#house of anubis isn’t perfect many times it isn’t even Good
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scripturiends · 2 years ago
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i know one of the biggest complaints about house of anubis was its writing but if you step back and really consider the sitcoms that were airing at the same time on nickelodeon then it’s actually stellar in comparison. one thing that really set it apart was that it was serialized and not episodic so you had to be really cohesive with the main plot whilst being able to keep ur younger audiences hooked with high school hijinks,, which was comparatively less intense with the d*n schn*ider shows but was just as impactful?? and it did so without resorting to constant physical comedy.
just as a sidebar so far on twitter the biggest criticism ive seen of the show was that it was boring but that makes sense if you’re watching an episode that was meant to be the continuation of all the other ones that you may not have seen bc it was the time of cable. streaming was still sorta a foreign concept in 2011-2013. so that was one of its weaknesses back when it was airing but i think actually as time passed by it has now become one of its strongest points because house of anubis is incredibly rewatchable. you can watch it over and over again and discover something new about the plot, the characters, even the random things happening in the background.
anyway back to the writing, one of the reasons i love the dialogue in the show is because of how witty it actually is like im sorry it’s actually so hard to find the balance of sounding sharp without being pretentious and being funny without being too childish and using big words while still effectively portraying what it’s like to be in high school. that’s in the writing, that’s in the delivery – there have been questionable acting moments for sure but the cast were definitely giving it their all.
and this was something i articulated to my friends as a commentary but i seriously love how they wrote the girls on the show. because yes nina and joy were in that love triangle but nina never plotted to hurt joy because of it and when it mattered the most, joy was there to help nina out with all the chosen one stuff. and when willow and mara found out jerome was dating the both of them, willow asked mara if she hated her and she said no. which, if you were 13 at the time would have been so crazy to think about because normally the portrayal of girls is being at each other’s throats, trying to win the guy back, one-upping each other to find out who loves who more. joy did mara dirty during the journalism arc but she straight up said “i will not accept joy slander”. kt always reassured patricia that she wasn’t interested in eddie and even helped them get back together. amber was a girl’s girl the whole show – when she was unhappy with joy it was because she wanted to protect nina. when joy lashed out at willow, she felt bad and apologized. i could go on and on about all the times the women of anubis house had each others’ backs like they would fight but at the end of the day they love each other and would protect each other. just like joy said, whatever fight they would have, it’ll be ancient history by lunchtime.
i think the same goes for the guys as well? the guys don’t fit squarely into just one stereotype. like yes fabian is the ‘nerd’ but he barely went to class. he was smart in the things he was interested in – if anyone cared the most about the school it was mara. jerome was the ‘prankster’ but they did a deep dive into his family in season 2 and we even got to see him at his most lovable when he’s fallen in love with joy. eddie is supposed to be the ‘bad boy’ but in the entirety of season 2 he made me swoon with the way he kept encouraging patricia to lower her walls and talk about her feelings. he was pretty vocal about how he would like to be cared for, and genuinely gets upset when patricia wouldn’t listen. he’s an honest and sweet friend to everyone too.
anyway im sorry i couldn’t do one for everyone but you get what i mean. everyone was nuanced in a way that i think was so advanced for network standards like i really believe nickelodeon didn’t deserve a show as good as anubis but also at the same time im not sure it would be as good had nickelodeon not picked it up and gave it the number of episodes that it did. it’s kind of like how i feel about many of the decisions in the show – nina leaving without a proper explanation, the nina/joy/fabian love triangle, mick and amber’s departures, the way they approached the jerome/mara/willow/joy arc in s3 – i hate it but i also love it. it’s my favorite thing but also my most despised thing. i can’t stand watching it but i can’t get enough.
house of anubis is flawed in the way anubis house and the kids living in it are. they do the most awful things but they are so in need of nurturing. they’re immature but also the most mature people on the show. just a collection of oxymorons that created the masterpiece that it’s always been but also the masterpiece that it’s now just becoming.
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dnarez · 4 years ago
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Chapter 1
(Most part of this chapter will be using It when referencing to the reader, but I will be using She/her on the next ones)
It was working very hard since It made a big mistake on Mars, It thought the planet was far enough from the sun, and close enough too, but It was wrong and had to create Earth, which was closer.
When Earth was created, It was very careful making everything, the humans were one of the last ones to be created and also  very fragile, since they are the reason for It to be there, It wanted them to be perfect.
And so, It made plants, forests, oceans, lakes, animals,  everything for the humans.
After accidentally creating a moon and the experiment with the dinosaurs that had an unpleasant end, It finally put the first cells of what would become humans into the ocean, and observed, helping these micro beings survive.
Doing that was... very, very boring and tedious, so It from time to time would put superpower on to animals and dinosaurs, or would create weird beings, or cute ones, or very scary ones, she loved doing scary ones, her favorites were placed into the deepest part of  the ocean, so that the humans wouldn't be hurt by Its pets.
After a lot of time the humans were finally animals!
They... aren't very smart, but that can be fixed! There's no need for it to be sad or disappointed, oh... It can't be disappointed... It can't feel emotions or anything, well, since It was always like that It doesn't really mind.
Furthermore, It didn't have a physical appearance, It just... was It was everything and was everywhere, a bit of course It could take physical form.
. . .
While being with the first type of humans It made Itself like them and teaches them to use rock to open fruits, showing them how to use their brains.
It knew about how they reproduce, Itself decided how the reproduction would work, but seeing they are actually doing that, made It curious, how does that feel? Why they do that even thou that primitive human was already pregnant?
Humans were weird, that's for sure, so It decided that Itself would go back to watching, since they already learned from It.
. . .
It was having a feeling! It was proud! Proud that the humans were learning alone now! They just made fire!!!! Oh! How proud It was, they are starting to stand straight now!
. . .
Now it's time... time for another ice age, the experiment with the dinosaurs was excellent, It was certain that the humans would find a way to survive, just like always.
. . .
The ice age was a success! The humans also are all over the planet!!! Some have started planting and building houses!
It periodically goes to some humans in different places to teach them different things, It's very proud of them, but It noticed that dome some humans choose to have only one partner, which is weird since that isn't a very smart way to share their genes, but... It felt something from watching them, why is that?...
. . .
It keeps working and helping the humans from time to time, they are smarter now, the can even talk! Of course It already knows their language,  since It knows everything, but  since It started to be more into Its human form, It can no longer feel everything, but can do everything else, that doesn't bother It too much, but It now wants to eat too, It also wants to be more human,  so It does exactly that.
. . .
The humans can write! And they also invented something called "math" It is very proud of them! It loves to dress up in the weird humanoid beings, just so It can receive the love and adoration the humans give.
After It thought for a very long time, It decided to be always female when It- well... when she is on the world of the living.
She also decided to make a hole palace on a different plan of existence, that way it will be easier to manage the living world.
The goddess loved the living, but now that humans can think, they decide when they do good or bad stuff, so she created a new system.
The good people would go to the Tree of Living, their soul would rest into the tree and go back to the land of living, after a thousand of a thousand of years. While the bad ones were put into Eternal Punishment, they had their on hell, where all their fears and mistakes were put on against them, but if they were truly sorry, if their soul really showed remorse from doing those mistakes on their lives, they would be put on the Tree of Living, where they would get a second chance.
This made her work on the palace more constant, she still visited the humans from time to time.
The Egyptians were visited while she had a bird head and male body, she told them made up histories of how everything came to be, she proudly provided evidence to show them that she was Ra, or Anubis, or any other that she wanted to be.
To the Greeks before the philosophy was born she appeared saying she was Zeus the God of Thunder, and told more made histories about her made up brothers and sisters, but when the Greeks started to question her, she stopped appearing there.
With the Nordics, the Vikings she was again God of Thunder, but this time she was Thor, telling them about Valhalla and more made up histories.
And she kept acting like that, until the humans were able to make questions, she loved telling histories, and received all the offerings with much happiness, the blood sacrifices made her sad, the good nature people were being killed for her, now she could see what the humans really were.
They were monsters, killing their on kind, making the other nation people their slaves, the injustice that the people from simpler beginnings had to suffer.
It made her angry, that made her sad, she was FURIOUS! So... by mistake, by not being able to control her emotions, she made a catastrophe happen.
Almost every volcano on the world erupts, killing hundreds of hundreds of humans.
When she had finally calmed down Y/n the goddess of everything, the goddess of humans, felt shame, for she had killed the humans she loved so much.
The goddess knew that the humans would forgive her, that some would justify her rage, but the shame and sadness kept her from hearing their loving words,   Y/n didn't deserve them.
She decided that it would be better if she stepped back from interacting with them, so she did that, going to her palace and concentrate in to working with souls.
. . .
But isolating herself wasn't the best decision, she still made volcanoes explode, or earthquakes happen, which brought tsunamis, she felt worst and worst.
The loneliness was eating her up, was driving her crazy.
Even with so many hobbies, she could cook, write, paint, plant the goddess had a few favorites, like sleeping, eating and cooking. She was not happy, the goddess now could feel, she also had feelings, and now?...
The goddess felt empty, and after watching the humans she decided that maybe it would be ok to go there for a little while...
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carebooks · 4 years ago
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right so, after i binged-watched Find Me in Paris and the whole ‘Chosen One’ trope was introduced, i started thinking back as to how many chosen one’s there have been before and used in shows (specifically kids-based in this case, not including buffy and merlin) so then like any rational person i started placing them in slots of the six Infinity Stones from Marvel
and then after that, i rewatched Julie and the Phantoms for like the tenth time, and then the usual replaying their songs for the hundreth time, and i started like doing that mind thing where you picture a scene as the song plays, and i started a weird crossover between them and FMIP, i dont know why?? dont ask?? because i dont know??? i just kept picturing two things:
JATP were touring and were currently in France and maybe the POB crew caught a show of theirs?? that’s alright with me OR: JATP were visiting the POB because reasons?? like i legit didn’t know what else, i had this idea that maybe they were there to be taught by some ballet teachers for a music video maybe? i mean Julie already dances and has taken dance before and i can imagine her and Luke taking the class for Perfect Harmony
Lena, Frank, Ines, Jeff, and idk who else but that’s everyone I like that’s still there, somehow travel to an alternate reality and their time pieces don’t work and Lena’s powers don’t either and Frank deduces that they must be in a different reality and to get back home they need the help of that world’s chosen one. Just like their world, there are four possible ones, and to their surprise, they all know each other. In fact, they’re a band. So yeah, Julie and her Phantoms are possible chosen ones and ofc it ends up being Julie. (i wouldnt put too much thought into it like at one point Jeff would go ‘how can they be choices if they’re dead???’ and whateves but idc)
like that’s basically it for that little mashup since in this list, Julie isn’t a chosen one, she’s been assigned one by me, (but this doesn’t mean i want it to happen, chosen one tropes are so overused, this is just for fun)
as for the others,
Merlin is Power mainly because out of all of them i do think he’s the most powerful, i mean he’s Merlin, forget about Lena’s time travel powers, this guy has been around for eons. Anyway, Merlin is his shows chosen one, but funny enough, his destiny is actually to babysit and advise his world’s chosen one: Arthur Pendragon. 
Emma is Space, she is also from Every Witch Way (an average but addicting show that ran for 4 seasons on nick) On the plus side, this show introduced the chosen one in S1 (unlike other shows, looking at you FMIP) And tbh there’s no big reason for her to be Space, it was kinda the last one, but i did find a sorta connection: in the show it’s a running gag that whenever she tries to teleport herself (or anything really) she always ends up at her school’s pool. So you could say she still has to master space?? (plus, us fans got this show to 4 seasons, we demanded it and we got it, anyone else?)
Buffy is Reality, Buffy the Vampire Slayer also introduced the chosen one early in S1, she’s mainly referred to as ‘the one’ or ‘the slayer’ etc. I didn’t really have a reason to make her Reality, she and Merlin were up for Power and I gave that to him, and when it came to Reality or Space for Buffy, I went with Reality (plus its red, and y’know vampires and blood and stuff)
Julie is Soul (again she’s not really a chosen one) but idk whenever I tried to assign a stone for her, the others just didn’t work, plus I mean, Soul is one of the most difficult ones to get and a lot of people thought it didn’t even exist. (so in other words it’s the most special) and yeah i figured why not, Julie’s my favorite 
Lena is Time (i’m not even gonna explain it, it’s perfect, bye)
Nina is Mind, she’s from House of Anubis, another show that introduced the Chosen One early on and also had us think it was someone else before figuring out it was Nina. I thought Mind was a good fit, she’s really smart at solving mysteries and figuring stuff out, her seasons were really filled with research and thinking outside the box and whatnot.
anyway yeah, if someone has a better order for these Chosen let me know
if anyone has a better Chosen One that fits a stone better, let me know
also, yeah, i mainly included live action TV Chosen Ones. I already had Nina, Emma, Lena (and Julie in my head) so I just needed two more. Ngl, I was considering Aang from ATLA, the sisters from Charmed, Emma Swan from OUAT, even Harry Potter at one point. 
and yes, i do have too much time on my hands because not only did i plan all this out but i actually spent time making those edits to be all symetrical and complimenting each other at 3am
@dionysuswearsanorangetracksuit @edge-of-great @perfectharmony @julieandthepodcasters @theosirianischosen @frobisher-smythe @incorrectsibunaquotes @butchnilescrane @everywitchwaycast @seriouslyobsessed @iamdarthbader
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aw-eather · 4 years ago
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Heather Watched the Extended Threads.
As if I haven’t already had a bad morning, lets emotionally torture ourselves shall we. Here is my running commentary:
Under a read more cause it was 8 pages of notes. 
That Previously On just shows that the main point of this episode is to get Sam and Jack together so if y’all don’t think they’re together after this, I have some news for you.
Gucci Douchebag making an appearance in the Previously On is not my idea of fun
JACOB I MISS YOU I AM ALREDY CRYING GOD HELP ME
Alright the episode has started with KERRY JOHNSON LOVE OF MY LIFE
Sam, you can’t be jealous, you’re literally MARRYING ANOTHER MAN.
Lol Jack you moron as if Daniel would walk through the door right now.
Sam is glaring at you funny just fyi.
But he’s right, Daniel is just waiting for y’all to be nice about him.
Oma I would like to order a plate of fucks to give about Daniel’s story at this point
Teal’c of the Tau’ri is a cute title I love that man
Aww I feel so proud of Teal’c.
FUCK OFF PETE
JAAACOOOB
Pete is so cringy
Jacob let Jack call him Dad once.. Pete has to wait until after marriage.
This is awkward as fuck
Pete you are so insensitive,
Jacob hates him. Same honestly.
You can tell he hates him tho, he’s not hiding it. My partners mum did a better job and she’s homophobic.
Sam is SO NOT in love with this guy
Oma being cryptic, checks out
Anubis makes me wanna punch someone.
This episode is really just tying up loose threads (probably hence the title) but its nice to know Pete is considered a loose thread 😊
Teal’c having to decide between the Jaffa and the Tau’ri is sad
Agh the newspaper and Daniel finding out about plans is an aggravating storyline
“I’m gonna marry him” reads the same as “Dad, I am happy”. Honey who are you trying to convince??? We don’t believe you.
“I know how happy he makes you” *Cut to Sam who looks nonchalant* *cut to Jacob who knows exactly what he’s doing and what he’s doing is attempting to stop her marrying Gucci Doucebag*
Selmak isn’t alive to make that call Jacob stop lying
I’M GONNA CRY AGAIN
She is really thinking about this. Like she looks like she’s second guessing herself constantly.
KERRY
JACK
KERRY AND JACK
JACK AND KERRY
WAKING UP TOGETHER
OH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!
I love how soft and tender he is with her, I imagine he’d be the same with Sam.
I love how he cuddles her and kisses her and plays with her hair and that hand on her face I--- *insert heart eyes*
I just really love them so much I wish we got more of soft, boyfriend Jack
Trouble in Jaffa land lol
I think he did really like her though.
Anyway back to Half Ascended!Daniel
Oma ya shouldn’t have helped the first two times, that’s the fucking problem babe
I literally do not give a shit about Daniel, I’m sorry. I really try but I can’t
OH NO THE PHONE CALL SCENE
She is SO sick of Gucci Douchebag
I can’t believe he called her at WORK over FLOWERS
AND SAYING ITS URGENT FUCK SAKE
I love Peter in the back
Jack watching her
Jacob is playing matchmaker so hard I fucking love him
Sam’s face tho is sooooo funny LIKE DAD SHUT UP WE DON’T MENTION THIS IN FRONT OF MY CO
Oh the little sigh he does before telling her to go pick flowers I can’t handle that man, he’s so heartbroken its like a lost puppy
Jack smiles but his eyes say oh yeah, I lost her and she’s happy with someone else now. PLOT TWIST: she’s miserable
Sam looks hurt because she still loves Jack
FUCK ME IT HURTS THEY DESERVED MORE
Jacob don’t play dumb babe, we know what you’re trying to do
Oh she MAD MAD at Dad
Why is it ok to break some rules and not others, you ask? Because y’all are white and can get away with it?
Oma just stop helping people. You don’t need to help them, just stop. I don’t want to be an ascended being y’all suck
Chocolate or vanilla like go HOME WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE
Sam shaking her head no about getting blown up by aliens is so cute I love her so much
This feels like friends talking
Or like these two people I know who claim they’re in love but its always soooo awkward around them.
Generally speaking that’s my type like you haven’t had two alien boyfriends in the last 8 years babe
“I have a surprise for you” YOU BOUGHT A FUCKING HOUSE WITHOUT TELLING HER YOU CRETIN
THAT’S NOT A SURPRISE THAT’S CONTROLLING AND WEIRD
I hate that she looks happy. Don’t get me wrong I want her happy, I really do. And as much as I’m sure she loved Pete, she wasn’t in love with him. But I suppose she was happy for the first time with some one she could have… feelings are complicated, best not to have them honestly.
Jack has really long eyelashes. Just an observation.
That’s a lotta sugar, Danny boy. And Its not gonna make you any sweeter, I promise.
I love that he took the cup with him like he’s gonna drink it with THAT much sugar in it
Exposition, exposition, exposition.
Go away Anubis ya pain In the arse.
Oh the HOUSE
Have I said how much I hate that outfit cause I hate that outfit
It is a beautiful house to be fair but like…
Look at the PANIC in her eyes
I already have a problem with how they got engaged and the fact they stayed together after he STALKED HER.
Pete’s ability to control a situation and guilt trip her (literally he ran away and had her investigated by the FBI when she wouldn’t tell him about her work) reminds me of my ex. Which is probably why I hate him so damn much.
THE DECK SCENE
HER LOOKING AT HIS HOUSE
THE MUSIC
HE LOOKS GOOD IN DARK BLUE
I’M SORRY ITS ALL IN CAPS I’M TYPING AND WATCHING AND I’M SCREMING ON THE INSIDE DEAL WITH IT FAM I’M SORRY
THAT SMALL GRIN ON HIS FACE WHEN SHE SAYS SHE’S BEEN WORKING UP THE NERVE TO COME AND TALK TO HIM
TRUTH IS I’VE BEENTRYING TO WORK UP THE EVER FOR A LOT LONGER THAN THAT STOOP
ITS NOT GREAT JACK
YEAH BUT JACK HAS AN EVEN NCER HOSUE
SECOND THUGHTS
YES YOU ARE. GIANT MISTAKE INFACT
SHE’S REHEREDSE THIS SO MANY TIMES
KERRY FUCK OFFF NOW IS NOT THE TIME SWEETIE
THE BEER LOL
UES IT IS AWKKWARD
JACKS FACE OUCH
KERRY IS SO SWEET ASKING HER TO STAY FOR LUNCH
NO NOT DAD FUCK
Kerry caught him looking a little too long tbh
I’m not editing typos out of that btw it shows my rage
DAAAAAAD
JACOB YOU SWEET MAN
Oh sam honey I’m so sorry
I’m gonna cry again
FUCK OFF DANIEL JFC I literally do not give a shit
I only found out about Carmen’s death a couple months ago so I’m not gonna handle this well fam
Oh no
I’m typing and not looking again
Because Jacob is gonna tell her to go after Jack
I can’t breath
Six years ago
I’m not letting that go
It’s a continuity fuck up
Not that important but drives me nuts
No you’re not
He’s talking about jack
Come on sam he’s not dum
Everything you want is a house, a marriage and JACK
KERRY
LOVE OF MY LIFE
BREAKING UP WITH JACK FOR THE GREATER GOOD
I really like YOU Kerry
He’s so sad
He really liked Kerry
Retire please sir
Bye Kerry, I miss you already <3
If he told Sam he loved her right now she’d drop everything for him
He’s contemplating it
He’s confused but he’s thinking abut it because she’s stressed right now and ENGAGED but damn Kerry makes good points
More explanation and blah blah
Like if this was the main point of the story, there would be more talk of it outside of Daniel and we wouldn’t have just had 20 straight minutes if Sam and Jack pining over each other
Sorry can we talk about how PETE put a down payment on a house with OUT talking to her?? What if she didn’t like the neighbourhood?
Sorry I’m still mad about that
To be fair that green does look good on Daniel
Oma looks so proud
THEN STOP -B R E A K I N G- IT YOU GOOSE
Fuck sake woman
I’m so emotionally traumatised by this episode that I can’t remember half of what is added and half of whats in the 40 minute cut because I am repressing it lol. Obviously the scene with Kerry and the ones with Pete
NO JACOB
AND JACK BEING THERE FOR SAM
AND THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE SAID I LOVE YOU ALL OVER AGAIN
SORRY I NEED A TEN MINUTE BREAK TO CRY
OK I’m back
Sam looking at her like he wants to tell her he loves her breaks my tiny stone cold heart even more
He didn’t actually NEED to put his arm around her but they both actually really did need it
The way she rubs her thumb on his hand and leans into him I fucking can’t
AND MORE DANEIL FFS
Sorry I just feel like this was supposed to be the A plot, Dakara was the B plot and Sam/Jack was the C plot but it ended up Sam/Jack = A, Daniel and Anubis = B, Dakara = C
Took ya long enough to catch on, Danny boy
Good BYE PETE
You didn’t know shit from the beginning go home
That’s the same shade of blue Jack had on before… interesting
I mean it does have something to do with her father…
She will, babe, don’t stress
To be fair, to give him some credit, he took it like a champ
But also don’t be a creep ya know
Why does Sam’s jacket look awkward
She just looks awkward this entire sequence
INCOMING WORMHOLE
What, pray tell, is the point of the self destruct if it doesn’t blow up the gate? Isn’t that part of the point?
Daniel ya tit, that’s not gonna work
Fuck YEAH OMA
BEAT HIS FUCKING ASS
Now Daniel can come back to earth and be with Vala thanks
Literally the only time I like him is with Vala and then its with a push
This seems a little too convenient tbh
I know it was OMA but this episode just feels…. Disjointed
Ah but will you destroy it? Probably not knowing the Jaffa
I wonder if Sam and Jack have spoken by now. Clearly not the same day because different clothes.
I’d say two days since Dad?
Ack Naked!Daniel
Jack is so AWKWARD I LOVE HIM
SAM CAN’T LOOK AT HIM
BRA’TAC IS ENCOURAGING THIS BULL SHIT
F I S H I N G
I can believe it, Sam.
She’s leaning towards him
Aw that giggle
That look she gives him
They’re so happy
This was the perfect ending
It should have finished there
How much time passed between then and s9 I wonder
At least a month right because Sam had been away a month?
Well that was good.
Hurt my heart but it was good
Final notes:
Jacob and Janet deserved better
I want more Kerry
They should have stopped at s9
Sam and Jack are together now, TRY and convince me otherwise
I’m thinking of smutty fic ideas for the cabin please stop me
Thanks for coming along on that emotional roller coaster ride. Ended up being 9 pages of dot points so I’m sorry! But I feel like I’ve said my bit.
Oh one last thing
Fuck Pete 😊
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chriscdcase95 · 5 years ago
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Reposting for TLDR reasons. 
To see the full rant, click the “Keep Reading”, but this covers what I consider an example of a show taking shipping wars too seriously, giving fans and how it can potentially pull a show down the tubes. Especially at the expense of character development and their stories.
It’s kind of a follow-up to another post I made about canon and non canon ships, and how there’s some ship based stories better left to fanfiction.
Disclaimer: I generally don’t like Ship Policing (bullying, and badgering other people for liking “the wrong ship”) despite this being one of my biggest NOTP’s. I don’t intend to bully people who like this ship, and this analysis is based on my observations and opinions. 
So here I am talking about a barley known show and ship that’s barely relevant anymore if at all. This is a follow up post on a Loud House post regarding a non canon ship called Luaggie. I mentioned on that post , how it was an example of a fanfic ship and it’s best to be left a fanfic based ship. I now bring to you it’s antithesis; Jemma of Every Witch Way. Originally this was strictly about why some ships and stories that are best left to fanfiction, but there are so many problems with this ship, that I don’t really know where to start. I guess I’ll start with an introduction to the show.
Edit: I also had to revisit to trim this down, and correct misinformation.
Edit Edit: Twice. I had to edit it twice!
“What is Every Witch Way ?”
Every Witch Way was a comedy/drama series on Nickelodeon. Anyone who heard of it would know it is an Americanized remake of Grachi, a Latin American Nickelodeon series. The less educated may dismiss it as a Wizards of Waverly Place knockoff. The series focuses on Emma Alonso, a teenage girl who moves to Miami with her father and discovers she is a witch and chosen to one day lead the magical realm. With a group of muggle friends, the enthusiastic tough girl Andi; Emma’s queen bee rival Maddie also being a witch; a subplot about Fantastic Racism that ended with the wiping out of all but two of an entire race; we got ourselves a simple little TV show that could be a passible watch.
Coming from a post iCarly, Victorious and Big Time Rush era of Nickelodeon, where most of their shows were marketed to the younger kids and barely anything for teens to chew on, Every Witch Way was a breath of fresh air. Taking cues from previous Nick shows such as H2O Just Add Water and House of Anubis, and aimed for a teenage audience, it was more interested in telling stories than telling jokes.
I would have called the show an underrated cult classic series to get nostalgic over, like The Troop (a show which I’ll also talk about one day)…then comes seasons three and four and it becomes clear that Every Witch Way is more interested in ship war than it was telling stories. Maybe I was giving the show too much credit or had too much expectations for it. Let’s just say this was no House of Anubis or the Avatar franchise. I don’t know what pulled the show down the tubes; it was either the character Jax Novoa and his story arc, or his relationship with Emma. But they overlap with eachother so I might as well cover all of them.
“What kind of relationship is Jemma ?”
Imagine if you will; a high school drama, that involves a loving, kind and empathetic girl meeting a dark brooding bad boy, who does bad things. But because he has a sad past and bad parents, anything bad he does is immediately forgiven and brushed aside, or justified. And it is by the love of this girl, and only because of this love, does the bad boy get redeemed. 
It’s the kind of story you see in mediocre romance stories or fanfics; the idea that the dark and brooding love interest with a bad past or history can be changed for the better with the love of the protagonist. This describes the relationship Emma and Jax’s relationship to such a tee that it’s borderline parody. The kind of reationship you’d at least put some kind of spin on.
So how does this compare to Jax and Emma’s relationship ? A quick description is that Jax is a new student and a dark seeming wizard introduced in the second season, who immediately displays an arrogant personality and behaviour while befriending Emma and putting the moves on her (and making a quick rivalry with Emma’s then boyfriend Daniel). Emma has a good heart, and a loving empathetic girl, so of course she likes to see the good in people and Jax was no exception. Jax eventually “changes” his darker ways and becomes more altruistic, mainly to get back and stay into Emma’s good graces. 
Normally, I have no issues with an Enemies to Lovers story, but it’s the context and overexposure that puts Jemma in a bad light.
Emma continuously forgives, or ignores Jax’s flaws to near absurdity, mainly because Jax has a dead mom and an emotionally distant, controlling and seemingly abusive father…which is shown to be false in the many retcons season four gives us.
“What are the problems with Jemma ?”
I said in another post that a friend of mine defined toxic relationships differently than I did; one definition was that a ship is toxic based off of fans behaviour in the name of the ship; I define them for how much it romanticizes problematic behaviour. How does Jemma fall into either of these ?
Back when Every Witch Way was on, Jax x Emma fans were pretty rapid, and became the most loud and vocal part of the fanbase. Any attempts to criticize Jax, his behaviour or relationship with Emma is bombarded with “HE CHANGED! HE CHANGED FOR HER!” ad nauseum. 
It’s gotten to the point where they literally vote their preference to make them the shows official couple. This can be partially blamed on the writers because they went about asking their audience what they want to happen in a TV show, having them vote for wat hey want to happen and in turn made season four into a Jemma based AU fic that rewrote the entire show. Kind of lacks integrity if you ask me. It also had to have been one of most one sided and manufactured shipping wars I’ve seen. By the end of the series, Jemma fans were pretty sore winners.
So Jemma fans could be pushy, but did Jax and Emma’s relationship entail toxic ideals I listed above ? On the surface, “no” since Jax doesn’t physically abuse Emma or the like…but Jax is manipulative person, and is rather possessive and entitled towards Emma all things considered. And what else can you say about a relationship where this partner has manipulated and gaslighted nearly everyone around him to get in, and attempts to destroy the world over a breakup ?
There’s so much to cover that stems from Jax that I might as well write a section on Jax himself. The worst that can be said of Emma here is that she was too forgiving and empathetic for her own good.
“Jax and how not to write a redemption arc”
So Jax is an overwhelmingly popular character on the show, so much that season four retconned him into the main character behind Emma. It’s easy to call him a Gary Stu character since he’s a seemingly perfect character who gets his way all the time and soon becomes the center of the show. This trope also fits; “Draco In Leather Pants” where a villain tends to get romanticized or woobified in fanfics regardless of how sympathetic or redeemable they are in canon; mostly because they are cute.
When Jax was introduced, he was the de-facto Big Bad of season two, being the most prominent, and personal antagonist and direct source of most of the drama that occurs in the season. Throughout the season he befriends and puts the moves on Emma with the intent on using the power coming Fool Moon (long story) to take over the world and rule at her side. Jax eventually falls in love with Emma, but when she breaks up with him when she makes right with Daniel… Jax’s response was aiding in an attempt to destroy the magic realm; something they make clear would kill all but a few magical beings in the world and this is something Jax is very aware of In the final showdown Jax makes it clear to Emma that he doesn’t care about what could happen to their loved ones in this magical apocalypse, so long as Emma is with him.
Again, I wouldn’t take this as seriously if the show didn’t treat it as seriously.
Now in his defense, I was originally rooting for Jax to reform himself. No joke, I genuinely wanted to see how Jax would make good with those he manipulated, pushed around and tried to fucking kill. I like a good redemption stoy as much as the next guy, but Jax doesn’t really go through one; he just turns Face at the last minute, apologizes to Emma about not wanting to hurt her, Emma immediately forgives him and Jax wastes no time putting the moves on her and antagonizing Daniel. What punishment does Jax go through ? What atonement did he have to suffer ? He’s put through a boot camp with the threat losing his powers, all the while he agonizes that those who he wronged still resent him. To be fair he does have genuine good deeds in season three; such as heping a dying friend, and even riskiig his life to save another But even then, the sho treats Emma as his prize for being a Nice Guy, and he admits this to Emma during the third seasons finale in a scene we are supposed to find romantic. And when he gets the girl, its all rendered moot in season four.
Helping or not helping with Jax’s character is that in season two he is given multiple “excuses”; controlling and abusive father, seemingly dead mother. They worked back then in making Jax sympathetic. The problem is when we get the actual revelations of his family and in turn make him unsympathetic in retrospect.
“The Mess That Is Season Four”
I don’t like the Fanon Discontinuity trope - where fans refuse to accept an istallment as canon out of a dislike of them. I generally don’t apply this trope with very few exceptions. But let me tell you this; when I say season four isn’t canon to the previous seasons, that’s not me talking, that’s the show itself talking. 
It isn’t a continuation of the previous seasons, it’s a reboot. When Emma and Jax become the shows OTP, the universe literally changes around them. Season four introduces a plot point that where an SCP style anomaly exists called a Continuum Break, in which as a direct result of Emma’s decision, the universe casted Daniel out of everyone’s lives, and their friends memories, and retroactively replaces him with Jax. Subsequently, the events of the previous seasons and their conflicts revolve around Jax and Emma’s relationship. 
One reason why these retcons don’t work is that because the world was altered in Jemma’s image, Jax here isn’t the same Jax as we knew through season two and three. The retcons fail because Jax’s previous sympathy is erased in retrospect, because Jax would hide behind his parents as an excuse for his actions (the dead mother wasn’t dead, but in fact, secret villain; and Jax’s abusive father wasn’t abusive). Jax being sympathetic hinged off of these excuses, and they either never applied, or was hit by the reset button, and thus irrelevant to his development.
And I am left asking myself why the writers came up with the Continuum Break in the first place ?Where Jemma fans that pushy about making their ship canon that they had to make it the only canon relationship in the show ? If so, that’s how wildly Jemma shippers are, if not that’s on the writers for being that much fan slaves. What other point could there be in portraying the Continuum Break as the way things should be ? Not to be pesimeistic, but it feels like this is the show throwing a character under the bus for the sake of rewriting the previous seasons and making Jax the new protagonist.
On top of that, other characters and arcs get thrown under the bus too
Mainly, Mia Black, who was introduced in season three as the de-facto main antagonist, and is added as another member of the love triangle. Mia is also affected by the Continuum Break as she is also cast from everyone’s memories and lives, to live an alternate life with Daniel. This is arguably more jarring than Daniel being taken away because Mia ultimately doesn’t sacrifice her morals for what she believes in and ultimately wasn’t that much of a threat and her own redemption arc is foreshadowed throughout the season by bonding with Daniel and Diego, and the added empathise on how lonely she is. This culminates in Emma reaching out to her in the season finale, and declaring herself her protector.  Like Jax, I was looking forward to seeing where they would take Mia and her arc the next season. Well as a result of the Continuum Break, she’s out of everyone’s lives, and living an artificial alternate one the universe spat out. Like Daniel, she may have been happy with her new life, but it still renders everything they foreshadowed for her and what she’s been through for nothing.
Personal conclusion
I reiterate my first statement Every Witch Way was a great show (first three seasons, at least is IMO). It was a breath of fresh air in a time when most of Nick’s shows were targeting a younger demographic in a post iCarly, Big Time Rush, and Victorious era. I’d call it an cult classic series, but I still feel that season four keeps it from being one of the great ones. I do recommend checking the series out, the story arcs are mostly good. Unfortunately by the time season four rolled in, it seemed pretty clear the show was more interested in shipping wars than it was in telling it’s stories.
I can’t really pinpoint what caused the show to drop in quality; the manufactured ship war ? Jax as a character ? Jemma’s pushy fans ? The writers for bending to fan demands ? Either way, season four’s Continuum Break was something the show could have done without. I won’t say that Jax is the most unlikeable character on the show (that would be Emma’s father) and he isn’t the most evil either (that would be Torres). I consider Jax and his blunders more so the fault of how he was written than anything else.
I will give Jax and Jemma this; the character and ship has so much going for it, I can’t help but compare and contrast them to other similar characters, story arcs and ships. I use it as an example of not to write a redemptive romance, and why some things are best left to fanfiction. But above all else, I hold it as an example as to why writers and creators shouldn’t sacrifice their stories blindly cater to fans and popular ships.
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belphegor1982 · 5 years ago
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Well, officially presenting the first chapter (on AO3 and here) of my Mummy story I’m in the process of resurrecting :o)
FAIRY TALES AND HOKUM
Summary: 1937: The O'Connells are required by the English Government to bring the Diamond taken from Ahm Shere from Cairo to London. Things get interesting when Jonathan bumps by chance into an old friend of his from Oxford, Tom Ferguson...
Chapter 1: Old Friends (on AO3 here)
Cairo, Egypt, 1937
A tourist’s first impression of this part of Cairo was mostly a blinding white light. The little houses, the blazing sky, the glittering sun, even the dust flying around helped complete the effect.
Of course, as soon as your eyes – and mind – adjusted, you could see and feel the dust settled on absolutely everything, including your ears and nose, the layers of grime, the heaps of donkey and mule droppings in the streets… and if you were very careful, you could catch the hand of the passing pickpocket sneaking for your wallet, as it was in any metropolis big and noisy enough for passers-by to be distracted.
Not that this particular thought worried one particular Englishman currently sauntering across the streets of Cairo. As a fairly skilled pickpocket himself, Jonathan Carnahan didn’t need to eye every corner warily – all he needed to do was to watch his own self and make sure that no belongings of his landed in anyone’s pocket. Or vice versa.
Jonathan turned round a corner, whistling a jaunty jazz tune. Despite his cheerful demeanour, he was feeling slightly miffed, having gone out in the hopes of finding something for Evy’s birthday and coming home empty-handed. Lucky thing that he still had a couple of weeks to go. After years of searching frantically for a gift at the very last moment, he was determined to get his hands on something she might like – and preferably something that didn’t involve puzzle boxes, big black books, and three-thousand-years-old mummies rising from the dead. That was over. He, for one, had had his share of insane stuff like that.
Thinking of their last trip to Egypt all together wiped the smile off his face. It had been two years, but how could he ever forget that horrible, ice-cold feeling that had left him completely numb, as he sat down next to the dead body of his sister, trying to comfort his nephew and failing so thoroughly? He had never felt so miserable in all his life. Since his life included a stint in the trenches and being chased by the undead more times than necessary, this was saying something.
There it goes again. Jonathan shook his head, and quickened his pace. He’d got fairly good at actively ignoring this kind of memories, but it was getting harder when they kept popping back up without a warning. Unlike his brother-in-law, for whom this part of the world meant little else than bloody unnecessary conflict, the inside of a gaol, and the aforementioned undead, Jonathan didn’t really mind returning to Egypt. He’d had quite a few fond memories of the place before the whole nasty mummy business. It was the reason behind the trip that bothered him a little.
Two years ago, the second before the oasis of Ahm Shere sank into the ground, Jonathan had taken as a souvenir – and compensation for his troubles – the enormous diamond resting atop the pyramid. He’d felt very proud of himself for that, and it had come to him as a nasty bit of shock when Evy had told him there was absolutely no way he would take it to London. Yet, after much arguing on his part, and even more talking and coaxing on his sister’s, he had finally admitted, despondently, that she might be right after all.
The Cairo Egyptian Museum of Antiquities had offered him a tidy sum, but it had not really consoled him – not when he had been strong-armed to give a substantial part to Izzy as compensation for his troubles. Since the man never knew the real value of the gem, however, said compensation amounted to a quarter rather than the half he had been demanding, a fact which Jonathan adamantly refused to feel guilty over.
Even Evy reminding him that the diamond couldn’t be safer than in this hidden room, under the constant, hawk-like watch of the Medjai curator, had not been quite enough. The diamond was beautiful – gleaming white, inlaid with elaborated gold and pearls – and big – the weight of it had nearly pulled Jonathan down from the dirigible. Parting with it had not been easy.
And now, just a few months ago, the British government had contacted Evy and Rick through the curator of the British Museum where Evy oversaw the seven Egyptian galleries; they had decided that the diamond was no longer safe in Egypt, with the Italian army invading Ethiopia not so long ago and the ominous tidings from Germany, Italy and Spain – the O’Connells had been kindly asked to return to Egypt, and accompany the diamond on its way to England. Which had meant, in a more prosaic way of putting it, that they were mandatory volunteers. The look on Rick’s face when he had explained it to his brother-in-law had been a murderous one – partly because he hated the idea of being ordered about, mainly because Evy was more than enthusiastic about it.
Alex had told his uncle afterwards of the row they’d had one night, thinking he was sound asleep. Poor kid had never heard his parents truly fight in the space of ten years, and that had obviously disturbed him. To tell the truth, it had disturbed Jonathan himself, who saw Evy and Rick as the perfect couple in so many ways it was disgusting. Egypt – especially its supernatural side – had lost its charms for Rick ever since Ahm Shere. There was no way in hell he’d let his wife go there alone.
“And he said that Mum was ‘a magnet for trouble’, that each time they went to that ‘damn place someone died’, and after that Mum shouted something rude –”
“Rude? Evy? Are we really speaking of my baby sister there?” Uncle and nephew had been sitting on the carpet on the floor of the latter’s bedroom, back against the bed. Jonathan quite liked it when he went over to ‘baby-sit’ Alex – Evy had finally come to trust him when she and Rick had to go out for whatever reason, and they usually had a good time together. That evening, though, Alex had sat silently, looking crestfallen. When Jonathan had eventually managed to get him to talk, it was rather late in the night, and Alex ought to have been put to bed long ago. But neither of them were very eager about it just then.
His uncle’s attempt at humour got a reluctant smile from Alex; he repeated what Evy had said to Jonathan, who let out a low whistle. “Indeed. Even your dad would call it rude, I guess.”
Alex gave another slight smile, and snuggled beside his uncle. A tad uncomfortable at first with this rather unusual display of emotion, Jonathan put an arm around his nephew’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “Hey. Want a piece of advice from your old uncle?” Alex nodded, not saying anything. “Don’t worry too much. I’ve seen your parents together for twelve years, and if there’s only one thing I’m sure of in this world – they are so in love it’s sickening. It’s always been this way, and I’m sure it’ll always be this way.” Alex raised his eyes. Jonathan looked down at him, winking. “Get used to it, partner. We’re doomed.”
A moment’s silence passed, more comfortable and relaxed than it had been a few minutes earlier. Then Alex raised his blond head to ask, “D’you think we’ll go back to Egypt, then?”
“I don’t know.” Jonathan shifted slightly on the floor. “I wouldn’t say no to a trip there – the country’s a fine one. And after all, we’re talking about my diamond here, dammit.” Alex snorted, and Jonathan chose to ignore it. “Seriously, I like the place. I spent most of my time as a kid there.”
“Well, I’d love to go.” The passion in his nephew’s voice echoed his mum’s whenever she spoke of Egypt, and it wasn’t lost on Jonathan.
“You sure? I would’ve thought that you would hate it, actually. You didn’t have what I’d call a good time last time you went there.”
“You only say that because you were scared to death most of the time.”
“It’s not true.”
“Like hell it isn’t!”
Jonathan managed to give Alex what he thought was a stern look. The boy just grinned.
“And you kiss your mother with that mouth.”
“Bet Dad hasn’t taught me half of what he knows.”
This time, they both chuckled. Then Alex scrambled out of his uncle’s arms and looked at him in the eye. “Why won’t he go back to Egypt?”
“Well, it’s – it’s complicated.” No it’s not. “I guess he doesn’t want to – lose you or your mum again.” Jonathan swallowed. “And to tell you the truth… I have to agree with him on that one.”
“But it’s only for the diamond!” Alex exclaimed. “No Book of the Dead, no mummies, no ancient curses. Only a stupid diamond to take to England.”
Jonathan grinned. “The problem is, each time your mum began her sentence by ‘It’s only’ something, the world went upside down and your mum and dad had to save it. Mostly because they doomed it in the first place. If my memory serves me right, it was first the Book of the Dead, then the chest with that bloody Bracelet of Anubis.” Jonathan shook his head. “Seems you take more after Evy than I thought.” He winked at Alex to make him know he was only being half serious; but Alex went on.
“Okay, I understand that he doesn’t want to lose me or –”
“Let me clear that up, Alex,” Jonathan interrupted, his voice low and serious for once. “It’s not that he ‘doesn’t want’ to. You know him, there’s not many things on earth he’s afraid of, but he’s scared out of his wits at the mere thought of losing one of you two. And that’s saying something, because your dad’s one of the bravest blokes I’ve ever known.”
Alex was silent for a moment, pondering his uncle’s words. Then his jaw clenched, and he looked away. “Uncle Jon?”
“Yes?”
“At Ahm Shere, I was – I was scared to death when – when Mum…”
Jonathan felt a knot tighten in his chest; he shifted closer to his nephew and put an arm around him again. “I know. I was, too.”
After a whole week of deliberation, Rick and Evy accepted the government’s mission. And after another fourteen days of heated debates, Alex was allowed to go with his parents to Egypt, apparently thanks to the high marks he had received in school. But Jonathan suspected that this decision had a lot to do with his nephew’s ability to wear out any guardian when he didn’t want to be left out. Thankfully the boy had never tried his infamous tricks on him, a fact that made Evy wonder endlessly.
In the end, Evy and Rick officially broke the news about the trip to Jonathan; not wanting them to realise that he had known for almost a month, he feigned to be pleasantly surprised, and asked if they minded him going along for the ride. Evy said yes almost immediately, but Rick muttered something about the return of the whole O’Connell-Carnahan family to Egypt bringing down plagues and destruction upon the world.
So, after a surprisingly uneventful flight from London to Cairo, and an equally calm trip to their ‘old haunt’, as Jonathan liked to put it, they were settling down peacefully. The lack of major events so far had made Rick more relaxed, even if he still looked as if danger was about to bear down upon his family any time. But the fact remained that they were to stay in Egypt until the London and Cairo Museums agreed on several points which still needed to be discussed. Ah, the joys of bureaucracy.
Jonathan was jerked out of his train of thought when he finally felt the afternoon sun’s fantastic heat on his head and neck, and wished he had taken Evy’s advice to put on a hat. They had arrived the day before, and while Evy discussed the diamond case with the curator of the Museum of Antiquities, and Rick took Alex to see other things than desiccated corpses, Jonathan had sneaked out to take a stroll, and try to find a fitting birthday present. Evy was a tricky one when it came to gifts – she didn’t seem to like flowers, trinkets or pretty dresses like other women Jonathan knew; but she was crazy about anything that reminded her of Egypt. It had been that way ever since she was old enough to know what she wanted, which had come very early indeed.
Maybe the best thing was to ask O’Connell what he would be giving her, and either get ideas or just contribute to the purchase, as he had done before. But that bothered him. After all, as his one and only sister, she did deserve something special.
Quite lost in his thoughts this time, he barely registered that he was walking past the Museum before somebody knocked into him, hard enough for both of them to crumple, breathless, on the ground. It took Jonathan thirty seconds to get his lungs in working order again and, instinctively, check his pockets for anything missing.
“So sorry I bumped into you, man, din’ mean to,” came the voice of the attacker. Jonathan’s eyes widened at the sound of this voice and he squinted up at its owner.
“Ferguson? Is that you? Tommy Ferguson?”
The fellow shook his head, still looking a bit dazed; then his own eyes, round and brown, went even rounder as he stared at Jonathan. “Carnahan! What the hell are you doin’ ‘ere?”
“Glad to see you too, old chap,” laughed Jonathan, standing up and dusting himself off before offering a hand at the man on the ground, who accepted it gladly.
He hadn’t seen Thomas Ferguson since some time after the end of the war, what felt like ages ago. They’d made quite a pair at Oxford, the two of them – the scrawny, foppish Southerner with the quiet grin and the sticky fingers, and the broad-shouldered, round-faced Scouse with the laughing eyes and the deceptively innocent face. They’d rowed for the Dark Blues for a bit, got properly pickled on Boat Race Nights, and helped each other out of many a tight spot.
As soon as Tommy was on his feet he was wringing Jonathan’s hand with all the energy he’d been famous for as a boy. “Sorry, Jon, mate, I was a bit stunned –” After all these years, he still retained some of that accent, too! “– ‘S’not everyday you bump into a pal from Oxford in the middle of Cairo! How’d you get here, for starters?”
“Well, I followed my sister,” Jonathan replied, grinning. In fifteen years or so, he had not realised that he had actually missed this accent. “She’s giving a hand to the curator of the Museum of Antiquities – she’s something of an authority now, as a matter of fact.”
“Oh yeah? That’s fantastic. I haven’t forgotten how you’d talk about her, y’know. On and on and on. I’m curious to see what she looks like.”
Jonathan stole a glance at the entrance steps of the Museum, and turned to Tommy with a smirk. “Really? Well, if you really want to, I suppose I could…”
His sister had just appeared on the stairs, accompanied by the curator, an elderly man with greying hair and whiskers. Tommy followed Jonathan’s gaze and looked at them, goggling at Evy in particular.
“Jonny – are my eyes mistaken, or is this gorgeous woman Doctor Evelyn O’Connell? I’ve read about her, she’s famous in my line of work… According to what I’ve read, she was one of the first people to make it out of the City of the Dead alive –”
Jonathan’s grin widened as he nodded. “Yes, that’d be her.”
Tommy rambled on as they walked closer to the stairs, “That’s bloody amazing! I thought she’d look, you know, like in the pictures in the paper, the bookish type with glasses – your typical Southern spinster”, he added with a wink. They waited for the curator to bid her goodbye, and Jonathan, greatly enjoying the situation, crept up on his sister to kiss her on the cheek.
“Hey there, old mum – how’s your day been?”
Evy started, then her expression shifted from slightly irked to a smile at her brother’s laugh. She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Jonathan, the things that amuse you…”
“You’re just miffed I startled you. C’mon, I’d like you to meet someone – an admirer,” he added with a grin to Tommy, who stood there, his eyes wide. “Thomas Ferguson, an old school friend of mine. Tommy – Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, my famous baby sister.”
Evy held out her hand, which Tommy grabbed and shook heartily. “So you’re the old scoundrel’s sister? No wonder he spoke about you – though you don’t quite fit the description now…”
“What exactly did you tell your ‘school friends’ about me?” asked Evy, warning in her voice, though the twinkle in her eye did not quite disappear. Nevertheless, Jonathan preferred to ignore her question, earning a hard nudge in the ribs.
“So, what did you say your ‘line of work’ was?” he asked Tommy.
“Well – don’ laugh. I work at the British Consulate in Cairo, specialising in antique stuff. Oh, I’m sorry, Dr O’Connell,” he stammered with a glance at Evy who had an eyebrow raised, “I mean I’m one of the chief agents in the British Antique Research Department.”
“I’ve heard of you!” exclaimed Evy. “At least of that Research Department. They’re gradually cutting off public funds – encouraging individual financing – that won’t do any good for scientific research. Such a stupid decision is only going to –”
“So you lot are the ones she kept fuming about for half a year!” Jonathan snorted. The infamous Ferguson rotten luck struck again.
Tommy looked dejected. Evy must have seen this, because she bit her lip and said, in softer tones, “Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you. But as my brother said, I’ve been – rather upset over this. There’s been some pressure on the British Museum lately by private patrons who threatened to pull out their funding on some… sensitive collections. Without the Crown to back us up, we might have to cave in to their ridiculous demands.”
“I’ll – I’ll tell my superiors about it,” said Tommy, still looking unsure. “See what I can do. Surely that won’t be much, but… Well. I’ll have tried.”
“That’s nice,” Evy said cheerfully, taking Jonathan’s arm and starting to walk. “Look, the two of you – I’ve had something of a rough day, so I’ll go home, if you don’t mind. You can –”
“Brilliant idea!” said Jonathan, flashing a grin at his sister. “I thought of going to the Sultan’s Kasbah, but you might find it a tad – let’s say – dingy, my good friend.”
“Worse than the Turf?” Seeing Evy’s puzzled look, Tommy explained, “Sorry, private joke. I mean the Turf Tavern, that’s where I saw him for the first time. Me family didn’t ‘ave much money, you know, so I used to work there to pay for my studies. Very nice pub, didn’t deserve the reputation.”
“I’m sure you did indeed see a lot of my brother there,” Evy slipped in slyly. Jonathan threw a mock glare at her.
“To think you are almost my only family. What a shame.” Then, as Tommy looked uncertain, “Carry on, Tom.”
“All right. So I was one of the only students who needed a job, and there were some others who thought that it was – how’d they put it? – a ‘disgrace’ to our university.”
“Preposterous,” said Evy sternly. “As if money could take you further than talent.”
Jonathan bit back on the cynical comment that crossed his mind. Sometimes Evy’s naïveté baffled him.
“Right,” said Tommy uncertainly, glancing at Jonathan. “So, one day, a little bunch of lads come in, and Jon here was sometimes hanging with ‘em at the time –”
Evy glared at Jonathan in advance, and he threw his hands in the air. “Don’t look at me like that! I haven’t done anything!” Evy’s gaze softened, and Jonathan finished, “…Yet.”
That earned him a playful slap on the arm, and a laugh from Tommy, who went on, “Anyway, one of the blokes orders somethin’ or other, and starts to poke fun at me. Well, I was used to it, so I let them be. Then they continued, and I finally noticed that skinny lad in the corner who was makin’ fun at them for making fun at me. Didn’ quite understand what the hell was going on – oh, sorry, Dr O’Connell – what was happening.”
Evy smiled. “You’ll have to watch your mouth in front of my son, but otherwise it’s fine. And please, call me Evelyn.”
Tommy beamed. “Right, uh, Evelyn. So, uh –”
“What he didn’t know at that point,” interrupted Jonathan, “was that I had my eye on that fellow – what’s his name – Farbow. He owed me quite a bit of money, but wouldn’t repay me. So I was looking for a way to get him back for it.”
“And get the rest of his wallet in the process, of course.”
“Evy, he owed me seventeen pounds. And he was not what I’d call a ‘decent bloke’ – nasty, disdainful piece of work he was, and his little friends with him. Always a dirty word about the Scouse who worked at the Turf Tavern, just because he didn’t belong to his snobby little world. I did the community a favour, really.”
“Don’t push it, Jonathan,” warned Evy.
Tommy carried on. “Well, I was glad there was at least one person who didn’t think like Edwin Farbow – nice change. Then Farbow said something – I don’t remember what it was about, I jus’ remember it made me really angry, really. An’ it’s not a pretty sight when I’m really angry at someone.”
Jonathan remembered, but thought it wise to keep his mouth shut.
“An’ – an’ I just lost it, y’know? I dropped his tea over his ‘ead –”
“I say, that one was pretty funny,” Jonathan said, smiling widely at the memory. The strangled yelp that had followed had definitely been one of the best parts.
“So they all leaped for me, obviously – began to punch me, the six or seven of them – hey, I still managed to get back at them!” Tommy added quickly, as if defending his honour. Evy hid a smile, and it occurred to Jonathan that that last sentence had something very Rick-like about it. “But I’m not a fool. I know a losing fight when I’m in one.”
“Don’t tell me. Jonathan bravely threw himself into the fight to take on as many attackers as possible.” There was mischievous laughter in Evy’s voice, and her eyes were twinkling. If any other than her had quipped that way about him, Jonathan would probably have taken offence, or at least pretended to. But they knew each other enough not to cross the line.
Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Well, that wasn’t quite Jon’s style – I don’ know, might’ve changed since then. But yeah, he did. One moment I was squashed under six or seven guys, the nex’ I found out we were two on the floor.”
Evy began to laugh. “Why, Jonathan? My Jonathan, in a fight, for someone he barely knew?”
At that Jonathan cleared his throat, a mite embarrassed. “I told you, I was looking for Farbow’s wallet. That was the perfect diversion – you should’ve seen that twit looking in every corner for his lost wallet afterwards. It was three months before he gave up.” And it’s lucky you didn’t see me then. I was a bloody mess. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.” Evy smiled. “You never told me that.”
“Should I have?”
“I don’t know, it’s – it was nice of you to do that, even for the wrong reasons. I’m proud of you.”
Jonathan felt an unexpected lump rise in his throat. Not a very big one, but enough to keep him from talking for a few seconds. It was always like this whenever she said something really nice to him. It caught him off guard each and every time.
“We’re home,” announced Evy after a little while, stopping in front of a door.
“Nice house,” commented Tommy, taking in the sand-coloured neat front and the curtains at the windows.
“Our ‘old haunt’ since the family moved to Egypt,” Jonathan said, opening the door and stepping aside to let his sister in. “Evy wasn’t even walking then.”
“I do believe I was,” Evy protested.
Jonathan snorted. “Oh, you weren’t. You crawled.”
Evy seemed to resist the urge to slap her brother and walked into the living room, her nose in the air. She was greeted by two simultaneous voices:
“Mum!”
“Hey, hon.”
Jonathan waited a few seconds, then walked into the room in turn, and grinned at the sight of his nephew looking genuinely eager to see him. He was not fooled, however – as soon as Evy wasn’t looking, Alex mouthed the words “Got one?” and frowned as his uncle shook his head. No, he still had no present for Mum’s birthday.
Then Alex peered behind Jonathan and saw Tommy standing there, looking uncomfortable at the family reunion.
“Uncle Jon? Who’s that?”
“Who, him?” Jonathan pointed at his friend, and Alex rolled his eyes. “Tom Ferguson, was in class with me at Oxford. I ran into him by chance today.”
Tommy stepped past Jonathan and held out his hand to Alex, nearest to him. “Hi – glad to see ya. Jon’s nephew, eh?”
“Yeah,” said Alex, eyeing him with all the suspicion of a ten-year-old who’d seen what he had seen. Behind him, Rick’s eyes spoke loads about his own distrust. But mistrust towards Jonathan and everything related was par for the course on his part, and, admittedly, reasonable.
“Thomas Ferguson, British Antique Research Department,” said Tommy, holding out a hand towards Rick, who shook it slowly, still reluctant.
“Rick O’Connell.”
“So you’re Dr O’Connell’s husband? Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m impressed, you’ve no idea.”
Rick raised an eyebrow. “Impressed?”
“It seems I’m rather famous in the Research Department,” said Evy, laughing.
“Make that infamous,” quipped Jonathan.
“The Department owes your wife a huge amount of information about some obscure periods of Egyptian hist’ry, as well as the major part of serious knowledge we’ve got on Hamunaptra,” Tommy pointed out, and Evy blushed. “She’s a legend – one of the original three who managed to go to Hamunaptra and live to tell the tale – but – I assume you’re another one?”
“Yeah,” said Rick, looking a bit nonplussed. Jonathan definitely didn’t regret bringing Tommy in. Seeing Rick O’Connell confused was a very rare occurrence, too rare to be missed.
“I never knew – who was the third one?”
Jonathan was now struggling to keep a straight face. Rick blinked, and pointed at his brother-in-law. “That was him.”
“You!?” God, the look on his face was priceless. “You were at Hamunaptra?”
“Yes,” risked Jonathan, laughter rising in his voice. “And believe me, it wasn’t quite the picnic. Oh, by the way, there were four of us, not three.”
From the corner of his eye, he could see Rick roll his eyes and grinned, undaunted. This was proving to be a fun evening.
__________
1937 was a conscious choice on my part, and so was the choice to make it two years after Ahm Shere. I know that in the film we clearly see the caption THEBES – 1933, but 1935 is the date at the back of the DVD and at the back of the novelisation. Besides, in the film, Red (the bald-ish one of the three thugs) states that the events of TM happened "nine years ago", and Alex is eight. I'm not good at maths, but I chose to trust it nonetheless. There are other explanations to the date goofs, both Doylist and Watsonian, and this is mine.
Hope you liked/will like the rest!
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bunny-rambles · 2 years ago
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currently replying to you as i die on my bestie's sofa because of too many spaghetti all'amatriciana in my stomach — can't help overdoing every time i cook my favourite pasta sigh ;; but also ahh, how had i missed talking to you
in light of that, today's word you're getting is an extremely italian specific — it's abbiocco, sometimes also known as "abbiocco post-prandiale", it's the world you use when you feel very sleepy after eating a lot. pretty fitting for a country of food lovers eheh
but also! hydro bedo, cryo bedo, pyro bedo, heck, dendro bedo! albedo is good in every shape or form he might come in. seriously, tho, the cryo albedo doppelganger in the 2.3 event?? a m a z i n g i loved it, if characters ever were to unlock new elements for whatever reasons i wouldn't mind seeing elsa!bedo again
CYNO! oh Lord, cyno. as you (don't) know, i also am a huge egyptian mythology nerd. a greek mythology nerd too. just a mythology nerd in general :3 — also the friend whose house i'm crashing is unironically nicknamed after an egyptian god! not spoiling who tho lol
i actually really love all the sumeru men ;;;;; would love to have them all but as you said, scara is coming, and i sure as HELL am not compromising on getting him. would also love to get at least a con of him just because so ;;;;;; might have to skip someone sigh sigh
also ye i know everything about xingqiu and ayato — heck, i have both of them built and i love them but again i'd love to have someone whose hydro application is not burst related sigh ;;
with this i'll sign off, it's musical night tonight! we're making a musical marathon since like, happy hour (made so many snacks for it we'll reach the end of the night stuffed full sigh. oh well, the cheese nachos were great, highly recommended for something that takes like, 30 seconds of effort to make)
good night my sweet bunny, ti voglio bene!
- 🍓
pasta is always good, my friend - no matter what form it takes
now something similar to that word should definitely be added to the english language, that’s so perfect, abbiocco. I’ll definitely be using this one as much as I can.
Dendro Albedo? Now that’s a concept. He actually really suits it because of his interest in life. His skill is literally a flower;;; but it’s sort of fitting it’s not a real flower, with him being artificial n all. A beautiful creation, perhaps even more magnificent than a real flower, but it could never hope to be real. Hm. Maybe Geo really is the perfect element for him.
That’s amazing !! I’ve recently from a friend of mine, if you were kinda nerdy, you would usually have a mythology or history fixation phase while you were growing up - I was sort of both but Egypt always has a special place in my heart. When I first saw him - oh my god I was so happy. I was like YES SOMETHING INSPIRED BY ANUBIS LETS GO !! And Cyno as well from all the leaks I’ve seen about specifically his personality is shaping up to be one of my favourites in the game. (Don’t even get me started on that kit leak, I would’ve preferred to see it in game but still I’m very excited to play him he looks so fun)
I’m so worried I won’t be able to get Scara if Cyno decides to be stubborn and take up all my pulls to get him. Apparently he really isn’t that far away and I’m a f2p so I am;;; in pain. But even if I don’t get him, these characters will all likely get a rerun because of how short the banners will be. Esp Cyno and Nilou - they’re definitely getting a rerun soon. I’m sad about Tighnari though, I don’t think they should’ve announced he’d be on the standard so quickly. And he’s such a good character too. Sigh. I’ll just have to pray that he’ll ruin my pity at some point or come home in a ten pull with the five star.
It sounds like you had a really good night. I’m happy for you - hopefully one day I can experience something similar. Try not to get down about that - I’m happy reading about your friends so don’t stop talking about them. Still can’t help but feel a little envious though <3 just sounds like it’s very nice
I’m so sorry for the wait I’m just horrible with replying. Even my messages from friends are a few days old at this point. I’ll see you soon hopefully
Ti voglio bene, dearest, hopefully you’ll reply again soon <3
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moonshroooms · 7 years ago
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I feel like rambling about Animal Crossing (so let’s do that!)
So my town is a humble little place called Appalon, which I love that name so, so much because I came up with it myself, AND it sounds like an actual town name!
Oh, and if anyone would like to see my town my dream address is: 
4D00-00AB-2785 as of November 20, 2017
I remember when I was younger my very first Animal Crossing town (in Animal Crossing: Wild World), was called Hawaii. I was a creative 11 year old.
But Appalon is perfect! Not only does it sound like a town name, but it also alludes to my favorite town fruit, which are apples. So I’m simultaneously creative and obvious at the same time – beautiful. I like the circle grass and tree trunks, and apple fruit best.
I’ve been getting ideas from perusing Dream Towns and also stalking tumblr for pathway patterns. I finally found one (technically 4), I absolutely love! They’re stones, but they come in four colors, which I intend to switch out with the change of seasons so the pathway always matches the trees and grass!
(The pattern is found here by the way)
 Right now my villagers are…
Margie: A super-cute white china-looking (china like the glassy material, not the country), elephant
Julian: The only unicorn in the entire game. I love him he’s so nice and he’s blue. He’s also really weeby in my game XD
Lopez: He’s a gazelle and he’s cute. He’s a big fat nerd
Matilda: A black kangaroo who I h a t e. Everyone’s got that one villager they hate, y’know? Not that I hate her super personally. She hasn’t been very nice to me, and her house is parked right where I want to put paths and a bridge and things and she must leave.
Zucker: He’s an octopus!! There are only 3 in all of animal crossing!! HE LOOKS LIKE A DANGO OR A GLAZED DONUTHOLE OR SOMETHING AND I LOVE HIM! And he’s a foodie (which is my favorite personality, though I try to not think of villagers as their present personalities, just because it makes the game more fun if you don’t).
Del: He’s a black and red crocodile and meh. He a’ight. The only reason I’m not itching for him to leave is because I’m itching for Matilda to leave first.
Katt: She’s a tabby cat and she’s pretty meh too. She’s my first uchi villager though, and I love the personality type so far! We’re okay friends, I don’t talk to her much.
Wolf Link (W. Link): IT’S FRICKEN WOLF LINK!!! When I saw the option “you should move here” after scanning my wolf Link amiibo I was like, “that’s cruel, they’re just gonna say some extra dialogue like ‘I’ve got too much world saving to do’” but NO. DEAR GOD THEY WERE SERIOUS AND NOW I HAVE WOLF LINK IN MY TOWN. He’s beautiful and his house looks like a Zelda dungeon. If I didn’t already have my heart set on an old dreamy he’d be it.
Look at him
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Lucky: He’s a mummy dog and he’s my best friend! I love him so much. In my town I tend to refer to things as though I were in a matriarchal country (with me as the beloved and also eternal ruler >:P). When I was trying to send a bear named Bluebear into the V O I D of time travel, I used Lucky as my scout to alert me to people trying to move. Lucky is therefore my top scout and best villager, I love him. I have an entire background for him that I’m going to tell you about RITE NOW. Warning though, it gets dark for a cool minute for literally no reason other than putting dark things in animal crossing is hilarious.
So during Halloween you find out Lucky’s scare weakness is the mummy mast. He’s a dog wrapped in mummy bandages named Lucky, and his house default is an Egyptian tomb looking room. He has also told me how much he loves adventure. My headcanon is that Lucky was the dog of a brave adventurer, but together they ran into some bad luck (ironically), in some cursed Egyptian tombs. There they were both mummified and buried alive. Lucky escaped the sarcophagus, but could find no way to free his friend. He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his owner to die alone so Lucky, still wrapped in the bandages, sat with his owner until he died from lack of oxygen. Once he was gone, Lucky knew his owner would want him to go on and live a happy life, so he dug his way out of the tomb, where he was confronted with Anubis: god of embalming and the dead (I believe). Anubis praised Lucky for refusing to abandon his friend, despite the doom they both faced, and rewarded him. Lucky was now eternal, free to explore the world on as many adventures as he wished, and his good friend would also gain in eternal soul in a different fashion: reincarnation. One day his owner would reincarnate, though without their memories, many times throughout his life. They could go on adventures forever through time.
And just who is Lucky’s reincarnated frien-
Me, it’s me. I had Lucky in my very first Animal Crossing town (and still do! I went to look at it just yesterday for nostalgia’s sake!), as well as my next town in City Folk, it’s destined that we’re gonna be best friends throughout all my reincarnations. He was there even before I had his backstory! It’s fate!
(And somehow, Lucky is still not my Ultimate Dreamy. *A* dreamy for sure, but not The One™) But look at him tho he’s adorbs.
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Anyways, my ‘theme’ is just that I want it to be forest themed. But not like, dirt paths and stuff (not since I found those 4 amazing paths anyways). I’m very excited to start actually designing my paths and town and stuff. I just got Yuka to move out (she’s cute and nice and all, but she was parked in the middle of where I want to put stuff), and soon I’ll get Matilda to move too and then I’ll have a clear path to chopping down every single tree in my village and destroying every random public works project so I can map everything out like a crazy person. But first I’m gonna wait to make sure I keep my perfect town rating to get the golden watering can. And a few Jacob’s Ladders, cuz they’re just so cute to look at!
I also found some stone that’s perfect for plot resetting, so that way new villagers only move in the spaces I’ve allotted for them! It’s a moon (and yeah, my town isn’t really “moon-themed,” but my name is Moon, and my town flag is a really pretty cloudy moon I found, so it’s perfect! They’re like, ancient stones put down or something).
(The moon stones can be found here!)
 Ooo, one thing I really want is a tree stump with a Triforce on it. I’ve been visiting the island every day lately and I haven’t seen tail nor whisker of the silver axe. I will one day! I MUST! I need a Triforce stump and so help me I will chop down every tree I have to get it!
 One thing I really hate about AC is all the exclusive items. Either I have to pay real money for an amiibo that happens to have an item I want, or I have to have had the game when they were being given out for free. It’s real sad, cuz I’m not rich (in real life or in-game, lol) and I didn’t get AC:NL until like, a year before the Welcome Amiibo Update. It makes me sad cuz I didn’t have the money at the time it came out, so I missed out on a lot of really cool items. Especially food items cuz, GOD, I can’t ever get enough food items. They’re hands down my favorite decorative item in AC.
Also, region-locked items. I hate that. Cuz a butt-ton of them are food. I want those so much but noooooo. I don’t live in Europe, or Japan, or wherever, so I can only get my region foods. I wish it was that you get items from your region first, but then the next year you get the ones from other regions. Just cuz I’m American doesn’t mean I won’t like Kagamimochi or a Twelve-Grape Plate!
Oh, guess what my town tune is? I made it up my self! It’s Farore’s Silent Realm from Skyward Sword! Of course, it sounds much less haunting coming from my villagers, but I still love that song. Skyward Sword much too hated in my opinion, I really loved it. Yeah, it has it’s problems, but what game doesn’t? The good things were enough to erase the bad things for me at least :3
 Oooh, let’s talk about my houses! I’ll post some pictures too, though it’s a picture of my screen so the quality is awful.
So for my mayor’s/my house, the first room looks like an enchanted forest at night. I managed to get my hands on the leaf bed from that Bug-Off guy’s RV in the campground, as well as the moss path flooring from Saharah! I use the Mush Lamps from the mushroom furniture series, since it’s got a blue color (and gives off blue light!) I changed the stained-glass lamp to the blue or fish one whatever it’s called, and a lotus lamp to a blue color. Then I turned off my main light so the room has a dark blue color everywhere. I have lots of flower and wood furniture to pull together the wood look (and the mush dresser or whatever, the one with blue mushrooms at the bottom!) I also put the moss garden rock and birdbath and Aquarius urn, and some mush chairs too. Oo, I also have plants everywhere, including some Jacob’s Ladders (which is great cuz their flowerpot is blue!) I’m trying to breed some blue roses so I can switch them out with the blue pansies I have. It’s very slow going. Oo! There’s also my pet cricket in there, to give off that nighttime feel. All I need to tie everything together is the music player from the weeding set. Right now the record player is the best I got. One day! The music in the room is Stale Cupcakes, to give it kind of a relaxing feel :)
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My left room right now is a big work-in-progress. I’m thinking of doing like a pink, spring forest or a pink greenhouse kind of look. Right now it’s just got a lot of pink and stray hybrid flowers all over.
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My upstairs room is kind of fall forest themed. It’s a mix of a lot of classic, alpine, and modern wood furniture. I got a leaf pile just sort of, stuck in the middle of it all, with an elegant mushroom and maple leaf umbrella for decoration! I changed a lot of the alpine furniture designs with the fall-leaf shirt, so it’d feel all autumn-y and whatnot. And I got Majora’s Mask and downloaded a Skull Kid outfit so it’d feel more like the Lost Woods (though Skll Kid’s clothes have disappeared from me replacing the pattern with a pathway payttern. He’ll be clothed again soon enough)! If only I could have Saria’s Song, too.
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Right now the back and right rooms are just kinda there. I don’t really have any plans for them right now, except maybe having the right room just be a seasonal room, where I change furniture depending on the nearing holiday. (Spooky Day, Toy Day, Festival, etc). Maybe I might do a winter-type forest in the back, since I’ve got an enchanted forest, autumn room, and possibly a spring-greenhouse, lol.
 In my second player house, it’s based off of my character Cara who happens to be a siren. The main room is sort of a red/black Asian-looking theme, with custom exotic furniture and Gracie’s Elegant set! The main room isn’t Asian cuz my character’s Asian, though. It’s based off of my friend’s character, whom my character is very jealous of, and tries to discreetly mimic her in ways. My friend’s character is Asian, as well as being a kitsune. Anyways, the room looks bomb. I highly recommend red/black exotic custom furniture with the Elegant series. Perfect fit.
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The back room is supposed to be her own personal bedroom. It’s gold-nugget custom Cabana furniture (with a couple of the gold series items, I haven’t seen them all yet), with a lot of green and blue fabrics. I used some watery floor, though I can’t remember if it’s from Saharah or Pascal or an Island Escape reward or what. But let me tell you, gold and cerulean blue go very nicely.
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The upstairs room is a work-in-progress (mostly cuz it’s still small), and is supposed to just be a basic beach theme. I’m very excited for it to all go together!
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The basement is going to be using the mermaid theme, though that’s not because my character’s a siren. (Sirens are originally bird women, and somewhere down the line we got them twisted in with mermaids and depicted them like that instead. My character is in fact the aquatic-version of a siren, but I’ve got lore for why that is. Point is she hates mermaids with a passion). But! The reason my siren who hates mermaids is using the mermaid theme in her house is for her love interest, who is a boy who is incredibly adorable and likes a lot of girly things. The mermaid set is right up his ally, which is why she has it deep in her basement where only she knows it is lol.
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I don’t have left and right rooms set up (and I might not, who knows). I know I want one more room for Cara using the fish tourney set with an underwater theme. Can’t have an aquatic siren without an underwater cave!
 My third player house, and one that I super barely have planned, is my werewolf character Kit (who perpetually wears the werewolf mask because duh). The only thing I know I want is a sweets theme, not because it relates to his character, but because I just like the furniture in it. :D It’s suuuper not done though, so like, don’t judge me.
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I was thinking of using sloppy furniture for Kit’s room, but I decided he’s not really that messy (and the sloppy series is so. So ugly. I mean, I get that that’s the point, but still). I think Kit’s room is going to be using the blue series someway, since I know in my writing I said his bedsheets were blue or something.
  Hmmm. I’m not sure what else to talk about here. So I think I’ll end off on who my Ultimate Favorite villager is. Who could it be? I have Zucker, the adorable dessert-designed octopus, Lucky, my trustworthy scout, Wolf Link, the protagonist to one of my favorite game series, and even Julian, the most magical unicorn in all the land. Who could it be? What special fantastic creature could possible beat all of these A+ villagers?
  He.
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Him.
 This Rock Lee lookin’ motherfudger.
I love him.
 Anchovy was my very first favorite villager in Wild World, I think he was one of the villagers I started with even. I was heartbroken when he moved one day. I swear he was in love with me (though he did move on the account that we didn’t have a 24-hour buffet according to his final letter). Actually, looking back on a lot of his letters, he’s either trying to be funny, or kind of a dick. I’m choosing to believe he’s trying to be funny XD
 Anyways, clearly the only reason he left is because he was so in love with me it scared him and he ran away. One day we’ll be reunited and rule my country with an iron fist.
Unfortunately I don’t have an amazing backstory for Anchovy, other than were totes meant for each other and that’s about it. But one day I’ll have him in my town again, and then I can discover new things to make an adventure about! I’m excited for that!
 Anyways, I think that’s all I really wanted to ramble about. I’m so excited to do things with my town, but as Zero Punctuation points out (funny game review series on youtube. Check it out! I love the animal crossing one), everything in animal crossing happens t o m o r r o w. I can get my perfect town status back tomorrow, I can befriend Sable and use my extra characters to put down paths tomorrow, I can banish Matilda to the void where she belongs tomorrow. Ach. So frustrating. But I will wait, I swear I will.
I really want to make my town all nice and pretty like so many people have theirs. It will be done!
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justanothercinemaniac · 8 years ago
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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #138 - Mr. Peabody and Sherman
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Spoilers below
Have I seen it before: Yes
Did I like it then: Yes.
Do I remember it: Yes.
Did I see it in theaters: Yes.
Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes, #284.
Format: Blu-ray
Shoutout to @im-this-kind-of-girl, who’s blog I found while looking for GIFs to use in this recap and apparently loves this film. If you chose to read this I hope you like it as much as I like your GIFs. You’re tagged about a hundred times in this because I credit each of your GIFs to you.
1) The Dreamworks deal that allows them to make the “Voltron” TV show on Netflix right now also gives them ownership of the Mr. Peabody & Sherman brand. They had licensed the characters to make the film but by the time of release had bought them (and others) outright.
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2) If there are any fans of the original “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” cartoons I’m going to let you know now: I never watched those so they bear no weight on my attitudes towards this film.
3) Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody.
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Burrell is honestly the perfect voice for the role. Robert Downey Jr. was attached for a time but I don’t think anyone could have topped Burrell’s work. The best voice over work is marked by forgetting that you’re listening to an actor and just accepting they are the character, and every time I think of the fact that this is Ty Burrell and not just Mr. Peabody I am in awe. He has the most perfect balance of humor, intellect, and heart which makes the character what he is. He comes off as funny and like a genuine dad (even playing the dad jokes/puns straight). Burrell is able to make the character in this film and I am so grateful that he was cast.
4) The prologue for the film works quite well. It sets the fun and whimsical tone as well as a sense of humor. We also get an early sense of Peabody and Sherman as characters. Peabody as narrator is most easily established, but the filmmakers are able to make Sherman feel like a genuine kid. Not an annoying child, not an adult acting like a child, but a real kid. All in the opening minutes too.
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5) I find it interesting how the film calls out the story of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree as not being true, but still claims Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake!” when (if I’m not mistaken) the historical accuracy of that is at best questionable.
6) I really like this film’s sense of humor.
Mr. Peabody: “...the people of France were exceedingly poor.”
[Cut to two peasants lying in the streets]
Peasant 1: “Got any bread?”
Peasant 2: “NO! I’m exceedingly poor!”
7) Right before the film’s release, I had heard that it was going to be rated PG-13 but an appeal from the filmmakers made it PG. I was confused by this at first, but after seeing the movie I understand why. Here are a few reasons for my understanding:
Mr. Peabody is almost killed by a guillotine
We see paintings which depict mummification in vivid detail
Sherman fights in the Trojan war; it’s not as watered down as you may expect
Sherman and Peabody both bite people at two different points
I’m not saying it’s enough to warrant the film ACTUALLY being rated PG-13, but I can understand why it may have almost been.
8) The early sewer chase through Paris is a good showcase of the film’s imaginative action which is to come. It is both captivating to the eye but definitely uses the benefits of animation. I don’t know that something like lighting the methane gas in a sewer to be projected to safety would work as well in live action as it does in animation.
9) Penny (the female lead and trio to Peabody’s/Sherman’s adventure) is never really given an explanation as to why she is such a MASSIVE bully. Like, she’s really awful. She mocks Sherman for being smart, calls him a dog, holds him in a chokehold, she’s downright cruel! And while she develops overtime in a way which is organic and believable, her initial characterization is never explained.
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Ariel Winter does quite well in the role though.
10) Ugh, this crap.
Principal [to Mr. Peabody]: “Sherman got in a fight today!”
No, he was bullied and had to defend himself AFTER BEING PUT IN A CHOKEHOLD!
Ms. Grunion: “It’s normal for children to tease...”
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(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)
I know Grunion is an antagonist and this situation is used to set up conflict in the show, but it paints the unfortunately real picture of how there are adults and people in power who normalize bullying. And it needs to stop in the real world.
11) Allison Janney is a treat as Ms. Grunion though. Janney is one of my favorite actresses ever and has shown her skilled voice over chops in projects like Finding Nemo. Ms. Grunion isn’t in the movie much but when she is (very much like Ty Burrell does as Peabody) Janney is stellar in the role.
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12) One of the nice thing this film does that I don’t think the television show did (and again, I never watched, so I don’t know for sure) is examine the father/son relationship between Mr. Peabody and Sherman. The flashback scene where Mr. Peabody is making his case for why he should adopt Sherman in front of a judge (how no one wanted him as a child either) is particularly telling of their connection. It is a nice relationship to carry us throughout the film.
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13) I always felt like this was as much a nod to The Prince of Egypt as it was to history in Mr. Peabody’s flashbacks.
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(GIF originally posted by @somehow-you-will)
14) Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann playing characters who like...almost exactly like Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann.
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15) One of my favorite character actors around is Steve Valentine, most memorable for his leading turn in “I’m in the Band” on Disney XD, his voice over work in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and his performance in Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk. He is in this film as Ay, royal vizier to King Tut.
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
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16) There are so. Many. PUNS!!!!!
Mr. Peabody [after Sherman knocks off a mummy arm]: “That’s disarming.”
I’m just sharing the one because I don’t want to overload you guys but damn there’s a lot!
17) So...why does Sherman like Penny? She has literally done nothing but cruel and condescending to him this entire film. She humiliated him in front of school, she’s shoved him off, pushed him around, called him a liar multiple times, been a total jerk, and he...likes her?
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18) It is important to remember that Sherman is smart. Not Mr. Peabody smart, but smart. When in Egypt, he gets like 99% of the booby trapped floor puzzle right when he was only sort of paying attention to Mr. Peabody before. That shows brains.
19) I really like the humor in this film. I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again.
Mr. Peabody, Masquerading as Anubis [after Ay says the sun god Ra demand Penny’s marriage to Tut]: “That’s so funny. I was talking to the sun god Ra just the other day...”
20) Stanley Tucci is fun as Da Vinci. Stanley Tucci is one of the most consistently talented actors around. He ALWAYS devotes himself to a role fully and is often times the best parts in a movie. That same passion shows in his voice over work here. I really enjoy it.
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
21) Have I mentioned how I like the humor of this film before?
DaVinci [about how children are not machines]: “I tried to build one once. It WAS creepy.”
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
22) The way the time stream is animated during the time travel sequences (bet seen when the trio almost is trapped by a black hole) is very well done. It is a fun and interesting way of visually showing the concept of time as the group hurdles through it.
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This is just concept art above but the final representation is pretty close to this.
23) The conflict between Peabody and Sherman is at its highest when Sherman exclaims this to his adoptive father:
Sherman: “I said I’m not a dog!”
It shows a real conflict between the two. Peabody has become concerned about being able to raise Sherman right recently, and Sherman has been questioning who he is outside of his relationship with his dad. It will be resolved wonderfully by the film’s end, however.
24) I’m a sucker for Patrick Warburton in anything, but Patrick Warburton in a voice over role is particularly wonderful.
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25.1) Honestly the entire Trojan horse scene has some of my favorite jokes in the film. To start with, the fact that they made Odysseus - the great heroic character in the Odyssey - into this little pimple of a guy:
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And I know you’re not supposed to judge people by appearances, but in animation characters are designed the way they are for a reason and the reason here is to play against the standard idea of Odysseus.
25.2) Not to mention the fact that Peabody and Penny get into the Trojan horse LITERALLY by using their own Trojan horse.
25.3) And then, my favorite joke of the entire film, comes at the end of this mini monologue:
Agamemnon: FYI, a lot of heroes have father issues. My old man is a minotaur. Half man, half bull, all judgement. Ajax, here, strongest guy in the world, but his father never accepted that his real dream was to sing.
Ajax: [in falsetto] I wanted to be in the Greek Chorus.
Agamemnon: Uh, yeah, and don't even get me started about Oedipus. Let's just say you do *not* want to be at his house over the holidays. It's awkward.
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Honorable mention to the “Greek Chorus” joke too.
26) My aching heart.
Sherman [shouting over a cliff, after he thinks Mr. Peabody died]: “Mr. Peabody! Mr. Peabody! [Beat] Dad!”
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(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)
27) Probably could’ve worded this better (although it was probably written for that very reason).
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28) STOP! NORMALIZING! BULLYING! GRUNION!
Ms. Grunion [after Penny apologize for being a bully]: “You have nothing to apologize for Penny...”
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(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)
29) The climax for this film is SO much fun! I just love it to pieces! It is fast paced, has some great humor in bringing all the historical figures to the present, and brings together every character we’ve met so far in a fast paced and wild ride. It is just SO much fun watching literally EVERYONE chase after Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
30) Mel Brooks has probably three lines total as Einstein but it’s totally worth it.
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
31) This. Freaking. Movie.
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I lied before. This is probably my favorite joke in the film.
32) Remember how I said the conflict between Sherman and Peabody is resolved wonderfully?
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
It shows Sherman making peace with who he is and supporting his dad, and convincing everyone else to do the same as they all exclaim, “I’m a dog too!” It’s surprisingly sweet and moving, perhaps one of my favorite parts of the film.
33) I will say, the first time I saw this film I thought to myself, “I’m Spartacus.” And then, of course, who should show up...
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34) This. Freaking. Movie.
George Washington: “I hereby award Mr. Peabody a presidential pardon.”
Abe Lincoln: “Me too.”
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(GIF originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
Bill Clinton is still alive, which begs the question: is he there as a historical figure or was he just in New York and wanted to see what was going on? Since it’s Bill Clinton it’s probably the latter.
35) This is sweet. A nice emotional conclusion as Mr. Peabody couldn’t say, “I love you,” too Sherman earlier in the film.
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(GIFs originally posted by @im-this-kind-of-girl)
Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a wonderful film that unfortunately was not exactly Dreamworks most watched movie at the time of release. It has a unique and fun sense of humor, fun animation, but also an emotional arc and characters you truly get invested in. The voice acting is very on point, and it is just a fun ride. If you’re a fan of animation, Dreamworks, or just moviemaking in general and haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it.
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carebooks · 5 years ago
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alright i watched the whole third season of House of Anubis
I first have to say how much I enjoyed the leads: Eddie and KT. They have such a good chemistry and they’re honestly hilarious together. As I mentioned before, I did ship them together when I was younger and first watched the show but with watching it again, I would keep them as friends. Best friends. (especially since KT is hella gay I don’t care what anyone says) They totally give me Cloak and Dagger vibes, especially in terms of partnership. At the start of the show, they were alone, they had no one to confide in, no one to be with, Eddie was torn about letting Sibuna know about Nina, still not over Patricia. KT just lost her grandfather and came to England on a quest with some key and vague warnings, she was hella confused but still did so out of loyalty to her grandfather (this baby is too precious and good for this world, i swear). And next thing you know, fate and Osirian visions bring them together. They form a partnership, they snoop around the Gatehouse, they form a bond. And I love it so much. What I love especially, is that at the end, when the sinners are everywhere and even the Sibuna members are taken as sinners, it’s down to Eddie and KT, just like the beginning. Sure, they get help from Willow and Harriet, but they lose Willow pretty quickly, and right at the end, Harriet sacrifices herself so they can get the other key and lock away the evil for good. And together, Eddie and KT join the keys and lock the evil as one. They started together, and they ended it together, and I think that was really poetic. I know that the Osirian and the Chosen One are meant to be the pair and the Ying & Yang, but in this particular case, Eddie and KT were a bond formed by friendship and hardship rather than destinies planned or written in the stars by the gods, yes fate brought them together, but only because they knew they could only accomplish their tasks with each other. I especially loved when they took down Ammut, and Robert tried a last ditch attempt to get KT to feel guilty over doing this, telling her that he would die if Ammut was locked away. It brings in KT’s loyalty to her family, even when it’s bad, but then Eddie yells during the commotion, “Don’t trust him, trust me!” And I think it really brings a full circle what a great partnership and bond they have.
Other than that, it’s really just random stuff I liked
i liked that Willow could sense bad vibes that Robert had whenever he was around Anubis House, as well as sensing the bad vibes that sinner!Victor and sinner!Patricia gave off. I kinda wished they could’ve looked more into that. Like she was naturally sensitive to these things or something.
Her relationship with Alfie was a nice touch, seeing him with someone who liked the same things that he did was real cute. Especially seeing them happy.
Victor and Sweet playing that card game gave me life.
Joy’s new attitude and look were certainly appreciated
While I preferred the Jerome that developed in S2 and won Mara over (especially over the course of the first season and second, i mean talk about a slow burn done right) and rather he didn’t cheat on her and Willow, the Joy+Jerome ship wasn’t terrible. I much prefer the developed S2 Jerome, I’ve said this twice now, but again, it wasn’t terrible. (but real talk? KT and Joy should’ve happened)
Amber being the one to bring Sibuna and the pair Eddie & KT together because *Amber Millington voice* “Hello people! Isn’t it obvious? Work together.”
Like that girl knew what was up. Well, she did invent Sibuna, not surprised.
Alfie was perfection this season, leave him be. Also, highlights of him:
“Crypts are for dead people!” “I’m afraid of everything.” “Guys, go! Get out of here! Sibuna! SIBUNNAAA!!”
I already talked plenty of Eddie and KT being the best, so yeah. But imma do it again anyway.
I have a theory that Eddie focused his primary Osirian instinct of being protective over the Chosen One to being protective over KT. Like he reffocused his powers to someone else for the time being. Nina wasn’t there, and when KT showed up in his vision it was almost like the house was telling him “You need to help her now. Keep her safe.” And I really like that.
It was especially shone a lot through out the season, and the last episodes too. 
When sinner!Patricia and sinner!Fabian had KT and wanted to exchange an artifact that Eddie had discovered, she told him to run and get away, like they did when Alfie told them to leave him behind. And he says, “That was Alfie, this is you.”
And when Eddie, KT, Willow and Harriet went to get the sun key from Caroline, and she managed to take KT and Willow and turn them into sinners, Eddie says, “Not KT,” very worriedly. Later on he’s hard on himself, “I can’t believe they got to KT.”
It was interesting that half the season was awakening the man in the tank and the other half was releasing evil into the world. Like a different feel for half the season, not many shows do that.
I kinda despise the fact that the things I didn’t like are probably going to be longer.
Let’s go paragraph first so, how about that plot? First off, the whole thing is very weird for Sibuna. The first two seasons were about riddles and thinking things through. They were real mysteries. In this, it was more direct, they had an obvious problem, they had to stop the bad guys from waking up a bad guy, and then literal evil converted their own friends against each other. It sounds super interesting for a Vampire Diaries or Teen Wolf or even My Babysitter’s A Vampire plot line (or just one episode) since those shows were more active based. This season barely had any hidden things or riddles, and half of it had Sibuna paranoid and working against each other which I’m sure no one really loved. Not to mention that the action mainly happened at the Gatehouse rather than the actual Anubis House, the center for two of the last mysteries. Now I know, I know, the new season couldn’t just be a copy, and having a third mystery with hidden compartments over the house would certainly be a lot for Robert and Louisa. But I mean, didn’t Het Huis Anubis have four seasons? They couldn’t just do their version of that? I’m guessing that they did something different (I really hope so, because if not, this is embarrassing)
things i did not like at all about this season
the fact that they twisted Mara’s character up in their new ‘messed up girl obsessed with a boy’ like Joy in S2. just- why?
the fact that they undid a bunch of Jerome’s development.
or how about the fact that all Jerome got to do this season was be part of a love triangle cheat fest and then a love drama with Joy. In S1 he shoved himself into Sibuna and Rufus and it was bad for him, but he was involved. And S2, he was just amazing, they managed to connect his family and his family troubles with something that Sibuna would’ve needed for the Mask of Anubis: the Frobisher Gem. It all came together perfectly.
we didn’t get anything of Mr. Sweet telling Eddie about his Osirian thing or their family history.
The way they treated KT when they thought she was evil. It was so messed up, honestly, that poor baby. (though I did appreciate that the other residents noticed, like at breakfast when she sat down and no one looked at her, and he said, “Good morning, KT.” and he just noticed something was wrong. And then Joy and Mara noticed. I just really feel like that was the moment where Jerome and Joy coulda been more involved with Sibuna again- wait what am I saying)
No, when they and Patricia and Alfie were at the Gatehouse and they tried to warn them about the ceremony is when JOY AND JEROME SHOULDA GOTTEN INVOLVED IN SIBUNA AGAIN. Or like, at least be more aware, I mean come on?? Joy, you’re better than this. And Jerome, you’ve seen enough weird stuff to know when it’s Sibuna-related and usually that means deadly-related so you’re whole having two girlfriends thing can wait for a while.
Caroline Denby sucked. (And Caroline Forbes from TVD is a fan favorite of mine and not to mention that MY NAME IS CAROLINE so imagine that).
the fact that we got rid of the real Victor was kinda just wrong for me. I mean, Victor has always been a pain in the ass with the kids, and he’s usually wanted what they were after as well but he’d never resort to murder or anything like that, so when he got turned into a sinner and lost his friggin soul (yes, they said that, this is true) we truly lost Victor and I didn’t like that at all.
Season 1 was all about a mystery but also partly conspiracy, there was a moment between all five of Sibuna where they got proof and realistic statements after Joy lied to them (at the insistence of her dad) they were starting to think that the mystery wasn’t real and almost backed out of the search. Remember? Nina said, “You guys aren’t giving up on me, right?” Anyway, that was that. It was all about finding more information about what really happened and what’s really going on. About finding answers.
Season 2 was darker, it was a race against time because unlike the mystery of the first season, this one was more about saving themselves. Nina’s life and her friends and Gran would’ve died, it’s a great motivator to go through the tunnels. And there were moments where we see just how serious this is, there’s one shot where Nina is in a dream sequence in the house and all her friends are running away from her, terrified. And even when Victor sees her, he backs away in fear and hides himself in his office and then in the mirror it’s revealed Nina’s dressed and appears as Senkhara. And then when Senkhara freezes Vera, Victor knows it’s time to back away, he’s scared, he’s worried, so we see him do what he has to do to get Vera back. And when he’s playing the game? With Sibuna as his game pieces on the huge board? When Alfie disappeared, he backed out, he knew when to stop and almost considered calling Mr. Sweet to do something about it.
Meanwhile, Season 3 was all dark evil stuff, run for your life or your literal soul will be taken. It’s the end of the world if they awaken this sleeping dude, we need heroes to stop the bad team. Oh no, he’s awake, now he’s going to unleash hell and evil and it’s the end of the world, only now everyone’s converted to the evil and it’s real bad, we need heroes desperately. 
This season might’ve been more dark or good vs. evil type of thing but it just didn’t feel right for HOA. The show has always been subtle, it’s quiet and the kids solve the mystery and they do everything very hushed and private, this season sort of felt like WHOAH PIE IN YOUR FACE GUESS WHAT IM A SIBUNA what with turning the whole school into sinners, I just didn’t like the whole school being this active. but that’s me personally. 
Robert Frobisher-Smythe being the one in the tank is ridiculous considering wE SAW HIS FRIGGIN GHOST AT THE END OF S1. And honestly, bringing him in and saying that he’s going to bring forth a darkness to make people evil and bring the apocalypse is just a really bland plot. It’s no mystery, it’s legit good guys vs. a villain. It’s a ‘save the world’ plot, yeah like we’ve never seen that before.
We love the mystery, where was it? oh right, nowhere.
When the four descendants of Robert’s expedition party were revealed: Patricia, Joy, Alfie and Jerome, there could have so much content.
The four of them speaking in unison while they sleep should’ve been used more.
Remember the childhood lullabies they were supposed to use to find a random artifact? Those lullabies were riddles and other than that cylinder that KT opened using her synesthesia, it was the only thing that made it feel like good old days of House of Anubis.
again, making Robert the man in the tank and then evil was just stupid. im not gonna approach the fact that he took the punishment meant for his expedition party and that’s why he’s cursed, and now he’s evil? oh gods
again, seeing the three OG Sibuna gang members evil and not on Sibuna kept killing me.
that ending bugged me
like oh no! everyone’s gone insane, we gotta shut this thing down before it devours more souls. TWO HOURS LATER and now it’s time to enjoy fireworks and Fabian and Mara and flirting and its so unnecessary, whyy??
Leave Mara with Jerome (in which he didnt cheat) and Willow is happy with Alfie and KT and Joy are out there being gay as hell. Those are the ships that shoulda happened.
Honestly, when I think back at S2 and Amber and Nina are there, it just brings back such good vibes. S2 really is the best season, but I stand by my love for Eddie and KT. Friendship goals AF. Like I said before, the third season was in your face, it was loud and it was telling everyone ‘end of the world’ and when you think about it, it’s perfect for the characters they introduced. S1 and S2 fit so well for Nina, because she’s like that, she’s quiet yet badass and is about riddles and mysteries. Meanwhile, Eddie is loud and wants to get this over with, LET’S BREAK INTO OUR TEACHER’S HOUSE BECAUSE I HAVE A HUNCH. YOU WANNA SEE THE SLEEPING MAN’S FACE, FABIAN? LET’S REMOVE THE GLASS. LET’S STEAL THE TANK WITH THE SLEEPING MAN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.  LET ME JUST BARGE INTO VICTOR’S OFFICE TO TAKE YOUR KEY BACK, KT. LET’S DO WHATEVER IMPORTANT TASK OR MISSION WE NEED HAVE TONIGHT. LET ME BANG AGAINST PIPES AND BRICKS REALLY LOUDLY. And let me tell you, it just makes me laugh how into it he gets, like “why not?” it’s just so funny for some reason. Anyway, I think they decided to make this season fit what they wanted Eddie to be and that’s what they did. I loved Eddie’s performance, I loved him so much, I loved KT more. But I just didn’t love this season.
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