#how are they possibly going to wrap up all the complex storylines IN ONE SEASON

[ohnoidroppedmydonut]

IS THIS HOW I FIND OUT DISENCHANTMENT’s LAST SEASON IS COMING OUT IN SEPTEMBER

June - pride month

July - disability pride month, what we do in the shadows season 5, barbie, good omens season 2

August - heartstopper season 2, new hozier album, red white and royal blue film

September - bbc ghosts series 5, sex education season 4, disenchantment season 5, mitski

October - our flag means death season 2, halloween

Y’all the gays keep fucking winning

[messymindofmine]

I know that I've talked about this before but this really is something that's been bothering me for so long now. Since the beginning of the show almost. I'm really sick of the hate TK has gotten from the start but even more than that, I'm sick of the hurt that this hate has caused people being ignored/invalidated. Since 1x02, there has been a common refrain of "Carlos deserves better than TK" and literally everything TK does (or doesn't do) is used as evidence against him. I'm also really over the people projecting their dissatisfaction over Carlos's arc this season onto TK. Just admit that you don't like the Iris storyline or the kids storyline without projecting onto the characters. Then again, I guess admitting that would mean having to admit that they actually never really even liked Carlos to begin with either and only acted like they did for as long as they could just blame his flaws and mistakes on others rather than acknowledge that he is a complex character in his own right and is allowed to mess up. It's honestly just plain annoying how so many of the people who've spent years ripping TK apart for every little thing suddenly started acting like they were only upset on his behalf this season with the Iris arc or 4x12 only to then revert back to the usual "TK doesn't love Carlos as much as Carlos loves him" refrain after 4x16. If they weren't mocking him for being "overdramatic" for being scared about the possibility of having Huntingtons, they were criticizing his wedding vows for not being good enough. Or they constantly act like any case of compassion towards TK's mistakes or talking about how he deserves love means we're ignoring Carlos. This has been going on since the start.

Now I'm not saying that there weren't people who weren't genuinely upset on TK's behalf this season nor am I saying that the people who were upset in general aren't valid. In my experience the people in the former groups aren't the ones continuously going on about how Carlos has been ruined for a start. What I am saying is that it's actually very easy to tell who was upset on TK's behalf/who had valid reasons for not liking these storylines and who was just upset that Carlos had fallen off the pedestal they'd put him on. Having watched the show since it first started airing, I actually didn't want to engage with the fandom at first because it felt like all I ever saw were people talking about how much TK sucked. And as someone who identifies with him, that really sucked. Obviously I realized that this attitude is not held by the majority but it still doesn't make it any easier to see this attitude floating around constantly. But what makes it even harder is how often I've had people reach out to me because they feel that their hurt over how TK is treated being ignored or even outright mocked. The fact that even Ronen has picked up on this and made comments about how he feels that people need to remember TK's struggles and how it affects his actions speaks volumes. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just really exhausted and hurt over how much hate I've seen towards TK over the years and how often it feels like that has gotten swept under the rug. There are people in this fandom that actually deal with things like addiction and mental illness and it's been extremely disheartening to me to see how many have had to step back or leave the fandom altogether over the years because they just couldn't deal with seeing a character they see themselves in be torn apart constantly only for people to act like it's not even happening. The truth is that there is a lot of ableism wrapped up in how TK is often talked about in this fandom and honestly that's why I wasn't surprised at how Iris had been treated because if people can act like this towards a main character, what hope could a side character like Iris have? After all, there are people who seriously think that TK should just be able to make his mental health issues go away so that Carlos would never have to worry. And what these people conveniently don't think about is that Carlos loves TK as he is and would never want him to dismiss his struggles.

Again, I know that this isn't the majority and I know that most people do care but I also feel like this is something that doesn't get talked about as much as it should because real people have been and continue to be hurt by it

[tokensbossh]

Agatha All Along Episode 6: What to Expect and Key Insights

Marvel fans have been on the edge of their seats following the gripping events of Agatha All Along. As we gear up for episode 6, the anticipation is building, especially after the big reveal in episode 5. This season has kept us guessing with twists and turns, and now all eyes are on what might unfold next. Episode 6 is expected to be a flashback episode that explores Teen's origins, potentially taking us back to Westview—where it all began. At the core of episode 5's dramatic ending was the revelation that Teen, a mysterious character we've been following, is actually Wanda's son, Billy, also known as Wiccan in the Marvel comics. This epic reveal has set the stage for deeper storytelling, which we expect to unravel in episode 6. A Flashback to Westview: What Could Episode 6 Reveal?

Agatha All Along Episode 6 Major Spoilers & What to Expect in 2024 (2) With the recent revelation of Teen’s identity, fans believe that episode 6 will delve into his origin story, offering answers to burning questions. One fan on social media expressed, “Hoping next week is a Billy flashback episode now that we have the 'reveal'.” The idea that this episode will take us back to Westview, where Wanda Maximoff’s magical hex played out in WandaVision, feels like a natural next step. In episode 5, we saw Teen transform into his full Wiccan persona, complete with a blue crown similar to Wanda’s. This scene, coupled with the track "You Should See Me in a Crown" by Billie Eilish, left viewers in awe. Fans are now speculating that episode 6 will tie these elements together by explaining how Teen, or Billy, has been navigating life in Westview since the events of WandaVision. Teen's Origins and Possible Connections to Marvel Lore Many fans have started theorizing that Billy’s journey could mirror his comic book origin, where his soul is reincarnated. After the fall of the hex, it’s rumored that Billy was left as a disembodied soul, waiting for the right moment to return. Some speculate that after the death of a local teen in Westview, Billy’s powerful essence took over that body, leading to his reappearance as Teen. This type of reincarnation has always been a complex part of Billy and Tommy’s origin in the Marvel comics, and it seems Marvel Studios may follow a similar route in the MCU. "I'm trying to wrap my head around Billy being Wanda's son... any ideas of how they're going to explain it?" one fan asked, to which another responded, “Same as comics: reincarnation.” This is one of the prevailing theories going into episode 6.

Agatha All Along Episode 6 What to Expect and Key Insights A Trial for Teen: The Consequences of Episode 5 Episode 5 not only revealed Teen's identity but also showed him confronting Agatha Harkness, accusing her of Alice's death. This climactic moment signaled the return of Agatha's villainous ways, and it’s clear that Teen's future is at a crossroads. Fans predict that episode 6 will dive deeper into Teen's struggle to control his newfound powers while dealing with the fallout of Agatha’s manipulation. "Next episode: Teen's 'trial,'" one fan commented. “Everyone crawls out into Westview and thinks they've been booted off the Road. They realize they're in the past, maybe by seeing Wanda's hex from a distance.” This moment could bring back key characters from WandaVision and provide a crucial link between the two shows. The Role of Wiccan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Billy, as Wiccan, has always been a major character in the comics, and his introduction to the MCU was highly anticipated. With his connection to both Wanda Maximoff and the magical realms, Wiccan is poised to become a central figure in the next phase of the MCU. The reveal of his powers in episode 5 hints at a larger storyline involving the multiverse, magical beings, and possibly even connections to Doctor Strange. As fans await episode 6, they are left wondering how Wiccan’s powers will evolve and how he will ultimately fit into the MCU’s grander narrative. Episode 6: Will We See the Return of Westview? As mentioned earlier, episode 6 is expected to transport viewers back to Westview. This return could serve as a nostalgic nod to WandaVision while providing crucial backstory for Teen. Many are speculating that the episode will revisit key moments from WandaVision, possibly even explaining what happened to Billy after Wanda’s hex collapsed. A fan theorized: "Sure, the rumor is that after the end of WandaVision and the hex getting taken down, Billy was just essentially floating around as a disembodied soul." If this theory holds true, episode 6 could give fans a long-awaited answer to one of the most mysterious elements from WandaVision.

Episode 6 Is Set to Unveil Major Storylines

With so many questions left unanswered after episode 5, Agatha All Along episode 6 is shaping up to be one of the most important episodes of the series. Fans are expecting a flashback that will dive deep into Teen's origins, possibly shedding light on his powers, reincarnation, and connection to Wanda Maximoff. As we anticipate the upcoming episode, it’s clear that the future of the MCU could be significantly impacted by Teen’s storyline. Will we see more of his connection to the multiverse? Will Agatha’s return signal more chaos for Westview? All will be revealed in episode 6. For more details, check out this comprehensive breakdown of Wiccan’s comic history and a fan theory post on Agatha’s possible return. Stay tuned for more updates! Read the full article

[zukkacore]

Whitewashing in AtlaLok: the Western & Christian Influence on s2 of LoK

Ok, so i’m not a big brained expert on all things indigenous or even all things asian but I do think bryke's christian & western worldview seeps so far into season 2 of LoK that i think out of every season it’s by far the most unsalvageable out of everything they’ve ever done in the Atlaverse and is a very insidious kind of whitewashing. I know that sounds hefty but here’s what I mean

For the record, I’m a mixed filipino person & while there is religious diversity among filipinos, more than i think ppl realize or that the catholic majority is willing to let on, when we were colonized a large percent of the population was indeed forced to convert to catholicism so that’s my background, & i don’t know everything about taoism or the what the tai chi symbol represents but the way Bryke westernize the concept of Yin and Yang is honestly… kinda bewildering. They get so many details about yin & yang wrong?? & Yes, it’s possible they could’ve been trying to create their own lore that differentiates itself from the traditional depictions of Yin & Yang, but in the end i think it doesn’t matter b/c the lore they invent is a very obviously western interpretation of the concept of “balance”.

The most important and honestly worst change they make is that concepts of “light” and “dark” are completely oversimplified and flattened to represent basically “good” and “evil” (which, the light and dark side are a bit more complex than representing just “peace/order vs. Chaos” like the show might imply but we don’t even have time for that, but is funny how they get the genders wrong. Like. Traditionally, light is usually coded masculine and dark is usually coded feminine, but never mind that, that’s just a tangent). This really simplifies the nuance of the s2 conflict and makes it a lot less interesting, not to mention just—misrepresents a very real religious philosophy?

And for the record, a piece of media going out of its way to do "the show, don’t tell" thing of stating in the text that “oh, light and dark are not the same thing as good vs. evil” without actually displaying that difference through the writing is just lip service, and its poor writing. A lot of pieces of media do this, but i think s2 of LoK is particularly egregious. The point of this philosophy of balance is that you aren’t supposed to moralize about which side is “good” or “bad”, or even really which one is “better” or “worse”. Even if the show states the concepts are not interchangeable, if the media in question continually frames one side (and almost always its “chaos/darkness”) as the “evil” side, then the supposed distinction between “light vs. dark” and “good vs. evil” is made moot. And besides the occasional offhand remark that implies more nuance without actually delivering, Vaatu is basically stock evil incarnate.

This depiction of conflict as “defeating a singular representation of total evil” isn’t solely christian, but it is definitely present in christian beliefs. And I think those kinds of stories can be done well, but in this case, in a world filled entirely of asian, Pacific Islander & inuit poc, to me it feels like a form of subtle whitewashing? B/c you’re taking characters that probably wouldn’t have christian beliefs, and imposing a christian worldview onto them. Not to mention removes what could have been an interesting conflict of any nuance and intrigue… and honestly, sucks, because I do think s2 has the bones of an interesting idea, mostly b/c there are potential themes that could’ve been explored—I know this b/c they were already explored in a movie that exists, and it’s name is Princess Mononoke! It has a lot of the same elements—tension between spirits and humanity, destruction of nature in the face of rapid industrialization, moral ambiguity where there are no easy or fast answers and both sides have sympathetic and understandable points of view. (Unsurprising b/c Miyazaki is Japanese & Japanese culture has a lot of influence from Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, etc)

Bryke’s western & christian worldview also totally seeps into the characterization of Unalaq, the antagonist of the season which is a real problem. I’m in the middle of rewatching s2 right now and what struck me is that….. Unalaq comes across kinda ecofash AND fundamentalist which is 1) seems like an odd combination but maybe it really isn’t? 2) i think is a really tacky choice considering that the water tribes take the majority of its inspiration from inuit and polynesian indigenous cultures.

I honestly forgot abt this but Unalaq gives this whole lame speech abt how the SWT & humans as a whole suck b/c of their lack of spiritual connection & it was really eerie to me b/c "humans are morally bankrupt and they must be wiped out/punished for their destruction of the environment" is total ecofash logic bc it blames all of humanity for damage caused by those in power—be they capitalists or whoever. It’s a worldview that blames the poor and powerless for something they have no say in, and has real eugenics undertones bc with every implication of culling, there has to be someone who appoints themself the job of culling—of who is and isn’t worthy of death.

This belief also struck me as......... kinda christian in it's logic as well which is WEIRD b/c once again........ their cultural inspirations are DEFINITELY not christian...... The whole "man is inherently evil and must spend their whole lifetime repenting/must face punishment for it’s wickedness" thing and the way that christianity treats humanity as born with original sin or inherently corrupt—as well as above or separate from nature are really stronger undertones in Unalaqs worldview....... which isn't really an indigenous way or thinking.

I'm generalizing of course but from what I have seen from the indigenous people who speak on this is that (feel free to point out or correct me if i’m mostly generalizing abt Native Americans and not other indigenous cultures & there are some differences here) is that while native tribes are not monolithic and do vary wildly, there are a lot of common threads and that reverence and respect toward nature and your surroundings is an important tenant of indigenous beliefs. (I specifically remember the hosts on All My Relations saying essentially that we humans are a part of nature, we are not separate from it, and humans are not superior to animals—I’m paraphrasing but that is the gist of it)

So, yeah, I think it’s just really distasteful to write an indigenous character who is characterized in a way that’s way more in line with a christian fundamentalist & wants to bring about a ragnarok style apocalypse end of the world when that isn’t really a tenant of our beliefs? (btw, the way the end of the world is framed is also kinda fucked up? If i were being charitable, I could say that maybe s2’s storyline is a corruption of the hindu depiction of the end of the world, but even that sounds mildly insulting for reasons I won’t get into b/c i am Not The Expert On Hinduism. I will say that once again, the framing of the concept is all wrong, the show views the idea of apocalypse through a very western lense)

To wrap this up, I think the depiction of Unalaq could *maybe* work b/c he is the antagonist, so someone who strays from the NWT cultural tradition in a way that makes his view of morality more black and white wouldn’t be a *horrible* idea for the bad guy of the season. Especially because the introduction of capitalism to the A:TLA universe could probably cause a substantial shifts to… idk, everything i guess, b/c capitalism is so corrosive. Like. Sometimes people are just traitors. I do think it would be interesting to portray the way capitalism manifests in a society without white christians. Like… I do think there are a lot of ways secular christianity and capitalism are interlinked. But Unalaq is not portrayed as an outsider, he’s portrayed as hyper-traditionalist in a way that’s vilified? I guess rightly so, he does suck, but it’s just hard to conceptualize how a person like Unalaq comes to exist in the first place. In the end, I don’t really think it makes sense, in a world without white people, I don’t really know where this introduction of black and white christian morality would even come from in the avatar world?

TL;DR, Bryke applying western christian morality & world views to non-white characters in a world where white people have NEVER existed to affect our beliefs is a subtle form of white-washing. It imposes simplified “good vs. evil” world-views & cultural beliefs onto its characters. Any attempt to represent or even just integrate our actual beliefs into the A:tla lore are twisted and misrepresented is a way that is disrespectful and saps out any nuance or intrigue from the story, and alienates the people its supposed to represent from recognizing themselves within the final product. And Finally, on a more superficial story level, these writing choices clashe with the already existing world of ATLA--and is honestly just poor world-building.

[catty-words]

the aneesa anorexia storyline occupies a similar space in season two as devi blowing off fabiola and eleanor for paxton does in season one (even the episode titles are reminiscent - “...been a big, fat liar” vs “...betrayed a friend” and “...pissed off everyone i know” vs “...ruined someone’s life and “...said i’m sorry” vs “...begged for forgiveness”). and wrapped up in this comparison, for me, is season two’s biggest failing.

by the time we get to the end of “...been a big, fat liar”, the pace of the season is a runaway train. i stayed up until three a.m. the first time i watched against my better judgment because i was desperate to know what happened next. and the reason there’s so much compelling propulsion in season one is because the arc so tightly revolves around devi’s inadvisable yet deeply sympathetic choices. we can see how her continued focus on paxton to the detriment of all the other relationships in her life is because she’s attempting to escape from herself. because if she lets life go on, she has to acknowledge that her dad is gone. but if she continues building a fantasy with paxton, if she manages to become popular, then she’s successfully morphed into someone totally different. and the tension that comes from waiting for it to all crash down around her so you can relax from the anticipation of disaster while feeling deeply protective of devi and wanting her to come out of all of it okay is masterful.

also masterful is that way that, even while she’s subconsciously motivated by her trauma and her grief, devi makes the choice to respond to paxton’s texts instead of to show up for eleanor with agency, knowing full well it’s wrong but desperately desiring escapism so much that she’s willing to jeopardize her friendships. there’s such wonderful complexity in devi’s every move in season one. it’s all as simple as “[she’s] a teenager, [her] whole life is about boys” and it’s all as complicated as human grief can possibly be.

season two, on the other hand, lacks any kind of driving motivation for devi. yes, she still wants a boyfriend. yes, she’s still sad about her father’s passing. but the season isn’t completely about either of those things. nor is it completely about her more fully coming to understand her own culture, even though that’s also an important element. if there’s an overarching thread, it has to do with devi’s worry that she’s crazy, but even that comes and goes over the course of the season. there’s no need-to-stay-up-until-three-am-to-see-how-it-ends propulsion, and i missed it dearly.

on top of the season just tonally being more of snoozer, we have the way this explosion-of-conflict storyline is made weaker by the fact that devi doesn’t make a choice to reveal something private about aneesa. it’s all an accident. and true, that doesn’t make devi less guilty or responsible for what comes next, but it does rob her of that complexity and agency that i so enjoyed from season one.

i guess what i’m getting at is the fact that devi’s swept along as an object of circumstance most of the season and that is super frustrating, especially since watching her fight tooth and nail to gain some kind of agency in her life in season one was so beautiful and heartbreaking.

[shirtlesssammy]

Anger and Love

I can tell you this. I still hurt over the ending of this show and the reasons roll into each other, like tangled yarn tossed in a bin. (In this metaphor, I am the bin.) 

Castiel

The BURY YOUR GAYS trope. My GOD when will this show learn. (The answer is never. Never, because it’s over.) In 15x18 Cas confesses his love and then dies. Guess who else dies in this episode? Charlie and Stevie! The writers said, “Who will hurt the most to lose? Ah, yes. Charlie in the new and terrified bloom of love.” We can ASSUME that Charlie and Stevie come back, but we don’t get to see it or hear about it. And we get the barest throwaway line that Cas comes back in 15x20, but not seeing him physically return after over a decade on the show feels like a blow that just won’t stop. 

More EMOTIONS below the cut.

On Thursday, I said to Boris that it would have been better if we’d never been tossed that crumb about Cas’s love. Why give us this FEAST and then take it away like Chuck poofing away a dog? Many people have pointed to network cowardice, and that’s certainly a possibility. Some people have put forth the theory that exposing Cas’s love for Dean was simply a season-ending ratings move. Either of those could be true, or some mix of them. Listen, I can spin myself around that stupid knot for days and we’ll probably never get the whole story. Instead, I have to look at the core of what Castiel coming out means for me. And the truth of it is, it means A LOT. It means I love him a whole lot more. Cas is mine, he’s ours, he’s one of us. And I’m angry as hell at how it went down, but I’m still glad we got Cas’s side of the story. I have a pride pin on the lapel of my Cas trench, and it’s never felt more perfect.

So I’m angry, but I’m also incredibly glad. Ugh. Knots.

Boris: We’ll never know what actually went down during the production of this season and the hiatus changes or the show’s narrative arc, but I have to believe that Robert Berens was given some kind of go ahead and planned for a lovely and beautiful ending for Dean and Cas. That his story was taken from him at the end (much like Wayward’s eventual ending), is so unfair. Because Cas’s story wasn’t completed. Dean and Cas’s story will forever float out there for us to ponder. Like Natasha, I will cling to Cas’s confession and see it as a beautiful coming out moment for a character I love very much. I’ll be forever despondent that we didn’t see Dean’s story play out on our televisions.

Dean

I didn’t come out as bi to more than three people until my late 30’s. It was something I was first in denial about, and then it just seemed “not relevant” for a large swath of my life (married for 18 years now). Talking about that with my family and friends surprised me - how relieved I felt. How free. As I was working through this, I was also slipping into Supernatural fandom, and watching a show where Dean COULD BE bi. Reader, I projected myself right onto Dean Bean. Maybe he was like me. Clueless, then in denial, then thinking that part of himself irrelevant. So giving us Cas without Dean, given the scenes we watch on the show, feels like a personal affront. I know I’m projecting here, so I’ll acknowledge those feelings and move on to the next…

I am also PISSED about Dean’s story. All his life he’s been “daddy’s blunt instrument” and ready to die bloody on a hunt. It’s spoken about so often that we think surely - at the end - we’ll subvert that. SURELY he’ll survive. The last couple of seasons, he’s fighting for control - freedom from Michael, freedom from Chuck. He finally achieves that freedom and then loses everything anyway. There are no rewards on Earth. He died solving one last case from John’s journal. Daddy’s little soldier to the end. It’s disgusting to me to take this beautiful, complex character who is textually SO FULL OF LOVE and then take a pass on imagining what he might do with a real life on earth. It’s lazy writing, used for a cheap, fast, emotional reaction. The more I unpack Dean’s fate against the rest of the series, the angrier I get.

Boris: I think so many of us confused and discovering things about ourselves later in life see Dean as a character that matters. His story, had it been told fully, would have mattered. I don’t buy his death or his peaceful afterlife. It’s still too raw to process because he deserves happiness in life!

Billie

“I know Supernatural has a history of killing off characters of color,” I told people, “but Billie’s a main character now!” W O W 15x18 is the kick that keeps on kicking. I did actually enjoy Billie’s arc quite a bit, but losing her still makes me angry, in the broader context of the show.

Women

“Supernatural isn’t great with women,” I said. “But we have Mary now! And Billie!” Please picture me as Olaf when I say. “Mary DIES. Billie DIES. Only sad men remain.” Sure, we get some throwaway lines. We know Donna’s alive in 15x20 because of the call to Dean’s phone. Actually, scratch that, we know someone talked to Donna…because this show didn’t want to address that literally no other hunter knew about or mourned Dean’s death so they had a random stranger call Dean’s “Other other phone” for help. Great. Now I’m mad about Dean again.

We can probably blame some of how the final episode shakes out on COVID. Presumably, the final scene in Heaven would have been a party with Mary, the roadhouse crew, original Charlie, maybe Eileen? Kevin? etc etc. Instead, it’s an empty, lonely end on screen.

Which brings me to Eileen. Sam’s romance was laid out carefully throughout season 15, so what the fuck happened here? We assumed we’d at least get some confirmation that Sam ends up with the woman he brought back from the dead and then dated as recently as a couple episodes ago. Instead, there is literally NOTHING. No attempt is made to say that Eileen’s the one Sam ends up with other than his son having dark hair. There are no family portraits. No sign language to the faceless mother by the house. (Standing in a floral dress, like a good housewife.) Is she dead? Did Sam end up with someone else? Even without dialogue, there are ways to show Eileen’s presence that weren’t used. I’m so angry that she was an element of the season and then…hand waved away as irrelevant. The faceless wife MY GOD, SHOW.

Boris: Yikes, I cynically see the reason to not include Cas in the end because homophobiaTM but to not even give us Eileen and Sam? Clearly, they wanted to erase every person that mattered to the brothers from the end. Ugly.

Heaven

The funny thing is that I’m constantly trying to write a “happy eternity in a now-free Heaven” in my own fan fiction. If anyone should like 15x20 it should be me! I’m always trying to argue that it isn’t major character death, because their souls are infinite and now free, blah blah blah. So ultimately, my problem isn’t with peace in Heaven. It’s with Dean’s EARLY DEATH, and how empty Heaven feels. How desolate and devoid of life. Dean leaves the Roadhouse and drives alone until finally Sam dies and joins him. It reads like the ultimate fuck you to the “family don’t end in blood” storyline. If COVID filming got in the way of filling Heaven with life, then we have all suffered a great loss. It should feel ecstatic and full of community. Instead, it just feels wide and lonely.

Ultimately, boiling the season finale into an intimate portrait of brothers should work on paper. It SHOULD, but the show leaves so much unsaid and unshown about the community and family they’ve built along the way, and tells us to be happy with the scraps we’ve gotten instead. It tells us they were never that important, in the end. 

The Future

I’m still going to watch the show. I’m still going to enjoy the show and the characters. There are reasons I have watched all along, and they don’t have anything to do with needing the show wrapped up in a neat bow. I’m angry with Supernatural’s conclusion, because I love it. And I’m okay with that.

Boris: I love this show so much, and I know I’ll continue to love it. I need time to lick my wounds and forget about this episode. This show is about the characters and the journey and that’ll never end.

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X7

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

They did it! I can’t believe it! They actually killed DeLuca off! I’m so happy right now! As long time readers will know I have never been a Andrew DeLuca fan and I speculated back in the summer that they might be planning to write his character off after it was revealed that the planned finale for Season 16 included an explosion that was supposed to claim the life of one of the characters. I speculated that DeLuca was the most likely candidate with Tom and Jackson being the most likely runners up because I felt that they had gone as far as they could with DeLuca’s character and there wasn’t much left for him to do on the show.

Add that to the fact that the actor who plays DeLuca said a bunch of stuff to the press last year where he spoiled some pretty major plot points and stated that he knew things about where the show was going when he hadn’t even read a single script for the season yet and I was pretty sure his days were numbered. That being said, the show had teased us a bunch of times about firing, killing, or writing off the character during seasons 15 and 16 and they never went through with it so a big part of me was skeptical that they ever would.

But it turns out I was right! His days were numbered and they wound up killing him off in the Mid-Season Premiere! I’m still in shock. It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. This episode honestly made me wish we’d gotten to see the remaining episodes and finale of Season 16 as planned. Based on what we know it looks like the plan was for Richard, Bailey, Meredith, and Carina to stage an intervention, DeLuca was to go away and get treatment and return to the hospital only to die tragically in an explosion.

Season 17 would have opened with the characters finding out about that and mourning his death and I think it would have been interesting to see Meredith navigate that as in the Finale Hayes asked her out and she said yes. It seems likely that if the COVID-19 Pandemic had not hit when it did and shut down production and altered filming for this season we would have seen Meredith and Hayes go out for a drink and start dating.

Seeing Meredith navigate the loss of her ex-boyfriend who she was no longer close to while in the beginning stages of her relationship with Hayes would have been very interesting and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see that. I’m also sorry that due to safety restrictions Meredith and Hayes haven’t had much screen time this season, but it looks like that’s about to change as I’ll get into a bit later.

Back to the episode at hand. I never liked DeLuca as a character and I hated him with Meredith so I’m glad that they killed him off and that we never have to deal with that nonsense again. I’m glad that they caught the human trafficker Opal and took those people down. I was never super invested in that storyline so I’m glad they wrapped that up. I feel so bad for Carina though. She’s a great character and is wonderfully acted by Stefania Spampinato.

My heart broke for her in this episode because while I won’t miss her brother I know that she will and will be absolutely gutted when she finds out that he’s died especially after she worked so hard to get him help and treatment for his Bipolar Disorder. I’m glad she has Maya there to support her.

LOL at Bailey sleeping through the whole damn episode! What did I miss indeed! That poor woman slept through DeLuca getting stabbed, almost dying, not dying, having surgery twice, and then actually dying as well as the other shenanigans going on at the hospital. I loved that she was asleep at Meredith’s bedside especially after they spent a good chunk of Season 16 fighting.

I also feel really bad for Richard in that he’s obviously grateful that DeLuca helped save his life and wanted to help and when Owen turned him down because it wasn’t a good idea for him to scrub in Richard lurked in the background in the OR gallery the whole time to make sure that everything was okay. Plus he can’t talk to Meredith about it right now because she’s in a coma which must be so difficult for him. The extra stress also puts his sobriety at risk and that worries me.

I got to be honest I am struggling to understand Teddy’s point of view this season. She’s being really awful! She’s being cruel to Tom. She was cruel to Owen. I don't know what Teddy expected to have happen. Both Cristina and Amelia walked away from their marriages to Owen and moved on with their lives in large part because they realized Owen was in love with Teddy and always would be.

And then she finally gets what she’s wanted all these years and the minute she realizes Amelia’s baby might be Owen’s and not Link’s she runs back to Tom and has a several months long affair with him and then drops him like a hot potato as soon as she realizes that the baby is Link’s and after Owen finds out about the affair she refuses to talk to Tom for months and then comes crawling back to him and wants to be his friend after Owen makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. WTF?

I feel bad for Tom. I really like his character. He’s super interesting and complex and he deserves better than someone who treats him like that. Tom is a good man at heart and he treated Teddy like gold and in return she’s done nothing but break his heart and stomp all over him when he’s already down. He deserves someone better. I’ve never been an Owen fan, but honestly Teddy is behaving so horribly I’m on his side on this one.

They had some great scenes in the OR together, but Teddy clearly read too much into it. Every time he gives her a crumb she’s convinced he’s forgiven her and wants to give her a second chance and that’s not it at all. Owen has been clear. He doesn’t forgive her and he doesn’t want to get back together with her. All he wants is to co-parent peacefully and work together as colleagues because he values her skills as a surgeon. That’s it.

It was cute to see Teddy Face Timing with Leo. I’m glad they are finding safe ways to incorporate the kids into the story. Speaking of which, the scene where Amelia and Maggie tell Zola that her Mom has been placed on a vent and she might not come off it was heartbreaking. That kid has grown into her own as an actress and really holds her own in that scene.

Her line about how she didn’t want them to tell Bailey or Ellis yet because they’re too young to understand broke me heart. Zola’s only a few years older than them but she’s old enough to understand the impact of what’s happening in a way that they can’t. And she remembers how hard it was when Derek died. When Cristina left. When Alex left. She doesn’t want to put her siblings though the same thing especially when Alex’s departure is still so fresh for them and they never got a chance to really know their Dad. The fact that Zola can recognize that at such a young age is raw and heart breaking.

We saw Winston and Maggie reconnect this episode which would have been super hot and enjoyable if Meredith hadn’t just been put on a ventilator! The scene where Jackson showed up looking for Maggie was too funny! I loved the scenes with Jackson, Link, and Winston in the backyard having beers! Winston has a great sense of humour and seems to be a calming presence. I like the idea of those three being friends.

Link’s face when he realized that Winston doesn’t know that Maggie and Jackson used to date and are also step-siblings. I’ll be interested to see Winston’s reaction when that comes out. I loved Link’s rant about how worried he was about Meredith and what her declining health and potential death was doing and would do to Amelia. Did anyone else catch that he called Amelia his wife? I’m calling it. They’re foreshadowing an Amelink wedding!

I liked hearing Jackson talk about how Meredith is family and they’re all worried and Winston’s comments about how all they can do is just keeping moving physically and metaphorically. I’m also loving Amelia and Maggie’s wardrobes this season. Their sweaters in this episode were gorgeous! Hats off to the wardrobe department! They’re looking good!

I loved seeing Jo and Hayes work together again because I love their friendship, but to be honest I was expecting more of the friendly teasing and banter of last season where she egged him on about Meredith and they traded barbs. Their scenes in this episode were a lot more intense and agitated. She totally played him with that line about Meredith.

He kept saying no to taking Luna to see her Mom and so Jo made it personal for him. If Meredith asked to see her kids Hayes would never say no and he would move heaven and earth for her. By making that connection Jo got him to agree to her plan. I also love that the reason he kept saying no in the beginning was because of what happened to Meredith.

She went from laughing and joking to being put on a vent and he doesn’t want to run the risk with any other patient and it’s obviously eating him up inside. He misses her. He cares about her and he’s clearly terrified about the possibility of her not waking up. That being said, Jo’s line where she compared Alex leaving her for Izzie because he found out he had kids he didn’t know he had and sending her a heartfelt letter to Hayes spending years watching his wife and the mother of his two boys die of cancer was way out of line. Super not okay. I really think that Jo is going to adopt that baby. I think that’s why they are setting up her interest in OBGYN.

In other news, Nico is still a terrible boyfriend to Levi. I honestly don’t know why Levi puts up with him. Levi really shone in this episode I think. He felt responsible for what happened, but instead of bungling things and making things worse like he might have done in the past he got out of his own way and asked Dr. Khan who was a vascular surgeon in Pakistan prior to immigrating to the U.S. to take his place.

I feel like this episode implies that the Beach is limbo now as I don’t know how else DeLuca could have ended up there as he wasn’t someone who was close to Meredith the way that Derek, George, Richard, and Bailey are. Not sure how I feel about that as I was kind of liking the is it a COVID dream is it the afterlife ambiguity.

Onto next week’s promo! I’m not excited that they appear to be setting up an episode in which the other characters mourn DeLuca’s passing as none of the other characters apart from Carina were really that close to him. They spent the last two seasons establishing that everyone hated his guts, considered him a nuisance, and only put up with him because they had to. So to me the other characters mourning him doesn’t feel authentic or real. It just feels forced.

There are several things I am excited about though. Seeing Maggie’s reaction to his death I think will be interesting. She was visibly upset and ran to his side when Alex beat him up in Season 13 and mourning the loss of your ex-boyfriend who you were no longer close to while being in a committed relationship with someone new I think is an interesting dynamic. She’s kinda standing in for Meredith here because she’s on a vent.

I’d like to see Catherine support Richard and make up for her horrible behaviour last season. And the best thing of all: Hayes!!! In the promo trailer we see Hayes sitting at Meredith’s bedside talking to her about how she needs to fight and how they all need her to fight. Bring it on! It’s about damn time! And Derek’s back and he’s … fishing? I’m excited to see what happens there and if they actually get to talk and have a real conversation this time. It has also been announced that Sarah Drew will be returning for a cameo as Dr. April Kepner this season so I’m excited for that!

Until next time!

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Possibly a big ask to get just out of the blue but: what are your Supernatural season opinions? Which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Did you watch long enough to have showrunner opinions? If yes, which showrunner is your favorite and which is your least favorite? If no, which season that you haven't seen most tempts you to get back in the Supernatural trenches? Answer exactly as many of these questions as you want to. Carry on.

You know, I am not sure how long this Ask has been sitting here, because my Tumblr notifications are borked -- I hope not long? If long, I apologize, I wasn't ignoring it on purpose!

Okay, so I have more than the average number of Supernatural opinions, probably, but I'll try to keep this to a dull roar! Inside Me There Are Two Wolves: one of them believes that only the original five seasons of Supernatural are worth defending in any way, the other really, really loves seasons 11 and 12. The Kripke Era had a lot of problems, particularly in its treatment of women as bodies without agency and its treatment of Black men as literal predators, but also for all its flaws, it had a kind of coherence and narrative drive that comes from being the product of a dude who obviously cared about it and had something to say. Taken on its own, seasons 1-5 are a brutal and compelling story about the traumas of being men in a universe that's been absolutely destroyed by its Fathers: on almost every level, it's about these abandoned and brutalized boys discovering that their entire reality is the product of an abandoning and brutalizing God, populated by authority figures who are universally demanding and arrogant, but also completely fucking useless. It's quite literally about Sam and Dean trying to hang onto their souls and their own agency when everyone around them wants them forced into shapes formed by conflicts that fell into place at the beginning of time. It's hard to remember, but back then even the Lucifer plotline was about that! It was about the damage fathers inflict on sons! Things were about things, in the Kripke era!

Then we get to the Gamble era, and. Woof. I actually -- don't hate 6 and 7? Like everything Sera Gamble touches, those two seasons are kinetic and memorable and funny and weird and hit some really, really great emotional beats. There are Some Problems, but Gamble was saddled with a pretty dire job, trying to find a way forward after everything about the series really had effectively wrapped up in Swan Song, and I think she did an okay job. People got mad at her for killing Castiel, but you know, damn, I give her this: that was a storyline. Like, this character who was fresh out of the cult he was raised in becoming disillusioned by how messy normal life is and deciding that maybe people need better authoritarianism instead -- the way he's driven to take too many risks by the fact that he's abandoned and desperate -- Crowley as a legitimately scary villain while still being charming af -- and the tragic resolution of Castiel being torn apart by both his hubris and his heroism. It's actually really good. I understand why people didn't want what Gamble was serving up -- and I'm able to like it because it was undone later, you know? -- but she really did commit to a full season of character arc and saw it all the way through to an earned ending, and I gotta respect that.

I genuinely hate seasons 8 and 9. I think everyone is a dick, particularly but not exclusively Dean, to the point where I just find it a bummer to watch. I mean, you get Benny, and I love Benny. You get, I dunno, bits and bobs of decent episodes, but overall they are very fucked up seasons in my opinion. So Carver era is on thin fucking ice with me, but I do think you start to get a rebound in season 10 with the Mark of Cain stuff, although I wish they'd managed to keep Cain around longer. All the really good Claire stuff starts happening, which is nice because Claire, but also because for once the show is really letting itself go back and deal with the mess these protagonists leave behind them constantly. Castiel and Claire have maybe the most interesting non-Winchester relationship on the show. Oh, and Rowena shows up around here too, right? Love her. So the back half of Carver, 10 and 11, are starting to really gain traction for me. The world is building outward, secondary characters are starting to be genuine characters in their own right, the politics of Heaven and Hell get a little richer and more interesting. The show is really starting to feel like it takes place in a universe, which is great because we love the Frigging Winchesters, but they shouldn't be the only thing going, right? We have 15 seasons to get through! Season 11 is basically bracketed by what are probably my two favorite Supernatural episodes: Baby and Don't Call Me Shurley. (I think I'm the world's only living Metatron fan; I fucking love that little dude.)

Dabb takes over in 12, and I really, really, genuinely love season 12. I fucking love Mary. There are so many episodes I adore -- Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox is a special favorite of mine, and I remain pissed off that the Banes twins never made it to recurring status, bluntly that feels wildly racist to me -- probably the best three-episode streak in the show is Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets to Regarding Dean to Stuck In the Middle (With You), three just almost perfect episodes. So I was poised to really love the Dabb era. I wanted to! My body was ready!

And I do really love the first chunk of season 13, the Widow Winchester arc. Obviously I'm a romantic, love that for me, but it's just also really good? The acting, the writing, the psychological complexity of Dean wanting Jack to be Bad so he has an outlet for his anger and Sam wanting Jack to be Good so he can retroactively parent himself and raise a Lucifer-tainted child who isn't crippled by self-loathing. Billie's great, and it looks like she's going to start being one of the major powers of the universe. Unfortunately -- with the occasional exception of this or that solid episode -- that's kind of the end of Pretty Good Supernatural. Season 13 kind of unravels; season 14 always feels like it's looking for itself (which is a bummer, because I wanted very much to care about Michael); season 15 is, idk. Idk about any of it, it's all pretty pointless. I feel bad complaining on some level, because the show's been on for like fourteen years at this point! It's kinda justified in feeling a little worn out. But the reality is that the later seasons systematically undo all the expansion that had excited me earlier -- the Wayward Sisters crew pretty much vanishes when the spinoff isn't picked up, Naomi and the angels stop doing anything, Crowley's gone, Mary's gone for much of it. We're just kind of futzing around with monsters who don't seem to matter (very much including Lucifer, who hasn't mattered in ages) and a lot of Jack, who. I try not to shit all over, because I know he's a popular character, but I find him just ungodly boring. Everything in the last two and a half season just feels like it's headed nowhere in particular, and also it bored me. The Empty deal is just sadness porn; it doesn't have any resonance or meaning in terms of Castiel's character, it's just him agreeing to die for his kid, which is okay, it means he's a loving dad, which he is, but there's no conflict there, ergo no real drama. It's just mean; it happens because it'll make us sad, and no other reason. Rowena is the only strong secondary character left, and her ending also doesn't feel particularly relevant to her, it's just a generic Sacrifice to Save the World. Everything just feels like they're autogenerating plotlines, rather than letting the actual needs and drives of the characters shape the narrative. So while I have this weird split personality with Carver where I either hate what he's doing or I love it, most of the Dabb era is just. There. It doesn't make me feel anything except kind of tired and embarrassed. Which is a bummer, because I have an inexplicable fondness for Dabb, probably just because of how much I love s12. I wanted to love his seasons! I did love his first season! I feel like maybe something happened when the CW rejected Wayward Sisters? I know that was kind of his darling, and it feels like maybe losing that kind of sucked the joy out of him, and he's kind of checked-out by the end. That's genuinely just my guess, however.

That's Professor Milo's Intro to Supernatural Studies, don't forget to fill out your course survey on the way out!

[fuckyeahprodigalson]

Although Prodigal Son was one of many series to shut down production over coronavirus concerns, Monday’s episode actually was the intended finale, due to the order in which episodes were filmed; Episodes 19 and 20, however, could not be completed. Below, series co-creators Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver discuss how the season was impacted by those lost episodes, as well as how that Ainsley twist would play out in Season 2.

TVLINE | This production shutdown put you in an interesting place, given that you were able to film your intended finale but had to scrap Episodes 19 and 20. Did losing those two hours force you to change the episodes that did air? CHRIS FEDAK | Everything was changing very quickly in that last week before production went down. As Sam and I were looking at the situation in New York, we got the very strong impression that we’d be shutting down, and we’d be shutting down for a while. What we did was, we quickly rewrote Episodes 19 and 20 — and those episodes are fantastic, we hope to come back to them at some point — and we turned them into two scenes that became the first two scenes of Episode 21. Essentially, we scrapped those two episodes, and we linked the end of Episode 18 to the beginning of Episode 21. SAM SKLAVER | We were hoping to tell a five-episode story with [Nicholas Endicott]. We would meet him in Episode 18, as we did, and he was a very lovely character, and he was a romantic interest to Jessica. And he would remain a romantic interest for a while, and then we would realize that Nicholas Endicott was a monster. We had a much longer game plan with Dermot, because he’s so fabulous. We wanted to use him as much as possible, and that’s really what we had to cut short.

When we only had a few days left to shoot, we were like, “Oh, shoot, we have to turn Nicholas into a bad guy.” That was [originally] a whole episode, when they realized that. So we had to bring in Anna [Eilinsfeld], who plays Sophie, and have her say, “Nicholas Endicott is a monster.” We were very fortunate, though, in that once we realized all we had to do was turn Nicholas into a bad guy and deal with Eve’s death, somehow it could flow pretty seamlessly from Episode 18 to Episode 21, just with shooting those two scenes. We weren’t able to do everything we wanted, but we were so fortunate in that we got to end the season with the story that we had always wanted to tell since we first sold this show to Fox. It was fortunate for us, and we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without our post-production team.

TVLINE | Outside of the Nicholas arc, were there other storylines from those two lost episodes that you’d like to fold into Season 2 somehow? FEDAK | Absolutely. We had two very good episodes that allowed us to explore two things that we’d wanted to get into from the beginning of the season: One had to do with exorcism, and the other one had to do with technology. Those were the genres that we were stepping into in those weeks. And the other thing we didn’t get to touch was watching Ainsley do her thing as an investigative reporter. We had some fun stuff that we wanted to do there. SKLAVER | And for the very niche audience who’s a fan, we had a new car for Gil. [Laughs] His LeMans got destroyed by Bright jumping out of a window in Episode 13, and we had a really great thing with Gil finally getting a new car. I know Lou Diamond Phillips was very excited about that, as well. We need to work that story back in, most importantly.

TVLINE | Tell me about the Ainsley twist in this episode. Did the idea of making her a killer come up as you outlined this finale, or had you been building toward this all season? FEDAK | It was something we were intentionally building toward. We always knew this was something we wanted to play with when we started talking about the season, in regards to Ainsley’s psychology as opposed to Bright’s. It’s also a big part of where we’re excited to go next year. SKLAVER | The story that Ainsley always told herself was that she was too young to be affected by her father, but when Chris and I started thinking about these characters, we thought there’s no way she wasn’t affected by her father. She was just dealing with it differently. So we kind of loved the misdirect that all the attention is on Bright, who is older and had a stronger relationship with his father, but of course Ainsley was also affected by it. Trying to find a way to get to that was always the plan, because Halston Sage is such a rockstar, and in exploring this central dynamic of “like father, like son,” we also wanted to see what it would do to his daughter, as well.

TVLINE | I found Martin’s “My girl!” exclamation really interesting. Should we take that to mean Ainsley will be more of the focus in Season 2? FEDAK | Ainsley is still a very big part of the show. We have a lot of fun getting into the psychology of our characters, and she’s as much a mystery now as she was at the beginning of this year. That’s something we’d like to explore, and whenever we’re breaking down our stories, we not only break down the mystery of what people do, but also the mystery of what’s happening inside their minds. It’s definitely going to be a big part of Season 2.

TVLINE | What kind of toll is this going to take on her psyche? It’s not like she seemed to relish killing Nicholas; it was almost like she came out of a fog once it was done. How will we see that manifest? FEDAK | I only want to dip my toe into the story of Season 2, but what you’re seeing in that moment is exactly what we were going for on the page. You’re seeing a very complicated reaction to a very stressful and dynamic situation, and the ramifications of that will be dealt with next year — not only for her, but also for her brother, who’s been dealing with his father for all these years and now has to try and understand his sister and what happened in that moment. But that complexity is our intention. SKLAVER | Luckily, Chris and I have never slit a man’s throat and stabbed him six times like Ainsley does. FEDAK | [Laughs] SKLAVER | But I have to imagine that it does change you. [Laughs] It’s not something you can just tuck away, or if it is something you try to tuck away, as we’ve explored throughout the season, you can’t bury ghosts and trauma. They will always come back to you. So we’re afraid, but we’re not afraid of exploring it.

TVLINE | The Girl in the Box storyline was wrapped up pretty thoroughly in this episode. Looking ahead, do you intend to tell more stories that involve Malcolm investigating his father’s past victims? FEDAK | This is a show about memory, and it’s about what happened in our pasts and how it defines us. In this season, we went back to the Girl in the Box because we were fascinated with who she was and what she meant to Bright, and also with Bright discovering that his father was a killer. There are other parts of Bright’s past that we can’t wait to get into. What was it like being a kid with your father on trial for murder? That was the biggest trial in New York in the 1990s, and that’s a place we want to explore. There are still other revelations for us to get into. SKLAVER | And Martin Whitly killed 23 people that we know of, but there could easily be more. And Martin’s own past is something that we’re very excited to get into. What was Martin’s childhood like? How does someone like Martin get made? The Girl in the Box was a very poignant story to tell because it was a connection that the two of them had, and it was some of Bright’s memories that we could explore. But going back to 1998 and before that, it’s very rich territory.

[therealkatekane]

My Journey

At the tender age of thirty-five, I have discovered anime. Don’t get me wrong, I first watched Princess Mononoke at sixteen. It was my first exposure to Eastern thought, and it blew my tiny adolescent western mind, and I loved it. But outside of Ghibli movies and Voltron (which I don’t count), I’ve never sought it out on my own.

As a previous post might indicate, I am obsessed with Godzilla, so it isn’t as if I’m closed off from Japanese media. Most of the video games I play are Japanese. (Fire Emblem, Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, pretty much anything Nintendo.) One of my partners is even a Pacific Islander of Japanese descent, who lived in Japan, who speaks Japanese. And we’ve been together seven years. But all of the sudden, now I’m on this quest to make up for lost time and consume all the anime I can.

(Note: If you have suggestions, I would love them. But I would prefer if they were queer. I want women in love with other women. It doesn’t have to be overt, but I don’t want any heterosexual romances, and would prefer as few male characters as possible. I’ve seen enough male-driven storylines, thanks.)

But today, I am here to word-vomit all about the queer extravaganza that is Senki Zesshou Symphogear. Because I am addicted. I’ll start with this picture.

And so begins our journey...

The show starts out the gate being super gay. Tsubasa (Blue) and Kanade (Red) are each a half of the singing duo Zwei Wing. They refer to one another as partners and there is a lot of “We can do anything as long as we’re together” and “I’m going to sing with you forever” type stuff.

Then there is Hibiki and Miku:

Friends since childhood, they are the core couple of the show. Hibiki is the main character who typically discovers she’s not just a normal girl and has the ability to wield a Gear, which allows her to become this adorable badass superhero. Miku is her anchor in the mundane world. She is frequently the one person or thing that can reach/inspire/motivate Hibiki. She is what drives Hibiki.

Hibiki calls Miku her sunflower, the place where she is warmest, where she will always return to. 

Which brings me to the point that they share a bed. Despite having bunk beds, they always sleep together. Except when they’re fighting, then they go to their respective bunks. It’s just so cute.

The characters are delightfully complex. Hibiki is as pure as the driven snow but she isn’t naive. Usually, pure characters are oblivious or ignorant to the danger or evil around them, but Hibiki isn’t. She knows fighting is dangerous. She knows people can be evil, but those things never deter her. It makes her incredibly brave, even when confronted with someone she knows is malicious, she extends her hand in friendship because she chooses to believe the best in others. It is nice to see a character who is sweet and pure without being an utter dumbass. 

We’ve all seen it. The sweet, precious hero is surprised that the bad guy who has been trying to kill them for an entire season won’t be their friend. Hibiki is NOT like that. She always gives people the opportunity for kindness without expectation, with the full awareness that it might be rejected.

Miku is the sweet, somewhat demure, nurturing one. She is the caretaker character. You might initially think she’s the standard timid and meek best friend stock character. But nope. She does not suffer fools. She is not an enabler. She is not afraid to call anybody out on their bullshit, regardless of who they are. She does what she thinks is right which also makes her very brave. She wants to protect Hibiki as much as Hibiki protects her.

Their dynamic is just lovely. Hibiki can kind of be a mess sometimes. She’s absent-minded, never on time, doesn’t prioritize school work. Miku is always there to pull her back down to earth, to center her. If she feels Hibiki is losing focus or deviating from who she is, Miku will always be the one to ground her. She truly is Hibiki’s anchor, her safe place. And I love it.

Oh and there is my dear Yukine Chris. I won’t go super in detail, but I will leave you with this:

It is exactly what it looks like. A queer D/s relationship. Unfortunately, it’s toxic and unhealthy. A whole lot of “I’m the only one that can love you” and “You have to obey me or I won’t love you anymore” and “I’m angry so you have to let me take it out on you” and so on. It’s all taken directly from the Abusive Relationship Handbook.

But worry not, we are not subjected to the toxicity for terribly long, and Chris gets the kindness and love she deserves from her new friends and senpai. I’d go more in depth, but y’know... spoilers.

Now, let us march forward to season two where our Roster of Queerness is completed by three additional characters. Two of which are so cute I cannot even fucking stand it. 

I call them my Precious Gay Babies.

Kirika and Shirabe are two little baby gays that grew up in an orphanage with only one another and Maria, who is like a big sister to them. But oh my fucking god they are so precious I can’t even handle it.

Kirika is the more animated of the two. The sweet, cheerful ray of sunshine. And Shirabe is the quieter, more solemn of the two. They literally have a fight where they are shouting back and forth at each other how much they love one another. If this show was only about them, I would watch it. They are just way too cute.

Shirabe can be a little possessive of Kirika, and Kirika knows who she belongs to. If another girl touches her, she knows Shirabe will put the stomp down on it. I usually find behavior like that kind of squicky and toxic, but in this instance it isn’t too gross because I think it’s rooted in their background. They’ve only ever had one another so they’re extremely protective of each other.

I mean, just look.

Look at my Precious Gay Babies!

LOOK AT THEM!! 

They are so cute and precious and I love them.

Let me wrap this up with Maria.

I won’t go too in depth with Maria because I don’t want to be spoiler-y. But 1) She’s fantastic. 2) No, I don’t know what’s up with her hair. 3) She is totally queer for Tsubasa, and I’m sailing on that ship. 

I am midway through the fourth season. So, I haven’t caught up to the most current season (5) but holy hell. I am invested.

It’s just a bunch of girls (oh! And there is even a genderless, sexless character who is precious and I love) being in love with other girls and fighting monster things.

I fucking love this show. Right now, it’s kind of vying for top spot with Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid. Which may only be my number one because it’s a little more overt in its women sleeping with other women thing. It’s equal parts “fuck yes!” combined with “am I high right now?” That’ll be my next post, I digress.

If you are in the mood for some light but surprisingly good entertainment featuring a strong line of female characters who all fall in love with one another, then I cannot recommend Senki Zesshou Symphogear enough. It is fan-fucking-tastic. It doesn’t require too much thought, but it makes up for it by giving you a ton of warm, fuzzy feels.

And if you can recommend me anything similar. Or anything that heavily features queer women, I would be forever in your debt.

Oh, and PS there is a mobile game, which is how I found the show in the first place. Downloaded the game, played it, then got all fucked up on the anime. Worth it.

[sometimesrosy]

I know Jason has done this before but don't you think there are too many storylines in the final season i.e.., anomaly, sanctum, sheiheeda, with now just 14 episodes to go with 1 being a backdoor pilot. Am loving the anomaly stuff and that could have easily been a season on a whole. I hope we don't miss out on some character moments between the main characters.

What is “too many storylines?”

In a short story it would be too much, but it’s a seven year long, 100 episode story. And I think they’ve manage to be engaging that whole time, by adding new aspects to their story rather than repeating what’s already been done.

It’s a complex story, and most of these storylines aren’t new, they’re development of things that have been going on forever. There’s a lot more wrapping up of old storylines than starting of new ones. I mean, Hope began in season 5. The Eligius began in season 4. Cadogan/second dawn began in season 4. The anomaly began in season 6. Whatever’s going on with the backdoor pilot began in, at latest, season 3. Sanctum, as part of the eligius began, at latest, s5. And this is all assuming that all these things have nothing to do with the grounders and the original apocalypse, which I am not sure of, since I think most of them have to do with second dawn which was an apocalypse cult. Also sheidheda which began in season 6, sure, but probably feeds into the entire grounder culture so it goes back to s1.

They’ve always managed to tell their character stories through the action/sci fi/fantasy/horror storylines. What I’ve noticed is that the main plot of each season, the action, tends to go pretty fast. They zoom through those storylines, but the CHARACTER ARCS go really really slowly. Clarke’s heroine’s journey, Bellamy’s hero’s journey and romance arc, Octavia’s dark fall and redemption, Murphy’s growth into a hero from a villain, Raven’s struggle with disability, ability, and responsibility. Emori being accepted and part of a family, Echo’s story of independence and identity. 

Here’s the thing about the characters. It can be frustrating for us watching live because we’re only getting little bits at a time, and it feels like they aren’t going anywhere, but they are built slowly and carefully, and if you watch from the beginning you can see all the work that went into them.  But in retrospect, if you pay attention to the moments that really drew you in, that made you feel the connection to them and between the characters, then they’re always small, quick moments, sometimes lasting only moments, that are tucked between the high stakes of the action and danger.

Creating character arcs and journeys that go so slow is a HUGE commitment and a blind leap of faith. There was never any guarantee that they’d get to the end of the story and let us see the meaning of it all. That’s why the fast moving plotlines. So that each season would end on a satisfactory note on the top level of the story, even if we would have to wonder about the characters and the ambiguity of their arcs. 

I suppose that’s what kept us coming back. Characters are how we relate to the story, they are what draw us in and make us feel connected to the story. Holding back on giving us the resolution to their character arcs causes TENSION in the audience. Tension is part of what makes us feel for the characters, to have hopes for them, to be scared for them. The fast action/slow character arc pacing is part of what sucks us into this show. It may be maddening, but it’s effective.

 but it’s about more than just relating. I think this show is an allegory for the state of humanity. It’s a BIG story, told on a sweeping stage, with intimate characters. 

I don’t agree that there are too many storylines. And while we might not get the character interactions that we want, that could be true with any story. Because they can only tell their story, just the one story, not every possible permutation of what the audience might like. Also I think sometimes people want main character level stories for minor characters, and that’s just not fair. Some characters aren’t main characters because their roles are smaller and supportive rather than leading and active. And I know that people are mad that they’re adding new characters, but that actually gives us room to have the same level of drama and tragedy and still maybe give us some main characters to be alive in the end. I’m not joking when I say that giving screen time to once tertiary characters makes me worried for their survival. They want us to care. So they can rip our hearts out... and still maintain the main character arcs they are using to tell their big story.

[msmovingforward]

Hypno-SHEDIDNOT

We open with Jen and the Shah squad in the Nomad Hotel and Casino. Jen informs her team that she's going to the "strip club!!!" I'm thinking, "SHAHMAZING!! We're finally gonna get to see these women do something in Las Vegas that you might actually do in Las Vegas." As it turns out... the promise of this show filming anywhere except inside Luigi's Mansion, er I mean... the fabulous Nomad Hotel Las Vegas or at Heather's Mormon laser conversion therapy "health spa" was an empty one.

Whitney and Heather then have a pow wow following Heather's exclusive in-hotel shopping experience with Jen and Gollum and Whitney, Meredith, and Lisa's riveting experience driving luxury cars. (Side note: many places have "driving experiences" where you can drive a luxury car five laps around a track. You can buy this experience yourself on Groupon for like $49, and you don't have to fly coach to Vegas to do it. When my Housewives take me to Vegas, I want to see Lisa Vanderpump pretending she's ok with the Chippendales touching her. I want to see someone who owns a casino treating their frenemies to a weekend of debauchery. Hell! I at least want to see Camille Grammer dancing like a white girl in the VIP section of Tao!) Whitney reveals to Heather that she's just so glad that they can finally have a drama-free dinner all together, now that Jen has forgiven and forgotten how it was ALL WHITNEY'S FAULT that she threw that glass at Sharrieff's birthday party. (Or so she thought...) This is juxtaposed with a scene of Jen, Meredith, and Lisa sitting down to a dinner I can only describe as if Disney World decided to open a Rainforest Cafe inside the Haunted Mansion and served Lunchables and Stacy's Pita Chips. As we have come to predict, Lisa is loving the elegant vibe this dinner, complete with an oversized margarita topped with a Blue Mccaw, is throwing off. Lisa knows taste. Lisa WANTS to touch this dinner, and she does. She scoops what looks like some sort of spinach dip right onto her plate, as she and Meredith fill Jen in on Whitney's apology at the racetrack.

This is when things turn, and I'm not just talking about Whitney's flawless day-to-night turtleneck tank top and high wasted jean look. According to Jen, it would be nice if Whitney could just be accountable. This is when I realized that we are living in a different world entirely from Jen Shah. In Jen Shah's world, it's appropriate to throw a glass without looking, and when you do that, you're not overreacting. In Jen Shah's world, you can dress like you tore the rainforest-scene wallpaper right off your pediatrician's wall. What ensues is one of the worst examples of a housewife trying to force a story line I've ever seen. It's like when Michael Scott keeps insisting every improv scene has a gun. Stop trying to make this fight happen, Jen! No one cares! Andy Cohen, please tell me she isn't coming back next season. More Jen yelling that Whitney needs to watch her back and more Meredith disengaging follow. We learn from a testimonial that Meredith grew up in a broken home, so the yelling triggers her, so she learned how to disengage. This is FAR TOO HEALTHY of behavior from a housewife for me. I mean, have you SEEN a Housewives show before, Meredith? This is cage fighting for women. Get back in there with your slicked back jet black hair! FaceTime Brooks! HE would have some choice words to say to Jen.

Whitney and Heather show up just as all this is happening. Jen has gone into full-on crazy mode now, and she's doing that thing where you get so upset that you basically just start crying. In this sense I can feel bad for Jen. It really must be challenging to live by yourself with your husband gone three quarters of the year, but this woman needs a hobby more fulfilling than buying friends and saying "shah-mazing..." like maybe buy one of those adult coloring books, Jen. This storyline is getting nowhere quickly. I need Jen to cool it, and I need Meredith to step it up. Jen pushes Heather, and Lisa follows her out into the hotel lobby to try to talk her off the ledge, but she's unsuccessful... probably because her outfit makes her look like a bellhop, so patrons keep trying to get her to carry their bags to their rooms.

  Jen returns to her room to call her husband and further establish herself as the victim in this situation.

We head back to Whitney's room, which looks like it's in a library, to break down what just happened. We learn that Meredith and Seth had previously been separated several times and had both seen other people, but they are currently happier than they have ever been. This puts to rest the cheating rumors that Jen had been trying to drop in everyone's ears, but cuts Lisa to the core because she doesn't feel like she even knows her best friend.

When we return from commercial, more establishing interior shots of this baffling hotel inform us it's the next day; there's a large dog statue, another lost soul from American Horror Story bringing Lisa breakfast ("Thank you. I love that!"), a bathtub right next to Heather's bed, and a creepy clock on Whitney's bedside table. Brooks tells Meredith that the family dog shit all over his blue Moncler coat, and he nearly cried, but he couldn't because he just got Botox at Heather's health spa from a pregnant 16 year old Mormon. Whitney pushes her legs over her head and yawns while her testimonial informs us this is worse than the time she got her period on a waterslide during a trip to the Bahamas. Hot. Lisa FaceTimes Mary and tells her she wishes she were here to tell Jen she smelled like hospital at last night's Velveeta and scorpion bowls dinner. Mary blinks several times and tells us Jen is crazy, and she's been trying to tell us all along! Takes one to know one I guess!

Jen is gone! Then! Jen is not gone because the Shah squad told her to stay. Thank God for the Shah squad!

We head outside where Meredith is dressed in her most elegant oscillot print coat. Heather informs the rest of the gals that she's gonna be late, and we head to... a hypnotist's mansion in the Las Vegas desert? I'm SO confused as to why we went to Vegas to visit these otherwise standard Housewives tropes. The hypnotist tells us to hold balls in our hands because this is how hypnosis works, but not before Jen and Heather show up late, disrupting the whole ritual, causing us all to have to start over. After NO ONE gets hypnotized, we head to the hypnotist's living room, where the hypnotist, who I think is vying for a snowflake, and who I have a sneaking suspicion is not a hypnotist AT ALL, asks everyone whom they do and do not trust. Shocker! Everyone trusts everyone else, except no one trusts Jen, and Jen doesn't trust Heather.

  The episode basically just wraps up there, with more to come next week with the hypnotist. Here are my final thoughts. A) Jen is a terrible friend to Heather and an even worse housewife. When this series premiered, I appreciated her coming in guns-a-blazing, but this victim complex, rage issue thing is not playing out well. I need her off my screen. B) Heather is enabling this whole situation, both with the show being terrible due to Jen's not understanding what her job entails and with remaining in this toxic friendship. C) The other women ARE afraid of Jen, and I would be too. I wouldn't want to be around her. D) I would love if Alison Dubois from Beverly Hills' dinner party from hell would hold a seance in the Nomad Hotel. It could be quite possible the woman we saw this episode wasn't Jen at all but just the spirits in a disturbed Vegas burial ground in a state of unrest, convincing her that all work and no play make her a dull boy.

[aion-rsa]

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 9 Review – Chapter 85: Destroyer

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The mundane mingles with the supernatural in a enjoyably goofy episode.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 8

“It is better to know the truth and make peace with it.”

In a bit of selfless wisdom, Cheryl states the above words to Betty in tonight’s bonkers installment. The context being that Betty doesn’t want to tell her mother that it looks like Polly is a goner. So she goes to Cheryl basically to inquire whether she feels that her cousin’s life would have been better had she not known Jason’s true fate.

The from-the-heart response that Cheryl gives her is quickly ignored, and Betty hides the truth from Alice. Since this is an episode of Riverdale, Betty’s deception immediately backfires on her when her FBI superior Glen arrives at the Cooper household to reveal Polly’s probable fate and kick Betty off the case. (Somewhere in the night, Veronica does a breathy cover of The Thompson Twins’ “Lies”).

Anyway, let’s get back to that quote for a second: It is better to know the truth and be at peace with it. That’s going to be the mantra for this entire review, as there are fundamental truths I’ve touched upon in the past that demand to be recognized before the healing can be reached. They are:

1- Archie’s football storyline is a total snooze.

Riverdale may have leaped seven years into the future, but Archie remains as doltish as ever. Granted, K.J. Apa is killing it this season as a grizzled version of the character, but the problem of Archie’s messiah complex still drags on. There are a lot of fascinating things happening on this series right now, and all the Bulldogs stuff does is slow down the breakneck pace that those interesting storylines are moving in. Aliens are in Riverdale, nobody cares about high school football right now. C’mon.

All that said, Britta rules.

2 – Any time that this series isn’t focusing on Mothmen Aliens is wasted time.

The show is taking serious liberties by mashing up Mothman and alien abduction mythologies, which really upends my In Search Of-influenced ideology about how the world works. I’ll forgive this because putting “aliens” on Riverdale is a work of stupid genius but also because I love watching Cole Sprouse and his starter goatee running around looking totally frantic.

3 – Hiram Lodge should be eaten by Mothmen Aliens.

Am I alone in thinking this could actually happen? What a coup for the series that would be! We know that Hiram is involved in some shady business, and all his SoDale shenanigans are a cover for some big secret. Therefore the mystery of the Lonely Highway is directly traced back to Hiram. Is he working for the government? Did aliens cure his mystery illness of last year and in turn is he feeding them Riverdale’s castoffs? Nothing is off the table here. Hiram’s machinations have been the same since he first appeared, but what if he really was working for aliens THE WHOLE TIME? Wouldn’t that be insane/amazing? No other show could pull that kind of shit off.

What I’m saying here is that Riverdale has been dancing with insanity since day one and it’s time to consummate the relationship.

4 – Betty Cooper, Alien Hunter needs to happen.

She fights werewolves in the comics, so is this really that crazy?

The ultimate mystery of whatever is happening this season will likely have a logic-based answer. That’s disappointing, as the Archieverse can be shown to handle witches, so are extraterrestrials that far off? (I’m still burned by the conclusion of the Gargoyle King saga, so I’m not expecting much here). Imagine though, the writing staff wants you to think that everything will wrap up with a plausible explanation and then, boom, it gives you bona fide aliens! A dream is a wish the heart makes…

This episode did give us clarity on a few things. We learned that both Jughead’s and Betty’s investigations lead back to the Lonely Highway and the mysteries — either terrestrial or otherworldly — unfolding there. Additionally, we were reminded that even though he’s ostensibly the lead character of this series, Archie is straight-up boring when he isn’t being attacked by bears or escaping from prison. With only one more episode before an extended hiatus, I hope next week brings us some resolution even though deep down I know that it won’t.

Riverdale Rundown

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• Jughead’s student who writes the troubling story about Mothman abduction is Lerman Logan, a reference to The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Percy Jackson franchise star.

• Old Man Dreyfus’ name is clearly inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind star Richard Dreyfuss, which is fitting as the supernatural elements of this season are riffing on the sci-fi blockbusters of the 1970s and ’80s. Further proof of this can be seen by Drefyus telling Betty and Jughead about how Riverdale was a hotbed of Mothmen activity in the summers of 1977 and 1982, ones in which Star Wars and E.T. respectively ruled at the box office.

• Mr. Weatherbee threatens to fire Jughead if he doesn’t stay out of Lerman’s problems, apparently forgetting that Jughead isn’t really even a teacher and is only volunteering.

• Even objectively, Archie is a terrible coach. Can we please fold him into the Jughead/Betty storyline somehow? It’s great to see him and Veronica back together but damn do they need better plots to work with.

• One of the teams that defeats the Bulldogs is the Baxter High Ravens. In case you forgot already, Baxter High was one of the schools that Sabrina attended in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

• One has to wonder how the Vixens must feel about Cheryl, a woman in her twenties who graduated seven years ago, returning to her alma mater to steal the thunder of teenagers who live in Murdersville, U.S.A. and have no other outlet besides cheerleading by performing a self-aggrandizing Lady Gaga cover. Cheryl does a lot of messed up stuff on this show, but this act struck me as especially cruel.

• There’s no Toni and very little Tabitha Tate tonight. Boo.

• I still think they should sell the Pop Tate bobbleheads they keep showing.

• Kevin gets put through the emotional and physical ringer this episode. We learn that disparaging remarks from his mother impacted his self-image so much that he turned to cruising in Fox Forest. (The fate of Mrs. Keller is unknown, so it is possible that she will make an appearance in an upcoming episode). The assault that Kevin endured was brutal to watch, but the scene between Kevin and his father was powerful and cathartic. It will be interesting to see where the character of Kevin goes from here, because it is absurdly beyond time the writers give him a personality trait other than chronic thirst.

• Someone on the Riverdale production staff must really love Friday Night Lights.

• I don’t believe for a second that Polly is actually dead. There’s more of a chance of Hiram being eaten by Mothmen Aliens or Archie getting a compelling A-plot.

• I hate on the football storyline a lot in this review, but I do find all the talk about tainting the podunk town’s football league’s prestige to be weirdly funny.

• Pop’s sells take out cold cuts too? Helluva business, that Chok’lit Shoppe.

• “I’m saying that things happen, especially in Riverdale,” declares Jughead, in the most obvious statement in the episode.

• Please let them do a Mulder and Scully thing with Jughead and Betty.

• I think there’s more Mr. Weatherbee in tonight’s episode than there has been in the entire series to date. That’s a fantastic thing.

• So is Reggie done with Hiram for good now? He is such a key figure in the comics that it would be fantastic if the series figured out what the hell to do with him.

• Having reviewed this show from the first episode, I’ve learned a thing or two about how Riverdale storylines work. Therefore I’m calling it now: Glen is the Trash Bag Killer. You think so too, I know it.

• So far this season has drawn influence from everything from cryptozoological monsters to the real-life crimes of Patrick Kearney. Next week marks the mid-season finale, and the promise of everything from aliens to Pop’s possibly being blown up by Hiram? Whatever happens, cherish it, as the show then won’t return until July.

The post Riverdale Season 5 Episode 9 Review – Chapter 85: Destroyer appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2QBxetE

[emilybettsource]

The announcement that Arrow would be ending with its upcoming eighth season probably didn’t surprise that many fans. As much as the show has been exploring new types of storytelling and focusing on different characters this year, at the end of the day, it’s still the story of Oliver Queen. And that seems to be headed toward a natural – and likely bittersweet – endpoint with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover next year. (Plus, we have to assume that star Stephen Amell probably wants to do something besides climb salmon ladders for a living by now.)

However, the news that Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Team Arrow’s resident hacker genius Felicity Smoak, would be exiting Star City at the end of Season 7 probably came as a much bigger shock. It seems almost impossible to imagine Arrow without her, period; let alone envision a final ten episodes in which Felicity will have no real role in wrapping up the narrative she’s been such a huge part of.

Her departure will mark the true end of an era, as Arrow says goodbye to both its leading lady and one of the team’s founding members. We still don’t know precisely how Felicity will exit Star City – though Arrow’s 2040 flash forwards have given us a pretty good idea of the isolated nature of her life going forward – but we do know this: the show will never be the same again once she’s gone.

Felicity Smoak is, in large part, the glue that holds Arrow together. Though she is perhaps the least physically capable member of the team when it comes to throwing a punch, she is as much a hero as anyone who suits up in a vigilante mask or hood. Her enormous heart, her compassionate nature, and her refusal to back down when facing the worst sorts of odds make her the kind of woman any of us might aspire to one day become.

As Team Arrow’s resident hacker and IT whiz, Felicity has always played a key role in the day-to-day operation of the group, even though she herself rarely ventures away from her tablet or computer keyboard. She’s brilliant, unashamed of her intelligence, and utterly capable, doing everything from managing remote missions to performing surveillance to hacking the FBI or CIA. And over the course of her time on the show, her character completely turns the idea of the nerdy superhero sidekick on its head.

Felicity’s character ticks a lot of the boxes of the (traditionally male) dorky computer geek: A fast talker who’s socially awkward, sarcastic, and maybe just a little too smart for their own good. Yet she is also a woman who unabashedly embraces her feminine side, choosing cute dresses and high heels as often as jackets or T-shirts, and who puts a priority on building lasting emotional connections with those around her.

Her compassionate nature is invaluable, and her vivacious personality provides a much-needed ray of sunshine in the otherwise dark and grim world of Arrow. (This is particularly true during the show’s earlier seasons which primarily dealt with Oliver’s family secrets and seemingly endless quest for vengeance.) She’s brave, loyal to a fault, and willing to stand up to those she thinks are doing wrong, even when they’re her friends.

That Felicity ultimately becomes Arrow’s female romantic lead is another bold choice on the part of the show – and not just because she’s the sort of character who, stereotypically speaking, almost never lands the hot guy at the center of the story. The decision to pair her romantically with Oliver represents one of Arrow’s first major departures from its comics source material, and established the show as one willing to take risks and tell its own story on its own terms. From a relationship perspective, her big-hearted sincerity offers a refreshing contrast to Oliver’s near-continual angsty brooding, and her refusal to compromise her beliefs to fit his often provides much-needed alternative perspectives within their group.

It’s true, though, that much of Felicity’s time on Arrow has largely revolved around her relationship to and/or with Oliver.  Over the course of seven seasons, she’s been his admirer, his teammate, his girlfriend, his ex, his wife, and now the mother of his child. But Felicity has never been defined solely by her feelings for Oliver, and whatever their Facebook relationship status may be at any given moment, she still possesses desires and agency of her own.

Arrow, however, has not always done its best by Felicity when it comes prioritizing those desires as part of the story. The show has occasionally felt as though it didn’t quite know what to do with her character, particularly once she and Oliver were officially together. Arrow has a longstanding tendency to resort to emotional melodrama when cornered, which means we’ve watched a lot of bizarre storylines over the years that seemed to exist solely to put “Olicity” at odds.

Yet, as Arrow explored more of Felicity’s darker side in recent seasons – her regrets, her insecurities, her own past as a hacker, her messy relationship with her parents, and her rage at the situation that landed Oliver in jail – her character became much more complex and layered. She’s experienced tremendous growth over her time on Arrow as a hacker, as a businesswoman, and as a leader in her own right. Felicity is not a perfect woman by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is she a damsel in distress waiting for Oliver to swoop in with his bow and save her. She is smart and tough, complicated and quippy, loyal and brave, sometimes reckless and always stubborn in the best possible way.

Her character has come so far from her first scene all the way back in Arrow’s third episode, when she was just a tech support girl charged with fixing Oliver’s broken laptop. But it’s precisely because Felicity Smoak has grown into such an integral piece of the show that she’ll leave such a big hole behind when she’s gone.

[hope-for-olicity]

The announcement that Arrow would be ending with its upcoming eighth season probably didn’t surprise that many fans. As much as the show has been exploring new types of storytelling and focusing on different characters this year, at the end of the day, it’s still the story of Oliver Queen. And that seems to be headed toward a natural – and likely bittersweet – endpoint with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths”crossover next year. (Plus, we have to assume that star Stephen Amell probably wants to do something besides climb salmon ladders for a living by now.)

However, the news that Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Team Arrow’s resident hacker genius Felicity Smoak, would be exiting Star City at the end of Season 7 probably came as a much bigger shock. It seems almost impossible to imagine Arrow without her, period; let alone envision a final ten episodes in which Felicity will have no real role in wrapping up the narrative she’s been such a huge part of.

Her departure will mark the true end of an era, as Arrow says goodbye to both its leading lady and one of the team’s founding members. We still don’t know precisely how Felicity will exit Star City – though Arrow’s 2040 flash forwards have given us a pretty good idea of the isolated nature of her life going forward – but we do know this: the show will never be the same again once she’s gone.

Felicity Smoak is, in large part, the glue that holds Arrow together. Though she is perhaps the least physically capable member of the team when it comes to throwing a punch, she is as much a hero as anyone who suits up in a vigilante mask or hood. Her enormous heart, her compassionate nature, and her refusal to back down when facing the worst sorts of odds make her the kind of woman any of us might aspire to one day become.

As Team Arrow’s resident hacker and IT whiz, Felicity has always played a key role in the day-to-day operation of the group, even though she herself rarely ventures away from her tablet or computer keyboard. She’s brilliant, unashamed of her intelligence, and utterly capable, doing everything from managing remote missions to performing surveillance to hacking the FBI or CIA. And over the course of her time on the show, her character completely turns the idea of the nerdy superhero sidekick on its head.

Felicity’s character ticks a lot of the boxes of the (traditionally male) dorky computer geek: A fast talker who’s socially awkward, sarcastic, and maybe just a little too smart for their own good. Yet she is also a woman who unabashedly embraces her feminine side, choosing cute dresses and high heels as often as jackets or T-shirts, and who puts a priority on building lasting emotional connections with those around her.

Her compassionate nature is invaluable, and her vivacious personality provides a much-needed ray of sunshine in the otherwise dark and grim world of Arrow. (This is particularly true during the show’s earlier seasons which primarily dealt with Oliver’s family secrets and seemingly endless quest for vengeance.) She’s brave, loyal to a fault, and willing to stand up to those she thinks are doing wrong, even when they’re her friends.

That Felicity ultimately becomes Arrow’s female romantic lead is another bold choice on the part of the show – and not just because she’s the sort of character who, stereotypically speaking, almost never lands the hot guy at the center of the story. The decision to pair her romantically with Oliver represents one of Arrow’s first major departures from its comics source material, and established the show as one willing to take risks and tell its own story on its own terms. From a relationship perspective, her big-hearted sincerity offers a refreshing contrast to Oliver’s near-continual angsty brooding, and her refusal to compromise her beliefs to fit his often provides much-needed alternative perspectives within their group.

It’s true, though, that much of Felicity’s time on Arrow has largely revolved around her relationship to and/or with Oliver.  Over the course of seven seasons, she’s been his admirer, his teammate, his girlfriend, his ex, his wife, and now the mother of his child. But Felicity has never been defined solely by her feelings for Oliver, and whatever their Facebook relationship status may be at any given moment, she still possesses desires and agency of her own.

Arrow, however, has not always done its best by Felicity when it comes prioritizing those desires as part of the story. The show has occasionally felt as though it didn’t quite know what to do with her character, particularly once she and Oliver were officially together. Arrow has a longstanding tendency to resort to emotional melodrama when cornered, which means we’ve watched a lot of bizarre storylines over the years that seemed to exist solely to put “Olicity” at odds.

Yet, as Arrow explored more of Felicity’s darker side in recent seasons – her regrets, her insecurities, her own past as a hacker, her messy relationship with her parents, and her rage at the situation that landed Oliver in jail – her character became much more complex and layered. She’s experienced tremendous growth over her time on Arrow as a hacker, as a businesswoman, and as a leader in her own right. Felicity is not a perfect woman by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is she a damsel in distress waiting for Oliver to swoop in with his bow and save her. She is smart and tough, complicated and quippy, loyal and brave, sometimes reckless and always stubborn in the best possible way.

Her character has come so far from her first scene all the way back in Arrow’s third episode, when she was just a tech support girl charged with fixing Oliver’s broken laptop. But it’s precisely because Felicity Smoak has grown into such an integral piece of the show that she’ll leave such a big hole behind when she’s gone.

[him-e]

no room to link sources in the ask but google is free. he told them his plan for the ending very early on in the show and since he's said he's not happy with the ending and that they ignored what he wanted so much that his ending wasn't even possible in the show anymore by s7 we can conclude that his ending will be different than what d&d did (but not necessarily better) im not gonna get into the sexism thing but if that's what he wants to write it still says Something about him imo

Alright, folks, I googled it and all I’m getting are clickbait articles (mostly released before the series finale) about how George isn’t happy that Game of Thrones is ending, not with the way it’s ending. (they’re all quotes or pieces of interviews I had already heard anyway, nothing new)

From Independent: 

Game of Thrones author George RR Martin doesn’t know why the HBO series is coming to an end. The writer, who is the creator of Westeros and its many inhabitants, doesn’t think that season eight should be the final batch of episodes.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin said: “I don’t think it should be the final season. But here we are. It seems to me we just started last week. Has it been longer than that? The time has passed by in a blur.” He continued: “But it’s exciting. I know it’s an end, but it’s not much of an end for me. I’m still deep in writing the books. We saw five other sequel shows in development. I think I’m going to be hanging around Westeros while everyone else has left.”

From Mentalfloss:

Watching your masterpiece come to an end must be difficult thing to process. What does one do after closing the chapter on such an important part of your life? In the case of A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin, you write more books. But that doesn't mean that the bestselling novelist isn't lamenting the conclusion of Game of Thrones. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Martin admitted that he has "mixed feelings" about it all. "It’s been an incredible ride," the author said. "And almost all of it has been great. Obviously, I wished I finished these books sooner so the show hadn’t gotten ahead of me. I never anticipated that."

[The concern] used to be that the books would spoil the show for people—and luckily it did not for the most part,” Benioff told Entertainment Weekly. “Now that the show is ahead of the books, it seems the show could ruin the books for people. So one thing we’ve talked to George about is that we’re not going to tell people what the differences are, so when those books come out people can experience them fresh.”

“It’s the end for a lot of people,” Martin said. “It’s not the end for me. I’m still deeply in it. I better live a long time because I have a lot of work left to do.”

From Express.co.uk:

Some storylines and characters have continued to diverge from the books and Martin has been more vocal about the subject recently, telling Rolling Stone: "Of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure." In another frank chat this week with Fast Company he revealed: "It can also be... traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don't match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict." (note: none of this was specifically about the ending, but about changes in general)

The author had previously said he would have liked the show to run across more series, to give all his complex storylines room. Instead, the HBO team entirely removed some characters or reassigned storylines.Martin said: “The series has been... not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.” In the new interview he added: "You know, it’s complex. I’m a little sad, actually. I wish we had a few more seasons."

Martin discussed the main points of the ending with HBO many years ago and everyone on both sides has said these will remain in place, but the author admits there will stll be some variations: "On certain secondary characters there may be big differences.”He also admits this primarily due to the increasingly overdue final two books in the series: "Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books. I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here."

At no point I’m getting any legitimate quote by GRRM actually saying that the show’s ending is different from his intended ending, or that he didn’t like the way the show wrapped the story up. What these sources report is that he’s sad that the show is ending so early (i.e., he hoped it could go on for more seasons yet, partly because he’d have more time to finish the books without the show catching up, partly so that the show could have more chances to do justice to the story).