#like s3 was their best season writing wise but also ?????

[alexiaugustin]

skam france was truly so fucking crazy like wdym they made yann walk away from lucas when he came out to him and then two days after he apologized to him for that he asks lucas if it’s okay if he starts dating the girl who outed him to that whole ass school

[clownery-and-fuckery]

As promised, my commentary on Hunter.... to the people that like him, im sorry.

Spoiler warnings and the like, this is pretty negative aside from like maybe three sentences?? Feel free to leave you're own opinions on this too ofc !!! >:)

I dont like Hunter.

Actually, that's not entirely true, I liked him in TCW season 7, when he was that silly man who fucked droids around the place, took no shit, and loved his brothers. I like the Hunter who, not putting this nicely, had a personality.

This is not a dig on him as a character, it's a dig on how he was handled, writing wise

Listen, I totally get that the "rugged-man-adopts-a-star-child" trope is popular, and I do LOVE that trope, really I do- I just don't really think it was done that well here? It's bothered me since s1 of the Bad Batch, and I don't think it's going to get any better this season....

My only real problem with the writing inconsistency of Hunter being an older brother of three to "Omega this, Omega that" and while I agree childcare is SUPER difficult at the best of times, Hunter had four brothers who were equally capable of taking care of Omega, too. It just never sat right with me that taking care of her became his ENTIRE personality

Hes a soldier, who despite being completely out of his element, had a routine he strictly followed for the whole war. Yet he seemed to completely forget about that ?? Stressed or not stressed, that worn in routines and LIFELONG LESSONS should not have left his head as quickly as they seemed to.

The most obvious and frustrating example of the oversimplification of Hunter's character is with Crosshair. I cannot even BEGIN to describe my anger when it comes to Hunter and Crosshair. It mainly stems from the way he just FORGETS his brother is with the Empire. Conveniently never bringing it up unless someone else did it first.

As the oldest sibling and squad leader, I personally think Hunter should have been the one to bring him up. It should not have had to be specifically mentioned by another character for Hunter to discuss it. He loves his brothers, he loved Crosshair, broody or not, he should have brought it up AT LEAST once, imo.

We also see this complete disregard for Crosshair AGAIN in s3, now that we have seen Hunter looking for Omega and not ONCE mentioning Crosshair. Has he forgotten that they were originally going to find Crosshair??? That they never actually FOUND their brother ??????? Annoyed me so much, tbh.

What else annoyed me was the singular language he used during the whole episode. "She's part of our squad." "Hemlock took SOMEONE from us." He's completely and utterly disregarding the OTHER TWO SIBLINGS that the Empire took away from him !!!!! It genuinely frustrates me so much.

I know I'm DEFINITELY nit-picking here, but even when Hunter looked to Tech's goggles, it was in a "He should've been here to do this." Way, not a "He should be here." Way. That's his brother, who died looking for another that Hunter has forgotten.

Hunter's tunnel vision is probably one my least favourite things about the Bad Batch, if I dare even MENTION that- and I love this show. It means so much to me, but I just can't handle this particular part of it...

I have so SO much anger directed towards the treatment of Hunter by the writers. I want the Hunter who was devoted to his WHOLE family, who fought for ALL of them, who would have NEVER allowed Crosshair to leave in the first place. Give me that Hunter back.

(Saying this- I do not mind Hunter and Omega's father/daughter and brother/sister relationship !!! I do really enjoy it- in small amounts. The fact that Hunter became nearly an extention of Omega really just- threw me off his whole character, really)

I specifically pick to ignore this when I'm making anything. Hunter has been a sergeant of three idiots(named endearingly) for the entirety of the war. One child who wanders around should not have taken up 100% of Hunter's attention, ESPECIALLY when he was surrounded and supported. It just bothers me, idk

Anyway, thats my rant !!! Back to some positives soon, promise !! I just had to get this off my chest, it's been BOTHERING me.

[maxphilippa]

Nickel and Balloon's arc and why you may be wrong about it, and why you are wrong about Suitcase and Nickel as well.

Nickel didn't trust Balloon because Balloon was a dick on s1 (something that the fandom forgets so fucking much), and of course he wouldn't trust Balloon being a part of the alliance either since Baseball (Nickel's best friend) and Suitcase (Nickel's ally/Baseball's closest friend) were part of it. "But Nickel didn't care about Suitcase-" he did, Adam himself did say he did care for her, but he strongly lacks emotional intelligence to truly get her. So of course, he didn't want to risk it, even if he does believe that Balloon wants to change, he doesn't want Suitcase to get involved with the guy.

Although Nickel doesn't want Balloon near and is an asshole towards the guy, I think that all of you kind of also forget that at one point on s2, Nickel did say that he thought that Balloon wanting to change was something good, but that he still didn't want to be associated with the guy. Which is, yes, shitty on his behalf, but it makes sense character wise. It's a case of "it's great that you want to be a better person, but i don't want to be near you even so", which is something most people felt at one point of their life.

Adding to this behaviour of his, again, it wasn't just because "Nickel is a dick without excuses", protecting his loved ones (his alliance) is. Kind of his whole thing. You know. He cares about them but sucks at showing it (this includes how he treated Baseball, looking at you all), he has the thought that if he's on control of a situation, no one will get hurt. He sucks at communication. Hell, it's even said on the series, he is afraid of change and also about accountability. ACCOUNTABILITY.

So yes, the way he treated Balloon isn't justified, even Nickel says it himself, but he has his reasons as to why he acted like that. But I think that you guys also need to remember some more important stuff as well. Nickel wasn't like this because he fully wanted to, but his behaviour towards Balloon was also constantly justified by Baseball.

And so here's the main question that troubles everybody so fucking much it's stupid.

"Why did Nickel change his mind on Balloon on s3 like that? It doesn't make sense"

Listen.

The reason as to why Nickel actually gave himself a chance to know Balloon properly is because of two very important factors. So I know that some of you might not be familiar with the official II comics, but the first reason is in one of the comics actually.

Especifically on the Letters Comic.

The plot of the comic is Balloon writing letters to those who he wronged/had a bad relationship with, and this includes pretty much all of the S1 cast (excluding the ones that are still on S2). And guess what, Nickel gets a letter as well.

There isn't a canon outcome as to what Nickel did with the letter. We don't know if he threw it away or took a look at it. But to me, I think that he did took a look at it. I will explain why later on in this post.

The second reason as to why Nickel's behaviour with Balloon changed on S3 was because, Baseball wasn't there to try to justify Nickel's hatred towards Balloon. In fact, what he got instead was Box, and we know that Box is like, Nickel's best friend on s3. What Box does is basically telling Nickel to get his shit together, stop holding onto stupid grudges and do it for the team.

And he does! And mind you, that was on the first episode of season 3! He decided to put away his petty feelings so the team could work, which pretty much already tells you that meanwhile early s3 Nickel has as much snark as S2 Nickel does, he actually recognizes when it's time to play on the game and when it's time to be petty. He's more of an nuisance towards Balloon on the first ep all things considered, but it seems that unlike S2, Balloon has grown a lot of confidence as well, and isn't sad at Nickel's comments, but rather calls him out on them. And even IF Nickel didn't exactly like to side with Balloon, as the eps went by, despite Box was the main reason as to why they were hanging out, Nickel was actually experiencing Balloon's change. He didn't want to be involved on s2 because BB told him that his distaste was justified (and that ended up messing everything for the Grand Alliance), but now he's "forced" to accept and know the guy because Box told him it was the best for the team. On early s3 they tease eachother, yes, but their relationship seems to be better than before.

As well, it wasn't out of nowhere either way, since Balloon does imply that both Nickel and him hanged around just to mess with Yinyang back at the Hotel.

That's my main reason as to why I think that Nickel DID read the letter in fact, but still had very complicated feelings towards Balloon, because in his mind, to him, Balloon was the reason as to why Suitcase, someone who Nickel really got attached to (even if you can't believe it), "betrayed" him. But we know that's not true. But at the end of the day they do end up hanging around well.

"But Max, why did they end up having a fall again? Aren't they supposed to be healthy?"

First of all there is a reason, second of all, oh my god conflict won't fucking kill you. You see. Nickel SUCKS at communication. He can't let out his feelings as much as he would like to do so, because he's scared of getting hurt and such. So yes, Nickel and Balloon were good friends there, but the down fall was necessary for them in order to ACTUALLY be a healthy friendship. The problem is that Nickel doesn't get that he fucked up a lot more than he thought and that he is the problem.

He still thinks that Suitcase left his side because of Balloon and of course that hurts- but he feels so bad about the way he treated Suitcase as well, even if he's not fully aware of why he feels like that. So that's why the conflict HAD to exist. You can't just expect them to be okay like nothing without talking about S2 properly, it doesn't work like that. Yes, they both care about eachother, but they STILL had to talk about it.

Now, on the yet, most controversial scene when it comes to Nickel's arc: Clover's therapy.

Some people say that Nickel didn't have to just be talked like that and that they expected more, but dare I say, that's exactly what he needed. To talk properly about his feelings. It's like you guys didn't catch up on that. Nickel's thing is being overprotective over those he loves, and seeing the things that might harm said loved ones or himself as threats that he needs to get rid off in order to be okay, and that he is afraid of change. Nickel knew he messed things up, but he still kept on thinking that Balloon was the one that made Suitcase betray him, when that's not really true.

He needed the talk to realize that it was truly his fault. Please take note at the way he looks to the side once he realizes it. It wasn't just a recent thought, it was always there, but he was scared of it coming true. Clover's talk made him open up properly about it and Clover also says it, "but don't you want to?" and then he says "mhm, maybe", but he really does want to, which is why he changes so much on Ep 16.

So before you say that Nickel didn't regret what he did and that he only did because of Clover: how can you be so wrong about something.

And, oh.

Oh, episode 16.

It treated them so well.

What Nickel says here is that he was scared of falling in Balloon's tricks, he was scared of being manipulated. Again. It wasn't out of nowhere. The way he treated Balloon WASN'T out of nowhere.

Is it justified? No. Does II or Nickel himself ever say that it is? No. The series as a whole is telling you that it was awful of him, characters do call out Nickel on his shit behaviour (even if you think they don't, they do, calling out isn't always strong words, sometimes calling out acts as feedback. as pointing things out. of course he also gets called out in the other way on the series, but PLEASE don't say that he didn't get called out because of his actions, he quite literally died because of them), Nickel HIMSELF recognizes that he was awful to Balloon and he is okay with the possibility of Balloon not wanting to forgive him either way.

But they ended up talking things out in the end. They ended up okay, because Balloon can genuinely see that Nickel wants to change. The walls he put are gone. He can see how genuine the guy wants to be.

"But Balloon shouldn't forgive Nickel, not after all the pain he caused to him"

Listen. Both of them commited mistakes. Balloon recognizes that he wasn't a good person back then and wanted to change things. Nickel finally got that and Nickel also showed Balloon that he does mean well. People that had complicated relationships CAN work things out, crazy I know, and I'm saying this as someone who had beef with their now best friend over similar stuff. We apologized and now we're close. It happens.

Balloon really cares about Nickel. And Nickel really cares about Balloon.

And Nickel is okay with Balloon winning because that's his friend now. Nickel changed for the good. And it makes sese character wise.

Nickel regrets what he did to Suitcase and Balloon as a whole. And Balloon and him are best friends now.

So, no, Balloon and Nickel aren't a toxic relationship, much less a problematic ship given all of the circumnstances, and saying that they are is missing on the whole arc they went through. They were complicated and they both had their reasons at the end of the day. No, Nickel wasn't purposefully an asshole to Suitcase, he was seeking to protect her, but ruined everything on the process. Yes, Baseball and Nickel needed to be separated in order to grow because they weren't healthy to eachother. Yes, the Nickel and Balloon arc had to go as long as it did in order for it to end properly, and it's not even done yet, Baseball and Suitcase are still waiting. Yes, Nickel meant good with the things he did. No, it doesn't justify any of the things he did. And, finally, the Grand Alliance arc is well executed, just because it's complicated it doesn't mean it's bad.

And those are statements that can coexist.

Thank you for reading. :]

[n1ghteeea]

Are there any post-season 2 episodes worth watching? My little completionist brain wants to watch the entirety of RGB before moving onto EGB, but I know the quality of it sorta falls after the changes Q5(?) made.

I saw this question and LOCKED TF IN because I wanted to give the best possible answer, sorry it took so long 😔

Season 3 is a mess. They implemented all the changes Q5 told them to do, J. Michael Straczynski left, and the quality fell into hell immediately. I’m not exaggerating when I say that 90% of the episodes are Slimer-centric, there’s just WAY TOO MUCH of him. Also Junior Ghostbusters are annoying. Also the writing is childish and bad.

HOWEVER there is a ‼️MUST WATCH‼️ ep called “The Grundel” in s3, it’s written by the goat Straczynski, it’s dark and creepy as hell, it’s interesting, it’s just like s1-2, AND it’s a must watch if you want to check out EGB bc it connects to one of its episodes directly!!

But aside from that there’s nothing to see, really. “The Bogeyman Is Back” is interesting RIGHT until the Junior Ghostbusters show up, from that point on it’s a huge waisted potential. But the first half is good bc it shows Egon at his lowest (at least in RGB terms, in EGB he hits new lows).

Now season 4 was actually surprisingly decent! After a mess that s3 was, s4 felt like average s2 episodes: nothing crazy, but still fun and enjoyable. They cut back Slimer, made Janine a proper character again, completely got rid of Junior Ghostbusters and got very good studios to animate it!

If I were to recommend specific episodes I’d say “Flipside” because the concept they introduce in it is absolutely PEAK and I wish they explored it more, and “Robo-Buster” because Janine gets a good role in this one and overall this ep feels the most like s2.

However I can safely say that you can watch through all of it bc I genuinely found it fun, and even when the plot is kinda weak the guys’ dynamic CARRIES 💪 I’m biased ofc, but they made them so soft and domestic in this season it feels like they are on a honeymoon. So yeah, would recommend!!

Season 5, ohhh season 5. Idk what they were on when writing this one. “Elementary My Dear Winston” is good if you love Sherlock Holmes, plus Winston gets a role, plus the character dynamics are good. Nothing crazy tho. “The Halloween Door” is also really good as a Halloween special, AND it was written by Straczynski and no one gets these characters as well as he does.

But apart from these two? Bad. Like, I dunno what happened, s4 was so fun but s5 feels like s3 all over again. Boring concepts, bad writing, no fun character interactions. Halfway through the season they switch to 15-minute episodes that feel incredibly rushed and even less watchable.

I did not find strength to watch s6-7 because of how fucking ugly they are visually. Not even animation-wise, but colourgrading is BAD bad. Ik there are some Straczynski eps in there but I am almost sure they are not worth the effort 😔

So yeah! That’s about it! EGB is peak start to finish tho, the worst EGB ep is like the best RGB s3-7 ep, so it’s sooo worth the watch!!

Hope this is helpful 🫶

[mr-damian-s-power]

It’s not just the bad lesson in TOH, The Collecor and Stringbean are good examples of how inconsistent the writing became in the final episodes

In the Collector’s case it’s how their characterization kept shifting from Season 2 to the last episodes of Season 3

And how Stringbean became a “snakeshifter” showing how inconsistent the palismen concept became in the world building.

I am of the opinion that as soon as the writers found out the show was being shortened, they should have instantly cut the Collector. With how late in the game he's introduced, there was no time to develop him, and especially not enough time to give him a meaningful or satisfying 'redemption arc'.

Okay, tell a lie, there MIGHT have been enough time to develop him at least a bit if S3 used its time wisely. Did we really need all that crap at Hexside? Could we not have used this time to further develop Belos and the Collector?

That's not even bringing up what you mentioned! Him going from an aloof trickster God who views everyone as nothing but toys in his game, to a 'poor sad little boy who only wants a friend'. People like to call Lilith's redemption bad (which wasn't perfect, don't get it twisted), but look at how quickly ol' Collie changes!

How about this; Instead of Belos gaining power from the Collector, him and the Archivists just don't exist. Belos has been around for hundreds of years, we won't question it that he's managed to learn and keep some very ancient and very powerful types of magic.

-

Now onto Stringbean! I don't like Stringbean! I don't like what she represents! First of all, she's just fanservice! I'm sure people debated on what Luz's Palisman would be, and the writers couldn't decide so she's a shapeshifter. So, Luz gets a 'weird' Palisman that can be whatever it wants to. Weird? That's the coolest thing ever! Yep, Luz gets a really cool and special Palisman because she's just that great.🙄

Also, I found it incredibly shitty that Hunter loses Flapjack, his best friend and disability aid, then Luz very shortly afterwards gains her super cool and unique Palisman that is better than all the others. Just me?

How about this instead:

Stringbean is a little Snake Palisman (because Luz likes Snakes) who has been abandoned! She was thrown out by her previous owner when she was damaged and was deemed 'useless'. Her old owner couldn't use her to perform magic as powerfully anymore, and tossed her away like nothing. Luz comes across this poor hurt creature and feels pity for her. She finds it unfair to be thrown away when you've 'outlived your usefulness' like some rubbish.

Palismans are meant to be companions, not disposable tools! This is also under the impression Stringbean is introduced a bit earlier on. The whole time, she's upset at being abandoned and tries to help Luz despite her now limited magic capacity. Luz has to reassure her.

"you don't have to be useful to gain my love. I don't care if you're the most powerful Palisman that ever existed, or as powerless as me. You're more than just my Palisman, Stringbean. You're my friend, and nothing will ever change that. Everyone deserves love, and nobody should be made to prove that they're deserving of it."

-

Thoughts?

[9lives2mics]

What are your thoughts on how to support Melissa going forward?

The Book of Carol has been an absolute disaster for Carol and Melissa fans, and season 3 filming is already underway. Melissa wants to play Carol and she wants to work with Norman, so I want to support her. But I actively don't want to support everything else about what this show is doing to her.

It feels like most fans who are left vocalising their views are the ones who still feel positive about the spin-off. I really want to know more about the thoughts of those of us who are more critical of it, because I just don't know what the best thing is to do here.

Mental health wise, it's probably easier to withdraw from the future of TWDU entirely - to not watch season 3 and to not be invested in it anymore. But again, Melissa is still there, and she needs allies, and she needs people who genuinely respect her to see her for her work. It makes me so sad to think how hard she works and nobody is watching - all because her colleagues have pushed us away.

I just want to hear from more people who care about Melissa about how we're responding, and how we can support her.

Hello, dear Anon. I'm sorry this is affecting your mental health. You're right that Melissa deserves our support. I answered this question in the latest podcast episode.

The condensed version of what I said is that your voice matters. It's easy to feel discouraged sometimes, especially when you're speaking up about something important to you. But if you have the capacity to speak up, now is the time.

The teaser + David Zabel's latest comments continue to show us that he has no intention of giving Daryl and Carol a compelling story. Worse, his writing for Daryl and (especially) Carol is downright disrespectful to the characters.

When you're sharing feedback online, remember to be very specific about what changes need to happen for you to stick around. Center your posts around Melissa and Carol. Talk about why her character is important to you. Here are some pointers to keep in mind.

Please remember to take care of yourself too.

For us, it's important that the leadership changes. It's also important that Melissa McBride gets equal billing, an inclusive title, and a showrunner who respects her character and doesn't write her to be a piece in the male protagonist's story or, worse, doesn't make her pick up the pieces of the male protagonist's story.

Carol Peletier broke stereotypes and gender norms. She was the central focus of some of the highest-rated episodes of TWD. She can draw in audiences from different demographics. She's consistently proven to be one of the most resourceful female characters of the flagship show and beyond. And all of this is because Melissa McBride is an intuitive actress with a rare talent and ability to effortlessly tap into the depths of Carol's psyche. She's also a PR person's dream because she's an eloquent and charming speaker. She has a spotless reputation and the ability to garner audience loyalty that builds the audience base for the creative projects she is a part of.

She deserves respect on her own fucking show.

A showrunner who elevates her and writes compelling stories for Daryl and Carol is the only way to ensure the show's ROI and audience retention. We have no interest in investing in S3 otherwise.

— Shalaka

[yukipri]

Ngl this is sorta making me queasy with excitement/nervousness...

Especially coming right on the tail of:

So even though I will likely be a clown (again) this time tomorrow, here's what I wrote out in the twitter thread above:

Please @/starwars Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2, this time with Ewan McGregor and Temuera Morrison as co-stars. There's closure now with Obi-Wan & Vader. Next, closure between the Jedi & the clones on Order 66, represented by the 2 we saw experience it first: Obi-Wan and Commander Cody

I know in the latest Obi-Wan comic, Obi-Wan basically goes "I miss Cody to this day, even though he tried to kill me. Ah well." And it just K*LLS me that that's it. Obi-Wan (and most the Jedi) have no clue that the clones were victims too.

Y'all are inserting Order 66 scenes in almost every show, so you can do it one more time, this time in an attempt to understand and gain closure. And this is a story that is genuinely best told through Obi-Wan and Cody. Palpatine sent the Order to Cody, first and most directly.

This is a story that doesn't need to mess with characters like Luke or Leia, who we know we'll see again. Cody is MIA as of TBB S2. Obi-Wan now also has some time after season 1, where we know he can't really be messing with Vader. This story can fit in well.

(heck, you can even insert more Clone Wars flashbacks, including young Ahsoka, you saw how much we all loved that in the Ahsoka show!) This show would let you share more about other clones and Jedi as well. Depending on how TBB S3 ends, we can have some connections there too.

PLUS! Temuera Morrison seems eager for a role. I'd love to see him again as Boba in TBOBF S2 (and have a whole 'nother pitch there), but Cody is a character that Tem personally originated in ROTS. He also had fantastic chemistry with Ewan as Jango!

So I'd love to see them share a screen again. (plus, age-wise, he's kinda closer to double-speed aged Cody than Boba?)

I could go on forever but…yes, please this.

(also can I help write it?😂😭🙏)

~~End Thread

But yeah, I know better than to get my hopes up, and I have been a clown about this many times before (including but not limited for the actual Obi-Wan S1 lmao).

So here I am with my clown mask ready: 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

(Edit: added this in the tags but:

It does occur to me that another very possible route they could take an Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 is doing something with Quinlan, since they left that very obvious thread open in S1.

BUT I would still prefer Cody & clones centric😭🙏)

[eerna]

:0 thoughts on blue eye samurai finale?

I mostly liked it! The gun army felt insanely scary, the shogun's family were pretty cool, the action was well executed, the secret lineage and plot twists were totally cool and it all felt properly like a s1 finale. I liked Taigen giving up and going home with his tail between his legs, I liked Ringo hanging out with Eiji, I absolutely loved Akemi deciding to stay in Edo.

Honestly the only thing bothering me was how anticlimactic Mizu's ending was. The plot is that there are 3 men for her to kill, which lends itself to PERFECT pacing and seasonal arcs. I noticed this show utilized something that I haven't seen much lately (and the lack of it was making shows actively worse) - EPISODIC FRAMING. Every episode deals with one mini story to its conclusion, all the mini stories add into one larger story, and it makes for an immensely satisfying watching experience. This trend gets interrupted at the finish line because FOWLER IS ALIVE and FOR SOME REASON WE ARE MOVING THE MAIN PLOT TO LONDON. Fowler not dying was super annoying - he was a fun villain, but he needed to die at the end to make the revenge feel real. Why in god's name would Mizu choose to work with one of her targets AT THE END OF SEASON 1????? Yeah, Mizu kills innocents and ignores people who need her help, but to me working with any of the men is the ABSOLUTE LAST THING she would do morality-wise. It would have worked so much better if she killed Fowler, and then in s2 as she is chasing down one of the remaining guys, London keeps popping up more and more until she realizes that there truly is no way to complete her mission while staying in Japan. The Dad Number 3 can be her companion, which also makes it a stronger decision bc she is halfway through her revenge and realizing she needs to sell her ideals down the river if she really wants to complete it. THEN we can go to London in s3, where she fails to kill one of the dudes but manages to kill the other (if we really have to, I really really don't wanna go to London) and in s4 return to Japan bc the dude escapes there and she chases him down.

But again. This show made me enjoy like a million things I have never liked before. Maybe they will pull off this weirdass decision and I will be here talking about how Mizu in London was the best writing ever!! My mind is open to the possibilities and I wanna love it so so so badly

[mstormcloud]

Sonic Prime S3 Spoilers below!!

Tbh I wasn’t planning on making a post on my Prime opinions but I already wrote it all out on insta story so why not share here too lol!

There was so much in this season that I loved!!! Waaa!!!! However I do recognize the pacing issues and how the ending leaves a lot to unanswered questions lol. Some other stuff I didn’t mention was how I do feel bad for Nine if he is just left alone in the Grim like he deserves friends that was the whole point?? And also I would like an answer if like…is this an 06 situation where timeline wise it never actually happened in ANY of the shatterspaces? Or just in Green Hill?? Like is Nine in Grim or he back in New Yoke cuz Sonic never broke the prism??? So many questions haha

But yeah!! All and all I really enjoyed it hehe. Beautiful animation, best Shadow writing in a While, I actually liked the story/writing a lot 😅 and amazing character exploration all around!! :D

[light-lanterne]

Angel you're a real one for bringing up the Nancy issue in your post. For the longest I really couldn't stand how the writers just gave up on the Wheeler sibs while making the Byers, Sinclairs, Steve and Dustin, even Willel have better chemistry than Nancy and Mike.

Maybe it's cuz I have a really awesome older sister so comparing her to Nancy, Nancy falls entirely short. I want her to have an Over the Garden Wall moment (a cool cartoon I watch every autumn season) where another character points out how un-older sibling like she's being to Mike so she can do better cuz maybe she's truly unaware that this is an issue.

Cuz I don't think Nancy’s going to get it unless someone else on the outside openly talks to her about how she's just not there for Mike in the way she thinks she is. We've never seen Nancy be observant to Mike like how the Byers notice something's off about Will so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she can't see what's in front of her cuz the Wheelers only cared when danger was right at their doorstep (Ted and Karen when the government showed up, at the town meeting when Jason started the manhunt)

Nancy's following the theme of being her parents in recognizing something is wrong too late like in s1 when she worried about Mike and never even thought that he could be in danger when his literal best friend Will is missing, along with Barb.

So I dunno, I see Nancy reflecting her parents in that way of never knowing that Mike is also in the pathway of danger nearly constantly AKA a target of the same entity/mysterious bad guy that took Will twice (physically and possession wise)

Anyways sorry for the long ask but I just hate how they write Nancy and Mike's dynamic with no progression in 4 whole seasons. She has survivors guilt from losing Barb and protects everyone else but she leaves Mike in the dust

hi lex ~! please never apologise for long asks, i love to analyse characters (even if i don't do it often).

yes to all you said !! i don't know if the writers chose to completely ignore the wheeler siblings on purpose so there can be a cool storyline with them in s5 (or if they simply don't think their connection is important in the slightest -_- ), but i think it's factual at this point that nancy needs someone or something to knock some sense into her. it's been four seasons without her altering her behaviour in the slightest, so someone (potentially jonathan, seeing as he constantly blames himself for not being there for will) has to reach her lest something terrible happens to mike and she can't avoid caring any longer.

more than that, though, i think the crux of the problem is nancy's need for revenge. ever since s1 it's been well established that she feels entirely responsible for what happened to barb and, being unable to bring her back, has chosen to focus her energy into harming those she feels are also at fault.

so in s1 this translated to ditching the kids to go kill the demogorgon, later pretending that it was to help joyce and hopper in the upside down when it was clearly just an attempt to avenge barb. in s2, she missed out on most of what happened because she was off with jonathan and murray trying to figure out a way to make the lab pay. in s3, she's the first to get the gun ready to attack biIly and, in s4, she's the one who concocts a plan to try to kill vecna.

and while all these plans are ultimately cemented in her desire to keep the party safe, she constantly overlooks obvious flaws to her approach because a) she's only a human girl and there's not much else she can really do against their supernatural foes, and b) even if it's on a subconscious level, she has a strong bias towards violence because she's still trying to punish those who took barb from her (in lieu of punishing herself further because, as previously mentioned, she's the one she blames the most).

so, until she rids herself of this need for vengeance and starts thinking more logically, she will continue to ignore basic problems to her plans and, more importantly, the emotional needs of those around her. particularly mike, who she's grown up ignoring because that's the example her parents have set for her and who, in her mind, doesn't need to be cared for emotionally because what's there for him to be sad or traumatised about ? he got will back (twice), el back (also twice, if we consider the break-up), and he's had the least amount of near-death-experiences out of all the kids (as far as she knows).

in nancy's mind, since mike didn't lose his loved ones, there's no way he could possibly be struggling and so, anything she might actually notice, any signs she might see that defy this idea, she pushes down to keep up this self-imposed illusion. and, when she recognises her brother's behaviour in others, or sees that someone else is in danger, she chooses to hyperfocus on them so that she can continue to ignore mike's pain (or the fact that he's in danger).

,,,anyway,,, there's another half-baked analysis x.x thanks again for the ask lex !! hopefully my rambling is somewhat coherent u.u

[adoredmarigold]

Questions!! Yay!!!!!! I've got a lot to ask about, I'm sorry

1. What are your favorite ships other than david and lingard (tbh in some way that ship reminds me of kirk x bones, not sure if youre into star trek tho xd)

2. Ava or Tripp?

3. Favorite S2 characters? Do you have any S2 ships?

4. What do you think are the best possible and your favorite endings of S2, S3 and S4??

5. And of course, I wanted to ask, whats your opinion on Bonnie.

I feel like I've been asking you some questions before but I dont remember excstly what it waasszzzzzzddsdszs if I already asked some of these questions IM SO SORRY but I cant say no to asking twdg questions

hello :) 1. VIOLENTINE!!!! It's such a lovely ship I will defend it with my life, istg Violentine haters have yet to bring up a valid point as to why they don't like it. I have some crack ships like Eleanor x Kate or Eleanor x Ava, I don't have much to say about them I'm just gay and wanna ship my girls together lmao. hmmm, I've been seeing some Mark x Lee stuff to and that looks pretty cute. Ermmm this is making me realize I actually don't ship much in twdg lmao, I guess I also ship Clouis and Gabentine Clouis is sweet and has good moments but I just don't find them as compelling as Violentine (sorry Clouis shippers). As for Gabentine I guess I would say I ship it, but more so in a "first crush/puppy love" kinda of way, The relationship never becomes anything serious they're just kids with a crush on each other and honestly I don't need them to become anything more than that. aaaannnd I know nothing about Star Trek but you're gonna make me look into Kirk x Bones now, thanks. 2. Well if we're just talking about the characters in general then Ava, she's so underrated imo. BUT, if we're talking about whether I choose to "save" Tripp or Ava during the execution, I always choose to let Tripp live. I'd rather have Ava die here than get that stupid fucking death she gets in ep 5, Tripps death in ep 5 is a lot better cinematically and writing-wise. 3. Sarah :) She's been my fav season 2 character since the season first came out and I will never forgive the writers/fandom at the time for how they treated her, SHE DID NOTHING WRONG. As for ships I guess I don't really have any for season 2, I mean Alvin x Rebecca I suppose though I'm not particularly invested in either character. Never been a Nick x Luke fan, I get the appeal but it ain't for me. 4. I can't really say which ending for each season is the best cause it's all pretty subjective, but I will give you my favs :) I guess I don't really have a fav ending for season 2? I choose the alone ending each time just cause I can't deal with Jane and Kenny's bs, don't hate either character but Clem doesn't deserve to put up with their bullshit anymore, she's the main character it's fine let's just ignore the logistics of an 11-year-old going off alone with a newborn. I also like the Wellington ending alot though! Not only because it's the best location for Clem and AJ to end up at but it also gives a satisfying conclusion to Kenny's character imo. Kenny spent all of season 2 trying to keep Clem and in the end AJ by his side for ultimately selfish reasons and he became extremely violent and unhinged in the process. So to see Kenny finally be selfless and be willing to give them both up to ensure their health and safety really redeems him for me. Kenny loves Clem and AJ but I really don't think he's fit to take care of them, this is the best possible Kenny ending for me. 5. Bonnies cool. It's been awhile since I've played season 2 and 400 days so I am in a desperate refresh of her character, but from what I remember she was interesting. I def think the fandom goes WAY too hard on hating her, from what I remember she's not really any worse or better than any of the other adults in season 2, she's extremely flawed but hell who isn't in The Walking Dead. I get being frustrated with her but the lengths people go to shit all over her character is kinda insane to me. So overall I guess I don't have much of a strong opinion on Bonnie, she's an interesting character with alot of flaws but I don't think she's evil or cruel. I hope her and Mike where able to get away and join a community or something. Also, I distinctly remember her being my fav 400 Days character and having a crush on her when I was a kid lmao. wowie okay that's all I gotta say, and don't worry you're all good! If you (or anybody really) send me a question and I don't reply it's probably just cause I forgot to or I'm stumped on what to say. CRIES

[danishprince]

Is it just me or is this season of succession a little more "on the nose" than previous ones? Idk

agreed—i do think on the whole it's less, like, ~subtle~ writing-wise. but i personally don't think that's a bad thing! not only is it justifiable on a character level—the siblings' dad, aka the single person their lives revolve around, has died so of course they're going to bare everything and say Whatever The Fuck, grief will do that to you—but it totally makes sense on a structural level, knowing as we do this is the last season. succession is not really a plot-dominated show and never has been, but this season there's nonetheless a clear sense of spiraling downwards towards psychological destruction the finish line.

and even if the final episode ends up as open-ended as i suspect it will be...you still need a sense of, like, momentum to get there. idk. the writers have made it very obvious that things are wrapping up so i don't see them suddenly delving into Secret New Roy Sibling Psychological Hangup We've Never Seen, which was something they had time for on earlier seasons. subtle nuances rock and are one of the reasons i originally got hooked on the show, but also: let's not kid ourselves, it would be frustrating to have another season 3-type thing that's anticlimax after anticlimax and then wrap it up. (i adore s3's overall arc—i think it's so smart the way the sibling relationship and eventual convergence is structured and hidden under the business plots fizzling out—but i think individual episodes feel a little stagnant. which is not a problem i've had with s4!)

do i miss some of the subtlety? sure. but a) i don't think subtlety is the be-all end-all of "good writing" actually and b) this response isn't like a "ooooh i'm trying to make the best of it"—i do think the writers are making really strong choices here. also one thing about me i loooove a show that isn't afraid to teeter on the edge of the abyss and boy howdy that sure is happening

[divinekangaroo]

Fav season of peaky? Why..

Best gal for Tommy? Why..

Is death the best end for Tommy? Why..

Thank you 😊

Fav season of peaky?

Season 5, season 6 close second, because of Themes.

In an interesting outcome, S5 is better for what then happens in S6. Tommy's experiencing the emotional/moral trauma/consequences of the deferred traumas of all his other seasons' worth of activity by S5 and yet still pushing forward, because it's all he knows how to do (all about action) and it's what he thinks needs to be done (do good things that can only be done by a 'bad' man because of what/how he has to do it), and the ego aspect is thinking only he is capable of doing it and what that then means for him/everyone around him; putting himself into an even worse pressure cooker (British politics stretching into global impacts) for which he is blatantly unprepared and honestly, feels like he's floundering, compounded by the class/sexual/political/ethnic attacks imposed by Mosley all in one aristocratically snarly package? So interesting. The dynamic between him (good man doing bad things for good reasons and perceived as a bad man) and Mosley (framed as evil and righteous and all things accepted by British culture as proper) is insane. That sense of creators creating a situational pressure cooker and watching to wait for it to go bang...

I do struggle to rate the plotline in S5 / S6 - so many coincidences, so much happenstance, so many things that even on detailed rewatch and script reading and headscratching I grapple with. But thematically wow. S1, S2 and S3 were better written/plotted, S4 felt like huge amounts of fun and was dramatically and visually great, but S5 and S6 for thematic emphasis.

Best gal for Tommy?

IE, who would be the most healthful? Jessie Eden. Ironic how it ended with her, because that was the one relationship where I was like, this woman who, in and of her characterisation only, is someone who could work with him as a partner and who would recognise and navigate his traumas without adding to them or taking them on her own shoulders. Everyone else, there were huge swings and roundabouts in power dynamics, blame, self blame etc. If he'd married Jessie between S4 and S5, he might have actually been equipped for S5's confrontations. Although that would have created a very different story XD.

I do love watching/writing Tommy x Lizzie for multiple reasons, and I do think there is love and care there, but they have a conflicted and complicated relationship which makes it difficult to say "this is best for Tommy".

I don't believe May would have been good long term for reasons explained before. May also wasn't love, it was just...fun. And sex, and interest. I don't think May could have ever accepted who he was. And I don't believe Grace would have been good long term because Tommy immediately put her on the most insane pedestal, and I think he was too immature to recognise that; I imagine they would have divorced, or similar to my thoughts on May, he would have had a diifferent kind of (and much earlier) breakdown through forcing himself into a mould he didn't fit into. And I know there's this thing about "only you see me" with Grace after he beat a man to death; but that was one act only, his violence, and it was a reachout to balance Grace's own violent act which was also scaring her right then. But that didn't get anywhere near his lying, his deceiving, his dealing - in S3 it was immediately obvious Grace was unaware of the extent of what Tommy does for business; I think it was represented that he did definitely love her, but he was also putting on a front for her no matter that line or his love, and I think that would have backfired at some point.

Is death the best end for Tommy?

Nope. Get old, live, suffer, live, learn, go to prison, still have to live, actually change, actually grow, etc. Also more storylines if he lives!

Plot and theme wise, I think it would be SUCH a cop out to have him die in any closing movie. There's nothing very appealing about this idea of repentence through death-sacrifice. There's also too much religious connotation to that to be of purpose with who Tommy's character is, slipping into a saint's martyrdom or a jesus-like sacrifice feels too easy.

Plus, they've now effectively done a death (and subverted) in S2 (brilliant), S5 and S6 (very good for very different reasons to S2), substituted Arthur's death in S4, and had a few representations of 'little death' in S3, so if they repeated that? Like how many ways can they do this?

I mean, repentence through death has always itched at me though, because he doesn't seem repentent? He does have a sense of wanting to balance bad acts with good, but he doesn't exactly regret those bad acts...only their consequences if they bounce back at him.

I suppose I could buy into a cool shock-value death sequence if he dies through pure incidental mischance in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and the rest is about how his brothers/family have to pull their shit together for revenge, but not a death-as-repentence sequence.

[beevean]

🔥 for NFCV. C'mon you knew it was coming :)

Bonus points if you do Nocturne

I don't have anything new to say :P

I talked about how little Trevor matters lore-wise and how the story treats him like a joke even when undeserved (see the running gag of him making his friends swear).

How Alucard is a total nasty brat and I'm shocked that no one accuses him of being OOC, even if he's one of the few characters who looks like his real counterpart so you can't pretend it's a whole OC.

How Trephacard is a nothingburger of an OT3 because Trevor & Sypha ditch Alucard for one season and a half, let alone how much of a bitch Alucard is to Trevor and how he has maybe one conversation with Sypha.

How Hector had the potential to actually be a decent interpretation of his pre-CV3 self if it weren't for the story's baffling decision to strip him of any agency, only to give it to him for a plan that is OOC even for this version - why would, long after he realized that Dracula lied to him, still want to resurrect him as if he has ever once displayed any loyalty?

How Isaac is not a good character even if not compared to the real Isaac (but the real Isaac is still better, since the NFCV fans love to shit on him to praise Mr. Muh Character Arc), and ultimately is one of the biggest cases of narrative favoritism I've seen in an official product.

How Isaactor is another ship that doesn't deserve its popularity because these two don't have a fraction of the delicate relationship between their game counterparts, and N!Isaac is a dick and N!Hector is too alienated to care.

How Dracula is a waste of a good concept (showing in detail his mad grief over the loss of Lisa) because S2 degraded him to a depressed man in his chair and woobiefied him to a worrying degree, not to mention how weak he comes across compared to his game counterpart.

How Carmilla is utterly cartoonish and has zero charisma, and it doesn't help that she vanishes in S3 and her return in S4 has no weight.

How Lenore is a filthy rapist who didn't deserve to be all cute with her victim, and also a waste of a good concept if we interpret her as a vampire who tried to distance herself from her beastly nature but failed.

How the writing is not only juvenile in its excessive, flat use of swearwords, but rife with "tell don't show" moments to truly amateurish degrees, chief of all Morana somehow knowing perfectly Hector's emotional state at the beginning of S3 and her telling us that Carmilla suffers from nightmares. It's not the only writing flaw (the glacial pace is another important one), but it's one that I haven't seen anyone pointing out.

How the representation is shallow at best and genuinely offensive at worst - IMO male rape victims got the worst of it.

How a couple of neat visual references don't make this "adaptation" anywhere near faithful, not when the core themes were spitefully ignored for what is basically yet another edgy adult series, not when changes were made for no good reason to the point of breaking the lore.

... oh and Nocturne sounds like it's going to be stupid and I hate that they showed Richter crying his eyes out and nothing else. Not much to say about that yet.

[i-am-autistic]

My hottest Jonathan Byers take as a Jonathan enjoyer is that while he has been undoubtedly sidelined. It's not like a major crime or close to character assassination. In fact I'm fairly certain the writers still have a lot of love for the character. Idk if yall remember what TV shows were like in the 2000s and early 2010s but when fans and writers didn't like a character, they'd either just die or barely get any screen time. Re-watching the show. While Jonathan isn't as prominent in s3 and 4 as he was in s1 and 2 he still always gets a storyline on his own, constantly involved in action(Him,Nancy and Lucas actually carry s3's final act action wise). S4 he doesn't get to be in much action anymore but he still gets the best action scene of the season for me and gets his own arc. I mean like can we just be honest and say he had much better writing in season 4 than Steve did. And also they had similar amounts of screentime. I thought he was the best written teenage male on the show in s4 by far. If you actually go back and watch it, he gets similar amounts of screentime in s4 to Eddie and Steve. Idk maybe I'm wrong here but I've seen writers literally kill characters, make them awful people, totally write them off the show,etc. The writers of ST have never really tried to ignore Jonathan or make him awful. They still use him a lot. S3 is a bit of an exception, not the rule. But I still think he gets great scenes in s3. Keep in mind Jonathan is also not the most popular character on the show, he's most likely the least popular lead character on the show. The writers have no real need to keep him there or give him big scenes. And this is sort of all happening while Stranger Things has an exceptionally large cast for a relatively short show. It's about 8 hours of content per season(little bit more in s4 I know) and there's about 17 leads in this ensemble. It's hard to give everyone extended amounts of time. Most shows with casts that big will have 40m X 24 eps for like 16 hours. Maybe they don't talk about Jonathan much or he's not in promotion much but even that is kinda false. While he's very tiny on the ST3 poster, he is the main money shot of the trailer for the main s3 trailer. He got his own corner! On the s4 poster, like him and Argyle got the same amount of space as Joyce,Hopper and Murray. He also was somewhat associated with a big part of the s4 iconography with Surfer Boy Pizza. I ngl thought they'd actually have him work at SBP but he didn't but it's still very much something he's associated with since it's his friend that brings it in.

[sickofthistoxicshit]

So glad I found your blog. I'm a bit like you and I'm not watching the show live. I'll let it play out and I'll see later. I got kind of burnt by the last season.

I still love the characters so much so it's hard to cut it completely. As an Eddie girl, I'm kind of happy we seem to be getting something this season. I think fandom also burned me with all the spec. I learned to curate my page and it's better.

Just wanted to said I love reading you.

I am really glad you found my blog too ❤️

A lot of the time I just write the way I see things, kind of like Ryan, when they let him out of interview jail lol.

I think it is a wise choice to kick back and let this season play out, watch the whole thing as one piece, last season was the worst one yet, I am hoping the move to ABC will do them good, because all and all that is one talented cast and they deserve a good storytelling.

Having been a Ryan girl for ages, like way before 911, I am happy he's given more on screen time and a bigger role, he's such a talented actor and it is a genuine pleasure to watch his work, honestly, he's the reason I went back to watching 911.

After S1 I took a break, the opened by accident in 3X03, I thought for sure Eddie was Buck's brother at first, then I reached the lovers spat at the grocery store and said "Okay, definitely not brothers." lol

When I reached the S3 winter break I went back and watched S2 to get a read on Eddie's background and where he came from, it was a fun catching up. - I've been watching for him ever since - so I am really glad we'll finally get to see more of him this season - regardless of the settings, Although I gotta say his sisters making an appearance is the best piece of spoiler I got, so much better than all the misfits relatives (except for Albert, he was the BEST! family member to appear as a guest on the show) that popped by.

I have modified my dash too, I see only a handful of people, and those are my favorite mutuals 🤗

I have a bigger amount of followers than I ever thought I'd reach, and I love all of them, but my choice selection of following give me a quiet and safe environment in this crazy tumblr waters and I love it.

I love that you reached out, thank you for reading my fevered thoughts and liking them - know I appreciate you a LOT!! ❤️❤️