#truly i don't think there will ever be a bigger season than this

[howbrightthemoon]

tell me why I'm getting so emotional over this

I swear, this season was absolutely tv history in the making...our two amazing leads carried the entire season on their shoulders, acted the shit out of their characters, gave us a depiction of a real, genuine love story with all its ups and downs, and gave us a promo/world tour of a lifetime - something I don't think we'll ever see again.

and while some parts of this season felt a little different to previous ones, a shot like this will always bring me back to why I still love Bridgerton so much: family.

🩵

here's to the best season 🥂 🥂 (so far) and a s4 announcement soon please I'm begging

[lokideservesahug]

An Unexpected Crossover

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Pairing:Carlos Alcaraz x F1 pilot!Reader

Notes: I've had this in my mind since Wimbledon but only ever ½ created this. Shout out to @yungbludz for fully bringing me into my Alcaraz era and for indirectly encouraging me to post this (il your work) + (an anon comes out of hiding ig). I have ideas for other parts but Idk if I should continue so feedback is very welcome. This characterisation is probably awful but I've never written for Carlos before. I'm very open to advice though.

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N, the only rookie in Formula 1's 2024 season. But many people get excited at her attending Wimbledon especially after some old interviews resurface...

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You weren't ashamed of your boyfriend, of course not. But mornings like these made the constant speculation, talks and borderline harassment about your relationship worth it.

Moments where you woke up earlier and could watch the first breaking of the morning sun fall out between the gaps in your curtains and onto Carlos' face. You watch as the yellow light frames your boyfriend's face, making him look even more pretty than usual.

In this moment, he looked like the perfect image of sleep. And goodness did he deserve it, especially after his performance, that could only be described as truly outstanding yesterday.

You'd heard what people said about yesterday. Djokovic gave one of his greatest performances ever and Carlos still managed to beat him. Even the thought strikes a chord of pride within you and brings a grin to your face.

A sudden groan however wakes you from your thoughts. "Querida?" You hum in response, looking back down to your boyfriend. He lifts his head up slowly and gives you a familiar look (one that you've learnt that at times like these, means he's questioning why you aren't still glued to his side). You hold in the urge to laugh slightly his pouty face and half asleep fueled strop but that only makes his pout get somehow bigger. "Big baby." You lie down next to Carlos, resting your head on his shoulder and weaving your hand under his shirt. Carlos let's out a slight shiver at the lack of warmth in your hands but also simultaneously hums in content. "Eso está mejor" (That's better)

You roll your eyes. "Then shush you big baby." Already anticipating his next move, you whip out your other arm to cage Carlos' hand to the bed. "Don't even think about pretending to be offended. Just go back to sleep." And that order he happily complies with; well after wriggling his arm from out of your grip only to lay it on your back and rub mindless shapes as he mutters "mujer mandona" (Bossy woman). And before you have the time to respond, (probably about the fact that Carlos gets riled up at stuff like that) you feel the familiar shallow breathing of your boyfriend fan across your hair.

You had to do things at some point today. But you suppose you could sleep in, especially for the Wimbledon Champion.

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Jane had given you some elaborate story for if anyone truly cared enough to ask about your relationship, well at least for your standards. You're pretty sure it went something along the lines of:

1. You and your boyfriend met at the start of last year and began dating soon after (but kept it on the downlow due to your job). However, you were so enamoured with him that despite your PR training, you let the fact that you weren't single slip once or twice.

2. He broke up with you a few months ago, leaving you heartbroken but still being mature and understanding.

3. (Possibly the truest element of the whole story) Carlos kissed you when he won Wimbledon for the second time, which he did.

4. Your ex boyfriend saw, came to a realisation, called you up... you know the rest.

It was very PR polished and you knew it, Jane knew it, but it was what you needed. Some story just yo cover your tracks and make people focus on your racing, not your love live. But it almost made you laugh at what lengths people had to go to. When infact the real story was only:

1. You and Carlos started dating at the start of last year...

That's it. No break up, no heartfelt reunion after you kissed another man. However, you and your boyfriend had a good laugh over the whole story and even led to an interesting conversation a few days ago.

☆-☆-☆-☆-☆

You'd just come home after racing in the simulator all afternoon. You look down at your phone and sigh at the sight of Jane wishing you a nice day, finally ending the conversation. You fight the urge to roll your eyes as you unlock the front door and step inside. You take your shoes off and walk to the living room to try and find Carlos.

And exactly as expected, he's sat on the sofa, scrolling on his phone. He looks up as you enter the room. "Buenas tardes cariño. ¿Cómo estuvo?" (Good afternoon darling, how was it). You sigh and drop back onto the sofa, leaving back on Carlos as he adjusts to put an arm around you. "Meh. Same as usual. Jane finally came up with a cover story..." Carlos hums in intrigue next to you as you explain the ins and outs of what might as well be a well constructed pyramid scheme at this point.

By the time you've finished, you feel well and truly worn out but you seek comfort in the feeling of Carlos absentmindedly rubbing shapes onto your shoulder. "I don't see what the big deal is. I mean I told Juanki ages ago." You feel your whole body tense up as you turn to Carlos... "You did what?" You're only met with Carlos' sheepish, confused face. And oh gosh, you feel like you need to lie down.

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

As always, likes, reblogs and especially feedback is always welcome!

Idk who to tag so I'll tag my usual people but please let me know ow if you don't want yo be tagged in work like this:

Taglist: @nikfigueiredo @mysoulispainted @leclercings @d3kstar @hiireadstuff @a-beaverhausen @nichmeddar @lozzamez3 @stinkyjax @marymustdie @littlesatanicassholebitch @mehrmonga @insanedeathwish @ems-alexandra @a-disturbing-self-reflection @cherry-piee @thatgirlmj

[shut-up-danny-kun]

I've read hundreds of Star Trek TOS fics by now and it never ceases to amuse me how many different ways there are to fuck up Spock's characterization...now hold on just a minute - this post has a more interesting point than “fanfic writers stupid”, I promise you.

Every time, it's a spin on the massacre wheel. It's kind of amazing. Will he be overly emotional to the point where he's not himself anymore? Will he be so cold it's unpleasant and kind of hard to understand how he's lived to this point? Will he be extremely horny for no good reason? Will he speak in a way that sounds complety wrong?

I chuckle and shake my head. Of course, I KNOW what Spock is like, and MY interpretation of him is the most perfect and correct one. Obviously. He's just a very nuanced character, formed by many people in an unconventional way, with traits that seem to contradict each other at first but ultimately form a rich and unique character that so many people fell in love with specifically because he's so complicated...

Or...is he?

Let's entertain the idea that there isn't one correct interpretation of Spock, that all of these messy bits of characterization are not part of a bigger picture, but...just what they are: a product of many people with starkly different visions, working on a show that refuses to properly develop its characters. What then? Well, then Spock is a Rorschach test. Each viewer connects the random dots in their own way, and ignores the ones they don't like.

Let's use an example: me! In my interpretation of Spock (the most correct one, of course) he is, first of all, gay and on the asexual spectrum, reserved, largely uninterested in casual flirting or sex. When he is interested in the aforementioned things, he tends to be quite ashamed of it.

Makes sense, right? I can show you plenty of evidence for why that could be true. However, in the beginning of the first bloody season, Uhura sings a song about how Spock is actually kind of a heartthrob who likes to drive women insane with how hot he is, and Spock smiles. He smiles at her, as if agreeing and being very amused by all this! This interaction goes against pretty much everything I think about Spock. So what do I do? I explain it away in the most bizzare fucking way possible. See, Uhura and Spock are friends (there is no evidence for this), and Uhura knows everything I've just told you about him (through telepathy I guess? Not like he'd ever tell her!) and she's just trolling him (why would she do that? That is NOTHING like Uhura!). I need to do some Olympics-level mental gymnastics here, the opposite of Occam's razor.

“But Danny,” I hear you say, “it's just the start of the show! They hadn't figured out his character yet!”

To which I say: you can say that about anything! You can blame it all on a bad writer for that episode, and ignore virtually any scene that doesn't jive with your headcanons. It's there, and I can't ignore it.

So...how am I different from the people that want Spock to be thar heartthrob Uhura is singing about? That evidence is as much a part of canon as my favorite lines. Well, I'm not any different, that's the thing. And all those writers I complained about also have a point.

It's kind of a nihilistic take, I know, but maybe the reason Spock is such a cultural icon is because he is...whatever you want him to be: just concrete enough to spur on your imagination, yet vague and contradictory enough to let your brain fill in the gaps.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely do not believe in this. In my mind, it just so happens that I'm one of the, like, 5 people ever who truly understood Spock (and one of them is Jim Kirk himself). But I still think it's something worth thinking about next time you're mad at a fic.

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Fine I'll talk about Bridgerton

One thing this season made really clear to me is that Lady Whistledown is in a way a coping mechanism. It was stared by a lonely, neglected, unhappy seventeen year old girl who felt like she could scream until she collapsed to the ground and it would be into a void because no one would fucking listen to her.

Her mother constantly berates and criticises her, her father (while alive) barely speaks to her and is seen off to the side drinking when he's meant to be chaperoning her, her sisters are openly cruel to her and are still favoured by their mother. She has few friends, and the two relationships she holds closest both have significant blocks to them, with Colin it's her unrequited feelings and..... tbh her and Eloise's friendship is a whole different post and while they clearly mean the world to each other, there where fundamentally issues long before Lady Whistledown was so much as a drop of ink. I think they are both at fault for them and I love both of them, but Eloise's biggest issue comes from just not listening to her and in general as a person having a bad case of tunnel vision and hyper focusing on certain things while completely missing others.

Pen is outcast from society from the moment she steps foot in it, ridiculed and despised by those around her and bullied by girls her age for literally no fucking reason. She is seen as unattractive and undesirable, she believes the fundamentally human want to be loved a silly childish delusion because she is told from every angle that she is not worth it. She's not even worth listening to.

I think her resentment and hurt had been building for a while, she's never under any assumption that she will be treated or seen better. How could she be? When she is constantly reminded how much she fails to be what is wanted or respected or valued, primarily by her own damn family. Still, she's a kind girl. She's sweet and attentive and a good listener, she's patient and reliable and, before Whistledown started, probably extremely loyal, if how much guilt she felt whenever she genuinely betrayed someone says anything. She's someone who has never felt or had any power, who has so much hurt and resent and bitterness from years of this shit building and building.

But she's also smart and witty and funny and extremely intelligent. She has a talent for writing and words and clearly has the potential to be successful. I think being pushed into society a year earlier than she wanted (again, because her mother wouldn't listen) pushed her over the edge. She wrote her observations, the things she learnt from being pushed to the side for so long down, and published them. I don't think she ever intended for it to be as big as it was, and I think the bigger it got and still gets the more in over her head she is. Because for once people listened, for once people cared, for once what she thought and said and worked for mattered.

It is a young girl gaining her first glimpse at power and being deeply unprepared for the consequences. When things go wrong and she doesn't know what to do and no one will listen to her as Penelope, this is the only way she can make them. No matter how disastrous the affects, using Whiseldown gets results, it just also hurts people, pushing her further and further down this cycle where Whistledown is one of the only thing that makes her feel better and allows her to process the things in her life, while hurting the people around her and making her more dependent on it.

She truly meant to give up Whistledown after the disaster with Eloise, but on that night she had her connection or trust from the two people who she cared about and who cared about her the most broken. With the fight with Eloise and then overhearing Colin she lost both of them in the span of an hour, what else dose she have aside from her writing?

And again at the ball in episode one. Even after a complete upheaval of her entire look she still fails to talk to those guys, she still isn't enough, it's proof it is not her youth or her mother influence something fundamental in her can't do this. Then Cressida rips her dress with Eloise standing right there, then Colin comes and (even tho she is incorrect) confirms to her that he too, is embarrassed by her. So what dose she do? When she's miserable and powerless? She writes. She takes it all out in Whistledown and says the (admittedly true which is why it hurt so much tbh) cruel things about Colin, which she regrets literally a day later after actually talking to him. Adding more guilt and keeping her stuck in this cycle.

It's a business definitely, and there are many parts of Whistledown she genuinely enjoys, but I don't think it's good for her. It hurts the people around her and it hurts herself, she's in over her head and definitely knows she should stop, but I don't think she knows how. She doesn't let herself rely on others enough to be okay without this one thing that has allowed her to cope and be heard and respected and valued. That's also why I think she couldn't have stopped before this season, now she's finally getting that, she's finally being listened to and respected and valued and being told she is worth something. Not by many people, and it is still too new to change the fundamental thought patters about it she has, but it's a start.

Now she just has to grapple with that fact that this thing that has given her a voice and found her comfort might just be the dealbreaker for the real people in her life who can actually offer her the love and care and respect she deserves and craves and has been denied for so so long. It sucks and it's a cycle she can't get out of now, she's made her own trap without knowing how she did it.

That's what happens when a 17 year olds coping mechanism continues and grows and expands for years, when people unknowing pay to see more of it, and when she doesn't really know what else to do. Whistledown is Pens choice and all her actions for better or worse, but it would not exist without the context of her life. It would not exist if Portia was a better mother, if she had better sisters or a better family. It would not exist of other girls her age were kinder to her, if they excluded her a little less. It would not exist if she were not seen as a lost cause for love before she had the chance to try. Lady Whistledown would not exist if someone just fucking listened to her.

[miwiheroes]

so i truly believe that byler will be endgame. but one thing that still confuses me is the talk between mike and el in the grocery store. what was the whole point behind it and how does add up to mike liking Will if he's trying to explain that he loves el in some weird mike way? you get what i mean? it just doesn't make any sense in my head. so do you have any explanation for that whole conversation?

Hi! Thanks for the ask

I actually really think this scene is a very queercoded scene. So now Mike is actually trying to apologise to El for the things he's done over the past season. He's trying to tell her that he loves her, but he physically can't bring himself to say it. When I first watched this scene, I originally thought that makes sense since he's just a teenage boy and their relationship is played with some humour anyways. But now that we have season 4, it feels like this is a bigger issue than just this scene.

The reason for him not saying I love you to her is literally so hard for me to articulate, since I personally have never had internalised homophobia, but the best rendition i can ever really get is literally from a video by the Daniel Howell from epic duo Dan and Phil (yes, really): So if you're interested in why he can't say it to her due to internalised homophobia, watch this video at from timestamps 18:08 to 18:44.

I honestly don't believe it was him being too scared to admit it, I think it was him being to scared to say it. As if he'll know he's lying as soon as he says it. And I know this because he tries to get her her to say it instead. As if the words are dirty in his mouth.

It's a pretty strange thing to do to write such a conversation in a heavily frustrating manner as this one. It's meant to frustrate the viewer, it's meant to mirror what Mike's feeling. And how is that a characteristic of an endgame couple? It also just shows that they simply aren't on the same page. They don't really get each other.

When El doesn't understand, Mike tries to drag it out as long as possible until they get interrupted. When they do get interrupted by the walkie talkie, he POUNCES on that shit, very happy for an excuse to get out of it.

As for the details of the conversation itself, they are very interesting.

Mike describes the feeling of being 'in love' as something that 'old people say to each other'.

This shows that he views being in love as something that is just part of growing up. He views his relationship with El as something he has to do in order to not be a kid anymore. He emulates his parents' relationship, which might I add, is loveless. So he copies what his parents do, which is saying 'I love you', despite not meaning it.

Right after saying this^^ he says that you eventually get girlfriends, so it's pretty clear that he thinks that in order to not be seen as a kid, he needs to get over Will and just be with a woman. Mike is in a relationship for reasons other than love, just like his parents.

ALSO THIS WHOLE CONVO IS PROOF THAT HE AT LEAST USED TO LOVE WILL DGASJHD

In his words, he describes love as something that 'makes you crazy' and tries to get El to understand through that. And may I harp on about the fact that Mike says to Will they should just go CRAZY together hello??? And Will, in that scene, instantly understands and agrees. It just shows that he views his feelings about Will as love, at least subconsciously, but this time is viewing it as something he needs to grow out of and replicate with El.

This is not even a parallel, it's more like a perpendicular. It literally showcases the exact difference between the two relationships through using the same words.

So yeah, that's what I think of that conversation between Mike and El. All in all, Mike can't actually say the words 'I love you' because they feel dirty to say when they aren't truthful, so he tries to get El to say it. She doesn't understand what he's saying because they aren't on the same page about anything. He tries to explain in terms he understands; his subconscious feelings about Will and the way that his parents say I love you to each other. He views his feelings about Will as childish and sees being with a woman as part of growing up, no matter if you're actually in love, all because of his parents.

<33

[markantonys]

I truly think WoT is a well written, well acted show but you never see praise for it like that from most of the fandom (unless I'm following the wrong people). You see people praising GoT and HoTD like it's the best thing ever when I'm bored most of the time. Never anything similar said for WoT. I hope it does make it big in following seasons and gets more appreciation cause I truly think the show is underrated

i haven't seen GOT or HOTD so i can't speak to any comparisons there, but i agree that WOT is underrated! it feels like most of the viewership is either casuals who aren't Online About It and hardcore book fans who spend all their energy discussing book vs. show topics - not always in a negative way, i'm also including in here the show-positive discussions about improvements on the books or speculation for future seasons, but even these discussions are so rooted in book vs. show land that not a lot of people stop to discuss the show in a vacuum. it's often about "how is it similar to and different from the books?" and rarely about appreciating the show as its own standalone work.

which i think could be a difference with GOT and HOTD, they probably have a larger number of hardcore show-only fans who are Online About It discussing show-only things in detail such as writing and acting, whereas in my personal experience, WOT online fandom spaces are VERY dominated by book fans and they aren't talking as much about show-only things, or when they do, it's just to mistake "i personally don't like this change from the books" for "this is objectively bad writing and everybody who has ever watched the show agrees that the writing of the entire show is bad" lmao WOT reader fandom spaces have a reeeeaaaally skewed sense of the quality of the show's writing because they can't let go of their "similar to the books=good writing, different from the books=bad writing" baggage and also because they struggle to understand that good writing For TV is often very different from good writing For Books.

there's definitely also at play the societal tendency to praise miseryporn and characters who are terrible people as the creme de la creme of writing and acting. WOT has trauma and misery, but doesn't revel in it in a gratuitous way, and it has very flawed and complex characters, but the protagonists are all ultimately good people. it's a hopeful and uplifting story at its core and a story that wholeheartedly embraces its fantastical elements and wants to bring a sense of fun and escapism to viewers alongside the deep emotional stuff, and those are rarely taken as seriously as gritty cynical stories. hence, WOT is not viewed as a ~serious~ show worthy of having its acting & writing praised in the same way that GOT and HOTD are.

but WOT does do pretty good viewership numbers despite being kinda under the radar in the cultural consciousness, i think. i could see it gaining more attention in upcoming seasons as we enter the territory of the books that most people agree is the best portion of the series, and if they are finally able to do a proper promo cycle for s3 and beyond. from what i've seen, prime shows are never anywhere close to the level of promo netflix shows do (which is TOO much in some cases, rip to the poor bridgerton cast having to do about five thousand hours of interviews for s3), but WOT s1 came out during the covid zoom interview era and s2 came out during the strikes, so it's not hard to imagine that those 2 promo cycles might've been unusually low even for prime's standards and s3 might have a bit more. we shall see!

but at the end of the day, it's also kinda nice keeping wotshow as a hidden gem because greater online fandom attention would also mean an increase in insufferable takes haha i often find that smaller fandoms are a much more pleasant atmosphere than bigger ones!

[spiegelgestalt]

Some nuance: War of the Rohirrim is actually really bad at the "war" part - but that doesn't matter

So I looked at some reviews for this movie and outside of tumblr it was a bit of a shit show. And that astonished me. Because i truly believe that this movie got the essentials of LotR really right, while having some flaws over all. I watched this movie with my older brother who is a huge LotR nerd and who agreed with me, that this was a return to old form. He even send me the part of the apendixes were this story is from - its pretty lore accurate (he's that kind of nerd) So where are all these so called LotR fans coming from who hated this movie? It can't just be sexism, right? RIGHT???!! So that got me thinking: I think it depends what you liked about LotR. Did you like the emotions, the corny speeches, the hope against all despair or did you like the fights/epic battles? And if you liked the action/fight scenes/epic battles i have another question for you: Why the fuck did you ever like those movies? Because the action in LotR was always bad - and it was bad exactly in the way it's bad in war of the Rohirrim

TL/DR War of the Rohirrim did understand what was important in the fights. Helm Hammerhand fighting through the whole night and than standing there frozen to death in front of the gates will always be a top ten moment for me even if it doesn't make any sense. Hera riding out in a white wedding dress and fighting for her people (who may or may not use that moment to flee - or maybe just stay to stare in horror) is fucking great - the old shield maiden throwing her shield is what it's all about. And if you don't see that ... I mean... maybe go watch GoT or something - it might be that LotR isn't for you.

longer rambly explanation under the cut

Let's start with the truth: The Locations in War of the Rohirrim doesn't make any sense and it's truly hurting the flow of the big battles: Why does Helm Hammerhand leave Edoras to fight on a plain when he has walls and a mountain in his favor if he just stays in Edoras. (GoT had similar issues in the last season - why oh why did you have your soldiers in front of the wall - do you know what walls are for???) how are the refugees from Edoras that fast in helms Deep (it used to take multiple weeks. Saruman even had time attacking them on the way...), how many doors does Edoras have and how many are burning? And how close was the fight to Edoras? and if it was so close that you could get back there in minutes (?) why not just fight in Edoras? Did no one notice the people escaping? Why does no one use arrows the way the were intended and shoot Wulf? Did soldiers stay behind to defend the hornburg or not? And man o man just one tower for getting into helms deep? the hornburg truly fell off - the orks needed at least 10 and dynamite ... i could go on and it would not matter because:

The LotR franchise - (excluding the amazon series which does not exist and won't be talked about in this house - I HATE THAT SERIES and i hate what they did to Galadriels character.... I digress) - Let me start again: LotR was always bad at big battle scenes/war scenes. Especially if it comes to location. it used to do well with fight scenes in close quarters. Aragon vs. the nazgul was great for example. the first battle in helms deep (even if it had some issues) But even those early fight scenes were often carried by the dialogue. Gandalf vs. the Balrog if you take out this really cool image of the giant Balrog and the small Gandalf - and if you take out Gandalfs epic dialogue - not a super interesting fight just choreography wise. And the bigger the location the bigger the problems - Arwen fleeing from the nazgul has some issues because sometimes the nazgul are really really close and than Arwen is way ahead again and its not always clear why. the whole ending scene were Merry and Pippin are kidnapped is really confusing if you try to figure out were everyone is? The whole battle in minas tirith is a shit show . Also horses. Sometime they are there and sometimes not. These are nitpicks. This stuff doesn't bother me. . The good battles in LotR are always linked to finding your courage in the face of despair: Beomer fighting on while being shot with three arrows, Theoden riding out one last time because it's the right thing to do. Even Aragon taking on all of Mordor in the third movie count. It's holding on to hope in complete darkness until the morning arrives - and the saviors come and kill all the enemies instantly. And sometimes you can quip if you want to. The heros are completly save until it's thematically relevant to kill them. (aragon went over a fucking cliff and was fine!! He just needed a pep talk from his girlfriend) That's what LotR IS! The hobbit movies were bad because they forgot about that part - i remember in the third hobbit movie that i could care less about the armies that fought and thats because there wasn't enough character scenes and corny speeches to motivate me to care. and if you dont have that you really notice how flimsy and badly written the fight scenes often are. The movie cut of RotK had the same issues. They even fumbled the Eowyn fight a bit - which is my favorite fight in the book because Eowyn is so fucking desperate - it's basically her suicide attempt via nazugul and the movie they didn't get that at all... i digress again: (SN want to talk about Mary Sues? Look me in the eye and tell me that Legolas in the third Hobbit movie wasn't the biggest Mary Sue there is?)

So let me ask again: if you watch LotR for the fight scene/battles and didn't like the cornyness... why the fuck do you like LotR?

[babyboy555777]

I just want to talk about Pen and Colin in the new season. I get it not everyone will understand either side. Like as why everyone is so excited for Pen and Colin, or why Pen is lady whistle down, or why Colin is yes hot but still cringe this new season, why their love story felt so fast.

>Pen is lady whistle down for a true reason, a very good reason in fact. If you watch the whole show, you see that everyone, she is around never listens to her. Never will ask her anything. Will never ask how she is feeling or listen to what she has to say. Just think about lady whistle down. EVERYONE listens to her. They want the gossip. They want what's new. People get excited to just get her paper when she writes. They will ready every word on that paper and yet look for more. This makes Pen feel amazing because even if no one knows who lady whistle down is, they still read that paper. They still talk about everything that was written. SHES BEING HEARD and that's all she ever wanted. Her mother, sisters, best friend, and even Colin never truly listen to her, but they do as her secret identity. She may not be in the right by spreading gossip but in her mind, it is the right, and it feels good. but you can even see after she writes about someone, she loves she feels the deepest regrets and wishes she never did. she would rather be unheard and in the dark then get angry at someone once and write awful things about them.

>Everyone might not be excited for Pen and Colin and it truly shows where you stand in this world, and how you were as a teen in love. The people that are truly excited about it are the same ones who had many different crushes on people growing up, but never being the crush. I relate to Pen so much. Wanting to be with a guy and having such strong feeling for him but holding it all back because of insecurities. Being a bigger girl, you do not tell a guy you have a crush on them unless they say so first. And even then, you don't because it could just be a joke. She truly loves Colin deeply but holds back her feeling because of who she is (Or who she is told who she is) her mother ofc thinks she will never be married and never find a husband because of her looks and the fact that she is in her books all the time. She wants to be treated like the girls in her books. To be loved not to matter of looks but based on just a true love connection.

>Colin may have had a glow up this season and be hot, but a lot of people are hating his acts because well it's not him. He's meant to be a gentle lover. A sweet man. He's meant to be the sweetest of the brothers. Yet here is trying to be like them because that's how every man he's around like. He goes out and has sex with random women and even then, he stares at the wall because all he can think about is Pen. ONE KISS RUINED THIS MAN. He knows now that is what true love feels like. He dreams of her and yearns for her all the time. He shamelessly stares at her at all these balls. He wants her now that he has felt that spark. He doesn't care what anyone else is thinking all he cares about is that he can look at her and see her true beauty. I also think he always had feelings for her but since they were both friends (Best friends at that) It might have felt shameful to like her in that way.

>Their love story was not fast. It was a slow burn. We were all lost in the other Bridgerton's love stories to really focus on them. They have been friends for years. They both have subtly flirted with each other even if the other didn't see it or think too much about it. Colin NEEDED that kiss from her to truly feel that connection. He saw her that night as a true love rather than someone who he has been friends with for years. He saw her in such a different light. Same with Pen she saw Colin in a different light. He got on his knees for her for god's sake. If you would have told season one Pen that her and her crush would be making out in a carriage and he would be on his knees for her, she would think you were losing your mind because "He is only just a friend" they deserve this passion because even if we see Pen wanting it more in other seasons rather than Colin he still wanted it deep down but didn't know he could even feel that way to her. Also, him being jealous for her finally being on her way to marriage is so real. He should have been. I think she would have ended up cutting I off herself if she saw Colin wasn't jealous. AND THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY

[augustameretrix]

thinking about the choice of making vi and cait the only two main characters who don't show any scientific/technological nor artistic proclivities but are only truly adept at some form of combat. assuming it was intentional - and I'm inclined to believe that on some level it was - I'm guessing what this does for their characters is kinda... signify them as "simple-minded" if you will, unsophisticated if you will, not stupid clearly, emotionally-driven, rather transparent and direct, and relegate them to the realm of of pure action. they have principles and ideas, and they're even morally rigorous ones, sure, but their concrete plans are medium-lenght at best, their first immediate instict when they hear about something going on is to go and do, and they're always doing something "out there" - contrast this with jinx's disinterest in things that she feels she can neither break nor fix, or ekko's extreme care in running the firelights, both traits that are concretely visualized in jinx secluding herself in her lab with her trinkets and creations and ekko inventing new things out of piltie tech as well as taking the time to make the community beautiful, colorful and vibrant with his wall art. when are vi or cait ever implied to have taken a substantial amount of time to stop and engage in something theoretical, like engineering or art, that requires a high level of abstraction from the world and some amount of systematic self-reflection - to hone one's skills, to meditate on what one's doing.

you could argue that combat techniques involve complex cognitive processes as well, and it's true, but in neither's case does the combat skill remain a mere hobby, nor is it something than on its own can be a special way of contemplating the world (I'm not talking about any philosophy of combat here). caitlyn's entire character could be roughly summed up with grayson's line "what are you shooting for?", which is a fully ethical question. vi's case is even more obvious, her fists mean nothing unless she's using them to protect someone.

and on the one hand, I think this works because it makes them clear, readable and defined, "confident" characters, rarely idle or indecisive (pitfighter vi is the - visually exciting - example of what happens if they ever run out of inertia), they're always up to something, and I think that's part of what makes them good heroes, a good pair of heroes at that: they're both extremely motivated and tireless in their pursuit of justice and compliment each other perfectly.

on the other hand - and this is less about the trait in question and more about the way act 2 and 3 of season two work - when the story took a more "high concept" route and the stakes became significantly bigger than cait or vi, now that pouring their hearts out is no longer sufficient, what are they doing? what are they thinking? who are they? caitlyn in part (and only in part) avoids fading into the background because at least one half of the whole mess was her fault and the fight against ambessa subverts our expectations (about her combat!!!) in an interesting way, but vi.... vi's character's kinda lost in the sauce man, she punches the air hoping that something will stick, metaphorically and literally. and granted something does stick, but it's limited in scope and while that wasn't a problem in season 1 it is now. it's not that she's now detatched from the world around her, because she's still always in the thick of it, it's that her actions seem to have little to no consequences, and the world at large has suddenly become much bigger than what she can chew.

and I get why some were underwhelmed by the caitvi resolution being left where it was left, with no subsequent team-up, because it was always about the two of them working together - and the most important bit of that phrase isn't the 'together', believe it or not, but it's the 'working'. vi and caitlyn help each other helping others.

now would this have been fixed by making either one of them more scientifically or artistically minded? no, I don't think so, the show could've kept them exactly as they are and at the same time handled them better. however vi especially could have benefited from some general distancing factor, once the plot stopped strictly revolving about the class conflict between zaun and piltover. also just like. vi and caitlyn beating up noxians in the final battle for like one minute now THAT is fanservice but I would've loved it

[acourtofthought]

Eluciens: Elain said she needs sunshine and Lucien is heir to the Day Court. It makes sense.

Elriels: Elain can actually get all the sunshine she needs in the Night Court with Azriel, and there's no proof Lucien will ever take over the Day Court. So, sorry, I guess 🤷‍♀️

Me: Elain can get all the sunshine she needs in the NIGHT Court with Azriel, who prefers the shadows? 🤦‍♀️ There's no proof that Lucien is the heir of Day?

Lucien: One of the reasons my brothers abused me was because I have the signs of a future High Lord.

Feyre, after hearing how Lucien spent his childhood and youth: That sounds very much like a High Lord.

Feyre in acowar: Lucien is Helion's son and quite possibly his only child. This means Lucien is more than likely Helion's heir.

ALLLLLL of that. Truly, I think they're just struggling to grasp Sarah's writing and the literary devices she uses. There were stars and a night sky in the Spring Court yet Feyre taking comfort while looking at the night sky and painting stars on her drawer were foreshadowing for her ending up in the Night Court, not staying in Spring. The NC being a place associated with Night and Stars. Did Feyre need to be in the Night Court because she's a night owl? A stargazer? Should Sarah have forced her character to remain in Spring because it also had night and stars and that should have been enough for her? There is a bigger meaning behind Sarah using references to sunshine and stars and the night sky beyond temperature and time of day.

We're not saying Elain needs sunshine 24 / 7 that is X amount of distance away from the equator else she'll die from an insufficient supply of Vitamin D. I do think she isn't the biggest fan of winter considering it's written that she misses the flowers during that season but it's about what sunshine represents metaphorically just as it was about what darkness and the stars represented for Feyre and Rhys and their court. The Night Court to many represents a court that is lethal, that is darkness and shadows, that is cruelty. Of course we know the IC are considered the good guys when it comes to Velaris but they don't have that same reputation to others. Feyre left the Spring Court, a land of flowers and eternal Spring and embraced the darkness inside of her, the willingness to burn down everyone who dares stand in her path to protect those she loves. She admits that she became a monster to do so, to embrace the darkness after staring at it for so long. There is imagery to the NC and the way it's described that matches the personality of Feyre, of Rhys, of Nesta, of Az, etc.

Just as there is imagery associated with courts like the Day Court, Spring Court. Courts who are not notorious for being quite so lethal, so cruel, etc. That's not to say the HL's aren't all capable of becoming "beasts" to protect their lands however they do not have the reputation that the NC does, they are not known for the same sort of cruelty. It's not just about the reference to Sunshine for Elain, it's how "any bit of darkness was abhorrent" for her. How "the cruelty of the Hewn City troubles her". (the NC is KNOWN for it's cruelty and it's spymaster brutally tortures people in a symphony of pain). Every single thing the Night Court is known for the author has gone out of her way to address how it goes against Elain's aesthetic. Night Court black? It sucks the life out of her. So many try to attribute this to the style of her dress but it specifically mentions the color. Illyrian leathers? Elain refused them. Az's dagger? Elain gave it back "and didn't look back." There was no, "hey can I have lessons?" No, "Elain thanked Az and returned it." It was very pointed how the author added she did not look back. Mor offering Elain a drink? Elain declined and took up a spot by the sunniest of windows (typical). Sure, Elain made friends and sure Elain has a purpose but those things had ALWAYS made Elain special. What is not a fit for Elain is being surrounded by warriors who have no issue taking out brutal revenge against others when she is in canon known for her kindness and is bothered by cruelty, who does not want revenge, who did not even want to take credit for what she did to the king. Of course these are all the good guys but the NC and those in the IC represent a darker, morally gray version of good, the lethal side of things, the colder edge of someones personality. Sunshine isn't just about the bright burning ball in the sky, it's about light and warmth and life, it's about what sunshine represents. Both Lucien and Elain's personality are more symbolic of the sun than that of the night and stars. They are good and kind and they are the peace makers of the main cast of characters. They at times struggle to pick one side and hold fast because they don't want to disappoint anyone, they often see both sides to a situation. They don't seek revenge, they both are openly affectionate and go out of their way to make amends for their mistakes. Elucien's don't think Elain will end up with Lucien because he's the literal sun (though he will also have that too), they think she'll end up with Lucien because her sunny disposition is a better fit for the sunnier disposition Lucien also has over the cold, icy rage of someone like Azriel. Az is the Night Court, he embodies everything those outside the NC fear. Lucien is very different from that just as Elain is very different from her sisters (who are a fit for the NC).

Yes, Elain would probably be happier in a court that has more sunshine just as many Hawaiians are probably happier living in Hawaii than Alaska because they prefer the climate there but that's such a tiny part of the point we're making. Elucien's call them a "golden couple" for their personalities and the aesthetic that matches that would be a place like the Spring Court or the Day Court, not the Winter Court or the Night Court. Not because the Night Court is lacking sunshine but because the Night Court is a whole lot of things that Elain and Lucien are not. To your other point, I don't even know what to say when people try to downplay Lucien's heritage. Sarah retconned his father, he's now a person of color as a result, yet some people want to still sit there and claim it's not going to be important to his future arc? That his Autumn powers are all that will matter because those are the main powers we've seen him wield before his book? In the novella we're reminded that Helion being his father is still a secret that Feyre has not shared. In SF we're shown how he used dominance that only a HL can use on others. But sure, Sarah is going to decide to make that all a moot point for his story, where he's just not going to inherit anything from Helion outside spell-cleaving, how he's not going to have any reason to explore his Day Court heritage, how he's probably not going to be a HL (or in some position of extreme power) even though she's ALREADY shown us the markers of a HL heir. The funniest thing is, Lucien didn't even need to be Helion's son to be right for Elain. His personality alone (regardless of his powers) was what surprised Sarah when she realized he and Elain would be right for one another. It was after Sarah realized that he and Elain would be mates that SHE rewrote Lucien to be Helion's (the sun personified) son and it was after she made Elain and Lucien mates that Sarah really went hard on Elain needing Sunshine, sitting by the sunniest of windows, being bothered by cruelty, refusing the leathers, and so on. Sarah unknowingly then knowingly crafted Elain and Lucien to be a perfect compliment to one another so the whole argument about "sunshine" and how the NC also has it, how Elain isn't a plant therefore it shouldn't matter how much sun she's getting are ridiculous. Elain was able to make a home for herself in the Night Court as she was able to do in the human lands even during poverty but that doesn't mean the author hasn't told us all we need to know about how neither the Night Court or Az will be her destiny.

[familyagrestefanblog]

Hi! Been loving reading through all your Miraculous reblogs and the meta you've written - you have some really great stuff on this blog! I was curious if you've ever written/reblogged anything talking about how, from the very start of the show, Miraculous uses Tikki as Marinette's absolver? Marinette "makes mistakes" and "owns up to them" according to Astruc's tweets, but I find myself feeling that the "accountability" she takes is rarely related to what she did wrong in the first place, even when the show tries to tell us otherwise, and it's usually Tikki or a different yes-man, like Alya or Adrien, absolving her of her mistakes, whether the situation had anything to do with them or not. Ikari Gozen is an episode that always comes to mind for this - Marinette is absolutely terrible to Kagami, sabotaging her, badmouthing her, and going through her phone. Marinette never expresses remorse to anyone but Tikki, but Tikki absolved her so the narrative never addresses the issue again. Tikki tells her "it's never too late to make things right" and Marinette invites Kagami out for juice without ever taking accountability for her previous actions. And Kagami just GOES with it, even stating that SHE was wrong about Marinette and that she understand why Adrien values her. I I will admit, I don't really like Marinette as a character, because I find her consistent self-absorption, and the narrative's endorsement of it, to be really maddening, but I'm pretty new to the fandom, and the subreddit isn't a great place to find thoughtful analysis, so I'm looking for perspectives here! Thank you for your time!

Hey, thank you so much for your kind words! <3 sorry for taking so long. I've had my ask box deactivated for several years now and i completely forgot about me already having started replying in my drafts. 😭👏

__

No, I don't think I've ever written or reblogged something about Marinette's dynamic with Tikki, but I do have thought about it. For me, their dynamic is just lacking much... idk, substance? I remember reading from Marinette stans that they think Marinette and Tikki have a much deeper bond than Adrien and Plagg which is something I simply cant understand at all. Plagg is the only person Adrien actually truly HAS in all the neglect and bad treatment he's stuck in from all sides. Plagg takes on so many roles for his kid and has grown so much because Adrien needed it.

The thing is, Tikki and Marinette's dynamic is very different so I'm just not able to properly read them because I personally would need a Plagg in my life and that's perfectly fine. That's why I dont talk about them.

But about your point now:

I definitely agree that Tikki is one of the main indicators about what is wrong about the way Marinette is written as protagonist, especially since the retooling in season 4. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Tikki also used to have a bigger presence in the how which was by now mostly made redundant by Alya always being with Marinette and in season 4 Marinette (unnecessarily and dangerously) keeping all the Kwamis outside the box all times so they too stole screen time from Tikki.

So Tikki lost alot of her personality. I believe to remember her also being more energetic and excited in the earlier seasons, showing off more to her character, which would by now make her yet another character the show sucked alot of their life out of so they aren't in the way for Marinette. Tikki seems alot more down these days, that I definitely noticed.

Marinette has Alya now, if that makes Tikki sad because she isn't relying on her the way she did before then Tikki has to deal with it quietly and not bother Marinette (seriously, Tikki reminds me ALOT of Adrien and they're both treated badly in the narrative for Marinette’s sake :/)

And this reduced characterization makes it by now very noticeable imo that Tikki herself as a Kwami often doesn't really know what is going on because she lacks experience with alot of things. I wholeheartedly agree that Tikki is one of Marinette's strongest and most damaging enablers because Tikki is because of it not actually allowed to be challenged in her dynamic with Marinette the way Plagg is with Adrien. Where Plagg is allowed to grow, Tikki is kept the same because Marinette is not allowed to be really pushed back on.

The show has to my memory always been quite open about Tikki not being familiar with alot of things so Marinette can explain things to her. The problem comes, as you say, from the show then weirdly still acting like Tikki saying some random vaguely positive thing about whatever Marinette just did.. suddenly meaning it doesn't need to be taken care of anymore?

It's the same thing as the show has Adrichat, Alya or Luka do. Most of what the narrative and Marinette as the main character want to hear at this point is being told positive things whenever something went wrong. If that positive thing actually holds any water the way it was executed is beyond irrelevant which reflects incredibly badly especially on Marinette because she is the main beneficiary.

Again, remember Cat Charming in "Kuro Neko". From Marinette's perspective he should have no valid opinion on the Ladynoir conflict AT ALL because he just arrived half an hour ago and never even met Chat Noir in her eyes. But still, Marinette made him the deciding voice of the Ladynoir conflict, absolving her of all blame to entirely put it on Chat Noir, because Cat Charming validated her and said positive things about her mistakes so she doesn't have to really think about them as mistakes anymore if she wishes to not have been in the wrong.

Which for the show somehow equals that she isn't and they aren't real mistakes anymore she should genuinely work on (and therefore still hasn't really beyond surface level)?

Who tf cares if this is literally not how it works and how badly it reflects on Marinette as a character that any random dipshit can walk up to her, validate her, and she'll just... GO with it (making Marinette ironically the most endangered person regarding Cerise now because that girl has plenty of identities and Marinette doesn't give a damn who's validating her as long as she's validated by a person not explicitly telling her they're evil)

Where was I? Ah, Tikki!

Tikki is at the end of the day yet another character who's kindness is kinda weaponized by now by Marinette's narrative.

We've reached a point where one kinda has to say that Marinette shouldn't be told optimistically positive things anymore because not rarely will these words just be used to sweep Marinette's biggest flaws under the rug when it really wouldn't have hurt anyone to simply cover the damn conflict at hand.

As you said, there are writing rules, but I think they were "Marinette has to make a mistake every episode" and "Marinette has to learn something every episode". And as you correctly said, these two things often don't necessarily go hand in hand. To the point where the thing she learns is making the initial mistake even worse (I wanted to look for a more precise example, but at this point it's literally all of Ladynoir)

Which of course absolves her of having to properly take her blame or accountability in ot of cases, too. If I were to approach it in bad faith, I would say that this is exactly the reason why the writing rules don't specify that the lesson learned needs to be about the mistake she made... and that's exactly what I'm saying. Bad faith sounds rather realistic to me.

I remember someone having had made a post where they explained that Marinette as protagonist is written like a villain or antagonist, and the more I look at all the aspects of this show the more does that take check out.

__

(damn, I am out of PRACTICE in responding to asks! I hope I didn't talk right past the point you wanted to hear in my response. If I did, please clarity with another ask, I'm not sensitive to that)

[aemondsbabe]

I'm so sorry this is quite big 😭 don't feel like you have to read it all.

Thank you so much for answering my ask about what you thought of the episode, I so adore speaking with you about it because you're genuinely sensible about things. <3

I completely agree with you, on everything! I see so many people calling Aemond all sorts of things; misogynistic, power hungry, evil, villain, and so on. But I think that's such a... shallow way of seeing things, isn't it? It upsets me to see it, I feel like they don't consider the bigger picture when saying that about him, don't consider his story or everything else that happened.

I think the look on his face, how he was damn near tears, when Alicent touched him says so much, shows so much of how he's truly feeling in that moment, it's like his mask slips a little; as you said, I feel like a bigger part of his actions come from how hurt he is by her and her own actions towards him, directly and otherwise. How she blames him for the war and still holds affection for Rhaenyra, as we've previously talked of. I agree that he maybe does feel compelled to punish her, and with reason; as you said, to him it looks like abandonment; abandonment from the only person who was ever on his side, damn, of course that would hurt and get him reacting more with his feelings than his mind. But overall I'd still dare say Aemond loves his mother quite a lot, so much about him revolves around her; and as Ewan himself has said, it's something Aemond wants, he's seeking that approval, that love, he wants to make her happy and proud; but ultimately he's going about it the wrong way, yet the only way he knows.

Also yes! His scenes with Aegon definitely feel like brothers bickering, I would never say that he hates his brother, much less that he meant to kill him. I just agree with all you said about it!

And yes, again lol, I also think the way Aemond presents himself to the "public" is not who he is at all. And this is, again, literally something Ewan has said on multiple occasions (I mean, what else do people need to believe it at this point) how Aemond feels this need to put up a ruthless and cold facade to protect himself, to keep himself from appearing weak because if he's all powerful, no one can hurt him - and honestly, I think it makes a lot of sense given what he's gone through and especially given the glimpses we get of the real him during his vulnerable moments (that I too, deeply wish we got more of). Because even if the writing of the show is not perfect, I do think that this is what they, and especially Ewan, are trying to show with Aemond.

I think a lot of people fail to see that, and sometimes they almost make me believe it too :'), so I thank you for reminding me that he's not inherently evil or uncaring.

- Lyra (I feel like some kind of identification is long overdue 💀)

first of all, never apologize for a long ask! i love long asks!! my favorite thing is hearing other people’s takes on things and sharing opinions and building off of what each other has to say so genuinely, i love this shit!

i agree with everything you have to say! honestly most of my opinions of aemond are based on what ewan has to say about him in interviews because (sadly) the show isn’t giving us much to work with. that’s why i try not to hold it against people who are against him (or anyone else for that matter) or who don’t see the dimension that is there — shitty writing will build a shitty audience.

so much of the show and who the characters are lives in subtext and requires people to read between the lines, which, when done well and utilized sparingly can be quite interesting and entertaining! but it almost feels as if there’s too much grey area while being too little at the same time — i feel like my hand is being held in the wrong places, if that makes sense.

also! your ask made me realize that there is suuuuuuuch a parallel going on between aemond and how young!alicent was in season 1 when otto got sent away!!

like at that point in time, alicent had no one at the red keep she felt she could trust fully. her father is gone, rhaenyra has lied to her, and she’s been played like a pawn onto viserys. she’s alone, or at least feels that way. that’s also when we started seeing her lashing out a little, granted in small ways but still — lashing out.

now if we look at aemond, i think he’s in a similar position. he feels he can’t trust his mother anymore because she’s “abandoned” him for rhaenyra and is upset about luke. he was never close with aegon so that’s out the window. helaena is upset with him about aegon. he can’t trust criston because criston is in bed with alicent (idk if aemond knows that but the man isn’t dumb and alicole weren’t exactly subtle) and is loyal to aegon, at the end of the day.

everyone that should conceivably be there for him isn’t — whether that’s actually true or his own insecurity. he can’t even go back to the madame anymore because aegon ruined that. he’s cornered and he’s lashing out.

and it’s such a fantastic parallel between him and his mommy, aw! 😂😅

anyways, thank you lyra!! i so enjoy hearing from you 🩷🩷🩷

[buddiebeginz]

That scene with Eddie and Kim dressed as Shannon is that supposed to be the big emotional scene that was being talked about leading up to this episode? If Tim is expecting me to be invested in a scene like that he's sorely mistaken.

I love Ryan and Eddie but there was too much wrong with that scene for it have any kind emotional impact. I honestly just left it being confused and angry.

In the first place the scene initially came off looking like a dream especially since Kim was styled almost exactly how we saw Shannon talking to Chris in 701. I thought okay Eddie is going to say all these things to dream Shannon that he wanted to say (even get angry with her) things he didn't get to say before she died. Except here's the other problem Tim is trying to prop Shannon up and make her into a better person than she was. He's also trying to make it seem like Eddie had all these huge feelings for her that were never shown previously.

I definitely believe that Eddie loved Shannon and of course he had a lot of history with her and she's Chris' mother but I don't believe he was in romantic love with her. Eddie was always running away from Shannon even in s2. The only reason he even asked her to be with him again is because of Chris and because they thought she was pregnant. And really because Eddie has always done what he thinks he's supposed to do not what he truly wants to do especially when it comes to relationships.

I really can't stand when shows try and rewrite history like this. Shannon was important to Eddie but the show keeps trying to make her relationship with Eddie into something it wasn't and it really makes me hate when they bring her up.

Back to the scene with Eddie and Kim like I said I thought it was a dream so I really wanted to see where they were going with it. But as soon as they kept having Eddie talk about how he can't move on from Shannon because of how much he loved her I'm like nope I'm out. Let this man move on. Let him finally admit to himself that his relationship with Shannon wasn't perfect and let him stop comparing every relationship he ever gets into to something that never even existed.

The bigger problem I had with this scene though is that it wasn't even Shannon. If you wanted the audience to have some kind of emotional response to Eddie grieving his dead ex wife maybe don't have some woman he's cheating with dress up as her. It was all so bizzare. I also fail to see what Kim's motivation is for even doing that. She barely knows Eddie and she knows now that he was only even seeing her as some kind of replacement for his dead ex yet she's still interested in him. Then to top it off we had Marisol and Chris walking in on the whole scene. Having Chris see this woman who looks like his dead mom is just really cruel. I love Eddie but I really hope he's going to have to answer for that. I don't want to see the show just brush this off with some kind of talk between them because the level of so not okay that was is off the charts.

I just wish I knew where Tim is going with any of this because it's all so weird. I thought this Kim storyline was going to be about helping Eddie get closure and move forward but now I don't know what they're doing. I really hope that both Marisol and Kim will be gone by next season. This isn't even about Buddie neither one of them would make a good love interest for Eddie at this point.

Also why give Kim a birthmark like Buck if it's not supposed to make us think of Buck? Far as I can tell it's not a birthmark Devin has or her real hair color so what even was the purpose of that?

What is the purpose of bringing Buck into this storyline? I know Buddie are friends and they had most of the characters busy doing other stuff but I do wonder if Buck will play any more of a role in what's going on with Eddie.

I mean I'm glad they had Buck confront Eddie but tbh I wanted to see him get angrier about it. Buck said something to Eddie like have Marisol and Chris met her because Eddie was saying Kim was only a friend. I just feel like Buck would never want Chris to meet this woman. He just talked to Chris in 701 about how much his mom's death is still seriously affecting him. Why would he want Chris to meet this doppelgänger of his mom?

I know it's a shorter season but some of the writing choices this season feel messy and rushed. I honestly don't anticipate this Vertigo storyline having a satisfying conclusion. As it is they should have started it earlier and now it's being crammed into two already over stuffed episodes. I just hope that Eddie is going to get some better storylines next season because I haven't really been a fan of anything they've done with him on his own this season. Like first the nun and now this. What kind of vendetta do you have against Ryan Guzman Tim because these storylines are awful.

[mino491]

I just realised that if in season 4, klaus moves on from dave (whether by force or otherwise) and stops wearing the dog tags, he'll be truly alone for the first time in a long time.

Up until this point, he's always had someone or something to bring him comfort. From s1 to s2, he's had Ben and in s3 he still had his(dave's) dog tags. I could argue that losing his brother for the 2nd (or 3rd if you really wanna be angsty) time had a bigger impact on him because I used to think it did but I understand now that you can't really compare the two. Ben was his crutch in many ways, he was a constant in Klaus's very hectic life that was by his side no matter what. But Dave was a light in Klaus's life that made him actively want to be better, both with his drug uses and as a person. Klaus literally says something along the lines of, "He was the only person I ever truly loved more than myself.", that tells us that Dave must've meant a great deal to him.

Now in s4, Klaus is going to lose both of these things/people AND his powers (even if it's only for a bit) for the first time. He not going to have Ben as his right hand man and he's not going to have the only thing he had left of Dave to comfort him through this new timeline without his powers. Because of all of this, I can totally see why Klaus seems so down and depressed in the trailer and why this might be such a angsty season for him. Also having sparrow Ben around must be like salt in the wound for him 💀. Last season, he tried so hard to find the good in him (the old Ben in him) but had to understand that his Ben was gone, replaced by a copy who was identical yet shared no traits with his brother.

I don't really know what the point of the point of this was but I wanted to look at just why Klaus looked so much like a kicked puppy in the trailer and what could happen to round off his ending after everything he's been through. Looking at him objectivly, yeah I can imagine why he looks like he's lost his spark especialy if he's going cold turkey this season but the producers wouldn't just let his story end on a bad note right?

[sonofthesaiyans]

So, I took the time to watch the Attack on Titan finale today.....

I don't know why, because everyone keeps saying that the anime ending was a huge step up from the manga's ending. Jeez, has it really been three years since that dropped the ball?

So I decided I needed to see for myself what it really changed, I had the time so I forced myself through it, to see what exactly the big deal all was; mostly what was different, and what it did that was so far removed from the comic.

Well I gotta admit, I was surprised by what I saw.

The animation was really impressive, much better than what I've seen of MAPPA's handiwork from the rest of this season. The whole thing just kept going bigger and bigger, and it just never seemed to slow down. It's definitely one of the most impressive battles of the series, especially when so much focus on fighting and ending the Titans seemed to be lost after so long. Plus I forgot how stunning MAPPA's backgrounds can be, almost like WIT's. I guess that's what you call "peak" in the anime circle now, huh?

Levi......What can I say, he's an absolute badass, and the battle was worth it just to see him plow through Eren's army of Titans in all of his glory. Nothing can slow this guy down, and he definitely earned his ending. Sure he lost everyone who was near and dear to him but at least he can finally get some measure of peace. A much better finish than what the manga gave us, in its own weird way.

Was surprisingly touching to see the fallen Scouts again btw. Should have had Marco somewhere for Jean's sake, but maybe they can finally move on to a better place, wherever that may be.

Well the Armin and Eren scene pulled no punches, did it? XD Bad puns aside, I was surprised at how emotionally charged that scene was, Eren seemed really sorry for everything. At least he finally owned up to it in the end. Such a shame he was left with so little choice in the end.

And really, I realized how hard I was on Mikasa. She knew the life she thought she and Eren could have was beyond all hope, and in the end she made the right choice, agonizing as it was. In the end Mikasa really was too good for Eren, theirs is a love that was tragically cut short by circumstance. He couldn't help it, she couldn't help it.......Eremika truly is an unsung Shakespearean tragedy.

Oh don't you worry Eren, I'm sure she was thinking of you well beyond ten years. Who could fault her? We all know you meant well....

So........now everyone's saying it took two thousand years if not more for this to happen, huh? Well I guess that sort of makes up for it.....At least nobody we knew and loved lived to see it, right? I guess we can stop blaming Eren for whatever brought this upon Paradis, right?

Well, whatever the case may be, after finally seeing it I can say the anime ending makes up for a lot of what the manga left hanging. Great animation, such raw emotions, the insane music.......It was a long slog, but I'm glad I was proven wrong about everything I have said since the manga ending came out. This really helped to tie everything together much better, made the loss of such a wondrous cast a little easier to swallow. In the end, they gave their hearts, and in the end, it's much better to feeling something than to feel nothing.

So kudos to Studio MAPPA, and kudos to Hajime Isayama, truly I underestimated you. I feel like seeing this animated opened my eyes to so much of what I thought was missing. Suddenly things are so much clearer. Now.......Now I understand.......Eren only did what had to be done. Well played Mr. Isayama, well played.

And with that, I just want to leave with a quick shoutout to the true GOAT of Attack on Titan..........

.......

................

..................................

AS IF, YOU BITCH.

And that's the LEAST of what you deserve, you cunt rag.

That title belongs to THIS girl, right here.

As if there were any force between heaven and earth in this world or the next that could EVER make me forget.....

Oh, one more thing........

....... .................. ................................

April Fools, Folks.

This story ended with the Ocean.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I've recently come across a couple of season 4 fanfics that dealt with the Chat Noir feeling left out and quitting thing and every time I read one I can't help but think "man did they chose the wrong side of the masks AND the wrong characters for this conflict. Chat Noir comes across terribly here". It's weird to see people try and justify his behavior and act like Ladybug was in the wrong.

Was Ladybug being the best friend ever? No, but friendship is secondary when they're wearing the masks. Paris comes first. Chat Noir quitting because he doesn't feel special enough is literally him endangering everyone he loves because his crush isn't paying enough attention to him and I truly can't tell if the show wanted us to feel like he was in the right or the wrong here. In Kuro Neko, Catwalker actually does acknowledge the lesson he needed to learn

There's nothing wrong with you. Maybe the boy who was Cat Noir was more sensitive than it seemed. But his feelings for you shouldn't force you to pay more attention to him than to others. You take care of everybody equally, Ladybug. 

And Chat Noir apologizes at the end of the episode for causing Ladybug trouble, but the whole thing is incredibly lackluster. They don't actually have a meaningful conversation about why he was feeling that way and the rest of the season seems to present Ladybug as being in the wrong, especially the final! Trusting Alya leads to nothing meaningful and not trusting Chat Noir loses her the miraculous. Basically, I still have no idea what season 4 was trying to do with this conflict and it's been dropped forever now that Adrien is fully reduced to nothing more than arm candy.

HOWEVER, this basic setup could have been a fantastic b plot if the "Adrien doesn't feel needed" conflict wasn't a Ladynoir conflict, but was instead a conflict between Adrien and Nino. Move Rocketear up to earlier in the season and have the fallout from that be that Adrien's relationship with Nino is strained. He can still feel leftout because Ladybug has a bigger team now, but instead of him pouting about it and skipping fights, focus on how that need for connection has transferred to his civilian life, but he doesn't have Kagami or Nino now and he's lost. Then you can either have an Adrien and Nino b plot because that relationship needs more screen time OR you use this to make Adrien and Marinette start to grow closer because Rocketear's fallout is also Alya paying more attention to Nino. Then, when season 5 does the whole crush switch, it actually feels earned.