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somedayillbepeterpan · 7 months ago

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Spoilers!!!!!

-I've been obsessed since the 4 episodes dropped. Smiling can't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. I've rewatched the whole thing so many times, I've lost count.

-I didn't care much for the first 2 episodes except the scenes with Colin and Penelope. I looooved the scene in the drawing room and the one with Lord Basilio. They were hilarious and reminded me why I took notice and fell completely in love with Polin

-I didn't also care for the threesome but I was a bit proud of Luke Newton for taking on such a scene. I'm sure it wasn't easy for him to betray what he knows Colin is deep down. I thought that it was designed to make us feel cringe-y about it because we all know that's not who Colin is so much so that the contrast on the second scene was felt deeply. I also thought this was really just a plot device to mirror Colin's original age in the book to make it seem like he was more mature than Penelope

-The Mondrich plot is unnecessary for me in the grand scheme of things but I think it's a continuation of the underlying political message that Bridgerton has introduced since Season 1. It mirrors the story of Simon/Duke of Hastings dad and how they got their position. And also the Queens.

-I really also missed Lady D's presence. I think the brother and Violet's storyline is distracting. I find it sweet but if they are only going to give us 8 episodes, I'd really rather focus on the main storyline.

-Luke...LUKKEEE. I've had concerns about him because I believe that Nicola lights up any space she is in and you can get swallowed by it. But he proved me wrong. I couldn't take my eyes off him. His microexpressions, the way his eyes blink especially on the scene under the tree. And him in the carriage scene????? He is every man in every romance sexy scene book:

-eyes darkened check

-mischievous eyes check

-hungry/angsty sounds check

My naughty brain thought that Luke’s giant hands were so perfect for Nicola's generous bosom. Also, the way his faced changed when he decided that he was going to marry Penelope??? I have rewatched that few seconds sooo many times.

-I don't get the character decisions for Benedict. I don't get his character ever since season 2. He was very good in s1 and then kinda disappeared on the 2nd season

-I was kind of into Lord Debling, ngl. I did notice despite him presenting himself as a practical man, he turned out fickle to me

-I loooved Eloise dresses this season

-I loved Fran and John! That was the only subplot story that I cared about. Hannah Dodd did such a great job

-I think it was deliberate that Colin and Pen didn't have a dance scene until ep4. But if you also noticed, he did not dance with anyone else the whole time even though he was flirting with every lady.

-the first kiss was my absolute favourite. It was everything and more. I loved the way it was changed and how it became a dream the next ep for Colin. It's so so so so good and just emphasised the fact that Penelope was permeating his every thought. He was acting tortured the whole time and I was here for it.

-I loved how the scaled back Colin's temper. In the book, he always sounded like a petulant child to me and I couldn't really understand why he was mad a lot of the time except that it was supposed to make you think that he didn't want to be the "charmer".

-I can't believe people can't see and feel the chemistry! It's practically oozing out of the screen!!

-to top it all off, Nicola was so so sososososososos good. Both she and Luke did such a great job!

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WHOLE THING BUT MY HEART HASN'T GONE BACK MY BODY YET BUT I HOPE TO ARTICULATE IT LATER ON.

season 3 part one thoughts:

ok ok i did finish B S3 pt. I and it's GOOD and i was really happy with it but now that my pulse has gone back to normal i'm realizing i have a lot of nitpicks/concerns with the storytelling but ngl the carriage scene was fucking BONKERS and my mind will be in the gutter for the rest of the weekend

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!! bc i have a ton of thoughts on season 3 so far and have to get them out:

THOUGHTS:::::

-i could not stop smiling. my face hurts still.

-i don't get people whining about colin and the threesome. when the brothel threesome scene was leaked people were losing their goddamn minds about colin not being a virgin on reddit. y'all. he spent a LONG time traveling solo around europe--did you really expect him not to experiment the entire time? the fixation on this was kinda weird i gotta say. also i really liked that in the second brothel instance it served as growth to show colin was realizing it wasn't those women he wanted to have sex with, but penelope.

it seems every bridgerton lad needs a whoring about subplot in their respective season and colin was obviously going to get one if his elder brothers did, so i wasn't surprised at all. i thought the scenes were hot, personally. overconfident and super flirty col galavanting everywhere suddenly being reduced to a pining, thirsty af insecure boy was so gratifying to watch and those scenes had a hand in showing us that.

-i hate portia's costumes this season. hate. hate. hate. she looks like she was ripped right out of DIsney's Descendants set from the costume rejects pile. woof. she was stunning in s1 but s2 were her best looks and now she looks awful. why???

-i think the mondriches are ok and i like them but their story did not need expanding here. i'm happy for them but that storyline was boring and time taken away from more important characters. i know this sounds harsh but this season was already packed with storylines. across these four episodes there was a severe lack of Lady Danbury. one of my favorite aspects of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton was her friendship/mentorship with Penelope. that instantly made her one of my favorite characters. why not keep that in the show??? i'm so disappointed but with part 2 yet unreleased maybe it will still come?

-speaking of lady danbury, something about the way her brother is presented and how she treats him makes me worry for Violet, that he might disappoint her later. idk it's just a vibe i get.

-Luke's acting is fucking incredible. all the microexpressions and the lingering stares and subtle movements. nicola is a great actor in her own right but fucking hell, every time Luke teared up on screen I was mirroring him.

the carriage scene, when he's on his knees in front of Pen and she cups the side of his head and his eyes do THAT thing and the look he gives her? i rewatched that two second bit on repeat for a minute. amazing. (that's exactly the kind of devotion i picture when I wrote dark Dramione in TEOAL towards the end)

-we get it, benedict is a slut. he fucks. i'm over it. i'm not interested in who he's fucking. i know the consensus is Lady Tilley will somehow tie in to Sophie but i just do not care about Benedict rn. he is pulling focus.

-hyacinth's actress is so stunning! all the actors are obvs but every time i look at her i see Brooke Shields. anyone else?

-i had higher hopes for Lord Debling. genuinely kind of disappointed. he's boring and feels fickle. also the abruptness of him going 'i need a wife to tend to my estate so i can go travel for 3 years so be warned that i can't love you' to 'you have feelings for another man? i'm done-zo.' like what. you just said you can't love her and will never be at home with her but it's a fucking problem that she likes someone else? even though she's is clearly willing to get over it by marrying you??? bro. bro.

-hate what they did with Colin's hair for most of his scenes. why flatten it all out and take out the adorable curls he had in the first episode????????????????? episode one hairstyle was god-tier. everything after that makes him look like he's wearing a bad and stiff wig. still hot tho. also on the hair note: please stop giving eloise bangs. please.

-people on reddit were near to rioting when they learned Kanthony was only in the first ep due to leaks. i was bummed but ultimately don't mind it. did we deserve to see more of them thanks to how badly s2 was handled?? absolutely. but if it's only sex scenes bc they're now trying for babies then i'm good for now. also glad that edwina and mary don't come back bc ngl they pissed me tf off in s2 thanks to how badly they were written. plus like i said, this season has FAR too many subplots to keep them in. the writers really should have trimmed things down. violet meeting Lady D's brother was also not necessary imo.

-i went from loathing cressida to actively sympathizing and rooting for her to snatch up debling in the latter half. well done, writers.

-all the featherington scenes were gold. pru and phillipa are incredible when in scenes together and i'm so glad we got more of that. albion finch is a treasure, too. i really think they should have spent more time on penelope and her mother's relationship bc it's a big part of the book with how portia assigned pen to be her caretaker for when she got old and that being pen's burden/reason to want to bug out and marry rather than stay with her abusive mother, not her sisters' heirs taking charge of the house. they leaned too much into the comedy with the featheringtons and forgot to remind us why penelope is so miserable at home too--the problem stems from her mother, too, not only her sisters. we got two tiny clips of that and that was it. not enough to really establish that. the featheringtons are funny yes but they are not good people (sans Pen). Portia is neglectful and rude and dismissive toward Pen and there is not enough of that so far.

-i haven't read fran's book yet so had no idea what to expect and thought i'd be bored. she is adorable and i'm rooting for her. i like john better than the other guy. but i'm not that invested in her plot. i have no true emotional attachment to her. she needed her own season or to be pushed back to s4.

-still don't like eloise but i'm warming to her. a third season straight of her being condescending to almost everyone outside of her family/friends does nothing to endear her to me. she still blames Whistledown for "ruining" her when she ruined herself by ignoring everyone's warnings and running around town doing socially unacceptable things. she still has a right to be upset with Whistledown/Pen but she needs to take accountability for her own shit. but her understanding and patience with cressida was really surprising and i liked that a lot so far. i can see why people are shipping them now!

-HOW HAVE PENELOPE AND COLIN NOT EVEN DANCED ONCE YET WHAT THE FUCK jk i'm sure we'll obvs get that in part 2 but i'm so accustomed to them having a dance in one of the first few episodes that this truly threw me.

-colin's wet dream. loved it. ngl i was fully expecting a masturbation scene in his bed and not only bc i wrote one into my fic lmao

-i fucking called it from the start that the first kiss would be in the featherington garden based off that screengrab. everything about it screamed romeo+juliet. that was my favorite scene so far it was so beautifully shot and the way he goes for the lightest kiss at first and then hesitates and then GOES BACK FOR MORE???? when he realizes he's super into it???? i collapsed. i fucking squee'd like it was 2003.

-i've been complaining on reddit that the makeup in the promos was fucking awful and way too heavy. it comes across much lighter in the final product/show and i'm so relieved because i was truly worried about that. nicola is a stunning stunning woman and i can't help but admire her every time she is on screen and the awful makeup they put on her for those promos were overtaking her face.

-two major changes i truly appreciate (bc i'm normally very critical about shondaland's writing)

1: the journal scene. i loved that colin had pen hide in his study. i really wanted them to get caught there. i love that the journal fight wasn't as huge as it was in the book because the book made it go on for too long and colin was unreasonably mad about it. i'm so glad it was a minor thing here and that they still showed that colin was really pleased when pen praised his writing and he said he'd consider letting her read more and left it at that.

2: the carriage proposal. my biggest issue with the book bc colin was borderline abusive when he pulled her out of the carriage and made her fall. hated that so i'm glad here he was pleased and still mischievous and held out his hand for her and proposed and wasn't rude and impatient like he was in the book. also the carriage scene was hot as hell and i did not fucking expect colin to fucking finger her right then and there with the goddamned WINDOWS OPEN. tbh i was expecting boob action like in the book but that was a surprising change.

-pacing. too many storylines makes for a too-quickly paced episode. i feel like we were catapulted into everything and my head was spinning. this is a show that, because it insists on such a large fucking cast, would immensely benefit from a 12 or even 20 episode run rather than eight. but we know netflix is a cheap bitch so that will never happen and shows this dense suffer for it.

-music. i do not care about covers. i just don't. it makes no difference to me who is added to the soundtrack or the easter egg hunt of finding which song was used in which scene. the original scores made for the show are beautiful on their own and don't distract like the covers do and that's all i'll say.

-already seeing reviews online from people complaining polin have no chemistry??? idk what show they're watching but it ain't this one. this has been a slow slow buildup and if you can't feel their chemistry then idk what to tell you bc it is there. (and this is gonna be a hot take and unpopular opinion but personally out of all the main couples so far i found daphne and simon's chemistry to feel really forced and kind of cringey so take my opinion as you will but pen and colin have LEAGUES more chemistry as friends to lovers here)

BUT: one could also blame this on the awful pacing of these first four episodes so far. it really would have been nice to have more filler time of col and pen doing the flirting lessons since that was cut too short too soon.

phew--.

i will most definitely have more to say later on but these are my immediate thoughts and i had to get them all down . if you got this far down then bless you and thanks for listening and lmk your thoughts! i'm dying to talk about this.

#leigh speaks #major spoiler talk #bridgerton season 3 #polin #i will do a rewatch for sure next week i'm already obsessed #bridgerton #netflix #nicola coughlan #luke newton #bridgerton seaosn 3 #colin bridgerton #colin x penelope #penelope x colin #penelope featherington

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musclesandhammering · 3 years ago

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Every Single Issue I Have With S*lki (It’s Not Just The Selfcest)

Here goes. I threatened to post this a few days ago and never did, but I just saw a s*lki stan Twitter account claim that Loki caring about Sylvie more than the whole multiverse was a Good And Romantic thing and it pushed me over the fucking edge, so now you all have to read this. I’ve divided it into categories cause there’s just THAT much.

OOC Bullshit

• First and foremost, no amount of mental gymnastics you do will ever make me believe that this specific Loki- the one that just invaded New York, that just came off a year of Thanos Torture, that just got done being influenced by the sceptre, that was literally in the middle of a crisis already, and then on top of that went through all the trauma of Ep 1- would even be worried about a romantic relationship. That would be the furthest thing from his mind. Go back and watch how he acted in Avengers- you think that guy would abandon his previous mission to become a snivelling simp for a girl he’d just met 3 days prior? Yeah, there’s no universe in which that makes sense.

• “It’s very in character for Loki to fall in love with himself lololol-“ NO, it’s literally not. Out of all the characters in the mcu, I don’t think I can think of anyone that genuinely hates themselves more than Loki. He even referred to all his other male variants as “monsters” and said meeting them was “a nightmare” in this series. He’s got so much self-loathing, plus the fact that he genuinely thinks himself to be an evil backstabbing scourge- so there’s no evidence at all suggesting that he would ever develop a fondness for, or even be inclined to trust, another version of himself, after only knowing them for 3 days.

• Building on that, the whole concept of Loki falling in love with a version of himself just feeds into the annoying ass misconception that he’s a narcissist. No matter which way you stack it, he’s not. If you’re referring to NPD, he doesn’t fit the criteria, and if you’re saying “narcissist” just as a slang term meaning “selfish and arrogant”, that still doesn’t accurately describe him. But when creators like Waldron and Herron do things like having him fall in love with himself, it makes it so much easier for casual viewers to think that he is.

Shitty LGBT Rep

• It’s kinda sus that Loki’s are allegedly genderfluid and yet the only female-presenting variant we see (and apparently the only female-presenting variant there is, cause the male Loki’s all seemed unfamiliar with the concept) is treated as some kind of mind-bogglingly special paradox. Also very sus that, out of all the Loki variants, the one our Loki falls in love with just so happens to be the only female one. What a coincidence.

• The fact that the creators of the show went around bragging about Loki’s bisexuality and Marvel purposefully (lbr) allowed stories about Loki possibly having a male love interest to circulate, specifically enticing queer viewers to watch the show (you know, the definition of queerbaiting), and then instead of having a male love interest (Loki was the first queer main character, so it was the perfect opportunity) they gave us *gestures to this dumpster fire* this… it’s just a middle finger to LGBT fans. The fact that they would rather have this relationship with all its myriad of problems than have a gay relationship is just……. Very telling.

• While him being with a woman obviously doesn’t refute his bisexuality, the fact that they showed/talked about him being interested in 3 different women (flight attendant, Sylvie, Sif) and never even hinted at him being attracted to a man, definitely makes it seem like they were trying to cover up his bisexuality to smooth things over with the more homophobic viewers. You know? It’s like “I know you’re pissed that we sorta confirmed Loki as bi, so we promise we’ll never mention it again! Or even hint at it! As a matter of fact, we’ll give him lots of female lovies and make him seem as straight as possible! That’ll take your mind off of that horrible crumb of queer rep, right? Please please please keep giving us your money!!!”

• Aside from all the other issues, at its core, the biggest reason why I think I’m so irritated with s*lki is that it took one of the most interesting, complex, and diverse characters in cinema atm and squished him into a tired ass unnecessary heteronormative subplot…. Like literally every. single. other. protagonist. ever. Loki is such a unique character, and it’s so so so incredibly disappointing that they stuck him into that same boring cookie cutter romance that happens to every other character in every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disservice, and it’s honestly just not compelling or entertaining at all.

Thematic Issues Galore

• His arc didn’t need a romance. With anyone. It was unnecessary and it didn’t make sense plot-wise. In fact, one of the reasons he was my fav prior to this was because he was the only big-name mcu character whose story wasn’t muddied-up by a romance that didn’t need to be there. So much for that.

• He wasn’t emotionally ready for a romantic relationship with anyone. Hell, just a genuine friendship would’ve been pushing it for him at this point. He was in such a bad state that any relationship he got into would’ve been toxic and unhealthy for both him and the other person, and it doesn’t make sense why the writers would want to put him in one when there were so many cons and essentially no pros (other than “Uwu aren’t they cute together”).

• Sylvie’s character in general was unnecessary and Loki’s character was robbed just by her being there. The whole show became about her post-Ep 2. They spent most of the time giving her backstory, building her up, telling us how awesome she is, trying to convince us to like her, etc when what they really needed to be doing was building Loki up- cause I gotta say, if I had to describe TVA!Loki in a few words, they would be Flat, Boring, and Weak.

• The romance overtakes the plot. They spend time portraying their supposed connection that could’ve been spent adding depth and complexity to literally any of the characters. They make the big Nexus Event them giving each other googly eyes on Lamentis when it could’ve been so many other way more profound things that speak to the fundamental nature of Loki’s. They have the climax of the finale be “oh no she betrayed him to kill He Who Remains” when it could’ve been something way more compelling (Loki having a moral crisis over whether or not to kill HWR, Loki contemplating the state of the multiverse and weighing the pros and cons of freedom vs order, Loki looking into some What If situations and getting emotional about what could’ve been regarding his family, Loki realising the gravity of HWR’s offer and finally coming to terms with how important he is to the universal cycle, etc etc). The entire plot suffered in favour of a romance that half of us didn’t even want.

• It essentially reduced all of Loki’s potential character growth down to “He did it for his crush.” He seemed to at least have some motivations of his own in Ep 1-2 (feeble as they were) but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, literally every action he took was just him being a simp for her. Why did he lie in the interrogation? To try to protect Sylvie. Why did he fight the minutemen and Timekeepers? To survive kinda, but mostly cause it was important to Sylvie. Why did he get pruned? Cause he got distracted trying to confess his crush to Sylvie. Why did he try to get out of The Void? Cause he thought Sylvie needed him. Why did he stay in The Void? Cause Sylvie was staying. Why did he try to enchant Alioth? Cause Sylvie told him to. Why did the multiverse get cracked open, leading to an infinite number of Kangs waging war on all of existence? Cause Loki didn’t wanna hurt Sylvie in their fight at the Citadel and then get distracted by her kissing him. It’s uninteresting and honestly pretty embarrassing.

• Throughout their “relationship arc” the writers do their absolute damndest to convince us that we should like Sylvie more than Loki. And you know what? It’s the most hypocritical shit I’ve ever seen. They preach and preach about how Sylvie’s life has been so difficult/we should feel bad for her/she had it so bad/poor poor sylvie/she had it SO much worse than pampered prince Loki…. But then they never even touch on any of Loki’s trauma of hardships (the ones that have been ignored for literally 3 movies now). They frame Sylvie as a good person and a Freedom Fighter after she spent literal decades/centuries mass-murdering brainwashed TVA agents and showing exactly zero remorse for it….. but then they make it their mission to constantly remind us that Loki is a terrible person and constantly put him in situations where he’s forced to acknowledge his wrongdoings/show remorse/admit to how “evil” he is for being a mass murderer for like 2 years. They show him on-screen having a wider range of powers than her, and perpetuate his whole shtick of being a “master manipulator” or whatever….. But then they make Sylvie “the brawn” more competent, intelligent, and physically capable than him. Tell me how it’s a good thing for a ship to be so narratively biased toward one character.

Missed Opportunities

• If they absolutely had to have a romance subplot, then they could’ve paired Loki with one of the characters that have already been established OR one of the characters that were a big part of the whole TVA storyline anyway. It would’ve been so interesting if they’d revealed that Loki had a history with some of the players from previous films (Sif and Fandral both come to mind). It also would’ve been really interesting if they’d given Loki a love interest that actually had some allegiance to the TVA as a whole (Mobius maybe, but not necessarily. It also could’ve been Renslayer or B-15). Hell, imo it would’ve been cool if they’d followed through with that “See you again someday” line that he said to the flight attendant in Ep 1. ALL of these characters have way more chemistry with him than Sylvie, and they were also already relevant to the plot without wasting half the show to give background info on them.

• If they absolutely had to have a hetero-presenting love story involving an enchantress-type figure, then there’s a whole Enchantress (Amora) that was actually Loki’s love interest in the comics. Plus, fans have been screaming for Amora to appear in the mcu for years. Plus, Tom literally pitched an Amora/Loki storyline way back in 2012-13. Also, Lorelei (another enchantress) is also one of Loki’s love interests in the comics, and she already exists in the mcu (she was on Agents of SHIELD). There were several different established characters for them to choose from. Creating a whole knew amalgamation of a character and going with the “she’s a Loki variant” storyline was just completely unnecessary and made no sense.

• They completely robbed us of a Chaos Twins dynamic. Had they handled Sylvie better and not forced her and Loki to smooch, the two of them could’ve had a really really complex and interesting sibling relationship. Loki could’ve stepped into Thor’s shoes and sort of used that new role to gain some self importance, and Sylvie could’ve finally had somebody to look out for her/teach her magic/be there for her. It would’ve been very aesthetically pleasing, the vibes would’ve been out of this world, it would’ve been way more profound than this bs, and frankly it would’ve been much more entertaining to watch.

• Loki’s relationship (read: obsession) with Sylvie completely overshadows all Loki’s other relationships in the show. Loki and Mobius were literally the focal point of the series in Ep 1-2, but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, they barely had any interactions with each other, and Mobius pretty much faded to the background entirely. Loki had the beginnings of a pretty interesting antagonistic relationship with Renslayer (with her wanting him pruned, then arguing with Mobius that he couldn’t be trusted), but after Sylvie showed up the dynamic shifted to focus on the history between her and Ravonna. Loki and B-15 started off very badly and openly disliked each other throughout Ep 1-2, and then in the end of Ep 2, Loki showed a little bit of concern for her when she was possessed, hinting that they might be inching toward a reconciliation- especially considering how obvious it was that Loki was gonna uncover the TVA’s sins eventually. There was so much potential for him to be the one to give her her memories back and convince her to change sides, but no, of course that honor went to Sylvie. In fact, after Sylvie showed up, Loki and B-15 never even spoke to each other again.

Various S*lki Fails

• If they were trying to convince us that this affection was mutual, they completely failed. There’s nothing I’ve seen that even hints at Sylvie feeling the same way about Loki that he does about her. At most, I’d say she has a slight endearment to him. She finds him likeable and she’s grudgingly fond of him, but she definitely isn’t in love with the guy. Maybe she thinks he’s cute and hopes that he gets out of this mess alright, but her mission obviously comes before him- whereas, it’s been confirmed multiple times that Loki cares about her above anything else. She doesn’t trust him, she looks at him like he’s an incompetent fool half the time, she shows little to no reaction during most of his confession moments, and she kissed him as a means to distract him so that she could get him out of her way. Look, all I’m saying is, when you get into a relationship where one of you is way more invested than the other, it never ends well.

• This goes without saying for a lot of us, but the selfcest is just straight up odd and cringey. If you’re cool with that sort of thing, fine! People can ship what they want! But don’t pretend it’s not at least a little bit uncomfortable. Yes, I know they’re not technically siblings so it’s not technically incest, and they’re also not technically the exact same person, but they’re similar enough that it makes things weird. And yes I know selfcest can’t happen in real life, so there’s no way to judge it morally, but neither can most of the other stuff that happens in these shows/movies (the Snap, Loki destroying jotunheim, superhero with powers being held accountable, mind control) and yet we still find ways to judge their morality, because they all mirror real-world events. (The snap= genocide; Loki destroying Jotunheim= bombing other countries; superhero accountability= weapons accountability; mind control= grooming and coercion). And lbr the closest real-world mirror to two versions of the same person (who may or may not share DNA, family, backgrounds, physical and emotion characteristics) being romantically involved with one another is incest. And you can be ok with that if you want- that’s your prerogative- but don’t get pissy just cause a lot of us are squicked out by it.

• The whole mirror metaphor (learning self love via each other) thing just fell completely flat. First of all, having Loki learn to love himself by looking at someone who mirrors him did not, in any way shape or form, require them to be romantically involved. But they were. Of course. Secondly, the creators have contradicted themselves so many times on whether Loki and Sylvie are the same or not, that it doesn’t even really register to the viewer that the mirroring thing was what they were going for. Finally, Loki and Sylvie are shown to have so little in common- and to have only the most bare minimum of similarities personality-wise- that it doesn’t even make sense that Loki would “learn to love himself through loving her”. Like? They’re nothing alike. So how would he make the connection that he himself is actually pretty cool, based on her alone? There’s virtually nothing in her that reflects him.

• I know the objective of the entire show was to convince us of how awesome and unique Sylvie is, but honestly her relationship with Loki just did the opposite. A hallmark of a Mary Sue is having her constantly upstage the male lead, and then having him instantly fall madly in love with her anyway. And that’s.. exactly what happened here. Everything they’re doing to try to force her character to be more stan-able is really just forcing her to look more like their self-insert OC. Which is exactly what she is. It would’ve been so much more satisfying if she didn’t have to try so hard to look cool, if they didn’t have to try so hard to make her backstory tear-inducing, if they didn’t have to turn our protagonist into a snivelling simp just to prove how incredible she supposedly is. Very much #GirlBoss energy and we all know how performative and cheap that is.

• The entire thing was too rushed, there was too little build-up, and it was nowhere near believable. As stated above, it’s ridiculously unlikely that Loki would canonically even be interested in Sylvie, and this show did nothing to explain why he was. He just suddenly was. There was nothing they showed us as viewers that would justify a guy as closed-off and preoccupied as Loki falling head-over-heels for a girl he just met. Their was no explanation, no big revelation, no reasoning, it just… kinda happened. And I’m also severely skeptical of any love story that has the characters go in this deep after only 3 45-minute episodes of exposition.

I’m sure there’s other stuff, so if anyone thinks of anything, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add it. Tagging @janetsnakehole02 @raifenlf @natures-marvel and @brightredsunset800 for expressing interest. This is all your faults.

#antisylki #loki meta #kinda #loki series critical #loki series negativity #anti loki x sylvie #anti loki series #anti sylvie #frosty bby #loki deserved better #I don’t even like TVA!Loki tho so I guess it doesn’t matter with him lmao #tva loki #loki laufeyson

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bravecows · 2 years ago

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Ep 13 of Extraordinary Attorney Woo felt like cringey filler, but I enjoyed Ep 14 more than I expected. I could kinda see what they were going for -- let's take the characters out of their ordinary lives and give them a big character or relationship moment, a change to the status quo. I don't really AGREE with the direction they took -- there are so many existing storylines and relationships I would've preferred the show to develop instead, from Young-woo's relationships with both birth parents to the rivalry between the Hanbada and Taesan CEOs -- but I kinda get what they were aiming for.

There were a couple of major missteps with regard to Young-woo. The Ep 13 scene where she meets Jun-ho's sister was clearly meant to be funny but, because we're on Young-woo's side and inhabit her POV, it ends up being hard to watch. I was reflecting on this scene as compared to the scenes where Young-woo takes Hairy Boss's advice to open doors for Jun-ho etc and thinking about why those worked and the in-laws scene doesn't. They start on the same premise of "Young-woo applies advice to a social challenge to amusing effect", but the big difference is with the courtship scenes the only witness is Jun-ho who we know adores Young-woo and tries his best to understand her -- he's as sympathetic to her perspective as we can be. Watching the in-laws judge and be baffled by Young-woo's best attempts to please them is very different.

Jun-ho speculating that Young-woo dumped him because they didn't get to see any dolphins also just doesn't work. Jun-ho's kind of a himbo tbh -- the person who said he's the sexy secretary trope is absolutely right -- but he is meant to be emotionally and socially intelligent. (One of the most attractive aspects of their dynamic is that flipping of the classic trope of "male genius does hard brain stuff and offends people, female love interest provides emotional support and social skills".) This misreading of Young-woo feels really off-base for him and the respect he's always had for her. If he's able to misread Young-woo this badly, it makes it hard to root for their relationship.

I've been fairly relaxed up till now about how they've been developing the romance, because to me it's not the main point of the show, but the show's refusal to let Jun-ho and Young-woo finish important conversations is starting to grate. It seems really unnecessary to rely on an inability to communicate for conflict because there are so many genuine challenges their relationship could face. Like, Young-woo could've had a whole conversation with Jun-ho about what "officially dating" vs "going on dates" means and still ended up disagreeing with him. (Also, she was the one who proposed that they go on a few dates before becoming an official couple -- how come she suddenly doesn't understand what being an official couple means or why that difference might matter to Jun-ho?) She could've told Jun-ho that she overheard what his sister said and that's made her think they shouldn't be together, and you still have a really tough conflict to work through. I'd have serious reservations about dating someone whose sister said things like that about me, wouldn't you?

That said, I thought the breakup scene was very effective -- Young-woo getting an insight into their case and abandoning the relationship conversation to hare off after a promising legal argument is classic Young-woo. You don't blame her, and yet you see how legitimately hurtful it is for Jun-ho to get dumped in that way.

My favourite, underrated scene in Ep 14 is the one where Young-woo interrupts Attorney Jung's meeting with his ex-wife to question him about the case and he takes her through the reason their strategy is lacking. It's just such a nice little example of supervision. Young-woo is a genius but she's still a junior lawyer who needs guidance. And it's also an example of something this show does well imo -- it sets up an argument and a counter-argument at the same time, and shows the validity of both. Argument: Jung Myeong-seok has wasted his life, destroyed his health and devastated what could've been a good marriage by overfocusing on work. Counter-argument: But it is meaningful work and a meaningful life; he is a great lawyer; he will leave a legacy of excellent lawyers he has trained. Young-woo says it herself: it's all been worth it, she says. You're amazing. She's not quite right. But she's not wrong, either ...

(Despite talking about legacies, I don't actually think Attorney Jung will die. Less because I trust the show or have much familiarity with kdrama tropes, and more because I refuse to accept such a possibility!!)

Like everyone else, I wasn't enthused about the Su-yeon/Min-woo development, but I have to say, their dynamic is really attractive. Min-woo is a dickhead who needs way more rehabilitation, but the banter is great and the scene on the balcony was charming and hilarious. Would watch a whole drama about them; definitely feel you'd need a whole 16 episodes to make Min-woo into a remotely tolerable human being. (That said, I didn't read him as being on the brink of making ableist comments when he was getting drunk with Su-yeon and Jun-ho. I thought he was about to say that their relationship would've become problematic because of Young-woo's parentage, before he remembered that's a secret and pulled back from the revelation.)

ETA: Also vaguely surprised by the show's Buddhist agenda! I'm assuming I'm either missing some cultural nuance and/or writer-nim is a practising Buddhist ...

#extraordinary attorney woo

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seance · 2 years ago

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You 🤝 me

Wanting to explore more of the Wednesday boys without unnecessary romance plots, and mourning the Gifted

found my people 😌 i'm kinda surprised by how much the general public on other socials has grown attached immediately to the pseudo romance storyline, i personally found it the least interesting part of the whole show, the twist would have worked just fine without it but!! i also guess it's about different taste in media tropes + marketing, cause apparently stories always need something like this to keep people watching (not me tbh).

i just hope this won't mean losing some promising characterization, especially when it comes to xavier cause i'm all in for his (and bianca's) storylines. the obviously troubled dynamic with his father, the dreams, his mental health being a "PR nightmare" for his family, the 'incident' with tyler and his friends etc.

also he sincerely seems like a good person/friend, praying they'll get to explore that and also leave room for wednesday and the girls to breathe as characters on their own! cause let's be serious, in terms of chemistry between wednesday, enid and bianca they left everyone else behind eating dust.

as for tyler, sad to say he really didn't get to me at all this season, they left too many things just mentioned without any real explanation so crossed fingers they'll correct that too but to me, everything else takes priority sdogs- sorry, kid.

ps. i will never not cry thinking about the gifted, it had one of the best sibs dynamic to date + the fucking x men aka my long time love, we were ROBBED of a real conclusion, andy and lauren deserve to wreck some havoc together one last time tbh.

#replies #text #wednesday spoilers #just to be safe #anyway as usual i'm hyperfocusing on the angsty family/found family dynamics what else is new

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witchybibliophile · 2 years ago

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HEYYYY HSMTMTS PEEPS LMK THOUGHTS ABT S3 FINALE 🤯 alsoo spoiler alert for this entire post - AND pls feel free to dm abt this

cause honestly I’m so disappointed with it aaaaaaahhhh the way they focused more on grand musical numbers than the individual character arcs hurt me for realll. Except for Kourtney’s, Emmy’s, Corbin’s and Nini’s arcs which were honestly pretty near immaculate and I’m so here for them ❤️

But yeah especially Ashlyn, EJ, Gina and Ricky deserved better 🥹

EJ first - Soo EJ’s coming to terms scene with his dad hanging up on him seemed like a small thing to sway him and I’d have loved to see more an aha moment for him after that, like a solo song for instance? Overall I do like the idea of his arc being focused on finally fully letting go of the pressure from his dad and living life authentically for himself, but it wasn’t handled in the best way and I sincerely hope they give us more on this next season.

Gina - I guess this goes quite well after EJ lol, anyways I’m a kinda sad that EJ couldn’t go on his self-discovery journey TOGETHER with Gina and that they’d be that supportive couple more that got through hardships together. There was potential that they’d reconcile this episode for instance after EJ’s dad hung up on him. He could’ve got this epiphany that damn he will fight for who he loves and tell Gina he’s ready to commit to their relationship.

Okay sorry that EJ got into Gina’s arc but honestly I just think this was a missed opportunity with them. Overall Gina was amazing this season standing up for herself as well as being so supportive of EJ in their relationship. The basketball confidence song and playing the leading lady role while also remaining so true and supportive of her friends (esp “sister” Kourtney) were definitely highlights of her arc for me this season.

The moments with Ricky could be interpreted as loaded with romantic tension and him admitting he had feelings for her earlier on kinda foreshadowed where they’d end up. I do like the idea of these two as a couple but honestly giving Gina A MONTH to admit her feelings for him just feels a bit dragged out and inauthentic. Them getting gradually closer and closer as friends only to finally admit their feelings for eachother is what I think I was missing here and what made that final kiss feel a bit hollow to me.

Ricky - I’m happy Ricky decided to dump Lily immediately starting the season and seeing him head back to his true friends did feel right. I love how he supports Jet with his relationship issues with his sister so much ❤️ that was probably one of my fave things abt him this season.

The way he’s always a reliable friend to Gina (I guess conversely to EJ who’s so busy with the whole director thing) is also sweet and I guess this does give the vibes of friends getting closer to lovers as they already established a close friendship bordering on romance back in S1. But it just feels a bit off as Gina is now with EJ, and giving us thoughts of Ricky and Gina’s romance throughout the show makes me think that they really didn’t give Portwell much of a chance 🥲 I guess this reflection paragraph actually made me feel more okay with the end’s confession and kiss, but then the 1 month time skip feels a bit unnecessary as Ricky and Gina have already come so far together.

Ashlyn - Her queer awakening in ep7 was EVERYTHING and I just felt so sorry for her that she ended up hiding that part from Big Red in this episode. Idk what to feel about them now, because there were scenes showing them seemingly happy together like nothing had changed and then scenes where Ashlyn was clearly uncomfortable. I do hope that she gets the queer storyline she deserves and that it really gets some focus on it next season. The whole Big Red being bi bomb at the end also felt like it stole a bit of her moment, by throwing yet another change at her. Honestly I don’t think she needs a serious romantic relationship right now, she should be free to explore her queerness on her own.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts season 3 #hsmtmts season 3 finale #hsmtmts s3 #hsmtmts s3 finale #spoiler alert #ej caswell #ashlyn caswell #gina porter #ricky bowen #kourtney greene #maddox hsmtmts #jet hsmtmts #carlos rodriguez #nini salazar roberts #ricky and gina

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curestardust · 3 years ago

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Dust Watched: Strawberry Panic

Genres: Shoujo Ai, SoL, Drama TW: (non-explicit) sexual assault // 26 episodes

According to this anime everyone at an all-girls’ Catholic school is a lesbian. And according to what I’ve heard from people in real life, this is correct.

✧ story ✧

"Strawberry Panic” starts out as most Shoujo Ai anime do with similiar tropes. Aoi Nagisa recently transfers to one of the Academies on Astraea Hill, Miator, the oldest and most traditional of the 3 schools present. Spica is similiar to Miator but less strict while Le Rim is the most loose and is more similiar to a normal school. These Academies are joint Middle and High Schools meaning that there are 6 grades and Nagisa joins as a 4th grader.

The first half of the anime goes as you’d probably expect, including the good and the bad. We’ve 2 love triangles (yes, 2). Both of them have the same set-up: the main character (Nagisa, Hikari) feeling attracted to a more well-known and prestigious student (Shizuma, Amane) while their roomates (Tamao, Yaya) pine after them. Although in this half the 2 storylines aren’t given the same amount of screentime. After Nagisa has a Gaycounter™ with Shizuma after transferring, the romance takes more of a backseat after a few episodes and focuses on more SoL episodes with some gay undertones. Hikari’s story is introduced a bit later but it’s completely romance focused and also suffers from the worst trope in Queer anime, casual sexual assault. Thankfully it never goes too far but it obviously squeaked me out.

Even though, I’m more into stuff that’s happy-go-lucky when it comes to Shoujo Ai, because god knows we’ve enough problems in real life already, the second half of “Strawberry Panic” is what elevates this show from “I’m not sure if this show is just using lesbian romance as a gimmick” to “holy fuck”. The SoL is almost completely dropped while we finally see characters’ backstories and romances go from “will they, won’t they” to genuine love stories treated with seriousness. It’s kind of an emotional rollercoaster and had a lot of unexpected moments. There was one mini arc in Hikari’s story near the end which I found unnecessary and near comedic drama fodder but it doesn’t last long.

Regardless of which relationships you were rooting for, the ending is both bittersweet and satisfying.

✧ characters ✧

With there being 3 schools in the same premises things could’ve gotten a bit chaotic but it’s solved by the existence of “Strawberry Hall” aka a living space where some of the students from all 3 schools live together. More important characters to the story all live here, moving the center stage from the school to Strawberry Hall instead. Less important side-characters that only show up for a few scenes or don’t serve too much purpose for the overall story aren’t present here either.

As I mentioned, in the first half the characters and their feelings more trope-ish than anything. Nagisa the ditzy and oblivious main girl with her roommate Tamao who has an almost unhealthy obsession with her but is unclear if it’s just for funny moments or serious. Shizuma is mysterious and a player, with her advances towards Nagisa being dubious consent and kinda brushed of with a “She’s cute”. The student council presidents of all the 3 schools seem mostly just representatives of the schools conflicts with each other due to differences in tradition. The younger, kohai, characters also make an appearance, with some of them also showing “interest” toward the main characters. Hikari is kind of a punching bag for the story with her shy personality and Amane’s obliviousness to her own feelings.

In the second half, most characters get a lot more backstory, and everyone comes into play. As the story spirals into near depression, the cute funny kohai side characters and Le Rim’s school pres Chikaru help lighten the mood intensely. All of the romances suddenly start taking on a serious tone. Tamao’s affections are dropped as a gag and she becomes more somber as she is trying to deal with Nagisa obviously having serious feelings for Shizuma and how she feels like she can’t compete with it. The reason for Shizuma’s odd personality is revealed and then wraps up in a shocking and unexpected scene after which she has to battle with herself and her past if she wants to be with Nagisa.

While the “Amane - Hikaru - Yaya” storyline has the most questionable and goofy moments, these characters feelings are taken as actual romantic feelings from the get-go so seeing the end result after so much trouble made me literally clap from delight.

✧ art ✧

I’m not going to sugarcoat this, the anime isn’t on the strongest side. The limited budget really shows in certain scenes, sometimes even taking away from their seriousness. The characters sometimes go off-model and there are key shots I wish more effort went into. It’s far from unwatchable, just could’ve been better. The muted colour pallette, the character designs and the beautiful enviromental backgrounds are nice to look at however and it’s only in scenes with more movement that the faults of the anime become really noticable.

✧ sound ✧

The OST is filled with very pleasant grand orchestral performances. These help intensify the feelings of each scene a lot, however as the OST is quite loud and the repertoire is limited, you’ll definitely notice how much certain tracks are re-used.

✧ overview ✧

It’s quite hard to find Shoujo Ai anime that not only takes its romance seriously, but also doesn’t end in tragedy. And while I wouldn’t call “Strawberry Panic” perfect, it was certainly a breath of fresh air and, especially the second half, was unique and compelling.

My Rating: 8/10

#dusty reviews #Strawberry Panic #finally something i liked!!!!

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thoughtfulpaperback · 4 years ago

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Charmed 03 x 13 SPOILER REVIEW!!!!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Okay it's Saturday, but that episode felt like too much emotionally. They better not make this a Kat moment with Jordan and not bring my man back because I will riot. Overall this was an emotionally heavy episode entertainment wise it was a solid 8/10. But overall kind of frustrating for me for a number of reasons which I will go into in my dislikes section.

DISLIKES

1) Stop Torturing Black Male Characters!!! Also they really had Jordan pull a Galvin.

Now, just as I did with Galvin season 1. I take issue with the whole leaving right when the gal is the most emotionally attached. It’s really cruel of the writers. With both Jordan and Galvin, I can see how the events they went through would have them needing a moment. I do. Unlike with Galvin, I feel it was totally unwarranted with Jordan. I mean to say that Galvin up until the event that caused his trauma, hadn’t really been that involved in the magical world or faced anything that scary. So I can totally see how what happened caused a break without putting him through the wringer continually. I just feel that this event shouldn’t be the breaking point. What I mean by that is that the writers shouldn’t have done it. Not that Jordan shouldn’t have felt the way he did. I would have preferred him taking a break before having to deal with the tomb. In some ways, this felt like a Detective Morris moment (Torture the mortal black man until he breaks and can’t take it) more than it did with Galvin and I always hated how the writers treated Darryl. I think its because of the fact Jordan has been thrown into one crisis to another (my man has almost died multiple times) continually. I love Jordan and because we’ve seen him so much outside of a romance arch (unlike Galvin) I’ve grown attached and I hate to see him so beaten down that he has to leave. I think he would have been valid and in character for him to need time for himself before the tomb. I don’t think they should have put him through it to send him away. Well I have hope he will be back soon so I am not going to fret, but I can still say my piece over the unnecessary torture of POC characters.

Though if they replace Jordan screen time with Antonio screen time I will freak out because that would be wrong y’all. I’m not talking about shipping wise! It would just be a real misstep if they “replace” screen time devoted to a black man to a light skinned Latino. Colorism is real y’all and I get enough of it in my novelas, don’t need it in Charmed anymore than it has appeared in the past.

2) Are we done with showing Abby’s abuse now?

If there is one thing I hate it is showing abuse on screen. I hate seeing it, I find it triggering as someone whose sibling was thrown in the trunk of a car while the adults laughed. I don’t think abuse justifies Abby’s actions either, in that showing how she was abused doesn’t make me dislike her past actions any less. Nothing will change my mind on those. Same with hearing Abby’s good intentions behind her good deeds.

Listen, I don’t think Abby is all bad. But villainous actions are still villainous. She has done some good and it wasn’t all selfish, but that doesn’t mean the heinous stuff she did was any less heinous. Whatever the writers choose to do with Abby, as long as they have her put the work into redeeming herself, then I’m cool. they seem to want to do that with her and have started her on that journey. So we shall see if they pull it off.

3) They really giving the Bisexual the unrequited love twice over

This show isn’t good to the LBGTQ+ community like it likes to make itself out to be. I don’t think Abby’s interest in Mel is a threat to the Ruby x Mel thing since last episode they seemed to seal Mel and Ruby as a solid couple at least for now. But I don’t think we need competing queer ships. I felt the mess that was melko versus jada x mel, was unnecessary and I don’t want to see a repeat. At the same time I think it is awful to sort of give the bisexual character the crappiest luck when it comes to being rejected twice. Technically, Mel hasn’t outright rejected her, but not bringing it up is like the nice way of rejecting her and letting her keep some sense of dignity after having her secrets violated.

4) This episode was really the Abby show in a lot of ways.

While there were interesting developments and reveals (by which I mean obvious, but welcomed ones), this episode was basically for the Abby lovers and in a way the Abby haters to convince them that they are wrong about her. And I just didn’t need it. I don’t think Abby haters will ever not hate her and I think dedicating an entire episode to defending her only fuels them further. I think they should have further explored Abby’s past and issues in small doses spread out through this season. I don’t want to be told she is redeemable, I want to come to that conclusion on my own by watching her behavior. I think the show always messes up when it comes to developing concepts over time. Abby has been a series of missteps from the writers in my opinion, but I think with this episode they are trying to come back from those, but I think it wasn’t done as well as it could have been and the way they did it may only further the whole Abby hate train, not take away from it.

LIKES

1) We finally doing the whole Perfecti are the big bads

You all know that my biggest issue with Charmed in it’s previous seasons is always the bait and switch with villans. I hope, since we are 13 episodes in and it has been pretty obvious that the Perfecti are going to be a big problem, that the rest of the season will be dedicated to taking them down and dealing with any trouble they cause. technically they haven’t been around long, but I hope that the writers focus down on this now and we don’t get anymore bait and switches saved for the last two episodes. I like these guys as the bad guys it’s a classic storyline and I am not against the classics.

2) Teaser for more Celeste

Now I know lots of people felt like she would be the big bad and all elders are scum kinda of stuff. And I mean there is still time and we may get baited and switched again this season. But I actually like Celeste. I didn’t at first because I generally don’t trust older white females who ignore consent because their intentions are good. But I like having a remnant of elder knowledge around. I thought she was dead, because the last time we saw her Mel suggested that by taking the time thing she would start to age rapidly. But whatever! I choose to ignore it if the writers are choosing to ignore it.

I still don’t feel that Harry’s need to be mortal is pressing. It should take a backseat to the bigger issues at hand in my opinion, but I won’t say no to seeing what knowledge Celeste has having been the one to create Whitelighters.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Perfecti think Abby is chaoatic and think Jordan is guilty by association

Abby accepting her fate and just saying well sucks for Jordan

Macy’s “ If she wants hostile...”

“Even in a tomb built before the dawn of time a black man still gets imprisoned for something he didn’t do”

Abby’s feelings for Mel confirmed in a violation of her privacy via truth serum

Abby’s mother’s testimony

Abby saying she will give Macy’s powers back

Jordan leaving to recuperate his mental health

#charmed cw #Charmed #charmed 2018 #charmed reboot #cw charmed #mel vera #Maggie Vera #macy vaugn #abigael caine #jordan chase

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niuxita21 · 4 years ago

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Hey there!! So there are some photos going around of Ana and Mariana wearing matching necklaces, Ana’s wearing a kinda heart shaped key and Mariana a lock. Do you think they got them together or something? I feel like it’s too good to be true lmao. I’m thinking that they probably wanna get a third season as well and therefore maybe slow down whatever Ana and Mariana have going on… like how far do you think they’ll develop their relationship in s2? Or in general, what do you think will happen? I have such bad experiences from other shows s2s so I refuse to hype myself up but I can’t help it 🥲

Bro... BRO. BRO!!!!! ARE YOU FOR REAL RN??? OMG no what kind of fanfic come to life that is so cuuuuuute. I know, it does sound too good to be true but hey, if there’s actual photographic evidence, then who am I to question it, lol. Without further context, that actually seems to me like the kind of thing one gives as a gift, which, if it pans out, is even more adorable (and OMG that means my fantasy of them celebrating Mother’s Day together and exchanging gifts like they’re anniversary gifts is ALIVE!!!)

As for where I thought they’d develop them in season 2, thinking as a writer myself and how I would pace the storyline, I always figured they’d do the typical telenovela thing where they don’t actually get together for real until the last couple of episodes, except to stall them getting together I would just have them go back to being friends and in each other’s lives like in season 1 but with the added UST angle between them (taking into account also the fact that Ana has yet to remember her drunk/high love confession and that they’re probably gonna capitalize on it and have that realization not happen immediately).

I would actually be perfectly fine if they ended it in season 2, because another season just means a higher potential to ruin things by creating unnecessary obstacles for them to get together or dumb conflicts if they actually let them be together. One of my favourite TV shows with a f/f storyline is El Embarcadero (if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!), which only had 2 seasons but to me it was the perfect length to tell a well-rounded romance between the two main characters. When it ended, it didn’t feel like I would miss out on so many things or that it hadn’t been enough, because it was done in a very satisfying way, which I think would have been negated if it’d had a third season. But that’s just my personal preference, obviously, and I wouldn’t say no to a third season, as long as they don’t do the typical Netflix ending with a cliffhanger or with things between them unresolved and then leave us hanging if the show doesn’t get renewed.

Bottom line, though, thank you SO MUCH for bringing this news to my attention, you have literally made my whole week!!!

#madre solo hay dos #despite not wanting to worry about things that haven't happened yet #I was still anxious because you never know where a show's writers' heads are you know?#but regardless of where they might be taking them in season 2 this is definitely reassuring!#thoughts no one cares about

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roccinan · 4 years ago

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1/? simply because you have the most galaxy brain thoughts ever,,, what do you think would've happened if they waited until s5 to reveal sergio and andrés were (half)brothers?

i do know that when my fam started watching lcdp at first i was so put off. like i watched ep 1 and the prof creeped me out. ""berlin"" creeped me out. e v e r y o n e creeped me out. and i was cringing so hard becz of the short lived romance angle with alison parker. i literally did not watch s1 at all xcept for like sneak peeks. highlights being the scene where berlin discovers monica is alive and does his dramatic door by door thing? that was so SUSPENSEFUL even tho i had no idea what was going on. DOMINGO DE RESURECCION remains forever iconic.

2/? And OF COURSE the group bella ciao dance when they hit earth (hahah i thought the banda were actually like a "found family where they all love each other LOL") i am a SUCKER for found family. but anyhoo when i properly got intrigued was s2 when tokyo was kicked out (the music from that scene is still my favourite) it's just so dramatic..!! why am i telling u all this again? right, i haven't slept a wink and it's nearly 7 am pls forgive me if these rambles make no sense. i have a point with this.. i'm going somewhere

RIGHT. so when the fam actually rewound the ep cz i wanted to know WHY berlin did that (didn't fully realise how batsht crazy he can be), the russian roulette scene played. and pedro's acting. MAN. and like just that ep they made a point of showing us these flashbacks where sergio and andrés hug....

Hi anon! Thanks for stopping by- sorry took me a while to get back to you, will do my best to answer this string of messages (got all 4 parts)! Glad you like my thoughts XD

Firstly, I believe Andres/Sergio would be the biggest LCDP ship if the writers were evil enough to wait until s5 to reveal that they’re brothers asdfasdf. They’re already the two most popular male characters anyway.

It’d be especially crazy because it’s not like they tell the actors these things beforehand either. So that means there’d probably be a Serdres vs Berlermo vs Serquel fight every 5 minutes. I mean, even if not everyone agrees on everything in the lcdp fandom, it’s the most “peaceful” one I’ve ever been in because no character really gets in the way of any other ship (like even with helermo and berlermo there’s no true conflict since Andres is dead). But with Serdres in the mix?? CATASTROPHE. Everyone out here writing essays about how much of a bastard/bitch/homewrecker/motherfucker that Andres or Sergio or Martin or Raquel is. Never a moment’s peace!! so basically, a regular fandom lmao.

Then when we find out they’re brothers, it goes from catastrophe to Apocalypse. Suddenly serquel and berlermo have the upper hand. Everyone would double down and harass the crew/cast into whatever’s going on. Plot-wise, everything is the same though, just without Andres calling Sergio “hermanito.” Fandom however, would be a minefield! And I’m glad that’s not the case because I’d probably be an unfortunate serdres shippers XD No joke, my mother and I thought they were a couple in S1. So bullet dodged!

Secondly: haha, everyone creeped me out in S1 too, especially Berlin, I hated him, but thinking back, I think I mostly hated the fact that I didn’t hate him as much as I should have. I’ve made peace with it now but oh boy, was he a controversial figure in my head. I actually like the professor on sight though! IDK why, maybe because I thought his plans were cool or because of Alvaro’s delivery. I was afraid of an Alison Parker romance thing too- like, I do feel like she had a storyline that got dropped, but that part was quite cringey and overall unnecessary to the plot. Same with Ariadna, which was even cringier and even Less necessary to the plot.

Domingo de resurrecion was iconic though yes! And even with all that said, I genuinely enjoyed parts 1 and 2 because it was so different from anything else I’d seen. Not content wise, but maybe tonally? IDK, they were just really bold with a lot of things, like being objectively unafraid of having the protagonists (plural because all of them did LMAO) do objectively shitty things. Really kept me in suspense from beginning to end!

I’m usually a big fan of found families too! The funny thing is, then banda never struck me as a “family” until season 3. In 1 and 2, I was wondering what felt different about this show; then it hit me that these people remained colleagues to the end. Like, they backstabbed each other (repeatedly) and everyone was quite selfish, and only the bonds that were already there stuck. They were the opposite of a found family LOL But I think by S3, they went down the found family route and I didn’t mind because it makes quite a lot of sense for them to feel that bond after the Mint heist and almost dying/living together (and having witnessed 3 deaths together on the team). But I still doubt Berlin and Palermo were ever really part of this found family, with good reason XD

LOL the scene where Tokyo got kicked out is also among my favorites!! It was so funny and dramatic, and it was like, wow we can go anywhere with this now! Don’t worry- your rambles and thoughts are always welcome :D

I’m rolling over how you watched the Tokyo expulsion scene before the Russian Roulette scene haha. Also yes, PEDRO. Berlin may have been “controversial” to me at first, but I became Pedro’s fan from day one! Also the Hug is probably what made me like Berlin (despite my determination to hate him rip) in the first place.

3/? ... and like now that i think about it... tokyo had real guts huh. like she KNEW berlin was close enough to el prof to know his name (fhshshs imagine if she'd heard andrés saying 'hermanito' it's unrealistic that she didn't TBH. i mean obviously they decided to make them brothers only towards the end but like in canon universe. how tf did andrés de 'i raised my bby brother since he was 12 and i'd actually die for him and his stupidly brilliant plans' fonollosa go 5 months without slipping up once and calling sergio hermanito. or like,,, i like to imagine sergio kinda gave him lots of leeway(?) sergio's a lil oblivious too but like i'm sure half of it is.. that's my dumbass older bro shut up i'm not being partial you all have city names .. andr-berlin, pass the salt. like OOF. + sergio also knew his big bro was dYiNG so like. i'm sure they were sneaking in some quality time (i hope they did 😭 gosh imagine if sergio really did not ever consider the possibility of andrés dying in the heist so he'd tell himself he needs to perfect the plan now & anyway he'll have enough time to spend w/ his brother post heist in philippines. and then ... that happened :/

Tokyo has guts in place of braincells you bet that she’d do something like this, consequences be damned XD I also think it’s unrealistic for Andres not to slip up, but I have a feeling nobody besides Tokyo really tried to spy on them in private. I headcanon that Andres instead slips up and does things like ruffle Sergio’s hair or adjust his tie when other people are around. I also think Tokyo was convinced that they were a gay couple when she saw them hug XD And if Sergio never went on to tell the banda that Berlin was his brother, everyone would be giving Palermo such awkward looks after Nairobi accused him of being in love with Berlin LMAO.

I agree! I also imagine Sergio giving Andres leeway because he’s just so used to interacting with his brother that way haha. So either he’d go out of his way to ignore Berlin in front of everyone else or IDK, borderline telepathically communicate with him. Not even “pass the salt” has to leave his mouth- Berlin just puts salt into his food and cuts it up for him, in front of everyone who’s just staring like O.O

I actually do think Sergio never considered the possibility of Andres dying in the heist because he was just that confident in his own plan. Plus, Andres was probably the one person he expected to survive. And a lot of it has to do with Sergio’s attachment to him + Andres’ own habit of downplaying any illness/injury over the years, which I think is safe to believe canon. He was really in no condition to be in the heist, let alone lead it. Just the fact that he needs to take those injections is a big sign that he shouldn’t be there, but Sergio didn’t catch it because he’s human and blinded by faith :’) So yeah, I think Sergio was planning to spend proper time with Andres in Palawan and at Toledo, they just settled for those little moments by the fireplace.

4/? what always also just GETS me in the feels is that el prof was shown to be this in control creepily calm dude who is miles ahead of everyone. + in the 1st Toledo class itself we see how detached,, like how impersonal he is, how professional - choosing frickin CITY NAMES?! no 'personal relationships' ? (after recruiting his older brother, a father son pair, and war cousins... oh sergio 😂 he's such a frickin nerd and i love him) but like the earlier seasons really emphasised how robotic and down right COLD he can be. it still sometimes bothers me that he put the button in the car. he lead the police to his own damn brother, his blood, who took care of him and adopted him and was terminally ill and like - UGH i try to rationalise that sergio is that cold and unbothered. or that he has strict morals. but it still bothers me becz that button really sort of tipped andres' already unstable sanity. like andrés tells denver someth like you've robbed my future and after that he just seems so much more suicidal and accepting that he can't get out of the mint alive - WHY SERGIO WHY. I KNOW THAT AT THAT POINT YOU BASICALLY DIDN'T KNOW ANDRÉS WAS GOING TO BE YOUR BROTHER YET BECZ IT WASN'T WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPT BUT WHYYYYY

That’s so funny to me too LMAO No personal relationships, then he recruits these guys. Sergio, hello?? Also can’t forget how he just recruited his own girfrleind in the second heist too. Buddy! Love this nerd.

I don’t think that cold aspect of Sergio went away in later seasons either; he just had more opportunity to show a more open side of himself + without Andres, he had to metaphorically leave his comfort zone without a safety net. But in earlier seasons, he really did seem heartless at times XD Then again, we can argue that the same goes for Andres.

To be fair, I didn’t feel sorry for Andres over the button thing lol, but once the brothers reveal happened and all of Alvaro/Pedro’s headcanons came out and we know everything Andres did for Sergio, it makes what Sergio did REALLY harsh. We really just have to explain it through Sergio’s strict morals and him believing this to be the best non-fatal punishment for Andres, who at that point had convinced him he killed a hostage. And because he knew the television interview was coming up, maybe Sergio assumed Andres would use it to “clear” his name anyway. And empathy isn’t one of Sergio’s strong suits either, so through that lens, I can rationalize it.

Also it was lowkey funny to me how Andres was there like DENVER MUST DIE until he found out Sergio put the button there, then he was like “oh hermanito, you and your practical jokes <3″

Still, like you said, Andres and Sergio weren’t brothers yet at this point. They were probably supposed to be lovers lmao and had a dysfunctional Hannibal Lecter x Will thing going on. But because they made #hermanos canon, that button moment just feels very out of place now, especially given how much the two genuinely love each other.

Guess we could also say that Sergio’s just generally kinda bratty with Andres XD Like, he knows no matter what, Andres would forgive him anything. That’s how I see it anyway!

#anonymous #thanks for stopping by!#royalpaperhouse is this you my friend? :D

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sotorubio · 4 years ago

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Can you elaborate on "the li's development would be smth ordinary for once"? That sounded pretentious of me sorry lol, but I don't see whats not ordinary about it rn? I want the focus to be on Bilals life but if her mystery sadness is connected to her ex, that works with her being LI (both of them are still inexperienced tbh unless you count 1 short ex = experienced; they'll probs awkwardly explore dating together), and if its her fam, they'll bond over that. What would you consider ordinary? 👀

post-answer addition: this got SO long for absolutely no real reason i'm so sorry smfjdkjdd

oh yeah that's a good question i should've probably phrased it better! by ordinary here i meant that it would've been nice to see smth so common as a first ever relationship (at least for jo) like when they get together that would be the "obstacle" they have to tackle by communicating & exploring their feelings

jo being sad abt her ex or having trouble w family ofc wouldn't be too outlandish or dramatic or anything & u have good points abt it fitting bilal's storyline as well! so that's not out of the ordinary as a concept but i was thinking how they always bring in these Issues & Struggles™️ for the LIs even tho the main character already has plenty to go around n i wish we could have an LI who's actually in a good place bc w a show like skam u only have 10 weeks to go through everything n u can't do time jumps etc so to me personally it's getting a bit tiring to see how these not-main-characters have problems that would be worth exploring in an entire season (tho smth like being upset over an ex ofc wouldn't require 10 weeks to go through) it's not always bad but it's getting repetitive imo

i guess for me it boils down to the fact that we've known jo for 2 seasons now even longer than bilal n even tho we've gotten Some information abt her family & life outside of lamifex there's rly never been much indication of her going through Rough Times. AND that alone ofc isn't bad like ofc the side characters should also have a life n it would be boring if we never knew anything abt their personal struggles just bc they're side characters n for example the ex thing couldn't have come up before s8 anyway but the fact that this mysterious side of jo is brought up Now n never before kinda comes off as them wanting the LI to have development other than the relationship. which obviously is great bc they should be more than just an LI n not just exist there (cough s6 maya cough) but it doesn't seem like this is smth they felt the need to write bc they care abt Jo specifically. it's just that she's the LI n therefore she needs Plot.

n that's kinda what my issue is n what i was thinking w the "ordinary" part like jo never having dated before + bilal apparently being a casanova smfjd it'd be an interesting/easy/naturally written conflict that would develop jo's character (learning to trust, being vulnerable which she almost never is, earnestly talking abt her feelings instead of just making jokes etc) without having to come up w some family drama for no reason. also it would've served as continuity from s7 if they had brought up her inexperience then n it had been "resolved" in s8

but that's rly just my opinion like if there's gonna be smth super dramatic happening in jo's life i'll be annoyed but if it's just her ex or smth minor i'm not gonna claim it's bad writing or anything! i just personally find it irritating that whatever jo's going through is treated as this sort of mystery/smth to anticipate when tbh i couldn't care less no offense to jo at all it's just that we're first watching bilal n his brother become homeless children n suddenly we're like hmm why is jo crying tune in next week to find out skfjslfj so by ordinary i mean that sometimes if the li has go have smth noteworthy going on in their life it'd just be smth they come forth with so we could get to the part where it actually develops the characters. now it's like. even if it IS smth as mundane as her being sad abt her ex they're still turning it into some secret we have to find out along the way which to Me is unnecessary but that's more of a personal stance (also probably isn't As much of an issue for ppl not following in real time)

also yeah u have a good point abt them both being inexperienced they're still teens after all just bc that one girl is pining after bilal doesn't mean he's like actually knowledgeable abt serious dating or anything so it's not like we won't see any normal awkward teenage romance! i just wish that theme could've been more central since so many ppl were happy abt jo representing them as a teenager who doesn't have Any dating experience despite most of her peers being in relationships

#does this make ANY sense why is it sooo looong #pls just send another ask if u need me to elaborate more clearly like absolutely no offense taken if u find this answer incomprehensible #inbox #anon

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redisriding · 4 years ago

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Reading Schedule

{UPDATED 26 December 2020}

I thought I would share in case anyone is looking for book recommendations, has recommendations, wants to read along, or chat about books. My ask box is always open if anyone has any recommendations that they think I might like, or wants opinions on books I’ve read.

December

From Blood and Ash - [READ] To be totally honest, I found this book disappointing. Maybe I had set my expectations too high because I had seen so many people online talking about it, but it just didn’t do it for me. From the beginning the book is VERY much a tell don’t show. I also found it in places, frankly, boring. The romance just didn’t sizzle enough, and (without spoiling anything) for a maiden who is supposed to be cloistered away from the world, unable to speak to anyone, she seems to have a lot of interaction with people on a daily basis. She even admits in the first chapter to find it difficult to talk to people as she doesn’t understand the cadence of conversation, yet she is perfectly capable of witty interaction with everyone around her??? Also, I wasn’t super keen on the hero, he didn’t make my bathing-suit parts tingle as I hoped. He was kind of an obnoxious asshole and not in a sexy I want to smush genitals kind of way. Finally, the plot twists were utterly predictable and poorly executed. I think the main take away from this book was that it was excruciatingly boring. I will not be reading the sequel.

Splash Me - [READ] This book was the definition of SHORT but sweet. I read it in about a half hour so I’m not even sure if that classifies it as a novella. Regardless, it’s sweet, even if role-play gives me the ick.

Pumpkin Pounder - [READ] This book came in a duo with Splash Me. It’s a little longer but equally sweet. Still only took an hour to read.

Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood - [REREAD] I was in a bit of a book slump and felt like rereading one of my favourite books of 2020. It was great! If you haven’t already, read it! Although I have some THOUGHTS™️ about one particularly storyline that I need to think about some more before expressing.

Wallbanger - [DNF] This book has been on my to read list since the start of the year, I thought it would be nice to read it before the end of the year, but a couple of pages in I knew it wasn’t going to be for me. I didn’t like the heroine and was a bit icked-out by the way she talks about not being able to have an “O”. I just wasn’t in the mood to read a book about a man with a magic penis who can “fix” a woman with a “broken” body. I gave up after three chapters.

The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood 14) - [READ] After the disappointment of the Wallbanger, I decided to return to my old reliable and read the next book in the BDB series. I’ve said many times before that these books are pure trash, not least due to the inconsistent world building and slow erosion of distinct characters, BUT they’re my catnip! That said, I didn’t love the storyline of this book. I kinda hate when couples who had their happily ever after get resisted just so they can have kids. Unnecessary and annoying.

The Chosen (Black Dagger Brotherhood 15) - [READ] Gods, I love the couple at the centre of this book and had such high hopes, but it was all a bit of a let down. There were some MAJOR side storylines that kind of distracted from the main romantic one, and many of the characters who I loved demonstrated really ugly aspects of their personality here, or in other cases, behaved in a way totally out of character for them - it was most strange. What also annoyed me is that the book was drama and angst all the way through until the last 15ish pages when BOOM all of it was magically solved without the couple really working through things or getting to see any happiness/resolution between them. It was more a case of “this thing happened so they’re going to be happy” rather than ever get to see them happy, which I think these characters really deserved.

The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood 16) - [READ] This is Assails and Solas book, a couple who, admittedly, when they first appeared in a previous, I skimmed over their chapters. However, overtime I came to really love Assail. This book was honestly just okay, but unlike in previous books in this series when a vampire falls in love with a human, there is some unbelievably wild (and worldly inconsistent) way for them to become immortal and stay with their loved one. That didn’t happen in this book, and I’m not sure if I liked that ending or not.

A Warlord Wants Forever (Immortals After Dark .5) - [DNF] This book series was suggested to me as in a similar vein to ACOTAR/those who enjoyed SJM might enjoy this series. Let me tell you, IT WAS NOTHING like SJM’s writing. The storyline was poor, the stakes appeared unclear and inconsequential, but the biggest issue that I had with it was that it was seriously rapey. Not what I want in a romance at all. It was only a short novella so I persevered, but I will not be continuing with this series.

January

Ahead of the release of A Court of Silver Flames in mid February, I want to do an ACOTAR series reread (I spend so much time in Tumblr I almost forgot what is on the very page and what is comments/criticisms from the fandom!) I don’t know how long a total reread will take me but I plan to start around mid January, to be done just in time for ACOSF.

A Court of Thorns and Roses - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Wings and Ruin - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Mist and Fury - [TO REREAD]

February

A Court of Frost and Starlight - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Silver Flames - [TO READ]

#reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #From Blood and Ash #splash me #pumpkin pounder #crescent city #wallbanger #black dagger brotherhood #immortals after dark #acotar #acowar #acomaf #acofas #acosf

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reidyoulikeabook · 4 years ago

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💞 💭 I'd like to know your opinions on penelope, morcia, garvez, meredith grey, george x izzie, and alex karev, and him x izzie (alot I know I'm jus curious) 🎵

okay i’m gonna pop a read more on this because this got LONG (i am so sorry oops i got a lot to say about things always, sidenote pls messge me if you ever want to talk more abt greys i am ALWAYS wanting to talk about that show)

amelia’s 600 celebration!

💞 : favourite fic of yours!

just let me love you!

i think it’s very fitting generally to emily that she’d find it difficult to let somebody in, to let somebody love her. i headcanon strongly that she struggles with that kind of emotional vulnerability and this captured that perfectly! it was such a good mix of angsty but with a fluffy ending, and is definitely my favourite :)

🎵 : a song from my spotify likes!

i shuffled and it said: sparks fly by taylor swift! (a banger imo so not a bad one to get)

💭 : opinion on...

penelope - i LOVE penelope. she is the sweetest angel in spite of everything, and has a strength that i don’t think she gets enough credit for. she manages to be fun and beautiful and quirky and a beacon of light in such a dark world and dark line of work. i adore her !!!

morcia - SHOULD! HAVE! BEEN! TOGETHER! how did JE*D get more attention from the writers than this? she was his god given solace. they loved each other, supported each other, and made each other laugh even in incredibly difficult situations. they were made for each other. they were SO FUNNY and sweet together, had the best friendship, and deserved more than anything to have been canon.

garvez - SO i haven’t actually seen any of criminal minds with luke but from the fics i’ve read and the gifs i’ve seen? insanely precious human being, love him, penelope deserves to be happy more than anything and he seems like a wholesome man who would make her happy so it gets a YES from me.

meredith grey - okay so...not to be too Loud but meredith isn’t really one of my favourites in greys. i think she’s SUPER strong, and has been through an awful lot. but i disagree with a lot of the choices she’s made: i understand why she was initially upset by lexie and her presence, and i love how close they got in the end. but then she was the same way towards maggie? and also she’s been kinda rude to amelia. i think has handled a lot and been through an UNPARALLELED amount of trauma so i do have a lot of respect for her for that, and she does have moments where i do rly like her!

george x izzie - SO i loved them as friends at first but oh my god i HATED them as a couple! they had no chemistry and it was such an unnecessary storyline i think? like it completely ruined their friendship, lasted all of five minutes, and had such a silly fallout. of course they had no sexual chemistry? having drunk sex with someone doesn’t mean you should be together like CHRIST.

also it was incredibly shitty to callie who is my fave and generally deserved better but that’s a separate point. it made me :( because it kinda fucked up their friendship in season 5 and it would have been nicer to see george being closer to her and supporting her in that time which he wasn’t because of their CAR CRASH 10 minute romance.

alex karev - his character development over the years? immaculate. didn’t like him at first, there are moments throughout where i’m still not 100% a fan but i think he came on a lot over time and massively improved as a person. incredible PEDS surgeon, learnt to care and love a lot, still did some questionnable shit at times but what can i say? i love the man really.

alex x izzie - okay SO i think their storyline in s5 was kinda rushed and all over the place? but fundamentally i liked them together. izzie initially saw alex’s good side and got everyone else to see his good side. i think they brought out the good in each other and would have been AMAZING together if they’d had more time together to be fleshed out properly (that’s an issue i have with greys relationships generally) but! MUCH better than izzie x george, think they were very sweet, love them both individually and root for them together a lot.

#kodi #amelia does 600 #someone asked amelia

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mrmallardsmobileposts · 4 years ago

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How I Think The Star Wars Sequels Should Have Happened: Another MrMallard Nerd Moment

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

The Force Awakens:

fine jumping on point. Not perfect, but honestly a return to form in regards to making Star Wars movies fun again. Keep TFA as-is, warts and all - the trick is paying this movie off by the end.

The Last Jedi:

Less faux-Guardians of the Galaxy humor. That's not to say "no humor", I honestly thought Luke Skywalker had the best jokes of the movie, but less "your mother" and less "Finn wakes up from a coma and drips IV fluid everywhere, Wakka Wakka!". The former is corny, the latter is undignified and actively cheapens character development from the prior movie.

Cut the stampeding race-beasts, because it reeks of Disney's "fuck you we're Disney" money, but keep Canto Bight as a whole. The alien designs are charming - it's a nice moment of fanservice, along with the Jizz music. It also serves as a nice character-building exercise for Rose and Finn.

Ultimately, I think it might have been a better idea to kill off Leia in this movie considering Carrie Fisher's passing. I don't dislike her in this movie, and I honestly enjoyed the scene of her in space - my first thought was "holy fuck she can use the force!!" - but I think it would have been better for her to pass on in this movie, both logistically and for her character. That, or they should have scaled back her cobbled together Frankenstein-performance of CGI, cut lines and recontextualised footage in TRoS. Either/or.

Keep the mutiny plot with Poe, but something has to be done with how they treat the secret plan. The resolution to the mutiny plot was the thing that bothered me the most with TLJ, but it's pretty much the only thing for Poe to do in the movie and it adds conflict to the main story I guess. Making the Holdo/Poe seem a little less personal might help? idk. honestly a lot of this storyline felt forced.

Don't try and resolve Rey's backstory in this movie. Keep it as a running mystery. I understand that they were trying to go for a clever subversion in this movie, but it just added another stupid thing that TRoS bad to address and it honestly kinda ruins the trilogy.

Honestly, either cut Crait entirely and make it the beginning of the next movie - bc the movie's already two hours long and it feels like the final battle stretches the movie out beyond its natural ending point - or shorten it a bit and make it a bit more functional. It looks cool, but at that point it's like tacking an extra mile onto a marathon.

Also, don't shoehorn a failed heroic sacrifice with Finn imo. That, or give him more screentime and character development to build up to that moment. Post-TFA, he's really half-baked, and I honestly think he should have been more of a focal character next to Rey. The heroic sacrifice felt like it came out of nowhere, and by thwarting it and adding the Rose Tico scene, it felt like a waste of time even having it in there. It comes and goes with no fanfare.

Honestly, I would have preferred if Luke stayed alive at the end of the movie. I think his death was a movie too soon. Saying that, I think they nailed his death in this movie - if they were gonna kill him off, I think they did it right. Also, don't kill off Snoke. It's a cool scene, but it fucks up the next movie.

Re: Rose Tico - she's not my favorite part of the movie, but I don't actively hate her and I think the response to her character that Kelly Marie Tran had to face was absolutely disgusting. I think her plotline with Finn was a little underbaked, and that scene at the end where she prevents his heroic sacrifice just kinda sidelines them both. I think making her a navigator would have helped her character in TLJ and TRoS.

In short: trim a few excessive CGI scenes, cut a few cornball jokes out, play around with the characterisation and tone of the mutiny plot, dignify Finn's character instead of reducing him to a rehashed coward, comedic relief character and pointless failed Rebel martyr, and maybe keep Luke Skywalker alive at the end. Bring the movie in at around 2 hours max.

Keep Luke Skywalker as-is, bc his character is a highlight of TLJ.

The Rise of Skywalker:

Kill off Luke Skywalker in this movie. Seriously, just cut and paste his death at the end of TLJ into this movie. Work him into a reduced role when Rey junks her ship, like the force projection messed him up and he doesn't have much longer to live, and have him help her when she returns to his island planet instead of adding a phoned-in Force Ghost appearance. Maybe have her there when he passes?

Reduce Leia's role in this movie instead of stitching together a Frankenstein's Monster of a performance. Not to be morbid by that reference - it's just that everything she says feels so stilted and wrong, like you can definitely tell they've thrown all the scraps they have left into her character in this movie. It doesn't feel natural or respectful for her character to spit out non-sequiters for the characters to respond to in an equally unnatural sort of way.

Honestly? Canonise Fey/Rinn, however you want to portmanteau Rey and Finn's ship name. If you give Finn more of a character arc in TLJ instead of side-lining him, and establish that he and Rey are particularly close - which they are IMO - and then pay off that "I have something to tell you" beat with a confession of love. This isn't a stab against Reylo, though I've certainly had words to say about Reylo, I just think Finn/Rey is a more wholesome ship and I prefer this dynamic to the fuckin dark side/light side paradigm of Reylo. I Just don't care for it. Kylo Ren's conflicted nature doesn't have to resolve in romance. Gimme Rey/Finn.

Snoke gets offed by Palpatine. There's no breeding vat for Snokes, but if the movie wants to suggest that he's still just a puppet or a creation, that's fine. That, or build Snoke up as the bad guy, and either follow through on that or have Palpatine be a twist halfway through the movie.

Maybe make Palpatine a Sith Ghost? They do exist to some degree. Or have him stuck in some other limbo that requires him to hijack Rey. Anything is better than that "if I do this you do this, but then I'll do this so you would have to do this, but really I'm going to do this so either way my entire plan was completely unnecessary lmao" clusterfuck where he's a living corpse impaled on a robot arm.

Cut out the macguffins, or make them feel less inconsequential. Okay, so the dagger storyline involves rebooting C3PO. It has stakes and gravitas to a degree. Cool - keep that. What the fuck is up with the wayfinders though? Why are there only two? Why do they need to be so convoluted?

Maybe have Maz Kanata talk about Luke's lightsaber, and/or have her involved in finding a way to Palpatine. It would pay off her appearance in TFA and explain her importance to Luke.

By making Rose Tico a great navigator in TLJ, her role on the team can be expanded in TRoS and she can do like star charts and stuff for all the different worlds they're going to - she can come along instead of being fucked over by JJ Abrams in this movie. She can even help with Maz Kanata's wayfinding plan. In short - make her a part of the team.

Honestly, fuck the Knights of Ren right off. They're a waste of time. That, or set them up in TLJ - hell, have one of them on Canto Bight and another one on Snoke's ship. Maybe even retcon Phasma into being a Knight of Ren. Anything but bringing them back as a mook squad in this movie, with no weight or character.

Honestly? Show Palpatine surviving the Death Star crash. The retcon is all the more painful for being completely and utterly unexplained. Doesn't matter if you have to touch the source material to do it, CG in a force shield as Palpatine falls through fire and have him hobble to a life support pod that takes him to where he is in TRoS. Literally anything is better than "Somehow, Palpatine returned".

Either cut the healing powers, or leave them in sans Reylo kiss.

In short: reduce Leia's role instead of using cut content and a CGI puppet to stitch together a performance, leave Luke alive until this movie, kill Snoke in this movie OR have him be the big bad, make Finn/Rey a thing over Reylo - again, no hate, I just prefer this pairing over Reylo - write more details about Palpatine's survival, either put some Knights of Ren into TLJ or don't have them at all, get rid of the Wayfinder macguffins and/or work Maz Kanata and "master navigator" Rose Tico into a plot to find Palpatine.

At the end of the day, there should have been a planning committee for the Star Wars story, not for the merchandise. You can see from how the sequel trilogy crammed out merchandise that Disney was clearly asking for marketable merch, but the story is a trainwreck - there was a Star Wars committee, just not where the property needed one.

The sequel trilogy was a worthwhile experiment imo - it didn't pay off, but it was worth doing just to see if it was possible. But even then, I would prefer three decent movies over a couple of experimental trainwrecks retroactively ruining one decent movie.

This post was mostly trying to work with what the movies already have, though by TRoS you really do have to start overhauling shit to make it work. In my eyes, the longest that these movies should run is two hours - any more than that is a slog, especially when the movie feels like it takes two hours. The Last Jedi felt like two and a half hours. The Rise of Skywalker felt like a two hour movie crammed into 80 minutes, despite the fact it was longer than 2 hours. The best way to make these movies more watchable is to make them shorter - cut out superfluous money shot scenes like the Canto Bight chase, have more efficient scenes to balance out the stylish scenes. The sequel trilogy is short on efficiency imo, and without a movie where it feels like progress is being made, the style doesn't work.

So tweak some things to make each movie more efficient.

#star wars #finn/rey for life suck it haters

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