#for anybody who didn't know

[iwasbored777]

The fact that all Gwen knows about her variants in other universes is that they're dead is so sad. Like imagine you want to know what happens to you in other dimensions and it turns out that wherever you look you mean nothing, you're so unimportant that there's no bigger role for you other than dying.

And I've seen you guys pointing this out, where she's looking at what looks like her own death and even if it's not this is not just a "love interest" Gwen, this is a superhero who is supposed to mean something, but she doesn't. She's only here to die. And so far this (our) Gwen doesn't have any reason to believe that she won't die very soon just like other Gwens.

I think that one of the main reasons why she's rejecting Miles is not just her trauma and all shit she's been through and the fear of dying like other Gwens when they're involved with Spider-Man, but also because if they start something and she dies this will hurt him too.

It's easy to say "canon events aren't true she shouldn't believe in that" but this isn't just a regular risk, this is her life we're talking about.

#my baby just wanted to stay alive #her death just casually appeared above her head and she's expected to continue the conversation normally #and it doesn't look like she died peacefully at all look at her #spider man across the spider verse #Spiderverse #across the spiderverse #gwen stacy #spider woman #spider gwen #ghost spider #to anyone who says that this is kravens last hunt he injured peter badly in that comic almost killed him #but that doesn't mean that she won't die either in hands of kraven or anybody else #or that this is just one canon event she has more but as far as she knows she'll die if she touches spider man or just die like that #but I'm not sure if it's even kravens last hunt pic she doesn't look well here either way #to me it looks like she's hurt here I didn't think about other possibilities until y'all said it could be but it's sus i think she's hurt

[moderndaypandora]

I love every "Death set Dream up with Hob on purpose" headcanon, and I love "actually I was planning to throw Chaucer at you but I can wing it pretty damn well and, once I heard Hob call me stupid, I knew, yeah that's going to be Dream's boyfriend". It takes a village (or an older sister) to get Dream a boyfriend.

Now, I'm picturing the entire Endless family blindsided when Dream comes to a family dinner like "I GOT MARRIED! LIKE TWO MINUTES AFTER THE LAST DINNER--" "That was a literal century ago?!"
 "-- YEAH. WE'RE DOING A VOW RENEWAL."

Not a single sibling clocked this. Not even Destiny.

Destiny, out loud: it was an unlikely path in my book, so I didn't give it much attention 
Destiny, in his head: honestly I started speed-reading/skimming through Dream's love life paragraphs because watching him crash and burn and cause massive body counts just seemed so... repetitive and predictable?

Death: knowing our brother, I was carefully managing my expectations and was just glad he was still doing the century meetups last time I'd checked. Good for him, managing to stay with somebody for a century, that outstrips his last relationship by ... like 7 decades.  Kind of offended I wasn't invited to this wedding, kind of not planning to say anything?

Desire: At this point, I stick my fingers in my ears and go "lalalalalala" whenever I hear anything about Dream and want, either him wanting or somebody wanting him, because Death said I had to stop making fun of him for how disproportionate his Yearn to Act Ratio was, and any ammunition I can't use is just ... irritating. I figured if anything really changed, my twin would tell me about his descent into misery.

Despair: He was less miserable, but I assumed it was a fluke and he'd return to his normal equilibrium eventually. And it's not like my twin let me know he'd managed to successfully want AND obtain something?

Destruction is Sir Not Appearing In This Picture.

And Delirium had more important things to think about than her brother's sad love life, like would flying fish fired out of confetti cannons be considered birds until they landed?

Meanwhile all denizens of the Dreaming are never not aware that Dream is happily married, because the weather has been perfect for years and the throne room stained glass is some variation of Hob and Dream being lovey-dovey.

Lucienne: If I see them necking in the stacks ever again I will be forced to take action, and Lord Morpheus is aware of that fact, but we haven’t had a library flood in 103 years, so overall we’re pleased.

#silly nonsense #the sandman #dreamling #dream's love life is a car accident that everybody sees coming and either goes 'AGAIN?' or prepares popcorn for #and he's very aware of that fact #which is why he's like 'can we keep this private for a little while? not ashamed of you #just very aware of how my siblings will react. a lot of wincing and bet placing' #hob: your family places bets? #dream: yeah. destiny keeps a record of all wagers but doesn't take part since he's omniscient #hob: so isn't he already aware we're married? #dream: he's the one who taught me snitches get stitches #dream: and he errs on the side of 'if you don't already know #i shouldn't tell you' #( #destiny: mother didn't raise us to snitch #desire: mother didn't raise us at alll #) #dream: so he'll keep quiet because it's not his business #hob: alright but we're wearing wedding rings and if anybody asks we're not denying we're married #dream: [touched that hob's so emphatic that they're married] #idek what century this is happening in #it'd be funny if it's 18th or 19th #therefore there'd be no quarrel in 1889 #but if dream got fishbowled hob would be out for blood

[uncanny-tranny]

It's just... odd to me, I suppose, going from "what is in my pants is completely irrelevant to most anybody else's life" to the expectation that you must be completely open, essentially, about what is in your pants.

I think a lot of people understand the general idea of why it's bad decorum to demand people offer explanations for private information like this, but they don't analyze exactly why it's bad besides, "asking directly is just rude" and not "asking in any way still enforces the often violent nature of gender and sex, and putting people in the 'right box' is a part of that violence."

It's especially odd when seeing other trans people enforcing the idea that "what's in your pants?" is a genuine, good-faith basis for interacting with others.

#trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #mtf #nonbinary #what i mean by the last paragraph is... WHY does it matter? #if i lied to you right now about what is in my pants... how would you know OR how would you change how i am treated by you? #and also. i would absolutely rather lie about my *own* body than be put in danger because it is a trans body #if worse comes to worst i genuinely don't care if somebody is mildly insulted that i didn't 'trust them' enough with that information #it's just weird to see people go from 'only tell doctors that info; it hardly matters outside that!' to... #...'you need to tell ANYbody - even in social and platonic situations where you don't think it matters'... #...can you see how believing in the fundamental idea (that your sex and to extent gender is not your own and belongs to everybody else)... #...doesn't really mesh well with the idea that trans people should be able to live an autonomous life wherein their information is *theirs* #and can you see how for people who aren't trans but have an 'its complicated' with the broad 'what's in your pants?' would ALSO be hurt? #because even if you don't word it as such you still present the fundamental idea that - again - your sex and gender are required informatio #and that it must be judged to be 'accurate' so others can place you in whatever direction they want to treat you with #anyway lying about this shit isn't Inherently Evil and the idea that it's like. a boogeyman is weird actually

[svtskneecaps]

took advantage of what may apparently be the last quiet qsmp night for a WHILE to watch through some day 1 vods, since i didn't hop on the train until mid april. holy SHIT there is gold in those metaphorical hills. one day i gotta make a compilation fr but it is so tedious the way i get clips.

anyway here's a collection of highlights:

#qsmp #block game brainrot #shut up vic #for those of you who might not have time to watch a million hours of livestreams lol #a few day 1 gems i haven't seen mentioned recently #can MAYBE find time stamps for those if requested #i was watching phil bad and foolish though i jumped around i didn't watch straight through #i have some time but i don't have 'catch up on qsmp' time #OTHERWISE MAYBE I'D WRITE THE GODDAMN SLIMERIANA TIME LOOP AU GRRRRRRRRR #my brain goes nuts over it constantly but grr grrrr grrrr i didn't see flippa live bc she was DEAD WHEN I ARRIVED #AND I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR MANY VODS SCREAMS. #AND!!! I DON'T!!!!! SPEAK SPANISH!!!!!!!! #anyway lol if anybody knows fast convenient ways to clip vods either on youtube or twitch but mostly youtube lmk #(and by clip i mean 'get video files' idk how clipping works on twitch bc literally qsmp is the only reason i'm on twitch) #anyway it's 4 am enjoy these unhinged tags goodnight 😴 #bbh may have fixed his sleep schedule (allegedly) but balance must be restored to the universe apparently lol #long tags

[childrenofthesun77]

...okay, so I'm probably not the first person to notice this.

But gear's earing that he points towards when he says that he did the same ritual he wanted to help kuro with already on himself before:

actually looks pretty similar to the pieces of the necklace the count used to create the servamps:

The different pieces of the necklace seem to contain one demon each and the count used them to create the servamps.

So...did the count either learn this technique from the werewolves or is he possible even originally a werewolf himself? It would explain why he's immortal, that's why I'm wondering about this.

Gear says that the ritual is used to remove spirits, could it be that the count removed his own sins using the werewolf ritual and created the demons this way? But he went too far and removed too much unlike gear who only removed one part of himself? Him removing the sins from himself would also explain why he's so weird and doesn't understand other beings. As the sin demons say, they are a natural part of being a human and we have seen multiple times that denying their existence is harmful, removing them all from you would probably lead to you not being able to relate to other people anymore.

Maybe removing all these parts of himself is also why he has no appearance. Without his demons he's not a person anymore.

The count originally being a werewolf would also explain why he has magical abilities (gear can also use magic) before other magicians existed and why he's so anxious about certain people dying. Gear talks about how his immortality makes him sad because human friends do die, but unlike the count gear seems to accept death, grieves in a heathier way than the count and is able to move on and make new friends. Could also explain why his magic and creations are all strongly tied to the (full) moon.

Another similarity is that while werewolves apparently can't reproduce gear was able to have descendants by sharing his life force (it's mentioned in chapter 135 which isn't translated yet) with a woman and through her human children tsurugi is related to gear. Sigurd explained to nicco that the magicians came to be because the count let humans drink his blood, three survived, got magical ablities and became the ancestors of all human magicians:

Maybe the count is more of a werecat though. He and the sloth demon do seem to have a closer connection, even though the count's appearance changes depending on the person looking at him he does usually keep his tail and the tip looks exactly like the one of kuro's cat/lion form and similar to the the one of inner sloth's non-human form.

It was also stated multiple times that the sloth demon is the strongest. I wonder why that is. Servamp comments on the fact that being lazy is often actually a sign of depression/anxiety through kuro's arc, so maybe the count was depressed and that's why the sloth demon is the strongest? Basically the demons strength depends on how much the count suffered from the different sins? It would also explain why melancholy is so strong, I assume kuro refusing to see him no matter how many siblings he sent his way to tell him to come looking for the count made him extremely sad and probably even made him come up with the plan to have himself be killed and then put in the same body as kuro through the ritual.

I assume he was behind C3 ordering the servamps to kill him because he's the one who created the magicians and thus C3 and lily who is kind of working for him was probably the one who put the idea that the count needed to be killed into the head of his eve (aka a member of the alicein family who hold a lot of power in C3 basically since the beginning. I explained this in more detail in another post). The people from C3 even said that the count can only be killed if he wants to and yeah, kuro didn't truly kill him, but he did destroy his body and kuro seems to have met little resistance when he attacked the count. Which probably means the count wanted this to happen.

#servamp #...if the servamps/demons all came from the count and the magicians are all basically the descendants of the count #does that mean this truly is all just a huge family conflict #since basically everyone involved is somewhat related to the count?😅 #Sigurd says he's related to one of the three people who drank the counts blood #I'm still wondering if mahiru is special because he might have the blood of all three bloodlines #and C3 has a rule in place that forbids all three bloodlines from crossing #probably put in place by the count or lily #and that's why akira told nobody who the father of her child was #I still like my absolute crack theory that because mahiru might have “more” of the counts blood in him that he has no fixed appearance eith #But because he's so normal everyone perceives him as normal so nobody noticed until now that mahiru looks slightly different to all of them #honestly it would explain/excuse some questionable choices made by characters who as far as we know should be good people #Like why akira didn't tell anybody who the father was #why tooru tried to avoid being seen with mahiru in school by always saying he's to busy #Why tooru told mahiru not to tell the secret to anyone else #and why mahiru was raised as mundane as possible and as far away from C3 as possible #even why tooru kept his work for C3 secret from mahiru even after mahiru made the contract #and why he still didn't tell him the name of his father #If people know your relatives they start comparing you to them #If people knew that touma was mahiru's father they might expect mahiru to look like him #If people only knew mahiru was related to akira and tooru they would expect him to look like them #If people at school only knew mahiru but never met tooru before mahiru's appearance to them might be too different from tooru #Touma saying mahiru looks exactly like tooru doesn't disprove this crack theory either btw #Touma sees mahiru as tooru 2.0 and he's not 100% convinced he's actually mahiru's father so mahiru appearing as a copy of tooru makes sense #Just like mahiru would perceive himself as looking like akira and tooru because those are the only close relatives of his he knows #Sorry but I'm having too much fun with this crack theory #the twist that raising mahiru as the “ordinary high school student” was all a plot by his family #to keep people from noticing that they don't actually agree on what he looks like is too funny to me

[crossbackpoke-check]

Why I Am Not Coming In To Work Today [abridged], Jess Zimmerman

part one | part two

#me when everybody is posting the maple leafs sad narratives and i am furiously generating this like HOLD ONNNN HOLD ONNNNNNN #honestly i could've been SOOOO MEAN about this because i saw this poem & alexandra got the preview on the poetry blog #where i just reblogged the first half of this poem point blank with the tags #kyle dubas #toronto maple leafs #& got yelled at aksdaksf & it literally only didn't go on this blog bc i usually write more & then it was percolating & i looked up the poe #& it was only the FIRST PART i'd reblogged i didn't know there was more & then brain immediately went brrrrr ok time for an edit. #this is a long one lol & i also have no idea if it makes sense to anybody but me but because y'all know me i will always overexplain so!! #my reasoning for the reasons obvi kyle. that's a given i hope he's doing well i hope he & his family r good but man is not coming in to wor #the second edit took me a stupid amount of time bc i am nitpicky but also i learned how to do the layers & transparency from the claude edi #that actually y'all don't know about lmao but i lost my mind when i saw how perfectly those pictures align i was scrolling getty & was like #ok december i'm gonna do a headline one (in my brain with the november/june quote about choosing to die again) w/ maple leafs playoff odds #how they say at winter break you know who's gonna be in the playoffs & who'll win & they thought they had a shot but it's mitchie overlaid #the 2003-04 team who'd last won a playoff round with the atlantic division stats from dec for 22-23 & how long it's been & dec headlines #i wanted breakup/recent/never loved to be a recent trade acquisition somebody who bounced around & somebody else so i almost had simmer #brodie & zar but then i wanted to make murray for breakup at any time &i forgot zar & him were on the pens together &it hit me like a truc #bc there's a photo of the two of them EXACTLY the same so close it's scary of this one but them as pens so they had to be it & i did always #know never loved again was mitchie. sorry. also mitchie in the penalty box the last game but i couldn't find footage of it & this one works #no i could not find a photo of tyler bertuzzi fighting a leaf for a dog looked at me yes i tried. #i almost made the bunting photo jt but instead it's 'bunting a rat etc' anyway the one i really feel unhinged about is dead pets bc at firs #i was gonna make it the handshake line & look to see if the leafs had drafted anybody on the panthers (dead pet former draft pick) #& they had & it was carter verhaeghe & i couldn't get a good pic of matthews & verhaeghe but it's fine bc i thought about the mo/luke schen #narrative (in which they are a perfect d pair long lost) & schenn was drafted by the leafs & that line fits jut trust me. also how i feel #about the kniesy luminous line that one possessed me it had to be kniesy idk why. i almost put gussy as girls are too pretty though ALSO #did u like my joke. daylight SAVINGS time on the goalie. thank u. also my photo magic on the jt (me very poorly editing in him as an isle) #OK ALSO HOLD ONNNNN there is a part two but i have to wait for the Content i want it will come out as soon as [redacted] or sooner #if i get bad at waiting &everyone will pretend like it is always the way it will be once i have the photos i want. speaking of did the leaf #simply not take a team photo this year?? it Does Not Exist for me i have tried very hard to look for it also i'm excited for part 2 #one of them is named oh you're so unhinged for this one & the finished product is you're unhinged in ways you didn't even know u were sorry #liv in the replies

[ginaporterr]

HIIII Y'ALL!!!!!!! this is honestly very insane to me but i recently hit 1k on here, so i just wanted to say thank you all for being here and joining me on this fun ride over the past two years since i made this blog. i feel like i've joined the hsmtmts/specifically rina fandom three separate ways/times and i've always been able to easily find my niche of people, which really speaks to how open and wonderful this community as a whole is. this third time around was no exception, this little subsection of some of the nicest, funniest, smartest, most talented, most supportive people ever means the world to me, so thank you all for following and partaking in all of the fun that was this rollercoaster of a show, and thank you for supporting my relentless content creation bc i am most definitely not stopping anytime soon skdjfks 😭 this milestone perfectly coincided with the show's ending since i hit it on the day of s4's release, so i thought it would be fun to celebrate both my little milestone & the ending of our beloved show (and our many major wins) with you all, the lovely people that have made this time with the show as wonderful as it was! this show, these characters, and you all hold a very special place in my heart, so. let's celebrate it all!!

like last time, this celebration will be split into two components; prompts & polls! i thought it would be fun to see the difference in top ships now that the second half of the show's been released (+ with a bigger voting pool), so we're running it back! to join in on the celebration, you can vote in the poll linked below and/or send in an ask with a prompt!!

RULES — mbf this blog — send in a prompt (or multiple) from below — vote in the top ships poll

PROMPTS — ❄️ : song association! send in one of your favorite songs and i'll make a gifset relating it to some aspect of the show — 🦋 : personalized sets! tell me what you like about hsmtmts / what it means to you (in as little or as much detail as you'd like) and i'll make something inspired by your message — 🌀 : requests! send in a character/dynamic/episode/etc. + color/quote/song/motif/etc. that you'd like a gifset of — 🪁 : make me choose! send in two (or more) characters/episodes/dynamics/scenes/etc. & i’ll choose between them for a gifset — 💙 : surprise! for mutuals only <3 (reminder that i follow from milesgmorales)

and one last thing, i want to especially say thank you to some of my mutuals, old and new, that have made being here one of my favorite experiences <3 you all genuinely brighten up my dash, my tag, my blog, the show tag, the ao3 tag, everything with your thoughts and creations and talent and humor and i'm so very grateful to you all bc these past few years would not have been the same without you (especially those of you that were around for the s2/post-s2 rina dark ages KSJDKFH) forever grateful to this fun little disney show for bringing so many wonderful people into my life <3 LOVE YOU ALL MWAH

@ginaricky @laylakeating @homemade-ghosts @chuckclayton @richiebowen @saythewylie @aamirmitchell @pinkhysteria @mjsparkour @bakerolivia @spookys @blues-valentine @ginasporter @starrrbakerrr @emiraee @squishymar @rickybowsn @mariasyko @frostluvrs @ginaluvr @narcobarbies @usersojo @tabithatate @kitherondale @mike-el @userguts @kayascodelorio @yellowlaboratory @bartowskis

don't feel obligated to participate or rb ksdjkfs

#what's the surprise who knows not me #is it a gifset? is it something else? stay tuned to find out #(probably gonna be a gifset KDSJDFH) #i hope the butterfly emoji prompt makes sense #and that i can actually deliver 😭 #hsmtmtsedit #hsmtmts #ricky bowen #gina porter #maddox #ashlyn caswell #kourtney greene #jet #rina #madlyn #jetney #gp1k #hoping i didn't forget anybody bc i will feel terrible but. if we are mutuals just know i love you dearly sdjfjksf <3 #ignore the bits of text that won't stay small bc the new post editor sucks

[hikayunas]

the selection of animals in promised blood is really good for a lot of reasons, but something i've always liked was the fact that the animals even fit together when you look at their real-life diets.

as apex predators, tigers have a wide selection of prey on their menus -- but most notably, will snack on monitor lizards (closest thing to dragons), snakes, horses when they can get their claws on them, and potentially even bats (given the overlap of range between flying foxes and bengal tigers, i'm not sure why a tiger wouldn't eat a bat if it managed to snag one.)

a very common predator for a lot of bat species worldwide? snakes.

given all the talk of killing each other for "food" in futatsugi...it all sort of just clicks together well, i think.

#more disjointed ramblings from yours truly #i have a lot of feelings about. promised blood something something oni something something cannibalism #(if my already-posted yuna man-eating tiger bit didn't make that clear enough) #i'm not sure how interesting anybody else'll find this (i think it's really cool) but it's my blog so i'm talking about it anyway #magia record #kureha yuna #kasane ao #(well they're not explicitly mentioned by name but 'tiger' 'snake' we all know who i'm talking about there) #rambles

[4lph4kidz]

#unrebloggable because i dont want anybody who sees this to do so without knowing that i fucking hated dj at the time #largely bc the fan content was uh. i don't want to say bad but it was deeply uninteresting. but in the comic on the other hand? #i actually found the resulting conflict interesting and seeing two human characters have to reckon with if being mlm would change how #their friends perceived and treated them was literally the best and most grounded and most validating portrayal of what it was like to be a #queer teenager that i had ever seen. it meant a lot to me #but that wasn't really the same as shipping it #which i very much do now as an adult #teen me would hate myself but its okay me i got older and gayer and came back to this comic with a bunch of mental illnesses you're welcome #i'm not dissing rosmary btw i fucking loved it as a teenager. so much. it just didn't have the same reckoning with the reality of queerness #i was obsessed with rose as a teen. i wish i could go back. now i like her deranged gay dad instead

[riemmetric]

I've finished season 2 of 9-1-1 and watched the tsunami arc of season 3 (plus some more random episodes here and there). A thought:

This show is genuinely funny and I honestly love how much the writers lean into comedy throughout the episodes. Writing a show about first responders demands a balance that's a hard to achieve. Obviously in real life every single small fire and accident with no fatalities can constitute a trauma for a person. Every 9-1-1 call is significant for the caller's life and could alter their entire existence. But from the perspective of making an interesting show, you can't write a house fire every episode. You need drama and you need cliffhangers and you need big moments, one every season. This show features what is a essentially a mini disaster movie every season. I love disaster movies so that is extremely fun for me personally, but a show like this could get unhinged very fast. And it kind of does, but I find the comedic aspect of it balances out the dramatic moments and give it an air of unseriousness, surprisingly in a good way. Kind of like the writers saying "it's ok to laugh while watching this". It's supposed to be funny. It's ok to think this is ridiculous and wouldn't really happen like this in reality, but let's roll with it. Let's play pretend for a little while. Let's have fun.

And I think Angela Basset and Peter Krause are executing their assignments in this direction really well, between her deadpan delivery of lines and his facial expressions, they carry out the comedic scenes flawlessly. I would say these are sometimes even better than some of the more dramatic moments, which do sometimes fall into cheesiness and suffer from "no one talks like that in real life" disease.

#911 fox #911 abc #hi guys! i'm putting this in the tag because i don't know anybody who watches this show #and i need to maybe to talk to someone about it. even if only indirectly through likes and reblogs #tsunami arc my beloved i love disaster movies SO MUCH. genuinely one of my all time favourite movies are 2012 and the day after tomorrow #snow storm in LA plotline WHEN?? #i didn't want to put any character discourse in this post but for what is worth bobby is 100% my fave character #like no comparison he's hands down the most interesting to me

[uncanny-tranny]

I think it's all about care, in the end. My cat is curled up on the bed I made for her, and the yarn used was made by people I never met, and the machines that they operated were invented by people who are perhaps long-dead. The electricity that courses through the veins of those machines were maintained in ways I never have witnessed, and it's about care, and pain, and care again. It's always going to be about care and community. Nothing that is built without that in the forefront of its mind will ever hope to live forever - only we will, and our care will. The only thing that will remain immortal - even with the pain even immense - is our care.

It's about care. It's about curling up on a warm blanket made by somebody who loved you enough to want you to be warm, and there won't be a shortage of that kind of care and love - it isn't a finite resource.

#positivity #we are not an island #we were not born alone - we won't have to die alone #the idea that you can survive alone is part of how you are alienated from not only the world but from yourself #will anybody who made this yarn know that it is warming the best friend love of my life #will they know how much she loves this blanket when she is cold and weary? will they know the love that went into the blanket? #will they know that their labour went to something soft even when they themselves didn't get that treatment all the time? #it does sometimes make me sad to know i will never be able to prove to the people who have done so much that they aren't unnoticed #maybe it's hubris or maybe it's being afraid that purposelessness is pervasive and seemingly unavoidable in a world that often devalues... #...who and what you are

[monards]

i know hoyo is setting up rhine to have good intent and whatever in her trying to 'save' khaneri'ah or whatever; but i REALLY hope they stay with the cruel persona thats been built up for her. because it would be so wonderful to see a character who had good intent in the beginning just get absolutely corrupted; with the inability to ever go back to that prior state purely because of what had happened. also because there is NO way in her turning back after all that shit

#sorry. i dont think theres any good and plausible explanation for rhine to still be a kind or gentle person in general #she can (and SHOULD) have her moments. but it'd make so much more sense (and be much more impactful) for her to be inherently cruel #because look at all the stuff thats happened #i love the indomitable human spirit trope. dont get me wrong. #but rhine has that in the way she WONT stop her research till shes either dead or murdered. she is not gonna be gentle kind and optimistic #she watched all her kids (that she was SHOWN to care for) get very brutally murdered. #had to then go and kill her next creations that she didn't consider perfect (which most certainly fucks a women up. no matter what you say) #made the 'perfect creation' and the way she treated him was obviously a HUGE contrast to how she was before (being gentle and nuturing) #and left him (albeit with what we can guess was good intent) with NO goodbye just #a recommendation letter. a text. and his final mission #she could have good intent #and still care for others #dont get me wrong!!!!!!! #but shes. human??? #humans can be (as much as i hate to say it) a tad selfish when it comes to survival #and being antagonized demonized AND shunned by teyvat and even her own people. having to survive multiple gods wrath #isn't. gonna be good for the human psych #and it isn't gonna be something fixable #look at how furina progressively faltered over a hundered years WHILE being adored #she already started waning in her ethics and morals (as someone immortalized as a human WOULD) #with exposing lyney and all of that when it was VERY clearly the morally wrong thing to do (which her as a human would know) #and being relatively pessimistic and clearly spiralling #(no hate. i love furina with all my heart.) #if thats how FURINA started going #imagine rhine who has nobody (save maybe alice. but i doubt she'd be constant given her spontaneous nature and refusal to sit still) #shit man. even I'D go crazy and be horrible. #its okay and natural to be bitter #and its not as if anybody was there to help #hexenzirkel has a ton of women who survived their own nations falling yes #but not ONE of them (from what we know) has had circumstances any where near rhine's

[t-n-c]

The sexual/sensual coding in Aaravos and Viren's interactions: The Sequel

Also known as "Why I don't like the revelation in s5."

Trigger warning--This discussion is going to mention manipulation/coercion, homophobic stereotypes, and sexually-charged abusive/invasive behavior under the read more so please proceed with caution.

Alrighty so before I start talking about tdp s5's major reveal in the Viren + Aaravos relationship I'd like to discuss the interactions they had with each other before and after the reveal and my thoughts on them. Here we go:

First thing I'd like to note is that Aaravos is still showing the creepy, invasive behavior that concerned me in my original post. Throughout the scene he and Viren share he:

Touches Viren

Invades Viren's space

And manipulates/controls Viren's body

And in addition to controlling Viren's body, we've also find out that Aaravos can straight up move Viren's very soul if he wants.

And like I addressed in my previous post, he does all of this without asking for Viren's permission and/or showing any care for Viren's wishes--hell, he explicitly ignores Viren when the latter says he doesn't want to be in the prison with him.

That being said, these actions alone aren't the most concerning issue for me; that isn't to say that they're not concerning to me all, but it's nothing that hasn't been done before in their relationship--it's nothing new is what I'm trying to say.

However, the revelation about Sir Sparklepuff being their child is new--and imo it adds a whole new level of creepiness to the relationship.

Allow me to rehash what went down a bit:

Aaravos reveals to Viren that in order for his resurrection to be permanent, he needs to preform a spell that requires the "blood of his child"--Viren protests and claims that he'd never sacrifice his children.

Aaravos responds that he never expected him to hurt Claudia or Soren and reveals that he has a third child he can use--

Viren is confused and claims he doesn't have any other children--then Aaravos reveals that Sir Sparklepuff is his and Aaravos' child

He tells Viren that Sir Sparklepuff is there for him to use for the spell and that he will teach Viren how to use his "living essence" to reclaim both his life and his "future."

There's a lot (and I mean A LOT) of things about this scene/reveal that worry me; I'll try to sum it up neatly, but it's probably going to be pretty lengthy regardless. Here we go:

Concern 1) Viren had no idea that Sir Sparklepuff with his child, but Aaravos did

No matter how many angles I try to see it from, this feels violating to me; considering how Viren didn't know what the spell would do and how desperate he was at the time, his willingness to perform the original spell is dubious enough already--to then have it revealed that the spell produced a child that's biologically his really disturbs me. It might just be my opinion, but I feel that it adds a level of predatory to Aaravos that's unnecessary at best and horrifying at worst.

Concern 2) The lengths Aaravos has gone to keep Viren alive (and presumedly on his side).

This includes:

a) Telling Claudia the spell that would resurrect Viren.

b) Preserving Viren's body for 2 years while Claudia gathered everything necessary

c) When they first met, he chose a spell that would create a being that would not only allow them to communicate, but could also be used to resurrect Viren if the need arose.

Now assuming the writers planned this all from the beginning (I have my doubts, ngl) this shows a great deal of effort and premeditation on Aaravos's part to make sure Viren sticks around--whatever his plans may be, Viren must play a pretty big role in them or else he would have just moved on when Viren died the first time. (It's either that or he has some strange sort of fondness for Viren, which leads me to Concern # 3)

Concern 3) As of now, we have absolutely no info about how their relationship is going to be portrayed going forward

While Viren's fate is a bit ambiguous at the end of s5, I'm 90% confident that he's going to live through s6 in one way or another and assuming I'm right and that happens, there are a few paths the writers could take in how they depict the relationship

Option A) They sweep everything under the rug and pretend the sexual coding in the relationship never existed.

Option B) They portray Aaravos as a complete monster who was just using Viren for one thing or another and has now discarded him since he got what he wanted from him.

Option C) They portray Aaravos as having some dark sort of attachment to Viren--one that won't allow him to let Viren "leave him"

All these possibilities are iffy imho, but I'm honestly not sure which would be worse.

Going with Option A feels lazy--like the writers don't want to deal with the dark themes they chose to put in and decided to take the easy out.

(Granted, it wouldn't be the first time the show has dropped important plot points/developments--no one seems to have found out that Viren and Aaravos sent the assassins at the end of s2, for example--but it would still feel cowardly to me)

Going with Options B or C both feel gross--with Option B it feels like Aaravos would be the epitome of the Predatory Queer-Coded Villain--he would have effectively used and abused Viren in a violating way (i.e coerced/forced him to bear their child) and abandoned him once he was done with him. It would be pretty hard to make a case for him having a "kind side" after that.

That being said, Option C isn't really any better--Aarvos would still be following the "Predatory Villain" stereotype, the only difference would be that he'd fall more into the role of an abusive partner than the "pure evil" role that some older queer-coded villains were placed in.

TLDR: I don't like the revelation of Sir Sparklepuff being Viren and Aaravos' child because I feel it follows the reoccurring theme of possessive/violating actions from Aaravos toward Viren that I've worried about all the way back in s3.

#tdp critical #manipulation tw #coercion tw #like I said in my first post on this subject I know their relationship was never healthy #but they didn't have to go this route #to be clear this isn't me judging anybody who likes this twist or anything #I'm just giving my 2 cents #TNC analyzes cartoons #TNC theorizes #Writing this felt like being in The Twilight Zone #I started remembering all the emotions I felt after s3 was released/when I wrote Part One #It was weird but also kind of nostalgic #upcoming tags added after I mulled over my thoughts some more #if I'm honest I'm not worried ONLY about what's going to happen to Viren's character in future seasons #I'm also worried about AARAVOS'S character too--namely that he doesn't HAVE much of character outside of this relationship #we know next to nothing about him #and what we DO know feels 2-dimensional (and pretty iffy) #I'm honestly not terribly confident that they'll be able to change that and develop him too much in the 2 remaining seasons

[shima-draws]

Chimchar and Grovyle arguing over whose girlfriend is better but they have the same girlfriend so really what they’re doing is trying to see who can compliment Pip better

#Anybody who doesn't know them walks by hears the argument and is like 😬😬😬 #Meanwhile the guild members don't bat an eye. This is normal. This happens every Tuesday #Pip: Are you two fighting over me again #Chimchar: HE SAID YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL!! WHY DIDN'T **I** THINK OF THAT #Grovyle: Because I love Pip more than you. Moving on #Chimchar: /OFFENDED GASP/ HOW DARE YOU. YOU TAKE THAT BACK #Grovyle: ...Okay that might have been a bit harsh. #Pip: I can't believe this. I'm dating a pair of grade A morons #Dusknoir: You finally noticed? I'm so proud of you Pip......... #Pip: SHUT. #Pokemon #PMD #OKAY SO I HAVEN'T STARTED PLAYING YET BUT I'M PROBABLY GOING TO LOL. #They're on the brain......they're on MY brain..... #Timegearshipping #Pip #Chimchar #Grovyle #Shima speaks

[sailor-aviator]

.

#y'all my anxiety has me spiraling as of late because it just feels like my whole life is falling apart at this point #i got fired from my job a couple of months ago and i've been scrambling to try and find a new one #i work part time at a store i really love but it pays shit #and i've had all of these interviews and no one wants to hire me and i just feel unhireable at this point and it's hard not to despair #and on top of that i'm struggling with my self esteem again #i know i'm not ugly per se but i'm struggling with feeling confident in the way i look as a big girl #and all of my old insecurities are rearing their ugly heads and i want to cry just thinking about it #and i feel like such a failure right now even though i know that life has its ups and downs but my stupid brain just won't chill #and i don't really have any friends in the area because they all either moved away or didn't live here to begin with #and i'm tired of living at home because of my stupid student loans and not being able to afford to live on my own #i have one person i hang out with and we just met and i don't want to scare them off because they're a great friend and person #and i just feel like i'm never going to meet anybody who's going to love me the way i want to be loved because of my looks #also because it's me. and i feel like i'm so flawed as a person that no one will ever fall in love with me #and i've just been feeling really alone lately and i'm trying to do things to make me feel better but it's just so HARD right now #and i love writing because it gives me a chance to explore some of my feelings and it's something i genuinely love to do #and i'm sitting here waiting for the day things start to get better. and i know we all joke and i'm gonna sounds so dumb for saying this #but i feel like i was meant to be famous? or do something great idk and it's something everyone has always told me #and idk if my feelings of inadequacy are because of that or what but i'm scared that my life is going to mean nothing in the end #anyway this was a lot and you can pretend like you didn't read it. i just wanted to write some of my feelings down

[fowl-up]

Me after reading the Hartemis debate

#Holy crap I didn't know this was a thing #Woah everybody feels so strongly about this #And then there's just me who never ships anybody and just assumes all characters are friends #Okay but this is really interesting to look at #holly short #fowldom #artemis fowl