#mal had no character this season and it pissed me off so much

[highraccoon]

Love to see someone in the S&B fandom who is critical of Darkling and Nikolai (some white boys get too much love imo 😒). How do you feel about s2 of S&B?

ooh. so. to preface this, i will say that i do actually really love all the books in the grishaverse series (even though kos and row are... something else.) and that includes the original trilogy. my favorite characters from the original trilogy are Mal, Genya, Alina, David, Oncat and Misha.

so you can see where this is going.

season 2 was filled with a lot of creative writing choices and interesting character arcs. but just because something is both of those doesn't make it necessarily good. and it wasn't. i wanted to like season 2 so much but there's only so much i could take. i think around episode 4 i had just lost all hope for it. i finished the season and wished i hadn't.

all i can say is i'm glad the series isn't canon and that the books are. cause season 2 was such a disservice to the fans and the series.

[dominickeating-source]

Cult Times Issue #90 (2003)

Mal Content

As armoury office, Malcolm Reed is all that stands between the Human race and war! Well, kind of. Dominic Keating explains why he's so pleased with the lieutenant's progress on board Enterprise so far. HEADING INTO Enterprise nearly two years ago, Dominic Keating sat down with executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga and expressed to them his concerns about playing Lt Malcolm Reed.

His greatest fear was that the ship's weapons and tactical expert would come across as "just this talking English head above the console on the bridge." If that were the extent of the part, however, Keating would learn to deal with it. "For the money, I'd do it," Keating says with a laugh. "But I did say, 'If you feel like writing something for me, I reckon that I can do it'. And you know what? They went away and did it. I've had some really fantastic episodes that I didn't expect to get, quite frankly. That's been terrific. I think I'm in a very luxurious position here. I'm not the main thrust of the show, so I get a lot of time off. But they know that they can wheel me out and give me some really good stuff to do whenever they feel they want that flavour in the show. 'And they're doing it enough for my liking. Speaking personally, I'm very thankful that I'm not Scott [Bakula, Archer], Jolene [Blalock, T'Pol] and Connor [Trinneer, Trip] because they're just in it every week. When we're shooting the show that's what they do; they're at work. They're there when I'm there and they're there when I'm not there. We're doing an episode now that's a big Archer episode. I'm going to do my day today and I think I've got one other scene that we'll shoot sometime at the end of next week, and that's it.

Right now, I'm in my backyard watering my plants and talking to you on my phone. It's beautiful outside. The sky is blue and the surf's up. It's a good life. What can I say?" Reed is steadily emerging as the show's enigma. He's got the most potential to be at odds with himself, much less the other characters on the ship. "I was talking with Brannon about that the other day, and he's quite happy that Reed is not a two-dimensional figure," the actor says. "Reed can be the charming guy, the really nice guy, and the dark guy, and he's been all those things already. They've engineered him in such a way that he still has a long way to go. I'm really pleased about that, I have to say.

The two episodes I've liked best so far are 'Shuttlepod One' and 'Minefield.' Those are the ones that come to mind. I thought 'Minefield' was a particularly good show for him. Wrapped up in his official capacity, I think you really saw a living and breathing human being and a man that has a sense of honour and duty and is fine with death. He's not just an automaton and a stiff upper lip Brit. I've said this in the past and it's still true, but they're also using him as a man of action, which was something else that I hadn't anticipated.

This season we had 'Marauders,' and we have some other stuff coming up this season in which I'm the 'drop-to-one-knee' guy. I did a huge stunt sequence recently, on a big action day, and I really like all of that. We've also seen Malcolm be fallible. I'm the guy who lost the communicator in 'The Communicator.' Nice episode for me, that. That scene in the jail with Archer, sharing a last private moment, was really telling to me. I wasn't particularly happy with the way it actually got shot, but that moment when he turns to the captain and says that he's not afraid, meaning that he's not afraid to die, was a really tender moment between the guys. "I also liked being so pissed off in 'Singularity.' That was a very interesting episode, wasn't it? Malcolm sort of invented the red alert system in that one. I'll never live that down. The red lights are on all the time now people are calling it 'Reed alert'. That has a nice ring to it. But everybody got a little annoying in 'Singularity,' and I quite liked that. I've heard from some of the fans that that episode pushed the envelope a little more than they're used to seeing on Star Trek. I'd quite like to see some more of that, getting a little risky.

I think that [the producers'] issue is they have a hardcore audience that knows what they like and they're used to seeing what they know they like. As much as you want to push forward and stretch the fabric of the show a little, you also don't want to piss these people off. But I think there's room, for instance, for one of the crewmates to become a bit of a wanker and not be completely likeable. And I think Malcolm would be a prime candidate for that. "Actually, the episode we're shooting right now is called 'The Crossing.' It's going to be rather fun, I have to say. I believe it's been revamped from prior Star Trek lore [dating back to 'The Cloud Minders' from the original series].

We get possessed, if you will, by these ethereal non-corporeal beings that have now found it necessary to find some hosts in which to house their spirits because, in their present form, they're dying out. They happen across the crew of the Enterprise and decide that we would make good genetic hosts, as it were. So we all get somewhat possessed by these of ethereal beings, and not all of us are thoroughly likeable. And the one that gets hold of me is quite the dandy, I have to say. It's been really fun playing Reed as this alien being for the first time, housed in a Human body. I had a lovely scene with Jolene the other night in which this being, dressed in clothes and housed as Malcolm, goes to her quarters. It was my second attempt to get the Vulcan into bed. "I came out of that scene the other night with Jolene thinking, 'God, I love acting'," Keating continues. "When there's a real juicy scene and it's got an attitude and it's not just perfunctory exposition about where we're at and how our hull plating is, I really like it. I like being stretched in that way. I would never complain if they just wrote a lot more of that for me.

In the meantime, as I say, I'm very happy with what they are doing for me and I enjoy the fact that I don't have to be there 16 hours a day, five days a week like Scott and Jolene and sometimes Connor. On and off set we're all really good friends, and I have to say this is a dream job with a dream cast and a dream crew. It's just a thoroughly well-oiled production. The people behind it are very accommodating. They'll always try to fit scheduling around some doctor's appointment you've got to make. So, what a fantastic family, I have to say. I will miss it sorely in five years' time. I know I will." Enterprise might very well be around five years down the road. It's performing respectably in the ratings. It's neither a huge hit at this point, nor a drag on UPN's Wednesday night schedule.

But its modest success, coupled with the utterly disappointing critical and box office reactions to Star Trek: Nemesis, the latest and presumably last Star Trek: The Next Generation feature, seem to suggest that the Trek flame is dimming a bit. "Unfortunately, Nemesis didn't do well," Keating acknowledges. "I haven't seen it yet. It's a shame I talked to Rick about it the other night, actually. I can tell he's crestfallen a little. And there was some worry around the [Enterprise] set recently, when all these articles started coming out on the coat-tails of Nemesis, about our plummeting ratings and blah, blah, blah, blah. I just had a long talk with Brannon about it, and he explained it very succinctly to me. He said that things have changed in the 15 years since The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager started airing. There are just a lot more choices out there now for people. TV is not the same animal that it was 15 years ago. You've got satellite dishes and 200 cable channels that very specifically cater to people's tastes. You're not going to pick up a passing audience like you might have 10 years ago, just because there was nothing else on. It doesn't happen anymore.

Given that, I think we're doing pretty well. We hold a steady five or so [each week in the ratings]. "We're in our second year, and by all accounts Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager had the same kinds of dips in the second year. So I'm not too fussed about it. From what I gather, from what I get at the conventions I go to, the fans who watch the show regularly love it. It's very popular with them. They like the characters. And, dare I say it, they certainly like me, unless they're all faking it massively. They paid to get into these conventions, so I sure hope they like me. And friends of mine who've followed my career, as it were, back in England and here in America, who necessarily wouldn't be Trek fans or even bother to watch this kind of show all that much, they adore it.

So there were a couple of weeks where I thought, 'God, are we going to get picked up? Is UPN going to exist?' But I'm over all of that now. I think we're safe." Production on Enterprise's second season will conclude in a matter of weeks, thus Keating is already thinking about plans for his off-season. "I am going to Australia to do a big, five-city convention tour," he reports. "I'm greatly looking forward to it, I must say. And that's about it, unless Steven Spielberg rings me up and says he has to have me in his new movie. Otherwise, that's it. I'm going to take five weeks off and go to Australia." Keating laughs when asked if there's anything else going on that fans should know about before he hangs up the phone. "No," he says in conclusion. "I think I've done my spiel! You've been a good sport about listening to me while I multitask. I'm just doing so many things. I've got to go to work in an hour, so I've been doing all these chores around the house. So you've helped me do my bit and I hope I've given you what you need.

Source: www.dominickeating.com

[emilsgrippers]

whats your opinion on how the seasons should be ranked??? my favorite characters happen to be from my not favorite seasons and i was curious what your rankings were

UHEMMRMMMAGG hmmwmmm

hmmmmm

it may be a tiny bit controversial but here we go gang

From fav to least

—-TDWT /TDI.

I love all of the songs in WT. I enjoy Alejandro very very much, and I found it genuinely just fun and enjoyable. Naturally there are some things I don’t like in said season, like the fact Team victory was obliterated before they even tickled a hair on either of the other team’s necks….but still, I liked it. I loved Blaineley, loved Alejandro loved the after show I loved it.

And for island…it’s the first, it just had that vibe. That nostalgia of watching the show for the first time that I cant(don’t feel like) putting in writing. Again it was a good season that I very much enjoyed :)

—-TDA

TDA could have been tied with the others above, but I remember I was trying to finish it really fast and every non elim episode pissed me off so fucking much. I was genuinely so mad , plus Gidgette first boot so…(totally unbased) but otherwise it was still a good season and while im still upset that

——RR

“RR is a spinoff!!!” Well no other season has Brody in it so?? I love RR a lot. I reeaally love the around the world seasons they bring me lots of joy. I loved Josee and Jacques as villains, I enjoyed the rivalry with the Cadets…of course Brody special mention…and Geoff you can’t have Brody without Geoff in RR. It’s like chicken tenders with no ranch you need fucking ranch (restaurants that serve tenders, take notes. I’m tired of asking for ranch.) it was just a joyous season plus Carrie was voiced by Bridgette’s VA!! And part of the reason I like bridge sm is because of my dearest Kristen Fairlie, so I enjoyed hearing her again all season.

——ROTI

It was ..really hard for me to get used to a whole new cast??? Like it flipped my ass 180 I was baffled. But I immediately fell in love with Zoey and she’s still my fav ROTI character. I was bummed it only had 13 episodes especially when I started liking it…but I mean makes sense since there were only 12 contestants. Still though!!!! I liked it very joyous. But I didn’t like the ending. Zoey going home caught me so off guard I don’t know what happened afterwards because I jumped up to text my friend in sheer horror.

—REBOOT S1

This is kind of where the liking meter drops down to ‘whatever they’re all just there’ . Reboot S1 was good again uh whole new cast to get used to which im great at (lies). I was very disappointed by the ending because I feel like it was really predictable and It saddened me. But it’s okay, I just didn’t care for it too much…I guess that’s kind of in spite since I watched every Reboot 1 episode in 3 part TikTok videos.

—-AS

I know I know truss why is AS so high what the fuck. Well, Alejandro. Robot Alejandro specifically. I love Alejandro like he’s my child. The rest of the season holy shit. I’ve seen explosions less chaotic than that season. It was an entertaining watch though I guess I’ll give them that. Zoey being so. I guess she was always kind of oblivious but somehow more oblivious that hurt really bad. I hate mal though If anyone cares…we have a whole ass villains team why did we make a new crappy villain. But in happy Zoey won. Go zoey go.

—REBOOT 2 (SPOILERS)

It again just. It wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t like Emma in that challenge with the bridge thing & like the personalities or whatever? Yk what I mean… but anyways. Saddened by some of the early boots like very saddened. It was good but like I said just not my favorite. Didn’t sneed to see ripper buttered up, like ever. I didn’t like prileb at all…im a huge Caleb fan but I just was not rocking with it. They did have cute moments I’ll give them that but..nuh uh. Wayne winning caught me off guard but that’s okay we all love Wayne..apparently from die hard angry Julia fans, though.

—-Pahkithew

I KNOW everybody puts pahkithew/ AS last but the only person in the Pahkithew (now P for short) cast I really like is Sky. I mean I like Jasmine, I like Shawn yk, I like Ella…but if you asked me randomly for my fav Pahkithew island characters I’d say “Well, sky…uh….thats about ..it..” because I forgot so much of that season it’s insane. Hated skave hated how apparently rushed(looking) skys ending was. Sugar was fun though I enjoy sugar.

I’m sure this is probably controversial in one way or another I don’t want to hear it im I can’t I don’t want to no not listening lalallalal. It’s always so hard for me to make lists of like rankings or whatever because I’m so neutral on so many things. Like Pahkithew? I still like the season it’s just simply not my fav. AS? Not my fav. It’s really just separated into

FAV!!!

not fav.

thanks for reading If ur actually reading this because that’s impressive.id have gotten bored

[meyhew]

you haven't watched sab2 yet have you? im dying to read what you think about it all cause you're one of the apparently very few people I share the same opinion about the books with and SIGH aint it tough out there for people w good taste these days 😩

well. um. i watched 6 episodes before the season was released and then i put off watching the last two bc i simply didn't want to. i enjoyed like the first... three? i had my qualms about them but i could put those aside for the most part and enjoy the stuff that i did like. then the further i got into it the more i just Deeply Hated everything that was happening. wesper arc? weird and unsettling for Me personally. helnik? basically nonexistent except for in matthias' fantasies. kanej? nothing happens but the vibes slayed. i was annoyed with how they used baghra in s1 and downright pissed about what they did to her in s2. and don't even get me started on darkles... i just know book darkling would kill show darkling out of spite and i'd cheer him on. book darkling is so cold and conniving and it's so annoying to see how much they've watered him down and humanized him to appeal to a certain demographic. malina tho... im so so so so so deeply angry about malina.

the entire thematic core of the grisha trilogy is that unrestrained power is Bad and that alina has never really wanted it for herself—she gets lost in her head for a while when she's overwhelmed by the euphoria of having multiple amplifiers but when she realizes that the cost of having unchecked power is sacrificing mal... well then she doesn't want to pay it. she literally brings him back from the dead because she can't cope with the grief of spending her life without him. her power literally explodes out of her because her body cannot contain all of it. she goes to live off the grid because she doesn't care for a life of power and politics anymore, never truly did. and the show erases ALL of that. this season shits all over the thesis statement of tgt and does such an unbelievable disservice to mal and alina's individual characters as well as their dynamic together. the two of them parting ways is tragic because it throws away the most crucial takeaway from the story: love, however ordinary, is all that matters. if love can ever be ordinary. taking that away from alina in favor of a political marriage and a crown is so disheartening because she has never wanted that.

"They wanted a Grisha queen. Mal wanted a commoner queen. And what did I want? Peace for Ravka. A chance to sleep easy in my bed without fear. An end to the guilt and dread that I woke to every morning. There were old wants too, to be loved for who I was, not what I could do, to lie in a meadow with a boy’s arms around me and watch the wind move the clouds."

[waldensblog]

Shadow and Bone Season 2 thoughts

So I just finished watching Shadow and Bone season 2, and I have a lot of thoughts to unpack. It probably goes without saying, but there are spoilers below the read more line for the show. Overall, I really enjoyed this season, and there were things I liked, and some I didn’t. 

The Darkling

My BABY. For me he stole every second of every scene he was in, because I am still harbouring a ridiculous crush on this man. I loved seeing him rescue the Grisha in cages, pointing out that this happened before, and he’s disappointed it’s happening again, but isn’t surprised. He’s tried different tactics and now he’s decided he’ll have to become King/Emperor to stop the wars, stop the mass loss of life that’s been happening for centuries, and try to establish a peace - a Pax Darkling. Unfortunately, I don’t think we had a single season 1 Grisha on his side, so all his troops/allies were new, relatively undeveloped characters. I don’t take issue with David switching sides - that was kind of foreshadowed in season 1 with the regret on his face when fusing the stag’s bones to Alina and the Darkling, but no Feydor (what even happened to him?)? No other named Grisha? Really? Not one? And don’t get me started on his relationship with his mother. Is he a good, pure, soul? No. But his mother very much pissed me off. She pretty well kills herself in front of him, and uses her last act to cut off his hand. He tries to stop it, but he is held back, and she effectively blames him for it. He’s cradling her and saying sorry, crying. Dear lord. He looks at Alina with so much pride throughout the season most of the time, and in the end, his last thoughts are of those moments of peace and happiness he found with her (before it all got FUCKED). His last wish is for her to burn the body so his bones can’t be used. Alina doesn’t even realize how alike she is to him, and I hope to GOD he comes back, even if I know the writers probably won’t. Ben did a fantastic job, and whatever happens in season 3, I won’t forget it. My favourite character of this show. I applaud Ben so much for his excellent performance. 

The Darkling x Alina I ugly cried. I can’t believe I got becoming part 2′ed again. No seriously how many times must I be subjected to my ship ending in this very specific manner? A lovers to enemies arc ending with her stabbing him with a sword. Why has this happened to me three times? Okay now in all seriousness. I still love them. I did feel like Ben was kind of carrying this ship by himself at times, though, because I guess the writers didn’t want Alina acknowledging feelings for anyone but Mal this season - the closest we got to Alina confronting her feelings was that conversation with Baghra. I loved the Darkling being still in love with Alina, “My Alina”, “My little saint”, had one moment of peace BESTILL MY HEART. I loved this, but also, I am disappointed that Alina couldn’t shed one tear for him when he died. I blame that one on the writers. I am obsessed with Alina’s ending, when she used the Shadow cut and smiled like that. Oh, Honey. HONEY I don’t know what happened but that was a Darklina treat for me (after they first ripped my heart out, I will accept my consolation prize thanks). Alina has so much in common with Aleksander this season and doesn’t see it all and he’s so right about so much and I just... AHHH. I’m secretly hoping we get a season 3 that brings him back, perhaps they can take a cue from Buffy season 3 or do a possessed Nikolai thing. #BringBackTheDarkling #DarklingSeason3. Do it.

Nikolai, Tolya and Tamar

I loved the introduction of Nikolai and the other pirates privateers. They immediately added an interesting element to the show that I loved seeing, and I enjoyed seeing Nikolai join the Crows/Alina alliance. It was also interesting that he turns out to be the prince, who winds up king. A wild ride. Despite my immediate stanning of them, I would have liked if they were a bit further developed. Don’t get me wrong, I thought they were fleshed out okay, but when Nikolai’s friend died near the end of the show, I was like “who is this guy?” because I’m pretty sure I just met him. He may have been a long-time friend of Nikolai’s, but I didn’t see any of that friendship. I liked seeing Tolya and Tamar fit into the cast as well, with Tamar becoming a close ally of Alina’s and almost her Ivan, and Tolya becoming a sort of honorary crow. Nikolai initially refusing to learn Mal’s name was iconic. An immediate legend. 

Nikolai x Alina I feel like these two had a lot of potential presented this season to be a good romantic pairing, definitely healthier than Darklina (which is still my #1 ship for this show), but it didn’t get fully developed. They spent some time together, but mostly there was wandering off and the occasional conversation/flirting. It felt pretty one-sided, which even got acknowledged near the end, where Nikolai’s friend refers to it as a “fake engagement with real feelings”. I’d have liked if they spent a bit more time developing this. Maybe season 3, if a season 3 there will be. And with that Nikolai shadow mirror ending, I have hopes - not likely to happen, but hopes that we may get a possession plotline. Yes.PLEASE. 

Mal x Alina Still not feeling it, sorry not sorry. No offense to Archie at all, because this one is a writer’s problem I think. Mal is just... sorry but he’s so boring. He’s whitebread, an absolute lego block with zero personality. What was his character in season 1? A tracker obsessed with Alina. Season 2? A tracker obsessed with Alina. “You are my nation” my guy please have any sense of politics or personality. I always felt like they were better as a platonic brother-sister kind of relationship. I liked when they broke up because he didn’t “feel that pull” anymore because at least now Mal may actually develop into a character and not a plot device. Whatever the reverse of a Mary Sue is, that’s Mal in this show to me. Literally, he’s the firebird, his purpose is to be an amplifier to let Alina take down the fold. And now he’s done that. I dislike that he apparently just gets to be captain of a pirate ship now though, because the dude has never served a day in his life as a sailor. He hasn’t earned that captaincy. I also really dislike that the writers had Alina only acknowledge feelings for Mal this season, because if I’m honest, those feelings felt forced - kind of like she was mistaking the pull of the firebird amplifier for romantic feelings. I’m going to assume that’s the case for now, and hope the writers stop trying to force this on us, even if the source material does (as they have clearly gone in a new direction from the books, one can dream!)

The Crows I still love the Crows, or specifically, Jesper, Inej and Kaz. Jesper is a bi disaster, and I loved finding out he’s a Durast, and seeing that evolution in his character. I am so here for it. Super thrilled that Inej is finally free of her indenture, and I enjoyed learning some more of Kaz’s backstory and finding out why he is the way he is. I find them all pretty morally grey - to different degrees of course. Wylan was interesting, but I didn’t get attached to him or Wesper, that plot line is just fine to me. I like Nina alright, and she fits in well with the rest of them (every group needs their respective heartrender after all!), but if I’m honest... I just don’t care much for Helnik or Mathias overall. Him and Nina were pretty disconnected from everyone else in season 1, so I was kinda meh about them to start, and while Nina fit in well with the others, Mathias just hungout in jail all season. He seems nice enough (points for refusing to fight canines), but I just don’t... really care about his storyline. I did enjoy seeing the Crows have a whole revenge plotline and then jump back into the fray as Alina’s allies - evidently they care a bit about what happens in Ravka, they easily could have just said “whatever” but I guess it’s a “I’m one of the idiots who lives in this world” bits. 

Overall Impressions I enjoyed the season, but to be honest, some of it felt a bit odd in terms of balance. Some parts and relationships felt either rushed or not developed enough, and other times I was like “boy it’s been a while since we’ve seen the Darkling” and I’d realize I was like 30 minutes into the episode and he hadn’t shown up yet. I think maybe because they were adapting 2 books at the same time and adding the Crows storyline, it was perhaps a bit rushed/jam-packed. I also found it really odd pacing to have the Darkling die in the first 10 minutes of the final episode, leaving like... 45 minutes to go to wrap up everything else that season. Just pacing wise, it seems odd. Also, the only ship that really won this season was Wesper, huh? 

[when-wax-wings-melt]

OKAY. finished sab2 you can rant to me now tell me all your thoughts bc im still stewing

OKAY. OKAY.

overall opinion is that the crows should not have been in sab at all. it should have been solely Alina and her story. maybe a cameo of inej or Nina at MOST but certainly the crows should not have been involved.

because they WERE, they spent the whole season trying to find something for them to do, and settled on.???? ruining their characters. LMAOOO . first of all, they made it very much about romance which was strange, but mostly they fast tracked relationships and gave characters dynamics that were not true to their characters. the whole point of wesper is that wylan is near scandalized but then warms up to jespers jokes and all that. but they?? hooked up??? previously??? like what the fuck.

also severe erase of inej trauma! why does kaz get a full flashback backstory and inej doesn't? taking away tante heleen (particularly by someone else's hand) was a shit move since a woman being in charge of the brothel was super important!! pekka is supposed to be a reasonably irrational hatred of kaz (in that it's a grudge he specifically holds, and inej hates him by proxy) he's not supposed to OWN INEJ. also, when everyone else was having the hallucinations, why did everyone else get to imagine family and then inej got kaz's stupid ass?? where's her fucking brother???

also the Jesper and aditi hallucination was super expositiony and did his backstory dirty. I don't like that kaz got the only flashbacks it's kind of rude.

all in all, the crows overshadowed the shadow and bone cast w a kind of weak plot. it felt like major fan service. it also felt like they didn't know how to properly develop relationships and had to use everything from soc and ck instead of actually slowburning properly (kanej fucking SPEEDRAN, not to mention wesper)

onto the actual sab plotline

I detested mals character this season. he felt like a second choice, and they really erased the core of his conflict with Alina so the conflict they did have felt very manufactured and out of nowhere. the contrast of him fitting in anywhere and her always out of place was supposed to affect their relationship as well as her relationship w the darkling and it felt too rushed.

Nikolai I was also disappointed in. the point of him turning into the monster was that Alina loses everyone all the time, and it's more proof that the darklings words about her immortality and power means something. she has to witness him become a monster and turn to the darkling; now impossible, because unless they're launching immediately into kos (wonky idea) the darkling is fucking dead.

also WHY did they kill David off. for literally what reason. also they did zoya dirty and also they did not give genya as horrifying scars as she probably should have had but that's a separate issue. also tolya?? for no reason he was really outgoing suddenly.

putting both books 2&3 together WITH the crows was a bad move in my opinion, it made everything too rushed and felt like we didn't get nearly as much out of it as we could've. I liked some parts of it such as baghra and stuff but overall I was. I was pretty pissed by what they did LMAOO

[oretsev]

hi helloo, i'd just written a novel in ur askbox about s&b and then tumblr crashed and it was all lost :') maybe for the better because it was a total mess of thoughts lmao so let me try to summarise my feelings a bit (im sorry this turned out REALLY long)

i HATE that they speedran s&s and r&r in the most bullshit way possible. the entire amplifier hunt was basically removed, at least journey-wise - they just. find the sea whip in that one cave and then they go to morozova's workshop and thats it?? wheres the shu han quest. where the fuck is the ACTUAL spinning wheel. and why is alina not hounding everyone to find the firebird??? she's supposed to be obsessively seeking it now, why does she barely seem to care? also where's the actual ending to siege and storm. WHERE is my darkling & alina fight. wheres her being saved by mal... where's her white hair !!!! idk that scene was my favourite and once i knew we were getting a tv show i really wanted to see this on screen :((

all the characters and relationships they cut... harshaw, misha, ONCAT, tamar&nadia (because lbr they basically weren't there), honestly i even missed sergei and stigg (who i'd barely even remembered before), nadia and adrik as siblings even. they just cut all these people and their journeys with alina for what, a fetch quest for a magic sword?

also, where's the apparat and the soldat sol? we hear people call alina 'sankta', sure, but the entire religious part of ruin and rising is just. completely sidelined. which is really weird because it's so important!! tolya and tamar's faith is basically nonexistent and i don't like it at all

the whole firebird reveal was soooo boring. like i'm sorry but that scene in the book? absolutely perfect. but in the show... it's just a story! baghra just tells mal and thats it! honestly this entire season was so much telling and not showing too, soooo much exposition and it just really didnt work

now then. ive put this off long enough but. the fucking ending. dude... i don't even know where to begin. how do you fuck up the rewrite of your book so badly that the entire moral of your book is just. completely lost?? literally the entire trilogy is built on the "what is infinite? the universe and the greed of men" quote. you CANNOT disregard that in this way. the point of the entire story is that alina's greed is punished! she loses her powers and she loses mal (sort of). the fold is destroyed by her power but not by her, because she never should have had that much power! now... she loses nothing. she has her power, she has three amplifiers, she brought mal back with merzost (which is still. insane to me like i legit laughed out loud when that happened) and now she's general of the second army and also soon probably queen of ravka??? she doesnt lose ANYTHING to her greed.

and with the ending too... where the hell are they going to take this next? because theyre sure as hell not following the kos duology storyline, what with alina now being nikolai's general instead of zoya (which im also. really pissed off about because zoya's story is SO important and theyve just. shoved her to the side)

i also have some thoughts about the crows and how theyve been handled of course i just don't feel as passionately about them (also because they shouldnt have been in this show in the first place but thats just my opinion <3) but i do wonder how theyre gonna start the soc spinoff when theyve basically done so much of the crooked kingdom plot already? and inej is literally already sailing and finding slavers like... i have no idea how theyre going to dothis spinoff and make everyone happy

very small last points but im so mad that they did the "an ordinary life full of ordinary things" line and then decided to. include nikolai? what the actual fuck? and then they didnt even GIVE malina their ordinary life... sorry im so so angry about this ending

i'm sure ive got more to say but this is already wayy too long and i don't wanna bother u anymore but ive just been mad for 3 days straight and really needed to get this off my chest <3 im really disappointed that theyve managed to screw up my favourite book series of all time so i'm just going to reread r&r and forget this season exists :D hope u have a nice day and thank u for reading this dump slfksdj

RIP but ty for venting!!! i totally get everything you’re saying. all of this comes down to the writers smashing basically all of the books into one season for NO reason. all of the things that make the trilogy & duology interesting & compelling & complex are gone bc there’s no time to show them. it’s constantly going GO GO GO with the plot, & for what?? nothing got added to these characters this season, i didn’t feel any impact during any of the big reveals, i didn’t get any emotional payoff from these characters’ journeys.

& why change the ending the way they do? eric’s already said that a season 3 would go back & touch on s&s things they didn’t address. so this ending is meant to draw out alina & mal’s stories, but why do it this way? why backtrack like that? you could certainly draw out the trilogy without speed-running the original ending like this, but that doesn’t fit whatever weird narrative he has for the crows ig.

[heliads]

LISA! i'm so sorry is taking me so long to come here, things have been crazy this year but i had to tell you I'M GOING TO THE ERAS TOUR

i'm so happy!!!! i couldn't believe i got the tickets, it was so chaotic. but she's finally coming to brazil and i'll be able to go and it'll be like 2 weeks before my birthday so it's the best gift ever!!

i hope you're having a nice summer vacation!! get some rest and have fun, i'm sending a lot of love <3

about shadow and bone, i agree, season 2 was so disappointing. the cast is everything i dreamed about, i love them so much, but everything else... i still can't believed they combined s&s and r&r and somehow managed to erase half of alina's story. i think it's so disrespectful with the fans and even with jessie mei li, we lost a lot of character depth and all of her internal battle, i was pissed

and there's some things that were just so ???

i mean, nikolai is this incredible privateer and tolya and tamar are great and they have so much sea experience, but still they decided to go walking with alina, mal and 3 other guys into that little cavern to try and kill something called the sea whip, a million years mythological monster. it doesnt make any sense.

all of genya's arc was messed up, i was so mad that they kept the king during all of vasily's dinner but they had to kill him there so she wouldn't be able to do the "i'm not ruined, i'm ruination" moment. and yes, she confronted the queen, but it's SUCH a moment in the book when she gathers up confidence to confront the man who abused her for years and we were robbed. also, they gave her like, two scars

the darkling looked like he was dying the whole season, if alina didn't kill him, he would've died of pneumonia in two weeks lol

and they did the crows so dirty, if we do get the spin off i wonder how the hell they're going to justify inej's return. she has absolutely no reason to join the heist, she's already free and in a ship living her best life

and yes, mal as sturmhond was traumatizing. and so was the little hint at tolya and inej possibly being a couple. i wanted to cry.

but sujaya was so pretty and her little wink when zoya is talking to alina made me faint so that was great. paddy as nikolai had me in a chokehold the entire time and honestly, every single actor is so good in that show

OMG ERAS TOUR!!! tell me EVERYTHING when you go, the video clips i've seen of her past performances look INCREDIBLE. does this mean you get to see sabrina carpenter too??

and yes, all of your shadow and bone thoughts are so correct. i mean it KILLS me because the show should be so good! their casting was incredible and the costumes are fantastic and the cgi is good and the locations are great... and the source material worked just fine... but no, they butchered everything. there was no reason to do that! i know shows are getting canceled left and right so they felt like they had to streamline it so they could get to everything but girl... WHY

it was so great to hear from you!! hoping you're doing well too xoxo

[daylightaftertherain]

finished s&b season 2, random thoughts below (spoilers obviously)

THE CROWS but esp wylan bc he's my son and I love him

not the biggest fan of how they ended up combining the two series together, the crows definitely deserve much more than this, and also I kind of hate how they're just pulling things out of both six of crows and crooked kingdom randomly with no regard for how the scenes reflected the characters' arcs

kaz and jordie though? TRAUMATIZING

idk why they included jesper's mom in there either, it was fun seeing him using his powers but the books do SO much better at realistically handling him overcoming his feelings of guilt and fear over an extended period of time with support from people he loves, rather than him suddenly gaining clarity because of a poison trip hallucination

also the last ep handled everything weirdly imo, like inej already hunting down slavers when that makes no sense for what her arc was in the books, and right after the "how will you have me" scene too (still iconic though)

wesper should've gotten their slowburn, but I will still happily replay their scenes until I feel something because I'm still a sucker for wesper being couply even if their relationship was super rushed

thank god for kit and jack doing the "just girls" scene during promo because the show's effectively eliminated any chance of that <3

ICE COURT ICE COURT ICE COURT ICE COURT >:D

JURDA PAREM

really really hope they handle wylan and van eck properly if we get a third season

overall I just think the writers either didn't fully understand the crows' personalities and stories and picked whatever was most popular within the book's fandom, which, yeah, you have to do some fan service, but this has zero regard for what people who've read the books actually wanted, and while I did enjoy watching, I really would've preferred their stories getting handled with care (even if it meant less screentime)

also can we stop with the whole pulling shit out of our asses that have nothing to do with adapting the books faithfully and don't even contribute to the plot of the show thank you

enough about the crows ahjsgjkhfdhf let's move on to shadow and bone

still despise alina with either mal or the darkling, I'm sorry but they both do not deserve her and she had better chemistry with nikolai in five minutes than those two ever did

tolya and tamar were some of my favorites unsurprisingly, they're iconic and I would do anything for them (and tamar getting her sapphic love story oh my god)

I also loved alina's interactions with the crew and basically anyone who wasn't mal or the darkling, she's thriving this season and I'm glad she's becoming her own person

nikolai was so well portrayed, really hope he gets his king of scars arc and we get to see more of him, but I think they should've kept in the bit where he was basically a volcra for a while (probabaly got cut because of budget or smth but it added so much to his character)

why would they kill off david (I'm half-holding onto the show/movie logic of not seeing the body yet but STILL) it's way too early in the overall plot of the book series, and I can't enjoy the show when they pull things from different points in the timeline without any reasoning behind it, it's just lazy and stupid. also genya did not deserve this much suffering in one season istfg

I skipped most of the darkling's scenes because that man pisses me off so much, but ben barnes did a good job at adding depth to him after baghra's death

speaking of baghra she's an a+ character, no notes

that's it I guess? def forgot some thoughts that I might add later, but yeah this season was fun and I had a good time, there's just some huge issues with how they adapted the books to the show, and their handling of all of the characters

[i-have-ink-for-blood]

SPOILERS FOR SHADOW AND BONE SEASON 2

why the shadow and bone season 2 pisses me off

1. most of all i’m angry at how they changed inej. she was less outspoken about her beliefs in my opinion. she also didn’t deal with any of her trauma. most of all she doesn’t become an independent kickass captain. she works for mal ?? also what was that between tolya and inej? like whatttt

2. connected to one. the general disrespect for the crows characters/their arcs. they made kaz so rash and make so many bad decisions. where was his cleverness ?? there wasn’t enough scheming. i saw someone else say this but nina was so 2d ?? also what happened to the kanej or wesper slow burns ?? to wylan learning from kaz and becoming a criminal ?? to jesper and his father and his growth to accepting himself.

3. killing david off early ?? umm. no. also i’m always one to support a morally gray woman but what the fuck are they doing to alina’s character?? i liked that she could go off and be happy ? and we could focus on the triumvirate of david, genya, and zoya ?? but instead they kill off david and she instead starts using merzost/shadow and becomes power hungry ? like her and mals new ending ruins so many characters plot lines

that was alot. there’s so much more but i’m kinda pissed and i’m not going to continue right now. i might add more later

i understand it’s just a series. they’re fictional characters. but they gutted these beloved characters because they thought it would sell better. and yeah i’m pretty upset about it. it would’ve been a fun watch if i had no knowledge of the series but i just can’t

[whalebonelongsword]

GURL

Add another nickle because of Br'aad Vengolor from Fated.

- Br'aad and The Storyteller vs Ob'nockshai

- Peter vs Exandroth

- Gillion in the Luxbris Pearl

- William vs Kemuri

ALSO

Holly shit this finale killed me in one hit. Them calling up their editor to see if the Trickster already had 3 degrees of failure was fucking gold.

"How do you want to do this?- Thanks Tizen."

And fucking??? William getting torn in half?? I almost started fucking sobbing because all of it was just *happening* to William with no rolls and he wasn't even supposed to *be* on the battlegrounds. Mal absolutely, combined with Williams fears, directly caused William to die (again). And then he hides behind Vincent holding this skull that radiates terror (mmm ghistknife crumbs) and he barely knows what to do with it other than it *weakens the trickster*. In what way bitch!! And then just being brutally killed Mortal Kombat style, OUGH (intensive psychic damage). I, for a while, thought it would be the absolute end to William Wisp.

I liked Duck returning for a bit, even if he was doing his job. Makes it feel like characters are actually living in the space and going about their business instead of being forgotten and becoming a loose plot thread (like with Summer in the rolled).

And then just, William and Kemuri fighting eternally forever until William can beat Kemuri, FUCKING MINT!!! God that was so fucking good. William getting progressives pissed off as he continued getting wiped by Kemuri over and over while having to face his cowardice head on? AAAAAAA!!

And then Danny Phantom. For real, real life, real Danny Phantom. Clerance was Danny Phantom all along. Petition to rename the Ghost King title to The Whisperer or just the "Halfa" name. Because as a Danny Phantom fan for fucking ever, I really want the DP Fandom to be infected by William Wisp just as much as William Wisp was inspired by Dp.

I'm so happy that we now have a slightly more self assured William Wisp back who is now fully accepting of the wisps. I missed him doing crazy shit with his powers back in season 1. Because Mr. Charlie Slimecicle is the one who gets creative with what he does, the silly rules lawyer he is. And as much as i love Dakota and Vyncent, they're both "kill him until he dies" (not really *kill* for Dakota) and William was the creatively clever one who moves through smoke, hold people in bubbles they can't move through but his teammates can. The fucking *Spirit Form*!!! He stopped using his powers as much in Season two given his increasing depressive spiral ever since Ashe got tricksterfied. Which, okay yes, completely understandable, until suddenly neither three of them actually has powers anymore. William is alive, rejecting the Whisps who reject him in turn, Dakota loses his blue heart that gave him his abilities in the first place, and Vyncent can no longer switch between the magic people in his head and is just solely himself again (I'm ignoring the fact that Vyncent can cast spells because it's only happened about three times because he keeps forgetting he can actually do that)

And I really want to know on what that decide to do with the blue heart that should be in William's corpse

Me desperately wanting to talk about the episode but knows my one irl friend who’s caught up is busy right now and my other Prime Defender watching friends are nowhere near close where I could talk about this with them

[citrusacidic]

YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR LATEST POST DAVE’S DEVELOPMENT PLEASE ELABORATE ON THAT!! :0

THANK U SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME ABOUT HIM im so happy to share

The reason why i like Dave so much as an antagonist is because he’s not similar to any other main antagonist we’ve ever had on TD in terms of motivation to win the million. I just find the reasons he did what he did to be really interesting.

In terms of development he started of as a protagonist, one of the good guys, a major part of his character for the first majority of TDPI was that he was the ONLY normal character. Everyone else to him was crazy and too weird to function well on this show. He’s almost the underdog in the sense that, because he’s outnumbered by everyone elses favor, you want HIM to win. As the season progresses his infatuation with Sky gets like,, borderline weird. They both obviously like each other and when Dave asked Sky out and she said that she liked him, he refused to listen to anything else she said and acted really delusional and irrational about it. He assumed that that was her accepting his feelings and them officially dating when that wasnt the case at all, and he wouldnt let her elaborate on her reasons anyways.

At some point in the season its very obvious he doesnt care about the game or the money, and he only really cares about sky (another character working in the same vein and line of thinking as that being, yknow, sierra) in the episode where hes voted off he campaigns for himself to be kicked off??? because he felt bad or smth????? idk its crazy.

This is the part in his development that i really like though, is when he and jasmine come back as helpers. For the most part Daves fine, mostly being mopey dopey because of sky until she lies about them dating or something. Until Chris shows him and Jasmine the videos of Shawns confessionals and Skys audition. Dave takes that audition tape as a hard stop rejection (like the other actual hard stop rejections weren’t?) and gets fuckin PISSED. When he and jasmine are given the opportunity to stop shawn and sky from winning and win themselves, Daves motive are like,, really unique to me?

Every other antagonist in TD has had the motive that they wanted the million dollars for themself, because THEY wanted to use it. Heather, alejandro, scott, lightning, jo, mal, FUCK i mean SCARLETT? same god damn season??? They all wanted to win the million to use for themselves. DAVE, however, wanted the million dollars because he wanted to burn it in front of Sky because he was mad that she rejected him. Which btw, is the most incel behavior ever seen on this show. At the point in the finale where he is trying to actually win the million, his biggest goals are to either WIN the million dollars to BURN in front of sky, or fucking KILL sky trying to. Which is intense as FUCK and SO interesting and awful, its my favorite.

thats my analysis of Dave *bows* hope u all find it as interesting as i do

[sohosaturn]

warning: this post is long af cause i have a lot to say :)

okay so i finished it yesterday and i have MANY thoughts, but my biggest gripe with season 2 (season 1 was fine in most departments for me tbh even with the weird timeline change) is that they completely assassinated SO MANY CHARACTERS, like straight up destroyed them for absolutely no reason.

(spoiler warning, i’m fashionably late to this but jic im not the only one, spoiler warning for everything)

as much as i hate the “female mc loses her powers by the end to be with the love interest” trope, it made sense in the books cause the whole message is that greed is a dangerous thing, and her giving normal people her powers to break the fold just hits so much harder. in the show, it’s as if she’s made the same mistake kirigan did but for mal instead of power, and i HATE that. i wonder if they’re planning to stretch out her and mal’s ending, but who the hell knows. but by far the worst character assassinations were the crows.

why would they do this? the only character thet kinda did justice was jesper but they still made some changes to his relationship with wylan that just made it shallow. i get that he’s a hoe in the show, and that’s funny to me, but we never saw him and wylan fliriting and teasing, it was just straight up they had a one night stand and they’re already together. that is so boring. also wylan’s introduction is so weird to me, i feel like he should’ve just been mildly introduced at the end, like how he and jesper met in the books and just leave for the ice court heist. wylan already being with the crows, already dating jesper, just doesn’t hit as hard as it does in the books. and they already put the mini conflict between him and jesper about the fact that he can’t read, i feel like that should’ve just not been touched until the ice court heist (if we ever get it lmao). also jesper’s reasoning as to why he thinks it’s a curse is just told to us, and not shown like in the book when his father still thinks his power is a curse, and imo that sucked. they should’ve had him contemplate and have a little crisis about how he feels about his power, like this 400 year old saint and his man says it’s a gift but his own loss and what his father’s told him says otherwise. don’t just have him change his mind like a switch flipped lmao.

i know books are completely different medium but this could’ve been avoided, and honestly most of the really heartfelt and nuanced relationships within the crows are just shallow in the show and it pisses me the FUCK off.

they did kaz and inej SO dirty. how’d they manage to make their relationship SHALLOW? how do you do that? HOW??? the line where inej tells kaz she’ll have without armor or not have him at all is completely ruined in the show !!! it just makes it seem like she’s pressuring him to be able to touch her without having a panic attack, and out of all characters, inej would NEVER say that. i feel like her hallucination when they’re all poisoned and dying shouldn’t have been like her hoping kaz would open up, they should’ve explored her trauma instead. i understand this is dated tv-14 and they don’t want to have graphic scenes, but they don’t have to do that to get the point across. they can just show her crying in her room in the menagerie, maybe venting to one of the girls girls or praying that her saints save her, they can just imply her trauma like they did with genya’a character (who’s also somewhat assassinated in the show imo) THAT would’ve been better. while inej’s biggest fear is that she won’t be useful to kaz, so he’ll abandon her, that probably wouldn’t have worked because there’s extra context during and after the ice court heist that adds to that, especially when she says “he’ll never trade if you break me” so i get why they didn’t do that, but they didn’t have to do what they did in the show. inej is just done the dirtiest i think, especially in the end! the way she finds out she wants to hunt slavers and have her own ship is done so much better in the book and how kaz does possibly the most heartfelt, romantic, beautiful thing of all time to get her to live out that purpose and see her family again, that concludes their relationship and their arcs SO beautifully, just for the show to put her on sturmhond’s ship. it’s not even her ship, or her crew!!!! and we just never revisit her missing brother, ever. how are they gonna take her character’s current ending (cause i believe there’s a third six of crows book coming out? idk) without all the other experiences and plot points that get her there, her character arc in the show is a half-baked cake! the basic plot points of her character are baked on the outside, but the deeper more developed plot points are just raw egg. inej just deserved better. also if they make kaz and inej’s relationship into a love triangle with tolya, im gonna jump off a bridge.

kaz was done the most justice, but they took like 65% of crooked kindom and used it in the most anticlimatic ways possible. all the moments from crooked kingdom that they used in the show lacked the proper context, so it was just super fast paced and not developed at all. kaz, a 17 year old kid, tears down TWO rich, powerful men, one of which he’s been planning for revenge against him since he was “reborn.” in the show, his vengeance is directly taken from the book, but it doesn’t hit hard like at all. all the smart things he does in crooked kingdom (the plague, the bluffing he does with pekka’s son, etc.) are followed by his mistakes caused by his clouded judgement that puts his friends in danger, and the show just uses them all willy nilly and i just felt so disappointed by it. the fight in the slat where he gets the dregs back on his side i just taken from the book and done in a more boring and out of place way, and i haaaaaated it.

im not even gonna get too deep into nina and matthias, that shit was so wack it’s insane, it was fast paced and them slowed the hell down. all i’ll say is that nina should NOT love him yet, she feels guilty for putting someone who trusted in jail, yes, but she’s already in love with matthias. how. bro still thinks grisha are just evil witches, it takes like most of six of crows for him to realize that not all of them are evil and that he loves nina, especially after she almost DIES for him and the rest of the crows, and it takes all that for nina to realize that the hate fjerdans feel is ingrained into them and they could change their minds. why should she feel more than just guilt when half of that stuff hasn’t happened yet? idk, they have the chance to be done well in the show, but it’ll definitely be very weird.

honestly the main issue is that they used a lot of the major plot points and events from crooked kingdom, just without the right context, instead made some shit up, and did it all in like 2 episodes when it took 500 pages in the books. that’s a lot of pages. fitting 500 pages worth of story and events into two episodes is bound to not end well?

is this how game of thrones fans felt with season 8? cause i feel so sad that these amazing characters were so badly butchered.

ofc im just reiterating other people’s complaints bc i agree with them but im still sad and disappointed. this post is long enough, i hope we get a season 3 or like a six of crows spin off or something just to at least find a somewhat satisfactory conclusion but until then im pretending the show was just mediocre fanfiction made by someone who loves shadow and bone and feels iffy about six of crows lmao. i got the king of scars duo today, so i hope it’s good (im sure it is, i need like a mind cleanse from all this lmao) and maybe i’ll post about it idk, but thanks for reading up to this if you did, if you didn’t that’s fine lmao i get it !!

im watching shadow and bone after reading the trilogy and six of crows duo and i have never been more confused in my life lmao

[mangora]

Ask ship game: camzoke, chref, uhhhhh alemike?

Camzoke:

What made you ship it?: I feel like all three of them really helped each other grow and just had a wholesome relationship in ROTI, it was really cute!

Favorite thing about the ship?: I think all three of them contributed to each other’s arcs in a circular way and made each other more confident, plus Cameron and Zoey explicitly don’t really have friends in canon and it’s implied Mike has social issues as well due to his disorder so I think that first major bond between the three of them would really push them into liking each other. They’re also just such dorks I love when partners are just absolute goofs t

Unpopular opinion on the ship: not on the ship but on the relationship in general platonic and romantic, really annoys me when people treat Mike and Zoey like Cameron’s parents. He’s their age and he’s a genius and won a season by himself like he doesn’t need them to take care of him especially after his S4 arc

Chref:

What made you ship it?: Their interactions in Action were really reminiscent of a couple I think and the fact they were so devastated about potentially losing each other just really strengthened not just their bond but both of them as characters, it’s actually one of the only things I liked in that season it was so humanizing for them and I feel like we never got that again

Favorite thing about the ship?: I feel like they’re both good influences on each other and I liked seeing them communicate and mature because of each other. Also I just love when two fucked up characters find each other and become like silly partners in crime and are the only ones who get each other

Unpopular opinion on the ship: Don’t like when Chef is shown as holding back Chris from doing dumb shit because they canonically do the dumb shit together like 90% of the time. Chef ran around dressed up as a serial killer for the lolz and threw knives at kids he’s not that responsible /pos

Alemike:

What made you ship it?: I have a whole other post on this from like idk a month ago but I also love the trope of flirty character x character who is trying not to fall for them and failing, and that’s…literally them. Mike would definitely treat him like he does Scott for a while and avoid him bc he thinks he’s insane but Alejandro would be very persistent and also he’s charming and I think specifically after Mal comes back, if Mike were able to front they’d have a sort of unspoken bond over Alejandro knowing his secret

Favorite thing about the ship?: Pretty much what I said above but also I think Alejandro could help Mike be more honest with his own feelings. I love Zoke a lot it’s one of my favorite ships ever but in canon especially in All Stars I feel like it’s almost too fluffy and neither of them would be adjusted enough to disagree with each other or express their non-lovey feelings, so I think Alejandro would work well for that. Not in the way where Mike would like read him to filth but in the way where he’d be less afraid to be vulnerable if that makes sense

Unpopular opinion on the ship?: not necessarily about the ship but I’m tired of babying Mike, Mike would say fuck he would tell Alejandro to fuck off at first this boy has never agreed with himself in his life and he would have a whole crisis and be pissed at himself for liking Alejandro because morals etc etc and I think that’s honestly funnier

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched in Quarantine

With some of the restrictions being lifted, I wanted to make a sort of master post to see just how much I’ve watched in my time off. Plus, I wanted to share something more lighthearted with everyone.

All of these anime will be rated on a 1-10 scale, 10 meaning masterpiece, 1 meaning complete garbage. I’ll also share what I liked/didn’t like about each show. This list will go in chronological order, and will encompass all anime from 3/13 - 6/13. Multiple Seasons will be grouped together. 

1. Beastars - 8/10 

I dig how human and down-to-earth Beastars is. The pacing was a nice and the animation was unexpectedly great! It’s driving force is its characters and their interactions. Felt a little slow at times, and Juno annoys me, but that’s okay. I’ll be watching season 2.

2. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun - 8/10 

Oh my god! This visuals for this were absolutely wonderful! It did feel a little cliche at times, I won’t lie. But, I still loved all of these characters and the nice balance between creepy and comedy. 

3. Ao No Exorcist - 6/10 

I posted about this one after I finished it. The ending really pissed me off. I feel like if I had watched this when I was 13, I would’ve given it a higher score. Compared to some of the other shounen I’ve watched, this felt a bit basic. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t like it. Still have to get around to watching season 2...

4.  Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 6.5/10

Shoujo usually isn’t my cup of tea. Maid-sama was a nice way to ease into the cliches of shoujo. Misaki is a great protagonist and the ending Maid-sama was so satisfying. I’m only giving it a low score because of its slow pacing and lack of certain character development. 

5.  Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou  - 7/10

I’m a big Violet Evergarden fan to begin with, so of course I liked this movie. It did not resonate with me as much as the series itself, but I still enjoyed it. Kyoto animation is never disappointing in their visuals and sound design 

6.  Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - 8/10 

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren - 6.5/10 

Chuunibyou was a breath of fresh air for me. It was so different from all other romance anime I had seen at the time. It for sure has a slice of life vibe to it, but it was still so good! It reminded me of being in middle school and my “chuunibyou” phase. The second season was not as enjoyable as the first. I guess I just had higher expectations for Rikka and Yuuta. 

7. Dr. Stone - 7/10

Dr. Stone is honestly such a perfect shounen for me. I’m a science nerd, and with taking AP Chem this year it was kind of nice to sorta apply my knowledge. This show also has some of the best reaction images ever. The tone, however, is a little inconsistent which made it hard to keep watching. I do love the relationship between Senku and his Dad, that whole sub-plot was so endearing.

8. Oshiete! Galko-chan - 6/10

This one only gets a low score because its so short and the op takes up like half an episode. This show had been in the back of my mind for a while. I decided to watch it after seeing a video essay discussing it. Its masterful subversion of tropes and stereotypes was refreshing. The message of this show is so positive, and everyone can benefit from watching something like this.  

9. Mairimashita Iruma-kun  - 5/10 

The second half of Mairimashita Iruma-kun was so much better. I’m not completely sure why I didn’t like this as much as I should have. Overall, its a really average show. The comedy (and musical numbers???) give this show and charismatic and chaotic vibe. I’m someone who focuses primarily on character-character interactions, and this show definitely had it. It isn’t monogatari levels of dialogue but it’s still nice. For the studio’s low budget, they were able to make a really bright and colorful show. I’ll be watching season 2.  

10. Byousoku 5 Centimeter - 8/10

Very. VERY. Pretty!! This one was another one that didn’t completely resonate with me emotionally. I still loved the story and the way it was told. Its not like Your Name or Tenki no Ko, it’s realistic and grounded.

11. Mob Psycho 100 - 8/10

Mob Psycho 100 II - 9/10 

Style alone made Mob Psycho 100 so impressive. By the second half of each season I was emotional invested in Mob and his whole journey. Season 2 is receiving a higher score because it was able to make me cry. That’s something I NEVER expected. I’m mad I didn’t watch this sooner. It is a great balance of action, comedy, and heart. 

12. Noragami Aragoto - 8/10 

Not sure why I put off Norogami’s second season for so long. I absolutely loved it. The focus on Bishimon was a nice change of pace and it was great to see Yukine develop more as a character and begin to loose his arrogance. Kazuma was my favorite character in all of this. His ability to affect the people around him was presented nicely. I was emotionally invested the whole way through, and I’ll probably pick up the manga. 

13. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji - 3/10

Ah yes. My least favorite thing on planet earth. This is a wonderful example of Shoujo at its worst. Their relationship was incredibly toxic, and the characters themselves were poorly developed and generic. The whole time all I could think was that I was watching normalized Stockholm Syndrome. Our MC deserves so much better. 

14. Youjo Senki - 6/10

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like Youjo Senki as much as I did. I’m not usually one for iesekai. The action was great, but the use of CGI bogged down scenes. I do NOT really like the protagonist that much because she came across as apathetic. Towards the end, I started to like her more. This was also my first military/warfare-focused anime. If either a movie or second season is made, I will probably not watch it. 

15. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - 6.5/10

I wanted to like Madoka Magica more than I did. I really did. The style was compelling and the story was interesting. Especially in the beginning, a lot of the death and sad stuff didn’t feel all that sad. The last 4 episodes are a solid 8/10, I love time shenanigans. The emotions and character development really shined through in the end. Madoka is such an inherently kind-hearted person, I love her so much! 

16. Yakusoku no Neverland - 8.5/10 

I was expecting Yakusoku no Neverland to be more graphic, but I’m kind of glad it didn’t go that route. Like Madoka, the last four episodes had me really invested. However, the character development was not as rushed. It’s a smart show and welcomed change of pace. Emma is my favorite character and you bet I’ll be watching season 2. The more I think about this show, the more I appreciate it. 

17. Mo Dao Zu Shi - 9/10

Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season - 8/10 

I know that is is technically a donghua, but I’m counting it as an anime because its on MAL. Amazing visuals and an incredibly layered story.  Censorship makes it difficult to fully appreciate this work and its original novel. Even though I was confused for the first 2 episodes, Mo Dao Zu Shi did a great job of developing the time period and character relationships. The second season wasn’t as satisfying as the first but still great! I don’t think I’ll be watching the live action anytime soon, but I believe that a 3rd season is confirmed for 2020.

18. Banana Fish - 8.5/10

I knew nothing about Banana Fish going into it. Although I didn’t cry at the ending, it definitely made me feel some type of way. Kind of... numb. Banana Fish is painfully realistic. So much so that I had to take a break after episode 15 because I felt sick to my stomach. I also praise Banana Fish for it’s healthy, non-fetishized relationship representation. Eiji and Ash have such a complex but healthy relationship. I hope Banana Fish is able to pave the way for better representation in media. 

19. Promare - 5/10 

Why do people praise Promare so much? I hated how predictable it was. The whole movie felt like a 2 hour animation flex for Trigger. The only character in this movie that didn’t manage to piss me off it some way was Lio. The only other thing I’ve seen by studio Trigger is Kill la Kill, so compared to that, this felt like such a step down. :( I was disappointed. 

20. Given - 6/10

Given made me both sad and made me want to start a band. Overall the animation is nothing special, I do like the reactions that some of the characters had. Especially that “It’s Mutual” gif set. I couldn’t get over how much Ritsuka looks like Kageyama. My only complaint was how rushed Mafuyu and Ritsuka’s relationship felt. More time should have been dedicated to Mafuyu dealing with and moving past the loss in his life. All that said, I’m still watching the movie.

21. Enen no Shouboutai - 5/10 

Generic Shounen, bad ending, great animation. Need I say more? I did not watch Soul Eater (made by same creator), but this was enjoyable. Really cool fights, not so cool character development. A lot of the explanations towards the end felt like complete bull shit. Same energy as using fancy sounding science words to explain things. 

22. Hataraku Maou-Sama - 5.5/10

This is another show I felt I would’ve liked more if I watched it when I was younger. The iesekai trope is so beaten down that classics like this don’t really carry as much weight as they originally did. A 24 episode season with more Slice of Life episodes would’ve benefited this series greatly.

23. BNA - 7/10

BNA, in my opinion, was so much better than Promare. Like Hataraku Maou-sama, BNA would’ve benefited from a longer season with more Slice of Life Episodes. Trigger’s newer animation is beautiful and I really hope BNA gets renewed for a second season. The ending was cliche as hell, but still really enjoyed this show!

24. Devilman: Crybaby - 7/10 

A.K.A. The one show I’ve got to watch when I know I’m alone. The use of multiple languages besides Japanese in the sub was a unique take. The animation was also a little jarring at first, but I came to love it. The themes in this are not the most positive. The end left me feeling numb, but also appreciative. Ryo pissed me off as soon as he tried to kill that cat, so it was hard to sympathize with him in the very end. It is a really good show, but also sickening, Watch at your own discretion.  

[teen-comics]

A RETROSPECTIVE ON YOUNG JUSTICE: or me trying to fix what aint broke.

First of all, I want to preface this by saying I know this is a "Marvel Comics" account, its literally in my name, and young justice is neither marvel or a comic. but it is the only DC property I really care about and if I posted this to my main it wouldn't be seen by anyone so forgive me

I also originally wrote this in long text message form to a friend (sorry @flashgame) who has only seen up to half way through season 2, so I haven't included anything about large plot points in seasons 2 and 3. Thats not really what this is about tho so I think my points still stand. These are also just my garbage opinions, I love this show I am just venting and you may disagree, you will probably disagree but I sometimes just have to get stuff like this out my system and thats what's this blog is for. I will go back to making memes about decades old X-men comics after this I promise.

With that out of the way here's my rant :)

For me, young justice’s biggest asset, the ensemble cast is also its biggest flaw. don't get me wrong, incorporating many characters (including obscure ones) into the team gave the show great character dynamics, the freedom to do what they wanted with less popular characters and great fan service for everyone. Buuuut it’s also completely inconsistent with who gets the spotlight and it’s plagued with the problems of just having too many characters. Some characters get huge storylines, massive amounts of screen time, often more than they ever got in the comics and that’s great! it seriously is, young justice is the best adaptation of characters like Kalder, M’gann and Artemis etc it’s literally the most time in the spotlight they ever get. but it’s like the writers just can’t help themselves when adding extra characters! it starts out in season 1 and gets exponentially worse by season two.

What you may notice by season 2 is that, with the new characters introduced, some have been given more air time than others. it definitely starts in season 1. Season 1 is a damn perfect study into how to introduce and build characters, having them each have storylines and later, relationships with each other. the show begins by showing us it’s not sticking to the normal way of doing an ensemble kids show, with the main team meeting in the first ep or two and then remaining the same until maybe one other character is added or a whole lot in a second season as a “new class” (Think X-men evolution adding the new mutants in season 2). Instead M'gann isn’t added till like ep 3 and artemis isn added till like ep 5/6?? i can’t remember trust me it’s quite late for a main team character to be introduced in a first season. that’s probably the first warning sign, even the original team takes a while to form but things are still ok, even the inclusion of Zatanna works kinda because she has the storyline with her dad. but Rocket? yeah...rockets a weird inclusion

she’s added in the last two episodes of the first season and then by season 2? she’s left again and is in the justice league. she gets two episodes!!! two! to be in The Team! like that’s weird and telling of what happens next. the show sticks to a varely normal schedule of adding new members, similarly to X-Men evolution, and like evo those new characters aren’t focused on that much. but evo handelled it better. when it comes to new characters it’s obvious that some are getting much more screen time than others, and some are just more compelling too. the time jump really screws stuff up, adding new characters in (and removing others like Rocket) in the five years off screen means they have to do a good job making us like them because we’re not introduced to them in an organic way.

take Mal and Bumblebee, technically we see them in season 1 but they’re basically cameo/easter egg roles. by season 2 they’ve joined the team and they don’t really get a lot to do after that either. it’s weird and because of the time skip we don’t see them joining, we don’t see bumblebee getting her suit (yeah we can infer it’s from The Atom but really they skip a lot) you might argue that this is necessary for a lot of characters, people like bumblebee, batgirl or even wonder girl have these backstory that don’t really fit in so they're just skipped over to make room for the easily included story’s like blue beetles and impulses

but we still feel like we’re missing something. talking of some of the characters let’s actually look at who got added right? In season 2 its starts to become obvious characters are coming to the front and other are in the background. beast boy is well set up in season 1, he’s well incorporated into the story of a main team character and even tho he’s not integral to the plot of season 2 he works great. same goes for blue beetle and impulse, they’re both great new characters with interesting personalities, backstorys and they do plot relevant things. lagoon boy is also an inclusion that seams necessary, he’s obviously there to be part of the love triangle thing but he’s also useful to randomly get captured and be an annoying character to piss of other members of the team. everyone else tho? it’s really hard justifying them being there. Batgirl, Tim, Wondergirl, Bumblebee and Mal just...don’t do anything. yeah they get thrown a bone once or twice but really it feels like the roles they fill could be filled by other already established people? or they could have been side characters outside of the team. they feel shoe horned in and they don’t get any time to grow. instead storylines focus on the original team, (which is kind of inevitable) and season 1 side characters like Red Arrow, and, of course the previously mentioned new characters that actually work with the story.

i can definitely see why some of these characters were added, Mal and Karen were set up in season 1 so i assume the writers always planned for them to be in season 2. the time skip (let’s be honest) is pretty much entirely there to facilitate Dick becoming nightwing and so of course both Jason, and then Tim (probably because jason comes with too much baggage) had to be included. Batgirl also seasons like a solid choice because she’s from that era of batman and it might seam strange not to include her. and wonder girl continues the “The Teams is made of sidekicks” thing. but come onnnn. Tim and Barbara could have been side characters who we see in one episode (maybe one with Dick dealing with being replaced as Robin or something) and the same can be said about Mal and Bumblebee (wonder girl can be cut tbh)

you can also argue that yeah, maybe the plan was to flesh these characters out in season 3 but it got cancelled. but the season 3 we got adds even more useless characters and actually pushes the good characters from this season into the background. even if changes were made in between the cancellation of the original season 3 and the one we got, i stiiilll think they’d have added the useless characters (this is a bit harsh but season 3 does add a lot of new characters) and not focused on the ones they already had because we saw it in season 1 with Zatanna and Rocket. it’s like the writers get bored easily with characters or something? like they just can’t stop themselves adding new toys to play with. I love this show so much, but after a now third rewatch i still believe the same thing i thought the first time i watched this, I love all the characters, i love all the references but god there are so many characters and so many references