#theyre constantly teamed up in episodes

[hermit-searching]

listen listen listen. I have the vision. Raphael is their resident little guy and Donatello feels bad about his machines nearly killing Raphael all the time. He would never harm him.........intentionally.

Also to back up my claim he's resident little guy, in the nightmare episode his dream is basically just a power fantasy where he controls his buddies. If that's not the biggest lil bro energy ever idk what is.

[ginalinettiofficial]

idk bros after starting my danny phantom rewatch i think that mayhaps the dc x dp crossover fandom has entirely villainized jack and maddie fenton for the sake of their batfam!danny plots which is understandable but also just simply so antithetical to canon…. yes canon is a nickelodeon show from 2004 but if i can’t take a children’s cartoon seriously on tumblr where CAN i….. i just think we need to give maddie and jack more credit because zany they may be but they were much more involved and loving than fanon seems to recall

[justaz]

all this was to say that lance had the perfect set up for a deep, beautiful character arc but…well. we all know what happened. he’s arrogant, overconfident, and cocky and this ends up with him making mistakes and costing his team a pretty run with the flight sim. yet you can see in that episode with the yupper that lance has a deep insecurity that he buries and hides under smirks and quips and a whole lotta pride. (they also could’ve tied it to his family as well since they gave him multiple siblings which would’ve overshadowed his accomplishments which is the root of him striving for greatness and perfection so much that he gets tunnel vision and his team pays the price, but i digress.) with his competition/rivalry with keith, the star student who is effortlessly talented, it would’ve been beautiful for them to be equals as coleaders without them realizing. it wasn’t a conscious decision for either of them but lance’s little line from the first episode had more truth than he realized - “lance and keith, neck and neck”.

and then to lose that along with himself when kuron takes control of the team, to watch him struggle and flounder and fall deeper into his insecurities, his pride and ego wounded so much that he is unsure of his every move, his every word, his every breath. it would’ve been PERFECT for him to figure out that kuron was a clone and that the team was under galran command. lance being forced into the leadership role, much like keith was, and having to make decisions and choices for the team as black paladin - still being so unsure of what he’s doing and if it’s right. he full heartedly believes that the team needs keith back, they can’t do this without him, but keith is on the space whale and no one can get ahold of him so it’s up to lance. lance who slowly heals the deep wound within him that has him believing that he’ll never be good enough and grows his confidence back on solid ground. lance who becomes steady and sure of himself and leads the team almost effortlessly.

all this paralleling keith’s character arc which (ofc) happened off screen in canon. keith who was restless and explosive for years bc he never had a mother, his father died when he was young, he was bounced around from foster home to foster home, and once he found a permanent home, shiro goes missing and is presumed dead. keith who is constantly searching for something he can’t name and finding his mother and is forced to be with her for two years while glimpsing the past and future. keith seeing his parents meet and fall in love, watching as his mother practically tore herself apart inside as she left him and his father behind - feeling a piece of him settle within at the sight. she didn’t want to leave, she would’ve given anything to stay. watching his father and shiro raise him, their love unconditional until the day they left. krolia watching little keith rage at the injustice and being there for his older self and healing those wounds. settling every restless piece within him until he became the man who stepped back onto the castleship with a space wolf, an altean, and his alien mom.

keith and lance finding a shred of stability with one another as coleaders of voltron and best friends since they definitely grew closer during s3. they were attached at the hip, they did everything together, the line between platonic and romantic blurred so much that it wasn’t even there anymore, it was just them. but it was unhealthy how close they were, how dependent they were on one another. only to be torn apart and with their unhealthy codependency, they completely fall apart without the other there so theyre forced to rebuild the foundations of their beings. lance crumbles all alone as he and the team become distant and he rebuilds as black paladin. keith crumbles alone at the blade hopping from mission to mission and rebuilds on the space whale with his mother.

steady keith and lance meeting almost like for the first time after lance and the team took out kuron and keith and krolia found a hidden altea. together they turn on lotor and take him down too. since kuron has already been dealt with, lotor didn’t get away and all that other shit in canon didn’t happen so they get to remain in space until they take the empire completely. allura places shiro into the clone’s body and meets romelle and talks of freeing the hidden altea after the war is over and theyre not at risk anymore. keith and lance are unsure of how to proceed with the whole leader thing but there again pops up the coleader resolution. as steadier, mature versions of themselves, keith has really stepped into the black paladin position while lance had always been more suited for red. keith and lance, leader and his right hand, but they’re equals. theres no competition, no rivalry, no jealousy or envy, just respect and love.

[expired-blueberries]

still thinking about bevin and how insanely good it is and how much POTENTIAL it has and how practically nobody ships it. it literally has something in EVERY SERIES.

in original series, ben and kevin almost immediately befriended each other. this is notable because ben, as we know, canonically doesnt seem to have *any* friends before the road trip, and we can assume that kevin doesnt have any either. even after they stop being friends, ben CONSTANTLY and CONSISTENTLY tries to help kevin and CONTINUES giving him chances to get help and get better, even at his own detriment and sometimes the detriment of his family. even outside of these chances, we can see how ben's inability to protect and save kevin affects him through the rest of the series and the way he treats people.

in alien force, especially in seasons one and two, ben ALMOST IMMEDIATELY trusts and befriends kevin, despite the fact that he, perhaps more than literally anybody else that we know of, has the most reason not to do so. he is even constantly reiterating the fact that hes friends with kevin and that kevin is important to him. hell, in the VERY FIRST EPISODE, kevin punches a hole in ben (as swampfire)s stomach, and ben STILL befriends him. and kevin BEFRIENDS HIM BACK!!!!!!! kevin literally joins the tennyson team practically MINUTES after reuniting with them. HE LITERALLY LET VULKANNUS TURN HIM INTO A LIVING TADENITE STATUE JUST SO THAT HE COULD GET THE HOLO FOR BEN!!!!!!!!!

ultimate alien is a mixed bag, i wont even try to argue that. but what we do know is that prior to the ultimate kevin arc, it was KEVINS turn to reiterate how much ben means to him. they have MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS about it!!! and kevin RISKED HIS LIFE (again!!!) during the ultimate sacrifice just to get ben help when he was trapped in the omnitrix with the ultimates!!! and even AFTER THE ULTIMATE ARC, kevin and ben wordlessly walked off into the sunset TOGETHER. not kevin and gwen. not even kevin, gwen, and ben. it was just the two of them.

in omniverse, there was LITERALLY THE ROOTERS ARC. 12 year old kevin who carried around a picture of ben all the time. from hedorium to eternity, where even when ben and kevin were butting heads the entire time, ben was the first one to jump into action to try and save kevin. ben trusting kevin during the entirety of the rooters arc, from the second he went to warn kevin about the rooters, to he and kevin fighting in the hallway, ben never once gave up on kevin.

even in reboot, when ben and kevin are, again some of each others only friends. its in the way that kevin genuinely seems to think theyre best friends even from the moment we meet them, despite knowing that ben doesnt feel the same way. its in the way ben and kevin eventually end up fighting seemingly out of habit before they just go off to play and have fun and just be kids together. its in the way that kevin and ben always had each others backs when they needed it. its in the way that kevins obsession with ben reads more like a crush he doesnt know how to handle than in a frenemy relationship. its in the way that ben looks out for kevin even when hes told he shouldnt.

LIKE I JUST!!!!!!!! im not going to bash on other ships. i am NOT going to bash on other ships. but i just dont understand how it is that more people dont ship them.

[crowvert-bird]

i support dandys world now :D!!! rant on it at the very bottom of the cut and in green

i actually wanted to respect the original designs (and by extension qwel) this time!! had a LOT of fun remaking the twisteds mechanics too (under cut)!! i dont rlly feel like continuing working on this anymore tho cuz i started this whole project out of anger at rox being in the dev team and i directed it to bashing on the character designs (i still have the opinion that theyre very generic and mid rather than being good or bad), so now that hes gone heres wats left of it, some of the pics arent cropped properly beware

there was gonna be a canon compliant shelly design too (where shes a shell) and more polished twisted dandy designs (both canon compliant and with remade mechanics in mind), but i dont rlly feel like drawing more stuff

Basis for the Twisteds' Mechanics

This is the most fun part!! They're all based off of their abilities and stats or how you normally use these Toons, but in a way that makes them dangerous to you. And they have to be as dangerous as Twisted Pebble.

Pebble gets Twisteds to focus on him (distracting), Twisted Pebble gets players to focus on him. Vee gets information on Twisteds and machines through her abilities, and is the slowest out of all the Mains. Twisted Vee disrupts the flow of information and is also the slowest. Shelly helps everyone get machines done quickly through her ability, Twisted Shelly slows down progress on machines. Sprout is a medic who scavenges for tapes, Twisted Sprout is a supporting Twisted (not the main threat) who scavenges for players. Astro helps players who are running out of stamina, then slinks back into the shadows using his stealth. Twisted Astro ambushes players from the shadows. Both Dandy and Twisted Dandy are the main characters of the show, with everything going their way.

Twisted Pebble, Had to be Nerfed

he stays the same, except his footsteps are louder

Twisted Vee, World's Most Dangerous Wall

Keep the ads but make them happen slightly more often.

She is as wide as the narrowest corridor in the game, and CONSTANTLY roams the map at a speed slower than Shrimpo or Connie. She will attack anyone very close to her with her long microphone arm or regular arm, depending on which one is the closest to them.

She sometimes blares audio clips from a Vee-centric episode or something on the news during that time (if you want that juicy lore) for a few seconds. It actually plays at normal volume, and instead, ALL audio (including skillcheck and encounter noises, and footsteps) are significantly more muffled and quieter so that it doesn't hurt your ears. This is telegraphed by her bringing her microphone arm up to her speaker, as she cranks the volume knob all the way up to the max.

Her line of sight is a very big and very visible glowing green circle. If you're in it, she gives you the "spotlight" effect for 10 seconds. This effect makes it so that other Twisteds can see you through walls, and makes your stealth worse than Shrimpo's. Only one person can have this effect at a time. If someone has the effect already, no one else can get it. But if that person has already had the spotlight effect for 5 seconds, someone else can step into Twisted Vee's line of sight and take that effect from them. She walks towards anyone with the spotlight effect (with the same speed as her roam speed lol) until they lose that effect.

Twisted Shelly, More Annoying but in a Hopefully Slightly More Fun Way

Keep her fast movement speed and attention span.

When planting her very visible hijack on a machine, she physically goes to and puts it there. It gives you the same debuff as confused 2, but for that machine only.

When she's on the floor, the text that appears explaining how to perform a skill check are changed to explain her fake skill check mechanics. Fake skill check bars will now sometimes appear (definitely less than 30% chance). And when it does, it always replaces a real skill check. It makes slightly pitched down and distorted skill check noises. The white and gold parts are slightly bigger than normal, and it looks a bit like a child drew it.

The dark grey part of a fake skill check now has the color of ichor, hitting it gets rid of the fake skill check. The white part gets rid of both the fake skill check and Twisted Shelly's hijack (if the machine has one). The gold part works the same as a regular failed skill check, except this time Twisted Shelly will start chasing you no matter where she is on the map, even if she's already chasing someone else (sorry not sorry distractors, running in circles the whole run gets boring anyways, might as well add a bit of spice). The text that appears when you fail a skill check is replaced with "Be careful! She's coming for you."

Twisted Sprout, Twisted Flutter but Worse

He has the same roam and chase speed of whatever his current canon chase speed is. He never stops moving, but he moves like he has tank controls, telegraphing his turns by slowly turning his head, then body, to a direction he wants to move in.

His tendril traps now look like black strawberry vines. They work the same, but now they spawn in set positions around the map.

His line of sight is narrower than normal, but he can see further and he can see you through walls. To compensate for this, his line of sight is represented by a red glowing oval. You can see it through walls. It's invisible when you're far away from him, but it gets more and more visible the closer you are to him.

Twisted Astro, Jumpscare Simulator

He has two phases, the roaming and chasing phase (they work differently than regular Twisted roams and chases).

He always starts in the roaming phase. In this phase, he is completely invisible, except for his red star eye. He targets the player with the highest stealth and gives them the tired effect, which lasts until their turn is done. After some time, he positions himself in front of the player he's targeting.

The chasing phase starts with Twisted Astro attacking the player 4 times (one for each arm) as soon as they get near him. At the same time, he becomes fully visible. (There's a delay between him noticing that you're there and him attacking, so you can bait out his attacks then run away.) After a short moment, the chase itself starts. It lasts for about 5 seconds, starting with him chasing the player at Twisted Pebble's chase speed, and ending with him not moving at all.

He then goes back to his roaming phase, this time, targeting the player with lower stealth than the last player. This cycle repeats until he reaches the player with the least stealth. After he's done his chasing phase with this player, the cycle repeats, and he starts targeting the player with the highest stealth again.

Twisted Dandy, Glorified Timer

He works like canon Twisted Glisten, except you need him. He's half-Twisted like Twisted Glisten, he never attacks you, and he can still talk. He roams at a speed that is slightly faster than the regular Twisted.

When he's on the floor, the whole floor gets a visual effect, like it's snowing. It's actually his dandelion seeds. You get infected by these seeds the moment the elevator door opens, and a timer appears on your screen.

This timer shows how much time you have left until you die. The closer the timer gets to 0, the more the Dandy-like flowers on you bloom. When you die because the timer ran out, you leave a small patch of those same flowers behind (they don't do anything other than look scary).

You can push the time limit back by being near Twisted Dandy, where you can give him 1 tape for 3 more seconds. If you don't have anymore tapes, he takes 3 of your stamina instead.

the rant

srry for being so mean to qwel the entire time (she designs the characters), i thought she knowingly enabled rox and that rlly tainted my view of the entire game (i personally believe that she still did bad stuff for helping rox in censoring people, but is still ultimately a victim given roxs pattern of behavior towards his friends, her apology hints to her being sorry for the censorship too (specifically the "I do not condone Rox's actions in any way" part (i rlly hope im not just coping here))

maybe my opinions will change again once all the characters have been reanimated(and maybe the colors are touched up a bit)?? cuz they looked great in the tv animations (even poppy and vee)!!! but more lifeless in the actual 3d environment (prob cuz of the stiff animations), ill definitely try to not make them be completely different designs again IF i ever decide to make anything else related to dandys world!! (except for shelly, i completely disagree with her being a shell instead of some kind of dino even if ammonites existed at around the same time dinos did, it just makes her seem more ocean related like finn than dino related)

[trafficblr-confessions]

I don't like skyblings too much, however that doesn't mean I don't like family headcanons/dynamics

Actually im a sucker for family dynamics, me and my sister both are, and love projecting on silly cubitos a lot (funny cause in this specific duo our genders are swapped)

So I present to you: Snowblings propaganda

Its Scar and Pearl!

First of all they kinda look alike, to the point I've mixed them up in fanart before, which sounds dumb but I'm so fr like actually its happened and I find that funny.

Second, I just love their duo on DL, I lowkey wished they became chosen soulmates, I mean theyre kinda paralels? But on opposite senses?? My sister knew the proper term for this. Like- Pearl got abandoned by her soulmate, and they parted ways completely, resenting eachother. Meanwhile, Scar got cheated on, but even after the betrayal and all that he stayed with Grian and didn't yknow take actual revenge like Pearl did constantly to Scott..

Headcanon section:

Also I love that they seem like- So I think if they were actually related possibly before the series and all, maybe got separated and their memories erased by the watchers? But still met again and took eachother as found family, not knowing the truth. Also, likewise to my online sis and I, I feel like Scar is older in actual age but when you see them interact its like Pearl is the older one.

Also!! Wolf and cat duo, I think thats silly.

And I think possibly they could've hang out more even if we dont see it on camera, trust... like sitting on powdered snow at night as they talk (its mostly Pearl rambling/venting/plotting chaos and Scar being supportive, possibly also making sure she doesn't freeze to death)

Another plus! Scar was a wizard on LL while Pearl got called the witch of DL! And both got villanised a lot on the seasons they won... and they both spent their whole seasons mostly alone, with a small team up at the end...

Pearl was all alone in DL and Scar helped her and kept her company when he could, even if she was unhinged and probably insisted he got revenge aswell. Scar was all alone for most of SL and Pearl still offered him a family in the end... she wanted one of her mounders to win... and he was the last one left, he *was* an actual mounder even if just for one episode, cause she could've helped Gem win, also her best friend (who I see as found cousins, also cause of my relationship with an online cousin), but she wanted her mounders to win, and thats what Scar was, not only that, Scar was her brother, her family.

Have you also considered that Scar, Pearl and Bdubs could make the best found sibling trio ever?

I just think they're the best ever, comfort duo fr..

(A bit Pluto Scar propaganda too, shot out to my genius lil sis for the arguments) Pluto has 5 moons, Scar killed 6 ppl in the finale, but the last one was Pearl who IS the moon. Except to Scar she's more than just another moon, Pearl, who wanted him to win, who offered him a place to belong to, a family, when he had no one, even if it was short lived, Pearl who understood his loneliness, a past winner who very well understood what its like to be the villain of the server, his best friend, his ally, his family.. and the last person he saw before that so called victory.

Plus! Funny quote between my sister and I that sounds pretty DL Snowblings coded:

- "wishing for the best for you and worst for them /j" (sister/scar) - "you see? this is what siblings are for! we pray on other people's downfall… but for good reasons.." (me/pearl)

Thats all tumblr, thank you ^^

.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

the addition of jack would instantly give every 12 team tardis an entirely new different and INCREDIBLY funny dynamic. 12 jack and clara would instantly become 9jackrose 2: This Time Its THE Most Unbelievably Fucked Up Polycule Youve Ever Seen In Your Life Edition. the jealousy from every single damn one of them would make it SO fucking bad for anyone to be around but SO interesting to watch in an "i need to study them" way. 12 and jack alone just after claras departure would be genuinely very charming in an absolutely heartbreaking way because it is hands down the most clear how deeply in love with the doctor jack is but despite this it would still be SO fun to watch and an absolute travesty that we only got one episode of it. AND it would segue unbelievably well into THORS. i dont need to say this we all Know but in any scenario where jack and river are in the same team tardis it instantly becomes THE most bisexual situationship hanging in the balance of how willing the doctor is at any given moment to tolerate both the constant and i mean CONSTANT flirting, with each other and with everyone around them, and the 1 million guns and bombs the two of them have. 12 jack and nardole would become either more tolerable or way more annoying and it all depends on how obvious nardole and jack make it that theyre fucking and how jealous 12 is about this. (12 and jack are also DEFINITELY fucking each other in this scenario and it does not improve 12's jealousy level.) 12 jack bill and nardole would instantly become THE team tardis dynamic of all time. itd be like the breakfast club for queer time travelers. itd be like if "LGBT" was a team tardis. and once you add missy to that dynamic it would instantly go to shit in the funniest and most insane possible way because then youve got TWO DIFFERENT people who have known 12 for about 2000 years and he is NOT normal about it, every single relationship not involving bill is fucked up on like a cosmic scale, jack and missy cant be left alone together because one of them WILL be dead in the most psychosexual way imaginable, bill knows SO much more about 12 because jack would never shut up under any amount of duress and frankly its better this way. its definitely some kind of nightmare blunt rotation but i have no idea for which one of them. every single adventure would either take SO much longer or be solved instantly. bill singlehandedly prevents the sexual tension from being unimaginable constantly. simultaneously the perfect and funniest and best team TARDIS dynamic while also being COMPLETELY intolerable good god

[toothlespoggers]

AAAAAAAAA STIMMING STIMMING JUST WATCHED EPISODE 4 (I think) OF THE NEW SEASON OF DRAGONS RISING AND BOY THIS SEASON IS SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT FROM THE FIRST AND ITS SO GOOD AND ITS AMAZING AND COLE IS SO FUCKING GAY FOR THAT GUY AND THEYRE SO GAY THEYRE SO GAY, THAT GUY WHATS HIS NAME

DID YOU SEE THE WAY HE LONGINGLY LOOKED AT COLE NOT ONLY HAS THIS SEASON FIXED ALL THE CHARACTER WRITING FLAWS THAT THE PREVIOUS ITERATIONS OF NINJAGO HAD BUT IT ALSO CONFIRMED COLE GAY HE GAY FOR THIS MAN, THEYRE SO GAY, NO ONE STARES AT ONE PERSON THE WAY THIS GUY DOES AND ISNT GAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AND ZANE WITH THE FRONICKY PLUSH AAARGHHH I CANT BELIEVE THIS THEYRE LETTING ZANE REST? WHAT HAVE I BEEN SAYING YALL EVEN IF TUMBLR HASNT EXPERIENCED ALL OF MY NINJAGO OPINIONS, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND I HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS THAT ZANE NEVER GETS A BREAK. HES ALWAYS WORKING, HES ALWAYS FORCED TO GET UP AND DO STUFF BUT THIS SEASON HES PLAYED VIDEO GAMES AND STAYED BEHIND, HES CHILLING WITH THE FROG MAN AND ITS SO GOOD AND AAAAAA I WANNNA WATCH MORE EPISODES BUT I WATCH IT WITH PEOPLE SO I HAVE TO WAIT BUT IT IS THE BEST.

I love the ninjago writers SO MUCH if anyone has like any information on the behind the scenes decisions and stuff that’s gone into the development of this season that’s changed and improved the previous issues tell me I wanna know! Argh I’m so happy, they finally gave Cole a family outside of the ninja team because let’s be real Cole was kinda sidelined for ages he needs a nice family of people who respect him and also he needs a hot purple boyfriend to look after him!

Lloyd isn’t an npc, he’s a human being with flaws?? Like actual? Logical? Flaws? He’s not just a main character anymore?? His flaws aren’t even super annoying either. And like CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW FUNNY IT IS THAT TIKTOK AND YOUTUBE CANONICALLY EXIST? THE NINJA ARE LIKE, TUMBLR SEXYMEN??? IN THE LEGO UNIVERSE?? THATS SO FUNNY, WHAT?

all the jokes feel like actual people talking, the writing feels natural for the first time in years! Zane isn’t constantly abused, he’s happy and frog man is the best character and if Lego doesn’t immediately release mini figures for frohicky and all the other minor characters that are pretty important I’m going to Sue.

also I haven’t watched the next episode but if it doesn’t explain what happened with Zane to end up with a frohicky plushie I’m going to go ballistic, alright?

Hot take but I’m glad Jay isn’t there anymore ik he’s probably going to come back but he’s honestly the worst ninja nowadays. And also, KAI CHARACTER ARC FIXED??

KAI ISNT INSUFFERABLE UNLEARNING AND RUDE ANYMORE HES AN ACTUAL GROWING CHANGING PERSON NOW, AND LIKE I USED TO HATE THE SELF INSERT NEW GUYS BUT THEYRE SO WELL WRITTEN NOW IT JUST MAKES ME LIKE EM’ and sure Aaron can get a little annoying but he’s so autistic coded like openly autistic coded he’s like “is there a social cue I’m not picking up on?” COME ON, MAN. COME ON!!

also like I said, girlie, baby, Sora, honey, you are the GOAT. WE STAN!

also if something ever happened to Zane couldnt sora just like, fix him on the spot?

my only complaint is the fact the ninja haven’t just taken off the masks before the wolf people turn all magic-y like bbg just take it off.

one last thing, JUST SAY CHIMA, WE ALL KNOW THAT GUY IS FROM LEGO CHIMA DONT HIDE IT EMBRACE IT. AAAAA

also that skeleton lady kinda..

Look I’m an undertale fan I have skeleton brainrot, ok? Don’t judge me

[canonically47]

I'd love to hear you rank all the All Stars from fave to least fave (and why)

i'll do least fave to fave since theres more to hate in this season, but here we go:

18. yul. idc how bad tom and jake get, riya can annoy me all she wants, alec could commit a crime and drastically drop down in my rankings, AND YUL WOULD STILL BE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY DC LIST!!!!!!

i just... despise him. he has brought nothing of substance in any of his seasons and hes just homophobic, fatphobic and racist constantly. the only thing that annoys me more than yul are his fans defending him because hes FiCtIoNaL and because its fUnNy. bunch of idiots

17. jake. i dont like jake. fuck jake. he and tom used to be so high up in my list but oh how the mighty have fallen, i can barely remember a time when i was genuinely excited for their arc, now whenever i see them on screen i just beg for their scene to end as quickly as possible

16. tom. only higher than jake because he has a fun character arc in s1 and i love his design so much it redeems him a smidge in my head

15. hunter. so forgettable. idgaf about that emo white boy

14. ally. same as hunter but more annoying. ill give her a pass and place her higher because she was actually fun in s1. now shes just a whiny bitch whose gone from wah wah hunter doesnt listen to me to wah wah jake sucks

13. ashley. even more forgettable but at least shes bearable

12. tess. wait who? oh the prettier and more chill ally?? WAIT SHES IN THE SEASON???? oh wait shes gone? oh no!! anyways

11. lake. s2 is altogether very forgettable and i remember not giving a fuck about anything that had to do with her character arc. i wish we either got rosa maria back, or she got an actual arc in DCAS, but hey tomjake need to make up sooo... yeah.

10. riya. higher than lake because shes not forgettable but i still dislike her. her voice annoys me, her strategies are jus petty drama. her character design is awesome tho and i like her friendship with alec.

9. miriam. oh how the mighty have fallen. they had her here for four episodes yet they still managed to massacre her character in that time, incredible. ranked so high because her s1 self was awesome and my fav alongside alec and... tom <//3

8. connor. the fact that he is so high up should tell you a lot about the attrocity that is this season. not that i ever hated him, i just dgaf about him. this season did absolutrly nothing to make me root for him and he was useless as always, but when you have riya and yul in the same team as him, suddenly i want him to make finale. connor confuses me because jhst like fiore, he was clearly brought back to reconcile with someone (riya and alec respectively) yet he was barely given relevance or screen time and then they just eliminated him. because TOM AND JAKE GUYS!!! THEYRE STILL HERE!!! anyways yeah connor. wow

7. aiden. i used to have such deep and fun feelings about aiden and now hes just there to be toms friend. you would think getting james out gained him some independence, he would get a fun character arc outside of anyone else, but nope, hes not independent just decided to pull the lamest bitch ever. someone take him out already

6. fiore. so sad to see her so low but she was absolutely useless this season. if she doesnt come back then this show is fucked. her whole character arc built up to a reconciliation with alec yet it... never happened. radio silence. the season is still ongoing but my hopes ended with season 2

5. james. it is laughable that someone from season 2 (the second worst season) who i initially despised both for awful acting and bad morals is in the top 5 of a season he was eliminated first in but hey DCAS is really annoying me. so yeah. james!!! i miss james. do you guys think james could come back and just fucking kill jake. thatd be cool. love you james miss you sm

4. gabby. her villain arc could prove so fun but the fact that tess went all flower power at her elimination and forgave gabby for her actions might make gabby back out of her villainy which I DO NOT CARE FOR!!! I WANT MY EVIL GABBY FUCK YOU!!! anyways fun fact i also dislike gabbys voice actress because she thinks YELLING REALLY FUCKING LOUDLY = excitement so that made me dislike gabby for a long time. so now there are two characters in the top 5 whom i originally disliked. something about two nickels

3. grett. my love, she has done nothing wrong ever, my sweet little creature, my adorable cutsie patootsie, FUCKING DUMP YUL ALREADY OH MY GODDD her. i love her, ive loved her since the very beginning, i always rooted for her, if she doesnt make finale then this is rigged

2. ellie. my wife,,,, the way they treated you is abysmal come heal im my arms take as much time as you need,,, "oh but she bad-mouthed everyone on the show" IDC SO HAVE I GOOD FOR HER!!! GIRL FUCK EVERYONE THATS NOT IN MY TOP 7 IDC I EVEN AGREE WITH WHAT SHE SAID ABOUT MY FAVS!!! yall want more complex female characters but cannot handle ellie,,,, so weird to me that this trainwreck of a show has her in it someone free her

1. alec. is anyone surprised? ive loved alec since the first moment i saw him. he was the first decent, not over the top actor i heard, the best personality, the best arc, the best relationships. if he doesnt make finale then i WILL be upset because he deserves it and always has. that finale was bullshit and they pulled that thing with fiore and alec strictly for shock value. i miss them,, anyways ALEC!!! HE IS THE DISVENTURE CAMPER EVER!!!!!!! NEVER RUINED NEVER MISCHARACTERIZED PLEASE GODS ABOVE STOP GIVING ONC CRACK AND STEER THEM AWAY FROM COMMITING WRONGS AGAINST ALEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

side note: top three can sometimes mix depending on mood but they remain the same three characters just different positions sometimes :3

thanks for the ask this was fun and as you see i am so normal

[alitgblog]

s9 vol 6: oh fuck I was joking last time but am i.. is this gonna be a Hamish route for me??? 😳

i guess first of all, the kelly/kat drama. I know it's yet again Finn and Kat but I'm happy they're dealing with it in a different way (although if S5 is Suresh's island, I can't help but think S9 is Kat's island 🙄). The thing that annoyed me the most is MC not being able to say anything? Like Kelly brought up the note, I feel like MC and Finn should've said something.

however we do get this, which, as someone with a friend whose name starts with K going through relationship troubles with a Korean man, actually I'm offended they took my joke and made it less funny,

but snog marry pie! Most of the girls (my MC included) choosing to kiss Hamish? It's like we all forget how bad a kisser he was in S6 like what happened. however, uhhh kinda worth it like I was initially intrigued about a Finn or Stefan route but Hamish is really coming in as a dark horse with chat like this (especially considering how sassy MC can be this season)

and the thing too is even though hes clearly changed bc they're making him a serious LI this season, there are several moments where I'm like yeah that's the same guy that had the audacity to ask S6 MC to run away with him at the end of S6

Then I played by rules like Chen, and chose a different person to snog, a different person to marry, a different person to pie. And then Hamish gets his little moment kissing and marrying MC, which kind of undermines the big moment which is his speech where he pies himself? like the talk on the terrace later this volume is great and I love the flirty banter between him and MC but he's so wishy washy about Natasha and it just doesn't really get addressed?

Kat's partner (in my game, Jude) is a whole mess. Like it'd be one thing if he's gonna be like "hey I'm sorry I was just defending Chen because I misinterpreted some stuff I thought you did" but it's another to do all that meanwhile he was also being shady about flirting with Melissa???

Then they call the incident Melgate bc... fusebox struck gold with Cherrygate and has been trying to recreate it ever since and has always failed. I never clicked the gem scene that would prompt Kat to tell you this story, and so I was so confused until they explained it in the next episode and that was so annoying. Then they do the thing (again!) where they like shame you for not being a friend (Kat's like "I tried to tell you"). this is worse than when you had an ugly dress and the girls were like God you look awful.

Jude being vague during the game was annoying bc i know theyre just stretching it out but also absolutely I could see that happening on the show where he's like "you know what you did. we'lltalk about it later" and it cuts to MC in the beach hut being like "judes being a real bitch. of course I know what I did but which time are you referring to"

Chen being constantly voted the sweetest during the challenge and then awards night is great but also just reminds me that his character is gonna be so vague from now on bc he's sharing a personality with three other guys. like its gonna hurt to break him but also he's not getting the care from the writing team that they've been giving the other routes so unfortunately he's boring rn 😬. doesn't even have the audacity to be mad just has to go away and think. And Chen just keeps taking L's too with MC (at least in my game) flirting with everyone and Jude in his ear saying MC can't be trusted. like if he twists in casa I'm not even sure if the audience would blame him (they would bc they love MC but ya knowww)

God don't remind me I'm missing not only missing actual litg season 2 but also what I have instead is Kat and Finn season 2

anyway MC being able to say never have I ever had a steamy shower with someone? she's so messy

also with Natasha explaining more of what she did in casa on her original season has me making things up in my head bc you gotta be a pretty memorable casa girl for the game to pretend you're an all star but she didn't even make it to the actual villa so that's even harder to imagine, but I'm going to pretend she flirted with one of the guys while also sneaking behind his back with Roxy and people ate that up. then he tells her he wants to bring her to the villa and she rides off into the sunset with Roxy instead (or Roxy breaks her heart goes in the villa with a guy idk)

I'm starting to think Kat's gonna end up either with Finn or if MC is with Finn, then single but then we get a reunion episode and she reveals she's dating Finn's brother bc she has a TYPE (also wouldn't be out of the ordinary for fusebox bc of the grace/ozzy/marshall thing but it's still icky to me lol)

then lastly for brunch we got the first of TWO prompts this volume to lay to learn about your own backstory?? I mean no question I'm upset about paying for information but your OWN character??

I had no problem saying no though like I feel like there's enough context about Sarah Ann for me to guess (side note, if anyone from Casa comes back with Sarah Ann I'm throwing hands)

OK but awards now. I feel like awards night is usually an end of season thing when the producers of the show have not much drama left bc the couples are solid and they want to throw in drama for the last week, but seeing as this is a game and they can just write in the finale whenever, I guess here is alright. (I wonder if that means no movie night then though?)

the clip they showed of Natasha? honestly, I respect her more for it. like idk she just seems more real than this perfect character flirting with MC all the time if she's venting to Hamish about also being sick of Kat and Finn or small things like Kelly taking long to get ready.

Here's where I did wish there was more branching like I think if you didn't do anything with Finn you should get a nice award, like about being loyal, while the clip still showed Finn being sneaky. like I don't doubt that if this were real, the producers of the show WOULD show the note and then getting cut off before MC realizing it's Finn and not her partner, but it's irritating to get blamed for that and even worse, MC does not get a real chance to defend herself, we just listen to everyone else's reactions.

anyway in my game MC should've been shown pieing off Finn at the pool and then Jude apologizing realizing he didn't understand what he saw. and then subsequently after show the clip of MC trying to kiss Finn at the shower and him rejecting her bc I personally loved that moment and I actually gasped when I thought they were gonna show it instead of cutting it off (bc again, not enough branching)

I did spend the gems on the second MC lore thing bc I was like ehh why not it's the end of the volume and like wow I get why I like s9 mc now, she's so Bobby coded 🤣

once again, I do appreciate the effort going into Hamish's route rn bc he has actual consequences and regrets for hooking up with Melissa and it getting exposed. OK maybe not actual consequences bc I think the game will just continue to pair up him and Natasha but the fact that there are some repercussions at all AND he gets to talk out his feelings and regrets about it with MC on the terrace after? And then he continues to show interest in MC and explain his reasons for not being with her and also the whole hi trying to look for validation from his dad? sorry Finn and Chen, the writers are playing favorites

I did not think we were getting casa lmao. there's no casa in the actual love island all stars and love island games so I was surprised but I'm curious about who the other boys are, if they're all gonna be international or are we gonna see at least one more UK islander? if Cassius is coming in during casa it feels like he's gonna be overshadowed and his route is probably merged with some international guys, which I guess makes enough sense like we didn't know him during season 7 anyway but I'm just curious.

oh yeah and this guy

late to the party like I know the game keeps reminding me of him, but the more they did the interested I was, but I could be brought back

OK fingers crossed they don't dump single islanders post casa

[a-deadly-serenade]

nocturne review, ramblings

obvs spoilers for the show down below.

so, i'm gonna be real with y'all; i dont think i would have watched this if not for one of my mutuals spilling the beans about alucard making an appearance 💀 s4 was ok and a fine conclusion to the og castlevania that started this animated franchise, but i dont think i will ever get over the absolute fumble and frankly, insulting way they wrapped up s3. even s4 had its cringe moments, like lenore getting a peaceful sendoff and carmilla getting to kill herself. but, i digress. i was going into nocturne with an already negative mindset and that may have made me more critical of the show. can u blame me though? lmao

i had seen a few clips and screenshots on twitter when they dropped the first 3 eps early and... they only helped solidify my decision to remain skeptical of the staff's writing capabilities. shit was already a little hazy and wishy-washy with their portrayal of isaac in s2 and how they treated hector thruought the show (not to mention the two asian-coded characters in s3). let's just say, the netflix castlevania team doesnt have the greatest track record when it comes to writing poc characters. so, when i saw screengrabs just outright stating that this show was going to deal with historically accurate racism? hm.

obvs as a white woman, i can only go so far on this criticism of the writing, but i dont really understand why they needed to include this? the comparisons and allegory of freedom from indentured servitude to the french revolution, was very weak and bare bones at best. you can keep the motif of the church existing on exploitation and blood of the people-- a whole cross section of the world was involved in the crusades, which is the priests & his entourages whole deal--but, why couldnt annette just be a witch? why did this "historical accuracy" need to get involved with the time period? bcuz the french revolution was name dropped? your main villain is a hungarian countess from the 16th century that made a pact with an EGYPTIAN goddess to become all powerful. like.

and also..... why the FUCK are vampires getting involved with the intercontinental slave trade bro??? 😭 theyre immortal beings that have seen the rise and fall of empires and can do whatever tf they want and go wherever tf they want and they choose to..... own a plantation? give af abut the economy? with selling goods??? okkkkk. also, this line of dialogue is insane to me:

you cant have a central theme of your story be standing up against the oppressors and then make said oppressors fantastical monsters. what kills me is that they've delved into the monstrosity of humanity in s1 and s2, and yet, when you bring in one of the most monstrous things humanity has ever done in its history for the sake of historical accuracy, you turn the very perpetrators into something mythical, and evil that the common folk had no chance of ever defeating even if they tried. its just overall, very messy and they certainly were not the creative team to try and tackle something like this.

speaking of, the writing, again, it definitely left something to be desired. there are moments that are good, don't get me wrong. episode 6 is a particular favorite of mine, shining through with its wonderful character moments b/w annette's soul searching with her ancestors, richter and juste's heart to heart, and olrox's confessions to mizrak. tera's sacrifice to ensure maria's safety is also really well done, as well as maria's final confrontation with her father in the church. however, these were fewer and farther between than i would have liked. a lot of the scenes that played out just fine, were ultimately sullied by this series' incessant need to insert swearing into every other sentence. its something that bothered me nearing the end of s4 especially, and i've just grown tired of it. it honestly takes me out of the scene to constantly hear fuck thrown out every 2 seconds for literally... no reason. i promise y'all can write meaningful and impactful dialogue without having your characters swear lmao

the writing itself is what unfortunately makes the first half of the show kind of drag a bit. the story doesn't really know what it wants to do. none of these new characters are really given time to breathe and be really fleshed out, bcuz every time things settle down and we're given the chance to learn more about their motivations, its like they're almost scared they'll lose your attention and any down time is immediately followed up with an intense action sequence. which, dont get me wrong, if theres one thing they dont disappoint with--its the action. but, i dont think that was ever up for debate to begin with. however, i believe that the characters really suffer bcuz of this. if you've never played the games, which, i believe most people tuning in to watch these series never have, you would have no idea who maria or richter are, and, i really don't think they were given enough time to be fleshed out. half the time, richter's dialogue just ends up being naive, walmart trevor belmont sarcastic one-liners and poor maria ping-pongs b/w the blandest, generic, wonderbread toutings of 'revolution' or calling richter a dick, wanker, or anything in b/w. episode 6, one of the better episodes as mentioned previously, is where we really get to see some actual growth around richter especially. there were moments where his trauma could have been further explored earlier, but they kind of got shoved to the wayside in favor of dragging out the interworking bw all the villains. which.....

if i'm gonna talk about the villains. my initial thoughts were that nocturne was going to be a one-and-done, standalone series with its own self contained story that would be wrapped up in these 8 episodes. i was wrong. and i really dont know how they're going to keep this story going. erzsebet is already a very weak and uninteresting and, honestly, confusing ? villain? for more than half of the series, she's talked about as the mysterious and all powerful Messiah and theyre gathering all these sacrifices for her to bring her back and create an army of night creatures. why is she considered powerful? bcause she made a pact with Sekhmet, an egyptian goddess. why did she do this? who knows! why does she have such a devoted cult of loyal followers when she hasnt done anything but kill a lot of people? again, who knows. why did maria's father think that a VAMPIRE would keep him in cahoots during this whole plan and not immediately fuck him over once she got what she wanted...? who fucking knows. olrox is the most interesting of the villains but even he isnt fully explored. the motivations are just not really explained very well and the buildup to erzsebet's arrival was so sudden that i literally thought i missed an entire episode. one minute, shes hiding in the shadows and the next ? waltzing in on a golden chariot and being heralded as the people's savior?? so damn messy and honestly? i really could not have cared less about her. which is insane to say, bcuz shes literally based off of a real countess who's case and life were a special interest of mine. i just... why an EGYPTIAN goddess?? shes from HUNGARY. were there no goddesses in europe to pull from she could have made a pact with? idk man it just makes no damn sense.

i am definitely more than a little peeved that this wasn't even the complete story, bcuz they did such a poor job establishing erzsebet as a villain, that i really dont give af what crazy shit they come up with to extend the story. you show her being a big badass in the very last episode. ok, you as an audience member, are immediately shown why dracula is so feared within the first 10 minutes of the first episode. and all of that wasnt even HIM fighting!!! the worst thing i've seen miss countess bathory do over here is summon a crazy orb and turn into a furry. like, where is the story going to go from here? they fight tera? save edouard and have a night creature alliance? make maria or alucard (yes, i'll get to him) summon the portal again? which btw... machine from HELL? im not even gonna touch that can of worms. somehow bring olrox back to.....? help kill bathory? idfk

and man...... i was hoping against hope that when i found out alucard was going to make an appearance, that it was just going to be some neat little cameo at the v end of the series after the main story had concluded. a little nod, a little treat to the audience that the next series would be encompassing the events of symphony of the night. maybe we'd even get a depiction of maria and richter when theyre older, i dont know, anything but throwing him in there as an overpowered hail mary to save the day. we couldnt just let these new characters figure it out and triumph in their own way? we had to drag him into this, now? i cant even tell you how disappointed i was when i saw that sword pierce drolta. ME! the resident alucard fan since i was like mf elementary school!!! ugh.

i think this is it for me and netflix castlevania lmao im a grumpy old man and miss when it was mainly fun easter eggs to the games, like how they brought in juste or how olrox turns into a big green monster and has an attack that sends flying skulls your way, or the REMIX of RICHTER'S THEME!!! but its just gotten so silly and the writing hasnt gotten any better..... from now on, im going to simply stick to the games that made me fall in love with this series in the first place & let this be the last time i ever feel the need to bitch about new 'netflixvania' content.

[daphnebowen]

hsmtmts season four episode five

WHY ARE ALL OF THEM IGNORING RICHARD even though it’s LITERALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE still that’s really rude what happened to being nice to people??? If people are genuinely like that in college I am scared

“Richard Bowen.”

”Elton John.” I LOVE THESE TWO!!!!

why does the principal care omg like stay out of her business not everyone can make every rehearsal what do you expect??

kourtneys hero is her mom! That’s the most wholesome and sweetest thing ever 🥰

if kourtneys college trip was a casual visit how come miss girl is wearing four inch heels a miniskirt and a turtleneck 🥸 not that I’m complaining, she looks amazing, but I’m just saying my feet would be KILLIN ME

”wait wait wait… YOURE working??”

ok can we talk about ej for a min?? Man has four jobs, full class schedule, is on the PING PONG TEAM (is that a thing?), is an acapella group called the blindorphins (blind orphans? Help?), has no parental support (srsly, where is his mama?) has a beard much more prominent than the one in season two, is the dork of his friend group (how????), is talking to Val (I totally ship, ngl, so if it’s just a friend thing ima hurt someone) and wears Birkenstocks. He’s a hippie. Someone help my matty poo. But good for him! Proud of ya eej!

”you do look good.” “You look… terrible.”

okay, plot hole, ej says he’s been dabbling in playing the guitar yet in season three he’s literally playing the guitar for the song “ballad of Susan fine.” So is he dabbling in other types of guitars or is a plot hole??? Because if it’s a plot hole it’s the first one I’ve noticed. and now it’s bugging me. And I can’t unsee it.

”I do not break my promises” NO YOU DONT

”for my leading lady thirty seconds.” Welp

”g force” I cant

”no is a complete sentence” thanks Quinn that’s my senior quote

YES GINA

”I’m hearing awards buzz” the only line from Mack I haven’t absolutely hated

“ all songs might be terrible, Elton.”

they’re such brothers it hurts knowing that this is like their last season together :( I wish we’d gotten more of their friendship “ooh, a capo? Fancy.” Ricky said with a proud smile ��� his big bro is all grown up (which is backwards, but you know what I mean)

I absolutely love this song! It’s everything we’ve ever needed and more

ricky looks so intently focused on ej he’s into it

AWWW THEYRE DUETING TOGETHER

that song really hit Ricky home huh. That’s just what he needed. I can totally see why people ship Ricky and ej because their chemistry and like, playfulness was really cute but I still see it as more of a bromance and brother relationship.

man Siri is really working miss Jenn dang

The fact that Siri is still going and recording all while miss Jenn and Carlos are talking has me bawling what if it sent the text to the theater group lmao

no Mack. You and Gina are not “best friends.” Yall are barely friends imo. Ashlyn is Gina’s best friend. Kourtney is Gina’s best friend. Ricky is Gina’s best friend (plus a lil smth else 😏😉)

the fact that she’s looking at a picture of Ricky to help her nail the chemistry 😚 true love right there

EW NASTY MACK STOP KISSING GINA Gina looks like she does not wanna be there but Mack is all in and I wanna slap him

omg big red. What happened…. Cairo… changed him?

Aw his grandma is 100! That’s so sweet

stopppp I still can’t believe it was BIG FREAKING RED

”fantastic. My girlfriend is kissing her childhood crush”

THE CAPTION HAS ME DEAD

ejs little noises “mmm.. mmmm… mmMMMMmm.” He totally disapproves huh

i love how Ricky is ranting to ej even though Gina and ej dated and ej is pretty cool with it, he’s so supportive in this season

man Ricky cannot sit still boy is constantly moving

“everyone’s only allowed to be okay, for like, ten seconds” yup pretty much sucks but true

”todd” says it like it’s the worst word ever

im tired of you losing people too Ricky - don’t worry I’m HERE FOR YOU :((

I love how big red was just like SURPRISE!! even tho Carlos is literally dying of heartbreak and he’s just like “eh it’s cool, whatever” COME ON BIG RED YOURE BETTER THAN THAT

i can’t freaking believe that big reds coming out moment was with Sebastian

I love how Ashlyn doesn’t even care herself she’s just worried about Carlos mostly TELL HIM ASH TELL HIM

bug red is so supportive 😍 he’s a number one madlyn fan I swear

honestly redlyn was one of the most non toxic couples in the show, they constantly supported each other and were there for each other, but they knew that there just wasn’t something final about them together, yes they clicked and they clicked well and so they’re better off as friends now that both of their storylines have explored other sides of their feelings and broadened “their dating pools” as Ashlyn said. So I’m glad that they’re staying friends. And were able to come to a mutual breakup. “Or maybe growing towards this” 🥹

”but what if I got it wrong?” GIRL SHE JUST TRIED TO KISS YOU ON HALLOWEEN!!! SHE WAS THE ONE TO INITIATE IT!!!

”we are 24 cups?!” The instant panic is so real

Carlos: “do you know what it’s like to be gay?” Miss Jenn: *shakes her head* 😭😭😭😭

”hiding is never the answer” yess!! This all the way

baby steps Carlos you got this hun

kourtney really is glowing , she’s so happy at Lewis

harpers shoes are super cute!

”how heavy can a steadicam be?” The steadicam guy: really heavy 😒

“you missed every one of my opening nights!” “Hollywood is different” GIRL I hate you if it weren’t for those opening nights Gina probably wouldn’t be in hollywood hate to admit it but I did

I hate Gina’s mom so much why does she feel the need to push Gina towards Mack and invite him over for dinner and make her miss rehearsals when clearly she wants to go rehearse like what? Gina doesn’t even like Mack that way!

ginas mother… I thought you said “no boys.” And here she is

the last time Carlos is gonna smile at big red “spill the international tea”

YOU KISSED MY BOYFRIEND?!?!?

”im very fond of you “ AWWW sad considering the circumstances but it’s still a sweet thing to say..

oh- mad and mad are back on again

i love how ej aaid “no” when the thunder cracked 💀

TIME FOR SOME BIG BRO EJ TOUGH LOVE AHHHH ALL FOR IT 💗

see the fact that Ricky didn’t even know about ejs dad problems and everything going on with him and Gina and still waited respectfully until Gina was ready shows his character growth. In season one he was actively interfering with nini and ejs relationship but in season three he saw Gina was happy and let her have her happiness. This is what I love about him ❤️

”you will never meet another family like the Wildcats” HITS LIKE HOME CUZ ITS OVER

”cause I miss it every single day” literally me rewatching this knowing I will never be able to go back and rewatch seasons 1 and 2 ever again 😢

Matt Cornett king of voice cracks

”she would be be with you if she didn’t see the guy you could be” YES EJ PREACH MY MAN

”if you hurt her… I will never forgive you.” The way Ricky looks up in alarm ‼️

Ej is the freaking best at pep talks man all that time with Val really taught him a lot, he’s being tough on Ricky and honest with him but he’s also being caring and gentle and I love that for the two of them, we need more bromances like this!

YES RICKY GO SPEAK YOUR MIND TO GINA PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

YESSS A HUG

”why didn’t we hang out more in high school?” “Well maybe because you were always stealing my girlfriends” HAHAHA

awww ej is giving him his guitar!!! (He’s got good instincts)

ugh mark and spark are literally on the table

part 2 tk!

[cosmicrescendo]

ok it's been 17 eps and i feel like i've rarely talked about them so i'm gonna Briefly discuss what I consider the Weakest Part of this show so far: The Mint Phantom Thieves:

ok so like for context. Diana is the one actually hexing the victims of the week but for Some Reason she has a pack of #BrokeAss human adults serving as a goon squad who want to get the jewel (unawakened forms of the jewelpets) of the week. So that they pawn it off for Cash since they are #BROKE. Their interests are entirely separate from Diana as it doesn't seem like she personally cares what happens to the jewels after they are summoned so it's just a reason to add A Little Stress to the jewelpet hunting for the first arc until Diana is revealed to be the mastermind behind all the town's hexings.

They are conceptually kind of interesting as a parallel to Rinko and her friends: they're both unsatisfied with their current selves/circumstances and desire to change that. But unlike them, who are resolved to change through their own efforts and thus are aided by jewelpets who resonate with that kind of determination....they try to cheat their way to higher places. But that's where my interest pretty much ends with them.

Because these guys. suck so much.

Firstly, jewels are summoned in response to distressed (but resolved) hearts, so like. It's pretty much Playing the Waiting Game after Diana hexes a person. And you'd think "Oh, so after Diana puts them in a distressing situation, the thieves push the victim's buttons even further in order for them to enact the summon" but like THEY DONT? AT ALL??????? there's only been one episode where they'd tried to do that. So half of their screentime is just stalking the gang + victim while quipping and waiting for Something to Happen. Banal stuff..... This leads me to Points #2 and #3......

Like. you guys know im a kodomomuke/tokusatsu fan. I've seen my fair share of silly goon characters and i love it. but like. These Guys Aren't Funny. Each one pretty much One Joke at their disposal they re-run constantly (Mint is a Doronjo-archetype. Aoijisho is Fat, Sage is a Creepy Old Man) plus the running gag that they are of course, #BrokeAsShit. Unlike common goon squads, they don't really have like, a team dynamic? (Everyone's seen like, Pokemon. Team Rocket has a well-known and loved team dynamic + their willingness to do Anything to get Pikachu constantly puts them in fun situations) So these moments where theyre together quipping at each other dont really hit? at all?

3 is related to #1 in that.They're Grown Adults with no powers up aganist Actual Kids with jewelpets (who cant really be used for like. magicial offenses/defenses) so when the jewel arrives, We Can't Do Anything. Because like, shoving aside a little girl to get their jewels is obviously NG. They literally show up when the jewel appears, go "hand me that fucking jewel before it turns into a puppy" and the girls go "no lol", and then they leave (via a gag or acceptance) when the jewel is turned into a jewelpet. I think this bit would honestly improve if say they had a way to turn Jewelpets back into jewels somehow so there's still Value in capturing a awakened jewelpet so they don't give up so easily. because what's the Point Then.

Overall it just feels weird placing these guys in a non-combat MG because their sections outside of 1-2 episodes always feel out of place with how anticlimactic the encounter tends to be?

I thought the moonstone episode was nice and wondered Why and realized because we didn't Bloat the episode with these losers. With Episode 17 supposedly kicking them out of Diana's graces, I really hope Diana gets a new human partner around the same age as Rinko and friends because that's always a really fun trope and bound to be more interesting than these guys. Ugh.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i think you’re right about how the industry works and the order this stuff happens but my money’s on you being wrong that this isn’t what happened in production in e6. like my bet is that studio*-mandated script rewrites happened after they had already bought/made the sets and the props and scheduled the cast to shoot. idk if that was weeks before filming this episode or just days but it was short enough notice that they had to build a new e6 plot around the materials they already had for the original e6 plot. like they had all this stuff planned for a wedding party, then they were told they can’t do a wedding, but they already had all the stuff to film a party, so the plot of the episode becomes about how theyre throwing a party for no real reason.

the biggest reason i feel like the studio fucked something up for the ofmd team really late in the game is bc pacing and story wise the episode is just kind of a mess. scenes transition awkwardly and end abruptly. i just rewatched some of the party scene and the camera cuts from stede and ed standing around near the crew to the first shot of izzy walking out in drag, and then cuts back to ed and stede and they’re in completely different spots on the deck. and in general the fact that samba and vico have told us about the original plan for this episode specifically, one of the objectively messiest episodes in the season, and it feels like those plotlined weren’t really like… replaced by anything?? the polycule plotline specifically feels like it was scrapped really late in the game bc i feel like if the writers had more forewarning they would’ve come up with something for those actors to do that would’ve given them more focus. ESPECIALLY when it comes to jim, they were the goddamn tertiary protagonist last season and then they didn’t rlly do much of anything this season! WHERE WAS THE JIM EPISODE

and you’re right, changes like that are unprofessional and unfair to the cast and crew. which i think is why samba said this was apparently one of the hardest episodes to shoot. everyone was probably stressed and frustrated and the vibes were probably pretty tense on set and shit was probably changing constantly as they worked out what the hell the new plot was supposed to be. and then on top of all that, the actors are supposed to be pretending they’re at a party having fun. i’m not an actor but i imagine switching back and forth between getting direction from a very stressed-out fernando frías and an equally stressed out david jenkins while the script is still cooling on the rack and the storyline you thought you were gonna act out got canned, and then pretending to be drunk at a party celebrating a made-up holiday sounds pretty fucking hard.

*ALSO studio management changed at some point last year after the merger with warner brothers, idk where s2 production was at when that happened but i could see that playing a role in throwing a wrench in things

actually super curious about samba specifying that calypso's birthday was one of the hardest episodes to shoot, when it doesn't really seem like it would be, compared to the intensity of the rain scene in red flags, underwater scene in the innkeeper, fight scenes in the finale, etc. it's mostly one location and isn't very demanding of the majority of the cast, like even when the crew are being tortured they're mostly just chilling in one position.

obviously samba himself isn't present for most of the more strenuous scenes in the other episodes i mentioned, but it sounded like he was speaking more generally about the shooting process as a whole rather than his personal experience, which makes me wonder if there were a lot of reshoots for that episode maybe? we know a lot changed since the original plan but this has me contemplating how late the changes were and if the episode was still being altered during the actual filming process which may have made it more arduous (especially considering how tired certain cast members look in the bts of that ep...)

idk maybe i'm talking out of my arse here and maybe i'm just living in hope that some of the original plot points were indeed filmed and we'll get to see (or more likely hear about) them someday it just seems odd to me

[park-jimin-isnt-real]

OKAY IT'S SKZ TIME JAY!!!!

I love them so much. You've got Bang Chan and his seven insane children.

Bang Chan/Chris Bang: leader. Born in Seoul but raised in Sydney, Australia. In skz itself, he's a vocalist and composer/producer, but he's also part of 3racha, a rap/production team he was in predebut with Changbin and Jisung. Songs for Chan...god, he's amazing in all of them. I can't pick one. Lol.

Lee Know (Lee Minho): Dance leader. Pretends he has zero heart but actually is all heart. Devoted cat dad to his babies soonie, doongie, and dori. Lino actually used to be a backup dancer for BTS during Fire era! Case 143 is their newest title track and he's got some really beautiful parts in it.

Changbin (Seo Changbin): the definition of "looks like he could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll." Man is buff as hell and basically lives at the gym, but he's a squishy little aegyo king. He was called the "dark rapper" but idk man. He's the cutest little bean. He's also in 3racha. His song Streetlight is really underrated but gives you a really good sense of his skills.

Hyunjin (Hwang Hyunjin): a dancer and rapper, Hyunjin's dance style reminds me a lot of Jimin. Check out his Play With Fire dance cover, it's amazing. Hyunjin is possibly the most dramatic little shit on the planet, but we wouldn't have him any other way. He's also an incredible painter.

Han (Han Jisung): Han was born in Korea but spent a lot of time in Malaysia as a kid, and his English is excellent. He's a brilliant writer and does a lot of the lyrical work with 3racha. Wish You Back is an incredible song he did that's said to be based off the anime You Name. He's been open about his mental health struggles and had to take some time off in 2019 due to severe social anxiety, but he's doing a lot better these days. He's an introvert and a nerd and I love him.

Felix (Felix Lee/Lee Yongbok): Our sunshine! Felix is also Australian, born and raised in Sydney to Korean parents. He's very sweet and sensitive (usually the first to cry during ending ments 🥺) and his voice WILL throw you for a loop. It doesn't match his face at all. 😂 If you watch God's Menu, you'll know what I mean. A rapper and our resident tiktok king, Lix is always trying to cheer up Stay.

Seungmin (Kim Seungmin): You want sass? Seungmin has the sass for you. He loves the guys, but if there's an opening to roast, he'll be the first one to jump in - especially Chan. 😂😂😂 Seungmin is the lead vocalist and has the voice of an angel - watch the cover of Love Song by IU that he did on Kingdom with BtoB's Eunkwang and ateez's Jongho!

I.n (Yang Jeongin): our maknae, our baby, the love of everyone's life. Innie has maknae privilege oozing out of every pore in his body and he makes full use of it. He's probably the least outwardly affectionate of the guys and is constantly trying to fight off their attempts at skinship - especially Han and Felix. He really does love them though. For a good giggle, watch his song Maknae on Top that he did with Chan and Changbin.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2HLJ87twWI2G7OkCCQfOI6Dr-02JBbMN

This playlist is for Song Camp: Howl in Harmony, which is a 6-episode miniseries skz did where they worked on their unit songs for their Noeasy album. You can see a lot of their interactions here which is nice. For incredible group performances, I recommend their cover of Pray (I'll Be Your Man) from Kingdom as well as their song Wolfgang. The Kingdom performance of that is incredible, but I recommend watching another one as well or instead as Hyunjin couldn't participate in Kingdom and having him missing really does suck.

Okay novel over but seriously I will yell about these men anytime 😅

😬 oh no

imma bout to feel real bad making them not good guys in eot 😬😬😬

OH MY GOD THEYRE ADORABLE

So many of them have such squishy cheeks oh my word I wanna squishhhhh

Felix is the one with the super deep voice right? At the beginning of Maniac?

Upon initial impressions I think Lino is the cutest, but that may change over time and as I see them perform and with different hairstyles and colors

THIS IS AMAZING BABE THANK YOU SO MUCH 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[helmarok]

team rocket headcanons … sock em to me

yeas okay 🥰

ive said this like 50 million bajillion times but james is full of tgirl swag as a nonbinary/genderfluid woman

she's amab, and went on hrt for a little over a year between late OS and early hoenn. she decided to stop cuz at that point she was comfortable with her changes, especially her voice. though still her voice is fairly low and she doesnt exactly conform to the norm of what a woman looks like, her relationship with her gender is something only she can really understand and she loves who she is

the first person she came out to was jessie- while when she was a little LITTLE kid before she knew about identity technically it was nanny and popop cuz she would constantly ask to wear dresses and "pretend to be a girl" (🥚) BUT during the bike gang days (runaway daze) jessie was who she first told about how she felt. later in OS then theyre in gay love james comes out again which at this point in time james has had nearly all of themself beat out of them by you know who. kidnapped from sunnytown a year later they were basically converted back to "normal". though knowing this was wrong, it still stuck with james that those years of questioning when they were a teen was just a phase, and repressed as much dysphoria as possible. anyways on with the point i made a comic about this that is kinda ugly at this point but its about how james comes to terms with the fact that theyre not male

WHY DID I WRITE ACTUAL LORE I MEANT TO WRITE QUICK LITTLE HEADCANONS

anyways um. back in runaway daze jessie dated tyra and james was with chopper, who are the two cool bike guy and girl from that episode... tell me they werent in gay love i dare you

jessie and cassidy are exes (DUH) and cassidy was the most serious relationship shes ever been in. cassidy picked her up from the worst month of jessie's life when she failed nursing school and practically lived in alleyways

jessie's first pokemon was a starmie that she found washed up injured on the beach and nursed back to health as a child. its kinda and unexpected first pokemon for jess but its just a nod towards her weird bizarre "i was a ninja girl" bullshit story where she had one

james' last name is morgante, her parents' names being giorgio and eliza. her stupid italian dad owns a billionaire tech company called morgantech, he is basically pokemon bill gates

meowth is jewish

in journeys meowth ends up adopting a galarian meowth born in a wet cardboard box all alone. it tells him its name is scrimblo, and he takes it in as his own son with every disease. scrimblo has stunted growth and is stuck kitten sized for eternity, with a tail completely unaffected by the stunted growth so its just a giant bushy tail on a little rat creature

in sun and moon jessie and james got married, and mareanie got to be included in her own little veil and getting to stand at the altar too and give james a poison kissy

more sun and moon things, they have a pickup truck jessie named "the milf mobile" that is kinda run down. james found it overgrown in the woods and took it to the treehouse, then repaired it with their magical engineering skills. they regularly drove ash where he needed to be or straight up just took him on drives where he sat in the bed of it

after journeys the trio quit and go back home to alola, where they work on opening a place called "mama ki's malasada cafe" instead of just a food truck. the trio and twerps also work on expanding their treehouse for jaime, as well as expanding it for the pokemon they brought with them from HQ

over time their little treehouse area becomes a bit of a wild pokemon center- injured wild pokemon would come over to receive help, and word would get around in wild pokemon communities that its the place to be. a few pokemon jessie bandaged later and the whole place is a zoo

meowth always wanted to be a dad, but cant have eggs of his own despite being afab. he quickly grows attached to baby pokemon and pokemon eggs, and even has a soft spot for human babies. THATS WHY IM A MEOWTH GETS TO BE A DAD TRUTHER AND HE GETS SCRIMBLO

ive seen some headcanons around this and while realistically it makes sense the trio would all be like... i guess normal people drinking? but here here here i. how do i explain that theres this certain bit of lore in my canon where human people have the blood type of pokemon types rather than A or B or whatever... what im saying here is james is a poison type. this means they can digest and take in an absurd amount of toxins with no effect to their body. now what does this have to do with anything you ask... one way the trio would get quick cash was make insanely high bets at bars for drinking contests, and bets on james winning, completely unfair because james can drink an amount of alcohol that would kill a man and her body just thinks its yummy juice. so theyd pit james against some tough guy and have them drink, only for james' opponent to lose cuz of the unfair advantage. so, jessie and meowth grab their unfair bet money and go blow it on a mecha

on the blood types thing also, jessie is fire. she is very warm to cuddle like fever level warm. she has fangs duh and also claws cuz im a monsterfucker but im just gonna excuse my behavior with worldbuilding

growlie has severe trauma due to obvious reasons having seen the things done to his best friend, so when meeting jessie he sees a similar face and cant clearly enough tell the very visible difference between her and jessebelle. it took him a while to get used to her- if she so much as layed a hand on james to get their attention, growlie would start barking and push himself between the two

sorry for this sentence but harley is jessie and james' twinkish sugar daddy

james grew up in the south and has a southern accent that theyve managed to for the most part get out of their system. but its not that easy and when theh get angry or yell at all everyone can hear it. they get made fun of a lot for that

jessie uses honey shampoo, which is part of why stufful clung to her hair besides the scent of mama ki.

jess is also the malasada queen and thats one of her favorite treats. she loves snacking and chewing is a huge stim for her. her favorite food is anything with either honey or soy sauce. shes also obsessed with fried rice

meowth is the team's adult i guess i should say, even though jessie and james are adults meowth is the one whos maturity is that of an adult. he helps them through most problems and helps them with things like driving. it was actually meowth (a cat) who taught james (a human) to drive

I KNOW THATS A LOT I HAVE SO MUCH MORE BUT HERE YOU GO