#i've just started s5 on my rewatch and this is i think when i dropped off watching live

[jacobglaser]

I'm gonna miss this. Maybe not this so much. But this. Working with you. I think what you do is amazing.

→ Elementary 1x12 - M.

[tuiyla]

i trust your takes more than anyone else’s in the whole glee fandom. what would you say are the best kurtcheltana episodes?

Oh wow Anon that's very flattering considering I've dropped off the face of the Earth and barely interact with tumblr or the Glee fandom anymore, but I appreciate it! Because I've been basically gone for a year and abandoned my rewatch my Glee memory isn't what it used to be but I'll gladly go down memory lane with you.

Previously Unaired Christmas

As soon as I remembered this ep there was no question in my mind that it's the ultimate Kurtcheltana ep. Yes yes it's not even technically canon but I've famously never cared about that. For starters, it has their only trio song, technically a quartet that is admittedly a bit yikes but then also a final song feat Kitty and ND. Since it's "set in 2012" Santana doesn't even officially live with Hummelberry, she just chose to visit them and give them thoughtful and also Santana-esque gifts. I think that's really cute. And yeah, the Mall Santa stuff is a little icky but the three of them are so cute and fun. It's just a low-stakes Kurtcheltana adventure where they're being silly and young and delightful. I love the Pezberry moments, of course, but it also has some of my fav Kurtana shots and just in general they feel like a very cohesive trio. PUC is legit one of the eps that best showcases the chemistry between these three and I can't not love that.

2. Girls (and Boys) On Film

This ep is actually where I abandoned my rewatch and that's weird to me because I was really looking forward to seeing it again. Santana, following the iconic ending to Diva immediately establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with in Bushwick and it's so, so delightful. Her casual "yeah it's a thing I do" to going through everyone's stuff is something only she could pull off. There is some hostility here, of course, as Rachel and Kurt never actually invited Santana to live with them so they're understandably thrown off by Santana not only inserting herself into their flat but also firmly into their lives. Excellent moments for the whole dynamic, best of all being Santana's whole speech starting with "Kurt, sit down" and, of course, the final scene with Pezberry. That scene to me embodies so much of what makes Santana in her current state work as a ch, an agent of chaos who is ultimately trying to be there for her friends. It's an excellent showcase of what she brings to the NYC plot and a simply impeccable Pezberry scene. Really strong establishing ep for what having Santana in New York will be like. Actually, it's also a real shame because it introduces what this trio dynamic will be like and then there are barely any more episodes truly following through on it. Shame.

Honourable mention to the two subsequent eps as I consider this to be an NYC trilogy of Santana being accepted as a full-fledged member of the loft. Feud has her calling Hummelberry her family and Guilty Pleasures the wholesome scene of reconciliation where they really become roommates.

3. Love, Love, Love/Tina in the Sky with Diamonds

Unfortunately, in general we more so have episodes that have good Kurtcheltana moments rather than being Kurtcheltana eps. The Beatles two-parter is a good example, where the few Kurtcheltana bits we have are excellent but unfortunately they're less prominent as a trio and more so have duo moments, mainly Pezberry in the first half and Hummelberry in the second. But there's good stuff here, from Rachel and Santana during the engagement to their cute little promise to each other when Kurt starts working in the diner. As with many things Glee, this cute trio moment is soured in hindsight of the direction s5 ended up taking but nothing can take it away from us, or how Kurt and Santana celebrated with Rachel after that.

These are the only ones I feel like are worth actually ranking but some other honourable mentions:

Lights Out: overall I found Kurt and Rachel encouraging Santana to find her dream to be underwhelmingly executed but who doesn't love At the Ballet and the three mini-mes during the sequence

A Katy or a Gaga: the formation of Pamela Lansbury

Trio: gets a DIShonourable shout out as it should have been a strong Kurtcheltana ep but the Pezberry feud overrode all

Old Dog, New Tricks: honestly barely counts but it's the last of what I could even call an ep with a Kurtcheltana moments. The back half of s5 gives us a crowded NY scene with not NEARLY enough Santana, much less Kurtcheltana - i.e. Opening Night has Kurt call Santana as reinforcement for encouraging Rachel but they don't actually have a moment. Sigh. But 5x19 at least gives us the best hug and Kurt and Santana both supporting Rachel and Kurt being supported in return. It's wholesome and it's the very last trace of our favourite dysfunctional Bushwick family.

Utter disgrace I can't name any season 6 episodes that would fall into this category but special shout out to Kurtcheltana starting us off on Home in 6x02, a moment I treasure very much. Thanks Anon, it was fun to think about all this stuff again! And now, predictably, I have Pezberry feels.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s5 ep9: Thirty Days

Oh no, another Tom Paris episode. And I say that as someone who loves Tom Paris very much, because all of his episodes suck, and he deserved so much better than the crappy scripts they gave him. Even as a kid when I first watched this, I sat there with my mom complaining about why were they retconning a main character's established core character trait 5 years deep into the show- it's bad writing, and even a 12 year old could pick it apart instantly.

This one's actually even worse than I remember though, since I totally forgot about the unbelievably misogynist line they gave him in the beginning about the Delaney sisters, where he says "what's the difference?' when Harry tells him that he's into Megan but Jenny's the one who's into him. I started angrily chewing on the plastic spoon I was eating dinner with while rewatching that part, because it makes me SO ANGRY, on multiple levels. First of all, why would you have ANY character who isn't supposed to be a villain say something that douchey?? It's Star Trek, people are supposed to not be shitty misogynists anymore in Starfleet! Secondly, that's even worse than the creepy dudebro dialog they used to give him back in the first season! They did all that work to establish that he's changed, and then you do this?? Why?? (Honestly they probably only dropped the bad boy stuff because they realized it didn't fit him at all, rather than because they realized it was offensive, but still, we finished with that several seasons ago. Keep it dead!!) Thirdly- they have lived on the same ship and worked with the Delaney sisters for over four years now- Tom knows their personalities by now! Christ, he used to date Megan on and off for the first three seasons for crying out loud!! This is just shitty continuity, to say nothing of raging misogyny, to have any character say: 'oh, this pair of identical twins we've known intimately for years are interchangable.' Just... What. The. Fuck?! I am chewing plastic in rage right now!!!

Also, the continual use of the Delaney sisters as sex objects is so offensive in and of itself. They're only ever referred to as love interests for Tom and Harry, and we never even see them onscreen until five seasons in, and on that one occassion, they're portrayed as kind of ditsy bimbos (which seems pretty unlikely, since they're goddamn Starfleet officers!!) and they're not even shown at their jobs- they're playing seductive villainesses in a Captain Proton holoadventure with Tom and Harry, and it's pretty heavily implied that Harry could have had (or at least really wanted to have) a kinky threesome with them when they've got him tied up, if only Tom hadn't cock blocked him by appearing as Captain Proton and rescuing him at the end of the holoprogram. I mean, what the hell?? I do not watch Star Trek because I want to hear about some straight white male writer's sex fantasies, thanks all the same! Yeah, bro, we get it, you think of women as objects, cool! (Actually not cool- you're a sexist pig Kenneth Biller!) But don't put that on Star Trek characters! Christ on a bike, bro, yuck!! Go to therapy!!

So anyway, then we get into the actual plot, which is about how Tom, ace pilot, who loves nothing more than flying space ships, actually really loves the sea more than anything, and always dreamed of like, joining the coast guard. I'm sorry, what??? That's the most nonsensical thing I've ever heard. Sure, his dad pushed him into Starfleet, but he wouldn't have kept chosing being a space pilot over and over again if he didn't really love it. He absolutely would never have wanted to keep flying after having an accident that killed three of his best friends if it wasn't his first love, no way. Back in the day, I read Pathways, which described all the characters backstories, and I only remember bits and pieces from it, but I remember Tom's totally-not-Nick-Locarno accident was actually kind of worse- all three of his friends died because of a mistake he made, and the only passage I remember from his section was about how he was wracked with guilt and had recurring nightmares about watching them all die. It was really tragic stuff, and it definitely colored how I saw him on the show- why they never made an episode that dealt with that, I will never know. All the other Voyager characters got at least one episode that dealt with their backstories and adressed traumatic things they'd experienced, except for Tom. He had this whole incredibly dramatic story that absolutely colored who he was as a person, and directly influenced his journey on Voyager, right there on a silver platter! And they ignored it, in favor of this mess of an episode. What I truly cannot comprehend is why.

At no point in this episode did I buy his seafaring obsession (which of course they needed to justify why he'd disobey orders) as something he'd always had, when it's never been mentioned in the past four years. It felt so hastily slapped together for the sake of the plot that I couldn't care about it or believe in it at all. Yet again, consistent characterization is thrown under the bus in service of the plot of the week, as though all the character development over the past few years didn't even matter. Even if he loved the sea so much, it still doesn't make sense that he'd be like 'yeah, I'm totally willing to die to preserve this (artificial) ocean planet that I'm never going to see again even if I do rescue it!' And it's a shame, because the visual effects in this one were very good. The water planet and the underwater city looked very cool, and the scenes with the Delta Flyer underwater had a very cool Jules Verne sea adventure kind of feel. I'm just sad that it was wasted on such a poorly written episode. (The aliens who live there could construct space ships, but not ships that could go all the way to the center of their ocean?? They needed Voyager's help for that? Really?? They live in the water, yet they don't even have as sophisticated of ocean sensors as Voyager?? Seems a bit unlikely!)

Janeway's sentence seemed way harsh too, considering she pretty much never punishes anyone for anything on that ship beyond a slap on the wrist. Usually she just gives them a tearful speech about how she's disappointed in them, which tbh is always devastating, and would destroy even the strongest person way quicker than a thirty day jail sentence and a demotion ever could. But like, Suder staight up murdered a guy and got a few days in the brig, then confined to quarters with visitors and gardening privileges, so idk why Tom stealing the Delta Flyer to try to help a guy blow up an oxygen refinery (where no one would have even died btw) and preventing an entire planet from evaporating into space (and presumably killing everyone who lives there) is somehow worse?? Like that seems like the sort of thing Starfleet is supposed to do is help people from alien worlds save their planet if they ask for assistance?? Sure, it's disobeying direct orders, but literally everyone in the crew has done that at some point or another, so it's Tom's turn now, c'mon! He didn't even actually break the Prime Directive! He's been the goodest boy this whole time, he deserves a little insubordination, as a treat. Seven does it every other episode, and Janeway lets her get away with it. Seven has actually done much worse stuff, and if this had been Seven, Janeway would be all- 'Seven, you did a no-no. That's bad, but it's too hard to discipline you, so I'm not even gonna try. Please go back to having free reign over the entire ship.' I guess we know who Space Mom's favorite child is! (No wonder Tom's acting out, his new Borg sister is getting all of Space Mom's attention lol)

Ugh this episode is so bad and full of wasted potential. It makes me so angry I want to chew on plastic like a feral raccoon while watching it. I remember very distinctly feeling that way the first time I watched it, and I still do now. Unfortunately, some things never change.

Tl;dr: A nonsensical retconning of Tom's most important character traits and development. It didn't ring true, or justify why Tom would care so much, despite all the retconning. The blatant sexism in the opening scenes added another layer of grossness to an ep that had nothing to offer except really good visual effects.

[mx-piggy]

just got around to watching the Ghosts Christmas special/finale. yesterday i saw previews to posts i assumed were negative, so i went into it with the thought i might not enjoy it. i have yet to find out what the negativity was in reference to- i'll go looking through some posts in a sec to look at the reaction to the ep, though i've already skimmed an angry post about it from someone i follow. but maybe the issues i have with the episode are different to others people's. i don't know yet.

anyway, here are my fresh from the oven thoughts about the episode. my opinion may be altered by reading some other thoughts on the ep but everything i put here is my uninfluenced thoughts.

first off, i cried. very bittersweet way to end the show, but honestly i didn't think it was a bad ending. it strikes a good balance for me, where Alison still sees the ghosts without having to take care of them like she used to. but i guess it's weird considering the previous episode where they try to get Mike and Alison to stay.

i don't want to be negative about this show that i adore and will no doubt rewatch and at some point write some fanfics for. technically speaking, though, i didn't really enjoy this episode as much as other episodes. i didn't like the choice to focus so heavily, for the first two thirds of the episode, on Mike's mum and the exorcism fake-out that i doubt worked on anyone watching. the build up was so unconvincing it seemed intentional, but regardless it felt kind of like a waste of time and an idea that should have been done in a different episode, not the series finale. it felt like the ghosts were sidelined in an episode of a show named after them. this bad pacing and focus on a weak story wasn't entertaining.

i also didn't laugh much at this episode, which is surprising, because normally Ghosts is good at balancing humour with emotionally resonant moments. it's frustrating because not a lot of this episode felt particularly emotionally resonant either because Betty takes up so much of the episode, and i wish that the weight of the ending didn't feel like it had just been tacked on to the end of an episode that only felt like it functioned as a finale in the closing few minutes. it barely even felt like a Christmas episode.

i would have preferred if S5 E6 had been the finale and this had just been an epilogue that could have been a fun, sweet Christmas episode rather than a Christmas episode and a finale, neither of which it feels like for most of its runtime.

again, i'm not unhappy with the choice to move Alison, Mike and Mia out of Button House, but i wish it hadn't felt so underdeveloped because of what else the episode chose to do. like i wish the rest of the episode didn't feel so tenuously connected to the Mike's mum story that took up so much time. i get that the thing with Mike's mum was there to make the ghosts realise that Alison might need some space away from them, but surely there was a better way to do that that didn't involve centring so much of the episode on a supporting character?

if it were me- an amateur writer- who was tasked with writing a Christmas finale and special, i have a (possibly worse) idea about what i would have maybe done. so here's my pitch: an episode that takes place when Mia is a little girl. there's a cold open where Alison or Mike make the typical parent mistake of dropping Mia on her head at some point during her first Christmas. everything's fine. cut to next Christmas, she takes her first steps. a ghost makes a comment that she should stop seeing them now. a couple/few Christmases after that, she starts talking about the ghosts. it's clear she can still see them. alternatively, Mia ends up having some kind of accident when she's long since outgrown seeing ghosts, and then she ends up seeing the ghosts (bonus points if Julian sees it happen and alerts Alison, and the ghosts are forced to question if Julian would harm a child). i just want this kid to see ghosts.

now there's ample opportunity for the ghosts to have the screentime and focus they were robbed of in this episode via having some sweet interactions with her. the Captain can still have his little arc of learning how to talk to a child in a way that isn't so stiff. Kitty learns to overcome her jealousy of a literal child, and she's the most enthusiastic auntie ever. Julian tries to be a good role model for his niece (this would also be related to another thing that i would have wanted in the episode, which is the idea that Rachel comes to visit or gets in touch with Alison or something). that said i don't know if it'd be appropriate for Julian to be around a kid for so long given the trouser situation he has going on. with Fanny, it'd be sweet if she was happy to see a girl grow up so free of the restrictions she grew up with. Robin could tell Mia all about the ghosts who've been sucked off. honestly that episode sounds like it'd be messy, but with an extra half an hour i think it'd be doable.

you can still find a way to kind of justify Mike and Alison leaving if you want to, by them wanting Mia to have a more 'normal' upbringing, or them wanting to put away some money for Mia, possibly? but honestly i kind of just like the idea of Mia having an interest in the ghosts' and the house's history from a young age and doing something with that, like writing a book about the ghosts or something. maybe that's all a load of crap, but i might write a fic based on that idea if anyone would like to see it. if i wrote a fic it wouldn't be constrained by festive obligation either. so let me know if you'd be interested in that (i might start outlining it even if someone tells me it's shit and i should never write professionally).

i can honestly say that this is the first episode of Ghosts that i haven't really enjoyed. it's saying something about how great this show is that it takes 34 episodes for it to get to a point where i think it's a letdown. it's just unfortunate that the dud had to be the last ever episode.

going into writing this review i didn't think i disliked this episode and its choices as much as i did. and honestly i don't hate this episode as much as i do other bad finales (looking at you, How I Met Your Mother). i still love this show and i think that everyone involved in it is so great at what they do. i'm not passionate in my dislike of the episode. i just think it was kind of disappointing that the episode focused so heavily on a supporting character and neglected most of the main cast in a way that a good final episode shouldn't. so many other episodes of the show would have been far more satisfying send-offs. i might just ignore this episode on rewatches to be honest.

feel free to chat with me about the ep and your thoughts on it, or your thoughts on my thoughts. comment, reblog, send me asks. i'd just love to discuss it with you guys!

[corduroyserpent]

Tag someone you want to know better

i was tagged by @kukuandkookie 🥰💕

Favorite color: light pink!

Last song: Partner in Crime by Madilyn Mei

Last movie: The Creator (i went in without having seen a trailer or anything and found it very enjoyable!)

Currently watching: uhhhh i just finished s2 of loki (😖) and i'm still watching various star wars shows (😖 and 🥰)

oh! i'm rewatching scumbag system too because i love it

Other stuff I've watched this year: oh gosh let me think 🤔

Stardust

The Dragon Prince S5

Centaurworld (twice!)

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Black Friday and Nerdy Prudes Must Die (AS YOU ALL KNOW!! I'M BEING REALLY ANNOYING ABOUT IT 😂)

Various TGCF episodes, just for fun, it wasn't a full rewatch

Chainsaw Man

One Piece Live Action

Love Between Fairy and Devil

Till the End of the Moon

and more stuff but i really can't remember it all asdfghjkl

Shows I dropped this year/didn't finish: i haven't dropped any shows but there are ones i'm taking forever to finish watching. i've dropped a fair amount of books this year though

Currently reading:

Scum Villain (again. yes. when am i not?)

still working my way thru the original thrawn trilogy (BRING BACK MARA JADE YOU COWARDS!!!)

i started a reread of TGCF but then i accidentally reread all of MDZS instead...oops

i'll count One Piece as "currently reading" since i've been caught up for years and read the new chapters when they come out (anyone else cry over 1098 this morning?)

The Vampire Lestat

Currently working on:

the baby zzl fic (always always always)

bingqiu star wars au (it was supposed to be a one-shot but it's really gotten away from me, so i'm gonna have to split it into multiple parts!!)

a zhushen....nesting.......thing..........

a couple of wen ning/zhuzhi-lang fics

a follow-up to the six balls/zhuzhi-lang thing (nearly shared a wip of this last wednesday but then i got shy)

various hualian wips (these are on and off)

an outline for a mdzs multichapter fic that i'm thinking about writing

aaaaaand my novel (whaaat who said that....)

Current Obsession:

NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE!! YOU GUYS WANT TO WATCH IT SOOOO BADLY LOOK LOOK LOOK I'LL LINK IT OKAY I'LL PUT IT RIGHT HERE (i recommend watching the previous hatchetverse musicals – The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and Black Friday – first to get the full experience, but you do you!)

also still obsessed with SVSSS obviously

and i got back into MDZS too so that's been fun!

Tagging: uhhh how about @squeeegs and @monroeknoxwrites and @goatpunch2 and anyone else who wants to do it! BUT LIKE NO PRESSURE <3

[qwanderer]

Kinda hope I get inspired to write more leverage redemption fic over the course of my s2 rewatch, but I don't think it's going to end up as epic or interwoven as the previous parts of my series. I could be wrong! I could find all kinds of things I want to weave into the open places in the season. But I'm looking at the season in comparison to the others I've written the series through and it's different.

Listen, the ot3 have obviously loved each other since leverage s1, and from s1 to about mid-s4 I can believe that we see the important notes of that onscreen. But I started writing fic in my first late s4 rewatch because a) I saw them falling in love with each other in a sort of irrevocable way and b) there were things going on canonically! Offscreen in their romantic lives. Leverage said "at some point between late s4 and early s5 Hardison and Parker started dating and you don't get to see what that looks like" which is so interesting because. We see so many of the ins and outs of Nate/Sophie, when they're together and when they're not, the tensions, the sex, it's pretty clear onscreen. And with Hardison and Parker it's just. No. Their private lives are private. And Eliot is visibly close to them in the same ways they are visibly close to each other with the exception of the information "hey we're dating" and a few related behaviors.

It's interesting because the information that Hardison and Parker are dating is almost all told rather than shown. If we want to know what that looks like, what changes for them, we have to imagine it for ourselves. And I happen to imagine that Eliot has been involved as well from basically the beginning. But the key is I have to imagine it.

Then in leverage s5, there was a whole host of things that looked very different with that picture in my imagination, things that needed to be reconciled with that. And the same was true for redemption s1. "See, canon is true, but it's not the whole truth," I said with my fic.

Redemption s2 has been different. There were things that I needed to reconcile with my fic series, or, no, actually! What's different about this season was I felt the need to adjust my series to fit canon because I like the way canon does it better.

I dropped one of my stories from my headcanons because the version of the same story presented in canon was more vivid and true and appealing. And there were other details in s2 that made me look at my fic series and go, "oh, I see now! These fics are true but they're not the whole truth." So I wrote new fics that merge my series into line with canon.

One reason I think s2 feels so different is that there is so much love onscreen. So much sharing in love as a family, so many examples of caring things like date nights and "are you all right" and "Nana knows to expect us" and all of it. They really managed to show us. Despite physical distance and despite all we don't see. The important stuff is all there.

Who has sex with who, that's all just the details. And I think I've covered that pretty well already.

I don't know if I'll find much more to add.

[castlebyersafterdark]

'I'm a gay guy but the character I actually relate to the most is Robin.' now this reallly interests me. what did you think of her development from s3 to s4? i thought they totally dropped the ball and she became a cartoon version of herself. maybe being in love will do that to you, but other aspects of her were lost too (like the cool headed problem solving ability that became total floundering) even when vickie wasnt present, so it wasnt like she was flustered in front of her crush. overall i think what i missed most were the heartfelt, moving iconic moments - like that s3 scene where her and steve are tied up. honestly, in s3 i lost interest in the party and shifted to loving scoops because of how amazing her chemistry was with steve and how well acted these moments were. then in s4, all the power went back to byler imo.

i found it to be a case of these characters are getting more and more big and ludicrous, like hopper and steve too. really missed the subtle charm of s1 tbh. hoping they bring it back for s5!

I love Robin so much! She's my fave after the boys by a long shot. Her story was very eerily and personally relatable in that beautiful scene with her and Steve in the bathroom when she comes out to him. I still get emotional on a rewatch?? And, it's like - her personality most closely matches mine. I adored her in s3 and really liked her neuroticism in 4 but she did seem a little off in comparison to s3. But then again, maybe it's the lens we see her in for three. It's almost like, she's always centered around Steve, maybe in s3 she was a little more 'composed' because of Steve's feelings? A twinge of writing her somewhat through his eyes. But then again, maybe not. Maybe once it was out that her storyline with Steve was strictly platonic, the writers felt the need to bring her "down to Steve's level" instead of just continuing to play with their chemistry and differing personalities. Or maybe it's also showing how close they are now, how you start to pick up habits and mannerisms of your best friends? I've seen critique of Robin in s4 and I do paint her a bit less harsh than most. Maybe since that's my girl!!! Haha. I think the weakest part of her character in s4 was putting her as "meddler" with Nancy's love life. But, then again - there are two conversational themes in Stranger Things: the horror/supernatural plotline and the romantic plotlines. The bulk of conversations fall into either category. But that's being young, though! Isn't it? The drama and angst of relationships is as high stakes to you as otherworldly terrors. Definitely a stranger things theme...

Spot on though, you can't really deny that subtlety is lessened as the seasons go on (other than this damn Byler slowburn, finessed subtlety). And agreed, I enjoyed Scoops so much more than anything else in s3 and maybe that's why I missed the hints for byler that seem so good looking back, when I was a more casual fan, since a lot was a bit muddy that season, but scoooooops was so charming it was a big distraction in comparison to paying equal attention to everything else.

[octoagentmiles]

I am thinking about Calico Jack again, me hearties.

It started while I was rewatching The Coconut Crabs, and I noticed some things:

although the episode aired after The Amazon River did, I could tell it was written before it; because of how Kwazii calls CJ his "grandfather" and just how he talks about him in general. so I fact checked, and:

The Coconut Crabs' creature report came out barely 2 months before The Amazon River aired, and we know they have trouble airing episodes in order/when they want to: just look at S5. (plus: according to wikipedia, S2 had problems regarding it's run overall, which could've contributed. I don't know much else about that, but yeah.)

Calico Jack had "shipwrecked" (so he said) on the crabs' island very recently. Claud says it had been "many years", but we clearly see the kids in the flashback and there's even gifts for them inside the cannon-coconut. So he was probably there maybe,,,,,, 2-3 years ago max. Y'know, despite being "Stuck™".

We're not told what the message for Kwazii says, but the camera does zoom in on the letter... which has a giant X and Calico Jack's signature on it—and WHAT would've been the next Calico Jack episode, had it aired when it was meant to? The Amazon River, which opens with Kwazii finding the medallion piece. Do you see where I'm going here?

Fast forward, I decided to rewatch The Amazon River with this newfound insight.

....And LOOK who's there, the second Kwazii arrives in the Amazon.

....And then who leads Calico Jack to him.

There's little moments all throughout the episode, that are... very suspicious, given this context.

See the first paragraph of my original post.

After he finishes telling Kwazii his dramatic story, he gives Pete a snack. Pete then flies out the window, and we learn a moment later he was waiting outside for them.

After Pete flies out, CJ turns away from Kwazii and [dramatically, again] pulls out his half of the medallion. He holds it out, flips it in the air, making sure Kwazii can see it.

Right before they reach the marsh, and before Kwazii even picks up the map, CJ makes a comment about them getting close.

He makes a comment about the capybaras attacking them: "Didn't see that coming..."

When they're running through the marsh, he shouts "This way!" as if he knows exactly where to go. Kwazii is still the one holding the map.

Then of course we've got the ending, where he's all like "Ah... welp, time to go! I've been here long enough. What say ye join me, Kwazii?"

I THINK. I THINK IT WAS ALL A RUSE.

The real life Calico Jack was famously an expert at mental manipulation, and ours is canonically teaching Kwazii psychology tricks in Above and Beyond. He's extremely smart and clever, and I think ALL OF THIS was an elaborate plan to bring Kwazii to the Amazon, so CJ could offer him the chance to sail away together.

*MIC DROP*

sobbing crying wailing i just had a realization about Calico Jack,,,, 😭

Man was NEVER stuck in the Amazon. He was hiding out there intentionally. He found the "Hidden City" AGES AGO: He was fully familiar with the capybaras ("I've never seen em act like this before..."), who the hidden city was just behind. He was in the Amazon for 20 YEARS—there's no way he didn't check 5 ft. away from where his capy buddies lived.

We know Calico Jack used to be a traditional pirate (mean and scary). He left his crew so that he could become better. He doesn't choose to leave the Amazon until he reunites with Kwazii, and sees him doing well.

Kwazii was cast away at a young age for being the way he is (kind, caring, helpful, etc.), and it's implied he's ALWAYS been this way. We also KNOW that Calico Jack "left to find the 'City of Gold'" when Kwazii was just a little kitten.

We're led to believe,,, and Kwazii's been led to believe,,,, that Kwazii is who he is today because of Calico Jack, but...

What if Calico Jack is who he is because of Kwazii?

[mikiruma]

actually wtf is going on in the replies of the breaking bad post we reblogged earlier???? do people think breaking bad is a show about our good buddy walter white who was thrust into an unfair situation and was rewarded for killing people????? sorry to drop spoilers for a show that ended 9 years ago but

heres just a short list of things i can remember he did off the top of my head

rejected payment for his treatment out of pride/resentment for the old friend offering (who was a BILLIONAIRE)

got into meth without really any prompting (yes he was desperate but you could argue he could have done literally anything else in his position instead of stew quietly and fuck around in the desert)

kills/severely injures 2 people the second time cooking ever

(throughout the show) manipulating/gaslighting his wife, his lab partner, anyone he thinks he has an inkling of power over

when his meth empire as he knows it crumbles he starts working with actual white supremacists

one of which shoots/kills a child in front of him, which he defends

literally nearly every scene of him and jesse interacting

indirectly caused the universe's "9/11 two" (by watching/letting the daughter of the air traffic controller who took responsibility die) (the daughter happening to be jesse's gf at the time)

at a school assembly addressing this he essentially told the student body & faculty (many of which were directly affected by the tragedy ie property damage via plane/body parts or severe emotional trauma from witnessing) to "get over it"

poison's jesse's new gf's son to manipulate jesse into killing their boss, who they don't like admittedly but jesse isn't an overzealous idiot

literally every scene where he tells skyler "you dont know WHAT ive done for this family... to protect us..." literally nobody asked you to start cooking meth and terrorizing people

ok on god this show is designed to make you sympathize with him early on bc hes sad and desperate and trying to be a strong brave man but he gets so gradually unlikeable and is continuously punished and doesnt understand WHY bc he was BADASS and BUSINESS IS BOOMING and honestly i cant give you a specific point when i personally stopped rooting for walt bc i've been rewatching slowly and just always knew he was a shithead but i WILL say it is extremely apparent when, in the beginning, he cries abt how he does it to secure a future for his family & keep them out of medical debt and even originally has a set dollar amount goal! but in early s5 he calls $5mil 'pennies' and even before then its extremely obvious it hasnt been about the family for a long ass time, hes no longer interested in securing a future, hes trying to flex his wealth (NOT EVEN BOTHERING WITH MONEY LAUNDERING UNTIL S4?????) and "prove" how much of a hero he can be to his family who never asked him to do any of this.

this show is awesome bc you get to watch a guys joker arc set in over the course of a year or so and he sucks SO BAD. it literally shows how the nightmare medical industry drives people to desperate measures. it shows toxic masculinity and the problems with the nuclear family mindset/image and a wonderfully awful demonstration of how pride can rot you. seeing ppl say they wont watch the show because it touches on those themes at all, being completely dismissive of how theyre examined or what the point in all of it is, is really fucking weird. i dont mean to sound like a married middle-class white man in a mid-life crisis who thinks he's walter white and would kin him if i knew what that meant (and was simultaneously too cool for comic books so i cant relate to the joker at all) but this show is fucking cool and i have just witnessed the other side of the fanbase revival, which is 'people who have never seen it who think they know what its about posting their opinions online and it hurts my little autistic brain'

[gaytedlasso]

15, 16, 19, plus one you'd like to answer

15. Worst thing each member of TFW has done?

Oof gonna have to take off my rose-colored glasses for this question. I love ALL of TFW so much, but I can be realistic too.

Sam: The demon blood. This answer is probably because I'm on S5 of my rewatch so it's fresh in my mind, but I honestly can't believe how much he rationalized it. I know he felt guilty after Lillith but still. I love Sam but this wasn't like a singular choice. He kept choosing Ruby over everyone else for a long time.

Dean: Kicking human Cas out of the bunker. I'm a heller but Dean's honestly done some extremely shitty things to Cas. There was no real reason for them to abandon Cas the only time he's truly needed help and was at his most vulnerable. Just thinking about it breaks my heart.

Cas: incapable of fault... Jk. Um he made a lot of mistakes in S7. Leviathan thing being at the top of the list probably. Also I know he needs a vessel but it honestly makes me so sad knowing that Jimmy is possessed by him. Jimmy was so traumatized in that episode when we meet him and only agreed to it again to spare Claire.

16. Thoughts on Chuck?

Chuck the writer/prophet, fun. Chuck as "God", an asshole. I'm actually a Christian so seeing his character kinda stung a bit. I obviously don't think spn affects my faith but still not a fan. He just viewed everyone as his playthings and got mad when they didn't play along. That being said, the emotional scene where Dean questioned where Chuck had been during all the horrible things that have happened on earth was honestly amazing and heartbreaking. And it felt very real, cuz even Christians have doubts and get angry.

17. Favorite Cas/Dean, Cas/Sam, and Cas/Jack scene

Cas/Dean: Oof where do I start? Okay. Obvious answer would be something emotional like the confession, but honestly it's Tombstone. When they're in the car and Dean tells Cas to act like he's from Tombstone and Cas describes the movie as "the one with guns and tuberculosis." Tombstone is literally in my Top 10 favorite movies so this is the best thing I've ever seen.

Cas/Sam: I love this duo. I have two favorites. The entire scene when Cas is drunk is amazing; "I got your message. It was long and I find the sound of your voice grating." And in 15x01 when Sam accidentally shoots Cas through a ghost and Cas just says "You shot me" looking so freaking done.

Cas/Jack: Dadstiel is my favorite. I love almost all their interactions but a personal favorite is when Cas give Jack permission to join social media. It was such a father/son thing.

My choice, 3. What's a scene that you think is underrated?

This is probably because I just rewatched this episode for the Dean's birthday netflix party heller-jensen did but it's in Regarding Dean. For most of the episode, the things that Dean forgets are played off as funny, like Sam leaving all the post-its and having to tell Dean about monsters. But I had forgotten about the scene where he is talking to himself in the mirror. He keeps repeating his name and at one point looks absolutely terrified when he can't remember it. It's honestly the most terrified I've ever seen Dean because he drops the stoic act during this episode because he can't remember his trauma. Anything with memory loss really gets to me and I honestly start sobbing just thinking about it.

[coinofstone]

5x12 The Diamond of the Day pt 1

Final two episodes! Big finale! Why am I making myself cry in the middle of the afternoon! Both eps in this post.

I do love that they made Arthur a sore loser

Enter treacherous white woman #2. Srsly it was lazy writing when they did it for Mordred, it's worse now with Gwaine.

I do love the actual Round Table war room discussion but a) why isn't Merlin seated at the round table and b) why does Leon have so much goddamn faith in Camelot's walls? Like??? You literally said the same thing last year and yet Camelot *did* fall when Agravaine brought an army through the tunnels!

Poor Aithusa. Kid's had a rough life.

I do love Arthur responding to Merlin presenting him with all his supplies ready - which he prepared without his magic mind you - with suspicion 😂

But then he calls Merlin a coward and it's sad

Katie has such a great voice. That entire thing in the cave from her taunting to her laughter to the spell, it just just beautifully played.

Whole ass battle to prepare for and Arthur is just walking around moping cuz Merlin isn't there

So, Merlin's father-vision telling him he's magic itself and he just needs to believe in himself to get his magic going again, does this mean he *didn't* need to go to the cave to get it back? Cuz it seems like he needed to recharge in the cave itself, his injuries were healed when he woke up. That seems like magic cave stuff to me.

Also that "always have been and always will be" - I'm taking to mean 'always have been' in the sense that since he's 'magic itself' even before he was born, his magic existed in other, intangible forms, like we are all stardust etc. But now that he is, he will always be, aka he will not die.

Arthur waking up with his wife in his arms and Merlin's name on his lips, jumping out of bed to act on dream-info.

Balinor telling Merlin to trust in what will be.... like bitch that is literally not how this ends.

5x13 The Diamond of the day pt 2

You know that gif of the cat knocking everything off the table? That's literally Merlin shooting lightning at everyone from his perch on the ridge.

I have a lot of snarky things to say about Merlin coming out of the cave in full Dragoon gear and riding a horse instead of teleporting like the other witches but I'ma keep that to myself.

Mordred is a bitch and Aithusa has terrible aim. At least Aithusa's loyalty to Morgana makes sense.

Arthur said oh shit I'm magic - oh wait no it's that old man again

He also straight up "No! Bad dragon!"-ed Aithusa

Y'know, for all I've watched this episode and screamed about Arthur's death, I don't think I've ever focused on the exact moment he gets stabbed before.

Mordred catches him from behind and he meets it, no fault there. But as soon as he realizes his assailant is the knight who turned on him and joined Morgana, what does he do? HE LOWERS HIS FUCKING SWORD

He leaves himself wide fucking open and vulnerable and Mordred seizes the opportunity. I understand wanting the moment of recognition for Arthur, but on what planet is a trained warrior going to drop his sword mid-attack because he recognizes his attacker as a dude who only just recently decided to forsake him? It's soooooo dumb

There was a whole sequence a few episodes back where Mordred and Arthur are sparring, the point of it was to show that Mordred has become a skilled swordsman. So what exactly was the point in having Mordred run Arthur through as soon as Arthur idiotically lets his guard down? This should've been a meticulously choreographed sword fight, with Mordred getting the upper hand and sticking Arthur properly. Not this nonsense. Look at Arthur's FACE! Oh, Mordred... 👉👈 do you maybe wanna be friends again- STAB ... guess not

Uther's been rolling in his grave but he's taking an extra tumble watching Arthur forget all his skills and training in that moment.

I do appreciate Arthur getting Mordred back though. Like that moment of merciless anger followed by the hurt and regret playing on Arthur's face, warring with surety and responsibility. It was good.

I've rewatched the big confession scene about 16 times just now.

I don't quite understand why Merlin took Arthur to the woods to begin with. Instead of bringing him to the med tent in the battlefield or back to Camelot. What was the reason?

Merlin saying it feels strange (to use magic freely in front of Arthur) and him just going 'yeah' completely deadpan makes me laugh every time.

I really feel like Arthur's head should be elevated at a further incline if he's going to be fed.

Gaius refusing to outright expose Merlin as the sorcerer but nonetheless letting Gwen figure it out on her own warms my heart.

My God Arthur is sitting there dying, feeling betrayed about his best friend 'lying' to him, and still he can't stop himself from looking at Merlin's mouth.

Percival summoned MUSCLE POWER

Hey um random but why does Gwaine even know where Merlin and Arthur are headed? Why would Gaius tell him?

Arthur looks at Merlin so lovingly after he's killed Morgana 😭😭

And now he's literally grabbing at the man's hand 😭 "just hold me, please"

That's gotta be the gayest death scene in television history. If you can watch that without thinking Arthur puts his hand on the back of Merlin's head because some part of him wants to bring him down for a kiss, or that "just hold me, please" is in any way shape or form a 'bros' thing, and certainly not at all an intentional mirror/callback to Isolde dying in Tristan's arms, then I'm afraid you are what we professionals refer to as a dumb-as-nails fucknugget, more commonly phrased as 'willfully ignorant'.

"All that you have dreamt of building has come to pass" yeah except for the whole, y'know, magic still being illegal thing.

I've said this before, but, while I'm sure there was a determined intention to have Arthur die in his armor, probably in some kind of attempt to make sure the audience knows he's died a warrior's death, I *really* think it was kinda stupid that Merlin never removed it, despite Arthur being weak, despite the fact that there was something like five days between him getting stabbed and him actually dying, despite that for the duration of that time they were traveling or hiding out. Merlin managed to produce a cloak to put on Arthur, why did he need the full armor on that whole time? Like even if they left the chainmail on, those plates on his shoulder were just getting in the way, and it looked quite uncomfortable.

Also not for nothing but Lancelot got like, every flower in the forest surrounding lush verdant greens in his death boat, Arthur gets a bunch of sticks.

It suddenly occurs to me, watching this now, that the reason Leon/Percival is such a common side pairing in Merthur fics, is because these two motherfuckers are the only original Knights of the Round Table to survive the series. 🤦‍♀️ I dunno how I failed to notice that before now. My stupidity amazes me.

I'm *really* glad they decided to do this scene with Gwen wearing the Pendragon red dress instead of the black mourning dress. Yes she looks fabulous in it but it's more the symbolism than the 'reality' - with Gwen wearing her house's colors it represents a continuation rather than a finality. Camelot will go on, Gwen will undoubtedly end the war on magic and with Morgana dead (and frankly, I think by now she already brought about the death of all the angry incel type rulers in Albion) there stands to reason her reign will begin with a period of peace, possibly longer than Arthur's. We kind of have to assume that the 'time the poets speak of' is, inevitably, Gwen's reign - which only came about through Arthur's death. It's a little bit toooo subtle in my opinion, but at the same time, I understand the need for the focus on Merlin and Arthur - after all, this show was their journey - not leaving much time to focus on Gwen and Camelot in the aftermath of Arthur's death.

I will just say, the first time I watched this that fucking truck scared the ever living shit out of me. I also just immediately, viscerally hated that scene and declared it invalid - but I think it was because the truck made me jump out of my skin. It has since grown on me, particularly once I started reading 'Arthur Returns' fic.

Everything beyond this point is post-series spec and headcanon, so if that's not your jam you can exit safe in the knowledge that as usual, if there's anything worth commenting on in the S5 extras, I will create a separate post!

For those interested, my go-to post-series fic is We Begin Again by katherynefromphilly I fully headcanon this series as the continuation of the series.

I have a lot of thoughts about Gwen and Merlin post-Camlann.

For one, poor fucking Gwen. She's lost her father, her brother, and her husband, all by what, age 30? That's rough. And who knows what happened to her mom, that was pre-series and I don't think it was ever mentioned.

Merlin, dear god poor Merlin. First of all, I just wanna say straight off that my instinctive headcanon about Merlin was that he never returned to Camelot. I couldn't really say why exactly. I just don't think he could stand being there after Arthur's death. But practically speaking, Merlin's still got Aithusa to deal with, that dragon needs some godsdamned house training asap. He's still the last Dragonlord, it's reasonable to assume he'd immediately take that on considering Aithusa is partially responsible for Arthur's death (the sword Mordred killed Arthur with, only succeeded in killing Arthur because it had been forged in Aithusa's fire-breath) so he's either going to attempt to train the bad behaviors out of Aithusa, or...well...

The only thing is, I do not believe Merlin would abandon Gwen, or Gaius. So my hc is inherently flawed. I do think Merlin probably spend a couple months with his mum, and I do think he ultimately settled near lake Avalon waiting for Arthur's return.

But I do wonder, what must their relationship have been like? Gwen, surely, would've sought his guidance in establishing laws governing the use of magic. And surely, peace cannot last indefinitely, so Merlin absolutely would've defended Camelot and protected Gwen. There's just no way he could've completely turned his back on them, but I doubt he could bear living in Camelot. And Gwen is both strong and practical enough to get on without him there 24/7, even though I'm sure she'd miss him.

I also think she would've found love again. Whether with Leon, as many people hc, or someone else not in the series.

ANYWAY.

Thanks to everyone who came on this journey with me. I will post comments on the extras if I have anything worth saying - and I think I'll do a master post linking all these episode posts after I clean them up once I get time to sit at a computer and do so. Until then! 💙💚

(Gif source) (h/t @shut-up-merlin)

[godhasforsnakenme]

November was quite productive at the beginning, so much that I made a damn list with a bit of commentary:

Loki s2 Ending :D (just murder me k? but also lokius canon idgaf; also have you seen the fanart where croki takes over tree sitting for a while so loki can go back to mobius for the holidays omfg the best thing ever)

Fellow Travelers (p*ramount+, on-going plus I read the book [have yet to finish the book lol])

Continuing Psych (half way through s3 now, and I'd just like to say thar it always breaks my heart a bit when Shawn realizes his mom was the one that left his dad, not the other way around [bc of course Henry would take the blame and just take the hate from Shawn all these years just to keep Madeleine in good graces]

Rewatch of Hunger Games (yes, also read the books)

Vuelve a Mí (p*acock, on-going)

Elemental (d*sney)

No Hard Feelings (2023)

All the Light We Cannot See

Rewatch of The Pacific & Band of Brothers (first watched in high school during our WWII unit in History 101/102; then during that one weekend in the hospital during 2020)

Rewatch of Six Feet Under (Peter Krause, my beloved)

Backdraft (1991) [this also begun a Robert DeNiro film rewatch including Hide & Seek, Awakening {which lead to a Robin Williams film rewatch and then me rereading Chris Van Allsburg's entire children's book catalog because it's some of my favorite content from when I was in 3rd grade} oh boy it turned into a rabbit hole very fast didn't it? ]

Danny Phantom + Over The Garden Wall (cannot believe I waited this long into the fall season and well past spooky month to watch them omfg)

Goosebumps Series (again with the waiting for the last month of fall to watch the spooky month stuff omfg, anyway I enjoyed it)

The Spiderwick Chronicles (planning on rereading the books as well [gonna see if I want to rent them through libby or just buy the set? But then I want the classic covers on them that I remember from elementary school)

Bridgewater (podcast, both seasons [picking it back up from where I left off back in 2021 because that's that one year I dropped a lot of projects due to the shit show that was November and yeah I then said welp s2 is out next year and continued to push it back until now)

Yellowstone (reminded us of longmire, can't wait for s5 part b)

Doctor Who Specials (had us in the first half [twice] ngl [did a separate post with my final thoughts on the giggle, so yeah, that's that {feel like I need to rewatch the Christmas special to get an honest opinion out of it bc I watched it while a bit distracted])

For December, it's short because I spent my afternoons shopping and giftwrapping; also, the days really go by quick because for the most part I spent them in other people's company :)

Per tradition, the SpongeBob s1 special 'Christmas Who?'

Then all three versions of The Grinch to keep it festive lol (little grinch in the animated version with Benny boy is adorable)

Dr. Death s1 (oh boy, gonna start s2 soon)

Last, and most definitely think least lmaoooo, What If s2 because I like the animations and quick snippets of aus (but trust and believe I hate the fucking c*ptain carter narrative with a passion)

And that's a wrap on all the stuff I watched in 2023! Might do this again, who knows or might even just do a books finished reading thing or anything else I join in on lol

Oh, and honorable mention: since like the summer, I've been joining in on tiktok to watch streamer Hawkeyedood & his mario64 speed runs; think he deserves an award because that is one thing I joined in to watch just about everytime the notification went off without eventually getting bored of it lol

January's brain rot was mostly Obikin, plus whatever else my brain has decided to completely blank on (it was a long month okay?)

February would like to add on Longmire & Miraculous to the mix, along with the yearly switching from football to baseball mode

[westernwoodblogs]

1, 2, 15, 23 & 30 for the desticule asks? ^^

Thank you so much for partaking. 😬💖

1. Favorite episode? Okay funnily enough I think coming back to spn fandom after 3 yrs pretty much has changed that. So it used to be 3x11, Mystery spot. Now, I'm riding on my memory of 11x05, Baby as my current favorite. I love whenever the outsider perspective is utilized in the show...to varying degrees of success of course. This was the best executed one. It has everything I'd want from a special episode. CAS IS ACTUALLY HERE. And I love this car.

2. Worst episode and I cant say bugs or the last 2? I'm currently doing a rewatch and I'm about to start s3. But the way that some episodes in s2 were especially hard to get through and one in particular gave me a headache: 2x10, Hunted. THE RACISM IS UNREAL. They should've stuck to the ava plotline the whole episode. Adding in Gordon just...🤢. It really doesnt age well and the more I think on it, it woulda been a shitty episode too when it aired.

15. Just 3 things to change?? I have literal pages upon pages of things I would and am actively changing about spn. Yall'll have to wait till I finally drop my rewrite in fragments. But i will let you in on 3 things about the fx spn rewrite (yes I'm very annoying about it.)

Bobby dies and stays dead in s5 post the dodged apocalypse.

Lisa and Ben dont exist. I hate to pit women against one another but lisa's not even a substantial character. I dont care for her enough to fix that. Sorry lisa. Dean spends season 6 with cassie robinson who has relevancy outside of her lone episode.

Finally...more people of color and marginalized identities. That's queer folk, disabled folk, neurodivergent folk, more respectful depictions of non-western religions and folklore. (Also a lot of racebending dont come for me 😌✌🏽)

These were completely random in choosing.

23. One thing for the jackles 'whatever-the-hell- he-may-do' reboot?? Spinoff??...this is full and utter wish fulfillment but, if it completely does not acknowledge the final 2 episodes. At all. It's be great.

30. What am I reading now in terms of destiel? Well atm I've been on and off reading Absolution at the Five-and-Dime by DeanRH. I'm utterly in love with the drifter culture they have given a glimpse into with this fic, and the flashbacks in the earlier chapters to Sam and Dean's childhood in a setting where they spent a year away from J*hn. There's so much there I love, be that the memorable OC's or the pretty good smut if you ask me. Very much rec this fic. I just need to finish it!! It also doesnt help that a lot of my favorite concepts for the Good Supernatural that lives in my Head, also resides in this work.

Fics I want to read... There are so many I've put on the back burner but, the first to come to mind was Bring Up the Deep by deathbanjo. Just started listening to this amazing destiel fanfic podcast. You should totally check it out if that sounds like your thing. It's called the Mixtape Book Club and they are on spotify. You might even recognize the hosts and their guests since they are all content creators in this fandom with some legendary work. Anyways, this was one of their spotlight fics on their horror themed episode and from their description of the premise and the writing style, I was hooked in to give it a shot. Do tread carefully this could possibly be a bit of a squick fic. But yeah!

[romancing-lady-whistledown]

Just wanted to comment on your last post - there was no frustration and drama for me when I was watching Elu and Skam and Skam France before I made the huge error of looking for the fandom and joining it. Now I realise it was a big mistake, I have to constantly block people on Tweeter for hating on my faves and I've come to really hate another remake which I only didn't care about before having to deal with its stans. So I totally understand what you're saying. Me, I wish I'd never joined.

So this got long af so I’m gonna put it under the cut lol

Oh I absolutely feel you, when I say frustration and drama, I am refering to the live-watching experience and all the fandom drama that comes with that. I have a very polarizing feeling about being in the online fandom personally. For me the positive aspects have been so big that I can’t say that I wish I’d never joined personally, but especially if the positive aspects I’ve experienced haven’t been part of your fandom-experience I definitely see how you can get to the point where you wish you never joined in the first place, especially in the past year, because the negative aspects...they’re rough, and they do make the experience of the actual show different from if you just watched it on your own or you watched it as a casual viewer in the country it’s airing in, rather than as a part of the fandom on Tumblr and/or Twitter.  

I watched the original Skam as a casual Norwegian viewer, I was in a Facebook-group with other casual Norwegian viewers, there was never any drama about anything, not the clips, not the characters, not the actors and not the creators of the show. It was just watching the clips, often someone commenting about how the clip was cute, funny, sad ect, and then everybody moved on with their day. There would sometimes be a thread with questions like “Where do you think William is?” or “What do you think is up with Even?”, but it was always very casual. Sometimes I think the online fandom forget that the majority of the remake-viewers are the casual local viewers, the ones who only casually watch that one remake as a show on it’s own, not as a part of the “Skamverse”. The international Twitter/Tumblr-fandom is just a little part of the people watching the show and the opinions we see here don’t necessairily reflect those of the more casual audience (as one can often see in for example reaction-videos on Youtube where the reactors watch alot of shows at the same time and might not even blink at something that might’ve been a big deal in the online fandom). 

Being a casual viewer worked so well for me with Skam, the whole viewing experience was very chill and enjoyable. I did the same thing with Skam France S1 and S2, I watched the first episode of every remake, and Skam France was the only one I felt compelled to continue watching. It wasn’t the most exciting experience plotwise since it was just the exact same as the og, but I love the cast, I love the French language and it was overall pleasant and fun enough that I kept watching both seasons all the way through. As someone who has no attention span for TV-shows, the fact that they did keep my attention without anyone to push me to keep watching is enough for me to not concider them bad in the way alot of people do. Not very exciting after having watched the og, sure. Do I prefer the og S1 and S2? Yes. But bad? I personally wouldn’t say that. If I came into the fandom before I started watching on my own I know I would’ve been told to either skip S1 and S2 or skip Skam France altogether, and that obviously wouldn’t have been very good advice in my case, although it might be for someone else. That is why, when someone shows up on Tumblr saying they wanna start watching the remakes and ask for advice, I never ever tell them not to watch a remake. I could be robbing them of something that might deeply touch them, just because it didn’t touch me. 

This brings us into one of the aspects of being in the online fandom that can be both really positive and really negative, that being the way it can affect your experience of the show itself. On the positive note, there’s no way I could’ve gone through Skam France S3 in the casual way I went through the original Skam or S1 and S2 of Skamfr. No way. Having someone to talk to about all the amazing moments with was an actual need for me. Hell, two years later and I still need that. Not to mention the fan art and fics that has kept Elu alive for me ever since S3. There was this whole detective-work in the fandom about finding Eliott’s Instagram during S3, finding out about the Instagram-posts David and Niels made about the S3 clips, being in the online fandom actually added to the experience of watching S3 for me, and even now almost two years after S3 I’m left with some actual friends, friends that aren’t even in the fandom anymore but who I still talk to almost daily, as well as some lovely bloggers who are still invlolved in the fandom and who’s blogs I prefer to visit rather than visiting the tag.

But then there’s the negative side of this. While being in the online fandom certainly can add to the experience, it can also affect it negatively. That was what happened with S5 and S6 for me, to the point where I had to switch between staying completely off Tumblr and delete the Twitter app from my phone. While S5 had a couple of plotlines I didn’t like, it also had alot of amazing moments when it actually was dealing with the main theme of the season. S6 did not give their plotlines the proper exploration and conclusion they deserved, but on the other hand the reason why that was so frustrating to me was because I found those plotlines so interesting and actually wanted to see them explored properly. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have cared if the plotlines were dropped out of nowhere, like ofc it would’ve been weird but if the whole Tiff-plot suddenly disappeared I wouldn’t complain. While they were flawed and nowhere near the level of S3 for me, I did enjoy so many of the clips and Skamfr S3, S5 and S6 are the only remake-seasons I have downloaded on my computer knowing I will rewatch them regularily. If I didn’t overall enjoy them, I wouldn’t wanna rewatch them. I don’t hate-watch anything. I could barely get through Skamfr S4 (a season I genuinely didn’t like) and I could not get through Wtfock S4, (which I liked even less). So the flaws Skamfr S5 and S6 had didn’t turn the seasons as a whole into trash for me, but I know they did for alot of people and going to the tags while in the middle of the live-watching experience couldn’t just be a bummer, it could almost transfer some feelings and opinions that weren’t my own onto me just from seeing them repeated so many times. I appreciate nuanced discussion, which does include constructive criticism, and there was alot of that too, but there were also alot of posts that I would not concider that. In this case, when I got some time and distance away from the live-watching experience and got the space to think for myself, I realized that as often is the case, my feelings about the seasons weren’t black and white, or in this case, masterpiece vs trash. Yes, I don’t like certain plotpoints (like the love triangle and car-scene from S5 or the Tiff-plot and the overly rushed conclusions to the otherwise interesting plotlines in S6), but that doesn’t mean that I personally think S5 or S6 as a whole are trash, not when the good episodes and clips were as good as they were to me personally. The online fandom experience has also, just like for you, completely turned me off from another remake that I otherwise felt neutral about and at one point even liked, which really is a shame.

So yeah this turned into a long ass essay just to say, the online fandom-experience is a true mixed bag for me. Although the positive experiences I’m taking from it, mainly the lovely and talented people, the friends I made and the full Skam France S3 experience, ultimately made it worth it for me, I can totally see how, especially if you didn’t have those experiences, you would simply wish you never joined. When it’s a pain, it’s a pain.