#honestly this episode may have my favourite looks pretty much all-around

[crushcandles]

favorite jaskier outfit

this is such a good question that turned out to be surprisingly easy to answer (I don't know anything formal about medievalish fashion, only that I like what I like).

my favourite jaskier outfit is from S1E4 "Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials":

I love how it flirts with ostentatiousness but doesn't grab attention with both hands like some of his other outfits. it's tight-ish, gold-ish, shiny-ish, lacy-ish. says oh, you should be looking at the queen in her blood-splattered gold armour but i'll be right here glimmering in the corner of your vision if you want me.

the front is lovely but the best part may be this:

this is no dragon scaling, fearsome and hard. this is an armadillo shell, meant for making yourself small and hiding your soft spots, and jaskier has so little of it on his spine and nowhere else.

ask me my favourites

[voidscreamintheories]

Boy and Door: You are NOT the Faeder

As always, spoilers for Hunter: The Parenting

Alright friends, this one I'm kinda shaky on and there's not much here at present, but I want to get my thoughts down.

TL;DR Door is not Boy's biological dad, and this might be a very important plot point.

As is my pattern, let's examine their TTS origins: Door was Rogal Dorn, primarch of the imperial fists, praetorian of terra, and Lord Adorable. Boy was a vox hailer serf with notoriously strong legs, and eventually the respect of some members of the adeptus custodes. Dorn became a father figure for Boy over the course of his appearance, mostly keeping him from being bullied by the custodes or Magnus. Also boy might have had latent psyker powers, we will return to this. As a side note: SuperAnchors and Nostalgia, the voices of Door/Dorn and Boy/Boy respectively are perhaps my favourite performances on TTS and H:TP. They are always a joy when they're on screen and I really appreciate their characters in both series. SuperAnchors gets a special mention for practically reshaping the perception of Rogal Dorn in the fanbase, and Nostalgia should be appreciated for turning a character litterally named "Boy" into one of the best characters in either series. Tts rant time done.

So. Boy. And Door. Look at these silly fellas, are you really going to tell me that Boy shares genetic heritage with Door? And where is his mother? I believe Door is not Boy's biological dad, and instead adopted him and has been raising him as his own. I think this is so easily accepted and never mentioned because I am honestly not convinced that Door and Markus are Big D's biological children either. I think their family is just super open to adopting anyone and everyone who comes along, and so Boy being adopted just means he's the youngest family member, no questions or qualms.

Now, this is where my REAL theory starts, and where my research into WoD kinda halted me a little bit. You see, in folklore a changeling is a child swapped with member of the fae in EARLY life. In the original WoD, changelings are... weirder... than that. I'm not sure. So I'm not a hundred percent on this one. But I think Boy is a folkloric changeling, a fae being in place of a child. I don't think Boy knows this fact, and frankly I don't think he would be able to access anything supernatural until recently. Recently being when he started experiencing "puberty disease" as listed in one cutaway card. That same cutaway card mentions it being "cured with meat". Now the fae have ofttimes been portrayed as dainty and nature loving and very "surface level fantasy" elf like. Reading about WoD fae made my head hurt so I don't know if that applies here, but MAYBE boy was starting to manifest his fae side, and eating a stable meat only (read: anti elf) diet staved it off for a time. I think those powers are now bubbling back up, despite the continued meat consumption.

I think H:TP is building up the awakening of many powers, when I get around to explaining the things we all know about Markus this will be relevant. But for Boy I think he is awakening some future telling fae abilities. I think Boy is keeping some of his hinted at seer powers from TTS, just in a different context. In the first arc we see a couple of hints to this: first episode Boy spots Pyotr while he's invisible (and you can too if you look very closely for his eyes), Boy doesn't know he has cool powers so he doesn't recognize fully his feat. But spotting an obscured vamp who can disappear even on camera is pretty above human. Next there is the final confrontation against Pyotr, some day I may type a long diatribe on why that scene in particular is great but not today. Boy manages to hit a shot on a target moving parallel to his position going LUDICROUS speed. I think he may have done this thanks to a lil bit of precognition. And finally there is the meeting with Horse.

Horse and what he IS will get another post one day, but for now let's talk a little about the vision. I think it's not coincidence that Horse calls Boy "oracle" and speaks of prophecy to him. I also don't think it coincidence that Boy sees shapes in the blood. I think Boy is a seer, and certain forms of divination uses blood and gore to make predictions (see Haruspex). Again, I will cover Horse's prophecy another time, but let's talk about the "Faeder" line. I don't think that word was chosen just cause it sounds olde. I think it's a hint and misdirection. Again, I suspect boy was not born into this family, but instead is a product of the faeries. This would mean he has a faerie father, or a fae father, or a faeder. I think Horse was telling Boy that his TRUE father will die. Buuuuuut WoD changelings are weird and Alfabusa has written important foreshadowing WAY too early before (Hello TTS Ghazkhull!), so I'm not sure. I will say to bolster this idea that it was weird for Horse to mention "milklings", another name for changelings, on the same level as other WoD big players. I think this was also a tip off to us the audience about our beloved family, aside from kindred I believe each group mentioned is represented in that role call.

Door. Door is simple, strong, and the only actual normal human hunter in the family (see my kitten theory, Markus and Big D theories pending). Based on the episode titles, and the show title itself, I think the "hunter" in question is Door, and "the parenting", refers to his relationship with Boy. Boy seems to be the writer of the episode titles (on the actual title cards) in arc 1. I hope we see Boy grow under Door's guidance, because I love these characters. And I really hope I'm right that Boy has a fae dad who will take the bullet of prophecy so we don't have to see Door desiccated on the rocks.

Let me know what you think, til next time

Good evening

[jounosparticles]

maybe i’m biased but honestly the kenji vs tetchou fight may be my favourite in all of bsd (which is a hard choice since there are so many good ones)

first off, the animation of it was easily the best i’ve seen in the anime. it looked really intense and i absolutely adore it. the sound design was also great as well as the line delivery.

story wise, i think the fact that they both made sure nobody was around before fighting to keep people safe was very in-character for them both. you could also tell neither of them initially wanted to fight but tetchou attacked because the book makes the agency appear guilty no matter what. yet he was still kind when talking to to kenji and kenji was kind back prior to and after the fight.

tetchou was also clearly distracted by jouno being gone to the point where he pushed justice (the thing he pretty much always prioritizes) aside in favour of helping jouno. that shows how much he cares and how worried he was. that puts a heavy emotional impact on the fight, the fact that tetchou was clearly desperate to save jouno quickly with literal justice on the line.

in contrast, kenji went up against the man who had already stabbed him numerous times before and was still kind and listened to him talk first. kenji is probably the nicest character in the entire series, he offered to help the man who tried to kill him and his friends. the fact that he could calm his anger after and still be completely willing to help tetchou shows a lot about kenji as a person. for a 14 year old, kenji is extremely mature and gentle for being willing to help after all of that.

they both could have easily fought until one was dead, but tetchou admitted his mistakes and offered his life to kenji because he realized he had failed. yet kenji seen the sincerity of that and offered to help him despite the fact that they were on the verge of killing each other.

they ended up bonding at the end. it genuinely made me so happy to see this animated, both admitting they had made mistakes and agreed to help each other. which means tetchou has likely broken the writing of the book by thinking clearly, much like how ranpo said the police could do in the first episode of season five.

i really hope we get to see them searching together soon, the two have very close morals and i could see a good friendship form between them. i feel like they’d make an insanely powerful duo in the future as well, i would love to see tetchou mentoring kenji.

"kenji. to have learned that name…was my greatest accomplishment of the day."

[vogelmeister]

Do you know any shows or movies in dutch or even music? Im trying to improve my skills (but this language is terribly complicated)

I wrote a post on dutch songs a while back so ill pm it to you. However media is a different story, and I'm actually not that great on media, even in English- but i will show you where i learned basic dutch aka important words aka… very random words.

may i introduce you to

✨Wie is de Mol ✨

(everyone clap)

hello dear reader would you like to TRUST NOBODY? yes. okay. cool. picture this. you are a semi famous dutch person and you, along with nine other dutch people go off to a foreign country to complete super cool challenges (opdrachten) and earn money to go towards a group pot. except there’s a twist. theres a saboteur (de mol) and their whole purpose is to ensure the least amount of money enters that pot. during this de mol must obviously gain the trust of the group (kandidaten) and the kadidaten have to figure out who de mol is. at the end of the episode theres often a test and execution in which the participants have to answer 20 questions re who the mol is (questions include things like ‘what city was de mol born in’ ‘how much money did de mol earn in the lasergame’) and whoever does the worst has to go home. the mol can never go home. the winner is the person who guesses de mol with the most correct answers in the final and they get the contents of the pot. im not kidding when i say this show is equal parts hilarious (bc they’re human and do stupid shit), suspenseful and very fun (bc you can play at home!).

Some of my favourite seasons include:

Season 18. This season is my favourite by far. Had one of the gutsiest mols, all around good group and honestly one of the best game show reality TV plot twists of all time. Art’s last season as host, too.

(Also I definitely stole his surname for my OC bye.)

Season 19: Idk why this ones here I just felt like including it. I actually think the 2018-2021 era of widm is the best one so that’s why im putting it here, and this season is fun. Cool mol reveal too.

Anniversary Season: Honestly I definitely recommend watching some older seasons before diving into this bc they definitely reference shit from old seasons and bring back old mols, but asides from this the mol this season was pretty good and Tuscany is lovely to look at. Fun group too full of old kandidaten.

Season 14: Unpopular I know but I loved the mol this season- they definitely reminded me of myself but also I just remembered this season as being super fun with cool opdrachten. Also a really important thing gets introduced here which was a staple in newer seasons

Season 13: The superior South Africa season with a very fun mol.

Season 21: Honestly? Shit mol this season, I figured it out via a DREAM but the kandidaten this season are iconic and it has one of the best alliances in widm history in my opinion. Czechia is stunning and it was the first time i guessed de mol too

Season 11: Watch for nothing if not Art Rooijakkers and the most unsafe opdrachten ever.

(If you want my opinion on any other season pm me lol, it’s late and I don’t want to type them all but SEASON EIGHTEEN!!!)

Anyways all episodes are on YouTube with English subs, just google widm English subs and you’ll find them. The seasons often ten episodes long, 1 hour per episode, with the final episode being the mol reveal. I think if you want that channel also supports dutch subs but i cannot remember rn!

enjoy!!!

:)

[crumb]

hi! i watched the passenger back when it came out but recently your sets popped up in my dash and i ended up rewatching it and that led to me watching dinner in america which i loved! i was wondering if you have any other kyle gallner films you liked beside from jennifers body and smile. also love all of your gif sets :).

That’s so awesome to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed The Passenger and Dinner in America. They’ve quickly become two of my favourite films. And thank you! I work hard on the gifsets so it's nice to know people like them. ☺️ As for other film recommendations in Kyle Gallner’s filmography, here are some that I enjoyed/thought were worth the watch and my thoughts: Note: If you have any specific triggers/aversions please check a site like doesthedogdie.com first before watching these. Mother, May I? (2023) — I wasn’t a fan of Holland Roden’s performance (I know she can act so it was a little disappointing) but the movie was interesting and I enjoyed Kyle’s performance. I mean, I liked Holland’s too at times but some parts were really bad imo. What Comes Around (2022) — I liked this one. The synopsis I glanced at beforehand wasn’t really accurate to the film’s contents but I still liked the film overall. It wasn’t crazy good like The Passenger or anything close to it but it was still interesting. Ghosts of War (2020) — I really liked this up until the last 30 minutes. But! Kyle gives a great teary-eyed/deranged monologue in this that honestly makes it worth it. The Cleansing Hour (2019) — I actually turned this one off in the first like 10 minutes but then I went back and watched the rest and ended up liking it! Once things start really rolling it’s a fun ride. Alien Code (2018) — Concept was too big brained for their tiny budget which results in some real goofy stuff BUT I really liked the story it was trying to tell and pretty much all the actors give decent/great performances. Zen Dog (2016) — It’s a weird little indie film but I liked it. It’s always nice to watch something and know everyone had a blast making it. (There’s a 30 min BTS on Vimeo that proves this lol) The Cleanse (2016) — Kyle is a supporting actor in this so if you only want to watch stuff with him as a lead then you might want to pass. I ended up kinda liking this. It was slow at parts, but it was still kinda cool. Could have done with like 10 more minutes of story to wrap things up but yeah. The Finest Hours (2016) — Again, Kyle is only a supporting actor in this but he looks real cute in this 1950s era film. Band of Robbers (2015) — I really liked this!! It has a great cast and a fun script. It’s a quirky indie comedy and Kyle holds his own alongside some great actors & comedians. Magic Valley (2011) — It’s dark and haunting and shot really beautifully. It’s a slow ride but not boring at all. Losers Take All (2011) — So much of this movie is kinda corny but it was fun and you get to see Kyle in a band singing which is a bonus lol. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) — I really really liked this. I’m not sure why it has such terrible reviews. There are other films in the haunted house sub-genre from around this time that are much worse but somehow have better reviews than this movie which is baffling to me. I’ve been working my way through his filmography and you can see my ratings and reviews for his films over on my letterbox account. There are more of his films I didn’t include in this list either because he only had a small role, it wasn’t a very good movie, or I haven’t seen it yet. My main take away after, so far, watching 25+ films and a number of television episodes he’s been in is that he ALWAYS gives a great performance. The only time it falters is when the script/dialogue is weak which isn’t his fault. It’s kind of insane that I have yet to find something he’s been in where he’s given a mediocre performance. At this point I don’t think he’s able to give a mediocre performance. He’s super consistent with the quality of his acting. So honestly, no matter what films of his you watch, good or bad, you’re still gonna get a great performance from him.

[safflowerseason]

Ted Lasso, the OC!

Favourite character:

Funniest character:

Best-looking character:

3 favourite ships:

Least favourite character:

Least favourite ship: 

Reason why I watch it:

Why I started watching it:

Thanks so much for the ask!! This is a fun game!!

Ted Lasso

Favourite character: In season one it was Rebecca, but S2-3 Jamie Tartt (unexpectedly!) has earned the top-spot in my character ranking.

Funniest character: oh god, how can I choose...a tie between Roy and Jamie?? Although Higgins is also extra-delightful, and I love Kitman Will Kitman's little bits. OH WAIT NEVER MIND my answer is ISAAC.

Best-looking character: Jamie Tartt. Phil Dunster is...whew.

3 favourite ships: hmmmm!! this is hard, Ted Lasso is the rare show where I don't find myself super invested in one particular ship. Higgins/his wife are probably my Ted Lasso OTP to be honest. I do like Roy/Keeley although I think the writer bungled their break-up pretty badly this season.

Least favourite character: Besides Rupert who I feel is everybody's automatic least favorite, probably Nate, just because I think the show ultimately ruined all the interesting potential for his storyline.

Least favourite ship: idk, Nate/Jade, probably? Also Coach Beard/Jane never made much sense to me either. Give Beard a more compelling love interest!

Reason why I watch it: To see how it ends!! (Assuming S3 is the final season, which it may not be...increasingly it feels like they are going to continue just without Jason Sudeikis/Ted).

Why I started watching it: I started watching Ted Lasso in late December 2020...I had seen some chatter about it online, and I had an AppleTv+ subscription earlier than most of my friends/family because I got a new iPad at the time when Apple was giving out subscriptions for free ☠️ It was such an intense time...I spent most of that month just lying around and feeling sad about the state of the world, and the show's focus on kindness felt really revelatory in a time of such political turmoil, but also in general a really tightly written, well constructed show (I do not feel that way now, necessarily). I remember sobbing my eyes out at the end of "Tan Lines" where Ted says goodbye to Michelle and my dad was like "...what are you watching???"

The OC

Favourite character: Oh god, probably a tie between Marissa and Kirsten...two characters who I feel got screwed by Josh Schwartz (albeit to very different degrees).

Funniest character: Unfortunately because the character has aged so poorly, it is indeed Seth Cohen, although I think Sandy is a close second.

Best-looking character: MARISSA. S1 Marissa is just the EPITOME of California beauty to me.

3 favourite ships: Ryan x Marissa, Sandy x Kirsten, um...I *guess* Seth and Summer, their S1 story anyway. My favorite trash!ship is Jimmy x Julie. Smarter writers could have done something with their chemistry!

Least favourite character: Hmmm...of the main ensemble I have to say Jimmy, although among the rotating supporting cast I really don't like Rachel in S1. Trey, of course, for what he did to Marissa. Also Rebecca and Carter in S2. Basically everyone the writers invented in S2 and S3 for "drama" purposes, because they were all so poorly written!! (with the exception of Alex).

Least favourite ship: Ryan x Sadie and Marissa x Volchok. I only saw S3 once and I found both of those relationships offensive.

Reason why I watch it: S1 is prestige television!!! Especially through "The Best Chrismukkah Ever." Teen drama at its best!! The pilot is one of the best episodes of American network television ever produced, and I will go die on this hill.

Why I started watching it: The OC was so omnipresent in the early-mid 00's I honestly don't remember where I first heard about it. I do remember seeing a youtube clip (in youtube's earliest days when it was just fanvids and bootlegged movies) of the ending of The Countdown and Ryan and Marissa's iconic kiss and thinking "wow, I have to watch this show."

[shinygoku]

CutCat’s ATLA Takes

Here I am, jotting them down before doing a series rewatch. This is gonna be a bit disorganised, so beware!

---

First I guess I oughta put a quick disclaimer in that Zuko is one’a my biggest Blorbos, comparible with Son Goku!  ...so like, you may notice me focusing more on him than other characters or topics or whatever lol

Also I am Not interested in the Comics or Korra series...s. The former for writing that is plain ass bad, and the latter for changing so much of the setting (not for better) and uhm, also less than good writing. If I want bad takes on Communism and Anarchy I can just go look at Twitter or some rubbish. Also I know Kyoshi novels exist. I’m just talking about the OG show, even if select pinpoints of the subsidiary installments have good moments.

This got PRETTY LONG and ain’t particularly coherent, so I’ll put a Cut in here ;3

Overall Show:

Not gonna lie, some’a the Book 1 eps get pretty throughly memoryholed, even what happens in the first two! They ain’t bad, but it does take The Storm for the series to really hit its stride with the delish Backstories.

Following that solid W of an ep is The Blue Spirit, and this is actually one of the best in the entire show. Seems they initially wrote it like it was a season finale to get more eps approved, and it worked! lol

I dig that all the characters get some character focus and growth even early on

...I’m mixed on my stance on Aang’s crush on Katara. If it was a one sided thing that started off quite strong and then de-intensified over the series, I’d find it very cute and endearing. But that sure ain’t the course they took lol, but I guess I’ll sum my thoughts on shipping in its own section later.

The real highlights of S1 are in The Storm, The Blue Spirit, The Northern Water Tribe and the Siege of the North 2-parter. All these have a lot of Zuko, fancy that XD

Also I like how early it’s set up how Built Different he is, especially them last three eps. Dude gets blown up, swim through long underwater tunnels in freezing water, barely wins a fight, treks out into the arctic, gets 1-shot in a fight, and THEN starts another fight, this time with Zhao. His only true weakness really is his mental state and lack of planning, innit!

Book 2 overall kinda bothers me. Objectively it has some of the strongest points, but so much of it feels like it’s dark and dingy or really damn slow to get moving.

Strongest points are of course Toph’s entire existence, the zigzags of Zuko’s arc, and Azula’s anatagonistic omnipresence

The rest of it, myeah... while it’s more focused on a through line plot, it feels a bit monotone until The Library and eventually The Guru and Crossroads

Zuko Alone might be the GOAT episode. It’s not my favourite but DAMN it is firing on all cylinders!!!

I also like Bitter Work a lot. Gotta eat up more Parallels Episodes, babes!

The “Brainwashing” / Sleeper Agents thing feels OP. I get ya need an antagonistic force different to the Fire Nation but myeahhh... not convincing me

But yeah, then there’s Zuko’s continued character thread with the Angst Coma and the dreams and then the REALLY WEIRD turn of him being all smiley and optimistic. It always felt really fake and non-Zuko-esque to me, but I can ‘get’ that given he’s trying hard to shift gears from the status quo of before, overcompensating in the process. What’s odder still is that Iroh doesn’t seem to question it...

Like, sure, he wants to settle down and Tea Shop it up, but even if he could get Zuko to stop pining for the position in the Royal Family, does he honestly believe a day of fever dreams will have had such a profound effect last longer than a few days of re-settling? Zuko’s actions feel like someone having decided to turn their entire life around starting tomorrow and then swiftly burning out as change is a slow and gradual process in reality, and shouldn’t be forced.

So what I think is going on is Iroh himself having become blinded by what he wants, rather than a more realistic outcome. And that could be fab gear writing! A reminder that Iroh too is not immune to bias and oversights, and is indeed a human who sometimes Dun Goofs. If it is what’s intended rather than lazier writing lol

Also yeah, Zuko’s almost- side switching, I’ll save that for later ;3

Book 3 is both a high point but again there’s some episodes that are pretty lame or have less to offer, but I feel more forgiving of this one as sooo much juicy Plot stuff actually unfolds~

Again it takes the Main Plot stepping up for the quality to rise with the Day of Black Sun, and then the episodes after all feature the long-awaited Redeemed Zuko, and those times ae Gooooooood

The stupidest moment I have to complain about though, in the DoBS, is when Azula “proves” she’s an expert liar by... saying she’s a giant purple bear thing? That’s not lying, it’s absurdism, and it’s incredibly easy to say dumb shit like that without any “lying tells” that polygraphs or Toph look for (keep in mind that irl Polygraphs actually suck, they’re a Stress detector but lying doesn’t always stress liars out... LIKE AZULA, but even the biggest ball of anxiety could say “Yeah I’m Barney the Dinosaur” without triggering anything. GRAAAAAGH)

Back on track, my only complaint with Zuko joining so late is that I want mooooore, all the eps with the ‘field trips’ are such fun AND such Character Building

Ember Island Players was a great ep, though I don’t need to see the closing scene used to draw comparisons to the live action movie any more. It’s been like 500 times.

I DON’T THINK AANG SHOULD HAVE KILLED OZAI

That would be proving Ozai’s point that Might makes Right, which of course is WRONG

The show has been leading up to non-lethal ethos

Taking Ozai’s bending is a good out.

BUT. Holy shit they fumbled the ball bad

Energybending has ZERO build up or allusions even when there were chances to sneak it in, like The Library or The Guru

Commenting on a picture of a Lion Turtle and having Lion Turtle background sculptures DOESN’T CUT IT

Because that is ALL we get!!

At least have the Lion Turtle picture say “They’re so ancient they’re rumoured to pre-date Bending” or something to hook interest in

And the Guru coulda been a great way to drop the 5th Element lore in

But they waste all chances they had to set it up despite claiming they knew from the beginning that there would be a peaceful out

The Rock unblocking Aang’s chakra is also pretty bad, but I’m more inclined to forgive a moment of luck if the Energybending wasn’t so bogus

But it could be improved if Aang like, deliberately earthbent the Rock and then used it as acupressure

Both the Energybending and Convenient Rock make Aang’s victory feel less earned, which is a huge shame as we’ve seen him actually try soooo much. But alas, that last hurdle and they resort to lazy ass writing

The lst Agni Kai rules though. It’s beautiful and tragic, showing how much Zuko has grown and Azula fell. And Katara’s finishing the fight so effectively is bodacious and actually feels really smart~

WHERE IS IROH AT THE CORONATION??!?!

The end is a cute scene that is then strangled by the Red String lol, but damn, what a cool ass show

 Characters:

Aang: He’s a cute protagonist, I’ve always liked the Cheerful and Highly Powerful archetype (cough cough Son Goku), though Aang is also heavily defined by his childishness, both a strength and a flaw. As much as I enjoy him, unfortunately I think he got a bit of the short end of the stick writing-wise, he can feel a bit Flat and, worse, like Bryke’s Pet. They lean too hard on letting him get what he wants, and we miss out of the development that coulda followed if the story didn’t twist itself to give him outs. Not unlocking his Chakras properly for selfish reasons should be punished. Finding an alternative to Murder should have had him Proactive. Not getting the Girl would have been a lot more realistic...! See the Shipping section for the latter...

Zuko: Holy rigatoni, man. Zuko is the bar by which Enemies to Friends, Redemption Arcs, Anti-Villains AND Anti-Heroes are all measured. His character has so much incredible nuance!! And yeah, maybe I too am weak to the dark and handsome and yet dorky type’a fella ;3c - I’m in the kinda situation right now where I find it hard to actually phrase everything I dig about him, but that’s from having too many thoughts and they all get crammed in the doorway between my brain and ability to type lmaooo

Katara: This girl is another high water mark (pun unintended) for how to Female Character. She’s the designated Mom of the team, but she ain’t defined by it, also being one’a the most capable fighters, having a hot temper and even a mean streak. It would really suck if she had just been written primarily to Love Interest (as the early drafts seem to imply...), but in the show, she has her own agency and goals that compliment the main quest, and she manages to be both a stable grounding force while having plenty of growth of her own.

Sokka: Again, I really wonder how it woulda turned out if the original plan had been followed; in Sokka’s case he was s’pposed to be the serious, stiffer contrast to Zany Playful Aang and Wide-Eyed Idealist Katara. But his VA is very naturally Funny, and so Sokka as we know him is a bodacious blend of Wacky yet also Level Headed. It’s an odd blend and many have tried and failed to replicate this delicate balance, but Sokka does indeed feel like a real person who seamlessly switches between being the group’s eccentric and also the one making all the plans.

Toph: ANOTHER amazing W for Girl Characters, Toph is such a delight and welcome shaking-up of the existing dynamics. She’s pretty consistently one of the most amusing and Real of the crew, while hilariously OP without it feeling cheap. It’s so weird to think she wasn’t in Book 1 at all, cause once she joins you sure as hell can’t imagine her being absent.

Iroh: Everybody loves this dude, and they’re right! What can I say about him that ain’t already been covered?? Maybe just that I do like that, as wise and benevolent as he is, there are still times where he’s allowed to be wrong or short sighted (see: my previous ramblings about Zuko’s very-un-Zuko behaviour), cause it allows him to feel more Real, and Human. That he’s speaking from experience and not from reading the script. That’s dope, man.

Azula: This is hard... I feel Azula is a massively polarising character, many people enjoy her but there’s too many people who either want to pretend she didn’t do horrible things, too many people who forget she’s also a victim, AND too many people who are just blindly like ‘woo, yeah! What a #Girlboss! Azula’s so cool and automatically wins at whatever”. Like, she’s one of the more nuanced characters but the surface level is indeed of hyper competence, it’s what’s below that veneer which is interesting. I kinda feel like more people oughta talk about the moment where she looks pleased, almost triumphant at Zuko being maimed...

And the rest: Oh god, I can’t talk about every semi-developed character as there’s a lot. Sorry Suki. You’re cool too! But most characters who appear in more that one episode see to be written pretty good, again, like People, rather than just plot devices in human skin. I like that.

...

Shipping:

lol. I think the BEST route would have been to not ‘canonise’ any ships of the ragtag group of kids and teenagers. Alas, we don’t live in that timeline and have dumb ass wars over it. Anyway, here’s my hot take:

Kaatang, while foreshadowed early on from Aang’s side, is a really lame route as Katara seems to have to loose her actual personality for it to work. Also, it jars with Aang’s role as both Avatar (while they’re allowed to Get Freaky, he was s’posed to be able to detach from Earthly attachments to gain the Avatar Powers), and as a totally-not-Buddist Monk, who are NOT allowed to get bizzay. So Aang too loses insteresting notions of Duty and being able to Mature cause he just gets what he wants without having to try. Lame.

Katara doesn’t have many moments where she even looks at Aang as something other than a Friend / Little Brother / Son?? type figure, there’s only brief moments where there is potential moments from her side, and they are far between and seldom deeper than her chemistry with the likes of Jet and Haru. The most I can speak for is the Day of Black Sun, where she’s taken aback by Aang planting one on her, but when he directly and Un-Classy-ly brings it back up in the Ember Island Players, she is quite rightly reserved and when he kisses her again without warning she’s angry! And that’s never resolved!! They just Mandatory Ship them together in the end because Bryke are biased and soooo intent of having their ship even though the writing hasn’t sufficiently built up to it. I don’t dig this, baby!

Maiko is also badly written and the comics make Mai unlikable. [slow sarcastic clapping]

So the ships I do like are:

Zutura - THEMATIC PERFECTION and not because of the red and blue, fire and water juxtaposition, but because Katara and Zuko are fundamentally so similar but coming from opposite sides and thus approaches. Both so kind at their cores but quick to anger or do something stupid on impulse, both so affected by the loss of their mothers and family-motivated. The fake out in Crossroads introduces a fascinating extra crease to their interactions that lasts, and the finale?? HELLO?!?! That’s legit one’a the most compelling Ship Fuel moments ever, baybeee! Other serieses would knaw off their own leg for material that rich!

Also yes, the red/blue, sun/moon, fire/water, and that they are pretty together lol. But still, there’s more in how they are a fantastic combo when on the same side, and also the meta reality that several writers and their own Voice Actors ship it. And they’re right to!

Zukka - The new darling of the fandom and while it doesn’t have as much going for it, I can see it. At it’s worst it feels like people desperately trying to rationalise the red/blue guys from Failtron Legendary Idiot Space Show, but when people who actually care about the characters here in ATLA and draw on their parallels and interactions I find myself enjoying it. Zuko goes well with the Water siblings I guess haha

Sukka - I don’t have much to say, I just like it lol

Also in the past I liked Zukaang but now I wanna redefine it as them being allowed to be Buddies and close friends and teammates, like what the Blue Spirit ep teased at but then didn’t really follow up on outside The Firebending Masters. I want more!! MOOOOORE!!!

...

But man this post is obnoxious and long enough already lol, thanks if ya endured it all~

[david-watts]

Some asks from the ask game!

1- What’s your favorite color?

3- If you could live anywhere and cost wasn’t an issue, where would you live? 

8- Do you have any piercings or tattoos? 

10- What song would you play at your funeral?

25- What question would you ask the devil?

my favourite colour is purple. hold on let me find a swatch image for a more specific shade (copic v17 'amethyst')

3. somewhere in the northern hemisphere is all I can say for sure. I honestly believe that I am not designed to be anywhere permanently and I would roam about a lot from any sort of home base given the opportunity and funds. it'd also probably be a very large city because despite how overwhelming cities are to me and how much existential dread I have been known to get when going around especially suburbia I NEED the sound of it. the time I had to sleep in the library of my aunt's and cousins' place with the noise of a major road in the background and how the traffic never seemed to stop... that was relaxing. I think I figured that out when I was twelve and had my first real major paranoia episode. y'know? as despicable as I think england can be I think I'd say london because why the hell not. if money wasn't an issue as the question says I'd be able to go to all sorts of heritage railways from there

8. I have neither piercings nor tattoos! I'll admit the idea of a tattoo is not something I'm opposed to but I genuinely can't think of anything I would want on my body permanently to the degree of going out and getting a tattoo. y'know?

10. haven't given too much thought to this, surprisingly enough. I've in the past made a playlist of songs I'd have play in a biopic about me, which honestly it's been five years things haven't gone to plan and I should remake it. that's a tangent. obvious choice though it may be don't fear the reaper would play at some point because that song did kinda give me a transcendental experience when I first properly listened to it and it appears on my 'joey's in a dream' playlist for a reason! dream/joey by the pretty things. which you may notice is where the title of the last mentioned playlist is from. certainly would have to appear somewhere too because it's become part of me now. there's a few others that I'd love to be in there. hello goodbye by the beatles. I can't reach you by the who (though perhaps without the charles atlas ad at the start!). strength of strings by gene clark. telstar by the tornadoes. you know, the songs that I'm probably listening to late at night when I don't feel so good

25. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the time when I couldn't sleep because it was the first really hot night of the 'year' even though it was late october. I couldn't sleep because it was too hot and my joints were in absolute agony and all I wanted to do was go to sleep and I honestly don't even know if this was a dream or a vision but I imagined I walked to the back door, which was open but the screen door was shut and locked and on the other side of it was the devil. it looked like a man with a goat skull for a head but it wasn't just the skull it had skin over it all gaunt so it looked skull-like but wasn't a proper skull. had smoke rising from all around it that reeked of sulphur. and it was like I was viewing footage that had been taken at night with how it was poorly lit and in black-and-white. and I begged to be able to fall asleep. I then walked back to bed and this is where if it was a dream it blended seemlessly back into waking because I was back to lying on my bed in the position that I'd started in. that was a hell of a tangent but I'd ask the devil which version of hell is true. because there's a lot of different versions of them and if I'm about to damn myself to one for eternity I'd like to know what I'm in for

thanks for asking!!! 💙

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 30th May

And just as I was thinking that I was in a country kind of mood, along comes a country song. Spooky. It's like the charts know - or like country's just a perennial favourite that comes around quite a bit in the 1950s. It's funny, you don't think of it as a mainstay of the UK charts, but you do see a fair bit of it at this point - I wonder when that stops being a thing that happens?

I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen - Slim Whitman (peaked at Number 7)

Well, we don't half start slow and mawdlin, here. Slim comes in at a very leisurely pace, over the top of a gently strummy guitar, with a vocal line that meanders around the place like a happy drunk. It's very high at points, and Slim's voice is thin and insubstantial in a way that suits the song just fine. He's also known for his yodelling, and there are a few moments of it here, especially for some reason on the word "greee-eee-eeen", but it's generally pretty minimal and tastefully done, so I don't mind too much. Also, we have a short whistling break, which I always enjoy!

The song itself is a ballad, all about how I'll take you home again, Kathleen. Except this isn't about just going home from a trip or night out, we learn in the second line. No, Slim's proposing to bring his Kathleen home Across the ocean, wild and wide / To where your heart has ever been / Since first you were my bonnie bride. So we're looking at homesickness, here, I guess? Whatever it is, Kathleen's in a bad way with it - we learn quickly that the roses all have left your cheek and then that Your voice is sad when you speak / And tears bedim your lovin' eyes. And so Slim's promising to take his homesick lover back. Simple enough.

I kind of assume that it's Ireland that the lover is from, or somewhere Celtic. Just going off the name Kathleen, and the use of "bonnie", and the description of green fields and trees. And apparently this led a lot of people to suppose that it's a bona fide Irish ballad, but it's not! Originally written by a German-American as an answer to another American song, "Barney, Take Me Home Again", and semi-based off a tune by Mendelssohn, it's as German-American as they come. And it was also partly inspired by his wife Jane's homesickness for her home state of New York, after a move to Indiana. So yeah, no "real" Irish cred, but I'm not entirely sure that matters - it's got the right vibes, either way.

Enough so that the very Irish Kevin Riley sings it in Star Trek, in the episode The Naked Time. Which is funny, because I did vaguely think the song sounded familiar - the character in question is about to crash the Enterprise into an alien planet, and sings it through the intercom in drunken fashion, it's a memorable if slightly daft moment (as are all the best Star Trek moments). So yeah, at least in the 1960s, almost 10 years after this version of the song came out, it was apparently still in the cultural consciousness as an Irish song that somebody might know and sing when drunk.

Honestly, the more I listen, the fonder I'm becoming of this song. It does sound a little bit drunk, and the high notes are alarmingly high, but there's a gentleness to it and a delicacy to the steel guitar lines that's really quite charming. It's got that softness that I've come to expect from Slim, and it's interesting to have a song that's about homesickness - there aren't that many of them out there, unless I'm overlooking anything obvious. Country Roads, perhaps, but I'm not coming up with much more off the top of my head. But always happy to be corrected if you think there are a bunch...

Yeah, I like this song. I didn't love it at first, but once you get used to the yodell-ish bits, it's really rather lovely. Gentle and soft.

Favourite song of the homesick bunch: I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

06/30/2024 – 07/06/2024

Sunday

Week 21 of missing Cipher Academy

Woah, they straight up removed Girl Meets Rock from the English app…I heard about them pausing it (presumably because of the use of real lyrics), but I didn’t expect them to remove it entirely… Now I kind of regret not keeping up these past few weeks. Hopefully it’ll come back soon…

Undead Unluck’s idol arc ended rather…abruptly. I’m certainly not alone in wishing that Kururu got some more meaningful character development, but hopefully that can happen in later arcs alongside the plot (like with Sean). I also wish it wasn’t so much “Soul controlled the whole thing” because giving Kururu a genuine mean streak would be so interesting for her character, but it sure seems like Tozuka is just going with the puppet master angle. Love seeing Sean get another great moment, though, and I’m kind of glad this arc is over so that we can move on.

Since Boku no Hero Academia is ending soon, I figured I may as well tune in for the last few chapters. I read a hundred-ish chapters back when it was first getting popular, but after Eri was introduced I feel like the cast got too big for me to remember them all on a weekly basis, and the political struggles/world-building weren’t that engaging for me so I dropped it. Reading some of the latest chapters has been interesting, though. Deku and Bakugo’s relationship was something that I really liked at the beginning of the series, and seeing Bakugo finally realize how important Deku is to him as a friend and rival is extremely cathartic. Same goes for the Todoroki family drama, which had just the right amount of hopefulness coupled with bittersweetness and regret. That one Todoroki guy deciding to go fully No Contact felt true to life to real abusive family dynamics, and I appreciate that Horikoshi didn’t go for the cheesy “we’re a family so we’ll stick together no matter what” thing. That soba line made me genuinely emotional for someone who hasn’t read the series in years. The other “loose end wrapping up” stuff didn’t really do much for me, but I’m looking forward to see how this series ends for good.

Took a trip to the library and picked up my hold of My Brain is Different and speed read it there. It was pretty interesting, especially as a look into the state of mental health services in Japan, and some of the stories were really moving. But even amongst all the moments of hardship in these people’s lives, it’s heartening to see everyone strive to keep living and doing their best (especially those with neurodivergent children who they want to look out for). I’ll give it a 6/10 – it’s simple for what it is, but still an enjoyable read.

Monday

Um

Tuesday

Uh

Wednesday

I need to read some of the BL tabs I have open because my computer is crashing every other day from trying to load everything. So today I finally finished Yuutosei wa Unmei no Akai Ito ni Sakaraitai. It’s a cute enough manga, with some funny bits, but aside from the gimmick du yaoi of the red thread of fate, there wasn’t much else going on. The romantic progression in volume 2 was fun (if basic), I guess, and I liked how the red thread theme came back around again to finally inspire the blond kid into action (I’ve already forgotten their names lol), but overall it’s a fairly run of the mill lighthearted BL story. 5/10.

Thursday

Tsubasa Tiger… I really liked this arc… Honestly, it’s probably my favourite Monogatari arc so far. It feels so good to be able to understand where all the characters are coming from and finally see a conclusive and satisfying end to an emotional arc. After watching Hanekawa’s letter in full on YouTube, it’s insane to see how much they cut in the anime episode…I know it was necessary, but I don’t think I would’ve understood Hanekawa’s character as much just from what they chose to leave in the anime. I might not have even really understood what the Cat and the Tiger represent to Hanekawa…their explanation blew by so fast in the anime that I probably would’ve missed it. This really solidified my desire to read the novels, because there was so much insight in Nisiosin’s writing that I feel like is going over my head in the anime. Who knows, maybe I’ll even finally love Monogatari as much as everyone seems to once I can actually fully grasp the characters. I teared up a little when Hanekawa finally accepted Araragi’s rejection and felt her emotions in their entirety – her story is really relatable to me, and this was the first time I’ve truly felt moved by it. I’m glad that she has someone like Araragi who will accept her as she is.

Friday

Went over to my friend’s house and tried to watch The Bear season 3 together…only for the seemingly endless meandering in episode 1 to completely turn us off the show altogether LMAO we sat through literally 13 minutes of nothing happening and just vague dreamlike flashbacks to shit we already knew about Carmy before we decided to just stop watching and do something else. I liked The Bear well enough back in the day for its frenetic energy and intensity, but then season 2 felt like it was spinning its wheels a bit. I didn’t like that Carmy turned the restaurant into a suffocating high end place, but I do get the feeling that the show’s gonna end with them returning to their roots so whatever. It’s just annoying to see him keep making these stupid decisions. This episode felt like it was revelling in its newfound popularity, bringing back all these celebrity cameos to seemingly little effect other than to flex their budget. I really don’t have any patience for a show that doesn't seem to know what to do with its characters, instead filling the airtime with egregious and tireless retreads of backstories and general indecision. (Once again I’m reminded of and grateful for Succession’s much subtler hand and how they allowed us to infer the past through the characters in the present. Not to unfairly compare The Bear to one of the best TV shows of all time or anything, but it was a little insane how people thought they were of the same calibre just because they were both Emmy favourites for their respective categories this year.) And honestly, I kind of just realized that I don’t care about any of these characters, and there’s not enough of a story to keep me engaged. This used to be a 7/10 for me, but hearing how season 3 is going and just the general flow of time has soured my opinion of this show enough to bring it down to a 4/10, along with an official decision to drop it.

Saturday

It’s another one of those weeks…I feel like I just have too much going on in my brain right now to really kick back and enjoy some art… This may continue for a while, so please bear with me.

[twogravesinsomecemetery]

Lol I'm going to take you up on venting about MSIV because if that didn't leave me feeling like I fell right off a cliff?? The show just... ended. The closure was definitely in the church conversations, but the dock scene just felt so abrupt and now the show feels unfinished.

I get that they stopped the pandemic by killing CSM but it seems like a wasted storyline too? And what was the point of finding William when he was supposed to be the cure for Mulder - I didn't think he was the start of the virus. Just that CSM wanted to take him with him. So did the virus happen like O'Malley was saying or is he going to be more of a conspiracy nut? Do we just get to ignore MSIII now?

Speaking of, I'm one of those people who staunchly believe that Mulder is William's father. CSM might've messed around with science and genomes and DNA but otherwise, no.

And what about Skinner??????? Scully wants to go check on him for all of 2 seconds and then he's forgotten about entirely. And sure Mulder and Scully had stuff going on, but???

Overall I really did enjoy seasons 10 and 11? I thought most of the episodes were a good continuation of the show, and just updated to what current TV looks like instead of the 90s. And it had some of my favourite episodes. I just have such a hard time keeping up with the myth-arc but I had that issue in the first 9 seasons anyway. The main thing was that Mulder and Scully were there for each other and solving cases.

(Also, it took me so many rewatches to really love The Angels Take Manhattan. I hated it at first, but I now find it to be a good wrap up for Amy and Rory - they ended up together and she chose him fully and completely in the end. And The Doctor being so focused on his own pain that he ignores River's is out of character except that Amy basically died and that I get, things are messy when there's grief, and River holds hers back for The Doctor like the badass she is.)

Either way, now I have to revisit my favourite episodes (MOTW for sure) starting back with season 1. Thanks again for the positivity! I'm glad I watched the revival.

Hey :) Sorry I took a couple days to get back to this, it was a bit hectic with the txf 30th anniversary week 😂

I’m glad you came back here to vent !!! As a certified revival enjoyer, I know exactly how you feel and totally get what you mean. The closure in Nothing Lasts Forever is immaculate but then MSIV just kinda feels like it… stops? I don’t think they ever intended to make it feel unfinished, and personally my interpretation has always been that we just don’t need to see anything else. Obviously, things happened after that moment on the dock, e.g. they probably went back to find Skinner (who may or may not be dead, rip???) and dealt with the consequences of that revelation, but it’s… nothing that we’re not expecting to happen. It’s nothing that we need to witness. We know that Mulder and Scully are going to be free of the syndicate and raise their second child and live happily ever after etc. etc. because it’s literally their only option, and the only way it could ever conclude.

And as far as the virus goes, most people pretty much ignore everything that happens in the My Struggle episodes because of the conspiracy theories and the CSM insanity so you can pretty much pick and choose what stuff you want to keep as canon and overlook everything else. I know that doesn’t sound ideal, but it helps make it more enjoyable. I mean, how many people take Mulder’s brain disease in season 8 to be canon? Like… literally nobody. 😂 Also pretty much everyone considers Mulder to be William’s father, even though it might make it canonically more angsty and/or interesting if Scully believes otherwise at the end. 

Honestly, I really love the revival for how new it is. I think it would’ve been a mistake on their part to try and recreate the 90s, even if some of the AI stuff in s11 is a bit on the nose. As long as Mulder and Scully are there solving cases and we get some sweet MSR moments then I’m here for it. And I'm always happy to spread some revival positivity!! <3

[gremoria411]

So I’d been meaning to talk about the Gundam Build Series for a while, since I mentioned a while ago that I’m quite fond of it. I should mention that I haven’t watched either Build Fighters or Build Fighters try in over a year, so I may get some details wrong.

I really like both shows, and I think they’re about the same in terms of overall quality.

I will get one quick elephant out of the room first though. These series exist to sell toys, even moreso than the other Gundam series. This is basically the thesis statement of the entire series, and this is the main reason why they’re so very different than the “regular” Gundam series. It’s…… not too bad? Since they’re generally preaching to the choir when it comes to the actual model kits, and the designs for the show are essentially a showcase of some really cool custom models based on existing ones. Like, yes, thesis was to sell cool robots, but you can’t really accuse them of skimping on the cool robots.

At its core, it’s a story about “to be the greatest there ever was, wholly distinct from those before you” with a good sprinkling of personal growth.

The very general plot of the original Build Fighters is: Sei Iori (left, blue) is a bookish nerd whose parents run the local model shop, Sei dreams of entering the Gunpla Battle World Championships (essentially where Gundam models are animated by special particles so they can duke it out amongst each other; think fighting game tournaments but with physical objects) but though he’s really good at building them, he’s absolutely terrible at fighting with them. However, he meets Reiji (right, red sunglasses), a mysterious boy who’s really, really good at fighting with the Gunpla Sei builds, and together they form a two-man team to take on the other competitors.

It’s a pretty solid premise, and it works well. There’s a revolving cast of characters (Sei and Reiji make many rivals, who are pretty well-rounded) and the stakes start low, but get steadily higher as time goes on, giving the series a natural progression and allowing them to introduce darker elements as it goes on. Gunpla battles provides a nice, solid core for the ancillary elements to move around (though the show is still very much about the Gunpla battles).

So how are those Gunpla Fights?

They’re pretty damn good. Honestly, I’ve watched a little over half the shows they’ve made for Gundam, and I still count several of the fights in Gundam Build Fighters as my all time favourites. I’ll admit I usually like a little bit of philosophising with my giant robot fights, but you can definitely see the influence of this series on later ones, simply through the fight scenes.

Character wise? Yeah, solid. The show does wring a lot out of the “rival” template (The Main Rival, Mentor Rival, “Cool” Rival, The one who starts off goofy but is actually just as determined as the leads, etc), but there’s other side characters with their own goals. Build fighters does create a very believable world around its premise, since the rest of the world is pretty contemporary, it’s played almost like a sporting thing - fans and other people in the know can look at it and get passionate about it, but the works isn’t exclusively built around it. Due to this, a lot of the characters - even the bit ones, can feel very fleshed out. Gunpla Battle is a thing they do, it’s not there entire personality. To expand on that a little, I’m going to swing back around to the protagonists. Sei is a Gundam nerd, yes, but as above he has other aspects to him. He has friends and relationships through Gunpla Battle but they rely on who he is, not just on him being a nerd. Reiji is sorta the “cool idiot” he doesn’t really have an arc in the story, fundamentally because he’s the catalyst for Sei’s, triggering his growth as a person. Reiji just wanders about triggering other people’s character growth (other than the episode when the duo split up, but that doesn’t really change Reiji as an individual, it’s more about Sei) and seeing how other characters interact with him. It goes in well with the conclusion of the series (which I shan’t spoil) because it basically ties all that up really rather well.

The mobile suit designs are honestly pretty good across the board with this one. It’s smaller than on average, both due to the smaller series (25 episodes) and the fact that other series mobile suits get used as grunts.

Gundam Fighters Try is the sequel series, set several years later, with a different cast. I’ll probably do a separate post on it some other time, but pretty much all the points I made above that aren’t related to the protagonists also apply to it.

In a nutshell: Gundam Build Fighters: To sells toys, but the fight scenes are amazing and the characters are pretty solid.

[diziaddict]

i just started watching turkish dramas a few months ago and the first one I fell in love with and watched all the way through (well the first season) was vatanim sensin....ive started a few others but often got annoyed at the characters a few episodes in especially when it's been a light hearted rom com like erkenci kus. The next one i completed was siyah beyaz ask and honestly it's one of the best shows I've ever watched...the chemistry between the two leads was so breath-taking and now I'm just worried that my standards are too high bc I've been comparing every drama i watch to it 😭 ...please can you recommend your top 5 (preferably romance/drama/historical)?

It's been a while since I've posted but med school has genuinely been a rollercoaster ride this year so sorry for the long hiatus. I recently watched Vatanim Sensin and absolutely loved it too (will definitely consider writing a review soon!) but as you all know, Siyah Beyaz Ask has my whole heart. As such, I completely agree with you when I say that it is the sole reason I have so many partially finished dizis. That dizi raised my standards so much so that I'd often get frustrated and stop watching dizis half-way through.

With regards to watching light-hearted romcom dizis, often the biggest problem is that the viewers have to be in the right mood for them. It's quite difficult to enjoy a more comic-heavy romcom dizi when you're craving some mystery or drama. As toxic as it may sound, I do enjoy a little mafia action here and there to spice up the dizi. Anyway, here are the top 5 dizis (in order of preference) that I genuinely continue rewatching to this day:

Hercai – This is one of my absolute favourite shows and one that almost managed to satisfy my post-Siya-Beyaz-Ask depression. It's the perfect mix of drama, mystery, romance and comedy. The two actors have explosive chemistry on screen and are both honestly just so pretty. It helps that every shot is beautifully planned and aesthetically pleasing. However, do keep in mind that this is a very intense dizi mainly based around 'family drama' and involves a lot of violence so the comedy is kept to a bare minimum. Now while it isn't a historical dizi, the locations and general attitudes are very conservative and traditional so there is a somewhat 'period drama' feel.

Son Yaz – This mafia drama is honestly one of the most wholesome dizis I've seen in a while. While the dizi is mainly a romantic drama, there is a light-hearted comedy aspect within every episode and the two actors have electric chemistry. However, in my opinion, what makes this show is the heartwarming father-son bond between Selim and Akgun. What I love most about this dizi is that it's very mature and doesn't conform to the common trope of 'there's no me without you'. It addresses the toxic aspects of love and isn't afraid of separating the main couple in order for Akgun and Yagmur to work on themselves before focusing on their relationship.

Sen Cal Kapimi – This is probably the most light-hearted dizi out of all these recommended dizis but the actors genuinely had amazing chemistry and looked fantastic together. Personally, Eda Yildiz is one of my favourite female leads out of all the dizis I've watched since she has the courage and confidence to stand tall independently and is never ashamed of her social/financial status. One of my least favourite characteristics is a lead that despises/is embarrassed of being 'poor' or 'uncool' but this dizi completely avoids falling into that pattern. While it does follow the 'memory loss' and 'impending death' tropes, they are never too dragged out so the dizi doesn't lose it's magic. I am a strong supporter of couples that improve one another and that is exactly what this couple does. Both Eda and Serkan, while individually seem content and (for lack of a better word) 'perfect', the audience get to peek beneath the surface to understand the deeper wounds each individual has. We get to watch them each grow and overcome their past traumas to become better versions of themselves. This dizi does involve some family drama but it's never really an integral part of the storyline.

Fazilet Hanim Ve Kizlari – This is, once again, a romantic drama centred around family drama and secrets. It is, however, honestly one of the most well-written dizis as it manages to handle creating two main love interests that somehow both seem equally likely to end up with the lead female so keeps the viewers guessing. My only qualm with dizis that involve family secrets is the numerous frustrating 'near-reveals' the writers love to include as it made certain aspects of the dizi feel overly exaggerated. In my opinion, while both Yagiz and Sinan had plenty of chemistry with Hazan, it wasn't as instantaneous or obvious as the other couples in any of the recommended dizis so it may take some time to warm up to them. However, I'm a sucker for tortured star-crossed lover storylines that end in happily ever afters so this dizi was right up my alley.

Elimi Birakma – This is a slightly more light-hearted romcom drama and centres around the topic of family inheritance. While I don't particularly like the 'miscommunication' or 'misinterpreted situation' tropes, this dizi manages to pull it off in a tasteful way. Cenk never truly steps out of line or does anything completely irreversible when he misunderstands Azra but still follows the standard sequence of patterns: distancing, arguing and being unwillingly in love. Unlike most dizis, this one highlighted the respect the couple had for each other. They were willing to respect one another's wishes and diverged from the common scenario where individuals make decisions for the couple as a whole. As a side note, one of my pet peeves is the dizi 'villains' getting away with everything until the very end (which this dizi happens to do) but that's just a personal preference.

I hope this helps you. Good luck finding the perfect fit!

[goleb]

how are we feeling about the new dhmis episodes

THIS POST HAS BEEN PEER-REVIEWED. THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. 

I don't even know how to start with this, to be honest. I've been forced into this weird nervous headspace, and I've been dreading writing this opinion piece all day. And would you look at that, I stayed up till 5 in the morning writing this, and now it's the next day. Sorry about that. 

TL;DR: The truth is, I don't know. I simultaneously like and dislike what I've seen. It just doesn't... feel like DHMIS to me? It's difficult to explain to people who are not already familiar with the inner workings of my brain, you know, not just as The Roy Guy but as an otherwise opinionated weirdo as well. I feel like by all logic I SHOULD like it but it’s so... off. The vibe is all off. 

So if you don't want to read a mixed review of neo-DHMIS, or my endless rambling about Roy Gribbleston (and the Roylore), you probably won't have much fun reading this post. And if this reads in parts like a heavily edited liveblog, that's because it is. This is my own personal opinion and if you disagree, more power to you, but I am not looking for an argument. 

Oh, and also, anyone who ever claimed Red and Duck are better caretakers to Yellow than Roy owes me money. Thanks. 

With all that out of the way, let's go. 

This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. 

I went into this with an open mind, I swear. Despite my scepticism over any new DHMIS content [if you've been around for a while you're probably aware I'm very open about how much I love what a perfect ending DHMIS 6 had, because mwah - now THAT's how you end a series (not to mention all that delicious Roy content for my aching heart) - as well as my wish for a separate spinoff over a continuation precisely because of that ending perfection.] I was still kind of anxiously excited about it all. I mean, hey, I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong in this particular scenario. But, unfortunately, I don't feel like I was. 

THAT'S NOT TO SAY I THINK THE SERIES IS OVERALL BAD. The humour was superb for one, really. I laughed out loud quite a good few times (the bit about the names as passwords got me, as did "we don't share food but we share a wallet" or Red yelling into the phone), so that's definitely a plus considering this is supposed to be a comedy. The character designs and sets were up to the high standards set up by DHMIS (except for the twins and their family, but honestly, fuck'em with a rusty pipe). But to me it would be so much better if it wasn't tied to Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Because DHMIS carries a certain vibe, this -tony- tone that I, personally, found lacking in neo-DHMIS. 

The tone 

Neo-DHMIS is more adult in the most childish way possible. Neo-DHMIS is overly gory and gross and weirdly grotesque which wouldn't be an issue - after all DHMIS was too at times - if it wasn't in such rapid-fire succession. You may argue that DHMIS 5 was also gory and somewhat darker and even included Duck dying, and, frankly that's exactly my problem. DHMIS 5 is my least favourite episode. I pretty much never even rewatch it. And neo-DHMIS feels to me like DHMIS 5 stretched to 3.5x its length, and with the addition of on-screen pissing and about 90% more live maggots (which, coincidentally, are also why I always skip the credits to DHMIS 2). Except, you know, much funnier, I'll give it that. Still, to me, that's like the worst part you could have included more of in your show! (The best part would be more Roy, of course.) 

Speaking of piss, I am incredibly distressed by the concept of sentient public urinals / toilets. I mean, public urinals / toilets are already distressing enough, but this is a deviantart-tier fetish if I've ever seen one. And was Duck Guy commiting explosive pants-pissing inside the Coffin Guy on camera really necessary? Alright, who on the crew had a pissing-inside-sentient-objects fetish? Because I for one do not appreciate this direction we're taking here. 

Additionally, I never thought I'd have to live in a world where Red Guy gets hit on by office equipment, and yet here we are. Why does the trash bin have a degradation kink and masochistic tendencies? I mean I get it, but literally why though. 

You're gonna try to tell me neo-DHMIS treats the puppets kinder than DHMIS? Well, go ahead and point me to the parts in DHMIS where they're constantly getting injured or mutilated. In DHMIS Yellow had his ears bleed from Tony's screeching, aged to death (but then he was fine) and drowned in oil at Lamp's. In neo-DHMIS he's got rashes, welts, bite marks, raw open wounds, cuts off his finger with scissors, shoves his hand in an industrial shredder, physically melts under emotional distress, even in the intro there's an image of him cutting his hand off with a saw. There's blood spraying constantly (there's blood everywhere), with a weird focus on getting directly in the puppets' faces. Treated better my ass. 

I do love the new characters though! 

Which brings me back to my point that I'd enjoy this so much more if it was an entirely new cast. The new teachers were absolutely flawless (most of them, anyway), I loved their attitudes and characterisation. I can't even decide which one was my favourite. 

The job guys were a fun group. I love how Briefcase Guy just up and fucked off from the factory and left the trio there. Brendan is relatable, being constantly reminded you're unemployed can really drive a guy up the wall. Haha. I love how easily Yellow fit in with the workers, give this boy some god damn peers! He's so naturally gifted. Did you know in the Roylore he grows up to be an automotive engineer, with extra work experience as a mechanic? Oh, and the Carehound is a Peppa Pig reject. 

I warned you not to give Red Guy any semblance of power. He's so easily corrupted. I always knew he was a bloody freeloader, too. In fact it's canon to the Roylore that he quit or got fired from every single job Roy (because Roy knows everyone in the city, you see) managed to get him to the point there is literally no business left in Craywall where he is employable at anymore. Which is infuriating because he owes Roy money and won't move out until he repays the debt. Roy doesn't even want the money anymore, but alas. 

Also, fun fact, Duncan is the name of one of Roy's grandsons, along with Gideon. They're each the kid of one of the twins, although we never did figure out which one's Richard's and which one's Oliver's. We never asked. They're practically brothers anyway. 

And if you're reading this, let me take this opportunity to get you to watch this: 

I'd give up most of my earthly belongings for a DHMIS-adjacent series written by Jazz Emu. 

The Coffin Guy was really funny, even if his whole self-assemblance from heart-flesh, blood and floorboards was... something else. His annoyance with Duck Guy is so understandable, considering just how punchable he became in neo-DHMIS. I mean he's always been arrogant but yeezus yeast. As a sidenote, Yellow's playing the trumpet was angelic, and we are all so proud of him. Wouldn't expect less from Roy's very own son, of course. 

I like the IDs! Well, the one ID we got to see, but still, I want one. I mean I have one, but mine neither talks nor is capable of predicting my death (my bets are still on "alone, in a ditch" but Roy doesn't like when I say things like that), it only sits in my wallet and judges me, silently, reminding me that unlike Roy, my face does have an unflattering angle, and it's directly head on. And hey, would you look at that, after all these years Red Guy and I finally have something in co-- the rest of this joke has been redacted. 

Stain's cute. I like their attitude. I'll take this adorable excitable adventurous shape-shifting flesh pile over any other sort of flesh pile you'd see in these parts these days. The sort that's made of raw meat. Why is there so much raw meat. 

Warren was great in how utterly fucking insufferable he was. Dude looks like a large intestine. We are all glad he is dead. Oh my god I hate this worthless worm. None of this would have happened if Roy was there. (Poor Yellow's Imaginary Shy Older Brother.) 

I can relate to only checking my email once a year. Which is very bad when you're a university student. Or an employee. If you could even call what I had employment. Also, what kind of beast uses both hands to use a computer mouse? And why does Yellow's brain friend have Roy's blue-green heterochromia? 

The old teachers on the other hand are simply not themselves. Their personalities have been bastardised and there is something severly terribly horribly utterly wrong. 

Interpersonal relationships, or STOP BEING A DICK TO YELLOW 

Hey, remember when I pointed out, with examples, how Red and Duck are not good caretakers or friends to Yellow, very clearly, on screen, and some people got very mad at me? I do. I remember. I remember that very well. 

Heh. 

Glad to see being a dick to Yellow continues to be a trend in here. And by glad I mean stop being a dick to Yellow. Yellow deserves better than this. I'm not just saying that because he makes me feel all sorts of paternal feelings, but I do not hide my bias either. BE NICE TO HIM!! 

You know what I can't stand? Misery porn. You know what neo-DHMIS feels like? An excuse for copious amounts of Yellow Guy misery porn. I've ranted about this in relation to DHMIS already, and this was no improvement. Go ahead, rewatch the episodes, drink for every scene where Yellow is made miserable, either emotionally or physically, and see how you're holding up by the end. Why, I dare say you wouldn't make it through Friendship alive. 

Yellow cares more about these people than they deserve. Please for the love of Roy, Yellow needs better friends. 

And you may say, but Maks, what about Duck Guy in Jobs and Death? And sure, I'll give you Jobs, but Death doesn't count. That one didn't even affect him. I mean, if you're gonna die at least act like it. The experience was more emotionally upsetting to the Coffin than it was for Duck. 

It is pretty funny to see that they all apparently treat each other with contempt and are willing to rip each other to pieces at the drop of a hat, or a drop of a portable glass web search engine, I guess. Like, you can see it too, right? How mean-spirited everything feels? Because I can see it. 

I don't buy not-Colin's line about learning friendship from how much Red and Duck care for Yellow. This whole business was their fault in the first place! Guys. Guys, come on. 

Roy 

Roy is in the shed. 

Roy is on the coin. 

Roy lives in my head. 

Roy lives in my walls. 

Roy is the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing I see when I sleep. 

This truly is Roy's world, and we're all just living in it. 

Or at least you are. I'm on his side. I've always been on his side. I'll always be on his side. I am ssso happy that I have to see people call him evil all over again, I am not seething at all. No, I'm not at all upset that I've been fighting this battle for the past 6 years only for it to come back and kick me in the nuts full force. I'm just bloody fucking peachy. And while evidence piles up on everyone else being assholes, Roy continues to have done nothing wrong. If you disagree, provide screenshots of Roy doing something evil. I dare you. I dare you. 

If you didn't expect Roy to appear in the episode themed around FAMILY then I'm not sure what to tell you. Also if you don't think I skimmed the episode just to see Roy, you're lying to yourself. I AM that predictable. (Funnily enough, skimming the episode just to get to the Roy parts is also what I did in that dream I had 18 days ago in which I was watching an episode of DHMIS and it was so good and Roy was there and he was so wonderful.) 

Oh yeah also I support Roy's slaughter of that whole family, if I were there I'd throw them in the incinerator myself ("a family can't be just a dad" how about my fist becomes family with your face instead then, you little shit). We love to see a man thrive. Just seeing him standing there like that made me flush so hard it gave me a fever. He really is just a perfect specimen. 

Closing notes 

Hey, so remember when I drew that picture where Red Guy totaled Roy's car? Yeah, you should have listened. I warned you this would happen. I warned you about many things.

And that's really it, huh? Sort of weird they only made 5 episodes, you'd expect them to make at least 6, huh? But alas. Ha. Haha.

Well, by all means, this seems like something I SHOULD enjoy. It's well made, as expected. It's even fun to watch. So why don't I? Am I just forever doomed to be an outlier? Does anyone else feel the way I do? Does my endless affection for Roy make me more likely to notice these things? I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore. I'm sticking to the Roylore. 

[everythinginbooks]

Beginning your classics journey

So you want to begin reading classics, (or older books) but whenever you open the book, you're met by a bunch of words that don't make sense, paragraph-long sentences and weird spellings or expressions. I know the feeling, and some authors are definitely more guilty of this than others are (looking at you Victor Hugo), so here are a few classics that got me started on my own classics journey fairly early on!

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)

I think the beginning of the goodreads summary captures what this book means to be; "the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty." Don't let that fool you, the only devil that appears in this story could be argued to be Dorian Gray himself.

One of my all time favourites, The Picture of Dorian Gray is on the shorter side, though no less impactful. Oscar Wilde's descriptive language is truly beautiful, and the strange narrative keeps you wondering how the novel will end. An overlooked part of this book is the preface, which is, in my opinion, a quite interesting and wise view on art and its use in the world. Though the very beginning of this book is quite wordy, the beauty comes if you bear with it through the first few pages.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

Another shorter novel, this one follows a london legist as he invistigates a series of mysterious occurances surrounding his friend Dr. Henry Jekyll and the criminal Mr. Edward Hyde. Believed to be one of the defining pieces of literature in the horror genre, I greatly suggest this classic, as it is incredibly intruiging and is still referenced today in media, such as in Marvel's The Hulk. Perhaps that association can elude to the connection between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...? Well, you may figure that one out for yourself.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1605)

Shakespeare is a man who is famous for his plays and poems, and in my english class for how annoying his iambic pentameter is to write properly. However, this isn't about his poetry, but his comedy that features faeries and ancient greek lovers, which is honestly my all time favourite Shakespeare play. You may know it for its appearance in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, being the play in which Neil plays Puck.

The play, to quote my dear old friend wikipedia, "consists of five interconnecting plots, connected by a celebration of the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazon queen, Hippolyta", though is most famously known for the lovers' quarrel between Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, which can most accurately be explained as the most heinous love square to exist. Hermia loves Lysander though her father insists she marry Demetrius, and Helena loves Demetrius, who is supposed to marry Hermia. It's quite a mess, though a fun one to read, and greatly recommend you do the same.

A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1887)

No classics list is complete without a mandatroy mention of Sherlock Holmes (yes, I consider dear old Sherlock a classic). Any of the Sherlock Holmes stories would be an honourable mention for this short list, but A Study In Scarlet is canonically the first Sherlock Holmes novel, the inspiration for the first episode of BBC's Sherlock, AND also the first piece of classical literature I've ever read, courtesy of my 5th grade English teacher. Thank you Henrik.

Sherlock Holmes is always quite fun, and in this one you are dragged by the heels by Dr. Watson as you follow Holmes around trying to solve the murder of Enoch Drebber. Now, I won't say too much, as this one is pretty well known, but the Doyle novels can be what thrusts you deeper down the well of classical literature.

There you have it, a small list of some novels that can possibly make you need to read some old(er) books, and finally feel intellectualy superior, included in certain conversations or whatever it is you wish to gain by beginning this journey.

Happy reading!

-Cami

[seyaryminamoto]

As someone, who's favourite character is Zuko, let me just say that your analysis about the Southern Raiders is spot on. Something about that episode (especially the way Zuko acted) always felt a little... off to me. And I could never figure out what it was exactly and considering the fact that discussion about this episode centered around the Kataang vs Zutara, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. So, I guess thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

Oh, I really feel ya, anon. If you actually don't look at the episode from a shipping point of view, which seems to be the focus of most the fandom, a lot of unpleasant things really start sticking out. I'm personally neutral to the Kataang vs. Zutara debate, I see good points and drawbacks to both ships, and no one's going to convince me that this episode proved the superiority of either pairing, especially when the shipping interpretations have never been important to me when analyzing this episode. People can say Aang is right in the end, they can say Zuko understands Katara's plight better (which, considering Aang has lost even more people he loved than Zuko has, he certainly should have understood Katara's suffering quite well too), but focusing on whether Zuko or Aang are the angel or the devil on Katara's shoulders practically blinds everyone to the very glaring and mindboggling flaws in this episode's writing, imo.

In general, the concept of Zuko's life-changing field trips with the three Gaang members he'd wronged the most is fine and fun for most people, but from the first time I watched the show it felt like the production team knew they were pressed for time and needed some veeeery quick and effective solution for Zuko to gain acceptance in the Gaang ASAP despite all the bad blood there. I can imagine a lot of people love these episodes, but admittedly I wouldn't rank any of them among my favorites because, as interesting as some of their concepts could be, if executed right, my immersion certainly wasn't as strong as with the rest of the show due to the nagging feeling that this was all for the sake of redeeming Zuko in the eyes of each Gaang member... and not necessarily in the eyes of the audience.

They get away with it, of course, because by this point in time, the audience is 100% conditioned to love the Gaang and Zuko, and if you see them getting along, you should be rejoicing in their team-up... but if you put some emotional distance between yourself as a viewer and the events of these episodes, their writing leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the concept of giving Zuko a quick whitewashing in the eyes of Aang, Sokka and Katara, one after the other, so they can genuinely accept him as a teammate and friend. If we'd seen similar trips frequently or occasionally in the rest of the show, with two specific members of the team taking off on an adventure by themselves, it might not be so glaringly obvious (and even... artificial? I guess?) that they're trying to quick-redeem him for each of them here, but on top of it happening thrice, it's literally happening one after the other, too. There's no episodes in-between, it's just literally a four-parter arc of "let's help Zuko become friends with these three".

The plotlines to be dealt with in these episodes are basically catered to each Gaang member, tailor-made life-changing field trips based on whatever they'll value the most, all of it conveniently possible and doable in the span of time they have between Zuko's joining of their group and the show's finale. Aang needs to learn firebending, Sokka needs to save his dad, Katara is permanently grieving for her mother's death. And so, Zuko to the rescue! If he helps them with their personal character quests, he gets 50+ approval points! :'D Honestly, I'm absolutely not against the notion of Zuko befriending them, obviously not, but the methods through which they chose to make it happen simply might not be the finest...?

Zuko loses his ability to bend because he "lost his rage", but he's still angry pretty often, the show even spoofs its own writing by showing him losing his patience at Sokka... while at the same time trying to sell that Zuko "isn't angry" anymore? Zuko helps break out random prisoners from the Boiling Rock without taking a single moment to actually learn who they are, why they were locked up, and without pondering if they deserve to be helped or if perhaps they're genuinely dangerous? Zuko gives Katara every possible tool and information she needs to take revenge on Yon Rha, because, loosely quoting his own words, he "cares what she thinks of him"...?

How about if we'd seen Zuko trying to connect with Fire Nation people, to help his fellow Fire Nation citizens, especially the ones who were living in dreadful conditions, like the ones in the Jang Hui river village? How about if we'd seen Zuko saving lives rather than threatening to take them? How about if we'd seen Zuko actually reasoning with his anger, and either working his way out of it, or repurposing it consciously, or making legitimate, personal efforts to find a new source of strength for his firebending through self-reflection, above all else?

We didn't really need sudden one-on-one field trips to teach Aang, Katara and Sokka to trust Zuko: we needed Zuko to prove himself worthy of that trust, to show how much he has changed, to literally contrast his new behavior with the old, to actually see that the guy no longer jumps into violence-mode 24/7, that he's willing to listen to other people's opinions or wisdom, that he wants to learn better when he knows he's misguided or misunderstanding something or another. Would he have become BFFs with any of them in four episodes if this had happened? Well, it definitely would have happened with Aang, the other two would have been trickier, but they definitely would have been more willing to accept him if they actually got to SEE that the changes in Zuko weren't skin-deep. Katara can be as thick-headed and stubborn as she may want to be, but I have no doubts she wouldn't have been able to hate Zuko as much as she used to if she'd seen him helping people, much like she often wants their group to do. But instead, they don't get to see the actual changes and growth... they just get their biggest goals and wishes satisfied, and that's enough to decide Zuko's trustworthy, no matter whatever sketchy behavior he displays in later episodes.

I absolutely appreciate the worldbuilding context we gain for the raids on the Water Tribe through The Southern Raiders, but I don't think this was an organic way to tell the story of how Zuko became friends with the Gaang. If pressed, I'd even say that Zuko's overt desperation to be their friend is OOC, to a degree: if this guy actually knows how dangerous his father's plans are (and he's supposed to :'D), how isn't he focusing on that side of things, when he's always been such a go-getter? It's not like he grew out of this sort of ends-justify-the-means behavior, seeing as he's absolutely obsessed with stopping his father ASAP, by any means possible, in the finale, when there was no such urgency to be found ever since he joined the Gaang. How isn't he more worried about stopping Ozai than about becoming best friends with the Gaang? Immediately sharing everything he's learned about Ozai's intentions of destroying the whole world might not make them friends instantaneously, but it would certainly get someone like Sokka to take his information seriously and immediately begin strategizing how to counter Ozai's plans. Instead, Zuko spent all those weeks, over a month, even, teaching Aang firebending, going on field trips and hanging out with his new friends in Ember Island. Once you have all the cards on deck and you actually look at all of them at once, doesn't it feel like there were so many more ways to achieve what the show was going for, far more effective ways than through the "let's be friends with Zuko" arc?

Ultimately, there's very little display of growth, in my opinion, in this small arc, on Zuko's side, despite the most obvious and reasonable way to earn the trust of the Gaang would be by outright showing them how much he's grown. I won't deny I appreciate that the writers respected his personality and didn't just warp him into the perfect good softboi the way the fandom apparently interprets him, but even if Zuko was going to be cranky and speak one-liners like "I'm never happy", it wasn't impossible to write better situations for him to connect with the Gaang's members and gain their trust. Even if the writers were set on having these episodes happen exactly as they did, they absolutely could have been written in a much better way, to create an explicit and direct contrast between Zuko's early behavior and the new Zuko's behavior when it comes to things that matter (most the parallels I've seen the fandom drawing are things like "oh look he hated tea before but now he brews it for his friends! So much growth!"... would've been nice to see the growth when it came to a lot of other things, too, if the growth really was there? Am I rite...?).

I may just be influenced by other redemption arcs that focus mainly on characters having common goals and working together to achieve them, then becoming friends in the process... but I really don't see how Zuko's character benefited from these episodes. Yes, bridges were built... but they absolutely could have been built in a more organic way that didn't make people like myself (and a few others) question if Zuko had learned or grown at all, considering the way he behaves isn't all that distant from the Zuko we've seen and known throughout the rest of the show. And the fact that he really seems to have learned nothing in The Southern Raiders once you reach the show's finale... you're basically asked to take for granted Zuko did learn a lot of lessons because he says he did, to assume he's going to put them into practice sometime in the future despite he has chances to do it during the show itself but never does, simply because they drop the ball upon every opportunity to show how much he's changed.

I really don't blame his character at all, when it comes to these shortcomings... it's seriously, genuinely, a problem with the writing department. Take a look through the fandom and you'll see thousands of people who claim Zuko's character arc is the most touching, complex and beautiful writing they ever have seen... and why? Because we're in the face of tell-don't-show :'D most people's perception of Zuko's character are based not so much on HOW Zuko displays his growth, it's strongly based on him stating he made progress, even if there's too many instances where the growth simply seems to have fallen to the wayside or gone forgotten for the sake of a plotline or another. Zuko absolutely could have been written far better than this, he could absolutely have the redemption arc his fans are sure he does have, but for me... there's way too many gaps in logic, too many missed opportunities, to truly think his growth was as extraordinary as a lot of people are hung up on saying it was.