#theyre so so different in season one than present time and you can watch it Change

[pixiecaps]

if anyone ever tells u u can skip the first ordem season theyre lying and the devil

[brainewrought]

When CollegeHumor made dropout it was a different pitch entirely. They said, hey, we have this new subscription service where you can catch longer form content that we are starting to make (I think the only show directly taken from stuff they'd already posted on youtube was Um, Actually and breaking news, so mostly all new stuff we'd never seen) and we're launching a cool actual play dnd. They were going to keep posting their short form sketches on youtube and eventually post a few of the Um, Actuallys and Breaking Newses on youtube but just later and not all of them. But it was clear that Dropout was extra not the only way to watch collegehumor.

I don't remember if the backlash was really all that different honestly because I was a much more casual fan of them at the time but from my understanding, they never presented Dropout as the new home of CollegeHumor content, it was the new stuff. And after their parent company gave up on them and Sam Reisch took over as CEO, that was when it kind of had to become the new home because they no longer had money to produce anything for just youtube but Dimension 20 had popped off by then so they made it.

It also doesn't help that Watcher is built upon the backs of about 3 (now 4, with Andrew's return) personalities. The scale is smaller, there can only be so many shows and so much growth because there's only three of them. Dropout was built around a much bigger cast and supported by a large pilot season the first year it existed. There were a bunch of new shows to try that had never existed on youtube so it didn't feel like a takeaway it felt like a new thing that you could pay for if you wanted. I was never under the impression that watcher was taking down their old stuff and frankly I think anyone who was maybe needs to breathe a little deeper next time, but that still doesnt mean putting continuations of those beloved series behind a paywall isn't still a bad idea and taking something from loyal fans.

My takeaway from when I saw the dropout release trailer vs the watcher.tv release trailer is that Dropout was presented as a pseudo patreon, a we wanna make longer shit but we can't do that on youtube so come support us here if you can. Watcher.TV was presented as the equivalent of "you like this? Well, you gotta pay for it now, and remember how we have a patreon? Well we dont, so we're not gonna mention it at all in our launch"

I think if Watcher hadn't hyped it up as much and if they had either not had a patreon or expressed that this would essentially become their new patreon, everything would have gone over better. It also doesnt help that the economic climate of now vs 2018 (?) is very different, not to mention the average viewership I think did skew ever so slightly older for CollegeHumor than Watcher's ever has. (NOT A TON, I THINK JUST A LITTLE BIT LIKE 15-30 VS 18-30, RELAX)

All in all, I think with their apology they've handled their mistake pretty well and I think posting all their content a month later instead of just like, maybe older series that people already know and love, is a generous offer and probably one theyre making as a peace offering. Even dropout doesn't do that. But if they want to survive long term as a company, they need to hire or at least feature more on-camera personalities to lessen the load because they're gonna need a lot more content.

Can I ask and this is a genuine question like I just want to understand, why do people take issue with watcher using their own platform for their content but as far as I know no one really takes issue with dropout and college humour employing the same model?

They're both channels that are really popular on here so hoping someone has an answer.

[yuukei-yikes]

Is kagepro an anime? I wanna get into the series but I don’t know where to start (and honestly all i know about it is the stuff that you post, shout out to that white hair malewife and black hair girlboss you always post about)

GOD OK UM SO kagepro is really one of those things that are. just messy.

this is my pinned, so i’m putting it under read more!

What is kagerou project, should i get into it, how do i get into it?........... let me tell you about it!

originally? it started as vocaloid series, as in a story told thrusongs, then it had a manga adaptation, anime and novels. they all vary a lil bit with consistency tho tell the same story. and that is because… each media represents a “route” the characters go through. yep. it’s a “time reset” kinda story! kagepro its what i like to call a clump story. just a bunch of stories put together. u take longer delving into each character's backstory rather than the actual main plot ig?? like, knowing everyone's backgrounds Builds the present story. it is difficult to explain 1 thing without explaining another and so on..

if you want to start somewhere I recommend listening to the songs in order, many have very cool music videos also the songs are VERY VERY GOOD.

the manga i recommend up until volume 4 chapter 18. after that it gets TOO confusing because it goes into a route thats only explored in this adaptation, while its kinda important if u REALLY wanna jump into the world of kagepro, it is VERY VERY confusing at first, like a LOT happens and differs significantly from the regular routes(and as an old fan i really was not into it that much but that’s aside the point) but the manga in the first 4 volumes at least puts the beginning more in perspective

and only then id recommend watching the anime cuz without all this the anime is VERY confusing lol the novels are good but theyre wholeass BOOKS yknow. there are 8 so it is not beginner friendly if u rly dont wanna tap into it lol even some seasoned fans haven't read them. that’s my casual kagepro fan guide. but.....

but if in the end u rly become interested and u end up reading them... hey, ur here already, and i know i told u not to finish the manga but if u just read 8 light novels i guess ur ok with reading 9 more volumes of manga!!!! and then... i’d watch the anime? because the anime, believe it or not, as shitty and as ugly as it is... possesses the GOOD ending. and bc u read 8 novels, 13 manga volumes and listened to like 5 song albums, u can watch and actually know what’s going on and u are very happy at the end bc after ALL THAT u get to see the good ending.

BY THE WAY AS FOR THE PLOT... as i said, a clump story. kagerou project isn't only difficult to understand when it comes to all its different medias, the story ITSELF is as convoluted as it comes! hurray! but the basics is, shintaro kisaragi is a shut in ever since his hs best friend ayano tateyama committed suicide. he goes out for the first time in 2 years and runs into some funny quirky people who might've been involved in ayano's life, who in return was involved in fun quirky sci-fi shit about..wow? superpowers?! maybe her suicide wasnt driven by depression but by....(SPOILER CUT)? or was it? join shintaros man angst as he learns about everything ayano left behind! you'll cry! its a REALLY sad story! with lovely characters such as:

kido kano and seto! ayano's little siblings! kido is the leader. of what? good question! kano is gay and hates shintaros guts. seto? he has jobs and better things to do. he likes dogs.

momo! shintaros little sister! she is.. a famous idol?! and... DEPRESSED?!

mary! token cute character who is...relevant to the plot!? and even...A PLOT POINT!?!

hibiya! a 12 year old who ended up here for some reason! also equally as important depending on the route, his best friend hiyori! dont worry about it. 

konoha! we dont know who this guy is. well. we do. but thats a spoiler so dont tell!!!!

and of course our lovely deuteragonist, ene!! the funny little AI living in shintaros phone who TOTALLY didnt use to be human and has a sob story of her own and totally isnt related to the mystery of konohas existence. kagepro!! call now!! ITS AWFUL IN HERE!

[mrbingley]

i am so exhausted of all the d20 non-main-cast seasons and tbqh not at all interested in any different-dm seasons either.

i understand d20 is an anthology series and they can do whatever they want with the show. so maybe this is just me having strong preferences i need to reckon with. that said, here i go:

i was able to tolerate the in between non-main-cast seasons (edit: tolerate is too harsh a word, most of the non-main-cast seasons ive enjoyed!) because i knew the next season would be the main cast with our main dm. but now there’s no such certainty. having season after season being a different assortment of non-main-cast players is not at all appealing to me. and if im honest, i kind of feel used. like d20 lured me in--here is our amazing dm and here are our players with great chemistry and humor--and once they knew i was a loyal watcher went “now we can hold you hostage and throw any ol’ ttrpg at you with any players and we know you’ll watch it” (except, look! an occasional main-cast member is apart of it, look at this carrot on a stick don’t you want to keep following!).

i understand d20 is very aware of its power as a platform and likes to use its platform to give others a voice (edit: which is a good thing that i support and enjoy) but i don’t think this is the way. or, what i mean to say is, i think theyve done too much.

all of these non-main-cast seasons and back to back non-main-dm seasons (seems like that’s going to be the case for these next couple seasons) feel like, if, say, after a couple seasons into the mcelroy’s dnd podcast they did several seasons without the mcelroys (or, hey, maybe one is in it!). that’s how bizarre it feels to me. we were presented with a cast and a dm and a formula that slapped and then they broke the mold. and i have no super strong attachments to all these other people. i don’t know how to better explain it. it’s like, in the pursuit of giving a voice to others, d20 has lost its founding voice?

maybe it all comes down to the fact that im not interested in watching different people play and i need to simply deal with it.

but i think a better formula would be a consistent pattern. a main-cast season then a non-main cast season. or if theyre going to do more non-main cast than they are main-cast then making a pattern for that so we know what to expect. because right now it feels so inconsistent. like they built a stage and wrote a good play with a good cast but now theyre just passing the mic around to everyone performing a different script each time.

[thisisamerlinonlyevent]

the biggest reason i havent posted anything here is that whenever i think abt the merlin characters n what not is an modern au, where they work in a place kinda like supergirl? like an undercover organization that deals with supernatural/magic cases n what not. it has several branches, and the one that uther supervises and that arthur, gwen, morgana, the knights, gaius and others work at is more a hands on deck, action packed situation where they deal with cases that need physical force or neutralization n shit like that. they used to be able to just murder any magic being without question (kinda like how cops handle black ppl in america, yknow, no questions just shoot), but now theyre advised against it, much to uther’s chagrin. even tho he is the boss and this branch is the original, this is a democracy so. he also has to abide certain rules.

this change kinda happened because of merlin, because him n uther have met even before merlin n arthur did. but more on that later.

in present times, where the universe is at, merlin is very antisocial n kinda serious. he’s 26 or up, so think season 5. he’s very strange and off-putting (hehe reference), and arthur actively hates him, while the others dont rly feel that strongly abt merlin but still keep their distance. other ppl also dont like merlin because he is barely there but still gets jobs and gets paid. everyone else needs to hand in reports and attend meetings, go to classes if necessary, go rest while others can go n work. merlin doesnt do any of that, may or may not do a job uther assigns him, and if he does do a job he doesnt stay a minute longer. arthur seems merlin as this guy who thinks he’s better than everyone just because he’s a warlock and very powerful, blah blah blah. in fact, when he refers to merlin as he coworker, merlin denies it and says he doesnt work with arthur, or anyone in uther’s branch. it angers him to no end.

merlin’s files of his work and past in the branch are also very sealed tight, no matter how good elyan is at hacking. he tells them it must be magic as well, tho he knows tech magic isn’t merlin’s thing so someone else must be protecting him. it only makes merlin look more suspicious.

everything comes to light one day when gwen overhears merlin n uther screaming at each other in uther’s office and quickly gets arthur. the first thing they hear when the squad enters the scene is merlin screaming at uther’s face “if you even so much as speak to them, speak about them, or even think about them, i will skin you alive myself, no magic involved” very disturbing, very uuuhhhh where’s the context yknow, so while arthur joins in on the screaming because thats his father getting yelled at while the others watch with different levels of amusement (max amusement being morgana, least amusement being gwen) a lot of things become clear

1) merlin doesnt, in fact, work there. uther tells arthur himself that merlin is under no contract, no obligation to show up at any jobs. merlin sometimes does because of certain debts and other personal matter concerning the old branch where he used to work at, that is more about helping and nurturing troubled magic users, a lot of them coming from uther’s cases (it’s all very organized n shit). uther shows that he respects merlin a lot actually, which leaves arthur very confused, until...

2) merlin is the reason why magic beings aren’t killed anymore in uther’s branch because he was able to summon Ygraine’s spirit, with the help of his old boss. after getting absolutely wrecked emotionally n also getting a lecture from ygraine for how uther is treating magic beings, uther gets to work on making it all better, because that is his wife and also she may haunt him if he doesnt do as she please. summoning a spirit did take a lot of energy from merlin, seeing as he did this several times for uther to re manage the branch like his wife may want to. uther feels indebted to him in this way. merlin offers to summon arthurs mother as well if he wishes to, despite the costs. now it leaves the rest of the context to get to...

3) merlin has adopted 3 girls with unusual magical abilities, that he befriended when they were 8/9 and he was 16. because of certain conditions, he had to let them in the care of uther’s organization, before they were separated. he put them exclusively under his uncle’s care, gaius, while he had a lot of things to work through himself and was a danger to them, this at the age of 18. around 20/21, merlin is much better (also uther’s organization starts to separate) and can afford his own apartment for him and the girls to all live in, and from then on (because this kinda job pays very well) cared for them and paid their livings expenses as if they were his own daughters, even tho the age diff is more like siblings. uther is interested in having them working for him cuz theyre all very smart, talented, and powerful, all personally trained by merlin himself. merlin does not want that. none of the girls want it either, they’d probably want to kill uther, because...

4) at the start, when merlin first came under uther’s “care”, he got experimented on, for around 3 months. after knowing this, Alice, the future boss of merlin, the boss of the first branch that separated form uther to help magic beings instead of killing them, took merlin under her care. from then on out, she became his therapist, from 18 to 26 and onwards. they’re great friends and he keeps trying to get her n gaius together but they refuse (merlin doesnt know that they have in fact met before n have had a relationship but it fell off cuz gaius was uther’s friend and alice could never like that). so now that they know what the context what about, the unbridled hatred merlin has for uther, uther’s weird but respectful views of merlin and merlin’s position in the branch, now they all have one last question. what the fuck does merlin do then, if his job is not on the branch? well...

5) he’s a teacher. do you know mildred hubble? yh he teaches that class. yeah. he’s suffering. he also teaches some other girls but thats more of part time classes for them because they have other shit to do, like school. this is baffling to everybody because what the fuck. your main job is an elementary magic teacher, n your side hustle is... an undercover organization not influenced by the government?? what???

so yh this universe is just pure crack, very self-indulgent n shit, as per usual

[constellaj]

16

Please talk more about your reboot!

16: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

okay so how i would re-do CANON is completely different from how i would talk abt a reboot so im gonna touch on a couple things in both contexts! the reason for the difference is canon rewrites imply i can go back in time and introduce dp fresh and new, before anyone knows what it is; but for a reboot, id be working with an audience that has a better understanding of the source material, so i dont need to spend as much time explaining, but i also need to keep everything recognizable

Valerie

REWRITE: i would def make it more danny's fault that her dad lost his job, like danny was intentionally being reckless and shattered some security stuff, and he has a whole mini lesson about learning to not just run in guns blazing. i would probably remove the dating stuff with her and danny (and tuckers crush) too, I think them wanting to be good friends is good enough for freshman year

REBOOT: the fandom already knows valerie exists, so i would actually skip the whole shades-of-gray introductory episode and have her be present as the huntress from day 1-- probably even before danny got his powers. cujo is also HER dog, and her backstory-- we'd find out in like, season 1, that a natural ghost portal (maybe one wulf opened) ripped open on her dog and killed him, and since then shes had a vendetta against ghosts cause of how reckless they are and their disregard for life-- of course, cujo isnt actually dead. cujo is a halfa. a puby halfa. anyway instead of a hoverboard she actually rides cujo around cause he can fly and its big and epic. valerie has BEEN amity parks ghost-eradicating superhero for at least a year (tho shes been in the shadows abt it) and her hatred towards danny actually just becomes really petty, like them flying next to each other chasing skulker just going "I got this. no I got this. no I got this" and they just get in each others' way and its a mutual grudge.

BOTH: i am NOT keeping in vlad giving her the suit to watch danny under any circumstances. it was only utilized half assedly in canon (when vlad couldve just had an invisible duplicate watching him instead) anyway, and I dont have any reason to keep it in a reboot either. instead i want her tech to be a combination of half-stolen and half-gerryrigged stuff and she slowly slowly learns how to build her own.

I also dont want anyone knowing her secret identity, except maybe her dad, and sam or tucker. i think it works better if danny isnt privy to this magic info

Freakshow

REWRITE: i would honestly just remove him. the episodes hes in arent particularly interesting, theyre just generic "we need a plot about x" filler and he's not compelling enough a character (at least in writing) to carry a better plot that another antagonist couldnt. i'm serious

REBOOT: unfortunately in a reboot he's gonna have to pop up somewhere or else ppl will be like "where IS HE" so I'm going to stick with running some kind of ghost circus, maybe a few occult things, but cut out a lot of the spooky magical knowledge and mcguffin stuff. maybe i could make him like, someone from vlad/jack/maddies college who always felt pushed around by them and so he has a vendetta? and theyd be the only reason he even learned abt ghosts in the first place. idk in either way I want to force him into being irredeemable but also include LYDIA (the tattoo girl ghost) way more-- I want to give her an arc that ends in her tossing freakshow aside and running off to be a ghost vigilante.

BOTH: dear god the infinity gauntlet is stupid that needs to GO AWAY. especially for the reboot cause it would exist in a post-mcu world and way too many people would complain about it

Vlad

REWRITE: amp him up to a far more sinister and villainous character. the crushing on maddie isnt enough, I want to show him on-screen performing experiments on ghosts and himself, dismissing everyone else cause he thinks hes smarter than them. i want him to be actively sabotaging the fentons at every turn. i would also clarify that he doesnt actually want danny as a son, but as a trophy-- a line where danny says something along the lines of "you don't want a son. you want a slave". i want to make him a character who wants to destroy the entire planet and put it in the ghost zone so he can be the true ghost king and i want to make this all evident from day one. if i'm writing a series villain you can bet i'm going to write a GOOD one. less petty drama here and more actual stakes.

REBOOT: it seems silly but sense with reboot we have the benefit of hindsight and recognizing that vlad wasn't a big series villain, theres no way i'd actually go back and write him to be such. for starters, of course, theres the fact that anything he does would really be an exaggerated part of the original, and it would bore an audience to see the same story again-- theres also the fact that it doesnt seem right to take a character who was treated as a joke half the time and suddenly make them big and important. no, instead for my reboot i want to lean into the petty gay uncle vibe. he had a crush on jack and now just casually insults him. he moves mansions every now and again by just haunting the family who lives in the one he wants, and taking over-- i mean, who is gonna believe that an actual ghost haunted you. he dislikes danny not because he has some concept of 'evil' and 'good' but bc danny is just too damn active. of course he actually does care about danny and his safety deep down, it's just on the surface they have very conflicting motivations-- not to mention that danny has been raised on legends from his parents of the villainous Wisconsin Ghost, who has to be stopped at all costs.

BOTH: i want jack and maddie to KNOW he's a half ghost and to actively be hunting him down for it, maybe bc they think hes possessed, or been a ghost tricking them this whole time, or the victim of a tragic lab accident who needs to be put to rest, etc. whatever the case it will give vlad actual tangible reason to despise them and genuinely suspect they dont have dannys best interests at heart. i think it would be neat if vlad was cynical and every time danny hit him with the "I'll expose us both. at least theyll still love ME" vlad could be like in the back of his head "oh god theyre going to kill this child"

Dani

REWRITE: cut her out. we don't need her character at all. maybe replace her with a more ominous shadow duplicate / clone that actually looks like danny himself and doesnt really have a name? you could probably combine her and dark dans characters for their arcs

REBOOT: instead of a clone from vlad, she's a guys in white creation using some of dannys dna after he was captured (and vlad broke him out bc he was like "ugh i guess i have to save this child")

BOTH: vlad actually cares abt her (duh), shes nonbinary (double duh), she gets the funny dissolve into goo powers

i had more i thought i was gonna write but this post is already very long and also im running out of coherency for this LUL

[inosukeslefttoe]

SO i just finished wonder egg priority and i think that with confidence i can say it has been one of my favorite animes like... ever ?? and not even from hyperfixation or obsession over it just... its so fucking real yet so simple in a way that i havent rlly seen shown in any other shows you feel ??

but first i wanna talk about how sexy the art and animation is real quick... HOMIE ITS SO GOOD LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT JUST... serotonin... the characters are all so unique and iconic and fun but not over the top in their designs yknow ??? they seem like regular every day girls but they stand out and theyre all sO CUTE !!!! also i love how the style is like this soft bubbly slice of life lookin stuff with bright happy colors and the most beautiful scenes you could find but they also have the SICKEST fight scenes complete with whimsical animal helpers and terrifying villains and crazy weapons unique to each character. and the animation. god DAMN shawty i am obsessed with everything in this show. i might make a post solely about the art later lol bc i wanna get into the other stuff.

so the themes in the show right ?? it starts just as this cute lil magical girl kinda deal but within the first episode we see that like.. oh damn... thats kinda heavy... tbh i was a little shocked and thought about stopping bc yknow bad mental health BUT i was so intrigued that i had to keep going and i am SO GLAD that i did. because this show just so beautifully discusses all these heavy topics in such an eloquent and artistically expressive way. and also like, , the juxtaposition of the charming childlike vibe with bright colors and 14 yr old girl protagonists against the dark themes of suicide and so much else,, i think is just perfect. bc a lot of heavy animes are more of the seinen genre and have some middle aged dude as a protag or make the entire color palette dim or offer little relief to the pain of these heavy themes right ?? but NO not wonder egg bitches B) because these problems arent just things that ppl face later in life or just problems that need to be talked about among adults or the edgy seinen watching squad,, these are REAL problems that face people of every age, gender etc and i think its awesome that wonder egg addresses that. some may cringe at the thought of their high schooler watching animes that discuss sexual harassment, suicide, abuse, self harm, eating disorders etc,, but in reality it is the most comforting thing i have ever come across and is basically jsut free anime therapy. because not only does wonder egg present these themes to the viewers as something real that happens to all kinds of people (making said people feel heard in a way that maybe they hadnt before), but it also makes sure to vanquish all of these forms of trauma. and the way the trauma is vanquished isnt always beautiful and it isnt always just magically gone with a poof. the struggles of overcoming or living with that sort of thing are shown in such a real and relatable way that addresses every hardship trauma survivors have to go through. and i just. god i cry bro. 

oh m y GOD and the lgbtq+ rep in this show ?? like shawty... as soon as i saw episode one i was picking up on some gay/lesbian themes but then again im sapphic and project that a lot so i tend to see that sort of stuff like... everywhere... but NE WAYS... episode ten made me FUKCING CRY BRO LIke i cant believe there was a whole trans character with a whole trans pride hoodie like LKGHKDGH my heart is just so.. so fucking full thinking about him. bc like yeah i know there are trans characters in anime but i feel like theyre always very ambiguous about actually being trans or not or erased or portrayed as a harmful stereotype or theyre constantly misgendered and still refered to as their assigned gender at birth and i hate it. HOWEVEr... Kaoru.. *chefs kiss* it was so amazing to see a character straight up say “yeah im trans” in such a casual yet powerful way bc i personally have never seen that before. and i love love loved how he went into his backstory and talked to momoe about gender bc i think thats what she rlly needed and that it helped her find herself and it makes me so happy oh my god,, and the way they talked about it never seemed forced or like it was the focal point of his existence yknow ?? like yeah he existed to help momoe overcome some of her trauma but he also just existed to be HIM yknow ?? also... personally, i headcanon momoe as a trans girl even though i dont remember it being explicitly stated plus the school scenes of her and stuff would seem like they suggest otherwise ??but,,, SHAWTY THE AMOUNT OF SUBTEXT and her complicated relationship w gender is... something i feel like a cis girl would not go through so harshly yknow ?? with all of the questioning and feeling detached from femininity or feeling like ppl dont see her as an actual girl and only like her as a guy or for her masculine traits,,, but dont take my word on this bc i myself am a cis girl but that was just my take on it as someone in the lgbtq+ community trying to educate myself on the transgender community :) either way,, wonder eggs portrayal of momoe and kaoru and the way that momoe becomes so passionate about expressing herself the way she wants to as a girl is just... good lord im gonna cry its so perfect,,,.so ... i just love this show way too much. i also am honestly super lost about the relationship btwn acca and ura-acca ?? bc i was gonna mention ura-acca as a canonically gay guy bc when i was watching i interpreted ep 11 as him being in love with acca and being jealous of Azusa (bc i mean,, they lived together (i swear to god there was only one bed in that apartment) and had a daughter together and def loved each other and also when Frill said they were husbands and then when ura-acca said he wasnt attracted to azusa but he was def jealous of their relationship ??) but then i saw somewhere that theyre brothers ?? which would make sense ig since they look kinda similar and accas daughter called ura-acca “uncle”.. but at the same time its ANIME SO THEY ALL LOOK SIMILAR and referring to gay couples as siblings is an EXTREMELY common euphemism soooo... IM JUST LOST HERE... but yeah i tried doing research and found different things so i cant say anything for sure >:( however,,, if they are canonically a lil fruity for each other... when frill refered to acca as ura-accas husband i imploded dude you never hear that sort of wording in anime.. but if theyre related i am so sorry. 

god this is so much longer than i planned it to be oops but i also love the theme about like.. relying on friends to help carry your weight but at the same time not becoming completely dependent on those friends and using their support to learn how to love yourself and rely on yourself yknow ?? bc that is exactly what healthy friendships look like. bc i think ai sort of had a codependency thing goin on with koito maybe ?? but now she has a whole squad of funky friends that are so so different but all struggle with different kinds of trauma and although they fight over it, they always get through it with each other together. and they push each other no matter what to be the best versions of themselves and they teach other that getting hurt is okay because theyre always gonna be there to pick up the pieces no matter what happens. they can give each other space when they need and adapt to meet each others needs but theyre always able to balance it out with their own needs and thats such a beautiful thing in friendships especially at their age like damn i wish i had that maturity when i was 14 but no all i had was depression. another thing is that through these friendships you get to see all the different sides of each girl; you get to see them being strong or a shining light to their friends when theyre hurting but you also get to see them being hurt and weak and allowing themselves to be on the receiving end of the comfort. their friendships allows them to have weaknesses but it also allows them to highlight their strengths and thrive off of each others. I LOVE FRIENDSHIP DUDE

next i wanna briefly mention some of the themes connected to suicide that ive noticed. a big one is the survivors guilt that ai feels once koito is dead. several times she screams that she wishes she couldve gone with koito and she dreams of a “perfect world” where they committed a double suicide. one of the main reasons for her troubles is that she blames herself for koitos death and feels like it should be her thats dead... but at the same time she feels like too much of a coward to do anything now that koito is gone. she just has all these complex and contradicting feelings that wear away at her in ways that ppl that havent gone through the suicide of a loved one could never imagine. a lot of the times when things like this are portrayed in media i feel like its more in a way thats meant to guilt trip those that have taken their own lives and paint suicide as this selfish sin thats unforgivable but... not only does wonder egg reject that idea and instead portray it as a heartbreaking tragedy with,,, so so many terrible reasons, but it focuses on the feelings of ai separate from koito without blaming her in any way. not once did i feel like the show antagonized koito or that ai blamed koito for doing any of this, but they simply mourned her loss and touched on ais reaction towards the event but separate from koito herself if that makes sense. and i think that discussing survivors guilt without painting koito as the bad guy is something so beautifully done in wonder egg that can really resonate with those that have lost a loved one to suicide and have struggled with these same things.

okay i think this is the last thing ill mention,,, but HOMIE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE BIT AT THE END. I AM. OBSESSED. i am such a whore for anything about the multiverse okay n e ways...,, not only did this make a super epic trippy ending of season one and add a little bit more magical girl whimsy to the show,, but it had such a powerful message. from the perspective of og ai,, finding out that you killed yourself in another world is... i mean its definitely not a surprise but at the same time it rlly makes you think how close og ai herself couldve been to that point and what decisions led her out of that dark place in her life. if i were in her shoes i would be terrified and id cry bc the thought of going back to such a dark place and actually going through with something like that is my worst fear and probably something that ai fears too. but at the same time,,, think from the perspective of ai two !!! like yeah its true that theres this awful terrible version of ai that dies but theres also a whole version of ai that is a superhero magical girl fighting off monsters to save countless ppls lives !! and she has a badass lizard and a gang of awesome friends !!! at first i was worried that ai two would be jealous of og ai and compare herself to her and feel inferior but like.. THEYRE LITERALLY THE SAME PERSON AND CAPABLE OF THE SAME THINGS !!! and ai two realized that !! just within the span of one episode, she went from the version of ai who took her life,, to the version of ai jumping in front of a friend to take a bullet for them and save their life. and that just inspired THE SHIT OUT OF ME. i think that ai was sent another version of herself to sort of beat her own worst enemy yknow ?? those doubts and fears that shes no good or that shes that same bystander from episode one and that she hasnt changed at all. but getting to interact with her parallel self and see her grow was just what she needed to realize that while yeah sometimes the worst thing can happen and things can be terrible but on the other hand sometimes the most wonderful thing imaginable can happen because she has the power to do either. 

so im gonna go ahead and stop rambling bc i got all my thoughts out that i wanted to for this post :D but yeah lol i might make another if i feel like it sometime. long story short: this show is perfect and it is going on my favorite of all times.

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom, season 3 episodes 3-6 thoughts!

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-johnny was actually pretty civil with danny and left when he asked! thats nice. also, SKULKER?? HAD A FRAMED PICTURE OF EMBER?? oooo fuck wait had they established they were a Thing Before?? I dont think so. thats weird. its like that country boy/goth girl meme lmfao. I think i am going to choose to ignore this new info and pretend I didnt hear it. 100% unrelated to the jazz/ember fanart I already drew and posted....😳

-LADIES NIGHT EPISODE THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT. wish it didnt really center around the guys or them being pissed at them, but. willing to bet this was written by men lol

-THEY ERASED ALL THE MEN??? meanwhile, jack and danny are fishing at. silent hill or something. im glad jack is trying to read a parenting book and making an Attempt. (theyre at lake erie, but, they made it actually eerie...thats fun)

-the girls alt outfits...cute. EMBER MADE A NEW SONG TOO!!! kinda. jazz being one of the backup singers and being AWFUL. NOOOO

-'how are we going to get kitty to blow a kiss?' 'she'll have to think there are still some males in town!' ...i dont know how to break it to you, but I dont know that a 100% het girl would wish for all men to Begone. I think. I mean im not a het or a girl so I dont really know for sure. she Is probably Bi tho. esp having the other ladies in town chanting NO MEN!!! excitedly............(then again, the kiss is to get Rid of men, so, she probably would have blown it at the ladies only if they were actively trying to attack/stop them, so...I MEAN. THE DRESSING LIKE DANNY BIT WAS SO EXTRA)

-I feel like an all female cast ep couldve been way way way way cooler than that was. like. why was it still somehow all about Men. ...anyway. (where was valerie...)

-next ep opens with the observants, and, way way more of them than I expected...existed? I mean I guess them being a council/jury of some kind is what I expected from their first appearance (bc at that time they were basically TELLING clockwork to kill danny, not asking,, so I figured they had SOME kind of authority) but. there were so many. anyway, here goes vlad! letting his own hubris go brrrr. releasing a weather ghost for political gain! #justvladthings

-okay say what you will about him (he IS an asshole) but having an umbrella with his own face on it and more prepared to share is SUPER FUNNY. and him being fanned by huge wads of money by his bodyguards. SO ineffective but so Dramatic. He UNDERSTANDS that if youre rich you need to be. you know. obnoxious and kinda eccentric about it! fuckign hate when rich people are boring about it. I would trust vlad with nothing except to not be a boring rich asshole who wears...fucking khaki or some shit. man knows his Presentation Skills. and that 'V' chair in his mayoral office. is that fucking embroidered?

-maddie get your MAN PLEEEEASSSE. IM SO EMBARRASSED FOR HER. the way jack stays simping for this man. in FRONT OF HIS WIFE!!!! ...my god its like a love triangle. jack clearly loves vlad, who loves maddie, who loves jack. jack fenton is at the very least bi, right................. this is an OBSESSION . 'THE V MAN COMETH'???? i...my god. (also, on a serious note, to have a friend THIS SUPPORTIVE...and still be SUCH A DICK TO HIM (TRYING TO KILL HIM AND STEAL HIS WIFE??) NOT COOL VLAD. JACK IS YOUR 1 AND /ONLY/ HYPE MAN. if someone loved and supported me THIS HARD...LIKE. CMON DUDE.

-STOMP the fucking GAS, JACK

-this would make a great shirt design, looks like a metal band design! we love The Maelstrom

-oh, so vlad did in fact get a mansion in amity park. and its purple! good color choice! not as flashy as a CASTLE or MURDER CABIN, but still pretty eccentric, which I appreciate.

-...vlad knows the difference between picasso and da vinci? in the ep last post where we were watching him fail at conquering every historical time ever he didnt seem to know history well enough to like. be effective...was vlad taking art history at college?? (was he an art MAJOR??? we never DID KNOW WHAT HE WENT TO SCHOOL FOR. I kinda assumed business because in the masters of time ep he was still rich without ghost powers so he had to have..known something about business or something, right...but also, art and or theater FITS HIS PERSONALITY. possibly also something science-y, I guess, but I always felt like he got roped into that, esp how pessimistic he was about the ghost portal in the flashbacks to college, like, i felt like he was just there for maddie and was uninterested/un-invested at the time...)

-THIS GHOST JUST ELECTROCUTED MADDIE (THE CAT) BITCH!! THATS MY FAVORITE MADDIE!!! vlad going after vortex and being ~shocked~ .....WHEN. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN. THAT YOUR ACTIONS. HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!

-the way this random man with a camera sees the mayor laying in an alley covered in TRASH AND DECIDES TO TAKE A PICTURE HAHAH

*snap* this ones going in my cringe compilation!

-vlad 'if we're going to defeat vortex, we're going to have to do it together!' *immediately dips after dropping danny off in front of vortex* JKASDFHKJHJKN

-DANNY CAN DUPLICATE!!! ...he couldnt even attack with it, but he DID IT!!! INTO (4) OF HIMSELF!!! SO PROUD!!!!!!!!!!

-'THE ROLLER COASTER EMOTIONS OF A TEENAGER THREATEN MY PLANS!' ...0 self awareness of his own dramatic moodiness. incredible, how dumb this man is. its very close to circling around to endearing, if he was less of an asshole. at least its very very funny to see danny shooting him with tiny lightning bolts anytime he's even slightly irritated! vlad you should be nice to danny anyway. this is what you GET

-...making sandwiches and ice cream and playing video games with your nephew is a totally normal thing. WHY is vlad acting like this is the end of the world. if you were a GOOD UNCLE YOU WOULD ALREADY BE DOING THESE THINGS!!! bitch I make my nephew food all the time and dont forget what he does and doesnt like. if u didnt know danny didnt want tomatoes, thats on u. if u, a grown adult, are gonna piss of the 14 yr old by not letting him win, u deserve to have to pay for the arcade machines he ruins because he now has uncontrollable storm powers because YOU THREW HIM INTO A FIGHT WITH THE STORM GHOST. fuck u vlad. paypal me $400,000 while ur at it tho. (also, gamer vlad confirmed)

-VLAD CAN COOK THOUGH???! I assumed he had...people working for him that did that. I mean. billionaires usually dont do that. then again, we've only seen those vultures working for him (and I guess the dairy king was AT his old mansion, but it was never really clarified if he worked there...I think he probably just Hung Out and they Enjoyed Cheeses Together. thats what I think, I dont think a KING would be working for anyone and also the dairy king was nice <3) but then again he would be a private person and we cant have anyone accidentally finding Ghostly Things, so...still, that's hilarious. pour one out for that really cute banana split that got ruined 2 seconds later

-vlad just fucking picking danny up and THROWING HIM AT VORTEX TWICE WITHIN LIKE A MINUTE. JUST ABSOLUTELY LAUNCHING HIM. BITCH THATS MY SON BE CAREFUL!!! HES GOT ORGANS AND THINGS!!!!

-danny seeing those animal commercials and feeling sad is the biggest 2000s throwback so far. i legitimately had to change the channel or walk out of the room when those came on bc id CRY AND BE SAD ABOUT THEM FOR DAYS AFTER. fuck those commercials and fuck that IN THE ARMMMS OF AN ANGELLLL song 😭

-'vlads ego almost got the town destroyed!' yes danny thats the entire episode. the entire series anytime vlad shows up honestly. this episode was just him being really embarrassing the entire time, and, me laughing about it. 10/10 would laugh at him again

-NEXT EP WE HAVE A SHAPESHIFTING GHOST?? I've said it before but shapeshifting is the power I would want when asked those 'what superpower do you want' questions...its the Best power! this guy looks like a homestuck character. ive never read homestuck but thats the vibe

-I love every time we see tuckers family, they are by far the most functional family. and dash has a lil chihuahua!!! named pookie!!! i am crying (I've had 3 chihuahuas, so I am very biased, but...) AND HE WATCHES THE ROMANCE CHANNEL WITH POOKIE. POOKIE I WILL DIE FOR YOU YOU SWEET LITTLE BABY.

-danny can lift a bus! I shouldn't be surprised, but i am proud of my son. hes got lil kid fans. i am going to cry about this

-JAZZ KEEPS A SCRAPBOOK WITH DANNY'S LIL HEROICS AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS!!! we've actually seen it on her floor before, but I didnt realize it was a scrapbook!! thats sooo cute.

-...and danny has to stand there listening to his parents saying danny phantom sucks and is a 'filthy ghost' and calling him egotistical...i am once again stealing their kids!

-THIS GHOST RIPPING JAZZ'S SCRAPBOOK!!! ILL KILL YOU. SHE WORKED HARD ON THAT!!! BITCH

-yes, maddie, the one with red eyes is For Sure Actually Your Son. ignore the, red eyes... (CLEARLY she hasnt watched the other 2 eps where danny has been evil, she doesnt know red eyes= evil!!!)

-'billy fenton'.......................

-danny being stuck as phantom in his own house, no way out is a fucking NIGHTMARE. his parents pointing giant weapons against him and SHOOTING AT HIM. THIS IS A HORROR MOVIE.

-NINE INCH NAILS POSTER.

-this is the most screenshot of all time

-amorpho turning into mr. lancer because hes 'someone no one will want to be around' BUT HES WRONG, I WOULD BEFRIEND AND HANG OUT WITH MR LANCER SO FAST.

-tucker dressing as danny, now I have the full Tucker set of him being sam and also being danny. also saying 'the ghost...uh...RIPPED MY FACE OFF.' and then running. SMOOTH. NOT AT ALL CONCERNING TO ANY PARENTS.

-sam accepts the toast from jack. and then 2 seconds later is like 'why am i eating this.' THIS SHOWS HUMOR IS SO UNEXPECTED SOMETIMES ITS REALLY GOOD. and then the scene after, mr lancer running into his ghost doppelganger and being like 'YOURE GORGOUS' THEN FAINTING. I AM CRYING. AND DASH FAINTING TOO.

-sam disguising herself as danny again to help tucker run from the fentons. but leaving him shirtless in the streets. incredible. 'plEASE DOnt NOTice MY FACELessNESS I MUST LIVE IN EXILE' this episode is destroying me the humor in this show is exactly my brand of corny and cheesy

-the impromtu story made up by danny and amorpho to explain stuff to the fentons. my god they are both such bad liars. but amorpho is a good egg. wish danny wouldnt have said he didnt wanna see him in town again!! I want him to be reoccurring. not that thats gonna matter since I'm almost done with the series, but the idea of this being the Only Time We See him is :(

-NEXT EP SAYS STARRING MARK HAMILL??????!!! hello ! mr . joker....mr. star wars.... I feel like I should be. idk. taking off a hat im not wearing in respect. I shouldnt be surprised tho bc hes in a lot of cartoons as a very good voice actor, and dp has already had a lot of talented ones so I've been looking out for ones I might know, but....mr. hamill....

-sam has her own greenhouse, names all the plants, and says thank you to them (in the languages from where the plants are from) whenever she harvests from them. thats SO cute. and her lil gothy lunch box...

-and danny's lil red fuzzy lined jacket!!! ive said it before but every time the characters get alt outfits im like :D

-danny has ice powers now!!! THATS WHAT FROSTBITE MEANT. HE KNEW SOMEHOW WAY BACK THEN

-THIS SHOW NEVER LETS YOU FORGET VLAD IS A BILLIONAIRE, HUH.

-danny's lil 'holy hibiscus!' first off the 50s batman swearing is hilarious. 2nd. my username is from the flower sanchoyo hibiscus, so, shoutout to ME this ep. hi :)

-EURGH UNDERGROWTH MAKING EVERYONE PLANT ZOMBIES. HIVEMIND PLOTS SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ME. and this dude made the city SO overtaken so quickly like how long was danny asleep?? oh god

-evil fucked up sam! now the whole trio has gone evil at some point! the voice actress did a really, really good job with making her sound like a zombie...

-frostbite's paws are so so so big compared to danny. oh my god. i want to hug the snow dog...

-the far frozen has an advanced medical stuff!!! very cool. very smart snow dogs

-im so glad danny has a friendly ghost snow dad to explain this new power and teach him!!! this is so sweet. DANNY'S GHOST SENSE WAS A PART OF HIS ICE POWER?? OOOH. COOL. we love a training montage!!!

-danny saying if he cant defeat overgrowth, that he'd want to stay with frostbite...oh my god...do you think this is the first real supportive adult figure in his life (I am NOT counting his parents because they threaten him on the daily even if they dont realize it.) I mean mr lancer is a Teacher, but he was also nice but this is different, but this is a GHOST WHO IS WILLING TO HELP HIM with his powers and also will help him when hes injured and is so so nice and comparatively so much more mature than 90% of the adults in this show!!!! god. dad frostbite is my everything.

-the framing and lighting this episode, and all the angles...they went all OUT and it looks really really good. this is my nightmare scenario, tho. like, FUCK zombies and dead city zones and hivemind shit. and using the humans as 'nutrients for the children' i am going to THROW UP.

-MALEFICENT VIBES WITH THE HORNS AND GREEN EYES! this costume kicks so much ass. sam is now mark hamills daughter, I guess.

-danny's ice powers making his eyes blue!!! thats neat. and him going for the roots underground was SO SMART. i will not stand for danny ever thinking hes stupid, hes SO smart.

almost done with the show... :"( thats a sad thought!!!

[horde-princess]

can i ask a question? this season really made me dislike glimmer (s4). why is she so sympathetic to people? she just seemed to be a really bad friend to bow and adora and that really frustrates me bc theyre there to support her more than anything else, esp with her mom gone. i recently rewatched the beginning and honestly bow and adora are trying to be even better friends to glimmer and she consistently lashes out and is power hungry and cruel to them. why is she still sympathetic?

man i like how you’re open-minded trying to get other perspectives about it 😌 i think like everyone in she-ra, glimmer is a pretty polarizing character. she has complex motivations that don’t always present her in a good light. on one hand i agree glimmer WAS lashing out and being a bad friend and especially for adora fans i can see why her actions last season would turn people off. but i still sympathize with her because i appreciate how she is influenced by her trauma. “sympathize” is a mild word tbh, i freaking LOVE glimmer, and it’s precisely because she’s a little unhinged, she doesn’t always do the right thing.. i want more female characters like her!! 

it’s the same with catra, right? people only dislike catra when they are unable to sympathize with her trauma. except in comparison, glimmer’s trauma is sort of glossed over, harder to see unless youre really looking for it. so lets talk about it bc i think appreciating glimmer’s perspective is crucial to understanding the story as whole.

glimmer was raised by the leaders of a global rebellion.. she knows how terrible war is on a very personal level since she lost her father to it when she was little, which is very different from adora’s trauma. she watched her mother grow tired and discouraged, and she’s been so angry for so long, because she believed that she had a responsibility to make a difference in the world but she was too young to really help (like damn remember when we thought glimmer was just an annoying rebellious teenager?). then the war takes her mother away, too. now an orphan, she inherits angella’s duty to keep the world safe, right when they’re on the brink of a catastrophic invasion.

i think the war with the horde is a more urgent threat in glimmer’s eyes than it is in adora’s. adora has a broader vision to protect the universe whereas glimmer is thinking pragmatically about something thats more immediate and tangible, and thats one of the reasons they butt heads this season.

another thing is, when glimmer inherits the throne she carries over this trauma from childhood where she felt powerless against the horde. finally, finally, she is the one in charge, she gets the chance to make a real difference and stop the horde once and for all… but then adora is there, even more overprotective than usual, acting like she’s entitled to call the shots just because she’s she-ra? glimmer has been waiting her whole life for this, to fulfill what she must believe is her destiny–how dare someone try to take that away from her? so this is another point where adora and glimmer’s respective traumas kind of clash and they have a hard time navigating that even though they love each other very much.

and then.. oh man. ive talked about this before but glimmer faces the same thing shadow weaver did all those years ago…. light spinner saw the horde was winning the war and chose to mess with dark magic in an attempt to win. it was about gaining power over her enemies. glimmer finds herself in a similar position where she thinks her only option to defeat her enemy is to use dangerous magic. when you take her trauma into account, her moral struggle makes a LOT of sense. we can understand it better contrasted with other characters–adora had a much different experience with the war and her and bow didn’t experience the loss of a loved one, so making moral decisions about the war comes easier to them. thats what i think prevented glimmer from respecting their point of view. glimmer is willing to cross lines because of everything she has gone through, and unlike her friends she thinks it’s worth it as long as the ends justify the means. this misguided thinking was reinforced by shadow weaver who glimmer never actually trusted, but still the connection sw had to her parents made her vulnerable to her manipulation. 

all of this is what makes glimmer and adora’s conflict in season 4 so engrossing and highlights Noelle’s genius storytelling, because BOTH of them are trying to do what they think is right, but they view things differently bc of their different experiences. its not that glimmer is power hungry or cruel just for the sake of it you know? she still has good intentions and thats what changes my perception of her character.

i also wanna say that i’m not JUSTIFYING glimmer in any way. one of my professors had this great catch phrase, he used to say “context doesn’t justify, but it matters.” i think we can hold glimmer accountable for her actions and still appreciate the context. lets not simply write her off as a likeable/unlikeable character, but instead consider she’s a complex character who’s doing her best and loves her friends even though she has a variety of motivations and personal struggles. ultimately, glimmer does realize her mistake and attempts to fix it, admitting “adora was right.” i think itll be super satisfying next season to see her learn and grow from that. like how boring would it be if glimmer was a nice happy 1D character who never struggled with anything??? 

[demonicintegrity]

KIPO S3 ANALYSIS

Under a read more for length and potential spoilers/theories

you’ve been warned

- Multiple mutes with the TimberCats in the first(?) HMUFA meeting. I see the cats, umlat snakes, ratland rats, and fitness raccoons.

- I’m assuming being friends with Kipo encouraged them to be here, but I wonder if they knew that coming here would involve talking about what Emilia is doing

- Scarlemange is still wearing his get up

- He also got out! Only to be captured again. I wonder if he escaped because he wanted to deal with Emilia himself or if he just wanted to be out of naught monkey jail.

- We Wolf use this rope like weapon either, so either this is Wolf capturing him (likely motivated by Kipo in some way) or this is a new character that will teach Wolf how to use this weapon. I don’t think we’ve seen her use ropes for anything other than traps before. Stalky and those fight sticks were blundering weapons.

-Return of the dragonflies!

- Now did Dave convince them to help (since he speaks dragonfly) or did a frog lend them? If it’s a frog it could be Jamack since he knows his way around them, or it could be a mod frog.

-Also, Kipo and Wolf look some degree of pissed with determination. I’m not use to seeing Kipo be outright mad like this.

- When I was curious of seeing if we’d see more mutes like Dave, I didn’t mean it like this.

- The concept of multiple Daves, all be immortal/immune to dying by age is not only fuckin something, but it could also mean they have the key of filling in the history we’re not aware of.

- I wonder if they were an underground society just Vibin all this time and the only reason Dave’s not with them is because he got bored and curious.

- J A M A C K

-Would you believe me when I said I didn’t notice Jamack the first two times I watched this? because I didn’t. I was focused on the hummingbomber and the whole zoomed out frame is shown only briefly.

- Also??? Jamack pressing his hands against Kipo’s through the glass??? GOD that’s such an emotional move, wanting to touch Kipo because it’s been heavily implied that was never a thing in mod frog society on the whole “no friends” basis. He really has grown and learned to be in touch with emotions ;-;

-The fact that Emilia and her crew were able to capture multiple different mutes in what we can assume is in a short time after the coronation is startling. She had a plan and it’s being executed well. She also has a lot more humans working with/for her which can’t be well.

-There’s an empty cage, next to said hummingbomber.

-Jamack was traveling with TheOtters, Rad confirmed this. I don’t like that we don’t know where they besides that Jamack was with them and combined with fact that theres the empty cage...

 ... and combined with the fact that we see what could be a mega mute otter beside Jamack. It could be a beaver or groundhog since the coloring appears to be a bit different, but seeing the empty cage doesn’t sit well.

- Idk if Emilia would make a mega mute. She enjoyed having Song in her control because such a large creature is useful in a fight, so she easily couldve tried to make a mega mute she could control or it was an accidental side effect of trying to take away the sentience of an otter. Depending on where we are when this scene happens, Emilia could be still working out the kinks in the “cure”

- There also other figures sitting on top of the dog, BeakBeak, and otter/beaver/groundhog, so this is likely one of many coordinated attacks on Emilia. And Jamack seems to be leading it!!! and that makes me so happy cuz 1) it means he’s finally working alongside Kipo now and 2) he’s pushing down his fear of mega bunnies to help!! Go Jamack!

- Rad,,,, please,,,,, give us Jamack content,,,,we’re starving,,,,

- S O N G

-Now there’s debate on if this is a flashback or not. It shouldn’t be because she turned into a Mega Monkey right after Lio was escaping with Kipo and Lio has the clover patch of the burrow he raised Kipo in.

-But it makes me wonder where did Song get those clothes then??? Because correct me if im wrong, but those look really similar/the same as the clothes we see in the flashbacks??? And i get Kipo kept her clothes after coming back from being a Mega Jaguar because y e a this is a PG show but if Song came back wouldn’t they give her new clothes??? idk idk maybe im not suspending my belief where I should.

-Maybe it’s in the dreamscape?? Mullohand is with her, and he can make people “dream” together like Dave and Benson did if I recall correctly.

Other thoughts w/o screenshots:

- we see a scene where humans attack the Timbercats home and I do NOT feel well about it. Scooter Skunks were present there too so Idk if theyre helping Kipo or Emilia is forcing them to be on her side.

- Emilia and her gang are fuckin armed to the nines. Not only crossbows, but darts filled with chemicals, and fire and a boat!? Not only does this woman not care that she’s going to kill a child but she does not care about collateral damage.

- Overall, it’s a much more serious and intense feel. Just about every scene implies danger which is such a turn from the first two seasons where there was danger, but Kipo and Co were trying to enjoy themselves to a degree.

- Still holding out on seeing Jamack in different clothes/ at least ditching the tie as he hopefully gets over the Mod Frogs. I don’t think he’s gonna return to them, even if Sartori is out of the picture and especially since Kwat and Harris are also gone. Please, where is Jamack’s reaction to their deaths????

- Speaking of, how the hell are the Mod Frogs doing now that Ms. Sartori is dead? Is there a new leader and are they gonna help/be on screen at all?

-I keep rewatching and I know there are so many things im missing but I’m still just REELING from it all holy s h i t. There’s a LOT going on for being 1:30min teaser.

- Someone pointed out Emilia is in formal wear a couple of scenes, and she is, which makes me wonder if she’s making a celebration of this whole thing. And if she is, does that mean she feels she’s the one that should be celebrated for “curing” the mutes and putting them in their place?? If so, that’s a pretty fucked parallel to how Scarlemange was putting humans in their place and how he wanted to be celebrated for it.

-Bruh I’m hyped because this season is gonna be one huge curveball and rollercoaster of emotion i just know it.

- Im also v scared about how Rad is gonna rip out our hearts this time. First it was Wolf’s backstory, then Hugo’s backstory, then gilding the mod frogs, this show is brutal and i am in f e a r.

[dumbdancemomssideblog]

S1E1: The Competition Begins

okie dokie first ever episode of dance moms rewatch starts now :0 i actually remember watching this the very first time it aired on lifetime because i was channel surfing and saw a commercial for it earlier that day. that was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. ah memories... i didnt know what to expect because i did dance when i was a kid but not on a competition team and it was mostly ballet so i was pretty unfamiliar with this whole world. 

anyway lets begin. this is probably gonna be a longer post than what i’ll end up writing for the other episodes in season 1 bc the first episode introduces so much info, just a heads up

Act 1: (aside: yes its insufferable to divide this into “acts” when its really just like “segments separated by commercial breaks” but thats how they’re called in actual tv scripts so im just going with that cuz i cant think of a better/easier way uwu)

god this is so fucking early 2010s lmao

i miss these days where they were just talented nobodies from pittsburgh on a low budget reality tv show that nobody even knew would be successful. and the bad hair and makeup but idk if that was also just a 2011 thing lol

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES GREEN SCREEN INTROS IM DYING

the chalkboard !!!! they werent doing the pyramid on the mirror yet 

(apparently abby never did anything similar to the pyramid thing but the producers made her and it became a whole Thing on the show and thats why the moms were like wtf is this bullshit the first week)

mackenzie looks like a toddler. chloe is so tiny. theyre the 2 who changed the most physically over the course of the show

i remember watching this for the first time being used to ballet lyrical and jazz but never having done or really seen acro/gymnastics in dance choreo and being SO flabbergasted. i was thinking “a chin stand is not dancing what the actual hell” and yknow what? i was right

melissa: “my boyfriend knows how much i spend on dance because he signs the checks...............hermehhemrherrmehermh” (the most awkward laugh omg)

maddie is wearing a fucking bumpit in her hair i cannot

melissa deadass just said out loud “im here for my daughter im not here to make friends” ok everybody mark that one off on your catty women’s reality tv show bingo card!

camera man accidentally getting in the shot filming right in front of the huge wall-mirror.... what is this, amateur hour? i’ll let it slide since its the first day of filming rehearsal but step it up, boys

aw i forgot about maddie getting sick and crying :/ poor kid

melissa saying “i cant stand a chid that’s sick” sounds so edited like the intonation made it seem to me like they just cut her off mid-sentence i love lifetime

oh this was still when they were wearing normal stuff to class/rehearsal like black leotards bc they werent getting sent a trillion crazy 2-piece dancewear outfits for free yet bc they werent famous, man those were the days

Act 2:

[obligatory b-roll footage of downtown pittsburgh] 

the maddie chloe paige trio !!!! this is making me feel so nostalgic

“knees together, paige. you’re bow-legged, you need to fix that”

“you’re tall, you’re skinny, you’re a beautiful girl, you can do better than this. FOCUS” shes like 10 abby what the hell

“people think im tough and i guess i am but i would rather be the one to make your kid cry in the privacy of my studio than at an open-call audition in front of hundreds of people”

okay unpopular opinion alert: i agree with a lot of what abby says about stuff like this but her delivery is flawed, to but it euphemistically, that being said i think the production team of the show and the fame inflating her ego changed all of this somewhere over the course of the second season and its really sad to see :/ i can expand on that thought later tho

aw paige crying bc abby correcting her (but not saying anything personal or out of line, just technique corrections (at based on what we were shown, we dont know everything she said oop)) shes a sensitive kid she never should have been put on this show :( 

paige looks exactly like her mom i didnt realize that before

nia and holly were done so dirty throughout the whole series in terms of the narrative the producers set up about nia being the weakest link :/ 

Act 3:

cathy’s entire involvement in the show from the very beginning was so painfully obviously scripted (or at least heavily staged) 

vivi was also done dirty by the show’s narrative and she was only 6 and they presented her as like the butt of the joke bc her mom’s “character” was crazy and also she wasnt good at dance. i wonder how she feels about the show now that shes a teenager hmm. she really seemed not to give a fuck about dance for better or for worse when she was a kid tho so maybe she doesnt care ?

in what universe would an owner of another competitive dance studio bring her own kid to another studio more than an hour’s drive away, AND be under the impression that she could compete with them in a week, especially when they showed the kids’ and moms’ shocked reaction at the start of the episode to having to learn a dance in a week and compete it? like really what is the point of cathy and vivi being a part of this show im so ????

Act 4: 

THE MINISTER DAWN OUTBURST HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS

this fight is about 50% of what got them a full season 1 and then things took off from there tbh. the other 50% was the electricity dance but thats a point for next episode..... :)

“you’re a minister act like one” “YOU’RE RIGHT I AM A MINISTER! LET’S PLAY THE BIBLE GAME ABBY, WHEN JESUS SAW THINGS THAT WERE WRONG HE WENT AFTER THEM, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO THIS TO MY KID” ma’am i think the wrongs jesus addressed were of slightly more importance than a preteen being told she cant take a dance class if shes violating the studio’s dress code

this is so good bc it wasnt staged afaik and there are regular students all throughout the building just STARING at them like lmao what even is going on, so im pretty sure this is real???

regardless, yeah dont wear socks and a tshirt to an acrobatics class, thats common fucking sense

another cameraman-in-mirror sighting, but its hard to think about angles when filming spontaneous drama like this, so i wont count it against them

“you called me fat” (i remember that being in the episode but thats not on the episode available through lifetime on demand that im watching from my moms tv hmmmmmm) “i told you to close and tuck in your two-piece costume, theres a big difference. HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER THAT BUT YOU CAN’T REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR FEET OUT” uh scream

she really called the police on this woman i cannot handle this. can you imagine being a police officer responding to this call? 

“we have a parent thats out of control. pardon? no shes doesnt have weapons, just her mouth” iconic

im sorry im still not over the hair and makeup. the flat hair with the side bangs. the black pencil eyeliner applied all the way around the eye. why did any of us think this was a look :( why did we do this :(

Act 5:

they went all the way to phoenix to compete 3 numbers, only 2 of which are shown in the episode.

i think this is the only time they ever went to west coast dance explosion because its an actual competition and they wouldnt allow filming after this lol i think they did go to wcde one weekend in addition to a competition where they were filming but it wasnt shown or mentioned at all

abby not wanting brooke and paige to have a french manicure on stage if theyre the only ones in the group with the french tips is perfectly valid idk why it was framed as some crazy micromanaging shit

i also am really not a fan of the whole “high functioning alcoholic wine mom/crazy stage mom” schtick they were pushing for the first few episodes of this show

in retrospect i feel like so many of the quips in this episode were intentionally fucking crazy just to get the audience engaged enough to want to watch more episodes...

“see those girls down there, those girls with the legs? thats who you’re up against, so step it up”

abby warning them that its dangerous for their little party hats to slip when they’re doing aerials and pirouettes and stuff: “what if you were at radio city music hall and they had the ice rink out and you were doing a side aerial and fell 13 stories down and died, huh?” fantastic point abby thank you for saying that to 5 girls ages 8-12 less than 5 minutes before they went on stage. perfect time for a teaching moment like that :)

i forgot how bad the camera work was in the first few episodes for footage of their performances. like they really didnt think the show’s audience would actually want to watch the kids dance, the producers and editors thought we just wanted to see stage mothers yelling at each other lol

also the mic feed over the music of abby talking to herself giving them corrections while watching them dance on stage.... im so glad they quit doing that. i dont remember them doing it like that for any other episode, i hope im right

this choreo is very basic and its a cute dance i guess but its very cringe in some places and for the first episode this is such a forgettable group routine

their scandalized reaction to placing third and the sad piano music is so funny honestly

and maddies reaction in the interview which was almost definitely fed to her by the producers where shes like “i win all the time i dont really know what its like to LOSE i always win or get runner up” so many of maddies lines from season 1 interviews sound so fake and she was probably too naive to know they were getting her to say that stuff so they could paint her as a conceited brat (she was EIGHT)

the trio costume was so ugly im sorry (is it supposed to be like a 50s pinup bathing suit?) (and the headband thing looks so bad) and also the music is bad but they had no real authority over that bc of copyright stuff

chloe’s headpiece coming forward and the ensuing drama was another moment in the episode that really solidified public interest in the show imho.... 

“YOU’RE IN THE BAR HAVING A DRINK AND YOUR KID’S HEADPIECE IS FALLING OFF” “it did not FALL OFF it CAME FORWARD it was FINE!!!”

“mistakes happen, we’re human.” “YOU are. mistakes like that dont happen to me”

and then the “next time on dance moms” with the WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE electricity dance, of course. genuinely that was really smart of the producers in terms of structuring things to generate intrigue lol. and obviously it ended up working....

[rqs902]

.

yang chaowen is really a sensitive kid... man he brings out renyu's song's feels and then brings up ylq to relate to the lyrics bc he knows his friend isnt getting as much appreciation as himself. (this makes even more sense after ylq said he had been crying before ycw went onstage and ycw was comforting him... and then after ycw came off the stage, it was time for ylq to comfort him from crying TT) Their friendship is really something. But then ycw saying he just gets ripped for getting screentime for crying all the time ouch but i dont get the feeling that hes doing it for attention but maybe im becoming partly biased towards chaowen :) 

Lol the fact that they focus so much on xzx and how hes favored by gjm but feels like it's unfair to be treated uncomfortably by other trainees as a result... all i can say is, what do u expect, of course the other kids will be salty, their lives are on the line and theyre getting nothing close to the attention you are, so unfortunately u cant win everything :(

Lol I see why everyone on twitter is annoyed at gjm... Jackson is literally trying to say something meaningful and mentor-like to su er and gjm literally interrupts with his own opinion.... jackson is like unable to finish his thought. and then when Cheng xiao is actually trying to give ma haowen advice, gjm just goes WELL I DISAGREE, THIS IS RENYU'S FAULT and everyone's like wtffffff???? And then he starts saying people can help Xinhai with his terrible dance (ouch) but renyu didnt help haowen sing and Huang enyu MY CHILD just goes: but dancing and singing are different....... and I'm just smh.... gjm really shouldnt act like he knows everything when hes the only mentor with zero actual relevant experience :( Poor renyu literally looks like hes about to burst into tears, ma haowen looks so sorry and appalled renyu's getting yelled at and none of the other mentors seem to agree with gjm lol 

lets appreciate renyu’s song, its really good!!! 

Lol this whole mentor segment is a mess but man chaowen and renyu won a lotta votesss ayyy

I think xue en seeing hwh as a pro rapper shows him humbling himself, since hes technically a more seasoned and popular idol performer

Cheng xiao fangirling over xue en I mean SAME hahahahahahaha awwwwww yzx being soooo genuinely happy for xue en is the cutest!!! Aw cto friendship and xue en crying :’) actually one thing ive noticed i feel like yzx seems like a genuinely kind and cheerful friend, maybe people are bashing him bc he pushed off some leaderly responsibilities to lin mo in the last round but maybe hes just not someone to take on a strict leader role (looks at aj from afo...) and realized that since lin mo has such experience and is really good at it, it makes sense to respect his experience and skill and let him take on that role. of course its unfortunate that means lin mo worked extra for less recognition, but i think it seems like yzx really respected and admired him so im hopeful what happened wasnt due to mean intentions 

watching chen junhao feeling lost oh man :/ maybe he hadnt fully prepared himself for the idol life when first coming on this show. its unfortunate reality that in this kind of idol survival show, the focus is more on stage presence and face and performance, rather than the music itself. Hopefully he really feels that hes found a path forward through this performance. This is a really real way to present him but I'm sad theres not as much focus on li chenxu when this is hissss song

Man both the self composed songs are really good!! Mann them making this song a dance song is really hard to watch for li chenxu bc its makes it hard for him to shine at his own song which is sad :( also lzx's rap is questionable lol but cjh's vocal part in the middle part is so emotional, I hope he felt like he was able to express himself fully there

Lol does gjm not realize they didnt have a choice to not dance. Lollllll cheng xiao literally said they had too much to do and tried very hard but he didnt listen.

Aww jackson teaching them about team work :') o gosh I have PTSD about jin fan getting classified as a vocal now after uuu..... also not surprised the entire segment was about sxl and even the judging portion lol....

Oof Jin fan's voiceeee I love

Man why does Jin fan always get stuck in not dance songs ><

more appreciation for xu zhaohao vocals pls!!! imo sxl has a poor attitude :/ he doesnt perform calmly under pressure and isnt doing well at making a good atmosphere for practice

LOL why do i feel like lin mo is always saying "song" things hahahah hes really a kid

but mannn yan an just walking into the elevator is so oof

Aw duan xuyu is too nice... but I guess this is the leader in him coming out

Aw yan an immediately encouraging xikan when he lost the center to him

Lolll xikans little “heheh” when he won 

Mannnn ngl even tho yan an leaves the show, I kinda wish he had a bigger role in this perf bc it's literally like his jam.... chinese style influenced dance.... I wish he had at least 1 memorable dance move, like I feel like Luo Joe already had one in the last perf and he has one again here (and hes very talented and he deserves recognition!) but yan an has yet to really show anything and im scared hes gonna just disappear soon :/

They all did so well tho!!! Truly a group of dancers. Really made me want to rewatch the whole thing immediately. altho the beginning I cant unsee the lin mo meme LOL 

and xikan did really well!! His stage presence is real. And hes put effort into his facial expressions

Luo Joe being cute is iconic

Aw yan an cheering on lin mo when revealing his votes!!

Aw I'm surprised 100 ways kids didnt get more votes.... lol ngl i feel like this show is just randomly adding vote bonuses in for random reasons not prespecified for kids they like.... cough gjm yet again

but oo the next ep looks fun hahahha im excited for a happier ep thats not as stressful.

Ycw keeping it real 2020: "im not good at controlling emotions.... i hope if you want to cry or laugh do it loudly, dont care about what other people think"

ok so maybe im liking more new kids than i expected, but i think thats a good thing that the show is making them likable and some kids are able to stand out! honestly i realized I kinda can see why they eliminated so many to begin with. It's sad but also kinda nice tbh (ouch, i know) bc if they really got rid of the ones who have less skill, it makes it easier for the others who dont have to teach from zero (cough lin mo) And then those with skill get to have at least 3(?) stages, unlike qcyn where jin fan got eliminated after only doing 1 silly stage lol The skill level of the stages is also raised, like there's multiple groups of almost all people who are well qualified. im sure the kids are happy that they get to do more stages, im sure that means a lot to them. 

At least on snzm they attempt to give most trainees a positive light and give screentime to more than just the top 10 trainees. and they allow someee time for vocals, dancers and rappers to get appreciation (even tho dancers are still dominating lol)

but yea honestly I disliked the judging on pdc2019 too tho so at least the judges here can be supportive... at times. it is SUPER biased and gjm is very vocal despite his lack of knowledge tho lol 

it's so bad bc I feel like my standards for shows are so low at this point. my standards get lowered with every show I watch. It's like I guess the snzm songs are okay bc I hated the ones on afo more so at least the stages aren't thattt bad lol At least the rules/general setup aren't as terrible as they were on afo..... at least the camera time isnt as biased as it was on qcyn.... sigh the show isnt doing great, and itd be best if the show would help the tygers get more popular, but I guess its prob better than just doing nothing at star master lol. 

qcyn was just painful to watch from "spirit of the knight" onward bc momo literally was buried, mistreated, disrespected and taken advantage of. at least on snzm he gets some screentime and positive recognition.....

tbh i like snzm, maybe thats an unpopular opinion, but at least there have been some really great stages, where the kids really get to shine. at least i can confidently say that bc of snzm, i have met some new kids who i will be sure to follow for new music moving forward :) 

[ladysophiebeckett]

my brief review on what i watched on netflix this xmas season: 

virgin river: i skimmed watched this as in , like, I watched the first episode all the way through and then skipped ahead to different scenes bc it was so slow. it takes forever for this show to get to the point. the main character runs away to the middle of nowhere, north california (fm los angeles) bc of some mysterious trauma they only show in brief flashbacks. did her husband leave her? did he die? was it bc she couldn’t have a baby? did he not want a baby? I dont know. im still not sure. she’s a nurse but the doctor she’s supposed to work for is old and sexist and doesnt let her do her job. and this goes on for like, maybe the whole 10 episode season. the mayor is his ex wife??? i found that out by luck and also she’s super nosy. they keep saying every body knows every body in virgin river, i have to believe it bc only 5 ppl are ever shown. this show sucked 2\10 bc the scenery is nice. 

three days of christmas\dias de navidad: netflix this year is really into foreign language xmas mini series. this one is fm spain. it is three episodes long, about 4 sisters and the different stages of their life. the first episode is really good. an entire family kinda commits murder by not saving this really terrible officer’s and by doing so they save a girl’s life. she becomes the 4th sister by adoption. after that, it becomes kind of...i dont like what happens to these women afterwards. I dont like their idea of sisterhood. it’s not badly acted. i watched it all the way through bc i wanted to know what was gonna happen. if anything that first episode is really good. 7\10 bc a family that commits murder, should stay together. 

home for christmas\Norwegian mini series: six 30 min episodes of a nurse who’s single and made to feel bad by her family bc she’s alone so she lies at a family dinner and says she has boyfriend to bring for xmas dinner. the premise is solid. she goes on dates but theyre all terrible. one guy tells her that her favorite movie ‘love actually’ sucks. another, loses it at an escape room and then causes a fight at xmas party bc she rejected him, another is really into sports and fitness. i expect these things but the series loses me when they have her, a 30 yr old, date a 19 year old for most of these episodes. and then get dumped by him and then have her cry about it. an older female nurse shows interest in her and almost goes down on her on a bus but the show doesn’t let them progress further. they even have the character go a bad spa date with a much older polititian who was her patient, but again it doesnt go further than that bad date (in which she runs into parents--at a nude spa). there is a male doctor who you can tell is interested in her but is shy but they never let that develop either. they only have him tell her his feelings for her at the very end. on top of that she has roomate\’best’ friend who doesn’t respect her privacy, messes with her dating profile, burns all her presents down and somehow at the end gets rewarded with a boyfriend. everybody has somebody by the end except the main character. it ends with the doorbell ringing and her answering the door and then roll credits. absolutley not worth ur time. 1\10. 

holiday secrets\german mini series: this is like spain’s \three days of christmas but also like mamma mia?? bc of a missing dad?? there’s a character fm the past named ‘alma’ which i thought was nice. and also two sisters instead of four. the younger sister is kind of annoying. and that’s all i can tell you bc i feel asleep while watching and i didnt have the energy to try again. 5\10 bc my name is in it and there’s nice beach scenery. 

falling inn love: this isnt a xmas movie as it came out in the early fall i just feel the need to vouch that it is a very good little romcom. christina millian is so charming and the male lead is very good looking. and its very rare for these types of movies to have two attractive leads. 9\10

holly holiday: this is not on netflix, its on hulu. and its misleading. its about a male mannequin  coming to life but he isnt the male lead. it’s some photographer who works with the female lead who is an ad exec. the photographer guy is really annoying hipster dude who thinks he’s knows things. anyway the female lead gets hit in the head and gets rescued by the mannequin and im gonna tell u rn that this plays into the ‘it was all dream’.  she only dreamt the mannequin came to life and instead she was in the hospital with a head injury for 3 days. she ends up with the annoying photographer. the writers of this movie were legit cowards for not letting her fall in love with a mannequin who becomes human via the power of christmas.  0\10. 

the knight before christmas: i wanted to love this. i admire how they allowed things to happen with no explanation. but there were no stakes in this. and its sadly, kinda forgettable. 7\10 bc hudgens is too charming for her own good and i had some good laughs.

the christmas prince: a royal baby--i did watch this and it will be getting its own post. however...for ratings sake...and perhaps i am sentimental but...8\10

the spirit of christmas: if you watched ‘last christmas’ this season , like i did, and you hated it--well the spirit of christmas is for you. it delivers what you need out of the romcom\ghost genre. i watch it every year. 10\10. is that biased? maybe. idc. 

[fart-gate]

SG1

Season 4 episode 2

"THE OTHER SIDE"

Notes by me

- Jack in a leather jacket ❤

- "didnt I order you to get a life?"

- good to know sam and Daniel are so obsessed with their work that they would stay all night. I wish I could find a job I love like that

- "someone trying to contact US , how often does that happen?" Point Daniel

- "the stargate is a portal to our ancestors" you right! Second planet to guess that correctly

- OOF they didnt know they were nice and kept the iris closed and now they have to scrape 3 people off the back with a spatula

- when they finally get in contact with them and they have to apologize for killing 3 of their people like bugs on a windshield

- how is he able to send visual?

- "the first time the descendents pf earth actually called home"

- daniel: I have prepared a 35 minute bullet point presentation explaining why you should give us permission to help them

Hammond: permission granted

Daniel: POINT NUMBER ONE- wait what

- wonder what kind of food they always give ppl whenever they trade with planets. My best guess? Pop tarts

- if I was on an sg team to give ppl food I would give them gummy worms bc I like gummy worms

- OF COURSE they are always looking for new weapons. Who cares about helping ppl! Do they have guns. Typical government

- this Dr lady legit just pushed a make up brush into his neck and hes fine

- Jack and Sam side eyeing each other about the make up brush. Clearly advanced technology they can trade for

- everyone always surprised to see tealc is with them and nice. These are the things that make me think he is the very first jaffa to leave the goauld and fight back

- "hes part of our team"

"....is he?"

- when he flips thru the pics of the people in stasis and its just the same 2 white guys at different angles

- love when Jack doesnt understand science talk he just asks Sam to translate . Sam is the human science for dummies book

- reaaaaallly hoping that aircraft that Jack shot down was unmanned and they werent lying

- brief exposure to the mind things wont hurt Jack at all! Unlike our friend here who has permanent brain damage bc of long exposure. Small comforts

- these mind controlled drones are damaging these people and they dont care at all I'm scared mom come pick me up

- lady: our food is chemicals and yeast

Daniel: I'm eating WHAT

- heavy water! What do they have against light water

- Jack and Daniel having a fight at the dinner table using only casual tones and their eyebrows

- the kid who came in the tell them the enemy breached their defences can breach MY defences hot damn

- "to seek new allies and procur technologies to aid in the defence against the goauld" FINALLY something to describe what their job is. But this is to describe now. What about the first 2 seasons

- Daniel is suspicious and I feel like we should listen to him

- "I was speaking metaphorically"

"Well DONT......its not fair to tealc"

- Jack vs Daniel

- daniels hair looks good in this ep for me specifically

- daniels moral compass is so chaotic

- hes got a point tho??? Hear me out. What if an alien race came to help hitler and they helped him bc they didnt know what the other side was fighting for? That would be horrible. Daniels right. These ppl could be hitler

- hold up Jack and tealc in those mind drone things is a bad idea okay we already established the brain damage thing right??? Hello???

- I WAS RIGHT they lied about them being unmanned!!! U aint getting heavy water now bitch eat me!!!

- oh theyre bad news bears. Who saw that coming raise ur hand 🖐🖐🖐

- now their being super shifty about everything. "He is remembered" WHOS he??? A goauld????

- Daniel asking 1000000 questions and Jack having to close his eyes and ask the stargate gods for patience

- "Daniel......shut up"

- JACK DID NOT JUST SAY THAT MY BOY. HE DID NOT JUST BE MEAN TO HIS ARCHEOLOGIST. IM BOUTA THROW HANDS

- thats it everybody leave the room I want to talk to Jack alone

- omg they dont want tealc around. Racist mother fuckers. Or xenophobic I cant tell which

- Jack grabbing daniels hand to stop him from dialing and daniels eyes shift in every direction like hes watching pin ball

- jack, sobbing: you were right Daniel they are assholes and we cant trust them

Daniel: what made you see sense

Jack: they dont like tealc

- sam almost laying down on the battle plan table like what is she doing???

- jack: what do u thing of alar

Tealc: hes hiding something

Jack: like what

Tealc: fuck if I know???? Do you know what the definition of Hiding is???

- oh are they clones??? Is THAT why they are all generic white people??

- "they come in all shapes and sizes??....and colors???"

RACIST MOTHER FUCKERS OH MY GOD

- alar: black and brown people were all over the face of our world so naturally we had to poison our planet :)

- bc thats the logical conclusion when your a racist fuckin idiot

- sam high kicking people in the face is my sexuality

- tealc crushing alars hand with a smile

- hahaha just fucking blow them up!! Lmfaooo

- this is so funny they are legit just blow them up and leave. No less than what racists deserve 👍

- they closed the iris and that dude tried to follow and we just hear a dull thud. Splattered

- RDAs acting i- its just amazing. Hes like shocked that they just killed thousands of people but also those people deserved it so like???? His emotions are fighting each otherrrrr

- was he looking at tealc when the camera faded out. I would like to think so

[fuckyeahjamieandclaire]

People can scream about how much they love the historical elements until the cows come home, but let’s be real: the true appeal of Outlander is in the romance. The sex. The beautiful people pledging undying, time-bending fidelity to one another. Outlander is many things, but it is a romantic fantasy first and foremost.

What is it about Outlander that makes the show so damn sexy? Part of that is definitely due to the remarkable chemistry of its central stars, Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, but it’s more than that. It is safe to say that the sex on Outlander is different from the sex on most television shows. The female gaze is catered to in a way that shouldn’t feel revolutionary, but it is. It’s not just that Jamie is a mega babe; he’s a mega babe that doesn’t want to make Claire less than herself to please his whims.

...

She has never been a shrinking violet by any stretch of the imagination. Here is a woman who has a healthy libido, someone who embraces her desire in a way that many women on television are not allowed to do. Claire is not presented as an object to be leered at; she is looking to be pleased and to please her partner in return. Is the sex in Outlander idealized? Well, obviously. Jamie is a whiz at oral pretty much right out of the gate, and while it isn’t unheard of, a man who is more concerned with his partner’s orgasm than his own increasingly feels like unicorn behavior. It is a romance, after all. But isn’t that kind of sexually equal footing something aspirational? 

An unfortunate reality in the modern American television landscape is that a female character who enjoys sex is usually portrayed as damaged or unruly, despite this being a natural part of being human. Sexual chemistry has always been a part of Claire and Jamie’s relationship, and that ultimately plays into their unique partnership. These are two people who are not only ready to face the world together, they’re also ready to share their bed. Claire isn’t a less competent woman because she enjoys sex, and Jamie isn’t presented as “whipped” because he enjoys satisfying his wife. It may be a show set in the past, but that kind of outdated sexual dynamic has no place on Outlander.

...

While I’m not wild about how Outlander has downplayed that sexual desire between Claire and Jamie this season — I get it, they’re getting “older,” but they’re still the hottest grandparents of all time so please stop cutting to black — I have faith that the ideals presented by these characters will remain unchanged.

...

However, Outlander manages to handle this issue with thoughtfulness and care in a way that immediately signals that there are multiple women in this writers’ room.

After Jamie’s brutal assault by Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) at the end of Season 1, many fans were curious to see how they handled the aftermath. For a male romantic hero to be assaulted is relatively unheard of, so the show was heading into uncharted territory. However, as horrific as it was to watch, to see Jamie come to terms with what happened was a surprisingly carefully done character arc. As he wrestled with his own traditional notions of what it meant to “be a man” and the shame that comes from being raped, the show gave a clear message to survivors of assault: your assault does not define you and you are not damaged goods.

...

When Jamie hears of his daughter’s assault, he handles it in a stereotypically masculine way — violence and anger. This is decidedly not great. However, how he convinces Brianna that it is not her fault and that there is nothing that she could have done to stop it is spot on. By briefly tricking her with a cartoonishly unkind (and unmeant) response, he helped her see that it wasn’t that she “didn’t fight hard enough, so she must have wanted it,” but that Bonnet could simply physically overpower her in any situation. While it may be a hopeless feeling to know that there’s nothing she could have done to ensure that their interaction had a different outcome, this shifting of blame from the abused to the abuser is an important message.

While it is not a perfect show, Outlander is proof that female sexuality on television doesn’t have to be exploitive. Whether it is protecting the sexual agency of its characters to opening up nuanced and sensitive conversations about assault, Outlander continues to be the gold standard in this regard.