#i feel like i made it more dramatic than the scene actually is LMAO

[moxymaxing]

comic practice

[erenfox]

Ok, hot take, but I genuinely don't ship Nico with anyone. Like, seriously, no one. Neither Percy, nor Will, nor Jason, not Leo. And if you think I ship him with some girl, I DON'T. What girl not related to Nico by family was actually close to him other than Reyna? And Reynico shippers just scare me lmao.

Idk maybe it's just because I personally never saw any awkward-teenage-romance type of conversations or internal monologue of Nico in any of the books regarding any of the boys whatsoever. I kid you not, I seriously thought (and still think) that Rick had never intended for Nico to like Percy during PJO and the first half of HoO. I feel like it's just something he made up while writing the Cupid scene to make it more, well, dramatic. As an author myself, I know exactly how it feels when ur writing ur manuscript and a brilliant idea related to that particular scene pops up, which leaves u wondering how to make it make sense with the rest of the story. And since there are speculations that Rick has ghostwriters, it seems a lot more suspicious about how we had not a single hint of Nico liking Percy anywhere before the Cupid scene.

I'm not gonna go into Solangelo, but I must say, Will is a pretty bland character. Solangelo has potential, I still think so, but Rick wasted basically all of it by trying to make Solangelo a cheap copy of Percabeth. He knows Solangelo is the second most popular ship among his fandom, so why not make it exactly like his all-time most popular ship? Because, come on, what good would it be to have a, idk, unique ship?

[burst-of-iridescent]

atla live action thoughts: episodes 3 & 4

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

jet, you beautiful, beautiful man. had me twirling my hair and kicking my feet fr i NEED this show to get a season 2 just so i can see more of him in the ba sing se arc please netflix

but looks aside, sebastian amoruso DELIVERED on the performance. the softness, the vulnerability, the charm, the intelligence, yet also the ruthlessness beneath it all? KILLED IT.

the moment between him and katara where he tells her to remember her mother as she was alive and not just her death was absolutely lovely. “remember the sunrise” made me very emotional

on that note, can’t believe jetara fake marriage is canon now lmao

i am SO here for desi omashu. i love the vibe and aesthetic of the city and again the visuals are STUNNING. live action repping the south asians better than the original ever did i’ll be honest

shameless fan service but “MY CABBAGES” being so fucking dramatic had me dying

of all the things i expected from the atla live action, secret tunnel and omashu being lesbians wasn’t even on the list but i’m not mad. hilarious that they turned the cave of two lovers into the cave of two platonic siblings though

jet, omashu and northern air temple arcs actually meshed together better than i thought. the NAT episode never sat well with me in the original so i’m glad they moved them to omashu instead.

the freedom fighters were RIGHT OUT OF THE ANIMATION. casting directors absolutely killed

love that they showed resistance movements within the fire nation and azula being part of rooting them out. it’s a nice nod to the deserter, since i’m guessing they’re not including that episode

really glad to see that the atla live action is following the tradition of having weirdly unnecessary zutara crumbs in every iteration of the story because what in the om shanti om was that zutara scarf moment. 10/10 no notes

having one of the earthbenders transporting iroh be angry over losing a loved one because of iroh’s siege of ba sing se was a really great change. i’ve always thought the original glossed over the true extent of the damage iroh did, so having him come face to face with what he’d done in the past was a great way to add some complexity

“how dare you beat up that child!” everyone go home seeing zuko being beat up by a random old lady is the highlight of this series. really love that they were just running around throwing things at each other that was major book 1 zuko/aang fight energy lmao

SECRET TUNNELLLLLLLL

leaves from the vine instrumental was 100% to inflict emotional damage and it fucking worked. the scene between zuko and iroh at lu ten’s funeral was so beautiful & then to have it flipped around at the end when iroh says “everything i need is on this boat”… fuck you for this netflix i didn’t need these tears today

things i disliked/am conflicted about:

not a fan of what they’re doing with katara’s character. they’re toning down a lot of her rage and fierceness, and boiling her down to “trauma over mother’s death.” in the original katara didn’t freeze jet and splash water at him because he tried to fight her, she did it because she was hurt and pissed off! there’s no way animated katara would’ve just run away from jet without sending a water whip at his face first. i’m concerned for how the pakku fight is gonna go tbh

bumi my guy, what did they do to you 💀 this series seems hellbent on having everyone remind aang that he ran away which doesn’t work when a) you already changed aang actively running away to him just going off for a break and b) you’ve made that point! the original omashu episode was about bumi teaching aang to look at the world differently, here it just weirdly feels as though he’s punishing aang by venting all his anger and despair on him?? that’s NOT what animated bumi was like & they didn’t even have the two of them go sliding down the delivery system in the flashbacks so adding it in at the end felt very out of nowhere. they didn’t even genuinely seem to be FRIENDS

having aang immediately figure out it was bumi was… sigh. can we please not do the thing where characters already know everything it’s giving me trauma flashbacks to the percy jackson show

jet’s plan feels more reasonable here than it did in the original. i get they’re trying to show that he didn’t care about the collateral damage to innocent people and that’s bad, but idk him wiping out an entire town unilaterally felt more extreme than a few bombings.

heavily dislike what they’ve done with zhao. i know they’re trying to show him clawing his way to power but that’s more of a long feng move than a ZHAO move. it’s important that zhao always holds more power than zuko and that he has an overinflated sense of ego from the start for him to fulfil his narrative purpose of serving as a warning to zuko of what he might become.

i like seeing mailee but why are they in this show? it feels as though they’re cardboard cutouts there for fan service instead of being actual characters

overall i liked these episodes better than the previous two & i do enjoy how action-packed and visually pleasing the show has been so far.

overall rating: 8/10 for episode 3, 7/10 for episode 4

[fluffypotatey]

"I collar the beast." "Wukong's fangs have been pulled." I can't believe y'all fr. "I get all the punishment and you get to mope." He was moping because he cares and feels guilty, speaking of, THE BINDING SCENE IS SO MUCH MORE INTENSE HERE WUKONG'S SCREAM THE PANICKED STUMBLING ohoho yes. MK: "It's tense in here." Wukong, two seconds ago: yOU tHINK I wANtED tO bE trAPPED dOWN hErE wiTH yOU. Wukong's tail: *cute pokey pokey* "You got demoted!" Ha, also "Nezhy" Oh my gosh, I don't think I caught this last time but Wukong subtly looks over to Macaque who just nods at him ajksms they were feuding and glooming a second ago but now its all silent communication and understanding in a glance. I'm throwing them off a roof. I'm struggling to hear what Macky says here, but I'm going to subscribe to the subtitles with "he likes acting." It's funnier. Also MK's "best attorney monkeys can buy" gotta love thinking about monkeys needing attorneys and also having money and buying things lol. "A pain crab on Monkey King's head." 😭 "Why is it always like this when you come here." actually love this one more because he's so grumpy and I feel like it has a different, funnier implication than the subtitles. he isn't causing chaos AFTER coming here, it just IS. what does that say about the vibes you bring /j. crying at Macky's face at all times, he is the picture definition of a grumpy cat, and then when getting pushed and the absolutely DONE yell of "Wukoooong!" I can watch a whole netflix series of Macky being fed up with Wukong's antics but getting dragged into them. tricky plan demon huh, that's a quick way to silence them after just talking about someone pulling the strings, especially on you MK. also Macky is SO little creachure with his face hidden like a hermit in that cape. "I don't trust anyone who isn't standing here. Right. Now." SAME MACONDO what a shocking statement from your old buddy. more at 11 only on ShadowPeachNews. The writers KNEW what they were doing. Also AHHHHH *looks at you with my big brown eyes* Fluffy I SWEAR I told myself I wouldn't talk about this again until you were able to answer the asks on my last yapping about this, BUT THEY MADE IT SO MUCH WORSE. Firstly, Macky's *voice* for that line delivery is the most solemn dramatic thing I have seen. He lives and breathes the cinema. AND MK I'm really tossing him over a cliff because he just HAD TO GO "He'd get away, right? He always gets away...right?" UGH TFW YOU'RE SO KNOWN FOR BEING THAT GUY WHO FLEES FROM BATTLE that it's brought up this time not for the *dude really???* but as a plea, an attempt at faith, haha he's always doing that...he did it again right? NO BECAUSE THIS TIME HE STUCK AROUND TO FIGHT. and Wukong's constipated expression there bc ohoho some monkey is for sure thinking about the past.

i am, for one, with you on throwing shadowpeach off a cliff bc they make me so unwell in this episode 🫠

for another:

LI JING WHEN I GET YOU!!!!! HOW DARE YOU CALL WUKONG A BEAT AND PULL HIS FANGS!!!!

also i can’t help but think about why Nezha was even there in the first place. because the one the kings summoned was his dad. Nezha wasn’t supposed to be there and yet he comes along 👀 why? my thought is: to plead the monkeys’ case. he immediately tries to defend them to his father and it seems like it’s been an ongoing argument

like sure he rags on Wukong and hems & hahs at him because like have you met Wukong that cheeky lil shit??? his gremlin energy just shoots to 150% whenever Nezha is near. he can’t help it. it’s his DO NOT PUSH red button that he will absolutely push

and Macky’s “why is it always like this when you’re here” to Wukong has such a divorced energy i love it 😍 he knows Wukong so well and is just resigned to it. every time Macky has had to interact with Heaven, Wukong is always there making a scene (he’s not exempt to helping swk but his point still stands lmao)

Wukong’s pout, my beloved

when your ex says the reason he’s mopey isn’t because you got hurt but because he is in jail with you for something you’ve been blamed for. echoing his “NOT THE GREAT SAGE! HE’S GOTTA DRAG EVERYONE INTO HIS MESS!” comment from the memory scroll 👀

what who said that lol that was weird

god they’re so— squishes them and squishes them and squishes them and squishes them and squishes them and squishes them and squishes them and

[snailchasers-den]

What about Tigerclaw x Spottedleaf has made you like the ship so much? I don't dislike it but I don't quite understand it either.

Well, the thing that kicked off my initial interest was the scene they had together in the first book, which I read as some type of flirty banter as a kid, and it later on snowballed from there the more I thought about it nowadays, I think LMAO Since then it's been like, my all time biggest ship in warriors, and I think about them all the time, even if I can't post about them a ton, I check the tag regularly and kinda just rotate them in my brain LMAO

It's customary at this point to mention I'm writing this while extremely tired, as I do most of my asks, so fair warning if any of this is kinda clunky. Other people have explained it WAY more eloquently than me, so if you're curious, I recommend looking in the SpottedTiger tag, cause others explain it in way more concise and understandable ways. I write most shit like I'm a madman at a whiteboard, but if that's your jam, you've asked the perfect person.

It's really a mixed bag why I started liking it-? A whole lot of things added up and got me hooked.

The difference in demeanors is fun, with Tigerclaw being threatening and ambitious and dramatic, while Spottedleaf is sweet and compassionate, yet extremely sassy, I feel like they'd play off of eachother nicely even in just comedic, non-romantic scenes.

Depending on how you want things to play out, you can basically sway how they effect eachother in however many different ways you want- Want an evil Spottedleaf AU? Tiger manages to convince her to join his side and we have a fun evil medicine cat. Want a however good Tigerclaw and a fluffier AU? Spotted is what he needs to soften him up just enough to not go feral and try taking over the clans. Want to tear them apart and have it be super tragic and kinda fucked up? Tiger still gets Clawface to kill her because he knows he can't bring himself to do it and knows she's his weak point. Something more canon-compliant? They were had a secret relationship before she died, and he sees her in Tawnypelt (I have a fic based on that idea, I love it. Obsessed with Tawnypelt resembling Spottedleaf by coincidence.) They're super flexible in that you can basically tweak and twist their story in so many different ways depending on how much you adjust the scenarios or their actions.

Make them mushy and sweet! Make them a badass medic/leader villain couple! Make them divorce eachother 3 different times and be bitter exes who throw snark and cold one liners! Make them be a tragic failed love story! Make them somehow make it work? Make them gay toms! Make them lesbians! Make them polyamorous with a cat of your choice! They're so versatile, and I love seeing anything people do with them.

I also like to throw a lot of religious/Starclan related things into the mix personally, because in different ways they both have connections with it in ways a lot of cats don't, and it can be both a good connecting point, and make it have an extra air of tragedy which I play VERY hard into in my False Prophecy AU. LMAO Spoilers for the AU that aren't really spoilers since I've drawn it before, but Tigerclaw doesn't actually commit a lot of his atrocities in that AU (Hence why I don't call him Tigerstar) and still goes to the Dark forest primarily due to literally lying about Starclan's word when they already wanted him dead from the moment he was born and 'corrupting a medicine cat', (And whatever else they could get him on, probably him being a bad mentor or having bad thoughts. They just wanted him in hell.) meanwhile, Spottedleaf, the golden girl of Starclan, despite being the one who ACTUALLY directly lied about their word and broke the code, is given a second chance and let in because 'She only loved too much'. (Because if they're going to say that line for someone like ASHFUR, I can twist it and use it for my AU in a more sinister manner, since Starclan is morally questionable here.) The ending of the AU's story also heavily relies on the afterlives, and though I won't go into it here since that's not what this ask is about and I genuinely do want to write it someday, I think it's a really fun way to twist things for them. It has such a poignant, vivid energy it carries with it, and I don't think it would feel the same with really any other pairing.

They're closer in age than most ships with them seperately, which is super nice, and makes it really fun to imagine them interacting as apprentices and their feelings building from those times into adulthood-

If you want to consider Spottedleaf's Heart, that could actually add to it too, seeing as they were both victims of Thistleclaw, likely even around the same time, and could seek solace in eachother over it- They're the only ones that truly understand, and that could drive them to want to protect eachother from other threats because they know they've been hurt in similar ways and don't want that to happen again.

I tend to imagine Tigerclaw to be a big ass Maine Coon while Spottedleaf is fairly small, and that just adds to it for me, since I think it makes the fluff between them 10 times better. My favorite warriors ship dynamic is when one of them is very, very fluffy and the other can basically just. Sink into their fur like a pillow. Hence why I also like MothCrow. I'm both unpredictable and incredibly predictable.

I also just don't really like a lot of Spottedleaf ships? She's one of my favorite characters, but I don't like basically any of the other pairings I've ever seen for her. Definitely don't like SpottedFire and never did, I see Mousefur as very very aromantic and relate to that, so SpottedMouse is very much not my jam- Anything else tends to be a rarepair or just something I don't really vibe with- She's not shipped with as many people as you'd expect. SpottedTiger was like striking gold for me- (Though Spottedleaf/Runningnose is also a nice one I think about from time to time, and is where I got Snailchaser as a character from LMAO)

Tigerclaw has always stood out to me and registered in my mind as being a romantic in a way too? It's a unique trait for a villain, especially in warriors, so I love emphasizing it, since god knows the Erins don't and won't. I know a lot of people like to joke about him kinda sleeping around or being a womanizer with him having two mates, but I love taking his multiple mates and interpreting it in more of a romantic sense- (And also I headcanon him as Polyamorous, but that's just me) He wasn't a good partner at all in canon, but something about imagining if he was makes him 10 times more compelling to me. He's a romantic! He's a family man! And he's a sadistic wanna-be dictator with the ambition needed to wreak havok and take over Shadowclan! Those traits 100% clash and that's the point. Putting him with Spottedleaf further complicates that by pairing him with a compassionate medic who does not at all share his lust for power. (Or might deep down, who knows! It's up to the writer!) I think it'd be fun to see internal battles and how the actual good traits he has fuck with his plans.

Though, if you know me at all, I'm also just really weird and love rarepairs and crack ships for Warriors. Hell, I basically made up the MothCrow tag on here by cautiously posting about Mothwing x Crowfeather- Even if my stuff's not completely canon accurate, I write in much more 'what if' scenarios and heavy AU usage. It's more fun and interesting to me to write in a more speculative "I love the version of this character that exists only in my brain" way, and out comes the stuff I make.

[cookinguptales]

The ingenuity of Armand and Louis's relationship was a deliberate choice. That's why Daniel always calls them out on their forced shit. And their actors said they made the scenes dry on purpose.

Yeah, I figured. Louis in particular gets verbose when he's trying to distance himself from his actions and feelings, though Armand is more than willing to meet him on that level. They speak much more plainly when they're letting themselves actually feel their emotions. I think it feels safer for them (again, particularly Louis) to talk about their memories like they're literary fiction rather than real life. It lets them abstract their experiences rather than confronting them head-on. I think I'd even go so far as to call it a form of dissociation they use to avoid their own trauma.

(That tendency is really just made worse by Armand's ability to literally delete traumatic memories from Louis's mind. Any time he gets too close to actually dealing with his memories and emotions, Armand can make that go away.)

Like, I think the two of them managed to live for decades indulging in that form of avoidance, mostly because the people who would have called them on their shit in the past were dead.

Both Santiago and Claudia played that role for them in the past, I think. That said, both of them kind of had a tendency towards the dramatic that sometimes made things worse, lmao. (Which... is also why Lestat is a non-starter in this conversation.) Claudia was very willing to tell Louis to shut the fuck up when he was getting too in his own head, but I think that because she was so emotionally invested, sometimes they built off of each other instead of her managing to actually deescalate his histrionics. Santiago is pretty willing to skewer both Louis and Armand, but again, he's always got to make a show of it.

Daniel is dramatic in his own way, but... I guess I would say he seems to live for the reveal? And perhaps the destruction of illusion, whether it's his own or someone else's. (I guess he's kind of the anti-Santiago in that way? Santiago seemed to love to couch his criticisms in illusions and metaphor, but Daniel doesn't have the patience for any of that at all.) That makes him a good choice for him to just shut down the bullshit without getting too mired in it himself.

[robotsandramblings]

so yeah i thought The Acolyte was another "meh", had-potential-but-poorly-executed-and-paced show.

some great scenes, some good stuff in there, the fighting choreography was SUPERB, but ultimately overall it was like a 5/10 for me. maybe 6/10 if i'm in a good mood. [full review below with spoilers]

it's worth mentioning the many pro's:

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY [WITH LIGHTSABERS] MY BELOVED

they actually had the balls to kill off beloved main characters in a very permanent they-CANNOT-survive-that way. and keeping them dead.

showing the imperfect, political, selfish, flawed sides of individual Jedi and the Order as an organization

the on-screen depiction of the kyber crystal being bled

DARTH PLAGUEIS LET'S GOOOOOOOOO

Qimir was a fucking treat. a really interesting character.

but imo ultimately it suffered from the same downfalls as a lot of the other live-action stuff:

weird pacing, like they were stretching it out too much, yet also cramming or rushing too much at times

(someone described Acolyte as "a movie that was chopped up into a bunch of really short episodes and filled in with stuff" and sadly i completely agree it feels that way)

weird and/or silly plot or character decisions, especially when they seemed to just want to move the plot along or make things ~dramatic~

plenty of great acting talent, but character writing was so bad that i barely cared about the main characters; usually ended up caring more about certain side characters than the main ones

lacking that something - quality, writing, heart, soul, i dunno - that made me excited for new episodes and eager to tune in each week. i had ZERO of that for Acolyte.

and, like most other SW live-action, i'll mark this show as Complete✓ and move on immediately and never rewatch it again lmao (except for the lightsaber fights). 👋

[incesthemes]

final thoughts: supernatural season 15

holy shit. i did it. i finished supernatural. i actually finished it a couple hours ago but i'm still having trouble processing it. i've been working at this for six months (but with a one-month break back in december) and i'm finally finished. honestly i don't think i really believed i would do it because shit this show is long, and i am not predisposed to enjoy shows like this. so this is a huge mark of pride for me, that i can finally say i did indeed sit down and watch all 327 episodes of supernatural :)

anyway all that to say i hated this season with a passion lmao, hasta la vista baby ✨

honestly i think i'll end up keeping this short because frankly most of my criticisms boil down to

how did you fuck up your own lore this badly

holy plotholes batman

this is so disrespectful and irreverent toward kripke's supernatural

nothing about this writing makes any kind of sense

well, that's convenient (in the most boring way imaginable)

so it's basically just a game of spin the wheel and see what it lands on.

the season started super weak; the concept was bad from the get-go and executed only to a mediocre standard, so i couldn't help but cringe my way through it. rowena's death was really well done, but her character was never well developed, in the same way most side characters on this show are never well developed, so while i appreciate the care that went into that scene it felt rather empty. it made me regret how poorly and inconsistently written she was. and yeah most side characters get this treatment—hell, cas gets this treatment which is why i don't care about him much—but she had such a provocative death scene that it had me lamenting that she didn't get a better foundation and better development. alas, that's just what it means to be someone other than sam and dean on supernatural.

after that was... the eileen subplot. i do really like eileen despite her being a rather flat and uninteresting character the way most women are on this show (y'know, kickass independent "girl power" women without nearly any other significant personality trait), but i really didn't appreciate the substantial pivot sam took from dean-focused to eileen-focused in this season. yes, season 12-14 did go to great efforts to make sure this wasn't The Sam And Dean Show anymore, but season 15 is so dramatically incongruous from even 12-14 that it just boggled my mind. the sam/eileen stuff was a major part of that, and it just didn't feel good because it was one more nail in the coffin with regards to how little the showrunners respected the foundation of the show (y'know, "the epic love story of sam and dean"). the only real salmondean moment in the entire season was the 7-minute incest speech in the finale—like what? i couldn't even properly enjoy that because of how poorly it was set up, thanks to the four seasons of retconning their relationship and making it less important to the series overall.

anyway all that to say, they had this massive sam/eileen subplot and then nothing even came of it. sam didn't even call to check if she was alive after jack resurrected everyone? he didn't meet up with her on screen even once? like if you're going to give him this season-long romance with someone other than dean, you could at least have the balls to commit to it. i find that just. godawful writing. eileen didn't have to be sam's blurry wife or anything, but he should have had some kind of resolution, literally anything at all, if we're meant to believe she's in any way important to him. c'mon.

more incongruous moments: dean got weirdly angry in this season. like what's with episode 17 man? there is nothing about dean in that episode that feels even remotely in character. from "jack's not family" to dean pulling a gun on sam, it all felt wildly overblown, way too melodramatic and sudden, and just not anything dean would do. yeah he's an angry guy, but???? this was too much, even for him. and the whole jack argument between sam and dean made me roll my eyes hard. because how do you expect me to believe that after all of the developments up to that point, that

dean wouldn't consider jack family. first of all that's stupid, dean drops the f-bomb on literally anyone he thinks is useful to further his goals. second of all it contradicts the bond they've formed since season 13, and it no longer fits with the parallel themes set up between sam, dean, and jack. it undermines what's been established, what's been developed, and what jack means to them on a thematic level. so so so stupid. cannot stress how dumb this move was. it just felt like the writers pulling out yet another OOC moment just so they can conveniently move the plot in the direction they wanted. so annoying.

sam and cas are equals in dean's eyes. like that's just hilarious to me. the last time cas died dean got sad for a little bit and burned his body on a pyre. the last time sam died dean committed suicide. these are not equal reactions. and sam and cas have never been equal to dean because dean always chooses sam over everyone, again evidenced in the series finale. so it was just hilarious for this one episode to pretend like sam and cas could ever be equal.

of course season 15 did really push a destiel agenda in the most unexpected and bizarre way. like wow, and i thought seasons 12-14 were a totally different show. no, season 15 is so much worse than that. i have absolutely no idea why they made the choices they did with this season, but they were not good, they routinely disrespected kripke's foundations of the show, and they ignored every theme ever laid out up until then. all for... what, exactly? so dean and cas can have a weird little non-romance together for 18 episodes only for them to slip wincest back in at the end? what's up with that? no like seriously, what were they trying to do here????

i told my friend this earlier, but i do think it's funny how cas's death speech is just straight-up factually incorrect regarding dean. i'm 100% fully willing to believe that castiel was blinded with lust by dean winchester that he simply made up some guy in his head who looked like dean. and that will be my headcanon going forth because wow it's shocking and funny as hell how much he got wrong while waxing poetic about dean. "you're the most selfless man i know" when kripke spent 5 seasons pounding it into our heads how fundamentally selfish dean (and sam, obviously, but the speech is about dean) is. girl what are you saying. dick so good he rewrote dean's basic character traits to be more convenient to him. i respect it truly i do.

anyway the finale. i hated it! to absolutely no one's surprise. a few days ago i wrote out what i thought would have been the most thematically cogent endings for supernatural. i knew what actually happens, obviously (hard to miss tbh), but my resolve on this front was only strengthened by actually watching it. yes the 7 minutes of incest were very nice and compelling, but... wow. this episode has some of the worst pacing i've ever seen in my life. dean died halfway into the episode? and the rest of that was... a sequence of short scenes that are too drawn-out to be a montage??? like there was no tension, no buildup, and no setup for what they did. it felt so lazy and underdeveloped, lacking any kind of poignancy or thematic cohesion. and then i had to watch TWENTY MINUTES of half-baked scenes of dean in heaven and sam growing old. i wouldn't have hated this ending so much if they had better pacing, i'm serious. like the outrage i feel is predominantly because of how badly it was written. the concepts aren't good, but they were par for the course. but TWENTY MINUTES OF MONTAGE. A MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH WITH NO EMOTIONAL BUILDUP, WHICH ACTIVELY CONTRADICTS THE THEMES OF THE SHOW. WHAT!!!!!!! WERE THEY THINKING!!!!!!!!!!

anyway i disliked that a little bit.

so overall i pretty much hated every part of this season and there were very, very, very few redeeming features sprinkled in. it's fine though! i'm fine. it's all over now :)

a few brief thoughts on the series overall: i regret ever speaking badly of kripke's supernatural; i didn't know how good i had it until it was gone. in hindsight, a lot of the seasons i thought were dogshit were actually not the worst things ever—i just didn't realize how bad bad could get. i know now. i will carry that knowledge with me forever.

dramatics aside, i honestly did enjoy watching the show. as much as i hated so many of the writing choices, the plotholes, the retcons, the way the writers just handwaved away anything inconvenient and rewrote characters entirely just to force them into the story they way they wanted them—it was still, like, fun. the agony was enjoyable (things masochists say). i think it helps that the fandom at large generally agrees that the writing is bad; it gives a sense of community and solidarity in the misery. there's no uneasy disconnect between myself and the rest of the fanbase, and that honestly does make all the difference. it's fun to suffer together, and i don't regret watching this show one bit :)

so with that said, here's my final ranking for every season:

season 1 (thematically strong, tight writing, incredible vision, truly foundational in its establishment of overarching themes, tone, and genre)

season 2 (such an interesting plot which builds on what was established in season 1. this is where the meat of the show is, where the heart is exposed to daylight as the chest is ripped open)

season 3 (well written, though disappointing in some areas largely due to kripke dropping the special children plot thus leaving a hole. not very noticeable due to the good writing, but still there. i'll never forgive them for killing off henricksen)

season 4 (this is the first real drop in quality imo, but it's relatively insignificant. the writing feels more meandering, and the tone shifts rather drastically away from the horror of its origin. the introduction of angels destroys a lot of the religious anxiety that formed the foundation of the show, but at the same time introduces a fantastic story about fate and doom)

season 5 (same as season 4, but with the flaws a bit more glaring. castiel's unclear motivations and underdeveloped shift in perspective are a major point of contention for me; i don't think it was handled well and could have been written better to make him a stronger character from the get-go, possibly allowing him to be a better character in later seasons instead of the conflicting mess we ended up with)

season 9 (the writing is atrocious, but the vision is so good. i still don't know how they managed that. they had such a great idea and they took kripke's supernatural and expanded on it in such a satisfying way. it drove me crazy! but holy shit the actual writing is so bad)

season 8 (i feel largely the same about 8 as i do 9, but i just think the writing was overall worse. it does get brownie points for having benny in it, though)

season 10 (boring. boring and paced so, so, so badly. the sole redeeming feature was how committed it was to its vision. it has the exact opposite problem as season 6 in that it has too little content to fill out the season. but god, the vision. you'll hear me waxing poetic about the season 8-10 vision on my death bed)

season 7 (it did a lot to pave the road for seasons 8-10 which i can't ignore. it also got itself fairly settled after the mess season 6 was and didn't try to bite off more than it could chew. i didn't love it, but it had a lot of moments that were provocative and interesting, and it provided pretty good setup for season 8. the writing was not good, but i think that goes without saying)

season 6 (introduced really interesting ideas, but tried to cram so much into one season that it failed to deliver satisfying payoffs for any of its setup. soulless sam was an interesting exception and really redeemed it for me)

season 12 (12 and 13 are about equal for me because i hate the plots, i hate the intense diversion away from The Sam And Dean Show, i hate the writing, i hate the concepts, etc etc. but they both introduce supporting characters which show off new and interesting sides to sam and dean: mary in 12 and jack in 13. it allows for focus to stay on sam and dean's relationship a little longer even though they're no longer generating any organic conflict between them, so i appreciate that at least)

season 13 (i fucking HATE the apocalypse world. that is my deciding factor between seasons 12 and 13. also i hate what they did to mary here)

season 14 (honestly an inoffensive season. i still hate the writing way more than anything else pre-12, and it doesn't have the benefits of a new character introduced to provide external conflict between sam and dean, so while it was relatively inoffensive it was also boring, lacking, and really obvious how little the writers cared about maintaining sam and dean's relationship as the emotional core of the show)

season 11 (the writing all things considered wasn't the absolute worst thing i've ever seen, if i'm being fair. on the other hand, i hated everything about this season conceptually, and i hate that it vouched for christianity as the ~one true religion~ which again undermines kripke's original series. this is me being petty and i'm okay with that)

season 15 (see above. oh but i'm honestly surprised it managed to surpass my ire toward season 11. like honestly it's impressive because i hold a massive grudge toward 11 which should have been insurmountable. a feat has certainly been achieved here!)

anyway. i said this wasn't going to be long but then i just kept on writing and writing. because that's what i do. i never learn 😔 i'll end it here then. i intend to go back and rewatch seasons 1-5 now that i'm finally finished, so i'm looking forward to that. i want to see if my rose-tinted glasses that i've been looking at kripke era with are based on reality or simply a longing to return to less terrible times :P

[valentinoappreciator]

Sinful Habits

Media: Hazbin Hotel

Pairing: Vox x Valentino

Word count: 3.3k

Rating: E for Explicit

Tags / Warnings: Snuff films, rape, blow jobs, AU - 1950s, sexual coercion, mildly dubious consent

Where else to read: AO3 under the title "Sinful Habits", made by TheWeirdDane.

Author's Notes: Okay, so this is an AU of that 1950s VoxVal AU I'm working on. This scene won't be canon in that actual AU. My lovely friend & beta reader ( @hellsgreatestbrainrot ) came up with this little AU which is quite depraved and right up my alley <3 Read the tags / warnings closely, please! Also, I KNOW that TVs wouldn't stream live snuff films lmao. Let's just pretend that this is a secret channel that only the truly sick and twisted people know about <3

And also? Minors, do not interact!

-------------------------

“So, Voxxy, how’s your and wifey’s sex life? Anything interesting happening lately?”

He was sitting with Valentino in his apartment. Angel Dust wasn’t here at the moment; apparently he was working. So, Valentino had invited Vox over for a drink. At first, Vox had protested, albeit weakly and not really that genuinely; there was something so enigmatic about Valentino. It drew him in, like the swirling power a maelstrom had over a God-forsaken ship. 

Vox blinked at him over the rim of his glass. 

“And, pray tell, why should I divulge that to you?”

Valentino laughed loudly and flicked popcorn in his face. Vox scoffed. 

“Oh, come now, live a little! Don’t be so fucking uptight, Voxxy, it’s not a good look on you. No one likes a stick in the mud.”

Vox couldn’t help the corners of his lips twitching slightly. 

“Not quite true, now is it? It got you to me.”

Valentino snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“Okay, I’ll give you that one, but only because you’re so cute. But now, come on, tell me something naughty you and your little wife have been up to!” 

Vox sighed loudly, rolling his eyes as well. He made sure to make it extra dramatic. 

“Fine, you incorrigible, insatiable little shit.”

Valentino whooped and punched holes in the air while Vox got to thinking. The kinkiest thing he and his wife had done? Well, it wasn’t like they were outrageously sexual, or kinky for that matter. 

He scratched the back of his head. Valentino raised an eyebrow. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve got nothing.”

“I do, okay!” Vox snapped. “It just... might take a little while.”

Valentino groaned loudly and rolled onto his back after flicking another popcorn into Vox’s face. It fell into his drink. 

“Do ya want some inspiration?”

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

“I could tell ya what Angel and I get up to.”

“No!” Vox immediately said, blushing fiercely when Valentino raised an eyebrow at him again, despite his almost comical position on the floor. 

“No?” he questioned. 

Vox groaned and set his drink on a nearby table. 

“And why’s that, Voxxy baby?” Valentino purred. “Are you jealous of all the fun, naughty things he and I do on a regular basis?”

Vox blushed harder, wishing he could melt into the floorboards under him. He looked away from Valentino. 

“As if,” he snorted with a supplementary roll of his eyes. “I don’t want to know what kind of heinous, God-affronting sex you two have.”

Deep down, though, he had to admit that he was... curious, at the very least. He was happy with the sex he had with his wife, yet he couldn’t help but feel there was... something lacking. He didn’t know what, and although he was sure that Valentino would be all too happy to help, Vox wasn’t sure he wanted to know. It could be something really complicated; something that would make him wish for simpler times. On the other hand, though... it could be something really simple that they could easily implement in the bedroom. His wife didn’t strike him as a prude; she had been more than happy to accommodate some of his more... interesting requests. 

“Too bad,” Valentino hummed with a shrug of his shoulders, sitting up to take a sip of his drink before laying down again. “I’m sure it would rock your world!”

“I’m sure it would,” Vox said, not without a certain degree of fondness in his voice that he refused to acknowledge. 

Not much time passed before Valentino opened his mouth again. He had that damning smile on his lips; the smile that said he had a good question lined up, ready to shoot. 

“Okay, Voxxy. You don’t seem the kind of guy to be into heinous shit, so lemme ask ya; have you ever heard of snuff films?”

Vox looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. 

“I have not.”

“Do you wanna hear about it?”

“I don’t know, do I?”

“Oh, it’ll be to die for,” Valentino promised and sat up so fast Vox briefly thought he had spilled his drink. 

“What is it?” Vox asked, caution lining his voice. 

“You’ll see. Don’t worry, Voxxy, I only have the best snuff films available.”

He got up from the floor and went to the television, turning the appropriate dials. Vox followed him carefully with his eyes as he flopped back against the couch where Vox sat. When the television finally came to life, the screen was black and white and somewhat static. A few seconds later, however, the picture turned sharp, and revealed some sort of news announcement. 

Vox glanced at Valentino who moved to the television again, turning more dials until the picture became that of... a dungeon of sorts? It sure looked like a dungeon, or perhaps a basement. Albeit, the rocky walls were lined with a wide array of tools. Some looked like the garden variety, others seemed to be fit for a dentist. Other than those, there were hammers and saws and shears, in an assortment of sizes. 

Vox’s stomach sank. His throat tightened. His palms were suddenly clammy. 

What, exactly, was going to happen in this ‘film’? 

In the middle of the dungeon - or basement, or whatever - there was a massive bed, with a headboard made of metal bars. The bed was bathed in a harsh light, shining down on and revealing a bound and naked lady. She was conventionally attractive; not too skinny but not too fat either. Long hair that looked well-kempt. 

Vox swallowed hard. 

Her hands were tied to the metal bars of the headboard with rough-looking ropes, and her ankles fastened with heavy-looking chains to the bottom of the bed. 

She wasn’t moving. Her eyes were closed. She looked... almost peaceful. 

Feeling as if he was being strangled, Vox was about to ask if she was even alive, when he saw her chest rising and falling slowly, steadily. Sleeping, then. 

“Is snuff film some term I’m not familiar with that means boring film?” Vox asked, trying to line his voice with bravery and sarcasm, rather than the all-encompassing dread that was thrumming in his veins. 

Valentino chuckled darkly and bumped their shoulders together. 

“Oh, just you wait,” he purred and leaned back in the couch, looking way too nonchalant. “The good stuff is about to happen.”

From the screen came the sound of a heavy iron door slamming shut, although it wasn’t on-screen. Vox went ramrod straight. Valentino snickered, patting his thigh absently, which made Vox jump. 

“You’ve... seen this one before, then?”

“Plenty of times,” Valentino revealed with a wave of his hand. 

As the door loudly slammed shut, the woman jerked slightly. She tried to tug her arms down from the unnatural position, but was stopped by the ropes. The camera was close enough to catch the fear in her eyes. 

“Hello?” she called out, her voice shaky. She tried pulling her feet up. The sharp clanking of metal resonated in the otherwise empty room. There was... something about that sound that shouldn’t be as... enticing as it was. Vox instantly felt sick to the pit of his stomach. 

“H-Hello?” she tried again, trying to tug herself free, but without success. 

A man entered the frame. He was dressed in a black robe with a black hood that completely covered his face. 

“Val,” Vox whispered and glanced at Valentino, “I don’t like where this is going.”

Valentino waved a hand dismissively. 

“Don’t be a wuss, Voxxy.” 

Vox bristled and scoffed. Valentino sent him a way too smug smile. 

“I’m not a wuss!”

“Then keep on watching.”

Vox swallowed hard, redirecting his attention to the television screen. He was going to prove to Valentino that he wasn’t a coward. No matter what. 

The hooded figure on the screen got closer to the bed. The woman began trembling. She tried harder to get free, but it was futile. The fear in her eyes was very real. It felt... too real, to Vox. Yet, he couldn’t help but keep watching. 

“No! Go away! Get away from me!” she cried out, writhing and squirming on the bed. 

The hooded figure now stood by the foot of the bed, and the camera angle changed, instead filming the scene as if the viewer watched it through the man’s eyes. The viewer had an unobstructed view of the woman’s intimate parts and her legs flailing the slight bit that the chains allowed. 

The bed dipped slightly as the man got onto it, crawling over the woman to get on her eye-level. The camera followed, now focusing on the widening of her eyes, the sweat on her forehead, and her nostrils flaring in fear. 

“No, please,” she whimpered. “Please, don’t--- don’t hurt me!” 

The man was still quiet. He now pulled back a bit, and the camera showed his hand pushing between the woman’s legs. She gasped, then whimpered, and the flailing intensified. The chains clanked loudly, and the headboard’s iron bars creaked. But other than those sounds, and the woman’s pleas, the room was eerily silent. 

Vox was transfixed. He knew where this was headed - he knew of rape. He knew that some people, some truly degenerate people, got off to that. He had never imagined that he, of all people, would watch a film depicting such a heinous act. 

The man pushed two dry fingers into her. Vox felt all air leave his lungs. She was clearly not enjoying it and cried out and writhed on the bed, continuously begging the hooded figure to stop. Without relenting, without showing remorse, he began thrusting his fingers. He didn’t so much as groan; he didn’t make a single sound as he violated the woman. 

Not even when he replaced his fingers with his - quite large - cock did he produce a sound. The woman, however, cried out. Tears streamed down her face, and her entire body was trembling violently. Gradually, her pleas for mercy died out, instead replaced by her hiccuping sobs. 

Vox swallowed heavily. He almost didn’t notice Valentinos hand on his thigh, and only felt a sliver of pleasure when that hand crawled further up his leg. 

“Oh, but Voxxy,” he began, but as if his voice was the reason that Vox needed to end the trance, he shook his head hard. 

“Val, come on. This is enough, I’ve seen enough. Just stop it already.”

He grabbed Valentinos wrist, making him stop his hand’s advances. It was resting just a few fingers’ width from his crotch. 

“But amorcito, I’m helping you. I’m giving you, heh, a hand. There’s no need to be shy about it. Not now. And this,” Valentino forcefully moved his hand to touch Vox’s cock, stroking him through his pants. Vox gasped. “This seems to be agreeing with me, wouldn’t you say so?”

Vox felt sick to his stomach, again. 

“Val, please. We’ve already crossed so many fucking lines by watching this.”

“Exactly. So why stop here?” he purred, but Vox was getting antsy. Valentino must have sensed it, because he quickly and smoothly convinced Vox to keep watching. “How about this, then, baby? You keep watching the film. I won’t do anything. Promise. My hand will just stay right here. You keep watching. Nothing will happen. Promise, yeah, baby?”

Vox licked his lips, eyes going back to the screen. The hooded figure was now pushing hard and fast into the poor woman, whose eyes had closed tightly. Her head was tilted to the side, as if she was making double-sure she wouldn’t see her rapist. 

He hated to admit it - and never would to another living soul, of course - but his cock was achingly hard. Valentino might just be touching him through his pants, but even so, he could feel himself leaking heavy drops of pre-cum. There would no doubt be a big, wet stain on the front of his pants. 

The screaming and crying from the woman continued. Red burn marks from the ropes began appearing on her wrists. Her flailing fluctuated between violent and weak, as if she had accepted her fate. 

The harder she was raped, the more labored Vox’s breathing got. 

This was... this was real. This was real, actual rape of a real, actual woman. Done by a real, actual man. It was sickening, and Vox wanted it to end. No such luck, though. 

“How... how much longer is this movie?” he croaked to Valentino. 

“Another half an hour, baby,” Valentino purred against his cheek, sounding oddly out of breath. 

Vox hadn’t even noticed how close Valentino had gotten. He barely even noticed how his hand was beginning to move - or was it actually his own hips that bucked so hard Valentino might as well have been jerking him off? Regardless, the sliver of pleasure was now a small wave lapping at his heart. 

Then, suddenly, the reassuring heat of Valentino disappeared. Vox realized he had closed his eyes, and opened them in an instant, first fixed on the screen, but then going to Valentino who had slunk to his knees between Vox’s spread legs. 

“Val,” he groaned. His eyes flitted back to the screen. The camera was now closer to the man’s cock hammering into the woman’s cunt. “Val, don’t, this is---” his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “Please, stop.”

“But I’m hardly doing anything,” Valentino purred and stroked Vox’s thighs slowly, from his knees and up to his crotch. “I’m just sitting here. That’s hardly a crime.”

Vox groaned, hating how his cock throbbed. It strained against the front of his pants, and it was starting to get painful. He looked down at Valentino, who looked sinfully enticing. He was all smug smiles and sultry purrs when he spoke again. 

“Eyes on the screen, baby. Okay? Keep watching the film, and I’ll keep on doin’ nothin’.”

Vox shuddered. Closing his eyes for a second, they were pulled wide open when a particularly shrill scream brought his attention back to the screen. He wished he hadn’t. 

The man’s hands were now wrapped tightly around the woman’s throat as he rammed into her, and an intense frisson of delight coursed through him. The small wave of pleasure had become an all-consuming maelstrom that threatened to bring him down. 

“Fuck,” he hissed, leaning his head back a bit before looking at the film once more. Valentino’s hands were slowly sliding up his thighs, but this time, they didn’t back down again. Instead, they seemed to be busying themselves opening his pants. “Val, please,” he hissed, then moaned when his cock sprang free. 

“Don’t worry, baby,” Valentino purred, forcing the pants and underwear down around his thighs, “keep your eyes on the screen. It gets so good, okay? Promise.” 

Vox was half tempted to ask if this wasn’t the good part, but bit his tongue before he could entertain Valentino’s sick and twisted idea of a porno. Instead, he kept watching. 

The man was putting more pressure on the woman’s throat, and arched his back slightly as he slammed harder and faster into her. Her screams soon became muffled and raspy from the choking. 

Then there was a warm wetness on his cock, and Vox almost doubled over from the, frankly, obscene amount of pleasure that surged through him in that moment. He looked down to see that Valentino had taken his cock in his mouth and was now working him with the determination of a skilled and very well paid prostitute. 

“Fuck, Val!” he hissed and immediately lowered a hand to Valentino’s head. Whether to push him away, or... pull him closer, Vox didn’t know, and thus, his hand hovered a few inches above Valentino’s skull. 

Valentino moaned, and that reworked Vox’s moral compass so hard that he decided which it would be. He grabbed the back of Valentino’s head with both hands and pulled him closer. Valentino let out a muffled, but deeply pleased sound while easily swallowing him down. 

His heart beat so fast it felt as though it was trying to escape his ribcage. It made him feel sick, but it made him sicker to watch the film while being throat-deep in Valentino. 

“Val, I-I-I can’t, please, stop,” he panted, even as he began thrusting into Valentino’s mouth, his hands not even allowing him to move away. Valentino’s hands came up to rest on his thighs, letting his nails gently scrape over his flushed skin. 

The hooded figure was now panting. Not loud, and not a lot, but enough that it was audible, even through the woman’s sobs and whimpers and pleas. It was a deep, guttural sound that spoke to something primal within Vox. 

Each thrust in the film, he mirrored by pushing into Valentino, and Valentino, as if he had prepared for this, moaned and whined with the same volume as the woman on the screen. 

“V-Val, your neighbors,” Vox hissed, one eye closing slightly. He felt Valentino wanting to pull back, but for some reason, he couldn’t get himself to let go. 

Heat coursed through him. A tight knot - the tightest he had ever felt it - formed in his lower stomach where it threatened to become so hot and heavy that it would burn his stomach right out of his body. 

This was sick! Sick! Twisted! Depraved! And he was... getting off to it? What had become of him? 

“Please, please please please,” he gasped once he felt the knot become so unbearably tight. He kept ramming into Valentino’s mouth, pushing into his throat. 

The inevitable was coming sooner than he would have liked. 

“Val, please, I’m going t-to come,” he rasped, unable to stop himself from thrusting hard and fast, unable to let go of Valentino’s head, and, maybe most importantly, unable to look away from the screen. 

Valentino’s hands slid to his rear end, squeezing hard, as if urging him to continue. He was moaning and sucking loudly on Vox’s cock, using his tongue to press against the underside of the throbbing, jerking cock in his mouth. 

Vox’s heart was racing. The gears in his head turned at a velocity that rendered them red hot. Yet, despite feeling the thoughts, he couldn’t pluck out a single one. They simply moved too fast. 

“Val, Valentino, please---”

And Valentino rewarded his desperate pleas with a move so impressive and bold that Vox was forced to come on the spot. 

Valentino pushed past his gag reflex, taking Vox so deep that his nose brushed against the coarse hair of his crotch. At the same time, one of his hands cupped his balls, squeezing them gently, as if coaxing him to shoot his load straight down his throat.

“Fuck! Val!” Vox cried out, white-hot pleasure burning through his veins and rendering his brain absolutely useless. The gears finally stopped turning. His heart felt like it had stopped working as well. For a wonderfully long moment, his head was quiet. There was nothing but the pleasant buzzing and the blissful fogginess of a world-class orgasm. 

It all came to an abrupt stop as the hooded figure reached his climax mere seconds later, prompting the woman to gasp as she felt his hot seed shoot inside her. 

Valentino slowly pulled away from Vox, smirking up at him in a way that Vox really did not like. 

“I think it’s safe to say you’re into snuff, baby,” he snickered. Vox groaned and put both hands on his face. 

“I liked you better when you couldn’t talk.”

Valentino laughed, although the sound was a bit grating from the rough treatment. 

“Well, give me a gag, then, and we might have ourselves a deal.”

Vox glared at him through his fingers. 

“Absolutely fucking not.”

Valentino pouted before getting up to sit next to Vox. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes and lit one, putting it between his lips. Having taken a deep drag, he offered it to Vox who looked at the wispy smoke that rose from it. He swallowed hard. 

Why the fuck not? What was a little smoking compared to getting off to snuff films? He had already crossed that unspeakable line, so why not indulge himself in another sinful habit? 

[melonteee]

I'm really enjoying the live-action show. It's different, but I think some changes are improvements, some changes are neutral, and some changes are for the worse. Overall, I'd say it's about as good of an adaptation as the East Blue anime is (factoring in the changes the anime made).

Syrup Village is a great example, they cut Jango (though you do see his Bounty poster, so he still exists in canon), but they also made Kaya's illness be the result of Butchie poisoning her and part of Kuro's plan. Luffy drinks the poison soup and that replaces the scene of him unconscious from hypnosis. Zoro has to climb out of a well, and that replaces him climbing up an oil-covered hill and also sets up for Mihawk saying he's a frog in a well. They also change the setting for the battle from a beach to inside the mansion, introducing a horror theme to the story which rachets up the tension a lot more. Sham is also gender-bent and super cute.

And it's not wrong to say the showrunners understand and love the characters and the world. All of the bottles of alcohol are brands in One Piece, the barrel Luffy gets into has the name of the fishmonger from his village, Garp mentions that he's turned down multiple promotions, Nami reads Noland the Liar to Zoro while he's unconscious after his fight with Mihawk, Arlong introduces Fishman discrimination.

I think it's best experienced from the perspective of "it's going to be different, and that's okay". The characters are written a little differently, but not in a bad way. They still feel like the characters at their core, Inaki's Luffy and Taz's Sanji are two stand-outs, they're fantastic.

I understand if it's just not for you, and you did watch one episode, so I can't say you didn't give it a chance at all. I just feel like you and the others are being too harsh on it. It's way better than any other live-action anime adaptation I've ever seen.

I appreciate this anon and I do think the poison change works, but there's certainly a 1 good thing for 9 bad things ratio going on. Because in all fairness, I am going to be extremely critical of a 20 year old series that's making an adaptation with a 17 million dollar budget per episode - especially from Netflix. If I'm being approached by friends who were actually excited for this series and they came out of it disappointed, somehow I don't think I'm gonna have a good time myself. I'm watching One Piece for One Piece, I don't think I should go into an adaptation thinking this is gonna be different in STORY and CHARACTER. I can accept changes for medium, of course, but there are so many absolutely bizarre changes that literally do nothing. You don't go from the manga to the anime and think "Well if I just disconnect these characters from their original selves, I can soak this in fine" because in all honesty, that probably means it's a bad adaptation if you need to work to see what you want to see.

Also the 'frog in the well' thing is exactly my point of this script just slamming you in the face with what it's trying to do, we are not meant to take that literally. The well is the east blue that Zoro lives in, not a literal well lmao. It's a nice cheeky idea to have, but the goofiness of Zoro's character is removed from the scene where he's trying to run up a greased hill like an idiot. Because yes, even THAT scene served a purpose for Zoro's character and how we view him. It's definitely subjective to say the characters are written differently but not in a bad way, because ripping away parts of a character to leave them as this Frankenstein version of themselves is personally not something I want? Why would I WANT all the goofiness and stupidness taken out of Zoro? It might be good for some, but it just feels like a total downgrade and misunderstanding of his character to me. Same goes for Sanji just being this artsy guy who's complaining cause he can't make the dishes he wants, with his over dramatic, angry, violent flare completely gone. Those changes being good or bad are completely up to you, but I am personally just made to see a hollowed out, dumbed down version of them because I liked these characters as I originally met them and that's what made them stand out.

I appreciate the time they put into the sets, I do think the visual world was made well (although it could've used a bit more style), but the little physical details mean absolutely nothing if I can't even FEEL the magic the original gave me. A set does not make a series, 1000 strawhats will not make me see Luffy unless he is written to be Luffy, and that's the problem. I don't want to watch an adaptation that removes the most emotional and impactful moments of my favourite character just to replace it with a fight or to focus on ANOTHER character they've deemed more important. I am going to be critical because these characters mean a lot to me, and I am expecting to feel from an adaptation what I felt from the original with such characters. An adaptation does not mean making things different just for differences sake. I am glad you enjoyed it anon, as many people have, but if I'm watching something that's literally called One Piece and have been told this is an adaptation of One Piece - with the producers even saying they want to put the manga on the screen, mind you - I am going to go in there expecting One Piece, from the characters to the story. I shouldn't have to do the work in my own head and go "Well, they did their best!", especially at a million dollar Netflix production...sigh

[cherryskeletoncake]

Helo i'm the anon who made the ask about the song love like you!

I'm Leaf or 🌿anon but most call me Leafie, nice to meet you, I really like your blog so If life let's me I'll be more often in your asks :]

Also: Yes please rant about Techza I love them so much and there isn't enough content about them in this planet!

I love how you headcanon almost all the same things that I do :DDD

Most people think that Technoblade is the one with the most bottled up feelings but to be honest I feel like that is Philza. He's always the father of the group and the one you always expect to be the "responsable" one, of course that bird man knows how to hide his emotions and keep them all inside him which sometimes makes unable to actually show them freely.

I feel like an example of that is Technoblade's execution, most people put Philza in fanarts or animatics in a really emotional state. But to me, how Philza actually reacted was more like "Oh... This is actually hapenning... huh?-" like in acceptance, I hc that he was in shock and didn't know how to properly respond to the situation at hand. Also because he's inmortal, he has seen many people die in his life but seeing Technoblade almost die was the second thing after many centuries that made him shed more than a tear afterwards. (First one was when wilbur died)

Omg I didn't realize how long what I wrote was until I stopped typping lmao i'm sorry-

Leafie i adore you already, kiking my feet and giggeling like a school girl here, love to see you in my asks🌸

I’m nodding my head in agreement here. Techno is actually pretty emotionally stable and in touch with himself, but philza is hiding his emotions a lot. Or maybe not hiding, but a lot of people read philza a little wrong if they don’t actually watch his pov. This includes the other caracters as well. (Witch is one of the things that make story told like the dream smp so fun. You get really close to one caracter, but it’s harder to read other caracters becouse you only see them trugh somebodyelses eyes. You don’t get the other caracters ‘’inner monologues’’ from the streamer when you just watch one pov <3 love that)

Love how you used the execution as a exsample becouse it fits really well! If you’ve only watched techno, tubbo or quackity’s pov you wouldn’t know that philza broke out of his ‘house arrest’ to follow the butcher army as they went to find techno. Philza knew they were comming and his ‘act of surprise ’ when they brought techno in is only half true. Philza had hoped techno would have been able to escape (he knows techno like that) and his ‘’I can’t believe they actually cought you’’ is genuine but not quite as dramatic as the animations make out. But there is genuine concern for techno and resentment growing for new l’manberg growing in phil when he sees tubbo and fudy (and quackity and ranboo but they don’t have too much of a ‘conection’ with phil yet) actually go trough with their plans against techno.

But for someone who doesn’t watch phil or techno and might not ‘know’ philza as well during that scene might think of his emotions like dipair and fear for this frend and his own entapment. But someone who watches both techno and philza can see that phil is actually keeping a very leveld and calm attitude, conerned? Yes, techno is his best frend after all and loosing him like this would be horrefying. But not quite in dispair like he was over having killed wilbur. Shock is a good reading of his feelings, but i also found him more frustrated that he can’t do anyting than sad. (Phil was not happy when tubbo shot that arrow at him. Litterly a ‘’philza will remember this’’ type of moment lol)

Techno and Phil both hold their emotions close and uses them to fouel their actions. But techno is better at knowing himself and making himself clear with what he’s saying (if only people actually listen to him) and philza tends to pretend and hide his true feelings, like a mask that might look like what he’s actually feeling, but it’s a little stiff. Philza might also be better at lying than techno, like in a cassual way. (Techno is actually pretty bad at telling lies when confronted, he can make exscuses and avoid the question, but when confronted directly he gest … idk ‘figety’? It’s fun to see)

I’m once again rambeling. There are just so many ways to inerpert them! Philza and his emotions is so funny to see in how he RP’s as a content creator, and i feel like he’s really grown a lot at being more clear when he’s ‘acting as a caracter’ in the qsmp vs the dream smp.

[sparrowlovesskittles]

Thunder review time I guess??

I'm gonna be real I don't have much to say about Sunbeam or Nightheart this is gonna be 90% rambling about Frostpaw

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Sunbeam

- I like her trials, especially the one about training the kittens hehehe.

- I like her bonding with Nightheart's family and learning to find a place in ThunderClan even when he isn't there!! I think it's a really important aspect of switching clans actually. The cats should be able to be comfortable and happy with their clan even without their mate by their side.

- She really gets some good girlboss moments in!!!!!!! You GO Sunbeam yell at Cherryfall!! Publicly shame Berryheart several times in a row!!!!!!!!

- God is it just me or does she have SO much chemistry with Myrtlebloom

Nightheart

- Him and Frostpaw bonding is quite sweet :)

- Love him nearly drowning in a covered pool and it sounding all scary and dramatic and then we switch to Frostpaw's perspective and she's just like 'that idiot nearly drowned in a tiny little pond the other day ugh 🙄🙄'

- Literally WHY did he just run away without telling anyone at all that's so funny and why does NO ONE even bat an eye LMAO?? Poor Sunbeam

-Idk man he's just kinda there

FROSTPAW

- GIRLIE!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POOR BABY!!!

- Shoutout to Frostpaw the first warrior cat to be canonically spayed!!!! That's so funny I love how Smokey is just like 'yeah that happens lmao' and her and Whistlepaw are just like 'huh. okay then'. Anyway from now on I'm drawing her with a nicked ear like they do to cats in TNR programs

- Speaking of Whistlepaw. THEY'RE SO SWEET! AND GAY!!!

- Girlie is a mess she's so traumatized literally just nearly got murdered and she fucking SNAPS at StarClan when they refuse to tell her shit. AS SHE SHOULD!! SHE DESERVES TO!!!! RIVERSTAR IS FUCKED UP FOR DOING THIS TO HER, ACTUALLY.

- OTTERS!!!!!!!! About time they got mentioned again, the last time was like literally TNP I think. It was implied otters lived at the lake but now Frostpaw confirms they don't anymore (but the elders definitely know about them). When are we getting the Minnowtail's Genocide novella where she plans the mission to drive the otters out of the lake and then marries Mousewhisker huh warrior cats??????

- Why was Frostpaw more traumatized by climbing a tree than she was by literally being chased by a dog. DGMW it's a good scene, I'm INCREDIBLY glad her PTSD was mentioned in the first place, but I feel like it's kinda weird for her to struggle with the tree when one day earlier she encountered a dog and just sort of... hissed at it a bit and then moved on.

- The park cats have canonically survived for longer than the clans and I am so sorry but that's BS. You're telling me no one in the past like 100 years killed these cats or TNRed them??? How many parks have they been through at this point??

- Frostpaw learning to meditate is so good though actually. Especially when she realises how fucked up the clan system is. If she doesn't fuck up Splashtail and then fuck up StarClan and fix the entire clan system in the next two books I'm gonna riot.

- I adore that she's FAR more distraught about Curlfeather being evil than she is about Splashtail. Like yeah! That's her mother!! That would fuck her up, Actually!! It's refreshing for a character to have familial relationships that are more important than their romantic ones.

- Frostpaw also feels like such a genuinely realistic victim. When she admits that she feels like it was her fault Splashtail was able to manipulate her because she was so naive? And then the park cats all cuddle her and tell her that it wasn't her fault and that HE'S the fucked up one? That scene actually made me cry a bit ngl.

- Hehe Frostpaw meditates now she's a true hippy stoner.

General

- WHY DID THEY PULL A RISING STORM ON US. FROSTPAW JUST STAND UP AND SHOUT AT EVERYONE. ITS NOT TOO LATE. ARGHGDHDHDJDHSJDJHS (I understand she's going through a lot and is very panicked but come ON)

- I like the more personal vibe of this book- the conflict is largely internal, with her realising in her own time that Splashtail was evil. It's not the big dramatic scene I was hoping for- but at the same time it's kind of... Nice? I think it's cool. And I'm sure there will be more drama left to come!

- My prediction for the next two books is that she gets rid of Splashtail and then spends the remainder of the arc yelling at StarClan and fixing the clans. Ideally then I think we should have a soft reboot and jump forward in time, the clans are all operating under new rules, none of the cats are the same, etc. But that's not terribly likely to happen.

- YEAH DOVEWING YOU YELL AT IVYPOOL!! Ivypool deserves it honestly. Dovewing took none of her shit and that's beautiful.

- SQUIRRELSTAR!!!! I wasn't initially too jazzed about this, and I still have my grievances, but I think this is the right time for her to become leader. Go girl give us conflict!! Give us drama!!!!!!!!

- Riverstar is a dick lol??????

[sweetmage]

For writing DA2 Anders (this got long I'm sorry):

It's important to remember that with DA2 Anders, he's not just Anders. While I'm of the opinion that Justice should still be counted as a separate entity than Anders, they're in each other's brains, feeling each other's feelings, thinking each other's thoughts, essentially. Look at Awakening Anders and Justice's dialogue (when they're separated). Then look at DA2 Anders' dialogue - yes, it's very similar to how he is in Awakening, but there's one or two lines where Justice's manner of speaking leaks in: not using a contraction where Anders pre-merge may have, for example. See at the Bone Pit: "Generations of slaves died in that mine. I can still hear their cries for justice." It sounds like a very Justice remark to me.

Anders in DA2 is also a lot less likely to deflect with humour. He's not here to be likeable, he doesn't rely on being likeable for his own safety like he did in Awakening. If he's being funny or charming, that's all just him in DA2. This also means he's a lot more likely to be a petty, argumentative bitch. He's also not the most tactful person ever. With Justice, he feels safe enough to be an ass, he feels safe enough to have people dislike him. As a bit of a contrast to this, he's also fundamentally the kindest of the DA2 companions. He's a man of contradictions lmao. His sense of humour is also dorky as shit when it is used.

He also VERY rarely makes his points about mage rights personal to him. It's always about other mages, what he's SEEN happen rather than what has happened TO HIM. In Awakening, he mentions his time in solitary, he mentions that he was kicked in the head to wake him up - though he does brush off those experiences with jokes. In DA2, Anders never mentions what happened to him. He outright contradicts things he said in Awakening with Sebastian by saying that he was never beaten, and I personally put that up to him not wanting to be that vulnerable - it's about the cause, it's about the principle of the thing. I think to him, if he made it about abuses he was personally subject to it would diminish his arguments.

In terms of romance, he's all in, 100%, no holding back. He loved Karl, he tried to keep that love on the low down, and Karl still died because of it - ergo, Anders is sick of hiding. He's dramatic and devoted because he knows what it's like to lose someone and never be able to tell them how he really feels. While he will always put his cause before a partner, there's not much else that comes before them, if that makes sense. "You are the most important thing in my life - but some things are more important than my life" etc etc.

Last point - he's a still a slut. I say this with the utmost affection. While he's not outwardly hitting on other companions like he was in Awakening (he's busy, and I think his self esteem has taken a hit), he still throws innuendo around, and he obviously doesn't care if other people are there when he describes his damsel-in-distress kink to Hawke in depth in MoTA.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I would love to put a ring on this informative response and marry it. Some others have mentioned in the reblogs and elsewhere that they also struggle with writing him so hopefully this will be of use to them too! I will put my more specific thank you's under the cut since it's long ^^

The very first section is SUPER helpful! I think that certainly was part of what was tripping me up when I went to study certain scenes, especially those with heightened negative emotions (which are most relevant to my current WIP). My biggest struggle thus far has been nailing down his cadance, level of formality, what sort of words he tends to use, etc. and, as such, studying high-emotion scenes where Justice's style of speaking is more likely to emerge really muddied my ability to study him. Though I have seen clips and I know how Anders's story plays out in it, I haven't actually played Awakening yet (should be in a few days when I finish DAO!) but I don't mind the spoilers so I'll be sure to go ahead now and watch some more clips to nail down their respective voices! :D Honestly, I think doing so will solve at least 85% of my problems lol. Additionally, thank you especially for this portion too:

He also VERY rarely makes his points about mage rights personal to him.

That helped me solve another issue I didn't even realize I was having. I kind of subconsciously picked up on this I suppose (I never had him make it about himself or just the people he personally knows in my current WIP) but this helped me to go back and place extra emphasis on those lines which really helped build the mood and tone. The romance portion I feel lines up with a very big theme/conflict in my current WIP so it is so nice to have a reference written out like that that I can refer back to! :) And of course, his kinkiness will certainly find a place among my other fics lol 😌

Thank you again for taking the time to write this out for me! I have always struggled with subtext, analyzing characters, etc. Even when I pick up on things subconsciously I cannot for the life of me put words to them or identify them well enough to go and do further study/implement them elsewhere so having this all written out helps A TON! 💗

[hyperactivewhore]

I feel people talk a lot about Klamille, Klaroline and Klayley and completely ignore the influence Aurora had over Klaus.

Now, I don't really like any of the main ships of Klaus: Candice herself confirmed in a live no long ago that the producers started writing the whole Klaroline ship because the reaction of the fans to their first scene (which they didn't intend to turn romantic) was massive and positive, so their whole relationship was fan service from beginning to end. I like Klamille, but the fact that she was her therapist and they fell in love always creeped me out. And Klayley, well, they weren't even a couple but I feel that the potential was there.

But Klaurora? They fell in love in a time where neither of them were pure evil, and Klaus had been literally turned into a vampire two years before. And she wasn't "crazy", as people try to make her look: she was just bipolar, in a time where help was nowhere to be found. And Tristan just made that worse through their lives as vampires.

Now, this is my personal opinion, one I made by watching the show, you don't have to agree with it at all. Personally, I don't think Klaus and Caroline were in love with each other (not Caroline, unless she was playing hard to get in which case go girl ig), at least not in the Mystic Falls era. In New Orleans, however, they had both grown, and they seemed more comfortable in the other's presence (I still don't think they would have lasted as a couple, as I say in this post) so if they wanted to persue a romance then, go ahead.

But back to the point, Klaus was literally being an asshole in love talking about the smell of Aurora's hair and writing love letters to her: he was down bad for the woman, and it's canon that her breaking his heart is what made him the ruthless and abusive bitch we all know in canon ("you knew that your secret betrayal was the cause of everything i became" 3x05, said by Klaus to Elijah in a rather hypocrite fight).

And it's not like he got over her as his life continued: he painted her, eight hundred years after their breakup, and judging by the fact he said it became the tomb of his memories of her, he probably painted her a thousand of times before. When he showered her that painting, a millennium later, he confessed that thinking he could forget her is one of his biggest mistakes, meaning that while he was flirting with Cami and Care he still hadn't gotten over his first love. And with the way he was looking at her, I doubt it was a lie.

And they literally started being together again not even a day after she showed up in New Orleans. He didn't give a damn about Camille, or Caroline. His "however long it takes" or his "I would have found you" were completely forgotten in his mind, his own sister was kidnapped by her and he couldn't care less because he was busy showing her New Orleans, something Lucien pointed out.

Elijah noticed as well, because the whole "Do you love her" wasn't directed towards Camille, and with the way Klaus answered his question it was clear. And Klaus also asked him to never say Aurora's name in his presence (I like to think that being the little shit he is Kol always said her name whenever he was around and that's why he got daggered so much, but that's a personal headcanon of mine).

Klaus only lashed out at her when he found out Rebekah was at the bottom of the ocean (Emma who lmao), not safe as Aurora had promised him after fucking. And he did say he intented to keep his love promises to her, made in the modern world, hence bye bye his two blonde lovers (also, the fact that they resemble Rebekah so much, his favorite sibling who he's always been obssesed with, it’s so fucking weird).

He didn't chose Camille or Caroline over her, Aurora pushed him to it and he seemed pretty upset about it in the whole episode of their dramatic breakup. And Camille did say more than once she believed Klaus still loved Aurora, something Klaus didn't actually deny (he said he didn't care about her, that's all.)

I know Klaus did love Camille, he did even after a decade of her death, and I know he was obssesed with Caroline, but I personally believe that the one he loved the most has always been Aurora.

Funny enough, in 3x18, after her murdering Camille, his actual love interest, turning her into a vampire, and trying to kill his whole family, he didn't even try to pull away when she leaned to kiss him. He could have tried to bite her, or to back away, but he didn't.

And don't even get me started on him keeping her alive even after the serum left her sistem. Klaus couldn't kill her, and he was clearly distraught when Hayley inyected her that serum to send her to sleep. This fucker couldn't kill her, and he needed his girlfriends to do it.

Anyways, ik this is a unpopular opinion, but I always found the messed up dynamic of Klaurora so entertaining to watch. Aurora loved him until her death, and I think he continued to love her until his as well, knowing how much of a obssesed yandere he is.

And try to ignore any grammatic mistakes lmao, I'm spanish and I was eating a donut writing this.

[purplepixel]

OK I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS:

The 2012 turtle's reaction to the chris bradford finale foreshadowed how I'd feel towards the season 4 finale.

And idk if this was done on purpose, or if this was accidental and just bad writing. Spoilers for the last two episodes of 2012 TMNT season 4.

Every season in TMNT 2012 has the characters occasionally watching an old cartoon that will often foreshadow or tell the audience what this tmnt episode will be about. We get to see the finale of season 4's cartoon show, the Chris Bradford show, in the second to last episode. At first glance, it seems to foreshadow its own episode, Requiem.

Hero character is on a building, someone falls off a building. That's the common denominator of both the Chris Bradford final episode and the episode requiem. Unlike the episode requiem, the Chris Bradford finale is sudden with little to no pay off and has the turtles going..."that's it?"

Which is the opposite of the episode it's showcased in. The episode requiem has one of the most emotional showdowns and death where the actors, storyboarders, and animators put their heart and soul into it. I'm convinced the entire budget went to this second to last episode.

The episode after that on the other hand. The actual finale episode "Owari" is a different story. I'm gonna ignore the questionable writing choices they made to get certain characters where they needed to be in the last moments of the episode bc I have a lot of issues with that but that's not what this is about. This is about Leo and Shredders final stand off.

Actual spoiler time. Shredder should've died either after Leo almost got through to him but went ahead and stabbed him, or when the bros had shredder pinned and Donnie used the retro-mutagen. Not the moment we got.

The death we got seemed to happen...randomly? Why this moment? It was a simple attack that Leo has done before. What made this instance more special? Was it splinters word of wisdom? (Which made no goddamn sense btw) The anime esque freeze frame we get held no emotional weight. It felt simply like a "Leo was faster and stronger" moment. Which. Who cares? This is a weak character moment on both Leo and shredder. A good hero vs villain final fight should ALWAYS be more than just "they were faster/stronger". This is hero vs villain finale showdown 101.

It doesn't help that the final shot we see was unclear on what actually happened. It did not read that he died by Leo's sword at all. Which btw shouldn't have been able to happen anyways since we established that his swords can't pierce shredders heart but whatever. I'm ignoring that rn.

I'm wondering why that creative choice. Did Nickelodeon not want to show a kid killing someone? They had no problem with showing splinter being brutally stabbed on screen an episode earlier. Is it only ok if shredder kills someone? The cross fade from that one "dramatic" freeze frame shot to the next scene paired with all the other context I mentioned had me go..."thats it?" After that, I didn't care that Leo walked to the edge of the cliff and dramatically dropped shredder's helmet. Bc I was still stuck wondering "wtf happened. And also. THATS IT??" Just like the turtles reaction with the Chris Bradford finale.

So I'm wondering. Bad writing? Or was the audience supposed to feel that way towards Shredder's death? If the latter. That's a weird writing choice. Why do that to your big villain of FOUR seasons? And if the former. Well this is 2012 lmao. With every good writing moment you get an equally bad or worse writing moment. Just kinda sucks this happened on arguably the best season of 2012

[typewriter83]

But then she smiled, and her gorgeous green eyes seemed to shine, and his heart of stone started to crack. He felt the warmth flood his cheeks and his throat felt dry. He knew he was a fool if he thought this could work.

Kshdksjkd giiiiirl? Okay let's get started

So yeah, Ellie being the orphan kid no one wants is typical in every universe so I wasn't really surprise when miss girl's first scene as a child was sitting woth an officer lol poor baby. That foster mother was a real bitch, second villian in this story just behind her husband (that btw was david? He wasn't mentioned but I just figured). It really pisses me off in every fic that Marlene has the same personality she has as canon: ellie lives a miserable life and marlene still acts like the girl is just being ungrateful or something. Yikes. So ellie got to live with marlene in this one, that's a miracle.

I'm very curious about what ellie's blood disease is, is it life risking even on earth? I really hope not, because she it already crushed her dream :( and wait, so Nasa kind of knew about it but let it go as a form to keep exploring her image? Wow, that... Sucks. But doesn't surprise me actually.

Oh man, I remember reading some anon here said something about brother-in-law Tommy and I feel like that really is gonna be something in this story lol. He just met ellie aka cute girl from the bar once (twice now) and he's already more invested in this relationship than Joel😂and by the way he was asking what did joel do, it won't take long for tommy to take only the "brother" role from "brother-in-law". And hell, that was mighty akward lmao, I had to pause every sentence because it made me cringe (in a good way), but it was also funny so I couldn't stop giggling.

Well, I forgive Joel. I feel like he really realized how much he fucked up by ghosting her when he saw how it made her feel used. He's so bad at feelings, Geez, maybe that's why they never gave him a pixel girfriend in the games🤭

Anyways, I'm excited to see how this is all gonna turn out (specially to see how bad they can pretend they can be just friends lol).

- Merida Cub

Hello Merida Cub! I’m so glad you’re following along - I hope you continue to after the next chapter - we’ve got a new trope coming and it can make readers land on one side or the other. Ominous, I know 😏

So yes, Ellie’s foster parents when she was 13 was David and his wife - and I will circle back to this later, just like I will circle back to what happened to Sarah in Joel’s backstory. I wanted to lay the groundwork, but leave enough out so the reader finds out the whole story when Joel and Ellie finally bond over their trauma.

Marlene is not the villain in this story - she just didn’t give enough of her time and resources to Ellie when she needed it the most. Marlene gives Ellie what she needed when she was a teenager - a roof over her head and steady schooling so Ellie could thrive - which of course, Ellie still did on her own. Marlene will show up again later.

I tried to play Ellie’s disease off her canon condition - a type of blood disease. And of course, I’m not a doctor or scientist, so I’m playing fast and loose and taking dramatic license for this. Something that’s not life threatening, but could derail her career, but also will have future implications. Ominous, I know 😏

100% Tommy is more invested in the relationship than Joel is! He is good little brother and fully committed to the idea of being Ellie’s big brother, a role he’s never had, but would wholeheartedly embrace. Plus, he knows his brother has been in a dark place for a long time, and Ellie is clearly a bright light that Joel needs. Maria is Maria, that’s all I’m gonna say, lol.

Joel is so bad with his feelings - he doesn’t want to hurt this girl like he’s hurt others. I’ve alluded to Tess and Tommy forcing themselves to stay in Joel’s life after losing Sarah. Now Ellie is there and what’s she gonna do? Annoy the hell out of him - curious about his job, coming to his classroom because - let’s face it - she likes him, and she doesn’t want to just be his friend. And Joel is all “I you work on the other side of the building, what do you want?” 🤭🤭 You, she wants you, you fool

🫶🏻