#just so many issues that would have been fixed with more episodes

[evenlarksandkatydids]

imo the acolyte is one of the latest victims of "too short season syndrome" like, so many of its flaws could have been ironed out if we had a couple more episodes to flesh out character arcs and develop relationships.

[blitzwhore]

So. Stolas is an alcoholic. That much is very clear at this point in the show and has been for a while now. He binge-drinks to cope with depression and with his life problems at large.

What's interesting is that he's far from the only character in Blitzø's life who is an alcoholic. In fact, substance abuse seems to be a recurring theme in the show. At least three other people Blitzø was or is really close with (potentially four, if we count his father) have struggled with substance abuse: Verosika, Barbie, and Fizz.

And the show has made a very clear point that both Verosika and Barbie have been in rehab. Not just that, but it's also emphasised that they're both still struggling with addiction (Verosika still drinks at her concerts, "clutches onto Beelzejuice bottles like they're the last cock in hell", and writes magazine articles about binge drinking being sexy; Barbie still peddles heroine, though not H8). Clearly, for both of them, this is an ongoing issue presently in the show.

So, with all of that being said, I recently saw someone theorise that, in a future season, Stolas is going to go to rehab, too.

I thought it was certainly a possibility, and one that I would personally love to see explored. So I've been thinking about it... and I remembered this:

The beginning of Unhappy Campers, and Blitzø breaking into rehab to go visit Barbie.

Now, I think a lot of people (myself included) felt surprised and a bit disappointed the first time we watched this episode, because our initial assumption was that Blitzø was trying to visit Stolas. It just made sense! Stolas was hospitalised right at the end of the previous episode and texted Blitzø that he could visit if he wanted to. (At this point, we also didn't know Blitzø had trauma surrounding visiting loved ones at hospitals). And suddenly they hit us with Blitzø seeking out Barbie out of the blue? So many of us were left wondering... why? Yeah, people have mentioned that maybe feeling like he could've lost Stolas prompted Blitzø to try to mend a different broken relationship, one that he felt he had more chances of fixing. But the timing, as well as the non-immediate revelation that it's Barbie he's looking for, is still... strikingly suspicious, isn't it?

And just now, after all this time, it hit me.

What if this is foreshadowing?

What if, all along, they were telling us Blitzø will visit Stolas at the hospital in the future... when Stolas is in rehab?

[thenationofzaun]

"If only Season 2 had more episodes/if only the show had more seasons it would be better"

No girl, more episodes and seasons would have just been filled with more bullshit. If you were only saying this about S2 Act 1, I'd get it. But after all 9 episodes have dropped y'all are still saying this as if "rushed pacing" was the end all be all issue of this season?

Having more episodes wouldn't have fixed their garbage politics and horrible messaging baked into the show's very foundation. It wouldn't have fixed the glaring plot holes opened up by the idiotic flashbacks. Nor the juvenile Disney Junior "resolution" of conflicts (because the writers genuinely don't think Piltover's oppression of Zaun is that big a deal). Nor the terrible characterizations of most characters (how can more episodes fix Vi for instance, when it didn't even register to the writers that prison would have traumatized her?) It wouldn't have fixed the plot devolving into MCU avengers-assemble-to-defeat-the-zombie-horde drivel either. That was always the slop they were heading towards.

I think so many people have way more faith in the writing team than I do. They truly think that the only issue with Season 2 is that the writers were screwed over by Riot and not given enough screentime. That if they did have the time necessary, they could have fixed the show with their wonderful writing. But from what I see in season 2's limited screentime, it's the writing itself that completely lacks any maturity or intelligence.

Give the season 12 episodes, and you'd have ended up with 12 episodes of the same old nonsense, just with more meandering in between. Give the show 50 episodes instead of 18, same result.

[trainsinanime]

I should be sleeping but I just figured out how they could have drastically improved the ending of season 5 with very little effort: What if the fight between Bug Noir and Hawkmoth had not taken place in the kitchen, but in Adrien's room?

Even assuming that the rest of the script stays the same, it would have given so many opportunities. Being in Adrien's space, but without him, would give all sorts of thematic implications and make us feel like his absence was a deliberate narrative choice. Destroying it over the course of their fight would be symbolically destroying his prison, and also showing how Gabriel destroys him, at the same time (bonus points for destroying the prison-bar-like windows).

Plus, you could have done so much with the lighting. The Kitchen fight just doesn't look all that good with its black and white tiles and bright white light. This is especially notable because the episode before, with the theatre production, was the prettiest ML episode ever thanks to all the creative lighting.

In Adrien's room, you have more light and shadow and colors anyway, but you could have really played with bathing the scene in an evening glow, in a thunderstorm, or turning it to night slowly. All the people fighting outside could also have seen the light effects coming from there, making the fight in the house much more connected to the outside.

I'm not saying that would have fixed all the issues I had with the finale, let alone all the issues people have had with the finale, but I think it would have been a much stronger move.

[maxwellatoms]

Good day sir. Hope I'm not bothering you My brother and I are rewatching The grim adventures and it's been fun. Miss cartoons that were just plain random fun. I'm curious about 3 things if I may ask - Jeff the Spider's design changed a few times, his first appearance was more simple, his second appearance was more detailed and gross looking, then after that he went back to a simple design. Was it because the "gross" design was too hard to animate? - I've noticed in some episodes a few characters with glasses would have green eyes, similar to Nergal Junior. Was there a miscommunication with the animation team? - Lastly, is there anything you wish you could've done differently in Billy and Mandy? Like doing certain episodes or characters different? Just retrospective sorta stuff I know this is probably asking a lot, but I just want you to know you're a great source of inspiration and one of the many reasons why I love spooky supernatural content. Keep up the good fight

Hey!

#1:

The reason that most of the characters changed over time was because I updated the models to help the overseas studios (and our own internal artists) get things on-model. I'll go deeper into Billy & Mandy's history with designs in "Billy & Mandy vs. The Entertainment Industry", but I went from wanting to allow artists to have complete freedom to tightening things down as time went on. The smart play would've to develop solid models first and then explain how, when, and why you can break the rules. That's the opposite of what we did.

Jeff was a more complicated character than most, with his double-mandible, multiple eyes, and eight limbs. I suspect that what happened in this case was that the overseas studio either didn't keep or didn't share the original Jeff model with their teams, and instead only used the "special pose" model of Jeff looking gross. Like a lot of the model stuff, it was a quality control issue. Back then when everything was analog (we still had to deliver on film up through the turn of the century) it was pretty hard to change anything once it had been done. So I'd always say, "next time" and then do a clarity pass over the designs.

#2.

Same deal. In the first few seasons, we had analog color correction, where you'd go to a big suite and some guy would run picture and you'd call out anything big that was bugging you. Chances are that we either didn't notice the error, or did and just couldn't do anything about it.

All of those early Mandy smiles were put in overseas, and I wasn't allowed to fix them. It bugged me so much that I vowed to find a way to fix stuff like that myself. I eventually figured out that I could export individual frames to Photoshop, tweak them, and then give them back to the editor. That way I could actually reanimate things that really bugged me but we didn't have the budget to fix.

#3.

Nah. It's fine.

Thanks and good luck!

[simplyzeeka]

Episode 4. Season 1

Empty Promises

Does your mind play this game too?

Think 'bout me and you?

I guess I'll just pretend, until it all makes sense

Hmm-mm-hmm, hmm-hmm

Warnings: MDNI!! Profanity, adult themes.

Summary: Lost charms and empty promises bring Syrae and Terry to a conclusion that mends a very heavy problem, which leaves Syrae gripping on hope that does nothing to soothe her worries.

Previously on Something Seasonal

There's nothing Syrae hated more than losing things. She believed she was a careful and responsible person, wouldn't compromise her belongings to where they could get lost. And when she did lose something, it messed up the rest of her day, week he'll even months before it was found.

“Are you sure it ain't in your bag?” resonated Broisa's voice from the other end of the line.

Syrae balanced her phone between her head and shoulder as she filled her entire apartment upside down. “Didn't you just hear me say that it ain't?”

She snapped, dropping the pillow that rested in her clenched hands.

“Okay, calm down, Rae. We gon’ find it.” Broisa assured with a resigned sigh.

It had been days since Syrae lost the small and old charm she always kept with her. Broisa had yet to know the importance the charm held to Syrae, all she knew was that the woman always had it on her, and would flip everything upside down to find it, as she was at that moment.

Syrae could only exhale at the failed attempt of Broisa’s comfort. She plopped herself down on her sofa, resting her head in her hand. She let her fingers thread through her tangled coils, scratching against her scalp, flakes of dandruff collecting under her nails. She needed to wash her hair today.

“Let's talk bout somethin’ else. You coming to work today?” Syrae deflected.

Broisa hummed into the line, the sound of stirring against ceramic filling Syrae’s ears. Syrae concluded that she was making her afternoon tea. Broisa would drink tea in unbearable heat, and Syrae always judged her for that.

“Mhm, sure is. It's gon’ be busy tonight, might get more than a few bands tonight.”

Syrae nodded and hummed at that. It was a special event at the strip club. It was Randy's birthday, the owner of the club and Syrae’s boss.

“Girl yes, I might be able to get the place I been saving up for.”

His birthday bash was always something he threw every year. The club was usually packed because entrance fees were cheaper.

“Amen to that, hopefully I’ma get enough to move out of this shitty place.” Syrae hummed in agreement, her shoulder sagging in anticipation of that thought alone.

She’d been wanting to move out of her shitty apartment for some time now. Stripping only did so much to handle bills, especially with sixty percent of her earnings going to her boss. Getting a decent place was out of the picture.

While her apartment looked homey to the eyes, courtesy to Broisa’s love for decor, the place had many issues the landlord did not care about fixing.

“I been saying you could come stay with me, I got a spare bedroom.”

Syrae immediately shook her head and hummed a soft, yet polite, ‘no’. As much as Broisa’s place looked good, and the facilities were much better, Syrae always liked being in her own space. She had a routine for many things and living was someone completely foreign to her space would only compromise that. That, and the fact that she had more than a little sprinkle of pride that wouldn't allow for her to accept help from anyone, friend and foe alike.

“Don’t worry about me, girl. I almost got enough to cover three months. This night might just be the night.”

Broisa only sighed through the line, having heard that excuse many times from Syrae, the sentence damn near sounded like a chorus. All she could do was sip her tea vigorously to avoid letting her annoyance show from Syrae’s persistence at maintaining her prideful stance.

Despite them being friends for years, Broisa has failed time and time again from scratching beyond surface level with Syrae. And while she tries not to psychoanalyze the woman, it's extremely hard not to do so, given the dirt and bugs she’s given, barely anything fruitful.

The two women spent a little while longer on the phone before fell into their daily errands, and unfortunately for Syrae, that included fixing the leaking toilet in the bathroom

It had been roughly twenty minutes and some change that Terry had spent on the treadmill. The gym was a little emptier than usual, which he wasn't complaining about, he needed the quiet to settle into his thoughts.

These past few days had been hard for him, work was stressful. One of his workers was dealing with loss, and while Terry gladly gave them some time off, it threw the routine in the workshop off balance and frankly, everything was a mess.

The air of his home clogged his throat, the mere smell of lavender was enough to bring a sting to his eyes, a persistent reminder of his unfaithfulness.

But among the lingering scent of his wife, a small, purple charm that laid on his coffee table did a much better job at adding to his never wavering guilt.

The kiss lasted for damn near an eternity, but every time their lips separated for some air,Terry couldn’t help but miss the taste of cherry and liquor on her tongue.

Hands wandered and lips locked intensively. Their hips ground against each other intentionally, creating delicious friction that did nothing to soothe the ache in their stomachs.

It wasn't enough, Terry was so close yet so far away. Syrae just needed him a little… only a little close, just to relieve the tightening in her stomach and stop the ache that grew in her heart.

Syrae’s hand moved down the thickness of her thighs, her hand covered the large one that squeezed her flesh, directing it closer to where she leaked and pined the most.

Terry complied, his hand fitting perfectly underneath her dress, gripping at the thin material of her lace underwear. Just as he was about to pull the material off her thighs, the sound of a door banging closed and the drunken laughter of a group of women startled the pair apart.

Terry wiped at the sides of his mouth, ridding his lips of the sheer lip gloss that once decorated Syrae’s lips.

With her head leaned against the wall, Syrae exhaled heavily, listening attentively as stumbling steps and loud chatter got softer.

The two remained apart, even after the group of women pong disappeared from their sight. Syrae couldn't find herself to look at Terry, and before he knew it, she stood straight and gathered her heels in her hands.

“Syrae-.” Terry began, already knowing what she was trying to do. He wouldn't watch her leave after what they just did. He Couldn't.

Syrae held a hand up and began walking off, tears filling the brim of her eyes as the intensity of the situation fell on her like a collapsing home, most especially Terry's

“Syrae!” Terry called out yet again, watching as she ran out of the alley before making a sharp turn. She was already too far, and he’s guilt wouldn't allow himself to follow her.

Terry hadn't felt like more of a coward than in that moment.

It wasn't until his gaze fell on the floor, back where she stood against the wall, until he noticed a small object on the floor.

Reluctantly, Terry picked it up, scrutinized the charm and made a mental connection. This belonged to Syrae.

And Terry hated how those bloody butterflies twisted at the ides of having another reason to see her. He hated how his heart jumped, believing this was another ‘opportunity’ presented to him.

He hated how no once did he think about Amber and the words he vowed to her.

But what Terry hated the most, is how his lips tingled in withdrawal, already in need of another fix of galaxies.

Flashback over

“Aye, Terry!” The green-eyed Adonis is called out of his daydream, forcing him off the treadmill before he fell.

“Yo, you good bro?” Yosohn asked with a frown on his face He had been calling Terry’s name a number of times, but the man seemed out of it.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Terry responded.

He stepped off the treadmill, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel he had hanging over the machine. Truthfully, he had forgotten that Yosohn accompanied him to the gym, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to even hold proper conversation with his friend.

“It don't seem like it, called your name like ten times.” he said, “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.” Terry insisted, his shoulder lifting and dropping before he took a sip of cold water. It did enough to cool his burning body from the intense workouts.

“Or should I say Who’s on your mind.” Yosohn raised a brow, What tone leading as assumption rolled off his tongue.

“What you tryna say?” Terry retorted, his brows dipping into his skin, creating ridges in the middle of his forehead as he stared at Yosohn, offended.

He turned his back to the other male, picking up a dumbbell in each hand, spreading his legs apart tobegin his bicep curls.

Yoshon smacked his lips, shaking his head at Terry’s incompetence and refusal to admit what was obvious to everyone. He moved to stand beside the taller male, leaning against the cold steel railing where blue yoga balls and dumbbells rested.

“Come on, T.” Yosohn began, “I’m not stupid.”

“Didn't say you were. I’m just a little confu-”

“Don’t give me that bullshit man, I’m talkin’ bout Syrae.” Yosohn interrupted, a deep mug on his face as his foot began tapping on the black, fitted carpet of the gym.

“What about her?” Terry grunted. While his focus seemed to be on the exercise, his mind ran at fifty per minute. Images of Syrae and what they shouldn't have done weighing heavy on his conscious. Sometimes if he thought hard enough, he could still taste her and a sprinkle of stars.

“What’s goin on between y’all? Me and Isla noticed how y’all were looking at each other the other night.”

“We just friends, Sohn.”

“You sure?” he asked, “I don't be looking at my ‘friends’ like I’m tryna dick em down.” Yosohn imitated inverted commas with his fingers at the word ‘friends’.

“That’s not how I look at-”

“Especially since I’ve got my own woman.”

Terry dropped the dumbbells onto the ground, the carpet drowning out the impact. His jaw clenched before he turned to Yosohn, shoulders rolling slightly to relieve the tension on his neck.

He looked around the gym, people weren't paying attention to the boiling argument, the sound of gym equipment being used did enough to drown out the sound of their conversation.

“I don't know what you saw, or what you think you saw.” Terry looked back at Yosohn, “But I'ma tell you this. I love my woman, and my eyes ain't wandering to anybody else. So get that base off your chest and come spot me.”

Terry pat Yosohn's shoulder before walking past him. His heart was beating out of his chest, his breathing slightly tagged which he could freely blame on the exercises. Terry couldn't help but wonder just how much Yosohn saw, was he really that obvious when near Syrae?

Yosohn followed Terry towards the weight training bench. He exhaled at the conversation, not feeling half as satisfied with the outcome as he would've hoped.

The two men moved past the tension and continued with their routines, helping one another get their workout in before they headed home. Both with thoughts weighing heavy in their mind.

It was a little past midnight, and Syrae had concluded that she's had enough of Gravity and dancing for its ‘esteemed’ inhabitants.

Or in better words… fuck Gravity and every cheapskate in there. You would think people would throw more cash at the stage since they paid less at entrance.

Technically, she was finally off the clock for the night. Despite the event, she would abide by her ‘contracted’ working hours. Randy could kiss her ass.

Standing outside the club, Syrae leaned against Broisa's car, waiting for her to finish her private dance so they could get out of here and go home. Despite the thick leather coat that passed her knees, cat calls from various passerbys didn't seem to cease.

All she could do was roll her eyes and impatiently wait for her tardy friend, which really, was most definitely in character for Broisa.

“I'm here girl, I'm here.” The shorter woman said, running, or at least attempting to, towards her pink Peugeot.

Syrae couldn't help the laugh that scratched her throat from passing her lips, Broisa had always been an entertaining woman, even when she didn't try. “I can see that, what took you so long.”

Broisa explained how she got stuck in the private room having to help a passed out, middle aged man. Clearly some had too much to drink.

“Yeah, now you gotta get me some to eat.” Syrae raised her brow at Broisa before seating herself on the hood of the car, her feet barely dangling over.

Broisa laughed and rolled her eyes, having expected nothing less from Syrae, still she agreed. She got some sneakers out of the car and traded them for the heels on her feet before calling home beside Syrae.

“Seem like you in better moods, damn near chewed my head off this mornin’.” Broisa commented, eliciting a signature eye roll from Syrae, one reserved for her only.

“Lets not, I'm tryna distract myself from that.” A dull deflection is all Broisa received in return.

She still could not understand why the small charm held such importance to Syrae that it could turn her world completely upside-down. That thought doesn't last long as her eyes catch something in the distance.

“Well, I see a pretty good distraction at 9.” Broisa raised a brow.

Syrae looks to her right, catching sight of a six foot three, green-eyed, handsome bastard that seemed to be running the track coiling in her mind.

Terry Richmond had no business looking as good as he does. Casual jeans and t-shirt, covered by the thick cotton of his long, black trench coat. He had no business being near Syrae, looking as good as he does.

“Shit.” Syrae groaned and clenched her eyes shut when he noticed her before he meticulously took his steps towards her, one's that moved to the rhythm of her beating her heart.

She slid off the car and met him halfway. She wished she didn't, maybe then she wouldn't have noticed the change in his regular scent. He smelled like an ocean breeze and soft citrus.

He changed his cologne, and the reality that she picked up on something so small tickled her faint heart the same way his scent tickled her nose.

“Hey.”

“What you doin’ here?”

They spoke at the same time. Terry's brows dip into a frown, his lips opening slightly before closing again. He hadn't expected the ambush.

Syrae sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her gaze fleets behind her to Broisa before they train back to Terry. He needed to leave, because flashbacks from nights ago started placing bricks in her head.

“Terry, what you doin’ here?” She asked again, gently this time. Her gaze involuntarily softened from gazing in his eyes one second too long.

“Wanted to talk.” He muttered, clenching his hands in the pockets of his coat to soothe the need to reach out and touch her. He probably should just give her the charm and drive himself back home, but being in front of her, he wanted nothing more than another taste of space.

“We… we can't do that.” Syrae mumbles under her breath, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. Damn dragonflies.

Terry was stupid enough to ask why, as if the answer didn't lay in the way his breath hitched the more he looked at her, like oxygen ceased to exist when he was near Syrae.

“Terry, c’mon. We can't do thi-.”

“I have your charm.” He interrupted, not needing to hear her finish the sentence. For once he just didn't need… logic. “You dropped it… that night.”

He took one clenched fist out of his pocket, reaching the hand out to Syrae, revealing a plastic, purple charm. A heart with wings.

At first, when Terry found it on the floor, he deemed it unimportant. Until his fingers ran across the rough feel of something engraved on it. Initials that spelt out ‘K.B’.

Syrae's eyes darted from the object in his hand to his eyes. But the wave of relief that washed over her failed miserably at killing the damn fluttering in her stomach.

“But I just wanna talk, Rae. Can you give me that?” Terry whispered, taking one step closer before dropping the charm into her smaller hands, hands he's worked day and night to remove the imprints from his skin, and his memory.

She nodded her head, her throat too clogged up to say anything coherent. She hated the way rejection just seemed near impossible with Terry around. Since they've known each other, saying ‘no’ proved to be harder than what she would've liked.

Terry sighed in relief at her compliance. He nodded his head behind him, walked towards his car where they could talk privately.

Syrae looked back at Broisa, who already seemed to be looking at her with a brow raised. A look of scepticism painted her face, causing Syrae to gesture with her hands that she should wait.

Syrae followed behind Terry quietly. She climbed into the passenger seat after he opened the door for her, watching in the warmth of his car as he jogged around to climb into the drivers.

The interior of the car was as clean as a whistle. Shiny leather seats and surfaces free of dust. Syrae’s heart clenched at the scent that wafted the air in the car, however. Lavender.

There was a pregnant silence between them. Terry's eyes focused solely on the windshield while Syrae’s solely on her lap, where her fingers twirled around one another.

She felt distant. Terry wanted to look at her so badly, but stars seemed to be his weakness, even though they were deemed unreachable.

But when Syrae was the subject of his lens, chasing those unreachable balls of light didn't seem so impossible. Because she always had them floating around her, on her, even if they were faux. Like micro, plastic cut-outs that danced on her skin and shimmered in her light.

“You been ignoring my texts.” Terry said, not out of accusation, but out of observation.

Ever since she called him about his wallet, Terry had saved her number and they've been texting back and forth ever since about anything and everything. Those texts stopped after their drunken kiss.

“What was I s’posed to say, Terry?” Syrae sighed, already feeling a pending headache from the conversation between them.

“Could've at least let me know you made it home.” He responded and finally turned to face her. “You just ran off, Rae. I was worried.”

“Well you should've ran after me, made sure I was safe if you were so worried.” Syrae countered, holding back an eye roll as the attitude rolled off her tongue effortlessly.

“How was I ‘sposed to do that after we kiss-” He stopped himself, exhaled as his eyes were facing the front of the car again.

“Then how you expect me to text you after that?”

A great question, one Terry definitely didn't have an answer to. While he knew it was selfish of him to want to continue talking to Syrae after what happened, he also couldn't help indulging himself.

There's another heavy silence, this one filled with newfound tension.

Syrae looked out the window. The smell of lavender was so strong and it reminded her of the intensity of the situation.

“This was a mistake.” Syrae mumbled to herself before opening the passenger door and climbing put of the car.

Terry got out as well with a quickness, quickly rounding to reach Syrae before she walked away from the conversation… from him.

“Syrae! Damn it, could you stop walkin’ away from me?” He caught her arm, holding it gently as his thumb rubbed circles over her coat.

“Well I need to, Terry. Cause you clearly don't want to. This!” She points between the both of them animatedly. “Can't happen. That night wasn't supposed to happen because you're married.”

“And I know th-”

“Well then act like it!” Syrae exclaimed suddenly before looking around her, embarrassment settling at the outburst.

“I can't sleep sometimes, Terry. I keep thinkin’ bout how I stole such a… precious moment with another woman’s husband.” She whispered, looking everywhere but his eyes.

And that hurt Terry, he wanted her to look at him, but he didn't have the audacity to ask for such a thing. “It won't happen again.”

“And you gon’ stop it, like you did last time?” sarcasm oozed from Syrae’s rhetorical question. Because the answer was all in their current argument. Terry wouldn't be able to stop shit from happening between them.

“I just- I don't wanna lose you as a friend Rae. I… we could forget bout what happened.”

They couldn't, they wouldn't be able to. Because that was the first time in a long time that Syrae thought a man’s touch felt right. Despite how wrong it was or how drunk she was, she felt at ease when Terry touched her.

Still, even after that realisation, she still pondered at the idea of them being friends. That maybe that would work out, maybe she could forget all about their mutual attraction to one another.

“Terry, you and I can't be ‘just friends’.” She shook her head and looked off to the side.

Terry finally let go of her arm, placing his hands in the pockets of his coat. He didn't have anything that could dispute that, he was merely living in a fantasy where he could have her… platonically.

“Yes we can. Just let me show you.”

She pondered yet again, scratching at the exposed skin of her neck before exhaling through her nose. This was exactly what she was talking about, the rejection that just always seemed so impossible with Terry involved.

“Just friends?” She asked, finally looking up at him, and she wished she didn't. Because the earthy pools that looked back at her sold promises that she wasn't sure could be kept.

“No funny business?”

“Just friends.”

“Give you my word.”

“Well then say it.”

Terry laughed at that, the baritone woke the fluttering in Syrae's stomach. The sight of his smile enticing a smile of her own.

“I promise.” Terry muttered through his smile. Signed, sealed and delivered.

“Okay.” Syrae whispered, her fingers twiddling yet again. “We can stay friends, I guess.”

His smile widened, something Syrae thought wasn't even possible with the way he was cheesing moments before. She bet husband cheeks hurt more than hers.

“Okay. I'll see you around, Ms. Belles.” Terry nodded his head before walking backwards, keeping his eyes on Syrae which drew an unsolicited laugh from her chest as she shook her head at his antics. “Keep safe.”

“See you ‘round, Mr. Richmond.” She began, watching him back into the driver seat of his car. “And you too.”

Syrae watched as the car backed away from the parking lot of the club. She sighed heavily once it was out of her sight before she turned and walked back to Broisa, who was beyond curious with the interaction she just witnessed.

“Don't start.” Syrae warned with a flat face once she took notice of the other woman’s expression.

“I’m just worried. I thought I was seeing shit that night. I told Gage’s ass that there was somethin’ between the two of y'all and he aint believe.” Broisa rambled, which caused Syrae to roll her eyes and shake her head.

“Y'all havin’ pillow talk about my business?” Syrae frowned up at her friend.

“I mean, your life seem very interesting lately so why the hell not?” Broisa shrugged with a small smile before she focused on Syrae seriously, her eyes scanned her face intently.

“That's a married man, Rae. Freshly married might I add.”

“I know, Broisa. There ain't shit going on between me and that man.” Syrae quickly countered with a loud exhale at the reminder. The feel of the cold metal around his finger ironically burned the skin of her thigh since the kiss. She didn't need another reminder.

“I hope for your sake that's true, cause what I just saw ain't look like nothin’.” Broisa hummed lowly before sliding off her car and unlocking it. “Anyway, let go get somethin’ to eat. A girl hungry as fuck.”

Syrae watched as Broisa got into her car after her warning. Her heart thumped a bit faster at her words. She hoped so too, hoped so badly that Terry and her could stay friends, no matter how impossible it sounded to her heart.

“Fuck my life.” Syrae murmured under her breath before she walked to the passenger side of the car and climbed in.

She really, really hoped she could forget about that night, the kiss, the idea of something romantic with Terry. But why did hope suddenly feel like something so far-fetched.

A/n: Finally, with this chapter out of the way, we can get to the nitty gritty of the story. The first four chapters were just introducing us to the characters and the situation. Now we can go into the problems and the angst.

Please comment and reblog if you like the story so far or on your thoughts, I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Taglist:

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[sankta-wraith]

I’m about halfway through season three, and I’d just like to take a moment and look at how losing Rose has changed the Doctor.

First the obvious things: he’s more serious. During his time with Rose, he was mostly cheerful, funny, and generally quite positive. There were a few darker moments, but for the most part he had a pretty sunny personality, especially when he was with Rose. In season three, while he still tries to maintain his happy personality, he occasionally slips into melancholy and his cheerfulness often feels like a bit of a facade. This isn’t to say that there aren’t moments when he’s genuinely happy, but they seem to be far less frequent than the durst two seasons. He smiles less. He doesn’t have as many quips. He’s barely laughed at all. But that’s to be expected. He just lost someone he loved; it makes sense for him to be more withdrawn and sad.

The thing that struck me the most was how reckless he’s become. He’s always been a bit reckless, but he’s also tried to avoid things that will most likely kill him. He might be constantly getting himself into very dangerous situations, but he (almost) always thinks of some way to not die. (I think it’s because he knows that if he dies the Time Lords die with him, but that’s a different post.) In season three, he’s practically suicidal. So far, he’s allowed himself to come dangerously close to death at least five times, some seemingly without expecting to survive.

First was in episode one, when he let the Plasmavore drink his blood so she wouldn’t register as human on the scanner. He had no companion at the time, so he couldn’t have expected anyone to come for him. Even if someone had found him, they would have needed to do a blood transfusion, and since he’s not human it’s unlikely that human blood would save him. (I’m actually not sure how he survived that. Martha gave him CPR, but that didn’t fix the blood loss issue.) Even knowing all of that, he still allowed the Plasmavore to drain his blood without hesitation. He technically could have regenerated, but that didn’t seem to be part of his plan. I’m still not quite sure how regeneration works, but I’m pretty sure he has to be conscious for it to happen, and he was definitely unconscious when Martha found him.

The second time was when the Carrionite did he voodoo doll thing. This is admittedly a weaker example, since he does have two hearts, but I’m not entirely convince that he knew he’s be able to restart his other heart. He can clearly survive with just one heart (at least for a little bit,) but it significantly weakened him and it’s unclear how long he would have survived it. Had he been unable to get both hearts working, he probably would have died later when his remaining heart gave out under the strain, or been finished off later by the Carrionites and unable to defend himself. And yet he seems remarkably unconcerned, even when he realizes what she going to do. This isn’t to say that he wasn’t worried, but maybe not as worried as he should have been.

Third is when he willingly offers himself up to the Daleks, fully expecting them to kill him. This is one of the best examples, because he is 100% convinced that they are going to kill him. He’s so convinced that it actually comes as a shock when they decide not to kill him on the spot. Sacrificing himself makes sense in this situation, but it was a bit shocking how fast he agreed. I had expected to frantically try to come up with a plan, or at least to try fighting, before he decided to sacrifice himself. I certainly hadn’t expected him to straight up tell them to kill him.

Fourth was when he put himself in the direct path of a lightning strike/gamma ray burst on the off chance that some of his DNA would get transferred. Again this is an excellent example because not only did he put himself in its path, he actually held onto a lightning rod and wouldn’t let go for the duration of the gamma ray burst. There’s also the small fact that said lightning rod was on the top of the Empire State Building, and if the lighting and radiation hadn’t killed him a fall probably could’ve. That is literally the definition of suicidal.

The fifth and (so far) final time was when he, once again, sacrificed himself to the Daleks and demanded they kill him. Yes he knew that the Dalek-humans had some Time Lord DNA in them, but he still couldn’t be sure it would be enough. If you still don’t believe that he’s suicidal, I think seeing him stand in a room full of people with lasers/guns and telling them all to kill him should convince you. If even that doesn’t work, then you should consider the fact that the last three all happen in the same episode.

Let it never be said that losing Rose didn’t affect the Doctor.

[tapwater118]

tpot 13 spoilers, i say a lot here

hopy mopy that was a good episode. love it when tpot decides to get all cinematic. lots of things to talk about

having the cold open and stinger be about firey and leafy is very very interesting (“dreamier island” is adorable idgaf). didn’t really expect them to build off their cameo from tpot 8 like this, they’re obviously setting up another side plot (likely to replace the robot flower one that just ended). i don’t think leafy died in the storm, that’d be too straightforward for that much screen time. i think one got her, for what i don’t know. what kind of deal would she take?? i must think about this more

also speaking of one what the fuck. she moved a whole goddamn hurricane over to the hotel??? she can do that?? ok so maybe she didn’t make deals with bomby and bell, she’s just stealing the eliminated contestants for some reason. AND SHE WANTS TWO GONE DUDE. scary. probably the biggest surprise was her making it so two exitors join instead of one, which reads to me as if she wanted pencil specifically to join for some reason. interesting interesting interesting

can i just say there are some super interesting freesmart interactions here. pencil’s overjoyed to see book and ice cube (cause she’s been trapped in four for four years) but those two looked EXTREMELY uncomfortable to see her. most interesting is how despite still being avoidant of book ICE CUBE DELIBERATELY GETS HER AWAY FROM PENCIL. SHES WILLING TO PUT HER GRIEVANCES WITH BOOK ASIDE TO PROTECT HER LIKE THAT. what the fuck happened between them. idfb i need you to happen please

i didn’t really have any predictions for the eliminations this time around, barf bag i somewhat expected but needle was a bit of a surprise. i thought tpot 12 would’ve made people like her more? oh well. kinda hoped for more gb and pencil interactions from her being on cloudyay but i guess we’ll have more time for those later. liy being on 🎼 is nice cause she has her old friends there, works as a nice fill in for needle’s niche

the old robot flower is back! by the deal with one uh oh. i actually really like how they handled this, everyone else is happy the old her is back but she sounded really hesitant about it because she still has the same issues from before!!! nothings been fixed for her!!! she still has that want to be like flower dude. that plot line better not be completely dead or else. (also thank you tv for the flower cameo ur great. also tv is talking in mashed up clips again letsgooooooooo)

i think i actually need to watch this episode again, there’s so many little details sprinkles everywhere omga. anyway i voted for pin and book and you should too. peace out

look at her she angy

[crooked-wasteland]

Sir Pentious and the Importance of Narrative Structure

There are some aspects of Hazbin Hotel that leave me genuinely blind-sided. Like standing on the sidewalk when you suddenly witness a catastrophic car crash only for someone on the other side of the road to get distracted from rubbernecking and cause a second collision . That is the only way I can describe the feeling I get whenever I think about how the series handled Sir Pentious.

I have never seen a show fumble such a big plot point, not once, but twice and in the same exact way. First in the episode where the characters are engaging in “trust exercises”; the narrative entirely neglects the cast of Husk, Pentious, Angel, and Nifty for a very rudimentary plot that feels straight out of season one Steven Universe for Vaggie and Charlie. Instead it skips to them returning to the roof as a group and Angel Dust carrying Pentious and that is the end of the series attempting to show this bond until the second to last episode. Which also just does nothing with the first opportunity to watch that assumed relationship actually come together.

We never saw them actually help each other during the Turf War, but there was an opportunity that would have worked even with zero changes to the rest of the series to rectify that fact and it would have only cost at most 90 seconds of screen time:

Just have these characters talk to each other and treat it like it means something.

And it’s not hard to figure the reasoning of the writers was to have the reveal that the side characters didn’t leave be the big cherry on top this episode’s happily ever after. Instead, it's a completely forgotten plot point that only keeps the audience from ever believing these characters cared about each other enough to mourn one of them being killed off in the most abrupt way.

Sir Pentious’ death was pathetic. The heroic buildup to him buying the others time is undercut by his actual uselessness. And that compounds the problem with the fact his death is an intentional joke, but simultaneously supposed to be an impactful character moment? That isn’t how you get an audience to laugh while crying.

The art of achieving that dram-ody effect is fundamentally based on two grounded principles: familiarity to the character and pacing. Building up to sadness is a process, and trying to achieve something as primal as sadness requires some surprisingly complicated setup. In an undeveloped prefrontal cortex, the brain is still hardwired to mirror as a form of empathy. It’s why so many young fans can say without irony that Pentious dying is “Sad”, because they are caught off guard by his sudden passing to then be inundated with the named characters crying and being sad. They are sad because the characters are sad, but there was no one crying for Pentious like the characters are, not without a psychologically concerning degree of parasocial attachment. It’s “Sad” as in its “disappointing”, but the animators intentionally attempt to highjack the wave of disappointment to convince a child audience that they are feeling a different kind of grief.

And it didn’t need to be anything special, even a cookie cutter “Power of friendship” scene would have still fixed that gap enough to at least allow for a course correction later on and presenting the characters as more fleshed out. If time constraints were really that large of an issue, setting yourself up to succeed by laying the foundation to fix these narrative gaps is the only way to rectify it. Especially with announcing an already pre-approved second season that the crew would have been parallel planning for and thus had knowledge on where to save certain aspects for later.

To be frank, this is why people remember Helluva Boss’ first season so favorably, but it ultimately suffered the opposite issue. Season 1 of HB had a better grasp of setting up plot points early and giving themselves enough space to keep people theorizing and allowing them the opportunity to adapt the characters and narrative dynamically. The whole allure of the series originally was anticipating the payoff for these “mysteries”. It is just that the series had no intention of utilizing those mysteries for any meaningful narrative and quickly killed them off to focus on a predictable and uninteresting ship.

And I am sorry to snatch those rose-tinted glasses, but the first season wasn’t good, we just had clear narrative gaps that felt intentional and anticipated a story/arc/effort where there was no intention behind the scenes to really dedicate any resources to it. And alternatively HH is being handled far less skillfully from the jump, so it attracts the audience that will dedicate themselves to it (children) without any expectations in regards to quality.

[kaythefloppa]

How would you rewrite The Lion Guard?

Ooh, good question.

Will pre-face this by saying that I enjoy The Lion Guard and am far more forgiving towards it than others (primarily because I was in the show's target demographic when it came out nearly 10 years ago, so I had a closer attachment to/attraction towards it than, people who were old enough to see the original film drop in theaters). That being said, it has a lot of flaws, some commonly pointed out by the fandom, others not so much (and around 70% of them stem around the finale, which.. we'll get to). So here are some major things I'd rewrite about the show itself (not like, every individual episode because that would be hell lmao)

Word vomit ahead because I have too many opinions on this children's show.

Season 1:

I'd definitely include more of Nala in the pilot episode, maybe showing her personal thoughts on the matter, perhaps even teaching Kion how to fight, or a throwaway line implying that. Also, I would definitely provide explanation on how Scar got away with killing his Lion Guard, and on why Kiara became so obsessed with becoming Queen. Additionally, I'd show some background lions (i.e. non-characters because we can't let them overshadow the mains), just so that we can actually buy Simba's point on there being other lions for the guard (but like, at the end of the day, we know Kion's team will prove themselves/be better). And lastly, I'd fix the climax to where Simba would try to rescue Kiara and then somehow get injured/stuck, so the Guard would have to save both of them from the stampede. I think those main things left a bad impression towards fans outside of the target demo, even as they got better on so, I think re-tooling them a bit would save a lot of that dissonance.

This was something I really wanted to see in the show as a kid; Episodes where the main characters meet "good" animals in the same species as their villains. Jasiri's introductory episode made me think they were going to have this as a recurring theme, where each member of the guard meets an animal who they initially judge for being the same species as their counterpart villain, only to realize that they're pretty great. For example, Beshte meeting a friendly crocodile (this was before S2) Bunga protecting a cobra (or alternatively, rescuing Ushari from the hyenas), Fuli meeting a jackal that's actually honest, or Ono even working together with a friendly vulture (that part specifically I fixated on, because I had this whole story in my head about the unnamed 'third vulture' in Mzingo's flock who goes through this whole character redemption arc, but I digress). This I believe would've fixed the issue that some people had about the portrayal of predatory animals in the series. Because yeah, on a Watsonian level, these villains are in every way amoral, the Lion Guard stops them from over-hunting, not hunting in general. On a Doylist level, the ratio of evil predators to good predators is way imbalanced, and I think this approach that 9 year old me thought this show would go, would've been a huge-lifesaver for the series in that department.

The Kupatana Celebration: The jackals would attempt to steal from the Pride Landers whilst they're all distracted, leading up to the Pride Landers fighting them. I'd also change some dialouge so that Kion and the Guard wouldn't come across as though they are right for hating jackals, and so that Janja wouldn't be proven right in his attempted murder of a child by the narrative.

The Trouble with Galagoes: Makucha and Mapigano would be streamlined into one character. Not only would it save a lot of time, money, and budget just using one model, but it would show the true menace Makucha is, because he was badly nerfed in the show when he became the new Big Bad.

Lions of the Outlands: I have so many mixed opinions on this episode. On one hand, the moral is actually pretty great, a perfect mirror to Never Judge a Hyena By Its Spots. And on that note, we see more of Jasiri and her clan. On the other hand, the Outsiders are in it, for no other reason than to both tie into TLK 2, and build up to the finale, (and they fail entirely on those two merits). The one thing I'd change is make it a two-parter in the middle of the season. The first part would explain the mystery behind the Outsiders, maybe even filling in some of the legit plot-holes the second movie had with them. The second part would be where the real action and conflict begins, with Kion choosing the hyenas over lions and blasting them away to the termite mounds (and I'd easily cut the "Our New Home" to "Our Old Home.)" Vitani would also have more of a presence in this episode, mainly so that it'll be less jarring when we see her again as the successor to the main cast.

And on another note, I would have Janja team up with Kion and Jasiri against Zira as a temporary alliance. It would just seem like an interesting idea. The point of the episode is Kion's views being turned on their head as he realizes that the lions he's meeting aren't as open-minded or kind as him. Having him come to the defense of his most hated rival, even temporarily, would've added to that juxtaposition, and maybe foreshadow his redemption.

I'd definitely rewrite Bunga to make his personality better. Don't get me wrong, it does get better in the show, but in early S1, they try too hard to recapture the magic of Timon and Pumbaa's comedy from the original. It'd be much better to allow him to serve as a comic relief on his own scale to allow a better first impression of him as one of the main characters.

Allow an introduction episode for Ushari. For someone who is supposed to be the hidden secondary antagonist of the series, he gets no introduction episode, and no revelance beyond just cameos and running gags; So unlike Makuu, you don't resonate with him enough to accept him as a key player later on down the line. There was an episode plotline involving a cobra harassing some songbirds that was never greenlit because it was inaccurate t o cobra behavior, but I think Artistic License aside, it would've made okay groundwork for Ushari to appear.

More non-lion characters. In a show where the overall message is "different animals can do just as well as, if not better than lions," and featuring the different animals that contribute to the Circle of Life, they did pretty well, but I would've loved them do more. Episodes with painted dogs, and the values of communication. Episodes with caracal cats where the heroes learn not to underestimate, episodes with that one African Rock Python that encourages boundaries, episodes with secratarybirds where you can stomp the shit out of grumpy bastards who want to kill children. Cool shit.

I'd tone down Kion's roar a lot. I don't mind it in a fantasy setting, but I think a lot of tension, conflicts, and character arcs are undermined by it. I would've preferred it if we had episodes in Season 1 where Kion slowly learns how to use the Roar's powers, akin to Elena of Avalor's Scepter of Light/Night story arcs. Tie that in with him speaking with Mufasa. The more he controls the power of the spirits, the more he is able to speak to them. In the meantime, I'd allow some villains' defeats to be accreddited to the characters themselves, for example, Cheezi and Chungu defeat Nne and Tano themselves, Anga, Ono, and Hadithi being able to chase off the vultures, or Hodari and Makuu both working together to drive off Kiburi.

I'd change the episode arrangement. Mainly to allow future seasons to actually start with the episodes that begin their respective seasons' arcs. The first 5 episodes of Season 2 would be placed near the end of Season 1 to establish a mini-arc about the dry season coming up soon, with the last of these 5 episodes being the Savannah Summit, showing Makuu's redemption and signifying that there's gonna be a change in tune. Then we'd get Trail to Udugu as the Season 1 finale, which would wrap up Kion and Kiara's sibling rivalry from the pilot and show Simba firsthand how well Kion's team is structured through its diversity. It would register as a perfect season finale without there being a heavy ongoing arc for it to cap off.

Season 2

The Rise of Scar would serve as the Season 2 premiere (which it originally was supposed to be, until it was pushed up 5 episodes). And while kicks off the best portion of the show, (S2) it does ultimately also cap itself off in the worst portion of the show (S3), so some stuff I would change:

Ushari's heel-face-turn. It sucks. Even ignoring the messy implications of having the only snake character become a generic bad guy because "evil venomous snake," it's bad character writing. Not only do we have no proper introduction to his character, not only was his prior relevance relegated to background appearances, but his motivation is extremely hollow, so much so that it's forgotten entirely by the time the episode is over and replaced with a new one (that also comes up out of nowhere and has fuck all to do with anything). More than once in future episodes is it implied that Ushari wants reptiles to rule the Pride Lands, and honestly, I think that would've/should've been his motivation for his betrayal. Maybe he sees how other reptiles struggle during the dry season and the Lion Guard is so pre-occupied with the other animals and disasters that he winds up feeling neglected and angry. This is what turns him to villainy.

I would have Mzingo in on the Scar ressurection plotline. One beef I have with S2 is that Mzingo, who was the duel antaognist of the pilot, gets sidelined entirely. Ushari essentially replaces him as the hyenas' spy, with several scenes clearly resembling that of the pilot (right down to the song, which is essentially diet Tonight we Strike). It wouldn't have done much to add Mzingo in, but it would've made sense, and allow for interesting interactions between Ushari and Mzingo.

Instead of Janja, it's Ushari who causes Kion to roar by revealing his betrayal and threatening his family. This does water down Janja a bit, but again, with the idea that he'll be redeemed in due time, you have to put some limit on how far his villainous actions go.

Rescue in the Outlands. Good. God. On its own, it's perfectly fine, but Season 3 manages to make it retroactively worse. If they wanted to give hints that Janja was redeemable, redeem him at all, and imply a ship-tease between him and Jasiri, they should've dialed back some of the shit he does to allow him come across as less iredeemable. The writers didn't have to have him try to incinerate Jasiri and the cubs, and they didn't have to have him openly mock them as they're about to explode, but because they did, it shoots his rushed redemption arc right in the bloody foot. The episode would've worked fine with some workaround.

The workaround I would have for that? Well, I would have it be where Janja chases Jasiri's clan out of the Outlands so they're forced to hide in the Pride Lands until the Lion Guard helps them take it back. We'd see that Janja is content with Jasiri making it out alive under the assumption that she wouldn't come back. Still technically evil, but not anything way over the line. This would also allow Simba and Nala to be introduced to Jasiri, overcoming their own prejudice and bias about hyenas like Kion did, which would make for a far more entertaining subplot than... ugh... Thurston. And in the end, Simba and Nala help Jasiri and the Lion Guard flush out Janja.

The Bite of Kenge: I would include Makuu, just for the awesome factor, and the biology reference: Because crocodiles and monitor lizards are mortal enemies due to how the latter preys on the hatchlings of the former. Makuu absolutely rocking Kenge's shit would be so awesome. And also we'd get Makini and Makuu sharing dialouge (which I swear to god, does not happen at all in the show, FUCK!)

The first half of Season 2 would have Ushari as a red-herring, with several attacks from Outlanders accreddited to him. It isn't until the midseason finale where the Guard discovers that Scar is alive and realizes that he's the real threat they need to take out.

Speaking of the midseason, I would cut out Sumu entirely. He's a cool character and all, but I find it hilarious how not once does Scar consider sending Ushari, a cobra, in to bite the enemy team. Especially since the species of scorpion that Sumu is happens to be non-lethal (whoops!). Anyways, I'd have it be where Ushari takes Sumu's role of poisoning the king, biting him on the tail. This would invoke fear into the other Pride Landers, who deem him to be the big threat to the Pride Lands (i.e. red herring). Ushari's betrayal would be a secondary conflict in the episode, as they still struggle with the idea that one of their own could turn on their home. Ultimately, Scar's return is revealed, and that Ushari's betrayal was in the means of bringing forward a worse threat to the Pride Lands, which sets the tone for the remainder of the season.

Speaking of which, I would keep Kenge in. According to the writers, he left the army off-screen to avoid getting blasted by Kion's Roar, which to me, seems like a clever way of saying "We couldn't get the royalties to re-hire our Game of Thrones guest-star onto our preschooler show as a series regular." But like, I think having him stay on the army would just add more man-power, because why introduce him if he's not gonna play a role in the final battle.

An episode where Scar attempts to contact Zira to be in his army, but the Guard thwards him. Again, just a minor change. Also, once again, we'd see Vitani, possibly her facing off against Kion, to further the idea that she strongly rivals Kion in ferocity, which sets up the finale in a more natural light.

The Hyena Resistance would show both Kion and Jasiri rescuing Janja. That way, his redemption would come across as less of him crushing on Jasiri and more of him having his worldview legitmately changed. Additionally, we would have Kion or Jasiri mention the true cause of Scar's death to Janja, who would deny it at first, listing it as lies.

Pride Landers Unite and Fire From the Sky are meshed into one plotline, so Anga is introduced earlier on. I find it stupid that even though Mzingo is clearly on Scar's side, they don't at all consider him a suspect for the fire sticks. Plus having all of the Outlanders face off against the Pride Landers would be more thematic this way. Additionally, I'd have more members on the team, such as Big Baboon, Thurston, and even some of the giraffes.

Much like with S1, I would change the episode ordering around a lot, mainly because I think some events and interactions do not make sense when viewed by airing order. For example, the Hyena Resistance builds up to the idea that Janja would redeem himself, and the skinks also report Janja's hesitation to Scar, but that apparently means nothing when Janja is working with Scar two episodes after this one. And I feel like Kion gathering forces to help him defeat Scar would be the inciting incident for the end of the final battle.

The order I would arrange S2b in: The Scorpion's Sting -> The Wisdom of Kongwe -> The Kilio Valley Fire -> Undercover Kinyonga -> The Zebra Mastermind -> The Underground Adventure -> Beshte and the Beast -> The Queen's Visit -> The Hyena Resistance -> Pride Landers Unite/Fire From the Sky -> Cave of Secrets -> The Fall of Mizimu Grove

The Fall of Mizimu Grove would serve as the Season 2 finale (as it serves as a climax of the ongoing conflict, but not in a way that ends it). We'd show Jasiri and her clan, Ushari and his skinks, as well as Anga and the birds taking part in the battle before Scar himself is revealed. Otherwise, the episode is mainly unchanged, and once again, the finale of the second season.

Season 3:

I posted a rewrite of S3 onto the Lion King subreddit, but in the context of a rewrite of the grand series, things go differently.

Battle for the Pride Lands would be expanded into a 6-episode story arc, in which the older characters make their final stand in the fight against Scar. I take issue with the fact that for years, they built up Scar as a force to be wreckoned with, dragged the arc into S3, only to end it entirely there. I've entertained the idea of the special being the finale to S2, but I think this approach also works, just to allow the audience to get settled in with the new 'norm' just as a way to fix some of the pacing and writing issues I found in what was otherwise, the best episode of the series.

In this 6-episode story arc, I would allow a redemption arc for Janja in the premiere episode, so that he could have more time to atone for his mistakes. Janja would redeem himself in the premiere after realizing the truth behind Scar's death and that Jasiri and Kion were telling the truth. Janja would immediately leave Scar's army and encounter Jasiri. "A New Way to Go" would be a duet between them. Eventually, let's say Scar traps Janja's clan and Kion's Guard in the lair, and as they're all swimming away, Kion gets stuck and Janja is able to rescue him from drowning. This allows a heart-to-heart between them which also extends to the rest of his clan, Jasiri's clan, and even some of the Pride Landers. The episode ends with Janja joining forces with the Pride Lands, giving them the info they need to beat Scar once and for all.

In the second episode of this arc, we focus on the Outlanders, specifically their reaction to having almost killed Janja. One other beef I have with the special is how the Outlanders besides Janja are all given a backseat, and are eventually just hand-woven redemptions and written off entirely. So my rewrite allows more character development at the end of their story arc. We'd see scenes with Mzingo, him feeling regretful over having almost killed his partner (either accidentally or purposefully). And we'd focus on Dogo and his siblings, who took a backseat in S2, but would now be older. We'd see what Dogo was up to in S2, maybe watching in fear as his parents and siblings would get into more dangerous situations. He'd be old enough to fight, but he's completely burnt out and disillusioned. Essentially we'd see him get the redemption arc he was robbed of. The episode would end with him leaving, and Kijana staying (to show the idea that some people can change, but others can't). The episode ends with Scar threatening the remainder of his army with death if they turned against him, which is what gets them to join his team, but internally, they know that Janja was right for turning on them. Meanwhile, Ushari is still as evil as ever.

Episode 3 of this arc would focus on Kion enlisting help from the other kingdoms; The Theluji Mountains and the Backlands, in order for the impending battle ahead. This would allow some old characters like Sokwe, the Gorilla Princes, Dhahabu, and Badilli to return, and we'd learn more about their history and origins. Meanwhile, we see Scar recruit Makucha on his army to replace Janja.

Episode 4 of this arc would follow through on the redemption arcs. Specifically involving a moral in which not everyone will forgive you, but that shouldn't stop you from trying to be a better person. I think this episode would involve Janja and Dogo helping Ma Tembo and the elephants and hippos take back Kilio Valley and Big Springs, which puts a huge dent in Scar's plans. Perhaps Zito and Johari are those who choose not to forgive Janja and Dogo, but Ma Tembo and Basi do. Plus Janja and Dogo would make a really funny duo.

Episode 5 delves into Scar's past. I think the biggest problem with the backstory in the show is that it is entirely tacked on and is only there for plot contrivance. An entire episode would've been more serviceable, especially with the direction they were headed with. I'd change the backstory entirely. Here, I'd have it be where a rouge lion clawed Scar, and then having the cobra spit at him before he roars them away. He is hailed as a hero throughout the Pride Lands, feeding into his ego until it becomes too big for him, so he plots to overthrow Mufasa. When they refuse, he teams up with the hyenas to get rid of them. He lures them into the Outlands where he roars at them, and the hyenas hide what's left. The hyena clan take the fall, and Scar is left off the hook, but powerless. This is what Scar decides to use as inspiration to defeat Kion once and for all. Meanwhile, Kion and the Lion Guard search through the paintings of Scar's past and see what the audience sees in the flashbacks. At the end, they discover a cave painting of Askari putting out a fire at the Tree of Life, which re-inforces their belief that the Roar can and will stop Scar.

Episode 6 is the big special that caps everything off. The Lion Guard take their battle with Scar into the Outlands. A large majority of the battle portion of the original special would take up this episode. We'd see everyone join in, including Kinyonga, Badilli, the baboons and zebras, we'd see Ushari, Kenge, and the skinks facing off against the reptiles, Simba and his lionesses fighting jackals, Timon and Pumbaa causing mayhem, it's this whole big fucking thing. Eventually the Lion Guard is able to defeat them, but Ushari and Makucha double back. Ushari bites Kion, but it's established that it's only a small dosage of venom that will affect his mind, then Makucha scratches him, giving him a scar.

The big thing I'd change here is that I'd actually have Kion roar at the volcano to make it erupt. Jasiri and Kiara help lead the Pridelanders and Outlanders away from the lava flow. This would allow a set-up for Jasiri eventually ruling the Outlanders, and establish future events of the second movie where Kiara is willing to unite opposing sides in order for a brighter future for all. Meanwhile, the Lion Guard find themselves trapped as the lava surrounds them. Scar taunts them in their final hour, but that is when Kion decides that instead of destroying his enemies for injuring him, he offers them forgiveness, using the Roar to summon the Lions of the Past to destroy Scar. Makucha runs off in anger, and we get the same moment of Ushari's death, which would give off the idea that whilst offering forgiveness is good, some people are too far gone.

I'd make the Mark of Evil more well-defined by stating that Kion will lose control of the Roar and act out more with the small amount of venom within him. Not the whole "you will forget the difference between right and wrong" bullshit. The journey to the Tree of Life begins.

I'd rewrite the villains: A lot. This post did a far better rewrite of the S3 villains than I ever could, especially keeping in the theme of each villain being a 'counterpart' of the main heroes, so I'll link ya there. But yeah, I would allow Makucha to remain the intense threat he is, and give the villains' squad more numbers. I'd also probably switch out Chuluun and Varya's species. A tiger would be absolutely terrifying as a villain, and Varya and her cubs being attacked would be a lot less stupid if she were a smaller cat. I'd also have Mama Binturong be paired against Ono, as they are both the "brains" of their respective teams. Maybe Ono is able to use his knowledge on porcupines/binturongs to guide Bunga over to the Tuliza stash, and Mama Binturong targets him. I would also objectively have Mpishi in the army, she was robbed of a re-appearance.

I'd probably change the animation and voice-direction on Azaad to look younger, because he strikes as way too old for Fuli. And I'd probably keep their dynamic platonic.

Friends to the End is rehauled entirely. The episode assassinated Bunga's character development, and was low-stakes overall in ways that just do the main characters a disservice. Have him actually be worried as to what would happen to Kion, have his friends disagree with him thinking he's wrong. Have Bunga be the one to challenge Kion when he mouths off at Beshte, and have the titular song actually be sung to Kion.

Change the Night Pride. The Tree of Life is meant to be a congregation of biodiversity, so it would only make sense that its protectors be a mixed group of animals and not just more bland-looking lions (Asiatic lion portrayal is appreciated, but I think this was the wrong way to go at it). Once again, saw someone else do a far better rewrite of this, with the royal family as tigers, and with Nirmala and Surak as a dhole and buffalo, respectively.

I'd change Rani's character. A LOT. I think part of the reason why Rani has become such a divisive and controversial character in the fandom is because of her lack of accountability. She doesn't apologize to Kion and the Guard for her part in the misunderstanding, she doesn't apologize them for accusing them of leading Makucha and co. there, and even when Kion and Rani have seemingly come eye-to-eye in Long Live the Queen, the next episode continues to have Rani talk down to Kion, saying he has "potential" and not apologizing. I like when characters have flaws, but it's not satisfying when they don't acknowledge those flaws, apologize, and grow. Having Rani and Baliyo apologize towards the Guard, like say, at the end of Little Old Ginterbong, and gradually learning from their impulsive mistakes would be good character development, and it would allow audiences to get more used to Rani.

More episodes at the Tree of Life. One big issue with the show's ending is that it up and puts so much limelight on the Tree of Life in the finale when it's only been present for over 9 episodes. That's not enough time to get us to care, especially if your main character(s) will be moving in there by the finale. We should've had more episodes at the tree to learn about its history, how it's structured as a kingdom, the biodiversity there. Maybe even tie in with the other hanging threads of lore such as the Evil Lions of the Past, Askari's connection to the Tree of Life, his discovery of the Roar of the Elders, and the prophecy on the Roar returning to the Tree of Life. One of the writers themselves even said that they had a vision for the Night Pride's backstory including the disappearance of Rani and Baliyo's parents and the origin of Rani's scar, that, because of the limited episodes they had planned for the final season never actually made it into the series. If Season 2 can have nearly 30 episodes, then Season 3 can come close to that mark, especially when it's the end of the story and you need to put your all into it.

I would change Binga into a sloth-bear. This is actually a key detail of canon divergence in my fanfic, Roar Towards the Future, but to re-iterate, I HATE canon Binga with a passion. Lazy, unoriginal, and reeks of a lot of tired, worn out tropes from the 2000's. And yeah, it's an interspecies relationship, but in a world where the animals can talk sing, and communicate with each other, would it have hurt to change the species at least? Also, we get an Ono solo song because we were fucking robbed.

I'd change the specifics of Kion's healing, where he is cured of the venom, but still is unable to control the Roar, so Nirmala continues the healing, to which Kion realizes is not physical anymore, it's emotional, and that him mastering the Roar represents him finally having both his body and mind at peace. I really didn't like how S3a built up the venom to be Kion's problem that he needed fixing, only for S3b to say, "nope, it's just trauma," and have his healing focus around that. It's a good idea on paper, especially if you view the venom as a metaphor, but in reality, the way it's executed just gives off the idea that mental/physical health issues are one in the same thing in a box, and that treating one will inherently and unoequivically treat the other, which uhm... is a terrible message to have in a kids' show. They should've not brought up the venom at all and have that be the message from the start, or resolve the venom plot-line and point out how that's not where the healing journey ends, because the end-result makes it seem like the writers just forced the venom in there as an excuse to write Kion out of the Pride Lands in time for TLK 2, with no thought forbeyond plot contrivance.

I'd have the Lion Guard age from teenagers to young adults in S3, starting with the episode Long Live the Queen, to give off the idea that the Guard has stayed at the Tree of Life for a while to the point where defending it from the villains/Kion's healing has become the new norm. According to the writers, they wanted them to remain teenagers until the end, as a contrast to Kiara being an adult, but I think that shoots their story in the foot when it's somewhat a coming of age story, as well as the marriage thing in the finale, so I would personally have them shown to be grown up starting in the episode of Janna's death. I'd also have the origin of Rani's scar be explained. And I'd also establish closure for Sarabi by having Kion say he never met any of his grandparents. I think Sarabi deserved at least some closure in the series.

The Lake of Reflection flashback confuses me so much, because like, Janja is a teen, presumably an older teen when Kion is a cub, I highly doubt he'd be this tiny ass cub when Kion was a toddler. I would just have the flashback include everyone's S1 models pre-Return of the Roar.

I would probably have the final battle at the Tree of Life be a mirror to Pride Landers Unite, where the animals of the Tree of Life help the Lion Guard and Night Pride defeat Makucha and his gang. I'd also have the Rani/Kion romance be a separate episode on its own, which would then end with the cliffhanger of Kion being asked to stay.

Oh boy, the finale. Basically, the main thing I'd change is that it'd be an extended episode, possibly a double-length episode, or even triple-length like the Elena of Avalor finale, just to wrap everything up. Vitani's Guard is made of a mixture of different species on the Lion Guard. You can even keep the all female aspect, just have them be different animals than lions. You'd expand more on the TLK 2 callbacks (i.e. mentioning Nuka, suckers!), wrap up more character arcs, have Vitani and her team actually earn her moment (like say, defeating a new enemy, or maybe Makucha's army comes back and Vitani saves the day). I'd cut the entire bullshit contest, it is so stupid. And by the end, Kion chooses to give up the Roar and stay at the Tree of Life with Rani, BUT the rest of his friends stay at the Pride Lands, (including Makini, because she deserved to stay). The ending isn't focused around Kion and Rani's teenage wedding (because for one, they wouldn't be teens) but it would focus on the animals of the Pride Lands and Tree of Life commemorating Kion's former Lion Guard for all of their years of defending the Circle of Life, ending on a reworked version of "Here Comes the Lion Guard" from the soundtrack.

And lastly, (this is just wish-bait). An epilouge scene showing a reunion between Kion's former Guard in the Pride Lands, depicting the new lives they lead years into the future. As the sun begins to rise, they all head to Pride Rock just in time for a royal celebration; The presentation of Queen Kiara's second-born cub, who will lead the Lion Guard of the next generation. Roll the credits!

[eyecan02]

Possible Future Payoffs for Charlastor

This post is meant to hopefully raise the spirits of Charlastors. As we all know, Chaggie is supposed to get a "sexy song" in season 2. It's honestly not surprising but I'll be honest. They could show 20-25 minutes of Charlie and Vaggie having the raunchiest, freakish, loudest sex and I would still rather watch another 3 minute Charlastor touch-a-thon similar to episode 7.

Chaggie getting a sexy song or them being all over each other will not convince me that there's chemistry until Vaggie fixes her co-dependency issues. To me, Charlastor has the more natural chemistry and they'll definitely be getting more scenes together too judging by the line, "She's filled with potential I could guide.:

It's clear they'll be spending more time together as mentor and student. Also, since Alastor needs to maintain Charlie's trust, I'm willing to bet that Charlie is the one that Alastor confides in with his Vox falling out story, and maybe even with his human back story as well.

They don't need to be having sex or have a "sexy duet" in order to show they have chemistry/are intimate. Trust can be a very intimate thing too- literally baring their soul to someone, especially to someone who has been described before as Alastor's "mirror".

Charlastor doesn't have to be endgame in order to have a payoff. A payoff can take on many forms. Here's a few good ones I can see happening. Alastor standing up to Eve/Lilith (after Charlie frees him) by saying the only one he has loyalty for is Charlie, before kneeling before Charlie and calling her his Queen!

A different payoff could be a mutual Charlastor hug where Alastor tells Charlie, "You don't know how dear you are to me." One hand is shown cradling the back of Charlie's head, lying his cheek on the crown of her head while his other arm is wrapped around her waist.

Another payoff could even be one brief kiss. Call me delulu but I think one kiss for the fans could actually happen. Picture it being at a time where Chaggie is briefly broken up and there's a moment before a seemingly hopeless battle where Alastor briefly pecks Charlie's lips to bring her out of a worried/depressed rambling and says, "Forgive me, dear. I've always wanted to try that...with you in particular." -cups her cheek- "Even if all seems lost, I've taught you how to properly wield a smile so let's go forth and turn the tides in this battle. Together."

Be as delulu as you want or keep your expectations very low. I kept mine extremely low for season 1, and look how much we feasted in two episodes plus the hug we got in the finale.

I still can't help but get excited for season 2, though, especially if we keep Amir's interview in mind where an interviewer asked him, "Who is the one person Alastor would do anything for?" Amir of course said that he couldn't answer.

Someone on Twitter (will never call it X) replied with, "He can't say because he knows the fans will go nuts." Amir replied with, "Yes." The first people that come to mind would be his mother and Niffty, but Alastor being a momma's boy and him being "charmed" by Niffty are public knowledge so it can't be referring to either of them. If it were one of them, Amir wouldn't be so cryptic. He would just admit it's one of them if it were one of them but I highly doubt it.

It's an answer that would make fans go "nuts". I'm detecting a note of shippiness. I'm willing to bet that the answer is Charlie. I think Alastor really loves Charlie in his own way and he's determined to prove himself as her friend, mentor, confidante, possibly future advisor and as her "steadfast chum hotelier" for reasons that are more complicated than it simply being that it's because he's leashed and following someone else's orders.

[keepingeahalive]

Why Rapple Wouldn’t Work as a Couple

First off, let’s get this out of the way: Raven and Apple are not related. Well…more like distantly related, but to the point where any relation is almost nil. Raven is not destined to marry Apple’s father because Apple’s dad and Raven’s dad (The Good King) are two separate characters. Raven is only destined to be jealous of Apple and poison her. That is all.

Okay, on with the real debate.

I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I can't see Apple and Raven as a couple. While both of their arcs were about coming to accept each other, they weren't equal in their relationship. Raven made it clear to Apple many times that she felt disrespected, and Apple ignored that and pushed her own agenda on her. It may have come from a place of caring, but Apple didn't get Raven at all. I can see them working through their issues down the line, but their love story (if you can call it that) is better as platonic.

Bulldozing and Passive Aggression

From the first episode, we can see that Apple immediately took control for both of them. She went behind Raven's back to room with her and decorated Raven's side of the room without her permission, all because Raven is an important part of "her" story.

Not their story. "Her" story.

Her friendship with Raven in the first three chapters was surface-level at best. She assumes what Raven wants instead of actually getting to know her, like when she decides to take "Home Evil-nomics" to get back at Raven for taking Princessology. But Raven's favorite class isn't Home Evil-nomics. It's Muse-ic.

We can see Raven trying to be patient with Apple because Raven is a good person. She doesn't want a repeat of what happened between Snow White and the Evil Queen. In fact, we see her other friends hide their concerns from Apple because they don't want to upset her.

When Ashlynn finally comes out about her relationship with Hunter, she's immediately met with Apple's dismay. Apple tells her several times that she's making the wrong decision, and it gets to Ashlynn so much that she chooses her friendship with Apple over her relationship with Hunter because she doesn't want everyone to be upset. Although Ashlynn decides to do what makes her happy, Apple still tells her outright that she's making the wrong choice.

Briar starts to feel the weight of her destiny sink in and, instead of being met with compassion and understanding, Apple tells Briar "we all have our part to play." While Briar rightfully calls her out for how privileged she is, it takes her three chapters and two more specials to admit to Apple that she was too scared to tell anyone that she didn't want to follow her destiny.

They both go behind Raven's back to poison a birthday cake she made for Apple just so she would stop crying about it.

Apple is the next Queen of Ever After, and she wants to take an active role in serving her people. But she thinks she knows what's best for everyone. If they don't do what she says, then there's something wrong and she has to fix them. Everyone enabled this behavior, except for Raven. This domination is what causes her and Raven's tension at the start of the series.

2. Apple's Fears

Apple is a selfish character. But that selfishness is born of fear.

She believes going against her destiny means dying and being forgotten.

I believe she does care about her friends, in the same vein a God-fearing church-goer cares about the people in her community. She believes there is only one true way of staying safe: following your destiny. If you don't, something bad happens. And she has to remind you of that. She thinks she's helping people when she's really being insensitive and condescending. And this comes down the hardest on Raven.

Raven is the equivalent of someone who's become disillusioned with their faith. She's unhappy with the system she's been put in and she wants something better. That doesn't mean she's not afraid of what might happen if she does. She's terrified she might doom everyone at first. But taking a risk on Legacy Day and showing everyone they can live without following a predetermined path made her and others more hopeful that they could live better lives.

But Apple can't be convinced with one act of rebellion. She doubles down on her beliefs and blames Raven for ruining her Happily Ever After. She's so afraid of her future being uncertain that she would rather follow a status quo where someone she claims to care for is locked away for the rest of her life. You could argue that she doesn't understand that's what would happen, but she never bothered to understand Raven's perspective. Raven takes Apple's perspective in Thronecoming and considers the consequences of her actions. Raven cares about her friends too, so much that she's willing to put her happiness aside to keep them safe. Apple never once did that for her, or for any of her other friends.

This stems from Apple being promised the best destiny out of anyone. She'd go on to live a very prestigious life as Queen. But she's too naive to realize what that would mean for everyone else: Raven would be locked up for the rest of her life, Ashlynn would die to continue her legacy, and Briar would marry some random dude several decades younger than her and never see Apple or anyone she knew ever again. I understand that no one wants to lose the stability they've had their entire life. But she doesn't seem to understand how good she has it.

3. Apple and Raven's Growth

Way Too Wonderland and Dragon Games gave us a lot in terms of character development. Apple and Raven have gotten to know each other better at this point. Even though they have their differences, they do care about each other.

Say what you will about Way Too Wonderland, but I do believe Apple has come to know Raven and is genuinely shocked and heartbroken when Raven finally signed the Storybook of Legends. She's come to care about who Raven really is, she knows Raven would never want to hurt anyone, and she realizes that destinies can be dangerous. I understand her main reasoning was that anyone could easily take someone else's destiny if they had the chance. But seeing what signing the book did to Raven frightened her. Destroying the book with Raven cemented a level of trust and understanding that Raven was longing for.

Which is what makes Dragon Games so heartbreaking.

Apple is a privileged little princess who was promised the best destiny one could expect. I don't think anyone would be all that happy about letting that go. It goes back to what she fears the most. She doesn't know what to do without her destiny. And with her mother only feeding into these insecurities, it allows Apple's doubts to resurface and for someone to take advantage of that.

Apple could have prevented releasing the Evil Queen. But she was too deep in her own cowardice to think clearly. Desperation will make people do anything, especially if promised a happy ending for you and everyone you love (maybe subconsciously hoping Raven would be her True Love). That doesn't excuse her freeing a war criminal who happens to be her best friend's estranged mother, thereby breaking her trust all over again. Raven had just started seeing Apple as someone she could depend on. That's gone now, and Raven had a right to be angry with Apple's selfishness and cowardice.

"But Apple realized her mistake and Raven forgave her in the end!" That's true, but that doesn't mean things are okay between them. Apple is still Raven's friend, and it's in Raven's character to forgive her. But I don't see her forgetting this experience any time soon. That trust would have to be built up all over again and, if you ask me, this ruled out any chance of them getting together romantically. I think Raven would need some time away from Apple to figure things out. Apple could use that time to figure herself out too, especially after figuring out it was Darling who woke her.

If that trust was able to be built back up again, hopefully they would have grown as people and learned to be better friends. But you can't expect this level of trust to be regained for a partnership.

4. A One-Sided Romance

If Rapple were to be anything romantic, it would only come from Apple.

Apple was always obsessed with Raven. I do believe she wanted Raven to fulfill their destinies so they would both be safe, but was too selfish to consider how that would look from Raven's end. She never showed any interest in Daring and, while she enjoyed the admiration she got from other boys, never expressed interest in anyone else.

Except Raven.

So, yes. I do believe Apple was in love with Raven. But I can't see Raven returning those feelings. Apple always disregarded what she wanted, ignored her when she argued against her destiny, and continually tried to turn Raven into something she wasn't. Even after her much-needed character development in Way to Wonderland and Dragon Games, these two still don't have a good foundation of trust between them. If we had gotten more of the show, we might have seen some healing. And, in my opinion, that would include Apple learning to let go of Raven and focusing on her own growth as a person.

And maybe someone else...

In all seriousness, Apple and Raven have a complicated relationship that I don't see working romantically. I know they have the most development together, and it would be an interesting take on the enemies-to-lover trope. But with how often Apple betrayed Raven's trust and how grounded and self-aware Raven is, I can't see them getting together.

I can see Raven being Apple's first crush, but the closest these two can get is sisters.

Because, you know, Raven has a boyfriend. It's Dexter. Say what you want about him, but they have a healthier relationship than Raven and Apple could ever have, romantic or not.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

While "the network wants an episodic kids show, the authors want an epic dark complicated narrative" would explain A LOT about ML's problems, I'd still like to note that there are kids' shows that can do both, going full range from "mostly episodic with a sprinkle of narrative" (Kim Possible, MLP), to "heavily narrative but with episodic breather/filler episodes" (Gravity Falls, WITCH, the Owl House), with many variants in-between.

Even the transition from "fully episodic" to "more narratively-connected" that ML attempted to do can be done successfully - the aforementioned Gravity Falls and WITCH were more episodic in season 1 and more narratively driven in season 2.

However, I'd say there are a few other key problems that can be inferred from what we have:

The show tries too many things at once - as you have pointed out repeatedly. Magical girl and rom-com, single-hero, duo and team stories, wacky comedy and serious trauma, even trying to give several characters a redemption and a damnation arc at the same time (and failing with either). Apparently, it's not just TF vs writers: it's writers severely disagreeing with each other (see Thomas and Vincent's opinions on Chloe), and also trying to one-up the fans. Also, simply thinking too much of the work, which leads us to...

ML's total lack of self-awareness. Another famous case of a show that was almost entirely episodic is Phineas and Ferb. They use the same formula (the brothers build, Candace busts, Doof makes an Inator and is thwarted by Perry) over and over for four seasons. And by mid-season 1, the authors have been making fun of the structure, lampshading it, spoofing and twisting it, playing with "What if" episodes and never taking itself too seriously. When ML tries to be self-aware, it becomes either insulting to the fans (Animaestro), horrifically dark (Chat Blanc) or plain cringe (Simpleman). This is exacerbated by Astruc's arrogance and inability to ignore critics.

Is it possible to make a highly complex, genre-busting, yet kid-friendly story and succeed? Yes. But it needs to be better thought-out - if not from the start, then at the moment the network allows one to deviate from the formula.

And if all else fails and the story becomes too complicated and too repetitive at the same time... Well, self-awareness and the ability to make fun of one's own work can turn a sad mess into a hilariously fun disaster.

P. S. Love your posts as always, you are the main reason I'm still in the fandom!

Thank you for the kind words! I'm so glad that you're enjoying my stuff and I agree with all the things you brought up.

A big part of the reason that Miraculous is so fascinating to me is that there ISN'T a single cause of the issues. There are so many valid ways to discuss the show's problems. It's a masterclass in bad writing and what not to do!

It's why I'm able to run this blog. If it was as simple as, "here's the single reason why it's bad and here's how you fix that" or if the show never had any potential, then there wouldn't be much to talk about. But it did have potential and there is no single reason why it's bad. The causes are multitudinous as are the potential fixes! It feels like investigating some complex wreckage or an elaborate murder mystery in order to understand what the hell happened, which is really fun if you like talking about writing.

I find it much harder to discuss writing in an informative way if you only have good examples to draw from because that path risks stifling creativity. Just because a popular story did a thing well doesn't mean that story showed us the only way to do the things or even the best way to do the thing, but that's often the lesson people seem to learn. They see a thing that they like or even just a thing that audiences liked and want to copy it without understanding the full nuance of why they liked it.

A great example of this is Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender. He was such a well-written and popular character that all these properties started copying him even though the properties in question did NOT have a setup that worked for a Zuko. Praising Zuko won't really tell you all the ways that Zuko could have failed. Meanwhile, a case study of Chloe vs Zuko or even just a general discussion of Chloe lets you actually talk about the various styles of redemption arc and what you have to do to make them feel real. It's also far more interesting than talking how Zuko could have failed because Zuko didn't fail so why are we even talking about this? It's also far more interesting than talking about a bunch of properties that did redemption arcs well because that would require you to have seen all of those properties. But Chloe is from a single property and she did fail and people understandably have wildly different feelings about what the failure was because the writing was so bad, which means that digging into her writing is way more likely to hold your interest and teach you something.

This gif really does sum it up perfectly:

[Image description: scene from the movie Knives Out where the detective Benoit Blanc exclaims "It makes no damn sense! It compels me though" to explain his feelings on an ongoing murder mystery that he's trying to solve]

As does the old adage, "failure is the greatest teacher." Of course, no one ever said that it had to be your failure!

[angelshizuka]

I have to wonder if the insane amount of hatred Helluva Boss gets, other than the internet getting off on hating Vivienne, is due to the amount of time there was between episodes so people had too much time to build expectations for the show’s direction AND because of the wait time, people treat the show like it had 4 full seasons, when we have only gotten 20 episodes released out of a 50 episode show.

I’ll never say that Helluva Boss is a masterfully written show with no flaws, but it is still a good show and I strongly believe it would not be getting this degree of hatred if it wasn’t an indie show that had a lot of time in between episodes.

I'd assume it's at least part of the reason.

Though I get the idea behind it, these people need to get it through their thick skulls that at the end of the day this is an indie animation show that can only make so many episodes a year. Especially at the start it didn't have as much funding compared to now where the process is a bit more streamlined. But based on the fact the animation has improved, it still takes long even with a bigger team and more budget.

Also "funny" how the antis who whine about these kinda things also complain the loudest about "those poor artists"... They do realize they can't have it both ways, right!? You can't claim to care about the well-being of the artists working on an animated show while at the same time acting like there's not enough content fast enough. They're not even trying to be subtle about their true intentions.

I know I haven't even been here a year yet and we've have had at least some form of HB content every month since, so I don't have personal experience with the long waits/droughts, but I do have experience with it when it comes to other shows/movies, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the feeling.

But that's exactly it, no one is claiming HB is perfect and it's unfair to expect any show to be perfect, wheter indie or corporate. Even Viv herself has said she's okay with people critizing her shows (actual crisitsm, not those echo chamber whine sessions the antis are doing), she's just rightfully not okay with them bothering her team... Boy, that recent drama really is something.

And honestly, even if this was a corporate show, most issues/flaws wouldn't even be a dealbreaker for me, it's still that good. Heck, I'd argue it's better than most recent corporate shows.

The main thing HB can't keep up with is the amount of episodes (20 episodes in 4 years, while most corporate shows would've pumped out like 3 seasons with like 60-ish episodes total in that time), but that's also because the animation industry is overworked in general with really strict deadlines (and why so many people expect Viv to magically fix all that by herself is totally beyond me).

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling and I just keep adding things to mention, so I'll just stop here...

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for debating hiring outside help for my husband and I's house because we can't keep up alone?

For context: My (26 Fae ftm) husband (28M) live very happy and healthily together. While I'm unable to medically transition due to a bunch of reasons we'll get to, he has been nothing but a solid rock in my life and the one person that has always been on my side. Through dragging me out of an abusive household to helping me with my chronic illness, he's been an absolute angel despite dressing like the devil himself (he's goth). So I don't want any hate on him.

He is ADHD and I'm Autistic. Yes, hello, we are that couple~♡ This does cause us some issues tho as he is unmedicated and I'm just struggling in general with sensory issues for certain chores. So far we keep each other some what afloat, having him do chores that my sensory issues can't handle and my doing ones he can't focus through.

However, as previously mentioned I'm chronically ill. I won't get into many details but it's basically I'm internally bleeding at random intervals. And before people think I'm talking about just my period, no it's so bad that I have once had to go to the ER for a blood transfusion due to this internal bleeding and had times when I was bleeding for over 4 months straight.

My husband and I because of this condition are pretty much struggling financially. I can work but it makes me extremely fatigued since I'm essentially working with constant Anemia. It gets bad enough some days that he can't wake me up without over an hour of effort, even after I've slept 10hrs. The fatigue is REALLY bad. He works just as much as I do, sometimes more because his work is so shortstaffed and he likes to pick up extra shifts to try and save up for the surgery that would hopefully fix everything.

This has culminated though in us both being extremely exhausted near 24/7 for the last year-ish but we have finally hit a break. I recently got a huge pay increase (nearly $200 a week increase) so we are hopeful for the first time in months. We're starting to pay down my extreme medical debt and being able to just go get dinner when he doesn't want to cook.

Here's where I may be kind of TA... Despite this hope, my condition recently did get worse. I've now gone another 3 months still bleeding and having to suffer my Anemia symptoms and medication. This has caused me to fall massively behind on what should be my chores, and while my husband doesn't begrudge me it, it has caused our home to start becoming very, very unhygienic. As someone who grew up with a clean freak mother, it kinda upsets me. He's focusing more and more on me and less on the house so even his chores are falling behind too.

None of that is his fault. He loves me so much he wants to help Me first but it has gotten to where we are both going "we really need to clean the house..." but neither of us have enough battery to do so. Me becuz of my condition and he becuz he's stuck caring for me.

We have enough that we might be able to afford to hire a cleaning service to help us out, but it would cost us some of the freedom and paying down medical bills. I think it'd only be a temporary thing, once I recover from my current episode, we can probably get better... but I don't know how long it will be.

On top of this I'm worried paying for this service will further put off my surgery as we struggle to save up for it again... We've already had to tap into that savings cuz my current episode lost me 2 days at work.

Is it unfair for me to ask to use our new extra money for essentially my not wanting to have to bother doing basic chores? I know I'm tired but I've lived with it so long I could and should probably just push through.

What are these acronyms?

[myarmsaretoolong]

january recs

gunna try to do one of these each month with good stuff ive read recently! this month'll be more than just january as its the first =D (below the cut cos its really quite long)

Just this once by Beleriandings

(Everybody lives.) (Or: when a certain Doctor arrives to save Owen Harper from a stricken nuclear power station, it begins a chain of events that will lead Torchwood Three down a very different path. From time locks and telepathy to tea and coffee, high-speed chases to unresolved sibling issues, their new lives (and new and old loves) may be different, but their bonds of friendship and family grow stronger every day. But when every child on earth starts speaking with one voice, the team are torn apart again as they’re forced to fight for their lives, and to confront monsters they’d thought they’d left behind in the past. But with all of them working together – along with some allies they’ve made along the way – Torchwood Three will stop at nothing to save their friends and set the world to rights. The consequences will ripple out across the universe and into the distant future. But they have to start somewhere, and the present is as good a place as any.)

this fic is pure brilliance!! i was screaming in the comments on multiple occasions. the characterisations are so fun and fit right along the series. overall just great!

you'll fit so nicely, you'll keep me intact by thirteeninafez

The woman walked away with one last brilliant, world-stopping smile, and Tosh let out a long sigh. She looked down at the name and number scribbled onto the paper. The thing was, in that one moment, Tosh could see herself falling entirely in love with the glowing, wonderful Lois. Or, the one where Tosh not only lives past Exit Wounds, but flourishes.

i loooved this one! tosh is still alive by the time children of earth rolls around and she and lois fall in love in the sweetest way <3

here is the deepest secret nobody knows by blackkat

Ianto closes his eyes in Thames House, lungs full of choking alien gas, and opens them in his sister's house in Cardiff.

we all need a good bit of fix it in this fandom, and this is a great one

The Zagrith's Claw by AVAAntares

Changing fate always demands a price -- and sometimes, the cure can be worse than the disease.

good bit of a case fic here, nice characterisations going on

Aftershocks by SqutternutBosh

The first episode of yet another alternate season 3! Follows on from Exit Wounds but imagines Tosh and Owen narrowly escaped their fates. Torchwood are picking up the pieces and dealing with the consequences of Gray's attack on the city when a series of time slips start to appear across Cardiff...

the brilliant first part in a brilliant series that rewrites series three in the style of the first two with the whole torchcrew along for the ride. (im not gunna put each individual fic here for the sake of brevity but take this a rec for them all, serious they're fantastic!)

it's all been done before by girlsaturday

- @girlsaturday

Tosh gets trapped in a time loop. It just might end up being a good thing.

beloved time loop fic <3 great read!

Bad In Your Blood by CaptainFairyGodmother

- @captainfairygodmother

There were only two constants in life at Torchwood; one, that it was almost a certainty that you would not make it to see your first pension payment; and two, that Ianto Jones and Owen Harper would be arguing. At least one of the constants was preventable- and it certainly was not the arguing. OR; Ianto and Owen are brothers AU, in which Owen's refusal to acknowledge Ianto as his brother- let alone form a familial relationship with him- may just lead to the death of the whole team.

amazing concept with amazing execution

The Many Returns of Ianto Jones by bluetrees

@b1uetrees

The first time can be discounted as a fluke, a wonder of genetics. The second as plausible deniability. The third as a pattern, and a problem. Every other time, as a curse. Ianto Jones died a long time ago. So why did Jack keep running into him?

fair to call this a masterpiece

Because It's All About Him by nigohyu

Jack Harkness and Martha Jones meet sporadically over the years. Exhausted, they try not to talk about the Doctor, but the scars are always there. "He’s a drug, a damn addictive drug."

a bittersweet and much needed conversation

To The Sticking Place by zephyras13

The end justifies the means. Failure is not an option. There is always a choice, except when there isn't. These are the phrases Ianto Jones lives by and he refuses to allow anyone, even Captain Jack Harkness, to change that. Jack/Ianto, AU, Torchwood One Agent!Ianto.

a very different take on ianto and so so fun to read!

cravings by leere

(or, how to have a love life when you're a zombie)

owandy <3 enough said <3

and of course go and check out the pinned masterlist on @torchwoodfanweek for loads more fantastic stuff to read!