#re netflix spoilers

[ameliadoesstuff]

not that i'm bitter

[moonchild-in-blue]

I need everyone to watch Kaos (from Netflix) right now, please and thank you. Quite possibly my favourite modern retelling of the Greek myths / Olympic pantheon.

The story revolves mainly around Orpheus and Eurydice (Riddy), and around Zeus and a certain not-so-great prophecy. Dionysus is one of our main stars and he's great and amazing and hot and absolutely babygirl.

Yes there are a LOT of references and myths and characters beyond the main Olympians (Zeus' famous kids don't even appear). Yes you see Prometheus having his liver pecked. Yes, we do get to see the Minotaur & Co. Hades and Persephone too, obviously. Yes, there is A TON of great poc and queer rep. Yes, there is blood and sex and violence and poignant society AND religious commentary. Yes, you do get old man yaoi. Yes, Jeff Goldblum as Zeus is incredible and no joke my new favourite portrayal of him (Zeus). Yes, they are faithful to the "doomed from the start" narrative of Orpheus and Eurydice. Yes, Hera does have her peacocks.

Please please please go watch it please it's so great and visually beautiful and amazing. Pirate that thang if you must.

My thoughts whilst watching the show - no plot spoilers but be warned for mild thematic/ character/ setting commentary. Generally safe to read if you haven't watched it yet and don't mind a little preview:

SOUNDTRACK IS WOW. Don't Fear The Reaper? On episode one?? The song I've been listening over and over because of a certain beloved band has made a cover of it???

Love how they portray the worship of gods as something that is part of their daily lives and culture without seeming too "gimmicky".

There are clear parallels to Catholicism in the way they conduct themselves (either in favour or against the gods; all the little rituals and traditions), and it's quite interesting to see how would modern society function if Hellenism (or rather the ancient practices. pls correct me if I'm wrong) were the primary (and as far as I got it only) established religion in the world.

The "Vero" declaration with the hand gesture as part of Olympian liturgy? Amazing. Interesting choice in using Latin rather than Ancient Greek, but very cool nonetheless.

A significant amount of casual mentions of horrifying violent acts by the gods, and even some healthy dose of violence/ blood. Thought it was very interesting to see Zeus discussing infanticide and natural catastrophes the way we discuss the weather or grocery prices. They really leaned heavily into the whole grandeur and arrogance of gods in regards to human life which I super appreciate. I'm tired of seeing passive, Cool and Hip and Benevolent Zeus & Co.

Also the amount of criticism by the god-haters (Blasphemes? Non-sympathisers?) feels very refreshing (and on the nose concerning irl organised religions), especially in contrast with the more devout and how they put their life in second place in lieu of worship (yes I'm thinking about the Tacitas AND the Celebration Ritual™ iykwim).

The subversion of the "doomed from the start" narrative surrounding Orpheus and Eurydice is done so beautifully it hurts. Right from the first moment they appear, you know how it'll go. And yet!!

You know what happens, of course. Their story was never meant have a happy ending. But the way they took that and put a modern spin on it it's just!!!! My heart !!!!

I was rooting for Orpheus the entire time, knowing damn well it was a lost cause. I can't blame Riddy, but my God is it painful to watch. LOVED the actor who played him, he just the right amount of earnest love and rockstar flair. Riddy is SO cool - there's not much I can say beyond that that isn't a spoiler but. Yeah. We love complex female characters.

I'm gonna be really petty and pedantic here, but for a show revolving GREEK mythology, set in Olympia / Krete, with sooo many little references to the myths, it is CRIMINAL that they insist on calling Heracles by his roman name (Hercules), and that they refer to Hades as God "Of Death" instead of God "Of The Dead" / King Of The Dead. There's a major difference there - Thanatos would like a word.

Troytown? Where the Trojan refugees (displaced war victims really) are *literally* segregated to (their exact words, segregation), and even use those nose lines/tattoos as way to identify them? Where they face scrutiny and police brutality and prejudice from the Kreteans? As a clear reference to minority poc urban areas and how they are unfairly mistreated and deemed as "others" by the same governments who put them there in the first place??? YES YES YES.

A lot of queer and poc rep. And I mean A LOT. The Fates alone are a whole vibe.

Again, it doesn't feel gimmicky at all, nor does it fall under the "okay they're definitely trying to hit all the quotas so everybody is gay and ethnic and uses neo-pronouns" trend some media are starting to follow, which really just end up falling flat rather than significant (looking at you Sex Ed 4). An actual diversity win.

If you're familiar with the story of Caeneus, you'll love how they portrayed him here.

Dionysus is everything and some more. I love him. Prometheus is incredible. Jeff Goldblum as Zeus goes above and beyond expectations - he brings that Goldblum Flair™ but with an intense violence and paranoia you could only pull off as King of the Gods. Hera is just wow, truly a queen.

Hades and Persephone have an *interesting* dynamic - have never seen him being portrayed like that before. Usually Hades and Persie are the "dom goth Mommy and Daddy" of mythology retellings, and yet here it's completely different. Certainly *A Choice*. I don't mind Hades, but would've liked to see "goddess of spring & dreaded" Persephone.

I understood the vision, but I don't think it worked *quite* as well as the other ones. She's still super cool nonetheless - that sandwich scene was incredible.

Also - VERY COOL how diverse the actors are. With the exception of Dionysus who is objectively Young and Hot, pretty much all the other gods (and adjacent) are middle-aged or up, with visible signs of aging (grey hairs, wrinkles, sagging skin, belly fat, etc), which is cool cus usually the gods are made to be a specific flavour of "hot".

The Furies, who could've been all snatched and sexy and token Femme Fatale characters, are actually older butch women with mean lesbian energy and I think that's very cool and awesome and wonderful.

Even the human cast is so diverse and interesting and REAL, rather than yet another yassified ensemble - it's great to see. Not everyone is conventionally hot and attractive, and THAT is sexy af.

All the little Easter eggs and references to the myths and general ancient Greece culture are SO nice to see. I giggled when Polyphemus first appeared. That first scene on the cereal aisle was very funny. Gagged at Cassandra.

Stylistic choice of the Underworld environment and on-camera portrayal is chef's kiss. That's all I'll say.

LABYRINTH AND DAEDALUS YES. Would smash the Minotaur, 1000%. That Scene™ was. Hmmmmm yeah.

Overall I loved it and high key might re-watch it again. What an amazing show. This was a win for all of us Greek Myth nerds, and I'll be truly devastated if Netflix doesn't renew it for a second season.

[trashnotfound]

As excited a as I am for Bens season, im already missing my polin era. Just something about watching these 2s love story unfold over the 3 season will always have a special place for me🩵

Friends to lovers >>>>

[dadralt]

Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher Season 3, Volume 2 Trailer

for anon

[zeedramallama]

Albion Finch: BIL in the know?

Did anyone else notice Albion holding Harry back, after the Featherington ladies left the garden party early in E01? Harry looks like he's going to catch Phillipa up, and Albion stops him and waves him off from interrupting the ladies. Nice detail

In addition to his reaction to Penelope at the Danbury ball later on, he's quickly becoming the awesome BIL

[kat-rose-griffith]

I’m watching School Spirits and like this is exactly how you do a love triangle because I am genuinely split on who she should/will end up with plus it’s not even the main focus of the show it’s just like little extra sprinkles on top, you know. I already spoiled the twist of the show for myself because I’m not patient and I have no clue how her story is going to end and I love it because any way they go with it will be interesting. I just hope they keep this same quality up through future seasons. Finding out people involved with pretty little liars are working on this show has made me nervous. Like pll was had so much wasted potential it was frustrating

[freezegirl]

FEED ME ALL YOUR WOES & PITY (I AM NOTHING ANYMORE) or: the cliffhanger of the season (and beyond) through khione's eyes / music insp.

the figure skating grand prix ends right before the final fights of the sekai taikai start.

luckily, it's not that far from the centro convenciones internacionales de barcelona, either, so despite missing the beginning and the middle parts of the competition, khione can still catch the end of it. even if she's hurried over, still wearing her sparkly dress, with a sports bag slung over her shoulder and clutching her gold medal like it'll vanish if she lets go of it for even one second.

beyond joining the group to go to the aquarium beforehand and hitting the town alongside them, she hasn't seen much from them and she wants to change that.

besides, it'll be nice to see her friends thrive for once in a controlled environment so that it doesn't end up like the school fight or that time they fought at the larusso house or the altercation at the pool or, well, any other time after that.

she doesn't know if they can see her from where they're standing on the mats, but she waves anyway, signalling support, and settles in to watch, wincing visibly every time anyone from either side lands a blow.

maybe she jinxed it, though, by showing up at all.

maybe she should've gone to the hotel, should've changed, should've gone out to celebrate with the other skaters after calling her friends and her parents and farzana and jawaharel.

because of course the commentator, gunther braun - zach's uncle - gets knocked out halfway through. of course an all-out brawl ensues.

khione clutches the railing, leaning forward, searching for miguel, hawk, robby, tory, courtney. for anyone that she knows. but it's chaos out there and she can't see a thing.

and then, between one heartbeat and the next, the unthinkable happens. a scream fills the arena. fills her heart. fills her head. it's one of those screams that will haunt her forever.

and it's not just the scream. it's the sight that comes with it.

there's blood on the floor. there's blood in her mouth.

kwon isn't moving. the mats are soaked, and kwon isn't moving. mister larusso touches him, softly, gently, like a father might shake his son awake in the morning. then he turns him around and kwon's empty eyes stare, unseeing, at the ceiling.

khione wants to stop looking at him. why can't she stop looking at him? tears stream down her cheeks while she presses the roof of her hand to her mouth to stifle the sobs.

"cut the feed!" gunther yells, his voice tinged with desperation and something else she can't quite name. "cut the feed!"

for a moment, it looks like someone's pushed the pause button. like she's seated in the kiss and cry, watching a playback. then everything erupts. she doesn't know who breaks the silence. she doesn't know which person has told the others to start moving towards the exit. all she knows is that she needs to get out of here. now, now, now, right now.

move.

one foot in front of the other.

move.

move!

so she does, uncaring, for once, if everyone sees. most of her life is out there for public consumption already, anyway.

khione grabs her sports bag from beneath her seat, slings it over her shoulder and flees. it's warm in barcelona and it's warm inside the arena but she's never felt colder in her life.

she'd planned to text coach zreibac and to go back to the hotel immediately. except she feels sick and she can't find the bathroom or the exit because this place is apparently a damn maze, so she ducks into the first unoccupied space she sees: the coat check area.

she pushes one of the coats aside and crawls inside the closet, hoisting her sports bag into the small space with her. maybe that's why it takes her entirely too long to get to the numbers she's got on speed-dial.

"hey, you," layla's smiling face appears on the screen. "congratulations on winning! we all watched the livestream! don't tell magenta but she screamed so loud when they announced your score and then again when you won, she---"

it is then that layla sees khione's face, streaked with tears. "kie?" her voice softens. "hey, is everything okay?" she gets her answer when the only thing khione can do is shake her head as she burst into tears once more.

layla's voice sharpens, then. "warren!" she calls but there's no response, not at first. "warren!" there's a flash of an orange sweater and layla's voice telling ethan to go get warren. and will, too. but it's not warren who takes the phone from layla. it's zach.

"yo," he says, without preamble, "is my uncle okay? kie! listen to me, please: is my uncle okay?! i saw him get knocked out by that big, angry dude and then my internet crapped out on me!"

khione tries to nod but she's unsure he sees it because will takes the phone from zach and tosses it to warren who catches it.

"they cut the feed," magenta says from where she's sitting. "i looked it up. she doesn't know any more than we do right now."

"it's bad."

"no shit," magenta says and moves towards where zach is pacing. "dude, sit down, your uncle will be fine. kie, however, is freaking out and this really isn't helping."

"someone died." her voice doesn't even sound like her own. she doesn't sound like herself. doesn't feel like herself. doesn't feel like much of anything right now. "kwon. he was screaming... screaming so loud. i can still hear him in my head." unbidden, she adds: "there was so much blood. it soaked into the mats."

"kie?" layla's voice. but she sounds far away. everyone sounds far away and that's not just because she's in barcelona and they're in the states. "have you texted your coach so she knows where you are?"

khione shakes her head. layla exchanges a glance with magenta who nods and mouths 'on it'.

"okay," layla says, even though warren's the one holding the phone, "magenta's gonna do that for you. i'm gonna see if i can reach out to farzana and jawaharel or your parents. you keep talking to warren, okay? i'll be right back."

"i miss you," khione says quietly. "all of you." she takes a shaky breath and then adds: "i'm tired - i wanna go home."

"if you spring for the tickets," ethan pipes up, "we could come see you." a beat and then: "or warren can. that's probably the easiest thing to do, considering everyone's gonna wanna leave now. also, i don't think you should stay on the phone for the rest of the night because not everyone has access to an unlimited data plan. just saying."

warren glares at ethan as he leaves the living room of the stronghold residence and, somehow, this is what gets her to break. there's laughter and tears in equal measure. if only for a moment.

then, a push message appears on the top of her screen. it's from coach zreibac. stay where you are, golden goose, it reads, i'm on my way.

[maaruin]

Oh, and the waterbending fight between Pakku and Katara looked really bad in the live action. They tried to recreate the one from the cartoon pretty closely but it looked a lot less dynamic - probably a limitation of the medium, but then it would have been better to change it up completely.

[friddafazbearsworld]

🔥❤🔥❤

"My name... was Jacques."

"And in this prison, down here in the dark, Jacques. Standing guard over me. Do you accept it, now, as your fate?"

"No."

[tothedistantsky]

Getting to the end of Shadow and Bone season 2 just chanting: Six of Crows! Six of Crows!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Lessons to learn from HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Netflix’s “One Piece” when it comes to making a successful live-action adaptation:

1) Make sure the original creator has a ton of creative control. It’s their story, let them dictate how it should be re-told.

2) The showrunner should be a major fan of the original. In general, get writers and directors who are fully committed to doing the source material justice since they’re fans of it.

3) Doesn’t have to be 100% faithful. Changes are fine if it doesn’t hurt the overall story and actually improves on the original. For example, (SPOILER ALERT) Bill’s storyline in TLOU was overhauled completely, which was considered an improvement. And based on what I read from One Piece fans, Buggy the Clown was done better in live action and Zoro was set up better since the show used a scene that wasn’t in the anime or manga (the Mr. 7 stuff was apparently off-screen).

4) Casting is always key, but doesn’t have to be completely perfect. What’s important is that the actors understand their assignments. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey don’t exactly look like Joel and Ellie (Pedro even has a different accent) but they make up for it with their chemistry and understanding of their characters. Meanwhile, I feel that’s it’s generally agreed that the cast for the Straw Hats Pirates captured the spirit of the characters, even with the minor changes that were made.

5) If you’re adding original content, make sure it adds to the story. For example, the already mentioned Mr. 7 scene and Frank actually being present during Bill’s storyline.

[beaniebitch01]

RANT!!!

*This will contain spoilers for Sonic Prime*

So I watched this show once before but held off writing my thoughts on it until I re-watched it cause on first watch I'm not really thinking of the show in a critical manner so it'd just be a disjointed string of random thoughts I had. It's also because any grievances I had may not have been fair when you consider the target audience this show was made for. So with that in mind I re-watched it and can now make a (hopefully) fair review of it.

I'm gonna start with what I thought was bad because considering it's a 3 season series I don't have a lot of complaints so I'll just get them out first.

1)The villains were dumb like what purpose does 5 eggmans serve besides obnoxious arguing. It would've been much more interesting if each world had its own version of eggman. Even the baby would've been a funny character if it was the sole villain for one of the worlds. 2)The fight scenes were repetitive. 3)Dialogue was actually painful sometimes, but this was made in an age where people for some reason think kids can't comprehend real conversations so they insert dumb quips. 4)*shudders*The Baby™. As sonic said in season two, "how can one baby be so hateable". Never in my life have I wanted to punch a character so bad. Every time it was on screen I felt a burning flame of hatred in my soul. 5)The ending, especially the last few episodes, went back and forth between Sonic trying to convince Nine to stop and the same fighting sequences and it got so annoying i thought about fast forwarding to the end. The stakes never felt high or low, they felt the same for all 7 episodes.

The good:

1)Shadow!!! He's in a show for more than a few episodes!!! Bro is always angry but honestly if I had to deal with sonics shenanigans I'd be perpetually annoyed too. 2)It was pretty well paced. Season one introduced all of the alternate worlds, season two had sonic switching between those worlds trying to get all of the crystals back and revealed a twist villain, season three was the fight against that villain and restoring the shatter space. 3)Considering the other shows we have, the animation wasn't bad, but could've been better. Especially when Netflix has come out with stuff like Arcane whose animation was incredible. 4)The plot was cohesive. 5)Good twist villain. Even though you can see it coming from the first episode of the first season, Nine still made for a good villain. 6)I was surprised to see actual character growth. Sonic's was inevitable since his carelessness got them into the situation they're in. Nine's character changed with each season, starting with being untrusting and guarded in the first, calming down in season two and actually caring about Sonic's wellbeing, feeling betrayed and angry in season three and then finally realizing he done goofed and Sonic was always his friend. 7)I really like that the one common thing from all worlds is the one palm tree. This feels like a weird thing to comment on but I just found it sweet for some reason.

Overall I really enjoyed the show and def recommend it.

[fountainpenguin]

Liveblog remarks from my FOP: A New Wish re-binge (Up to "Lost and Founder's Day" since that's the last one on Netflix right now).

Liveblog opinions under the cut. If you don't want to see personal opinions or spoiler-filled references to later episodes, this post may not be for you.

- Not a liveblog technically, but I was shocked and delighted to glimpse ChalkZone as I was navigating to watch this show. Also, apparently all the FOP seasons (including Season 0) are on Paramount, which surprises me because I thought they only had up to Season 3.

- Forgot one of Hazel's early lines is describing herself as "New car smell." That's so funny...

- I really like Hazel doubling down (to Cosmo and Wanda) about how hard she worked to not complain when her parents uprooted her life and moved her to Dimmadelphia. I'd love to explore more of her pre-Dimmadelphia life.

- ?? Why did it take me this long to realize when Hazel told Tony the ant that they were the second "ant tony" she knew, she was referring to Antony? <- Because of how she pauses, I've always thought she had an Aunt Tony.

- The wish punch cards puzzle me so much. Why is it a big deal that one wish is "on Cosmo and Wanda" instead of Hazel? It's not like they charge her money for wishes, so what's the implication?

- Why are there so many kids playing VR games in the cafeteria?

- "You can't make us test prep during lunch! Isn't that illegal or something?" - Crying...

- Principal Krentz is so funny. Just in general.

- Extremely concerned about Angela and Marcus knowing (I presume) that Hazel was hosting a sleepover, but never coming down to check on her.

Do... do they NOT know Hazel is having a sleepover? HAZEL??

- I think I said this on my first watch, but Hazel acting confident during her Broadway show and then turning shy when everyone claps for her is adorable.

- Stuart / Hannibal replying "Yes" to Hazel's question of whether their mom often throws away trash inside a giant rug... ???

- I love Jasmine's backpack design (It has a cute flower on it).

- Dev licking the fan blades of his au pair drone brings me so much concern. Why did he do that.

- Marcus putting hours of research into how to do his daughter's hair is my everything...

- Wanda and Cosmo sitting in the corner when Diana is talking to Hazel... Wanda's just reading a book... Girl, your godchild is getting harassed by talking hair.

I think Wanda's reading the same book Cosmo later pulls out during "Weird Science."

- Why did Marcus pin bows to his eyes.

- I think I said this in my first liveblog, but it cracks me up that Hazel's response to losing her hair was to admire her bald head and how low-maintenance it was.

- Ah, maybe "Trial & Hair-or" is supposed to be the 'Episode 13 when Cosmo is a horse,' which he references in "Battle of the Dimmsonian." I did go looking a while back, but I must have missed this one.

- Trev and Bev are so funny... The puppy squeaks they make when Diana is yelling at Hazel... Nerds.

- Shout-out to Cosmo in this series and the many books he has on him at any one time. Specifically, I'm referring to his physics book in "Weird Science" because I am a "Cosmo loves physics books" truther ("77 Secrets of the Fairly OddParents Revealed").

- How did I miss Kennueth blushing and acting evasive every time he mentions the fairy that visited him when he was inside the whale? Okay...

- At one point, I drafted a post about Prime Meridian and the parallels to Dev and Hazel... I might go dig that up. I have opinions about it...

- Does Dale know Dev owns a sword?

Alternatively, if it's not Dev's, do I dare ask what childcare service the au pairs are supposed to provide with that sword?

^ Face of a man who has some questions.

- I would love to know what's inside Hazel's closet considering she owns a wardrobe where she actually keeps her clothes. Be honest... Did your dad put a machine in there to protect you?

- I remembered Hazel owned copies of her same sweater and jeans, but somehow I missed that she has like 3 dozen of the same pair of shoes. Girl knows what she likes.

- I still think maybe Cosmo shouldn't be putting on a 10-year-old girl's clothes, but I respect the presumed innocence that led him to explore new fashion options.

- I don't think Dale can drive and that's why he lets the helicopters crash to the ground.

- Dale's "buy one-time use items from me to save the planet' presentation is horrific. How on earth did he sway people into buying from him? Fascianting.

- Do Tina Churner and Mayor Teddy Bear share a voice actor?

They do not :(

- ???? The Pe-Az voices are changed in the Netflix version from the one I first watched. Major whiplash.

There were minor details in the early episodes I didn't remember on my original watch, and I wonder if anything else changed. Probably not because that would be a lot of work, but who knows.

- I still think it's clever that most kids show off the Dimmadome logo on their phones, but Hazel has a ladybug phone case that hides hers. She doesn't care to flaunt the branding.

- I say this knowing full-well that taking over Fairy World and removing pizza from the universe are different levels of life endangerment, but something something, Guzman announcing that Dev "doing the right thing in the end" counted as kindness in "Peace of Pizza" vs. Wanda in the finale making a point to emphasize how little "goodness" Dev has in him despite him doing the right thing in the end.

Something something, Wanda turning on Dev for endangering her bio son, but she was happy to let Timmy spend seasons romantically pursuing a girl who blatantly tried to murder him and cut him into pieces... Hey, Wanda, can I ask about that?

I'm glad the danger senses are tingling, and I support that, but these really are two different-tone shows, huh? Certain aspects are so wild to compare...

It's interesting to rewatch some episodes and remember all the foreshadowing I thought I saw (Ex: Hazel telling Kennueth he should "rewrite his story" and "make things right" with Duckworth [Dev]) and how "hard left" the finale shifts tones from what I thought we were being set up for. Fingers crossed for a Season 2... I really want to know where they wanted to go with that Kennueth & Duckworth forgiveness moment, because apparently it wasn't the finale.

- I'd love to learn more about Duckworth as a character, because it's very clear Dev relates to him on a deep level (even tearing up when Kennueth tells him that he forgives him for what he's done, and Dev whispering "Duckworth would have loved to hear that").

Including a scene like that in the finale would've been a cool callback to this moment, and I was totally expecting it given the other parallels between Dev, Hazel, and Prime Meridian, so I hope we get that in Season 2.

- So funny Dev's the only one in the know to truly recognize Kennueth, but he also, like... doesn't question why a manga character is in the real world. So curious. Did he think he was a cosplayer? Did his mind get hit with magic so he can recognize Kennueth, but not make the connection that says "Hey, this makes no sense" ?

Why didn't they cut the Project H plot from the final script if it drops off immediately after its reveal... It makes me so sad. It totally sets you up for expecting Dale to do villain stuff, but he doesn't :c I need that man to get told off for stalking a 10-year-old girl. Please Dale, I want you to screw around in Season 2... I need to see you face consequences. Dev is a minor, but you know better than that!!

My mind is brimming 24/7 with a montage of Dale trying to sneak close to Hazel and inviting her parents over for dinner or following her to restaurants and bake sales. I cannot express how much I want to do an animatic full of Dale hiding under tables like a weasel.

- I really hope I get to see the Pixies in Season 2, especially with how much set-up they did regarding Hazel's love for dull paperwork, plus Irep's model having a square head. I'd love to know how Hazel and H.P. interact. Yet another man I do not want around children! - It drives me wild how much set-up there was in one plot direction, including the original takeover plot intended to involve the Pixies - whose thing IS taking over Fairy World when the Anti-Fairies have never really been into that - and !! I didn't !! get !! to see it !! The finale's hard turn plot-wise drives me bananas, and I really want to see if a Season 2 makes me fall in love with it. - I wonder if the OG finale plan got to the script-writing phrase or if the Pixies' appearance was scrapped before it was written? I would LOVE to know how Dev behaves in that Pixie-themed finale (where Dale was supposed to be the big bad) and if that finale still would have felt out of place to me... H.P., my beloved... Save me, H.P. I want to love the finale, but if feels weird on so many levels... I think I'll like it someday in retrospect, but please let Season 2 offer me that chance. I don't wanna write the post-episode life myself- I want to know what THEIR plans were.

- Shout-out to Guzman assigning homework partners in a way that breaks up couples who went to the Under the Sea dance.

- Why does Cookie keep feeding Furry stuff he shouldn't eat, like cameras? Girl...

Alternatively, why does Furry keep eating her stuff? Boy...

- Cosmo showing up in the conference room with no shoes...

- Very sweet that Hazel refers to Puppet Hazel as "old friend" and greets it warmly.

- Honorable mention to Puppet Hazel's consistent it/its pronoun usage in all its episodes.

- Watching Hazel overly enthuse about Dev in "Lost and Founder's Day" hits harder after "Stuck In My Head" where she was overly paranoid about losing her friends... Tell us how you really feel.

- Dale and his magical invisible earpiece... I see why I didn't pick up on the fact that his "Eat a lizard" comment was directed to his phone on my first watch.

- The way Dev talks big about his dad vs. the way he deliberately un-machos his dad when we see his thoughts, my beloved... I had a whole post drafted about this, but I must have deleted it because I can't find it now.

- I like how when Dale walks offscreen, you can still hear the jingle of his spurs. I looked it up at one point and I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be wearing those in public if he's not riding a horse.

- Does Dale re-sell Vicky's bear toys?? I'm pretty sure the designs match, in which case it is INCREDIBLY funny that the au pairs - presumably programmed by Dale - make a special effort to call them out on as poorly constructed toys. I'm not sure they've done that for any other object.

Is Dale keeping tabs on Vicky even though we know Vicky wasn't keeping tabs on him? Horrifying! :)

- When the scene cuts to Dev inside Dale's command tent, he has popcorn, implying he wandered the festival before looping back to see his dad.

- I like how a Founder's Day booth is selling wolfish hats that look like the one worn by a Dimmadome ancestor.

- Dale being incredibly high in the air and still managing to set off a smoke bomb by hurling it down as hard as he could - near a crowd of people - fills me with terror.

- Lol, the shadow of Hazel's hat glows gold because it's covered in lights.

- Oh geez, the Dimmadome house isn't just shaped like Doug's hat, but it's also shaped like his face...... Dale, c'mon, man.

- So curious about the decorative pillows on Dev's bed. I assume the au pairs make it for him, but it's an interesting detail.

- This is already something I took into account for my Dev character study, but I can't stop thinking about how the only time we see Dev's room in a state less than perfect cleanliness and perfection, it's when there's books and of toys at the end of his bed he was trying to distract himself with before giving in to misery at the end of "Lost and Founder's Day..." It haunts me...

That is all.

[nattikay]

I just finished the last season of Sweet Tooth on Netflix, I gotta vent a little, warning that this post probably won't be everyone's cup of tea but I gotta say it somewhere. [there be spoilers for anyone who may care about that]

so I've been pretty invested in this show since the first season; yeah, some of the acting is pretty corny and some of the effects look a tad clunky (hello awkward Bobby puppet), but I still enjoyed the characters well enough and wanted them to succeed and also, hey, I'm a simple woman, show me cute animal-people and I'm hooked.

But....I've gotta admit that I really didn't care for the ending. Within the last three episodes of the show they pivot from "we've gotta find a cure for this virus to save humanity" to "actually on second thought humans are the REAL disease and their extinction is the cure" which........ewwwwwwww, no dude, keep your cringe nihilism to yourself k thx

And yeah, in the end they do stop the virus so the remaining humans can survive for a while longer, but all babies are still born as hybrids meaning "humanity" is going to die off within the next 80 years or so anyways.

and they try to dress this up as a great mercy, and they say oh, yeah humans have some good in them but it always comes with Bad, unlike the hybrids who got all the Good in humanity but also they're Better because they're part animal so all the Bad will die off with the humans and hybrids will live in peace forever and I'm sorry but I call bullcrap

Animals are not these great bastions of altruism and morality. Animals rape. Animals steal. Animals kill. Animals cannibalize. Animals eat prey alive.

Even the "oh but humans are greedy and want to take everything and upset the balance of nature" spiel. Buddy, contrary to what some environmentalist stories want to tell you, animals do not actually have a concept of "the balance of nature". That's why invasive species are such a big problem. Introduce an invasive predator into a region and several native prey species go extinct. Those predators don't have a concept of "conserving resources", they'll just keep hunting as long as they're hungry.

And it's not a problem unique to predators either. Remember when wolves were hunted to extinction is parts of the US and then the deer populations exploded and ate all the grass and the whole ecosystem kinda fell apart until wolves were re-introduced to the region? The deer didn't give a crap that they were eating all the grass. They weren't even consciously aware of it. They're not capable of conceptualizing abstract ideas like that.

Natural ecosystems have a balance to them because they're intricately designed systems, not because the animals that live in them are actively making Morally Right Choices to preserve them.

One major thing that separates humans from animals is that we have the capacity for morality. We have the ability to comprehend abstract concepts like freedom and conservation and honor and sacrifice etc., and with it the ability to make moral choices. We are capable of great good, and great evil. You cannot have the capacity for one without having the capacity for the other, because good and evil rest on your choices. Even if you go through your whole life doing only "nice" things, if you did those things because you had no other option, no say in the matter, are you really "good"? Good people choose to be so. I love animals and they're super cool and all, and yes some of them are very smart, but they are not really capable of making that choice (no, I don't care how much of an "angel" your dog is). They are amoral, neither morally good nor bad.

And the hybrids? It's clearly shown that they have the same capacity for choice as humans....which in turn means that yes, whether the narrative wants to admit it or not, the hybrids still have the capacity for evil just like the humans did. Giving them some animal ears or special powers doesn't change that.

Not to mention that all but one of the hybrids we've met are children. They haven't even hit puberty yet!! Of course a bunch of innocent kids are gonna look like sweet little angels compared to hardened desperate adults trying to survive an apocalypse holy flip! And just because Gus happens to be a particularly good person who strives to see the best in others does not mean that all other hybrids for the rest of time are gonna be the same! He's not good because he's part deer, he's good because he's Gus! Because he believes in good things and acts on it!

The one adult hybrid we briefly meet isn't a sweet little kid who sees the best in others, he's a grouchy old man who wants human genocide. And while I can totally understand why he as a character feels that way....that's not good dude!!!! That's not any better than the humans who want to kill the hybrids!

You didn't "remove worst of humanity and preserve the best of it" by replacing humans with hybrids. You just gave them a makeover.

Human/animal hybrids as a character concept are totally up my ally, I think they're very cool, but pretending that being part animal makes them inherently morally better than regular humans is just ridiculous imo.

tl;dr I just really hate the nihilistic "humans are uniquely evil, deserve to go extinct as a Punishment, and literally any other sapient species would be better" trope and I'm very disappointed that this show pivoted to that at the last minute.

[saint-oleander]

The English title of “Questo mondo non mi renderà cattivo” misunderstands fundamentally the core theme of the series.

There, I said it.

Now a step back.

Italian comic book author Zerocalcare’s second series after “Strappare lungo i bordi” ( “Tear along the dotted line” ) is now streaming on netflix and, while I can’t swear by the translation for I haven’t seen it in English, you should go watch it.

Both of the series are funny and heartbreaking in equal measure, and exist as tales from Zerocalcare’s life as a jumping point to explore more existential topics.

Now, if you haven’t seen them yet, go and do so for spoilers await you under the cut.

The English title netlix chose for the series is “This world can’t tear me down”.

I get that they wanted to draw a connection to the first series (Tear along the dotted line), but the choice is so fundamentally at odds with the message of the series that I’m going to scream into the void about it.

See, a way more actual translation of the title could be “This world won’t make me cruel”.

You’re going to ask yourself how nitpicky can I possibly be. They are close enough, aren’t they? WRONG. And the problem is optimism.

If you’ve seen the series you’ll know that the setting is this: an old friend of Zero comes back after twenty years in rehab. Zero is forced to try and re-acquaint Cesare to the world despite his (perceived) inadequacy. Meanwhile, a neonazi movement is pushing to get a recently opened refugee center closed, and Zero is shocked when he discovers that Cesare has fallen with that crowd.

Sure of the fact that they preyed on his alienation after his many years in rehab, Zero confronts Cesare, who tells him that since he has it all (especially a job) Zero has no right to tell him how he should behave in his desperate situation.

And Zero does believe him, and becomes doubtful of his right to point out what someone in a worse situation should do.

If the point were about resisting in the face of an evil world then the title would fit. But it’s not.

The point, the actual point, is that in the face of evil we don’t have to become evil too. That no one has a monopoly on what’s right and wrong. That the line we must draw is that even in the face of hardship is that we don’t get to kick down who has it worse than us, just to stand a little bit taller than someone.

That’s why “this world won’t make [us] cruel”. It’s not because we are in a righteous fight, withstanding the elements. It’s because we must have a last shred of dignity and courage, to help who has it worse. It won’t be an easy fight, and perhaps not even a successful one.

To believe that the world won’t tear us down is irrealistic, and far to optimistic.

"The world won’t tear me down” is the story of someone’s lonely and rightful stand.

“The world won’t make me cruel”, instead, reminds us that we don’t live in a vacuum, that we are not alone. And that we can’t be right and be cruel to those who are more vulnerable than us.

Even when everything is out to hurt us, we still have to resist the temptation to be cruel.

Mi hanno spezzato le ossa, hanno brindato, e sono vivo.

Questo mondo non mi renderà cattivo

“Questo mondo non mi renderà cattivo” - Path

[mask131]

Two thoughts born from this whole talk of Sandman-plagiarism-or-not. Well, one born from the recent discourse, the other is a very old one that I posted about a long time ago and got buried by the years.

Thought A: While the whole thing of "Sandman is just a rip-off" of Flat-Earth has been shot down, it reminds me of what I noticed a long time ago and tried to tell people but nobody was interested X) I don't know if Gaiman was aware of this book, and I don't know if it is just another one of those strange literary coincidences, but "Sandman" the comic book and "The Neverending Story" the ORIGINAL NOVEL (not the movies, there's a world outside of American productions) have such strong parallels that the Neverending Story could be basically another facet of the Sandman universe. The Child Empress is basically Dream under a different shape, the Old Man of the Wandering Mountain has so strong parallels to Destiny, and Fantastica/Fantasia could be the Dreaming. I still headcanon that "The Neverending Story" is one of the many universes of the Sandman-verse.

Thought B: In all the accusations of Sandman plagiarizing Tanith Lee's Flat-Earth, I am very surprised nobody brought up the actual element that could look like a "plagiarism" and was very likely directly inspired by Azhrarn. I guess it is because a lot of the people who talk about the issue never finished Sandman or are only aware of the Netflix series... So I guess spoilers if you want to finish the Sandman original series? And also bg spoilers if you want to start Tales from the Flat Earth. Be warned, it's under a cut.

But if there is one element you can accuse Gaiman of having plagiarized (or being very heavily influenced by), it is the climax of Night's Master. You know how the big conclusion of Sandman is that Dream dies? He doesn't just "die" he purposefully sacrifices himself to save his realm and the world from a hateful force wrecking everything up. And the entirety of the Sandman comic builds up to Dream being stuck to the all, cornered by all sides and forced to let hmself die - Gaiman himself never hid how he hinted, prepared and foreshadowed this ending by the very first arcs of the story. Well... that's Azhrarn's situation in Night's Master. All the events, adventures and characters of the story causing a discreet chain of events that causes the birth of an enormous threat and danger that corners the Prince of Demons against a wall and forces him to die, to sacrifice himself to get rid of this power... Only to be reborn later because he is an eternal principle, just like how Dream is "reborn" because the Endless are, well, Endless.

If you want to accuse Gaiman of plagiarizing Lee, or if you want to find the strongest inspiration Gaiman took from the Flat-Earth, it is the ending of Night's Master, which was almost literaly re-created in Sandman and make a core and key element of the entire series' narrative structure and plot-building.