#might rewatch just this arc soon..... so much stuff to do

[wmiescieinazumy]

still thinking about them. they're both wearing green sob

i love this scene so bad, kirino walks up to this nobleman with no fear, tells him like it is and when kinako sees it she jumps in to support him, letting him do the main talking and have his moment while she gets to taunt the guy (and use her upperclassman as a shield skshfhfkjs). her support of kirino during this arc was SO sweet. she liked jeanne too, she connected with her as well but she saw that as much as she wanted to miximax with her, it was not something she needed. but kirino did, so she selflessly decided to help him achieve that :( screaming crying throwing up

truly the duo of all time, if chrono stone bothered to give them more moments together

[rainysflowers]

Random Anime Whumpy Pics In My Files

yeah... Slight spoilers for various anime you've probably never heard of (other than Death Note & OG Trigun). Also u might like my whump GIFs if u like this.

Warnings for kinda sensual stuff, blood, cuts, the whole whump deal.

GetBackers

Okay im literally the most normal person ever on earth i swear but UGOIHSPGIGIOHDPIGSFBIPSBFI. Anyways, GetBackers :) Ban, spesifically. That's the brunet blue eyed one, he's my fav fav fav fav. Sooooo this set is that one vampire-esk promo image where Ginji is the one whos kinda topping which is a shock (haha electricity joke), a page from Divine Design at the end of the arc but before the blood and kissing ritual happened (HOT), my beloved promo image of the boys being yaoi again with chains and bandages and minor blood, and lastly the DVD cover for Volume Six featuring Ban and Fudo fighting. Bro is never really around lol so good for him. I just like Ban getting his shit rocked. And by god does he.

Weiss Kreuz

Sorry about the Yoji image, hes the one on the bottom left. Anyways, this is Aya (top) with a gun to his emo little head and tied up with wires, aint it cute?? Then Yoji (bottom left) in general distress and Ken (bottom right) with a bloody bandage.T The boys are sooo adorable arent they??

Cyber City Oedo 808

CCO ooooo... gotta get my boy's whump from the third OVA... but that's beside the point. Gougl (or one of the many spellings of such) bleeding and scratched up beside Sengoku and Benten held captive and threatened with the hydralic press. BTW the collar that they all wear is set to explode on their boss' command... if u were wondering

Kaiketsu Zorro

I'm telling u, Deigo/Zorro is such an underrated choice for whumpee. Just look at the dude. Hot in his hero outfit + peril and his civilian disguise wrapped in bandages. Such a sweetie cutie pie, i should rewatch it soon lol. OMG the water torture episode was soooooo good. Also Lolita!! She's here because I thought that the image was kinda whumpy, sorry if its not. She needs a little rep too!!

Pet Shop of Horrors

This is the amnesia chapter, and also one of my bisexual evidences. The black-haired one, D, lost his memory and walked into a glass door, causing a bump on his pretty little head. When he smiles at Leon, blond, the man melts. Check out his little bump... so cute!!

Death Note

This is from a chapter in the manga where, i believe, L is being outsmarted by "Kira" and has a little panic attack moment. Look at those movement lines... what do u think his face is like... scared?? sad?? angry?? Either way, he's upset and i like that.

Trigun

Mmmm i think i grabbed this off of Pintrest one day a million years ago, but it applies. Vash covered in scars n shit with a very yaoi hands artstyle lol. Still hot XD

Lupin the Third

Rainy, why is there so much Goemon... SHUT UP

Show by Rock!!

UGH DEPRESSION

Slayers

UAIGFSGDGOSGFGUS XEL ANS ZEL IMAGE LIMIT AAAAA

[animereviewsbykyranskye]

My current top 15 Anime and why

Because why the fuck not. I'm doing top 15 so that I have some variety behind it. Otherwise I would just be gushing non stop XD

Apparently numbers go big now - AND THEY GO SMALLER IF YOU TRY TO TYPE IN THE SAME LINE AS THEM???

comparison:

15

15 -

DA HECK????

(Edit: I was going to colour all the numbers because I wanted a rainbow. WHY THE FUCK FOR THEY CHANGE TO SMALL WHEN YOU COLOUR THEM??????)

Guess the titles of the anime get a small heading. Anyways. Onto the actual list!

15

Technoroid OVERMIND

Ayo. Starting out with a really random one. So if anyone were to look at my Anilist then they might be a bit confused. I decided I'd keep movies out of here as well as anything I haven't specifically finished. Also takt op. Destiny needs a re evaluation.

Anyways. This premise is so sick and I feel like they managed it really well. The characters were all really fun and the music was fantastic which is honestly the most important thing about Idol shows. I really like idol shows but often struggle with the stupid drama in them that just leads to seasons upon seasons that didn't need to happen or wouldn't actually happen.

In this they're just androids. The fantasy twist works so well for the genre and I honestly don't know why it isn't done more often. This way they can bullshit the drama and it actually makes sense.

Honestly my favourite character was Kite. He was great and his voice always gave me shivers. Especially his piece in the closing. Damn.

I don't want to go into full reviews with this, rather just gushing about things I like and stuff. I really don't think this got the recognition it deserves - probably because of it's deviation from the norm - but it would be cool to get some sort of sequel.

(Edit: There's a manga releasing apparently. Imma check that out.)

14

UniteUp!

Continuing on with the trend of idol animes apparently. UniteUp! was so good. As I mentioned in my Reviews while I watch of the show, it felt so grounded and real that other idol shows just don't seem to capture. These were all real people with real problems dealing with real life.

I also like how we had such a large cast of characters but it never really felt overwhelming as they focused on group dynamics and specific individuals rather than trying to cram every single person into their own arcs.

Once again the music was fantastic and by god was this show pretty gay. Honestly I don't know what the sentiments of others are, but the Anela duo definitely weren't straight and neither were Akira and Daiki. That bath scene says it all.

Anyways. If you want a fun time with a really solid idol anime, please check it out. I saw earlier that we're getting a season two soon. I am so looking forward to it.

13

Trigun Stampede

Damn! I don't even know what to really say about this one. The visuals are absolutely stunning - there is no doubt about that. The score and the characters are excellent. And how dare they leave us on that cliff hanger.

I have absolutely no history with this story and still need to watch and read the originally but I am really looking forward to seeing how the story adapts between the three.

You can ask my partner. I've already said we're watching everything trigun related as soon as we are done with our current show.

I'm really looking forward to season two. And especially seeing how this all pans out. Apparently there will be tears according to the fandom. Concern.

12

Re-main

Damn this show came out of nowhere for me. I watched it quite awhile ago and have been meaning to rewatch it again.

The premise is definitely a sports anime but honestly so different. All because of one thing. The fact that he is an amnesiac is such a fascinating concept to work with - especially with how he was before (trying not to spoil - can't remember when this comes up in the anime)

And then the ending?? Damn. They seriously set up that cliff hanger and I really hope this show gets a sequel.

I really can't say too much about it without giving away some spoilers but damn does it change up the formula and do it so fucking well.

11

Given

Given is great. Such a pure but heartbreaking portrayal of love on one side with such conflicting but also nurturing views on the other. Having the different realtionships throughout this is really well done how they all bounce off of each other. Especially when they entertwine it with the music.

As it is said. That is how they communicate - through the music.

I'm busy catching up with the manga and really hope the anime continues with it.

Also the fucking is just fucking gorgeous. It has no write to hit you that hard.

Also - something else that shouldn't be allowed to hit you that hard. Damn Mafuyu has had a difficult past. We love how he learns to heal and grow with Uenoyama at his side.

Anyways, moving on.

10

Bakuten!!

Okay. Who said a sports anime could be this pretty.

I love the art style and the music throughout all of this. I love the portayal and the evolution of these character - seriously all their arcs are great. The interactions of the team is so tangible and real.

I watch a lot of sports anime and I often struggle with some of the drama used within the sports - it feels like the only thing that ever fuels the story is the matches. Whereas in Bakuten - the character seriously fuel the story. You can understand their motivations much more than just - I want to play this sport and be the best!

I also feel like they really captured everything really well in the movie. The whole concept of wanting to sore is great and really well executed.

I also love the interactions they have with the other team. It's not just a once off competition or practice match that they face each other. We actually get tangible characters for the whole team and see how much they two teams are similar to one another. It's a very healthy rivalry that isn't normally this expanded on in sports anime.

9

Sasaki and Miyano

Yesssssss. These two are just absolutely amazing. Their whole story arc and relationship is just tooth rottingly sweet. They bounce off of each other so well.

And I love the fact of how slow the actual story is. They meet at the start of Miyanos first year (from what I know - I still need to read the novels) and sasaki's second and they only end up confessing just before graduation happens. It really plays out well and is so healthy.

There is no problematic elements like in so many BL stories which is such a breath of fresh air. And the fact that sasaki is very specific about making sure to maintain boundaries to ensure that miyano is comfortable is also excellent.

On a slightly different note - I still need to see the Hirano and Kagiura movie. Been dying to watch it. I've been keeping up to date with both manga and both of these stories are amazing. I love the dichotomy of the two stories and how they are coming to their own realisations of their feelings in honestly very different ways.

I also recently watched the dub of the anime due to some videos on tiktok. Fucking hell it is absolutely hilarious. Kellen Goff as Sasaki has no reason for being that good. Seriously. Damn.

8

Link Click

On a completely different note. Damn this one makes you questions your own morals and reality as you know it.

I really don't want to get into this one much as I do believe watching it blind is the best way to go.

The art style is fantastic and that opening hits like a truck it is so good. The characters just click (pun not intended) and you just understand their motivations and don't know which side to side with most of the time. It brings about such high moral dilemmas that will seriously mess with your brain sometimes and there is one episode that will likely make you cry.

Anyways. Season 2 has just started airing and I am so ready for it.

7

Buddy Daddies

Why did a show about two queer platonic dudes who adopt a child while beings assassins hit so damn hard.

The show jumps between episodes with backstory and episodes with them just being good dads and it is balanced so well. This anime won't end up getting a sequel most likely with how it ended but damn I wouldn't say no to one.

Rei is my favourite character and I relate to him far too much. His interactions with the world are so fascinating and his whole arc with Miri is honestly some of the best media I've seen.

I absolutely loved watching this show weekly and it always brightened up my day when I realised a new episode would be up.

If you would like further thoughts on this one then check the Reviews while I watch on it for more chaos.

6

No Game No Life

So. This was the first ever anime that I ever watched. It was a random recomendation from a friend. Look at where we are today.

This show is honestly just so fun. The characters are silly and the whole plot is just absolute chaos. I really enjoy the games aspect and how it was all incorporated into the world.

I can't even really say much about it. It is just a guilty pleasure of mine and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Also. Please can it just get a second season already.

5

Assassination Classroom

So. Unlike everything else on the list - this one I only finished really recently. My partner and I were watching it together. And to put it out there straight away. I cried. That ending was far too emotional.

I really enjoyed the humour throughout the whole thing as well as the constant underlying dread of the whole situation.

They also really played out Koro-senseis backstory really well. The teasing to it was excellent. I must say though that one of the twists seriously came out of left field. Like damn.

I've just recently bought the boxset and am reading through the manga. Once again. It's absolutely amazing.

Also the openings of them all jumping are absolutely fucking hilarious and you can't tell me otherwise.

If you want to know what officially sold me on the show was just in the first episode. (Note we watched in dub)

Don't ask me why but I found this to be the most hilarious thing ever. The absurdity and the line delivery was magnificent. I annoy my partner by quoting it atleast once a day.

4

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

Speaking of comedies. This show has no right to be this good. The absudist dead pan comedy in the middle of whats meant to be a TV show is such a random premise but just works so well.

Due to the nature of the show, the characters are extremely relateable. I especially love Kumatani and Kikaku.

If your on the same side of anime tiktok that I am then you have definitely seen/heard snippets of the dub.

I think this was the first anime that I originally watched in sub and then tried it in dub and actually enjoyed it. (I often find that whatever I originally watched it in is the only one I can watch it in - it's very difficult for me to change it)

The voice acting on both sides just works perfectly for the show. And that final episode and how they did it was the best thing ever.

Please just give it a try.

3

Angel Beats

Okay. Time for a hard hitter. This comedy like assassintaion classroom is fucking excellent but will make you cry, like damn.

In complete and utter contrast to No game no life, this was the second anime I had ever watched. I had found a video that gave some suggestions and thought I would give this one a try. When I say it destoryed me, I mean it literally. I constantly think about the end of this and I absolutely love revisiting it.

The twist and turns along the way are fascinating and I love how each one alters the characters and the narrative. Each of the characters feel unique - even the lesser developed side characters - with fascinating and complex backstories.

The whole thing just makes you question your own place in life.

2

Moriarty the Patriot

Another one I just randomly tried because I saw a video on tiktok. The first episode immediately pulled me in. I thought it was just going to be some simple detective story (At the time I didn't know much about Sherlock Holmes and who Moriaty was so I didn't have any of that to guide me into this story.) But nope.

I keep saying this but in this one I really mean it. The characters are built so well. The dichotomy between William and Sherlock - as the fandom would probably agree - is just amazing. How they bounce off of each other - i don't even know how to really descirbe it.

Honestly just go watch it.

And if you enjoyed the anime - please go check out the manga too. If the anime was done well - then the manga is done to lamost perfection.

This show was what got me into reading and then eventually buying manga. I now have every single one that is out.

1

Yuri!!! on ICE

Did I make the title gay? Yes.

Okayyyyy. This is just going to be me going on about how much I love this show. Bare with me.

So I was in an anime watching slump just before I picked up this show. I had been seeing some videos popping up talking about it and decided to give it a try (this was in 2020)

I immediately fell in love with this show. Literally everything about it. I ended up rewatching it three times over the course of a week. It got to a point where I was so upset that there wasn't more content for it that I just cried for half a day. (Ask my partner - it was chaos)

This show is the reason I now read fanfiction - all because I found a way to technically have more content for it.

This show holds such an important place in my heart that I sincerely cannot express it properly.

If you've never watched it - go give it a try. It would mean a lot - and hopefully one day we might get a season two.

----

Thanks for reading, if you managed to get to this point. I find it interesting how my explanations managed to slowly get shorter throughout the list as I just started becoming more emotional than factual.

I hope you enjoyed it and maybe grabbed a recommendation or two. If you'd like to know more or hear me ramble on more about anything in particular then please let me know.

[yullalightk]

What I've been up too lately..

So, as you may have know that I haven't exactly been active on this platform recently.. that's because I've kinda lost interest in smg4 a little. And I started checking out a series made by Thomas Sanders called the 'Sanders sides' and I've been invested in that series for a while now.

And the reason why I've lost a little bit of interest in smg4 is because it fustraits me a bit. Like how they treat a lot of their main characters, how some events that happened in the past just became nothing as soon as the arc was finished. And I can't forget that the show's just milking Mr Puzzles. I mean think about it, people started to see or check out smg4 because of Mr Puzzles! ofc not all fans but because of how popular Puzzles is the creator is just making him the new mascot of the smg4 channel as a whole.

Puzzles now that I think about it, I don't know that much about his character all that much.. Is he a cold blooded villain who has a deeper modivation?? No, Is he a former villain like smg3 and a character who goes through a path to redemption like Zuko from the last avatar? No, he's a character who has a colorful personality and a character who has now became the new mascot for the entire channel as a whole! And also a 90s cartoon villain that a lot of fans simp for.

I'm just upset that there were so many ways of making him more interesting but the creator's just made him a twink who hyped up a lot of people for the PV arc but then disappointed a lot of fans, not me cause I watched the PV movie before everything else. It also makes me kinda sad that that's all he'll be, a mascot for new fans and a character who we know so little about.. the only thing I can relate to about him is how he used to watch TV to escape reality like a lot of us used and still might do as we get older. But other than that I really can't help myself to like the guy like I used too.

That doesn't mean I'll quit the fandom! just lost a few hopes for the show. Maybe because I didn't rewatch the show/arcs so I'll rewatch them after summer break who knows! But I kinda wanna try something new so expect to see more of some Sanders sides gl2 stuff coming along! But yeah, again sorry for not posting as much and ranting again. This was kind of a rant(?) kinda?? idk! just wanted to get this off my chest so glad I did. Anyhow hope you at least know what to expect and I'll post some Sanders Sides reviews gl2 designs or another rant! Hope you enjoyed this one.

[doctor-badadvice]

Let's talk about Fast Forward for a bit.

Specifically I want to talk about the main theme of that season: why? Why did the art style deteriorate so much? Why did the writing get so bad? Why did this come out before season 5 but also supposedly happens after season 5 and at the same time only occasionally acknowledges its events? Why is there a kid now? Why am I watching this when I only really care about maybe three episodes at best?

Because I was bored. But let's go with order.

I'm going to say it now, I'm still going to claim there is no season 6 in Ba Sing Se. But at the same time, it isn't all that bad actually?

Here's the thing. FF was inevitable for many reasons. TMNT, with its aliens and magic, has the potential to go on forever. However, at some point "turtle fatigue" will set in. In the 80s, this happened around season 7 which yeah, it's about 150 episodes in. For the 2003 show it happens around season 5 but this doesn't mean the higher-ups will try stupid changes to bring back the old glory.

Moreover, the show brought it upon itself. The main culprits, so to speak, are the writing's insistence on portraying consequences as much as possible (see: Leo's scarred shell for instance), as well as season 4 with its funny gory shift (see: that one episode where Baxter watches his own body fall apart which wow).

So it isn't unexpected that the higher-ups and especially the toy maker went "Kids, could you lighten up a little?" and messed up everything that was good about the show.

So this is basically why I don’t like FF. Five seasons are a long commitment. You have to sit through the ninja tribunal arc which is boring as hell, then have to be really patient and accept that there are just dragons now for some reason. Then FF comes up and it has nothing of what you previously enjoyed. The style is different, too flat and kinda clunky and ugly in some spots, nothing that happened before matters and now Cody is there.

Remember networks, kids don't want to watch other kids go on adventures in their place and it doesn't get better with age. But you do you.

So I despised FF but after rewatching the season on its own, I have to make amends in some spots.

The general impression when you watch FF on its own, without the better stuff still fresh in mind and with something to do during the dull parts, is that of good background noise.

It takes many steps backwards. The turtles are suddenly less competent at fighting where it's convenient, their personalities are more one dimensional depending on the plot and they're kinda shitty to each other for no reason. They really suffer from that serial effect where the reset button is hit as soon as the credits roll. They used to go out to murder the Shredder knowing they might die and now it's "Today Mikey really wants a new video game and next episode we're going to a fancy party with the kid dressed in the dumbest suits ever and a silly happens :)"

Splinter also gets sidetracked a lot and he's more there to occasionally call the turtles whippersnappers but again, there isn't much of a reason for him to step in anymore.

And this brings me to the villains. I feel like the turtles only work as well as their villains. They work when they're getting into a fight with a local street gang, or trying to kick an alien empire out of the planet before everyone dies. They work when the Shredder actually does something meaningful and generally speaking are going against someone actually dangerous.

The first five seasons had Shredder, the Foot, Hun, the Triceratons and Bishop. FF has an annoying wrestler whose main priority is property damage, a gang of netrunners who I wish got up to more interesting things than scalping and quoting the Matrix, literal evil twins from the tv trope literal evil twins, and the idiots in charge.

The idiots in charge are of course beloved uncle Darius and Sh'Okanabo.

These two really are something. Darius is essentially that guy from the first Iron Man movie. He's the acting CEO because the owner is a literal child. He smiles and preaches big keeping up the facade of benevolent company of the shiny Earth utopia but he has a dark secret which is that he's making guns and a mecha suit for himself and Cody takes several episodes to realize this for some reason.

You'd think Darius would stop being a threat the moment his dark deeds are uncovered since his whole thing is "evil capitalist guy is evil". But no, he's gonna go higher, he's going to ally with Shittibobo because he needs new genetically modified minions he can badmouth while fucking around all day in his sewers loft and we don't even get the payoff of Darius realizing that he's being fucked over by an alien during the Day of Awakening.

Plus because of how afraid FF is to explore anything heavier than Mikey insisting they go out to achieve explosive diarrhea from questionable junk food, even the fact that Darius is an abusive father figure for Cody has no real importance because Cody is only allowed to look sad on screen for five seconds. Remove Darius and the overall season arc remains the same.

What about the other guy? Well, Sushibooboo is the supposed big bad of the season. He's an alien who wants to kill life on Earth to steal resources. He's something beloved President Bishop goes out of his way to personally murder. But the only thing he achieves is to confirm that he's just offensively stupid.

Sh'Okanabo is supposedly an alien boogeyman who's so evil he just can't be real, right? Unfortunately, he's the literal cause of his own demise.

Since the turtles are more than content with babysitting Cody and going around complaining about historical accuracies like that one Futurama episode, they don't know who Sh'Okanabo is and after talking to Bishop they don't care to find out. Great. This means he can operate in the dark, grow his eggs and prepare to kill everyone, right? No way. In pure Sasalele style, he goes out of his way to attack the turtles, tell them what he’s up to and scare them enough to start to actively prepare to fight him.

And on top of that he wastes time to build a time machine because somehow Shredder had to return for one episode which in turn almost fucks up his plan entirely since his ship almost explodes.

So I still don't like FF because of the way the writing plummeted. A lot of stuff happens because it's convenient and often falls back into exquisitely 90s/2000s tropes (see: the obviously evil guy gets away with evil deeds because the parents/cops/people with power are blind and children are stupid, that one car race episode which is a repeat of the previous car race episode from earlier in the show, a female character who's only there to be a love interest and is allowed to be smart and cute because Cody likes them smart and cute, just to name a few). The turtles get dumber depending on the episode and there are some attempts at comedy like Starlee's shitty family that give out levels of second hand embarrassment not seen since Star Trek TNG.

But I don't hate this season entirely either. FF is just very mid and it makes me think that it could have worked as a standalone show for a while because you can watch it more or less. I'm just this isn't what we got in place of the actual show because it wouldn’t have lasted.

Still I did enjoy some things:

Torbin Zixx is fun. He has some interesting tricks, even though 60% of them only work because the turtles are written especially stupid in his episodes. Plus he steals Bishop's space shuttle which is glorious

I ended up liking Sterling a little towards the end. I still feel like his humor is a sanitized version of Baxter's but I like that he collects clips of the turtles getting hurt to watch to calm down and that he's actually always ready to throw hands

President Bishop is so stupid, yet brilliant (and I'm going to talk about him in a separate post because the worldbuilding is really something and I have OPINIONS)

Raph commenting that power armors are so last season while fighting Darius made me chuckle even though I won't tolerate this supersuit slander

This moment:

[sayakxmi]

[Magi rewatch] Episode 12: Determination and Separation [Part 1]

Sorry I did little to nothing last week, I had two exams and then I badly needed to recharge. But now I feel pretty alright!

On a different note, I've finished the first part of that Final Arc rewrite which I've been (probably?) mumbling about every now and then. Pretty excited about it, ngl. One day I might even post it, lol.

Ok, but the actual episode.

I genuinely cannot imagine being under so much pressure.

Five days till the wedding.

No one will let him breathe. Only more pressure and responsibility.

-judging-

God, look at the relief on his face after Sinbad joined the conversation.

So, I joke a lot about Sinbad and Alibaba's father-son relationship of sorts, but tbh, I don't blame Alibaba. It's not just about Sinbad being his hero, or being an adult guy who acknowledges his existence more. Sinbad is probably the first person since Anise and Cassim who made him feel less pressured about everything. By taking control of the situation, Sinbad took some of that responsibility from him - if something were to go wrong, Sinbad was there to fix it. That's kind of what parents are meant to do for their children, ensure they have somebody to fall back on in a difficult situation. The sheer relief he must feel that Sinbad is there must be unreal, especially after years and years of guilt and having to fend for himself. Alibaba is seventeen, and people are putting the responsibility for an entire severely messed up country on his shoulders.

More judgement.

Cool shot, ngl

:(

"My homeland needs somebody to save it... but is that person really me?"

Can't blame him for these doubts.

Honestly, it's kind of funny how his eyes go soft as he starts talking about Sinbad, even though I know it's about self-deprecation. Also, again, bro, you're 17, and Sinbad had years of experience with this stuff.

"Compared to him, I'm a nobody..."

In the manga he doesn't add that "I'm a nobody", I think, but, honestly? Not a big change. You get the impression that this is how he feels, anyway. And, like, can you blame him? Everybody's always putting him down, and he's the type to care too much about everything. It's bound to mess him up somehow.

Also, birds again. I guess it's symbolic? Of what, though. Freedom, or maybe that he'll take action soon? Cuz they're flying - moving forward. Hm.

...maybe it's about them being connected by fate or something, since Rukh are golden birds... Or just fate in general...

"S: This country needs to be built anew by somebody who really loves it. / J: You mean Alibaba? / S: To be honest, I don't have high expectations of him."

Bro's seventeen. Not everybody has been told that their special and can do absolutely anything since they were like four, cut him some slack.

But I'll be actually honest, I don't blame Sinbad for coming to this conclusion. I don't like how he is about it, bc he makes it sounds like it's Alibaba's fault for being a kid and getting very understandably overwhelmed, but he isn't completely wrong. This entire time he sees Alibaba following others around (Cassim), fail at actually leading the Fog Troupe, and even fail at easing his people's worries. Even when he's faced with the fact that his country is about to be turned into a slave factory, Alibaba still can't answer nor promise anything to anybody.

This is something I've always liked about Magi - there's so many points of view, and sometimes it's not about who's right, because simply nobody is completely wrong in the conclusions they make. Except Hakuryuu, maybe. But Hakuryuu's an exception to many things. Including the consequences of his stupidass actions. But that's a rant for another day. But anyway, Sinbad isn't wrong to have doubts about Alibaba, just like Alibaba's fears aren't really out of place and irrational. That's just how it is sometimes.

On a different note, I also don't completely blame Sinbad for drinking here. Bro really went to restore trade with his country, then got caught up in this entire mess, and had to take charge there. He might be more together than Alibaba, but it doesn't mean he isn't stressing about it. I would say it's actually a decent way at humanizing Sinbad to us - he might be an amazing person, but he's still a person.

You go, girl.

Ok, it's a small difference, but I have mixed feelings about it. In the manga she talks about Alibaba on her way out, but here she starts while she's still in. Idk, I feel like the former gives you the impression that she was still deciding whether to say it or not, while the latter is like, yea, I overheard and came to argue.

Always gets me that this is how Morgiana views it. Alibaba didn't think so hard about it, he just did what he believed to be the right thing. It actually happens a lot with him - he doesn't realize how meaningful his gestures are to others, even the simple ones like offerring to be somebody's friend. And at times it comes off as man, this world really is sad that something so small is so important to the other person, but at times it's Alibaba not realizing how much he actually does, because to him it's just the barest minimum. Not enough to warrant more than simple thanks at most.

Once upon a time I was talking with a friend, and they've said that it wasn't Alibaba who broke the chains but Aladdin and Goltas, and the thing is, Alibaba would've been the first person to say that. To him, he did nothing of importance. To Morgiana, he told her she didn't need to be in the Dungeon, and then stayed in Qishan, freed all the slaves, made sure that being free is something that stuck with them, and only after that left. It changes so much about that Dungeon interaction, bc in Amon it was easy for her to see it as Alibaba trying to pretty much bribe her - which wouldn't have been that uncharacteristic for him - but once they left he didn't change his mind all of sudden. He more than proved that while, yes, sure, he tried to get her to stop attacking them, he still meant what he'd said. I feel like that was what recontextualized that entire interaction to her, and that's why she sees him like that benefactor.

On a different note, the smile he has in her imagination is really cute.

"I believe he can save this country."

Ok, sliiightly disappointing. In the manga the Banker literally lied to... I fucking hate this guys name, I always have to check the spelling, I'm gonna start calling you 23rd like my friend Henry does. Anyway, in the manga the Banker tells him that Kou isn't a brutal and strategic country, which in a cool way transitions to Sinbad saying that, yeah, they're a militaristic country, bad news. Here the Banker simply doesn't add that last part that they're not a danger at all, which, F.

Here that person has normal pants. Also, I haven't noticed the magi silhouette until now, F. Love how these guys always have braids.

No hilarious "Was it the same for you, Sinbad-san? / No, I'm different.". What a shame. Ok, there it is, later. "But I'm an exception.". I still think "No, I'm different." is a much funnier wording.

Oh, hey, in the anime they added Kouha and Koumei! I love Kouha's mad grin. You go, little murder boy, you go.

Kouha is kinda like Judar, except not an awful human being.

Haven't noticed until now, but they added chess here. Kinda random choice, but at the same time, it's a scene where they pretty much only talk, so maybe it was done to have, idk, some animation be there.

Back to the father-son thing, another thing Sinbad does is offer guidance (from Alibaba's perspective, at least). And it's worth noting the way Sinbad goes about it. Just like Cassim, he pretty much tells Alibaba what to do, but he's much gentler and more calculated about it. Cassim pretty much emotionally gut-punches him whenever Alibaba tries to question him to shut him up, while Sinbad let's him cool off. Not even that, Sinbad is actually trying to build up Alibaba's confidence there rather than drag it through the dirt. He talks about his father, how Rashid spoke about him etc, while Cassim constantly reminds him of something he blames himself for even though was compltely out of his control.

Sinbad: Alibaba, you're special. And a Dungeon Conqueror, just like me! : ) Alibaba: No.

The moment he sees Alibaba freak out abt the whole You need to become a King, he immediately offers his support.

I don't blame Alibaba for reacting like that. I would've gotten overwhelmed, too.

Damn. In the manga he looks more sad/disappointed. In the anime he looks kinda pissed.

Pretty

[scrunkore]

Scrunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 5

I got burnout and never got back into it so I'm hella simplifying it lol shit happens

the scrunko core has burned out, rebooting

50) Wendell & Wild (Movie, 2022)

A lovingly crafted stop-motion animated movie with some good old kid-friendly horror vibes and a punky attitude, even starring a pretty nice transmasc character that I'm super happy to see. It's a nice story with a good visual style and a lot of heart, and I think Key and Peele being involved is pretty funny honestly. [4★]

51) Murder by Numbers (Switch, 2020)

Decent enough Picross game with a basic detective narrative stringing it together that I'm not really a huge fan of, but it does its job and I appreciate the adorable robot as well as some of its representation. And no idea how they got the composer from Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, lmao [3★]

52) Pokémon Picross (GBC, Unreleased)

Yeah, this was better than the 3DS one, it's just basic Picross that doesn't do much (only real mechanic it adds is being able to change the music) but that's still better than the shitty mobile game model. They really should have just released this, it was straight-up finished and I even got a cart that works on original hardware because I think that's neat. [3.5★]

53) Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch, 2020)

Going to be killed for playing this as my first Paper Mario but who cares, this game is cool in spite of its awkward battle system (which DOES kinda suck). Just a fun adventure with typical quirky writing and some surprisingly powerful moments, plus an excellent soundtrack, I'm sure some of the earlier games are better but I did play this one and did enjoy it. [4★]

54/55) Knives Out/Glass Onion (Movies, 2019/2022)

Incredible pair of detective movies, both full of really engaging writing and directing work that keeps you invested and never stops being entertaining to watch, surely still really good on a rewatch too. They also really fuckin' hate rich people, especially the second one which is woke as hell and has one of my favourite endings in anything, so that's what some might call "based". I can't wait to see what Rian Johnson does for the third Benoit Blanc movie, which is apparently meant to be a 2024 release. [5★]

56) Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics, 2018-Present)

These are some damn enjoyable comics, telling some fun and generally quite well-written stories set after the events of Sonic Forces with a cast of really cool characters. Honestly kind of ride or die for Tangle and Whisper, but original villains like Dr Starline are great to read too. Early highlight is definitely the Metal Virus arc, but the more recent stuff with Surge was excellent too. Safe to say the team behind these stories know their shit. [4.5★]

57) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Movie, 2023)

They really did it, they went out of their way to make a bigger and better sequel to one of the greatest animated movies I've seen, and it's very possible that they succeeded... but we won't know until the second part comes out, which looks unfortunately unlikely to be any time soon because production sucked. Still, what we did get is yet another gorgeously animated spectacle with a cool storyline, everyone knows that. [4.5★]

58) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Movie, 2023)

One of the only parts of the MCU that I cared about more or less concluded with this movie, and fuck it might be the best one in the trilogy. Rocket's harrowing backstory really hits out with that theme of some jerkass playing god, and the core adventure of the film is pretty engaging too, just as cool as ever. Plus it's now confirmed Vocaloid exists in the MCU lol [4.5★]

59) The Suicide Squad (Movie, 2021)

Another instance of James Gunn making an actual good superhero movie, this time making a good adaptation of something that previously had a bit of a shit one. I appreciate the kinda edgy nature of the titular squad that was handled solidly here, and their antics are honestly pretty funny. Fun action sequences too, and it's honestly really cool how much the movie thinks rats are awesome (they kind of are tbh). Peter Capaldi, the best version of Doctor Who, playing a mad scientist role is also just... really good. [4★]

60) Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (Movie, 2022)

Man fuck Disney, this is obviously the best version of the Pinocchio story and their attempt to overshadow it was lame as hell. I quite like the darker take on the story with themes of death and war around Italy's rise of fascism (Tom Kenny Mussolini is crazy btw), and of course the stop-motion animation is really quite excellent. Always love to see movies made in such a way. [4★]

61/62) Sonic and the Secret Rings/Black Knight (Games, 2007/2009)

Yeah, I get why the storybook duo of games have a bad reputation, because the motion control gimmicks kinda suck, but Secret Rings suffers from it far more than Black Knight, and that still has the cool ideas and solid writing combined with a great soundtrack (both games have this). Maybe the mission-based level structure isn't great, but there's some fun stuff to be found in these. Wish they were better though. [2.5★/3.5★]

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[madammobius]

well then! thank you for the tag jade <33 

last song i listened to: lovefool by the cardigans. randomly remembered it exists recently and its so so so catchy! i love to sing along

currently watching: the office LOL. i haven’t been watching much lately, not even many youtube videos, but i like to watch stuff while i eat and the office is just a simple show which amuses me enough to watch an episode or two a day while doing other stuff!

currently reading: i don’t know if this counts, but the IDW sonic comics have been great lately! been thinking so much about how important this series has been to me, i picked it up when it started and ive been keeping up with it ever since! been having BIG nostalgic feelings for the metal virus era and my guy DOCTOR STARLINE. what a beautifully done arc and character, love love love!

current obsession: i suppose ive been spending most of my time on editing lately! i love editing so much, its a skill i feel like im good at and yet i still feel like im learning so much! especially lately, ive been teaching myself all kinds of new effects and techniques and it feels like the good old days all over again. as far as media though, ive been thinking a lot about death note recently! i first watched it back in early 2021, and it sent me into a coma for about a week after finishing it LOL. i was so invested. ive been thinking about it a lot again, and i might start a rewatch soon! i watched the sub my first time and then never finished a full watch of the dub, so this might be a good opportunity!

tagging: oh man, im not sure who to tag! i guess @smallkidneyjoe​ and @genghisyajj​ would be interesting to hear from, if you two feel like it. you guys are my friends and i feel like i haven’t spent enough time with you lately. whether you wanna write one of these or not, id love to hear from you soon!

I got tagged by my dear friend @cassthecringe a while back but I kept forgetting to do it until now lol

last song i listened to: Yes-No by Kazumasa Oda (a few months back I got back into Off Course, a Japanese band I grew up listening to because of my mom (: It gives me the vibes for my Mob Psycho fics lol)

currently watching: Nothing rn, I finished Mob Psycho S3 back in December so that's been occupying my brain. I'm waiting for Spy x Family S2 ig? I've been meaning to watch the Nier Automata anime too, despite my belief that the story cannot be told properly outside of a video format I have heard interesting things about it so 🤷‍♀️

currently reading: Also nothing 😭 I really should get back to reading things that aren't fanfiction. I know I want to read the Hunger Games prequel before the movie comes out...

current obsession: Mob Psycho 100! Although that feeling has sorta died down recently (combination of time and the fandom being uhhh 😬) it's still a show near and dear to me. I mean, I started writing fanfiction for it and I don't do that often 😅

tagging: There's no obligation but I'm gonna tag @invertedparadox @madammobius @aromarunwayexpress and anyone else who wants to do this!

[tteokdoroki]

hmmm… aali 🤔 quick question, how do you feel about tetsutetsu?

….

bsnsbdjahwirbbalb I KNOW THIS IS SUPER RANDOM OK?!? BUT I’M JUST REWATCHING MY HERO AND THERES THIS SCENE RIGHT?? DURING THE TRAINING CAMP ARC WHEN KENDO AND TETSUTETSU FIGHT A VILLAIN BUT ONLY FIND HIM BECAUSE OF KENDO AND TETSUTETSU COULDN’T FIGURE IT OUT 😭

ans so I was thinking 😭 being his and kiri’s s/o would be something like, helping them figure out stuff on the daily, and if they learn something because their s/o taught/told them they’ll boast about it with zero shame 😭 (maybe a little tho, but still 🥲) and being constantly smothered by them but not in an overbearing type of way, cause they let their s/o be their own person and they know they’re strong and all but they just want to protect and be chivalrous and just the definition of the type of honorable chivalry that’s already dead that kiri so passionately believes in 😭

AND AND IN THE BEDROOM?!?! WITH THOSE TWO?!?! 😭😭😭😭 I’m burning in a fire of my head own doing and I had to share it with someone and you came to mind first, I’m so sorry 😭

NO BC BC BITES ARM????

they would be so doting :( the type of bfs to spam you pics of stupid shit while you’re at work, kirishima telling you he picked up some food on the way home and tetsutetsu adding on that he tried ( and nearly drowned ) to run you both baths :(

it’s like being smothered by two really friendly giants who treat you like an expensive tea cup because they wanna love up on you like big fluffy lapdogs but also don’t wanna break you 🥺screaming cause both of them will talk about you while on patrol and just whip out their wallets which have the exact same (horrendously taken) picture of you in it and they’re both like “haha NO WAY! our baby is the best.” Im gonna throw up hold me

AND IN BED ????? LORD ??? stuffed at every angle, every opportunity because both of them cum so fucking much and their dicks are huge you might as well be riding a monster cock help ?? n both of them wanna do their best for you :(( either holding out until you’ve cum too many times to count or cumming way too soon and they keep going until YOU pass out bye

[testudoaubrei-blog]

“I’m loyal, that’s my whole thing.” - Scorpia, Season 4 Episode 6, Princess Scorpia

“Everything they taught us in the Horde about loyalty is meaningless” - Lonnie, Season 4 Episode 5, Protocol

Rewatching Season 4, I just finished Princess Scorpia. This is an episode that has always stuck with me, especially the A plot of Scorpia realizing how badly Catra has treated her and everyone else and deciding to leave. One thing I’ve been thinking about since I finished the series, though, is what this episode is telling us on a larger level. Looking beyond the character arcs and more at this show’s larger themes and message. Because this show is very much a show that says things, made by people who believe them. That earnestness and depth is one reason I keep coming back to it.

In the pull-quote above, and throughout the episode and before it, Scorpia defines herself in terms of loyalty. It is her identity - as she says, that’s what Scorpions do, they’re loyal. Her actions for three and a half seasons bear this out. When she first shows up, she tries to position herself as Catra’s new best friend, the one who won’t leave her and will stick by her no matter what. And that’s what she does, until this episode. She sticks by Catra through Catra’s increasingly villainous plots and erratic behavior. But she doesn’t just stick around. Until the portal, she barely contradicts Catra, and even afterwards, does so only furtively and immediately backs away as soon as Catra pushes back. For more than a year of show time, Scorpia has not just stood by Catra, or supported her, she’s actively assisted her in her most villainous and destructive acts. Scorpia is fighting by Catra’s side, eagerly carrying out her orders, and doing her utmost to see that Catra succeeds. But her loyalty goes beyond this practical help. Because for all that Catra loudly declares that she doesn’t need a new best friend, she consistently seeks out connection throughout the show, even when she’s at her most isolated in season 4. She needs moral support, and connection, and to know that she isn’t alone. Scorpia provides that, and keeps Catra going. Though Scropia isn’t initiating Catra’s various misdeeds, she’s assisting and supporting Catra throughout. On a personal, psychological level, the only word that seems adequate for this is ‘ennabling’ - Scorpia, sweet as she is, is Catra’s enabler. We see in the next few episodes what happens when Catra doesn’t have Scorpia’s support - she breaks down, and realizes that her actions really do have consequences, and that the affection she took for granted for so many years is something she can’t live without. But as long as Scorpia’s still around, Catra can’t make that realization.

Now I’m not going to say that Scorpia is morally culpable for Catra’s own actions. She’s not. Catra is solely responsible for her various betrayals, manipulations, violent outbursts and assorted murder attempts against...most of the rest of the cast (though being raised by Shadow Weaver sure as shit is a mitigating factor). But while Catra is obviously being a bad friend to Scorpia throughout, Scorpia isn’t actually being as supportive or helpful to Catra as she thinks, because Catra doesn’t actually need unconditional support, she needs people to be honest with her and express to her how she’s hurting them. She needs people who will stand up for themselves just as she needs to take responsibility for her own actions. This is part of why she and Adora have such a healthy dynamic in season 5 - Adora doesn’t take her crap, and Catra takes responsibility for her crap.

However, Scorpia -is- responsible for her own actions. And as I said above, she’s been with Catra every step of the way as Catra has attacked just about everyone and made war on Etheria. On a larger, political level, Scorpia is a willing participant in upholding the Horde’s oppressive system, and executing a war of aggression and colonization against innocent people. Speaking of colonization, perversely, she’s loyal to the very organization that dispossessed her and literally stole her birthright, then discarded it like a useless trinket when it was no longer useful to them. No one ever suggests ‘why don’t we let Scorpia connect with ~her runestone~’ until Glimmer does (and Glimmer’s motivations and arguments aren’t exactly forthright). Scorpia’s loyalty makes her an accomplice in her own oppression (like a bunch of the themes in this show there’s some interesting post-colonial stuff that the show doesn’t fully explore, probably because Noelle and the crew felt self-conscious about telling a post colonial story, or just didn’t know where to go with it). Interestingly, Scorpia’s loyalty to the Horde here parallels her loyalty to Catra, which has made her completely disregard her own wellbeing, which is the most obvious take away from the episode.

But I would argue that everything above shows that for Scorpia loyalty has been a way of avoiding developing her own moral compass. Scorpia repeatedly shoves aside questions of right or wrong in favor of being loyal to her friends and to the Horde. Loyalty has made Scorpia not only willing to accept her own mistreatment, but to willingly mistreat others, and to keep herself from asking any hard questions about what she’s doing or why. This is despite the fact that Scorpia is, by inclination, an incredibly gentle, kind and compassionate person. She’s willing to silence the best parts of her nature out of loyalty to Catra and the Horde. In the end, she also commits acts of violence and perpetuates the oppression of Etheria. And this is so insightful, because we see this sort of thing in our world all the time. So many oppressive institutions depend upon the loyalty of their members to keep them ‘just following orders’; so many abusive systems depend upon loyalty to stifle dissent and silence potential whistleblowers before they even speak. We see this in some of the most oppressive institutions and the worst scandals in our own society, and looking back through human history we see it in some of our nation’s and our species' most infamous crimes.

And when we look at the Horde as a system that Hordak has built in imitation of his elder brother’s empire, we see just how central loyalty is an ethos. Hordak himself is motivated entirely by loyalty to Prime - being a former clone, he spends the entire series not fully capable of accepting himself as an autonomous being (even when he acts like one and enjoys it, there’s some fucked up religious shit there that I won’t get into). He seems to have instilled this in his followers. The Horde Trio, Catra and Scorpia all hold loyalty as one of their highest values. Catra clings to it as her biggest accusation against Adora - that she was disloyal, as expressed in Catra’s perception that Adora broke her promise and abandoned her. Loyalty keeps the Horde Trio together and fighting for the Horde, and Scorpia with Catra. I think we can read between the lines and say the Horde runs on loyalty (as well as fear) and this is a very insightful portrayal of oppressive military and paramilitary institutions like armies of conquest and occupation and other instruments of state violence.

There’s another, related way of looking at how a sole reliance on loyalty as a moral framework has stunted Scorpia’s moral growth, and I think that brings together both the ways that it makes Scorpia willing to accept her mistreatment and participate in the mistreatment of others. Namely, loyalty in the Horde style isn’t just sticking with someone or something, but subsuming your own will into theirs. Following orders. Supporting your friend in what they do no matter what. Whatever you call it, it’s about turning off your own self - your self preservation, your self respect, your conscience, whatever other things you value - and just going along with what the person or institution you are loyal to wants you to do. And this is where Horde loyalty goes full circle, back to its origin - Horde Prime, the narcissistic self-made god who wishes to control or destroy everything that is not himself. Loyalty as Hordak conceived of it and as the Horde believes in it is a reflection of Prime's absolute control over all his domain.

In a way, self-determination is one of this show’s highest values (together with love). It’s at the heart of Adora’s 5-season, 3 year struggle to become her own woman and her own hero as she shrugs off one imposed destiny and then another and finally embraces what she wants. In a more negative form, it’s at the heart of Catra’s arc, as she finally accepts responsibility for her own actions and their consequences and starts working to make a world that she actually wants to live in, as well as admit to herself that what she really wants is love. And I could go on. This self-determination is existentially, obviously threatened by Prime chipping people, but it is also stunted by horde-style loyalty that demands unquestioning support and obedience.

Both the Horde Trio and Scorpia reject the Horde’s ideal of loyalty and walk away, but I think it’s interesting how they do it. Neither rejects loyalty entirely (not on the way Adora does) - the Trio, realistically, remain loyal to each other and simply walk away and walk out of the war (this might save their lives), joining the other disillusioned cynics in the Crimson Wastes. They reject loyalty to the horde and embrace a more supportive and respectful form of loyalty to each other. Scorpia leaves, but she actually comes to her crisis and makes her decision out of loyalty, and because it’s clear that her loyalty isn’t returned. The immediate situation - loyalty to Emily and Entrapta’s memory on one hand and Catra’s orders on the others - creates the conflict between loyalties that forces Scorpia to actually make her own choice rather than deferring to Catra. But she also reflects how Catra betrayed her loyalty to Entrapta, and thus how all of her friends’ loyalty to Catra is not returned.This is another point about horde-style loyalty - it’s one way - Hordak or Catra will demand your loyalty, but they feel no obligation to return it, which reflects Prime’s view of every other being in the universe as disposable. It’s only when she’s with the Princesses that Scorpia starts to find a new moral center, though sticking up for and protecting her friends remains important to her. In neither case, though, are these kinds of loyalty coming at the cost of either the Trio or Scorpia’s autonomy or ability to make moral choices of their own. In the very next episode, she says she wants to 'be A good friend' which is how the Princesses typically describe sticking together, which is a much more active and holistic concept than 'loyalty'. Scorpia confesses that she doesn't even know how, but she wants to learn and thinks the princesses can teach her.

There's another interesting counterexample to Horde Loyalty. Adora repeatedly breaks with the people around her to do what is right. First she leaves the Horde, then walks away from Catra by stages when it is clear that Catra is going to continue to harm other people and Etheria. Then she walks away from Glimmer, defies Light Hope and breaks loyalty with her supposed destiny and purposes as well as loyalty to the homelans she has never known. By season 5, Adora is loyal only to herself and the people she cares about, but she isn't constraining her will to anyone else's. For all that she seems like a rule follower Adora has a rebellious streak a mile wide, and she will do what is right, no matter what. This is what allows her to save the universe 3 times.

So the show’s argument is that loyalty is not a good moral framework to base all of our actions around. I don’t think it goes so far as saying that loyalty has no place in our ethics (being a good friend, which is such a huge part of the show, certainly includes loyalty, especially sticking with people when the going gets tough), but the show stresses time and again that being loyal to something or someone shouldn’t make you disregard yourself and what you think is right. Because it’s only by living out our own values and taking responsibility for our own actions that we can come into our own as moral beings. Moreover, if we insist on maintaining loyalty to institutions that oppress us and others, we can’t dismantle the systems of oppression that are holding us and other people down. (Yes, this is a pretty radical message, but I suspect that Noelle is some kind of anarchist? Anyway, it’s a thing.)

Okay, so that’s what I, a 35 year old, get from this kids show. I think it’s also worth pointing out that this lesson applies to younger viewers too, in their most immediate lives. Younger viewers will have had friends who didn’t treat them well, or might not have treated other people well, and who might have pressured them into participating in the mistreatment of others (this is kind of how bullying works a lot of the time). I think it’s important that younger viewers see how being a good friend never means disrespecting yourself or other people and it means a lot to me that She-Ra shows this in such a nuanced and realistic way.

[k-s-morgan]

Okay, so I just rewatched all the red dragon arc on Hannibal, and the thing that always gets me is that Will didn't tell anyone that the dragon visited him after faking his death. He literally pretended to find out he was alive at the same time as Jack, he told Jack that he didn't know if the dragon wanted to see Hannibal but it was their best shot.

The dragon literally told Will he wanted to see Hannibal, Will knew the "fake escape" plan was going to fail, he planned it to fail.

I just... I wish I had energy to make a whole post about it, but instead I'm just screaming it in your direction (sorry), I need it out there.

Oh yes, Will is being deliciously dark in TWOTL! In fact, from the point of morality, he does his worst choices there - not surprising, though, since using his words, this is his Becoming.

Will wanted to break Hannibal free for real. I think he started planning on it as soon as Bedelia confirmed he's in love with him. I'm not buying that Will just did a 180 the very second he learned Francis is alive - the idea had to be there already. Chilton can be seen as a courtship gift in this context, and Will's words to Bedelia prove that his family life is over at this point already. He knows being with Molly and Walter is not sustainable with who he is, he knows he can no longer live in the illusion of normalcy, so he's finally choosing Hannibal.

That said, Will is still feeling extremely petty. He pretty much destroys Hannibal in their mic-drop conversation, and I think he followed several goals here. He was hurting Hannibal just because he could - he now fully realized the power he holds over him. He was also likely paying him back for everything he's still angry about. But Will was also playing it up for the cameras, making Jack and Alana believe that he's leaving for good and wants nothing to do with Hannibal. That would make the break out plan easier. So he lies not just to Hannibal here, he lies to everyone who's watching. He claims he had nothing to do with setting up Chilton, even though he took the responsibility for him with Bedelia; he claims he's going back to Molly, even though they broke up. I'm pretty sure Will also overblows his manipulation part in "I rejected you so that you would give yourself up" stuff.

I don't think Will had a very clear idea in mind as to what he would do next. He just wanted Hannibal free. Whether he'd try to kill him, let him go, or run away with him were all possibilities he was likely considering. And this is what makes the situation even more fascinating to me: Will betrayed Alana and Jack, conspired with Francis - Francis who nearly killed Molly and Walter and who could come after them again; he got all those officers killed with no remorse, and all for the ambiguity of the future. 

Bryan and Hugh claim that Will was mostly leaning toward the idea of letting Francis kill Hannibal, but I disagree. Will is not stupid, he can trace his own pattern of behavior, and he knows that every time, when the moment comes, he chooses Hannibal. There is also conversation with Bedelia. 

Will: I don't intend Hannibal to be caught a second time. 

Bedelia studies Will. Sensing where he might be going. Hoping she is wrong. A flicker of alarm plays in her eyes.

Not just Will’s words, but also Bedelia’s reaction confirms that he intends Hannibal to survive. 

Will: I'd pack my bags if I were you, Bedelia. Meat's back on the menu. Ready or not, here he comes.   

This is another confirmation: Will believed that Hannibal would be alive and free, and that he’d come after Bedelia. 

Once Francis did his part of the bargain and broke them free, all bets were off. Francis could kill Will. Hannibal could kill Will. Hannibal could just take the car and drive away - when he started moving to it, Will just asked, “What are you doing?” He had no control there, so whatever doubts he still had, they were irrelevant because he fulfilled his largest goal: he broke Hannibal out. That’s the reason he got innocent people killed and betrayed those who decided to trust him. 

[mugichaaaa]

Bad Batch Analysis

So Bad Batch release date doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon so here is my analysis on the bad batch trailer that no one asked for, but do I care? Lowkey yeah but… there is barely any bad batch stuff so here we are. 

spoilers to bad batch trailer

==

So the first thing I see about the Trailer is this scene right here: Where the bad batch is coming out of there ship at night on a planet that looks like Falucia. I have a feeling this will be one of the earlier episodes in the season since Echo has a different armor than the one we see later in the trailer. This is the only time during the trailer where we ever see this planet. So I think this is going to be either half an episode or just one episode like a filler episode

==

Next thing I notice is that Hunter is fighting a zygerrian and a little later we see Tech and Wrecker catching up with Hunter.

 It makes me wonder where is Echo and Crosshair? Shouldn’t they be there fighting alongside them? But my theory is that later on in the trailer around 0:36 we see Echo dawn new armor. 

I believe Crosshair is with Echo during this sequence as like a battle buddy. What is a battle buddy? A battle buddy is where someone is assigned to another and they are both expected to protect and assist each other. Dose the GAR follow the same system as the US military? I don’t know, but it would make sense for Crosshair to be with Echo to make sure he’s okay and doesn’t get in trouble. 

==

Another thing I notice is the snowy planet that was seen quite a lot in the trailer. First time we see anything on the snowy planet is at 0:18 where we see clones/stormtroopers and an explosion. 

Was the explosion caused by the batchers? Or was that the empire’s doing? Then at 0:23 we see Wrecker jumping down while what looks like a droid falling off a cliff. We don’t get a good look at the droid but it kind of looks like a modified model of the type II loadlifter droid that we see in season 7 (the one Trace and Ahsoka had to chase down). We get a good amount of  scenes of this snowy planet and crosshair so maybe this might be like a character Arc for Crosshair. 

==

In this scene you would think it would be like all batchers but in reality the one in the back is Echo not Crosshair. Crosshair is nowhere to be seen in this scene, so there are really only two things that come to mind: 1) Crosshair is somewhere else farther away ready to fire, since some may or may not know but sniper rifles work really well if it’s in long range that’s why it's a long range weapon. Or 2) he’s one of the purge troopers, I don’t really know about this idea since we got like barely anything on the purge troopers in the trailer. 

==

We get our first appearance of all the purge troopers, or at least what we see right now, now many people are saying the one in the middle is either Crosshair or Cody. Now I don’t really think the middle one is Cody but I do think that one of them IS Cody but i don’t really know who or how that would work. 

Let’s start off with Crosshair because honestly I thought this was Crosshair at first but a little bit more research would tell me otherwise. So in the scene where we first see the purge troopers, there is one leading the pack who looks just like Crosshair, but is it truly Crosshair? well we really don’t know until the show comes out, but we can only guess. So let's start off with the equipment we know of. Crosshair has a very special customized rifle, which is the 773 firepuncher rifle. These rifles dose seem to be a rarity in the galaxy as we only seen two (maybe now 3) people ever use the 773 firepuncher rifle, one is our lovely asshat of a sniper Crosshair, one is Azmorigan’s henchmen, and maybe now the new purge trooper. 

Now this wouldn’t immediately point to Crosshair being the purge trooper, since we still  haven’t fully analyzed the equipment that the purge trooper has. Something that a friend pointed out was that the purge trooper and crosshair have a DC-17 hand blaster. While I was rewatching it again I noticed that Crosshair has one DC-17 hand blaster on his left thigh and our lovely friend the Purge trooper also has a DC-17 hand blaster on his left thigh as well. Now all of this might be some weird coincidence or maybe that the GAR gives all their snipers a 773 firepuncher rifle and a DC-17 hand blaster that goes on the left thigh. but what I have said doesn’t work because we only know two cannon people who are seen with the 773 firepuncher and a DC-17 hand blaster. GAR does have clone snipers, and those clones who are snipers are given a DC-15x sniper rifle not the fire puncher, it seems to be the standard for clone snipers. After all I said the equipment can be completely coincidental. Now for the armor, the armor looks like Crosshair but is it really Crosshair? Yes and maybe no, I have seen people like to point out the Helmet. Yes the helmet looks the same but isn’t really Crosshairs. The Helmet to me looks like the phase II helmet that Wolffe and Rex wear. The visor looks somewhat the same as both Crosshair and the Purge Trooper has a thin visor, but  I looked a little more into it and the visor looks like Echo’s. The coincidence that Crosshair and the Purge trooper have the same equipment and similarities in the armor could possibly lead to Crosshair being the new purge trooper but I have a feeling that Crosshair is not the purge trooper and let me explain that as well. 

Now I’m going to go off on a little theory so bear with me as I barely have any evidence for this and this is all going off my gut. So we know elite squads exist, we have of course Clone force 99/Bad Batch, Delta and Omega Squad, and Foxtrot group. Now I’m going to focus a little more on the Bad Batch and Delta squad. So both Delta squad and Bad Batch have skilled snipers Sev and Crosshair. In Legends Sev stood out for being amazing at Ambush training and his ability to work with a Sniper rifle, while we barely know anything about Crosshair’s life on Kamino we can only expect something like that. From what we got from Legends and Cannon both Crosshair and Sev are both highly respected snipers in the GAR. So it only makes sense when one is MIA and the other one deserted from the Empire they would want to make a clone or human be the next best sniper in the GAR or now Empire. I’m thinking they would most likely use the exact same equipment as Crosshair to match the snipers skills which can explain the coincidence of Crosshair and the purge trooper having the same weapon. Now is this highly likely? Most likely no but it would be cool for Delta squad to be mentioned.

Since we mentioned Delta squad I think there may be a possibility that the purge troopers we see in the trailer are Delta squad. Now there is like Zero evidence for this being true but in legends Delta squad would go on and work for the empire hunting down surviving Jedi, jedi sympathizers, and Clone deserters now which elite squad do we know of that deserted the empire??  So to entertain this idea I wanted to see which trooper from the purge trooper squad could be from Delta squad. 

Now the flame purge trooper could be Scorch since during his days on Kamino he was really good with explosives, soooo explosive...flames sounds like something scorch might like. Now Boss and Fixer are harder to point out since the three other purge troopers don't really scream Boss or Fixer. So I'm just gonna assign them to these two. Now the sniper? In legends the Empire replaced Sev with another trooper but I have zero idea what that trooper is like so the sniper is up in the air. 

==

Omg my wife Fennac shand, I believe in Fennac Shand supremacy. So Fennac Shand is in the bad batch most likely to tie her to other media  and not just the Mandolorian. The area she’s in is very ominous and there really isn’t much to go off of. The fog in the background might indicate either she was just in a fight and she is at a standstill or it could be just how the building is very foggy. I also believe she might be tied into the mining facility we see in the trailer, as Fennec is also seen looking away where she seems to be in the mining facility as well.

==

I’m so confused on who that is, I want to say Crosshair because I love him but the hand blaster is on the wrong side of the thigh as that is the right thigh not the left. Same excuse for the purge trooper. So like the next best thing I can think of is that “this is definitely someone who is not from the bad batch and not from the squad of purge troopers but definitely has clone armor” so what do those my mind go to? Clone commanders. Now this could be a clone commander that we know or a clone commander we don’t know/barely heard of. The reason why my mind went to clone commanders is because we know a lot about clone commanders that are alive but barely any arc troopers that are alive and would align themselves with the empire. Plus the DC-17 hand blaster is pretty much a staple to all clone commanders. Due to the lighting I can’t 100% say that it’s Rex without his Kama because of his hand guards, but I can 100% confirm that that’s not anyone from Bad Batch or the Purge trooper squad. 

==

We see an explosion from what looks like a damaged ship with the purge trooper with the sniper rifle looking on, I believe this scene and the scene at 1:09 are connected to each other somehow.

 The reason why I think they are somehow connected is by how the sniper purge trooper is watching/escaping the explosion. How did I know that this was the purge trooper and not crosshair? Well at 1:00 we can see the sniper look at the explosion and if you enhance the brightness I can’t see the little red stick thingy Crosshair has on his left shoulder. Same thing can be true about 1:09 as I clearly can’t see anything that can identify Crosshair as there is no red stick thingy on his left shoulder. 

Now I’m going to call this segment cool things I saw on the trailer

Okay most of these are tech related because he just got really nice scenes on the trailer

==

Tech just looks so bored when the Emperor is talking. Like you see Hunter and Wrecker standing in attention because that’s the emperor you gotta show him respect, and there's tech who just likes “yeah yeah yeah cool, look at how cool my datapad is I think it’s amazing” 

==

Let's play spot Bad Batch 

There they are! I feel like this shows that even though the Bad Batch are unique and different from the clone army they are still seen the same way in the eyes of the empire, a tool for a bigger plot to destroy the jedi (which already happened). 

==

I always thought this scene was cool every single time I watched them. Crosshair got that one shot one kill… well more like one shot three kills. 

==

Wrecker punching Tech arm is something I thought was funny, because it’s like Tech is clearly worried about something else and Wrecker comes in going “yeah bro!”. 

Look at his face, he looks so done 

==

I also noticed that the Havoc Marauder has guns at the back of the ship. I don’t know why I didn’t think the Havoc Marauder didn’t have guns on the back. I just thought Tech was that good of a pilot to dodge all of those blaster fires. 

==

I don’t know why this scene was so heartwarming to me. I think it’s just tech looking up at  hunter probably telling him something important about their mission or the planet they're on that warms my heart. 

==

I love this scene, Tech showing off his technical skills is amazing. I bet it’s like BD’s splice ability where BD can easily hack a droid when it’s almost down.

==

and that’s that, thank you all who have read this far! I hope I was able to clearly put my thoughts out there. Let’s hope that we receive some news about the Bad Batch show soon! If there’s anything you want add on please type down below I would love to read what everyone else has to say! 

[enerday]

So I don't usually write here about any series and stuff, but I wanted to share some thoughts on final space season 3. It's been released 12 episodes out of 13 and the last one hit me really bad.

I love final space with all my heart for its comedy and I love it much more for its dramatic moments. Season 2 has this perfect blend of golden comedy (well, except the piss battle) and heartbreaking drama. I mean I liked season 1, I thought that avocato was amazing character and his death in the middle of season was brilliant move, but season 2? I fell in love with it. I managed to get through first episodes without caring much, yes, even episode 3 with ash and her sister. But episodes 4 and 5? They rip your heart out. (It's the one where little Cato gets stuck in time anomaly and the one where Gary's mom appears). They made me fall in love with themes of loneliness and family that the show invests so well, with so damn good animation and the perfect amount of comedy in drama and drama in comedy. So I rewatched those like 3 or 4 times.

So what about season 3?

I'm not gonna say it's bad or even that it's worse that previous seasons. Don't get me wrong - it's still great. I enjoyed every minute of watching it. Yes, I thought that episodes were a little less memorable as episodes in season 2. But that may or may not be because I rewatched season 2 for numerous times and I watched most part of season 3 within 3 hours (I tend to remember a little bit less stuff then usual when watching it in one shot).

So season 3 I liked a little bit less than season 2. And here's some thoughts about it - I tried to make them as little biased as possible.

Of course there are spoilers.

1. Opening

Why is it just Gary falling down? The story has never been just about Gary and it is shown in openings 1 and 2. My guess is that they didn't want to spoil who's gonna stay in team-squad and who's not. But in my personal opinion it wouldn't matter if they showed all members of team-squad from the beginning of s3 and then Fox died and so on.

Opening 1 was all of them standing together in nearly static fight scene and well it wasn't that interesting but the viewer was getting the ambiance of the show. Opening 2 was so good - it was well-animated, it showed characters' personalities and basically was fun to watch every episode without struggling or fast-forwarding (my personal favorite is when Gary throws KVN - it says so much about both of them). And I guess it wasn't so fun for me to watch Gary failing down alone for 12 times.

2. Comedy and drama

Like I said season 2 has perfect amount of comedy and drama mixed together. And for me it just didn't feel that way in s3. Drama is on a whole new level - Quinn episode or death of Fox, and don't even get me started on little Cato and his real parents. And while dramatic episodes still hit so damn hard, there's an episode with kinda new atmosphere for the show - the one with ash and her new (girl)friend evra. It's kinda melancholic but not in a sad way, more like in a reflective dreamy and wistful way. I'm really glad they're not getting stuck on the one and only way of doing things.

But sometimes it feels like they don't mix comedy and drama anymore. Like I can't really remember fun part of sad episodes, maybe just a couple of jokes but as for me they're not the same. For example, said 4 and 5 episodes of season 2. There's funny bonding moment in the ep.4 and hilarious loggins dancing scene, then little Cato stuck in this time zone and it's sad but also fun with Clarence, and Tribore others stuff and KVN becoming murderous crazy. And then it turns out that they had never been here, and the amount of loneliness little Cato had to face just tears your heart apart. Unforgettable, and it works so well because of the comedy and fun parts of the episode. Because you can only feel that devastated if you don't expect this while laughing. Same with ep.5 - you laugh on fun part with Gary not wanting save his mother from jail and pretty cliche (still funny though) moments of Sheryl befriending everyone except for Gary. And then it's not the betrayal that hits you with sadness, it's the realization during that heartbreaking flashback that Gary still had hope that he can be family with her. And the moment of him losing that hope.

What I'm saying that in these episodes comedy and drama coexist in the same space and inseparable from each other.

There's still funny parts in season 3 which are mostly hilarious (personal favorite - "I finally found him - father of beelzebub") but it feels like there's a little bit less of them and that they carry less weight for the story-telling and building the atmosphere purposes. And as an aftermath you can separate fun parts from sad parts without losing something. They don't support each other and the story feels less holistic.

Again, it could be that creators were trying to show that the stuff became so much more serious than it used to be, but personally I wish they mixed drama and comedy a little bit more.

3. Themes

So I don't actually know if I think of it as a good or bad thing. It's different for sure, though.

I think themes this season were much less obvious and straight shown as before. For example there's still loneliness theme - but sometimes it's so subtle you might not notice it right away. Like this last episode little Cato tries to spend some time with Gary or Sheryl but everyone shooshes him because they have stuff to do. And you know that they're still family but that feels kinda sad and a little bit familiar. (Also in the beginning of ep.12 there's this kinda sad intonation which with he asks Gary in which team he was).

There's a lot more moments with different themes which you maybe don't notice but feel I can't really recall what are they specifically.

So yeah while season 2 serves themes of the show on big plate and put them right under your nose, season 3 sprays them in the air and makes sure you feel rather then see them.

(Maybe I'm overthinking it but still).

4. Characters and stuff

I'm not really gonna say too much in this section because everyone has pretty much different opinion on each of them.

But some things have to be said.

I saw a lot of people hating ash arc this season and saying that it's artificial. But I find it quite natural. Like, yeah, she makes bad decisions and jumps to wrong conclusions but it's not like it's not in her character. She's always been proactive type and now more than ever she wants to take action, not to sit and wait. And it doesn't mean that if character does something you don't like it makes a plot poorly written or her arc artificial.

I like how Quinn's decision to stay in final space raises debates. There is no clear answer whether her decision was right or wrong, and it's amazing that the show can ask the audience this type of question. And again there's much more to discuss with no clear morally right answer than it was in season 2.

Every father-son bonding moment between Gary and little Cato is precious. Period.

Gary himself feels much more mature and this is amazing job with his arc and character development. Avocato has this inner (soon to be external) conflict with him killing little Cato's real parents and sometimes it feels like it's all that he got in this season, but it's fine, I guess. Tribore is simply the best as always.

Not sure I have something unique or smart to say about everyone else that is not obvious itself and I don't want to extend this so freaking long post for things that have already been said.

Except for that it's been 12 episodes and I still have no idea why it was story-wise necessary to add Biskit to team squad. He's not plot relevant. For me personally he's not even that funny.

So, I guess that's all for now. Definitely gonna update this when season finale is released. Just to talk things out.

Sorry, there are probably ton of mistakes. English is not my first language but I try my best to be better, so feel free to correct me.

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

bittersweet netflix shadow and bone finale (s1 e8) rewatch; accoutrement: white wine with ice cubes in it (no YOU'RE a mom drink shh)

my wine's like fruity I love her

light and darkness title card we love to see it

Inej looking at Alina before she goes below deck to hide <3

okay that 'what can you really do on your own' was like not fun that shit hurted

okay but Jesper's 'not enough'? <3

oh no my baby Zoya's first inkling that Darkles does not really care

omg Helnik just appeared and I remembered how much heartbreak I have to face in this episode

gods I love Danielle as Nina so so much

'this can't be it' said she with her pleading smile with downturned eyebrows MA'AM I-

don't break my dumb little heart

I might hate Calahan's little accent but they're making me tear up

oh gods I literally cannot keep a hold on myself when Dani's accent bleeds through with full force, it's like she comes more alive or smth

'I will keep you warm' SIR WHAT-

I am surprised they showed a leaning in for a kiss so soon but I'm not mad about it

her little eyebrow twitch at 'what are waffles'

when that rando said 'i hunt slavers now' a dread settled into me because I knew what was about to go down

Matthias looking somberly at the stuffed wolf's head </3

I am so incredibly entranced by this exchange between Fedyor and Nina and what it represents, it's very interesting that they pushed up their storyline to match with the timeline

damn it's kind of jarring to be back in the Fold

'REMEMBER WHO'S DRIVING'??!!!! *you better stop* meme, *i am, disgusted* meme, *oh wow, oh wow* meme

Mal you fucking idiot you could never take the crows by surprise

the music rising as Kaz starts explaining his thought process, fucking perfection

haha Mal bitchass Inej caught you

'Because if he isn't with Kirigan's crew, he's with ours' WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED

'And why would we destroy the Fold? It's the greatest weapon we've got' valid point at the moment but you know I don't necessarily agree with your methods

the use of the light tunnel in the show instead of Alina just being a super flashlight in the books is quite an interesting addition as well

is this an inappropriate time to point out how pretty Ben Barnes is

okay I kind of love the depiction of the shadow powers okay sue me

'they are traitors who tried to kill you' why are you suddenly making valid points despite having kind of committed low scale genocide

'i never said I was smart' YES MAL BE THE VOICE OF HIMBOS EVERYWHERE

Kaz's face going from 'can you believe this idiot' at Mal to 'fuck me I'm gonna do the same thing aren't I' at Inej

'For who would oppose us now?' *himbo romantic rival appears out of nowhere and shoots at him* god I love this show

him standing calmly in his ridiculous all black attire after nodding at his soldier to stop the himbo in his tracks, i fucking can't

could she summon light without the Darkling making her after he put the collar on her until the uhm moment in the books? idts but in the show she can hmm

'only because I'm not in the game' you tell him Jesper

not me snickering at 'you'll be seen not as a saviour, but as a heretic' LMFAO

'Shame. I'll have to give that speech again now.' THIS SHOW IS A FUCKING COMEDY AND YOU CAN'T PROVE ME WRONG

YES LET'S FUCKING GO SULI SOLIDARITY

Darkles casually whipping the Cut out like a shuriken or a throwing knife at Jesper because he shot at him lmao I can't

INEJ FUCKING GHAFA STABBED ONE THE OLDEST AND MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THAT WORLD AND THAT IS VERY TELLING OF HER POWER

that moment where you actually think that affected him despite having read the books and watched the show

and then he has to go and fucking say 'it will take more than this' and I can't be help but be a little bit impressed at this old fool's resilience

throwback to when he said 'the king is a child' sir you make some valid points sometimes and it does make it difficult to hate you

I would just like to inform everyone that it is currently 6:09 am IST and I am sipping my second mug of wine while watching netflix sab for the second time instead of doing my three papers that are due tomorrow

I'm sorry but Inej jumping to check on Zoya after she gets knocked over by the volcra? first class display of solidarity and sisterhood as well as Inej's inherent kindness

Kaz jumping in front of a FUCKING VOLCRA AND STABBING IT WITH HIS CANE to save Inej, you best believe love is true, kids

god the volcra are so ugly and gross, they did such a good job with them

they kind of remind me of these creatures (I think they might have been called Hollows or smth) from the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie

STAG VISION TIME

despite my dislike for the callous nature with which the stag plotline was handled, I kind of dig the stag vision scene

'It's just me and you now, Alina. And we're all we need, anyway.' I actually feel bad for this old fool simping for this wonderful gorgeous powerful woman despite lying to her and manipulating her and exploiting her power

okay 'I never needed you' *stabs the bone fragment out of his hand* beautiful power move I fucking love you so so much

alright ben looking like ✨ that✨ not only in physical pain but also emotional pain at what the Darkling clearly considers another betrayal from this girl he wants to give the world and maybe? loves? maybe? or at least has feelings for makes my fucking heart hurt while simultaneously soar at Alina taking back control and reclaiming her power as her own and stepping into her own

'how do you claim such power' okay could have had better dialogue there writers

the fucking score lifting as she says 'you cannot claim what was not given to you' good people my heart is full

one day I'll talk about my defense of the chosen one trope because god damn I kind of love it

hmm I wonder was that brief hesitation that we saw on Alina's face due to her thinking about the 'you chose to betray our people' comment or the 'i was trying to save us' comment because that will define some of her actions in the later seasons (hopefully god if we get some, I honestly don't know what with this stupid brownface debacle)

I'm not saying talking about brownface and pointing out that it is wrong (for further context, I am actually brown) and harmful is stupid btw I'm talking about the incidents involving brownface in question

I don't wanna talk about this anymore but I might feel like I need to and end up posting about it idk

goodness Ivan actually believing in this cause makes me so sad because he too has been victimized by the system that ostracizes Grisha and he has every right to feel the way that he does

Ben actually fighting in that ridiculously heavy cloak and kefta when he's about to turn 40 this year makes me super impressed because I as a 19 year old sometimes wake up with muscle pulls after weeks of inactivity it's weird idk

also I understand that this Mal Darkling fight is completely fanservice and serves nearly no purpose to the plot in general but like I? love it?

'I don't have to kill you Darkling. Your past will do it for me' YES HIMBO GO OFF YOU TELL THAT OLD MAN GODS THAT WAS SEXY AS FUCK

maybe it's because I know Darkles will survive and will come out of it more powerful but I can't get myself to feel bad for him at the moment

Inej and Mal tearing up at Alina's condition made me almost feel something despite it being super obvious she was gonna be fine and save their asses at the last moment

HER POWER

a solitary Kaz in spotted on the western side of the newly expanded fold in his signature all black emo boy look

okay but the crows with zoya and malina is such an adorable team? I literally love them so much?

INEJ'S FUCKING SMILE AT ALINA GIVING HER THE DAGGER AND KAZ LOOKING AT HER AGSGSGSHSJSJSK MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

SHE KNOWS JUST WHAT TO NAME IT WELL GIRLIE I KNOW IT TOO AND MY FUCKING HEART IS LITERALLY GONNA BURST

okay I know they had one interaction but Mal and Jesper would be besties in another universe

Kaz glaring at Jesper when he answers ''course not' to Alina's 'will you still be trying to kidnap me?' tell me one fucking adaptation that got the dynamics between characters this perfectly

okay why do I love that Alina kept the jewellery as maybe a small nod to she has the wits to, um, you know, I don't wanna say steal, but, um, yeah, steal it because she knew she would need money to survive on the run

oh Jessie I love you so much I wish you hadn't said those things on you ig story about the brownface

it's like every single celeb I grow attached to god's like nope that one is going to do or say something problematic (hey btw im not reassigning blame to god for stuff people have done out of their own free will, 'twas a joke)

AAAAAAAH them saying 'the deal is the deal' in the show even though they didn't have to but like they did and I love them for it

Inej literally not being able to not stare at Kaz's face and smile after this <3

'I didn't expect it to burn at all. But it can be destroyed in the end. Just like him' babe you're not wrong but like um just you wait

god Mal being on supportive boyfie mode is well, absolutely adorable, obviously, but I wish we got to see more of him as a person outside of his attachment to Alina

kaz my little demjin I wish you hadn't have had to suffer so much to meet the crows and find your calling

fastforwarding Zoya's arc is also an interesting choice to me

I wish the hug hadn't been done though, it didn't feel earned

maybe Alina awkwardly and half-heartedly (remember, at this point the alliance is fresh and they still don't entirely trust each other) reached for a hug and Zoya avoided her? and then the rest of Zoya's lines followed? that would have made more sense to me at least

I love Sujaya as well, she brought life into Zoya with whatever little screentime and scraps of writing she got

inej asking kaz 'what's your angle?' beep bop bleep morp I sense another incoming embarrassing love confession

'but we do need you' *stares at her face intensely* 'I need you' ah look at the clock, look's like it's time to screech and flap your arms like you're a volcra because you're incapable of containing your emotions

NO YOU CAN'T GO DIRECTLY FROM KANEJ PROGRESS TO HELNIK BREAKUP (TEMPORARY, MIND YOU)

helnik my loves you don't deserve this I'm so sorry for both of you

Matthias fucking smiling ruefully while he says 'this was... just a cruel joke all along' THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY

omg hellgate

AAAAAAAAH NINA IS ON THE SAME FRAME AS THE OG CROWS I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

CAMERA PAN FROM KAZ SAYING 'JUST HOW THIS ALL STARTED... WE'RE GONNA NEED A HEARTRENDED' TO NINA OVERHEARING HIM AND LOOKING OVER?????!!!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THIS TO ME?!

Nina genuinely being curious as to the status of the sun saint because she obviously still cares

Also, 'But she is a Saint' okay Kaz trying to earn brownie points you have succeeded

DID THAT SAILOR JUST SAY 'GOED MORGEN FENTOMEN' TO MALINA BECAUSE I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM JUST THROWING THAT IN MY FACE ALL OF A SUDDEN

gods I know I'll probably see them again but my heart is full of sorrow as my eyes drink in the sight of my crows for the last time for a while

I know people were annoyed at the meadow flashbacks but guess what? as a darklina, I loved them

'now that the Darkling is dead' could have phrased that a little differently my dudes that line needed to hold more weight

am I glad that they showed Darkles in this state with his nichevo'ya as a tasty little cliffhanger despite not being entirely true to the source material? maybe but only because Ben Barnes saying 'follow' and the nichevo'ya doing exactly so sent a chill down my spine

well, that's it for now, I'll have to move on I guess, get back to my real life which I'm obviously not ready to do

thank you to whoever actually read these things

I probably should have just made reactions or commentary videos instead but I'm lazy

my tumblr will probably go into inactivity once more as I emerge from my stint in the grishaverse

it was quite short (less than 2 months), considering the length of my other obsessions but it was definitely more intense than the other ones

[duhragonball]

I was thinking about Goku and Krillin's friendship and it occured to me that they spent months training with Roshi together but then only saw each other for maybe a day every few years. Have you ever had a realization that tripped you out like this?

This is a really good ask, anon, and I just wanted to take a moment to say so. 

I have had a few ‘a-ha’ moments like these, but I’m kind of blanking on specific examples.  I’ll see what I can come up with.

1) For openers, there’s the whole thing where the Red Ribbon Army has a Dragon Radar, but it’s nowhere near as sophisticated as the handheld one Bulma invented.  I think the same holds true for Emperor Pilaf, but his gang is only three people.   You’d expect the RRA to have the best equipment possible, because that’s their whole deal, and by normal standards they probably do have the best possible Dragon Radar... but Bulma’s is simply that much better, because she’s on another level.   And it’s easy to overlook that, because Bulma’s supposed to be a genius teenager, like Donatello in TMNT, but the RRA’s Dragon Radar is the first hint that she’s even more special than we could have guessed. 

2) Rewatching Dragon Ball in 2019, I gained a new appreciation for the filler episodes where Mr. Popo trained Goku.  The first time I saw them, I was hoping we’d see Goku grow up and make progress over the three year gap, but instead they just focused on his early days on the Lookout, with Popo just saying things and Goku failing to understand.  It was very frustrating to watch.  

But in 2019, I noticed that all those episodes get paid off in the Piccolo Junior fight.   Popo kept telling Goku to be “quicker than lightning” and “quiet as the sky”, and Goku just couldn’t figure out how to do that, let alone fight at the same time.   He had to unlearn all the stuff that had helped him defeat King Piccolo, and he couldn’t do it... at first.    But by the time he fought Piccolo Junior, he put it all together, as demonstrated with his big finishing move.   Piccolo thought he had vaporized Goku, only for Goku to fly up into the air and crash into him.   Why didn’t Piccolo sense Goku’s presence?   Because Goku had learned to become as “quiet as the sky”.  Why couldn’t Piccolo dodge it?   Because Goku had learned to become “quicker than lightning.”  So it vindicates those filler episodes pretty nicely.   They weren’t just marking time, but they were setting up what the manga was going to do later.

3) I think last year, it hit me that Vegeta had probably never lost a fight before he went to Earth.   That alone isn’t probably any big deduction.  The only people stronger than him were all working for Frieza, and he knew to steer clear of them until he was ready.   But it explains why he was so giddy about the zenkai effect.   He had always known about it, but he never mentioned or cared about it until he experienced it for himself after losing to Goku, and then Zarbon. 

Yeah, I think this occurred to me during a conversation about Vegeta killing Nappa instead of helping him.   In theory, Nappa could have recovered and gotten a lot stronger, just like Vegeta did.   But Saiyans Saga Vegeta didn’t care about that.   He only gave his henchmen one chancemand discarded them as soon as they lost.   This attitude would also explain why he never dared to challenge anyone at a higher level.    He knew no one would show him any mercy, so the zenkai boost would have been meaningless to him. 

So he might have regretted killing Nappa after he experienced the zenkai firsthand, although he was so drunk on his own increased power that he probably never stopped to consider it.   But before Earth, Vegeta probably dismissed the zenkai as a crutch for lesser Saiyans.   In his mind, a truly great Saiyan never loses battles in the first place.  Or so he believed, until he lost a few times, and became stronger for it, and had to reconsider.

And that also explains how he warmed up to the Super Saiyan Legend over the course of one afternoon.   He and Goku made such sick gains that week that he started to wonder if you could zenkai your way to Super Saiyan, and then he was begging Krillin to shoot him just so he could get a step closer.

4) In the same vein, it occurred to me at some point that Bardock was probably stronger than King Vegeta, and neither of them realized it.   Maybe it was just a dub-ism, but I’m pretty sure “Father of Goku” has a line about Bardock’s power level being 10000.   At the time it was released, 10k wasn’t that big a deal, but in the Saiyans Saga, Vegeta was somewhere around 18-24k. Later, he would claim to have surpassed his father as a child, so I think it’s fair to assume that King Vegeta must have been in that 10,000 neighborhood. 

Which makes a nice subtle commentary on why the Saiyan Kingdom failed. They tried to breed better warriors, putting all their stock in the royal family, when the true secret lay in warriors like Bardock, who were constantly getting clobbered and healed.  Prince Vegeta only started to make real progress once he began fighting on that same regimen.

5) Also about “Father of Goku,” Frieza only wanted Planet Kanassa subjugated because of the psychic powers of its inhabitants.   I think the dub insinuated that the planet itself gave people those powers, but whatever the case, Frieza heard about these people with unusual powers and wanted them stamped out immediately.   Just like he wiped out the Saiyans over the Super Saiyan Legend, and just like he planned to destroy Namek to prevent anyone else from using the Dragon Balls. 

In short, Frieza fears and despises legends.  Why?  Because he’s so powerful that real people can’t hurt him, so his fears naturally turn to half-truths and folklore.   He chases down ghost stories and rumors, because let’s face it, what else does he have to occupy his time.   That’s why King Cold was happy to have the Saiyans working for him, while Frieza wanted them all dead.   Cold didn’t share Frieza’s hangups.   Cold barely knew what a Super Saiyan was, while Frieza thought about it all the time. 

6) One day I thought about that timeline where Cell killed Trunks and took the time machine to find the androids.    That specific timeline is pretty much empty.  The Z-fighters are all dead, and so are all of the androids and Trunks.  They don’t even have a Cell anymore because he went back in time and never returned.   There’s still a population, I guess, because the Trunks of that world wouldn’t have just stood by while Cell absorbed everyone on Earth, but that’s about it.   Bulma might have survived Cell’s attack on Trunks, but she’d be the only “name” character on the board.  It just sounds like a pretty depressing world.   Maybe this was the timeline Whis picked out to relocate Blunks and Future Mai in Dragon Ball Super.

7) It sort of blows my mind that the entire Majin Buu arc takes place over a couple of days.    Like, episode 207 through 250 all takes place over one day.   We know this because Goku only had 24 hours to be back in the living world, and that time was cut short by his use of SSJ3.  Then the Elder Kai started doing his ritual to make Gohan stronger, and that took like 25 hours, I’m pretty sure.  That wrapped up in #262, and there was no break in the action from that point onward, all the way up to the defeat of Kid Buu in #287.  So yeah, eighty episodes over two days.   It’s practically real-time footage, save for skipping over the Elder Kai’s ritual and Goten and Trunks practicing and sleeping. 

It’s hard to catch on to this, though, because so much stuff happens in the anime version that leads you to think that it’s a much longer span of time.    After Vegeta wrecks the stadium, the anime can’t decide whether or not Mr. Satan would stay there or return to his dojo.   In the Fusion Saga, Mr. Satan wanders from Buu’s house to the nearest town, then he wanders to the next town over, doing his “Last Man on Earth” bit, except this all happens during the Gotenks/Super Buu fight, which barely lasts half an hour.   In the afterlife, Chi-Chi is worried that she can’t find Gohan, but she wouldn’t have even been there that long, and wouldn’t she still be in line to meet King Yemma?  She was one of the last Earthlings to die, so how did she end up in heaven so quickly?

8) I used to think Movie 13 (the Hirudegarn one) was canon, but the last time I watched it, I noticed all these glaring problems.  They use the Dragon Balls in this one, which means it has to be set six months after the wish to make everyone forget about Majin Buum which means it’s been a year since Kid Buu was defeated.  Okay, fine, except Gohan and Videl are still in high school.   Shouldn’t they have graduated by then?   

More importantly, their high school and Bulma’s house seem to be in the same city.   I guess that’s an easy mistake to make.   It took me a long time to even notice, but Orange Star High is in Satan City, which is a totally different place from West City.   I mean, right?  They’re not terribly far apart, but they’re not the same place either.

Then again, they seemed to make the same error in Episode 287, where Bulma’s out shopping and Great Saiyaman 1 and 2 foil a robbery.   Are they in West City or Satan City?  Maybe there’s more to this...

[pondermoniums]

A Rant Nobody Asked for About Stranger Things season 3.

feat. my personal pet peeves.

Disclaimer: when I first watched Stranger Things 3, I massively enjoyed it. I thought it finally captured the 80s aesthetic and vibe with the colors, the neon, and music. I even enjoyed it the SECOND time I watched it, although I was officially aware of some major flaws by that point.

1. The Coca Cola flex.

CocaCola has been all over this show ever since Tommy handed Steve one as a makeshift ice pack after his fight with Jonathan in s1. And then by season 3 it’s just....obnoxious???? And so unnecessary??? Karen Wheeler’s drinking one by the pool in episode one. Billy knocks into someone during his first day being flayed, and a coke rolls over the concrete.

LUCAS DOES AN ENTIRE MONOLOGUE ABOUT NEW COKE.

I mean, Jesus, we get it. CocaCola basically owns Georgia, where a lot of American TV shows are filmed.....but......you’re literally CocaCola. This kind of flex is entirely unnecessary and therefore pathetic.

2. Karen and Billy

Okay, listen. I thought their interaction in season 2 was H I L A R I O U S.  But I’m someone who has looked 21 since I was 14, thanks to being an early bloomer. I get it. The cocky prowess of looking older than your peers. Getting to look adults in the eye and get that tiny bit of respect with nothing more than just looking like they do. And, as a writer, the contrast between thirsty, older Karen with young and equally thirsty Billy is an odd pair of puzzle pieces that fit really hilariously - largely because it’s so unexpected, maybe. And frankly, I think it’s one of the first scenes where Dacre’s acting really made my eyes fall out of my head, he did so well.

But it should have ended there.

I’ve been to a LOT of public pools in my day (I’m 26 but hush), and I have NEVER seen older women thirsting over the lifeguards. Ever. It’s predatory - an attribute most women understand all too well - unprofessional, and just downright gross. Their whole interaction in s3 is for “the male lens,” which Hollywood really needs to figure out by now is outdated, predatory, disgusting, and not good writing.

3. Glossing over Billy Chugging Chemicals

Bouncing off of #2, is Karen’s total negligence of Billy’s condition. Many people have pointed it out before, but a row of mothers being completely ???? about Billy’s condition is a raging red flag of bad writing.

(Also that it was written by men, because women are hard-wired to be super aware of other women - a tactic of living on guard in a man’s world all the damn time. So you can always count on a mother, grandmother, or a brave teen/20-something to be the one to walk up to a person who doesn’t look well in order to check on them, even if you’re complete strangers. It’s happened to me, and I’ve done this for other people.)

These women literally stare at him for every shift of work he has, and they.....don’t do anything????

Karen WALKS IN ON HIM DRINKING CHLORINE. It actually took me the second watch-through to realize what he was doing in that storage room, and god, my heart just broke. It’s the only time we actually see a glimpse of Billy making himself flayed like the others. It’s so fleeting (maybe because we already get so much pain from his plot, and we do see what happens with the other flayed people) but it’s also one of the reasons, I think, that we have a whole fanbase ready and eager for his return.

We didn’t get a good glimpse of him poisoning himself to the point that he has to rely on the MindFlayer to stay alive. I’m not saying any of us want that, no way, but that’s my personal headcanon: in s2, Will was super protected and therefore capable of being separated from the Flayer. All of the Flayed IMMEDIATELY low-key drowned themselves in ice water to lower their temperature, and then chugged chemicals. They all die twice.

4. Billy. Just......Billy.

This poor boy’s plot was so pointless. It’s a special thing: creating such a good character and then doing fuck-all with him. The moment you realize his only purpose in season 2 was an introduction is....the beginning of a lot of disappointment. And no, he DIDN’T serve as an antagonist for Steve, because what happened? He slowed Steve down.

That’s it.

He doesn’t keep Steve from helping the kids in the tunnels. He doesn’t break him and Nancy up. He doesn’t gloriously out Steve’s bisexuality to the town by being his shameless lover.

He literally does nothing except just......be there? Looking gorgeous and providing a juxtaposing characterization for Max. That’s all. Billy’s treated like an accessory.

Then we arrive to season 3 and....I guess the only justification for his plot is sort of classic Greek tragic hero. He’s the new Keg King whose hubris makes him stand too long outside the warehouse, and thus, his downfall.

But here’s what’s wrong with that: Steve Harrington.

We were so spoiled with good writing for Steve. Steve had an incredibly refreshing and valid character AND redemption arc. Frankly, all the good writing goes to Steve in this show, so we expected the same writing to go to the other douche bag king of the show.

And we didn’t get it.

5. 80s Bullshit vs. Modern Audience

You can tell they’re trying to straddle the line between, “this is how people talked back then,” and, “this pertains to a modern audience.”

Example: Mike saying to Will, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.”

I know they did multiple takes of this scene with different variations of this line, and that’s the one the editors settled with. Regardless, I know I am not the only person who screeched with rainbow pride for Will’s sake. And it’s not the first time they’ve touched on very hot modern topics. Hopper touches on homophobia in season 1 - a fact I completely missed until I read an interview where the actor, David Harbor, mentions it, himself. Then I rewatched season 1 and realized, sure enough, he reacts poorly when Joyce tells him that Lonnie calls Will a f*g. It’s not even fatherly, “that should be my son, how dare he.” It’s straight up, “this kid might not be worth finding if he’s gay.”

Of course there’s the more obvious occasions where Steve calls Jonathan a queer and Neil Hargrove should come with his own neon trigger sign. Slut is a term that’s carelessly thrown around (as high schoolers are wont to do, sure).

But the thing that’s bothered me the most is Steve saying to Billy, “Were you dropped too much on your head as a child, or what?”

Maybe it’s just me being extremely sensitive to mental health stuff (also, WHY does Steve ironically get all the triggering lines? lol), plus he says it very soon after we finally know why Billy behaves the way he does. Just.....*long sigh*. I hurt, okay. Some parts of this show really hurt, and I don’t like “it was the 80s” as an excuse.

6. Lucas and Kali or, the Diversity Check Marks

One black kid. One. Then they gave him a sister. Cool. Somebody give these people BLM awards.

*eyes roll so hard my cat chases them across the floor*

You know what this reminds me of? The East Asian actor who trended in movies like The Goonies and Indiana Jones.

The only thing that even remotely makes this small drop of diversity okay, is that they made Lucas a major player in The Party, and cast a dope actress to be Erica Sinclair, and likewise made her a linchpin in the Scoops Troop plot.

But touching back to #5, you can’t use “it’s the 80s” as an excuse, nor can you say, “it’s white bread Indiana.”

BUT but but but Kali!!!!

You mean the character in one episode? Two, if you count the opening of season 2.

Listen. For all the bipoc folks who wonder, “Do white people realize how.....WHITE everything is?” as a white person, I can absolutely say: 

Yes. We. Do. Fucking. Notice.

• • • • •

Well. That’s all lol If you made it this far, I’m sorry and thanks lol 

Tip your artists and comment on fics because lord knows that where my seratonin comes from.