#i had issues with the first 2 seasons but overall i thought they were good. this one is just... well

[szollibisz]

Yellowjackets and Severance episodes coming out on the same day is so fun because i can watch an extremely well written office drama and cannibal riverdale back to back

[faithisyours]

Skinny Dipping

Chapter 2 of The List

Vi x Fem!reader

Summary: you surprise Vi with a trip to go do something off her list, skinny dipping. + a little extra at the end.

cw: Heavy petting but no actual smut, nudity, mentions to smut, mentions of food, a little emo Vi at the end, overall tooth rotting fluff

Word Count: 2.6k

an: Howdy! Hope everyone’s 2025 is off to a good start. As promised, here is chapter 2. This fic can be read as a stand alone, but it would probably make more sense if you read chapter 1. Also I’d like to mention that the time frame is off in this whole fic but I’m gonna try and speed run through the seasons to match up to what it is where I am. Next week we’re building a blanket fort. And if you have any ideas, let me know. Men and minors dni.

Ch 3

It had been almost a week since you pitched the idea of the list to Vi. She had been taking it very seriously, adding at least one thing every day. She had also been quite protective of it, keeping it close whenever you wanted to see it, moving it away from your gaze, blatantly closing it when you walked in the same room as her. You reminded her that it had been your idea to begin with, and that in order to do all of the things she was writing down, you would eventually have to see it. She simply claimed she wanted to be done writing it before she shared it with you. Fair enough.

Her not sharing it wasn’t an issue, though, considering you supplied the first thing on that list. You remembered the giddy look in her eye when you told her to add it, the way she wrote it as the first thing on the list, the kiss she gave you on the cheek as thanks for the idea. And since it was about the only one you knew for a fact was there, you were determined to surprise her sooner rather than later with it. It was also nearing late fall, and the nights were growing colder. You would have to plan fast in order to make this an actually enjoyable experience and not just turn yourselves into human popsicles.

So, you kept an eye on the weather, thought of a nearby lake that would be a good spot, and planned all the logistics down to the T. And then, you waited.

—

You were sitting at the kitchen island when you heard the sound of a key unlocking the door to your apartment, announcing Vi was finally home.

“How was work?” you asked as you stood up and walked towards her.

“Oh, ya know…same as always,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around you and giving you a quick kiss.

“Well, I was wondering if you maybe, possibly wanted to accompany me this evening for a surprise?” You said it innocently enough, but Vi still gave you the most suspicious look in the history of suspicious looks.

“Did you get your hands on my notebook?” she asked accusingly, squinting her eyes and pulling away from your hug slightly.

“No, I did not. And this has nothing to do with that,” you lied, tilting your nose up in mock-indignation. She squinted her eyes even more at you.

“Right, okay,” she surveyed you, then dropped her suspicion. “Well, yes, I would love to join you. Where are we going?”

“I’m not telling you that, it’s a surprise!” You pushed her lightly on the shoulder, playfully annoyed.

“Okay, okay, fine. Just tell me what I need to do,” she surrendered.

“All you need to do is nothing. And then meet me in the car in ten minutes.” You gave her a kiss on the cheek, grabbed your bag and keys, and hurried your way down to the car.

You wanted to make sure nothing gave away the surprise, so you made sure any damning evidence was in the trunk, and then covered it all with a blanket. When you were satisfied, you plopped down into the driver's seat and waited for Vi, which didn’t take long considering you took a big chunk of that ten minutes finagling the trunk.

When Vi got into the passenger seat, the suspicious look was back on her face. You had your poker face on, however, and would not be giving anything away until you got to your destination.

You were half way into the drive, the sun setting slowly before you, when Vi decided to start grilling you on where you were going.

“Is it something off the list? At least tell me that!” she prodded. You figured there wasn’t any harm in telling her it was. It narrowed the options down, sure, but it would get her excited.

“Okay, yes, it is something off the list. But before you go accusing me, no, I did not go snooping. I remembered some of the things you wrote down and this is one of them. But just stop speculating, alright. It’s supposed to be a surprise.” You squeezed her hand, which was holding yours on her lap.

Your admission settled her speculation, and for the rest of the drive the two of you listened to music and chatted about your day. The conversation seemed to distract her, because when you pulled into the small, blessedly empty, dirt parking lot, indicating you had made it to your destination, her suspicion finally returned. She eyed you up, but you only gave her a smile as you got out of the car and popped the trunk.

Pulling the blanket aside, you grabbed the duffle bag with the towels in it and threw it over your shoulder. Vi finally came around to join you at the back of the car, but by that time you had already fixed the blanket back over everything and were closing the trunk. She eyed the duffle suspiciously, but when you beckoned her to follow you, she did.

You were a little surprised she hadn’t said anything yet. You had taken her to this lake a couple summers ago when everyone came out to celebrate Ekko’s birthday, but you would admit that it looked much different now that autumn was upon it.

You took Vi’s hand in yours as you walked down the short trail towards the lake. And once you rounded that corner and the shore opened up, Vi gasped, gave you a look that said, “oh my god, THIS is what we're doing?!?!” and kissed your cheek so hard you thought it might bruise.

The lake wasn’t big. You could probably swim from one side to the other in less than 5 minutes. But it got the job done. And it was empty, thank goodness. The last rays of light bounced off the water's surface, making it sparkle. And the thick forest surrounding it made for good privacy. It was all absolutely perfect.

You walked your vibrating-with-excitement girlfriend down towards the shore, plopping the duffle bag down next to a big oak that’s canopy arched over the water. And then you began to strip.

It wasn’t super cold out yet, but as you removed layers of clothing, goosebumps spread all across your skin. And you knew the water was guaranteed to be colder. Vi started stripping, too, only when she stopped ogling the fact you were taking your clothes off in front of her. You watched as she peeled her sweatshirt off, pulled her shoes and socks off faster than you’d seen anyone ever do that, took off the worn grey tee-shirt you sometimes slept in cause it smelled so much like her, and stepped out of the black cargo pants she had a million pairs of. She ogled, you ogled.

With both of you left in just your underwear, Vi closed the small space between the two of you and kissed you, hard, with tongue, bringing her warm hands up to caress your face. She pulled away just as fast, but it still left you both a little breathless. You don’t know exactly why you started giggling, but whatever it was, Vi was feeling a similar way, because she giggled right along with you.

“May I?” she asked, pulling lightly on the strap of your bra.

“Of course. May I?” you asked, pointing to her sports bra.

“Well, it's only fair,” she responded, a goofy smile tilting her lips.

She unclasped your bra, which was a hell of a lot easier than you attempting to pull her sports bra off, but you made it, now both topless. You leaned in, kissing her long and deep as you pulled the hem of her boxers down over her hips, getting her completely naked. She mirrored the act, and soon enough you were both completely naked, shivering slightly.

“Okay,” you grabbed her hand and faced the water, “on the count of three, we run in.” Out of the corner of your eye you could see her nodding, albeit reluctantly.

“One,” You took a step forward, “two,” you took another one, this time Vi taking it with you, “three!” and then you were running towards the water, Vi right next to you, laughing breathlessly.

“Holy fuck, its cold.” You were now chest deep in the water, the sandy bottom squishing between your toes. Vi was right next to you, grinning ear to ear, and even though it was fucking cold, you couldn’t help but grin right back at her. Sure, this had been your idea to begin with, but as soon as Vi had added it to her list, it had become one of her goals, one of her dreams. And you couldn’t help but feel over the moon about helping her bring it to life.

After a minute or two in the water, the cold wasn’t as noticeable, but it didn’t really matter considering Vi had started kissing you, again, and you had a hard time considering anything else when that happened. Her hands had come up to your face, pulling you deeper into it. You grabbed her waist, pulling her closer, wrapping your arms around her. One of her hands came down to your chest, cupping your breast, fingers gliding over your nipple. You moaned, the sound getting caught by Vi’s mouth. You needed to be closer, were going to die if you didn’t get closer. One of your hands skated all the way down her back and grabbed her ass, pulling her in, causing legs to tangle. It was her turn to moan, a sound you would kill people to hear again and again. Both of you were frantic to get flistfulls of the other. You were lost in it, nothing unusual, but you had to remember you were in a potentially public place. And that was not a kink you wanted to find out you had today.

So with unbelievable effort, you pulled away, the space between you being filled now with hot, panting breaths. “As much as I would love to fuck you in this lake, I’d like to remind you that we are in a semi-public space,” you said.

She sighed. “Alright. And it is pretty fucking cold, isn’t it?” You nodded in response. “And it's getting pretty dark. Better get back to the car,” she reasoned.

“Only if you want to, babe. This was your surprise, I want you to get everything you want out of it,” you countered. You didn’t want to cut her surprise short just because you were cold. If she wanted to stay longer, you would gaslight yourself into believing you couldn’t feel cold. Anything for her.

“Well, considering I’m naked in a lake, I’d consider this a success. And it is getting late, and I’m getting kinda hungry. I think it’s fair to say we can head back to the car now.”

You nodded in response, giving her an acknowledging smile. Hand-in-hand, you walked out of the water, only to be met with the chilly night air. You rushed over to the duffle bag, flung it open, and cocooned yourself in the first towel within reach. Teeth chattering, you watched Vi follow suit, albeit not as frantic.

“We should do this again,” you said between gritted teeth, “when it’s warmer, though.”

Vi chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m just glad you remembered to bring towels.”

���Oh, I brought a lot more than just towels,” you said, your attempt at cockiness negated by your shivering. “Just wait till you see what else is in the car.”

“Well, now I’m even more excited,” she responded. Vi had been toweling herself dry and was about to get redressed when she surveyed you, still dripping in places and shivering. “Okay, let me help you dry off, since I seem to be more immune to the chill than you.” She gave you a crooked smile, stepping closer and grabbing the edges of your towel.

“Ya, alright,” was all you managed before Vi started patting you down, moving the towel over your arms and belly, then pulling it completely off you to dry your legs. She made sure you were pretty much completely dry before grabbing your shirt and pulling it over your head, forfeiting your bra. She grabbed a sweatshirt next, which happened to be the one she had been wearing earlier, but she didn’t seem to mind when she pulled it down over your head.

“I can manage the rest, I think,” you said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She nodded, then started redressing herself, also forfeiting her bra and eventually pulling on your sweatshirt. Once you both were dressed and adequately warmed up, you shoved the wet towels, dirty socks, and both bras into the duffle bag. And then arm-in-arm, you walked back to the car, giggling as you went.

When the car came into sight, you popped the trunk using the key and watched it slowly rise open. You put the duffle bag down and removed the blanket, revealing a wicker basket, a medium sized cooler, and an extra pile of blankets.

“I figured alongside skinny dipping we could also have a picnic,” you said as you pulled the wicker basket and cooler forward, flipping the top on both to uncover what you had packed. In the basket there were meats, cheeses, crackers, fruit, and veggies, and in the cooler was a bottle of sparkling cider, dip for the veggies, and some ice cream sandwiches you were praying weren’t completely melted yet.

You glanced towards Vi, concerned slightly by her silence, and found her pouting, holding back tears. She scooped you up into a hug, squeezing tight. She was so incredibly thankful, but you knew that if she said it out loud she'd actually start crying, so you just nodded your head, gave her a small, knowing smile, and kissed her on the forehead.

You watched as she took a couple deep breaths and collected her thoughts, then looked around back towards the lake, her eyebrows knitting in concern. Before she could say anything though, you said, “We can eat here, if that's what you're thinking.” She nodded, giving you a knowing smile. You seemed to always be able to read her mind.

Collectively you laid out one of the blankets on the bed of the trunk, turned on the car to blast the heat and provide some toons, and unpacked the food and arranged it between the both of you. You ate, talked, and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

Eventually, though, it came time to pack up, so you reloaded the car, making sure you didn’t leave anything behind, and began the drive back home. With the radio low and a blanket draped across her lap, however, Vi was helpless to the call of sleep, and began softly snoring half way back to the apartment. You watched her out of the corner of your eye, admired how peaceful she looked, and recounted everything that had just happened. You don’t think you had ever seen Vi this happy consecutively ever. This whole list business was going to take some serious effort to complete, but if it was all going to be this fun, all going to make Vi this happy, you’d do it a million times over.

Tip Jar

[mysterialistic]

Review/Ramble on Yingdu and Overall Thoughts

Okay, first of all, I think the fandom needs to chill a bit, especially on Twitter/X, because some people are overdramatizing the criticism from others. Criticizing a piece of media doesn’t mean you hate it, nor does it mean it’s bad—it just means it didn’t fully meet your expectations, and you have a different opinion. It’s as simple as that. Of course, I believe criticism should always come from an objective standpoint, not just for the sake of complaining.

Having said, let’s start rambling!

Yingdu had an amazing start. Those first few minutes, transitioning from the basketball game straight into the scene of Cheng Xiaoshi’s death, were so well done. Overall, the first episode was fantastic—the perfect mix of drama and tension. It answered some of our lingering questions before bringing us back to the Season 1 format, where they tackled individual cases, only for it to all build up to the arc’s main conflict. I won’t go into every single episode since that would make this way too long, but I had to highlight episode 1 because it was my favorite.

There were several aspects of these episodes that I really enjoyed. Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang’s bond was portrayed so well—every little moment between them, every dialogue exchange—it perfectly showed why these two are so willing to risk their lives for each other. I looked forward to seeing their interactions every week, and I was never disappointed.

Xia Fei was also a great addition, and I’m glad they didn’t kill off his character like many people theorized, because he has so much potential. I really enjoyed his complexity—he’s a spy, but he has his own morals and values. He dislikes Liu Xiao, yet he has a close bond with Vein despite his odd personality. He’s clearly intelligent, and I think that will really shine in Season 3. He already seems to suspect something, and I have no doubt he’ll get to the bottom of it. Right now, he’s angry and confused about what happened to Vein, convinced that someone killed him. But how will he react if (or when) he finds out that Vein was the one who initially killed Cheng Xiaoshi—one of his other friends, and probably the only truly innocent one? And don’t even get me started on how he’ll react when he finds out that Lu Guang tried to kill Vein or that Vein is still alive. I’m excited to see where this goes.

That said, I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see much of Vein and Liu Xiao. We mostly just saw what we already knew—two shady guys with their own agenda, pretending to be friendly. As an introduction, it was fine, but considering how much attention the promotional material gave them, I really thought we’d see more. Still, I don’t have a huge issue with it since they’ll obviously play a bigger role in Season 3. Liu Xiao, Vein, Li Tianchen, and possibly Xia Fei—a group of unstable individuals as antagonists… well, good luck, Lu Guang!

Now, something that does bother me about Yingdu is the inconsistencies between its plot and what we’ve seen in Seasons 1 and 2. For me, this was the laziest part of the writing, because no, Link Click isn’t flawless. In fact, no piece of media is. But in Link Click’s case, some of the flaws were painfully obvious. With every episode that aired, I kept thinking, “okay, this has to be an alternate timeline”, because so many little details just didn’t fit with the main storyline. The most obvious one is how Cheng Xiaoshi awakened his powers—he did it on his own, yet in Season 1, it was shown that he didn’t know he could do this. That makes absolutely no sense unless he has selective amnesia, which is definitely not the case lol. As for the inconsistencies with his parents, that could at least be explained by the promise he made to his mother to “not get involved any further.” He clearly remembers that promise and is likely just keeping everything he learned a secret.

Speaking of parents… Damn, Cheng Xiaoshi’s parents are awful lmao. I hated how his father acted like he was the victim, justifying his actions with, “yes, I abandoned my child, but now I take care of other children to make up for my mistakes.” That’s just… bad parenting. I actually made a whole analysis about it in another post. And then there’s Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother. The way she dismissed her son’s feelings and abandonment issues with a casual “oh yeah, it was wrong of me not to say goodbye, but who cares? That’s in the past” felt so off. The entire scene with her was weird—the humor felt misplaced. I was expecting something more emotional, more dramatic—anything but this. But based on what I’ve seen, almost no one liked her, so if the creators were hoping we’d find her eccentricity endearing, this introduction definitely wasn’t the best. Since Season 1, we’ve been repeatedly shown how deeply this abandonment affected Cheng Xiaoshi, and this is the reunion we got? It was… underwhelming.

Now, something I really, really loved was how they handled Lu Guang in this arc. From start to finish, it was just so good—his reaction when he first saw Cheng Xiaoshi again, his nightmares and PTSD, the way he carefully planned everything to manipulate events and create change. But my absolute favorite part? How morally gray he is. He planned and actually succeeded in killing Vein, eliminating the threat (though he’s definitely going to freak out when he finds out Vein is still alive). That cold smile? The scene where his hands moved like he was pulling the strings of a puppet? The way he said, “I hope we’ll never see each other again”? PERFECT. I’ve always said I wanted Lu Guang’s motivations and actions to not be entirely good. He comes across as someone selfish, willing to sacrifice others if it means protecting the people he loves—because he has the power and the knowledge to do it, and he wants his happy ending. Such a good character, I swear.

Of course, I wasn’t expecting every single question to be answered in Yingdu—that would be ridiculous lol. But I’m satisfied that the plot is finally moving forward. They gave us a piece of the puzzle—Cheng Xiaoshi’s parents, the origin of his powers, the antagonists’ apparent goal (some sort of notebook?), and hints at what we can expect in Season 3. That said, my biggest fear is that Link Click will lose its essence—the powerful message from Season 1 about how they shouldn’t intervene in the natural flow of time, no matter how painful it is, because the past and future should be left alone. Based on what Lu Guang said about the butterfly effect, we can argue that time itself is like another character—a force that, no matter how much they try to change things, always corrects itself somehow, some way. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what kind of ending I want for Link Click, but right now, I just hope it makes sense, that it isn’t forced, and that it unfolds naturally.

And… that’s all I have to say for now.

[showerthoughtsofagoldengoose]

arcane season 2 wasn’t all that great now that I think back on it. I don’t think it’s the war crime much of the fanbase makes it out to be but it definitely wasn’t that good. I also think the people who insist it’s terrible that I’ve watched on yt came off as a little pretentious, while the people who insist it’s good and can’t accept that the media they like is flawed and made by humans so it always will be flawed, are kind of annoying.

Like it’s just kind of in the middle of good and bad. Some good ideas, some bad ideas, some ideas that betray everything the first season was setting up, but some good thematic content, as well as some really stupid thematic content.

What has us fooled is probably:

the fact that the show can be a lot to take in- this is the case for both seasons- so when you get confused on a character motivation but are too invested in the story to go back and figure it out. Unfortunately s2 had a lot of confusing stuff going on. Characters going from point a to point b to point c to point z to point an again really rapidly. In some cases (Jinx and Caitlyn especially) they didn’t even face appropriate consequences for their actions.

the incredible cinematography and animation. This show is beautiful to look at.

the fact that it’s arcane and we’re already attached to these characters and this world. It resembles that stuff enough.

The show’s use of pathos to make us care.

Good voice acting, the overall presentation is fantastic all around.

the story still keeps you invested

unfortunately it’s a bit messy. Spoilers ahead. -The Mel story arc feels disconnected from s1 and like the writers were forced to work in some way for her to become a playable character with special abilities in the game. Her part is just all around weaker this season. -Jinx getting redeemed and she and Vi becoming sisters again. S1 seemed to be setting up that Powder was dead, and that Jinx was becoming a villain and enemy to Vi. Yes, she had some humanity still in her, but she’s also a relentless killer. S2 woobifies her quite a bit, especially with giving her a daughter to look after. She seems less ugly as a character this time, and the show never acknowledges the fact that she literally kills people without remorse and is pretty fucking far gone. Like ok. I dig the first couple eps and how it shows she and Vi are enemies but still care abt each other. I don’t dig how fast their conflict resolves, and think it should have been done differently.

-Vander being Warwick is actually brilliant (didn’t know Warwick’s lore until after watching) and they don’t do really anything with it. They woobify him way too much and don’t explore it enough.

-the retcons of Victor being the mage and Slico and Vander knowing Jinx’s mom ruin the story. Especially silco. That’s just… ugh.

-The lesbian sex scene is so fucking funny like Jinx is basically leaving to off herself and locks Vi in her cell then Caitlin shows up and they boink.

-I still need to gather my thoughts on Vi becoming an enforcer. So she does this bc it’s canon the game I think. But it does make sense for her character. Shockingly. It initially seems odd but she displays hesitance at first before making the choice, and it does make sense that she makes said choice. She HAS changed, she recognizes that Zaun has issues, and she is partially responsible for one of them (Jinx). Also she cares about Caitlyn, an enforcer. Ironically, Caitlyn actually HAS replaced Jinx for her. She’s the person she stands with and looks after now. We also can see in subtle visual storytelling she doesn’t really like what she’s doing; just feels it is needed. However I still feel like the show could have explored it more? Like one scene or something idk. I mean the writers themselves said they were bored of Vi and wanted to focus on other things. Which is odd since she gets a lot of screen time anyway… the enforcer stuff is so interesting and it needed more exploration I think. Idk my memory’s getting foggy already.

-the Warwick pathos ruins the story a little. Too many things get resolved: Caitlyn rejoins Vi, he abruptly ends the conflict between Vi and Jinx. And the show never acknowledges the nuances of either major conflicts. Caitlyn went cold and became this ruthless borderline possibly straight up war criminal (idk what qualifies as a war crime I mean u kill people in war and killing people is illegal so war is technically a crime legalized by the govt), Jinx is a remorseless killer, are we just gonna ignore that? Yes? Bc they care about wolf dad? Ok….

-Viktor’s arc goes too fast and needed more time to develop. He gets a messiah complex and I see how he heads down that path but he could have used an additional episode or something. Jayce’s arc is a bit better executed but fuck that retcon of Viktor being the mage.

all I can think of rn. Keep in mind that a lot of this is based on opinion and a fleeting memory of the show not necessarily objective fact and expertise on the series. I’m an tumblr user, not a God of media literacy. My opinions are subject to change.

[spaceorphan18]

More thoughts on XM97 - because of course I have more thoughts...

Doing some more reflection, because this is what I do during hyperfixation, apparently.

It helps to write things down and get them out of my head, I suppose. Honestly, it'll be nice to get past the last episode, because then I can compartmentalize and just push the thing away until season 2 (if the finale gives me any reason to want to come back).

DeMayo went on another tweeting spree (I just keep an eye on these things because I get curious) and during this particular bout, I feel like I've got somethings clarified. And I think my own personal frustrations come down to - the ideas of writing and creating vs fan expectations.

Overall, I do think that XM97 is a solidly good (or at least entertaining) show. The animation is good. The voice cast is good. And the ideas they are using, in theory, are more adult and mature and nuanced than the original kids' show ever was (which, I'll give TAS some credit - dug deeper a lot of times when most kids' cartoons of the time didn't).

One of the biggest issues for me has been execution. First of all, the show is way too short for the amount they're trying to pack in here. It almost feels like they wanted to do everything on their wishlist because if they didn't, they wouldn't get the chance to do it. And it feels, muddied... They really needed a full season to unpack a lot of this.

The thing about Rogue and Gambit's story.... I get the 'kill your darlings' strategy of writing. In fact, I agree that good stories are messy and have conflict and you should always put your heroes through the worst. I feel like there was a better way to do the story (I believe) they're telling.

I don't think Magneto needed to be a part of it at all, and the triangle just feels... forced in a lot of ways. I understand that they went there to give Remy some heartbreak along the way, but I truly believe the two of them, with their own issues, and the two of them being in an undefined relationship with complicated issues over touch -- still could have resulted in compelling TV, and still would kept the devastation of Gambit's death.

Episode 5 is still my favorite, and despite my distaste for the whole Magneto side of it, I think the writing there was top notch, and still the best this show has been. I get, though, that they wanted to have Rogue and Gambit "break up" for the impact to hit harder, for Rogue to feel much more guilt once he died, for that last line to be even more heartbreaking.

So, the easiest route was to add the Magneto of it all. Episode 5 is brilliant in a vacuum. But in greater context there are other ways you can get there. And, no, Magneto wasn't ultimately needed. Rogue still could have had regrets, there still could have been heartbreak, there are always things you just don't say before a tragedy.

The thing about it, had they set this up correctly, and in a way that was more satisfying and didn't involve third parties? You may have gotten way more of the Rogue and Gambit fans on board. (And I'll get to the fan side of this in a second.)

See, TAS flirted with Rogue and Gambit's romance but never pushed it too far. Not only was it a kids' show, but Rogue probably would have never had her powers under control and it just was never going to go that far. Meanwhile, the comics have moved way beyond where TAS was. Rogue and Gambit's relationship has evolved a lot in thirty years - way past the tragedy, past the will-they/won't-they, past the break ups and reunions, and in the comics, Rogue and Gambit are a relatively healthy (for a comic book couple) couple of best friends and old marrieds. They're story is so far beyond what they once were that going back to TAS feels... odd.

So, the show starting in this place where TAS left off feels awkward in a lot of ways. There's a lot of expectations layered onto this show, but the show -- being limited by external factors, can't really handle all of it.

I don't think the first few episodes of the show did enough to show the sheer strength of Rogue and Gambit's connection and relationship. And part of that was time and part of that is because it's a sequel to a show set thirty years ago and part of it is time compression and part of it is the writing wanting to leave some vague open-endedness to the relationship so that Episode 5 could work.

And thus Episode 5 feels a bit jarring. It's way more a mature script. There's much more going on in those relationships that we haven't seen set up. Not really. And it's almost relying too much on - things that were mildly set up in the original and the heavy history of the comics.

Which leads me to what has happened afterwards. I think that in a world sans the Magneto of it all, you still get a Rogue who is absolutely heartbroken over the loss of her love. She would still go dark. She would still seek vengeance. She would still wrap herself up in that trench coat and wreck havoc on everyone until she ultimately succumbed to her own grief and eventually dealt with it in one way or the other.

(The part that I just don't agree with -- besides giving up the trench coat, which I know is symbolic in gesture -- is her running off to play Colossus in Fatal Attractions. Which, again, is why they did add the Magneto of it all, but I'm digressing.)

Anyway, this leads me to the fan expectations, and why it does feel so raw for a lot of us. Rogue and Gambit have never really had their time to shine. The films are full of mischaracterizations and limited (very limited) appearances. The other TV shows never let the relationship shine. And even in the comics it felt like forever for the X-Office to take them seriously.

This TV show felt like an opportunity to start fresh. To be excited about something. To get behind the characters we love and celebrate them. We can still break their hearts. We can still even kill them off. But give us a reason to care!

But instead of building that relationship with us fans, it went a different route. And now we feel heartbroken and angry, instead of just heartbroken. Gambit fans - who get shit on so often - get one bright of moment of glory before a death that feels somewhat hollow when you start to realize it was in purpose of someone else's story. Rogue fans - have the internet hating her with a passion. It feels like once again - being set up only to fail.

It feels hurtful, even when, I truly believe, that was not the writers' intentions. Make your characters go through hell - yes, but you have to have your audience on your side to make it impactful.

I don't really know where the show goes from here. There's either going to be closure or a cliffhanger. What I'd really like, though, is some sort of hope.

Because I get real life sucks. And I get that we often reflect in our fiction that it does. But we're talking about a cartoon about superheroes. We're talking about escapism at its finest. I love complicated and messy and nuanced and sometimes even heartbreaking stories -- but I also want something that makes it all worth while.

There is still one episode left, and I'm curious as to where it's going to go. Because at the end of the day, X-Men has always been about hope, too.

[karuvapatta]

buckle up, I'm gonna bitch about Arcane season 2 for a while.

disclaimer: the animation and art direction is absolutely stellar, writing and voice acting is mostly solid, music ranges from good to amazing, sound design is great, and it's a great show overall.

HOWEVER:

There were so many interesting subplots and ideas, but not one of them had enough room to breathe or time to develop organically.

(spoilers under cut)

Caitlyn - I love the subplot about her becoming a fascist dictator and Ambessa's pupil, I really do. But then it sort of fizzled? She faced no repercussions for installing a police state and using chemical weaponry against civilians? The last one got to me especially - her mother built this system claiming that "the people of Undercity deserve to breathe" and Caitlyn then turned it against them. Okay, Vi and Jinx both called her out and it left to her rift with Vi, but... she's still in charge at the end, having seemingly learned no lessons?

Vi - uh, she was there. Sort of. Most of the time. Again, she joined the Enforcers, and it led to SOME conflict, but... is she going back to being an Enforcer? how does she feel about that? Who knows - Vi was mostly there for Cait and Jinx's subplots than her own.

Jinx - her subplot with Sevika and Isha was my second favourite thing about this season. The idea of her becoming a symbol and uniting Zaun is great. That little moment in the prison was awesome. But, ultimately - it didn't amount to much. Her sacrificing her life for Vi (or not, I don't know if she actually dies) didn't hit as much because we already knew she was actively suicidal.

Isha - had the potential to be super annoying, but like I said, I ended up really liking her character. Her death rubbed me the wrong way, however - it was very emotional, but the framing was very strange. Were we supposed to find it inspirational? Tragic but beautiful? Proof that Jinx isn't irredeemable?

Sevika - again: loved her, loved her interactions with Jinx and Isha.

Silco - I found it weird how this season consistently framed him as a good guy. Jinx and Sevika remember him fondly, he was the only thing holding Zaun together, there are cute flashbacks / AU versions of him and Vander being happy... he's a complex character and we love him for it, but let's not forget his many, many crimes.

Singed - kinda weird that he got what he wanted with no repercussions.

Mel - all right, her subplot bothered me perhaps most of all. Mel is a joy every time she's on screen, true, but last season she had been established as a savvy politician and businesswoman, motivated by her mommy issues, and a corrupting presence on Jayce. She pushed for progress at all costs to fulfil her own ambitions and prove something to her mother. That's a great setup! But what we got in s2 is... random superpowers out of nowhere. Mel always had power - she was the richest woman in Pilltover and basically ran its Council - but now instead of confronting her with the potential side-effects of Hextech, the consequences of her ambitions, and the futility of proving herself to her abusive warmongering mother, she just gets... more power. Out of nowhere. And validation from Ambessa. It was just weird.

Jayce and Viktor - easily the most compelling part of this season, and my favourite subplot. And STILL - it felt rushed and incoherent. I thought at first that Viktor would become jealous and resentful because Jayce is everything that he isn't, and I am honestly so glad they didn't take that route. But instead, Viktor gets... brainwashed by the Hexcore I guess? Ascends to a higher plane of existence? His Jesus Days and his cults were fascinating, but I didn't get the philosophy behind them at all. I can see why Viktor would want to shed his physical body for a machine that has none of its weakness, and how he might convince others to follow that path, but instead he chose to brainwash his followers and then assimilate the entire human race? What? There were so, so many potential sources of conflict between himself and Jayce - the Hextech weaponry Jayce built, Pilltover's fascist takeover of the Undercity, Jayce reviving him against his will and not destroying the Hexcore, accidentally poisoning Ekko's tree through their irresponsible use of Hextech... but the conflict we got didn't built on any of that. And I don't understand why.

(But I get you, Jayce/Viktor shippers. You won this round.)

[flower-boi16]

Hazbin Hotel Is A Show That Exists

So...after five years of waiting, Hazbin Hotel is finally out. I had very low expectations going to Hazbin - not only because of the current state of Helluva Boss (Its spin-off show) but also because of all the things I was hearing about it from people who saw the leaks - needless to say, it wasn't very positive. I was expecting this show to be a complete disaster on every single level, though deep down, I did want to be excited for this show - as I did used to briefly be a fan of Viv's work until I realized HB's MANY writing issues, so I went in with low expectations, expecting the show to be awful while deep down hoping that MAYBE It'll MAYBE end up being good. And after watching the first four episodes I can say that...

The show isn't awful nor is it that good. It's just...PAINFULLY average. In this post I'm going to give my current thoughts on HH based on the first four episodes that are currently released. Note that these are only my current thoughts on the show - there's a chance that MAYBE the show will improve in the second half of season 1. But for now, here are my current thoughts on the show:

1. The Animation & Visuals

The animation is...fine. The characters definitely look very rigged at times, but the animation is at least pleasant to look at. An issue I have is the camera work - sometimes the camera work can be VERY off at times. The show would constantly cut to different perspectives in some of the scenes and it becomes a headache to look at. It's especially bad at the beginning of the Happy Day In Hell song - where the camera looks like it's having a stroke during the sequence as it constantly cuts to different perspectives a LOT.

That being said - the camera work is mostly fine throughout the rest of the show so it's not too bad. So overall, the animation looks fine. I don't love it, but I don't hate it.

2. The Comedy

The show's comedy is...actually pretty ok. There were a few jokes that got a good laugh out of me, especially in episode 3, the episode that isn't written by Viv, so it therefore is the funniest episode of the show so far. I am surprised by the lack of sex jokes in the show which is at least a plus. That being said, a lot of the jokes in the show don't really land - mainly the ones that Angel Dust makes. So really, the comedy is OK. I don't hate it, but I also don't love it either.

3. Worldbuilding & Plot

So now let's talk about the main plot of the show as well as its world-building. Ok so the main conflict for the show is that due to someone killing an Angel during the last extermination - the exterminations are going to happen twice as fast now (6 months instead of one year). The mystery of what happened to the angel...lasts for about two episodes before we're given an answer in episode 3, and then it's just resolved like that.

Aside from that the series mostly revolves around its premise so far which is good. Alright, now lets talk about the lore and worldbuilding - basically Lucifer used to be an angel in Hevean but was seen as a trouble maker and Adam demanded that Lilith fuck him (or something Idk Idr) and Lucifer and Lilith fell in love blah blah blah Lucifer gave an apple to his new lover Eve blah blah blah the apple was cursed blah blah blah the apple created hell blah blah blah It sent evil to the world and Hevean was pissed about that so they banished them to hell blah blah blah Lucifer became sad blah blah blah Lilith didn't blah blah blah Hevean started doing exterminations because they were afraid of Hell's power.

(Semi-accurate description of the opening exposition dump). Ok so a few things; 1) I already asked this in another post but why did Hell never choose to fight back against Heaven when Heaven shouldn't have any power over hell because Hell was a realm created by Lucifer? Also, why does Heaven even have any power over Hell to begin with? and 2) So Heaven is eeeevil now and is going to kill all of Hell. Like I already said, it would have been more interesting if Heaven wasn't evil, and it also would've been better than this Hevean v Hell war we're probably going to get in the finale.

They even changed the reasoning to why Heaven started doing the exterminations, instead of it being because of an overpopulation problem now it's because Heaven was afraid of Hell's power...

...which contradicts the pilot which is canon to the series. But then the show just goes back to the overpopulation problem as the reason for the exterminations???? Like??? Which is it, is it because Heaven is evil or because of an overpopulation problem??? PICK ONE!!!

Hell is also kinda boring of a setting, it's just our world except red. That's it. So the lore and worldbuilding is kinda eh, Heaven is just evil cuz ofc it is and the lore has some problems. Its funny to how one of the lyrics of Adam's big villain song is "its all black and white", and since Adam is the bad guy and Charlie's goal is to redeem sinners, the show is trying to go for a "it's NOT black and white" message, but that's kinda ironic considering that this Heaven/Hell conflict is very black and white in it of itself; Hell good Heaven evil. That's it. Not saying black-and-white conflicts with a good guy and a bad guy are bad, most shows can make them work and be interesting, but Heaven would have been more interesting if it wasn't evil, at least IMO.

4. The Voice Actors

A lot of the discourse surrounding Hazbin until its release was the new voice actors. Let me just say I don't dislike the voice actors here; I think they are fine and they fit the characters decently well. Their singing is also decent as well. So I don't dislike any of the voices, they are fine for the most part and fit decently well with the characters.

5. The Songs

The songs so far are...fine. If there was one thing that HB consistently got right, it was the songs. Even if I dislike HB, the songs are actually pretty good (for the most part...). Hazbin's songs are...decent. There aren't any songs that I can say are bad, though I have some issues with the show's music; mainly the fact that the show sometimes shoves in songs...for the sake of having a song.

If you want to make a musical with songs you need to make sure each song has a distinct purpose for the story; take "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Before this song, it's pretty easy to infer that Ariel has an interest in the surface world - with her collecting human stuff and all. But the song further shows us her desire to see the surface - to see what it's like above water. It shows her desire to see the surface in the form of a song - it has a purpose within the story because it tells you something about the character.

Hazbin Hotel meanwhile sometimes has a problem when it comes to shoving in songs for the sake of meeting the song quota; the two biggest examples are "Hell is Forever" and "Respectless", as well as "Whatever It Takes". These songs are all completely unnecessary and they give us information that could have been communicated through simple dialogue rather than characters bursting out singing.

"Respectless" in particular feels less like a song and more like the characters just...singing a conversation with each other. The song is completely unnecessary and is just there to fill the song quota per episode. None of the songs I've mentioned are necessarily bad, but they suffer from being unneeded (HB also sometimes has this problem in season 2 mainly in episodes 3, 4, and 7).

Aside from that issue - the songs are...fine. None of them are bad but some of them are kinda useless and don't serve much of a purpose. I at least liked Happy Day in Hell and Poison, aside from that most of the songs are...ok. I just don't find most of them that memorable.

6. The Characters

Now, let's talk about the characters. First I'll talk about the main cast then the villains.

Charlie - I think Charlie's...fine. I always like overly positive and happy characters for protagonists so I was going to like Charlie anyway. She's fine; she's easy to root for and she's likable enough.

Vaggie - Vaggie's also fine. I do like her snark in episode 3, but aside from that there isn't much that interesting about her.

Nifty - Nifty's cute. Nifty's funny. I like Nifty.

Angel Dust - sigh Ok so I didn't like Angel Dust in episode 1 because of the fact he was another character whose one character trait is being excessively horny. And I also find all his jokes painfully unfunny. I'm not really in a position to judge how well his abuse from Val was handled so since I held a poll asking SA victim's thoughts on episode 4 and most of them voted no I'll just say that they didn't handle it very well and move on. So ya don't care for Angel Dust.

Alastor - Ah yes the creepy radio demon. He's also fine, I like his whole style and stuff.

Husk - Husk's whole purpose in the first three episodes is pretty much just to be pissed off at stuff, I kinda liked the scene where he talked to Angel Dust in episode 4 but aside from that, Husk is kinda just..fine...like everyone in this main cast.

Now let's talk about the villains so far!

Adam - Don't care for him. Sigh look Adam could be an entertaining villain but so far his dialogue and jokes are just painfully unfunny and I don't care for him as a villain. I could talk about his sidekick whose name I forgot but she's gotten so little screen time I can't form an opinion on her yet.

Also isn't it funny how HH was meant to be a female-focused show yet the males get more focus so far (As I've already talked about)? Ya, I thought so too. Anyways, the characters are...fine. I don't hate any of them, but I also don't really love any of them either. None of them are that interesting so far to me.

That's pretty much what I can say about everything in this show so far; I don't hate the animation but I don't love it either, I don't hate the comedy but I don't love it either, I don't hate the songs but I don't love them either, I don't hate any of the characters but I don't love them either.

7. Conclusion

So, that's my current thoughts on HH based on the first four episodes. Well...it's certainly a show that I watched. It's amazing to me how a show could be so consistently painfully average in pretty much EVERYTHING, from the animation to the songs to the comedy to the characters, to the episodes themselves, Hazbin Hotel is the most painfully average show I've watched so far. It's not bad so far, but it isn't good either. Again, maybe the show will improve when the latter half of season 1 comes out...

...or it will just get worse. I'm expecting the latter unfortunately due to the trailers making it look like there's going to be a Heaven/Hell war which means the show is probably going to abandon its premise like its spin-off (...that came before the main show was released). But ya, Hazbin Hotel is painfully average so far, probably a 6/10 so far, expecting the show to probably get worse, goodbye.

[unreadpoppy]

Castlevania Nocturne Season 2 Overall Thoughts (spoilers ahead)

Okay now that I finished everything, time to put what I thought into coherent sentences.

I left season one of Nocturne feeling very whelmed by it and I am glad that season 2 is a lot better. The final 3 episodes, in particular, were my favorite as they had a very good balance of emotional scenes and action heavy scenes. I will, I still don't think Nocturne is as good as the original series, but its a step forwards and it left me excited to see what the future holds for Castlevania.

The art style is still not one I particularly enjoy but there's nothing to be done about that. The fight scenes, however, were amazing and its very fun how every character has a distinct fighting style.

Story wise, I still think this season suffered from the main issue of season one (too many plot points going on at the same time, leaving a very unfocused main story) but its way more focused. There were still a lot of flashbacks, but at the very least, they helped in explaining some of the character motivations. Also, I am glad that they wrapped up the main story, because as the future of castlevania hangs in the balance, I'd rather that things have an ending than have a cliffhanger.

Speaking of characters, let's go through them. Unpopular opinion but I really do not care for Drolta. Learning her motivations and that she was ultimatly the one pulling the strings all along was interesting but I really still think she's a bit...dull for me. I don't know, I think its because we spend so little time with her, it's difficult for me to care about her and not be like 'yay alucard beat her ass'. Her final scene, though, was very emotional. Erszbet is a terrible villain and I'm glad she got killed off.

Annette and Olrox continue to be the best characters of this show. Annette's arc of seeing the spirits and then going to help Sekhmet was really good and I love her and her romance with Richter. She's strong, she's reasonable, she has an amazing backstory and I loved every scene she was in.

Olrox is so complex. He's been around for a LONG time, and he's the sort of guy where his alliagences lie with himself only. His relationship with Mizrak is so toxic, but I do like that they showed that Olrox really cares for him (Because part of me wondered, in season one, if this was temporary for him or not and nope, Olrox really does love him, even if its bad). Also, props to him for being the other most reasonable person and burning that fucking book.

Maria and Juste's arc where each of them come into their own magic was really sweet. The beggining scene of episode six that shows Maria, Tera and Richter years ago was very touching, and I like that she killed her father (thank god, cause I really did not care for that dude). Its funny that two characters who are so apart in age have similar arcs, and I think their pseudo-surrogate father daughter relationship, while not having a lot of time under the sun, was sweet.

Richter really came into his own this season. Loved seeing him using both his magic and the whip (sniff, sypha and trevor would be proud) and like... I should go into this in its own post but its interesting to see how different he and trevor are when it comes to the Belmont legacy. Also, his love for Annette is beautiful and his fighting scenes were some of the best.

Finally, I have to talk about him, the man of the hour, my love, ALUCARD. I'm so glad he's back. Somehow, his presence here is even more depressing and I think its because when we meet him in the OG series, he's like what, 20 something? Now, we meet an Alucard who's been alive for 300+ years, who has seen people he love die and die again. He's a very different man but he still retains a lot of his personality, especially when dealing with Richter (loved their kinda like "old man" dynamic). Also, I am SO interested in learning more about what Alucard did between the ending of the first show and his appearance in this one (the 'countless times', him and Olrox having history, the fact that he has kept close to the Belmont family). Also, him playing the same moves as Dracula did made me SCREAM. (though, i'm still NOT a huge fan of his design here but you get used to it).

Overall, I think this season is a whole lot better than the first, it closes enough chapters that it can work as a satisfying conclusion while leaving this open for the future. It left me excited for whats to come and with a taste of wanting more. I'll give it a 6.5/10.

[bonesandthebees]

Arcane makes book club anons come out of lurking lmao (and I'm no exception). I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts and possible analysis when you finish season 2! Likes and dislikes and everything in between, like a full-blown post with 'read more' lol.

Hope you get better soon! Wish all the warmth and coziness ^^

-🌹

OKAY FINALLY FINISHED I'VE BEEN HOLDING ONTO THIS ASK ROSE

so I definitely have Thoughts on arcane that I'll throw under the cut

ok. so overall I really really liked the show. I got a LOT spoiled for me before I watched it (even though I tried to avoid spoilers it just kept ending up on my dash) so that might be why I was okay with some of the more 'controversial' writing choices since I already knew they were coming. like I knew that Vander was still alive going into s2 and was going to come back, I knew Isha was going to die, I knew Jinx was going to die, I knew Viktor and Jayce were going to have a Madoka Magica-esque homoerotic ascending into the universe kind of ending so like I had a lot of knowledge going into it

I've seen a lot of criticism about Isha's death feeling pointless and while I get where that's coming from, personally I didn't mind it because of the drastic change it sparked in Jinx's character. you could argue she was already going in this direction anyway with realizing that she had to step up and do things to help others and that Isha didn't need to die for that, but personally I still think it made sense. I do wish they had spent a little more time fleshing out Jinx's role as an older sister/mother figure to Isha and how that probably changed her perspective of Vi because there's no way that didn't affect how she looked back at her childhood memories with Vi now understanding what it was like to be in Vi's shoes. but I get it, they only had limited time so I'm not, like, upset about it.

however, I do think I have an issue with Jinx dying as a writing choice. while I do appreciate the 'poetic' nature of it with Vander finally getting to rest and one of his daughters needing to take him down, I also think it just didn't need to happen? Jinx and Vi could've both pushed him off the platform and Jinx could've tossed one of her bombs down after him. while I understand the character arc of her sacrificing herself for Vi, I think we'd already reached that point of her character growth by her teaming up with Ekko and joining the final battle and fighting side by side with her sister in the first place. it definitely felt like Jinx's death was kind of just thrown in because the writers wanted to make it feel more like a bittersweet ending than anything else. I will say though, I do understand that Jinx's ending was going to be a tricky one for the writers to figure out no matter what. she did, yknow, commit an act of terrorism and murder several politicians so it would still feel weird for her to get off scot free after that, but maybe she could've just left Piltover/Zaun entirely and gone off to explore the world or something. I just think there were alternatives the writers could've considered.

those were my main issues with the show though. otherwise I really really loved it. call me controversial but I love Caitlyn and Vi and their whole messed up thing going on. I definitely feel like Vi joining the enforcers in Act 1 was REALLY strange for her but I do feel like it was a character choice that made sense after the terrorist attack at the funeral and also everything she'd just recently been through with her sister. Now do I think she would've gone along with Caitlyns' gassing plan... ehhhh debatable but I'm going to let it slide.

But Caitlyn I adore because she's such a messy character. Yes, I like the cop because I like that she's a really shitty person. I like how she's written, sue me. I loved seeing her good intentions and morals get so twisted in s2. I think it was incredibly fucked up of her to use the gas against the Zaunites to try and hunt Jinx down and it's a great example of how horribly messed up she was by her mother's death! And I think her entire dynamic with Ambessa was so well done. Caitlyn was mourning her mother and angry and desperate to find a direction to put that anger in, and Ambessa, a mother, hands her an army and tells her what direction to point her anger in. I've seen some people argue about whether Caitlyn was aware she was being manipulated by Ambessa or not because of that scene where Vi points out to her that Ambessa was doing that and Caitlyn says "I know" and to me it seemed very clear that Caitlyn was saying that she knew she was being manipulated only in retrospect, not during it.

Like, I'm not over here trying to defend Caitlyn's dictator arc or say she gets an excuse because she was manipulated. She still had choice and agency and did some very terrible things but I think it's fascinating how she got to that point and I can understand the circumstances that altered her mind to get to that place. And again, I think it's very important to recognize that Caitlyn had just lost her mother who she had a very complicated relationship with, while Ambessa was a mother herself and while she might not have been traditionally motherly, she definitely positioned herself as a mother-type figure towards Caitlyn in terms of giving her guidance and wanting to push her in the direction she wanted. Caitlyn was such a moral part of the show in s1 so I just really loved seeing how twisted she got in s2.

Okay I rambled a lot about Caitlyn but I have a lot of feelings about her. I like really well-written bad people with good intentions. This is very long now but I have soooo many thoughts about this show and I really loved it even if I do have a few issues here and there. The animation and music and characterization of everyone was so good and I had such a fun time watching it. Also just, so many incredible female characters. They're all so different and complicated and arghhhhhh yes this show is incredible with its women. I haven't even gotten to Mel and how much I love her or Sevika and how she's my favorite female dad figure lmao. But very good show overall!!!

[tnglesbian]

Assorted thoughts and quotes I liked from "Imbalance" by V.E. Mitchell

• I enjoyed Riker getting to have a musical moment! The chapter made me want to pick up my cello.

@overseer-picard Hi!! Book #2!!

• In a similar vein to how I chose the first book, I chose this one because Beverly is on the cover 🥰

• Keiko's inclusion was a pleasant surprise! I like her character, so when I realized she was a main character in the plot I was excited for more content.

• I liked the utilization of multiple perspectives. It kept the suspense alive, and I enjoyed weaving the storylines together.

---

• The issues Keiko and Miles had throughout the book were a can of worms I didn't really want to unpack while reading. This book felt very 90s. As happy as I was to have Keiko in the story, I ended up disliking much of her storyline.

• Overall, the writing was good. The plot was interesting. I can't say it's a book I would've picked up if not for these characters, but it was a good read! It was a very action driven sci-fi story. It didn't have as much of an episode-like feel as "Boogeymen", but that's fine because it was a solid book.

• I appreciated the lack of typos lol.

• I enjoyed the book! I don't know how motivated I'd feel to reread it, but I'm glad I read it! I don't read sci-fi very often, so I'm having fun with this avenue of venturing into the genre.

1.

It should be noted that I also point out every time this happens while watching the show. I love the inclusion in both books I've read so far.

2.

I already texted you about this, but man, Riker is always going through it. Is it even a Riker-centric scene if he's not getting battered and bruised? He did not have a single moment of peace in this book. He was concerned for Picard's well-being every time he went to the planet. He was nervous about offending the aliens when he accompanied their musicians. He was totally bruised, swollen, and had poisoned scratches all over himself, but instead he focused on Beverly's (mostly healed!) scratch on her arm.

I think I've mentioned it before, but the turning point for me starting to like Riker's character while watching the show was a result of him getting beat up so much at the end of season 1/beginning of season 2. This whole book, I felt bad for him 😭. He's just a traumatized little guy (I say about a grown man over 6 feet all).

3.

Beverly has my heart forever. It's very sweet that Wesley was at the forefront of her mind while she was in danger, and she was comforted by knowing he wasn't facing the same danger. It also seems very in character for her to acknowledge how bad her situation was while also pre-planning how she would repackage the story as to not concern Wesley.

Wesley may not have been involved in this story, but I enjoyed knowing he was in Beverly's thoughts.

---

Additional thoughts:

• I thought it was funny that Worf and Riker ended up in fairly similar situations, but they had entirely different outcomes. Worf strategically got himself out of the compound and was rescued by the Enterprise. Riker severely injured himself, and then he escaped the compound by being kidnapped and taken to a second location. 💀

• I guessed pretty immediately that Keiko was pregnant. It's a pretty used trope that if a woman in a committed relationship in a book is suddenly puking a bunch, the reveal will be that she's pregnant.

• While watching TNG, my brother and I would frequently say, "Picard in trouble. Riker most affected." In this book, I would say it was Worf who was most affected. Every single chapter in Worf's perspective, half of his thoughts were that it was his duty to save Picard. It was fun seeing Picard's amusement at Worf's dedication to his job + warrior status.

[charles-leclerc-official]

my thoughts are that ferrari may have seen less incentive risking charles’s PU for mexico, when they understand that they can just maximize a P3 there. considering charles’s discomfort and lack of practice running, i think they ultimately decided they could not risk damaging his PU and needing him to take on a penalty in exchange for a new one, especially given his particular driving style + the ferrari’s altitude issues in the past.

and moreover, they probably found more incentive in preventing a penalty considering they definitely know that charles is the one to rely on for their final push for points. we saw this last year when the other ferrari driver all but disappeared in the last stretch of races fighting for p2 in the wcc and charles was left carrying the team in abu dhabi. tldr; after my initial frustrations wore off, i kind of understand at least some of the reasoning behind protecting charles’s PU in mexico, regardless if it turned out he had an issue in the race or not. ultimately, i hope this works out in charles’s favor in the long run! forza charles!

I agree, I think that it was frustrating to watch in the moment. When you look at the numbers and the performance Charles was getting from practice and quali it was evident things were not optimized. And yes it does seem there were greater concerns about his PU and to a certain extent Carlos' as well. I don't think Carlos would have been able to push too much if Lando had actually caught up.

Which honestly I am impressed if these are the results we get when things are not optimized with the car and for Charles. It's a step up.

I think people have misunderstood Fred's comment of "there were no issues" first I think he was covering as they were checking Charles car for damage post race (the chassis) and also that's the point. There were no problems because of the preventative measures. It will come down to opinion on whether someone thinks they were too conservative on pace on Sunday. But at the end of the day I have no way of knowing, they are the ones with the real time temp and engine data.

And if you look Charles was on the exact same pace as Carlos in that second stint, that was the target pace for both cars. It didn't work for Charles I think because he was dealing with some understeer in a few corners, and also the overall condition of the PU has been questioned, among other small conditional factors.

I know someone is going to come in here and talk about stint 1 again, and I'll say I think it was pretty clear they did not want Charles and Carlos to fight for position on track.

Ultimately I think you can tell when a weekend was bad. It's usually pretty clear, and while things were a little tense they were clearly not "I'm gonna burn down the garage" bad.

And I would like to remind people that before you attribute something to a conspiracy or to malice, usually the most boring explanation is what actually happened. 99 times out of 100 it's the boring answer.

Also you are very right, the final stint of races are strong for Charles, 2 tracks in particular. Carlos was the stronger and more comfortable in Mexico, he was all weekend that's reflected in the data and Charles fully explains he was not where he wanted to be and they were managing with the limited practice. So I think strategically it all made sense.

Charles has always pulled strong performances at the end of the season, so this run of tracks should be good.

Like I think we need to put into perspective that was a P3 finish with a less than perfect setup, limited practice time, and the need for extra PU management. Based on some things with the team I think the P3 finish was what they were targeting/expecting.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Ranting about the old Netflix Marvel shows:

Looking back at the original NMCU as a whole, while I think the general consensus is that this side of the MCU fell off when “Iron Fist” premiered, I think the real issue is more complicated then that. I think that the Netflix shows started off strong, but couldn’t implement their long-term plans for their side of the universe due to mismanagement/lack of collaboration. Oddly enough, the NMCU sorta reflects the current issues with Phases 4 and 5 of the mainstream MCU.

When you look at the shows overall, it feels like a bunch of creators were given free reign with these characters, and it shows. All of them had their own distinct identity, as well as what audience they were targeting. The problems started occurring when the shows had to start connecting.

I can’t say this for sure, but it really feels like no one was put in a Kevin Feige-like position to direct the overall journey. Instead, it feels like Jeph Loeb and Marvel Television (which was its own thing before being absorbed by Marvel Studios) just sorta mandated that the shows need to have a big crossover event. It made sense, especially since the Arrowverse was pulling this off as an annual thing with their shows. While it sounds good on paper, I feel like none of the teams behind each show were in sync with each other:

1) Daredevil didn’t really find a good way to balance the needs of the show and the needs of the crossover. Rewatch season 2 and you’ll notice that while the Punisher storyline feels more thought-out, the Elektra storyline feels jumbled and incomplete. In fact, the first 4 episodes are focused on Frank, and then all of a sudden, Elektra is pushed into the story. I can’t prove this but it feels like the original idea was to focus on Frank Castle, but then Elektra had to be introduced in order to set up “The Defenders”. Which was premiering the following year.

2) Jessica Jones didn’t even bother building up into “The Defenders”.

3) Neither did “Luke Cage”.

4) Although I have a ton of separate issues with “Iron Fist”, I do feel sorry for the production team. This show had the unfortunate burden of having to introduce its hero while also doing most of the build-up for the crossover. To make matters worse, if you read up on the behind-the-scenes development, you would know that the show was rushed out. Finn Jones was literally learning the fight choreography minutes before filming.

I have this funny feeling that Marvel Television set up the schedule for each show and refused to change it. Given more time, Netflix could’ve made it work. I can easily imagine the Elektra storyline being its own season of “Daredevil”, “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage” each having a season focused on the Hand, and “Iron Fist” being given more breathing room to introduce Danny Rand before diving into the crossover.

But let’s say Marvel Television didn’t want to make people wait that long for a crossover. Then they still failed to move the storyline of the shows in a way that could naturally lead into “The Defenders”. You’re telling me Jessica and Luke couldn’t have at least had a 1-2 episode subplot about the Hand? Or that the Daredevil team couldn’t have introduced Frank Castle later on in order to prioritize Elektra, who is arguably the most important character in the crossover? “Iron Fist”, while not a good show, at least tried to lead into the crossover.

(Side note: Just as a reminder, a common problem people had with the NMCU was that each season was too long at 13 episodes and that the shows didn’t have enough story to squeeze in. Jessica and Luke could’ve definitely worked in a 1-2 episode Hand stand-alone subplot to offset these issues)

I don’t mean for this post to take away from any of these shows. I still am fond of the NMCU. But looking back at it, I can’t help but feel that they were mismanaged. Good on their own, but since they had a crossover miniseries set up, there needed to be stronger collaboration between each show. Or, at least move the damn crossover if the shows weren’t ready for one.

[miyagi-hokarate]

Random assortment of season 6 part 2 thoughts:

To repost my own edit

I had issues with certain things of course — WHICH I WILL GET INTO — however, I think a lot of the emotional, interpersonal relationship dynamics, because the cast was just less cluttered at a time with a specific event happening, worked better in having conflict and resolution than in part 1

OKAYYYY SO maybe this is recency bias in play, but I feel like this part was OVERALL less frustrating and enraging for me than part 1?

First off: what the fuck was up with the lighting decisions

The good things: like I said, as frustrating it could have been, most of the interpersonal conflicts felt like they came from realistic and understandable issues arising in each character. I commend the maturity Sam, Devon, etc. reacted when Tory came back to Cobra Kai in particular — but even if it raised tension, the aggression between Miguel and Robby, Anthony and Kenny, the Binary Bros and Kenny, etc., didn't feel half-assed and made for conflict for the sake of conflict

I can't say the same for Daniel and Johnny :/ but they get the fucking short end of the stick, big surprise. Divorced energies awf the CHARTS 💯💯💯

They're still fighting over who's the most right or wrong when THEIR KIDS ARE IN THE TRENCHES BECAUSE THEY NEED A FUCKING STRATEGY

I will never Not complain about Johnny and Daniel respectively being karate dads to their kiddos though. Idiot jackasses who fight all the time they are, they're so cute when they're giving guidance :')

And they were ROOMMATES

My indifference and complaints of the Sekai Taikai aside, part 2 ending in an all-out international karate war is nothing short of what I expected from the show. I do have to commend the tremendous amount of choreography and energy pulsing through the fight, without it losing its momentum

Oh and the other competitors were there too

RIP Kwon. You never slayed harder than when you killed yourself

Kreese (SCREAMING). Silver (SCREAMINGGGGGGG). Dennis (hey buddy welcome back :D)

RIP Snake

I WAS MOMENTARILY RIGHT ABOUT MIYAGI-DO 3RD PLACE AND COBRA KAI 5TH HAHAHAHAHA

Anyways I'm sooooooooo angry about the recent developments of Mr. Miyagi you have no idea ❤️

To reiterate: I'm so unamused by this plot twist that Mr. Miyagi was involved in crime, murder(s), the Sekai Taikai, etc., because it's nakedly transparent that the only reason this new development had existed is so that the writers could connect their show to one of the few characters whose writing is strictly stuck in the 80s: Mr. Miyagi. Pat Morita can't return to play his character again, so the writers aren't able to portray Mr. Miyagi according to how they see fit — UNLESS they change his character, film flashbacks, and/or reveal information that isn't shared through the character directly. And with what we've GOTTEN already of Mr. Miyagi's character (escaped his village so he wouldn't have to battle to the death his friend, sent into an internment camp with his new family, partook in war (either willingly or drafted), lost his family, considered an outsider still in his community, etc.), what does this Secret Dark Past of Mr. Miyagi really show that's any different, or even as resonant, as what we've gotten? Besides connecting Mr. Miyagi's backstory to something the new show invented. And that's my problem

Carmen being regulated to mildly supportive mom/love interest for one episode 💔 love to see her for five minutes before being put back into storage alongside Rosa

I'm gonna complain about Kumiko, Kim, and Chozen. Why.

OKAY. IT WAS ALREADY ANNOYING THAT WE HADN'T SEEN KUMIKO SINCE SEASON 3, AND YET THERE WAS ALL THIS TALK ABOUT HOW CHOZEN WAS SUPPOSEDLY IN LOVE WITH HER. BUT SHE'S STILL A NONCHARACTER TALKED AROUND, BUT NEVER TOO??? IT'S LIKE COBRA KAI DECIDED THEY DON'T HAVE TO CARE ABOUT WOMEN IF THEY NEVER SHOW THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE JUST GET NOTHING ON KUMIKO'S SIDE OF THIS???? KUMIKO???? FUCK OFF

AND FOR THAT MATTER, Kim and Chozen having hatesex was mildly aggravating but whatever. Okay fine. Pair the spares. Regulate Sensei Kim's character to either FOR MY (GRAND)FATHER/HONOR, abusive Tiger Mom, or Love Interest of Chozen. Fucking whatever.

Someone else had already made this point before, but as terrible as Sensei Wolf's physical abuse is, it is a little funny seeing how it's treated with so much gravitas, when Johnny is Still throwing glass bottles at the kids, having a history of disregard for safety, etc etc.

In a similar vein of discussion, we don't have to worry about this same thing happening to Chozen's alcohol issues! Because it's being treated with the same seriousness as Johnny's alcohol issues 🙃

I most definitely had other thoughts, buuut those are what I can remember at the time ahdajfjsjks. Overall, when it was good it was good, and when it was bad it was AGGRAVATING TO MY VERY CORE. See you all for part 3 😮‍💨

[misc-obeyme]

I had all these plans to finish a bunch of writing and then BAM Season 2 started with Lesson 21 and I got supremely distracted. I wasn't expecting it to come out so soon?!? I really thought there would be more time in between seasons. But I am not complaining!

At this point, I feel weird if I don't write a post about the lesson, so here I am. I swear I'll get back to writing fics after this lol.

Spoilers and screenshots below:

Okay so we've got the founding of RAD, MC and Solomon losing their magic, and characters acting weird.

The loss of MC's magic is pretty obvious and easy to understand. Like it works sometimes, but it doesn't at other times. (Though I have to say here that if the brothers asked me to open a jar with magic, I would laugh at them. I've never met a jar I couldn't open. It's called hot water. BUT ANYWAY) And obviously when they do use their magic, it's not as strong as it used to be. Solomon says he's having the same issue. He obviously notices it when he banishes the hellfire salamander, though if you ask him about it, he just says it's nothing. Which is funny because then he tells you all about his problem with it later when you're making dinner. I swear I lose my mind every time they use that clown music in the story.

Anyway, the most interesting part of this to me was when Solomon said these things:

At first I was like, is that what's happening? They're making it so that MC can't go back? Isn't that what we are all dreading?!

But then if you say you don't think you'll do it in time he says this:

Okay?? So should I be concerned or not?! I don't want to get stuck in the past, I want them to bring us back to the present or maybe merge the timelines or something?! I dunno, but I really can't figure out how they're going to wrap this up in a way that works. Unless they do what happened last time MC went to the past and erase everyone's memories. Which was something Michael did...

But overall, this situation seems pretty cut and dry. Gotta get those pacts, yo.

Mammon, on the other hand...

He seems to be going through something, huh? The thing is I can't figure out what it is. Something is definitely up, but what? Also it kinda seems like Simeon might be involved in this somehow?

MC is hurt. Mammon wants them to pay for the ointment that will heal them. Simeon shows up and just does it himself.

MC finds the coin and gives it to Simeon. Mammon takes it for himself and Simeon's just like yeah okay that's fine.

Then in the HARD LESSON (SPOILERS) Simeon actually blesses Mammon with good luck before he goes out to look for the lost coin. Not to mention their whole conversation about the Celestial Realm and the hot cocoa... (END SPOILERS)

And MC is aware that Mammon is not acting normally. But Simeon seems to be his usual self? I'm just wondering if whatever is going on with Mammon, Simeon might be the one to help him somehow? It kinda seemed to me like Mammon was being more greedy than usual, like something going on with his sin?

But MC isn't the only one who's noticed something is up with Mammon.

May I present: Lucifer, Avatar of Ellipses -

...

What is going on with this guy? I mean, okay, not all of these were about Mammon, but I'm pretty sure most of them were.

Anyway, Lucifer does this thing where it's obvious he's thinking about something or he's worried about something, but he just doesn't say anything about it. It drives me crazy. I'm like listen here MC is right there! Talk to them!

Okay that's all I really had to say about the lesson and story stuff, but there are a few other things that I just loved.

SIMEON oh my gosh the way he swoops in and heals MC I was like yes, please heal me forever thank you.

His precious look of concern...

... and then this confident smile!? I just love him.

Also going grocery shopping with Lucifer and Beel in 21-A was just so sweet and domestic?! Neither of them could remember what any of their brothers wanted, they would have been totally useless without MC there rattling everything off. It was adorable, but also just soft times with Lucifer are always my favorite thing.

Yeah. Concerned about how you can bottle all your feelings and still be so hot.

Anyway!

Wherever they're going with this magic weakening thing better not result in MC stuck in the past forever. But I do hope we're getting some Mammon story now because I love him, too.

[toddandersonn]

Alright, here are my thoughts on S3

I liked how they had Tara and Darcy having issues over space and all, but settling easily without going with the "ohhh, so you just don't want me around" angle that I feared they would

While the whole "neglecting your friends to be with your partner 24/7" is kinda cliche, I think it was done well, and I liked how they had each character realize that they need their friends as much as their significant other and that they don't need to be with their partner every second of the day.

Isaac's plotline might be my favorite, I loved how he got more to do this season.

Tao and Elle were adorable, I think both of them got a good storyline... I liked seeing Elle fitting at her new school and Tao making all those tapes.

Charlie's arc at the clinic and Nick wanting to help and not knowing how were pretty well-adapted.

While I was worried about the absence of Nick's mom, I think the aunt character managed to fill in her role pretty well.

The scenes with Charlie and his mom were also pretty good.

Darcy and their grandmother's interactions were very sweet

Liked seeing Oliver... wouldn't have minded if they had just added him as their sibling and just pretended he was away there.

Onto the negatives:

Not enough Tori this season, I don't think they've touched on Tori x Michael that much, and I think a couple more scenes would've been good.

The pacing is kinda all over place... episodes 1-2 are rather dull and slow to get through, episodes 3-6 are good and engaging, while episodes 7-8 go back to the early dullness of the first 2 episodes (though that could be just because I didn't really like the 5th comic that much and these last 2 episodes cover the events of that volume).

A little bit let down that they've left the whole Imogen x Sahar hanging in the air... I mean they didn't, but they kinda did at the same time?

Overall, I'd say this is a 7/10... not bad by any means, but definitely my least favorite season

[17dvds]

Your top 5 relationships (not just romantic ones, anything!) in The West Wing?

... OK in writing this i realize i could do top 15 and still not be done. Thank you for the question and sorry for the ramblings:

1. Charlie and President Bartlet. 'He gave him the kniiiiiife'. Seriously, the father-to-son-he-never-had. How protective Charlie is of Bartlet, like when he realized that basically his girlfriend was a reporter he dropped her in a SECOND. "He's not just the president". Charlie faffing around to avoid graduating from COLLEGE so he could serve the President. Man was in such a hurry to graduate he did half of college while in high school, and slammed on the brakes to stay with Bartlet. The Knife! And the watch! Basically saying "i love you like a son" SO many times.

2. Josh and Donna. I mean. Every episode? How Janelle decided from the beginning to play Donna as if she was in love with Josh. "If you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for beer.". "If you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for red lights". And they were fighting at the time! Or at least Donna was super hurt! And she still said "i love you too and I love you more". Or at least was more aware of the fact that she was in love with Josh than Josh was aware of being in love with Donna. I don't think he really REALLY knew before she left to work for Russel. He just took her for granted kinda. And how she took care of him in Noel. And was the first to notice. And helped him with the MS!

3. Josh and Sam (I love Josh). I love Rob Lowe, he was the perfect foil for Josh. The fireplace! Josh flying out three times to get Sam to work for two separate president's. Perfect. The shorthand they had. "haven't said I'm signing on, but I can tell you this: I won't stay unless you go. One of us is getting on a plane tonight. If it's you, you're back in a week. If it's me, I'm gone, adios, for good.". For all the faults the last few seasons had, bringing sam back the way they didn't wasnt one of him. Theirsupport! So many things they were the only ones supporting each other, in the Oval sometimes! And when Josh had his PTSD, how he helped him. And Josh helped Sams campaign in CA (though that was more Toby).

4. CJ and Danny. OK so before I found your blog I never thought of CJ as lesbian/bi, and now I can kinda see it, and definitely if Sorkin (or maybe someone else) was wrote it 10+ years later she could be. But I always liked Danny and CJ together. Just the flirting and how he pursued her and also respected her boundaries and on my last rewatch she never said she didn't like him like that! Allllll the times he argued they should date and there was nothing wrong with she didn't explicitly say "i don't like you", it was her moral issues with the press which he respected and let her set the boundaries. "But if you keep kissing me what do i care". But he was still a reporter. Didn't take the Take Out The Trash Day story because he was in love with her, but still investigated the assassination! And stood up to her, and she let him! And then he left cause the new writers didn't know what to do with him and then the "jump off a cliff" and "i wanna talk cause i like the sound of your voice" and ugh such patience and maturity. And CJ flirting and kissing but being unsure and "that's how'd I'd get you" has me dying every time. She's hot and she knows it. They're great together and I like the idea of them staying together.

5. Bartlet and Leo. I just. It's the relationship that started all the others! "Bartlet for President". The napkin. I can't write as much especially about the last season or I'm gonna cry because John Spencer. But their relationship. The trust and friendship and the fighting and the love. Leo had the occasional awful character assassination (we dont always know how it ends? My Leo would never), but overall they looked out for each other. "I take a bullet for the President he doesn't take a bullet for me". There's like at least five episodes where Leo and Bartlet use the staff to protect each other against the others express wishes lmao.

Honorable Mention: Sam and Ainsley. They ABSOLUTELY did it in the kitchen in 17 People when they "looked for food". They had such great chemistry and I wish Emily Proctor was in every single episode.