#the season 5 finale was worse than the s4 one imo

[aingeal98]

It's kind of amazing in the year 2024 there are still people who ship Jeff and Annie and fully buy into the "she can fix him" narrative like I know Community itself lost the plot in later seasons when harmon started hinting at it being genuine love instead of a joke about how Jeff was a pathetic creep preying on a teenager to feel young again but like. Even he couldn't make it canon in the end because it made zero sense. It would be a great ending for Jeff but an absolutely pathetic one for Annie because the actors having chemistry doesn't actually automatically translate into true love when their characters are completely incompatible and again, Annie was a teenager and Jeff was in his mid thirties. And the show was self aware enough to point this out as disgusting multiple times. Like I fully don't understand the appeal unless you ignore the show and Annie herself pointing out her unreliable narration and Jeff's self awareness of how pathetic he is.

[moistvonlipwig]

Top 10 Favorite Final Seasons of a TV Show

For @loisfreakinglane's enjoyment.

...This was actually so hard. I'm limiting myself to TV shows with multiple seasons that have officially for-real ended, as well as to final seasons that I've watched in full (so there are some seasons of shows I watch that maybe should make the cut that won't because I haven't gotten around to them yet). In the order that I thought of them:

Breaking Bad Season 5: A really strong & exciting final season with some great new characters (Lydia Rodarte-Quayle I love you Lydia Rodarte-Quayle!!!) and some of the show's best episodes.

Once Upon a Time Season 7: My favorite season of the show, and one that weirdly addressed a lot of the problems I had with the first six seasons. The new characters were great and they did some cool & unexpected things with the old characters. Hardly perfect, and it somehow made the show's already-convoluted timeline worse, but it was a very strong note to end the show on & it helped me look on the show as a whole in a much fonder light, which was no small feat after some of the bullshit the show had previously pulled.

Amphibia Season 3: A great final season. I loved seeing the Boonchuys on Earth in 3A, and I loved the story arc of Anne & Sasha co-commanding the resistance in 3B. IMO a lot of the complaints about this season come from people who didn't really understand what the show was about. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Steven Universe Future/Steven Universe Season 5: I kind of consider Future to be the proper 'final season' of Steven Universe and not its own show, but I know some people disagree and consider it a separate limited series and would say that Season 5 is the real final season of the show. Either way, both seasons are quite good. I think Future is consistently stronger -- Season 5 has a stretch of 6 or so episodes that are kind of weak -- but Season 5 has higher highs. But again, both are very good final seasons, whichever one you consider to be the 'true' final season.

Person of Interest Season 5: Honestly, this is not the best final season -- I think being limited to 13 episodes really hamstrung the writers, and not all the episodes are good -- but it does end on a really strong note, and also I ran out of final seasons I consider legitimately great, so, uh, good for you PoI, you arguably don't deserve to be here but you're here anyway!

Better Call Saul Season 6: I'm not gonna lie, I had problems with the way 6B unfolded -- I thought the pacing wasn't the best and some of the character/plot beats didn't quite land -- but both 6A and the finale were very strong, and I'm not opposed to most of the events of 6B in theory. Plus, BCS is just well-made TV in general, so even when I didn't love it, I was still appreciative of the artistry that went into the show.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 9: I remember really liking the first half of this season and thinking it was some of the best stuff the show had put out in years. The second half was more par for the course but not bad. The actual season-long plot was pretty whatever but it produced some good episodes, and Daniel Ingram, as always, delivered with the music.

Battlestar Galactica Season 4: Look, anyone who's taken a cursory glance at my BSG tag knows how I feel about what BSG S3 & 4 did to Boomer, and S4 additionally committed the sin of killing off Anastasia Dualla, but I don't actually think S4 is overall a bad season. I think it could've been better, sure, but I honestly was fine with it aside from the stuff I hated. Lol. Also, Kara Thrace turns into a pigeon, and that's hilarious.

Infinity Train Season 4: Technically this is a better season of television than some of the seasons listed above, but it was not intended as a final season and you can tell; nothing about it makes for a particularly effective ending to the show. I will forever mourn the remaining 4 planned seasons of this show that we never got. But, hey, it's still a good season, even though it's probably the show's weakest outing.

...Revolutionary Girl Utena's Apocalypse Arc: LOOK I KNOW IT'S NOT A "SEASON" I RAN OUT OF FINAL SEASONS I LIKE OKAY. It's better than pretty much everything else on this list though because it's RGU, how could it not be.

Tagging @jioinfocommlimited, @02511213942, @occidentaltourist, @cassphos, @nocticola, and anyone else who wants to tackle this challenge. Be warned, it's harder than it looks!!!

[familyagrestefanblog]

Though this still leaves us with the problem that Marinette is written like s4-onwards-Bloom (what a coincidence) after the first story arc ended with Bloom finding her family and saving her planet.

Bloom being criticized as a Mary Sue only holds weight from season 4 onwards because that's where the show started portraying her as always the greatest, strongest and only capable person to be able to really do well in a fight, whom the universe MUST center around and everyone gets significantly reduced roles.

First arc Bloom wasn't a Mary Sue the ways shes called, the actual initial story had her as actual center piece the way Adrien is and yet the other characters all got to shine and be important in plenty of ways (season 2 finale literally had everyone else take center stage to save her). But the accusation is valid from season 4 onwards.

In Miraculous rarely anyone besides Marinette gets to really shine now because it could mean that Marinette could be perceived as less than the greatest person ever for 5 whole seconds. Bloom also got ruined that way once her show did exactly the same.

Bloom's character was crucially forced into story breaking - the way Marinette is - after the first arc because then most of the big plots weren't about her specifically anymore, but the show still forced it.

Biggest offense here was season 5 where Aisha's - who is the second most story relevant Winx and imo the best written - family and home territory was the main focus, with the villain being her evil cousin who wants to destroy their family and take the throne.

And yet by the end Aisha was literally tossed into a cave to sit out the finale because the show couldn't handle Bloom not being the main focus for once anymore and it resulted in the whole emotional core of the season and plot line being gutted and left hollow.

And, of course, with fans upset and bitter because all they wanted was a good story.

That's literally season 5 of Miraculous. Just that Miraculous made it so much worse because at least in Winx it was a one season thing, Miraculous had fans invested for almost a decade with 5 seasons and then delivered a pay off for Adrien even worse than Aisha's.

Yes, by Magical Girl show standards Adrien is a specialist and by itself there is no problem in that, but the story put him in Aisha's position as second most important Winx narrative wise (yes, even more than Stella) hence why people react the same upset way to both of them getting screwed over in favor of the "flawlessly amazing main girl", just 200x worse.

Especially when you consider that it's still ADRIEN without whom the entire story couldn't work because his creation is what lead to Emilie's death. ADRIEN is at the core of the entire story, not Marinette.

I always say that I think Kagami would have been the perfect Main character because she has actual lore relevance like Adrien.

Winx can't work without Bloom because she's the Fairy of the Dragon Flame, the ultimate power the villains are after. Her home planet was destroyed when she was a baby to get HER. everything actually centered around her.

But Miraculous doesn't work like that. Marinette is, by all means, irrelevant hence why absolutely everything needs to be made about her and handed to her. Cause she herself isn't important. Get Kagami or Alya as Ladybug and it works too (and probably even better because Kagami has actual ties to the stakes of the plot and Alya is actually INTERESTED in anything lore related. Marinette's interest at this point stops with her personal involvement and then the show has her turn around and cry when that leads to things not being taken care of, when, no shit girl, this ain't about you).

Bloom being the focus despite things not always being about her in the first arc wasn't bothersome because she's the Main character who's actually the center piece of her high scale plot. That warrants her special treatment and makes it not annoying for the viewer.

Marinette as Main character and main focus on everything that ever happens on the other hand is literally wasting everyone's time and everything escalated so badly by the end of season 5 explicitly because Marinette never once did her actual job of taking any interest in what's going on in the war she's fighting and FINDING the villain and stopping him. This was taken so far to the point where she had to be spoon-feed into even being around for the end battle herself because she literally did barely anything that warrants her main character position. She fucked around for 5 seasons and then I'm supposed to feel bad for her being stuck alone in the worst outcome because she forbid her plot relevant partner from asking any help from her or even being a real person underneath the mask because that was declared "mistreating and disrespecting her"

Yeah, nah. That's a bad main character and a waste of the viewers time. She literally did everything BUT her job as MC and that's not up to Magical Girl Standards either.

I wouldn't really agree that boys are just arm candy in magical girl shows and only there to look cute. Yeah, sure the girls' friendships are the focus, but the boys are usually very much involved in the plot and most shows do explore their feelings about the odd things that happen due to magical shenanigans even if they aren't in the know (It's why ML baffles me even more with how they screwed up Adren's arc when he's the deuteragonist, when all these boys are supporting cast and get well rounded arcs)

I'm not much of a winx fan, but the specialists were very much not arm candy. Did the girls talk about them being cute? Yes, it's what teenage girls do. Did the narrative suggest they were good looking? Yes, but that's standard for most love interests in any genre. But we still got scenes with them talking amongst themselves about how they themselves feel and they got a fair share of badass fight scenes even if they wield no magic. A large amount of episodes actually included the boys and girls working as a team solving a mystery or fighting a villain. The girls might deal the finishing blow but the boys were still integral to the plot.

I hope this doesn't come across as hate, it definitely wasn't my intention. I'm just a bit too passionate about the magical girl genre.

I do think you have a good point with ML having a problem choosing a genre or blending two genres successfully.

For the CCS fans, I will add though that Cardcaptor Sakura had both Tomoyo and Syaoran serve as sources of motivation for Sakura. And both Sakura and Syaoran collecting cards even if Sakura is the only one who could seal them and yet never made you question whether Syaoran was even necessary for the job the way ml does with Chat.

I wasn't trying to say that boys have no part to play in magical girl team shows or that they're always treated as having no lives beyond the girls, that's why I mentioned that the Winx Club boys - aka, the Specialists - have their own (mostly off screen) lives and occasionally show up help the girls:

the boys are usually off doing their own thing and only occasionally show up for a date or to give the girls a ride on their cool bikes or magical spaceship

Even then, this is certainly a simplification of the roles that they play in the story, but I kind of had to simplify their roles down to their base components for the original post's discussion as I was talking in broad strokes of how these stories are written.

In terms of those broad strokes, the Specialists are absolutely only there for shipping fodder. That's why each one is assigned to a girl from the start and why their main role in the narrative is supporting their assigned love interest or causing relationship-based drama for their assigned love interest. If it weren't for shipping, then the Specialists would not exist.

While the Specialists do have fleshed out characters and may even effect the plot, the execution of those elements is designed around the girls. A really obvious example of this is the character Timmy, who has character development as the boy's tech guy. Why is he into technology? Because he's the designated love interest for the fairy of Technology and we have to show why they're a good match. Along similar lines, the boys don't really get plots that are removed from the girls because this is the girl's show. Every episode features one or more of the Winx, but the boys are optional and often don't appear.

This is because, narratively speaking, the boys are just love interests and that brings us back to Miraculous' big problem. You can't have a show where Adrien is written like a Specialist while also being part of the Winx Club and where Alya is written like she's part of the Winx Club while technically being more of a Specialist in terms of power set and actual narrative role.

I'm was thinking back to my memories of various Winx Club plots to find one that really highlighted what I mean here and I remembered that one of the big dramas in season one was the reveal that Bloom's love interest - Sky - was in an arranged marriage and had just never told her. As it turns out, that's a great example of what I'm talking about re Adrien!

Is that plot line technically based around Sky and letting his life effect the plot? Sure, but the fallout of that reveal revolves around Bloom, not Sky. The story doesn't really care how Sky's feeling as the conflict progresses. Instead, it focuses on how it affects Bloom and her friends because of course it does! She's the main character. It would be really weird if that plot suddenly focused on her side character love interest and his friends during one of her darkest hours/biggest moments.

Think of that and then consider how the ending of season five is written. Notice any similarities? Sure, this is Adrien's family drama, but because he's just a Specialist, the focus isn't on him. It's on Winx Club member Marinette and Adrien only shows up at the end for a kiss. That is the problem. That is what I'm talking about when I say that Miraculous will randomly write him as if we're watching a magical girl team show where Adrien is just the love interest.

In fact, let's really dig into this example because it's a good one.

You can have a look at the transcript for the finale episode of Miraculous season five here and see for yourself that Adrien doesn't even show up on screen until the final scenes when the big drama is over. The Winx Club wiki also has episode transcripts, so I took a look to see what happened in Winx land during the arranged marriage reveal plot (I love that this is a thing. It's so useful for fact checking myself!) This is the script for the episode after Bloom learns the truth. Sky does not appear even though his lies and family drama are the fuel for this episode's events, which are a major part of the season's arc. Note how perfectly that matches Adrien's writing?

Similarly, Sky's dialogue in the reveal episode is all about Bloom. He's worried about her learning the truth and thinking less of him. To match that, here's Adrien's only real dialogue in the penultimate episode of season five (full transcript):

Adrien:(Covers his ears.) I cannot transform... (Looks at his ring and tries taking it off.) Plagg: What are you doing?! Adrien: I'm not in my right mind. I'm too angry — at myself for falling short of Marinette's love, at my father for sending me here in London, at this stupid app and these rings that use my image... it makes me sick! This nightmare is giving me the horrible feeling that, if I transform, I'll get akumatized and destroy everything with my Cataclysm — Marinette, Ladybug... (Takes off the ring and hands it to Plagg.)

Switching back to Winx. After Bloom learns the truth about Sky, bad things happen because she's depressed. This results in her and the Winx going off on a journey to learn the truth of who Bloom is. After the girls share this big plot moment and Bloom gets her mojo back, the boys show up to be their ride home and to give Bloom her romance moment where Sky wins her back by declaring that he broke off the arranged married because he loves her.

Sky notably doesn't get an arc about choosing between his arranged marriage and his true love. We don't even know that the marriage is broken off until he tells Bloom because that was never really a conflict as far as the narrative was concerned. Of course he's going to pick Bloom! He's her designated side character love interest! He only exists to be with her. We don't need to treat this as a serious thing for him. The arranged marriage plot was never about him anyway. It was about giving Bloom a reason to have a darkest hour moment that moves the plot forward. Similarly, Sky calling off the marriage is nowhere near as important as him telling Bloom that he's called off the marriage to be with her in a grand romantic gesture.

This perfectly mirrors Miraculous' season five ending where Adrien doesn't appear until after Marinette is done fighting her big girl power fight against his father. As far as the writing is concerned, that fight isn't about him. His connection to the villain only really matters in terms of how it affects Marinette's actions during the final battle. Then, when the battle is over, Adrien shows up to give Marinette her big romance moment because, while the plot may be driven by Adrien's family, he is not a Winx club member. He's just a Specialist. Or, in the words of the head writer:

[image text: She's Barbie, he's Ken. You don't like it. I get it. It won't change. Anything else?] (The full, even more damning context of this tweet can be found here.)

What else can I say other than, "I rest my case."

Oh, and also that I didn't take this as an attack. I just thought it was a good opportunity to really dig into the nuances of this and what I was talking about in that original post as I never know how obvious this stuff is if you don't closely study story telling. As this case study hopefully shows, if a show is about a group of girl friends using the power of friendship, then their love interests may have important roles, but the boys are never going to be more important than the girls and most of the boy's screen time will be focused on romance and how their existence effects the girls because it's ultimately the girls' world. Without them, the show wouldn't exist. Without the boys? Well, then we just wouldn't have a romance plot.

[elastijubilee]

Things I personally prefer in the Buffyverse ‘Cuz I feel like it... I’m not bashing anything :)

This was inspired by the fandom being rude AF on twitter today and me staying out of drama but wanting to blow off steam. Bold means I prefer, ok? Ok.

Disclaimer: I love both shows so don’t take it too personally. Just somethings I like a little bit more

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Angel: The Series

Buffy or Angel (the characters)

Most important (IMO) character arc on BTVS: Buffy’s 

Fave C-Arc: Willow or Spike or Buffy

Most Important Arc on ATS: Angel and Cordy’s equally (however, everyone (mostly) had a great arc on Angel)

Fave C-Arc: Cordy and Angel’s both (but again all the characters developed well--well, Fred kinda got forgotten, but Faith got to do so much good on ATS it almost feels like she belonged there more but her arc on both shows in vital )

Blonde in Alley doesn’t get eaten for once and fights back: Nice :) fun subversion of trope sometimes happens in specific horror movie (though considering it is called Buffy, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER we kind of can see that happening so it’s not exactly the “masterclass in subverting expectations” as one pretentious twitter user has said. And it WAS NOT THE OPENING SCENE, we saw her in action and figured she wouldn’t die in the first episode of her own show :)) She’s stronger than the vampires which is cool :)

Man saving blonde in alley but turns out to be a vampire that almost wants to eat her himself: Awesome and subverting the big strapping hero trope (bc you were suppose to think “oh, boy just another they save damsels show” and then it subverts into something that could be more sinister) into something darker and considering he was pretending to be drunk and the show uses his bloodlust as an allegory for alcoholism, and drinking from Buffy and caused him to relapse and he cuts himself off from the ones he save. Sets up something interesting about walking a dark line and dualism of personality. Phew...I love redemption and betterment stories over “being chosen” they’re more complex

Spike or Angel (both but maybe Angel a little more right now)

Willow or Fred

Buffy or Cordelia

Buffy or Faith (for different reasons obviously, but I think a great ying/yang dynamic)

Buffy or Dawn

Lorne or Klem

Amy or Kate (I liked Amy more but then her turn was weird)

Kate or Justine

Fave Character in the ‘Verse: Cordelia Chase

City of or Welcome to the Hellmouth

Chosen or Not Fade Away

Life of the Party or Halloween

Illyria or Dark Willow

Wesley or Giles (both equally though I think they both got hurt towards the end)

Doyle or Xander (I like both but I’m going with Doyle)

Gunn or Xander

Anya or Cordelia (love both but Cordy by a long shot)

Dawn or Connor

Connor or Kennedy

Season 6 BTVS or Season 4 ATS

S7 BTVS or S4 ATS (um so first half of s7 is great but the last half is awful, s4 is the worst and probably worse but I find it more interesting)

S7 of BTVS or S5 ATS (I enjoy s5 more but as a final season 7 was more prepped)

Fave seasons of ATS: 2&3 (I enjoy s1 of ATS more than s4 of BTVS, sorry not sorry)

Fave seasons of BTVS: 3&5

Least fave season of ATS: 4

Least fave season of BTVS: a tie between 1 and the second half of 7

Bangel or Cangel

Bangel or Spuffy

Spuffy or Cangel

Spuffy or-- (I prefer Buffy alone and trying to figure herself out rather than obsessing over her romances)

Xanya or Cander (I like Xanya but I feel like we got to see more of Cander’s chemistry)

Tillow or Woz

Frunn or Fresley

Fave Ship in the ‘Verse: Cangel

Best werewolf: Oz, Nina, or Veruca

Mr. Gordo or Fiegenbaum (I didn’t know him that well :()

Cordy’s Blue Teddy Bear or Mr. Gordo (spread that love)

Scoobies or Angel Investigations (Fang Gang forever!)

BTVS theme or Angel (both)

Joss Whedon or David Greenwalt

Marti Noxon or Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon or Phillipa Goslett (this isn’t Buffyverse but fuck him)

Halloween or Fear Itself (both great)

Life of the Party or--(ATS needed more Halloween episodes)

[maxbernini]

Top 5 underrated Skams mains and top 5 overrated Skams mains ✨😌✨

this is such a shit stirring ask so i’m going to make it worse and also do ‘top 5 overrated skam mains that people want’ 😁

top 5 underrated skam mains

1. eva eskam. anyone who admits to skipping s1s are exposing themselves, and this is a very kind and fun attempt. also eva v simultaneously has #1 straight ally energy AND chaotic bisexual energy and i love her for that

2. megan flores. i find her one of the more relatable evas and i hate the ‘austin is cringy’ agenda. julie rocha is a great actress, the scene where she and her parents argue + she finds out about shay are some of my fave scenes in the entire skamverse. all the scarlet letter motifs in her season are so fun. austin was fun!

3. i promise not to pick every eva but hanna. again with the bisexual energy, mianna deserved to be endgame, and the druck writers screwed her over imo

4. nora grace and everything eskam did with s3. like do i need to elaborate. this is essentially a noorhelm call-out post but in visual form. i love it here

5. which brings me to: i don’t think viri is underrated in the fandom but i don’t think eskam did a very good job with her ‘season’, so like...underrated in their eyes maybe? bc there were so many ways it could’ve been improved

top 5 overrated skam mains

1. it’s less him and more the fandom but robbe, bc i hate that take that he’s a better isak because he’s the ~softest~ or ~kindest~ or whatever. like what a terrible take on multiple levels LMAO

2. okay not isa herself bc i love my gross queen but skam nl is not as revolutionary as everyone thinks, and a lot of s1′s story proves this. kes and isa didn’t even get that iconic final speech??? hello???

3. lucas lallement bc axel auriant is my enemy 

4. arthur. i don’t think he’s actually overrated bc the whole skamfr tag hates him but it’s more the idea of his season. alexia deserved s5 

5. italian isak. i can’t remember if he’s niccolo and martio? are those their names?? but either way i do not vibe with him at all. smth about the actor...

top 5 overrated skam mains that people want/ed

1. lucas vdh bc i have yet to see a compelling reason for why we needed his season so bad, and skam nl s3 getting more support than austin s3 is my villain origin story

2. eliott bc i don’t think ppl realize that s6 IS what an eliott season would’ve been like under david & niels, just with a different mental illness. like, everything lola was crucified for saying and doing are things eliott would’ve done too, so do you actually want mental illness rep or did you just want an elu season (and/or do you just hate women)

3. if they weren’t going to do yasmina for s4, then moyo should’ve been main over kato, but i remember in the lead up to s4 before we even knew yasmina wasn’t going to be main, there was support for moyo > yasmina, and i feel like a lot of that was just wanting to see more sobbe? so moyo but the pre-s4 moyo hype train

4. whoever people want/ed italia s5 to be about

5. i don’t think i’ve seen anyone say they wanted a dani season but i will take any opportunity i can to hate on dani

[ghostbustermelanieking]

Wow, they actually don't say whether the Web wanted to spread to new worlds! I'm shocked. Yeah, honestly, season 5 could do with a lot of restructuring, maybe even be a half season considering the allure of the apocalypse started losing it's luster once we hit all the domains once. The last fiveish episodes for sure had big pacing problems, I remember how much energy there was going into episodes 194-197, but Annabelle's explanation ended up being pretty straightforward, and after that everything felt sort of like a limp shuffle to the end. C'est la vie.

if i'm remembering right, i think the rationale was like... the web didn't want the apocalypse, but figured it would happen anyway, so it orchestrated it in order to spread to new worlds? except the apocalypse literally never would've happened without the Web. jonah says this in 160. i think this hole could've been explained if it'd been more about the spreading than the escaping the apocalypse, but i don't think it ever really hinted around that? so... idk lol.

i definitely agree that s5 has a pacing problem, i think it's the biggest issue the season honestly has. i hate how half the season feels overly slow but then the end feels rushed? i honestly wonder if the ten episodes pre apocalypse and then having the apocalypse mid season would've been better -- people have discussed this better than me, and i do think that wouldn't have coincided well with covid (and i still wonder how much covid has affected the season as a whole, it clearly took a toll). but in terms of "no stakes," i feel like the apocalypse lost its stakes kind of fast, too. (personally i always liked the symmetry of 15 domains exactly, and while i do think storylines like martin's domain were interesting, i also think act ii definitely lost some momentum.) i had the thought yesterday that the end of s4 feels very big -- the panopticon, the Lonely, and the apocalypse -- in a way that s5 doesn't, until the very end, and i wonder if saving 160 -- imo the absolute best episode of the show, definitely responsible for setting my expectations too high (this is absolutely my own fault lol but) -- for the final season would've worked a little better. of course, i don't think what we got was ALL bad. i love the ending, and the majority of 200, but i definitely think the lead up was sort of messy. like i said, the ending feels rushed at times, and it absolutely did not need to be. 190-194 was one of the best run of episodes this show has had, and i wish that momentum had stayed that strong up until the end.

i usually avoid talking about what i didn't like about the end of tma, mostly because i don't like being super negative about a thing i really, really love, and i tend to be weirdly positive about said things in an attempt to make do. (funnily enough, i've been positive about a lot worse things than tma lol.) and it's weird because i DID like the ending -- i absolutely love how 200 left things. i fall sort of in the middle, i think. i don't hate s5, and i don't regret getting it (it's probably still my 3rd favorite season just because i enjoy the character stuff so much -- it's a nice balm to the "everyone is sad" of s4). and hearing more about how covid affected how the show ended has definitely made me a lot more sympathetic -- i can't imagine ending a project this big, with this much care put into it, in the middle of this mess. but i do definitely think that s5 was messy in a lot of places. (and the critical part of me can't help pointing it out every now and then lol.)

[spacedlexi]

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

oooo cool questions. and thank you!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

ODAAT S4 POLL RESULTS

thank you so, so much to everyone who answered this little survey!! here’s some basic info gleaned from the 43 participants:

no one said that season 4 is better than seasons 1-3

more than 95% think it’s worse than seasons 1-3

no one said their faves are fully getting the attention they deserve

exactly one person is ‘loving’ s4, another 9 ‘kinda like it’

the remaining 3/4 are indifferent to it, dislike or hate it

slightly more than 1/3 have given up watching s4 already

the final question was What's one of your favorite or least favorite things about S4 so far? 9 participants listed a favorite thing. 37 participants listed a least favorite thing. (some people included both a favorite and least favorite in their answers.)

the most commonly mentioned ‘favorite thing’ was alex’s character development in s4. 

the most commonly mentioned ‘least favorite thing’ was the schneider/avery relationship including the pregnancy, followed closely by s4′s lack of emotional depth, schneider’s previous arc being minimized, and the penelope/max relationship. 

you can see all 43 anonymous answers behind this cut:

Idk 

Alex

i think the problem is they’re starting conversations to then finish them too early. like i was really interested to see where they went with sydlena with elena going to college but then it was just taken back so quickly..

Fave: the show continues; also, Alex’s girlfriend. Least fave: the way Penelope and Max’s characters have been changed to make their relationship fit the new budget

The relapse in Penelope and Schneider’s friendship esp after how S3 showed SUCH growth. Not to mention, the lack of emotional depth. It’s just. Different.

Idk

.

Least favorite:Penelope and Max make no sense??? Explain the kids issue??? Also why is Avery pregnant.......I don’t like her character

they basically took away schneiders character arc

Don't have one

The demolishing of Schneider's characters growth is the most maddening thing

it doesn't have the same feel as the 1st 3 seasons.

My least favorite thing is how rushed some development is, particularly in relationships, to show that everything is fine, but also ignores the issues and struggles we were introduced to in previous seasons regarding characters. For example, Schneider and Avery are all in love and totally fine, but what happened to his addiction? How does he feel about being a father? How did they move past their breakup from when he relapsed? And with Penelope, while I loved that they showed that she could be happy with her family and still want romance, why Max again? How do they resolve the fact that he wants kids but she doesn't want more?

Penelope and Max's reunion was too rushed and Schneider and Avery's relationship is too rushed too

favorite~ alex being given some sort of storyline (the whole clothing thing and feeling insecure in the family) cuz he’s never given attention and then least favorite~ how schneider’s alcoholism has been completely sidelined and max and penny not discussing the whole kids thing. also how cuba wasn’t brought up until the mid season finale when s3 literally ended with that

My least favorite thing about season four is that it doesn’t feel like the first three seasons. I feel like the bonds that the characters have built over the years are breaking.

Schneider suddenly needing to have a baby with avery to have a family when he's been part of the alvarez fam the whole time :)))

i don’t like the lack of emotional stuff and the random bringing back old love interests without explanation

none of the characters feel like the same people or like they've regressed and lost character growth

max and avery least favorite :(

I don't like the fact that it feels like it has to explain a lot about older seasons, it feels a bit forced, but I also understand why it happens, if/when there's a season 5 I think I'm going to like it better than this season (same thing happened for me with seasons 1, 2 and 3, my favorite being the last)

Least favorite: I feel like we've lost Schneider's story. Between retconning aspects of his relationship with Avery (like them saying they've never broken up or that their first fight happened this season). It suddenly feels like he's not a member of the family like he was in S3.

The way they’ve completely regressed all the character arcs and storylines for a lot of the characters, especially Schneider

Character continuity seems to have been thrown out e.g. schneider has regressed a lot and there is no follow up on his s3 plotline

I really wish they could be longer - I do think the episodes need to be longer for storyline purposes. I think that’s why this season feels slightly different to me. Favourite thing is seeing Schneider and Avery be happy. They seem to be moving quick but it also seems to be working for them.

it used to make me FEEL. now it’s flat

That Max came back and he and Pen still haven't addressed the child-sized elephant in the room but that's okay because he's awesome /ends sarcasm. Also the baby pregancy storyline was WAY out of left field. Also what happened with Schneider's sobriety? Is he still going to meetings?

I'm happy Alex is getting good storylines and Elena and Syd are adorable but Schneider and Penelope's relationship with Avery and MaX IS TOO MUCH TOO SOON

Pen had worries about her date and ran immediately to her BFF to help her sort it out. YOU KNOW, THAT SEEMED PROMISING.

Just the overall lack of depth

Everything about Schneider/Avery has been handled extremely poorly imo

My least favourite thing is how they dismissed Schneider’s sobriety storyline

I loved the final live action episode that aired before the pandemic took over (ends on the roof garden not sure the number/title) but otherwise it's been feeling like it's skimming the surface of most serious issues that they used to tackle head on. Hoping this is just an adjustment period/growing pains but we'll see.

The baby storyline is way too rushed, and I really don't like it

Favorite: Alex taking sewing classes, least favorite: Avery/Schneider

Everythings too superficial

I hated that they didn't get to the end of season 3 Cuba reveal until episode 6, and that they've regressed Dr. B & Lydia's relationship again. Either put them together or make clear you never well, damn.

schneider/avery feels rushed and lacks emotional depth. At the end of season 3 they were broken up, barely a quarter into season 4 they've moved in together and are pregnant. It doesn't make sense. Avery is just a cartoon version of Schneider. They don't feel real.

Least favourite: The storylines aren't as deep/handled as seriously. I don't like what they have done with Schneider. I don't think they explored his relationship with Avery well enough for me to be invested in it. I also don't think now is the right time to explore them having a child.

We're halfway through the season and there has been no character growth for anyone. It's a typical sitcom. Every emotional arc has been abandoned or ignored. Why are we not seeing Schneider freak out about becoming a parent, considering his history? Why are Penelope and Schneider not as close as they once were?

The meta/4th wall joke from animated special about tv shows being animated & least them telling Schindler he’s not part of the family.. like wtf multiple times too. Also the dropping of storylines (Sobriety/Cuba) & the ex partners back and everyone is happy

Alex got some much needed character development, but they basically hamstringed Penelope and Schneider

The episodes are shorter and the comedy seems cheaper and easier, the jokes don’t have the depth they used to

[familyagrestefanblog]

Hi! Have you seen the season finale of mlb? If so, what are your thoughts on what happened to Nathalie? Do you think she's now in a coma like Emilie or not? If so, I can't even imagine Gabriel having to break those news to Adrien, he was already connecting Nathalie's illness to his mum... I feel like season four is going to be heartbreaking. I always love to read your theories on the Agrestes.

Yes I indeed have seen the finale, a while ago actually and I have alot of thoughts on Natalies situation and what the future holds so this might get longer (edit several hours later: jup it got longer, enjoy! xD)

I don’t think Natalie is now in the peacock coma but the episode gave me the impression that it was literally 5 to midnight concerning her health. So they really dodged her fate by an INCH by having found a solution to the peacock problem through Fu in this very episode.

I honestly can’t tell you how things will continue from here with Natalies health but I can tell you what I think and would love to see!

For season 4 concerning Natalie I hope she actually stays sick and/or damaged now, the peacock may be fixed (even if I’m having the feeling that it’s not quite as fixed as we think it is. Duusu is too suspicious to me but I digress.)

She and her body got gravely insured and “withered” in season 3, I think it would be a waste and a cop out to just let this situation disappear without letting it have an lasting impact on her because that would take alot of the urgency from Natalies creeping doom in s3 and the finale in particular. Also in my opinion it would be weird if Natalie were to get healed through the fixed Peacock but Emilie stays in her coma. Her being healthy again in s4 just feels wrong to me, she got damaged by an broken object that gets powered up by a God, the damage on her body should be permanently just like Emilie.

But I actually have alot more reasons to believe that she will still be sick in season 4 than just “it feels wrong and would undermine the urgency”.

Let me explain

Why I think this could very much be possible for s4 is (beside the cop out etc reason) is that “the battle for the miraculous” finale was a “save point” mile stone which ended the first status quo from s1-s3. Alot has changed for the future and it’s has changed for good (actually so many little and bigger things have changed that I noticed Im starting a new post here when I tried listing them, so I’ll just keep them out of this post)

So why not Natalies health too? Of course she’ll get quite a bit better again, she will have to be able to do something nonetheless. But concidering that we already know that Natalie WILL end up as a villain worse than Hawkmoth it’s save to say that we have witnessed the origins of her villain story in s1-s3 and that she’ll only get “worse” from here. Alot of factors can come into play with this, from all the set up and forshadowing we have gotten by now I would say it comes down to 4:

Adrien leaving his families side (so her too) after finding out the truth (can we please just accept this now, it’s been literally forshadowed to hell and back). Natalie is shown to have grown into the mama bear/parent role for Adrien and we also know from “Felix” that Adrien would accept Natalie with open arms as his new step mother. So him “betraying” his family would not only hurt Adrien and Gabriel, it would also hurt Natalie like hell (likely Natalie would even be the adult to be more sad-betrayed, I can’t see Gabriel as anything but angry-betrayed. Both of these portrayals are depicted like this in “Chat Blanc”)

“Chat Blanc” has shown us that Gabriel would very much turn even more abusive once he finds out Adrien is Chat Noir (and I personally didn’t find it out of character at all but that’s a topic for an other post) and since Natalie cares alot about Adrien and already doesn’t approve of the risks Gabriel takes with Adrien and how he neglects and treats him often, this change can very much start a fight between her and Gabriel and giving Mayura room to truly stand as her own villain because Natalie betrayed Adrien as well so I hardly doubt they will be on the same side. This family is going to break apart into pieces.

Natalie is madly in love with Gabriel and something kinda starts blooming between them (“miracle queen” once again depicts this change the best) but this doesn’t change the fact that Gabriel wants Emilie back and Natalie knows this. For now I can’t see it happening any different but since we one day will get Emilie back(duh) Gabriel will be in a predicament between Emilie and Natalie but will choose Emilie (all of this is happening because Gabriel wants her back, it would imo make little sense to let him go “I did it all for you but I want a divorce” like, no, just no) and Natalie will not handle this rejection well because after everything she did and risked for him. (I also don’t think Emilie will stay with Gabriel either. I think Gabriel will in the end stand all alone, having driven away Adrien, Natalie and Emilie with his actions, behavior and decisions. Mr. man-with-nothing-to-lose will face his comeuppance but that’s not the point now)

And of course Natalies health. Concidering the points I  listed above of what I think will happen Natalie will turn into a full fleshed villain out of betrayal, loss, desperation, spite and revenge. All the puzzles pieces are in place, it just has to escalate. Throwing in the factor that Natalie has damaged herself and her body so much and irreversible (only Ladybug could heal her but I can’t see Natalie allowing her to heal her once we have reached this level) and the villain backstory and motivation of betrayal is complete. Cuz yes, even if she is a villain by own choice she is also still a victim of certain circumstances. The bad decisions Natalie made are her own choices, she knows what she is doing and is frankly having a damn good time doing it, no doubt, but they are still rooted in Gabriels decisions and full control of the overall situation as I’ve already stated my opinion to this in THIS POST. Natalie staying damaged and having it as a constant reminder of Natalies devotion to Gabriel and to the entire Agreste family who could have become her own new family only to end up alone and with nothing because of Gabriels and her own choices and actions while she drifts deeper into villainy and is bloody brutal and one hell of a villain story I want to see!

Another reason why I don’t think Natalie gets healed any time soon (if at all) is this moment in “Feast”.

Adrien has made the connection between Natalies and Emilies conditions and he’s clearly worried for Natalie. This is a set up for future plot and character development handed on a silver plate. It’s a whole new point of view and will bring us more information about what happened to Emilie and the Agreste past. Everything happening in this show is dealt with in, let’s call them little story arcs, introduced and dealt with when the plot development calls for it. Not every Arc gets continued all the time, some only in special episodes dedicated to this Arc and some (like the love square) are a set in stone Arc for every episode.

THIS was the beginning of a new Arc. A Adrien-Natalie Arc where we see him deal with Natalies illness that reminds him so much of his mothers. Season 3 had so much else to close up, introduce and develop that this Adrien-Natalie Arc was only introduced in “Feast” and that’s alright. But this also means this Arc has to be continued in season 4 and it couldn’t be continued if Natalie were healed after the s3 finale. Therefore she is still sick.

Alright, I don’t know why I escalated so hard here but it was actually quite nice to get this out now and rearrange and collect my thoughts.

I hope you didn’t mind this text wall xD

[canonicallysoulmates]

Supernatural 15.05

I don't care for this episode. I’m not mad at it, and I can understand why some would like it I just don’t care for it. 

This episode was written by Steve Yockey and it's his last work for spn, I feel like once you know this the rushed pace make sense.

I found myself surprisingly dissapointed considering it's about the brothers like this was a brothers only, angel-free episode for all intents and purposes I should be happy as a clam with it but I just can't get over the bad pacing, sloppy writing, just ok fight scene, and - no offense to Richard - uninspiring directing. Ok, those last two things are nitpicks, but the first two are a real problem.

I hate the pacing of this episode so much that no joke it can be considered the #1 reason I probably won’t be rewatching this episode in the near future, maybe ever; it's like the whole epi is on fast forward to the point where an entire spn epi happens in the first half hour, that's not a lie, the boys get a case, go undercover, find out what it is, go to the motel, save the girl, confront the monsters, all in the first 30mins of the show.

The first half of this epi could be it's own episode!

Then unsurprisingly, and I say unsurprisingly cause it's all written and played out so weird that there's no other explanation other than something else going on, it's revealed something else is going on- is it really a reveal if you saw it coming? I think confirmation is more fitting, it's confirmed something else is going on.

Which is when the second biggest problem I have with this episode appears: Lilith.

Lilith....Lilith really took away any fucks I was giving; Chuck apparently brought Lilith back from the empty, don't know how thought he couldn't bring back from the empty but i don't care enough to question it right now just like i'm not gonna question why he would bring back Lilith when surely the empty is full of more interesting, powerful monsters he could have brought back like maybe Zachariah idk I think he would have made more sense but whatever, point is Lilith is back and now working for Chuck I guess but she apparently doesn't like it but she still does what he ordered her to when she could have just idk joined forces with the boys told them what she knew about Chuck and let them kill her or something, I guess she hates the boys more than Chuck....whatever i don’t care enough 🤷‍♀️

Bringing this character back is in my opinion pointless and unnecessary and I'm going to tell you why; Lilith had a complete arc from beginning to end and she had a definite end that fit perfectly into the plot of the first 5 seasons. When a character has such a closed ending there's really no reason to bring them back imo, it can actually be a mistake sometimes; Lilith had no unfinished business, her being back doesn't add anything to the story unless they use her to bring back Sam's powers which I doubt they'll do and it would be kind of insulting to her character to bring her back just for Sam to regain his powers and then discard her. And you and I both know Dabb & co. are probably not going to use this character, they brought her back because well a. bringing back characters from the dead is their shtick, it's minimum effort that gets them praised and lets them sucker fans by saying stuff like 'an old fan favorite is coming back. somebody that hasn't been seen in years’ and b. s15 is Dabb’s version of s5 and Lilith was a big piece on the board to getting s5 rolling. 

I don't care for the actress that played her, I'm sure she was trying her hardest but I don't think she's a good actress and I found her portrayal of Lilith annoying but to be fair it is probably in part due to the script she was given; same with the werewolf brothers, I'm sure the actors were trying their best but they weren't that good and that's probably once again in part due to the script. 

Speaking of the werewolf brothers real quick they were a parallel to Sam and Dean and let me just say if the ending comes down to one of the brothers shooting the other they better do what the wolf brothers did cause I’m ok with both brothers dead, I am not ok with only one dead and the other living and I’m sure as hell not ok with one shooting the other then continuing on with their life that to me would be completely out of character for these two. 

Back to what I was saying...

I feel like I'm alone on this but I found the interactions between Dean and Lilith when he thought she was a civilian weird. It came across as - and I mean no offense to those who write this content - but their interactions came across as a badly written Dean x reader fic with the whole instant connection thing, which i found very OOC of Dean like I guess you could make the argument that it was Lilith controlling/manipulating Dean but honestly if she had that power she could have just gotten him to give her the gun.  And i think the whole connection was meant to be in a fatherly type of way but sometimes it came across as something else and....it was just done very weird. Like where were you going with this show? It's like they couldn't decide what they wanted that whole thing to come across as; I don't know the way it was executed was just weird to me.

I also didn't like that this episode puts it as if Lilith died because she let Sam kill her (you killed me because i let you), to me that takes away from Sam's story, yes he was manipulated into killing her but he killed her because of the strength of his powers, he became a demon blood addict so he could kill her that's basically the whole plot of s4. So implying that he killed her because she let him is pretty much saying he went through all the manipulation, the addiction, the pain for nothing because she could have just let him kill her at any moment. And you could argue she meant she let Sam kill her because of the manipulation but that's not how it comes across especially considering that she said she let Sam kill her as response to Sam saying he had already killed her once. 

I hope the writer didn't mean for this episode to be full of surprise reveals cause if he did he failed. 

The fact that it’s not a normal hunt and something was going on was made obvious from the start.

Sam and Chuck being connected because of the bullet wound has been suspected/known since the season premiere, this episode just confirmed it.

Sam's dreams being glimpses into possible endings has been speculated about since last week (perhaps earlier but last week is when i saw it).

The gun being destroyed is par for the course cause item that can help the boys always gets lost, destroyed or stolen.

By the end of this epi I was so done, not even the final scene made me feel something, I should be feeling for the boys and their situation, for Sam when he asks how they fight God but instead of feeling his pain I'm just thinking: 

How do you fight God? I don’t know Sam maybe: 

See if Death!Billie can help. 

See if you can bring back regular Death. 

Try to contact Amara. 

You are surrounded by books of lore Sam! 

Use the connection you have to Chuck to gain the upper hand.  

You've gone up against Pagan gods and won you can deal with the Christian one.

(As a sidenote how cool would it be if they brought back Death, and I mean original Death to reap God)

I won’t deny, there are good things in this episode, I of course like that it’s just the brothers and j2's acting is great as always. The ghost pepper jerky scene was really funny (tip! water won't actually help if you do eat something super spicy it might make it worse actually, instead drink milk or consume another creamy dairy product back to the post:), Sam and Dean look cute dressed as Fish and Wildlife, I loved Dean pleading asking Lilith not to kill/hurt Sam cause I'm a sucker for that shit, I'm glad Sam finally told Dean about his dreams, Sam still looks hot af in a white suit so there were a lot of little things and moments through out the episode that I actually did enjoy and were good but there were no true highlights, it's just little moments that are scattered throughout this mediocre episode. 

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I don’t hate this epi, I’m not mad at it, in this season alone - and keep in mind we’re only on episode 5 - we have gotten way, way worse epis, if you liked it that’s great, I just don’t care for it and as much as I like the little moments scattered through out they’re not enough for me to consider the overall of this episode anything other than bland and mediocre. 

[clairebeauchampfan]

People who claimed they didn’t watch most of OL Season 4, and averred  they wouldn’t watch Season 5, are already complaining that Jamie and Claire won’t feature much in the Season they won’t be watching......duh!

anonymous  asked:

So let's see. Sam has to do Bloodshot reshoots in the summer. In September he will do the podcast with Graham. He will run a Marathon (imo, likely NYC) again. Cait will do movie promo. So you can already tell that Jamie and Claire won't be the focus this season. Especially with David Berry being in Scotland a lot too.

xxxxx answered:

You know I should’t care, at all but it still hurts that they are destroying the very essence of Outlander and no one seems to do anything to fix it. On the contrary, it keeps getting worse. As someone who read the whole saga in one seat so to speak hungy for everything JC, that skipped chunks of book focused on other secondary characters I didn’t care about with plots that added nothing to my couple, well to see how they have pushed them to the back and almost out the door hurts. I can’t believe S and C do nothing to protect their characters and fight for them to be kept front and center of the show.

We are gonna have everything but JC. With even more subplots that weren’t even in the books taken more screentime so maybe JC will have a cameo in a few episodes.

I don’t understand Berry in Scotland at all unless they are shooting season 6 at the same time too to be done with it all for good sooner.

yyyyyy replied 

“I can’t believe SC do nothing to protect their characters and fight for them to be kept front and center of the show” I believe that S&C in fact fought for them to have less on screen time therefore less JC time and they got what they wanted , we saw it clearly on S4 (I think there were at least 2 full episodes without any JC and a bunch of others with very little JC) and we’re witnessing it all again if not worse , SC are barely filming with lots of free time for traveling and other projects, David Berry’s presence is suspicious enough since LJG is not in TFC book , so they are filling the show with secondary characters since there will be a lack of JC or they are indeed filming S6 at the same time to get the show over with , hope so because it can’t get any worse than the absence of the leads, if they get to that they better cancel cause no one is interested in the Broger show🤮

zzzzzzz commented

I am of the same mind on the lack of screen time. They wanted more time to do other projects (Cait made a comment during an interview during S4 that spending more time on other characters would only be for the show’s benefit because it made it richer). They don’t understand that most people tolerate the other characters to get to the J&C parts.

#you couldn’t make it up #make up your frigging mind #Sam/Jamie and Cait//Claire do not HAVE to be in EVERY episode in order for you to enjoy Outlander # you complained that Season 4 didn’t follow the book (especially in the finale which you claimed you didn’t watch anyway) #if they DO follow the book you complain because the book isn’t just about Jamie and Claire #smh these people # so entitled 

[raviposting]

how about two top fives? top five characters you werent supposed to like but you did and top five characters you were supposed to like but didnt

Ooh nice I really have to think about this! And I hope this is what you meant but I took this to be what the narrative wanted you to like and/or who fandom likes a lot 

Characters I Wasn’t Supposed to Like But Did: 

I remember when I started Buffy, I saw that fandom had hated Dawn and I was going in prepared to be like, oh man, I’m probably gonna hate her too I wonder why she’s so annoying what does she do? And then I watched and I just…didn’t get it? I understood why she wouldn’t be anyone’s top 5 but I absolutely adored her and she was tied for #1 favorite character for me 

Probably Cersei Lannister lmao. She was a massive bitch and I was rooting for her death the whole time, but god she was one of the most fun characters to watch and I loved to hate her so much that she’d go on screen and I’d be like “YESSSSS” 

People really hated Carl from TWD and I think that’s lessened a lot nowadays but man I always adored that kid. I know he had his annoying moments but I absolutely adored him and he’s the only reason I ever continued on with the show after Glenn died. 

I’m going to be honest. I really don’t hate Ross from Friends. Yeah he’s pretty shitty and his views are outdated af (maybe even for the 90s?) but I thought he was a funny character and honestly, I thought that with the exception of Phoebe they were all kind of shitty characters (Chandler made fun of Monica’s weight multiple times from a friend to being her husband and was with Cathy while she was with Joey, Monica assumed a maid was stealing from her, etc.). Also side note, Ted from HIMYM annoys me a lot but honestly I didn’t go through the show hating him. I went through the show with him as my least favorite each season and being far more invested in Swarkles and their story, but I ultimately did stick through the show to hear his story, and to see how he may have grown in order to find and be with Tracy - and when he met her I was happy not only because we finally saw how he met the Mother, but because he was finally with his soulmate (until the show fucked it up, of course). But anyway, idk, as much as I love Swarkles and the other characters, I don’t think I would have been able to follow the show if I hated the main character and wasn’t invested in him finding happiness

Kali from Stranger Things. Her story was underdeveloped, sure, but I’m hoping to see more of her in the coming seasons and I’m going to be real, I feel like if she was played by someone like Dacre Montgomery fans would have been raaaaving about how amazing Kali was and how they were excited to see more of Kali in the future. 

Characters I Was Supposed to Like But Didn’t: 

Michael Cordero from JTV. I actually started out liking him, just not wanting him and Jane together, because - and don’t get me wrong before I say anything; Rafael has messed up too, but the extent Michael did things was on a far greater scale to ruin a relationship forever IMO. He made a plan with Petra for her to get Jane’s baby, even when Jane wasn’t sure, he was directly responsible for Mateo getting kidnapped - which wasn’t his intention, but later when Rafael reported him, Michael knew this, went undercover, and still initiated a fight with Rafael saying that he got him fired, and did this while Rafael was right next to his infant son, who ended up getting hurt. Then he continued to just stalk Jane afterwards, and I just couldn’t understand how a character like Jane, who despite being so full of love and forgiveness still loves her son above all else, was with and married a man who tried to get him out of her life and directly hurt him. The more I watched the more I disliked him, and I hated the bad implication of fans ramping up Rafael to be evil while Michael was the “good guy” who “deserved” Jane (and there’s a bad implication there that even though both characters are white, most of fandom didn’t realize Rafael wasn’t a man of color until recently, and that Michael was literally portrayed and shown as Jane’s “white knight” in the narrative). 

Maggie from Supergirl. I tried really hard but I just couldn’t, and I’m going to be honest I think it’s most likely just because I was both really starting to dislike Supergirl and also because I was majorly annoyed at the whole Fl*riana Lima situation, and while I tried not to let it affect how I saw the character, I usually couldn’t look at Maggie after a while without feeling vaguely annoyed - so that’s honestly much less about the writing and me not being able to separate character from actor in that case to be completely completely honest

Trish from JJ. IDK if the show cares if we like her but the fandom adores her and I’m just….eh. I didn’t care about her in the first season (I disliked that she tried going with Jessica even though it was something that made Jessica vulnerable, and that fandom consistently pushed Trish up and would bash Luke) and in the second season she just got much worse to me. I’m not watching s3 unless JJ comes back on Disney plus but from what I’ve heard, I’m not going to like her there either. And I don’t think any of it is OOC from the Trish we’ve seen in the show tbh. I hated her more with each episode, but each progression seemed natural (for the show they’ve written, not what the comic counterpart is because I can’t speak to that at all) 

Dany from GOT. Unlike with Trish, even though I started hating Dany from like….season 5 onwards (although by s4 I was starting to get kind of annoyed) I am still on the crowd that she (like most characters) was written massively poorly in season 8. I think it could have been a natural progression for her to have been a mad queen, but the show rushed it and made a huge jump that her character shouldn’t have made with the story that they wrote. That being said, her being a mad queen didn’t surprise me and while I still love book Dany, show Dany was a huge white savior and watching almost every POC die for her story while she was touted as a feminist icon was………………………eh 

Kurt from Glee ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god I hated him. He was a massive hypocrite most of the time (I mean everyone was but he really grinded my gears) and after like 2 seasons he always seemed to act like he was better than everyone. Honestly insert him, Rachel (half the time), and Will in here and I like…did not like them 

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer

[leviaana]

fuck it here it is.

1. S5: cinematic masterpiece. my baby, just perfect, so exciting. heartbreaking and fun. this season is a blast and I will make all of my friends watch it. even if they haven’t seen the other seasons idc idc. it’s just perfect, I wish we could have gotten a season like this sooner❤️ I won’t say more to not spoil but it’s really good ok?

2. S3:

good amount of all of my fav things about ml. just the right amount of carefree episodes, just the right amount of angst, just the right amount of new heroes.

offers cool play with semi-reveals. has lots of beautifully animated episodes! ikari gozen slayed!! I don’t even mind the side ships (aka lukanette and adrigami) becoming canon because there’s finally a conclusion! end of marigami rivalry and start of their beautiful friendship. nice!

my only criticism is chloe, I don’t mind her going back to being a villain in S3, I’m just (still) not sure where they’re going with her character in general? other than that, strong season with some of the best eps of all time!

3. S2: old carefree miraculous❤️ ladrien prime (rip). makes me nostalgic for some classic ladybug and cat noir fighting hawkmoth and slaying. I prefer this season over S1 because of the new heroes and kagami getting introduced. not a fan of this whole jealousy subplot with luka and kagami. not enough angst for my taste. other than that, cool season!

4. S1: if this season is your favorite, you’re a little sunshine. you into the classics. I hope your pillow is cool when u go to bed and your house is warm and you dream of silly little things.

for my personal taste, it’s slow. like really baby slow. It holds a special place in my heart but I’m afraid i will never enjoy it as much as the rest of the show simply because barely anything happens other than your daily akuma. still, origins are my comfort eps! It’s nice to go back just to see how far the characters have come:)

5. S4: good plot progression and side character episodes, but mostly overshadowed by plot holes (so many plot holesss) and love square miscommunication trope (this is worse than the jealousy trope imo). lukanette and adrigami were handled poorly. also too many heroes. good eps ended up with weird conclusions. sometimes the characters would even feel ooc? I hope i don’t sound like a prick saying that. also lackluster animation. just meh.

idk this season was an overall mess to me personally. it frustrated me more than it made me happy OR sad and the only episode I enjoyed with my full undevided attention was the finale. im glad we don’t have to be dealing with any of these problems in S5 anymore! at least so far!:) if this season is one of your favs, that’s cool and i still get it!

thinking about sharing my rankings of the ml seasons so far which nobody asked for

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

13x15 “A Most Holy Man” “You think it could every change things? I mean really change things, stop all the monsters, all the bad...” “That would be nice.”

I never thought I would actually ever say this again while Dabb is showrunner, but I really liked this episode. And there is one thing, one masive thing that is the reason for why I feel this way about this episode and haven’t felt that way for most other episode of S13: It’s that the focus was entirely on the Winchesters. They were front and center and not just set decoration. They were the ones in action, that made choices, were the ones that mattered. And all that, all of that that used to be a given on SPN for years had been drained away throughout S12 and now S13, so this week’s episode gave a little back of what I have been missing dearly for a while. And for this sole reason, that Dean and Sam were the center of the episode I didn’t even mind that narratively and story wise this episode didn’t advance anything at all, but just strengthend further what the entire season has been hammering down with little subtlety: That you fight for the ones you love with all you got and that saving them by extension also means “saving yourself” a tiny bit as well.

I will give a few further thoughts on the episode behind the cut, but before I go there I have to verbalize how much I liked this ending scene. It didn’t feel forced or rushed or out of place or added at the end for sake of “typical SPN endings”, it felt organic and said so much with everything that wasn’t spoken, but delivered through looks and expressions (and yeah, I am sucker for that)- The way you can see Sam seraching for and needing Dean to reassure him that “all will be fine” - like the “stereotypical” younger sibling almost and the way Dean actually truly seems self assured here in a melancholic kind of way where he knows that it’s going to be hard as hell, but that they can pull through, because “he has faith”. Seriously, as a Dean!girl through and through and that theme being so integral to Dean’s arc from S1 and the episode titled that very same way onwards, this little moments made me very happy - because Dean always had faith even when he himself didn’t even know he had it. :’)

Yes, I like the certain sad, but also vaguely hopeful calm this ending scene evokes. The way the camera draws back and shows the brothers actually on eye level again here, not on opposing sides or separated visually, but facing each other and three huge green lights blinking in between them. I am always someone to overanalyze things in terms of silent storytelling and of course before things get better things will get worse towards the season finale, but still if I wanted to read into this visual, I’d say it’s a positive sign.

So yeah, I’m surprised, but this episode imo was one of the better ones in a long long time, now onto the rest of the episode behind the cut.

Alright, so bulletin style.

Of course like with everything under Dabb subtle this episode wasn’t in how the Father Lucca and everything he said and voiced perfectly resonated with the Winchesters and the obstacles they are facing. Whether it was the

“Imagine you woke up one morning and this thing you loved, this thing you and your parents and your children saw every week, this thing you prayed to ever since you were olf enough to form words was just gone - what would you?”

that of course was all about Mary or his monologue about. I mean, just look at their expressions here. It tells the full story.

“Good men doing good things, every day can get better.”

I liked Father Lucca and I really liked the actor too, if I had to choose a character they could definitely bring back (opposed to some others I could definitely live without), he would be among them. I liked how he delivered what the Winchesters needed in a non judgmental way and almost served as something like a therapist but without all the problematical stuff we had in the episode of that nature this season. It seems the Winchesters didn’t really know or realize but to me it felt like after meeting him both felt the weight of their shoulders lifted maybe for a tiny bit for a few seconds. So yeah, liked that character.

What I also really adored was this small exchange between Dean and Father Lucca

due to how deliberately the street light serves as a halo. For imo more than just one “most holy man”. Dean’s and Father’s Lucas entire conversation in the Impala was rather enjoyable as well and imo was made even more interesting due to the train horns - a recurring stylistic device and one that has often been used when talk of the divine has been going on.

So yes I am more than surprised to hear myself say this, but I enjoyed this episode a great deal for the reasons mentioned above. It wasn’t a perfect episode of course. The aproach to the noir genre didn’t work completely for me and the other bad guys/criminals were a bit too cardboard-y overall, but I could live with all of that since the pacing was better and much more than that SPN finally focused on who made the show successful to begin with: the Winchesters. More of that please and less of crappy handled side stories and too many side characters. :)

My rating for this episode solid 7 out of 10. Not in relation to other seasons - there are lightyears between S4/5 or S9/19 to what we see now, but within S13 to me this was one of the stronger episodes.

[valeriemperez]

Why do you dislike Ralph so much? I personally don’t like the character because of his powers, he’s exactly what another superhero is only with a different name. Other than that he’s ok, I get where they’re going with it and I doubt that he’ll be a permanent fixture on the show. I can see him make guest appearances but not much else.

I dislike that he was clearly created for and by a sexual harassing misogynist. And then when they dropped that side of him, he still took over the show in both tone (juvenile body humor rather than character-driven heart) and plot. If he remains alive and only makes occasional appearances in the future, that’s one thing. But I won’t know that’s the case - he’s a guest star this season, after all - until several episodes have gone by.

You don’t think these writers are trying to make Iris into the strong black woman trope who doesn’t need an apology, do you? She has a lot going for her such as beauty, brains, a loving family, leader/co-leader with her husband, who just happens to be the lead character. But, no apology from Caitlin for s3 and so far, not one from Barry. That part may come later, but she’s always the forgiving rock to everyone else. Is her rock in the cut scenes?

I don’t think they’re trying to, but that may be the unintentional result given the make-up of their writers’ room. This is why they need more black women behind the scenes.

That being said, Iris has gotten to speak her piece more this season than in previous ones, and Barry did apologize to her at the start of the season over his leaving her. She expressed her pain there, and he responded accordingly. I wish he had explicitly apologized for 4.18 & 4.19, but I don’t know if his scheduling the therapy session was meant to be an implicit apology or if the writers just didn’t see those two scenes as a big deal.

Caitlin not apologizing is bullshit, though, and the writers are never gonna live that one down.

I have a feeling Ralph will be back next season if only because today Hartley was hinting at the the unexplored friendship between him and CS lol. For real tho we don’t know if off the bat Hartley signed a two year contract thus they are obligated to keep him in the show. Todd might not get to choose what he does. I will say since Todd took control he didn’t let Ralph dominate the whole show which I think will be the same in season 5.

I’m hoping that’s him reminiscing and wishing he could be around longer, lol. I’m going off Todd saying that his story is done, as well as the casting call saying it was one season with the possibility of becoming a regular later, but you are right that we don’t know which way it went.

I know people have latched on to that interview, but It’s not like he could come out and say R is coming back tho. That aside, don’t leaaaave uuuuus! You wouldn’t stay even for Dawn? :( Maybe if people stopped dumping all the negativity in your inbox? (but I get it. There r things I don’t like about this season, but the echo chamber of this is the wooooorst here makes everything worse)

You’re sweet, but my inbox isn’t the issue. Y’all are pretty understanding of the kinds of messages I respond to and the kinds I don’t, lol. I meant more the general unhappiness in fandom, which everyone has a right to feel, but which I need to step back from.

I’ve seen another blogger who got lots of asks do this, and I thought it might help: Only have your inbox open on certain days and tell people which days those are. That way you can partially control and you don’t have all of the negativity (when it’s there) the entire week.

It’s not about what comes to me, it’s about what I seek out. Following fellow fans on twitter and tumblr, looking through tags, etc. The latter is way easier to stop doing, as I’m already not checking the tags on Twitter and only checking the Tumblr ones if I need to reblog/post something for Candice. As for the former, I gotta set up my muted terms or whatever you call it, haha. 

If you’re struggling with returning for s5 then i know it’s bad. The season has been poor. so poor.

It’s funny, because I feel the need to defend parts of the season. It’s really only 4B that I want to throw out, with the exception of the excellent 4.15 & 4.16. And it wasn’t until 17-19 that things started feeling really hopeless. But yeah, the over-emphasis on Ralph and the total lack of progression with Devoe is really killing my show spirits.

I’m over CS/KF/DP and her unimaginative fans. They want everything that IWA has. The latest thing I saw - she should get her hair cut (like Iris 🙄). IMO, she’s served no real purpose past S1. Both Barry and Wally have speed healing. SB is never happening and the shows ambivalence towards KF is annoying af. S3 was all about getting rid of her cold powers. Supposedly that’s why she teamed up with Savitar and tried to help him kill Iris. Now she misses them. Miss me with all that. Girl, Bye! ½2/2 Watch S5 be her full blown KF evil, and the return of RF. S4 is almost over, yet they’ve never addressed Two-face apologizing to WA for her BS in S3. Only Joe (not even Cecile) in a half-ass way. Harry needs to go too. Every version of him!!

It seems like they’ve finally found a direction for Caitlin, so we’ll see if it works out. I have a feeling they like all their actors too much to willingly let them go.

[cococrazies]

Lovestruck Series Review: Gangsters in Love (Season 5)

Personal playing order: Chance - Aurora - Ash - Yoshimitsu

Warning! Minor spoilers for Aurora’s and Ash’s routes ahead, as well as CGs under the cut.

Chance: I don’t think I’ve ever played a Lovestruck route this obviously filler-y before. (The use of resident generic gangsters Pistol & co. from Mateo’s S4 only solidified that impression.) That said, it’s not bad -- and as someone who grew up during the Naruto/Bleach era, I’m pretty desensitized to fillers overall -- even if it’s not on par with other GiL seasons.

The writing here did feel distinctly different to previous Chance stories so far though, for some reason. The narration in particular reminded me of Yoshimitsu’s last season (the Pokémon-style action sequences made another comeback), and there was a lot more party banter between the gang (which was witty and fun, but unusual for a Chance route). Chance himself felt kind of OOC too, but I can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. It was just as if he lacked a certain... air? Quality? I don’t know how to explain it.

All in all the route itself was pretty cute however, so I’m sort of neutral to it. The good evened out the bad; and the way the narrative was set-up made the flashback a little more interesting.

Aurora: Guess who’s back, back again. Thankfully not Skylar, but our “new” antagonists aren’t a much preferable alternative, IMO. At least the writers are self-aware and making fun of it themselves along the way, if the cartoon villain joke and the jab at the codenames in Chance’s and Aurora’s routes are anything to go by.

Intentionally flat big bads aside, the story itself was good -- to my surprise, I actually wound up loving it despite it being such obvious filler. First off, we get more baby!Stella trying to be badass and sometimes even succeeding, which we can never have enough of. Secondly, I liked how this story tried to address some of the gaps that occurred during the timeskip, such as a more in-depth perspective of why Aurora and MC wanted to go legit, and their struggle to leave the gangster life behind.

I’m also a sucker for crossovers, especially when relevant to the plot -- I’d already been wondering if Medusa would show up in Chance’s route, what with them being in NY and Aurora strongly hinting at meeting her there -- and the fact that this story takes place in the same universe as one of my favorite AFK epilogues only made it even better. (I totally spent ~€3 just to see Aurora/MC hang out with Medusa/MC, though I wish we could’ve glimpsed more of that Stella/twins conversation.)

Ash: Er, so I guess the writer(s) forgot about the MC’s photographic memory here. Although they did kind of try to come up with some flimsy excuse halfway through for it, but the whole “oh, MC can actually be pretty forgetful” shtick was still kind of awkward.

Beyond the slightly ironic premise for the narrative, this route was okay. I liked seeing Ash and MC back with the gang, even if they kept reminding us every other episode how they didn’t actually want to be there. Some scenes were hilarious as well (of course Yoshimitsu would name his temporary pet tiger Nobunaga), and the finale was really cute.

Yoshimitsu: I have mixed feelings about this route again, which seems to be my new standard for Yoshimitsu’s stories since the epilogue. The writing has definitely changed, and as a formerly huge fan of the prose in Yoshimitsu’s routes, it’s a bit of a blow. The dialogue makes up for the continued Pokémon-battle narration, but I still dislike the non-heart alternatives and question MC’s/Yoyo’s critical thinking from time to time.

Beyond that, it’s neither better nor worse than Ash’s story, so I’m pretty neutral to it overall -- I only miss the writing style used for his route. Yoyo does get all the prettiest CGs, though.

Final character ranking: Aurora > Chance > Ash = Yoshimitsu

Review for Havenfall S2 is next on the list, then we’re back to GiL S6 again. You can follow my tag #coco reviews lovestruck for more reviews of Lovestruck games, or check out the ones I’ve done so far on this list.