#they did have his flashback and backstory but like .. i repeat it just feels like such a lame plot twist ...

[thewhumpcaretaker]

i yearn to see johns backstory some day. to see the pain and hurt as it happens where he hasn’t yet built up his walls. maybe i just love to torture these men but god damn. i love the idea of young john wick and his complexity.

Overall, I think he started off very innocent and desperate to please his guardian, as children usually are. He tried to follow orders and to earn as much of the Ruska Roma's respect as possible.

As a teenager and young man, he lost that innocence and wasn't so different from Iosef - only much more disciplined. He started to enjoy killing and to enjoy being the best at his trade, or at least he told himself that he did. In reality, he was taking out his anger about his stolen childhood.

It wasn't long before that left him feeling empty and his innocence re-emerged as strong remorse.

Below the cut, there's a snippet about child Jardani from my abandoned fic, The Broken Veil. I had a lot of flashbacks in mind, to various points in his upbringing. Maybe I'll write more of them at some point.

TW: animal death, physical and verbal child abuse

“Choke him, Jardani. Until he’s dead.”

The little boy refused to let his voice break. “I don’t want to.” He was about ten, though he doesn’t remember exactly now.

The Director repeated his words, tutting. “You don’t want to. Tsk.” She had placed a viper in the cage with his pet pigeon. He grabbed him quickly enough, and clutched him just below the base of the skull between his fingers. But he was being trained as an assassin, and assassins do not just grab their prey to hold it firmly by the base of the skull. “Then let him go back in the cage.”

“I would like…to put him outside.”

She laughed uproariously. “That’s not one of the options I’m giving you. Sometimes, life doesn’t give you any options you like, boy. Kill him, or let him go back in the cage and eat his fill.”

He could feel the snake’s strangely malleable throat thrumming against his flesh as he turned his head and flicked his tongue, desperate to escape. Jardani hesitated.

“Too late.” The Director smacked his wrist, hard, forcing his fingers to splay open. The viper fell back to the floor of the birdcage, momentarily stunned. She closed it and dragged him away, his arms twisted together behind his back in a single one of her hands. “Stand still and watch.” He let his body go slack and she released him. The viper, rapidly recovering its strength, sprung forward and sunk fangs into the fluffy white breast that Jardani had so often cradled to his cheek. Red, seeping from the wound. Her body, thrashing as if in seizure. And The Director, standing above him.

In a moment of blind rage, he lunged at her throat. He was already well trained enough to make contact with her collarbone before she flipped him to the ground. Panting above him, she praised his outburst. “Good. You’ll do so well in this world.”

“I loved that bird,” he grunted from underneath her shoulder, seething. “She was my friend.”

“Love? I’ll tell you what love is. Love is a stranger’s body hitting the floor. We kill strangers so we don’t have to kill the ones we love. If you love anything in this world, kill the first thing that tries to take it from you. An enemy, a bystander, even someone you are sworn to. It doesn’t matter. Kill, without hesitation. That is love. If you loved her, that’s what you would have done.”

#props if you noticed the lyric quote from one of the songs in the first movie #john wick fanfic #jardani jovonovich #forced to kill trope #// animal death

[todayisafridaynight]

No because Zhao speculating felt like such a

Looks into the camera

"I bet you're wondering why that happened. ;) heres maybe a reason ebina was deep..."

moment

no literally- like other antags' endgame Deep Moment scenes worked because there was SOME build up throughout the game to key us in on them from a deeper level but it just doesnt work with ebina

#iw spoilers #spoilers #snap chats #a big part To Me really is because hes just an aoki clone like its really not something to look over when its so half-assed #they did have his flashback and backstory but like .. i repeat it just feels like such a lame plot twist ... #a plot twist that could have been really interchangeable ... before i get into the orphan-under-kazama rant again.. #YK1 nishiki got his build up from watching his added backstory scenes and even the scenes with yumi in the beginning #yk where its clear yumi gives more attention to kiryu #ryuji .. ok i mean tbf he was majorly there to fuck around he wasnt trying to be overly deep but even he still has his issues #HE STILL AT LEAST HAD A PRESENCE and even so his moment with kaoru was real sweet .. big bro ryuji my beloved im cryin ... #like a character doesnt have to be OVERLY deep to be fun/enjoyable i love ryuji ... hi king ... im getting off topic .... #MINE-- //is pulled off stage before i get into it// #and aoki is built up from the arakawa's accounts of him coupled with his Dog Eats Dog mentality and esp that NYE flashback #that shot of the No Dumping sign lives in my mind forever .... so good im going to kill myself thinking bout aoki bye ... #im rambling point is Do Better RGG what happened. the stories and characters had been bangers from 0 to 7 to gaiden and then. ???

[izzysillyhandsy]

Ed and Izzy: Cleaning up the mess

As of the end of Ep7, Ed has left Stede and his whole life behind because "he doesn't even know who he is". And I'd like to suggest in this rambling essay that Ed's journey to self-knowledge and self-love can't properly begin before he's come to terms with what happened with Izzy.

Although Ed has steadily been trying to make amends, at the start of Ep6 he's still feeling unsettled and guilty as hell about the terrible things he did (was capable of!): killing his dad, condemning his whole crew to certain death, Izzy's toe, shooting Izzy, being "killed" by Jim and the crew with Izzy looking on...

There's a surprising amount of Izzy in Ed's flashback (I was honestly surprised the toe cutting made it in - somehow the whole discussion around "Izzy deserving it" made me think Ed thought so as well? But of course he doesn't think that. Izzy does.)

And while Ed's central conflict is his underlying self-hatred and self-doubt, there still is a daily reminder of all of his worst tendencies and (still very recent) acts right under his nose.

I think I got all the poison out of my system...

...or not. The indestructible fucker's still here.

Izzy is Ed’s walking and talking guilt room and no amount of deflecting, story-telling or sugarcoating can turn that poison into positivity.

Stede, I love you for your sometimes naive, sweet outlook on life (and Ed does too), but Ed and Izzy, that’s years and years of love and devotion, resentment and hate, building each other up and tearing each other down. They’ve just come out of the absolute worst breakup in history, with so many things unsaid and unknown they’d need the whole of S3 to talk it through.

Stede applying his motivational poster line to Izzy of all people is a little bit tone deaf, especially because it happens right while Izzy’s singing a bittersweet love song about/to Ed.

Which he continues, in French, while Ed and Stede are having sex for the first time so that's definitely not helping. I wonder how good Ed's French is, but it is honestly almost comical to imagine Ed cheating on Iz making love to his new boyfriend while his ex is singing his heart out about „It's only him for me, and me for him, for life - he told me, he swore to me, for life“.

So Izzy's still here. Izzy is still visibly hurting, physically (your fault!!) and mentally (your fault as well in so many ways). And you're already over it and having fun with your new boyfriend? Of course not.

Whatever they were/are to each other specifically, Ed and Izzy were as good as married. They spent almost every day together for decades. Izzy let himself be maimed and hurt over and over again out of love and loyalty. And Ed feels very, very guilty about it. Even if this guilt is not the first thing constantly on Ed's mind, it's certainly there in the background, simmering.

On the other hand, Izzy is the one who kept Ed stationary - they had a good, secure (for pirates anyway) life together, why risk change? I don't think Izzy had noticed (or wanted to notice) how bad it'd gotten for Ed for a long time. So there's also a lot of resentment there from Ed's side, all tied up with Izzy.

It's a very complicated mess and I think that all this is at least part of the reason for Ed's confusion and need to... just go.

But that's not all, by far.

History repeating itself...

...maybe this seems a bit familiar?

We don't know a lot of Ed&Izzy's backstory (apart from: it's a long one!), but I think it's (almost) canon that it is Izzy's job to make sure Ed is content and safe and, most importantly, to kill for Ed.

And even though their relationship (whatever it was) probably didn't start out as tender and sweet as Ed/Stede, I think they started out much more carefree and happy, possibly excited and adventurous. Until their lifestyle took a toll on both of them - Izzy as Ed's killer and constant protector and Ed as Blackbeard, who Ed started to resent more and more. In the end, all that was left were two broken people in a codependent relationship.

Now it seems like gentle, sweet Stede is slowly turning into Izzy 2.0 - swearing (as far as I remember, Stede almost never said fuck in S1), becoming a "real pirate", and worst of all, killing for Ed even though Ed almost begged him not to (seems familiar?).

Plus, this is happening when Ed, still freshly traumatized from his stint as pirate extreme wants nothing to do with violence in general and piracy specifically. Least of all he wants Stede damaged (or izzyfied).

Stede seemed like a way out of pirating, a chance for a loving, fulfilling relationship. Maybe even a way out of his relationship with Izzy, who I think Ed (subconsciously?) blames for the destructive path his life had taken.

Now he isn't so sure anymore if Stede actually wants this.

Talk it through...

...eventually, maybe. Hopefully.

Of course, not every obstacle Ed has to face, every step on the road to self-love and happiness is about Izzy. Vice versa, Izzy is much more than his relationship with Ed, and he has his own problems independent from him.

But this "marriage" with Izzy was Ed’s longest and most important relationship, and also the last relationship before Stede. The way their relationship became restrictive, damaging and unescapable in the end was both their faults. It'd be quite natural if Ed was a bit cautious with that kind of history. Am I a person who always ends up like this? How did we fuck up this badly? Is there a way out?

Most importantly though, a lot of Ed’s guilt and self-doubt is wrapped up in Izzy - if you're capable of doing that (and that, and that) to the person you love - what else are you capable of?

In conclusion, Ed and Izzy need real closure, one way or the other. Before that happens, Ed won't be happy on any way he chooses, and certainly not in his relationship with Stede.

At the moment, they're not talking, really. It's incredibly sweet though, the way they make these little concessions towards the other (Izzy doing much more than Ed, as per usual). They're almost shy, asking for advice, giving reassurance and understanding, and sharing bottles, smiles and looks.

Will they get a long heart-to-heart in the finale? Of course not, there's not enough time. I think we might get a symbolic moment though.

Ed already knows Izzy loves him. Izzy really doesn't know (on top of everything else, poor kid). The only thing he got from Ed was the "Sorry 'bout your leg", even the latch got a bit more.

Izzy needs to hear that too. "It's not your fault you're broken. You didn't break you. Just trying to do your job, weren't you?"

(btw, I love that Ed is softly blowing onto the latch here, while Izzy is doing the same to his little shark <3)

It's also possible Izzy will get his "I loved you, best I could" in person. Hopefully not exactly in those words. But, for both of them, this will be a start to open proper communication (which might happen offscreen between seasons).

And when we get S3, Ed will be (more) prepared to embark on his journey to happiness, with or without Izzy by his side.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd meta #Ed's got this Izzy-shaped rucksack on his back #it's not all about Izzy as a person it's what Izzy stands for #this was just from Ed's perspective - Izzy's also in dire need of something more #TALK boys

[destinysbounty]

Who wants to overthink legos with me? No? Too bad, here goes

Okay so do you ever think about how the circle is (accidentally) a recurring motif in Ninjago? A running list of examples:

Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, which is commonly represented in a circular shape and represents infinity with endless return. Thats how they defeat the Great Devourer, actually, by getting it to bite its own tail

The original shape of Ninjago before the FSM pangea'd it

Spinjitzu is essentially the process of weaponizing circular motion. Airjitzu is similar, and even creates a sphere of air/light around the user

In the earlier seasons, Lloyd's main attack involved creating balls of energy

The light from portals - time vortex, Traveler's Tea, the Blind Man's Eye, the Realm Crystal - tend to resemble vortexes

Dragons often have to spin in order to traverse realms

All the circle imagery in the Temple of Light

Jay and Nya's yin-yang badges

Yang's whole "close the circle" shtick

The dust circle that swirled around the ninja at the end of Skybound when Jay said his final wish and all of time was undone

Zane's old house is circular/cylindrical, and the camera spiral-zoomed on him when his memories returned

The architecture on Chen's island

The Celestial Clock

Flower petals circling around Lloyd when he met the FSM

In that flashback when Mystake was telling the story of the Oni and the Dragon, with the FSM creating a circular yin-yang symbol to represent the combining of both light and dark

This is a bit of a stretch, but Zane's notably circular power core

Kryptarium is a panopticon style, which is circular in design. On that note, the s8 Lloyd v Garmadon fight happening at Kryptarium. Lloyd was familiar with the usual procedure of saving Garm, only for that typical cycle of saving and losing his father as Garmadon throws him through the wall and out of the prison

Lots of fights actually have the camera pan in circles around the fighters

That little hand paint collage they all made at the end of season 10

The spiraling bioluminescence surrounding the FSM's corpse

Actually, lets take it a step further. Cycles of violence. Sins of the father. History repeating itself. Harumi and Loyd's backstories causing, opposing, and reflecting one another, with her ending where Lloyd began and vice versa. The inheritance of elemental power, something endlessly recursive. Generational trauma.

Not to mention theres a heavy emphasis on either breaking cycles or perpetuating them. Lloyd saying "I wont let it do to me what it did to you." Harumi saying "i want you to feel the emptiness i feel." Morro saying "I make my own destiny." The Overlord possessing the Great Devourer so it would bite Garmadon. Lloyd wanting to be like his father but then being a hero instead. Nya quoting her mother in her final moments. Again i repeat. Generational trauma.

Theres just. This overwhelming sense of recursion and cycles throughout the entire series, and im mad bc im like 90% sure the writers didnt do that intentionally. Im not smart enough to put it into words but if i think about this for too long im gonna start biting things

#and to think this whole rant started #bc i was doing research for a potential video essay theorizing about how the forbidden scroll works #the video was gonna only be like 5-10 minutes long but idk think thats gonna happen folks #be normal about legos challenge. instant fail #ninjago #destiny post

[spontaneousglitterbees]

[DRV3 Postgame AU Masterpost]

Sorry it's taking me a bit to answer asks, I read every one and cherish them -! I'd figured I'd doodle a bit in the answers, but then ah. This one changed course from 'whats up with shuichi' to 'actually we're overdue for exposition'.

Oh, backstory?

Since Class 79 is at Hope's Peak For Real in this AU, Danganronpa can't very well be like canon. Our solution: infighting, sabotage, and plenty of Drama! Discussion under the cut.

I'd call it a non-Despair AU; the world's not over, and I'm currently thinking V3 is the only killing game at this point in the timeline, catalyzed by good old-fashioned envy (and, truthfully, indignation that strangers get to live out your fantasy while you and your friends are stuck in the building next door... the nerve!) Our mastermind isn't exactly a master hacker, but she's also not working alone. This Team Danganronpa isn't trying to physically harm anyone, but showing off their collective capacity to coordinate and maintain a takeover like this is bound to catch the administrator's eye. All press is good press, and there's a lot (of investor funding, mostly) riding on stories of TAPP's success, so HPA is incentivized to intervene ASAP. The team did not account for the aftershocks of making their peers virtually kill each other. Rantaro is having memory issues, Miu has to catch her breath (to her chagrin), Kiibo doesn't have a body, Kokichi has his cane... and that's just the beginning.

Whoops.

TAPP is kind of like "what if instead of synthetically pouring all of the talents into just the one dude, we experimented on some charity cases to see if we can just artificially build an Ultimate from the ground-up". The tech in the flashback-lights is definitely at play here, though HPA proper wasn't planning on a full memory wipe/personality override (but kept the theoretical capability in their back pocket in case things went south as Advanced Gaslighting) but uh. A bunch of highschoolers took hold of the controls, which is how you get a bunch of kids that sound like characters. They still are.

In this case, Team DR is like at least 3 at most 10 disgruntled teens in the Reserve Course tired of being overlooked. More looking for mischief than harm, but hey, if they can convince the interlopers being Ultimates isn't worth it and they should leave the school after all this and free up the floorspace? They won't argue. One of the things that strikes me about DR as a series is how its internal logic is less concerned with logistics than matching the emotional weight of what it can be like to be growing up and going through high school, so I'm trying to lean in that direction. I'm not completely sure what all this means for the THH and SDR2 crews, precisely, but we'll cross/burn that bridge when we get to it I guess!

This comic taught me a lot of new tools and techniques, hence it feels to me like it took forever but I am super stubborn and couldn't work on something else until the script in my head was actualized, which turned into 'the whole thing being done'.

There's a lot of easter eggs and little jokes in the first page in particular, should you seek them! Consider this another 'cut' in case you want to try and read the Small Handwriting on Rantaro and Miu's desks for yourself.

First:

I already brought up some of them in the WIP so I'll try not to repeat too much and just link here

Kokichi could join the toast, but doesn't (and yet he still sits with everyone). Kiibo doesn't drink anything at all but does want to be in the toast, so he gets a bluetooth speaker. Surely he will blast some vocaloid shortly.

That's Kaito's notebook Kichi is doodling in; Kaito draws a bunch of stars, and I tried to sort-of-almost emulate the drawing on Kichis whiteboard and also get across that it lacks line confidence (sketch over and over the same lines) and he keeps creasing the paper because post-press it doesn't take much activity for his hands to hurt. Also kinda wanted to imply that Kaito not only knows Ouma has his notebook, but probably gave it to him because he's learned it's inevitable Kichi will tease him and draw in it and at least being upfront about it he won't manage to hurt himself trying to steal it (phantom thief or not!) Kokichi's pride is a little hurt at first, but it becomes another of their small routines they don't acknowledge out loud that nevertheless are a kind of familiar comfort for both of them.

Space debris at terminal velocity is no joke man even a paint chip won't just crack your helmet (which you'd only survive via cartoon logic and presumably-magic duct tape) but easily crack your skull at least. I did a project on it in high school once, I should really look for it tbh

Rantaro’s To Do

Set up weekly meeting

Check what is up w/ Kiyo

Make sure Kichi goes to therapy this week

Call Rillianne

Rantaro’s Reminders

Blue: Class

Red: Study

Cyan: ‘Council (or w/e)’

Green: ‘Travel Nerd Time >:P’

Purple: ‘Hang out w/ me ~!’

Orange: Group Project

Yellow: ‘Call ur family this week, srsly’

Miu’s Notes (“Polygraph Improvements”)

Before install into K1-B0’s new body, improve algorithm for fig. (figurative) speech.

Consult Ishimaru?

- Gonta can get in contact

ALSO

I really did make some actual charts based on data from the character bios comparing things like height, birthdate, etc. vs. victim, killer, or survivor status (tho that is a gantt chart template and not filled in, oop). TL;DR the most interesting one to me is this:

Where basically when you account for how many students across the games are stated to have each blood type and the proportion of those students in a certain role, things are pretty even (AB has so few students its bars arent really representative of a trend, I just included them anyway) the type Os are disproportionately likely to be killers. For the record, there's one confirmed type O victim, and it's Nagito. I have no idea what this means. But if I am blursed with this knowledge, now you are too!

The code in tsumugis glasses isnt an easter egg bc i was getting tired and frustrated but the pods are roughly (no kiibo shifts things a bit) in class trial configuration, and on the base layer before all the Rest Of The Panel got added you could kind of tell who's who. Not so much anymore, so: Saihara has his hat on, for the record, and Kokichi is on his side while everyone else is on their back. Might even be a little restless, the feeling of underlying unreality playing substitute for some of (only some of, they're still being monitored) the surveillance anxiety. Fun!

And hey, as always, and especially if you've gotten this far: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

#danganronpa #dr #new danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #danganronpa v3 #shuichi saihara #saihara shuichi #drv3 #kokichi ouma #rantaro amami #amami rantaro #miu iruma #iruma miu #tsumugi shirogane #shirogane tsumugi #glitz dr comics #glittersart #ouma kokichi #oma kokichi #kokichi oma #kaito momota #momota kaito #oumota #drv3 post-VR AU #drv3 spoilers #kind of #long post #now to try and sleep haha oops #its 5am and i didnt even sleep yesterday i am. not gr9 friends but doing my best

[tiredgeekgirl]

trolls 3 reviewww

so i've kind of had an off and on obsession with the trolls franchise since i saw the first film in 2016 as an almost 12-year-old who thought it was going to be the worst movie ever, and then after i watched it I was very pleasantly surprised, and it became one of my favorite films at the time

like I said the obsession's been on and off and while my opinion of the first movie has changed and I don't love it nearly as much as I did before, the franchise still holds a special place in my heart and makes me very happy, and I was so excited to see the third movie after I saw the trailers for it in theaters

anyway here are my overall thoughts:

• BRANCH-CENTRIC STORYLINE!!! Branch is my favorite character in this franchise and I loved seeing a plotline focused on him and his backstory. the "singing killed my grandma" line from the first film is still very funny, but honestly this movie actually made me a little emotional with the flashbacks we got, and said flashbacks shed some light on how sad his backstory actually is

• this movie was shockingly funny, of course there was some typical potty humor and a few questionable jokes, but overall a lot of the visual gags and jokes in this film were actually pretty hilarious, especially the scenes with Bruce/Spruce's family

• one of my main reasons for loving this franchise is Branch and Poppy's relationship, and they were SO freaking cute in this film, idc I'm a hopeless romantic and I loved seeing moments of these two as a canon couple

• I literally had a new favorite character every 5 seconds, from Branch's brothers to the new villains to a lot of the little background characters, and ofc it was also super fun to see this movie bring the Bergens back, it's super weird that the second movie kind of just ignored their existence entirely when they were one of the main plot points in the first film (at least that's what I've heard, I've never actually seen trolls world tour and I do not plan on it)

• THE MUSIC!!! I'm low-key kind of obsessed with white girl music from the early 2000s, so seeing the NSYNC reference at the end made me very happy, and I also just loved all the music in general in this film, Better Place (that song's been on repeat for me for about a week now LOL)

there were a few things I didn't love, namely Tiny Diamond's role in the film, I hate him and if you had taken him out of the film entirely the plot would not have changed whatsoever. luckily he wasn't even actually in it that much and some of his lines were actually kind of funny, but even when he was being his typical annoying self he didn't take away from the plot too much, which was nice. still, he's one of the main reasons I don't want to watch the second movie. and of course, like I mentioned earlier, there's some potty humor and suggestive jokes I didn't care for, but honestly the positives way outweigh the negatives with this film.

overall, i absolutely adored this movie! as a long-time fan I think it's the best piece of trolls media we've ever gotten, and even if you hate the franchise (which I completely understand regardless of my love for it), I feel like you would still enjoy this film, even if just for the visuals and character designs. solid 9/10 movie, would definitely recommend. think I'm going to go watch it again honestly LOL

#trolls band together #trolls #dreamworks

[roccinan]

I know it's only been a day but I'm dying of curiosity, have you watched the spinoff yet? What are your thoughts?

Hi anon! As you can see, I posted an initial ramble in an earlier answer LOL I talked about my feelings for the new characters there so I won't bore you and repeat it.

In a nutshell: new banda was "meh." Cameron was hot and I hope she gets more breakout roles, but the character was written like a Tokyo/Nairobi knockoff without any of their depth or magnetism. And I personally didn't like how her backstory was treated (it wasn't taken seriously for the right reasons imo). Keila was surprisingly likable but I keep making a lemon face when I remember her being horny for Bruce's sweat. Same for Bruce. He would have been enjoyable if not for the pubic hair fetish that he keeps bringing up asdfasdf

I was most interested in Roi, and he didn't disappoint, but I was baffled over why the spinoff ignored the most important question: how did he meet Andres and why did Andres take him in?? Genuinely needed a flashback there.

Main questions that the show needs to, but didn't answer:

How did Damian/Keila/Roi/Cameron/Bruce meet Andres?

Why did Damian/Andres choose Cameron and Bruce to help?

Why weren't any of these people in the mint and bank heists? You can argue that Bruce/Keila/Cameron weren't close to Andres, but nothing indicated Damian and Roi would abandon him. Alicia "exposed" their identities, but they don't know she did that so it's HUH

Why did Andres replace them all with Jakov, Martin, and Santiago? I mean, I would too LOL but in universe, there needs to be some explanation

Why is he calling himself Berlin?

We also still have no idea why Andres and Sergio have different surnames since this show addressed nothing about them having the same or different parents. No idea when or why Andres became a thief, how he came to love heisting, etc. Overall, the spinoff chose to flash romances between the new characters instead of giving us more information about Andres, which was a stupid move imo.

That said, there were things I did like about the spinoff:

Aside from that hilarious tracksuit, Pedro pulled the various turtlenecks off more or less. He was gorgeous more often than not, but for what? smh

The ending was tight, exaggerated, and fun

I actually was hyped when Alicia and Raquel showed up

Lots of jokes/moments landed and made me laugh out loud

Camille topping Andres every chance she got was Quality content

The heist itself didn't have me on pins and needles, but it was entertaining and I never got bored of it

I liked that aside from Roi, Andres wasn't close to any of the young people on the team- that makes more sense with his character and also helps me forget the 27yo comment asdfadf

The shoutout to Sergio :') Hermanito lives rent free in Andres' mind

General elements that I wasn't a fan of, aside from the forced romances:

Not a berlicia shipper, but come on- why would you put Alicia and Andres in the same time space and NOT have them interact!?

The car race confused me, and not just because Cameron's phone breakdown made me cringe. I honestly don't understand why the racers needed a girl to stand on the roof. What purpose? How does that help or hinder the race- what- at first, I thought the girls were going to whack each other with sticks or try to break the other person's car and this was a high stakes death battle. But no, they just did this to be cool.

Speaking of the race, I think too many "cool" moments became boring because they were tailormade for the cool new stars; there should have been more moments like Berlin at the "opera"-- Ex. we should have gotten Damian and Andres at that race instead of Cameron and Roi- that would have been so much funnier, and thus more memorable

Andres' speeches were repetitive and made no sense, even for him. BUT it was hilarious how in the show's effort to ignore Martin, everything Andres says and does makes it look like he's waiting for his one true love in the form of Palermo, a man; even that no homo moment with Roi was so on-the-nose it has to be foreshadowing Martin XD

The ending with Camille was too open for my taste, especially pointless because we KNOW they don't end up together

BUT I do want a season 2, just so we can see Martin entering Andres' life and a glimpse of Sergio + any scrap of an actual backstory for Andres. They already did the romcom route, so maybe they'll experiment with yet another genre in s2, who knows lol.

#anonymous #berlin 2023 #I'm sure I have more LOL but these are my main ones #headcanon that damian ran off to some remote island with the tequila lady #and roi was so jealous and annoyed by martin that he LEFT the moment andres introduced martin to everyone

[gaygoetia]

Season 4 Vol 2 Theory/Predictions

It's been like two days and there's still an entire month until Volume 2 so... It's theory time!

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 4 OF STRANGER THINGS

What's next for Will?

By the end of Volume 1 El's individual storyline seems mostly resolved. We don't see her get her powers back but she remembers everything and we get the reveal that Vecna is One.

Meanwhile Will, Mike, Jonathan and Argyle have found out from Suzie where Eleven is and are heading her way.

I think they'll get to her early on in episode 8 and help her escape from the facility then head to Hawkins to help their friends.

In Hawkins

So what's gonna happen when they get there?

The immediate issue is that Team California and Team Hawkins might not be able to contact each other.

Team Hawkins have no way of knowing the others are there and they can't be contacted themselves because they're hiding from both their parents and the jocks.

Team California's first thought would be to call them but nobody is gonna be home. So the only possibility they have of contacting them is by radio/walkie-talkie which, as we've seen, isn't the most reliable.

I think potentially Vecna might target Will before they have a chance to speak to the others and learn the power of music, so it will be up to Eleven, Mike and Jonathan to save him.

This could be the perfect way to bring together Will, Eleven and Mike's arcs set up in Volume 1.

Will's Trauma

We know Vecna targets people with trauma and secrets and Will has both in spades.

I have no doubt that he is still haunted by what happened to him in season 1 and 2 when he was trapped in the Upside Down then possessed by the mindflayer. He's also almost definitely secretly gay and hiding his feelings for Mike.

Judging from what Vecna's other victims saw and heard leading up to their deaths, I think the initial voices/visions will focus on Will's sexuality and his dad's homophobia. Then when Vecna goes to strike by trapping him in a vision it will be him trapped in the Upside Down again.

Much like the exploration of Eleven's backstory in Volume 1, this could be a great way for the audience to learn more about Will's time in the Upside Down during season 1 without needing to hire a different actor for flashbacks.

How will they save him?

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Duffer Brothers wouldn't be out of touch enough to kill off their only gay character immediately after revealing his sexuality, so here's how I think he'll survive.

Rather than repeat the music trick we already saw with Max, I think Eleven will do something similar to what she did in Season 3 when she was trying to reach a possessed Billy and unwittingly accessed his memories.

I think she'll get a glimpse of some of Will's memories before ending up in the Upside Down illusion with Will and there'll be a showdown between her and Vecna within Will's mind.

Meanwhile Mike and Jonathan will be doing everything they can externally to bring them both back (probably by recounting stories and telling Will how much he means to them) much like when Will was possessed in season 2.

Will, El and Mike's Arcs

Here's how I think all this will tie into the characters individual arcs.

Will: This will be the reveal of Will's sexuality (and his crush on Mike) to both the audience and to Eleven and it will tie back to what Will said about being scared to say his true feelings in case people react badly to the truth. El's acceptance and support (maybe Mike's and Jonathan's too if he's able to hear them) will lessen the power Vecna has over him, as he no longer has to fear that rejection.

Eleven: El has struggled this season with feeling out of place and inherently different to her peers, which connects strongly with Will's own journey. She might even see Will's memory of his conversation with Jonathan where he tells him it's better to be a freak. This could help El accept her own unique differences, just as she accepts Will's.

This could also tie into El's relationship with Mike, due to her realising for the first time that Will also has feelings for him (maybe she'll realise Mike doesn't deserve either of them lol)

Mike: I think this will function as a surprise callback to the conversation Mike had with Will about being honest about your feelings even if people might not like what you have to say. Obviously that conversation was about him telling El he loves her (or doesn't) but I think it will come into play here, with Mike telling Will something he was too scared to tell him before.

I think whatever Mike tells him (and/or Eleven?) will explain his weird stand-offish behaviour with Will and/or his refusal to tell El he loves her.

Jonathan: I'm less certain of this one but this scene could also possibly tie in to Jonathan's arc. We saw in Volume 1 that Jonathan has (seemingly out of nowhere) decided to stay in Lenora with Will and El instead of going to college with Nancy and one of the reasons he gives is his reluctance to leave them behind.

In this scene he might admit that he's scared of leaving Will alone because he's traumatised by losing him in season 1 and nearly again in season 2.

TL;DR

I think Will, El and Mike will reunite and return to Hawkins where Will will be targeted by Vecna. El will use her powers to enter Will's mind where she will confront Vecna and save Will. Meanwhile Mike and Jonathan will finally speak honestly about what the fuck is up with them this season.

Please lemme know what y'all think about this theory. I need people to chat with about Stranger Things to make the wait for Volume 2 bearable!

#will byers #stranger things #stranger things meta #stranger things theories #stranger things 4 #stranger things spoilers #ST4 spoilers #my posts #my meta

[ankhisms]

ok heres my ep 47 and 48 live reaction thoughts

ep 47

the meteor landed in 1999 i wouldve been one year old...

still dont really understand if the worms are life forms from a different planet brought over on the meteor or if they come from some kind of source of life that was on the meteor and upon crashing on earth they came into being. i doubt were going to get an answer but also im just putting too much scientific thought into one of the most ridiculous random bullshit happens [affectionately] kamen rider shows

the opening of this episode is interesting because were getting flashbacks of very early kabuto and its interesting for me to see the aspects of the early show which i really liked, the kind of horror elements of the show that i feel like kind of tapered off towards the middle of the show and now i wonder if were reintroducing that kind of existential dread as we finish the show. the last episode certainly had that kind of horror of existing at all

well now everyone just has worm detection necklaces i guess idk how they made that happen but okay

not gorou chan is so mad about the idea of zect disbanding which is typical business guy behavior like the threat is gone and we are no longer needed? no i want more power

KAGEYAMA STEALING SEVERAL OF THE NECKLACES HELP

lets make the hiyori chef debut menu waaaaaa

i knew it was tendou attacking the truck of the necklaces because he doesnt want hiyori to be killed. cries

misaki is like dude. you cant ask kagami to kill his boyfriend. we already did this at the start of the show

now what the fuck is not gorou chan doing with tendou two. why did he stroke his hair like that like. ummmm

RENGE HAS BEEN SHOT I REPEAT RENGE HAS BEEN SHOT

ep 48

augh the wife finding out her husband is a worm with their baby in her arms and the husband being killed was really sad like god. made me think about how many other incidents like that happened yknow

hiyori and jyuka cooking in the kitchen together..  sisters... crying

ok renge is alive thank fucking god and tendou brought her food in the hospital.. i guess he hadnt meant for her to get hurt then thanks tendou

is kageyama fucking dying good lord. NOPE OK HES A WORM. ALRIGHT. SURE. HE WAS A WORM THIS WHOLE TIME I GUESS

oh i KNEW not gorou chan was gonna try some shit. talk about a hostile business take over

shoutout to tendou for saving tendou two that entire reveal about tendou twos backstory was so fucking horrifying like yknow what i think the guy is allowed to be a bit blood thirsty and batshit after all that. what the fuck truly

their plan is to fucking. make everyone into worms i guess. what in the god damn

hasnt tendou two suffered enough do they have to throw him around like a rag doll leave him aloneeeee

well tendou is unkillable this is a known fact so im sure kagami didnt actually kill him. but kagami THINKS that he killed him. and boy you can tell thats already weighing on him immediately. AND THEN RIGHT AFTER HE FINDS OUT ABOUT HIS DAD. DOUBLE WHAMMY

the way kagami says i killed him and the way his dad quietly reacts when kagami says kabuto is our enemy like oh kagami things are so fucked

the hoppers are going thru it my god OH HEY WHAT THE FUCK. THATS SO SAD WHAT THE FUCK

humanitys future is in your hands kagami. no pressure

tendou fighting against the entire world as long as it means his sisters can live vs kagamis dad saying im okay with dying but you have to live

oh tendou in the rubble parallel is good

whats better than this. falling in the mud puddle with your dad running away from the law

#kr kabuto lb

[unironicallycringe]

Anything for Z, E, L, D, A? :3

Hah! Of course! There are a couple repeats so those will be copy-pasted answers ✌🏾💜 And the [insert fic] ones are easy since I only have one up so far 😎

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

[copy-paste answer!] Oooo, I rarely read or write it. But sometimes it feels right for the set-up and theme. As for deaths I can't tolerate, it again moreso depends on the set-up. My Blorbos can die if the narrative is strengthened by it. (Though I will still stare at the ceiling for hours afterwards, as is tradition for such things.)

E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?

I talked a bit about this with "other projects", but it would be a prequel with the focus on Ghirahim. His whole backstory exists on paper, but it would be fun to explore in detail. The actual "sequel" is just the second part of TMM for the sake of chapter count accessibility.

L: What’s the weirdest AU you’ve ever come up with?

[copy-paste answer!] Probably this one--Wait no. I just had a visceral childhood flashback. I was like 8 and combined Harry Potter with Banjo Kazooie. I really liked Kazooie and wanted her to do magic. I'm counting that as an AU.

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

Oh. Oh yes. There are songs linked in the author's notes of most chapters. They're compiled in a Spotify playlist. I may make a YouTube one as well if it's easier accessed.

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

I actually am not totally happy with the title of TMM, but it's the title now so there it stays! I was afraid of coming off as taking myself too seriously, so I went with something more simple. Scrapped title concepts include "The Face of the Hero", "The Mirage King", and "The Mirage King's War" in attempts to mimic LoZ subtitle stylings. Then I went "ah, well, fuck it he makes masks so that's the title, done".

#answered ask #thank you for the ask! :D

[lookotherway]

Even as endeavor stan, I’m very underwhelmed by this “backstory”. I wonder if it’s mostly sympathized by people who relate to his character?

it's not really a backstory, nor a flashback. idk what to call it either so i just call it enji's origin. tbh i don't think it is to impress or be purposefully taken in a certain way. it's not tragic or too long, it did not use any word that could stir up readers' emotions (even to me, someone who related hard to endeavor) it mostly just repeated what we have known about endeavor, words that we, stans and antis, have been using to define his character. nothing forced.

it is to be empathized, not sympathized, because the feelings of failure, envy, admiration are what everyone in the world knows. but at the same time, like i said, it did not have that stupid writing (like some certain characters start with L and end with V) to bait the reader's pity.

all in all, endeavor's story has been hard to relate/sympathize since the beginning, like, this is a shounen manga, and his point of view is a 45 year old man's point of view. you cannot "project" your own problems into him like you do to younger characters like deku or shouto. (dabi too, fucking 24 but has the mentality of a teenager.) most endeavor fans who have insight about endeavor's character that i've seen are >30, and i am confident to tell you that i am the only endeavor stan who's somewhere between 20<x<29 who has the same issues to him. rarer than hen's tooth.

so yeah, don't worry about not being impressed by his... idk, backstory? flashback? it was written to be easy to understand, not to be sympathized.

#ask #bnha #endeavor #i love endeavor in every universe #empathize is to understand and share the feeling #sympathy is to feel sad and pity for the misfortune #being >30 makes it easier to empathize with endeavor #being me with issues makes it easier to cry i guess

[sodascribbles]

yet more honor among thieves rambling. im watching a playthrough lol

WHAT does bentley throw at dr. m is it a sleep dart why does it explode WHY DOES HE THROW IT

"Sly, no! Hold on, Sly-- hold on!"

an elusive picture of slys mom (just her silhouette tho next to connors) and a picture of who i can only assume is connor, mcsweeney, and dr m...........

THE HATS TOO BIG FOR HIMMM

the cooky-steelin' plan (sobbing)

pls imagine something eloquent about the fact that we never see what connor really looks like in these "flashbacks"- presumably bc sly doesn't remember

slys leg pouch doesnt fully wrap around his leg ?? might just be the lighting tho.

i wonder abt their sources how DID they find out abt murray

i love that Octavio is the guy they call old. not bison. who is from the 1800s

im obsessed with just abt all the villain backstories

this playthrough doesnt have the hazard room and im deeply upset about it. as a matter of fact i might find one that DOES bc i love the banter wkfhhehd

...when DO you get to the hazard room? its before u start Opera isnt it ?? unclear

i will not find one w the hazard room unfortunately but i have switched to a 100% run out of curiosity

gotta be honest Italy is probably one of if not my favorite episode ever

DIMITRI HI BBG

you've got some FUZZY DICE to come round here

MAIN MAN MURRAY the way he says it is so good

AW WHAT THIS PLAYTHROUGH DOESNT DO ALL THE SILLY OPTIONS (i mean i understand why i just like the silly options)

i love that the captions capitalize Bro

fun fact if you take too long crawling around carmelita will just repeat the presentation bc she doesnt think they were paying attention lmao

i love the apes(?) insulting each other. "You look a lot better in the dark, Petro. Seriously, you are an ugly, ugly man."

why does dimitri have a cigarette in a jail cell

"keep your HANDS to YOURSELF leon."

in love with the way dimitri talks, as we all are.

whys he call murray a Plump Dog though that's uncalled for /j

"HELLO ASSORTED MEATHEADS! and lady C:"

she tells her men to grab him and Nobody Follows

theres a couple hitches that happen in between games that im incredibly curious about, e.i. murray becoming The Murray between 1 and 2 and inspector fox going from her little smile and "ill find you, cooper!" to "she grew up and stopped taking grief from guys like you" that happens between 2 and 3

"You can't keep running for the rest of your life!" WATCH ME

"Greetings, old-- iNSPECTOR FOX?!"

murray's spiritual outfit model is so fascinating to me

AUDGJAHDHS they make me feel emotions /pos

the venetian safehouse fascinates me the door opens straight to stairs and the actual safehouse part is on the top floor

"now as non-law operatives, we can take a more... head on approach. wE'RE GONNA BREAK IN--"

OH WAIT ITS THE HAZARD ROOM HELL YEAH <<33

in love w them they're the best duo ever /hj

"hey, don't feel bad! those wall hooks were... kinda tricky!" "it was ALL supposed to be tricky!"

the ceiling of the hazard room is.... fascinating

theres always a certain level of. oh jeez what's the word. playfulness? between early game sly and bentley. it always kinda sounds like they're both smiling and joking around w each other and it warms my heart

this will not be the first time i talk about it

once more with the caption choices. on-line is hyphenated

YOU GET: A PRIZE!

bentley just kills a man.mp4

"Alright, smooth talker, try robbing this guy." see the above about their banter and their dynamic

though to be fair sly and bentley usually have a vague kind of playful/bantery vibe. it's just incredibly palpable during Italy, probably because they're the only two characters in the spotlight and therefore they get to be explored more

ok hold on im gonna get food b4 i continue

one food break later...

okay im back

"You're not gonna say 'I'm a lover, not a fighter,' are you?" "Well, not now." "Thought so."

in love w bentley just sending a man to murder sly

how DID they get all these guards into the hazard room. where is the hazard room

WBYS THE GUARD JUST SCREAM

bentleys voice when he says "now give this guy the business" send post

AND HE GETS SO EXCITED WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE BOAT. and sly sounds just So amused with his "yeah?" hes so used to this bullshit

i hope you're ready for me to talk ceaselessly about sly and bentleys dynamic it's my favorite thing snfnebbfd

"Against sleeping guards, I'm like a Greek god! All fall before me!" hes so silly i love him

nerves of steel?? you have no nerves of steel you silly anxious goob

AND HE GETS SO EXCITED ABOUT THE PPP (pick pocket pole)

sly ALSO murders a man

bentleys wheelies heart emoji...

THE HUMBLE RECON PHOTO!!

"There you go, Bentley, some wonderful pinups for our refrigerator." "They're lovely. High art!" "Seriously?" "No."

i love that murray shows up on the menu before you get him back that's so funny to me

huh. do you need all the upgrades for 100%? ill find out

"The Don is headed toward your position." "Great! Want me to take him?" "No!"

sly vc DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL THAT GUY FOR YOU? /ref

gotta be honest bentley i think killing him would also put an end to this nonsense

"Never thought we'd be helping out the cops." "Reaally? You always seem eager to aid Inspector Fox."

bentley and murray calling out slys crush on carmelita is my favorite thing wjfhwbdbwd

octavio singin as he goes azKEKFHWHDB THE PERSON JUST GOT CAUGHT LMAO

"I got a SHADOW, huh???"

SLY you NEED TO BE QUIETER you aLERTED OCTAVIO TO YOUR PRESENCE

octavio just bodychecked a dude lmao

i love how angry bentley gets about the fish tank especially he gets SO MAD i love him

"I- I can't believe it! He flooded that aquarium with tar! All those poor, dead fish! As much as I hate to see what heinous crime this fiend will do next, you should probably keep on his tail. Someday, the people will know the truth due to your pictures!"

"all those poor, dead fish!" LMAO

ok I've been on a ferris wheel exactly one (1) time but im like 95% sure the cart would tilt w/ sly hanging onto it

octavios captions are SO slow akdbhwhdbd

AND BENTLEY GETS SO MAD ABOUT THE FERRIS WHEEL. and then proceeds to call rewiring it "the dark side of electrical engineering"

bwa BWA <- the sly 3 job complete noise

i really hated Into the Depths on my first playthrough but that was mostly bc i was still bad at the game i think. it's really not so bad

what is it with the stupid 3d goggles WHY do they exist weve never seen them before and we never see them (w the exclusion of cutscenes and maybe one or two mentions) again

okay ive never messed up the doors in my life but im very glad bentley doesnt make fun of you for it i think id cry

also he does his idle animations while talking which means that sometimes he sneezes mid sentence and its really funny. bentleys idle animations are so good in general tho

bentleys and the ones from the safehouses

OKAY SO I DIDNT KNOW THIS UNTIL EARLIER TODAY BUT OCTAVIO CALLS 3 GUYS (mario, raphael, and julius) TO COME SEE HIM AND SAYS "if any of you catch these boys make a run for it [cat noise) shoot 'em in the back"

BUT WHEN YOU SEE IN HIS OFFICE THERES ONLY 2 DUDES. IMPLYING ONE GOT SHOT IN THE BACK .

OH HE SAYS JULIUS MADE A RUN FOR IT. OKAY ("julius made a run for it, and eh... [unintelligible]") i cannot for the life of me figure out what else he says there oops. maybe ill go replay that mission later and find out for sure

i know that's not particularly groundbreaking all things considered but again i didnt know it until earlier today so

once more Bentley getting excited about murder

"Synchronize watches, and..." you fuckin nerd

"Just as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's the important thing." again w the affectionate sarcasm

sly and bentley are both very sarcastic usually as opposed to murray who's pretty heart on his sleeve straightforward kind of guy which is probably why this ep & the hazard room sticks out so much for the banter. again bc its JUST the two of them lol

"Sorry, Sly, I guess the dinosaur has teeth!"

i love knocking the pigeons into fire it's so much fun

you get to hear the same "Intruders!" line like 17 times

fuckin piano computer lookin ass

i wish bentley and murray (and the rest of the team, but bentley and murray especially) had a little bit more... idk. reasons to free roam? like with the options of them as playable characters you would assume there would be more things tailored to their unique skillsets but a lot of getting around the overworld is very sly-focused, which i guess i get, but it means theres really no reason to play as the others except for missions

DESPITE KNOWING THAT ITLL ONLY MAKE THINGS HARDER BENTLEY GOING OUT OF JIS WAY TO HELP SLY SAVE CARMELITA bawling

bentleys such a fucking dork have i said that already i think we need to call more attention to him being a fucking dork

fun fact if you repeatedly tap □/r1 your gun will heat up slower BUT your finger WILL hurt by the end of it

haha they're cooper brother colored (blue, green, & pink/red)

though tbf most trios are if you think about it. but shh cooper brothers

"I hope you realize that by saving Carmelita, we're only making our operation here more difficult." "Maybe so, but what's the fun in stealing if there's nobody trying to catch you? Besides, she's helped us out in the past." "That, and you've got a thing for her." "...and I've got a thing for her. Look, I'll stash this boat, it might be useful for later. You stay out of trouble."

again, bentley and murray calling him out on his crush is priceless and i wish they did it more w bentley and penelope WLFJJWJDHE

okay funny story it's a few weeks later things happened anyway. going back to watching honor among thieves lol

ill probably split this post up into a few posts just so this one isnt 18 million years long

[spectres-fulcrum]

I restarted Clone Wars chronologically as possible Ahsoka prep(I’m not getting too mad at myself if I lose interest at some point, Rebels will be my main Ahsoka prep, and I may pick and choose episodes) last night(While making an RV for my Rebels fam in the Sims so I couldn't looking back I wish I had) and oh my god that show. I watched Cat and Mouse, Hidden Enemy, and the film.

So first of all I burst out laughing when Obi-Wan was flirting with Ventress. I’ve always been fond of their flirty banter and kinda salty that Quinlan got the romance with Asajj plotline but I disgress. But going back and seeing the camera pan over her body after he used a pet name with her and she took her cloak off. It’s so… overt. So the opposite of Satine. It’s wild. At 24 it’s a bit cringey but it’s wild and I’m not sure how I feel but it’s not bad??? It’s nostalgic at least.

It's all so nostalgic lbr

But why did they think giving Anakin a padawan was a good idea?

They even say the true test is if he'll be able to let her go and I'm like-you did the same shit with Xanatos Yoda-his estranged older brother- you're just repeating the same shitty traps

I can see it end as it begins my one request is-

But the first scene with Rex, Anakin, and Ahsoka was EVERYTHING. They were so young and teasing "don't get snippy with me" and "you said you'd never take on a padawan."

Stinky. I still remember being 10 in the theater and my mom scolding me for giggling too loud at the adorable baby huttlet

Yularen. Yularen, Yularen, Yularen... I love his role in C+M. And interesting note: he knows Palpatine already. I figure Palpatine has to know most of the inner Imperials pre-RotS(Which is why I ignore Tagge and Motti's backstories) and this helps.

God I love the stealth ship. I really truly do. It's also a prototype for the Carrion Spike(And some sources say the it IS the Carrion Spike pre-modification, hi favorite ship) so the fact that Anakin gets to use it scratches my Vadarkin shipper so well. It's the silent version of their Star Destoyers being called the Executor and the Executrix(Which is so loud).

Ships are definitely their couple item lol. Very large and very expensive

Any other interesting facts I should've liveblogged? Nah.

I'm really excited to fall back in love with these guys. It was so nostalgic to have Anakin, Rex, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Asajj, all there again. Like way back at the beginning. I definitely am going to do it like I did last night, in the background while I game, but that's fine.

Other things I plan to throw into rewatch prep: TCW, placing Thrawn Alliances flashbacks pre-S7, at least the OG Thrawn books, interspaced with Rebels in chronological order. So most of Thrawn, Rebels S1 and S2, Batonn, S3, Alliances present day S4 part 1, Treason, S4 part 2. I might attempt Ascendancy, which will just be post TCW. But all my Ascendacy rereads have just been failures so idk.

#tcw #tcw rewatch #ahsoka prep #idk what to tag #So I'm just going to post

[etherealfroggy]

Billy is an abuse victim and is also deeply closeted. He was abused by his cruel and homophobic father, and abuse is a cycle. Y’all love will because he was abused and remained a good person. Y’all love El and Max and characters like that because they did the same. But not everyone who is abused turns out to be a “good person,” and that’s okay. Billy’s story was incomplete, but he was on the path to redemption. He also wasn’t always like that, which season 3 flashback’s showed. He is a product of his environment. Y’all hate Billy because you can’t handle that an abuse victim might act in ways that make you feel uncomfortable. But not everything is “safe.” The system is full of people who have been discarded and cast out as too far gone. Jail cells are full of such kids, do you support the prisons being full? Sometimes people are messy and even violent but that doesn’t make them worthless. Billy, deep down inside, obviously loved Max and wanted what was best for her. He was never written to be a pure villain as you claim; the Duffers gave him nuance. Bylers love to talk a big game about how everything’s intentional in ST but only when it comes to your uwu nice gay boys. And you wanna call Billy stans racist, but I’m literally half-black. I recognize that there’s racism in Billy but why does that have to define him forever? Why can’t a traumatized deeply broken deeply terrified deeply anxious closeted young man who only knows how to react to pain with violence and being hot get the love and intentionality he deserves?

Jesus christ...

I don't think that abuse victims never turn out to be like that. I just know that having a history of trauma is not an excuse for shitty behaviour. Of course part of why I love those characters is because they were able to stay good in the face of evil: that takes a lot of strength and it's a strength that I admire. Does that mean it isn't sad when some people succumb to the abuse and repeat the cycle? No. But it doesn't mean I have to like a character who makes choices I disagree with.

Billy needed help and to put in the work to be a better person. But he didn't. As I said in my post: is that tragic, sure? But does that mean people should like him, no. Just because someone has a history of trauma doesn't mean they're a good person. If someone does shit like that, I can't see how you can support him. It's not about him doing things that make me feel "uncomfortable" - it's about him literally being a racist abuser??

I don't know what you mean by his story was "incomplete" - how he was on a path to redemption. How?? What shows that? Because he had one moment of doing something good? I already said why that doesn't really mean anything to me (it's the same reason why I still feel iffy about Hopper's character). Or just because we saw his backstory, you retroactively began to believe he had to be a good person? Explanation does not equal justification.

I never he said he was written to be a pure villain. I said he was written to be an antagonist. Even though he had nuance that doesn't mean he was supposed to fill any role other than that. Jason was also an antagonist with nuance. He wasn't just hunting down Eddie for shits and giggles, he genuinely believed Hellfire was doing horrifying things to people and that Eddie played a role in the brutal murder of his girlfriend. Does that mean he wasn't an antagonist? Does that mean he was a good person or that he made good choices or that I should like him simply because he had reasons? You could even say the same thing about Vecna even though he is actually written as a villain - doesn't mean anyone should support him.

Also I never said he was worthless. But it's not worth it to be around someone who harms your wellbeing in that way, especially when they show no signs of changing.

And I like your comment about apparently only thinking ST is intentional when it comes to my "uwu gay boys". Lmao I interact with a lot of analyses that don't have anything to do with Byler, first of all. Secondly, you know you really sound homophobic by referring to them that way instead of just saying "your ship". And thirdly, understanding that even though Billy was a complex character, he still wasn't a good person doesn't mean I don't think anything to do with his character wasn't intentional. I don't see how the two correlate. Intentionality in the byler fandom usually has to do with the future of the narrative and character's arcs/journeys - small clues/behaviours/hints toward what might happen with them later, that a lot of people ignore. Billy didn't have a future - he died. So I don't know what you're even talking about here: the handling of the character?

Of course, whatever happened with him was intentional. His story was tragic BECAUSE it was written with intention but that still doesn't mean I have to like/support him and that doesn't justify the posts I've come across from billy apologists saying some of the most horrid shit about Max/justifying his abusive tendencies.

I've never called billy stans racist lol This is the first time I have ever spoken about billy on my blog and this was in response to a few specific posts I saw and in particular "billy apologists" (as I said, in my original post). I don't care if you're black. I'm black too. Do our opinions cancel out now?

Why do his choices have to define him forever? Because he never changed them. Because he died a person who made bad choices and was abusive and racist. He never put in the work to be a better person so why should he have the privilege of being remembered as one? When other people actually put in the long-term effort to make the positive impacts on other people that grant you that right? That's so stupid.

People get chances to change - if you miss them, you stay the same person. And people will remember you as that person. Hell, sometimes people DO change and others STILL see them as who they used to be - because they're not aware of that change (e.g. Jonathan still sees Steve as immature because he has never seen anything to prove that assertion wrong) and that's not anyone's problem.

That's life.

#also i never said he doesn't deserve love #but no one is obligated to provide that love when all he has shown them is abuse #you've done a lot of putting words in my mouth here anon

[allthebleus]

Why didn't Woong say he loved Yeonsu, even once (as she suggests) throughout their relationship?

The part of Our Beloved Summer fandom that keeps repeating and expressing disappointment at Woong's inability to verbally support Yeonsu is funny and lighthearted only to an extent. Just like a lot of people missed Yeonsu's side in the first half, I feel like people might miss his in the second because we focus much more on the emotional turmoil than the underlying factors contributing to it.

As maddening as it is that Woong did not say, 'I love you", perhaps through the course of their rs in the way Yeonsu wanted to hear. And as frustrating as it is that he several times missed the cue to reassure her by giving her verbal confirmation, a lot of us need to understand that it is not, like Yeonsu brushes it off superficially, caused by his obliviousness. He might have been ignorant to how much of an impact withholding that had, but I have a feeling that there is much more to it than just him not realizing.

Woong resists being vulnerable, he doesn't let people watch him work. He doesn't react to anything harsh in the way other people do. He takes a passive, less confrontational course of action. The only time he has been confrontational is when he got mad at Yeonsu, and even then, he is never able to say things as he wants to. An example being that as desperately as he wants her to stay with him, like when she went to his room during the trip, he never manages to say it. Would Yeonsu have stayed had he asked? We don't know, maybe she would have panicked. But Yeonsu is never given the choice, Woong reaches out, he is awake, he silently begs her to stay. To be able to hold on. But he doesn't express it in a way that she can be sure.

Often verbal confirmation brings vulnerability, you must put the guard of playful annoyance, or nonchalance, or lightheartedness down. You have to look a person in the eye and remind them, that you see them, and for you to do that, you must admit the power that they hold over you to yourself. I think Woong's character has a hard time being vulnerable in that sense, which is why he brushes off anything that may suggest that the other person can affect him as severely as people around him might think.

(They also revisit this detail in the flashbacks of Woong running away, as a kid, when asked to 'talk' about his family. Woong chooses to hide and flee the situation. A few people pointed out it was going to be an interesting backstory, and I think they're right. I also think that that links again, to his inability to verbally express things that might make him vulnerable.)

This is very important, because this why Woong's character is more than just a fool in love.

The only person Woong expresses more than just his obvious annoyance to, is Yeonsu. The scene during their relationship, when Woong says, "You are not allowed to leave me," is a moment of vulnerability. He is telling Yeonsu that her absence will leave a deep mark on him, one he might not be able to bear. In the scene of her confession, he is having a hard time looking at her when he says, 'No, I don't know, so remind me over and over.'

In both the scenes, Woong has a hard time looking right at her and expressing it openly that he likes her, loves her even, and cannot handle her leaving him. He refuses to openly express how much he loves her, because he is afraid perhaps, that if he gives it his all and is abandoned, he will not be able to continue living life the way he had been.

"Being lonely from the start is okay, being lonely once you've been with someone. I don't want to experience that ever again."

Yeonsu was not the only person who put a lot on the line when it came to their relationship, so was he. But he also held a lot back. His struggle to control himself, and keep himself passive around her is proven every time he says something that exposes directly how much pain he's been through. "That's not the only thing you ruined", " The one who always ruins me, is you", "I'm so sick of this" etc etc. are all situations where Woong's walls have crumbled and he's openly admitting hurt and pain. And almost immediately, he recoils back and scolds himself for saying anything that may have shown him as a "fool". This is very interesting, because like Yeonsu had her reasons for being the one to call things off, Woong might not have wanted to continue their rs like that either.

During their breakup scene, Yeonsu is barely holding herself together. Woong asks her whether he's the one thing she can throw away so easily, Yeonsu answers that he's the only thing. To Woong, her words mean he is the only disposable thing. To her, they mean he's all she has.

In the entire scene sequence, he keeps asking her questions as she walks away. He's hurt. But he doesn't try to ask her to stay, because what would he do if she still walked away? How much would that hurt? How could offer his heart to her like this, only for her to abandon him?

Yeonsu isn't the only one who had pride.

This repeats itself every time Woong confronts her, or wants her to stay. The parallels of them learning to put their walls down by confrontation are very interesting. Because yesterday's episode shows Yeonsu doing what Woong has already done. She confronts him about his inability to tell her to stay, that he loves her, and that he wants her still. Woong did the same in the episode where he waited before her house, he was in overwhelming pain when he asked her why they could not ask each other how they've been, or how its been for them.

He puts down his walls and asks a question, one that requires them to sit and talk. He is admittedly putting himself out there, and funnily, Yeonsu runs away. Yeonsu is not prepared to face him, not then, nor is she ready to listen to him or tell him how she has felt and been. And this is proven when she stays while he is half unconscious, despite the fact that his confession to having a very painful time after she left hurts her.

All of this puts the breakup in new perspective, and both the actors are phenomenal at their jobs that just their body languages alone convey all this without words. As Yeonsu is walking away, Woong looks hurt but resigned, as if he has known that this was coming. As if he no longer has the energy to fight for them, as if the relationship took as much toll on him as it did on her. He knows they don't work, and his downward spiral may be caused by the push of their breakup, but it is never the sole cause.

So, all the people who dislike episode 9. Just a reminder that relationships are never isolated experiences, and that when breakups like these happen, there is a much bigger picture than merely the factors that contributed to it directly. Those issues need to be addressed independent of the relationships first, before reconciliation can happen. And that's why Woong did not say he loved her still, and wanted to date her still despite everything. Because if the writer played into the hands of a quick happy ending, it would not be realistic and they wouldn't work, and we'd be back to square one.

It's very important that we, as the audience, acknowledge these little things for more than surface value. Because otherwise the conclusion and confrontations will not make sense. And I'd hate to see this show end with people hating on it just because it did not end or conclude in the way they wanted it to.

#our beloved summer #kim dami #choi wooshik #kook yeonsu #choi woong #this drama istg #cant wait for the tenth episode #best romance drama tbh #rambles #kdrama

[pocketramblr]

Hello, Pocket, my beloved! If you could change something (or more) in the solo arc, from the moment Izuku escaped the hospital to the last chapter you read, what would it be? Pretty please.

Sure beloved! The last chapter I think I've read is the iideku one so

- let Rei have her own pov flashbacks in the hospital please I'm tired of how her being a nonperson I don't want to see her kids all show they don't actually remember when she was isolated I don't want to see Enji talk about how she wanted this, actually, I don't want to see Touya truly got the misogyny passed down to him from his parents and grandparents. I want to see Rei's experience! Not her holding a flower two decades later! Her flashback, her family's reasoning, seriously. If we were going to lose focus on izuku to get another unnecessary Hawks backstory repeat, then we should have gotten a Rei flashback, bc Rei and Tomie are much better parallels than Tomie and Twice or whoever that was about

- ... You know how I feel about Hawks's backstory 2 electric boogaloo

- ya girl.... Did not care for how Chisaki was handled. We just used the permanent bullets! We don't know who ended up with the remaining temporary ones! Or where the cure went! Considering all that it seems like. Like if you were going to break Chisaki out of Tartarus and keep him alive, you should make him do something useful and related to that set up. But instead Nagant just carries him around like a bag of potatoes and I just.... Wouldn't have done I like that.

- Nagant was a whole nother thing I just think needed way more set up bc I kinda ~ * still * ~ don't care about her much. But you know what! That can be fixed! By connecting her to Snipe more, in a way that answers where the hell Snipe was during the war arc because he is only one of two named heroes we didn't see in the war arc. Snipe and Vlad. Where were they??? Reveal Vlad as Traitor, have Snipe do something with the temporary bullets, and have Nagant tie to both of those as a former hero turned villain who's got a snipe connection (perhaps his student?). Also give her pants. Maybe have her reflect on how the HC lied and used her and develope character where she figures out the AfO is Very Obviously going to lie and use her and then have her vanish for a while to do something big later instead, use this as her build up time so I care later instead of just exploding yet another non toga lady villain...

- uh.... Look.... Third's quirk is boring. Fa Jin is just. "OfA but a little bit more". I think I would have liked to see something less physical, or less basic. But it was handled fine in the story so as long as Second doesn't have explosion powers I will accept Fa Jin BUT I want Third's name now yes

- so like did we EVER figure out why Stain was stalking Toshi?? I kinda hope he's just keeping an eye on him so he can protect him from other villains that much try to attack him but personally yeah I think if Izuku had a confrontation with Stain instead of Nagant and Chisaki I would have cared more and thought it good. Like Stain going on about how Izuku failed from what he thought he could be and Izuku is just. This close to snapping at him. Maybe a "No one cares. No one cares what you think of their worth, dude. Take a look around you and either start helping people or get out of my way, because right now you're no better than the people who don't understand what's going on and lash out at a statue of All Might that they choose to erect." And maybe they gets Stain to go on the "protect Toshi" detail?

#remember i only complain because i care #Gentrychild #pocket talks to people