#but genuinely he has a lot of flaws that would make him unlikable in real life

[graceylacey]

is laios touden happy?

I keep coming back to the question that a lot of Dungeon Meshi (manga) fans seem to be asking: is Laios happy at the end?

My two cents on this is: well, yeah. He actually is.

He’s sacrificed a lot, it seems, far more than all of the other characters. He’s the driving force behind the reason they survived to save Falin - through eating the monsters. Only in the end, he’s not able to explore dungeons, be near monsters (RIP his special interest) or even eat without feeling 30% empty. It’s a real tough bargain.

But that’s the whole point. And that loss makes the story so much more impactful to me.

When talking with the Winged Lion at the end, Laios’ true desires appear. But we can see through Mithrun, Thistle and Marcille’s time as Dungeon Lords that The Winged Lion seems to expose really selfish wishes that, whilst having good intent, don’t end up benefiting others the way the Dungeon Lord wants.

Obvious as it may seem, Laios’ true main wish IS to save Falin over the course of his storyline. It’s what drives him despite having other, arguably impossible, desires that he longs for.

Even though Laios wishes to become a monster, this desire has never overtaken his motivation in any other part of the narrative.

Yes, he loses a lot. But he’s gained Falin.

It seems obvious, but that’s the key to why I think this is a good ending for him. It’s about sacrifice. Itsusumi is a great microcosm for this - you have to do things you don’t want to do, eat things you don’t want to eat. You also have to give up things you don’t want to in order to gain more.

The similarity between Dungeon Meshi and Fullmetal Alchemist (manga) is wonderful to me. Both stories explore the giving and taking of life and the goals of our lives. 

At FMA’s conclusion, Ed sacrifices his ability to do alchemy; the reason the whole story started. It cost him and Al so much, but also helped them recover what they’d lost and literally save the world (are we starting to see the similarity?). Whenever I reread FMA, it’s sometimes hard watching Ed give up all his talent and everything he worked towards. What does he have without it? But for him, in that moment, it’s not such a difficult price to pay to get his brother back.

Maybe Laios is not aware of how much he would lose when he defeats the Winged Lion. But we do know he wants his friends and Falin to be saved, even if he dies. But that’s the thing! Both he and Falin are prepared to die to save their loved ones, but what about being prepared to LIVE to save their loved ones?

In our lives, we won’t often be sacrificing our lives for people, but we might be faced with a choice to give up things we love for people we love. Losing his life would be the easy way out (a great example of this is through Mithrun. It takes conscious effort to live. It seems so much simpler to die). Losing your dreams is hard, but that’s what it ended up costing for the safety of not just Laios’ friends but the world. He made that choice, now he must live with it. Even if he’s not fully happy at the end of the narrative, he still can be. You can be happy without having everything you desperately desire. That’s Dungeon Meshi.

Dungeon Meshi’s theme of neurodivergence fit into this really well. Personally, I think Laios is the perfect person to become King, possibly because he doesn’t think he should be. We know it’s not necessarily what he wants to do most. Heck, we know he doesn’t even like people that much and they don’t even seem to like him. But that’s what will make him the perfect candidate. Unlike others, he doesn’t have some high and mighty vision of becoming revolutionary at the end, nor does he have misconceptions about his abilities. He is genuinely righteous and humble, whilst having his flaws.

Laios knows what it’s like to feel different, outcasted by the world. But despite being awkward, strange, having weird interests and an inability to read social cues; people that once hated him ultimately end up having his back. There are bound to be others like him in his world (and ours), who don’t feel like they belong within humanity. People that would want a benevolent leader who genuinely cares and is enthused about things that don’t fit the norm because he doesn’t either.

It’s not his dream job but I believe he will eventually settle into it. We see this in the extra chapter where he willingly gives up his sword. That hit me hard. It felt a bit like a betrayal, like he was giving up who he was and everything he had worked for. But maybe it just shows that it’s okay that he couldn’t achieve all his desires. At least now Falin can achieve hers, and wasn’t that his fear for so long? That she would be lost and alone without him?

But now, because of Laios, Falin has the ability to choose her own path. She can choose make to leave as he once left her without the fear and guilt that Laois felt with his own departure. It shows both of them that it’s okay for them to take separate paths. They can grow and change and love each other from wherever they are. That protection, that survival and that connection between people is at the heart of Dungeon Meshi to me.

Both Laios and Falin choose to live. When Laios eats the Winged Lion’s appetite and Falin returns it’s down to their own decision. The choice to eat; the choice to experience life the way it was intended, with all its thorns. When they eat the monstrous parts of themselves they choose to be human, they choose the consequences of life, they choose to change and to go forwards. They are two sides of the same coin.

It seems only just that after all Laios has been through and after all we’ve seen him do, he should be allowed a perfect happy ending. But that’s just not Dungeon Meshi, is it?

There will always be sacrifices. Dungeon Meshi is not just about accepting life and death, but also accepting the possibility that you may not achieve everything you want, that things will not always go to plan but that you can always achieve other things despite this. 

Laios has made his choice to become King. Just like the choice to eat, it’s another part of life and of moving forward. Think of all the good he could do. I think he can be happy. That’s life.

#dungeon meshi #laios touden #falin touden #delicious in dungeon #mithrun #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #first post

[emeyuko]

Not to rant about a very flawed game but Yosuke Hanamura's struggle is more than just "i am bored", his boredom isn't just bc he was stucked in a town in the middle of the nowhere, but bc he felt lonely and treated like trash by lots of people. In his social link number 9, he starts talking about how he felt about Inaba and how he loves It now "this town i hated so much? Now i love It, there's still nothing in here but i have family, friends and you" making it more clear, and another thing is when he talks about Konishi.

The reason why he got attached to her was bc he made him feel like he had someone and realize he should care less about what people think of him, and even if It wasn't genuine, she never openly judged him, like if he didn't felt fully lonely thanks to her, he always wanted to be "special" to someone, that's why he wanted her to give him a chance, to know her better, all of this was more like finding a place where he could feel a sense of belonging, he couldn't feel a sense of belonging at first in inaba bc he felt *lonely*.

His attachement towards Yu/Souji, is smth extremely similar to his relathionship with Konishi, i would say he did even more for Yosuke than Konishi did, he didn't only saw his real struggles and did everything to keep him safe from them but he also actually finds him likeable and the only one in the team (except maybe Teddie?) That tolerates him, he feels safe and comfortable with him, and it's shown multiple, how he tells him he doesn't need to be the funny clown of the group when he's alone with him, he can be just Yosuke (and then some people say him liking Yu would make no sense smh).

And my issue with Yosuke's character is similar to what happends to how the girls treats Naoto or how Yosuke himself treats Kanji, the team barely tolerates him, he's only truly close to Yu and he barely opens up, as well as getting constanly insulted, you may say he can be an ass too and you are right, but this doesn't justificate some of your friends (ehemCH*Eehem) telling to your face how unlikeable you are and how no one would likes you, when your character main conflict is about how you act happy and carefree bc you are afraid of being alone, that people would abandon you for your personality. Persona 4 has the tendency of not taking seriously his entire main cast after they accepted their shadows and that's a big problem

#seriously tho Yosuke is like my fav character #but i feel so little people truly understands him #it's a shame #yosuke hanamura #otp: my heat inside #souyo #short of??? #like i could talk about Yu and Konishi parallels all day lmao

[kobitoshiningneedle]

Sister Iris of Hazakura Temple: the Ultimate Defendant of Phoenix Wright

(this is a writeup I've submitted in AA subreddit, so if you recognize the text, this isn't a Matrix lag. Yes, I have a strong opinion about Iris and I want to speak about it more!!)

Starting with the obvious, any Ace Attorney game has a strong and multilayered story and good replayability because of that. It's a very interesting endeavor to just find missed details, to rethink and reconsider some moments in the game after knowing the full story. After completing the game and reaching the major resolution of the plot and mystery, one may look back to find a pleiad of more obscure details that support main plot threads and enrich them. One of the most interesting details of TT's plot is the final defendant and the way she was presented in the game. I believe Iris embodies a lot of thematic weight, and she and the story around her propose a very meaningful challenge - both for Phoenix and for the player

Firstly, the circumstances around Iris are intentionally subversive. After 2-4 we learned that not every single defendant is innocent, so of course we become suspicious when the mysterious girl finds herself at the defendant seat - only for us to be proven that Iris is actually is unlike her sister at all and is a good person (but not completely innocent, to be fair, but about that later). So it's a subversion of an already subversive case, which paints Iris and Bridge as a whole in the very interesting light, tying all three finales of the trilogy together

Perhaps the main theme of the trilogy (and the franchise at large) is trust in the clients and, on the bigger scope, to your friends and close people. Phoenix-Iris relationship embodies that theme, and, again, can be considered a culmination, a resolution of that theme after the three games. It's evident that after the disastrous trial in Memories Phoenix still couldn't let his "Dollie" go. There still was a part of him that believed the girl he spent months with was a genuine person, and when he, at last, learns the truth, he literally says: "You've been the person I thought you are". Reassuring words for Iris herself, they pretty much conclude the "trust theme" and reveal that, again, Phoenix was right to trust the person. Of course, it's really interesting to see a hero being mistaken and growing from that, but it's not any less cathartic to realize that he did a right thing, regardless of the obstacles

Now onto Iris herself. She's an interesting specimen within AA universe on her own, and, despite common opinion, she steps beyond just being a nice-girl-who-is-not-her-murderous-sister. The crux of her character is finding strength, again, her own "two to stand", figuratively speaking, outside of her twisted familial loyalty. Yes, Iris IS guilty by association with Dahlia morally-speaking, as she didn't try to tell the police about Dahlia's atrocities. In some ways Iris is meant to mirror Godot - both of them made mistakes trying to take matters into their own hands thinking they were doing the right thing (Godot with his masterplan in 3-5; Iris with her idea to replace Dahlia and retrieve her necklace and postponing this until Dahlia strikes again). But while Godot's ultimate downfall was caused by being boastfully overly-confident in his capability to protect people, Iris' calamity, again, stems from her inability to speak for herself - she didn't even manage to tell her real name to the person she liked or simply steal the necklace from him

I think it's important to understand that Iris has her flaws - not some cutesy quirks like being shy or anything, rather, more ugly flaws that can affect other people and make her own life worse. Characters aren't meamt to be perfect people all the time, and being framed as "good" in a story doesn't exclude them from being objectively the reason for some atrocious events. I would even argue that a good story should never shy away from such decisions. Iris *is* nice and well-intended unlike Dahlia (who, on the contrary, despite wanting to bring harm was in some way the reason Mia and Phoenix have met which kickstarts the bittersweet emotional journey for Nick in the trilogy), but things she did weren't always good or had benign consequences. Besides, someone being so self-deprecating that it harms not only one"self", but others too is a fascinating and sorely realistic juxtaposition by itself

Nevertheless, after Edgeworth asks her to not deceive Phoenix anymore, she finally decides to tell him (in the front of the whole court, no less - kinda unusual place for a meek girl to confess) the truth about her sister and herself, tells her feelings - and after Phoenix reassured her that she was worth Phoenix's trust after all, maybe that instigates her growth as a person (note that it doesn't necessarily mean that she and Nick should be brought back together, it's more about their past relationship and what they both can learn from that now, after there's no more secrets). The theme of truth is always intertwined with the theme of trust and its importance in our lives. Just like in any other Ace Attorney case, only the reveal of her truth is able to free Iris from the shackles of her disastrous family.

It would be fair to say that Iris was cast aside by the case - after all, the Bridge had a lot going on in it, so you has to look closely to see something about her. There are a few details I personally find endearing about her. When she is in the detention center speaking with Edgeworth, presenting various profiles to her (like Larry's or Maya's) makes her respond in a very positive manner, like "This is a hardworking person", or "This is a very reliable woman". Funnily, Edgeworth remarks that Iris isn't a good judge of people after that, and that may be so - on the other hand, however, it indicates that Iris just generally tries to see good in people. Even about Dahlia, she says first and foremost that she was "strong and never complained about anything" - she understands her twin sister the most. Cumulatively, it all points at the fact that, despite spending the majority of her life in seclusion, she may be perceptive to some degree (the other example, when there's a wrong choice in her Psyche-Locks segment, she suspects that Edgeworth may have a deep secret inside on his own). In many ways she shares these traits with her younger half-sister Pearl, who is a sheltered, but unusually perceptive child herself

There are a few other interesting tidbits about Iris, but these are more like my overthinking. Iris, despite being raised far away from the city, is actually capable of being well-adjusted to modern society, she's relatively well-versed with technology, she managed to go to the university in place of Dahlia. The other interesting moment is the fact that she and Phoenix did have some sort of affinity in fact, because their relationship lasted for eight months without seeming issues (aside from the obvious not-telling-him-my-real-name problem), and, from my experience and observations, even if it's not that log of a period, it happens when two people have similar fundamental worldview and mindset. So Iris, at least to some degree, has something in common with Phoenix - maybe it's her positivity regarding people in general?

Anyway, I believe Iris is worth at least some attention from the fanbase - and not only as one of the possible love interests for Phoenix, but as a character who, as many other people in the Fey family, had a lot of odds stacked against her throughout her life, but in the end having a silver lining and the chance to finally be happy and honest with herself

#ace attorney #aa3 #iris fey #iris hawthorne #meta #it's beautiful that female characters like dahlia or adrian are attempted to be treated with nuance these days #kinda want people to give iris the same grace too

[la-pheacienne]

Alicent's stans say she never shown any ambition for the throne or power herself, only to keep her children from being executed. But what's wrong if a woman want to lead, rule, or administrating solely because she's ambitious ? Why EVERYTHING is about motherhood ?

I feel you anon. We wanted a ruthless antagonist that we can obsess with and we got Ninicent instead. And the funny part is, she's still the antagonist, just an extremely unlikeable one 😂

The Turkish TV show Magnificent Century actually has a storyline where the protagonist is genuinely afraid for the life of her kids and does evil stuff because of that, and it tells the story in a way that it's believable and does not reduce the heroine's agency and accountability. So if I remember correctly, there was a fratricide law in Ottoman empire, like if a man became Sultan he had to kill all his brothers, something like that. So that was an actual certainty. Hurrem's sons had an elder brother from another mother, Mustapha, and he was supposed to succeed his father, not Hurrem's sons, and he was a genuine good dude and he loved his brothers. Hurrem knew however that if he became Sultan, his mother and advisors would convince him to kill her children in order to secure his claim. So she influenced the Sultan to execute Mustapha, his own kid, because she was afraid for her kids. She was very sad afterwards because she genuinely didn't want him to die and she knew he was a good man. But oh well, politics.

So Hurrem acts because she's afraid for her kids, and genuinely cares for the very person she conspired against and was sad after his execution. She did what she had to do for her kids. Also, her kids were younger than Mustapha because she came second, she climbed up the hierarchy, she outranked Mustapha's mother who was there before her and should have become Queen consort, and then she conspired against the heir, which lead to his execution. And then she put her child on the throne.

The show is kind of a soap-opera take of the real story, so it has it's flaws, but overall the real story of Hurrem Sultan is the same in it's basic elements. It is contested if she actually played a role in Mustapha's execution but let's face it, she probably did, given the insane influence she had on the Sultan and the fact that she had a clear motive.

There are naturally a lot of similarities with Alicent's arc. She too had clear ambition since the beginning, she too wanted to outrank the heir and usurp her and put her child on the Throne. She too was afraid of her children because her children had a rival that could kill them. She too got caught up in the game and did things that she would have probably preferred to avoid. So, why do I support Hurrem in all of this, and not Alicent? Had they dealt with it correctly in the show, Alicent could have been a very compelling, intriguing antagonist. What makes her different than Hurrem?

Well Hurrem won, and Alicent lost. Hurrem won and it makes sense because of her wit, her political intelligence, her absolute and honest devotion to her family and her absolute loyalty to the Sultan. She also has a very special personality, she was very cheerful, brave, she loved art and poetry, she had a charismatic nature that outshined every single other person in the story and her relationship with the Sultan was so special in real life because of that and it makes sense why she won. We want her to win. She is meant to win. She is the hero of the story, both in real life and in fiction. She had what we call, the momentum. She is the driving force of the story. So I support her, not because she onLY FeAReD for hEr KidS and did nothing wrong evah, but because she's the boss, she's charismatic and exceptional.

What does Alicent have? Honestly? What does she give? Ok cool in the book she was cunning and ambitious and conservative and a religious freak and good looking, slut shaming Rhaenyra left and right. Ok? In the show, where she is supposedly better, what heroine qualities does she have that could make me support her? Honestly. Apart from the fact that she serves as a self interest for lesbians and Targ antis, she has nothing exceptional apart from her good looking appearance. The fact that she is a good mother? The hero of the story is also a good mother. We already have a hero in that story and the hero is Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra, the first woman named heir, Rhaenyra who tried to claim freedom and independence, who actively tried to make her own way and was punished because of it in the most horrible way. Alicent is (should be, anyway) Rhaenyra's foil. Rhaenyra's the protagonist, like Hurrem was the protagonist, and Rhaenyra was killed but her line survived, just like Hurrem's line survived.

So I got carried away from your initial question anon. Basically, we have multiple alternatives

1) show!Alicent, no ambition, only fear and lack of agency. I have explained multiple times why Alicent's powerless doll arc is boring as fuck and non-sensical given the immense power that she had as Queen. Alicent's stans using her non-agency as an argument to stan her is ridiculous. She ONly FeAReD for hEr KidS, just shut up. First of all, she feared for her kids because she was committing high treason using her kids, so she brought this upon herself. I literally see no reason to support a doormat that fucks everyone over just because she's "afraid" as a direct consequence of the shit she did. I doesn't make any sense.

2) book!Alicent could have been adapted in a TV show as a Hurrem type of character, they could have included the fear for her children (as a motivating factor in her scheming) and kept her ambition intact, as was the case with Hurrem. Hurrem was ambitious and also feared for her children and did things she didn't like, for them. It could work as a storyline for Alicent. But Alicent could have never been a Hurrem because she is simply not the heroine of the story, she is a foil, she is an antagonist, and she has the fate of an antagonist, period. They could have incorporated some elements of Hurrem's arc though, it would have been much better.

TL;DR a mother being afraid for her children is a valid tragic storyline and no, it doesn't necessarily erase her agency. But 1) it doesn't excuse everything she does especially when she is the one who started it all and 2) it's not enough to make me support her as a tragic héroïne.

#I had found this one amongst my 58 drafts #I had completely forgotten about it sorry anon #hotd #house of the dragon #anonymous #insane rambling sorry #rhaenyra targaryen #anti alicent Hightower #hurrem sultan #magnificent century

[adhdbisexualramblings]

I’m likely going to regret posting this after an actual rewatch of season ten, but-

Chloe was a wonderful foil to Timmy. They should have shared fairies. They’re perfect for each other friendship-wise.

Timmy’s conflicts are mainly external - neglectful parents, abusive babysitter, sucky school life - and despite his rowdiness and forgetful nature, he’s genuinely a very sweet boy who just gets caught up in whatever rash wish he’s made. Sure, he only has two friends (excluding his godparents), but that’s because he’s unpopular.

Chloe…has the exact opposite problem. All of her problems are purely internal. She does good everywhere she goes and strives to help everyone, which makes her a good person by nature, but it’s because of that giving nature why she has no real friends. She’s elevated immediately upon going somewhere to a celebrity status - it happened in Dimmsdale, and though she didn’t seem particularly upset about it, she still hasn’t stopped getting praise for her actions even months after moving there. Her life is the antithesis of Timmy’s to a T - wonderful, caring (if not overprotective) parents, a lot of people around her all the time, and a genuine love for everything that would theoretically make her the ‘perfect godchild’.

But, she has no real friends. No one she can count on for a cry or to lean back on if she needs help. Because she’s Chloe Carmichael, perfect girl, she shouldn’t have problems when everything in her life is great. Unlike Timmy, who is seen again and again clearly needing assistance, mainly assumed by characters and not explicitly said aloud by him. Chloe doesn’t have that specific ‘normal child’ status he has (no I am not projecting my survivor’s guilt onto a fictional character be quiet) because her life looks so good from the outside.

Despite what many reviewers, angry YouTubers in 2017, and a look at the first episode may tell you, Chloe does have flaws. Sure, she does actually like doing all this good stuff, but she’s…well, not far from, but you get it. She’s not totally perfect. She’s very protective about things she values (her DVD box set (which I totally get because those things are pricey, especially in this economy)) and tends to blow up if there’s any chance they’re threatened (yelling at Timmy to never lay a hand on said box set). She can be selfish (that episode where she had to share Timmy’s birthday and tried to one-up him) and a bit of a control freak (ideas likely coming from her parents’ want for perfection). She’s overly ambitious and her desire to find good in everyone blinds her to their bad parts (Foop may be a baby, but he’s not exactly as innocent as Chloe thinks). She can be easily-impressionable, as shown when she took to a brief life of crime in one episode. And, as Timmy puts it, she’s a little nuts.

Back to Chloe having no friends because she can’t be vulnerable with people who see her as a celebrity. She has a lot of traits that people might not like (see above) and can put them off on being an actual friend. Timmy has never seen Chloe as this popular untouchable mini-goddess - he hated her from the moment he saw her. Him having to share his fairies and subsequently be around her more often allows her to show those ‘worse’ (read: naturally human) traits off, and he won’t mind because those aren’t new to him, or weird. Timmy becomes, because of this, her first actual friend.

So while Timmy is rambunctious, mischievous, and has trouble paying attention but is still a sweet child in the moments where we see it, Chloe is a kind, generous, potentially self-sacrificing, overflowing-with-love girl who can get obsessed at times and lets her kindness be her downfall (sometimes). In the end, they’re both kids who have flaws.

Chloe and Timmy prove that misery is in the eye of the beholder. What’s miserable to Chloe may just be a normal day for Timmy, and we don’t know what fairy council grounds are for distributing godparents.

Additionally, Nick ruined Chloe as a character by breaking the show, don’t tell rule (telling us why she needed fairies instead of showing it through body language or actions) and sweeping her other bad traits under the rug. I despise the bright colors and neat lines of the new Flash animation they used, I hate it immensely, and Timmy’s character was botched within the first two seconds he was onscreen, but those are all their own posts.

#Do I hate Chloe still along with season ten? Yes #But I think her and the season’s potential was wasted #And I’m no longer on the mindless hate-train YouTubers forced upon the people in 2016-17 #I mean I still am a little but I’m older now and know better #Fairly Oddparents #chloe carmichael #timmy turner #cosmo cosma #wanda fairywinkle cosma #character analysis

[pansy-picnics]

"Lance is dumb!" NO YOU dON'T UNDERSTAND!!! He's very smart!!! He just likes to be a silly little guy! He grew up on the streets, how could he be dumb? He's the father figure ever, and he's smart emotionally about 90% of the time so that lets him make better decisions when everyone else is panicking HE'S JUST A SILLY LITTLE GUY

HES LITERALLY JUST A SILLY LITTLE GUY. HES A SILLY LITTLE GUY WITH GENUINE FLAWS AND STRUGGLES AND HE HAS SO MUCH TRAUMA THAT THE SHOW NEVER EVEN TOUCHED ON. TO ME.

this is how i feel every time i think about lance except the show has literally been over for like 3 years and i’m just gaslighting myself into thinking it happened. i need more lance centric art and fics or i am literally going to kill myself /JOKE

no bc i think so much about how eugene went back to using his real name and lance didn’t? and like i guess it CAN be assumed that he just doesn’t like his birth name which i mean. that tracks arnwaldo is a pretty silly name. but personally with how much more emotionally mature he is i’ve always imagined he at least had SOME sort of childhood before he was orphaned, unlike eugene and hugo, and like if that were the case i think he’s the kind of person who would still hold some sentimental value to that name bc of it!!!

and that makes me feel like lance honestly also has some deep rooted identity issues but he doesn’t handle it in the same way the others do. he’s always the kind of person to put others before himself and so something as small as his own name or identity doesn’t really matter much to him!! especially with how much he’s had to change himself to survive, he kind of sees himself in a state that’s beyond repair. like he’s so far distanced from the person he once was that he probably wouldn’t even recognize his true self anyways so why should he bother to search for it!! eugene was able to find a bit more comfort in returning to his roots. lance doesn’t feel the same.

i think overall lance sees himself as a completely separate individual from the person he once was. it wouldn’t feel right to use his real name even if he wanted to. arnwaldo schnitz is like an old friend to him. it’s someone he left behind a long time ago. lance hasn’t truly come to accept that, even if he feels like he’s changed, even if he feels his real name doesn’t truly fit him anymore, even if he feels disconnected from the child he once was, he’s still the same person.

i think him and varian could have a really good conversation about this particularly….mostly bc in my head varian has completely separated his 14 year old self from his current self. and he holds a lot of resentment towards that child he once was. meeting the rest of team radical helped him understand himself, and by extension, them, in a lot of ways- but that bitterness for himself in particular still hasn’t really gone away.

lance obviously wouldn’t want to confide in varian at all, mostly because like everyone else lance still hasn’t fully accepted that varian is growing up, and he doesn’t want to put any of his own burdens on him- but i think the older varian gets, and the more lance truly realizes he’s matured, the more they’d be able to connect over their similar experiences. even if lance is still obviously older and wiser than him and has more advice, varian is still able to get lance in a way eugene and rapunzel can’t and they both find a lot of comfort in that shared understanding of each other. both of them just….need to accept their inner child and give em a hug telepathically. ykwim

lance and cass also understand each other on a deep psychological level but thats another story for another time

#IDK. I HAVE AN ILLNESS. #pansy rambling again #lance tag #lance strongbow #ask #tangled ask #tts headcanons #tangled the series #rapunzels tangled adventure

[greywindys]

the way you write 2d is very similar to current 2d though? like in your fic he doesn’t act or come across as the old school 2d that you prefer, he just seems like a simple sweet guy. if you wrote a fic that took place in the earlier phases would you have written him differently?

I'm happy he comes across as close to canon! Because I *do* want them to feel like their canon counterparts to some degree because, to me, it can help make a fic feel more immersive. But this answer will have a few layers to it, which I'll try to explain as succinctly as possible. The tl;dr answer is this: I actually do think 2D is a genuinely nice guy, but I also think he has glaring flaws that I don't think today's canon really recognizes, and I also started writing 2Doc at a very different point in fandom, which did have some influence on my characterizations at the time. Okay, so answer part 1...

Is 2D nice? My answer here is actually yes lmao. I think he's nice in earlier phases. He is, as I see him, essentially the "normal guy" trope of Gorillaz. He cares for Murdoc probably a lot more than he should and probably believes in their friendship/relationship more than he should. He's been shown to be somewhat socially conscious, easy-going, and friendly with fans. As of P4, he's (allegedly) worked on himself. However, he's also, well, a guy, and I think he's vulnerable to many of the things people complain about when they're complaining about men in general - he's shallow, emotionally immature at times, avoidant of responsibility, insecure. I think his insecurity and immaturity have especially been affected by fame and Murdoc's abuse. This is just my interpretation, but I think this can make him bottle up his true feelings to the point of being resentful. I think his experience with Murdoc's dishonesty and infidelity (Paula) can make him insecure/jealous. Basically, he's a regular person! Okay, so for the next part...

Writing 2Doc in 2017-2019: Brief 2Doc fandom history time! Yes...I started writing 2Doc that long ago RIP. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and assume that most readers today weren't present to experience the, uh, political climate of fandom back then. This was right after Gorillaz returned from their first, long hiatus. The community underwent A LOT of evolution. At the time, I was also just a general fandom blog. I did not come into this fandom as a shipper, I waded into the ship cautiously, because 2017-2018 was also the time when 2Doc, along with Murdoc fans, came under incredible scrutiny. You could not talk about, or surmise about 2D's flaws without someone becoming combative with you and pressuring you to say Murdoc was worse. You could not mention that he was an absentee father, or that he might have been the best parent to Noodle. No, we all had to focus on how much Murdoc sucked, which, fair, but idk, I WANT all the characters to have likable and unlikable qualities. It makes them feel more real and relatable.

ANYHOW. When I started writing 2Doc, I didn't want that part of fandom trying to start debates with me. Like, I love a good discussion as much as the next person, but I also wanted to connect with the community. So, I think I was a lot more cautious in how I portrayed 2D. You can see this in my early, early work. I actually don't like those fics very much anymore. I've come so close to deleting that one Christmas story off my AO3 account, but I also don't believe in deleting work lmao. And it was my first published fic on AO3, so, idk, there's sentimental value there.

When you say "my fic," I'm assuming you mean The Answer (if not, well...oops). I'm not sure if you've finished the story yet, so I don't want to go too far into detail. But that was the second fic I published on AO3, and I truly did want readers to feel comforted by my 2D portrayal like, "See! Yes, this is a kind, soft guy." I practiced in a way I would today, where I was writing with the most passionate Murdoc/2Doc haters in mind. But the characterization is also specific to the fic, where that 2D is kind because he's trying SO hard to be someone Murdoc wants. This gets explored later in the story. He also gets worse later in the story, and those were moments I had in mind from the beginning. I wanted to be able to write scenes where the reader might not be on his side, but I also had to build up to it. I wanted even the most critical reader to get to those moments and be able to accept it as a reasonable development. Was it perfect execution? Probably not (it's been a while since I've read it), but I do think those scenes were earned.

P1-P2 2Doc: It's funny you mention this. The early phases actually aren't very inspiring to me. I have the most fun with 2Doc when exploring the unknown and subverting expectations of what the ship "should" be. Where do they go from where canon left off? I don't know! I do think they can regress, and I'm interested to see how my depiction of them has changed now that it's been a few years and I have a lot of new points of reference that have inspired some new perspectives on both of them. If I were to write an early-phase 2D, I guess he might be a little closer to ROTO 2D. But I also *do* think he's nice. But I don't think he's a doormat or a cinnamon roll, and I don't like the idea of always writing him as a hapless victim and Murdoc as an evil, 2-dimensional supervillain (I don't think he was ever like this, even in the early phases). He has his edges, and Murdoc has his vulnerabilities.

I do think the 2Doc community has come a long way from 2017-2018, and there's probably more room to experiment with their dynamic and more acceptance of 2Doc in general. I think a lot of fanwork from that era was instrumental in opening peoples' minds to different portrayals of 2Doc. Personally, I do want to write something someday that pushes the boundaries a little. What will it be? Idk, but it's on the bucket list.

Omg this answer was long...I talked about 2D for five entire paragraphs. I'm happy to clarify or expand on anything mentioned here. I have some more thoughts on this, too, but I don't want this answer to get any longer at this point. But I'm open to discussion! I enjoy discussions like this.

#asks. #Anonymous

[dangermousie]

The Princess' Man - ep 13 stuff

Seung Yoo breaks my heart so much in this arc. He looks and acts like he is already dead - just look at his eyes. He's devoid of hope or feeling or plan or really anything. He's been hollowed out utterly.

This did crack me up because you know he's thinking "doesn't hurt to try."

But yes, it's a man with nothing to live for - not even vengeance at this point because he can't think of how to get close to Sejo (side note - unlike the one eyed idiot in Sejak, he gets that approaching a royal is HARD. /turns off bitterness.) The most he thinks about is trying to find his sister in law and niece, only surviving members of his family.

This is so very bleak.

Also, he goes from royal tutor and top of the aristocratic heap to hired muscle at the brothel and the thing that gets me is he genuinely has no emotion about any of it - he's just one giant void full of anger and trauma and grief and yet still a void because a void cannot be filled.

Like the scene where a drunk customer gets annoyed a pretty gisaeng is eyeing SY so he tries to humiliate him and the horrifying thing is that the reason he doesn't flinch about wine being thrown at him or even a dagger isn't bravado, it's just he genuinely doesn't care.

The most emotion he shows is when he takes down the guy when he literally attacks and even that is not much.

Man sleeps cuddling his sword.

And then of course he learns (wrongly, as this was the cover story given to allow SR to save his sister in law and niece) that his last remaining family died. And at this point he really loses the last thread connecting him to the living.

I loved the scene with the rings, where he sees her leaving their rings and smashes them. The thing is, he's so traumatized and so mired in self-loathing and betrayal and not being able to believe his judgment that it makes sense he's ignoring all the signs that she loved him for real and mourns him for real because he simply is incapable of processing that. He believes his judgment is flawed but it's more than that - he is so shellshocked, he can only process things in black and white and everyone associated with Sejo as evil. But also, trust has been beaten out of him (literally, in a lot of ways) and so no words or pretty gestures can get through (ultimately what eventually does is her almost dying for him; nothing less insane could get through.)

(Pretty symbolic he didn't have time to smash both of them. He may have destroyed his feelings - he thinks - but hers are steady.)

I mean, his grand plan is kidnap her at wedding day, lure Sejo in and then he kills Sejo and dies. It's a bleak plan but also insane. It would work perhaps if Sejo cared more about his daughter but SY does not know that Sejo would never put his daughter first, favorite or not.

The reason I love this btw is because women in the drama keep being taught to be their man's shadow. And what SR wanted, what she mourns is equality - she wanted them to be each other's shadows. AAAA

The end of ep 13 is still one of my faves! Her about to be married to bastard that is Myun and SY sneaking in ready to kidnap her, and it's not a pretty, sweet kidnapping. Man is lost in his haze of rage and pain and self-loathing and needing people to blame.

That's gonna be a hell of a reunion with the lover you thought dead and I cannot wait! Ep 14 is my FAVE!!!!

#kdrama #the princess' man #park shi hoo #moon chae won

[pige0ns]

i feel like the reason it’s so hard to figure out how kim and jimmy and better call saul in general will end is because the conclusion doesn’t feel foreordained like it did in breaking bad. walt and jimmy (and kim) are both on downward trajectories over the course of both shows, but walt is treated as a straightforward villain in a way jimmy (and kim) aren’t. jimmy’s inferiority complex and desire to cheat--without thinking about the consequences of his actions--are his tragic flaws, but those flaws go alongside virtues. he has a caretaker impulse, an ability to be genuinely gentle and loving. he has a sense of righteousness and fairness that go beyond himself. those impulses often get thwarted and misdirected by his flaws, but that’s what makes him complex. by contrast, any traits of walt’s that might seem positive ultimately come back to ego. his obsession with family and being a provider is at bottom an obsession with himself, a desire to be a successful and powerful patriarch. walt is straight-up associated with nazis, nazism being a worst-case scenario for his power-obsessed mindset.

peter gould already described the differences between the two characters well here:

basically, walt dying and destroying everyone around him felt like an obvious conclusion because breaking bad is fundamentally critical of walt and everything he stands for. but better call saul does not seem fundamentally critical of jimmy and kim the same way. it is critical of them, but it’s a kind of critical that’s also tinged with real sympathy. the same goes for a lot of characters in the show tbh. nacho, chuck, mike. jimmy feels somewhere in between walt and jesse, maybe. like walt, jimmy is responsible for his fall, but unlike walt he is also a person capable of real good intentions. like jesse, jimmy is someone that people often think less of because of his criminal past, and who wants the approval of authority figures who never quite give it. like jesse, jimmy gets in over his head. but unlike jesse, jimmy is not trapped by a series of people who want to use, abuse, and generally manipulate him. jesse is not an innocent, but he has less agency than jimmy (like walt is associated with literal nazis, jesse comes to be associated with literal slavery).

what i’m getting at is that without a true villain to center the morality of better call saul, all of the endings of the characters have felt open-ended. not that stories have to revolve around a moral attitude, but breaking bad did more or less, which is why it’s tempting to view better call saul in the same light. even if it doesn’t necessarily fit. better call saul seems to be a story of a man torn between the best and worst parts of his nature, the fakest and the truest parts of his nature. and we seem to know the ending of that story: that the worst part wins. (is that part the true or fake one though? perhaps that’s a false dichotomy). because we seem to know that ending, it’s made sense that characters like chuck and nacho died along the way. chuck was jimmy’s hope for approval, and nacho was his hope of escaping the cartel. or again: so it seems, anyway. these parts of jimmy dying arguably parallel his deterioration, like the deterioration of the opening credits.

but at the same time, the inclusion of the gene scenes from the very first episode point at the story continuing after jimmy becomes saul. gene is jimmy humbled, but is that all that this is leading to? a story of hubris and nothing else? both the gene scenes and the opening montage of season six seem to be saying: jimmy tried to run away from himself, but he couldn’t. but if both the best and the worst parts of jimmy are the “real” parts, then it follows that he wouldn’t ultimately be able to run away from either what makes him bad or what makes him good. the show might read as a tragedy in many ways, and for good reason, but i would honestly be surprised if it ends in an entirely negative way. i’m betting that it will be something more bittersweet. but it’s hard to know what that bittersweetness will look like.

#better call saul #breaking bad #bcs #brba

[linkspooky]

Do you have any favorite relationships in teen titans? Platonic or romantic?

I already did a post of my favorite ships. So let's go platonic relationships. I have a lot of favorite friends in Teen Titans so these sections are going to be shorter.

Donna and Kory Donna being cut out of the 2003 cartoon adaptation and every adaptation since is a tragedy because Donna and Kory have one of the most positive and healthy female friendships in all of comics. Donna and Kory represent two extremes, Kory is extremely intelligent with her own emotions because Tamaraneans live and breathe emotions, and Donna is someone who is constantly catering to other people's emotions. It is nice that someone like Kory thinks Donna is just the most wonderful person in the world.

Donna and Dick Grayson Donna is Dick's best friend, and his therapist friend accept no substitutes. The person who knows Dick best platonically has always been Donna. Dick was absolutely destroyed when Donna died temporarily because he literally lost his guiding light. No matter how bad things get for Dick, Donna will always see the best in him. One of the worst things the new 52 did was erasing Donna and Dick's importance to one another because they are the best platonic male and female friendship.

Raven and Cassie This is from the Geoff Johns run, Donna and Raven were never really close so it's fun to see Raven get close to a wondergirl who is very much the opposite of Donna Troy america's sweetheart. Cassie has a rough exterior and genuine self confidence unlike Donna, but she's capable of being just as caring so it's sweet how close they get after Cassie gets over her initial apprehension of her.

Jericho and Raven This works both romantically and platonic, Joseph was really the first Teen Titan who ever made an effort to get close to Raven. Raven was also someone who really appreciate Jericho for who he was, because beyond being a hero he's also a sweet boy who's gentle down to his bones and will go above and beyond out of concern for his friends.

Cassie and Rose I'm apparently of the minority opinion here, but as much as I love positive female friendship I also love women being catty bitches. One joke I like to make is that if Cassie were on the New Teen Titans the Judas Contract would have never happened, because Cassie is so scary she would have just chased her off. Anyway, Cassie and Rose's relationship is a good example of someone not getting help because heroes have trouble seeing nuance and greys in people. Cassie has flaws! She has personality! she's not a human doormat like Donna! I love it! Anyway, Cassie and Rose are secretly in love so it's okay that they're super catty.

Roy Harper and Dick Grayson Roy exists to call Dick Grayson on his shit and I love it. They may both be really confrontational, but they have a close friendship in spite of it. Roy is every bit the hero Dick is, and one of the few people also willing to argue with him, and can take charge when Dick is gone. Roy also cares about Dick deeply, he is the one who put the outsiders together to give Dick a team to lead when he was spiraling after Donna's death.

Rose Wilson and Damian Wayne This happened for five minutes before the entire universe rebooted, but Rose was literally the only person on the team who didn't treat Damian like a mini-demon because he was a little bit abrasive and violent because she has been there and she's been the scapegoat of the team before.

Starfire and Raven there's this story arc where Raven thinks she's in love with Dick Grayson, and then Starfire doesn't get jealous at all and takes Raven aside, and explains to her about the nature of love and tells her everything is okay, and Raven asks for help for like the first time in her life. It's just the sweetest thing, and it's probably the first time Raven's ever had a real friend.

Cyborg and Beast Boy Cyborg has been a justice league character like post reboot, which sucks because he is a titans character at heart that's where all of his friends are. Anyway, if you read the Technis Imperative, one of my top five favorite comics of all time you would know how great of a character Cyborg is and how much his relationships to the Teen Titans team and especially with Beast Boy (they both treat each other like people, everyone treats BB like a kid, and Cyborg like a robot) is for Cyborg and how much they humanize him. He's a titans character, put him back on the team!

Cyborg and Raven I said Starfire was Raven's first real friend but that's a lie, because when Raven was at her creepiest and most distant from the team actually Cyborg was one of the most protective people of her. He went from disliking her to actively calling her "the witch" as an affectionate nickname and watching out for her, and always inviting her to be a part of the group.

#askspookies #teen titans #dick grayson #dc comics #donna troy #cyborg #beast boy #roy harper #raven #jericho #rose wilson #starfire #robin #wondergirl #damian wayne #ntt

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

My issue with Korra isn’t that the characters were uninteresting tbh - it’s that they were the exact opposite of that. There was so much room for exploration. Avatar was such a good show (with flaws) because developed it’s characters fantastically (up until Aang’s S3 arc, which could have been handled a lot better imo) - they took the troupes it would’ve been easy to resort to - naggy mom friend, happy go lucky kid, badass girl, edgy guy - and showed the complexities behind them. Aang hides the loss of literally his entire life behind his cheerfulness, and it’s shown how he snaps, gets angry and runs away. Toph’s entire persona is carefully crafted to defy the helpless role she’s been cast in her whole life - she’s not just badass, but badass purposefully. Zuko has a desperation born of years of abuse behind his angst. Katara has survivor’s guilt and trauma, forced parentification, and rage behind her hot temper and mothering, and is allowed to explore those. Sokka is goofy, but he’s intelligent, cunning, and it’s shown how his goofy façade hides his insecurities over his own skills and masculinity.

Korra never gave it’s characters room to breathe. We never got the chance to see who they were past the love triangles, too-fast plots that were dropped after one season, and robots for some reason. Mako was introduced as the edgy love interest, and despite how interesting his backstory is and all the potential behind it (especially with his parallels to Katara - he has so many!!), that’s who he stayed. Bolin, same as the goofy comic relief. Asami, she just... has no real personality. She’s... strong willed. Sometimes she’s angry, I guess. There’s never anything even to hold onto with her - her feelings over her mother’s death are never really explored, nor are her relationships with really anyone sans her romantic bonds with Korra and Mako. Her scenes with her father in S4 showed hints to some potential, but it wasn’t enough to make me invested in a character I had spent three seasons up till now looking at as a blank slate - the Token Badass Nonbender, and that’s that. Jinora’s one of the more interesting characters on the show, but there was a lot more room to explore her insecurities surrounding if she can live up to her grandfather’s legacy, her spirit abilities, and Kai and their relationship especially.

Really, it’s just... Mako’s parents were killed in front of him when he was eight, and then he was forced to basically raise Bolin without a home. Bolin had no stability in his life for most of it, and his only real trusted figure was his two years older brother. Korra is an avatar who was never given a chance to develop any identity outside of that, seeing the world, one carved from the ashes of imperialism and genocide, for the first time. Asami has a father who manipulates her and works with terrorists, but unlike Ozai with Zuko and Azula, genuinely loves her. Even within just these four there are such interesting ways you could go. But Korra was really the only one allowed to develop at all, and even then, for some reason she has to be brutally tortured to... ‘humble’ her? Like, I did like that arc, but there’s also some... things going on there.

Maybe there could have been an episode like the Southern Raiders but for Mako, where he and idk Asami? anyone really, hunt down the firebender who killed his parents, and he’s forced to confront the source of his trauma that started it all. Maybe we could have a storyline about the Triple Threats, Mako and Bolin’s time with them, how bad their circumstances were and some of the things they were forced to do. Maybe something like The Beach but for Asami, letting her crack and break about her complex feelings towards her father. We could have seen more of Mako being an older brother to Kai, Kai’s development from selfish and flightly to kinder and more grounded with Jinora. Maybe we could have been shown more of Kai’s backstory - his parents? Idk.

Korra, of course, would still need to be the focus. Maybe something like Nightmares and Daydreams but darker, like, towards the end of every season to explore how the pressure and trauma from being the avatar is negatively affecting her. Idk.

Just... let the characters develop. Breathe. Be people and not just caricatures or placeholders, yk? This goes for Jinora, Ikki and Meelo, Kai, the Krew, the adults, everyone - Korra had four seasons. Maybe not time for everyone, but at least for more than they gave. At least time for the main four.

#legend of korra #avatar #korra #mako #asami sato #bolin #jinora #kai #character development #or lack of it #just let them be people yk?? #let them have trauma #let them have depth #let them grow beyond love interests of comic reliefs #not to mention all the political and thematic exploration korra moved to fast to cover but whatever ig #legend of korra critical #lok #lok critical

[reachexceedinggrasp]

It is really weird, as you say, that these sorts of characters (Beasts, grotesques, Byronic heroes, etc.) are so emotionally, aesthetically, narratively potent and draw on a rich literary history, yet they're such a contentious archetype, rarely done well now. I personally ascribe that to an obvious modern shift in the direction of storytelling cynicism (and I think you elsewhere have too, so don't mind me repeating your points back at you), but do you see a way out of it?

It's obviously an issue which goes beyond them (I mean even the central idea of redemption, or a complicated soul, is contentious), and so I imagine that the way out is effectively only possible if there are much more broader shifts in discourse. I think it's probably true that we might've peaked with cynicism now (absurdism seems to be more an idea that's being embraced - much as I don't like that, either, it's a gestural attempt at least).

But to circle back away from that, it's so funny how... if you're sincere and if you care and if you're trying hard, you can trip and fall into a complicated, Beastly character. And then they get mad about it.

Off anon because I figured I may as well hee hee.

It's definitely a weird moment in mass pop culture, because cynicism is so ingrained as the default that there's sometimes a lack of self-awareness about it from the writers who are responsible for the most mercilessly cynical takes. Of course, writing extruded movie product by marketing committee, as a lot of them are, is unlikely to produce different results, but I believe some of these people genuinely aren't cognizant of the worldviews they're putting across in these stories.

Romanticism has been deeply out of fashion for a long time and idealism is never in fashion, so it's not like cynicism itself is new as the dominant attitude, but it seems like that cynicism has become ever more juvenile and shallow. People steeped in it try to write optimism to play to the crowd (because generally people want a happy ending) and it comes off as the bleakest, most hopeless nihilism.

I think real idealism is challenging and the more complex the story becomes, the more challenging it is, so that you encounter more resistance writing idealistic narratives for adults, because it's so demanding when we see what it really looks like. It stops being crowd pleasing when uncompromising principles come up against the audience's desire for revenge, spectacle, machismo, etc. And because compassion and forgiveness have been relegated to media for children, people are wont to dismiss them as childish. Cynicism is still seen as cool and grown up and 'just being realistic' and fosters a vast wasteland of boring, lazy stories with characters you don't care about.

It is funny how people trip into Sad Murder Boys/Beasts/grotesques, but I think it sort of makes sense for the same reason they're such a rare character type despite being intensely impactful every time they happen, the same reason they're contentious: these are inherently romantic archetypes. So if you're trying to write passionately about this dark figure and you want him to be a complex character, so you give him pathos, and you want him to be powerful or intimidating because you're using him as a threat but still have big flaws so he can be defeated by the hero, and you want him to be charismatic to show why people would trust or follow him, and you want him to be attractive so you can have your incel message about male allure being dangerous... oops, you've accidentally created a romantic figure.

People accidentally writing tragic heroes when trying to write villains have already made something way more compelling than what they imagined, but then when they play up the pathos in attempt to emphasise free choice and create a tension where the audience sees a desire for healing from the character, a potential for change, they have inserted the most dynamic drama known to man. The hope this represents is so potent that it's going to alter the entire landscape of the narrative whether you want it to or not.

The possibility of redemption is a fundamentally idealistic concept and once we have our rogue romantic character breaking through stolid predictable archetypes and rigid storytelling, there's equal parts terror and intrigue on the part of the audience that they might be challenged with it. Redemption equals death is so popular because it defangs the challenge, it strips it of cost and consequence, allowing a veneer of optimism and admirable morality without needing to deal with what makes being ethical hard.

I think what we need more than anything else is more deliberate writing. People who actually want to tell a story and have something they want to say. No one is going to write anything legitimately challenging when they've been commissioned to make Captain Bland 11 and the story barely matters to anyone involved in production. It's uncool to care and there's a lack of respect for the audience, so the most you get is more 3edgy4me death and cynicism because these manchildren are convinced that's somehow still subversive despite paragon heroes who always say the day having been extinct for about fifty years.

You won't get brave choices out of the mainstream until someone with huge money decides they want to make them, because the entertainment industry has consolidated into the most risk-averse and cynical possible version of itself. Either something escapes containment and shows how profitable actually following through on romanticism can still be (you'd think this would have happened by now given how many chances have come up), or the current hierarchy crashes and burns and the field opens up to variety again.

#I am just babbling here idk if I said anything #but yes you are right I have talked a lot in the past about the climate of cynicism in storytelling we've been in for a long time now #and I think it's happened before but it's never been quite so all-encompassing #people respond to idealism extremely strongly but it has to be genuine you can't half-ass it #half-assed it is just bullshit or schmaltz and everyone sees that #it is very go big or go home you can't be a coward #but yeah there's a lot of the element of people writing these archetypes by accident because they have only one character who legit strives #and that's so much more emotionally engaging than the unchanging unchallenged protagonists we're saturated with

[bylerisc4non]

i'm the worst at thinking of things to send asks about, so what is your most favorite topic to ramble about? feel free to get into ramble territory rn i am here to listen >:)

Okay, allow me to take the mic real quick--

So. Mike Wheeler. That's what I want to ramble about right now. This boy is on my mind constantly and I'm genuinely terrified for him. But also there's a very real reason I kin him and I'm always being reminded of it because this boy is damaged. So is Will, which is why I kin them both. Anyway- Michael is so damaged for real. Emotionally and mentally damaged. I'm talking this boy has so much trauma and has me crying over him 24/7. The self sabotage? The internalized homophobia? The loyal/protective friend behavior? The little regard for himself? His eating disorder? His s*icidal tendencies all because he cares more about others' safety than his own? Guys. Come on. This boy is so selfless. He does not deserve all the hate he's gotten and I'm sticking to that. So what if he's flawed? It only makes him a more relatable, human, and realistic character. Obviously he cares about (*cough cough* is in love with) Will and would do absolutely anything for him. He came to Lenora trying to be normal and cool, but he dropped the act real quick because he just wanted his friend back tbh.

Will is his best, best friend (and the love of his life) and he cares for him deeply. He never wanted to hurt Will, it just happened because of the fact that he has a problem with accepting himself and self sabotage. He's a struggling 14 year old. What 14 year old do you know that hasn't gone through that? He's angsty and moody and i just want to love on him because he's got middle child syndrome and he's been a bit neglected. Not saying his parents are bad, obviously, just saying that Nancy and Holly were a lot more loved on because they were probably more open to their parents, unlike Mike who was more open to his friends and found himself identifying more with the party. Also, this boy has so much bottled up and I just need it to come out and be addressed in st5 or I will explode. #mike wheeler needs a hug.

Whenever people say Mike's been a jerk/asshole for the past two seasons, well, I can't exactly argue with that, because it's true. But you have to try and wedge your way into Mike's brain past his immediate appearance. He's really just misunderstood. He's dealing with a lot, like any kid his age. He's struggling with finding and accepting himself. He's losing himself in El because it's easy to do. He's trying to identify himself in her and be what he thinks he should be instead of what he actually his. So, in the end, I hope he leaves El and learns to accept and love himself.

Ugh. I'm sorry. I'm unwell. I'm just a broken record at this point but I love Mike Wheeler, he's misunderstood, he needs love. Thank you for your time.

#ask #byler #byler tumblr #mike wheeler #i will rant about him till i die #mikes mental health #hes just misunderstood #i love him im sobbing #stranger things #anti milkvan #thank you for your time

[bonesandthebees]

Alright so everyone's reactions. Niki is rightfully pissed. I wonder if she’ll still be pissed when she knows the reason. No scratch that, she’s a going to be pissed. She has a right to be pissed. But I wonder if she’ll understand. She’s been very understanding of Wilbur. She clearly has a lot of empathy and the ability to place herself in someone else shoes. So I wonder if she’ll understand if she knows the situation.

Though I don’t think she’s make the same decision in that situation. That’s very much a cumulation of the way Tommy was raised into being a Deathling, his own recklessness and some of his other character flaws. She does really want to know, she’ll want to know so she can judge whether or not it’s justified. Which isn’f the same as understanding or forgiving. She can understand but not acept. She can accept but not forgive. Though judging by canon, she’s going to stay pissed.

It’s interesting how everyone seems to forget Wilbur is there, to the point of Techno being surprised when he shows up at the infirmary. They straight up forgot about him because they are too focused on their own. This is the second time this has happened btw. The first being right after Wilbur’s attempted murder on Tommy. Also, i didn’t see a mention of Tubbo, Ranboo or Aimsey this chapter, where they not there at all? Because Aimsey came to get Niki and Wil, but did they follow them back?

Then there’s Phil and Techno. Both of whom seem concerned for Tommy, because let's face it’s that’s very worrying to learn and our boy is very out of it, but they know that Jack is the priority. It does make me kind of worried what would have happened if Wilbur wasn’t there. Would they have left him there? Or would someone else have stepped up? Or did they straight up not even notice that Wilbur dragged Tommy away?

And then there’s Wilbur, who has many questions, but like everyone else, other priorities. His are different from everyone else though. His priority is Tommy. No matter how much he loves Jack. It’s Tommy. And not just because no one else is stepping up. I have a feeling Tommy isn’t going go forget that.

-🌲

yeahhhh niki is, uh, gonna be an interesting one for sure. don't wanna say too much but. um. it'll be complicated.

lol yeah literally everyone forgot about wilbur the second the drama started and honestly who can blame them, there was a lot going on.

also uh, confession, I was supposed to mention tubbo and ranboo being part of the group that was crowding around jack in the temple but then i just. forgot. oops. so they were there along with aimsey, but then phil didn't want too many people crowding the infirmary so he made them all go back to their rooms.

if wilbur hadn't been there, someone eventually would've gotten tommy back to his room. assuming aimsey ranboo and tubbo were there like i was SUPPOSED to mention but forgot, phil probably would've either had them help carry jack to the infirmary and taken tommy to his room himself, or he would've had tubbo take tommy to his room while he helped jack get settled in the infirmary. wilbur just dragged him out before anyone else could think about it

yeah unlike the rest of the deathlings who are all very close with each other over years and years of being in this death cult together, wilbur is still fairly new. he has a few friendly connections, but his only real connection is to tommy. that's why his only focus is tommy. he's the only person in the entire temple wilbur genuinely, wholly cares about because he's the only person he's had a chance to develop a bond with.

tommy definitely won't forget that

#ask #spruce anon #through a glass divine

[thekingofwinterblog]

So in regards to the She-Hulk series, the moment that really turned so, so many people against it's title character was the infamous moment where she tells Bruce to his face that her personal suffering is far, far worse than his(The man who saw his father beat his mother to death, used to be constantly hinted by the U.S military and shot at, lost control and against his will killed people as the hulk, and even tried to kill himself to deal with it all).

However, there is another moment from this series that illustrates the problem much better in my opinion, because unlike here, this next one isn't directed at anyone in particular. It's just her being who she is.

While in a bar, one of Jen's friends questions her about her possibly becoming a superhero.

Her response has two bits.

"You could be an avenger!"

"Do the Avengers offer healthcare? Maternety leave... A pension? Are they even paid?"

Like... This would have been a good moment. In this line, Jennifer lays out the problems being a superhero, and why she doesn't want to be one. It's the reason why Peter Parker's life generally have so many shitty parts, because superhero work doesn't pay the bill.

It is a very understandable reason.

But then, there is the other part.

"I did not go to law school and rack up six figures in student laws to become a vigilante. That's for billionaires and narcissists, and adult orphans, for some reason."

Jennifer is not capable of just laying out her viewpoint... She has to put someone else down while doing so.

Jennifer Walters has real, genuine reasons not to want to become a vigilante... But then she immediately follows it up with implying that the reason she doesn't want to isn't one of those reasons... It's because people who do it, are beneath her. That she is somehow better than them.

She makes it very, very clear with her tone, that she thinks she is better than them, because she went through law school.

You can basically replace "Superhero" with "Plumber" or "Construction worker" and you'd get the same result. Only that would just be snobbish of her. What she actually says is far worse.

Because she specifically singles out superheroes as being worthy of ridicule for... What... Saving lives? Resurrecting half the fucking universe after they died?

And she strings 3 completely different character traits to insult one major group as if any of them had anything in common.

1. Being a billionaire.

2. Being a narcissist.

3. Being an adult orphan.

You can certainly make a strong case for the first 2 being inherently bad, but the third one? Jenn chooses to imply that having lost ones parents is somehow a wrong on their part. That it is somehow a moral flaw worth being ridiculed for.

All of this would be bad enough if she was talking about just any class of people, but that she specifically targets a group of people who regularly risks life and limb and a lot of them died recently in order to undo the worst catastrophe in the history of the universe, including the guy she is very "subtly" using to denigrate an entire group of people, most who had none of the wealth she is using to attack Tony Stark.

To put it bluntly... She-Hulk is a stuck up, judgemental bitch, who has no ability emphetice with the suffering of other people, and objectively compare her own life and struggles to that of others.

She is essentially an anti peter parker. Whereas his personal suffering is what led him to embrace the idea that he had to be a good person and help people rather than use his gifts for selfish gains, Jennifer is using her own struggles as a reason to justify putting other people down, to be an asshole.

That because she has had struggles in her life, that justifies being a judgemental bitch, who thinks that she is better than other people.

And you know what the really shitty thing is?

That If this was an intentional character flaw, then this could have led to a great story. Of a woman who went through her own struggles in life, overcoming them, and through doing so reached a point thought she was better than everyone else, then having to come to the very hard realization she is not, and over the course of the story learn to empathize with those around her.

It's not what would want out of a she-hulk story, but it could make for a good character journey.

You know how i know that?

Because that is basically Tony Stark's entire story in Iron Man.

Tony started out as... A man who lost his parents at a young age, growing up to become a hyper competent asshole who is more skilled than the people around him, and this leading him to think that this makes him better than anyone else, and that this gives him the moral right to be an asshole and put others down. To think that he is somehow "better" than other people.

She-hulk greatest flaw is not that it's main character is an unlikable asshole. It's the fact that the writer's are not capable of understanding that they wrote her to be an unlikable asshole, that HAS to put others down to feel good about herself, and because of that, the story is not capable of turning this aspect of it's main character into one of it's strengths.

#she-hulk #jennifer walters #meta

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

There are actors, and then there is Nicolas Cage. Cage is less an actor and more a force of nature given human form, a man who can turn even the shittiest film he’s into a masterpiece with his bizarre yet brilliant acting. This man is the very definition of a character actor. And while he is indispensable in bad movies, Cage is all the better in truly great movies, making a genuinely fantastic experience doubly so by channeling his madness for the greater good. The man is just fascinating to watch.

The question then becomes this: Why the fuck did it take so long for the guy to get a movie that’s basically a giant love letter to his career?

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a movie about Nicolas Cage playing a version of himself who is quite a bit more egotistical than the real deal, though every bit as weird. It is stuffed to the brim with references to Cage’s oeuvre, and it features him going so far over the top he shoots up from the bottom to go over the top again. It is, quite simply, exactly the sort of thing we’ve come to expect from Cage. I mean, the dude makes out with himself in this one, I’d say it’s harder to get any Cage-ier than that.

But this isn’t just a showcase of Cage’s wild acting skills, it’s a film about why we love Cage himself, and the film would just completely fall apart if not for the Mandalorian, the myth, the legend that is Pedro Pascal. Pascal is playing Cage’s biggest fan, and the unlikely bromance that ensues from their meeting is the very heart and soul of the movie. These dudes play off each other so well, and their friendship is believable and funny. You really are rooting for these guys despite their flaws, and you definitely don’t want to believe Pascal’s character is a bad guy like the CIA are telling Cage.

Pascal’s wide-eyed hero worship of Cage is definitely played for laughs, but while the tongue is firmly in cheek there is a ring of truth to how he’s portrayed. It is quite obvious the filmmakers really love Cage, and that they were passionate about making a film that honored him. There aren’t really any cheap shots about his career, no mockery of his numerous schlocky acting choices; hell, The Wicker Man is given a shout out, and it’s not in a negative sense. The humor comes from poking fun at this version of Cage, a raging alcoholic jackass egomaniac who is well-meaning but seriously out of touch, not at the idea of the man himself.

The film very much is in love with the idea of Cage, and that might be where the only real issue comes into play. This is basically a movie that’s only accessible to Cage superfans, and even if Cage is a wildly popular weirdo actor, that’s still quite a niche audience. It’s no wonder the film didn’t do well despite rave reviews, there’s a very narrow audience who is going to truly ‘get’ this film. Thankfully, as I am a huge Nicolas Cage fan, I loved it a lot, but I can’t really speak for everyone.

Basically, if you love Cage, you’re gonna love this movie. If you don’t love him or have a neutral opinion on him, this might not be the movie for you as a lot of the content will either go over your head or just won’t be enjoyable without the love for Cage. I definitely think this is a fantastic entry in the large library of Cage Cult Classics, and on its own merits it’s definitely fantastic, but it still has such a narrow niche audience that it’s not hard to see why it wasn’t the smash success it deserved to be.

#Michael After Midnight #review #movie review #the unbearable weight of massive talent #nicolas cage #Nic Cage #Pedro Pascal #action #drama