#i dunno what weapon to give him yet so pretend he's holding a cool sword or something
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making a Jayan for a friend's Anima: Beyond Fantasy campaign
#anima#anima: beyond fantasy#jayan#original character#leftski art#i dunno what weapon to give him yet so pretend he's holding a cool sword or something#I do know he's 8'6"
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Fate Episode One
At long last, itâs tiiiiiime!
First: whitewashing bad. Â Fact acknowledged. Â Everybody else has said everything on the subject (ad nauseum...) so no reason to say it all again!
Iâm diving in with questions. Â The main one is âWill there be a good reason for Musa to be a mind fairy rather than a music fairy?â Dunno why thatâs what Iâm wondering the most, but it is. Â Thereâs also âIs Fate!Stella truly an unholy union of Stella and Diaspro?â and âso what makes them fairies not witches/psychics/mutants?â and âSo whatâs up with Beatrix? Â We know nothing about her, and as an Umineko fan Iâm favorably disposed towards witches named Beatrice!â and also âTheyâre not really having sex are they?!â
Iâm going to try and approach Fate just like I do every season of the cartoon, ready to celebrate the good, snark at the bad, enjoy many headcanons, reference random stuff, and have a good time.  Pretending I havenât had my fannish heart nigh to broken by the state of the fandom and that Iâm worried Iâll get hate for even posting this.  Iâmâa try to start from zero to find my own answer the really big question⌠âGood, bad, or totally irredeemable?â
So⌠In which we discover a new world.
We start with⌠a night scene.  Not promising when âtoo dark canât seeâ is one of my pet peeves!  An old fella comes out to check on his cute Irish sheep.  He passes through the barrier, into the dangerous forest beyond to look for a missing sheep.  Yup, heâs gonna be guest victim in the first five minutes.
Oh no! Â Something has disemboweled a sheep and left it hanging in a tree! Â Clearly there are leopards in the magical realm!
There is a great roar and an unseen but very large-sounding beast chases our poor shepherd! Â The guy trips and falls just as heâs about to get through the barrier and is set upon and devoured by the unseen beast! Â Blood spatters the rocks!
Opening! Itâs the wings weâve sen and some really beautiful music. Â One point for the music.
Then a gorgeous flying shot of the outside of the barrier and Alfea. Whatever the plot turns out to be, the outdoor setting is beautiful. Music that seems to be both pop and edgy plays as we zoom in on the logo on the gate, and thereâs Bloom coming in the gate.
And thereâs Terra with her father and a tray full of plants.
And thereâs Aisha walking by with her dreads
And thereâs Stella taking a selfie with other students.
And thereâs Musa leaning on her suitcase, headphones on, looking at her phone. Â Another girl says something to Musa and she turns and replies and smiles.
And thereâs one of the guys twirling a knife. Â Iâve heard Sky starts out in a pink shirt so this must be Riven. Â The camera comes back to Bloom as she gives him a doubtful look. Â In the novelization sheâs mentally labeling him an edgelord, and that kinda fits. Â Any dude showing off his willingness to twirl weapons at a high school probably is best avoidedâexcept the dudes here are training to fight so the weapons rules must be different. Â I wonder if Bloom knows yet that dudes with swords are normal here.
Bloom gets a text to meet Stella at the gate. Â She waits.
Camera pan to Sky talking to another guy.  Sky looks⌠Sky-ish.  Chris Evans style handsome, blond.  Iâdâve made him grow his hair to mimic cartoon Skyâs silly shaggy haircut, but points for making Sky look like Sky!  Minus points for not dying Riven maroon.  They couldâve made it work!
Sky is indeed wearing a pink shirt. Â In the novelization Bloom thinks heâs wearing it âbecause gender roles were for the weakâ which is a line I think is funny and intend to use in a story somewhere. There is no obvious hint in the show that Sky thinks gender roles are for the weak
Bloomâs tired of waiting. Â She heads off. Â Sky ditches his buddy to go meet her. Â âWow, you are so lost. Â Iâm impressed with your confidence in the face of complete ignorance. Â Issue is, youâre overcomitted. Youâre essentially running. Â And now that Iâm here you canât possibly give me the satisfaction of turning around.â Â he says, all in one go. Â
I canât decide if thatâs jerkish or charming. Â Maybe Bloom shares my weakness for men with accents because she decides on charming.
Bloom says sheâs a fairy, giggles because thatâs something she never thought sheâd say, theyâre standing in the courtyard of a college for fairies, Bloomâs from California, not the Otherworld. Â So we get all that established. Â Sky is kinda charming here and points out the specialistsâ hall and fairy hall.
Sky: âIâd be happy to-â
Bloom: âMansplain it?â Â
So the writing team does know some modern issues! Â Bloom says Sky seems like a mansplainer, which seems like quite a leap since she is new and he is helping her, in a friendly-sarcastic kind of way. Â Sheâs giggling, clearly charmed.
Then Riven comes up, and heâs like a foot shorter than Sky, and Bloom escapes for some reason so maybe she wasnât enjoying the conversation as much as it looked? Or maybe it was just the plot needs to move along. Â Riven glomp-hugs Sky. Â Heâs got a great accent too.
Bloom mustâve left because she saw Stella, they say hello. Â Bloom says she got impatient waiting and Stella says, âHow very American of youâ Â So American stereotypes are known in magical worlds also? Â Â
So, Stella! Â Blonde, tall, zero Stella vibe. Â Accent. Long pale coat and a satiny top with big chunky pendant. Â She gets to her ring quick, âPortal ring, the only thing that keeps me sane in this place is the ability to leave it. Â Your world may not always be thrilling but it beats this one. Â There are seven realms in the Otherworld, each a different kind of boring.â Â All spoken in a jaded monotone. Â Ugh, what have they done to our Stella!
The girls walk inside while Stella speaks, the school is pale stone and arches and plants. Â Other students are arriving, hauling suitcases, hugging. Â At least some of them seem happy to be here!
Cut to the globe! Â and itâs a magical globe, the water moves and there are lil sailing ships! Â But the lands are totally blank, so itâs a cheap magic globe Dowling didnât pay enough for the one with tiny forests too. Â Alfea is in the realm of Solaria.
Maybe they shouldnât have made Ireland = Solaria. Â Iâve only been to England but we did not see the sun the whole trip! Â Bloomâs in Dowlingâs really cool office. Â She spins the globe but the camera pans away before we see the names of the other realms. Â Bloomâs talking nervously about seeing people updating their insta stories, expecting Tinkerbells, and the lack of wings.
Dowling: âWe had wings in the past. Â As weâve evolved, transformation magic has been lost. Â Tink was an air fairy, youâre a fire fairy.â
Dowling says classes tomorrow, learn to use magic slowly but safely⌠we establish Bloom is here to learn to control her magic so she can go home and not keen on âslow.â  Dowling says, âtrust the processâ which immediately makes me mistrust her.
Then she gives a great lil speech: âAlfeaâs graduates have ruled realms and led armies. Â They have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost relics. Â They shape the otherworld.â
But Bloom just wants to get done and go home. Â She says, âI'm here because you promised youâd teach me control.â and Dowling says, âno, youâre here because you knew you have no other choice.â and Bloom looks betrayed.
Yeah Dowlingâs sus. Â
Next scene: Bloom showing her dorm to her parents over video call! Â How does that work between dimensions? Â Her folks look nothing like Mika and Vanessa, dadâs got a beard and silver temples, momâs got big blonde curls. Â Neither of them have burn injuries or the sort of freaked out vibe Iâd expect from folks whose house was just on fire.
Roommate pan-around! Â Terra puts potted plants everywhere! Â Stella preens at the vanity! Musa headphones-and-laptop but smiles at Terra. Â Aisha comes in with her laundry bag.
Bloomâs parents get suspicious about the timezone thing, they think Bloomâs in the Alps, and Aisha comes and covers for her saying itâs time for lights out.
Aisha intro! Â She is wearing a pink and brown checkered dress thatâs not super fashionable or flattering. Â I like her blue braids though. Aisha does not seem to have the accent that many Alfeans have.
Bloom explains the âhuman parents, fairy daughter, I must be a throwback to an ancestorâ thing. Â Aisha looks dubious. Â Then they mention Harry Potter!
Bloom; âRavenclaw, sometimes Slytherin.â
Aisha; âExplains the lies then. Â Gryffindor.â
Bloom: âExplains the judgment.â
Congrats, you both were jerks in three short lines. 9_9 Â But theyâre smiling so I guess itâs friendly sniping. Â
Bloom goes to see Stella, whoâs holding up sparkly tops to herself. Sheâs also got this weird rainbow skirt that looks like gymnastics clothes not real clothes. Â Stellaâs changing for the party because people have already seen her in her clothes. Â Bloom asks confused, âPeople expect you to wear multiple outfits?â and Stella comes back with, âpeople expect me to care how I look.â In the same jaded monotone.
Before Bloom can WTF outta there like a sensible person Stella snaps her fingers and creates a ball of light. Â Bloom gapes, but not nearly as much as I feel like she should. Â The magic is beautiful, itâs all rainbowy and sparkly. Â Bloom just hesitantly asks, âCan I ask, how exactly you..?â and Stella shuts her down with an almost kind, âIâm a mentor, not a tutor.â
But she does give a little infodump. Â âFairy magic is tied to emotion. God thoughts, bad, hatred, fear, the stronger the emotion the stronger the magic.â
And Bloom says, âDo you hate me or fear me? Â You were looking at me when you did that. Â And Iâm pretty sure you donât love me.â Smart cookie, Bloom! Â Points to you! Â We know itâs because Bloom was talking to sky, and that gives Stellla some emotions.
And points to Stella, she thaws out her voice and talks like a real person, âI donât know you. Â Iâm sure once I do Iâll find something to love.â Â She sounds rather doubtful about the last bit but yay actual emotion!
Then Stella goes over to Terra for her intro scene and I cringe because the novelization did Terra dirty and Iâm not keen to see it on screen. Â But it works ok. Â Stella gently calls Terra on the number of houseplants and says the secret garden was better kept secret, Terra responds that wasnât really the message of the book, Stella looks at her with amused patience and leaves Musa and Terra to continue the scene. Â And I decide if thereâs no infodump about how earth and the Otherworld relate to each other in this show I shall be cross.
Then Terra chatters on about her family and how she grew up at Alfea since her dad works here (sheâs holding a 100% fake plant) and drops that Stella is a second year. Â Musa asks why a second-year is in a first-year suite and Terra says itâs some administrative thing probably best not to mention. Â But Terra totally knows the secret.
Musaâs eyes glow purple. Â Magic! Â But we donât hear what she hears. Â She starts putting her headphones on. Â Terra goes on to say they should all not mention it to Stella, then interrupts another headphones-attempt to offer Musa a succulent, âTheyâre low maintainence, perfect for you, not that I really know you...â
Musa: âIf I take it will you stop talking?â
Terra visibly deflates and Musa apologizes and grabs the succulent before finally getting to escape into music.
Aisha leans in to ask Terra if Alfea has a pool. Â It has a river and Aishaâs been swimmingâtwice a day every day! Â Terra says no pool, just the pond where the specialists train but nobody swims there, at least not on purpose.
And we immediately cut out to the pond, which looks pretty mucky, I wouldnât want to swim there either!  Two specialists, a boy and a girl, are whacking away at each other with wooden swords on the shore.  Theyâre all dressed in black pants and tank tops, very Divergent movie poster except with the Alfea logo on the front. Thereâs a bunch of specialists training all around the pond and one does indeed knock their opponent in with a splash!  But we home in on Sky and Riven and I cannot get over how short and skinny Riven is compared to Sky!  And the fact that Iâve just been rewatching Lord of the Rings and Riven doesnât look 100% not like Dominic Monaghan⌠sorry Rivenâs actor, Iâm sure in future episodes Iâll stop thinking youâre a hobbit!
Anyway, Rivenâs teasing Sky about his crush on Bloom, says Sky always goes for the crazy ones and all redheads are crazy. Â Sky puts Riven on the mat and Riven says he was getting high all summer and not practicing. Before Sky can give him a âbig brother speechâ on that riven skedaddled because here comes the teacher with a different speech!
This showâs Codatorta, whose name is Silva and who looks very irish and I like him, does a little speech about how yâall gotta train, singles out a black guy I think is Dane and says, âeven you will be able to fight like him.â and attacks Sky, who fights back. Â They spar for a minute.
Infodump: âSkyâs father was Andreas of Eraklyon, that makes him a legacy.â Also, some of these kids are from families of specialists and some were selected by Silva based on their talent for combat and weaponry. âThis place will seem like hell until actual hell comes. Â We are the first line of defense, a certainty when the future is uncertain!â
Then Dane snickers about the whole âschool full of kids with swordsâ and Silva says it must be nice to be so âsoftâ he can make fun. And Dane drops that the barrier exists âto protect the school from Burned Ones.â
As he says it, we cut to Sky going out through the barrier to smoke. Â
Burned ones are gone. Â But Silva saw one when he was a kid. Â His father shot it but was killed by the Burned Oneâs poison. Â Burned Ones are inhumanly strong and fast, and have a terrible poison, or disease that kills people who get away.
Sky looks over and sees the shepherdâs body. Â Yikes!
Cut to the staff arriving to look at the remains.  Just three: Dowling, Codatorta, and Terraâs dad.  Is that the whole staff?  Who teaches? Couldâve been a wolf or a bear⌠Terraâs dad collects some gunk from the body and I think calls it âchar residue.â
Dowling says, âShe killed all the Burned Ones.â
She? This worldâs Marion/Daphne, likely.
But the adults clean it up so the kids can party! Â Our girls are gathered around the food, and theyâre better dressed! Â Aishaâs got her hair up and a blue hoodie, Musaâs got a little red coat. Â Terra has not been blessed by the fashion fairy, sheâs in some overalls it looks like, not flattering. Â Terra is saying hopefully that maybe the shepherd died of old age and Musaâs âYeah, that old age decapitationâ is gentle ribbing not cruel. Â
Aishaâs loading up a stack of cookies, says how much she eats and, âIf I didnât swim Iâd be massive.â itâs not aimed at Terra , but Terra flinches. Â Aisha heads off and Terra says something that boils down to, âMusa, youâre tuning out me in particular.â which, Terra youâve known Musa for what, six hours? Â Way too short a time to take it personal. Â Musa says, âItâs a me thing, itâs not you.â and Terra just flusters and heads away. Â Musa looks troubled but not sure what to do and puts her headphones on.
This is SO much better than in the book. Â Not perfect, all the interactions between the girls have been very weird as if theyâve been given a script full of cruel catty lines and instructed to say them in a kind way, but at least theyâve tried for the vibe of âtrying to be nice to people we donât know yet and flubbing itâ rather than âwe are all terrible peopleâ like I feared.
Terra meets her dad and tries to go to the greenhouse with him but he makes her stay to enjoy the party.
Cut to some grownup dudeâDowlingâs secretary? Apparently searching for something in a desk that I presume is outside the headmistressâ office.
Beatrix⌠or possibly a gothed-up Bloom⌠comes to see Dowling and when told the headmistress isnât in says, âIâll just take a water, room temp, thanks love.â and then when the door opens Beatrix greets Dowling with a simpering âI'm your biggest fan, Iâm obsessed with Alfea...â and cascading apologies for swearing, with more swearing. Dowling and her secretary are as confused by this as I am but Dowling says Beatrix can study the history of Alfea in the library if she wants to.  I assume this is evil Beatrix slyly getting permission to hit the books.  Is Beatrix even a student at Alfea?
Cut to Bloomâs notebook, sheâs already started taking notes about powers being linked to emotions, love hate and fear. Â Great initiative Bloom, but are there no textbooks you could be reading ahead in? Â
We get dumped back to a flashback: Bloomâs mom wants her to go out on a Saturday night, to a party or a movie or whatever teen thing. Â All Bloom wants to do is go to antique sales apparently. Â Bloom doesnât want to be a âbasic bitchâ like her mom and her mom doesnât want her daughter to be a âweird loner.â
Pause while I urban dictionary âbasic bitch.â  Huh. Not a term I ever heard in my circle of nerds. Â
Bloom and her mom are awful to each other. Â Back in the present Bloomâs eyes flame up as she remembers. Â She decides itâs time to go experiment! Â Right now! Â Before even one day of magic class or one page of a textbook! Â The idiot ball has entered play.
Night has fallen because of course it has. Â Bloom runs into Sky at the party. Â But sheâs not looking to party, sheâs looking for a place to be alone outside. Â Sky directs her to beyond the barrier, because weâre about to have Plot. Â If it werenât for Plot Iâm sure Sky couldâve suggested a specialist workout area inside the barrier. Sky says there might be wolves or bears or âmaybe something much scarierâ and Bloom catches the idiot ball and says, âBut no people? Â Perfect!â
Sky offers to go with her but Bloom says no thanks in a âI think you may be flirting and I may be down for that in the future just not right now.â kind of a way. Â Good character interaction! Â Except Stella grabs Sky for a chat once Bloom heads out to meet the Plot.
Sky and Stella have an opaque exchange that really just establishes they have a past of some sort that everyone knows about because everyone staresâor at least Stella thinks everyone is staring. Â Iâm starting to feel weirdly sorry for this Stella who has none of her namesakeâs sparkle and confidence. Â Why does she think all the realms are boring? Â Is she ever enthusiastic?
...wait, itâs still day!  Why was it night inside?? This show is weird about lighting. Gosh Ireland is beautiful!  Whereâs this castle they got to be Alfea?  Can I go there?  This FOREST!  It is a fully magical forest.  Aisha is swimming in the river, with goggles and a cap but Bloom heads into the amazing forest.  Good music here too!  Forests and magic and music, come on Fate you CAN be a good show, I believe in you!  Just put down the idiot ball and step away...  Bloom goes through the barrier and outside it sees a swirl of orange and white sparkles in the air.  She watches it and laughs and then hikes through a little more forest.
Finding a clearing Bloom calls her fire. Â At first she canât, then she looks through the pictures on her phone looking for emotion. âPictures of my sad teenage years are not happy thoughts. Â Noted.â She says with an angsty little smile. Â Then thereâs a photo of the burned out house. Â She zooms in and stares at it taking in all the details. Â And we get flashbacks to the line of fire racing towards her parentsâ bed.
Fire! Bloom turns her handful of fire this way and that, delighted, then tries for two hands.  This is the scene from the trailer, playing with fire.  Good music here.  And good that Bloom thought the magic was neat⌠uuuuntil she realizes she doesnât know how to put it out.  She freaks out and waves her hands around trying to blow out the flames.
Aisha comes to the rescue and says dumb things like, âYouâre losing control.â and âIf you get angry at me...â and Bloom does get angry and throws lines of fire right at Aisha. Â Who looks terrified. Sensibly, but also has she never seen fire magic before? Â She grew up in a magic realm, does she know nothing about how to help someone get control? Â Is control taught to magical babies so teenagers rarely see someone wigging out? Â But if magic is emotion then everyone will lose control sometime since we all get upset. Â How does an emotion=magic society function?
Anyway. aisha pulls water up from the ground and puts out the flames.
Inside Aisha gives Bloom what for about losing control. Â Including, âIs that American for sorry I almost set you on fire?â Â Srsly, this show is Irish people and Italians stealth throwing shade at Americans! Â *Laughs in January 2021* Bloom retorts that she went away from people to experiment for just that reason, and tells Aisha about not having had fairy parents or any magical experience.
Aisha responds with the story of flooding her school including the toilets and having to wade through poo. Â (I also tend to call it poo, after watching Mike Rowe. Â I wonder if they watch Dirty Jobs in the Otherworld.)
And Bloom tells her story. Â Bloom isnât a cheerleader, she likes antiques and staying home by herself, so she and her mom donât get along. Â Her parents removed her door, which is awful! Â And Bloom got flamey eyes and sent fire straight at her parents while they slept. While Bloom sat on her bed in a rage trance. Â Understandable level of fury after that fight. Â And Bloom feels awful, also understandable. And she snuck out to sleep in a creepy warehouse to protect her parents. Â Her folks didnât know it was her of course, they donât know about magic.
Aisha says that beats her flood story, but Aisha is also wondering about something. Â âYou drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. itâs hard to believe youâre from a dormant bloodline. Â Is there any chance youâre adopted?â
Bloom laughs. Â Then says she heard the story of her birth a million times, she was a miracle baby diagnosed with a heart defect but then after birth her heart was fine.
Aisha: âOh god, youâre a changeling!â ⌠âItâs barbaric and it barely ever happens anymoreâŚ.â
Bloom has had enough and just says, âwhy would you even tell me that?â and leaves. Â Musa comes over and asks Aisha what she said. Â Aisha: âThe truth. Â Because someoneâs been lying to her.â
Cut to Dowling, lookinâ sus!
This changeling thing had better be fully explained later. Â Why was it done in the past? Â Why is it considered barbaric? Â What happened to the parentsâ real kid? Â I assume she died of the heart condition, but thatâs a bigole dangling bit of Plot. Â In the unlikely event that Fate goes for many seasons that baby will turn up with magic too or as a specialist or something.Â
Dowling pours tea. Â Then she telekinetically locks her office door and opens a secret passage! Â Dowling is sus.
Back at the party, where it again seems to be night. Â Dane is leaning on a column hangin out when here comes Riven with a flask! Â He offers, Dane says no thanks, Riven says, âThere are two types of first-years: pussies and aspiring former pussies.â and pours the entire flaskâs worth of booze into Daneâs cup anyway.
Dane says something about, âIt feels like less a binary choice and more like a spectrum.â Â And points for the actor delivering this line like itâs a sarcastic comment on social juscice-ness rather than the large sign saying âDane is not straight!â that the writers intended. Â Dane drinks, makes a face, and Riven bullies him into drinking the rest, tipping the glass so Dane chokes.
Terra rides to the rescue, âBullying the first-years? Â Can you be more basic?â and Riven says Dane was into it which he wasnât.
Terra: âThinks heâs some badass but you shouldâve seen him last year he was just a tragic nerd in disguise.â
Riven: âAnd sheâs just three people in disguise.â
Dane does call Riven out on that bit of nastiness but Terra just does a great lil speech and strangles Riven with vines. Â Thought Iâd hate that but I kinda liked it. Â Go Terra. Â Then she introduces herself to Dane, says that wasnât a great first impression but Dane says heâs about to make an impression by throwing up after a single drink, and Terra hurries him away presumably to the nurse. Â
Bloom google-imaged changelings!  Lotsa woodcuts, someoneâs fanart entitled âhorror of fairy babies.â  Thereâs more nuance to it than that⌠ Bloom looks at a family photograph.
Thereâs Stella, coming to be sympathetic? Â Nope, sheâs coming to conivingly advance the plot! Â âYou know thereâs no shame in that, wanting a normal life, wanting to be home...â
When the girls get back Bloom is nowhere to be found. Â Musa mind-reads that Stella is wracked with guilt, Â They put it together, Bloom was talking to Sky and now sheâs gone. Â Apparently Stella did something nasty to the last girl who talked to Sky. Â Terra is kinda straight up badass. Â Stella confesses, she kindly loaned Bloom the portal ring so she could go back to âthe first worldâ but to use it Bloom has to go deep into the forest outside the barrier to a door in a graveyard.
Portalâs super low special effects, Bloom pushes open a door in a cemetary, the ring glows, and Bloom walks into what must be the warehouse she hid out in.
Itâs very dark inside both buildings but away from the cemetary it seems to still be day so we can see a Burned Oneâs shadow coming towards the portal. Â Day and night seem to depend on location in this show, and anywhere you need a monster itâs gonna be dark! Â Bloom seems to leave the magic portal open and we see her step out on the warehouse into a weirdly well-lit night on earth.
Real actual nighttime on earth. Â Bloom walks to her parentsâ house and calls them from outside. Â Her dadâs surprised she called twice in one day. Â This call her folks seem just worried and nice, not awful like they were in the flashback. Â Bloom cries. Â She canât ask her parents about the changeling thing. Â Her mom says very kind, âYour path isnât like mine or your fatherâs but I canât wait to see who you become.â Â Bloom hangs up and cries and watches her parents in their house, then walks back to the warehouse to return to Alfea.
But first we get to see where she was camping! Â In a little office in the warehouse. She brought a lot of stuff, bedding and pictures for the walls and everything. Â She opens a notebook and we see that she was experimenting already, discovered she was fireproof, wondered if she had superpowers. Â Then she senses something and looks out through an interior window into the rest of the warehouse.
Yikes! itâs a Burned One!
Bloom staggers back, trips, and drops Stellaâs ring down a grate in the floor.
Bloomâs never heard of Burned Ones at this point but she knows a monster when she sees one. Â She cowers, back to the wall. The Burned One breaks through the window and tries to grab her!
Bloom escapes into some kind of tunnel, I guess she opened the grate that the ring fell through? Â Itâs not totally clear. Â Thereâs the ring, on the other side of a different grate or screen, Bloom canât reach it, thereâs lots of roaring, Bloom runs like hell!
And thereâs Dowling! Â She says, âdonât stop now.â and gestures Bloom through the door back to the cemetery. Â The door closes behind her. Â Terra, Musa and Aisha are waiting to make sure Bloomâs ok. Bloom says the Burned One got the ring.
Stella, meanwhile, is on Skyâs bed when he comes out of the shower! Dressed, at least.
Sky is not interested.  âYou canât be here, Stell.  If Silva finds out-â  Sky goes for his trousers but Stella comes over and snuggles up to his bare back.  Sky is still not keen.  Seems Stella dumped him then went silent all summer and now sheâs jumping in since he talked to Bloom.  Stella⌠comes out and says, âI got jealous. I did something really stupid.â  and she says, âI canât sleep in a room where everybody hates me.â  For sending Bloom into danger to get home when thatâs what Bloom wanted?  Not great, Stella, but hateworthy?  Did the girls all tell her they hate her or does Stella just think sheâs an awful person?  And is Stella actually desperately unhappy or is she just trying to get in Skyâs pants?  Not sure what to take away from this.  Sky hugs Stella and tells her sheâs better than she thinks she is. Â
The others get back to the dorm and Aisha reassures Bloom that Dowling can take care of the Burned One.
Cut to Beatrix leaving her raid on the library with armfuls of books. She passed Riven, whoâs smoking. Â They say flirty things and Beatrix says sheâs been âsnorting the midnight adderallâ to show that sheâs a bad girl. Â Riven offers her a puff but her hands are full of books so they do this almost-kiss so Riven can blow smoke into her mouth. Â Erotic, also gross. Â Is that a real thing people do? Riven asks Beatrix if sheâs a first-year and she says âIâm lots of thingsâ and walks off leaving Riven and the room heâs in, which has the most gorgeous arched windows with trees in them. Â Is this place real? Â Itâs the same place the party was but now itâs night and these windows are glowing green with tree outlines in them. This has gotta be something the filmmakers added.
Pajama scene in the girlsâ suite, Terra waters plants, Musa hops in bed with headphones on. Â Terra does a needy little wave. Â Musa reluctantly un-headphones. Â Terra offers a speaker she borrowed from her brother so Musa can have her music without shutting other people out.
And I cringe so hard because just let people tune you out if they want! Communicate by whiteboard! Â People not wanting to share doesnât mean they hate you, it means they have their own thoughts theyâre busy with! Â Come on Terra, be better than your novelization self!
Musa calls Terra out on her fake-happy bullshit. Â Musa can feel all of Terraâs insecurities and anger. Â Seems like maybe empaths shouldnât have to share a room! Â Whatâs the range on mind reading? Â How did Musa hit 16 without learning to tune stuff out or going mad? Â But Musa says, âbut if you want to know how I really feel...â and switches her music to a speaker, itâs guitar-y and nice.
Up in Dowlingâs office, Silva says she shouldâve killed the Burned One not left it chained up and knocked out in a shack outside the barrier.  Dowling needs to investigate this Burned One, see if there are more of them.  Then Dowling spills that Bloom is a changeling, from the time the last Burned One disappeared.  And she says, âRosalind kept so much from us.  Iâm worried about the students. The Alfea they know is very different from the one we attended.â Thereâs something very âthere was a war beforeâ about the two of them. Dowling may not be sus after all, though that may make her a terrible headmistress depending on how the next episodes go.
Montage of sleeping students. Â Terra and Dane are texting. Â Dane accidentally likes one of Rivenâs sexy photos. Â Rivenâs pleased. Â Sky and Stella are sharing a bed but after the last scene I canât imagine they actually did anything. Â Sky seemed pretty unseduceable. Â
And outside a Mysterious Cloaked Figure passes through the barricade, finds the Burned One in the hut, and zaps it awake with lightning. It pushed back its hood⌠Beatrix!  So if she undid her too-tight braids sheâd be Stormy? So is Beatrix the villain? I mean obviously sheâs a villain but the threat of the Burned Ones feels... bigger than one teenager in Bratz clothes who has not got the presence of even one Trix much less all three wrapped up together. But anyway sheâ gets to be a doomful cloaked figure at the end of episode one.
Very pretty ending credits music. Listened to it several times. I canât understand the lyrics which is probably just as well. Is it in irish or is it just sung in a way to not have clear lyrics? Câmon fate, Irishness is a big thing youâve got going for you, please milk it for all its worth!
I⌠I LIKED it!  Now my friends say future episodes get worse so I canât get my hopes too high but this wasnât awful.  None of the girls really had any vibe of their characters, only Bloom and Sky really look like Bloom and Sky.  The worldbuilding is lacking, Iâm left with more questions than answers.
And oh god one episode was ten pages and about five hours.  I⌠I meant to do this with every episode but Iâm not sure I can.  Thereâs so much to comment on it takes forever.  Maybe Iâll do each one in parts.  Or maybe Iâll abandon the writing and just watch the show like a normal person. Itâs a lot of fun to fine-toothed comb each scene but Iâmâa be here forever!
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