#watch this not be an original plot line and I’ve just got egg on my face because I don’t know my WW history well enough

[thelediz]

Sonic Underground: The Chaos arc

That’s right, folks, it’s another three-parter, because this is the actual Knuckles arc, buckle up for a ride!

I’m watching Sonic Underground in search of inspiration to finish a fic I’ve been writing forever. It’s a sad state of affairs. See the recap of the first three episodes here, if you're interested!

The plot (for want of a better word): Robotnik has developed his greatest weapon yet: a giant gloating fortress powered by chaos emeralds! To defeat the undefeatable, the Sonic Underground call upon their ally Knuckles to help them save the day!

Sonic Underground 27: Flying Fortress

We kick off with the triplets on some kind of vacation day, Sonia sunbathing, Sonic playing frisbee against himself, Manic… digging for cash…? It’s all disrupted by a big flying ball with guns.

Now, this is Sonic Underground's equivalent of the Death Egg, but it isn't really a good one. It doesn’t look like the one from the games, and the equivalent of the Archie comics was much more egg-shaped. But it functions the same. It’s a big flying ball-shaped fortress powered by chaos energy.

The scary things about it are that it’s got an impenetrable outer shell (though Sonic breaks OUT of it okay), and a security laser beam thing that literally disintegrates anything it touches. Also its hallways are apparently labyrinthine, because Sonic spends a good minute running around it lost before the security system comes after him.

In this series, Sonic is not able to fall face-first from the upper stratosphere without harm. This is a problem, given the whole flying fortress thing, but Manic’s got a hoverboard so it’s fine.

But the good thing about Sonic getting chased out by the security beam is that he recognises the green energy as emerald energy. Which means they need to go see Knuckles.

Hilariously, in this series, Knuckles not only has traps, but also voice-activated anti-aircraft guns and a radio shack. It’s so very at odds with the mildly techno-phobic character we will come to know in the games, but it’s not entirely out of line for the Sonic 3 & Knuckles version, so cool.

Knuckles shoots the triplets (who are flying a converted SWATbot because why not) down, but Sonic uses their smoke to write his name in the sky and all is well. The most annoying part of this sequence is that the flying SWATbot was Manic’s idea and Sonic was against it, but when Sonic has an idea to stop Knuckles’ attack, Manic acts like it was Sonic’s. It’s… par for the course, but… mm. MM.

My headcanon to merge this series and the games kind of falls apart because of the conversation they have, where it’s very clear neither Sonic or Knuckles expect Robotnik to be able to get a hold of a chaos emerald, and Sonic can’t imagine there being more than one, but I hope you’ll forgive me my trespasses.

Knuckles, as per his original animated and comic nature, refuses to help because his duty is to protect the floating island. The Sonic Underground has to convince him with

THE SONG: No one is an island. Another Jamaican-style reggae tune, but thankfully without the accents this time. It’s not a bad sound, not bad lyrics, it’s generally okay, and more importantly, annoying enough to get Knuckles to give in.

No, literally. He is giving in because he’s been peer pressured through song.

So while Knuckles prepares a fighter plane, he is visited by his (recoloured) Great Grandfather Athair (Archie comic continuity is a go)(no Archimedes though, which I consider a damn shame) who has been given a Sean Connery voice and we just roll with it. Athair tells him that if he leaves the Floating Island, Mobius is doomed, but hey, maybe the future can be changed, so whatever man, you do you.

Meanwhile, in another REMARKABLE show of continuity, Robotnik is targeting Port Mobius because they have turned against him. Remember? Episode 9? Won’t blame you if you don’t, but wow, credit where due.

Also, Sleet and Dingo point out Port Mobius only rebelled because they rigged up a sea monster, because they’re not actually evil so much as employed/forced to be (according to this writer, at least), and Robotnik snaps that they’ve caused so many failures that he’s close to getting rid of them if they interrupt him again.

THE CONTINUITY. SOMEONE CARED ABOUT THIS SHOW. -WILD FLAILING-

Sleet is afraid of getting robotocised because they’re no longer needed, so he declares they need to do something. Yes, that’s right, folks, Sleet and Dingo are going to be sabotaging Robotnik for this arc to make sure they stay employed.

Meanwhile, the triplets and Knuckles have snuck on board and Knuckles pulls out a ‘chao-meter’ (kay-o, not ciao) which is basically an emerald tracker. It even kind of looks like an early build of Rouge's emerald tracker that we see in Adventure 2. So weird to see, in hindsight. Oh, wow, what if Adventure 2’s writers watched this series and… Nope. No, we’re not going there.

While they hunt it down, Sleet and Dingo are already stealing the emerald. Lucky for them, Robotnik knows our heroes are onboard, so only thinks Sleet and Dingo are trying to escape the falling ship.

And so episode 1 of 3 ends with the Flying Fortress in the sea, Sleet and Dingo on the run with the emerald, and nothing but danger ahead…!

Sonic Underground episode 28: No Hedgehog is an Island

First off, can we talk about how misleading that title is, and how good of a plot-relevant episode it could have been, about how Sonic needs to learn to rely on his siblings? Back in the day, it would have been a bit nonsensical in context, but in the current culture you could totally have him burning out or getting frustrated, and that leading him to screw up something, until his siblings help him de-stress and he gets his head back on straight, and…

Anyway. We have an episode to recap.

“How much would we risk to save the world from chaos?” Side-eye. Much side-eye, Aleena. On multiple levels.

Two things in immediate contrast to last episode: one, the chaos emerald is now much longer and pointier, and two, Sleet and Dingo (who originally stole the emerald to keep their jobs with Robotnik) are crowing about ‘so long, Robotnik'. So we’ve apparently given up on last episode’s proud continuity.

Knuckles is the hero of this episode, saving the siblings from drowning in the middle of the ocean and keeping everyone focussed on the emerald. It’s not yet about him worrying over the whole end of the world thing Athair warned about, but I’m sure we’re getting there.

So Sleet’s new plan is to use the chaos emerald to become ruler of Mobius. And then, for reasons that are only seeded if you don’t think Dingo actually likes Sleet, Dingo decides to use his physical strength to overpower him and take the emerald for himself.

Which. Look. I don’t tend to think too much about Sleet and Dingo – they’re the required hench-villains, they’re clocking in as evil (unless the writers demand otherwise), whatever. But as soon as you start thinking about Dingo, he’s… How does he morph? Why does Sleet have his controller? Why does he LET Sleet have his controller? As this episode proves, he’s perfectly capable of taking stuff off him. He doesn’t seem to enjoy being transformed. Why does he put up with Sleet’s insults? I kind of handwave it in that Dingo appreciates Sleet’s intelligence and ability to think beyond the current moment, but then that makes this a bit stupid, and also makes Sleet insulting him so much also stupid. Better to manipulate your muscle than build up resentment, or stuff like this will happen. And at the end of the day, he’s going to take Dingo back anyway, and nothing will change about their relationship, and…

I’m gonna stop and leave this to @shinymisty-blog to figure out.

Of course Dingo immediately drops the emerald and… it breaks. This actually makes no sense for an item of ultimate power unless Mobian rock is laced with a conflicting mineral that warps and contains the power of chaos into but we accept. The emerald kind of explodes in power, bathing Dingo in energy and recharging the van that Sonic’s trying to get started. Why not.

Cute little character moment – Manic drums in his sleep and snores in time. It’s kind of adorable, if very silly.

Aaaand we get the start of the Knuckles x Sonia romance. Knuckles is now on to blaming himself for not getting the emerald back, and Sonia comforts him. They’re then attacked by rogue chaos energy, and Knuckles has to save her from falling into a hole in the earth. And as everyone in the 90s knew, a person comforting a member of the opposite sex who’s getting down on themselves, AND then the first person getting saved by the second, can only lead to True Love. Et cetera. Sigh.

I’m not gonna lie, I strongly suspect this romance is a big part of what soured me to Sonia’s inconsistent love life when I was younger. It was so utterly unnecessary.

Also, Sonia can make herself into a spinning whirlwind. Are you honestly telling me she can’t - No. No, I’m not doing this. Just accept and move on.

So because chaos is breaking out all over, Sleet decides he needs to go crawling back to Robotnik, who is the only person who knows how to bring chaos under control. Another side-eye for the fic purposes.

Meanwhile, while the chaos energy is about to attack Port Mobius, Manic does something weird that doesn’t go particularly explained. He brings out his drums and plays them hard and loud until… the energy disperses? In the series, this is just one of the reminders that Manic’s power DOES actually equal his siblings’, it’s just entirely wrapped up in drums, but HOW it works is never mentioned or explained. He just… has that power over chaos, or something, I guess. He will not use it successfully again.

The song: Learn to overcome, which is some early Blink 182 like you can’t even guess. Like, M&Ms or Man Overboard type sound. Which is kind of funny because the music video is really trying to imply this is some hard punk rock sound and… ohh, honey, no. I love pop-punk and worship the godfathers of it like any good millennial, but it is NOT hardcore. And now I have Man Overboard in my head. It's just another, it's just another, it's just another night aloooone!

Also, just a weird side note that I wish I couldn’t notice, but whoever animated Sonia this episode really liked her boobs. Just saying. They are super noticeable for some reason.

So properly bolstered (or terrified, the expression leans more toward the latter) by the music, Knuckles suggests they go see Athair for advice. Anyone who has read the Archie comics knows this is going to be pointless without Tails.

But he gives them a cannister that can reform the emerald, and says they must make an alliance with Robotnik, which will somehow enable the cannister to work. It’s nonsensical, but it’s something that always had to happen in these cartoons, so we accept and deal.

The Sonic Underground refuses to make the alliance, but Knuckles decides to betray them and follow his grandfather’s advice…

Sonic Underground episode 29: New Echidna in Town

Aleena is on her nonsense again, talking about how sometimes it takes a whole world to learn a lesson, and that Mobius is now “learning the greatest lesson of all”. She does not tell us what this lesson is. I infer that it’s ‘chaos is dangerous’. And I mean… honestly, woman. We're about to have the Adventure games. STOP.

Robotnik informs Knuckles he’ll only make a deal with him if Knuckles brings him the Sonic Underground. Knuckles of course says no, but Robotnik is more than happy to call his bluff. “If I can’t defeat Sonic, I’d rather Mobius was destroyed.” Which I mean If Mobius isn’t the entire planet, that’s less insane and more evil than I think the writers intended. In series, Robotnik’s just insane as hell, which is appropriate because, y’know, back in the day all villains were all irrationally evil. Or Robotnik has gone crazy from chaos and anarchy beryl poisoning and

Anyway. Knuckles agrees, for the good of Mobius. Besides, Robotnik ‘promises’ not to robotocise the triplets. He’ll just keep them locked up. Honest. This is definitely not a lie that Knuckles will be horrified to discover later.

Meanwhile, the triplets are talking about what to do (Sonia wants to save Knuckles, Sonic wants to save the world, Manic points out they need Knuckles to save the world) and I do not know what Jaleel White was thinking, but Manic’s sing-song tone in this scene is so incredibly grating…

Knuckles comes back. And we have another moment of Sonia x Knuckles, and I mean… just… just look at this.

Sonia is magically attracted to men that are going to screw her over, I think is what we’re supposed to be getting from this. OR she’s just attracted to wet cats. One of the two.

And Manic plays wingman for his sister. We stan a supportive brother, even if we hate the relationship he’s batting for.

Anyway, so, Knuckles leads them into Robotnik’s trap and the triplets get captured in sticky stuff, and Robotnik immediately orders robotocisation. Five minutes, kids. FIVE. MINUTES.

So of course Knuckles turns on Robotnik and rescues the siblings. So the betrayal lasted all of two minutes. Conflict and resolved! -dusts hands-

Sleet and Dingo reunite, and Sleet transforms Dingo into a box to contain the broken emerald pieces. Naturally, this causes Dingo to mutate into a kaiju blob monster. I mean, obviously.

While Dingo goes on his rampage, Robotnik remains obsessed with capturing hedgehogs, until Sonic smooth-talks him into working with them to get back at Dingo. Like I said a few episodes ago, manipulation was once a thing Sonic was REALLY good at.

The song: The Mobius Song. Rocking tunes, brah. Like, totally tubular jams. For sure. That’s all I can get from this, and I don’t know why, because it’s actually kind of mod-rock, so I don’t know why my brain went there.

It distracts Dingo enough for Robotnik to catch him with sticky stuff, which is enough for Dingo to fall over and cough up the emeralds, which Knuckles catches, and… yeah, okay, let’s go with it. Enemies aligned, harmony was achieved, the day is saved. Hurrah.

So uh. Yeah. First, the counters, because it’s been a while:

Sonic implying less than 100% American heterosexuality: 5

Sonia in love with Bartleby: 4/37

Sonia in love with someone who is not Bartleby: 3/37

Sonia’s got super strength: 4

Manic’s thieving Is A Problem: 4

Then I have to process what kind of… narratively frustrates me, as world-builder, because we just have to accept the characters for what they are. But the… I think this is a problem Sega actually had, and still probably has, in that it doesn’t actually know what Chaos Energy does. It doesn’t know why Sonic (and Shadow and Silver) can use it to become a demi-god, or why it makes Angel Island float. It was only in the Adventure era that Sega solidified Chaos as emotions become form, and that’s part of why it quietly hasn’t ever acknowledged the Super Emeralds since, because they’re like… what? Super Emotions? Whatever. And what do emotions have to do with making stuff float, I mean... anyway. Anyway.

But that lack of clarity was really obvious in things like this, where Sonic doesn’t have power over chaos, so they take the safer route of chaos = bad, rather than the games’ line that you need to find control in chaos so that you can move forward with strength and resilience (GOD I LOVE THIS FRANCHISE).

And I actually think that could have been a really cool thing for Sonic Underground to explore, with its themes of resistance and harmony and not giving into the order of post-industrialisation and Taylorism and… and instead it just… chaos is bad, order is good, except when it’s not, don’t think about it too much, just look at the funky blue hedgehog and dance to the cheesy music woo.

But anyway. I am a problem and we know this. Dance to the music, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

[tenshiharmonia]

So, I went to see the Super Mario movie saturday afternoon and I must say, I had an absolute blast. Don't get me wrong, it was far from perfect. And I'll have to agree that it could have used ten or fifteen more minutes to pace things a little more organically. But really, I had a smile on my face the entire time. As a Bowser fan, the film was an especially exhilarating treat. From enjoying himself at a heavy metal concert, to bashfully trying to woo the princess, writing her an exquisitely awkward love song and rehearsing his proposal with Kamek, to ruthlessly tearing into the hero after they saved the day ruined everything he worked so hard towards, he walked such an astounding line between adorable and intense (also, I'd like to add that he was really, really sexy :3 ). Not that the other characters weren't delightful too, of course. I must admit, I'm actually quite surprised that they chose to address Peach's origins. I mean, even back when the brothers being from Brooklyn was a staple of the series, the incongruity of a (seemingly) human princess leading a nation of mushroom people never really came into question. If a sequel there is, I'd definitely like for that point to be explored a little more... Also, I'm particularly fond of the way the Kongs were integrated into the story. To tell you the truth, I've never really cared for the DK side of the franchise all that much. But really, the visit to the Jungle Kingdom was quite a riot, both in terms of action and worldbuilding. And let’s not forget the sheer insanity of the Koopa General... Really though, that movie was just, so much fun. Bright, colorful, light-hearted, unadulterated fun. Which is not to say that it was without emotions. The brothers' feeling of inadequacy, both expressed in different ways, their tearful reunion, the need to prove themselves to the world and to each other... Truly, fraternal affection is the crux of the film. In fact, family as a whole is an omnipresent theme throughout the story, from Peach's devotion to the Toads, to DK's own issues with his dad. And I'm not even talking about the love that was poured into all the little details. It's already been said a thousand times, but there are so many Easter eggs* hidden in the film, be it in the picture or the score. I've seen the movie being described as a "love letter" to the franchise and its fans, and really, I feel like there is no better way to put it. In a sense, I'd say it's like a puzzle : watching all the different little pieces fall neatly into place is also part of the fun. Sure, it wasn't The Last Wish, but then again, it didn't need to be. In its case - and I insist on the word "case"** -, the world is the plot. And the film executes it spectacularly. Anyway, this accolade is probably long enough (unlike the movie, which could afford to be much longer, if only because what we got was so good already :p ). Still, let me emphasize one last time what a joy it was to see the Mushroom World come alive this way, in such a luminous and bustling manner. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if instead of a sequel, we were to get a whole-ass show, in the vein of the first three cartoons. A mix of slice-of-life and adventure to explore this beautiful version of the Mario universe and everything it has to offer. I think it would be great. With that being said, thank you for listening to my divagations on the matter. As always, it was nice to get those thoughts out of my system. I mean, it was such a wholesome movie ; I needed to share my giddy excitement with the universe. ^_^

* Quite fitting for the season, now that I think about it. Although the film is so rich in references, that I'd almost be tempted to refer to them as "Fabergé eggs". XD ** I know better than anyone how good at storytelling the franchise can be - as recently demonstrated by Sparks of Hope -, so don't take this statement as a generalization it isn't meant to be.

[wildrisen]

ranking every season of pleasant goat and big big wolf

//// SPOILER WARNINGS. ////

S tier: the best of the best. will always go back to watch.

A tier: awesome, will return to watch

B tier: may periodically rewatch

C tier: probably won’t rewatch unless i’m on a XYYYHTL marathon

D tier: not my favorite tbh

note: i’m not including most of the earlier seasons cause i don’t remember enough of them

starting with:

D tier

⭐️ Dear Little Wish (2014) ⭐️

or, the one where the goats have to grant all the wishes from this tree to send this old star back home.

i don’t think i dislike this one at all, but i’ve never gone back to rewatch it since the first time i saw it in 2017 and tbh, i don’t even remember the ending. just not memorable to me.

🧵 The Tailor’s Closet (2014) 🧵

or, the one where the goats have to make clothes to send their sentient tool friends back to the tailor’s world.

similar situation to DLW. i’ve never gone back to rewatch this season because of the fact that it’s just not… memorable. all i remember is wolffy getting stuck in the tailor’s world at the end lmao. it reminds me quite a bit of Paddi the Amazing Chef.

i will give it extra points for the theme song, though. 3/4 lyrical music is underrated.

❤️‍🩹 Love You Babe (2014) ❤️‍🩹

or, the one where wolnie gets brainwashed into thinking she’s a goat and is paddi’s mom.

…mkay. this one fully deserves the D tier more than any other (except maybe Adventures in the Primitive World). they literally just recycled PTAC. if cpe wanted a second season of PTAC, they could have just… made a second season of PTAC!!

i literally never finished watching this season because of how much it annoyed me lmfao. so I have no idea what the hell happened to wolnie at the end. this is probably one of only 3 seasons I genuinely dislike.

🪶 Adventures in the Primitive World (2015) 🪶

or, the one where the goats and wolffy are teleported back to the world from the 7th movie.

yanno, i like this premise, but?? the primitive characters are so annoying. forgive me for being a weslie stan lmfao but the primitive chief kept using weslie as this scapegoat and kept gaslighting him and shit.

the 7th movie is also the worst one imo, so it never gave me much to begin with. it makes me think they had the idea for the season before the movie and ended up switching it at the end.

now the theme song for this season is by far my most favorite. a shame that it had to be wasted on such a shitty season ngl.

ultimately, the shitty characters, the poor plot line, and the awkward continuation of a not so nice movie just made this season really lackluster and unexciting for me. this is probably my least favorite of all.

🔫 War of Invention (2017) 🔫

or, the one where they go to some other planet and start… inventing stuff.

maybe this judgement of mine is unfair because i never got past a few episodes in, but i had a good reason to quit it.

the animation style. the. fucking. holy shit. literally i am never watching this season properly just because of that. thank god cpe dropped it because what the fuck man.

C TIER

🚘 Happy Formula (2015) 🚘

or, the one where they all get these vehicles that hatched from eggs.

this season kinda marked the turn of more… themed seasons, i suppose. while a plot here doesn’t really exist, the individual episodes are interesting enough for me to revisit at times. i loved weslie in this season tbh.

(how many times did wolffy get ticketed for speeding???)

🐳 Adventures in the Sea (2017) 🐳

or, the one where the goats and wolffy travel to the ocean for the ocean orb.

the second in the Marching to the New Wonderland series.

see, i originally gave this one a rank B, but that felt a bit generous. some of the episodes are just too redundant and uninteresting. though my favorite part was by far the part where slowy got stuck on wolffy’s submarine because his handprint was needed to stabilize the bomb lol.

the theme song is also a massive bop!! i unironically listen to it all the time. so while this season wasn’t especially interesting, the oceanic theme follows MTTNW perfectly.

👽 The Intriguing Alien Guests (2020) 👽

or, the one where weslie discovers he has a little sister, who is getting hunted down by aliens.

third Mighty Little Defenders season. unusually low ranking for one of the newer seasons. but it’s just… a bit boring. apart from the conclusion of weslie’s family story plus the intro of bingbing, this season didn’t hook me that much.

i think this season was really just an excuse to 1. use up all the old ideas for the earliest seasons they never put into place, and 2. pull the angst card. literally almost every episode just looks like rewritten versions of wolffy trying to catch the goats, except it’s the aliens catching bingbing. and they made us all cry at the end with weslie and his family lol.

overall not the most fun but i appreciate the nod to their beginnings.

B Tier

🍳 Paddi the Amazing Chef (2013) 🍳

or, the one where the goats have to cook for this mouse to send her and her sentient kitchen too friends back to their universe.

this season is a lot more memorable to me for an older season. i like the focus on paddi tbh (he was originally intended to be the main character of the show).

the pink mouse girl got attached to wolffy, which made things awkward lol. i recall an episode about trying to make it snow in june + the ones where they had to enter the mouse’s dreams to find her favorite food.

overall, a playful and fun season with a boppy theme song!

🌦️ Flying Island: The Sky Adventure (2018) 🌦️

or, the one where the goats take their trains, now planes, into the sky.

the third edition of MTTNW <3 originally this was supposed to be space adventures i believe, but i do think the sky fits the series better here, after ocean and earth.

here we see the real beginnings of the more plot-based seasons. my favorite was the balloon island and how wolffy & the goats & the citizens worked to drag the town out of the tornado!!

🏀 Dunk for Victories (2021) 🏀

or, the one where the characters play basketball.

though this one was unexciting to begin with, it grew on me. i learned quite a bit about basketball lmao.

tibbie got some serious character development here. i’m happy that cpe has kept her personality and girliness while also removing her from just being the token female character in the cast.

(also i’m gonna take this opportunity to say. i love Dunk for Future (the movie based on this) so so much <3)

my one gripe is that the… thing about the robots didn’t really get solved?? i know it was mostly answered in the next season but i don’t particularly like it when they just leave us hanging like this ngl. i suppose they made it work though.

🍃 The Season Towns (2023) 🍃

or, the one where the goats and wolffy have to defeat the evil king ruling over this fantasy land.

this is the newest season, the sixth in the MLD series. i binged it and?? it’s quite good! they really set us up to expect a straightforward superhero story, but then at episode 45 onwards, things start to get… very interesting very fast. i knew that xiaomu guy was sus…

also, weslie getting possessed by the evil king?? weslie and wolffy FUSING TOGETHER at the end???? >>>

i didn’t particularly like the… inconsistency with the “defense stones,” but other than that, this wasn’t a bad season. i’ll probably rewatch it later down the line.

A Tier

🚂 Marching to the New Wonderland (2016) 🚂

or, the one where the goats take their trains and deliver a vital seed to the center of a huge tree.

when i had my XYYYHTL reawakening in 2017, this is the first season i watched. this was the last season to use the old art style.

can i just say… the aesthetics and the music here are so good??? i love all of the new characters they introduced!! i wish cpe had used the soundtrack again in later seasons but also i enjoy their habit of using music specific to each season.

would have made this S tier except the plot itself didn’t quite meet the mark. but i really really love this season!!

🔎 The Little Detective (2016) 🔎

or, the one where weslie and wolffy have become detectives.

see the reason i like this season so much is because weslie gets to flex his smarts lol. this was also the first one with the new animation style.

also, the friendship is developing consistently between weslie and wolffy?? like. the two will see each other the forest and just be like “oh hey, what are you up to here” and weslie’s not gonna be scared and wolffy’s not gonna attack. seriously it jarred me a bit at first.

i really want to see a sequel to this. just then spending every episode solving cases, convicting the guilty, proving the innocent. didn’t have a plot quite as well as the S tiers but still so good!!

🐱 Against the Dark Force (2020) 🐱

or, the one where all except paddi and wolffy get brainwashed and turned into cats.

seriously the catification of these characters was hilarious and wonderful. it’s like taking the lid off the id lol. ngl, guxin lang deserved better, poor guy. the powers that got introduced in this season are wonderful, especially with how wolffy learns to control his lightning.

this season kept me on my feet. i didn’t want to stop binging it at all. it’s action after action, and then of course there’s the angst of weslie almost dying (cpe is surprisingly sadistic, huh…)

paddi’s character development was incredible here. that’s all i’ll really say cause it’s something you really need to see for yourself!!

the main reason why this is not in S tier is because the ending was… a bit weak imo?? it’s the most basic Power of Friendship(TM) ever and i just. it didn’t really land as hard as i think cpe wanted it to, which was unfortunate.

but the theme song is KILLER and i am definitely coming back to watch this one!!

🤖 Ultimate Battle: The Next Generation (2021) 🤖

or, the one where wolffy and weslie get teleported 15 years into the future, where everything has become all about robots.

this is the 4th MLD season. and i have some stuff to say.

first of all, cpe was clearly feeling nostalgic when they made this. the first episode uses music that hasn’t been used since MTTNW. also, making weslie&wolffy jump 15 years into the future? assuming this season was made in 2020, that means it was also 15 years prior than XYYHTL debuted.

second of all, i think i know where the idea of this season came from. wolffy always says he’ll definitely be back. so what if haha omg one day he didn’t? this is played with so many times in the season and it hurts so good :’)

third of all, the episode where it’s weslie’s birthday and he&wolffy get locked inside a freezer. and they’re just laughing about it. and this is the seasonal angst card all over again.

fourth of all, everyone being turned into robots. tibbie being the Impostor in the station. her backstory being revealed and developed. wolffy slowly getting turned. weslie helping them gain sentience. please omfg

and then the plot twist of the professor turning out to be a robot, deploying all the previous MLD villains.

ngl there was a massively misssed opportunity to add something about weslie’s family?? why didn’t they give us something about bingbing growing up without her brother, or smarc/lily grieving their son??? oml. see this is why this isn’t S tier. good but i’m just too salty abt this part lol.

S Tier

⚔️ Mighty Little Defenders (2019) ⚔️

or, the one where the wolves and goats become friends.

of course MLD had to be here. of course. this was the big one, the one that changed everything. see my favorite favorite tripe ever is enemies to best friends and look, weslie and wolffy kinda had a 900k platonic slow burn building up for the past movies and seasons. and it finally cracked here!!

see i also love the development of all the wolves in general. like. wolffy yes, he’s questioning his entire life, does he want friends or belonging?? but ultimately he chose his friends. you can tell when he decides not to question it anymore.

also, the seven evil wolves. it makes a lot of sense. the toxic wolf spirit reminds me a lot of toxic masculinity tbh. they all got pushed to be this certain idealized image of a wolf but this ended up resulting in a lot of unhealed trauma for all of them. and it wasn’t until they unpacked it that they were able to truly be themselves.

i used to find wolffy annoying and quite bothersome but now? he’s starting to rival weslie as my favorite character. i really value the multidimensionality that was built.

i was sort of expecting this season for a while now. in almost all of the past seasons and movies, weslie and wolffy learned to somehow work together and trust each other, and i was like, how does wolffy even have the heart to still eat someone he’s saved the world with, lol. cpe did a wonderful job this season was perfect i love it

⏳ Rescue Across Time (2019) ⏳

or, the one where the characters time travel to same the world.

the final MTTNW season, and my favorite season of the entire show.

1. the continued character development of from MLD. wolffy’s new friendship with the frosts, and how this helps to uncover a new side of him. yet he’s not immune to his old ways, because he almost destroys it at the end by pretty much betraying them.

2. the time travel. i am a sucker for anything time related in shows and movies!! this show was the perfect one to mess with time because of the fact that you have all these teens or adults who watched this as kids and are now grown, so referencing the old movies and seasons is… oh boy. punches you in the gut really.

3. the backstory of wolffy. it’s finally explained and there couldn’t have been a better way to do it. the ANGST oh my god. he’s still struggling to process the trauma he had from losing his dad and also the generational trauma that his dad probably passed onto him. we have weslie trying to process the grief of his parents ditching him for outer space, and slowy working through his unresolved feelings for stacy. like. dang since when did this kids show get so dark?? my god!!

4. the plot twist. classic “villain reveals true identity” trope but it hits especially hard here when you’ve seen the foreshadowing and all the little details. then it finally ties back the ending from MLD. seriously i fucking gasped this was done SO perfectly.

kay. cpe outdid themselves here. the time travel theme was perfect for concluding MTTNW. the grief, the nostalgia, the angst, the sequel to MLD. i’m always coming back to this season ALWAYS. did not expect a kids show to get this amazing but it did and i’m in love.

🐶 The Great Rescue (2022) 🐶

or, the one where the dark force has infected the nearby dog kingdom.

the second season of ADTF, and the 5th MLD season. just like ADTF, this one really kept me on my feet! action after action!! the goats battling their infected selves in the power locks! wolffy slowly getting infected! an explanation for the origin of the dark force at last!

wolnie’s bond with mingri and tibbie was honestly unexpected but i adore it so so much. also, just. wolffy and weslie battling each other at the end and the heart stabbing moment when it looks like wolffy’s died. aaaaJOJSOJS

see now having this season, i understand why they left off ADTF where they did. i wonder if they’re gonna make an ADTF 3…?

—

well that was a long ass post BUT BUT that is it for all the XYYHTL seasons!! i should rank their theme songs next tbh. i think i know which one is my no. 1, maybe my top 5??

wish this fandom were a little more popular in the western world because i LOVE it so so so much 🥹🥹🥹❤️

[desperatecheesecubes]

I really could have done without a ‘Amazonians are colonizers’ plot line, actually.

[gch1995]

I’m 25 going on 26 now, and I grew up loving the classic Powerpuff Girls cartoon series when I was a kid. Even now when I rewatch it as an adult, it’s still a cute and funny cartoon, especially now that I’m old enough to recognize all of the adult jokes. Like, there’s no way it was a coincidence that Professor Utonium’s despicably dishonest, greedy, lazy, manipulative, selfish, and sleazy former roommate from college was given the name Professor Dick Hardly by accident.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup actually are pretty relatable little girls who have believable flaws and insecurities. They make believable bad choices for little girls. Those issues actually get dealt with seriously, rather than just being brushed aside as no big deal with no negative consequences. They are still endearing and sympathetic in spite of their flaws.

While he had a few OOC moments of bad parenting in some bad episodes here and there, generally speaking, Professor Utonium from the classic Powerpuff Girls is actually one of the best dads in cartoons that I’ve ever seen, which is sadly pretty rare in most cartoon sitcoms, even the ones that are actually aimed at a children audience.

Most cartoon dads are abusive, lazy, neglectful, selfish, and stupid oafs. Granted, those type of dads in cartoon sitcoms can actually be entertaining and funny to watch when they are actually being well-written as shitty and slow-witted, but still essentially well-meaning people in regards to their families, such as S1-S8 Homer Simpson from The Simpsons and even S1-S3 Peter Griffin from Family Guy. However, the entertainment quality of those shitty, but well-meaning cartoon dads was mostly lost when the writers flanderdized their negative traits to the point of making Homer and especially Peter downright despicable with little to no redeeming or sympathetic qualities much of the time anymore. They went from being shitty, but essentially well-meaning parents and husbands to downright bratty and spoiled man-children who were much more intentionally abusive, childish, cruel, neglectful, petty, and selfish in regards to their families and others around them with little to no sympathetic or redeeming qualities much of the time anymore, and that’s one of the biggest reasons why The Simpsons went downhill in quality after S8, and why Family Guy went downhill in quality after S3.

Nonetheless, even as they were originally written on their shows pre-flanderdization when they were still well-meaning, but misguided parents and spouses, cartoon dads like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, weren’t good dads on the whole. There were still plenty of recurring plot lines and/or gags of them being abusive, lazy, neglectful, reckless, and selfish. Back in early seasons pre-flanderdization, it was more forgivable, though, because they also still had their fair share of kind and selfless moments with their families, and their shittiness as parents wasn’t intentionally abusive, malicious, premeditated, and selfish in nature, which balanced them out enough to still be entertaining and likable characters in spite of their flaws.

Realistically speaking, though, dads like Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson would be better off having their kids taken away from them by CPS. Their good qualities and lack of malicious intent, particularly in earlier seasons pre-flanderdization, would still not hold up as legitimate excuse as to why they should be allowed to keep their kids. Bart would have bruises all over his neck, fractures in his neck, and he could possibly be killed if Homer strangled him hard enough to actually break his neck and/or cut off his air supply long enough in real life just once. Meg, Chris, and even Stewie would not only be injured, but actually outright killed in real life from some of the abuse and neglect that Peter and Lois put them through in later seasons of FG. All of these kids, especially Meg, would have serious self-esteem issues for the rest of their lives because Peter, Lois’, and Homer’s abuse and neglect of their kids went beyond just a pattern of being physical in nature, but emotionally and verbally abusive as well.

So yeah, Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson are really not good fathers who you’d ever want to deal with for a parent in real life, even pre-flanderdization. The major reoccurrence of the abusive, bumbling, idiotic, lazy, drunken, neglectful, and selfish dad trope in cartoon sitcoms is exactly why I really love Professor Utonium from the classic PPG cartoon. I don’t necessarily mind it in absurdist cartoon sitcoms when it’s done well as a trope, but I’m also getting tired of mostly just seeing bad and stupid dads in cartoon sitcoms, and not enough good ones.

For the most part, the OG Professor Utonium is a great dad who goes above and beyond to make sure Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are happy, healthy, disciplined, and safe. He’s usually the parent most of us wish we could have in real life, if we don’t already. It’s refreshing to actually see a good dad in an animated sitcom for once.

Professor Utonium in the classic PPG cartoon is generally a very kind, loving, selfless, and supportive dad to girls. However, he also knows when he has to discipline them and be strict without ever being mean about it. He gives them good advice. He’s very selfless, and even though the girls are superheroes with superhuman abilities, he’ll still risk and/or sacrifice anything to protect them when they’re unable to protect themselves with their powers, including his own life. He didn’t need to be the stereotypical cartoon sitcom abusive, bumbling, dumb, and neglectful dad in order to be funny either. He was funny because he could sometimes be overprotective of the girls, and he could sometimes embarrass them by calling them sickly sweet terms of endearment and telling embarrassing stories that he shouldn’t have about them in public. He was socially awkward. These are relatable flaws in parents that even the best ones have.

While the girls don’t have a mother, Ms. Bellum and Ms. Keane were very brave, kind, and intelligent strong women who were good role models.

Also, the Professor did many activities with the girls and chores around the house that get gender-coded as “mother’s work.” Some of these things include begrudgingly playing dress up as Bubbles to make her happy when she was playing PowerPuff Girls with Buttercup and Blossom on a rainy day inside of no crime when he saw that she was upset that no one wanted to be her, cooking, cleaning, and actually sitting down to talk with the girls, listen to them, emotionally support them, and give them advice. He’s also not afraid to be openly affectionate, doting, and emotional with the girls. There’s just not enough good dads in cartoon sitcoms, which is why I really like Professor Utonium from the OG PowerPuff Girls cartoon and movie. He mostly defied all the bad dad stereotypes, and was a really great one to the girls more often than not.

The main villains from the classic PowerPuff Girls cartoon are incredibly entertaining, especially MoJo JoJo. Him was always the creepiest to me because he was the most devious, insidious, and manipulative one. All of the psychological abuse and manipulation he put the girls and Townsville through was always the scariest to me when I was a kid because out of all the villains on the show, the torment that he wreaked upon the girls and Townsville by brainwashing them, gaslighting them, and/or exploiting their fears and insecurities often was played as dead serious with really scary results, especially in early seasons of classic PPG. While Him had a few human moments here and there, for the most part, he was pretty consistently played off as being seriously scary and dangerous.

MoJo JoJo was an egomaniacal asshole hellbent on destroying the PowerPuff Girls and world domination, and on a few occasions, he actually came close to succeeding. On a few occasions, he genuinely was more scary than camp evil. But he still had a lot of humorous, human, fallible, and relatable moments, too. My favorite MoJo moments are the ones where he is making jokes, irritably going grocery shopping to get eggs, getting too frustrated by the girls antics and childish behaviors and reactions to actually go through with his plans to destroy them at certain points, and getting angry and jealous enough to actually destroy the alien/robot invader from another planet who was destroying Townsville in all the evil ways that he always wanted to himself. He was highly intelligent at coming up with clever schemes and inventions with all his science and technology to take over the world, destroy Townsville, and/or destroy the PowerPuff Girls. However, his arrogance, impatience, and impulsivity always doomed him to fail to succeed in the end, though he did come pretty close on a few occasions, especially in the 2002 prequel origin story movie, and he did actually get to rule the world in “The PowerPuff Girls Rule the World!” Surprisingly, he actually was a kindhearted ruler who did good things, but then he gave it all up and went back to being evil because he got bored.

Originally, MoJo was a well-intentioned extremist who wanted to create a utopia ruled by primates where they would never be controlled or rejected by humans again. As much as Professor Utonium’s irritation with JoJo for being a destructive chimp lab assistant was completely justified, it’s also hard not to feel kind of sorry for Mojo Jojo and understand where he’s coming from in his motivations to become evil, particularly in the 2002 prequel movie because originally all he really wanted was to be loved by his owner, too. He understandably felt rejected when Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup became the center of his universe instead. Of course, that doesn’t excuse him for choosing to respond to the Professor’s rejection by becoming an arrogant, evil, cruel, hateful, hypocritical, domineering, manipulative, petty, selfish, and vengeful villain going on a quest for world domination, attempting to commit homicide several times, probably committing voluntary manslaughter of citizens several times that we didn’t see on screen when destroying Townsville all those times, turning the rest of the world into dogs to try to take over the world, and trying to destroy the girls. However, you understand why Mojo became the villain he did with his backstory. He’s relatable. Occasionally, he does have some genuinely sympathetic moments where he’s actually willing to be friendly with the girls, team up with them, and do the right thing.

HIM was just the personification of evil for no other reason than the fact that he was satan. While MoJo was a complex, human, and relatable anti-villain with his origin story as the Professor’s lab chimp, who gained genius-level human intellect from having Chemical X splashed on his brain, and then chose to become evil after feeling rejected by the Professor when he saw how he pretty much forget about him once the girls became the center of his universe instead, HIM was evil, manipulative, and hateful for no other reason than the fact that those traits were a part of his nature as the very embodiment of evil. Many times, a fictional villain being portrayed as one-dimensional with no sympathetic qualities or relatable motivations will annoy me, but with HIM being evil just because that’s who he is, it actually works because he is literally Satan. There doesn’t need to be a deeper sympathetic story behind why he is evil. Committing crimes, wreaking havoc, corrupting people, manipulating people, turning people against others, exploiting the fears of others, and deceiving others for his own amusement is just who he is, and in the early seasons of classic PPG in particular, that made him really scary to me when I was a six year old little girl watching the cartoon on TV.

You get the idea...The classic PowerPuff Girls was a fantastic cartoon, particularly the first four seasons. Granted, there was some series seasonal rot going on in the writing in S5 and S6 after the 2002 prequel movie, and Craig Mcracken and Gennedy Tartakovsky’s departure from the crew. Like, the characterizations of the characters and/or storylines in S5 and S6 felt comparably flanderdized, ooc, immature, inconsistent, pointless, shallow, and underwhelming at certain times to fit the plot, such as in the episodes “Keen on Keane,” “Pee Pee G’s,” “Seed No Evil,” “Reeking Havoc,” “Toast of the Town,” “Say Uncle,” “City of Clipsville,” “”Bubble Boy,” A Made Up Story,” “Mo’linguish,” and “Simian Says.” Even the good episodes of S5-S6 still didn’t ever reach the same level of greatness of the ones from S1-S4. However, the seasonal rot in the classic PPG cartoon of S5-S6 after Craig McCracken and Gennedy Tartakovsky’s departure still wasn’t nearly as bad as the seasonal rot on The Simpsons after S8, Family Guy after S3, and SpongeBob SquarePants post S3–S4 ish, so I’m still willing to consider most of S5-S6 of classic PPG legit canon.

However, it sounds like the 2016 PPG reboot fucked up everything that was originally good about it to go for a more slapstick comedic feel without substance without consistency, depth, and intelligence. Now, I hear that the CW is making a live-action TV show spin-off of the PowerPuff Girls being jaded and resentful young women who’ve given up crime fighting as result! No, no, no! Why? Why does the CW keep making dark, nitty, and gritty live action teen soap operas out of beloved childhood cartoons?

Yeah, the original PowerPuff Girls cartoon and movie had dark moments. The girls could be bratty and make bad choices sometimes. However, it was still very much a fun show about normal little girls born with superpowers, which they chose to use to defend their father, their city, and on some occasions, the whole world, from crime. No one ultimately forced them to be superheroes for everyone in the classic PPG cartoon and movie. They chose to do it because they had brave and selfless hearts. There was ultimately no obligation for them to be superheroes in the classic PPG cartoon and movie. Sure, they got tired of fighting crime at times, but they still ultimately enjoyed doing it when push came to shove. They weren’t weighed down by the darkness of the world, hatred, and resentment. They still were relatively normal little girls with happy, peaceful, and normal lives of little girls whenever they weren’t fighting crime after the events of the prequel movie about their origins. That’s what made the PowerPuff Girls classic cartoon so special.

By turning Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup into jaded young women, who have given up on being superheroes because they’ve grown resentful of “losing the normal childhood to crime fighting” that they basically are shown to have in the original series for the most part in their spare time aside from having superpowers that they chose to use to fight crime to defend their dad and Townsville from, anyway, where is the fun in that?

[castiel-left-his-mark-on-me]

I wish I knew what The Plot-verse Jen and Mish are doing for the wedding day <3 I like to think that Dani is having a small argument w Jen over what he should or should not do regarding the fan (and chad and samantha) wedding.

And just like that ... you have me writing more Cockles in The Plot-verse.

They got in late last night. Dani and the kids are still asleep, but Jensen is just too excited stay in bed. It’s been far too long since they’ve seen each other, and he can hear Misha hobbling around in the kitchen—something he really shouldn’t be doing just two days after a hip replacement.

But when he walks around the corner, seeing the man standing by the stove—skin glowing gold in the morning sun, Jensen waits just a minute longer before going over to bitch at him for being on his feet, because he doesn’t get to see this sight often enough. The man he loves … right here, finally within reach.

“Good morning” he says eventually, walking up behind Misha just as the man is reaching for the coffee pot. “What the fuck are you doing walking around?”

Misha laughs, leaning into Jensen as Jensen’s arms snake around his middle. “Makin’ coffee. I figured everyone in the house needs it after staying up so late.”

“I don’t think the kids do.”

“Not directly, no; but if they want me not to beat them with my crutches—they’ll want me to have my coffee.”

Jensen rolls his eyes and smiles. “They’ve been giving you grief?”

Misha finally rotates in Jensen’s arms, looping his own around the back of his neck before kissing him. “They’re animals.”

“Just like their dad” Jensen snickers, nuzzling Misha’s nose.

Misha scoffs in feigned offense. “I’m an angel … didn’t you know?”

“Yeah, yeah” Jensen muses. “Well, Angel. You need to go sit down. I’ll make the coffee.”

With a frown, Misha groans. “I don’t want to let go of you just yet. You’re quite an attractive crutch, and I need the support.”

Jensen squeezes the man tighter, breathing in the smell of him—a rather pungent smell. He probably hasn’t showered since the surgery; but he’s still his Mish. He’s still his home, his constant, and Jensen will never not want to fill his lungs with the man. “I’ll always let you lean on me, no matter what.”

Misha’s face softens, and his eyes widen as he looks him over. “Aw … what’s gotten into you? You’re so mushy today. I love it.”

Jensen finally tugs the man back, repositioning him so he’s braced against his side and Jensen can help him to one of the kitchen chairs. “Well, it is Valentine’s Day” Jensen chuckles, setting Misha down softly. “Also, I’ve missed you—a lot.” He leans in and kisses those pink, chapped lips, but when he pulls away again, Misha’s eyes are even wider.

“Shit.”

Jensen furrows his brow. “What?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day?”

Jensen chuckles. “Yeah. Why? You forgot?”

Misha swallows thickly and then nods.

Jensen rolls his eyes and then kisses him again. “Don’t worry about it. Just having you within kissing-distance is gift-enough for me.”

Misha half smiles but his gaze turns far-away, like he’s deep in thought.

“You didn’t get anything for Vicki, did you?” Jensen surmises after another moment later.

Misha eventually shakes his head.

Jensen straightens back out before turning towards the kitchen counter, knowing that the man will truly need coffee now if he’s going to start worrying so early in the morning, but maybe Jensen can help with that too. “It’s not a problem, Mish. I actually ordered flowers for both Dani and Vick… they should be getting here any minute. Just pull the card off and give her the other bouquet” he says, taking the coffee pot out of the machine and moving to the sink to fill it up with water. He raises his voice to talk over the noise. “And if you’re really worried about it—I also got two small things for Dee, so you can have one of them for Vick … I don’t know if she’d like it though. Vintage tees and headbands aren’t really her thing.” He shuts off the water and glances towards the man sitting at the table—who is now trying to stand up yet again. “Jeez—Mish!” He sets down the pot and scurries back over to the table to push Misha back into the chair. “Will you stop? I can handle things in the kitchen, alright? Just stay put!”

But Misha only reaches up, taking a fistful of Jensen’s t-shirt in his hand in order to yank him down and kiss him hard.

Jensen stumbles a little, but he catches himself on the edge of the table, quickly melting into the kiss a moment later, losing all comprehension the moment after that.

“You …” Misha starts when he finally breaks away, “are an extremely thoughtful man.” He kisses him again, harder still—slipping Jensen just enough tongue to make his body arch.

Jensen bites Misha’s lip as his sweatpants begin to tent; but he forces himself to pull away—knowing there’s nothing either of them can really do right now, and he really doesn’t need blue balls before noon. It’s a shame though, because he could spend all day tangled up with this man and never tire of it.

Misha smiles at him, face lighting up with many things that he could say, but doesn’t have to, because Jensen knows them all. “I love you—and thank you … for the flowers, that is. I’ll give those to Vicki; but you keep the gifts. We don’t normally do too much for Valentine’s day anyway; but I do usually get her flowers and cook her dinner.”

Jensen pulls away a little more and then leans his forehead against Misha’s, looking into those ocean-blues, feeling them calm him with their waves of warmth. “Well, that’s why we’re here, babe. To help you cook … help with the kids. Help you and Vicki manage while you heal. I got you, so just sit back and relax, alright?”

Misha nods against him, giving him one last peck before Jensen slips away to tend to the coffee—but Misha gives his ass a quick slap just before he’s out of reach. “Damn … I wish I could get on that.”

Jensen looks back over his shoulder and gives Misha a wink. “You and me both.”

***

The Coffee brewed and breakfast cooked—a filling array of waffles and eggs and spicy gourmet sausage that Misha had stockpiled in preparation of Jensen and Danneel’s visit. In fact, the man had loaded up on all the Ackles favorites—from beer, to games and toys for the kids, to all their favorite meals and snacks. He took care of just about everything they could possibly want or need; which makes the fact that he’s fretting over forgetting Valentine’s day all the more hilarious to Jensen.

“I can’t believe I didn’t get you anything!” Misha whines for the twentieth time today as he looks over the bracelet Jensen just gave him.

It was hand carved, ash and oak, with lines of black onyx inlayed between the woods, creating almost a braided effect. The craftsman said it was symbolic of two differing souls coming together to become something entirely new. And the onyx represented that new reality—black like the endless universe, reflecting all the light and love that shines within it. It was perfect, and Jensen felt that he was fated to find that bracelet—having accidently stumbled upon the tiny shop after taking a wrong turn when trying to find a gas station near their new cabin in Colorado.

They had decided to buy the place only a few months back—inspired by Misha’s purchase of Faith Ranch. So now, their families have two properties to go to be alone together. Faith Ranch and Serenity Lodge.

Yeah, the names are a little corny, but Jensen feels like they’re pretty fitting whenever they’re all finally together. The serenity he feels seeing all their kids playing … the faith he has in the future when he watches Misha and Danneel and Vicki all laughing with one another – it’s perfect; and he feels so very blessed that they have those places to run away to now. To be together and to be themselves.

In fact, the original plan was to have Misha and Vicki and the kids come up to Serenity to stay with them as Misha recuperated from his surgery, but with the winter storms and all the new frost hitting the area, Misha’s doctor said that Colorado was probably not the best environment for a man with stiff joints and limited mobility. So, Jensen and Danneel changed their plans and headed towards Washington, knowing that ultimately—it didn’t matter where in the world they were, as long as they were all together.

 The kids had all gotten up with the smell of breakfast, and once they shoveled in their food—they were all begging to go out back and play—meaning that the adults’ peaceful morning of gift giving and quiet coffee-drinking came to a speedy end. So, Danneel, Vicki and Jensen spent twenty minutes after breakfast trying to wrestle all the little ones into jackets and long pants and winter boots, which was quite a feat, even with three sets of hands, they were still outnumbered. Arrow and Zepp kept pulling off their jackets because they said they were too hot. JJ and Maison kept torturing West with annoying, made-up songs that all seemed to end with the same line “West smells like poop”; which ultimately made West retaliate with pokes and tickles and name calling—and that of course caused the girls to run away and scream at the top of their lungs, which of course meant that the three adults were chasing them all over the house—just trying to finish dressing them so they could finally kick them outside.

Misha sat back and laughed as he watched all the commotion go down, for once—seeming to enjoy the fact that he was immobile and unable to help.

Eventually however, the kids did get dressed and were set loose in the yard, leaving the grownups to watch them from the sunroom, drinking their second and third cups of coffee in somewhat relative-peace. The glassed-in space was warm and bright, and filled up with the scent of roses and gardenias. The two beautiful bouquets that Jensen had ordered (one of which, Misha did end up commandeering) are sitting on the coffee table between them all, adding just the right amount of color to the room.

Misha leaned against Jensen’s side as he scrolled on his phone; and Danneel and Vicki sat in the chairs across from them, talking about politics and lamenting over the current state of the senate, while Jensen just sat there quietly … smiling to himself because he hasn’t felt this happy in a while. His family is all together. The coffee Misha got was his favorite, and he has a belly full of waffles and sausage. This is quite possibly, the best Valentine’s Day he’s ever had.

“Fuck!” Misha yelps suddenly, bolting upright with a groan. “It’s our wedding today too?”

Jensen crinkles his eyes as he stares at the side of the man’s face, cracking a smile because—surely, the man is losing his mind. “What?”

Misha is still staring at his phone, scrolling furiously through—what Jensen thinks is Twitter; but Misha is moving too fast for him to be sure. “Apparently—it’s Dean and Cas’s wedding day today.”

Vicki and Danneel stop their conversation to gawk over at him too. “What?” They both ask again in unison.

Misha finally looks up from the screen, and then around to all three of them. “It’s our wedding day!”

And Jensen is rolling his eyes now. “We heard you the first time, Mish—but we’re gonna need you to explain it now.”

Misha shifts in his seat, wincing as his sore body twists in his hip-brace. “Remember that whole Chad-thing I was telling you about?”

“Chad? Chad who?” Danneel asks, and Vicki snickers to herself, obviously remembering something about all this, but Jensen is drawing a blank.

“Lindberg—he played Ash on Supernatural. I’ve only ever met him at conventions though. Nice guy.”

“Funny guy” Jensen adds on, starting to recall Misha mentioning the man at some point last week.

“Very funny—so funny in fact, he has written this whole additional arc for the show, set in Heaven, where he and Ellen are running the Roadhouse again, and of course … the fans are eating up.”

Jensen laughs. “I’d expect nothing less.”

Misha nods before continuing. “Yeah, well … it all started on Dean’s birthday … a party at the Roadhouse seemed to be the event. Both Chad and Samantha Ferris made this whole story out of it; but now, I guess the story went on to include Dean and Cas’s wedding … on Valentine’s Day, no less. Looks like Chad is going live in a little bit to talk to fans about it. He and Samantha are making it a whole thing. And now ‘DeanCasWedding’ is trending on Twitter.”

“That’s adorable” Vicki chuckles.

“So adorable! Oh my God! You guys should totally join in!” Danneel squeals.

That makes Jensen’s eyes go wide. “No way! Not gonna happen.”

Danneel’s smile somersaults into a pout. “But why not? You guys would break the internet!”

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why not. I’ve been pretty quiet about the finale; so, I don’t think the first time I really break my silence should be about our characters’ supposed marriage. That’s treading a really thin line in our contracts.”

“It’s just a silly story by one of the past actors. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal” Vicki offers, but now Misha is the one shaking his head.

“No, Jensen’s right. The simple act of us participating in something like that might be an invitation for the network to extend our NDA’s. As harmless as it would actually be to them and the canon of the show, our direct participation in it would raise too many eyebrows” Misha finishes, but now both the women are frowning.

“Well, maybe there’s something subtle you could do. Even if it’s just liking some of Chad’s tweets or something.”

“Maybe” Jensen offers, already thinking that that probably won’t happen; but who knows. He’s feeling rather soft today. If applied right, he can probably be pressured into just about anything.

“Mommy!” Arrow screeches, and the sound is immediately followed by Maison’s dubious laugh.

Both Vicki and Danneel look at one another before sighing and setting down their coffee cups.

“I’m sorry. Our daughter loves to torment those around her. She gets it entirely from her father” Vicki says, tossing a pointed look at her husband.

Misha gasps. “Who … me?” he mocks.

Danneel laughs as she looks at him adoringly. “It’s good-hearted torment, I’m sure.”

“Is there such a thing?” Vicki asks before moving around the chairs towards the screen door to the backyard.

Misha fakes a cry and then burrows his face into Jensen’s neck. “She’s so cruel, Jensen. Hold me!”

Jensen busts up laughing, but he does as he’s told, wrapping his arms tightly around the man’s body. “Shh—it’s okay, baby. I got you.”

Vicki smirks at the two of them nestled together on the couch. “You can have him. I’ll just take your wife off your hands.” And with that, she loops her arm with Danneel’s and pulls her out the door.

“Sounds good to me!” Danneel chirps, skipping along beside her as they go to check on the kids.

“Hey! I tend to like my wife!” Jensen yells, but Vicki just flits her hand in the air and waives him off.

“Hmm” Jensen grumbles. “Those two better not forget about us.”

Misha laughs, kissing his neck right after and it shocks goosebumps up all over Jensen’s body. “Don’t worry. They’ll remember we’re here as soon as the kids get too crazy.”

Jensen smiles. “True enough.”

They fall silent a moment, melting into each other’s warmth as the outside chill seeps in through the cracked back door, but the contrast only seems to make their closeness feel more intense.

“So—do you think you’ll do it?”

“Do what?” Jensen asks, mind already wandering towards all the future days that could be like this one. Their families—together, happy and full of love.

“Do you think you’ll actually like one of Chad’s tweets or whatever?” Misha finally pulls back a little so he can look Jensen in the eye.

Jensen sighs and then shrugs again. “I dunno, man. I’m just really hesitant about anything having to do with the show right now, even if it is just a silly makeshift fan-fiction put together by some of the past characters. I just don’t want to start picking at that scab, you know?”

Misha sighs as well, and then nods—leaning his head back onto Jensen’s shoulder as he scratches beneath his leg brace. “I get it. It should be harmless and all in good fun, but these things can snowball pretty quickly.”

“Exactly.”

“It is fun to think about though.”

“What’s that?”

“Dean and Cas—tying the knot.”

Jensen huffs a laugh before gathering Misha’s hand in his own. “Yeah. That would’ve been a fun scene to shoot.”

“Dean—all nervous at the end of the aisle…” Misha says dreamily.

“Cas, picking apart all the wedding traditions—talking about their archaic and barbaric origins” Jensen laughs.

“Charlie, punching him in the arm and telling him to stop killing the romance.”

Jensen nods. “She so would! She’d totally do that. Oh, and you know Bobby would be crying.”

“Oh yeah... and Sam would probably tear up a bit too.”

Now Jensen shakes his head. “Nah, Sam would just be making a smirky little bitch-face as Dean cried.”

Misha grins wide against Jensen’s shoulder. “Oh God … Dean would be bawling his eyes out.”

“He’d be marrying the love of his life … so yeah, of course he’d be bawling his eyes out!”

“You think Cas is the love of Dean’s life?” Misha asks, pulling back again suddenly to wonder at the side of Jensen’s face.

Jensen turns to him, a little surprised by the question. “Sure … don’t you?”

Misha’s face shifts into a cautious smile. “Well … I mean, I know that Dean is the love of Cas’s life. Obviously … the show admitted as much; but we never really talked about what you thought Dean’s take on the whole thing would be. We talked about the confession scene itself, and Dean’s reciprocation and how it was a long time coming for the show; but never what it might’ve actually meant for our two characters … if they ever had the chance to actually do something about it, that is.”

Jensen straightens out on the couch, being careful not to move too quickly and accidentally jostle Misha’s still fragile body. “Well …” he begins, trying to get back into Dean’s mindset, something that used to be as easy as flicking on a light switch for him; but now—with months and months having passed where he hasn’t been Dean Winchester, he’s finding it’s a little harder to get there, “I guess… since Dean is in Heaven now, he’d finally let his guard down. He wouldn’t be so hell bent on keeping his distance, because he’d know he finally doesn’t have to worry about losing everyone he loves; and that includes Cas.”

“But … a wedding?” Misha laughs; however, Jensen doesn’t miss the hopeful uptick to his voice.

“It’d take some doing … but yeah. I think Dean would eventually pop the question. He’d drive Cas around Heaven for a while, listening to some tunes, eating some good ass food. And then they’d find some beautiful lake somewhere, sit on Baby’s hood … and Dean would just know, ya know? So, he’d throw his arm around Cas’s neck and say ‘Cas—what the fuck are we doin’? We should just get hitched already’ and then he’d kiss him like there’s no tomorrow.”

Misha smiles, eyes scrunching up with his grinning cheeks. “I suppose in Heaven, the concept of tomorrow isn’t really a thing.”

“Yeah, time works different in Heaven … isn’t that what the script said?”

“Something like that” Misha mutters, inching himself up to reposition the leg he has propped against the table. “So … we’d be super corny and get married on Valentine’s Day?”

“Why not?” Jensen laughs. “Dean does enjoy a good Rom-Com moment. And we all know he’s about as corny as they come.”

“True” Misha chuckles. “Well, in that case …” He sits up straight and sobers his face, narrowing his eyes a little before he turns a serious gaze in Jensen’s direction. “Happy Wedding Day, Dean” he says—in his deepest, raspiest Cas-voice.

Jensen starts to laugh, but quickly stops himself so he can get into character—half smiling, looking away … bashful, but still intense. “Back at ya, Cas.” He clears his throat as he looks around the room, trying to think of what Dean would say next … but then it hits him. Dean wouldn’t say anything. Without a second thought, Jensen leans forward and reaches out towards one of the bouquets, pulling out a long strand of Baby’s Breath … quickly breaking it in half and twisting the stem around itself, finally tucking the ends between one another to make a small, vined circle. And then, turning slowly in his seat, he grabs Misha’s—Cas’s left hand and holds it between them, slipping the make-shift ring onto his finger.

Misha looks down at it a moment, breaking character as his voice cracks in a sigh; but as he looks back towards Jensen—a slight sheen of tears in his eyes, he falls back into the angel’s grace, eyes seeming to glow blue in the morning sun, shoulders squaring on the wings of the day. “I do” he says raggedly, sounding choked up, but still like a tried-and-true angel of the lord.

“Me too” Jensen rumbles, voice just as deep before finally leaning in to kiss his angel’s lips; but soon enough—their Heaven falls away, as do Dean and Castiel, leaving just the two of them, real and mortal and alone in the sunroom of Misha’s home.

A flowered ring on one hand.

Each other’s hearts in the other.

Two families growing together in the grass and sun.

And a real-life paradise, alive and thriving all around them.

Yes … Jensen thinks, this is indeed the best Valentine’s Day he’s ever had.

[kinsey3furry300]

A very confused Star Wars Fan desperately tries to justify their belief that “Caravan of Courage” shows the way forward for the franchise. No, really.

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved Star Wars. And I mean, all of it. The books, the games, the Lego, the spin-offs: I even enjoy the Holiday Special in a The Room so-bad-you-just-need-to-see-it sort of way.  But particularly the films. But here is when we run into the big problem: I’m just the wrong age. The original trilogy launched before I was born, the prequel trilogy hit cinemas when I was already a teen and while I went and saw them and enjoyed them, I was at that age where I was self-conscious about seeing a “kids” film, and hyper-aware of how silly and cringy those films were in parts. So my indoctrination, my inoculation with the Star Wars bug didn’t happen in the cinema, and it didn’t happen with any of the main franchise works. It happened on home video, on a skiing trip in the French Alps in the early 90’s. I’d have been about 6, and this was the first time I’d ever been abroad other than to see relatives in Ireland.  And I loved it: to this day I love skiing, but more than that, I have very, very fond childhood memories of this trip. This was shortly before I lost my biological mother to cancer, she’d have received her diagnosis just after we got back from the trip. This was when my younger sister stopped being an annoying screaming thing and became and became an actual person I could talk and play and share ideas with, this was before the combination my mothers long illness and my father having just launched his own IT start up meant I didn’t see him or her any more, despite the fact they were in the same house as me. This was this wonderful, nostalgic child-hood bubble when my family was intact, and nothing could ever go wrong. I skied all day with mum and dad, and would come back to the chalet in the evening. It was an English speaking chalet, I met my first real-life American there, and having grown up in the 90’s in the UK nothing was cooler than making friends with an actual American my own age. He had a hulk Hogan action figure with springs in the legs so if you put him on a hard surface and punched his head down, when you let go he’d jump really high in the air. We used to play with it together in the bath, back in that weird 90’s time-bubble when it was possible to convince two sets of parents that this kid you’d just met was you best friend in the world and of course shared bath time was, somehow, normal and appropriate. And fresh from bath time, tired from the day, the parents would give us some hot coco, dump us kids in front of the tv and grab the first shitty low-budget VHS they could find to keep us distracted while they went to the bar. In this particular time, in this particular place, that shitty low budget cartoon was the  complete set of the 1985 Lucasfilm/ABC Ewoks cartoon, plus the two spin off movies, and to this day that cheap, kitschy, kind of bad series has a special warm and cosy place in my heart. I remember being enthralled by the world, in love with the characters, applied by the bad guys and the injustice they caused (to this day I’m still irate about that time Wicket lost his set of beads documenting his progress towards becoming a full warrior and the older Ewoks basically said, tough, you need to re-earn all those merit badges from scratch. This struck me as exactly the sort of bullshit an adult would pull, and pissed me off) and on tenterhooks about what would happen to the characters.

It was also, by a coincidence, the first ever Star Wars media I was exposed to, and the above combination of events probably explains a lot about me.

So I was surprised, the other day, when scrolling Disney+, to find they’d added Caravan of Courage AND Battle for Endor to the roster in my region. Surely Disney wouldn’t want their slick, cool brand associated with this old trash? Surely there could be no place for this in the post-Mandalorian Star Wars cannon? Surely this is a horrible mistake some intern made, right?

Unless…. What if I’ve miss-remembered? What if it’s not just rose-tinted nostalgia goggles, and it’s, in fact, secretly really, really good?

I rushed to my comfy chair, got a blanket, dimmed the lights, made some coco (with rum in it, because why the hell not?) and sat down to re-examine this lost gem.

And wow: it’s every bit as shit as you’d expect.

It has aged exactly as poorly as you’d expect a cheap, mid 80’s direct to video spin-off to age. Caravan of Courage? More like Caravan of Garbage, am I right?

And yet… I still enjoyed every moment.

And it was sitting there, in my pyjamas, watching a cheaply made direct to video cash-grab from just before I was born, seeing it again for the first time in nearly 30 years, and I realised something.

It doesn’t really matter if this film is bad, so long as I enjoy it. And if it doesn’t really mater if this is bad, then I, like many Star Wars fans, wasted a huge amount of time and emotional effort on being butthurt about stuff I didn’t like about the Rise of Skywalker and it’s ilk. Because somewhere, right now, a tired and frustrated parent is putting Disney+ on to keep their kids quiet for two hours. And they won’t think too hard about what they put on, so long as it keeps little Timmy busy for a bit. Somewhere, right now, a kid is watching Rise of Skywalker, and it’s the first Star Wars media they’ve ever seen.

And that’s okay. Because we don’t know what that kids home life is like. We don’t know if it’s good or bad. Maybe it’s great, maybe it’s about to take a dramatic plunge like mine did, and this moment here will be the cosy, warm memory they look back on in 30 years time, and that’s beautiful.  They’re getting introduced to a fun, wonderful fantasy world that could be with them all their lives, through good times and bad, and as fans we should be happy about that.

Star Wars will never, die: it’s too darn profitable, Disney will never let it. And while I hope they learn from their mistakes and make sure every future Star Wars is a timeless gem of story-telling, statistically, if you keep making enough films, some of them will be bad. And while I’d like them all to be great, it’s still okay if they’re bad.

Because nothing can take away my memories of that week in that chalet. Nothing can take-away my memories of when they put the original trilogy on in cinemas for the special edition and I had my jaw hit the floor with how good it was on the big screen, not knowing or caring who shot first. Nothing can take away you memories of the Original Trilogy, the Prequels, or the Clone Wars. Nothing can tarnish the bits of the sequil trilogy that you like, and there are good bits in there.

But wait, what about continuity? What about the sacred, perfect written time-line that used to exist?

Well, what about it? Have you seen any other big, epic fantasy universe before? They’re all a mess. A work of fiction, particularly fantasy, can be extensive, or tightly written, but not both. Harry Potter is only seven books, and the last two feel, tonally, like they’re from an entirely different series. I love them, but the grim-dark kicked in so fast you’ll get whiplash. The Hobbit is a perfect written self-contained novel, and LOTR is *The* big boy high-fantasy trilogy: fast forward 50 years, and Christopher Tolkien is desperately squeezing every last drop of money out of his father’s corpse by finishing and publishing every unfinished note JRR ever wrote right down to his shopping lists. Even Dune goes of the rails with sequels. I can only think of four fantasy works that are both extensive and consistently tightly written, Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time, Malazan: Book of the Fallen and Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. And even then, the prequels and spin-offs mess with the timelines: the Dunk and Egg novella’s change some character’s canonical ages and timelines, Wheel of Time was going slowly off the rails even before the Jordan died, Forge of Darkness made what was a good metaphor for the creation of it’s world into a literal war deep in the past, and Sanderson’s first Novel Elantris got a re-write to bring it more in line with the rest of the shared universe. The MCU, oft held up as the modern example of tightly planned, well thought out ongoing storytelling, is a lie: it was never as pre-planned out as Disney wants us to think; the first Iron Man, apparently, barely had a script, with Downey ad-lib-ing most of his scenes. None of the MCU films are direct sequels to each-other other than Infinity war and Endgame. There are three Iron Man films, and Three Thor films, and none continue an ongoing story line across multiple films, and the Cap films barely continue an arc, but only where Cap’s relationship with Natasha and Bucky is involved.  Much like these, Star War’s cannon is a complete, nightmarish, confusing, tangled, illogical mess. And it has been since 1984, as Caravan of Courage proves. It was never consistent and well planned.

And that’s okay.

I used to care about plot holes. I used to care about which works were cannon in Star Wars lore. I’m over that now. I’m happy to imagine the books, films and games not as a blow-by-blow historical account of a galaxy far far away, but as campfire stories from within this fun, imaginative world that we’re all invited to listen to. Stories that are in-universe myth and folklore, that we can all snuggle up and listen to while drinking highly alcoholic rum and remembering better times, knowing that wherever the future throws at us, no matter how the world goes to hell around us, we’ll still have the memories, and the ability to make our own new stories in the wonderful Star Wars world we all share.

And that’s okay. No, more than that: that’s beautiful.

Also Star Wars is completely unambiguous on the fact we’re allowed to kill fascists no matter how many times they keep coming back with a new logo, so that’s timely I guess.

So, there’s my hot take two-years after everyone else stopped caring about this stuff, as per bloody usual. Tell me why I’m wrong below, and does anyone else have any truly awful spin-off shows that they kind of have a nostalgic soft spot for?

[agentnico]

The Mysterious Benedict Society - Season 1 (2021) Review

Anyone ever tried Eggs Benedict? Recently tried it and my goodness is it good!! The poached egg covered with hollandaise sauce that’s is slowly soaking up the muffin that holds it all together....absolutely delicious.

Plot: Four gifted orphans are recruited by an eccentric benefactor to go on a secret mission; placed undercover at a boarding school known as The Institute, they must foil a nefarious plot with global ramifications.

Being brought up in a Russian family, I have missed out on a lot of western media and literature that many kids back then of my generation would have enjoyed. So it’s a rare case when I come across an adaptation of something I’ve actually read as a kid, and as such get the nostalgic feels for. In cometh The Mysterious Benedict Society, a new family friendly show on Disney+ based on the first book of a series by writer Trenton Lee Stewart. I remember as a child reading these books in my school’s library (as at home I only read Russian novels like War & Peace at that very young age!) and actually imagining how good these books would be as films. They had such colourful characters and such heart and the story had this element of spy-espionage to it, but because it was about kids it made one feel like they themselves too could too have the skills and special capabilities and be something great. No matter how weird or how much of an outcast you were or are, there’s always a place in the world for your weird or quirky nature. They were really inspiring and fun books, so I was so happy to hear now many many years down the line that they finally have adapted these books. Or at least the first one, let’s hope they got enough of a viewership to garner further seasons.

What a show this is. Talk about faithful adaptations!! You can tell how much love and passion the writers and producers of the show have for their source material, as this is a pretty straight forward book to screen adaptation. Yes there are minor additions and changes here and there, but overall this thing is devoted to please fans of the original book, but also welcome new ones into the fold. The minor changes mainly include that the villain isn’t in a wheelchair anymore, which is actually for the better to avoid any old-school villain stereotypes, and also Mr Benedict and his team get more of a prevalent role in this compared to the book where once he gives the kids their mission, him and his team kind of vanish until the end of the book. And the latter add on is evidently done to fill up the runtime of the episodes, however the characters are all so loveable that you don’t mind spending the extra time with them.

I love the way this show looks. The production design and extravagant outfits make it seem like a light version of a Wes Anderson movie. The aesthetic is that of a Willy Wonka chocolate factory with so many eye popping colours everywhere. But it is again the original book’s great narrative and characters that make this show so enjoyable. The central four orphan kids are especially good and one has to wonder where Hollywood producers keep churning out these talented child actors! Do they have a machine in a secret lab in Area 51 where upon a film studio’s request another special kid can be created that has the ability to manoeuvre their facial expressions with distinct precision and also deliver lines of dialogue with believable emotionally filled resonance? Nevertheless, the kids here are fantastic, which is good, since, you know, you kind of spend most of the show with them. But the adults are not to be missed either. Tony Hale, who is most known to all for his dumb and simple minded caricature Buster Bluth in Arrested Development, is sure to surprise in his double performance as the charming and sincere titular Mr Benedict, and the opposite sinister villain Mr Curtain, who I found to be a surprisingly menacing presence. Mr Benedict’s team also includes characters played by Kristen Schaal and MaaMeyaa Boafo both of whom fit in well with the quirkiness of the series, but it is Ryan Hurst as the sad and lost Milligan who provides most of the laughs as he captures the steadfastness beneath the weirdness.

At the end of the day the reason the show does so well is cause it recaptures the central themes and underlying messages of the original books so well. From the importance of how trauma and guilt can affect us later in life to the isolation felt from any neurodiversity that one may have outside what is considered the "norm" of society. Each person, mainly the kids, feels the impact of their world and expectations in different ways. From being unaware of bluntness in social interactions to hyper-fixations, the series shows the beautiful parts of neurodivergent minds while also exploring the ways society aims at taking that and moulding it into their concept of perfection. The power of an observant mind, empathy, and acknowledgment of the beauty in the ways that people's minds work differently from one another is all wrapped up wonderfully in this series. And that’s as deep as I’ll ever get in my reviews. Like phew, I sounded like a professional psychoanalyst just then. Too much. That was too much for my tiny little brain to handle! Any-how, The Mysterious Benedict Society - go watch it so we can get a season 2!

Overall score: 8/10

[giantroboticplatypusbutt218]

Since I’m the kind of weirdo that unironically likes things like the Shadow The Hedgehog video game I decided to watch Loonatics Unleashed because I figured even if it’s bad I’ll probably still like it anyway.

My numerous thoughts on what I’ve watched so far are below the cut. There’s not any major spoilers.

I’m almost through season one and HOO BOY is the pacing in some episodes just like... the absolute worst I’ve ever seen in a cartoon. I never even knew a cartoon’s mere structure could give me whip lash but here we are. It should really say something that that’s the first problem I thought about. Sometimes there are like, no rising actions. They just introduce the baddy of the week and then it’s the climax for 20 minutes until the conclusion hits 20 seconds before credits roll. It’s either “things are fine” or “EVERYTHING’S ON FIRE” and hardly ever anything in between. The last handful of episodes I watched seems to be better, but that could also be because I was dead tired while watching them. 

Also this is literally the first show where I just... don’t care about the main character. I know it’s a team of six but obviously with Ace being the leader you’d kinda expect him to be the most interesting... but he’s not. He just feels like homeopathic dilution Bugs Bunny, and the fact he spouts off most of the “iconic” lines compared to all the characters doesn’t help. This is unrelated but he also seems to have only one super power? And it’s a kinda boring one? I guess he just needed laser eyes so he could get into Harry Potter esque energy beam battles with the bad guys... I mean most of the team doesn’t have very original powers but you’d at least expect the leader to have something cool. Like, why doesn’t trickster god Bugs Bun- I mean Ace have transformation powers or something? That could be cool.

Speaking of the team’s powers... they’re alright. Slam is just beefy Taz which is fine. I still don’t get the tornado thing but maybe it’s based off of dust devils IDK. Lexi has super hearing and like... psychic sonic boom stuff going on, which I guess is neat but doesn’t really seem to match her character or backstory. Duck uh... can teleport and throw magic eggs. Makes for good comedic moments but again... why are those his powers? Rev can fly which barely matters since the entire team has jet packs, but he also has super speed which like... it would be weird if he didn’t. Honestly Tech got the best powers by a mile. Magnetic manipulation perfectly fits and aids his affinity for building contraptions, and regeneration matches Wile E. Coyote’s tendency to get obliterated as a result of his failures but never actually die from them. 

In terms of the actual plots of the episodes... Well, they introduce some neat if a little cliche concepts that could work but hardly ever get developed properly. Again, the pacing is probably the largest factor. Since the majority of the episode is them dealing with the bad guy at full power and control, every time there’s setback it’s almost always resolved immediately and by the end it just feels like they’re throwing themselves at a wall until it cracks. Like, having swapped powers is cool. Having no powers is cool. But then 2 minutes later it’s like, “Wow! Tech literally solved the problem and sapped most of the tension with an invention he built in five minutes off screen! Haha! Now it’s time to fight this stereotyped to hell villain with no setbacks!” ...Cool.

So far I like every team member except for Ace and Lexi. I don’t hate them they’re just... kinda bland so far. I already talked a little about Ace, but Lexi... just feels like the “girl” of the team. Like the writers were required to have a female main character but they’ve never written one in their life, so all Lexi does outside of battle is get jealous of other women and gush about cute things. Hopefully that gets better over time. Her backstory of being a great cheerleader was neat... until the sexist writing kicked in and she lost the tryout because the female judge was jealous and disqualified her. 

Slam is a very simple character. He’s big, he’s strong, he eats a lot, and he’s a bit of a doof. I like him. Duck is literally just Daffy and Daffy’s my objective pick for best Looney Tunes character besides Bugs so I love him. He’s also by far the funniest character in the show. I knew I was going to love Rev before watching and guess what? I love Rev. The Roadrunner is my subjective pick for best Looney Tunes character and this roadrunner who is now a fast talker is voiced by mister United States Canada Mexico Panama himself. He’s a dork, and he’s smart, and he runs a lot, and I couldn’t ask for more. Onto Tech, I love him too. He is also a dork who is smart, but he’s also a little cocky which is fun to watch. I feel bad seeing him routinely obliterated but it is kinda funny sometimes. 

So far the show is about what I was expecting. Not very good, but that’s okay because half of my thoughts are dedicated to giving imaginary head pats to fictional animal characters. Tech deserves the most head pats, btw, because I’m shocked he hasn’t been crushed under the weight of carrying the entire team. Seriously if he wasn’t an established character everything he does could count as a deus ex machina. 

So yeah. The show’s not very good, but I’ve still been having fun watching it. I hope it improves as I keep going.

[mashi-sims]

Ranking AHW's S5 Episodes

I know that ranting about how bad some of the episodes this season were isn’t going to change the fact that they were, in fact, bad, but I still wanted to do an overview of this season in my opinion, and I love ranking stuff, so here it goes:

Also, I should mention that, yes, this is Cooliver biased, although I did take other plotlines into consideration, but mostly Cooliver. Also, lol, I could only add 10 photos so the #13, #12 and #11 don't get one, also they don't deserve it.

Tier 1: I wish they could be un-written, please.

13. 5x12 How Oliver Got His Groove Back

I’ll start with my least favorite episode, and the one we all wish we could unsee. This is the episode where Oliver is feeling down because the girl WE, THE AUDIENCE, just realized he liked, doesn’t like him back (which is a whole other thing), so Katie gets him a date with this girl that’s never been introduced in the show before. Oliver doesn’t want to see her, but he still does, and then he realizes she’s nice, and just like that, he’s happy again. I feel like this plot would not have been that bad if it hadn’t been so out of character, unexplained, and utterly designed to be filler for the season. Worst episode from my perspective, wouldn’t watch it again, barely watched it the first time, ugh, next-

12. 5x11 The Guardian

Same thing with this one, very uneventful episode that talks nonsense, introduces the idea of Oliver liking Lindsay and thinking they’d been dating, but nobody knew about it! How convenient! And again, doesn’t progress into anything, and it just feels out of character, forced, and like they didn’t even try to hide that it was a filler episode. Wouldn’t watch it again, I don’t even think about it, I’ve erased it from my mind. The only reason why this episode is ahead of 5x12 is because of Kathryn and Anna-Kat, and JD trying to find his egg donor, other than that, still pretty ugh.

Tier 2: Did the writers really look at their script and think; “ah, well done”?!

11. 5x07 Under Pressure

I kinda enjoyed this episode even if it didn’t include any Cooliver. I liked Anna-Kat’s storyline about not feeling her popularity and sticking to Franklin, I really really love these two together! So cute! Also, Taylor helping Oliver relax and not stress out that much was nice, although not amazing. Katie and Greg’s double date that led to a city council rivalry, I don’t care for it. Overall, I don’t know if this was intended to be a filler episode, but it totally felt like one to me; a nice episode but not one I’d watch again.

10. 5x05 Kids These Days

Eh, pretty uneventful. Katie wants Franklin and Anna-Kat to be more edgy and to take more risks, ends up in completely nothing. Oliver wants Boosterin and he accidentally drugs Greg, also ends up doing nothing for the storyline. The only thing I liked about this episode was seeing how Cooper cared about Oliver and how Oliver said “Your boy is doing both”, the Cooliver content was still good; other than that, eh. Also, the strange order in episodes this season really threw me off.

9. 5x04 Homeschool Sweet Homeschool

Nice episode, but not one of the best. Mommy blog, Cooliver moves to the basement, Andre shows up and it’s all weird now, eh. I enjoyed this episode because of the Cooliver’s interactions more than anything, but it’s not the greatest in my opinion.

Tier 3: *Sits down on the couch with popcorn and a blanket*

8. 5x06 Mother’s Little Helper

I also enjoyed Cooliver this episode. Although their drinking arc was pretty pointless and, again, ended up being nothing!!, I liked seeing them together, and that shaking they gave each other was funny. This is the episode where Tami was introduced, and I really liked her from the beginning, although I do wish they would’ve given Katie’s original second breakfast club some sort of closure so I wouldn’t feel so guilty about liking Tami and JD, eventually.

7. 5x02 Psych

This episode always made me feel stupid because I never understood what was going on with Taylor, why she didn’t take her gap year, why she never told Katie and Greg that she had gotten in, or at least make something out of it, why she decided to go to another college or if Greg got her in just so she didn’t have to take a gap year, bUT THEN I realized they didn’t actually talk about it, so I’m not the stupid one, I think.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this episode. I like Katie’s storyline of getting involved in other people’s lives after she sells her lasagna business (again, did they ever talk about that or am I stupid?)

This is the episode where we can see the change in Cooliver’s dynamic (a good thing), and the iconic line “stop bothering our boyfriends” saved my life. Having Taylor And Trip with Cooper and Oliver hanging out in the same frame is one of my favorite things and adds a few days to my life.

Franklin and Anna-Kat’s relationship also picks up in this season, and I really enjoy them in this episode. Also, Greg was very funny here, and I am grateful lol.

6. 5x08 Encourage, Discourage

I really liked how this was a Cooper-centered episode, really diving deep into his character instead of keeping him as a shallow side-character. By the way, how did Cooper get so much development and Oliver lost most of his? What was that? Anyway, Cooper saved this episode. I would’ve liked for Oliver to be a more supportive friend in this episode, but he was still there, at least.

Also, Cooper doesn’t think he’s too good for Oliver! Bless his heart.

5. 5x10 Getting Frank with The Ottos

I liked this episode very much! Again, Anna-Kat and Franklin melted my heart, but Oliver and Cooper squeezed it with Cooper’s realization of not wanting to go to Harvard, but Oliver eventually understanding and supporting him? Please, get married. Also, Oliver saying “We’re Cooliver”, and Trevor asking them if they were breaking up made my day. Could’ve been better and a bit more eventful, but it was good nonetheless.

4. 5x13 The Election

I really liked the finale, despite not having any Cooliver at all, the ending was pretty awesome, and I believe it really sets the tone for what could potentially be a great S6, that is if that’s actually happening AND if the writers stop it with the bullshit. Franklin and Anna-Kat getting engaged was very sweet, I adore them! Taylor and Trip getting really engaged was a bit cringe, but still adorable, and I love it! I just wish they had paid more attention to Oliver in this episode, but well, I guess his bang is not here yet and not every episode can be a banger. I hope that whatever comes next will be good enough that the wait will be worth it.

Tier 4: *Chef’s kiss, no pun intended*

3. 5x01 Graduation

Although this episode doesn’t really belong to this season, and it doesn’t share the same 〜vibe〜 with the rest of the episodes, since it has more of a S3-S4 energy, it’s still in S5 and I wanted to include it, too.

Not my favorite, but it’s one of the good ones imo. So much stuff happens in this episode that it almost feels cramped and overwhelming to me, with the graduation and the wedding, but I get that it was necessary to set the scene for S5 and close S4 even if it didn’t turn out the way they’d originally planned, and it came out fine considering the situation the producers were in, which can’t be said for every episode this season lol.

Taylor and Trip were adorable in this episode, Cooper was amazing, Oliver moping around was something I didn’t know I needed in my life, and Lonnie’s speech about not wanting his relationship with Greg to end, even if I never cared for his storyline, was really nice.

This episode made me think that S5 was headed toward amazing things, but not everything was good.

2. 5x09 The Heist

I love this episode because of Cooper’s development. Again, why couldn’t Oliver get that too? However, I did like how they made Oliver seem like he might’ve been a bit thirsty for his fellow Cooper over there, telling him multiple times that he’s good looking? Come on, tell us what you really mean.

Anyway, Cooliver really shone this episode, round of applause.

1. 5x03 Coupling

This episode is superior, bite me. I love everything about this episode, not only Cooliver. Katie and Greg trying to be supportive of their kids having sex with their boyfriends? Yes! Parallels between all four couples? Yes, please! Cooper and Oliver having their first married couple fight, Cooper feeling like he’s being replaced, but Oliver is doing it for the both of them and their future together? Yes! Masterpiece of an episode. I have no more to say.

Hands down, my favorite episode this season. Too bad mostly everything went downhill after that. I hope we do get a season 6 and that things pick up. This series deserves redemption, and Cooper and Oliver deserve to be happily in love together. Thank you.

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

Jan/Feb 2021 Picks

HELLO! It’s been a while, but I’M BACK!! Life has gotten a lot busier as I started Grad School this January. So, I feel it may be tough being on time with future Monthly Wraps like I’ve done in the past with working on my MFA, and my job. I’m going to probably do more seasonal wrap ups when I get the time. I also think I’ll be posting more individual posts as I watch an episode. Because even with a busier schedule, there is always time for TV and there’s so much I want to talk about!

You know the drill. Spoilers are coming.....

You’ve been warned :)

WANDAVISION

I want to start off by mentioning that I have not watched this week’s episode yet. So the last one I saw was EPISODE  6 with Halloween in the late 90s/early 2000s.

THIS SHOW! OMG.

I didn’t know what I was signing up for when I watched the first episode and I have been blown away. It is such a cool concept and I love the fact that everyone who watches it is confused. There have been so many interesting theories out there and I am so curious what is going to wind up being true. I love all the nods to old sitcoms and TV shows as well as all the MCU Easter Eggs. (I mean they got X-men’s Quicksilver-like WOW.) It feels really Black Mirror at times with the breaking of the fourth wall. I will never be able to shake the feeling I got in Episode 3, when Vision reversed. (And then I saw a bunch of videos with him looking at the camera as Wanda looks at the TV. Eww I don’t like it, but it’s such a good move on their point.) I love the outside plot as well and the characters who were previously side characters in other MARVEL movies. The love for Jimmy Woo is astounding and I’m here for it. I’m glad it’s Friday, so I can watch the next episode. I’m just upset that we’re so close to the show ending. The next Disney Plus Marvel shows better be just as good. Wandavision set the bar high.  

NANCY DREW

If you’ve visited this page recently, you know I have a very strong love for this show. It is the only one I am still watching religiously on the CW and I am tuning in the night it airs. (That is HUGE for me.) IT IS JUST SO GOOD AND I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START....

2x05 just aired, which would have been the season 1 finale before COVID and I have it saved on my DVR to watch again. There’s just so much I want to relive and catch that I missed the first watch through. It would have been SUCH A GOOD FINALE, but I’m happy that we can continue with new episodes starting next week. And with the way it ended...there’s so much I need to know!! I’m just curious how fast they’re going to develop certain plots. I love the Drew Crew and how they are a family. Each character is so well developed and their chemistry is great. I love learning more about each of them and watching them develop. My favorite character is definitely Ace. I love all his witty lines and how he is opening up more to the group as well as to us, the audience, as we get more of a look into his personal life. I enjoy all of his scenes with his dad and specifically liked when they were celebrating Shabbat. (I am also here for the Nancy and Ace content. I gush more about this on my other blog: lydia-whogowith-stiles. Check it out if you want to hear more.)

THE WATCH

When I watched the Christmas special (or was it New Years? and why does that feel so long ago) of Doctor Who, BBC America kept advertising a new show called the Watch. Due to the extensive amount of commercials, I decided to tape the first two episodes (which premiered back to back) to see what it was all about. I was unaware that this series is based on the book series created by Terry Pratchett. When I came to see if people were talking about it on Tumblr, I saw that a lot of people didn’t like it because of how drastically different it was. As I was unfamiliar with the original, I can’t compare. The TV show was eight episodes and I just watched the last one that aired this past Sunday. I definitely liked the first half of the season more (I noticed my mind start to drift as I watched later ones), but thought the finale was good. I really enjoyed how they incorporated the theme song. I didn’t realize the connection earlier and now can’t stop humming it. (I don’t know if there will be another season or not.) I enjoyed the characters and how it was like nothing I’ve seen on TV before. It got me thinking a lot about blending genres. I would still recommend checking it out.  

ZOEY’S EXTRORDINARY PLAYLIST

I was VERY excited for this show to come back. I loved the first season so much. It’s just such a heartfelt show and it helped me survive the early parts of quarantine. So far, this season I am noticing how detailed the musical performances are. Mandy Moore is doing an AMAZING job. The choreography is *chefs kiss* I also feel like the song choices have been great and not always the ones I think that would be picked. We are getting to learn more about each character and watch Zoey and her family as they continue life after losing Mitch. I am here for Mo and Max’s restaurant. I think the concept would be so cool in real life. Who knows maybe we’ll see one now. (Max’s rendition of ‘Numb’ was amazing. I’ve never heard the song like that and I think it might be one of my favorites of the season so far.) I hope Max and Zoey get back together by the end of the season. It did feel fast, so I do understand why they had to break up, but it still makes me sad that we watched them get together and then it was taken away from us. The last episode before the break was so powerful and I think the show did an amazing job applying real world issues into their plot. It did not feel forced at all and brought so much awareness. Upset we have to wait so long for a new episode. 

SECRETS OF SULPHUR SPRINGS

Are you looking for a good mystery, but don’t think Disney Channel can provide it? Think again. I have to say, when I started watching I was not expecting this show to be a part of my monthly picks. It pleasantly surprised me. The show involves the mystery of a young girl, Savannah, who went mysteriously missing at camp back in the 90s. Apparently, her ghost still haunts the hotel that was on the camp grounds to this day. Then Griffin and his family buy the hotel with intent of fixing it up and reopening it after all these years. The people in the town think they’re crazy because of its past. But there’s something more going on with Griffin’s dad as well as some of the other adults in the town. They know something about Savannah’s disappearance, but aren’t saying anything about it. While this is a kid’s show (and only half hour episodes) it has been interesting to see where the story will go. I’m sure I am imagining much more intense things for her disappearance than what actually happened. It’s also not super cheesy or have bad acting, which is refreshing. (I really feel Disney Channel has gone down.) Either way, I don’t know how many episodes are left to air, but I think we’re pretty close to the end. If you’re looking for a quick, entertaining mystery I would highly recommend.  

MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE

And here come my period pieces (ironically both from Masterpiece/PBS this time). I know last year I felt like I watched a lot of historical watches at the beginning of the year. We’ll see if that continues to happen this year too. It does serve as a nice escape. Plus, these are some really good stories. 

Miss Scarlet and the Duke is a part of Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, although it aired on a different network in the UK. It is (another) mystery series (shocking I know with that title!) It follows Eliza Scarlet who has a nose for mystery, but as a woman living in the Victorian era does not have any rights except for being a wife and mother (two things she would rather not be). When her father dies (apparently from a heart attack...emphasis on apparently), she takes over his Private Investigator business. Much to the dismay of long time family friend William “The Duke” who is a Detective Inspector for Scotland Yard. Eliza is often in his office as she gets arrested for being places she shouldn’t or trying to get information out of him. This element of Eliza having to work in a very male dominated Victorian society is one that I feel I haven’t really seen on a TV show. I really like her dynamic with William. There’s always that feeling of “will they won’t they,” but I don’t feel the show just focuses on that. The mystery is the heart of it all. This last week’s episode was REALLY GOOD. As we got to find out more regarding her father’s death. I hear a lot of people want a season 2 and I am right there with them. This show deserves it. 

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Another PBS Masterpiece watch. I love this show, so much more than I was anticipating. It is so heartfelt and makes me so happy and in a good mood after watching it. It follows James Herriot who has recently graduated from veterinary school, but is struggling finding a job. Then he gets a call from Siegfried Farnon’s veterinary practice in Yorkshire. Siegfried is known for having a harsh demeanor and temper, so the assistants he hires don’t often last long. Spoiler alert, that should be pretty obvious, James does. The cast of characters are so lovely and I like all their relationships with one another. The show takes places in the 1930s and I realized I don’t often watch things in this era, so that has been fun to explore. The sets and locations are BEAUTIFUL. In the episodes, we often get these amazing shots that sweep over the exterior and I want to travel to Yorkshire like tomorrow. (See more escapism, it’s great.) The main plot follows everyone interact in the town and watching James become a more confident and experienced veterinarian (which I decided I could never do after watching). I heard that it has been renewed for a second season so that is so fantastic. 

FATE: THE WINX SAGA

The first things I heard about this show was how disappointed everyone was in how they decided to adapt the Winx Club show from their childhood. On this I can agree, but I decided to watch the show anyway. I pretended that it was something new entirely and I have to say I enjoyed it. Of course, there were parts that bothered me and then I had to remember it was a teen show, so angst would be annoying. I think overall it was too short (and should have at least 8 or 10 episodes), but I’m happy that they were able to conclude the main plot well. (Although we did get that cliffhanger, but it is exciting that it was released the show just got renewed for a second season the other day.) I really liked Silva-mainly because it was great seeing Thomas from Downton Abbey in something else. I also enjoyed seeing Jacob Duchman in more things. It was a surprise to see him in Medici and I am just happy he is adding more to his IMDB. 

Quick and addicting watch. Add it to your queue. Just forget it’s supposed to be based on something else. 

BLOWN AWAY SEASON 2

Continuing with the Netflix picks, one of my FAVORITE picks from 2020 got a season 2 and it is already on Netflix! That’s right Blown Away season 2 is now available. I seriously loved the first season of this show SO MUCH! Glass blowing is such a magical process and I am mesmerized every time I watch it. It felt weird starting this show with all new contestants, but then Alex came back as a guest judge and I was so happy. It is just as addicting and I cannot wait to see who wins this season. I am just trying not to rush the episodes. 

VIOLETTA SEASON 3 UPDATE

I know you were all dying to know...

After taking a hiatus from watching during the holidays, I have gotten back into watching the Disney Channel telenovela on Disney Plus. I am now on episode 68. Things are really starting to happen and I am finding myself getting sucked in again, which makes me happy. Episode 60 (pictured above) had A LOT happen and really was a turning point for the second half of the show. Can’t wait to keep watching. Some really awesome songs from these last set of episodes. 

AND NOW FOR MY NOT LOVING IT PICK:

LEGACIES

This third season has really disappointed me so far. As I’ve previously discussed on this page, it feels like they are just reusing previous plots from the last two seasons when there is so much more they can do. There was so much promise for this show and I loved the Vampire Diaries and Originals so much, that it’s sad to see Legacies miss the mark. I wish they gave Hope more storylines that didn’t revolve around Landon. She is such a strong character and is SO POWERFUL. This is something we rarely see and it shouldn’t only be shown to save a guy (multiple times). Their couple plot is continually doing the same thing. I want to see a lot more development with this show over this season to keep me watching. I am actually happy that there isn’t a new episode until March 11th. (That’s saying something...) 

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[scone-lover]

@findingniamho​

HAHAHAHA thank you so much for this ask!!! ❤️ This is exciting. Honestly the Egghead fight was one of the most entertaining scenes to write. (Coming up with all the puns was an egg-celent time.) Rereading it just now was like an out of body experience 😂 

Link to the original chapter here - passage & commentary below the cut!

So I have to start with how this scene was born. This is a Simon scene. He’s had a couple fight scenes with Vampire, but I wanted to show him off as the superhero of the city. What was he doing before Vampire appeared on the scene? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Despite the scene’s silliness, it’s also one of the first where we start to get a sense of what Mayor Mage is up to. 

So I knew I wanted him to do the typical defending-the-city thing, and showcase him and Penny as the dread companions power duo.

Besides the plot stuff, my main goal was to make this scene as ridiculously, stereotypically comic book-ish as possible. 😂Hence, Egghead the Villain.

Most of the credit for Egghead goes to my friend -- they’re really into DC and helped me with a lot of the plot stuff in this fic and making things semi-realistic. (Every time you read a clever plot point, it was probably them. 😂) For this non-Vampire fight, my friend suggested a gangster who was doing crimes and bribing the police. Hence this exchange--

“Okay, okay, um-- fuck. Did you call the police?” She huffs. “Yes, and I think they’ve been fucking bribed, because they pretended they didn’t even know who Egghead was! Can you believe that?”

I made him a repeat villain because honestly, I just thought it was more compelling that way. They know who he is already, Simon can grumble about him, they have egg-themed quips at the ready, etc. 😂 

As for the name, Egghead. I love how it came together because Simon is a baker, and I was able to work a couple baking jokes in there eventually. But in reality, it was me begging my superhero expert friend (named t below) to help me out with crafting this villain and coming up with some witty exchanges. A transcript of our conversation with the brainstorming and some of the rejects--

t: the gangster has a nickname right? he has to if he’s a supervillain t: make it a gimmick t: like if he has a red outfit call him mr. red or something t: he has a flamethrower and call him dragon (this made it in, later) me: Vampire already has a flamethrower t: they can be forced to fight him together me: Vampire is at home studying bc he’s a NERD t: ok he can be bald and simon can call him egghead me: THANKS I HATE IT t: simon throws him on the ground at the end of the fight - that was over-easy me: I hate you where do you get this shit t: I mean it’s typical superhero stuff t: he wears yellow and white and deals crack me: This fic is so food themed I love it t: that’s your villain. that’s it. t: listen, if the Flash can have an ice skating villain, YOU CAN HAVE EGGHEAD. And he was born.

(And yes, The Flash does have an ice skating villain. AND SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ICE POWERS.)

Okay, let’s do this! Warning that this is definitely going to go through more than 500 words of the chapter. 😂 

Men dressed in black suits with bright yellow pocket squares. And larger men around the perimeter, wearing grey and holding flashlights. It looks more like a business transaction than anything; there are briefcases and money being passed back and forth, hands being shaken. “Hey!” I call. There are six men, and they all turn to stare at me, and then make a run for it. The flashlight beams dart wildly and I hear a few of them clatter to the floor. Everyone starts yelling at once and looking for an escape.

I basically watched an episode of Brooklyn-99 and crafted the warehouse drug deal based on that. 

“Don’t move. There’s only one exit,” Penny says in my ear. “And you’re standing in front of it.” I stand my ground, but no one comes near me. The suited guys stay slightly behind the muscular ones. Finally, one of them steps forward. “Mage’s Head Boy. Come to tell us off?”

This scene was also an opportunity to have Penny in Simon’s ear! I wanted them to work together more closely than just talking about superhero stuff - I wanted Penny to be invaluable to Simon’s superhero success and in on the action, too. She’s kind of modeled after Oracle from Batman throughout this fic. 

Mage’s Head Boy is a pretty transparent CO reference. 

There are times when I’m grateful for my ability to just have muscles and growl at people and make them disappear, and there are times when I wish I was witty like Vampire. This is definitely the second. I can’t think of a response to that. Luckily, I have a best friend with a head full of wit. “Tell them to fuck off,” Penny says. Then again, maybe not. What would Vampire say? I get hot and frustrated in the face of danger. He seems to get cooler the higher the stakes get. I fall into a fighting stance. “You wish.” The guy takes a step backwards. “But since I can’t bring you to the police, I suppose I’ll just have to teach you a lesson.” “That was good,” Penny says in my ear.

I obviously had to work a bit of Baz jealousy / crushing into this. I like the idea of Penny being super blunt. She’s smart and sometimes witty, but more often she just says it like it is. “Cooler the higher the stakes get” was a direct reference to the similar line in Carry On. With Simon’s last line - this scene was all about showcasing him as a “typical” superhero that you’d find in a comic, fighting a classic comic book villain. So I gave him one of those cheesy lines.

I’m surrounded. There must be fifteen or twenty of them. Eight huge muscular guys, and the rest in suits. They form a loose circle around me. Almost all of them wield knives, but I don’t see any guns so far.

I knew from the outset I wanted this to be a one-against-many fight. At this point in the story I’d set up a good dynamic for Blade vs Vampire, but not so much Blade vs. other city threats. What makes him a trustworthy hero? Simon’s origin story is that he got news attention by fighting off a group - so putting him in this group fight setting was a chance for him to shine.

A man steps out from the shadows. He’s bald, with a straight, dark mustache, and he’s wearing a pristine white suit and a shirt the colour of an egg yolk. “Egghead,” I say in what I hope is a threatening tone. The name sounds absurd. I’m glad the mask covers my mouth, because I don’t think I can keep a straight face. Penny coughs. Benedict Eggerton, better known as Egghead, is a drug lord who wears yellow and deals… crack. (I know.) (He got into crime early; his parents were poachers.) (Okay, I made that one up. I can’t help it.) I put him in jail earlier this year, but he escaped and fled north.

I was laughing so hard while writing this. You can see in the text exchange above where the suit and nickname came from. I was trying to come up with what his first name might be (my first idea was Sunny). I was so amused when I finally thought of Benedict. 😂 The poachers line is also from my friend T, and the “north” is a reference to Scotland, which comes back later as the Scotch Egg joke.

I draw my weapon, trying to look as menacing as possible. “I remember your blade being bigger,” he says, eyeing my kitchen knife. “Is it too cold for you in here?”

PFFFFFT I LOVE THIS JOKE okay so. I originally made Simon forget his sword because I thought the fight would be too easy - and going back to what I said above, he’s kind of returning to his “roots” with this fight - that spark he has that makes him a hero. And then I wrote the line “I remember your blade being bigger.” TO BE CLEAR, this was not originally intended as an innuendo. 

And then my friend said something like ‘he should turn up the heating in this warehouse then’, and I was like OH DING DING DING PENIS JOKE! 😂I’m oblivious sometimes. I’m glad I realized in time because this is honestly one of my favorite villain lines I’ve ever written.

I really, really wanted to give the “too cold” line to Vampire. It would be perfect for him. But Simon always has his normal sword with Vamp, so Egghead it was. And he instantly became an icon. 😂 

I twirl the knife between my fingers. “I can crack you anyway.” “Good effort,” Penny whispers. “But a bit rough on the delivery. 'Take a crack at you' might have been better...” “Sword or no sword,” I continue, “you’ll be an egg wash by the end of this.” “What?” Penny says. “Is that a baking reference?” Egghead cracks his knuckles, and his men rush me.

Much like Penny does later in the scene, I had a tab open of egg-related words up while writing this. I had to work in the baking reference. But a terrible one. There’s a French term for whisking eggs that basically translates to “beating eggs into snow” - and I wish it was a thing in English, because, you know, Simon Snow. Oh well. 😂 

I Google a list of ways to make eggs. Simon needs to win this fight, but more importantly, he needs to get some egg-themed one-liners in there to show them who’s boss. Chances like this don’t come around very often. 

Listen, Penny is very dedicated. I love the idea of heroes just being quick-witted and coming up with these ridiculous quips on demand. But ultimately, I thought it was funnier - and more in character for Penny - to do this. (Even though her Superhero name is Quickwit, oops.) She has the world of Google at her disposal. Egg puns may not seem important, but superhero image and reputation is half the battle.

Simon is being attacked from all angles, but he fights like a whirlwind. The bulky guys attack first, mostly with their fists. Simon kicks their legs out from under them. He throws them across the floor like they weigh nothing. “Behind you!” I say. Simon spins around and disarms the man behind him, twisting his arm, and I hear a shout through my earbuds. He grabs the guy’s knife and kicks him in the stomach, sending him sprawling. Simon Snow faces fifteen men with nothing but two knives, looking like he’s ready to explode.

I loved writing this from Penny’s POV. I am used to writing fight scenes from the POV of the person fighting, so this was definitely a cool challenge. It’s part of why I brought Penny into the scene in the first place - so I could show Simon in third person. Almost like we’re watching a movie and getting some overhead shots. From his POV, you don’t realize quite how awesome he is. So getting to showcase him like this was really fun.

I still have to wonder how Shepard knew… well, everything. 

Don’t tell anyone but I didn’t know yet either

“He’s Scottish,” I tell Simon. “Scotch Egg.”

I know. This one’s bad.

He’s a blur of gold and white in motion. He throws his knife—I have no idea where he learned to do that—and it embeds itself in one of the men’s legs. He rolls across the floor, picking up two more discarded knives.

I don’t do a ton of plotting/outlining with fight scenes, but one thing I decide in advance is where and how everyone gets hurt. I didn’t want Simon to win the fight too easily, but I did need to injure him somehow. So it wouldn’t be too easy, but also to serve as a counterpoint to the socks thing later.

I watched a lot of action sequences to write this fic, especially with the trickier one vs. many scenes. 

Simon tosses him like a sack of flour.

Couldn’t resist the baker!Simon reference.

“Hard or soft boiled,” I whisper. “Which way is it gonna be, Egghead? Hard or soft boiled?” Simon shouts. He whispers to me, “That was stupid.” Egghead raises an eyebrow. “Last chance to leave us alone, Blade.” I consult my list of egg dishes. “Give up before you get scrambled.” Simon twirls his blades. I love it when he does that; he looks like Deadpool. “It’s your last chance to surrender before you get scrambled.”

I loved the hard or soft boiled line at first. And then I wrote it down and said it out loud, just to check, and it sounded SO DUMB. 😂I almost took it out, but then figured—Simon is probably not going to think this through, either.

Maybe the Deadpool line was a bit on the nose here, but I wanted to give readers some really vivid imagery of what Simon looks like right now with these dual wicked blades kitchen knives.

“I prefer my eggs… poached,” he says. 

Even though Egghead has turned out to be quite a serious villain—there are guns, drugs, and a backstory—he is, after all, original master of the egg puns. He would never turn down this opportunity.

Egghead scrambles (ha) to his feet

I think Penny is just me in this.

“Over-easy,” I whisper.

“That was over-easy,” he says.

Not my best. But it had to be in there.

I’ll skip the serious bits, since the plot there is pretty self-explanatory, to this:

I wish he’d asked what we serve, because I have so many egg puns at the ready. Eggs-ecution. Hash-ing out justice. Karma served hard.  

My beta ashspren gave me this line, and I could not be more grateful. Imagine the chapter without this. It would be a shame.

Here are a few egg puns that didn’t make the cut, SADLY:

You're washed out, egghead

*Egghead gets angry* hey, it was just a yolk

I had to go "beat" some eggs

*uppercut* Sunny side UP!

I'll bash in your Eggnoggin’

Some people are just bad eggs

Sorry this is so long—this has been a purely self-indulgent experience. Thanks so much for this ask, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you like it! ❤️ 

[yeniayofnymeria]

GRRM's Original Outline "What has changed?"

Hello,

Now you all know Martin's letter he wrote in '93. When this letter was written and sent to the editor, the first 13 chapters (200 pages) were already written. In addition, the book consisted of three volumes of the first stage, but as you know, but its 7 volumes now.When we read the letter and the first 5 books, the first comment made was very different and different from the first outline; one or two things remain the same. But is it really? Here I would like to discuss this with you. I think I will go through the events step by step and you will make your own contributions when you read. Let's start!

1. Stark-Lannister war. It's remain, nothing changed.

2. (Dany) Targaryen's 7K invasion with Dothraks. It's still did not happend but we know Dany has Unsullied and some sellswords and next book, she will have Dothraks too. She will linger a little more in essos and then come to the West for the conquer. It's remain too.

3. The Others. GRRM said " Their story will be [sic] heart of my third volume, The Winds of Winter. " It's remain too.

4. Five Main Key Characters (Jon, Arya, Bran, Dany and Tyrion). " In a sense, my trilogy is almost a generational saga, telling the life stories of these five characters, three men and two women. The five key players are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three of the children of Winterfell, Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow." It's remain too.

5. Fall of the Starks. " Things will get a lot worse for the poor Starks before they get better, I'm afraid. " Yes, indeed it happened.

6. Dead of Robert and long may live new king! "Ned will discover what happened to his friend Jon Arryn... will have an unfortunate accident, and the throne will to brutal Joffrey, still a minor." Yes, it happened too. This substance remained the same too.

7.Sansa and Joffrey. "Sansa Stark wed to Joffrey Baratheon, will bear him a son, the heir to the throne, and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue. " Sansa betrays his family anyway but she did not wed Joffrey or bear his son. This substance has changed a bit.

8. Bran's coma and dream and greenseer and dead of Robb. " Young Bran will come out of his coma, after a strange prophetic dream... He will turn to magic, at first in the hope of restoring his legs, but later for its own sake... Robb Stark will die in battle." 

Bran's the same, but Robb's got some change. Robb doesn't die in a war against Joffrey, Jaime and Tyrion. But he really wins a few battles at first (against Tywin. So there's no Tywin in the first place) and then he dies at the Red Wedding.

Bran's in a coma. So Jaime and Cersei are standing exactly. This shows that Jon Arryn's death is due to his learning of the relationship(Jaime-Cersei). So Joff was a bastard in the first outline too. Ned died for the same reason.

Tyrion did not burn Winterfell but fought against Stark army and became Hand of King. Jaime fought against Robb too and lost, was captured. This part is different in some ways, but the same in some ways.

9. Jon Snow, The Wall and Lord Commander. " Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night's Watch "

Jon goes the wall and will became lord commander but Benjen was lord commander in the first place but it seems he dies anyway or disappear. It's remain.

10. Helping family and Jonarya Love. " When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Wounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night's Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon's anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving ... until she realizes, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night's Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon's true parentage is finally revealed in the last book. "

Winterfell is being burned by Greyjoys. Cat is not with Stark children, he is with Robb. Bran and others run away and went to the Wall. But Bran and others did not take refuge in the black brothers. Jon has something to do with Arya again. He wants to protect and save her(FArya). He can't do it because of his vows and he's in a lot of pain... And we know who is Jon's real parents.

Jon and Arya love... It's still too early to say anything about it. When Arya goes to the wall, the love between the two emerges. Arya escaped from KL as in the first outline. But instead of going home, she drifted into her own adventure. Arya has been trying to get home and Jon all along. She'll probably go straight to the wall when she gets back from Braavos. There are so many hints about Jonarya love in books. ( https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/125364-jon-arya-hints-and-overall-significance-of-their-relationship-including-part-3/ )

11. Beyond The Wall and Bran-Cat-Arya. "Abandoned by the Night's Watch, Catelyn and her children will find their only hope of safety lies even further north, beyond the Wall, where they fall into the hands of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, and get a dreadful glimpse of the inhuman others as they attack the wilding encampment. Bran's magic, Arya's sword Needle, and the savagery of their direwolves will help them survive, but their mother Catelyn will die at the hands of the others." This part has undergone significant changes. Despite this, some small parts remained.

Arya is not with them, Cat neither but she dies anyway (and came back but as fire wight not ice wight). Bran never meet Mance(yes, Mance exists) and see others but he sees deads and met Cold Hand(ice wight) and BR and Singers. I guess Rickon is not exists.

Arya has Needle, that's mean Jon gave her it anyway. And direwolves...

12. Dany, Viserys and Drogo. “Over across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen will discover that her new husband, the Dothraki Khal Drogo, has little interest in invading the Seven Kingdoms, much to her brother's frustration. When Viserys presses his claims past the point of tact or wisdom, Khal Drogo will finally grow annoyed and kill him out of hand, eliminating the Targaryen pretender and leaving Daenerys as the last of her line. Danerys [sic] will bide her time, but she will not forget. When the moment is right, she will kill her husband to avenge her brother, and then flee with a trusted friend into the wilderness beyond Vaes Dothrak. " Only 5% of this part has changed.

13. Dragon Eggs and Invasion Plans."There, hunted by [unclear] of her life, she stumbles on a [something about dragon eggs] a young dragon will give Daenerys [unclear] bend [unclear] to her will. Then she begins to plan for her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms." This part has changed 95%.

14. Tyrion's Fate. "Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones, finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king's brutality. Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders. Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he's at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow."

Yes, it seems this part almost completely changed. But Tyrion has been betrayed by his family in every way(Tysha thing and attempt to kill), just it changed "how it will be" This betrayal caused him to change sides. Only on Targaryen side instead of Stark. But Tyrion will probably be on the Stark side too.

Tyrion is exiled to Essos, not north. Jaime's not the bad guy in the story, Cersei is. Joffrey's dying. In the first Outline, Jaime kills everyone, so Sansa is dead. In the present story, Sansa is still alive and her story continues. They're not named, but probably Joff's siblings are in the first outline and they're dead.

There's no competition between Tyrion and Jon(Arya). It's hard to expect it at this point. We need to wait for the next encounter, but I don't think it will. Unlike the first otline, Jon and Tyrion are good friends. If GRRM designs a love triangle like the first one, maybe they can be enemies. Or maybe he changed the third candidate for that love triangle. (However, if you read Mercy POV, GRRM is waving its hand to this love triangle there.)

In general, the outline / skeleton remains exactly the same, even the characters' motives are more or less the same; there are big changes in a few places, but not so big changes in the remaining parts. Same affliction, betrayal and so on that will ensure the development of the character. Situations occurred in one way or another. It's just that things have gone differently ... but betrayal comes from the family again and (Jon) he's suffering because he can't help the family.

He keeps his end.

GEORGE: […]As I write these last two books, I’ll be moving towards the ending I’ve known since 1991/

“Some major characters — yes, I always had plans, what Tyrion’s arc was gonna be through this, what Arya’s arc was gonna be through this, what JonSnow’s arc is gonna be. ”

...

I don’t want to reveal what I’ve planned for some of these characters, but I’m pretty well on track with most of the major characters. It’s minor characters like Bronn that assume greater importance.”

At Balticon 2016 he said he knows who sits on the Iron Throne at the end.

A year later, in a video interview he continued by saying he has always known the fates of his main characters, who lives or dies, marries who...etc since 1991 when he began writing.

That's all. Thank you for read and sorry again for my bad English. Bye.

[youngbounty]

Five Reasons I Won’t Watch the Anime, But Will Watch the Movie

I don't have many good things to say about the Ace Attorney anime and have my reasons for why I refuse to watch it. Admittedly, I have watched a few clips here and there to see how its version of some, if not many, of my favorite scenes from the game compare. As expected, it continually disappoints. Had it been just Manfred Von Karma adopting Miles Edgeworth that I hated from the anime, I would've watched it regardless. Even during the days I was into Yu-Gi-Oh, I was still willing to watch the worst season of that show, Capsule Monsters, because it still felt like Yu-Gi-Oh no matter how poorly done it was. The same can be said for Ace Attorney. If it feels like Ace Attorney, I will watch it regardless.

The Ace Attorney anime did not give me the same type of excitement the game had. Much to my amazement, much of the reasons why I absolutely refuse to watch the anime version of Ace Attorney is the opposite reasons why I am more than excited to watch the live action movie adaptation. Even when watching some of the spoiler clips of the live action movie, including some of the changes made, gives me the joy and excitement I never got when watching the Ace Attorney anime. To understand this, I will give you my list of reasons for why I refuse to watch the Ace Attorney anime and how the live action Ace Attorney movie differs from those reasons.

Changes From the Game

In any medium, changes are necessary in order to fit the medium. The Danganronpa anime, for instance, makes certain necessary changes during the day breaks. Instead of seeing Makoto meeting with each character and being given their underwear, after unlocking five or three friendship events, it mostly cuts to important scenes. Of course, this does mean sacrificing what bond he's made to the other characters, but that sacrifice is necessary in order to keep the story going. Some scenes from the game are cut from the anime for timing purposes. The Ace Attorney anime doesn't do either of those things.

I have complained about the anime's change in having Miles Edgeworth be the adopted son of Manfred Von Karma, but that's just the tip of the ice berg of changes done in the anime. Other changes I've also seen will go from giving Miles a dog named Missile – who was actually Dick Gumshoe's dog in the game, to having Maya gain the bullet from Gregory by stealing it from Von Karma's office – because that is totally not illegal or destroys the sacrifice she made to gain that bullet in the game, to making Celeste Inpax Adrian's older sister – yeah, because that doesn't destroy the symbolism of Miles Edgeworth's suffering, to the biggest disappointment of no psyche-locks, aside from that tease in Farewell my Turnabout that felt like the creator was sticking their tongue at us. There are more stupid changes, besides these, but I'd rather not list them all.

There were changes in the anime that I did like, but they were mostly additions that broadened the story and most of it was from the first season. Come to find out, the first season of the anime was done by a different studio, while the second season changed studios. It's pretty clear that the first season at least was putting love and care into the show, whereas the second season felt more like a lazy cash grab with no real potential. I'm not asking for an anime adaptation of Ace Attorney to be by the books, but I am asking for heart and the anime didn't feel like there was any heart. I felt more love for the show in Yu-Gi-Oh Capsule Monsters and even The Last Airbender live action movie than I did with the Ace Attorney anime. Not to say there wasn't anyone working on the anime that weren't Ace Attorney fans, but the ones that did work their best were not the ones in charge of orchestrating the project. I will say the voice actors and those in charge of the music did put their heart into it.

The live movie adaptation of Phoenix Wright do have changes from the game, but unlike the anime adaptation, these changes do feel like necessary changes in comparison. One of the major changes in the live action movie is the setting of DL-6, which is the Evidence Room and not the elevator. Because the film was low budget, it's understandable why they may've had to change the setting. Also, it would be hard to film in a closed space. While Miles passing out makes little sense in the movie, it also can be left up for interpretation such as maybe the shock of thinking he shot his father by accident. Another change was having Gregory wear his trench coat from Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2, which I find to be an excellent Easter egg. Another change was how Phoenix Wright obtained the bullet shot in Gregory Edgeworth, that being from inside The Thinker clock/statue. While it belittled Maya's sacrifice in the anime, in this one, it creates a connection between Maya's and Edgeworth's trial that is necessary for the film adaptation. A film cannot work in the same way as a game, since a movie needs to follow a single plot line. It also doesn't sacrifice Maya's sacrifice, since the tasing scene is still in the film, but at a different location with different circumstances.

Not to say the film won't have any flaws, but it's clear there was more heart put into it based on the changes. It never tries to change the relationships between the characters from the game, make characters do things they normally wouldn't do in the game or give things that originally belonged to another character. The live action movie kept to the game as much as it could. Because of how much heart was put into the live action movie, I had thought it was a fan movie at first. Heck, there are scenes where we see Edgeworth stand from the Defendant's Bench to defend himself. Sure, the anime had that too, but not until the very end. Even then, it wasn't as good as the  live action movie, where Edgeworth is heavily involved and not just sitting in his bench twiddling his thumbs, while Phoenix is cross-examining a bird. Not to say the game had Edgeworth do anything until the end, but there weren't enough graphics to see him respond to anything. Anyone that does an anime or movie adaptation is expected to show more than what the game provides. When you compare the responses from the characters in the anime and the movie, it's clear the movie shows much more responses from the defendant and the entire gallery, while the anime does not.

As I said, changes are sometimes necessary when doing adaptations to other mediums and the movie's changes feel much more necessary, while the anime's changes feel aggrivating.

Semi Futuristic, Conducting Trials and Presenting Evidence

The anime adaptation has a very lazy way of showing us that Phoenix Wright takes place in a semi futuristic world with 2000's technology. It does this by... showing us technology we already have in this day and age? Imagine if someone were to make a Back to the Future reboot where Marty McFly goes to 2015 and instead of seeing a Utopian future full of jaw dropping technology and hover boards, we get technology we use today. Sounds kinda boring, doesn't it? Well, that's what the Ace Attorney anime feels like.

There's nothing amazing or uniquely different about the Ace Attorney anime that catches the viewer's eye. What I liked about the game was that it introduced us to certain kinds of tech that were amazing and made us feel we were in another world. We were introduced to new ways of development and magic. Fingerprint analysis could be used by common people, you could analyze pieces of evidence without touching it, you can record data in a court record before the police arrive and, because magic also exists in this world, people treated it as something that commonly happened. In the anime, we get to see screenshots of evidence on TV, have Phoenix handling evidence even though he's not allowed to do that and watching a not Utopian future that feels too much like the real world today. Yay.

The Ace Attorney live action movie not only makes it known that this is a semi futuristic world, but shows it to us. You have evidence in holographic screens the Defense or Prosecution can pull up and push to the person they're showing it to. When the Defense wins, holographic confetti is released toward the gallery, which I find much more satisfying than Gumshoe throwing it. This makes it to where the Defense doesn't have to handle evidence and present it much more efficiently. Because trials are expected to last no more than three days, you really feel the pressure from Phoenix Wright. It feels like something that exists only in this world and not ours.

What the live action movie did was something asked and expected by the fans. They want Ace Attorney to feel like a semi futuristic world. They want the trials to feel pleasant to look at. The anime did do a good job with adding some wind effects to the objections, but that was the only cool thing done. There wasn't anything fresh and new beyond that. Also, no psyche-locks, which I felt was one of the biggest disappointments. It felt like a missed opportunity with what the anime could do with the animation in using the magatama to break the psyche-locks. Well... that and showing Phoenix throwing his phone to Edgeworth in Farewell my Turnabout in animation. Co'mon, am I the only one that wants to see the epic phone throw in animation!?

Pet peeves aside, with what I've seen the live action movie provide with presenting evidence, I am looking forward to seeing what else they bring to the table. Perhaps hinting the magatama?

Easter Eggs

The anime showing Easter eggs or not is irrelevant, because I see non. I asked someone, who had only seen the Ace Attorney anime if Gregory is ever seen with Raymond Shields or have any discussions about IS-7. The answer was no. We get nothing out of IS-7.

The live action movie gives us Gregory with his trench coat he used when investigating IS-7. It gives us Apollo Justice's Objection song that is used at the end of Phoenix's Objection song. The movie ends with Farewell my Turnabout, letting us know it's not expecting a sequel, but tells us that Phoenix Wright does not end with Turnabout Goodbyes either. The live action movie makes it clear there is no sequel, but shows us there is more to look forward to. This is something I never got from the anime.

The anime only tells the story it wants to tell us and no more. Many people ask for an anime adaptation of Apollo Justice, but I don't want there to be one. There was a huge split in the game, so in order to do an anime adaptation, that would mean the creators will have to put love and heart into it. Unfortunately, I never got that from the anime. Not even a hint of what's to come or even the events of Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies or Spirit of Justice.

You want to talk about change, how about instead of Miles Edgeworth being adopted by Manfred Von Karma, he's adopted by Raymond Shields? Then, when Miles gets older, he leaves to work for Manfred Von Karma and we get a heartbreaking scene of Miles saying hurtful words to Raymond Shields. Heck, how about instead of Phoenix giving Miles a dog named Missile, it's named Pess. Not only would it be showing love for the show, but acknowledging the creator's idea for the character. Another change fans would love is Miles Edgeworth eating a swiss roll with Gumshoe and Kay in Turnabout Beginnings. Maybe have Phoenix read a Newspaper about Miles Edgeworth revealing the Yatagaratsu to being Calisto Yew.

Again, going back to Yu-Gi-Oh Capsule Monsters, the idea 4Kids came up with was based on a game introduced in the manga. While the monsters were replaced by Dual Monsters, the game play was still the same. It may've been the worst season, but it at least was aware of what the fans wanted and looked forward to. The same can be said for The Last Airbender live action movie. Granted, it sucked and the characters were blander than a cardboard box, but it at least kept story and characters consistent with little to no changes in the flow of the plot and characters. I never got that from the anime.

I will admit, I liked how the creators did base many of the expressions from the sprites, but it felt like that these additions were from a simple google search. You can find sprites of the characters. You can also search on wiki for the summery of the game play and walk through. Again, the first season did feel like they were trying to follow the plot and characters, while giving the fans what they wanted. Though, afterwards, the animation and everything just stood on a straight line instead of improving.

If I had to choose, I will always be thrilled to watch an adaptation that feels like it was made with love and care by fans and for fans.

Cheap and lazy

The anime is lazy with its animation and what they can do with it. There was a clip of when Godot threw his coffee at Phoenix, then we see it magically disappear in the next scene. There were some people that thought I was nitpicking when I complained about it, but it had nothing to do with realism. It was because it was lazy. I would have preferred Phoenix turning the coffee into a rope and whipping Godot than using cheap tricks like that. That's aside from the fact that the animation feels cheap when compared to the game.

I know that with animated series, it is treated differently than a cartoon movie, because it's continual, but that's not an excuse when you consider what the live action movie did on a low budget. Cheap and lazy is different from low budget film. Despite being on low budget, the live action movie worked their hardest to make the movie as exciting as possible. Sure, there were goofy moments, but they were done for comedic effects to distract us from the dark elements. The characters showed much stronger emotions when compared to the anime adaptation.

Now, Maya's character in the film was one thing that felt like a fail and I would agree with that, but the rest of the characters showed such strong emotions that worked naturally off each other. Just from the trailer alone, I could see that the actress that played Maya tried her hardest to put so much emotion into her character that lost her sister and dealt with the hardships of a spirit medium. Phoenix Wright deals with the pressure of being a Defense Attorney and shows the emotions of losing his mentor, then is about to lose his best friend he worked so hard to become a Defense Attorney to save. You see the intense emotion and pressure with being accused of murder by his own mentor he worshiped like a god. Again, there's a reason why I thought this film was fan made.

The intense emotion shown in the live action movie reminded me of a stage play done at an Anime Con on Farewell my Turnabout where Phoenix is talking with Shelly De Killer. There's a moment he has with Edgeworth where he is in tears, because of Maya's situation, then hearing words of wisdom from his friend to not give up. That tugs my heartstrings and just watching the trailer of the live action movie did the same to me. Seeing Phoenix watching the ghost of his former mentor pulled on my heartstrings compared to the anime's version of it. Also, no I did not watch the live action's scene of Maya's ghost before the anime's; it was the other way around. Seeing Phoenix in the live action version looking like he's about to cry and struggling not to is much more heartbreaking than watching the anime's Phoenix on the ground in the middle of the courtroom doing the same thing and looking like a fool.

When you see a low budget movie touching hearts by doing their very best with what they have, it shows they're not just showing cheap tricks. I feel the anime could've done much more instead of using cheap tricks. Going back to my no psyche-locks complaint, when you have a two second scene of psyche-locks breaking in an imagery that shows more dimension than the game, it feels more like a middle finger than an Easter Egg. I don't want to see cheap parlor tricks, I want to see the best freakin' adaptation to a beloved game the world has ever seen.

Love VS Money

As I have stated, I do believe that the Ace Attorney anime was originally planned by those that genuinely loved the game. Many of the ideas placed into it like the Signal Samurai and giving Edgeworth a dog feels like something brought by a genuine fan. Though, at some point, the anime lost its way and it makes me wish it was like the Danganronpa anime and just stuck to one season. That being said, I don't think it was full of people that didn't care about Ace Attorney. There were certainly fans of the game in the development team, but there were those that I suspect cared more for money than love for the franchise.

The live action movie felt like it was done by fans. Even those that didn't know the game seemed excited about working on this project. I'm not going to say that people that work on a good movie adaptation are going to be full of fans, but it needs to be driven by fans. It's not going to feel genuine otherwise. The Ace Attorney anime didn't feel genuine and perhaps it's because Season 2 was done by a different studio.

Think of it this way, what if there was a trailer of a live action adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh? Wouldn't you want to see holographic images projecting from a duel disk or watching the characters going inside a holographic box that projects different climates or environments with monsters that look realistic and 3D looking? What if instead of that, you got TV screenshots of the play cards and monsters in 2D pixels fighting and defeating each other as if you were at a Yu-Gi-Oh game Anime Con? Wouldn't that be disappointing?

I think you guys get the idea. In any anime adaptation of a game, I expect it to feel like it came straight out of the game itself. That's what the live adaptation of Ace Attorney feels like. It feels like they took the game out of its cartridge and placed it in the real world. Sure, there are changes, but they don't feel like a disappointment or  missed opportunity. The Ace Attorney anime feel like there were too many missed opportunities and changes no one asked for.

In any case, I look forward to watching the live adaptation of Ace Attorney, because it feels genuine, it feels like the kind of movie I looked forward to as a fan. When I finished the trilogy, I remember nagging about how Ace Attorney would be the perfect movie for Hollywood to adapt to live action, because there wouldn't be many scenes to shoot and the only chapter of the game to focus is Turnabout Goodbyes. If they want to go farther, then Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Goodbyes with the other ones brushed to the side. Apparently, I wasn't the only one asking for this, because the live action movie did exactly that.

If there is any chance to give Ace Attorney another chance for a live action adaptation, I'd like there to be little to no changes and to give something to the fans that they look forward to.

[abbyfreemansmind]

Let’s talk about Hazbin Hotel

So, I finally sat down and watched Hazbin Hotel. I’d heard so much about it and felt the need to launch myself headfirst into having my own opinions about it instead of just listening to other people talking about it. This is gonna be a long post, so I’m gonna put it behind a neat little read more. Please note that this is coming from someone who genuinely enjoys adult humour and edgy humour and themes. I’ve got no problem with something that’s all swearing and raunchy jokes. It just needs to be done right.

Point 1 - The Plot The plot is describes as the Princess of Hell trying to open a new hotel to rehabilitate sinners so they don’t get exterminated during the yearly heavenly extermination to deal with Hell’s overpopulation problems. This plot is quickly undone through a few things that anyone can notice during the first viewing. 1 - Overpopulation? WHAT population? The scenery is most often noticeably devoid of any signs of life, outside of when background characters are called for. The scene where Charlie’s doing her news presentation is the most notable example of background characters. After this scene, we see almost nobody outside of the main cast and those weird little egg things. There are a few throwaway demons but outside of that, the streets are devoid of people. There aren’t even the corpses we had just seen during that opening scene. 2 - Charlie may as well be a total nobody what with all the power being the Princess of Hell holds. Just look at how the other characters treat her. You’d think the Princess of Hell would have some kind of benefit that would sway people towards agreeing with this whole idea. Instead, she gets mocked by just about everyone for reasons I can only guess involve winning her sympathy points from the audience. 3 - At no point does she give any proof that redemption would work. She basically says, “Hey guys! I hate seeing you all die, so I have this idea that has no backing evidence, that may or may not work, to try and get you guys into Heaven! Let me sing a song about it where I insult you all!”

Point 2 - Presentation I applaud the animators. Must’ve been hard, especially for Charlie’s overly fast song that really didn’t need to be nightcored, or literally any time Angel Dust was on-screen. Frame by frame. No rigs. All those stripes. All those colours that blend if you stare at them too hard or squint even slightly while watching. All that unnecessarily constant movement. It’s no wonder the thing took four bloody years to animate. Outside of animation, there are too many unneeded details and not enough needed details. Seriously. 1 - The turf war. We didn’t need this. We didn’t need this at all. If you take out the entire opening to it and the entire actual fight scene here, the episode still flows smoothly and we get the same amount of information and worldbuilding. In a pilot/first episode, you should only give the audience necessary details. Leave them wanting more, yes, but make sure they actually know what they’re getting into from the first episode. Make every scene count. Make it mean something. Don’t just shove every detail you can think of together and call it a day, especially if you don’t actually give the audience much information from it. 2 - Why is Hell overpopulated? Why isn’t Heaven? Why can angels go from Heaven to Hell, but demons can’t go from Hell to Heaven? Why does nobody care about being redeemed if Hell is so overpopulated that Angels annually come down and kill people because of it? Why does everyone treat the Princess of Hell like she’s worthless? Why doesn’t Angel Dust know about Alastor if they got into hell within 10 years of each other? Where is this supposed overpopulation problem? Would redemption even work in the first place? Why should I care about most of these characters (who are mostly complete jerks with no redeeming qualities other than “PROTAGONIST”, especially when two of the fan favourites repeatedly sexually assault other characters and, in one case, is both sexist and racist at one point)? Why are there turf wars? I should not be having to ask these questions. Don’t hold the audience’s hand, but don’t leave every single question you present in the show unanswered. Some of the questions presented make absolute sense to leave unanswered. Why does Alastor want to help with the hotel? Why are characters like Vaggie and Niffty, who do nothing all that bad, in Hell? These are questions that make total sense to leave unanswered for now. 3 - What crime is too terrible to be redeemed for? Charlie seems to think that literally everyone can be redeemed. That means murderers, rapists, abusers, tormentors... Certainly her song holds some kind of key to figuring it out! “Inside of every creepy hatchet-wielding maniac” Hmm... Okay... “All of you cretins, sluts and losers, sexual deviants and boozers” Uh... “So, all your cartoon porn addictions, vegan rants, psychic predictions Ancient Roman crucifixions end right here All you monsters, thieves and crazies, cannibals and crying babies" Oh... Also, did she imply that mental illness, alcoholism, drug dependency, plant-based diets/lifestyles, rabies and enjoyment of sex were sins in that song?

Point 3 - Edgy for the sake of edgy Hazbin Hotel tries to be an adult cartoon, but comes off as something a mentally disturbed teenager wrote during their emo/scene phase. 1 - The swearing and sex jokes. Oh boy. I’ve worked with children under the age of 15 who swear and crack sex jokes better than the adults in this show. The swearing and sex jokes are the only reasons this show couldn’t be aired as a Cartoon Network show aimed at edgy teenagers. It’s so poorly done that it in and of itself takes away from the quality of the show itself. Also, we have a character who’s name is an actual sex joke itself. Vaggie, full name Vagatha - a lesbian sex worker, of course. Fun fact for those who don’t know, but all of her previous character drafts had her name as some form of joke on the word vagina. This isn’t an accident, this is blatant and intentional. Also, here’s a pro tip for you! You can make an adult-oriented show without having swearing, slurs and sex jokes taking up a solid third or more of your script. 2 - The... “Representation”. Yes, Hazbin Hotel has LGBT+ characters! Yes, it has biracial and Latina characters! Charlie is bi, Vaggie is a Latina lesbian, Angel Dust is a gay man, Alastor is ace and biracial, Husk is pan, Niffty is Japanese (YIKES). Except none of it actually matters. No, really. Vivziepop was all like, “btw you can ship w/e, idc! also, i rlly like the fanon version of human alastor (who is whiter than marshmallow fluff even though he’s supposed to be half black)! :)” and threw all that out the window because... Who knows at this point. Now, if you look at the connected series, Helluva Boss, you get Moxie and Millie - an extremely obvious and loving couple. In Hazbin Hotel, you get Charlie and Vaggie who you probably couldn’t tell were a couple without somebody telling you that in the first place, what with all the loveydovey-ness going on with them. In fact, the biggest hint we even get is literally one line. “Life ain’t a musical, hun.” But then again, I’d be more apt to believe Charlie and Vaggie are friends, or Vaggie is pining after Charlie. Also, Charlie is a really bad girlfriend! She lets Vaggie get abused by practically the entire cast without so much as a single word in her defense and ignores everything Vaggie says. It came as no surprise when I remembered hearing about how the only reason these two are a couple is because one of the people on the team thought they were during storyboarding and Vivziepop just went with it. Also, fun fact, Vaggie fits both the angry lesbian and fiery Latina stereotypes. Charlie fits the stereotype for the bisexual cheater, what with how she seems to actually like Alastor more than her own bloody girlfriend. Alastor is canonically ace because he’s too full of himself to be with anyone else. Speaking as somebody who’s ace... WHAT?! As much as I don’t like Charlastor, it’s partially more popular than Chaggie because Vivziepop actually made them act like a couple for an entire musical number. Also, he’s annoying. He not only kept telling Vaggie to smile (heck you dude), he also smacked her butt, which is a form of sexual assault, people. This was all played for laughs, along with Vaggie’s (actually very reasonable) anger. Niffty is Japanese. A yellow-skinned demon who’s boy crazy and obsessed with cleaning... Big yikes. Finally, Angel Dust. The kinky gay man porn star/drag queen/drug addict/prostitute who verbally sexually assaulted two guys. Where do I begin. When it came to this guy, Vivziepop must’ve been like, “Imma throw every stereotype for gay men on this guy and call it a character!” If you look a Helluva Boss again, you get Stolas, who verbally sexually assaults Blitzo over the phone and also cheated on his wife with him in the first place, so this isn’t a one-off. Also, he was originally AFAB, so that whole line about “Why are you all women?” is more than a little heinous and in extremely poor taste.

In conclusion, this show is terrible. Everything about it. It needs some serious reworking, because as it stands, it’s really truly not that great of a creation.

tl;dr: Needs a lot of work and “ThEy’Re In HeLl!!1!!one!!!eleven!!!11″ isn’t even remotely an excuse for the genuine problems in it. Remember, at least one actual human being on Earth, not in Hell, wrote this garbage fire. Also, the animators deserve a higher wage than whatever they’re getting to deal with these designs. I shudder just thinking about animating them, with or without a rig.