#i feel like ep 3 was too soon for the flashback episode

[evenlarksandkatydids]

imo the acolyte is one of the latest victims of "too short season syndrome" like, so many of its flaws could have been ironed out if we had a couple more episodes to flesh out character arcs and develop relationships.

[blorbologist]

S3 eps 7-9 thoughts below the cut

This is all fresh after the episode and I gotta be up in a couple hours so it won't be fully thought out but...

I love a lot of the creative choices being made! But I think many weren't implemented well, or balanced nicely.

Just! as someone who has deconstructed Campaign 1 and made deviations to the timeline of events and etc (mind you, without the same goal of condensing things for television… but somehow the show has an equivalent perc'ahlia focus to a ship-centered fic?) I think… I can see several avenues of narrative choices that would strengthen the ideas they're going with instead of weakening them.

(My credentials here are 'almost 300k canon divergent AU that converged on a handful of similar plot points to TLOVM', but also the aims of an AU fanfic =/= that of a show. I understand and respect that challenge the team faced. But when a single amateur can point out issues that would be pretty easy to solve and detract from a very enjoyable experience... there might be a Problem)

Ripley doesn't need a sob story, she's getting a book anyways leave it there. Fully agree with @/aq2003. The whole point is that she's monstrous and evil and got her PhD out of a fucking cereal box. Percy is less like her than he thinks. But he dies and she just??? escapes??? IF Percy had to die without VM being present, having Ripley either die of her wounds right after or be unable to flee and get torn to shreds by them would have been excellent.

On that note - only Vex and Cass seem to show strong emotion about his death. Keyleth's supposed to be his best friend, and he and Grog were close this season, but. Well, not like we have any platonic relationships. Everyone's just Kinda Sad.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC OVER PERCY'S DEATH HUH. Flashbacks to watching Vampire Diaries as a teenager and pop songs coming on over the end-of-episode drama.

Again just. All the platonic, non-familial (Pike n Grog count. to me. buddies <3) relationships are so scant, which is especially hard on characters who lean on that so hard! Grog and Keyleth especially are hurt by this. Does Keyleth have a single conversation (not quip, conversation) that isn't with Vax? And in group contexts she only loudly brings up her distrust of Raishan without any of the solid backbone it has in fact. (Also her going from Raishan was right last time we should trust her now / She betrayed us! Knew it! / oh maybe she didn't and I should apologize. girl. come on. please)

I have Concerns about 'late Game of Thrones teleportation' syndrome happening here. Scanlan goes from Wildemount back to Whitestone (which are completely different continents) with no explanation. Kash and Zahra make it to Emon (again, different continent to Issylra) just in the nick of time. Which, sure, would take a couple of days to carve Percy a nice likeness (but you have a druid who can manipulate stone right there), and if Kash and Zahra changed their minds and set out as soon as Vax talked to them they might make it! But uh. There's a lot of transport that's omitted, while the scenes give the impression everything is happening within a short period of time. And a lot of these conversations are one-on-ones with the relevant characters without acknowledging they couldn't be there without magical transport. Where is Allura or Gilmore or Keyleth in the back of these shots twiddling their thumbs 'hey can we teleport to the next person on our HELP US list'?

IDK what's going on with Kash. He's likely gonna be used as a lead-in to Something to rez Percy (and him?) but. That quick buildup of him being too carefree to getting smushed was very transparent and Zahra's grief didn't feel earned (though it WAS baller. yes they made them bleed girl <3).

The fact Vax didn't ask him At All about the resurrection ritual in the Tomb stuns me tho. You think Vax remembered the offhand comment Kash made about the body needing to be warm while his sister was dead? We as an audience could have used a reminder, and Vax too. Because anyone who Doesn't remember this one line from S2 is Extra frustrated at everyone for being stupid.

Raishan or Ripley being moved to be the 'Vox Machina, united, with all their Vestiges' fight is... hmn. You could argue Raishan has solid buildup (what with the cameo in Brimscythe's lair), and it does follow campaign canon. She lacks the devastating power to justify the use of all the Vestiges (tbh given Thordak it might feel like a curbstomp unless her necromantic plans are successful)... but I could see it working. But why the fuck has Ripley escaped A THIRD TIME. Percy even duped her twice! How many times are we gonna do that song and dance?

If anything, I'd have moved some Ripley stuff here. If she escapes so be it but VM putting the fate of the world on hold to avenge their friend, THEN have Percy be back for Thordak, would be tasty.

... wait does this mean Percy might not have Cabal's Ruin by the final dragon fight of the season? ffs-

DID NO ONE LOOT CABAL'S RUIN FROM THE FACTORY.

Thordak fight was baller, having all our NPCs there to worry about? a bit much. Cass why are you here. Go home before Whitestone loses its last de Rolo.

Also. Thordak my dude I know you're insane. mad even. but uh... you sent your children into battle. A TON have already died by the time you sadly nuzzle the hatchlings. This was kinda your fault. There's a reason animals don't send their babies into combat. then again you're a large reptile who talks about milk so what do I, a reptile researcher, know -

(Don't give me that crap about reptiles being bad parents we have several snakes who require maternal attendance after birth or they're Asocial Weirdos, crocodilians are VERY goo parents, and there are social lizards too.)

'fix him - FIX HIM' being gutted fucking killed me :c

I sure hope Pike's 'IT'S ME' was uh. about faith in herself. Not abandoning the god she spent all of S1 figuring out how to devote herself to. While wearing the Vestige associated with another god. the vestige that explicitly made this possible and not a nuke fire falls u all die tpk. haha. ha. (@/burr-ell)

Yes yes yes I know the voiceover and visuals fill in for 'I hear my mother in the morning. Fuck you'. but. idk. Felt like the grief of that moment was taken out of it? Also it's a banger line

Raishan's little killsteal attempt being bumped from Vorugal to Thordak was tasty! Go green girl go! ... except it did nothing but set up a few quiet moments before she turned on everyone again.

The amount of times I'm seeing things happen Again in this is... not great.

Glintshore is Not Glinting. Where is my broken glass difficult terrain?

Perc'ahlia arc fuckin impeccable tho. Delicious

And Pike got lots of fun and stunning moments so far! And Grog takin down the lair!

I love a lot of this though. The hallucination gas. Percy vs Ripley in the factory was so cool. Percy downright being Put in a Box for a while. VEX'S CONVERSATION WITH SYLDOR!!! SO MUCH!! Her being the leader and feeling so responsible for all this, and seeing herself become her father! ELAINA BACKSTORY! Scanlan leaving the party only to miss Kaylie too! Thordak being A Dad! Percy's death/Vex's grief being the catalyst for Vaxleth! The animation was fucking stellar - Vax killing Thordak, Percy's death, Pike mastering the Plate.

I don't have concrete thoughts on how I'd restructure the episodes/season (seasons?) to better balance platonic and romantic relationships, and utilize the changes to their fullest potential. But damn if the temptation to do ANOTHER canon divergence rewrite / exploration of cause and effect to make things hit a bit more nicely... make myself a challenge to only use X amount of scenes per episode/chapter, to try and match the difficulty of adapting this to television... idk

[hils79]

Hils Watches Lovely Runner - Ep 15

Wait, what? She was totally fine at the end of the last episode

Ah, it's so he can be the hero and carry her to safety. Where did this crowd come from, though? The amusement park was deserted when they got on the ferris wheel

Of course he took her to his place instead of the hospital. Not sure where the IV came from though.

Aww it's a reversal of the time he was passed out in her brother's bed and grabbed hold of her hand

Good old drama medicine. One IV and some sleep and you're totally fine the next day

See! She's asking the same questions as me. This is why I love her.

Oh well that explains the IV

Is he seriously going to suggest that to thank him for 'saving her life' she should let him be in her movie?

Wait, they didn't immediately claim their prize money???

Look at him sitting in his car rehearsing what to say like a nerd (affectionate)

How does an only child who has no kids of his own know so much about how to take care of a baby, but Im Sol who has multiple neices and nephews has no clue?

Ehehe! That's what you get for being so smug about your childcare abilities

Oh hello

Aww and this is like the time he made her hide in his closet. Everything is in reverse in this timeline.

I feel like I recognise those posters behind him but not sure what they are

Oh sweetie...

You know, 15 episodes in and he still really looks like someone I know but I can't put my finger on who. I think maybe it's an amalgam of a few different idols. Like a bit of Jin and a bit of Taemin

I love that the two of them are literally idols and Inhyuk is like 'remember that super hot and popular boy we went to school with'

Ooh he's having flashbacks again. I'm curious which version of events he's remembering. Because she travelled back 3 times and changed different things each time before the 4th time where she made it so that they never met

I mean I have no idea how much houses cost in Korea but even if you blow it all on a house you still have your incomes and no mortgage or rent to pay

LMAO the reason they got such a low prize (it's just over £200k for me) is because he got drunk and told everyone in line the numbers so 50 people won the jackpot

Dude as been begging to do this movie for ages and as soon as he signs on he immediately wants to change the ending. Like I know we, as the audience, understand why. But to anyone else this just makes him look like a diva

Oh no it's sad Jongho song time

Poor Im Sol. Two confessions in one day. One from a person she can't be with, and one from a person she doesn't want to be with

Ooh is he starting to remember the previous timelines too?

Okay, I love this idea. I'm getting all emotional.

Aww he wrote the song about her again even though he doesn't have the experience of meeting her in the rain. Because his memories are part of his soul.

6 years for attempted murder seems very low. Now I'm looking up the average sentence time for attempted murder and I'm probably on some sort of watch list now. Obv I don't know what it's like in Korea but in the UK you would only get 6 years if it was something like self-defence

Well that was very dramatic. I was so invested in what was happening I forgot to pause and liveblog

Ah, he does remember everything. All versions of events. Well, no wonder he fainted. That's a lot to take in.

[localfanbaselurker]

Watching Voltron:Legendary Defender for the First Time and Recording my Thoughts

S1-2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | you are here! | S7 | S8

<this debrief/review is pretty rant heavy because of how the season personally impacted me, but fret not! i (hopefully) made it to be still enjoyable/fun to read! just a heads up tho!!>

You get to see the “Pre” thoughts before the read more this time! As a treat <3

Pre-S6 Thoughts

->for the most part I think I understand what’s going on with shiro, but I want to really make sure. jussssst in case.

->they gave lance a big focus in season five so hopefully “we” get to see what that’s culminating to. Super excited about that!

->I don’t fw Lotor all that much despite him being the blorbo by proxy (oomf’s fav) but hopefully this season can change that. I’m just beginning to like him (beginning!) and it’s a 400k slowburn melting an ice berg of hate at that. but it’s getting there. soon they’ll hold hands.

->despite my personal enjoyment of allurance, I would be okay with lotura if Lotor got fully redeemed (in the show and in my heart)

-> PLEASE MAKE KEITH COME BACK!! AND WITH HIS MOM!! I’M BEGGING.

->I’ve noticed a sort of pattern where the characters get a specific episode(s) dedicated to them each season (shiro s1, keith s2, keith+allura s3, pidge s4, and lance s5) So hopefully hunk gets his focus episode this season

->I NEED to see what happened after keith found out about krolia

->hopefully more haggar/honerva lore, maybe even lotor lore to redeem him using Tragic Backstory™ points

Post-Season Six

-> what the actual frick.

-> what WAS this season bro.

-> This season had me getting punched,kicked and tortured left and right and up and down and everywhere. the plot twists and dramatic turns and cries and gasps just kept coming

-> this season left me like lance at the climax of a langst fanfic (yk like right b4 they save him and he’s all fucked over)

-> there are lots of things i liked and also SO MUCH i didn’t like this season

-> so pros and cons basically that’s it that’s the “review”

->WE GOT HUNK APPRECIATION!!! HE GOT TO BE THE ENGINEER AND BE SUPER HELPFUL AND ACTUALLY USE ONE OF HIS SKILLS ABDUWBDJSN IM SO HAPPY FOR MY BOY. MY SON. AAAAHHH.

->^LITERALLY LOOK AT HIM!!! HE GOT SOLID CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TOO!! He reacted much calmer than his s1/2 self would have in a far less stressful situation!!! He grew up!!! HE GREW UPPPP!!

->^He looks like he’s itching to make a gay joke

->why did lance “die” in the first ep?? It was so random and literally served no purpose?? like it was never talked about in the other episodes and was literally just randomly put in the episode’s run time. it had nothing to do with the shield or whatever was going on with Shiro or lotor either

->does it get talked about in the next seasons or?? like it was literally just a throwaway scene

->KEITH AND HIS MOM!!! THEYRE BONDING!!! KEITH MAKES GOOD RELATIONSHIPS!!!!

->the whole “two years” thing is a little difficult to comprehend on all of its layers but I like to think of it positively because that means Keith and krolia got to spend time building upon their relationship and everything that krolia missed, more than just those flashbacks were “memory shared” between them, and keith resolved some of his internal conflicts.

->however it is probably going to make Keith be even more distant with the team because in his mind two years passed while in theirs only like 2-3 months passed from seeing him in person (if you don’t count 5x04 but they barely saw him there) so the relationships that he was building with them have fallen back a little on his part but the others still feel super close to him, so I hope that also gets resolved in s7

-> LANCE IS CUBAN!!! I got super excited you guys don’t understand. maybe you do considering the notes on my post where I said that. But still. I actually squealed so loud when he said it.

-> The mock DnD episode was super fun!! the calm before the storm though I guess

->i looooved the fact that keith came back to the team but that episode pissed me off SOOOOO FREAKING BAD BRO.

->^“we need to attack Lotor when he comes back” OMFGGGGGG NOOOOOOOO THATS literally so STUPID. make a PLAN first you freaking IDIOTS.

->^Literally if they had just played it cool when lotura came back and then told Allura about everything privately THEN stage an intervention/interrogation with Lotor like in Season 5, NONE OF THAT WOULD’VE HAPPENED.

->^but nooooooo we have to be STUPID and ATTACK IMMEDIATELY because PLOT REASONS. istg. don’t get me started this isn’t even the beginning of that rant. I just… *long suffering sigh*

->^and the way they immediately took the altean girl’s word and turned on Lotor? Y’all some fake ass bitches fr didn’t even let the man defend himself. it could’ve been a misunderstanding but okay. damn.

->^WHY ARE YOU INCRIMINATING YOURSELF BRO. OH MY GODDDDDD. every time i told myself that this episode couldn’t get any worse,, it. got. FUCKING. WORSE.

->^low key get the altean girl’s frustration tho because that shit was traumatizing. literally my live reaction right there

-> the only good things that happened that episode were lance calling keith hot and the team meeting krolia. maybe the lotura kiss. (I would’ve enjoyed it more if it wasn’t for the knowledge that they were straight up gonna beat Lotor’s ass when they got inside the castle)

->I guess I have to suffer for the absolute SQUEAL I gave when Kieth went up to the black lion and said “FORM VOLTRON” making them do the thing where they’re divided into 5 frames like a comic

->^that bitch ass clone better be ready to catch these hands. you do NOT say that to my boy.

->I got so excited when keith went all galra! ultimately yeah he did it because he was incredibly stressed but still it was super cool!

-> I was actually a little sad that Lotor didn’t get a real redemption. Like yeah I saw it from a mile away by the way he talked about quintessence and overall attitude but idk,, like him and allura actually seemed in love. even if he was just doing it for the quintessence you could tell he actually ended up genuinely falling in love with her. maybe it’s just me, but i think it would’ve been nice.

-> maybe keith and him could’ve bonded about being half-galra, and keith would finally get some solidarity with someone who knows exactly how he feels? idk it’s just a lot of missed opportunity there.

-> and then they just…kill him off…wow. that was a lot to take in. I had to actually take a moment. I mean it wasn’t even his fault, really. the quintessence got to him just like his parents. it’s actually super tragic now that I think about it. reminds me of family jewels by MARINA.

->I will say though that final battle was absolutely amazing. Beautifully animated and the action was great. I loved getting to see all the lions powers in the quintessence field. And the flaming sword?? that was literally awesome.

-> my hopes of allurance died but i think this is actually a really good step, Allura still felt bad for lotor when she didn’t wanna leave him in the quintessence field because she still loved him and after the conversation she had with the mice it was obvious she doesn’t (and won’t) like lance back, (she could’ve began to in s4/5) and lance seems to accept this as well, (seeing how he handles it when allura confides in him) which would be good for their relationship. so im happy about that 😊

->ngl if they ended it here it could’ve been pretty good, solid ending. Like, leave the rest up to interpretation sort of thing. (Yes I know there are some strings to be tied yet but yk what I mean) The ending was really satisfactory and if they just fixed a couple plot holes it would’ve been the perfect way to end the show tbh. Idk tho I still need to watch the last two seasons so I’ll see if I still keep my opinion then

->lance’s s5 focus didn’t really culminate to all that much, but he got to be taken seriously when he cried about shiro, so there’s that.

-> the clone!shiro vs keith fight was literally beautiful too omg. The emotions were perfectly captured and the flashbacks were just so perfectly timed it was incredible. the way you could just feel exactly everything keith felt as he fought what looked identical to the man who practically raised him was just. wow.

->^literally gorgeous. look at that, man. beautiful.

-> Don’t get me started on “you’re my brother, I love you” because I will start crying immediately

-> So. yeah. This season was a mess. I laughed. I cried (a lot) I got super pissed in the middle. But it was really super enjoyable otherwise. Bittersweet, really.

-> Hopefully Season Seven doesn’t disappoint! I really hope there’s more Keith+Shiro lore. Just. In general all their family lore.

These are thoughts I’ve been compiling for a while. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “Laura’s first VLD”

Please Remember that I am just a person with a life and responsibilities and try to be patient about updates.

Thank you 💞

[nalyra-dreaming]

I know S1 was split because of covid and stuff and it resulted in book 1 getting 2 seasons and 15 episodes. and honestly, i dont think that was to many eps, with good writing it turned out it gave the books time to have enough pace to develop stories and characters perfectly I never felt any filler. so going forward I am actually little worried. because I assume not every next book will get 2 seasons even tho VL is longer for example. I worry VL will be rushed if it's only one season :(

But than again it's not like they have to cover 13 books in 13 seasons. I feel like VL and QOTD is the only that need full longer seasons coverage. TOTBT doesn't need separate season and can be incorporated somewhere. Armand's and Marius books are flashbacks that can be incorporated with other stuff throughout seasons. Memnoch is a trip but certainly not material enough of plot for a season of anything. Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle can't be ignored lol. Merrick can be incorporated in other stuff too. My point is most later books dont exactly need to be contained individual seasons and contained stories like first book was. that only leaves newest trilogy. so I dont know how they plan to do it.. but I feel like they could/should give Vampire Lestat 2 seasons. than have maybe 3 more seasons for everything else... because modern day plots are not that big it's mostly about flashbacks or tones of POVs

(I think you meant to say Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle can be ignored? Because then, yes^^)

I think Rolin will not be rushed, but I do think both TVL and QotD will get a "whole" arc - hopefully a longer season - and TtotBT might be combined with some elements of Memnoch and TVA.

I think the danger of Amel has already been hinted at and will be threaded through Akasha's arc already, and then the last big arc (and enemy) in the last books will be a big, overarching arc. Possibly spanning several seasons.

At least that is what I think might happen :) We'll see.

Rolin said the memory aspects and POVs would be done soon, and that makes sense, though some flashbacks or tales will definitely still be part of it.

Still, I am very much looking forward to the show moving "into reality" :)))

I cannot wait for it to be rooted in our world .... after all we saw the first tendrils with "Long Face".

I expect a loooooot more than that :)))

[halliescomut]

My Personal Weatherman Ep. 6-No Subs Watch

To refresh your memory, this is me watching through the link to an un-subtitled version of My Personal Weatherman and sharing my thoughts as someone whose command of the Japanese language is based on illegally downloaded Sailor Moon episodes circa 2002. Spoilers may occur, but it is UNLIKELY that they will be the result of dialogue. Let's go...

-Mizuki with the glasses....that's so cute.

-Wow dude, you hide like fucking Scooby Doo. (Sidenote: does anyone actually believe that Yoh doesn't know the tracker is there? Especially if it's like the next day? He knows and he left it there.)

-Segasaki is so pitiful. Yoh is equally pitiful.

-Mr. Man-san is definitely just eavesdropping and pretending to read. I'm certain of it.

-And I was correct.

-FLASHBACK!!! Yay! I was so excited to see their beginning. I get it Yoh...We all get it.

-Goddamn Mizuki in these soft cardigans....I shall perish!!!

-This flashback is so cute, Yoh is drawing him, which is so precious, but it's also kinda crazy how they feel younger, especially Yoh.

-Oh no! Yoh has been perceived! It is the beginning of the end for him.

-I'm guessing this is some upperclassmen respect/hazing whatever, and they sent him to go buy snacks so they wouldn't have to.

-Haha...I'm pretty sure Yoh admitted to knowing Mizuki's name because he's been watching him. So cute.

-That whisper...I'm wearing headphones and I got shivers. But also...have we heard him call him Mizuki in the series before? I feel like he sticks to Segasaki, but I could be misremembering.

-This man's backpack straps are way too loose, it's distracting me.

-Segasaki (or his actor...both?) have the cutest lil nose.

-I am somehow now more frustrated with Yoh's belief that Segasaki doesn't really love him. That man could not have been more obvious 3 years ago.

-I feel bad for Segasaki, he hates this so much.

-Mr. Man-san feels so kind. I need them to start going on double dates as soon as Segasaki and Yoh get their shit together.

-Oh no....I fear a misunderstanding is about to occur.....

-Behind the fucking sheer curtain Yoh??? Both of you must be awful at hide and seek.

-Well I can't wait to translate that onscreen text later, I'm sure it was hilarious.

-IDK what Segasaki said, but I'm gonna guess it's something like "Don't you know I've been worried about you?" We'll see if I'm right.

-Mr. Man-san....the only appropriate reaction my guy, honestly.

-Apology, I understood that.

-Their manga versions are so cute. I might actually buy the source manga.

-Hmm....that was an interesting reaction....

-I guess he didn't know about the tracker...my guy have you not opened your bag this whole time??

-I still kinda hate this weathergirl. I know it's pretty anti-feminist of me, but I just can't with her.

-Poor Mizuki looked like he was about to have a fit....and Yoh knows that was not his on-camera persona....I do love that they show how well they know each other, even if they can't communicate for shit.

Well this was fun. And far too short. I'm so bummed this series is only 8 episodes, I need at least triple that.

Oohhh...more flashbacks next week too....and rain kisses....hot.

[alwayzraven]

Kardeşlerim Ep 88

The episode started with a 3 weeks time jump, the Eren family were at home looking sad and depressed. Aybike wasn't at home with them. They went to the cemetry to visit Zehra meanwhile Aybike was at the hospital waiting for them so she can get discharged. They showed us a flashback scene: After Aybike's heart stopped, the doctor succeeded in bringing her back to life. Berk was still in shock:

Sengul dreamt of Elif coming to her house and telling her that she was the reason her mom died. Elif tried to hurt Umutcan and Sengul woke up crying. She feels guilty that Elif is left alone.

The next day, Aybike came to school with the others and of course Berk hugged her as soon as he saw her.

Berk:”My love! Thank god! Come here!”

And then he hugged her tightly which made her scream in pain because of her neck wound.

Berk:”I am sorry, I am sorry! Did I hurt you?”

Aybike:”No, no it didn’t hurt but let’s hug less tightly for a while, is that okay?”

Berk:”Okay my love, what can we do! Let’s hug less for a while”

Aybike:”I didn’t say let’s hug less, I said let’s hug less tightly. We will hug softly and we will continue to hug”

Berk:”Okay, we’ll hug softly, got it”

Then Berk told them that the two shooters were arrested and they are going to spend a long time in jail. Btw, the Erens gave the keys of the restaurant back to the owner. They didn't want to keep the restaurant after what happened to the kids there. I wish they would’ve kept the restaurant because it would’ve been a good source of income for them. 

Berk kept on playing with Aybike’s hair while she was talking to others and checking her neck wound. 

People expected him to kiss her wound and if we were on another channel or someone else was writing the scenario for this then we would’ve gotten that kiss bc Berk would definitely do that 🙄

Sengul went to see Elif and found her arguing with a lady. Turns out it was her landlady and she was asking her to leave the house. Elif packed her stuff and her skateboard and got out of the house. Sengul asked her if she had any relatives she can stay with and Elif said no. Sengul told her to come stay with her and her family for a couple of days and then she can decide what to do.

Berk and Aybike were at the cafeteria.

Berk:”I swear it was one of the scariest days of my life, my love. What if you didn't come back? What if that beautiful heart of yours didn't beat again?God forbid my love, God forbid”

The way he stroked her cheek here 😭😭

Aybike:”Okay, Berk, Okay. Please, please,  let's not talk about this, it's over now, I'm fine”

Berk:”Okay, let’s stop talking about this, I am okay with that”

Aybike:”Now, I made a new decision”

Berk:”What decision? Tell me”

Aybike:”First, I decided to be a positive person. I am going to take advantage of this second chance given to me”

Berk:”That’s a great decision my love. You have my support”

Aybike:”Also, I decided which profession I am going to choose”

Berk:”which profession? Judge? Architect? Prosecutor?”

I just love this list of jobs he thought would suit Aybike 😂

Aybike:”Pilot!”

Berk:”Pilot? Where did you get this idea?”

Aybike:”This might sound silly to you but when I was at the hospital, I had a dream, I mean I am not sure if it was a vision or a dream but we got married, I became a pilot, and we had children.”

Berk:”We had children? How many?”

Aybike:”Two”

Berk:”That’s it?”

Aybike:”What don’t you like about having two kids? Just be thankful I gave birth to that many”

Aybike was surprised that his mother came to the hospital. Berk told her that she took good care of Sengul. Berk suggested that she and Sengul come have dinner with them later in the evening. Aybike said that she will try to convince Sengul and told Berk to convince his mom too and they will come.

After school, Aybike and Oglucan met Elif at home. Oglucan and Elif had a cute interaction but I am still not sure if they will be paired in the future because usually Oglucan falls for the girl the moment he meets her but he wasn’t affected by Elif. It would be fun to watch, if they do pair them because they have different personalities. Aybike told Sengul that they were invited to dinner at Ayla’s house and Sengul was surprised at first but then told Aybike to text Berk that they will come to dinner and then she told Elif to come with them. Elif at first declined because she didn’t know Ayla so it didn’t make sense for her to go with them but Sengul said that Ayla is so nice she wouldn’t mind.

Berk ordered pizza because Ayla didn’t have time to prepare anything. When Berk, opened the door 😂

Aybike should stop worrying about girls and focus on her brother bc Istg he’s going to steal her boyfriend one these days 😂

When Elif shook Berk’s hand, she squeezed it tightly but not on purpose and Berk was surprised by how strong she was. 

Then they all went to sit and eat and Sengul looked at them and said that she wished she could take a picture of Elif and Berk because they were talking and laughing with each other. Ayla couldn’t believe that Sengul brought Elif to her house. Sengul told her that they were siblings so ofc she was going to bring Elif.

Ayla and Sengul went to the kitchen while the kids stayed in the living room. Ayla was panicking:”What are you trying to do, Sengul? How can you bring that girl to my house? ” Sengul told her that Elif was left alone, she couldn’t handle the guilt so she brought her to her house. She told Ayla that when she went to see Elif, her landady was trying to kick her out of the house. Then Sengul told her that she better think of a way to tell Elif that she is going to stay with her from now on. Ayla said that she can’t allow her to stay here because she doesn’t know how she was raised bc what if she’s a theif. Sengul told her that since she separated the two siblings, she needed to take responsibility now and keep them together. Sengul told her that since she needs help around the house, she can say that Elif can help her and that way it doesn’t look suspicious.  Aybike came downstairs to get some water and ended up hearing Sengul say that Elif is Berk’s sister. Aybike was shocked and ran upstairs. She kept on staring at Elif and Elif got pissed. She asked her why she was staring at her like that and Aybike said that she spaced out. Elif said:”Good because I am not in the mood to fight with anyone”. Berk said that she is annoying 😂

Then, Ayla and Sengul came. Sengul said that Ayla has something to share with everyone concerning Elif. Ayla told Elif that Sengul told her about what happened to her and so she decided to give her a scholarship to study at the same school as Berk. I am sorry but aren’t we at the end of the school year?? Or in the middle?? It amazes me how they can transfer students to a new school whenever they want on this show. Anyway, Ayla told her that she can stay with them because she needs help around the house. Berk did not like what his mother proposed to Elif. These two started fighting as soon as they met, I can’t wait to see how their relationship will develop in the future. Aybike actually tried to defend Ayla’s decision when Berk said that his mom’s proposition was ridiculous. Her first instinct was to make sure that he didn’t offend his sister 🥺 

When they got home, Oglucan and Elif fought and it was so funny. Elif told Oglucan that she doesn’t like him and Oglucan said that he feels the same. I wonder if the writers decided to give Oglucan the enemies to lovers kind of relationship this time. He is still thinking about Afra btw, that’s why I am not sure about these two being partners. Sengul and Aybike were in her room. Aybike asked Sengul how can Berk and Elif be siblings. Sengul was surprised by her question and tried to leave but Aybike told her not to try and avoid the question because she heard her and Ayla talk about this. Sengul told her that Elif is his twin sister and that she talked to their mother before she died. Aybike asked about their father’s wearhabouts and Sengul told her that he was in prison.  Aybike was so sad to hear all of this. Sengul told her to keep this a secret and to not tell berk. Sengul of course didn’t tell her that Resul bought Berk or that Ayla was involved in his mother’s death. 

The next day, Elif came with Ayla to school to enroll. The dean welcomed Elif and asked her if she was ready to join Attaman school and Elif said I am ready but is this school ready for me. I love her energy tbh 😂 She saw Berk and the rest at the cafeteria.

Berk can’t stand her and I know the writers are doing this on purpose because it happened with Omer and Harika in S1 and Omer and Yasmin and Sarp in this season. Aybike started defending Elif after Berk called her weird. Aybike said that she is young like them, she is someone's daughter or someone’s sister so they should try to understand her. Then, Aybike told Asyie that she needs to talk to her. Aybike told Asiye about Elif and Berk being siblings but told Asiye to keep it a secret.

Nebehat and Akif decided to throw a party to welcome Bahar. While everyone was talking about siblings, Berk mentioned that he’s probably the only one in the group without a sibling and Susen said that she also doesn’t have a sibling. It’s okay Susen you’ll get one in the next season 😂 Aybike asked Berk if he wanted to have a sibling but Berk said no, that he likes being an only child and Aybike looked at Asiye 😬 Tolga got gifts for Emel and Bahar and he went upstairs to look for the girls to give them their gifts. Bahar and Emel wanted to watch a movie but the dvd Bahar put in the laptop was the security footage showing how Leyla fell. The dvd took some time to load so the girls chose to play with dolls instead however they left the laptop open and the video started playing. Tolga came to give the girls their gifts and saw the laptop. I am not sure if he saw the video because the laptop was slightly turned to the left so the whole screen wasn’t visible. We’ll know when we get the teaser because they didn’t release one today.

I am surprised by the pace in this episode. I didn’t expect Aybike to find out the truth about Elif this early. When I found out about Berk's birth story, I expected that Aybike would somehow be involved in this. I thought his bio mom would still be alive and Aybike would find out about her when she hears Sengul and Ayla talk about this later in the season, Aybike would hide the truth from Berk, Berk finds out and they break up. Like I said before, the other couples have huge secrets that will lead to a major break up but not Ayber. But then Sarpil died and I dropped this scenario. But now!!!! Aybike found out about Elif and she was shocked. I wonder if she will find out about how Resul bought Berk because I think she thinks that he was adopted. Do you guys think Aybike will tell Berk the truth? Honestly, I think both scenarios are possible 😭

[becauseimanicequeen]

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Two Worlds ep. 4

I’m going into this episode hoping Phupha is, at the very least, still alive. Other than that, I’m just excited to see what will happen.

Well, that was 30-ish seconds to make you think Phupha was dead. Did I fall for it? No, not even for those 30-ish seconds. Why would they kill Phupha two times within the first 3-4 episodes?

The way Thai is staring at Khram… It must be killing him that someone who looks exactly like his boyfriend (because they were, right? No one can deny that, right?) is in love with someone else.

The way I cackled when Thai just stood up from that fall and walked away.

I feel bad for Run who has to sit there and listen to these two idiots fight just because she’s stuck in the car with them. If I was Run, I would jump out. I wouldn’t care if the car was moving.

So, this must be Por, then. Thai’s dad. The leader of the gang (which I still can’t remember the name of).

Well… He won’t win the dad-of-the-year award anytime soon.

Phupha has visions of his moments with Khram in the other world, just like I thought he would. The nightmare of when he was killed isn’t the only moment he can “remember”.

Por changing the rules of the “game” after he lost shows what a sore loser he is.

If I was Phupha, I would’ve chosen to stay. Maybe that’s just me, though… I’m sure he will get some help, somehow, and not just leave Khram there. Right? RIGHT?

Why do I feel like the man behind the mask is Thai?

Khram’s flashbacks show how different this Phupha is from the one we saw in Khram’s world. If Khram doesn’t take that as a sign to not be too attached to this Phupha, I’m afraid he’s going to get even more hurt.

And it was Thai!

And here comes Phupha and some reinforcements.

Honestly, after the events in this episode, if Khram doesn’t end up trusting Thai more than Phupha, I don’t know what kind of drugs he’s on. Sure, they can still help Phupha (if that’s what Khram wants), but helping him and trusting him are two different things. Besides, Phupha has his own problems to deal with and prioritize. Messing around with Khram isn’t one of those priorities.

This episode wasn’t one of my favorites so far. I like that they introduced Por (since they’ve mentioned him since the first episode) and that it feels like Khram is getting closer to Thai (because he seems more trustworthy, at least for the moment). But, that’s basically it.

I’m hoping the next episode will pick up some steam again, in terms of figuring out who is after Phupha. That’s the whole point of the series, right?

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, February 13

Xander: Jesse, man. I'm sorry. Jesse: Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything! I, I can hear the worms in the earth! Xander: That's a plus.

~~Buffy Episode #2: "The Harvest"~~

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Uncertainty (Buffy/Spike, T) by veronyxk84

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Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy, Chapter 22 (Buffy/Spike, E) by slaymesoftly

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[where-theres-smoak-2]

Shadow and Bone 2x03 Review

I have finished ep 3 hooray! Going to be honest, it was an ok episode don’t get me wrong but I do feel like the pacing was a little off in this one, I feel like a lot of big things happened and it might have been better if some of those things happened over a couple of episodes, it just felt a tad bit rushed. Anyway as always spoilers, lots of spoilers, any book spoilers will be between two * for you to skip at your convenience if you so wish. 

Nikolai, Alina and Co

So I am going to start off with Nikolai and Alina and that storyline involving that crew. I will say that the flying ship was very cool, I liked the way it detached from the ship. I also thought that Alina’s reaction to the boat taking off was very relatable like yup I too would find the nearest seat and then sit with my eyes closed hanging on for dear life. 

We also finally got the Nikolai reveal and not going to lie was very happy they kept the punch in, it was amusing but also I think understandable for Alina’s character as this is the second time that she has been lied to by someone who she put her trust in. That being said I did really like the conversation between them where Nikolai points out that she makes it too simple and that people do what they have to do to protect those they love. But I also like that he pointed out that Alina never would have trusted him if he said who he really was at the start which is very true. I do think this logic can also be applied to her relationship with Aleks as well as its the same scenario, if he had revealed to her from the start that he was the creator of the fold she never would have trusted him. As Nikolai said it is never that simple. 

I was surprised that they’ve introduced the spinning wheel so soon but it was nice to see Alina and Nadia reunite, I also liked the relationship between Nadia and her little brother Adrik, I am glad we got to see him. We also see Zoya again and it was nice to see her and Alina kind of make up and Zoya pledge allegiance to Alina. I’m still not sure how I feel about them all being at the spinning wheel this soon though. *In the book its not until way at the end of book 2 that they flee there so its almost like they’ve covered the first two books in ep 1 and 2 and now they are doing the end of book 2 and the beginning of book 3 in this episode. Which again as I said multiple times in speculation posts before the series aired just feels way too fast. But hopefully I am wrong and the pacing will sort itself out. 

We also got Nikolai making his proposal for a political marriage to Alina. I guess it does make sense to show a united front and a way of bringing otkazat'sya and grisha together and like Nikolai said his royal family name would give her some protection so it does sound good politically. One thing I will say about the whole scene though, is I appreciate that they are trying to make Mal less of a toxic jealous control freak over Alina than he was in the books but I feel like they are stripping him back too much and making him too perfect. Like to me his reaction was a bit too chill which just seemed very unrealistic. Like I think it would have worked better if he initially had the same reaction as Alina of this guy is coo coo but then later in the episode he comes to her and says he’s mulled it over and realised it is the best thing for her and ravka, it just would have felt a bit more natural than the immediate acceptance.  

 The Crows. 

So the crows had some tension amongst the ranks this episode and Kaz was definitely beginning to unravel a bit. It was clear the others in the crew felt like Kaz was taking unnecessary risks with their lives seeing as last episode Nina got shot and Inej got hurt. It was interesting to see these cracks in the crows relationships but honestly I am worried for Kaz because it does seem like he is spiralling. 

We do learn more about Kaz’s backstory through some more flashbacks. Looks like Kaz’s brother invested money in some kind of business with Rollins and then Rollins ran off with it all, which I am going to assume meant they were left with nothing. We also learn through Wylan that the disease we saw in previous flashbacks was called firepox and it sounds horrific, we learn there were so many bodies that the crematoriums couldn’t keep up and so they had to float all the dead bodies on the harbour, which is what those previous scenes of young Kaz were where I said it looked like he was lying on a pile of dead bodies well that was because he was lying on a pile of dead bodies, and god did this get morbid fast. I am assuming they thought he was dead and so threw him on with the rest of the bodies. We also learn from Kaz confiding in Inej that Rollins killed Kaz’s brother, though I don’t know if he did that directly or not as there was that flashback of his brother coughing which makes me think he caught firepox and died so it was Rollins fault indirectly. Like them losing all their money meant they had no where to go and as they were homeless they were exposed to firepox. That’s my theory anyway. 

I do have to talk about that scene between Inej and Kaz though because damn was it a good scene. I loved it, I loved that Inej called Kaz out and what I loved even more was that this time he trusted her and opened up. I also love how Inej immediately was on board and in ok well now Rollins shall die. It was also a rather tender scene between them as he tended to her wound. Also I think I may be a bit slow because I am pretty sure that Kaz has a touch eversion and that is why he wears gloves and that was probably covered in season 1 but I totally missed until this moment. I liked the discussion they has about finding the opponents weakness and how when Inej asked Kaz what his is he said his limp and cane but that no one had been smart enough to find his real weakness. But I think I have figured it out. His real weakness is Inej. In this episode we discover Rollins has a son and its clear that the other crows are worried Kaz in going to use his son against Rollins, I think this links into Kaz’s on weakness and fear that someone will use Inej to hurt him.   

So Wylan and Jesper’s little side quest together was kind of cute not going to lie and I totally killed in last eps review they did totally sleep together and surprisingly it was Wylan who left the morning after. I knew I wasn’t just imagining the vibes between them. The song Wylan played on the piano was really beautiful, Jesper did seem to have quite the emotional reaction to it so I wonder if that song has some relevance to his past somehow. I am really enjoying the energy between these two though. They are really wholesome. 

Nina finally got in to Hellgate and saw Matthias in the fighting rings, these rings do seem really messed up as it looks like they not only have the prisoners fighting each other but fighting wild animals and the like, its giving very roman colosseum vibes. I did feel bad for Nina when she was calling out to Matthias and eventually gets his attention only for him to then give her the cold shoulder. Its obvious that she is not only desperate to make up with him and reconnect but also is so desperate to get him out of there. That being said I don’t think she will take Rollins deal. I reckon they are going to do a cop out where it looks like Nina has but then it turns out she told Kaz from the beginning and they came up with some kind of plan together, what that plan might be I haven’t the foggiest. But like Kaz said at the beginning of the episode, Nina is a crow now and I just don’t see her betraying them. 

Aleksander, Baghra, Genya and David

So when I said I felt like this episode was rushing the storyline a bit, I do think Aleks’ story in particular is being a little rushed. The first scene we see of him is the one between him and baghra near the beginning of the episode and I adored this scene, it was just really interesting. I loved how it starts out with Baghra telling him to stop lurking, it really does remind you that this is a mother and her child. But I think what I loved the most about this scene was that it does address how much of an effect Baghra’s parenting had on Aleks, the scene does kind of call her out on the mistakes she made. The thing is the lessons we are taught when we are young are the ones that’ll stick with us and the ones that are the hardest to unlearn. So I think this scene was important to show how Baghra’s teachings have informed Aleks views of the world. For example how she taught him that grisha were superior and that the otkazat’sya should fear them. It also addresses the events of Demon in the Woods a little talking about how she would burn down villages in the name of protecting her child. I have talked about the significance of this before how it set the example for Aleks that if you love someone then destroying entire towns and villages is acceptable to protect them. This is a lesson that stays with him and I do think it played a part in why he expanded the fold into Novokribirsk, he has love for Alina and Zlatan in his men tried to harm and would continue trying to harm her, he has love for the grisha and Zlatan was a threat to them too, so to him destroying Novokribirsk was an act of love and he saw it that way because of the example he was set by his own mother. 

I did think the line about how she didn’t teach him compassion was a bit of an odd one if I am being honest because it implies that Aleks doesn’t feel compassion yet we’ve seen multiple examples throughout season 1 that would say otherwise. I mean if you look at the definition of compassion: 

A strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them.

He clearly has compassion for the grisha, you kind of have to have that compassion if you are going to recognise they are suffering and your response to be that you want to do everything in your power to help them and give them a safe place. He also shows concern and sympathy to Alina when it is clear she is suffering in season 1. Whilst I would say that he might struggle more with his compassion for others as years have gone by and he has had to numb himself in order to make those hard choices but I don’t think he is devoid of it or that he never learnt it like this moment suggests. Like when baghra starts listing off all the rumours she’s heard about the grisha being persecuted and killed by the first army, you can see that this pains Aleks, that he feels guilt over it and that he feels compassion for their suffering.   

However I will give it to Baghra that moment when talking about Alina and she says ‘there was a moment where you might have earned her love instead of claiming her power’ wow talk about a hit in the gut. You tell that one really did hurt Aleks. However it is also worth pointing out that if Baghra hadn’t got involved then he still may have earned her love and might not have tried to claim her power and none of this may have happened. But ya know hind sight and all that. I can still appreciate that it was a damn good line. 

David was pretty smart in this episode in that he played nice with Aleks and used that trust he knew Aleks had in him to his advantage to learn more about the Nichevo'ya and their effect on Aleks. But it was interesting how Aleks actually seemed to be kind of sweet to David, like he seemed genuinely happy that David was there it was kind of a bizarre contrast to how unhinged he also seems to becoming with the merzost poisoning him. During the conversation Aleks talks about how apparently Morozova went mad so I am guessing this was also a result of the merzost and could be where Aleks himself is heading, we could see him continue to lose his mind. I won’t deny that I do find it an interesting concept. 

However the part that I do think was rushed was what he does to baghra and genya. I get that they are trying show that Aleks is becoming more unhinged the more desperate he gets but I think having both these big and violent moments happen in the same episode was too intense and made it feel to sudden if that makes sense. Like I feel like the pacing would have worked better if he had cut Baghra’s finger off in this episode and then saved his attack on Genya until episode 4 then it would have seemed like a more gradual shift, and like him sinking deeper into this madness caused by the merzost. 

One thing I will say I think they did right was that as opposed to the books they did make these two acts of violence make sense for Aleks’ character. * I also think the change from blinding baghra to cutting off her finger makes alot more sense than it did in the books.* Like I can follow Aleks’ chain of thoughts here, he is feeling very angry and abandoned by his mother, who also keeps talking about Alina, another person he feels angry and abandoned by and that anger at his mother only grows the more she refuses to help and so by cutting off her finger he can exact his revenge on his mother and satisfy that anger he feels but also he is desperate to find out more about Morozova’s amplifiers and knows that he made them from his own finger bones so thinks if his mother won’t give him any answers he’ll take her finger bones and see if they will give him some answers instead. It is also really unhinged which furthers that storyline of him being poisoned by the merzost. What I do think is an interesting touch is that both when he cuts off Baghra’s finger and when he attacks Genya you can see those blakc veins creeping up his neck. With Genya you could probably explain it as him summoning the nichevo’ya and using merzost but it is interesting that it is there when he is cutting off Baghra’s finger as he isn’t actively using merzost in that moment but it is clearly still having an effect on him, its almost like the merzost itself has a hunger for violence. 

Like with Baghra I do think him using the nichevo’ya on Genya made more sense in the show’s scenario. *It didn’t make much sense in the books because of the order he gave not to harm Alina and yet he punishes Genya for not harming Alina which made no sense.* I do think it is understandable why Genya running triggered Aleks I mean not only it because its another betrayal from one of his grisha, like Zoya betrayed him in the fold, but it is very similar to how Alina left him. When he catches up with him he doesn’t ask why she ran but why she abandoned him. I think Aleks at this point is so lost and unhinged that he can’t understand why all these people who used to stand by him are leaving. Afterall his goal is still the same, to safe grisha, in his now warped mind achieving this goal is the most important thing in the world and he doesn’t understand why no one else is willing to go to the same lengths he does to achieve that goal.  

I will say also that while I understand why David and Genya ran watching a guy produce shadow and monsters and cut his own mother’s finger off is bound to unnerve a person, I do think this is another thing that is a bit rushed. Again though I think this comes from being a book reader because in the books it takes them both alot longer to realise how dangerous Aleks is. Its another thing that I think maybe could have been pushed into ep 4. That would have given it just a little bit more time to stew and also that would have put David and Genya’s escape attempt half way through the season which I think would have worked better, like the first half of the season they are loyal to Aleks but then come mid season they have that epiphany of hey this guy is bonkers lets skedaddle. 

Going back to Aleks and the merzost we see those black veins again when Aleks has that angry outburst after discovering that the Morozova journal is gone, it really does seem like it flares up when he is angry and causes these violent outbursts. What is interesting though is that Aleks’ way of calming down is to call on that connection between him and Alina. To visit her, its like he is using her to keep himself steady, like she is the focal point he is using to stop himself from spiralling completely out of control. 

Right well that’s another review and episode done. On to episode 4 and then we are at the halfway point, so that’s exciting. 

Favourite Lines 

‘There was a moment where you might have earned her love instead of claiming her power.’

‘There are no mistakes, only lessons.’ 

‘Pekka Rollins killed my brother.’ ‘Then we destroy him.’ 

[purpleplaid17]

Jess Watches // Sun 22 Oct // Day 33 Synopses & Favourite Scenes

Call the Midwife (with mum) 6x02 Episode 2

An explosion at the docks badly affects the husband of a new mother, Patsy feels under pressure, and Sister Ursula continues to test the patience of everyone at Nonnatus House.

I knew Patsy was leaving soon but did it have to be so heartbreaking. Phyllis subtley comforting Delia because she knew about them was what broke me the most. To show such kindness when she sees how upset Delia is. Also, I've added multiple gifsets from this ep to my queue but could barely look at them as it's just too sad. When they get to the top of my queue I know it will rip my heart out all over again.

The Power 1x01 A Better Future Is in Your Hands

Across the world teenage girls are experiencing a strange sensation beneath their collarbones, sudden jolts of electricity sparking from their fingertips. This new power is an agent of both liberation and destruction.

Would've started this soonr had I realized the cast included Auli'i Cravalho, Toheeb Jimoh, and Toni Collette. Also surprised there's only 3 edits in the tags. Probably due to lack of promotion which sucks.

Our Flag Means Death 2x06 Calypso's Birthday

While the crew celebrates Calypso's birthday, Blackbeard faces a violent party-crasher seeking revenge.

Me getting war flashbacks due to hearing Edith Piaf multiple times every ad break during the rugby. I think Izzy's beautiful singing has cured me though. Was entirely unprepared.

Gen V 1x02 First Day

The Godolkin University Mental Health Hotline would like to remind students at this difficult time that you are not alone. You might be bulletproof on the outside, but you're not on the inside.

I hate that Marie's being manipulated. But I do love her new wardrobe. Red is definitely her colour. Also, can evil Shelley Conn give me a hug too please?

[elven-child]

loose thoughts about gomens season 2

first of all, let's get the more negative ones out of the way

I'm kind of struggling to understand the hype because in my opinion this season was noticeably worse than season 1

I missed the Signature Good Omens things like god's narration and Queen songs, I think there were only two?

the humor was worse in my opinion. there were many jokes, especially in the minisodes, that felt completely out of pocket

I didn't like the minisodes tbh. they felt chaotic and lacked the structure that made the flashbacks in ep 3 of season 1 make so much sense. they didn't bring as much into their relationship as the season one flashbacks, even though they took much more time - they just felt emptier. I didn't find them funny either

I felt like some parts of the relationship between aziraphale and crowley got totally undermined - their first meeting, aziraphale shielding crowley with his wing - and I don't like it

their dynamic was a LOT different. it's hard to put my finger on why that is so soon after finishing the season, but they feel... more out of sync with each other? I think that's mostly it

I feel this season tried to pretend aziraphale and crowley aren't already together in their own unique way. they are! they don't need to tell that to each other - the finale of season one was them cementing their relationship, and meeting in the middle. I like seeing aziraphale healing from heaven in a realistic way, with setbacks and crises, but I don't like that it's shown as being in the way of them getting "fully" together when broadly speaking they already are together

it feels like something was lost in making their relationship explicitly romantic. and if you follow me, you know I'm an absolute sucker for a good romantic relationship, but I just don't think it fits this particular pairing. they had something different, just as valid and established, and it worked for them and the show and the audience

if season 1 was chaotic (affectionate), this season isn't, it's just chaotic. there were quite a few things that felt jarring - again, mostly the minisodes

I feel like there was a narrower amount of colorful, weird and ridiculous (affectionate) characters like sergeant shadwell, madame tracy, anathema, newt, the satanic nuns...

however!

everything about aziraphale and the bentley was pure gold, I love that it listens to him too

gabriel and beelzebub are simultaneously really sweet and also hysterically funny to me, this is the funniest move Neil could have possibly made. and I love that it's very much an exploration of their EXCELLENT dynamic from season 1

jon hamm is a delight, I loved him especially in episodes 1 and 2, he always pulls the funniest facial expressions. and the way gabriel hugged aziraphale while naked, ass cheeks wiggling as he squeezed him, with aziraphale literally making the "😟😟😟" face, was just. hysterical 10/10

I loved anna maxwell martin as beelzebub but shelley conn is just as great

maggie and nina! I wish we got more of them, but what we got was still very good, and they were still full characters despite the limited screen time. I REALLY hope we see them making things work in season 3, even if it's just glimpses and cameos

crowley taking care of the bookshop like the loving husband he is but not being able to resist throwing around some books was hilarious

aziraphale's halo :)))))

good omens the book existing in good omens the show

gabriel trying to put the books in alphabetical order by first sentences but every book beginning with words like "it" or "in"

the small and soft moments between aziraphale and crowley, more explicit than their signs of affection in season 1 but still gentle and quiet (like crowley saying he's not leaving aziraphale alone). the whole season should have had this mood I think and it would have been perfect

second coming of jesus in s3 let's goooooooo

[arttheclown]

alright alright i finally had time to sit down & compose my thoughts on how beelzemon / beelzebumon’s villain arc was handled in the original japanese sub versus the english dub because holy shit they are. different. i think both versions have their merits but there are things the dub got so wrong, especially as far as beelzemon’s relationship with renamon is concerned.

first off, i’m gonna talk about the differences - not so much which version did what better, but what sets them apart.

putting this under a cut because this is gonna be a long one. (also keep in mind i still have a couple eps left to watch from his villain arc in japanese, so i may reblog with an update or write a part 2 soon.)

1 -- the tone of impmon’s talk with caturamon (the “deal with the devil” scene) is very different in japanese. while it’s still a somber scene in dub & you feel sorry for impmon, his sarcasm is much more subdued in the original, drawing more attention to how scared & helpless he feels rather than his defence mechanisms.

i think what really drives this point home is that the little montage where he reflects on his time with his friends & realizes he’ll have to betray them in exchange for power; in the dub, old conversations are re-played for the audience, while in the og, these flashbacks are silent aside from a sad song that plays. this not only puts us in impmon’s shoes better, but helps set the tone for the tragedy of what’s about to happen & the gravity of his choice. i plan to upload a comparison soon. also, maybe it’s just me, but given that the last image we land on during the flashback montage is impmon striking renamon in the face... i’m inclined to believe that was supposed to signify that he was sorry for doing it, especially since the context of the flashbacks was that he’d harassed all of the main digimon in some way. maybe impmon was trying to tell himself that he’d already been so awful to them anyway that he might as well just cut his ties? who knows - but that’s something i feel sad music sold a lot better than voice-overs. 2 -- beelzemon / beelzebumon’s entire characterization. jesus christ, as someone who’s been praising how the dub handled such a dark storyline for years (and to be fair, derek stephen prince absolutely KILLS his role as beez in the best way), i was completely thrown off to see how radically different he is in the original. in the dub, beelzemon is still recognizable as impmon even during his reign of terror. he’s gone off the rails, but his speech patterns & personality remain the same - we’re just seeing a much darker side of him. it feels a lot like we’re watching a smaller person stumble around in a body that’s too big for them.

in japanese, beelzebumon’s demeanour is entirely different from impmon’s. his speech patterns aren’t the same & his cheeky from humour before is pretty much gone. he’s much colder. you don’t know who the hell you’re looking at anymore, which lends some disturbing credence to beelzebumon’s insistence that “impmon is dead.” for a second, you actually worry he might be telling the truth.

and then there’s his relationship with renamon & the role that plays in this particular storyline, which leads me to my next (and arguably most important) point.

3 -- i’m just gonna say it! i think the dub did the relationship between these characters dirty in this very pivotal storyline. i think there are aspects to enjoy about dub!beelzemon and sub!beelzebumon (depending on your preference on how his personality is portrayed), but they just. totally dropped the ball on his confrontation with kyubimon in episode 34 and i’m gonna explain why.

as mentioned before, sub!beelzebumon seems like a jarringly different character from impmon. almost unrecognizable. when caturamon reminds him that he has a job to do, he agrees to do it and seems prepared to carry out the gruesome task... until the moment comes for him to strike down kyubimon.

i’m gonna let these screencaps speak for themselves.

it’s only NOW that we see him breaking. he isn’t enjoying this, he doesn’t WANT to do it. he’s falling the fuck apart & it’s only now that we realize all of beelzebumon’s behaviour up until this point has been a facade. he blows up at kyubimon for “making him look like an idiot” because he’s still the same sad, insecure person he was before he evolved.

in the dub, we’re given pretty much the reverse of this set-up. beelzemon still acts very much like impmon - albeit an overpowered one - and doesn’t seem very happy when caturamon reminds him of their deal. (”let’s get this over with,” he says in response.) it gives the audience false hope that maybe he won’t actually follow through with it, making it feel like that much more of a betrayal when he does try to kill everyone & successfully takes leomon out of the picture. some people may praise that kind of bait-and-switch, and i get it, but...

there is far less real build-up to beelzemon going berserk in the dub. one minute his heart isn’t in it and the next he’s suddenly kicking kyubimon around and going out of his way to harm her. (which puts a really icky, abusive spin on their relationship that i don’t like at all.) the sub makes it much clearer that he’s trying to punish her for helping him & attempting to make things easier for himself by taking out the digimon he has the strongest connection with first. still a sick, unforgivable act, but one i can follow along with better on a psychological level.

which brings me to my final, and other Most Important point: the context of leomon’s death.

4 -- much like kyubimon, leomon recognizes immediately that beelzebumon doesn’t actually want to do this & that this isn’t the right path for him.

in the english dub, the dialogue is different & ultimately boils down to leomon telling beelzemon to fight him instead of going after the kids. that doesn’t happen here. beelzemon just kills him mid-conversation while leomon is trying to reason with him, and - having committed an act he knows is unforgivable - spirals out of control.

so no, i won’t say the dub butchers the entire storyline so much as choosing to handle aspects of it differently... but those choices aren’t always for the better, and i wish they just left a lot of this alone. the original context for these scenes are much more powerful & handle the characters & their dynamics more thoughtfully.

tl;dr: even if you have a soft spot for the tamers dub (which i do too, mostly for nostalgic reasons), try watching it in japanese at least once. it puts a lot of things into perspective & elaborates much more heavily on themes & ideas that the dub just skims over.

[raayllum]

I've seen a few people say the time jump is lazy or just an excuse to skip over two years and "start fresh". I personally disagree (maybe I'm biased and or desperate) but how do you feel about the time skip?

Oh I always assumed TDP would have one since... S2, I think? The fact that the show hadn't laid down a firm timeline of "Plot thing must be resolved by [X Date]" (think defeating the Firelord by the end of summer for ATLA, which we learn eight episodes into the series) meant that it had a lot of room to maneuver, time wise. Here's an older post detailing why (aka April 2019, woof). I thought we'd get like a 6 months to 1 year timeskip now and a 3 year timeskip post-end of Arc 2 (which used to be S5 but is now S6, bless)

RN not much as happened over the past two years that couldn't have also happened in six months (aka Janai and Amaya are still trying to help Lux Aurea, Claudia has resurrected Viren, the broyals are in Katolis and Callum is missing Rayla) except to age the characters up and give the world more room to breathe, since s1-s3 was just about a month. It also shows that the world is more complicated politically, since issues are still here and it's been as long a time period as it has been

The main complaint I've seen has been about the relationships happening off screen, mainly Claudia/Terry and Janai/Amaya. I expect we'll get flashbacks or references to how Claudia and Terry met and developed their dynamic (possibly 4x02, as I think it'll possibly help us play catch up in general and TDP typically has 2ish flashback focused eps a season, so one could be here and another could be for Aaravos). For Janai and Amaya, as soon as I saw the timeskip had been that long, I wasn't surprised at all they were getting engaged, as they're adults and were already flirting by the end of season three. I could buy them dancing around it for six months maybe, but probably not longer. Again, I'd love to see flashbacks, but I'm not bothered!

Like hell I spent the last two years dreaming up scenarios of Rayla coming back, Callum being in denial, too, but mostly of Callum following Rayla into Xadia right away, and you don't see me bitching about it, because I can recognize when the show hasn't actually promised me anything. It's all just speculation and expectations and until a show is breaking its lore or themes (which TDP is not) you'll be hard pressed to find me butt-hurt about it

But if people wanted to see a week by week play through with little plot and watching Callum learn two new sky spells every season on screen, and nitty-gritty political meetings, and long hours of Janai learning ASL, that's their prerogative. It's just not mine, and clearly not the actual Plot's, either

Basically as always:

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review , ch 109

-The Tragedy of a an episodic format attempting to connect narrative in a series: (Tohru’s Background or Kyo’s Focus?)

One of my issues with se03, ep6 (other than it being 3 chapters combined horribly with new material added for shock value) is that it was weakly undecided who would be the focus? who would the narrative follow?: Is it tohru’s own pov abt herself? is it the gramps giving boring exposition abt tohru over weak still images of flashbacks or is kyo thinking abt tohru’s pain?

The truth is, it was all the above in the manga, but the manga gave each a chapter focus so that the chapter is well-directed with focused narrative. The anime weakly jumbled the 3 chapters together as they always do. You mix chapters & tada~ you got an ep, you only need a broad weak theme that connects the dots! here: it is tohru! & that’s it. As long as the 3 chapters discuss tohru in any form & manner, nothing will seem off if we put them next to each other in a 20 minute ep! right? riiiiiight ????

.. this was never a correct way. Just like a chapter needed a narrative direction, the ep is the same!!

ch 107: The beginning of tohru’s pov on her realization abt loving kyo.

ch108: tohru’s full pov of shock upon reaching the conclusion that she loves him & the beginning of her mom’s issues & abandonment.

ch109: Kyo’s pov abt tohru’s pain & his involvement, guil & the sheet hug.

ch110: (completely cut from the anime!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Kyoru’s part: the aftermath of kyo & tohru crossing the line of being in the most vulnerable & intimate, building towards a more crushing impact of the climax. The stronger & more painful their love is, the more it will hurt. Also a yuchi buildup?!!!!

-so, you see each chapter has a direction i& a narrative it follows independently that is weaved together to make a connected tissue of the overall plot. The anime puts the 3 chapters next to each other & we are lost on who to follow? kyo or tohru or the gramps. That’s why it feels tohru is weak & her two chapters worth of pov is stolen from her cuz it cut or shortened to include the grandpa, kyo, isuzu, shigure & let’s not forget (kazuma, yuki & haru) at the beginning, the dramatic shock value addition & OP & ED. All these take valuable screen time. The ep shocks us by moving from tohru to kyo. One minute she’s crying with him on the streets, next he’s at the grave & she’s visiting isuzu.

Kyo said he isn't going to the grave in the ep, upon seeing him actually going, I just assumed he wanted to avoid, hana, cuz I’m so invested in his story that I remember sth happened in se1, ep 14.. ages ago, The anime didn’t even allow kyo to inner talk abt avoiding hana... In their weird mind, kyo only inner talks in dramatic situations..See the difference!

Not only the writer (a) reminds us why kyo avoided the grave visit, she also (b) seized the opportunity to shine lifht onto an issue that will be the center of kyo’s struggles: Running away!

The anime introduce this in kyo’s pov only when kyo confronts tohru. Only when it was needed & couldnt be avoided. This is sth that will be the core of all the climax & the aftermath as well! Kyo running away.. How bad are you if you avoid inserting one line only that can be said in few seconds & establish great deal & foreshadow plenty!!!!!!!!!! I can’t for the life of my understand why short lines are cut from kyo when in the anime they have him be standing silent in the graveyard. Like slap the line above the silent scene!!!!! But doing so means the anime team understands tohru & kyo’s issues. They don’t. Not the slightest.

-Ep 6 signals the beginning of the anime moving from episodic format of se1, 2 & 5 eps of se3 & entering a connect plot. The anime doesn’t know how to do that & screwed tohru in the process. The protagonist’s main issues are one ep worth only. The antagonist main issues are one ep only (ep7).  Ep 6, was treated as a stand alone ep (minus the inserted shock scene to create a lingering issue that needs a following ep to explain. TOLD YOU they don’t know how to make a series!). Thus the following ep 7 is akito’s focus. Everything that was established in ep 6 was pit on hold until akito reaches the craziest mindset for the climax. See why ep 6 was so bad? it is Should NOT be a stand alone ep.

-The plot connects kyoru emotional & physically: (Kyo’s chapter with a tohru’s focus:

Unlike the anime, the chapter knows what it’s presenting 7 where it’s going. Kyo’s issues. This ch focuses on him uncovering parts of his past as it connects with tohru’s. Unlike the anime, we know why kyo's connection to kyoko’s past. The anime is hiding this for the climax, no problem, it can still work both ways. However, hiding kyoko /kyo connection doesn't necessarily mean hiding kyoko/tohru connection. But the anime is cutting this to milk it in an ova or series next year~ no problem,  it can still work if you handle this ep’s  flashback better. for all the artistic creativity they inserted in the added scene, they failed miserably in tohru’s flashback portion. how?

By choosing a frontal pov shot in tohru’s grandpa flashback as if the audience are the ones who abandoned tohru or opening the door to find her alone. it does NOT work at all. why? the audience are encouraged to be like tohru since ep 1 as tohru is the mother, angel, fixer & endearing hopeful girl. The audience will NEVER abandon tohru, that’s why tohru’s story felt disconnected & weak in the anime. Not knowing what kyoko did, who would abandon such child?! differently not us. so why use the frontal pov shot? -_-’

-tohru confesses her pain to kyo without being ushered by isuzu, without any outside factor. She simply visited the grave & came home. hiding her pain. once again. like she always do. One question by kyo, prompts her to “ complain a little” call back to se1, ep5 as he advised. we see tohru get out of her shell little by little. NOT SCREAM OR SLAP. She opened up. why? cuz the story is abt “ opening the lid” not abt “ snatching the lid”. No need for shocks. Yuki opened his lide slowly, tohru even slower, kyo is resisting opening his altho it is cracking in this chapter. When your story focuses on character buildup it pays!

-I’ll give the anime credit when it due. The hug scene is so good both in manga & anime. but so awesome in animation, colors, music & voice acting. It’s breathtaking & painful. The most beautiful kyoru scene in the whole anime.

-It represents their mutual vulnerability, understanding, pain & determination to love the other but not also let go. kyo has made his mind to be locked in order not to hurt tohru & tohru has made her mind that she can’t let go of her mom.

You see, the scene’s meaning hits different between manga & anime; In the anime: tohru has already challenged the sohmas & screamed to be with kyo, while kyo is still decided to leave her. In the manga: they’re both at the same spot (undecided). I like both interpretations but I’ll choose the manga’s version. Simply cuz it means tohru is still uncovering her issues which means more focus on her, & more explanation of why cant tohru love her mom & kyo at the same time.

-This expression on tohru’s face is a the complete opposite of the shock value expression in ep 6! T_T. I do’nt even hate the shocked scene addition itself that much, I just think (a) this is NOT its time! Tohru deserved better spotlight! (b) kyo didn’t friggen forget! ah! THIS I HATE! (c) the whole shocked scene was so wasted in ep 7. tohru return to her stupid dumb lalala~ land, cooking & forgetting kyo. what growth? what determination & screams to isuzu? what enduring kagura’s slaps? nope! just happy & cooking, lalala~ no one was freaking over her mom’s picture~ lalala~ & kyo just slept it over~ shhhh... its okay. he’ll forget again... see? totally wasted!

The anime knows nothing abt connected narrative! augh!

Side Notes:

We see kyo asking the gramps why he’s offering him info abt tohru which is so logical! XD. I love it.

I’ve read ch 110 & wanted to insert the kyoru scene in ch 110 here, & put yuchi alone in a different post, then I realized I’ll need to talk abt it again once I analyze yuki’s own expressions! XD. so, I’ll put all ch 110 together in one post. It kinda half written by now, so I’ll publish it very soon in two days time. I didn’t read ch 111 yet tho.

I hope ch 110 is the last I feel this much disappointments in furuba’s anime & by ch 11, it hopefully be be minor changes altho I doubt that cuz the manga needed to dwell into tohru’s mindset & the anime kinda stopped after ep 6. so, yup! more big changes coming!

The sheet hug is so brilliant in theory & application! so romantic & so endearing! love it so much! The anime did it so well, too!

I love kyo’s narration & pov cuz it’s so refreshing change from the anime where he rarely does!

I really wish they kept the kyoko abandoning tohru part in the anime... sigh~ it has nothing much to affect her story with katsuya. so it won’t ruin the spin off/ ova or whatever it’s called. 

I love the light focus on tohru in this chapter & how organic & natural it is opposed to how forced the plot seems in the anime....

[enerday]

So I don't usually write here about any series and stuff, but I wanted to share some thoughts on final space season 3. It's been released 12 episodes out of 13 and the last one hit me really bad.

I love final space with all my heart for its comedy and I love it much more for its dramatic moments. Season 2 has this perfect blend of golden comedy (well, except the piss battle) and heartbreaking drama. I mean I liked season 1, I thought that avocato was amazing character and his death in the middle of season was brilliant move, but season 2? I fell in love with it. I managed to get through first episodes without caring much, yes, even episode 3 with ash and her sister. But episodes 4 and 5? They rip your heart out. (It's the one where little Cato gets stuck in time anomaly and the one where Gary's mom appears). They made me fall in love with themes of loneliness and family that the show invests so well, with so damn good animation and the perfect amount of comedy in drama and drama in comedy. So I rewatched those like 3 or 4 times.

So what about season 3?

I'm not gonna say it's bad or even that it's worse that previous seasons. Don't get me wrong - it's still great. I enjoyed every minute of watching it. Yes, I thought that episodes were a little less memorable as episodes in season 2. But that may or may not be because I rewatched season 2 for numerous times and I watched most part of season 3 within 3 hours (I tend to remember a little bit less stuff then usual when watching it in one shot).

So season 3 I liked a little bit less than season 2. And here's some thoughts about it - I tried to make them as little biased as possible.

Of course there are spoilers.

1. Opening

Why is it just Gary falling down? The story has never been just about Gary and it is shown in openings 1 and 2. My guess is that they didn't want to spoil who's gonna stay in team-squad and who's not. But in my personal opinion it wouldn't matter if they showed all members of team-squad from the beginning of s3 and then Fox died and so on.

Opening 1 was all of them standing together in nearly static fight scene and well it wasn't that interesting but the viewer was getting the ambiance of the show. Opening 2 was so good - it was well-animated, it showed characters' personalities and basically was fun to watch every episode without struggling or fast-forwarding (my personal favorite is when Gary throws KVN - it says so much about both of them). And I guess it wasn't so fun for me to watch Gary failing down alone for 12 times.

2. Comedy and drama

Like I said season 2 has perfect amount of comedy and drama mixed together. And for me it just didn't feel that way in s3. Drama is on a whole new level - Quinn episode or death of Fox, and don't even get me started on little Cato and his real parents. And while dramatic episodes still hit so damn hard, there's an episode with kinda new atmosphere for the show - the one with ash and her new (girl)friend evra. It's kinda melancholic but not in a sad way, more like in a reflective dreamy and wistful way. I'm really glad they're not getting stuck on the one and only way of doing things.

But sometimes it feels like they don't mix comedy and drama anymore. Like I can't really remember fun part of sad episodes, maybe just a couple of jokes but as for me they're not the same. For example, said 4 and 5 episodes of season 2. There's funny bonding moment in the ep.4 and hilarious loggins dancing scene, then little Cato stuck in this time zone and it's sad but also fun with Clarence, and Tribore others stuff and KVN becoming murderous crazy. And then it turns out that they had never been here, and the amount of loneliness little Cato had to face just tears your heart apart. Unforgettable, and it works so well because of the comedy and fun parts of the episode. Because you can only feel that devastated if you don't expect this while laughing. Same with ep.5 - you laugh on fun part with Gary not wanting save his mother from jail and pretty cliche (still funny though) moments of Sheryl befriending everyone except for Gary. And then it's not the betrayal that hits you with sadness, it's the realization during that heartbreaking flashback that Gary still had hope that he can be family with her. And the moment of him losing that hope.

What I'm saying that in these episodes comedy and drama coexist in the same space and inseparable from each other.

There's still funny parts in season 3 which are mostly hilarious (personal favorite - "I finally found him - father of beelzebub") but it feels like there's a little bit less of them and that they carry less weight for the story-telling and building the atmosphere purposes. And as an aftermath you can separate fun parts from sad parts without losing something. They don't support each other and the story feels less holistic.

Again, it could be that creators were trying to show that the stuff became so much more serious than it used to be, but personally I wish they mixed drama and comedy a little bit more.

3. Themes

So I don't actually know if I think of it as a good or bad thing. It's different for sure, though.

I think themes this season were much less obvious and straight shown as before. For example there's still loneliness theme - but sometimes it's so subtle you might not notice it right away. Like this last episode little Cato tries to spend some time with Gary or Sheryl but everyone shooshes him because they have stuff to do. And you know that they're still family but that feels kinda sad and a little bit familiar. (Also in the beginning of ep.12 there's this kinda sad intonation which with he asks Gary in which team he was).

There's a lot more moments with different themes which you maybe don't notice but feel I can't really recall what are they specifically.

So yeah while season 2 serves themes of the show on big plate and put them right under your nose, season 3 sprays them in the air and makes sure you feel rather then see them.

(Maybe I'm overthinking it but still).

4. Characters and stuff

I'm not really gonna say too much in this section because everyone has pretty much different opinion on each of them.

But some things have to be said.

I saw a lot of people hating ash arc this season and saying that it's artificial. But I find it quite natural. Like, yeah, she makes bad decisions and jumps to wrong conclusions but it's not like it's not in her character. She's always been proactive type and now more than ever she wants to take action, not to sit and wait. And it doesn't mean that if character does something you don't like it makes a plot poorly written or her arc artificial.

I like how Quinn's decision to stay in final space raises debates. There is no clear answer whether her decision was right or wrong, and it's amazing that the show can ask the audience this type of question. And again there's much more to discuss with no clear morally right answer than it was in season 2.

Every father-son bonding moment between Gary and little Cato is precious. Period.

Gary himself feels much more mature and this is amazing job with his arc and character development. Avocato has this inner (soon to be external) conflict with him killing little Cato's real parents and sometimes it feels like it's all that he got in this season, but it's fine, I guess. Tribore is simply the best as always.

Not sure I have something unique or smart to say about everyone else that is not obvious itself and I don't want to extend this so freaking long post for things that have already been said.

Except for that it's been 12 episodes and I still have no idea why it was story-wise necessary to add Biskit to team squad. He's not plot relevant. For me personally he's not even that funny.

So, I guess that's all for now. Definitely gonna update this when season finale is released. Just to talk things out.

Sorry, there are probably ton of mistakes. English is not my first language but I try my best to be better, so feel free to correct me.