#it's PAINFUL how few of a screentime they have 😭

[orangerainforest]

S01E47 First Move roxy and archie's bardagulan

+ that scene

[cl-0v3r]

remember the days when you didn't like ambessa? what changed your mind about her?

HI ANONN , THATS A GOOD QUESTION!

Since the beginning I've always found it hard to trust Ambessa, it's not that I don't believe her experiences, she's one of the smartest characters in the whole show. But It's more about her relationship with Mel, I've always been so unsure about what her true feelings towards Mel are, she is a wolf, but undoubtedly a fox as well. Manipulation is like smooth sailing for her, and finding genuinity in her expressions always came with a little bit of doubt on the side, "Does she actually care? Is she manipulating the people around her -including Mel- JUST to get her way? Is she trustworthy with her intentions and feelings towards Mel?" And etc.

Only a little while ago did I realize that Ambessa is just extremely complex, she has so many layers, to the point where I didn't really have to time to clear my glasses about her character. I hated her for her morals, and i let that affect my interest towards this character as a whole, which is a huge mistake in my book. I also did take her a little personally sometimes, shes really realistic and it scared me a lot.

But ever since riot released the few beggining s2 trailers, I slowly started getting excited to see her. We did not get much screentime with Ambessa in s1, hence why I never felt a close attachment to her, and Mel was another reason on why I didn't like Ambessa because I'm attached to HER the most. Which reflects on my opinions on certain others, sort of like seeing things from her perspective. Mel is basically the base of my opinions on other characters if that makes sense?

Family, especially motherhood tropes are such a weakness for me, seeing her league voicelines and that music video they recently released (blood, sweat & tears) is what tipped the jar completely for me. We never got a clear indication on what Ambessas true perspective was, so finally seeing things from her eyes, hearing what she had to say, seeing how rough her past is made me understand why she became who she is in the current timeline.

And now I feel like I do not need to doubt everything she says, she does indeed love Mel as much as she does kino, she was not telling Mel in episode 9 all those things to weaken her for an open road, no. She'd went through hell and back just to keep her family safe despite how nuanced her actions are. seeing her lore simply made me do an entire 180⁰ turn.

She was going to accept her and her childs death and give in, but instead she chose to fight for her and their lives instead.

Kindred has the Lamb and the wolf. The lamb takes the lives of the dying peacefully, the wolf on the other hand, takes the lives of those who fight for their lives until they're dead.

And I find that interesting, gut wrenching and sickening mentally, thanks riot, good to know Ambessa is locked to the wolf in every single way <333

Thing is, what pains me is that she had no choice, she had to choose to die and leave everyone behind including the unborn child, or become the Medardas dictator, with the expense of her child's inevitable death. (Or perhaps I've taken this wrong)

From my understanding, the MV was more about Kino than it is about Mel, her letting go of the lamb was like handing the lamb for slaughter, a sacrifice, sort of like a "contract". Which lead to Kinos death despite how unrelated it was from kindred (like he didn't die by kindreds hands directly) . Hence why she was crying over the child figure/statue holding the lamb.

And later with the visual presentation of her pain too, someone please take the medardas pains and give it triple the amount to the actual worst fucking person to exist oh my god 😭 😭 😭

To summarize, I just never understood her character properly, I never got myself to do so. and that is a mistake from my side, I am a really visual person and the reason I really love arcane is because they don't really need words to express and show who their characters really are. Theres so many visual secrets and easterggs, expressionism, movements, colors, every single thing matters. And with Ambessa only appearing on the last 2 episodes?? Yeah I never felt like learning about her. But now im slowly starting to do that! She made it from my least character ever to like TOP 5 😭 😭

All of this will not change how horrible she is, she is a painted villain, ambiguous yes, but leaning on the darker sides. But that's what makes her Ambessa and no one else, I will forever hate her morals, I won't defend her actions. but her true intentions are meaningful nonetheless, with all the other characters too.

[low-budget-korra]

Comments on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender

*spoiler alert*

First of all I'm gonna start by saying it is one of the best adaptations I've seen so far. And that's the key word, adaptation. I've seen a lot of fans and others complain about some things that honestly, doesn't make sense because some things only work in a cartoon(just as much as some things only work in a book or a video game)

And before I start to talk about some topics that I judge important, I also wanna say that the production is fantastic, from the costumes to the CGI. It all looks amazing. (A part from Yue's wig)

1. The Script

It's not easy to pick 20+ episodes and make it fit in only 8 but damn they did a hell of a good job, especially when judging what was important to show and what they could let it go. Some fans commented that since there's no fillers, the Gaang and others miss some development but I think that for the universe of the live action what we got here it worked.

I can express how much I like to see Ozai and Azula's relationship and how it is now clear that he uses the siblings against each other, manipulating them to get what he wants. But I will admit I miss the fear Azula had, since it's implied in the show and some extras that she does fear Ozai, and fears becoming like Zuko.

I hope the 41. Is just fine after the battle in the north. See all of them bowing to Zuko after discovering that Zuko was the one that saved their asses and was heavily punished by that...it was beautiful. I loved the writers did that, give names and faces to Zuko's crew and a beautiful yet sad arc when Ozai banished his son and the men who he saved.

I also loved that they put weight into things that was treated as a joke, like Katara talking about her mother. She was a little kid who saw her mom get murdered in front of her and the live action made sure to let us know that it is not okay to make jokes about something so traumatic. All of the deaths here have tons of weight in it, it's not some random person, is someone we met, someone we liked, someone who helped. The costs of the war, something the cartoon manages to show us but know in live action, with real people, the massage gets stronger.

And they didn't forget Iroh's past like the fandom does, which is great. That actor, the earthbending soldier really let it all out, that's how you use the few screentime you have.

Sokka's isn't sexist and y'all were making a storm outta a cup of water, is not like Sokka sexist didn't go away after like the 4 or 5 episode in the original show. I think the live action was able to bring more depth to him in comparison to the first season of the cartoon. We see how he feels about his father's, the absence of him and his duty as warrior who kinda doesn't want to be a warrior.

I need a Gyatso in my life, I didn't know I needed to see more of him until the live action gave us more of him. Kyoshi was the Thor coming to Wakanda from this season, WHY THE FUCK BRYKE DONT WANNA GIVE US A KYOSHI SERIES? She is absolutely a jewel of a character. Roku and Kuruk, damn poor Kuruk man, so much pain in his words but again that's what it means to be the Avatar, it's not fun and games. Zhao saying to Aang what Korra villains said to Korra😭 that the world doesn't need the Avatar anymore, it hurt.

Guys I'm gonna say it, there's no way in hell for anyone to ship Kataang here. I'm saying this because some shippers complain that the secret tunnel part was different but c'mon, look at Kiawentiio and look at Gordon, it would be so s awkward and weird and just wrong. I know they don't have a big age difference, is only like 3 years but when they filmed Gordon looked so much younger than her, maybe in the next seasons the difference won't be that big.

The pace is good, once you start you don't wanna stop.

2. The Acting

Everyone is really good at capturing the essence of it's characters and somewhat making them their own. The highlights for me were Dallas and Ian, Its like they came straight from the show. Ken Leung's Zhao was also amazing as he was way more threatening here than he was in the show.

Kiawentiio was the Katara we were looking for, she is kind yet strong, brave and caring. And Gordon was Aang, sure, he has to learn a few things since he slipped a few times in his acting but nothing that could ruin the experience, that kid is good and just needs some experience.

Elizabeth Yu was Azula. It was different but yet the same character, is like learning something new of her and I like how cleared she show emotions with her eyes. Maria Zhang had great chemistry with Ian and I can't wait to see more of Suki. Arden Cho and Yvonne Chapman as June and Avatar Kyoshi look like they came out straight from the cartoon. Daniel Dae Kim...man is Ozai, so cold, so sharp, so scary, already way better than the cartoon version. I wanna see more of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh since the character he really starts to shine in book 2.

3. The live action doesn't have the spirit of the OG?

Yes, it does have. The thing is now that we are seeing real people, things get dark one way or another but I don't think it ruined the spirit of the show. Aang is still a kid, Sokka still making sarcastic jokes, Zuko still annoying as hell, Katara still hopeful and strong... There's everything there really.

The thing is stuff like genocide, murder, war, death and suffering are, for some people, better to watch as pixels in a cartoon than real people.

I think it's a great adaptation and I would recommend it to every fan.

[llycaons]

also I started the leviathan dropout sidequest today. what a long first episode, to introduce everyone so slowly. but I like them all! marcid came off as really evil in his first appearance but his accent and willingness to steal from his employers and relationship with myrtle are really fun, and his actor is an excellent rper, so I like him quite a lot. and myrtle has such a cool design and concept and is played by aabria who I LOVE, and who's quite funny! bob literally does have the voice of an angel (Krystina, oh my god???) and her sweet little naivete make her sound like, idk, a lady from an old-timey movie. or betty boop. in the most endearing way. and it's so cute how she wants to be a pirate 😭😭😭 I started cheering when I saw marisha again and her character is so delightful too. agh, the pains of having a boring and extremely religious family when all you want is adventure! she and that mentor of hers, also very funny. cheese honestly did not endear himself to me in his first few seconds of screentime as I found his geekiness extremely offputting but his player was very neglected-child charming about it instead of annoying so I've warmed up to him. and I've only really just met jack, but he's kind of a fucked-up dude and I love matt's rp so I'm looking forward to seeing him..idk, be welcomed back into society? god, poor guy. carrying around that mast like a cross. anyway if that artifact is so dangerous and scary why does anyone even want it

[rox-of-iu]

HEY GAMERS WHATS UP hkdhfk

so... i had more sketches and concept pieces to go with this,, but i forgot them in secondary location hdjfhkdjfh so iľl post them separately in a few days as a bonus lmaoo

so now you get lines (my beloved) and cropped versions and more rambles under cut as the vip bonus instead xD

woooohoooo finally. posting time. hdsgjf i have been on and off working on these literally since June lol so all these time i was buzzing here with hehe they´ll never know whatľ hit ´em B))) hkfhdfgj oughhhh listen i know they aint perfect but i am happy with how they turned out :)))

also also, i know i could have picked scenes or compositions or whatever that better represent the story but. listen. um shush. hfjdhj but ok hey for example the third volume was the unexpected addition and i just HAD to make it this one because when i read the scene where SY worked himself into the stupidest self-sabotaging corner i actually took psychic damage i had to lie down this stupid man killed me ok i know the misunderstanding lasted only like one chapter but. i had to commemorate the pain in the cover ok thank you.

also. um. why isnt Tao Ying anywhere? ummmmm for mystery factor haha totally wasnt just me planning to put him in and then it not working out what who said that. BUT there are hints to him in 3 and 4 so all is good 👍hm? what? why does MQF get a screentime instead of Tao Ying? ................guys. pls. like it would be more concerning if he wasnt in any of the covers come on 😭😭😭

okok and lastly i do have to come clean that i still havent read the latest two chapters (i know booo fake fan hfjdhk) but i was busy!! i'll get to it xD

anyway heres the obligatory "look at my lines boy." dhfjk

idk i just think lines are neat :))))

and here are the pieces cropped like they would look like just from the front (the 3rd composition is SO WEAK i know 😭 i dint visualize it properly hjfk)

✨Cultivate: Slow Life on a Monster-Infested Mountain✨ by @neonghostcat - fan covers in the design style of seven seas danmei publishing ✿

sooo.. I know it would be more appropriate to post these once the fic is fully finished BUT i got too excited and was waiting too long already to post these hdjfhk and today is cultivate anniversary so appropriate excuse to post lets go!!! anyway theres only one chapter left to go so ppl who have been waiting to read it until its done the time is NOW! hahha

anyway fun fact this was originally going to be just 3 parter. but. at this point cultivate has surpassed svsss in word count if i am not mistaken......so ive decided that adding one more volume would be appropriate lol

oh well and here are the pieces by themselves

also... just to clarify im obviously in no way shape of form comparing myself to the quality of actual seven seas cover artist lmaoo hdjshf i hope thats obvious that this was just fun gimmick passion project

[asylumwise]

I've just started watching the rerun and I think I'm gonna cry??? The brainrot is real. Gonna just liveblog in this post so I can reread my train of thought later. So, for your entertainment: my rundown of the KPWT

(edit: added skit titles for clarity)

That intro is just... ✨cinematic masterpiece✨

But can you image how it must have felt for them? Standing there in their swag outfits just waiting for the screens to rise while that thriller music is making your heart race and you hear a whole arena screaming?

They all look so fucking proud of eachother during the introductions 😍

Them welcoming us in different languages is also verrrrry... 🥵

I know live translating/subtitling is a noble art but was there no way to prepare the scripted parts in advance?

(TayTimeTem skit)

Love this first song, had it in my spotify playlist since watching the live stream 😂 I'm also getting really good at singing in phonetic Thai

Having not read the original novel, I was never really into the TayTimeTem-thing, but omg this show makes me wish we had 20 eps so they could have explored that storyline thoroughly as well. Especially Us would have given us everything

(Jeff solo)

I can't begin to explain the way "Why don't you stay" pulls on my heartstrings. For me, it's up there in my top 5 of most beautiful songs ever (with Harry Styles' Sign of the Times & Pink Floyd's Wish you were here, for example). It breaks my heart to hear how Jeff's still a little hoarse after his covid infection 😭 there were definitely some flat notes there that wouldn't have been there otherwise

(Slot Machine performance)

Wish I could see a live performance of Slot Machine one day, looks like they're amazing live. I've been listening to them on Spotify and I really love their music!

Pretty sure that Mile's more showing off and having a good time than actually playing and I love that for him. He's so fucking precious.

Jeff. Look at you. Jeff. Gorgeous rockstar. You were born to stand on such big stages. Jeff. Please conquer the world. I wanna see you live one day. Love you Jeff

My mouth fell open the first time I heard him hit those notes in Lost Stars - he's a fucking talent and I'm sure he can be the next big thing in rock. It's quite hard to explain to people in the real world how much I love him 🤣

(VegasPete skit)

Bible YES. Do it to me. Props to the music and choreography team. And the scene setting 👌 also A+ on the BibleBuild acting.

(Nodt solo)

OMG the Big sequence 😭😭 I don't know who came up with it but Nodt is killing it. You can almost touch the pain on his face. I also love it how the crowd goes wild when he confirms Big was in love with Kinn.

(Us & Build duo)

Having just been to Tomorrowland, that amount of EDM and laserlights is really triggering 🤣 But omg their dancing looks so much fun

(Anita & Barcode stuff)

YES MOM. Having Anita dance to Doja Cat makes no sense at all (not for her character nor for her amount of screentime) but I'm so here for it. Might be the pansexual in me speaking.

And BAM suddenly we understand why everybody's always hyping up Barcode. That kid is gonna be BIG. He's a totally different person when he's on stage doing his thing - hard to imagine the cute and shy kid he is rest of the time.

Love how Anita/Namphueng is like 'let me put a coat over you' while he's already wearing like, 5 layers

'My older son is handsome, my younger son is sweet' - 'isn't my mom handsome?' WE WERE ROBBED

I know it's controversial but I love that little grain of KimChay closure they've given us. I liked how they ended in the series: Kim realising that he has a lot of groveling to do and Chay taking agency - but not ending together, giving Chay space and time. He's 19 - I like to imagine he takes a few years to grow up and learn to be himself before they collide again, and take it from there.

(Jeff solo WDYS english version)

THERE IT IS. I was waiting (after having watched the clips on youtube for daaaaays). This is devastatingly beautiful for me (again, for reason I can't explain myself). It's not even the fact that it's in English - by now I've become so used to the Thai version that the sounds are wrong. But omg the scenery and setting. The piano, the build-up, the choir and Jeff just releasing it. I honestly don't know why this man isn't world wide famous yet (yes I will die on this hill). It will take a long time before I'm over this.

(KinnPorsche beach skit)

Honestly the beach bar part is one I liked less. Even if we have KinnPorsche being adorable and MileApo going 60% tiddies again. Mile has an amazing and soothing voice tho. And his fingers while playing guitar are 🥵

At first I thought the places on the those wooden signs might be clues to future stops of the world tour, but 'Iceland' is on them and although that would be awesome, I don't see it happening anytime soon 😅

(Minor family skit)

It will never not be funny to me how they give us a Minor family montage with the melancholic music and sad Vegas moments and then have Bible flying over the stage half naked to Imagine Dragons' Believer.

And that's not even mentioning what comes next.

Ta entering on skateboard is such a Macau thing. But I have conflicting feelings about the outfit - but only because I thought Macau was like 15 and that makes my tingly feelings very inappropriate.

Ex is the finest daddy to ever daddy (or more like, ultimate zaddy). Do you think this is just a regular friday night in the Minor family household?

Just, what was the train of thought behind this act? What was the process? Who came up with the idea "the minor family is hot, let's put them in leather and harnesses". I have questions.

Ex has a very peculiar accent, lots of rolling r's.

(Sailor Moon skit)

Oooh this is the part I missed during the livestream! I know what's coming tho and I have even more questions.

But Perth is clearly living his best life so good for him.

I should have watched Sailor Moon as a kid.

So much respect for them doing that skit in high heels. And omg their legs? How are they so elegant??

Tong, you absolute king. MVP.

The state of Perth's wig is atrocious.

(Justice Bao skit - had to look that up)

Next part. I love how Apo is hanging there literally going 'This was all Mile's idea and I'm just going along for the right because I (platonically) love that bastard'.

(Bodyguard/Magic Mike skit)

Wait you're telling me there was a poledance and it wasn't Bible doing it?

As someone who often comes into contact with high-end events & awardshows in their professional life, I'm really impressed with the production value of this show 😳

That bodyguard/Magic Mike part. How did the people on the front row SURVIVE???? 🥵🥵🥵

I've been using the 🥵 emoji a lot.

(Pond intermezzo)

Oh those clips 😊 little babies <3

I want that t-shirt. What was the deal with the merch again? When is it open for international orders?

(Cast speeches)

Hello I'm in love with Perth's Australian accent. Hello Perth baby sending love from Belgium!

Even though I only understand half of what they're saying (due to the slow subtitles), I'm so fucking touched by all of them. Love how they're all getting emotional the longer it takes. I'm really enthralled by these sixteen (16) men. How they clearly like and love eachother and lean on eachother. How they all express their gratitude to everyone and especially P'Pond. I love that man so much for what he did for them. And us ofcourse!

STOP IT BUILD I'M GONNA CRY WITH YOU

Apo's speech I'm - 😪 And omg Bible?? Who ever made these babies feel bad? Imma smack a bitch.

I feel like the translator just gave up halfway Mile's speech. Fair enough 😂 he's giving off real "I do what I waunt" vibes, mr. one-of-the-CEOs-of-BOC. But oh the 'family' part 😭

(Cumulus)

Aaah the long awaited Cumulus. They're really good musicians and what they're lacking in the vocal department, they're more than making up in fun.

Thai pop/rock music has some absolute bangers. These are alle going in my spotifiy playlist.

Yeah I'm gonna need about 200 high quality photo's of Jeff and Barcode singing together with the latters foot on Jeff's knee.

I hope they're saying sorry to those background singers for being such a bundle of chaos

(Finale)

THAT TRAILER I don't know what to say guys, this movie can actually only disappoint after the expectations that trailer raised.

I want to go clubbing with these guys so bad. Or even better, go to Tomorrowland (biggest and best EDM festival in the world) with them. I'll secure a spot on the bill for Ta, he's doing better than 50% of the dj's I've heard there.

Their dancing is... sorry sweating and dirty thoughts only

How is this WHOLE cast so exceptionally beautiful?

However much I love this and however much fun they seem to be having, they also look dead on their feet. But who wouldn't be after this marathon of a show?

Ooooh the famed Macarana remix! This is actually... really good? I want this in clubs this summer! (not that this mom of two is doing a lot of clubbing nowadays)

Wow Ta is actually a really good dj

(the end)

Bye boys, love you. So happy I got to see this show in full and with complete concentration. Thank you for giving it your all!

I don't think this full show is going to be the one that's going on tour, it'll probably a much smaller version. I'm very curious about what it's gonna be tho and if it's coming to Europe (to an easily accessible city), I'll sure as hell go see it!

The show's over and I have 6 minutes to spare so that's me rewinding tot 01:58:00 for Jeff's WDYS on piano kthxbye

[its-no-biggie]

anyway. some thoughts about season 2 in no particular order (spoilers ahead!!)

i was pleasantly surprised by the ending! wasnt expecting them to commit that hard

this might be controversial but. i kinda wish they had omitted the last 7ish minutes of the finale. you know the cutoff point im talking about. maybe im just a masochist but like..... that climax was SUCH a gut punch, and since they didnt use the last few minutes to really get closure on any of the Big Stuff, i think it wouldve had more impact to just leave it hanging. like. i cannot describe to you the high that i was on when it faded to black on jayces hammer on the roof and i thought the credits would roll. leaving it there would have left a gaping hole in my chest for the next 3 days, but then the ending softened the blow while still leaving things pretty open-ended. booooo 👎

i liked the conclusion to viktors arc a lot. the way eliminating pain and death goes against nature itself...... aughhh. i fucking love tragedy dude. people you love will suffer and theres nothing you can do about it. you cant erase the bad things that happened to someone without erasing the person they are today - even if it was unfair and it shouldnt have happened. viktor was blinded by his vision of a perfect world without suffering, and the only one who could help him see that was jayce...... you didnt need to be fixed....... and then!!!! putting everything back to how its supposed to be means accepting that they were doomed from the start. viktor was already dead twice over and the hexcore was only delaying the inevitable…… they suffered and died and their lifes work was all for nothing but they were partners to the very end!!!!!! im gonna be sick

also?????? going back in time to reach the only person who can save you???????? oh my god dude. oh my god. ill never be normal again

on a less heavy note. caitvi....... my god. im not a lesbian but i believe in their beliefs

jinx 😭😭😭😭😭😭 losing every single person who still loves her....... sacrificing herself for vi after vi finally accepted her....... VANDER....... aaauughhhhh. i just want her to be happy :((((((

also really funny going into the season knowing people HATE maddie but not knowing why. straight up thought it was undeserved ship war bullshit for 8 straight episodes and was completely blindsided by the betrayal. amazing

i love how half of the cast got a major design upgrade and the other half spent the entire season extremely disheveled. and viktor was somehow both

also really funny that ekko just. had all of that time-specific character design before he gets the time machine. nominative determinism to the extreme

speaking of episode 7. [incoherent sobbing]

actually can we talk about the implication that everything would have turned out okay if vi had died that day. how fucked up is that...... (well. okay for the undercity anyway. i guess we dont really see much of the pilties side except for the boarded up lab. so i guess the outlook isnt great for jayce and viktor...... but even then they obviously havent destroyed the world so. theres that.) kinda wish they had done more with that as a concept, but mostly im just glad that it wasnt powder who was killed to make everything turn out okay. that would have been genuinely really upsetting

and im so glad ekko got more screentime this season <3 i do really wish we had seen more of ekko and jinx together as kids though....... i looove timebomb but a lot of the appeal is their history together. what could have been........ obviously the alternate timeline provided some of that but they had no screentime together as actual kids!! just wouldve been nice to see that yk......

actually i think all around the show couldve used more filler (as in, scenes that develop the characters and relationships without forwarding the plot). i wouldnt say the pacing was too fast, it didnt feel rushed or underdeveloped at all, but with such a huge cast it wouldve been nice to have some more time with them yk? and the pacing is definitely on the faster side so you could afford to slow it down a little. the character interactions that are there are VERY strong though so i really cant complain. like - i wish we had seen jinx and ekko playing together as kids, but the scene where they fought on the bridge established that dynamic as it became relevant and it was fucking AWESOME. i just tend to prefer a little more downtime personally

with how many posts i saw about the 'i just want my partner back' scene i honestly cant believe i avoided getting spoiled on how it ended