#i feel like we don't have a lot of season-by-season discourse so I'm curious

[ghostfacerseffect]

#I'm gonna leave this open for a week so it reaches more ppl 👀 #i feel like we don't have a lot of season-by-season discourse so I'm curious #well aside from 5. but you know. #also me shading s5 isn't even shading pyka. that's cool do whatever you want. i just think the pacing is terrible + it was an entire mess #regardless of ship choices #anyway enough rambling #warehouse 13 #wh13 #w13 #bering & wells #poll #polls #she speaks!

[respectthepetty]

I know you've been getting a bunch of asks about your favourite qls, but I'm specifically curious about what your favourite *chaotic* qls are.

Off the top of my head, some chaotic qls I enjoyed were Chains of Heart (THE GLOVE DISCOURSE, THE SUBTITLES, etc) and Big Dragon (asshole4asshole? no. clown4clown), while also enjoying the way that the shows were shot.

@kayatoasted, I'm re-reading this ask to make sure I don't answer it with my favorite *trashy* qls, like Hit Bite Love and Together With Me.

You want *chaotic* and they had to be beautifully shot, so although I love the chaos known as Love Mechanics and Dangerous Romance, both had beautiful shots but weren't consistently beautifully shot.

And I had to have enjoyed not only how it was shot but the show itself, so shows like Vice Versa and Only Friends are out.

No, you want my favorite beautifully shot *chaotic* qls that stayed chaotic which significantly reduces the list, but I can give it to you!

My Favorite Beautifully Shot Chaotic BLs

given in no particular order, and much like this subject, this list is chaos

Dee Hup House - Yes, the entire house

I'm not coming for Director Tee or Cinematography Jim. Their shows are beautiful and more adult. I have loved every single one of them. But the endings . . . ? The endings wobble in Step by Step, Something in My Room, Hidden Agenda, and I Feel You Linger in the Air. Yes, I'm including the last one because Tee & Co seem to pick long ass novels that should be multiple seasons, yet a lot of nothing gets shoved into each over-an-hour-long episode, which causes chaos. Even Lovely Writer, which I love the ending, had a moment with the dad's reveal that didn't have time to get fleshed out. Look at Step by Step. We had an entire baby happen in three episodes when the side couple fizzled. I will watch every show from this company and gush about it, but I know it's going to be beautiful chaos.

Big Dragon - Duh!

I'm not going to defend this show. Y'all already know I love this show. It was beautiful. It was chaotic. It was the moment. Period.

Chains of Heart - It's a given

You mentioned it in your ask with reasons why: It was beauty. It was grace. Then, it kicked us in the face. The plot itself was hard to grasp, but the subs only made it worse! Who was who? Why were there so many Men in Black? How did they all fit into the plot? Why would Din volunteer for an entire face transplant only to reappear, never tell Ken it was actually him, then disappear again?! And yet the cinematography was selling this wonderful vision to me each and every episode. I hated it there, and I need more of it immediately. WHERE IS MY SPECIAL EPISODE?!

Not Me - Think about it

We all need to be very honest with ourselves, and really reflect on the premise of this show. Todd put Black in the hospital, proceeds to call his twin, White, to act as him. White says yes even though he has absolutely no idea about Black's life, but he gets a big ass tattoo and his ass kicked multiple times by Sean (because he can't fight). While that is happening, we have Yok chasing around a rouge artist who is actually a cop named Dan who killed [spoilers] dad and Gram is apparently straight the entire time. Then, Papang is in it. Oh, and let's not forget being held hostage in a black van that protestors beat on until the kidnappers, just, let, them, go. Sure, Jan. And I didn't even mention Sean's leap across buildings! It was a good show. It's in my tops. I love it. The rainbow flag scene is embedded in my heart with the other beautifully shot protest scenes. But it was chaos! Let's hold space for that truth.

609 Bedtime Story - Messed up TWICE!

I enjoyed this show until I didn't, and that was when we got TWO endings, yet neither made sense. The colors in the show were immaculate. The plot though? Chaos. One character was traveling back in time and the other was traveling forward, but they weren't even in the same dimension. Then, the sister could not take a fucking hint and ruined the central love story by being a dramatic heterosexual. The point of the time travel was useless because one of the characters still died, but it didn't matter since that character was still alive in the other dimension and . . . MAKE IT MAKE SENSE, MARY!

Cupid's Last Wish - It was the mom for me!

EarthMix have gotten Director Aof twice, so maybe this is why this series, which isn't Aof, feels like chaos. It has such amazingly gorgeous outdoor shots, that I wonder if Thailand's Ministry of Tourism sponsored some part of this show. The series is a great advertisement for Thailand's beautiful landscape and cuisine, but then we have that plot. Body-swapping isn't the issue, at least not for me. The issue is the timeline. For a man who wanted to get out of his sister's body as quickly as possible, Win was doing the most to hold up the process. Oh, AND THE DAMN MOTHER! She was the true villain of the show, which got glossed over in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. I'll never get over that reveal even though the show wanted me to by the next scene. She really did that shit and kept it a whole ass secret until the very last damn moment. *looks into the distance at a baby cow* AHHHHHHH!

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner - In short

I'm going to quit picking on Thailand for two seconds to pick on Korea instead. Like all the others on this list, I like this show, and I've actually rewatched it a few times because I think it's pretty and it's so short. But there lies the problem - It's too short. The math was not mathing and the plot was not plotting. It skipped over information that was pivotal to the story. I still have no idea what that idol business was really about. From what the kind folks of Tumblr gathered, the idol was apparently supposed to get the guy in their past lives, but the other guy stole him and that's why he was crazy. How hard would that have been to explain to the audience? I did it in less than a sentence, but apparently the show spent its budget on lighting and not screenwriting or editing.

#1 - Mood Indigo - A masterpiece!

I wrote that these weren't ranked, yet here is number one in "My Favorite Beautifully Shot Chaotic BLs" list. The other shows on this list are child's play in comparison to the second installment that serves as the prequel in The Pornographer/The Novelist series. Regardless if it's a BL or not, leave it to Japan to offer me this deliciously beautiful chaos. Unlike all the other shows, the plot of this show is not what makes it chaotic, but . . . it is. It's not chaotic in the sense that it's disorganized or doesn't make sense. It makes perfect sense, and that's why it is chaos. It's supposed to be.

One character is depressed and has no fucks to give, so if something stirs an emotion in him, he does it without question (including giving the other character a bj in front of the older man who demanded it for another novel). Then, we have the other character who should be the more logical of the two, but somehow he is worse. I. Love. It. Everything that happens in this series makes everything we saw in the first season click into place including why these two toxic assholes are 1) toxic, 2) assholes, and 3) STILL FRIENDS!

God, they're awful.

I love them.

#beautiful and chaotic bls #this list is chaos #but it's my truth #the director who buys me dinner #609 bedtime story #cupid's last wish #mood indigo #chains of heart #not me #I wrote what I wrote!

[angelsdean]

I’m sorry people are vague blogging and giving you crap about defending Dean. You don’t have to be hyper critical of every piece of media you consume. The early seasons of SPN were written in the early 2ks by a bunch of white men, so of course there are problems. We all know that. Your spreadsheet shows that those problems aren’t with Dean saying the word bitch a few times to female villains, but with the writers themselves, and no amount of critical character meta will undo that. And it’s weird for people to act like loving Dean through all the seasons means the viewer themselves is okay with misogyny. Dean (as the writers wrote him) changes drastically throughout the seasons, has depth, and is a fun character to watch. Enjoy your rewatch and monitoring Jackles jacting joices!

hi sorry i didn't see this earlier !! but thank you<3 I don't really mind others disagreeing w/ me but yeah i saw a few posts yesterday and i was like, oh no did i accidentally create discourse? sjfkdkdk i'm so insulated in my own corner of spnblr idk what's going on out there in the wild wild west. Also the vaguing feels very high school, like why are we doing that? But anyways, yes, the show as a whole has gone through SO many changes and lived through many eras where the social and political norms changed drastically. It's impossible to overlook those real world contexts and the writers themselves and what they each brought to the show / characters.

Like the show clearly got better (still had lots of flaws don't get me wrong!!) re: stuff like casual sexism / misogyny and the language used as what was socially acceptable to say changed. Like after I did my "bitch" and "skank" searches, I also searched "slut" out of curiosity and it doesn't occur very much (only 18 times out of 300+ episodes) and the use of the word drops off completely after season 12. Strangely it was used the most in season 4, a total of 9 times which is half the total usage of the word. I haven't had time to dig deeper but I'd be curious to see who those s4 writers were and to whom the word was being used (my guess is again villains / enemies / antagonists). But yea it's only used sparingly after s4, and then never after s12 which to me signals that like, the writers realized 'ok we can't get away with using that word anymore bc it's no longer socially acceptable' etc etc.

Anyways, thanks again<3 I'm very much having fun with this rewatch, it's feeding my brain so much haha.

#replies #spn data

[rmd-writes]

do you feel like you’ll write more tarlos in the future? or is this season causing you to fall out of love with them? (just curious because i love your writing very much)

Hi anon!

It means a lot to hear that you enjoy my writing and I appreciate you saying so very much 💖💖

As to your questions, the short answer to the first question is yes, I do feel like I'll write more Tarlos fic in the future. I revamped my to write/wip list recently and it is... extensive.

There is a lot of Discourse™ flying around about the current season and how people feel at the moment that I, like many others, have thoughts and feelings about, but I don't really want to discuss it publicly. What I will say in answer to your second question is this:

It is entirely possible to be critical of media and still love it or pieces of it. Being unhappy with the writing of a show doesn't necessarily equate to falling out of love with the characters themselves. Do I love everything about season 4? No. Does that mean that I've fallen out of love with Tarlos? Also no.

As a fic writer in particular, it is entirely possible to continue to love a piece of media or the characters and not love the direction canon is taking. The thing about writing is that it gives us an outlet to write stories and characters the way we want to see them, despite - or in spite of - canon. And, to quote one of my faves, I fucking love doing things out of spite 😉

Looking at my wip list, my current plans don't really involve much canon compliant fic (except for some pwp I'm writing) and I'm definitely more drawn to writing AUs at this point. So, watch this space and I hope you continue to enjoy reading what I put out there.

#rmd answers

[noddytheornithopod]

Got mixed feelings about the Ahsoka finale. Liked some stuff, but other stuff I'm not so sure on. Spoilers under cut

Okay first thing... the episode felt kinda cheap? Like, I could tell this was on a TV budget, lol. Some episodes have looked pretty good, but for whatever reason this just wasn't working for me?

Maybe I also just am still getting used to seeing animated stuff in live-action. Seeing the green flames finally show up is a relief, but it still felt kind of strange.

My other thing is, I'm not exactly sure I understand what block Sabine has overcome to be able to use the Force properly now? It was kind of jarring to suddenly see her do all this stuff.

Oh yeah, and a lot of this is down to unfortunate circumstances but... Baylan only got one scene? And we only get a slight tease of what he might be after (something Mortis related :v)? Was surprised we barely got any Shin, too.

I did like the zombie troopers even if the action scenes looked a bit cheap. Morgan dying I'm indifferent on, also hey "blade of Talzin." Thrawn explicitly mentions he knew Anakin, and clearly hints he knows of the Vader connection.

Still not sure how I feel about Ahsoka's place in everything, we got Morai finally but Filoni's really teasing the mystery box with her here (and now Baylan, lol). Also, hi Anakin.

I admit I do find the irony of Ezra being the only one to make it back quite amusing. Him making the new lightsabre inspired by Kanan's is pretty cool, too.

It is kind of weird that Sabine only talked about her decision with Ahsoka, though. That conversation resolved that aspect for them thankfully, but to know that Ezra's not gonna know anything until whenever they're together next is... yeah. Who even knows when that will be? If there's a Season 2, I feel like that's gonna not happen for a while, lol.

Oh yeah, some more clarification of the timeline with Mandalore and the Purge. It sounds like it happened at the end of the war, so at least they got to have like 4-5 years of having the upper hand before Gideon and co bombed the fuck out of them.

Maybe it's just me but they felt kind of vague on how much Ezra knew about Thrawn and the Nightsisters? This episode clarified it, but it was hard to tell in his previous appearances.

Am curious as to the specifics of what Morgan went through, and what the sacrifice those Night Troopers made was. It seems like they're not dead, but they do something that renders them subservient to her and makes them undead. IDK how similar Marrok is, he seems kinda different.

Am sure the Thrawn book discourse will continue, but everything's lining up and playing as I expected. He's all in on the Empire, but he's genuine when he says he believes it's for the security of the galaxy. For those of you worried about the Grysk, there's a bone for you. :P

Not sure when "long live the Empire" developed though, cuz if it was post-Endor then wonder how Thrawn got it, maybe it's something they prepared to say if things went to shit, or more weird dream shit is happening, lol.

So... yeah, that's the end of Ahsoka, presumably the first season of at least another. Kind of average in the end for me, I guess. I like more than I don't, but I do have a bit of Filoni fatigue at this point, especially with the amount of mystery boxes, lol.

Okay with Sabine and the Force, upon reflection I realise it's meant to be because Ahsoka showed she trusted her and had faith in her. Definitely think it could've landed better, but I guess I at least get it now.

Also, RIP to learning about where Ahsoka was between Malachor and the end of the Galactic Civil War. IDK what Mr Filoni think, but I personally think it's a pretty important detail to acknowledge, because why wasn't she with the Rebellion then?

#ahsoka spoilers #sw spoilers #star wars #ahsoka series

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

{{ I'm intrigued by your take on Steven Universe! I don't mean to start drama, so feel free to answer privately if you like, and I also don't want to judge you, but I'm curious. How did you come to the conclusion SU's message was "killing people is bad no matter what"? Because I personally interpreted a great big chunk of it to have been justifying Rose shattering Pink Diamond. Like it was necessary for life on Earth to survive, particularly in that she was so often held up as a hero in the early seasons.

I will concur that STEVEN thought it was bad, and whew, Bismuth's first episode is... contentious. And certainly the narrative framing lauded empathy and compassion as ways to solve problems. But where did you gather the "no matter what" part?

You are under no obligation to answer of course, you just seem like someone who always lands on a conclusion For a Reason and I'd like to understand your perspective, if possible!

Its no problem I’d love to share my thoughts!

I’m not really saying I think that is the moral although I don’t think pacifism is a bad thing to teach kids, and if you’ve watched the later seasons you know they didn’t really kill pink diamond they just faked her death, but that’s besides the point.

My point was that a good 75% of the discourse was over the perceived idea that no matter what you don’t kill people because how things turned out with Andy (which was a little tone deaf for the time it came out (it was right after the election) but saying bigoted family can change their minds is a nice day dream that isn’t problematic in of itself) and with the diamonds getting redeemed instead of dead.

Maybe they would’ve tried to kill them after exhausting all other options and showing why they had to do it (can’t go from we were doing this bad thing bc we thought you were dead but you’re not and then five episodes later kill them off, but you could with a whole season of tries to explain what they’re doing is bad-> they don’t listen -> Steven gets hurt for trying to explain this -> repeats -> Stevens friends get hurt -> ok these guys are going down but they simply didn’t have time for that after being canceled and the show that’s entire thing is people are messy and complicated, rose and pearl and the cluster and all the reformed homeworld gems like peridot and lapis who took time to make that heel turn, and can usually become better if given the chance, would’ve been going against their morals to justify killing these people a few episodes after unlocking their tragic backstory

And a lot of the issues was that people were getting redeemed that they didn’t like. The diamonds were genocidal dictators! Rose was born into that family and didn’t stop it! She owned other gems as a high up member of society!

She left her entire family though and fought against that and pushed pearl toward freedom several times and hadn’t hit her growth at the time of spinell and hundreds of years passed between those times. She was messed up and hurt people and changed which was the point, but since she’s dead when the story ends and we only see her as flashbacks we don’t get to see all of it, and she chose her death to make Steven, she wasn’t punished.

I don’t know if Steven universe is rehabilitation is the preferred method to change things and killing is always wrong but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight still (they do still beat the shit out of people and stab them and bubble them) or killing is sometimes needed to protect the oppressed but rehabilitation is the preferred method to change things and they just didn’t have time to express that, but the discourse primarily comes from people who are mad that characters didn’t get what they feel they deserved, and this applies outside killing too. All of the gems suck sometimes bc the moral of the story is people are complicated and kindness can help with a lot of that, but if you’re too mad at what they did then you don’t WANT to redeem or forgive them, you want them to be punished, so everyone who felt like that took the end of the show being “don’t worry we’re good now!” The same as telling people not to punch assholes bc if you’re nice enough they’ll change.

So yeah. I don’t know if Steven universe was anti killing but the main thing that people calling it problematic were mad about was the fact that they thought a childrens show was trying to tell them killing people is wrong and revenge isn’t the way dkdkdkdk. That’s my personal take on it anyway.

#su #steven universe #Su discourse

[give-soup-please]

I am absolutely tickled pink as the saying goes - it seems like Munchies is becoming a detective and trying to figure out who I am. (It's me, May again if that wasn't obvious)

Just a few responses to things: So I think "Home" was denied, but they DO have Book, Face, and Workplace are copywritten! They do have specific things in relation to that (not the word itself but them being apps and whatever) but here's a comprehensive list of all of their trademarks and how they're trademarked: https://about.meta.com/brand/resources/meta/our-trademarks/

Having self care/accountability partners is probably the only way I'm actually alive and semi-healthy today, so I'd be honored to add you to the list. I forgot to drink water today before I went to make this response, so I'm drinking a whole water bottle now, starting while I write this.

I honestly find all discourse on Tumblr or any other social media platform to be particularly annoying and frustrating. If it's not about something genuinely problematic then just... stop. Thank you for that writing, I've re-read it at least six times at this point, honestly. Anyways, I just wanted to talk about Munchies being curious and I figured I'd use it to respond to your own response... to my responses... because I found that curiosity absolutely hilarious. I'll give her a hint, though - she messaged me. Take care, please, I'd be terribly sad if you hurt yourself. Your slightly anonymous friend, ~May

curiouser and curiouser... a small favor, May- if i can ask it. please don't tell me who you are just yet. i enjoy having a mystery friend. munchies definitely knows who you are as far as i can tell, and when she put in what your username on discord might have potentially be, i asked her to delete it haha

i like the spice of a good mystery, it adds flavor to life. you're very intriguing, and i'm basing that off your writing style and the content of your messages. of course, if you wish to reveal yourself to me directly, go right ahead. but i'd hate for things to get revealed too soon. (as a side note, i am incredibly loopy from tackling final projects, and i have no idea how my tone is coming off here. i'm hoping it isn't too 'disney villain'. my brain is very fried. i'm trying to say that wondering who you could be is a source of fun for me, even if we've never interacted in places besides tumblr before. you're welcome to reveal who you are on your own time, if you wish.)

pretty entertaining stuff from facebook, i'll say.

good on you for drinking water. i'll try and do the same.

i hear you on tumblr discourse, my friend. i've seen people write dissertation length arguments on stuff that isn't that important, and it's exhausting. i use this phrase a lot, but i do cultivate who i follow and who i pay attention to very carefully.

i will... do my best to not self sabotage, but not without sighing and grumbling about it. i have nine days of school left before summer, and it's just a matter of not doing anything too self destructive during that time. this is something that happens every year around this time, and i do my best to make smart choices and keep out of trouble. my friends are being kept up to date on how i feel, and they know what to do if i start to spiral or head down a bad road. (for friends who have known me in the long term, 3+ years, we have systems built in place for this kind of thing. my support network is strong, even when i'm not.)

but! then summer will start, and i know what will happen. a week or two in, the stress will shed off, and i'll return to my usual soft and happy self for the duration of the season. i'm looking forward to that version of me reappearing, because here's the secret.

that's the real me. and that version is my favorite one.

#may anon

[panlight]

Curious, and this had nothing to do with Twilight. Why do you think some people dislike the current season of What We Do in the Shadows?

Me, I suspect that the chaotic energy of the past 3 seasons has died down a bit sinc ethe vampires are showing more competency on their own than they ever had while retaining their self centeredness.

I haven't seen the Discourse on this (I love the show but I'm not involved in any fandom spaces), and I'm personally enjoying the season overall.

However, for me, I was disappointed that they set up all these interesting new ideas (Laszlo raising the 'baby;' Nandor traveling, Nadja joining the council in London) and ended on a cliffhanger last season . . . . only to have everything instantly revert to the status quo in like the first five minutes of the new one. I wanted to spend a few episodes exploring the stuff they set up! Instead it was just like "lol we're not paying to shoot on different locations, everyone back to the house!"

I also just don't personally care about the nightclub plotline really. I don't dislike it, I just am not invested. And I LOVE Nadja, I just think she's more fun when she's on vampire councils vs running a nightclub.

I think also that this season especially (and last season a bit too) feels . . . separated. Nadja and the Guide have the nightclub but the others aren't super involved in it. Laszlo and Guillermo are parenting baby Colin, but Nandor and Nadja aren't really involved in that. Nandor and Guillermo were doing the wedding stuff, but Laszlo and Nadja weren't really involved there. Last season had a lot of Laszlo/Colin interactions, but the reason for it was revealed later. But this just feels like everyone has their own subplots and they aren't all involved in the same wacky stuff this season as they had been in previous seasons? For example the one where they were all figuring out the best pair to pose as Baby Colin's parents was hilarious and fun BECAUSE it was all of them being chaotic and weird together, not divided up into their subplots. But it's possible some of these choices will make sense in retrospect, like the focus on the Laszlo/Colin relationship last season.

That's just a casual observation though! Like I said I'm not actively involved in the fandom so I haven't analyzed this or thought about it with the depth I do with Twilight stuff, and overall I still enjoy the show.

#asks #non-twilight #but vampire related!

[borkthemork]

To be honest, the 3A discourse rubs me off the wrong way because it kind of feels like cartoon fandoms are pretty shallow sometimes?

Note how many people keep dismissing the Plantars, even though they were always main characters and their relationship with Anne was the main focus and heart of the show in the first place (literally marketed by Disney that way too), in favor of Sasha and Marcy and for what seems like because they just want to ship them all together.

Reminds me of The Ghost and Molly McGee where Molly and Scratch's relationship is the centerpiece of that show but most of fanart and fanfics are just about shipping Molly with the other girl characters.

We might be opening a pretty big nest of worms with this one, Anon, but knowing my current thoughts, I will say that I was curious of the phenomenon regarding Season 3A.

I'd been observing the fandom for a while — and don't get me wrong even if I've been here from the start it's not like my opinion is the most correct in how people feel about the topic — however, I do see four things that are being put into play over Season 3A discourse. And right now, I honestly would like to talk about it.

However, because of the nature of discourse (being that it's stressful and also prone to having people argue if the discussion isn't handled carefully), I will put all my thoughts under a Read More.

To note, though, I am not going to invalidate people with whatever I will say under the Read More, but I am going to dissect why collisions are happening in the fandom in-general. Because in understanding where these concerns are coming from, then we can have a better picture as to why arguments are starting in the first place.

Anyway, let's begin.

[Word Count: 2,100~]

So the issue from what I'm seeing could be from four things: (1) Forgetting that the show is episodic with an overall story, (2) The weekly to binging pacing, (3) The wait for specific answers, and (4) Forgetting that, in some essence, Marcy and Sasha aren’t the main characters of Anne's story.

(1) Episodic - The Comparisons to TOH

Okay, so back in the hiatus before Season 3A, there was a mass migration of The Owl House fans to Amphibia. If one ever navigated Twitter, Tiktok, or the sort you'd see that a lot of fans are also fans of The Owl House, and during the Season 2A hiatus, watching Amphibia helped pass the time.

I also noticed that the way people advertised Amphibia was through different specific viewpoints. The first is that they advertise Amphibia as an epic story show and only an epic story show. Second, they promise that there is a lot of queer subtext in the narrative that is not only implicit but explicit in text. Thirdly, they don't mark the Plantars as the main characters, but rather focus on the trio since they're the most fleshed-out of the bunch.

Now, I will discuss the second to third points later, what I will focus on though is the expectation that Amphibia is fully intended to be serialized and only serialized.

Amphibia isn't a serialized show.

It's a bit of a bonk to the head, but Amphibia really isn't. What you're currently seeing is a show that has similar pacing and sitcom feel to Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, and a bit of The Ghost and Molly McGee:

They will tell their stories as time goes on, but the heart of each is about characterization.

Now, this comes down to the fact that Disney TV is a very episodic-centric kind of broadcasting, and the many shows you see in the wake of Gravity Falls — like Svtfoe, TOH, and Amphibia — will push for that serious storytelling sometime after their season one as a result of trying to get its show off the air.

With The Owl House, Dana was pretty vocal on Disney forcing the episodic storytelling on her with Season One, however, what we currently know with Matt can be seen here.

There are confirmations that despite the episodic storytelling, Matt was pretty much enthralled with telling it through such a medium anyway due to the outlines he had, and also the prior research he had with Gravity Falls and Steven Universe.

So to the ones who had been advertised a serialized story, Seasons 1 and 2A become unappealing. They expected a story that would have the same appeals as what people had told them, but instead got a funky frog show of Anne reevaluating her toxic assumptions with some crucial plot points interspersed within.

And when they skip the seasons they don't prefer, they get frustrated when the built expectation of Season Three being serialized doesn't come to fruition. The episodic pacing is still there, and it's really funny because if you look at the way the episodes are lined up, not only is Season 3A a lot faster than Seasons 1 and 2 on plot progression but faster than Season 2B in full. And Season 2B has been known to be a pretty packed midseason, mind you!

The mix of serialization and episodic has been the medium for most of Amphibia, and one could critique the show, of course (it's not perfect like any other medium out there), but trying to critique a show for not being serialized does have the repercussions of not understanding the intentions of the source material.

It's like asking a serialized show from an episodic show like Cowboy Bebop, rather than the intended serialized show that is right next to it. And if Season 3B does still continue to increase its storytelling heavily, there will continue to be a lot of laughs and jokes to accompany the progression.

In its heart, Amphibia keeps its tone consistent (*looks at Olivia and Yunan* Most of the time) and will continue to do so when we get to the finale.

(2) Weekly Binge - The Contrasting Watch Experiences

Now, Matt Braly's interview talked about how Amphibia wasn't supposed to be binged fully but "enjoyed over time", and that begs the question.

What does Matt Braly mean when he says that?

Well, with a story like Amphibia, I could basically call the show episodic with an overall story. And that story is going to be scattered and progressed throughout the coming episodes that are shown and revealed.

This format has been put into place, and what occurs is that you get a different experience in watching the narrative when you only watch one episode, compared to how it effects the mass storyline if one puts it into retrospect.

So to people wanting plot, Amphibia's plot progression could be excruciating if done in a weekly format.

But to plot-focused people watching Amphibia in a binge format? The plot progression and importance of specific episodes amps up pretty well over time.

The reason why I'm saying this is because I had noticed a difference in views regarding the audience, especially if we divvy the audience into "Has binged the series up to the current episode" and "Went through the weekly episodes and the hiatus", and it's pretty surprising how different the viewpoints are.

To the people who had binged up to Escape to Amphibia, the pacing was on par as Season 2B.

The pacing of different details, characterization, and the wanting to get to specific plot points was the same as Season 2B, and the audience isn't really frustrated much on getting answers compared to the ones who had waited months and weeks to have specific questions revealed.

This also means there's more appreciation to episodes that were once harkened as filler (such as "Wally and Anne", "Hop-Popular", and "Bessie and Microangelo") due to the awaiting of specific plot points being fulfilled and also some payoff being found in the current revealed story.

Now, look at the Season Three line-up, and list the different stories that had been told in these ten episodes.

The plot points are there, some of the payoffs had been shown, and as a person who has watched the episodes weekly and then binged the whole of Season 3A, I honestly felt a lot more satisfaction and amazement at how fast the season was going compared to the former.

It is, as Matt says, a story that becomes more satisfying in a bigger picture.

However, with that said...

(3) Wait For It - The "Oh Man I Want Answers" Phenomenon

Now, the valid complaints I'd seen throughout this debacle comes through with the wanting for answers.

As storytellers, one of the things that is exchanged during storytelling is a series of promises that need to be answered by the end of the story’s conclusion. It’s a two-way street between creator and audience, where the audience needs to do the active work to understand the intention and interpretations of the creation, but the creator needs to make sure to fulfill the expectations that they created.

With episodic shows, this idea could still be applied due to the fact that shows like Amphibia do promise a story and a fulfillment of a story’s premises.

If you get a plot where it talks about trust and community being important and then removes a character from the trust and community — declaring it as the fulfilled conclusion — then either that story is a very pessimistic take about community or basically botched the entire set-up that the creator intended.

Some examples of this could be found with How I Met Your Mother, and Star Vs the Forces of Evil.

So to many watching Season Three, there comes the question of “Where is Marcy?”, “When will we see Sasha?”, and “When will we see the consequences of all the girls leaving?” and those are pretty valid questions to ask and be frustrated that there’s no current answer yet.

I can’t really change people’s minds on being impatient over when a story shall tackle their own questions, especially since it’s all an execution and pacing thing that has to be evaluated, but what I can say is that I’m going to be patient on this front.

Because based on what we know about Amphibia — where they talk about a story becoming more appreciated when the full story becomes fully on display — I can’t critique anything until the story finishes. I want to see how everything connects and twists back to the main story by the end of the day, and it’s understandable to why people would rather not commit to waiting long periods of time when it could’ve been said earlier.

However, as the audience I do trust Matt in telling me that there is more to be seen, and I will change my judgement when all the story pieces are put into place.

With everything else out of the way, let’s begin with a hypothetical situation.

(4) Narrative Focus - The Mishaps in Fandom Focus

Think of all the fandoms you’d been involved with in some way, shape, or form. Before you ever got into it, have you ever been surprised over how the fanon portrays the importance of specific characters, only to be bamboozled when the canon is a lot different?

This can vary. Examples could be found with people’s expectations of Arcane’s episode five sex scene to be raunchy and straight-up porn rather than the reality’s artistic execution, or how with Sherlock, there was a fanon character that got so popular within the fandom that people completely forgot the show’s interpretation of that character even existed.

For Amphibia, not only was there a continuous expectation and emphasis to focus on the idea that the show was serialized, but that the way they handled fanon made it sound like as if the girls were explicitly confirmed to be queer in the text, and the Plantars are kind of just there.

Now, this is the nature of fandoms. After all, the trio is one of the most well-developed out of the show, and to focus on the interesting dynamics of those characters specifically is valid. Like me, I do it all the time.

However, since fandom is one of the main ways to advertise the show through word-of-mouth, that does mean the fanon interpretation is going to be the way people are going to hear about it before they actively interact with the source material itself.

And when a person has this idea that the show is serialized, has Marcy and Sasha as the main characters (despite the fact their interactions/appearances can basically label them as major or deuteragonist characters at best), and harbors explicit text that confirms them to be queer, there will be a dissonance to what the new audience will find when they experience the show on their own.

They are going to be put-off by specific aspects of the show. They are going to be put-off with the fact that Sasha won’t be revealed until a lot later in the story — or that the frogs are the main focus, or that Anne is the main character, that certain ships don’t exist as explicit text — and ultimately have to curate their own thoughts and opinions differing to what the fanon majority says.

That’s a good thing, but it can lead to some frustration, especially within hiatuses, when a built narrative within their mind becomes dashed or not expected within reality.

That’s kind of why you have people ragging on Steven Universe not being a show focused on space opera political intrigue, when in reality Steven Universe’s setting is just a background to the metaphors of identity, love, and discovery that Steven is going through in the main show.

And that’s also why you get shows like Victorious and Miraculous Ladybug being negatively panned, but also with thriving fandoms that basically rewrote everything from the show and turned it into something that they actively like.

Sometimes fandom expectations and fanon clash with canon. This can be a good and/or bad thing based on fandom environment, and it’s just something we have to expect whenever we get invested with a show. Sometimes you want something that the story didn’t give you or hasn’t give you yet, so you create it. Sometimes you want specific AUs or ideas to have been explored rather than what you’ve gotten.

For Amphibia, the show is about Anne’s story as a focus, and the fandom responded by asking questions about other characters. One may critique Anne’s story whatever they want, but that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Sometimes fandoms act like this, you can’t really stop it full-force, and to Amphibia the only thing I can advise is finding the people in your groups that seem to understand that same thing. You can argue and discuss the validity of specific plot points, executions, and the disappointments/successes the story currently, but overall, the story is still going to continue until it is finished.

And different thoughts/opinions will be curated as time goes on.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #asks #Anonymous #gonna tag this as #discourse #just so people can mute it specifically #bork speaks

[rainydayhues]

Thoughts on The Rookie 4x09...

My feelings on this season and Chenford's development have been pretty clear from the start. But as always, let me preface with, I get that others haven't enjoyed the first half for varying reasons and that's okay!

That said, I really truly have and 4x09 was no exception. I loved the home reno scene - but also, who invited Lucy? Was it Tim or Genny? She just arranged to have the same day off as Tim so she could help, right?! Or did he arrange it for her? Did Genny absolutely insist on it?😏

(Also the head cannon is now that Lucy has a full on dream proposal thought up right? But I also think it's just something she thinks she wants and when Tim does the complete opposite, she realizes that's actually what she wanted all along.) 😅🤗

Now, I've said this before but the way Lucy continuously offers Tim perspective was apparent again - when he wants to take the case over immediately, tries to interrogate Monica himself and finally when Lucy brings her back in for questioning because she just had a feeling. Lucy being a smart, capable and thoughtful cop, we love to see it.

The HUG! I said this last night but I loved the parallel and how it really served as a bookend to 4x01. Tim comforting Lucy at her most vulnerable and Lucy comforting Tim at his. These two have found a comfort and intimacy with each other and I love to see it. Also both of them with their "come here" - it's so insane. Like "come here, come to me, I've got you"

I also know there's been a lot of discourse over the Tim test line and won't rehash that. But I appreciate the callback to it and how it wasn't a throwaway line. My takeaway was this - when Tim first says the Tim tests make him nothing like his father, it's almost like a plea to her - he needs her to know that. She then says "I know" and "you're nothing like him", almost taken aback because she knows this. Lucy knows this as deeply as she knows herself, I really believe that. When she hugs him and says back to him (the 2nd time) "you're nothing like him" - it's almost like a plea from her, one where she really needs him to understand that a) of course, he's nothing like his father and b) more than anyone she knows it. It spoke volumes to me about their connection and how deeply they think of and about each other. Plus Eric's face in that moment, man. The way he absolutely physically falls into that hug and takes the comfort so easily. All the kudos to Eric for 4x08 and 4x09. (Also height difference angle there, A+).

A few other thoughts on the episode in case anyone cares 😂

- I was inititally nervous to see how many cast members/guests they had in this episode but weirdly it all worked out okay?

- Smitty and Tamara were funny, I don't need Nolan to win union rep but we do need to keep Smitty around

- They continue to push Bailey on us and now with this husband storyline, I couldn't help but laugh because it's so absurd at this point. Cute that it was Jenna's IRL husband, I guess?

- I hope that this brings us to the end of Wesley's Elijah storyline and instead opens up a new thread into Angela taking over that story arc with the new cartel head, (I forget her name.)

- Definitely looks like we're getting more Enver/Donovan this season because that custody battle is about to heat up.

I know we're clearly headed for the "Ashley episodes" in the new year and I've said before, while I'm curious to see how they handle it, I'm still not worried. And if anyone has had a chance to read Alexi's interview with TVLine he mentions no UC for now and instead a personal storyline for Lucy he didn't want to spoil yet and a new love interest so I'm even more curious now, what are everyone's thoughts on that?! I hope it's something with her parents but idk!

I for one am excited for 4B! Asks are open, lmk what you think because I'm always happy to discuss Chenford/The Rookie!

#chenford #the rookie #the rookie season 4 #lucy chen #tim bradford #lucy x tim

[random-french-girl]

I think the boys should've had maybe 1 or 2 eps about them, just to see how they do. Now...16 main characters is a whole another world. We don't even know the full backstory of most of the girls yet. And now they're adding the boys' backstorys AND their island. I just think it's a lot and there is no way the girls remain "front and center". It really pisses me off just to write this lmao i really really hope they dont fuck it up that bad (they've already been handling the social media stuff pretty bad). Btw english isnt my first language so sorry for any mistakes

Hi anon! Thanks for sending your thoughts!

Please never apologize for english mistakes, I'm not a native speaker either <3

I understand your frustration - my first reaction when they introduced the boys plot twist at the end of s1 was hmmm the opposite of excitement. But I've refrained from participating in the ~Boys Discourse~ because i find most of it unproductive and lacking in nuance tbh. on both sides.

I guess where I stand is: I'm happy to wait and see what the season actually looks like. Because no matter what we get, it will at least solidify, for me, what this show is trying to say exactly re:gender/sexism/feminism (which is not the same as what our favorite evil milf gretchen klein believes about gender/sexism/feminism btw.) Like, I want to experience the story that the writers want to tell me, you know? They did a lot of great stuff in s1, so I want to trust them. And maybe I won’t like it! Maybe I’ll have strong feelings about certain choices they made! But I want to at least receive it with a charitable, open mindset.

Don’t get me wrong, I share your concerns - about having so many characters, about dividing screen time - but if I go into watching s2 preemptively angry&disappointed, then... certainly I’m not going to enjoy myself very much. So, until we have the full season to discuss, I’d rather focus on the stuff that I’m excited about, and remain cautiously curious and/or indifferent about the boys.

#anonymous #the wilds #the wilds season 2 #random meta #don't take any of this as me telling you how you should feel! #these are just. my thots.

[youwearfinethingswell]

i'm curious what story of sana's people want telling? she is a norwegian teenager and yes she is muslim which is important to her identity but /i/ personally can't see how you should/ could make that part of the story line (i'm not saying it's not possible i just don't know) ?? i feel like skam is about seeing things through one persons eyes and we are seeing that? it's not about having a separate story for a character it's seeing one story through another perspective (cont.)

(cont.) i don’t agree that sana’s story is affected greatly by isak and even holding hands. i understand that a lot of ppl watching have concentrating a lot on that which is stupid but it seems like some ppl think julie did that on purpose to take away from sana??? wrong in my opinion. sana is a very selfless character and we see her getting hurt bc of her love for friends and her vulnerability bc of that and i think it’s being shown very well. (cont.)

(cont.) i hope you see this as healthy discussion/discourse not as hate or me trying to say anyone is wrong, i just want to understand if i’m missing something? and also i’m only sending /you/ these messages bc i saw you reblogged a post about fans glossing over sana’s story and similar

The thing is that it’s taking all the focus away from Sana. The evak holding hands scene for example. I mean there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s the fact that it’s taking the focus away from Sana, who is the main character. It’s taking all the attention away from Sana’s pain, which (in this clip) should be the main focus. 

It’s like with Noorhelm. In season 3 it was a factor that moved the main characters plot forward, but now in season 4 it’s only taking up Sana’s storyline, and that's so unfair, cause Noora and Noorhelm had more than a whole long ass season for themselves, and it’s sad and stupid that Noora should have to take away Sana’s “screen time”. 

Throughout the three first seasons we see Sana through the other girls eyes, but we mostly get to see the “norwegian girl” side of Sana. But I thought that season 4 was supposed to be about a muslim girl of colour. Because as we have seen, that isn’t something Sana has shared with the other girls. At least not a huge part of it. This season I wanted to learn about Islam, religion, what it’s like to be a muslim, a muslim in norway, a muslim girl in norway, a girl of colour in norway (and in general). But as an ask from an anon said (to @evenandsana i think), what we have learnt this season about Islam and religion, and how it’s like to be a muslim, is thorugh people in this fandom, here on tumblr. Skam has literally not taught me anything I didn’t already know about Islam this season. What I’ve learnt is thourgh these amazing people on tumblr, and even though they have been so amazing, and so helpful, and kind and so generous with sharing everything and teaching us so much, honestly, it shouldn’t have to be people here on tumblr teaching us about this, it should be Skam. 

Finally, Sana is one of the only muslim girls of colour characters IN THE WORLD. Honestly I can’t name one other character like her in main stream media. This was supposed to be a season where other muslim girls and/or girls of colour were going to be represented in a good and real and healthy way, and to finally see “themselves” on a popular tv show. And yet, Sana is pushed to the back, even in her own season. I can’t even imagine how that must feel. To see “yourself” represented in media maybe for the first time ever, and seeing that character being shoved aside just so people can see even more of Noora (a white girl who is represented absolutely everywhere) and evak who we literally just watched a whole season of.

#i hope that this make sense #im so bad at writing #please let me know if i said something worng #or anything that makes anyone feel offended #or if ive misunderstood anything #or said something wrong #or just anything really #please let me know if you want to add something to this #or anything #i am not muslim #and im not a girl of colour #please let me know if there is anything ive said that is not right or offensive #or if you want to add something to this #skam #anonymous

[alarkling]

why don't you ship delena? I'm not trying to start a discourse or say that you're wrong for shipping stelena (bc honestly so do I) but I used to ship delena A LOT when I watched the show and I preferred them over stelena, but lately I have felt a bit iffy about them bc I realized how unhealthy/toxic they are and I'm just curious what your reasons are for preferring stelena. so if you don't mind, why do you ship stelena and what are some reasons you don't like delena?? thanks for the answer:)

(in addition to my last ask) also, do you ship anyone else on tvd, other than stelena?

this might or might not get long bc i have a lot of reasons and just…. tvd and me, we go way back nijxckjjxk 

basically, i used to ship delena too when i was 12-13/14. like let’s not lie to ourselves, their peak was s1-s2 and the ust was great, as well as their banter. i still believed that “a love that consumes you until you go mad” was a good thing, at that time. i didn’t know shit about relationships; clearly, the description above is the prime example of toxicity. i started to read the books as season 3 rolled around and i noticed how much i preferred stefan there… how beautiful stelena was, in the sense that besides the vampire aspect, they were something i aspired to have too. a relationship with trust, motivation, pushing the other person to be the better version of themselves, mutual love and general acceptance of the other and their life. no manipulation. no abusing your powers. and it really opened my eyes. these things were also in the show with stelena. season 4 and esp season 5 really made me lose interest in the show bc delena was getting that prime spot and i couldn’t be bothered with damon and his toxic ass and how julie plec butchered elena’s character after her becoming a vampire and getting sired to damon. everything went to shit. delena became julie plec’s wet dream. elena started as sunshine incarnate and ended up being…. whatever the fuck she was later on. you goddamn better believe s1!elena would be disappointed af in s5-s6!elena. (also ppl don’t @ me about character development bc i know what character development is,, this isn’t it.) while i did like damon at the beginning bc of the “bad boy” trope (i was a fucking cliché), i was always :/// about his “““relationship””” with caroline and what he did to her. and it really hit me, as i grew up as a person and as i opened myself to other people as well, that projecting that kind of behavior on screen was not!!! okay!!! i was involved with my own entitled assholes to understand that damon was one of them as well. (kind of like will*am in skam, idk u watch it) not only that, but damon basically killed jeremy???? 10383 times???? like at that point idk how anyone with the right mind would even consider dating someone who has snapped the neck of your younger brother… dated your biological mother….. compelled your friend to have sex with them, etc etc…… ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ besides this feeling of loving “madly” someone (it was an obsession!!!!!! it’s not healthy) and ian and nina’s earlier chemistry, i really don’t see that many qualities delena & damon had. plus. i love paul wesley. sue me. i love his portrayal as stefan. nd i accept stefan’s past as ripper. because while this show is supernatural and his powers as a vampire were fiction, the aspects aforementioned about damon are not. he was obsessive and thought he was entitled to have elena (past s2 esp!!). this can happen to anyone in a toxic relationship. stefan loved elena. stefan would have given up everything for her. he didn’t pressure her into anything. he just loved her. and really, you don’t have to meet someone first to make it the relationship™ of your life @ julie plague.idk there are a lot of other things but i stopped watching the show a long ass time ago and my memory is bad soooo (also i’d say klaroline tbh. that’s the only other ship that left an impression on me and that comes to mind. i know klaus was problematic as hell and i acknowledge it (idk how he is in the originals bc i don’t watch it), but the fact that he pushed caroline to accept her new self and her powers, and the fact that he wanted her to live and prosper….. i loved that. i really did.)

#this ask made me happy bc i love ranting hdfjkhfksdj #i rly feel u on everything u said tho!! #anti delena #anti damon #tvd #anti julie plec #what was her other tag.... i forgot bhjhfsdj #anon #answered