#she's like the annoying character in a show's pilot who you think will be obnoxious for at least a full season

[msommers]

know, for bad, companions, and exit for riya, meredith and jorina!

here i am days late bc of my brain simply not working // oc asks: relationships edition

Know: How well does your OC know themself—their wants, their goals, their motivations? Do they engage in any sort of self-reflection? Is there anything about themself they willfully ignore?

RIYA — she would love to return to the days when the only self-reflection she took part in was looking into the mirror, because she's been looking inside quite often recently and is becoming increasingly aware of how much she was willing to ignore just to stay in her happy little bubble. she used to have very clear, simple desires and goals that drove her each day, and now she has no idea where she's going, how she should be feeling, or what to do about either of those things. she's in her "fucked around, found out. now i'm lost and hurting" era

MEREDITH — for being a big political player, she’s kind of an open book. her motivations and goals are clear, always have been and always will be. she has a solid grasp on who she is and hasn't had a reason yet to hide away any part of herself. even the grief and rage that still linger years down the line are things she never ignored, just turned into motivators.

JORINA — ignored many parts of herself for the better part of a decade just to ensure she was able to provide for her family without any distractions getting in the way. probably only started some soul-searching after the crush on aleksi developed because that kickstarted the "wait, do i actually have and want desires and interests outside of working???" thoughts. absolutely dreadful times for her, digging into her own brain like that. wouldn't recommend

For Bad: Is there anyone who had an undeniable negative impact on your OC’s life? How did your OC deal with that change? Have they been able to move on?

RIYA — victor’s murderer i guess lmfao nobody else has had a specifically negative impact on her, but that person really took an entire sledge hammer to her heart and life so congrats to them. hand wave to the vigilant campaign so far to answer how she’s handling the changes and moving on

MEREDITH — the obvious but still worth saying answer here is rendon howe. my guy left layers of lasting trauma and struggles with trust/rage/faith, things that meredith is still trying to handle a decade into the future. there's also a level of paranoia that he so kindly gifted her. i think she's moved on as far as one can after such horrid events, y'know. the vengeance was claimed, the healing was done, and the crippling sorrow only creeps in on rare occasions. something about her relationship with nathaniel definitely helped bandage some lingering wounds, but i'm not gonna dive down that rabbit hole rn.

JORINA — i mean. also rendon howe because of the alienage "purge", but that wasn't just the single offender. i've talked So Much about how jorina dealt with those changes (becoming the provider of the family, losing her childhood, ignoring her grief/desires/etc for years) so i'm not gonna do it again, but yikes. it took her a long time but she does begin to move on during her time with the inquisition! it's a horrible journey of having to finally let in the grief of all that she lost and shoved down for so long, but it's a necessary one.

Companions: Is your OC part of an adventuring group? A band of travelers? A guild, a team, a crew? What's the group dynamic, and how does your OC feel about their companions?

RIYA — your favorite no wisdom mage of the warden squad. riya’s currently in the middle of having some very mixed feelings about the grey warden order as a whole, but enjoys her little assigned group well enough for how much time she's had with them so far. despite my goofs about a certain dynamic within the group, i do think she likes them all. they are so far removed from the usual type of cast she'd have around her, but the circumstances are just right to allow for that kind of thing to not matter a single bit and to encourage her getting to know them. this would get annoyingly long if i went into detail about each member but i'll say her strongest feelings are for cian and leo, though undoubtedly that'll evolve given time with the other two members.

MEREDITH — oh, the origins crew. a handful of the people there knew they were only working together out of necessity, while she genuinely grew to adore and respect others. meredith wasn't afraid to show her judgement of those who argued her morals, acts of good, and main goals, which led to a few strained dynamics. too lazy to run down everybody, but: she would have banished oghren if he wasn't good at killing things. :// funniest positive relationship she built was with zevran because who would've thought the uncompromising honorable noble would take a liking to the whole assassin who tried to take her out?? insanity. this doubles as a note for myself but i need to revisit the game to determine meredith's dynamic with wynne, because since solidifying her character more i don't know if the strong focus on her noble rights/responsibilities would earn her approval lol

JORINA — hey i'm gonna keep it so real and say yeah, she was part of a specific inquisition scouting squad for a while, but nobody except aleksi has any detail at all. literally none of them. they're faceless goons just there to toss into situations for relationship moments. group dynamic is that everyone wanted to shake aleksi's hand for being the one brave enough to start befriending jorina first because it helped her ease off of being such a hardass with the stern expression and rigorous schedule.

Exit: Has your OC ever had someone important leave their life in a way that was unremarkable, unintentional, or clumsy? How do they feel about it? Is there any chance they'll meet again?

RIYA — i don’t think so, no. the closest could maybe fall to her brother, sebastian, in how he left the family home for the chantry (unremarkable in the way that they all knew it was coming, it wasn’t a big deal for anybody except daddy loren who would’ve still been upset about his kid lmao), but he would still show up on the rare occasion. riya hardly cared, he had turned into a preaching prat that really harshed the vibes every time he was around and she preferred her other brothers anyhow. they used to get along back when they were both directionless and envious of the other brothers, but that’s a hard feeling to remember after all he’s said to and about riya. always a chance of meeting again, i suppose 🤷

MEREDITH — someone important? ser gilmore might be the closest to this in the way that his death was unremarkable to most, he was just another unfortunate soul to die at the hands of howe's treachery (in a more personal way, she feels, after learning of his abduction and torture). she allowed herself the small hope that perhaps he’d made it out once she’d fled highever, but that became gnawing guilt after discovering his fate. their bond had been strong, and she'd spent so long picturing what it'd be like to have him at her side in the future, but then that future came and all she had left of him was feelings of heartache and longing. super not gonna see him again after what happened lol

JORINA — can’t think of anybody on this one. probably unnamed members of the inquisition who don’t matter to her story, just people who decided to dip because it got too difficult or frightening to be a part of that.

[fnafs-ex-boyfriend]

I do not like vivziepop. Am I crazy

My confidence has been invigorated by a variety of posts I’ve seen. I have always been afraid to talk about this because I was worried I’d come off as those awful harassers who nitpick her shows just to be a douche.

I believe in separating the art from the artist. I still enjoy things like Buffy the Vampire slayer even if joss whedon is a piece of shit. And I really like the Hazbin/Helluva universe. I love these shows though I am critical of how they could be improved. However, I have discovered that I really dislike Vivziepop for a number of reasons.

For one, her treatment of her transgender characters is just really uncomfortable to me as a transgender man. I don’t know the full details of it, but i remember people saying a while back that she was transphobic about something. Now she has since apologized for it, but one thing I’ve noticed in her writing is that it feels like she’s trying to make up for it but like in the most obnoxious way possible. I don’t dislike Sally May per say, but her being so heavily pushed in the merch just feels so uncomfortable to me. Like, she had two lines of dialogue and has only been in one episode, but she gets so much merch and it’s somewhat off-putting. It feels like she’s just pandering and clapping herself on the back for this little crumb of representation that she so graciously gave us.

Another thing I really, really don’t like is her condoning of RadioDust. RadioDust, for those who don’t know, is a ship between Alastor and Angel. I always was super uncomfortable by it, but her comment about it really irks me. She says that she’s fine with any shipping of the characters and it makes me so angry. This means that she condones the erasure of Alastor’s aromanticism, which is canon, just to appease her fujoshi fans who just want to see the coolest male characters from the pilot fuck each other. Shipping aro characters is not condenable because it’s taking away the shred, the absolute crumb of representation we have just for shipping. And the fact that she’s totally okay with that sickens me.

Ok I guess that’s all I have but I’m sure that it will get worse when the Hazbin show comes out. To clarify some things though, I don’t think she was abusive to her coworkers or that she is a terrible person (I mean I’m not really up to date on all the drama so correct me if I’m wrong). I just find her missteps incredibly annoying. I really hope she does better though for the sake of her awesome shows. Please let me know if you feel the same way, I’ve always felt a bit alienated from my other friends who like Hazbin and Helluva. Happy pride and stay safe

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Homecoming"

Hera's daddy issues, and lots of fanservice for TCW fans.

Oh hey, one of my husband's favorite episodes!

Three guesses as to why.

Yep it's because of the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier.

Anyway, the need for such a thing is demonstrated right with this opening scene, with an ill-fated A-wing getting blown up as it tries to dock.

The A-wings get a raw deal in this show, seems like any time they need a fighter to blow up they do an A-wing.

:(

You know by now Hera's started to get to know the pilots under her command, so every loss is a little bit more personal now.

Kanan being silently supportive as Hera goes to call home.

Cham appears and cue TCW fans freaking out.

Not sure why we forwent the fanfare this episode, I don't think the circumstances are quite serious enough for it.

Kanan acting all cutely nervous to be meeting Hera's father kjhkjds.

And him getting everyone's names wrong lol, look at their faces. They're all just like, "Dad. Dad, that's not my name."

Numa introduced and though I have only seen the episode where she appears once I understand TCW fandom's base instinct to sob uncontrollably at how big she's gotten.

Cham being all, "NO I won't let you have this carrier I have to BLOW IT UP as a SYMBOL of RYLOTH RESISTANCE!" is absolutely annoying, Sato and Hera are saints for putting up with it.

I love the immediate cut to Ezra helping Hera tune Chopper up, implying he did his whole "follow you out of concern" routine and got invited to stay. :)

This is becoming a familiar sight isn't it? Ezra's role as heart of the team, peacemaker, counselor, and "bridge" is particularly emphasized this season. Not surprising, we collect most of our finale-important assets and allies this season.

Hngh that vulnerable little, "More important than family?" Fandom sometimes like to portray Mira and Ephraim as workaholics who had no time for Ezra between their broadcasts and resistance but this little line here, that Ezra would be so quietly horrified at the idea of rebellion being more important than one's own family, suggests otherwise.

Also! "Well, there's nothing more important to me." Throw that shade baby boy, love you for it.

Hhhmgngnll shut uuuuuuuuup Cham. When Ezra was preoccupied with concern over his homeworld he wasn't nearly so obnoxious. And, you know, actually accepted that other people and other worlds need help too.

Hera slipping back into her Rylothi accent when talking to her father. <3

Kanan implying his grandmaster Mace Windu talked to him about Clone Wars adventures. <3

Hera's absolutely sour sulk face. XD

This whole scene really, Gobi teasing Hera about "your Jedi", Kanan gushing about Cham, Hera cutting her father off with the doors twice.

It has all the vibes of "surly adult daughter reluctantly visiting estranged home to show off the grandkids and being annoyed that husband and dad get along so well".

Kanan's fake accent here is kind of amazing.

Hera's devotion to authenticity dislodges and reveals the supply of grenades in Numa's sack. Honestly, Cham reminds me a little bit of Saw with how obsessive he is about his own personal cause. He and Saw are both fighting for a good reason, true, but their attachments--Cham to Ryloth's freedom in particular, Saw to being right about the Death Star stopping the Empire from inflicting more loss at all costs--have blinded them, made them single-minded and selfish, hostile to others and uncaring about their plight.

Ezra, on the other hand, though he's always very worried for his world, his people, still is able to put them aside in order to do things for the wider cause, still able to access his compassion for people outside of his immediate circle.

(This would take a brief backslide in Season 3 after Malachor but come back with internal character development at the beginning of Season 4.)

Lol I knew as soon as that mouse droid got trapped that it would be used later.

Synchronized Force Push FTW.

And I love this moment where they throw each other forward, it's so awesome. Been a while since we've heard the Main Titles theme used to denote heroism too.

Ezra bouncing excitedly once he pulls off the Mind Trick, like Kanan knew he could aww.

Hera's double-take lol.

"I must destroy this ship for Ryloth!" Oh take a chill pill.

This is another case of, "Wow, that's a fast turnaround." but it's way less egregious than Ketsu's turn, since there are multiple other voices chiming in in support of Hera after her speech and all Cham does is take a step back and let Hera have the floor, he doesn't actually help until later.

Sounds like a muted version of the TIE Fighter Attack track here.

Right, so, this moment is touching and all but pulling harder on the yoke wouldn't actually do anything, this is orbit not atmosphere.

Imperial theme here, and then a snippet of "Shenanigans".

Ezra has an idea! Bet Sabine loves it because it involves blowing stuff up lol.

Love the teamwork here with this moment.

Eyyyyy everyone wins! The Rebels get the carrier, Cham gets his symbolic firey ship explosion of justice, way to go Ezra, that was a good idea, nice "bridging".

Hugs! <3

An almost Stargate-esque cue here (no surprise, Kiner worked on Stargate SG-1) which... it's not Hera's theme I don't think, at least I can't find another occurrence in "Wings of the Master". Cham's maybe? It definitely sounds like a leitmotif.

Aaaaaand a nice moneyshot of our spacefamily.

Another quality Hera-focused episode, expanding on her backstory without contradicting what we already knew. (Which I've already talked about was a bit of a problem with Sabine and "Blood Sisters".) Hera doesn't really develop much but then, again, she never really needed to. Still nice to see her reconcile with her father.

Another variation on the Friendship Fetch Quest--though Cham reappears later he's not a crucial asset to the finale like the other allies we gain this season, and once more the most important gain this episode is a ship. That Quasar carrier is going become a familiar marker and staple of the Phoenix Cell and we're going to get very used to seeing it in establishing shots... which makes the great big hero moment in "Zero Hour" it gets hurt a LOT more.

Honestly it's worth watching just for how seamlessly synchronized Kanan and Ezra are getting in combat. :)

[showtoonzfan]

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE, ADDICTION AND ASSAULT

As much as I dislike to admit it, Angel Dust is NOT a one note character. It’s clear he has layers to him, there’s been so much information on him personality wise and as a character over time, and his deeper side is something that Viv wants to explore in the show.

However, yes this is going to sound petty, but I really hope someone ESLE writes him because the way Viv handles his character is not for me. Like I’ve said before, I’ve restrained myself from talking about Angel since he’s a hefty subject (and the most popular in the fandom and I don’t want rabid fans at my neck) but I still would like the take the time to discuss his issues just a tad, though this’ll be short. The truth is I don’t think Viv can handle someone as deep as he seems to be. He’s a character who’s abused, an addict, a murdering psychopath with a twisted sense of humor, a character who doesn’t show his deep feelings to others, a person who while loves his work, the fame and attention he has, he feels trapped it seems at the same time, there’s just.....a LOT to him. While I think Viv overcompensates him WAAAAY too much, he still deseves to be written well, especially since a lot of people look up to him for being a gay man struggling. The issue is simply that he’s written by Viv. In the pilot, he’s an annoying, obnoxious, unlikable hyper sexual douchebag who spouts sex jokes every second, and every time I see him I want to get the raid and spray it till the damn can is empty. He seems to be treated as a joke and not at the same time, but for the pilot, it’s definitely a joke. As someone who’s followed Viv for a long time and seen her livestreams, she clearly thinks liking dick is funny, and spouting sex jokes is peak comedy. It seems she takes how Angel acts regularly as a pawn, making him the comic relief character but also this predatory hyper sexual dude and it’s disgusting. And no, not that he’s in HELL it’s disgusting, it’s disgusting because he’s gay and portrayed as someone making sex jokes every 5 seconds and it doesn’t make me like him, it makes me annoyed. Like I said, Angel has layers and there’s more to him as seen in the pilot, but the persona he puts on is still that of a stereotype. She’ll use him as a joke and then suddenly tell us to get serious because he has a pimp who physically and sexually abuses him, and it’s just all done sloppily. Like all of this is happening to him and yet we have to laugh when he flirts with other characters and cracks sex jokes? And then we’re supposed to feel bad for him when he’s clearly a horrible person with barley any redeeming qualities? Because I’m sorry, I don’t feel bad for him, or at least I can’t sympathize with him fully because of how shitty he acts. Not to mention all the fan service that doesn’t even collide with what she’s trying to get across with his character. One moment he’s a deep troubled character, then he’s an UWU hot boy who likes sex so laugh and drool at him please. It’s just so much, I don’t even think Viv knows what she WANTS his character to be because he seems to flip flop all the time.

But for now, that’s all I’m saying. I just hope someone else will write him, someone who knows how to write characters with trauma, complex characters, and especially GAY characters, because not every gay person talks about how much they like dick every 5 seconds. You can feel free to disagree with me, I’m not going to argue but please do NOT harass me in the comments. You can feel free to voice your opinion on Angel Dust though, thank you.

[animalinvestigator]

im sorry i woke up from a bizarre digimon dream and i was gonna ask for ur opinion on how tamers handled renamon's character but you should get any important stuff on yoru plate out of the way first. ok cool

Hello i have a lot of scattered thoughts on this. dub renamon and sub renamon are very different though, so please know this comes from the perspective of someone who has only been through the show all the way on the sub. my thoughts on dub renamon are, i don't like how they made her a femme fatale when literally none of that is in the original. i dont like how she is constantly quipping and i don't like how she is like I am a woman .But i am awesome. it feels very annoying, very reductive and gets rid of all the things i thought made renamon charming in the original. but thats enough about that.

Renamon as a character is pretty one note and i think shes handled pretty well as far as that goes. having a digimon that is essentially a stoic, mechanical protector of women is fun. it never changes about her that she is single-minded & unexpressive but also earnestly insightful and caring (even if only out of obligation & for self serving reasons at first) beneath a cold exterior , and i think it always works. She's charming & a fun straight man for the two goofier digimon that comprise the rest of the main cast. i think her characterization is really consistent and shes cute and a lot of fun. BUT its not as simple as that because shes like, only one half of a diptych really, in tamers and in digimon broader, the relationship between a digimon and their tamer has its own self contained narrative arc, and thats where things get stupid with renamon & why i kind of hated ruki for like, the first 25 episodes of the show, Because it is not always good.

It is established that digimon tamers was kind of written as they went along and you can tell with ruki and renamon. The amount of times they double back and have the exact same character conflict (Where ruki and renamon fight over being unable to get what they want out of the other party) over nad over again is like mind numbing. by the third time you just chekc the fuck out youre like OK RUKI THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU LEARN THAT YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT YOUR DIGIMON NOW!!!!!!!!!!! and because renamon is stoic and stubbornly affixed to her purpose as a weapon and getting stronger theres no movement on her end either. The two characters stay static in this illusory semi-developing state for like the entire first arc and its terrible, it was my least favorite things about tamers first arc, i was literlaly like. Ok when is renamon gonna wise up and just get really fucking mad at ruki. and it never happened. Once the writers finally decide they're done teachign ruki for the third or fourth time that renamon is a living being and not a weapon and that they have to genuinely trust eachother to get stronger then i think their character arc gets way more interesting but it leaves such a sour impression of ruki in general. Most importantly its obnoxious to sit through. When i look back on it thoguh i actualyl kind of like it, but i hated watching it.

the funnnnn part of renamon &rukis arc comes once that hurdle is crossed and then their partnership crosses the line from like I only dubiously view you as autonomous into like, full blown tortured codependency. and that is so interesting to me that it retrospectively makes the part of the show where neither of htem can decide if they think the other one is really alive or not make sense. Its like the second ruki decides renamon has a soul they become completely enmeshed to the extent that their biomerge evolution is literally kicked off by what appears to be a double suicide. Its fascinating. They like communicate to eachother in a language shared by only them and are literally never separated from eachother and rukis like the only time i relaly feel peaceful and happy is when im piloting renamon like a mecha. Its kind of subtextual in the show itself because their narrative arc kind of falls to the wayside as takato&guilmon jian&terriermon juri and impmon are prioritized, but i feel like the extent of this is really emphasized in message in the packet, wherein its revealed that ruki has basically gotten like 20x worse as a person since renamon left and now feels like an empty shell without purpose, pathetically whispers into the void that she always saw renamon as the big sister she never had, & how she doesnt know who she is going to be and how she si going to live now. i am fascinated with this and honestly i did not like ruki at all until i looked at it through the lens that this provides. But when you do notice this and you think back to the show its self, its like, oh you guys REALYL were killing yourselvs for eachother, and now are both left tortured and alone in one anothers absence. And its great. i love this kind of character dynamic, i think its really distinct from the ohter ones in the show, and its kind of emotionally agonizing and pathetic in a way that i think is fun and interesting to explore. i think about it a lot, probably more than i think about the relationships between either of the main cast digimon&tamer pairs, so credit is due there.

In short i like renamon, she is consistent and always fun, her relationship with ruki is endlessly fascinating to me, i hate the first half of the arc, but the second half and the message in the packet epilogue retrospectively make it really resonant to me. Sorry for the fucking length of this reply my god. Thanks for the ask. Heres my picture of ruki hugging a 700 dollar renamon plushie she ordered in the mail after renamon got returned to the digital world and crying, from the stories in my brain. Hope this was enlightening

[dellinah]

With the new ep coming soon, have a quick Helluva Boss review by me

This is not my opinion these are hard facts and I don't accept anything else ty (obvious joke is obvious)

Pilot:

Works well enough as a pilot, but aged poorly when compared to the actual episodes. The cutaway gag style reminds me of Family Guy, which isn't a good thing but works ok enough to show off their personalities in a quick way. However, I think they were still very surface level (especially compared to their recent development in the episodes). Loona was especially unlikeable in the pilot (other than one scene with the smile) and they seem to have only one trait explored which is their main personality trait, it makes them a bit too cartoony. The writing was a bit sloppy with the cutaway of them killing the wrong person suddenly becoming the main plot. But as a pilot, it works fine and the scenes with Moxxie and Blitzo were really funny. Millie and Loona don't really get the chance to suck you in and are kinda just there, but that's fair as a pilot only has so much time to show so much. I'm just glad the show turned out to be MUCH better than this made me think it would be. I was scared they'd rely too much on cutaways and never have actual plots, but the episodes are almost nothing like the pilot. And since that's a good thing... yeah, the pilot is fine, but I'm glad the show is different from it

5/10

Episode 1:

It does a good job at showing off the personalities that were outlined in the pilot (Moxxie is insecure and angry, Blitzo is careless, Loona is mean, Millie is energetic), but other than Moxxie, I think they could have done more by using smart dialog to define and show their interactions. They're still very 'one-trait'. Also goes a bit deeper into how the imps work which was cool to learn. I really like the jokes in this one! The bits of lore they give us was also appreciated. However, I think it's the less memorable of the episodes so far. It's a good average episode: they do what they're meant to, there are good jokes, but other than Moxxie's development, nothing about this episode will stick with you - there's not much to it other than the basic plot. So much so that this is the one people talk about the least in my experience. The character interactions are a bit deeper, but again, nothing stands out about it and we don't learn that much about them. It probably aged poorly as well, it was much better when it was the only ep but now it doesn't reach the standards set by the other eps. Good average ep, but you won't think much about it once it's done

6/10

Episode 2

This to me is where the show truly shines. Not only was it beautifully animated, it has everything that makes Helluva Boss great: good characters trying to survive each other in a shit yet interesting environment. Stolas and Octavia steal the show and it does a full 180 on Stolas, turning him from a horny slut to a caring dad that is trying his best (albeit, still horny). Octavia is a beautifully written character, as they manage to make a teen emo daughter that isn't annoying or obnoxious, but even make us feel for her as the family falls apart in a believable way. All the characteds (other than Loona) FINALLY get the deeper personality exploration that I think lacked in the previous episodes. The interactions they have with each other do a great job at a 'show, don't tell' and you actually start liking them more after this one as they get more of a personality. Learning about Blitzo's past and the clown character are also great plot points. This episode is pretty much flawless and everything about it is great: the interactions are deep and well written, the personalities shine, the plot is interesting, you feel for the characters, it's funny, it makes you feel and all the characters are incredibly likeable - with no one being in the wrong and just making us see different perspectives from layered characters. I cannot praise it enough so just know it's perfect. The only bad thing about this ep is that it sets such a high stardand other eps might look worse in comparision. And if that's the only bad thing you have to say about an ep, then it's pretty damn good

10000/10

Episode 3

Another amazing episode. While not as heartfelt as Episode 2, it's still very charming and memorable with GREAT character moments. Millie gets some much needed screen time that finally shows another side of her as a caring yet badass wife. Drunk Moxxie was especially funny and props to the va for the golden delivery of his lines (for real, the sounds he makes are amazing. And who could forget the I aM nOt A pOsSuM line. Iconic). Loona finally gets an episode focused on her, so now all 4 main characters have gotten better. The episode has many good points, but the interactions between Loona and Blitzo as their relationship gets more defined and sets up more mysteries about their past are GREAT. Again, amazing 'Show, don't tell' stuff that makes you feel for dad and daughter that struggle together to love each other as such. They also managed to portray a teen crush and a protective dad without making them annoying or obnoxious. A lot of cute and angsty, memorable moments between them as well as great Loona development as she becomes more vulnerable. It almost outshines the main plot of Blitzo's ex, but she's a good character and their banter ties up with the blitzo/loona plot so you never forget what is going on and it all comes together nicely at the end. Beautiful father-daughter angst and a great portray at the struggles they face with adoption. Probs the funniest ep to date. Verosika is another great character and I hope she shows up again. Honestly, no major complaints

10/10

Here's to hoping for another great ep!

[magnumdays]

OTP PROFILE GAME!

rules: answer the questions about your favorite ship (all time or current) then tag other people to do it too!

SHIP AND FANDOM: So I’ve shipped a lot of things in my life but my most constant for the past two years or so is Thomas Magnum x Juliet Higgins from CBS’s Magnum PI. So shockingly, that’s what I’m going with!

MOMENTS:

What were their first impressions of each other?

Juliet: Obnoxious, freeloader who has no money or brains or prospects. 

Magnum: British, stuck up, beautiful, kick ass...annoying her is going to be so much fun. Too bad her dogs are evil. 

A moment you think that both/one of them will remember forever about each other: 

For Magnum, I’d say when Juliet "drowns” in the ep. “Blood in the Water” and he brings her back. I think that moment and what his life would have been if he hadn’t been able to resuscitate her will always haunt him a little. (But that’s just my shippy brain...)

As for Juliet... I think she remembers everything but maybe Magnum telling him _he knows her _when she’s about to go kidnap/ torture/ kill the guy who might have intel on her (dead) fiance’s killer and then talked her down when she was about to kill him.

A moment you think that both/one of them wishes hadn’t happened:

 Weirdly the first thing that comes to mind is Higgy’s face when watching Magnum hold his dead ex. I think because she knew sort of what that felt like (to lose someone you thought was going to be your future - even if Hannah betrayed him long before the start of the series) one of her big regrets might actually be that she/they weren’t able to prevent Hannah’s death. Writing that, it sounds kind a messed up but I think Juliet just wants as little pain as possible for Magnum and that moment was definitively painful for him.

I think Magnum just regrets not asking Higgy to be his partner sooner...

What is Their Moment for you?

_Their Moment _as in the moment I began shipping them or their moment when the characters “knew”? Because I basically shipped them from the pilot. 

As for their most shippy feel-y moment... maybe from the crossover episode. It’s for sure one of my favorites. When Magnum proposes a toast to "us” for having saved the day and she tells him that it’s not a competition and if it was “McGarett wouldn't come close” and he points out that not all office romances fail. The looks and feels in that scene is just off the charts.

Then again, most scenes with them are so IDK, it’s hard to pick one moment!

LIFE QUESTIONS:

Marriage? If yes, who proposes?

Maybe. They both have been engaged to other people pre-series so having them at least get engaged by the end of the series would be the best. I’m hopeful for a proposal in the Ferrari, maybe Magnum has it all planed out and Juliet figures it out and he has to do it on the fly... 

Magnum. It’s canon now.

(Well it was for two episodes).

Children? If yes, if one had to stay home with them, who would do it?

I hope we’d at least one kid this in-show, be it an actual Miggy kid, just some nephew coming to stay or a case related ‘take care of the baby’ one but I’m not sure. Both of them are pretty great with kids so they’d have one at least. As for childcare, I’d think they’d take turns or just recruit Kumu as a nanny so they can go off solving cases and saving the world together.      

Housing? Where do they live together?

I’d love to see Juliet moving into the guest house after much debating on where they should live. It would also be interesting to actually see them get a place outside of Robin’s nest to really call their own. At the same time, who’d give up living in a beautiful mansion for free? 

Pets? Do they get a pet together?

No. I mean, they do have a goat for like five minutes (Ellie, you are missed) but I think they’d just stick with the Lads (even if they occasionally try to snack on Magnum...)

PERSON A & B…

Who would kill/remove the spider and who would leave it under a cup and leave the room?

   I think both of them would be too busy saving their latest client, bickering or just all around not caring to pay attention to the spider. If it got too up and close with Juliet she’d def. take care of it though... 

Who sings all day long and who gets so used to it they don’t even hear it anymore?

I think the singer has to, predictably, be Magnum. Even if we did get Juliet doing a karaoke number... 

Who can cook a gourmet meal for two and who can maybe use the toaster?

Higgy can cook it but would probably never do it. Magnum makes breakfast everyday and with impressive skill (he can use much more than just a toaster, as long as it’s breakfast foods being cooked).

Who wakes up before the sun rises and who would sleep in until 2pm if they didn’t have an alarm?

This one is easy. Juliet is the early bird and Magnum sleeps the day away.

Who is more affectionate/touchy?

I want to say neither and both. But I’m going to say Magnum because... well just because. But I feel like outside/ in public / even among friends, they’d be pretty low on the PDA. They’d both ‘cuddle’ like pros in private though...

Who wears the other’s hoodies/shirts?

OMG now suddenly all I can think of is Juliet in Magnum’s favorite Hawaiian shirt. 

Wait! 

I'll be right back...

Give me just one second...

There we go...

Oh no, why do I suddenly have the need to go write a fic in which this actually is a thing?! Urg. No. I’m just going to put it in one of my WIPs. We’re not starting any new fics this week. Nope. No.

Who said/ will say “I love you” first? 

Maybe a little controversial, I’m going to say Higgins. Because she has more baggage, her actually being the first to say it fits better and would be more satisfying. Also I think they’d be together a good bit before any I <B U are spoken...

[kittmoon]

Breath of the Wild: A Cannonical Timeline of Events Leading up to the Calamity (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of a three-part post laying out the cannon timeline of events in BOTW that led up to the Great Calamity. A while ago, I typed up a timeline to use as a reference for BOTW writing in my Google docs, but I figured it may be useful to other people who struggle with the same slog of remembering what happened when.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Reminder that this is a long post, and that all events that are listed are taken from:

The original 13 memories

The separate diaries of Zelda and her father

Zelda’s research journal

The Champion’s Ballad DLC, which includes additional memories + diary entries from each of the four champion pilots

Masterworks/Creating a Champion, which discusses things like specific routes taken upon Calamity Ganon’s return.

KEY

🔸Rigidly Cannon

🔺Some Interpretation Needed

🔹Mostly Interpretive

🔸Subdued Ceremony

This is a ceremony for Link’s official appointment as Zelda’s knight. This can really be told from anyone’s perspective. Keep in mind that different characters will feel different emotions regarding this ceremony - no champion here feels the same.

🔸Revali’s Flap

I actually love this scene, because it shows just how much “being a Champion” can affect people differently. Revali and Link are polar opposites here.

🔸Resolve and Grief

The purpose of Link and Zelda’s outing is debatable (🔹) - they likely are on their way to Goron City, considering the next event(s) in the timeline, but they may also just be out doing research. It’s up to the writer. Their conversation during this scene is rather isolated from whatever their goal is, so it doesn’t really matter.

🔸Daruk’s Mettle

Before this scene, it’s stated in Daruk’s training journal that Link helped Daruk figure out piloting by simply shoving him into the divine beast and letting him explore it on his own. Although Link doesn’t show much emotion here, it’s important to have the underlying knowledge that he and Daruk are good friends.

🔺More Shrines are Uncovered

It’s around this time that more shrines are being discovered - relics of the battle 10,000 years ago. Purah’s theory is that the Hero of Legend is destined to access the shrines in preparation for the Calamity’s return, possibly with the Sheikah slate. That said, I truly don’t know why Link was never given a shot at opening the shrines himself. This could merely have been because Zelda was too afraid to give him the chance to accomplish yet another thing that she couldn’t. There’s also a possibility that Link did try opening the shrines and it still didn’t work (in which case, why did it work 100 years later? - a possible theory via Zeltik on YT). Edit: I recently put together a theory that explains how Purah and Zelda didn’t understand the full mechanics of the slate/shrines/towers. Check it out to get a better idea.

🔸Zelda’s Resentment

How did she get away from Link long enough to make it to the Anciet Columns? I have no clue. I’ve read that she simply left while he was packing up camp, another story said that she slipped him a sleeping drug. Writers, man.

🔺Link Gets Into Gerudo Town with Urbosa’s Help

Cannon, but not delved into. Urbosa states in her diary that she told Link “a way” to sneak in - it can be assumed that she meant cross dressing, but it can be whatever the writer wants. Maybe she just told Link about a secret passage into town. Regardless, however he gets into town, he doesn’t find Zelda.

🔸Urbosa’s Hand

Urbosa lets Link know that Zelda has come to Vah Naboris, and he makes his way there (not quite sure how he climbed the thing). Urbosa takes the opportunity to tell Link about Zelda’s struggle to conquer her powers, and when finished, she orders Link to guard the Princess with his life. This is Urbosa, mind - while they’re all technically on the same level as “Champions”, Urbosa is definitely Link’s superior, spiritually if not literally. This adds another layer of necessity to Link’s duty - not only to protect Zelda, but to stop the Calamity.

🔸Blades of the Yiga

Again, it’s unknown how Zelda got away from Link. Either way, Zelda regards this event in her diary as a relative turning point in her relationship with him.

🔺Zelda Apologizes to Link

This presumably happed soon after, although what she says and how Link handles it is entirely up to interpretation. Keep in mind that she isn’t just apologizing for constantly abandoning him and making his job harder - she’s apologizing for assuming he was shallow and obnoxious, and has the mindset of trying to get to know him better.

🔸A Premonition

A big battle theoretically took place before this scene, but Link only came away with one major wound - do with that as you may.

🔸Silent Princess

Personally one of my favorites. Zelda is at Peak Dork here. Link’s emotions could honestly range from crushing and bashful to beyond annoyed - up to the writer.

🔺Mipha Completes the Lightscale Armor

A bit tragic, yeah. To her credit, it does fit Link perfectly, even 100 years later. She plans to propose to Link when he next visits Zora’s Domain.

🔸Mipha’s Touch

Even more tragic. Similar to Daruk’s Mettle(🔸), keep in mind that Link and Mipha have a long history of knowing each other, which can be hard to remember since Link is mostly unresponsive in this memory. Mipha’s POV would be interesting here, especially since she intended to propose properly and ultimately didn’t.

🔸Shelter from the Storm

This is an interesting scene to write for a few author’s I’ve met, because in this memory we see Zelda actively ask Link a complex question. Although the memory fades, Link presumably responded - with what? That could range wildly. (🔹)

🔺Link Opens Up to Zelda

Link admits that the burden of the sword requires him to remain impassive on the surface. This conversation may have happened during the previous memory.

🔸Father and Daughter

Zelda’s emotions are pretty straightforward here, but Link’s aren’t nearly as clear. If anything, this scene shows that although he has opened up more to Zelda, he still knows his formal place. This is the last time Zelda ever speaks to her father, as he dies when the Calamity hits.

🔸Slumbering Power

Zelda openly questions her faith here. Angst is high. She honestly just needs a hug. Once again, there’s a cliffhanger - Link turns to look at her, obviously switching from his duty of being turned away. Why is up to the writer. He’s been listening, so what does he think?

🔸To Mount Lanayru

Zelda turns 17 the next day. She and Link return to the castle before journeying to Mt. Lanayru - this is where Zelda inputs her final entry in her diary, and where she has her dream about a woman looking at her through the light. She continues to question her faith.

🔺The Champions See Link and Zelda Off

Urbosa, Daruk, and Mipha all met Link and Zelda at the foot of Mt. Lanayru to see them off on their journey to the Spring of Wisdom. Revali doesn’t join them, saying he’s busy but will likely meet them on their way back down. We see him there with the others before Calamity Ganon returns.

[forgotten-daydreamer]

in defense of Allura

Disclaimer: I do not accept any kind of hatred under this post. I expect all readers to act politely toward those who don’t share their opinion, and I expect you to expose your own ideas respectfully. Toxicity is forbidden on my blog. I don't hate any character, and this is just an analysis. Anything that stimulates a mature debate is welcomed, as long as you do it politely. Thank you!

The time has come. Long enough I’ve dwelled upon the choices that the writers of VLD have made, especially in the last seasons: in this post, I’ll focus on the decisions concerning Princess Allura. 

We were introduced to Allura in the pilot of the show, and it only took a few minutes- should I say doboshes?- to understand her overall personality. The Princess stumbled out of the pod, disoriented and confused, and only an instant later- the time necessary to snap out of her groggy state- she defended herself against a possible threat, being Lance in this case: she physically overwhelmed him with only a few rapid moves, her grip on him steady. Everything about her body language and verbal language screamed “strength”, in the following scenes as well. As she remembered about her father’s death, and about her homeplanet Altea being destroyed, the initial shock faded rather rapidly, and in a few instant she recovered from it. This doesn’t mean that if she hadn’t done it she would have been weak, not at all; it means that Allura, being a leader, knew how to put her feelings aside for a better situation, in order to better focus on the mission at hand.

It’s immediately clear to us that she wasn’t minimally interested in Lance’s advances: she considered him as a teammate, and later as a dear friend, but nothing more than that was  shown in the first seasons. When Lance got badly injured, she didn’t seem too worried- though she immediately jumped into action to secure the perimeter. A couple of episodes later, when Lance exited from the healing pod, she spoke to the teen kindly, relieved that he was alright. Yet, this is not a sign of being in love: all of us would be happy if a friend of ours who was at risk was said to be finally out of the woods. 

Allura was very practical, focused on her mission: she wanted to save the universe at all cost. At the beginning, her continuous arguments with the paladins may have given the impression that she was annoying and too strict, but she was simply driven by passion and desire to prove to everyone, herself included, that she could do the right thing for the universe. Though she never made it explicit, it was obvious that Allura cared about the opinion that the others had about her (even when she simply insisted on thanking the Arusians) because she tried to overcome her own insecurities by making herself as useful as possible to the cause. Even when she “just” flew the Castleship, she always offered her support and ideas to improve training, strategies and team bonding. 

Throughout the seasons, we learnt that Allura had the tendency to blame herself, like when she thought that the Galra were tracking the team through her, for example. Allura also threw herself into battle if it meant saving the others, like when she pushed Shiro out of the way and ended up prisoner, or when she saved the Balmera and risked her own health, pushing herself too far to do the right thing and help the innocents that she couldn’t protect during the 10’000 years of absence. So, according to the evidence we had collected in the first seasons, Allura was selfless and caring, despite everything. 

And then, just when we thought we’d seen it all, Allura became the paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron (I’ll talk about this event in Lance’s p.o.v. in a different post, don’t worry). She was uncertain at first, but ready to dive head-first into the battle, willing to learn and improve her skills. Being an Altean, she immediately connected with Blue, and everything seemed rather easy; though at the beginning her piloting skills weren’t the best, she learnt in the matter of a single episode, and if you don’t consider it quick learning, then I don’t know what it was. Added to that, Allura was also talented, “progressing a lot faster than any of [the other paladins]”, as Lance said some time later.

When Keith confessed his Galra lineage, her attitude towards him was childish, but it was how someone would have normally reacted in a similar situation. People often have a hard time accepting someone that is unwillingly part of a group whose members caused them any harm; it’s one of the principles of racism, and that’s a synonym of ignorance as well. Human minds work like that, because we all tend to associate trauma with a certain group of people, or day, or any other input: it’s despicable, and sadly most people think like that. Luckily for all the Allura stans (me included, though I stan all the main characters of this show) she overcame this issue quickly. What I like about it was that she didn’t brush it off, but she apologised to Keith in person, evidently mortified for her behaviour, and after that she moved past it, accepting her friend and overcoming their differences happily. Mature people apologise, while childish ones pretend that their mistakes didn’t happen: by making amends for her mistake, Allura showed us just how mature she is for a 18/22 year-old (we do not have an official age, so my guess is as good as yours). 

Things seemed to be going well for her: she learnt how to better manipulate quintessence, she gave Keith space when he needed to find Shiro after his mysterious disappearance, she learnt how to better pilot her Lion and so on and so forth. It was all going well, until Lotor’s arrival: then, it all started to go downhill.

Lance became inexplicably obsessed with her again, and at the same time, Lotor slowly  manipulated Allura. Now, I don’t personally like Lotor since he willingly commits genocide for his own purposes, but I will not dwell further on the topic for it’s not my main discourse now.

Lotor tricked the Princess into believing him, she played into his hands, blinded by love. Mind that when I wrote “love”, my left eyebrow rose impossibly high. In fact, Allura had never shown to be interested in love; surely enough, she was romantically (and sexually, apparently) interested in people as we have witnessed, so the possibility of a love interest wasn’t odd at all. It was just sudden. Too sudden, for my personal opinion. 

The problem I have with Lotura (Lotor x Allura, and I specify because I had to google the ship name) is that it’s based on nothing. The team was wholly against Lotor, except for Shiro who was not himself, quite literally. Allura never gave any impression of trusting people easily: not only when Keith said that he was half Galra, but also when Shiro begged her to trust Ulaz. She was hesitant and not happy about having someone she didn’t trust on board. Thus, her sudden burst of trust toward Lotor was odd, especially when it was quite obvious to most of the audience that the Galra prince was not telling the whole truth. I also wish that we got to see more interactions between Pidge and Allura and Hunk and Allura in s6 and beyond, since they rarely talked anymore despite being on the same team. Even Allura’s interactions with Coran were so diminished in number that they looked like complete strangers in the second half of the series, and it hurt. 

I mark this point as the start of Allura’s downfall: from iconic character to mere love interest, which is not wrong at all per se, but it is when any other trait and development is purposefully ignored and forgotten by the writers “for the sake of the story”.

Thankfully, Allura seemed to recover quickly after Lotor’s betrayal (the scene when she flips him like a coin? Priceless), declaring all of her hatred towards the cruelties he’d committed and how he let her down irreparably. One good thing that Lotor did- and I have to admit that it was good-  was that he made Allura discover new abilities and become stronger, powers-wise speaking. Yet, all of this was secondary to her being a love interest with no other apparent purpose. Why do I say this? Because as soon as she got rid of Lotor, she got together with Lance, and to be honest it’s not quite clear to me how or why. 

I can’t deny that when I watched s1, I was an Allurance shipper; I was sixteen, a hopeless goofball who believed in all the clichés. Now, however, I do realize that Lance’s advances were annoying and obnoxious (and he’s my absolute favourite character, so this shows you just how honest I’m being, hopefully), and that I’m so grateful that Allura didn’t give in. At least, she didn’t do it at the beginning. In the last season, however, she fell in love with Lance in a single episode: when he asked her out, she seemed hesitant and only accepted because Romelle pushed her to give it a try. The dinner sequence was where Allura understood that Lance wasn’t the womanizer she thought he was, but I don’t believe that in reality that would have changed anything. You don’t simply fall in love in one evening only because your date’s family tells you that this person isn’t what they seem; in fact, that would worry me even more, personally, because it would mean that my date is a total stranger.

Lance’s “I love you” was not completely uncalled for, but simply very confusing: he seemed to be over her, but he became jealous when Lotor showed up. I tried so hard to see this as a “protective brother/friend” dynamic, but that sentence leaves no space for speculation (again, I’ll talk about Lance another time). What shocked me was Allura reaction’s to Lance’s confession.

She’d never looked at him with any kind of romantic interest, and even if some scenes may be seen as such (when she resuscitates him. And proceeds to hide it from the team. Yeah, another huge disastrous plotline), it’s undeniable that the Princess had trust-issues, and for a good reason too. That one time that she went against her team’s choice and trusted Lotor a bit too much, she got used and heartbroken. So why was she suddenly so in love with a boy that she’d always treated as nothing more than a good friend? My answer is: bad writing.

If Allura had shown any romantic interest in Lance for at least three consecutive seasons out of eight- to create a deeper connection- I would have taken it without complaining much. If Lotor hadn’t committed genocide and didn’t proceed to use Allura, I would have accepted Lotura too (friendly reminder that I don’t do ship hate unless ships involve rape, pedophilia and incest. So I’m not hating on Allurance and Lotura, though Lotor is a villain and I don’t like him, but that’s just my opinion). If Allura was allowed to be both strong and romantically interested in anyone, I would have taken it. But especially in s8, the writers erased her personality, turning a bright and iconic character into dating material. It wasn't fair to her nor to Lance, honestly.

The last straw was her sacrifice: Allura died to save the universe and since it was her main goal, I’m okay with it, though it hurt as she’s my second favourite character. What I didn’t like about it was that the villains got a happier ending than she did. Lotor, who committed genocide, got to live happily ever after with his parents, a violent conqueror and an abusive hag who ripped the universe apart to be with her son (I get it, mothers love their kids, but this is far too extreme). And furthermore, Lotor didn’t even like his parents, but still for some reason he was happy to be with them again, maybe because at least he got to spend eternity with someone that loves him despite everything. 

Allura, however, died without saying goodbye to Coran, the man who stayed by her side for all their- but also ours- adventures, the one who believed in her the most and who did everything to protect her. She died without getting a last look at the universe she left behind, at the people who weren’t there in her final moments but that cared for her and vice versa (Shay, Romelle, even Krolia. Even the mice, Kalternecker and Cosmo, really). Each character had about a half a minute to say their goodbyes, except for Lance, whose goodbye was the longest but also the least impactful, in my opinion. The writers played too much with the dramatic idea of it and the result was sloppy- as much as I love dramatic scenes, this was purposeless. 

Allura’s last act of kindness- as if saving the whole universe and every existing reality wasn’t enough- was gifting Lance with the Marks of the Chosen. Though, I’m not sure how to interpret it. In a fic I recently wrote, I theorised that “Allura gave you [Lance] these marks because she knew that you had greatness within, and they can actively remind you of it in your darkest moments [...]”. Of course, I’m far from sure that this is the real reason. My question is, was there even a real reason, or did Allura give him the Marks for dramatic purposes? If so, I’m glad that it wasn’t confirmed officially, because at least we get to make our own theories that surely are more satisfying than “we wanted fans to cry more”. Still, I see those marks as scars, and I will talk about it thoroughly in Lance’s analysis. 

In conclusion, I don’t think that Allura was bad at all. I think that, in the end, she was simply badly written, which is entirely different.

s1-s5 Allura was a strong, compassionate, empowering, trustworthy, bright, lovable and fun character and for that, she deserved a better- much better- ending. She’ll always be in my heart, and I hope that future reboots will treat her right. 

I will always remember Allura dearly. As Coran said in the final episode, “Just around this table I see so many lives touched by her actions. For some of us, she was a diplomat, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. But to those of us around this table, she will always be family”. Raising an imaginary glass, I just want to say... “To Allura”.

[plays-the-thing]

The Mandalorian S2: Style Over Substance – A Companion Piece

This is a companion piece to this video where I examine the strengths and weaknesses of the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. It’s a collection of ideas and evidence that were cut for time or focus reasons from the main video. I’ve included both timestamps and quotes of what section of the video each idea refers to. Under a cut for length.

[1:48] Akira Kurosawa, whose movies would be very important in the western genre was very big on complete and realistic sets and effects because it helps the quality of an actors’ performance.

“The quality of the set influences the quality of the actors' performances. If the plan of a house and the design of the rooms are done properly, the actors can move about in them naturally. If I have to tell an actor, 'Don't think about where this room is in relation to the rest of the house,' that natural ease cannot be achieved. For this reason, I have the sets made exactly like the real thing. It restricts the shooting but encourages that feeling of authenticity." – Akira Kurosawa, Something Like an Autobiography

 [2:27] Like the original trilogy, The Mandalorian has its fair share of humor. The sequel trilogy also had a lot of humor, and was criticized for it, but it wasn’t the humor itself that I think people had a problem with, it was how the humor was done. See, in the original trilogy humor never changed or undercut the overall tone of a scene. If a scene is tense humor might lighten or even break the tension but never undercut it. The original trilogy would never, ever, make fun of the plot, character, or scenes in its own movie. The Mandalorian follows this mold of lightening or breaking tension without undercutting the scene itself which also helps it feel like the OT.

Just Writes video on Bathos is a good expansion on this idea. Personally, I find that particular brand of humor, popularized by the Marvel movies, extremely off-putting because it just screams at me to not take the story seriously and that makes it pretty hard for me to stay immersed in it. My three favorite marvel movies are Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and Thor Ragnarok because Black Panther doesn’t really do that kind of humor and Guardians and Ragnarok manage to make it seem natural by genuinely being comedies.

 [7:18] This brings us to Episode 4. Last time I criticized this episode, but I wasn’t very specific, I just mentioned that we were starting to get away from showing and towards telling. Let’s take a closer look.

The first part of this scene, where the kid was being a nuisance, was actually really good. It kind of seemed like it was going to lead into some genuine frustration with him being a nuisance and therefore maybe some drama in their relationship. 

[9:51] Cowboy Bebop is another space western with a strong style and a mix of vignettes and episodes which advance a characters story. But every single episode builds up the themes of the overall story even if the plot has nothing to do with it.

To be fair, not every episode builds up *Spike’s* story and themes, but Cowboy Bebop has four main characters and every episode works towards at least one of the characters’ stories, characterization, or relationships.

[12:20] Mando’s mistrust of IG, when they really have quite a lot in common, speaks to something about his character.

What does it speak to exactly? Well, everyone might have their own opinion about that but here’s mine:

 IG-11 used to be a hunter, but now Queel has reprogrammed him. Mando still sees the droid as the hunter and is adamant that it can’t be trusted no matter how much Queel insists that Mando must trust his work reprogramming the droid as an extension of trusting Queel himself.

Now, why does Mando hate droids so much, and particularly this droid? Well, that’s an open question, but I have my theories. Part of it is the trauma he experienced when he was young, but I think it runs deeper than that. You know how sometimes the traits that really bother you the most in other people are the things that you don’t like about yourself? The IG-11 that Mando met is a lot like the part of Mando that I’ve been calling “The Professional.” IG is efficient and ruthless, just like Mando on a job. They are deaf to moral and personal appeals in the face of a contract. This is also the part of Mando that took the kid to the Imperials in the first place, the part that he conquered and redeemed by the end of the third episode.

But IG has been reprogrammed. Just like Mando, he has changed and now cares for the child over himself. IG even develops a personality, and at one point attempts to tell a joke. But because IG reminds Mando so much of that part of him he had to defeat, he can’t bring himself to trust him. The tension between them persists pretty much up until IG fully demonstrates to Mando that he is there both to care for the child, and for Mando. In this moment Mando begins to really see how similar they are.

This connection makes it hard for him to let IG make his sacrifice, and he even appeals to this by telling IG that he thought his old core functionality was gone. But by reactivating his old functionality as a part of his new core function, IG is also giving Mando a template to incorporate his Professional self into his new self. He shows Mando that those two halves of his self that came into conflict back in the beginning can be synthesized into one new whole. He doesn’t need to reject any part of his identity.

Then the newly synthesized Mando dons his jetpack, fulfilling his only stated desire in the entire season, and defeats a scenery chewing villain to win the day.

But that’s just my interpretation, and I’m willing to haggle over what exact interpretation the evidence best supports.

[15:29] Speaking of Luke, let’s talk about fanservice. Now to be clear, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with fanservice, what matters is what always matters: how you use it.

This also applies to the other two “Trademarked Star Wars Problems” I mentioned in the last video: repetitiveness and hamfisted merchandizing. These things are not necessarily bad. For example:

I would bet Baby Yoda is the most successfully merchandized product since the OT, but there’s nothing wrong with that because they’re part of the story being told. Baby Yoda doesn’t distract from the story, they are part of the story. On the other hand you have Ewoks, which were originally going to be Wookies. I would bet they went with Ewoks at least in part to sell more cute toys…but at least they still sort of work with the story. In TLJ the penguin things are there for no other reason than to be cute and sell toys. Same with the crystal dog. They have literally no purpose in the story, and their obvious and prominent inclusion only to sell toys distracts from my immersion.

Obviously repetition is part of stories. That’s why we have tropes, and the Hero’s journey, as tools for a writer to communicate information quickly. Just from his outfit we know a lot about Han before he ever opens his mouth, same with Obi-Wan. In RotJ, the heroes need to blow up the Death Star again. It’s kind of annoying that we’re literally doing the same thing we did two movies ago, but at least it’s a little different. In TFA Han Solo reassures us that the Starkiller Base isn’t that big of a deal by saying “don’t worry, there’s always a way to blow it up.” This is an example of a character reaching out from the script and telling the writer to change their story because the repetition is getting ridiculous.

[18:32] So…why is it here? Yeah, I know who Thrawn is. I don’t know why Ahsoka does, or why she cares, or why I should care. If the writer had cared about that they would have made her talk to Mando about it so she could give some sort of story or character-based explanation for why she cares, instead of just dramatically saying his name.

I mean I know the most likely reason it was here: to build hype for her solo show, but they could have done that without punching my immersion in the kidney.

[20:20] So it was no surprise that in the end the Expanded Universe’s greatest hit of all piloted his X-Wing into the show. But, I didn’t mind this. They had been seeding that a Jedi would be coming to collect Groghu for a while now, and if you had been running through the timeline in your head you were probably at least half expecting this. It’s foreshadowed well, it’s part of the story, and it triggers our emotional climax.

The reveal is quite well done too. First it’s an X-Wing, then we see a Jedi dressed in Luke’s RoTJ gear but it’s over the security cameras so there’s no color, then we see it’s a green lightsaber, then they clearly show that it’s Luke’s lightsaber hilt, then they finally have him peel his hood back. Each small reveal builds up the suspicion in your mind that it’s Luke until it’s confirmed.

That being said I would totally understand if someone thought it was obnoxious and hamfisted to shove Luke into another story, even though it did work for me.

[29:12] Parts of it even connect back to Mando’s story and character, though not in a new way because it’s mostly a redo of Mando’s relationship with IG last season.

I understand that Mando breaks his rules a little bit more here, but it’s still a riff on the same theme of: Mando has a conflict with a character, the he sees the similarities between between them, and then circumstances force Mando to take his helmet off in front of the character.

However if his arc with the other Mandalorians was functioning properly than this could work as a synthesis of a change in ideology and a reassertion of his willingness to bend the rules, but instead it just comes across as another redo of stuff in the last season. It’s still halfway functional because by this point it’s easy to forget that Mando had a character arc last season and it reminds us of that right before they pull the trigger on his and Groghu’s separation…but redoing the development from last season doesn’t count as a real character arc.

[31:08] There is so much more I could say about all of the bad writing, plotting, and characterization in this season. There are so many things that just don’t make sense, waste our time, or just plain don’t work.

I’m still confused over what the writer was trying to do with the snow planet. Like they crash land there and Mando decides to go to sleep inside his hull-breached freezing ship and the fish chick is like “Mando this is dumb you should fix your ship” and then he just fixes it. What was even the point of handing Mando the Idiot Ball there? Why not just have him fix the ship without trying to commit suicide by hypothermia first? Like…what?

[31:27] Why are you just listing off a bunch of names that mean nothing to us like she’s a video game character telling us where we need to go next?

I want to point out that even though I’m using this footage of Delphine as a reference she’s actually managing to tell you something about Malborn and why he is trustworthy, so it’s actually better than what Bo is doing. Though to be fair the tidbit about “the forest planet” is cute since it will be a deforested planet when we show up, that line needed some character connection to not sound so weird.

[33:13] That’s what the point of Show Don’t Tell *really* is, it’s not about how much dialogue you use or whether a character is explaining something. It’s about using exposition to tell us something about a character at the same time. It’s about putting the camera in a place that shows us something about the character or the action, not just what’s happening. It’s about packing as much of the story as possible into every choice you make.

In Avatar, the way that Zhao tells us about Zuko’s banishment tells us a lot about both Zhao and Zuko. The camera angle here emphasizes Katara standing encouragingly over Aang’s back as he stares dejectedly at the ground (contrasted with Toph’s angry stare) and tells us about the nature of Katara’s relationship to Aang as his teacher and friend as opposed to Toph’s. In the opening shot of A New Hope, the low angle of the camera implies dominance and the length of the Star Destroyer shows us the long reach of the Empire. Every single time Zuko is on screen it is worth paying attention to which side of his face is dominating the shot: scarred or unscarred. Exactly what each side represents is up for debate: I tend to think of it not as good Zuko vs. bad Zuko but more as Zuko’s feelings of obligation to his family and people and Zuko’s obligations to his own sense of what he believes is right and what he needs to self-actualize.

Show Don’t Tell is just a saying. It’s a saying to encourage writers, particularly new or inexperienced ones, to focus on the *art* of telling the story instead of focusing solely on the plot and facts. I am using it somewhat liberally here to say it’s about “using exposition to tell us something about a character at the same time” but since that is about the art of telling stories, and not just a recitation of facts, it does technically count.

[34:32] With television shows and the way they can go on forever, and with how much money there is in going on forever, it seems like they always become a sagging mess at some point. Some of them manage to bring the quality back, but some of them don’t. So to a certain extent, these problems with the Mandalorian are kind of normal for television shows.

I can’t remember exactly where I stopped watching How I Met Your Mother, the last thing I remember is Ted dating some crazy girl and swearing off relationships. I abandoned The Expanse midway through season 2 earlier this year…maybe I’ll go back but boy was I bored. I made it all the way through the Wire. Season 2 had its problems but eventually got back on the right foot midway through or so, but the problems came roaring back in season 5 which it took me almost a year to finish because it was so agonizing.

Avatar is probably the most controversial choice here of a show in which the quality slipped but I firmly believe that if they cut out the second half of season 2 and the first half of season 3 the show would have been much, much better. Most everything in Ba Sing Se is tonally weird and the whole idea of a city with too many rules and bureaucracy is way too complex an idea for this show to tackle. Avatar does tackle incredibly complicated and adult themes for a kids show but in my view this was one step too far. They get Zuko to a place where he’s ready to join the Aang Gang but then have him backslide temporarily. There’s this whole idea of an invasion on the Day of the Black Sun but it would be such a story cheat to allow Aang to beat the Firelord without actually mastering the four elements and so obviously isn’t going to work. All of these things together just make it feel like wheel spinning where the story and characters aren’t actually growing or developing but just being padded out.

Except for “The Tales of Ba Sing Se” and “Appa’s Lost Days” obviously, those are great.

It’s actually pretty funny because the episode before Aang is supposed to fight the Firelord the first time (the Black Sun time) he’s a nervous wreck and everyone is trying out different psychological techniques to try and make him feel better which is…I guess sort of valuable for kids to see that nervousness is normal. But when you compare it to the second time he’s going to fight the Firelord, for real, it’s *so obviously* for real this time because Aang is having a *character* based crisis about the conflict between his pacifism and his duty to stop the Firelord. The comparison of the two is telling in terms of what was going on in the story of each.

[35:03] Now they are spinning it out into not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different shows all based on the Mandalorian. It’s almost gross how hard they are milking this.

Okay apparently they fired Gina Carano so I guess it’s not four anymore. Or maybe it is who knows. Listen, the point is they *intended* to make four shows okay.

[35:06] Thanks for watching all the way through to the end. These videos take a ton of time and effort so that means a lot. Even though I’ve reset my subscriber count to zero now that I’ve criticized the Mandalorian, I will continue to work on the channel as much as I can, so subscribe if you want to see more videos like this.

I promise to always give you my honest opinion.

Also I know I was shooting for one video a month and, well, I still am but these videos are really time-consuming. I want to make sure I maintain a really high level of quality and so sometimes I get halfway through a video, realize it’s no good and have to start over with something else. Sometimes it takes months of rewrites to get it to a place where I’m happy with it. This one came out pretty quickly, it was about 6 weeks from when I started the script to when I uploaded. Hopefully I’ll only get better and more efficient at it as I get more practice.

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs Star Trek: TNG 1x10 - “Hide and Q”

oh, man, a q episode. I'm so excited. I’ve missed that crazy fucker so much.

No Troi this episode? Hahaha, right, because I'm sure the crew will get up to all kinds of shenanigans without their resident counselor (or maybe her actresss just needed a day off?) Too bad, though, I like Troi.

Okay, who has the miniskirt as part of their uniform? I keep seeing background characters wearing it, but none of the main crew. At least, it's gender-neutral, inasmuch as I've spotted both men and women wearing it.

Geordi picks up a force field on the scanners... "It's almost like..."

....the last time we ran into that obnoxious Q guy at Farpoint, Data finishes.

(Riker totally missed that bit, so it's gonna be hysterical watching him catch up.)

Picard: "Not now, Q, damn it!" (is there ever a good time, though?)

I see the show is re-using its SFX from the pilot to save on money.

Q, a floating three-headed cobra attached to a translucent balloon: Hey, wanna let me make your dreams come true?

Picard: NOT NOW, DAMN IT, I'M BUSY!!

so that's what a Starfleet Admiral's uniform looks like with the ridiculous gold trim? WOW.

(love how the music sweeps to a dramatic flourish as Picard and Q stare at each other there)

Riker crosses his arms over his chest, and looks all smug as Q flirts with Picard. RIKER KNOWS. RIKER KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE THIS IS GOING.

so much flirting. so much flirting. I can't keep a straight face.

Q decides to flirt with Riker instead since Picard is Not Buying It, and then kidnaps the bridge crew to mess with Picard

Q is dressed up as Napoleon because of course he is, lol

(Q is literally just fucking with them all because he's bored)

Worf refuses to drink with Q and stares up down while dramatically destroying his glass, #respect

Q puts Tasha in a literally penalty box for threatening him, so much for any female characters in this episode, sigh

oh, wait, she's on the Enterprise with Picard, trying to explain everything and Picard is so sweet trying to console her ahhhhhh my heart.

Tasha says, "If only you weren't Captain", oh no, that girl has some ISSUES with sex and intimacy that this show has only hinted at, but NO PLEASE I DON'T SHIP THIS and Q shows up jealous, WOW, lot to unpack there.

Picard, as a French person, has, uh, issues with Q's Napoleonic outfit, lol, that’s totally why Q chose it

ahahaha, picard and q get into an argument over Shakespeare, I am LIVING FOR THIS.

Riker is doing the thing where he props his leg up on a boulder again, lol

(where is wesley crusher in all this, anyway? no idea)

Riker asks Data a question and Data turns and its Q in Data's makeup AHHHHHHHH SO CREEPY AHHHHHHHH

Q gives Riker phenomenal cosmic power, this is gonna be fun

Data is hesitant to explain that they were being shot at by animal creatures in Napoleonic uniforms because Picard is French. Poor Data.

Picard's like, welp, we don't have to worry about Riker, because Q's interested in him. Jealous much, Jean-Luc?

Watching Riker annoy Q is so satisfying, lol.

oh there's Wesley in his rainbow sweater, finally

Riker uses his new Q powers to save the crew from DEATH then makes a promise to Picard not to use it, even though he could have saved a girl's life with it later when they visit a mining colony and this bothers him.

(I see why Troi isn't around, she would have SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN in a heartbeat.)

Riker is so impressed with the Q, and everyone else - who was there for that fucking trial farce - is like, nah, bro, Q's a bastard, don't fall for it.

Q shows up dressed as a monk now, and encourages Riker to give the rest of the crew "gifts" using his powers

Dr. Crusher startles to hustle Wes out of there but too later - Riker turns him into AN ADULT STILL WEARING THE SAME RAINBOW SWEATER AHAHAHAHAHA (because he wanted to be “a man” and not, you know, a fashion icon)

(Geordi's reaction to aged-up Wes is "Not bad," which is just *chef's kiss*)

Data's like, no, I want no part in this, and quotes Shakespeare, so Riker doesn’t make him play this stupid game

Geordi gets to SEE with his eyes and his first reaction is to tell Tasha how beautiful she is, SIGH

but Geordi makes Riker take it back because he doesn't want to owe Q anything

Rikers gets Worf a girlfriend. I shit you not. They start brawling/making out on the bridge, which must be so awkward for everyone else, and then Worf rejects her, saying he has no place for sex in his life now

(but really this is the equivalent of the drink-tossing earlier)

We are spared Riker trying to grant Tasha's wish because the writers are SHITTY AT WRITING FEMALE CHARACTERS AND IT WOULD BE AWFUL by Riker admitting he's wrong

Picard’s like “no really?”

and then the rest of the Q show up and nab our rogue Q and he disappears screaming

Data asks how Q can be so good at time and space and shit at humanity, and Picard says space and time are easier, and you can see Data's "well, that checks out" shrug

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS EPISODE. WHAT THE FUCK.

don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, but the message got a little muddle with the incredibly convoluted plot, and none of the writers know how to write female characters AT ALL

like STOP SHIPPING TASHA YAR WITH EVERY MALE CHARACTER ON THE SHIP, DAMN IT

this could have been really good if the writers had been on their A-game, but instead it's just cracktastically weird

I think if I were to re-write the episode I would focused on either  the “Riker having the powers of the god” bit OR “Q forcing them to fight to the death on a random planet for his amusement” but BOTH plotlines in a single episode was really a mess

but hey, I am a simple soul, and Q messing with Riker and flirting with Picard is pretty hilarious in my book.

I still maintain none of this would have happened if Troi had been there, though, because Riker would have been “yes, ma’am” and sat the hell down as soon as she looked askance at him.

(still no clue what the title means, though)

[derpcakes]

So we watched (nay, Experienced) the BBC/Netflix Dracula series

Brought to us by everyone’s favourite team, Steve Moff and Mark Gatiss, promising to be an innovative and exciting new vision of the classic novel

Boy it was definitely something!!!

First I will say: obviously Moff is not my favourite TV writer and my fam and I did go into this with a bias. I’m happy to report, though, that it’s going to be one of these shows that haunts me forever, because if it had just been bad I could have said “bleh” and deleted it from my brain. But because parts of this were genuinely cool, interesting, and fun, and parts of it genuinely had potential, all the bits that were bad stand out as so much worse and the whole thing feels as cursed as a 500 year old undead count. 

Things that were enjoyable and well put-together:

Van Helsing has been gender-swapped into a vampire-hunting nun and her cat-and-mouse game with Dracula is rife with belligerent sexual tension. I was ready to hate this, and ready for like, Sherlock and Irene Adler 2.0, but their dynamic was actually pretty fun to watch! Their power balance is kept even throughout most of the show, and Helsing is never struck down because of ~womanly failings~ or infantilised. She’s consistently really clever and, even if there are some cringey one-liners, I found her and Draccy’s playful quest to murder each other one of the most fun parts of the show. It could’ve been better, but it was enjoyable! (I also like how Helsing isn’t Young and Hot, but is a capable older lady, and her actor and Draccy’s even seem about the same age. Amazing)

The second episode is a spooky murder mystery/horror mini-movie on a ship, with a cast full of interesting characters who all had different things going on and different relationship dynamics that were compelling to watch. There’s even an interracial gay couple! And they’re like, written pretty sympathetically and to be layered and flawed in ways that didn’t feel too stereotypical! And they don’t die first!! Wack! I understand the bar is on the ground, but it’s still worth a mention

Some fun with vampire lore: Draccy absorbs knowledge and traits from people he drinks blood from (which is how he learns languages. Get Duolingo, dude, stop eating people), leading to the intriguing suggestion that myths like “vampires will die in sunlight” and “vampires are afraid of holy symbols” have kinda become real to him even if they don’t literally work, because he’s swallowed so many people to whom these superstitions and beliefs were law. I’m sure this isn’t the first time this has been done, but groundbreaking or no it was kinda neat

Things that were not enjoyable and well put-together:

EVERYTHING ELSE

Episode 1: a weird speedrun of most of the original novel, feat. weaponised nuns and a weird fixation on whether or not Jonathan Harker and Draccy boned. They did not. Dracula pops out of the body of a wolf and he’s Whole Ass Naked. Him and Van Helsing have a power play where she stands just on the threshold of a convent and calls him a little bitch, knowing he can’t come and get her. A knife is licked. 

Episode 2: aforementioned cool ship horror story. Definitely the best ep. It really makes me think about hbomb’s critique that Moff is pretty good at doing standalone stories (and pilots), but when things are tied into a bigger narrative things get zonkers. 

Episode 3: Things Get Zonkers!!

Let me just. Okay. I have the most to say about this one because this is where things really got batshit. And yet, also really boring? How does that figure? Anyway:

Dracula emerges from under the sea and finds that 123 years have passed and he’s now the star of a Modern AU. Upon setting foot on British sand he is immediately accosted by what appears to be an anti-vampire task force. There’s a helicopter. It is later explained how they knew to pounce on him at this exact moment, but holy god it was wild to watch the entire British Secret Service descend on this one wet bastard in a suit

The editing shifts aggressively in the direction of Sherlock. Mark Gattis is there playing an amazingly annoying character. There’s a fuckign.... Underground Secret Society devoted to studying vampires and they put Drac in a Designated Glass Prison for Smug Geniuses (also as seen in Sherlock). Van Helsing is dead but her great-great-grand-niece is played by the same actress and. Okay. Van Helsing, vampire hunting nun, possesses her descendent and rises through the ether to roast Drac one last time, and he’s DELIGHTED TO SEE HER AGAIN. 

And she has cancer, right, so her blood is poisonous when Draccy tries to bite her, but in the end, right, the end of the episode, right, the final shots of the show, he comes to a place where he’s willing to die, and she’s already dying, and so he drinks her blood and they die together on a table while cinematic metaphor vision shows them having sex in the middle of the sun

There was a badly CGI-ed vampire baby. Jonathan Harker falls from a tower and a scene later they flash back to this event by reversing the footage of him falling down, meaning we just see him go VWOOP up through the air, bouncing off the wall on the way. Van Helsing says the words “come boy, suckle” when she’s goading Drac into drinking her blood. The show sits in a weird middle ground where the characters talk about sex a lot (”dID yOu HaVe sExUaL iNterCOURSE with COUNT DRACULA?”) and Drac is clearly meant to be super magnetic and sexy but the characterisation and cinematography is not horny at all. People have these sexy-type dreams of their lover of choice when Drac is drinking their blood but even those are very boring and weirdly chaste, except of course for the final one where, if I  can take the chance to remind you, Van Helsing and Dracula have symbolic Mind Palace sex inside the centre of the solar system

I can’t speak too much on its quality as an adaptation since I actually haven’t read the book, but splitting the story so that some characters (the Harkers, Van Helsing) existed in the time the story is set, and some (Lucy, Dr Seward) exist in The Modern AU felt very strange. Was there any reason to set the third episode in modern times, apart from the fact that I guess they wanted to do their Sherlock thing again? Or, perhaps, because they wanted to do their Jekyll thing again?? Oh my god, that’s what the editing reminds me of - the small clips of Jekyll I’ve seen. The zooming. The slow-mo. The emphasis on The Monster Man’s weird goddamn teeth

(Also, I don’t really feel qualified to dig too deep into it, but I will say there felt something a bit uncomfortable about Lucy being black in this version, while also being written to be very promiscuous and vain. idk. Also, since it happened in an ep of Sherlock as well, “weedy white Nice Boy rescues the Very Cool woman of colour he has a tragically unrequited crush on” is now an official Moffattis trope)

Count Moffatula is an experience. Its pacing is buck wild. The speeding through the original plot and the mish-mashing of elements in the Modern AU section feels like another expression of contempt for the source material on Moff’s part. Someone says “reality is overrated” in a show set in the 1890s. Draccy quotes a Beatles song. He also makes quippy allusions to having eaten various famous figures and basically winks at the camera every time. Granted, this wasn’t as obnoxious as I was maybe expecting, but there are still too many lines of dialogue where you think “oh, the writers high-fived each other after they wrote that one, huh”. The fact that Moff has such vitriol against fan fic writers is more and more grating every day because this is so, so clearly a zany-ass fanfic that he happens to be getting paid for. The costumes are nowhere near as nice as they could have been, and Dracula’s cape looks like his mum made it for him for the school play in which he is playing Dracula. 

This show is So Much. Watch it to share in this fever dream. Or don’t, and save approximately 5 hours of your life. God. 5 hours. Who was I before Count Maffatula. Who am I now. Why was his cape so bloody ugly. Why did they bone in the centre of the sun

[spaceorphan18]

The Pam Beesly Files: Pilot (1x01)

Welcome to the Pam Beesly Files! 

Tagging @ckerouac in every single one of these cause she convinced me to start doing this! :D 

I’ll be digging in and exploring one of my favorite fictional characters of all time - Pam Beesly(-Halpert).  Something I really enjoy about Pam is that, unlike a lot of sitcom characters, Pam grows and changes over the years.  She starts off meek and quiet - a bit of a pushover, but grows up and gains confidence and really blossoms into her own person, which is really quite cool.  

Kicking it off with the Pilot.  I don’t think it’s the strongest pilot -- the show, in trying to play it safe, nearly copied the British version of the episode, but in doing so lost a little in translation.  Despite the fact that the show takes a while to really get on its feet, there’s a lot to dig in her, so let’s get started! 

Introducing Dunder-Mifflin

When we first meet Pam, she’s sitting in her usual spot at reception, having to endure an overly out of control (because of the documentary crew) Michael.  (As an aside - I’m curious as to why this documentary wants to film a failing, mid-western paper company, but maybe it’s a life piece or something.)  Pam, as we’ll learn as we get to know her, is not an outgoing person.  In fact, here at the beginning, she’s down-right timid, constantly drawing in on herself.  I love Jenna Fischer’s acting choices here -- she physically closes in on herself to seem even more meek and withdrawn.  

This whole documentary crew is a rather disruptive thing, and I get the sense that Pam doesn’t really want or need to be filmed -- the opposite of Michael Scott, who is going overboard in his performance for the cameras.  Was Michael a good boss before putting on a show for the documentary? No, not at all, but he’s even worse when he has an audience.  

Pam mostly just endures Michael as he plays it up for the camera, just as she probably endures him every time he comes up to reception, which is probably more often than a normal amount.  If I had to guess - based on future interactions, any time Michael needs attention, she might be the first place he stops, though he gets frustrated with her, cause she’s not a good audience member.  Later - her relationship with Michael will change, but for now, she just waits in mostly awed silence until he’s gone.  

Since this is an introduction, we do learn a little about Pam’s life at Dunder-Mifflin.  She’s been with the company for a while (my headcanon is three-ish years putting her in her mid-ish twenties).  And that Michael used to think she was hot. 

About that second thought, when we meet Pam, she’s got somewhat of a frumpy look (and that’s intentional!).  The cardigans, button down shirts, and pencil skirts are business attire, but not anything more or less.  I have to wonder that when Pam first started working there (as someone who was freshly in her twenties) she did dress nicer -- but then after a lot of unwanted comments, purposely downplayed her looks.  But there’s more to that, too.  She’s settled in a relationship that she’s content but not necessarily happy in, and therefore it spills outward into her appearance as well.  

After the introduction - Pam attempts actual work, and Michael just kind of throws an important fax back into her face.  She’s bewildered and frustrated that he continues to act like a child and not an actual boss -- but the fascinating thing is how she keeps everything buried.  She is livid with Michael -- for laughing at her, for not taking anything seriously, for literally throwing actual work back at her face, but she contains it, and it doesn’t quite get to surface level but it’s most definitely there.  

One scene in - and we can already see how much Pam is restrained in her interactions -- there’s a lot waiting to leap out, but it’ll be awhile before anything can really be pulled out of her.  

Corporate Meeting 

Jan comes to the office to warn Michael about possible downsizing.  Pam’s in attendance at the meeting -- mostly because Michael probably enjoys the idea that she’ll be his assistant in such things.  She doesn’t have a whole lot to do here - except position herself out of the excruciatingly awkward conversation Jan and Michael are having.  She has a mild, horrific look on her face the entire way through -- knowing that everything Michael is saying is bad, but not feeling it her place to say anything at all.  

The only time she speaks is when Jan asks about the agenda, which Michael had thrown away earlier.  Interestingly, Pam is honest about what happened to it -- that Michael tossed it into the trash, and uses his own wording against him.  Pam won’t currently speak out against Michael, she’s too scared to rock the boat, but she can push back with actual honesty if nothing else.  

Downsizing

Our next Pam scene is our first Jim and Pam scene!! And we can already see there’s a stark difference between a Pam who is on camera having to deal with Michael, and Pam who doesn’t know the camera is on her, speaking to her bff.  

But first - I want to mention that before this, everyone else is discussing the possibility of downsizing.  Everyone else in the office is worried about their livelihood, and what steps they should be making for job security.  Pam (and Jim) don’t have such concerns.  Not only are both of them younger - and still of mind that they have time to ‘get out’ of such a meaningless life, but Pam (as we’ll later learn) doesn’t think downsizing is the worst thing that can happen to her. 

Instead - Pam asks Jim about going to Angela’s cat party, and the two both share a giggle over it.  It’s the first time we see Pam not only smile in the series, but also look like she’s got one genuine thing in her job that she cares about -- her friendship (relationship) with Jim.  

As an aside, I’d also like to note that Pam’s a touch sassy about the whole cat party thing.  The two of them are slightly judgy of the others, thinking they’re above the settled (and ridiculous) lives of the rest of the office.  

Talking Head

In her first talking head, Pam admits that she’s fine being let go.  In fact - you get the impression that she probably dreams about being let go or how she’d storm out if she just up and quit - but beyond the fantasy of that, she hasn’t thought about her future much.  She states that it’s not many little girls’ dream to be a receptionist, and that’s probably true.  But it also seems like she hasn’t put a lot of thought into what her own ambitions are.  What did Pam want to be when she grew up? Well, not a receptionist, but that’s as far as she’s gotten. 

She does have a hobby, however, as she says she likes doing illustrations and watercolors.  (It’s a nice touch by the filmmakers to include her carefully whiting something out during the monologue.)  She may or may not have other interests or hobbies but this is the one she holds onto.  She also feels the need to bring up that Jim thinks they’re worth something.  Because not only is Jim’s opinion incredibly important of her - his finding value in her creative side seems to validate her as well.  Pam doesn’t have much self-esteem, but Jim finding worth in her is something that she clings onto.  (Now she’s just got to discover it for herself! Because we’ll learn -- Jim can’t be her only source of positivity in her life.)  

I’d also like to mention that she not only doesn’t bring up Roy here, but his opinion doesn’t seem to matter much on the subject either.  Not to mention, he probably doesn’t give her much encouragement when it comes to such things. 

Six-Million Dollar Man

Michael’s still being obnoxious - doing impressions for the camera.  Pam really just wants him to go away and stop bothering her.  After doing the Six-Million Dollar Man, Michael claims that that’d be a good salary for him and suggests he get a raise.  Pam mutters that they all deserve a raise -- to which Michael grows serious and annoyed with her.  Pam isn’t one to push back very often, and having been pressed too often, I’m sure things like this spill out, which seem to spoil Michael’s mood, but are very truthful.  Pam’s a little stunned with herself for expressing an honest emotion, as well as Michael’s petulance, by the end of the scene.  

Conference Room Meeting

In an attempt to calm people’s fears, Michael calls a conference room meeting to talk about the possibility of downsizing (though he really just wants an audience for his supposedly good management skills).  A point of notice - as we go on in the series, Jim and Pam will usually be seated together for these things, but I believe this is just about logistics more so than anything related to the story -- Jenna Fischer had lines, John Krasinski did not, hence they were not seated together. 

Anyway -- Michael tries to lie about the possibility of downsizing.  In her most passive-aggressive move yet, Pam (still very meekly though) tells the rest of the office that since she was in the meeting, she can tell them what Corporate said, and thus undermine everything Michael is talking about.  It totally throws Michael under a bus, and she knows it, but once again, she’s hiding behind the guise of brutal honesty.  It’s the little things she can get away with that she’ll do.  She won’t outright confront him on his shenanigans, but there are still simple things she can do to get back at him. 

Also, another point of mention is that during this scene, she’s biting her nails.  Now, this really isn’t going to be a thing I see with her going forward -- apparently it’s a tick for this episode that Fischer (or the director) added just for this episode -- but it’s another physical reminder of how inward and insecure Pam is at the beginning of the show. 

Mixed-Berries and Jell-O

We get a talking head with Jim where he states that one of the useless things he knows is Pam’s favorite flavor of yogurt (which is Mixed-Berry btw) and when the doc crew asks Pam about it, she gets all happy flustered and giggly.  Why? Because it’s another sign that Jim notices her.  And really - no one else in her life, personal or professional, really notice her.  It’s one reason she’s drawn to Jim -- he seems to really (like actually really) care about her, what her interests are, what hobbies she has, etc, etc, and has used that to form a connection and a bond with her.  She doesn’t really have any other (seemingly) friendship or relationship with anyone else.  But (for reasons we’ll get to in a moment) she really tries to pretend it’s just a silly thing between the two of them, and not the emotional affair that it really is at this point. 

Meanwhile, we get a jump on Jim-pranks, a staple (ha pun intended) of the show, when it’s revealed that Jim put Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O (again).  Yes, Jim’s first and foremost reason for doing it is that he’s bored and Dwight bugs him and he gets a kick out of it.  But a nice side effect is that it entertains Pam.  She is the only one giggling as the whole thing unravels (the rest of the office really would just like to work without the shenanigans) but it’s another way Pam and Jim have bonded -- they share the same sense of humor. 

Roy

So, we have another spy shot of Jim and Pam up at reception. A little detail I love is that their hands are close to each other, not touching, but if you looked quickly, you’d think they were holding hands.  Anyway, Jim’s asking Pam to come with him for a drink with the rest of the office -- and Pam’s pretty cool with the thought at joining.   They’re super flirty and giggly with each other just as the scene opens, and you’re supposed to get the idea that they’re probably already some sort of couple until we get the twist of the scene in a moment.  

Here we get the introduction to Roy -- Pam’s fiance who works in the warehouse.  Fascinatingly, the moment Roy comes in, Jim jolts away from the desk, putting a lot more space in between them.  Pam is pretty oblivious to what her actions mean, but Jim is well aware that he’s treading on dangerous ground, to the point of possibly crossing the line by asking Pam out for a drink (though he probably already has in other ways).  

Roy, we learn, is kind of a brute, and uncompromising when it comes to putting his own feelings above Pam’s.  Pam would like to go out for a drink - does Roy want to go? Nope, okay then, and Pam is shut down.  Why? Well, for one - Roy is kind of /that/ asshole is blind to his own selfishness that he doesn’t realize he’s suppressing Pam.  (There’s also some hold over class stuff from the British version here that doesn’t necessarily translate as well with Roy being a blue-collar worker vs Jim being a white-collar worker.)  

Mostly though, Pam just isn’t her own person right now.  She let’s Roy kind of dictate her life because it’s easier than always fighting with him (and is slightly self-sabotage because if she pushed back she would have to wake up to the actual state of her life).   But also - she’s letting Jim dictate her happier emotions - letting his feelings for her dictate her own self-esteem.  Eventually, she’s going to learn to be her own person, but that’ll be awhile.  

Anyway - Pam gets a talking head where she explains a bit about Roy -- they’ve been engaged for three years, with no wedding date insight.  She’s happy to talk about Roy at first, until the camera lingers on her a little too long, and her face falls.  She’s trying to present that she’s happy in her life when, in fact, she’s really not.   I’d also like to point out that she does not light up when talking about Roy the way she does with Jim.  She likes Jim and has fun with Jim -- Roy is just another obligation in her life.  But she’s made a commitment, and she doesn’t take that lightly. 

I have some personal headcanon for the whole Pam and Roy thing -- in that they knew each other in high school, and Roy, probably a popular jock, took notice of her.  As I said earlier - people don’t notice Pam, and she somewhat clings on to those who do.  So, being young, they probably dated a little - and since he was popular and she wasn’t, she probably thought his coolness rubbed off on her.  And then they went through their college years (though I don’t think either of them went to college) and after nagging him about their future, he finally proposed and it’s been in this unmoved, content state since then.  

(As a personal aside - there’s a joke in there that if Pam had married Roy, she’d be Pam Anderson.  And I’m epicly rolling my eyes.  I kind of hate that, like, the only famous Pam anyone knows is Pam Anderson, so this joke seems to keep being made.)  

Prank

So, Michael, in an attempt to show off to Ryan the temp, decides to pull a Punk’d-esque prank on Pam and fake fire her.  It’s deeply uncomfortable -- especially since Pam has a breakdown right in Michael's office.  And we can learn a few things here!  For one, Pam’s a pretty decent worker.  Despite being bored all the time, she does take her job seriously, and does a pretty decent job of it.  And, she hasn’t so much as stolen a paperclip.  

On top of that, her job and life are in a very stable state right now.  Pam doesn’t do well with upheaval - it’s one reason why she hasn’t broken it off with Roy yet.  And Michael throwing her a curveball upsets the nice, little life she’s crafted for herself.  Remember earlier when she said she’d be fine if she was let go?  Well -- turns out that’s not so much the case.  What is her life without her job? Not a whole lot…  

But also, she’s endured Michael’s shit for years at this point, I’d be close to breaking down, too.  Interestingly, though, when she finds it’s a prank, she storms out and calls him a jerk.  It’s rather tame by comparison to what she could do -- such as be very cruel and/or angry, or be assertive and go to HR about Michael.  She doesn’t do either, she just leaves.  Michael is a terrible person to her - she has every right to complain and get angry, but eventually, like everything else that happens to her at the moment, she’ll let it slide off.  Just another day in the office. 

Heading Home

Jim was supposed to be going out with the rest of the employees out for drinks, but instead, he’s waited to walk out with Pam (which I assume they do nearly every night).  Pam’s happy to see him -- especially since she’s had her break down of Michael firing her.  It’s a relief to have a friend in such an awful working environment.  They’re both aware of the camera, however, so they’re both playing things a little cool.  Jim’s obviously concerned that Pam’s been crying, and Pam is grateful that someone, again, notices her -- but neither are going to present to a camera what they’re trying to hide from themselves.  

Jim offers to walk her downstairs, but Roy’s already down there, noisy honking his horn for her to hurry up.  Such a classy guy, that Roy.  And Pam takes off -- just another day at Dunder-Mifflin. 

Overall Thoughts

The first season, in general, I think is a little rough.  And the pilot is a direct copy of the British version -- which is grittier and more pathetic in a lot of ways.  I don’t think that much of this particular episode because I think it’s a softball of what the British version is.  (And, I’m not even a fan of the British version -- oops.)  That said, I think one thing it does have going for it is that it has some fully fleshed out, three-dimensional characters, which is a nice change from the zany sitcom character we often get on American television up to this point.  The Office will eventually fall to sitcom cliches, etc, etc, but one of the few things this first season has is that it does hold a lot of realism about it. 

Deleted Scenes and Extras

-There’s an alternate joke when Michael is introducing Pam where he states that every guy in the office has sprayed on Pam. 

-There’s a whole bit where Michael comes up to Pam, who’s sitting and eating her lunch, and discusses the health of his balls.  It’s gross on multiple levels. 

-There are two commentaries on the DVDs for this episode - and both are enjoyable to listen to, I recommend checking them out! 

-I’ll probably blug this once a season, but Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey started a podcast called The Office Ladies, which they discuss the episodes week after week.  It is an utter delight, and if you’re at all a fan of the show, an interested in a bunch of fun BTS stuff, it’s totally worth it! 

[shadowbanki]

I’m gonna start writing my fanfic about my Animal Crossing island 🤔

Here’s the summary I have

———

—PREMISE AND PLOT—

Moondrop Island is a tiny uncharted island somewhere in the northern Caribbean Sea, originally inhabited by only furries—two-legged talking animal creatures! Furries are not found anywhere else on Earth, aside from tiny uncharted islands. A long time ago, furries and humans coexisted. But furries eventually were mistreated. An elder furry with magical powers erased all humans’ memory of them, and they all fled to small uncharted islands, hidden by mystic forces. There were no humans who knew of the existence of these furries, or of these seemingly mystical islands, until a small boat sailing from an island in the Bahamas in got into a shipwreck during what was supposed to be a three-hour whale-watching tour. Everyone on the boat survived, and miraculously washed up on the gently moonlit shores of Moondrop Island 2:00 that morning. Tom Nook takes in the castaways, gives them homes on the island, and lets them pay with a spontaneous form of currency he comes up with—Nook Miles. He offers the Nook Miles as a reward for improving the island. In the meantime, he and everyone else are putting together all their knowledge and trying to build a GPS that can track the island’s location in the world to lead the castaways back home. However, since the furries cannot go back to the human world and show themselves to people, that would mean... they’d have to say goodbye forever...

—CHARACTERS—

Pastell Sugar (Original character (self-insert) Age- 22 Birthday- February 4 Favorite song- My Place Very naive and expressive, animated, eccentric. Can be quite moody. Some may say Pastell is annoying. Pastell’s moods can come in as many “colors” as the rainbow. Pastell is creative and likes to make the mundane things exciting. She also likes to exaggerate things. Pastell likes to create things such as art or decorations, and pretend she’s doing magic in the process. Pastell gets along well with Haku, and Pekoe. Rodeo is her snack buddy. Haku Yowane (Vocaloid) Age- 24 Birthday- November 21 Favorite song- Stale Cupcakes Haku is wistful and emotional, and at times dreary. A bit of a crybaby. Likes music, but is too shy to perform in front of others. She has a plush cat named Snowbell that she carries around everywhere. She gets along quite well with Pastell and Goldie. Haku is a very caring person who likes to help with her friends’ problems. However, she can be hard on herself a lot. She also likes writing stories and poems. Before ending up on Moondrop, Haku’s friends back at home were Miku, Neru, Luka, Kaito, Akaito, and her older brother Dell. Rhona Aequor (Original character) Age- 24 Birthday- March 10 Favorite song- K.K. Bossa Stoic and mysterious. Appears strict, but is misunderstood. Actually a very kind person. A lover of all things related to water and the ocean. A marine biologist. Loves fish and marine creatures. She is very fascinated with Flo and Sly, who are both marine creatures... but as furries. Rhona loves to swim, and is a free-diver. Rhona is calm and collected... usually. She can go nuts about fish and can spend hours at the museum, either looking at fish exhibits, or chattering with Blathers. Back at home, she has a girlfriend, Nagisa. Rhona often thinks and worries about Nagisa, longing to see her again and to let her know she’s safe. Nico Yazawa (Love Live!) Age- 22 Birthday- July 22 Favorite song- K.K. Bubblegum Nico is a dweeb. But she still thinks she’s better than you. Nico is quite self-centered and troublesome. She’s usually the one causing the most drama out of the group. She especially doesn’t get along with Luana... at first, anyway. Nico wants to be the biggest pop-star on the island! (Sorry, Audie.) And soon, the world! But Nico has very bad luck and things keep on getting in her way! Such as tarantulas! Nico actually gets along well with Vladimir, because they’re both too short to be taken seriously. She ends up keeping a talking pet tarantula in her house named Terry. Back at home, Nico’s friends are Maki, Eli, and Nozomi. Rin Hoshizora (Love Live!) Age- 20 Birthday- November 1 Favorite song- Rockin’ K.K. Rin is cheerful, energetic, and the life of the party. She is spontaneous and likes animals a lot. She even has her own catchphrase, much like a furry... it’s “nya!” When Rin discovers furries, and the fact humans mistreated them, she feels angry at humanity. Rin gets along great with Audie. Rin is usually the one throwing all the parties on the island, and organizing the fun sport and game events. She is usually filled with energy. But deep inside, she can be quite emotional. Back at home, Rin’s best friend is Hanayo. Her other friends are Kotori, Umi, and Honoka. Luana Kai (Original character) Age- 23 Birthday- July 7 Favorite song- K.K. Adventure Luana is a fearless, impulsive daredevil. She leaps before she looks, and she’s brave to a fault. She can be obnoxiously brash. She’s also the one who got everyone into this mess... Luana was the captain of the small boat, When the storm came, she refused to turn the boat back. Luana is a huge tomboy and has always dreamed of being a pirate. She likes the ocean as well, and has a intriguing fascination with geography and geology. She doesn’t know a thing about technology, but her knowledge goes to good use with making the GPS. Nico and Luana are rivals. Back at home, her friends she left behind are Umiko, and her older sister Oliana. Teto Kasane (Vocaloid) Age- 21 Birthday- April 1 Favorite song- K.K. Stroll Teto comes off as weird and hyperactive. She likes memes and uses them a lot in conversation. She is often called annoying. However, Teto is an awkward and modest girl who just isn’t that good at making friends. She is often cheerful and likes to help people. She can be clumsy and sometimes doesn’t know what to say and is awkward. Teto has a big appetite and likes to bake and cook, especially sweets. Teto gets along well with Bettina, who understands her well. Back at home, her friends were Gumi, Gakupo, Meiko, Rin, and Len. Octavia Scherzando (Original character) Age- 25 Birthday- October 30 Favorite song- K.K. Fusion Outgoing and charismatic, yet sentimental. The most mature one of the human group. Also the responsible one. The fun “mom friend.” Her hobby is music. She plays the electric bass and piano. She also dances. Rumor has it that she once was a school idol back in high school, but she won’t talk about it. Apparently she also used to sing. But something must have happened, because nobody has really heard her sing either. Can her mysterious past ever be revealed? Octavia gets along well with Shep. She keeps a talking black bass in her house. The fish, not the instrument. Back at home, she leaves behind her close friend Aria, and friends from high school, Hibiki, Ursula, Santana, and Ruya. Animal Residents Furries have the same lifespans as humans, meaning they age the same in years. 18 in human years is 18 in furry years, regardless of the species of the furry. Flo the penguin Age- 23 Birthday- September 2 Flo is a mostly laid-back penguin, though she can have quite a temper when it comes to people being unfair. Her hobby is music, and her style is mostly punk. Pekoe the cub Age- 19 Birthday- May 18 Pekoe is a very kind and sweet bear. She can be a bit timid, and sometimes worries she isn’t that interesting. She is a great listener and sometimes can be quirky. Audie the wolf Age- 26 Birthday- August 31 Audie is a very outgoing and expressive wolf. She can be excitable, and uses a lot of language like “fabulous.” She is unexpectedly very tough and can be a “mama bear,” fiercely protecting her friends in need. Shep the sheepdog Age- 24 Birthday- November 24 Shep is a fashionista, and a bit of a hipster. He’s always on top of what’s cool and unique. He talks in a way that’s almost hard to decipher for people who are unfamiliar to his “brand” of “lingo.” Portia the dalmatian Age- 25 Birthday- October 25 Portia is a glamorous and stylish young lady who loves fashion, and may seem a little self-absorbed at times. She doesn’t judge other people based on looks, however, Sly the alligator Age- 20 Birthday- November 15 Sly is an alligator who loves to play and work out. His favorite sport is football (the kind where you throw the ball and tackle.) He also likes to swim. He is always enthusiastic and raring to go, but is very patient and understanding towards those who can’t keep up with him. Vladimir the cub Age- 28 Birthday- August 2 Vladimir is a grumpy little bubblegum pink bear who is never taken seriously because he is small and cute. He is therefore always angry and annoyed with people. He gets along with Nico because of similar problems. He can be kind when not angered... just don’t call him adorable. Goldie the golden retriever Age- 21 Birthday- December 27 Goldie loves flowers and nature, and loves to be outdoors. She is calm, humble, and polite, but can be angered easily by people who think they’re better than others. She doesn’t really get along well with Shep... Rodeo the bull Age- 22 Birthday- October 29 Rodeo is a laid-back, gentle bull who loves things like flowers, snacks, watching the clouds drift by, and taking naps. He gets along well with Pastell for these reasons. He is very relaxed, but sometimes he likes to work out, at the prompt of Audie. Bettina the mouse Age- 20 Birthday- June 12 Bettina is a chipper, kind mouse who likes cooking. Her favorite foods are pasta dishes with cheese in them. She likes to read books, and her favorites are usually mystery novels or classic children’s literature.

—CHAPTERS AND SUMMARIES— (so far)

Pilot Episode- Luana, working part time as a resort in the Bahamas, was the captain of a small tour boat. Rhona was the assistant captain and tour guide for what was supposed to only be a three-hour whale-watching tour... When they headed for a storm out in the open sea, Luana was reckless and refused to turn back, even though Rhona warily advised her to retreat. All the passengers had a bad feeling about it. Pastell was sitting next to Haku, whom she had just met, and had been having a conversation with her. Nico and Rin had just met, and were sitting next to each other as well. Teto was meanwhile trying to make friends with Octavia, the “mysterious pretty lady” sitting in the shade. Her bouncy and hyper personality repelled most people, but Octavia found it endearing... Now everyone was panicking. The intense storm grew stronger, and eventually flipped over and wrecked the boat once it was out in the open sea. The strong current swept away the parts and passengers to a nearby mysterious island… Looking for Snowbell Shortly after everyone is conscious and brought to safety, there is relief that everyone on the boat had survived. However, thoughts in Haku’s mind are racing, and she’s too ashamed to tell the others why. Haku’s plush cat, Snowbell, which she took everywhere, is missing. When Haku came to, Snowbell was nowhere to be found. Snowbell is extremely precious to Haku, and she cannot be without her. Haku breaks down and tells everyone that she is missing her plush cat, and surprisingly, the she is responded to nicely and is offered help. However, Luana thinks Haku is being a crybaby. At one point Haku is about to give up, crying as she imagines Snowbell floating all alone in the ocean, lost forever. But Luana, who initially said Haku was overreacting, spots Snowbell behind some rocks on the beach. Just then, the tide begins to carry Snowbell away. Luana jumps straight into the rough tide and retrieves Snowbell for Haku, even getting scraped knees in the process. Haku concludes that Luana isn’t so harsh after all. Island Improvement and Nook Miles Tom Nook feels there is a predicament, there are 8 new members of the island ad they have nowhere to go, and they need housing, at least temporarily. They have no money to offer, so as leader of the island, he decides to make up a brand-new system of currency on the spot—Nook Miles. They will be rewarded for decorating and improving the island. In the meanwhile, Nook and everyone have to work hard building houses for the castaways. Meeting Everyone An episode where everyone interacts with each other, and everyone gets to know each other. The story of Furries An episode that tells the backstory of the furries, and lore of the furries. Pastell and Haku’s Mystery Island Tour Pastell and Haku win a Tour on a Mystery Island, and meet Audie, a stray wolf furry alone on an island. Pastell and Haku decide to invite Audie to Moondrop Island. Blathers and the Museum Blathers opens up his museum. Rhona’s marine life account of the island The chapter is told by Rhona’s point of view, as she converses with Blathers, dives in the ocean, fishes, is curious about Sly and Flo (an alligator and penguin furry respectively), and observes the rest of the characters going about their day. Luana’s chaotic account of the island Luana and Rhona decide to hang out. Rhona is down-to-earth and calm and collected. Luana is chaotic, wild, and a loose cannon. Luana always runs and scares the fish when Rhona is trying to catch it. Every. Single. Time. The Mysterious Mia Okuda Nico is a fan of Mia Okuda, the mysterious retired school idol with a frilly-gothic image, long black hair, and a deep, velvety voice. When Octavia first comes into Nico’s room, she sees a poster of Mia Okuda hanging on the wall. (Don’t ask why that was being sold in Nook’s Cranny. I know it makes no sense.) “This is one of my favorite idols.” Nico says. “She’s pretty obscure. You probably don’t know of her.” But what Nico doesn’t know that Mia Okuda is actually Octavia back in high school! Nico and drama Nico causes some drama. Teto thinks Octavia is a vampire Self-explanatory title. Bettina and Rodeo’s cooking show Bettina tries to put on a cooking show. Rodeo eats the ingredients. Shooting Stars There is a meteor shower one night. Everyone meets Celeste and watches shooting stars with her. The next morning, mysterious star fragments wash up on the beach. One fragment starts glowing and goes inside of Snowbell, Haku’s plush cat. Snowbell then comes to life, as a real cat. This is because Haku had wished that Snowbell could come alive. From then on, Snowbell is Haku’s pet. Teto’s birthday Teto celebrates her birthday on the island. The Tarantula Incident Nico is terrified of tarantulas. However, tarantulas unfortunately love her. Nico Yazawa has a huge cult following of tarantulas, as she is the most popular school idol in tarantula society... Nico and Luana also don’t get along at all at first. Nico is a total diva, and Luana is a total slob. Nico uses her Nook Mikes ticket at the same time as Luana, and they have to go to the same island. The island is infested with tarantulas everywhere. (Also, please don’t ask how they can do mystery island tours without a GPS, lol) Nico is terrified. The tarantulas however, adore Nico and want to get her autograph, so they climb on her. Nico screams for Luana to help her. Luana fearlessly pulls out her net and attempts to rescue Nico from the tarantulas by just catching all of them. However, the tarantulas see Luana as a threat and run up to her, biting her simultaneously and knocking her out with their poison. Nico faints from the shock (again), leaving her terrrifying tarantula fans to climb over her and steal her belongings as souvenirs. Nico and Luana are rescued and they go back home. Nico apologizes to Luana and thanks her for trying to save her, and they form a friendship from them on. However, Nico accidentally takes one tarantula back with her. She eventually ends up keeping him as a pet. His name is Terry and he can talk. He becomes like Nico’s sidekick and partner in crime. Nico looks to Terry for advice. Bunny Day Madness Zipper T. Bunny comes to the island and hides eggs everywhere. Madness ensues. Grumpy Vladimir Vladimir is grumpy because he’s small, cute, and pink, and nobody takes him seriously. Dreams of home Everyone becomes wistful and starts dreaming and reminiscing of home during a slow, rainy day. A somber, psychological episode to break the pace. Also we get to see Rhona cry. But not Luana, because she (allegedly) never cries. Octavia goes fishing Octavia is taken fishing by Rhona. Octavia only catches bass. (Gee, wonder why.) Wisp the ghost Everyone is doing a test of courage, when they stumble across a real ghost! However, the ghost is much more afraid of them than they are of it... The town tune panic Everyone fights over what the town tune should be. To compromise, everyone puts two notes of their favorite song and make a brand new song out of all their songs altogether. The end result song ends up sounding like a disaster. It gets stuck in the heads of everyone on the island and drives the population crazy. Bonus: Octavia’s backstory The first of the Bonus backstory chapters. We get to see Octavia in high school as Mia Okuda, and finally find out what event made her stop singing... (SPOILERS: It was because she was publically criticized and humiliated because “her voice was too deep for a teen idol’s.” Then she saw all the memes people made about her voice and became too ashamed to sing, or even listen to herself again for a long time.) Finding my voice again The black bass Octavia keeps in her house begins to talk one morning. It tells Octavia that it’s time. With a little help and guidance, the fish is determined to help Octavia find her voice and start singing again. Octavia is a mess at first, and at one point she becomes even more discouraged than before she started, convinced she lost the ability to sing forever, and now there’s even proof. She runs out of her house and sits on a bench, distraught. Flo comes up to her, in a good mood, offering half of her corn dog. Octavia can no longer hide her emotions and starts sobbing. When Flo asks what’s wrong, Octavia tells her everything. Flo ends up giving Octavia sage advice. “Each song is kinda like a journey. When you sing, just pretend you’re the heroine.” Octavia returns to her house, with a new determination inside her. She starts singing again, for the first time in eight years. Nico is walking outside. She’s feeling glum because her ice cream dropped in the pond, when she hears a powerful singing voice that’s undeniably the voice of one of her favorite idols... She runs straight into Octavia’s nearby house to tell her, “Oh my gosh! Mia Okuda is on the island! I hear her singing!” When Nico realizes Octavia was singing, the pieces finally click... Octavia was Mia Okuda all along! Nico faints dramatically and theatrically. Idol Madness With Nico realizing one of her favorite idols was on the island, she feels so tingly, but also overshadowed. Audie also wants to be an idol, so Nico already has competition. Not only that, but Haku is aiming to be some sort of musician of some kind. But she’s so shy that she doesn’t show her face much anyway. But with all the talent on the island, Tom Nook suggests everyone should share their talents in an upcoming talent show and dance party night! The Island’s Talent Show Dance Party Night! All day, everyone is getting ready and looking forward to the island’s big shiny event. Haku’s stage fright Haku has stage fright about performing her music. What is Pastell’s talent? Everyone on the island has such talent. Everyone has their music, Bettina can cook, and Sly can lift weights. Even Rodeo can eat five ice cream cones in under a minute... without getting brain freeze! It seems everyone on the island has some sort of talent... except for Pastell. Just what is Pastell’s hidden talent? Moondrop Fame With all the talent and recent development on Moondrop, word got out to K.K. Slider that the island was one to look out for... to the point where he called, scheduling an appearance! K.K. Slider’s Grand Appearance! K.K. Slider finally appears and gives a performance. Goodbye, Pekoe? Pekoe plans to move away from the island, back to her home with her old family...

[kcwcommentary]

VLD7x03 – “The Way Forward”

7x03 – “The Way Forward”

The end of this episode gives us an explanation for the time skip, but there’s a big problem: That explanation contains a giant plot hole.

This episode is another absolute mess of direction. The writing doesn’t help either. Main characters are given nothing to do while side characters are given the spotlight. The pace of the narrative makes much of the episode feel like it’s spinning its wheels. Character motivations are erratic at best. Most of the episode is either uninteresting or confusing.

The episode starts with the Galra cruiser in space, letting the writers skip over having to think through the logistics of how where the last episode ended got us to the point that this episode begins. There’s a shot of a Galra cruiser main cannon sitting in a cargo bay. And then finally with the third shot of the episode, we’re given some context to be able to orient ourselves with the narrative: The Lions are disabled in the ship’s cargo bay. Somehow, slamming the Lions into the ground with a tractor beam at the end of last episode didn’t just pin them down but also totally knocked them out. Somehow, the Galra were able to remove the Paladins from the Lions since the Paladins have been put in the brig. How any of that happened is not explained.

Lance is the only one trying to examine their cell. Everyone else is just sitting or standing around doing nothing. I guess she’s supposed to be behind where the camera would be, but after a few shots of the whole group, suddenly in the reverse shot, Krolia is standing near the door. It was weird and made it look like she came out of nowhere, or like she had been forgotten to be included in the group in the previous shots. Lance kicks the walls, it hurts, and it’s played for humor. It’s not funny. “Will someone shut him up?” Krolia asks. How about Krolia shut up. I am not interested in her. Don’t introduce a new minor character, have the narrative give her time and prominence while not giving any to most of the main characters, and then have her demand one of the main characters to shut up. It’s obnoxious.

“There’s only one guard patrolling out there,” she says. The visuals don’t match the dialog because the guard isn’t patrolling, he’s just standing there guarding the cell. Patrolling and standing guard are two significantly different activities.

Hunk then asks, “What happened to Coran?” Sadly, I hadn’t even noticed that he was missing. Krolia says, “He must have managed to hide when we were captured.” Since Krolia had to have heard Coran yell that he was joining her to fight the Galra who landed on the Black Lion’s back last episode, that Krolia then came back in the Lion and never wondered where Coran was does nothing to make me like her. “At least we have one ally out there still able to fight for us,” Allura says. I don’t know if there were some technical difficulties recording Allura’s line, but the sound of her voice has an unusually high amount of hiss.

What happens next makes me angry. Pidge reacts, saying, “Are you saying our fate rests in Coran’s hands?” There’s a supposedly humorous camera zoom out from the group, several characters have a supposedly humorous dejected facial expression, there’s supposedly humorous deflated music, and Pidge follows up by saying, “I will help you look for that passage.” This moment is the show trying to be funny by saying that Coran is an incapable person and how absurd it is that they all have to rely upon him. This infuriates me. Coran has spent this entire series working harder than nearly everyone, taking care of all these people. He’s the one who was constantly making sure the Castle Ship was functioning, often with no one helping him. He has always been depicted as someone who is fundamentally reliable and capable. And now for an attempt at humor, the episode assassinates his character.

So, Coran getting trapped behind the door on the Black Lion last episode is paid off in this episode. I’m glad that it’s getting paid off, that it didn’t just happen for no reason last episode, but it still doesn’t work for me. Last episode, his getting trapped was played for humor, but it happened quickly and was never referenced again in that episode. I now wonder if Coran’s quick, “I’ll help too!” and his running off after Krolia only to get stuck behind these doors was added really late in the production of that episode. It felt so out of place then and had no narrative impact for that episode. It annoys me that there were four people on the Black Lion other than Coran, and none of them realized he was missing once he got trapped, none of them heard him hollering for help, and none of them thought to look for him.

I briefly want to talk about how big the inside of the Lions are shown to be now. We’ve had six seasons of these Lions, and while we could assume there was at least a little more space inside than just the cockpit, I don’t remember the show ever showing any of it. The fact that it was never properly established that there was all this space, all these rooms, until now when everyone’s having to live in the Lions, it honestly kind of feels like a retcon.

Coran trying to get out of the room he’s trapped in is played for humor. He’s given a long comedy monologue. It’s funnier than the earlier character assassination, at least. Unfortunately, I don’t feel prepared by the episode for a big humor scene like this. I really want to like it more because all the comical stuff Coran is doing in this scene is decently written, especially his freakout over the sound of the mice coming into the room, but I’m still offended by how the narrative through Pidge demeaned Coran in the prior scene.

The mice somehow open the doors. Given that they’re mice, they couldn’t have physically pried the doors open (Coran, being an Altean, would be really strong, so if the doors could be pried open then he would have been able to do so). The Black Lion has no power currently, so the mice couldn’t have opened the doors by hitting a button on a control panel. The episode does not explain how the mice opened the door. I don’t know why the writers think it’s okay to have things happen without explanation like this. I know the intention is that it be read as funny, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Also, the wolf is hanging out, laying right at the other side of the door. He’s not shown to be laying there in the establishing shots when the camera first starts outside the room before cutting to Coran inside. He’s also just laying there, like he’s been sleeping right there against the door. The space wolf is supposed to be the childhood dog Keith never got to have, but my experience with dogs suggests he would not just be laying there if he heard Coran yelling on the other side of the door and banging on it. The space wolf has also demonstrated way higher than standard dog level intelligence, having rearranged the passengers via teleportation and having attacked the Galra fighter pilots with teleportation last episode, so the idea that he’d just lay here against the door and sleep rather than helping Coran get out of the room is not plausible. Also, if the Galra went into the Lions and captured everyone in order to restrain them and take them to the brig, then did none of them see the wolf?

For that matter, when the Galra broke into the Lions to capture everyone, did the Paladins just let themselves be captured? The last we saw of the Paladins, they were all conscious, so it’s not that the Galra grabbed them while they were unconscious. I can’t imagine the Paladins would get captured without putting up a fight, so with Keith, Shiro, and Krolia here on the Black Lion, was there not a loud fight that Coran would have heard? Are we supposed to assume that he just stayed quiet during that fight? (I think that would be out of character for him.) Are we to assume that the space wolf would not come to Keith’s aid in that fight? Why is the space wolf sleeping here against the door right now instead of trying to find Keith?

So much of this does not make sense.

Also, the show giving this hero moment to the mice reminds me again, especially since we’re in season seven now, that the show wrote more investment and importance into the mice than they did Adam. The idea that the EPs and writers considered Adam to be of such importance that killing him would reveal how significant the invasion of Earth is just isn’t plausible considering how little time they gave him in the show. They solely derived that supposed importance out of him being Shiro’s same-sex “significant other.” In other words, the whole reason they chose to kill Adam is because he was supposed to be important to Shiro. They killed Adam specifically because he was gay.

Coran lifts himself out of the room. Uh… when did the other room have a lower floor than this room? Coran says the space wolf as injured, and he did apparently get injured off-screen last episode. The wolf had been with Pidge in the Green Lion, not here in the Black Lion, so when did he come into the Black Lion? I assume he was looking for Keith? Still, if he saw the Galra taking Team Voltron away in cuffs, wouldn’t he have come to Keith’s aid? If he’s here at the door because Coran is the only one in any of the Lions, why wouldn’t he have just teleported into the room to be with Coran? None of the wolf’s behavior makes any sense whatsoever.

Coran and the mice are outside Black. The mice attack the one singular Galra guard, causing him to freak out and drop his rifle. Coran then slips off of Black, falls, and lands with his crotch in the Galra’s face. Let me say that again: The show has Coran (accidentally, but still) smash his crotch into another character’s face. Getting hit in the face by Coran’s crotch somehow knocks the Galra unconscious, and Coran strips him and puts on his uniform.

Ezor is sitting by herself, looking sad, when Zethrid enters the room to report that they’ve got the Paladins and the Lions secure. Ezor says, “If Voltron survived, do you think that means Lotor is still alive?” Zethrid says that they’re going to find out, and Ezor expresses worry about what Lotor would do to them now if they did find him.

Zethrid then says, “I will always take care of you, Ezor.” She kneels close to Ezor and continues, “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” We then get a little bit of context when Zethrid says, “We just took down a Galra cruiser, and we have the mighty Paladins of Voltron locked in our brig.” If we go by this line, then their being in control of this ship is a very new development for them. It makes me curious how they got the miscellaneous Galra who are fighting for them since the way Zethrid is talking about having to capture this cruiser suggests that Zethrid and Ezor are acting rogue and not as part of the Galra Empire. How did they get followers to help them run this ship and pilot all the fighter craft?

The moment has some romantic undertones, and they’re apparently supposed to be in a relationship here. The episode ending with the two of them seemingly blown up, especially given that the show in a few episodes blows up Adam, made this season look like it revealed four characters as gay and killed three of them by explosion. Of course, season eight has Ezor and Zethrid somehow survive being blown up without any explanation as to how they survived, but without season eight, season seven killing three out of four queer characters is infuriating.

And then Ezor gleefully says, “Let’s go torture some prisoners,” and Zethrid responds, “That’s my girl.” This bothers me on a whole different level. In the very end of the show, Ezor and Zethrid have joined Keith in the Blades of Marmora doing humanitarian work. While there’s a little content with Zethrid next season (and technically Ezor shows up weirdly for a brief moment but never does literally anything), the show does not give any reason for us to consider these two to be redeemed enough that Keith is working alongside. Ezor and Zethrid’s personalities here are villainous, talking eagerly about torturing people. That is not heroic, so it’s unearned for them to be reclassified as heroes working with Keith in the end.

Coran is sneaking through the ship, trying to fake a conversation with a couple of Galra. He doesn’t do well. Out of nowhere, Axca jumps out of a vent and attacks the two Galra.

Back at the cell (I’m surprised that the Galra are keeping all of the Paladins locked in one cell), two Galra open the door. And we see the butts of two characters walk in. There’s a dramatic fast pan of the camera to the shocked-expression of the Paladins that is unintentionally funny because the show thinks that there’s some big dramatic reveal happening here. It’s like we’re supposed to feel surprised because we’re shown the Paladins looking surprised, but because we already know that it’s Ezor and Zethrid, there is literally no surprise in this scene. This moment is given dramatic tonality, camerawork, and music, but there is no actual drama in the reveal.

Lance says, “Hey, you’re the ones Lotor shot into space.” So, we’re supposed to believe that somehow Lance, while in the Red Lion, was able to not just see that Lotor ejected people into space in 6x06 “All Good Things,” but that he could specifically see the identities of who those people were? This is not believable.

Hunk, trying to see if being diplomatic will help, says to Ezor and Zethrid, “I’m glad you survived.” Ezor responds, “I’m glad you survived too. It’s no fun torturing a dead person.” (And again, we’re supposed to forgive them by the end of the series.)

Zethrid demands to know, “Where have you been all this time, and what happened to Lotor!?” Shiro’s confused, and Ezor says, “We’re talking about your little disappearing act.” Zethrid asks, “How did you survive that explosion?” Hunk counters with, “Don’t you know, you were there.”

Hunk does bring up a good point, how did Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid survive the expanding tear in reality and the explosion used to close the tear in 6x07 “Defender of All Universes”? They did not have any ship, at most having a jetpack built into their suits. They couldn’t have gotten far enough from it all to have escaped.

Keith tells them that Lotor is dead in the quintessence field, and Ezor says, “Yeah, that doesn’t really add up, why aren’t you dead?” How does that not make sense to her?

This is apparently supposed to feel like some really tense moment in the episode, but the pace of the episode feels stalled, like the episode is stuck in mud spinning its wheels. Zethrid asks the same questions again.

Meanwhile, Axca and Coran are continuing through the ship without any explanation as to what they’re doing, what their goal is. They’re both hiding behind some of the ship’s structure, but Axca acts surprised to see Coran when she turns around. He asks her what she’s doing here. She says she picked up the signal Team Voltron was sending to Earth and assumes that that’s how Ezor and Zethrid were able to find them. That makes a better explanation for these Galra ships showing up last episode than how last episode leaves us to think they were hanging around waiting. Coran asks Axca why she’s helping them, and she responds, “We don’t have time for that now.” This is such fake drama. She might not have time to explain everything but explain something at least. Something as minor like, I thought Lotor was different than most other Galra, that he could change things, but I was wrong, if things are going to change, Voltron has to make it happen. Having a character say they don’t have time to explain anything doesn’t create tension.

Axca wants to break the Paladins out and help them get away. The show continues to have the Lions be conveniently low-powered to justify not using them as the super advanced technology warships that they are. Axca says they need to create a distraction and establish an escape route. Coran points out the giant cannon that was shown in that conspicuous, yet oddly located, shot at the beginning of the episode. Somehow this cannon, despite just sitting in the hangar, is functional. This isn’t a hand weapon, this is a major cannon that would have to be hooked up to specific ship’s systems in order to function. Those systems would not be in the hangar. This is totally contrived.

Somehow if they blast a hole in the hangar door, it’ll cause other doors to seal, and keep the Galra from being able to get to any fighter craft. Axca tells Coran to free the Paladins, find their helmets and weapons, and that she’ll blow open the hole so that “you and your Lions will be sucked out into space.” I don’t know why this misunderstanding so persistent in the writing of space shows, but the pressure differential does not result in being “sucked out into space,” you are blown out. I know most people don’t care about the difference, but there is very much a distinction.

Zethrid picks Pidge for their “first victim,” to use Ezor’s words. Lance screams and is animated to look in a way that is really jarring. I’m not saying that he can’t come to Pidge’s defense, but the tonal shift that happens is too severe and too sudden. Ezor knocks Lance down easily. No one else really does anything. Keith takes half a step forward, but that’s it. Shiro does literally nothing, despite our having seen how fiercely he’ll fight to protect his people before, like way back in 1x07 “Tears of the Balmera” when he fought Sendak while having both his hands tied behind his back.

Ezor uses her sock head to lasso Pidge and pull her to her. I still really do not like Ezor’s design.

The Galra that Coran knocked out with his crotch regains consciousness, sees that he’s in his underwear, and alerts the ship to “an intruder in hangar one.” There’s a shot of the hangar, and the Lions are rearranged in the setting to now be directly next to the cannon. The shot of the cannon at the beginning of the episode did not include the Lions, so this is an animation inconsistency. Similar to last episode, this one also feels like it was poorly directed. It shouldn’t be surprising then that this episode is the first solo directing work that Rie Koga has done for the show.

Galra show up almost immediately and start shooting at Axca. Why they think she’s the intruder, despite her being Galra, I don’t know. The writers wanted her to be attacked, so she’s being attacked. I guess it’s nothing more than that. This show has never been one that was good at having characters behave logically.

Coran, lacking a helmet, uses the Altean shapeshifting ability to turn his skin purple. A door opens and someone in a full suit that looks like a person-sized Robeast runs into Coran. This show has not given us any kind of explanation as to who all these people are, why they’re following Zethrid and Ezor. So much of what’s in this episode feels so out of place. Coran tries to punch the guy in the suit, hurts his hand, and they walk down the hall and doors shut behind them. Are the doors that shut supposed to be the same doors that opened? The doors that opened were to the side of a hall, looking like doors to a room, but these doors that close are in the middle of a hallway. Again, I don’t know if these poor logistics are the result of bad directing, bad storyboarding, or both, but the episode lacks clarity and precision.

Between fighting Galra and pushing buttons on a display on her wrist, Axca does whatever. The cannon powers up and begins to blast and then the episode cuts to Ezor still holding Pidge by the collar when the ship announces a hull breach in the hangar.

The plan was supposed to be that Axca would have the cannon blast open the hangar once Team Voltron were in their Lions so that they would be “sucked out into space.” No one is in any of the Lions, so why is she blowing stuff up now? Did the writer forget what he wrote Axca to say in her describing the plan?

Ezor, Zethrid, and the other Galra run out of the cell to handle the hangar issue, the cell door slamming shut behind them. Krolia gives everyone their plan: Wait by the door to overwhelm the guard the next time the door opens. It feels absolutely contrived because of course that plan is being established to be undermined. I thought maybe the door would open and it’d be Coran and they’d all jump him, but no, the door opens and it’s the mice. Somehow the mice knocked out the guard and opened the door. When the show writes the mice as being more competent than literally everyone else, something is wrong.

The show spends too much time having the mice tell Allura what’s been happening and her translating for everyone. Everyone just standing around in the hallway watching Allura talk to the mice is totally unreasonable given the situation they’re all in. The mice even tell Allura that Axca is helping them, and that gets Keith’s attention.

Coran is being beaten up by the guy in the armor, who is knocked out by a single punch from Allura, who used her shapeshifting to grow larger. Everyone standing around with a smile on their face while she returns to normal size is so weird. They are all trying to escape imprisonment, but they look like they’re about to wish Coran happy birthday or something.

Keith asks Coran where Axca is, and Coran replies, “I don’t know. Where am I?” He’s bruised and one of his eyes is swollen shut, and clearly he’s having cognitive difficulties. Shiro responds to all this by asking Coran, “Are you okay?” Clearly he isn’t! What is this writing?

Ezor and Zethrid are running down a hallway and look out a window to see the Lions have been blown out of the hangar. Axca scoots through the door into the hall just as it closes. The force of the air is enough to blow the large, metal warships that are the Lions out into space, but Axca is somehow able to move against that force in order to get through this door? That’s not how physics works.

There’s no explanation for why Zethrid and Ezor don’t like Axca now, even though they were all treated the same by Lotor the last we saw them. Ezor explains Axca’s behavior as being motivated by being attracted to Keith. It would be nice if male writers would write female characters without their actions being motivated by being attracted to a guy. Ugh.

This is another moment that reminds me, like several before, why I don’t like these characters. Lotor’s generals were introduced and for several episodes were really interesting. The fact that they’re half-Galra, and thus were subject to discrimination by Galra who believed in Galra-supremacy, was interesting. The fact that Axca, Zethrid, Ezor, and Narti were all female was interesting. But then, these characters got lost in a constant shifting of loyalties. Who they were willing to work for or against changed at the flip of a switch. It made them fundamentally inconsistent, their motivations being effectively nonexistent since they changed at any given moment. There is no core to who they are.

There’s a shot of the Paladins’ helmets and bayards, and the shot includes an animation error. There’s a pink bayard on the table. Allura, despite wearing pink in her Paladin armor, weilds the blue bayard. The bayard that’s colored pink should have been the black bayard. This animation inconsistency shows the absurdity of having Paladins wearing armor with colors that do not match their respective Lions.

Lance, who’s supposed to be looking after Coran per Lance’s own earlier statement, joins Keith and Pidge right at the open door to this room that has their helmets and bayards and two Galra. Coran, who still is exhibiting unusual behavior from being hit by the big Galra earlier, yells at these two Galra. Why Lance stopped and no one else stepped up to look after Coran is senseless. Characters are not behaving like normal, rational people in this episode.

Keith, out in the hallway, closes his eyes and the black bayard starts to glow red. Why does the black bayard glow red? Why red? If Keith is supposed to be the Black Paladin now, why didn’t the black bayard glow purple, which is the color of glowing for things associated with the Black Lion and being the Black Paladin? It makes it feel like the show has abandoned its lore entirely. The black bayard disappears and teleports to Keith’s hand, and he uses it to take out the two Galra.

The show had written Keith to have left the Paladins. He was not a Paladin at all, let alone the Black Paladin. And then he shows up in season six, the clone is triggered by Haggar, and suddenly Keith is the Black Paladin again. There show doesn’t do anything to have Keith or Shiro discuss this. The show completely unceremoniously rips being Black Paladin away from Shiro and gives the position to Keith. It’s offensive.

Keith tells Lance to “lead the way, keep the team together.” Lance questions him, and Keith says he’s going help Axca. Why are they going in separate directions? One, Keith has no idea where Axca is. The best assumption he could make right now would be to think she was near the hangar and is responsible for blowing it up. Since that’s the same direction that everyone has to head in order to get to the Lions, why is Keith going the opposite direction? This episode’s logistics make no sense.

The Paladins all put on their helmets. Somehow Shiro now has his black helmet, despite it not being on the table with the other helmets earlier. Krolia also has her helmet despite it having not been on the table earlier too. Coran and Romelle put on some conveniently nearby space suits. They open a door and jet out into space toward the Lions.

The show has Lance, at the direction of Keith, leading the group now. This infuriates me because its more of the show taking absolutely everything from Shiro. They’ve turned him into a background character. He was one of the two main characters of this show’s first two seasons, and now he’s given less to do than the mice. The EPs wanted to kill Shiro, and while they weren’t allowed to permanently do so, they’ve effectively done so by having him just standing around doing nothing. Again, it’s infuriating.

Some Galra follow the Paladins out into space, shooting at them.

Keith comes to Axca’s defense. Zethrid and Ezor taunt them, reducing Axca to being sexually attracted to Keith. Keith screams, “Can’t we just fight!?” For a situation that’s supposed to feel tense, it only feels silly and ridiculous.

Rather than continue on as fast as they can to get to the shelter of the Lions, the Paladins stop and turn to engage the Galra following them. Hunk wraps a rag or a scarf or some piece of cloth around the helmet of one of them to block his vision and keep him from being able to see to shoot them. Hunk then kicks the Galra into another Galra and then shoots at several Galra with his bayard.

The Galra scatter because apparently Hunk can’t hit them when they’re right in front of him. Krolia jets up behind one of the Galra, pulls a jetpack-style engine off his belt (seriously, rather than have jetpack engines built into their suits, the Galra are using belt clip-on engines), and the show uses an old sound effect from the Jetsons cartoon as he for some reason blasts away from Krolia. Her taking one of his clip-on engines from his belt causing him to then be thrust away from her makes no sense whatsoever.

Pidge gets to the Green Lion.

Zethrid, Axca, Ezor, and Keith continue to fight. There are no emotional stakes to the fight though. The point of contention between these four characters is nothing more than Zethrid and Ezor want to make fun of Axca for her being attracted to Keith. This fight is meaningless.

Zethrid shoulder-checks Keith hard enough to cause Keith to collide with Axca and the two of them to tear through a metal wall, which is absolutely ridiculous. Inside this new room are canisters of something that Keith and Axca look at and automatically know what’s inside. The canisters are explosive. Keith communicates with the Paladins and tells them to shoot his location. Keith grabs Axca, jets past Zethrid and Ezor just as the Lions’ blasts tear through the hull. The canisters are ignited, and there’s a huge explosion. Ezor and Zethrid should be dead. That season eight reveals that they’re not makes it feel like the show is just jerking the audience around.

Keith and Axca jet to the Black Lion. Voltron flies away and lands on some planet that is nearly physically touching another planet while sitting on top of the edge of a disc of clouds. What in the world is this design? The Lions have landed on one of these two planets, and there are broken metal buildings nearby. The Lions can’t sit like normal because they have no power, but of course we have to ignore that they were just shown having the power to spare that four of the Lions all blasted Keith’s location on the Galra ship. It doesn’t feel consistent at all.

Team Voltron is staying inside a cave with a sheet for a door. As I said in my commentary for 7x01 “A Little Adventure,” in 3x07 “The Legend Begins,” Alfor says that the Lions have “an endless supply of power.” The premise of these episodes that the Lions have little-to-no-power is inconsistent with what the show has established about how the Lions function.

“We should probably give them some time to recharge before we head back on our way,” Shiro says. Like last episode, the only thing this episode gives Shiro to do is to state the obvious. It’s infuriating.

Lance says, “Wow, a lot of things really changed over the past few weeks.” There’s nothing that’s presented itself as so different for him to make this comment. The script only has him say it so that the show can have its manufactured surprise moment in fully declaring the time skip. “Weeks!?” Axca asks, so taken aback by Lance’s comment.

Axca says that she, Ezor, and Zethrid made it “to cover on a meteoroid. There we saw both Voltron and Lotor disappear. Eventually, Voltron re-emerged alone. But then, there was an explosion and after that, nothing. That was three decafebes ago.”

Pidge says, “That explains the discrepancy in the star charts in our Lions.” No, it doesn’t. Yes, stars are constantly moving throughout space, and yes, they move really fast, but the amount of time that has passed has not been enough to make their star charts be significantly off.

Pidge then says, “I thought they were off because of our interdimensional jumping, which I guess they were in a way because when you think about it, that must have been the cause of the time slippage between our experience and that of the rest of the universe.”

Here’s the plot hole. Pidge is saying that time passed slower for them during their fight in the rift than it passed for everyone outside of the rift. Coran, Romelle, Krolia, and Shiro’s unconscious clone were outside of the rift. If the universe outside of the rift experienced more time than the Paladins when they were in the rift, then Coran, Romelle, Krolia, and Shiro’s clone should have lived the same extra three years that Axca, Zethrid, and Ezor have.

The show wanted this time skip to make the invasion and fight on Earth happen. But in the process of setting up the time skip, the EPs and writers failed to track the logistics of the battle with Lotor. Through Pidge, the show gives us this explanation for the time skip, but that explanation would mean that Coran, Krolia, Romelle, and Shiro’s clone would not have skipped time like the Paladins do.

Axca tells them that she worked with Ezor and Zethrid to take over a Galra ship that came to investigate Lotor’s last known whereabouts. Is this supposed to be the cruiser they were just on? Is it supposed to be the same cruiser that Zethrid referenced earlier when she told Ezor, “We just took down a Galra cruiser”? Did this taking of the cruiser “just” happen like Zethrid said, or did it happen three years ago like Axca says here?

Lotor’s death created a power vacuum in the Galra Empire. The Paladins knew this would happen since Lotor had been fighting specifically to keep it from happening. The Paladins were so much more interested in fighting and killing Lotor because of his Altean colony that they didn’t bother thinking about the consequences taking out Lotor would have on the universe.

Axca continues that Zethird and Ezor wanted to seize what power they could in the crumbling of the Galra Empire. Axca says, “I knew I had to find my own path.” It’s cliché and does not make her an interesting character. She turns to Keith, “…and it led me to you.” All this set-up for them to have a romance only for it to not happen makes it look like the EPs and the writers of this show wrote the story without any sense of cohesion, direction, or purpose.

Axca then complains about Lotor, “He preached unity, but in the end, he only sought power.” As Lotor said multiple times, the power he wanted was to find a source of quintessence that did not require killing life. Wanting power isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Lotor was very specific about the power he was trying to acquire. The show then redefining that power to dictatorial rulership is a total retcon and character assassination of Lotor. Allura says, “I fell for Lotor’s lies as well.” The show has never even once identified what Lotor ever said that’s supposed to be a lie.

Pidge then wonders what’s happened on Earth in the past three years that she can’t get in touch with Sam or Matt. Allura ends with, “If Ezor and Zethrid became warlords in that time, what else has changed?” The ominous end of the episode doesn’t feel earned because Ezor and Zethrid do not feel any more threatening than they did before.

This episode was exhausting to get through. Too much of it made little sense. The episode engages in character assassination of Coran and continued character assassination of Lotor. The motivations of Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid continue to change depending on the wind. Most of the main characters are given nothing to do but stand around. The episode is significantly reliant on the mystery and reveal of the time skip, but that reveal does not have enough emotional weight. And the explanation the episode gives us through Pidge has a giant plot hole in it. The writing and the direction of this episode continues a clear decline from the previous seasons, which is saying something.

[nadziejastar]

As much as I dislike the idea of Lea, Isa, and Subject X becoming a trio I sort of understand why it's happening. Axel and Roxas were a popular duo in KH2, then Days and Xion came along and turned the friendship into a trio and it was accepted by most of the fans. They're probably hoping for a similar reaction.

I HATE the idea of Lea, Isa, and Subject X being a trio. I don’t mind the idea of Lea and Isa becoming friends with a girl and forming their own trio. I just hated the bad retconning involving their backstory, and the way their relationship was totally ruined to accommodate this new girl. If there was any girl who was going to be a part of their “trio” it would have been Kairi. They had the PERFECT set-up already there. Skuld was 1000% unnecessary. Though I think Ven would have been included in their trio, too.

I’m going to compare a few scenes from the novels with the Secret Reports about Subject X. And I’ll let people make up their own mind about whether Kairi or Skuld would have made a better choice for the role of Lea and Isa’s female friend. Because these passages really speak for themselves:

Isa Was Originally Subject X—But So Was Kairi

As he watched Ven go on his way, Isa commented to Lea in a frosty tone, “What is it with you and picking up stray puppies?” Lea just shrugged.

“I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people’s memories, I can live forever.”

“I know I won’t forget you. Believe me, I try all the time,” Isa replied with a bit of humor in his tone.

“See? I’m immortal!”

“You’re obnoxious.” Lea and Isa looked up at the castle looming over this world. Lea’s mouth curled into a grin.

This is from the BBS novel.

“…You’ll have to sneak into the castle.”

“How do I get into the castle?” asked Riku, kneeling in the sand with a similar expression.

“No, I’ll go.” Axel peered under Riku’s hood to meet his eyes.

“How’s that going to work? Aren’t you a fugitive?”

“I’ll figure something out. You just hang back and watch. The castle’s pretty huge, y’know.” The corner of Axel’s mouth curled in a smirk. “In the meantime, I’ll check on what the organization’s up to.”

And this is from the KH2 novel. Axel feels bad for kidnapping Kairi and tries to rescue her. And there’s a remarkable sense of déjà vu.

“What’s with those jerks!” “It’ll be annoying if this turns into even more of a commotion.” At Isa’s urging, Lea reluctantly got up too.“We’ve got as many more chances as we want,” Isa quietly lectured Lea, starting to walk away. Lea followed after him.“Even though just a bit more and we’d’ve had it!” Complaining as they went, they arrived at a residential neighborhood.

Again from the BBS novel.

Axel sat patiently with his back against a wall. He was waiting for the perfect moment to rescue Kairi.

And the KH2 novel. Now we’ll take the rest of this passage from the KH2 novel and compare it to the Secret Reports from KH3.

If he made his move right now, he wouldn’t have to worry about Xemnas. But what about Saïx? Or Xigbar? Or Luxord?

“The two who stood guard at the gates were researchers themselves, though you wouldn’t think it to see them, massive and barrel-chested as they were. And slipping past that duo was only the first hurdle. It proved one not easily cleared; we were found and tossed out on our ears, time and again.”

He really wasn’t sure he could do this. He may have talked a big game, but he had an awful lot of doubt behind it. 

“On the day we finally secured our entry, we descended the long spiral stair at the heart of the castle to find a dark space below it, lined with cages. There wasn’t light enough to see if they were inhabited, and we were in no position to call out to any occupants within.”

Maybe he was discovering the emotion known as fear.Feeling a sudden presence, he looked up in apprehension.

“Yet we could feel it. A definite presence, there in the black. Terror washed over us, and we immediately regretted coming.”

“…Oh. It’s you.” The big tawny dog was here, wagging his tail at Axel.

“Pluto?” Hearing his name, Pluto jumped on Axel and covered his face in slobbery kisses.

“Aw, cut it out. Do you still smell the king on me?” Pluto barked once, loud and definitive.

“But just as we turned to flee, we heard the faintest of voices.”

Axel had seen Pluto jump fearlessly into a portal to the Corridors of Darkness. And Kairi had done the same. This was no time to hesitate, then.

He gave Pluto a good hug and pressed his cheek against his fur. “Okay, let’s go.” Pluto woofed in reply. Axel got to his feet and headed deeper into the bowels of the castle.

“The urge to run was nigh overpowering, but someone or something beckoned us on.”

Deep in the castle, there was a cage, suspended from the ceiling. Axel peered up at it and called to the girl who had to be inside. Beside him, Pluto wagged his tail wildly.

“There, framed by a tenuous sliver of light, we found her.”

“Kairi?” he called, and at the same time, Pluto barked. Her face appeared from behind the bars.

“It was too dim to make our her features.”

“You…?” He smiled up at her with a hint of a smirk.

“Axel. Didn’t you have it memorized?” Kairi nodded.

“Who was she? Why was she imprisoned here? She had no answers for us. Had no memories at all.”

“Um, well… I’m sorry about before. It’s my fault you’re locked up in here. Just wait. I’m gonna get you out.” Axel opened a dark rift, and Pluto jumped into it a step ahead of him.

“We spoke to her in hushed whispers. That was all the comfort two children like us could offer.”

Then someone else spoke behind him. “I’ve been waiting for you, Axel.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d show up.” His smirk turned nastier as he turned to see Saïx.

“She was an enigma, but I knew I wanted to help her.”

He didn’t take his eyes off the other man as he spoke to the girl in the cage. “Listen, Kairi! Trust me. I’m going to get you out!” Behind him, the portal closed.

“But Lea had other ideas. He was determined to free her.”

“What are you saying…? Vile traitor!” The great Claymore took shape at Saïx’s back. Axel didn’t waste a second grabbing his chakrams. But his body was reluctant somehow.

I don’t want to disappear… But still, it wouldn’t be so bad if I did. Not here.

“We slipped into the castle that day knowing only that we wanted, with all our hearts, to save her.”

Well, damn. That must have been when they were caught and used as test subjects. That’s quite tragic. No wonder Axel felt like disappearing while fighting Saïx. He became a Nobody all because he and Lea wanted to rescue a little girl. But, wait. There’s more.

Kairi sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, and Pluto licked her face. “Do you think Axel’s okay…?” she wondered. Pluto’s reply was a whimper. She hid her face in her knees.

They are coming to help me. Axel… Sora and Riku… All of them. But why are they keeping me here? I’ve seen Axel get hurt twice, for my sake. And I couldn’t do anything. Axel’s saved me so many times, but I can’t help him…So many times?

Kairi caught herself. She’d only met him twice. Once when that other man had kidnapped her, and just now. So why did she get the feeling that he’d helped her more times than that…?

Kairi says she feels like Axel has helped her over and over.

Day 321: My Place

Axel’s always helping me out, so I just assumed he would again. How long has he known about me? Maybe since long before we met in Castle Oblivion. But he told me to think for myself. I was so happy.

Xion’s memories went back into Sora, but they stayed etched into Kairi’s heart. She still feels a heart connection to Axel.

Sora: Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up.

Kairi: I’ve told you before, I don’t remember.

Sora: Nothing at all?

Kairi: Nothing.

Sora: You ever want to go back?

Kairi: Hmm. Well, I’m happy here.

Sora: Really…

Kairi: But you know… I wouldn’t mind going to see it.

Kairi has no memories of her home, but she’d like to go see it.

Axel: Go where? It’s not like we have homes to return to. We don’t exist, remember?

Naminé: Yes, it’s true. We may not have homes. But there is someplace I want to go… And someone I want to see…

Axel: Same here.

Axel definitely remembers his home. As a Nobody, he doesn’t feel like he has a true home. But he still has people he wants to see again. Lea back hurried to Radiant Garden after 3D. Merlin’s house is there, as well as Ansem’s castle. Both Lea and Kairi were returning home during KH3.

Xion: We don’t have any place to run.

Roxas: I know. Heh, I was just thinking out loud.

Axel: Well, even if things change, we’ll never be apart–

Xion: As long as we remember each other…right? Don’t worry, Axel–we got your hokey speech memorized.

Axel: Just checking.

Xion: I’ll have these moments memorized for a long time. Forever, I hope.

Axel said they’d never be apart as long as they remembered each other. And Xion also felt she had nowhere to go. 

Kairi stood on the sand, watching the sun sink below the horizon. “Maybe waiting isn’t good enough…,” she murmured.

“We’ve got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Feels like we’re already friends, you know?”

The final battle involves Lea and Kairi fighting Saïx. This is their first major battle. When Kairi wanted to find Sora, she was gazing at the sunset. While they’re training, Lea looks into the sunset. 

Day 352: What I Must Do

I’ll never forget today’s sunset. Even if Roxas and Axel do, I won’t forget.

And he sees Xion. She never forgot. Kairi’s right there with him. They never have to be apart anymore. She understands his pain. Xion’s name means forget-me-not. Both of their characters revolve around the theme “memory”. And the third member of their “trio” also involves the theme “memory”.

My pilot studies used a handful of subjects, but none possessed the fortitude to endure them. Subject’s memories have not returned, and our conversations remain less than lucid. Upon discovering the tests I’ve been conducting, my master demanded that I cease my work immediately and destroy what research I have compiled. Worse still, he ordered the release of my remaining subjects. Where is Subject X now?

Subject X was imprisoned and had no memories when Ansem the Wise intervened and took them away from Xehanort.

“I trust you.”

Axel let out a low chuckle. “Yeah? Because your heart tells you to?”

“Just the memory of it. But if you continue to interfere, I’ll have to overwrite that memory with everything I’ve learned as a Nobody.”

“…Should I take that as a threat?”

“More or less. Keep it in mind.” Finished with the conversation, Saïx walked away. Axel didn’t move for a while.

Saïx has all the memories of having Isa’s heart, but he has forgotten how to love. His memories only help him injure a heart more effectively. Axel left the Organization, and Isa’s heart lost its purpose and felt forgotten about.

Lea: Now that we’re going back, I’m worried about everything.

Kairi: Well, you don’t have to worry alone anymore, Axel.

Before the final battle, Lea and Kairi look into the sunset together. They are both worried about Isa. And they will both save him together.

‘Dear hare, your virtue will be remembered through the ages. I will take your gift little hare, and I will carry you in my arms up to the moon, so that everyone on the earth may see you and hear the tale of your kindness and unselfishness.’

Because Isa’s selflessness would never be forgotten.