#he didn't really seem to care about???

[literary-heights]

something something very hot take i wish. more characters got to do crazy perception shattering things of their own free will without either 1. something else manipulating the situation or 2. something random getting in the way

#i'm going to sound like a broken record to my dear friends bc i literally talk about this so much but like #number one example easy xin mo #i wish it had been more of a like. exploration of how fucked up binghe is because of everything he's been through #and like a free will decision to do something that drastic #and then see how that changes the way people see him (i DONT think it would really change the ending but) #and ALSO i personally think it would work better with sqq s arc of the consequences of his actions affecting people but oh well #demon sword 😔😔😔😔😔 #number two example monty's gun in noblemans guide i literally DO NOT shut up abt this scene #let him kill someone. let adrien be so confident that he is going to die and that his brother would never kill someone #THEN LET HIM FIRE THE GUN AND HAVE IT FUCKING WORK #because with this it's like. there's a split second of hey maybe this will change their relationship but then it's never revisited because #it wasn't actually that significant of a turning point in their dynamic because adrien didn't have to watch monty kill someone #and from my perspective as the reader i've ALREADY seen monty kill someone but not without heat of the moment #and it would be a great testament to his development without giving adrien up as narrator #AND. it would be an important moment for monty because he would have been willing to kill someone over his brother who up until then #he didn't really seem to care about??? #but NOOOOOO the gun had to be broken and not fire correctly #baz. shut up challenge

[mewtwo24]

Not to be That Guy but like.

Am I the only one that can't stop thinking about how Tianlang-Jun says about Luo Binghe that he pretends to be cold-hearted like his mother. The hint of fondness there, the heartache in that utterance.

Like it drives me absolutely insane. Imagining her putting on a front of strength, cold and driven and unrelenting. Why does TLJ say that about her. Did she secretly look for solutions that meant reconciling with demons instead of hurting them when her sect wasn't looking? (I wonder this because I feel like his weird fondness for SQQ would lowkey track if it's connected to the woman he once loved.) Did he mean that she was tasked with basically assassinating him and she fell in love with him instead (re: failed step one)? Did he mean that she was fond and doting in her own way (e.g. conceding he was attractive, paying for his exploits and humoring him)? Did he mean that, like LBH, she thought that power would be the thing to protect her--and that it was disguising a person who was deeply and privately wounded? All four????? I don't need sleep I need a n s w e r s

Did she know about the Huanhua Palace Master's skeevy ass intentions before she met TLJ? Or did those only come to significant light after she fell in love with TLJ? Is that why she never anticipated that level of betrayal, because initially she had no intention of being with anyone romantically? And HHPM just assumed she would be under his thumb forever?? Was she furious at her own indiscretion or did she try to use the pregnancy as a bargaining chip, a way to try to stop the immortals of Cang Qiong Mountain from attacking TLJ (plus the bonus of marriage entrapment no takesies backsies this is where LBH gets it from)? Did she try to use that claim on her to dissuade HHPM from his covetous advances, framing herself as tainted so that she could finally escape? Did she dream of a life by TLJ's side, far away from Cang Qiong Mountain?

Like. Literally every single permutation of what this could mean guts me to hell. Do you ever just cry about tianxi because I--[loud bawling noises]

#svsss #tianxi #tianlang jun #su xiyan #like this shit keeps me awake at night #i'm trying to put fic ideas together and every time i go back to that line i just #find myself trying to parse and hone out su xiyan's mannerisms/personality #zzl's descriptions help a great deal but i also love that they're limited in the sense that #1. zzl was clearly scared shitless of/disconcerted with her LMFAO #2. he was suspicious of her (as a cultivator fundamentally) and its fascinating that TLJ did not seem to share this suspicion at all #or one could argue tlj just didn't care beyond his attraction and glee being around her jkahglfdskjhsfkhjg #there is also the hilarious implication that part of what turned tlj on so much about sx is the fact that she could prbly kill him #tlj really said 'i love a woman who can and WILL kick my ass' #'none of that soft power seduction shit manhandle me or nothing' #like he always believed deep down--or at the very least wanted to believe--that she loved both him and lbh dearly #i'm not usually the fix-it fic type but the Way I Need To See Su Xiyan Destroy Huanhua Palace Master's Entire Life. #i just want sx and her boytoy to live happily ever after is that so wrong? #i also think of that person (im so sorry tumblr user i dont rmr who u are at the minute) that said there had to be trust between tlj and sx #because YES. ABSOLUTELY. I AGREE. AND I WANT IT FOR ME #don't mind me just the usual descent into madness anytime i think too hard about svsss #i need to outline damn you airplane and your refusal to expand on LBH's juicy ass backstory #ill never forgive the chinese (joke)

[uncanny-tranny]

I jokingly thought before that reading Junie B. Jones as a kid turned me into a feminist, but unironically, it kind of did.

I honestly think it comes down to the fact that Junie B. was not only allowed to be "weird," but her character arc never concluded like other girl characters would. In other media featuring "weird girls," the girl always ended her arc tamed - by force or convince, she would be prettied up, she would smile and be polite, and she would never speak out of turn. She would be perfect then, and would shed her veneer of individuality with the freedom that is conformity. As a kid, I noticed that girls weren't permitted to be "weird" like boys were. So when I read Junie B. Jones, I loved that she was frankly just fucking weird. She said things out of turn, she was rambunctious and imaginative and she was a realistic portrayal of a little girl. I loved reading those books because the narrative taught her lessons without punishing her for being weird, if that makes sense. So often, narratives punished weird girls for the crime of being a socially unacceptable girl, not for any true wrongdoing like lying.

Anyway, I just think it's interesting, because I watched and read a ton of books and shows and movies featuring girls and women, but none of them truly empathized with (or even tried to empathize with) weird girls on their own merits and capabilities and terms, or embraced the idea of a "socially inept/unacceptable" girl without punishing her in some way for her supposed ineptitude.

#feminism #and like junie b. got in trouble A LOT but she wasn't punished FOR being weird (honestly i thought she was adhd as a kid) #i haven't read the books in WELL over a decade but this is what i truly remember liking about the books #and i felt as a kid it said something that she was a seeming rarity among the sea of other portrayals of girls #am i looking too deep into this? honestly i don't care #and it makes me wonder if all the pushback those books got was partially because junie b. wasn't an 'acceptable' girl #like she's no more 'out there' than the portrayals of little boys that are out there and there were lessons and things from what i remember #i'm not saying you HAVE to like the books by the way but i think sometimes other people can get really angry about GIRLS acting like kids #i was ranting about these books to my dad because he didn't like them but he did still let me read them so thanks dad 🫡🫡 #i just remember them being a huge part of my personal library because of how realistic and relatable junie b. was #like i acted really similarly to her when i was a kid and i felt like i was being understood (which is why i hc she's adhd/audhd/autistic)

[symbologic]

Do you ever wonder if deep down, in Luffy's heart, he doesn't let himself worry about Zoro because he genuinely can't? Because the alternative is simply too horrifying to contemplate for even a second?

Think about how awful it was for Luffy when he lost someone very dear to him at Marineford. This person had even promised — promised! — Luffy that he would never die. That he would never leave him alone. Yet this person who was supposed to be Luffy's constant was ripped away from him, and Luffy was powerless to stop it.

"Devastated" doesn't even come close to describing the abject despair Luffy felt at that moment. He completely shut down and went catatonic.

#We talk about Zoro's devotion toward Luffy #but we don't really talk about Luffy's borderline irrational faith in Zoro #Especially pre-timeskip #when it seems like Zoro was horribly injured more often than not #and there are times where Luffy comes across as insensitive at best and uncaring at worst *COUGH* thriller bark *COUGH* #Not saying Luffy doesn't care. He obviously does; and he shows it in his own way! #But I've also seen criticism of Luffy's apparent obliviousness after Thriller Bark #and imo it's not entirely unwarranted. #There's unwavering faith yes; and I don't doubt Luffy's faith in Zoro is heartfelt and genuine #AT THE SAME TIME #there's whatever tf was going on when Luffy was genuinely shocked that Zoro was running on fumes by Sabaody #as if it never even occurred to him for a second that Zoro might not get back up after getting hit by that pacifista #and maybe it genuinely didn't occur to him...because he refuses to conceive of a world without Zoro in it #because he promised Luffy — promised him! — he would would never die #text post #my meta #one piece #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #zolu #luzo #meta

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

#ask #personal #Anonymous #long post #t #aroace #ace #he cares about Vox at this point! #but that's. not really the same as respecting him. #anyway this next chapter is important to me because it's very #how do I put this #“this was okay at the moment but that doesn't mean he's okay with it overall and forever” #“and it does not mean that they've 'progressed' their relationship to the point where Alastor being aroace is a 'nonissue'” #“(feat. ofc the heavy implication that it was an issue in the first place)” #ANYWAY. SOMETIMES I HAVE A HARD TIME EXPRESSING THIS IN NON-FIC WORDS #SO HOPEFULLY THE FIC AS IT CONTINUES SPEAKS FOR ME. I AM GLAD THAT IT HAS SPOKEN TO YOU SO FAR <3 THANK YOU!! #sexuality #my writing #hazbin hotel #this is a hot button topic atm and it took me a minute to write a reply #that didn't seem like it invited discourse lmfao #actually I still feel weird posting my opinion this strongly oops OH WELL

[meraki-yao]

RWRB: Prince Henry = Princess Diana

If someone were to compare Henry to an irl royalty, many would immediately say Prince Harry. In that Variety interview with Nick, even the interviewer asked Nick if Henry was a gay version of Harry. And the association is understandable, the clearest similarity being falling for an American, and being the spare.

But hear me out.

I think Henry's counterpart is actually Princess Diana.

I went to visit my high school two weeks ago and had a chat with my best friend (a budding actress studying at NYU Tisch) and the principal (a lovely British gentleman who's willing to spend time talking to students, he greets us at the school gate every morning, and I really like and respect him) and we talked a bit about the British monarchy because we were talking about historical fiction and I mentioned the crown

And my principal (who was still living in the UK and presumably a young adult when the whole Diana thing was happening) mentioned that the monarchy used to be really isolated and closed off (granted except for state events which are still not that accessible, and occasional rebels like the Duke of Windsor and Princess Margaret) But when Diana joined the royal family, she brought a lot more public attention to the monarchy. People started paying more attention to the royal family because of her.

And she used that extra attention to shed light on causes that the crown previously didn't touch on, perhaps most notably AIDS by hugging a patient during a time when people were afraid to even approach them.

Diana didn't fit into the pre-existing, and perhaps cold mould of the monarchy. She wasn't a typical bride for the heir. (No queen consort is truly "weak" but Diana was really stubborn especially regarding how to raise her children) And honestly, while personally I think the whole marriage issue is really unfortunate circumstances and there's no singular villain, the royal family could have been a lot kinder to her.

But despite everything, and perhaps partly because she didn't fit in as well, she managed to change things for the better.

Prince William took after his mother's efforts to shed light on marginalized groups or topics that need to be addressed: he's the first royal to appear in a gay magazine, he's currently doing a couple projects tackling homelessness, he and Princess Kate have a couple of projects regarding mental health and anti-bullying, he founded the earth-shot prize etc. And so much of what he (and his wife) does is following Diana's footsteps. The monarchy, at the very least the Wales is more of a public servant than a mere figurehead now.

Now let's look at Henry.

Henry's the odd one out by being gay, but also by not being the traditional figure of masculinity that his monarchy held by: Henry's a writer, a historian, a hapless romantic. It's harsher in the book (and I've written an essay before on the movie's version of Henry's grandfather being genuinely worried about Henry not being accepted by the public and getting hurt as opposed to the Queen in the book who's just a homophobic bitch for the sake of it), but in both, we see how terrible Philip and the Queen's insults to him was. In both, the monarchy was not accepting of his differences, and in the book, they were straight-up cruel. They very deliberately hurt them. (His situation in the books is more black and white than Diana's situation)

He wanted to work with Pez's foundation on LGBT youth shelters long before he came out. His outing, despite being an invasion of privacy, led to the mass pride protests. By officially announcing Alex as his boyfriend/suitor, and later creating/joining LGBT charities, he's giving support and a platform for the LGBT community.

In the movie it's implied that their monarchy is more closed off and like our world's old monarchy (Henry's children's hospital visits are private endeavours, and he mentioned being stuck "doing mindless ribbon-cutting" while Alex is out there changing the world, which implies his jobs is more the ceremonial stuff)

So just like Diana, Henry was not accepted by the monarchy/royal family but eventually used his position to shed light on those in need, using the monarchy's influence for positive change.

There are a couple more parallels:

In the book, Henry has blonde hair and blue eyes and so does Diana

In the movie, Henry was named "the Prince of England's Heart" just as Diana was called "the Queen of People's Hearts"

And I don't know if this was a deliberate design on Nick's part but

(these are the best gifs I can find that demonstrate what I'm trying to show, a better parallel would be the shot of Henry looking at Alex through his eyelashes when Pez was introducing himself to Nora but I can't find a gif of it)

TL DR: Henry will have the same role/position/significance to his world's monarchy as Diana did with our world's royal family

And honestly, I think Diana would have loved him.

tagging @lfg1986-2 because you mentioned you were looking forward to this one, hope you like it!

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #nicholas galitzine #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #princess diana #diana spencer #rwrb thoughts #rwrb analysis #meraki essay #I think at some point Casey did mention they really like Princess Diana #Also I have genuine respect for Prince William because he does a lot of work on topics I care about also he just seems like a great guy #these are just my thoughts I didn't do research purposefully for this one please don't come at me #this is also part of the reason I don't want movie Henry to abdicate #yeah anyways

[hood-ex]

wait idk anything about the tevis’— why would tommy tevis call dick his son? would you be willing to give a quick rundown

After Dick failed to get himself incarcerated, he became an enforcer for a mob boss named Tommy Tevis. Tommy took Dick in and made him part of his family. Tommy considered him an honorary son and thought very highly of him.

Nightwing (Vol. 2) #107

He even told Dick that everything he had (his home, his reputation, his family, etc.) was Dick's as well. Lynette, Tommy's wife, told Dick that Tommy would let Dick do anything. The whole family loved Dick, including Tommy's 15 year old daughter, Sophia. Sophia actually had a crush on Dick, but Dick acted like an older brother to her, helping her with her homework and such.

While Dick was away from the family for a few days, the cops busted into the Tevis's home. Lynette got killed in the gunfire, Tommy got taken to jail, and Sophia got taken in by the state.

Dick, while mentoring Rose, broke Sophia out of the state home. He got Sophia to help him with the mob. Then, when Chemo fell on Bludhaven, Dick saved Sophia and left her with Amy. When they reunited at the hospital, Dick asked Sophia to leave the mob behind and join a boarding school.

So, yeah, that's Dick's relationship with the Tevis family.

#no but i love when tommy tells dick that bruce must be proud of him--and dick gets this shameful look on his face and stays quiet #and then tommy playfully pinches dick's cheek and tells him not to worry bc he thinks dick is great/he thinks highly of dick #i mean say what you want about tommy being in the mob and all--but he does seem to be tuned in to dick's emotions #and when the other mobster was kinda grilling dick about being bruce's heir--tommy was frowning real hard on dick's behalf #and he later checked in with dick and was like hey that was kind of shitty and i don't want you feeling like your back's against the wall #like idk it just shows that tommy does care about dick--and he knows bruce is a sore spot for dick #dick--on the other hand--is a bit more emotionally distant from the family #he's just gone through some very traumatizing events and now he's doing some morally questionable things #so there's no way he can be truly authentic with the family when his whole lifestyle is now inauthentic to who he really is #and we see that when dick goes on a job that has a kid involved--and he didn't know there would be a kid there #and he gets very upset about a gun being involved and having a kid watch her dad get beat #so even though he might care about the tevis family--i don't think he could ever feel Truly part of the family #honestly wish a writer would bring back sophia though. would be nice to see dick still in contact with her #Dick Grayson #Tommy Tevis #anon

[krockdove]

I found it was very interesting Earthspark Swindle's inability to be honest with his feelings.

He wanted Thrash as a temporary replacement for his brother. He threatened to Bumblebee with taking his family away from him. He attacked the young bot and human child who less than half his height, seemed like he was taking out his anger on the situation he was in.

Yeah, he was definitly jealous and envious of the Malto family – but he didn't seem to recognize it.

He's literally a swindle bot who cheats everyone, even himself as well. He is good at hiding his feelings but doesn't know how to express or handle them properly.

He pretends he doesn't care, especially considers how he's never once showing explicit concern for Hardtop's well-being inspite of searching so hard for his brother.

#he was worried about hardtop #also he seemed unconcerned #he is the kind of guy but #the way he forced himself to smile #when the kids didn't have the reaction he wanted #hid his feelings like really didn't care #but he wasn't really okay was he #he smiles even things don't go his way #such a bad guy who needs a hug #earthspark #transformers #transformers earthspark #tf earthspark #maccadam #earthspark theories #earthspark swindle #earthspark thrash #swindle #thrash malto #mo malto #earthspark hardtop #hardtop

[coquelicoq]

the sheer number of female characters in orv and the depth of every single one of them is rapidly ruining me for 90% of media. here i am just bopping along not even realizing how resigned i am to a 3:1 ratio of men to women in most media and then orv hits me like a freight train. like okay now i have standards. everybody else get on this level.

#i'm trying to think what it is about it because i *do* read/watch media that features lots of women. it's not just all dudes! #i think it's related to how they're all completely different people. they're not cookie cutter #and they're not just clones of each other with the numbers sanded off (han sooyoung notwithstanding lol) #or idk. like tmbd has lots of women and nb folks. but. though i appreciate how much gender diversity there is in those books #there's something about it that feels very deliberate. which isn't bad per se - it's good to know the author #cares enough about it to go to an effort - but it comes across as kind of clumsy sometimes? #whereas in orv there's just a lot of really well realized characters and oh hey at least half of them are women #it feels organic and effortless. idk if it actually was organic and effortless but that's the effect it gives #plus the fact that it seems the authors of orv never met a guy character that they didn't go #'he seems like he could be a girl under the right circumstances' about #orv #my posts

[lord-squiggletits]

Okay another instance of "fuck canon" that's not just Pharma-related, but Ambulon related. I keep thinking of Luna-1 where Ambulon called Pharma "Doctor DJD" and I feel like that's such a total "he would not fucking say that" moment. Obv JRO controls the characterization so what's in the comics is canon/right, I just think that it doesn't make sense for someone in Ambulon's position with his backstory to be that petty towards Pharma?

Ambulon's a Decepticon traitor, he's on the DJD's List. Moreover, he's stationed on Messatine which is the DJD's home planet and is (was?) still an active battle front until very recently.

Proof that Messatine being the DJD's territory is common knowledge: not only First Aid, who's stationed at Delphi, but also at least three Autobots on the Lost Light, know that the DJD make Messatine their home. And this is long before Pharma does his monologue to Ratchet about his t-cog blackmail with Tarn.

Proof that Delphi/the nucleon mines were in an active warzone at least until Pharma started his plague: Pharma wouldn't have had any t-cogs to harvest if there wasn't a continuous stream of soldiers/war-dead coming in to use as his supply.

So then, Ambulon knew fully well that he and all of the rest of them were right next to the DJD's home base, and as an ex-Decepticon he knows he would be on the list. Probably not very high on the list, since Ambulon was a mere MTO who got turned into a failed combiner experiment, but he IS on the list; just because the DJD only proceed through the list in order of importance, doesn't mean that Ambulon wouldn't know that they'd come for him eventually.

And this is a really fucking neat idea to play around with! We don't ever get a canon/explicit explanation for why Prowl decided to station those three medics on Delphi, especially one who's an ex-Con on an execution list. Did Ambulon have a choice? Or was he told to go there with no argument? Either way, I think Ambulon deserves some major kudos, because he must have ball (bearings) of steel to be an ex-Con in DJD territory without constantly being on the verge of a mental breakdown or panic attack. I could honestly write a whole post on the question of "why were these three stationed on Messatine" in itself, but that's for another time.

The point I'm trying to make here is basically that Ambulon of all people should've been sympathetic to the circumstances that drove Pharma to do what he did: they were ALL stationed in the DJD's territory and they knew it, they ALL knew that the DJD's playbook is horrific torturous murder, they ALL knew that Ambulon was a former Decepticon. It wouldn't take a genius for everyone at Delphi to piece together the fact that the DJD would come for Ambulon eventually if either he wasn't evacuated or Delphi as a whole wasn't evacuated. But I mean, this is wartime, right? Every soldier is risking their life, everyone could die at any moment. They can't close down Delphi or evacuate all of the personnel in an active war front battling over a mine just because a medic or three might feel unsafe. Nowhere in war is safe. If High Command let everyone abandon their posts who was afraid of being killed, nothing would ever get done because war comes with inherent risk of death that all soldiers accept by participating, as well as accepting the obligation to follow orders on threat of punishment. (Almost as if Pharma couldn't have just evacuated or run away like Ratchet suggested, but JRO clearly isn't a military expert so I'll digress/chalk it up to "wasn't plot relevant to bring up".)

We got all of like, two pages that showed Pharma and Ambulon's working relationship, and the best we have besides that is JRO's word of god that Pharma and Ambulon had 'mutual reluctant respect' for each other. It's highly unlikely that the two were best buddies regardless, but I don't think you need to be friends with someone like Pharma, while sharing the same situation as him, to be a little more sympathetic to him? Like I get that Ambulon would be offended by the idea of his boss trying to frame him for murder to cover up his own murders, but the "Doctor DJD" line always seemed weirdly callous and petty to me. "Doctor DJD" implies that Pharma was some sort of willing collaborator or servant to the DJD which clearly wasn't the case. And I find it hard to believe that Ambulon, who knows exactly what kind of people the DJD are, would have an opinion of Pharma that was just "oh he should've tried harder/been less of a coward and resisted." Hell, Ambulon's reaction to Sonic and Boom showing up at Delphi asking for refuge was to instantly take pity on them and offer them shelter immediately; if he feels protective/sympathetic towards literal random nobody Decepticon soldiers, shouldn't he have at least as much feeling (if not more) for another Autobot who he worked with and supposedly had respect for?

Assuming that Ambulon got the full details of Pharma's blackmail deal. I mean, there's no reason to assume that Ratchet would've lied to First Aid and Ambulon about what Pharma told him (unless??? conspiracy theory!!!!) , so Ambulon should've heard about the t-cog deal and how it was the only reason the DJD didn't raze Delphi to the ground so long ago. Then again, maybe Pharma's story got explained to him and First Aid via Ratchet's extremely judgemental take on events, so who knows how much of Pharma's side of the story Ambulon would've actually known.

But wouldn't it be so much more interesting if, instead of sneering at Pharma as "Doctor DJD", Ambulon had a more conflicted perspective of Pharma's face-heel turn? Would he wonder how it is that someone who he had such respect for could've been so despicable? Or, more sympathetically, would Ambulon ever wonder if Tarn threatening Delphi was his fault for being there? Would Ambulon wonder what he would've done in Pharma's position, being forced to bargain to postpone his own horrific execution? Would he be angry at Prowl or the higher-ups for stationing them all in such a dangerous post to begin with?

I mean, the answer is that Ambulon was a tertiary cast member at best, to the point that half of his appearances on the Lost Light literally are shown in retrospect after he died, so there would've been no room to explore this in the plot, and Ambulon and Pharma were way lower priority compared to other, more important protagonists. I just think it would be interesting to explore these questions in other metas and fan works.

And yes, I do think Ambulon would not fucking say that ("Doctor DJD") regardless of what canon actually says lmao.

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #i mean it's not really pharma apologism. only a little. but this is mostly about ambulon #g1 idw #meta #long post #come on JRO you can't tell me that pharma and ambulon had mutual respect for each other #and then expect that to mesh with ambulon calling pharma doctor djd so callously later #SURE ambulon could just be that disgusted by pharma's actions but. given the context delphi was in? #it would be weird if ambulon's own fear of the DJD/sympathy for its victims didn't inform his perspective #i just think that like. the watsonian explanation of 'ambulon just hates pharma for what he did' is way less satisfying #than the obvious doylist explanation of 'JRO didn't plan for all of the implications and wasn't gonna flesh out these rando side characters #so in this case i feel like it's better to diverge from canon and explore the implications that it didn't address #than to just accept canon's overly simplified depiction of ambulon just unilaterally hating pharma #however i do think it's IC of first aid to hate pharma and not care about the circumstances. he seems like that kind of hotheaded person

[oozeandgoo-art]

had an odd dream that i was reading a comic book. sketched a couple of the pages i could remember.

#i might adapt this into an actual story because i am SO SO SO mad that it isn't a thing i can go back to reading #oc #im definitely keeping the concept of save-bot i fucking love save-bot he's just doing his best. i love a robot who wants to help people #im not equipped to be writing about underground rebellions with any sense of real tact though #besides its in a superhero universe/story so you know it would just be so sucks lol #sketch #god the colors were so interesting. the teal parts were all very precisely crosshatched and the fire was this gorgeous brush pen looking #colored inks that just seemed like they were MOVING #and i mean some of that was because i was dreaming but god even in my halfhearted copy you can see some of the movement #it was a bad scene but a really really REALLY fun dream. i love when a book can *get* to me so i was really enjoying it #put it aside so i could take a break and woke up. instant fury at the universe for not having it be a real book instead #ill reblog with details if anyone's curious. i can explain this scene but i dont feel like it #the green people are in a secret basement though. hiding from the government. blue jacket guy is a speedster robot named save-bot who does #rescue stuff with every fire department so fire suppression technology is not very good because save-bot "can just save you'' #however they're badly over their legal occupancy and the secret basement has One (1) exit so everyone is like really fucked here. #includinig save-bot who is going to do his job until he dies because he is an ai without any sense of self preservation and he cares #which i didn't even CATCH until i woke up and started tryin to frantically note everything down #and then i was like wait. the glitter on that last page before i realized i needed a glass of water to keep reading... what WAS that... #(it was tears suspended in midair because save-bot goes so fast and also knows he's so fucked LOL) #seriously i'm so mad someone else didn't make this.

[tibtew]

this image was always painful but now that we have more context on it, it's straight up just driving me insane

the fact that dongbaek and yi sang are at the front, but dongbaek is hiding her hands.... the fact that gubo is off to the side and looks anxious almost.... the fact that dongrang stands at the back (fully at the back, to me it looks like he's standing behind even the guy he's shoulder-to-shoulder to) and is the only one not looking at the camera, his heart not truly in it...

#okay wait I will expand on my points in the tags #imo the small detail of dongbaek hiding her hands is significant because dongbaek and yi sang were the most alike in what the league #meant to them and what they wanted out of it #but she never revealed the full extent of those feelings unlike him #meanwhile gubo was always there because of yi sang. I think I believe sang yi when he says that #(but I also believe yi sang when he says gubo cares more about himself) #so I think the idea of him being framed as part of this group sort of. Caught him off guard #I mean he didn't even seem fazed when shit went down #ik he's not really an emotional guy to begin with but he was just sort of like “the league has collapsed. Come With Me” #and he didn't even Blink at the idea of building a new one #so I yeah I think he just Didn't Really Care #txt #limbus company #yi sang #canto iv spoilers #canto 4 spoilers #canto four spoilers #addendum: idk what’s up with young-ji’s face being distorted but it keeps making me think #of that line dongrang says about his shitty imitation of the window #and the general motif of good concepts being misused/twisted that permeates the chapter #the fact that something He founded was torn apart and distorted like this… ugh

[atlanticsea]

i have to say i'm kind of baffled that nathan's entire s3 arc is apparently just. romance? like obviously this is just my opinion but To Me a lot of what led to him doing everything he did was caused by deep insecurity and a self loathing he overcompensated for by diminishing others, and a lot of that also came down to him feeling insufficient As A Man (he was obviously set up to be very envious of roy, who was everything he wanted to be) so. to see him have a redemption arc entirely based on him starting to date someone is just deeply strange. the idea that his self worth and his masculinity would be validated by a woman is...... uuuh...... like idk man for a show that wants to be "about fathers" and thus to an extent about masculinity, and that obviously is invested in showing different displays of healthy masculinity confident in their identity, it reaaaly feels like they dropped the ball with nate.

#nathan shelley #nate shelley #ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso #nourpost #like idk. weird vibes. incel vibes. one might say. #also him kinda referencing keeley rejecting him in the last episode is. hm #again. to me what really pissed him off what that roy didn't care that he kissed keeley #it just feels soooo odd to me to have a character clearly be insecure re: women #and to solve that not by addressing the insecurities themselves but just by giving him a gf #like idk man i love nathans character a lot and ive written a fic about him ive thought about him a lot #and this just seems like a waste of what Could have been a GREAT arc #anyways. lol

[iloveyouitisruiningmylife]

spending my whole life trying and trying and trying and trying to be good enough for people who don't give a fuck about me

#im so tired living seems pointless why am i doing this what is the reason #the firm i work at is going thru a merger so it's releasing all the interns except 2 #i went into her office and said that id like to stay here bc my dad said so bc i got in cause he was friends with the head #and she said ill think about it based on performance ive not decided yet #and this other guy he went in to tell her that cool he'll leave and she told him that she was hoping that he'd stay #he literally does nothing but play games on his phone he doesn't work at all #i have no idea what he has that i don't #but just. im stuck like this forever right never ever good enough for people i like or care about #not for parents they have a diff fav child not for ex gf not for bestie who has a boyfriend much better at loving her than me #not for that one guy who rejected me in interview bc i don't read the newspaper and didn't know the date of the finance act #im so fucking sick of this i never even wanted to this fuckinh course and obviously even my best isn't enough and ofc im not good enough #for anyone in this field and ill just struggle and struggle and struggle all my life just to earn some fucking money so i can live away #from my sociopathic parents #and the worst part is that i can't stop feeling like maybe it IS me yk maybe i am the problem maybe im not trying hard enough #but how else am i supposed to handle this i prioritize my studies and lose all my friends i prioritise my friends and fail in d #exams #and the trauma keeps on coming every fucking day bc sociopathic parents but i jsut push it down and say not rn i will cry at night anx then #never cry #i wish someone would just tell me that idk you're wrong you're not made for this you really do have some mental illness and you're really #trying your best and do something that's easy and that you love doing #oh god this is now a ventpost #mes

[da-janela-lateral]

Thinking a lot about Ghost Reigen AU these days.

#like how fucked up could that be #this lonely ten year old boy. one who whose powers isolate him from the world in a way he doesn't really understand yet #besides the certainty that they are bad and made him hurt people he cared about #this child finally meets someone who understands his experiences and can teach him how to use these abilities for good #his trusted master; who seemed to know everything and guide him into a better path #...and that no one else could see #reigen on the other side showed himself as this wise and confident mentor; when in reality he never had an idea of what to do #isn't this what maintained him at this world? the lingering wish to one day become someone? even if he didn't get what it meant? #sorry I'm rambling this might not make sense #there is SO MUCH to explore in this AU I'm very curious to what would be reigen's objectives and dillemas here #mp100 #mob psycho 100

[grinchwrapsupreme]

i'm not gonna recover from chas tenenbaum telling his father "i've had a rough year, dad" while on the verge of tears and then immediately hiding that pain again to go show his sons the new dog like nothing happened

#the royal tenenbaums #chas tenenbaum #yeah richie was sad and everything but christ chas really got me #the way he gets one brief moment of being his father's son and then immediately has to go be a father to his own sons #one moment of vulnerability out of earshot of those kids and then he puts on a smile for them #it was interesting to me how all through the kids didn't seem to miss their mom at all the grief was purely on chas's shoulders #and the way he turned that grief into obsession like damn dude #also #when he throws eli over the wall to get him out of there in a moment of blind rage and panic for endangering his kids #and looks back at his own brother who he injured in the process and all the people staring at him openly #and then throwing himself over the wall too because he's realized he is also a danger to his kids and the other people he cares about #wish it was any other actor so i could be insane about him in piece but no it had to be ben stiller