#my opinion of it has not changed at all since i first saw that episode

[thebroccolination]

THAMEPO'S RELATIONSHIP (AS OF EPISODE 4)

Back when the teaser (made as an appeal to sponsors) aired in part two of GMMTV's 2024 showcase, and especially after the trailer (cut from the actual series) aired, I thought ThamePo looked like it would become one of the strongest series GMMTV has ever made.

So far, even though we're only four episodes in, it's well surpassing my expectations. Apparently, it's a passion project that the director had in the making for five years, waiting for the right casting to come along, so based on that alone, it's a series made with love. And I have a soft spot for passion projects. <3

Still, the top criterion I judge all series by is the quality of the writing, and since ThamePo's director is also a seasoned screenwriter who developed the script, this is one of the strongest aspects of the series so far.

Over the past four episodes, we've seen our protagonist's flaws (people-pleasing, projecting, temper) and strengths (resourcefulness, observational skill, cleverness), what he wanted (to return to the creative working world) and how it's changing (to reunite MARS). We've met the public version of Thame, the shallow version of Thame that Po misread, and the private version of Thame trying to make amends with his friends. We've met three of those friends (Jun, Dylan, and Pepper) and have hints about the fourth (Nano), and each friend we've met has given us more insight into the kind of person Thame is and what he's done to try and protect his group as the leader.

Since the main conflict of the story appears to be Thame being forced to choose between his band or his new boyfriend—

—Thame's relationship with Po has to move at quite a quick clip so he's emotionally invested enough in their relationship that it's a difficult choice. He's already extremely attached to his friends, so I'd argue one of the biggest challenges in the writing was having him fall in love with Po convincingly fast without it feeling forced by the hand of the screenwriter.

And daaamn has that been well-accomplished, in my opinion.

First, Po gets his Y/N moment.

It's established in the first episode that Thame saw Po at a fanmeeting once and remembered him because Po did something kind for someone when he didn't have to. Presumably because Thame's in a fairly cutthroat industry where people are constantly vying for his attention, maneuvering him like a chess piece, or flat-out ignoring him, that small act of kindness was probably one of the bright points of his day, week, or even month. Especially as things started falling apart with the other members.

In that same episode, we see Po projecting the heartbreak from his previous relationship onto Thame.

And in return, Thame—who spends most of the next episode docilely doing whatever he's told to do by the company—allows some of what he's hidden to show out of frustration presumably brought on by being so thoroughly misunderstood and chastised by a stranger he used to think well of and now suspects of being a sasaeng.

Because both characters are in such vulnerable places emotionally, it translates well to the narrative when they start to depend on one another.

On Po's end, his recent breakup has left him feeling foolish and exposed, taken advantage of by a man who refused to acknowledge Po's sacrifices or show any true appreciation for all the work Po did to see him succeed.

Meanwhile, Thame is alone in every way that matters.

His parents are neglectful,

his friends abandoned him,

and his boss is manipulating him.

At the start, Po is quite literally the only ally he has.

It's because Po kept at him to be honest, to be sincere, that Thame woke up and decided to fight for himself.

And because Thame is doing something for himself for a change, that's what wins back his closest friend Jun.

What I love about this whole narrative is that it's already established from Po's previous relationship that he's the kind of person to give himself entirely to a cause for someone else's benefit. He helped Earn to his own detriment, he picked up a small child so she could see, and he's risking his job to help Thame find happiness and peace.

So it's entirely in-character for him to, say, go through a whole room filled with boxes of rejected song lyrics trying to find one piece of paper that he had to tape back together. Only for it not to matter, because Thame mended fences with Dylan on his own.

I'd argue this is what makes Po think, Maybe I'm too emotionally involved in this. Especially after Jun has point-blank told him that Thame would never be interested in him that way.

We see the moment Po doubts his enthusiastic support of this whole project.

And it's clear that this could have been where it ended for Po.

Until Thame, observant and kind and the polar opposite of Earn, says exactly the right thing to him.

Because that was the major breaking point for Po in his relationship with Earn. He was made to feel disposable. Extraneous. Unnecessary. But Thame recognizes the work he's done, the effort he's put in. He may be reuniting the group for his own satisfaction, but he's not so selfish that he can let Po's contributions go unobserved and unappreciated.

Then, y'know. Thame talks to Po until he falls asleep—

—and serenades him in the morning.

And the thing is! Knowing all we know about Thame—that his parents don't seem to care about him, that he's been isolated from his friends, that he's been made helpless in his own career for so long after being manipulated into signing contracts that restrict his freedom—it makes sense for him to be the one pursuing Po this hard. Just as much as it makes sense for recently heartbroken Po to be interested and yet hesitant.

Setting all of this up in four episodes while covering the entire backstory of MARS and their gradual reunion is a feat of excellent writing. We have a reason to care about Thame and Po's relationship, because it's been clearly shown to us that they bring out the best in each other and that they're willing, even at this early stage, to take risks for each other. We've also got reason to care about MARS, because they seem to be more family to Thame than his own, and they're his current priority.

I'm genuinely thrilled to see such solid writing come from a GMMTV series because as I've said before, they seem more and more recently to chuck first drafts on an assembly line and just assume the fandom will watch anything regardless of the quality as long as certain khuujin are cast as the leads (which, y'know, isn't untrue).

While I enjoy some GMMTV QL series as mindless fluff to watch with friends, there are very few I'd say are written well. Apart from ThamePo, only five other series I've seen have what I'd consider well-executed scripts: Pluto (2024), Be My Favorite (2023), Dark Blue Kiss (2019), SOTUS S (2017), and SOTUS (2016). Sadly, I think Not Me (2022) was on track to be one of the best with its first half, but the production was infamously neglected with episodes cut by GMMTV at the last minute and the script deprived of major edits that left the second half almost shallow by comparison. (Of course, Not Me had a host of censorship issues as well, so we may never know how much that interfered with the quality. It's still an incredible series for its ambition and for Nuchy's directing, and I'll be mad every day of my reincarnation cycle that it didn't get the writing support it deserved.)

Otherwise, nearly every GMMTV series I've seen has at least one major basic storytelling flaw (no character arc, a sloppy resolution, unconvincing setup, weak characterization, excess filler, etc.), and they seem to be first drafts with very little depth. With that in mind, I hope to see ThamePo do well enough that it sends a message to GMMTV that they should focus more on the writing of their series. I think based on what we've seen in the first four episodes and in the trailer, the script quality is reliable, and ThamePo's relationship may be one of the best-written we've seen yet. <3

[carbonateddelusion]

benny and I disagree on like. one thing. and it's the fact that I strongly dislike Amethyst from SU as a person

as a character, I think she's pretty good! I think she's well-rounded; I understand why people like and project onto her. Her character progression felt natural and realistic.

that being said I relate to Steeb for several reasons and I Dislike Amethyst.

[welcometogrouchland]

What if I proposed the analysis that Belos actually has very little internal moral compass and that his veneer of righteousness has always been implied by the writers to be complete fabricated bullshit even before watching and dreaming basically confirms it.

[bibluebutterfly]

It is truthfully so impressive to watch how we've watched Stolas grow as a seemingly asshole character to a genuine person who truly does want the best for the person we love. (HEADS UP: This is LONG)

Now, and we're only going to lightly touch on this because the Pilot isn't cannon, but it still contributed to the public opinion on Stolas. In other words, he was borderline predatory in a way that made EVERYONE uncomfortable. (It makes sense though since he was innitially supposed to be the villain. Which thank goodness that was changed because we already see enough bisexual predators in media as it is. Yes, I'm headcannoning that Pilot Stolas was bi.)

Then we get official episode 1. Stolas is... not much better. Although to his credit, he's not as bad or as creepish. The unfair power dynamic is very there, and he definitely talks down to Blitz, but at least he waits until Blitz agrees before getting to the pilot level of sexual.

And then we kind of just keep this up until episode 7. Stolas is VERY sexual and VERY horny with Blitz, and you either like it or you don't. It was consensual, nobody forced anything, and even Blitz says that he doesn't fuss about banging Stolas, but that power imbalance is very much there.

Stolas is calling him by pet names like "my little imp" and is baby talking him, which really comes off like his fetish is sleeping with the lower class. Again, you either like Stolas at this point or you don't.

HOWEVER, despite all his baby talk and just generally inappropriate behavior, we are shown very early on that Stolas has a loving side, mainly in the form of his daughter. "You Will Be Okay" was the thing that got most people from hating him to actually liking him. It was the thing that separated him from just being a horny owl.

Then Ozzies. Hooo boy. This is where we finally get to see Stolas apart from Blitz's POV and as it turns out... he's kind of a pathetic dork more than anything else. We see him go very low. Like the man is alone in his big house eating cereal for breakfast in his bathrobe and watching telenovelas. It's hard to go lower than that. More importantly, it's a stark contrast from how we saw him just one episode ago.

Not just that, but when he's asked out on the date he is genuinely so excited and awkward that you just can't help but feel bad for the guy.

And then we have Hells healthiest couple have their dick moment which leads to Stolas covering his face, validating every and anything Blitz had feared, which lead to him calling out Stolas which leads to them both crying at home.

AND THEN WE GET THE THING THAT MAKES EVERYONE EITHER LOVE STOLAS OR THINK THAT HE'S RUINED.... THE CIRCUS.

Yeah, so it turns out the arranged marriage theory was true, and that Stella has been verbally abusive for who knows how long. But the real kicker is how much it explains Stolas's behavior from season 1. As it turns out, Blitz coming on so strong that night resulted in Stolas trying (badly) to copy that energy. And it turns out that when Blitz told him to stop that first night, he still ended up tying Stolas up and banging him. So... understandable. It turns out that Stolas never wanted to be malicious with his intentions, but genuinely thought that the arrangement was something that they both wanted.

But at the same time, he realizes that misunderstanding or no, a part of him did recognize that Blitz wasn't as happy as he was, and that he can't gaslight himself into thinking otherwise anymore.

Now the big thing about season 2 we all need to talk about, is how hard and fast it took Stolas off the regal and powerful pedestal that I think we all subconsciously put him on. Whatever mystery and darkness that surrounded him in season 1 went completely out the window in season 2. But personally I believe that this fits as season 1 was mostly told from Blitz's POV while season 2 takes place in Stolas's when he's there.

Stolas does not see himself as something regal and powerful. Stolas, as it turns out, is a romantic as well as a MASSIVE dork. Like he's disney princess levels of dorkiness. The man even gets his own slapstick moment for crying out loud.

But aside from that, he's highly intelligent and a genuinely good person who will put others before him if he can recognize the benefit.

Also, while we're on the topic, I don't think that Stolas is as powerful as we or Blitz were led to believe. Like yes, he's got immense power to those who have none.

But at the same time, put him next to Asmodeus, and this demon who seemed so strong before is actually tiny in comparison. Especially when noted that Ozzie was still holding back in this scene.

Now we have the "Look My Way" MV. By now, any dark mystery is gone, we know who Stolas is, but what we didn't expect to see was how blatantly Stolas realized his mistakes and took responsibility. This whole season we saw him be sad over his relationship with Blitz, but we never expected him to realize just how badly he messed up.

But he did. And it was glorious. And again, we realize how much he truly cares for Blitz, this isn't just him saying "I care about him" then doing nothing. This is him realizing he cares about Blitz, and wanting to do something to make it right. Even if that means Blitz will never want to see him again.

Anyway. If you made it this far, I'm impressed. As I've said before, I'm proud of the owl boy and how far he's come as a character. Tell me if you think I missed anything.

[yumeka-sxf]

I've been waiting to see Yor's epiphany chapter in the anime and it did not disappoint! I felt like analyzing more than usual because I loved this episode so much~ 💖

I hope that any anime-only viewers who at this point still had the opinion that Yor's just ditzy/submissive, one-dimensional, or whatever negative traits associated with her, have changed their minds. Throughout the cruise arc we've seen so many sides of her character: how she's struggling to understand the exact reason why she's taking on these dangerous assignments when her original reason for doing it (supporting Yuri) no longer exists, how her internal desire to seek her own happiness - live a peaceful life like Olka - is at constant war with her diligence to complete her mission, her yearning to be with Loid and Anya and how sad she looks when she has to tell herself that they're just a cover-up family and she'll have to leave them without a word if anything drastic happens, and how much more confident she is when doing something she excels at - assassinating - yet still retaining her kind and polite demeanor (Unlike Twilight, who dons the mask of Loid Forger, Yor Forger is not a mask for Thorn Princess, at least not in terms of personality. So everything she says as Thorn Princess can be interpreted as her true feelings, including the now two times she's hesitated during fights because of the thought of having to leave the Forgers).

And, in the moment where she's facing death right in the eye, all the doubts she's had since getting this assignment culminate, not only causing the samurai assassin to get the upper hand, but causing her to take a deep, introspective look into her reason for fighting...if it's not for the same reason as the other assassins, what is it?

What's even more amazing is that these things about her character did not come out of nowhere just for the sake of a flashy climax. We saw in previous episodes that not only does she understands that being in the Forger family makes her happy, but most importantly, how she's lived her life only thinking of the happiness of others above her own. And what's most tragic is that, upon finally realizing that her original reason for being an assassin is gone (since Yuri no longer needs support) she's ready to die then and there...until she remembers Olka's words about wanting to live a peaceful life, which in turn makes her remember her core reason for becoming an assassin was to not only support Yuri, but to make the world he lives in all the more peaceful by eliminating the villains in it.

Despite how naive Yor is about many things (due to her upbringing), she's certainly not ignorant about the needless tragedies that exist in the world. And here is where she makes her decision to keep doing her assassinating, not because she enjoys killing people, but because the result of it will make the world a better place...because now, she has even more people whose happiness she desires to protect.

Even if she sacrifice her own happiness by leaving the Forgers, that's not as important to her as preventing tragedy from befalling her loved ones, or the world in general. And these thoughts are so similar to Twilight's reasons for becoming a spy! Coincidently, as Yor has these thoughts, she thinks of how Loid complimented this aspect of her personality way back when they first met...and the thought that the man who she trusts and respects so much would approve of her decision, gives her the final push to keep on going (I love that they reanimated this scene too and didn't just use the exact frames from episode 2).

So yeah, if anyone who wasn't sure of how much depth Yor's character has, I hope this episode shed a lot of light! This is the right way to make a character both cute/sweet but also a total badass who's strong on the outside as well as the inside.

(I will probably reword a lot of this for my upcoming Twiyor analysis posts but I couldn't wait until then, lol).

[moonstone03]

Hello! I have seen some other fanders commenting about the Janus GRWM video and I have a few opinions about both the video and some of those comments. But please note these are my thoughts and opinions and even some theories about certain things.

Also note that I respect and can understand other people's opinions, I am just sharing my own.

So, overall I found the GRWM video fun and funny. At first when we saw the preview last night,

I theorized that the colors used were meant to make it more obvious on the skin. Some even pointed out that the change could be because of Thomas's skin condition. To me, despite these colors not being green, they still look slightly green especially with the yellow glove near his face. Most people have more of a problem with the black line for his mouth which I can agree, it is very jarring to the eye and unnatural looking. However, this is not the first time we have seen the black line for Janus.

You can see it in the screen shots and it is very obvious, and done not as well, in the second picture with Janus's full winter get-up. I think this has less to do with Thomas choosing to change the makeup look and more with the fact that Tayln and Quill (who seems to be doing the makeup now) have different styles when it comes to Janus. This style has also been seen with some cosplayers, which I would show pictures but I cannot find names or media tags for them but you can see examples if you look up Janus Sanders Cosplays. Hopefully by the time the finale comes around, the makeup will not be as jarring and maybe even get better.

Now with the comments about how the characters are portrayed. I can see where this is coming from, they have changed but something we have to remember is that they are representations of Thomas's personality which will change over time. Also Thomas is still trying to get a handle on them without Joan by his side and we haven't had an official episode since Working Through Intrusive Thoughts, most things that have come out since seem to be semi-canon/non-canon. Thomas has also said (via my memory) in his Failures and Success video for 2023, he was using these Aside videos and shorter and easier form content to get used to and understand his characters again and to have more fun with them without the pressure like normal videos.

I want to end this post with saying that Thomas can and does make mistakes, we all do, but these are his characters and he is allowed to change and use them as he sees fits. Just as much as we as fans are allowed to use these characters and change their designs and even sometimes personalities to fit what we want them to fit.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, have a good day, treat each other with respect and love, peace out! Love y'all!

[hailturinturambar]

Thoughts on J.D and Patrick's interview

Loving the new interviews and I hope we get more content. It will be a while before season 3 is released, so anything we get is very important. And since an interview with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay came out, I decided to share my opinions again.

I'm biased, because I have a visceral obsession with Jack Lowden, but I agree with Patrick and J.D. Jack as Sauron/Mairon rescued the beauty of the Elder Days and the delicacy of the Maiar and Elves of the First Age.

When we look at Jack Lowden's Sauron, we glimpse what Tolkien described in his books. As Patrick and J.D. say, aneglical, cherub. And this is how I imagine Sauron when he was in the service of Morgoth.

It is interesting the changes that Sauron undergoes physically when his new form is destroyed. And not only in appearance, but we have a change in his characteristics. Jack and Charlie are Sauron and the similarities are obvious, but we still notice that each one represents a phase of Sauron.

As for the time in Númenor, I admit I'm worried they'll change the actor, but considering Charlie remained as Annatar, I don't see why it would be any different. After all, he's now known in Númenor as Sauron in his Halbrand form. Charlie mentioned in an interview (I don't remember which one) that he's looking forward to the Sauron armor. So I assume he'll remain as the main form.

In my opinion, one of the biggest hits of the second season was Sauron's prologue. In the first season, we have Galadriel's prologue and she is narrating her story and the Elder Days.

This point of view, let's say, is the point of view of the heroes. Of the Elves who knew the beauty of Valinor and witnessed the evils caused by Morgoth and Sauron in Arda. This changes abruptly in the second season.

It's like one book told by the hero and the other by the villain. It's Sauron who is now telling his story. We get a more detailed introduction to Adar and his sons, how they were in Sauron's service and why they betrayed him.

What interests me most about the prologue is that we get an explanation for how Sauron came to be the mortal man Halbrand. We have a Sauron who is without a master and has to make his own way in Middle-earth, and then we see a broken Sauron struggling to survive. Until we finally meet Halbrand.

And indeed, Sauron's past explains much about his hatred of Elves and Orcs, and how he sees himself and the goals that will guide Sauron to Celebrimbor's path in Eregion.

When Tom's first episode came out, I saw a lot of negative comments about the character's portrayal. I like almost all of Trop's decisions in how the characters are presented, so I can't be impartial at times, but I still don't understand the criticism.

When we think about Tom Bombadil, we can't base ourselves on all previous sources. PJ fans often criticize the choices made by TROP, but Tom was an interesting addition. Is he different from the LOTR period? Of course he is! We are too far removed from Frodo to use such a comparison. LOTR Tom is not TROP Tom. He still has a long way to go.

Saruman was a general assumption, I would say. But I wouldn't want it to be Saruman. That character, in my opinion, can wait. I don't see a need for him in the plot right now. And I would like to know who this new character is in TROP. I like the characters created in the show, so I'm curious.

My opinion on this point may be a bit controversial. The mystery of who Sauron is in the first season was intriguing, I think for all of us. Even though we suspected Halbrand, we thought that many characters could be Sauron or that perhaps Sauron would not be introduced at all.

And I particularly enjoyed the reveal of Sauron at the end of season 1. This new form with new traits and deceptions was different from the Sauron in the books and I enjoyed how they set up the Halbrand/Sauron storyline.

As for Gandalf/The Stranger, well, I found it a bit tiresome in the second season. It was generally obvious in the first season and I was following the revelation closely. But I don't think it needed to be dragged out until the second season. Anyway, it wasn't that bad and maybe I'm being harsh.

I don't see how this could have worked and I don't like it one bit. I'm glad they changed it.

Sauron in Adar's camp doesn't make sense to me. Sauron was in Eregion forging the rings, why go to Adar's camp? We already had Halbrand meeting Adar at the beginning of the season. Galadriel and Adar meeting again didn't need Sauron's intervention or influence. It was time for us to glimpse the reunion of these two.

I can't think of Sauron in Adar's camp as anything other than an attempt to maintain the idea of ​​Sauron and Galadriel's romance. Other than that, it wouldn't add anything to the story. And I liked how they did it better.

I love SW, so I think this was the ideal reunion. Two opposing forces of Light and Darkness dueling, each trying to resist the temptation of the other, while being influenced by them.

I never thought of Elendil and Míriel as a couple when I read the books that featured the tales of Númenor. But as soon as I laid eyes on them in the series, oh my!

The chemistry was right there, being rubbed in my face. And if we think about Míriel and Elendil's future after the arrival of Sauron and the Fall of Númenor, that's what attracts everyone the most, isn't it? All the anguish and the impossibility of being together. I'll pick up my crumbs!

I was so infuriated by the comments on the internet when the Orc family was introduced. In short, I think it proves how ignorant people are of Tolkien's work if they didn't understand what was being represented there.

Everything in TROP talks about the tragedy that befalls all beings in Middle-earth. Why would it be any different with the Orcs? We know about all the evils caused by the Orcs, but in a war, evil comes from all sides, right? Comments about "TROP humanizing the Orcs" make no sense and are only said to harm the audience's view of the series.

TROP simply presents the point of view of all the characters and how they see themselves. Feeling sympathy or not for each one is not forced, it is just presented. And I like this dynamic.

The most important thing in Tolkien is the duality of the characters. Even though in the Third Age the line between black and white is more defined, in the first stories it is not. And TROP explores this well.

Because for Adar, they are not Orcs, they are children, and that is how they also see themselves. Because they are like the Elves, they have lives and families and live like all beings. But it is their choices that separate them from Men and Elves and that is where we enter the tragedy.

They are seen as monsters, so they do not fight for a different vision, because they would never be able to be seen any other way. Even though Adar's actions are wrong, like Sauron's, with both Adar and Sauron, we end up becoming attached to these damaged characters and we feel sorry for them.

No, don't be mean and tell me about season 3!

J.D. and Patrick's love for the history of Middle-earth is truly infectious. It's remarkable that they put their souls into the show and are committed to telling a beautiful story that honors Tolkien.

Don't judge me if you like the movies (I like LOTR, but not more than the series) but I feel that in TROP we really travel to Middle-earth, in a way that connects different people from different places and different ages.

I first watched the LOTR Trilogy (I hated The Hobbit movies, don't judge me) when I was a child or almost a teenager, I don't remember well. And although I liked it, I didn't feel completely connected.

But that's how I feel about TROP. When I watch an episode, I feel the same way I do when I'm reading one of Tolkien's countless books. And that feeling is so good.

TROP makes me feel at home, living the story. TROP means comfort to me and I hope the series lasts a long time.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but how has your opinion changed on Steven Universe now than when it first aired? Like I have fond memories of watching the show while it was airing but now I realize that it had a lot of problems that I feel like a lot of fans either flat out ignore or bend over backwards to make sure their rose tinted glasses stay on.

... okay, fair question. Let's talk about this.

I'll try not to wax poetic too long, but there are a lot of things to be said here.

First and foremost - how has my opinion changed since the show has ended?

Simply put - it hasn't.

When I started watching Steven Universe over 7 years ago, I didn't have much knowledge of it. I sat down, saw a few of episodes and went 'well, this is a silly show for kids with a goofy but loveable protagonist... but it seems like it's also incredibly charming with its delivery and has some nice, more complex themes about loss and healing and grief throughout.'

And if you ask me what Steven Universe is now... I would probably say that exact same thing.

Am I wearing rose tinted lenses? Interesting question.

What ARE 'rose tinted lenses' in this context anyway?

What do these lenses represent? What do they obscure?

Since you didn't go into specifics, I can only assume what you're referring to when you say that many fans ignore the show's problems.

There have been many discussions surrounding various aspects of the show and how it might be read as 'problematic' (ahhh how I've come to despise that word.... without context, it has all the descriptive power of the word 'icky' - none of the critical details and all of the emotional punch of scrunching up your face like a cat that just sniffed a lemon...)

Is this about something as simple as the 'SU doesn't have a consistent size for its characters' debate?

Because that has been gone back to, over and over again, and proven to be a point of opinion. SU favored allowing storyboarders to show off their personal flourish, and even though Peridot was 30% hair in that one episode, it did not overall take away from the plotline being told, which was their goal. If you wanted to watch a show with consistent styling throughout, you can always watch a 3D modeled show, but keeping that up was simply never one of SU's main pillars. And I feel like it didn't have to be.

Is this about something more complex such as the way Rose was presented?

...and how her arc was shown backwards instead of forwards - showing first the person she became in the end, and afterwards revealing all the growth she had to have to get there?

That was on purpose! And I don't think this is a problem. It's a feature, not a bug. Rose was never meant to be an ideal character - she was meant to be complicated and messy, and I think the fact that the fandom is so split in their opinions of her shows that the Crewniverse pulled that off really well!

She fucked over Bismuth! She forced Pearl to be silent! Those are both parts of her character arc that were never resolved because she died before she could resolve it - that's BY DESIGN. Sometimes, you just do something absolutely stupid and cruel, and you cannot go back to fix it.

Is this about the Diamonds? The fact that they were not put in space jail, after being put on trial for space crimes, and then publicly executed for space eco-genocide?

Here's the thing - most people I know who watched and loved SU are fully aware of that. But simply put - Steven Universe was not a story about Revenge.

Steven Universe was a story about love. A story about family. A story about truth, and lies, and hurt, and healing. About how sometimes healing doesn't happen. And how sometimes it will, but you won't be around to see it.

But it's not a story that can be all things for all people.

That is the thesis of my reply: It is a story.

It is not a manifesto. It is not a bible. It is not a Complete Truth.

It is a single story. Made by a group of very talented people, who cared about these characters, who did their best. They made a funny, emotional, well-drawn and complex cartoon show about the things THEY personally wanted to tell stories about.

Does it answer all questions the way everyone wants them answered? No. That's impossible.

Everyone wants a different story. Everyone wants a different solution, a different resolution. A different ending.

Steven Universe is one story. It cannot satisfy all people.

So when you ask me 'has your opinion of Steven Universe changed'? The answer is 'no'.

I went in, expecting to see a story. I saw a lot of what I liked! I saw some parts which I thought were interesting. I saw some parts which, yes, I disagreed with a little.

But overall, it's a good story. And that's what I expected, and that's what I got, which means I'm pretty satisfied. I love that story.

I feel like recently, there's this expectation of media, to be Everything For All People. And it's a bit unrealistic. No one call tell the perfect story. We are all simply telling the stories we want to tell. And people will vibe with that, more or less.

A single story, made by a small group of people, will never be that for you. There will never be an Unproblematic Cartoon that you watch that will be devoid of things you disagree with.

Being critical of media doesn't mean 'Criticize the FUCK outta that media, and the one with the least criticisms is the best one'.

Critical thinking is about evaluating things critically - that means being critical of YOURSELF. Being critical of your OWN reactions. Asking 'why did I like this?' and 'why did I dislike this?'. Asking 'this doesn't mesh with me, but who WOULD it mesh with? It isn't for me, but who is it for? Who would it hurt, but also who would it help?'

Some people HATED how SU: Future ended. They beat their fists on the wall and cried about how Steven was leaving his family behind, and how THEY could never imagine doing something like that, and how he was running away from his problems just like Rose had.

Me? I loved it. I think it was the right choice, and I COULD imagine it and thought it was in character. I thought he needed to be his own person, instead of shouldering everyone else's responsibilities for once. Was one of us more right than the other? Maybe not? Maybe that was the whole point?

Loving things is not about putting on rose colored glasses. Sometimes, choosing to love something with flaws is an act of rebellion. It's about knowing you have differences, but understanding that there is value in the things you DO agree on, and knowing you can consume that.

Healthy consumption of media does not mean throwing the whole cartoon away as soon as you notice something is wrong with it, like a bruise on an apple.

Healthy consumption of media involves critical thinking AND feeding yourself. Acknowledging you may disagree with parts of it, but not starving yourself just because your apples all have small imperfections.

Eat, for fuck's sake. Feed yourself. You'll feel better.

Thassit.

[thefriendoforatioisdead]

I personally think that as of right now, since they are stil very young, Anin is very right to talk of desire and not love. I think at this point she is attracted to Pin, but it's not a romantic, deep, proufoundly strong love.

Obviously, she loves her best-friend, but she is not IN LOVE with her just now. Whereas I think Pin might already be falling in love in a truly romantic sense, even if she is in obvious denial about it.

And I do think Pin also has very strong desire for Anin (but she's not as bold about it), but in my opinion, her romantic feelings have been developing very slowly, carefully, gently. Blooming like a flower if you allow me the metaphor. Something quiet and soft, yet impossible to ignore. Something that is exactly like the relationship we saw between them in the first two episodes : It's loving and gentle, cute and sweet. But when Anin comes back, Pin is very very distraught by the fact that Anin has changed. When she says that she feels like she doesn't know her anymore I think she's talking about their relationship, because she can feel that the energy has changed. Because, as for herself, Anin's feelings are, as she said, ''burning''. They're quite brutal, if the way she acts with Pin is any indicator. They're powerful, demanding, and they overtook her fast and strong, in a way she can't, and doesn't want to fight.

So while Pin is still taking her time figuring out the gentle romantic emotions she's developping for her best-friend, Anin comes back with desire, physical intimacy, and her mind set on the idea of making her hers, without really even considering her heart. She knows what she wants, but she doesn't give Pin the time to figure out what SHE wants. She forces her to face her desire, which must be scary for someone as calm and shy as Pin, instead of letting it come to her slowly.

Their relationship is a little rocky, and will be for some time, because as of right now, they are not at the same level. Pin is falling in love and not ready for desire but is forced to face it, while Anin has strong and understood desire, but isn't letting herself really appreciate a return to the emotional connection they use to have because she just wants sex, and therefore not letting herself fall in love.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that for now we can see how immature they still both are in their love, because Anin is selfish and Pin is ''repressed'', and Anin is not giving her the space to come to term with her emotions. And I can't wait to see how all of this will evolve into something more sincere and deep. It's a very good storytelling

[viwifey]

If you don’t mind telling me, can you tell me what you found wrong with act 2? I did think it was a little rushed but I still love it, I’m probably biased tho

yes!! i was debating on making a post about this so i'm glad you asked lol

just wanna say that this is not me saying that my opinions are right; i find it great that you loved the act and who knows if my opinions will change in the future anyways

i'm going to break my thoughts down by character and compare what happened to them in act 2 from where they left off in act 1 to help organize my thoughts

JINX

last we saw jinx in act 1 she had fought vi with the help of sevika and isha and lost her middle finger due to a shot fired by caitlyn. sevika released the air from the janna temple and kept jinx and isha covered while caitlyn and vi were separated from them. the strong wind causes piltover to be covered in these paint explosions which incites the people in the undercity to start riots in jinx's image

we start act 2 with jinx and isha doing sisterly things that she wished she got to do with vi when they were younger. we also see, with some conflictions, that she isn't interested in being a symbol for the undercity and doesn't seem to have much going on outside of that because her goal of "finishing what's left of her family" basically ended when she realized that vi still loves her during their fight. when isha and the other people from the rally are taken to stillwater, jinx breaks in, releases them and receives more love/praise from her supporters. here it can be strongly interpreted based on jinx's reaction that she was going to be accepting the role of being the symbol for the undercity and help lead the fight against piltover's rule. but after all of that, her reunion with isha is interrupted with the introduction of warwick/vander. then she spends the next two episodes trying to find and cure him with the help of vi and there no further development on her role in the rebellion, aside from the mural in episode 5 and her calling herself a hero because of the jailbreak.

i love that jinx was able have her family back again, it was my favorite part of act 2, but i found it strange that there was a lot of focus spent on jinx being the symbol for the undercity rebellion in episode 4 and how she was presented to be ready to step into that roll only for it to be almost forgotten about for the next 2 episodes. i don't know if the possible death of isha and warwick is going to be used as reasoning for get her to actually "join the cause" but if not then i don't understand why it was implemented into the show in the first place. my guess is that its going to be used just as a way for jinx to easily get people to fight in whatever battle is going to take place in act 3 since it seems like the noxians are already going to be attempted to be removed by caitlyn anyways since she betrayed them in episode 6

JAYCE

jayce ended episode 3 possibly entering ??? into the hex thingy after touching it and smashing it with his hammer (way to go dude!!) while he was with ekko and heimerdinger. we do not see him again until the end of episode 5 where he emerges from the hex looking like he had survived some crazy arcane apocalypse and experienced a shit-ton of trauma... after realizing how powerful viktor has become and killing salo, he makes his way over to viktor's cult base and kills him too before fleeing the scene lmao

i've already seen people joke about how it's no wonder jayce has haters because he just continues to fuck things up but this is the most interested i've been in his character since first watching the show. but i'm worried that were not going to get to see much of what happened to him while he was in the hex and that the show is either going to just have jayce tell us what he witnessed or use quick flashbacks instead. (and like... the show is named arcane because of the arcane magic and hextech is crucial for a lot of the story arcs so i would've anticipated that there would be more focus on that i guess??) though it isn't really fair for me to use this as criticism for act 2 since act 3 is not out, with only 3 episodes left and a lot of story to wrap up i feel like that is going to be the case

MEL

mel ends act 1 getting captured by the black rose and spends act 2... being captured by the black rose... i also really like mel and have enjoyed watching her character develop but i feel like her story is part of the show that has bitten off more than it can chew. i am not familiar with anything from league so the black rose stuff is very new to me and as much as it is interesting, it just doesn't feel necessary to have as part of the show. i think if it were introduced more in the first season then i would understand why it's a part of this one but it's being used as a storyline that is either put to the side or is getting ran through to get to the other stories arcs that need their own attention.

on a positive note, i am excited that the show is writing her as a character more than a piltover counselor and that we get to see what her tattoos, or is it armor??, are truly intended for

EKKO

so ekko also entered the hex with jayce??? i guess we don't know for sure since he didn't physically interact with it and i guess we still don't know now lol

i realllllyyy missed him in act 2 and his story is another one that i'm worried is going to be reduced to quick flashbacks or dialogue. my guess is when he returns from the hex, that is going to be the explanation for how he can manipulate time and he's going to use it at some point to help with the final battle

HEIMERDINGER

no complaints it was refreshing not seeing him ngl

AMBESSA

we finished act 1 with ambessa declaring martial law on the undercity and appointing caitlyn as commander with the intention of manipulating her and using piltover's recourses and weaponry for her own gain... and i would say that's basically what continues in act 2 for her as well

ambessa is a great antagonist and her motivations were set the moment we saw her in season 1: she wants control hextech and she wants her family to be safe. i don't think there was anything specific about her character or story that didn't fit for me because honestly everything with ambessa has been very consistent. i really look forward to her fight scenes in act 3

VIKTOR

viktor because jesus in act 1 and continues to be jesus in act 2 BUT a more powerful jesus... plus he has a cult

i just think he is another rushed storyline and that's pretty much the sum of it. it was wild watching him be able to enter people minds and float around in those celestial planes but i wish we got to see more about how he got to that point. when i think back to season 1, i liked how that season took time to show viktor's desperation with the hexcore and trying to find a cure for himself. it made me feel almost as desperate as him and i wanted him to be successful. watching act 2 didn't make me feel much of anything for his character and same goes for his death, although i'm sure that isn't going to be the last we see of him anyways

CAITLYN

we all know where caitlyn's arc finished in act 1 lol

i was really surprised that her first scene in act 2 was of her already showing doubts in how ambessa was running piltover because i think a lot of us expected her to do that much later in the act. i also wasn't a fan of how the show chose to have her character express these concerns with a couple scenes of dialogue rather than have us see her do something about it. if she were concerned that the noxians were being too violent with the people in the undercity, then show her trying to do something to stop it ! i feel like her scenes were either her saying she wasn't sure she was ok with being commander or it was her being like "i have to find jinx" and avenge my mother. so when she ran into vi in episode 6 and was somewhat casual about it, i was almost confused that there was nothing else to it... especially when the next thing we know is that she and vi devised a plan to stop ambessa from getting warwick??? it felt soooo random and i started laughing because it was practically ridiculous to me

i'm glad the act 3 trailer showed vi calling caitlyn out because there needs to be a discussion between the two of them over everything that happened. also it looked like it was taking place in caitlyn's house (mansion) and idk i think i just assumed that they wouldn't feel safe to go back to piltover after pissing ambessa off so maybe there's a reason for that?

VI

saving my best girl for last cause i'm biased oopsie... uhh we also know how things went for vi in act 1

ugh this might just be me getting my expectations too high but i was really hoping we were going to see more with her pitfighting than just those first 2 minutes. if anything i would have liked some scenes with loris before he decided to leave after her drinking got too bad. and thats other thing... you have vi being presented as an alcoholic but she's totally fine the second jinx shows up?? as mentioned in cait's section, i don't love how their reunion scene went. i find it really difficult to believe that vi would have enough trust in cait right away to let her be brought to ambessa without any concerns that something could go wrong. but in general it feels like vi doesn't have much of an arc going on anyways... she started off working with cait to find jinx which didn't go well. then she's working with jinx to help vander which as far as we know could be dead. so now is she going back to working with cait to stop the noxians? it just seems like she doesn't have a solid motivation this season when it could have been something about her finding self-acceptance for all the guilt she's had over the years or idk making her lead the rebellion in the undercity, just something to make her feel like she has purpose.

and i'm going to stop here :) i think i got everything i wanted to say somewhere in here but either way i'm sure i get my point across just fine. i want to reiterate that i don't think i'm right about my opinions and also wanna say that i am enjoying the show, though it may not seem like it with this lol. i think act 3 will make me change my mind about a couple things anyways but this is how i feel currently and that's pretty much it

[annexx27]

some fans organized a q&a with ron nyswaner earlier today using twitter space and it was so lovely! he offered some great new insights so i’d definitely recommend to try and find some of the things he said on twitter if you want to know what was being said, because some fans have been tweeting about it! :)

i’ll try to add some things i remember him saying to this post:

- ron talked about the scene in episode 8 where tim tells hawk to go home, and hawk says “it’s not…” and he never finishes his sentence. ron explained that hawk did this because he didn’t want to burden tim. he was gonna say something along the lines of “it’s not what you think it is” (meaning — he goes home to nothing, since lucy had left him). he didn’t want tim to change his plans for him. so that’s beautiful growth in my opinion!

- ron reaaaally loves hawk and he’s so real for that

- ron talked about hawk breaking up with tim. about that it wasn’t just cruel and convenient, but he was also protecting tim. but his big dilemma is that he loves tim. he fears his love for tim. ron also talked about that scene in episode 1 where hawk tells tim to lock the door behind him. he explained that hawk wanted to protect tim from himself, he didn’t want to repeat what happened with kenny.

- ron talked about a deleted scene between marcus and hawk where they talk about how they first met. they met when they were both wounded during the war. if i remember correctly he said it was something about hawk looking at marcus from behind a curtain in the hospital bed. and the dialogue in the scene was something along the lines of hawk saying “i thought you were jerking off” and marcus replying “you hoped”.

- he talked about seeing many people talk about possibly deleted scenes from the beach scene in episode 7. he said the scene wasn’t longer or whatever than what we saw. (i don’t remember this exactly, so i could be wrong!)

- he talked about being a practical writer and constantly wanting to move the story forward (i believe?) so for example that’s why he made the choice to let hawk have a scar. so tim could ask about it and they could have a conversation about it.

- he said his favorite time period was the 70’s because it was relatable for him, and he loved the way the characters looked during the 60’s (especially tim).

- he and jonny had a long conversation about tim’s faith and jonny said that tim’s faith was his anchor.

- he talked about his favorite scenes from each time period. from the 80’s it’s the scene of tim and hawk in the hospital bed, from the 70’s it’s the scene where hawk has a breakdown and tim comforts him & the conversation at the pool, from the 60’s it’s the ending scene where they stare at each other when tim leaves because of the yearning and from the 50’s i’m honestly not sure anymore! maybe someone else can remember :) edit lol I remember again: i think it’s the scene where tim and hawk argue at the cozy corner in episode 1 about their beliefs.

i might add more to this because i’m trying to remember all the things he talked about!

[crepes-suzette-373]

Is this an error or on purpose?? It's driving me insane!!!

(I'm just parsing through my own theory and doubts, you don't have to read this)

Ichiji's eyebrow that's under the bangs is the subject of fans' theories, and I wrote about it too, but I really just... sometimes have very strong doubts about it. With the insane time crunch of Shounen Jump schedule, what if it's really just a mistake that nobody caught?

One of my line of thinking was "this panel is so big, surely sensei can't possibly screw it up?" But the answer is, yes, he can screw up a panel that's that big.

When Venus blocked Zoro's attack, not only is he holding the sword in the wrong hand, but the sword is also missing its iconic Kitetsu cross-shaped guard. That Venus vs Zoro panel takes up half a page. On the manuscript paper, that would've been massive, and yet there it is.

As far as I can tell, this was not edited, changed, or fixed in the final volume version. So, I dunno, maybe all the weird eyebrows is literally nothing and he just messed up.

If I may use myself as an example, I have drawn their eyebrows facing wrong directions multiple times, and sometimes I never noticed there was anything wrong until days or even weeks later.

I not only drew the lines, but also rendered the colours in detail. I didn't do it all in one sitting. I went over the image multiple times with fresh eyes, across many days, and not for a single moment did I notice the eyebrow was wrong. It's not impossible that sensei experienced the same thing.

The anime scene cannot be used as reference because I don't think the anime staff are privy to any future lore or backstories from sensei. I would assume that they often had to fill in the gaps with educated guesses on their parts.

Pre-timeskip the anime have once displayed Sanji's other eyebrow facing the wrong direction and/or simply missing its curl.

Also in Whole Cake's finale episodes, the anime included a short filler bit where all of Sanji's bros made it safely back to the Germa ships. This is proven to be wrong when the cover story revealed Niji and Yonji got caught while still on land by Big Mum and didn't manage to escape.

The only way you can reconcile these is if you imagine a scenario where Niji and Yonji initially made it out just fine, but had to jump off the ship to fight Big Mum. Otherwise there's just a flat out discrepancy between manga and anime.

I don't think the Pirate Warriors 3D model rips are also any solid confirmation that Ichiji and Reiju's eyebrows are different either, because I found what is purportedly a model from the first game, where Sanji also has the eyebrows facing wrong directions:

(left: all siblings from Pirate Warriors 4, right: Sanji from Pirates Warriors 1)

In my guess, what happened was that they just made half a face (and body), which is then mirrored to create the other half. See below for what I mean:

In my opinion what happened was that with Ichiji and Reiju they just left the brows in mirrored state because they didn't know for sure. Look at Reiju's irises. The highlights are also mirrored. It really looks like they just created one half of the face and copy + flipped it:

The eyebrows are modelled onto the polygons and not just textures, so they really could've just copy + flipped the half model and never bothered changing it afterwards.

Or, if not, maybe they saw the anime scenes, thought that Ichiji and Reiju's eyebrows are facing different directions, and then followed suit. The Pirate Warriors models are made based on the anime rather than the manga (as you can see with Reiju's eyes being blue and not purple).

Whereas with Niji, Sanji, and Yonji they might have went through the trouble to edit the eyebrows to be more accurate to the series since they know for a fact what their brows look like.

So yeah, I don't know, this thing has no answer at all until Germa shows up in the series again (or revealed in Vivre Cards).

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

i'm amazed by the energy that antibucktommy people bring to this show like one of the most beloved characters and one of the biggest storylines in the very first season wasn't bobby and the fact that he murdered 148 people including his wife and children and is trying to rebuild his life. it's almost like this show has been saying since the beginning that people can grow and be better and maybe we should give them the space to do that.

anyway buck and tommy were really cute this episode. and there's something so teenage giddiness about them hiding behind a couch for a fake surprise party and flirting that just makes me so happy for the sheer queerness of the experience for buck

This is honestly why I stopped interacting with a lot of segments of fandom over the summer and started curating my fyp and tumblr follows a little more intensely. All of the characters have done horrible things (some more recently than others), things that are usually regarded as unforgivable. Bobby's story is the big one, but Hen's cheating storyline, Athena's many and varied abuses of power as a cop, Chim's really pretty sus relationship with Tatiana, Eddie's fight club era and his treatment of the women he gets into relationships with, Buck manipulating Taylor (like, kind of a lot)...like they've all done terrible things and we have watched them come back from it and learn and grow and change, and love them for it.

I think a lot of it stems from the fact that the horrible things they did were not done to our faves (I'd argue the fandom didn't know Karen well enough during the cheating storyline to not feel inclined to forgive Hen for it) and the fact that the racism and sexism displayed by Tommy at first are such lightning rod issues anyway (as well they should be). And, yes, let's be real, the majority of it is what I'll kindly call disappointment that we got Bi!Buck after all this time, but not Buddie. And that's fair (to an extent...there's NO excuse for the kind of harrassment we saw over the last few months).

But the vitriol displayed towards BuckTommy and the people that ship them is just really outsized in my opinion. The show is going out of their way to show us that Tommy is good to Buck (and friends with Eddie), and that they are enjoying each other. Whether or not it leads to Buddie, don't we WANT Buck to have a good relationship for his first as a queer man? Everyone talks about representation being SO important--we have an extremely masculine characater (who has canonically been presented as a playboy/heartthrob type) discovering a new facet of his sexuality when he's nearly in his mid-thirties, and exploring that facet with a love interest that is EQUALLY as masculine. This storyline is important! It's breaking a lot of new ground and doing it in a really nicely done way.

And in regards to Tommy...I dunno, maybe it's because I've grown up in an environment that pretty much BREEDS men like BeginsEra!Tommy. Yes, they have a choice not to be the way they are--but unless you live in it, it's hard to understand how hard making that choice, or even recognizing that you DO have a choice, really is. I think it's also important to show a character who didn't remain a piece of trash human, and was able to accept that they were wrong and CHANGE. If the only way you can ever be defined is by what you were at your very worst, what is even the fucking point of changing? No one owes you forgiveness, even after you do the work to change...but nor do you deserve to be punished forever.

I dunno, I just wanna enjoy my weewoo show and I'm tired of people harshing my buzz (heh, see what I did there?) I still ship Buddie. I ship BuckTommy. Most of all I ship Buck/Happiness and I am eager to see if he finally gets some that lasts.

[dgoldhunter]

I'm so done...

Don't get me wrong, I loved many things about apology tour (mainly Verosika) but I was hoping this to be the break from the drama of Stolitz instead of a continuation of it. And thought I loved Verosika and her final interactions with Blitz... it felt a little... I dunno.. not logical? (not her interactions, but most of the episode)

Stolas and Blitz relationship is a whole can of worms on its own, but I'm on the team that Stolas was forcing Blitz, like I mean in the pilot of HB it showed how uncomfortable Blitz was with him, and in the very first episode how he was forced to it since he was in a very dire situation (and Stolas knew about it, since he is seeing it developing in real time throught his bubbles)... (and I mean, the pilot face says it all)

But back on track...

So my questions, how Verosika knew about their break up? All of it happened between Stolas home, not even in public, and I don't think Stolas posted it on social media... also Why is she treating him so nicely and touchy? I mean on Ozzies, the bouncer showed reverence when he saw Stolas and let him in alongside Blitz.

I could see her treating him with more respect, or asking him if its alright to hug him or something because of his royal status, or at least refer to him as "your highness" (and in Stolas fashion he would be like "Oh don't need to be so formal but eh... anyway). Sure, they are in a more casual and comfortable environment, but even then, there are some manners expected when approaching a royal. If you are going to disregard his status, then why have a ladder with the different races and their social hierarchy? I get it was to show how sweet Verosika was really, but there could be a ton of approaches to this (and it wasn't hard to tell, since she was only mean to Blitz and has been speculated since her first appearance she is really nice and lovely once you get to know her).

And talking about approaches, this episode could be PERFECT to explore more about Blitz and Verosika. Yes, they talked at the end and we get to hear that the shitshow Blitz pulled on Verosika was after she told him she loved him (and she admitted she was embarrassed since it was the first time she felt that way). Put Stolas on the sidelines for a little while, and focus on these two. Maybe not a hearfelt talk for the whole episode, but making Blitz realize that before he could apologize to Stolas, he needed to work on himself first and foremost(because his apology to him was very forced as well). I think their talk came too quickly, and even then, why talk? Why Blitz would ask Stolas for forgiveness? In his eyes on Full Moon, Stolas was using him and he ended their contract, so he snapped (rightfully so, he first forced him and now is tossing him aside).

Or hell, make it about Blitzo and his past relationships including her, how he fucked up every single one of them, knowing about more about how he meet them, how he fucked up in every single one of them, make him feel remorse since the beginning, not to just feel remorse at the end just because he couldn't get the uwu bird back. (In one episode of "The mentalist" TLDR: Doc Dungan, a football star, is told to the media to be dead when in fact he is alive. He gets to watch what people really think of him, including his ex wife, and gradually this was the wake up call he needed to stop being a self-centered asshole, more things of the episode of course, but i liked this take, now that Blitz was in a somewhat similar situation of him not being dead but having the opportunity to see and hear his exs opinions, honest opinions, about him, not just the hate part).

And... putting all this behind, WTF with Verosika's psycho break with the cake? Her voice completly changed and it feel... odd. Sure, she is not fan of Blitz, and everytime he showed up, she showed the contempt and the bitterness towards him. So this change of personality of hers stabbing the cake with so much malicious intent felt really odd coming from her. Like, following HB logic (ugh, and there isn't much), this outburst is more like how Stella would react to a Stolas cake, seeing her cartoonish hate towards him and how she treats him. Verosika never had that type of "hate" towards Blitzo. In Spring Broken aside from the fight on the parking lot, she was ignoring him, until he came to challenge her. And in Ozzies was a coincidence both of them were there at the same time, and she took the opportunity when it presented to diss on him.

So her acting like a maniac vengeful ex who wants him dead seems a non logical change (and if she wanted him dead, like the scene implied, she has the resources to ask for a hitman). I get the cake was there as pettiness symbol. But still pettiness is different from hate. And then revert that change that on was during 2/4 of the episode (the manical laughter also set me off).

At the end it was showed that she still cares for him in a way (showed in the lasts bits of the episode)... so? I would also expect that kind of murderous rage from people with absolute hate and bitterness (again, like how they are depicting Stella, damn, Stella acted the same way when discussing Stolas death if I recall and in other situations when Stolas was almost hurt).

I don't think she was acting to make him feel welcome (because Stolas looked uncomfortable when she started to act that way, and I get many exes would have those feelings towards him, but... ) and she definitely wasn't drunk, even if she have been drinking since the start of the party, it think at this point, she has a very high tolerance, so she would need a lot more to get drunk.

So yea, I loved Verosika and her return, but I expected an episode centered around her (like spring broken was) instead of shifting the focus again to stolas and blitz, who have been the main focus since the beginning of season 2. If Verosika knew about the whole shit Stolas pulled, I don't think she would have invited him to the party, since the exes part means a consesual relationship, something that Blitz and Stolas thing wasn't. Hell, I think if she could, she would have called him out (again, yes, she hates Blitz, but she still cares, I don't think she would have liked to know how his ex was raped repeatedly) since now its shown that his royal status is bleh.

So yeah, the episode felt like a excuse to comfort Stolas, still make Blitz the bad guy, give Stolas the thumbs up and comfort while Blitz rots in self hate. Verosika being the tool to comfort the poor uwu bird.

Uf, this was a long rant, and even if you don't agree, that's fine. I'm just a guy who loves Verosika Mayday... but is already tired of the writing that pushes this couple at the center of all of it.

[pinazee]

There might be blood

I had to look up the title because i didnt understand the connection to the episodes subject matter. So for anyone curious, its based on the 2007 movie There Will be Blood which is about the california oil boom.

Another episode thats just okay to me imo. But it has some good moments

First, another sibling is in the mix and she just so happens to be Jane Fucking Lynch which is pretty neat. I love the instant sibling rivalry we get. Like professionalism is instantly thrown out the door.

Also, im just now realizing, Shawns the only one who doesn’t have a sibling. Now you could argue Gus is like a brother to him, but like, it would be so interesting to see Shawn have to be responsible for a little sibling, or possibly have an older sibling who doesn’t quite have the gift feel overlooked when henry started teaching Shawn. Could you imagine all the fun dynamics and drama that would’ve ensued?? Like, how would that have affected his relationship with gus too- sorry, my thoughts spiraled.

He literally usues gus like siri

Theres an ongoing theme of Lassie loving strong, opinionated, or downright bossy women and i love that for him.

It’s time to talk about Chief Karen Vick. Specifically why she hires a psychic. At the very beginning, we learn that she knew Henry, and im guessing because she didn’t know shawn its because she joined the precinct in his teen years like Lassiter (since we also know he retires shortly after). or maybe she was at the academy when he did a lecture. I don’t believe its ever discussed how well she knew him, but it was certainly enough to call him and have him vouch for Shawn. It was enough to trust his word at least, whether it was based on simply knowing Henry’s talent, or because she actually knew him as a person, or maybe just that he was a respected cop.

This is all to say, i don’t think chief vick actually believes he’s psychic or ever did. Look at how she reacts when he tries to “divine” something about her.

Which means, Chief Vick is not above skirting around the law to catch the bad guy. After all, if she knows Shawns not psychic, then shes willingly letting this loose cannon into her crime scenes. And this kind of ties in with another point i have, which is that i don’t think she was actually getting Henry to vouch for his abilities at all, I think she was asking Henry what kind of a man Shawn was. She witnessed his skill with the Mccallum murder and saw all the calls he put in that helped solve other crimes, but she also has the arrest record, and the ever changing address. She needs to know if Shawn is someone she can trust.

So, she knows hes a fake, and likely knows how he’s gathering information (i Have to wonder if there was a case she had where justice was not met because of a law she wasn’t allowed to go around, like she knew someone was the killer but didn’t have any evidence to get a warrant and they got away). But having Shawn helps bypass the red tape because he can literally point them in the direction of evidence and claim he divined it.

Chief Vick is not someone to believe in mystics, she is, in fact, a rogue, someone getting to the truth by any means necessary while also keeping her hands clean. She has to play into the facade just as much as Shawn. It makes me wonder what kind of a cop she was, especially since we see how competitive she was. (and im also realizing that i dont think we ever saw her detective skills? Shes always been boss lady)

The moment with shawn and chief vick was really sweet, though. This is why i can rewatch psych as much as i do. They take time out of the episode to have small moments of real connection where we see that these characters actually care about each other.

As for the bad guy…idk i liked the showdown and shawn talking her down because of how it speaks to his character, but they really muddled her own character. They built her up as this like calculating, intelligent, and fed-up-with-misogyny woman and then at the end she not only falls for Shawns speech but starts crying when shes caught. Like, imo, she probably would have just shot shawn, or would have avoided that whole situation to begin with by not panicking in the first place. Shawn though, clearly hates guns, so i wonder whats up with that.

P.S

Gus’s smelling bobbing

And look how much fun our young dudes are having! What a bunch of cuties :)

[wolvertooth]

can you plz hate rant about the deadpool & wolverine movie… saw it last week and i didn’t like it all… very refreshing to see that someone shares my opinion lmao

i got u man👍 most of this was in my drafts from after the movie came out, but i just never got around to posting it. i added some other opinions ive had since then, tho theres still a lot ive said over the past month that ive totally forgotten about lol

the intro sequence was fucking HYPE‼️ but then, part way thru the movie, u realize....it doesnt ever hit that same mark again. WHERE TF WAS THE HUGH JACKMAN SONG THEY PROMISED? the trailers showed 95% xmen origins clips. the movie didnt mention it once. no the brothers line doesnt count. false fucking advertising. deadpools sexuality has been confirmed since 2014. and now, 10 years later, its still being reduced to gay jokes. and people still eat it up like its genuine rep.

that guy at the tva who’s whole punchline was that he likes men. why. in 2024. why is that allowed. his whole character was a gay joke. i mean so was deadpool, but this guys whole thing was. That. can i say homophobia? can i say i felt that? is that reasonable? this movie felt like a fundraiser for the future avengers movies to make up for all the recent flops.

i watched this shit twice and yea. i was right. the plot was half assed. once u watch it once, thats it. thats the fun. its all just cameos. the jokes didnt even make me laugh again, since it was majority shock based humor. my second watch thru i was trying not to fall asleep in my chair. the way it lacks plot isnt in the Not Coherent kind of way, but rather 'this couldve been a 40 minute monster of the week episode'....or maybe even a 2 episodes if they wanted to get freaky with it it just felt so separate from the rest of the movies, like it wasnt even a sequel.

literally, the movie begins with them abandoning the previous timeline and wade moving to a new ‘better’ one.....almost like hes moving over to a more sacred timeline.........separate from fox.........which is dumb af cuz the movie couldve been him accepting that whatever happens in ur life u cant go back and change, and u have to make due with the good u already have. the previous movie ended with him having a family, he didnt need a new one. i mean, they did that for logans 'learning moment', why wouldnt that also apply to wade? paradox literally says ‘hey we brought u in cuz the mcu is dying, so u should come over to the sacred timeline’ and then after he changes into his costume THEY CHANGE THE PLOT. THEY THROW THAT OUT. WITHIN MINUTES. now paradox is like ‘actually just your timeline is dying, and i wont elaborate on how that works. and also u dont get to go to the sacred timeline. and i hate you.’ WHY BRING HIM THERE AT ALL THEN IF THATS THE PLOT U CHANGED IT TO? ITS DOESNT MAKE SENSE. even if the plot was that he had to go to the sacred timeline cuz his own was dying, WHY WOULDNT HE BE ABLE TO BRING HIS FRIENDS?

what was the vanessa plot? they never explain why she broke up with him? theres like a tiny flashback where she says hes been distracted ever since he got rejected, rejected from what? clearly not the avengers, since that happens after she leaves him. so wtf was the motive here????? the cameos felt like props. especially the deadpool corps, which i feel like they didnt even skim a wiki article for. they just went off google images. which hurt me. cuz i reallyyyyy like those guys....in the comics, theyre a group of deadpools(consisting of lady deadpool, kidpool, headpool, dogpool, and deadpool), who in their first series save the multiverse from being destroyed(sound familiar?). theyre the GOOD GUYS. why tf would they hear cassandra nova say ‘hey im gonna kill the entire multiverse’ and go ‘alright sure whatever’. why were they in the void to begin with? how’d they get there? isnt the void just for movie continuities anyway? why was cassandra also there? how does the void work? why does the void exist? will someone please explain literally anything in this movie? why not have them come in later to save the fucking day instead??

oh lady deadpool...how they massacred ur character... OH KIDPOOL.....HOW THEY MASSACRED UR CHARACTER...... god speaking of that. cassandra nova had literally so much potential and they watered her down to just Evil Villain. she hasnt done much in the comics, but one the things she did in one them was using her powers for therapy on the xmen(which deadpool also made a cameo in). she sort of does this briefly in that one scene, but it was just so.....basic. bland. why was there no b plot with the rest of the main cast. did they think the audience doesnt watch these movies for them? cuz i sure fucking do. i was waiting for the continuation of colossus and wades epic romance arc. side note, the gay jokes in the previous movies felt even less queerbaity then these ones. this movies queerbaiting was just....sad. marketing queerbaiting. this movie WISHES it couldve been deadpool 2 levels of queerbait(shoutout to the extended sex mimicking scene set to In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel)

did anyone catch at the end when deadpool was narrating and when he said ‘friends’ yukio and negasonic teenage warhead were on screen. did anyone see that. they disney gal paled them.

i know wade is supposed to be the Funny Guy but man. thats literally all he was this movie. the other ones has ANGST they had him be HUMAN while this one was like 'logan was mean to me one time ):' bro. what happened. where'd the writers go.

this wolverine was like. the wolverine 2014 wolverine. which is when fox wolverine started to lose character and just become grumpy and mean. hes also like that in Logan 2017, but the reason why this kinda attitude works in that one is bcuz hes old, hes fucked up, hes tired, and every fuck that comes outta his mouth he means it. and yet....still manages to experience other emotions. what a concept. ive read literal satire comics that understood his character more(shoutout to the What The--?! series). it just had me waiting for the 'gotcha! this wolverine is actually 3 dimensional!' but it never fucking got there. it was amusing in the beginning, but by like half way in, i did not give a single fuck about this guy. they tried to give him some emotional moment(like. the only emotional moment in the entire film) but it just...lacked the emotion. just 'heres my sad backstory. are u sad now?' and then they did the SAME THING AGAIN no we get it man u were at the bar instead of with ur friends and u went on a classic wolverine style berserker rage. why should we care tho?

i mean, sure, they could use the excuse of being in the type of depressive state where ur emotions numb out(speaking as a mfer with the came curse), and yea hes not the kinda guy to open up about his emotions unless he really trusts someone(which he would likely distance himself from forming connections with others after that kind of trauma), but with cassandra nova right there there was a missed opportunity for elaborating on that. for digging deep into his brain and telling why this fucked him up so bad. imo, if i were to write it, with everyone he gets close to he puts upon the expectation for himself that hes at fault for anything that happens to them. that he needs to be the savior, even in a friendship. to prove himself to be worth something. especially after a life of being convinced hes a burden by just existing as himself, he needs to have use in order to make up for the fact that hes Logan.

but whos going to save him? isnt he struggling too? whos gonna help you? looking at all the other logans across the multiverse, who is the wolverine? why do you keep falling for the same patterns no matter where you are and who you are? deadpool called sabretooth queen and she/her'd logan within like 5 seconds of eachother. that was pretty good ig

final verdict:

yknow. i think i get now the way fans reacted the way they did tho.

the other night i was rewatching the movie Hackers with my mom, saying that it was obvious the creators mustve known a lot about hacking in order to do such a good parody of it, out of love for the craft….but my knowledge of hacking is pretty minimal, so i have no actual fucking clue if that assumption is accurate or not. im just going off of a ton of references to hacking. for all i know, real hackers couldve hated this movie.

and thats how the average non comic fan saw this movie. they saw a buncha characters and references and thought ‘damn, they must really love the source material’ without knowing how much of a kick in the face it felt like to watch them get used and butchered like that.