#the originals season 2 was just.......bane of my existence

[navree]

I think it is very funny (and by funny I mean infuriating and appalling) that people's reactions to a mother being terrified to death for her children's lives is "boohoo Alicent is stupid!" and not "poor thing, that's not how a mother should be made to feel by HER OWN FAMILY"

This is such a problem with literally any TV show or movie, which is that people forget that we are an omnipotent audience. We see everything, we know everything, we are the only people involved in the story that have complete and utter control over all of the information of the story. None of the other characters do, and that's why they make the decisions they do, and if they seem somewhat nonsensical to us that's because we know everything and they don't.

(seriously, as someone who was in The Originals fandom for a time, season 2 was the hardest time to be Hayley fan when half the audience forgot that her decisions made total sense if you just looked at the information she had access to, not all the information of the entire story.)

Alicent's information is this: 1) Rhaenyra lied to her (lies by omission count as lies), and then 2) appears to have leveraged those lies to strip away the last of Alicent's support as well as anyone partial to her children's place in the line of succession. 3) Rhaenyra is then callous enough to drive a man to suicide and, in the process, get another man killed, with no outward remorse. 4) Over the next ten years Rhaenyra commits at best a huge social faux-pas and at worse an outright treason and 5) the products of that treason are cruel to her own sons which Rhaenyra has done nothing to stop (or really do anything to bridge any gap in their relationship) until 6) she proposes the Jace/Helaena marriage, which just looks like an attempt to take Alicent's only daughter hostage when you have an uncharitable view of her. 7) Rhaenyra then does nothing about her son maiming Alicent's and in fact 8) demands that Aemond be tortured for having eyes that can see and 9) vocally approves the plan to maim Alicent's son and Alicent herself for also having eyes that can see, because it helps her succession and that of her sons. And the coup de grace is in 10) Alicent seeing Rhaenyra murder her husband so she can marry who she wants and gather more strength to her side.

That is all the information Alicent has on Rhaenyra as heir to the throne. That she is callous, thoughtless, bloodthirsty in the pursuit of getting what she wants, uncaring towards others, with the capacity towards coldblooded murder to anyone who gets in her way (and who are in her way? Alicent's Targaryen children, especially Alicent's firstborn Targaryen son), and no remorse or thought to consequence for anything she does. Of course, we, the audience, see things from more than just Rhaenyra's point of view, we know that her thoughtlessness is borne out of being sheltered, that she's lighthearted and playful, that she is genuinely just trying to find love within the confines of an incompatible marriage, that the faults in her relationship with Daemon lie with Daemon as the adult and senior figure, that her attempts to reach out are genuine, that she's held the best belief in Alicent for a long time ("I do not believe Alicent is capable of cold blooded murder") that she did not murder Laenor, and that she has no intention of hurting Alicent or her kids and genuinely wants to be a good ruler and pass down the Targaryen legacy/Song of Ice and Fire (whether she can be a good ruler is debatable at best, and also God I hate the stupid prophecy fuck it so hard).

So to the audience, yeah Alicent's reactions can seem irrational, but most people with basic competence and understanding of storytelling can also understand that the impression we have of the story is something no one else in universe does, it's why I'm also willing to give grace to Rhaenyra for sometimes thinking the worst of Alicent because she doesn't have access to the information that we do.

But let's be real, ASOIAF/GOT/F&B/HOTD and all adjacent fandoms have been horrifically toxic and misogynistic, a mindset that extends far beyond characters and even to the actors, no matter which side of certain debates you fall under (yes this is a fandom wide callout I've seen all teams be gross as Hell), as I'm of the belief that insulting Matt Smith's looks and harassing his mother is in fact just as bad as bullying Emily Carey off Twitter, and relentlessly castigating Sophie Turner for no reason including when she was a child is in fact just as bad as mocking Emilia Clarke's brain injuries, this shouldn't be controversial. So I'm not surprised that this toxicity exists towards the character, and there's a lack of understanding in how yeah, Alicent should not be made to feel that her children are in active danger due to the actions of not just their sister but also their literal father, her husband (and that the worsening of the relationship post-Driftmark is entirely on Team Black for not doing anything to make amends for what happened to Aemond whatsoever and refusing to even be contrite years after the fact, Vhagar eating Luke was too merciful for him I said what I said).

A lot of the people who think this way are mostly casual watchers, or just really die-hard Team Black Twitter stans, so we can at least take comfort in the fact that most people with media literacy, whether they be regular fans or even critics, are more willing to extend Alicent the grace she deserves, and us Greenies can stan her hard enough to power a major metropolis in the meantime.

#personal #answered #anonymous #yeah this isn't an hotd specific issue unfortunately enough #the originals season 2 was just.......bane of my existence #'hayley's so evil for running away with hope' klaus confessed to murdering her friend for no reason (and when he didn't even! he's stupid!) #after a year of him bullying her and trying to railroad her every decision and being an asshole to her #after already having a thousand year old reputation of being a remorseless monster #like yeah no shit she eventually decided to cut and run with her kid #the information she had was that this guy was toxic as hell and couldn't be trusted around her or her child #it's only because we saw more than just her pov that we understood where klaus was coming from #i mean god i don't think anyone on the internet understands the concept of POINT OF VIEW #like you know how in the books we the audience know the lannisters are shits but in the first one sansa doesn't in her pov #because she's a child and she doesn't have the information we do about how bad they are #or how dany tends to refer to her marriage to drogo as a love story when we the audience with a modern lens and viewpoint are like uhhhhhhh #god people are dumb

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

It occurs to me that since I originally intended for The Hedgehog's Dilemma to be a one-shot and never updated the summary when it started spawning new chapters (and I'm not going to. Summaries are the bane of my existence) no one else actually knows what chapter 3 is about. Since I'm awake at 5:30 in the morning thanks to this migraine, I'm going to sort-of-but-not-quite explain it by instead explaining why chapter 3 exists in the first place.

There's basically two interconnected sides to this: the Roy side and the Jamie side. On the Roy side, we have a conversation which takes place around the middle of chapter 1 when they're driving from Manchester to London: Jamie asks why Roy is helping him, and Roy says it's because he's intrinsically deserving of help just by being a person. This is the thesis statement of the fic, and also my thesis statement for like. life in general (socialism? in my Ted Lasso fanfic? It's more likely than you think!) but I wasn't sure if I should actually include that line since it's not something Roy believes about himself, particularly at the point where THD is set near the end of season 1. But then I was like, Roy's not above being a hypocrite. So when I decided there was going to be a chapter 2 to wrap up some of the lose ends in Jamie's story arc (confirming that he stays at Richmond, reuniting with his mom), I figured I could have a nice closed circle moment with the whole "you deserve help automatically because you're a person" thing, this time from Jamie to Roy, in the epilogue of chapter 2.

If you have read THD, you may remember that there is not an epilogue to chapter 2. This is because it mutated into chapter 3. The basic idea of that epilogue was that it would take place after 1x10 and is about Jamie taking care of Roy after he fucks up his knee and has to retire, because at that point it was pretty much guaranteed to happen even if in this AU it obviously doesn't happen tackling Jamie (who isn't playing in the match since he's still on loan from Man City). But obviously if you set something in 1x10 and that something is a fanfic about Jamie's relationship with his dad, you have to deal with the James Tartt Sr. of it all. So I was thinking about how Jamie would deal with his dad 1) coming to London to watch the Man City v. Richmond game, and 2) finding out that he's transferring teams. Thinking about it eventually produced a 13-point outline and partway through that I was like... hmm. Maybe this isn't an epilogue. Maybe this is just another chapter, and thus chapter 3 was born. (Chapter 3 also has an epilogue but this one is actually an epilogue and not secretly an extra chapter).

#fic: the hedgehog's dilemma #ted lasso fanfic #jamie tartt #roy kent #sorry for rambling about my fic in the character tags. it will probably happen again #kvetch oc

[heartofspells]

Okay, I have to know if YOU is like the show You. Tell me more, tell me more. 👀👀

Ooooooh. You know, it is exactly like the show. Well, not exactly, but based on it. It's going to be funnnnn.

This was originally @narcissa-black-supermacy's (the bane of my existence, i love her) idea. She's somehow conned me into writing it and I'm still trying to figure out how. I suspect witchcraft or hypnotism but I can't prove it.

We're basically working with season 2 here with Remus as Joe (because he's got that perfect Joe energy), Sirius as Love, and James as Forty. And it all fits so perfectly that I can't hardly stand it. We've also got Lily/Mary worked into it, Harry, Gideon, Benjy. Just...soooo many people planted in. There will be murder and passion and doubt and GAH. My head hasn't shut up for a week now, someone HELP.

Here's a snippet of a quickly written scene I jotted on my phone at work the other day:

--

“Ultimately, the decision’s up to the boss, but I dunno. You seem like the all right sort to me.”

I don’t remember asking you, but thanks for the seal of approval. 

“The job’s mainly just answering the phone, typing on a computer, feeding the ones that stay longer than half the day. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or you’ve got some deeply seeded hatred of animals, I don’t see there being much of an issue. He typically takes my opinions.”

Brilliant. My employment rests in the hands of a twitchy imbecile that can’t close his mouth for three seconds. 

“Great,” voices Remus, plastering on a smile as he stands, reaching out for James’ hand who eyes it speculatively for a few seconds, as though he’s not sure what to do with it before he takes it in a firm grip. “What’s next, then?”

“He’ll call you,” informs James, removing his fingers quickly, sounding dismissive. “Just keep your phone on. See ya.”

Send me an ask about a WIP!

#you #wip game #wip ask game #ask #answer #snippet #my writing #holli writes

[formulaorange]

2022 Summer Anime Reviews

Man this season has felt like an eternity. Even though there were a couple solid series nothing has really stuck. Maybe since 90% of them are sequels (which have become the bane of my existence).

Made in Abyss - Season 2 - 12 Episodes This has been a long awaited sequel. I only recently watched the first season a few weeks before this aired so I don't have the long term hype of some fans but I found I was still kind of disappointed. The story was cool and the art of course was amazing but I just found that the adventure aspect from the first season was missing this time round. Likely since the whole story was around the village and didn't progress deeper into the abyss. It made it feel like this was more of a detour than part of the original story and I wasn't really a fan. I also felt that they really tried to hard with the gore in the second half and a lot of it felt unnecessary. This season just wasn't it for me, but then again, I never felt like I would drop it either. 7.5/10 - Good+

Call of the Night - 13 Episodes This series had a lot of hype from the manga readers. And I just don't get it. The animations were pretty and there were some solid vibes but in the end I felt that the plot wasn't enough for me and I wasn't really attached to any of the characters. Maybe the manga has a different appeal but the anime wasn't for me. 6.5/10 - Fine+

Lycoris Recoil - 13 Episodes It feels like a special treat when we actually get a new concept for a show. I really loved Chisato's personality and the action was always interesting. While I don't feel that this show stood out a whole lot, I still genuinely enjoyed watching it especially as the stakes started rising in the latter half. Also - If you're curious about the animation studio that'll be in charge of Solo Leveling, this is a good show to reference the quality of their recent works. (A-1 Pictures) 8/10 - Great

Links for the top series of the season: Summer Time Render Aoashi

The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting - 12 Episodes This show was honestly so wholesome. I love the character designs with all my heart and I wish we had more content for this series. 8/10 - Great

Isekai Pharmacy - 12 Episodes I actually didn't start this series until all the episodes were out but I was honestly surprised. It's actually a really decent isekai. The focus is much more about medicine and patient care than the isekai factor. I enjoyed the scenarios that happened in each episode and the series ended up being a super easy going watch. 7.5/10 - Good+ Vermeil In Gold - 12 Episodes This series wasn't half bad. I liked the general idea and the characters. I just really don't understand why they couldn't make Alto, idk, not a child??? It really wouldn't be that hard... Just very uncomfy with his age.. 6/10 - Fine Shadows House - Season 2 - 12 Epsiodes It's been a while since we had a decent "horror" or dark series and I think its a really nice change of pace from other series airing this season. Not sure what it is about second seasons though, it doesn't have the same appeal and it doesn't feel like there's a significant amount of progression this season. Still a decent show and concept but nothing that stood out too much. Also ended on a really weird note. 6/10 - Fine

Orient - Cour 2 - Final 12 of 24 Episodes The first half of this series wasn't great. Really didn't stand out at all, but I did feel that this half has been more interesting. That being said, I still put off watching it and wasn't really invested. (That being said, I really enjoyed the last episode.) 6.5/10 - Fine+ Danmachi S4 (Is it Wrong to Try To Pick up Girls in a Dungeon) - 11 Episodes This is somewhat of a guilty pleasure show for me. I know it's really not all that great but I can't help but feel invested in the characters, even now that's it's completely moved away from the whole greek god familes concept. In the end though, this was yet another sequel season that felt that it didn't really progress the story very much. They're still on the same floor and it ended with a massive cliffhanger but I felt that I'd be ok leaving the show where it is and not watching another season if it continues. 6/10 - Fine

Couple of Cuckoos - 24 Episodes I can't believe I even watched as much as I did for this show. I had such high hopes for the first episodes, literally until the last 3 minutes where it became a sis-con harem and my faith in romance series was shattered again. That kinda stuff just isn't my vibe and I'm getting real sick of it. That's 2 for this season alone. I watched 17/24 episodes. It's just not that great. Unfortunately everything else this season was also mid so I kept watching this but with the new Winter anime season coming, I'm giving up on this so I don't burn out. 5/10 - Average Uncle from Another World I had a hard time with this show. I liked the initial idea of using isekai powers in the real world but it started turning to just looking at how the Uncle constantly fucked up and struggled in the isekai world. It ended up being pretty cringe and the story didn't really evolve past the initial appeal - I made it 7 episodes in and it doesn't look like it's ending until the winter season so I'm dropping it. 4/10 - Bad Black Summoner - 12 Episodes I dropped this after episode 2 when the cgi came into play. I'm just not a fan. Continued it after all the other shows ended. Story was mid, animations were standard isekai. Never got attached to any of the characters but for some reason the battle music went hard. 4/10 - Bad

This season had a lot of brutal shows on it too that I didn't end up completing. Here's the list and a quick reason: My Isekai Life - Nothing special, just another standard isekai My Stepmom's Daughter is my Ex - Just not into that kinda thing When Will Ayumu Make his move - Watched 4 episodes and got bored. The Maid I hired Recently is Mysterious - Real yikes... that's it Classroom of the Elite S2 - I wasn't a huge fan of the first season and didn't make it past 1 episode of the second. Devil as a Part-Timer S2 - I enjoyed the first season but found the animation quality and the overall story really deteriorated in the second. Made it 4 episodes in. Link to the Fall 2022 Watch List

#anime #new anime #2022 anime #2022 summer anime #made in abyss season 2 #made in abyss #lycoris recoil #anime review #anime rating #call of the night #yofukashi no uta #shadow's house #orient anime #danmachi #is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? #uncle from another world #the yakuza's guide to babysitting #ao ashi #summer time rendering #couple of cuckoos #kakkou no iinazuke #black summoner #vermeil in gold #kinsou no vermeil #my stepmom's daughter is my ex #mamahaha no tsurego ga motokano datta #when will ayumu make his move? #the maid i hired recently is mysterious #parallel world pharmacy #isekai yakkyoku

[thimbil]

Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.

So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.

Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.

So who is?

Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.

Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?

Hunter

Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.

Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.

Crosshair

The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.

In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.

Wrecker

In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.

You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.

Tech

Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.

And finally,

Echo

Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.

The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.

So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.

But they didn’t do that.

So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.

The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.

Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)

None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.

This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.

Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.

#star wars #the bad batch #unwhitewashtbb #wrecker #crosshair #tech #hunter #echo

[blue-kyber]

Some are saying that Boba is becoming a side character to his own show.  I don’t think so.  What I see happening is that we’re getting the slow-burn setup for a much better payoff. And it’s made out of pieces that we can’t put together yet. Which I Love, because that is how I write. You wonder how the heck something is going to make sense or fit, or why it even exists, or that it’s a pointless tangent, and then toward the end you’re like, “Oh yeah. It’s all coming together.”

We’ve had 2 very amazing episodes that have had me squealing like a toddler on a sugar high in pure excitement. This is Star Wars to me. And I love it. 

What these 6 episodes gives us are a lot of strings from different directions pulling in toward the center to intertwine and become one massive space yarn ball. Or... Spaceball, if you will. 

Din’s journey with the darksaber and Grogu is setting up for season 3 - we know that - and we know he came back to help Boba Fett, because when Fennec Shand tossed him credits to become muscle against the Pikes, he tossed it back saying “It’s on the house” but that he needed to go see Grogu first. 

I think his new super sweet souped up Naboo starfighter (chef’s kiss to Pelli) will come in handy in the fight against the Pike syndicate. 

Bringing Cobb Vanth in and having IT’S CAD BANE, MOTHER FUCKER! show up, be Cad Bane, shoot him and walk away, being Cad Bane, brings the people of Freetown (Mos Pelgo) into the fight. 

If Din learns how to use the Darksaber, he can use that against them as well. 

AND if the 50 year old baby Grogu decides to go back home to dad, he’ll still have hundreds of years to train. He doesn’t have to start everything right now. Luke gave him his ‘out’ when he said “A short time for you is a lifetime for someone else.” HE. WAS TALKING. ABOUT. DIN. 

He’s talking in riddles just like Yoda used to, which might not be the best choice for a 50 year old child. Oh, Luke, you beautiful himbo and my very first crush in life. (The deep fake is looking a lot better on this one. I wonder if they got that guy from the video where their team made a better deepfake than Disney did. I know being Luke would make that guy’s whole life. I love the fact that he still sounds like Luke. If they can do this with Luke, they can do this with Han and Leia. I don’t want to hear sass back from any of you. GIVE ME MY ORIGINAL TWINS AND SMUGGLER BAE. Alden Ehrenreich already said he’s up for playing Han again. I mean... yes, please. More Alden as Han, please.)

Grogu has training already, and Luke began unlocking that with his memories of order 66. (Poor little guy! 3 Jedi defended him to the death and now I’m crying in this Chili’s.) He can stand to wait a little bit. He can even choose to go back to Luke when he and Mandodad are ready. 

With Ahsoka coming into it, we get a setup for the Ahsoka series. 

All of these threads that seem like off-track paths are really the seeds planted for a long-term (hopefully) satisfying ending. And perhaps all of these shows will be merged into one so we can follow the lives of all of these characters in different episodes. 

These are all cogs in a clock we can’t see running yet. Filoni and Favreau gave us The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Rebels. Of course there were some bad episodes (every series has bad episodes. It’s a fact of life you just have to accept). But their track record so far has more good than harm. I gotta trust them.

AND WHERE’S MY SPACE SON, FILONI?!?! WHERE’S EZRA?!   (I’m seeing this also being tied into the Ahsoka series where we have these episodes to call back to for references.) 

Oh, and if anyone noticed in these episodes, we heard the old familiar themes of the Force, Yoda’s, and Luke’s. And if anyone ever noticed, the tail ending of the theme song for TBOBF has the minor 2nd that’s prevalent in Han’s theme from “SOLO.” I love that.

#star wars #the book of boba fett #The mandalorian #hot take #it's not a mess. We just don't see the full picture yet. It's all coming together. #I'M CALLING IT NOW. #You heard it here first my friends.

[haikyuuwaifu]

Miss Independent

Genre: Crack, Humor, Drama, NSFW, Mild Angst

Warnings: Swearing

MASTERLIST

THE ONE WITH THE CHARITY GALA| THE ONE WITH THE CHARITY GALA 2

THE ONE WITH THE CHARITY GALA 2

Y/N’s body tensed as yet another “patron” slid their hand too far down her back as they greeted her. Before she could turn around and snap that man’s hand off, a voice interrupted her. “If you want to keep that hand Mr. Yamada, I suggest you remove it from my friends person.” Kenma muttered, voice cold and eyes empty of any emotion. “Kozume! I didn’t know you were friends with Miss. Y/N” the older, heftier man chortled; his belly heaving heavily as he laughed. Y/N found her self completely disgusted at his attempted display of male dominance. 

Suna slid next to her and wrapped his hand around her wrist tugging her closer to him. “I was just talking to her about some charity work I was doing with the kids.” Mr. Yamada stated, eyes trailing up and down her figure. “I wanted to introduce her to my son Hiro. He’s around here somewhere.” he muttered looking around; trying to spot him. “Yes well, I don’t think she’s interested in meeting your son h-” before Kenma can finish his sentence, Hiro Yamada barreled his way through the guests and in front of his father. 

“Hiro! This is Y/N, L/N. She’s a newly minted millionaire! Why don’t the two of you get to know each other yes? I’d like to discuss some business with Kozume here.” Mr. Yamada boomed waving his son towards Y/N. Hiro swept his gaze up and down her body; licking his lips in what he assumed was a sexy manner. He looked like a fish honestly, and Y/N let out a snort of disgust. She turned to her left to see Osamu making his way towards her and Rintaro. “Sure baby, let’s go have a chat. I can tell you about the new yacht I just bought.” he bragged, a wide stupid grin on his face. As Hiro reached for her hand, another hand blocked his attempt. Looking up, his eyes narrowed as they came into contact with a set of Steele grey ones. “I don’t think she’s too interested in learning about yet another yacht that will probably be repossessed.” Osamu answered smirking down at the shorter man. 

Before Hiro could say anything a loud shriek could be heard behind them. At this point Y/N had laid her head on Suna’s shoulder her body shaking in silent laughter. Next to her, Kenma winced as he waited for the bane of literally anyone's existence to show up. And she did in the form of Yuka Yamada, Mr. Yamada’s daughter. “Daddy, I’ve been looking everywhere for y- OH MY GOD! IT’s Kenken, samu-samu, and rin-rin!” she squealed jumping up and down. Y’N was a little worried one of her fake breasts was going to pop out and hit her in the face. “I can’t believe y-” Yuka’s eyes narrowed as she noticed just how close Y/N and her rin-rin were. “And just who is this hussy hm? Some groupie that snuck in?” she sneered, hands on her hips. Y/N stopped her shaking, to turn and look at the woman in front of her fully taking her in. 

“It’s funny you say that sweetie...where’s your dress from?” Y/N asked sweetly, sliding her fingers along the cheap material. “It looks like something from last season.” “It’s not last season you bitch, its brand new.” Yuka snarled. “Where’d yours come from huh?” she sneered trying to scare the other woman. “Mine is an Azumane original darling, only the best for a billionaire like myself.” Y/N murmured snuggling into Osamu’s side. “He’s a close personal friend of mine. Now as nice as this has been Yamada-san we’ll be taking our leave...I suggest you know your facts before introducing someone next time.” Y/N sneered looking at the portly man. “Last time I checked this morning; my stocks were through the roof and yours were plummeting towards the sewers.” she giggled turning and walking away. Mr. Yamada could only stare mouth agape at the audacity of Y/N and what she said. Before he could yell after her, Kenma spoke. “You say one thing, and I’ll have your company in my hands by morning...and keep your sleazy ass son on a leash.” he grunted out finishing the last of the whiskey in his glass. With the middle finger salute courtesy of Suna Rintaro, the two men followed their friends back to there table; only to make the unanimous decision to leave the gala all together. Dropping a fat check at the door; the foursome bolted already on their way to pick up Y/N’s friends and spend the rest of the night with good food and even better company. 

@dabilove27 @amberisnotcrazy @elianetsantana @cloudyxlay@exosehun-94 @deaththekidwantsyou @sempiternal-amour @dinablossom @yafriendlyfangirl @mint-mai@amarillyis @sunflwrsandprettyskies​ @sunflowerirl @woohoney @sugawater @bakuhoetoedoroki @iloveyouasmuchaspoohloveshoney​ @cosmicmermaid25​ @cataxtrophic​ @wineandionysus​ @kit-kat428​ @crybabbicus​

#kenma imagines #kenma scenario #kenma imagine #kenma kozume #kenma x reader #osamu imagine #osamu scenario #osamu scenarios #osamu x reader #osamu miya #suna rintaro smau #suna x reader #suna rintaro x reader #suna rintaro imagine #haikyuu suna #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu concepts #haikyuu #haikyuu smau #smau

[naivesilver]

top 5 adaptations of the Fairy from Pinocchio? (or maybe top 5 best AND 5 worst?)

I spent so long staring at this and wondering if I even KNEW five good Fairies, but it turns out I do, albeit mostly for asinine reasons. Anyway AHFAKKJKFHAHJKJA thank you <3

Ask me my top 5 anything

Obviously under the cut because I couldn't resist and did BOTH

The salt AKA the worst of the worst first:

1) Piccolino No Bouken

Surprised? I suppose most would have expected me to put the Disney Fairy first, and I did, too, for a while, but as I was sitting in my car pondering this ranking I realized I was SEETHING with rage about this one, so I had to rearrange things a bit. This, guys, is where my Fairy hate begins - not the book, not the Mouse's interference. This woman.

I hate her. I hate her SO MUCH, for all that I love this adaptation more than most things in the world, and that the choices made about her characterization were a huge inspiration for me. Not only does she not send Pinocchio to school, instead teaching him on her own, she is the only one to actively keep Pinocchio from his father - indeed, she makes the choice for them, saying to Geppetto's face that it would be best for the boy to be taught something before he goes back home. Who the hell are you to make this call, uh? You have known him for a day at most! You left him hanging from a fucking tree all night! I wouldn't trust you with a bloody lapdog, nevermind a child!

Also she lets Pinocchio believe she's dead UNTIL THE VERY END. She turns into a bird while he cries at her tomb. Are we fucking serious now? Leave him alone.

(Yes, this is elementary school me howling for revenge. I've been mad about this longer than reason would let me. Sue me.)

2) Disney's Pinocchio

Bane of my existence. I don't know if anyone remembers that pic of me at the Pinocchio theme park I posted a while ago, but basically in that moment they were putting up a little show to tell children a little bit of the OG story, and they asked the audience if they knew what color the Fairy's hair was - a few said blonde, and I, being on stage next to her, distinctly heard her mutter "dammit, Disney". I've been living with that mantra since then.

Nobody asked you to make that puppet sentient, ma'am. He doesn't owe you shit. Aside from that, just like Jiminy Cricket, she ruined her character in a good two thirds of future adaptation. And while we're speaking of Jiminy, WHY did she think it would be a good idea to entrust a little boy to a slime ball such as him? He's too horny to have an ounce of sense. Conscience, my ass.

Basically...begone, asshole.

3) Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night

This film is so horrible, the Fairy had no chance to be decent at all. A cheap copy of the Disney one, with the addendum that she turns MULTIPLE toys into living beings while holding them responsible for whatever they do after. Basically Victor Frankenstein, but make it a poorly dressed woman from a direct-to-TV movie that shouldn't have existed at all.

-100/10, at least you're pretty, but by God, SHUT UP.

4) Once Upon a Time

Honest to God if she doesn't keep her filthy hands off my faves she's gonna get a slap across the face so strong her Wish Realm self ought to feel it sting. I am not exaggerating.

Seven seasons in, she hasn't done ANYTHING useful that I can remember. She's not even good at her own fucking job! Not only that, she's traumatized and guilt-tripped a good chunk of the population of Storybrooke, including first and foremost my beloved son August. The Pavlovian reaction I had every time she appeared on screen can't be described in coherent words, only in eagle screeches.

She's wrong. On principle, she's wrong. Let's move on.

5) Luigi Comencini's Le Avventure di Pinocchio

Doesn't rank higher only because she's played by Gina Lollobrigida (my beloved). She's book accurate, which means she'd be annoying as fuck as it is, but what little they added only makes her worse.

She has the gall to tell Pinocchio she'd like to see him happier. Like, apart from the fact that the ghost of his father's deceased wife isn't exactly the most reassuring person to hear it from...Said father has been swallowed by a giant fish. You told that boy he's only going to see his father if he studies hard. You keep turning him into a puppet anytime he misbehaves. What did you expect, that he would do the Macarena every time he entered your house? I am honestly too shocked to say any more. What the fuck.

.

.

.

Okay, I've been enraged enough for a single night. Let's move onto brighter shores!

1) Enzo D'Alò's Pinocchio

Enzo D'Alò knows what the fuck is UP!!! The only one with the courage to let the Fairy be a weird little girl - not only for a short time, but up until the end of the movie! That takes guts! Balls of steel!

I've said before that this movie has nothing memorable to it, and it's true, but also...Pinocchio wanted a sister so bad, and the movie gave him one. And they even explained the plot hole of the medallion with Pinocchio's face in it! That's twice as good as the fact that they cut out the most awful parts of her story, which is already delightful.

Thank you, Mr D'Alò. You have my trust until the end of days.

2) The Adventures of Buratino

Speaking of weird girls, this one is officially balls to the walls enough to gain my respect. She's bothersome to Pinocchio, but she's bothersome to everyone and everything, so I'll let it pass. Her role is exclusively to appear out of nowhere and do batshit insane stuff for no good reason at all. A star.

Plus, other than having an handwashing obsession that I've felt very keenly in the past year and a half, she also has a boyfriend - her and Pierrot are the original girlboss and malewife, I'm not accepting any criticism on the matter.

(Fun fact: when I was a young kid I once dreamt that the Piccolino No Bouken Fairy was dating a big, buff and blonde farmhand. He wooed her by gifting Pinocchio a dog. Apparently I've always been very interested in Fairies getting a love life and staying the fuck away from my specialest little boy.)

3) Pinocchio miniseries

"Serena, but you said you were disappointed in this adaptation so many times!" True. But consider: I am also very, very queer, and Violante Placido being motherly and wearing wispy dresses stirred SOMETHING in 11yo me that I can't very well ignore.

In hindsight, she and the Cricket probably had something going on behind the scenes, which is a shame. Miss Fairy, I swear, you could do better than Luciana Littizzetto in an ill-fitting green suit. She's gonna break your heart and lose your puppet charge in a crowd of little idiots. Do me instead.

4) Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

This woman kills monsters - and she's damn good at it! Honestly, so badass, and such a good mother figure too, even in trying times. I don't want to spoil the comic much to those who haven't read it, but she and Cherry are the highlight of the first volume and I am very fond of them. A+.

5) Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio

This one's book accurate, too, but Garrone did something with her that almost burst in tears in a crowded theater. She's awful, and irritating, but she's...she's so human, too. I can't rage against a Fairy that's so impossibly human even during the smallest of scenes. It breaks me over and over again.

Look at her SMILING, for pity's sake, am I supposed to think there's some warmth in the dead lady? Fuck you, Matteo, what did you do to me? I am an honored Fairy hater. You're going to ruin my reputation if you keep this up.

#ask meme #bewilderemoth #pinocchio #the tag needed some more bullshit from yours truly didn't it

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 2

Word Count: 3,430

POV: Sidney’s

Warnings: Adult Language

Notes: Here’s part 2 in the Crosby saga. Thanks to everyone who read it and sent in encouraging words. Glad you all enjoyed it. More to come soon!

It seemed like a decent plan, avoid (Y/N) at all costs; though it proved to be harder than you anticipated. You walked into the practice arena, early as usual, and there she was, all bright-eyed and smiling. She was standing there on her cell scrolling through something. It was hard to take your eyes off her as she was wearing a cute pair of leggings with a jacket all the coaches wore, though she had sneakers on instead of skates. The sides of her hair were pulled backed, but her long waves flowed over her shoulders and your fingers itched to touch it and find out if it was as soft as it looked. Shaking yourself, you looked away to regain some composure, and that's when she saw you.

 "Hey, Sid." Her smile was as bright as the sun and part of you wondered why she didn't hate you after that first night.

 "Hi (Y/N), you're here early."

 "Yeah, I didn't think it would make a very good impression to be late on the first day." She was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, obviously full of excitement. It was both adorable and somewhat contagious. "Speaking of which, do you have that paper from yesterday?"

 Shit! You'd honestly tried to fill it out last night, though every single time you looked at it; you thought of the way she looked standing in the film room, or how her eye sparkled just like they were now. "Uh…well umm."

 "Don't worry, you can always bring it to me tonight?" You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes, not at the comment, but the fact that you'd be seeing her every day until the end of the season.

 "Yeah, I'll do that." Somehow you didn't want the conversation to end just yet, so you found yourself saying, "So how do you like things so far?"

 "Well, it's still early, considering I think I've only technically been on the clock for like thirty minutes." She giggled and you found yourself smiling at the sound. "But so far so good. I really think it's going to be a lot of fun." Fun for her maybe, because right now you were in sheer torture, just being in her presence.

 "Ah…that's good, really good." You adjusted the rim of your hat, before adding. "Well you know if you need anything you can always call me." Ugh, why had you just said that? You were willingly volunteering yourself to help her out, that was anything but avoiding her like you originally planned.

 "Awe, thanks, Sid. I really appreciate that."

 You stood there for a full minute not knowing what to do or say before you heard someone come up behind you. "Wow, Sid, you're not on the ice yet?" It was Flower's teasing voice that caught both yours and (Y/N)'s attention, and he was right, by the time he usually showed up, you'd normally done a few warmup laps.

 "Oh wow, I'm sorry Sid. I didn't mean to keep you." (Y/N) was really too sweet and part of you hated to see the interlude end, but Flower's words reminded you that she was nothing but a distraction.

 "You didn't...I mean I'm just as much at fault."

 "Here's my form (Y/N), I may not have been the first one turning it in," Flower said while nudging you. "But I at least hope I get an A for punctuality."

 "Well, you just so happen to be the first, so I'll give you an A+." She said with a cute little wink to the goalie. Suddenly, you were wishing you'd done that paper last night.

 "Woah, you mean to tell me I beat Mr. Perfect here. Where's your head at man?" It would be wrong to say daydreaming of the woman in front of you; so you just shrugged and headed off to the locker room.

 You were just finishing lacing your skates when Marc-Andre entered, having finished his chat with (Y/N). "You've got it bad; don't you?"

 "I don't know what you're talking about."

 "Come on man, don't play dumb with me. I know all the signs." He was shoving his bag in his cubby and throwing on his equipment. "Stupid ass grin on your face. Fair off look. Do you want me to continue?" You rolled your eyes at him while making a pfting noise. "You can't fool me. I know you like (Y/N). But what I want to know is why didn't you call her at the start of the season?"

 There was no way you could lie to one of your best friends, he'd see right through you. It was just easier, to tell the truth. "She's too much of a distraction man. I just need to focus on hockey. Besides, playoffs start in a little over a week."

 "Well, you should've got her out of your system before now, because we are going to be seeing a lot of her from here on out." Flower was right, you were definitely going to be seeing a lot more of (Y/N), and since avoidance didn't seem to be working; you were definitely going to need a new plan.

 You blew out a long breath. "Any ideas what I can do?"

 "Hmmm…if it was me; I'd channel that energy into hockey." If it was only that easy. "Skate a little faster or hit the puck a little harder when you think of her." Well, it was an option, and hopefully, it was one that would work.

 "It's worth a try." Thankfully, when you headed back out to the rink (Y/N) was nowhere in sight, which made focusing on hockey a bit easier. She appeared about midway through practice and instead of concentrating on her, you did exactly as Flower said. What was surprising, was that it seemed to work. Your passes were a little crisper, and pucks seemed to find an easy way into the net, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

 Well until you were running the last drill and saw her talking to Beau again. It took every ounce of will power, not to break your stick in two. It seemed like every time there was a get-together, Beau was always by her side. It grated on your nerves and you found yourself, attacking the puck with a bit more force than normal. By the time practice was over, she was again gone, to your relief. There were only four more games left in the regular season, and the last home game was tonight. You kept telling yourself if you could just make it through this initial period of adjustment, you'd be fine since playoffs would literally consume all your time.

 It was about five hours later that you were rethinking things again. Of course, she was at the arena when you arrived, only this time she wasn't sporting her cute active look. Dressed in a short black skirt and matching jacket, she belted the outfit to accentuate her curves. She either had on a black lace cami underneath or black lace bra, whichever it was it had you dying to see what lay underneath the fabric. A pair of black heels showed over her legs to perfection as she walked down the hallway, looking more like she was ready to take the boardroom by storm than to watch a hockey game.

 "Hey Sid, did you happen to bring that form?"

 Fuck, that damn paper was the bane of your existence at the moment. "No sorry, I forgot it again."

 "No biggie, if you could just give me who you want to be called in case of an injury that's the main thing I need."

 "Yeah sure…I mean definitely my parents."

 She handed over her phone then for you to put in their information. "Don't worry I'll only call them if necessary, just don't want them worrying."

 "Oh yeah of course." You handed the phone back to her, vaguely wondering if your number was in there and how at the same time you could get hers.

 "Well, I won't take up any more of your time." She said, patting you on the shoulder. "I know you have pregame rituals and all. Good luck tonight."

 "Thanks," and with that she headed off, leaving you standing there, still hypnotized by her. The scent of her perfume still lingered in the air and you found yourself just breathing it in a minute longer before moving to the locker room. Focus, you told yourself. You were not going to be distracted by her.

 Once more of the guys started filing in, it was a bit easier to forget about the gorgeous woman, roaming around the arena somewhere. It seemed to be business as usual. You made yourself the same sandwich as you always did, got taped up and played a little warmup soccer. It was only when the ball bounced out of the circle, and you turned to retrieve it, knocking your hat off in the process, that you saw her again, as the ball landed at her feet. "Wow, my grandma can play better than that boys." She teased, dropping the ball only to kick it with her heeled feet back into play. She bent down and picked up your lucky hat in the process as well. Everyone knew that your snapback was pretty much sacred and didn't touch it. It was also disgustingly filthy as you never washed it being the superstitious fuck that you were. "Wouldn't want to lose this." She stated, handing it back over with a cute little wink, as her hand touched yours.

 "Uh, yeah…thanks." There was this electricity when she touched you and for a second you didn't want to let go. But then you pulled back suddenly as if you'd been burnt. Luckily, she was called away by one of the social media staff and went back to the soccer game. Normally, you'd be freaking yourself out a bit after the whole hat fiasco, but instead, you kept thinking of Flower's advice and how you would just channel everything into the game.

 Halfway through the first, you thought you were fighting a losing battle and that (Y/N) had really jinxed you, in more ways than one. Everything changed though, on a hooking penalty to the Flyers. About thirty seconds into it, on a great pass from Phil, you took all that pent-up frustration out on a slap shot, sending the puck into the back of the net. From there the rest of the night was a magical ending to the regular season at home, where the Pens came out victorious.

 As you stepped off the ice, you kept looking for (Y/N) but she was nowhere to be found. You weren't sure why you wanted to see her, maybe it was the superstitious side of you, feeling as though you had a new ritual where she had to touch your hat in order for you to have a great game, or maybe there was just a part of you that really wanted to see her. The latter being something you didn't want to examine too closely, yet she was nowhere around. You finished up your post-game interviews and then headed home for the night, as you had to be up early for a flight to Ottawa.

 You were actually surprised that she wasn't at the airport before you in the morning, though she wasn't far behind you. It seemed she had a penchant for being early, just as you did. As she entered the plane you could see her hesitance as to where she should sit, and part of you was a bit disappointed that you had a standard seat with Flower for every away game. Of course, it was Beau who offered her a seat beside him and before the engine started you could hear the two of them laughing about something. The sound grating on your nerves.

 By the time the plane landed, you were cranky and irritable from straining to listen to the two of them. You couldn't imagine, why (Y/N) was getting off the bus first once you were at the hotel. Normally, one of the staffers went and got all the keys, and then you just grabbed one as everyone went inside. It must be a new part of her job or something. She hopped back on a few short minutes later, walking down the aisle, handing certain keys to people. It seemed strange, but you didn't really question it.

 Finally being allowed off the bus, you headed up to your room, and upon entering flung yourself on the bed and took a nice long nap. You'd been too keyed up from the win to get a good night's sleep, and planned on napping on the plane. Only you'd constantly heard Beau and (Y/N) chit-chatting the entire time. It was about three hours later when you headed down for a meeting with the team. Everyone seemed to be talking about how great their stay was so far, which didn't really make a ton of sense to you. You'd stayed in this hotel dozens of times over the years and there wasn't anything remarkable about it.

 Phil and Rusty were discussing just this subject when you sat down at the table. "So what did you get in your room?" Phil asked.

 "What?"

 "You know, like what did (Y/N) have in there for you?" Christ, what was he talking about? You'd literally walked in, threw your bag down, and slept. It wasn't as if she'd left a present in there for you. The confusion on your face must have given you away, for Phil kept going then. "Well, she had extra pillows in there for me, so I didn't end up having to call down like I do every time and there was a special box filled with my favorite protein bars and stuff."

 "Shears and I got extra towels because the guy uses like twenty, no lie; and then she had peanut M&M and stuff in there for me." Rusty chimed in. "Didn't you have one?"

 "How would she even know what I like?"

 "The form man, didn't you fill it out?" Rusty countered as if you actually knew what was on it.

 You grabbed your neck, hoping to stop the blush that was creeping up, before saying. "Um…no. I kind of forgot about it."

 Phil just shook his head at you, giving you a side smirk at the same time. "Did you even look at it?"

 "Um…not really."

 "What's the deal with you and her anyway?" He added.

 "There's no deal there."

 "No kidding, but you've been giving her the cold shoulder ever since she took this job." This time it was Rusty who called you out.

 "I'm just not falling all over her like some people are." Well, maybe you'd tried your best to avoid her at first, but you didn't feel like you were snubbing her by any means.

 "Wow, no need to get all defensive," Phil commented and you realized your voice might have been a bit harsher than you intended. "We're just pointing out that you haven't treated her like you do other new staffers."

 "What's that supposed to mean?"

 "Well when Sara started as JR's new secretary, you sent her flowers. I noticed you didn't do that with (Y/N)." There was no way you could argue with Rusty because it was true; you didn't send flowers to (Y/N) as you had in the past to welcome new recruits. You usually signed it from the entire team as well. "And before you even ask, I know because there weren't any in her office when I dropped off my form." Now you felt like an ass, though it wasn't like you could rectify the situation on the road. "Luckily Kelsey sent her something from us."

 "A couple of the guys and I were talking about taking her out to dinner in DC. Sort of like a welcome to the group kind of thing."

 "Perfect, I'll just tag along with you guys, Phil." He raised an eyebrow at you and so you added. "And order the flowers when we get back."

 "Deal, but since you fucked up; you can pay."

 "Fine." It was really the least you could do crashing their dinner and all, plus it would be easier to be with (Y/N) in a group setting than in a one on one environment.

 "Oh, one more thing." You cocked your head at your teammate. "You can invite her."

 Fuck. It was really the only thing going through your mind, as you groaned inwardly. "Alright."

 "No better time like the present," Rusty said, motioning to the doorway where (Y/N) just walked through. Phil elbowed you as well in order to get you to go over to her. Reluctantly, you got up to ask her to dinner with everyone.

 "Hey (Y/N), can I have a minute?"

 "Sure, what's up?" She moved off to the side and you couldn't help but notice the sway of her hips.

 "So um…like…I wanted to know if you wanted to…um…go out to dinner when we get to DC?" God, that was horrible. You sounded like a babbling idiot, and you forgot to mention it was with other guys on the team and that it was to welcome her.

 "I really…" She started to answer and you cut her off short.

 "With the team, to welcome you of course." Did that even make sense?

 "Oh well, yeah sure that's really nice of you guys. It's not really necessary though."

 "I want to…I mean we want to." Why did you feel so tongued tied all of the sudden around her? You had stumbled a bit around her that first at Flower's but then things had gone so well. Then again, you weren't afraid of her throwing you off track of all your goals then.

 "Ok, it sounds like fun."

 "Great, we can work out the details later." You made a move to leave because just being around her, you found it hard to breathe, but she stopped you.

 "Sid, I hope you're ok with your room and stuff. I wasn't exactly sure what you liked since I didn't have your form."

 That damn fucking form was literally going to be the bane of your existence, and the fact that you hadn't paid attention to anything in the room didn't really help. "Oh yeah, it's fine. Thanks. I'll get that form to you, once we get back."

 She shrugged and cocked her head to the side as if somehow reading your thoughts. Though she didn't voice what those were. "No problem, just get it to me whenever. Let me know if you need anything." With that she walked away, seeming somewhat annoyed.

 Had you said the wrong thing to her. An uneasiness settled in your stomach; it was something you didn't want to explore. As soon as the meeting was over, you headed back up to your room, to see exactly what she had done. You unlocked the door, looking at the room with a whole different view. The bed was still a mess, but you could tell that there was an abundance of pillows there; it was something that you didn't notice when you'd napped before. Going into the bathroom, you saw that just like Rusty, your room had extra towels in as well. As you wandered back into the main room, you saw a basket sitting on the desk. The inside was filled with some of your favorite things. Candies from your hometown in Novia Scotia, your favorite protein bars and drinks, and so much more. Though one thing stood out above everything else, a book on Egyptian history. It was something you both talked about that first night. There was also a handwritten note tucked inside.

 'Sid, I wasn't exactly sure what would make your away games a bit easier but thought maybe some of this would help. Hopefully, the view will relax you before the big game. If not I thought you'd enjoy this book on the Pyramids as much as I did. Let me know if you need anything at all.  - (Y/N)'

 Now you knew that it wasn't an annoyed look on her face, but one of disappointment; for you truly felt like an asshole for not having noticed any of the special things she'd done for you and the entire team. You were going to need more than just dinner to make things right with (Y/N) that was for sure.

#Not So Dangerous Liaison Series #Sidney Crosby #sidney crosby imagine #Sidney Crosby Imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction

[doomonfilm]

Ranking : Christopher Nolan (1970 - present)

From the moment he kicked the door down on the scene with the breathtaking Memento, the name Christopher Nolan has rung synonymous with high thinking, high level and high entertainment film.  He always finds fresh and unique ways to tell stories, be it visually, narratively, or some combination of the two, and many of his conceptual deep dives have opened real conversations in regards to different aspects of space and time.  For an artist, the impact the Christopher Nolan has had on the populous as a whole is impressive, which is why after recently seeing Tenet, I felt it necessary to take a look back at all of his films and determine where they stood in relation to one another (in my eyes). 

11. Insomnia (2002) As stated with every instance of ranking the work of a director, there’s always one film that’s got to take the bottom of the list hit, and for Nolan, it was Insomnia.  The film in itself is not a bad one, and it does offer some strong visuals in regards to the unrelenting amount of sunlight that one experiences in Alaska, but it does suffer not only from being a remake, but a remake that pales in comparison to the original.  For my money’s worth, Nolan works best with original ideas, with one specific trilogy standing as an exception to that notion.

10. Memento (2000) While not his debut film, this was the film that put Nolan on the map.  The story is unique and intriguing, and the manner in which it is told really makes it work, as a standard A to Z telling of the film would eliminate much of the dramatic tension felt.  That being said, this film suffers from a similar fate to that of films like The Sixth Sense : it’s cool the first time you see it, it really wows you the second time you see it, and then further viewings find diminishing returns in regards to the experience of the “gimmick” (for lack of a better word).  Definitely worth seeing if you’ve never seen it, or are looking for a gateway into the work of Nolan, but underwhelming when held up against his future work.

9. Batman Begins (2005) As previously stated, Nolan (in my opinion) works best as a writer/director of original ideas, so like many, I was slightly surprised when he was tapped to handle the Christian Bale edition of the Batman movie canon.  There wasn’t so much doubt about his ability to pull things off visually, but with such a beloved franchise and character in his hands, there were thoughts about whether or not his style would translate in a way that an already dedicated fanbase would appreciate.  Batman Begins was an effective table-setter for his Dark Knight trilogy, but due to the necessity of having to address an already familiar backstory, many of Nolan’s best ideas would have to wait until the sequel.

8. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) This film found itself the unfortunate victim of an all too familiar national tragedy in the form of a mass shooting during an early screening, forever putting a sort of black cloud over the film as a result.  That being said, the film was a stellar entry in the Dark Knight trilogy, anchored by an instantly iconic Tom Hardy performance.  If this film was attributed to any other director, it would possibly stand as one of their top works, but Christopher Nolan is a man of such depth and style that The Dark Knight Rises merely stands as above average output from a creator who is pulling back a bit to fit the Hollywood ideal (or his version, anyway) of a comic book film.

7. Following (1998) Quite possibly the most personal of all Nolan films, which makes sense, considering it was his first.  It was the buzz that this film generated during the 1997 festival season, along with an already completed script for Memento, that turned Nolan from an aspiring director to a household name.  Following gives us a bit of insight into Nolan’s creative process, presenting us with a highly stylized version of an observational writer, forever receptive to the stimulus around him.  The look of the film displays Nolan’s eye for location and cinematography, and the non-linear nature of the story served as a sneak preview to a format of storytelling he would soon master and manipulate beyond our ability to initially understand.  Though a bit on the short side for a feature film, it is certainly a fun ride with much indication of where its creator was headed.

6. Interstellar (2014) Throughout the 2010s, it seemed that Nolan was hell-bent on warping our brains through the entertainment medium, and after the warning blast that Inception was, Interstellar served as a sort of thematic and spiritual double-tap for our psyche.  Nolan took the basic structure for a story of familial, unconditional love and skewed it by thrusting our protagonist into the uncharted depths of space, skewing his perception of time so radically that the people he loved became old while he did not age, which in itself is enough of a heartbreaking concept to build a film off of.  Add to this the fact that we are presented with (to the best of our knowledge, anyways) the most photo-realistic depictions of a Black Hole and a tesseract, and the end result is a powerful genre-blending journey that stands in rare company, with films like Tarkovsy’s Solaris and Kubrick’s 2001 : A Space Odyssey serving as the closest points of comparison.

5. Tenet (2020) When you have a track record like that of a Christopher Nolan, it is inevitable that people are waiting on your downfall, and with 2020 changing the way we take in films, many tried to seize this opportunity and label Tenet as this moment in time.  To me, this is an absurd stance to take... not only is Tenet one of the most intriguing films I’ve seen in years, but its efficiency in storytelling trims away so much fat that we are left with archetypical characters with subtle amounts of depth shepherding us through a narrative line that folds in and overlaps on itself numerous times.  With this premise set and our characters deeply devoted to their functionality (though not at the expense of performance), we are left with the spectacle of some amazing choreography and in-camera special effects work that makes you really and truly have to stop at times just so you can try and process what it is you are seeing.  Hopefully, in repeat viewings, the “gimmick” won’t take precedence over the film itself, as I believe there is enough going on outside of the visual trickery to keep one interested time and again.

4. Dunkirk (2017) It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan has the talent to build vast, textured and deeply imaginative worlds with his films, but up until the point of Dunkirk, Nolan had not attempted a “period piece”.  Luckily for us film lovers, Nolan decided to try his hand at that style in the form of a war movie, and the result was the extremely moving and powerful experience of Allied troops in World War II caught in a situation where death seemed inevitable.  Despite the vastness of the beach and sea we are shown, the feeling of being trapped permeates through and through, and it is enhanced by stellar cinematography and practical effects.  Even with a cast full of familiar names and faces, the experience of hopelessness created soon eliminates the familiarity that comes with star power, and we are left with nothing but our investment in the story.   

3. The Dark Knight (2008) Simply put, The Dark Knight really has no business being as good as it is.  You’d think that its placement between the two trilogy bookends would give it a transitional nature, potentially only existing to move the story forward to its conclusion.  What we are given, however, is one of the most nuanced looks at heroes, villains, anti-heroes, and just how much those roles can alternate based on the perspective of those applying the title.  For all of the horror that the Scarecrow character brought, or the pure intimidation of Bane, The Dark Knight gives us a complex agent of chaos in the form of Heath Ledger’s instantly iconic (and tragically final) performance as the Joker.  All of the pacing issues that weigh down the other two films are completely absent in this middle offering, and the movie hangs around in your mind well after the final credits roll.  To many viewers, this film set the artistic benchmark for what a so-called “comic-book” movie had the potential to be.

2. Inception (2010) For many, Inception marks the culminative peak of all that Christopher Nolan brings to the table as a director and storyteller.  His ability to coherently weave together a narrative that deals with the perception of time as one goes deeper and deeper into the psyche is impressive in its own right, but the amount of breathtaking nuance, visual effects and mental gymnastics used to tell the story would bring a lesser director to their knees.  If The Revenant and 2015 served as the culmination of Leonardo DiCaprio finally receiving much-deserved recognition as an actor via an Academy Award, then Inception feels like the starting point for that final leg of his journey.  Everyone brought their A-game to this table on both sides of the camera, leaving us with a true visual and storytelling spectacle for the ages. 

1. The Prestige (2006) Irony is a funny thing... I bring that up because Christopher Nolan has literally taken on (and, in some ways, conquered) space, time and perception in his films, all of which would be incredibly lofty concepts to illustrate and visualize, let alone make entertaining.  With all of that in mind, it’s ironic that his best film would be one that does not rely on all of the aforementioned lofty aspects and visual tricks.  The Prestige, at a base level, is a story about jealousy and how it can drive you mad, but it’s the way that this story is told that makes it possibly the best film in the Nolan canon.  Christian Bale’s performance (or performances, at the risk of spoilers) is enough to put this film in a class of its own, but the balance that Hugh Jackman’s performance brings to the overall equation keeps you guessing on whom we are supposed to root for right up until the final frame.  The triangle of love triangles in this film further serve to build up the eventual scale of damage that is presented when everything falls completely apart on both sides of the narrative coin.  Most importantly, like any good magic trick, the film sets you up with expectations, only to wow you in the end.  If you had to pick one Nolan film to watch, this would be the one that I recommend, hands down and without question.

Who knows where Christopher Nolan plans to take us next.  I, for one, would not consider myself clued-in enough to hazard a guess on this, but I would almost certainly put money on the fact that wherever he chooses to take us, he will entertain us and amaze us, if not both at the same time, as he always does.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #ChristopherNolan #Insomnia #Memento #BatmanBegins #TheDarkKnightRises #Following #Interstellar #Tenet #Dunkirk #TheDarkKnight #Inception #ThePrestige

[kyberphilosopher]

Important Information

Rules:

I am a minor. As such, smut can not be requested and can not be written. As a compromise, smutty themes can be used as overtones or undertones, often vaguely or simply eluded to. But pure smut? Not for a few months, which is when I’ll be 18. Sorry horndogs. 

Please request through the submission inbox, or my direct messages. Further more, be polite. Be clear. If I ask a question to clear something up, answer it. Don’t let it dangle. I will always ask if there’s anything else you so desire (a word count, any details) so please tell me if there’s nothing else or if there is. English is also not my first language. 

Do not request something against canon. I have written like that before and did not enjoy that. This means if something is considered canon, say Star Wars, such as a line of dialogue or something shown on screen, I would refuse to write you into it. I feel that it distorts the fiction so much you wouldn’t really be in it, and the characters wouldn’t be themselves anymore. Allow me to write you into the world as a side character, as something not shown directly but something that could fit into canon. 

Some fictional characters have different versions of them. For example, Movie Anakin Skywalker, and the Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker. Ben Affleck Batman, or Christian Bale Batman? Or even, Comic Accurate Batman? Specify for me. If not specified after asking for it, I will write the character with headcanon information pulled from multiple ‘canon’ sources. This will be referred to as ‘headcanoned canon’.

Reblog my stuff? Absolutely. I see all my reblogs. But take it an post it to a different site? No. Don’t do that. Maybe I’ll spread over to Ao3 one day, but for now, please don’t. 

Last one I can think of for now. But luckily this can be updated over time. I don’t write drabbles. I know! But just imagine all the times you’ve read a fic so good, only for it to end so soon. I like the thought of writing something both high quality and high quantity, which means I won’t be satisfied with anything under 2,000 words. Unfortunately, this may sometimes come at the expense of time. Especially if what you requested doesn’t fit into my current hyperfixation. 

List of Characters I’ve Written, or Am Open to Writing:

Aayla Secura, Star Wars (Clone Wars)

Ahsoka Tano, Star Wars (Clone Wars and Live Action)

Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars (Clone Wars and Live Action)

Asaaj Ventress, Star Wars (Clone Wars and Books)

Boba Fett, Star Wars (Live Action Original Movies and The Mandalorian)

Bodhi Rook, Star Wars (Rogue One)

Bo-Katan Kryze, Star Wars (Clone Wars and The Mandalorian)

Cal Kestis, Star Wars (Jedi: Fallen Order, Beginning and End of Game)

Cassian Andor, Star Wars (Rogue One)

Darth Maul, Star Wars (Clone Wars)

Din Djarin, Star Wars (The Mandalorian)

Finn, Star Wars (Live Action Sequel Trilogy)

Jyn Erso, Star Wars (Rogue One)

Leia Skywalker, Star Wars (Live Action Original Movies)

Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, Star Wars (Clone Wars and Live Action)

Padme Amidala, Star Wars (Clone Wars and Live Action)

Poe Dameron, Star Wars (Live Action Sequel Trilogy)

Rey, Star Wars (Live Action Sequel Trilogy)

Rex, Star Wars (Clone Wars)

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Batman, DC Comics (All Live Action, All Comic, Arkhamverse, All Animated, Headcanoned Canon)

Bane, DC Comics (Games)

Barry Allen/The Flash, DC Comics (All Live Action, Headcanoned Canon)

Black Canary, DC Comics (Birds of Prey Live Action Movie)

Bruce Wayne, DC Comics (All Live Action, Headcanoned Canon)

Catwoman/Selina Kyle, DC Comics (Headcanoned Canon)

Christopher Smith/Peacemaker, DCEU (All Live Action, Headcanoned Canon)

Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2, DCEU (Live Action)

Conner Kent/Superboy, DC Comics (Titans, All Animated)

Damian Wayne, DC Comics (Animated and Injustice)

Dick Grayson, DC Comics (Titans, All Comic, Arkhamverse, All Animated, All Versions)

Harley Quinn, DC Comics (All Live Action, All Comic, Arkhamverse, All Animated Versions)

Jason Todd/Red Hood, DC Comics (Headcanoned Canon, Arkhamverse, All Animated, Titans, All Versions)

Katana, DC Comics (2016 Suicide Squad Live Action Movie)

Poison Ivy, DC Comics (Arkhamverse, All Comic, All Animated, Headcanoned Canon)

Tim Drake/Red Robin, DC Comics (Arkhamverse, All Comic, All Animated, Headcanoned Canon)

Raven, DC Comics (Headcanoned Canon, All Animated, All Comics, All Titans)

Robert Dubois/Bloodsport, DC Comics (DCEU Live Action)

Scarecrow/Johnathon Crane, DC Comics(All Live Action, Arkhamverse, Headcanoned Canon)

Starfire/Koriand’r, DC Comics (Titans, All Comics, All Animated, Headcanoned Canon)

Superman/Clark Kent, DC Comics (Cavill’s Live Action, All Animated, All Comics)

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Annie Leonhardt, Shingeki no Kyojin (Marley Resident, Season 1-3, Season 4, Titan Form)

Bertholdt Hoover, Shingeki no Kyojin (Marley Resident, Season 1-3)

Carla Jaeger, Shingeki no Kyojin (Pre Beginning)

Eren Jaeger, Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 1-3, Season 4, Titan Form)

Hanji Zoe, Shingeki no Kyojin (All Seasons and OVA)

Jean Kirchstein, Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 1-3, Season 4)

Levi Ackerman, Shingeki no Kyojin (All Seasons and OVA)

Marco Bodt, Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 1)

Mikasa Ackerman, Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 1-3, Season 4)

Moblit Berner, Shingeki no Kyojin (All Seasons and OVA)

Sasha Braus, Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 1-3, Season 4)

L Lawliet, Death Note (Season 1)

Ryuk, Death Note (Season 1)

Touta Matsuda, Death Note (Season 1)

Raye Penber and Naomi Matsura (Season 1, Pre Beginning, Throuple Headcanon Canoned)

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Connor RK800, Detroit: Become Human (Deviant, Android, Mid and Post Game)

Chloe RT600, Detroit: Become Human (Deviant, Android, Pre, Mid, and Post Game)

Gavin Reed, Detroit: Become Human (Mid and Post Game)

Kara AX400, Detroit: Become Human (Post Game)

Luther TR400, Detroit: Become Human (Pre and Post Game)

Markus RK200, Detroit: Become Human (Pre, Mid, and Post Game)

Nines RK900, Detroit: Become Human (Post Game)

North WR400, Detroit: Become Human (Pre, Mid, and Post Game)

Other Worlds and Fandoms Coming Soon. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

What You Can Expect From Me:

Fanfiction

Headcanons- While I’d consider all of my fanfiction headcanons, I’m referring to those little bullet point things you’ll see writers do. Here’s my deal on that. I won’t do romantic headcanons for the characters listed above. By that I mean you won’t see anything titled, “How Poe Dameron Would Cuddle”, or anything of that sort. But you probably will see just my own little headcanons for fun. Like, little fun facts. You know, “Superman’s favorite food is ____”, “Nines hates rats”.

However, I will write romantic headcanons for my OC’s. But that’s for later.

Further regarding fanfiction, I typically write angst. Not sure why, it’s just what I started with because I thought the plots were strongest and I wanted to see where I could take it. Like I said, no smut, but you’ll find allusions to it. Fluff? Yeah, it’s there. Hard for me to write fluff without a plot, but it does exist on my page. 

Original Stories

Most people ignore this, but if you see that I’ve posted it won’t always be something regarding your favorite character. I write my own little stories that’s basically just glorified, book length headcanons for a few worlds, but mostly the Star Wars galaxy. Don’t worry, there’s no need to pay attention to it if you don’t want. It’s something I do in my spare time besides x readers and oneshots. 

Spontaneous Posting

What I mean by this, is that unlike a lot of writers, I don’t work on a schedule. There’s no “once a week posting”, or anything like that. What I finish and give the okay to, is posted. If you’ve requested something, I’ll let you know that it’s about to go out. So sometimes a burst of fics may be pumped out in a week, or none will for up to a month.

Going by EST, I typically am most active at night and early morning. Especially in the summer. During fall this may change.

I rarely put out a post that is unrelated to my writings. If it is related to my personal life instead, it will be posted, but not saved. Documented and available, but never pinned or anything. 

FAQ:

Do you write queer pairings?

Yes. My earlier works usually elude to a female reader and it’s blaringly obvious, though it’s shifting into androgyny for ease of reader. I would prefer to have an androgynous reader instead of a set in stone male or female one. 

Am I reading a queer fanfic written by a straight person?

You are not. I am androgynous myself in terms of gender and unlabeled in terms of sexuality. 

Do you write for poc?

This question shocks me, though I’ve gotten it twice. Then I realized- it’s because so many writers forget the point of a reader. The reader may be described as blonde, or white, or thin, or female. You will not find that here. There will be no set in stone appearance for the reader except for mentions of whatever hair you may possess (apologies to those without hair). There will be no talk of ‘light skin’, or ‘curvy figure’. The farthest I’ll go is describing you as pale, if say, you were sick. Because any race or skin tone can go pale, you know? The only thing I’d do- rarely- is give you a real age. But only to further the plot if needed.

 My point is, ‘Y/N’ is not just a pretty white person with long hair. It’s inclusive to anyone. I’ll stand by that. 

Do you write headcanons?

Answered in the above section. Long story short, I’m working on it, but on my terms. 

Do you write song fics?

I haven’t before. Why? They make me cringe. I don’t know why. I’ll write a fic based on a song, or with undertones of a song. But those little paragraphs with the lyrics that aren’t even in time with what you’re reading if you were to read and listen at the same time? I don’t think so. 

Do you know what sex is?

I do. 

Will you have e-sex with me in the direct message chatbox?

I will not. 

Why do you write on tumblr?

I started writing just to share an old word document with over 300 pages worth of an Original Star Wars story. I tried my hand at fanfiction because, while I don’t read it often myself, I know a lot of people do. It helps them escape reality. And, I’m a pretty good writer, I think. At least I can only get better. I’m just one more person trying to put something out for people to enjoy, and maybe even rely on. 

Will you ever write for real people?

If I ever wrote a fanfiction about Christian Bale or like Barack Obama I think I would just disappear. I can’t do it. It’s like warping my own reality. 

How often do you post?

I don’t know. 

Do you have a taglist?

I did! But only for Star Wars. If you want to be tagged in something, let me know. But you have to be specific. Just for a certain character? For a certain fandom? A certain plot? Just og stories? Be clear. 

Dynamics I Enjoy Writing:

Man simps for person who almost wants nothing to do with them. 

Hero simps for villain or villain simps for hero despite the obvious consequences.

Two jokesters destroy some area while left alone together. May get along better than they would admit. 

Two people who are not expected to get along, get along well. 

Hero and villain are best friends but won’t admit it.

Basically if I’m left to my own mind most of my fics will fall under one of these dynamics. Not always- definitely not always. But I kinda like them. 

Numbers:

800-273-8255 USA National Suicide Hotline

1 (300) 22 4636 Australia Suicide and Anxiety Line

1 [phone]  Canada Suicide Hotline

800-810-1117 China Suicide Hotline

0145394000 France Suicide Hotline

08001810771 Germany Suicide Hotline

8888817666  India Suicide Hotline

810352869090 Japan Suicide Hotline

0078202577577 Russia Suicide Hotline

08457909090 UK Suicide Hotline

4408457909090 Ireland Emergency Hotline

1-800-656-4673 US National Sexual Assault Hotline

741-741 National Panic Hotline (for people who prefer to text)

Anything else? 

Nope. Can’t think of anything. We’ll see if anything changes. Thanks for checking it out. 

Header Credits to: @moonknights​

[jbk405]

Story-arcs of The Clone Wars

Yesterday I was talking about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and how to watch this series (And Rebels) to catch up and understand Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian.  Since TCW was an anthology series its episodes frequently jumped around in chronological order (The very earliest episode doesn’t come out until the second season, and the pilot movie is technically third) and so there’s a thousand-and-one different “proper” ways to watch the series.  Some say to watch it in straight chronological order so that you get the full story, others say to watch it in production/release order since that’s the way it was meant to be experienced, and some have their own personal mishmash based on story-arcs.

Throughout the series they frequently had three- and four-part story-arcs that formed what were essentially mini-movies (This is what they did for the original theatrical release).  Quite often these were among the best episodes of the series, and they contributed the most to the ongoing storylines that built towards what happened in the movies, what came next in Rebels, and which are now being followed in The Mandalorian.

I can’t give a final ruling on the overall order to watch the series, but what I can do is give an overview of the various individual story-arcs.  My takes on their quality, how accessible they are to new viewers, and where they fit in the story.  I will be covering them in release order from beginning to end, skipping over the standalone and two-part episodes.  I won’t do season seven as it is still recent, and that is the climax to all of these arcs.

So, with no further ado:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008): The pilot movie, which had a theatrical release.  As I said, this was composed of what were originally the first four episodes of the show, and I find that the enjoyment is a lot better if you view it that way instead of as a single whole.  As an introduction to the series it serves functionally well: It introduces Ahsoka Tano and it features almost all of the main players of the series (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Rex, Cody, etc.).  Quality wise it’s “Okay”.  I disliked it when I first saw it back in 2008, but when I rewatched it a few months ago it was a lot better than I remembered so it’s possible I was just in whiny “It’s not REAL Star Wars!” mode back in 2008.  If you’re watching it with somebody who doesn’t like ‘cartoons’ or is an Original Trilogy purist this may not be the best place to start since it doesn’t present the best first impression, but if they’ve got an open mind or are interested in the series it could work.

Malevolence Arc (Season 1): Three episodes of the first season revolving around the Separatists’ new superweapon, a powerful ion canon aboard the dreadnought Malevolence.  The first episode shows them discovering the weapon, the second disabling it, and the third episode shows their attempts to finish destroying the ship itself.  There are numerous references and homages to the original Star Wars film and the effort to escape/destroy the Death Star.  This arc has some great character work (Jedi Master Plo Koon is heavily featured and he is a heavy fan favorite, plus a personal favorite of Dave Filoni) and some light debates on the worth of the life of a clone.  However, this early the show is still working out its kinks so there’s a few points where characters fundamentally misunderstand the whole “Jedi shouldn’t have attachments” philosophy, and the supposedly competent military commanders make baseline errors that come close to sabotaging their own forces.  An adequate jump-on point for the series, just bear in mind that it does get better.

Nute Gunray Arc (Season 1): A very loose three-part arc, it follows a different primary cast each episode as one group initially captures Separatist leader Nute Gunray, another transports him, and a third tries to recapture him after he escapes.  Each episode of this arc is very different tonally from the one before, it starts with a semi-comical Jar Jar Binks episode, the middle is a military action story, and the conclusion is a much more intimate military action, almost horror story.  Jedi Masters Luminara Unduli and Kit Fisto appear in parts two and three.  The episodes themselves are good, but I would recommend against this being your first exposure since their loose connection means they don’t really build to anything as a whole by watching them together.

Ryloth Arc (Season 1): Three episodes towards the end of the first season showing the different stages of the Republic’s attempt to liberate the planet Ryloth from Separatist occupation.  Here is where the arcs start to pick up a little bit of steam: Each episode shows a different stage of the invasion and focuses on different characters, but unlike the Gunray arc they are all still the same story.  The first episode focuses on Anakin and Ahsoka trying to break the Separatist blockade so they can reach the planet, the second focuses on Obi-Wan Kenobi attempting to destroy ground-based weaponry so they can land their forces on the surface, and the third focuses on Mace Windu leading the attack on the Separatist capital.  This is the first arc to really try and show the cost and effects of war: Ahsoka loses a lot of men in the first episode and struggles with that guilt when they need to attack again, Obi-Wan needs to circumvent civilian hostages and human shields that the Separatists are using, and Mace needs to ally with the local resistance and try to forge a partnership despite their admittedly not-identical goals.  These aren’t the individually best episodes of the entire season, but it’s probably the best arc of the season.

Children of the Force Arc (Season 2): The three episodes that open season two.  This introduces Cad Bane, a bounty hunter hired to steal a Jedi Holocron so that Darth Sidious can get a list of Force-sensitive children the Jedi have found and can kidnap them to raise as his evil lackeys.  The first episode is a heist episode, the second an action retrieval episode, and the third a chase episode.  I will admit to not liking this arc as much as others seem to, because the main characters keep making ridiculous decisions that only make sense if they have literally forgotten other parts of the story (For example, a Holocron can only be opened by somebody using the Force, so the Jedi initially don’t believe that anybody would bother trying to steal one because it would be useless to them.  This requires them to just forget the existence Count Dooku, a former Jedi who is leading the Separatists and who would love to gain their secrets).  However, despite not being my personal favorite, this could serve as a good intro if you wanted to start here.  Cad Bane recurs in several future episodes so it’s a good introduction, and it features a large portion of the primary cast.  It also has good action, and several bits of character development for Ahsoka, Anakin, and their relationship.

Geonosis Arc (Season 2): A four-part arc (Some people actually include the preceding episode as well to make it five episodes, but I don’t), this is in my opinion the first really good arc and starts to show where The Clone Wars is going to excel as a series.  This follows the Republic re-invasion of Geonosis (The planet from Attack of the Clones) after the Separatists have somehow managed to overwhelm the forces left there after the film.  The first episode is straight military action, often described as being like Saving Private Ryan and other WWII films focusing on the Normany invasions.  The second episode is military espionage, a sabotage mission.  The third (Believe it or not) switches over to a zombie episode and goes straight horror.  The fourth stays horror, but instead of zombies it’s paranoia from spreading mind control.  Barriss Offee is introduced here, and her master Luminara Unduli returns.  The cast semi-rotates throughout the four episodes, with different Jedi ‘sets’ being primary in different episodes.  It gives a perfect highlight of all the different characters and shows some excellent development as well (Including just how much Anakin’s fear of losing those he cares about can cloud his judgement, and how this can push him towards morally questionable actions).  If you want to include the episode prior to this arc as well, that one is a political thriller based on the Alfred Hitchock film Notorious.  As I said, I don’t really count it as being in this arc, but it does set up the plot so others do count it.

Mandalore Arc (Season 2): This arc introduces a whole new faction to the series: the Mandalorians.  The planet Mandalore itself has renounced its violent ways and its leader, the pacifist Duchess Satine Kryze, leads an alliance of 1,500 neutral worlds that want to stay out of the clone wars.  However, there are rumors that the Duchess is actually in league with the Separatists, and apart from the rumors there have also been attacks by people wearing Mandalorian armor, so Obi-Wan is sent to figure out what’s going on.  He and the Duchess have a history that is separated by their opposed political views.  The first episode shows Obi-Wan on Mandalore looking into the subversive group Death Watch, the second episode shows them all journeying to Coruscant to speak with the Galactic Senate, and the third tries to expose a Separatists conspiracy on Coruscant itself.  This is the first arc with Obi-Wan as the primary focus for all three episodes, though Anakin and Padme do join in parts two and three.  This arc could serve as an intro if you wanted to enter the series here, since the Mandalorians will grow into a major part of the series and will intertwine with Obi-Wan’s personal arc for seasons to come.  For those looking to get background on The Mandalorian, this is also where we start learning things about their culture that show up in the live-action series.

Boba Fett arc (Season 2): The three-part finale to season two.  Boba Fett -- still a child keep in mind -- infiltrates a Republic cruiser with a group of clone cadets in a plot to kill Mace Windu in revenge for Windu killing Jango Fett.  He has a group of bounty hunters helping him, and when Windu survives the original assassination attempt things spin further and further out of control.  I honestly don’t have much to say about this arc.  It’s not bad, but I find it kinda forgettable.  It’s got some good character scenes, and a few good action pieces, but other than that....eh.  Despite this, this arc could also serve as an entry to the series since it builds off the Attack of the Clones film more than it does any previous episodes of this series.

Nightsisters arc (Season 3): Here is where the series takes a hard left turn.  This arc focuses primarily on Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku’s assassin.  Darth Sidious feels that Ventress is growing too powerful, and Dooku may be thinking of using her to help overthrow him, so he orders Dooku to kill her.  Ventress survives, and escapes back to her people: the Nightsisters of Dathomir.  They accept her back, and help her try to get revenge on Dooku.  First through a direct assassination attempt, and when that fails they trick Dooku into accepting a new apprentice that they have brainwashed to betray him at their command, Savage Oppress.  This is the first arc to focus primarily on one of the villains (None of the heroic main cast appear in its second episode at all) and when it ends both Ventress and Oppress are alive and working independently as new factions in the plot.  This changes the status quo for the rest of the series, and introduces a new plot thread as well: The return of Darth Maul, the brother of Savage Oppress.

Mortis arc (Season 3): Another three-part arc, this is the first real foray of Star Wars into straight fantasy, and the first attempt of this series to address the Prophecy of the Chosen One.  Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka find themselves on a mysterious planet with properties they cannot explain, populated by ‘Force Wielders’ of immense power and who represent the Light, the Dark, and the Balance.  Almost all of the sci-fi trappings around the Force are dropped, these people are clearly wizards/angels/demons.  It gives a lot of character focus on the three leads, directly addressing their hopes and fears and their destinies.  It’s so different from the rest of the series that it may not function as a good introduction, but it gives such a good presentation of each character I heavily recommend against skipping it.

Citadel arc (Season 3): This is a military rescue arc, with Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan attempting to rescue a Jedi Master and a naval officer who have been captured by the Separatists, and who have vital military information that could change the course of the war.   This is where you can first begin to really see The Empire growing unseen within the Republic, as the officer is in fact Captain Wilhuff Tarkin (AKA Grand Moff Tarkin, the villain of the original Star Wars film).  Throughout the arc Tarkin and the Jedi have several debates about politics, the military, and the current war, as well as what the Jedi’s role should be in all three.  At this point I think we’re past “introductions” to the series, as the series becomes ever more tightly interwoven over the remaining seasons.  Tarkin will return as an antagonist in the future, and the cracks between Anakin (And Ahsoka) and the Jedi really start to widen.

Calamari arc (Season 4): The season four opener, this is a Water arc, which I have to applaud the franchise for finally doing.  The water world of Mon Cala falls into civil war when the Quarren ally with the Separatists against the Republic-aligned Mon Calamari. We get to see Jedi Kit Fisto, an amphibious Nautolan, at home underwater while our air-breathing main cast are in scuba suits and helmets.  Unfortunately, when the underwater fighting spills out of control the Republic needs to bring in the also-amphibious Gungans to fight and I find this part of the story ridiculous (They’re the only other amphibious species with an army?  The Republic has never had to fight on a water world before, so they don’t have any widely available submersibles?  Come on).  Despite this contrivance, I very much like that the series finally addresses how different species require different environments.  The Separatists use shark people on this planet, as they would be useless on other worlds but this is the perfect locale for them.  The arc doesn’t have much of a story impact for later, it’s self-contained action/adventure.

Umbara arc (Season 4): One of the best arcs of the series, this arc (As reviewer SF Debris put it), “Puts the ‘war’ in ‘Star Wars’”.  A four-part arc, the focus is almost entirely on the Clone Troopers of the 501st, who are normally under Anakin’s command but are being transferred to Jedi General Pong Krell when Anakin is recalled to Coruscant.  Anakin only appears in the first episode, and none of the Jedi main cast appear in the other three episodes except for holo-communications with Obi-Wan.  All the episodes are filled with intense action, but the series also finally really digs in to what it means to be a Clone, and the morality around using them for battle.  ALL the props for Dee Bradley Baker who spends all four episodes talking to himself as dozens of different clone characters.  They debate loyalty, duty, training, the values of their own lives, and the value of a system that claims to stand for freedom but which doesn’t offer it to them.  These concepts had been touched before in individual episodes which also focused on the clones, but never to this extent or depth.  I consider this arc one of the stand-out entries of the entire Star Wars franchise.

Slaver arc (Season 4): To be honest, I’ve never quite been able to get a good grasp on this three-part arc.  After a village full of Togrutas (Ahsoka’s people) are kidnapped by slavers allied with the Separatists, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go undercover to locate and rescue them.  I suppose it’s an okay arc, but it just never clicked for me.  Nobody seems to recognize the problems with forcing Anakin --  a former slave -- to go undercover as a slaver.  The slavers sometimes try to pull a “Slavery is actually moral because the strong are supposed to dominate the weak” speech, but it never comes close to working on Anakin (Again, he is a former slave) so there’s never any tension of “Oh no, will he decide the villain is right and betray his friends?”.  Individual parts of the arc are well done (There’s a hilarious part of the first episode where Obi-Wan is getting his ass kicked, only to reveal that he was just playing along to buy time and just effortlessly mops the floor once he knows he can stop pretending) but as a whole....eh.

Deception arc (Season 4): A four-part arc, Obi-Wan has to go undercover as an assassin in order to infiltrate a Separatist criminal plot.  To do so, he stages his own murder and then impersonates the assassin.  You really see Anakin start to come apart in this arc, he’s a hair's breadth from just executing the ‘assassin’ when he catches him, and he is barely holding on to any of the Jedi teachings in his anger.  Ahsoka is likewise conflicted, and though not as completely overcome as Anakin she likewise questions their responsibilities in this case.  Obi-Wan faces the standard moral quandaries of being undercover: How far does he go to retain his cover when it comes to harming innocents?  How much harm does he let the other criminals do before interfering?  This is one of the arcs where each episode has its own type as they progress, from Prison Episode to Fugitive Episode to Planning Episode to Crime Episode.  Cad Bane returns, along with several other criminal characters.

Ventress/Oppress arc (Season 4): Some classify this is as two separate two-episode arcs, but I view them as one.  The first two episodes focus on Asajj Ventress (No Jedi characters appear at all) as she first tries to re-assimilate to the Nightsisters, but they are soon wiped out by the Separatists in revenge for their plot against Count Dooku in season three.  Ventress escapes with no personal goals or direction, and eventually falls in with a group of bounty hunters.  The last two episodes follow Savage Oppress on his quest to find his brother, Darth Maul, guided by a magic amulet from Mother Talzin of the Nightsisters.  Maul is living in madness on a junkyard planet with a mechanical spider’s body grafted to his torso to replace the legs Obi-Wan cut off in The Phantom Menace.  Obi-Wan attempts to stop their mutual rampage, and Ventress shows up for her own revenge against Oppress, but they are overpowered and barely manage to escape.  This arc mainly serves as set-up for later arcs in season five, which build to the climaxes for the series.

Season five gives a slight shift from the earlier seasons: there are only story-arcs in this season, with no standalone episodes at all.  Five four-part story-arcs fill out the entire season.

Onderon arc (Season 5): The planet Onderon has allied with the Separatists, but there is a pro-Republic underground fighting a guerilla war against the government.  The main cast are sent to Onderon to train the resistance, without involving the Republic forces in an internal matter.  Apart from the bizarre Prime Directive issue (The Republic is literally at war with the Separatists, I do not see any logic in saying they can’t ‘interfere’ in an internal matter of a Separatist planet) the arc works very well showing the main cast working from a very different angle from usual.  They need to focus on being undetected and secret, taking into account public opinion around them and the effect their efforts have on the civilian populace.  They cannot just fight the war themselves, they have to train the locals to take over so that they can leave and return to the primary war.  Saw Gerrera is first introduced here, and Lux Bonteri returns from earlier in the series.  This arc helps lay the groundwork for Ahsoka’s storyline at the end of this season in particular.

Youngling arc (Season 5): A group of Jedi children trainees come together to gather their first Kyber crystals, and subsequently get entangled in pirate raids and the larger war before they can return home.  Ahsoka is present as their chaperone.  This arc is almost “filler” since it really doesn’t have much of an effect on the larger story.  To some viewers it was a fun arc that remembered that Star Wars isn’t just about war scenes.  To others it was a waste of four episodes in a season that was so tightly packed it didn’t have any episodes to waste.  For me...it’s better than a lot TV shows which introduce child characters where they really don’t belong, but I agree that it didn’t need full four episodes dedicated to them.  A two-parter would have worked just as well, with the other two episodes free for another small story.

Droid Commando arc (Season 5): R2-D2 is added to a special droid commando unto being sent into Separatist space.  Despite following this same group for the whole arc, each episode is a very unique and distinct story.  Almost avant-garde for some of them.  Like the Youngling arc it’s not that critical to the later stories, but it tells its own story.

Maul Mandalore arc (Season 5): Here is where, as they say, shit gets real.  Maul decides that if he cannot rule the galaxy as a Sith Lord, he will will take power from the shadows as a Crime Lord.  He and Oppress first try to take over a pirate gang, and when that fails (partially due to Obi-Wan) he joins up with Death Watch, the Mandalorian extremist group trying to take over Mandalore.  Obi-Wan travels to Mandalore to help Duchess Satine against what he thinks is just a Death Watch takeover, unaware of Maul’s involvement.  Simultaneously, Darth Sidious has sensed Maul’s growing power and is unwilling to have another player in his game, so he personally travels to Mandalore to deal with the situation.  This arc is big.  Several long-time recurring characters are killed off, and it had some of the most standout lightsaber duels of the entire series.  This arc, and one other from later in season seven, is probably the most influential towards what happens in Rebels and The Mandalorian.

The Wrong Jedi arc (Season 5): Did I say that the last arc was where shit got real?  Well, now it’s realer.  There’s a bombing of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and Anakin & Ahsoka are investigating.  However, it looks like it may have been an inside job by a Jedi, and Ahsoka herself is framed as the bomber.  As Ahsoka is accused, imprisoned, and eventually a fugitive, this arc finally shows what the audience has known was coming all along: The Empire isn’t just coming, it’s here.  The institutions of the Republic have been corrupted, and with the rationales of “it’s temporary” and “we need security” the freedoms and liberties that the entire clone wars were about have already been wiped away.  Even the Jedi are not free from this corruption (Although personally, I very much disagree with the way the episode seems to accept the villain’s motivation speech as correct.  It’s the only real flaw in the arc).  This arc originally served as a pseudo-series finale since the series was cancelled after season five, and though I’m happy we got more, if it had to end here it would have been monumental.

Season six (Also known as “The Lost Missions”) is composed of the episodes that had been competed before the show was cancelled after Disney purchased Lucasfilm.  It’s about half the length of a full season, and returns to the earlier mix of different-sized arcs.

Fives arc (Season 6): The four-part arc that opens the season, this finally addresses the point that has been looming over the series from the beginning: How could these stalwart, heroic Clone Troopers betray the Jedi they have fought side-by-side with for years when they receive Order 66?  Clone Trooper Tup snaps and murders a Jedi, and this leads to an investigation amongst the Jedi if his is an isolated incident, or some sort of Separatist plot.  Fives accompanies Tup back to Kamino for treatment, and is drawn deeper and deeper in as the Kaminoans seem more interested on covering things up than actually figuring anything out.  The conspiracy widens more and more, until Fives believes that it is galaxy-wide and manipulating them all.  This arc continues several of the moral and ethical questions surrounding the clones from earlier in the series, and moves the series firmly more towards the inevitable film storyline instead of the clone wars adventures themselves.  This is another one of the arcs where each episode has its own tone, from the “No one gets left behind” military mission, to the rogue patient plot, to the paranoid conspiracy pursuit.

Clovis arc (Season 6): This is another one of the arcs that never quite clicked for me.  Rush Clovis returns from earlier in the series in the hopes of reforming the Banking Clan and bringing ‘honor’ back after it has been corrupted by the greed of the clone wars.  However he was previously a Separatist, and despite their explanation of how it’s okay I keep thinking at every scene that they should arrest him for treason, not let him continue to operate in the Republic government.  Plus, when has anybody ever viewed banks as Honorable Institutions with Good Old Ways?  I do believe that it is possible for a bank to act honorably and treat its customers fairly, but not that banking itself is some sort of Ancient Honorable Institution.  Maybe if season 6 had a full complement of episodes I wouldn’t mind this detour, but since it was cut short I begrudge every wasted episode.

Yoda arc (Season 6): Another pseudo-series finale, these are the final episodes of the season and would have served as the end of the series if season seven had not been revived.  Yoda goes on a vision quest to try and parse out so many of the mysteries of the clone wars and the manipulations of the Dark Side.  Like the earlier Mortis arc, these episodes are straight fantasy as Yoda faces the ghosts of people from his past and his own internal demons.  They make an effort to address what it means when people say that the Jedi have become corrupted by fighting in this war, and they try to reconcile their peacekeeper philosophy with serving as soldiers.  The arc ends on the depressed-yet-hopeful note which is the mantra of Star Wars of this era, as the Empire’s rise may be inevitable but there is still hope for afterwards.

#Star Wars: The Clone Wars #Recap #Star Wars #Story-arcs

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2020 Favorite Anime

I am sure I don’t have to exactly spell it out that 2020 was a different year, we all know the spiel now. It was in particular a bad year for me for a lot of personal reasons on top of the whole world wide pandemic thing killing millions and shutting down business and and all our hobbies--so I really was straight up not having a good time. It’s because of that I honestly didn’t really keep up with a lot of my hobbies this year so when it comes to choosing my favorite anime and games of 2020, I don’t have as much as I usually would. 

So this year I decided to just say screw it, there are no rules. I usually try to impose some on myself every year for my lists: rules like no sequels, no long running shows, no shows that technically started last year, only new content from this year and not older stuff I watched/played this year but came out from a prior one. This time, there are no holds barred. I am just going to list my top whatever the hell I feel like listing. So starting with anime and in my usual alphabetical order; here we go.

The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?

Maybe a guilty pleasure? Maybe I just enjoy some trashier shows? It’s hard to say. There is nothing that great about 8th Son, it’s very bland and doesn’t stick out amongst the million other isekai (another world) power fantasy series that are all the rage now and yet there is a strange draw to it. Perhaps it’s because almost all the isekai elements in the series feel more forced than anything else, like they are just tacked on to appeal to modern audiences. 

8th Son honestly feels more like a good old fashion fantasy series from the 90’s that just had to add isekai elements in it to appeal to kids today. I really enjoyed it for that aspect. The power fantasy isn’t too out of control (although the protagonist is quite strong), and there is no real end goal or attempt to return to your previous life. The protagonist Wendelin is more or less just cool with how things are now. Instead it focuses on his growth as a mage and how he tries to navigate the political intrigue of this feudal world being one of the youngest born in a noble family with no clear line of succession to take over yet being the most talented and magically gifted child of said family. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm

Proving that not all isekai series have to be a power fantasy, Ascendance of a Bookworm plays out more like an educational take on medieval times, think something among the lines of Spice and Wolf, if you will. One day Motosu Urano wakes up in the body of the small child Myne in a fantasy world much like medieval Europe but with a few other elements like magic and sorcery. While at first that may sound like a high flying adventure it really isn’t. The series is more about following the average life of a peasant in this world and how far out of reach literature is to them, given the lack of printing press and the like. Urano now Myne tries her best to create books for the common people and spread literature, a herculean task considering the insane douchebaggery of the higher caste in this world. But armed with modern day knowledge of the 21st century Myne is able to create modern conveniences and wow most people around her.

Black Clover

So I am going to include long running shows now this year, get over it. Black Clover has been a favorite of mine in recent years. Out of the modern Jump battle series I find myself more and more drawn into Clover (and also my one true love, the ever underappreciated World Trigger) than the other more popular ones that seem to rule all the anime conversations today. Since I was following the series dubbed as it aired on Toonami this year brought me the end of the first part of the series; finally seeing the epic conclusion of Clover Kingdom’s long standing battle with the Eye of the Midnight Sun and revealing some pretty great and shocking twists behind the war of elves and humans along the way. 

This finale was fantastic and honestly while I am glad to see the series continue on and grow from there, and look forward to seeing more of this new second part of Clover that focuses on a war with the Spade Kingdom, I absolutely would not have complained if the whole thing ended right here with this story arc. It wraps up so beautifully and is a compilation of three great years of episodes. 

BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt so I’ll Max Out My Defense

Bofuri is not a series I thought I would enjoy as much as I did but it really won me over. Essentially just a ‘cute girls do cute things’ kind of show but with a twist of it being in an MMO game, there is something about it that made it so comfy and easy to watch. There’s always something enjoyable about watching the protagonist Maple, an absolutely clueless newbie at video games continue to be the bane of existence to the developers and admins of the game as she constantly breaks it and becomes insanely overpowered on a regular basis all from her own cluelessness. 

As the title suggests she is the only person in the world to get scared of taking damage in a video game and puts all her stats into defense and literally nothing else entirely. After so much grinding the girl is such a tank she can just walk through enemies to kill them. It’s fun little things like this that make the show always worth a chuckle as her legendary player status continues to rise while in reality she just has no clue how to play RPGs whatsoever. 

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

If you think Black Clover had a great run of episodes this year in 2020 just wait until you see what Boruto had to offer. While not a perfect year, the series did take off for about 2 months thanks to a pandemic hiatus, once it came back it was stronger than ever. We came out of the gates running and kicked off the return of Boruto with a fantastic 20+ episode long story arc centered on introducing the main group of villains in the series, the Kara. The world of Boruto became much bigger and much darker, and the series in the last year has started to bring in a lot more manga content and moving at a brisker and faster pace, changing the status quo up quite a lot. Watching the New Team 7 grow so much and rise to these challenges was rewarding and I am so excited for the vessel story arc teased at the latest Jump Festa this December. 

Ultimately though their first encounter, crushing defeat, and subsequent rematch with Deepa; a new anime only member of Kara meant to introduce the organization to anime viewers was an insane show de force of animation and one of the best battles in 2020 anime, dare I say. These kids are growing into great warriors and the stakes have been raised so much.

Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden IF

The 2018 reboot of the Vanguard series saw not only the card game get refreshed but the television anime as well. Dubbed the V Series by fans thanks to all the new card serial numbers starting with a V post reboot, these last two years have been fun and full of fan service for long time viewers of the anime. Gaiden IF is the final season of this reboot before the fourth entry of the franchise Overdress begins in 2021, and was a very strange and experimental one at that. Gaiden IF holding true to its name was a gaiden, or spinoff of the series that wasn’t necessary in the same canon as the regular show and more fascinating had zero card fights during the entire show--instead being one huge parody of card game animes in general and the beloved cast of characters the series has built over its ten year run. 

It’s quite hilarious and a great round of fun, especially since there isn’t a main character in sight. Gaiden IF is carried entirely by a cast of side characters and former villains now taking over the role of protagonist. I’ve never seen a show go for an entire season with such minor characters playing such a huge role and that is one of the best aspects of it. Every week watching Ibuki Kouji, one of the most feared and powerful villains in the series being tormented and kicked around as a would-be hero now honestly carries the entire show. 

But really, this was one of the first anime to air post pandemic hiatus and it was so refreshing to have Vanguard back. Every week it reminded me how much I loved the franchise and anime in general, it was such a delight to finally have something enjoyable back in my life after such a grueling pandemic hiatus of nothing. 

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think there would be a modern adaptation of Dai no Daibouken, or The Adventures of Dai as it is being called in English now. This was one of my all time favorite Jump manga growing up and I always thought the original unfinished 1991 anime was the best we were ever going to get as far as animation goes, so to see this beautiful new series with its fantastic storyboarding and animation, great use of CG mixed in with hand drawn, and what seems like an outright declaration from the series itself that it will adapt the series in its entirety this time, it’s all too much. 

This new Dai adaptation is like a dream anime that was made just for me. Every Saturday morning I giddily log on to watch the new episode just like being a kid again with Saturday morning cartoons. If you are sleeping on this show, don’t! You won’t regret watching it, Dai was one of the all time great Shonen Jump properties of the 90’s and is ready to show kids today what that era has to offer!

Gundam Build Divers Re:rise Season 2

Rerise was hands down one of my favorite shows last year when the first cour aired, and this year is no different either, dare I say once again this was probably my favorite show of the whole year. It’s hard to really go into what made this second cour so good without flat out spoiling all the best parts, and all the character development, and all the amazing battles, but suffice to say, this may be one of the best Gundam shows of the entire decade, Build series or not. Hell I ain’t afraid to say this kicked G-Tekketsu (Iron Blooded Orphans) ass this way to Sunday, I don’t care that this is a toy commercial for a much younger audience. Basically, watch Rerise, it’s going to be a great time. 

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die

This was another series that I expected very little from but ended up really enjoying each week. The basic premise is pretty simple, a super fan obsessed with an idol (singer) goes to insane lengths to support her and thinks her love will never be reciprocated but maybe it just might be. It’s kinda strange and an unusual romance series that isn’t really all that big on romance. In fact it seems to be much bigger on being informative about idol fan culture and nerd culture in general and poking fun at that while never being too mean spirited. 

I think that’s the charm of this one. These are by all extent weird kinda creepy people that are obsessed over young girl singers but it never demonizes its cast for that nor does it ever go too far in the power fantasy of them ‘getting the girl’. It’s about the struggle of fan life and the tightknit and utterly bizarre groups of friends you can make in a fandom--and also maybe some love might happen along the way.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Another big modern shonen jump battle manga got its chance to be animated this year, and this time courtesy of studio Mappa who are the real stars of this party. Everything about Jujutsu Kaisen feels like Mappa throwing down the gauntlet and trying to one-up the highly praised and beloved Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba from last year that wowed everyone with UFOtable’s signature beautiful animation. It’s very fascinating to see the insane levels of gorgeous jaw dropping action set pieces between these two series, both raising the bar to ridiculous levels in their own ways. On top of the animation front though are some very easily lovable characters, a much darker feeling supernatural story than one may expect, and probably Crunchyroll’s best dub produced in 2020. 

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken is another series from beloved auteur Masaaki Yuasa. Bringing with it his signature style and wonderful animation, his hardworking compatriots at studio Science Saro deliver something truly special, an anime about why anime is great and just how the heck it is made to begin with. I think one of my favorite aspects of Yuasa’s work is just how sincere almost his entire output is, and how you can really feel a certain kind of emotion and vision behind each work that is unique to it. For Eizouken it is definitely the joy of creation and what it means to pursue something creative. Easily one of the best watches of 2020 for both its visuals, sound design, characters with great chemistry that have to deliver very heavy and technical dialogue but do so in a really natural and enjoyable way--and hey the shows within the show that the girls make are also usually pretty interesting and good too.

MAJOR 2nd Season 2

I think my favorite aspect of this new middle school arc of MAJOR 2nd was seeing just how much Daigo has changed over the years since we last saw him in elementary school in the first season. No longer in little league and now trying to save his school’s baseball club, Daigo has grown into a strong leader and really feels natural with everyone he talks to. It’s a huge departure from the bullied and reclusive selfish kid he was in the first season. Seeing the kid grow up into somebody reliable and caring like this almost brings a tear to my eye. 

It’s an old cliché but saving the falling apart club in your school is a classic underdog story and the fact that Daigo built his own team from the ground up really sells it. The team is largely made up of girls too which brings a really great girl power aspect to it as well. With just 3 boys and the rest of the positions being filled with females, the haphazard team Daigo put together not only has to show that nobodies can make it but that girls are just as good as the boys.

Rent-a-Girlfriend

I love trashy romcom harem anime, I will be the first to admit it. I am not even their target audience, in fact I am probably the exact opposite of their target audience yet I can’t get enough of this kind of garbage, and Rent-a-Girlfriend brings in the garbagest of garbage it can! The name says it all right there, our hero is literally so pathetic he has to pay girls money to go on dates with him. And he just continues to ruin everything around him with his constant lying and all around patheticness. He is like a blackhole of suck that will drag down any and all that go near him. What more can you even want?! 

I am half facetious here of course, but to an extent what I said about Kazuya isn’t wrong. He’s the biggest loser around, and I love him. It’s fun to watch him squirm, and it’s nice to learn more about him and see he has a good side deep down too. In a lot of ways he’s probably one of the more relatable leads in these kinds of shows as he’s just as pathetic as all the rest of us who watch these kinds of shows are. But besides Kazuya there are plenty of nice leading ladies too and probably most surprisingly a fairly well fleshed out circle of friends that he hangs out with. Usually these kinds of shows will sideline the male friends of the leads and only focus on time between the lead and the girls, so it’s refreshing to see so much time spent with other boys in the show too. 

Also as an addendum to anyone who watches the series dubbed, Aleks Le‘s performance as the lead role is maybe some of the best casting in modern anime dubbing I have ever heard. He kills it in this show. It’s a performance that carries the entire show. 

Shadowverse

You might say, I saved the best for last, but honestly this was a coincidence. Shadowverse is a by-the-numbers card game anime. It starts very slow and very bland, and offers nothing new to the genre instead sticking entirely to the classic tropes and clichés of sports anime and Yu-Gi-Oh clones alike. That is for the first 12 episodes or so. It begins to evolve and gets a little more interesting from there, then something happens. Something I cannot explain. Something that makes no sense. Something that the production committee probably should not have allowed to occur. The show just goes absolutely, positively, certifiably, fucking insane. 

Out of nowhere, the plot suddenly turns into a straight Neon Genesis Evangelion knock-off, complete with plugsuits, random nonsense mysticism from exotic religions, and soul crushing nightmarishly harsh treatment of the child protagonists. Suddenly time freezes for everyone but the main characters, and the totally original not Kabbalah, Tree of Woe, begins to end the world. Now armed with their new psychic powers (that they just have now out of nowhere!) the kids have to fight brain washed former enemies and loved ones alike that seek to destroy the world via assimilation into the darkness. 

Suddenly we have moments like the above where Luca, the coldhearted and cool Shadowverse player who only ever began fighting in tournaments to earn money for his younger sick sister’s treatment has to face off against a possessed evil version of his sister who bemoans all the isolation he put her through, never being there with her, always away trying to earn money. She berates and destroys the young man’s heart for his well intentions. Luca with no other options has to put her down for the good of the world. 

You know, for the 12 year old kids in the audience that signed up for a show about a cellphone app.

I haven't even gotten to the best part yet, the show isn’t over! There’s still 12 episodes left in the series and do you wanna know the best part?! The heroes already failed! The world blew up and everyone got sucked into a blackhole and died! That’s not a joke. The bad guys won. And there’s still another season worth of episodes to go! I am not kidding, this is how the show ended the year 2020! This is legendary, no fucks given status if I ever saw it. The best way to end 2020 if ever there was one:

Every week I anxiously log on to watch Shadowverse after it jumped the shark just to see what insanity happens next. This is Tommy Wiseau The Room energy levels of pure insane dribble. Shadowverse might be the biggest disaster of a card game anime of all time, and I simply cannot get enough of it now.  

BONUS THOUGHTS For 2020

Random Anime Collecting: This year saw Discotek release three Case Closed/Detective Conan movies on blu-ray. Detective Conan is a series near and dear to my heart, and one I spent a lot of my college days obsessed over. This is a franchise I really went to great lengths to collect after Funimation reprinted many of the long time out of print volumes of the series back in 2013, and I bought them all back then. Buying new Detective Conan movies in 2020 felt super surreal, and also wonderful. I really hope I can keep buying more in 2021.

Hidive for these hard times: I didn’t include anything really from Sentai, I am not sure why, maybe none of what I watched this year would count as a favorite of mine, maybe I was just lazy and didn’t want to add to my list anymore. Honestly though I watched a lot of series this year on Hidive. I think my favorite has been the new dub of Pet Girl of Sakurasou. 

A Lost Classic: Nobody is talking about God Mazinger finally getting released in English from Discotek and that kind of bums me out. The series was one I obsessed over when younger, especially because it was rare to find even raw footage of it lead alone subtitled. It was never subtitled in fact, so Discotek’s release is the first time it has ever been in English. 

#anime #The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? #Ascendance of a Bookworm #Black Clover #Boruto #Boruto Naruto Next Generations #Bofuri #Cardfight!! Vanguard #Dragon Quest #Dragon Quest Dai no Daibouken #dragon quest the adventure of dai #Gundam Build Divers Re:rise #JuJutsu Kaisen #Keep YOur Hands Off Eizouken #MAJOR 2nd #Rent-a-girlfriend #Shadowverse

[sbooksbowm]

Weekly Wrap-Up - 2 October

Look who is procrastinating editing the bookbinders chapter! This kid. The main body is written, but I’m trying to work in some theoretical background in the introduction to do the academicky-thing of nodding to the other writers who have laid the groundwork for this kind of research. I’m speed-reading Leah Price’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Books and trying to scrounge together some information on Jessica Pressman’s forthcoming Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age, both of which foreground a lot of the points I make about the tensions between digital and print forms of texts. 

New Approach to the Weekly Wrap-Ups!

I’m only 2.5 weeks out from turning in this dissertation, so as I move away from giving regular updates about my research, I’m going to change the form of the weekly format to compile all of the things I posted about, recommend, and am thinking about in one place. That way, if you’re ever wondering ‘what is sbooks up to?’, you can go to my research masterpost and click on my weekly wrap-ups to get quick access to fun links and lukewarm takes.

Things I posted about

Casey Fiesler’s (@cfiesler) awesome video about fan migration, the oral explanation of her most recent article with Brianna Dym. This is totally worth the 30-minute watch, and Fiesler does an amazing job of tracking the history of fannish media alongside the impetuses of fan migration

a reflection on why fans are the most likely to think critically and expansively about the media they consume, in response to the criticism that fans are content with just consuming the same story over and over again (which is true, but not without reason)

Things I recommend 

Riley J. Dennis’s Case for the Legend of Korra, which is an excellent elaboration on some popular pro-Korra arguments against the naysayers of the sequel series. I love that Riley talks about Korra’s journey towards humanization via healing from trauma, which is something I think many viewers feel affirmed by.  

Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s 'The Sound of Someone You Love Who’s Going Away and It Doesn’t Matter’. What a title! And it really does sound like it.

Things I’ve been thinking about

Takeaways on writing: This has been a week of revisions, with some serious cutting and clarifying. My advisor pointed out that as I am a newbie academic writer, I still rely a lot on quotations instead of paraphrasing my sources for support, rather than evidence. Rephrasing a lot of quotations opened up a lot of room for my own argument. This process made me think a lot about writing guidance in middle school and high school, wherein I was trained to use quotations as evidence rather than as support. Anyone else learn this? That the more people who agree with you, the more right your argument is, instead of drawing from original or revisiting primary evidence and using previous writing as a framework for analysis? It’s a pretty bad habit! And it makes us reliant on regurgitating other work rather than working through our own arguments and examining how they align or disalign with others. Graduate school has been one long re-learning process on writing...and I studied writing in uni. 

Different kinds of fan spaces: I hang out, actively participate, and lurk in a variety of fan spaces, mostly in the form of Discord servers (my love) and Facebook groups (bane of my existence). And I’m in a lot of fan spaces for different media: TV shows, books, comics, podcasts, even fan platforms. Though this has been said elsewhere, the difference in attitude and behavior of fans depending on the type of space (and whether fans are masked by a pseudonym or not) is fascinating to me! I’m in one enormous Facebook group dedicated to television show, and without fail, every single post ends up with the comments off because the discourse gets too heated. This behavior is almost definitely a function of:

the impersonal size of the group. In my favorite Discord servers, the smaller size makes the conversation more personable and friendlier (I know these people! I’m not going to harangue them!), and,  

affirmational versus transformational fandom: affirmational fans tend to work within the confines of canon, and so when they disagree over the interpretation of canonical elements, the conversation turns to facts (’no, this is how it happened in season 12, episode 472’) over feelings (’this happened once in the spin-off comic and I’m cool w extrapolating this bc I wanna feel warm and fuzzy inside’). Transformational fans are less canon-restricted and perhaps more lenient, and are probably more likely to silo themselves in fan spaces with agreed-upon interpretations (e.g. I’m in a few dedicated shipping servers, and I know other shipping servers exist, but I won’t bother myself with them, because that’s not my cup of tea, so I’ll just save myself the trouble). 

This isn’t to say that affirmational fans won’t break off from the main group and form their own interpretive communities, but I think affirmational fans are more likely to want to be a part of the “official” fan spaces, because they are interested in the “official” story. 

This is anecdotal conjecture, but I wonder, have you seen differences in fan behavior depending on the fannish space you’re in? I’d love to hear about other fan-space-specific experiences!

#weekly wrap-up #research #discussion #this is really a blog now #sbooks blog #housekeeping #things I posted #things I recommend #things I think about #Casey Fiesler #Brianna Dym #Riley J Dennis #Legend of Korra #Penguin Cafe Orchestra #writing reflections #fandom spaces #transformational vs affirmational

[friendofhayley]

ship history meme

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’ fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Tagged by the most gorgeous, smartest, sweetest, and kindest person in my life @sightetsound​ <3 Sorry y’all, I have a lot of hyperfixations and I’m on NyQuil!

1. Katsuki Bakugo and Eijiro Kirishima, My Hero Academia - I literally can’t watch Season 4 until it’s finished because my heart will Explode if I’m left on a cliffhanger involving these too!!! (Unbreakable T.T <3) I don’t usually like animes but I fell in love with his trash bastard and his soft rock boyfriend by the villain’s attack in S1. It all started when I got a TikTok because a Very Hot Bakugo cosplayer was on there. (Literally, their rendition of Bakugo is just, umph. They have appeared in my dream.). As she got more popular he started cosplaying more of Class 1-A of MHA, and I kept wondering?? What the fuck is this anime about?? Why is there an alien girl?? I soon gave in and watched the show to gain context to this thirst trap. I have so many feels for these boys, even though I don’t post on them much here, and T.T

2. Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane, Shadowhunters - I literally almost wrote my thesis because of this ship. I got into Shadowhunters because I was depressed in a foreign, racist country where I couldn’t go outside alone because old white men would corner me on the street, and everyone was talking about how Mike from Glee was kissing a guy at a wedding? Instead of partying during my study abroad trip, I gobbled down Malec content. And like who wouldn’t?? Harry Shum Jr. was playing a bisexual warlock?? And he had lines and a main character role??? An interracial couple where the characters are both POC?? Sign me up! But then I quickly fell in love with awkward gayby Alec and immediately knew how it felt to be in his shoes. (Disclaimer: I still haven’t finished the show because I don’t want their story to end, but just seeing their wedding scene????? Tears!!!!!!!!!! Both wedding scenes! I-) I just love how soft they look at each as they realize how lucky they are to be able to fall in love against the odds. T.T They deserve the world and all the warlock and shadowhunter babies and T.T This is just going to devolve into me crying so-

3. Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale, Teen Wolf - I got into Teen Wolf to escape the hellfire that had become the Glee fandom around S3-S4. (Tbh it might have been Dereklei’s constant Sterek content on my dash that led me to give in.) Stiles was bi (through subtext) and definitely turned on by an older werewolf. What more could a depressed Gleek ask for? And listen - now looking back, Sterek is definitely gay Twilight - if Bella was snarkier, had a mental illness, and also a personality. Sterek was the ship to get me back into writing fanfiction and where I could read paranormal characters working through PTSD, ADHD, and other mental illnesses while fighting monsters and having unrealistic sex! I also love those future fics where Beacon Hills isn’t a Hellmouth anymore, and everyone’s alive and just living as one big found family. Truly, Derek deserves the world and I love him so much, and Stiles definitely agrees.

4. Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, One Direction - If it’s a surprise that I’m a dark larrie, please read my bio. HL made me believe that love is real and exists and can last for years. I got into One Direction in 2011 through a Lilo fanfic, but as soon as I watched the Video Diaries,,,we knew. Louis has saved my life in ways I can’t describe and the songs that they’ve written for each other through their tough times are so inspiring to listen and dance to. Seeing how they’ve been dragged apart by management, Sony Entertainment, and the whole music industry as a whole even though they exist in glass closets is very disheartening to see. But their resilience that they show through their art (Only the Brave, Sweet Creature, If I Could Fly, and like so many others) is always there. If you want to fall in this rabbit hole, look at freddieismyqueen on YT and come inside lol. Larry is real.

5. Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson, Glee - the ship that got me on Tumblr! I didn’t start watching Glee until the summer before S2 came out. My whole choir was into it and I didn’t want to be “mainstream”, but Kurt was the first openly gay teen character that I saw on TV. When I heard a character played by Darren Criss, a musical theater YT legend from AVPM, I had to watch it. I ended up binging the first season with those Netflix DVDs during summer break (yeah remember when Netflix wasn’t streaming? lol). I watched every episode of that god-forsaken show the night of (or night after illegally, hidden from my parents) for that ship, and then me and my best friend would rant about it for the whole week: rinse and repeat. The episode they got together made me scream and I definitely put those Glee Rewind songs in my iPhone. (Fun fact: I used to cry at night because I wished someone like Kurt could love me like that because I heavily related to Blaine and his whole situation). I naturally stopped watching Glee the moment they broke them up and I’m still mad at their hasty attempt to marry them out of nowhere with no well-written getting together / make-up arc other than Jigsaw?? and a barn wedding?? As if Hummel would. What a trash fire. But dang, Glee fanfics have some of the dirtiest, kinkiest, forbidden fics out there. If you were ever on Glee_Kink_Meme on LJ, you know.

6. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter - the ship that started it all, the big kahuna, the ultimate enemies to lovers for 90s kids. Drarry got me into the fandom world in middle school, where I basically lived on FFN and LJ while pretending to do my homework. I used to get ready every day by watching the same playlist of “The best Harry Potter videos on Youtube!” (curated by Ariel333Lindt, who was the only queer person I knew but lived in Eastern Europe, where I could see two gay people kiss and fall in love in the safety of my room through badly photoshopped videos. Please check out that playlist). I just love how each fic is a microcosm where they have to construct how magical systems work, the backstories of pureblood families, creatures, or just wizarding culture for the end goal of having Drarry fuck and fall in love! I love redemption arcs that take 200k to achieve, I love dark!Harry takes, and every single different damn take on Narcissa, Pansy, and Millicent - because deep down that’s the writer trying to come to turns on whether or not Draco should be redeemed to get together with Harry. (I mean we all know they’re obsessed with each other, book 6 anyone?) I feel like Drarry fics have the best worldbuilding and characterizations of these characters, and I just love those moments when Draco and Harry take a moment to take a breath together and realize how far they’ve come. No one else can understand how it felt to be the pariah or the chosen one, they both interacted with Voldemort the most, and they have the most history together. They should have gotten together! But I mean the author’s dead, am I right?

So that was a lot! Those are all the ships that impacted me that I still participate with. They have shaped me for better or worse, and have made me learn more about who I am and what I want (or don’t want) in a relationship. This was the most fun essay I’ve ever written on NyQuil!

I’m tagging @homosociallyyours​ because I really want to know your fandom story! Also @stozierbrak​ because I love you and must hear you gush about your boys. I’m also tagging @iamaqualady​ because you’re literally the most intriguing person I know and I’m glad we’re friends even though we haven’t interacted that much? ish? 

#tag #me #kiribaku #drarry #sterek

[fadinglake]

I’m going to gripe a bit at length about the ending of Harley Quinn S2, since it aired on Friday. These were all originally tweets that I’ve copied and pasted over. I’m putting this under a cut since there’s spoilers. 

So, the pivotal part of my complaint: Harlivy is canon now. And that's awesome! I've been hoping that's where the show was going to go since S1E1. For most of S1, it felt like that was the direction it was heading, and I loved it. But were any gay people actually writing this? I ask because, you know what gay people DON'T want to see? Relationships that start out as weird tension, become a drunken mistake, and then get hastily slapped together - at the expense of someone else's happiness, that we're guided to feel sympathy for.

The ENTIRE TIME, the show was working on the idea that Kite Man = goofy & weird, pretty immature, but ultimately well-meaning (in context), enthusiastic, kinda traumatized (by his parents), and deserving of something better. Some of this was played for humor - but not completely. The joke AT FIRST was that Ivy was out of his league. But over time, they actually form a meaningful connection, that was tied in with Ivy processing her own trauma and trust issues - and for a comedy show, HQ actually did a decent job of connecting & showing these things.

I was never, at any point, really into the idea that Ivy + Kite Man could be a legit thing. Ivy's connection w/Harley always seemed stronger, despite Harley having growing to do (which she did - most of S1 was her processing her breakup. Done pretty well. Felt thorough.) But it seemed like the show wanted to stick to the idea that Ivy+Kite Man was viable. It spent a lot of effort exploring that & showing growth, showing support for each other, really making a case for it.

I chalked it up to the usual comp-het stuff and moved on, somewhat disappointed bc I was, as I mentioned, rooting for Harlivy, but frankly any gay person is used to this. 2 characters have a DEEP bond, but they don't end up together, because we've gotta have a straight romance.

But then - after all that - suddenly the show pivots to push for Harlivy after all. REALLY quickly. ABSURDLY quickly - to the point where it actually feels like it was a last-minute decision. The leadup of this essentially happens over the course of just a few steps:

-Ivy+Harley escape from Bane's pit and kiss in relief. 

-They brush this under the rug & chalk it up to emotions running high.

-They get drunk & fuck a couple times @ Ivy's bachelorette party. Ivy expresses some regret, but somewhat passively ('oh, dammit. not again' esque)

-Harley VERY SUDDENLY realizes she's in love w/Ivy 

-Ivy VERY BRIEFLY admits they COULD have a relationship, but that Harley is too emotionally reckless. 

-Harley goes back and forth on wanting to prove she's trustworthy, or accepting that and moving on.

-Kite Man finds out, is sad. Ivy tries to prove she's dedicated to him. They attempt to get married anyway. 

-Wedding is crashed, Kite Man changes his mind & breaks up w/Ivy. 

-Ivy basically goes "Oh well!" and she and Harley escape together, deciding they're a couple immediately.

It looks a little long when you see it listed in like that, but all of that takes place over essentially just a few episodes - out of 26 total - and EVERYTHING after Kite Man finds out happens in 1 episode, alongside a bunch of other show-typical shenanigans.

It's very jarring in a show that took an entire season and a half to let Harley emotionally process everything that happened with the Joker. They set an emotional pace for themselves (that I thought worked really well!) and then threw it into a blender. To go from that level of pacing and emotional depth to everything that happened with Harley and Ivy in the last half of season 2 makes the entire thing feel incredibly rushed and underdeveloped. It's a huge shame.

I can tell that the show was heading towards them being together from the beginning - there's definitely groundwork - but it feels like all that work was supposed to pay off not by the end of S2, but by the end of S3.

For a show that was incredibly dedicated to exploring a character's inner emotional process, and showing them struggle through multiple stages of emotional healing, it sure feels like they didn't want to spend that time with ANY character for the last part of S2. Ivy goes RIGHT from processing that her trust issues stem from emotional neglect from her father to doing absolutely no inner reflection on what she feels and why. It doesn't match the established pace, and it makes the whole scenario seem REALLY sloppy.

Essentially, it feels like they slapped a series of quick-fixes on a HUGELY important scenario they have been building up to this whole time, with the biggest and messiest being Kite Man deciding halfway through the wedding (& in the middle of an anxiety fit) to call it off. He says "You don't really want this, and I deserve better." Ivy admits that he's right, and then goes to Harley, and tells her she loves her. 

 And that's. It.

There's no inner reflection on Ivy's part about the differences between the lives she and Kite Man each want. There's no delving into how her past trauma plays into how she responded to his love. There's not any spoken reason for why she loves Harley - just that she "gets" her.

At the end of the season, the show's message is: these 2 women are perfect for each other, and the thing in the way of their love is gone. Happy ending! But the 'thing' in the way was a character they spent 2 seasons building up to be sympathetic. The show literally shows that the only way for this relationship to exist is at the expense of another person's happiness, and it's SUPER uncomfortable. It doesn't make sense, and it's frankly painful for a gay person to watch, since this is the only gay relationship in the show.

Kite Man gets cheated on and lied to by a person he's entirely dedicated himself to, someone he shared vulnerability and emotional development with. The show spends a lot of time on that development, but then doesn't develop the relationship away at all. It's not a pendulum swinging the same arc back another way. It's more like a bird being shot out of the sky. 

I feel like in this way, the show is cannibalizing itself - it's smashing its own efforts, in order to get to point B.

I don't want to see gay rep that's show to be at the expense of someone else's happiness. I want gay rep that has meaning and development, the same as the straight rep in the show. This wasn't that. This was slapdash as fuck.

This was INCREDIBLY fucking rambly so here's the tl;dr: 

 Endgame Harlivy wasn't given the same development as the rest of the show, and instead felt rushed, uncared-for, and actually mean-spirited. I'd love to write a 'fix' for it. The setup was good, after all. But, well....we’ll see. 

Anyway. Don’t watch the HQ show for Harlivy. Watch it for Bane. And Killer Croc knitting “GOD’S DEAD” beanies. But mostly Bane.

#harley quinn #harley quinn show #poison ivy #kite man #harley quinn s2 #harlivy #spoilers #I'm supposed to be doing some fucking reading for the SA meeting I have in an hour and instead I'm venting about cartoons