#so i did not just rewatch all three seasons of being human to make some britchell edits

[disdaidal]

"Hey, babe." "Where have you been?" "Out." "It's kind of late, you know. "I'm a vampire, Anders. Late is kind of what we do." "Well I was getting... worried." "Oh, you were worried about me? Aw, that's so sweet of you!" "Come to bed. Now." "Oh, don't need to tell me twice..."

#britchell #mitchers #britchelledit #john mitchell #anders johnson #being human uk #the almighty johnsons #gifs by disdaidal #so i did not just rewatch all three seasons of being human to make some britchell edits #and then i saw this scene where mitchell enters the room where annie's at #and i was like 'i know where i'm gonna use this' haha #because i remembered at least one scene where anders is sitting on his bed. looking absolutely dreamy #anyway hope you guys like this #if you have any ideas for more britchell/mitchers fake scenes... you know where to find me

[biconickyoshi]

Okay y’all… I was very critical of eps 3 & 4 (especially 4) of NAtLA. Then all of a sudden eps 5 & 6 kinda slapped me in the face with how much better the show suddenly got.

Spoiler-free thoughts first:

Zuko, Iroh, and Aang have cemented themselves as the best parts about this adaptation - which is really funny considering I’m currently writing a longfic AU where Zuko and Iroh discover Aang in the iceberg right after Zuko is banished at age 13 and end up becoming the first members of the Gaang (albeit reluctantly at first lol). Episode 6: “Masks” (the Blue Spirit adaptation) was so good, I’d venture to say that it actually improved and fleshed out some things from the original series.

Episode 5: “Spirited Away”, while not as good as E6, was not as bad as I heard people say it was going to be. I think that the changes they did make didn’t bother me nearly as much as the changes they made in the last episode, and it was actually entertaining.

There were several scenes that made me cry in both of these episodes (moreso in episode 6, which I’ll get into further down in the spoiler section). These are the scenes that I feel like really tapped into the heart of the original show rather than feeling like a soulless remake.

Now for my in-depth thoughts (INCLUDES SPOILERS):

EP 5: “Spirited Away”

- Staring out, I was bummed because I had just rewatched the first two eps of the original animated series lol.

- It was an interesting choice to have all three members of the Gaang get stuck in the Spirit World, but I think it worked.

- Wan Shi Tong just showing up randomly was a bit unnecessary, but I suppose it will be kinda interesting to see him again in S2 since he’s already met the Gaang

- Hei Bai plays a much smaller role in these eps, but I strangely didn’t mind that either?

- Seeing Katara’s last memory with her mom was devastating, especially the fact that she had to witness her death and hide in the igloo with Kya’s charred body :(( she definitely has severe PTSD.

- Even Sokka’s memory made me tear up a bit

- Koh being the villain and a soul-eater or whatever was a bit of an odd choice, but I guess I can see why they did it. I do prefer him just being an asshole who steals ppl’s faces lol

- Appreciated the Fog of Lost Souls reference from the LoK lore

- Aang reuniting with Gyatso made me cry. I know some people didn’t like him being in the Spirit World, but I really liked it. Also, the fact that Gyatso was the first person to tell Aang that it wasn’t his fault the Air Nomads died, and that if he had been there he would have died too? THANK YOU! My poor boy has been berated enough for “abandoning” the world.

- We got some interesting lore about the afterlife for humans from Gyatso and Aang’s convo, which we’ve never gotten in AtLA media before. Idk if it’s just for Air Nomads, but Aang mentions that Gyatso stayed behind instead of “seeking enlightenment”. I know that the end goal in Buddhism is to reincarnate until you eventually achieve nirvana, so I wonder if that’s what they were alluding to (I’m not an expert on religions so pls correct me if I’m wrong)

- Oh yeah, I forgot June is here lmao. As a queer person I loved her (bc beautiful goth woman) but I didn’t like the weird choice to make her hit on Iroh - I guess to contrast the Iroh being creepy towards her thing in the OG series. I wish they would have just had them interact normally tbh, no weird “flirting”

EP 6: “Masks”

- Here we go y’all. The best episode in the show so far and probably the best the show is gonna get this season. I’m still pretty shocked at how good this one was.

- I think the decision to include flashbacks to Zuko’s Agni Kai was a good decision here. It felt like an appropriate episode for them and the flashbacks were very well done.

- In general, Dallas is doing a phenomenal job at portraying a Zuko who is angry and aggressive, yes, but also so very sweet and compassionate at his core. I love when little inklings of his true self shine through.

- Roku was… not what I expected. He was very much more of a lighthearted and jokey person… I didn’t hate it, it was just unexpected lol. I wonder if they did that to contrast him with Kyoshi. Which, speaking of, I’m glad Roku clarified that Aang doesn’t just need to be a merciless warrior (and that he didn’t berate Aang for “abandoning” the world like she did). But I still am annoyed about the mischaracterization of Kyoshi in general.

- RIP Shyu :/

- Thought it was kind of strange how June captures Aang at Roku’s temple lol. Like how did she get on and off the island??

- Zhao continues to feel like a completely different character to me lmao. I think this version is pretty funny, but it’s so weird to see Zhao being portrayed as so goofy and incompetent when he was such an intimidating force and the main villain of Book 1 in the OG series. Just a weird direction they went with his character.

- The Yuyan archers look cool as fuck. 10/10 no notes

- Still not sure how I feel about Azula already being this insecure and jealous of Zuko. I think it makes her feel a bit more realistically like a child, but the whole point of Azula’s character is that she is really good at maintaining this cool and calm persona on the surface, which she uses to scare and manipulate people. I can see her maybe getting to a point later on to where she hardens herself into that though. We’ll see.

- Baby Zuko asking Iroh how he looks and his little smile 😭😭😭😭 I had a physical “aww” reaction to that. THAT’S MY SON (me and Iroh shouting in unison)

- War Room scene was handled very well. No complaints. I like how Ozai tried to test Zuko with battle strategies.

- Blue Spirit break out scene was extremely close to the original, and it was really good. They adapted it almost shot for shot with all the important parts.

- Here’s probably my favorite part of the episode: Zuko and Aang’s talk inside the abandoned house after they escape from Pohuai!!!!!! Gahhhh I could gush about this scene all day. I love how they expanded it to be an actual friendly conversation between Aang and Zuko. Like we get to see Zuko’s true self coming through - the sweet, kind boy we know he is. Zuko and Aang just have such great chemistry as well, wayyy more than Aang has with either Sokka or Katara. Like I adored them bonding over painting and caligraphy!!! I think this is the best acting we’ve seen from Gordon so far, and Dallas did a phenomenal job switching back to that hurt, angry version of himself (of course a trauma response). And the fact that Aang said “sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you” when he blocked Zuko’s firebending attack??? My sweet boy 😭

- The final flashback to the Agni Kai was really well done too. I’d already heard Zuko fights back, which I wasn’t sure I’d like, but I actually didn’t mind it. I really liked that they showed Zuko’s hesitation whenever he did actually have an opening, and that was what angered Ozai the most - Zuko showing compassion, “weakness”. Daniel Dae Kim is of course doing a phenomenal job (no surprises there), and I really liked that Iroh actually attempted to stop Ozai at one point. It also looked like young Azula had tears in her eyes, which I again actually liked because it humanizes her.

- I loved that Aang was still there when Zuko woke up on the boat 😭 he wanted to make sure he was okay!! I full on started crying when we got the “do you think we could have been friends too?” lines from him. Again, Gordon killed it. I love how you can tell that Aang knows Zuko has been hurt and that’s why he acts the way he does. He doesn’t blame him for any of it. 10/10

- the last flashback to Zuko in his bed recovering from the burn… god the tears just kept flowing. I really liked the choice to have Ozai almost give Zuko a chance to like… idk understand why he did what he did, and how compassion is “weak”?? And then Zuko’s response to give people a chance 😭😭😭 as if I couldn’t love him any more!!! And then of course Ozai gets pissed. But seeing baby Zuko just cry in his bed UGH I’m dehydrated at this point

- Of course I can’t finish this review without mentioning the 41st division. What an incredible way to expand upon the source material by making them Zuko’s crew!!! It shows just how much Zuko truly cares about others and it moved me so much (once again to tears).

I don’t have high hopes for the last two episodes, but honestly, if this is what the live action can be, it gives me a bit of hope (at least for future seasons). I really think that Dallas, Gordon, Paul, and Daniel were the stars of this ep and are a big part of what made it so good.

#atla #natla #netflix atla spoilers #natla spoilers #atla live action #avatar the last airbender netflix #avatar the last airbender #atla netflix #atla meta #natla meta #zuko #aang #iroh #ozai #zukaang

[leverage-ot3]

What are your k drama recommendations??!? I need new ones

omg my time has come thank you anon for giving me the opportunity to ramble about shows

I ended up talking WAY too long so I'm putting everything after the first one under the cut

all of us are dead- show about high schoolers as a zombie apocalypse starts. very funny and relatable, literally they call the police and are like 'have you seen train to busan?' bffrrn. has a lot of social commentary and there are references to the sinking of mc sewol (a cruise that sunk where the captain deserted it and left a large amount of high schoolers to drown). commentary about how adults save themselves first/leave youth to fend for themselves. one of my comfort shows and although they didn't intend for more seasons, it was received so well that they have been renewed! I am also an ot4 truther and sometimes talk about them on my international shows sideblog: @nam-on-jo

sweet home- (disclaimer: I am not caught up and have not yet seen s2 which came out a little while ago) honestly I have no idea how to explain this so I'm gonna copy-paste the blurb: as humans turn into savage monsters, one troubled teenager and his neighbours fight to survive and to hold onto their humanity. basically people turn into monsters for [redacted] reasons and everyone in his large apartment building is stuck inside trying to fend for their lives.

my name- I'm just going to paste the blurbs going forward because it's easier: Following her father's murder, a revenge-driven woman puts her trust in a powerful crime boss -- and enters the force under his direction. bro some of these twists I expected but others caught me off guard. I love the main character and am a little gay for her but I think that's valid because she's a bamf. there was a plot point at the end of the second to last episode that I really didn't like and made me very upset. narratively I get why they did it but it made me sad so I'm still pissy. might get around to writing a fix-it fic one day when motivation strikes because my girl deserves better things.

the guest- a detective, a catholic priest, and a psychic join forces to fight crime caused by supernatural forces. not to say they are my ot3 but they kinda are. (other ppl interpret it is a lesbian and her two bi/gay bffs which I also accept but. ot3 tho). LOVED every twist and turn and how the three of them go from not trusting one another to being family. genuinely one of my favorites from all the kdramas I've watched over the years and I want to rewatch it again soon

happiness (tvn)- The residents of a high-rise apartment fight for their lives against a deadly infectious disease while Sae-bom and Yi-hyun try to find the person because of whom the virus spread. bro I adored this. some characters annoyed me (which means they were written effectively) but it has so much. fake dating/marriage (they wanted a better apartment lmao). annoyances to lovers. mean/rude woman soft for sunshine man. what you will do for the people you love. morals and humanity during a catastrophy. *smacks show* you can fit so much into this. no but seriously, I thought this was a really interesting take on the zombie virus! so some of the time you come off completely asymptomatic and 'normal', so people can get away with acting normal and hiding the disease around other people, so the paranoia and mystery is REALLY amped up. had me guessing a LOT. sae-bom and yi-hyun are both cops/detectives and you find out really early (ep 1/2?) that sae-bom is immune which gives a really interesting dynamic that leaves her (to yi-hyun's exasperation and heightened blood pressure levels) to be kinda reckless in the pursuit of truth and salvation. I'm rambling now because this is making me watch to rewatch but yeah as a zombie/dystopia/apocalypse lover this was a good watch. it's more story-focused than violence-heavy which was a cool and refreshing twist

alice in borderland- okay y'all I am aware people had mixed feelings about s2 but overall I did enjoy the series. 'Obsessed gamer Arisu suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive.' what can I say, I love a dystopian-esque setting.

the silent sea- imma be real, I only watched it for loml bae doona from sense8. 'During a perilous 24-hour mission on the moon, space explorers try to retrieve samples from an abandoned research facility steeped in classified secrets.' basically earth is in severe crisis mode as they run out of water to drink. water has recently been found on the moon, and although there was a mysterious tragedy that happened previously to researchers looking for water in a base on the moon, they have reached a level of desperation where they have another mission to look for moon water. mystery, paranoia, a couple of good twists ensue. I thought it was pretty good even though I have some mixed feelings about the open ending.

semantic error- yes I am sliding a bl into this list. bitch you thought. of course my bl-loving self would mention this (I forgot about it until I looked up good kdramas to remind myself of stuff I have watched). 'A strict, rule-abiding computer science major must work together with an artist with a polar-opposite personality to his.' confident cool boy meets bitch boy. it's great.

and of course...

leverage con artists- I would be fired from running this blog if I didn't mention the beloved korean spinoff of leverage. 'The series follows the story of Lee Tae-joon, a former insurance investigator who forms a team of thieves and con artists to target the rich and wealthy. The team was also formed to avenge Tae-joon's son's death.' I've posted about it before so I won't go super into it but it's VERY camp, a good time, and the ot3 is alive and well. debatable more overt than their predecessor!

other mentionables:

I tried watching kingdom (again for bae doona) but couldn't really get into it. might try again later because it's critically acclaimed (I think) and has even gotten a spinoff series

my roommate really liked mr queen. I didn't really pay attention when we were in the same room and they were watching it but it's fruity

the island on amazon prime was good! interesting plot but not in my top 10 or anything. worth a watch if you're looking for a kdrama to watch in your spare time. features girlboss businesswoman being thrown into a world of the supernatural because [redacted]. supernatural black horse man keeps her safe while keeping a life-changing secret.

let's fight ghost was a thai show that I saw and loved that was adapted into a kdrama called bring it on ghost, but honestly I couldn't get through it because I liked the thai one better.

train to busan is technically a movie but it's iconic and well-known and I highly suggest watching it if you like zombie/apocalypse movies. disclaimer: kdramas do not have the slow 'walker' zombies. they are fucking fast and the stuff of my nightmares. would probably just jump off a bridge if this actually happened ngl

I did think that extraordinary attorney woo was cute. I never finished it and know that there are VERY valid criticisms about the perpetuation of media portraying people with autism in the stereotypical savant ways. however, I liked how the love interest accepted her for who she was, loved her because of who she was and made efforts to accommodate and learn how to comfort her in ways that would work for her

business proposal was pretty decent if you like lighthearted romance- I didn't finish it but would like to at some point

tale of the nine tailed was another one that my roommate and I started watching but never finished. it was alright! just lost interest

shows on my watchlist:

black knight (netflix)- 'In a dystopian future devastated by air pollution, the survival of humanity depends on a group of deliverymen known as the Black Knights who navigate the wastelands using unconventional means.'

copycat killer-

hellbound (netflix)-

shop for killers (hulu)- 'A nephew who lost his parents and grew up in the hands of an uncle who runs a shopping mall faces a new truth after his uncle's sudden death.'

the legend of the blue sea (viki + hulu)- 'A magistrate's plan to release mermaids into the ocean backfires when they're caught by fishermen.' (legit I just miss mermaid media)

gyeongseong creature (netflix)- 'In the city of Gyeongseong in 1945, a group of young people thinking only of their own survival encounter a monster born of human greed and ask themselves what humanity is.'

dark hole (viki)- 'A mysterious black fog from a petrochemical factory's sinkhole turns people into bizarre figures; people who are not infected try to survive in this middle of pandemonium.'

the cursed (multiple)- 'An enthusiastic social issues reporter, fighting against the evil hidden behind an IT conglomerate, meets a teen-age girl who is possessed by a spirit and has special abilities.'

blood (multiple)- 'Dr Park Ji Sang believes in the sanctity of human life, and struggles to treat terminally ill cancer patients and save lives while at the same time being a vampire.'

the ghost detective (viki)- 'In this horror thriller drama, a detective who catches ghosts tries to solve the case of his younger sibling's death with the help of his assistant.'

possessed (netflix)- 'A smart-mouthed detective and a reclusive psychic medium join together to get rid of the ghost of a murder who was executed 20 years ago.'

connect (hulu)- 'A man is kidnapped and one of his eyes removed by a gang of organ hunters; his eyes was transplanted into body of a serial killer; the unwilling donor now has terrible visions as he witnesses terrifying attacks on the residents of Seoul.'

and now just because so many of these only have het romances, I looked up k-dramas with lgbtq representation... (some of these recommendations were from articles from screenrant, movieweb, this subreddit, herzindagi (bl-focused), allkpop)

schoolgirl detectives (viki)- 'Five teenage girls join together to investigate mysterious incidents that occur at their school, as well as help classmate deal with bullying, depression and other crises.'

be melodramatic (netflix, viki)- 'Three 30-year-old best friends, Jinju, Eun-jung and Hanju each pursue different paths in both career and love. Despite life's difficulties, the three friends can always return home at the end of the day and support each other.'

lily fever (available w/subtitles on youtube)- 'The story revolves around the budding relationship between Kim Kyung Ju and Jang Se Rang who meet when Kyung Ju can't find her passport and has to go to her friend's house to try and find it.'

love alarm (netflix)- 'In a world in which an app alerts people if someone in the vicinity likes them, Kim Jojo experiences young love while coping with personal adversities.'

nevertheless (netflix)- 'The story of a romance between a man who is annoyed with relationships but likes to flirt and a woman who wants to date but does not believe in love.' (wlw side couple romance)

#i worked on this while the other half of the screen was zoom (i was just supervising don't worry) and this post is now WAY too long #so i'm stopping here #jackie talks #about me #mine #asks #answered asks #anon asks #kdrama #kdramas #international shows #my recommendations #other media #read more

[crescentmoon-flower]

Rewatching winx season 4 for nostalgia and realizing how wierd some things are

Ep1

Why is this intro actually fire??!

Ah yes, now they're the teachers

I actually admire season 4 for allowing the protagonists to grow up

"it almost makes me miss the trix, even they were less agressive"

TECNA MY LOVE BE SASSY MORE OFTEN

Grizelda, How exactly were they supposed to know that the room has been changed?

Also, ROOM singular? Are the teachers grouped too? Why don't the girls get their own rooms?

...griselda don't encourage students to be like the winx,  you don't want more girls to put themselves in mortal danger

Are the keys to the hall of enchantment custom made for each teacher? What about no fairy teachers? Do they just not get access?

Why is this hall inside a school? Actually maybe the building became a school after

WHY ARE YOU IGNORING STELLAS QUESTION FARA?

Blooms picture is in the book of fairies, Why exactly?

"A level above enchantix" and here begins the contradiction

The animation here looks wierd?

Yes bloom just walk off mid speech

Why was the wizard's painting covered?

Wait.... were they trapped in the painting? This brought up way too many questions

Awwwww,

musa ruffling rivers hair

helia being a perfect jentleman

stella poking Brandon

Oh right He's king now. Ah plot consistency, may you rest in peace

Grizeda rocks that look though ngl

No previous planning? To shame bloom, to shame.

Yeah I honestly wouldn't be all that impressed with those tricks either

Actually good lesson here, good job techna and aisha

Why don't bloom and Stella know the damn course plan?

Why is clarice saying this infront of several people?

How don't the teachers notice clarice just walk off?

How didn't Alice feel the box being put in her bag???

I like the original enchantix song more

What is the physics of that morphics surfboard?

Also Why did she use/make it? Feels useless to me

Why detonate it on the punching bag flora's turn?

Why did they have no protection in the first place? There was open fire?

Jeez, obviously alfea and cloud tower have very different punishments, the trix got away with so much worse, 

...actually maybe that's why the repercussions are so harsh now

Rip alfea's barrier (season 1 episode 2)

Ogron's so pale,  like did they forget to colour in his face??

And here begins anagan x flora, with a single hello

Smh flora you naïve girl, did you learn nothing in these last three years?

Gantlos has anger issues confirmed, he's the stormy of the black circle

Why the flora abuse this episode??

How exactly does that magic work? Were the wizards invisible? Or did they teleport? And if they teleported how did they know to do it right then?

They know blooms name and not her face? Even more questions...

I like this version of duman's voice, it fits him (rai's wierd accent)

I'd actually like a musa- gantlos rivalry, being immune to each others sound based spells, sounds like a good plot point

"Well that was fun"

Ogron is a masochist confirmed

..Merlin? Did he exist in the magical universe?

EVERYTHING'S UNDER CONTROLE LITTLE MAN, GO BACK TO SLEEP XD  🤣

...Dodging is impossible? Get Stella a basic self preservation class please

Ogrons magic is actually an interesting concept, too bad they don't use it to its full potential

Hold up are their fingers black? Why?

...but what if they last earth fairy is in alfea? Why give up on it so quick?

But why did clarice admit it?

"It's an ancient story"

Time line go brrrrr

Did faragonda give the girls an ancient important book? Why???? They didn't need the whole thing

Ep2

...I'm not saying anything on faragonda's explanation mainly because of the utter confusion and amount of questions it brings up

Musas up for a fist fight

...maybe all of roxy's confusion would have been ended if she mentioned morgana's name,  the girls know she's the queen now

Again, Time line go brrrr

How does making humans belive in magic weaken the wizards? this was never actually explained? Like they still had power before humanity forgot fairies?

"Where are we even going?"

Why don't you start with,  oh I don't know... EARTH???

Drama King helia, love it

Word spread to the boy's that fast? Wow

Aaaawwwww rivusa, Riven picking up musa and lifting up her mood, even if he didn't think up of it himself

Riven king of common sense

Sky's entrance was actually adorable, and hilarious

The change of music really made my heart drop for a second

Why the secrecy though? Couldn't they just go with the winx ?

When did techna copy all the books without the others knowing?

A teacher is a teachers pet

Oh poor wizgiz

WHY SO MANY TREES

oh right the pixy plot, yeah I'm not comenting on it beyond it was stupid and pointless

What luck,  they just so happen to come across a randomly rare magic butterfly

"Light and darkness in perfect harmony"

And yet the tree shows only fairies?

Also what luck that roxy just so happen to be in......

Actually, theory time:

What if when daphne sent bloom through the portal aiming for earth, she opened it close to a strong magical source, Morgana.

That would make more sense that a huge coincidence of two of the only magical beings on earth being in the same city

anyways

A promise never fulfilled, I wish we actually saw roxy bond with a pixy

#winx duman #winx club #winx helia #winx aisha #winx brandon #winx ogron #winx anagan #winx gantlos #winx riven #winx rivusa #winx sky #winx tecna #winx musa #winx bloom #winx stella #winx flora #winx nabu #wizards of the black circle #reactions

[trickster-archangel]

Random thoughts about Hawaii Five-0 rewatch: part 2/?

Still trying to make sense, in sparse order, of some things I noticed and that made me question the mental stability of whoever decided determined plot points...

Thought #3: missed chance to be a fucking adult, evolved human being and not a caveman about divorced couples, or: if you had started with the intention of showing how Danny and Rachel could rebuild affection and understanding, why fucking slaughter her character that way?!?!

At the end of s1, I suppose it's in the Shorelines extra? anyway, the authors talk extensively about how it was their endgame since the pilot to portray the subtle change and the evolution of the relationship between Danny and Rachel, meaning: they wanted to show how two people, who once loved each other enough to decide to share a lifetime together, had fallen apart and started hating each other just as much because that's what happens in life, but in the end, slowly, thanks to life's twists and turns, they managed to find back the chemistry, the trust, the support, the love they had lost, creating a new kind of bond.

~~~~~~follows under the cut~~~~~~

Which....cool, really. It's fantastic. I obviously don't like the idea of no-mcdanno, but in a way I can really appreciate the intention of portraying something clearly fictional but way better, healthier and more hopeful than what happens in reality like, 70% of the times. My parents would immediately slaughter each other even after more than 30 years after the divorce. I have friends and ex colleagues who are just the same and cannot even be decent enough not to shit over each other in front of their children, making them part of their feud. In Italy, every three days a woman is murdered by her husband, ex husband, fiancee, partner, ex partner. The other 30% is barely civil enough to pretend NOT TO want to murder the other ex spouse.

So, cool. Good intention, I appreciated it, even if I don't agree with Danny sleeping with his ex wife behind her rightful husband's back.

Then 2x01 happened and ok, everything between them fell apart. Probably Danny didn't really believe the baby was Stan's, but it didn't matter because in the end he trusted Rachel and that was enough. He helped her deliver Charlie. He was a good friend. They could've kept this storyline, show how ex spouses can become civil and affectionate again, share a different love, explore the nuances of an extended family. Everything could've been normal and healthy.

So what the fuck happened with the whole "Stan wants to move to Vegas" and then "Rachel always knew Charlie was Danny's but had decided to keep him in the dark because she wanted to decide for everyone"?!?

Ready? The answer comes, plain and simple, in the following seasons' Shorelines commentaries.

They wanted to put Danny through an emotional grinder and imagine how he'd react, but most of all, they wanted to throw a curveball (multiple curveballs including Steve's storyline) at the audience, to hook them, shock them, and make sure they'd be unable not to be there for the next season to see what will happen.

That's it. That's the great mastermind masterplan.

Cheap shocking for the sake of audience ratings.

Ok, I get that after all the mess Rachel did, she probably didn't get much of a saying in Stan's relocation purpose...even if she could've been the friend Danny had been, and left Grace with him, moving only with Charlie and maybe getting Grace for school breaks. Anyway, that's a normal and believable kind of shock/curveball.

But the whole "Charlie’s paternity clusterfuck"?? I mean, it's not even realistically believable! In my 44 years, I've witnessed THIS EXACT SITUATION TWICE!! And in both cases, first thing the cheated husband did, apart from asking immediately for a divorce, was asking for a paternity test! That's what normal, real people do, if they KNOW their wife had an affair and suspiciously GETS PREGNANT immediately after!!

Unless you're a complete idiot who has no experience whatsoever of how the real world works, there's only one explanation for this mess: that you wanted us to imply that Rachel didn't even tell Stan about the cheating, that she simply told him, generically, that their marriage wasn't working anymore and she wanted to go back home, and made him believe that the baby had been conceived during their last-effort trip before Danny was poisoned....right after she'd made sure she'd get pregnant with Danny's kid to trap him with guilt AND need, and then lied to both men. FOR YEARS.

I call this clusterfuck one name only: character's assassination.

There were so many ways, even after s2 and s3 events had happened, they could've brought that shocking curveball forward, because the path they chose only managed to depict Rachel as a mean, cheating, liar bitch who managed to play both men. It's horrible, and chauvinist, and toxic.

She could've been genuinely sure Charlie was Stan's, and only with the disease outbreak and the test both Rachel and Stan had learnt about the truth. Stan could've kicked her out and Danny could've swept in like a real hero to help a friend who once was his love, or maybe they could've explored the difficulties of rebuilding a family.

More simply, Charlie could've been genuinely Stan's but Stan could've given her an ultimatum about Vegas and they could've divorced because Rachel couldn't bear the situation anymore, and made Stan go through what Danny had suffered with the move to Hawai'i.

Charlie could've been Danny's, and she could've decided to come clean with both instead of the whole shared custody arc (this situation, of course, implies that they could've been so far-sighted to imagine a several-seasons arc for Danny and Rachel, instead of improvising for the sake of shock).

Stan could've died, and Danny could've found himself suddenly in charge not only of his daughter and ex wife, but also acting as a father figure for a little kid who wasn't his, but who was his daughter's little brother thus deserving love and protection, making his genuine amazing humanity shine.

These are just some things I'm coming up with, right now, while I'm working and not even plotting, and avoiding any hypothesis implying both Stan's and Rachel's timely death to allow Danny the troubling experience of being a single father of two kids, maybe suddenly discovering that Charlie is his.

There were so many interesting nuances they could've explored, to make sure that they could've followed their initial masterplan about rebuilding a human bond between Danny and Rachel, AND granted them enough shock and emotional distress to hook the audience to the following seasons. Kinda like what they did, more respectfully, with the reveal of Harry's paternity.

They simply chose the cheapest route: harpy, bitch, whore ex wife cheats on both husbands and ruins everyone's life.

Good job.

#h50 #danny williams #rachel edwards #stan edwards #grace williams #charlie williams #h50 meta #h50 rewatch #mtmcd #danny/rachel unhealthy relationship #hate myself some chauvinist writer #long post #h50 dvd special features

[theitcharchives]

I caved. I watched Loki S2

Loki season two was fine but too many of you are being insufferable about the series itself and its lore. Timelines and universes are not interchangeable things–a universe contains timelines according to the series' lore itself and I don't understand how people do not understand this. MCU Loki now holds the timelines of 199999. Quit throwing the 616 thing around (looking at you Feige) and talking about "worlds". Variants are the same people across timelines according to logic, that's why some of the Lokis in S1E5 (iirc episode number) made no sense–Mobius did.

The first season remains one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune to see, so to say I'm pleasantly surprised by the second is something.

Be warned–pleasantly surprised does not mean "omg it's perfect" it means "I did not expect this measure of respect for character and narrative, there's some good points and there's definitely bad points".

Still, the first three episodes were boring. The narrative in them and in some places of the second three was clunky. Things were underexplained and impersonal, both rushed and scattered. X-05 did not appear outside of the first season premiere, not even the first season proper (according to the internet because I indeed had zero recollection of him and refuse to rewatch S1) yet the second season treats him as if the audience is familiar with him–and it's confusing as heck. I cannot even properly recall what exactly happened in those episodes because it was so clunky and scattered and half explained. Especially the characters and their goals and stakes. I barely cared for Loki's, let alone anyone else's–well except Ouroboros. I love that guy.

Wow, we have to save all these freed timelines? Sure. I mean it's the right thing to do, so let's do it. It would've been so easy to actually get the audience to personally care–have Loki realize in those infinite timelines, there were some he could be happy in. His mother, his brother, even his father to whom his attachment is not resolved, there had to be timelines where they were happy and safe, perhaps even with him. In some of those timelines, Loki gets his revenge on Thanos, he gets to heal. He comes to term with his birth and heritage, he remedies the wrongs he has been done and has done to others in turn. Yes, those timelines deserve to exist, because Loki should know he deserves to be happy too. His "friends" too. Those stories deserve to exist.

Speaking of under-explained... so at one point Loki just... gains control over time jumps? Like that? Did I miss something in the whole thing? Like if it's because it's him, according to The Who being what is important ("in magic", I would have expected) then say it.

Some pieces were predictable. The whole interrogation of X-05 match one and two, the ending path itself (I was surprised by the tree thing though), Loki pruning himself (did that scene really need to be drawn out like that? We get what's happening, get on with it).

Some pieces were drawn out like the self-pruning, like retrieving Victor Timely. The whole time I was like "You've seen him, you can block objects in mid-air and teleport people in cages, snatch him and throw him in a portal so he can see the TVA instead of just talking to him and convince him–why does he need to be convinced?? Show him!!?" Details like these, like the machine that makes the shrinking cubes being left at all in the cell, Ravonna not actually looking to see if any other minutemen were considering her offer before compressing them all (I guess they had to slim down the cast, but man), Loki the Jotun with super strength having to run kilometers to catch one human–silly.

Things that were left out–Thanos, completely. The Jotun heritage. Loki being the scapegoat child in the narcissistic royal family, all his conditioning. It is said he wants a throne, it is never acknowledged why: being groomed to do so since childhood through mentions he was born to be a king, upbringing, education, treatment by family and society. The gender fluidity and sexuality, though with the MCU's regard for those things, it's likely better they left them alone–though the lack of shapeshifting was miffing. New York was handled better than I would've expected, but still breezily.

Now to be fair, many things were good. B-5 outright stating that the pruning the TVA does is an atrocity and convincing others. I'm ambivalent about Loki and Mobius–their relationship in the first season was a terrible one, but they genuinely roped me in in the second. Some things were funny in that delicate way that doesn't need clownery and one-liners that I'd been missing ever since the first two Thor movies. Ouroboros (especially in episode 5–ouch, too close to home). The soundtrack, amazing. The acting came across as more heartfelt. I even managed to tolerate Sylvie in the last few episodes–and oh yeah, leaving romance of any kind out, completely. Thank fuck. Loki actually being the main character of his own series. The fifth and sixth episodes. The sets, the props also felt real. The final outfit is growing on me. The dialogues, the interactions, the camera work, my gods, some parts were amazing. I am willing to rewatch it to make more sense of things, and look at other MCU works to see if it will impact them. I had given up on the MCU–Loki roped me in, Loki gave me back some interest when I thought it was dead for good.

Oh I'm still mad all my searches for comics appearances are cluttered with MCU stuff. I'll be mad until it calms out. "What if it never-" then I guess I'll never stop holding a grudge and complaining.

In the end, I'm just glad Loki got his not-terrible ending. I don't like that his final choice and chance was to sacrifice himself and all his needs for others, sitting in a tree holding the 199999 universe's timelines together, alone after saying teary eyed that he doesn't want to be alone. But it's still better than how he was treated and discarded from T:Ragnarok to Infinity War, and it doesn't exclude Loki from showing up again, some way or the other.

Obligatory link to the Loki comics reading list.

#loki series spoilers #loki series #loki show #mcu loki #loki series critical

[theoriginalsapphic]

Let me steal this moment from you now: Max, Will, Vecna and memories

This is a theory loosely based on BirthdayGate and me rewatching The Hunger Games due to its ongoing reinassance on tiktok and not being able to sleep at three in the morning.

BirthdayGate is the theory that Vecna has been manipulating Will’s memories to basically isolate him from others and making him an easier target (this is an oversimplification of the theory and I may have gotten some things wrong, so keep that in mind).

In the third and final book of the trilogy, Mockingjay, Peeta is held captive by President Snow and used against Katniss. During his captivity, he was tortured, beaten, and hijacked using tracker jacker venom to distort his memories of Katniss until he believed she was a mutt trying to kill him. Essentially, they turned him into a weapon.

Both BirthdayGate and Peeta’s plot in Mockingjay have one thing in common: mind control through brainwashing and psychological torture, which, also happens to be one of the main objectives of MKUltra, a non-fictional illegal human-experimentation program that was developed and overtaken by the CIA between 1953 and 1973, and that in the show is represented through Dr. Brenner and the Hawkins laboratory.

Stay with me; I swear I’m going somewhere.

Vecna messing with someone’s memories wouldn’t be a new thing. In fact, this concept has already been introduced in the fourth season, heavily foreshadowed by this particular song.

Right before the battle against Vecna, Max has the theory that, because she managed to escape through remembering the people that she loves, the best place to hide from Vecna would be to hide in her happiest memory.

Solid theory, all things considered. That is something that the characters got right; Vecna feeds of the darkness inside people (their fears, their traumas, and their guilt), so it would be logical to hide somewhere that represents the complete opposite of his source of power: their light, their strength, etc.

However, the characters underestimated how powerful Vecna truly is, and how capable he is of entering and messing with people’s minds. Max believed that hiding in a happy memory would save her because it did the first time, but he still managed to find her the second time around.

So, how does what happened to Max in season 4 relates to Will and Vecna?

Well, for starters, I just demonstrated why Vecna ruining someone’s happiest memories wouldn’t be a new concept at all.

Something that has been mentioned a couple of times it’s how little Will mentions what happened to him during that week he spent in the Upside Down. As a matter of fact, we know very little of what happened to him during that week, and if anything, what little have we learned about has just provoked more questions (way too many to write them in this post).

However, something that I don’t see mentioned as frequently it’s that we don’t really know much about what Will went through with Lonnie, except through third-party recounts, like Joyce telling Hopper Lonnie used to call Will slurs, or Jonathan remembering the first time he showed him The Clash after Lonnie failed to pick him up for a baseball game.

This is even more peculiar when considering that all the other characters that have experienced abuse in the show have been seen interacting with their abuser and, more or less, react to their actions (Joyce and Lonnie, Jonathan and Lonnie, Billy and Neil, Max and Billy, El and Brenner).

But the point is, we have never seen Will interact with Lonnie or even mention Lonnie. The only time Will mentions his dad is in a flashback that is remembered by Jonathan (who, unlike Will, has named Lonnie several times).

Just like with his trauma with the Upside Down, we don’t know much about his trauma with his dad.

In a regular world, with non-supernatural interference, this could be a completely expected response to trauma:

"Dissociative amnesia occurs when a person blocks out certain events, often associated with stress or trauma, leaving the person unable to remember important personal information." "According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), dissociative amnesia often occurs due to traumatic or stressful events, such as childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect. Dissociative amnesia can also stem from issues relating to personal identity and past experiences." "This forgetting may be limited to certain specific areas (thematic) or may include much of your life history and/or identity (general)."

So, what if Vecna’s intention is to manipulate Will’s happy memories so those memories can’t save them the way they saved him back in season 2? Just like Vecna did the second time he faced Max.

In fact, what happens if these memories have been manipulated so they are no longer happy and instead bring him pain and anguish? What if the only memories that remain untouched inside his mind are the ones he wishes he could forget, the ones that were once repressed, so his own mind can be used against him? Just like Peeta Mellark in Mockingjay.

"Occasionally, a person may be able to suddenly recall these traumatic or abusive events, also known as recovered memories. Alternatively, a person may have false memories of a situation, or inaccurate memories that can be influenced by others or created to fill in gaps. Unfortunately, because a person may genuinely believe that these memories are accurate, it can be challenging to differentiate them from reality."

If what saved Max the first time she faced Vecna were happy memories…

Coincidentally, Will is the only party member that doesn't appear in Max's memories while the lyrics 'Let me steal this moment from you now' are being sung.

...triggered by a song she loves...

…then what happens when that person has no happy memories left to grasp on? What happens when those memories that formed the individual are gone, and the person loses what made their identity? If you lose everything that makes you, you, then who are you anymore? What happens when there is no light to escape to anymore?

This started as a theory about Will but now I’m concerned what will happen with Max when she wakes up.

#will byers #max mayfield #vecna #birthdaygate #byler #lumax #elmax #stranger things #stranger things theory #it's bad enough that he targeted a depressed and suicidal teenagar did he had to ruin her favorite memory? #vecna doesn't like to see gay people thriving 🙄 #i'm so concerned with both will and max next season #is it too obvious i came up with this at 3am? #whoever selects the music for this show deserves everything i love them so much #if you think about it will is the only member of the party that doesn't appear in max's memories #tldr; vecna is a bitch and max and will are fucked

[shittyelfwriter]

ALRIGHTY here we are at weeks three and four for the santa clauses series! I did not rewatch a second time because genuinely, these melted my brain. anyway, lets get into it below the cut!

So apparently according to the tsc tag, episode 3 that I missed last week is a sort of filler episode? OH BROTHER REALLY

Normally I would not complain bc I miss old format, 20-23 episode series but because I know this Isn't That? DREAD. how are you going to plot well and good in 7-8eps if some are filler? that is just SO condensed, my guy

Counterpoint to people who were sad about it but: I thought the teen romance was annoying and I'm GLAD they ended it even JUST for a bit (it will come back to haunt again, trust. It’s a disney series ffs.) Whoever is writing this needs to ask a teen about how they talk nowadays. This is not it.

I also think we're driving the whole "Buddy is terrible at everything" punchline WAY past its breaking point. Which I would argue was last season entirely, but. At the very latest, last episode with how heavy on cringe it was. Yes, EVEN for kids/teens.

Again, they are not antagonizing Magnus Antas enough for me to hate him. waaaaay too funny to be a villain. I can't take him seriously and DON'T want to

The way that Noel keeps sideyeing the Betty cutout as if to say "do you see this shit?" during his brunch with the Clauses SENT me tbh. That's bernelle coded and I love it

I do not know why Disney gets OFF on the Clauses being absolutely inept parents but I wish they would stop

SHOUTOUT JUDY OMG JUDY'S ACTRESS THAT’S JUDY JUDY IS HERE YOU GUYS (SCREAMINGGGG)

LOVING the exterior shots of the workshop and Elfsburg. As someone who has POURED over all available screenshots from the movies of those I am LIVING for new angles (even though I do NOT think bernelle would live that close to the Workshop, but it doesn't seem like Betty and Noel can POOF like Bman and Elle can (and do))

I don't know why there are TWO instances of a "misspoken turn of phrase" in this episode but neither were funny and TWO OF THEM was REALLY bad

CHUBBY BUNNY DID NOT EXIST THAT LONG AGO. NOT IN MAGNUS ANTAS' TIME. THAT WAS AN INTERNET FAD LESS THAN TEN YEARS AGO. WHAT ARE WE DOING DUDE. WHAT ARE THESE WRITERS ON (it's not good, I don't want some)

Crossing guard callback? For what? (okay, shrug I GUESS dot meme)

Why does this specific franchise always have to make EB SO WEIRD. WHY. Nothing about this is funny it's just off-putting. Just like the previous EB flirting with Carol's MARRIED MOM in tsc3

This Carol and La Befana scene was actually very good. LOVE it when they actually just let the characters be HONEST with each other. Women supporting women core. Even if Carol's reason for being mad at her was really shallow and obviously stems form Carol's lack of identity as Mrs. Claus because they just cannot wrap that plot point from last season up.

THE LETTERS DEPARTMENT. It looks dope but HATE the explanation for it. Half assed as hell. WARNING! Rant incoming: like from what I know a LOT of postal services have little lore stories about how they get the letters to Santa. WHY COULDNT WE JUST SAY THERE ARE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN SANTA AND OTHER ADULT PEOPLE WHO KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE FOR OTHERS AS WELL? Why is this series so obsessed with making everything only powered by magic and never by others (yes, humans) who want to keep the spirit alive as well? It feels like magic is being used as an "explain it all away" crutch narratively. Even in season 1, the "solution" to mass consumerism wasn't for people to be kind to each other and do little things to keep the magical parts of Christmas alive, it was to show the world that magic was real. Season 2 so far, the answer to everything is also just magic. I'm hoping that maybe the B plot with Kris will touch on this. Because as it stands right now, it feels like the writers are talking out of both sides of their mouth. Commercial Christmas is bad, but Kris is a loser for having a Santa theme park. Like?? Homogenization of Christmas is the Big Bad at large, but also up at the Pole they are trying to find ways to do the same thing to be "current". CHRISTMAS IS MULTIFACTED. It is both secular and religious! That is OKAY, I don't even think "woke" people are arguing about that. Sheesh.

Can't believe I'm micro rambling IN my ramble post. New achievement unlocked omg

The way Magnus Antas picks up on modern slang so quickly practically puts Scott to shame. Good for him

AGAIN, the misturn of phrase jokes. DEAD. Not funny. STOP

If they are going to make Sandra so op that she can just Wanda Maximoff chaos magic "I just say something when I'm mad and it happens, anything I want with no negative impact on me" I will not find that swag. That is in fact Mary Sue territory, lads

Sandra's little outburst @ La Befana was giving magical nepo baby for a moment there. Oof. "Too bad I'm just naturally more skilled than you even though I'm new and you've been a witch forever" girl SHUT. UP. You are like a little baby. Also that is so mad disrespectful like no WONDER La Befana is wanting you to slow tf down. You fly off the handle WAY to easily and we ALL know you lose control when you do! Okay loose cannon! Werk!

Riley. Girl. "we never see each other" you were just up at the Pole?? Like. OFTEN?? This is so stupid of a breakup but they are teenagers so go off kids, be dysfunctional or what have you. Rah rah, as Jack would say

Episode four now, lord help us. God has cursed me for my (loving this one Christmas movie series) hubris and my work (watching it's hellish series spin off) is never finished

"Reversing a transformation is never a guarantee" what is this La Befana? the Sims? Sounds like transformation ray odds. Magic is not THAT unpredictable, even by in-universe logic

CURTIS-ITIS!??? CURTIS FUCKING EXPLODED??

ARE YOU SO FUCKING FR RN. SO BERNARD IS MARRIED TO A SENIOR CITIZEN AND CURTIS. FUCKIN VAPORIZED?? FROM STRESS? WHAT'S NEXT? Lemme guess, Judy joined the circus. Quintin is a crypto investor or works for Tesla. WHAT ARE WE D O I N G

Not Scott moving the scissors like he's afraid Buddy will shank him or others?? SIR

SANDMAN AHHHHHHHHHH HELLO SIR /POS :D

So they just con him? As though that's a long term solutio-- OH MY GOD NOT SCOTT USING SANDMAN'S SAND ON SANDMAN HIMSELF?? that's ILLEGALE?? According to tsc3 lore: "We legendaries can't use magic on each other?" I am so bewildered by the level of retcon occurring before my very eyes at BREAKNECK speed

Sandra doesn't need magic she needs THERAPY for her ANGER ISSUES bruh. Damn. She doesn't need a rage room (in someone's house too I might add? okayyyy) she needs to learn to process like a normal human being wtf

Scott being able to look like his normal self whenever he wants and they just didn't tell him? For like. 25 years? Like its clear that by the series standards, the elves think he's a total moron. But it pendulums hard and fast between "haha funny joke" and "damn they really think he ain't shit, huh"

Edie being a fashion diva is such a serve she's grown on me this season ngl

"I had to teach him how to do all the Legendaries jobs" Scott I know you're waffling, absolutely FUMBLING but what the FUCKKKKK is that excuse??? What's Cal going to do? Be EVERY Legendary? TERRIBLE AWFUL HATE IT UNINSPIRED. Not to mention, SOME OF THE OTHER LEGENDARIES MIGHT NOT TAKE THAT NEWS WELL. Some might even feel THREATENED

"The man I die for in my sleep every night" UM? Noel? You okay there bud? Holy heck

THE PURPLE JACKET IS SWAG AND SCOTT IS A HATER. HE CANNOT SEE THE VISION

Do you guys think according to this new lore Edie made Jack's suit? because me thinks PERHAPS

Magnus Antas is kind of popping off, damn. Like I think if the gnomes hadn’t given him MAJOR delusions of grandeur and an ego trip, he could have stayed totally a vibe. But stop giving the Santas snow powers and reconning Jack holy SHIT dude. First Scott now him? HATE IT

The way they made Scott and Cal look when "invisible" is Not a Good Look heck. Its like a bad picsart filter

These Scott visions. I get why, its through the Santa magic, right? But dang its corny

So Scott knows Magnus Antas is back now. Okay. They got away from him. Lost visual on Olga, have a bad feeling she somehow sneaked into the sleigh. Weird cliffhanger but EVERY episode has been like that so far

Final thoughts: I feel like they're definitely trying to make this season take itself less seriously, but I feel like the trade off is that the writers are taking too many liberties for diversions from source material and are therefore, losing the plot entirely and retconning movie lore at will and convenience. Tl;dr, it's messy. Concepts are fun until things just become so irreverent they fall apart or lean into entirely unfunny territory. Which is just a hallmark of T*m All*n brand humor, tee em, but you know.

It feels like this series is doing everything and nothing. It wants woke points, but immediately doubles back and makes fun of those same things. It wants us to feel empathy for these characters, and immediately makes them insufferable. I am so confused as to what the takeaway is supposed to be. It all feels so poorly executed--the series retcons itself constantly, not to mention the movies. I want it to be fun, and to take it at surface value, but if you know literally anything about the movies, that becomes a challenge to do. I'm just so confused dude.

I will be shocked if this gets a third season. Truly.

Also, I miss Betty too, Noel. Wish this whole season was about HER shenanigans, instead.

So. See you all next week then?

#coping is our number one skill in this household huh #don't get me wrong! thrilling to have new tsc content to talk about but at WHAT COST #ana liveblogs tscs #I am also nearing a point where I can safely say I hope they don't show more legendaries if this is how they are going to TREAT THEM #tscs spoilers #the santa clauses

[boobachu]

Rewatched Sonic Prime

and the finale of season two basically upped the ante to where the story is either going to have a really good ending or be so bad it brings the entire series down. (Kind of a long-ass post with spoilers if for some reason you haven't felt to binge the almost seven hours of show yet.)

This moment right here completely changed the tone from "Sonic broke the universe and needs to fix it" towards "If Sonic succeeds, he would be committing multiple omnicide"

Sonic Prime Sonic could earn the title "World's most genocidal hedgehog" and that's really interesting.

Now, this is what has been a very basic "modern marvel" "robot chicken"-ass story, I mean very interesting characterization but otherwise very cookie cutter.

Which, I mean, we got a whole season to explore it, but Sonic immediately defaults to his pussy-ass "FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!11!!" but kind of the core of the story has been "Sonic's worldview is wrong"

Even though nothing too terrible has happened to him (beyond everyone he knew and loved and could ever know and love potentially being killed forever) it's very clear that the basic message is that Sonic's happy-go-lucky attitude needs to change, but so far we haven't seen what it needs to change into.

So basically

I think Sonic Prime is going to A) Have no fucking idea how to fix this problem it imposed on itself by stating the fact that Nine isn't Tails, and you're going to have to kill three people to bring back your little brother

So it just "Whatever! I don't care! We restored Status Quo without killing entire universes!"

or B) as stated before, Sonic Prime goes down as the Sonic canon that commits genocide across space and time to restore his parody of how news journalists who haven't played since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 react to seeing a human in a Sonic game.

or C) which is the least likely, they make some damn good writing that somehow preserves the new universes without it feeling like a handwave.

Honestly the B option could also be "Nine, Mangy and Sails fuse into Tails who has memories off all three" but that is also unlikely because it has the implications of every single being across the universe becoming plural or something. At least I don't think that's an obvious route to take.

People are concerned about Nine being a villain, and he's definitely going to be an antagonist, but I absolutely do not see how wanting to stop someone from wiping out countless worlds to save his own is a villainous trait.

Maybe they'd have the grim project turn out to destroy the other worlds, but that would come out of nowhere and would be kinda dumb to do the "dooming the multiverse through hubris" twice.

Tho it'd also be kinda interesting if the grim project turns out to be basically Eggmanland except Tails.

Like I'm not expecting the final episode of Sonic Prime to be the gang having a party while Sonic sits in the shadows going "I have become death, destroyer of worlds... literally!" and Shadow's like "You did what you had to do. I won't say more because the memory is punishment enough." and then he teleports away leaving Sonic to stand alone in uncomfortable silence while the party is heard in the background and then it cuts to black for the doofiest ass theme song to play over the credits.

It's more Sonic Prime has the potential to be in a Sonic lore iceberg as "Sonic canonically has more blood on his hands than anyone in fiction or reality"

Which is interesting.

#Sonic Prime #Nine Sonic Prime

[mywingsareonwheels]

More "Good Omens" s2 joy

The way in which each of the minisodes gives context for one or more of the flashback scenes in 1.3 is just... *chef's kiss*

"Companion to Owls" bridges the gap between an Aziraphale still trying(ish) to justify heaven's worst actions, Crawley still being shocked by them, Aziraphale not entirely trusting Crawley's motivations (in the Flood flashback) to Crowley's bitter resignation and Aziraphale's weary sadness at the Crucifixion. That "it was your lot put Him up there" is still one of my favourite lines, and Aziraphale doesn't dispute it. Crawley's intervention on behalf of Job's children gives that scene so many more layers, and is a beautiful (and in context heartrending) mid-point on that emotional journey for both of them.

"The Resurrectionist", oh man. It's implied I think that Crowley being dragged down to hell for helping/saving Elspeth is the last Aziraphale sees of him until their meeting at St James's park a few decades later, and I think we can be certain that whatever Crowley's punishment was, it was pretty intense. In 1.3, we went from the lighthearted, suave rescuer of late 18th century to someone who seemed very low and rather traumatised a hundred or so years later, and I think we all knew that something had happened to him. Sounds like that was it. :( So that all gives more context to Crowley wanting "insurance" against hell, so that he has some means of defending himself. But meanwhile, Aziraphale's remembering that the last time they saw each other, a young woman nearly took her own life with poison, so of course he's going to be concerned that Crowley is at risk from a similar action. They're both coming from a very understandable point that "The Resurrectionist" set up. <3

(Also, who is "The Resurrectionist" in the title? I love games like that. Is it Dalrymple? Is it Elspeth? Is it Crowley in saving Elspeth? Or all three? <3 Technically/historically it's both Dalrymple and Elspeth, but in the show? Oh it's all three. :D ) And then "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters", which I admit I wasn't a huge fan of on first watching (I liked it more on rewatch, but I muted/averted my eyes for the brain-eating etc. bits, not at all a gore fan ;-) ) did nevertheless set up the 1960s scene brilliantly. That was perhaps the first time that Aziraphale really sees, in person, just an inkling of how dangerous hell is to Crowley. And it always takes things a while to percolate with him, but I think that's a large part of why he does eventually give in and give him the holy water, as well as adding layers to his protectiveness of Crowley in some of the "now" scenes in both seasons.

And all four (especially in combination with "Before the Beginning") give so much more context to the rest of series 2. Aziraphale's long (and still incomplete, which is understandable <3 ) journey in learning his own sense of morality separate from heaven's. Crowley's terror of the word "nice" as it applies to him. The compromises each of them has to make with the ideals of their bosses in order to function in the world and be true to themselves and the humans around them - and the danger that puts each of them in. The growing mutual loyalty that - make no mistake - hasn't been in any way put aside in their falling out at the end of the series. The way in which the solution to the loneliness they identify in "Companion to Owls" is each other. <3

And of course the fact that more people need to know John Finnemore's writing, given he was not merely the co-writer of the whole season, but the main writer on "Companion to Owls", bless him, and my goodness does he need more love for all of it. <3 I'd love to see Cat Clarke getting more credit for "The Resurrectionist" too!!

#good omens s2 spoilers #good omens s2 #good omens s1 spoilers #good omens s1 #good omens spoilers #good omens #companion to owls #the resurrectionist #nazi zombie flesheaters #neil gaiman #gnu terry pratchett #john finnemore #cat clarke #jeremy dyson & andy nyman #ineffable spouses #aziraphale #crowley #tw gore mention #tw christianity #kind of #tw suicide mention

[fereldanwench]

so i finished my rewatch of s1-s3 and new watch of s4-s7 of the 100 aaanddd i wanna ramble

spoilers and, from what i've gathered, unpopular opinions under the cut lmao

i watched the first three seasons in 2015-16, iirc (binged s1 and s2 on netflix; watched s3 as it aired)--i remember losing interest towards the end of s3 so i wasn't super hyped about s4 and just kinda forgot about it. on rewatch, i was also getting bored with s3, lmao. it starts off pretty strong, and the end revelation is a banger, but the last 4 eps or so just draaaggggg

i really liked seasons 4 and 5, though, with one big exception: giving clarke a daughter-figure to go all mama bear over was quite possibly one of the most obnoxious character development choices they could have given her

clarke in general is kind of a frustrating character for me because on one hand, i fuckin love a female character who does awful things for what she believes are good reasons, and that is clarke 100%

but in spite of that awesome set up, she manages to be so fucking boring

i think a lot of it is the actress' performance, tbh--the acting on the show overall generally isn't anything spectacular, but i find her particularly bad. i cant quite pinpoint my gripes, i just find her very bland

and given that the show is basically one extended trolley problem and there are dozens of characters who are also constantly put in the position of making the most difficult decisions in the universe, that just isn't enough to make her compelling

i found myself really drawn to echo in the later seasons because i am predictable af and i love a character who is loyal to a fault and bases their entire identity off being a loyal follower. i do feel like the relationship with bellamy was a little shoehorned, though. like i see the enemies to lovers potential there, but i think having most of that transition happen off-screen took all the fun from it

and i was stunned when i went looking for echo gifs to find out that most people hate her but love clarke apparently, lmao. hard opposite

s5 also delved into one of my favorite dark apocalypse tropes: what will push people to become cannibals to survive? it's always been a morbid fascination and i wasn't expecting them to get as fucked up with it as they did, but it was compelling shit

s6 had interesting elements to it--the worldbuilding/lore i think is part of the reason i got so sucked into the show, and seeing how becca's influence managed to reach a whole other planet was cool. i also liked the personality chip stuff bc it gave me ideas for valerie, haha. i also liked russel as an antagonist--love a very polite and calm villain being pushed to their limits

but i could see it was starting to lead into a setup for a whole metaphysical aspect to everything that had happened, and i just really don't like that shit

oh, also, kane and abby were my absolute favorite couple and i'm very sad they didn't get their HEA

so s7 was very meh to me. lovedlovedloved echo, dioyza, octavia, and hope getting to be badasses together, but that's about it. the transcendentalist shit was so fucking tedious, and bellamy got done dirty. and i've found myself overly fixated on the logistics of the "finalkru" situation with clarke and her buddies living on earth for the rest of their lives with no hopes of procreation or extending the human race

like at some point there's just gonna be one person remaining, right? and they have to spend their remaining days all alone? unless they do some kind of death pact? or how exactly do the transcendents ensure there are no babies? can the humans undo this? like what if they clone themselves or do in vitro fertilization? i have questions!!!

i don't mind a story ending with unanswered questions--i even really like that sometimes--but ending with a bunch of new unanswered questions is annoying lmao

plus i find the premise of finalkru surviving and maybe trying to figure out a way to continue the human race to be more interesting than 87% of the plot of s7

also two of the big themes throughout the show was never giving up hope and always seeking to rediscover their humanity after doing horrible shit--i just don't feel like this ending really tied those motifs up in a satisfying way. 99.9% of the human population no longer experiencing pain because they basically don't exist anymore feels less like a reward for Good Behavior and more... idk, just unsettling to me.

i mean, it's basically sci-fi rapture, and the whole idea of the rapture always freaked me out too lmao

i know the show is based on books, which i haven't read and don't plan to, so maybe some of this would be better explained there, but i've also seen commentary that it deviates a lot from the novels so who knows

anyway, i do like the show overall. there's a lot of juicy stuff here, but very weak ending. reminded me a bit of how i felt watching lost, actually, although not as egregious

#t: wench watches stuff #shows: the 100

[paellegere]

final thoughts: supernatural season 8

oh my god i'm finally done. i don't even know why this season was so difficult to get through because honestly i liked it infinitely better than seasons 6-7, so what's up with that?

the beginning of the season was REALLY rough, but i think it found some footing toward the end. it had some pretty good plots, and i was genuinely so pleased to see them tying in original supernatural worldbuilding and plots to build this season. it felt like a return to its roots after deviating so hard in s6-7, so i greatly appreciate that. it almost made up for how often they disregarded established canon and retconned developments lmao (no it doesn't. i am salty about this).

as always too many episodes felt contrived and without consequence which annoys me to no end, but i think the god trials are a pretty good plot, and the emotional throughline of it was well done too. it had some good brother bonding and even some character development for them both: i love that sam and dean started the season so far apart and reaffirmed their undying love for each other in the end. it felt cohesive and well thought out.

imo the god trials should have started sooner. like, way sooner. getting to mid-season was a drag, and there was nothing acting like glue holding the storyline together for far too long. i really like what they did with benny and i will always love him and miss him (rip king) but i think conjoining the amelia/benny drama and the god trials would have been a better option. add some more trials in there or something idk, just give the show a leg to stand on.

but really i am actually genuinely impressed with how they handled benny. i think paralleling him with amelia was a smart choice, and it gave the entire season and undercurrent of tension between sam and dean that provided just enough oomph to make the finale hit hard.

and yeah the finale was good! actually i think the last three episodes were all pretty dang good. i had prepared myself to critique the angel trials in this write-up, particularly for being crammed in at the end, but i ended up really enjoying how that came to fruition, and the speed of it gave a particular tension and urgency to it that helped carry the resolution in the finale really well. i'd forgotten about the little twist ending, so i was pleasantly surprised!

thinking about it now, i think probably what made this season so difficult to watch was because too many episodes interrupted the momentum of the story. you have some cool trial episodes which are done pretty well and have a lot of tension, and then you follow that with... a random, unrelated filler episode. and that really does kill the mood, more so in this season than in 6-7 because 6-7 didn't really have very tense or coherent plots to begin with. there was nothing grasping my attention fully, so the plotty episodes and the filler episodes were more or less equals—not the case here. going from 100 to 0 every other episode was like breaking all the bones in my body with a wrench. seriously.

but i'm not gonna lie, the finale was so exciting and so well done that i'm almost tempted to start season 9 just to see the fallout of all that. SUPER excited about human castiel, i've been waiting for this moment since i started my rewatch. and finally sam and dean are un-divorced again. and isn't the mark of cain plot in season 9??? i remember enjoying that. i think. finally dean gets his time in the spotlight (suffering unimaginable horrors), thank god.

but i know objectively i need to take a break, so i'm gonna watch at least one season of hannibal next i believe. i keep getting torn between hannibal and black sails and then cursing myself for not watching hannibal when it was first airing, like an idiot. either way season 9 will have to wait for a little bit while i detox. holy shit.

#liveblogging: supernatural #hallelujah #.txt #spn reviews

[azol-otl]

So I was rewatching season two of Young Justice (because I only kept up with the show while it was on television and it not existing for years meant I didn’t bother going back to it) and it seems like I still share my opinion from way back then.

Why did they use Tim and Cassie?

Like, don’t get me wrong it makes sense that a show called Young Justice would have them, but the show was already nothing like the comic. YJ!Superboy is nothing like comics!Superboy and he’s the only core member of the actual Young Justice comics to have been in season one. The show’s core cast has two gen one sidekicks, a gen three sidekick, a gen four (??? things get muddled as hell in the 2000s), a gen five sidekick, and a bit villainess. They are literally an elseworld.

Not only that, but Tim and Cassie were...pretty much non-characters during the season. Despite the time given to them, they weren’t very important to the overall arc and were wasted potential.

But you know who wouldn’t have been? Jason and Donna.

We already know the characters exist in universe. We see Jason’s memorial.

This is an unnecessary aside, but I am so sick of Jason’s death being the only thing we see of him in elseworlds. Even the ones where he’s alive they’re always like “And he’s evil because he was poor!” Like bitch do you not understand how to create a tragedy? You don’t just give us sad events you have to get us attached to the character first. This is a cartoon! It has a much wider audience than a comic! They won’t know major comic references because they are not informed! Why would the grotto scene work if we never met these people! Get us attached and then kill them off!

 But there is no point in knowing these characters exist if you don’t use them (or at least cameo them if they’re really niche), but with these two specifically they could have done something really interesting.

 They could have been Red Herrings.

Jason and Donna have both died in the comics. Their deaths were majorly important events to their respective IP’s (Batman and Titans). Not only that, but we already have Bart coming back in time to save a third person who had famously died, Barry Allen.

We know that Bart came back in time to stop the apocalypse. We know something happens to Jaime that turns him evil. We’re led to believe that Artemis dies (something that rocks Bart to the core because she didn’t die in his timeline). So we would suspect that Jason and Donna would be the first in line to die.

The Young Justice writers could even play into their reputations with what’s already present. They could have made Jason and Jaime (who are the same age in this universe) close friends. This could be used to give Bart anxiety because Jason, again, famously gets murdered as Robin and Jaime is supposed to become evil.

Hell if they made Jason take Tim’s place during the infiltration there would have been some serious investment when original Roy purposefully explodes shit and they fight Black Beetle because one of these characters has a history of being murdered. 

I would also like to push my YJ crackship of BlueJay (Jaime/Jason) because I am trash and will forever push Jason being queer.

Or with Mongul (who Jason has a major story with) you can push Jason almost dying again. And it would be through betrayal from someone who’s supposed to love you, just like in DitF. (Imagine the scene where Nightwing finds the batarang when you know that there’s a real possibility that this is how Jason dies in this universe).

On Donna’s end you can have her take more and more responsibilities after Artemis dies and she starts becoming more of Dick’s second in command with a penchant of shoving herself in front of attacks because she can survive things that others cannot (because Artemis “died” via stabbing and if you had Donna there, whoo boy that’s some guilt). So when the Bialya mission occurs and it’s the all-girls team (the all-girls team with two very squishy humans Barbara and Karen), they could just bring in a larger threat than the henchmen that are there then hey there’s more conflict and fear for comic fans. And again in Warworld where she can be fighting against Mongul and guess what there’s another squishy human there, Roy. Instead of being immediately knocked out she could have taken a blow for Roy.

Side Note: When Nightwing explains why it’s an all girl’s team being sent to Bialya (way to assume everyone’s straight Dick), Donna can have a snarky line like, “And Robin isn’t here why?”

For extra extra angst you can have both Jason and Donna reacting negatively to Artemis’ “death” and reaching out to Wally because of it. Jason because both he and Artemis are from the same place and have a similar prickliness that comes from how they were raised (we could have had an Artemis-Jason sibling bond and it would have been great), and his fury that someone who “got out” still died a violent death. Donna because of the guilt of Artemis dying but also because she’d be closer in age to Wally and Artemis so making them be friends just makes sense. And by putting more of the focus on their grief and Wally’s guilt the writers could expertly tie Wally into the “could possibly die” camp without making the audience worry about it.

And with everything that happens. With the two obvious targets somehow alive throughout the season, they still “kill” Wally West. All of the foreshadowing about sacrifice. All of the remarks about not being reckless (because this is still DC and they love blaming Jason’s death on himself). All of the near-deaths, it ends up being the person you don’t expect and it hits harder because of it (except for all the people who watched JLU who had pinged Wally dying pretty early on in the season) .

But yeah. If they were going through the trouble of confirming these characters exist, why not use them for the narrative?

#I can't believe I'm talking about Young Justice a whole ass decade after I stopped watching it #I like a lot of what Young Justice did and am really impressed by how many characters they shoved into it. #But there's a point where it's too much too quickly and they hit that pretty fast #Like I love cameos but I love the characters I like being utilized more #Me at Red Hooded Ninja: I love him and I want to know more about him #Show: How about we just give cameos about him and never utilize his potential #I get that a lot of people wanted the Core Four in YJ but wouldn't it be better if they actually had the chance to shine individually #instead of being shoved into a side role #Young Justice Cartoon #Jason Todd #Donna Troy #Sorry Donna fans I did talk about her but feel free to ignore this post

[fandom-susceptible]

Supernatural Rewatch Liveblog S1E5 Bloody Mary

These guys really just park and sleep anywhere huh.

I'm so fond of Dean. You kind of expect him to be the "bury your emotions" manly man type at first but even this early, he keeps checking on Sam's mental and emotional state. The caretaking is so strong with this boy. man. god he starts the series at 26, I keep forgetting because Jensen's so baby-faced compared to later.

(brief side note, Jensen Ackles played Dean Winchester for so damn long he rolled out of bed forgetting he wasn't the character and has lines on his face from Dean's expressions instead of his own. You really cannot blame him for wanting out at the end of the series, even if it meant a shitty ending.)

Sam was actually pretty good with Lily (the little girl) when they talked at her dad's wake, and I'm just really soft because he was doing the same thing with her that Dean did with the kid from episode 3.

You know it really hits sometimes that these men are seriously psychopaths, standing around listening to people talk about these horrific deaths and murders and just not even twitching about it.

Why did they tear off the paper on the back of the painting? It. There's pegs on those. they could just remove it like normal humans and leave less of a trace.

Why the hell is Sam like "same handprint" about the bloody handprint? It's. A smeared bloody handprint? of course it looks the fucking same.

I love the effects of them driving with the fake background. The lighting isn't even right. Does it stay this bad?? I don't remember it being this bad.

It hurts me that Dean was so willing to be just like do it, blame me, hate me, make it my fault, just don't blame yourself about the Jessica shit.

Why didn't they just steal the mirror? So there wouldn't be other ones for Mary to hide in? And they wouldn't be hanging around for the security to come find?

Dean getting that action hero punch to the mirror got me though, fuck I love him.

Can we also talk about Sam being all maudlin, oh I have to do this, I'm the one with a secret where someone died, it's all about Jessica. And Dean too, Dean believed this! You idiots. You literally live in secrets where so many people died. Dean cannot have told every single story of every single hunt where someone died while Sam was away. Literally either of you could have done this, it is not a surprise she could target both of you.

They smashed so much glass for this episode.

"This gotta be like what, 600 years bad luck?" about 15 and then you die.

They should have been pulled over so much for sheer bad driving.

"There's some things I need to keep to myself." Sam says, thus condemning them to like three more seasons of insanity with him and his fucking curse when they could have started dealing with it right now.

#Supernatural #Supernatural Commentary #Supernatural season 1 #spn s1 e5 #dean winchester #sam winchester #supernatural jessica #sorry idk how to page cut #long post

[liketheletter-l]

Do you have a favourite episode of community or any thoughts on the series? I saw you reblog a post earlier about it and there aren’t a lot of opportunities to talk about one of my favourite autism shows

OH MY GOD. OKAY

i can't even pretend i'm normal about community even a little bit, it's literally seared into my brain and is a permanent part of my personality. my sister @inalienable-wright and i are working on ranking all 110 episodes (she literally coded a program so that instead of having to work with every episode, it presents us with two at a time and we just pick which one's better, it's really fucking cool)

the question of a Favorite Episode is really complicated to me, because i could think of at least fifteen off the top of my head that make me about the same amount of Deliriously Happy so here are some, in no particular order:

2x21 Paradigms of Human Memory

3x19 Curriculum Unavailable

3x04 Remedial Chaos Theory (duh)

3x05 Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps

2x14 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

2x08 Cooperative Calligraphy

1x10 Comparative Religion

1x19 Beginner Pottery

2x06 Epidemiology

2x15 Early 21st Century Romanticism

3x01 Biology 101

2x01 Anthropology 101

3x07 Studies in Modern Movement

1x17 Physical Education

1x07 Introduction to Statistics

6x01 Ladders

rambling thoughts about the series as a whole under the cut:

As you can see i obviously like seasons 1-3 more, and honestly if i kept listing favorite episodes from those seasons it would go on and on, because s2 and s3 esp are just ALL-STAR seasons (with a few exceptions, obvs. 2x18 and 2x20 come to mind for instant skips)

that being said, i liked seasons 4-6 fine. s4 isn't necessarily the level of absolute dogshit everyone says, but it was indeed bland compared to the vivid colorful witty hijinks of s1-3. it's hard to pinpoint because you're mostly noticing the ABSENCE of something; most of the actual episodes aren't Bad, but they just don't compare to the seasons before.

season 5 has a lot of good material that i can't rewatch Or i will literally fucking die. G.I. Jeff is a fucking masterpiece imo, geothermal goes without saying, Advanced Advanced DnD & the meowmeowbeenz episode were both funny as fuck, the ass crack bandit ep was gold, and most of the other episodes are solid. it's just Sad. there's just an incredibly melancholy and depressing tinge to the entire season and it makes me fucking SAD

season 6 i found very fun because i love frankie and elroy, but most of the episodes are too goddamn tragic to even rewatch just because it just feels hollow. there are some very funny parts of the season! but overall, it felt like they were trying to cram in the usual amount of hijinks, when really they only had 13 episodes to give these characters a satisfying send-off, and it ends up just leaving jeff and britta in particular at a STARTLINGLY low point to close out the entire series. i watched 6x13 at about 4am the morning before an exam and i cried so hard i started dry heaving to be honest

the only way i can watch the first three seasons is by pretending everything after the s3 finale straight-up Doesn't exist. i believe that the showrunners did (mostly) the best they could with the string of production disaster after production disaster post-season 3, but the ending is simply So fucking tragic.

our beautiful codependent insane found family that we've spent 3 seasons watching become closer and care for each other and get into trouble together just slowly, painfully gets picked off one by one. it's not even a clean break it's an Agonizing decay. i have to try very hard not to let it sour the rest of the series for me.

This is why we write fanfiction though! (i do wish there was more content focused on the study group as a whole rather than just trobed, but such is life) you should definitely DEFINITELY check out my sister's writing here because her community fic is fantastic

overall i think this show is one of the best ever made & i literally cannot express in words Just how close it is to my soul. it is inside my heart. it is literally part of me (im normal)

PLEASE HIT ME UP TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#community #Im normal im so fucking normal i promise #letter chat #thanks for asking! #asks

[livlepretre]

So another almost three hour video about TVD was made, and I started watching it because I never learn my lesson apparently. I agreed and disagreed in some places throughout the video, but at around the 59:00 minute mark, I lost my mind. I recommend you watch this small section (59:00-1:00:00) about the history of Doppelgängers. I agree with his overall point about why the Silas and Amara thing makes no sense, but he leads up to it by trying to explain what the show’s original doppelgänger mythology was before season 4 and 5. “Why does Klaus need the blood of the doppelgänger? I don’t know, and I don’t think the writers know either.” This infuriates me because I think the doppelgänger lore up until season 4 was very well put together. The same criticism was present in Jenny Nicholson’s video last year. I recommend rewatching (16:09-17:29) for full context. However, while talking about the Doppelgänger lore, she says, “And then in the spin off show, we find out that Elena and Katherine had another Doppelgänger whose name is Tatia. This adds nothing of value. It’s just one of those things that happens.” This implies that during her rewatch, Jenny missed Tatia’s backstory as well, and therefore, was not able to understand how the doppelgänger mythology fits into the narrative. I would have made a Tumblr post about this myself, but I wanted an opinion from you as well as all the other lovely doppelgänger lore lovers that typically interact on this blog. Why do you think so many people don’t understand the doppelgänger mythology? I know Tatia wasn’t mentioned a crazy amount in season 2 and 3, but her backstory fully explains why Klaus needs her blood to break the curse, and then later on, to make hybrids. Does anyone have any opinions or hot takes surrounding this topic??

whhhyyyyyyyyyyyyy do you insist on torrtttuurrrirnnnggg me with these videos you know they drive me insaaaaaaaaaane

also how did you make it 59 minutes in I would have melted into a puddle and just DIED

I agree with you that actually the doppelganger lore holds up until Amara is introduced; however, I think that the main issue is 1) a lot of these people making these videos are not actually hyperfixated on tvd the way we in fandom are and so miss big details/don't remember them because it's not haunting them and also I think watching a show week to week allows the viewers to assimilate information far more deeply than those who watch it marathon style because we simply had longer to absorb it and build on our knowledge base little by little as opposed to cramming it and 2) the doppelganger stuff isn't really SPELLED OUT, it's just that if you put some thought into it in terms of how TVD magic works it all makes sense (at least, I think so)

My basic take on the doppelganger thing is this:

Let's assume that Tatia WAS NOT a doppelganger but was the OG girl with that face. She gets used in the original blood magic to create vampires because basically Esther and Mikael have a personal grudge against her for tearing their sons apart/sleeping with both of them (/who cares that Tatia's fatal flaw is her polyamory?)

So. Klaus may be an untriggered werewolf, but once he gets turned into a vampire he cannot be both a werewolf and a vampire. The werewolf curse gets sublimated beneath the vampire curse. This all holds up so long as we ignore the retcon/incoherent and inherently flawed additional backstory that Klaus triggered his werewolf curse post-vampire curse and then an additional binding curse was laid on him by his mother. That makes no sense because TVD initially lays out very clearly that an entity can only be one type of supernatural being, and certain transformations negate previous states of being (for example, a witch who becomes a vampire is no longer a witch, and a doppelganger who becomes a vampire is no longer, mystically speaking, a doppelganger). So let's assume that the original timeline on Klaus is that he is a human with untriggered werewolf curse and potentially/probably untapped witch ability when he is turned into a vampire.

Now. The MOST KEY idea in TVD magic system is that Nature requires Balance. Call this the #1 Law of the Universe. Magic works basically by following this concept, and anything that breaks with this leads to breakdown in the universe and Very Bad Things Happening. Witches are Servants of Nature (I think this is literally stated in the show at some point) and part of their job is to strike this balance. Notice Good Witches use Spirit Magic which seems to keep the Balance, whereas Bad Witches use things like Expression which seem to take and take without giving, and look where that leads.

So, we have a curse, which has turned the Mikhailovich Mikaelson children into vampires. But part of there being a balance is that there must be a way to undo that curse, and specifically there must be a way to unlock Klaus's werewolf side. This is what generates the doppelgangers. The loophole demanded by the curse/spell so that the Balance can be maintained. I would argue that part of the curse Esther laid on her children was to generate the doppelgangers-- even if this was an unintended consequence. Or maybe she chose Tatia as her victim not just for revenge but because she assumed Klaus would be unable to go through with ritually sacrificing a woman who bore the face of his beloved.

The whole thing with the doppelgangers is that they're not just physically identical either-- they're metaphysically identical. Not reincarnations, but uncanny duplicates of Tatia. Identical face, identical personality, identical soul (but not shared-- just identical)-- just different experiences causing them to behave differently. (That's why Katherine is such an alarming warning of Elena's future-- she's exactly who Elena will be if she keeps going down the road the early seasons set for her.) This exact identicalness is necessary in order for them to be interchangeable in the sacrifice that breaks Klaus's curse.

Now, here is where it gets interesting. Nature/Balance may have demanded Katherine and Elena's existence, but their blood has a pretty wild characteristic-- as far as I can tell, the special property of their blood that allows Klaus to break the curse and become a hybrid, and then later to create the other hybrids, is that their blood can override the need for Balance and basically rewrite the rules for magic/reality. It's really, really wild.

Anyway, the show never bothers to state any of this, and most of this is conjecture based on overthinking this, but it also all follows until Amara/various retcons make it impossible. TVD's greatest weakness is that the writers don't know how to let good storytelling lie, and instead keep expanding and changing some great ideas until they're actually just awful or too convoluted to make sense. And that's how we get Stefan and Elena's vampire blood being used as doppelganger blood, and our good friend Tom the doppelganger who is apparently Stefan's descendant I guess.

Anyone else feel free to jump in with their thoughts on this!

#the snow star #asks #petrova doppelgangers #tvd meta