#everyone treats him like shit and meanwhile we're here like

[petvles]

Also copias face when mr saltarian got mad it's okay darling i also have audio processing issues and the music was very loud its not your fault

#thats my bestie copia i am in love with him and want to hold his hand #why are we #the ghesties #the only ones treating copia nicely #everyone treats him like shit and meanwhile we're here like

[olderthannetfic]

Pronoun discourse is just as exhausting in person. A trans girl in my group project for History of Modern Europe refused to use he/him for me because "they/them is neutral" and I looked her in the eyes and said, "I will not reply to group texts, upload anything or share resources if you don't refer to me correctly. I use silence to train my dogs, I use it to train transmisandrists, too." She was furious and spent a few weeks misgendering me... until she realized I was serious and I would let all of us fail this group project because this he/him? Yeah, this he/him had a 100 on every single assignment up until that point and could take the grade hit. If other people can't, well, that's not my problem.

She learned to call me he/him with incredible regularity once her grade was on the line. Suddenly, two words weren't incredibly hard to recall and abruptly, not every conversation with her turned into her lecturing me on how trans women have it harder than trans men. We were able to talk about the actual subject of the group assignment and she was able to remember he/him.

Meanwhile, the cishet members of the group had not struggled to recall he/him for me once, nor had they turned group project meetings into discourse once.

Why are queer people always most vicious with their fellow queers? I'm in MONTANA, and the people worst to me aren't the fucking rednecks, it's other queer people. Rednecks don't condescend to me about how they/them is neutral and good and indicates they're trying their best and trans men have it easy actually. It's the city queers sitting there going, "Rather than just call you he/him and spend this meeting for our group project focusing on the project, I'm going to treat you like the enemy and lecture you." People talk about the concept of a 'queer community' but getting lectured about how trans women have it worse than trans men (because I guess my saying 'use my pronouns' secretly implies I think trans men have it worse? idk, I don't speak bullshitese) doesn't make me go, "Ah, yes. My community! I feel so supported!" it makes me go, "Oh, fuck. Great, I'm stuck talking to an asshole."

Between this, the lesbians I've met on campus who keep making, "gays can't do math or science or history or whatever other subject we're in right now" jokes who seethe with contempt for the privileged gay men, the cis gay guys terrified of doing something perverted who view drag, cosplay, wearing a skirt, wearing makeup or fucking around with presentation at all as not okay/possibly problematic and the NBs who cannot emphasize enough to you that they're one of the good ones who don't dye their hair or wear stupid shit or use neopronouns like the bad ones do, and the utter disgust they all look at anyone with who dares use the word queer, I'm beginning to feel like "the queer community" is one of those things you don't get access to until you're 30+. Alternatively "the queer community" appears to "antis, but with rainbows and flags and ew you think the rainbow flag is for everyone you're so problematic", which is... not great, honestly?

I know this will get a lot of queer people very angry but I'll say it: there are 492 anti-queer laws proposed in the USA, not counting the ones that have passed. We should probably focus on that instead of going for each other's throats and then saying we're a "community".

--

I don't think it will get many queer people around here angry, but yes.

We have more of a need to draw together into a community when everyone's dying of AIDS or getting beaten up or trying to stop laws that make it illegal for us to exist.

Some people have the privilege to shit all over that community. They don't see it as one, but it is.

[justatalkingface]

Let's talk about the Bakugou Problem

Yes, everyone, it's finally time, what is probably my most requested rant: The Bakugou Problem. Or rather, the Bakugou problems, because there's two:

The first is the fact that he's an unrepentant asshole who is only now, at the end of the manga, truly starting to realize basic shit like 'apologizing'. The second is that, for all intents and purposes, the Bakugou the characters seem to interact with is a different person than what we're being shown.

There's been plenty of deep dives on his issues, so I doubt I'll propose anything new, but this should fun anyways, right? Let's start here:

I think, at the core, Bakugou's problem is he just never grew up.

Way, way back early on, we see some flashbacks to Earlygou, and in summary? Earlygou is an ass. Fun fact: for all that it's commonly held that Bakugou grew worse over time after getting his Quirk? He called Izuku Deku before that. He was just a bit ahead of the class, looked at Izuku's name, and saw 'Deku'. Boom, he starts saying it, and it's only further entrenched in his mind as he outperforms his peers physically, while Izuku lags behind.

Then he gets his Quirk. Let's quote what he's told: 'Ooh, another impressive Quirk! You could be a hero with a Quirk like that, Katsuki!'

I know we all think he got coddled for his Quirk, and later on he was, but that? That was just a teacher giving him the verbal equivalent of a gold star. Meanwhile, Bakugou?

'Makes sense. I'm awesome. I'm better than everyone else!', he thinks, while having this look on this face like he's being enlightened to a Fundamental Truth. He took some generic praise and ran off with it.

So yeah, Earlygou was an ass. Here's the thing: a lot of kids are assholes. It can be hard to remember sometimes, but kids, really young kids who don't get how the world works at all, do and think a lot of impulsive, assholish shit, not because they think the world revolves around them, but because they can't comprehend a world that isn't all about them.

Here's another thing: kids grow out of that. They realize, eventually, that other people matter, that their actions have consequences, and all that other stuff that makes people into functioning adults.

I don't blame Earlygou for being an assholish child. I blame Bakugou for never growing beyond that. And it's interesting to think about that, because his parents seem legit. His dad is quiet, sure, but he's solid and down to earth, and while Bakugou clearly takes after his mother, she also seems to have gotten the 'morals' message he didn't, and has concerns that he didn't do the same. They're not poor, and are working in fashion, and implied to be doing well enough that, if they're not rich, they're at the very least well off.

So... school, I guess? Here's one of the times where the setting suffers for its lack of lower level development, because I would love to see what non-Aldera schools were like. Everyone else in 1A seems like they wouldn't have a major problem with Izuku being Quirkless, or at least be mild enough in their prejudices to not spend their free time torturing him. Is Aldera different? Is it an age thing? Are they just the good eggs and would have had assholish classmates who would act like Aldera did? Would other teachers be OK with how Izuku was treated (my limited understanding of the depressing Japanese view on bullying says, 'yes', but fuck if I know, and honestly, two hundred years in the future, shouldn't they be better than modern Japan)? More than that, the public view on Quirklessness is, for understandable reasons (cough cough Bakugou), highly underdeveloped, so we don't know how much Izuku was treated was the normal, but I think part of the reason Bakugou got so bad is that he had Izuku near him, as this convenient target. By pushing down on the 'acceptable' target, all his peers approved him, cheered him on, which both fed his ego and his popularity, and combined with his high-status Quirk, this cycle continued swelling his head until we reached canon Bakugou, king of all he surveys. The kids follow him, the teachers suck up to him, his potential, his future, all are limitless!!!!

...Sigh. Before I keep going, let me touch on one other thing: Izuku trying to save Bakugou after he fell when they were children.

On the first take, it seems utterly unreasonable, how badly he responded to that, right? And the second, and third, it still seems the same.

Someone, somewhere, said this take in a comment in a fic I read and I've never been able to forget it: think about it from the view of a heroic saturated society.

Think about it from the lenses of MHA, where All Might is a few steps short of a god in the eyes of the public. Everyone knows him, everyone loves him, especially the kids, and especially Bakugou and Izuku.

Look at that scene again, how Izuku reaches down for him. Overlay him with All Might.

That is what Bakugou saw: Izuku making himself unto All Might. While Izuku just wanted to save him, of course, somewhere deep in his unconcious Bakugou took that symbolism and ran with it, and reached a completely (ir)rational conclusion: Izuku was looking down on him. It went, I imagine, a little something like this:

All Might is the strongest. All Might looks like that when saves other people, who are weaker than him. Izuku is channeling All Might, therefore he is saying that he is stronger than me.

Bakugou, in his child mind, saw Izuku, not as helping him, but T-posing at him. To him, that was Izuku trying to assert dominance.

And he never got over that. Never grew beyond that impression. Do you want to know the worst part about it, though, when you look at it that way?

Think about Bakugou again, and his motivations, with your Bakugou Logic goggles on: All Might is strong. Bakugou wants to be strong like All Might. All Might asserts his power over others by saving them. Therefore?

Bakugou wants to save people like All Might.

Can you imagine if Bakugou was built of that dynamic? Like, with Shirou in Fate, if that scene was etched in his mind forever, and he was obsessed with remaking it over and over, but on his terms, with him as the savior? Him as the one looking down on the weak?

Still canon-style Bakugou, still an asshole, still lusting for power... but when asked what he wanted to do with it, or why, he would answer: so I can save everyone.

And even if it was for the crudest, most self serving of reasons, even if it was only so he could feel good about himself and lord it over everyone else that he was the one who saved them; it would have been so much better than canon. There's so much fascinating complexity to explore in a character like that, as well as a clear path to redeem him: under that logic, Bakugou would, over time, learn to save people, not for his own satisfaction, but just because it's the right thing to do. Hell, even the way people treat him would make more sense, because even if he was an asshole, if his motivation, which he cheerfully shouts about at any given moment, was to save people, then suddenly his acceptance feels more realistic, doesn't it? Him being compared to Izuku as a rival makes more sense when both of them are in it to save everyone, that core of heroism, but each represent a different part of how modern heroism is expressed, with Bakugou as the corrupt, media saturated part of it, while Izuku channels the original, pure spirit of heroics.

Can you imagine that with me? What could have been in another life? It could have been beautiful.

But, sadly, that's nothing more than a dream, and we should return back to reality (though I might want to expand on that at some point, it really does sound interesting to me).

Change and Improvement. These are words that some hold in the air whenever Bakugou is judged harshly, and they wave them like talismans to try and banish others objections.

Let me tell you a truth: change and improvement are hollow words without context. They are a statement that something has happened, not a measure of how much it has happening. In many ways, this is similar to a unit of measurement, like inches, and a number of inches. If you're talking about something, and you say, 'it can be measured in inches'.... that is generally unhelpful. Saying that it is, say, eight inches long is far more useful information.

Still, these aren't exactly moral statements, and change in particular is distinctly amoral. If something has 'improved a little bit' it, you know that it's better, and generally how much. But is it good now? Was it good then?

Let me put it another way: say that, once a day, every day, I appear to you out of the shadows and force you to eat a cup of shit. Exactly a cup, every day, at 2:30 PM, without fail; nothing you do to protect yourself from me makes any difference, nowhere you go is safe. You can't run. You can't hide. I am inevitable. The shit is inevitable. You will eat that shit, no matter what you think about it.

Then, one day, I come with only a half cup, and from then on you are only forced to eat a half cup of shit a day instead of a full one.

Isn't that both a change and an improvement? It's literally half as bad; doesn't that sound like a lot better? Yet, while that may be true, is the situation actually better in a meaningful way, or it as firmly negative as it was before? Should you be mewling gratefully to me that I'm being less horrible to you, or can you still hold a grudge against me for everything I've done to you and continue to do?

What if I apologized, one day, after forcing yet another half cup down your throat? What if I told you that I shouldn't have done it, but the way you looked, the way you acted, that vapid, cow-like look of joy on your face... it was just so shitty that I had to, that you made me do it? Then I say this changes nothing, and that we're still on for tomorrow for your daily dose at the normal time.

Tell me something: do you feel better? Has my generous apology moved your heart? Are we friends now?

This is Izuku's situation in a nutshell. Bakugou's treatment has changed, has improved even. It's reached a point where there are actual differences in Izuku's daily life. That doesn't mean it's still not shit treatment, and it doesn't matter if it's served in a cup or a tablespoon, shit is still shit. And the thing is Bakugou treated him like shit, and he still treats him like shit.

Context matters. So let's talk about the context. Let's talk about what Bakugou did.

Well, first off, there's the Deku thing, but I feel a lot people don't get how bad that is, so let's spell it out in detail. Once upon a time, as I've said, Bakugou was a little better at reading than everyone else. He looked at Izuku's name and saw 'Deku' in this, and thought it was hilarious, and so he started talking about it.

Bakugou looked at his name, and saw Useless in it. He didn't just call Izuku that, he said, this is in your name, it always has been there, to the point that, all these years later, he physically struggles to use Izuku's actual name.

For Izuku's entire childhood, the one person truly on his side, who truly loved him, was his mother.... who gave him that name.

In other words, every time Bakugou called him that name, with that history behind it? Bakugou was telling him that, when Izuku was born, Inko looked at the child she held in her arms, turned to the nurse, and said, "I'll call him... Useless."

He called him this, every day, every time they talked, for over a decade. Saying that the real meaning of the name his mother gave him was useless.

But it's not just that, even. He led the school, his neighbors, effectively everyone Izuku knew in anywhere near his age group, to call him that. There were probably people in Aldera who didn't know Izuku by any other name. There were probably times Izuku thought of himself by that name, that his name was Useless. It's not that big a reach from responding to it as his name, after all, and by the time the story start's he was well trained in responding to it.

Then, there's the more 'basic' bullying; insults, taking his stuff, breaking his stuff, using his Quirk on him. Again, for years and years, until Izuku is beaten down into terrified compliance, where Bakugou blowing up his stuff, his desk, and him* in front of a teacher isn't something anyone even really notices anymore. And why does he do it? Because it's fun. Because he feels strong breaking things, hurting people, being the big man on campus. Because he wants attention, respect, glory.

Because he can. Because it's fun.

(*And isn't that weird, when you think about it? Bakugou has been hands free with his Quirk on Izuku since they were, what, four? Why doesn't Izuku have burns?

Bakugou uses explosions. His hands can burn hot enough (probably as part of the lighting process) to burn clothes, and that's when he's clearly holding back with it. There's no way he's been careful enough, kind enough to not hit skin with that his entire life. So why doesn't Izuku have burns from all that?

Answer? There is no good reason. You can mention how MHA humans are, well, inhumanly strong, but we see heat resistant Shoto being burned with boiling water; it's not like they're immune to it. More than that, though, Izuku is explicitly Quirkless. He is a mortal in a world of magic. He wouldn't have that same kind of resiliency.

So Izuku isn't burned because, A, Hori didn't want his main character to be scarred over, both for aesthetic reasons, and probably for ease of drawing, and B, because that would make Bakugou look worse. Because even then, back when Bakugou had consequences, that would be too much consequences for him, that he permanently scarred Izuku, since the Heroes Rising was the original ending, and Bakugou was always supposed to be redeemed. Hori probably figured, if he thought about it, that that was too far for the readers to forgive him for, and finally, C, he just didn't think about the consequences of Bakugou's actions.

But let's be honest: Izuku would be burned. The fact he isn't is just the prettying up of the situation.)

This is where Bakugou starts from: abusing Izuku to the point where he doesn't dare protest out of years of deeply ingrained terror, doing his best to systematically destroy Izuku's life, while being careful to avoid going too far and damage his chances for UA, which judging by his comment on smoking, may be the only real internal check he has on his behavior.

Because that's the thing; he's cruel, but calculatingly so. He's not a wild animal. It motivates him, but he can think about his actions, think about the possible consequences of them, how they'll react... and as long as they won't harm him, he's all for it.

Then we go to UA, and when he realizes that 'Deku' has a Quirk? Much less such a strong one? He attacks. Viciously, instinctively he goes into attack. He's stopped, but no consequences are given (more on that later), so he doesn't stop. Why would he? All he's learned is this teacher won't let him attack Izuku without a motive.

And then he gets one. Bakugou walks into the Battle Trial planning what he'll do to Izuku. His first words in there are don't dodge... which is especially bad considering what he'll say in a little bit.

His plan? To beat the living shit out of Izuku, to vent all his frustration on him, but stopping just short of it being bad enough for the Trial to be stopped. And as Izuku defies him (by dint of not letting himself be beaten up), he gets angrier and angrier at him for the gall of it, for the audacity to not lay down and let Bakugou beat him up until he feels better, until it reaches the point where Bakugou brings out those gauntlets of him.

'Dammit, Deku, don't dodge me!' 'He won't die if he dodges!'

Yeah. He says both of these things in the space of the same fight. When Bakugou fires that damn gauntlet of his, he's finally reached the point where, for the first time we've seen, he's no longer thinking of the consequences even a little. He wants to kill Izuku, if only to prove that his Quirk, that he, is better (note this too; we'll talk more later about this) than Izuku and his Quirk.

Well, for obvious reasons, that doesn't work out for him, since Izuku's Quirk is the strongest in existence, and small fraction of it, badly used, is still enough to clap Bakugou's attack, enhanced by support equipment (who the hell approved that, by the way? It literally destroys buildings. It seemingly exists for no other reason than to cause massive collateral damage). Then he's forced into an existential crisis when Deku 'wins'. His arm is broken, he's beat up, but by the rules of the game he won anyways and because of that, Bakugou's world collapses.

This, more than anything, I think is Bakugou's true catalyst for change: not being saved by 'Deku', but losing to him. Granted, being saved is enough to force him to avoid him, but it probably helped that Izuku only bought him moments of air. He may have saved him, but All Might did the work, All Might the strongest, the greatest, his idol.

This though? This was Izuku surpassing him, and all on his own.

And I want to pause to consider something here: something that was stressed since the beginning of the story, and still is, besides the terrible mixed messaging at times, is that being heroic is more important to being a hero than sheer ability. Izuku was heroic with his complete lack of ability at the start, after all, while All For One is one of the strongest beings in the setting, and is the farthest thing from heroic. And when you look at Bakugou, as we're introduced to him? There's not a speck of that in him. There's no kindness, no mercy, no sympathy; Bakugou has no positive aspects to him. He has talent, talent for days, but talent isn't a person, a personality. He is a creature of pure ability, and nothing more, and that makes him a singularly unheroic creature.

But the story continues, and Bakugou is forced to confront his own weakness compared to his classmates... except, you know, he doesn't. Even as he does everything wrong, as picks fight with classmates, teachers, villains he should be avoiding... he faces no real consequences for it.

Because, as I've said? Bakugou used lethal force on Izuku. Knowingly. As a teacher tells him not to. That... that sounds like something that even a normal school would be concerned about, much less this elite school that is focused around being a hero, and whose student body is largely comprised of very lethal people, who they intent to unleash upon the world with minimal restrictions on their behavior.

I mean, forget the school; why is All Might fine with this? Aizawa? Nezu? Any of these teachers? How about all of their fellow students, all of who are heroic, and watched this happen live, and All Might's response, no less?

This is the second problem of Bakugou: what they see, talk to, and interact with, doesn't seem to match with the reality that we see, and these two problems are so intertwined that is hard to talk about them separately.

Because on Day One of school, Bakugou attempts to murder his fellow student, and no one cares. The worst he gets is a waggled finger. The fact that he isn't expelled is mind boggling beyond belief, when you pause for a second and consider that fact.

Aizawa talks like he just rough housed too hard or something, and the worse thing All Might mentions is failing the exercise.

This is something that many people have talked about, and at times have named many different ways. For this, I've decided to call it, 'Bakugou's Tsundere Field', because it makes other people act like Bakugou is tsundere, acting tough but with a kind heart, instead of just... acting like a shit person. You know, like he does.

Like I said, it's hard to realistically seperate that from Bakugou's general behavior, so I'm just going to keep going and point it out as I go along.

Next, let's talk about... the Sports Festival. The Sports Festival is where, if you need the reminder, Bakugou starts things off by insulting everyone else and making them hate his class. Twice.

First, by insulting the, admittedly vulture like crowd gawking over 1A's near death experience (I still don't like that), and the second as the valedictorian, where his 'speech' is his two sentence statement that he's going to be first... and yet, for some reason, Izuku watches this and marvels over how he's changed. Because normally, he'd do this but he'd be gloating. Izuku. Izuku. This isn't some mind boggling big thing to be in awe of.

Actually, let's chat about that a bit, because that's honestly such a big problem it's almost a third concern on it's own right: Izuku is our major narrator, right? So we get a lot of our views on Bakugou from his perspective, and... well, he's very much an unreliable narrator, whenever it comes to Bakugou. Every time he talks, there's this sense of awe in it that's been there ever since he was a child; it taints his narrative every time he talks about Bakugou, makes it always more positive than it should be.

Because, wow, Bakugou, that's different from before, an improvement, right? Well guess what? That shit is still shit, even if there's less of it. Izuku is just so biased, so traumatized, such... an abuse victim, that he he takes what Bakugou gives him and doesn't think there's anything wrong with it, because he, Deku, has no self respect, and Bakugou is the biggest and the baddest, the most beloved of their childhood, and it's something he never seems to get past. Even when he stands up to Bakugou, fights him, he still can't get past staring at him in awe, and barely ever complains about how he's being treated.

And because Izuku is our main viewpoint? This view on Bakugou taints our view on him, and it's easy to look at him with Izuku's admiring eyes.

But I digress. In the cavalry battle, Bakugou basiclly breaks the rules by flying off the horse, but gets away with it because of a technicality, which, you know, is great impulse to nurture: it's fine as long as it's technically legal! Sounds really heroic, right? Like something you want your law enforcement to live by?

Meanwhile, during this same fight, both Aizawa and All Might praises him for his ambition, and I just. Do you know what Bakugou says right before they think about that?

'I'm going to be Number One and leave piles of bodies in my wake!', he screams, while literally throwing a tantrum on national television and hitting the top of Kirishima's head like it's a desk.

...Wow. You know what? Maybe you two are mixing tenacity with bloodlust. That's one of the least heroic things I've ever heard in my life, and yet everyone just falls over themselves to praise him for it just because he's not content to settle for second place.

It's times like that I have to wonder: are they... are they seeing something different than what we do? Are all of Bakugou's most violent phrases and actions edited out for them? Did Hori add them for his fans? Or is it just The Tsundere Field(TM)?

Not even mentioning third stage where: he's praised for taking a woman 'seriously' for no apparent reason, and dragging it out when he would normally, just like he always does, just leap in mindlessly to attack, and this one time he really thinks it through it backfires when Ochaco turns it back around on him, only for him to just... over power it, with no ill effects. This comes with the double plus stupid on his part of him doing that because he's... what, afraid of her touching him?

Seriously? This entire post exists for me to call Bakugou out, but even I can't call him a coward. Every time he fights a villain, all of which want to kill him, and one who has Ochaco's power but lethal, he still charges in. Moreover, all it does it make you weightless; Bakugou's power explicitly gives him a way around that; if she tosses him, he can just fly back to the stage.

So... why is this a thing? This is a thing so, when the heroes, who at this point are symbolizing the audience's discontent with Bakugou, start complaining, Aizawa can step in, verbally slap them, us, and then explain how great Bakugou is, which get magnified by how casually he shoots down her plan at the end.

And here's the super special bonus problem with all of this: a hero's job isn't to protect themselves. A hero's job is to protect everyone else. Even if they, personally, are hurt, a hero is expected to risk their health, and lives, so that the general public is safe. You want to know what the problem is when protecting yourself and allowing the villain time to do things in the process? It means they get to do things. Like, say, set up a giant meteor shower that could cause mass casualties? You know, like what Ochaco actually did as Bakugou held back?

This is that plan that, need I remind you, Eraserhead was defending.

Then there's the fight with Shoto where, under the actual logic of the setting, according to Hori's very notes on how their Quirks work, Shoto should have froze him and thusly stopped him in his tracks, no fire needed, since it would stop Bakugou from sweating. But, instead, Bakugou powers through, somehow, and clinches a win anyways. And then, and this is after he eavesdrops on Shoto's conversation, BTW, which means he knows exactly why Shoto doesn't use his fire, he throws a fit that Shoto didn't use his fire on him anyways (which, considering he sweats nitroglycerin, means he would have exploded).

Now let's look at the Intern Arc, and I'll be honest: no matter how much a non-character Best Jeanist, I'll always be a fan of him for one simple reason:

When everyone else looked at Bakugou, and says, 'This kid is awesome', this is the one person in the entire setting who saw a problem. And as a bonus, he acts to do something about it.

In the same vein, I'll never forgive Hori for making him seem like such a pretentious twit, much less how hard he ends up cheering for Bakugou's every word later in the series. I'm relooking at these manga chapters, and his big attempt seems to be... jelling up Bakugou's hair, and... something like focusing the body and mind via the power of... tight jeans.

Wow. I mean, wow. The one time we get someone honestly, actually trying to change Bakugou for the better, to call him for what he is, and his big plan to do this is apparently giving him a new look.

Really? Like, beyond how much of a failure of an opportunity this is, beyond how it makes Best Jeanist look useless, it can give the reader that the impression that the reason why Bakugou is so wild and untamed is that those who want to reign him in are elitists who are wildly disconnected to reality, that he is right to be this way, because people following the rules are just holding him back.

And we come to... sigh. The Final Exam test. The fact that anyone who has spent five minutes with Izuku and Bakugou thinks that this clustefuck needs to happen is more proof of the terrifying powers of the TF. I mean, I just... when one person is constantly yelling, constantly aggressive, constantly swearing, constantly throwing fits, and this same person is constantly picking fights with another student, who, at worst, defends himself, and and more often just seems to take it..... what do you think they need?

Is it to be thrown together into a teamwork based, sink or swim test with seemingly enormous penalties for failure? Or is it to make one of them get therapy? And also detention?

Well, according to All Might, Aizawa, Nezu, and who knows who else....

*shrugs helplessly*

If only we could use Bakugou's powers for good, rather than making Izuku suffer.

But we can't. So the school locks an abuser and his victim together in a pseudo-deathmatch where teamwork is required to survive, as a form of therapy to treat the lack of cooperation that comes entirely from one party. Wonderful.

And, as anyone could predict, this promptly goes terribly. Bakugou attacks his teammate for the crime of... *checks notes* trying to work together with him against All Might, the strongest being in the setting. This is such a terrible crime because *checks notes again* ...Bakugou can totally take him.

Bakugou Katsuki, everybody. A 'genius' with the brain of a yipping chihuahua trying to fight a mastiff.

Recovery Girl watches this happen live and just goes, 'They're just absolutely the worst team, those two."

And oh, and I'm going to be honest, when you look at Recovery Girl she's kind of a piece of shit. She barely gets any scenes and any time they involve Izuku (a lot of that small amount) they are pure ass. But this? This just takes the cake.

Wow. They're such bad teammates, sure. Such heroic insight. Why, that's like saying putting Muscular on the same team with Kouta would be a bad team! That would have some truly terrible teamwork as well, right? It's something that is technically correct, but is just.... so heinously missing the core of the problem that you honestly have to wonder what in the actual fuck she's thinking. All Might and Aizawa, at least, have the excuse that they don't see that, at least as far as we know, but she deadass watches it happen, what the fuck.

And, as it has often been pointed out, Bakugou passes, after attacking his teammate and being carried out afterwards while Sero, who heroically sacrifices himself for the win and never once attacks his teammate, loses for exactly the same thing.

Simply marvelous.

Now let's move Training Camp Arc... where, when Bakugou is informed in the middle of an attack by villains that he is the target (and oh, we'll get to that in a moment). What is his first response to this? What does he do?

Le-fucking-roy right at them. Here's something that bothers me about how the story talks about Bakugou: he's so intelligent, he's analytical, all this stuff... but every time he gets into a fight? Or near a fight? His response is always, always to jump in. Needless to say, a heedless charge at the problem backfires, and he's captured. Surprise!

And back to Bakugou as target: the League of Villains watch him on TV and the first thing they thought about him is, I like the cut of his jib.

The worst people look at Bakugou and say he's clearly one of them.

This... this is something that's never really discussed. There's a press conference, Aizawa basiclly says he's too heroic to ever join them (ironically, since Bakugou's argument isn't about heroism or villainy, but that they're losers), and this just... never comes up again. There's no doubt in anyone's mind about anything after Eraserhead gives him that support

No one is concerned that, hey, maybe he did actully join them. Or the man with ten-thousand Quirks did something to him, brainwashed him, and honestly? That's not even a reach. That is actually what AFO was planning to do to him. This is a setting, need I remind you, where actual brainwashing Quirks exist, much less whatever the fuck happens to the Nomu and no one is concerned, after they all agree that there is already a mole, that Bakugou could become another mole, or maybe even was that original mole in the first place. No one goes, 'Hmm, well, the scum of Japan think he's one of them, maybe this is something we should be concerned about?'

I mean, fuck, no one just sits Bakugou down and tells him to pull his shit together, your image is ass and the media is probably going to be watching you until you die, ready to stain you with the accusation of villainy, and they can make your life hell if you slip up, and so far you don't seem even seem to care. Also, your heroic career, that you're oh so concerned about, is never going to get off the ground if everyone thinks your a villain, and a villain will never be Number One.

There's just... nothing. Bakugou is made out of warning signs, one the entire fucking setting ignores at times, but this is just... fuck.

Alright. Bakugou vs Izuku Two; Wank Bakugou Harder!

Actually, no. Before that... let's talk about one of the major lead ups to that: Bakugou finding out about OFA. Why? In part to force him into the plot, sure, but a large part of it is Izuku feeling... guilty. He feels guilty for lying to him, guilty for seeming to have a Quirk of his own; I'm not really going anywhere with this, I just want to talk about how fucked up that mentality is, that he felt he owed Bakugou that. He owes Bakugou nothing. Bakugou isn't his friend, isn't even his acquaintance, he's his abuser. Bakugou doesn't treat him in a way that deserves such sympathy, much less information on one of the greatest secrets in the setting. If Bakugou wants to assume that Izuku somehow hid that he had a Quirk for his entire life? Allowed himself to be constantly beat down, insulted, and mistreated, and for what? For this one gotcha moment of surprising Bakugou? Let him. If he's too stuck in his own idiocies to think of anything else, let him wallow in his own ignorance.

Anyways, BvI2: also known as that time Bakugou pulled his frequent victim aside to attack him and both of them got in trouble for it.

And this is billed as this big thing for Izuku, but he fights against Bakugou, metaphorically, all the time, and he's already had this big moment of physical defiance in BvI1. This fight isn't about Izuku, on any level. This fight exists solely for Bakugou. It starts because he starts it, he starts it because he feels upset and violence is apparently how he sorts through his emotions, and he wins it because he needs to.

But not just because he needs to win, oh no, there's more to that. Thematically, you see, this is important for Bakugou's growth. Or rather, the idea of his growth that never seems to persist between his growth moments. You see, thematically, Bakugou stands for victory via force, but him winning this fight doesn't make him right, doesn't give him All Might's approval, and to him, that's almost a paradox; that paradox is needed to move beyond who he is.

But that's the thing though. Bakugou needs it. Bakugou needs to win for Bakugou's growth. This growth is, both literally and thematically, at the expense of Izuku, because Izuku? If he won this, just... out matched Bakugou in a fight, no tricks, no technicalities, no crippling injuries, none of the things from their first fight? That would have been huge for him, for his confidence. It would have been Izuku, heroic Izuku, finally and truly eclipsing his old bully in every possible way, and that would have been great for him, for his confidence, for his self respect. Moreover, though, that still would have been good for Bakugou, because even when he loses, he never loses, and he could use an actual, humbling defeat to help screw his head on straight.

But Bakugou loses all the time, I hear people say? He lost in their first fight, true, but that's a technicality; anyone looking at them would know who won combat wise. He won the Sports Festival, even though he bitches about how it wasn't 'right'. He loses against All Might, sure, but All Might is the strongest man on the planet; that loss means nothing. Moreover, he wins against him through the goal of the exam at the end anyways. He loses to the villains, sure, but it was a bunch of them against him; it wasn't a fair fight, which is the whole reason him picking it was stupid in the first place. And now, here, he could have finally had a real loss to give him some perspective... but he doesn't.

Moreover, Hori just... hypes up Explosion as a Quirk more than it really deserves. Is it a good Quirk? Strong? Sure. But let's be honest here: he sweats nitroglycerin. Literally, his Quirk is his two parents mashed together into the best possible option, and it's basiclly lazy ass chemistry via genetics. There is, by the very definition of the substance that he explicitly makes, a cap to how much it can do with a certain volume; that's why new, more explosive explosives were made to replace it

One For All, all the heroic thematics aside, is literally just pure power. All Might changes the weather with a punch on accident; I'm convinced if he punched the ground and meant it, he could actually fuck up Japan as a island. The cap with OFA is yes. There is no way, under the logic of the setting, that Bakugou can ever contest that.

Like, look at Endeavour: when he wants more fire, he makes more fire. It's bigger. What the fuck is Bakugou going to do, rain his sweat on people? What happens when he dehydrates, because again, this is his sweat, which comes from his body? Cluster doesn't even make sense, really, that he somehow super concentrates it to make it more powerful, and AP Shot is literally him making a circle with his fingers before blowing up a bomb in it, yet somehow it makes, like, a laser?

The thing is that more loose Quirks, like Endeavour's, again, aren't as limited to science as the more 'realistic' Quirks like Bakugou's, so there's nothing really saying he can't just... make more flames. He could damage himself, sure, but since he already pulls that shit out of nothing, Endeavour increasing the volume of his magic ass firebending isn't hard to accept. Hori wrote himself into a hole here because if Bakugou just made explosions by magic? If he just... conceptually made explosions? A lot of this stuff would make sense (except AP Shot; fuck AP Shot), and it feels like that's how he treats it sometimes. But that's not what he did: it was his Dad's Acid Sweat with his Mom's Glycerin which means he sweats explosive sweat. And then, when it's convenient, he has shit like the Gauntlets, and basiclly all the rest of his support gear, that are explicitly filled with his sweat.

Bakugou's powers are basiclly whatever the fuck Hori wants at any given moment, and it's honestly frustrating when he tried to play so much of this setting's powers so seriously at first, and Bakugou's Quirk in particular is explained more than almost anyone else, and yet he tosses it the moment he thinks of something that sounds cool.

...But I've gotten off topic. The point is, OFA is OP and Izuku should have just won that on pure ability alone.

Anyways, after all this, the teachers finally come, once it's settled in Bakugou's favor, and they're both in trouble. For a fight that was 100% Bakugou's fault.

So, throughout all of this, Bakugou has changed, yes, but beyond the first couple of days, the changes have been grudging and glacial, and the reasons why are best exemplified in the License Exam where we find out that, for all intents and purposes, Bakugou is incapable of showing basic empathy. I mean, fuck, he fails to show that when, with any amount of logic, much less that of the genius Bakugou, would say that now is the time to fake it. An actual, factual sociopath would do better than him, purely because they would know to act for their own betterment.

(And the fact that his teachers look at this, explicit proof that he is seemingly incapable of actually trying to save a person, but do nothing with this information speaks volumes.... mostly about how bad Hori is at writing Bakugou and the implications of what he does constantly. Surely there's no way that, without the Author hyping him up, they'd just let that slide, right? ...Right?)

But, then, hope on the horizon! He has a make up exam, and it's apparently centered around pounding basic morals/how to deal with civilians into his thick skull! Surely, this is the time Bakugou will finally, finally, get the point, right?

And that's the thing: he does. There's this, probably to other people, touching moment where he sees himself in this asshole kid and talks about how you can't just look down on people. And it's like... finally. Finally! The switch has finally been flicked! He gets it! Change, improvement, development, fina-

Then the second he gets out of it he promptly goes back to calling everyone extras.

That dynamic in many ways is the perfect embodiment of Bakugou's development, and it's... It's like watching someone fighting off a disease. There's an infection, right and symptoms increase. Sometimes the symptoms appear out of nowhere, sometimes they increase over the span of several days. They peak, finally, then they fall back down, again either dramatically, or over the span of several days, and then you are back to normal.

Bakugou makes changes. He makes realizations. He gets 'humbled'. He has a single moment of heroism that the narrative hypes up, sometimes with a bit of build up before hand for a few chapters, and with people sometimes reacting to it for a few chapters afterwords.

And then it passes, like he's just finished fighting off a case of Morals.

You see, Bakugou is well liked. And, honestly, I get it. The asshole can be therapeutic to root for, at times. The problem is that he's too popular, and that this story is too about people being good. So Bakugou, to keep the fan base, to keep the sales, has to stay Bakugou, stay the unrepentant asshole constantly telling people to die.

But, at the same time, Bakugou is an anti-hero, basiclly, and this is a setting that just... can't handle the complexity of an anti-hero, in how people react to them, what they do and the morality of it, how it would affect society and so on, and so Bakugou can't stay as Bakugou, has to grow and be better and become a hero proper.

So... Hori goes, 'Why not both?' Thus, Bakugou gets his moments of 'development', and a slow, slow, slow trend to the better, and the fans get to see him do his thing, even though he's 'changed'. And it's easy, when you just sit back and accept the narrative, to believe that. But if you don't....

All of that? It makes his character empty because after a certain point, it's clear that Bakugou won't change, in so many fundamental levels, even if everyone around him acts like he does. Like attacking his teammates, like blindly charging the enemy , like constantly insulting everyone around him is just different because he's The New Bakugou now, like it's just fun and games, even when this was a dead serious problem early on. He didn't stop, he didn't change, or dial it back; everyone else just started acting differently when he does it. The same way in day one he attacks Izuku for having a Quirk, far later on he throws his metal... hair thing at him for daring to talk about his Quirk. And it, like, impales him, but haha! It's just funny now, it's so funny, that we can apparently see Izuku's brain! It's funny that, when Izuku is seriously thinking about his predecessors, Bakugou just instantly insults them for not being famous! Look at how patient Izuku is dealing with him as he acts like a bratty five year old child throwing a fit, look how fond All Might is as he insults his beloved teacher that he probably has deep seated trauma about regarding her untimely death!

In the War Arc, where Bakugou 'Rises'? Maybe ten minutes before his 'Rise', he was threatening to attack Izuku for daring to ask why he's following him. In a war zone.

The entire story, Bakugou has been described as a creature of instinct, a natural born warrior with a talent for battle. All of that is to contrast him with Izuku: where Izuku, instinctively, has the urge to save, Bakugou has the instinctive urge to fight. This is fundamental to him, a core characteristic, one of the (many) ways it's explained about how good he is at fighting.

And yet, suddenly, when Izuku is in danger, he moves without thinking (aka instinctively), but it's not attack Shigaraki, which, you know, he was shouting about doing not too long ago, it's to save Izuku.

And. And am I supposed to believe that?

I mean, fuck. In the FInal Arc, he has a Big Speech in response to SFO: about being 'way over fear and rejection since long ago', which SFO was talking in the context of how they create inequality in society, and how he wants to fix it... which, doesn't that mean Bakugou just doesn't care about them? Because being over them doesn't actually solve them, genius, it just means you, personally, are beyond them, and even now, he still treats everyone like they're unequal to him. Bakugou has always been the one to profit from inequality in society, between his Quirk, his talent, his well off family, so honestly all of that rings hollow.

He talks about how he has friends now, who are willing to move beyond them, and OK, that works a bit better, except when he still doesn't treat them like friends, in fact not too long ago he yelled at Momo for getting his stupid ass chuunibyou name wrong.

Or, maybe a minute later, when Bakugou gets a power up and/or realization about how SFO moves or something, and you know what he does? He instantly charges in blindly, alone, and is killed over it. Right after this speech about teamwork, while everyone was just... cheering his determination, and prissy Best Jeanist says, with a straight face and actual awe, 'Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight'.

And then when he sees Bakugou get smacked around, Eraserhead's first thought is to scream, desperately, 'Save him! Save him so he can try and become the Number One Hero!' in the middle of all this shit that is happening.

All of this is presented to us as this... thrilling thing, with music that is going to be swelling in the background when its animated, and everyone cheering him on, right before he's tragically struck down for being too stupid to live (no, seriously, SFO actually lampshades this. Before this big 'dramatic' moment, he says that getting up close to him is pure idiocy, and all that it will do is allow you to get get smashed by an All Might like power. Then, you know, Bakugou closes in, again, because he had bitchslapped Bakugou before, and then a second time during that boast, and it goes exactly as SFO said) and we're supposed to mourn him. Again, actually, even though this is a blatant set up for him powering up, since this is literally the same set up as the War Arc.

All of this work, all of this emotion, and all of it rings hollow because, well, it's Bakugou, and no amount of trying to hype up teamwork battle is going to make it work for me when the second the Big Moment is over he reverts to his normal asshole routine.

That Tsundere Field, guys. Too strong, too broken.

While I'm at it, let's talk about Bakugou being Quirkist, because, well, he is. It's a big part of his early character: the reason he rags on Izuku so hard, so successfully, the reason he's so big and important as a child, is about Quirks. When they get introduced the past users? His first comment is that they have weak Quirks.

Izuku saves him and he still doesn't think much about him; it's only later when he starts actually acknowledging Izuku.

When he has a Quirk.

And it's not just a Quirk, it's more than that: it's a strong Quirk, powerful. Enough for him to defeat Bakugou. All the respect Bakugou builds for Izuku? And while it stagnates for awhile, I do have to admit he does respect Izuku more than he did originally... and it's not because Izuku is kind, or heroic; he still hates that. No, he starts respecting Izuku because he is strong. His respect isn't about Izuku as a person, it's about Izuku's Quirk. All his respect, slowly built up throughout the series, comes from the corrupt foundation that Izuku is worth respecting only because he has a Quirk. Later, this gets worse because he learns about OFA and starts valuing Izuku as important, but it's only because his Quirk is important. It's All Might's Quirk. His second fight with Izuku is because of it's All Might's Quirk. He starts training him (that one time, and apparently never gain) because it's All Might's Quirk. When Izuku goes 'rogue'? And when he heroically goes to hunt him down? One of the first thing he does is talk about how he's so great because he has One For All, and then calls him an All Might wannabie*.

And you know what? I just talked about Class A hunting down Izuku recently, but let's talk about that more, because I hate it so much.

I really, honestly wonder if Hori is blind to the parallel he set up here, or if he invoked it on purpose, to try and show how Bakugou has 'improved'.

Look back at the first chapter, where we first see Bakugou. Think about that dynamic: Izuku, beaten down, on one side, while on the other, Bakugou. Strong, proud, with minions at his back, all of them ready to throw down at his command.

The thing is? The first time is shown as clearly villainous in nature, a cruel bully against someone who is weak but heroic. The second time, everything is the same, but it's shown differently. Bakugou is being shown as heroic for doing this, heroic for leading Izuku's friends to hunt him down, heroic for attacking him.

*And ah, Bakugou the Hypocrite. Let's finish this up by talking about Bakugou's name. When we first talk about hero names, Bakugou's naming sense is much like it is for his final name, and Midnight promptly shoots down every one of them because, well, they aren't heroic, and the story pokes fun at him a little because he clearly doesn't get it.

Then it's the War Arc. Bakugou has 'grown', there's all this hype for his big heroics moments, and he announces his new name... Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. And I'm just wondering... am I getting punked? This is the the same shit as before! No, actually it's worse than that, it's bigger, longer, and more ridiculous.

The universal response is that it's tacky. Nejire thinks it's disgusting. Mirio literally thinks it's a joke.

But the story itself treats it seriously, and over time? People start accepting it, taking it seriously as well, treating that stupid name with respect. What the fuck kind of hero name has the word murder in it? What kind of hero calls himself a god?

And finally, it's Dynamight. Which resembles All Might, the Greatest, Most Beloved Hero, the one Bakugou has always considered the best and viewed as his goal to surpass.

And yet he says that Izuku, who is calling himself Deku, is the one viewing himself as an All Might wannabie.

#this got way too long #basically an ask at this point #bnha critical #mha critical #bakugou critical #anti bakugo #izuku deserves better #izuku is basiclly an abuse victim #why doesn't izuku have burn scars? #the power dynamics of saving #'change and improvement' are hollow words without context #bakugou's SCP Worthy Tsundere Field #Izuku is an unreliable narrator #AP Shot makes no sense #Bakugou's development is like watching someone get over an infection of Morals

[legoiscrying]

Since you guys liked my first k2 analysis so much, I've decided to make a second one and mainly focus on things that I mentioned in the last paragraph there: how I see their romantic relationship. This is probably going to be more headcanons than analysis but we'll see lol (it ended up not)

As I mentioned before, I don't really see k2 having some sort of special feelings for each other when they're young. Meanwhile it can kinda work with Kenny, it's probably won't work with Kyle: Kyle already has two strong sources of emotions. His bond with Stan and his sort of rivalry with Cartman clearly means more to him. And to get myself more clear: No, I do not erase everything I said in the previous post about their interactions, they're still very sweet and in my personal opinion important. But if we analyse Kyle's relationships with others and give everyone some sort of a status, Stan would be "best friend", Cartman would be "frienemy" (it's not so obvious when I say it like this but we all should agree that Kyle cares a lot about the shit Cartman says, not necessarily in a good way but it's still a huge source of emotions for him). And Kenny, as I believe, would be just "friend". Not much to add.

But if we're looking a little bit further...Time skip for a few years. Or not a few. High-school maybe?? Or adults?? Whatever you prefer more

From this part it'll be mostly headcanons because different people can see the future relationship of the main four differently. I'll talk about my personal point of view here (I think it's the most popular one in the fandom anyways)

So this is where Kyle's previous sources of strong emotions are kind of fading away. With Stan...I'm almost sure that no one is going to argue with me for this. Stan, as a depressed individual, would probably at some point of his adulthood change his relationships with people. He'd cut contact with some and just sort of change his attitude to other. And although I believe Stan and Kyle would still be friends (close friends??) when they grow up...There's not going to be the "bond" as strong as it was before. This is debatable, but even if you don't agree with my statement: One source of strong emotions is definitely not enough.

With Cartman my point of view is much easier to explain: they're not kids anymore. I believe their rivalry won't dissappear, but. They're not kids and not gonna fight 24/7. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this properly, but I think it's just not gonna take all their time. So yeah. It's not enough

AND THAT'S WHERE WE FINALLY GO BACK TO K2. THANK GOD.

Kyle feels a bit more lonely. So he hangs out with Kenny, who pretty much feels the same. They spend time together, talk a lot, remember some things...And realize how similar they are to each other (this part is also analysis btw, I didn't come up with it from nothing). They realize that back then they both were trying to act kind to people around them, but no one seemed to appreciate it as much as they wanted. They were doing it differently and was getting treated differently, but in the end both ended up being lonely without much people around. You. You can feel my thought here. right

They realize how similar they feel, so they decide to try to help each other. Just make some company. It won't hurt, right?

It didn't. I see them a bit fast burn... They start to appreciate each other's company more. And more. They hang out in a lot of different places. Anywhere you can get your old buddy: like seeing some cool movies with him, taking him to restaurants so you can make sure he eats well, sometimes going to his ol' house with him to help his sister...At some point Kenny starts calling it "dates", and Kyle is extremely flustered about this.

Kyle falls first, but Kenny confesses first: so their relationship-thing happens not so long after that.

And yep. This is what I wanted to share from now. I really hope someone reads all that xD

Love k2, appreciate k2, enjoy k2, share k2. They're very lovable little guys!

(If this gets 100 likes AGAIN I will write k2 headcanons. Go)

#south park #sp #kenny mccormick #kenny #kenneth mccormick #sp kenny #sp kenny mccormick #kyle brovlofski #sp kyle #sp kyle broflovski #k2 #kyle x kenny #kenny x kyle #sp k2 #sp kenny x kyle #sp kyle x kenny

[mur-art]

pls talk to me more about calivada's dynamic <3

You know I can talk about my interpretation of Calivada all day; don't tempt me

tl;dr It's complicated. They're alcohol-fueled "friends" with benefits but it's kind of one-sided on California's end with him somewhat taking advantage of Nevada and disregarding his serious feelings.

Let me be clear, this is not a particularly healthy relationship (but we're talking about everyone's favorite shitshow, California, here so no surprise) On their good days, they're a chaotic team, working together to be extremely bad influences on each other and everyone else. On their bad days, they are the queens of extremely petty, catty drama and have to make their issues everyone else's problem.

This is my playlist for them.

LONG nsfw-ish rambling under the cut:

I see their relationship going back a long time and it's been complicated since the beginning. My personal HC is that California was a strong influence on Nevada when he was younger. During Nevada's silver boom, most of the first miners to settle in the area were from California. So California, who at this time was extremely jaded and reckless, came blazing into Nevada's life like a supernova.

Almost instantly, their relationship was based on doing a lot of stupid shit together. In those early days, they consumed more alcohol than is humanly possible and some other hard drugs that they refuse to talk about. There were dumb decisions made. Nevada has lots of blackmail material from those days, which gives him leverage in the relationship when he gets mad at California.

Their relationship these days is still based on doing dumb shit together. Nevada can bring out Cali's fun, reckless side. He can make Cali loosen up like no one else can. When they're driving 100 mph through the desert together singing to every song that comes on at the top of their lungs he can almost forget that California is an annoying shithead. And California looks so beautiful waking up next to him with glitter on his face in the morning after a crazy night.

But very few of Nevada's relationships are equal partnerships, and Calivada is no exception. California takes advantage of him to an extent. He treats Nevada like a "fun" time fling and rarely gives him the opportunity to talk about his feelings in any meaningful way. He expects Nevada to be there for him to dump all of his problems onto, but never returns the favor.

Nevada resents California a bit for some things that happened in their history. He sees Cali as kind of a rich, spoiled kid who got everything handed to him in life (whether that perception is true or not is beside the point). Meanwhile, Nevada had to struggle a lot. The silver boom turned to bust and unlike California's gold rush, there was no lasting wealth for him. By the early 1900s, Nevada's nickname was "Beautiful Desert of Buried Hopes" because the boom towns had turned to ghost towns and things looked bleak. Add in the trauma he faced during the Cold War with nuclear testing (something that Gov would never dare do to his "precious" California, he notes frequently) and generally feeling like he doesn't have control of his own destiny.

And yet, California never seems to care about any of that, nor even thinks to ask. To him, Nevada is there for a fun one night stand or weekend fling. The less Nevada talks about his deep feelings and serious matters, the better. But of course, California gets sloppy drunk and talks about all of his, expecting Nevada to listen and validate him. It leaves Nevada feeling used and alone (but it's okay, he's used to it-- at least that's what he tells himself.)

Why does he keep going back to California? The nsfw answer is: the sex is really good. Like earth-shakingly good (no pun intended). And they do have fun together, as long as they're sufficiently intoxicated.

I could literally go on about these guys all day but I'll shut up now.

#imo texacali is the relationship that cali deserves (/neg) #caliyork is the relationship that cali deserves (/pos) #and calivada is the relationship that NO ONE deserves but yet here we are #long post #mur headcanons #wttt calivada #wttt headcanons

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

I think part of why most people I've talked to like Hazbin Hotel better then Helluva Boss, and why most of the writing problems in Helluva aren't as present in Hazbin, are because Hazbin is an ensemble show that treats all it's characters as EQUALLY IMPORTANT, while Helluva Boss is an ensemble show that just. Really wants to be the Blitzø and Stolas show.

Like oh my god that show wants to be about only Blitzø and Stolas so bad. It's why Moxxie gets more focus then Millie(he's closer to Blitzø), it's why the Stolitz drama gets dragged out the way it does, it's why Fizz has been getting more attention then the rest of the supposed main cast lately. Viv and Brandon(who doesn't get brought up very often when discussing the writing in Helluva Boss despite being the main cowriter?) CLEARLY just wanna focus on Blitzø and Stolas' backstories and relationship, despite marketing Helluva as an ensemble show. Moxxie gets some time as an individual, but I think that's more of a biproduct of him being around for longer then the other side characters tbh. Like they were initially concieved FOR Hazbin, and I'm not really sure where production went from there, but I believe they were originally just supposed to be an assassin duo that showed up in Hazbin a couple times? Idk details are fuzzy so if anybody knows more and feels like sharing feel free to rb/comment with your knowledge. Anyways Moxxie has more depth because he's been in development for longer, and as season 2 progresses it really feels like they're running out of shit to talk about with him. Everybody else is secondary to those two, which would be FINE if the show was PRESENTED as being about Stolitz, but it's kinda. Not. The show, especially if your going off of the pilot, is presented more like "the Office but in Hell". That is the concept most people are drawn in by. So when the people who signed up for a funny ensemble show in Hell start watching and end up with just a bunch of relationship drama and some occasional focus on like 1 or 2 other characters, they get confused and put off. It's like trying to watch the Office but getting Bojack Horseman(I think. I don't know much abt BJH-) instead.

Meanwhile Hazbin is advertised as an ensemble show and, so far, has fulfilled that promise. All 4 of the episodes we've gotten so far have focused on different characters and, between them, given an equal amount of focus to everyone except maybe Niffty. Episode 1 had Charlie and Vaggie leading the subplots, episode 2 had weirdly Vox and Sir Pentious as the focuses?, episode 3 was about. Pretty much everyone really but Velvette, Carmilla and Vaggie got especially highlighted because of their songs, and episode 4 was focused entirely on Angel and his relationships with the rest of the cast. Like. That's how ensemble shows are supposed to work. And while Charlie is still the main focus of the show, and I'm sure we'll see her get highlighted a whole lot more in coming episodes, Hazbin is still at it's core about EVERYBODY. Even characters that aren't even close to mains are getting attention! And aside from some uh. Very obvious pacing issues, the show handles the ensemble cast surprisingly well! And like, I think the main complaint I've seen(that isn't a straight up controversy) is that the Hotel isn't the main focus of the show? Which like. To be fair we're only like four episodes in? And also fits into my false advertising argument about Helluva but honestly this post is getting long and my brain is kinda melting and it's almost 2am and I have school tomorrow so I'm gonna cut this off here.

In conclusion Hazbin Hotel is generally more well liked than Helluva Boss because it's a true ensemble show, while Helluva is actually the Blitzø show PRETENDING to be an ensemble show. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk :)

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #late night ramblings #gal overanalyzes random shit

[bengiyo]

Me, My Husband, and My Husband's Boyfriend Eps 6-10 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

In the first half, we met Misaki, a teacher who has been having a difficult time with the lack of physical intimacy with her otherwise loving husband, Yuuki. Despite her frustrations, she was trying to tough it out, but eventually learned on her anniversary that Yuuki was seeing another man, who turned out to be a former student of hers that also continues to express romantic interest in her, named Shyuuhei.

Misaki and Yuuki were not happy with the mess they found themselves in, and both attempted to cut Shyuuhei out of their lives, but it was killing Yuuki. Not wanting to let Yuuki become another unfortunate statistic about gay men, Misaki invited Shyuuhei to live with them.

This is most certainly going to become messy, but I'm intrigued by Misaki's desire to stay with Yuuki in a way that works for him, even if it means adding a third to their dynamic.

Meanwhile, Misaki has been reconnecting with an old friend, Maki, who I'm sure has romantic feelings for Misaki as well. I am bracing myself for lesbian disappointment.

Episode 6

Already we're starting with Misaki deciding to start doing her hair quickly in the mornings. Don't know about that.

Regardless of what happens, Shyuuhei should learn to cook while he's with them. Seems like he's overly reliant on his partners to take care of him.

Oh boy. Shyuuhei has joined a team of women who all find him attractive. Bracing.

I'm glad Maki exists. The other teacher has overstepped and can't really offer a useful perspective right now. It's fascinating because Misaki is not taking from these conversations what I think others want. Instead she immediately reworks their dynamic to try to make the relationship more equal.

How many people does it take to change a lightbulb? Three. One to be young and eager to be helpful, one to cause concern because she's still adapting, and another to supervise because he knows this is all his fault.

Why is the video for Our Dining Table so shit, but this one isn't?

Oh that was a cool long panning shot to show the passing of time. Excited for the sense of anticipation it's building with Mio and her ongoing frustration with Shyuuhei.

I hope Daiichi isn't going to be an actual romantic complication, and just inspires Yuuki to talk to Misaki more. Still, I worry about how distant they feel.

Burning a flame over both of their portraits is so unsubtle I love it.

Feeling some kinda way about the kissing their letting Shyuuhei and Misaki have in comparison to Yuuki.

Oh here we go next episode with everyone overstepping.

Episode 7

I get Yuuki feeling like he needs to do something here, but he unfortunately cannot give Misaki what she wants the most.

I am relieved that Misaki has finally made the informant a family problem. I think this is the first time we're seeing the three of them work on an issue together.

The confrontation with Misumi was intense. I get where Misumi is coming from, but I'm also glad that Misaki is defending her husband and her family.

I find myself rooting for these three constantly. I want them to solve this complex collection of dilemmas.

Oh, Daiichi is flirting. I suppose we can't always get what we want.

Makes me a bit sad that we don't get to see Misaki smile this easily or laugh at home.

Meanwhile, Yuuki is about to implode from restrained desire.

Every episode gets even more messy. Goddamn.

Episode 8

I just find Misaki so fascinating. Yuuki may be worried about her leaving, but she told Daiichi flat out that ain't no man like her man.

I like Yuuki's sister. She has avoided their family for the rude way they treat her, and urges Yuuki to do the same. She knows the arrangement with Shyuuhei is unusual, and doesn't pry. Her recommendation is only to make sure he and Misaki take care of each other.

I'm not sure I believe Misaki about only seeing Shyuuhei as a student, but I am curious to see where this goes now that she can't lie that he wasn't conscious when he kissed her.

I don't know what I expected of Yuuki going to talk to Daiichi, but both of them being forthright feels correct for their characters. It's rather sad, because as sweet as Daiichi is I don't think Misaki could be with him.

Okay, Yuuki is going too far, but goddamn is Furukawa fit. Still not a great way for Misaki to be confronted with the physical reality of it all.

Oh, Misaki tries so hard, but it can't work this way.

Well this Christmas party turned sad quickly.

Episode 9

I like that Shyuuhei isn't stupid. He sussed out quickly that Yuuki only got aggressive with him so it would push Misaki.

Wow, that was one of the most difficult breakups I've ever seen. Honda Kyoya is good. You can see the moment his hope breaks and he has to accept that they can't be a triad. And then, they still happily agree to get together for New Years. Just wow.

I like how we keep tying back to some of the professional stuff. Misaki's student managed to get back into school properly, and now Yuuki managed to help his client by sharing the emotional truth of his struggle about his marriage.

I'd like to see Shyuuhei make a comic about the way he wants to love.

Oh man, Misumi sharing that she resented Misaki's marriage this entire time, and was happy to wreck it so that she wouldn't be alone with her own pain is almost too much. Misery loves company personified this way hurts.

"It's alright if you want to dislike me, but I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between us," is the energy I want to carry through my 30s. I like the resolution between these two.

Ah, Yuuki's parents are making me sick to my stomach. I haven't been this stressed from a show in a long time. I'm glad Yuuki came out, because the only other choice was to inflict even more horrifying closeted conceits on future children.

Shyuuhei is tapping in!

Episode 10 (Finale)

Oh, gross. The dad has been manipulating Yuuki for a long time to try to make him not gay.

Yes, Misaki. Destroy them.

That was awful, but I'm glad they were all together in the aftermath of that.

OH MY GOD IS MY MAKI LESBIAN DREAM RISING IN THE FINALE?

Man, we confirm Maki likes Misaki just to offer the comparison between Yuuki's inability to reciprocate Misaki's feelings for him as well. Now she's also caught in the polyamory difficulties.

Seems like they figured out their dynamic right as they finally let go. Curious how formally divorcing, living together, and letting Misaki figure things out with Maki and Daiichi will go.

I don't mind the way that ended, with them all seeming each other in ambiguous ways at the end. Still! I needed to know that someone was giving Misaki the attention she needed!

Final Verdict: 9, Recommended for queer cinema fans. I would not recommend this to BL fans. There are satisfying gay moments in this, but there's also crippling homophobia and multiple direct confrontations with homophobes. I enjoyed seeing such an empathetic exploration of polyamory. I still don't think it's something I'm geared for, but I liked unpacking this with Misaki, Yuuki, and Shyuuhei. As always with Japan, they toed a very careful line here.

#me my husband and my husband's boyfriend #watashi to otto to otto no kareshi #japanese bl #bl series #japanese drama #Ben watches

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Zutaras: we aren't insulting the kataang fanbase we're criticizing an abusive ship and an abuser there's a difference between us and kataangers bashing our fandom instead of are ship we are here to defend women

Proceeds to call kataang fans sexist men ignoring women shippers the bnfs call defenders brykes dick suckers and the implications are very clear that they think kataang or aang fans are abuse supporters but they hate zutara being labled abusive unable to take what they dish out

Yup. And for fuck's sake, Zutara isn't anywhere near as bad as it gets for Enemies To Lovers, but the way they ignore things like Zuko not seeing Katara as anything other than obstacle and her being 100% to leave him to die in the North Pole, while acting like the few nice moments they had with each other were ALL there was to their dynamic is just ridiculous - especially when they over-focus on any issues Kataang faces, make up even bigger ones, and ignore all the times Aang was supportive of Katara and the times she demonstrated interest in him.

And let's not even get started on Mai, because holy shit, the poor is SO hated by the Zutara fandom you'd think she was the one to burn Zuko's face. You could combine Zhao, Azula, Azulon, and everyone else that tried to kill Zuko at some point or another, and that weird chimera of characters would still not treat him half as bad as Fanon!Mai does. Meanwhile, the real Mai is being there for him while he is having a bit of an identity crisis after not being invited to a meeting/not speaking his mind during said meeting

#anti zutara #pro kataang #pro aang #pro mai #pro maiko

[scripted-downfall]

I'm back with the same point I made weeks ago --- here --- because I'm still highly confused; why do so many people write Steve and Eddie as mean to each other? Every piece of writing I see is either a) Steve hasn't actually redeemed himself and does something King-Steve-esque to hurt Eddie or b) Eddie doesn't care about Steve/Steve's interests/etc and is so biased against jocks that he does something to hurt Steve.

Legitimately WHYYY.

The whole point about them is that they're seeing past that superficial shit? Steve started out s1 as a Mean Girl (TM), sure, but that didn't last? His s1-and-onward arc was about learning to go beyond that, and he's had how horrible he was shoved down his throat so often that we're now in the opposite territory; everyone tells him "oh, you sucked." Which is why Eddie actually saying shit like "you're a good dude" is so meaningful?

And, meanwhile, yeah, Eddie assumes that jocks are gonna be assholes... but it's not like he sticks to that unreasonably in the face of evidence? Or even seems to treat them that differently preemptively? He's wary of Chrissy, sure, but it takes two seconds for him to warm up to her and try to make her feel better. He's one of the only party members who (as stated above) tells Steve good things about his personality and not bad ones. He's also one of the only ones who actually explains shit to Steve without mocking him for alleged "stupidity."

These two are not the kind to act like this, I'm sorry (short of extenuating circumstances), and it strikes me as vastly ooc that everything I've seen lately has one or both of these characteristics.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #whyyyy

[darkicedragon]

azure also Muzaka not being able go help look after the werewolves Franken takes in he's like 'dun wanna be lord anymore' but also 'lemmie protecc these werewolves and look after their wellbeing' darkicedragon muzaka just like |.o at m m just like =.= 'can he not' 'this is the best he can do, truly. he wont bother you' 'uuuuurghhh. i can still FEEL him looking at me' azure M won't say anything about his past or his pack or what happened to him and Muzaka WANTS to know pls O^O}}} esp bc M is very wary of any other werewolf and V much against any idea of a pack even Kentas referring to their lil group as a pack makes M scowl and go >8V

darkicedragon 'he keeps SNIFFING around me' muzaka can still smell ww even w frankensteins potion haha darkicedragon but also tao knows part of ms background. 'uh, m. you do know that WE'RE basically a pack?' 'yeah, but we dont CALL it that' 'ooooh, just the name u take issue with. gotcha' azure "I don't need a pack and I'm not gonna be part of anyone's pack, understood?" cuz M can't imagine a family or a group that cares about him who don't have ulterior motives or expect him to do things in exchange for his belonging there darkicedragon yeah m still thinks everyone around him right now is conditional, so long as he does his job meanwhile, frankenstein is bringing homebaked cookies for everyone 'thats just what he does. i dont know why he does the shit he does' ¯_(ツ)_/¯ azure M learns what Franken does and figures the reason why he took him in was to piss off his pack bc he had beef with them and needed a reason to pick a fight "I'm here just because he needed a reason to start a fight. That's all. I'll probably be gone when this solves." darkicedragon or thats ms interpretation, except frankenstein only found out abt ms pack bc of m, and then hunted them down. 'this. is. not. how. u. treat. ur. pack!!' 🗞️ azure M being much =^= 'am not gonna be part of a pack ever again' but slowly starts looking after everyone if there's a bar fight that Kentas is taking care of, M is like |^= v intensely cleaning that one glass Tao mentions some tuna sandwich from a shop he never passes by, and despite it not being close to Ms place, M somehow always brings him a tuna sandwich every morning darkicedragon and by this point, t2 know 'pack' is a Forbidden Word so dont put a name to ms actions until muzaka or kentas put their foot in it azure /SNORT XD Muzaka or Kentas being like 'ayy part of the pa -' and get a hand over their mouths and Tao being like 'HE'S VERY MUCH A LONE WOLF OKAY' darkicedragon muzaka or kentas need to have a Talk tao attempts to drag them away but. well. it doesnt work. 'hey!! i think some ppl are being v sus over there!!' <o<!!

#bartender m21 and bouncer kentas au #noblesse #skype conversations #madameazzure #muzaka #frankenstein #m21 #kentas

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

speed reading or skipping paragraphs is a thing both me and my mom

(amazing person) (had me so late i only knew her as cool old lady) (the only reason me and my half siblings and technically not related at all but fuck that siblings got to grow up as family bc she fought tooth and nail with her exes for it) (and by fought i mean gritted her teeth and was polite to the vindictive assholes bc her exs had money and legal status and connections and an education that translated properly so they could have white color jobs while she was being a single mom below the poverty line working part time jobs still somehow making her kids feel like they lived in a magical wonderland and she was the dragon who'd eat anyone that tried hurting us)

had in common

(she died almost a year ago the first anniversary is coming up this is fine)

she grew up also poor af in her home country but her parents sent her to a RICH GIRLS PRIVATE SCHOOL bc her grades were good and this nuclear scientist Doctor Doctor -insert name here- who couldn't do the most simple everyday things (her husband was the same) and was in actual awe of my grandma (who cleaned for them) 's ability to figure out how to hang a picture straight or fix the plumbing

(grandma led her catatonic older sister across an active war zone as a teen and also told stories to my mom about mice who came out at night to read scraps of newspaper she left on the floor for them, she was legally blind and still walking a mile to the local store when i knew her, didn't care a fuck that i didn't know her language and i actually learned several family stories from her somehow)

the Doctor Doctor was convinced my mom would be stifled in a normal school, hence the Everybody Else Here Own A Pony And A Summer House Meanwhile We're Living On The Shack By The House My Dad Is Building For Someone Else situation with mom in rich girls school because of her scores

But

the thing is, my mom was kinda shit at school

(she almost failed one class bc the professor got pissed she wouldn't treat him like a god as a good student should so she refused to do anything in his class except fight with him and he DID fail her, but the other teachers and principle had her do a test and whoops turns out she'd learned his class better on her own than most of his students hehheheh fifty years later she was still gloating about it)

and this has to do with speed reading and skipping because, in one class, you were supposed to take turns reading out of a book and then later pick a topic to write a paper on

well my mom's turn would come, and bc she was like me, she wouldn't actually read the words. She'd see the shape of the sentence, scan the first letter of every line down the page, add that to the topic at hand, and kinda just FEEEL what the section was about

you'd think someone would notice she wasn't reading it right but she was So Confident and Casual about it i guess everyone just went "well i must be reading it wrong her version sounds right"

this worked for her!

until the paper came due, and she was asked to read hers in front of the class

well she hadn't written anything, turns out.

So my mom (who outside of school drifted between wearing boys clothes to scare off her friends exes or leather mini skirts with fishnet stockings and no undies depending on her mood) she picked up a BLANK piece of paper, stood up, and read out the Best, Most Well Thought Out And Insightful Paper her professor had heard all day

good, right? easy peasy pass grade. cheato completo

unfortunately the professor liked it Too much

and they asked. for a copy

So my poor mom had to admit that not only was her brilliant little paper an imaginary thing that didn't exist, she ALSO had to cop to all the OTHER times she hadn't been reading from the book, just to prove to her teacher that her paper WAS fake

(my mom had a real strong if weird sense of integrity. she'd bend the rules into a pretzel, but she hated the idea of being thought of as a Liar, when it was just for personal selfish reasons)

(lying to help someone else was another thing zero fucking hesitation there only gleeful dramatics)

now im not anywhere near my mom in coolness levels, but i also have the thing of skipping around when reading and going by shape and recreating what it might say based on other clues instead of just, seeing each word individually

a lot of the times it works!

it's also why I Can't Get A Driver's License

Reading Manuals Doesn't Work For Me And There's No School Or Instructor Place In Reach So My Can't Drive I'm Gay Credential Is Permanent! It's enforced! I've been assigned pedestrian by whatever the hell seemingly inheritable trait it is that made me and my mom find books in the library via size, color, geographic location and anything OTHER than the gods-damned TITLE!!

(thnx mom) (had to hold the instructions for instant mac and cheese physically in front of my face the entire time it cooked) (you'd have laughed) (i laughed instead tho don't worry) (miss you <3)

#reading difficulties #. #.. #.... #...... #and then she became the best primary school teacher at my school despite only being a teacher's aid #bc she was the only one who'd actually STUDDIED CHILD PSYCHOLOGY #and talked to the kids like they were (shock horror) #People

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1059 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back from our break

One Piece's final saga still has yet to find a destination, since we still have a tsunami of pieces outside of Wano that have yet to fall into place, the aftermath of the Reverie is still widely unknown to us so we have to further look into what happened while the Straw Hats, Law and Kid were upsetting the system.

Spoilers for the Chapter, support the Official Release also

So Caesar's gas was hallucinogenic, causing Oven and Katakuri to fight one another. I'd still back Katakuri to win that one though

Seems Marco caught up with Shanks who gave him a lift back to his island

Shanks still wanting Marco on his crew too, wonder if they gushed about Luffy or chatted about Ace during the voyage

Marco doesn't want to babysit Shanks and though Shanks refutes that Papa Beck can't back him up XD

And like, Marco you're just over half the age Whitebeard was stop using the 'I'm old' card

Wano arc may be over but we keep flashing back to Wano still

Get a bit more validation for Yamato staying, seems that Yamato is indeed staying to protect Wano from threats rather than 'touring Wano' like he told Momo, saying that to maintain his pride

In a way Yamato is still a reserve Straw Hat, but Luffy is kinda leaving Yamato in charge of Wano, which gives them both peace of mind that it'll be safe, much like Vivi and Alabasta

Sanji I'm begging you to treat Yamato like a dude

Marco announces his departure so Luffy makes sure to thank him for Marineford, Jinbe and Marco also do a bit of reminiscing before Marco tells Luffy that Ace'd be proud

Oh shit we're covering Amazon Lily now

Boa's alive, but she like Mihawk has to assess leaving their island to protect it, but instead of Croc on the call she is considering just marrying Luffy again

I keep forgetting that it's been weeks since the fallout

The new Pacifistas are called Seraphims?

Margaret and Sweetpea cameo, where's Aphelandra??

Oh. Ohhhh nooo. They got Lunarian Pacifistas, and they've made them kids to be extra shrewd

Oh Shit and now Blackbeard is here??

He's after Boas fruit! Shit! Fuck! But they're all so ugly!

Can we just stab Vasco in his gross face, seriously ew man

Marines being bitches and waiting for an order to fight an emperor that's swatting you like flies

Poor Coby's trying his best, trying to negotiate Boa's surrender to cease the fighting, but Boa refuses to be anyone's captor again

Seems Blackbeard knows about Lunarians too

Oh that looks like a baby King! With Mihawk eyes!

And maybe Mihawk swordplay given that it cleaved half of Amazon Lily entirely

I guess Blackbeard used Black Hole to suck the Pacifista into his void

Boa meanwhile has Slave Arrow'd everyone, but the other Pacifista has no care for collateral

Coby tries to order it off but Blackbeard then gets his grips on Boa

Ooh, Boa's bounty is in the 1bn club, and Blackbeard did indeed get a bounty increase to 3.996 billion

Devon talked big game but even she got turned to stone with Vasco and Helmeppo

Boa's got an ace up her sleeve too, killing her will permanently turn Blackbeard's commanders to stone

More mystery surrounding Rocky Port, but it seems to have had the accidental consequence of Blackbeard ousting out 'Ochoku' and taking over Beehive. Could Ochoku be the man with flames on his face? Edit: Oh shit Ochoku was a Rocks pirate member! Coby, Law and a Rocks pirate all in one place!?

Blackbeard asks Coby his opinion on letting Boa go if she releases their men, which Boa claims she'd agree to do if they leave

But Teach doesn't buy it, he expects Boa to turn on them so he opts to kill her despite Coby's protests

AND NOW RAYLEIGH IS HERE!

Rayleigh plays the negotiator to ensure that both side's terms are met, so Blackbeard still has some fear in him for the legends

Hang up, Shakky FORMER EMPRESS OF AMAZON LILY AND FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE KUJA PIRATES???

Guess that explains how she'd know Boa would fall for Luffy, she had some first-hand experience with Rayleigh

Throws out the theory she was from Rocks, maybe? They make a point of it being two generations ago, so there's still a generation between Shakky and Boa

Telling though that Rayleigh thinks he can't beat Blackbeard though, he did ride off his own legend there

Whoa, one of the Lunarian Pacifistas looked like a kid Boa, but with star eyes

And Coby got kidnapped by Blackbeard!!!

Well shit Oda how much more can you escalate this?

Blueballing us with Sabo we instead get stuff on Boa, but I'm also curious if Marco spotted something on his way back to Sphinx, Weevil is still out there after all...

People will probably feel better about Yamato not joining with this explanation, think Oda probably added it in because of the negative impact. Still no word on Carrot though so I'm still trying to manifest that (I mean, how can Chopper be deemed by the WG both a 'pet' and a commander? It don't add up).

But then of course, information tsunami.

The new Pacifista are a problem, one which does indeed put the Navy has a powerful force in what I'd assume to be an all out war between Luffy and his enemies; from Blackbeard, Cross Guild and now the Navy there are a lot of threats at hand. The 'Seraphim' are dangerous given how Vegapunk has been able to replicate Lunarian DNA - thanks to all the King experimentations - and other warlords. One must wonder when they got the Warlord's DNA, and who they still have left? If they're able to duplicate DF powers we might even see clones of Law, Crocodile, Doflamingo and Blackbeard too, or even marines like Garp, Sengoku and the admirals! I'm not sure if they're actual children either, so they could potentially grow up or just be children to make enemies hesitate. The Hawk Eye does imply that Mihawk has some power in his eyes that improves his swordplay, but then again Blackbeard could block it with his Haki, the star eyes of the Boa Seraphim is interesting, maybe those are Doffy's eyes?

Calling them 'Seraphim' makes me worry that there are levels to the SSG too, maybe the Seraphim are just the Lunarian pacifistas, and there are other variants. Right now they don't seem to have an offensive weakness either, unless Vegapunk has hidden something in them like he did with Kuma's mission to protect the Sunny.

The times are getting tense when Rayleigh's not confident either, and this does mean that Boa may have to leave to avoid a second assault. Shakky as another empress may have intel to find a safe place for her though.

And then Coby, interesting that Blackbeard took him hostage, never seemed like that kinda guy. But maybe Teach wants to draw someone out; the marines, Garp, Shanks, Luffy? How Coby reacts is key since this is just like with Alvida all that time ago. It'll be interesting if he comes across Aokiji as well while in captivity.

We also have to remember that the WG themselves may also have tricks up their sleeve, Im is still a mystery - and Oda won't let Sabo tell us what went down with Vivi and Cobra yet - and we still don't know enough about Vegapunk or Rocks or Bonney or the other remaining ex-warlords (Weevil and Moria) or the Revolutionary Army to see what they can bring to the table to match. We don't even know if Big Mom and Kaido survived yet!

Long story short, this is getting crazy, and I don't think Oda's done

#one piece #one piece spoilers #op spoilers #straw hat pirates #blackbeard pirates #kuja pirates #red haired pirates #shanks one piece #marco one piece #ben beckman #monkey d. luffy #yamato one piece #boa hancock #marshall d. teach #one piece blackbeard #coby one piece #pacifista #silvers rayleigh #shakky #shakuyaku #helmeppo #vasco shot #catarina devon #amazon lily #dark king rayleigh #pirate empress #marco the phoenix #marco the pineapple #one piece jinbe #dr vegapunk

[wishful-soda]

Firstly I want to state that this ask is going to be long rant dear wishful-soda but I feel like your blog is such a nice and safe space for this type of renting, especially for us daniel girlies❤ So here I go...😅

For us Daniel girlies this season has been so difficult😭Daniel might not be performing very well this year-and I'm sure every fan is aware of this- but he doesn't deserve this treatmeant either. He has been basically through hell this year and there are people saying that he deserves this and also criticize us fans that we are going over the top to defend him. Like is this people are real?? Do they read the same things as we do?? Of course we might be little biased sometimes because because he is our favorite driver but I genuinely think that these people are just horrible. He has been slandered and dragged through entire media. I feel so sad for him because when things like this happen in any type of sport, people forget the past achievements and the talent of the said person. Honestly, I am on the fucking verge of a mental breakdown because of this news that are coming out everyday. Then I think if I am like this I CAN NOT imagine how this situation is like for Daniel.

That joke of a man named Zak Brown is doing everything in his power to push Daniel out of his seat while Lando gets royalty treatment from him. Please don't get me wrong on this sentence. I don't hate Lando, on the contrary I like him very much and I think he is a very talented driver but I'm just using it to make a comparison how badly Zak treats Daniel.

Not only he treats Daniel very poorly, he is giving Mclaren a very hard time. This is is very old and respectable one and now it is nothing but a mess and needs to do a very serious PR damage control and I say this as a person who studied Business Administartion.

This PR suicide leads me to think from a company-point as well. In this day of age, PR and Marketing is everything and after all Mclaren Racing is a company under The Mclaren Group and it has it's owners and board members. My mind is LITERALLY BLOWN AWAY that how are this people allowing him offering a seat that is already taken to a lot of people?! It is beyond unprofessional. He makes them look very bad. It doesn't matter that he is the CEO unless he owns 51% of that company(which I don't have the knowledege of), he will do what the board members tells him to do-for this type of big decisions. At this point, I think that he keeps it up like this, the only person that is going to be replaced will be him because he is getting a lot of criticism and hate at the moment because the team is like a circus right now.

Okay my rent is done dear wishful-soda😅 And I will be going back to my corner, thinking about how nice it would be that Cyril to return to F1 and reunited with his baby boy Daniel and save him from this horrible situation ❤️‍🩹 #cyrilwouldnever #cyrilabiteboulsupremacy💯

And let us not forget to do a prayer circle for Daniel everyone. Let us hope and pray that he will get over this horrible situation and afterwards that he will enter his villian era to prove this people wrong 😉🙏🏻✨️

Hi baybes! You are absolutely right, this is a safe space for ranting.

You are totally right. This has been a tough season for Daniel. And somehow having a tough first half of a season, erases all the good he's done in the past in some people's eyes. It's incredibly illogical, but that's exactly how he's being treated now. As if he's never done anything worth shit in his career when he's actually done quite a bit and is a fucking damn good driver.

Meanwhile, we're hearing how legendary and amazing Lando is. I'm not saying he's not a good driver, but to simply compare the two, Lando just doesn't have better results except for this first half of the season. So the narrative is stemming from somewhere, it all comes from somewhere and I think it's 10000% from the toxicity of McLaren. Right in line with the PR nightmare you mentioned. They are not showing that they value Daniel and think he's worth working with. They're not showing that they know he's a killer driver but is just struggling with the fucking tractor beast of a car they've given him this year.

I would fucking LOVE to see Zak get replaced as CEO. As an American, I don't love the picture he paints of us. He fulfills a lot of shit stereotypes. He's also just a garbage human in general so there's that too. I will legit throw a party if they replace him, regardless if Daniel is on the team or not, I just want to see him GONE.

and you're right; CYRIL WOULD NEVER.

Hope you have a good rest of your day bby, and Daniel girl rants are always welcome here 😘💖💖

[eddies-tele]

Overload --- Johnny Silverhand x John Wick

In which, an assassin meets a strange man and finds that they have much more in common than it seems.

Tw for: self-cest (mainly because they're both played by Keanu Reeves) , bxb sex, alcohol consumption, smoking, foul language, etc.

It was a night like any other --- the stars dotted the skies, the moon shone a dim blueish color, and occasional clouds rolled by. A man thudded through the town, fatigued by all the running and fighting he'd done. "Oh God, fuck. I need a drink." he grumbled. "Any drink. And something to eat." He looked off into the distance, spotting a glowing, brightly lit sign with the words 'HOWLING HAL'S BAR AND GRILL' in bright orange lettering. Perfect.

He made his way towards the establishment, breathing heavily and wiping some blood off of his face. Meanwhile, inside the bar, the patrons were enjoying their drinks and entertainment. A male with dark brown hair and a metallic arm chugged his drink, coming up for air. "Ahh," he sighed in satisfaction. "Nothing like a good ol' margarita to get you hyped up." His band, SAMURAI, had a gig at this bar tonight. They were allowed to stay in the rooms on the above floor for the night.

The music suddenly stopped when the doors practically flew open, almost falling off their hinges. The crowd gasped at the man's appearance. He was all cut up and bloody, accompanied by a huge bloodstain on his blazer. He looked rugged and exhausted as he slowly walked to the bar. "Bourbon! On the rocks!" he demanded.

"Yessir!" The bartender said, rushing to prepare the drink. The assassin sat down in a barstool, eagerly awaiting his alcoholic beverage. Everyone else eventually went back to partying. "Well, aren't you quite a fucking character? Name's Johnny. Johnny Silverhand. Who're you?" Johnny asked, extending his metallic hand for a friendly shake.

The drink was finally served. The stranger took a few big swigs before speaking, "They call me 'the baba yaga,' but my name is John Wick." Johnny raised his brows, then furrowed them. "Baby gaga? What does that mean?" he questioned. John snarled, "First off, it's 'baba yaga,' not whatever the hell you said! Second, it means 'the boogeyman' in Russian."

He took another swig. Johnny bit his lip. "You speak Russian?" he replied. A nod came from the slick-haired man. Wow, the cyborg thought, he's so hot! He stared down at John's pants. They seemed to be a bit tight on him. How was he to win him over? It'd been a long while since he fucked anyone, let alone flirted with them. "Hey," he began, "Get all the drinks you want. I'll pay." Before Wick could open his mouth, Johnny put a metallic finger to his lips.

"I'll pay," he repeated, "You look exhausted. My band is playing here tonight, so we're allowed to sleep upstairs. Room's gonna be limited, so bear with us. You might have to share. That okay?" John sighed and nodded. "Sure. But you're not going to treat my dog like shit. He goes where I do." he growled.

"You have my word, compadre. I love dogs." He replied as he petted the pitbull sat at his feet, chuckling with childish glee when his hand got licked in return. "Name for this bundle of joy?"

"He has none. I just call him Dog."

"Oh."

"Say, how'd you get that arm?"

"War bullshit. How'd you get those scratches and that big ass blood stain on your blazer?"

"A fight. I won, of course."

"Gnarly. Hey, you know how to sing, man? Our bassist has a sore throat today and can't sing."

"I can try. Haven't sung in a while."

Later, after the show had concluded, everyone practically went wild over them. "Man, you can SCREAM!" Johnny laughed, lifting his shades. "Well, Silverass, when you've been through what I have, you scream a lot, trust me." Wick half-joked, a smile finally on his face. "You never told me about yourself," he said, "Where are you from?"

"Somewhere out in Texas. You?"

"New York. It sucks. Don't go there."

"Noted. Say, John, are you lonely? Just like I am? When's the last time you ever had fun? With someone else, mm?" Silverhand asked seductively, resting a hand on his lap. Wick bit his lip. "I don't know what you're talking about. Assassins don't just 'have fun' whenever they want." He went to move the veteran's metallic appendage away from him, but hesitated.

So he decided to do nothing. "You know what I mean. When is the last time you've made love?" Wick blushed softly before hissing, "No woman will EVER replace my angel Helen!" Johnny just laughed, the smell of booze on his breath. "No, no, baby..." he scolded playfully, lifting his chin slightly. He took off his shades again. "With a man. Specifically, me?" he purred.

The darker-haired male blushed a deep red as he whimpered quietly. "What a babygirl!" Silverhand teases, to which the latter snarls. "Excuse me, but I always give the orders! I'm always in control! I'm no babygirl or plaything! I'll show you!" He replies. "Oh? Prove it. Don't fight me; prove to me that you could take me over! If you can, I'll take back everything I said." Johnny grinned mischievously.

John got up and yanked the smooth-talking male by his shirt. He threw him to the ground and stood above him. "You were saying?" he somewhat grinned. "Not bad for a bottom." Johnny laughed. John growled in frustration, a fight ensuing. At one point, he found himself pinned against the wall by his opponent.

He thrashed around, desperately trying to punch and kick out. But Silverhand was prepared, his dirty boots on top of his clean flats, and his grip on his wrists tight. "Hold still." he commanded. John, confused but cautious, froze in place. His foe suddenly ... KISSED HIM?? What was going on?

He wasn't thinking as impulse took over and he returned the kiss. His body relaxed, his muscles no longer tense. Lust began overwhelming him, overriding his precautionary approach and aggressive attitude. "J-Johnny..." he stuttered. Johnny grinned and nipped at his neck, licking and kissing the skin every so often, too. The sharply dressed man whined, squirming in his grasp. "Trust me, princess, I'm going to make you feel so good that you see fucking stars." With that, he was lifted over his shoulder and carried upstairs to the bedroom.

Smut ahead!!! Don't like it, skip it!!

"Let me g ---" John landed on the bed, wincing in pain. His heart stopped when he tilted his head upwards, only to see Silverhand shutting and locking the door. Johnny bent down for another kiss, which John wasn't hesitant to return --- but the former soldier moaned when he felt his balls getting massaged by Wick's knee. "Sneaky fuck." He hissed, tone faltering. He barely managed to pull away from him before getting up on the bed. "Strip." He commanded.

"Make me!" Wick barked. "You don't want me to do that, babygirl." The other man shot back. John still didn't move much; he just changed his sitting position. Johnny chuckled and yanked him by the tie, making it so their foreheads touched. His metallic hand reached down to skim over his clothed buttocks, staying there before moving to unbuckle that pest of a belt. "You want me to make you want to strip?" He spoke. John just feebly nodded. " 'Kay then."

Without wasting much more time, the belt was discarded to the floor and the pants unzipped. He slid them down so that John's bare ass was exposed. He grinned devilishly as his metallic index finger traveled down his sensitive skin and penetrated the assassin's butthole. John yelled out, to which Johnny kissed him. "Gotta be quiet, baby. Can't let them know about our love." He whispered. John let out a quiet whine, nodding. With that, he started pumping his finger in and out.

Wick shuddered, his cheeks clenching tightly around it. "M..ore.." he finally mumbled. "More? Okay, pudding." Johnny cooed.

He added a second finger, stretching him out. He went on to use his other hand to slowly slide his pants down in full. "What a whore. Already getting hard, for me? I'm so flattered." He chuckled, giving his dick a quick squeeze. Not knowing what to do, John thrusted his hips forward. "More, please, more." he begged.

"Quite the needy little slut, aren't you?" Johnny growled, the man whining again. "Take me." He whispered, wrapping his arms around his waist. "Pl..ease. It's been so long since I've done anything sexual. You need to fuck me." Wick admitted softly. Surprised, he took his hand out of his hole. He silently stripped him of his underwear, biting his lip when he saw his dick.

When he went to go reach for his shirt, he got stopped by a pair of normal hands. "Allow me. My clothes are mine." John growled. He removed his tie, followed by his blazer, then his undershirt. Johnny marveled at his stature. He was actually bulky beneath the suit, his backside the most notably strongest part of his upper body. Tattoos were crafted along the skin, telling tales that he'd like to explore further.

"'Fortune favors the bold', eh? Nice. Now who's your fucking master?" He taunted. "Nobody!" John snarled, to which he got spanked. He decided to surrender. "You, Johnny. You're my master." John replied seductively. "Strip me, baby." He marvelled at how smooth he was, taking his time but not being too slow. His bare upper chest made John want to blow then and there. Not a single hair in sight.

He continued, removing his clunky boots, pants, and underwear. "All done, sir." He said obediently. "Good boy! Now suck my cock." John got on his hands and knees, putting his lips on the tip. He looked up for permission. Once he got the nod, he went the whole way down.

He started moving his head in a metronome-like fashion, holding onto the bedsheets for support. Johnny groaned. He wanted to cum already! But he couldn't let that happen just yet. "Okay, Sir Blows-a-Lot, that's enough. Now, I want you to lay down on your back for me." He ordered gently. "Remember, quiet."

"Yes, master Silverhand." He mumbled, doing as told. "This is going to hurt. I won't move unless you want me to. Got it? Good." He lifted Wick's legs over his shoulders and entered him. This caused them both to yelp in pain. "Go." John mumbled. He grunted as the dominant man started thrusting.

"Babygirl," the boy said, "I want to hear you. Moan for me, baby." He himself started moaning, moving his hands to roam John's body aimlessly. He pinched his nipples harshly, watching him wince. "Why aren't you letting Master hear you?" he teased.

"I-I sound embarrassing when I moan! Please, don't make me do it ---!" Before he could utter another word, he was met with a slap to the face. He let out a high-pitched groan, blushing red afterwards. "Beautiful," Johnny said, "so beautiful and loud enough for only me to hear."

Wick would be lying if he said that that didn't turn him on. He whimpered as Johnny sped up in his thrusts. When he did, he hit the bundle of nerves that set him off most. "Deeper." he demanded.

"What?"

"You heard me! I SAID DEEPER, SILVERASS!" The futuristic male was practically pounding into him at this point and they began to feel close. John finally cracked an exhausted, lazy, lustful smile for the first time in ages. "Baby, I'm gonna c ---" Johnny attempted to warn him, but spilled his load into him before he could do so.

"MASTER, JESUS CHRIST!" The other boy screamed.

He spilled all over himself, to which Johnny helped himself to some of his seed. "Not half bad for a grump puss." he commented, laughing. He cleaned himself up and put on his underwear. "John, let's get you all clean and such." Silence. "John?" He again called.

He looked over to see him snoring, eyes closed. "Kinda cute for a fighter." He smiled softly for once, stroking his black hair. "I hope you have a nice rest, beautiful." He turned off the lights, making sure that both he and Wick were dressed enough for a sociable standard. As he opened the door, he was greeted by a whining pitbull. "Hey, Dog! You wanna see the other Johnny? You hungry?" he offered.

The dog scratched at the door, looking back at the metallic-armed man. "Okay." He opened the door back up. He felt guilty for abandoning the guy he slept with. Most experiences were one night stands, but he felt he needed to protect him. With that, he took off his shades and walked back in.

This caused a half-asleep John to be alarmed, glaring despite having droopy eyelids. "Relax. It's just me, Silverass. I'm here to protect you."

"I don't need protecting. It's fine."

"You do, and you're not kicking me out as easily as you think you are."

Too tired to fight, John rolled over in bed and closed his eyes. Johnny climbed onto the mattress, which let out a few squeaks and groans as he laid down. "Night, princess." He chuckled. John smacked his metallic arm, which only caused him pain. Johnny rolled over, wanting to hold him. But he refrained.

Instead, he spooned.

[mahou-no-momo]

Fam, the way Sakura stans be talking about how Sasuke treats Sakura is soooo bad and everyone excuses it because ✨ misogyny ✨ and stuff she did as a child. Uhhh no, we're being critical of everything she has done over the course of the series as well as Boruto. No one is completely excusing any of his behavior and tbh outside of tumblr most people hate Sasuke for asinine ass reasons and are in favor of Sakura during discussions even if they do hate her.

And as far as I'm concerned I'm indifferent to most of the female characters because they could be written better overall. Tsunade and Konan are the only two I really felt like had some somewhat consistent effort put into them before kinda fizzling out for the other male characters towards the end. But that's neither here nor there.

Sasuke does not owe Sakura love or affection just because she confessed her obsession to him several times and becomes all subservient when he's around. He also doesn't have to be nice to her for any reason. Hell, he was hardly nice to anyone outright so let's not pretend this was some concentrated effort on his part to cause her harm when most of the time he tried to ignore her, and she would get all up in his damn face when he wanted to be left alone. Clearly. If we're still on about the "hE tRiEd To KilL hEr". She tried to kill him first. Shit wasn't abuse, they weren't friends or lovers at that point in time. What abuse? As far as he was concerned, she was someone he once knew that had become an enemy and attempted to attack him. But because she couldn't go through with it he should've not protected himself? In a world that treat shinobi they're easily thrown away when no longer of any use? Bye.

People don't dislike her or her relationship to Sasuke because ✨ misogyny ✨~ they dislike her because she did shit like running into battle without a plan because she wanted Sasuke's attention. Meanwhile she became an inconvenience and nearly got herself killed. She had been a shinobi just as long as they have, was top of her class at the academy, same as Sasuke, and yet did some dumb shit like that. For his acknowledgement. I'd call her ass useless to her face too. They were in the middle of a damn war. A near world ending war. They dislike her because during the Forest of Death she was calling Sasuke a coward for hiding from enemy shinobi, who were much stronger and more experienced than them, meanwhile he had to again, save her ass. You can say "sHe WaS a ChiLd" all day long but her actions have been relatively consistent. She's selfish and immature even into adulthood. Using her childhood behavior to show that consistency isn't ✨ misogyny ✨

#anti-sasusaku #anti-sakura #Like look I'll be the first one to say I hate how the female characters are written on Naruto #Wholeheartedly I do #But let's not pretend Sakura is a great character who was misunderstood and mistreated by her one true love #Naw #Sasuke does not owe her his feelings #She is not entitled access to him #She put herself in the situation of a shit marriage #If they're even actually married lmao #He made his feelings clear and she continued to pursue him #She literally knows dick all about him or his past #But somehow she just 'loves' him #rant #ranting #vent

[shummashum]

Klaus Goldstein Ch14 [11~15]

eh failed?

oh fuck there was an attack reflection gimmick okay let's memo this she has an attack reflection gimmick at the beginning of phase 1

"tsun tsun" thank you LuciLuci by the way this is my first time seeing Luci use magic this guy uses a pendant as a medium

well I'm not that concerned about him he has a dedicated tank, supporter, and sub-dealer for him after all the possibility of Zeus' injury or death… is probably low

Anyway, Zeus recited the incantation again, making her arm damaged.

oh… capturing her alive? not in dead state?

Well Liz also joined in and added a second rope.

um… Al that statement is quite dangerous

uh… guys? the bgm hasn't turned off yet guys would you please stop using magic spells like that it's a ridiculously powerful spell that can instantly revive a dying opponent restrain yourself let's do something called mouth crackdown yeah??

I told you,,, I sense the energy of being fucked that looks like some kind of ancient incantation, then the one who recited that might be the culprit

and Cae, also sensing that something got wrong, told everyone to run away!!

don't ask just run for your life

but wait why did you guys come here alone? why didn't you get support from the Ministry?? now that you're cooperating with them, you should've suck out their marrow come to think of it, they just came without any report to the higher-ups

that that that that that killer doll was he really the culprit that fucking killer doll someday I'll definitely catch that bastard and break his horns

Meanwhile…

I told you I repeatedly told you to watch your mouth it's your fault the reason things ended up like this is because you guys spoke carelessly

oh… shit a meat shield -- I mean, a tank was needed

As she helplessly looked at the arrow flying towards her…

uh… he's gone he's gone… he's gone after all

well but I knew it he piled up the flags endlessly, it's even weirder that he wouldn't die oi Eli your brother got fucked!!

uh, whatever is that going to be processed as an industrial accident? in any case, he got injured while working but then again, can I consider this as "while working" they didn't tell the Ministry in advance like "We're going to raid the wizardess" or something then this case will be treated as a non-work issue then it's not going to be considered as an industrial accident

uh erm um well…… let's at least retrieve the body first

so centered around Caesar, Al, Zeus, and even Luci gathered their strength but why not Hiro,,? um… because there's no light magic in Hinomoto? now that I think about it, I've never seen him use any spell is it true that he uses Hinomoto magic aka Onmyodo in the first place? what kind of magic does he use eh… I don't know

oh… this guy can recite an ancient incantation?

but it looks like… a kind of Japanese? that might be an anagram of the Japanese form of a certain spell but my head will hurt from trying to interpret it, so I'll pass

oi you you still do that even after what happened

well… can we judge that they really did it this time, right?

since the heart was pierced, can it actually be considered death? but he was pierced by a magic arrow, not something physical like a unicorn horn doesn't that mean there are no physical wounds then can we say that the mechanism is ultimately the same as cardiac arrest caused by internal factors it's a matter of golden time after all maybe we can save him?

-Ch14 End-

#shumma plays wh