#i mean she still totally went through it in arc one but at least she's got something going for her

[classy-disaster]

i just realized vi made it through her first ever arc without getting kidnapped

i'm so proud of her

[spaceorphan18]

The Lady Whistledown Papers : 1x2 - Shock and Delight (Part 2)

Hi! Welcome back to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I’m taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton!

For previous issues, follow tag : The Lady Whistledown Papers

In Part Two I will be doing a deep dive analysis on the structural arc of Daphne and Simon's Courtship No, I'm kidding, but unfortunately, I won't be talking about a whole lot of Pen or Colin either.... At least lack of screen time gets us to better things quicker ;)

Cake

Okay, so we pick up with Penelope bringing Marina a few treats - because Marina is staying home due to her 'condition'. And here's my thing... Penelope is so happy to be coming to see Marina. Even after Colin has been courting her a little, Penelope is fine with Marina. And this is the one unfortunate side effect of this whole plot line, because I think Penelope and Marina could have been friends.

Marina is generally nice to Penelope -- I'm assuming that she hasn't made fun of Penelope, hasn't made snide little comments, and has noticed Pen as an actual person, and it seems as no one other than Eloise and Colin has done this for Penelope. Plus, she's someone new and someone who isn't seemingly a terrible person, so of course Pen is excited to sneak up to see her.

Plus -- all of the pregnancy stuff is terrible exciting for her. Not because of the Lady Whistledown, gossip of it all -- no, because stuff like this doesn't happen in her world. And she's incredibly curious about all of it. She wants to know to understand her world better. And Marina offers her a view of the outside world that she never gets to see.

So, we learn that Marina will be sticking around and Penelope takes a moment to inquire how the pregnancy happened - since clearly she and Eloise still haven't found anyone to give them answers. (I wonder why they didn't go find a servant and ask them, anyway, I digress...)

Marina, amused, answers that cake is the reason for her condition.

And I love how Penelope is so confused... and hesitant about eating the piece of cake in her hand. But I mean, girl... my dear, sweet, summer child Penelope, listen up because cake is gonna be how you end up pregnant, too ;)

*ah-hem* I'm sorry, what was I saying? Oh, right back to Season 1...

So we get a really long boring explanation that Marina fell in love with a dude named George Crane and they fucked around and found out and then George Crane went to fight in the army and Marina was shipped off to be with her unimaginably mean spirited cousins.

And, look, I may not be into this story but Penelope totally is. Because it's a love story. It's about two people just finding their way, and doing sweet, little things for each other, and just falling in love with each other. And Penelope is eating this right up. This girl has the biggest, most romantic soul, and it's endearing to her on every level.

Marina reveals that she and George have been writing, and Penelope is both scandalized and titillated. And I mean, unmarried men and women who were not related to each other weren't really supposed to be writing letters -- let alone love letters -- to each other. This is a BIG FUCKING DEAL, and Penelope just loves it. But I mean, it also speaks to her -- it speaks to her as a writer, and a romantic, and this idea that two people fall in more in love through writing is just... something that's going to be a part of her own story, so this is a very meaningful thing, here.

The last beat of this is a little funny to me, because even though Pen is so invested in this love story, Marina is still being vague, so Pen asks straight up -- how did you get pregnant? And Marina just simply replies... love. And I mean, it's an incredibly sweet moment -- and I love that it's punctuated by Penelope holding a letter -- because, again, the written word will be so powerful in her story but also...

She's just dumbfounded because -- love? Love got you pregnant? Thanks, Marina, I was hoping for a mechanical break down of how that works, because no one will actually give me details on that, but I suppose a metaphor will work...

Meanwhile...

Wondering what Colin is up to? Not a whole lot, hanging out with his mother and brother, being very good at not really being in this scene. BUT I'M TRYING TO BE THOROUGH!

Picnic

No, okay, but here's my thing. We have this whole picnic thing going on the Bridgertons and the Featheringtons are around. And the Bridgerton siblings are all kind of playing around, and honestly, I love this little moment of them all playing this hoop game. I mean, Anthony is there, sure. But I think it's important showing Colin fooling around with Gregory and Hyacinth in this game -- it kind of a nice visual reminder of how young Colin is. And a nice complement to the next scene where Pen asks if she can go 'play' with Eloise.

And, I mean, I love this moment. Penelope and Eloise have been 'playing' for a long time, and it's another reminder that Penelope is also incredibly young here. She may have been pushed out into the world sooner than she wanted to, but she is still childish at heart, too.

And, as an aside I should note -- Nicola Coughlan was 32 when she filmed this. 32!! And she makes Penelope seem so, so, so young. Coughlan also has talked about how she used a much higher voice when doing Season 1 Penelope to help give the illusion that Penelope is still a young girl. It's such a cool acting choice. I'm glad Coughlan is really beginning to get the recognition she deserves.

Penelope fills Eloise in on the gossip that 'love' was what got Marina pregnant, and they are both still confused. I kind of love that Penelope is more so confused because her own mother had three children and clearly that didn't happen because her parents' loved each other. I mean, it's wise of Penelope to acknowledge that, but also kind of sad, too. It's one reason she gravitates towards the Bridgertons so hard - their family love is something she doesn't have.

Eloise wants to know if the 'maid' is frightened, but Penelope lights up because she is caught up in the love story of it all. Marina has told her she's going to run away to the country side and get married. To Penelope, this is the best possible outcome -- a woman finding love and starting her family based out of that love. I'm sure it's happened in the books she loves to read, and getting a front seat to it all is even more exciting.

Eloise, of course, does not share her view, and we get another instance of the two of them not being on the same page. Eloise exclaims that it's terrible and frightening that this is all happening -- because marriage is the worst option. It means succumbing to the will of man and society yet again, and Eloise just cannot have it.

There's a little moment towards the end where Eloise is slightly forceful with Penelope -- in a way where Eloise is trying to shake the silly love story out of Penelope's head and remind her what's actually at stake -- the poor 'maid's freedom. And I can only imagine that Eloise has spent a good amount of time reminding Penelope that she shouldn't want to be married and that the two of them are going to go off being great, single dames with many adventures.

(But also - as an aside - one reason Eloise is so afraid is that she still remembers her mother going into labor after her father died, and that has made a profound impact on her. She doesn't want to go through that nightmare herself. It's just something I wanted to note, because Eloise is a pretty complex and interesting character, even if I'm only tangentially hitting on her character in these posts.)

Back at the Bridgerton camp, Lord Berbrooke is causing a stir as he's trying to stake a claim on Daphne.

And I mean, the thing about Colin in the background is that he's taking this all very seriously. Berbrooke is scandalizing his sister and making a mockery of the Bridgerton name and Colin really isn't about to let anyone do either of those things. But, this isn't his story, and Anthony is handling it so he's just on guard and waiting...

I also think it's kind of funny that Lady Whistledown was named checked during this scene. Whatever would happen if she knew what was going on?? Meanwhile, Lady Whistledown is busy asking her mother if she could go play with her bff and trying to figure out how babies are made. The fact that LW carries so much weight already and yet, Penelope really doesn't know what power she has yet.

Gossip

The next sequence I actually really like. It's been hammered into us these first couple of episodes how little power that women have. So, since they can't go duel people, they can do what they do best -- talk. And talk they do. And the gossip is spread about how Berbrooke got a maid pregnant and sent her off to the country side and the rumors start to swirl.

It's very intentional that they showed a clip of Varley, Portia's hand maid (and right hand man) getting the news. Because this is undoubtedly how Penelope finds out about it.

But here's the thing. Here's the thing I really, really, really want to stress. You know what saves Daphne from having to marry this asshat? You know what stops Anthony from having to punch the dude or Simon from taking measures into his hands or something much worse happening? Lady Whistledown. Lady. Fucking. Whistledown.

Penelope, when it comes down to it, always protects the Bridgertons. Always. She may make some questionable choices at times, and may not always be kind to them in her writing, but she will always protect them when she can. She may not know or fully understand her full power, but it's no doubt that the Queen will eventually think it's a Bridgerton writing it -- because they are always, ultimately, shielded in column.

And I mean, look at the look in her eyes as she watches her mother gossip with other women. Look at her pretending to read what she, herself, has written. She knows the gossip is working. And she delights that her own handiwork is at play.

It's a great little moment in an otherwise brilliant sequence.

However... that's all we get in this episode. Stay tuned for Episode 3 where... even less happens! :D Thanks for reading! :)

[grifff17]

Audio Drama Sunday 8/18/2024

There was so much new stuff this week. Midnight Burger, Worlds Beyond Number, World Gone Wrong, and Wanderer's Journal all release an episode every other Tuesday, and this Tuesday was that day. Then on Wednesday 3 actual play released new episodes. I didn't actually get through everything new this week, the rest will come next week.

NEW SHOW ALERT Starwhal: Odyssey, a spelljammer-inspired actual play from the cast of Skyjacks Couriers Call, is no longer Patreon exclusive! I really liked the first 2 episodes of this show, I love the way these people do collaborative storytelling. The little things like the rent collections robot and the streaming rat were so good. At the end of the episode, the mental vision of Saach teleporting into the gamer chair was so vivid. Also, I've never heard more revulsion in a credits sequence than them crediting Wizards of the Coast for the Spelljammer setting. I'm curious about the system they're going to move to for the later episodes.

In @midnightburgr I love the new set of characters, I bet the next spinoff series going to be the Paradise. However, they can’t keep ending episodes like this. I’ve never been happier to hear the sound of the diner jumping, but Ava and the Mucklewains are gone. At least this time Ava isn't totally alone in a jerry rigged space suit. And David is joining the main cast, at least for the rest of the season!

So much happens in every @worldsbeyondpod episode, and this one had even more than most. The audio design for the opening scene goes so hard, Taylor does such an incredible job. When listening to other APs, I can't help but compare them to WBN. The King of Night loredrop was insane, Orima is apparently sworn to him? I like how the core conflict - Witches and Spirits vs Wizards - is designed to create tension and strife between the PCs. I love the intrigue of this arc so much, but Ame lying to the coven was such a massive misstep. I still think my favorite part of the show might be whenever Suvi uses identify on something plot relevant. The smell of soap from Ursulon was so mean by Brennan, callbacks to the Children's Adventure like that always break me.

I didn’t realize the new season of @storiesfromylelmore was starting already, when I saw it pop up in my feed I went to bed early to go listen to it. Despite what Keryth says, her moms are super cool. Can't wait to learn more about them. Keryth’s parents giving her a magic item to make her quiet reminds me of a lot of my childhood. What my mom wouldn't have given for a silence bubble spell. There was so much worldbuilding in this episode, the quote “I don’t know what they do with them, but I think it’s better if they don’t have pieces of you” was terrifying. The final scene of the episode created such a vivid mental image, I could see the three of them in the backseat.

I also listened to ItMe's other show besides Ylelmore and InCo, Of Gods and Lanterns. It was short but sweet, with a total runtime of less than 30 minutes runtime. I really like the world, I would listen to 100 more episodes of this show.

I listened to parts 3 and 4 of the Spout Lore Critshow crossover. The Spout Lore cast on earth is so funny. The two shows really mesh so well together, this has to be the most "natural" crossover I've ever listened to.

The new season of Second Fiddles also started this week and woah the ending. I'm guessing that everyone forgot about Tammie, but Linus’s mom was unaffected because she was in the book. IIRC we've only met one character who can erase people memories, and she could only do it to one person at a time, not everyone, so I suspect 4th Wall/Macguffin shenanigans.

I also started The Cryptonaturalist this week. The tone of this show is so unique. I love the narrator. I also very quickly found that this is a perfect podcast to fall asleep to.

This post ended up really long this week. No judgement if people don't want to read the whole thing. Next week will be a lot shorter I think.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

I hate how She-Ra tries so hard to demonize the heroes/main characters of the show to make the villains looks better.

Like calling out Glimmer for her actions depite her being the only one with an actual plan (i mean, she was being a little shit but at least she accomplished more than Adora), making Adora looks like the villain for leaving Catra, the heroes attacking Scorpia depite her not oposing any treat, Bow and Adora going after Entrapta only so she could help them (like, for real they only think about Entrapta when is convinient for them) and the constant remarks about them leaving her behind.

I like when heroes have flaws they have to overcome, but the princesses um She-Ra always act so unfriendly sometimes that it makes the show looks way more cynical then it should be, which is weird since is supose to be a show about friendship, but none of these characters seem to have any reason to be friends other than necessity

i totally agree! i'm a sucker for flawed heroes, but the thing with she-ra is that their characters are just not well-written at all. they've clearly not done any prior planning to the story so it all seems like muddy water.

for example, some mistakes that the princesses make are considered worse than the others. glimmer lashing out at adora was given the narrative weight it needed, and she had to apologize later. but perfuma and the others being ableist towards entrapta is never mentioned. instead entrapta has to prove herself to them, when she had no reason to.

and yeah, entrapta was really just a tool for the princesses (and for catra too ofc). they only needed her because she was useful. like you said, the "friendship" between the princesses make no sense because half of the time they're fighting and the other half they're begrudgingly working together. they seem more like coworkers than anything. and there's nothing wrong with that, but the show wants us to believe that these characters are close friends while not bothering to write them that way.

remember when the S1 finale had that whole "power of friendship" trope? i swear it was so painful to sit through. the only real friendship i could see was between adora, glimmer and bow. the rest of the princesses always had trouble working together and even seemed to hate each other sometimes. but then out of the blue, they're suddenly the closest of friends and defeat the evil villain with the power of believing in each other or whatever.

i went off on a tangent, but i think the reason the princesses were so unlikeable is because the writers wanted to make them “different” (they're not your standard princesses, they're cynical or aggressive or whatever) but didn't want to give them enough depth to make us like or relate to them. if you want to look at well-written flawed characters, there's korra from the legend of korra, wirt from otgw, literally all the protags from infinity train. this is because these characters have depth, we see enough sides to them to understand why they are the way they are. not to mention, each of these characters explored their issues and got good character development by the end of the series.

for example, korra is arrogant and reckless because she was the prodigy raised almost in isolation, and she didn't know enough about the real world to navigate it. tulip was cynical and quick to anger because her parents got divorced and she had been secretly blaming herself for it. lake was aggressive and rebellious because she lived in a system where she would be killed for not fitting the norm. all of these characters are relatable in some sense, because we get enough character exploration.

meanwhile, why is mermista so cynical and sardonic? who knows. why is perfuma impatient and prone to anger and ableist? couldn't tell you. frosta had something of a character arc but it still didn't go anywhere, besides stripping her of any unique personality she had, and turning her into the typical chaos child. these princesses are so 2d that they're not relevant to the plot at all. take them out of the show and i'm pretty sure there would be no difference.

[opinated-user]

speaking of pokemadhouse (LO trying to look less sus and failing, fifth edition)

LO made some changes to it. again.

the page for violate now look like this:

this is how this entry looked before:

let's do like little children and count the differences! first, the banner warning us that we're about to see an article with major spoilers is gone. meaning that LO had to have edited this out recently. second, do you see how in the new entry the exact age in which CLO was mentally raped by G was edited out? we went from "when CLO was 14" to now "12 years previously". third, the image in overview! we went through CLO (the one who was violated in this arc) hugging the person who mentally raped at 14 to a shot of G crying, feeling so sorry and bad that she raped her best friend when that friend was 14! so sad! don't you feel sorry for her? unfortunately i don't have an immediate screenshot of the rest of the page (don't worry, it was archived so i'll include it if i manage to find it), but i know a point i commented about the entry it was how gross it was that the whole arc was depicted as being something that G was going through rather than CLO. but that was not the only change i noticed!

i highlighted that first portion in red because in the original violate page, G is described as "permanently silencing anyone who discovered it". now, what does "permanently silence" anyone is up for interpretation, but we can all guess that it wasn't nice for the people who went through that. so... she did exactly the same as Syir, but don't worry she's still totally different! somehow. pressumably Syir at least waited until her pokemon trainer was an adult and awake before creating a bondmate with her, that's a big difference. again, unfortunately i don't have screenshot of this right now, but i know i have it somehwere in the blog because i commented on it. in the original page of Syir the trivia contained more words, specifically how Syir was G "but if CLO had never reiled in her worst territorial tendencies"... which is basically implying that it was the fault of Diantha that her own pokemon trapped her in a violently abusive relationship of which no one will ever help her out. ngl, that is the only change that i do appreciate because that was a frankly disgusting way to treat what was already a doomed character. literally just fodder for the protagonist to brag about how much better her relationship is, when that relationship is still blatantly toxic. but the other changes are more interesting. i wonder why LO felt the need to make those changes at all. it couldn't be because a certain someone used one of those pages to draw a connection between LO constantly sexualizing 14 year old girls in her work, coincidentally the same age that Courtney was when she bought a lock to her room to keep LO out, right? surely that had nothing to do. why would LO feel the need to edit that out when she's obviously so innocent and "never did a damn thing wrong" her entire life?

[mihaser]

I feel like it is time for some serious thoughts even though I don't really have any.

Ha Yunsang.

Honestly it is hard to define which role he had in the drama. Let's be honest if we took him out of script nothing would have changed at all. The finding out about the priest and others leaving arc? Could absolutely be carried out by Ina and the military base which they practically did. It is not like Ahin's character was written good enough to be interesting to watch. He also was not a part of Sekyung's character development. He did not in any way change the course of action or at least someone's mind.

I want to mention that I felt like they changed the scriptwriter at least two times. At first I liked Yunsang after the laboratory scene but when he came back to the town he was like a completely different person. I understand that some torture may do that to a man (also an undisclosed arc) however still it was weird to watch. If I didn't know the actor I would think he just had no skills but Ahin did maybe even too good here. Secondly it is about the drastic change in Yunsang and Sekyung's relationships three episodes before the end. It was so unnatural that from total misunderstanding and a huge rift they went to exchanging rings and living happily till the last day.

The entire time Yunsang was simply there mostly just crying. For real in every scene where something stressful happens he just starts crying... Moreover he failed the protecting mission. While Ina sent entire military units to make sure Sekyung is safe, this boy couldn't stop her from committing suicide via going into the lion's cage. He was unable to endure brutal reality and instead of fulfilling the unspoken promise he decided to go down himself.

As i've seen some posts people say that Ahin is sort of being neglected by the prods and seeing this character i might agree. Yunsang is the second most useless character i've ever seen (the first one is Soohyun from tdj and even she had more to add to the plot than him).

Theory about Yunsang exemplifying a bridge between before and after was good tho, but the entire time i just thought he was added to say Sekyung is straight and she has a boyfriend. I mean it. Because if producers truly wanted to show their love story through the hardships of oncoming death they would've done it. We could've seen a story focused on these two but instead it is Sekyung and Ina who is so clearly in love with her best friend. Damn those Koreans would do anything but let some queer characters have their happily ever after.

[ryutarotakedown]

magnus archives! for the ask game

[ask game link] YAYYYYYYYYY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK this got horrifically long so under the cut!

Favorite character: i’d love to say basira but it’s probably melanie. or martin. oh little moth…

Least Favorite character: uhhhh i love all the characters as *characters* but i love to hate elias of course. what a fucking creep they did such a wonderful job with him. 106 and 117 live in my brain constantly & forever

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): FIVE? THERE AREN’T ENOUGH IN HERE FOR FIVE but it’d be what the girlfriends, jonmartin, daisira, basira/melanie, and. hm. hmmm. gertrudeagnes

— oh crap wait i keep forgetting platonic relationships are ships too, okay okay add jon & basira and jon & melanie and jon & georgie in there. not in any particular order but still

Character I find most attractive: im not even attracted to women but. daisy. i didn’t understand the fan reaction until i listened to her voice for the first time (i consumed this podcast almost entirely through transcripts) and went Oh I Get It Now

Character I would marry: georgie easily

Character I would be best friends with: jon or melanie because i love befriending haters you are all so fun

A random thought: i miss them so much. i kept expecting the transcripts to switch to “archive” for jon at some point but they never did which is probably for the best for accessibility reasons but can you imagine. i miss them so much. basira is funnier than people give her credit for. georgie is less funny than people give her credit for and i appreciate her so much for it (don’t be a Stranger!). i miss them so much

An unpopular opinion: hey did you know basira hussain is in the third most episodes total and actually has the second most scenes with jon (she had The Most, period, before martin dethroned her in s5)? did you know? anyway she should be in more stuff and i love her deeply. i also don’t think she actually had double standards for jon versus daisy per se, i think her problem was thinking that guilty people deserve punishment and therefore that daisy’s victims (criminals) were fine while jon’s victims (random people off the street) were not

— this is also why she stops daisy from killing jon in 091, because she’d met him before, he was a human being who cracked jokes, he *couldn’t* be guilty; rather than because killing people is bad

— i also think she knew deep down she was wrong for this considering how she says in the unknowing: i don’t want to hurt you. i don’t want to hurt anyone. and then in s5: of course i care! …that’s the problem

— she had to force down her compassion in order to function well as a police officer and forced herself to believe that it was the right thing to arrest people who did bad things

— reader she was incorrect

— have i mentioned i love her

My canon OTP: jonmartin and what the girlfriends

Non-canon OTP: you cannot tell me basira and melanie didn’t have something going on while jon was in his coma you simply can’t

— melanie was strong and violent and necessary and basira needed someone strong to rely on after daisy even though she could see how miserable melanie was. basira stuffed down all her emotions and became a stone figure and melanie feeling herself being overtaken by rage both aspired to that and hated her for it. they are anchors for each other but false because their usual anchors (daisy, georgie) aren’t here or wouldn’t get it. do you understand.

Most badass character: the admiral

Pairing I am not a fan of: sorry to jon.elias fans i do understand that exploring the Power Dynamics could be fun but i genuinely cannot see any romance in there whatsoever. can’t jon just hate a man in peace

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): hmmmmmmm. not anyone in particular? i think basira’s s5 arc was kind of rushed but i’m not super mad about it. also obviously the racist stereotypes in there (the haans. i mean the haans) but in terms of main cast i can’t think of anyone

Favourite friendship: tim & sasha because i haven’t mentioned them anywhere in this ask and that is a travesty. they’re fun i hope they are kayaking happily together somewhere

[nibsthoughtcorner]

The Fallen Angels: An Analysis of the Traveler Twins

Oh look

A Genshin Impact analysis

This goes under that “1 AM Epiphany” category

No, seriously. I went on a mental spiral about this at 1 AM.

But let’s get to it before this gets too long.

As the title suggests, I propose that the Traveler twins’ story arcs (whether intentional or not) seem to have similarities with the Christian fallen angels.

Lemme explain.

In the very beginning of the story, when we see the flashback of The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles fighting the twins, we see that both of them have wings.

And if you look back, they aren’t just one pair of wings with three segments. No. They are three separate pairs of wings. Six wings in total. Now what other Christian figure has six wings? The Seraphim. A powerful group of angels. And we do know that the twins are powerful, but we don’t actually know the extent of their power if it were to be fully restored. So it really raises some questions, the main one being: are they supposed to be angels of some sort?

It makes sense, at least thematically, if that were the case.

But why do I call them “fallen”? Simple.

When they lose their powers, their wings disappear, which is also a common thing with fallen angels. When an angel falls from heaven, their wings are taken away. And with the Sustainer serving as a heavenly being, the fact that she blatantly stole their powers and sent them hurtling down from Celestia is as obvious a comparison as any to falling angels.

On top of that, The Abyss twin’s arc is strangely reminiscent of the backstory of Lucifer (at least from what I know).

Think about it. The Abyss Twin is not only cast out, but clearly holds a form of rage against Celestia just as Lucifer felt wronged by God. The Abyss Twin also goes on to amass legions of creatures also scorned by the heavens and regarded as evil by the common people. And that Abyss Twin then goes on to be regarded as evil themselves (at least by the common people).

You see what I’m saying?

It’s quite fascinating in my opinion, especially since Genshin is no stranger to Christian references (they’re literally using the Ars Goetia like a baby name book for their archons-)

Though while the arc of the Abyss Twin has clear parallels, I’m not so sure about the Traveler.

They seem to be oscillating between the opposing forces. They’re clearly framed as a hero, but as pointed out time and time again by the Genshin community, they’re becoming more and more jaded. So I wonder if they’re “caught in the middle” in a sense. The Traveler learns about Teyvat through a biased perspective (the bias coming from Celestia and their whims, of course, since they exert power over Teyvat through the archons and Visions…and the occasional giant nail of destruction, apparently)

Whereas the Abyss Twin goes through the world with the perspective of the Abyss (the closest equivalent of Hell).

If things keep going the way they’re going in Genshin, then this may mean that the Traveler’s arc is a slow descent, as is the case with fallen angels.

Another small thing to point out is that the twins are intrinsically connected to light. Lumine’s name means light, and Aether’s name means “sky” or “heavens”. And Lucifer’s name literally means “light bringer” (yay more parallels). Plus the Traveler can purify things (such as Dvalin’s tears) just by touching them. They really aren’t being subtle about it.

Now, since I’m still stuck trying to level up characters and enhance weapons and get better artifacts, and haven’t even started Liyue’s archon quest, this is all the evidence and knowledge I have that doesn’t involve me spoiling myself. So, if I make another part to this to add new thoughts based on new information, don’t be surprised.

In any case, I swear by this analysis, and if you liked it, feel free to like and comment. Discussion is more than welcome!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this, and stay tuned for the next theory/thought/character analysis/1 AM Epiphany

~Nib

[caatws]

I saw your post and I don't understand Gunn. What does a real family mean? I'm so confused. He dragged her butt back to the guardians and had her go through all the emotional turmoil of the whole movie for her fake family? Okay I guess but that seems stupid. Does she still get to be sisters with Nebula at least or is that now off the table.

Really though why does nothing about Gamora's story make sense anymore? She fell off a cliff and everything went to shit. I realized that Peter has basically been depressed since 2018 and falling apart drinking since being unsnapped. Nebula had one thing she wanted and that was a sister and she had to go without that for 5 years and then suddenly she gets her back and that's it. The rest of them don't even appear to fully grasp what's been going on. All this stuff happens off camera and then we're in vol 3 and before you know it the story is over.

The only way I can make sense of any of it is to see it as a story of Gamora dying and everything fell apart. Peter decented into a black pit of despair, the guardians couldn't figure out what to. Nebula trying to help running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Then Rocket nearly dies before dealing with his abuser and they all free some people before parting ways at the end. Otherwise the lack of information and explanation of why certain things are happening, have happened and some characters appearing checked out of the situation entirely, is just too much to comprehend. Noone else who died in IW or EG has had this crappy of an emotional follow up or further exploration of character except maybe Heimdall. I just don't understand it.

yeah i totally agree with you anon, like i was just telling some of my friends the other day how i think gamora honestly has like the WORST arc in the mcu bc of this whole thing. like other characters had arcs that ended rly stupidly (like steve lmao) bc they were ooc or did nothing but i think gamora's is like, a separate level of Terrible bc it's not even like she got an ooc ending or regressed or something, her "arc" was her life after thanos just being straight up ERASEDDDD in canon like. my god

and you're so right abt how the other characters who died in iw/eg have been treated better by the narrative in the time since, save for heimdall - like yesterday i was specifically trying to think of gamora's arc vs natasha romanoff's specifically in how both (after being fridged) have been grieved in the canon narratives since then, and, oh man...gamora truly got the worst of the worst here. like, we have gotten to see yelena and clint have actual arcs in their separate grieving processes for natasha (in addition to seeing tony, steve, bruce, and thor all grieve her in endgame), and bc it's become such an integral part of yelena's character specifically, i think it's fair to say we're probably going to see natasha's legacy continue in yelena's future stories

gamora has literally gotten nothing to this extent, bc we only ever see peter and nebula grieve her, and in vol 3 there are TWO TIMES where someone mentions gamora being dead and another character is like Well, Actually, She's Alive, She Just Doesn't Remember ! which essentially creates zero space in the narrative for the rest of the gotg to express grief for her, since it's established that they've apparently all made peace with 2014!gamora existing as a replacement but wanting absolutely nothing to do with them before the film which just seems ??? like you're telling me drax, rocket, mantis, and groot - none of them miss THEIR gamora EITHER ?????

like obviously i get gamora isn't gonna be swayed to do much after 48 hours (although how much time passes in vol 1 before the gotg start deciding they're a team/family....?) esp with the baggage of the original gamora vs 2014!gamora weighing over everything (except that the narrative shows and establishes only peter being the one to be struggling with this baggage, suggesting 2014!gamora could have relationships with the rest of the gotg without this conflict at all lol), but just....idk it's messy! (also when peter tried to gatekeep being a ravager from gamora during that one scene LMAOOO there was something so satisfying in that)

ALSO to continue making a long answer long...considering all the variant character nonsense the mcu has been trying to put us through in recent years with all the multiverse stuff, i think it's fair to look at gamora through that lens. bc that is literally what mcu phases 4 and 5 are abt. the multiverse. and what characters are like in different timelines.

between the loki show and no way home, we get the idea that there are certain values and truths that are inherent to each character no matter what world or timeline they live in - as the loki show so succinctly puts it, "what makes a loki a loki?"

so that brings me to ask, what makes a gamora a gamora?

and i don't think a gamora can exist without being part of the guardians family, so it's disappointing that our onscreen, canon narrative, ends before that can happen, and it's more disappointing that the language of "real family" suggests a conflict with gamora achieving that.

(inb4 someone's like WELL IT'S OPEN-ENDED IT'S WHAT HAPPENS OFFSCREEN AFTER ETC bc yeah i agree that could be a natural next step in 2014!gamora's story. which is the problem. THE STORY IS OVER. we aren't GETTING gamora or the gotg anymore, besides peter allegedly, whatever tf that entails lmao. so no matter how open-ended this is, it's still the last we're seeing of them in canon, so it deserves to be criticized as such - the canon end of the franchise.)

[callgespenst]

I recently finished watching Space Runaway Ideon (1980) and movies, and that most certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the shows of all time. I’ve been thinking about it for the last week, and some of my thoughts follow. Spoilers, obviously, abound.

- Anyone who tells you to skip the last episode and skip to the second movie should not be trusted. The first movie’s a bit of a mess, for sure, but it re-contextualizes the first two cours in a way that leads in really well to the second movie. And the second movie, if you watch the last episode beforehand, you know when the original series ends so you can brace yourself for when shit REALLY starts going down.

- Also if you watch the last episode, you can notice how the animation gets substantially better once the TV content ends and the new movie content begins. Not that Ideon’s animation is bad, it looks great, but the movie stuff looks much more crisp.

- The rest of the second movie is fascinating for a lot of reasons but also because it’s a clip show for episodes that never actually came to fruition, and the manic pacing lends itself extremely well to how completely miserable the film is.

- The Buff Clan is the least subtle criticism of the Japanese military during WWII imaginable, down to the Emperor being just kinda there and having one line.

- Gije’s journey from just another named samurai looking to prove himself, to proto-Viral from TTGL, to being possibly the only bitch in the whole show who dies content, is really something.

- I didn’t expect to be grabbed so much by Sheryl’s arc. From “kind of a bitch” to falling for a former enemy and finally opening up only to end up so totally broken she throws a baby in the line of fire. And yet, what would be abhorrent anywhere else, is understandable and even pitiable here.

- Jordan Bes is a good dude. Went through hell several times over and still kept everyone together somehow. When did he find the time to have sex?

- Karala and Sheryl are totally hatefucking in the first cour. Also, Hatari and Joliver are totally dating, if you ask me.

- I like Cosmo and Kasha but neither of them feel quite as developed as you’d expect by the end of the series, the rest of the crew gets the lion’s share of character moments. Which isn’t a problem, just the reverse of usual since they’re the ones piloting the robot.

- This applies triple to poor Moera, who only got any development when he was on death’s door.

- I think Kasha is neat because she’s your standard early super robot show girl pilot, but actually given a machine that can do something. Like if Sayaka Yumi was given a Mazinger of her own.

- You know that bit from Toei Mazinger where Kouji and Sayaka are beating the shit out of each other, and shouting “You’re worse than Baron Ashura!” over and over? Take that, sub in Cosmo and Kasha, and “Buff Clan” instead of Baron Ashura. 100% in character.

- It’s really fucked up that they gave a squirrel a custom space suit that fits both of his tails and also that no one ever mentions this in the show.

- Ideon feels a lot like Star Trek in how there’s a lot of exploring the galaxy and finding exciting and strange new worlds, but in a perverse sort of way where instead of being about humanity’s bright future and potential, it’s about how no one can understand each other except when stockholm syndrome’d together on a ship you can’t ever really leave.

- It’s the little cultural differences that really make it. The Buff Clan and humanity looking the same, being able to understand each other’s language, but to the former, a white flag means “we’re going to kill you all without quarter”? That’s the good shit.

- The episode where Cosmo meets that nice older lady who looks after him for a bit before she bites it gruesomely might be one of the most awe-inspiring bits of media I’ve ever seen.

- The more I think about it, Ideon getting cancelled was possibly the best outcome. Managed a decent ending despite that (better than any of its contemporaries that got axed) and then had its planned conclusion on the big screen. If the show had continued for another cour, the blowback from concerned parents once everyone starts dying would have done it in anyway.

- I got genuinely upset over the big space worms.

- I like how weird and alien all the Buff Clan machines are. Definitely still recognizable as enemy mecha, but they’ve got weird numbers of arms or legs, or things shoot off in ways you wouldn’t expect.

- And last, but absolutely not least, here’s the hot take: anyone who tells you “Evangelion is garbage, watch Ideon” is the dumbest motherfucker alive. Anno is the only dude on the planet who watched Ideon and really and truly understood the assignment.

[ramblingdisaster73]

Thoughts while rewatching 4x01 - 4x04 -

Episode 4x03 - this does include thoughts that span the whole arc - so spoilers ahead.

I won’t believe O’Brien is a good guy until the end of this never-ending Owen storyline

I still feel like there is something weird with him

Also – Judd got a “cool new nick name” before Owen did – unless you count O’Brien calling him “O”

Not a fan of the detective – that feeling dramatically increases as the arc continues

Let’s just blame the mental illness for why the woman disappeared WHILE WORKING – gee, I wonder why her purse & shit were in the car.

The more the detective talks – the more I can’t stand her

But, I do have to credit this fictitious APD – both detectives in Missing persons are women & not just that, but women of color – working in a field where people that look like them are often overlooked.

Carlos, I am sorry – but you are the cause of TK going to see Iris – you are the one that put yourself & TK on an impossible time frame – then you just expect him to sit back and roll over – fuck that. Just the only way they had to blame TK for something – while completely absolving Carlos of responsibility in the situation – when the reason they are in this is HIM, not TK.

Fans would be bending over backward and celebrating if this storyline were about TK being secretly married – saying how much he never deserved Carlos, that Carlos was too good for him, they would never forgive a lie like that. BUT, when it is Carlos – its all cool and totally TK’s fault.

The cliff rescue was hilarious & tragic

– the way Carlos (& the fandom) treats TK is the tragic part – once again if the roles were reversed people would be coming for TK’s head, but since it is Carlos being a dick, its all cool and totally TK’s fault.

The hilarious was obviously Nancy’s valiant effort to save the sex doll, Judd’s “It’s serious then” said so matter-of-factly, and Mateo’s “It’s time.” – the 126 scenes are so fun, or at least fun to see.

Every time the Owen storyline progresses – he looks more stupid –

I like how calm Grace is on calls, but how much she actually thinks outside of the box to help people

I have met 911 dispatchers that she reminds me of, and I respect them so much for the challenges they deal with in each call – the times that they aren’t able to help their caller, can only be with them through the phone in their final moments.

I like how they show the way that Iris made moves to save herself – calling even though she was terrified, Counting the minutes as they passed – then being able to give that info to the dispatchers – she was a big part in saving herself.

Let’s just assume the lady that has schizophrenia was in her own delusions about being kidnapped – lets not do any forensic investigation – lets not listen to the victim, simply because she has an illness that causes paranoid delusions – like at least fucking look into it.

Fuck this detective – like all the fucking way

Owen, just going around taking evidence from the FBI, handing it over to his new bff. – fucking moron

I get that his heart is in the right place – but, seriously does this man only operate on a quarter of a braincell?

Lyndsy & Rafa are spectacular in the hospital scenes

Iris is clear in her information, just tells Carlos and the Detective what she went through – only one of them believes her – then hopefully never to be seen again after 4x04 detective makes Carlos doubt Iris, not for long, but I think that leads to his NEED to solve whether or not this was real, needs to show Iris that he believes her.

When she said that he looked at her like a painting – still gives me chills – I have felt that look before, it is fucking creepy as shit.

The roadhouse scene – I mean watching Owen lose at something & lose a bunch of money was nice

That dude has an insanely high alcohol tolerance

That dude is also incredibly dumb. But “Todays a day of the week” was a funny line – especially with the delivery.

Owen “Crackshot” Strand – guess he had to give himself a cool new nickname

I wish we had gotten to see the whole TK & Tommy scene

Their shifts are so confusing – they work 24-hour shifts, but are frequently at home or somewhere other than the firehouse when they should be at work. I guess it is safe for me to just make up the head cannon that they only work 12-hour shifts – the time is just whatever is convenient for the plot.

I don’t like that woman either, Iris. Pretty sure not too many people do at this point.

Carlos looks so sad when he tells her that the phone didn’t have anything & then he asked her if it could be her delusions.

Her doubting herself is so awful, but so well played

Her telling him that she could still smell him, that he had the scent of a floral detergent, was something I felt.

I love the way she explains how only one little crack of doubt can make it all spiral – the beauty of this scene will always astound me

12345 – Seriously?

Then to use the same one another lock – that just screams of set up or that the members are to dumb to remember 5 non-concurrent numbers.

I do kinda like Turner’s belt buckle though

Still doesn’t make sense on how they knew to move all that shit so quickly if O’Brien didn’t give them the info – the other dude was passed the fuck out

Owen and his movie hero training – Stakeout knowledge was from a movie – Spy/Parking garage knowledge was from a movie

I understand the FBI agent’s frustration at Owen’s completely moronic actions – he is making dumb fucking decisions – yet they keep using him – I guess that is their own fault when he fucks it up for them

Still that small gap between TK’s “I love you” & Carlos’ “love you too” was so sad, even though we know he says it.

Dumb cop move 1: lie to your fiancé about where you are staying before going to the house your wife was held in

Dumb cop move 2: go in the house at night without telling anyone where you really were

Dumb cop move 3: going into the tunnel & continuing down it – without calling for backup/letting anyone know where he is

Dumb cop move 4: go through the floor at the end of the tunnel without calling for backup/letting anyone know where he was.

And the shovel – she had a good amount of force to her swing.

[oceanwithinsblog]

alright guys i can't keep my mouth shut anymore, i need to SCREAM and VENT about Glee (aka the tv show that i've been binge-watching for the past few weeks AND my new obsession) because AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

spoiler alert : i might mention important plot elements or character arcs etc. so if you've never watched it before, be alert!

k so let's start by clarifying an important point here - i have spent my whole adolescence hearing my friends talk about this show... i have no idea whatsoever how i resisted to urge to watch it till now (for the record, i'm almost 25) because THIS IS TOTALLY MY SHIT !!!!!!!

the high school setting, the fact teenagers are portrayed by a cast in their 20s, endless pointless drama, crazy plot twists, jaw dropping dance numbers, wide - though at times questionable - representation of various communities (e.g. queer ppl, black ppl, asian ppl, disabled ppl etc.), cover song performances (and at some point original ones!) that leave me speechless ... like - HOW DID I SKIP THIS SHOW FOR SO LONG ???? HOW COULD I IGNORE ITS MAGNIFICENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS ?????

tbh maybe i should be worried about the fact it feels so close and personal since i'm a grown-ass adult ☠️ (very bad at it, too) but i find it all brilliant, ridiculous and inspiring/comforting at the same time. i think watching this show is healing (or at least rocking and hugging tightly) a lot of my inner-child-related unresolved business. especially when it comes to discussion and portrayals of queer experiences, i find Glee pretty “educating”, accurate and amusing, too.  honestly, i sort of regret not giving it a chance before ‘cause i  know my younger, high-school self would have appreciated it a whole lot. i mean, asexuality still hasn’t been mentioned so far, but the multiple queer characters (and cast!) are really great. maybe the show would have also encouraged me to follow my passion for music and dancing (and dare i say singing although i’ve never in my life taken a single singing class?) after the hurtful break-up i went through with my dancing crew before the pandemic :’(

anygays, i’m now watching the first half of season 3* and let me tell you - i’m SO HOOKED. this season has been C R A Z Y since the first episode istg i can’t tell you how many time i’ve soffocated my screams with my pillow so far JSKJSK actually, just to give you an idea, i present you with a short list of what’s been making me go bananas so far

rachel’s mom returning to mckingley high for a part-time job as the mentor of a second opposite glee club

puck following his “dad insticts” and making a move on shelby just so he can spend more time with baby beth (???) 

quinn putting on a rebellious emo act and then pretending she’s all good and clean because she wants beth back by destroying shelby’s reputation (???) (what the hell btw i’ll never get quinn and her weird unlogical reasoning)

emma and will being a couple and living together OUT OF NOWHERE ???? (they’re the cutest even though i fairly can’t put up with mr. schuester + i would have preferred to see them dating before the big getting together reveal but whatever AS LONG AS EMMA IS HAPPY)

mercedes LEAVING glee club so that she can shine (this one hurt ngl mad respect for her tho)

brittany showing what she’s made of and running for school headgirl (YAY YOU GO GIRL!!!!)

rachel and finn finally working on their relationship to be a healthier couple (i still find rachel SO DAMN ANNOYING at times but it’s getting better compared to the previous two seasons + i must admit finn is just an off-brand troy bolton to me so far #sorrynotsorry)

sue declaring war to the whole arts department AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT ?????? (she’s so iconic and i love jane lynch so damn much istg it was heart-wrenching to see her on-screen sister pass away but sue is such a multifaceted character you can’t make me hate her EVER)

but most importantly …

SANTANA AND BRITTANY ARE FINALLY DATING ??? OMFG YES !!!! GIVE ME SAPPHIC ROMANCE !!!! (also i think they’re the most perfect combination of self-awareness, girl power, bitchyness, dumbness, crazyness, pureness and humor ever i’m loving both their character archs through the seasons for now)

kurt and blaine’s whole storyline !?!?!?! they’re my absolutely favorite duo ???? the emblem of a strong, powerful yet cute and innocent gay love ???????? istg they emotionally evoke so much in me T______T idk how to explain it, it probably doesn’t even make sense but i love seeing them on screen and i wish the best for them T________T theyr relationship is so incredible wholesome and wonderful ISTG kurt has been the apple of my eye since the very beginning of the show (no matter what crazy or incoherent act he put up in s1) and i must admit i was a bit suspicious of blaine throughout s2 but now i just plain adore them and feel like drowning in my own emotions and tears every time they appear

*which i've read could be the last proper good season according to many online comments ☠️ (i pray the awesome combination of factors that drive me crazy about this show won’t magically disappear from season 4 onwards lol)

i don’t know how to end this rant also because this post makes no sense whatsoever but let me say that i love kurt, especially, and lately i've had multiple episodes of mirroring in santana (e.g. will i ever understand if i'm actually biromantic or sapphic? who knows). not to mention, i have huge expectations for the self-discovering journey of that karofsky kid (seeing him in that gay bar the night blaine and kurt broke the rules was such a pleasant surprise!) and idk i just look forward to every main plot and subplot of this season in particular 🥹💖

i might be aware that my life is hitting rock bottom right now, yet i’m conscious enough to acknowledge this show is slowly becoming an anchor for me… to start feeling excited about life again, to start creating new dreams for me, to try and believe a bit more in myself and to pursue my interest in music and queerness alike. in short, to start living again.

ps. expect me to post a great lot about glee from now on jksjks

[gayluigi]

I know this is an old post, but DAMN, this is poignant. I couldn’t have put this into words better myself.

In a way, I’m kind of disappointed she didn’t come back when White removed Steven’s gem. If she had come back, even for a brief moment, perhaps she could’ve set a lot of things right. But no, she’s gone, she has no way to fix her wrongs. Everyone knows she was trying to do the right thing, but they don’t CARE.

It’s a lot easier to pin all of the blame on someone who’s not there to defend themself. White, Yellow, and Blue are all there to work towards fixing the harm they’ve done. Pink CAN’T. I have no doubt in my mind that she would’ve WANTED to set things right if she were still alive. From the early scenes we had with Rose, we can tell that she’s a kind, loving, gentle person, far from her past behavior as a Diamond. But we see her redemption arc in reverse, so all we see is her getting worse and worse while everyone else is getting better.

I’m also disappointed that Steven never went back to his room to talk with Rose/Pink. My personal thought on that is that Rose/Pink’s essence still lives inside of Steven enough that his conversation with him in the room was real. It’s the closest you can get to an afterlife for a gem. After all, her memories are still there, buried beneath the surface, which we see through Steven’s flashbacks. There’s enough of her left to make the conversation real, at least real enough. Rose could’ve explained herself. Could’ve held Steven, told him how proud she was of him, told him he didn’t have to shoulder her burdens anymore… but instead, we got corrupted Steven, and he’s never seen speaking with Rose again.

It’s disappointing, to say the least, the way this was all handled. Rose worked damn hard to break the generational trauma the Diamonds caused her, to try and prevent it from affecting Steven. She didn’t KNOW about the Cluster, as far as I’m aware. And if that hadn’t been a factor, I don’t think Steven probably would’ve EVER encountered the Diamonds. After all, Spinel called Earth a “nowhere planet”, implying there’s really not much reason to go there if you’re a Homeworld gem pre-reconciliation.

Rose tried so hard to ensure that Steven would never have to shoulder her burdens, even if it ended up failing in the end. She’s not the monster everyone sees her as. She put in a valiant effort to fix what the Diamonds had broken. But, as we see in the series, one person’s effort isn’t always enough. That doesn’t make her a bad person, though— it just means that she died before everything could be resolved. And she had no reason to think it WASN’T resolved! The Diamonds hadn’t been heard from in MILENNIA!! How could she have known they’d come back? She wasn’t a sapphire, and even OUR Sapphire didn’t see what was coming!! It was totally out of left field!!

Rose wasn’t an awful person. She tried her damn hardest. She improved herself. She tried to improve the world she was living in. She loved deeply, her heart was pure. She just made a few mistakes along the way.

This isn’t a new take or one anyone wanted but I’m kinda disappointed at how the Crewniverse handled Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond.

Before anyone says anything, I get that Steven his entitled to very mixed/negative feelings on Rose Quartz and that he is not obligated or required to have more positive ones. My issue isn’t with the characters IC, but I do have an issue with the crew and the way the story dealt with it.

Because in the show, EVERYONE has an opportunity to change and make good. Everyone grows. Everyone, no matter what horrible shit they did, will ultimately have the opportunity to be if not good, than at least sympathetic. Peridot, Lapis, Jasper, Spinel, THE FREAKING DIAMONDS. The storyline ultimately treats them as flawed but worthy of redemption, which is FINE. I love a positive, optimistic story with stuff like that.

But it makes Rose Quartz’s position all the more blatant. 

Let me say that Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond did some terrible things. She broke Pink Pearl, abandoned Spinel, lied to her friends and family, bubbled Bismuth… She also worked hard and tirelessly to protect Earth, pleaded with the other Diamonds to spare it and only decided to go a more violent route when that failed. She worked hard and tirelessly for other gems too; Pearl acknowledges this. She took in Amethyst, encouraged humans and gems to be bigger, greater than they were, to keep going even when things looked dark or hopeless. 

She fell in love. She and Greg loved each other for who they were, recognized each other’s pain and respected it. She had a child with him, sacrificed herself to bring that child into being, and it wasn’t so that she could palm off the consequences of her actions to him. She wanted him to live and grow and be happy and healthy and human. I have no doubt that she would have WANTED him to go to school, to go to the doctor, to hang out with other kids. 

Rose Quartz made a lot of mistakes. She did terrible things, some knowingly and others unknowingly. She underestimated her own central position in people’s lives, the effect her passing would have on them. She underestimated her own worth. She was, I think, very aware of her faults and flaws and the things she’d done. But there are things you can’t take back. Things you break that you can’t fix. Sometimes, even when you do your best it’s still wrong. Still no quite the right thing. And all you can do is keep going.

Rose Quartz changed. She grew. 

I just think it’s pretty shitty that the Crewniverse sits around calling HER a terrible person but are perfectly fine with her abusers hugging it out with her kid.

[sirenalpha]

I just watched a vid on plot armor and it said Legend of Korra was good on stakes/Korra's character arc because the question wasn't whether she would die it was

does she get to keep her bending which makes up a core part of her identity?

does she keep her connection to the old avatars which is also a part of her identity?

how badly will this mercury poisoning hurt her?

but that's only on paper not in execution

she gets her bending back immediately which is just plot armor for bending not death idc if it was because they thought they weren't getting another season it would still be a shit ending for a single season show

how she loses her connection to the past Avatars is contrived batshittery to begin with and I'll be honest that was something that was lightly used in atla like it did happen but even less so in lok it really didnt feel like she'd lost something and the insane giant spirit monster power up kind of cancelled it out and made it not the focus

The one the show tries the hardest on is the mercury poisoning because that takes at least several episodes in the next season to recover from but she still totally physically recovers even if she doesn't psychologically

and ultimately the issue I have with describing this as creating a character arc for Korra is when you look over the show it doesn't feel like an arc where Korra grows and becomes a more well rounded person and a better Avatar especially when she decides to just leave on vacation to the spirit world at the end

every season the show sets up Korra to be taught a lesson as painfully and psychologically damaging as possible for being arrogant and wanting to be the Avatar unlike Aang when she starts out

it was like she had to be forced one step back in her growth at the start of every season except for season 4, and I don't mean like Zuko where Korra makes a reasonable for her decision that the audience sees is actually wrong for her/the world, but a step back that happened because that was what the plot necessitated so the show-runners could punish her appropriately

and the show's treatment of her feels very stark compared to Aang's treatment as he was the show-runners' self insert and basically got to get away with everything from sexually assaulting the girl he liked to not actually completing his character arc or actually being a good person despite being put on a moral pedestal by the show

and I get that lok is supposed to be a show for a more mature audience, and it's not like I don't think it could have been interesting for Korra to deal with losing her bending or connection to past avatars because that wasn't something atla had the time or scope for, those questions just aren't relevant to atla but lok could ask all of those questions under the larger narrative question what is the point of an avatar in a modernizing world and then Korra finds an answer to that question to become a fully realized avatar to complete her character arc

but she literally leaves the world for the spirit world, that's the last thing she does it's basically capitulating to the idea that there is no place for the avatar, it's a negative character arc literally a tragedy with a metaphorical suicide by leaving the human world for the spirit world in a show that's supposedly optimistic and positive because they defeat all the bad guys

which in hindsight makes everything she went through over the course of the show so much worse, it's just torture that doesn't make her a better person or a better avatar, it just grinds her down until she accepts she has no place and leaves

it just reeks of racism and misogyny because Aang was never and would never have been treated so poorly

[messymindofmine]

Ok I am so sick of people saying that Johnny has good intentions. Johnny has never had good intentions when it comes to Robby. It's always been about himself and his own guilt. Not once has he ever even spared a thought to Robby and his feelings on anything. Also can people please stop likening Robby to other characters? There is absolutely no comparison to be made here bc Robby is not on equal ground with any of them. I said a while back that Tory is the only one that Robby is on remotely equal ground with but after this season even that isn't true anymore. Because at least Tory wasn't forced to sacrifice her entire personality in order to fit into what others wanted her to be. Hell even prior to that, Tory was able to get help-from Amanda no less and had even started therapy. All the while Robby has been consistently shafted by everyone.

Also, I know that Sam as a character gets way too much hate from the fandom. I personally don't hate her as a character on her own. As a character, I actually like her a lot. In fact, her arc this season was the one of the very few things that I liked. I'm so glad she got a win this season. But that right there proves how even Sam still gets the better end of the stick when it comes to Robby. Not only is Robby hated by the fandom to such an extent that there were actually people saying that they hoped Robby got r**ed in prison or that they hope he'd die in s4. There are people who will literally make shit up for an excuse to hate on him. But he's also been through non-stop hell since the end of s2. And in this season, he had to sacrifice his entire personality in favor of becoming everybody else's hype man just so that he could be accepted by them. No other character has been treated this badly. There is not a single character that has not hurt Robby in some way and none of them have apologized to him. Yet Robby has been made to apologize to them and be their emotional punching bag. So no, I don't think that the way Robby is treated by the show and the fandom is in any way comparable to any of the others.

I also don't think it's entirely fair to say that Johnny was there for Sam more than her parents were. Yes, Johnny taught her a way to channel her anger in a way that Daniel refused to do but that's about all he did. Amanda was stuck in a really difficult situation with Tory. Amanda went to Tory and basically threatened her to leave Sam alone. Tory then got fired after yelling at Amanda which yes, Tory shouldn't have been surprised that she was fired but it did make things even harder for her. Amanda then helped Tory bc if she hadn't Tory could have lost her family. Even then, she never made any illusions as to who she really cared about. She was very upfront with Tory that she would be rooting for Sam and asked Tory not to hurt her. Daniel resolved his issues with Johnny and told Sam he wanted her to be herself and do what's right for her. Daniel may not have been the best in s4 but there was never any doubt as to whose side he was on. And as for Johnny, the fact that he was able to show more concern for his rival's daughter than he was his own son is a big strike against him. Pointing these things out has nothing to do with me hating on Sam. If anything, it's me hating on Johnny.

I understand that people aren't always trying to be hurtful or invalidating when they say that. I also understand that they don't mean any harm when they bring up other characters. If people want to talk about how overhated Sam is that's totally fine. In fact, I've actually made a few posts on this in the past myself and may well do more bc I do have issues with the way people talk about Sam particularly wrt her and Tory's rivalry. But I just don't think the way Robby is treated can be likened to any other character not when he has been hung out to dry by both the show and the fandom

[roe-sesandthorns]

super salty thoughts about Dr. Strange MoM, spoilers + rant under the cut  warnings: spoilers, duh. really long. not very complimentary. 

did wanda face no consequences for what happened in westview? legitimate question cause i haven’t seen it and only know the plot + story through osmosis. I thought this was the point of the accords and the oversight and the damn civil war.

it physically makes me puke to hear mcu refer to themselves as earth-616 like no. sweeetie, sit back down, ok? you’re earth-1999999  

they went to one other universe, it was a huge waste of potential BUT I can excuse that cause I understand the limitations from a storytelling/runtime/budget pov but still, disappointing 

ok I loved peggy as the first avenger, monica rambeau as captain marvel, and it’s always a pleasure to see patrick stewart and the inclusion of black bolt was cool (idk if he’s been in other marvel media before but that was my first time seeing him)   

but and that’s a big but, the scene where wanda takes on the illuminati and bodies reed + black bolt and then proceeds to fight peggy + monica felt... off. 

like did they remove the two male members deliberately cause? is it sexist? is it a very shallow, trite attempt at #girlbossing? whatever it was, it felt cheap and weird. and completely disrespectful to all those heroes. especially professor x.

ok, i get it, wanda is supposed to be the Big Bad but the way the superheroes in the mcu become totally powerless in other people’s movies just rubs me weird. like she took barely 30 secs to demolish the entire team. and these are the supposed leaders of the illuminati

why the fuck did wanda of earth-834 or whatever have powers? did she have the same arc as mcu-wanda (i’m not using 616 to describe mcu people cause hell no). but then everything in this world was completely different so how does it compute that this wanda had powers and a normal life. did she have her kids with vision? where was vision? if he died like in infinity war then why was this wanda mentally stable? like what changed?   

why the fuck did stephen from the incursion universe and mcu-stephen have the same damn backstory of both having a sister who died? like how is that something that is constant in multiverses? or was it just a lucky coninkydink? 

i have a lot more, but basically i hate their treatment of the multiverse. i think i prefer any other fanfic writer writing about the multiverse cause they do it so much better. 

i’m not even surprised they tried to give wanda a redemption through death/sacrifice arc cause she changed her mind in the last 2 minutes of the film; disappointed but not surprised. 

like girlie has not even redeemed herself for westview, instead she went full on evil supervillain 

fuck off with the “heartwarming” music and there is NO reason for christine to ask after wanda with concern (other than the fact that christine is amazing and a saint and i love her) but contextually she should’ve been like “the scarlet witch?” (scared shitless) 

also, basically, moral of the whole story: stephen strange can only be happy if he has christine in his life. which seems toxic af, like bro. y’all broke up YEARS ago. you tell her at her wedding that you wish she was still with you, or imply it at least. I would’ve decked him if I were her. Like Christine you’re a saint. I mean you invite your friend (whom you dated a long while back) to your wedding and want to introduce him to your husband and he’s like “im sowwy i miss you” like fuck the fuck off, stephen strange, you ass. don’t make this day about you. 

also can we please kill with fire the idea that you need a relationship to be happy. like, srsly. the whole movie reiterates that if he only “got the girl”, he’d be happy, like no honey. go to therapy. find happiness within you. and in others around you. relationships are amazing and i can totally get pining over Chrsitine cause goddamn i’m doing it too, brother, but really. she’s not gonna fix you or fix your life. i want to engrave kate winslet’s speech from eternal sunshine onto the marvel headquarters entrance cause fuck u marvel. 

another beef with the multiverse, no stephen ever dated anyone other than christine? like my dudes, prime opportunity to really explore just how different the universes are, i mean, come on! 

additionally, it makes the ending seem like a queer ending with stephen and wong reiterating their love for e/o and continuing their cohabitation as they raise their teenage adoptive daughter together. like maybe marvel is saying queer-platonic relationships and aro-ace rights. (hahahahhahah as IF.) 

america chavez was the only ray of hope and the only good thing about this movie and that’s only because her character hasn’t had the time to be handled by 12 different pairs of hands and the mouse overlords’ meddling

also can i just say, 0 character growth all around, great job, guys! 

also also, did i miss an entire movie where mordo goes after stephen? no, so that was just supposed to be one of those things that happened in the interim that we just know because of dialogue. great. so, no emotional arc for stephen having to fight mordo, for the clash of their philosophies, for the consequences of stephen’s actions. 

wait, speaking of consequences, what the fuck were stephen’s consequences for no way home? did he have any? he almost fucked up the entire world on a teenager’s say so. like. i mean. it ended ok but ?????

some technical things: the score was overpowering, there was no room to breathe between moments, the effects gave me a damn headache, and there were some weird transitions thrown in that just felt.... one-note. one or two were cool from a story telling point of view but otherwise it was just. meh.  

tldr; the whole mcu is just like, “consequences? don’t know her” and the mcu multiverse is bland, convenience-based, arbitrary, and boring. also, this wasn’t a dr. strange movie, this was a “look shiny cgi, shiny multiverse, isn’t this fight scene cool? omg that’s professor x, look people from other marvel movies/media! how cool!, we’re self-referential! and COOL!” mess