#i had fun with the episode. gay rights and everything and the villain concept was fun.

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

...sigh.

[grifff17]

Audiodrama Sunday 04/28/24

So much stuff this week! I think this is going to be my longest writeup yet!

@camlannpod what the fuck? Trying to avoid spoilers, but the ending of that episode was wild. The sound design for the last scene was so good. Also “You're good with an axe, right?” was brutal, I audibly said "oof". Only 1 more episode in the season, hopefully they get funding for a second one.

The first episode of @wanderersjournalpod came out this week. This was a promising start to a new show, I'm excited to see where it goes from here. The setting feels very mystical, I can't wait to learn more about the world.

@worldsbeyondpod was so tense. Suvi and Ame had the most awkward conversation in existence. This story has so much nuance, neither of them are clearly in the right, though I feel inclined to take Ame's side due to the "Geas + Alter Memory" double espionage scheme. Meanwhile Ursulon discovers that Orima of the Reaching Green is a short queen and gets a cool horse.

I'm now up to date with @lostterminal. Season 15 was great. I love Nia, and Daphne and Raffi were really interesting new characters. Also, the dragon was terrifying. This show doesn't usually have very much action, so the confrontation with it really stood out. The description of the automatic turret going "click, click" as it locked on to Maddie was so intimidating.

@worldgonewrongpod I loved this episode. The storytelling felt so natural and real, like someone telling me a story about a weird road trip they went on. I think I said this about the last episode too, but this was my favorite episode yet. It also sets up the backstory which was never really explained as to why Jamie and Malik are separated at all.

In @midstpodcast we finally had a nicer episode. No horrible fucked up Weep/Trust stuff happening, just Lark reunited with Zeila and Sherman. However, there's so much tension between these characters. I was surprised that Lark forgave Sherman for selling her out. Something to remember is that Lark and Sherman had been hooking up before everything went to shit, which was mentioned once and I think really changes their relationship.

New @keepitsteadypod! This is the first new episode of this show since I started doing these. This was a really cute episode. For how popular fake dating is as a trope in fandom spaces, you don't see a lot of it in audiodramas.

Fun episode of Mission Rejected this week. It was cool to see Bowden go from "vain actor" to "badass spy" when the stakes ramped up. We don't get to see him take charge very often, it was neat for him to be a competent leader. I wonder if the gang lying to Zelda(who definitely saw through it) and Chet(who probably didn't) is foreshadowing for more of a conflict with the new Secretary of Defense later in the season. Also I loved the squabbling gay couple running an illegal mining operation as the villains of the week.

@breakerwhiskey episode 200 wow. A letter from Harry! We learned that Harry has been listening to most of Whiskey's broadcasts, which recontextualizes a lot of the previous episodes. Also, the end was heartbreaking.

I started season 2 of @longcatmedia's Mockery Manor! I'm 2 episodes in and really like it so far. JJ and Bettie are employed in different parks, JJ is on the run from an organized crime ring, and Bettie became a monk? Also, it's clear that neither Hilda nor Jenkins stole the shipment, neither of them have motive. But I don't know who else would have motive either. Lots of mysteries this season.

Spout Lore had a great planning episode. I'm excited for the "saving Highspear" arc, the Highspear is so cool as a concept. A reverse Tower of Babel, that lets the whole world talk with each other. A literal monument to wizard hubris, which feels destined to fall. However I doubt it will, because, as the players mentioned, it would be really annoying from a storytelling perspective if everyone suddenly spoke different languages. This has actually made me realize I really want a story set shortly after some sort of "fall of the Tower of Babel", where communication is a struggle, but that's just because I think linguistics is cool. Anyways, the buffet talk had me rolling.

What a great week! However, it did not help my queue, which continues to grow instead of get smaller. I'll reach the end of it one day.

[its-that-kattt]

My current hyper fixation is this shit show from the Syfy channel ToT (more under cut)

(some spoilers ahead btw)

Watching Lexx is like going to a amusement park for, what thay advertise as, "the most violent roller coaster in the world". And yeah it's great in the first half, got the whole death coaster spiral with maximum velocity and everything, but then it zooms out to a flat track with a couple bumps in it for like 10 miles and your done.

I reeeally like the first season, it tells a great story and ties everything up into a nice little bow with enough wiggle room to continue the story by the end... and by season 2 everything that was good about the first season was not only thrown out the window, but shitted on and fed to rabid dogs that hate gay people

As someone who really likes old media I've had to be prepared for very out of date vocabulary and morals to just be thrown around occasionally and usually the overall story is good enough for me to wave it off as 'old media being old media' , unfortunately for Lexx it's combined lackluster writing (especially in later episodes) and overt homophobia / sexism makes it really hard to watch and enjoy , it's gone from a fun watch that needs a little inebriation to fully enjoy to hair pullingly frustrating

They introduce so many interesting concepts and characters that, 9 times outta 10, are literally blown up never to be seen again! And buddy I neeed side characters to get unhealthily attached to !! How am I supposed to be invested in this story if I can't look forward to possibly seeing Bimnie #3 in the next episode or a recurring minor villain that's more of a nuisance than a threat 😭😭😭

It sucks because idk if I'll ever watch it all, but sometimes you gotta choose happiness and peace of mind instead of having bragging rights of watching a "classic" all the way through

Anyway this show got me upset enough to want to rewrite the whole thing so enjoy some of my 790 redesigns and keep a eye out for updates cus this will probably be my next big project (at least until I find something else to obsess over lol)

(For those not in the know, 790 is usually just a head, which is funny for the first couple episodes, but if I have to deal with a comic relief character for more then a couple episodes they better start pulling their fucking weight with more than just "funny" quips [he is not funny]. So he gets the return to Oz treatment now)

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 129: 14x14

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

March 7, 2022

14x14: Ouroboros

Written by: Steve Yockey

Directed by: Amyn Kaderali

Original air date: March 7, 2019

Plot Synopsis:

Sam and Dean enlist the help of Rowena to track down a demi-god who feasts on human flesh; the challenge of keeping Michael at bay is proving to be more difficult than originally anticipated.

Features:

Michelin star cannibalism, a Destiel date, Noah the gay (bi?) gorgon, a brief Samwena fake dating AU, Michael escaping Dean’s cage, Jack killing Michael.

My Thoughts:

This episode is a delight to watch. It has a great balance between season plot and episode plot, the monster is something new with new challenges, and we get little Destiel and Samwena scenes to top it all off. Stan Steve Yockey.

I like how much in later seasons we see Dean and Cas asking for, and telling each other, their true feelings. It feels so rare that Dean would be vulnerable about what’s going on in his head with Michael, but he barely needs any prodding from Cas to open up. This is also the episode where Cas, Jack, and Dean all sit in a line and their jackets make a gradient. You couldn’t make Jack their son more visual if you tried.

I love Rowena as a character, especially once she joins the team and just tags along on cases. Ruth really gets a chance to shine in this episode, running that gamut from flirty to quippy to sincere to Archangel. I really like her portrayal of Michael, and also her velvet blazer kicks ass. She has big “Auntie Rowena” energy towards Jack in this episode. She also has literally no reason to pick a fake fight with Sam at the vet and just does it to be chaotic.

Noah the Gorgon is a fun monster. Iconic one-episode character. My notes say, “wait- bisexual gorgon. #representation”. Ghostfacers effect says he kissed Cas on the lips.

Cas is literally outside the narrative in this episode, unable to be seen by this outside power. It made me think of the season 4 finale - Chuck saying, “you aren’t in this story”. I wish I wish that they had continued to make this concept concrete within the world. I love him being the spanner in the works, the thing that God can’t control. Unfortunately half the writers don’t like him so he gets sidelined a bunch.

My favourite thing about this episode, though is everything going on with Jack. His plotline in season 14 is SUPER interesting and this is such a big plot point in it. I was thinking about how the last 2 seasons of Supernatural are a quadruple whammy of sacrifices that, for once, do not include the Winchester brothers (although they do try - see Dean with the Ma’lak Box). Cas sacrifices himself for Jack in 14x08 Byzantium and for Dean in 15x18 Despair, and Jack completes the set by sacrificing his soul to heal Cas of the Gorgon’s poison and to destroy Michael (implicitly protecting Dean from both the further violation of his body as vessel and the consequences of not following through on the Ma’lak Box plan). It’s not surprising that Jack has a bit of a martyr complex, given who raised him. Jack in my mind, is both the chicken and the snake and the egg (call that a holy trinity). He’s the chicken sacrificing something precious (his soul) to kill the dangerous creature (Michael). He’s the snake swallowing something (Michael’s grace), an action that will eventually lead to Dean threatening his death. He’s the egg, a vessel holding a greater potential, that is used to kill the ultimate enemy (God). Am I reading too much into this? Maybe, but that’s my god-given right as a tumblrina in the year 2022.

Notable Lines:

“Darling boy, everything means something.”

“That's what I'm supposed to say, right? "I'm fine," keep on moving? That's what we all say.”

“Fine. Don't tell me. But using dangerous, mysterious magic, regardless of the cost, that's a very on-brand me thing to do. Of course Samuel, until very recently, I was the villain.”

“Humans burn bright, but for a very brief time compared to, you know, things like us. And eventually, they're gone, even the very best ones, and we have to carry on.”

“When they're gone, it will hurt, but that hurt will remind you of how much you loved them.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 10

IMdB Rating: 8.6

In Conclusion: This is a fun day because I’m filling in for a dress rehearsal for a role that I originally auditioned for and was not cast in. I am writing this lil book report from the theatre seats while the SM spikes chairs.

<< Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[thecurseoflife]

TTS - ACTORS AU

Okay so I didn’t see any actors au of TTS and that is NOT okay because I love actors AU, so I made my own !

And I regret it because this took me FOUR DAYS to make, which is unbelievable since I work really fast usually. I have a lot of ideas for this AU but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make them since it’s taking HELLA LONG.

So I decided to just give you guys my ideas and if someone want to draw them it’s like, YES PLEASE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM <3 !

First for Cassandra’s and Varian’s haircuts, I actually just took the one of the concept art (so don’t kill me please) For the colors of all the characters I took the color palet of their actual ouftits in the show and I slammed it into modern clothes, and surprisingly it works very well !

Okay now the ideas X) :

-Jeremy and Eden pretend they hate eachothers but actually they have a younger annoying brother and older pissed off sister. But if one of them is hurt they worry for eachothers and it’s just sweet.

-Eden have the gay vibe

-Jeremy is a BIG fan of Adira’s character and of the actress Kelly Hu. He asked Chris Sonnenburg (Chris) when Varian would get a scene with her and Chris said : never. Jeremy smile just faded and he looked so down everyone on the set thought he was going to straight up cry. (Jeremy explain he actually did cry but later in the toilet, he was just very disappointed). So instead he came whenever he could to see Kelly play and talk to her afterward.

-Questions : What part of your character do you like the most ? Eden : Cassandra is very independant, and I stan an independant sword lady. Mandy : Rapunzel is so determined and brave, I find her really inspiring. Zach : I just really love how Eugene is attached to Rapunzel and how he’ll do anything to her, but ESPECIALLY the trust he puts in her. He has so much faith it’s... boyfriend material. Jeremy : SASSY VARIAN ! When he went “She’s right, dad” MMMH I loved playing that part.

-Questions : What was the hardest part to play ? Mandy : When the guards just take Varian away, while he was begging for help, it was just so... mortifying, we had to re-do the shot several times because I would break into tears. Eden : I don’t really have something that comes into my mind, Cassandra is pretty easy to play because I relate to her a lot, but if I had to pick one I think it would be in the last episode when she pours her heart out on Rapunzel, it was hard to just brutally change the mood and make her break. Zach : Eugene is really one of those character that is always smiling and putting a facade even when they’re sad or not feeling well, and I have a love-hate thing toward the moment he sung all alone in the castle, because it was so beautiful and emotional, but at the same time, it was like I wasn’t really playing Eugene anymore, it was a really special moment I think. Jeremy : I think it was all those moments when I had to be mean to Mandy in season 1 because she is just so sweet and nice, and I knew we were playing but I still didn’t really enjoy those moments. Although I do love villain Varian. If I had to pick one it would be the moment when he took the flower in front of her and just straight up said “I used you”. It always sent chills in my spine.

-Questions : What’s the part you enjoyed the most to act ? Mandy : I loved performing “Wind in my hair”, everything was so good, and I love the song so much. The... the desire of Rapunzel behind it was so uplifting and hopeful, I adored it. Eden : I really liked the moment Cassandra betrayed Rapunzel, I think it really has that impact, and right after she burst into “Crossing the line”. It’s one of my favourite moment. Zach : Like I said I have a love-hate relation of “Everything I ever thought I knew”, so it’s also one of my favourite acting moment. Jeremy : Obviously all of the Sassy Varian scenes, but also the moment he came back from the castle to find his father incased in amber. It’s the moment his whole arc of villainy began and I had to make the viewer feel his despair and anger, and I think I did a great job, it was really fun to do.

-Questions : Jeremy, you’re the youngest on set most of the time, isn’t that a bit hard to live ? Jeremy : When I first arrived on set, I was really excited because I love the character of Varian so much and I was so happy I passed the audition, and then I realised : wow I am the only kid here. I was very shy at first because adults I don’t know are terrifying. Of course my parents were there because back then I was underrage, so I was just stuck with them but there are moments they just can’t come with you, and I was on set, dressed as Varian, surrounded by all those unknown grown-ups. And I could see that the other actors were glancing at me but not confident enough to try to talk to me. So I was there, sitting on a chair by myself, fidgetting with burning stares on me. My first thought was “this is going to be an awful experience”. Then Mandy arrived. She said two words to Eden and Zach and went straight to me with a big smile. She shook my hand and introduced herself, talked a bit with me then dragged me to the group of grown-ups and very quickly I was integrated. Of course I was thrilled when Vivian and Ruby arrived, but I was also comfortable around the other actors. Thank you Mandy, thank you so much for that. Mandy, off camera : ;w; Aww, you’re welcome Jeremy, it’s a pleasure to be friend with you.

-Questions : If you had to choose one character to stan for who would it be ? Zach : Rapunzel, of course. Why do you ask all the actors are going to say the same thing. Eden : Rapunzel. Mandy : Rapunzel Jeremy : I stan one (1) fearless princess : Rapunzel

-Jeremy had just black hair and the first time the hairdressers put him the blue strip because Varian had one, he looked at himself and went : Wow I want that in my everyday hair.

-Mandy is really nice and sweet, a bit of an energy pile, friends with everyone. Really loud sometime when she’s excited. A really happy person.

-Zach doesn’t have to get his hair done much because he’s the one that just have the perfect hair for the character. He often tease the other actors about that. He’s very extra, personnality close to Eugene’s.

-Eden doesn’t know how to sit properly on a chair. She have a short temper, and despise shoes : whe nshe doesn’t have to wear them, she doesn’t.

-Since Eden, Mandy and Zach have a lot of scenes together and they met eachothers before everyone else, they have bffs vibes all the time and there’s often pictures of the three of them hanging out on their social medias.

-Jeremy is really friend with Ruby (Catalina) and Vivian (Kiera) and they’ve been scolded several time because they mess around on set.

-Ruby and Vivian are actual best friends in real life and they auditionned together.

-Sometime Jeremy makes memes references and Zach is the only one that gets it

-For the night scenes outside they had to sleep in tents, and one time they did a full sleepover. They were not fresh the next morning for the scenes.

-Jeremy calls Eden “Cassie” to piss her off and sometime the other actors actually call her like the characters. (CassANdra, Cass...). It works very well. One time Chris called her Cassandra by error and everyone exploded in laughter.

-That’s it for now but i may post more.

DISCLAIMER : This is in NO way based on the real voice actors, I just took their names and l slapped them into Actors AU. This is all in my head, NOTHING really happened as far as I’m aware

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Good morning! Whats your favorite show/movie? Who are your favorite characters? Why do you like them so much? Also!! Did you have a good sleep?

Okay so I was a film major for a while, and I have opinions. 

Penny Dreadful 

I love this show. Like, so much. I adore it. I can not get enough of that show. Just all of the imagery, and the fantastic writing and acting. The episode intro alone is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Eva Green is a goddess and I love everything she’s been in. The take on classic horror stories is So Good, and it actually became the inspiration for my Gay Frankenstein story! (Started as a stitch AU, and then went completely OC after I had Ideas) but the show itself is so intimate? I think it’s largely that the period they’re in, everything was so repressed and restricted. So when the characters break out of those moments, it’s more meaningful. And the love-hate relationship between Ms. Ives and Malcolm in season one? Exquisite.  I could literally write essay’s about this show, but I’ll restrain myself and just say: it’s the best ensemble show I’ve ever seen. The characters come together, but they also each have their own distinct lives that sometimes intersect, but in s2 especially, are quite separate. They are constant with one another like ensemble shows usually portray. Also gothic horror and romance? My absolute favorite. 

Anything by Guillermo del Toro

This man Owns My Entire Soul. I’m not even joking, everything he writes and directs is perfection. Crimson Peak is probably my favorite (I have a stitch AU for this too ;) ) because again, Gothic horror and romance. I’m a slut for that shit. Also Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain? Delightful casting. I think it’s obvious by now that I love tragic relationships, so their dynamic is *chef’s kiss* amazing. they’re so damaged. And this quote right here is one of the BEST things I’ve ever read: 

“But the horror... The horror was for love. The things we do for love like this are ugly, mad, full of sweat and regret. This love burns you and maims you and twists you inside out. It is a monstrous love and it makes monsters of us all.”

Engrave that on my headstone, please?? I’ve got a sort-of Dorian Gray AU (it’s delightful) that’s basically built on this entire premise. Mitch makes the mistake of falling in love with Stiles, and does many terrible things because of it. Mostly to himself, at least. 

I think my love of Crimson Peak is very closely tied with The Shape of Water. another beautiful movie, I could wax poetic about this forever. it was beautifully written, and such an artistic movie. I love the way it was filmed, and the set design, and all of the subtle imagery. Such as Elisa’s apartment being cast in cooler tones, it always felt very damp and had evidence of water damage, compared to Giles’, a mirror image of her own, in more warm tones. This is another one I could (and have) write essays about. There is so much packed into this movie, from the themes on toxic masculinity and entitlement, to the conversation on queerness and race and disability, and how all the various relationships are portrayed. Like. there is so much to pick apart in this movie. 

Aside from that, ofc Hell Boy deserves an honorable mention because i grew up on those movies. I’m pretty sure the Golden Army especially is responsible for who I am today, given all the lore on the fae in that universe. Wow, that explains so much about me... Also one of my first WoW characters was an elf named Nuala xD I still have her, too, and it’s been like 12 years lol

Near-Future Sci-Fi

Sci-fi is one of my favorite genres, I am a huge nerd for theoretical and astrophysics. But my favorite kind of sci-fi is the stuff that still takes place on Earth, rather than epic battles in space. Ex Machina and Annihilation are at the top of that list. Alex Garland is another writer/director that I love. He has the same kind of approach as del Toro, where he puts a lot of fine details into his work. And I love that it’s very cerebral; there are so many layers to Ex Machina. My English 101 prof actually refused to analyze it in class when I suggested it to him, because he didn’t think my class could. Basically handle? Dissecting that movie? Because a lot of it comes across as very surface level, but in some cases when you look deeper, it’s actually suggesting the opposite of what you might think at first glance. (And he was right, my fellow students were awful. I miss that class though, it was one of my favorites T_T Mr. Ryder was an awesome dude and super chill.) 

Morgan is another good example. As you can see, I fucking love androids lol. Which brings me to another of my all time favorite movies: Cloud Atlas. I could literally watch this movie endlessly, I love it so much. The acting, the writing, the filming, all of it is top notch. And one thing they did in the movie that didn’t come across in the book, was reusing the same actors through the different eras in the book. That was just so neat, because it really encapsulates how connected these souls are, as we follow the threads of their story throughout time. If you haven’t seen the movie, I can’t recommend it enough.  

Another one I always think of alongside Cloud Atlas, even though they aren’t related at all, is Predestination. It’s a great movie that explores the idea of fate and free will in a really clever way, utilizes time travel in a very organized way that I think was neat (think Umbrella Academy. They even use briefcases! As you can see, I love sci-fi bureaucracy, it’s fun. In fact The Bureau is another movie I enjoyed) and the main character is actually, explicitly trans, which was cool. You basically get to see the entire story of their life, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s just. So good. Mindfuckery galore. 

Shoot, and I almost forgot! Arrival! That is one of the best movies, and another one I could watch nonstop. It focuses on mathematics and linguistics and I swear to god, I almost altered my entire college course because of this movie. Amy Addams is brilliant, Jeremy Renner is so soft and nerdy, and again, it has an amazing take on time travel. I am very particular about how time is handled in Sci-fi, and this portrayal was one of my favorite. (Most of my physics studies have been dedicated to the theory of time, so like. Strong Opinions.) 

Fantasy

Stardust! It wasn’t until Good Omens can out that I realized Neil Gaiman is responsible for most of the stories I loved as a kid lol, and I had no idea he wrote stardust! But that is such a beautiful movie (I have a Stardust AU lol) and it’s definitely one of my comfort movies. Captain Shakespeare is one of the best characters ever, bless Robert de Niro. I would die for him. Fun fact, i had no idea Ipswitch was a real place until like. 2019. I 100% thought it was made up for the movie 😂

Alongside Stardust, I’ve always loved The Golden Compass. It’s fantasy, but also with that old-timey steampunk science feel, which is so fun and surprisingly difficult to find! 

Mortal Engines also has the same kind of feel, and it was such an epic movie in every sense of the word. I’m a little sad that after all the work that went into it, it didn’t get a dedicated following or fan base, because I feel there’s so much potential in it. But at the same time, fandom tends to gather around media that has plenty of flaws for us to repair with gold, and there wasn’t much room for that in Mortal Engines. 

I’m going to put Jupiter Ascending here even though it technically fits with the sci-fi, because that section is long as fuck and also this movie has such a fantastic feel. Mila Kunis? beautiful. The CGI? beautiful. Eddy Redmayne? One of the best villain portrayals i’ve ever seen. The whole oedipal vibe he had was immaculate, as was their portrayal of reincarnation, and just. The world building. GOD. I get so weak for through world building. Also the fkn intergalactic bureaucracy when they’re basically at the space DMV? One of my all time favorite scenes in movie history. 

Horror

I have very little room in my life for horror. As I said, I have strong movie opinions, especially when it comes to horror movies. I don’t like how most of them rely on cheap jump scares and overused gore and gratuitous rape scenes, instead of, y'know, actual good writing. 

Which is EXACTLY why I adore It: Chapter 1 & 2. It has none of those things, but still manages to be so terrifying. They are my favorite horror movies, and I’m saying this as someone who has genuine childhood trauma bc of the novel. Like. I couldn’t shower/take baths alone until I was almost 10 T_T When I was 6-7 and saw kids play by storm drains, I would run over screaming about how Pennywise was going to get them. Like, I had issues man. I was terrified to see the first one, and wouldn’t go until I could go with my best friend after she had already seen it, so she could warn me when something scary was about to happen 😂

And, one of my favorite aspects of the movie, and the thing that gave me Mad Respect for Any Muschietti? The way he filmed Bev and her father. They have a character who is literally being molested, but they never once have to show it. And yet their interactions are still so viscerally upsetting to watch. Sexploitation puts me off of most horror, and the fact that Muschietti doesn’t use it here, even when it would be actually somewhat justified? *chef’s kiss*. I love him. 

I love horror as a concept, I’m just really picky about it because I expect the writing to be good. I don’t like short cuts. But in a lot of cases, even if I don’t enjoy the movie itself, I love to watch analysis videos on youtube! I love to see the philosophy and symbolism in different horror movies, even if i don’t like to watch the movies themselves. It’s a fun hobby. 

Misc. 

Then in general, some other stuff I love in no particular order:

The Internship (Bless Dylan, Stuart is such a bitch and I love him) 

American Assassin (ofc. The writing itself is eh, but Mitch is my man) 

Dylan’s episode of Weird City. (I actually have a lot of feelings about this one. Jordan Peele is another amazing writer/director, I really need to catch up on his works.) 

Dorian Gray (*chef’s kiss*)

Rogue One (Makes me cry every time) 

WARCRAFT (Obviously this is a fav. It made me so happy, words cannot express.) 

Coraline and most other stop motion animation. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for that. 

Literally anything associated with Tim Burton. Fun fact, when I was 12 and in middle school, I planned to decorate my future house inspired by tim burton. Like, i had Plans. 

Most adaptations of Alice in Wonderland!

So! this got long as fuck! But you said you like that kind of thing lol 😂 I had kinda Eh sleep since I was up so late lmao, and I kept waking up (as usual, rip). And I’m so mad I go up for nothing! The dude I was supposed to show my listing to never showed, and is refusing to answer my calls >_> It’s been 2 hours now, and I still haven’t heard from him. But whatever, I already have a full price cash offer on the house so who cares. And that means I can play WoW all day, now! 

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

I don’t like disliking Zero-One.

Like, okay, first of all; it makes me way more bitter than I ever want to be about any Tokusatsu show. There’s so much about Zero-One’s endgame that makes me extremely frustrated and it is never a joy to discuss at all between Ai, between Ark-Zero taking over the show from anything interesting, between every character either being turned on their head or having nothing to do. Contrary to what angry internet opinion people will try and make you believe, it’s actually not that fun to talk at length about something you dislike this much.

But more than it frustrates me because... I have issues with a lot of things in the Tournament arc like Yaiba and how it’s structured and how they never truly figured out how to actually integrate the Kamen Riding, right? But the story it tells is so close to perfect it blows my mind it even happened and I’m so sad that what followed never really came close to matching it. Fuwa and Naki’s arc was legendarily rich in development and parallels all over the place; the premise of each episode while perhaps a bit clumsily handled was still fantastic in interrogating how advanced robotics/AI would fit into many different industries and what moral questions those raised while also being a great fit for a kid’s show in getting them to think about a wide variety of jobs; Gai was... bloody fuck was Gai a scary good villain. I never expected them to take him as far as they did but the way he is always ahead of the game despite a show like this usually necessitating the hero win out in the end, and how a show about a CEO Kamen Rider straight up said “the nature of the CEO is such that abandoning all morals and feelings for the pursuit of profit is the one that will win out in the corporate world” is not exactly something I expected Toei or Bandai to be okay with having, but boy here Gai is; winning a workplace competition despite how the firemen and the lawyer cases had Aruto reach a great conclusion! That scene of Thouser rallying the public against Humagears as a whole and goading Aruto into a flustered, lost rage is one of the most terrifying things Kamen Rider has ever done, and the way it still leads on from that into Aruto deciding to forge his own path through creating a smaller company that puts Humagears first and doing it his own way rather than just using the tools and ideals inherited from his predecessors is... I’m rambling, but this entire arc was so rich in thematic beauty and it might just be one of the greatest heights Rider has ever reached for me. Despite the many many problems present, I was so willing to call this one of my favourite Rider shows for how expertly everything was fulfilled here.

And then Ark-Zero came along.

I’m not gonna act like Zero-One was this perfect work of art that had no problems which Ark-Zero suddenly intruded upon to make everything bad. In reality a lot of the seeds were there -- Yaiba was disallowed from having a character arc, Jin was a contradictory mystery of a character and not in the way the writers wanted him to be, Izu is a travesty of lost potential who never even so much has develops her own thoughts or disagreements with Aruto in a show about advanced AI very quickly approaching the point they pass the Turing test with flying colours. Said questions of AI gaining that sentience were also very often quashed under the question of how advanced AI would effect our lives. But no matter how inevitable these bad points were to the show and how they would at some point drag it down very badly, I could not predict the travesty that was everything after Raiden coming back to life and laser-eyeing the Ark driver into existence. Fuwa getting absolutely nothing to do, Naki’s entire development being reversed, Aruto and Horobi going in increasingly bizarre and out of nowhere directions, Gai becoming a walking parody of everything wrong with Rider’s insistence on handing out redemption arcs like candy, all pretence of the questions surrounding Humagears abandoned in favour of completely unearned character drama, Hiden Manufacturing’s point reaching its apex with Zero-Two only to be completely abandoned with Aruto basically never using that form again and walking right back to Hiden Intelligence, our main female lead being fridged for contrived drama...

It’s. A Lot. Despite so many negatives being inevitable this was just beyond the pale to me and it frustrates me deeply when Zero-One was previously a show that was breaking out of every bad pre-conception to try and prove its worth as something dazzling and new, only to go back to the same bad tropes that plagued the likes of Ex-Aid and Drive’s final arcs. It’s painful to see something this good dragged down this far.

[lovecanbesostrange]

"#people who skipped S7 are fools" YES. I mean, I haven't finished yet, but I always MEANT to. I love the AU world and how different they are, and I even like the new version of these characters!

Anybody who watched OUaT past S2.1 knows it can only be lovingly described as a clusterfuck (and not in the Sense8 way). And season 7 has so many issues, but what’s one more nonsensical timeline of events where everything happens so much. I honestly could not faithfully re-tell what for example happened with Ivy/Drizella. But I enjoyed her scenes, so what?

S7 is different, because well, Snow and Emma are missing and they are this sorta huge part. But sorry, the story of Regina Mills is continued and Lana Parrilla carried this show on her back start to finish and she has so much fun stuff she gets to do. We meet her curse counterpart Roni, the bartender. HALLO!! (Emma isn’t even there and the lesbian energy radiates on.)

Henry’s daughter Lucy is cute as a button and once again Lana gets the best out of the child actress (I know she was the one to fight for Regina and Henry having a better relationship despite the abusive parenting before and I still think that was a good choice and she is really good in scenes with kids and helps their perfomances).

Cinderella and Tiana aren’t used to the best of their capabilities and with the new Cinderella it’s something where this whole endless-realms-with-the-same-stories-but-slightly-different is weird. But hallo, Cinderella is THE OG Disney Princess and she is finally here and pretty cool.

The weirdest bit is that I like Rumple again. I like him as a villain-villain and during the show, well, it was clear why he was kept around, but omg did that make him insufferable (Robert Carlyle is not at fault, he gives it his all and his performance no matter the material is flawless; because of him I wished I cared about Rumple as a conflicted character). Strangely the absence of Belle is doing him favors here. (Which clearly shows that Belle should have had another beast in the first place. Around him she became a glorified sexy lamp, while every of her lady-adventur-meet-ups was exiting.)

And Hook!! I could not care less about S2-6 Hook even if I tried. He is 100% the type of het love interest that is booooooooo~ring. Because the writers said “they are it” and never bothered to really let him be a good supportive boyfriend. Drama only and then kisses. And I could not buy that bs. (And no, this isn’t disgruntled Swan Queen talk, it’s just that Emma deserved someone who didn’t behaved like an asshole everytime she wasn’t looking. The writers didn’t even make him morally grey or interesting, they used him for bs and then “but I love her”. ugh) But S7 Hook?? Wishverse!Hook? HERE FOR IT!!!! I mean, his story revolves around love. But not romantic. It’s all about family. He has a drive and actually tries to be better. And he sacrifices in an honest way. I suddenly enjoyed his scenes!!

This time the gay fairytale is stretched out over multiple episodes like an actual building relationship, hooray! What a nice surprise that was.

After Underbrooke, the absolute waste that was Emma Swan as the Dark One (it was because of Hook and for love??? and halfway through they forgot to explore Emma’s actual darker side, because she wasn’t anywhere near evil all along?? IT WAS ABOUT A MAN AND NOT THE STORY OF THE WOMAN HERSELF??? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY), the nonsense with the Black Fairy, who was Rumple’s mom and while looking fabulous (Jamie Murray always brings her sexy A-game no matter the story, see Fright Night 2 for reference), was a terrible character (Cruella was the best villainous villain after Cora and she was thrown away too soon)... wait where was I? Right, after the suffering that was most of S5+6 (not you The Bear King, sweetie, mommy loves you, you did nothing wrong), season 7 was fun again. The characters were treated better and not bullshit like Arthur or whatever they did with poor background Robin.

Really the only good constant throughout the whole show is Regina’s story. And if the writers cared for a moment of course Snow. They even let Emma down HARD. (S4 with Ingrid was kinda dope and really, that ending with Emma’s name on the dagger, but then... ball dropped. And a whole building on top.)

OUaT is my love-hate obsession. I choose to cling to everything I love about it and imagine a version of the story, where the threats get followed in a satisfying way. I don’t even totally hate how they shoehorned in all the known Disney properties. Having half season arcs with specific guest characters like from Frozen or Brave isn’t a bad concept per se. And I can enjoy camp. But it’s like the writers always fell in love with exactly what I didn’t care about and that makes me so sad. (if you go through all my tags you will end up with a 50k word essay: Ruby Lucas - The missed potential of using the bi werewolf Lady)

For what OUaT was overall, S7 isn’t especially bad or insulting.

[punkinroses]

Yugioh Season 4 Quotes Prompt Meme

I am stressed, tired, sick of my job and needing a brain break. Yugioh Abridged is my go to for that at the moment. So. Have a sentence meme thing. Feel free to reblog, change pronouns, etc. Go have fun kids. Be wild. Be gay. Do crime. Love you

“The whole saving the world thing really eats into your study time.” “But my teacher gave me, like, a bunch of gold stars! And an A+ in trying.” “I already know everything I need to know about mathematics from playing card games.” “I was also thinking about doing some of the drugs later.” “(name)’s hand is on fire!” “That sounds like a commotion! .......Yes. Definitely a commotion.” “Well, I’m sure the city can defend itself.” “Those neutral motherfuckers. I never cared for them.” “How the hell did you people get in my house!?” “I’m not sure I like the rich douchebag channel.” “We figured you had more of an emotional connection to these.” “Damnit, (name), we agreed I would do the monologuing.” “My spirit guide has once again served its purpose.” “It’ll be called the bitch ass retirement plan. Named after you, ya bitch ass!” “That’s some OP bullshit right there.” “Broseph...Brosephine...Bro DiMaggio.” “I’ve got shoulder pads!” “Now what are you gonna do, Bromeo and Juliet?” “It’s not often I get to hear the worst insult ever coined by a human being.” “Yeah, they once sucked out Channing Tatum’s soul as a joke.” “I have nothing else in my life, please!” “So you’re someone I haven’t seen in a really, really long time? .........Are you my parents??!!” “Stop abusing the concept of friendship!!” “You must have spent YEARS researching this! Even though you can find this exact information on the back of any Yu-Gi-Oh! DVD!” “King of doors, bitch!” “That’s two points for Middle Earth, zero points for (name).” “I was not prepared to watch this today.” “Okay, so, you’re a lost cause.” “If even one of you makes a Sharknado reference, I will end you so hard.” “Try this on for size, you Sauron-looking motherfucker!” “I thought we had an agreement! You agreed to not be a little bitch, but now you’re being a little bitch!” “Maybe they’ll take someone’s soul that we don’t care about this time.” “Goddamnit, you never help me, ever!!” “Alright, douchebags! I’m sick and tired of us not being on top!” “These meetings get fucking weird.” “How much more specific can I get? SOMEWHERE in CALIFORNIA.” “I wonder if there are card games on the moon.” “I knew it. This is just some cheap trick to get me to come see you, so you can hit on me with a bunch of cheap innuendos, isn’t it?” “And, to think, people call you a diluted egomaniac.” “That’s not possible! I’M the adorable one!” “For some reason, cruising for chicks has caused me to become severely injured.” “I would be so turned on if that wasn’t such a huge waste of trading cards.” “I’d like to spread some vegemite on those things.” “You left me on a blimp with a known psychopath, while I was in a coma, so you could go off and play video games.” “So, in other words, since we’ve never seen your balls drop, we can assume it hasn’t happened?” “My douche-senses are telling me that (name) is mocking me somewhere.” “Should I remind you to tell them to go fuck themselves when we get there?” “He will eat you with his crocodile face.” “Okay, did you have to include the part of the story where they insulted me?” “Hey, a sword! I can stab people with this!” “Seriously? That was your one Koala joke?” “Try believing in the heart of the cards.” “Quiet, you sorcerer.” “If you’re seeing this, (name), it either means I’m dead, leaving behind a very fabulous looking corpse, or my soul has been captured.” “Maybe it had something very kinky on it and 4Kids had to censor it.” “I’ll leave that up to the fanfic authors.” “I’ll write a highly unfavorable research paper about you! With inconclusive findings!” “I feel like I should be concerned, but I just can’t stop thinking about how Copernicus is such a stupid name for a horse.” “You know that thing takes people’s souls and I found it on a dead guy, right?” “That was acting, children! Bravo for me!” “According to my research, I’m in a crapload of pain.” “Learned that trick from playing Super Mario World.” “I’ll just be over here wibbling to myself. Please, pay me no mind.” “Okay, everyone. I’m going to go scream into a pillow for the next five minutes.” “Are you telling me that we can't build an elevator into space?! Because that sounds like something a guy who doesn't want to keep his job would say!” “And let me tell you one last thing. All those times I got angry and declared that I would have my vengeance on you: I WAS FAKING!” “I'm glad we spent all our money on this bag of potato chips and generic brand soda.” “By the way, I memorized several dozen dinosaur puns, just so I could use them in this.” “The only reunion that’s about to happen is my size ten up your buttocks!” “Dorō! Monsutā Kādo!” “You're right, (name). I lost control. At the end of the day, this is just a game.” “We’re going to disturb the spirits of the dead! Yay!” “What the fuck even is this season!?” “Won’t somebody fetch me some ice cream!?” “I’m old and I hold a stick. That automatically makes me the wisest person in the valley.” “It’s a good thing I played all that Assassin’s Creed!” “It’s a good thing I played all that Banjo Kazooie!” “Oh, thank God, because I really wasn’t listening to any of that. Any of it.” “Now, I have to go back down there and challenge that vulture to a card game.” “Okay, (name), I’m going to level with you; I may have lied about the pizza.” “It makes me look really bonkers cool while I kick the shit out of you.” “Actually, he says his name is Cornelius Jr. and he wants to play basketball, just like how his father wanted him to.” “You can talk to snakes!?” “Hey, are you sure it’s safe for us to fly straight into that strange weather phenomenon?” “I guess we’d better confront whatever villain of the week that is.” “Well, these buttons look important.” “We mostly get by using our street smarts and ingenuity.” “No, I'm mad because I never wanted to know what one of Hideo Kojima's wet dreams looked like, and now I do, so thanks for that.” “I swear on my life we didn't keep a single flying war machine of death.” “Well, it would be way more intimidating if its face wasn't so damn adorable.” “Yeah, they’re dead. Dibs on their crappy broken stuff!” “Did you guys notice that this episode had the exact same ending as Bee Movie?” “I'm also glad we're not going to Florida as it means that we are not going to Florida.” “OK, but wait! I'm almost to the part where we met two ghosts in the California desert who just happened to be related to the guy we're fighting. Oh God, you're right; it's all just bullshit, isn't it?” “Breaking stuff will fix it!” “I'm bi a lot of things, but lingual is not one of them.” “Welcome back, asshole.” “Hey (name), wanna reenact a scene from Back to the Future Part II?” “I'd rather throw myself off the roof.” “Damn you, Microsoft Flight Simulator!” “Yes, but you had to steal my catchphrase to do it! Is nothing sacred to you?” “That is the single most offensive thing anyone has ever said to me.” “OK, children, from now on, everybody uses the Buddy System. When I say "Go," I want you all to choose a buddy and form an everlasting and inseparable bond between them 'till death do you part. OK, go!” “(Name), remember, whatever happens, you mustn't become an evil little sh*thead.” “Suckers! Consider yourselves ditched.“ “Well if any other anime in existence has taught me anything, most of the drama tends to happen on...the roof.“ “Just my luck. Dork Fest continues.“ “No! It's got a scythe. The deadliest farming implement known to man.“ “This heavy-hearted metaphor was brought to you by Da, a subsidiary of Doy, Inc.” “OK, this is also total BS. When I came back from the dead, I didn't get a chorus of heavenly music and a light show.“ “It's a good thing I'm so buff or that fall would've killed me.“ “(Name), promise me you're not going to embarrass me in front of the U.S. Military.” “ Guys, I think we took a wrong turn, because I'm pretty sure this is the Chamber of Secrets.” “Those aren't Funko Pops! They're much more disturbing!” “Yeah, makes your measly five thousand years look like a five thousand years of being a bitch, bitch.“ “Okay, but why are we in space?” “I have no idea who that is. You are talkin' fucking crazy right now, man. Are you okay? Do you need water? How long were you in the desert for?“ “For the record, I was dressing up in suits of armor before it was cool.“ “(Name), this is like, the third time you've tried to murder one of my friends, stop it!” “Nah. As a teenager with unlimited access to the Internet, I get to do that every day.” “As I was saying, (name) is a damn handsome and valuable person. Thank goodness for them.” “They died as they lived... pissing me off.” “Okay, who let the posh shithead in here?” “I'm so happy you escaped the cold embrace of death so that I could experience your deathly cold embrace again!“ “Wow. My eBay sensors are tingling.“ “You know, we really have no idea where this portal will take us, but I have total confidence in this decision.“ “None of this matters to you! You're already dead! Blah, blah, blah, omae wa mou shindeiru.” “Glad we came all the way up here so that we could not know what was going on.“ “Does this mean I can take back all the nice things I said?“ “I'm not doing any of those things. I'm just enjoying being with you.”

[superbatson]

tagged by @chestnutblondehead

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag some people.

roswell, new mexico

zoey's extraordinary playlist

the witcher

the healing powers of dude

high school musical: the musical: the series

Who is your favorite character in 2?

i feel like i gotta say leif bc he's my icon and i love mtg A Lot. and it wouldn't be wrong, i definitely think leif is my favorite from the show. but i do love zoey too, i have to admit. she's a very close second. (and she would be #1 if i didn't love hot villains so much, lol)

Who is your least favorite character in 1?

can i say isobel? i feel bad saying isobel but i guess with all the possession stuff in s1, i just felt i couldn't like her, especially before we found out about the possession stuff and i thought it was a dual personality thing. i haven't started s2 so maybe she'll grow on me in those eps.

What is your favorite episode of 4?

ughhhh they all really blur together. i mean, not in a bad way, but they were really so closely tied to one another - i guess episode 5, "middle school musical". it was sweet seeing noah and simon supporting amara, and i felt it was a good episode to represent disabled people. i mean, it really shined a light on the way society treats them, and it ended up with said disabled lead amara finally getting her time to shine. who knew she could sing so well?

What is your favorite season of 5?

it's only got the one so far, lol. so i guess i have to say that's my favorite for now, but it probably won't be for long with s2 focusing on a production of batb

Who is your favorite couple in 3?

they're not canon (yet) but geralt/jaskier. obviously. let the bard be gay for the hot monster killer!

Who is your favorite couple in 2?

can i just say leif/tobin to avoid any sort of controversy? so... leif/tobin. (the coder boyfriends!)

Who is your favorite actor in 4?

jace chapman is an excellent child actor. he particularly shines in the scenes where noah is experiencing intense anxiety. they're so similar to how i feel/act/think when i'm anxious, so i was really able to see myself in the character. i have to say, i do love larisa oleynik and tom everett scott too as noah's parents. they're fun, cute, and dorky without seeming incompetent and they really do have noah's best interest at heart. it was really sweet to see and i almost wish they could be my parents, lol. (though i also think they're pretty as hell so that probably wouldn't work out for me, haha)

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

apples and oranges, man. like, one's a cheesy teen drama, another is a heartfelt musical dramedy, and the other is... well, a teen dramedy? okay, so there are some similarities, but it's hard for me to choose. i can say that zep is the one i enjoy most right now, just 'cause it's such a feel-good show to watch with everything going on in the world right now, but overall? i might have to say hsmtmts, just 'cause i really feel so attached to those characters/that world as a whole (even if the pacing of s1 got a little messy at times).

Which show have you seen more episodes of - 1 or 3?

roswell, new mexico. ironically, though, i really need to play catch-up on both. i now have several s2 eps of rnm to watch, and the second half of witcher s1!

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

i literally am noah, let me just put that out there. like i relate to him so much, he's basically me when i was his age, just i'm a girl and he's a boy. i guess if i had to pick a character to be, maybe amara? bc she's a friend of his so she gets to kinda see things from the outside and help him out when he's struggling. (though poor girl is also pining for him hard, ugh, tween love is so messy. i never had a legit crush on a boy till i was 14, so i'd probably be safe in that regard.)

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

wow i really mixed up my own numbers here and started writing about a witcher/zep crossover, whoops

hell no. witcher is a bloody adult fantasy and healing powers of dude is a sweet kids' show. a crossover would never work. (though now i'm thinking about jaskier and geralt being father figures for lost orphan noah and i'm emo. it's such a crack-y concept but i like it lol)

Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

from what i can remember in s1, michael & liz had a fun dynamic. sort of a love-hate thing (as opposed to her and max which was nothing but love). i think they'd make an interesting pair. especially given the end of s1, as they'd bond over their shared grief over max.

What is your favorite episode of 1?

pffft i don't know. i almost wanna say the pilot, just bc it was the first scripted show i'd started watching after, like, a whole semester of barely watching anything, and it also brought me back to the cw after i quit watching the flash. plus, i obviously didn't really know what to expect, so i was impressed with the way the show got me invested in both max/liz and michael/alex in the span of one 42-minute episode.

What is your favorite episode of 5?

i also gotta say the pilot bc it was probably the funniest episode, in that it felt the most like some sort of self-aware mockumentary comedy, and the end cover of "start of something new" made me super nostalgic for the original hsm film. both of those elements kinda faded as the show went on and we got so invested in the characters, so, yeah. it was fun while it lasted.

What is your favorite season of 2?

it's only got the one, so again, that's kinda the only one i can give as my answer? but hopefully it gets renewed for at least a second 👀

How long have you watched 1?

it premiered in... like january, i think, of last year, so... since then. like a year, though as i keep saying, gotta play catch up on s2.

How did you become interested in 3?

henry cavill. yeah, that's it. he's hot and it was his first major project following the rumors about him being out as superman, so i wanted to see what it was all about. also, considering it's netflix, i was kinda hoping we'd see his ass, but apparently we do not. netflix can give us pine penis but not cavill ass. Sigh.

Overall, which show had the better storyline, 3 or 5?

i guess hsmtmts bc it kept me the most engaged? but it was also not bingeable, so. kinda hard to accurately compare the two. but i guess that's my answer, bc witcher was kinda confusing at times (and i haven't watched it since like late december/early january)

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

neither really has an official theme song, unless you count the music that plays over the title card at the beginning of their respective episodes. i guess i like the matching band sound of hsmtmts', but they're both so short to compare to one another.

if you ask me to compare soundtracks, i might also have to give an edge to hsmtmts just bc of the nostalgia factor and their amazing original songs. sorry, zep!

i tag: @waystobewicked @willlamschofield and anyone else who wants to do this bc i'm too lazy to tag rn lol

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Gaim Episodes 01-20

Also known as Kame Rider Fruits Salad edition.

It's time for more past rider action as I start my fifth season in this series. I honestly don't know how I'm still doing this, but I'm glad that despite my schedule problems I'm sticking with this journey because this season is a good one.

I was very excited to see this, not just because my experience with Wizard was very positive, but also because I've seen images and gifs being retweeted in my timeline and everything seemed so ridiculous I couldn't wait to experience all of that by myself, and I gotta say, they delivered! (different from that other season I saw people being so passionate about but that I disliked with passion)

And this is something funny because I have quite a lot of things about Gaim that bug me and that should make me dislike it, but even still I can't help but like this season a lot. Gaim has a certain magnetic charm to it that I don't know how to explain, putting in terms of the show I'm like the Inves and Gaim is the evil fruit of the forest taking control of my brain. This show is so entertaining that if I was able to sit down for 72 hours without being interrupted and not needing to do my physical necessities I'd definitely spend those hours watching Gaim, I'm not joking, I had to force myself to stop watching it a couple of times because if it was up to me I would sit down in front of my laptop and leave after the show ended.

And I feel like a huge part of what makes me so interested on Gaim is this mystery feel it has to it, I wanna know where all of this is gonna go so it makes me more interested on watching more and more to see the secrets being revealed and all of that. Add a whole lot of great cliffhangers and the fact this series doesn't seem to follow the "2 episodes, 1 story" format and you make for a show that has a very good pace and that makes it feel like no episode here is filler or unnecessary.

But this is a double-edged sword because while the mystery vibe is great I feel like the show held a whole lot of information at the beginning which made it hard for me to understand this world, and understand these characters. Why is dance so important here? Why do these dance teams exist and why are they fighting each other? When did those lock seeds start appearing? And why are they in the kids' hands? What's Kouta's relation to this dance crew? Why is there a ranking for dancing crews? Why is all of that so important for these characters I'm gonna follow? I watched 20 episodes, still, I feel like I don't know any of the characters very well because neither of them had a very good base for me to have a feel of who these characters are. Which makes it harder for me to connect because I don't feel what the characters are feeling, my experience with Gaim is a very "external" one, I'm watching it and I'm enjoying it a lot but I'm not emotionally invested, I think that's the best way to put it.

Speaking of characters, another thing that I feel like it makes it harder to know all characters is the fact that THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM. No joke, I don't know any of their names and the only Rider name I have memorized is Gaim because of obvious reasons, the way I have to connect the characters to their faces is by their main fruit, which solves things for the characters that are Riders but the side characters that don't they literally have no name for me, any given name you see in this post is because I opened the wikia and went to look for the names. This is a very crowded season.

Kouta as a protagonist gives me a lot of mixed feelings. I overall like him, but that are times where the show makes me want to hate him, but I guess that's just how teenagers so the show has perfectly hit the nail on him. I like how he starts as a good kid trying to get a job to help support his family, but then he becomes a rider and that gets up to his head and he becomes an overconfident prick just to have his ass kicked down and throw him on a downward spiral where he "refuses the call" to then have a moment where he slowly rises again, and even in this escalation he gets doubtful in quite a lot of times showing that he's a very interesting character. I only wish we knew more basic stuff about him, or at least have glimpses of his past, to know where did he came from and be able to have an estimative of where he's going to.

Sadly the other characters aren't anywhere near being this interesting. Kaito is just the hot-blooded rival, they decided to give him a backstory about he being anger at Yggdrasil for taking over the city but I think it only made him look more like just a teen with anger management issues rather than a compelling character. Mitchy had potential with the whole thing of being a kid from a rich family that has no freedom in regards to his future, but he more or less always followed the things I expected him to do as a character in his position so it was just a little boring. Near the end of this batch, Zack became a rider too but he's such a background character I have nothing to say about him. Junouchi and Hase lacked in personality because they were sold as a duo and they barely did anything on their own, Hase at least got more interesting things going for him since he eventually ate a fruit and died as an Inves what made him interesting where Junouchi just ended up being the keychain of another rider... and oh boy, Oren... it's kinda hard to talk about him. I'm not sure if "gay coded" is the correct term for him, probably not, but the thing is he's very problematic. First, because the show kinda sits in with Kouta's point of view and since the first meeting Kouta already showed signs that he didn't like him and that it was weird for him to see a flamboyant man with feminine trajects and he was always negative towards him. Then the show makes him be a Team Rocket villain where his character gets downed to a single goal and objective and every time he gets up on the screen is for him to be made fun of and it just makes me wanna hit my head on the wall. I know I shouldn't be surprised since last season they had the manager of Hungry Donuts that was also an LGBTQ+ character being used for comedic purposes, but at least in there, there was no portrayal of any character of the cast being uncomfortable or hostile against her so she was never seen with bad eyes or had any negative association to her (they also had a trans actor play her role which is an added bonus even though she wasn't out yet during the time of filming).

The show also has a "second set" of riders that are the adults on Yggdrasil's side. I feel like I don't have a lot to say about them because they were in the backseat a lot during the season and only started to have a more active role on screen now so I still don't have an opinion on them. Takatora seems bland, Sid was the one of this team that had more screen time but I also don't have an opinion on him, he's just like a drug dealer there's nothing special about him other than he uses one of my favorite fruits in his rider form. Ryoma and Yoko are probably the more interesting characters from this team and I'm really excited to see more of them.

There are more characters of this cast but I don't like any of them all that much so I won't spend more time talking about them, I'll talk briefly about the Riders' designs because this post is already long enough.

To begin with, I think it's a genius idea of mixing fruits with samurais for the main motifs of the riders, it's such a ridiculous, wild, and creative idea I wish I could be friends with whoever imagined this concept. I pretty much like all of the suits, I think the only form I don't like it's the Jimba Lemon one because it's not very aesthetically pleasing, it doesn't match very well with Gaim's basic design so it doesn't look as good to me, but I also don't like the giant watermelon suit, probably because the CGI looks weird, but I still don't like it. I love how the belts are very simple, it's a good contrast with the overly designed suits, I wish they had kept that simplicity for the genesis drivers as well. If I had to choose my favorite designs they are Gaim's strawberry, Baron's mango, Zangetsu's melon, Duke's lemon, and Marika's peach forms.

Before I wrap up this post I have two final complaints about this whole thing. The first one is the fact I don't know what's the message the show is trying to convey. Right at the beginning, I thought it was about growing up, but that was never touched again so I'm not sure if it's that, you know? The show feels a little lost in this aspect. It is a nice story, don't get me wrong, but all stories so far had a theme and I couldn't really find the theme on this one yet. I hope that after the reveal that the forest is like a parasite they'll bring up discussions that'll highlight what this is story is about.

My other problem is how against adults the show is. Maybe if I had watched this in my teenage years I'd be more in synchrony with the point of view of adults are liars and they're a problem, but now as an adult, I know that things aren't so simple. While I agree that using kids to gather data for their experiments wasn't the right course of action, I don't like how the protagonists are always so keen on being against adults and everything. Maybe they're like this because of how Japanese society is and to them becoming adults is like losing the sense of their own identities so to them adults are really like villains, but I still think that they hit too much on this key and it's kinda hard to watch without rolling my eyes at certain points.

With that being said, I still enjoyed the hell out of this show and I'm very excited to continue. So, what are your thoughts about Gaim, let me know down in the comments. I'll catch up with you folks later.

[y01te-moved]

001 for spider riders ?

anyways! yall know how it is w/me if i didn’t put this under the cut that. wouldnt be very fun but without further ado:

Favorite character: to absolutely no one’s surprise i have to go w/igneous for this one. I Just Think He’s Neat.

Least Favorite character: there is genuinely only 1 character i like full on hate and that is brade. absolute bastard man everything abt him sucks and i will die mad about that.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): i dont feel too strongly abt most of these and its more like. yeah its ok BUT. igneous/magma, igneous/slate, beerain/lemin (which we are Not @’ing me for It Could Be That Deep also if i cannot find good wlw rep i Will make it), hunter/corona, …i like genuinely cant even think of a 5th one actually so thats that i guess.

Character I find most attractive: i joke abt being gay for igneous a lot but genuinely, magma is objectively the most attractive and if u think otherwise im sorry but you are blind

Character I would marry: this could be debatable but i think i have to go w/magma for this one also.

Character I would be best friends with: idk if this means like what actually would happen if i met the characters or what i would want personally but for both of those i would have to go w/corona.

a random thought: boy do i have a lot of these that i keep meaning to post about more but i never do!

anyways i guess i will say i appreciate the fact that hunter corona and igneous have matching primary colors not only with their hair but then also in the colors their shirts are tinted with… i honestly feel like it was just kind of coincidental or smth but I Just Think Its Neat.

An unpopular opinion: idk what the consensus on the novels is actually but basically. i am at all times thinking abt petra and i wish she didnt get left on read so much because like i understand that she doesnt exist in the anime even somewhat and didnt get a canon design for the novels BUT she was rlly interesting and i just wish more ppl like. Acknowledged her…

My Canon OTP: with what we r given canonically i feel like hunter/corona was meant to be endgame even tho they ended up highlighting And completely ignoring the main love triangle right at the very end which is just lame.

My Non-canon OTP: this, also to no one’s surprise, is igneous/magma…

Most Badass Character: i think anyone whos seen the show should be able to agree that this is stags. he is just absolutely off the shits but in a very respectable way which is just very epic of him.

Most Epic Villain: this is a tie between grasshop and beerain i think bc they are both very good but for like. almost entirely opposite reasons.

Pairing I am not a fan of: i found out some time after the last time i answered an ask w/a similar question that aqune/magma is like an actual real concept that At Least one person has genuinely put Out There and so im going with that for this one bc like. listen. if you’re shipping magma w/a woman you are just Incorrect and likewise if you’re shipping aqune w/a man you are also Incorrect and those are the rules. it just doesnt work! even with that opinion aside the canon does not set it up to have any sort of good dynamic besides like. being pretty okay friends post-canon i think.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): technically could go in a lot of directions with this but i will just say i dont think igneous was written That Well actually, only bc they just like. had everything set in stone for him for the first half of the show and then for most of the second half they just kind of completely flip flopped a majority of his personality for a few gags here and there and then the moment episode..? i think its around 41 or 42? ends he just goes back to being the exact same way he was in the beginning of the show as if like any of the past several eps hadn’t even happened at all and i think its kinda lame. what im getting at here is that while i Can appreciate Some of it, it wasnt good writing it was just being inconsistent.

Favourite Friendship: ive said it before and ill say it again but magma and corona’s dynamic is very good and severely underappreciated i think. not even that its the most obvious thing but it is There and ppl r just cowards.

Character I most identify with: Not to sound like a kinnie but i have to be real here the main reason i have aqune listed as a cc is because of the fact that i do vibe a lot with her so i guess that is something

Character I wish I could be: Not To Sound Like A Kinnie Pt. 2 but if im not projecting onto aqune then i am projecting onto igneous usually so. :3c

[zani-is-a-stan]

suzani watches the Sherlock unaired pilot

Opening

-       This version of John looks way more old and way more dad

-       That close shot on the gun tell the viewer that John is suicidal

-       The dark silhouette of the cupid statue kind of stands out. Given how the cinematography and shot framing is a lot sloppier in this version, I don’t think this is intentional. But if it was intentional, this would be a signal to the viewer that this is a love story.

-       Mmm, pass on both Anderson’s beard and this way of introducing the concept of a Sherlock

-       This title & credits sequence is so dated

-       Anderson with no inflection is boring

-       Dinner with wine is not a great place for John to be saying he’s broke

We meet Sherlock & Molly

-       We start to see the beginnings of the geometric and precise framing that are the signature of the show in that one shot of Molly behind the glass

-       Its nice to see that Molly’s character required almost no adjustment between the two versions. Given that she was the first character original to the show instead of the books, it’s nice to see that she stuck the landing so perfectly

-       It’s starting to be really obvious how loose the editing is. There’s a lot of dead air at the beginning and end of every shot before each cut. Much better in the final version.

The lab

-       This version of Sherlock seems a lot more accurate to the book Sherlock from Study in Scarlet than the series ultimately ended up being. He’s softer, more interested in interacting with other people than the antisocial, high functioning ASD (where’s the fic that explores that?) twanging brain haver he is in the first episode of season 1

-       I want to read a take on Sherlock that discusses him as having ASD and interprets the violin playing and the mystery solving as his stimming techniques

-       The camera shots in this scene are really starting to stand out as very different from the show. It’s not just the editing which is kind of thoughtless – these shots are poorly composed and poorly planned. I don’t think it would stand out so much if the final version of the show didn’t make so many deliberate and stylized decisions regarding with the shots and editing.

The apartment

-       The extrapolation of john’s family based on the phone became much cleaner in the aired version

-       Comic sans! I mean, mrs Hudson is better than that.

-       Mrs Hudson definitely checked out john’s butt …

-       “can I just ask … what is your street?” this was very good, if repetitive

-       Sherlock needs an assistant? This sherlock has a need for human connection that the other one doesn’t – and he has a lava lamp.

-       Ugh the apartment at 221B baker st looks so much more vintage in this setup. Not a fan.

-       This sherlock definitely cares more about what other people think than the final version.

-       Mrs Hudson is a much softer, premade character in this version. I like the final version better. She seems stronger that way.

The cab ride

-       So boring. Such greenscreen. Wow.

-       not just the greenscreen. the difference in the shooting and finishing of this sequence in the pilot and the aired episode is so incredibly improved that you can hardly believe there were part of the same thing.

-       TOO MUCH SYNTH

-       Sherlock has a far too human response to john’s compliments and more doubt in how accurate his deductions are

The crime scene

-       Im glad they changed sally’s outfit, and smoothed out sherlock’s taunting of her and Anderson’s affair. Ugh I wish they’d kept sally around. This show needed more normie/casual sherlock opponents. Lack of closeups in this scene do it no favors

-       They cut the Rache/Rachel clue. And btw, I do love how this was inverted from the book presentation in the show.

-       “no, there are two women and three men lying dead, keep talking and there will be more” – this sherlock prioritizes people over mystery solving, and that’s a little more humanizing as well.

-       When he’s deconstructing the scene around the woman in pink, there’s a switch in sherlock’s voice when he’s off camera. I’m wondering if maybe that’s a stat actor reading the script for some reason, or if they recorded the dialogue and the camera angles at the same time and forgot to switch when they were editing that shot? Makes sense given how messy the editing is throughout the pilot.

-       “do you know you do that out loud?” “sorry, I’ll shut up” “No, don’t worry, it’s fine” (pleased smile) --- this exchange is so accurate to book Sherlock and Holmes

-       This is not the same sally as the first episode. I had to check because I have a little bit of face blindness and there weren’t any closeups, but it’s definitely not her. Interesting how the actress who ultimately played her changed the inflection but brought very little new to the blocking.

a bit inbetween and the pink case

-       No Mycroft, hmm. Don’t care for it. It added a lot with a really nice red herring feel.

-       John returns to his place for absolutely no reason narratively.

-       I don’t care for the red herring moment where john looks at the pink case and wonders if sally was right and talks out loud about it.

-       The end exchange of this scene is awesome and should have stayed. “Donovan said you get off on this.” “And I said danger and here you are.” “DAMNIT!” It’s very funny, and it’s a fun spar between the two rather than the ultimate resigned tolerance that series John seems to settle into by season 2.

do you have a girlfriend? a boyfriend?

-       Sherlock not eating is a brilliant touch, I think that should have been there.

-       This version of the girlfriend boyfriend conversation is far more successful than the aired version, although I prefer the setting in the aired version. It’s flirtier, and the “Everything else is transport” line carries implications I prefer to the one we saw on on the official version.

-       Sherlock knowing the cab thing ahead of time really lowers the stakes.

-       Angelo and the headless nun thing is fucking beautiful. (although angelo is a bit of an upstager) But, the change in the plot to the John running and leaving the cane behind in the final version is much more relevant to the story.

-       Ok, so the cabbie drugging Sherlock did show us that John is smart in his own right (we never got enough of that), but it showed us Sherlock fucking up in a way that is inconsistent with the show version of that character. For us to buy that Sherlock is other level super genius instead of just very smart, he can’t make this kind of mistake. If he can’t make a mistake, then John can’t prove his own intelligence. I do think it was a good idea to put the police back in his apartment now, as it gives us more interesting and fun things about those characters, and the ultimate build to the cab ride and the incorporation of modern technology really contributed to the modernizing of the adaption.

which pill

-       WHOA that cabbie did just very much threaten to molest or rape Sherlock. Although if there were no women or gay men on the script team, I can totally see the writers not realizing that this line had that connotation.

-       And this version requires a lot more explaining of plotholes with dialogue in a way that is avoided in the final verion. This is unquestionably good, because there’s nothing more graceless in filmed stories than having plot explained with words, especially by a villain.

-       Taking the pills out of the bottle looks silly.

-       Final version cabbie is better. More self-satified and mean.

-       “Either way, you’re wasted as a cabbie” is a way better line in the final.

-       Taking him out of the apartment and away from the police phone call was A+ the right choice.

-       Everyone know the best cops scream “Who is firing, who is firing?” when someone fires a shot.

i’ve got a blanket

-       Sherlock saying “Yeah, maybe he beat me, but he’s dead” is a far shot from the man who shook a dying man and demanded to know if he was right or not. Again, this Sherlock is far more human and far less computer.

-       That bit with mrs Hudson at the end was unnecessarily mean, I’m glad they cut it

-       “I’m his Doctor.” – this lines should have stayed forever.

Overall thoughts

Ok, so overall changes between the pilot and the aired first episode. Plot was a lot more polished. They scrubbed every trace of human need from Sherlock, which I think was a good choice, at least for the beginning of the show. His literal only love is his own abilities as the show airs, which leaves him with a very interesting and exploitable weakness – his arrogance, where as pilot Sherlock doesn’t seem to care all that much when he makes a mistake. We did lose a couple of scenes that had a lot of good chemistry in them, but I think the plot was much improved overall for the changes. The change of Sherlock from being casually mean to people like Anderson to swatting away an irritating fly is very successful. The focus of Sherlock’s relationship with Lestrade seems of a higher priority than Watsons a little bit, so I’m glad that changed. The lead up to John shooting the cabbie was much better in the final

Honestly the pilot doesn’t look like a pilot as much as it looks like a proof of concept piece. The budget was obviously smaller: that’s why they reused the same restaurant set, it’s why the final confrontation took place in the apartment rather than a second location, that’s why the effects are missing or budgety, that’s why the editing was low-end. This as a pilot was sold on the impact of the actors and the bones of the script, not on any of the look that would ultimately make the show what it was. The color work between the first and second version of this alone was amazing.   I also think that the hair change in Sherlock was an excellent choice. It offsets BC’s face/head structure in a way that plays into the strangeness of the character in a much better way. Similarly, the coat and scarf that he wears in the series do exist in the pilot, but aren’t really a signature of Sherlock’s on-screen shape design in the same way.

I think the only thing I would’ve kept is the inflection, delivery & read on the girlfriend boyfriend scene, and the return of the “I said danger and here you are” exchange.

There’s a lot of talk about Sherlock’s sexuality and what was cannon in the books. TV Sherlock they seem to be confused about (Belgravia as an episode left me really confused about what statement the writers were trying to make there, which implies that they’re either not completely sure either, or they’re too straight to understand what they’re doing). In the books, Holmes chooses not to have romantic relationship because it stops his brain from working clearly – it’s a deliberate choice based on the Victorian concept of sex (and women, because they are clearly only sex objects) diminishing the capacity for clear thought and mental performance. This is not the same as him being asexual or aromantic as we not aro/ace people understand the concept in 2019.

Based on the scene as it airs, the girlfriend/boyfriend scene would leave me with the opinion that Sherlock is not just asexual but also aromantic. Possibly one of these by choice rather than nature. Based as how the scene plays out in the unaired pilot, I would think that Sherlock is celibate and also attracted to John, more likely gay than bisexual. (There was quite a bit of smoldering going on in the Sherlock to John direction.)

[tygerbug]

Who Reviews

Doctor Who: The Witchfinders, written by Joy Wilkinson. In the history of Doctor Who we've had three stories both written and directed by women. The last was Barbara Clegg's Enlightenment in 1983, an unusual story which stands out from its era and is easily one of the best of the 80s. The Witchfinders is a very solid tale, and you might say it succeeds as a traditional Doctor Who story more than any other this year. I've seen someone on Twitter call it the best so far and I can't concur with that, but this is a good opportunity to look at what's really been happening with Doctor Who this year overall.

Chris Chibnall as showrunner has brought us a Doctor Who which functions better as Genuine Adult Drama (GAD) than the Davies and Moffat eras did. You can feel the influence of Davies, but they've shaved his trademark silliness off the whole thing for a more muted feel to the proceedings. This is paired with an anamorphic desaturated feature-film look to the visuals. At times the series even feels bland and flavorless, but at its best we feel the weight of the adult concepts the TARDIS team are faced with - American racism in "Rosa" and the British-sparked conflict between Muslims and Hindus in "Demons of the Punjab." The Witch trials of the King James era are a weighty, depressing subject, and it seems a little bit of a shame to bring traditional Doctor Who alien monsters into it. To the episode's credit, it goes full horror movie with this. There's some CGI but it's mostly makeup straight out of a zombie film - specifically the Evil Dead series. It feels too scary for kids, and Doctor Who should occasionally feel like that. And oh, let's talk about King James. Russell T. Davies established the traditional of the "celebrity historical" where The Doctor meets a well known historical (or sometimes fictional) personage, often played by a recognizable guest-star actor. So here's Alan Cumming, a big-name actor coming in to play his part as an absolute lark. Openly gay and affecting a comical upper-class Scottish accent of some kind, he's a delight throughout, whether flirting with Ryan or trying to learn The Doctor's secrets. The half-comedic performance does undermine him a bit as a threat, but it's nice to see a guest actor having fun with a part. Cumming is a smart enough actor to never go fully over the top with it, pitching his performance at the right level so that it doesn't break the scene. The three companions have been reliably good, but not in a showy or cartoonish way. They only occasionally get standout moments. There's a lot of humor and energy to Jodie Whittaker's performance as The Doctor, which is not unlike David Tennant's popular Doctor, but it often feels like that energy is muted by everything else around her, as if she's acting in a tank of water. The Witchfinders is the first episode to show The Doctor struggling to get anyone to take her seriously, due to her gender. King James doesn't recognize her as being in charge, and she's sentenced as a witch and drowned. I'm glad an episode dealt with this, but it also speaks to a fundamental, and peculiar, powerlessness inherent to Jodie Whittaker's version of The Doctor. In the 60s-80s series, it was common for The Doctor to be mistrusted by everyone at the beginning of a story, and locked up until he could prove his worth. Jon Pertwee's Doctor spends much of Frontier in Space going from one prison cell to another. The faster-paced post-2005 series rightly dispensed with that as padding they didn't have time for. Psychic Paper was introduced to give The Doctor credentials and credibility at the beginning of a story, along with other tricks often involving the Sonic Screwdriver - which by this point is an all-purpose tool but can also be used for its traditional purpose of opening locks to get The Doctor - and the writer - out of a dead end. The Psychic Paper fails The Doctor in this one, as King James doesn't respect a woman's authority. It was usually easy for The Doctor, as played by Eccleston, Tennant, Smith or Capaldi, to talk his way into a position of authority, and Whittaker's Doctor managed that in her first scene. But increasingly it's become apparent that The Doctor is not doing an amazing job of solving every problem in an episode like an all-powerful God, or kid's TV hero. The Davies and Moffat eras often wanted to show you how amazing and powerful The Doctor is. This Doctor keeps ending up with endings in which some immediate threat has been vanquished, but larger societal problems linger, and people we care about are dead. Last week's episode, Kerblam!, set up an apparently dystopic capitalist future, where an Amazon-like retailer had replaced 90% of employees with automation, and was required by law to keep a 10% human workforce. The employed workers were treated like machines, and were miserable, and the unemployed were apparently living in even greater misery and poverty. The episode couldn't, or wouldn't, imagine an automated future where the unemployed are cared for. Capitalism can't imagine that either. The Doctor sees that misery and doesn't do much to help. She solves the immediate problem that is killing workers, so that the company can keep on running, more or less as it did before. This has been something of a running theme. The Doctor doesn't fix anything for citizens of this galaxy at large. The Doctor can't improve the racism of 20th Century America, only observe it and make sure that Rosa Parks' protest happens as scheduled. You could say the same about the border dispute tearing India apart in 1947. History isn't changed, only observed and mourned, and the role of the colonizing British in creating his situation is not dealt with in any overt way. Grace dies in the course of The Doctor's first adventure. The Doctor feeds the dangerous Pting, calming it for awhile, but sets it loose afterward. We never see The Doctor deal with the giant spiders or, more importantly, the toxic waste that created them. That waste was itself the product of deregulation under the laissez-faire rule of Chris Noth's Robertson, an uber-capitalist narcissist psychopath who is compared to Trump (though not as vile). The Doctor and Ryan are seen to trap the large spiders for a natural death, but what happens after that is not dealt with onscreen. Instead we get this companion team officially joining The Doctor in the TARDIS. In every episode this year, we witness a very messed-up situation, often caused by some intersection of capitalism and racism. But it's not a situation The Doctor can fix by the end of the episode. She can only mitigate the stranger, monster-based elements, the threat that they're facing immediately in the moment. She removes whatever is gumming up the gears of progress so that the actual horrors of the society in question can continue unchallenged. Of course in the more historically-based episodes it's too much to ask that The Doctor Solve Everything, in capital letters. Is she supposed to solve racism? But the more fantasy-based episodes like Kerblam! have much less excuse. It's telling, I think, that these episodes overall are better at dealing with America's failures than Britain's. The Doctor is powerless to deliver a truly happy ending, or even to show she's trying for one, and I wonder if that's intentional or due to a lack of political consciousness on the part of the writers and showrunner. This year on Halloween, the leftist Youtube channel Philosophy Tube did a piece about the horrors of the witch trials, and how they were used to break the power that women had in a feudal agricultural society, including traditional medicine, and how this led to modern capitalism. He covered the same material on Twitter, and I'll link to that here. https://twitter.com/PhilosophyTube/status/953277894813536256 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmk47kh7fiE "The Witch-Hunt is classic Divide and Rule: paint women as dangerous so the new proletariat are busy fighting 'witches' instead of joining together and fighting the rich. There are massive rollbacks of women's rights … Records were often kept of how much land or money was seized from them, but not how many were murdered." It's an interesting take on just how bloody the transition to an industrial capitalist society was, and how the people and their "old ways" had to be broken for this to happen. It was a means of controlling women's options, and the options of the average worker, something that's still relevant to today's society. In some ways we still live, today, in the cages that the witch-hunters built. Today's politicians like Mike Pence are just witch-hunters in different clothes. And that's something this Doctor Who story doesn't deal with. I've mentioned this, but when the Rosa Parks story was announced, I saw a lot of people on Twitter, who aren't Doctor Who fans, assuming that a Doctor Who take on Rosa Parks would by nature have to be a disgusting exercise in tastelessness. Maybe they thought The Doctor would be taking on some kind of Racism Monster. Apart from introducing The Doctor and a villain into the proceedings, "Rosa," as an episode, was tastefully done. While it didn't show clearly that Rosa Parks planned her protest beforehand, it did show that Parks was an activist who planned her actions alongside others (including Dr. King), which is more than many history books do. But their fears were not unfounded. It's common for pop culture to create extended and elaborate metaphors about bigotry as if they're making some grand statement, but also reinforce that bigotry as somehow justified along with it. In Disney's Zootopia, there are classes of predator and prey animals, and the predators are discriminated against and find it difficult to get ahead in society. This is a metaphor about racism, but it would be entirely justified for a rabbit to be afraid of a fox. In the wild, a "predator" would eat the "prey" animal. If this is truly taken as a metaphor for white racism against black people in America, it's an offensive one. Race is a social construct, and racism as we know it was created to enforce slavery. It established people with dark skin of African descent as an underclass, to exploit in order to grease the wheels of capitalism in the centuries before the Civil War (and afterward, if we're being quite honest). Black people and white people are genetically identical, and without the shadow of slavery (created by the rich to enrich themselves) would have identical rights. Foxes and rabbits are not genetically identical. One is likely to eat the other. In the X-Men series, mutants are feared and shunned by society. They have superpowers from birth, and are genuinely extremely powerful and potentially dangerous. So if the public fears them, that's actually entirely justified. The mutants are different from "normal" humans and could assert their power in very dangerous ways if they wanted. Wolverine is virtually an immortal with knives for hands. Phoenix could easily destroy the earth. The endless comics, TV series and films featuring the X-Men have positioned Xavier and Magneto as the "Dr. King" and "Malcolm X" of their story, in that Xavier wants mutants to have equal rights and is more palatable to the mainstream, while Magneto is "too radical." But this is an offensive metaphor when you break it down. Of course neither Xavier nor Magneto are black Americans. Both Dr. King and Malcolm X were considered extreme radicals in their time, and they agreed on many concepts. Dr. King spoke out for worker's rights generally, and for class consciousness. He was murdered for his beliefs. Magneto has magnet powers and runs a club called "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" which seeks to dominate over humanity. He's a bad guy who does bad things and constantly emperils the world in general. Comparing him to a 60s civil rights leader is an offensive metaphor, unless you accept that the X-Men series just wants to touch on the history of bigotry in America as subtext without accepting everything that comes with it, which is fair enough. It's not a history lesson. But like almost all sci-fi stories, it makes no sense without our understanding of how black people and other groups have been marginalized in America, but makes the story about white people instead, like a cartoon fox played by Jason Bateman. The history of slavery, oppression, bigotry, Nazism, fascism, and so on is the subtextual backstory for pretty much all sci-fi media. So many villains are based on the Nazis, but this rarely takes into account the racist ideology behind fascism. Hitler came to power after Germany's economy had collapsed, partly due to the Great War. The average worker was living in hopeless poverty, and either they were going to develop class consciousness and tear down capitalism, asserting their rights as a worker, or they were going to need someone to blame. Hitler gave them someone to blame. He rounded up the socialists, communists and Marxists who were preaching against capitalism. He blamed it all on the Jewish people, who traditionally had been excluded from many professions and were often involved in banking. It was apparently easy to make up conspiracy theories about them Actually Being in Charge of Everything. He rounded up the LGBT people, burned gay and trans literature. He targeted the Romani "gypsies" who had been marginalized for centuries. There was no logical underpinning behind this. There never really is, with racism. Hitler only wanted power, and he saw that the people had lost faith in the world, with capitalism and their government. They were being oppressed by economic depression, and had a general unfocused rage. He used that anger and directed it toward groups that were already marginalized in some way. He distracted the people and consolidated his power by giving them something to hate. He slaughtered six million Jewish people in an apparent bid to wipe an entire religion off the face of the Earth - the religion which gave us Christianity, for that matter. Since the 80s, Capitalism and greed has gone unchecked by any desire to actually help people and have a functioning society. After George W. Bush's trillion-dollar wars for oil, the economy has crashed and not really gotten better. People are noticing. The rich are getting obscenely so, as if they're being gifted the equivalent of a brand new car every few seconds. The poor are begging for scraps. There is a general unfocused rage. Donald Trump, a fake billionaire, has gotten a large chunk of America to blame it on non-white minorities, such as people from Mexico. This is what Hitler did. I've gotten way off topic, but for a reason. The people who burned witches in the 17th century and thereabouts were not actually killing people who had any magical powers. They were murdering their neighbors, and consciously or not it helped the world change. The world's economy was changing. Land was being seized. Power was shifting. People were losing rights and property they had previously been entitled to, as part of a series of steps which led to factory work in the 19th century. They killed women to kill off the old ways. And I'm watching a rather good Doctor Who episode about that, about killing witches to "fight the powers of Satan," and it turns out that in this episode they actually have good reason to be killing off their neighbors, or to fear the powers of Satan, because there's actually some evil alien stuff going on, and it's infecting people and raising people from the dead and it all looks very scary and supernatural. If you're in the mood to be offended it does feel a little like a Witch Trial but with Actual Witchcraft, portraying the witch-hunters as absurd and awful but also somewhat vindicated by the events of the story, not unlike our X-Men and Zootopia examples. So it's a good Doctor Who yarn, but as a metaphor it doesn't even get started. The episode isn't that interested in the larger societal issues at play here, although it does deal with sexism, which covers a lot of that territory in a general sense. It largely focuses on female characters (except for King James), and both the writer and director are women, for the third time in Doctor Who history. And that's been due to sexism. There haven't been a ton of women writing Doctor Who, or directing it (despite the big-name appeal of Tank Girl director Rachel Talalay). And that's a problem. And it's a problem the show has temporarily solved, by hiring women for this week only. The larger cultural problem remains. And the show keeps fighting for diversity, this year. British writer Malorie Blackman OBE handled "Rosa" with real sensitivity. And Vinay Patel handled "Demons of the Punjab" with full awareness of its historical background. Between them they've probably delivered the two best episodes this year. Indeed these have all stood above the episodes credited to Chris Chibnall. The diversity this year has been welcome, as it's resulted in some good television. But like The Doctor's actions in these episodes it's just a band-aid placed over any larger cultural issues. She can stop the problem of the week, but she really can't fix everything. Which is fine. Realistic, even, which fits the tone of this year in general. My question is, does she want to fix everything? Are The Doctor and her writers socially aware enough to use these larger issues responsibly? So far, in terms of social consciousness, this year's Doctor Who raises a lot of questions it can't actually answer. Not in a way which satisfies the kids, or the adults - for different reasons. It's still very good television, and I'll give it points for asking some of these questions in the first place.

[scorpio-karma]

How would you have written Bonkai if you had the chance ?

So I’ve always been a fan of Dark Bonkai, so if I were to write them I would forgo the redemption arc completely. I wasn’t a fan of it when it aired and even though now I’ve warmed up to it more now it’s still not how I would have wanted Bonkai to go because as I said in a different post the only way I see that romance working out is as generic fluff which is just not my jam.

This first thing I would have done is after she sends Damon back is have Bonnie and Kai stuck together longer, not only because there needed to be more pay off from that but also because sending Kai back as quickly as they do wasted a great opportunity with both characters because once he’s back in the real world his storylines don’t fall flat but they aren’t as great especially when he ends up missing for an unusual amount of episodes–he’s the main villain of the season, he really shouldn’t have been missing from any episodes. So I wouldn’t have him figure out where Jo stashed her magic, but I would still have him take her to Portland for Thanksgiving because A) great development and B) it sets up or the one other thing I would have kept which is Bonnie’s breakdown because it’s such a well done scene.

From there I would have them do more cat and mouse games which would start with her killing Kai (who would come back) and running as far as possible taking his pager with her just to piss him of because he told her not to touch it. Then I would have the Delena failed Bonnie rescue mission (with a few things tweaked since Kai would still be in the PW, I’d just have the spell run out of time because they were doddling which is essentially what happened in canon) which literally ends up breaking her spirit. As much as I hate Bonnie being in pain, I love that scene because it is so well done and not just because of Kat’s acting, which is on point, but because for the first time ever the narrative actually cares about the pain Bonnie’s in, focuses on the pain she’s in, and doesn’t force her to be “strong”. 

Just look at Damon’s reaction when he realizes what’s going to happen to Bonnie. There reason I always preferred Damon with Bonnie and that’s because his reactions seem a lot more genuine which is mostly Ian because his reactions to Kat are a lot more genuine and that scene you could feel that Damon felt sadness for Bonnie, and what makes that scene so much better is that instead of only focusing on his sadness for her it cuts to her, and her pain, and in that moment she’s not infallible, she’s not the strong witch who can endure anything and everything, she’s broken and it’s devastating and it’s something we really didn’t get to see with her even when she literally died and had to see her own dead body. 

It’s always an easy scene to point out but it’s because it’s so atrocious is when Abby gets turned, you don’t even see Bonnie except for a glimpse after (I’m pretty sure they didn’t even have her on set for that shooting day), instead you have Caroline speak for her and then the show focuses on Elena’s pain from the incident which isn’t even empathy for Bonnie but rather her own pain because Bonnie won’t talk to her, which as I keep saying in my Tyler meta’s, neither of those are comparable experiences and prioritizing her pain over Bonnie’s was the breaking point for most Bonnie fans. So after years of getting things like that I was actually quite proud of that scene.

But back to Bonkai, I wouldn’t just keep that there because I like the scene but also because it signifies a breaking point which would be great in the development of Bonkai especially in a moment she feels most alone because she wouldn’t be completely alone, she would have Kai. If Bamon and Benzo taught me anything it’s that if she’s isolated alone with you long enough you will get her undying loyalty no matter what you’ve done and that’s something that’s actually in character because she has abandonment issues, or at least she should with her mother leaving her, her dad barely home, and then the only consistent family member she had, Grams, died. It explains why she clings on to her friends so much, unfortunately the show has never had enough nuance to even try to use that as a reason for why she keeps sacrificing herself, they just make it he obligation. 

From there she’d be willing to do anything to get out but without magic they don’t know how to leave so they spend more time together. Bonnie would be depressed, for obvious reasons, and I would have Kai trying to cheer her up because he likes her plucky and it’s not much fun seeing her like that. Then I would basically have most if not all the events from Metamorphosis happen right down to her killing herself and realizing no one can die in the PW not even her. They would have kinda a mentorship which involves them killing each other over and over (again events in Metamorphosis) which would cheer her up in a dark twisted way which would lead to a lot of dark twisted sex (not in the fic),

Eventually Bonnie would remember Qetsiyah’s rock because the fact that the rescue mission was literally remind Bonnie of what she already knew was ridiculous and something she could have figured out on her own. And then they get out disregarding Jo’s knife because another ridiculous thing, not that she hid it there, but because it continued to be hidden there after 18 years like “find a better hiding spot.” 

Kai would continue his quest to be Gemini leader, and Bonnie, now that she’s out and knows him a lot better would be conflicted with letting him kill his entire coven or leaving it alone–her conflicted feelings would effect him because he’s got the girl and doesn’t want to lose her but instead of trying to be better like we’ve seen oh so many times (Damon, Klaus, to a degree Katherine with Elijah) he tries to get he on his side using truths about her “friends” which is honesty something  think should have happened in season 4 with Shane because of how quickly he gets her trust, but let’s not lament on that. Eventually her new found attitude of looking out for herself actually takes and she lets him because unless she or the world is in danger of imploding she’s staying out of it.

After that I would actually have him merge with Liv. I’m sorry for people who liked Liv, but she was kinda of annoying and the writers clearly were trying to replace Bonnie with her, however that’s not the reason I would have her die in the merge. The reason I would have her die is because she was kind always meant to. She knew she was less likely to survive the merge with Luke and she was the most afraid to die and in the series finale she does accept her fate, but I would have much rather it been here during the merge. It would have been brave and lot more powerful because Luke wasn’t as afraid he just went with the flow. Also it would stop TVD’s tendency to kill all of their gay characters, in terms of which twin had more potential to add to the show it was easily Luke, again sorry for people who liked Liv, she was kinda like Caroline in that she was on of many witches (which was a new(ish) concept since it fell on Bonnie to be the sole witch without any family, but as I said they were clearly priming her to replace Bonnie).

Then I don’t know how I would develop it but basically it would end with Bonkai being king and queen of the Gemini combining their power to be the most powerful couple ever, but after Bonnie does a lot of traveling because that was something she needed, she needed to get out and make her own path. And after Kai learned to deal with feelings a bit more, I guess I would have him redeemed(ish) (but leaving Damon and Elena out of it because again why would he give a single fuck about them?) because that’s honestly the only natural ending, but I would want that redemption to be an individual process (which it kind was in canon but it still had people telling him to do x and people will forgive him and him doing x but unlike Damon x doesn’t work), so that would all be happening while she’s off traveling which she does almost immediately after she gets back and doesn’t bother telling any of the MFG she’s back, they only find out through Kai. 

If given a chance this is how I would have written Bonkai, basically having their development in the season coincide together. Also this is mostly a rewrite of season 6 but to write Bonkai (Bonnie) that’s necessary. 

[nightingveilxo]

As a series, Sherlock has been all about being clever. It’s been a little game for Mofftiss, inserting homoerotic subtext, actual text from gay literature and music, etc into the show. In their own way, I think Mofftiss sees themselves as Sherlock Holmes, brilliantly-minded, and able to pull together concepts that possibly no one else could. The Final Problem is turning out to be that Mofftiss, while perhaps the ultimate fanboys, might not truly understand who Sherlock Holmes is (even their version). But, is this a no-win scenario and if there is a villain, is it them or us?

Moriarty keeps playing the game, for his own reasons, much like Mofftiss has been. On multiple occasions, they’ve commented about how they won’t change things due to how fans want to see events play out. Fair enough. Creators shouldn’t necessarily bow to the audience, changing their art as a result, and sometimes pure, old-fashioned entertainment is enough. But, we’ve all read posts by people that met Mofftiss and found them to be overly smug and condescending. A bit like Moriarty, they’re very sure of themselves, convinced they understand the dynamics of Holmes better than anyone else possibly could. One bringing up the topic of his being gay as a defense (yet forgetting that many of us are as well), the other saying one character representing all of gayness is too much to do (but only using the obvious ‘twink’ mannerisms for comedic effect is fine). And how long is it entertaining to try to keep up with someone like this, especially when the results don’t always makes sense anymore?

Like Sherlock, so have we been playing the game, trying to stay afloat if not one step ahead. But, Moriarty temporarily makes Sherlock feel like a fool, because Sherlock’s attempts to have everything be clever, undermined his cause. There have been other posts here about how our comments and meta might have caused Mofftiss to retaliate. Like Moriarty, trying to burn the heart out of us, but as with Sherlock, we won’t back down. Some of us have been so certain that the end game will be worth it, while others of us just want things to reach a logical conclusion (at the end of each season). Even with the good old-fashioned villain dead, and his network destroyed, did Sherlock really win?

Season 4 happens, and most of us were wtf?? and still are. Glib responses to questions in the few interviews, Q&As, and this past weekend’s con, have only made that worse. A great many of us are torn between just walking away entirely (taking almost everything at face value as one enormous fuck-up or intentional bombing of their own show) or choosing to remain here (continuing to figure out pieces from the show and how they might make sense). Most of us agree there were certain brilliant moments, scenes like Faith’s window and Sherlock’s drugged wanderings, for instance. Mofftiss have alternately said they had S5 entirely plotted out, and that they had no idea what was going to happen. In one interview they said there is no S5, but there is definitely a S6. Do we wait to see how it long it all takes, whatever it is?

Moriarty came back in S4, but TFP episode had us believe that his plan was basically masterminded by Eurus. At con, that idea was said to be inaccurate, that Moriarty was really very much in control, and definitely the real bad guy. Since we’re not entirely sure if Eurus was real or fake, that doesn’t help our situation.

The real Faith (leaving trance/hypnosis/EMP out of it for the moment), was a facade used for Eurus’s cause. Her own father didn’t have trouble playing with her mind, giving her reasons to doubt her grasp of reality, her older memories, and his reasons for acting as he did. We could argue that by going back on so many of the statements they made in S1-TAB, that Mofftiss is Culverton, and we’re Faith--limping along in S4 and the period after, not sure what is true and what isn’t.

Culverton keeps confessing, long after he doesn’t have to, much like Mofftiss repeatedly mentioning how they lie, that we know it, and that we keep coming back for more. We’ve become accustomed to the (arguably) father figures being somewhat reliable, and still want(ed) to continue in that direction. Some would argue that there are factions in the fan base that have killed off the parts of Sherlock that they loved the most, and continue doing so.

Mary never left after T6T. We see her physically reflected in objects, and handling others after she supposedly died. Whether bad camera work or she is alive, the result is the same. Her presence causes John to question who he is, and how he has been viewing the world around him, including his ideas of who Sherlock actually is. John goes from refusing to help Sherlock at all, and beating away at the elements he’s held onto for so long, only to cement their relationship once again--albeit needing major perspective changes in order to reach that end. 

So, post S4 it boils down to who is the villain? Who is Culverton, and who is Faith? Who is Mary, and who is John? By choosing to have the “backlash” as it was, did Mofftiss try to end the game entirely or just change the rules? Are Mofftiss the villains for continuing to queerbait, lie, and otherwise perform in ways that lead us along to greater disillusionment (even though they admit they lie) or are we the villains for continuing to believe some of what they say, by writing down our ideas about possible scenarios, discussing these matters with one another on public platforms, and by pressing them for material that makes sense? Are they Sherlock, because they want to keep the heart of their show as it is, choosing to keep most feelings subdued in order to also keep things progressing? Are we Sherlock, maybe a bit too clever, maybe too eager to get told we’re on the right track, and missing certain elements when we allow our hearts to rule our heads?

Before you say we’re Sherlock, keep in mind he had to lose almost everything, more than once and that, while brilliant in his own area of expertise, he had a considerable lack of knowledge in many, many others. Before you say we’re Moriarty, keep in mind that Andrew says every time he thinks they’re done with the character, he is told otherwise by Mofftiss. Before you say we’re Faith, keep in mind that even after she was drugged, she remained in her father’s domain. Before you say we’re Culverton, keep in mind that he didn’t help when John was beating Sherlock, indeed almost looked dismayed at the damage being inflicted. Before you say we’re Mary, redeemed by our choices to try to be pure and stay on the right track, keep in mind that she turned on the people that should have meant the most to her--family. Before you say we’re John, keep in mind that it took him seven years to reach any kind of stability with his life, and Sherlock, because he refused to acknowledge and state some basic truths.

Here is the post @monikakrasnorada Have fun!