apologies
- WHAT HAPPENED TO BEE?????  *distraught face* obviously we all know naruto and sasuke are going to be fine eventually, but bee must’ve been disconnected from eight-o too.........  ;_______;
- i’m just gonna come out and say it.  i think yamato is here.  you all can laugh at me later if i’m wrong, but i think yamato is here trapped inside swirly and i cANNOT handle that
- madara said something very brief about sasuke’s eyes that i’m curious about......are we finally going to get more information about the different sharingan patterns?
- the new ending credits start off as the usual naruto-sasuke show but then kakashi and sakura come bursting in and honestly the emotions i felt......THAT IS WHAT I WANT.  I WANT ALL FOUR OF THEM TO MATTER AND TO BE THERE TOGETHER.
7 notes · View notes
tfw-no-tennis · 3 years ago
Text
ani....morphs.....
ok so picking up after the david trilogy, which hit hard as FUCK, we have book 23, which basically was a semi truck that ran over my corpse, jesus christ, they really followed up the david trilogy w/all that....
23 was so so good and also painful. its the culmination of a lot of tobias’s characterization in the series thus far and also we finally get the reveal we’ve been waiting for about elfangor....ooooh man 
and there was a lot of painful stuff in this book but the worst imo was tobias wondering if it were possible that somebody wanted him and would take care of him, only to have it all come crashing down in the worst way when it turned out aria was visser three in morph, ouch. 
that was so brutal augh. and when he figured it out and just crash landed and kept thinking about how he wanted to die and how he was stupid to think he could have a home...bro get these kids some THERAPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
so yeah that book was absolutely brutal but also so good...and it further fleshed out the animorphs working as a near-flawless team, w/the whole setup of tobias meeting w/the lawyer being so airtight and well-planned 
also more free hork bajir!! its cool that there's stuff happening w/them offscreen, I like that 
I literally had to take a break from reading the books bc the david triology + 23 was like so much, and also bc the olympics were on and all my time got dedicated to watching those, but then I opened 24, not sure what to expect, and BAM it was the helmacrons lmaoooo
I don't even remember the helmacrons but ig a lot of people hate them? lmao so that whole reputation preceded the book and I was like oh wow time for a change in tone
which wasn't wrong but also I liked that book?? I was never bored, even tho the whole thing was patently ridiculous and also had very little bearing on the overarching story
but I think it would be a standout if it were a TV episode w/a good budget - the visuals were amazing even in text, and I can imagine all the cool shrinking/growing/cellular stuff would be WICKED cool visually (ideally 2d animation but an ant man-esque live action adaptation wouldn't be terrible if they had the budget for it)
whatever let me dream. so yeah I didn't hate the helmacron book even tho the helmacrons themselves were...sure something. lmao I think they come back? that should be interesting
next book is the arctic one, we have yet another alien of the week style adventure - I liked this one too, it felt like more plot-y stuff happened since they destroyed the base, and marco’s POV is always fun 
I do find it funny/interesting how sometimes when the animorphs do something - like in this book, destroying that base in the arctic - it doesn't really seem to impact the yeerks much/it doesn't get brought up much after that. and then other things like them destroying the ground-based kandrona get mentioned a lot (that example is understandable tho bc that WAS a big deal). its just hilarious to me how blowing up entire building complexes has become so routine that it isn’t even worth mentioning at this point
Also I adore when they meet other random people/kids and are chill w/them, like w/that kid they met in the rain forest earlier on w/the time travel 
the descriptions of the brutally cold weather were great. I hate the cold so I was like oof this is a nightmare lmao
also ig that was the first ghostwritten book and I did kinda notice it was slightly different than usual? maybe? I could be imagining it tho 
okay but book 26 tho...BOOK 26. bruh 
that was SO good and I really didn’t know what to expect - but when we finally revisited Jake’s dream w/crayak I knew it was gonna be good (but I didn’t expect it to be a chess game war epic..!)
basically I loved it. SUCH a good Jake book - I really appreciate his character now as opposed to when I was 10 and often overlooked him (sorry jake).
similarly, when I was a kid and read these I sympathized a lot w/the chee and felt bad for them towards the end of the series when they had to get more involved in the war (genuinely don’t remember what they even do but ik I felt bad) 
but now I've basically 180′d and I'm like damn those chee sure are hypocrites huh. 
like they could solve So many of the animorphs problems but their stringent adherence to nonviolence leads to them actively getting in the animorphs way sometimes? and obviously pacifism is a complicated topic, but in this case it also intersect w/the whole ‘child soldier’ thing, and as beings who are insanely old and wise, the chee probably shouldn't just leave all the dirty work to a bunch of literal middle schoolers
aaaaanyways. there’s so much I love about this book. the iskoort! they were sure something. and the ‘plot twist’ that they are actually 2 beings, the Isk and the Yoort - and the Yoort are essentially Yeerks - that slapped. the symbiosis of it all! 
I loved the part where they all realize what this means, that this is why Crayak wants the iskoort destoryed - because someday the yeerks might come across them and realize parasitism is not the only way. I love it! 
alas I don’t recall the iskoort returning in the story (but also my memory is terrible so who knows?) but still that would be cool
basically I feel like this is the book where Jake Truly comes into his own as a leader, in every sense. he outmaneuvers Crayak, and even the ellimist, who’s yanking them around in his own way
the scene where jake shoves the howler off the cliff and jumps off and morphs and acquires the howler...that was fantastic and tense. 
also the murder is definitely becoming more overt. I mean, it has been for a while, but it isn’t really pointed out as much anymore. oof
more on the chee - as Jake points out in this book, and other characters point out in other books - the chee could have saved the pemalites, but instead just stood by while their creators were slaughtered. on the other hand, jake says, what do the chee do AFTER they’ve killed the howlers - where to point them next? when is the end of their violence? 
buuuuut also standing by while atrocities occur is pretty damning, as is frequently mentioned in this series - from the very beginning, when marco initially doesn’t want to get involved in the war at all, and the other animorphs basically tell him that turning his back on the war and acting like he doesn’t even know it’s happening would be immoral and cowardly (which imo this reaction helps to push marco in the direction he ends up going, but I digress) - this topic comes up again in 19 when cassie quits the team and rachel is upset bc she sees it as cassie elevating her own feelings above the greater good (as in, as long as cassie feels good about how she acts, it doesn’t matter how much preventable evil the yeerks are committing while she turns away). etc etc. but that’s essentially what’s happening w/the chee - even tho they help w/intel, the lack of any sort of Action on their part means that they’re essentially allowing awful things to happen when they could prevent them. this is rambly but basically...animorphs deals so much in grey areas, and the chee are noticeably black and white in their actions, despite falling, in a meta sense, in an extremely grey area. its such good, thought provoking writing!
anywayssss I keep talking about the chee lmao what else was there. oh YEAH jake and cassie kissed for the first time awww that was super cute 
and ofc immediately marco teases them as asks jake if he’s gonna kiss him next, and all I can say is...marco is a bicon 
also I love the background worldbuilding w/the iskoort, how they have all these groups and guilds and stuff - its not dwelled on much, which actually works really well to give the world/species a sense of lived-in realness 
okay oh man and the reveal at the end that the howlers were just like...children who thought the whole thing was a game...AUGHH man that’s sooo fucked 
like, when jake morphs the howler and has rachel ready to knock him down in grizzly morph if he gets out of control due to the howler’s murderous instincts, and he morphs to find that the howler is...playful, like a dolphin morph. SUCH a good fucked up sense of dawning horror there 
and the fact that as far as I can tell the chee KNEW this, but wanted revenge anyways, so they let the animorphs assume that the howlers were Evil On Purpose
also I love smaller moments, like jake seeing that ax is ashamed for briefly running away during one battle w/the howlers, and then entrusts him w/an important task bc he knows that ax will see that as redemption - and when everyone thought jake was dead and were so happy when he wasn't (they all love each other so much im gonna cry about these child soldiers augh)
basically that book was so good
man one thing I absolutely love is that the longer the series goes on the more obvious it is that andalites, despite inventing morphing technology, barely use it themselves 
like, most of the andalite characters we see barely morph. its kind of a last resort to them, as they’re already plenty dangerous in their regular forms 
meanwhile for the animorphs, that’s all they have to fight with. that’s their only weapons against the yeerks, and its so fun to see them use the power in so many varied ways, and so creatively, while the andalites have barely scratched the surface of their own technology
its also interesting to contrast against the yeerks who start out w/absolutely no technology, and the andalites share some but not all of their technology w/them...its too bad that morphing technology was just starting out cause that would’ve been interesting
like imo a lot of the conflict w/the yeerks could’ve been avoided if they could just nothlit into better forms - of course, there’d still be plenty of yeerks who want to go start wars or w/e, just like pretty much any species in the series, but a lot of yeerks would probably be like ‘yeah I'm good’ and just chill out as nothlits
also people online love to talk about how humans are alienfuckers and would definitely have sex w/sentient aliens and whatnot, and while I'm not saying that's untrue, its just funny bc in animorphs the truest alienfuckers are definitely the andalites
as of the hork-bajir chronicles, we now have a second instance of an andalite morphing another species to be in an inter-species alien romance (and eventually have kids) 
speaking of, I don’t think I’ve talked abt the hork bajir chronicles yet??? even tho I read it a while ago lmao 
HBC was great...I honestly haven’t really run into an animorphs book I’ve actually disliked at this point, I’m sure it’ll come w/all the ghostwriting and whatnot, but I’ve liked at least some aspects of every book
anyways HBC was great, and it’s funny bc I remember that I read this book as a kid, and yet rereading it now I didn’t remember a single bit of it lmaooo
I really liked the framing device of the free hork bajir telling this story to tobias. I also liked how we know from the beginning that this story wont have a happy ending - we know all the hork bajir end up enslaved by the yeerks, but it’s still somehow hopeful at the end? I think this is largely due to the framing device tbh. 
also I love toby, and I love that the First free hork bajir named their kid after tobias ;_; 
and oooh mannn I LOVED the different POVs from this book. all the characters were so interesting! aldrea was fascinating - I really like the increasingly negative view of the andalites that the readers are getting, all while maintaining the sense that they aren’t like, actively evil, just that they have their issues - like aldrea’s arrogance, and the general andalite arrogance which lead to the loss of the hork bajir. also, who knew andalites had their own brand of sexism? Ls
I did like getting a female andalite tho, that was cool. and dak was really cool, he was such a good, compassionate character who was able to maintain his morals in an interesting way throughout the story
and VISSER THREE...or should I say esplin 9466, because he’s not visser 3 yet...getting his ‘origin story’ was excellent - I really like how we’re learning about visser 3 backwards - we start off the series w/him as the main villain, and he’s campy and menacing, and then we see him in the andalite chronicles as a power-hungry sub-visser trying to climb the ranks and eventually getting alloran as a host, and then back even further here, w/the start of his focus on the andalites and the beginning of his ambition. its been very cool and interesting to see
plus, the beginning of the yeerks as we know them! seerow! alloran! it’s a party and nobody is having a good time, except for some of the yeerks. 
I like how it’s pretty obvious that the andalites are well-meaning with their interactions w/the yeerks, but go about it the wrong way - they give them enough technology that the yeerks realize there’s a whole world out there to experience, and then they blockade the yeerks on their planet and tell them they can’t leave. nnnnot the best approach imo
again, as I said above, I’m interested in how things could’ve gone if the andalites had given the yeerks morphing technology early on - could a lot of the conflict have been avoided, or would it have been worse? the yeerks seem pretty evil in this book, immediately jumping to enslave anyone they can. otoh we hear from esplin that not all yeerks like having host bodies, and find it overwhelming, preferring to swim around in the yeerk pool as a slug - I assume as host bodies became more available this type of thinking was probably stamped out in yeerk society or w/e, but there are a lot of interesting what-ifs in the situation 
I loved the scene where esplin first experiences having a host, and immediately knows he can’t go back. there are a bunch of great sensory descriptions, and it’s a nice scene to pinpoint as a foundational moment for the visser three in the current story, who spent a lot of time and energy getting what he sees as the best possible host body, an andalite
I find it interesting how much visser three clearly respects the andalites, even while constantly deriding them. and you can see the origins of that here as he immediately focuses in on the andalites, working to become an expert on them in order to make himself useful enough to move thru the ranks
another thing I like is how esplin seems a lot more crafty and ambitious than the visser three from modern times - I would guess that reaching his goal (andalite host body) and being given all that power was detrimental, playing on his weaknesses instead of his strengths. basically, I don’t think it’s ooc or anything, I can see how HBC-esplin became animorphs-esplin, especially w/TAC in between
as for seerow...poor dude. you really do have to feel for him, because you get the sense he really did just want to be kind to the yeerks, but it was borne from a place of pity, and he (and the other andalites) consistently held too much power over the yeerks for the species relations to ever be truly equal and functional 
AUGH I have so many thoughts about alien space politics. omg. I need to talk about the actual story lmao
so yeah I also feel for aldrea, she had a rough time, watching her entire family die and being thrown into a hopeless war
and then the andalite council or w/e not listening to her bc she's a girl AND seerow’s daughter...oof
also, I really really liked the running theme of the andalites - specifically aldrea - looking down on the hork bajir as ‘simple’ and constantly underestimating them, especially dak
and I like how this is portrayed as a bad attitude for aldrea to have, and she still remains and interesting and sympathetic character even while having obvious flaws. it’s about being 3-dimensional baby!
and oh man I love that dak realizes that aldrea looks down on him, and his entire species, but he can see that that’s how the andalites are, and it all connects back to the beginning of the story w/the yeerks, bc the andalites looked down on the yeerks and treated them with pity and kept them pinned under their proverbial thumb ‘for their own good’ and look how that turned out 
but dak is wise and kind enough to not hate aldrea for this, even acknowledging when she’s using him, but not pushing her away because he recognizes good in her too - and she ends up changing, partially because of his faith in her
and I feel like it can all be compared to that scenario of like - a hypothetical creature that lives in a 2D world suddenly being thrust into a 3D world, and comprehending what its seeing, and understanding that there’s so much more out there outside of the flat lines of its world - and then its dropped back into 2D-land with the knowledge of all the stuff its missing out on, and no way to get back to it or explain it to anybody else
I loooove that ‘trope’ or w/e you wanna call it, and it’s done beautifully here w/the yeerks - whos the say they wouldn't have been fine in their pool swimming around; as esplin said, a lot of the yeerks were terrified of having a host, it was only from the andalites’ perspective that their lives were sad and pitiful, and the andalites showed them what the world could be like, and then said ‘no, you can’t travel the stars like we do, you have to stay here on your planet and do what we say.’
and then again, w/the hork bajir - dak talks about how, even though he drinks up the knowledge that aldrea gives him, in the end it might have been better to just have lived peacefully, not knowing what was in the sky or the Deep - as aldrea says: “It was too late for Dak: he knew that the stars were not flowers.” 
plus the hork bajir having to go from a completely peaceful species who don’t even understand the concept of violence, to a bunch of soldiers fighting a war...oof 
basically everyone in this story uses the hork bajir. the yeerks use them as hosts, the andalites use their planet as a convenient place to dump seerow and then take their sweet time coming to help, and the arn created them as means to stabilize the planet, but block them off from their society and refuse to help when the yeerks come
like, the arn modifying themselves to be un-infestable by the yeerks and then being enslaved for physical labor instead? oof guys. if they had teamed up w/the hork bajir resistance things might have gone better, but probably not 
more on aldrea - throughout the story I was always thinking ‘how am I supposed to see her? as a good person, or as a bad person?’ 
as a POV character, especially a ‘good guy’ andalite, you just start off automatically thinking of her as a good person, but as the story goes on, she starts getting lost in revenge and begins using dak and the hork bajir, and you’re left wondering if this is a story about her slide into darkness, and then towards the end of the story her character development culminates in her making the decision to stay w/the hork bajir, and the be with dak, and that’s about when I went ‘ohhh right this is animorphs so every character is pretty much gonna be grey’
I feel like that moral grey-ness was on full display w/aldrea, and I really enjoyed that. I love so much when characters who are good do bad things, for good or bad reasons, especially in media like animorphs that’s aimed at kids. it’s so compelling. 
oof, and the ending when aldrea convinces dak to mobilize the hork bajir and teach them violence...and dak asks her if she’s ever killed another andalite, and she’s horrified, and says of course she hasn’t, and he says that that’s what she’s asking him, and all the hork bajir, to do - to kill their own people, even if they are being controlled by the yeerks. biiiig oof. I love that dak can keep up w/aldrea and her andalite supremacy attitude - it seems that the non-andalite characters who get along best w/the andalites are the ones who wont take their bs 
what else happened....oh my god how could I forget about alloran, and his quantum virus. oooof. I like how we find out about alloran in parallel to visser three, in the same backwards way - in animorphs he’s the tragic host of visser three, in TAC he’s the disgraced but still semi-respected war-prince who becomes the first ever andalite controller, and here he’s the guy who decides to commit some war crimes because, hey, we haven’t tried that yet 
but yeah that was fucked up, I love it. I’ve said it before I think but I like that alloran isn’t some perfect martyr tragically taken by the yeerks - it’s a lot more compelling that he’s a very flawed person who was taken as a controller partially due to his own bloodthirstiness. 
but yeah, the part where aldrea morphs alloran and ‘sneaks’ into that room was great. aldrea’s dedication to disposing of the virus is a great indicator of her character development - it really feels like the straw that broke the camels back w/re: to the andalites not being what she thought they were, w/their tardiness coming to help the hork bajir planet and the way her father was treated being the precursors to this realization. it all culminates nicely in aldrea saying ‘fuck this actually’ and nothlit-ing into a hork bajir.
and it’s really tragic but realistic that even though aldrea and dak end up seeing eye to eye at the end and getting together, the virus ends up being released anyways (and fails in its objective to stop the yeerks from using the hork bajir - the whole thing was p much a lose-lose situation oof), and aldrea and dak still die fighting a hopeless war 
but then we have the free hork bajir on earth, including toby, who, like tobias, has andalite ancestry, but no DNA to show for it - I like that they have that connection as well as tobias being her namesake
so yeah I enjoyed that one and its many-layered themes
WOW this got long uuuuuhhh ok I think i’ll leave this one off here. at the time I’m actually finishing the writing and editing, I’m on book 35 lol so I have some backlogging to do. never fear, I have a lot to say....
5 notes · View notes
purplesurveys · 4 years ago
Text
1183
survey by xflirtykaosx
Alphabetti Spaghetti (1/3)
And we will fall in love with shooting stars. - A
Have you ever seen an Aardvark? I don’t think so.
Were you ever abandoned in a public place as a child? Where? Abandoned is a pretty harsh word lol. My parents did like playing pranks on me and hide whenever I’d get distracted at the grocery or department store. They’d let me get nervous or even tear up for a bit until showing up again.
What accent do you have? I guess just your standard Filipino English accent that’s common among people who were able to take up English studies. I don’t really know how to describe it.
Is there someone in your family addicted to something? What is it? I don’t think so.
Have you ever been under general anaesthetic? What were you having done? I think so? When I had a tooth extraction done on me two years ago I was told I was going to be injected with anaesthesia, but I didn’t feel as if anything changed throughout the procedure. Either my dentist told me fake news lol or he’s just really good at his job for me to not notice anything.
How do you show the ones you love affection? It depends on the person. Around my friends, I know I’ve had taken a liking to them once I start getting especially talkative with them. For people I have even deeper relationships with, I like...buying them gifts, I guess. Getting them things that remind me of them. I would also bend over backwards to do nice deeds for them, like driving them to their destination even if I find it far.
Are you more passive or aggressive? I tend to be very passive aggressive in the way I deal with things.
Do you like the band Aha!? Not in particular.
Do you know anyone called Aidan? What are they like? Nope.
Ever heard of the band Ajax? No but I know that’s a brand of like cleaner or something. That’s close enough to ‘band’ haha.
Do you know anyone called Akash? I don’t either.
Do the sound of fire alarms scare you? They would obviously be scary if it rang for a real reason. Who wouldn’t freak out over a fire?
Do you live in America? If so, which state? If visited, where'd you go? No, and I’ve never visited either. I’d love to take a trip to cities like New York, New Orleans, Portland, and Chicago one of these days.
Have you ever had an ant infestation in your house? Only when there’s food left out accidentally.
Aora - did I spell that correctly? I don’t even know what you’re referring to, so I can’t tell you if you’ve spelled whatever it is right.
Do you have a preference in Apple? What type do you prefer? I don’t quite get this question - like a preference within Apple products? I mean, a phone and a laptop are essentials for me, and generally I do prefer having an iPhone and Macbook over other brands; but I can live without an iPad, an Apple Watch, iMac, Apple Pen, etc...if this is what you mean.
Are you an Aquarian? Is anyone in your family/your partner/best friend? ...You mean Aquarius? No. I don’t believe in astrology nor pay attention to zodiac signs either, so I wouldn’t be able to name Aquariuses that I know right off the bat.
Have you ever worn any type of armor? Which type? I don’t think I’ve ever had to, no.
Do you use the word ass a lot? Kinda, but it’s usually part of a longer word, i.e. asshole, asshat, deadass, etc.
Have you or your family had an attorney? What for? Not to my knowledge.
Is your car/family’s car an automatic gear or manual? Automatic.
Are you interested in aviation, piloting and aircrafts? Just the slightest bit. I would love to learn how to fly a plane, and I would be willing to pay for lessons. It’s just the type of activity that’s super hard to squeeze into an already-hectic schedule of mine.
What was the last award you recieved for? A academic distinction in college.
Axl Rose - like or dislike? Like, but I’m nowhere near a passionate fan. I just don’t have any reasons to actively dislike him.
Do you like air being spelt ayre or ayer in rap or hiphop or is it nasty? I don’t care.
Is the sky outside Azure? If not, what shade is it? No, it’s pitch black.
Belle amour (we've been here before). - B
Do you call anyone baby? Is it sweet or an overrated name for affection? Just my dogs. I find it sweet; it’s my preferred term of endearment if in a relationship.
Bby - does this shortened version bug you? No; my friends and I use this with each other.
Do you know what BC in terms of time stands for? Before Christ, but I prefer using BCE.
BDf - For or against? I don’t know what this is referring to.
Do you prefer beach breaks, city breaks or winter breaks? Why? Beach breaks. Winter break is an immediate cross-out since we don’t even have winter; and I already live and work in an urban area as it is. Beaches are my way to go if I want to escape life for a bit and completely unwind.
Do you spell out boyfriend properly or put bf in texts/online? I can use either depending on what I feel like typing out. It’s not that serious haha.
Do you know what bg is short for? Upon reading this question I immediately thought ‘background,’ but if this question had another meaning in mind I wouldn’t be aware of it.
Do you know anyone with the last name Bhays? No.
Have you ever been bird watching? What did you see? No, doesn’t sound like my kind of hobby.
Do you like Bjork? Not in particular, but just like the Axl Rose question I don’t have anything against her either.
What does this read: bk 2moz miss u lyk fk. Doesn't this text speak annoy? No one types like this anymore at least among people I know, but I imagine it would lowkey bother me a bit.
Do you like BMWs? They’re whatever. I don’t pay attention to cars much.
What is the nearest book to you called? How many times have you read it? There aren’t any books here up on the rooftop.
BnQ - gone there? What did you buy? Idk what that is.
Are you more brainy or brave? I wanna say brainy, if anything? I’m pretty jumpy lol.
Did you like the BSBs (Backstreet Boys) as a kid? How about now? No, I’m a little too young for that generation of artists and groups.
Burgers, Hot Dogs or Salads at a Barbecue? We don’t really practice ~barbecues~ here. But at Filipino parties I would usually flock to lumpia and fried chicken, hehe.
Do you have a Byro? No, because I also don’t know what that is.
Cold eyes and filthy lies all leave me petrified. - C
Do you have a Cactus (Cacti)? No, I don’t like plans.
Do you know what a CCTV is? Yes...?
How many CDs are in the room you are currently in? None where I am right now but I have all of Beyoncé’s albums save for Lemonade in my bedroom. I also have Paramore’s self-titled album and Hayley Williams’ Petals For Armor. My CD collection is about to experience a revival because of BTS, though. My plan to get all versions of all their albums is rock solid, lmao.
What's your favourite cereal brand? Cookie Crisps.
Do you like children's TV shows still? Which one(s)? I’ll revisit an episode or two of shows I watched as a kid at a given time for old times’ sake, but I don’t regularly watch children’s TV shows anymore. I haven’t for a very long time.
Cinnamon - Yum or Yuck? I’m actually kind of in the middle about it. I feel like too many desserts have been banking on cinnamon, so the taste of it can be a little tiring. It’s delicious if I haven’t had it for a while, though.
Do you know anyone with the initials and or name CJ? Quite the opposite; I know PLENTY of JCs, even my sister is one. I know one or two CJs but that’s it.
Have you ever met a self professed clairvoyant? What did they do/say? No.
Do you watch CNN News? What's your prefered news channel/show? I don’t tune into the channel but every once in a while I will encounter a CNN link on social media that I’d actually click on and read through. As for preferred news sources, I don’t have one as there are matters to criticize about 99% of them lol; but I am most likely to trust articles I from AP or Reuters. Just things you pick up as a journalism student. 
How many cousins do you have? I have 9 first cousins. I lose count by the time I try to go beyond that since I don’t even know all of my dad’s cousins, which makes it hard to track who my second cousins are.
Do you still draw with crayons? When was the last time you did? Drew what? I don’t remember anymore.
Do you know what a CSS feed is? What is it? I’m familiar with the term but never bothered to learn about what it is.
Do you like cycling/biking? What type of bike do you have? ...I don’t even know how to ride a bike.
Do you really like it, is it is it wicked. - D
What is the most dangerous animal you've petted/held? I can’t decide between snake or crocodile.
Do you like Death Metal? If so, which band(s)? I wouldn’t say I do.
Did you ever keep a diary/journal? I did a million attempts to keep a diary when I was younger, but I was never able to keep up with any of them and I ended up having 4598358395 notebooks with one or two entries each at most. Having a Tumblr page for surveys has so far been my most successful streak at keeping some type of journal.
Do you prefer small, medium, large or no dogs? I prefer all dogs.
Do you know what DP stands for in porn? Yes.
Have you ever dressed up as a celebrity for a party/Halloween? I went as my favorite female wrestler once. I wouldn’t strictly call her a celebrity, but she’s a very well-known personality in the wrestling industry so she’s popular in that right.
DS or Wii? Why? Wii. I was able to make more memories with it.
Does dust make you sneeze or cough? Sneeze, usually.
How many DVDs do you have all together? Idk, I don’t buy DVDs anymore.
Do you dye your hair regularly, sometimes or never? I’ve never done it.
Every love lies sometimes . . . - E
What's something you refuse to eat? Most fruits.
Don't you think the word ebb is so pretty? I’m neutral about it. I don’t use it a lot.
Do you like Chocolate Eclairs? I love eclairs in general haha. Chocolate eclairs in particular sound delicious.
Ever tried edible paper? Yeah, with the White Rabbit candy.
Eevee - pretty name or too Pokemon-y? Definitely very Pokemon-y. 
Do you sometimes mix up the spellings/meanings of affection and defection? Erm, no? They have completely different spellings and meanings, so I personally have never switched them up.
Do you have a big ego, low self esteem or somewhere in between? I think I’m somewhere in between. I’m insecure about some things about myself, but I don’t really put myself down 24/7. I feel like that would put such a strain on my mental health, which I certainly would never need.
What Element does your starsign fall under? I think earth? My co-workers were just discussing this last Friday, but I couldn’t really butt in since I can’t bring myself to care about astrology. I know they mentioned Taurus being an earth sign though.
Do you show your emotions easily and freely or hide them? Depends...I can do either depending on the situation.
What is your favourite form of entertainment? Korean reality shows are quickly becoming a favorite of mine at the moment. I also like compilation videos on YouTube.
What will they write on your epitaph? I’ve honestly hadn’t put much thought into this yet, and I don’t plan to anytime soon. It just seems like a super grave thing to think about lol.
Estimate/guess what number we are on now? Maybe 60s or 70s?
Do you know basic social etiquette? I mean etiquette will always differ per country or culture, so what is basic in other countries might not be here, and vice versa. I think it’s hard to measure.
Does your country use the Euro, Great British Pound, Dollar or other? Other.
Do you still get excited on Christmas Eve? Yes. Mostly for the free food and the opportunity to see relatives I really only ever see every December 24.
What animal/creature that is extinct do you wish wasn't? Those that went extinct from human activity.
What colour eyes do your parents have? Black/dark brown.
6 notes · View notes
mobagehelllocal · 4 years ago
Text
“do you even lift bro?” extra notes i - iii:
I finally finished rereading all my “do you even lift bro?” stories! Man, I feel like I wrote them ages ago. As I mentioned before, I have been going back to do grammatical edits and what not. In the process, I’ve also been noting down my thought process for writing these pieces, and little easter eggs I put in for fun~ This extra notes will contain my thoughts from versions i to iii! 
*please do not read if you haven’t read “do you even lift bro?” ver i - iii. 
The title came to me immediately upon reading the request hahah. originally, it was meant to just be fluffy and cute... but I think it’s actually pretty funny. To me, at least hahah. 
Divus’s was the one exception, but i’ll get into that later.
The reader personality was based on one of my ocs. She was also the oc in my special Malleus x OC story, “bright eyes.”
I went with her because she was an OC, who, in my opinion, is the epitome of a optimistic fangirl lmao. If you’ve read “bright eyes” then I think you’d understand what I mean hahahah. 
For ver i--I think I definitely wrote Riddle’s first. followed by Leona, Azul, Malleus, Kalim, Vil then Idia. 
One of my best friends is a super huge Riddle stan (if you’re reading this, hi sis!) so I wrote his story primarily with her energy in mind. In short, she would most definitely bench press Riddle. 
Her energy + the base reader personality makes Riddle’s story one of the most fun actually. His reader is probably the most mischievous ones--which I thought balanced out well with Riddle’s actual personality. 
Leona’s story is heavily influenced by pride dynamics. It’s common knowledge that it’s the female lions who hunt hence why in Afterglow Savanna--the women are stronger. Leona is royalty, so I assumed that from a young age he’d be told to wed a strong woman. 
I also need to note that Leona is described as respecting women. here’s the thing, I’m pretty sure it’s specifically women from Afterglow Savanna because they could bench press him. That’s not to say he doesn’t respect all women--he probably just puts women from Afterglow Savanna on a different standard because of his experience with them. Either way, you surprised him greatly, and assume that Leona will not be able to look you in the eye for awhile.
Azul’s story specifically takes place after Jamil SR Lab Coat episodes and Azul’s R PE Uniform episodes. I found their relationship funny, and thought it would be fun to continue off from there. 
Most of Azul’s stories come from me just wanting to fluster the hell out of Azul... that being said, I did delve a bit into the magic of TWST for this one. I remember it was Crowley (was it in the prologue?) who noted that magic is dependent also on how much someone believed in their ability to do something. This is why Azul falls down haha, his will faltered and he stopped believing. 
Jamil doesn’t get a break at all, doesn’t he? The reader and Jamil actually vibe really well because they both understood enough about Kalim to know what he was doing.
I think I remember being pretty stuck on which one to do for this. I think it was reading Jamil’s SSR Dorm Uniform story that really made me have an ‘aha’ moment on how to write it--since something like this happens on there. 
Surprisingly for Vil, once I had figured out that I wanted to write him getting mobbed, and being saved by his reader--it flowed out really fast from there. 
For Vil, I always end up bringing up the issue that he’s something like a celebrity and you are one in the million who adore him. I thought that this was just one way to sort of tackle your relationship together. 
I really enjoyed highlighting how you love Vil different from the rest who adore him. The importance of how you see his flaws and still love him--especially because as an influencer Vil has a certain pressure to appear in a certain way. 
Idia’s was the last one I wrote, but I had a lot of fun because I stuffed it full of references. I figured that Idia’s thought process would be more of him thinking life as a game, that’s why he uses terms like support level often in my writing. 
On that note, I know ‘Gao-Gao Dragon-kun’ is a reference to Tamagotchi, but I decided to just merge up Tamagotchi and Pokemon in this case. Hence why ‘Gao-Gao Shield and Sword’ existed lmao. I didn’t put too much effort in that and just switched ‘Shield and Sword’’s order HAHAH. I did consider making it ‘Gao-Gao Gun and Wand’ though. 
‘Water Crest: The Seven Dorms’ is a reference to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I felt incredibly clever when I came up with that HAHAH. But also, when he references support levels, he’s talking about a gameplay in Fire Emblem. For people who aren’t familiar with this, essentially, FE has a system wherein the more you use two units together the likely their support will rise. The supports go from C-B-A-S, with S as the highest. When Idia says he works hard on S Support, he literally means he went out of his way to spend time with you and befriend you. Isn’t that cute? When he references SS Support, it actually doesn’t exist HAHA, but he didn’t realize there was “another level” sort of thing xD
When I write funny Malleus stories, the other members of Diasomnia are likely to be hiding in the bushes. Most funny stuff probably fly over Malleus’s head so... The other Diasomnia members pop in to react hahaha.
To Malleus, your tendency to treat him as a regular person, and not treating him as a lord--makes him incredibly fond of you. It’s because you treat him as an equal, that makes him treat you as an equal. I also think this was the piece where he started calling you “bright light.” There’s no deeper meaning to it, he really just sees you as a bright light--like a brilliant star. You, literally, light up the world. :,) 
Ver ii order of writing--Ashton, Dire, Divus. I had come up with the premise of Divus first though. 
I think Dire was the hardest one for me, because I kept worrying about things like--’what if he’s not actually like this,’ or ‘what if that isn’t how he would actually act’ etc etc. but I think it turned out pretty alright.
Dire, for all his claims of being a kind person--I think actually is a kind guy. He does have the tendency to be a little manipulative and whatnot... but at the end of the day he does care.
For Divus, I sniffed GBF Belial’s Perfume because I wanted to get inspired (and I sort of headcanon they smelled alike) but it went horny too fast. 
Divus is naturally intrigued with you, and he’s also very aware you’re attracted to him. So it amuses him to fluster you. He’s very aware of how good-looking he is, and he doesn’t mind flirting with people.
How I chose to portray Divus is actually based on how @avionvadion writes Divus in her story “Once Upon A Dream.” please check it out! It’s a super cute fanfic about a girl in Twisted Wonderland~ 
Ashton... I was surprised at how fast I was able to write his piece actually hahha. I went with a no braincell, but cheerful and all-around good guy. 
I don’t think there was a lot of Ashton to really research about, but... I just tried to make him good guy Gaston... for now xD 
Ver iii--it went Floyd, Jamil, Jade, Rook, Lilia, and Epel.
There’s this scene in, I think, the first episode of Avatar: The Legend of Aang where Appa wouldn’t fly. So Sokka just straight up... insulted? Appa? i guess. Then Appa suddenly COULD fly, and Sokka was just straight up amazed and yelling... Yeah that was my primary inspiration for Floyd’s story.
Floyd... Floyd is twins with Jade, let’s not forget that. I’m sure Floyd is actually really intelligent, he just isn’t in the mood to be sometimes. Hence he’s able to really understand something when you say something seriously. I think Floyd would always take you seriously when you say something important. 
For Jade’s story, my inspiration was the story of my dad tripping. It was only witnessed by him and mom. My mom talked about how terrifying it was to watch a six foot tall man fall down. My dad just found it funny. Hence, I thought, Jade should trip. 
Other than that, the general idea I wanted was that it’s our time to pamper Jade. He’s one of the two characters who I know would love to pamper his reader. So this was his lover’s chance to pamper him. Also, he’s also one of two characters who would have an idea about your insane strength.
Jamil, much like Jade, is the type of guy who pampers the people he loves. He doesn’t take to being pampered too well. He’s not used to it. 
Jamil also appreciates getting his hard work recognized, so I’m sure he has a praise kink hahah. He’s also easily embarrassed. I think Jamil needs someone who acknowledges all of his hard work, who also accepts his mistakes. 
Epel was the last one to write, and actually a genuine struggle for me. I always... end up writing something in relation to his struggles with his face and femininity. Epel is someone who wants to be seen as a real man, so I worried about what he’d think of a reader who had the strength he wanted. 
I figured if it was anyone else, it might inspire jealousy in Epel--but because it was his lover, he was able to push aside his negative feelings and look at the bright side. You’re truly his ideal, and he wants to learn how to be strong from you.
Rook was another tough one. There did exist a version where you surprise him... but the more I thought about it, the more I found it impossible for Rook to not know or not have an idea. He’s the other character who would have an idea about your strength.
On that note, thinking about a romantic partner for Rook... I thought what was best was someone who wouldn’t find him odd. Who would actually try to learn about him. 
Lilia’s... was also pretty easy given he enjoyed hanging upside down a lot in the main story hahah. Lilia cute, I love him. Also, when will Lilia stop messing with Idia? Probably never tbh. 
I touched upon the topic of mortality and immortality, but because I wanted this to be lighthearted--I chose not to pursue it. It would drag the mood down, but honestly--it’s something we can’t ignore and is very integral in relationships with Lilia or Malleus.
35 notes · View notes
kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago
Text
February 3: Mr. Robot 3x09
So this was episode was pretty different from the last!
Last week's episode feels even more like a quiet, slow respite in comparison to this one. Actually, the last couple of episodes do, because Frederick and Tanya was mostly about Mobley and Trenton. And two episodes before that was the highly stylized single-shot ep. Now we're fully back to several different story lines all up to 100 happening at once.
I like it but I cannot honestly explain what I just saw or precisely what happened, plot wise.
The Dom and Darlene scenes were among my favorites of the whole show, first because I love them both, and second because I DO ship it, even though of course it's obvious Darlene was playing her the whole time. But like... I do think she likes her also. And seeing this other side of Dom... Seeing her nervous and trying to flirt and failing, pretending she doesn't herself know what she's doing, then fighting with herself about what she wants and what she thinks is right or wrong. And the spy game stuff of Darlene getting into the safe... all awesome. And then Dom later like showing her loyalty to the Bureau—I will report my sex life to the federal government. And Santiago wanting a minute-by-minute accounting lol.
Speaking of--almost as good was how close Dom got to Santiago. Again, I am struck by how well plotted this show is. Like, this is a little more than a season away from the finale, but it could almost have been the all-too-happy, all-too-sudden ending of the whole thing. If it weren't for Santiago, if the Dark Army WEREN'T in the FBI, then Darlene could have clued the FBI into Romero's deus ex machina keylogger data, and they could 'undo the hack' and then that would be it! I mean plus all the other threads, but that could be a major part of the neat and tidy conclusion. But instead, it just sets off a different domino effect because of the presence of the well-established mole.
I didn't entirely follow all of the Elliot and Mr. Robot and Tyrell stuff. The out-of-order timeline thrown in there casually among all the OTHER stuff that was happening made it hard for me to figure out exactly what was happening there. I got that Elliot used the fake out of Stage Three to get the meeting with whiterose ('s boyfriend) and then own the Dark Army and that he was also simultaneously relying on Darlene and the Sentinel hack, that is, he would take down the Dark Army while she saved ECorp, essentially saving the day somehow I suppose. But the emotional journey of Mr. Robot I don't get as much.
I know he went to Tyrell's in order to yell at him, I guess, and then Price comes and gives Tyrell the CTO figurehead job, and schools Mr. Robot about being a real leader, and Tyrell and Mr. Robot together basically become bitter and angry? And then Tyrell tells Mr. Robot about the mole. And then Mr. Robot goes home and googles Sentinel and Tyrell and then he goes away and Elliot is back. That's all I really remember/understood and it doesn't feel very clear to me. I'm not saying that's on the show; it's on me because I just wasn't following it as well as the other story lines, probably because Mr. Robot and Tyrell just interest me less lmao, so I wasn't paying good attention. It's also possible that it just ISN'T as clear, because there is a lot of the unsaid in this show.
My mom suggested that Mr. Robot, knowing or predicting that Elliot would try to hack Sentinel, was trying to give him a message about how particularly dangerous this would be, which is plausible, especially since I think Mr. Robot knows more about Elliot (the Hacker) than vice versa, but again, the timeline is a little uncertain for me.
Angela is full on gone by now. Her sleek apartment being turned into a fortress/bunker was truly disturbing, and the most disturbing part wasn't the mess or the pictures of unknown stuff on the walls or the 50 locks on the door but how she kept all of these small objects that had been in the room with her when she was brainwashed. Like, she really doesn't have control of herself right now. She IS A puppet.
Grant is really coming into his own. That last scene with him and whiterose was very interesting. The last time I saw whiterose, I felt like it was really being revealed that she was the master all along—not locked in a match of wills with Price but always his superior, putting him into and taking him out of power at her whim, just like she does everything at her whim. Now... I don't know. I don't think this ep contradicted that reading exactly, but it did show how she is truly unhinged and starting to unravel more and more. In other words, there may not be anyone above her, but she’s certainly not in control either, possibly not even of herself. She’s not infallible and she doesn’t always, immediately, get what she wants. And so her sort of ceding to Grant at the end—and why switch to Mandarin? And make her voice softer?—don’t entirely know what to make of it or if I’m even making sense now lol. This is all a coherent thought somewhere in my brain. At any rate Grant felt like her partner more than her boy toy for the first time.
I don’t like the casual mention of ‘oh btw martial law’ just slipping into dialogue because while I love the world building on this show in general, and recognize that a lot of major aspects of the post-5/9 world are shown in bits and pieces in the background (like the whole Congo plot! Which is pretty important to the overarching narrative!), the very throwaway nature of the line made me think that actually, they’re not aware in the writers’ room of what martial law is. It doesn’t mean what you think it means. It’s not a synonym for “armed police presence” or “curfews” lmao. And frankly after last summer, which I know post-dates this show, I get more upset at the idea of the phrase being thrown around casually and incorrectly.
A few more random thoughts: I love/miss Romero and I appreciate how his character largely existed to show how everyone else in fsociety was basically just a child lol. Not literally but he WAS the adult in the room. Darlene was hella hot today. Price is THE best villain of all time I will not be taking criticism on this post. I appreciate the use of a Joey Bada$$ song in the bar scene. Leon versus Angela was a show down I didn’t know I needed but I am living for it.
Only one more ep left this season! I saw the finale but I never saw the majority of S4 because I thought I’d do a re-watch first…and it’s taken me until now to do that. So I’m pretty excited to finish this season up and see the conclusion.
1 note · View note
gideonthefirst · 5 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
Thank you @oddsynchronicity for enabling me to make this post lmao. Here it is: my thoughts on NADDPOD Episode 80: Your Own Personal Hell
First of all, broadly speaking, all of the flashback sequences were perfectly chosen. There are a lot of things they could each have been, but @frogndtoad and I were just talking about it and, to quote her, they got “right to the emotional heart of the show.” By which I mean, each flashback sequence forced us to reexamine how we looked at the characters, while also staying fundamentally true to how they’ve been fleshed out and developed over the past eighty episodes. And they were perfectly designed to hit the emotional beats that each player is best at playing to. tl;dr Murph is a very very good DM and storyteller and also I want him to write a book
Second of all, still just in general, the choice to split them up was very bold and also an incredible flex on Murph’s part. One of the greatest strengths of the show is the party dynamic and how much they all care for each other - to split them up for half of an episode, and likely most of next episode as well, is…well, it’s a choice, and imo it worked because it hit HARD. The only other times they’ve been split up for any extended period of time, Hardwon almost died on an airship + Bev and Moonshine ran out of spells and were down to 1 hp, Gemma died, and Beverly got offered a deal by Akarot. Like, unless I’m missing some because it’s late and I’m sick, those are the three. So by separating them it triggers an immediate fear that is much different from the usual fear at seeing an enemy, and you can hear it in the immediate tone shift. They went from harassing Ilsed in the group chat to being completely focused on their scenes and each other’s scenes and it was a different feeling than we’ve gotten since…I don’t know, Queen Ezra? Marabelle? I don’t know if it even happened then.
Okay, individual stuff! Hardwon! Murph talked about it in the Short Rest a bit, but the choice to give Hardwon something to justify his caring so deeply about the dwarves and Irondeep? Inspired. Perfect. Devastating. He’s been in the bodies of two different races, but deep down, he still sees himself as a dwarf and always has, and King MacGannis was the first one to ever acknowledge him as such. It’s such a trans narrative, first of all, but it also is uhhh sure something when taken in conjunction with Moonshine’s flashback. But anyway, Hardwon went from being someone who was always excluded but still cared about the dwarves and Irondeep for some reason to being someone who was still always excluded but had something deep inside to hold onto and someone to look up to. And then he GOT the Kingshammer and now that whole scene is so much more specific and important and. Hardwon never had a home but now we know he always had the aspiration/idea of a home and that fundamentally changes his character. “Looks like a dwarf to me” are you KIDDING me?
Miscellaneous Hardwon thoughts: Playing Kingshammer under that scene was a direct attack. And Hardwon saying “yes, sir” to MacGannis in exactly the same way that Bev said “yes, sir” to his dad in the first Galaderon episodes is something that definitely wasn’t intentional but I am going to cry about.
Moonshine! Man, how do I even…how do I even start. Moonshine is the genuine love of my life she’s so deeply, genuinely good. Bringing Marabelle in was an incredibly low blow, and also possibly a hate crime? Investigations are ongoing. However. Moonshine immediately deciding to welcome the spores into her own network and then her fungal form morphing into something closer to Marabelle’s…Marabelle was known as She Who Has No Hospitality. Moonshine welcomed in her spores without once doubting their intentions in possibly the greatest gesture of hospitality ever known. Even in death, even as barely an imitation of Marabelle, those spores are going to get to be part of a family and a network and have what Marabelle ended up losing because of Ilsed because Ilsed put them in Moonshine’s way.
The scene with Jolene and Paw Paw is adorable, but also I’m having approximately nineteen different emotions about it. First of all, the line “things that don’t belong find a way of belonging when you’re around” was such a perfect summary of Moonshine, and also hit especially hard directly after Hardwon’s scene; Hardwon has never belonged anywhere (even where he so desperately wanted to) until he found Moonshine and the same, honestly, is kind of true with Bev (more on that later). Second of all, this scene fully switched the framing of the Moonshine/Marabelle/Jolene dichotomy (trichotomy?). Up until this point, it’s essentially been framed as Marabelle is who Moonshine could become, but Jolene is who she is. But the ways Moonshine and Jolene deal with Paw Paw are reflective of a much deeper difference - Jolene, even though she is the Crick, is lawful, and does kind of want to control people and the things around her, whereas Moonshine just…is not. And then, with Moonshine literally now having part of Marabelle as part of her, Moonshine isn’t either Jolene or Marabelle; she’s both, and more Marabelle than Jolene. She’s Marabelle if she hadn’t been corrupted, and if her loved ones had stood by her, like Bev and Hardwon always have.
Miscellaneous Moonshine thoughts: Playing Sumpin’s A Mess Out West at the beginning of this was a Choice but at least it wasn’t Mee Maw’s Burden. Also I always pictured Moonshine as having gotten Paw Paw when she was very young, and it’s adorable that she was already a full adult when she adopted him. Love that, it’s so much more perfectly Moonshine than what I had thought
Beverly. Do y’all ever…cry. This was the culmination of his arc. I mean, I’m sure it’ll go other places, and I trust Caldwell and Murph to keep him interesting and growing, and he has growth to do, but…his entire story has been building to this. “A child has a duty to his father, but a hero has a duty to the world” is the final sign that Bev isn’t a kid anymore, and hasn’t been able to be for a long time. But also, for the first time, he gets to make a choice about it: does he want to be a kid, or does he want to be a hero? And he chooses hero. He chooses hero even though he’s sixteen and may have to kill his own father, because that same father has been teaching him that he has a duty since before he was even old enough to start high school.
The flashback scene also very much emphasized how deeply alone he’s kind of always been - which is something we’ve literally never seen before. We’ve gotten very brief jokes about him being bullied in school, but that’s never been explored, and we also know for a fact that he was an excellent Green Teen and also the son of the captain of the Green Knights. But this was…he’s the only Green Teen there. Erlin, Derlin, Cran, they don’t see the execution - the execution brunch is likely their first, and Erlin isn’t even there (we do know Erlin’s parents are dead at this point, but that is a very different thing than watching your father execute someone in front of you without showing any emotion, and not being allowed to look away). All he has is Egwene, who is also completely alone, and it’s not like they’re really friends after this. They share one moment, and that’s all there is, and then it’s back to Bev being alone and doing everything he can to make his father proud of him. And then, when he finally succeeds in making his dad proud, his dad gets ripped away to another dimension, ages 20 years, and signs a deal with the devil. So once again we come back to “things that don’t belong find a way of belonging when you’re around”, and Bev only really belonging somewhere once he finds the Boobs.
Finally, like…Bev’s introduction was “according to his mother, a very good boy”. He’s a Green Teen because that’s what his father was, and his father before him, and his father before that, and he’s the fifth of his name and the best of the Green Teens and all he wants to do is impress his mom and dad and be good enough, and here he’s given a chance to be with his dad again and do what he says - which is all he’s ever known how to do - and he has to make the choice not to. And the only reason he’s able to make that choice is, once again, Moonshine. Reaching out to his friends, to the family he chose, to the family who lets him be a kid and loves him unconditionally, to the family who says “I’ll love you whatever you choose” but trusts in him to make the right choice.
Miscellaneous Bev thoughts: Pulling in the main theme at the end there was the best editing choice Murph has ever made. I started crying fully in public and also got chills and also my jaw dropped. “I look at him like I did that day: with a mixture of hate and love.” The level to which Caldwell has perfectly captured the gay teen experience and translated it over to a high fantasy d&d podcast and the metaphor of his dad selling his soul to the devil sure is a lot to handle. Also, uhh, I don’t want Bev to die, like, ever, but if he does next episode, what an incredibly beautiful story.
Miscellaneous final thoughts: This show is about found family. Even when forcibly separated to different levels of Hell, they save each other and come back to each other. I can’t fucking handle it. Music choice in general this episode? Fantastic, good job Emily and Murph. And then, I can’t wait to see how they handle them being separated for what’s probably an entire episode - a week is WAY to long to wait
87 notes · View notes
benditlikepress · 5 years ago
Note
I haven't seen N.C.I.S in a long time but I want to start again. What are the best tiva episodes?
sorry it took me a while to reply to this i’ve been agonising!! lmao
ok so i don’t know how popular or unpopular my choices are but here’s my top 10 15 16 after a LOT of debate. i’m gonna talk about a few because i can’t help myself
1. Truth or Consequences
i guess this one is kind of duh? this episode is my favourite ever episode of ncis and probably one of my favourite tv episodes ever. i love the reunion between tony and ziva where there’s still the undercurrent of everything that happened with rivkin and how badly they left things contrasted with the reality that tony risked his life to avenge her death. also ~knowing what we now know~ from reading ziva’s diary in She, the final shots of the episode where they stare at each other in the bullpen are 10x more iconic
2. Berlin
while writing this i looked up a few internet lists of best tiva episodes and i saw one that had Berlin as number nine and i have… never been so offended. tony loves her so much! the dancing! the flashbacks! the bedsharing! the handholding! all of the callbacks to under covers! i die!
3. Under Covers
not much needs to be said here, the iconicity. was always the best light-hearted tiva episode to rewatch but now has added pain with the whole pregnancy thing… ouch
4. Shiva
i repeat, tony loves her so much!! we all know ziva and how she can push people away but i love the scene on the tarmac at the end where she finally looks to him for comfort and the way she smiles when he says aht lo levahd makes me wanna yeet myself off a cliff
5. Reunion
they’re only in 3 scenes together (and one is like 2 seconds long) but again the weight of it all is so amazingly portrayed. ~knowing what we now know~ about ziva realising her feelings for tony in somalia the staring in the bullpen in particular is so heavy. i could write poems about the bathroom scene. the way they use the mirror to show tony’s reaction to ziva’s words, the way he doesn’t actually look her in the eye for the entire scene (at times it looks like he’s physically forcing himself not to look) until she says “i was wrong to question your motives” and then he watches her through the mirror and immediately looks away again. when he asks her why and she mentions ari he visibly exhales like he was really affected by the honesty of it and then he softens to her completely before finally turning to face her. so good!!!
6. Jetlag7. Kill Ari I and II8. Boxed In9. Shell Shock I and II
maybe surprising this is so high? i love their vulnerability in these episodes. also the scene in the car where tony is being jealous and ziva says “i thought we were past caring about these things”… that line is so interesting and we don’t talk about it enough 
10. Housekeeping
the bde of whichever producer decided to bring ej back purely for her to tell tony that he should be with ziva lmao 
11. Untouchable12. Judgement Day I and II13. Cloak / Dagger14. Out of the Darkness / Into the Light
new episodes really made this list!! i’m glad the writers tried to go back and fix some of the hot mess. i really appreciated the insight into ziva’s feelings, finally from her own mouth. there were SO many references to tony and i was wholly unprepared. hearing her refer to tony and tali as her family made me cry an unhealthy amount. also they acknowledged her mental illnesses! its 2019 we respect ziva and her traumas in this household!
15. Agent Afloat16. Designated Target (i couldn’t miss it out)
there are other really important episodes that aren’t included for probably obvious reasons (PPF, Family First) and others due to pain (Aliyah, etc). if you’re giving yourself like a reminder you should probably also watch a bunch of other storyline essential ones like
Legend I and II, Semper Fidelis, AliyahChasing Ghosts, RevengeWTF, PPFFamily First She
65 notes · View notes
unproduciblesmackdown · 5 years ago
Text
diefordarkseid replied to your post: read this quote yesterday & naturally immediately...
milo jsyk i have yet to watch this show beyond the clips you’ve been posting of winston but the more i read your posts about him im like “wow i like and relate to winston billions kinda sorta”
scully have you ever Partaken of this really convenient just-under-15-min Youtube Compilation of all winston billions’s appearances to date (seeing as tragically s5 debuts in a couple days, which is why i’m even less capable of shutting up about winston billions than usual, and btw wrol has said that of the 7 eps we’ll get [seeing as production was interrupted by pandemics but at kind of the best point @ which it could’ve interrupted] he is in every single one) like i truly forget if i’ve ever linked that
i realize there’s a lot going on with no context but it’s a delight all the same
and i absolutely Love winston billions (tragically, see: being cursed w/ this series lmao) and yes big relate. i mean you know how wrol Cannot play a heterosexual Or neurotypical character......his can’t-be-straight vibes are radiating same as ever and i am Very Adamant that winston billions is Definitely autistic, that struck me even when all the content we had was his s3 appearances lol. 
also the fact that wrol gets so many Deeply Insecure characters to play lmao, that was pretty much the gist of his originally-meant-to-be-one-off Botched Interview Scene lol, taylor tells him he’s Too Self-Loathing, which they then have him basically confirm in his next appearance way down the line, which they Allegedly started writing as soon as wrol was filming that original would-be cameo lol.........we love the insecure low-self esteem wrol roles!!! he continues to nail it, he’s like yeah i got this
winston is also unusually Earnest and Honest, especially considering the show he’s in, and like, this guy is Putting In Effort to communicate and also connect with the people around him, which is not many people so far b/c he’s mainly interacted with taylor (which is Not a problem lol) and had fleeting interactions with his other 3 Named Coworkers.......he’s a touch ~sensitive~ lol like very prone to kind of capitulating to others’ Feedback, really into Taylor’s Validation which, why wouldn’t you be, but it’s a lil like “haha oh no” considering his and taylor’s first encounter was him annoying the hell out of them and them slamdunking him so hard he just goes off and presumably Has Depression about it until they get back in touch with him months later. Winston And Taylor Dynamic is essential considering a) virtually all winston’s scenes have been with taylor and b) asia kate dillon is Amazing and so is wrol of course and c) Their Communication(tm).....we are obsessed. this is a whole other extremely long tangent about taylor and winston’s mutual respect and ability to Get each other and willingness/ability to communicate well, which means A Lot considering like, everyone else finds winston offputting and does Not communicate well with him, and many people find taylor (at least initially) offputting for different but not-that-different reasons, and taylor often has to struggle for very conditional and transactional “respect” from others (they do get Some genuine respect, thank fucking god) but after his first meeting for taylor involves them reading him for filth and giving him despresso, the next thing he does is show up both Saying and Showing he’s listened to them and he’s clearly trying to Work With Them and they Work With Him and god the essays all about this scully.....the Essays......the Winnie N Tay.............the [they should absolutely fuck] and the Tayston...........
ANYWAYS ugh god we love him and wrol Does What He Does and gives the character depth and nuance and [the energies....the vibes] when nobody fucking asked him to, which is why he was originally just meant to come in and film the one minute long scene, but they liked him so much they wrote him in more episodes, and then in more episodes throughout s4, and then So Far Every Episode of s5 that we can get thus far. and i haven’t watched billions either!!!! i Have seen material outside of the Winston Content, and i Know Of material i have not actually watched, but i cannot bring myself to like, actually watch the series normally and in full lol. taylor is a main character which is absolutely deserved but i fairly loathe like all the Other main characters (including the two supposedly central ones lol.....a nightmare) and what i don’t dislike, i Simply do not care about lol........like, if i did actually watch it Properly? i’m sure it’d be fine and i’d only Sometimes want to slam my head through a wall. i know this b/c i’ve watched a couple eps almost in full (the last couple eps of s4) but like, i do not have to, so no thanks
but winston is So Good we love him and we have so many Thoughts and he is very relatable b/c like. wrol just Gives These Performances and goes above and beyond to make this seem like a fleshed out person before anybody even asked him to lol. or winston would have only ever been Quant Kid 2 in one scene in ep 3x03. and there are even other things we can derive enjoyment from, or we’d be way deeper in hell than we are already. such as: taylor mason, which is akd really honestly being so good an actor they’re carrying this show lol they very truly elevated this series by a lot singlehandedly. Their Performance/s......which is why it’s fucking brilliant that Wrolliam and Akd are scene partners virtually all the time. together they are just killing it, by which i mean, us. that’s why we’re here really, we went and discovered how amazing their scene/s together in ep 3x11 were and it was like hmm. i think i will never shut up about this for A Year And Counting
5 notes · View notes
shikai-the-storyteller · 5 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
Homestretch....the final Cyberverse episodes... :’(
Season 3: Episodes 21 - 26
Episode 21
Ok so before we start, I gotta fess up and say I got spoiled for something because Twitter Sucks, so I know Tarn is in this series. Here are my predictions about that: 
Megatron said he rescued Astrotrain from a tyrant. I thought he meant an Alt!Universe version of him, but now that I know This Bastard is gonna be in it, I’m guessing it’s Tarn
If Megatron DID save Astrotrain from Tarn, it’d be hilarious if Tarn & co. weren’t actually planning to kill Astrotrain, they were just using him as transport, in which case Megatron essentially car-jacked (train-jacked?) them.
As much as I rag on Tarn and the DJD I actually do genuinely love the idea of an Autobot + Decepticon teamup against the DJD THAT WOULD BE SO FRICKIN COOL....
Anyways, on to the episode!
Tumblr media
Pics taken 10 seconds before disaster, rip Cosmos.
MEDIA BOT and Cosmos! :D GOSH COSMOS REALLY IS CONFIRMED FOR BABY THAT”S ADORABLE.....I’m so glad he’s finally back in a cartoon
OH WHOOPS I FORGOT WINDBLADE WAS FRICKIN DEAD (ish)
LUNA 3???
The “FORBIDDEN” moon? 
Chromia: You can go there anyways! Bee: Huh?  Chromia: When have the rules ever stopped you before? Bee: Fair point
Tumblr media
BRO WHY DO YOU HAVE A TOY OF SQUIDSCREAM
aw I love all those photos of him and cosmos, that’s cute
Oh no did he quit the business because he lost Cosmos???
METEOR-FIRE what a cool name
I like this dude a lot
I love that he’s obviously depressed about losing his partner but immediately gets convinced to go break into Luna 3 lmao
HE’S GOT CUTE CAMERAS WITH HIM I love that
LMAO I was gonna say “Wow you just flip the switches alright” THEN HE JUST RIPS THE CORDS OUT I love this guy
Hmm suspicious
Aw I love the space-shots of Cybertron, what a gorgeous planet....
Oh hello cannon-fodder #418
SHOCKWAVE SHOCKWAVE SHOCKWAVE!!!!!
IT”S THE GRUDGE LMAO
It’s probably a sim that shows you the scariest thing you can think of
BLURR!!! AW THAT’S SO SAD
Ok I take it back, it’s probably like MTMTE’s “Cyberutopia” thing where it reads your memory files
Watch the cameras Bee!!!
“Bee, I don’t mean to alarm you, but the alien presence has taken over my circuits” *HEAD DOES A 180* GOSH I LOVE THIS FRICKIN SHOW
The facial expressions in this show are SO FUN Bee’s so expressive I love that
I like that Meteor-Fire is so chill about this, this ain’t his first rodeo
He just snaps his neck back into place that’s so freaky and they play it off so well lol
Tumblr media
PRETTY SPACE BALL???? PRETTY SPACE BALL!!! HEY HASBRO CAN YOU MAKE A TOY OF THIS I WANT IT!!!!!!
Gosh I’d legit buy a gem like this if it had constellations engraved on it THAT’S SO PRETTY I LOVE IT
It’s a good thing that Bee’s got Meteor-Fire with him, this is his field!!!
Oh lmao JUST KIDDING I GUESS
Well so much for the alien, rest in pieces
I think Saling already said this in their liveblog but I love that Bee’s collecting Windblade’s parts a-la-Megaman X2 style
COSMOS!!!!!! Yay I’m so glad they got him back!!!
Tumblr media
Meteor-Fire: Look everybody, Cosmos is back!!! :D ME TOO BUD I’m so excited to see my space-baby
RODDY AND ARCEE!!!! I love that Percy took over for Maccadam, but that’s also so sad!!! ALSO WHY HAS HE NOT FIXED HIS EYES, RATCHET PLEASE HELP THIS POOR GUY
Episode 22  
OHH PRETTY PLANET
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The background designers on this show are great
Rodimus: That place has nothing but bad memories for me Every Drift fan simultaneously: Mood....
I really don’t think they’ll bring Drift back (unless he’s like, a zombie, which would still suck) so that’s a bummer
Tumblr media
Rodimus: *Talking about his trauma* Me, very distracted: Wow Bee looks really cute here
SERIOUSLY THOUGH THEY NEED RUNG IN THIS SERIES They need a therapist in every Transformers series, all these bots need therapy (though tbf they tried to give Starscream therapy and that sure didn’t help, pft)
GRIMLOCK MAYBE DON’T--oh ok too late WELL THERE THEY GO
Repugnis?? I don’t remember who that is
Tumblr media
A CITY?????? PRETTY
INSECTICON
lmao the frickin voice actor for that grey dude cracked me up
BEE MAYBE DON’T IMMEDIATELY TRUST THEM
Energon masters???? What
Interesting that they used “She” for Grimlock
Affluence?? 
Oh great these guys are the Cybertronian bourgeoisie 
Oh boy they’re just wasting energon huh
THE SHOCKS????
That’s a pretty bubble but JEEZ
OH NO WHY CAN”T HE TRANSFORM??
WAIT WHERE”S THE AUDIO oh wait no OP did mention there was an audio dropout
Is Grimlock gonna make friends with the bugs!!!
OH RIGHT the bug is Repugnis 
Aw the bugs are way nicer than the bourgeoisie, surprising absolutely no one
HELL YEAH, EAT THE RICH GRIMLOCK
“If we let you go, things will change! We like things the way they are” jeez
I wonder how the Shocks came about
It frickin figures
PRISON BREAK BEE!!!!
EAT HIM GRIMLOCK!!!
“Well this is quite astonishing” cute....
YEAH I WAS WONDERING IF THEY HAD THE SAME ALT MODE they looked like they had bug-bits, I didn’t realize that thing was keeping them from transforming though
Episode 23   
Oh right Megatron has a Matrix of Leadership I FORGOT ABOUT THAT
I ALSO FORGOT WHIRL WAS IN THIS SERIES, MY BABY.....
JETFIRE WATCH OUT YOU BIG NERD
“Rack ‘n Ruin and Ratchet” OH IS THIS GONNA BE A RATCHET EPISODE??? PLEASE?????? PLEASE SAY RATCHET EPISODE
Aw poor Rack n Ruin...
RATCHET BABY BOY!!! I forgot he was a New Yorker in this series lmao
“I LOVE Jetfire!”  “I know, me too!” CUTE....
I love that every continuity has Ratchet stuck with someone who annoys him in a ship
Tumblr media
I love that Ratchet’s not even concerned
RATCHET’S DESIGN IN CYBERVERSE IS SO CUTE...
Wait UNSPACE???? Isn’t that where they sent a bunch of bad people????
Different Quantum Frequencies??? Dimensionally aligned??? MAN I LOVE THIS GOOFY SHOW
“It’s a blue-purple” CUTE....
UH OH HERE COMES ASTROTRAIN throwing dead-end??
I love that Astrotrain is so HUGE compared to everyone else, thank you Cyberverse for my life
“Every time..” LMAO GOSH THIS SHOW IS LITERALLY THE BEST someone please make a gif of that. I love that this implies that every time someone rides in Astrotrain they get ejected at 100 mph and skid 50 ft face-first, that’s such a delightful mental image. I think this 5 second scene is legitimately one of my favorite goofs / scenes in this show IT’S JUST THAT GOOD
Tumblr media
You can tell I really enjoyed something when I make a meme of it
Tumblr media Tumblr media
IT”S ILLEGAL TO BE THIS CUTE!!!!!!!!
OK IT’S LEGITIMATELY A LITTLE FRIGHTENING TO SEE HOW HUGE ASTROTRAIN IS WHEN IN ATTACK-MODE, HE SO EASILY PICKED THEM UP but that’s why it’s cool for him to be SO much bigger than they are, I LOVE BIG CYBERTRONIANS
Tumblr media Tumblr media
LMAO I LOVE ASTROTRAIN he’s such a turd to DeadEnd
“Time to pay Ratchet a house-call. ‘Cuz he’s a doctor!” I almost snorted my drink up my nose, I LOVE THE DORKY HUMOR IN THIS SHOW
I swear this series was made with me in mind
Tumblr media
TWO HEADS, NO BRAINCELLS
Tumblr media Tumblr media
You wonder if Shadow Striker and Soundwave ever just rock-paper-scissor to see who has to deal with the latest Autobot bs that day
“And we don’t” OH SHOOT THEY’RE BEING LEFT OUT OF THE DECEPTICON’S PLANS TOO...This is more dire than I thought
Man I really do love Shadow Striker and Soundwave, they’re the only competent Decepticons
OH NO NOT RATCHET!!! NO!!!!!
Ohh so Astrotrain is still a triple changer in this series!! :O
WOW A SHOT TO THE HEAD REALLY DIDN”T DO ANYTHING HUH
REST IN PIECES DEADEND lmao he and Percy both have good survival stats it seems
NICE MOVES GRANDPA glad your hips still work lol
Oh good I’m glad they actually kept the purple thing
RIP Rack n Ruin
DEADEND YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS
YEAHHHHH SHADOW STRIKER AND SOUNDWAVE!!!!!
“You’ve been told this area is off-limits” Oh shoot so Megatron really doesn’t trust them with this huh??? Must be some serious stuff they saw while universe-hopping
“Make us” SOUNDWAVE I WOULD DIE FOR YOU MY SASSY BOY
Love that he’s pissing off this dude who’s literally 4 times his height, love my son
Shadow Striker & Soundwave are Goth / Jock solidarity
Ratchet: Yeah yeah yeah I know Cuteeee
Wow they’re really not gonna help Shadow Striker and Soundwave????
Tumblr media
THEY’RE LITERALLY JUST DOLL-SIZE IN HIS HANDS which is probably a not great reminder for Soundwave after that Dr. Tentacle Dude incident
Astrotrain: *bops their faces together* heehee Soundwave: BI Shadow Striker: >8(
JEEZ, BYE ASTROTRAIN
Tumblr media
THE STYLE IS SO JARRING I LOVE IT!!! I LOVE UNSPACE AND HOW IT LOOKS (especially when contrasted with the regular drawing-style of the show. Really great artistic choice!)
Oh shoot so Astrotrain can just leave whenever huh
Aw what cute high fives, man this show has such good vibes
Episode 24  
NOOOO ONLY THREE EPISODES LEFT.....
:(((((
WINDLBADE!!!! I hope she’ll be ok
DID it work?? Wait you guys still have two frickin shards left, YOU”RE SO BAD AT THIS
A SHARK????? WTF
HE JUST PICKED HER UP AND DIPPED WTF WHO IS THAT
It’s not Skybyte obviously but he’s a shark too so WHO IS THAT
Tumblr media
OHH IS THAT THE HALL OF RECORDS???? 
Wait wtf the Decepticons are attacking?? Oh wait RACK N RUIN DID YOU REALLY TELL THEM THAT
OH NO HE FROZE
WHOA  WHAT”S HAPPENING
WHAT OPTIMUS NO
WHAT”S HAPPENING!!!!! WTF
I WAS GONNA MAKE A BSOD JOKE BUT I TAKE IT ALL BACK OPTIMUS PLEASE BE OK YOU CAN’T DIE IN THIS SERIES
Is this referencing the other time when he glitched oh no....I knew that’d come back to bite us
In other news, I love that we’re learning more about the life and (cyber)biology of Cybertron, I’m so glad we got to have pretty much almost the entire series set on Cybertron
Tumblr media
I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THAT!!! THAT’S SO COOL!!! This is the stuff I want to see in Transformers shows!!!
Hasbro could literally make a nature documentary set on Cybertron and I’d be ecstatic. Gimme more details about their world and architecture and city stuff
Tumblr media
“Fellow Primes, why have I been summoned?” Oh shoot so the other past primes can just jack OP’s consciousness whenever??? That frickin sucks. I do love the Atlantis vibes I’m ge HOLY FRICK IS THAT MAC
AHHHHHHHH MACCADAM!!!!!!!!!!! GRANDPA!!!!!!! PLEASE GIVE OPTIMUS DAD ADVICE!!!!!! IM SO GLAD WE GET TO SEE HIM AGAIN
Chromia: Bee are you crazy?? Bee: YES! *jumps off the ship*
I love that this weird storm cloud area is basically like an ocean, that’s so cool
OH NO BEE!!!!!!!
Jeez that startled me, the shark sounds just like Bee
“Well you’re doing a scrap job” lmao Chromia please
Oh it’s the Argon Sea, it IS an ocean pft
“An ancient evil” hooo boy
BEE he’s so cute. Wait don’t just jump down a random hole AT LEAST WAIT FOR CHROMIA
CREEPY TENTACLE STUFF AGAIN, JEEZ CYBERVERSE
KICK HIS BUTT CHROMIA
Aw man, not you too Bee
MISTRESS OF FLAME!!!! I get so excited about every IDW reference haha, I love Caminus and I love that they’re letting that still exist
JEEZ THAT”S NOT CREEPY AT ALL
Is this a Titan???? IT IS A TITAN
It’s like a Cthulu titan huh
Chromia: That is THE creepiest thing I’ve ever heard THANK YOU CHROMIA, SAME THOUGHT
Chromia’s just like “This doesn’t even come close to my Top 10 list of BS I’ve had to deal with lately”
More weird smoke, oh great
JEEZ THAT’S A FREAKY TITAN
Tumblr media
Me, crying softly: GAY RIGHTS....(and Bee). MAN THE FRIENSHIPS IN THIS SHOW ARE SO GREAT :’)
Tumblr media
ALCHEMIST PRIME!!!!!!!!! I FRICKIN KNEW YOU WERE A PRIME
“But this is not about me” I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU THOUGH
Wait why is a part of Windblade in Megatron’s Matrix
WHY WOULD THEY ALSO BE IN THE OTHER MATRIX oh they mean alt-universe them
Tumblr media
It’s frickin HYSTERICAL that every time Optimus has some ~deep spiritual~ conversation with the past Primes he’s just standing there frozen while the Autobots wait for him to unfreeze like he’s some kind of ancient computer doing updates. Like, that’s legitimately one of the funniest pieces of information canon’s given us so far, thank you for my life Cyberverse writers.
I wonder if Arcee and the other bots ever take selfies with him while he’s frozen like that THERE’S SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR COMEDY HERE
Optimus: *is frozen for a couple hours while talking to old Primes* Autobots: *put on PJs and unroll their sleeping bags so they can have a slumber party while waiting for him*
Heck now I’m just imagining them playing truth or dare or some similar game while waiting for Optimus to wake up. 
I’m sure at some point during their voyage on the Ark, Optimus froze and they all played the “who can do this silly / embarrassing thing in front of Optimus and get away with it before he wakes up” game. Like, Rodimus somersaults down the hall while spouting fire in front of Optimus, Bee does a handstand while singing the alphabet backwards, etc, and whoever’s in front of Optimus when he “wakes up” loses. (It’d be even funnier if Optimus kept pretending to be frozen while they played until someone did something REALLY embarrassing and he unfroze to freak them out. Then again, the Matrix going back into his chest would probably be too much of a giveaway huh)
OH NO I WAS SO CAUGHT UP IN THE EUPHORIA OF THIS IDEA I FORGOT THERE’S ONLY TOO EPISODES LEFT NOW....
Episode 25
I love Astrotrain’s design (both in bot-mode and his alt mode) because he just looks like a grumpy evil train and that makes me so happy.
Tumblr media
Also RAIN!!! I love rain and this looks so pretty
LMAO ASTROTRAIN YOU’RE SUCH A TURD I had no opinion of him before this show but now I frickin love him
HE PULLED THE CHAIR OUT FROM UNDER HIM
“I HAVE HIS MATRIX” OH NO DID HE STEAL THIS FROM SHATTERED GLASS’ OPTIMUS OH FRICK
Tumblr media
Megatron running like that while holding the Matrix in his hands reminds me so vividly of a younger sibling stealing their older sibling’s diary and fleeing at top-speed from said older sibling and that’s hilarious to me. Megatron is so petty
Dang, so that’s how his eye got messed up. Ngl it’s a good look
CYBER COWS!!!!
Wow that wall is so WEAK the Decepticons are so dumb lmao
Oh yeah they have a new furry on their team
Rodimus: Math isn’t my strong-suit.
Arcee: Especially me!  Arcee you are ADORABLE
Tumblr media
OH SHOOT MEGATRON CAN TALK TO THE PAST PRIMES TOO...DANG
WINDBLADE!!! MAKE WINDBLADE A PRIME YOU COWARDS
Ok I know I said “Shattered-Glass Optimus” earlier but based on that spoiler some moron on Twitter posted, IT’S PROBABLY TARN...man I wish I hadn’t seen that spoiler but despite that IM STILL EXCITED
Makes you wonder how TARN got the Matrix though (not that I can’t guess 8( )
Oh my gosh I just realized we have the potential to see Windblade kick Tarn’s butt in this series. Cyberverse PLEASE, I’D LOVE TO SEE THAT
Ah so Astrotrain is the new scientist
Ur bugs are probably dead dude
LASERBEAK!!!!
RAVAGE??? Oh no that’s the furry dude MAN I GET SO EXCITED EVERY TIME, I KEEP FORGETTING
Tumblr media
As much as I Die for loyal Soundwave, it’s really cool seeing him being his own character and acting on his own in this series and trusting his own judgement / surveillance! It’s so good. Soundwave you’re so smart (and I love that he loves Laserbeak :’) )
Tumblr media
*SOBBING* CASE IN POINT...HE PET THE BABY..
OHOHO IT”S *THE* INSECTICONS
Oh shoot the Insecticons are deserting 
“No one can stop him. Not even you” dang son
“He doesn’t want us. He wants you” OH BOY
MY BABY WHIRL!!!! THAT’S MY BOY
SEEKERS!!! I forgot we still had a few who Starscream didn’t frickin kill
NICE JUMP-ATTACK OPTIMUS I love that he cuts the dude’s weapon in half meanwhile Grimlock just frickin eats the guy lmao. So much for Optimus’ mercy
FRICK FRICK FRICK IT IS TARN
OK TARN OBJECTIVELY SUCKS BUT AT THE SAME TIME I ACTUALLY DO LOVE HIM BECAUSE HOLY FRICK IS HE A DANGEROUS CHARACTER AND THERE’S SO MUCH TO PLAY WITH THERE, I CANT WAIT TO SEE HIM AND HOW THEY USE HIM FOR THE STORY AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tumblr media
Dead End: Yeah, I see your point Lmao I love this guy
Everyone’s gonna frickin die in this series
OH NO WHIRL oh wait yeah he and Dead End know each other, Whirl’s fine
SOUNDWAVE CAN YOU AND SHADOW STRIKER CHILL FOR 2 SECONDS
I love Skybyte’s voice
WOW MEGATRON, YOU”RE ONLY PROTECTING HALF THE PLANET, JEEZ
OH SHOOT
OH SHOOT
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh so that’s why they had a wall, Megatron you turd
WHIRL NO!!!!!!! oh he’s fine thank goodness
Did Megatron get taller??? He looks taller than Optimus now
Just use Optimus’ matrix you big baby
“It’s time I called in that debt you owe me. Now it’s time for you to save me” I LEGITIMATELY SHRIEKED OUT LOUD, AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
THERE HE IS, THERE HE IS THERE HE IS!!!!!!!
SCREW PAST ME’S OPINION, TARN IS FRICKIN COOL AS HELL
OH SHOOT THERE’S A TON OF HIM WTF
WHERE’S THAT FRICKIN “THERE IT IS, THERE IT IS, THERE!!! IT!!! IS!!!” MEME BECAUSE THAT’S BEEN ME THIS ENTIRE EPISODE HOLY HECK
Episode 26
Tumblr media
MORE PRIME NAMES!!! A) that’s very pretty B) LEGIT THOUGH IF WINDBLADE’S THE ONE WHO KICKS TARN’S BUTT I’LL GO APE
Tumblr media
OH FRICK IF OPTIMUS IS THERE THEN TARN REALLY DID KILL HIM or it means he beefed it in that universe, as he usually does
“I wish I’d gotten to know you better” 8((((((
What happened to Alt!Universe Optimus!!!!!!! How did you die!!!
Windblade: Optimus, you’re speaking in riddles... Optimus: I always do, it comes with the job of Prime. Windblade: Oh right
“A perfect Decepticon race” HOO BOYZY.....
“All because I spared your life” MAN THAT HURTS
At least they aren’t attacking them right now?
HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY RESOLVE THIS SERIES IN 10 MINUTES
ASTROTRAIN YOU COWARD not that I blame him, every bot for themself I guess
OH NO THE HURT PUPPY WHINE MAKES ME SO SAD
HELL YEAH SOUNDWAVE SAVE MY BABY BEE
I TAKE IT BACK TARN IS CANCELED, HE HIT SOUNDWAVE
*AND* HE GRABBED CHROMIA, YOU”RE CANCELED, ALL THESE CLONES ARE CANCELED
SOUNDWAVE IS THE ONLY VALID DECEPTICON
Optimus: Can’t keep-- Megatron: WE MUST! Me: *SOBS*
OPTIMUS AND MEGATRON BACK-TO-BACK FIGHTING AHHHHHHHHHH, IT”S THE LITTLE-THINGS
Tumblr media
Definitely not the right time for this joke but: AU where instead of saying “Powers of Cybertron, unite!” they say “GAY RIGHTS” to activate their Matrix powers
Frick what if they kill MEGATRON in this series
HECK YEAH EVERYONE’S GETTING AN UPGRADE
Megatron: We must join our Matrixes together! Optimus: Now REALLY isn’t the best time for a marriage proposal Megatron: What Optimus: What
Thank you for telling Optimus to get down for once instead of just blasting him AND the Tarn-copies, Megatron
Tumblr media Tumblr media
OH FRICK IT IS ALT-UNIVERSE MEGATRON NOT TARN WHO’S THE BIG BAD
I LEGIT STOPPED BREATHING DURING THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE AHHHH
THIS IS INFINITELY BETTER (AND WORSE) THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
THAT MEANS ALT!UNIVERSE MEGATRON DID KILL OPTIMUS...MEANWHILE OUR UNIVERSE’S MEGATRON SPARED OPTIMUS...MAN THAT HURTS ME SO BAD
Tumblr media
MEGATRON NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OPTIMUS SAVE HIM SAVE HIM PLEASE SOMEHOW SAVE HIM!!!!!
Tumblr media
OPTIMUS LITERALLY FRICKIN RAN ACROSS THE ROOM TO CATCH HIM, MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS DRAMA
NO!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN”T DO THIS TO ME CYBERVERSE
“Prime...one shall stand...one shall....” THIS IS THE SADDEST FRICKIN THING THAT”S HAPPENED IM LEGIT GONNA CRY, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tumblr media
“Hold on...my friend...” IM GONNA BAWL MY EYES OUT OPTIMUS
I legit had to take a moment to get up and do a lap around my room while processing what happened LIKE OK I KNOW THEY PROBABLY (???) WON’T PERMA-KILL MEGATRON BUT FRICK DUDE THAT WAS SO EMOTIONAL
MEGAOP RIGHTS....BUT AT WHAT COST
What’s fricking me up rn (granted, several things are fricking me up right now) is that this universe’s Megatron knew he could’ve achieved his goals if he’d just killed Optimus. He said so himself; he could’ve had it all but he failed “all because I spared your [Optimus’] life”. Whatever he saw in that other universe convinced him that killing Optimus just wasn’t worth it (or perhaps, deep deep DEEP down, he really doesn’t want to kill his old friend).
I’m rewatching that last minute and this feels like a frickin fanfiction. I’m Living but also Dying
Tumblr media
I KNOW THIS IS A VERY TENSE SCENE BUT MEGATRON’S “I won’t pay for anything!” MADE ME LAUGH
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
SOUNDWAVE STANDING BETWEEN SHADOW-STRIKER AND MEGATRON!!!!!!!!! STANDING UP TO MEGATRON!!!! SOBS I LOVE SOUNDWAVE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT ALSO PLEASE BE CAREFUL MY SWEET BOY!!!!! IF YOU GET HURT ILL NEVER BE OVER IT
Two reasons he could’ve done that: to keep Shadow Striker from getting super pissed off and lashing out at this enemy who’s way above their level, or because the “jacked up Frankenstein experiment” thing is a sore subject for her and Soundwave recognizes that (and frankly I’m leaning toward option B because SOBS....I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP)
GOTH FRIENDS!!!
Tumblr media
OH OK THANK GOODNESS, MEGATRON ISN’T DEAD DEAD YET
Dang so Megatron did kill Optimus
OH NO WE’RE GETTING A FLASHBACK
FRICK THAT”S SO GRUESOME, HE JUST RIPPED OPTIMUS’ CHEST OPEN
Tumblr media
YOU ALREADY KNOW THE MOST PERFECT DECEPTICON, HIS NAME IS SOUNDWAVE!!! YOU JUST DON’T APPRECIATE HIM YOU BIG BULLY
Oh shoot so the Quints came to that world too
DANG HE JUST WRECKED THEIR SHIP HUH....
Tumblr media
I’m loving this throwback to the IDW design
WOW Y’ALL JUST IMMEDIATELY WENT “SURE WE’RE ONBOARD” (I mean, good way to stay alive but C’MON GUYS....)
“I have no need for any of you” WHOOPS SO MUCH FOR THAT should’ve seen that coming
Tumblr media
THIS SUCKS SO BAD
NONONONO!!!! MEGATRON!!!!
HECK NOW HE HAS THE MATRIX
wow you guys really just let Megatron fall to the floor COME ON OPTIMUS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SMOOTH MOVES
NICE ONE BEE!!!!!!
YEAH WERE ARE ARCEE AND HOT ROD
Tumblr media
FRICK YEAH WHIRL, MESS HIM UP!!!!!!!!!
YEAH SHADOW STRIKER!!!!!!
RATCHET PUNCHING TARN HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!
FRICK HE CAN JUST MATERIALIZE LIKE THAT TOO
WELL THAT DIDN’T LAST LONG
Tumblr media
BEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“And now you will pay the price...for being a hero” DANG THAT”S A COOL LINE BUT DON’T HURT MY BOY
FRICK HIM UP OPTIMUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WINDBLADE NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO SAVE EVERYONE
YEAHHHH WINDBLADE!!!!!!!
Yeah don’t turn your back on the body please
YO Astrotrain came back
ASTROTRAIN THAT SOUNDS SO CREEPY AND ALSO THAT’S SUCH A BAD IDEA, JUST KILL HIM
I know this is a kid’s show but PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO MAKE SURE HE WON’T POP BACK UP IN A FEW YEARS WITH ANOTHER ARMY
Tumblr media
IM GLAD WINDBLADE IS BACK AND IM LOVING THE HUG BUT DID MEGATRON LEGIT FRICKIN DIE????
WHAT!!! WHAT THAT CAN’T BE IT!?!?!? HOW COULD YOU END IT LIKE THAT NO!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO ABRUPT nO!!!!!!!!!! 
The last few episodes were such an adrenaline rush I CAN”T BELIEVE WE CAME DOWN FROM THAT HIGH SO QUICKLY....IS MEGATRON ALIVE??? KICKSTARTER TO FUND ONE MORE EPISODE???? SPARE ANOTHER EPISODE FOR A POOR FAN???
MAN I wish we could’ve stayed in the universe of this show for a little longer but dang!!! That was really really good!!! I’m so grateful we got to have such a wonderful series like Cyberverse! :’) Thank you to everyone who worked on this incredible show!!!
Man now I gotta wait for WfC for new Transformers content....at least I can look through the tag w/out getting spoiled now
A few more thoughts now that I’ve re-read my liveblog:
If Megatron could hop into the Matrix of Leadership he possessed, I wonder if he ever had a chance to talk to that universe’s Optimus Prime... :( based on what he said, probably not, but that makes me so sad!!!! Did they ever get the chance to work things out!!! IS MEGATRON ALIVE OR NOT.....
10 notes · View notes