#the pilot was so great I loved it so much

[aesthetictarlos]

Can I be completely honest? I've been watching 911 since the pilot aired in the US and I've always loved it but at the end of season six I was very pissed for Buck and Natalia's storyline and I kinda lost interest in the show. I was tired of watching Buck always ending up in the same cycle, he's one of my favourite characters and I didn't like how they were handling his storyline back then.

When season 7 aired, I was not as enthusiastic as I wanted to be, and my expectations were... low even if I was excited to see the cruise disaster and still sure to want to join the 118 for another season. The big emergency caught my interest, of course, but what really, really brought me back at full force were Buck and Tommy and the way they handled Buck's bisexuality storyline. If the end of season 6 left me disappointed, season 7 made me feel great and excited and curious.

All this to say, Buck and Tommy were unexpected but they gave (and are still giving) me a lot. Where Natalia was so wrong for Buck, Tommy was so right. One of the many reasons why I love them so much (some of them are personal and maybe one day I'll share them too) is that they just– fit. They're so good for each other, and them getting together probably took them by surprise just as it took all of us, but what a wonderful surprise. I've never expected a new 911 season as much as I was expecting this one, because the potential is wonderful and Tommy is a great character. I'll eternally be grateful that Tim brought Lou Ferrigno Jr back on the show.

[ezlo-x]

NO LET’S TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE i’m willing to come to botw defense in some cases because i feel that there’s some strong substance there but totk?! did me so dirty, i must be truthful. did me so dirty and left a lame smell behind it.

botw:

zelda characterization is actually something i love about this game; while she isn’t always the strongest/most depthful persona, the fact that her lack of agency and empowerment in that story is actually focused on as the central struggle is a great way to have the typical damsel-in-distress formula while not compromising the characterization of a main character. link’s memories of zelda are the sharpest evidence we get into how hyrule suffered from the calamity, both before and after it passed—we only learn about how hyrule has suffered in the scars of the calamity and the echoes of a dead kingdom, but zelda’s cutscenes turn that suffering into a personification. zelda’s struggle with unlocking her power was relatable, touching, and substantial, and the way the memories end up culminating to her sacrifice makes for an excellent and heavy-feeling conflict. her character is central to botw, and i only wish that they had characterized her much further, so that she had more of an arc in the past, and so that the time we see her would be more valuable.

mipha was done DIRTY. princess of a realm, successor to the king, skilled aquatic warrior, and pilot of a divine beast, and all we get of her is that she has feelings for link? NINTENDO. make it make sense for me, i beg of you. while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with only depicting her feelings for link, it does not really inform us to her character (because link is mostly more static and ambiguously characterized in relation to others), and fails to actually make the tragedy of her defeat feel substantial. still, the details of her character are fun, and the character traits we have of her are good material—it is such a shame that it wasn’t used properly.

urbosa is obviously is a very likeable character, and ostensibly the wisest of the champions. she’s a strong-woman in a sense, but but that characterization isn’t reductive to her persona. her role as a chieftain isn’t very thorough, but nor is daruk’s, so i wouldn’t necessarily attribute that fact to a misogynistic approach. the misogyny (and exoticism??) in the characterization of the gerudo kinda plagues every part of the story/every location that involves them (for example, how most wandering gerudo are on the search for a voe, which is an amusing gag, but not all that funny when we don’t have much else of gerudo culture, or a good sense of their society, in comparison to say, the zora. the rito don’t have it all that well either, to be fair). urbosa’s characterization as a fierce warrior and wise leader isn’t done badly, but it’s very one note, which is disappointing to say the least.

i have conflicting feelings on riju. she’s the young ruler of the gerudo, but it feels as though there’s not much else to her. the moments where her youth shines through (like the stuffed animals in her room, and the fact that the lightning helmet is too big for her) are very endearing, but we don’t really get a sense of how she struggles as a leader, or of how her history informs her person. she’s gerudo, and a later successor to urbosa, so she also exemplifies the same strong and wise traits, which isn’t a very honorable persona to the facts of her character. it is a shame that riju isn’t given as much depth as her character implies, especially when the timeline of the gerudo desert/vah naboris quest is so strong, and when it seems like she has so much potential substance that goes unrealized for the rest of the game.

impa plays the village sage, and is very fun in that role, but there isn’t much more to her than relaying the story of the calamity and offering short comments to things memory or sheikah related

of course, there are other female characters in botw, but none of them star (or enjoy cutscenes) like everyone mentioned above.

totk:

the characterization of zelda in this game is just… ruinous. calamitous, if you will. that person you met in the last game is dead and gone, and the zelda in her stead is heartbreakingly inactive in this story.her sacrifice to bring the mastersword to the present was so strong, and while i hate that it’s essentially a repeat of the damsel-in-distress setup from the last game, it’s technically a different type of conflict, one which i normally imagine wold set her up to take an active character role, but she is so very upsettingly passive in this story, just constantly in the backseat. not a single action of hers (apart from the eating-the-secret-stone bit) impacts the events of the past, which wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t have the power/knowledge to do so, but she does! her knowledge of the calamity, of the cave paintings, of the incident that brought her to the past are all pieces of information that should have impacted the events of the past! and the fact that they don’t is more than mischaracterization, it’s just a gaping plot convenience. it’s already dismaying to see her characterization from the last game discarded, but the fact that she isn’t recharacterized anywhere near to the same depth or complexity as the last game is just. a source of apathy, as a zelda fan. the events of the past do not expand on her much at all, but nor do they expand much on ruaru or ganondorf or sonia, nor anything related to the zonai, which is kind of a recurring thing in this game.

sonia was fridged, one and done. kind and caring mother character killed off for an emotional payoff. in almost every cutscene of sonia, she is consoling or caring for zelda, so that when ganondorf kills her, the moment carries emotional weight. her only role in the story is to be a tragic loss, and not in any poetic way, but in the storytelling 101 way. she’s quite depthless, and while her persona and design are quite likable, her characterization is undoubtedly poor.

mineru… doesn’t get enough time in the story. every aspect of her character is defined in relation to the conflict with ganondorf (besides being smart/techy), which is a conflict she doesn’t really have any personal stake in, besides her relation to ruaru. this wouldn’t really be a problem if we were given any insight into the relationship between the two of them, but we aren’t given much of anything. at all. so the fact that she’s a zonai and ruaru’s sister is doing a lot of the heavy lifting to sustain our belief in her personal investment and motivation in this conflict, which simply doesn’t make for a good story. her cutscenes outside of the past really isn’t all that different to the other sages, and the sages are so characterless that they don’t even have names.

purah being redesigned the way she is feels like… a choice by the developers. she has about as much of an active role in the story as impa did in the last game, so her actual characterization isn’t necessarily all that important, since she doesn’t feature much. nevertheless, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth that the essential leader of the effort to redevelop hyrule is given less characterization/character conflict than many npcs in that same location, not to mention in the whole game. the fact that she’s redesigned to be older and… modelesque feels less like a development of her character and more of like a cheap ploy by the developers to put a baddie on the opening of the game to appeal to the demographics of gaming who have, well, a typically misogynistic view of women (and their roles in stories), to say the least of it.

i haven’t actually finished totk and i haven’t seen riju’s arc firsthand, so i don’t know enough about her new character to reflect on it.

i don’t know if you can tell but. i don’t like the story of this game. i’m not saying there aren’t things to like (definitely a super cool gaming experience! even just the story itself, good king ruaru defeats bad king ganondorf is a successful trope), but i feel like the story is just incoherent. characters aren’t really given reasons, motivations, or interest for acting the way they do (at least, in any way that implies that these characters are multitudinous or complex), or they’re taking reactive roles to the events of the story. the main conflict of the story is how ganondorf is threatening hyrule, but we see nothing of his motivations, nothing of how his actions impact ruaru beyond separating him from sonia (what of his kingdom? the livelihood of his subjects? the history of the zonai?), nothing of how it impacts zelda (the most we get from her is her reacting to sonia dying and her sacrifice to become the light dragon. so. three cutscenes), and nothing of how it impacts link. the events of the present are entirely disconnected from the conflict of the past, and it doesn’t do justice by a single one of its characters.

i should have probably just made this my own post, it’s waaaay too long, but i had to. let it out.

yknow in animal crossing when you're fishing and you catch a big fish like a whale and one of the quotes says "THAR SHE BLOWS!!" feeling like I caught a big fish rn. This has to be one of my longest asks I've gotten!!

I REALLY DONT GOT MUCH TO SAY CAUSE YOU HAVE SAID IT ALL except for the TotK Riju part! If I recall correctly her arc is that she wants to master her skill in summoning lightning, after that she kinda plays as Urbosa 2 or the "wise one" of the group. Someone can correct me abt that but she pretty much gave me those vibes, but I can't really go off w botw cause we really don't know much abt her personality wise! So in TotK she's grown...and that's pretty much it

[abowlofsourcream]

💥🍾The kitty cat goes-RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!🍾💥

[vaggieslefteye]

ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴄʜᴏᴏꜱᴇ ↳ anonymous asked: HUSK and ALASTOR or angel and valentino?

[writer-room]

Rewatching the earlier, and even pilots episodes, of Ninjago are so WILD man. First of all, you notice all the things that are just plain forgotten about or pushed aside in later seasons. Kai originally being the main character, sure, we all know that one, but Cole was heavily implied to be, or become, the leader of the Ninja, that was Cole’s thing. Zane was automatically described with having a sixth seer sense, when nowadays it shows up very, very infrequently. Lloyd used to basically be the Avatar, does anyone remember that? This kid was just the Avatar.

And then you remember the silly things. Like how the skeleton army was once a threat. Like...the skeletons. We battled a giant snake, smaller snakes, robot armies, sentient video games, Garmadon a billion different times, the Overlord, Oni...and the skeletons used to be a worthy adversary. The skeletons.

Did you all remember that Cole’s earth dragon used to...breathe earth? I’ve been forced to remember. Rocky used to breathe earth as a form of attack. It was shown through brown swirly wisps in that beautiful, incredibly shitty 2011 effect. The Underworld used to be implied to be the place where all dead people went, or at least the bad ones. We never heard of a Departed Realm. Do we remember the time Cole had a scene that was a direct parody of Michael Jackson? I sure do. Genuinely the highlight simply because I don’t know how to describe the emotion I felt upon seeing it.

[pixelbumblebee]

I just really like how some of the dialogue has double meaning in the show once you get the full context. Crystal saying: "I get angry [...] knowing you have a home but being unable to get there" makes sense the first time, sure. I'd be upset if I didn't remember my family. But once you know what her family is like, there's this whole other interpretation opening up: of her being sad and toxic before because despite her best effort, she probably could never get through to her parents to earn their love and affection. She couldn't go home. Because her home was not home for her.

[amour393]

it's thinking about early season wu hours

(This??? Got long???? Not a fic but also kind of?????)

I think wu gets a lot of crap he doesn't deserve. If you think of what the pilots and first couple seasons are like from wu's perspective, it's actually heartbreaking like every other part of this show

so, you got Wu. Wu, who met someone who was like a son to him, who he led down the wrong path, who he failed, and he never sees him again, left to grieve in solitude as Ninjago needs him once more

Wu, who has only ever loved one woman. She is beautiful, bright and sharp and is the only one he knows can rival him on and off the battlefield.

But his brother loves her too. For good reason, but it hurts. It hurts because his brother is only like this because of him, it's his own fault and they all know it, but despite the venom Garmadon refuses to say it. Even corrupted, Garmadon loves with his whole heart.

It only makes sense that Misako chooses him.

It stings, but Wu smiles for her, and for his brother, and years later he'll smile for their son.

Wu, who fights a war and is betrayed. Who has to scrap together another team, and risks two of his best friends in the process. They barely win, and Wu knows it's not a permanent victory. The knowledge weighs him down.

Wu, who is holding on to the threads of his relationship with his brother with the strongest grip he's got, who is careful, oh so careful not to let those strands snap, and then they do, and his brother falls, cursing him all the way.

Wu is heartbroken. He's lost Morro, he's lost his love, and now he's lost his brother.

Buried in his grief, in his shame, in his guilt, Wu lets autopilot take over. He hides the weapons. He does what he can. He goes to one of the only people left that he can trust, places a tremendous burden on him, and leaves. He can't take the risk of visiting his friends more now that they have the map, and he's putting them in enough danger as it is

Years later, after learning of their two kids, news from his friends go silent, and Wu figures it's for the best. He trusts his friends. Something must have happened, they need Wu to stay away. So he does.

He learns he has a nephew. A nephew whose father is in the Underworld because of Wu, it's his fault Lloyd won't grow up with his dad, and it's a shame because he always knew, venom or not, Garmadon would be the greatest father.

His nephew's mother, Wu's old love, disappears. Wu doesn't know where she went. He doesn't know why. He doesn't know if her son is with her or not and he doesn't know where to even start looking.

He's not entirely sure he should.

Wu loses contact with many of his old friends. First Ray and Maya, and then the Master of Lightning stops contacting him, and Wu is left to wonder why.

The Master of Ice passes, and Wu grieves alone.

Then Lilly is next, a good friend full of hope and joy, gone, passing like a distant earthquake.

It's then that Wu decides enough his enough. It's time to reach out, so Wu steels himself and returns to the field.

He first finds Lilly's son, who he'd heard many storied about. The boy who stands before him resembles Lilly in a way that hurts more than a little, his dark eyes and smile mirroring hers. He looks nothing like Lilly described, though, the smile she swears- swore- he always wore gone, as if he'd never smiled before. Grief weighs on him, different from the way it pulls Wu down, but perhaps stronger for it.

Cole joins him, and Wu wonders if he's making a terrible mistake. If Lilly would hate him for it.

Just add another name to the list, then.

Next he goes for the Master of Lightning, a kid he knows nothing about. When he finds the boy, the resemblance to his mother is striking, bright blue eyes and a spirit that moves faster than lightning. Wu wonders if he'll ever know what happened to his mother. He wonders if the kid will ever know, either.

Like his mother, Jay is always on the move, eager for adventure, and after his parents' blessings (parents who are not Libber, not Wu's friend), Jay joins the group, bonding with Cole in an astonishingly short amount of time.

He finds the new Master of Ice, too, though is surprised to find that he remembers nothing of his father, or of the strange visitor that changed his life. Zane joins him quickly.

And then there's just one more.

Like the others, Wu goes to recruit the new elemental master alone. His stomach turns as he approaches, nervous and excited at once.

And then he hears the words in the shop.

"If father were still here-"

The voice is so much like Maya's that Wu has to stop, and the sharp, fiery one sounds so much like Ray. But Wu knows in his heart that it's not them.

He's gone. Ray is gone. Maya must be too, or she would have told him. A million questions run through his head. How- where did they- when-

How long have their kids been alone?

But this time, Wu doesn't have time to grieve.

The banter he easily fell into with his father is not mirrored in the son, Kai's words sharp, hardened by the fire of an unfair world.

He looks so much like his father.

Nya, too, he sees immediately. They both resemble their parents, their eyes smart like Maya's but kind like Ray's. Kai's hair is every bit as wild as Ray's was in his youth, Nya's posture strikingly similar to her mother even in her young age.

The fire in Kai is obvious. Nya's path is less clear, which is to be expected of someone so young (both of them are young- they all are- by his Father, what is Wu doing-).

Nya is taken less then ten minutes later, by agents of his brother, and Wu doesn't think about what her parents would do if-

If they knew. If they were here.

But they get her back, and the five kids bond remarkably quickly. Jay falls for Nya rather quickly, and Wu wonders if they'll ever know how close their mothers used to be.

Weeks pass. His brother is nowhere to be seen, and Wu lies awake at night thinking about the moment he returns. His students are rather unvigilant, but Wu isn't too worried-

That is, until they get the distress call, until the Serpentine are released, until Wu learns who did it.

His nephew. Lloyd. The son of his brother and his love. On the streets, worn black hoodie loose over his thin frame. He tries so much to be like his father.

Wu's the only one who knows how little his father wanted that.

Lloyd eludes them, again and again, until finally they manage to snag him from the grip of that cursed Anacondrai, and Lloyd is with family once again.

Whether he likes it or not.

His students don't like that he's there, but they- they don't understand. They don't see the traces of his parents. Misako's eyes. Garmadon's wild, joyful grin.

The kid tries to be like his father. It hurts Wu more than he'd ever admit.

Eventually, Lloyd doesn't seem to hate Wu or his students. He tries to help, in his own little ways.

A servant's heart, like his father.

Sometimes he follows Wu around like a shadow, asking questions, eager to learn.

...And a curious one, like his mother.

Sometimes he follows Kai around, and it's hard not to see the similarities to their parents.

Ray was Garmadon's friend, too.

The day Lloyd is taken, the guilt finally overtakes Wu.

He manages to offer some semblance of instruction to his students before leaving, and Wu forces himself to face his brother.

The look in his brother's eyes when he hears the news of his son breaks Wu's heart all over again.

(Because it wasn't supposed to be like this. Garmadon was supposed to be happy and warm and Lloyd wasn't supposed to wonder why he'd been abandoned-)

Kai's the only one who hasn't unlocked his true potential yet, and in a moment of fear, Wu says something he regrets.

"Perhaps it would be best if you did not reach you true potential, or someone could get hurt."

The betrayal in Kai's eyes mirrors Morro's in such a perfect way that Wu leaves in a hurry, pain rising in his chest and twisting his stomach.

He's scared. He won't tell his students, because they need a leader, but he's scared.

Scared that Kai is the green ninja.

Or worse, scared that he isn't.

The parallels between Kai and Morro are easy to see, like the wind that fans a flame high into the sky.

Morro had transformed from the kind boy Wu loved, like a gentle summer breeze, warm and comforting, into a winter storm, cold and stinging and hurt.

He worried the same for Kai. Kai has two fires inside, Wu knows it.

There's the campfire, warm and welcoming and valuing family above all else.

And there's a forest fire, that burns down all in it's path because it's angry.

Kai's got a little bit of both, like his father, but Wu worries that the latter will spiral out of his control, and it'll be another student lost because of Wu's mistake.

He hadn't thought that losing Kai was an option.

The volcano erupts. Garmadon screams. Nya's gasp is strangled, denial lacing her voice as she whispers her brother's name.

Wu nearly falls to his knees.

Kai is gone. Ray and Maya's son is gone. Kai- energetic and passionate and caring and welcoming and warm- extinguished like the flame of a match.

And so is Lloyd.

Lloyd, eyes bright and trusting in Wu, in Kai, in his father. With a future ahead of him, one full of hope and good.

Jay, uncharacteristically quiet, gasps suddenly, and a flicker of hope burns in Wu's chest.

Kai lands on the Bounty with Lloyd in his arms, smile bright and radiating heat, before the energy needed for his true potential burns out and he promptly passes out.

It's not too long after that they're gathered in the control room, and there's something about the way Kai is looking at Lloyd that makes Wu nervous.

Kai reveals his experience, and the Golden Weapons confirm.

Wu's heart sinks.

It's Lloyd.

It's been Lloyd all along.

He has no doubt that Lloyd will be an excellent green ninja, strong and wise and good, once he's old enough.

Which is, to say, Garmadon doesn't stand a chance.

There's resignation written on his brother's face, and a bit of pride, too, Wu thinks. Garmadon is proud, of course he is, but Wu knows his brother too well to not notice the sadness deep in his eyes.

Lloyd, for his part, doesn't seem to notice what this means, for all he's listened to the others bickering over who the Chosen One is.

Wu doesn't want to be the one to tell him, but Garmadon doesn't deserve to. Wu's done enough, this is the least he can do.

"That means..." Garmadon says- starts to say. Lloyd looks so confused, staring at his father with wide red eyes.

"The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now..." Wu's eyes flick to Lloyd in sympathy. "...son versus father."

Lloyd still doesn't seem to get it, and Wu can't bear to look him or his brother in the eyes.

Their family is being torn apart once again, and Wu's the only one to blame.

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

fav golden girl 👁️👁️

You do realize this is like asking me to choose my favourite hand, right? Or my favourite leg? It's like choosing my favourite eye, my favourite strand of hair, my favourite organ, my favourite --

Blanche. It's-it's Blanche.

[urproblematicfav-arsonk]

Me, crying and throwing up thinking about the pilot cast: the texture.......the musical texture we were robbed of.........instead everyone just sounds like they're from the same Disney channel show

[supnerds]

Yu Ijin: I've only had my sister for a day and a half but if anything happened to her I will destroy everyone in this school and then myself. Fantastic in just the first few chapters, thanks for the recommendation!

oh it’s so good!!! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!!

I need to reread that one again, I binged the whole thing over a few days ago month or so ago and I wanna see ijin and his sister again I love them

[danothan]

sniffs. what changed 😢

[our-inspire-verse]

I love being plural. Oh, how i love being plural!

I love it, and all it's struggles. It is not to say to be plural does not hurt. That it cannot be torture or agony. Like it isnt sometimes the most woeful, painful part of my life sometimes.

When is anything permanent, at any point? The trauma slowed down. It will never fully stop, as life itself is designed to tear a soul apart, i do fully believe it cannot end. However, i will dance with glee at the opportunity to feel pain. To live, and to feel and to breathe. My gratitude has saved me.

I now thank my system for being my soul, for being as alive as it is and for continuing to fluctuate. I thank it for its confusing complexity and the secrets it keeps. Thank you for being as loving and daring and sometimes cruel as you are. For your differences and relations and your stories and lives. You make me Me and complete Micheal.

I love my system, my system was with me and helped me survive life. And now we are out to share one we're building together.

[milquetoast-on-acid]

The struggle is real. Mostly the struggle to finish watching Picard season 1. It's bad y'all. They weren't even kidding.

[unusualshrimp]

hey sorry i can't come to work today im thinking about the various implications of zombie horror and the way it affects people

[the-force-awakens]

sighs, y'know I don't talk about it much on here, but I do wish fandom was....better. I wish it was better! I wish that there was an air of community again, where people aren't bullied, or compared to one another, where there's no sense of competition because everyone's gettin' attention. I wish artists (fanartists, writers, graphics and gifmakers and fanvidders and everything and everyone in between) were more appreciated. I wish people didn't have to use the block button so liberally. I wish fandom experiences were more positive, end of, because I am so....so tired of hearing absolute horror stories of how people I know have been treated in fandom, or hearing stuff in my periphery. I wish fandom was a celebration of love again, something that lasts for a good long while. I wish it could be a positive experience for people, instead of something awful that turns them away from stories that mean so much to them, because of the grief and bitterness and anxiety that fandom drowned it in.

[educatedinyellow]

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble- Voodoo Child (HQ)