#unnecessary worldbuilding ho !

[mzkora]

Hi!! Just I just finished my first full rewatch of SPN season 1 and I have thoughts. Mostly just observations, little things I noticed. I’m not a media studies analyst nor an industry professional, so my ideas and opinions are just that. OPINIONS. We can discuss and debate them, but my fellow koolaid-drinking fan-girlies let’s be real with each other. We’re all freaks for loving/obsessing over this show so no hate, please.

In the name of transparency yes I am a Wincestie. Wincest was my first ever ship. EVER. And while that will inevitably color my interpretation of things, it’s not my primary lense or point of interest for this rewatch. I just wanted to rewatch the show again and see how I felt about it. However, since Wincest is a part of my enjoyment of/experience with the show, I will be mentioning it and discussing it so NO HATE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Anyway, a little context before we begin my probably long winded and unnecessary/unrequested commentary. I am an OG fangirl. I started watching the show when it first aired. Then after season 5, I dropped off and took a /long/ hiatus. I caught up after the fact watching DVDs of the later seasons that my brother had, so I stayed mostly up to date for a while before truly falling off the bandwagon sometime around Season 8 or 9. As the show wrapped up I popped back into watching it for old times sake and to see how it would all finish. So I got season 15 directly from the source, the backstory leading up to that I got from my brother giving me the highlights and then me dipping my toes in the streaming of those later seasons. An episode here or there, only the most notable/highest rated ones of their respective seasons and honestly that’s how I typically “rewatch” shows. Just the hits, no filler.

This rewatch, the one I’m documenting here and now at the end of this the year of our lord 2023, is my first ever true rewatch of the show. Episode per episode, no skipping and no fast forwarding. Here’s my observations:

The rainy, grainy aesthetic. Yes. Everyone who talks about the early seasons mentions it, but the wet, grayed out atmosphere and editing of the show really do lend a realness and grittiness to the show that adds something to the overall basic-ness of the storytelling.

The episodes move fast! This is partly due to the editing of course, but the show really did have a momentum, a keep-things-moving attitude in season 1 that took me by surprise at first. I had forgotten how streamlined and lean the show was then, following that Monster of the Week formula so tightly.

Adding to my previous point, I had forgotten after all these years how little explicit worldbuilding there really was then. Things weren’t explained. There were no origins for the monsters other than it’s there and needs to be stopped from killing people. No overarching intricate lore to bind it all together which left a lot of room for us fangirls in those days to wonder and question and come up with our own theories. There wasn’t much exposition stuffed in to explain how and why. It was left to our collective imaginations. (Until of course it wasn’t, but that’s just the nature of the beast as a show goes on and things like continuity and lore start to matter more.)

To that end I had also forgotten how ignorant the boys were in the beginning. These babies knew nothing! They were going off half cocked on little more than whatever they could decipher from their father’s scrapyard style of collage journalism and random, unsubstantiated Internet forums/posts. Rumors, legends, folk tales, and hearsay. Thats it. They didn’t even know that “the THING that killed Mom” was a demon until the latter half of the season! I had totally forgotten just how innocent and naive and gung-ho these kiddies were.

As a Tumblrina I of course see the same gif sets and edits as the rest of us Wincesties. And while some of those looks and line readings have been taken out of context or at least shifted from the actual context of the specific scenes themselves…yeah these brothers do be /like that/. It’s all subtextual so far and the “normalcy” of their relationship at this point can be debated, but the seeds of the unhinged, deranged, codependent behavior are definitely there. Some of those looks you see in the gifs really are just these two brothers eye-fucking/pining/being deeply fond of each other. So, yeah, I see it. The shipping of them didn’t start for me until seasons later during the initial run of the show, but I can see the seeds being planted. The subtextual hand sowing the fields…

Most of the episodes hold up pretty well in my opinion. At least in terms of rewatchability. Insert requisite mention of “Bugs” here. Which I contend is actually an alright episode as far as these things go at least until that third act. Yeeesh. It strains credulity, which is an embarrassing thing considering the genre.

In general, YES, there is a lot of early 2000s cringe (and lack of diversity/marginalized representation) but overall it’s manageable for me. I grew up in that era and I’m white, so it’s not as hard on me as it is for some. There were more than a few dated references but that’s to be expected in a show that ran so long, so long ago. (We’re aging y’all! I don’t like it, and nobody wants to talk about it, but we’re all aging and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. I started this show as a literal teenager and now I’m in my 30s and I’m still talking about it. Big Yikes. Major cringe. But 🤷🏻‍♀️ oh well. I’m in it for the long haul I guess. I escaped for a while, the show not the fandom, and now I’m back in the show again. Back on my bullshit. Is anyone surprised?)

Shoutout to so many wonderful women characters that all deserved better/more: Loretta Devine/Missouri in “Home”, you should’ve been recurring (and not killed off in later seasons but that’s besides the point); Cassie from “Route 666” you basically got erased from canon, never to be mentioned again despite being Dean’s canonical first love, and ultimately you were supplanted by Lisa as Dean’s romance stand-in (you were cooler than a one-off and definitely didn’t deserve to be completely forgotten by the show itself); the two surviving vampires from “Dead Man’s Blood” y’all should’ve been brought back sooner, but hey at least one of you got to kill Dean in the end, so WHOO-HOO🎉🎉🎉! For how little screen time y’all all got you kept it real and made the show better. We didn’t deserve you. (In this same vein hey Sarah from “Provenance” I see you girl. You also shouldn’t have been fridged later on for the ManPain™️ of it all. But hey at least the show was consistent in its bullshit, right?)

Moving on, *insert obligatory comment on the use of actors from other supernatural shows here*. I see you actress that played Christie on Charmed in that last season. I see you Amy Acker and Darla from Angel. I see you Aunt Zelda from the original Sabrina show. It was great seeing y’all pop up. Familiar faces and all that…I look forward to seeing the rest of your compatriots later on.

Going back to worldbuilding for a bit, can I just say how much I enjoy it when the Random Person Who Knew John trope comes up? It tickles me. Like the airplane guy in “Phantom Traveler”. Dude really did just hang on to John’s phone number for however long and dial him up again when things got weird. I missed that aspect of the show in later seasons. The randomness of the people and the tangential connection to the brothers really played into the “there’s a hidden supernatural world within/beside our own” trope. And it helped make the show feel more true to its working class roots. Showing up to help random strangers because they knew your daddy/met him once made it feel like there was a community support network and the brothers were fulfilling a role/a service as part of that network of poor/disenfranchised/working class people rather than being big heroes on a journey.

In other news “Hell House” was a truly forgettable episode. I had no recollection of it whatsoever until those Ghostfacer guys popped up and then I was like oh yeah, they’re a thing. I never cared about them tbh. Their episodes and antics always annoyed me during the show’s run. Still true today. “Hell House” was a struggle to get through and I very nearly skipped it/fast forwarded through it, but I bravely carried on. (Aren’t you proud of me?) Something about the lack of history for the quote unquote “monster” of the week really didn’t work for me. I like there being some amount of history in the mix no matter how distorted or fabricated or mishandled it may be. Legacies are never clean cut or simple. And having a random entity somehow exist because people online believe in it? A little too modern horror for my tastes. I’m not a Black Mirror girlie. I’m a Gothic horror girl. And honestly I’m not much of a horror girl, so I guess I’m actually here purely for the Gothic-ness of it all.

Also along the lines of something being completely erased from my memory: Bobby had a dog?! Poor little guy had a literal nanosecond of screen time so it makes sense that such a small detail escaped me, but still…you were a good junkyard dog (Rutherford? Was that his name? It was something like that . Anyways, RIP big guy. We hardly knew ye…)

And can I just say? Bobby what the hell were you wearing in your debut episode?! A t-shirt and vest?! Cover those arms, baby! You look like a teen going fishing down at the crick (aka the creek for those unfamiliar with country phrasing.) Plus, I chuckled a little at the characterization of you in that first appearance. You were just some dude. A hunter yes but seemingly retired(?) or at least not the supposed always prepared/always knowledgeable badass you later would be retconned to be. At one point when Meg burst into your house, Sam got in front of you, shielding you like you were a civilian/damsel in distress rather than treating you like a tough, gruff, father figure worthy of respect and unquestionably capable of taking care of yourself. You hadn’t achieved John status yet I guess.

Which brings me to John. It really do be like that post that was floating around said: you weren’t missing, dude. You were just playing keep-away with your boys for like over half the season. Miscommunication trope, much? More like ZERO communication trope. You really just ditched your kids and left them to worry about you without so much as a heads up, huh? You don’t deserve the amount of hate you get as a character from some fans and yes you did love your boys, but goddamn are you a negligent, uncommunicative parent. I totally understand Sam’s frustration with you. I’d be annoyed too. If you gotta dip, you gotta dip, but at least have the decency to let your kids know.

As a final aside, “Dead Man’s Blood” is a sexy episode. It definitely had that dirty, trashy vampire vibe thing going on and /unsurprisingly/ that works for me. I too would want revenge if some guys in flannel killed my Luther. He was hot and loved his girl. You gotta love it. And just yo be clear yes you could attack me and tie me up and make me watch my boyfriend die then watch you have sex with your vampire wife and seduce me into drinking your blood and becoming one of you any day. That slutty, murder-y biker gang, white trash vamp aesthetic really does things to me. OMG! I’m ashamed, but unapologetic. The truth is the truth. RIP vamp Daddy Luther! You were a hottie.

Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough. These were just my most salient thoughts after finishing the season a few hours ago. It wasn’t a binge watch because I have taken breaks between chunks of episodes, but I really didn’t have that much to add to the conversation that hasn’t already been said and discussed at length. I just wanted to get some thoughts down to mark the occasion. I very rarely do genuine, complete rewatches of my favorite shows. I usually just hopscotch around revisiting my faves, getting a taste of their respective seasons without taking in the full experience. I didn’t do that this time.

In general, I enjoyed myself. I can see why I watched the show as a teen (though I wouldn’t say I became a fangirl of it until later into that OG Kripke five season run). It had the supernatural elements that I loved and still do, alongside other shows I watched then (Buffy, Angel, Charmed) plus the eye candy of the two lead boys who were absolutely my type: big, and tall, and pretty, and total white trash. With those mop-headed bangs and dick-sucking lips. Pretty is pretty. And I’m a sucker for it, but at least I’m aware of my bias. It’s a little scary how forgiving I can be when I think a guy is hot.

Farewell fellow freaks! Until next time I guess.

Carry on.

[adrnin-blog]

Give me hte k mishima

twenty - one. && then there’s tongue !!  (selectively accepting)

yuuki mishima likes goro akechi— likes him progressively more, in fact, with time elapsed. it's over time that the carefully constructed, cultivated veneer which akechi armors and obscures himself with lapses too. subtle imperfections come close though they're never allowed to breach the surface, veins of obsidian in the body of a gold mine, and mishima is captivated by the contrast.those that akechi is ill-prepared for are the most enlightening moments of all – mishima does wonder if he manages to surprise him only because the prodigal detective doesn't expect very much, but can't fault him for it, if so, unextraordinary as he is ... but regardless; akechi is at his most guarded under the hot glare of a studio track and in interviews reveals exactly the information he intends to, not one iota greater and absolutely nothing of substance. granted, as his acquaintance (he thinks of him privately as a friend when he's feeling particularly optimistic), mishima finds more value in akechi's personal quirks than the dozen tv stations that broadcast his face to boost their ratings. the manufactured personality is to be admired, but only from afar, and no more familiar than to the professional extent required for cracking jokes.before mishima met him, he'd been smitten, as intended. perspective had suddenly divorced the entity of tv akechi from his physical counterpart and placed it squarely into an uncanny valley, and mishima couldn't recall afterward what had once so charmed him about the affect; that of a mannequin with handsome features, as attainable as he was really ... real. the mass appeal curated by the version of akechi that unsettles him now, though, whose empty smile is made up of miniscule pixels, is undeniable. as mishima's overheard his classmates state it plain: for the prince's heart, competition is stiff.how many of akechi's fans remain, with steadfast devotion, as the popularity of the phantom thieves rises with an indicated polarity to akechi's own? a very small part of mishima vindictive on behalf of his idols wouldn't mind telling him that he'd started the the fire and fanned its flames himself but that's neither true nor fair, and he expects akechi's probably heard or read it before. mishima remembers him saying ... something, once, implicating an awareness of the online chatter about him. mishima won't pretend that the canceled specials and guest appearances haven't been a boon to their budding relationship, though he sympathizes with akechi's feeling of being unwelcome wherever he goes. ... hell, he's only hanging out with akechi now because a handful of hours from his busy schedule once dedicated to something or someone else have fallen through.would even akechi's die-hard supporters continue to soldier on if they were to witness one of those rare occasions that ugliness contorts his pretty face? in breaking out of a role that could be performed honorably by a loaf of white bread– behavior less universally palatable, when he neglects to censor himself for the sake of onlooking cameras, he defies their expectations. those seeking to protect idealized versions of akechi might turn their backs on the real one. that ... relieves mishima somewhat, and as uncharacteristically cruel as it sounds, it's a shocking admission even to himself. unlike schadenfreude, his pleasure stems from the confirmation that despite his fame-turned-infamy, akechi is all too human.he's human, not a symbol. his negative traits don't, could never outweigh those mishima perceives as his good. akechi shouldn't have to go to the lengths he does to suppress them, but yuuki has an inkling of why he might. most importantly, as the issue at the forefront of his mind right now (and all the time, lately), to act upon the affection he harbors for akechi would not make akechi profane, because he already is– because he's just a person ... and there is no such thing as a perfect person. akechi may be imperfect, then, but all that that really means to mishima is that he can reach out to and touch him without committing sacrilege.but none of that – the long-winded explanation and its validating conclusion never ascend past mishima's unconscious where they're processed. instead, when he looks across the table seating two and sees goro, whose expression is slightly sour, he throws some electric impulse to his brain. having lost the thread of whatever arbitrary conversation they'd been having as soon as he laid eyes on akechi (whatever the topic is, anyway, it's just an excuse for two outsiders to seek companionship), if he had to guess, mishima thinks he must have said something pretty stupid, and now akechi is preparing to deliver a suitable retort. with little bias toward either polite disagreement or hurtful condescension akechi looks ready to choose his next words, and at the same moment, mishima's brain fires off a response to his earlier query; go for it.abruptly mishima stands, straightened legs pushing out the chair that makes a harsh noise when its legs scrape the floor, but the sound is one he barely registers, so caught up in the moment. he braces himself on one palm and leans across the table, his other hand moving to cup one side of goro's face and his own face coming close enough for goro to feel breath on his skin (it's warm and smells like strawberries and chocolate, something shared between them, mutual). he hovers, for a fraction of a second with eyes narrow from concentration before his parted lips zero in on the space where he'd spotted a fleck of whipped cream on akechi's chin. it's not quite a kiss, though his cupid's bow briefly greets the flesh of akechi's mouth itself while the tip of mishima's tongue finds the remnant of a vanished dessert, and claims it. his eyelashes tickle the other boy's cheek before he withdraws, from all fronts, and yuuki all but collapses back into his chair before he thinks to explain.❞... you had crepe on your face.❞

[analyticaldragons]

Some Aimless Rambling about HTTYD 2, Featuring a 2-Year-Old First Impressions Review of it, and the Unqualified Thoughts of an Undergrad in Science

Alright, keep in mind that I haven’t seen the TV series, and that this is 2 years old and my first impressions of HTTYD 2 after I walked out of the movie…and that I haven’t seen it at all since then. Still, I’d like to think that it still has some value to it =/

——————–

One thing I noticed was that Astrid, Ruff/Tuff, Snotlout, etc. didn’t have much of a role in the plot. Everything that they did just seems like a sideshow with no conclusion or even aim. Astrid even seemed like she got an intelligence downgrade, with her haring off to find and confront Drago. I get that she has a gung-ho attitude, but she always struck me as a more practical and down-to-earth person than Hiccup - and since it’s been 5 years since the original, I felt that she should have had more of a grasp on that aspect of herself. Venturing into the lair of and then essentially giving away information that Berk was filled with dragons to Drago, who had an armada and was a verified and experienced dragon tamer/hunter was …. not a good idea. I expected better from her. I expected her to be intelligent, capable, and knowing that running unprepared to a leader whose forces are experience dragon capturers was not a very good idea. Eret seemed to be thrown in to be the obligatory “not everyone is as horrible and dedicated as Drago” person in Drago’s armada, but I liked his character arc. The romance gags were, in my opinion, unnecessary. And then there’s the fact that Hiccup basically did everything while the rest of the cast stood by and yelled “Go Hiccup!” or was less than helpful in the case of Astrid and co. The pacing was also off. There was enough information in HTTYD 2 that it could have been a 2 hour, maybe 2hr. 15 minute movie. Instead they pared it down to 1:45, and the pacing suffered as a result. The movie’s plot sped up a lot from the relatively slow beginning and middle. We go from Stoick and Val’s reunion straight to the battle, 10 minutes at most for Stoick’s death and funeral, then rushing to Berk, Berk being destroyed, then Drago’s alpha gets Macross Missile Massacred in the face. There were so many WHAM moments at the ending it took away from the individual impacts of all of them. Stoick’s funeral and death in particular I felt should have been given more time. Hiccup had just lost his father, one of the constants in his life, a person that no matter what kind of disagreements they had, they still had their familial love. It’s a major moment for Hiccup, dealing with the fact that his father died, his best friend was the one to do it, and his dragon-taming abilities were seemingly not all they cracked up to be. Seeing Hiccup just shrug it off and not display any other thought about Stoick’s death for the rest of the movie left me wanting, especially since they took the time to do it in the original. If the scriptwriters had Hiccup’s reaction to Stoick’s death and dealing with his grief and working through the realization that even if his world was shattered, everyone else’s was and he needed to be there to prop them up (maybe catalyzed with Val reminding about “an alpha/chief protects his own”) in between Drago’s assaults on the nest and Berk, it would have given the audience a breather from the action, time to process what the fuck just happened (mind control) and some emotional weight to the story. It’s like Dreamworks didn’t want to be sucked into GRIMDARKDERP ANGST that “darker” sequels often fall prey to that they just passed over it. And the constant preaching about peace with dragons got on my nerves a bit. We all know that Hiccup wants peace and companionship, Dreamworks. Stop trying to shove it down our throats. It’s like DW7 Shu with its BENEVOLENCE.  That’s about all the complaints I have, actually. So onto the compliments. I really liked how the movie made the HTTYD world darker, still had that spot of hope at the same time. Dragon trapping, Drago’s entire “dragon slave army” thing, Stoick fucking dying. But it still had Hiccup and Toothless prevail with the power of their friendship, with the very nice caveat at the end of “The vikings of Berk are peaceful industrious folk, but if you fuck with us and our dragons, we will end you,” which just goes to show that Hiccup and Toothless learned from their lesson and knows that while peace is all well and good, sometimes you have to carry a big, big stick. The contrast between Drago and Hiccup was really nice as well. Drago represented the older generation, with hatred against dragons because of the loss of his arm and what was basically a scourge on the Vikings. He pounded and intimidated them into submission because, to him, they were animals that needed to be destroyed, and when faced with evidence to the contrary, he refused to readjust because he was that buried in his hatred. Hiccup, on the other hand, even though he lost his leg and his mom to dragons and his entire life was dedicated to earning recognition through killing dragons, has the capability and flexibility to forgive and build a new world. It’s kind of like Gundam Unicorn - the old guard is not willing to forget the sins of the past, and was just stuck in the mindset of “Zeon/Feds are EEEVIIILLL,” while the kids are willing to set aside those same sins and having the possibility of making the world a better and more peaceful place. Just replace “Zeon/Feds” with “Dragons/humans” and you’re set. Stoick’s death was the big whammy for me. I was surprised that Dreamworks had the balls to do it, especially in the manner that Stoick died. I knew that at the end, to fulfill Hiccup’s character arc in this movie he would have to realize that he has the potential/has to become the chief, but I expected that Stoick would act as a mentor. Worst case, he gets crippled and Hiccup has to take the reins. But becoming chief like that? Ouch. The only complaint that I have about that, again, is that the director should have paid more attention to it. It also reminds us just why dragons were feared, after pretty much a movie and a half of cuddly pet dragons. Mind-controlled Toothless bent on killing you was scary, in more than one way. The scenery and visuals were great - the island archipelago in the first 20 minutes of the movie was absolutely breathtaking and reminded me a lot of some of the stuff in Kung Fu Panda. The flight scenes were miles better than in the original. Even though I was watching it in 2D (Age of Extinction took up the 3D theater >=T

), every single aerial scene was, simply put, amazing. I just wish I saw it in 3D, personally.

The worldbuilding was spectacular as well. All the new dragon species, the giant map that Hiccup and Toothless was making (how does Hiccup know how far the particular islands are from Berk? Does he have a scale? A sextant?), dragon society (alphas), and the way that Berk had adapted to life among dragons - the races, stables, a complex hangar-like system for doors, etc. It made the entire movie seem like it really was branching out into different and new places that the original one didn’t explore.

Overall I thought this was a worthy sequel of the original. It kept the “fight smarter, not harder” and the “make peace, not war” theme of HTTYD, but hoo boy it got a lot darker than the original. Toothless was still the adorable ball of scaly awesome that he was in the original, and Hiccup and the others all grew up nicely. The movie was dark, but not in a GRIMDERP way. However, there were some things that were off about it, like the pacing and the occasional “it’s a kids movie” thing, but overall it was a good movie. Not on the level of its predecessor or Toy Story ½/3, but I would definitely rewatch it.

9/10

Headcanon is being more and more cemented that Tony Stark is Hiccup’s reincarnation.

Also, Toothless confirmed for the unholy cross between the Avatar and Godzilla. 

——————

Looking back on what I wrote, I’d have to elaborate and add onto some things:

On the subject of Hiccup’s insistence for a peaceful resolution, I’m much more approving of it now. It’s part of his character development over the course of the movie. In the beginning, he’s shirking his responsibilities as the chief’s heir: all he does is wander and explore the Archipelago with Toothless, doing what he wants to do instead of what he has to do. Thing is, his blind idealism is part of that shirking of responsibility. Viking society isn’t soft. There are people who take advantage of their power and cannot be taken away from it, and those who has just as much conviction to their beliefs that Hiccup does towards peace…just that they and Hiccup have mutually exclusive views.

Thing is, Hiccup has encountered enemies like this in the past, and he’s managed to convince them to his side. By the time of HTTYD 2, he’s had nothing but proof that enemies can be turned into friends. For Hiccup, it’s just a matter of talking. It may take a long while, but it’ll do the trick. And without bloodshed, too.

Enter Drago.

Drago is a megalomaniac. Drago believes with all his heart that dragons are an existential threat to Vikings, and if the other chiefs don’t listen to him, well, they’ll be made to. He’s gathered his forces for more than a decade, and hasn’t had a whit of his conviction drained from him.

What does Hiccup do with an enemy who has as much conviction and force of will as he does, just with “dragons are evil and should be exterminated,” and “I want power at all costs”? You can’t reason with an enemy like that. By this point, it’s become a basic ideological conflict, and reason won’t work. Hiccup will have to fight them.

Drago represents the challenge, the realization, the responsibility that sometimes, there is no redemption. There is no second chance. When someone is threatening those you take care of, be it Viking clan or dragon nest, you fight him. Because it is your responsibility to do so. 

This was why Stoick had to die. Hiccup needed to be shocked out of his idealistic mindset of “everyone can kumbaya.” He needed to accept the responsibilities of a leader. Most of all, he needed to acknowledge that he would sometimes need to fight to protect.

Hiccup goes from insisting that every situation has a peaceful resolution, an impossible situation for a leader, to accepting his responsibility, an acknowledging that some people can’t be reasoned with if you don’t want undue harm coming to those you lead.

Also, I’d like to point out that Drago serves as a rather nice dark mirror to Hiccup. He’s literally Dark Hiccup:

The cunning, strategic planning, and exploits weaknesses in his enemies… much like Hiccup exploited the fact that the Red Death wasn’t fireproof on the inside to defeat it.

Drago’s a very successful dragon tamer - by force. Contrast to Hiccup, who gets dragons to follow him by befriending them.

Drago is a very charismatic leader. We’re shown that Hiccup is as well.

They both are connected to Night Furies. Hiccup has one as his partner. Drago killed his and wears its skin as a cape.

They both lost a limb to dragons. Hiccup his left leg, and Drago his right arm. Coincidentally, they’re on opposite sides of the body.

Drago is Hiccup if he was born 20 years earlier and didn’t have his open-mindedness. 

(submitted by bingsu)