#the ep spoke for itself imo

[dulcewrites]

The way people talk about that scene in ep 9 really infuriates/honestly confuses me. On one hand, you have the people who make fun of it, even though it’s very clear is an abusive/coersive situation. Alicent looks disgusted and so sad. They use it as amuniation against her. Saying things like ‘Rhaenyra would never’. That’s horrible in of itself to say, but it only gets worse when you remember both Alicent and Rhaenyra have experienced being preyed on by older men. Basically implying ‘brave and strong’ women like Rhaenyra would never be taken advantage of (Mind you the people saying this also ship daemyra so self awareness doesn’t come in droves).

Then you have the people, maybe in an attempt to defend Alicent’s characterization, say that it makes no sense. The thing that always confuses me is the silent undercurrent of if a woman gets a modicum of power, that should make her immune to being abused or being a victim of patriarchy. Which is just not true at all. It’s one thing if you don’t like the decision, that’s your prerogative. But I’ve noticed people in the fandom often slip into boderline rape/assault apologia while explaining why they don’t like certain choices (ironically a thing I see people accuse the the writers/producers of). Matthew Needham, the actor who plays Larys, has literally said himself it’s about Larys having power. “It’s not like everytime there is information, this happens. But I think it’s whenever he feels she’s slightly pulling at the reigns, he feels like he needs to put her back in her box.” He does this in ep 9 because Alicent is trying to gain footing and agency without him, without her father etc.

Also I feel y’all forget that larys does have things to dangle over Alicent to manipulate her with. Are we forgetting Larys insinuating that when push comes to shove, he can say it was Alicent’s idea to kill his brother and dad. Like yeah he becomes the lord of harrenhal, but let’s be real, Alicent had more to gain from larys going rogue. That’s why he did it, then says ‘if the queen wants something done’. Up until that point, we can assume their talks/relationship was mutal, or at least Alicent could convince herself it was. Larys cornered a teen girl (in ep 5) knowing she was alone, with little allies. It was never a true meeting of the minds, so him turning out to be a creep was not surprising imo. Plus in ep 7, Alicent says she will surely need a friend like him, with a frankly fearful look in her eyes bc she knows what he is capable of. Another thing he could hold over her. Not to mention, who knows what they spoke about during their talks.

There is a through line of Alicent trusting people or at the very least thinking she can be on equal footing, just for them to flip it around on her*. That doesn’t make her a hypocrite or ‘weak’. It makes her fallible and human. She’s a bleeding heart, and I could be biased but that’s one of my fav traits she has.

*it has been noticed that Alicent takes her shoes off in ep 6 when they have dinner. It makes me wonder if that is how it all spiraled. It either started as a thing she genuinely did because she was comfortable in her room, and he made it some sick thing (like men do). Or there was a ‘buffer’ Alicent could create but it all desenigrated the moment lyonel and harwin dies. In both scenarios it is Larys, the assualter, who ups the ante to get what he wants.

[curejiraiya]

With nothing better to do I've spent the last 3 or so hours thinking about Rainbow Live. I think it actually might be my favorite anime ever.

It hits all the marks. Strong, relatable and brilliant main characters. A cast of male characters who I relate to on a deeper level. Some of the best music I've ever heard in idol anime. A deep plot that keeps you invested the whole way, but also leaves room for your interpretations. Takes on real life issues that actually matter and aren't shallow. Little to no filler, all the episodes move the plot or the characters forward.

I have a hard time picking favorites. For awhile my favorite anime was Ojamajo DoReMi, but despite it's many many strengths I cannot deny that in its 200 ep run there were some less favorable episodes. Then it was Waccha PriMagi. I truly love PriMagi, but it slowed to a crawl during the elements arc for seemingly no reason, and only picked itself back up in the back half. The show desperately needs a season 2, and imo PriPara and PriChan's best seasons were the second one; so it could do so much. But alas.

I feel like Rainbow Live left an imprint on me that I'll never shake. This is one of the first anime that I feel extremely compelled to rewatch. I genuinely love these characters, they live rent free in my head.

It's not a perfect anime. Pretty Rhythm itself has always had some rough around the edges themes. There's an air of misogyny from the writers room that definitely taints a few moments. No where near as bad as Aurora Dream, but still not tasteful. Some of the character designs are rough, they definitely improved with their next series. But their willingness to be real, and not coddle these characters, spoke to me on another level.

Also the biggest problem with the show is Hiro and Kouji are madly in love but they try to say Kouji's straight. Like c'mon. Also all the OPs and EDs are pretty bad. Sorry.

I spent a really long time today ranking all the songs, and I'll post that ranking sure, though without my complex reasoning that I spent hours debating in my head some of the places will probably seem off, but if you have never seen the show and are interested this is my second favorite song (my first favorite is absolutely tainted in bias.)

I cannot deny that the outfits in this show are inherently worse than PriPara's, but everything else in the visuals meets or succeeds it's standard. This show can be genuinely beautiful at times. This song, the choreograpy, the Prism Live, whatever the heck is going on with Kouji, it just pulled me in.

Anyway I could talk a ton about Rainbow Live, it's the best show I've ever watched to it's completion. Maybe I'll post more at some point. (I post about KouHiro constantly but I cannot deny that's from more of a King of Prism perspective; I love King of Prism but it's not a show I'd recommend without knowing your tastes first.)

Finally, here's all of the songs ranked from my least favorite to favorite. (I did this at 6am in wordpad I hope I spelled them all right.)

Least Favorite: Vanity Cologne

Sweets Time Cooking Magic

Blowin in the Wind

Hato Iro Toridori

Rosette Nebula

nth Color

Get Music

Gift

Sevendays Love Sevendays Friend

Alive

Freedom

Cherry Picking Days

Reboot

Little Wing Beautiful Pride

Pride

Dosha Buri Happy

Bt37.5

Favorite: Athletic Core

[softhowerton]

Dennis: I dont want you touching me, at all Dennis literally 2 weeks ago:

[demonsfate]

Okay. Going to give my final thoughts on the anime. Since I have finished it in One (1) day. And whilst I live reacted to it, I wanted to give some straightforward, clear thoughts of how I felt - and my thoughts on some of their,,, Decisions. I guess you can consider this a “review.”

THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS ABOUT THE ANIME!

I didn’t like it.

That makes me sad, because I REALLY did wanted to like it. Especially give it was an adaptation of the third game, my childhood favorite! The first Tekken game I ever played when I was just a wee babby! It makes sense for them to make it about 3 first, given that 3 was the best selling Tekken game (and the best selling fighting game in general, iirc?) so - of course they’d want to bank on that success. And more people are familiar with Jin as a main character, given he’s been one for longer, and in more games than Kazuya was - who is mostly seen as the antagonist (or in 7, when he is the main focus - he’s still antagonistic.) Tekken 3 also had bitchin aesthetics. Just really the badassery of the 90s. Biker designs, the red / black color schemes, the pumped music, the awesome roaster of characters. Unfortunately, I don’t think the anime translated this aesthetic very well. We didn’t really get any of the biker designs (kinda wish they used Jin’s yellow jacket design instead of just giving him an Original with that hoodie) the anime is very vibrant and colorful as opposed to the actual game it’s based on. And Eddy wasn’t even there, and some characters used their updated designs rather than their TK3 ones. (See Xiaoyu, and Julia)

The pacing of the show was really weird, and honestly - it needed to be longer than 6 episodes. It feels like they really drag out Jin’s backstory - like it takes 2-3(?) eps for the tournament to even begin. Which, yes -  I actually wouldn’t have mind this completely. Given that I think you could make Jin’s backstory really interesting. Hell, maybe you could even do an entire show about it. But... it was just mostly boring in the anime imo. And Harada claimed that Jin’s backstory was always “shrouded in mystery” and here we’ll get to really dive into it, and find out things we didn’t know before. But we never did. Everything that was shown in his backstory, we already had knowledge of in the games. 1) He was raised in a forest, 2) His father wasn’t present, and he was raised by a single mother. 3) That mother taught him to fight. 4) Momma is “killed” by Ogre, and Jin has to go to Heihachi (lol) for help. Like the only new things we got were things that were either not that important, or we can already figure. Like the new things we had was Jin got bullied (lol) and it’s confirmed that Jin did went to public school during his childhood. That’s really it.

And then when we do get to the tournament, it feels too rushed, which contrasts how Jin’s backstory felt too dragged out. Like there are fighters there who we never even see them really compete - or even say a word. Like Anna, Marduk, Yoshimitsu, and Kuma. I believe there were more, but my brain’s not exactly working rn. But you know, it’s kinda weird for a show about a tournament, neglect to show the... tournament lmao. I’m sure if nontekken fans who watched the anime would’ve been interested to see a fight with a LITERAL BEAR when the show spoke of him. But no, they couldn’t be assed to show us a LITERAL BEAR fight. Even though that’s something which makes Tekken more unique compared to other fighting games.

I also wasn’t a fan of the anime style. Which, I shouldn’t go off too much about, given that everyone knows this already as this was something I criticized early on. But the triangle bloom/shad was unnecessary, and very distracting. I still can’t for the life of me understand why they made such a decision. The style itself is too generic anime looking, and not very unique. And because of how generic anime it is, some characters didn’t really look like the characters. Jin and Jun for example didn’t really look like their game counterparts. Jun was too motherly and plain looking in appearance, and Jin had too much of a baby face and the excessive bangs he has does NOT help. Also, for some reason, they made Heihachi the hulk in this show?

And since I brought up characters, I guess I’ll move on to my problem with the characterization. I had a problem with a few characters. So, I’ll start with Jun. I didn’t have too much issue with her. But her pacifism felt too... overbearing at times. Which this just may be my own personal opinion, so... not sure how much this can count as legit criticism. But I just found myself finding it to be too extreme. I get the whole “not stooping to others’ level” and “being the bigger man” but Jin was literally being bullied (and presumably beaten) for WEEKS???? I think the fact he managed to not snap at them for that long is an impressive feat. And yes, I know Jun also said know when to stop when you’re fighting against someone. BUT LIKE. THEN LATER THAT NIGHT, A KID’S DRUNKEN FATHER CAME THERE, AND BASICALLY THREATENED TO CUT OPEN HER SON’S THROAT WITH A BROKEN BEER BOTTLE??? And Jun gets mad at Jin for simply smiling after she knocked the father on the ground. And then forces Jin to apologize to the kid that’s been beating on him for weeks. For anyone who’s been bullied, or abused would find zero (0) satisfaction in this scene/lesson. I mean, even Steven Universe knew that sometimes you do have to fight, and hurt people when they hurt you. Or other great pacifist characters such as Superman, or Vash the Stampede (who DEFINITELY hurt people - but never fatally hurt them.) Because sometimes people really, really do deserve it. And it is satisfying to see someone get what they deserve when they’re a literal abuser, or attempted murderers. I think what would’ve saved Jun’s pacifism is if it was actually emphasized that it can, at times, be overbearing. And that Jun is overbearing because she feels immense guilt for failing to save Kazuya, so now she wants to make sure his/her son never goes down the same dark path.

Oh, yeah! Let’s talk about Kazuya, then! Absolutely horrid. I don’t mind Kazuya being the bad guy of Tekken, actually. I’m fine with it. As I said, it was a pretty bold, and unique choice to make in Tekken 2 when it first came out. But what I do mind is him being evil from the beginning. The fact they call him “pure evil,” and the way they portrayed him throwing Heihachi off a cliff... lmao. Giving him that large, crazed, sadistic grin. When in the first Tekken, Kazuya just has a simple smile on his face - one that doesn’t even look malicious. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with Kazuya smiling after killing his father in the first game. His father was a literal abuser who threw Kazuya off a cliff when he was 5. Kazuya has every right to be happy about killing his abuser - that doesn’t make him evil. But as I’ve already stated, this show seems to be against violence even if it can be Justified. Kazuya shouldn’t be evil from the beginning, it should be something that he descends into. Also, I don’t think they even mention the fact that Heihachi threw Kazuya off a cliff as a child. Really, I thought they should’ve included Kazuya more in the story, even if he’s “dead” - elaborate more on him in flashbacks. Because hey, that’s one thing we actually DON’T know about Jin’s backstory in the games: How’d his parents fall in love? Maybe had Jun explain that? Because in the way he’s portrayed in the show, it doesn’t seem like Jun could EVER fall for Kazuya. So, it’s really weird.

Jin’s character was okay. He was too expressive for my tastes given how Jin behaves in the games. So, therefore I personally saw emotions as something Jin just struggles with. BUT. I think what really annoyed me the most was that Jin would literally respond to anything in awe, or shock. Like I bet MOST conversations Jin had, he’d react with this “👁️0👁️” face. It actually came to a point where it became annoying. And another way that just makes him feel like Generic Anime Protagonist, just reacting to everything like the viewer may.

Okay, on to some plot points. I thought it was really odd that Heihachi would tell Jin he has the devil gene. In a character point, it makes no sense. Why would Heihachi tell someone he hates about an advantage he has? Like HOW does this benefit Heihachi in any way? One could argue it’s because Heihachi wants Jin to win the struggle with Ogre. But, like, Heihachi still wants to dispose Jin in the end, once Jin’s no longer of use. (And if we’re taking TK7′s canon in mind, Heihachi also wants all the devils dead - so, he wants to kill Jin for that reason, too.) I thought it’d have been smarter for Heihachi to remain hush about that. At a writing point, it also doesn’t make much sense. I mean, it’s just exposition-y as hell, but also ruins any surprise Jin or the audience may have at seeing him turn into Devil Jin. In TK3, it was actually shocking because Jin, out of no where, is suddenly GUNNED DOWN AND KILLED. Of course both the audience, and the soldiers (as well as Heihachi) thought Jin was dead. But then suddenly... he’s standing up again - but now he’s a devil!? It’s shocking to everyone, even Jin! Like yes, the audience then was like, “oh yeah, because his father has a devil!” Other than the weird intro, nothing in TK3 ever implied that Jin even had the devil gene - you don’t find out about it until Jin’s ending. (Or Heihachi’s ending, albeit he doesn’t go full on devil, and it’s not as horror like.) And Jin’s ending in TK3 IS more horror like because it’s so eerily dark, it has this sharp music playing, DJ is just so fuckign animalistic to the point where even Heihachi looked scared for a few seconds. DJ’s awakening was definitely better in the game than in the anime. Also, it’d be less exposition-y because then Jin can piece everything together on his own. Like after he realized he turned into the devil, he can theorize that,,, hey, maybe his father was the devil, too. Like it’s something both Jin and the audience can discover without just being told it.

It’s also kinda weird that Ogre doesn’t absorb Heihachi’s soul, buuuut - that’s something I can forgive as I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. But still find that slightly odd. And I’ve mentioned it, but them making the flames on Jin’s pants symbolic is still so cheesy. Like, I always think it’s cheesy when prequels/adaptations try to explain something so simple. Like the Cruella movie was apparently full of that (down to the point of explain why she laughs a certain way) and people are very critical of that for good reason. Star Wars prequels were also notorious for this. Not everything about a character has to have some Grand Explanation for why they’re like that or have that - sometimes people just like things. And I always presumed Jin just,,, liked flames/fire. He’s a rebellious young man, he just thought fires were cool looking. When Heihachi said, “NO FLAMES” I burst out laughing. I feel there’s other ways to show Heihachi is,,, dfgnjfn is an abusive jerk. (Like, the abusive training, and telling Jin to not speak unless spoken to is already something they have?) No, Jin has to EARN the right,,, tthire right to wear flames.

Also, the fact that Jin broke Leroy’s leg by,, kicking him too hard? But then later in the anime you see Xiaoyu (5′5″ person) get thrown into a TREE so fucking hard, that it leaves an IMPRINT on the tree???? But ,,, she’s o... okay. All she suffers was just a mmmm small concussion. Okay Then. Like, it’s fine if this happened with Jin or Kazuya, because you can make the excuse, well, they’re not fully human, therefore they can survive such. But Xiaoyu should be dead. If Leroy got his leg broken, ALL of Xiaoyu’s bones should be shattered.

Were the some things I liked in the anime? Yeah. Jin, Xiao, and Hwoarang’s interactions were really golden. And I enjoyed them to bits - but they’re like, my fav trio, so ofc I love seeing them being pals! <3 It’s actually what I looked forward to the most when I saw the anime’s trailer, so it didn’t disappoint with that. And I also really liked Paul’s characterization. He was a badass in it, and wasn’t a complete joke - which I really appreciated, too. I also thought it was sweet that Jin started using his mother’s style in the end to defeat heihaci. But I’d say... that’s all I really liked about it. Other than that, I thought it was a mess. Messy pacing, messy story, messy characterization, lame animation style, and just Weird choices.

[you-are-crazy-beautiful]

What is something that you'd like to see on the next seasons? What were your Top 5 scenes and/or dialogues? Who's your favorite character? Why? What's the character you relate to the most? What's your favorite friendship dynamic? What are some of your headcanons for Kieutou? Cashqueens? Instas? Maybe a mix between all three? You don't have to answer all of these questions, you can pick the ones you want to answer to aldhs

Anon, I f*cking love you! 💛😂 These questions are all amazing, so I will answer them all. I'll make separate posts for them 😉

Top 5 scenes:

1. NYE clip 2

I absolutely love the clip itself, but I also remember all the emotions that I felt the 1st time, and they come back everytime I watch it! When the music fades out when Kieu My bumps into Fatou when they're dancing, my heart nearly came out my chest it was beating so hard!😲 The first time Kieu My spoke and was revealed as a Space nerd on screen! Kieu My once again being vulnerable and sharing her dreams while being shy and avoiding eye contact. While Fatou does that signature look with the head tilt🥰 Kieu My calling Fatou 'butch' by mistake😂. The production of the blow torch (I still have so many questions...😅), the hand holding. Kieu My's reaction to the gum in her hair. I got such a fright when they kissed that I screamed out loud! Fatou looking up to space afterwards and the shot of the moon 👌

2. Museum date. I have to. This is one of the best clips of all time. Although, no.2 and no.3 are interchangeable for me. The cute awkwardness at the beginning. The tango under the blue lighting while the audio is talking about young galaxies colliding. The blue and red galaxies colliding when they kiss symbolizing the Ice queen and the warmest person. Kieu My opening up about her different fears and dreams. The bonding over being 3rd generation immigrants. The song and them just messing around! Lieu My saying she likes the person standing in front of her in Vietnamese. The dance and twirl into the kiss paralleling moments in S5. The freaking birthmark throwback!!! I will never be over it! I burst out crying and it was during this I truly realised they were like no other couple before! ❤

3. The reunion/ R+J clip. My galaxy brain predicting this as soon as Mailin posted the IG content of the axolotl 😂

The song 😭 I don't think I've seen a more beautiful clip! The direction of Fatou hiding when she heard Kieu My enter, Kieu My looking at the fish though the hole in the coral and then meeting Fatou's gaze. The vulnerability that Kieu My displays when she looks down avoiding Fatou's gaze and when she looks up, Fatou is just staring at her with confidence and gives a smile and the nod. She's finally secure after her dyscalculia diagnosis and so sure of her and Kieu My. Again, the blue lighting!👌 The line 'love when you laugh because then I see you and how much love there is inside you' is my favourite line in Skam history. The 360 shot of them and running past where they were 1st clip of the season. The happiness and laughter, the explicit consent, the way the sex scene was handled. The whole thing was just stunning!!

4. Gay silence. This clip has it all, tension, cuteness, vulnerable Kieu My. Imo, Kieu My knows she has a thing for Fatou but didn't realise it was that serious until this moment. She knew exactly what she was doing. My girl totally tried to Fingersmith Fatou 😂 I love how Kieu My shares her insecurity about talking to girls, and Fatou's reaction 😂 She's like 'this is the best moment of my life'. The playful Zombie bit, joking about stereotypes, Fatou reassuring Kieu My when she's sees Kieu My feels insecure about her nails💞 The camera panning to Kieu My when Fatou says about 'just kiss her already' showing that's what Kieu My is thinking 💀The staring, especially the Peter Pan moment when Kieu My is staring intensely and when Fatou turns to look at her, she quickly turns to the tv😆 Kieu My asking 'purely hypothetically' who would Fatou date out of their friends, hoping Fatou would say her. Then the annoyed look she gives Fatou at the end because she thinks Fatou doesn't want to date her and she shakes her head, and angrily takes popcorn. While Fatou is avoiding eye contact and you can see her realising her mistake 😂 Idiots!

5. Tie between dyscalculia diagnosis and it's a match!

I love the dyscalculia test clip so much!! The way it's shot is again beautiful with Fatou using the different counters. It didn't just rush into the dialogue. Fatou being cute and nearly getting the right answers by using really complicated tricks 🤗 Sira's acting when he said she had it, and the tears just filled her eyes with relief, realising that's why she has struggled. The alarm bit when she said she thought she was stupid killed me!! 😂🤣 Nora and Mailin being there with vanilla fries and Fatou smiling and saying she's not stupid. It brings me so much happiness that clip 💛

It's a match being dropped at midnight unexpectedly. The way Fatou stops breathing when Kieu My's profile comes up. Kieu My swiping right first! And Fatou caressing her phone with happiness and relief that her instinct has been right! Kieu My messaging 5 seconds later. Bringing back the comment about the guys with pets, and Fatou having to slap herself and squeal into her duvet (same!❤) Them just being the nerds they are and coming up with Axolotlgirl and Zombiewoman. They talked for 11hrs!!! I actually think this was one of the smartest decisions I've seen in Skamverse. That one interaction, which Kieu My wasn't even physically in, expanded upon their connection, and for me that's the moment they really fell head over heels for each other into deep feelings territory. Especially with them having to keep the eps shorten than S5, it was such a clever decision 👏👏

Thank you so much for your questions!! I will look forward to answering the rest tomorrow 💛

[spacedlexi]

Hello! I like your TWDG art and I'm curious if the Final Season was your first exposure to TWDG series? What do you think of the series overall, if you've played them? Any favourite characters outside of S4? I personally stopped playing the games after S2 left me severely disappointed, I think S1 will always be the best of them.

oooo cool questions. and thank you!!

my first exposure to twdg was actually when the demo dropped for the first season!! yea ive secretly been here the Whole Time lmao i didnt play it myself tho i watched my friend play. it was the first time i had been exposed to the telltale choice game kind of format and i didnt really know how to feel about it so i didnt pick it up for myself i just watched others play. it took me a while to catch up and i didnt finish the first season until after s2 ended

the end of season one, like with most people, left me like.....really super heart broken and emotional like man i was Empty inside ahah that ending still and always will get me just Right in the fuckin heart meat. so, feeling as empty as i did and wanting to know where clems story went i jumped Right into season 2 ............ and that left me even More fuckin empty and sad than season 1 lmao fuckin season 2 is probably The most depressing season imo i didnt think i could feel worse than the end of s1 but s2 took it as a challenge

i Hated s2 and was really suffering through it but when kenny showed up i was like OH THANK GOD a familiar face (even tho he really tested my patience in S1) because i capital H Hated the new cast. sarah was fine and luke was Generally ok for the most part but the adults pissed me the Fuck off and still do for how they treated clem (an 11 year old!!) like a whole ass adult and personal therapist. but then kenny got Real scary after the whole sarita thing and jane was pissin me off for not only constantly pushing kenny (a man who was desperately holding onto a very thin thread) but for trying to convince clem that she didnt need anyone and that she’d be better off on her own (AN 11 YEAR OLD!! in the zombie apocalypse!! even tho yea the s2 cast were shit to be around). looking at s2 in hindsight the only good thing about it was AJ..bby boy...

and then about a year or so later the trailer for s3 dropped and i was like YES look at clem fuckin badass fuckin shotgun fuckin take no shit Yes but then i was soooooooooo so disappointed when i found out you were gonna be playing as some fuckin Nobody new character i was like fuck off i just want clem back. season 3 was just....pretty boring in my opinion and the only saving grace was whenever clem was around and the whole “wheres aj” plot that i wish the game focused on instead. out of the s3 cast (minus clem/aj) i only really cared for javi and mari...and well.....we all kno what happens to mari and how fast l o l rip. eps 1-3 (generously) were ok and interesting but the final eps just... ehhh. also jesus was ok but hes also a part of the comics/show whatever so he doesnt rack up points for telltale. javi flirting with him was pretty cool tho. both protags are bisexual you love to see it. bi rights hell yeah

AND THEN....SEASON 4. i immediately fell in love with the entire cast (even when vi was mean to her when they first spoke cuz i was like “yeah yeah i know you dont mean it i saw the way you were lookin at her from the wall i KNOW youre gonna be a romance option”). the whole troubled youth boarding school was such a great choice finally clem was around people her fuckin age no more adults looking to her for guidance or to parent. and she was Top Dog these kids had no real experience and i knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped into the role as their leader. i was NOT expecting it to be because of how ep 1 ends like omfg the end of the 1st ep is just.....Real Good. the ep itself was pretty slow getting you introduced to everyone but my god shit gets Real the moment clem walks into that basement and from then on out the ep is just Wild and ends with a (literal) bang.

E2 started testing my patience with a few characters (lookin at you louis specifically (even tho i still like you) because i will never get over how now AJ was the one being treated like an adult (A 5 YEAR OLD WHO ONLY KNOWS KILL MONSTERS TO SURVIVE and has never been in a group setting that he can remember))(its why my clem could never romance louis sorry dude) but violet was 💕💕 amazing standing up for clem and aj against the whole group and she takes on the role as leader cuz “no one else stepped the fuck up” i love her.... and then lily shows up and the whole drama with the raiders AGH love it

up until this point i was still just watching others play since the seasons were either too depressing or boring for me to want to pick it up for myself

but then telltale shut down. and i was like.....oh my god....clems story is gonna get cut right at the end?? i loved this new cast and i dont get to see how it ends??? im not gonna get to play it for myself!??!?! so when skybound stepped in and saved it i bought it up IMMEDIATELY i was like “that was TOO CLOSE im gonna finish this series for myself Dammit” and i did and it was great i played eps 3 and 4 when they dropped at midnight im so glad i got to experience the ending for myself on my own. i cried ahhaha so fuckin hard and i still do CLEEEEMMMM you did it bitch i love you

season 1 and 4 are really the only ones i like. and for me s4 ranks higher than s1 because of the cast and the found family trope and how its just..not as fuckin desperate and depressing and hopeless. it really just comes down to preference but s4 wins for me with s1 close second. i only ever go through seasons 2 and 3 for the sake of setting up s4 like its just formality aha. plus getting ajs plot established makes it worth it. and knowing how clems story ends makes the depressing parts easier to get through

SO YEAH OOF SORRY for the long answer i talk way too much ahah but i do really love this game. seasons 1 and 4 now reside snugly in a little corner of my heart where they will stay until i die lmao. if you havent i definitely recommend at least going through s4!!

[orionsangel86]

SPN Speculation - SDCC chatter

Hey guys, a little birdy told me that Tumblr hasn’t been handling the SDCC news all that well? I have been asked to come back and share some thoughts I have so far only been floating around in GCs and very briefly on Twitter.

For those of you feeling negative about Season 15, that’s of course your prerogative, but I am honestly extremely happy with what tidbits of information we have received. 

This got long so under a cut is quotes from SDCC and my own reactions and speculation including an ending concept I thought of that I am quite happy with.

First of all, Andrew Dabb’s joke about only 30% of the audience liking the ending was just that, a JOKE. They were digging at Game of Thrones. Bobo has already confirmed on Twitter previously that SPN ending will be NOTHING like Game of Thrones. 

https://twitter.com/robertberens/status/1127821427149721600

https://twitter.com/robertberens/status/1127976311303970816

This was back during the final few eps of GoT when Bobo got really chatty with fans online about the way GoT told it’s stories. He confirmed that SPN is completely different, believes in heroism, and is focused on its characters rather than the world at large.

What Bobo essentially was saying was that SPN isn’t going for a dark gloomy ending more focused on the universe than each characters individual end journeys. SPN will have a satisfying end for its audience compared to the dark and gloomy hopeless ending GoT presented us with.

So any snark they had at SDCC comparing SPN to GoT was prob based on this and is totally not to be taken seriously.

What made me feel far more positive was Dabb and Bobo saying the following:

Dabb: “you want people to feel it was worth their time. Because this show is a big time investment. Three hundred and twenty seven hours [is a lot]. You don’t want to leave people feeling hollow, you don’t want to leave them feeling cynical. You don’t want to make them think we don’t take very seriously the amount of time and effort they put into this show and the amount of time and effort we put into this show. So that doesn’t mean the ending is always happy and everybody is high-giving. But it means the journey was worth something and came to a place that makes everyone feel it was worth taking that trip.”

Bobo said “at it’s core, making sure we end powerfully and meaningfully the stories of Jack, Cas, Sam and Dean, and honor them and their characters and their emotions and the audiences emotions for them.... that’s sort of our north star in breaking the show.”

Also Bobo: “We have some really interesting and fun ways to play around with that expectation [of whether Sam and Dean should live or die]. Not just in the final stretch but throughout the season. I think that question will be raised in a number of ways. And Sam and Dean will be struggling with that in a number of ways. I think we’re very conscious as writers that this is not the Game of Thrones type [of situation] – just shove everyone’s face in the mud kind of downer. It’s a balance of pain and uplift that we have to hit perfectly that feels fresh and doesn’t feel like something we’ve done before. And I think that we have some ideas that we’ve very excited about that will stick that landing for us.”

Whilst we have to remember that this is still just PR, it is good to hear from both Bobo and Dabb that ultimately they seem to understand what is important and how to end this show right. My interpretation from this is not that the show will end in death and misery, but in something hopeful and somewhat satisfying, even if it is different.

(My sources from this are from a GC where the text I think is copied from an article. If you know the article please send me the link)

Dabb also talked quite a bit about how the one thing that is set in stone and has been for at least a year already, is the very final scene of the show. They had this in mind before Season 14 was written. So everything else will be written around this final scene. (also means we need to pay closer attention in our S14 re-watches.)

Dabb and Bobo both think the ending will satisfy fans, or at least that fans will understand why the ending they chose makes sense. Dabb specifically said “What we are crafting is something that I hope will make sense as an emotional ending to these characters journey. I don’t think it’s something that’s going to make everybody happy, because that’s impossible. But I certainly hope that even the people who hoped it ended differently will understand why it ended that way.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHjhnG5w2gw

The one take away that REALLY interested me was this from Jensen:

“It took me a while to get there. When we were in the room and the idea came down the pipe and everybody kind of signed off on it, my reaction was more like “okay, okay”. I’d struggled with it for about a week or so and I realised I’m just too close to this character. To see anything with finality on it is just hard to digest. And I talked to a few people about it and got some clarity on it and I’ve tried to look at it from a different perspective and I now have come around to being “oh, this is a really good ending. This is satisfying.””

https://twitter.com/Bluestar861/status/1153080393106710528

So to sum up:

Dabb says that the ending they have gone with is one that makes sense emotionally in terms of character journey

Bobo says that the ending will honor the characters of Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack and WON’T be anything like GoT

Jensen says that he struggled with the ending at first, and had to have it explained to him to get clarity on why they are taking that route, after which, he understood and now thinks its a really good ending.

To top this, Jared spoke of the ending being the characters finding peace (whether alive or dead - but in a way that implied they would be alive)

Misha has confirmed he doesn’t know the ending, so he has simply been reiterating his old stance that Cas has to die and as much as we love him, we can disregard everything he says based on his own words from Jibcon “I make shit up.”

As a meta writer and someone who spends a lot of time picking apart the stories to find SENSE and MEANING in the CHARACTER JOURNEY’S and knowing that JENSEN ACKLES DIDN’T UNDERSTAND AT FIRST?! 

I AM VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS NEWS.

Jensen not understanding imo means the ending will not be Sam and Dean dying together in a blaze of glory, it won’t be a separation in death either for any of the characters. My best guess? The brothers go their separate ways in the end. 

Hear me out. It fits okay. Let’s bring this back to the obvious question:

How do you end a show where death is not taken seriously?

Easy. You separate the characters in LIFE, bringing an end to their joint story. If SPN has always been a story about two brothers, saving people, hunting things, the family business (with the family growing over the past so many years), then the way you end that is not by killing them off, it’s by separating the core characters from the story itself, and from each other.

The reason I am speculating THIS ending is also because of one EXTREMELY EXCITING fact that also came from SDCC:

EILEEN IS RETURNING

https://twitter.com/Shoshannah7/status/1153077148883640321

Call me an optimist, but they aren’t going to bring back the one character who ticked all of Sam Winchester’s boxes for one episode as a ghost or a soul in heaven - they are gonna bring her back properly, and that can only mean one thing. SAILEEN. Sam getting a romantic endgame is PERFECT and it fits my theory. Eileen coming back opens up the potential for Sam to have a new hunting partner, or even better, a new MOL Legacy partner to reestablish the MOL as a society for learning and protecting the world from the Supernatural. A training center for hunters and supernatural scholars all over the world. TELL ME THIS ISN’T PERFECT FOR SAM I DARE YOU.

Obviously, the one caveat to this awesome opportunity for Sam, is no more hunting with Dean. Hence, end of Supernatural as we know it.

What does this mean for Dean? Well, If a certain angelic blue eyed beauty gets their true story potential - their emotionally satisfying character journey end - then that angelic blue eyed beauty will be hanging up their wings for good and slumming it with us mud monkeys permanently. 

A sacrifice? Yes, finality? Yes. Death? Hell no.

Further thoughts on this here:

https://twitter.com/Bluestar861/status/1153278119576592385

With a human Cas by his side, Dean can still do whatever he wants, travel the country, or take himself and his hot ex-angel “buddy” off to the beach, because the main focus of Dean’s character arc, his character journey over the course of so many seasons, has been to find peace with himself, as well as freeing himself from the burden of parenthood forced on him by his father and let Sam go.

Dean has never been comfortable being alone, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to end his journey alone either - at all - which is why Jensen’s dream ending that he keeps telling at cons about Dean swapping Baby for a motorbike also makes no bloody sense - but of course, as Jensen said, he didn’t really understand the ending presented at first did he? 

Jensen would struggle with the idea of Sam and Dean both choosing to separate in life, especially if that ending also had an ambiguous Destiel twist to it. Jensen has always made his views on the brothers relationship clear, he is a “together to the end” man, so it makes sense that he would need to have the toxic codependency and why it needs to break explained to him. 

I have no idea whether Destiel will be part of this so please don’t ask me, I happen to think at this point that it will be ambiguous and open to interpretation. But if the show ends with Dean and human Cas together mirrored against a happy Sam and Eileen I’ll be satisfied.

DISCLAIMER: This is a speculative fan theory thought up for fun. It is NOT serious show meta, it is literally inspired by PR from SDCC. I DO NOT HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL - IF I DID I WOULD BE BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS RIGHT NOW NOT TELLING YOU LOT HOW SPN IS GONNA END.

Of course, all my theories are inspired by in show character themes and emotional sub plots. I’m not pulling this shit out of thin air, I just... don’t want you all to start accusing me of leading you on or getting your hopes up if S15 starts and throws us a huge curve ball because I literally know nothing more than you lot and frankly the attacks on meta writers over the past few years have disgusted me and made me loose quite a bit of faith in the fandom collective brain cell - which I generally assume doesn’t exist in those that actually do attack meta writers.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still, please try not to burn this hellsite to the ground based on SDCC PR. It’s supposed to be fun!

Peace.

[elsakey]

Boruto Ep. 19: What I Liked

Yeah, sorry I wasn’t able to put this up earlier. I wasn’t able to watch it on Wednesday morning like usual bc of TV/computer issues, etc. BUT I did watch it and find some awesome stuff to like about the episode!

1. Boruto and his dad

BWAHAHA, I was cracking up at how Naruto was about to swipe his son’s head for that prank. And then Boruto was so adorable, playing tag with his dad like that. Shikamaru’s exasperation over the whole matter was a bonus. HIs whole, “Both father and son don’t know when to quit. You and Naruto are so much alike” was a SUPER bonus.

2. Shikadai and his dad

It was cool to see more background as to why Shikadai and his dad were together on that particular day. It’s nice to see Shikamaru in Dad!mode.

It’s also nice to see Shikamaru in Uncle!mode, which is the definite vibe I got from his interaction with Boruto here. “Stop making more trouble for your dad, he’s under a lot of stress.” His snark is also hilarious, pfft. (Yo, SP- my thirst for the Uzumaki-Nara family barbecue will not go away until I get what I want, ya hear?!)

3. Inojin and his dad

“What is that artwork? Graffiti?” HAHAHAHA, Sai, never change. Even throws blunt and snarky comments at his own son! PFFFT. 

It was nice to finally see some father-son moments between Sai and Inojin. As a lowkey Sai fan, it’s really heartwarming to see how far he’s come from the mostly emotionless soldier he was introduced as. Now he has a wife, a son, a family, so many friends. I love it.

4. Metal Lee and his dad

I just put this here because the endearing way that Metal Lee went, “Papa!” melted my heart. Am I the only one who felt that? Was it just me??

5. KARUI AND CHOUJI

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. WE FINALLY SEE KARUI. AND SHE ACTUALLY SPOKE MORE THAN ONE LINE!!! PLUS SHE HAD A FLASHBACK OF CARING FOR HER CHILD!!! I AM LIVING!!!!

I legit didn’t know I was that much a fan of Karui until this show, lol. I liked the flashback showing her and Chouji parenting their daughter. I also liked how much of a dad Chouji was when greeting his own daughter in the middle of the street. Did you see how excited he was just to see his daughter?? That was so cute! Chouji is a proud dad, like for real!

Look, all i want is more Akimichi family scenes. That’s not too much to ask...right?

6. MItsuki and ChoCho

Okay so we know MItsuki was gonna be rude...but this confrontation was still hilarious. I like how Chocho was all, “??? Get out of my face???” and he was all “ok” and just sat the next table over. Mitsuki, you so nosy! pfft.

7. Sarada

So this episode reminded me of why I liked Sarada so much. It also gave me flashbacks to Part 1/ early Part 2 of Naruto when the Uchiha clan was still cool and not mere plot hax for the lulz. It was tear jerking to see how distraught Sarada was over not having a father and not being able to get much information on him. But I liked the moments of friendship with her and Boruto and ChoCho, and I also liked the extra material of her eyes going blurry.

(Dear Sarada: Thank you for being proabbly the only Uchicha who didn’t have to kill people to get your awesome eye power. Yus??)

Other Stuff:

- Okay, so I’m not sure I wanna continue reviewing through this arc, because eh...Gaiden’s story is not that great. I only like the interactions between the old and new generations, and that’s it. The plot itself has some major soap opera drama that I could do without. And no, I’m not bashing on soap opera drama- I’m bashing how particularly bad it is here in Gaiden, imo. I mean, doubting your paternity because you and a random woman have the same glasses??? Really??? Shoot, guess they should cliip off some plastic from my glasses for the next DNA test! I could be related to at least three of my neighbors!

...though to be fair it’s not like the fandom had been any better by having that same assumption at one point, lol.

- Eh. Sasuke. Eh. I just...I could do better. We all could do better. I am not looking forward to him having a bigger role in this show at all, because every single time he shows up it’s plot hax for days and I could really do without that, you know? (Sorry for all those who actually like him. We all have our likes...and we all have our dislikes.)

My face again when he showed up, by the way:

Let’s see what next episode brings!