#in general I think 'break up storylines' will always be unpopular because that's just not what people come here - in boyfriend asmr - for | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 3 years

Note

I've never met ANYONE who actually likes the Chibnall era. Would you seriously say that it's objectively good?

Brace yourself for unpopular (albeit positive) opinions.

Objectively? I don't know, I tend to feel like media is very much subjective and down to opinion. But on the whole...yeah. I'm gonna say yeah. I think the Chibnall era thus far is every bit as good as the Moffat Era and Davies Era were. It actually blows my mind to see the fandom come together and almost universally agree that the show has gone downhill. It's part of the reason why I kind of stepped away from the Doctor Who fandom because there's something very demoralizing about re-watching clips from Season 12 and seeing literally every comment just talk about how the show is ruined. And if I re-watch old clips, very often I come across comments that talk about how the show "used to" be good, and should have ended with Twelve, etc. I know a little reluctance toward the new Doctor can be part of the transition process, but normally the fans are over it by now.

Things haven't really changed.

I've been re-watching Twelve's era, and found a new appreciation for him. But I re-watched Thirteen's era right beforehand, and you know what? It holds up. Season 11 is remarkably strong. I can't think of a single "bad" episode in that season. It focuses on the characters, and thus it doesn't have nearly as strong ambitions, compared to one of the Moffat seasons, which were clever but often convoluted. They couldn't always stick the landing. (Looking at you, Season 6) But every has it's good parts and it's bad. The same man who wrote The Wedding of River Song and betrayed the entire season's storyline in the process...also wrote The Doctor Falls, which is probably my favorite final episode of any season ever. The Chibnall Era is the same way. The Tsuranga Conundrum isn't really a bad episode, it's just kind of forgettable, apart from the Pting. But then it is immediately followed up by Demons of the Punjab, which is an exceptional story in every way. I want the Thijurians to return for Thirteen's regeneration, I'm saying it.

My point being that even if there are episodes you can't stand in the new era, is that really exclusive to Chibnall? All the way back in Season 1, they had The Long Game, which I remember disliking, but it was sandwiched between Dalek and Father's Day, which are in my opinion, the two best episodes of that season. A lot of people don't like Orphan 55, for example. But it's followed up by Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror. Does anyone really dislike that episode? You're valid if you do, but I think it's really good. Ask me about any episode in the Chibnall Era, and I'll find something to like about it. (Except maybe Arachnids in the UK...and that one's not even bad, just kind of weak.) Because like I said, there is good and bad in every season...and I do think that the fandom has overblown how "bad" the Chibnall Era is...though that may be in part because I think this era is generally good? Incredible companions, solid episodes, a great Doctor, and hey...this era actually made the Daleks scary again. That is impressive. Even most of the hated episodes, like Orphan 55 as I mentioned...I enjoy them.

I stand by that. I think this era is great. If anything, I don't like that they reduced how many episodes we get, because some of these stories, like The Witchfinders and It Takes You Away especially Fugitive of The Judoon, are just begging to be two-parters. Spyfall is the only real two-parter we've had, in my opinion (Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children feel like two separate stories to me) and the episode was much stronger for having the extra time. If I have one genuine criticism with the Chibnall Era as a whole, it is the stark contrast between Seasons 11 and 12. I love Season 11, I thought it was beautiful. I like it far more than most people. I also truly enjoyed Season 12. But they are worlds apart, with Season 11 feeling so standalone and Season 12 picking up with a big storyline that really hadn't been hinted at all in the previous outing. The tone is also different, with The Doctor and "the fam" having a distance between them that seems to have developed offscreen in between seasons. It was as though Chibnall wanted to give everyone a breather from big overarching plots after the Moffat Era, but then after one season he decided "break's over" because he wanted to tell his story. And that's okay! It is. But it's jarring. Anyway, let's talk about Chibnall's storyline. You know where this is going.

"That" episode.

I meant what I said before. There isn't a single episode that I actively hate as much as say, Listen. Now let's get very controversial, because I know what y'all are thinking. "Not even The Timeless Children?" And I'll just get this out of the way right now: I don't think The Timeless Children, or it's twist, ruins Doctor Who. I don't think it gets anywhere close. I mentioned before that I was demoralized reading the comments on a clip of Doctor Who...to no one's surprise, it was this episode. Now, I may just be biased...after all, I didn't even hate Hell Bent. But while I have my criticisms of Season 12, The Doctor's revised backstory accounts for exactly none of them. You want to know what really bothers me? That we had a seven season buildup to Gallifrey's rescue, a nine season buildup to it's return...only for the show to do nothing with it, and then just destroy it again a couple of seasons later. As someone who loved The Day of The Doctor, I'm mad about that. Among other reasons, destroying Gallifrey is the kind of card you can really only play once.

So no, I don't think The Timeless Children is perfect. The Doctor had a seven season character arc culminating in them learning the lesson that using The Moment would be wrong, and that it was never okay to do something like that. To hear her even consider using The Death Particle, that "Or, a solution" line in response to Ryan appropriately reacting in horror? Yeah, that upset me. I don't like that Gallifrey is gone again, and even if The Doctor wasn't the one to do it, she almost did, and she left someone else to do it in her stead. That bothers me more than The Timeless Child ever could. That being said...the Timeless Child doesn't bother me. Seriously, it blows my mind that people act like this twist ruins Doctor Who. It...really doesn't, guys.

It does not insult the legacy of William Hartnell. He is still The First Doctor. It's not like there isn't a precedent for secret incarnations from The Doctor's past. We didn't start calling Christopher Eccleston The Tenth Doctor after we found out about John Hurt. Nothing can change The First Doctor's status or take it away, nor do I think Chibnall is trying. He is doing what I've actually wanted Doctor Who to do for a while. Give us a story about The Doctor's childhood. (Listen doesn't count, I don't care, that was all kinds of bad.) Let me ask you, what does this really change? I've seen people complain about the revision of The Doctor's history...but there's a precedent for that too. We could play bingo with how many times Clara fundamentally altered or influenced the show's history. She is the reason he started traveling, the reason he chose his Tardis, and the reason he saved Gallifrey. Why doesn't that bother people, if this does?

I also understand it if people dislike this change because they feel as though it makes The Doctor a kind of chosen one, compared to them having just been an average person who wanted to make a difference. I get that. However, this is down to interpretation, and there are so many ways to interpret The Doctor. Some people love it when The Doctor goes dark, other people cannot stand it and view it as out of character. Some people love it when The Doctor is heroic and badass, when they save the day...others would prefer that they take the backseat, teaching the humans how to save the day themselves. "The man who makes people better." And which interpretation you get, where it falls on the spectrum...it will vary from writer to writer. Moffat loved to make everything about The Doctor, and Davies frequently compared him to an angel or a god. This is not the first time that the show has portrayed The Doctor as a godlike being. It's not even close to the first time. And honestly? I don't think this makes The Doctor special or supernatural. I think it makes them a victim, nothing more. A victim of child abuse.

People also disliked this episode for removing the mystery behind The Doctor...but I fail to see how it did that? There are so. Many. Questions. That this finale opens up. Where did The Doctor come from? How and why did they get to our universe? What exactly is The Division? What went down between them and The Doctor? Where is Tecteun? (No, she's not Rassilon...) As the Masters asks, "What did they do to you, Doctor? How many lives have you had?" Amid all of the comments that made me sad, I did see a great one about how the original creator of Doctor Who actually didn't like it when they introduced the Timelords, because she felt that it boxed the show in and removed the mystery behind The Doctor, and how "She would have loved this episode." I agree with that. (Still salty that they destroyed Gallifrey though...) You know, I am genuinely interested in this story and where it's going to go, especially with the sixtieth anniversary approaching. But it depresses me that they might scale it back now, after how much the fandom has risen up against it. Not that I'm saying the fans shouldn't be happy, but...it's clear that a story is trying to be told here, and I think it should have that chance.

To each their own, of course. But I will never understand why this era is so hated.

#Doctor Who #Dr. Who #The Doctor #The Thirteenth Doctor #Chris Chibnall #Chibnall Era #Doctor Who Season 12 #Doctor Who Season 11 #Long post #Boy did this get long #Ramblings #The Timeless Children #The Timeless Child

37 notes · View notes

ianenjoyer · 4 years

Text

here by unpopular demand: why Ian and Mickey are narrative foils

For reference, the definition of a narrative foil is a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) to highlight qualities of the other character.

1. introduction to the show

Mickey is introduced to the show as an antagonist and somebody out to get Ian who, at this point, is the ‘protagonist’. He’s presented as the direct opposite of Ian: dirty, obviously not well taken care of, crass, homophobic, etc. As the show goes on we learn that most, if not all, of these things are a defense mechanism and not actually indicative of who he is but before 1x07 these are the only things we know about him. Basically, he’s introduced as a stereotypical neighborhood thug contrasted against sweet, hardworking, ambitious Ian.

2. family

The Milkoviches and Gallaghers are narrative foils, too, and in better world the show would have explored this even further but I digress. They’re similar in the way that they’re both poor Southside families trying to make money to stay afloat but the comparisons pretty much end there. The biggest difference is that the Gallagher children always had somebody looking out for them, while the Milkovich children didn’t. Talking about Ian and Mickey, it’s not to say that Ian didn’t have his fair share of having to fend for himself or that he had it easy, but at the very least his family really loved and cared about him and it’s shown really early on that Mickey didn’t have that. In fact, he lived in perpetual fear of his father and was loyal to him because of this, as opposed to Ian who hated Frank and avoided even associating with him most of the time. Ian and Mickey in the early seasons explicitly show what difference growing up knowing you’re loved and thinking you have a chance in life makes and how much that affects your personality and general worldview.

3. driving character arcs

This boils down to Mickey’s main obstacles being external and physical while Ian’s are internal and psychological. Neither one is worse or more important than the other but it does mean a lot in terms of who they are as characters and the things they had to overcome.

3a. Mickey’s sexuality

Ian has always been shown to be comfortable in his sexuality and, even though he wasn’t out for all of the early seasons, it was never shown to be a source of contention for him. Mickey on the other hand, doesn’t get comfortable in his sexuality until season 5 (and even then he’s shown to revert to having sex with women when he’s stressed). In this regard, Ian operates as Mickeys foil, serving to highlight how different Mickey’s experience with his sexuality was compared to Ian’s, as shown in 2x08 when you see Mickey terrified of being outed while Ian looks on really not understanding what he’s so afraid of. As Mickey said, they lived in different worlds, and moments like 2x08 or all of season 3b serve as proof of this.

3b. Ian’s bipolar

Ian’s return in season 4 marks a real turning point for his character. Even though his main traits never falter he seems to be, in many ways, a completely different person. As time goes on you learn why this is and, especially after Ian’s diagnosis, you see Ian and Mickey once again living in different worlds. Mickey operates as his foil here because Ian sees the diagnosis as a death sentence and has a hard time coming to terms with it. After what he saw with Monica, it seems impossible that he would see it any other way, which is made worse by the way his family talks about it. Mickey, however, has none of these pre-existing connotations or stigma about it. To him, it just means Ian’s sick and needs help, not that he’s broken or different or that there’s anything wrong with him at all. Once he gets over the initial hurt and confusion it really doesn’t change how he sees Ian at all, which juxtaposes Ian’s warped perception of himself, which goes so deep that he breaks up with Mickey after spending time with Monica and seeing the future he thinks he’s doomed to end up in.

4. relationship

All throughout the show, their storylines are inverses of each other (I’ve made a couple gifsets about that here) and the relationship itself serves to highlight different parts of each character at different points throughout the show.

4a. seasons 1-5

In seasons 1-3, Ian is shown to be the steady one in the relationship, he has the luxury of not being terrified of being outed and having a support system, so he’s able to pursue Mickey in this way. Then, enter seasons 4 and 5, and all the stability and surety that has defined Ian for his whole life is ripped away from him. This completely flips their dynamic on it’s head and forces Mickey to both pursue Ian, and become the stable one in the relationship, in seasons 4 and 5, respectively.

4b. seasons 6-7

In season 6, Mickey is a reminder of Ian’s ‘past life’ and everything he was desperate to move on from. It’s not that Mickey did anything to deserve this, but the fact is Ian associated him with everything from the past year or so that had completely destroyed his life and his perception of himself.

In season 7, Ian had gotten himself to a place where he was able separate Mickey from that and come to terms with his feelings for him. Mickey was his foil here in the sense that he represented love and passion as opposed to the precarious stability Ian had worked really hard to carve out for himself. The situation forced Ian to make a choice between the two and revealed just how much Ian values his mental health and safety, highlighting how much he’d grown from seasons 4 and 5.

4c. season 10

In season 10 their relationship had finally reached a point where they can just be together, which opened the door for the insecurities that they both still harbored to come out of the shadows. Mickey’s feelings of abandonment and his need for Ian to prove that he’s committed go up against Ian’s commitment issues brought on by his bipolar and the connotations that marriage held for him. To Ian, getting married meant Mickey tying himself to him forever, and he couldn’t imagine why he would want to do that; to Mickey, it just meant them committing to being together forever. They were essentially looking at the same picture but seeing different things which highlighted really key parts of their personalities and the way they operate in a relationship.

tldr: Ian and Mickey’s relationship is incredibly complex, but the main thing that remained consistent through it all is that they constantly challenge each other and bring out both the good and the bad in each other and that they fiercely love each other.

#uhhhhh yeah #i literally worked harder on this than i have on school in a long time which is unfortunate but lskdfjlsdjkf #i really wish i could major in overanalyzing shows on tumblr but alas :( we live in a society #i feel like some of this doesn’t make sense lol so feel free to ask me to clarify anything #shameless #meta #t

136 notes · View notes

finalgirlbrainrot · 3 years

Note

I have two unpopular opinions 1) if roles were reversed and Dean was the one drinking blood, Dean stans would have excused the shit out of it and even liked it. 2) if none of Dean's trauma was addressed and ignored (like most of Sam's trauma is) Dean stans would fucking riot.

(sorry in advance, I ranted A Lot)

2) I'm gonna start with this one. YESYESYES I mean dean stans are already constantly unironically whining that dean's traumas never get acknowledged (EVEN THO IT'S LITERALLY NOT TRUE, HIS TRAUMAS ALREADY GET ACKNOWLEDGED MORE THAN ENOUGH. EVERY TIME HE STUBS HIS TOE. EVERYONE IS CODDLING HIM AND ASKING HIM HOW HE'S DOING. HALF THE SHOW IS LITERALLY DEAN MANPAINING ABOUT HIS TRAUMAS - but apparently that's not enough for them, so I can't imagine the uproar if it was actually true). meanwhile sam's traumas either get ignored or they get treated like a fucking joke? well I guess it's just another tuesday

I've also seen a lot of dean stans moaning about sam "forcing dean to talk about his traumas", because apparently sam actually acknowledging dean's traumas and encouraging him to open up about them and being always supportive af because he actually cares is unacceptable (and I'm willing to bet that if he didn't acknowledge them, they'd still complain because sam literally can't win no matter what he does)

but dean ignoring and never acknowledging sam's traumas (not even when he's directly responsible for said trauma) or making them all about himself (mystery spot, hallucifer, soullessness, gadreel possession) or vilifying and victim blaming him (being force-fed demon blood, soullessness, gadreel possession) or using said traumas to justify his actions (hallucifer) or making cruel, disgusting and unnecessary jokes about them ("you had a girl inside you for a whole week" [meg possession] "you know how wrong that sounds, right?" "you've like an episode of teen mom" [gadreel possession - let's talk about how these two in particular are a thousand times more disgusting than the rest since he's actually joking about a violation he's directly responsible for] "smores foot" [bmol torture] "crybaby pie" [cole torture] "you saw the [devil's] john [or butt]?" [the cage] dick of death jokes right, left and center) is perfectly acceptable behaviour

1) again YESYESYESYES. I mean, this isn't even a hypothesis, we already have an extremely similar storyline for dean - the moc - and everyone made excuses for him and glorified him, even tho he was worse than demon blood sam in every possible way

actually I wrote a rant on reddit a couple of days ago about the awful double standards between demon blood sam and moc/demon dean. I'm gonna paste it here because I'm Bitter Af

comparing demon blood sam and moc/demon demon is ironically and hysterically bitter because, logically, no matter how you spin it, s4 sam is much more understandable and easy to sympathize with - both in intentions and actions - and should have the moral high ground, while s9-10 dean was flat out awful and damaging. yet both the show and the fandom crucify sam and treat dean as some poor victim or a great martyred hero who made some great noble sacrifice and I just... don't get it. so let's break it down:

> reason for drinking blood / getting the moc

- sam: exorcising demons without harming the host, thus saving people (which apparently isn't that relevant to dean) and killing lilith, first because she sent his brother to hell and then to stop the apocalypse and because she was an actual threat

- dean: because he couldn't face the consequences of his actions after the gadreel mess and decided he wanted to kill abaddon, who, at that point, wasn't even their problem (she only became a real problem in 9x17, when they learned about the soul harvesting, so unless dean has some sort of prophetic knowledge, he had no reason to take the moc in 9x11) and was a real threat to no-one but crowley

> trusting / working with a demon

- sam: I've already said this before, but ruby was a master manipulator and went to extraordinary lengths to gain sam's trust and even managed to fool every single demon (aside from lilith obviously). as far as both brothers knew, she's done nothing but help them, saved their lives multiple times and helped them save others, fixed the colt for them, was there for sam after dean died, is basically hunted by other demons for helping them, has risked her life for them several times and even got tortured for them and was helping sam to go after the demon who was trying to start the apocalypse. sam had absolutely no valid reason not to trust her. I'd really like someone to look me in the eyes and tell me that, if anyone did everything I mentioned above, you wouldn't trust them

- dean: trusted a demon who they knew is extremely untrustworthy and self-serving and only does what's in his best interest and has screwed them over one way or another every time they worked together and has hurt people they're close to

> level of manipulation involved

- sam: as I already said, ruby was a master manipulator and spent two years carefully manipulating sam to get him to do what she wanted. not the mention everything azazel did to get him there, lilith pushing his buttons at every turn to get him to kill her and the manipulation from heaven as well, who were lying to the boys at every turn

- dean: while crowley was manipulating him, the level of manipulation isn't remotely comparable to the one sam went through is s4. crowley saying “let’s kill abaddon” and pretending to be afraid of cain is not comparable to a plan that’s been set on motion since the beginning of time and crowley wasn't the only one involved in dean getting the mark. cain was involved as well and he wasn't manipulating him (unlike sam, who was being manipulated by everyone involved). on the contrary, he was completely honest with dean and even offered to tell him more about the mark and DEAN REFUSED (like can you imagine how many problems would've been avoided if dean sat on his ass for one minute and listened to cain's warning???)

> actions

- sam: in s4 sam was trying to use something that was forced on him when he was six months old, and that he hated about himself, to do good because he felt like he had to and was literally SAVING PEOPLE and trying to stop the apocalypse, I literally still don't get why he's vilified for it????? in s4 sam killed a total of one (1) person: the possessed nurse and while that was obviously bad, 1) he was clearly upset about it and 2) I still haven't seen one (1) valid reason for why she's any different from the demons dean drained and killed in swan song or from any of the other possession victims they killed with the demon knife or the angel blade

- dean: meanwhile dean was going around murdering people left and right (also another example of fandom double standards: everyone defends moc!dean and demon!dean because "he only killed bad people" - which isn't even true, but let's say he was - and yet, I seem to remember a certain kitsune named amy pond, who was ALSO killing bad people (and not for the lolz of it, but to save her son) and dean killed her and the fandom defended him back then as well. is killing bad people okay only if dean does it?), tried to kill sam, beat cas bloody

> keeping secrets

- sam: keeping his powers and the demon blood a secret was his god given right, since it affected no-one but sam himself and the demons he was exorcising. not to mention, he had pretty good reasons for not telling dean, considering his bigotry, black and white views and judgmental attitude. and yet, he was, and still is, vilified by both the show and the fandom for keeping secrets and dean even punched him for not telling him about his abilities (something in particular about this point that absolutely drives me up the wall: in 4x04 sam accidentally revealed that he knew about what azazel did to him and dean got mad at him for not telling him about it, even tho dean himself found out about it and didn't tell sam and no-one - not the show, not the fandom and not even sam and dean themselves - notices the hypocrisy. they're literally saying that it's okay for DEAN to keeps something about SAM a secret from SAM, but not okay for SAM to keep something about HIMSELF a secret from DEAN. if you don't think that's super fucked up, then I don't know what to tell you)

- dean: no-one says anything about dean keeping the effects of the mark a secret, even tho, unlike s4 sam, lying about the mark directly affected other people and put everyone around him in danger, including sam

> general treatment

- sam: everyone treated sam like a monster in s4, dean straight up called him a monster, told him he'd hunt him if he didn't know him, forced him into a torture-detox that almost killed him, tried to control him and refused to see his point. at the end of s4 sam apologized to dean. in s5 dean repeatedly told him that he doesn't trust him. sam was blamed for everything that happened in s4 and his mistake kept getting brought up even seasons later

- dean: everyone and their mom was coddling him and helping to get rid of the mark. everyone considered the mark to be the problem, not dean himself. sam was unconditionally supportive. dean never once apologized to sam for any of the awful things he said/did to him while he had the mark. sam never once blamed dean for anything that happened in s9-10 and instead placed the blame on crowley and none of the things dean did ever got brought up again

> at the end of each arc

- sam: paid for his mistake by sacrificing himself and jumped into the cage and saved the world and got tortured by the devil himself for centuries

- dean: paid for his mistake by having his mother brought back to life

send me unpopular opinions

#redredwine92 #sORRY FOR THE MEGA RANT YFGEUFYUGY

123 notes · View notes

love-geeky-fangirl · 3 years

Text

Ranking every teen drama I've watched

I have gotten really into teen dramas lately, because it's quarantine I can't go out and have fun, but I can still watch other people my age going out and having fun and doing things I don't get to do. Anyway I haven't seen all teen dramas, I was never interested in supernatural ones, so you won't find Vampire Diaries and similar shows on this list.

From worst to best:

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

I will never understand how this show ran for five seasons. It will forever remain a mystery to me. This show is so bad it's good. The writing resembles a wattpad story, Amy's pregnancy is inconsistent (like how was she five months pregnant for like five or six episodes, aren't the episodes supposed to be set a week apart?), the acting is bad (that is not to say that Molly Ringwald or Shailene Woodley are bad actresses, obviously they're not, I'm talking about Amy's sister that has the same facial expression no matter what her mood is supposed to be), some of the views this show expresses are very old-fashioned and damaging (the madonna-whore binary, the fact that they can't even utter the word abortion) and every single male character on this show is a creep and a cheater. I can't believe I watched like thirteen episodes of this. I will never get that time back.

Weirdest moment: "I'm a whore!" "Well, you're my whore." (Was this supposed to be romantic??)

Best moment: none

Glee

This is going to be unpopular and don't get me wrong, I like Glee, but I feel like the writers put much more thought into the musical numbers than the storylines. Again, Quinn's pregnancy is inconsistent (but I'm starting to think TV shows are always inconsistent about pregnancies), the characters don't look like they're in high school at all, the cheerleaders wear their uniforms 24/7 for no reason (Quinn even wore it to her sonogram, like seriously?) the whole celibacy club thing is weird and Mr Schue is a terrible teacher. However, the visuals and the musical numbers are great, Sue Sylvester is iconic (albeit also a terrible teacher) and some of the scenes are really emotional (Kurt singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand made my sister cry) so overall, it's pretty good.

Weirdest moment: Finn praying to grilled cheese (what??)

Best moment: Quinn giving birth to Bohemian Rhapsody, Kurt singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Dawson's Creek

I LOVE their 90s' outfits and Joey and Pacey are really otp material, but I just can't stand Dawson! He got mad that Joey didn't tell him about his mother's affair, as if it was her place to get involved. She was 15! It's understandible she didn't want to get tangled into that mess. He also slut-shamed Jen in a really gross way. He literally stopped talking to her for a day when he found out she isn't a virgin. Why are both Joey and Jen into this guy?? This would've been a much better show if it was called Joey's Creek or Pacey's Creek.

Weirdest moment: the way Dawson's mom confessed her affair to her husband. I don't think any irl human would use this choice of words. Also that scene where Dawson's father was teaching him how to kiss while Joey was watching. Cringe.

Best moment: any time Joey and Pacey are bickering. My shipper heart!

Pretty Little Liars

I loved the book version of this, but the TV version seems way too dramatic. First of all, they romanticized Aria and Ezra's relationship (ewww) and made the whole thing seem much more overdramatic. I don't know how to explain it, I mean the books are also dramatic but the TV show somehow took it to a whole new level. None of the girls look like they're in high school, but I love the way they dress and do their makeup. It's almost as though the writers put more thought into their outfits than storylines. I still loved watching it until Netflix took it off, though.

Weirdest moment: Spencer somehow trying to block A's number from her laptop in the middle of a park and then being confused that it didn't work. Weren't you supposed to be the smart one, Spencer?

Best moment: Haleb in the shower, hiding from Hanna's mom.

Skins

This is a classic. Effy is iconic (I somehow heard about her even before watching Skins) and the musical number at the end of season 1 was out of nowhere but still somehow fit perfectly into the story. I also give this show point for being one of the few TV shows where teen characters are actually played by real life teens. They look their age, talk their age (no "I reject reality" or other cringy lines like that) and aren't unrealistically perfect like characters from American teen dramas tend to be. They look like people you might actually meet in high school. However the show loses points for all the continuity errors (are 8 episodes supposed to be the whole school year??) and the number of unneccessary death/tragic accidents. It seemed kind of over-the-top and unneccessarily dark and brutal at times.

Weirdest moment: Chris's graphic death

Best moment: Wild World

Euphoria

The Gen Z American version of Skins, but with better visuals. Much better. I loved the aesthetic, the colors, the lighting and glitter. Zendaya's a great actress and I give this show points for casting an actual trans actress in the role of Jules. However I find it weird that all guys on this show are complete irredeemable assholes (except of Jules's dad and Ethan that is). Are we supposed to just root for the girls and not the guys? Also I find it hard to believe that any of these characters are actually 16/17. They have sex all the time (yeah teenagers have sex sometimes but on this show they treated Kat as some kind of a chaste nun for being a virgin at 16) and have seemingly no rules and no curfew. It would've been much more believable if they were in college.

Weirdest moment: Nate breaking into Tyler's house, beating him up and then taking a shower. The audacity this guy has!

Best moment: "You did this to me!" and Rue having an anxiety attack on the stage in theater class

Gossip Girl

I know this is also an unpopular opinion, because many claim Gossip Girl is the best teen drama ever, but for me it just got way too soapy as the seasons went on. The first two seasons were believable, even though they didn't really look like they were in high school, but after that it was just more and more weird plot points. I will give this show points for the fashion (I mean Blair's headbands and school uniform inspired a fashion line), the acting ("I killed someone"- iconic) and the choice of background music (Nate and Serena kissing to Paparazzi, Thanksgiving with Watcha Say). Despite the wild twists and turns of events, I just had to keep watching because this show had me hooked.

Weirdest moment: Bart Bass somehow flying off the building for no reason (seriously, what he did there had no logical explanation and defied laws of physics), Dan being Gossip Girl, Bart faking his death and returning more evil than before, Serena becoming Gossip Girl, the affidavit, everyone randomly stopping going to college... there are so many but Bart takes the cake I guess

Best moment: the Thanksgiving flashbacks from season 1, Dan placing a plastic crown on Blair's head

Freaks and Geeks

This is one of the few shows where high school is depicted realistically. It's not all glitter and parties and not everyone has sex and does drugs. Okay, I admit, the bullying was over the top and it was weird how no adults cared but other than that, it was pretty spot-on. It was emotional without being too dramatic and far-fetched and also had funny moments. Yes some of the characters may have been stereotypes but at least the show seemed self-aware of that. It's truly a shame we only got 18 episodes of this show, while The Secret Life of the American Teenager somehow got five seasons??? I don't get it.

Weirdest moment: when Cindy suddenly got super mean once she started dating Sam

Best moment: Daniel showing up at Kim's doorstep, Sam breaking down in tears in the end of 'Garage Door'

Gilmore Girls

I'm not sure this one counts as a teen drama, maybe it's more of a dramedy but I'm still including it here. It's funny, the dialogue is witty and full of obscure pop-culture references and the relationships between generations complex. Same as with Freaks and Geeks, the portrayal of high school is pretty realistic. Characters are shown studying and taking tests and not just partying all the time. However the show loses points for getting weirdly soapy in the 7th season. The dialogue wasn't as good and the camera angles were soap opera like and the storylines weren't very good either. You could really tell the show changed show-runners. The earlier seasons are the best. It's hard to explain but something about them feels cozy like a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day.

Weirdest moment: Lorelai marrying Chris and then making the whole "you're the man I want to want" speech, Lorelai defending and loving Dean for no reason

Best moment: Rory's graduation speech, Rory yelling at Chris and calling him out for not having been there for her, Then She Appeared, "Yes Emily, you may go first"... there are so many!

#teen dramas #the secret life of the american teenager #glee #dawson's creek #pll #skins #euphoria #gossip girl #freaks and geeks #gilmore girls #i would've included the oc but i havent seen enough of it yet

84 notes · View notes

miggydiaz · 3 years

Note

For the salty ask 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 20, 22, 23 and 26 for cobra kai pretty please

My answers are so long, so I am putting this under the cut @wonderwolfballoon! Also I just noticed your Daniel icon I SWEAR I’M NOT DRAGGING HIM TO BE MEAN!!!

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?* My biggest IDGI ships for CK are probably Elimetri or Kiaz. I’m not here to yuck other people’s yums or anything, but I do think there is something to the idea that Migueli isn’t popular because it’s a ship predicated on mutual respect for one another. Kiaz has the obvious enemies to lovers vibe and I just generally don’t sail those ships. Elimetri has... its problems, IMO, most especially around the idea that Demetri has to like... save Hawk from himself? Idk. I just like romances that I feel are based on love and mutual respect and not ...tropes.   I am also not a Lawrusso shipper although I have a lot of those on my dash and you all are great! Again, not yucking yums! Daniel just makes me want to head butt him too much to pair him romantically with anyone 😂 I don’t even want his wife with him. He needs to self reflect~   4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*   I once saw someone ship Amanda and Anoush and I noped out of that so fucking fast I almost tripped over myself. I’m not sure if they’re popular. I just think some people feel the need to get Amanda out of the way to sail their ship and stuck her with Anoush which... no. Just no. Let Amanda be a messy single queen with a martini hobby, thanks!   5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*   Not in CK. I’m lucky because I pretty much stick to my little Migueli bubble and I’m okay with that? Lmao lord knows the Squad on my dash is all about the DISCOURSE™️ so idk if I just don’t feel the need to get sucked into the wider ship wars because we have good healthy debates, but so far, so good.   6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*   I never hated it... I just didn’t have many feelings on shipping with this show in general at first. Then I was in the CK tag one day and I saw Migueli fan art. Then I discovered @afurioushawk‘s falconry series and it was all over for me after that! So fandom DID make me love a ship, just not one I hated.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why? Oh boy. How much time do you have? In some instances, it’s a good thing season 3 happened because otherwise, this would be a multi-page essay on the problems with race and class privilege as it pertains to Sam LaRusso and just some... generally not nice comments about Demetri that I’m conflicted about because I’m not sure if the writers are intentionally trying to write him a specific way and it’s just not translating to me or what. But season 3 revamped both of their images with me a lot. I’m way more flexible in terms of Demetri, but lmao I was the number one Sam LaRusso hater for a minute there (or maybe number 2, I can think of at least 1 other person who was in that boat with me back in like... August/September, but I won’t call them out because I don’t want them to get hate...) However, I have grown a bit in my opinions of Sam, and even though I still think she’s responsible for a lot of shit she NEVER gets held accountable for, I also think that’s a reflection of the adults around her too, and this includes my otherwise unproblematic queen, Amanda.

But honestly, my most hated character (other than the obvious villain that is Kreese) is Daniel. No matter how handsome Ralph Macchio looks in cable-knits, because Daniel has always been a sanctimonious, shit starting drama king and I say that about KK Daniel too. I’m not saying Daniel was the ~true villain~ or anything, or that Johnny was innocent -- I can only drink so much Red and Yellow Kool-Aid -- but Daniel’s always been annoying to me as a protagonist, and turning him into a smarmy wealthy car salesman who is also a class traitor did not do him any favors in my book. I will say, I also like Daniel more in season 3 than I have in previous season, but since he is the adult, I will be mad at him longer than I will be at the kids, ya feel?

10. Most disliked arc? Why?   Johnny’s entire season 3 storyline. The sheer level of REGRESSION at every turn drives me bonkers. It’s like watching him go through all of the stumbling blocks of season 1 all over again, but without the “he’s learning! He’s going to make mistakes!” free pass that I was willing to give him the first time around. He regularly jeopardizes Miguel’s recovery and it’s played for laughs. He fucks up on every level with Robby. He spends most of his time running away when things get hard or too real. He drops the ball completely with Hawk, and like, not to put too fine a point on it, but a lot of Hawk’s issues are because Johnny put Hawk on this ‘flip the script and be a badass’ path and then offered him no guidance for how to walk that path and instead left him in the hands of Kreese. And then he has the nerve to go to Hawk and basically be like “I made you what you are!” lmao yeah Johnny, you sure did, that’s why he’s breaking peoples arms, hoss. And then all of the nonsense with Ali and Carmen, like... if you were planning on teasing KK fans with Ali and him getting back together, why write her as married in the first place? Why even tease the idea of Carmen and Johnny until after you were sure what you were going to do with Ali as a character? Instead, they do what they did in season 3 and it makes him look like a colossal jerk. So yeah. Literally every choice they made with Johnny this season, I hated.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom? People who hate Tory are not valid, sorry not sorry.

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change? I would have kept Miguel entirely out of Tory and Sam’s beef. Or at least not directly inserted him into it like he was with the kiss. I know the writers thought it was necessary to push Tory to the point of inciting a fight at school, but I am just so exhausted over girls being unable to fight about anything but boys. Also I would bring Aisha back.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?   I am probably biased, but I still maintain it’s Migueli. Look, Miguel stood up to Kyler for Eli and Demetri both. Hawk joined CK because he saw what it could do for some skinny nerd who was getting his ass kicked. And he took to CK, really took to it! Even flourished before he started getting mixed messages. And he and Miguel were pretty much inseparable after that. They coordinated their wardrobes ffs. Hawk dubbed him El Serpiente and no one else calls him that — it’s Hawk’s nickname for him. Miguel confides in Hawk only secondary to Johnny, who is like a father to him. The entire Coyote Creek exchange shows they can fight and disagree but... well, to use the cliche, they don’t go to bed angry, you know? They’re square the very next day. Hawk is the first person at Miguel’s side when he gets kicked over the balcony and the LOOK he gives the second floor where Robby is? That boy is out for blood immediately to avenge Miguel. So much of his s3 behavior is fueled by that need for vengeance because MD is wholly responsible for what happened to Miguel. And Miguel is so confused and betrayed by Hawk’s shift in behavior, and yet still holds out hope that Hawk will see through Kreese’s BS and come with him to The Dojo I Refuse to Name. And when Hawk does make that deflection finally, he shows up at MD with Miguel. There’s so much more that I know I’m missing but whether someone ships them or not, that is a tried and true love and respect for one another, a willingness to fight for and defend one another that you don’t often see in TV friendships... or even in most tv relationships. And I just think that’s the best ❤️

22. Popular character you hate?   Daniel, hands down. I mean... I don’t even necessarily hate Daniel, you know? I just think it’s really, pardon the pun, rich that a guy of immense wealth and privilege can’t get a therapist or turn to his far too patient wife for help with his existential crisis over his high school bully opening up a karate dojo to make some money and help a kid who is getting the crap kicked out of him. I get that Daniel’s narrative is necessary for the rivalry, but it does nothing to make him sympathetic as a character.

23. Unpopular character you love?   Tory, definitely! Everyone hates her and then there’s me and the Squad over here banging away on our Coors Banquet cans yelling TORY RIGHTS! Seriously she catches so much flack for a teenage girl who is... the sole income provider for her family? At 17? While caring for a sick mom and a little brother? And fending off a creepy landlord? Tory has it so rough and then she meets a cool girl at her dojo who asks her to hang out at some fancy ass country club which is probably the nicest place Tory has ever been in, and then she gets talked down to and accused of being a thief and has another girl lay hands on her, only to find out that same girl is her new boyfriend’s ex and... ugh. I HATE that Tory gets shit all over when Tory and Sam wouldn’t even have beef if Sam had apologized to Tory as she SHOULD have. Tory isn’t innocent, but damn, I’d be pressed too.   My other unpopular character I love? Nathaniel. Seriously that kid is THE best. He’s a literal child but is out there like I WILL FUCK YOU UP, even though he’s MD. Honestly, his Cobra Kai energy is so ferocious I won’t be surprised if he moves back to CK eventually. Anyway, I love him. 

26. Most shippable character?   Miguel, hands down. It’s because he’s so affable and sweet overall. And because his hair is so fluffy and pettable that no one can resist touching it. I like to imagine that one day he and Hawk are talking about their hair and Hawk makes a joke about how Miguel’s mane is getting so long that it’s going to be bigger than his own, and then he reaches out to ruffle it and internally has a bisexual meltdown because oh no IT’S SO SOFT AND NICE. But uh... anyway, yes. Definitely Miguel.

#ask game #cobra kai #sorry y’all I gotta tag #uh #anti Daniel larusso #anti lawrusso #anti Kiaz #anti Elimetri #it’s not *really* anti those ships but uh... tagging for the culture???#plz don’t flame ship who you ship!!!#Migueli #i hope this is tagged appropriately if you need something else tagged lmk

30 notes · View notes

livinginsunnyhell · 3 years

Text

I feel like I’m going to finish my rewatch before the end of season 11. This is up to 4x09. Part 11 (?? I think??)

-I have so many feelings about Fiona and the way she’s treated. Debbie calling her a bitch was so uncalled for. Lip yelling at her was ridiculous. I really hate how she’s treated this season. Totally warranted after the Liam incident to an extent but not to the point of lip treating her like their parents. Watching again I completely understand her bender. She has no one. I will forever love Fiona. Even though I hate the cocaine part.

-I really hate the cocaine part. It’s just one slip up after another. And logically it would’ve been best if fiona has thrown the coke out, but...

-Robbie is disgusting she should’ve ratted him out.

-why does no one care where Ian’s gone???? Until Mickey finds him no one cares. Fiona says she misses him so much but he’s just such the forgotten child! Also does no one care if he gets his HS diploma? It was such a fight with lip but this is just another thing no one cares if Ian does.

-I never realized that Ian was close to crying when Mickey comes to get him from the club. He wipes his eye and idk if that’s him crying or being close to it. He’s literally vibrating and I know that’s the drugs but damn he has so many emotions going on.

-I think my favorite kiss is the club kiss. It’s just ridiculously amazing. Also Ian cupping mickeys head has always been a thing and that is truly lovely.

-I love how fond Ian is of Mickey. I love the loft scenes. And Mickey holding onto Ian. Also speaking of Ian sleeping if Ian sleeps spread out with his leg hanging off the bed how do him and Mickey fit on it together? Like how do you go from taking up a whole bed to being scrunched into it with another person. If that’s not true love idk what is.

-Mickey counting his knuckles to make sure there are 14 and not 15 is adorable.

-unpopular opinion but I really dislike svetlana. I hate that she threatens Mickey. I hate that she threatens Ian. I know she gets better but I just really dislike her.

-Carl is the sweetest.

-I generally hate franks storylines but I liked Sami dressing him up in makeup and getting him to Carl’s teacher meeting. Also does Sami have a job like wtf? Also I hate that debbie and Sami bond. But chucky is just great. Sitting on the couch watching porn I find simaltaneously disgusting and funny.

-lip is such an asshole to Fiona. I hate that he yells at her. Like I have such a problem with the way they treat Fiona. He never cuts her a break. She has to be on all the time. Honestly they treat her like such a mom.

-Ian cutting his camo pants says so much about his now disregard for the army. He’s officially done with them.

-Mickey getting Ian from the club and taking him back home and staying with him on the floor has to be one of my favorite storylines of the series. The way Mickey just doesn’t want to be away from him after he finds him again is just really nice to see. And the way that Ian tries to set boundaries but completely lacks doing so is amazing. The way that lip asks if he really should go down that road and Ian ignores him. The way Ian tries to be the one to be in control with asking Mickey to give him a blow job whenever he wants it but then he invites him for the club because he doesn’t want to be away from him. And the way Mickey pours coffee for him when it’s just them at breakfast with Fiona. It’s those soft scenes I miss between the two of them.

#gallavich #mickey milkovich #shameless #ian gallagher #ian x mickey #rewatching shameless #I have a lot of feelings about Fiona #I have a lot of feelings about Mickey and Ian in season 4 #unpopular opinion #I miss soft gallavich scenes

37 notes · View notes

hazelcephalopod · 3 years

Text

My Shameless unpopular opinions.

Disclaimer: I watched after the show fully ended and had read some of the synopsis for seasons and some episodes. No regrets but I’m sure it’s one reasons I’ve got some of these opinions. Also not actually sure if their that unpopular.

Btw it’s pretty long

Honestly every time Frank failed to die or be murdered was a disappointment to me

Fiona as a character makes sense honestly and her arc is good -in a trash fire way- but fuck do I never want to rewatch any of her relationship drama ever again. Or the landlord shit

Lips story and arc were really good. He just wasn’t a success story, it wasn’t fun or happy but it was realistic. He didn’t have the tools or desire to succeed at what everyone was pushing him to. The pressure sure didn’t help either

Lips rxn to Fiona after she starts to spiral in season 4 is b/c she’s basically his parent. He’s always been able to rely on her, the season before she promised safety and security by becoming the kids -including him at the time- guardian and her actions in season 4 feel like a betrayal to him. Like the rest of the kids this sort of behavior is a huge trigger and he looses tolerance for it overtime from being burned so much, he doesn’t want himself or the others to be a victim to that behavior anymore. (Which isn’t to say he never does similar thing but it’s more complicated than just hypocritical)

Ian and Mickey breaking up at the end of season 5 was good for them. Ian needed to figure out and accept his shit outside of a relationship. Mickey probably did too and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of that.

Caleb and Trevor deserved better from the writers and fans. They weren’t long term compatible with Ian but they were ok relationship partners and decent people.

I must restate Caleb especially deserved better. Idk what that shit at the end was for his story but fuck that

Trevors rxn to Monica was fair. We never see Ian fully explain his issues with her to him, and i honestly don’t believe he ever went into detail. Bc- Being with Trevor was an ideal to him, I think Ian admired him because he idealized him as a great person, when he was just a dude who had a job that did a lot of good. He fucked up with Ian there but that’s because he’s a flawed person too

Wish the story had allowed Trevor and Ian to remain friends.

Debbie is a good character. Not a great person but there’s reasons she’s the way she is. Because…

All the kids could have used mental health services and it’s a shame we didn’t get more of that. All of them probably have something or the other in terms of mental illness (outside of what was explored with some of them)

Like Lip for instance clearly has some intimacy issues stemming from a variety of problems and

The show definitely could have explored better how fucked up sexual and romantic relationships fucked everyone up. And I mean everyone

As well as their trauma in general in a srs way. (Don’t think this one is unpopular tho)

Chucky deserved better and how he was treated was awful. Hope he’s happy with Queenie

Debbie should not have had a baby but Fiona should have given her longer before she *had to* pay rent after having Fanny. As a whole that was handled poorly. She was still only 16. Not that I don’t understand why Fiona did it, she did have reasons.

The Gay Jesus storyline wasn’t that bad. No worse then Frank becoming the Pauper Tyrant of the South side. I’ve seen worse plots and didn’t even rank that low. Ian didn’t actually mean to start a movement, he just went of his meds and was too charismatic for his own good. Also I enjoyed watching it, homophobes being verbally torn apart was pretty cathartic for me *shrug*

I’m torn between feeling kinda like the writers sucked a bit at writing women and were a bit misogynistic. On the other hand they gave a lot of interesting stories to the women

I hate a lot of what Svetlana did but I liked her character. And what she did made sense for her

Vee deserved better. Also she shoulda just been bi

Carl becoming a cop makes sense. Like… he probably wouldn’t remain a cop but he would become one

Season 11 wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t the best season of a show but it was fine.

Coulda used another round or two of editing

Ian and Mickey having a rocky marriage to start makes sense. They’re about 25, emotionally stunted, and lack good relationship models.

Also trying out being poly makes sense for this reason. Tbh wanting to explore sexual relationships with others but only with each other makes sense, especially for Mickey. Ian is -and I don’t say this as an insult- promiscuous, and Mickey is probably curious, but happily married and too repressed to explore that on his own. So ya, that’s fine imo

Lip and Tami are probably doomed but that’s ok

Lip is kinda a jerk but I still like him

There isn’t really a right answer to selling the house or not IMO. Everyone had fair arguments but they sucked at communicating effectively or healthily.

Frank dying of COVID was fine by me. Honestly wish it had happened a bit slower is all.

That said personally I wish they’d gone deeper into exploring how everyone dealt with COVID as a whole. An episode where they were all in quarantine together would have been interesting.

Liam did deserve much better though.

And they didn’t need to bring back Fiona to talk about her

I think this one is more popular but I also want to say this show wasn’t as funny as it wanted to be or thought it was. The drama was excellent tho, and it still was sometimes funny just didn’t land all it’s “jokes”

I think I’m far enough down just to throw out (aka 2 headcanons and 1 extra point)-

- I think Carl and Mickey are autistic or something. Maybe Debbie too *shrug*

- One or two of the kids shoulda been bi. Clearly Fiona but also Lip or Carl.

- Jody was kinda a creep. Why did a 30 something yr old man marry a teenager?

#shameless #I’m Not sry for the title joke

3 notes · View notes

austennerdita2533 · 3 years

Note

Hi brilliant friend! Do you have any unpopular opinions about Dawson's Creek? Mine: 1. Pacey is not the 'dangerous bad boy with a hidden good heart' trope at all - he's a goofball sweetheart who generally wears his heart on his sleeve. 2. I LIKE Dawson! Not as Joey's boyfriend, but overall. 3. I truly love Joey and don't see her as a blandly perfect Mary Sue. She has relatable, consistent flaws imo. 4. The show's dialogue is brilliant - as good as or (*ducks*) better than Gilmore Girls :)

I agree with those!

I think my biggest unpopular opinion is that I liked Dawson and Jen as a couple, particularly when they got together in s5. I thought they were good for one another. I’d held out hope that they’d be endgame when I first watched the series, tbh. I thought perhaps they’d find their way back to each other. Alas, the show ended up doing Jen dirty repeatedly. I’ll be forever bitter that they killed her off in the series finale. *cries*

I also never really understood the whole Andie-cheats-on-Pacey storyline? I understand the writers were looking for a significant end-all event to break them up, but I felt like they could’ve handled that better. She never struck me as the kind of person who would do something like that, idk. She loved Pacey so much! The fact that she was struggling with her mental health and needed/would want to focus on that would’ve been enough of a reason for them to cool things romantically.

And the soulmate thing I like in theory - you know, the idea that the person who “gets you” the most can be a friend not a lover; how a connection like that can or does transcend everything corporeal. (I, myself, have a few friends I would characterize as the loves of my life simply because we respect, appreciate, and understand each other on some fundamental level that no one else on this earth can match. There’s an elevated sense of trust, loyalty, and love between us. We know we’ll always be there for one another no matter what. It’s an unspoken thing between us that just...exists.) However, with Dawson/Joey I always felt we were told they were “meant to be” soulmates instead of shown.

#prince-soulmate-friend #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks dawson's creek

3 notes · View notes

padmeisqueen · 4 years

Note

I’m sending you another character because I just thought of this one! The whole New Girl group, including Coach (I couldn’t pick just one, that’s sacrilegious!)

Ooh okay!

Jessica Day

Why I like them: I love how quirky she is, and how she’s a feminine feminist. I’ve always loved Zooey Deschanel’s fight for that in general, that you can be feminist but that means you can still love stereotypically feminine things. You can be soft and passive and emotional at times and still be strong. We’re all dimensional and comples. and that really shows with Jess

Why I don’t: Whenever she gets in modes where she tries to “fix” someone

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 1x03 (Wedding) literally one of my favorite episodes of New Girl. The dancing to Groovy Kind of Love is just *chef’s kiss* perfection

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 2, gotta love the Nick/Jess tension and build up

Favorite line: “I brake for birds, I rock a lot of polka dots, I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. And that doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong.”

Favorite outfit: Literally obsessed with her entire wardrobe I can’t choose

OTP: Nick/Jess

Brotp: Jess & Cece, but I love all her platonic dynamics so much

Head Canon: She’s the mom that has dance parties in the kitchen with the kids and Nick, and builds tents/forts in the living room that they ALL sleep in and leave up for days

Unpopular opinion: Honestly love all her romantic relationships (even though I’m die hard Nick/Jess fan)

A wish: I liked their wedding and what they were going for, but also kind of wish it was more romantic, less quirky

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Her and Nick break up? Her and Cece end their friendship?

5 words to best describe them: Quirky, smart, funny, determined, caring

My nickname for them: Just Jess I guess haha

Nick Miller

Why I like them: I love his sarcasm, his humor, his care and love for those around him

Why I don’t: I think sometimes his character was back and forth. Like season 1/2 Nick was less ridiculous and responsible I feel? But then like with the Nick/Jess breakup there were times he was just overly falling apart which I sometimes feel just doesn’t match his original character i don’t know

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Technically 1x03, but to give a different answer, 2x15 (Cooler), I mean... that KISS!

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 2

Favorite line: “Nick Miller, turning lemonade into lemons since 1981.” I literally quote this ALL THE TIME

Favorite outfit: I love when he wears green and Jess wears pink, it’s such a good costuming detail of the show

OTP: Nick/Jess

Brotp: Nick & Schmidt (special shout out to Nick & Winston though)

Head Canon: He reads to his kids every night before bed

Unpopular opinion: I honestly didn’t like the Reagan relationship (I liked her character, just not her relationship with Nick)

A wish: Same about the wedding with Jess

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce Jess

5 words to best describe them: Sarcastic, funny, reliable, caring, relatable

My nickname for them: Don’t have one!

Schmidt

Why I like them: I love love love his development as a character and actually really relate to him in later seasons. Also love how stereotypically “feminine” he is and isn’t this macho masculine guy and that’s seen as okay and accepting

Why I don’t: I hate all references to “Fat Schmidt” (very similar to Monica in friends)

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 5x22 (Landing Gear), I’m obsessed with his and Cece’s wedding

Favorite season/movie adaptation: For some reason I’m thinking Season 4

Favorite line: “I want to spend the rest of my life hearing all your stories.”

Favorite outfit: I really love his wedding suit

OTP: Schmidt/Cece

Brotp: Schmidt & Nick (although i LOVE Schmidt & Jess scenes)

Head Canon: He still works from home so he can be a stay at home dad, but also I think he took up party/event planning

Unpopular opinion: I’ll probably never refer to him as Winston Schmidt, I think it’s too weird haha

A wish: I don’t know on this one

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce Cece

5 words to best describe them: Confident, funny, loyal, organized, loving

My nickname for them: Don’t have one!

Winston Bishop

Why I like them: Everything Winston does is perfect tbh, he’s so funny and weird and I love him

Why I don’t: I honestly can’t think of anything off the top of my head

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 3x01 (All In) The puzzle stuff and him realizing he’s color blind is just iconic

Favorite season/movie adaptation: I feel like season 4?

Favorite line: “I know Word. And I can open a document. Save it. Save as. Print. Print preview.”

Favorite outfit: I love his bird shirts. I know they’re supposed to show he doesn’t have great fashion sense, but honestly I love them

OTP: Winston/Aly

Brotp: Winston & Cece (or tbh Winston & Furguson)

Head Canon: Him and Aly own lots of cats and he has multiple cat trees and towers in their house and it’s just pure and amazing

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have one. I guess again just that I genuinely like his fashion style

A wish: Not sure on this one!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorces Aly (I know all my answers to this are basically the same haha)

5 words to best describe them: Funny, quirky, confident, caring, loyal

My nickname for them: I mean Winnie the Bish is iconic tbh

Cece Parekh

Why I like them: How absolutely loyal she is to Jess. We stan positive and developed female friendships.

Why I don’t: I honestly don’t know on this one.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 5x22 (Landing Gear), I literally just love thier wedding so much

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 3 or 4 I think

Favorite line: “You got hurt, that doesn’t mean you stop trying”

Favorite outfit: I love her end result wedding dress

OTP: Schmidt/Cece

Brotp: Cece & Jess, Cece & Winston

Head Canon: She just continues being super successful and happy

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have one?

A wish: I wanted her and Nick to have a better developed dynamic. I loved their scenes together, but feel like there wasn’t enough

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce from Schmidt or end friendship with Jess

5 words to best describe them: Loyal, hardworking, caring, witty, strong

My nickname for them: Don’t have one (just Cece I guess haha)

Coach

Why I like them: His storyline is such a good one for me, as he becomes more complex and grows so much and I just really liked him on the show

Why I don’t: I didn’t really love him that much in the first episode, but maybe it’s because it was just one episode and we didn’t get much of his personality

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 4x22 (Clean Break)

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 4

Favorite line: “That boy looks like he was raised in a muffin”

Favorite outfit: For some reason, literally the only outfit I can think of is that green track jacket he wears haha

OTP: Coach/May

Brotp: Coach & Jess or Coach & Winston

Head Canon: He’s the fun uncle to everyone else’s kids and they all love when he comes around

Unpopular opinion: He should have been in more seasons and he should have been in the series finale

A wish: That he was in the series finale

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: That he just is out of the loft group’s lives forever. I just feel like that does a huge disservice

5 words to best describe them: Confident, funny, supportive, complex, honest

My nickname for them: I guess just Coach haha

Send me a character!

#thanks again grace!#you're the best!#luucypevensie #yay i got a message

6 notes · View notes

fatstinkynuts · 4 years

Note

NOW YOU ANSWER ALL OF THEM

aaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA I had to draft this last night drunk off my ass lmoa

A movie you’ve seen most times in cinema.I saw Godzila KOTM twice like a responsible adult.

Your most rewatched movie.

I’ve watched John Carpenter’s The Thing once a year since I saw 7, plus a few showings to friends, so that’s roughly 36 times.

A movie you quote on a daily basis.

Kung Pow: Enter The Fist: “Let your anger be as a monkey in a pinata.. hiding amongst the candy.. hoping the kids don’t break through with the stick!

Favorite movie soundtrack.

Godzilla (1954)

Top 5 films of your favorite actor and actress.

Kurt Russel: The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Escape From New York, Stargate, Tombstone. And for Sigourney Weaver: Alien, Aliens, Ghostbusters, Cabin In The Woods, Galaxy Quest. Pretty much applies to their Top 5 Performances for me NO I AM NOT USING AN EXCUSE TO SKIP IT.

A movie storyline you wish you had actually lived.

Pacific Rim, because holy SHIT dude.

A movie that reminds you of your mom.

The Thing. Thanks for letting me scar myself at 3am with cable tv one summer when I was 7.

A movie that reminds you of your dad.

The Godzilla franchise. He bought me every film on VHS that was available in the US, took me to see the 1998 film, the first and only wide released TOHO film Godzilla 2000, and continuing to watch all the new ones since 2016. Thanks, dad.

Favorite movies from your childhood.

Godzilla, Carnosaur, Xtro, The Fly, Mortal Kombat, The Thang

Favorite quote(s).

I know you gentlemen have been through a lot. But when you find the time… I’d rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!

Top 5 favorite female performances.

Anne Hathaway (Colossal), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens), Miho Yoshioka (Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S.), Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later)

Top 5 favorite male performances.

Keith David (The Thing), Roddy Piper (They Live), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim), John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane), Chris Pine (Into The Woods)

Favorite year for movies.

Can’t quite place a good exact year, but a number of my favorites mainly came from the early 80s period.

Your favorite movies from [insert year].

2016 brought us Arrival, Shin Godzilla, Colossal and Train To Busan off the top of my head.

Favorite [insert actor/actress/director] movies?

John Carpenter

List all you’ve seen from [insert actor/actress/director].

If you know his filmography, then there you go.

An underrated actor.

I don’t think John C. Reilly gets enough love. He played a really good serious and comedic role in Kong: Skull Island. He could do a lot more given the chance I think.

An underrated actress.

An underrated director.

Gareth Evans. Go watch The Raid 1 and 2.

An overrated actor.

Jim Carry.

An overrated actress.

Scarlett Johannsen

An overrated director.

J.J. Abrams. Wasn’t a big fan to begin with. Saw Super 8 when it came out, that REALLY didn’t help. I have no faith in whatever the hell he is doing with the supposedly still in development Half-Life and Portal films

A film you wish you had seen on the big screen.

Would have killed to see Shin Godzilla during the limited run here in the US. FUCK.

A movie you’ve seen that you think no one else’s here will have heard of?

Pontypool. Zombie film where the virus is transferred through language.

Favorite movie characters.

R.J. MacReady, Snake Plisskin, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, Ellen Ripley, Mako Mori

A film that was better than the book.

Stalker was loosely based off Roadside Picnic, but I like how much more vague things were than straight up alien stuff.

Best remake.

The Thing, straight up

Your first favorite actor.

ARNIE

Your first favorite actress.

Sigourney Weaver

Favorite animated film.

Dead Leaves

Your most anticipated films.

Antlers, Godzilla vs Kong, new Tohoverse Godzilla films

Last movie that disappointed you.

Pacific Rim 2 was an absolute trash fire

Last movie that surpassed your expectations.

Rampage. It looked like a dumb, fun video game movie, but it ended up being a hell of a lot better than I expected. Hell, I loved it.

Actor in need of new agent.

idk lmoa

Actress in need of new agent.

I still dk lmoa

Share an unpopular film opinion you have.

Jar Jar was not so bad that his actor needed to be bullied so badly. Neither was Jake Lloyrd. You wouldn’t believe how many people shit on Jake Lloyd. Poor kid’s mental health suffered horribly and no one ever talks about him or how much they regret bullying him like they did Jar Jar’s actor. Also Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t attractive.

Favorite Oscar win/speech.

Biggest Oscar snub(s).

Who do you think is overdue for another nomination/win?

I have never watched the Oscars. For real.

How many movies have you seen (rough estimation)?

According to Letterboxed I’ve seen 2,032 films, counting short films.

A movie that made you go ‘wtf was that’.

The Void was an incoherent mess to me. Really sloppy editing and cuts made a lot of it just seem like a mess.

A film that scarred you.

The Thing made me afraid of dogs for a long time as a child

Most movies watched in a single day.

9 different Godzilla films across multiple eras

A film that always makes you cry.

I don’t fucking know why, but Click

A film that always makes you laugh.

Kung Pow

Movies that you think everyone should watch (not necessarily your favorites).

Critters 1-3, Gremlins, Pirahna, Kung Pow

A movie that took you a couple of viewings to appreciate.

Sunshine

A book you want to see adapted to the big screen.

Statement Of Randolph Carter and relative stories

A book you really, really, really don’t want to see made into a film.

A full adaptation of Roadside Picnic. Americans are already about to fuck up Metro 2033.

Favorite child performance.

Quinn Lord was creepy as Sam in Trick ‘r Treat

Favorite pre-code.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau

Favorite silent film.

Nosferatu

Favorite coming of age film.

CRITTERS

Favorite superhero film.

The Rocketeer

Best cinematography.

The Thing

Movies you know you should watch, but can’t bring yourself to do it?

John Wick, Shutter Island

Favorite genres.

Scifi, horror, comedy, action, western, romantic films

Least favorite genres.

coming of age films, torture porn

Biggest movie pet peeve.

characters more powerful than everyone else just because of writer self-insert bullshit, self-insert bullshit in general

#flapjacques

1 note · View note

travllingbunny · 5 years

Text

The 100 rewatch: 3x01/3x02 – Wanheda Part One and Two

My rewatch will have to be sped up so I could finish it before the season 6 premiere. I’ve seen up to 3x08, but from now on I have to watch more than one episode a day. I hope to be able to finish season 3 by the end of this week. Which means I’ll have to try to make my next posts shorter than this one, which I’m pretty sure is my longest rewatch review so far. Maybe I could try covering several episodes in one post to try not to repeat myself in the following reviews?

Season 3 is definitely my least favorite season of The 100, and so far, having rewatched half a season, I haven’t changed my mind on its quality. But, except for one instance of really lazy writing (which will, sadly, turn out to be something the writers like to do, since they did the same but in an even worse way in season 5), this two-parter was a solid opening to the season, which, unfortunately, started going downhill right after it.

Also, I only realized this on rewatch…. Clarke is Rapunzel?! Or anti-Rapunzel.

*These rewatch posts have spoilers for everything up to the end of season 5, and I may also mention stuff from the season 6 trailer. No spoilers for 6x01, and please don’t mention any if you reply or reblog with comments, I’m trying to avoid them (good luck to me on that).

3x01 Wanheda, Part One

Timeline: This is one of few episode reviews where it makes sense to start with this, because it’s the show’s first time-jump – it starts almost 3 months after the season 2 finale, or specifically 86 days,. In most other shows, this wouldn’t be considered a time jump, but most of The 100 episodes take place just a day or a few hours later (which was the case with the time that passed between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere), sometimes just a few minutes later (season 3 finale/season 4 premiere). It’s even notable and relatively rare when there is a week, or just two days between episodes. Although this is obviously nothing compared to the time jump in the season 4 finale (and, to an extent, season 5 finale – which was technically much bigger,, but only really counted for three characters), this time jump is still twice as long as the entirety of seasons 1 and 2, which lasted less than a month and a half.

The starting sequence is great, with Murphy with long shaggy hair and a beard, in a state of desperation after being locked up in the bunker for 86 days, to the point that he almost decides to shoot himself in the head. Similar to how Clarke almost shot herself in the head in the flashbacks in 5x01. Even the greatest of survivors come to the point when it’s just too much for a human being to bear. Clarke reached that point after a month of being not just all alone on a desert, radiation soaked planet, but likely to be all alone for at least 5 years, and even more likely to die of hunger, thirst or exposure. Murphy took 3 months, but was in situation where he didn’t lack food or drink or comfort – but isolation, without any human contact or entertainment, other than videos of a guy committing suicide because he felt responsible of the end of the world, has to be unbearable.

Introduction of Becca In one of the videos is good as we get more crucial info practically at the beginning of the season (and at the same time, not so good, because I can’t stand Becca and I’m really not fond of the entire storyline about the chip/Flame/Commanders).

Scenes in the mansion with Jaha and ALIE are really creepy, as we see just how much Jaha has become removed from reality and immersed in the City of Light. When Jaha explains the concept of COL, the prospect of getting rid of pain, hate and envy, Murphy has maybe his best ever line, and pretty much his defining quote: “Pain, hate, envy… those are the ABCs of me. Take that and there’s nothing left.”

Getting thrown right into Camp Jaha, now called Arkadia, after 3 months, to see how much everyone’s lives have changed, works well for the most part (with one exception – see below). Jasper’s new look and attitude are shocking, but make sense. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think Jasper’s storyline was one of the best things in season 3 and even season 4, and I think it’s great that the show, for once, didn’t shy away from showing the consequences of emotional trauma (these people are teenagers who have been through terrible things in an extremely short time, it’s hard to believe everyone would soldier on and no one would break), and that they didn’t try to make a depressed person be more “likable” by being nice, even if it resulted in so many fans calling Jasper “annoying” and now showing any understanding for his mental health issues just because he wasn’t depressed in a nicer, more palatable way.

Raven’s story in seasons 3-4, which is also pretty good, also gets set up with a conversation with Abby about her pain, where Raven refuses an operation and they end up saying bad things to each other, as those two sometimes do. Raven calls out Abby on trying to hide from her own pain, too (over losing Clarke), which is a major theme this season. She also tells her she’s bad as both doctor and Chancellor, and much as I used to love Abby in S1 (and still like her) I’m afraid that this is least half-true since she’s sucked at politics most of season 2and 3. As a doctor, she’s good at healing people, but her bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.

The show gets rid of the Raven/Wick romance plot (which had to be jettisoned due to Steve Talley being a terrible person IRL and tweeting racist “jokes”) in the best way it could, by referring to it in one line (according to Abby, Raven pushed Wick away) and never having him appear again.

They used “Add It Up” by Violent Femmes! And even Shawn Mendes’ cover worked well – his was a sad and plaintive ballad, as a contrast to the original, which is an energetic rock song. (I had no idea who Mendes was when I first watched this, but his cameo didn’t feel weird or out of place).

A huge plus because Emori makes a return. Also, Otan is introduced, who actually is her brother (it’s not just a classic thief/swindler thing where partners in crime are like “I’m an innocent damsel in distress and this dude is totally my brother…” thing).

There are several character introductions of characters that are varying degrees of interesting or not so interesting. Roan’s is especially intriguing right from the start, and there’s also Niylah, Becca and Gideon, and Gina. Speaking of…

My biggest problem with this episode is how weird and jarring it always felt that we just get introduced to Bellamy’s new girlfriend, a random character we’ve never met before and who doesn’t get developed at all. We know she’s nice and really into him, and he likes her fine enough, but there’s very little about their relationship that goes beyond very basic relationship-establishing stuff. This was all the more jarring because Bellamy had never previously been shown to have an actual girlfriend (rather than friends with benefits/fu*k buddies, which he had quite a few in season 1), and by what we know of his backstory and what we was like in season 1, I had always assumed he had never had a serious relationship or even a serious friendship, because he could never allow himself to trust people on the Ark, and he was too focused on protecting Octavia and keeping that huge secret. So for him to be a real relationship was a new development that I would have loved to actually see. And in general, how weird is it that the show seems to treat the love life of a major character – second protagonist as an afterthought, to the point that his relationships get developed completely off-screen and just get a few perfunctory scenes to establish “there was a time jump, it happened, this is a thing now, that’s all you need to know” (which was all the more jarring when Gina then got fridged just 3 episodes into the season). Hey, and just how weird would it be if the show did this TWICE? I have an idea why this happens – because neither of his relationships with Gina nor with Echo was ever treated by the show, as genuinely important or something we need to be invested in, but If I ever believed that Clarke and Bellamy were really totally platonic BFFs (because one major platonic relationship is not enough for Bellamy, who is one of the very few characters on the show who actually has a sibling, and his relationship with Octavia is also a major one the show focuses a lot..) and that the show wasn’t doing something else, I’d be really puzzled by such weird narrative choices.

·Raven teases Bellamy that Gina is “too good” for him. That may be because she is aware that he was “never as devoted to Gina” (compared to Clarke), as she taunts him as ALIE!Raven in 3x11.

Gina gives Bellamy Iliad as a gift, because his mother used to read it to him… an epic whose main theme is a warrior hero’s rage and all the mess it causes?

The Ice Nation aka Azgeda, after being referenced before, finally gets introduced (though Echo will get retconed revealed to be one of them), and I have very mixed feelings about this, because the oversimplified way the show tried to suddenly establish “Trikru=good Grounders, Azgeda=bad Grounders” in season 3 was kind of grating.

·Everyone is still bad at dealing with people with PTSD and mental health issues in general – as seen in the fact that they made the mistake to bring Jasper with them on a mission. This time, Bellamy had an inkling it was not a good idea, but Monty thought it would do Jasper good… and again, it didn’t end well.

Indra has changed her views a lot and is now the liaison between Trikru and the Arkers and o very friendly terms with Kane.

The relationship between Trikru and Arkadia is at this point kind of a mixed bag – they have a truce and cooperate, but there’s a problem of limited trade routes and ability for Arkers to get food, the Grounders are not happy with the prospect of them using Mount Weather, and Lexa has issued a kill order on Lincoln (which is why he has had to stay in Arkadia even if he didn’t want to – though it seems he does want to) just because he went back to help Arkers against Mount Weather (any disobedience of Commander’s orders, no matter how justified, is apparently punishable by death).

Something that’s annoying, but expected and in character: Octavia complaining about Lincoln wearing an Arkadia uniform and trying to integrate into the Arkadia society. It’s like she was so happy to be rebellious and have a cool Grouder boyfriend, and now she’s disappointed. She tells him he will never be one of them (oh, the irony of this coming from Octavia, who says “I’m a Grounder” every second episode – which I don’t get, does she think being a Grounder is a lifestyle you can choose?) and even lectures him about the culture he grew up in: “At least you still speak our language” (meaning Grounder speech). LMAO

Octavia suggests they go off on their own and find Luna and her people – one of the many, many references to Luna going all the way back to season 1. No character has been set up so much long before they appeared.

It takes quite a long time for Clarke to actually appear in the episode, right after the revelation that she’s the titular Wanheda everyone is looking for.

About the nickname itself: Clarke herself hates it, of course (though she will kind of ‘reclaim’ it in 5x12) – because she feels deeply guilty and hates herself, but I’m sure that, for Grounders, “Commander of Death” an expression of awe and fear, not any kind of judgment, which wouldn’t make sense – we’ve seen multiple times that Grounders take the “kill them all If we can’t kill their leader” approach to their enemies, so I can’t see them being bothered by her killing all the Mountain Men. It’s the fact that she was able to destroy their old, powerful enemy that gives her a mythical aura. If you can kill the Mountain Men, you must be able to command death itself. They would also assign it all to Clarke, because, for starters, they weren’t there to know about Bellamy’s or Monty’s role, and secondly, Grounders tend to give all credit or blame to the leader, and they perceived Clarke as the sole leader of Skaikru during season 2.

This mythical status, however, merely makes Clarke a symbol and prize, due to the belief that killing someone means taking their power. (Which should also mean that she took the enormous power of Mount Weather in the eyes of the Grounders?) Does Queen Nia actually believe that she would literally take Clarke’s power if she killed her? I don’t know, but she probably just knows that people would perceive her as more powerful if she managed to do it.

Indra also explains that another reason the Ice Nation feels bold enough to make another move against Lexa/Trikru is that Clarke made Lexa look weak – which makes perfect sense, of course that’s what people would think after Lexa walked away from the battle and Clarke went in and killed the Mountain Men.

Seeing Clarke’s new look and persona was weird as hell the first time, but I don’t know how to feel about it as a plot point. I like it when characters’ traumas are not ignored, and it makes sense that, in her state, she wants to be anonymous and leave all she was behind. But Clarke as a great hunter after 3 months, making a living out of killing large animals? That’s a bit hard to believe. It’s not the first time the show is giving her unrealistic or, rapidly learned skills (overpowering an experienced warrior like Anya in a fight, apparently learning to ride a horse off-screen in a day, being such a good shooter to kill the MW sniper through Lincoln’s shoulder – after the short training she got from Bellamy in S1..) I complain about that with Octavia, so I should about Clarke, too (though it bothers me a lot more with Octavia since her being a great warrior – with her few months of training - is such a big part of her arc, while these skills are never supposed to be Clarke’s main strengths and don’t get much focus. But I like that she tells the panther “Your fight is over” while killing it.

Niylah, looking at Clarke’s back: “No kill marks”. Clarke: “My back is not big enough.”

Clarke sees Niylah has a wristband from one of the Delinquents, which is going to be a plot point in 3x11.

It’s nice to see someone expressing gratitude to Clarke for defeating the Mountain Men – Niylah says she appreciates it because her mother was a victim taken by Mount Weather. It would make sense if many more Grounders actually felt like that, but we don’t ever see many ordinary Grounders say anything about it. Usually it’s just Grounder leaders trying to make Clarke feel guilty over Mount Weather to manipulate her or excuse their own actions.

Clarke’s one night stand with Niylah is the first f/f sex scene in the show. It’s also, as far as we know, only the second time Clarke has had sex with anyone (the first one was way back in 1x04). At this point, Clarke can only bear to have physical intimacy, or any kind of human contact, if it’s not with anyone she has any stronger feelings for (and asks Niylah to stop talking before initiating sex, because she doesn’t want to risk any real intimacy). But at least Niylah is really nice and helpful, doesn’t cause drama and treats her better than any of her romantic partners have.

The first time I watched this, I found it funny that Clarke’s f*ck buddy got more screentime and development than Bellamy’s supposedly serious girlfriend. But I didn’t know that the latter would die in two episodes, while the former will remain on the show into season 6 and get to have a role beyond that of Clarke’s occasional friend with benefit.

This turned out to be much longer than I wanted it to, but that’s because this episode juggles so many storylines and characters (and a bit of nice blatant fanservice, too – like the scene of Bellamy and Lincoln sparring shirtless, or a celebrity cameo).

But how about the one plot point that was completely ignored in this episode and the rest of season 3 (and 4, and 5, and we can assume will be ignored forever)? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE REAPERS?? Did they get cured, as the plan was originally? Abby was supposed to cure them when the alliance was still on. Did they get killed – and how, and by whom? Were they still roaming around in season 3 and 4? Why is there not a single word about any of that after season 2? Indra even recognized one of the Reapers in 2x15, it was obviously someone close to her, maybe a family member, maybe her husband/Gaia’s father? The show dropped that plot like a hot potato as soon as season 2 finished.

Body count:

3 Ice Nation scouts killed during the confrontation (2 shot by Raven and Miller, one shot by Bellamy in the arm and then killed by Octavia)

Rating: 7/10

3x02 Wanheda, Part Two

This episode benefits from focusing on just a few storylines and characters and not featuring any of the poorer storylines.

Most of it is an exciting and intense action-adventure episode that revolves around Roan kidnapping Clarke ad trying to bring her to Lexa, as it turns out in the twist ending (after both Clarke and first time audience thought he was taking her to the Ice Nation Queen Nia), while a group from Arkadia including Bellamy, Kane and Monty are trying to rescue her.

More new characters are introduced, including one with a huge role this season: our group (including Bellamy, Monty, Kane and Indra) has a surprise encounter with a group of survivors from the Farm Station, including Charles Pike and Monty’s mother Hannah. It was a weird meeting as it started as an ambush, before they recognized each other. Who did Pike’s group think they were ambushing and capturing? Some Grounders who stole clothes and weapons from dead Arkers? It doesn’t seem they were aware that there were any other survivors from the Ark, or else, they’d have tried to reunite with them. But it also can be seen as a sign that their terrible experiences on the ground and almost 4 months spent in the woods as guerrilla fighters have made them inclined to see enemies everywhere and mistake friends or allies for enemies.

We get the immediate “trouble ahead” warning moments when Pike calls his people “Grounder killers, all!” and they cheer, and our group looks uncomfortable because Indra is there, and then when Pike looks at Indra with animosity as soon as he hears she’s a Grounder and expresses distrust when hearing that they’re allies. But really, there’s nothing surprising about his attitude, at all, and I’ll never understand fans who are like “but why is Pike such a dick”? The show told you why, right from the start. Most of our protagonists had a similar attitude to Grounders in season 1 and early season 2, when their experiences with people on the ground consisted mostly of those people attacking them and trying to kill them. And Indra (just like many other Grounders) had the exact same attitude towards Sky people in early-to-mid season 2, as Pike has to Grounders now – when we first met her, she was constantly asking for all Sky people to be killed and trying to dissuade Lexa from an alliance, especially after Finn killed 18 unarmed people, mostly civilians, in a Grounder village. But these characters all got to have different kinds of interactions with each other and have character development since. Well, Pike and the rest of the Farm Station people have had only terrible experiences – being attacked by the people on the ground right after they landed, seeing over a hundred of their people killed in front of them, including 15 children, and they’ve spent all the time since fighting in the woods, with zero positive interactions with any Grounders. It’s really not surprising that they’re the ones with most extreme views.

Kane, however, tries to convince them that it’s all Ice Nation, they’re the bad ones, Trikru are their allies. When Pike asks for details about how that alliance happened, Bellamy gave him the shortest and nicest-sounding possible version: “We had a common enemy” – “What happened?” “We won”. Bellamy obviously doesn’t want to talk about any of it, since he’s tormented over Mount Weather even though he may not be showing it the way Clarke does. But we see that Monty later told Pike about everything that has happened, though we only see the end of that story, how they got out of Mount Weather. We can assume, however, that he did tell him all including Lexa’s betrayal, because Pike later references both that and Finn’s death in 3x08. Somehow I don’t think that hearing “well, Trikru tried to kill the kids in our camp, so we burned 300 of their warriors, then we made an alliance with them to fight the people from Mount Weather who were trying to kill us all, but they betrayed us and left us to die and we had to save ourselves on our own” helped change Pike’s opinion on the Grounders in general.

Having Zach McGowan on the show is always a good thing, and his screen presence helps make Roan an intriguing character. At this point he’s a mysterious kidnapper with a backstory about his banishment from Ice Nation which I really wanted to learn BUT THAT WE NEVER LEARNED (what the hell was up with that?) and (twist!) we learn in the last scene that he’s the Prince of Azgeda. Clarke and Roan had quite an interesting dynamic throughout the show – thank god for once that the show didn’t try to do an “Enemies to lovers” storyline (though I bet that’s just because the show already had two popular Clarke ships to juggle) but rather “Enemies to allies who are not exactly friends, definitely not romantic at all, who kind of bond and respect each other but are constantly trying to politically manipulate each other”.

Bellamy wanting to immediately run to save Clarke, the moment he saw that she had been kidnapped, and then dressing himself as an Azgeda warrior and going into enemy territory to rescue her, is a far cry from his behavior in 1x12 when he was able to be calm and rational about Clarke (and Finn and Monty) being kidnapped and presumed dead. It shows how much his feelings for her had become stronger since. In season 1, only the concern for his sister’s safety could make him have such a reaction. But he typically doesn’t make his best decision when he lets his emotions completely rule him and acts that impulsively, and in this case, his unsuccessful rescue attempt only made things worse, as it alerted Roan he was being followed, and made Clarke stop fighting and let Roan take her to his destination.

But it’s not just Bellamy who would “do anything for her, to protect her”, Clarke is equally determined to protect him at any cost, and we’ve seen evidence of that many times, including this time – when she begs Roan to spare Bellamy’s life and promises to do anything and stop fighting if he does. At the time, she believed Roan was taking her to Queen Nia to be executed, so she was basically ready to offer her life for his.

When I first saw that scene, I thought “Oh wow, show, you are really doing this? This must be the most romantically-coded scene in anything ever.” Before even starting to binge the show, I was always spoiled on the fact that Clarke and Bellamy are not a romantic couple to date and that people debate whether they’re just friends or not, and I always knew people shipped them, but that didn’t mean much since fans will ship anything (Broadchurch fans even ship the leads from that show, and they are genuinely nothing but platonic partners). So one of the bigger surprises of my initial binge was that the show is so blatant about this romantic subtext (which is more like text, a lot of the time), and has been since season 1, but they were relatively subtle with it at first and then more and more obvious as seasons went by. Maybe it jumps at you more when you’re binging it. In any case, this scene – the soft music, Bellamy touching Clarke’s hair, the way they look at each other after meeting for the first time after 3 months, Clarke begging for his life – it all looked like it was straight from some epic medieval-themed romance. I later heard people compare it to Tangled, but I’ve never seen that movie (it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen any Disney cartoons). But I’ve recently happened upon gifsets that compare that scene to a scene from Tangled:

` Woah, they really did this. They modelled that scene after the scene where Rapunzel’s love interest tries to rescue her. And it’s not the last time they keep doing that and have used every goddamn romantic trope for the Bellamy/Clarke relationship. Is Jason Rothenberg for real? How do you do stuff like this, over and over, and then go in interviews: “Weeell, it’s Rorschah test, you can see this or you can see that, I mean maybe, but maybe they are just best buddies, ya know?” LMAO

Knowing about the Tangled reference suddenly makes me realize, they’re kind of doing this whole story as Rapunzel in reverse. We have our golden haired heroine who’s a target for her supposed special powers, and. Clarke finds herself as a literal Princess in the Tower at the end of this episode, and remains that for half of season 3. But while Rapunzel was trapped in the tower to begin with and wanted to escape and be free to see the world, Clarke was running away from the world, then got kidnapped and brought to the tower, and then decided to stay there.

And what a freaking huge tower it is – I didn’t know the full significance of it (that it’s the former Polaris space station) when that reveal was the last moment of the episode. This thing must have been a great strategic asset, you’d have seen any army approaching from miles away.

I love the last scene, which is the first meeting Clarke and Lexa after season 2, because Clarke’s rage – spitting into Lexa’s face and yelling that she’s going to kill her, while she’s dragged away – is such a fitting and relatable reaction to the betrayal at Mount Weather, and, maybe even more, to the way Lexa starts talking to her without apologizing or even mentioning their history, being all business instead and talking about the current political situation and how Clarke can help her in that department. I didn’t even notice this before, but while Clarke just glares at Lexa at first and stays silent, it was when Lexa said “I need you” that Clarke spat in her face and went ballistic. It’s interesting to compare that to 3x05, when Bellamy had a bad reaction to Clarke telling him “I need you” in a similar context. It’s not the same thing, of course, because Clarke had not betrayed Bellamy (even if he may have kind of felt otherwise), but it’s a similar “I’ll just ignore our history – there’s nothing personal and painful to talk about here, la la la – let’s instead just talk about how you can help me stop the war” approach.

I now love that scene even more because it’s the last time Clarke shows anger for the next two seasons. Or rather, she shows the same anger early on in the next episode in her conversation with Lexa and then when she was planning to kill her before changing her mind, but from that point on, there’s a shift in Clarke’s characterization that I’ve never liked. She was always smart, pragmatic, caring, vulnerable and good at using her words to convince people, but she also used to be vibrant, edgy, held grudges before finding a way to forgive people, and could be very impulsive. But in season 3, after the first couple of episodes, she kind of became a lot mellower and blander, and remained that way throughout season 3 and in season 4 (even though there’s otherwise a lot I like about her arc in season 4), where she would do ruthless things and feel sad about it and say “Sorry” a lot while other people told her she sucks, she would cry and look sad, but never ever show any anger herself. I really found myself wishing for her to finally show some anger at some point, at anyone, for any reasons, or go off and stop repressing her feelings and scream about her pain, break things, do something. I finally did get some of that – in 5x01 when she screamed at fate for taking everything away from her, and then, boy, did I get what I was wishing for in 5x09 – her slapping Bellamy and her silent but deadly rage/heartbreak at what she perceived as his betrayal, was the first time she had that kind of reaction to a person since her rage at Lexa in 3x02/3x03. (Unpopular opinion: I prefer season 5 Clarke to season 3 Clarke. Sure, season 5 Clarke was a total mess and reached rock bottom in many ways, but she was a more interesting and edgier mess. )

The B storylines were good, too. This is the first time we actually get to see what “the City of Light” looks like and learn about how it works. After Gideon, the big dude with a facial disfigurement, is killed by Emori in self-defense, we see him again in the “City of Light”, where he’s removed his disfigurement and can be a “normal” person rather than a “freak”. In later episodes, we see that Otan has done the same, but only Emori will not change herself physically, because she doesn’t have a problem with her body, just with the way others react to it, making her an outcast over it.

Nice to see Nyko again, one of my favorite minor characters. Unlike so many other people in this show, he’s always both nice and rational. When Abby, Jackson, Lincoln and Octavia took him to Mount Weather to find resources to cure him, and Lincoln was concerned because Grounders could have a problem with Arkers moving into Mount Weather because of their history with the place, Nyko pointed out “Places are not evil, people are.” The whole idea of the Arkers not being allowed to move into Mount Weather is stupid, knowing that the place had all those resources.

The show tried to give us bad vibes about Arkers moving into Mount Weather (which they absolutely had right to – they conquered it, so by the very rules of a warrior culture like the Grounder one, they could lay claim to it) with the talk from Octavia and Lincoln about how Grounders would have a problem with it because of bad memories. But that was just a red herring. Moving into Mount Weather turned out to be bad for a very different reason. We now know that at least the leaders of Ice Nation didn’t give a damn about their bad history with the Mountain Men, since they were working with Emerson.

What the heck was Abby thinking when she took Jasper to Mount Weather? She’s not a psychiatrist (did they even have psychiatrists on the Ark?) but I don’t think taking him back to the place of his greatest trauma is a good way to help his mental health. At least we get a nice scene for the Octavia/Jasper friendship, where she is comforting him while he remembers Maya, looking at her favorite painting, Second Circle of Hell by Dante. (The second circle of hell is for those guilty of lust... Is that why Jasper said it was ironic? Because he and Maya just kissed once and never got the chance to have sex?

Timeline: It seems that Parts One and Two lasted a little less than two days – Part One started during the day, Clarke spent a night with Niylah and immediately left in the morning, and Part Two took place during the following day.

Body count:

Three Ice Nation warriors killed by Roan

A bounty hunter killed by Bellamy to save Niylah

Gideon, killed by Emori– but still “alive” in the City of Light

I don’t know if this counts for this episode, since it actually happened after the Farm Station landed on the ground, so somewhere around the season 1 finale and early season 2, but we only learn it now: about 120-130 people from the Farm station were killed since they landed (there are 63 Farm Station survivors, but Kane said the station initially had three times that number). A lot of them, including 15 children, were killed by the Ice Nation right after they landed, and Monty’s father, who saved four children, was killed when trying to save another one. I assume that some of the Farm Station people died fighting the Ice Nation in the woods, and that they also killed an unknown number of Azgeda people during that time. (Technically, this all happened during the timeline of season 2 and between the seasons.)

Rating: 8.5/10

17 notes · View notes

alicentes · 5 years

Note

2, 11, 12 :)

2. Which GoT character do you love to hate? Cersei and Tywin (actually tywin is more of a I hate that I love him so much because he’s the reason his kids are so messed but Charles Dance portrays him so damn well and every single scene he’s in is so captivating that I just can't help but love him on the show)

11. What’s an unpopular GoT opinion you have? I wanted a dark arc for Dany. Not a Dany becomes a villain or a mad queen storyline but one where her pursuit for the iron throne, losing loved ones along the way and westerosi politics is her downfall and ultimately what breaks her. I answered an ask not long ago about what character trope applies to Dany and I said I always believed she was a tragic-hero . For example if she is meant to burn kingslanding and kill innocents in the process she would have realised what she’d done, that she’d become what she never wanted to be and then end up sacrificing herself in the final battle with the nights king. I don't think she was ever meant to rule westeros, all she wanted a home and to end the injustice (slavery etc) so it would've made sense for her to die helping to kill the nights king who enslaves the dead.

12. What would your choice for a GoT prequel/sequel be? I’d like a prequel focusing on Lyanna Stark and Elia Martell since they both really intrigue me and seeing each of their relationships with rhaegar would be interesting. Or a martell/dorne prequel in general since the show messed that storyline up. As for a sequel, I’d like one set a few years in the future basically fixing everything that the writers fucked up in the final season.

3 notes · View notes

uhhhhhhokay · 5 years

Text

My Unpopular Opinions of 2018

This is messy, a bit mean, and full of my mad/irritated feelings. You’ve been warned. No slipping into my asks as an anon to fight with me because I’ve posted this on my account. These are my opinions and I’ve already said that they aren’t that nice to some shows

1) Charmed and Black Lightning are the only good CW shows and it has the best lesbian rep of 2018 (and Rosa from b99 would be the best bisexual rep)

2) Melanie Scrofano/Wynonna Earp is the best part of Wynonna Earp. Honestly lately the rest of the characters for me have either awful or boring or funny but given nothing to do

3) Also even though she’s the main actress, Melanie is somehow the most underrated actress/character in the show. She’s disregarded by so many fans, either in favor of Wayhaught or Doc, and the show treats her like shit by constantly putting her with Doc

4) Descendants fans who pit Dove Cameron and China Anne McClain against each other in the hopes of making the other seem superior are doing absolutely nothing for their careers and are contributing to the unnecessary comparison between successful women

5) Also I don’t care if you don’t like Dove Cameron, but hating her for that Mal/Harry comment she made months ago is so fucking ridiculous. She’s a girl in love who also loves her character, god forbid she make her own headcanons for it, and it wasn’t like she was asking for it to happen (and no she wasn’t disregarding Mal’s current relationship Ben because she was talking about Mal and Harry being exes god damnit)

6) I can’t believe i have to say this in 2018 BUT STOP WITH THE INCEST STORYLINES! IT AIN’T CREATIVE OR SURPRISING BITCHES JUST GROSS

7) ALSO STOP SHIPPING INCEST GOD PLEASE STOP

8) Timothee Chamalet or whatever his name is, isn’t that great. Like he’s fine I guess but like....Have you seen other actors? I mean, there’s Fady Elsayed, Jack Black, Jordan Renzo, Greg Austin (rip Class), and so many more actors that are, in my opinon, significantly more talented

9) Letterkenny and Galavant are the best comedies out there

10) Riverdale is shit for erasing Jughead’s asexuality and queerbaiting fans at the beginning with Beronica

11) I’ve said this before, but people disliking Cole Sprouse because of the abuse allegation against him is incredibly valid.

12) Mike Flanagan, Jordan Peele, and Kate Siegel are the only people I trust to write some bone chilling horror stories

13) The Haunting of Hill House is better than American Horror Story and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrine combined

Now it’s time to get serious.....

14) I have no respect and cannot get along with people who talk about how ugly people are

15) The hellsite is shit for so many reasons but some of its worst qualities are when people take a situation and make it black and white, have zero sympathy or empathy for other people, and twist peoples words and put in meanings that were never there

16) I also hate how how people only care about mental illness when it doesn’t come to their jokes or memes. For example, mental health has been talked about a lot in regards to Ariana Grande, which is good, but once her engagement with Pete Davidson ended, no one hesitated to attack him in almost every way possible even though the man has been very outspoken about his depression. I don’t know shit about Pete Davidson but I’ve seen him relentlessly be attacked and have his depression and suicidal thoughts be joked about.

17) Stanning is a fucked up culture that we need to leave behind in 2018. There are some celebrities who have a lot of projects that I love and I admire their talent, but the concept of stanning either includes an unhealthy amount of devotion to a celebrity or it erases them as a human being and reduces them down to objects. In some cases, both of these are true. It’s a sick thing for both fans and the celebrities. If a celebrity does something wrong, call them out, and if they don’t listen, well forget it or move on. Cancelling them as if they can be thrown in the garbage and disposed of promotes negativity and hatred, which is doesn’t solve anything, and it can inhibit any growth from that celebrity. They are human and will inevitably fuck up. It’s the only way to learn and grow.

18) This is about Wynonna Earp but it’s a serious post. I’ve made my thoughts about this show abundantly clear but there is one thing I haven’t talked about at all and that’s the racism in the show and in the fanbase. Disclaimer: I am white. This show hasn’t treated any of their poc or black characters well. The latest example would be the treatment of Dolls and Kate. The last two seasons Doc has had two women of color as his love interests, and both of these characters have been treated as objects to make Wynonna jealous. There is also the lack of story and villainization of these women. There is also the major lack of story with Dolls, which most likely led to Shamier Anderson’s decision to leave. I won’t get into anymore, this is how I’ve always viewed these poor storylines, but I will say this: white fans of Wynonna Earp, we do not get a say on how black viewers should feel about any of these storylines. White lesbians, you would be livid is Waverly or Nicole were killed, and rightfully so. Black people or people of color probably felt the rage you would’ve felt if you lost one of those characters when Dolls was killed off. Telling people to get over it is cruel. If people want to stop watching, that is their right. We have no place in telling them how they should feel about the treatment of their representation.

19) I made this post a while ago but it holds true: https://uhhhhhhokay.tumblr.com/post/179314393735/shows-with-good-lgbt-rep

20) Everyone needs a break from social media. I know that for some people, it really helps because we have friends on here that we can talk to, but it also has so many negative effects. The real world is nothing like this toxic website. You should take breaks from it every once in a while. You need to get hobbies. You need some other past time than this website. The majority of people on this site aren’t good and everyone should take a breather from it. I take breaks from this site on a regular basis and when I do it feels so fucking good.

21) Random but The Lodgers is the worst movie ever and it’s an even worse horror movie. Would not recommend. Unless you feel like roasting something for an hour and a half. The only good part about watching that movie was that I watched it with my roommate who I am good friends with and we laughed our asses off and made fun of it so much. It is truly awful. Even though I had a blast roasting it, I will never get that time of my life back.

22) The Last Jedi does not deserve that 91% on rotten tomatoes. Just like how The Lodgers deserves far less than 56%.

23) Time to get serious again. I get that a lot of us wished that the shows we loved were real, but they aren’t. That’s a fact that everyone needs to realize and accept. To me, hating an actor for their character’s actions is just as fucked up as stanning. They aren’t their character. They are not responsible for the shit their characters pull. They are carrying out the story written for them. As for writers, sometimes the writers do not support their characters actions either. Just because the character is evil or mean or whatever does not always mean that the people who work behind the curtain support that.

24) Shipping real people and harassing them is sooo inappropriate and messed up. I shouldn’t really have to explain this one but too many people on this site don’t seem to grasp it. I mean, didn’t Harry Styles say a while ago that all the smutty fanfics, tweets, and fanarts about him and his bandmates effect his friendships with him? Him reacting that way is not homophobic, btw. It is him reacting naturally to people fetishizing and sexualizing him and his friends. These are real people. Their relationship, sexuality, and god just so much of their lives is none of our business. They don’t owe us any information about their personal lives. We don’t own them. They are their own people, which also means that they make their own mistakes.

25) Random again, but original Charmed fans put their show too high of a pedestal. I never got really into show. I tried it, think I watched half of the first season, and I did a little research on it and I was in the fanbase for a hot sec but it was very short. From my research, it seems to me, that for a feminist show, the cast (except Shannon Doherty) was the opposite behind the scenes. I know you can’t help who you don’t like but you can control how you talk about someone, especially to the public, and from what I’ve seen there’s been more negative comments from them about their castmates than positive. I don’t think anyone will know the whole story but to me the feud between the og’s leading ladies has always very catty to me, and it’s gotten even worse with the remake. You can be protective of your show without being rude. You don’t have to support the remake, and you can do that without being rude either. By the way, this is more directed towards Holly Marie Combs, who I believe has been the most outspoken about being against it. Three young actresses are doing the job they love and they were given a chance to be the new charmed ones for a new generation. There is no reason to be so negative about it. It looks even more immature when you see the cast of the original Sabrina who gleefully gave their support to the new cast.

26) Adults please stop thinking every show is for you. it’s not. Some shows are for kids, some shows are for teenagers, and some shows are for you. If you enjoy the show that’s directed towards a younger audience then that’s great. If you don’t enjoy it, then that’s fine too. What is not fine is you acting like that show was meant for you and tearing it apart and bullying people of that directed age group online. I can’t believe the amount of times I’ve seen some 19-40 year old dipshit on the internet go and bully a 15 year old only because they said they loved a show. That is not only sick and immature but it’s uncalled for.

27) Also 15 year olds or younger, do not use your age as an excuse to be mean either. You might be young and you will definitely make huge mistakes, but there’s is nothing to justify you telling someone to kill themselves or insulting them just because they don’t like your favorite character or something. You might not be as experienced as some adults, but you’re old enough to know what the fuck you’re doing and how wrong it is. Don’t be cruel and blame it on you being young and stupid. You maybe young and all of us will always be a bit stupid, but that does not excuse your behavior. And @ older people who do that shit too, your older age and power does not excuse your cruelty either. Nothing excuses telling someone to kill themselves. Ever. Especially if it’s over a goddamn tv show.

28) Can Ryan Murphy please just make one tv show and stick with it until it ends? He has so many great concepts but because he wants to do all of them at once they all go downhill after one season.

29) On the same but different note, fuck Ryan Murphy for having Violet and Tate get back together. My girl deserves better than a serial killer/rapist that also got her mom killed because he impregnated her with the anti christ. Fuck that.

I never intended this to be so long lol no one will read this

30) The Hormone Monster is literally a metaphor for hormones. Stop twisting it into pedophilia. That show is so sex positive and is so much better than most of the sex ed that we got.

31) Let’s leave monster fucking behind please

32) Puzzles are a treat to do

33) Funko pops are cute but they make a lot of dumbass decisions regarding which ones to make (like I saw pops of that new nutcracker movie a while before it was released like maybe wait and see how it does first????)

34) Also lets stop thinking of ships/shows as a way to up yourself as more progressive or whatever. We all have our trash shows and ships, stop acting like a saint. Just because someone has a trash ship, does not mean they are lesser than you.

35) Fanbases are usually always trash. This didn’t change at all in 2018.

36) Class’s first season was significantly better than Torchwoods first season. You guys are just mean.

37) While I adore Class, Patrick Ness’s dialogue was really YIKES sometimes (the Charlie April deleted scene nearly killed me). Overall it was good though because it was the closest depiction of how teens speak.

38) Also any teen drama show that has a teen speak seriously in a hashtag should burn in hell (if a hashtag is used in dialogue as joke then it’s fine because it’s funny)

39) An actor being on a show you don’t like does not warrant hate

40) It’s been two years since Class but still, fuck the dw fans who were/are so mean to the class actors, especially Vivian Oparah and Sophie Hopkins.

I think that’s it.

#40 points long #bbc class

4 notes · View notes