#ok but the storyline is very compelling so far

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Ok so the crazy blonde pony tail assassin was actually Killer from Kid’s crew and now I’m once again devo for a side character. My poor guy. And Kid saying he hates his laugh and covered his face up and now all Killer can do is laugh with his face exposed as tears stream down his face.

I’m so goddamn sad. I have to imagine there was some tiny little hint during his confrontation with Zoro when Zoro saved Hiyori and Toko.

[monophobix]

INITIAL THOUGHTS ON ARCANE SEASON 2 ACT 1 (EPISODES 1-3)

(i’m not good at putting my thoughts into words so feel free to give your own opinions, i rlly wanna hear them)

SPOILERS AHEAD///

ok so my biggest critique is the pacing. everything is very quick very fast and a lot is going on. i understand that this is immediately after a large event which of course caused a reaction however it was just very intense and a lot to keep up with especially considering the amount of new and confusing things introduced throughout the three episodes with minimal slow down. it was alittle difficult to keep up. the timeline of the show is confusing and i have no idea how long it has been between scenes. viktor was barely in that weird healing chamber for a few scenes before he was emerging as someone new. caitlyn and vi were going from loving to fighting to understanding to fighting again very quickly with little time to develop independently, their kiss and divorce weren’t even 30 minutes apart from each other. also, who the fuck is this kid hanging around with jinx?? why is she following her, why doesn’t she talk, what’s her name, how long has she been with her?? this lack of time to let things develop has caused these episodes to feel rushed.

with this introduction of many new things some have left me with a lot of questions. my biggest issue revolves around the arcane. i literally do not recall it being mentioned or being an important topic in s1 but all of a sudden jayce knows a fuck ton about it as well as heimerdinger? when did he learn this? i assume it’s from viktors notes and research but that still fails to cover the amount of knowledge jayce now possesses.

HOWEVER THE ARCANE IS VERY COOL AND IM VERY VERY INVESTED. i absolutely love the changes to viktor, his weird apathy and changes are definitely rushed but so interesting to see, his design and behaviour are so very compelling and im very excited to see the development. additionally, this group dynamic between jayce, ekko and heimerdinger is soooooo fun. it offers a break from the intensity with some silliness i think is desperately needed, plus it’s super satisfying to see the trio bounce off each other. that final scene of them in ep3 was visually incredible and i loved seeing the effects upon the hextech weapons during the jinx, sevika vs vi, caitlyn fight. the scene of viktor amongst the shimmer infected was very interesting and it was so cool to truly see the severe effects of shimmer and the inhumanity of viktor is making a clear route towards his glorious evolution which is am keen to watch.

that ambessa reveal at the end was INCREDIBLE. i genuinely didn’t see it coming and it made my jaw DROP. the quiet, smart suspicion from mel is always incredible to see, her political mind and morals conflicting is so very engaging and she’s really developing into herself in these episodes which was a joy to witness. the mystery of her brother is compelling and links well through s1 and s2 to make the storyline fun to follow. i also simply must compliment the designs revolving around the noxians and animal-esque (sorry idk what they’re called) people. the absolute variety and inspiration from real life cultures is beautiful to see. i am incredibly confused about the magic and that one lady (amara?) but i assume that’ll be answered in later episodes.

jinx is not looking good lmao. i love her design being so corpse-like and deathly, it really fits well and really embraces the differences between powder and jinx. but i do wish we saw more of her. i see her actions but i lack understanding for some of them, primarily revolving around the child (isha?) and why the kids even there but the newfound bond between sevika and jinx is refreshing to see. the scene of them in silcos old office brought a smile to my face and the design of that fucking arm is soooo cool i love the clownish purely jinx vibe to it.

caitlyn is probably the stand out character so far (plus maybe viktor). her absolute grief and seeing her facade break down throughout the episodes was heartbreaking, the tentative yet conflicting moments of softness with vi were beautiful yet had that perfect undercurrent of tragedy that arcane masters so well. her rage and break up with vi was easy to see coming yet so incredibly jarring to watch, that harsh and merciless behaviour is so different from s1, the development is well done and a morbid pleasure to see. and that final episode. oh my. the shock to acceptance of darkness was fantastic, ambessa truly is a master at manipulating weakness in even the strongest of people and seeing this duo is going to be so soul crushing that i’m itching for more.

vi felt very rushed to me and alittle dry? idk why tho i can’t really explain it. i understand her choices but it felt like something was missing until that final scene with cait. that was an absolute masterpiece. seeing her realising that the horrors of war is corrupting everyone around her and pleading for it to please not happen is so so SO fucking sad and my heart was breaking. i loved seeing her moral strength and solidity to her values which has always been a key part of her character so i appreciate the consistency. idk why something about her was just… different.

the opening scene was incredible. the absolute horror of it was so clear and i was literally shaking the entire time. 10/10 opening.

overall, i hope things slow down alittle but i greatly enjoyed season 2 and im very excited to see the characters develop and to see even more of this beautiful world.

[0aurelion-sol0]

My Arcane Season 2 criticisms:

Things I actually disliked:

How the Hextech plot turned out, I though it was very badly executed especially in terms of Viktor's evolution through the whole show. Lack of proper explanation about what was actually happening, unnecessary and horribly executed twist at the end, clumsy established rules and dissapointing payoff for anyone involved in this plotline. Final battle was cool and I like the Commune's designs but dear god, was this storyline confusing...

Ekko's community plus the tree's state at the end of the show. You really couldn't put a 15 seconds shot of the community being well and tree being ok ?! Seriously I know you had to make choices given it's animation but come on now... It was like one of the main driving points to stop Hextech for him & one of the safe haven of Zaun & Piltover and it's completely shoved to the side but no, we have to see minutes of Loris, Steb and Sky being there just being a representation of our characters' inner conflicts as if them doing it and/or saying it out loud wasn't enough...

Ekko convincing Jinx to not kill herself by telling her what he experienced, Jinx rallying the undercity to protect Piltover & Zaun from Noxus & Viktor and a proper conclusion to Sevika's story regarding all of this. WHAT THE HELL ?! We needed to see this, this is so important & it's completely ignored. IN WHAT world, did anyone think cutting this was a good idea ?! We needed to get a proper closure & development about Ekko & Jinx's relationship which was already thin to begin with. We needed to see Sevika affirm what she truly thought about Jinx and a moment about Isha regarding the two of them even if Sevika wasn't super close to the kid, we needed to see Sevika get to see the Undercity finally rallied together after spending the ENTIRETY of the show trying to do that and see how that whole thing came about for them to fight with Piltover. It is ridiculous to that me that this was cut... It was so important!

Things I didn't necessarily dislike but I have mixed feelings about:

Jayce not getting a single scene with his mom. I know she was there at the end, in the crowd, mourning him but come on, not even one scene with her before the end where she could allow him a form of reflection and comfort before putting his life in danger or after, I don't know... DISSAPEARING FOR WEEKS IF NOT MONTHS! I know you could interpret it as Jayce being so lost on his mission that he forgets about her and her importance but she was one of the reasons they ended up in Piltover in the first place. It's of course not as vital to the story but it could have provided some breathing in this fast-paced season.

Vi's character arc this season. While there are some part that I like, I feel like it wasn't explored as deeply & as fully as it could have been. The foundations are there but aspects like her relationship with Vander, violence and Zaun could have been pushed far more than they were in this season.

Caitlyn's arc and how the most important bit happened off-screen, again, just like with Vi, the parts it would have been better to see or being more developped weren't as much as they could've been. I am not of the conclusion she didn't face any consequences or was let go by the narrative of the things she did, but her coming to terms with her actions happened mostly off-screen and that is a shame because it was one of the more interesting parts of Season 2.

Singed's characterization. Now I understand why he was developed the way he is, in terms of what he represents for Caitlyn and for the show, but I don't think it was as compelling to me to have him be yet another parallel for the themes of the show or being a reminder of them was completely necessary for me. We got it the other times, I understand why, it had it's purpose; I just prefer how evil Singed was in the original lore & the story he had back then. I understand humanizing antagonists & reinforcing the theme of your story but sometimes it's nice having an element that's a bit of an outlier and explore other themes to give some variety to the story.

[asraindarkness]

vent time! i have to disrespectfully disagree with people who are now suddenly saying "it was clear from the start that bucktommy was just a short-term thing". the whole issue with the argument is this: 911 has never been the best written show, and especially everything after s4 has been capital R Rough. this is no succession, the bear, arcane. you know, tv shows that have incredibly story continuity, character writing, and pacing. people say that bucktommy was not written "well enough" as if that is a valid sign in the 911 universe that the breakup was a sure thing. i call bullshit. when was the last time that the show has wrapped up even the simplest storyline in a satisfying and serious way? when was the last time character development happened and was take seriously? when was the last time the main characters didn't feel stagnant and the stories didn't feel repetitive? when was the last time the show didn't go in circles and choose the easy or sometimes most offensive way out? 911 had enough meat to tell compelling stories for 3 seasons, afterwards it went noticibly downhill. people who say that the "bad writing" of bucktommy should have been a clear sign are talking complete nonsense imo. tommy was the first ever love interest who checked all the boxes, who got verbal approval of bobby (who has watched buck grow and knows him incredibly well and who did notice a positive difference in buck!), who had everything that we have been told buck needs in a partner for 6 seasons. the canon text spelled out: this could be the one.

we were not delusional for that because, once again, i have to point out: the wonky writing is not a bucktommy problem. it has been and still is a general 911 problem. if they butcheted the bucktommy writing while they did great with everything else, yes, then i would agree the signs were there. for 911 standards of writing, which are very low in comparison to good tv shows, bucktommy has actually been done pretty damn great until that fucked up breakup. people say "they didn't even know each other after 6 months" and i retort "athena first admitted that she had a fiance before michael to michael and bobby like 30 years (?) after the fact". this show has been fucking up storylines left and right for years, and most characters and dynamics had many moments that were terribly written and poorly handled and were only enjoyable when you ignored the idiocy of it all. this show doesn't care about timelines, doesn't care about logic, doesn't care to base the drama within the constraints of a realistic depiction of society and laws. it retcons things for shits and giggles. the mains only get through it all thanks to plot convenience and plot armor. like please. we try to find logical solutions (e.g. tommy lands the plane) and the show will choose whatever is the most ridiculous idea (12 yo lands it).

looking at the bigger picuture, bucktommy had incredible potential for 911 standards and could have easily worked long-term if only the writers wanted to do so. the simple problem is: they apparently don't want to put any more work into it. it is as easy as that. many things in this show never lived up to their full potential and got wrapped up in the most ridiculous ways that nobody could have ever predicted. like, my bad for expecting some leftover common sensen and logic in the weewoo show! at this point, it feels like a skit starring clowns that will do the most random shit. rinse and repeat.

in that context and thinking back to all the butchered storylines, bucktommy had actually been a fucking masterpiece so far. now, it unfortunately just joins a looong row of things that could have been impactful and meaningful if only the show had good storytelling.

how could i have ever knew a breakup is coming when the writing literally said i wrote them for 8.05 as an stablished couple who where doing ok just so the breakup could hurt more!!! hurt who??? cuz most of their fandom were queers, so there is that.

and yes i agree with you. i dropped the show after s6 and came back to it ONLY bcz my friend told me buck came out bi and start this season only bcz i was invested in buck and his relationship journey cuz i knew for a fact the other part of this show is not gonna get any better and the fucked that up to.

they only claim they KNEW they’re gonna break up cuz they were saying it since 7.06 lol

and it piss me off when they say there was no chemistry (which i disagree) cuz this is so stupid. lacking chemistry is something WE see as audiences it is not a thing for characters in the story, they don’t see it and they don’t feel it so it can not be a reason for them to breakup, like??????

all and all bddie shippers has been dancing this dance for 7 years now and yk what? i hope they do get what they want cuz 911 is not gonna change the writing so i hope they do get bddie in this exact writing they seem to loooove cuz i know it’s not gonna be all fair dust and unicorns lol

(i still love buck and i hope hope hope they handle his sexuality better at least from now on but im not optimistic)

[superkooku]

A missed potential in Hades (the game)

Ok, listen. I'm a fan of Supergiant Game's Hades (haven't played Hades II yet. Because my PC is a potato and I hope the full version will be in PS4). Yes there are bothersome inaccuracies, but...

The characters are fun, the game is surprisingly not repetitive yet consistent, the mechanics are cool, Hades and Persephone are actually compelling (a miracle in mythology retellings). And Hypnos is a fun lil goober.

But I feel like there was one huge missed potential. No, I'm not complaining about Dionysus for the 100th time or OdyPen being tossed in the trash in Hades II (gosh I hope it's a fake out and they're still together 🙏🙏🙏).

I'm talking about this guy :

This is Asterius, better known as the Minotaur. Yes it's the third time I talk about him today, but I just had an idea for him that I want to share.

I actually like what Hades did with him ! Again, I have more positive thoughts about this game than negative.

I'd even go as far as to say this is the best version of Asterius I've seen, imo.

He's an actual character, capable of speech. He's not always seen as Theseus' sidekick, even having his own moments with Zagreus. He's the more intelligent one, he's more human than Theseus and I love that about him. Like Achilles, but to a much higher degree, he mellowed down in the afterlife and lost his murderous rage.

The ironic friendship with his murderer is also very cool.

But we could've done so much more with this wonderful concept. Hades is essentially a game about mending broken relationships: Persephone and her family, Orpheus and Eurydice, Achilles and Patroclus, Thanatos and Hypnos... but Theseus and Asterius never really contributed to the main plot. They're just kinda there, doing their own thing.

I think adding ONE element would change everything, an important part of the Underworld (so Zagreus can interact with it) and something interesting for both Theseus and Asterius : the three judges. More specifically Minos.

A plotline where Minos and Asterius' abusive relationship will be discussed and Theseus actually being a good person for once and standing up for his friend.

Maybe with Minos apologizing and seeing that Asterius isn't a monster. And Zagreus being the catalyst for fixing the relationship, because in all those encounters, he learned to know who Asterius is.

Bonus point if Ariadne and/or Phaedra are mentioned. I see the latter appearing. Heck, maybe the former in a "Dionysus wants to resurrect her" storyline.

But this post is about Asterius and Minos. Between the underworld themes, the broken family of Crete, Asterius' humanity, Theseus humbling himself, it'd have been integrated so seamlessly !!

Just by adding a room for the three judges, with whom Zag regularly interacts, or fights as bosses, or just NPCs like Charon/Chaos with unique gimmicks.

Maybe fun interactions with Radamanthus and Aeacus too, though I have less ideas for them.

Please tell me there's a fanfic out there exploring that ! Or that Hades II will somehow do it 🙏.

[niklausie]

What are your TVD notps? 👀

you sent this almost a week ago but I’ve been holding on so I can best formulate my thoughts 😭 as eloquently as I can put it:

marbekah

this hurts me bc I love marcel and I love rebekah and in another world with better writers I can see them, but alas……. there’s no getting around the fact that she practically raised him with klaus. not even the actors’ incredible chemistry can make me overlook the fact that rebekah’s an adoptive aunt to him. even if she didn’t raise him and had moved to new orleans when marcel was an adult, it would still be weird considering klaus was a father figure to him.

maybe if they had met in TO instead, I could be ok with it bc they wouldn’t have known each other when marcel was a literal child. by the time TO takes place, marcel no longer thinks of klaus as a father (for the most part rip the show is so fickle about that) so naturally klaus’ siblings are not thought of as marcel’s family too. either way it’s a mess and way too kind-of-incestuous for me.

delena

I mean. yeah. I teeter between despising damon and liking him as a villain like 5 times a day. he was much more enjoyable to me for most of s1 until the last couple of episodes, but I hate how he’s pushed as a main protagonist at the expense of pretty much every other character, including elena. her character assassination to justify picking the man who compelled, harassed, disrespected and forced himself on her and her friends—it makes me see red. man killed her brother bc she didn’t let him forcibly kiss her while she was dating his brother and I’m supposed to think that’s true love?

the biggest problem I have with damon is that the writers want so badly for him to be seen by viewers and characters as redeemed… yet they do absolutely no work to make that happen. instead of evolving damon as a person, they retcon stefan and stelena. they regress elena until she’s barely recognizable. they villainize characters he’s abused and who hate him, like caroline in s4. I could talk about this for hours but I genuinely get angry thinking of how fucked the show gets bc the writers refuse to change one fucking character for the better and truly redeem him or commit to him being shitty and have him recognized as a shitty person.

that’s why I hate to see people comparing him to klaus bc there’s no way you think they’re anything alike. at the very least klaus is self-aware and isn’t automatically accepted by everyone around him just bc a girl chose him over his brother.

klamille (kind of. it’s complicated 😭)

LISTEN. listen to me. I fully recognize that klaus had big feelings for her and probably would’ve grown to really love her if they’d had more time. but in my humble opinion cami outgrew her usefulness and relevance to the plot before s1 was even finished. I love me a good “I can fix him” storyline, but they just…. fell flat to me. my man had some fantastic moments expressing his affection for her but they were few and far in between to make me root them him and cami specifically and not just him alone. she’s always felt like a self-insert the writers didn’t know what to do with, and I have no time for that 😭

all that when klonnie (and even klayley) was right there and had all the potential and chemistry in the world, don’t waste my time fr

jeremy and anna

boring. yawn. dated for like a week in cannon and I’m supposed to believe she’s his first love and worth cheating on bonnie with? at the very least have him cheat with the ghost of vicki, who he actually knew and loved for years, not some rando. to think bonnie brought this loser back to life TWICE at her own expense and literally died for him… julie plec when I get my hands around your throat

matt and rebekah

she could do so much better. that’s really all there is to it. I know she wants to be human and that’s the whole point of her arc in tvd and most of TO, but there are 8 billion people on this god forsaken earth. there’s gotta be a better regular ole human man out there who’s deserving of a woman of bex’s caliber. there has to be…

I could probably think of many more but I’m late for class lmao mayhaps I’ll return for another rant

[utilitycaster]

OK time to make dinner and take a pause but I've finished all faction/location quests as well including the gotdamn heart of corruption for which the quest marker is NOT clear, thank you Reddit thread I found, and anyway I'll elaborate when I am not ravenously hungry but the briefest of reviews for companion quests/faction quests.

Harding (no faction quest): A in companion quest; deeply tied into her abilities and the main plot, compelling, good mixture of emotions, Stalgard is the funniest motherfucker alive, great job

Neve/Dock Town/Shadow Dragons: *purple diverging arrows voice* because I saved Treviso, my options for her and Dock Town were limited, but I do feel like the location quests and her quests were intertwined (and connected to the main story) and they did a good job of conveying the chaotic nature of the city after the attacks; Dock Town's stuff ended up being kind of atmospheric more than a single narrative but it was pretty strong especially because it was mostly detective stories. Neve's throughline was great even with the limited choices.

Bellara/Arlathan/Veil Jumpers: Bellara's questline was excellent if by far the saddest one, and the Veil Jumpers story hits well in both the initial location of Arlathan and the main questline stuff (Blood of Arlathan and its lead in) but I must admit a lot of the location quests pale in quality next to Davrin and Harding and Bellara's storyline quests there. I wish the fucked up wild magic played a larger part, or you were working more towards helping Bellara with the archive or uncovering ancient elven information or something instead of just "hey find some veil jumpers who went missing" all the time.

Lucanis/Treviso/Crows: One of the strongest stories across the board - Lucanis's own quests about figuring out who united him with Spite tie into the larger Venatori plots and reveal a ton about his family; the city quests portray the Antaam and growing Venatori presence; and the main plot quest for the Crows puts it all together. Just very good narrative synergy and no goofy fetch quests.

Davrin/Hossberg Wetlands/Wardens: Davrin's questline itself is actually weirdly chill because the bulk of it is in The Cauldron which is main quest, so a lot of it is just hanging out with him and Assan. HOWEVER, I have to admit. Yes the Hossberg Wetlands are creepy and wet (I think there should be an Anderfels song that starts with that line, and have been attempting to compose one) but the combination of "oh, everything here is terrible" coupled with the "Something _____" quests from Antoine and Evka paint an incredible picture of the Wardens at their best, slowly and painfully reclaiming a place from the Blight after a horrible blow to morale at Weisshaupt; literally the only faction (as opposed to companion) quest to make me this emotional. "Something's Coming" you are that bitch I'm sorry I put you off because I hated the wetlands, and also I'm sorry I did you before the mercenary quest because it did make that one wicked anticlimactic.

Taash/Rivain and sometimes Hall of Valor/Lords of Fortune: I talked a bit about Taash's questline and how the choice isn't the weightiest but I do think their story is incredible and especially all the complexity of their relationship with their mother. The quests I admit are a little...scattered. Like, everyone else kind of has a cause or a placethey care deeply about and maybe I just don't know because I don't know past lore but the Lords of Fortune really is just like TREASURE GOOD. The most interesting quests were technically just as much Warden quests, the final Warden Treasure in Sharksmouth can FUCK OFF (I did it but UGH), and also I only hit my Excellent faction status by doing the Heart of Corruption quest in which I killed a dragon which feels kind of weird to me.

Emmrich/Necropolis/Mourn Watch: it pains me to say it as a person who loves the Mourn Watch conceptually but they used up literally all their juice on Emmrich's questline, which is a fucking banger start to finish, and the physical location of the Necropolis is fun although I did give up very early on some wisp puzzle that would unlock like 5 treasure chests and don't know if I care enough to go back; but like. The hauntings? what the fuck was that about Myrna and Vorgoth. "oh find a weird ghost SOMEWHERE ELSE" and the only other quest is "slay the worst undead dragon ever (this will be easier when you are level 50 and bring Lucanis and Emmrich and have fully gone Reaper, on level 30-ish this sumbitch will kill you twice on STORY MODE before you give up)" Like they put their WHOLE pussy into Hezenkoss's machinations and Emmrich's decision, A+ quest no notes, and then the faction quests are literally just like *cocks sword* thedas's haunted. you couldn't do ANYTHING that was like, actually in the Necropolis??? the fuck.

[papirouge]

Not here to debate with you about the ethics of abortion, but I don't think having a phobia of pregnancy is a moral failure. It's extremely harsh on your body and many women do suffer complications in childbirth. I don't know what pro lifers want people with pregnancy phobias to do. Like, do you guys want to forcibly impregnate them anyway to fulfill their WoManLy DuTiEs? Good luck making that work.

Besides, people who don't want kids shouldn't breed anyway.

There's a difference between a phobia and being straight up delusional and offensive.

To give you an example ; it's like people who have a phobia of sharks and say "their teeth are scary, I don't like their shape, their eyes, their wide mouth, etc" OK ✅

And those who are like : "sharks are disgusting creatures from hell and should all be killed" That's not ok, delusional and lowkey psychopathic.

Sorry but as a woman, i'm not going to let crazy self hating women mock and attack my biology out of their mental illness. That's not a phobia when you feel entitled to diss other humans being entire biology, with whom they were naturally born with. They're litterally calling innocent babies "sreeching gremlin" I DARE YOU to say that's not some sign of sociopathy.

And it wouldn't be so much annoying it it didn't came from the same crowd of so called "feminists" who pretend fighting for women to "love themselves in their natural state". Gurl, shut up, you HATE yourself and what your body can do. You'd rather mutilate yourself (while mocking TRA doing so to change gender) than life with a functioning reproductive system so much you're scare of getting pregnant. That's CRAZY and thats how bad as women removing their breast or moids cutting their peepees. I want people to start respecting their GOD GIVEN body for once and stop mutilating themselves over narcissism, fear, or "phobia".

At least redpiller moids have more legitimacy to mock women bodily functions because they don't have none, so they're not marking against their own side. It's crazy how on so many level redpiller moids are way more strategic, clever and cohesive in their train of thoughts compared to radfem. They hate women, and admit to only like *that part* for sex - but you'll NEVER.EVER hear them make fun of male biology like feminists do. Because they are way more protective of their gender rep than feminists are. Let that sink in.

And please, you guys need to stop with that borderline cumbrain creepy obsession with imagining people being out on the hunt to force preg women.... Beside rapists, NOBODY is forcing you to get pregnant. We are nobodies from the internet saying shit. The Handmaid's Tale is a BOOK. (I always found very ironic how the same radfem who made fun of Harry Potter stans are literally doing the same thing, making one (1) book storyline the fundamental basis of their world worldview - but I digress).

And no one is denying that pregnancy isn't hard on the body. By compelling people to have responsible and selective sex, pro lifers are more than anyone else conscious of how serious pregnancy is, and the toll it takes on the female body. However, maybe I would take a lil bit more your concern for complications related to pregnancy if pro choicers weren't constantly downplaying the health consequences of abortion and other (hormonal) birth control systems... It's funny how you'll act like pregnancy, a totally natural function our body was literally wired for, is violence against our body, but not....chemically or surgically violently halting a biological synchronicity to forcefully remove/expel body parts.... #abortionistmath

I feel like we're in a timeline where we're so far in the pendulum that went against the lalala glamorization of pregnancy (that's existed since a LOT of time tbh) that now it's trendy to HATE pregnancy, and pass it off as this traumatic almost torture experience that HAS to be avoided at any cost...

Me think many of you sound lowkey mentally ill (it's interesting you're talking about "phobia" because phobia are actual....illness that need to be cured lol That's not...a normal state of mind) and need to learn to be normal about pregnancy. I know I may sound harsh but I'm tired of grown adults getting offended over normal shit when they just need to see a psychologist lol

[essie007]

Wheel of Time Season 2 Thoughts

Now that the season is over and I’ve had a few days to process I thought I’d put some of my thoughts about the season. No major book spoilers but I do make mention to some of the changes they’ve made while adapting the first two books. I might make a more book spoilery post later.

-Overall I really enjoyed the season. I think it was well written, tight and delivered both storywise and character wise. The costuming, special effects and art direction continues to be top tier and I found the season highly watchable and compelling. I did not love absolutely every moment and decision and definitely have a few nitpicks but as a whole I really liked it. I will say that I think a lot of the issues I did have with the season can be boiled down to the limited amount of time they had to tell the story they needed to tell. I really think this show would benefit from at least 10 episodes and season if not more, and I know that’s an opinion many have echoed.

- I loved all the White Tower stuff in the first half of the season. It was a good set-up for tower politics, different factions, how The One Power works and it introduced us to a lot of important characters.

-Hi Elayne! I love you and you are perfect girl!

-Nyneave’s Tower story and block was A+

-I personally didn’t mind Siuan’s book scenes being given to Liandrin. I think it was necessary to tell the story they needed to tell in the time they needed to tell it. And I thought Liandrin’s whole story, the explanation of why she turned to the Black Ajah was interesting both to make her a more compelling villain and to set up the stakes of the universe. We need to be worried that our heroes will choose the dark at some point, and for that to be a real threat we need good reasons why other have. All of her scenes were great. Loved her scenes with Nyneave, Egwene and Lanfear. And her petty fighting with Suroth. *chef’s kiss*

-I’m just gonna say it ok? Are you ready? I LOVE show!Alanna. Book fans can give me the stink eye if they want, but as she’s been portrayed on screen so far she rocks. The actress is incredible and the writing has done an excellent job as setting her up as a genuine, moral, strong and honestly necessary pillar of light in the dark. You really feel she is fighting on the side of good with everything she has, no matter what it costs her. She’s also a genuinely good teacher in the Tower! The way she fights for the girls, and for Moiraine, and later for Rand. We love to see it. Her story in many ways mirrors Moraine’s. The show has done a very good job of making her a character that you are strongly empathizing with and rooting for. And honestly book knowledge has only made me feel that more strongly. Knowing how many darkfriends she is holding the line against, you FEEL how necessary and important the work she does is. And I am starting to understand how she, like Moiraine and Siuan this season, and Rand in the story to come, might start feeling weighed down by that. My girl fits right in with the themes of the story. Sorry not sorry. I am weak for MILFs.

-Egwene’s entire storyline this season kicked ass. I think she had, hands down, the best story arc from beginning to end. I have very little to say about it because it was all perfectly done. And when she killed Rena, instead of sparing her like you’re expecting, oh boy did I cheer.

-Rand’s storyline, if you knew who Lanfear was from the outset was fun all the way through. Though I have it on good authority from @steel-wings that if you went in blind, it was quite slow in the beginning. I do have to say that the introduction to Rand this season being “he’s sleeping with an innkeeper for room and board” was the funniest and best thing I have ever seen. Dana The Darkfired from last season continues to give. No honestly, this is genuine foreshadowing (Selene is also *gasp* a Darkfriend) and character work. They decided to show Rand’s declining mental state and self esteem by contrasting how willing he was to sugarbaby this season with how against it he was last season. 10/10 no notes.

-Rand is a Mental Health Worker! I’m going to cry! Yes I know he has reasons for doing this but watching Rand with that old man, knowing he’s been doing this job for almost a year. Excuse me I need a moment.

-The Lanfear reveal kicked ass. She is so crazy and so evil and so manipulative. Love to see it in a villain. The scene where she “learns” Rand can channel was honestly hilarious. Although this was the moment that @steel-wings lost her patience with the storyline.

Steelwings: Ugh. This is so boring. She’s just there for his manpain. I can’t watch any more of this. It would have been better if she was evil.

Me knowing my wife is at the end of her patience and is about to abandon this show I love but not knowing how long they’re planning to draw the reveal out, pausing the tv: Do you want me to spoil you?

Steelwings: Yes! Spoil me! PLEASE tell me she’s evil.

Me: She’s evil :D She’s the most evil bitch whose ever lived. She’s so evil and so crazy and so manipulative. She’s Oppenheimer if he worshipped the devil and *horrifying spoilers*

Steelwings settling back in to watch: Love that for her. 🙂

-Perrin’s storyline was the least ineteresting and slowest of the mains but with the rest of the show so jam packed it felt like a nice break in some ways to have some breathing room with Perrin. We’ve got Egwene being tortured by the Seanchan and Mat being tortured by the Forsaken and Rand being imprisoned by the Amyrlin. Meanwhile, Perrin has met a cute girl and a dog. Good for him.

-MAAAAT. MAT! My baby boy Mat Cauthon. You are having a no good very bad life huh? And it’s only season 2 *cries* I did love the way he turned the dagger into a spear there at the end and also…HE’S A HERO OF THE HORN! I thought that was a perfect choice. Really made sense with his storyline and character arc. It also gives them a really good plot excuse for him to suddenly know how to fight with his big stick. Mat’s “I remember” and his Old Tongue and his immediate military Glow Up. So good. So fun. I will be screaming forever.

-Speaking of screaming forever the Cauthor reunion had me screaming and crying and dying. I will never be the same. It was giving big stars fading (but i linger on) by @butterflydm vibes. If you haven’t read it, it’s a fic that also adapts The Great Hunt as season 2 by saying “what if Rand just hung around Carhein playing Sugar Baby and getting dicked down while everyone else hunted for the horn?” (It’s really good and you should read it.) Hey @butterflydm how does it feel to be so smart and correct all the time?

-I was expecting the Mat stabs Rand moment to be caused by Compulsion, not friendly fire. It would have given him a really good reason to go searching for something to protect him from the OP in the future. But I’m not mad. We got some top tier cradling out of it. Although this is the second time Ishy has pulled that move (the first was with Rand at the Eye). Boy is not an original thinker.

-I know a lot of people were sad that Rand did not get cool sword battles this season. And look, I get it, the books lean hard in to the cool power fantasy moments with Rand, so if that’s your thing and what you came for, this show probably is letting you down. But I gotta say, as someone who has always been here for the characters and themes and narrative, I LOVE what they did with the battle here. AND with Rand’s learning curve.

-I love that Rand knows exactly one weave at this point, and that that weave is “make knife.” I LOVE that Lan is the one who taught it to him. (Miss me with your Lan hate.) I love that the first thing he did with it wasn’t fight an enemy but free Moiraine from her bonds, heal her, even though he’s not a healer. A knife is a tool and you can use it to heal or to fight. Just as Ryma used her healing weaves to rip Damane bodies apart, Rand uses his knife weaves to “heal.” I love that the second thing he uses that weave for IS to destroy Turak’s fighting force. I did not at all feel I had been robbed of a sword fight. I cheered! Excellent little Indiana Jones moment, right there. Rand WAS badass. And most of all I love that he wasn’t able to to defeat Ishmael on his own, that he needed Egwene and Perrin and Mat and Moiraine and Elayne and Nyneave. Like that’s the point! Lanfear is running around the city trying to dump the other Forsaken in the ocean. Ishmael is standing on that tower alone and betrayed with no allies. But Rand has friends! He has people who come to help him! And that is why he wins. That’s whole point. Hello theme of friendship and connection, I love you, never go anywhere.

-Also Moiraine being like I would kill thousands of people to help Rand made me snort and go “Ok Mom.” Yeah yeah scorched earth morality. Ruthlessness. She is on a mission to save the world even if she has to destroy the world in the process. But also Moiraine IS that meme from Parks and Rec. She has only had Rand Al’Thor for a year but if anything happens to him she will kill everyone in this room and then herself. Now fly the Dragon Banner.

-All that being said, there was one storyline this season that really did not hit for me, and I am sorry to say it was the Siuan Sanche of it all. I have spent a lot of time turning that episode over in my head and I still haven’t put all my thoughts together but ultimately I will say this. Yes, if you were expecting Siuan from the books her actions were definitely character assassination. She makes the exact opposite choices in the show. However, I understand why, both narratively and time wise those changes were made so I’m going to do my best to react to the story they told and the character they wrote, not the one I was expecting. The real problem I think with the story they told is that they didn’t give us enough time in Siuan’s POV and with Siuan’s story to really truly empathize with the decisions she’s making. We spend the episode in Rand and Moiraine’s POVs and honestly I think that’s a big mistake, because we don’t learn any new information about either of them. But in order for that moment at the end with Moiraine to truly be heartbreaking, in order for us to really understand why she’s imprisoning Rand at all we need to see her struggles and her fears and her beliefs. I talked earlier about how they do a good job showing what Alanna and Moiraine are up against but they needed to give us that with Siuan. We’re told she has enemies in the tower, we’re told she’s been depending on Moiraine and Rand to be the ace up her sleeve in the last battle, but we don’t see the emotional toll of that. And at the end there I think the writing needed to make it perfectly crystal clear that Siuan believes that Moiraine is black ajah. A casual viewer should understand and feel for Siuan who is doing this terrible thing because she believes she is saving the world, saving Rand, from a Forsaken and a darkfriend who has lied to her and betrayed her. But it's just not there. I understand that this plot point and this story serves a narrative purpose. It sets up Rand's relationship with the White Tower and the Aes Sedai as a whole. It draws a thematic parallel between the three Oaths and the Seanchan oaths and damane system. It brings up the theme of how power corrupts, how even good people who are doing their best to help the many, can use their power to do horrifying things when they believe it is necessary. But I think it still needed more set up and more character development and more room to breathe. I have…a lot more to say on the subject but I might need to make it it’s own post. I definitely think the writers have set themselves up for a headache when it comes to next season but that’s spoilers so I’ll end this here.

[lorillee]

ok yakuza 4 thoughts time............ as always it's gonna be egregiously unorganized and mostly sorted by things i remember first

ok well for starters the ost was reallyyyyyyyyyyyyy good this game. Like not to say it was bad for the others but some of the tracks really stood out really quite enjoyed. if im honest

the plot i think was a lot more tightly woven this time which i really really liked - like because youd think with four different protagonists the level of convolution and largely pointless rug pulling ive grown accustomed to at this point would worsen but in actuality it. seriously improved. Like a whole lot

like at this point im convinced the biggest struggle with past few plots is that the writers are given a length for the storyline they need to meet but the actual plot does not have the bandwidth to sustain a story that long, so they stretch it out by introducing a whole lot of loose strands and "omg THIS was the mastermind behind it all.... no actually it was THAT GUY............ But Wait: There's More" types of events.

that being said by having to split the plot amongst four different guys they didnt have to stretch things out because . well when youre dealing with four concurrent storylines it stretches out quite naturally on its own

as always there were some things i wish had gotten a little more time to get fleshed out - daigos entire situation definitely couldve benefited from some more screentime i think in both clarifying what was going on and fleshing out why he felt the need to take such drastic measures. but daigo usually gets the short end of the stick so its not particularly new but still disappointing. to all the people who want a daigo gaiden. i understand you. i agree even. hope sega gets on that sometime

well we'll just go about this in a somewhat orderly fashion i guess. first off we're gonna talk about tanimura Mostly because i dont have that much to say on him

hes like. Ok i guess. one thing that pissed me off kind of was how everybody was like omg....... Hes like the one true honest cop............................. <- When like the first thing we learn about him is that he runs around exploiting criminals for money so that he wont report them. And also beating people up who tell on him to his boss. like i guess in comparison to the crap everybody else in this department is pulling its pretty small potatoes but like also Well i wouldnt go as far as to say hes a particualrly upstanding member of society

but whatever. his plot was pretty solid though i dont really have many complaints. the buildup slotted nicely into everybody else's ongoing storylines, his final boss made sense for his character arc and was someone he had a tangible and relevant connection to, both in-story and like narratively speaking

i dont hate him as much as i did when he was first introduced but id be fine if we never saw him again. That being said i know we do but like again im not particularly disappointed by that fact. currently my opinion on him is Deeply Neutral.

sooooooooooo lets talk about some guy who my opinion on is NOT Deeply Neutral!

its kind of insanely funny they dont even attempt to explain where akiyama gets his money from after the initial millennium tower explosion incident and im deeply obsessed with it. i hope they never change this.

akiyama is like. an egregiously fun character i actually quite like him. honestly i think in another universe where majima didnt exist he very well mightve ended up as my favorite character. his relationship with hana is also insanely funny and i really hope we get to see more of them in the next game

that being said his relationship with yasuko is like deeply underdeveloped and does not particularly compel me at all. as is the case with most of these sorts of things they throw the romance in there with the expectation that the audience will just go "Oh theyre in love. Woaw!" <- and then automatically be invested. But like sorry i kindaaaaaaaa dgaf. they will literally never make another majimako honestly if/when i replay y0 after getting thru the rest of the games in this series i very well may end up making a long and detailed post about why i think their relationship works and why the other pairings this series keeps dumping on me do not compel me even in the slightest. But this is a post for a later time.

i do wish they had done more in terms of giving him and arai more of like a reason to fight at the end. like because obviously its important that yasuko plays a siginficant role in his plot because she and saejima and their relationship is a major part of the centerpiece holding this game together so of course you cant cut her relevancy out of akiyama's storyline, but the romance was insanely weak and Okay because this is the issue. maybe this is just a me thing but i frankly wouldve found the relationship to be a lot more compelling if there were no romantic feelings involved.

like in the sense that i feel like their connection is stronger if akiyama doesnt really have anything to get out of it i guess? im trying to figure out how to word this idrk. of course also the romance was so borderline irrelevant its not like cutting it makes a difference time wise i just think it shouldve happened. LOL

anywyas back on track i wish they had done more with arai and akiyama's relationship even if it was just making them more like foils or something. feel like we couldve put a little more effort into that. Or alternatively made his opponent kido because that is a relationship we spent a lot more time developing on screen

aaaaaand of course what would a yakuza game be without kiryu. honestly though he's more incidentally relevant to the plot than a particularly relevant driving factor - his storyline is mostly just used to tie together everybody else's so theres not too much to say

Again this kind of goes back to the daigo issue - i wish they had spent a bit of kiryu's storyline on doing something with that bc i feel like it wouldve made both of them. feel more relevant LOL

like we dont really feel the tojo clan struggling as badly as daigo clearly seems to think it is and i think it kind of does a disservice to making his stake in this feel . well again actually relevant. which again is kind of a shame

i also said it during the liveblog but im actually like still obsessed with haruka literally not caring even the slightest bit about whatever was going on with the file and the millennium tower melodrama because she just wants kiryu to stay away from the tojo because every time he goes back to deal with some issue he literally always almost dies. crazy about it even

okieeeeeeeeeeee Lets Discuss: The Saejimas

i know i already made that joke about it in the liveblog but genuinely insanely funny to make saejima and majima worlds worst hitmen. like jaw droppingly funny You guys are so bad at this. truly brothers in arms

and on a more serious note im actually like. well honestly im crazy person insane about them making YASUKO be the one with an actual on screen bodycount because like. ok we've gone thru these games together and also presumably have watched at least a few of the same things if youre here. They dont like letting women kill and especially not in a setting as male-dominated as the literal yakuza

like because theres the ever present underlying kind of idea that women dont really belong in organized crime because theyre inherently purer or whatever and its like treated as a woman playing around in a man's world which she doesnt really understand and certainly doesnt belong in. like basically whatever was going on with sayama

HOWEVER. to have the reveal that saejima's (whose entire like reputation and legend is founded on the hit) hands are actually clean and YASUKO is the one whos personally offed multiple guys........... CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZYYYY?!??!?!!? IM CRAZY ABOUT IT?!?!?!?!?! AND HOW WE GET TO SEE HER PERSONALLY KILL THAT GUY ON SCREEN AFTER SAEJIMA REFUSES...... HELLOOOOOOOOOO!?!!??!?!!!!?!?!? BOOOOOOOOOONKERS. IM OBSESSED . THANK YOU?!??!?!!?! THAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUU

additionally i love her insane codependent relationship with saejima and it like actively kills me we didnt get to see them interact more on screen. LIKE HELLO??????????????????? sooooooooooooooooooooooo so good. additionally i also insanely appreciate how deeply irrelevant her romance subplot with akiyama was at the end of her story <- I will never forget whatever was going on at the end of kiwami 2.Ever

this all being said lowkey i do wish they had pushed her death to the climax of the story id have to actually sit down and think about how to work that but i feel like it wouldnt be that hard. like i understand why they set it up the way it did but i feel like because she dies before the climax it makes the climax itself feel a little disjointed i guess. i dont know

and you already KNOWWWWWWWWWWW i mean ok if u scrolled through my liveblog even alittle bit u already know saejima and majimas relationship and interactions made me start seeing devils. additionally while i know that he's not a main character in this story and as a result they needed to put him into prison so that he would stay out of the final battle lowkey pisses me off he didnt even get to go to the little mini memorial they had for yasuko. but whatever (kicks rocks

^like i understand why plot-wise this could not have happened. But like well i would have liked . to see it

anwyays i think thats all for now? I dont know maybe ill have something else to say later but in conclusion definitely my favorite yakuza game so far after 0. i i think for me the ranking currently stands y0 <- y5 <- k1 <- y3 <- k2(Not including majima storyline)

^problem with ranking k2 is that i love the majima story so much it makes me want to start attacking people in the streets But also like i cant in good faith rank it on its own. but this is neither here nor there

[baqisnotdead]

have u ever seen the music video for "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard?

^one of the most useless questions on tumblr dot com

ok anyway i was compelled tonight to rewatch this song's music video not only cuz it slaps, but i remember watching it with my sister some years ago and us being baffled about what this music video means

source:

re-familiarize yourself with this barely-sensical emo pop rock cinematic classic and you'll understand my confusion. so...it's a time loop concept. big deal. maybe it doesn't have to make sense and it's just interesting enough on its own to provide a lossely-cohesive storyline carried along by concept rather than by narrative?

and yes that could very much be it, but i was struck with some revelatory thoughts upon my own viewing of it tonight. i won't clog your dash but if you wanna dive in with me, i too have nothing better to do this tuesday night <3

so we all know the art of The Music Video is a pendulum that swings wildly in dozens of directions across several decades -- a music vid making little to no sense isn't the end of the world. sometimes the lyrics don't match what's on the screen at all and life goes on. however, i think i was wrong to assume that of this song and its video. now i don't mean i expected the song's lyrics to be literal; about "green cars" and "women running me over" and "goddamn sidewalk nuns again" but i think that all has a purpose for being in the video, regardless

just as lyrics can contain abstract meaning, music videos can help convey that visually as well. i think this time loop "gag" and the accompanying microgags within them in perpetuity is plenty entertaining, and that's clearly one angle in all of this, and that's great! the worst thing a music video can do is bore you. but i think the implied goofiness or high-concept-ness of it all can lead a viewer to not look as closely into the implied themes of it all. yes, it's great to follow in the storyline-not-storyline kinda way, but drawing critical thematic statements from a man parkouring over a shopping kart full of garbage? that's too fuckin far

except it's not! because like i said: it's all in there for a purpose. just breaking down what we see sequentially, all of it feels disjointed until the time loop clicks after the first chorus. only then, over a third of the way into the song, are we able to start piecing things together. with this, the theme of "cycles/something cyclical" is established. what's this cycle of? what's the intended outcome and how do we get there?

once a loop is established in any story, what's most interesting about it is what changes, and not what actually "loops." upon first run, barreling through Sidewalk Nunz, ragdolling over a shopping kart of trash, we see him pitifully miss the goal: a green muscle car of mysterious rock n roll origin. we loop and we're back on our feet. this time: side spin around the nuns, PARKOUR over the homeless -- that'll show them!! -- and we're a bit ahead of the curve as our hero is mowed down in his emo prime (electric violin continues)

but then it's bridge time! and that means: story development! inside what looks to be the nicest apartment in Newark NJ, a brief case and glasses fit for an eye surgery patient are seen. an attractively lesbionage agent takes them both and attempts to leave. the chase ensues once more, and the nuns are skillfully woven through, the vagabond is High Fived TM respectfully, and the hero successfully intercepts and boards the green muscle car, end of song

so...what's it all mean? well here's my take: it's all about the cyclical nature of self-improvement within the context of partnership. first off, this is supported at least somewhat by the lyrics. everything is very hypothetical and expressing desire for things like nostalgia, a better future, etc. "If I could find you now, things would get better" it's a bittersweet theme that desires for the past and the future, but not the present. typically, times of change or adjustment are what these desires and emotions manifest from. an unsteady or unpleasant "now" could be/would be/should be made better by remembering a better past, or wanting a better future. sadly, one of those things we can never get back, and the other only comes when work is done and change is made.

that's when i was reminded of what changes, literally, within the music video! as we know, time loops exist to be solved and escaped -- see "Groundhogs Day" or "Palm Springs" -- which is the thematic metaphor for what feels like an endless cycle of uncertainty during significant life changes and relationships. within a romantic/relationship context, i view our hero's cyclical journey as a test, some trials he has to figure out the best way to navigate to get to his intended goal. what ways work, which ways don’t? i think this says a lot about the deeper themes being discussed

in a basic sense, the street nuns and the shopping kart are problems or obstacles the hero is facing. since they're metaphorical and intended to have meaning to many viewers, what they are literally is up to you! one obstacle could be handling commitment, it could be with addiction (which can be cyclical as well), the list goes on. but what matters is not what the problems "are," but how the hero gets through them. we know the first attempt was messy and with complete disregard. trying to mosh pit through the nuns only slowed him down, and body slamming the kart looked ineffective at best. clearly, we are being told "You cannot strong arm your way through your problems."

Take 2: my guy jukes out the nuns and gets major air over the kart. while we're meant to think it's effective, clearly all was for nought. the lesson here: "You cannot simply avoid or completely skip over the problems like they don't need to be dealt with." the result of this path being the hero getting what he thought he wanted, only to be hoisted by his own green muscle car about to run him over.

as the final attempt begins, we're given important context that is the driving motivation for our hero. while the woman and the briefcase could be ambiguous in literal meaning as well, they represent loss/the threat of losing something or someone important if our hero can't break the cycle. this happens all too often to real people caught in cycles or constantly-shifting times in life, so the hero's desperation makes sense. but then, after artfully weaving peacefully through the nuns and scoring some Good Person Clout, the hero achieves his goal

the final lesson clearly being: work through the hard stuff. don't brute force it, don't dodge it. make mistakes and learn. learn that it's ok to have hope and want better things for yourself in the future. you might be afraid of losing something important to you along the way, but you can still get better and get things right as long as you keep moving through them.

and i dunno...i think that was a really cool and uplifting message to this song and this music video that i have no idea is there or not intentionally on the part of Yellowcard, but we all know that's not the point of art and music lmao. i found this cool meaning in this cool song/video and i hope you did too! k that's all go to bed

[three--rings]

4 Minutes ep6

This show is so infuriating but also I enjoy that feeling? The specific way it is infuriating?

Like I do NOT understand what is going on with Tonkla's storyline now. Like, is there a Tonkla and Detective storyline where his brother lives? IDK.

But okay after the credits we're in the No Powers universe where that woman died, so not the primary one we've been in before. This is super interesting to me.

Wait, so that breakup was RECENT recent.

See, like all of this is characterization for Great that we really could have used. Cause as it was, he was mostly confused for like three episodes.

Akira!!!

ON THE FUCKING POOL TABLE??

I do find it really interesting that I've been thinking that this scene of them was really intimate and loving looking and yet uh, here we are. So IDK what that says. In particular Jes seems to be acting something profound during it. Bible is more in line with where you'd imagine his character is.

I like they show Tyme hesitating about the exposure.

Is it wrong of me to say I find these characters, their Prime versions, if you will, far more compelling? Because they're worse people, honestly. The magic timeline versions just don't have the edge and bite they should.

Ok I DEFINITELY like this version better. Great has SO much more personality here.

Okay Wei Wuxian, chill out on the dogs.

Ok I really didn't need to see the whole Great Great Great Great scene again in its entirety. It was just last ep.

In the elevator YES!

Okay okay okay but look, that means that it's very possible/likely that THIS is the real timeline which means I personally AM WINNING because we have a fucked up version of the romance in the Real World.

And the ideal timeline, while okay it's nice that Dome and Nani lived and stuff, but it's all in Great's head while he's near death and that explains literally everything.

I am SEATED for the final two episodes.

[brielarsonist]

Why do you dislike the marvels?

ok so I talked about this already kinda in this ask and this ask and I know I'm going to repeat some of what I've said in those in my response to this. but also there are actually many many things I dislike about this movie, and I don't think it's even possible for me to sum it all up in any one ask, and there will definitely be things I'm forgetting, but I will do my best...

but first!! I know a lot of fans enjoyed the movie and had fun with it, and I'm glad they liked it! I didn't want to talk about how I disliked it at first, because I just didn't want to put my negative thoughts out there about a movie that was going to receive so much criticism even if it had been perfect. but I personally just feel like I did not experience the same movie as everyone who enjoyed it so much, and I really wish I felt the same way as them, but I don't think I will ever fully enjoy this movie.

so continuing on to the rest of my thoughts under the cut...

like I talked about in that first ask I linked, this just did not feel like an actual sequel to the first captain marvel movie. to me it felt more like a movie that should have come after at least two captain marvel solo movies, so that more of what was set up in the first movie had time to be addressed. and, personally, I just don't think there was ever any way that this movie could possibly have time to balance all three leads in a way that was fulfilling for any of their storylines.

but focusing on it just as a sequel to the first captain marvel, I personally think it failed. tonally, it completely shifted. like the anon pointed out in the first ask I linked, it became much more family friendly, taking away from the seriousness of everything carol went through in the first movie. when they did address any of carol's trauma or past experiences, it was incredibly brief. and everything that had been set up in the first movie was merely glossed over, or just ignored completely. carol's story has decades of blank space in the mcu, and this movie refused to do anything but scratch the surface of what she's been up to. the conflict of the movie revolved around solving an issue that should have been its own movie entirely, not something summed up in a few sentences before moving on.

it was also disappointing that instead of getting to see carol finally at the height of her powers for more than a few minutes, this movie chose to once again hinder her. the swapping was, in my opinion, very annoying. it served as a tool to make sure carol, monica, and kamala all had to interact, but it felt more like uninspired writing to me. and there were inconsistencies in how the swapping worked (sometimes it swapped just the two women using their powers, sometimes one would use their powers and swap with both of them, sometimes they swapped in their own clothes but then conveniently kamala swapped into a space suit) which just made some of the sequences painful to watch, in my opinion. I think there could have been more compelling ways to get the three of them to work together, rather than a contrived swap that didn't really make any sense or even have much pay off in the fight scenes.

and forcing the idea that carol was "finally working with a team" just did not land with me, since we have only seen her working with other people in her mcu appearances so far. if they wanted this idea to make any sense, they could have done so by actually taking the time to show her working alone in a proper sequel.

and I also personally just did not like any of the scenes on the space station with nick fury's crew and the flerkittens. I think they did nothing for the story. the flerkittens were very gimmicky and seemed like a ploy to sell merch, except there was hardly any merch of them available. so it was a waste of screen time in a movie that was already lacking on adequate screen time for its characters.

basically I generally just thought the movie was poorly edited, poorly written, incredibly choppy and way too fast-paced (I felt like I had whiplash from how fast some of the scenes transitioned), and tried to take on too many things in the runtime it had. I think the actors all did great, but in general I think it's one of the mcu's worst movies and another victim of their decline in storytelling quality.

and also I didn't like how it this movie was generally handled by the studio??

when it was announced that this movie would be a team up, I thought it was sus of the mcu/disney to not make the captain marvel sequel a solo film before doing a team up, because how often have they done that in the sequels for their male superheroes (not including avengers team up movies)? I think the only other one was ant-man and the wasp, but most of the main male avengers had plenty of their own sequels. so why does the first sequel to a female-led movie have three leads in the shortest mcu movie so far?

I think this particularly goes along with how the mcu has been introducing as many heroes as possible in as little time as possible, and this movie felt like another way for them to do as much as possible without taking the necessary time to prioritize character or plot. the mcu is certainly consistent in choosing quantity over quality whenever it can. but with the marvels in particular, it seemed like marvel/disney wanted to impress people with the cover of a girl power team up, when they're just cramming as many female leads into one film to more or less avoid having to make actual sequels for each of the characters, essentially killing two (in this case, three) birds with one stone.

and speaking of killing!! the fact that they did actually film a death scene for carol danvers I think could say a lot about what they might have wanted to achieve with this film. from the way carol has been handled in the mcu so far, it feels like the executive powers that be either wanted to get rid of brie larson as carol danvers by killing her character off, or by having the movie flop, essentially doing their dirty work for them. this may be me being a crazy conspiracy theorist fan, but I'm not convinced the studio actually wanted this movie to succeed.

first of all, the marketing felt lacking. remember when the marvels happy meal toys were at mcdonald's? it was over the summer, when the movie wasn't coming out until november. what good was that as a marketing tactic when you can't even go see the movie that's being advertised right in front of you? if you have to wait literal months to go see the movie being advertised to you, chances are that most people are simply not going to remember. I know the movie was originally slated to come out in july, but I don't entirely believe disney doesn't have the ability to push the release of something like happy meal toys if they really wanted to properly promote the movie.

and also in general, there was so little merchandise for this movie. the first captain marvel movie had so many toys for little kids and cool merch for adults to collect. but this movie had basically zero presence in toy aisles or in more high-end collectibles, like hot toys sixth scale figures and such. there's so much merchandise for marvel/disney movies, but not for this movie? why make this movie much more family oriented than the first one and not make any toys? no dolls for carol or monica or kamala? no flerkitten plushies? for a franchise that pushes so much merch, I don't get why there was so little for this movie.

and also they decided to release the movie in the middle of a strike that would not allow the actors to promote the movie. movies like dune: part two, which had been originally set to release around the same time as the marvels, had its release pushed back due to the strike, and the movie then got to be properly promoted by the cast in the last few months, which helped create buzz. but disney, despite having already pushed the release of the marvels multiple times, chose not to follow suite in the wake of the strike. so there was mandatory radio silence from the actors during the crucial time of promoting the movie.

anyway, with the lack of proper merchandising and promo, it didn't seem like the studio cared about letting this movie actually succeed. and that, coupled with the fact that carol's story was basically sidelined in this movie and that they literally filmed her death scene, I think just sums up what they really wanted this movie to achieve: no more captain marvel movies.

and now that the movie flopped, there are rumors that another captain marvel movie will not be pursued. after the lack of adequate promotion and plans to kill off captain marvel, it doesn't shock me that the studios would smother any potential captain marvel sequels and blame it on a box office flop, despite her first movie making a billion US dollars.

to me, it felt like the studios are giving in to all the meaningless, sexist hate that brie larson and captain marvel get from the incel "fans" that constantly hate her for no reason other than their own bigotry. in reality, carol danvers as a character truly resonated with so many people, but the studios seem content with sidelining and/or killing her off. it seems like too much of a coincidence that she gets so much unwarranted hate online and now the studios are treating her character this way. disney thinks they can formulate a movie that will please everyone, but who are they actually trying to please by minimizing captain marvel in the mcu?

hopefully I'm wrong about how the studio feels about captain marvel's future in the mcu, but I just do not feel optimistic at all about it after this movie.

so after all of my complaints, I realize I might be asking too much from a fucking marvel superhero movie, since they're not generally known for their excellent treatment of plot and characters. if you pay too much attention to a marvel movie, you will most certainly not be rewarded in its sequels, as they seem to like to punish the fans who care about consistency. but all the same, I still love carol danvers as a character, and despite everything, I hope she gets better treatment in the future.

[unfilteredflare]

Major Persona 3 rant below:

I'm such a HUGE persona fan. And the thing is, Persona 5 has the best game mechanics, UI, and polish cuz it's the newest 1. But Persona 3 has always had the best story and characters BY FAR. The only thing working against it was the mechanics were outdated and unnecessarily difficult at times so plenty of people never gave it a try. So a persona 3 with an updated UI? I would kill for that. My wish has come true and I'm literally vibrating with excitement cuz of my adhd

Persona 3 Reload has the chance to become the best persona game ever made. And I'm fucking LOSING IT

I HIGHLY recommend Persona 3 Reload when it comes out next year. I know I have high expectations and could end up severely disappointed. But I feel like it's gonna be hard to mess it up? Like, yeah they have to update a lot of the stuff so I'm not too picky about certain mechanics. Just so long as the characters and story are faithful to the original, then I will be happy. Bare minimum: keep the story and characters the same and it will be an excellent game. Best possible option: they combine the better writing and FEMC from the psp rerelease with the epilogue they added into the FES rerelease to great the best version of the game

Persona 3 had 2 rereleases with addition content. First they had the version called FES which added in content called The Answer, which was a 60+ hour playable epilogue. Then they did a different version called Portable with the additional content being called FEMC, which involved a lot of rewriting of scenes in the base game. People have been debating which of those 2 versions is superior. FEMC or The Answer. I was always firmly in the opinion of the The Answer being better. Until recently when someone I follow on Tumblr made a very compelling argument for why FEMC is better. So I've been a little conflicted over which is my favorite. So the remake could just be the original base game, or they could add either or both of the extra content. Whichever way it goes will still be good. But I'm praying for them to add both The Answer and FEMC to make the ultimate best version of the game.

OH OOOOOOOHHHH

OOOOH MY GOOOOOOOOD

I JUST REALIZED

THEY COULD FUCKING

THEY HAVE THE OPTION

I don't know how to describe it. But they could finally FINALLY finish Elizabeth's storyline!!!!!!!!! I've spent the last 15 YEARS WAITING FOR ELIZABETH!!!!!

SO LIKE. OK. All the persona games r linked together. They r all canon but the characters from different games never interact or learn about the events of previous games so each one is very standalone. But there r call backs and references to previous games. The Velvet Room and it's master Igor r in every game. He never talks about the previous games but he is always there and very important. He also always has an assistant helping him. His assistant changes in every game. Elizabeth in P3, Theo in P3FES, Margaret in P4, Marie in P4Golden, twins Caroline and Justine in P5. P1 and P2 had unnamed and unimportant assistants. The assistants also reference each other cuz they r all family. So starting in P4, u meet Margaret and she mentions in passing about how she is taking over for her sister who went missing. Elizabeth went missing???? What is this new plotline???? Then Atlus made several spin-off games that were slight sequels to the base games. Like, Persona 4 Arena was a fighting-style spin-off that shows us what the characters r up to after the events of P4. Well, Elizabeth from P3 showed up as a playable character in Arena. And we learned about why she went missing. She has left on a quest of her own. To fix something that happened in P3. And her storyline in that game ends with this implication that what she is trying to achieve MIGHT be possible. That there is an end destination for this quest of hers. So when Persona 5 was first announced, lots of fans were excited and speculating on what the new developments would be in Elizabeth's story. Will she achieve her dream? Will she discover something that makes her goal completely impossible and tragic? We don't know.

No new games have mentioned Elizabeth's plotline AT ALL. Not fucking P5 or P5Royal or Dancing Star/Moon, or PQ or PQ2 or P5Stikers. NOTHING. FUCKING NO UPDATES AT ALL. Let me tell u, the fandom, and me in particular, is really pissed off about it. I NEED to know if she succeeds. So yeah. It just occurred to me that they could use the remake as a way to add an epilogue that finally FINALLY FINALLY addresses Elizabeth's quest. I'm all hyped up again. I calmed down for a bit but now I'm excited ALL OVER AGAIN. I will be SOOOOOO disappointed if they don't fucking mention it AT ALL

Ok. Fuck. Now that I really think about it. Her whole quest is about her trying to change something that happened at the end of the game. So I don't want to spoil it and am trying to be as vague as possible. There is a new direction they could take this game. And that is Time travel. Like, Elizabeth going back to the beginning and this whole remake could be the new timeline she is establishing so she could change the 1 thing. So most stuff would be the same but a major story plot point would be different. And it's not that wild of a theory either cuz Persona 2 established Time travel as a Thing. The whole plot of P2 revolved around time travel so it's completely possible. And now I'm really conflicted. Cuz I would love this to be an update on Elizabeth. But I would also like this to be a faithful retelling of the same story. Idk which way it's gonna go now

Tl:dr

Persona 3 Reload could go in so many directions. It could contain, in any combination, the base game, The Answer from FES, FEMC from Portable, and Elizabeth's post canon storyline. And I don't know which version I would be most excited for

Also I guess they announced a new Persona 5 game. But like, who cares

[angelfirstclass]

X-men 97: My favorite version of the X-men so far

X-men 97 is one of the best Marvel cartoons of all time and certainly my favorite version of a X-men project ever. That is saying a lot since there is the Animated Series, all the movies, X Men Evolution, Wolverine and the X-men and etc., but I stand by it. It is a deep, well written show that speaks to complex, real world issues of racism, gender politics, apartheid and genocide, and etc.

The storyline was rushed, but well written and interesting and the characters were captivating and fleshed out. I enjoy reading the comics, but for someone who likes to see and hear characters I love cartoons and live action movies. They make it seem more real for me. Hearing an accent or seeing an outfit or fight scene in real time makes things more real for me.

Firstly, the story was about mostly adults and not just about the Mansion as a school. When the focus is on the Institute as a school, it makes things juvenile and centered on teenage mutants and their problems. This might appeal to younger audiences, but I'm 37 so it doesn't for me and I also think adult issues are more interesting in general. In X-men 97, there are young people in the show like Roberto and Jubilee, but they aren't the main focus. This show hit hard immediately dealing with hate groups, race wars, and racial unrest. There was no pussyfooting around with high school problems and teen angst.

The problems that the X-men are dealing with are real and serious. Immediately, we see a hate group out to get mutants with sentinel technology. Even if you are unfamiliar with the comics or TAS you know that's bad and reminiscent of hate groups in the real world. Even the first time time you "see" Magneto, it's a simulation, but it's serious and speaking of being nature's favored children and of mutant-human coexistence which is what the show is all about. That topic alone is a big, complex heady one and that's why I love X-men 97. It pulls no punches, it starts off with big stakes for its characters and holds to that standard until the end.

Secondly, the characters are well written and funny. I read somewhere that the humor in X-men 97 is character driven and I agree. Morph is hilarious and it's not just self referential humor, but one based on knowing personality traits and etc. Teasing Scott will never not get old and Gambit throws in some good one liners. Also, Beast and his nerdiness is hilarious! The writers know how to balance humor with the dark or serious topics they write about without crossing a line or becoming corny.

Thirdly, the storyline is compelling and relatable. My only complaint being that the story was rushed a bit and I wanted more episodes instead of less, the story arc was very interesting. I loved Magneto's storyline of trying to redeem himself, the love triangle between Magneto-Rogue-Gambit, the Jean/Scott/Nathan/Madelyn storyline, Gambit's death, Genosha, and Bastion were all very fascinating. The whole series was tied up by explaining that Bastion was working with all the bad guys the whole time trying to undermine and disable mutants. Even knowing that the finale was three parts, I was left shocked and confused and surprised at what happened in them.

Finally, I love the complex and gray way that the writers handled topics and the very concept of right and wrong. I was very confused and conflicted at points of this show, but looking back I think that was very healthy for me. Life is often complex and gray and this series made me think a lot about oppression, human nature, revenge, and redemption. It often brought up more questions than answers, but I think that's ok too.

In conclusion, I loved X-men 97 and think it was a fantastically written show and will stand the test of time for well written cartoon series. It's up there with Batman TAS and Transformers. It made me think, feel, cry, and laugh and at the end of the day it was a cartoon about mutants. I never thought it would be this good when I heard about it, but it was, it really was.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, April 22 - Tuesday, April 23, Part II

[Fandom Discussions]

The episode “Family” is rather jarring in terms of how the other Scoobies regard Tara by nicnacsnonsense

Does cousin Beth also think she’s a demon? by nicnacsnonsense

I noticed how almost every female love interest dies in btvs. by finalgirl1984

my take on angel gender is that he doesn’t necessarily enjoy masculinity but i do think he needs it by justafriendofxanders

ok i’m dying to know what ur realism gripe is about the body by blipblepbloop

rileys whole deal in season 5 is so annoying by mag200

Went back to rewatch Revelations yet again by coraniaid

I think my favorite aspect of Faith’s character is just how good she is at reading people by breezybeej

there was a part of Darla that was convinced that by making Angel fixated on her by suncaptor

Darla is so much by suncaptor

Embracing the magic and complexity of my favorite powerful witches in the Buffyverse! by mysticwitc

the prophecy by Taylor Swift is so Buffy summers coded and here’s why: by

IMO Xander’s most unbearable quality is his thinking he has a good sense of humor by lierdumoa

who else has ever been personally victimized by season five episode sixteen of buffy the vampire slayer The Body. by joe-spookyy

God, I remembered Riley telling Xander that Buffy didn’t love him by nicnacsnonsense

The First by elysianholly

Why don't the Scoobies face serious consequences after contributing to kicking Buffy out by ILLYRIAN

Why do people try to retcon Buffy's love confession to Spike by Multiple Authors

First time watcher, Season 4 is honestly pretty “meh” so far by Ok-Connection4917

showing angel to my husband for the first time by cascadingtundra

MVP of each season but with a caveat! by mbene913

not sure if this has been posted before but if not… by Certain_Advantage799

found another good one by Certain_Advantage799

https://buffy-reddit-feed.dreamwidth.org/11713559.html by TheAncientSun

Did The Mayor see the Deputy Mayor Finch as a son like how he saw Faith as his daughter? by jdpm1991

Thoughts On Season 1 ? by Cailly_Brard7

In Defense of Xander by No-Reflection2897

Thoughts On Season 4 ? by Cailly_Brard7

Thoughts On Season 7 ? by Cailly_Brard7

Was it explained how Angel didn’t remember meeting the Beast but Angelus did? by hthbellhop76

Rant about your least favorite character here by Slayerette444

What was the original plan for season 7? by MaterialBuilder8414

How come all vampires and monsters know kung fu? by BigDongForever

What I disliked the most about S7 was so many episodes with the house cluttered with Vampire Slayers by koken_halliwell

Does anyone else find it weird how ''absent'' Joyce is as a mother? by Financial_Sherbet303

Wrecked (S6Ep10) and my sobriety. by animaldrowning

Change in werewolf design by Opening-Mark-7306

What scene or line was supposed to be cool but wasn't? by brwitch

Spike Chip Theory by GreenJimmy96

Crunching sound when vampires bite human by Typical-Owl9521

Thoughts On Season 2 by Cailly_Brard7

Thoughts On Season 3 by Cailly_Brard7

Thoughts On Season 5 by Cailly_Brard7

Thoughts On Season 6 by Cailly_Brard7

Did the first actually resurrect Angel? by illvria

Something that’s canon but it’s so stupid you gaslight yourself into thinking it’s not by notlikethecollege

What would make Adam a more compelling villian? by clmrogersNew

What are some scenes, quotes, storylines, or anything in general in the Buffyverse that you're still puzzled by to this very day? by PristineSituation498

Which line punctuated by a "bitch" always stood out to you? by InfiniteMehdiLove

Dead Things is the most difficult to watch by Ok-Isopod1172

Season 2 ep 21 - Drusilla's confession by coldbloodedjelydonut

Xander and Cordelia by Slayerette444

“You have a father’s love for the child” by DanTrueCrimeFan87

different writing per season by juliebulieschmulie

Was this show remastered? by Maulclaw

Let me see your Buffy TATTOO!! by Rose_Deschain

Rewatching "Who Are You? (4x16) is hard by -_crescent_--_moon_-

Molly's accent by samof1994

What characters fit this trope besides Angel? by jogaforacont

BtVS season 5 by Berry-Pie216

Spike and Buffy in Superstar by raisedbythetv89

The writers created the perfect storm by raisedbythetv89

another parallel that I like by loseremzo

Hilarious the things Spike has to “admit” to to cover up the fact he’s in love with Buffy by nicnacsnonsense

The thing about fuffy by fictiongods

It’s always “Faith crawling out of that grave in the rain foreshadows Buffy crawling out of her own grave” by patwrites

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: Inside the wild transformations of the Buffy cast, from the first episode to now by The Tab

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