#thinking of all the little nuances they could've added to it in the way their eyes shown or their minute movements

[amber-jinx]

Hi, it’s me again (:

What was your favorite character traits about Rachel Amber?

Hey! Happy to see you and boy what a great question, thank you! Loaded answer ahead; TLDR, see the good in Rachel Amber.

Rachel's many things. Pretty, hot, charming, stylish, not to mention her lovely voice, these physical traits are already a great start for many. Then you have functional traits-- ambidextrous (can I just say that's hella cool, omg I want that too), social genius/people skills, straight As student, drama queen, masked with a layer of mystery, many people would've already fallen for her, in-game and out, me being one of them when I first got to know her as a character (so pretty much those were my fav traits of her).

But if we strip her physical beauty down and shove aside her fascinating skillset, who is she really? We may never know 100%, but some character traits can still be found.

Here are some of my favourite (&underrated) Yangs to Rachel Amber's sides. aka why Rachel Amber should get more love & less hate from the fandom

Ofc there are exceptions, but those are not relevant in this post; assumptions & headcannons are added

1. A good heart

Kindness to me will always be one of the most important character traits to have for anyone. With all that powerhouse of a Rachel Amber can accomplish, she chooses to use them with kindness.

With her social skills she chooses to lift people up, saving Hayden from a quickly-escalating scolding from Mr Keaton in ep 1, asking Chloe in a nuanced way if she's "taking (getting kicked outta Blackwell) this a little too well", kinda guiding her independent thinking rather than directly telling her what's right or wrong. (There'd be constructive criticism between Chloe & Rachel, which I stan in a relationship/friendship.)

With her intelligence she tutors Justin & helped him improve his algebra from an F to a C I believe? That's pretty impressive, ngl

with her ambidexterity.. idk, she makes Chloe happy :> (yes i'm totally referring to doing graffiti with her left hand on Chloe's insistence *cough*)

This is why I'm inclined to believe that tornado was not Rachel's revenge. She'd never choose to put Chloe, her parents, her friends, at risk; if she wanted revenge she could've killed the men w her powers. Sure you can say some of these might be her trying to live up to her DA father / principal assistant's duties, but at least she chose to do them. She could very well be a kid who doesn't give a damn or fluff through some of these things that requires time & effort.

2. Sees the good in others!

One of the most underrated Rachel Amber traits imo. This girl literally has a reputation of "her friends are her friends", and does not discriminate in terms of friendship/who she hangs out with. She picked Chloe up from her lowest (saw her & praised her for backtalking the biker, defending Nathan, & "you're more of a hero than you think you realise", when Chloe didn't take Drew's money). Rachel stuck with Chloe when no one else did (puts up with her sh*t, which ofc Chloe does the same), literally chose Chloe to share her uncertain future outside Arcadia, did not take her chance to leave when she could in those 3 years, most likely cuz she wanted to leave with Chlo. She also hung out with Nathan (& Chloe when so many wouldn't), saw the good in Frank (yes. same as Nathan & Chloe his reputation is far from great and despite the unhealthiness of this relationship, she at the very least cared for the guy, & saw the humanity inside him), & very sadly fell for the portrayed "gone through some serious shit" act by Jeffers*n, all these showing her being an empathetic & sympathetic person.

I'll add non-judgemental as well, cuz it's why she's able to get along with so many people so well. Like what her VA Kylie Brown says in an interview, whoever you are, Rachel'd be like "hey you're a pretty cool person, let's talk!" It's inspiring. I love that about her. Gotta have more Rachels in the world.

3. Ambitious. Puts in the hard work. Persistent.

"One day, I'm gonna climb Mt Everst." says a 15 year old Rachel in Bts, who has posters of travelling in Asia (the green poster has Chinese words saying "go travel in China", amongst others), already speaks about her courage & ambition. And of course, leaving Arcadia with no one but Chloe for a better life. Yes you can say it's reckless, because it's a big idea for a teenager, but she didn't just give up on it. It stuck with her, and she worked hard for it. Doing photoshoots to get modelling jobs, maintaining her 4.0 GPA, finding opportunities to leave... she did those for 5 years. And in the comics universe, they made it out! Now they're over 22yos with an LA apartment, Rachel's in modelling gigs with her acting career kicking off... what could've been for game Rachel. (oh the things I'd do for Bts' ending to be Max appearing in the nick of time instead of that damn vibrating phone!) Also I wonder if in some universes, like the wheelchair Chloe one, a missing Rachel could mean she actually made it out without others knowing, instead of the darker end.

4. Caring & thoughtful & protective & passionate partner/friend/lover!

She listens to Chloe's problems (therapy session), she gives Chloe nice clothes to wear within the few days they'd met (what financially challenged Chloe needed, & in a way that wasn't awkward for Chloe), she sends post cards to Chloe while she's away (she thinks about her often), & "don't f****ing touch her". Passionate lover, I mean.. the way she kissed Chloe under that lamp (with high intimacy of course) is good enough an example. Chloe's the romantic one in my head. Rachel, the passionate.

*the way she puts her hand on C's shoulder after wiping her tears, OmO*

So far these are the character traits I can think of, and your question helped draw out Rachel's positive sides that are too under-recognised. Thanks again! :)

These links helped me understand Rachel & Amberprice better, here for people's reference:

Because I choose to see the good in Rachel, I'm her defender through and through. Join me, if you can.

Edit: damn I literally wrote an essay, maybe 1 day there'd be a video!

This pain wouldn't be for Evermore.

[twstunes]

i lied btw i actually wrote a lot more than 4k words, it's just a matter of getting everything arranged coherently. have more au!

Ramshackle Recruitment AU – periphery opinions

As they are employed at a boarding school for exceptionally gifted teenage mages, the staff of Night Raven College are well-versed in dealing with mayhem. And yet, all of them are finding this year to be one of the most bizarre ones on record. Not even Sam's divination skills could've predicted an extra dorm being added to the lineup.

Let's take a look at how these gentlemen feel about the Ramshackle situation, from least to most approving.

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Characters: Night Raven College staff (+ Sam)

Notes: gn Yuu

Warnings: none, I think?

Mozus Trein, being a very by-the-book type of guy, is entirely against Ramshackle as it currently exists. He feels it’s inappropriate for students to be transferring to a dorm before it’s been officially instated, especially when the dorm building is in such poor condition. It doesn’t help that Yuu apparently started taking on dormmates just to spite a fellow housewarden; that isn’t a decision to be made so lightly.

Beyond chastising them for their recklessness, though, Trein doesn't have any further admonishments for Yuu regarding their dorm. He's more annoyed with Crowley for allowing any of this to happen. Frankly, it was irresponsible for the headmage to place Yuu in the Ramshackle building to begin with. Surely they could have been temporarily situated in one of the actual dorms, at least until adequate long-term housing could be arranged? Sevens, setting them up in a quiet corner of the infirmary would've been better than that deathtrap!

Despite his reputation as a hardass, he'll be surprisingly lenient when grading Yuu so long as they show that they're making an effort to get caught up with their peers. He's typically even more strict with housewardens, as they're meant to represent the entirety of their dorms, but it would be irresponsible of him as a teacher to take that stance here. He'll assign additional homework as needed to discourage students from sleeping in his class, but his lessons are still for learning, not punishing. Even if it was foolish of Yuu to take on a role they weren't prepared for, his job as a professor is to teach them, not throw them in the deep end and let them drown.

There's very little that could convince Trein to visit Ramshackle dorm, at least at first. As the surrounding grounds get cleaned up, he might be inclined to spend some time reading in the garden; he normally prefers the school courtyard, but it can get pretty noisy with all the students bustling about. He won't be caught dead in the Ramshackle building itself, though. Both he and Lucius are a tad too old to go gallivanting about in such a dusty old structure.

(He won't say it, but he's impressed with how well Yuu is doing as housewarden. Like Leona, he expected the whole thing to go up in flames within a matter of weeks. Again, he's not going to say anything about it—even if things turned out well this time around, he doesn't need to be encouraging such rash behavior.)

Divus Crewel agrees with Trein’s points, but refuses to fully back the other professor's argument. He might respect Crowley as his boss, but watching the headmage suffer the consequences of his own actions is too cathartic to pass up. Quite the spirited pup he's taken in, there!

Though he doesn't condemn the existence of the dorm outright, he doesn't refrain from reprimanding Yuu for their 'bad behavior'—the way he sees it, this whole thing started because of some petty drama between Yuu and Riddle. He's not blind to the social nuances of the NRC student body, but he is too old to care about the more trivial aspects of it all. Regardless, Yuu has no business playing at being a housewarden; there's good reason it's nearly unheard of for a freshman to be granted the title, and being magicless puts them at a distinct disadvantage in a mage academy.

…however. If Yuu truly is determined to be a full-fledged housewarden, then he's not about to abide by them slacking off! That's a prestigious mantle they've chosen to take up, and they will comport themselves accordingly! Good thing he's there to whip them into shape. He begins holding them to higher standards, especially in regards to their grades and conduct. Though he means well, he comes across as more officious than usual as a result. No matter how tolerant Yuu is, it doesn't exactly go over smoothly…he can grasp that Yuu themself has no magic easily enough, but it takes a while for it to sink in that they're from a world with Absolutely No Magic.

"Surely you must have learned something about residual and ambient magical energies in middle school. Understanding how to neutralize them, thus preventing them from affecting the formation of chemical bonds, is part of basic lab safet– what do you mean they don't exist?"

Like Trein, Crewel has no interest in visiting Ramshackle dorm. It would take endorsement from a junior like Vil for him to consider dropping by, and even then, he'd only do so to make a cursory inspection of the premises. In a school full of teenage boys, Pomefiore is just about the only dorm where he doesn't have to lecture anyone about proper grooming and self-maintenance; Ramshackle doesn't break the mold at all in that regard. Aside from that, he finds the dorm to be…in acceptable conditions, though there's still plenty of room for improvement. He visits very rarely, and typically forgoes wearing his coat inside, not wanting to chance getting any grime on it.

(It’s petty enough that Crewel won’t admit to it outright, but he’s a little peeved he wasn’t even consulted about designing Ramshackle’s official dorm uniform. What, was his work with the Fairy Gala outfits not good enough? Hmph. Well, he supposes the final uniform design turned out adequate…)

Dire Crowley is getting heckled in the NRC staff groupchat. When he’d described Yuu as a beast-tamer, he’d had no idea they were capable of all THIS. It feels like every time he turns around, there’s been some development with Ramshackle that he’s going to need to do paperwork for. But breaking up the dorm would risk an immense amount of backlash from the students involved, and possibly even from other dorms…truly, he is the most generous headmage NRC has ever had! Hopefully the fact Ramshackle already has uniforms done up will make it easier to get the dorm properly approved and instated…

He really ought to be more cross with Yuu, all things considered. Not only have they caused him a financial headache concerning Ramshackle dorm's food budget, they were impudent enough to not even give him a heads up beforehand! Though…well, he supposes things worked out for the best regarding the debacle with Rosehearts. A healthy imagination is key to becoming a great mage, but it sounds like the Heartslabyul housewarden wasn't allowing for an environment in which imagination could thrive…but still! Just because he granted Yuu the title of prefect doesn't mean they can go about doing whatever they want. Perhaps it's time for him to revise his laissez-faire policy regarding student conflicts?…hmm, no, that feels a bit too extreme.

Despite it all, he still brags to Ambrose LXIII about Yuu, Grim, and Ramshackle once the new dorm breaches public consciousness. He was so wise for seeing their potential and allowing them to enroll, even though one is magicless and the other a monster. Look at how much they've accomplished thanks to his generosity! (He better hope Yuu and Grim don't hear him lmao)

Crowley makes a point of dropping by Ramshackle fairly consistently to check on Yuu and Grim—especially since the last time he went a while without checking in on them, they started a dorm without telling him. He gets frustratingly good at evading being dragged into the dorm's daily Shenanigans™ despite how often he visits, but he'll often lose track of time if someone strikes up a conversation with him. It's a running joke amongst Ramshackle students to ask Crowley if he's found a way to send Yuu home whenever they spot him at the dorm…though, after a point, most of them don't want to hear a "yes" in response.

(It's not becoming of him, so he won't say anything about it, but Crowley can't say for certain that he doesn't regret letting Yuu and Grim enroll. Yes, yes, it's wonderful how much they've achieved, but did they really have to give him so much extra work in the process?? Just thinking about how to word the inevitable press announcement explaining the formation of Ramshackle dorm gives him a headache.)

Ashton Vargas, by some miracle, is the most Actually Helpful of the teachers. He thinks it’s fantastic that students are taking the initiative to challenge themselves! AND they’re learning teamwork while they’re at it! Just…Trein’s not wrong about Ramshackle being in rough shape. Living there is barely different from camping outdoors. ("Does he get the idea for Camp Vargas from–" haha yeah)

Vargas will regularly check in with Yuu about any concerns regarding the dorm building’s structural integrity. He’s no architect, but he knows how to safely handle power tools! He can take care of any heavy lifting that needs to be done, too! If it gives him a chance to show off and brag, he’s all for it. He canonically maintains the sports field by himself, so he probably has some good advice for cleaning up the grounds around Ramshackle as well. That doesn't mean he's going to do all the work himself, of course—anyone he catches lazing about the dorm gets dragged along with him. It's good strength training!

He also makes sure the dorm has basic safety equipment on-hand, like fire extinguishers and first aid kits. Even a pro like him has to be mindful of training accidents, after all! He's always proud to see students pushing their limits, but he's watched far too many people torch their athletic careers (and long-term physical health) by pushing themselves too hard. It's uncommon for him to give full-on lectures—he's just not the type to drag things out when a "quit doing that" will do—but anyone he catches trying to brush off a significant injury gets treated to a rare, ultra-serious lecture from him.

Due to being so involved in the dorm's restoration, Vargas is the most likely to visit Ramshackle out of NRC's staff. He'll often tag along if he happens to catch Crowley heading over to check on Yuu and Grim, though he's yet to successfully rope the headmage into doing any strength training. Being a bit childish at heart, he'll sometimes lend a hand to whatever tomfoolery the Ramshackle students get up to…so long as it's school-appropriate, that is! He doesn't need another lecture from Trein.

(Vargas won't own up to it, but he wants Yuu, Grim, and the rest of Ramshackle to view him as better than Sam, who is pretty much his sole competition for the title of "Most Helpful." He was already a tad jealous of the shopkeeper's wide skillset, so his competitive streak has him putting in a little more effort to help out around the dorm than he would've otherwise. Since this pseudo-rivalry exists solely inside Vargas' head, Sam has no clue about any of it.)

Sam is living it up. His Friends on the Other Side haven’t been this excited about school-related events since he’d first set up shop on campus. And, since he’s the #1 supplier of Anything And Everything at NRC, he’s been getting a lot of business as the Ramshackle students work to patch up their dorm building! He’s not about to start giving away things for free, but he IS willing to cut some deals on tools and construction materials.

Honestly, he's a little annoyed with how little money Crowley seems to be investing into repairing the dorm building. Cheaping out on infrastructure is a fast way to create a money sink. He's not one to rock the boat too much, but he'll poke and prod to see if he can get Crowley to put a little more cash into restoration efforts. Surely it wouldn't hurt to speed the process up a bit? No point in letting the imps languish. Nevermind the fact it's all profit for Sam either way–

Capitalism aside, he does grow to care about the industrious little imps after a while. Taking a gamble on a complete unknown by transferring to Ramshackle, helping out others for the sake of pursuing their own goals…his Friends are quick to joke that Sam would've jumped to join in on the fun had he been a student, and he can't really say he disagrees! Hearing about all the hijinks going on over at Ramshackle is welcome entertainment, especially when business at the shop is slow.

Sam is typically too busy running the school store to visit Ramshackle himself, but he might make an exception for a dire enough situation. As it stands, he gets his Friends to keep a specific eye or three on the dorm in case any emergencies crop up. If he just so happens to have just the right tool for the job front & center (and on sale for a deep discount) when Yuu rushes in…well, that’s simply Mr. S’ gold-quality customer service in action.

(Sam keeps it on the down-low, but he genuinely does worry about Yuu and Grim. The headmage is a good customer, but he's not someone Sam would want to be financially dependent on. Those two imps at least have the relative safety of attending NRC, but neither of them have much in the way of a support system. He'd certainly been in a bad spot himself when he'd first sought out Those on the Other Side, so he's glad Yuu and Grim seem to be building decent lives for themselves without having to make any Friends of their own.)

✧ ✧ ✧

A/N: might as well be trying to squeeze blood from a stone the way I'm trying to approximate staff personalities from what little content we get of them,,,, for Sam I'm just doing whatever I want tho lmao

[borgialucrezia]

omg i read blood and beauty and its sequel last week bc it had been on my reading list for months!!!! and is this a safe space where i can just say that it hit the nail on the head for all of the borgias without unnecessarily vilifying one or the other (i mean basically considering how most writers hold some vendetta against juan) and i loved how u could really see lucrezia's growth from her childhood innocence to being forced to mature and grow up AND obsessed w any media that portrays cesare as ferocious and sharp and ruthless and juan finally got his flowers bc they obv showed his flaws but without making him the big bad evil when instead he also started off a kid but ended up being dragged to the bottom of the river by his father's ambitions 😔

i wish the 2nd book had progressed a little further to lucrezia's childbirth bed death so the story could come full circle and sometimes the pov switching was confusing for me but aside from that, the borgias will always be famous to meeeeeeeee and i love a good book that portrays them well!

ive been on the hunt for more borgia-centric books so if u have any recs......... <3

zaynab omg hello!!!!! i was kinda waiting for someone to talk to me about this book because it's my absolute #1 favorite historical fiction book <3

i'm so happy you enjoyed reading it! the way miss dunant brilliantly humanized the borgia family by creating striking and compelling narratives for them was truly *chef's kiss*. it's safe to say that her portrayal of them has even made her my favorite author as well (and made me want to check out her other work, lol). the way she made them so sympathetic is truly admirable to me, which is also a standout aspect of the book as we manage to develop a deep understanding of their motivations and complexities through her nuanced portrayal, you know? i say it could've been done more when it came to lucrezia, as she is truly one of the most compelling figures in history (and my all-time favorite). i'm not criticizing dunant for lucrezia's portrayal!! but it's more like i wished she added more of lucrezia's lore...but alas! other books did her more justice, i must say!

my favorite theme of the book is the immense love the pope has for his children. the way [spoiler] juan was taken too soon from him is profoundly melancholic and it added emotional depth to the story and it highlighted the power of a father's love and the devastating impact of losing a beloved child. also, YEAH, the book felt like a breath of fresh air when it came to juan borgia! he was unfairly demonized with no reliable narrative and mostly used as a prop to hype up cesare at his expense *yawns*… but dunant made him an individual, likable character in the book, countering the unjust treatment he always receives. her portrayal of him allowed us to discover the vulnerability and sensitivity that lie beneath his outwardly arrogant and handsome demeanor. we really can't help but feel deep empathy and pity for him as we read about his inner struggles and emotional depth. he became a truly compelling and sympathetic figure within the borgia family, especially when his death is met with cruelty and brutality. the tragic nature of his demise evokes an even stronger sense of empathy and sorrow in the narrative of juan losing himself and being overwhelmed by the heavy task he was entrusted with…

and cesare, of course, was portrayed as that sulking, bitter, cruel but incredibly intelligent, cunning, and charming guy! lowkey a recurring theme for him, but the flavor in making him extra dark in the slayest way possible made me insane in a very positive way! you should watch "los borgia (2006)" for a delicious portrayal of cesare (and personally, i think it's the most historically accurate).

more books? i'd recommended emma lucas's 'lucrezia borgia' and maria bellonci's 'life and times of lucrezia borgia' - both are biographies btw! their work is a solid read, very unbiased without any manipulation of the letters about/between the siblings to push certain narratives (hello sarah bradford!!), well-researched, sheds light on the family's complex relationships and their rise to power, and is highly sympathetic to all of them. you won't be disappointed!!

for historical fiction, i'd recommend mario puzo's 'the family' ...you will never be disappointed after all it's by the dude who wrote the godfather!

i hope you enjoy them <333 i'll be waiting for your feedback :)

[cangrellesteponme]

Oh boy oh boy let's see let's see hmmmm

"Crossdressing"

lemme hear your thoughts on THAT trope friend <3

my friend, you really came here asking for chaos. love that for you. i have Thoughts.

(obviously i'm going to mention and discuss transphobia a lot in this.)

TAKE CROSSDRESSING AWAY FROM CIS PEOPLE. this is a very broad statement but i like adding nuance last so bear with me.

i am sick and tired of disgusting amounts of misogyny, transphobia, gross bioessentialism, and stupidity that some people just HAVE to throw in everytime they touch the concept of crossdressing.

i am so done with the "strong woman must dress like a man to make use of her strength, and her dislike of feminine attire shows how good and clever (and detached from the lowly female ways) she is, but ultimately she is only worthy of love once she puts the dress back on and ends up with the guy who figured it out because that is the inevitable fate of all good women" trope. no exceptions. none.

i'm sure i don't need to write an essay on why the "man in a dress as a creature of ridicule, deception, and predation" trope is heinous and disgusting. i will get heated if i do so let's just not.

now let's get to the less infuriating (but unfortunately very rare) uses of the crossdressing trope.

i'm not dumb i know crossdressing is also a smut trope. sometimes the vibes are weird, but also sometimes some of y'all are really just very horny for any kind of gender fuckery, and that's. funny i guess. either way i don't care. have fun. keep putting lingerie on whole bears, you degenerates (affectionate).

i adore crossdressing as a fun thing characters just do because why the fuck not. in this house we love drag. we love wearing shit for the hell of it. we love just being a dude or a gal for a little while. we also particularly love characters with backstories that put a lot of emphasis on gender roles getting to break them just a little bit. (this is what gilles (makai ouji) could've been. but it's complicated.)

now, the best one: CROSSDRESSING AS A TRANS AWAKENING. perfect. delicious. never gets old. never. the amount of transfem marco diaz fics i have read about this is unholy. there are many other examples but marco is about as canon as it gets so it's the only one i'll dare mention. this version of the trope is so damn good i don't even have the words.

now that i've mentioned trans people i have to get to the angsty one: trans people crossdressing as their AGAB. the horror, the despair, the general "good lord this sucks" of it is actually amazing and i am an angst reader who will enjoy it and ask for more. (it's also very good as hurt/comfort with a gender-affirming bestie being there for the character). however i only like it if there's perfect clarity concerning the character's gender identity. (so even though butler!grelle slays... no. maybe if yana had been less transphobic... still, meh.)

so crossdressing can be an interesting trope to use, but 90% of the time it sucks. and i blame cisnormativity for it, because it makes crossdressing into this weird thing that must be reversed so that all is good and right again (cis character goes back to gender conformity, and all is well now) instead of just being there.

part of the problem is that to cis people, crossdressing is this faraway thing that can only be considered in comedic or disturbing situations, because that is the unknown. but for trans people, it's just a random fact of life: you can't avoid the gender fuckery when you are the gender fuckery. so the cis way of using the crossdressing trope is often transphobic (and all the other things i mentioned earlier) because it because it makes fun of, sensationalises, and dehumanises every person who lives in gender non-conformity.

so this trope needs to be handled with care. but it's manageable, i think. and when it's done well, it's never boring.

but would i write it? maybe in a very casual way. i'm more of a reader for that one.

[babyangelsky]

I'm still thinking about House of Stars why am I still thinking about this show I had a full night's sleep and everything ugh

Am I annoyed? I think I'm mostly annoyed. When I was watching I thought the primary thing letting the show down was the editing (and I still believe that) but really what gets me is all the lost potential.

Why is it that in a show where most everyone was toxic for the first 75% everyone suddenly lost their bite in the last 25%? It feels like they were constantly slamming the breaks and making detours every time they got some speed which made so many things have less impact than they could have.

Don't read this rant further if you don't want spoilers.

I feel like I finally know exactly how @respectthepetty (hope you don't mind the tag bestie) feels about shows trying to justify their toxic characters with a sad backstory because WHY CAN'T WE JUST LET PEOPLE BE TOXIC?

Toxicity and nuance aren't mutually exclusive! Adding a tragedy in a character's backstory is not the only way to give complexity to them. I as a viewer can understand why Susie did all the shit she did WITHOUT you *trying* to make me sad for her! Just let Susie be evil and controlling!

You spent allll time showing us that that's exactly what she was and then turn around like "oh she only did it to protecc because she's actually a Sad Girl see she didn't archive the horrifically invasive CCTV footage that was recorded without anyone's knowledge!"

THAT'S BULLSHIT! And the show did that constantly with everyone! They set something up, they put themselves on a characterization path, and then got gun shy. Even with So.

He played the long con and he got the last laugh but it didn't feel...satisfying. Granted, I knew he was the mastermind before I watched the show so maybe that had something to do with it, but I actually really enjoyed watching him in the background in the first 75%. It was like going back and rewatching something to look for clues but on a first watch. I clocked him at the accident, I caught his expressions, it was great.

So tell me why, after all the shit he pulled, it still feels like he could've done MORE?

Like yes, he did this to get revenge for his brother but that could've been accomplished just by killing Susie. Going after Gun didn't really serve that goal because by this point, So wasn't going after Gun because of the accident, he was going after him because he was jealous. But despite how obvious that was, they didn't frame it that way. They still tried to make it about the accident but Gun being willing and ready to take responsibility and attempting to do so twice only to be talked out of it twice took the impact out of it.

Are you really ruining his life by exposing something he was already prepared to go to prison for or are you just being dramatic because he took the boy you liked from you?

And the thing is, right, WE COULD'VE HAD BOTH! We could've had a completely justified revenge con AND a jealous rage to derail it but it was handled so poorly that at the end we only got one of those things and it wasn't satisfying.

BECAUSE WHERE WAS PITCH IN THAT FINALE? Just him being there and sharing a horrified look with Gun would've had more of an emotional impact than what we got.

So could have ruined both Gun and Pitch's lives. Snatching away their happy ending AND sending Gun to prison would've been great!But nooooo, we had to bench Pitch. Sure, him being there wouldn't have fixed everything that was done poorly but it would've helped a little.

There were a lot of little things along the way that would've really helped. I think the Host being her daughter reveal should've come a lot sooner for the audience specifically. I think Susie should've been killed in maybe episode 4 or 5 and made this a proper mystery instead of rushing it at the end. Lalit should've gotten killed too. You're telling me that So wouldn't have gone after someone who hurt Pitch when he was insane about him?

The development of Gun and Pitch's relationship was let down so badly by the editing that it genuinely makes me angry because it was all done in flashbacks! And then when they finally confessed they DIDN'T KISS? Pitch spent this entire show chasing after Gun and dreaming about kissing him and being all romantic and suddenly he's a blushing maiden?!

And what happened to the chemistry they had? More workshopping was needed across the board but there was chemistry between Pepo and Leo in the beginning of the show. Leo's hair was a lot shorter in the final episodes so I assume those scenes were filmed first before he had really warmed up to his character, so I'm gonna choose to blame that too along with the editing.

Ugh, and I haven't even talked about Korn.

How dare this show give him A GENUINE MOMENT OF QUEERNESS THAT I, A FELLOW CLOSETED BISEXUAL COULD RELATE TO, ONLY TO DO NOTHING WITH IT?

I could've had a toxic fellow bisexual to root for this entire time but the show chose to make Korn a one-dimensional milquetoast man instead! TWO THINGS CAN BE TRUE AT ONCE! He can be a complex character AND lead paint toxic!

The show could've given me a story about a closeted bisexual man trapped by performative, contractually obligated heterosexuality who lashes out by being awful to the girlfriend he now hates but once loved and finds genuine comfort in the openly queer man he cheats on her with and they could've ended up toxic and happy together pero NO! THEY COULDN'T GIVE ME THAT! They had to go and make Pawin make peace with Mintra even though they hated each other the whole time and she tried to ruin his career!

Korn choosing to leave the house and auditioning for a role in a BL alongside Pawin could've been such a great full-circle moment and I'm SO MAD THAT IT WAS WASTED!

That's my entire problem with this show! ALL THE FUCKING WASTED POTENTIAL!

[minetteskvareninova]

Minette watches Medici, part 17 (Survival)

-YES WE ARE DOING THIS I DON'T KNOW WHY I SHOULD BE STUDYING RIGHT NOW-

-Especially since season 3 is going to be much the same as season 2, which is real bad news since season 2 kinda sucked.

-Look, I have a higher than average tolerance for exposition and the amount of dialogue in this show that just that was way too much even for me, which should tell you about the efficiency and elegance of writing on display here.

-This show: Let's add some nuance into this conflict by having the pope be a genuinely good person. Also this show: The pope's nephew just irrationally hates the entire Medici family to the point that he's just itching to shank a random bastard just because his most likely father is a Medici. Never change, Il Medici, never change.

-I mean I don't think his character is completely unsalvagable; his character motivations (as stated in a monologue to his wife, because the show wins the lack of subtlety tournament against fucking Magnificent Century) are sound and even desperately wanting to destroy the Medici because of his (totally justified) fear of reprecussions for Giuliano's murder. But like. This guy not only murders a child, but also a guy for failing to murder a child after asking him to hand his own dagger. Be for real, old Albizzi this guy ain't. He's barely Cheekbones Pazzi.

-Also, even though the pope is supposed to be one of the good ones, he is still implied to hold Carlo in markedly worse conditions than Lorenzo holds his nephew. Which I call immense, steaming pile of bullshit on.

-I do like what they are doing with Savonarola tho! See, this is how you do nuance, people! Even if his backstory doesn't seem to be historically accurate and his real backstory involved him becoming a famous preacher before fucking Pico della Mirandolla recommending him to Lorenzo, which I regret wasn't in the show, because. Well. You could've added Pico della Mirandolla in your show and you didn't. For shame. This show in general seems to try its hardest to ignore the humanism part of renaissance and humanism, which I am not wild about.

-The central dilemma of this episode and the negotiations around it are actually good, but the show as always shoots itself in the foot by its inability to give any and all moral greyness to Lorenzo's character. And like. I would absolutely be down to the golden boy Lorenzo who is good at everything, but also just a bit of a bastard who is inconsiderate towards his loved ones and willing to play dirty in politics. Why did I get this borderline Gary Stu instead, I don't know.

-The Giulio subplot is as made up as it is full of cliches, but it's not THAT bad so far. I am mostly annoyed at the tedious, manufactured drama of having his mother murdered for no reason that I can tell except angst when the real Giulio's mum just died when he was a baby (most likely). Even if I do like the little detail of how the murder was done - when we saw her face fall to the floor from Giulio's POV... Man. I literally SCREAMED.

-Overall, second verse much the same as the first, instant regret, do not recommend. I am going to finish this show, if only because making fun of it is rather relaxing after work, but I don't think anyone else should follow my example. People, watch season 1 of Medici, then nothing else. It's not even bad enough for real masochists, like The Empress will give you way more bang for your buck if that's what you're looking for (seriously, I turned that show off after watching ten minutes from the first episode, I haven't been in that much pain while watching something since that Austrian Maria Theresa show).

[epicspheal]

This! Honestly I wanted to add I think a lot of the gen 1 discourse also miss the point of gen 1. It was a basis. A starting point. Gamefreak had no idea this was about to become the largest franchise in human history. They didn't think they'd get past Johto (Gold and Silver were literally called Pokemon 2). They had to sell the game...and in untested waters the most strategic thing to do is to start of simple and then build on that. Kanto's the most bland region geographically in some people's eyes? Sure..it doesn't have ultra unique biomes as say Galar's Wild Area or Paldea's Area Zero but 1) they really couldn't on the Gameboy and 2) they had to make the region appealing. Kanto was designed to be a fantasy counterpart of our world. Where little kids go out to play in the forest near their house (hence why the first major biome we do meet in Kanto is an actual forest). Mountains and Caves and Beaches, things that you might go on a field trip or a family vacation. Nothing too otherworldly outside of the creatures that live in those areas. Team Rocket is the most basic of the villain squads? Again sure (but honestly I like them more than a good half of the other villains). As much I still enjoy Team Plasma's story the best out of the villainous teams, that wasn't a story they could've told right off the bat. They needed to build up the lore of the world, how humans and Pokemon interact (which included giving us more powerful legendaries that served as guardians if not outright deities) before they could throw on a plot like that. To start off, making a villainous organization whose goal was to exploit the fantastic creatures of the world makes sense. Going back to OP's statement of you have to have a slime monster. You have to have a villain who wants to exploit things for money and power. You can add the more philosophical villains like N's original goal or more nuanced antagonists like Sada/Turo after you establish the worldbuilding. Gen 1 has the most basic plot: go catch Pokemon for old professor, fight your former best friend turned jerk and collect trinkets and be the very best which involves the final battle defeating your former friend? Again sure, not as riveting to many as say Gen 5, 7 or 9. But again they had to make an appealing plot in limited circumstances. Having the quest be "Gotta catch em all" to encourage you to explore the simple biomes and trade? It's a genius way to make an excuse plot in limited words. Give you a rival story with a relatable conflict:how many people have had friends that suddenly broke things off when you were around 10-11 years old? Plenty and so it makes the stakes feel personal. Get trinkets and be the very best? Easy enough to get people on board! People like collecting trinkets and achievements. Oh you get to battle that mean former friend and triumph once and for all, giving a satisfying conclusion that makes sense in context? Great way to give players motivation, a sense of accomplishment without having to overtax the already strained system (since we know how infamously buggy RBGY was). Gen 1 did what it needed to do in a simple format. Does that mean it's the perfect version of Pokemon? No. Does everyone have to like Gen 1? Absolutely, not! We all have preferences. Do I think the remakes (both FRLG and Let's Go) could've done better in expanding on Kanto's biomes a bit while still keeping true to the original vision? Could they have added a bit more backstory to Giovanni's creation of Team Rocket? Expand on the broken friendship between Red and Blue? Give a bit more character exploration of the gym leaders and Elite Four? Yes, to all of the above.

But echoing OP's sentiments, sometimes generic and basic is what's needed. Everything can't and shouldn't have layers of complexity in order to be good.

i think people rag on gen 1 pokemon designs for being uncreative too much when that's not really the point. at the time pokémon's identity wasn't all about the deeply researched origins of every pokémon, it didn't have an identity yet. the pokémon needed to do one thing: be cool monsters you wanna collect. if you bought pokemon for the first time and found a grimer you wouldn't be like "a slime monster? so generic". it would be a travesty if this monster collecting game didn't have a slime monster! a giant bird might not be the most creative thing in the world, but it's a giant bird! it's a raptor you can ride through the sky!

you don't have to think they're good designs, i just think it's not a bad thing that they're generic. you gotta have the monsters you'd expect to find in addition to the more unique and nuanced ones. you just gotta.

they didn't need to do the whole "thing evolves into three of itself" more than once though i think diglett could have evolved into biglett instead of dugtrio. like cmon wheres the mole monster youve always gotta have a mole monster. it fits thematically for magnemite tho

[fireemblems24]

Crimson Flower Review

This is a long one guys. 

For a bit of context about this review. I didn't play Crimson Flower first. I played all 4 routes first, beating them back-to-back one in-game "week" at a time. I've realized in the fandom that knowing someone's route order is sometimes taken into consideration, so I wanted to share that. 

Oh, boy. I think the length of this review says a lot about Crimson Flower. Unfortunately, a lot of what's below is fairly negative, but that's mostly because I'm so upset at what this route could've been. Ultimately, I believe bad noise is better than no noise at all, and, say what you want about CF, but it makes a LOT of noise - good and bad - for better or worse. 

Crimson Flower wants to tell a story similar to Kingdom or Legend of the Galactic Heroes where a character, dissatisfied with the injustice of the world, decides to amend that by taking everything over and fixing it themselves. It flips the usual script where the person wanting to acquire power through violent conquest is little more than a cackling villain who kicks puppies as a hobby and turns said character into an ideologically motivated one, furious at injustice rather than seeking personal gain. However, Crimson Flower really misses the mark on its execution due to the confines of current Fire Emblem's storytelling abilities, how it often undermines itself, and also because it lacks what I'm now calling the three Cs of storytelling: conflict, consequences, and character development. 

Crimson Flower is too ambitious for Fire Emblem's current limitations, a point I'll touch on again in my upcoming Azure Moon review too. In order for CF to work, you have to believe in the change Edelgard's going to make. The problem is that Fire Emblem isn't a game that easily includes the political theory required to tell this story to its fullest extent or to tactfully handle aspects of this plotline like blatant imperialism and nationalism. Concrete details are dropped here and there in scattered supports, and, honestly, all of Edelgard's plans are terrible. From acknowledging that she never considered inequality to giving all the power to one person, these details only convince me she has no idea what she's doing. With Fire Emblem's current structure, I'm not sure there is a way for it to handle politics all that well, which makes me wonder why they added these details in the first place. 

CF also ends way too early for stories like this. And, no, I don't mean her killing TWSITD. Yes, that's a necessary catharsis totally missing too, but what I also mean here is the complete lack of the aftereffects of her actions. CF thinks they can end it with King Louis XVI getting his head lopped off or the British squatting in India and call it a day. It ends with TWSITD unresolved, a violent aggressor forcing herself on cultures who never wanted her to lead them, and a continent suffering through five years of non-stop warfare she also forced on them. You can't just pretend everything's magically resolved after Rhea dies and that Edelgard only needed to work for another five or ten years before skipping through flower fields with Byleth and expect me to take this story seriously.  At the same time, there's no real way for Fire Emblem, with its current structure, to realistically deal with any of this. 

There are, though, also major failings in CF's writing that have nothing to do with Fire Emblem's structure not really allowing for some of what CF's plotline demands. It severely undermines itself, creates bizarre mood whiplashes, and is desperately lacking in conflict, consequences, and character development.  

CF often undermines itself with its complete lack of nuance. Everything is far too convenient, simplified, and portrayed as very black and white. Killing Rhea solves the systematic abuse of power and everyone is peaches and cream about getting their nation invaded according to the ending cards. Rhea's an evil monster who hates humanity, Dimitri's a vengenance-driven murder machine, and Claude's scretly hoping to take over Fodlan himself. None of the legitimate grievances of Edelgard's antagonists are considered so the player never has to never feel potentially bad about what they're doing. And when what you're doing is textbook imperialism, that's a bit uncomfortable, especially when the country writing the story has yet to acknowledge their imperialistic past. This is a stark difference from the nuanced and sympathetic treatment Edelgard gets when she's the antagonist. Edelgard opines about all the blood on her hands with no thoughts about who is doing the bleeding. CF acts like there's no real cost to war because nothing lost is given any value in CF's writing, despite also wanting to act like Edelgard's made hard choices and sacrificing oh so much for the good of all (despite actually losing nothing). CF seems almost afraid of anything resembling self-reflection and opts for borderline hilarious lines screaming in neon letters "Edelgard good, everyone else bad! Please don't look behind the curtain." For a route that flirts with the idea of tackling systematic change and engages in imperialism 101, this is all incredibly disappointing and feels more like an angsty teenager's first anti-government/religion wish fulfillment wattpad fic than a story with depth. 

This white/black treatment of Edelgard vs everyone else undermines the very core of the story CF is trying to tell. It wants the player to simultaneously believe Edelgard is taking the road to hell to rescue everyone else while treating that road like a quick stroll through a sunny forest because it doesn't want you, the self-insert, to feel potentially bad. This issue, both wanting a "morally grey" story but without ever letting the player feel bad, is an issue with most routes, but is felt the hardest in CF.  

As a result of CF's unwillingness to engage with nuance at risk of making the player feel sad, there is a noticable lack of conflict, consequences, and character development. In CF, you take the biggest, baddest, richest country and curb-stomp everyone. Edelgard nor Byleth nor anyone else ever stops to question or disagree on anything. Nothing of value is lost. Everyone you mow down is secretly awful. There's no interesting conflict anywhere in this route. Likewise, there's no consequences. Edelgard can threaten to kill her classmates, hire known serial killers, tell everyone her enemies took actions her "allies" actually did, and never come clean to either Byleth or the Black Eagles about - well - anything, and everyone just nods along like drones. It's like CF forgot the Flame Emperor existed, because Byleth and the Black Eagles certainly do. It's impossible to invest in this route's storyline when the interesting actions characters take go nowhere. 

Because this route desperately lacks conflict and consequences, none of the characters are really allowed to grow or develop. Characters like Ferdinand and Petra seem set up for mini-storylines of their own, but do absolutely nothing. Byleth and Hubert agree with everything Edelgard does with no conflicting interests, debates, or questions. Even Edelgard gets very little development and seems barely different from the young woman in the prologue, except now she's not lying to Byleth - I guess. She has opened up to you and only you, self-insert, while Hubert's impact on her life is disregarded because only you, self-insert, ever really supported and understood her. 

Overall, CF was a massive disappointment. If it had the guts to follow through on some things, it maybe could've been my favorite route. In the hands of writers less concerned with self-insert pandering and willing to "go there," it would've had a vastly different review and ranked among my favorite stories in Fire Emblem's franchise. Instead, we get a shallow and uninteresting let down. 

[antifataylorswift]

Okay yeah, I'm playing I Can Fix Her with my favorite Midnights tracks, starting with: Would've, Could've, Should've

All around fantastic song, definitely my top track on the album on first listen and and is still my top track. I don't see that changing.

This one's a solid 9.5/10 for me: she's energetic, she goes hard, she's angry, she contains Themes! Aaron Dessner produced this track, which is very apparent as soon as the guitar comes in. The guitar sound is very reminiscent of what's found on The National's album Trouble Will Find Me (it sounds like a blend of 80% This Is The Last Time and 20% I Should Live In Salt. As an aside: those are two of my favorite TN tracks, so this is obviously for me specifically.) By this point in the album it's a relief to hear some real instruments.

My issues with this track:

The drums. They're used as a focal point within the instrumentals, but they never really grow or evolve or do anything interesting after they come in — it's more or less the same basic rhythm for the whole song, and never really grow or evolve much beyond where they first come in.

The vocal production feels too polished, especially in contrast to the guitar, and especially for the song's emotions and subject matter.

The instrumentals don't really evolve and the music doesn't really build enough. It starts at a 4, gets up to a 5 for the chorus, hits a 6 at the bridge and through the end of the song, maxing out at a 6.5 by the end of the outro. The way that the lyrics are written and the song is structured BEGS to go harder, get louder, and get a little messier by the end.

I Can Fix Her:

Using more of a rock sound would've elevated this one to an 11/10 S-tier Taylor Swift track. I'm thinking something closer to The National's sound pre-Boxer (like Abel or Murder Me Rachael), or more like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Metric.

The drums in particular need to do more and commit more. The rhythm should be more varied and/or drive harder. I think I'm spoiled on hearing this incredibly Aaron-sounding guitar work with Bryan Devendorf's drumming, which tends to be very nuanced and slightly unexpected. To put some sonic distance between this song and The National, I think it would be interesting to hear drums that just commit to driving the song along (for example, more in the vein of like Metric's Help I'm Alive). It needs a lot more cymbals and a bit more snare.

The guitar could stand to be louder and a bit fuzzier.

I'm guessing that the chorus of "ooohs" is supposed to give it a bit of a church vibe, tying in with a lot of the christian imagery. They're too repetitive and don't add a ton. I'd save them until the bridge so that they're more impactful and less instrumental.

Rougher, growlier vocals. Rock vocals! This goes for those "ooohs" too.

More dynamic contrast throughout. Start the first verse where it is or even a little quieter, then get a bit louder adding more instruments in towards the end of the song. Heavy, repeated lines like "I regret you all the time" get more impactful the more they're allowed to build. Keeping everything the same volume minimizes the impact of the song's climax.

Just leaning into more of a rock sound would really put this song in the upper echelons of Taylor Swift tracks, so I hope that's something she's planning to do on tour.

I'm deeply curious what a St. Vincent version of this song would sound like. (Ma'am I'm once again begging you to write another song with Annie Clark.) I'd also love to hear a Florence + The Machine remix or cover? Give me a big ass brass church bell and some harp and some tambourine to go with all the churchy imagery in the lyrics

[fencecollapsed]

Out of curiosity, if you had to rank the Nightmare Time stories on a scale of 1-12 (because that's how many there are), how would you rank them?

mmm okay I did do this before, right after Yellow Jacket first premiered in November, buuuuut I am a fickle pickle and my opinions very much change with time SO. this'll be my new one! I'll give some commentary too cuz why not (the commentary got long woops)

Honey Queen. GOD this story is great. Something about it not getting supernatural until the very end but still being wild and intense throughout, it carries itself through the character conflict really well. The sacrifice reveal is foreshadowed excellently. I like the depth added to Linda and I fuckin love. That this is another one of those "gleefully fucked up" type stories there's just something really great to me about watching these two terrible people - who are terrible for different reasons but they are Both Awful - fuck each other up for an hour and they both die terribly. Fantastic, I love it. The class commentary is great. The pageant commentary is great. The ending is my second favorite ending in all of Hatchetfield, behind TGWDLM, it has that effective dread and inevitability that hooked me into the series in the first place. It's really good. Honey Queen is really fucking good.

Watcher World. Bill Woodward my BELOVED this story is excellent. I know people say Yellow Jacket would make a great movie and I agree but god, Watcher World with the right budget? I'd kill to see it. The setting has a really great atmosphere I would LOVE to see visually depicted, it would add so much to the tone. I love the deeper look into Bill and Alice's relationship. I love how nuanced it really is, how - again - character driven this story is and how that's what carries the fucked up horror aspect. I love every moment you can feel Bill really trying, and his frustration not being able to reach Alice, and Alice's stress and bitterness and frustration at not being understood. Not feeling in control of her life because she had to be wrapped up in their divorce. I think they could've given her a better moment of showing that she really does love her dad, just so it didn't feel quite as one sided, but it still works. Alice is an angry teenager and her feelings are complex and misdirected. The way they butt heads feels realistic, it feels like a real, difficult father/daughter relationship. I love that the story doesn’t paint either as “in the wrong” because they’re both just. Flawed individuals stuck in a tough situation. They don’t know how to navigate it. They picked the Worst Possible Place to try and navigate it in. The way the building tension between Bill and Alice coincides with the building feeling of danger in the setting as the story goes on is just. Excellent. I Iove it.

Forever and Always. I'm accounting for my biases here, when I really think about it I do have mixed feelings on this story writing-wise but I'll admit I'm a weak man, my love for Paul Matthews in any capacity overpowers me. I genuinely like the clone/android concept - I've said before that I think Paul and Emma are the only characters you could do that with, it Makes Sense to me. I like the bits of Real Emma we get (she’s great) and I like how they show that Emdroid and Emma aren't the same person but they definitely think alike. I like the way it connects to Time Bastard, I like the murder couple. Buuuuut I get that the addition of clones and androids kinda muddies the overall lore - s1 ep2 in general is a lot more tech/sci-fi vibes than anything else in the Hatchetfield canon I think. It's a complicated concept we're not likely to see again, and if we did it'd take away from chances to explore the real Paul and Emma, and nobody wants that. Also the clone Pauls REALLY feel tacked on last minute. It's not built up to at all there's no foreshadowing for a reveal like that, it feels like they added it so the ending would make a little more sense. They really could've executed that part better. I still think it's fun though! I know my biases.

Jane's A Car. Tomothy Carfucker Houston I'm not sorry for making fun of you actually cuz it's still funny* BUT this story is genuinely Really Good. Like. It's a really solid character study, it explores Tom and his grief and his relationships really really well. I liked getting a glimpse at Jane, I'm really curious about her and how she was when she Wasn't stuck in a car for a year, because that absolutely affected her psyche. Becky and Tim's interactions are really sweet, I like their budding little family and I'd love to see it grow more. The sweet, soft moments in this story really really work. I like the running theme of happiness and how Tom is almost afraid of it, but right on the verge of allowing himself to be happy. It makes the uncontrollable downward spiral once Jane comes back really work. My only real critique is I think this story would've benefited from Emma's presence. At least a scene or two. It would have to be longer to fit her in but I think adding her would've given the story more compelling (and kinda necessary imo) layers. Still, I like it! JAC is great. (**I'm allowed to make fun of the car sex okay I played Tom in a liveread of JAC once I've Performed the car sex I have the right-)

Abstinence Camp. God this story is fucking ridiculous, it's so fun. The Jerries are an unhinged riot, Jon and Kim as a repressed horny duo is a gift we did not deserve and I like their characters in this more than I should. They're so wild. Steph and Pete are pretty cute. I'm a big fan of the subversion of views on sex in slashers, it's fun and it's clever. I have a Few qualms with the Axe-Man himself, I think if his portrayal was just a little different it'd be better, but that might just be me.

Yellow Jacket. Good story! Very cinematic! I love more of a look at the California Trio's dynamic. Hannah and Ethan are great, loved seeing more of them. I completely understand why Lex was separated for most of the story, there's a good reason for that definitely but. God. I wish we could get more of her. Every bit of her is so good every glimpse at her relationships is So Good and there's never enough. It's almost a detriment, that every story with Lex in it never feels like it has enough of her and just leaves me a little disappointed. I want more of her. I want more of her and Hannah actually together. The lore is interesting, Otho's a little bitch he's so creepy it's great, and I am so interested in Webby and why she operates the way she does. Good story.

Killer Track. I love this concept and I love the execution, this story really sold me on Holloway and Duke, they're both great characters, I love their relationship, I cannot wait to see more of them. They could’ve done a little more with Rose, she’s a bit flat and I wish she wasn’t, I love her vibes. Bryce sells it regardless, she’s great. Otherwise I don’t have much else to say on this one, I enjoyed it, it’s good.

The Witch In the Web. A solid lore story! Great expansion of Hannah's powers and what she knows and sees, but I wish it explored her as a person a little more. The introduction of Miss Holloway is great, she was so compelling right off the bat and she's only gotten moreso. This one would make a great movie, too. It works super well in expanding the world building and town backstory and setting up what more is on the way. I do have... slightly complex feelings on how complicated the lore of Hatchetfield has gotten, and they started here. Not negative feelings, exactly. Just complicated. Also on first watch I was disappointed that Lex was written out, and as much as I understand why she was, that never really went away djskfnd that's another bias thing, I miss her.

Time Bastard. Another good "gleefully fucked up" story <3 I like Ted as a punching bag I like when he suffers djskjfd sorry to the Ted fans out there, yall are valid and I love ya but. I think it's funny. The ending is the strongest part of it to me, though, and sitting through the whole thing as a singular story is less appealing imo. I can't put it into words really, it's just not one I'm really interested in. Again, I like how it ties together with F&A, they do that very well, those two are most fun to watch as a unit.

The Hatchetfield Ape-Man. It being this low might give the impression I don't like this story but I DO it's definitely the funniest of them. Hidgens is a fucking riot, I was personally much more entertained by him in this than in TGWDLM. His and Ted's dynamic is fucking hysterical. Conceptually it's just. Ridiculous. They just did Tarzan but made it more murdery it's so funny. It's strongest comedy wise for sure, it's just another I don't think about much.

Daddy. Honestly I don't dislike this story, again, conceptually it's ridiculous, but it the execution worked fairly well and I like how it genuinely expanded Frank as a character, he's way more compelling than he was in BF and I Liked him in BF. He's good here, I like him, I'm invested. I simply. Do Not like Sherman. At all. He's fucking annoying and he makes me uncomfortable and he sure is a big presence in this story. My biases are negative too.

Perky's Buds. I wrote an essay on this one yall know how I feel.

[totally-original-artist]

Yea it was a little scary to me how appealing the idea of a perfect paradise is to me despite the fact that it won't be in reality. Sure the whole message is that at the end of the day it's still just another cage but...is it so bad? Obviously the choice they (the TB) made at the end is still good BUT I think there are good and bad sides to both Sunday and Robin's views.

Honestly the whole bit where Robin says the guy in the dreamscape who's in life support could've looked for an alternative like reaching out to the Intelligentsia Guild really was too optimistic of a view on the world. From the three people the siblings met, I do think they aren't like...wrong, yknow? Like, wanting to distract oneself from the sorrows of the waking world isn't a bad thing imo. Everyone needs a distraction once in a while but indulging too much into it is the issue. There is a LOT of nuance to this tho and I don't think I get get into all of it lol

Also, maybe, some people don't want to be saved? What then? Will you force them to face their reality anyway? Or will you give them the freedom to chose their own path?

I just...really love how Acheron says towards to end that instead of trying to wake the dreamers, they have to convince them to wake up themselves. So, smt smt, only you can save yourself smt smt you can't save someone who doesn't want help in the first place.

(sorry just some thoughts , anyway the uhh plot-)

We were in a dream the whole time? ever since the first warp jump all the way back in 2.0???!?! Damn. And Misha's dead now....I'm not feeling sane. That cutscene was so bittersweet...

"No, I'll stay here, and then...this is where it ends." It's like they want me dead, ALSO

"The night is still...too short..."

"Brother...The dream...is over."

just ripped my heart out actually. I love characters who's intentions are good but their actions not so much. And when you defeat them a loved one hugs them and comforts them-

Also the last line in the cutscene implies the next quest is gonna be focused on the IPC i think "Yet, no matter how one contemplates it, time inexorably swings Qlipoth's colossal hammer in eternal cycles." I hope we get a sneak peak of Diamon or Oswaldo.

Speaking of Oswaldo, dyk he was a former nameless (it's only mentioned in cn translations for some reason)? I wonder what Boothill wants with a guy like him. He's young and brash and can change his personality to compliment the person he's talking to so, a tricky guy. Need to know more about them...(I haven't read Boothill's lore yet so maybe it'll make more sense if i do)

Honestly I was so upset the voice lines for Argenti weren't there I completely forgot what he was talking about 😭

the fact that he was the one to rescue Aven from the black hole was auuhgu my heart. I wish we got to see them meet. Also wish they had an added to the team voice line about each other like, two of my favs interacting...need.

Special mention to this, genuinely the sweetest thing ever

can you answer this when you're done with the quest? *scratching at the walls* I need to know ur thoughts :)

The war is over I'm finally done with the quest

Honestly I'm a bit of a mess rn?? Like literally so many things happen and I'm lowkey devastated that Sunday turned out to be so relatable and likable to me. I know he objectively was wrong about a lot of things but I really get were it comes from and I agree with the roots of his ideology??

Also now we know that this mess with him and Aventurine wasn't actually something purely malicious on his part, he genuinely saw himself in Aven (loves his family more than himself, deeply dissatisfied with this world, a lot of pent up frustration and pain) and have decided to give him salvation.

It was also very awkward when Acheron asked us if we want to return to the dream and I was like. I mean it does make everyone happy and equal. But the mc was immediately like nope I prefer reality. Okay baby I get you I'm the mentally ill one here

On the more positive note, I loved Robin and Boothill a lot 😭

Also❗❗ After reading Boothill's story, I was convinced he would try to cooperate with Aven in one way or another but I thought it would happen later. Glad to know I was right lol

About Aven. A bit upset he's still with the IPC but I guess it's also realistic because not like they would simply let him go, it's not easy to run away from the fuckers.

Was devastated about Misha but it was also a cool plot twist. Can't say I didn't see it coming but it's a sight of a good writing more than anything else, the plot twists like that shouldn't come from the thin air

UPSET THAT JING YUAN WASN'T ACTUALLY THERE but it's okay at least we saw him

[articianne]

ok actual post about my thoughts on s2 of the great. serious actual spoilers below

obviously I loved this season, honestly more than the first one. The parts that really kicked it up notch for me were:

no Leo. I think I liked him the most when he wasn't being a literal writer's tool for Catherine's own plot. It's fine that he was that, but I'm just glad that he was put to bed, just because now it felt like Catherine's struggles were hyper accentuated just thru herself. Elle's acting this season stood out SO MUCH (that final scene left me starstruck. I felt an actual ache in my chest at her despair) and I think it's because everything is so much more personal to Catherine now—her nation, her baby, her mother (lol), and her reluctance and denial for her love of Peter are out in the open when there isn't another focal point, i.e. Leo, in the way of that. Leo had his job in s1 and it was really well done, but there was a part of me filled with relief that he was confirmed dead and gone in ep1 this season.

PETER!!! Obviously. While Peter's depravity in s1 made him fascinating and also very hate worthy (even tho of course that would NEVER scare me off), clearly being "just the husband" has worked him wonders. His demeanor hasn't changed, not really—hes still offensive as fuck, he still does some SHIT things, but he also has more time for nuance, and growth, and things he didn't get when he was just being hurled into life as the emperor. But the difference is now the shit he does affects him and hurts him... and hurts the people he cares for too. The heart he wears on his sleeve not only beats and aches for himself, but for Catherine and Paul too (and Elizabeth). His family 😭

Now for things I liked a lot, just a little more on the side:

Loved the teacher with Orlo (she was so cute) and the little bit of exploration they had with Orlo's sexuality. I hope there's more of the teacher!

Pugachev was so fucking funny and felt very more like a traditional Nicholas Hoult character 😂

Catherine's struggle with her mother being a bit of the same as Peter's with his own

ARCHIE!!!! I really don't care about him, but I think he had a great season. I was far more interested in him as he... fell from grace? If that's the right term to use.

Elizabeth was a standout. Loved her pain, her care, and also, the fact that she's the only person who supports Peter and Catherine and wants their love to succeed.

that one scene with the clearly Muslim guy. While he was also a dick (as everyone is), I really appreciated that. It hit a little bit home—I found our Namaz set a couple of days ago while cleaning and was personally touched by this.

The outfits!!!! Oh my god!!!!

So many small scenes—Velementov and Peter going truffle hunting. When Peter goes to kill Catherine in the state room during the uprising and immediately throws the thought away when he hears her sobbing and sees her grief, instead immediately trying to make her feel better. Nearly every Orlo scene.

I could keep going but I do wanna mention some things that I wasn't quite a fan of. It didn't bother me much at all, but I think they could've been done better.

Grigor and Marial. I think this is a popular take. It seemed a bit of a random pairing, even though it's such a prominent thing in this season. I was fine with Grigor and George drifting apart, but adding Marial into the mix was... a choice. I ran with it, because whatever, it's a fucked up court anyway and Marial literally married her child cousin for inheritance reasons, so Marial and Grigor being virgins reunited or whatever was the tamest story and didn't bother me at all. Just probably should've been hinted at in s1 at some point.

I know I just said I loved basically every Orlo scene, but honestly I think Orlo got a bit shafted this season. They seemed to make more room for Peter's friends and less for Orlo. I remember more of what happened with Arkady, who was barely there in s1, than some of the other things. This tends to happen in a lot of shows, where some side characters get more time/some more side characters are introduced (the royals from Sweden LMAO) but it tends to sideline some of the more main characters. Sucks that it happened to Orlo and not to, say, Velementov or someone.

I was expecting a little more of Catherine's mother—not personality wise, but literally screen time wise. They did market her a lot in some of the spot teasers, because why wouldn't u market Gillian Anderson, but she was really only in it for two episodes. I don't blame the show for only having her in a couple of eps, though. There was a lot to cover.

and on that note, I do have to say, I'm sure there will be a lot of people screaming about Peter fucking Catherine's mom. I don't care. They explained it in the show, it doesn't change anything for me, and it's already such a messed up court that it doesn't break any show rules or anything. Elizabeth said it best in the carriage ride back with Catherine in the last episode. Absolutely not a deal breaker for me. In fact, when Peter apologized at the wedding, I felt so bad for both him and Catherine that it made me root for them more. I'm excited to see what'll happen in s3, if it theoretically is renewed (I'm sure it will be). How Catherine and Peter will approach their relationship knowing that that was what finally tipped Catherine over the edge to trying to kill Peter—as well as tipping her over the edge in acknowledging how much she loves him—I'm so eager to see where it goes.

anyway! long post!! I loved this season so much! I'm sure there are many people with their own criticisms of it, but it definitely made me giddy. 100% on board for whatever shit they wanna do in the next season!!!

[sirensorisons]

ok as your resident english major i finally got around to watching the daisy ridley ophelia movie and i have thoughts. im on mobile so no read more, sorry! spoilers ahead

the premise of the movie was obviously a big draw. like wake up babes new feminist take on hamlet just dropped. but one of my biggest complaints was that i felt they didn't push it far enough? like i could totally see what they were going for but it felt like all the #girlboss moments were given to other women. that was kind of disappointing given that this is supposed to be ophelia's story. like yes please uplift other women in the film but...

it felt like the writers or director were torn on whether to focus on ophelia or gertrude. i think they did quite a bit of work offering a more nuanced take on gertrude, but ophelia was kind of. frustrating. like, ok, the one major change they made to the play (besides ophelia being alive) was gertrude killing claudius. super fucking loved that.

but a couple minutes before, i had been wishing they would let ophelia barge into the room and either A) stop the fight between hamlet and laertes by showing them both she was alive, or B) stop it by pretending to be a ghost like she almost did with gertrude.

ophelia's ending was such a letdown. i like the intention behind her telling this story to her daughter someday, and breaking toxic cycles by getting out of it. but she had no impact on the events of hamlet's story, which was irritating. like i wouldn't want hamlet to run away with her or have the evil claudius vanquished and everyone else lives happily ever after bc that's not the point. it's a tragedy.

the hopeful twist they put on it for ophelia was interesting, and i don't totally hate it, but it's just kind of baffling. like her father dies and she doesn't get to express much genuine grief over it, just scheming from there on out to save hamlet, and she doesn't seem to spare a single thought for her brother in all of this. like i said, she could've stopped their whole feud by revealing herself or pretending to be a ghost. or at least show her on the brink of doing that, but she's unable to do so before the norwegian forces charge in.

also, i didn't care for the gertrude twin plotline. shakespeare loves his long-lost twins (comedy of errors, twelfth night) so it's not entirely out of place, but it felt unnecessary. a little too convenient as a device to introduce the different poisons and bring the norwegians to the castle. plus, this version of getrude seems to genuinely love her son enough that watching him die would drive her to kill claudius, without the added motive of him fucking over her sister.

i like how hamlet and horatio first coming upon ophelia while she's in the water turned the whole fish/fishmonger thing into even more of an inside joke. it was cute. also, the tension introduced by comparing it to the myth of diana and the hunter was interesting

i felt like, starting from that scene with the diana myth when gertrude gets upset that hamlet insulted her likeness, there was an intriguing rivalry brewing between getrude and ophelia for hamlet's affections, as his mother and wife, respectively. all the "hamlet oedipus complex" truthers make me roll my eyes, but there's gotta be some sort of reverse of that where it's the mother who has a toxic obsession with her son. you definitely see it happen often enough irl with self-proclaimed "boy moms". anyway, it seemed like that rivalry was a major dropped thread. would've been interesting to see that pursued further

idk shit about medieval clothing or costuming in general but i thought the costuming in this was gorgeous. the hairstyles, the dresses, the cloaks. the way ophelia always stood out in the frame so our eyes would be naturally drawn to her

the setup and payoff for horatio's illegal bodysnatching was also quite good but im biased bc i love horatio and him and ophelia being bros

[mc-critical]

hey, welcome back! hope your exams and stuff went well, and that you're doing fine now.

i wanted to hear your opinion on nigar hatun. i remember seeing one post of yours in which you said that she wasn't a favourite of yours like you favoured other characters and honestly, same. i didn't really much understand the fascination with her. she was an interesting character, but i can't imagine having her as a favourite when there are so many more characters who are far more interesting. i wish they gave her an alternate arc. idk what it could be, i'd like to hear your opinion on it. one alternative ending i came up for her is that she was extremely angry at ibrahim for toying with her and hatice for keeping her sweet little esmanur from her so she joins hurrem to defeat them? which hurrem did try but it didn't really go anywhere and nigar was against hurrem for killing ibrahim which just was kinda frustrating. they literally give hurrem no ally in the harem [except mihrimah later on but mihri is overall varying in terms of power] so it would be good for her to have some support in the harem from people who actually hated her enemies like her. she had actual political support from iskender celebi, rustem, and ayaz pasha and all, sure, but she didn't have much support in the harem, like all powerful women of the harem were against her. nigar obviously wasn't powerful like a sultan but she was an old member of the harem, was respected and even though she kinda lost her dignity with the scandal, she could've regained it with hurrem's help. sumbul was there later on but he was just a very faithful servant and didn't really have any real motive to harm any of hurrem's enemies except for out of his loyalty whilst nigar could've cultivated a hatred for hatice and ibrahim. this is a basic plot but i would've kinda liked seeing it. there can be many more ways her character could've ended but it would be good seeing a woman who didn't bow to her feelings all the time. the sultanas couldn't really control their feelings when it came to love because they were princesses who were used to getting what they wanted most of the time but nigar was a servant who also suffered the hardships of slavery and it obviously would've made her tougher as a person so she could control her feelings better; idk, i feel like this is an aspect of women they could've explored [or if they did explore it, i don't remember it lol my memory lapses a lot so i don't remember the show 100%] anyway, would like to hear your thoughts on nigar. thank you. welcome back again <3

Thank you! <33 Yup, I'm fine and the exams went well. Happy Pride month to you, too! 🏳️‍🌈

Hehe, I wrote that post years ago and while Nigar still isn't one of my absolute favourite characters, I've warmed up to her quite a bit. And honestly, now with the wider experience in the fandom, I can say that she isn't all that loved as it looks like. I then was under the limited wrong impression that the BG Mamma forum was a metric of all the popular opinions and yes, they loved Nigar a lot and I was sometimes confused as to why, but really, that and the Russian fanbase are the only places I have encountered that appreciate her all that much. There are characters I find more interesting than her, that's for sure, but she has her charm and I'm firmly against people reducing her to "evil" or "manipulative" or "weak after she fell in love with Ibrahim", so forth.

The thing she sets her first impression with is her intelligence caused by her relatively high experience in the harem. The advice she gave to Hürrem opened the path to her whole goal (as she herself acknowledged in E41) and that makes for quite an impact for a more recurring character. Despite of this, I never viewed early Nigar as someone taking an open side, hence I didn't find her supposed betrayal to Hürrem surprising in the slightest: she is also trying to survive in this environment in any way she knows how and she can't really find a fully comfortable position, because she is well aware that everyone is thinking for their own gain in the end. Including her. So the only choice she has left is to direct herself to where the wind is blowing and get advantages for herself once she gets the chance. Because all the experience has taught her to repress her feelings (E10 to Hürrem: "In this castle you can't show weakness."), opt to be the more level-headed person and seek for the more pragmatic solutions.

And yet she is very sensitive and perceptive to people that are different than the others or that are in need and is willing to lend them her hand. She adviced and helped Hürrem because she found potential in her, because she wanted to see her succeed, but not through endangering her own self or other people in the process (she told Hürrem that her game had gone too far again in E41), but through negotiation, compromise and adaption, to know when to start and when to stop and be respectful to those above her, no matter how hard or limiting that may look in Hürrem's eyes. Hürrem had the tendency in viewing every sign of support that came to her as granted, she still had that naive part of innocence in her in S01 and early on was in a desparate need of someone to lean on and unconditionally follow her path, that's why when Nigar diverted from that path, it hurt and took her a while to start trusting her again. But I didn't see Nigar as all that attached to Hürrem as Hürrem herself thought she was, especially with how Nigar became stuck between two sultanas later in S01 and that rendered her lost and more insecure than usual.

That's also why I don't view her as a two-faced or hypocritical double-crosser. Because for the longest time, Nigar was the one character in the series before Rüstem appeared that was clearly thinking about her own benefit and survival first and foremost from the beginning when darting between the powerful people in the harem and was the one well aware that she simply can't cling to a single side in her own position. Positions aren't permanent and can always change in such circumstances, so why can't she take advantage of this? Because who cares as much about the feelings for a Kalfa they can still order around after all? She has faced disregard from Mahidevran, Hürrem, Ibrahim and even Hatice. It is pretty understandable that she's going to seek the best opportunity for herself.

That whole facade breaks when she falls in love with Ibrahim. During rewatch, I found myself to have a soft spot for this character deconstruction, especially in S02. I know that it came to pass because of her falling in love with a man that doesn't share the same feelings and there were moments where it looked like she overdid it, even in S02, but for me, the whole thing nicely added a new layer of depth, while still feeling true to Nigar's character. Her future relationship with Ibrahim had been building up back in S01, when Ibrahim (both inadvertently and not I fully believe) played a part in helping her solve the first internal conflict she had (that is the struggle between the two sultanas). Maybe this didn't mean that much to Ibrahim, maybe he was simply trying to be helpful, but it meant a lot to Nigar - that was probably the first time someone seemed to take her feelings into account and actually listen when she couldn't help, but crack under the pressure. So it is only natural that she would search for this source of comfort once again, being ready to face every risk in the process. When she is appointed to Hatice and Ibrahim's castle, when she's practically left alone with Ibrahim, she decides to take that chance, to taste the forbidden fruit. He gave her something she never received and due to her not allowing herself to show weakness and having to cave to everyone else's demands before that, every ounce of affection Ibrahim shows her, it means the world to her. Thus she begins to idealize what she has with him, to the point of denial and delusion, and centers her loyalty completely on him. But that loyalty never seems to falter.  She began to resent and/or hate everyone who could possibly stand in Ibrahim's way, something she wouldn't have ever done before. She keeps her level-headed self and intelligence (I don't think that this plot line reduced it in any way, not even when she was at her worst.) and she's ready to take any opportunity for herself (case in point: her marriage with Rüstem.), but now her softer sides and her wish for affection are showing all the more.

The problem I have with Nigar's character, writing-wise, and now that I think about it, the main subject of why I didn't get the deal with her back then (along with considering her S01 self bland.. somehow?), is her S03B characterization. While her falling in love with Ibrahim plot-line became an important part of S02 Nigar's storyline, I don't think it overshadowed or dominated over her other characteristics, making for a neat balance of traits and an interesting, nuanced character. In an attempt to keep her for longest time possible in the story, S03B flanderized her in every possible way and overexaggerated her biggest strengths and flaws until they became stale and unbelievable. Her love for Ibrahim read as а near obsession narratively and her opportunism coupled with her will for revenge, which put her into many repetitive intrigues. At one point I even felt she was reduced to a plot-device (the moment Şah Sultan appointed her as a spy) and she felt a little too purposeless and to have totally outstayed her welcome until her last moment in the series.

The root of this problem is again, that they just didn't know when to stop with Nigar. To be brutally honest, she had no long-term role left to play after Ibrahim's death and it was time for the writers to let her go and maintain her generally strong characterization. The ending I would've chosen for her is to simply have Matrakcı give her Esmanur's location and for her to live with her daughter in piece. I know that because of the tonal shift, the show seemed to be already inclined that everyone had to have a tragic ending of sorts, to underline the growing ruthlessness and cruelty of the themes, but I fully believe that Nigar was one of the only characters that were terribly forced through their tragic endings. She didn't need, nor deserve a tragic ending and I doubt it would've been such a problem for the half-season if she didn't get one. I find a happier ending to be perfectly fine for Nigar and I would've loved to see it, if only for a freshness in ideas for character endings. I loved her Esmanur storyline and to witness her finding happiness with her, the only solace she had left, would have been a great wrap up of her S03 plots and an amazing send-off to Nigar's character.

I appreciate the thought you have put into your ending for her and to be fair, your proposal would be much better than anything S03B gave us. It would nearly correspond with the revenge plot of hers they were going for and it would be something more original at the same time. Hürrem's principal lack of allies doesn't bother me as a fact alone, because all her enemies have understandable reasons to be against her, but what bothers me however, is when the writers try using it to dumb her enemies down and make them doom themselves through their own failings or outright use it to put forced (often soapy) conflicts to make the audience sympathize with Hürrem. Or to make everyone "mistitle" her (is that a word? probably not.) or disrespect her on purpose again for sympathy points (that go beyond the part of her motivation that wants to feel respected and does stuff out of fear not to fall under a less favorable position once again.), without changing the status-quo until say, S04.

It is so deliberate it becomes annoying and seeing something else for a change... honestly, gimme! While I personally prefer a happy ending for Nigar, I would live for Nigar and Hürrem to work together again, while keeping what's become her central motivation intact. It may seem a little OOC for Nigar to work for Hürrem by that point, because she's channeled her loss of the most precious people into rage on those that have taken them away, but it would be a decent shifting of gears and a reverence to her opportunism to work to eradicate those she hates for good, even if it means doing so with one of your bigger enemies. After all, after the mission is fulfilled, she could still work against Hürrem in some way, right?

[Tell me if I got what you meant wrongly, but there is an example of a dynasty sultana putting her love feelings behind and by that I mean Şah Sultan. Her love is in the past by the point she arrived in the castle and her love for Ibrahim is only used as a conflict between her and Hatice, which they get over relatively quick. Sisterly love and ambition are a much bigger priority of Şah's: she cared about Hatice past any resentment she may have harbored over the years and agreed to share her life with Lütfi for the advantage this may bring, even though she didn't love him at all. She divorced him only when he offended the pride of a woman and her own personal pride. Other than that, we indeed didn't have a female character in MC that puts her feelings behind in design as far as I recall, only ones that end up clinging to them completely like Nigar here or ones that let go of them eventually like Mahidevran. Characters that have this design by default are more present in MCK like Safiye, or Turhan, or especially Gülbahar, but as I've said many times, MCK is more ruthless, while MC is more about the personal feelings of the characters, hence every motivation they have is somehow tied to them.]

[i-hate-everything-except-fandoms]

You know what I wish we'd had more of during the time we had Joe and Graham on our screens? More casual/domestic scenes.

I love nothing more than the scenes that give us an insight into the relationship between characters. With Joham, they seemed to always be pushing the drama and making things happen, so we rarely ever got to see some more laid-back, slower paced scenes, when things weren't kicking off.

Scenes like this:

And this:

Are so underrated, just really lovely to watch, and, quite frankly, such a testament to how well and how long they've known each other. The joking requires no explanation and is done is such a deadpan manner, yet without causing offence, that it perfectly showcases just how comfortable they are with each other. There's no need to laugh awkwardly about it, there's no need for them to apologise for the joke - they just know. And I love it. This is the sort of thing that, despite their arguments, proves that under all of it is a lot of love - and people don't even realise it.

It seems to me that quite a few people didn't understand Joe and Graham's relationship, nor did they find it interesting, though I think that's probably due to the fact that the majority of it was subtext and not everyone tends to look under the surface of what they're seeing to gain a truer understanding of it.

In my opinion, I think it would've been a better idea to show us a clear contrast between how they act in front of other people (together and apart) to how they act around each other when it's just them. From the amount of time they've spent living with each other already, and the few domestic scenes we've seen, it can be assumed that they were very used to sharing the same space and being in close contact, so scenes that showed them automatically doing little things for one another whilst being caught up in conversation would have been a really nice touch to, one, show how in tune they are with each other, and two, display the routine that they have become accustomed to living with. Scenes where they were just spending time with each other - having a coffee together after a meeting, or sitting down together for a meal - also would've helped to create a feel of familiarity and routine to their relationship.

By adding these scenes, the writers could've still made it subtle about how much they care for one another - which would still fit their personalities, as neither are particularly the sentimental type (or at least never let the other see them be too sentimental) - but it would've added more nuances to their relationship and helped people to find it more engaging, because I know that Graham in particular - and sometimes even Andrew's acting - was criticised for being too robotic and emotionless. Personally, I believe that Andrew completely achieved everything he was trying to do with Graham as a character, especially considering how subtle some of the facial expressions and the use of his eyes to express emotion had to be, but for the audience to see a more distinctive softer side to Graham whilst he was around Joe, in comparison to his cold, hard demenour when he was around others, would've likely helped them to like, understand and empathise with him more easily. It may have also got some more people to see Joe for who he really is, rather than seeing him as a ruthless, apathetic business man.

Don't get me wrong, I love how subtextual a lot of their relationship was, but I think that a few more scenes displaying the love and care in their relationship would have gone a long way.

Tl;dr: I just wanted more domestic scenes, mostly for the sake for me and those who already understood the relationship and wanted more but less angsty scenes with them, but I'm making the excuse of it helping the wider audience's understanding to try and justify myself. 😅

[realmofstupid]

Hehe, universal translators are always a fun interpretations. It's my mom's headcanon too, btw!

Op, I agree with you on the complicated canon of TOS. I think we progressed when making shows with better tech and better looks. I'm glad we could leave a lot of the shitty things from the 60s behind.

My complaint starts when the writers take the themes of TOS and make them worse, instead of better.

You know... a little bit of continuity doesn't hurt. As much as TOS is outdated, you wouldn't be surprised, as a fan, with how many of it's themes still carry into our present day. Besides, sometimes people miss the familiarity. You can't deny a large part of SNW is banking on nostalgia points, so why change the very same things they marketed that they would bring back?

I mean, why directly reference episodes from the original show at the center of your writing if you're actually gonna completely disregard them? That's not small canon details being lost to time, it was a deliberate decision to completely rewrite something over. And it gets confusing when a show is setting up the one it's also rewriting entirely.

There were a lot of changes since TOS into the 90s shows, but it still feels like the same universe, and the same timeline. The movies, specially, helped in the transition from the old shows to the new. The stories, the episodes, still worked to send a message accurate to their times.

Imagine how much difference there's been from TOS to DS9? DS9 strongly criticizes the colonization themes present in every other trek show, (specially on TOS, just try to watch it nowdays. I agree with you the thing is full of controversies that didn't age well). It sees the problems in it's past installations, and works to call them out, and make them better.

But it still remained consistent enough that Sisko can go back in time and play with tribbles, and it's perfectly believable. There's even a joke about Worf reacting to the first Klingon redesign.

That's not the way it was handled in Strange New Worlds. It was done very differently, to the point it upset people. And not just the ultra tos-purist fans, just... star trek fans, in general.

The Arena does get worse in retrospect after Star Trek SNW canon retconned everything about them. To make the Gorn into evil xenomorph aliens that are plain murderkillers with no nuance to them at all defeats the themes of that episode - that Kirk and the Gorn should've reached for diplomacy and talk in the first place, instead of battling. How can that even be an option for the characters if the other side wants to eat you?

And Amok Time was also everyone's favorite episode from TOS, but in the context of Strange New Worlds, it also gets worse. If T'Pring could've, all this time, ended her bond with Spock, then why did she want to kill him in ritual combat? They weren't even supposed to know each other - and the retcon that they did makes the loekey themes of T'Pring being a woman using the only system she can to get a divorce in a sexist society disappear. (Plus it makes a lot of scenes seem creepy in retrospect).

Just because the original show was episodic, doesn't mean the added canon of snw doesn't add a new context, a new spin to it. And in these cases, that context made them worse. If people complain about that, it's not a case of TOS being THE SACRED TEXTS!!! It's, as you said, people also being miffed that they managed to take themes and episodes from the 60s and make them worse in context, instead of better.

I mean, at least I'm pissed about that. Aren't you? Not even a little bit?

Klingons get a redesign every once in a while. That Worf meta scene made fun of it. Klingons getting a redesign isn't the bad part. But you can't deny the new context they chose in star trek discovery was worse, and more racist, than even the ones they had in tng.

We're star trek fans. If we're good ones we're gonna look for the depth in what we watch - instead of just focus on the surface level details and continuity. And sometimes, even with that in mind, we will find it lacking. It's not a bad thing to criticize it in these cases.

TLDR: you're right, TOS isn't sacred, but the themes that defined this franchise from the start should be respected, we should not make them worse than they were in the 60s, we should make them better.

But also, aside from depth discussions, how can these two canons even correlate? There's been so many major inconsistencies... I have trouble seeing how they still connect. There's a lot of lose ends. My favored wstsonian explanation was that it was another universe, another timeline. But idk if that works, then, if it's all primeverse. It feels like TOS is being rebooted through SNW, and isn't canon anymore.

TOS in Beloved Retrospect

A GREAT Show that is absolutely canon! But I’m Taking the Rose Colored Glasses Off

Listen, it’s no secret that I absolutely ADORE Star Trek: The Original Series. It’s easily in my tied top 3 with SNW and DS9.

But you know what?

I am so, incredibly SICK of people treating it like a sacred document whenever literally any show that’s set before it does almost any plot point that’s even tangentially related to it.

Let’s take off the holy pedestal for just, two seconds please I am BEGGING you.

Star Trek TOS is an episodic show from the 1960s and the showrunners (including Roddenberry!) had NO IDEA, at all, was going to spawn an absolutely massive, beautiful scifi universe that’s practically a genre unto itself.

Even when they made a second series they tried to get away from TOS with the century time jump! Some creators going so far as to want it to never have existed at all, at least briefly, like, uh, Gene Roddenberry.

I can safely say I and many others are VERY glad TOS never got decanonized, but some facts still remain.

As a result of time, The Original Series is very much limited by when it was made. Such as!

In it’s cultural attitudes to minorities and women, see: the POC and female characters not getting any major plot lines until after TOS.

Literally one of the first things that got disregarded by pretty much all other Star Treks that take place before and after is that women can’t become captains (like wtf was that about?? Oh wait, it was the 60s 🙄). It was literally like, the peak of sexism, and cloaking devices existing before the Romulans showed up that get decanonized the first chance they had (it’s literally been happening since Enterprise and people freak out about invisible ships, every time).

In the fact that because it was exclusively, extremely episodic, every episode was the first time anybody ever saw anything because they had to introduce it to the audience without confusing them and making them turn off the TV or change channels.

Do you know how many times I, a Zillenial who grew up with a mix of episodic/serialized shows, had to suspend my disbelief because if this show was any less episodic the main characters would’ve learned their lesson already from a previous episode or would still be processing the trauma of a previous episode? So many! Watsonian explanations galore!

It was TOS movies that changed the Klingon character design with no explanation. Every time there’s an evil double of Kirk or he gets possessed the crew reacts like it’s never happened to anybody before! Kirk convinces a computer to kill itself like eight times and every time it’s like “oh wow look how smart Kirk is getting a computer to commit die”. Kirk loses his brother, his sister-in-law AND his love interest within the span of two episodes and is totally fine afterward! And you know what? I’m ok with that because I have a brain cell and recognize the show was created before serialized television got even a bit popular!

Third of all technology! Listen I hate all that touchscreen chrome color pallete stuff too! I’m also not, never have been, and never will be a technobabble guy! I’m so happy that the Enterprise is still colorful and has buttons and stuff! But ultimately, TOS was a 1960s conception of 250 years of progress, and it came up a little, even VERY short at times (so do all the other Star Treks, you can’t predict progress with 100% accuracy).

So if the tech is better than say, not much more fancy than a submarine in space, I’m willing to give it a pass. Star Trek has been making up and then immediately forgetting/disregarding some completely world altering technobabble from a single episode or movie since the beginning! The tech is a means of storytelling, and it’s clearly not a limitation because people are always changing or ignoring it! It’s only pure vomitous rancid evil when “NuTrek” does it right?

If you take all three of those HUGE things into account, TOS has, by far, the most tissue paper thin delicate canon of all of Star Trek. Quite frankly I would MUCH rather enjoy exploring the 2200s without walking on incredibly fragile eggshells regarding technobabble details or certain alien encounters.

It’s not like Federation ships have cloaking devices in the 2260s or that the SNW crew is out here fighting off Romulan boarding parties or sipping Meridor with the ruler of the Gorn Hegemony. They’re toeing the line to explore familar concepts in a new format (like serialized short form TV) and like, that’s fine! For crying out loud the Ferengi popped up in an Enterprise episode and most people tend to regard that as funny without ripping their hair out!

Have there been some changes to canon I’m a bit lukewarm about (see, the Gorn being as xenomorph-adjacent and unsympathetic as they were in All Those Who Wander) sure, yes, absolutely! Do I think it obliterates the canon of TOS, in which the Gorn only show up in a single episode with very little and vague lore around them? No!

The Doylist explanation, even if it hurts, is that a lot of meta aspects of TOS are falling out of favor or otherwise obsolete. NOT the stories or the characters for certain, but other fundamental building blocks are frozen in the context they were created in. Trying to adhere to them would severely limit any writer trying to explore that era of Starfleet’s history. So the writers are going to adapt to the spirit if not the precise letter of TOS’s canon.

The Watsonian explanations are numerous, but my favorite interpretation (which you don’t have to like, but maybe it’ll help) is that TOS is still fundementally canon, but the elements that make it inconsistent with other treks or with modern expectations for representation and technology are the result of a “universal translator” sending the truth about our future being translated into a way 1960s audiences could understand. Which is ultimately, kind of what Roddenberry’s desires were in the first place, to show us a better future within the confines of what was then modern TV.