#i had to fast forward through the whole of s3 and s4 to make this

[stardustinthesky]

Clark + kissing Lois's hand

[ghost-go-roasty-mctoasty]

Yk I've been thinking about this and while yeah theyve both gone through much growth together, I think that in terms of their co-dependency they genuinely just got worse.

My original post was worded to be more funny but what i was trying to get across was how Sam, still so young, possibly still with hope of going back to college, threw down everything for 6 whole months to try and bring Dean back. Like he genuinely became quite unstable trying to fix it. And even looking further than s3. In s4 Sam tried to trade places in hell with Dean to save him. Thats insane??? He literally begged a demon to send him to hell just so Dean could be alive and safe. And then ofc s5 when Sam actually did go to hell to save his brother, well, his brother and the world, but mostly his brother. Because what helped him gain back control from the Literal Devil inside of him? It was the fact that Dean was getting hurt.

And then after getting his hell memories back. What kept Sam sane? Making Dean his number 1 rock. And lets go even earlier when Sam was in his hell induced coma after Cas broke his wall. The fact that he was even able to stand, let alone walk all that way to Dean. And he was able to do it simply with the will power and the need to try and save Dean. Because whats the point of going on if you dont have Dean?

S8. Sam literally asked for forgivness from God to forgive him of his evil, treacherous sin of....letting Dean down. Sam genuinely believed that the way to make himself pure would be to repent for letting Dean down. And if that doesnt show how unhealthily attached there are....

And then, they had the opportunity to rid the earth of all demons, and what did they do? Left it as it is. Because Dean basically said that he can't live without Sam, and Sam didnt want to let him down again. He left all the pain of the trials behind simply because Dean didnt want to live without him.

Fast forward to s12. Sam didnt really care about his general well being with the bmol because well, Dean was dead. And whats the point of going on when theres no more Dean? (There aint no me if there aint no you)

And i know we joke about it, but even in that prison cell, they both killed themselves just so they could be with each other again. Like they actually made a deal with a reaper to get out of this prison so they could see each other again and accepted the terms that one of them would have to die?? And they both wanted to go so that they wouldnt have to live without their brother

And in s14, the only thing stopping Dean from getting in that box was Sam. Dean even said so himself! Dean didnt go through with the only thing that could stop Micheal because Sam didn't want Dean to give up and leave him...so he didn't.

Granted, i havent actually properly watched spn in a while, so i might be missing some details, but Sam and Dean have been through so much together, that its just become genuinely impossible for them to live without the other. I was just talking about Sam here but theyve both shown the extreme lengths they would go to to basically make sure that they dont have to keep going without their brother (soulmate)

So no, i genuinely do not understand how sam was even able to walk out of that barn, let alone move on and start a family. After growing up in such awful conditions, being dependent on each other since Sam could walk, their situations only getting worse after they reunited...for lack of a better word, theyre literally addicted to each other. Its not normal.

So after saving the Whole World, and finally getting their lives back, I dont see how Sam could let go that easily. Because theyve lost a lot of people in their lives, but they were always okay as long as they had each other. They were living together in the bunker and were perfectly content like that! They were probably even allowing themselves to think that they could grow old like this. So, i highly doubt that Sam didnt even at least try to bring his big brother back. No way he'd find it okay for Dean, after everything, to leave him like that.

And yes, i get it, theres no more chuck writing their story so hes not going to get a big fancy main character ending, rather a normal hunter ending, but still

Because these two are basically in a symbiotic relationship cmon

How can mystery spot Sam be carry on Sam

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 4 - Mr Pigeon 72

I have no idea where to start. This episode has some good things and some extremely stupid.

Marinette isn't still completely fine, but I prefer when she deals with it through being hyperactive than being a whining crybaby.

I know people don't agree with me, but personally I don't buy the whole revealing identity to Alya. It's not a problem with Alya herself, I would say the same about every single character who is not named Alix Kubdel at this point of the story. I haven't written anything in my post about Gang of Secrets, because I thought it would be undone in some way at the start of the next episode. The creators did nothing to explain why revealing identity of Ladybug to anyone was super dangerous and would result in a catastrophe in seasons 1-3 and the first two episodes of S4, but it's magically fine in episode 3. Only Alix made sense to me, as she will be the rabbit Miraculous holder, so she is destined to discover identities of everyone sooner or later and Marinette is aware of that. While it's not necessary to learn identity of anyone to other temporary Miraculous wielders, including Alya. Also that reveal hasn't been foreshadowed in season 3, while the show usually does it, especially if it's about something as important as that! More, in late S3, it's been shown that Alya still can't resist to not talking about Marinette's love life with Nino, despite she asked her to not do it. Now the girl, who is overly excited about superhero stuff, has no problems with even accidental revealing anything to Nino or someone else. She's even "stealing" Bunnix line that she's great at keeping secrets (sorry but you, the creators, haven't shown us that she's indeed is before!). This is why I think that reveal hasn't been planned before they started writing season 4.

But okay, I can deal with it, even if I don't buy it, but things these happened in Mr. Pigeon 72 are even more inconsistent with previous seasons. I have been worried about it, so it doesn't surprised me. For some reason Guardian related-things that have been kept in a secret before from everyone minus current Guardian and the future Guardian, are now fine being done in front of Kwamis (remember, they haven't been allowed to learn about making potions before!) and a civilian who is just a temporal Miraculous holder, not someone who is supposed to be trained to be a new Guardian. You can say - new Guardian, new rules, but why? Marinette has been portrayed as someone who respect authorities, she has never questioned any Fu's rules. It wasn't even said in the episode that she's going to change the rules. I hate that the writers don't even bother to explain us what's going on. Probably they don't bother about consistency, they think the audience is going to be too excited about Alya knowing Ladybug's identity and helping Marinette to question anything about it? How Alya could be allowed to learn the Guardian secrets? She is just best friend of the protagonist, she is not one of the main characters to get that special treatment. I makes zero sense to me. Especially since Su-Han will be introduced in episode 6 and he should help Marinette with understanding the Grimoire, Alya isn't necessary here for any other reason than fanservice.

In my opinion the way how they discovering how to make charms that protects from akumasitation was the most stupid thing that happened this season and one of the most in the whole show. Marinette who is the new Guardiand and portrayed as someone extreme intelligent and creative couldn't find the solution for days, but Alya with zero training magically discovered it in a few hours at worst. And when she told her the solution in not even very clear way, Ladybug did it immediately with no effort. That was so anticlimactic. At least the animation was fine, but other aspects of it was just a big disappointment, and I was looking forward for it. Thank goodness it's just the beginning of the season, I hope later important events of the season will be better written and portrayed.

Also I find it absurd that Rena Rough is walking with a page from the Grimoire like it's just an ordinary book and she's talking about it in front of a random civilian, like things that are written there are nothing special. She or Ladybug are not careful about Miraculous lore anymore. Not to mention that they are giving hints that Rena is very close to Ladybug in public, suspiciously close. And now with them being too careless, that's not hard to suspect that Rena Rouge is someone very close to Ladybug, maybe even as a civilian. Shadow Moth knows Rena Rouge's identity, and it's easy to him to learn who is Alya Cesaire's best friend if he doesn't know it yet, after all his son is in the class with her. Marinette has always been super careful and serious about her duties before, why that sudden change with zero explanation? It's just very out of character to her in my opinion.

I didn't like the akuma battle either, it's now the worst fight of the season in my opinion. It was so short and felt very lazy. I only liked that Plagg got some action and interaction with Ladybug (though it should be suspicious for her that he managed to reach to her that fast). He should be aware now that Alya knows Ladybug's identity but he acts like nothing happened. Not a word about it being unfair towards his kid or something, weird.

Thankfully the rest of the episode is generally more or less fun to me. It was nice to see Marinette and Kagami interacting again. I loved Kagami in the episode, although it was a bit weird to me that she isn't seemed to be affected by her breaking up with Adrien. Like her crush was very shallow, so she managed to recover herself from it very quickly. While it's been shown that Luka is hurt, despite Lukanette always seemed to be much more shallow than Adrigami in my opinion. But maybe it's because she's so down to earth, so being less emotional makes sense for her character. I liked how her attitude was opposite to Marinette's hyperactive: "No, I don't want to be in a relationship with Adrien again, he disappointed me, just let me live!!!". And she's another character who said that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other. I'm not surprised that Kagami sees it now when she tried to be with him and that didn't work. She's observant, sees more than many other characters. It seems she's an Adrienette shipper now. It's also good that her issue with Adrien wasn't resolved that easily and too fast. They need more time, but I'm sure they will be friends again.

So, we've gotten shirtless Adrien. I remember seeing a tweet of Thomas in which he answered to a question if there will be a beach episode and he said we will get something similar. I wonder if he meant this episode. Oh, they just remembered that Adrien is supposed to be allergic to feathers. It seems Adrien has allergic reactions only when it's somewhat related to the plot. When it's not, he's completely fine.

The reference to the famous Umbrella Scene™ out of nowhere in a random episode? It probably means something. I can see "reverse crush" supporters interpreting it as a proof to their theory, especially since this time Adrien did something clumsy and Marinette is laughing because of it (actually both of them). Or maybe because it's the first episode of season 4 with Marinette and Adrien interactions, they decided to be that much gracious for Adrienette fans, to compensate lack of it in the first three episodes. Oh wow, Marinette managed to propose spending more time together to Adrien without stuttering. Probably because she has done it spontaneously. Marinette is the most nervous when she's planning and thinking what could go wrong too much. This time she had no time to it, so it went more smoothly. It's like they building development of their relationship, but it didn't seem in Guiltrip (that's episode 11 chronologically) that something changed.

Seeing screenshot above, you can easily imagine how great friends they could be, being very comfortable around each other and laughing together, if not Marinette's anxiety. We need Adrienette development so much to get more moments like this.

Oh and I just realized that it's also one of the veeeeery few episodes with no real Ladynoir at all (the only other one I remember is Style Queen). So if there was no Adrienette it would be an episode without interactions of two main characters at all (although we almost got Ladrien). It could be another reason why this episode is that nice for Adrien and Marinette ship.

After seeing overly excited Marinette dancing in the rain, I can't believe she can manage completely give up on Adrien. It doesn't look like this at all.

Also we've seen three photos of Adrien wearing THAT scarf. It could not mean nothing different that foreshadowing that he's going to discover the truth about it somewhere this season. But I have no idea what Ladybug's mask with shining eyes could mean.

I don't know what to think about the episode. Despite absurd Guardian-related things, I still liked it much more than Gang of Secrets, but I have no idea if I generally enjoyed it more than other episodes of this season or not. At least it's an episode without stupid drama, which is amazing.

---------

I'm currently less active on social media, because my internet connection is very unstable, it often works very slowly to the point I'm not patient enough to visit Tumblr. Also I block spoiler tags again, because I don't want to see spoilers from the episodes those are going to be released very soon, as I feel that they reveal too much to me once more. We're currently in a marathon of the new episodes and since watching them is the more more enjoyable, the less I know about them, I decided to try avoid spoilers as much as I can. The only bad thing is that I can't be read discussions about the new episodes, reblog them and adding something from me until Optigami will be aired.

[akira-emberheart]

songs I'd like to assign to the glee kids (part I)

Note: I'm pretty well known for making playlists and more playlists, and ever since seeing this post by @cracktastic about assigning, for the 100th episode, the least expected song to the least expected character, I've found myself craving to hear specific characters sing specific songs.

(I've also started another separate list to add on to that post I mentioned, but that will be a post for another day)

So after going through my music library, I came up with a small list of songs for each character that I would love to hear them sing, for various reasons, which i'll do my best to explain.

This got really long really fast, because I like to get into meta and over analyze - I'm also just very passionate about music. For that reason, I'll do 5 songs at a time for a specific character, and I'll be putting a read more.

Also, please be gentle with me - I've watched Glee a year ago, and it's entirely possible I may be missing or confusing scenes and storylines in my head. If I do, let me know!

If you read this and find yourself thinking of songs and scenarios as well, do share them with me! I'm working on actual Spotify Playlists as well.

So let's get into it -

for Kurt Hummel

> Re: Stacks by Bon Iver

"This is not the sound of a new man

or crispy realization

It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away

Your love will be

Safe with me"

This is probably one of my favorite songs ever, and I first thought about it for Kurt after realising how beautiful his voice would sound in it, because of its crystal clear and poised quality. (I liked it so much I included it in a scene on my fanfic too).

If you don't know Bon Iver, or the history of this song, it's the last track in an album full of more..."depressing" songs. It's also the one that has a throughout tone of hope, of recovery after a hard ordeal, of taking some first steps to a better place.

I imagine it would be a good song for him around the time he meets Blaine - when the Karovsky situation is nearly over, and he starts looking back on his school year - Burt's heart attack, the bullying - and, now with Blaine in his life, and a renewed self confidence, he's finally able to confidently step into a better phase of his life and heal from all he went through.

I see this one being sung in a quiet moment of reflection, when he's alone. Maybe in the choir room, or even outdoors in a nice garden. In my fanfic I wrote it in a different context, in Blaine's room at night, so I guess that works in my head too.

***

> Enchanted by Taylor Swift

"I'm wonderstruck

Blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you"

I'm very fascinated with Kurt's whole storyline in S2 - things start off so rough for him, but when Blaine comes along, and when Kurt is able to grow and shift more and assuming the person he really is, things start looking up. I chose this song for what it promises, and also because I can imagine it in Kurts lower singing register and it seems like a good one for him. Also, yes, I was a kid who owned Speak Now. Sue me.

This song is about first meeting someone very special, and that happens to be the beginning of Klaine. With the almost whispered lyrics, the slowly crescent ambiance and rhythm, it really encapsulates the feeling of everything stopping when you lay eyes in that one special person, and the flooding rush of emotions that happens right after.

Kurt had no idea how much an unsuspecting visit to a rival show coir school would change his life, even less in the midst of the situation he was in. It also seems fitting for Kurt and his early relationship with Blaine because of some specific lyrics ("This is me praying now / This was the very first page / Not where the storyline ends"). Enchanted tells the story of a special first meeting, and hints at something special to come, from the perspective of someone who is awestruck for someone.

Like the one above, this one would fit in early S2, possibly in EP6, after Kurt and Blaine's meeting at Dalton Academy. When he's back home, alone in his room, daydreaming, or when he's back at McKinley in that same afternoon.

***

> Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles

"Oooh, how am I gonna get over you? I'll be alright, just not tonight But someday. Hey, I wish you'd want me to stay I'll be alright, just not tonight"

My main reason for choosing this one is because I think it fits very very well with Kurt's voice, and musical taste - its a very vibrant and poppy song, despite the more depressing theme - a post breakup promise of getting over it.

I first thought of it for S4, soon after the Breakup™, but paying close attention to the lyrics (I do tend to get stuck on just the melody sometimes), it makes more sense to place this on during the S6 Breakup - when Kurt finds out about Blaine dating Karovsky, after deciding he wants Blaine back.

So it's a hard situation for him, as we see from his breakdown in the bathroom (poor Kurt!), and he really has to come to terms with the mistakes he made (and the mistakes they both made as a couple), pick himself up, and move on.

I imagine this one being sung during an outing with Rachel, when she's trying to cheer him up and lift him up a little from his depression. My brain readily produces an image of a sunny street or a shopping mall that the two of them walk through, Kurt with some nice vivid colored clothes, finally being able to smile and ready to perhaps start moving on, or at least ready to start considering he will be okay.

***

> Killer Queen by Queen

"She keeps her Moet et Chandon

In her pretty cabinet

"Let them eat cake", she says

Just like Marie Antoinette"

This song just reminds me of Kurt. It's one of my all time favorites from Queen, and ever since watching Glee, these two are just connected in my mind. Voice wise, Kurt could definitely handle it.

It's apparently about a "high class prostitute"(? Freddie's word's, not mine), but still paints a pretty and dainty picture, and you can almost picture a porcelain faced lady in her best clothes, delicately smoking a cigarette. It also contains words that probably only Kurt can pronounce out of everyone in the glee club.

Many Queen songs were sung on Glee, but I don't think there was ever a Queen episode. For this one, I suggest a headcanon scenario, maybe during S3, when Mr. Shuester decides to have a Queen week - and Kurt isn't known for going with the obvious choices. He wants to be classy, edgy and impressive, and he sings in front of everyone, half in the choir room, half in the auditorium, perhaps with some fancy decoration and dancers behind him.

***

> The Answer by Kodaline

"You might think you found the one

Until your heart gets ripped and torn

Yeah, I used to feel bad, I used to feel like that

I still feel a bit like that"

This is another one that I picked immediately solely based on Kurt's voice - I really do like his voice with just a quiet, discrete instrumental. Looking into it further, I decided it could really work for Kurt's character.

I didn't go very deep into the intended meaning of the song, because it definitely has space for different interpretations. I choose to go with the breakup one. These lyrics here reminded me a little of the S4 breakup storyline - "We all fall down from the highest clouds / to the lowest ground" - makes me think how well Kurt's life was going once he arrived in New York, with the internship, his apartment situation with Rachel, a new and exciting place where he could freely be himself... and then he's completely blindsided by Blaine's cheating. He goes from being ecstatic and excited at Blaine's appearance, looking forward to share with him all the great things he just discovered, when Blaine's confession sends him to a well of despair, doubt and loneliness. The lyrics "You might think you found the one / until your heart gets ripped and torn" - reinforce the whole situation.

I can see him singing this not long after the breakup, on one more sleepless night, maybe walking alone through the streets of New York, or maybe in a montage of his busy daily routine, while he just gets through the day with a whole lot of emptiness weighing on his chest.

[sometimesrosy]

Sometimes I feel like this show is going too fast. Sometimes I wish they took time for characters to just sit down and talk for a while. I feel like even when that happens, it's rushed. What do you think?

I think you���re looking for a different genre.

This is an action show. And yeah, it is led by characters, relationships and the development of those, but it is fast paced and action oriented. 

The characters are defined through their actions and their high stakes choices inform who they are. 

They ARE what they do. Bellamy’s s1 statement that they are not what they do to survive is incorrect. The choices they make to keep their people alive are how they grow as people and how they are developed.

When I used to write fanfiction, I found myself slowing everything down, having those deep long conversations, and that was the write genre for that interaction. But at the same time, I was conscious that I was not writing a show with the kind of high stakes drama we get on the 100. I’m not sure I COULD write a show that is that fast paced and exciting.

But even so. This show DOES stop and think about what is happening. Maybe they don’t get to sit and discuss it, but more can happen in a one minute hug to get to the heart of the matter than I could write in a 2k one shot. 

That’s one of the things I noticed. Their talks, their dialogue when they deal with those emotions are much more concise than I was writing in fanfiction.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

They offer us scenes where people are LITERALLY sitting around a coffeeshop and talking. We got lots of those last season. But they use it to move the story forward, and through that, the relationships. 

Sitting down and talking slows down the pace of the story. 

We want that to happen, in a fast paced action story, so that we can process the action and narrative. But then we have to move on and get some action going. 

I’m actually going through moments in s6 where there was sitting and talking and there was. A LOT. The ship canteen. Outside the dropship. The campfire. The radio calls conversation. Mixed with action with the eclipse psychosis. After Murphy died and came back. Arguments about Octavia. Clarke and Raven arguments. When octavia and diyoza were trapped in the orbeez. The lantern/forgiveness scene. Abby and Raven. Raven and Kane. Indra and Raven. The jealousy scene with B/E, then when they made up. Much coffee shop discussion when Clarke was acting weird. Jo and Murphy. Stuff with Madi. Murphy and Bellamy. Every last little thing in Clarke’s head, including sitting down and talking with Jake and Monty in not one, but TWO literal coffee shops, one in the valley and one on pre apocalypse earth. Emori and Murphy. The whole stuff with Josephine and Bellamy. Clarke and Bellamy’s mornign after scene. In the cave with Bellamy and Octavia. When they were tied up and talking about saving everyone. And then it’s the finale and action action action. I. mean there’s quite a bit. I believe there are FOUR literal coffeshops/canteens/bars where our characters had chitchats all season long. This season was practically a coffee shop au in the apocalypse. omg.

So what I’m saying is that they DID take time for the characters to sit down and talk.

Why did you not notice? Was it because it was well integrated into the plot, rather than stopping the forward motion of the narrative? Because it advanced the plot? Instead of stopping and going over stuff that had already happened? 

If you think it’s such a fast pace and you didn’t notice all the sitting around and chatting in coffee shops and campfires and caves and tents and spaceships they did then I have to say that the did a good job of making the writing and storytellling invisible to the audience, as it felt natural and organic to you. 

I mean. Go ahead. Think back. From the very opening of s6, when they were watching the planet with spacekru and talking about monty and harper to Clarke and Bellamy hugging and talking about their feelings and her grief and their goals... LOTS OF TALKING. 

This is one of the reasons why when fandom makes pronouncements about the failures of writing in The 100, I don’t always agree with them. I see their complaints and I check it out in canon to see if it’s accurate, and a LOT, it’s not accurate. 

No talking? Not true.

No Bellarke development? Not true.

Bellarke is platonic? Not true.

Echo is a villain? Not true.

Clarke is a villain? Not true.

Bellamy is a villain? Not true.

Lxa is the hero? Not true. 

All the claims of characters being OOC? The only one I ever agreed for that was Finn and sometimes Raven but I may just not understand what they were doing.

Bellamy’s motivations in s3 not shown well enough? Not true. I’d been seeing them the whole way. They are quite clear. 

Fan service for CL? only a little in s4 but it didn’t affect the narrative so not a problem. 

Sorry if I’m sounding bossy here, but as a matter of course, when I am coming up with a theory, I flip through the narrative in my head to make sure I’m correct. And if I come up witih “but”s without explanations, then the theory is not supported and I drop it. 

So essentially when people drop their theories on me, I skim through the narrative in my head to see if they work with the story, and if I see support I say cool. And if I see contradiction I say where it isn’t working. 

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hello, Haddock! Now that Voltron (sadly) ended, how would you rank the seasons? Also, could you tell how many times you've rewatched them?

Hey there, friend! WAY happy to chat Voltron and all its seasons!

Unlike most fandom culture, I’m not a chronic rewatcher, and the default assumption is that I’ve only seen any show once. It’s rare for me to see shows more than once, honestly, even ones I love. I certainly will be watching VLD more times, but because of my normal watching habits, I’ve seen a large portion of the show only once. I’ve seen S1 probably about 5 times, S2 thrice, S3-4 twice, and S5+ once. I’ve seen “The Last Stand” from S7 twice.

These are rankings based somewhat upon my emotional attachments and not simply objective elements like narrative structure! XD I already know my preferences are going to be different than lots of people in the VLD fandom, haha. These rankings are also based on memory, which is pretty strong admittedly for VLD, but it leaves room to change with a rewatch.

EIGHTH PLACE: VLD Season 8

Let’s be clear: I don’t dislike Season 8 and there’s much I enjoy. Give it up for S8 love!!! Standout episodes to me include “Launch Date,” “The Prisoner’s Dilemma,” and “Day Forty-Seven.” The women going shopping together and Pidge dressing as 1980s Darrell Stoker made my life. Not to mention… it was fun spending time with the MFEs; they didn’t take a disproportionate amount of time, but gave us good moments to make us love them. I’m thankful for the S8 ending giving us both a sense of wrap-up for the plot conflicts, but also looking forward to what our Paladins will do to rejuvenate the galaxy. There’s much I’m thankful for with S8.

That said, S8 isn’t my jam as much as other seasons. I’m not much of a shipper and I wasn’t into the Allurance, nor did I get pulled into the magic-heavy plot conflict with Haggar and her Alteans. And while S7 does give great screen time to Allura, it felt a little less like an ensemble cast and more like a spotlight on her. Enemies’ minds changed too fast for me to feel realistic, and the magic-wonky plot didn’t feel as gripping and intense as S7. It’s the reason I’m placing S8 here: from my own preferences, I attached with other seasons more.

SEVENTH PLACE: VLD Season 5

For whatever reason, S5 didn’t make as much of an impression on me as other seasons. I wasn’t as invested in concepts like “Kral Zera” and “White Lion.” Given as S5 is an odd numbered season in the middle portion of Voltron, it has an innate disadvantage: it’s written in all but name as the first half of a season, which means story arc ending payoffs wouldn’t happen until S6. I also feel like S5 is where plot writing is at one of its most tangled or muddied, given as there’s lots being juggled and introduced conflict-wise and lore-wise and universe-wise and character-wise.

However, S5 - like all seasons - gives us cool stuff. We got Matt (one of my favorite characters) participating in an adventure, lots of Lotor screentime, and a callout to 1980s DOTU that I never thought they’d be able to turn into a good episode (“White Lion”). And!!! We get to meet!!! KROLIA!!!

SIXTH PLACE: VLD Season 3

I have particularly fond attachment to S3. This is the season where I started getting actively involved in Voltron fandom discourse, giving my own take on Project Kuron theories. This is the season that gave us the first glimpse of the Classic Voltron formation - Keith in Black, Lance in Red, Pidge in Green, Allura in Blue, Hunk in Yellow. I felt a thrill go through me as Keith, for the first time, said “Form Voltron!” Also… Lance really stepping up to show his leadership potential??? So good. And this is the season where we meet Lotor, another long-anticipated character… and oh my goodness is his character introduction gold. So there’s lots of stuff I hold strong affinity for in S3.

The reason I have to rank Season 3 back here is because it’s more about the Paladins floundering around than anything else. It’s meant to create a new sense of chaos and instability… their leader Shiro is gone, and now there are new unexpected threats like Lotor to handle. However, at the same time, since half of the season is just the Paladins floundering around not knowing how to work together, it makes me less attached to particular episodes. None of the episodes are favorites or standouts to me on their own. There’s lots of cool moments throughout S3, but I think the only episode I notably emotionally attach to is “The Journey.” But still? Good season!

FIFTH PLACE: VLD Season 1

I can’t believe I have this amazing season all the way back here. I want it to be higher, except that I do have to rank other seasons above this one. 

Season 1 is what gets everything started. It sets the stage for what Voltron’s all about, teaching us about lions and robeasts and Zarkon and the Galaxy Garrison and all that good stuff from 1980s nostalgia… all the while creating a new vibe and energy to the franchise. In retrospect, S1 feels much calmer and less high-stakes than the rest of the series (especially post S2). However, it’s a solid season with good episodes that never feel less solid and good. We get great Hunk material with him finding conviction; great Shiro and Pidge moments as they share different worries over the abduction; hilarious Keith and Lance clashes; lots and lots and lots of good things. It’s a very solid season, especially once we launch off Arus.

FOURTH PLACE: VLD Season 6

If you want to know how tight my season rankings are to each other, S6 was almost listed second place.

I attach to specific episodes in particular for S6. I love the visuals in “Razor’s Edge.” I died howling with laughter in “Monsters & Mana.” I fell into so many emotional feels regarding Keith and Shiro in “The Black Paladins.” We get one of the all-time best emotional, action-oriented episodes of VLD… and one of the most amazing, hysterical filler episodes in S6. Despite being seven episodes long, S6 is an incredible ride and adventure start to end. It’s hard to believe so much occurred in that amount of time!

There’s hoards of great stuff in this season. We get the Kuron arc resolved, with lots of emotional content between Keith and Shiro. We get the Lotor arc resolved, learning whether or not he can be trusted, with great Lotor and Allura time. We get Keith returning to the Paladins. We get the introduction of Romelle, which all DOTU lovers have been waiting for forever.

THIRD PLACE: VLD Season 4

I have to put VLD S4 here because of its emotional power. There are damned AMAZING moments this season, alongside some of my favorite episodes and moments of all time. I know I and some of the other fans aren’t huge on “The Voltron Show!” But fuck it, guys, S4 gave us “Reunion” and “A New Defender”!!!

Matt is a delight this season, from his first meeting of Allura, to his tour around the Castle of Lions with Pidge, to his technological connections with his sister and Hunk, to his participation in the Rebels’ fighting forces. We also get some of the funniest moments for me in Voltron, between learning how to milk Kaltenecker and seeing HOW Pidge finally managed to rig up the video game system.

Then there’s the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. “Reunion” is the single most emotional episode in all of Voltron for me. Even though I’d seen screencaps of Matt prior to watching S4, I felt as shocked and heartbroken as Pidge to come to his gravestone. There’s so much POWER to this gravestone scene; it’s one of the moments that resonates with me the most even after I’ve finished the whole show. It might even be my Number One FAVORITE moment in the entire show. It’s not my place to analyze that scene here, but DAMN. 

Furthermore, the climax with the battle of Naxzela was INTENSE, with Keith almost sacrificing himself getting me screaming. That was such a great battle and climactic moment in VLD. This was a great culminating moment, in which the series has officially built up from a small team to a universe-wide conflict.

We get standout moments with Keith being badass with the blades, Matt taking initiative, Pidge seeking out her family, Allura helping Voltron flee the gravity field, Kuron becoming increasingly more suspicious. VLD S4 ramps everything up from the emotions to the excitement, resulting in an awesome and intense six episodes.

SECOND PLACE: VLD Season 7

It’s really hard for me to put this as second place instead of first place. I originally had it in first place. I want it to be first place. I LOVE the second half of S7 so much. This is, possibly, my favorite season from an emotional standpoint because wow.

It’s all-around outstanding. S7 showed us how far the Paladins have come as heroes; they operate with great teamwork, skill, and professionalism that is oh-so-cool to see on screen. They’re still the characters we love and cherish, but they’ve grown SO MUCH since their first days on Voltron. This is fully-fledged heroes doing fully-fledged battles and it’s GREAT.

S7 gives us standout moments to so many characters, including Hunk, Shiro, Sam, Colleen, Veronica, and Keith. We even get some good adventure time with Romelle! And as far as character interactions are concerned, we get touching moments between Keith and Lance, Keith and Hunk, and so many other combinations.

The story raises the stakes to higher levels than ever before, with an emotional and exciting conquest of Earth. There’s nothing more horrible and high-stakes to audiences than a homefront war. We feel extreme pain for Hunk with fears for his family, and Shiro for the loss of Adam. We feel the great sense of danger and desperation starting with “The Last Stand.” We feel the drama of a long and extended climax fighting for Earth’s freedom, including moments where the Paladins control the Lions outside their body (so cool), Shiro commands the ATLAS (SO cool), and the ATLAS also transforms into a fighting robot (SO FREAKING COOL!). This has some of the most exciting, badass stuff of Voltron ever. I love it.

Highlight episodes for me are “The Last Stand” (two episodes without the Paladins about Earth fighting for its freedom? this was fucking amazing), “Trial By Fire,” and “Lions’ Pride.” Essentially - all of the second half of the season.

FIRST PLACE: Season 2

Season 2 is probably THE MOST solid season in all of VLD. 

Almost every episode is good, memorable, fun, lovable, enjoyable, classic. It highlights the full ensemble cast. It creates an EXTREMELY exciting, exhilarating, fun climax. It is a strong narrative season, cleanly and proudly finishing the first 26 episode long arc for VLD. This season shows VLD at its best. Since it consistently delivers, there’s nowhere else S2 belongs except the top.

We get great Shiro time, what with his arc spent learning to trust Black… leading to him being a badass unlocking the Lion’s wings and taking Zarkon’s bayard. We get great Pidge time, whether it’s her freaking out over video games or drawing deeper into the beauty of the world - technology and biology both. We get great Keith time, with him fighting for answers in the Blade of Marmora and infiltrating Zarkon’s base in an extremely dangerous mission. We get great Hunk time, between unlocking his Lion’s claws and taking initiative in the Weblum adventure. We get great Lance moments, where he shows us he truly can be a sharpshooter for the team. We get great Allura moments, especially in how she fought against Haggar in the finale. This season rocks it for EVERY Paladin.

Not only does every individual Paladin get good spotlighting, but S2 also rocks it with character interactions. How Allura handles Keith being Galra is a memorable moment of character development for both of them. How Hunk and Keith interact in “The Belly of the Weblum” is a delight. How Shiro loses his cool with Slav is hysterical. I can never complain to Lance and Hunk combinations, like in “The Depths.” And of course every episode focused on Keith and Shiro gives us good feels.

Standout episodes for S2 include “The Ark of Taujeer” (THE COLORS), “The Blade of Marmora,” “Blackout,” “Space Mall.” I cannot believe I watched an episode where the character dressed as space pirates and rode on a flying cow to escape a mall cop. That happened. It’s a delight. And S2 kept rocking it with the humor, down to Pidge creating all her Paladin buddies out of space junk and imitating them. But S2 also gives us some of the most memorable moments of VLD storytelling, what with “The Blade of Marmora.” That episode is a staple for many reasons. Not to mention… all of S2 works together cohesively for the long-term arc structure.

And then there’s the climax. So well-done. So exciting. So immersive. So intense. So cool. So badass. Great colors, great flow, great plot, great everything start to end. I was in a THRILL at the end of S2 because this climax was so unbelievably fun. In retrospect it’s got competition with S7, and S7 probably takes the cake now… but fuck it, S2′s end will always be awesome.

Every single season in VLD gives me something to be excited about. There are things to love each step of the journey. I’m thankful for every episode from S1 to S8. 

What a ride this journey has been.

[assholemurphy]

oh yeah i definitely agree with that! the shit they all went through is awful, and after lexa died it definitely went downhill even more. though her coming back at the end was amazing!! and yea, o/ntari was a character i really hated lol. | agreed!! i really hope jaha dies soon, or at least isnt a huge part of season 5 | yess!! roan was such a good character, and him and bell wouldve been good ngl. | again i agree a lot haha. b/echo isnt a ship i like at all, and i really dont like (1/?) -🌸

echo, but she's a really good villain imo. | aahhh!! im so excited to watch s5! i actually just finished s4 lol (god that was intense). mt weather wasnt my favourite but it definitely had its moments, towards the end especially. but i really dislike maya and how jasper acted with and after her. | fav s3 moment has to be the clexa scenes. all of them. i love lexa so much tbh. and character i miss the most is definitely lexa!! hbu? | whats been your favourite plot line? (2/2) -🌸

The end scene with Lexa was almost too much for me. It was nice seeing Clexa back together, but it hurt to know it was rly over. I mean, the only thing I had against Lexa was the bindi (and how a lot of fans reacted to it being called out for what it was) but otherwise, I loved the character and for her to be rly gone, it hurt.

O/ntari can eat a dick, I s2g. Rape is never a plot device, not even for a villain, and the fact that (aside from one scene) it’s never even talked abt or acknowledged for what it was. I’ll never forgive Jroth for that or for never talking abt O’s abuse of Bell. But I’m hoping s5 will fix the latter.

Bruh, strap in. I’m not gonna spoil anything abt Jaha, but like, yeah, s5 is great.

Idek if they have a ship name, but I’m so on board with that ship. Like, I don’t think it’s v popular (m/m ships generally aren’t in this fandom :/) but I’d love some fics for it, even if I have to write them myself.

It’s not a good ship. She betrayed him so many times. I’m glad he’s happy, he deserves to be, but I just can’t get behind it. I’ll tolerate it bc it makes Bell smile (and he doesn’t do that often enough) but it just bugs me. I don’t hate it, but I don’t like it, ya know? But Echo as a villain was the best. I like her in s5 well enough, but like, considering how it’s being done, I just can’t get on board with her character. Ppl ship her with Raven and I’m just like why??? Emori is right there. 

It’s great. s5 is amazing. The writing is better than any other season imo and the villain is just absolutely amazing. Plus, the other ‘villain’ is just straight up badass. I’m living for this season, tbh. S4 was def intense. There was so much suspense, esp in the last few eps. Jroth has rly stepped up his game. 

I just like it bc we got to see the other delinquents (not just Bell and Clarke) kick ass. Like, Miller was great and Monty was amazing. I kinda liked Maya bc I love the whole ‘what my people are doing is bad, we have to stop them, bc if they’re killing others so that we can live, maybe we don’t deserve to live’ thing she had going on. Also Monty’s “Die.” quote is my everything. But I def didn’t like Jasper (I did at the beginning, but then I met a girl who explained to me a lot abt the whole thing and how it wasn’t good and just generally helped me see past the ‘I like him bc he’s dorky’ thing I had going on. Fast forward 4 years, I’m head over heels for her and we’re kinda talking marriage one day, so it’s great. But that’s not relevant to this ask, lol.) and how he acted towards Monty and Bellamy. Like, that wasn’t okay at all. Esp bc he knew the girl for what? A few weeks? And he was willing to sacrifice his friends for her? Wtf, Romeo, grow tf up and chill for like two seconds. His friends were literally being tortured and he was acting like a lovesick puppy. (Also, the whole ‘savior’ arc should have been Miller’s from the get go, it made more sense. I’m totes not bitter or anything.)

Those Clexa things gave me life. Like, Clarke being bi was everything I could ask for, bc she was the first bi character I’d ever seen on tv. And the relationship was so cute and sweet and they rly could have been great if the ship had survived for longer. Like, I’m forever bitter abt Jroth killing one of his only queer characters for shock value in such a stupid way.

Lexa was so good as a character. I miss her. If Jroth had ditched the damn bindi things would have been fine. I loved her so much. I just kinda hated the ship wars and the thinly veiled racism from both sides so I kinda stopped reblogging it, but it seems to have died down now.

My fav s3 moment was the meeting between Murphy and Bellamy in the tunnels (or whatever they were) plus the shoulder grab in the elevator. And Murphy performing open heart surgery (kind of, lol). It was great.

The character I miss most is probably Wells. He was great and his death didn’t have to happen. I miss him so much. He had so much potential. (And I’m a Wellamy and Wellphy shipper for life, honestly.)

My fav plotline was the whole thing with Pike. Bell and Monty following him. Miller being against him. The whole dictator thing mixed with the ‘us vs them’ mentality was so great to watch. I just wish we’d gotten to see how Monty dealt with the weight of helping kill the grounder army. (Monty’s pain/guilt is generally ignored for most of the show and it’s frustrating.)

Yours? And fav grounder character (other than Lexa)? What none shippy moment hurt the most?

[avidbeader]

Voltron S4 Spillage

This is just me and my random first impressions:

(1) On the one hand I am loving the idea of Keith working with the Blade of Marmora. He has zero patience with the whole pep-rally strategy and is going where he sees he can do some good. Instead of constantly fighting a Shiro who says Keith is the leader and then doesn’t let him lead, he’s with people who at least listen to what he has to say. On the other hand, it meant whole episodes without him and that makes me sad. But dammit, Dreamworks, you really did have me thinking for a split-second that Keith was going to die in a desperate bid to save everyone else and I am mad at you for that. My heart can’t take it.

(2) I had heard from a friend who was the moderator for SDCC’s panel that there was going to be epic silliness in S4 on the level of “Space Mall”. They weren’t kidding. S4E4 was that. But boy, I hated it. I was cringing almost all the way through and even ended up fast-forwarding through a couple of places when I couldn’t take it anymore. When I rewatch with my husband, I expect he’ll have the same reaction. I hope the target audience of preteens enjoyed it.

(3) Loved that we have Matt back, but I’m not sure we needed the extra angst-step of Pidge finding a grave. It seemed like it was only there to lampshade Sam and Matt’s secret code. So I think that will come into play either to find Sam or possibly to find the real Shiro if Sam and Matt shared it on the way to Kerberos.

(4) Which leads me to Operation Kuron. I still think that’s not necessarily S1/S2 Shiro. I can head-canon that the Black Lion is acting out of necessity and because this time S3/S4 Shiro was pleading for the lives of others instead of just trying for himself. There was still something off about a lot of his interactions, although several things, like coming up with a master-plan, felt more like S1/S2 Shiro. My biggest sticking point is redesigning the character down to the haircut. You don’t do that in animation, where consistency is necessary for speed in producing the artwork, without a damn good reason. I still think we’re eventually going to see S1/S2 Shiro and S3/S4 Shiro facing off in some way.

(5) I did like the fact that so many alien races and minor characters came back to help in the massive battle. That was a good throw-it-all-against-the-wall scenario.

(6) Yeah, I’m thinking Allurance is one of our endgames. And I’m down with it.

(7) Galra side: so now we have 3-4 (5 if you count Operation Kuron since no one else seems to know what they were doing) factions of infighting on the Galra side. Zarkon’s new obsession is Lotor, Haggar is trying to magic her way to military victories, Lotor has lost the trust of his generals (we’ll see if Narti is really dead, I suppose, but at least her mind-control maguffin is currently not available to use on Team Voltron). I rather expect Axca to lead the others to try and contact Voltron as well–she’ll probably think she can convince Keith that they’ll help, not knowing that Keith is no longer officially part of Voltron. And that will be all kinds of fun since Lotor also wants Voltron’s help.

(8) There was nothing to directly undercut Sheith (and several things to support it, like that tiny Garrison cameo that I missed and need to look for later). But given that we can’t even be sure that this is our Shiro, it makes sense not to do a whole lot to push in that direction yet.

I think that’s what irritates me the most about S4 - because it was shown as S4 and not the second half of S3, I feel like we should have gotten more intel about Operation Kuron (other than the lampshade of Matt’s “brain-hacking” comment, which points toward brainwashed/reprogrammed Shiro instead of a clone). I’ve spent all of August/September holding back on moments between S3/S4 Shiro and Keith because in my opinion he’s not Keith’s Shiro. I really don’t like being in this limbo as we wait for S5 or possibly S6 for that to resolve.

So, we are at the halfway point of the original six-season plan and everything’s gone crazy. Sounds about right.

[northbndtrain]

Hey I'm a late Reven8e watcher and I love your Jack and real Amanda posts. Especially the season by season tracker of their development. I think the slow progression of their relationship and the trust they build over the course is something you don't see a lot on TV nowadays. You mind if I ask what do you think about the couple Amanda and Aidan? At the top of my head they don't seem like a bad couple but he always felt forced into the series to me. And it seemed their bond was never as deep

Hi! Thank you for the compliment, and I am so glad you enjoy the posts! I’m doing a re-watch right now and would like to eventually finally get the S3 and S4 “moments” lists done, too.

You’re absolutely right that the slow burn isn’t often done on TV anymore…hard to believe that up until the end of S4 Jack and Emily hadn’t done anything more than kiss a couple of times.

As frustrating as that sometimes was to watch in real time (and it was so, so frustrating, especially in Season 2, when they had very little interaction), in retrospect I can appreciate the fact that the writers took their time and made their case instead of rushing through the entire romance in the first season and then moving both on to new partners.

Plus, in the end, it worked out – I watched several shows around that time period that didn’t end with my favorite couple getting together, so to have Revenge really follow through with the promise they set up in the pilot four years earlier…that was a real gift.

Ah…Aiden…let me see…obviously, I’m not a fan, but that’s not just because I love Jack and Jack/Amanda. There were other problems with his character that I couldn’t get past.

(This is getting long, so under the cut it goes…)

1. AIDEN’S INTRODUCTION: You mention in your post that he felt forced into the series; that’s how it felt watching in real time, too. All during S1, there was never any mention of Aiden or even a reference made to Emily having had a serious love interest in the past, which makes sense because as far as we’re aware he was never part of creator Mike Kelley’s original vision for the show, but rather an addition that came after the show was renewed.

In a way, Aiden’s introduction was a symptom of the larger problem with S2 – that is, the writers/producers, high on the success of S1, decided over the hiatus to take their original concept, which was so beautiful in its simplicity (woman assumes a false identity to take down the people who betrayed her father), and twist it up into a bunch of unnecessary knots with the introduction of the Initiative, so that suddenly the villains weren’t just the Graysons and their employees, but also previously-unseen members of a larger global conspiracy involving all these other pointless baddies like Trask and Helen Crowley (how pointless? I had to look up both of their names because I couldn’t even remember them, even though they were all over Season 2).

The whole thing felt like sloppy miscalculation, and Aiden was right in the middle, as his tragic backstory involving his sister was tied into the whole Initiative conspiracy.

But what was also annoying was the way his relationship displaced Emily’s relationships with the other men in her life. The big story in S1 was the Jack/Emily/Daniel triangle, with Emily/Nolan’s friendship playing a prominent role as he was the only real partner she had in her revenge plots.

Enter Aiden, who took over Daniel’s place as Emily’s current lover, Jack’s place as her long-lost love interest from the past, and Nolan’s place as her partner-in-crime. It was just too much.

2. AIDEN’S LACK OF DEPTH/CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: However, even though S2 became, in large part, The Aiden Show, he somehow remained underdeveloped as a character with no real life outside of what was going on in Emily’s life.

And I guess one could make the argument that, well, “it’s Emily’s show; of course she would have more development.” Except EVERY other contract character on the show, including all of the other men in Emily’s life – Jack, Daniel, and Nolan – had more of a life outside of her than Aiden did:

Jack: relationships with multiple on-screen family members, two love interests besides Emily (Fauxmanda and Margaux), a job running the Stowaway, a job as a cop, friendships with Nolan and Charlotte

Daniel: relationships with multiple on-screen family members, three love interests besides Emily (Ashley, Sara, and Margaux), a job at Grayson, a job at Margaux’s magazine

Nolan: multiple on-screen love interests, a career as a successful tech wizard, a hacking hobby, friendships with Jack, Declan, and Louise

As a result of their various storylines and relationships, the Jack, Daniel, and Nolan we saw in their final episodes are not the same exact men we met in the pilot – they’ve grown, been damaged, healed, and discovered things about themselves.

But all Aiden ever had was a little backstory (solely to explain how he came to meet Emily at Takeda’s), and a fling with Niko (in S3) that was so brief and pointless that I can’t even remember if it was just a flirtation or if they actually slept together. And I think in one episode we met his mom, maybe?

But that’s it. Everything else about the character was Emily-related – he was involved with the Graysons and Grayson Global because Emily was, he hated Jack because he was jealous of Jack/Emily, he hated Daniel because Daniel mistreated Emily, the only reason he interacted with Nolan was because Nolan was Emily’s BFF…. So, for someone like me who didn’t care for Aiden/Emily, there was even less reason to like his character since he almost didn’t exist outside of her anyway.

3. AIDEN’S CHARACTER FLAWS (OR, “AIDEN SUCKS”): But, you know, even all that above wouldn’t be enough to get me to hate Aiden. Find him annoying, sure. Roll my eyes at him, yes. Fast-forward his scenes, of course. Forget major details about his storyline, all the time.

In the end, it was his behavior and his treatment of the characters I did love that bothered me most of all. He lied to Emily whenever he felt it was in her best interest, and when he lectured or berated her it grated – Jack and Nolan lectured her, too, but the show often had them on a moral high ground that Aiden, as a violent student of revenge himself, could never claim. He also often made bad decisions only to shift the blame onto someone else.

But I found really difficult to get past was his treatment of Jack and Emily in S3 after he found out that Emily had told Jack her real identity. Everything that followed – Aiden lying to Conrad that Jack was the one who tried to kill him (Conrad), which put the lives of both Jack and baby Carl in danger; Aiden breaking into Jack’s home and manipulatively painting himself as the savior who only took the job as Corad’s hitman to give Jack time to leave town and stay away from Emily forever; Aiden having the unmitigated gall to get mad at Emily afterward; and then Aiden threatening Jack again a few episodes later – just had me thinking, “Yeah, Aiden’s the worst. THE WORST.”

And all because he couldn’t stand that Emily told Jack the truth that was her truth to tell to anyone she wanted to tell.

I mean, in a way, as a Jack/Emily fan, I appreciated it on a story level as evidence that Aiden was desperately insecure and jealous when it came to Jack and Emily’s relationship.

But it also just cemented my belief that there was never going to be anything root-worthy or sympathetic about him no matter how much the show tried to hold him up as one of the “good guys.”

4. EMILY/AIDEN’S SHALLOW RELATIONSHIP: You pointed out in your post that Emily and Aiden’s bond never seemed as deep. I agree with you completely. For years, one of the big criticisms of Jack/Emily was from those who said that Jack was in love with a little girl who no longer existed (a myth I debunked here), and those same fans often said in the same breath that Aiden loved the whole/real woman.

Then Barry Sloane (Aiden) came along and did a “Pop on the Pop” interview in S3 where, when asked if he wanted Aiden and Emily to end up together, he said, 

I love working with Emily. I love the chemistry we have onscreen. I love those two characters together. I think Aiden understands her and he’s in love with one part of the woman she is. He doesn’t know Amanda Clarke. He fell in love with Emily Thorne. If she was to show up as that other part of herself, I don’t know if he’d love that other half of Emily.

(Unfortunately, I can’t link to the interview because the link I saved now directs to Amazon for some reason, so everyone reading this is going to have to take me at my word that I wouldn’t make up a quote about a show that was cancelled two years ago.)

I remember being kind of stunned by that quote when I read it, but only because it was so blunt – the sentiment didn’t surprise me because his words were backed up by what we’d seen on screen: there can be no depth to a relationship if one of the people involved only loves one part of the other person and has no interest in the rest, and Aiden clearly had no interest in Amanda Clarke (perhaps thinking, his mind warped by Takeda’s training, that Amanda didn’t exist anymore, or that she was never “real” the way Emily was “real”).

Ultimately, the most layered of Emily’s romances wasn’t her relationship with Aiden, because it wasn’t enough that they simply had a shared background in and driving need for revenge.

It was her relationship with Jack that was the most layered, and that was, interestingly enough, in large part because they spent so much of the series apart, so much of the series denying themselves the opportunity to be together. That time and that push and pull allowed them the space to see and accept ALL of each other. That slow-burn struggle made their eventual union feel earned, real, in a way that Emily/Aiden never did.

Thank you for the ask, and I am sorry it took so long to finish it!

[alluringcliche]

s3 the good wife for @jod1ewhittak3r

We went through this season so fast I feel like??? i guess i wrote s2 2 weeks ago and we’re already well into s4 so I may not remember as much.

My favorite thing about the end of this season is CARY IS BACK WITH LOCKHART GARDNER THATS SO GREAT.

But all through the season it was cool to see the dynamic between the state attorney’s office and Lockhart-Gardner. Cary through the season was great I loved that he did the moral thing there with Peter and TOLD him about his relationship with Dana, and he really tried to push them away from going after Will I JUST FEEL LIKE HE TRIES HIS BEST haha.

They always deal with interesting cases and issues and that continued this season: religion, politics, military, etc. And we saw side characters like Sweeney again which was great!  And lawyers like Canning and Nancy! It’s fun to see the same lawyers and judges again and again.

Will was a huge plot this season! It was interesting to see him in a more vulnerable position and see him have to actually step away from law, which is his life. I loved the part where they defended him against the Wendy Scott-Carr charges and everyone celebrated that was great! It will be interesting to see how Will&Cary move on from this. Also interesting that he did do some things that sound pretty bad, no one’s completely innocent on this show.

The firm’s issues! Interesting to have this plot at all like the firms not perfect and they are losing money. Obviously, this is continuing into S4 but it was cool to see Will & Diane dealing with that and having to make decisions around that.

Alicia continued to grow through the season but I mean BREAK UP WITH PETER PLEASE. Willicia were together but then broke up which is sad and there wasn’t much Willicia development after that :( We saw Alicia make some hard moral decisions like the thing with the internal review board which I feel like we got some great insights into her character.

Kalinda & Alicia made up after Kalinda found Grace that was amazing obviously. And we learned more about Kalinda and how much she obviously cares about Alicia, with the whole SA’s office thing, which ALL THE FEELINGS. I’m excited we’re learning more about Kalinda’s past in early s4. Also I feel like Lana going after Kalinda was creepy given their sexual relationship and...in S4 she still seems to be going after her and IM WORRIED.

Other things:

Caitlin as a character and her parallels to Alicia was a very cool plot! I loved that she was hired from nepotism but then Alicia found out the same thing happened with her and Will. And the fact that she left for marriage just as Alicia had, but unlike Alicia seemed to really be doing it for herself vs. doing it for a man.

Eli! It was interesting to see him dealing with his ex-wife...we learned more about him, and eventually he prioritized Peter. He joined the firm, which is cool, his plots are really fun, I liked when they had to be the publicity people for cheese :). It’s always interesting to see how he solves different issues, and he’s so good at it, but I feel like through 3 and early 4 there’s some things that are getting out of his control.

Basically, another amazing season and looking forward to watching more :)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Theme Music Isn’t About Character Death, Guys. But That’s Okay!

I’m super excited to share this. @thegloriouscollectorlady and I have been going back and forth about the theme music pretty much since 7x16 aired. Let me explain.

For years, since Coda aired, one of our main arguments has been that the theme music played after Beth’s “death.” From what we could tell, there’s always silence during the end credits as a final send off for main characters. (And for the record, that means those who have credits in the opening sequence. The music still played in the end credits when Bob died, but he wasn’t in the opening credits. So it’s okay. Emily’s name appeared in the opening credits, so she should have gotten silence after her death.) The music assured us Beth still lived.

Someone did point out an exception to this rule to me some time ago. In episode 3x15, Merle died. Michael Rooker’s name WAS in the opening credits at that point (so he should have gotten silence) and the music still played for him. We saw him turn and then be stabbed in the head by Daryl, so no one’s claiming Merle is alive.

Still, the exception never bothered me very much. I figured, Gimple wasn’t the showrunner then. We know AMC fired the previous showrunner for disorganization where the characters and arcs were concerned, so it could have been a mistake. Overall, we didn’t have enough evidence we were wrong in general about the theme music. Even before Merle, every main character that died had silence. Dale, Shane, Lori/T-Dog.

Then there’s Andrea. She’s kind of a special case. While the theme music truly DIDN’T play for her, which means she follows the pattern, she also didn’t get silence. Sad, melancholy music played over the end credits for her.

I’ve suspected Gimple’s hand for a long time. We know he rewrote that last episode of S3 and put in all kinds of clues to Beth’s arc. We also know Andrea didn’t originally die in that episode. Laurie Holden revealed at SDCC 2016 her 8-year contract with TWD was broken. (Part of the reason the show runner was fired.) I wondered if the sad music after Andrea’s death was Gimple’s way of paying homage to a well-loved comic book character that shouldn’t have died so soon. Also perhaps his way of saying the character would live on through other characters.

Then, things changed in S6/S7.

After Negan took his first victim in 6x16, we heard no theme music. It fit the pattern. Tptb told us it would be a main character. We assumed there would be no theme music, and there wasn’t. All good for TD.

Then along comes 7x01 to throw a wrench into things. The theme music DID play at the end of 7x01. It felt a tiny bit weird because Glenn hadn’t died yet at the end of 6x16. We only heard one death (Abraham’s). Glenn technically died in 7x01. Now, in trying to make it work so our Beth theory didn’t blow up, most of us figured it was a time thing. While Glenn hadn’t died yet in 6x16, he technically already had when 7x01 began. We, the audience, saw his death in Rick’s flashback of it. Everyone reasoned the lack of theme music in 6x16 was meant to cover both Abraham’s and Glenn’s deaths.

I accepted that–it made sense at the time–but I felt a gnawing suspicion we might not have the theme music angle quite right. Understand, I didn’t doubt Beth’s return at all. I just thought maybe we were missing something that would help explain the weirdness of the theme music.

Fast forward to 7x16. Sasha dies. And guess what, sports fans? The theme music played. Sasha didn’t get silence. Just like Beth. But I think we all know Sasha isn’t alive or coming back. Unlike Beth, we saw her turn, saw her be put down, and saw her funeral. No “other” death prior to Sasha’s (as with Abe and Glenn) could explain why the theme music played for her. It must be something else…

Consider this: nearly every main character has gotten silence in the end credits of their death episodes. The exceptions are Merle, Beth, Glenn, and now Sasha. (And sort of Andrea.) Even putting Beth and TD aside, there’s obviously more to it than character death. @thegloriouscollectorlady and I are on a mission to figure out what, whether it supports TD arguments or not.

A few weeks ago, @thegloriouscollectorlady said something about the lack of theme music that really rang true for me. She said she thought perhaps the lack of music represented a character’s influence on the story was not over. For the most part, when they die, their part in the story is over, right? It could almost be synonymous with character death. However, we have the exceptions I listed above. Beth’s part in the story isn’t over. She’ll continue to influence future events. It could also work with what I said above about Andrea. Though in her case, the influence would be symbolic, not literal. But what about Glenn and Sasha?

It really works for me. Because of the Sasha/Tyreese Theory, Sasha will have a lot of influence on the events we haven’t yet seen yet that happened after Coda. Same with Glenn. I’ve said this several times in recent weeks, but I believe Glenn played a big part in those events too. Despite their deaths, their actions will continue to influence the story, specifically because of Beth and those missing events. I definitely think this is part of it. (We all know Gimple operates on twelve levels at a time, yeah?)

Merle’s death, I’ll admit, is a little harder to pin down. Since S4, I don’t think he’s had much influence at all over the story. I think he has a lasting influence on Daryl (how could he not?) but that’s not exactly what we’re talking about here. I do think Merle had an influence on the episode right AFTER his death, however: the S3 finale, where the Gov attacked the prison. 

At the beginning, Daryl says to Carol that Merle never did anything as selfless as what led to his death in his entire life. They established that Merle gave TF a chance against the Governor. I’ll come back to this in a minute, because the next part of this theory will help explain the Merle weirdness a little more.

I’m not even sure how I came to my conclusion on the next part. Just by thinking and hashing things out with my fellow theorists, I guess. I started thinking maybe the theme music or lack of it doesn’t have anything to do with character death at all. Maybe it has to do with the end of an arc for the entire group.

Let me explain. Big events in the show are usually saved for finales or MSFs, right? That’s also true of main character deaths. The two things, along with major changes, often coincide. It’s no wonder we connected this to character death for so long. All the evidence pointed to it. Yet the exceptions disprove the rule.

I believe the lack of theme music shows the end of a major arc for the entire group. The next episode following the lack of theme music is the beginning of a new arc. Unlike the theme music=character death theory, this one follows the pattern every time. And what are these changes? I think they’re things in the plot that encompass what the entire group has in common at any given time (I’ll explain) but they also coincide with emotional arcs, especially Rick’s.

Before I get into the details, let me say this as well. We have two ways of seeing the turnover of an arc. The first is the lack of theme music. There’s silence during the end credits of the last episode of an arc. Then, in the following episode, which would be the first episode of the new arc, we always see a sunrise. It’s not always the first thing we see in the episode, but it is super prominent when we see it.

Let’s talk specifics. Here are the episodes with no theme music over the end credits and the character deaths they correspond to:

2x11: Dale’s Death

2x12: Shane’s Death (We hear sad music over the credits for this one, much like Andrea’s, but no theme music.)

3x04: Lori and T-Dog’s Deaths

3x16: Andrea’s Death (Again, said music over the credits, but no theme music.)

4x08: Hershel’s Death

5x09: Tyreese’s Death

6x16: Abraham’s Death

Episodes with major character deaths where the theme music DID play are:

3x15: Merle’s Death

5x08: Beth’s “Death”

7x01: Glenn’s Death

7x16: Sasha’s Death

Now, as I said, major character deaths often accompany the end of arcs. Let’s take a look at what’s happening between each case where the theme music goes silent.

We didn’t hear have any episodes with no theme music in S1. In S2, they move out of Atlanta and onto Hershel’s farm.

Farm Arc

Hershel keeps them at arm’s length. The first episode where we don’t hear theme music is after Dale’s death. What else is happening there?

They nearly kill Randal, but at the last second, Rick backs down. They have the whole conversation about the world changing. Dale says the world they know is dead. This episode was about 1) keeping their humanity by not executing Randall and 2) learning the world they now live in is irrevocably changed from what it used to be.

And I’m sure if we wanted to delve really deep, we’d see a major shift for every character. Rick realizes losing people is part of life now. Carl loses a little innocence because the walker he didn’t tell anyone about is the one who killed Dale. I’d even argue that when Daryl took the gun from Rick and shot Dale himself, is when he started to become Rick’s right-hand man.

And what happens in the next episode?  Early in the morning, we see Dale’s funeral with the sunrise. This is also the episode where Hershel invites them to come into the house. See? New arc. New mindset. No longer Hershel’s family and Rick’s group, but all one group working and living together. (When Rick says Daryl will help him rather than Shane, Shane makes a snide remark about Rick taking Daryl as his wingman. Shane = green-eyed monster.)

Full Shane Arc

This is the smallest arc between non-theme-music episodes. Only two episodes long, I’m not sure what to call it. It’s where Shane decides to kill Rick, which will end up changing Rick forever.

Shane’s death is in 2x12. It coincided with the loss of the farm, which made TF homeless. This is where it may get a big confusing. Shane’s death (2x12) signaled the end of the arc, so no theme music played. 2x13 (where the farm fell) signaled the beginning of the next arc. Losing the farm BEGAN the arc where they had no home. At the end of 2x12, they were still on the farm and the farm was still intact, so the new arc started in the next episode (2x13).

That same episode is also the beginning of the Ricktatorship.  We see the shift in TF to being homeless, in survival mode, and having absolute obedience to Rick.

Once again, we have the lack of theme music after Shane dies (end of arc) and the next episode, where the farm goes down, we see a sunrise. In this case, it’s near the end of the episode. It’s where, after a night of craziness and being split into small groups, they all meet up back at the highway where Sophia originally disappeared. They don’t go back to the farm. They find each other, sunrise = hope, and they embark on a new arc which will lead them to the prison.

Prison Arc: Making a New Home

In this arc they take/clear the prison, move in, make it their home, and deal with unwanted visitors (the surviving inmates).

The next major deaths we got (and lack of theme music) were Lori and T-Dog in 3x04. Lori’s death signaled a major shift for Rick. It represents the start of his crazy-town arc. For the rest of the season, he feels guilty, hallucinates Lori, and wars with himself over whether he’s doing the right thing.

Though it doesn’t have much to do with the people at the prison, in many ways, this is the start of the war with the Governor as well. They don’t meet him for a few more episodes, but where Andrea and Michonne are concerned, this is where Michonne really starts fighting the Governor which will lead directly to TF’s interactions with him.

The next episode, we see Daryl put the Cherokee Rose on Carol’s grave, because he thinks she’s dead. He’s up with the sunrise to do that. It comes near the end of the episode rather than at the beginning, but it’s still interesting in terms of Beth. We see a sunrise, Daryl putting a flower on the grave of someone he believes to be dead, and the very next episode, he finds her alive. Just saying. (And what was the last thing we saw in 7x16. Oh yeah. A sunset.)

The next lack of theme music doesn’t come until 3x16, and we can see these arcs ending then. (Remember Merle died in 3x15, but the theme music played, which means the arc didn’t end until after Andrea’s death.) 3x16 signaled the end of a LOT of things.

When Rick brings the survivors of Woodbury back to the prison, it’s the first time since Lori’s death that he looks up at the bridge and doesn’t see her there. He’s finally at peace with himself and accepting Lori’s death. It’s also the end of their war with the Governor. Yes, he comes back in 4a, but the dynamic is very different then. Never again will the he be the slimy dictator ruling over Woodbury. When he returns, the interaction is brief and brutal. The Gov is more a catalyst than the chronic enemy from before.

Finally, this episode represents the end of TF’s isolationist mindset. I noticed this re-watching S3. They REALLY didn’t want anyone else around in S3. There’s even a part near the beginning of the season, right after they find the surviving inmates and are debating whether to let them stay, where Maggie says, (and I paraphrase) “It’s just been us for so long. It’d be weird having others around.” TF even gave Andrea the cold shoulder. Not because of her, but because she represented another community and they were uncomfortable with that.

It all ends in 3x16 when they bring the Woodbury people to the prison. It won’t just be them anymore. They’ll build a community now.

Happy Community at the Prison/Rick Farmer

4x01 starts with Rick rising early to garden. (Sunrise.) This next arc runs from 4x01 to 4x08. That’s when we next have silence over the end credits, corresponding with Hershel’s death.

TF enjoyed a season of happiness at the prison before the shit hit. It represented a true, positive community and home. It all ended in 4x08.

For Rick, this was his non-violent, non-leader, farming arc. He ceases to be the farmer after 4x08 and enters his brutality arc.

(So this next part is where Beth’s side of things comes in. Because after 4x08, we don’t get silence over the end credits again until 5x09. What can we say is always true of TF over all of those episodes? It’s a lot of episodes, after all.)

Nomad Arc

So again, the arc ends in 4x08 with Hershel’s death and no theme music. 

The beginning of the next arc is 4x09. In this case, I think the important sunrise comes at the end of the episode (kinda like in 5x10). After Carl wakes up in the night and almost kills Rick, the next morning, Rick wakes up, and Michonne finds them after going through her PTSD stuff. The sunrise signaled a new beginning for all of them. It’s where the three of them really start to become a family.

For this arc, TF are wandering nomads. 

After the prison falls they split up into little groups and have no home. I don’t think I ever thought of it this way before this, but do you realize all the surviving members of TF never occupy the same space at the same time during 4b and 5a? It’s true. They’re in little groups in 4b. Many of them reunite at Terminus, but Beth, Carol, Tyreese, and Judith are missing. Then those at Terminus reunite with Carol and Ty in 5x01, but Beth is still missing. Then everyone splits up again. Daryl and Carol go looking for Beth in Atlanta, Abe and Team D.C. take the short bus north, Rick and the rest stay at FG’s church. Beth is still at Grady.

Everyone does finally come together at the end of Coda, when everyone ends up in the parking lot of Grady. And yet, the theme music played. Even putting Beth’s apparent death aside, it seems to be the perfect time to end the arc. Why didn’t they?

We didn’t hear theme music play after 5x09, when Tyreese died. Why?

Two possible explanations, I think.

1) The stuff we haven’t seen after Coda. It’s possible TF splits up again. From 5x10 on, the group stays whole all the way through the end of S6 when Carol leaves Alexandria. But remember not everyone we should have seen at Ty’s funeral showed up. 

It’s especially odd that Maggie and Daryl didn’t go to Shirewilt since it was supposedly “for Beth.” I know there have been lots of theories in the past about JUST Daryl and Maggie going back to bury Beth while the rest of the group went on to Shirewilt. I’ve never entirely bought in to that, tbh. I think it’s more likely they all went back, especially given all the “girl I left behind” songs around Rick, and Daryl’s obvious anger at him in 5b. But I could be wrong. And whether I am or not, the separation could have happened any time during the missing 17 days. Maybe they didn’t truly stay together for real until 5x10. 5x09 signaled the end of their separation. We can’t know for sure until we see those missing events.

2) Maybe it’s about a home. Maybe the nomad arc was less about separation and more about not having a home. The Alexandria arc doesn’t begin until 5x10 with the sunrise, the music box, and Aaron showing up with “good news.” The previous arc would have to end in 5x09. (Coinciding with Tyreese’s death.)

(So, where Beth is concerned, if the music is about the character having more influence on the story, it supports TD theories. If it’s about TF’s overall arc, it doesn’t support or refute TD theories. It’s neutral. You could also argue that it shows Beth’s weak/dead girl arc also ended in 5x09. You know, right before the music box woke up? It could support (or at least not refute) our theories about her showing up as a leader and a badass. Her weakness and hesitation ended here when this arc ended.)

Making Alexandria Their New Home Arc

Either way, the new arc begins n 5x10. 

Thanks to the S7 finale, we know Them was the beginning of Sasha’s final arc, but for all of TF it signaled the beginning of them finding a new home and making it their own. They had to get there, struggle to find their places in the community, and then make it a true home. This encompasses 5x10 to 6x16. It’s kind of weird to think about, but we didn’t have a major death throughout all of S6. Plenty of minor ones and Glenn’s death fake out, but no major ones.

Negan Arc

The music ceases to play during the end credits in 6x16. And this one’s much more obvious. Remember in the TTD after 6x16, Lauren Cohan said there was a before Negan and an after Negan. They’d been aiming for that moment since S4 (which means the bats around Beth MUST be intentional, y'all). 6x16 is the end of the Happiness at Alexandria arc. And what do we see in 7x01? A sunrise. Negan even mentions it in an obvious way.

So all of S7 is about dealing with Negan in some way. First they submitted to him, then they began quietly gearing up for war, and then it became an all-out battle in 7x16. With it comes Sasha’s death, where the theme music still played.

Much like Coda in S5, it would make sense for this to be the end of the arc, especially with Sasha’s sunset being included. But it wasn’t.

Two possibilities to point out here for S8:

1. This is a subtle parallel to S5. One would think the arc would end here, but it didn’t. The music still played. There are lots of people predicting another major character death in 8x01. They may be right. TWD often does deaths in 2s (Merle/Andrea, Lori/T-Dog, Beth/Tyreese, Abraham/Glenn) but not always. Shane, Dale, and Hershel’s deaths all stood on their own, so it’s not an absolute.

Either way, we haven’t seen the end of this arc yet.

I don’t know if I’ve said this in a public post yet, but I know I’ve discussed it with people (maybe in Asks? Not sure) but I really don’t think 8a will end up being All Out War. I know it’s what comes next in the story. And the trailer definitely supports it. But assuming we’re right and the first four episodes are about Beth, they’re not going to have time to get to that right away. At least, not completely. All Out War is the next big arc, but I don’t think it will start until Beth appears.

She’ll be TF’s weapon against Negan so the war can’t start without her.

2. How cool would it be if after the episode where Beth shows up, the theme music didn’t play? That’d be kind of awesome.

It would signal the end of the current arc and the start of the new one, where Beth is present and the war against Negan begins. No idea if that will happen, but I’ll be watching very carefully (and listening to the credits) specifically because Sasha’s death, while it ended HER arc, didn’t end the overall arc for the show/TF.

This is my current theory about the theme music. Its subject to change as we move forward and learn more. It doesn’t negate Beth’s return. In terms of 7x16 and S8, it adds more evidence to her showing up early in S8.

But you see my point. The theme music really isn’t about character death, and we can’t keep pretending that it is. This could actually show us a lot of interesting things as we move into S8, so we need to figure out it’s true meaning and roll with it.

What does everyone think?

[nettlestonenell]

2017 Fandom Feels Update

(in no particular order)

Peaky Blinders - I probably don't quite know how to talk about Peaky Blinders. It's a show that both fascinated and repulsed me. It's definitely unforgettable. But I think it also overly takes advantage of the fact it doesn't air on US network television (in the sense that I absolutely believe it is far more graphic far more of the time than it needs to be). Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing, an anti-hero (of which there are just so very many right now) created in the belly of poverty and the tunnels of WWI, he has very few illusions about himself. He's a man who says very little, and as frustrating as that is at times narratively, it works for me. I fall into what tumblr lets me know are the rare ranks of those who really enjoyed the character of Grace (to be specific: S1 Grace). As with many shows that I prize, it made choices and went in directions opposite of what I expected, which always gets my attention if the writers and actors can pull it off, which here they did many times.

TURN - June 17. I have no idea what to expect. S3 seemingly terminated so many at-play plots for the show (Andre, Arnold, Rogers, Simcoe, Hewlett), I found it personally to be the weakest of the 3, but will definitely tune in to S4 and what may come. Frankly, I am disappointed the Arnolds will still be in the mix, because I had hoped that uncomfortable plot had been put to rest last season. Also, I am a little allergic to tumblr's deep fascination with Robert Townsend on the show, who as far as I can see has done little so far in his few scenes other than pout.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - I watched S1 of this about a year ago, but found the S2 opener altered in tone and production values and so I walked away for awhile. Recently I watched and enjoyed S2 and S3, but S1 will forever be my special baby. It's the rare show that really is everything tumblr wants to tell you about it. And as far as I'm concerned the genius will-they-won't-they could have gone on forever and a day. It didn't matter. I never genuinely wanted them to in-story. And that's a rare show, where creators know what's just right, and what might be too much. In many ways, this show is Robin Hood-ish. The found family that just also happens to be made up of people whose exact skills you need to accomplish your ends. Maid Marian as Jack Robinson, on Robin's side but not yet ready to fully join the gang. I just love the beats we get with Miss Fisher's gang of unusuals, we know things about them, we understand them. No one's a caricature.

The Musketeers - Let me say first that I never watched ONLY for Athos' and Milady's plot (no matter what my tumblr might convince you). I would have watched this show even without her being included. I went in to S3 hopeful on a number of fronts, and wanting to see something like what S1 had given us. And while I don't think the loss of Capaldi broke the show (no, I don't, I really don't--though of course it was a harsh, harsh blow), and think something internal (after all, the creator/writer WALKED OUT before S3 was finished, which frankly speaks to cracks in the show/network/creatives relationship starting in S2) DID, I watched what I think were three episodes of S3. This was about the time my system and couchtuner stopped getting along. Those three episodes convinced me I didn't need or want to watch the rest, and that retreating into S1 and what I liked of S2 would make me far happier.

BBC Robin Hood - Look, it's never going away. (Coincidentally, I did a similar thing with this show's S3 as to Musketeers, and watched two episodes and gave up. In the long run, it's allowed me to continue to love the show and "my" seasons of it without reservation. Knowing when to quit a show really can be key.)

Marvel's Agent Carter - This is a rough one. S2 was appreciably 'off' from both the tone and look of S1 (which I will claim among top 10 TV shows in my viewing lifetime, no doubt), which was disappointing. Peggy's narrative goal was less focussed. The show tended more toward that 'everyone Peggy encounters is super/special' and less toward an environment like that at the Griffith, where we see Peggy, who knows from strange and super, living in a mundane world, among normal people. The ending (particularly the romantic reveal) was rushed, and a huge disservice to the two excellent actors it was given to. I really liked how they didn't redeem Thompson, and want to know what happened to him in the cliffhanger. On the whole, though, a disappointment after a stellar year-one of very tight, extremely stylish storytelling. Yet I'm deeply dismayed it's not available on DVD (only Blu-ray)

Victorian Slum House - I wish the cast had their own confession cams, like they did on 1900 House, because I'd like to know each of them better than the show allows.

Daredevil, Season One - I did not know I watched this for Claire Temple. Look, I'm not a depressive person, yet I struggle with sustained bleakness in fiction. Couple that with hyper-violence (ymmv as to what that means for you), and I don't sleep well. I watched S1. And I can say it was a high quality. I enjoyed the cast. I really liked the Russians. And Madame whatever her name was that disappeared. But I got to a point where I was fast-forwarding every fight scene (and as you know there are a lot). I made it through to the end. But the payout was not (for me) worth the viewer anguish, and S2 and on will never be my flavor of enjoyment. Yet, send me all the Matt/Foggy gifsets.

Jessica Jones - I watched this for Claire Temple. Man, that was NOT a wrong choice. This show was (if possible) better than what even tumblr thought of it. Which is not to say there weren't portions I had to watch on fast-forward, or through my hands. I love that it takes place in the same world as Daredevil, and yet it's depiction of Jessica's section of New York is aesthetically so different than that of Matt's. Also, Malcolm.  And Carrie-Anne Moss.

Harrison Ford - With all this Star Wars revival stuff, you know, despite my original deep affection for HF I often find myself feeling grumpy about him, about his talents, about what he meant to me in the 1980s (yes, I was alive in the 1980s, and long out of diapers). And then Netflix gets Working Girl, and I remember again that I forgot, that my personal trifecta of HF roles (Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Witness' John Book) is actually...whatever you call a quartet of charming effortless awesomeness. *Please go watch Working Girl. But don't even watch it for HF. Watch it for Melanie Griffith who proves she is a Grade-A Star.

Arrow - I removed my Season Pass on TiVo. Thing is, the show got caught (it's a common enough problem in long-running shows) constantly dragging Oliver back to having issues we had been shown he'd overcome. (This is so Emma Swan on OUAT, btw) I watched Arrow b/c I loved Oliver. But someone's trapped him in character development limbo, and also reduced his show to The Love Boat (in the sense that it exists now largely to introduce characters that springboard off into their own shows, rather than to move its own plots forward). Also, I have never been a fan of 'everyone in the world AND IN THIS NARRATIVE is super! No room for regular people here!' (see my comments about Agent Carter) Oliver vs. the occasion super villain was okay. Oliver in a world 99% (at least who he comes into contact with) super? No.

the 100 - If there is something in the first seasons of a show that you like, what the show turns into later you will despise. (This goes for nearly every show I can think of, not just this one. Shows change, often around season three. Non-procedural drama shows run out of the story they originally set out to tell and have to redevelop and redefine themselves. Sometimes the show finds itself. Others, it founders. Frankly, this is the subject of a longer post.)

[asarenanews-blog]

HTC First audit: Don't call it the Facebook telephone Rather, Facebook Home is here. So how does the application coordinate into this handset?.

Last week at Facebook central station, CEO and author Mark Zuckerberg formally declared Facebook Home, a little suite of uses that clients can introduce on their Android gadgets to basically "Facebook-ize" their telephones. The occasion came after gossipy tidbits that the long range informal communication goliath was at last pulling the trigger on an official handset. Facebook didn't report a Facebook telephone, however it revealed an organization with HTC to create a mid-run handset that would come pre-introduced with Facebook Home.Facebook expected to acquaint another route with make the cell phone encounter "individuals driven." Zuckerberg put forth the defense that most portable working frameworks keep social connection sequestered to a few particular applications, constraining them to exist autonomous of each other and restricting them to specific paths. However, with an application like Facebook Home introduced, the informal community turns into the center of the versatile working framework. Notices and announcements from companions or family turn into a need instead of a matrix of symbols shouting for consideration with uproarious, red-numbered identifications.

To be clear, the HTC First is a decent looking telephone, yet it's not a "Facebook telephone." At its center, the First is an Android telephone with a Facebook overlay. Once Facebook Home is authoritatively discharged on April 12 in the Google Play store, five upheld gadgets will all have the same Facebook Home usefulness. The HTC First is its own particular item, which will likewise touch base at AT&T on April 12, yet will survey both the application and the handset as one element since they're sold as a bundle. Consider it getting two surveys at the cost of one.

HTC First

The HTC First is a littler handset that dislike the gadgets as of late standing out as truly newsworthy—telephones like the HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S4, for example. This is implied for an alternate subset of clients. Dissimilar to the previously mentioned gadgets, the HTC First is just $100 with a two-year contract. Albeit mid-go telephones are regularly discreetly reported, this handset is seeing more exhibit in view of its out-of-the-case components and local Facebook Home joining.

Note this isn't even the main "Facebook telephone" that HTC has created. In 2011, Facebook and HTC joined forces up to discharge the HTC ChaCha and Salsa, two Android handsets with advantageous Facebook catches found appropriate on the frame. In any case, a telephone can't be about long range interpersonal communication—it ought to have the capacity to stream video, keep a telephone call going, and multitask, at the same time encouraging into its client's person to person communication enslavement.

Body, internal parts, and show

When I initially grasped the telephone, it quickly brought back flashbacks of my HTC Incredible from ages prior. The First is an exceptionally smart, well-manufactured telephone, at the end of the day demonstrating that HTC has a propensity for plan. At 4.96 × 2.56 × 0.35 inches, the First is about the extent of the iPhone 5, yet as specified, it's littler than a portion of the more well known telephones available, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III. It includes a smaller scale USB charging port on the right-hand side, and a pinhole for the miniaturized scale SIM opening. The First additionally has a volume rocker on the left-hand side, a power catch and earphone jack on top, and three navigational catches beneath the display.I can see the arrangement of the small scale USB port turning into a touch of an issue in circumstances where the telephone is charging and it should be laid on a level plane or set in an auto holster for route (this is a similar issue I had with my Incredible path back when). It's additionally cumbersome attempting to sort with both hands when the telephone is connected to.

Inside its dark matte skeleton, the telephone is outfitted with a double center 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor—which was a piece of the chipmaker's CES declaration lineup prior this year—and in addition a 2,000 mAh battery pack, a 5MP back confronting camera, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of inner stockpiling. There is no development space, nor is there an approach to pop open the back cover and supplant the battery. The HTC First is HSPA+ and LTE 850/1900 MHz good.

The handset is additionally outfitted with a 720p, 4.3-inch show with 341 pixels for every inch—that is slightly greater than the iPhone 5's show, yet it's littler than Samsung's Galaxy S III. Since I've turned out to be so used to greater shows in the most recent year, it's been hard to move back to a littler screen amid the few days that I utilized the HTC First. The telephone didn't really feel outdated due to its size, yet it absolutely felt diverse, notwithstanding when I'd switch amongst it and my regular telephone (the Galaxy S III).The screen size wasn't a lot of an issue with the exception of when perusing ebooks and content overwhelming site pages. Perusing a site on the 4.3-inch screen stressed my eyes since they've gotten used to expending content on greater screens. I utilize a 4.8-inch show once a day and the little numerical contrast is evident. This experience here and there makes an interpretation of over to different applications as well, particularly with the first Facebook application (isolate from Home). Luckily, there is an alternative in the Settings menu to make the textual style greater, which really helped altogether.

Despite that, the show still displays a charming photograph understanding for Facebook Home's Cover Feed and other photo driven components. The hues appeared to be consistent with their inclination and the photo was constantly energetic, fresh, and simple to see. Just in direct daylight was the screen somewhat washed out, even with the splendor the distance up.Performance and battery life

Qualcomm records its double center Snapdragon 400 processor as a mid-level processor for "high-volume" gadgets. It keeps running at 1.4GHz and components an Adreno 305 GPU. As opposed to set this against a portion of the most recent top of the line telephones that we've had hands-on time with, we backpedaled into the files to contrast it with a couple of more seasoned handsets to perceive how it stacks up.The First's processor can best be contrasted with the one included in the US rendition of the Samsung Galaxy S3, which is a 1.5GHz double center Snapdragon S4—the S4 and the Snapdragon 400 utilize a similar CPU design, codenamed "Krait," so execution ought to be fundamentally the same as. We'll incorporate the LG Optimus G, which highlights a 1.5GHz, quad-center Snapdragon S4 Pro, and the as of late surveyed Optimus G Pro since its 1.9GHz quad-center Snapdragon 600 processor was discharged close by the First's SoC. We even included the iPhone 5 in for good measure.

In execution tests, the First had outcomes like the Samsung Galaxy S III. Since there is a 100MHz contrast between handsets, it bodes well that the First was lingering somewhat behind the S III.Google Chrome is the stock program on the HTC First, however it appeared to fall behind a hefty portion of alternate handsets in benchmark comes about. In general, the handset was quick and fast. It didn't feel like a mid-go handset, however it risks demonstrating its age in about a year when a group of new versatile processors is reported.

The 2,000 mAh battery pack highlighted inside the HTC First may appear like little potatoes contrasted with a portion of the batteries incorporated into other current telephones, yet the First doesn't have the same number of pixels to push or centers to control as contending versatile players. To be perfectly honest, that is the thing that makes its battery life so great.

The telephone finished a day of video watching, a few telephone calls, messages sent forward and backward, and a lot of Instagramming with 37 percent battery life—this was with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi dependably on. The First was set to programmed brilliance, be that as it may, which protected its battery life. In the wake of observing right around a whole scene of BBC's Sherlock on Netflix at full splendor and full volume, the telephone consumed through around 11 percent of its battery life. This wasn't too terrible for 50 minutes of review. It gives the idea that Home doesn't go through that much battery life either, in spite of its imbued status inside the Android working framework. The battery vitality pointer demonstrated that Facebook was spending just two percent of the telephone's battery control.

Camera

Albeit most makers play up the high megapixel depend on their handsets' cameras, the HTC First manages with just five megapixels. The telephone took awesome pictures where there was appropriate lighting, however it had a few issues in lower-light settings, particularly with dull or brilliant engineered lighting.The Camera application on the HTC First is the stock application that is highlighted on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. It highlights various customization alternatives—like the capacity to take a display, select the white adjust for photographs, and select distinctive scenes—however there is no HDR mode (however you can "fake" it with different applications in the Google Play store). Video mode includes a couple of additional settings, similar to Time Lapse, 1080p recording, and impacts like the capacity to include a "green screen" and change the foundation. Furthermore, the camera application accompanies some clever channel highlights, a la Instagram. The majority of those elements were a piece of Android as of now, yet they're still great to have regardless.By and large, the photographs brought with the handset were more than satisfactory for sharing on Facebook, however we wouldn't recommend utilizing the HTC First as your exclusive simple to use camera. Still, at five megapixels, the camera took more proficient photographs than a portion of the more up to date telephones we've tested.Facebook Home isn't a redone adaptation of the Android working framework. Or maybe, it's an application overlay that demonstrations like different launchers you can download from the Google Play store, similar to Nova Launcher.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Details Surrounding Beth’s Return: Beth and Daryl as Protectors of Children

Okay, so this is a theory I’ve been hashing out somewhat with @boltthrutheheart. As I told her, I’ve always had this head-canon about Beth returning with children. Not her own, of course, but just having children in her care when she returns. If she’s leading a group, it’s very plausible that there could be children in it. And I never knew why I had that head-canon, but I always did. I’ve been thinking about it more since S7 ended, and some interesting things occurred to me. I might have been picking up on some of these things subconsciously. So I ran it by @boltthrutheheart and she had some truly ingenious insights into it!

The basic theory is this: Not only has Beth been shown as a caregiver and protector of children in the past, but they foreshadowed that she would also be on in the future, when she returns. Believe it or not, it’s actually another way in which they’ve paralleled her with Daryl, and shown how they’re soul mates.

Okay, now you’re gonna want bread crumbs. So let’s get into it.

Season 3:

1) So the main, obvious evidence here is that she is Judith’s caregiver. Pretty much every scene after Judith is born features Beth taking care of her, and rarely do we see Beth without Judith.

2) It’s also significant that, even though it’s Daryl that feeds Judith when he and Maggie return with the formula, Beth is standing right there, obviously concerned over Judith’s well-being. She hands him the bottle and may have helped prepare it. It’s almost like the two of them are parenting her right then.

3) We saw Sasha mistake Beth for being Judith’s mom when Sasha and Ty first arrived at the prison. (In our FB group we like to use this as evidence that even back in S3, Beth was not considered a child. Yes, underage teens can have babies too, but even strangers didn’t blink an eye at Beth possibly having a baby. She was an adult by everyone’s standards.) But for purposes of this theory, it’s just significant that they kind of foreshadowed Beth actually having a baby, and had people assume she was Judith’s mom.

4) And of course there’s this scene we all love to discuss, where Beth talks about how Daryl saved Judith and also about wanting a child of her own someday.

Fast forward to S4:

So during 4a, Beth is still seen with Judith constantly. I talked about this a little bit in THIS post about episode ¾ lineups. Beth has Judith on the other side of the door to keep her quarantined from the virus. I talked about how Judith’s role in this foreshadowing might point toward Beth returning when Maggie is pregnant, and point toward the Glaggie baby. Or it might foreshadow her taking care of Judith in some way when she returns (since chances are Maggie’s baby won’t have been born yet.)

I have a more specific head canon about Judith getting kidnapped (if it happens, it’ll most likely be by the wolves) and Beth saving her. We actually have some evidence that MAY point to this as late as S6, when Rick found the baby carrots on the wolves that attacked the RV, and when Denise found the remains of a dead child just before she herself was shot. So you never know.

But here’s where things become really compelling for me. For most of 4a, Beth simply takes care of Judith, which is important but just more of what we saw in S3. Then, when the prison goes down, Maggie gets Glenn to the bus and starts screaming for Beth. The woman on the bus specifically tells Maggie that Beth went to find Judith. Understandable, given that she was pretty much Judith’s mother at this point. But in terms of foreshadowing, it also might point to more.

When Daryl shoots douchebag in the chest and Beth come running out behind him, she says, “I was looking for the kids, to get them on the bus.” It’s odd to me that she says, “the kids” rather than just Judith. It’s not like Daryl doesn’t know who Judith is or would wonder why she’d be looking for Judith. I don’t know what that might point to–other than her leading a group of kids when she returns–but it stands out to me as odd.

After the prison, she mentions Sophia in Still. But doing the re-watch, it’s struck me over and over again how many references there are to children around Beth.

In Inmates, when she and Daryl find tracks, she suggests they might be long to “Luke or Molly.” Those were the other two kids at the prison. We never found out what happened to them, which is probably significant. 

When we see the disembodied shoe on the ground, it’s always looked small to me. There’s really nothing in the scene to compare it to for scale, but I’m pretty sure it’s a child’s shoe. 

Which is why Beth and Daryl believe the people they were tracking (the small prints actually belonged to Lizzie and Mica) have all died. But again, we have Beth crying over children she couldn’t save.   

When she bandages Michonne’s foot in 4x02, she specifically asks if any kids died. Then she talks about how there we have words like orphan and widow, but why isn’t there a word for a parent that’s lost a child. I think that’s really heavy foreshadowing for something to do with Beth, but we haven’t seen it yet.

Then there’s the voice over from Beth’s diary in Inmates. I analyzed the entire sequence HERE, but she specifically mentions Lori’s baby and that they need a safe place for it to be born. 

The last one I’m aware of in S4 is in the flashbacks in 4x16. In that, we once again see her taking care of Judith in the prison. And yes, it was a flashback, but even so. Remember that most everything we see in the show reaches forward, not back. So that again tells me we’ll see either Beth + Judith or Beth + other kids or both.

Now let’s talk about Daryl. Thanks to @boltthrutheheart for this insight because I’m not sure I would have looked at it quite from this angle.

Daryl too, has always been shown as a protector of children. It’s subtler only because we rarely see him actually caring for children the way Beth did. But he searched for Sophia, even more than her own mother did, in S2, took care of and fed Judith in S3, and then in S4, when Patrick turns and attacks the cell block, we see him rescuing look, who obviously knows and trusts him.

We also have him telling Andrea the story about how he got lost as a child–much like Sophia did–and no one looked for him. That story is the key to why Daryl searched for Sophia, and gives a lot of insight into his soft spot for children.

In S5, he showed a lot of concern for Judith in 5x10, telling Rick she was hungry. It was totally a deflection on his part, but still. And then I’ve always thought it was cute in 5x12 when TF is settling in for the night and Rick sets Judith in her play pen. It’s quick and subtle, but you see Daryl lean in toward Judith, as though he’s playing with her or just making sure she gets settled okay. (All together now: Awwww.)

So two things that are important about all of this:

1) Beth totally knows how Daryl feels about kids. She understood how much Sophia affected him, as she said in Still. And that’s especially important because when Sophia came out of the barn, Beth was going through her own personal hell. So she either still noticed it or just thought about it and put the pieces together later. Which means she was totally thinking about Daryl. We also heard her tell Carol that she knew how much Judith meant to him and how hard he fought to make sure she didn’t die.

Daryl knew that Beth cared for Judith pretty much every day of her life until the prison fell, so it’s not like he’d be oblivious to how much Beth cares for children. This is something they share and understand about one another.

2) @boltthrutheheart also pointed out that we haven’t seen Daryl interact with children in quite the same way since Beth died, and that’s super important. As I said above, we did see him express concern for Judith in S5, but we haven’t seen him hold her at all. There were plenty of kids in Alexandria, but we haven’t seen him interact with them in the same way he did with the kids in the prison. It almost seems like he might be avoiding them.

Could it be that equates children with Beth, and hasn’t been able to interact heavily with them since he lost her? Is this yet another way the writers are showing us that he still is nowhere near “over” Beth’s death. Hmmm.

Two other interesting things occurred to me while re-watching that might be further evidence for this.

Both Tyreese and Carol have been paralleled with Beth in various ways. Tyreese was Judith’s caregiver and his death was heavily entangled with Beth’s. Carol and Beth have about a billion parallels, but in S4, the biggest one is that Carol was estranged from TF for a short time, but returned in time to save the day at Terminus. Prior to that, of course, she reunited with Tyreese and the girls.

So we have Ty, a proxy to Beth, who SAVED JUDITH, and is leading two young girls through the woods, protecting them, until they can all reunite with TF. Now, granted, Lizzie and Mica didn’t make it that far, which sucked. But I think Beth may be in a similar situation–leading children, perhaps saving Judith–when she returns.

Where Carol is concerned–and this was really the thing that kicked off me thinking about this whole theory–it’s significant to me that when she shows up in Inmates and reunites with Ty, she’s carrying Judith. I know he had Judith with him anyway, but something about that feels very significant to me. Like Beth will be carrying a child or baby–maybe Judith, maybe someone else–when she returns.

So, just wanted to point this out. Just conjecture at this point. A true theory, but the more I re-watch, the more convinced I am that it’s a thing. I’m sure there are more Beth/child references that I missed. I think Beth will either be leading kids or else perhaps will save Judith in some way. I’m cool with either option. ;D