#me now: 'while I love the comedic potential too her being the avatar has great impact on her character & arc

[tragedykery]

the thing about hira is that her airbending is a gift but her avatarhood is a curse

[koishua]

I am not great at theorizing but I would love to hear about your favorite characters from atla!

oh my, i am SO down for this. let me take a look, okay

i wont rank them or anything bc i love them all, but my top five would be uncle iroh, sokka, toph, suki, and azula.

UNCLE IROH. is the story's source of lesson and of wisdom. he is such an icon and he is loved by all istg he is the best man ever i love him so much i wish i was related to him as a niece like zuko or something. he truly is so wise and kind against all.

he is one of a kind, he was such a gem and held a strong view of what was wrong and what was right. i think people underestimate how great of a bender he is, tho. he was a member of the order of the lotus (eyyy the oldies but goldies gang basically lmao) aka the strongest people ever hello?? he represented the fire nation in that group and my GOd is he an amazing one.

he is different from most, because unlike other firebenders, his skills and abilities aren't directly derived from anger and fury. that's why he isn't as hot headed as regular firebenders and even teaches zuko about this (which works bc zuko is considerably calmer later in the series)

and then there is his legacy. mans beat an entire dragon in a battle of flames?? he breathes fire too so that's always the coolest thing ever and his diligence while working himself back to prepare for war in that prison absolutely took me out omg the way he strategizes??? explains why he was a general. he has a heart of gold unlike any.

SOKKA. now for him, i have the biggest amount of respect and adoration for. let's adress the elephant in the room here. he singlehandedly devised a ginormous plan to defeat am empire that has been raising tyranny for over a century. how fucking awsome can one get?? mr sexy brain amirite?

plus, he was completely skilless the first part of the series and his entire growth just blows me away every single time. sure, he had his little boomerang but that was it. after they created gaang tho, his potential was so fully exploited i cant even express how proud i am oml he was diamond in the rough.

he acted so brash and was the comedic relief character a lot of the times, so his subtle feats of intelligence didn't get noticed a lot, but oml the way i am down bad for him. his determination and desperation to become god at a skill is so enjoyable to watch like,,, the piandao episode where he learns how to wield a sword is one of my favorite episodes of all time!! anyways, this is getting alittle long so lets move on to....

TOPH BEIFONG. listen. lis-ten. thats my girl right there. i was eight when i first watched atla and she was twelve and the amount of confidence she instilled in little-me is just- *sobs* (also i realized that she is literlly the only character in this with an official lastname lmfao)

toph is forever going to remain as THAT icon. her mindset is as stable and stubborn as they go because of her earthbending lmao i love how self-assured she is. she is the definition of born into riches, growing to become greatness.

her heritage is not at all important to who she is as a character and most people even forget that she is insanely wealthy because she never mentions it. but anyway that is beside my point idk why i touched on this aspect. moving on!!

i feel like they portrayed her childish nature so well in this series like?? sure, she was the greatest earthbender of all time and still is, she was also a twelve year old tween lmao she was something else istg

and her sass, humor and just her entire attitude was so solid oml she was THAT bitch and i mean it in the most awed way possible. i can talk about her more but imma keep it short for this post's sake.

SUKI. my idol right here y'all. this is my og feminist queen right here. badass woman i love her so much. embodies courage, hard work and strength in oneself. man, kyoshi warriors are super awesome i literlly do not have any other words about her other than "woah"

obviously, she couldnt bend at all but growing up on kyoshi island, one made by avatar kyoshi herself by literally parting an entire section of land away to carry them back to make an island by spouting out lava hundreds of miles down the ocean floor is just???? but we aren't here to talk about the blood-thirsty woman rn-

she learned how to deal damage on benders who dared to attack their homeland and she is just- just- idk ugh she is so gorgeous too like?? forget about sokka please, come marry me instead i beg you ;-;

suki is so quick to react to danger and doesn't wait for anyone to save the day. she knows what she can do and she does her best to help ;-; im thinking about that once moment when toph fell into the ocean and suki was the first one to dive right in their to save her while everyone else was just literally standing there lmao even katara who could literally bend water

AZULA. now, this is where shit goes down. i lover her as a character that has been developed to show what a bad childhood environment could lead to in children who are particularly cunning and born a little sharper than others.

azula was a threat to all at the age of fifteen. fif-teen. she was a mastermind in countless incredible plans that overtake populations and she is so incredible quick-witted. perfectly evil for the sake of being evil, but also not at the same time.

the azula we last see in the agni kai between her and zuko, her own bilogical older brother whom she had tormented pretty much their entire life, was the product of accumulated trauma and pressure that she had been subject to ever since she had learned bending fire. blue fire.

she had shown from the start that she was gifted and strong and was on a league of her own compared to other kids. all of her childhood was spent garnering the approval of her father and grandfather who were toxic and evil and bad role models for her. anyone who grows up in bad environments are guaranteed to turn out messed up.

her mother preferred the softer zuko than her sadistic daughter and not receiving her mother's affection enough really showed its consequences in the last few episodes where you get to see her breaking down. she hallucinates about her mother and it was so heartbreaking to watch for me as a seventeen year old. i didn't really get the extent of her pschotic breakdown as an eight year old.

for heaven's sake, she was a devil. idk my thought are so scattered rn but i feel like i can make a post about her complicated character later when i gather my thoughts properly bahaha

tldr for azula: gifted child gone horribly wrong

anyhow, this was super fun omg

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E03 - Razz

Uhm. Maybe “Razz” is a name? It could be the name of that buff woman in the opening. Other than that, I have no idea what the title could be about. There are a lot of things that could happen though, how is Adora going to be received? How is Catra going to explain what happened to Shadow Weaver? How's the horde going to react? Lots of questions so, let's do this!

Wait, wait, wait, where is the awesome opening song? You can't do this to me, She-Ra! You can't introduce a song I haven't been able to stop listening and just take it away like that!

Glimmer may be the one riding that horse but it's 100% Adora's. It _looks_ like she's leading the horse but she's just making sure no one steals it.

"MY HORSE"

This show has an incredible handle of comedic timing.

oh my god

you bet your life I'm singing along

So, is crab lady Razz?

How do they recharge? Is it just about sleeping in the right place, or is it more involved than that?

Huh. I don't remember her name being mentioned in the subtitles before. Angella sure follows the "name as transparent about its meaning as possible" rule.

Is this entire cartoon about teaching kids to charge their mobile phones before leaving home?

Narrator: She won't.

So... would Glimmer just die if she doesn't recharge? Are they bound to their charging stations like an old laptop?

Voice director: Think of a balloon deflating. Embody the ballon. BE THE BALLON, ADORA.

Also, well, that makes sense. Isn't the horde winning the war? At least that's what I remember, considering Shadow Weaver implied that one decisive attack (with Adora in charge) would be enough, but maybe she was lying.

1. This is hilarious.

2. I remember thinking that Glimmer knew something about "She-Ra," would transforming be enough to convince everyone that Adora is indeed on their side now if it's a known legend?

Makes sense.

So it _is_ like the Avatar state!

That's what I've been doing since I watched last episode.

"MY HORSE!"

This is just a love story between a girl and her horse, everything else is just incidental.

I'm sure this is going to turn out _fine_. What's wrong with a disguised horde soldier armed with a giant sword trying to steal horses anyway.

Imagine those beady eyes judging you and your entire life. "You're never going to be enough," he's neighs in my nightmares.

That's _definitely_ not her normal voice.

Welp. Can't believe She-Ra ended this way. Maybe Glimmer can now become She-Ra? There _are_ a lot of episodes left somehow

Exact same energy as this

So... the horse is She-Ra now.

I think this is the first time I see a magical pet being very not okay at being a magical pet.

If she transforms to catch her horse it's really going to solidify that the show is about Adora and her horse.

Welp. Time to make a killing selling pitchforks and torches.

"And my job here is gone, toodles"

And meanwhile Bow and Glimmer are outside the room wondering what's taking so long.

So, why is Angella the only one with an English accent? Is it just because of the VA or does it mean something in-show? Hm.

Aw, c'mon subtitles. She fled "with the help of a winged beast," that's important!

I like that the Queen instantly knew to blame the kids. Maybe how much dumb stuff they have done through the years.

Oh, they were there. Nice touch with that raptor helping his teammate. Just a team on the wrong side of the war.

Welp, direct hit to Catra's insecurities.

Oof.

What an interesting dynamic. I thought Catra would just be angry and feeling betrayed (and she is) but I didn't realize her team would also be a problem.

For some reason she looks like she's from a completely different show and was been rotoscoped into this one.

...I really thought Razz would be the horse.

Huh. So she can see the past and Mara was the previous holder? Maybe Adora's mom?

I thought the "First Ones" were incredibly old, how does Razz know about that kind of thing? Is she the last "First One," still alive somehow?

Is Adora a reincarnation? Hm.

IS SHE SUPERMAN

My heart. It's too early for this.

Exactly what Glimmer was angry about. I like the idea of the new generation being the one pushing towards a more active way of thinking, to protect those left behind.

That's just standard main character procedure when lost.

I thought the light may mean the sword had finished charging but maybe it reacted to Razz? Or the Horde? Hm.

And she really is going to transform to help her horse.

I just realized what was going on with Ma-Ra.

No one has looked more fabulous while possibly murdering a child soldier.

Okay then, that was informative. She-Ra has limits in what she can take and she only seems able to transform to protect people (or horses.)

Can't believe Razz named Adora's horse, that's like against the law or something.

Holy crap that stare from Swift Wind.

"Just follow the moths"

The intense dead stare has to be intentional, right? It's killing me.

Zero emotion whatsover. It's too early to tell but I think that horse is a sociopath.

I'm not sure if it's because everyone else is really expressive or if it's a directorial decision to make limit her range but Angella's voice is probably the one I like the least so far.

Okay, she can transform to protect people and horses and to make absolutely striking entrances.

I wasn't absolutely sure before but She-Ra really is like a foot taller than Adora.

That didn't work out great for the last group that had a prophecy about someone bringing balance ~~to the force~~.

The subtitles omitting "vouch" makes it sound like Glimmer needs to promise to clean the litter box before Adora is welcomed.

"uhm, I'm actually adora now?"

Aww.

I _love_ that they keep giving depth to Catra. She already had a couple of valid reasons to be angry and to make her attacking Adora not feel like it was coming out of nowhere, but they keep building her up. Maybe she doesn't like Shadow Weaver but she just received validation from the most powerful being in the Horde.

---

Another great episode. It's all still mostly set-up for the world, but the characters are so charming and the writers are doing such a good job at keeping the pace that I can't complain.

I'm not sure how to feel about Razz. Including a weird, old lady that knows more than she's telling as moral support/compass is not... unexpected, but I'm worried about what her existence does to the story. I bet Razz knows most of the answers to the current and future mysteries of the show but with the way her character is written I'd also bet that no one is ever going to ask her until it's too late. It's not an uncommon trope but it can be frustrating if it's not handled well.

Other than that slight worry about the future, this episode had a lot of interesting lore and world-building drops.

Who's Mara? (Was it actually Ma-Ra?) Was she Adora's mom? If that's the case, how would that work with the flashback being what I assume was Adora's crash into Etheria?

The flashback has 

Light Hope, which could be either from the past or from her touching the sword 

A quick zoom to a planet (Etheria?) which could be a spaceship crashing into it 

Bright Moon, which looks _exactly_ like it currently does. So, either Bright Moon hasn't changed in... how old is Adora again? Or the vision is not exactly a flashback. 

Something crashing into the desert. I thought it was a meteorite or something similar, a disaster to avoid, but it probably was Adora crashing into Etheria. Was it there where Shadow Weaver found her? 

A temple, which seems to be where Adora and Razz went picking berries but many years in the past. 

A portal, in a place with crystals growing out the ground. 

A baby looking out... a pod? To a planet that looks a lot like Etheria. Especially considering there's another moon in the sky.

So the timeline would be: Adora is born in that moon, something happened (the portal?) and to help her survive she's sent to Etheria, her crashed spaceship being found by Shadow Weaver who "adopts" her into the Horde. This doesn't explain the Temple or Bright Moon but it's something.

Another alternative would be that the flashbacks are not Adora's, but someone else's. Maybe Mara? And Adora is getting them because of the sword. This would explain how Razz knows Mara, since if Adora was the one who escaped the moon, how would Razz know her predecessor?

For a second I thought about a third alternative: "maybe the Adora finding the sword is an accident, Adora really was born into the Horde and her past is not really a mystery, she gained her destiny only after touching the sword," _but_ I checked the previous episodes and Light Hope calls her by her name so I kinda doubt that's the path they are going to take.

So, Adora was special from the start. We just don't know how yet. She either escaped a doomed moon(?) or maybe she's the child of whoever escaped the doomed moon. In any case I'm intrigued.

But, I'm more intrigued by Catra. No matter the mysteries behind Adora's past, she's the hero of the story. She may waver or doubt herself but there won't be any radical changes in her path. But Catra... Catra can do and be anything. 

"Brave, loyal but afraid" is how Razz described Adora, but that description fits Catra just as well. She may be _really_ afraid of the Horde considering she chose to stay with them instead of going with Adora, and she may be feeling incredibly betrayed by her best friend and almost sister but even then she refused to tell them where and what Adora is now. But after a life of being in the shadow of Adora (because Shadow Weaver obviously prefers her) there's finally someone that believes in her, enough to make her Force Captain. It's a great origin story and there's so much potential in her character and where it could go that I hope it doesn't stop here.

Some unrelated final questions:

Angella never addressed Adora by her name. That's... worrying. Is she just using her to have She-Ra? 

Something that has been nagging me since they revealed that the princesses charge by sleeping under a magic light: What happens if Bright Moon is destroyed? Do they all die after they run out of charge? They have been putting a lot of emphasis in the limits of their magic and how it works so it really feels like it'll be a problem.

I think that's all, until next time!

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

My favourite Charmed episodes - season 7

This is the seventh part of my Favourite Charmed Episodes meta series all posts in the series will be tagged as #favecharmedeps.

Season 7 is a strange one for me to analyse, because I have very mixed feelings about it. Generally I think of it as a rather forgettable season, but then when I started trawling through the episodes to pick out my favourites, I realised there’s a lot of episodes that I really enjoy from this season. Although the Avatar storyline didn’t reach it’s full potential, I actually think it’s one of the most interesting plots from the series. It posed a lot of questions about the key themes of the show regarding morality and good versus evil, and it also created a lot of conflict for the main characters. Part of me clings to the golden days of Charmed when times were simpler for the Halliwells and the family felt like a more cohesive unit. But I can’t deny that the Avatar storyline brought about very interesting character development and conflict amongst the characters. In addition to the Avatars, Zankou is objectively one of the most interesting and baddest villains to ever be on the show and for the first time since The Source, it felt like the sisters really were going to lose the battle. This also has one of my favourite minor characters from the entire show - Drake. I can’t help but enjoy the episodes that feature Drake. He’s a breath of fresh air in what’s overall a rather dark season, and his chemistry with Phoebe is great. The moments when she’s with Drake are the moments when I feel we catch a glimpse of the old Phoebe that followed her heart wherever it led her and was a free spirit. Strangely, I think that season 7 is the better season between the two weakest ones of the series. I have chosen 7 favourite episodes from season 7 (which is the most I’ve chosen from any season tied with season 3!): Cheaper by the Coven, There’s Something About Leo, Charmageddon, Carpe Demon, The Seven Year Witch, Imaginary Fiends and Something Wicca This Way Goes. 

Cheaper by the Coven (7x03)

For those of you that have been following this meta series, you’ll already know that I generally love any episode with Penny and/or Patty, and this episode is no exception. I enjoy this episode because not only do we get Penny and Patty, we also get Victor. One of the main aspects I love about Charmed is the emphasis on family and the core of that is the sisterhood, but there’s something special about any episode which features other family members. 

The sibling rivalry between Wyatt and Chris was authentic and very realistic of sibling relationships. We know from future!Chris that their relationship was strained, so it’s no surprise to see that developing now. When Grams casts the spell to remove their rivalry and it transfers to the sisters, it shows that you cannot erase complex emotional issues with the wave of a wand. 

Seeing the sisters revert back to a child-like state is comedic, albeit a little cringey, but I always get a kick out of seeing it. As the seasons progress I feel we see less and less of the playfulness and closeness between the sisters, so it’s nice to see it in this episode. Likewise, it’s touching to see Victor and Patty come together as a co-parenting unit for perhaps the first time ever to help their daughters. It was also sweet for them to see the girls in a child-like state since they both missed out on a majority of their childhood and likely never got the chance to see them interact as children. 

The sub-plot with Leo and Wyatt is also a necessary exploration of the aftermath of Leo killing Gideon. Although I’m generally not a fan of Wyatt’s character and the way he’s written, it makes sense that the trauma and emotion of being kidnapped and nearly killed by someone who was a trusted family friend and mentor, then witnessing his own father murder that man, would manifest itself in a complicated manner. After all, the sisters always say their powers are linked to their emotions. Although this issue was quickly resolved in this episode, I still think the fact that the episode tackled this was really important. 

Overall, I enjoy this episode because it’s fun and it brings together the Halliwell family (there’s even a discussion about Prue between Grams and Piper) in a nice way. 

There’s Something About Leo (7x09)

This episode has a very gripping plot that I find suspenseful and engaging. There’s a lot of conflict throughout since Leo is an Avatar and wants to tell Piper, whilst Kyle wants revenge against the Avatars because he believes they killed his parents. 

Generally, although Leo is a main character from season 1, he doesn’t get much attention or many of his own story lines until season 6. I personally find the Avatar story line one of the strongest ones involving Leo and this episode is a culmination of that. In the past Leo chose his duties as an Elder above the love and duty towards his family, and once again we see him in a similar position with the Avatars. He doesn’t want to lie to Piper and keep secrets from her, but the Avatars insist Piper (and the sisters) aren’t ready to know the truth. It’s interesting to see Leo having little control over his new powers and using them based on emotion. After having been split from Piper for a while it poses a real challenge to their relationship for them to have secrets between them, particularly when Piper sense that he’s hiding something from her. It provides good development for them as a couple to see them having to overcome something like this as a couple. When Leo tells Piper the truth, it’s interesting to see how she’s able to remain open-minded and trust that the Avatars aren’t in fact evil. It demonstrates the strength of their partnership and the love they have. 

On the other hand, the reveal about Leo being an Avatar wreaks havoc on the family because of Kyle and Paige finds herself in an incredibly difficult position, caught between the man she loves and her family. It’s one of the first time that the family is divided in this manner and although it’s sad, it’s interesting to witness. The Halliwell family as a unit seem so solid and together, but this episode shows that despite their closeness and how much they love each other, they’re not immune from facing these kind of problems. 

When the truth leads to Leo and Kyle’s deaths, it’s a dramatic and shocking moment that proves what the Avatars said to Leo about it being too soon for him to reveal the truth. Piper may have been ready but Kyle (and Paige) weren’t ready and the consequences of that were disastrous. The episode ends with Leo revering time to before he told Piper the truth about him being an Avatar and everything that happened in the episode is undone. 

Since Charmed is generally follows a demon-of-the-week format, I appreciate episodes like these that are very plot heavy and are the piece of a puzzle for an ongoing plot. The Avatar story line spans across the majority of the season and although the damage done in this episode is reversed, it doesn’t end on a particularly positive note. It demonstrates how dangerous the situation is and provides an insight into how the plot may develop as the episodes continue and the devastating impact it could potentially have on the family. 

Charmageddon (7x13)

This episode is very much the follow-up of There’s Something About Leo and the culmination of the Avatar story line. Once again, I like this episode because I think the plot works very well. It’s an interesting and solid episode that takes you on a journey and has a strong ending.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Avatar story line in general poses big questions about a lot of key themes that are present throughout Charmed and this episode really highlights that. One of the most significant themes throughout this episode from my perspective is be careful what you wish for. 

Throughout the series we see the sisters time and time again crave and wish for a “normal” life free of magic and demons, and this episode sees their wish granted. They live in a perfect utopia - a happy world with no violence or pain - and they all seem happier than they’ve been in a long time. After all, what could possibly be more perfect than a world like that? Of course, it’s not long before the cracks begin to show and the reality of maintaining a world like that means that innocent people are removed from the world is they pose a threat to the peace. 

After seeing the journey Leo has been on in this season with the Avatars it’s interesting that he of all people is one of the first (with Zankou’s help) to see the flaws in the Avatars utopia. Having Leo pair up with Zankou to reverse what the Avatars have created builds on the conflict that has been present within the family throughout the season. It’s good to see Leo make such a huge decision by himself on the basis of his own morals and sense of right and wrong. He makes a lot of mistakes in seasons 6 and 7, but he’s still able to see the right path and knows that he has to work with Zankou to achieve that. 

On the flip side, this episode (and this season overall, actually) shows how much the sisters have lost their way. Despite the years of experience and the knowledge they have of the magical world, they’re naive enough to believe that the Avatars really can create this perfect utopia without there being any consequences. It shows that the sisters are so desperate for normalcy (and I don’t really blame them) that they’re willing to believe what is clearly a fantasy. Phoebe and Paige, in particular, knew that such a world can’t exist after their experiences in It’s a Bad, Bad, Bad World. They were catapulted into a happy parallel universe where everything was sunshine, rainbows and smiles, but where people were shot in the street for blocking their neighbours drive-ways or had their tongues cut out for swearing. The sisters should’ve been smart enough to realise that a world like that can’t exist without consequences. And Phoebe’s resistance to see the reality of it, even when Leo explicitly told her about it, further demonstrates how desperately they were clinging to a fantasy. 

It’s great to see the sisters (and Leo) team up with the Big Bad of the season, Zankou and reminds me of season 4 when the Seer teamed up with the sisters to help them defeat the Source (although it was actually a manipulation on the Seer’s part). It demonstrates that under certain circumstances, even enemies can come together to right a wrong. It also hammers home one of those core Charmed messages that good cannot exist without bad and vice versa. 

Overall, I love the plot of this episode and the important lessons it contains. When Phoebe goes to the Book of Shadows, like Leo told her to, and had a premonition of all the people she’d lost over the years, it was a beautiful moment. We all go through life avoiding pain and hoping we don’t have to feel it, but it’s a natural part of life and being a human. And although it’s a cliche, it’s true that we all have to feel those things to be able to fully feel the good parts of life - love, happiness, kindness, empathy, friendship, family etc. Life without pain is not truly living. Likewise, this episode provides a valuable lesson on how the things we wish for may not always live up to the expectations we have or turn out the way we imagined. The sisters wanted the utopia that the Avatars provided, but it wasn’t what they expected or hoped. 

The episode ended with Kyle returning to Paige as a Whitelighter, which regardless of personal feelings towards Kyle and/or Paige and Kyle as a couple, was very sweet and fitting. Paige needed that closure after the way in which Kyle died and it was the right way to end his story. As a child I strongly disliked Kyle, because I found him annoying and hated him for wanting to kill Leo. As an adult, I now completely sympathise with Kyle and feel that as a whole the fans are a little harsh on him. He was a little boy whose parents were killed and his entire life was shaped by the trauma of that one event. As a result, he spent his entire life clinging to the idea of avenging his parents deaths and when he was faced with that opportunity, he couldn’t let it pass him by. Yes, it was selfish of him to try and kill Paige’s brother-in-law, but under the circumstances it’s also easy to understand why he felt so strongly about it. He believed wholeheartedly that the Avatars were evil, and although they weren’t necessarily, they were still corrupt and to an extent he was right about them. They created a world that on the surface may have seemed better, but in reality it wasn’t, because it was all an illusion. Everyone’s minds, emotions and behaviours were manipulated by magic, forcing them to conform and essentially transforming them into robots. That’s simply inhumane and immoral. 

Despite the fact that the Avatar story line was a bit iffy in places, I really like this episode and think it’s a strong culmination of the plot and a very strong ending too. My one and only criticism, is that I feel like this should’ve been a turning point for the sisters in realising that they’d lost their way a little bit and lost sight of the purpose of their magic. From the beginning, being the Charmed Ones was all about protecting the innocent, but by this point, the sisters had grown so tired of demon-fighting and everything that went with it that they lost sight of the real reason they were fighting and became too focused on what they needed and wanted. 

Carpe Demon (7x14)

In terms of plot and the events of this episode, I don’t really like it much at all. But anybody that follows me or that is familiar with my Charmed posts will know that Drake is one of my favourite characters on the show and that is the only reason I like this episode. Therefore, nearly everything I discuss about this episode will be entirely about Drake. 

To skip over the plot quickly before I get into Drake, I think this episode is generally a bit meh, a rather forgettable episode that lacks in any real plot. It has a bit of silliness and fun with Drake becoming Robin Hood, which I’m partial to, but there isn’t a whole lot going on in this episode. If you remove Drake from the episode, this definitely wouldn’t make it onto my list.

So, let’s talk about Drake, shall we? I honestly love Drake. He’s a breath of fresh air and from the second he arrives on-screen he transforms the entire vibe of the show. He’s the sort of character that lights up any scene he’s in and his chemistry with Phoebe from the beginning is so lovely. She comes alive around him and we get to see a more playful, passionate and free-spirited Phoebe once again. His energy, positivity, philosophical mindset, interesting background (as a demon), humour and playfulness perfectly offset the darker tone of the season with the Avatars. His arrival is perfectly timed to lighten up the show a little after the Avatar story line and although he’s only on the show for a short amount of time, I find his presence very impactful. There’s a lot of characters that come and go throughout the seasons, but Drake’s one that is very memorable to me and he always stands out. None of the other minor or recurring characters seem to bring the same energy to the show as he does and I always enjoy watching his scenes and watching his dynamic with Phoebe. 

The Seven Year Witch (7x16)

Honestly, it’s kind of crazy that I still commonly think of season 7 as an average/poor season, because this episode is probably one of the best across the series. However, if anyone ever asks me what my all time favourite episodes are, this episode would never enter my mind, mostly because I just have a more personal connection to the earlier seasons. 

I love the plot and emotion in this episode. It’s such a sad yet beautiful episode for Piper and Leo, who have been through so much. Leo, in particular, has had a rough couple of seasons with the Elders, Gideon and the Avatars, so to see him have his memories wiped and be placed in the middle of nowhere is quite difficult. As I’ve said before, I’m not a hardcore Pleo shipper, but this episode proves 100% that they’re soulmates and are meant to be together. Throughout the series Leo has always been torn between his magical duties (as either a Whitelighter, Elder or Avatar) and Piper, and this episode finally ends that conflict that exists inside him as he makes his final choice. Without Leo, Piper’s soul cannot survive and the fact that her imminent death is enough to wake Leo from his amnesiac state is a testament to the love they have. Leo’s literal fall from grace, looks ridiculous (there’s something about it that’s so funny to me, I don’t know if that’s just me being weird) but is actually one of the most beautiful moments on the show, once again showing how strong his and Piper’s love for one another is. And the scene where they reunite is so beautiful, it’s probably one of my favourite Piper and Leo scenes. 

Of course, the guest appearance from Cole in this episode is a pleasant surprise. Despite how he and Phoebe ended, he always loved her and never wanted her to give up on love, so it’s fitting that he should return now when Piper and Leo (the greatest love that Phoebe has witnessed) risk ending. Likewise, it’s a nice twist, but a fitting one, that Cole was actually the mastermind behind Drake coming into Phoebe’s life all along. We saw in Happily Ever After how important it was to Cole for Phoebe to never give up on love. I really see that as part of how deeply he knew and understood Phoebe as a person. She was so loving and passionate, that she would never be completely fulfilled or happy without love (despite what she may have said) and he felt largely responsible for closing her heart off to other prospective lovers because of how deeply he hurt her. 

This episode is also where we saw goodbye to Drake. It’s a sad moment, but I love how it’s done. The final scene between him and Phoebe is so lovely and very heartfelt. Despite how short a time they knew each other, it’s easy to see why Phoebe fell in love with him. Drake had a very similar spirit to Phoebe (particularly early seasons Phoebe) and he brought joy, light, positivity, fun and passion back into her life. Despite having had other relationships after Cole (Jason, Miles, Leslie), none of those men brought out the same side to Phoebe that Drake did. He just captivated her from the very beginning. Seeing how Drake and Phoebe had come to fall in love also fit within the theme of love in this episode with Piper and Leo, but stood in contrast to it. Whilst Piper and Leo were able to overcome the obstacles that stood in their way to be together, Phoebe and Drake weren’t and lost one another. But ultimately, the message remained the same - love is always worth it. 

Imaginary Fiends (7x20)

I’m not particularly a big fan of Wyatt as a character. That probably makes me sound like an awful human being since he’s only a child, but I never really felt like children fit on the show, although I understand the value of seeing at least one of the sisters enter into motherhood during the series. 

However, I really like and value this episode. There’s quite a lot of episodes from season 5 onwards that center on Wyatt, but this is one of the only ones I genuinely like and think is handled really well. The idea that Wyatt has an imaginary friend is one that, from a psychological stand-point, is interesting because of the nature of his life and upbringing. He has a far from traditional life and has been faced with demons, warlocks and all manner of evil creatures trying to kill him or turn him evil when he was still in the womb. Having that kind of lifestyle and a lack of normalcy is obviously going to have a profound affect on a child. The fact that his imaginary friend is in fact a demon is a very good twist that works well, in my opinion. Whilst the notion that Wyatt has an imaginary friend serves as a metaphor for some of the complex issues he has (e.g. not verbally communicating and being very reserved and unsociable), it also raises awareness of grooming. Vicus (the demon), emotionally manipulates Wyatt over a prolonged period of time, gaining his trust and turning him against his own family, all to get the outcome he desires (turning Wyatt evil). The fact that it happens practically right under Piper and Leo’s noses without them being able to stop or control it correlates a lot to cases of grooming. 

The appearance of future!Wyatt is a lovely addition to this episode. Although we saw future!Wyatt in season 6 during Chris-Crossed, this time we get to meet good Wyatt rather than evil Wyatt. It’s so nice to see him interact with the family and to see the wonderful young man he will grow to be, particularly since we don’t see much personality from little Wyatt. It also provides a couple of funny moments such as when Wyatt reveals that baby Chris swallows a marble. Most of all, it’s lovely to see how all of the Halliwell clan shape adult!Wyatt and how the things he says and does show the closeness he has to his parents, Chris and aunties in the future. 

Leo being the one to turn Wyatt from evil to good is a particularly nice moment to see, since the father-son bond between them is so strong. After the crap that Leo went through in season 6 with being separated from the family, it’s good to see that the love Wyatt has for his dad is strong enough to overcome evil. It’s also very telling that adult!Wyatt, even when he’s evil, can’t bring himself to harm Leo. And of course, the end is very sweet with little Wyatt finally speaking and smiling, and seeming to open up a little bit after what was a difficult episode for him.

I definitely think this is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) Wyatt-centric episode from the series and bringing future!Wyatt into the picture only improves the episode. I admire the writers for tackling the complexities that come from a child who has grown up in such a unique lifestyle and encountered so many traumas. It’s not an easy task, but I think it’s handled quite well in this episode in comparison to previous episodes. 

Something Wicca This Way Goes (7x22)

This is by far the best season finale of the entire series. It’s dramatic, it’s suspenseful, it’s emotional and the stakes are so high that it feels like anything can happen. Although I personally never connected to Zankou as a villain, he’s by far one of the most threatening and powerful Big Bad’s that the sisters face and in this episode it feels like maybe the sisters have finally met their match. 

The episode gives me Charmed and Dangerous vibes (which is one of my all time fave episodes), with the sisters going up against the greatest evil they’ve ever faced and having their powers stripped away, meaning they have to find a way to defeat Zankou without their active powers. I’ve always been a fan of episodes where the sisters are forced out of their comfort zone when it comes to magic and can’t rely solely on their active powers. As the seasons progress I feel that the sisters got more and more dependent upon their active powers (particularly Piper’s explosive power) and as a result their creative thinking when it came to their use of magic declined. So it was great to see the sisters coming up with fresh ideas of how to beat Zankou in this episode. 

The sisters’ visit to Victor is very emotional. It’s clear that the sisters believe there’s a high chance they’re going to die in their fight against Zankou, and seeing Piper say goodbye to her sons and hand over the deeds to P3 and the Manor is heartwrenching. But I also love that they chose to entrust Victor to be the one to care for Wyatt and Chris, the house and the business, because it shows how far their relationships have come since he was first introduced to us in season 1. As a quick side-note, I’d just like to say that Victor’s development is perhaps one of the best on the show and is very overlooked. He starts the series as an absentee, irresponsible father who seems to care little for his own children, and ends it having a fantastic relationship with all of his daughters, an amazing relationship with Chris (as we learn from future!Chris in season 6) and Wyatt (who trusts him so much he orbs baby Chris to him). 

In addition to Victor, I love that Darryl and Shelia are in this episode. After how much of a significant part they’ve been in the sisters lives, it’s only fitting that they should see them one last time before their impending deaths. 

The sisters show brilliant flair and intelligence in their plan to defeat Zankou, and they succeed. Those final scenes where they cast the spell and hold hands knowing what’s about to happen is such a shocking moment, and the first time I saw it I genuinely believed the sisters were dead, even though a part of me knew it couldn’t be true. That final twist with the sisters walking out as new people and telling Leo about their plans to start a new life is fantastic, and one that I didn’t see coming. And Darryl watching as the sisters and Leo walk across the street and realising that it’s them is one of the most beautiful moments from the entire series period. I love that moment, it’s brilliant. 

As much as I like Forever Charmed and appreciate the happy ending we got, I actually think I would’ve preferred if the series ended here. It was a great and dramatic ending that was happy but open ended. In my opinion, this as a series finale tops Forever Charmed in almost every single way. The only thing that Forever Charmed improved on is having other characters like Penny, Patty, future!Chris and future!Wyatt etc. Besides that, Something Wicca This Way Goes is by far the superior series finale. Even the title is more fitting, since it plays on the pilot episode. 

And that brings me to the end of my favourite season 7 episodes. As I said at the beginning of this post, it’s strange that I consider season 7 to be one of my least favourite seasons considering how many episodes I actually like from the season. I largely put that down to the fact that the early seasons are so good and so special to me, that I’ll always consider them my favourites. I think thematically, season 7 is a strong season and has some of the best plots from across the series (e.g. Zankou, the Avatars and Leo’s arc) and some very strong episodes. The season also benefits from having Drake, a decent amount of Victor and future!Wyatt. My biggest criticism of season 7 (and seasons 6-8 generally) is that the characterisation of the sisters is very weak. As much as I love the sisters, I don’t really like them much in this season. Paige’s vibrance and quirkiness seems to dim in this season, Phoebe and Piper seem increasingly self-obsessed with themselves and their own lives and the closeness of the sisters is significantly less. The scene near the beginning of Charmageddon when Piper and Phoebe comfort Paige following Kyle’s death is one of the many scenes that highlights for me. Their attempts to comfort her are so pitiful, they don’t even hug her properly. This is obviously down to the writing, but I find it very difficult to adjust to the lack of sisterly moments and the reduction of affection and tactility between the sisters in the later seasons. You can notice this immediately when you compare this post of Prue, Piper and Phoebe to this post of Piper, Phoebe and Paige. There are so many more scenes between Prue, Piper and Phoebe where they’re hugging or holding hands or stroking each others’ hair, whereas the ones of Piper, Phoebe and Paige are mostly of them standing by each other. Anyway, I digress. Season 7 overall, is an underrated season and writing this post made me realise how many episodes there are that I enjoy from the season and how many good aspects to it there are. 

Next time I’ll be writing about my favourite season 8 episodes. Since season 8 is and always has been my least favourite season, there probably won’t be many episodes that I’ll be analysing. 

Thanks for reading!

[diarythebookwyrm]

Thoughts on Stranger Things 3

So Stranger Things 3 aired almost two weeks ago. I binge-watched the entire season on that Friday afternoon/evening/night. Naturally, that meant I had to take some time to sort through what I had just watched. I have since sorted through my thoughts and decided to share them.

Below the cut, because this is gonna get long and I don’t wanna spoil anybody who hasn’t caught up yet.

So...first, some character thoughts.

This season absolutely cemented in my mind exactly which characters are my favorites and which I couldn’t care less about. This is particularly true of the two main characters who just rub me the absolute wrong way; Jonathan Byers and Mike Wheeler.

Now, I’ve had issues with Jonathan since season one. Let’s explore why that’s the case, shall we? Within the first half of the season, Jonathan not only stalked Nancy but took pictures of her naked and having sex without her knowledge or consent. That’s already pretty damned creepy, but it gets worse when you remember that Nancy is a minor. Jonathan’s pictures count as child pornography by the modern definition. Yes, this is in the 80s, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy. Yes, he and Nancy have “shared trauma” after being in the Upside Down for a short time, but that...is not enough to build a relationship on??? Then the way he and Nancy do end up together is sketchy at best.

So...yeah. Jonathan is not my favorite character.

As for Mike...

Mike, Mike, Michael, Mikey. He is my absolute least favorite of the original Party. Why? Because he’s a selfish, entitled little asshole. I have two younger brothers; one five years and one ten years younger than me. I’ve lived in a house with a 13-15-year-old boy when I myself was 18-20. It was...a trial, to say the least. But Mike takes the typical early teen boy angst and dials it right up to thirteen. Not eleven; thirteen.

In this season, that was just emphasized even more than the past two seasons for me. His behavior towards Hopper has always been a bit of a pain for me to watch, but this season it just got worse. Just because Mike is El’s first boyfriend, he acts like that means he’s entitled to all her time and attention. Hopper was completely justified in flipping out the way he did.

Which brings me to Hopper’s characterization this season. I thought it was perfectly in line with the man we’ve spent so much time with so far. For one thing, this is the mid-to-late 80s. 

Let me put that in perspective for everyone. My dad was about Steve Harrington’s age in the mid to late 80s (my mom was about Nancy’s age). My dad was a bit of a...snark as a kid. My grandfather was and still is a very down-to-earth and straight-shooting man. He did not put up with my dad’s bullshit. Full stop. End of story. Hopper is similar to my grandfather in that respect. The scene where Hopper gets Mike alone and then lays down the law? My grandfather would have pulled that if he had a daughter with a snarky, disrespectful asshole of a boyfriend.

Hopper is also raising a teenage girl for the first time. His daughter died before she ever reached her teen years, so Hopper is figuring out what is the best method for handling things like a first boyfriend or a girl’s nights at the house. This is a man who spent years after his daughter’s death living as a confirmed bachelor who was a bit of a slob because he was also self-medicating with alcohol. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t actually follow through on the thought to kill Mike.

Joyce was, as always, my favorite of the parents. She’s a wonderful mother who is just trying to keep shit going for her boys’ sakes more than her own. I can’t really blame her for wanting to move out of Hawkins after what happened with Bob. Did that mean I enjoyed that plotline? No, of course I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean it was a bad one.

Murray was...Well, Murray. I did like his interactions with Hopper and how he’s the only person who actually was calling Hopper by his first name.

Nancy’s plotline in this season...it felt a little weak to me, I’ll be honest. Ever since Nancy and Jonathan got together last season (which...again, I think that was poorly handled from the start), Nancy has not been my favorite person. Am I saying she should have stayed with Steve? Absolutely not. It’s very clear that Nancy was not nearly as invested in that relationship as Steve was. I honestly think that if Nancy were not in any relationship, her story might have been a bit better written. As it is, she just feels like she’s filler alongside Jonathan while Steve actually grows as a person.

Steve, as always, is continuing to grow and develop in ways neither Nancy nor Jonathan has in the course of the show. When we first meet Steve, he’s the hot man on campus, the popular jock, etc. etc. etc. Did he do and say some problematic things? Yes. But, I would like to remind everyone of just what kind of dumbasses we all were at seventeen. Do you remember being seventeen? I do. I was a bitch. And it’s very clear in season one that most of Steve’s assholery comes from having shitty friends as much as anything. He had a point about Jonathan being a creep, and while breaking the camera might have been extreme, it was certainly justified. I think the worst thing he did was helping with spray painting Nancy “The Slut” Wheeler on the sign, and that was clearly more something that Tommy H. came up with. He even stayed behind to help clean the graffiti up. Was Steve an idiot in season one? Yes, but I still loved him even then because I saw potential and he has more than lived up to that.

The rest of the Party along with Max and El remained pretty firmly where they had been in my estimation before season three with only Max and Will moving slightly higher up on my list. Lucas has never been my favorite, but neither is he my least favorite. Dustin is my son and I will protect him. Will has grown on me and I just want to bundle him up in a blanket and feed him cookies. El is, as she always has been, a badass. Max wasn’t necessarily my favorite last season, but I didn’t dislike her, and she’s certainly grown on me with this season.

Robin and Alexei are darlings and I love them both dearly. Erica...yeah. Those of us with younger siblings either are like “yeah, been there” or find Erica a bit too close to home to enjoy. I’ll let you judge for yourself where she falls.

Now for the one character I never thought I would ever feel sympathy for: Billy. When Billy entered the show in season two, I hated him. I hated everything about him, and that was kind of the point. We were supposed to hate him. What I think is a great credit to both the writers and Dacre Montgomery’s portrayal of Billy is the fact they did invoke sympathy from me this season. Billy has still done awful things, but as I watched him become the pawn of the Mind Flayer, I actually felt sorry for him. Dacre was amazing in this role, and I’ll never forget the scene where El and he are facing off in the Starcourt Mall. It’s one of the most poignant scenes in the entire series, as far as I’m concerned.

Moving past the single characters and into the relationships:

I...have never shipped Mileven or Max/Lucas. Why? Because they are children. Mike and Eleven are about 12-13 when they meet, so...for me, the idea of shipping children has never sat well with me. It’s part of why I don’t actively ship series-era Kataang in Avatar: The Last Airbender. By season three, Mike, Eleven, Lucas and Max are about 14-15 which...is better, but not by much. I’m twenty-nine, so for me, those are babies. Also, they’ll grow up and probably have other loves in their life. Shipping children that young is problematic because most people don’t stay with their first love forever. It’s considered healthy to have multiple early loves, and I think that’s part of why I was so adamantly against Mileven this season.

I’ve already addressed some of my biggest issues with Jancy from last season, and I mentioned that I just felt like they were filler this season. Also, Nancy talking about “what if I just...don't let you go” made me facepalm so hard. Again, Jonathan is one of Nancy’s first loves. Few people stay with their high school boyfriend for the rest of their lives. True, it was certainly more common in the 50s-80s, but that doesn’t mean it’s something that should inspire great shipping material. Nancy is at least 17 or 18 in season three. She’s still figuring out what she wants out of life, and so is Jonathan. Making them out to be this great romance that will last forever is just...weird?

Jopper...Jopper broke my heart this season. I’d shipped it on the side since season one, but put it on the back burner when I saw how happy Joyce was with Bob. This season, it just reminded me why I love the dynamic between Joyce and Hopper. I’m so sad that they’ll never have that date at Enzo’s, and I wish the writers would stop making Joyce watch the man she thinks she could settle down with die horribly.

The plot:

I knew the Mind Flayer was going to be the Big Bad, so that was no surprise. What was surprising was the army of the Flayed, and I rather enjoyed that. The Russians were a wonderful addition as far as I’m concerned. I loved the way it was handled, both comedically and dramatically. It makes sense to me that if American scientists discovered the Upside Down, the Russians would have too. I mean, this is the end of the Cold War after all. America and Russia were constantly racing against one another to find the next great discovery first.

Overall, I loved this season. It was not a let-down in any way for me, apart from the focus on certain characters that still irk me. Also, I’ll just be in my lovely house on the river Denial quietly shipping Jopper.

[kendrixtermina]

Baby Reacts to: “Voltron Legendary Defender”

I’m not familiar with either of the show’s previous incarnations but from what I’ve heard they completely overhauled the characters anyways - supposedly Pidge was once an annoying tagalong kid (and a boy), Keith was a standard issue “hot-blooded mecha pilot”, Shiro was not there, or killed of in the first storyarc, and Allura was a completely different character with a wholly different design, more of a ‘princess classic’ with the looks & personality to macth, supposedly they redesigned her to make her more alien & then threw in the skintone as a hommage to her voice actress. In any case only the name is the same. 

I’ve seen some clips and it seems they had a much more outwardly fantasy-aesthetic going on with carriages & period costume, sort of more like Star Wars or Sailor Moon,  whereas the newest version seems roughly Star Craft esque in terms of their particular blend of Magitek. 

Otherwise it’s pretty straighforward: Evil Empire, Ancient Artifacts, Giant Robots, Space Fights, timefrozen hightech city left behind by the precursors etc. 

The evil empire has a renegate splinter faction but that too isn’t so exceptional (though welcome), the BoM reminded me somewhat of the Tok’Ra from Stargate in their reclusive, slow-to-act approach in that they have tons of futuristic tech but limited ressources & had to be won over first & there still being a lot of mutual distrust on both sides, at least at first.  

Rare in this day and age (and very refreshingly IMHO) the show unapologetically sticks to the basic genre & tropes without falling over its own feet trying to be clever  & meta - sure, they evened out the gender ratio a bit & made the structure of the battles less monotonous but we’re not beaten over the head with any of these things/fit them in naturally & the show never seems like it has something to prove & just lets its story be a straightforward giant robots & explosions kinda thing.

It helps that the artwork is great. 

The best summary of my general impression is that I’ll pobably tune in for season 3. My favorite character so far would be Keith closely followed by Pidge, and Shiro, but AFAIK everyone likes Shiro? I’m prolly b/c I’ve heard it’s terrible (The Umbridge effect is probably in full force...) also I’ve been told there’s a trailer out and I’d rather see season 3 unspoiled. 

Clearly there needs to be some payoff for Shiro grooming Keith as a potential sucessor but I’m hoping that after a few drama-filled episodes, they all go rescue Shiro from wherever he’s gotten to, Keith hands him back his helmet and they all go home together. I mean, he just got his own Bayard. It’s unclear what happened to him in any case, perhaps he was absorben Evangelion style. 

That said one of the show’s strenghts is the clear aversion of the “annoying comedic sidekick” even though it has many characters that has could theoritically fit that description - They try their best to give each of the characters something to do & various skills & likeable traits - Like you get why each of them is there and why they’re our heroes - they also took the time to make sure everyone got a few character establishing moment in the first episode (Shiro’s arrival, Pidge & Keith were already on their own quests by their own means, Hunk & Lance served as the PoV characters etc) and throughout the show they try to bring out everyone’s personalities through reaction shots etc. Like, ALL of them are awesome.

Also apparently this fandom has brutal shipping wars? Some ppl I was sitting next to kept cracking jokes about how [random yaoi pair] was obvliously into each other and after a while it got annoying through sheer persistence. 

I don’t think the show as a whole is going for that like if there was going to be a decent/central romantic subplot they’d have introduced it by now they seem to be content to simply be an action show & there’s not much content like that at all except for the occassional teasing for the sake of humor & Lance’s flirting (which is really more there to exposition his being a bit of a showoff) - the most that will come out of it is that when we see some epilogue telling us what became of everyone, Lance will be shown to have found a girlfriend after returning home to his mom & impressing his siblings with his heroic stories. 

To begin with they seem to be going for a different vibe with the main characters, with how all of them (including Allura) refer to each other as “family” or “brothers” all the time like I get the impression we’re supposed to interpret them more as simply comerades or quasi-siblings with Shiro as the big brother and Coran as the kooky uncle.  

Like I hate it when ppl dismiss already existing romantic subplots as “uneccesary”, “silly” or “pandering” but at the same time it’s not like every show needs to have one or like it immediately needs an explanation when one character doesn’t get a love interest(that they must be gay, ace etc... nothing wrong with those type of characters, or headcanon, but “we’re not doing romance genre RN/ the characters are busy fighting a war” should be a sufficient explanation in and of itself whatever the characters’ orientations are.) 

General Character Impressions:

Their secret seems to be rolling with the basic tropes but connecting them into an interesting structre, so it comes off neither overly in your face nor one dimensional.

Lance - ‘Average Joe Relatable PoV character’ except they made him not-boring by making him the snarky/funny one & giving (he’s got ice powers & is the designated long range fighter, both very cool powers, pun not intended but retroactively appreciated) as well as drawing logical consequences (He’s the most attached to earth because of his relatively ‘normal’ background & wants to prove himself because it seems he was the midle child among numerous siblings, hence the rivalry with the local ace pilot.) Sorta calls to mind the likes of Kyon from Haruhi or Sokka from Avatar.  

Hunk - For once the “all around nice heart of the group with the more intuitive, roundabout type of reasoning” isn’t the token girl but I’m glad that role’s still there because niceness & group cohesion is a valid attribute. The “nice person” is typically the healer or magic user but making them the defensive fighter makes just as much sense, especially with his personality as the more cautions common sense-y one who becomes committed to the mission through the desire to protect innocents. 

Pidge - The “secretly a girl” thing is kinda trite but it makes sense as a reference to the original and they still eschewed the tropes by how she was badass well before & doesn’t get treated any different afterwards - The plot twist is more that she’s related to the scientists from the prologue. Otherwise another potential spirit animal of mine, VERY relatable in ways I can’t count, fro the nerdy reactions all the way to the short stubby arms XD I’m also grateful that they didn’t give us that trite old “nature vs science” contrast but instead portrayed these as connected.  It’s like Kensuke from Evangelion, except as a girl & she actually got to be a pilot. 

Keith - The Rival Character. Second-best fighter  of the paladins, sort of a ‘larger-than-life’ superhumanly good ace pilot, to Lance’s ongoing chagrin (and indeed he turns out to be part warrior alien), also, predictably, the local cynic. Seems to have the least ties to earth/ have been looking for a purpose in life anyways.    Not quite a ‘stoic number two’ though - He’d probably like to be but he absolutely doesn’t really know when to shelf it, hence his being highly suceptible to Lance’s provocations & flunking out because of a “discipline issue” despite his aparent talent. 

Shiro - Former Ace Pilot & personal hero for both Lance & Keith. Got alien abducted & subjected to the full repertoire (gladiator fights, experimented on, augmented etc.) & is understandeably still rather shook from it. Serious disciplined military type & natural leader, hence ends up taking over almost immediately wheen stranded with a bunch of ragtag space cadet rejects and, as a result, becomes everyone’s beloved big brother figure./mentor. Supposedly just as loved by the fandom?  Actually still pretty young, he just looks mature in comparison to the others but he’s not above getting in a snowfight. 

Allura - There’s the “sweet princess classic”, the “fierce alien warrior princess” and the “glittery plot magic princess” and in Allura’s case they seem to have been thrown in a blender & put together in such a fashion as to make a more complicated character - She’s certainly fierce, somewhat agressive, suspicious & hellbent on her mission but she also has the diplomatic grace one would expect of a royal & ultimately she does have a sweet side (hinted at early on with her adorable animal companions) - The basic gist of it is that she’s a regular teenage girl somewhere, but has been trained for asskicking & diplomacy all her life, & now she’s the last survivor & feels the pressure to carry on her father’s torch & stop the evil empire so she affects a comanding presence most of the time. 

Also there seems to be some meme about calling her a racist (Ugh tumblr) ? This seems to me as one of this stuations where people want complex characters but cannot handle it if they’re not perfect or fitting into easy boxes. 

The whole point of her is that she comes from a different time & culture with it’s conlicts outside of the human character’s PoVs. Like point me at any angry alien princess who is NOT suspicious. Both being unfrozen and heck, even Zarkon’s betrayal are still relatively recent for her, and in the end she was just kinda avoiding Keith (granted, in what must’ve been a confusing uncertain time for him) more than actively being mean and she came through on her own & apologized. Like, it was just like Hunk said: She just needed processing time, something she’s been afforded preciously little of at any point ever, I mean she goes straight from realizing everyone she ever knew (except Coran) is dead to launching an offensive.  

Bonus: I shall attempt to MBTI the bunch

(In Order of certainty)

Hunk - most obvious ISFJ to ever SiFe 

Allura - ESTJ

Pidge - INTP

Keith - ISTP or possibly ISFP, certainly Se-aux tho. One the one hand he uses Fi-ish language in places (”If I don’t do this, I’ll never find out who I am...”) on the other hand he tends to prioritize the mission & is the most cynical/pragmatic of the bunch & tends to be stoic & objective unless provoked (”The rest of the universe has families too.” “Yeah but can we afford to rescue the princess?”) - His relative reactiveness when provoked is sufficiently accounted for by Se. 

Zarkon - ESTJ 

Shiro - ISTJ (though his instant commanding presence makes me doubt the I somewhat that said politician/leader ISTJs do happen. He seems to have been serious & dilligent even before all the trauma tho.)

Lance - ESFJ or possibly Se-dom, ESxx for sure tho. 

Coran - Clearly has Si and Ne but not sure in which order. If I had to guess I’d say he’s either a very dutiful ENFP or a very quirky ISTJ. 

[rei-reviews]

Rei Reviews- Voltron Legendary Defender Season 1

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a Netflix reboot of the sci-fi mecha anime, Voltron: Defender of the Universe that came out back in the 1980’s. It was produced by Dreamworks and animated by Studio Mi, and its 11 episodes long first season was released in June of 2016.

Now, I bet the fact this show is a reboot is going to activate alarm bells to some people which is very understandable because reboots in general don’t have the best of reputation. Sure, some reboots end up decent and sometimes surpass the original, but most them are unnecessary at best and atrocious at worst. In other words: For every Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood there will be a Powerpuff girls 2016 and an Alice in Wonderland.

But Legendary Defender is different because it has two things most reboots don’t have. A lot of the staff who worked on Voltron, including the director, Joaquim Dos Santos, also worked on the highly beloved and acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender. And if was already talking about beloved, the reboot has a large and loving fandom which inspired fanart and the occasional shitposts.

So obviously these two aspects could show that the Voltron reboot was a success. Right? Well, that’s why I’m here to see if this reboot is worth your time! And keep in mind that I have never watched the original series or any of its other iterations. This review will examine how well this show stands on its own.

The Substance

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a Netflix reboot of the sci-fi mecha anime, Voltron: Defender of the Universe that came out back in the 1980’s. It was produced by Dreamworks and animated by Studio Mi, and its 11 episodes long first season was released in June of 2016. Now, I bet the fact this show is a reboot is going to activate alarm bells to some people which is very understandable because reboots in general don’t have the best of reputation. Sure, some reboots end up decent and sometimes surpass the original, but most them are unnecessary at best and atrocious at worst. In other words: For every Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood there will be a Powerpuff girls 2016 and an Alice in Wonderland. But Legendary Defender is different because it has two things most reboots don’t have. A lot of the staff who worked on Voltron, including the director, Joaquim Dos Santos, also worked on the highly beloved and acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender. And, speaking of beloved, the reboot has a large and loving fandom which produces tons of fanart and the occasional shitpost. So obviously these two aspects could show that the Voltron reboot was a success. Right? Well, that’s why I’m here to see if this reboot is worth your time! And keep in mind that I have never watched the original series or any of its other iterations. This review will examine how well this show stands on its own. The Substance In the universe of Voltron, reigns an evil alien race of the Galra who are led by their emperor Zarkon. They have spent thousands of years oppressing many civilizations and planets and ruling the universe with an iron fist. However, there exists a powerful weapon named Voltron™, a giant robot that is operated by five pilots named The Paladins. it was said to be strong enough to face and even overcome the Galra empire’s power. But when the Galra attacked and nearly destroyed the planet of Altea, the lions were scattered across many different planets, and hope seemed to be lost. But 10,000 years after Voltron’s disappearance, five humans from Earth named Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk become the new paladins of Voltron after a chain of events that entangled them in the Millennia-long War. Together with the help of Allura, an Altean Princess who was cryogenically frozen for thousands of years, and her advisor Coran, the Paladins become the last line of defense against the Vicious Galra, as they hope to defeat them through Voltron. The first season of Voltron mainly focuses on setting up the universe and its characters and the events that occur are standard for a genre: there’s an opening episode that’s dedicated to forming the main team and finding Voltron, a first mission to help a decaying planet, and setting up plot threads for the following seasons. The show isn’t very revolutionary in the way its constructs its events but what makes it all very entertaining is how things are executed. For the most part. For starters, Voltron is a show that knows how to handle and balance different tones. It knows how to make a comedic scene effective with its witty scripting and comedic timing and pull off a tense scene with good pacing and well established stakes and even manage to execute scenes that manage to be both of them. And not only are the scenes strong on their own, they also manage to consistently flow from one another without feeling jarring. And it also knows how to keep its audience hooked This is a feat that a lot of western shows and some anime tend to struggle with especially when it comes to tone shifts. Another thing this show manages well in its execution it’s his handling of the core cast because when you look at them on a surface level they mostly fit into standard super sentai archetypes. Shiro is the strong-willed leader Lance is the cocky and confident comic relief, Hunk is the vigilant yet kindhearted giant, Pidge is the snarky brains of the group, Keith is the rebel, Allura is the graceful princess and Coran is the butler and additional comic relief. Apart from Allura, who mostly subverts her trope with her more dominant attitude, none of the characters completely defy their archetypes. And sometimes that’s fine, not every character has to bring anything completely new to the table in terms of personality, and in this show’s case, the archetypes are very well handled. The great execution of these archetypes stems from two major factors: The first factor is the well written script. The dialogue between the characters sounds very authentic and is filled with strong one-liners and wit. Unlike other shows, the usage of one liners and slang doesn’t feel forced or like it was written by some cynical forty-something who’s trying to be “hip with the kids”. It really helps audience connect to the paladins because they speak in a very relatable way. The second factor is the chemistry between the main cast. Each character the show manages to bounce of off each other and much like the dialogue, their chemistry feels authentic. There are so much potential and different interactions that this show provides the viewer whether its Keith a scene with Keith and Lance, Shiro and Allura or even Hunk and Corran, the interactions are always fun to watch and make the characters very likable. These two factors are what made me care quite a bit about the main characters. It’s what made me invested in all the conflicts and developments they face during the show whether its individual or affects the entire group. And this is great because, a lot of shows try to make the audience care about their characters by flooding them with conflicts and backstories and not even succeeding with the two factors I mentions. It’s a very basic rule of storytelling that is unfortunately very neglected, but in Voltron’s case it manages to achieve it. However, I can’t say that the characterization of the villains is as strong as the protagonists.  The Galra empire do make for a good obstacle for team Voltron to overcome, but as of season one, they’re no more than just good obstacles. King Zarkon and his underlings feel menacing but they’re not fleshed out enough to interesting to watch. I only cared about them because the protagonists cared about them but the that’s only the bare minimum of what a villain should be. Another gripe I have with Voltron is the pacing of its pilot episode. Even though the pilot is an hour long, the pacing felt a little too fast because the show tried to cram in as much worldbuilding and set up as it could. That isn’t to say the pilot is bad but it could’ve slowed down a bit by giving the story and the audience some breathing room. The strengths of the show outweigh the negatives and the show makes for great popcorn material. But even then, the fast-paced pilot, and underdeveloped villains is what holds back the show from being truly great. The Presentation The animation of Voltron is top notch, though this fact isn’t surprising considering the fact Studio Mir also worked on The Legend of Korra. The rebooted designs of each paladin are well distinguished and really manage to modernize the character designs from the eighties while keeping their charm. In addition, the settings in which the character’s travel whether it be the different planets or the spaceship interiors are also well handled and have a lot of polish. But the animation truly shines is in the fight scenes, which are very crucial for an action show like Voltron. The hand to hand combat scenes are well directed and the fluid animation helps to make the fights effective and the same could be said for the CG mecha battles. I would even go as far as to say that the way the CG is rendered and utilized in Voltron surpasses over 90% of anime that use CG. It never looks too jarring or stilted for the eye and unfortunately that tends to be a rarity in 2D animated shows. While the background music in the show didn’t really stand out in my eyes, I am very fond of the show’s intro. Although the intro is shamelessly formulaic, introducing the characters one by one while featuring good fight scenes, the music manages to build up some excellent hype and the way the characters are introduced makes them look beyond badass. And then there’s the great voice acting. Every character’s casting is top notch because of how well they suit them and the way the actors deliver their lines really helps the characters to shine. The biggest stand out in my opinion would have to be Jeremy Shada as Lance because his snarky demeanor and great comedic timing really helped to flesh out the character. Final Verdict Although I’ve already mentioned that I haven’t seen any shows in the Voltron franchise, I can confidently say that the first season of Legendary Defender is a good remake and i'll definitely check out its second season. It didn’t blow me away with any extreme subversions of its genre but I still appreciate the amount of effort that went into making this series. The people who worked on this series loved Voltron and the mecha genre and it shows with the show’s quality. Even if there are major weaknesses in the characterization of the villians that could be mended. If you’re a fan of mecha anime I think Legendary Defender would be a show to your taste. There aren’t a lot of standout mecha shows that came out this decade so it could definitely fill the void. I also recommend this show to people who are looking for a good popcorn material show with great action and likable characters. And if you guys are planning to watch Voltron, then watching this show with a younger sibling or something alike would be a good choice! I binged this show with my younger sister and we both had a lot of fun with it. Reccomendation Level 3/5