#and it's explicitly stated that it's ONLY if such act of help is genuine and not with the vision of a reward

[mari-lair]

It wouldn't make sense for Aoi to have her memories, much less fake her engagement with Teru, because we see Aoi at the start of the world reset and she is acting as if everything is normal, with no worries at all.

While Nene was confused and consumed by a sense that "something isn't right" and Teru was punching Akane in the student council, begging for answer, Aoi's only goal was enjoying the festival with Nene, which would be an extremely weird reaction to suddenly having her numb hand working again and being in a whole new world.

Plus, Aoi already knew Nene would be the star of their class play, something we and Nene, who are only familiar with the old timeline, had no way of knowing was the case.

So Aoi's memories and priorities do not match ours or our protagonist's right now.

The final thing that make me sure the engagement isn't some grand elaborate plan is that Aoi explains to Nene of all people that Kou is "Teru-Kun's brother" acting as if she is more familiar with Kou than Nene and using first names when there is no one to put on a show for.

Teru was as confused as Nene, everything Akane had explained the readers had been news for him too. He was scrapping for answers, even the most basic ones about the situation.

He is still prodding for more information. He does not have the upper hand here.

Even in the very wild possibility that Teru found Aoi first while searching for Nene and both awakened her memories and convinced her to have a marriage plan, it still wouldn't make sense? Cause Aoi had called Kou "Teru-kun's brother" from the very start.

Aoi also brought her mom into this marriage.

She never mentions her mom in the original timeline, so her mom will only visit the festival in this new world (once more, she is living in a different reality from the one we know.)

She is not the old Aoi, she acts way too different: determined to ignore Akane, clingier with Nene, and openly showing her anger/displeasure with Teru.

So I can't see her 'pretending' to be amnesiac. Or Teru pretending to be confused.

This feels genuine:

Teru only becomes smug when he notices the news has a giant effect on Akane, before that, he was just plain confused.

Which brings me to the second part of the ask.

"do you think this is the plot way to force Akane to join forces" and I don't think so. At least, not yet? It's hard to say with the minimal information we were given on the situation.

On the broad strokes Nene, Teru, and Akane are already on the same team the three don't like this reality. They don't want to be here. They miss their old world.

These two panels are after the 'Aoi engagement with Teru' reveal but this has been his mental state from the start. There are a lot of gags about the engagement and I do adore how pathetic Akane is in it, but he doesn't suddenly hate this new world because Aoi can't be with him.

He had hated it from the start.

The way he never includes himself when talking about how this timeline could be 'better for some people' is telling enough.

I have no doubt Aoi's engagement is one hell of a motivator but he had explicitly told us "I didn't have a choice on this, the only choice I had was to stay a clock keeper and hold on to any power I can" from the start.

But you may be asking if this is a plot device for him to have a proper team up with Teru and Nene, a true join forces and become a unit case! Not just a 'similar goal' type of deal.

Which... I find it unlikely.

Aoi's getting a big involvement will make Akane worried, will make him want to protect her, but I just can't see him asking for help, he trusts Teru to keep her safe, so no need to be glued to her side, and he is the kind of idiot who tries to do everything himself, even when his situation is unfair.

(Aoi still doesn't know he made a contract with the keepers to save her life, and he had kept his double life secret from his classmates for years, not letting it slow down his class rep duties, for example.)

So I can picture him hunting Tsukasa alone (and not mentioning to anyone, because that his duty as a clock keeper and of course he wouldn't shove it on someone else, especially when everyone is so angry with him for ruining their present.) but maybe the plot make his hunt cross paths with Nene storyline (which we know will involve hanako) or the wedding somehow (Akanes and Minamotos have history that involves sacrifices and their marriage begs the question of "what changed? why are they united in this timeline?") AND THEN a proper team up happen?? Honestly i have no idea.

It's too early for me to have a clear idea of what Aidairo intends to explore with Teru and Aoi's engagement but my hope is that it serves to flesh out Aoi and Teru's character and their home situation.

(Honestly, I just want Teru and Aoi to have a proper talk. It's a crime that the best teru and aoi conversation we have is from a spin-off. )

#aoi akane #akane aoi #minamoto teru #teru minamoto #yashiro nene #tbhk #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk #jibaku shounen hanako kun #man i love the tumblr comcept of asks #twt L for real

[mistressoftherant-blog]

TMNT Fanfic Complaints

As this blog is mostly a space to vent, and I am currently obsessed with pretty much every iteration of the TMNT, I thought I'd throw together a list of things that make me close a fanfic instantly. If you like any of these things, then that's totally fine, but for the most part, any of these things will have me dropping a fic in minutes. A few of these are aligned with posts I've made in the past, but I am noting them down anyway as this is a way of me getting out a lot of my major complaints at once 😅

No.1 Having all the brothers be abusive (particularly towards Mikey), with bonus points for any crossover that will then have one version of the turtles chastising the others for the way they treat their brothers. It just doesn't work, every set have very specific dynamics, but none of them are abusive.

No. 2 Crossover fics that make it impossible to tell who is who. This can occur in a few different ways. One of which is that the authors completely fail to differentiate different universes, making every single version of the turtles talk and act in the same way. Another is when a fic gets flooded with nicknames/pronouns/usernames, without a decent key. If you have a crossover fic with even just 3 or 4 universes, but every single turtle has multiple sets of pronouns, multiple nicknames, and multiple usernames, you really need a way to make it clear who is who.

No.3 The 'poor baby Blue' phenomenon in which every version of the turtles seemingly forgets all of the horror they have suffered because of what the Rise boys have gone through, particularly Leo. I honestly hate it when I am reading a crossover fic and all of the trauma from every series is disregarded in the face of the Rise Shredder and Rise Krang, which brings me on to my next point...

No.4 Essentially an extension of No.3, but can we all finally drop the idea that the Rise Boys had the scariest villains? Sure, their Shredder and Krang were intense, but for the most part, their villains are all pretty much played for comic relief. Either 03 or 12 had the scariest villains. And before anyone comes at me like 'Oh, Rise Shredder was a demon, the Rise Krang managed to take over the world, etc', may I remind everyone that 03 also had a demon Shredder who took over the world (and multiple others including the one who took over in SAINW), and the 12 Triceratons straight up destroyed the Earth with a black hole?

No.5 Fics that give away traits from one turtle to another e.g. making any of the other turtles better at science/math/tech etc than Donnie. Each of the turtles has their own thing, and Donnie will always be the smartest academics wise. It annoys me to no end when people try and make any if the others, usually Rise Leo or 12 Mikey, out to be a genius like him. I actually once read a fic where Rise Donnie asked Leo to help someone with a chemistry question that he couldn't handle. It's ridiculous, and usually carries over from the headcanon that Rise Leo is the medic (is there genuinely any evidence for this in the show besides Leo having a pouch? Because the only time I can recall anything medical related being brought up was when Donnie mentioned Raph's allergies). I have also seen people talk about Rise Leo loving to dance more than Donnie, even when the show explicitly states on multiple occasions how much Bootyyyshaker9000 loves to dance (also making Leo a massive theatre kid when Donnie breaks into songs and dance numbers on multiple occasions.) Or when 12 fans make Mikey the artist when it is actually Raph.

No. 6 (people will probably be mad at this one) Stop making everything about Leosagi, please! He doesn't even exist in the Rise verse, yet the entire fandom is absolutely swamped with Leosagi content. It's annoying when you are reading a Rise fic, and then out of nowhere it all becomes about Leo's relationship with Usagi. These fics also tend to make Usagi the most bland character in existence, with his two defining traits being samurai and Leo's boyfriend. They even do this to Bayverse!! Or bizarre crossover ships that start taking over everything (Why is Mikey being shipped with pretty much all of the spiderman iterations now??(

No. 7 Any fic that has all of the Donnies despise each other. I don't know if this is bias, but I feel like most of the Donnies would enjoy having people on their level to discussbthings with, people who would respect their boundaries and listen to each other's rants. And before anyone brings up their egos, most of the Donnies are shown to be able to and even enjoy working with others who are around their level (Aprils, Leatherhead in 03, Fugitoids etc). I actually think that, aside from the Mikeys, the Donnies would probably get on the best.

No. 8 One of my biggest pet peeves (that I have complained about before) is acting as if any version of the turtles is far superior to the others in terms of intelligence, fighting skills, etc. The Rise boys do not solo every verse. If they had had more training, then yeah, they would be probably some of the strongest characters. But they haven't had the training of the other verses, and mystic powers cannot compensate for everything (considering the fact that they got absolutely bodied by their Krang, you think more people would realise this). The other iterations pretty much all have more formal training, more experience fighting a variety of opponents (Bayverse and the 90s are perhaps an exception to the greater variety of opponents here, but as Bayverse Raph alone can yeet a shipping container singlehandedly with no powers, I think they're good). In no universe should the Rise boys be giving any of the other characters fighting tips.

I will probably write more of these at some point, this was pretty cathartic 😅 I also promise that I do not hate Rise, I just have more issues with the wider Rise fandom than most of the other shows.

#rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt mikey #tmnt raphael #tmnt 2003 #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #tmnt 1987 #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #bayverse donatello #bayverse donnie #tmnt raph #tmnt 90s

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Apparently this is “undeniable” proof that Kataang wasn’t always gonna be endgame. I don’t get it TBH. But what do you think?

https://araeph.tumblr.com/post/151770892635/irrefutable-proof-that-kataang-was-not-always/embed

"Aang's attachment to Katara was selfish because it was based on feeling entitled to a relationship with somoene that didn't love him back"

Bullshit. Pure bullshit. The vision that makes him give up on trying to let go of his attachment to her was her being captured and imprisoned. He literally screams "Katara is in danger!"

He loved her and wanted to be with her, yes, but his main concern was "What if I prioritize something else over and end up losing her like I lost my people?" because remember, we are explicitly shown in that very episode that his love for the other air-nomads, his previous family, is living on through his love for Katara, who is part of his current family - and yes, the girl he'd eventually marry and have kids with once they were older.

But Aang cannot afford to focus on making sure only one person is doing okay. That's why, in Ba Sing Se, when he sees everyone, including Katara, fighting against all the Dai Li, he does the right thing and trusts that, if he does his duty to end the war, everyone will be safe and sound - including Katara.

His romantic feelings for her make it HARDER to let go of her, but his attachment is not based SOLELY on it.

And for fucks sake people, Katara canonically started looking at him differently all the way back in season 1, during the fortuneteller episode and flirted with him the following episode. She clearly liked kissing him in Cave Of Two Lovers, and she was visibly upset when Aang was acting cold and distant towards her after Appa's kidnapping. She likes him back. Deal with it.

"Aang being able to get into the Avatar State after hitting that rock makes no sense because it was as spiritual issue, not a physical one. He should have fixed it by letting go of Katara"

Aang let go of Katara in Ba Sing Se. We literally see it happening. Aang's chakra was blocked because he was struck by Azula's lightning on that very moment. A physical trauma, that visibly left a PERMANENT mark on his body. That boy literally died and had to be brought back to life.

Through the show, we see things like Ty Lee using pressure points to block people's bending (and movement in general), Toph offering to help Aang relax in Nightmares and Daydreams through accupuncture, and Toph also becoming a incredibly poweful bender because the suppression of one of her five senses hightened the others.

In the Avatar world, a physical thing can canonically block or trigger someone's ability to do something. Aang's chakra being unblocked after something hit the spot that left a physical trauma on his body makes total sense.

On Zuko's fever dreams supposedly revealing his true self and making him more empathetic

Uncle Iroh tells us that Zuko will be his true self once he recovers. The following episode Zuko SEEMS happy and is acting much kinder towards his uncle.

But he ditched it all the very second a chance to be a prince again was given to him by Azula. He double-down on his selfishness, entitlement, arrogance and cruelty. He betrayed a man that was more like a father to him than Ozai ever was, even though he did genuinely love Iroh.

And once Zuko actually changes sides for good and is GENUINELY being kinder and more honorable he acts NOTHING like that overly-happy, super optimistic boy we saw in Ba Sing Se - because that was NOT Zuko's true self, it was him trying to please the one person he still had in his life. Trying to be like him because no other path seemed possible. And even though he convinced himself he was happy, he had already said he wanted more than just a well-paying job that allowed him to live a quiet life in a nice place. He wanted to go home, he wanted to be Fire Lord, and that's exactly what his ending was.

Either the writers wrote themselves into a corner for the sake making Zuko's betrayal towards his uncle all the more shocking, or it was one of the rare moments of the show subtly reminding us that Uncle Iroh is NOT perfect and can make mistakes despite being a wise man.

#anti zutara #pro kataang #pro aang

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

they did it

LOL they did the thing anime kuuderes do in Silver’s Dorm Uniform vignettes… where the character practices smiling (with Scarabia) but fails at it when they consciously put forth effort to improve 🥲 only for them to smile naturally and unconsciously when they’re spending time with the people they care for (exercising with Sebek in the courtyard and smiling at how much his underclassman has improved). Aaaaaah, and Malleus and Lilia are watching them like proud parents 🥹

I normally don’t really comment when new vignettes drop, but I really liked how Silver’s highlights his friendship with Sebek and demonstrates that Sebek does indeed have a place in the Diasomnia found family and can be a supportive friend to Silver (albeit in his own extremely loud and insistent manner).

I often see people claim Sebek has no personality outside of being loud/arrogant/demanding and basically obsessing over Malleus but 🥲 it’s moments like these where his heart comes out and you can see he cares about others (but just fails to express it in what many would consider a “normal” way). When Sebek sees Silver being upset with his inability to smile, he tries to encourage Silver by telling him that he shouldn’t care what other humans think of him (yes, there is Sebek’s usual Sebek-ness seeping through his words, but the sentiment is still there). He values Silver’s worth as an individual and doesn’t believe that what others say about him should have an impact on his own confidence or how he behaves. But when that talking doesn’t work, Sebek goes out of his way to suggest they do their usual training in a very public location (the school courtyard), which attracts the attention of passing students who stop and watch them. It is through observing Silver in a state in which he is comfortable that his classmates are able to approach him and exchange amicable words.

Sebek doesn’t explicitly say it, but this just goes to show how well he understands Silver and how he wants to show off Silver’s good qualities to their peers. (Sebek also outright brags about Silver’s grace and poise in the vignettes of Fairy Gala: If.) Of course, he coats his intentions with the usual, “blah blah blah, if you act like this then it will make the young master look bad and we can’t have that,” but really that’s just a cover-up for his genuine concern for Silver. It’s a moment of emotional weakness that Sebek just doesn’t want to let out in full, so he uses arrogance to mask it. This shows that Sebek has both a capacity to connect with humans and a willingness to help his friends.

At the same, this greatly helps to further characterize Silver as someone who is diligent (as he tries hard to improve himself in areas where he is lacking; previously, this improvement was tied to his concerns about staying alert, which put perhaps too strong of an emphasis on Silver’s sleepiness). He also lacks confidence in these areas because he is aware of his weaknesses, and he strives to take great pains in order to cover for them. Additionally, Silver is shown to confide in his friends (Kalim, Sebek) about these weaknesses. He is very emotionally open with his thoughts (in spite of his stoic face) and, in contrast to Sebek, is not opposed to receiving help or guidance on the way to achieving his goals.

Something else that’s interesting is that the vignettes show us that Silver does care to some extent what his classmates think of him. I definitely don’t think it’s to the same obsessive degree as someone like Vil, but Silver genuinely wants to get alone with everyone and make friends with them. He has truly good intentions and also wants to see the good intentions in others, even if they are inaccurate (like when Silver assumes that Jamil is worried for Kalim in Endless Halloween Night). Additionally, Silver’s kind-hearted nature allows him to better understand Sebek, a person who comes off as so abrasive to others. Silver gives everyone the benefit of his doubt. As Lilia and Malleus comment in his Dorm vignettes, it’s a mark that Silver is able to be the type of individual that connects other people (something we witness Silver do firsthand in Fairy Gala: If when he negotiates between the fairies and NRC).

bdjssbksjw That’s what makes their bond so strong 😌 Silver is willing to see what many others don’t in Sebek, and Sebek is willing to put aside some of his pride and personal prejudice towards humans to support Silver.

GAHHHH 🥺 I just. Really enjoy Silver and Sebek’s friendship—how well their conflicting personalities play off of one another, and how well they are able to understand the other despite their strong differences.

#twisted wonderland analysis #twst character analysis #twst analysis #twisted wonderland character analysis #Malleus Draconia #Sebek Zigvolt #Silver #Diasomnia #Lilia Vanrouge #notes from the writing raven #spoilers #Kalim Al-Asim #Jamil Viper #Scarabia #Vil Schoenheit

[plantify]

TOONTOWN HEADCANON LORE POST THINGY NUMBER 4 I THINK

Again, this is mostly centered around Toontown Corporate Clash, but could probably also apply to other Toontown imaginations and whatnot

Topic: Gags

TOONS

To Toons, they're toys, tools, jokes to laugh at, something that's harmless and can make you happy. They're essentially imbedded into Toon culture for obvious reasons. For as long as there have been Toons, there have been some sort of Gags along with them. And the Gags shown in-game are not the only ones, either. There are many other types of gags, as well as more gags within gag types (such as Drop, for example), that are not seen in-game. (I'm just gonna go ahead with the easy explanation and say that we only see the gags we see in-game for balancing reasons and whatnot) Using Gags, in the mind of most Toons, is really freaking fun!!! Whether it be against other Toons, against Cogs, or some other zany usage that you'd see in some cartoon, it's a great way for them to keep themselves happy and in tip top shape, thus keeping their Laff high. They're great at helping sad Toons get unsad, but will likely not be enough if the Toon is depressed or otherwise very unhappy. Case by case situation. Likewise, Toons who have distanced themselves from other Toons, or Toons that are otherwise pretty crabby, might not enjoy Gags as much as others, or might not feel their whimsy, joyful effects as much. This isn't necessarily indicative of a "Bad Toon" or "Evil Toon" or whatever, and they may still be just as joyful as other Toons are, but may show it/gain it in a different way. Like us humans, there's much variation in how Toons receive and show joy, and how they might react to Gags or other Toons.

SUITS

To Cogs, they're weapons. They confiscate them from defeated Toons to study them, safekeep them, and for whatever other purposes they might think of using them for. Gags don't usually do ACTUAL physical damage against Cogs, and if they do, it's typically temporary. Just like how Gags in cartoons might injure someone or squash them, it's temporary. However, Suits by nature are like the anti-thesis of Toons and Gags, so they are very much less resistant to the effects of a Gag compared to how a Toon would take it. Cogs only end up exploding once they've been subjected to more than they can handle. That being said, I've stated before that not all Suits have to be all, yknow.... like that. Even if Suits are still by nature weak to Gags, those who are less engrossed in the whole business lifestyle, and know what fun is, know how to enjoy themselves (like a normal person) and are overall sillier than most other Suits, they may be a little more resistant to Gags. (Again, not seen in-game because of gameplay reasons. Most Big Cheeses might be all grumpy and whatnot, but another might be less so, and therefore be slightly less affected by Gags. Also, this wouldn't be the sole source of Gag resistance that Suits may have, so just because a Manager has resistances in their fight doesn't mean it's explicitly BECAUSE they're silly.)

Also, I'd imagine that most Suits are waterproof and are capable of getting wet without much issue. When it comes to Squirt Gags, it's just the fact that they are a Gag and the way that they are being used that makes them damage Cogs.

In a similar vain, I have mentioned that some Suits could be electric-proof, or otherwise be able to absorb electricity to charge themselves in the earliest lore post. Zap Gags likely wouldn't be nearly as effective against these kinds of Suits.

He does NOT take Gags well!

She resists Gags, but NOT because she's any fun

He might be "silly" in some way, but he's still a horrible person and very much does not take Toons seriously, so he'd still be as weak to Gags as the average Suit would be. The context of how they act is important as well.

She COULD have some Gag resistance, since she's genuinely interested in being friendly with Toons, and doesn't have nearly as much malice and/or malicious intent as other Suits, though negative experience with Gags (and not being very successful in being friendly with Toons) would make her not very resistant towards them at all.

And with that, this lore post is over. If I think of anything else pertaining to this, I may make a followup post!

Previous Next

#toontown #toontown corporate clash #ttcc #lore #toontown lore #headcanon #toontown gags #toons #toontown cogs #text post #long post #ramblings of the deranged #toonblr #cogblr #text #writing #toontown online #toontown rewritten

[satansfavoritedyke]

I almost can't believe I have to say this but the weird more recent uptick in celebration for people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder is genuinely sickening because you people don't realize you're PRIMING yourselves to become victims of the very specific kind of abuse that certain people with NPD dole out. And because most of y'all on this site specifically have massive issues with reading comprehension let me explicitly state that I'm not at all saying that every person with NPD is an inherent abuser, but what I AM saying is that NPD (just like BPD, or any other disorder), is a DIS-ORDER that requires various forms of TREATMENT and WORK on the person's part to assist the disordered individual to become more interpersonally, socially, vocationally, and broadly successful in their lives. Rampantly untreated NPD that isn't controlled by the individual with the condition leaves MUCH more room for the person to become abusive in a very specific way.

This is why narcissistic abuse IS a real thing. I will even concede that pop culture psychology/Instagram therapy culture is largely unproductive on the subject because it lacks the nuance of the actual human condition, but on the subject of nuance, the widespread conversation regarding recognizing the signs of how narcissistic abuse begins will save more lives than people with NPD's feelings are bruised. And now to tie in the point from my first sentence, all of you who are expressing support and lauding people with NPD, whether you know it or not, are painting a fucking target on your backs. It bears repeating that Narcissistic Personality Disorder is exactly that, a DISORDER, with a set of symptoms that are DISRUPTIVE to not only the individual with the condition but also to those they interact with should they go untreated and uncontrolled. So as you're proclaiming your undying blanket support to a group of individuals with a disorder who, left untreated, exhibit symptoms that are inherently disruptive and antithetical to healthy interpersonal relationships, remember one of the main categorical symptoms of NPD is the massively skewed sense of grandiosity and self importance; in simpler terms, you could be contributing incredibly negatively to that malignant sense of entitlement.

People with NPD, just like any other psychological condition/personality disorder/mental illness, should be encouraged to seek help and treatment, not egged on to continue to believe and act harmfully and irrationally as a result of their disorder. Think before you fucking speak on something you definitely don't understand, because the only thing better for a narcissist than a clueless person is someone who publicly accepts their disorder and will welcome them into their lives despite their behavior.

#and before any of you come after me for literally any reason know that I truly do not give a fuck what you have to say #if you don't like anything in this post then argue with the wall and I'll hope you don't become someone's next victim :) #npd #narcissistic personality disorder #narcissism #narcissists #npd abuse #narcissistic abuse #narcissistic abuse awareness #you can call me al

[ascendedheavenly6]

Meta out of this Alice in Wonderland Scan No.6

Scan from @restructuralcommittee!!

All information and interpretations will be a synthesis between the No.6 Novel & Manga + This Alice in Wonderland Analysis from the Lewis Carroll version!

*This whole analysis was copy-pasted from my Discord*

Shion as the White Rabbit!!

HONESTLY, THIS IS A GOOD CHOICE NGL. I remember someone said Shion acts like a catalyst of the story, one way or another. You know now as I read the novel, Shion is the catalyst to the titular No.6 as he learns and relearns and then his background and experience mesh up to shift the direction of the setting. Shion’s curiosity and nervous demeanor of ‘down the rabbit hole’ is really like him too Also— on the website on Alice in Wonderland analysis stuff, they noted White Rabbit’s

The White Rabbit is nervous and always in a hurry. However, he is confident enough about himself to contradict the King of Hearts.

This is also fitting because Shion’s position later on (and even before) as a prestigious figure and highlights Shion’s personality as prestigious but not prideful, I think? Or is the exposure of being the ‘new person’ in Alice’s human world that made him weird at first glance…?

Nezumi as the Mad Hatter-

Technically this makes sense on multiple faces. One on the fictional effects of people, even though there’s actually not a lot of info about Mad Hatter as far as I know, he (or at least his archetype) remains quite popular, I think that’s also the influence that Nezumi has on reader: some sprinkle of mysterious and interesting narrative. Two is that in the original Alice in Wonderland, I just found out that Mad Hatter isn’t the original name - it’s only Hatter or some variation of that - which is kind of like Nezumi’s identity like ‘masking, unintentionally?’

But also here there’s a bit about Mad Hatter that on other opinions is that he keeps changing his personality, but his devotion and eccentricity remain true. I think this speaks to Nezumi a lot because he sticks to his promises no matter what, and his presence has kind of a charm - whether it’s in the theatrical dramatic sense or genuine - there is a presence of Nezumi that makes him consequently, quite lonely, or becomes more significant (Eve, VC, or his knife skills, or his high empathy) that it’s kind of ironic when it touches his survival instinct to stay low

ANOTHER THING IN THE ANALYSIS STATES THAT

He occasionally is very rude and provokes Alice during the tea party. When he is called upon by the Queen, he is very nervous and frightened

That kinda fits Nezumi because I think that in the end he is still human and he expresses his fear of Shion pretty often

That kinda fits Nezumi because I think that in the end he is still human and he expresses his fear of Shion pretty often

Also apparently Mad Hatter is a term to describe workers who were poisoned by Mercury exposure? I haven’t thought about how this fits it but uh - the more you know.

Inukashi as Cheshire Cat

Okay for one, that’s a very contrasting choice considering what Inukashi has attached themselves to, but also there isn’t a prominent dog-like character in Alice as far as I know.

But - the analysis website, states that Cheshire Cat actually listens to Alice’s concerns and guides her toward Wonderland itself. Cheshire Cat is mischievous, yet also a guidance is a guidance figure too - quite explicitly. This characterization is something that I think Inukashi also has because Inukashi, lovingly raised in a cruel environment, would still lend a hand and also express care like when they interrogated Nezumi or eventually wished Shion and Nezumi to be back safely Also as a guide - could be looking at Inukashi’s role in baby Shion’s life too?

But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked. Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’ How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice. You must be,’ said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.’ Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on And how do you know that you’re mad?’ To begin with,’ said the Cat, a dog’s not mad. You grant that?’ I suppose so,’ said Alice. Well, then,’ the Cat went on, you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.'

(sorry for the sucky format-)

Simple arguments but remain credible because one is a resident of that unknown place is also very Inukashi…

I’m sorry Rikiga but idk what the hell are you and I don’t wanna analyze you cause uh

#no.6 #no.6 novel #shion no.6 #nezumi no.6 #inukashi no.6 #rikiga no.6 #shion #nezumi #inukashi #rikiga #meta

[windflowerofskellige]

Ostrit & Foltest: An Analysis on Love

I reread The Witcher Short Story recently and I was thinking about the state of love in the short story and how that affects the relationships in the short story. It will focus on Ostrit, Foltest, and Adda. First we need to establish ages. Sapkowski establishes that Foltest is between 30-35 with his description from Geralt.

Foltest was slim and had a pretty—too pretty—face. He was under forty, the witcher thought. 

In the same paragraph he also establishes the characters we will come to know are Segelin and Ostrit.

Next to him on a chest sat an older, powerfully built man with a beard. Behind the king stood another man, richly dressed and with a proud look on his face. A magnate.

It is interesting to note that Ostrit is not described as young. If he were noticeably younger than Segelin he would've mentioned it like he did Foltest for this would've been out of expectation. More likely he would've been compared in youth to Foltest. Neither is established.

Now we see in Ostrit's discussions of Adda that he has a sense of ownership over her stemming from his relationship with her and "love" for her. I think this is a relationship he had with Foltest and Adda, and that his feelings for Foltest turned to the hatred we see because he did not "behave" and threatened the ownership he had over both of them with his antics as a teenager and the affair with Adda.

“Careful, Velerad,” snarled Ostrit. “Say what you want about the striga but do not insult Adda in front of me, as you would not dare in the king's presence!”

Adda is established to be younger than Foltest through Velerad the Castellan, though he frames this in a very specific light due to his dislike of the King. We have to remember that Ostrit establishes blatantly they want to dethrone Foltest.

“During the reign of old Medell, his father, when our gracious king was still a prince, Foltest showed us what he was capable of, and he was capable of a great deal. We hoped he would grow out of it. But shortly after his coronation Foltest surpassed himself, jaw-droppingly: he got his own sister with child. Adda was younger and they were always together, but nobody suspected anything except, perhaps, the queen…To get to the point: suddenly there is Adda with a huge belly, and Foltest talking about getting wed to his sister. The situation was made even more tense because Vizimir of Novigrad wanted his daughter, Dalka, to marry Foltest and had already sent out his envoys. We had to restrain Foltest from insulting them, and lucky we did, or Vizimir would have torn our insides out. Then, not without Adda's help—for she influenced her brother—we managed to dissuade the boy from a quick wedding...

No one suspected anything, except maybe their mother. Just like no one would suspect Ostrit having an inappropriate relationship with the Prince and Princess. The way he describes Foltest's antics sounds like survivors of abuse who act out for attention.

We see that when Ostrit almost explicitly confirms as much when he talks about his "love" for Adda.

“I loved Adda. The king's sister. The king's mistress. The king's trollop. I loved her—Witcher, are you there?” “I am.” “I know what you're thinking. But it wasn't like that. Believe me, I didn't cast any spells. I don't know anything about magic. Only once in anger did I say…Only once. Witcher? Are you listening?” “I am.” “It's his mother, the old queen. It must be her. She couldn't watch him and Adda—It wasn't me. I only once, you know, tried to persuade them but Adda—Witcher! I was besotted, and said…Witcher? Was it me? Me?”

If Ostrit were a suitable suitor for Adda why would he feel the need to defend himself with "I know what you're thinking. But it wasn't like that." He would have no reason to think Geralt would take such a leap if he were not inappropriately older than her.

Foltest's love for Adda while inappropriate for their relationship as siblings is very much a genuine type of love. And I suspect the reason he wanted such a quick wedding is because he could then as King, with Adda as Queen, get rid of Ostrit. It is both love and a measure to protect her, not about ownership like Ostrit clearly demonstrates.

There is another factor in which we must talk. Foltest's lack of acknowledgement of Ostrit. Both while he was alive and after death.

“I have known that for a long time. How, witcher? Oh, of course, I forgot. Your code of practice. All right. I will make one small comment. Several witchers have been here already. Velerad, you have told him? Good. So I know that your speciality is to kill, rather than to reverse spells. This isn't an option. If one hair falls from my daughter's head, your head will be on the block. That is all. Ostrit, Lord Segelen, stay and give him all the information he requires. Witchers always ask a lot of questions. Feed him and let him stay in the palace. He is not to drift from tavern to tavern.”

This is the only time Foltest acknowledges Ostrit. After which Velerad only mentions to Geralt Foltest's words.

“Yes, yes. Of course, what is most important is your witcher's silver sword. It's here, don't worry. Both the sword and your little trunk. And the three thousand orens. Yes, yes, don't utter a word. It is I who am an old fool and you the wise witcher. Foltest has been repeating it over and over for the last two days.”

For the position Ostrit is in, that of a magnate likely meaning he is a Count, maybe Marquis, there should be some commentary on Geralt using Ostrit as bait for the Striga, and yet there isn't. He cannot escape him, he does not have anything to execute him for anymore, and he is still a powerful member of the council and an advisor, yet he hates Foltest so passionately that he wishes him to die in agony, go mad, and rot alive.

“It's true that I wanted to overthrow Foltest. I’m not the only one. But I am the only one who wanted him dead. I wanted him to die in agony, to go mad, to rot alive. Do you know why?”

He knows Geralt would not be sympathetic if he knew their relationship, which Geralt likely suspects. So instead he makes it how he "wronged" him. A sense of ownership gone wrong.

Foltest's go to coping mechanisms seem to be an air of airheadedness and jokes. We'll see this more in the series but in this story it is already established.

“What made your hair so gray? Magic? I can see that you are not old. That was a joke. Say nothing. You've had a fair amount of experience, I dare presume?” “Yes, your Majesty.”

Foltest would not let this publicly affect him, he's the King after all! But you can see the cracks in it when Foltest shows up disguised as a soldier to have an earnest conversation with Geralt. Foltest cannot trust the men in his company, he cannot even trust the Witcher, and he's far too old to be saved now. But he wants to save his daughter, for himself, for Adda, for her. Because she is suffering, and he knows what that's like.

#meda rambles #foltest of temeria #foltest #king foltest #adda the white #adda of temeria #ostrit #witcher meta #the witcher books #meda writes

[fakeosirian]

anatomy of a scene - house of anubis s2x85

joy and fabian's fight during the senet game makes me feel INSANE. i'd elaborate more above the cut but that'd defeat the purpose of the cut. so. long story short: this is one of, if not the best scene in the show in regards to character writing in the moment and as a fulcrum in the story at large (in my opinion). transcript + meta as follows:

JOY: What's the point in asking for my help if you're not going to listen to me?

FABIAN: I got it wrong. Okay.

JOY: Wrong? Fabian, this isn't chess; if we make a mistake, someone falls through the floor!

FABIAN: Don't you think I know that? I feel bad enough as it is!

JOY: So you should.

JOY: None of them have signed up for this. Even Victor chickened out when he knew what the stakes were!

(one of the top 10 funniest cuts of the series)

FABIAN: No- Anyway, who knows what would have happened if we had done your move!

JOY: Worst case scenario? We'd have lost Amber. But I would have had two players playing this game instead of one.

FABIAN: You always have to be right and rub everyone else's noses in it, don't you? And do you know why? It's because you're a bully and a control freak.

(screenshots can't do it justice -- the way her face changes is SO subtle, but her eyes get flat and her whole face tenses up. it's eerie)

JOY: Yeah? Well, you're a geek and a coward.

FABIAN: You're a witch.

JOY: Doormat.

They stare in opposite directions. Long beat.

JOY: So what do we do now?

FABIAN: I don't really think we have much of a choice, do we?

Another beat -- still not looking at each other.

FABIAN: Joy...I'm sorry.

Joy nods ever so slightly. She takes a short breath in.

JOY: Okay. Let's do this.

She only makes eye contact in the brief moment before she turns to sit back down.

not gonna transcribe the whole next scene but key point is instead of being irritated on her own behalf or shutting down completely, joy is acting more similarly to before patricia/amber fell through -- then she was visibly nervous, but now she's bordering on tears and openly expressing her doubts about her abilities. she says that she's worried about the "victor" guard because his movements are "unpredictable," but we know she feels that way because she couldn't get a good angle recording him before to study him like the others. throughout the scenes, she's gone from more plainly stating she's frustrated she couldn't get a solid reference on him to making him out to be almost sentient, something beyond her ability to predict despite the mundane reason for it. (could be that he's genuinely moving at random, but i'm choosing to interpret it the interesting character motivation way, especially considering her reasons for naming that guard "victor." girlie is projecting and i don't blame her)

fabian's also done a complete 180 in his demeanor since the fight, gently reassuring her, looking at her with the most fondness we've seen towards her this entire season tbh, and explicitly stating his confidence in her abilities in no uncertain terms. then, he does something really interesting: he lies. he says that he wants her to tell him what her next move would be, promising that he won't do it (with a tone of voice that implies he thinks it'd be ridiculous to do so and he just wants to "review"); once she does, he IMMEDIATELY does them and is totally fine. even when the guard almost whacks him in the head, he looks more defiant than anything.

the neat thing here is there's LAYERS to this fight and what each insult they throw at each other means re: the past, the present, and the future. the future's the easiest because it appears surface level -- they're both doing the opposite of what they were accused of before. joy's not looking to control anything and refuses to cause harm to him; while he's doing exactly as he's told, it's not as a doormat or a coward would. he's making a gamble by not only doing the opposite of what she wanted for him (despite it being her strategy), but even abandoning his own perception of the game (so not even being a "geek" either).

there's more implications for further in the future, but that's on like, level 4 of subtlety and narrative complexity so let's do the past first.

now, my feelings on the nina/fabian/joy love triangle are WAY too extensive to fit in this post, but i'll do my best to condense how i feel about the jabian side of things. joy overstepped repeatedly to a critical degree and was aware she was overstepping. fabian didn't trust himself to communicate his discomfort in a way that wouldn't hurt her feelings (he clearly doesn't think highly of his own interpersonal skills and defaults to other people's advice, even if he thinks it's not very good. that's how little he trusts himself), so he was caught in a bind: he's not to blame for freezing up around someone whose opinion of him he took very seriously, but despite the fact that she acted beyond inappropriately, i can see why joy would feel led on.

joy sidebar: the main things i think of here are the kiss-under-false-pretenses and the movie date. that's definitely material better left for another meta but tl;dr on my thoughts: her behavior was inherently self-destructive at its core, but that doesn't change the fact that when she sets herself up to either experience the best thing or worst thing ever because she can't stand the uncomfortable grey area between, she's setting up everyone around her for the same, which is Appropriately Selfish for a teenager, especially one fresh off of a uniquely horrific traumatic event! i love joy because she's chronically wrong!

fabian sidebar: i think he would have had a far easier time talking to joy if nina wasn't an intervening variable, despite his feelings for her in theory making it easier to turn someone down. that's all i'll say here

SO. the insults, interpreted with that context. "bully" is definitely referencing "ninagate," and while my first instinct was "control freak" referencing the exhibition/ball/how she drags fabian around in general (and i think that's what he thinks he's getting at), the more i think about it, the more i'm convinced it's projection on his part. more on that in the present section.

she reacts by shutting down because that's...kinda what everyone's been calling her already this entire season. and not without reason -- the scenes where patricia confronts her about her behavior (and they start to grow apart as a result) are well placed throughout the narrative, each triggered by something very specific and with a general trend towards distance, but it's not a straight line. joy's felt she's gotten some "redemption" lately being let in on the senet game, so having it "snatched away" kicks her right back to self-preservation instincts: fighting back, even if it means she's "living up to the reputation" that feeds the vicious cycle of her behavior.

"geek" is deliberately impersonal as an insult because her pulling back and not only seeing him so one-dimensionally, but pulling out an insult he'd hear from someone who isn't close to him (doesn't understand/appreciate his intelligence and interests) tells him she doesn't give a shit about him. she obviously does, but she can't let him think that him thinking so lowly of her would hurt her as much as it does. he'd "win." (gee, i wonder why someone betrayed by adult figures in their life, those who as a child you'd previously rely on as your foundational source of and model of trust, would make someone react that way...)

"witch" is fabian's default insult towards bullies. it's what he called patricia when she was picking on nina early season 1 despite their existing friendship, indicating it's an insult designed to set him apart from "being on your side" -- a counterattack to her doubling-down on the "bully" persona he set up for her in this conversation (though in the context of ninagate, it's not an unfair assessment, and she definitely chose to embody it (hello self-destruction) before he called it out directly).

i didn't talk about coward with geek because it's wrapped up in "doormat." she held back before he said witch -- despite the fact that she was the first to feign a lack of closeness with "geek," him seeming to confirm this sentiment tips her over the edge into stating something...particularly twisted coming from her. if anyone has taken advantage of the fact that he's a doormat when it comes to social interactions, it's her. "coward" can be localized to the senet game more easily -- she had a point earlier! why ask her for help if you're going to be bossy anyway? makes it seem like he's just trying to divest responsibility without the power and make her feel like a scapegoat! (uncharitable read, but understandable in this tense environment!) but doormat? he's not being a doormat now. he's been a doormat in the past (notably only in regards to social/relationship stuff -- he's generally a decision-maker and even "insubordinate" when it comes to mystery stuff. he defers to nina a lot, but only if he doesn't think he knows better -- see: getting patricia and alfie involved behind her back). joy knows reminding him of a big insecurity like that will get under his skin. get under his skin, and maybe he'll stop. (and he does. note that her automatic logic here doesn't consider just...demanding he stop in plain language. he probably would, but once again: fundamental lack of trust triggered! it's not "personal" to him in that he caused that issue, but it hit the button.)

does she like that he's a doormat, though? honestly, i don't think she does. she likes when he goes along with what she wants to do, but not because she told him to -- she just wants to do things with him, and she thinks she has to find the "right thing" that will "make him realize he does." when talking to patricia, she implies she truly believes fabian wants to go along with whatever thing she's pressuring him into at that given moment, despite patricia trying to tell her that he's...well, a doormat who can't say no to her. she wants him to want her out of persuasion, not intimidation. her calling him a doormat wasn't just an insult; it's a resignation. it's her giving up hope on not only a romantic connection but maybe friendship, especially since that revelation had to be dragged out of her by him finally not being a doormat and overcorrecting (as he's prone to do. see: the poem recitation to nina disaster).

speaking of...the present.

the irony of the present is that they're not in a romance plotline scene. they're in a mystery plotline scene, where fabian expresses VERY different character traits re: what i was saying before about the doormat comment. joy arguably does too -- it's harder to get a read on her because she's only one level above a human macguffin in s1 and hasn't interacted with the plot directly until This Arc, but with the small sample we have, we can see she's far more inclined to caution, knowing full well the consequences of making mistakes but without the regular exposure to desensitize her. when she asks what they're supposed to do next and fabian tells her they have One Option, he doesn't need to say what that option is, and it's not important. what he's communicating is far subtler than that; his more haphazard approach to strategy -- deliberating/mitigating but actively taking risks regardless of previous failure -- isn't borne of pure recklessness. she's optimistic you can sit out and still survive but cynical you could survive by trying; he's cynical (and correct, in this case) about nonparticipation, knowing it's Not An Option, but optimistic that if they just take one more risk they can win back and surpass their losses. they have before, and the consequences of opting out are beyond taking an automatic failure.

it ties back into his social doormatism; he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing he abandoned nina because he can't deny her anything, even if it's her breaking up with him or her asking him to throw himself in a hole. calling that "being a doormat" is really, really uncharitable of course, but for the sake of the parallel, he has to RESIST being a doormat to joy (and has no problem doing so -- he overrides her MULTIPLE times in this plotline after telling her she's in charge) to do so, which while the "only option" for him, is obviously difficult because of the habits he's developed on the social side of things. the fabina relationship has always been part of the "plot" side of the show to me, with s2 muddying the waters/making it straddle the line with the "slice of life" stuff more by involving joy and giving them romance scenes that aren't entirely related to the mystery. this scene does the reverse for jabian -- it's officially plot because fabian finally used character traits he only has access to in a plot context to impart consequences to the "slice of life" plot, officially ending it. there's a reason no jabian turning down/closure scene before this really felt "real" -- it had to be broken down here, like this.

i think it's also for that reason that she doesn't return his apology. some of it is her still having shit on her end to work through, but i have a hunch that you could attribute the source of some of that shit to her realizing that Exact Thing. he's putting nina over her. it doesn't have to be through every hoop i jumped through up there -- it's as simple as the unspoken gut feeling of "you'd never say that to nina."

to tie up the rest of the insults re: the present, most of them are equally contradictory to their current situation/the immediate reason the fight started. (she wasn't bullying anyone/being especially "witchy" beyond being a little harsh towards him. he wasn't being a coward. him being "a geek" could be in reference to him needing to be involved in the "brains" part of the operation here, but that's a bit of a reach.)

but the most interesting one is "control freak," which i mentioned i'd be circling back to later. now is later! joy's not being a "control freak" -- he literally asked her to help and won't let her do her job. that's the projection, by the way. he's the one overstepping, and while i at least can tell it's coming from...not an intentionally bad place per se (mix of guilt running amok/being the usual "ideas guy" and doesn't know how else to deal with feeling stressed out despite it Not Helping/Genuine Concern And Fear), it's certainly super obnoxious of him to take it out on joy, and i wouldn't discount the interpretation of him being arrogant/a bit of a chauvinist here, lmao. chauvinism doesn't feature much, if at all, in his characterization as a pattern, but arrogance certainly can.

i say can because this is the 4th layer of future, LOL. the senet game serves as great foreshadowing (and in some ways, a better version of, in my opinion) fabian succumbing to the sin of pride -- to RFS himself, no less, who designed this game as a hubris trap. it's notable that sinner-fabian targets joy to insult directly, ESPECIALLY after she's had such a successful growth period while so many other people in the house became the worst versions of themselves, and i like to think that was written with this in mind.

i'm going to be saving any s3 thoughts past that for another day because they're...complicated, and i'm not sure how to best express them yet and REALLY don't want to contribute to tired-out discourse or come off like a hater, lmfao. the only reason i even Mention it is because i don't have any of the...usual? issues with it? i have no gripes with screen time balance and like that it really delves into the logical-conclusion consequences of previous seasons. if anything, it has a lot of my favorite shit (KT, joy's "redemption arc," fabian being allowed by the story to be as unreliable as other characters, eddie's maturation). my issue is more in the very-pretentious-narrative-theory zone (specifically craft stuff like tone and the specific mechanics of how character development functions on screen, not necessarily what the characters develop into), so i'll leave that for the "The Only Two (2) Functional Changes I Would Make To Season Three That Leave It Both Essentially The Same, And Yet Different Enough To Solve What I Believe Are Critical Audience Engagement Complications" post? i guess?

if you made it this far, i'll buy you some eyedrops because i know MY eyes are dry after typing this beast up in one sitting. i am terminally verbose :3 but fr, thank you! let me know what you think, ESPECIALLY if you disagree. i promise i won't call you a geek or a bully <3

#house of anubis #hoa #hoa meta #my writing #i didn't set out to write something that belonged in that tag but well. it's definitely an essay. #very funny to me that i HATED this scene as a kid. or at least it made me very upset and overloaded me so i assumed that was hatred LOL #have liked it way more on recent rewatches but working on this amv (coming soon) and scrubbing through it over and over caused Realizations

[mdhwrites]

I just wanna say, thanks for your takes. Like, everybody acts like TOH is this bold masterpiece whose all flaws can be blamed on Disney and, while on some level this is true, I can't help but feel frustated with the inconsistencies and wasted potential it has that go back since fricking season ONE! So it's nice to see someone criticizing the show but not in a bad faith way, ya know? Thanks.

Thank you! It genuinely means a lot to me. It can feel like I'm screaming into the void a lot of the time or just circle jerking my opinions. The 'good faith' implication of your kind words especially is resonant because, well, I've gotten a lot of people claiming that I must have not watched the show or something. Which, if I really thought the show was literally all bad or just watched it to hate it, I wouldn't talk about it as much because a piece of media that only fails isn't as interesting as one that succeeded so much at one point.

But… I actually to take a moment to talk about the fandom's intolerance towards criticism in possibly a more good faith manner than I have. I've been too mean in the past and, well, the show kind of asks for it. Asks that if you think critically of it, you HAVE to come up positive.

How did the show do this? Well, remember that the VERY SECOND EPISODE is spent entirely around the concept that this show doesn't have Chosen Ones. A cliche trope of some other fantasy had an entire episode devoted to it with constant hammerings in of the final lesson: No one here is designated as special. No one follows that trope.

That isn't even subversive comedy. That is just explicitly going out of your way to point at a trope that people are lukewarm about at best commonly and stating "I dislike this. This isn't here. We're BETTER." Worse yet, the show DOES revel in subversive comedy that reinforces this viewpoint or continues to make plot points that are explicitly against common story telling in the genre, like Willow saying they're not friends yet.

This, naturally, begs comparison. Begs critical thinking. Not even negative in theory, just… A more critical eye anyways. After all, if the explicit text says it's better, it is inherently asking to be judged as above average. As something special.

So, for much of the audience, you have two options. One:

You agree. You think it is as special as it claims to be and find higher value in its storytelling and themes and quality. You stay on its wavelength and are pushed more and more to continue to think it's the best when the show says it is.

OR

You disagree. You think the show, even if you don't think it's bad, is okay. Average to good. It's not the special thing it claims to be though and so you have fallen out of step with it. After that, every time it does something other shows would do, let alone when it says it's not, it nags at some part of your brain. Because the show itself is claiming to be better than your perception of it.

This second mindset makes good faith criticism more difficult because every small mistake is going to feel larger. Things that would be normal and waved off in other shows can't be now. Can you reconcile with this? Of course. Plenty of people wanting my thoughts have stated they still like the show but there are going to be some who once the unraveling begins… There's no stopping it.

And it actually effects the person in line with the show as well. Why do people blame Disney and the shortening for all the problems of the show despite all the leaps of logic required to do so? Because it helps them get back into step with the show. It makes it easier to claim that its boasts are valid and only stopped because the 'true vision' of the piece wasn't realized.

And reasonably, this makes for a VERY hostile environment. Criticism that wouldn't even be blinked at with other shows like a silly mcguffin or a funny plot hole become insurmountable problems. After all, the show claims to be better than that. You saying ANYTHING negative, means that the show itself is wrong and you risk falling out of step.

Even worse is that this is a self devouring serpent. If you agree the work is special, the work stops having to say it's special to continue having that perception by fans. They'll claim ANYTHING to keep raising the bar to meet the expectation. Every character is clearly nuerodivergent or disabled in some way. Or both! Luz is unlike any protagonist ever in media! Lumity is literally as perfect as you could make a couple in media!

And so you keep feeding the serpent, bringing the point of the serpent where something slips up and you are devoured along side with the last of it ever closer. Because now if it fails the expectations you've put on it… Everything's over.

And that just sucks and isn't healthy for anyone. It should be okay for your favorite piece of media to be just average. I mean, my favorite comedy is still Emperor's New Groove and I'm not going to claim it's somehow on a whole different plane of existence. It just has good animation, good comedy, good heart, etc. like that without being offensive. It does its job telling an entertaining and coherent story very well and in a way that I just have never let go of.

I don't need it to be more than that. And media shouldn't be asked to be more than that.

#The Owl House #Rambles #Thank you again!

[alolanrain]

And what would ash's reaction be to an angry raihan yelling on a thick accent?

(Reminder that Ash’s usual age for when I write him interacting with any person from Galar is 21-22. I don’t ever really write him as 10 unless explicitly stated)

The first time he actually acknowledged that Raihan was-very much-indeed sexy was when he caught the gym leader at a bad time while traveling with Goh and they had to stop by for some data for Cerise. Raihan had a horrible day from the start. The day had just been shit and he just faced off the last Trainer for the day who was genuinely so horrible to their Pokémon. Yet they won against Raihan regardless.

So obviously, it fucking sucks because Raihan can’t actively do anything and his ego and pride was heavily bruised.

Ash and Goh and asked Raihan if he wanted to go out with them for dinner and a few drinks, obviously somewhere minor friendly for Goh who’s only 18-17 give or take a few months-Ash can’t remember off the top of his head but he genuinely remembers the other is around that age. They end up in a little hole-in-the wall restaurant with darts and little to no people. It takes a while for Raihan to actively act like himself again and not pretend.

Both Kantonians realize just when he starts to relax when Raihan’s shoulders drool and he leans back into the surprisingly plush bench, their in one of those half circles booths so it’s not surprising to Ash when Raihans feet slid into his more. Goh looked at Ash in surprise-obviously feeling the galarian’s other foot but decided to let it be when Ash refused to look in his direction. To busy telling a story about how he and Pikachu accidentally stole a yacht with Brock and Misty.

The stories probably true but Ash doesn’t get to finish it, as the bad trainer from early bursts into the bar with a group of their friends and making loud remarks about the “wussy dragon gym leader.” And how “Trainer kicked his ass so hard.” Which we’re just a few. The majority of the group just echoed off what the main Trainer was saying, like a broken record player. Ash actively stops Goh from getting up-even though proud that the boy is a little more confrontational when things are clearly wrong but with a somewhat healthy head on his shoulders-and gently pressed his pinky into one of Raihans fingers that was gripping his third tumbler of scotch for the night. The only outward appearance that something is wrong.

Raihan is trying to stay calm. Truly, he is. At least the bastard sits in the other end of the room with his posse. their comments quietly as they order and turn to the dart board. Things simmer but Raihan’s anger doesn’t boil and neither does Ash’s after the gym leader tells him and Goh about the asshole.

They all agree to just leave it be, even though all their stomachs are rolling and a varying degree of anger and with something else, it’s no use to start a fight now. None of them would have any good means of justification when it inevitably having to talk to a Officer Jenny or having to ride to a hospital in an ambulance since there would be no doubt at least a few of the fuckers friends would help-if not the majority.

Things don’t come to a head until a little later-like an hour or two-where Ash wants another drink since he just finished his second and Goh wanted more cheasy fries the place sold, it would be easer to just order through the bartender then wave for a waiter that just seemed to have disappeared for the entire night.

Now Ash isn’t hit on a lot by guys in Galar, which was weird because he looked fine-a bit of a mash of Captain America and whoever the fuck is Bucky or that’s what Cilan and Clemont told Ash after he saw them a few weeks ago-but appreciated it. Sometimes it was genuinely tiring having to walk across a bar or crowded restaurants without getting unceasingly hit on by all genders.

That is, until a pair of arms trapped him on either side of the bar. It took a hot second for Ash to realize that it was said Mr. Asshole and one of his friends. Nothing they said really made it into Ash’s brain. He was just caught so off guard, even though it didn’t last for even five minutes before the two boys were ripped away from him. Raihans normally jovial tone and thick accent was pitched with so much verocity and anger it had caught him even more off guard. Though somehow it nearly brought Ash to his knees because he found it hot.

#ash ketchum #Raihan #Goh #aurafangshipping #Raihan DEFIENTLY has a Scottish accent

[brad-bakshi-loves-bugs]

there's zero chance that david fucking brittlesbee canonically identifies as bisexual. I bet he doesnt even realize he is. thats not to say that I don't love fics with him as an openly bisexual man, because theyre awesome and all of the writers are awesome too, but come on guys. the man is very explicitly the opposite of what most women in the show are attracted to (as seen in the episode where brad helps him find a date), and yet he continues to market himself specifically toward women and it seems as though men never even cross his radar.

therefore, I propose that we need more fics of david realizing he's not straight, rather than just knowing from the very beginning. give me david brittlesbee suddenly blurting out in the middle of a conversation that he likes brad, or fantasized about another man, and then blaming it on sleep deprivation or stress or something because there's no way thats anything besides a lie his brain made up in some impaired state.

give me david brittlesbee continuing to have dreams involving himself and ian, or literally any other man, and at some point poppy really can't keep telling him it's just because of a power struggle or dominance or what-have-you, because david is so obviously coming to terms with his own sexuality and he's the only person who doesnt realize it. give me ian snapping at david for complaining about accidentally staring at a man's ass ("no, I have no reason why, but the conversation we had after that was VERY uncomfortable" david says) and saying some shit like "yeah, david, you're fucking gay. or bisexual or whatever the fuck you people call it. good for you! I don't care! just stop talking about men jesus fucking christ!" and david just has an entire existential crisis when he gets home that night. give me david openly struggling with his sexuality, because it's not something that most people take in stride and adapt to immediately. give me david going to a gay bar for the first time because he wants to know more about his sexuality and how he should act because he thinks it changes literally anything else about him. give me david talking to rachel and dana about what he should do and them looking at him like he's a fucking idiot because he genuinely thinks that being bisexual somehow changes who he is.

I mean, really I just want more david-centered fics, but ESPECIALLY ones involving him having trouble adjusting to the realization that he's bisexual. or maybe im projecting because I was all sorts of fucked up when I realized I was bisexual as a kid (but on the bright side it did make identifying as a lesbian easier when I stopped liking men as a teenager). but also like, that's an incredibly common reaction. especially in people that discover their sexuality is Different later in life.

but basically I want david to feel lost and confused because he's realizing that he barely even knows himself, but he wants to change that. give me a fic where he comes out happier than he was before and more comfortable in his own skin 😌

#mythic quest #david brittlesbee #brad bakshi #ian grimm #poppy li #dana mythic quest #rachel mythic quest #headcanon #we are fleeting we are feeling #wafwaf #im definitely incorporating some version of this in wafwaf but itll be in the background because this is a brad centric fic #as much as id love to write this myself I hate writing from david's pov I just can't get his character right it feels like #hopefully SOMEONE out there is better than me though and willing to write it #please..... if you do send me a link ill read the SHIT out of it #im begging

[ineffablelunatic]

Snapchat AI is WILD

SO. My friend @captain-parks decided to use the Snapchat AI to find out some things about Ghosts. I've been trying not to use mine because I don't want to help train it but this was genuinely hilarious. This is going to be a longer post so more under the cut!

The Captain is respected by the other characters in BBC Ghosts because of his military background, but he can also be a bit intimidating. He has a close relationship with his wife, who is also a ghost in the house. The other ghosts sometimes find him frustrating because of his strict rules and regimented nature, but they also appreciate his kindness and sense of duty. Overall, he is an important member of the ghost community in the house.

So this is a little odd right off the bat. He has a close relationship with his WIFE? What wife? This prompted them to ask about the Captain's sexuality, to which the response was this:

The Captain's sexuality is not explicitly stated in the show, but he is shown to be in love with Havers, a female ghost. It's possible that he is heterosexual, but it's also possible that he is bisexual or pansexual. However, the show does not provide any further information regarding his sexuality.

He's WHAT? Why is Havers female? Why did it make Captain straight? We would later realise that the AI defaults to making all relationships straight, as it made other characters female for the purpose of these pairings.

We then asked about the chap with the arms. Nothing can make you ready for this response ISTG.

THEY MADE ROBIN HAVE DETACHABLE ARMS LIKE SOME SORT OF DODGY ACTION MAN. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BOY?

We tried to test the AI again to see if it would change its mind, but DAMN is that thing stubborn.

Female Havers returns again. We decided to find out a little more about female Havers, and what we found was genuinely quite wholesome!

I kinda want this personality for Havers. Like HELLO?? GARDENING HAVERS? That's so cute!

The Captain and Havers are ghosts, so they don't have the same concept of "free time" as we do. However, they do spend a lot of time together and seem to enjoy each other's company. They often engage in activities such as gardening and playing games with the other ghosts. They also spend a lot of time reminiscing about their past lives and discussing the various issues that they faced when they were alive. Overall, they seem to have a close and affectionate relationship, and they enjoy spending time together whenever they can.

This is wholesome. This is cute. Gardening with the boys <3

This is where it gets weird again:

So father-daughter Cap and Kitty is gone, and Kitty's alive?? and married to Mike??? What does this mean for Alison??

At this point I was a little worried about Chess Husbands, and it turns out I was right to be.

Julian and Robin are two of the living characters in the show, and they have a somewhat complicated relationship. Julian is the owner of Button House, while Robin is a young woman who works as a tour guide at the house. They start off as antagonists, with Robin trying to uncover the secrets of the house and Julian trying to keep them hidden. However, over time, they develop a closer relationship and begin to work together to solve some of the mysteries of the house. They also share a mutual attraction, although they don't act on it until later in the series. Overall, they have a complex and evolving relationship that is one of the major storylines of the show.

Robin's arms are no longer detachable, and instead he's female and a tour guide? Also all jokes aside I kinda like this plotline - the only thing we need to know now is if Julian wears trousers. CHESS HUSBANDS SWEEP THOUGH

Next we asked if the name Chess Husbands suited them.

It's certainly an interesting name for the duo, although it might not be the most accurate description of their relationship. While Julian and Robin do spend a lot of time together and have a close relationship, they are not actually married and they don't play chess together (at least not that we know of). However, they do have a certain chemistry and dynamic that makes them an interesting pair to watch on the show, so I can see why someone might come up with a nickname like "Chess Husbands" to describe them. Overall, it's a fun and creative way to think about their relationship, even if it's not entirely accurate.

This isn't as funny but AI. bro. Take a joke. It's creative license. Also they don't play chess together?? did we watch the same show? (Yes, I know, the AI didn't watch the show, but still.)

We also finally got around to asking what Mike being married to Kitty means for Alison, and:

In BBC Ghosts, Alison and Thomas are married and they are the current living owners of Button House, the haunted estate where the ghosts reside. Alison is a former city worker who has left her job to pursue a new career as a writer, while Thomas is an aspiring musician who is struggling to make a name for himself in the industry. As the living residents of Button House, Alison and Thomas often find themselves caught up in the ghosts' hijinks and schemes, and they are sometimes at odds with the supernatural residents of the estate. However, they also have a deep affection for the ghosts and are willing to help them when they can. Overall, Alison and Thomas have a complex and multifaceted relationship that is an important part of the show's dynamic.

Ok so Julian's not the owner anymore but THOMAS SWEEP! HE'S PROBABLY NEVER BEEN HAPPIER! Confused about what happened with Alison and Mike though...

Well, at first Mike got deleted from reality, but then:

You are correct, I apologize for my mistake. In BBC Ghosts, Mike is a living character who is Alison's father. He is a bit of a bumbling and absent-minded character who often finds himself caught up in the ghosts' hijinks and schemes. While he can be a bit clueless at times, Mike is also a loving and supportive father to Alison and a loyal friend to the ghosts. His interactions with the supernatural residents of Button House are often a source of humor and heart for the show. I hope this clears up any confusion, and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

DADDY'S GONNA DRILL A HOLE IN THE WALL

Time for Mary and Annie, who actually get a happy ending here:

In BBC Ghosts, Mary and Annie are two of the ghosts who reside at Button House. Mary was a former housemaid who died in the 1600s, while Annie was a former landowner who died in the 1800s. Mary is often portrayed as a somewhat anxious and high-strung character who is easily flustered by the other ghosts' antics, while Annie is more confident and assertive, with a sharp wit and a quick tongue. Despite their different personalities, Mary and Annie are close friends and allies, and they often team up to try to solve problems or help the other ghosts. They are an important part of the show's ensemble cast, and their friendship is a key part of the show's humor and heart.

Their personalities are fairly accurate and they didn't get sucked off, which is nice! They got their jobs wrong but other than that, pretty cute, 10/10!

And finally, Kitty. Poor, sweet Kitty, who has been butchered by the AI.

In BBC Ghosts, Kitty is a ghost who resides at Button House. She is a former resident of the estate who died in the 1920s, and she often appears in period clothing and speaks in a refined accent. Alison and Kitty have a somewhat complicated relationship, as Kitty is often critical of Alison's lifestyle and choices. She disapproves of Alison's decision to leave her job in the city and move to the countryside, and she often makes snide comments about Alison's writing and Thomas's music. However, despite their differences, Alison and Kitty do have a certain level of respect and affection for each other. They are both strong-willed and independent women, and they are able to find common ground in their shared experiences of being outsiders in their respective eras. Overall, Alison and Kitty's relationship is a nuanced and complex one that adds depth and richness to the show's character dynamics.

So I think she's Fanny here? But at least the AI is being consistent with Thomas and Alison's jobs. Ah well, could be worse.

Moral of the story: Snapchat AI makes everything straight and also thinks Robin can remove his arms like Humphrey can remove his head? Still confused about that but anyway...

#bbc ghosts #capvers #kind of #Snapchat AI is weird

[emblemxeno]

I don't think that arguing that Takumi never explicitly forgives Corrin in the JP version of CQ Chapter 28 is the right way to go about defending that scene anymore tbh; Takumi pretty clearly forgives them for the pain they caused him immediately afterwards, also wishing them a typical Japanese farewell as if they were just going to work at the end, implying that he's looking forward to reuniting with them if and when they pass away too:

Corrin: I’m sorry too…Your resentment is my fault. …I also wanted you to call me sister. Once this war was over, I thought it was possible to have a good sibling relationship with you. But even so… This happened. …I am truly sorry.

Takumi: No, it’s already okay. You accepted my hatred and came here. That was enough. Thank you, sister…

Takumi: Have a nice day, big sister!!

The actual defense for the scene should be that the “you accepted my hatred” line is a direct reference to what JP! Corrin said when they let themselves get hit by Fallen Takumi in the hopes that it'd fix his condition, meaning he only forgave them after he was rid of all the excess resentment Anankos gave him, reunited with Mikoto and Ryoma, was very likely informed by Ryoma of Corrin's true intentions for Hoshido after the war was over (including risking their own life and disobeying orders to save Hinoka), saw them be so overcome with guilt for what happened to him that they practically commited suicide, and had a heart-to-heart with him where they apologized for the pain they caused him, which is a perfectly reasonable way for Takumi to get over his issues with Corrin.

The localization still fucks this up due to having Takumi state he wanted to befriend them right up until he fell from Susanoo, implying he never took issue with Corrin at any point in Conquest outside of Anankos forcing him to (including while they were helping in the invasion and he had no way of knowing why they were doing so), whereas he's very blatantly reffering solely to his acting like a dick towards them in Chapter 5 in order to try and make himself look tough despite wanting to get to know them better back then in JP.

All in all, i actually prefer Takumi forgiving Corrin after dying, reconciling with his family members, seeing them sacrifice themselves out of guilt, and having a heartfelt talk with them over the defense of “oh he never explicitly says he forgives them in JP so you can't claim that he does so”, since it'd both be wrong due to his next two lines and be somewhat of a copout for Takumi to still dislike Corrin even during that scene but never express that anywhere in his tone or dialogue, whereas the former is a genuinely strong and logical conclusion for his character conflict throughout Conquest.

That's a very good perspective! I never really thought of it from that angle before, but translation does muddy things a bit. I'll have to give it some thought, since I always had complicated thoughts about how Corrin is treated by the family members and how I think it flows from story compared to supports and such

#queue #fire emblem fates

[compassionatereminders]

hi dokter (i think i spelled it right? sorry;;). im gonna sound like an asshole and i feel horrible about that but, i feel like a lot of people fake DID and multiple personality disorders. I know that i shouldnt fake claim people and such but, ive been on discord servers and theres a random channel dedicated to alters finding out who they are and then they always know how to set themselves up with a bot mechanic and switch between people rapidly. im a jerk for this, but genuinely in my head there is no logical explanation for how they have amnesia but know and understand discord completely. or how people will have fictives that are nothing like the source, just genuinely nothing like the character. its present in a lot of teenagers that struggle with mental illness and escapism, i think its less of a knowingly faking thing and more of a misdiagnosing themselves and truly WISHING there were more people there and they could share a body with dream. I feel like i do a fair amount of research, and looking into DID leaves me confused sometimes with how a lot of people online display their symptoms. why do alters all share an account and sign it? how do they all know the password? how do they all know how to operate it? (referring to tiktok because so much DID content comes from there, all with teenagers and young adults. i have yet to see someone over the age of like, 23 talking about DID. Not saying that just cause youre young you cant be blank, but i feel like its worth noting.) i guess i consider myself a kind person, and i dont care about what people do if it doesnt harm anyone. but this DOES harm people. i think its mostly people self diagnosing because they identify mood swings, different interests, and a yearning to be closer to their favorite fictional character or not be alone. so they truly do believe that this character is possessing them, even when its truly them changing their voice, putting on different clothes, adding an accent, and such. when people fake an illness, they dont fully understand what its like to have it and act in a way that is not accurate. isnt this the kind of thing that leads to stigmatization? to people completely changing their definition of DID since all they have seen is kids faking and acting like their favorite minecraft youtuber? i dont know. i feel bad since i hear from people with DID that they do feel this way, they feel like people now have a warped view of the disorder from people faking it online. Im not speaking for everyones experiences, maybe some dont care maybe some think its a coping mechanism, i have no idea. im sorry i went off on such a rant. i really like kats blog, she's helped a lot in ways. one last asshole note. A part of me is crying out that youre just kat typing while speaking her true and harsher thoughts under a different name, like an alter ego. im sorry, i know she wouldnt do that and im sure thats not what you are. i just had to ask, to clarify i guess (Even though i more just. stated it. sorry;;). i am probably not very nice in your eyes now, i dont mean to be the mental illness gatekeeper or anything but when you can very clearly tell so many are faking something serious its hard to just, go along with it. p.s. since youre a dokter who shares kats mind, how did you get all the education to be a psychiatrist? i feel like kat alone could be one, since she is very well educated and good at that stuff. is that why? or another reason. jsut genuinely curious;;.

None of us are psych professionals and none of us are claiming to have DID. Like sure there is a general issue of misdiagnosis causing the spread of misinformation which is to some degree harmful, but when I am explicitly stating that I don't have DID, how do you then read that as me faking DID? How is my experience inherently fake just because it isn't corresponding with the clinical experience of DID? Why is having the clinical disorder DID the only way my experience could be valid and real? Why is anything besides the clinical diagnosis DID fake in your eyes? Please spell that part out for me

#doktor speaks #identity compartmentalization tw #sysdiscourse tw #accusations of faking tw #faking tw #diagnosis denial tw

[seraphtrevs]

I am from Asia and here audience has WAY worse opinion about Skylar, to a point that I basically only read English analysis/essays about BrBa. We don't have "video essays" yters but "season summary videos" yters, and when one of them talked about Skylar, let me quote: "you've been married to Walt for decades, yet you could ever not tell that Walt did NOT kill Hank. Shame on you and you don't deserve Walter. If you were married to Gus, you wouldn't even have any chance to murmur like that".

Well it genuinely disgusts me bc (A) to Skylar's knowledge, her husband is now capable of truly heinous crime (like bombing a nursing home) If Walt escaped from Hank of all people, that MUST mean Hank is dead. It's totally understandable to think Walt murderred Hank. (B) Even only considering BrBa, it's heavily impies that every sherd of Gus' soul is only dedicated to Max! WHY WOULD GUS CARE MARRYING A WOMAN? (C) despite of all her irrational decisions, Skylar is a victim of Walt's abuse, which is in full display in S5E4 "fifty-one". This fucking yter doesn't deserve any women in his life.

Pardon me for long rant but I really need to speak to someone about my unnerving feeling. And I remember you mentioned that your husband LOVES Skylar and Gus at the first sight when watching BrBa (So I assume here is a little safe place for this rant!) Plus Skylar tried to be Walt's "detail-oriented and competent mafia wife" in first half of S4, so even it's canon that Gus threated to kill Sklar, I feel like Gus would have treat her like Lydia if they've ever cooperated in "the game".

You are so valid, anon! My ask box is always open to Skyler defense. I'm so sorry you had to see such an awful take. Unfortunately, media that criticizes and satirizes toxic masculinity like brba does is often misinterpreted by men who are too steeped in the mentality themselves to understand that you're supposed to see Walt's insistence that he's doing it for his family is hollow. They even explicitly have Walt state, in the end, once and for all, that he went into a life of crime because he enjoyed it.

They also made it pretty clear that the traditional masculine "responsibility" to provide for his family is actually in many cases more of an exercise of ownership and control than it is a selfless act of love. The guy you saw seemed to think that Skyler owed Walt loyalty in spite of the fact that he made her a criminal against her will. Toxic men think they are owed deference and obedience because after all, aren't they the ones who are working and sacrificing for the good of the family? Aren't they owed gratitude?

Walt was so fixated on this idea of being king of his own castle that he never considered that once he died, Skyler was perfectly capable of getting a job that paid well enough to get by, especially since she would have a lot of help from Hank and Marie. But that idea was so distressing to him that he'd rather enter a life of crime than to allow Skyler to take care of herself.

I don't even know what to say about the Gus stuff - how bizarre!

#skyler white #breaking bad #asks