#i could never recommend them to anyone they just aren’t that good imo

[chainofclovers]

Grace and Frankie 7x1 - 7x4 thoughts

Meh? Like...I love them so much, but...meh?

(I did enjoy this line about brunch.)

I really loved season 6 of Grace and Frankie. I thought it was well-paced, largely very well-acted, generally well-written, and it culminated in a massive moment of character development for the title characters, who, having spent years growing closer and being there for each other when others could not or would not be, finally articulate to each other that they are the primary person in each other’s lives. Platonic gal pal soulmate BFF emotional support witches 4 lyfe!

I know progress isn’t always linear, and in fact is very rarely linear, but after a moment that significant, you’d think the writers on this show would maybe come up with some more interesting things for these characters to do than spin in circles?

@bristler and I watched on Friday night, and just this morning over breakfast had a good conversation about the first four episodes of the new season now that they have settled in our brains a bit. We concluded that the writing (often noticeably clunky, like the dialogue is responsible for more narration than usual) and the tone (aggressively wacky) feel really off, especially compared to the prior season. I think we diagnosed the big issue, which is that Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are by far the most talented actors on this show (if you disagree, fight me in the parking lot) and it feels surprisingly unfortunate that their characters have, to this point in the new season, pretty much figured out their perspectives on each other. No matter how people feel about Grace and Frankie’s sexualities, the whole show has been about them finding each other and getting in deeper and deeper, and it’s less interesting to watch other characters have realizations about that than it is to watch Grace and Frankie having realizations about themselves. If the title characters are now limited to reacting to other people’s actions, and the title characters are played by the best actors on the show, the whole show’s gonna suffer. And is suffering, very much so, at least for these first four episodes. I’m definitely still excited for the final twelve in 2022 (twelve! I cannot believe this season will have sixteen eps!), but I’m pretty disappointed so far.

Stuff I Loved:

The family brunch. These families have been entwined for so long, and the backstory for this particular brunch was so fun (even though I didn’t care for the effects they did to depict Grace and Robert 25 years ago; there was no need for a visual flashback in the scene). I love that Grace hit Frankie with a wiffle ball bat. I love that the two couples realized some of the emotional reasons behind their decisions to lie to each other about Bud’s Bunny and about M’Challah. I love the way Jane Fonda sounds uttering the phrase “Bud’s Bunny” with little to no irony. I love that Grace is able to recognize and articulate just how deep and miserable her anger issues were, albeit with the continued help of her omnipresent martini, and that Frankie told her she’d now make up a holiday in order to spend more time with Grace. I really, really hope Frankie does exactly this at some point in the remaining episodes of the season. I love that Grace is generally a pretty good person now, with aspirations of being a delightful person. I love that she and Frankie don’t have it in them to stay angry with each other, and I love all the evidence that they really, really talk to each other about everything now.

Frankie talking to the man at the office (I don’t remember who he was supposed to be? A toilet manufacturer? I didn’t mention this before, but I actually got pretty high while watching?!? Believe it or not, this was the first time I smoked pot and watched Grace and Frankie at the same time despite having enjoyed both activities on their own for quite some time. I would recommend the combo! And I think I still pretty much got what was happening) about paying for the toilet parts with candy. This whole subplot with the money laundering was absurd and not that interesting, but I loved this particular scene because it was finally evidence of some really thoughtful writing. The concepts aren’t enough! You have to write them into good dialogue! And the whole cash/candy thing was a moment of dialogue that only someone as hilarious as Lily Tomlin could pull off. Which she did, IMO.

In a show about super messy people, Coyote has stayed sober this entire time. He is sober, employed, in love, and preparing to buy a full-sized house with his partner. He hasn’t murdered anyone in his family. Hasn’t even attempted murder once.

In 2017 or whatever, Grace Hanson would have been furious about Frankie using obscure Beatles references like a treasure map when hiding the cash. But here in 2021, she cooperates and even gets in on the fun. The writing is very unsubtle this season, but that did feel like a reasonably subtle moment that shows how good of a partner she is for Frankie. (Platonic, of course! So platonic. Female friendship, amirite?)

Stuff I Did NOT Love and Felt Incredibly Negative About:

Brianna. I can only conclude that June Diane Raphael has decided she’s happy with playing a character whose primary role in life is to be hot and mean. She succeeds at being hot and mean, but I have reached my limit with this character. I realize we’re only a quarter of the way into the season, but I don’t think I can take another arc about her learning to compromise only to reveal to Barry that she never intended to compromise at all. At this point, it’s both abusive and boring. How?! The Grace/Brianna parallels aren’t interesting anymore, because one character has grown and the other is stagnant. I get that Brianna was raised in an emotionally stilted environment by two unhealthy people. But I think it would be very cool if she could learn something from her mother at this point. Grace has put a ton of effort into dealing with her “rabbit-killing, mad-at-the-world anger.” She’s put a ton of effort into figuring out what makes her happy, what she wants her life to look like. She’s even started accepting her age and abilities without shame. And that growth is believable; Grace is still short-tempered and she still slugs back way too many martinis and she struggles to articulate certain things, but she’s grown into a truly lovely human. And while, as a daughter with a mother, I can absolutely attest to the fact that it can be difficult and uncomfortable to learn lessons from one’s mother, Brianna really, really should. Grace spent decades letting anger and shame trap her in a small, miserable life. Brianna—and even Mallory, who just seems like a vapid idiot this season—are traveling that same path, but there’s someone right there who could really help, maybe even more than Frankie helped when the Hanson girls were first growing up.

The arraignment. The scene might’ve been salvageable if it was filmed from Grace’s perspective, and filmed to reflect how surreal and improbable it all was. But speaking of non-linear progress, this scene erased everything Nick Skolka has done to put himself in my good graces (LOL) over the past couple seasons. I mean, I tried, man. I even wrote fic about Nick, Grace, and Frankie making a genuine effort at polyamory. But the arraignment is so emotionally manipulative, such a slap in the face of everything Grace has worked for, and while we’re certainly “supposed” to feel the weight of the moment, I mean, it’s not like we’re supposed to be like, “Oh, cool, we’re in a rom com now! This is adorable!” it still felt bad and unearned and slapdash.

And I want Frankie to process these things with her! Frankie seems so happy to have all this information about Grace and how Grace feels, but I want to see scenes in which we can gain an understanding of how Frankie actually feels. Hearing Frankie talk to other people about how Grace feels is interesting, but it’s like there’s no room in these episodes for us to learn anything new about Frankie herself.

Grace’s transitional wig. Is so. Bad. It is. Such a. Bad wig. Oof. I mean, I like what they’re doing with Grace’s hair from a plot perspective, although (see one bullet up) I would really like to get more of an understanding of what’s happening in Grace’s head, not just on top of her head. And gosh, Frankie would be a really good person to talk to about this in a conversation that lasts longer than 30 seconds. But the wig! She’s in a wig in all four episodes, of course, since Jane Fonda went grey and cut her hair short before they started filming this season. The wig for episodes 1 and 2 is fine; it’s a good approximation of Grace’s typical hair, and of course we know that canonically Grace’s hair isn’t 100% her own hair anyway. But the wig with grey roots looks so weird. The part that’s growing out doesn’t look the same as the hair on the wig from 1 and 2. And the grey roots look like a yarmulke. I cannot wait to get to the point in the season when Grace goes all the way grey.

(One more thing about the hair. I can’t let it go. I paused the show while we were watching to rant, but I’m not done.) I had the great privilege of seeing Jane Fonda in person at a protest in 2019. She is an insanely beautiful human. She was growing her hair out and it was partially dyed blonde and partially grey. It looked really cool. I am not ashamed to say I spent that day learning many things about the climate crisis and about Jane Fonda’s hair. Having seen her in real life with her real hair looking that fucking great, I just have a an extra-large grudge against everyone involved in that horrible wig. The wig is necessary, but it didn’t have to be this bad.

What Do I Care About Now?

I am pretty intrigued by the way Grace threw out her real age in a conversation with Nick and Elena. She has nothing to fear anymore! She’s so chill about aging! What could go wrong? I assume that Nick and Elena maneuvering for Nick to be on house arrest in Grace's house specifically has to do with the fact that Grace is 82. She’s gonna find out that Nick is allowed to be with her because she’s ancient and helpless and the court took pity. Or something like that. She’s going to feel betrayed on top of feeling stifled and overwhelmed by Nick’s presence. I want to see where this goes for sure.

Other than that, and other than the fact that I really do continue to believe this show is moving in a direction in which Grace and Frankie will choose each other, I feel very whatever about this whole thing. I love this show and I will always appreciate this show for giving me some incredible characters to spend years of my life writing about, and for bringing me some pretty amazing friendships. Speaking of those friendships, yesterday @ellydash and @telanu and I were talking about some of the incredible TV we’ve watched recently, like Ted Lasso and Hacks and Fleabag and Killing Eve, and how great it feels to watch beautifully written TV crafted by writers who are profoundly—organically yet intentionally—attuned to even the most minor character’s rhythm. The disappointment of these first few episodes of the new G&F season feels like a mild disappointment rather than a sharp heartbreak, and that has a lot to do with being deeply invested in other shows that could also go in all kinds of different directions but with writing I fundamentally trust.

Also Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are my forever faves and my appreciation for their performances and general awesomeness onscreen and in life is undiminished. So that’s pretty cool.

#grace and frankie #meta by me #grace and frankie s7 spoilers #a lesbian watches ted lasso #grace hanson is a gay disaster #except #she's not even a disaster anymore #she's totally fine and men keep bothering her! #frankie bergstein is a bisexual mess

[cluescorner]

have any opinions on part 4 of JoJo?

It's the best one in terms of writing, plot consistency, and actually being coherent. The relatively lower stakes (trying to find 1 serial killer instead of trying to save the world) lends itself very well to a story set in a small town and also allowed for more character moments. One of my favorite parts about Part 4 is that we get to see the characters just...being kids together. Like, one of my favorite episodes is the Harvest one where Josuke and Okuyasu are just being dumbasses together constantly.

Josuke is probably my favorite JoJo so far, but I haven't gotten past Part 5 yet so that might change. He really feels like just some guy who happened to be born into the Joestar family and now has to deal with this crazy new world. He makes a lot of mistakes because he's inexperienced and also a LITERAL TEENAGER, but he also is his father's son. He is extremely clever and can quickly manipulate the situation to his advantage. He's like a Joseph who's also a decent person and not friends with a LITERAL N*ZI so that's nice. He also wears his heart on his sleeve and he see him get visibly upset and happy and angry and just overwhelmed throughout the Part. He feels like a real person that I can relate to, not just a badass punch man with 3 personality traits. So he's the best JoJo so far imo.

I also think the general main cast is also all solid. There really aren't any that ruin the show for me, even of the ones I like least. Okuyasu is such a good character and I honestly feel like he was underutilized both as a fighter and as a character. The Hand is so overpowered and literally could neutralize Kira in the span of like 5 minutes, so I feel like giving that overpowered Stand to Okuyasu, a character who isn't exactly bright enough to understand the full capabilites of his Stand and how to utilize them, was a good decision. Even if it was ultimately underutilized a LOT.

And the potential behind his character, a kid who has been only with his brother and his father (who are both kinda monsters in their own right) for as long as he can remember who then LOSES his brother after trying to fight Josuke, who then becomes friends with Josuke DESPITE all of this and quickly works his way into his friends' lives, who has a power related to taking EVERYTHING AWAY IN ONE TOUCH (Stands are a reflection of their user's soul so...), AND who is shown to be extremely kind-hearted despite his trauma but is also likely suffering in silence?? I think Okuyasu had the set up to be the best character of the part but Araki just didn't follow through. This kind of stuff is why I enjoy fanworks so much, I have already read so many that explore Okuyasu and they're all fantastic. I absolutely adore Okuyasu and his 'death' was the first moment in JoJo that I almost cried real tears.

Koichi is...fine. I like him and I get why everyone else likes him. In any other season I'd likely have way more to say about him, but every single character is pretty good in this season so I don't really have that strong of feelings about him.

Rohan is so funny to me. Like, this man only cares about his manga and does NOT care about being a good person and he doesn't try to hide it. One of the first things he does is try to fight our heroes because...he wants Koichi for his manga. He was about to force Okuyasu to kill himself and Heaven's Door is such an OP ability that I feel like I don't have to say anything. And the only reason he loses is because Josuke doesn't like manga and he insulted Josuke's hair. This is the kind of stuff that I love about this part, the ways our heroes win are so weird and clever that it makes the battles feel more real. Rohan is also a pretty well-written character and he contrasts very well with the other characters to create some very fun dynamics.

Part 4 Jotaro is better than Part 3 Jotaro. A major reason why I didn't really love Part 3 is because I didn't like Jotaro as a protagonist. He's too disinterested and stoic for me to enjoy as the LEAD OF AN ENTIRE PART but I always thought that he would work better as something else. And apparently, that something else was a genuinely amazing mentor character. He has seen the worst that Stands have to offer and he's very familiar in dealing with them, so he makes for a great contrast to our extremely inexperienced team. And he's also given less screen time, which means I don't get tired of his stoicism and OP-ness as often. I actually enjoyed that he only uses Time Stop when it's absolutely neccesary, since that's the ability that killed SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE HE KNEW. But Part 4 Jotaro also isn't infallible. He almost dies to a FUCKING RAT and that was honestly one of the most human moments Jotaro has ever been given. He's just waiting for Josuke to figure out what to do while he keeps getting turned slowly yet slower into a pile of fleshy goop. And he also cannot handle Kira on his own like he could handle DIO because Kira is a far more subtle opponent. You can't just beat Kira by punching it until it dies, you have to actually think about what you are and aren't doing. It makes Jotaro feel more like an actual character and less of 'Protagonist Syndrome'.

On the subject of Kira, HOLY SHIT KIRA IS SUCH A GOOD VILLAIN. I still think that DIO is the best villain so far, but I flip flop on him and Kira more often than I'd like to admit. Kira is the perfect 'low stakes' villain. He's a serial killer with a fetish for hands and a desire to live a 'normal' life, which prompts him to stay hidden as long as possible. I tend to dislike whodunnits where the audience knows who the killer is, but Kira's inability to actually stay hidden for long makes sure it never feels like it goes on for too long. I also adored his ability, it's a far more 'planning' based one than any ability we've seen up until this point. You need to know what you're doing with your ability and Kira, though he's also a dumbass at times, knows Killer Queen inside and out. Bites The Dust is also a great ability for him to have and his weird sort of relationship with Shinobu also made him very fun.

The Bites the Dust arc is the best JoJo has to offer. In the same vein that many told me that the DIO's world arc +the final battle was worth every minute of the rest of Part 3, I am telling anyone who is still unsure of whether they want to watch Part 4 that the Bites the Dust arc is worth every minute you spend on Part 4. Though, if you really aren't feeling it, you can start when Kira first shows up and just watch from there. The other episodes are great, but if you don't like low-stakes slice of life stuff then just start when Kira shows up. Because the Bites the Dust arc is so good. It's just so good. It feels like a culmination of everything we've built towards throughout the season with crescendoing character moments and an impossible situation that only desperation and preparation (funnily enough the two traits Kira is most defined by) can solve. Really, the Bites the Dust arc is so good that I'm not even gonna talk about what happens during it explicitly. I refuse to spoil this arc, watch it yourself please. But try to find a Trigger list for it, because it gets DARK. Be safer than I was while watching it, lol.

So yeah, I love Part 4. It's probably the best part so far. Is it my favorite part? IDK, gay italians and women are real in Part 5 so I think I'm still more about that part so far. Part 5 is my favorite, but Part 4 is the best and it's honestly not even close. Even if you don't want to watch JJBA (entirely valid, I hate this show sometimes and if you aren't a fan of sausage fests...this show isn't for you probably) I still recommend Part 4 or at least the Bites the Dust arc. It's the best JoJo part, hands down.

#jjba part 4 #diamond is unbreakable #diu #josuke higashikata #okuyasu nijimura #jotaro kujo #koichi hirose #kira yoshikage #rohan kishibe #bites the dust arc #bites the dust #part 4 is the best one #hands down #I still like Part 5 more so far tho #But if someone asked me which Jojo part is actually good I would say Part 4

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

#i wonder what your thoughts on diaspora in hetalia are#cause its a pretty interesting topic (the post in question)

@urmomsstuntdouble a collection of things that I think about on a semi-regular basis below the cut (also thank you for the tags!)

Disclaimer: I think this turned into more of a discussion of immigration and immigrants, but I hope this strikes your fancy anyways 😅. Also this got SO LONG and I explained quite a bit of history (because idk whether anyone knows much about this), so the key thoughts will be bolded!

My thoughts are kinda complicated about this tbh; it’s weird, because if China really did exist as a personification in real life, we’d probably both be judging each other, just for different reasons 😅.

General Hetalia Cases

I think when discussing immigrants/diaspora, you have to think about why different immigrants left. @cupofkey kinda discussed that a while ago (if anyone hasn’t seen this superb post, GO READ IT NOW) about the Vietnamese diaspora, and I think there’s some of that in every country. How do the immigrants feel about the home country? Why did they leave: because of hard times, poverty? Political instability/revolution/war? Opportunities overseas? Are they doing well in their new home, or still struggling? Does their new country treat them like foreigners or outcasts, unworthy of even arriving, or doing anything besides menial labor, or have they been welcomed (rather unlikely)? Do they hate their home country (politically), or miss them? Would they ever go back, not just to visit family or the place of their birth, but to return permanently?

I think on the whole, hetalia nations would still maintain a connection to their immigrants, especially since most are still in touch with their culture, although they’ve crossed borders or changed nationalities. (However, the angst of not being as in touch with your culture as you think you should is so real; would our home countries be disappointed? Or do they sympathize, somehow?) In the end, we’re all the same that way. Plus, the alternative thought of them just disowning immigrants feels weird; I don’t even know how that would be possible. But I think that connection gets complicated by the reason people left, and their feelings for their place of origin; I’ll be using APH China and Chinese Americans as an example to discuss this hksdgsdf (sorry I don’t want to do more research than necessary and I have Thoughts about this)

**OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER that immigration/diaspora discussions are almost always case by case and will vary greatly based on things like country of origin/race/ethnicity, country immigrated to, initial socioeconomic status, time period, etc. And even among diaspora, people can and will have vastly different experiences, and it’s not good to generalize. These are just some thoughts with one example.**

1. Waves of Immigration 

Depending on when people arrive, they’ve got different push/pull factors drawing them to a country and it also factors into how the nation feels about them and vice versa... Chinese immigration to the US has mostly two major waves (you could also say there were 3, counting the post-WWII/Communist China wave, but I won’t talk about that): one in the mid 1800s and the other after the 1970s/1980s into modern day; the gap is because the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) that banned most immigration from China wasn’t repealed until 1943 (because of Japan’s attack on the US in WWII, the US needed China as an ally).

IMMIGRATION WAVE 1: MID 1800s

These immigrants were mostly from southern China (Canton area), and they came to the US because of hard times (Opium Wars + political instability because of things like the Taiping Rebellion) and economic opportunity in the West (eg. Gold Rush (San Francisco is literally “Old Gold Mountain” in Chinese today) + industrialization, railroads, expansion etc.). There was Much Discrimination against those immigrants, and many worked as hard laborers in a variety of occupations (on railroads, gold mine, farms (in the South esp), laundry businesses; there were merchants as well, but they were the minority); many were looking to get some money that they could send back to their families in China and planned to return, but over time, they settled down and stayed. I think for those immigrants, Yao would definitely be understanding, even if he might not be empathetic. After all, he’s not thriving at that time either, and although he thinks Alfred is inferior to him (in many ways), he understands why people would be drawn by economic promise and quick wealth, even if it might not be the best strategy for getting rich. It’s not like staying in China would be better lmao. However, I don’t think he would approve (?) how many of his immigrants stayed in the US when most viewed it as a temporary move; I think Yao is very surprised by how so many of them persisted to carve out a home there, despite the discrimination and limited opportunities. Perhaps he admires their resilience, the creation of Chinatowns and community and how they still come to a country that doesn’t even let them in (see the San Francisco Fire of 1906 and the boon for paper sons), but still wishes they would come back, however unlikely that hope is. Personally, Yao would never be able to stay in Alfred’s country, the beautiful country, if Alfred’s hypocrisy prevented his experience, his immigrant’s experience, from being anything close to beautiful. (You were founded by immigrants and foreigners, but now you spurn them: the poor sojourners who continue to flee to your shores, and refuse them respite from the disasters at home.) And anyways, Alfred is just the next scrappy young upstart, barely 70 years old but with a swagger like he rules the world; how could he have something over himself, the Middle Kingdom, who has stood the test of time? (Admittedly, he’s doing nowhere as well as Alfred—even he can see that, despite his pride, and despite the haze of opium in his brain. Leaving is the logical, objectively sound choice. Still, his pride hurts vaguely when he thinks how his immigrants keep choosing a country that keeps rejecting them, over and over again, instead of himself. But it is no matter. The injury to his ego is inconsequential and easily brushed aside; for they are still his people, and they deserve a good life, wherever they are. His distaste for Alfred flares up again: Arthur’s bastard child, who takes advantage of his trade (see the Open Door Notes, 1899-1900), but refuses his people.)

if anyone wants more context or is interested in the history I mentioned, I highly recommend this pdf (from the book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki)

IMMIGRATION FROM 1949 TO 1980: according to Wikipedia, there was very little immigration from mainland China during this period due to the Cold War and China becoming Communist; most of the immigration was from Taiwan/ROC but counted in the quota for China. Since there’s a separate Hetalia personification for TWN, I’m not going to go over that. However, there were also many people from Mainland China who escaped to Hong Kong, still a British colony, during that period (I hope it’s clear why, but if anyone asks I’ll put it in a separate post); some stayed there, while others emigrated to the US; both trips were for more freedoms and a better life etc because China was really really messed up for a bit (also keep in mind the people emigrating all had the means to and were at least middle class, usually somewhat educated, etc.). I will not be talking about that group either because I don’t think it’s my place to, but please know they exist as well.

IMMIGRANT WAVE 2: 1980s ONWARD

A lot of people came from mainland China for education; there was also an. exodus of intellectuals following 1989 (which I Will Not get into). Many of these people sought job opportunities, like those that rapidly opened up in the computer industry, there are many students who come here to study abroad, who take SATs and TOEFLs to get into good US colleges or to conduct graduate research and get PhDs; some stay, others have gone back to like, advance China’s development (this sentiment of getting good students to go abroad and then go back to China to use their talents for Patriotic Purposes isn’t a new thing, stretches back to like the late 1800s). I don’t really have much to say about this group besides what’s below ↓. 

2. Immigrant Thoughts On Their Home Country

more complicated, because it varies by generation and time period and probably 203943 other things. Mainlanders that came over starting in the 1990s till now have relatively positive feelings towards China (imo, extrapolating from my life experiences); I think part of that is also because most* of these immigrants aren’t really escaping from something? They’re coming for an education/job opportunities (students studying abroad in the US (留学生 or liuxuesheng) for graduate school or university come to mind as one example), and they’re still very much connected to China politically and culturally, sometimes* more so than to the US. For these immigrants, I think Yao doesn’t worry too much about them? They’re pretty successful* overall*, and discrimination, although still A Large Problem™, isn’t the same from stuff that Yao (or his immigrants) remember from, say the mid 1800s (see above), or even during the paranoia about Communists after WWII and the subsequent Chinese Confession Program that made many people really scared of being deported. (Red China made Chinese Americans a target of the Communist panic, and the confession program was instated in order to make sure Communist spies couldn’t infiltrate the US. Those who immigrated illegally could confess that and gain citizenship; however you also had to weed out everyone you knew who also immigrated illegally.) I think Yao would see them as an extension of himself in a different land; they’re very much still part of him, and he gives them his well wishes.

However, I think that immigrants born in the US in modern day at least (1990s onwards) are definitely more ambivalent about China’s legacy + modern day Issues™, as much as we are connected via culture and heritage. Not quite sure how Yao would feel about that, because I’m not quite sure how much Yao is the state and how much he represents the people. However, I think there would be some mutual unease; does he see this as betrayal of some kind? Perhaps he doesn’t blame us for feeling as we do? Maybe he wonders what we feel about him; maybe he doesn’t want to know. Maybe he chooses the easier route: to focus on the bonds between him and his huayi instead of the grievances, and leave the rest unsaid. 

Additionally with first gen immigrants, there’s the conflicting feeling of being stuck between two worlds and value systems that oppose each other in many respects. Also there’s sometimes a feeling of not-quite-being-in-touch-with-your-culture (in other diaspora as well, ofc. here it’s often exemplified by forgetting or not knowing how to read and write Chinese proficiently, among other things 🙃); idk. does Yao see that as a bit of a disappointment? Would he wish us to try harder? Does he view it as inevitable, for those raised in the US; the environment is too different, and perhaps he won’t blame us for those differences, or shortcomings. Does Yao know, or care, about the racism? What about his immigrants who try to assimilate completely into American culture, who try to erase the Chinese part of their identity? Those that have tried it, but regretted it? Are they still his, when they have tried rejecting their connection to him, choosing to drop the “Chinese” from Chinese American? Does he consider racism when thinking about them? What about international adoptees? Does he claim them, when some have not been raised in a culturally Chinese environment, and when it’s still a sensitive subject on both sides of the ocean? I don’t have answers to many of these questions.

There are also immigrants who fled China because of war or persecution or upheaval, (one example is with regards to the Cultural Revolution), but I don’t feel qualified to discuss it here, and I don’t want to take it lightly.

But, despite everything I’ve discussed above, I’d like to think that however an immigrant feels about their home country or however long they’ve been there, all nation personifications would still wish them a better life (even Yao). I mean, it’s not always easy being an immigrant/part of a diaspora (especially when race becomes a factor). I really don’t think any of the hetalia characters would say “look at your struggles. What a mistake it was to immigrate somewhere where you still face so many challenges, although they might be different from the ones back home”. that’s just No. Also, I think that when you disregard sentimentality and their inherent connection to the people, countries would still be able to sympathize with people trying to strive for better, you know? People immigrate for a better life, whether it’s because it was getting rough when they left or because other places had more potential, and like. although nation-people can’t leave their own country, I think they understand the people who do, because it’s a chance to make a new life, and it would be unkind, counterproductive, limiting, to prevent someone from taking that opportunity if it came. And their children, and grandchildren; they are still connected to their origins even in a new country, by blood if nothing else, and nations are people too; they must have some sentimentality for their people born in a different land. I’d like to think that if Yao met a Chinese American kid running around San Francisco’s Chinatown, or bumped into an ABC high schooler in a well to do Massachusetts suburb, he’d stop and nod and maybe say hello, and wish them luck, wherever they go in the future. After all, they are the products of his immigrant’s hopes and dreams, and they are his too, as much as they live in Alfred’s land.

* (asterisks): this is a) from my experience and research; not everyone will have the same experiences! please keep this in mind and don’t generalize a very vast group of people. :)

Idk if that was too sentimental or rambly or something, but yeah, those are some of the things I consider when I think about nations and their diasporas. If you made it down here, thanks for reading! I greatly appreciate it. Also I hope I got all my facts correct, but if anyone spots anything incorrect, especially regarding the post 1980s immigration wave, please tell me! Tried doing my research but there are still a few things I’m unsure about rip. 

This might be deleted tomorrow because I’m feeling weird about it, but feel free to reblog! I’d also very much love some feedback too if any of y’all are feeling up to it

#i was thinking about a lot of this when writing the zine fic so this post is partially an extension of that #hws china #aph china #musings #hetalia #nation lore #hws #aph #aph china headcanons #hetalia worldbuilding #headcanon musings #hetalia headcanons #I GUESS??

[dollwritesarchive]

Thanks for the scary movie recommendations doll!! I could read about you talking about movies all day I swear 🖤 Don't even get me started on pyramid head he terrifies me in like a sexy way lmaoo 💀 there's just something about hot men that kill people I guess lol. I would love to get more recommendations from you whether it be more movies or tv shows or anything really!! I hope you're doing well and having a good day 😚 loveee you

ooh hello again cutie!!

omg please you’re too sweet, it’s not very often that people are really interested in my opinions especially regarding movies! But I watch a lot of them so kfkfmf

BUT I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO LET ME KNOW WHICH OF THE ONES FROM MY LAST LIST YOU’VE SEEN OR OR OR IF YOU WATCH THEM WHAT YOU THINK 🥺

Hehehe pyramid head is bae !! Hims muscles,, hims big choppy chop,, hims big metal head 🤪🤪 I am looking disrespectfully. However, the nurses… I’m drooling, please 😵‍💫

Ooooh I could give you another list! Maybe not movies that legitimately frightened me because there aren’t so many that I genuinely am afraid of, but some darker / horror / thriller style movies that I really enjoy 🥺🥺

straw dogs —- the subject matter is EXTREMELY dark but dammit if I don’t love Alexander in horror

Speaking of Alex,,, he also did hold the dark WHICH I wasn’t sure if I was going to like. If you don’t mind a slow start to movies, then give this one a chance!

last house on the left (the remake) it has really dark subject matter like straw dogs but it’s one of those get revenge on your tormentors type of thriller and I really liked it

insidious! the jump scares are pretty decent and the imagery is mildly unsettling imo

paranormal activity SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE THESE MOVIES NEVER HAPPENED? Like when I was a teenager and these came out it was so weird bc that was all anyone talked about and now I NEVER hear about them. Also not at the fact I used to do that to people, just stand there while they slept, when I was a little kid KDKFKD

the visit ha..ha this movie makes me thoroughly uncomfortable AND very glad i don’t have grandparents

as above so below. Claustrophobia? Cults? Lost footage style shooting? I really loved this one

paul bettany as the archangel Michael protecting a group of randos at a gas station in the desert from an army of bloodthirsty angels trying to bring about the apocalypse is probably his sexiest role ever

BUT ALSO he did priest and everyone knows I love vampires :) karl urban was also in priest as black hat and let me tell you I’m yearning. Pls let me write for black hat at some point

the stand! I haven’t seen the remake yet and I know that mr Alexander skarsgard plays Randall in that one but the original :)) mr Flagg and his glorious evil mullet :))

AHHH the damn picture limit 😂 it’s probably for the best, otherwise these posts would be miles long !!

I hope this one wasn’t too boring but I really enjoy answering these questions baby 🥺 lowkey makes me feel like I’m more than just a writing blog like I’m an actual human bean with interests outside of the content I post fkdkkd my day has been all right! There’s a teensy hurricane here so it’s just been raining a lot and work got called off so I’ve been just chilling tonight! I hope you’re doing good and staying safe!

#anyone who wants to ask me my top 10 _____ please do #I really like answering these types of things!!

[shrinkthisviolet]

The Problem with KATAOW S3

(Yep, I’m finally doing it)

Okay so, let me just say that the season overall? Phenomenal. Clearly planned out, not one of those “oh no we need to make another season” seasons, the enemy is defeated in a satisfying way, the characters’ arcs are concluded–

Wait. Hold that thought. Because my problem with this season concerns one person. Or, I guess, one mandrill, since he isn’t a person at all.

That’s right, I’m talking about Hugo/Scarlemagne.

So I didn’t even realize something was off when I first started the season, until I read this fic (it’s an alternate S3, and I absolutely recommend it). The comments gave me pause, because they said that they felt Scarlemagne was acting too passive in S3. I’d just gotten done seeing him and Kipo talking with his “brotherly advice,” so I didn’t understand that.

However, the more I watched, the more I realize that the comments were right. Scarlemagne was a background character, and normally, this wouldn’t be a problem (it’s Kipo’s show, not his), except...this is his redemption season. And they kinda try to one-and-done it in one episode, which I feel does a great disservice to him and the show overall.

His relationship with Kipo is also...gone for some reason?? They bring it up in the 9th and last episodes, but other than telling us “oh hey remember that they’re siblings?” it’s nowhere. As if it doesn’t exist. Which is sad because that could’ve been the key to his redemption.

Kipo only redeems him to form HMUFA (she also wants to do it for their relationship, but that’s not really made clear), but what if she just wanted her brother back? What if HMUFA was important, but not as much as having a family again? Remember, this is the girl who went toe-to-toe with him in last season’s finale and called him out and pushed him until she threatened the safety of her loved ones.

She doesn’t back down, and she initiates change. In a way, regarding her brother, Kipo herself was also made passive, which is a shame–that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of her character.

Scarlemagne’s moral ambiguity is also pretty much gone. Now, in regard to the pheromone thing, that could just be him being tired of arguing about it, which tracks. But the fact that he gives in to Wolf’s reasoning instead of KILLING THE PERSON WHO TORE HIS FAMILY APART AND TORTURED HIM AND IS TRYING TO KILL HIS SISTER? Yeah, no. I don’t care how redeemed Scarlemagne is, he would never give in to an argument like that.

Also Wolf would never make that argument in a situation like this. I get that she’s less hardened and more like Kipo now, but...she calls Kipo her sister. Her pack. Wolf was raised a wolf, at the core of it, and even I, as an older sister, would throw moral compasses out the window to protect my siblings. THAT’S JUST HOW FAMILY IS (in my experience)!

He and Kipo don’t really have any arguments. He doesn’t try to get her to see his perspective, his advice (“make them fear you”) doesn’t come back to haunt her later (especially when she...basically does that twice? Anyone remember that? The writers don’t)...what’s the point of a morally gray villain if they’re not clinging to their reasoning?? Sure, maybe Scarlemagne realizes his dictator impulse was wrong, but he could’ve said something like, “I made a place for myself in a world that was trying to hurt me. All I wanted was to unite the mutes and guide them. I wanted a family again.”

And Kipo could say something like, “That’s not a family. Families don’t mind control each other to keep them in line.”

Scarlemagne: “Ah right, I forgot. They just leave their created children for dead and shame them for ever wanting to use their powers against corrupt people. My mistake.”

Like?? Obviously he went about it the wrong way, but...he thinks his intentions were good (as morally gray villains do), and he was hurt, and let’s face it, Lio’s moral absolutism (critiqued very well in this post) pretty much ruined everything (also that dumb decision to wait around?? Tf??). Scarlemagne doesn’t have to change Kipo’s mind, but...maybe some indication that he’s still in that cage for a reason? That maybe Kipo’s tried to help him before, but he won’t renounce his intentions (only the dictator part)?

Like...COME ON, writers! You can’t even say that moral ambiguity was too much for a kids’ show, because this show has it in SPADES (Lio is forced to reckon with and apologize for his mistakes, as he should, and ATLA/LOK was practically the blueprint for moral ambiguity in kids’ shows).

So I think I’ve covered everything? But I have one last complaint: Hugo’s death.

IT MAKES NO SENSE

I kinda knew it was coming because I spoiled myself 😂 (that’s all I knew though, the rest was a surprise), so I was expecting Mute Emilia to eat him or something as he was flying. That wouldn’t have been great, but it would’ve been better than CRASHING INTO THE SIDE OF A WALL OR SOMETHING

Like...are you KIDDING me?? I know mandrills aren’t super strong, but this is BOGUS in a show where falls like that never hurt anyone (yes, I’m aware that everyone who falls like that is a Mute, but they’ve fallen like that as humans, too. Idk. Plenty of other media has their heroes get up and be fine after falls like that).

Also...he was just starting his redemption!! It could’ve been something awesome!! But they threw it away, and for what?? A moment for Hugo to forgive Lio (Song didn’t really do anything imo, but she was kinda complicit, and I find it weird that she didn’t even apologize?), sacrifice himself in a stupid way, and then just...die??

Nope. I don’t accept it. I refuse. We weren’t shown a gravesite, so I choose to believe Hugo appeared right behind Kipo at the end, all “quit telling people I’m dead!” “Sometimes, I can still hear his voice!” (Screw canon, this is canon now. KATAOW screwed itself over when it didn’t even have the decency to give Hugo a proper death).

Oh also, Scarlemagne passively accepting Wolf as Kipo’s sister is soooo unrealistic I can’t overstate it! I’m just gonna refer you back to the fic series linked above, which handles this so much better. There’s no way Scarlemagne would take a surrogate sister label lying down, that he wouldn’t have an identity crisis (if Kipo can adopt siblings at random, can she disown siblings too?), that he wouldn’t shame Wolf for it, that she wouldn’t have an identity crisis...

Oh also, Kipo herself has problems, as outlined in this post (which includes my reblog of it where I also state my problems with her). I love Kipo as a hero, but...S3 could’ve done more for her.

Maybe I’ll write a fix-it for this season one day. Who knows. But I wanted to get all this off my chest 😂 feel free to debate in the notes and reblogs!

#kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #kataow s3 spoilers #MAJOR S3 SPOILERS #no seriously PLEASE watch the season before reading this it’s actually really good #kipo oak #hugo oak #scarlemagne #wolf #lio oak #song oak #benson #dave

[zhansww]

Hi. Thank you so much for replying. You gave me so much good information. I respect that you treat XZ and WY like people and not as fictional characters as I see so many people doing. I'm still reluctant to join this side of the fandom because from what I've seen so far, it's a mess. Tell me if I got this right: xfx= solo XZ fans who think WY and his team sabotaged XZ's career so he could be the top actor also hate cp fans because they support both XZ/WY. mtjj= solo WY fans.

Acknowledge that WY could be in love with XZ but think XZ doesn't care about him, hope WY moves on. They don't seem to like cp fans for not ruining XZ/WY's friendship? bjyx=cp fans. Some of them are supporters and, some of them are fetishizers. Want the solo fandoms to combine??? ( I still don't know what V/JK is) But is that the state of things?? Way more complicated than the CQL/MDZS fandom. I am enjoying your blog, your pinned post is the best introduction to the fandom imo. Are there any other analysis type blogs like yours that you could rec? Thank you. ( Sorry for the long ask)

oh my... smh your reluctance to join this part of the fandom makes you so endearing to me. If I wasn't as socially inept as I am, I'd ask you to be friends 🥺 Gonna put this all under a cut~

Let me start with the easiest thing to answer. V and Jk are two members from BTS whose relationship is shockingly real to me. I avoided writing their names or their cp name out cuz I didn't want my pinned post to show up in those searches. Unlike with ggdd, I never got the impression they'd be okay with speculations about them, though. So I don't ever feel the need to analyze or discuss about them. I just quietly believe in and support them.

You got xfx and mtjj right. Xfx is the official fan name for XZ's solo fans. Mtjj is not an official fan name, though, i.e. Yibo or his company never made it official, as far as I know. It stands for motojiejie which means motorcycle sisters, there's also mtgg = motorcycle brothers but you'll mostly see mtjj. Bxg is what ggdd's cp fans are called. It stands for BoXiaoGirls/Guys. It can also stand for baixiangguo which means "passion fruit". And there's a third meaning which I don't know but has something to do with turtles and which is why you're likely to see bxg refer to themselves as turtles. Bjyx is ggdd's main, fanmade cp name. It was coined back in April 2018, after XZ and WYB only just got confirmed as the actors who get to play WWX and LWJ. One of the rules in the bjyx supertopic on weibo is that you can't switch their "roles". And those were solely based on wang/xian but I suppose once fans realized that ggdd is actually real and their dynamic is vastly different from wang/xian, they came up with different cp names for different dynamics. There's also zsww and lsfy. (Sidenote; if I remember correctly, bjyx means “to make your special someone smile”. Zsww means “lord over a district/castle” and lsfy means “chain reaction”) And as far as I know, zsww fans are called little bandits and lsfy fans are called baby lotus. I apologize if me explaining this makes you feel weird in any way (cuz this fandom separation is dumb af) - I just wanna give you any info I have cuz you might come across some of this, at least. Anyway, the most common abbreviations you'll see; bxg = ggdd cp fans and bjyx = ggdd's cp name. There's also bjyxszd 博君一肖是真的 which means "bjyx is real" or bjyxszd 并肩于学山之巅 which means "side by side atop the snowy summit" and is a phrase that bxg use to hide the first phrase in plain sight, so to say.

I don't know what it's called but there's actually also a supertopic on weibo for XZ and WYB solo fans who believe that ggdd is real but are still only solo fans. So truthfully, you can't really generalize that. Some solo fans do believe in ggdd and are supportive but not necessarily openly. I (like to) think most solo fans are just dedicated to their idol and don't care about anything or anyone else and that's it. The rest, though... yeah, those are the obnoxious ones. Who made up ridiculous conspiracy theories about how Yibo and his company are responsible for what happened last February to gg. Or who make up theories about how XZ only got as successful as he is because he copied Yibo. They really want to believe that ggdd aren’t special to each other or that they even hate one another. So they come up with the dumbest bs to e.g. vilify XZ. Like, about a year ago, mtjj got mad at gg cuz they thought he, as dd's boyfriend, must have forced dd to sell one of his motorcycles. When Yibo uses kadian, they think he just does it to bait cp fans. But when XZ uses kadian, he's being the worst, most careless boyfriend and how tf could he put Yibo in danger like that. And yes, I've seen the same hateful mtjj spout such contradictory nonsense. It can be quite hilarious, ngl. I only follow decent solo stans so I truthfully don't know what the newest sh-t is that antis/solos have come up with.

When it comes to bxg... yes, there are a lot of supporters but also way too many who seem to be unable to separate ggdd from novel!wang/xian. They so badly want only bjyx - that dynamic - to be real that they constantly feel the need to "change reality" to make it happen by e.g. misgendering gg, drawing him smaller than dd and/or more feminine, making assumptions about him and his character that are simply untrue but fit their preferred dynamic so they keep spreading those assumptions. They way they view XZ is wrong and beyond disrespectful and yet, they call themselves fans. I genuinely hope you'll never even have to see any thing of the sort. I don't actually know anything about bxg, wanting to combine the solo fandoms xD I guess, ideally that would be desirable but I wonder if that's even possible.

Thank you so much for liking my pinned post... That and a lot of the posts that I linked in it are what I keep hoping may make more people believe in and support ggdd and it makes me so so glad that it could be of use to you! About recs, I could recommend you some twt accounts or on here, gif makers and fanartists that I like and follow but I don't follow any ggdd blogs that make a lot of text posts. And just to be clear, I don't make many text posts myself either. I stay away from rumors (unless they become more than that) and from stalker info and from all the reaching, too. You might find it interesting, I don't know, but me, I see no point, mulling over any and every minute connection between ggdd that may or may not even be real. It gets too invasive or ridiculous imo. I actually also stay away from all that recent behind the scenes footage of ggdd because I highly disapprove of the way it was acquired. I only comment on things about them that I consider reasonable and possibly noteworthy and that preferably come from the men themselves. And occasionally, I gush about how cute and perfect they are together. Sorry I can't be more helpful with this last question >.<

#ask #halobey

[randomidiocyncrazies]

in celebration of the English fan translation of 2.43 reaching the end of the first bunkobon, i present even more of my (unorganized) thoughts about Oda and Aoki...

a thing i really like about book!Oda is that he essentially sees himself as a selfish person, and his relationship with Aoki is more complicated than it seems in the anime. like YuniChika, Oda and Aoki also have problems communicating with each other in a straightforward manner, which is interesting because they appear to function well as a unit in the eyes of their underclassmen

regarding the complications in their relationship, i think 2 pieces of information introduced in Ch 3 of the book illustrates it particularly well: the first is about how Oda became captain (spoiler: he wasn’t originally supposed to!), and the University Consultation Deception shows readers that they are willing to lie or otherwise keep things from each other. Oda regrets that he and Aoki are unable to “punch each other hard and tell each other their true thoughts,” and he is simultaneously grateful for Aoki’s support and jealous of his assets (primarily his height, but also his possession of what seems to be complete self-assuredness to Oda). this is also mixed with a sense of guilt for what he sees as dragging Aoki along with his selfish pursuits, and thinking everything Aoki’s done for him is a debt to be repaid, unable to realize that it’s ultimately Aoki’s choice to support him. (“You don’t have to understand,” which we WILL talk about later.)

the University Consultation Deception in particular highlights that both are hiding things from each other: Aoki doesn’t tell Oda about his goal to get into Kyoto University Law dept, choosing to lie instead (we aren’t explicitly told why Aoki lied, but I think one of the reasons might be because he doesn’t want Oda to let him go early so he could focus on his exams, even if it’s just out of politeness). 

Meanwhile Oda, who had already heard the rumor about Aoki’s future plans but pretended he didn’t know, silently admits that he couldn’t bring it up with Aoki, out of fear that Aoki would in fact choose to retire early and prioritize his studies. he’s also afraid that Aoki would realize that Oda is a “boring person” if you strip volleyball away from him (hence “Hey, do you... enjoy being with me?” in Ch 3.3)

Oda also flat out admits to himself that even if a confrontation about the university happens, he wouldn’t be able to let Aoki go without a fuss; he’d find excuses to make Aoki stay on the team for his “self-serving convenience,” although he also concedes that Aoki would prolong his retirement for as long as possible immediately afterwards and feels guilty for being indebted to Aoki (again).

(but still, it was a shock to find out that Aoki is willing to lie to him when asked point blank.)

When Aoki remarked on Yuni and Chika’s situation at the Ball Game Tournament, saying they should just let YuniChika fight and get everything out in the open, Oda immediately thinks that he and Aoki never got the chance to do that:

Although he and Aoki had their disagreements, they always ended up sidestepping the issue instead of getting into a serious quarrel. Even though Aoki would attack others with a sharp tongue as much as he wanted when necessary, but when it came to Oda, he would take a step back. He didn’t have to retract his opinion if there was something he didn’t like about the possibility of Haijima joining the team. I’m not such a tyrant that I won’t respect the opinion of the vice captain.

Oda still wasn’t convinced about how he was chosen as captain in the first place. Whenever Aoki gave him his due because he was the captain, it stimulated a deep sense of inferiority within him.

(2.43 S1 Chapter 3.5)

it turns out that Oda was not recommended for captain by their upperclassmen, and they had wanted Aoki instead, due to his analytical mind and ability to be cool under pressure. they also recommended Oda to switch to playing libero instead of a spiker, because they genuinely think Oda can get more out of the sport in that position. Oda was humiliated by this, which Aoki noticed.

so Aoki suddenly joined the student council and took advantage of school rules surrounding club activities to make sure Oda became the only candidate suitable for captaincy within the team, which meant he cannot be reassigned as a libero as per the school rules. this feeds further into Oda’s insecurities, and he's upset because it feels like only reason he got the position was because Aoki didn’t want it:

What’s with you? Do you pity me, who never grew taller? Or do tall guys have the freedom to do whatever they want? He was furious. However, he was unable to lay bare such ugly emotions in front of Aoki, and in the end it didn’t turn into a serious conflict at the time. The comfortable relationship that they had since they started high school had somehow created a wall instead, and there was an atmosphere where it would be too awkward to share their feelings at this point.

Although Aoki was his best friend and a trustworthy partner who was more easy to get on with than anyone, he also harbored a strangely twisted gloominess towards him.

(2.43 S1 Chapter 3.5)

as for why Aoki did it... while in the epilogue Aoki does think “no, I think you are a pretty unfortunate person,” pity isn’t why he does all this for Oda (if it were only pity, it would have burned out long ago). just as Chika’s volleyball changed Yuni’s world, Oda’s (passion for) volleyball changed Aoki’s. In Aoki’s mind there is nobody more deserving of being captain, but ironically Aoki’s respect and devotion seems to have created the opposite feeling in Oda, who feels indebted the more he does for him. 

it’s also really interesting that, although Oda feels guilty receiving Aoki’s help, he also isn’t afraid to ask for it, knowing that Aoki would support him. i feel like Oda’s willingness to rely on Aoki, even though he feels conflicted about it, is pretty refreshing in these kinds of narratives, especially when they technically still haven’t “fought and told each other their true thoughts” directly.

During this ball game tournament, which included preparations, while Oda was just saying he wanted Haijima like a spoiled brat, just how hard was Aoki working, even using his influence, for the sake of the whole team? Even though he supposedly didn’t agree with having Haijima join the team, he considered Oda’s feelings and took action like it was a matter of course. [...] 

[...] The prodigy who had student council duties, and who on top of that could get accepted to Kyoto University, probably had any number of things he could do besides volleyball, unlike Oda. He felt a deep sense of guilt that because he invited Aoki that day—because they were “Aoki” and “Oda”, an unexpected intrusion came into Aoki’s life.

“Ah, hey…thanks for everything…”

It was too embarrassing to say it now after two years, and he couldn’t look him in the eyes. He was grateful for the gap between their lines of sight right then. Every time he was helped, it only deepened his own sense of inferiority, and he had never thanked him face-to-face until now.

Good grief, it’s not just my outside, I’m also tiny and worthless on the inside.

“But, sorry…you’re going to have to go along with my selfishness for just a little longer.”

His debt would increase even more in the future. It seemed that Aoki won’t be able to concentrate on his exams for a while yet.

“…That’s just like you.” Aoki mumbled to himself, his head still turned away. [...] “You’re giving me too much credit, I feel guilty now. Playing volleyball with you is what I want to do right now, and I’m not doing it unwillingly. I don’t need to be thanked at all. I’ve been saying this since before, but me not liking Haijima is completely my personal feelings, and I’m the one who’s just being selfish. I don’t really care about going to university or not, and I don’t mind if you want me to lower my rank so we can go to the same place… I’m basically just driven by my ulterior motives.”

“Ulterior motives?”

[...]

“…You don’t have to understand.”

Aoki raised his head slowly [...] Then, he turned towards him and lifted the edge of his mouth. 

“Let’s go to the Spring Tournament. I’ll follow you until the end.”

For Oda, that thin, ironic smile was more reliable and trustworthy than anything.

(2.43 S1 Chapter 3.5)

a few things about that conversation: 1) it feels like Aoki just confessed to Oda... imo the entire conversation is Loaded with Implications™ (particularly his “ulterior motives,” the willingness to throw away his chance to get into the top school in Japan as soon as Oda gives an indication that he wants them to attend the same university, and “you don’t have to understand”)

2) it’s interesting that both Aoki and Oda both remarked that the other wouldn’t be able to understand them in this chapter: while talking to Chika about volleyball, Oda thought that “Aoki wouldn’t understand this much either,”* because ultimately Aoki’s devotion isn’t for the sport. and at the end of the chapter, Aoki essentially acknowledged that Oda wouldn’t understand his motives either, because while Aoki looks at Oda and sees the sun, Oda isn’t able to comprehend that he, with his passion and determination, changed Aoki’s life—and even when Oda feels inferior, Aoki thinks he’s the coolest, strongest super ace *in the published Chinese translation, the line is rendered as “Even Aoki wouldn’t be able to understand. He’d understand that it’s just who I am as a person, but he wouldn’t be able to feel what I feel.” 

3) i must stress the fact that, IMMEDIATELY AFTER Oda berated himself for his selfishness, he asks Aoki to go along with his selfishness for a little longer... the man knows what he wants (to play in the Spring Tournament)

#2.43 #2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley bu #2.43 seiin high school boys volleyball team #oda shinichiro #aoki misao #2.43 anime #odaoki #aoda #... seriously do they have a ship name?????

[bigskydreaming]

That last reblog is very informative and useful in figuring out where to find certain storylines. Purely on a personal recommendation note, for anyone looking for good reads and who tends to like my take on things, my recs from that list (and not saying that others I don’t rec aren’t good, just what immediately popped into my head) would be:

Batman: The Long Halloween (yes. its a good)

Batman: Birth of the Demon (if you want to set canon on fire, as many people are wont to do, a good place to start is aggressively ignoring Morrison’s take on Damian’s birth and origin and instead treating this story as his origin and just building off the idea that Talia lied at the end which is waaaaaaaaay better and just like...go from there)

Batman: The Killing Joke (kill it with the fire. we’ve had enough of the killing joke. it can die. even alan moore hates it and he wrote it and alan moore usually loves everything he writes and hates everyone ELSE for like, liking it the wrong way, so I mean, that should tell you a lot)

Batman: The Cult (holy shit I totally forgot about this story and now am off to go reread it again myself)

I have Issues with how ADITF AND A Lonely Place of Dying play out and most popular takes on them, so like, I’m not like, recommending RECOMMENDING them, but I mean like, they are pivotal.

Batman: Knightfall, Legacy, Cataclysm and all things No Man’s Land related have some good stuff throughout all of them. Like, things I don’t like, sure, but overall, there’s a lot of good material in them. Also, a good way to get a strong sense of actual canon Tim, who is not fanon Tim, and who would probably take one look at fanon Tim and go LOL nerd, and kickflip away on his skateboard to go tell Nightwing about this AU version of himself he just met, as like, he actually likes and respects Nightwing, among other differences.

JLA Tower of Babel (its a yawn from me, lads. the source of pretty much all “Batman can beat all of the JLA because he has the greatest superpower of all: PREP TIME!!!” hot takes and I mean, yeah that’s pretty core to Batman and who he is at this point, but the story itself its just like. Eh. Could you not. Idk. Basically I just mean this is all part of an era of JLA that for the most part I actually tend to LIKE Bruce’s interactions with the rest of the team, but then there was this and it was just like. Eh. Could you not).

Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (Quality reads IMO that emphasize the Detective part of the Batfranchise and contain good moments for the whole currently present Batfam, lots of great Cass and Dick stuff in particular. Idk. I havent read them in awhile but I have fond memories)

Batman: Hush (this gets a bad rep and not entirely deserved IMO. Like, its not the greatest story in the world but I like how it portrays Bruce as having flawed dynamics with a lot of his loved ones but not shying away from his role in that but also without overly vilifying him....he’s an appropriately complex character in this, is what I mean, and I also like that this is another story that emphasizes the often lost-and-forgotten Detective part of his core concept. Also, it utilizes some of my fave villains in ways that bring home how much potential certain combinations/team-ups of villains could have if they were utilized more instead of overlooked in favor of ITS TIME FOR THE JOKER AGAIN WHEEEEEEEE!)

Batman: Under the Red Hood (hahahhahaha no. like could you imagine me reccing this? LOL its not realistic. Nah, stick with the animated movie retelling. At least Bruce doesn’t slit his son’s throat in that one to save the damn clown again)

Batman: R.I.P (I reluctantly rec this not because I like it, cuz I don’t, its Morrison back on his bullshit in a most I AM THE MOST GALAXY BRAINED OF ALL THE GALAXY BRAINED AND ALSO IM A CHAOS MAGICIAN DID U KNOW THAT HUH DID YA DID YA, like, fashion. Its. A lot. The story is A Lot. I don’t say that in a complimentary way. BUT I recommend it anyway out of pure stubbornness and Dick Grayson fanboy spite, as its set like, directly before Bruce is believed dead and gets lost in time, and like, A LOT happens to Dick in that story that SHOULD BE extremely relevant and crucial to examinations of his mental and emotional state at the time of him assuming Bruce’s role in the family and as Batman, but that just like....ISN’T, and that annoys me. Also, the primary villain of this, Dr. Hurt, like.....

his grand endgame involved torturing the fuck out of Dick to hurt Bruce specifically, and pretty much the first thing that happens when Bruce DOES come back from being lost in time is Dr. Hurt pops up out of nowhere and shoots Dick in the head, like FIRST THING, like this is the absolute first thing Bruce has to deal with when coming back, and this is just like....NONEXISTENT in most fics about that era. Because lolol how can we blame Dick for everything that went wrong and make Bruce be mad at him for how Dick wronged Tim and Jason and all of Gotham probably, if we’re going by actual canon and thus dealing with the fact that Bruce is preoccupied with hovering over his just-shot-in-the-head-specifically-to-fuck-with-Bruce son’s bedside and WORRYING about him. LOLOL hashtag Fandom Willfully Erases The Majority of Dick’s Canon Traumas Not Because They Want To Set Canon On Fire - they’re usually fine with sticking to every instance of canon in which Dick does something even in the ZIP CODE of wrong - but rather because if we acknowledge Dick’s traumas then eww, he might come across as....sympathetic? No, we can’t have that. ERGO HE WAS NEVER SHOT IN THE HEAD HAHAHAH WE FIXED IT, WE FIXED CANON).

But I digress.

Battle for the Cowl (another reluctant rec because like, its dumb and its bad, but its one of those things that I’d still rather more people read than didn’t, because like it is pivotal and relevant, and it contains key plot points like oh Idk, Arkham literally blowing up as all the currently locked up inmates escape, which led to Dick having Wayne Enterprises rebuild it himself, and like, the only villains present in it when he was Batman being the villains he and Damian CAUGHT while he was Batman, which did NOT include the Joker, and thus all the hot takes about how Dick locked up Jason two doors down from his murderer like the uncaring bastard that he is, like.....instead of the reality that Dick pulled strings to have Jason put in Arkham instead of Blackgate when the POLICE ARRIVED ON SCENE AND LOCKED UP THE ANONYMOUS RED HOOD BECAUSE HE WAS CLEARLY DEFEATED AND CLEARLY A WANTED CRIMINAL AND THUS LIKE, HIS IMPRISONMENT LITERALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DICK OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT DICK DEFEATED JASON RATHER THAN LETTING HIM KILL HIM AND DAMIAN.....

like, its literal canon that Dick explains himself for having Jason put in Arkham instead of Blackgate because it allowed him to keep Jason OUT of gen pop where he had literal dozens of enemies that he, Jason, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING THEM IN THERE HIMSELF, and it was to keep Jason SAFE, and it WORKED as Jason’s only actual canon complaint at that time was that he was BORED. So in conclusion, AS ALWAYS, you can do what you want, but when you literally manufacture the fake fanon - and completely fail to make any effort to establish that this is NOT actual canon and that you’re not actually riffing off of an actual canon moment - that Dick callously locked his brother up a few doors down from his own murderer (the dude that Dick himself literally once beat to death because he killed Jason).....like, inquiring minds would like to know, why are you trying so hard to make Dick look like THIS MUCH of an asshole, hmm?)

Batman: The Gates of Gotham (a weird, but fun little read IMO, that delves deep into the backstory of Gotham, the Waynes, and also Dick’s ancestors the Crownes, and establishes a lot of the history revolving around all of the above, and like, it actually has Dick as Batman and being competent and respected by the rest of the family in that role, and its also one of the only times Cass and Damian interacted one on one, stuff like that)

Batman and Robin Eternal (eww no, kill it also with the fire, burn it, I hate it, uggggggh why is this series so praised, its so baaaaaaaaaaaad, its like what if literally every character involved in it is an asshole to Dick for no valid reason whatsoever.....huh, weird thought, wonder if the fact that its so praised as being so good and Dick’s so hated for weird reasons by a lot of fandom are connected....almost like.....the fiction influenced how people viewed his character....and thus....critical commentary of how the fiction was bad is....relevant....HMM I MUST PONDER THIS STRANGE AND NOVEL THOUGHT).

[subjecta5newtella]

thoughts on newtmas :) go on :) i’m listening :)

sami rly said ok time for violence. this is going to be so long sorry everyone.

if we’re talking newtmas itself as a ship in itself, outside of any other influence (and specifically in the movie version, which is generally what people are talking about), I think it’s a good ship. I would have to be the most unobservant motherfucker alive to not see what people see in it, and I am not, in fact, the most unobservant motherfucker alive. it’s a good dynamic with good chemistry and realistically I think if I’d started with the movies rather than the books, I would’ve gone all in for it.

however. I personally am incapable about talking about it in isolation.

I realize from that segue it sounds like I’m about to lead into some grand moral point, but mostly I just liked how dramatic it sounded. anyway. I feel like I need to start with a disclaimer that the easiest, simplest part of this is that you tend to get attached to your first ships in a fandom, as well as your initial feelings about the characters. obviously you can change your mind about any of those things, but it does stick with you. if we’re going to be kind and skip my internalized homophobia era (please be kind), I shipped thominho and nalby because that’s what was big at the time. I also just... did not like book thomas very much, so I wasn’t about to ship him with my favorite character.

(complete and utter tangent: it’s interesting to me that people read the books now and overwhelmingly see newtmas. I recognize that every time I start a sentence with “it’s interesting that” it automatically sounds shady, but i genuinely just love Analyzing. anyway some of it’s definitely people seeing the movie first or having fandom content as a first exposure even in passing, all of which are valid ways to engage, but I do kind of find it fascinating when people talk about book!newtmas as some massive presence because then... theoretically we all should’ve seen it pre-movies? the ship existed, usually among people who hardcore multishipped, but it wasn’t anything like it is today. not at all to say that reading it like that is invalid, it’s just interesting to me the way some people talk about that interpretation, rather than the interpretation itself)

anyway. with that all out of the way, i do have some actual issues with newtmas, although it really doesn’t have anything to do with the characters or the ship itself. these are things that surround the ship and affect my feelings about it, meaning that I never bought in despite, like I said, Seeing It. my main issue with it is how much the roles of other characters have been reduced to create the ship in its current form. I’ve talked at far too much length about the way minho was adapted and honestly will probably talk about it more, because that’s the big one to me (that post can be found here, for those who don’t keep up with every rant I’ve ever gone on for some reason). I will not go so far as to say that’s required reading to fully understand this post, but I would recommend it since I don’t want to just repeat myself. so much of newtmas being the major ship feels like it’s predicated on minho not being there and not having anywhere near as strong a relationship with thomas and newt as he did in the books, and that will never sit right with me.

newt’s relationship with alby is his other most significant dynamic outside thomas and minho, and i feel like it might be surprising to hear me say this, but i get why that one was reduced for the movie. there’s only so much time in the film, so you want to focus on the characters who are going to make it past the first one. I do have a problem here, but it has more to do with dashner and with some fandom bullshit. with dashner, i think the crank palace is the worst of it (I could’ve just stopped that sentence at “I think the crank palace is the worst” but whatever). since all my rants lead back to each other, I’ll link the relevant one here, but the general gist is that my biggest problem was that newt does not seem to have any more of a post-swipe past than thomas does despite theoretically having two more years of memories. given that fact, I don’t know about you, but I would kind of expect alby to be more of a presence in his consciousness. that’s true of pretty much any of the original gladers, but newt and alby are clearly very close in the first book, and again, alby saved his fucking life. he’s literally mentioned once. dashner prioritized the newt/thomas dynamic so much that newt seemingly had no meaningful relationships with anyone else. tcp isn’t immune to treating minho badly either; like I said in that post, it sounds like newt read the wikipedia page on minho. is any of this the fault of the ship itself? does this change anything that came before it? no, but the whole thing feels massively disingenuous, and also kind of disrespectful to people who actually, like, gave a shit about the other characters. also, the way he’s retconning makes me real nervous.

the other part, like I mentioned, is the fandom more than any of the actual content. I’m aware that part of this is just a statistics game and also that’s it’s not representative of all newtmas shippers, but most of the alby bashing I’ve seen comes from newtmas people. it’s... baffling to me, honestly. what’s the point in putting down a ship being kept alive by me and like 3 other people? what do you gain by misrepresenting a character to the point of maliciousness when you could easily just not engage with them? again, I know it’s not everyone and it doesn’t have anything to do with the ship, but I’d be lying if I said things like this don’t color my perception. if someone goes out of their way to put down a ship I like, I’m not really gonna want to associate myself with their ship. I’m gonna cling to my own harder out of spite, actually.

also.... okay. so I peaced out to go do other shit between earlyish 2015 and mid 2019. and it was very weird to temporarily leave the fandom while the two main (in my recollection at least, which could be biased by who i was friends with) mlm ships each included one of the explicitly non-white characters, and come back to find it almost entirely dominated by white boy/white boy... like. I don’t wanna make a statement as simple as “the fandom is racist” because a) it’s not my place to say that, b) if we want to go into that, there are other examples of fandom racism where it’s Blatant and there really is no excuse, whereas this is a bit more complicated imo because c) like. that’s the dynamic the movies gave us. the movies focused very heavily on the newt and thomas dynamic, so of course that’s what the fandom is going to focus on. there’s a lot to say there, but that’s a different issue. it does.... still contribute to the bad taste in my mouth, though, and also contributes to me feeling like I need to keep those ships alive. it’s not about who has the Most Progressive Ship, I just feel weird about the particular shift I’ve seen here.

on a note that sounds less like I’m leveling accusations, New Relationships just aren’t my vibe. you look at my ao3 and it’s like. friends of many years to lovers. established relationship. friends to lovers to exes and back again. just from a dynamics perspective, there are other ships that are more interesting for me to explore. there. this is a lighter reason.

idk overall I don’t wanna sound like I’m on some Moral Crusade here, even though i know some of my points made it sound like that. this is really just me putting all of my thoughts that I can currently round up in one place in order to... idk, explain myself? and like it’s stupid that i feel the need to explain myself, but I know it’s weird not to ship it at this point, and I know if I did I would have so much more content to choose from and a much wider audience for my own content. there’s just baggage there thats entirely separate from the ship itself, having seen the shift and knowing what had to change in order to center newtmas. I’m not trying to sound like I’m better than anyone; I just think maybe I have a different perspective on things having been here for long enough to qualify it as a new mental illness, and that’s ultimately why I feel the way I do.

#and honestly maybe all of that is bullshit and I’m just a contrarian asshole at heart. who’s to say. not me. #why did I write so much about this. they’re literally fake people who gives a fuck #ask game

[werealljustwinginit]

Tell us about what skincare ingredients and products you love!

Okay, so I LOVE TALKING SKINCARE. This is a huge topic for me and I often write up a blog post once a year where i recommend skin care products. So here is this year’s recommendation! An insanelyyyyy long and detailed post nobody asked for!! HERE WE GO: 

I am a long time skincare advocate...before it really blew up and people started really getting to know more about their products and ingredients. I’ve just always had very acne-prone skin so I’ve had to pay attention to what products and ingredients I was using and how their formulas worked for me. As a result, over the years I tried A SHIT TON of products. Many expensive, fancy, high end, etc. But now I have my skincare routine down to a much more manageable and quality ingredient list. Obviously everyone’s skin is different...but this is what I use on a regular basis these days:

Serums:

- Krave Beauty’s Great Barrier Relief Serum: Honestly, this is THE SHIT. My favorite moisturizing serum to really help balance your skins hydration barrier and stay hydrated. It’s thicker and almost feels like a moisturizer. It’s so great.  - The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Drops: Niacinamide is an amazing ingredient for your skin and can help a tremendous amount with clearing the skin, resurfacing, fading scars, and more. This really does a good job helping with my acne, so i really recommend to anyone. And I am pretty sure it’s like $5 cause it’s from the ordinary.

Moisturizers:

- CeraVe Moisturizing Cream: It’s a very cheap drug store moisturizer that has good, clean ingredients. After using fancy moisturizers for years, I finally gave into my dermatologist’s recommended lotion. LOL. They do have a lotion that is lighter, but my skin tends to be dryer, especially in the winter so I use the cream not the lotion. It’s thicker. (For high end junkies--it’s like comparing Drunk Elephant’s LaLa Retro to their Protini cream). I also sometimes throw in drops of a marula oil into this cream if I am really dry. Make myself a little face smoothie. 

Eye/Lip Creams:

- Mario Badescu Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream: Now honestly, I still haven’t found my perfect eye cream yet...but I have used this one for a few years now. It moisturizes well and is cheap to buy. It’s probs not the most effective but at least I am moisturizing my eye area. One day I will take on more eye creams that target certain things, but that is one day when I have money to spend lmao. -Glossier Bubblewrap Lip/Eye Cream: This is a very unique moisturizing product that is meant for sensitive skin like your eye area and lips. It does say it plumps a bit, which I don’t ever feel a plumping effect, but I do love to use it on my lips. It’s so moisturizing and is kind of like using a primer before you apply chapstick or lipstick. 

Exfoliators:

- Glossier Solution: The OG chemical exfoliant I tried and loved. These types of products aren’t great for everyone, and may have to be used less or more depending on skin type, but as an acne-prone human, I love a chemical exfoliant. This works and lasts a long while.

- Krave Beauty’s Kale-Lalu_AHA: Another chemical exfoliant. I recently tried this one because I do believe Krave Beauty uses better ingredients than Glossier Skin typically does (no shade tho). They were close in price, so I made the switch and have enjoyed the results so far. The packaging is also beautiful.

- Dr. Brant Microdermabrasion Exfoliant: This is NOT a chemical peel, this has aluminum oxyde crystals in it to polish the skin like a normal exfoliant would. It also has a lot of ingredients that help renew and refresh the skin while exfoliating. Now this product is HELLA expensive...I only have it because I once bought it for way cheaper when I had a subscription box. I don’t know if I would spend the full $80 bucks on it, but your skin does feel smooth.

- Tatcha The Deep Polish: This is an enzyme powder that you mix with water and exfoliate fro there. It is from when I used to buy the highest end products in hopes it would help my skin. It is pricey, but again does leave your skin feeling soft. So I rotate it in from time to time.

Masks: 

- The Ordinary’s AHA 30% BHA 2% Peeling Solution: AKA THE BLOOD MASK. Now hugely popular on social media, the “blood mask” is a chemical mask that peels off dead skin and essentially works to eliminate the top layers of your skin and begin rejuvenating a fresher layer for softer, healthier, plumper skin. I do this once a week and it is way cheap. I can compare it to Drunk Elephant’s Sukari Babyfacial and it definitely beats that expensive version.

- Glow Recipe’s Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask: This is an overnight moisturizing mask that you simply wash off in the morning. It really helps lock in moisture and feels nice on the skin. I use this when I am feeling really dry. 

- Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Mask: This one you have to mix the dry clay mixture with water and apple cider vinegar to create a goo that you can then let dry on your face. It may be intense for some, but I find it really helps dry out my acne spots and reduce redness in my skin. It’s always a fun one to do with other people too because you do have to prepare it. Good sleepover activity. 

- GlamGlow Bubble Sheet Mask:  This one is honestly more so used for when I am traveling and want to keep a mask on hand or when I am having a fun girls night or something. It’s a bubble mask--so to me that just means fun. I typically avoid sheet masks (unless I am traveling) because I think you end up throwing a way a lot of product you are paying for. But this one is fun, it’s cute, it’s different. I don’t notice a huge change in my skin tbh, but it is a fun activity for girls night. 

Honorable Mention/Random Products:

- Youth to the People’s Kale and Green Tea Superfood Cleanser: I stayed away from this one for a long time because it’s expensive and I could rationalize buying such an expensive cleanser, but I got a gift card to Sephora and finally decided to try it. And ya know what?? I guess I am fancy now because I really love it. It does not overly strip your skin at all, and for the first time in my life I really know what that means. It’s so great, it smells so good. Ugh. Can’t get enough of this bougie bitch of a face wash.

- The Inkey List Retinol Cream: A recent purchase, but I have enjoyed seeing the results. Everyone imo should be using an eye cream and a retinol. This is a nice introduction to retinol, so I recommend to those looking for one.

- Glossier Mint Balm Dot Com Chapstick: THIS AGAIN--IS THE SHIT. Many will say they would never spend more than two bucks but one tube of their’s is seven bucks and it is WORTH IT. I buy the three pack once a year and i’m good. This is the best chapstick you will literally ever use. Fucking buy it. If I could tell you only three products that are a must from this list this would be one of them. (the other two would be great barrier relief and the kale cleanser)

- Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: I like this lip mask, it’s not needed everynight, but I do like to use a lip exfoliant (made or buy one, whatever) and then use this to really retextures my lips. 

- Bag Balm: Now this is a very unusual product to recommend lmaooo. Originally, bag balm is used for chapped cow udders on farms--which is how I discovered it. Farmers eventually noticed that it helped your skin retain moisture and repair cracked skin in their hands. So now it is known as a good thick ass cream for hands and feet. Now this shit is again--used on cows originally, so the formula feels thick and greasy. I like putting it on at night and letting it soak in for a while as I lay on my phone. It really works--I swear to you. 

- Sagely CBD Cream: I use their relief and recovery crea which smells like lavender and has a cooling effect when applied to the skin (kinda like biofreeze or icyhot would). This is only a 50mg CBD lotion, but I do like it. 

- Mad Ritual CBD Muscle Recovery Balm: Now this is thick and definitely a balm, not a cream. It is much higher strength though, so I break it out when needed and a little goes a long way. This one is 200mg of CBD. 

- Mario Badescu Drying Lotion: This drying lotion is now so popular but has been a staple of mine for at least a decade now. You leave it on over night and it really does dry up and reduce zit size. Helps a lot. There must be a reason why super models are told to use this shit before a runway show. 

- Tatcha The Essence: Essences are a new and kind of weird thing, kinda like priming the skin to allow for better absorption of a product. Now this product I received as a Christmas gift one year, but I am pretty sure it’s like $100...breaking the bank as always, tatcha. Anyway, it does allow for better absorption of products and feels light and refreshing on the skin. One bottle has lasted me two years now. I don’t know if I would recommend it, but I do use it somewhat regularly and it does make you feel like a bougie bitch. 

AND THAT IS THE END. Sorry that was soooo long. But like I said, I do a write up once a year of my skincare products anyway. So there you guys have it!! If you have any questions at all about your skin or skincare routine , honestly hit me up. Over the years I have slowly has friends come to me. Once I collect all of the I will have all of the infinity stones lmao. 

#asks #skin care #mary's 2021 recommendations #personal #life of mary #honestly if this doesn’t get noted I swear to fucking god #lmao

[toshootforthestars]

From the report by Beth Mole, posted 19 July 2021:

Fully vaccinated people are largely protected from delta; the current vaccines are still highly effective against developing COVID-19 from delta and other variants of concern. Though a small proportion of people can develop so-called “breakthrough infections,” those infections will mostly be asymptomatic or mild. But, unvaccinated people are completely vulnerable. Moreover, those who have received only one dose of a two-dose vaccine or have only recovered from COVID-19 are not much better off than those who are completely unvaccinated.

But according to new polling data from CBS News, a new wave of vaccinations seems unlikely. Among unvaccinated and partly vaccinated people, only 48% said they are concerned about delta. Among fully vaccinated people, 72% reported being concerned about the variant.

Despite the fact that the current COVID-19 vaccines have proven highly effective and safe, 53% of those who are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated said in the poll that they are concerned about side effects. 50% of the group cited a lack of trust in the government as a reason not to get vaccinated. And 45% said they don’t trust the science. All of these percentages are higher than they have been in earlier polls, indicating that these anti-vaccine sentiments are hardening among the unvaccinated.

Some unvaccinated people who may be more persuadable have said they are waiting for the vaccines to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (currently, they are authorized by the FDA under an emergency use authorization). On Friday, Pfizer and BioNTech said that the FDA had granted them a Priority Review designation for their mRNA vaccine, but they didn’t expect a decision on full approval until January 2022. Currently, vaccine providers are administering only around 520,000 COVID-19 vaccine per day, down from a record of 4.6 million in a day in April.

With over 161 million people vaccinated, only 48.6% of the US population is fully vaccinated.

See also: How much COVID misinformation is on Facebook? Its execs don’t want to know

For years, misinformation has flourished on Facebook. Falsehoods, misrepresentations, and outright lies posted on the site have shaped the discourse on everything from national politics to public health. But despite their role in facilitating communications for billions of people, Facebook executives refused to commit resources to understand the extent to which COVID-19-related misinformation pervaded its platform, according to a report in The New York Times.

Early in the pandemic, a group of data scientists at Facebook met with executives to propose a project that would determine how many users saw misleading or false information about COVID. It wasn’t a small task—they estimated that the process could take up to a year or more to complete—but it would give the company a solid understanding of the extent to which misinformation spread on its platform.

The executives listened to the data scientists’ pitch and then reportedly ghosted them.

The data team’s proposal wasn’t approved, and they were never given an explanation for why it was silently dropped.

The revelations come as Facebook has drawn fire from the White House for its role in the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines that prevent it. “They’re killing people,” President Joe Biden said about the role of social networks in the spread of misinformation. “Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. They’re killing people.”

Biden later walked back his comments slightly, but they revealed the administration’s frustration with social media platforms—and with Facebook in particular—over their response to the pandemic.

For weeks, the White House pressed Facebook for details on how the company is combating COVID vaccine misinformation. The social network offered some details but gave unsatisfying answers to other requests.

Facebook’s unwillingness or inability to understand the scope of COVID misinformation on its platform was apparent in comments it gave to The New York Times, in which it blamed its nescience on the lack of a “standard definition” for pandemic-related misinformation. “The suggestion we haven’t put resources toward combating COVID misinformation and supporting the vaccine rollout is just not supported by the facts,” said Dani Lever, a Facebook spokeswoman.

“With no standard definition for vaccine misinformation, and with both false and even true content (often shared by mainstream media outlets) potentially discouraging vaccine acceptance, we focus on the outcomes—measuring whether people who use Facebook are accepting of COVID-19 vaccines.”

For researchers who study misinformation, that explanation isn’t sufficient. “They need to open up the black box that is their content ranking and content amplification architecture,“ Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, told The New York Times. “Take that black box and open it up for audit by independent researchers and government. We don’t know how many Americans have been infected with misinformation.”

Me: 

This situation is extremely bad!

First off, the individuals that aren’t getting vaccinated just do not care to. They’ve bought hook line and sinker into all the disinfo and misinfo on facebook, instagram, youtube, tiktok, reddit, and/or whatever 8chan replacement one choosed. What they see and read reinforces their pre-conceived (and factually incorrect) views that “experts” “really don’t know shit about anything” and thusly are “blowing things way the fuck outta proportion,” etc. Their views are both informed by, and reinforced by:

what they read and see online

what they hear on FM/AM radio

what they watch on broadcast TV

what their friends and communities consume from media

what the prevailing societal and political attitudes in one’s community are

“rugged individualism” and the post-1980 erosion of the social contract

So, if your fb friends are covid truthers, if the on-air personalities you hear on the radio at work are covid truthers, if your neighbors and friends at werk are covid truthers, if the elected leaders are covid truthers, if the snippets of Fox News you get to see randomly are pushing covid truther disinfo, and if those in your inner circle at that 4th of July party you went to are covid truthers, then you yourself, at a minimum from peer pressure, will dismiss the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, scores of hospital operators, plus countless professionals in medicine and epidemiology in your decision not to get vaccinated, nor to mask up indoors in public even when “recommended”.

“I have rights. I know what’s really going on. I’ve got things figured out.”  Or, at a minimum, “I don’t give a fuck either way.” “Fuck you.”

Facebook absolutely is responsible for the covid truther disinfo and misinfo being shared on their platform.  I believe they are the largest vector of disinformation and misinformation to the public. So many people are chugging the “vaccines are a scam, masks don’t work and I have rights” kool-aid thanks to disinfo introduced and shared widely on facebook

Some other major vectors of disinfo: iHeartMedia - Premiere Networks - iHeartRadio, Entercom/Audacy, Westwood One, One America News, Fox News, Newsmax, Sinclair Broadcast Group, YouTube + Google, TikTok, and Reddit.

“I saw a video on YouTube where the military did a study…”  or “I heard a guy on the radio saying mask mandates are part of a plot…”  It's all bullshit!

At this point it cannot be anything but an active choice the leadership at these companies consciously make to pipe out total bullshit in a time of crisis. Content from all of the above easily makes its way to facebook, too, unrestricted!

The U.S continues to spiral into this post fact, post truth, anti-intellectual, anti-science neo-fascist hellscape where no lives matter and where mass death is AOK because “none of us get out of this world alive” or some asshat folksy quip that masks as wisdom.  Empathy, reasoning, established facts and observable reality have all become political statements… People hear what they want to hear.

IMO this is truly a disastrous situation with no easy way out.

Many, many people will not wear masks again.  Many, many people see the survival rate for coronavirus and they surmise wrongly that the risk for them of getting covid is worth it, that the risk for others isn’t remotely their concern, and that the entire situation is overblown. The social contract is in bad shape. Public confidence in the state is almost gone. Covid truthers are everywhere.

Getting a vaccine requires time off from work to travel to a mass vax site that’s still open, time off to recoup post-shot (if necessary), and overcoming fear that the anti-vax disinfo on social media was true after all. Plus overcoming peer pressure from unvaccinated friends and family.

Covid case numbers are likely undercounts. Test kits are still problematic. Persons with no health insurance have no PCP to call when they get sick. Underinsured persons may have to wait weeks for their approved PCP to get around to a telehealth call. Many people are getting sick and not getting tested and they’re not reporting anything to anyone. State officials, wanting to look good, may skew whatever data is reported to them.

COVID-19 is an airborne virus. Most people catch covid from contagious asymptomatic people. Coronavirus has always been a risk for children! Getting vaccinated is part of an overall good strategy to keep COVID-19 at bay. Masks work!!! If indoors, stay in a ventilated room if you’re with other people, and keep doors and windows open for air circulation. Coronavirus is producing extremely serious long-term cognitive and cardiovascular complications for many people who survive it. “Long covid” is real.

We don’t have to live with this! The political and business leadership in much of the United States today have collectively decided there’s nothing that can or should be done in regards to covid-19, no masking requirements, no easy supplies of N95 masks, and no mitigation efforts of any kind. They wrongly conclude that COVID-19, a new virus with so many unknowns, “isn’t that bad” and so the level of permanent damage or death resulting from covid is acceptable.

None of this is acceptable, the amount of permanent damage and death occurring from COVID-19 is far, far too high, and there’s no rational excuse whatsoever to allow this virus to spread across this country unchecked. There’s no reason to allow this virus to spread further. There’s no valid reason for me and anyone else to justify allowing covid to spread out of control.

#news #coronavirus #third wave #covid vaccine #facebook sucks #please get vaccinated #misinformation #disinformation #america 2021 #rant #ars technica #vaccine hesitancy #anti vaxxer #things are going swimmingly #long post

[devilsskettle]

can i ask u to elaborate on ur feelings/notes about swallow? i rly liked it and i would love to hear another person’s thoughts!!

yes! i’m so glad you asked, i was just writing about it actually! 

the main two things i think this movie has going for it are the visual appeal and the strength of the acting. every shot in this movie seemed intentional and considered thoroughly, none of them seemed unnecessary or even boring to look at. everything from the set and costume design to the camera work was well done. i think that’s really impressive! most films don’t have that kind of intentionality. it felt kind of like “wes anderson does a psychological thriller” lol but not in a way that felt distracting to me. also the actress who plays hunter, haley bennett, did such a good job of conveying her as a character, and with so much nuance to her emotions. i also think it’s thematically interesting, the way it explores ideas about health, bodily autonomy, financial inequality (this is another “rich people suck” movie), gender, i could go on but you get the idea. it’s very gothic in a lot of ways, discussing the confinement of and violence towards women in the domestic sphere, especially the entitlement to their bodies and ideas about motherhood. i’ve also rarely seen stories about pika but i think here it’s framed in a sympathetic and respectful light that points out its seriousness but doesn’t place the blame on the person who struggles with it, which is a good way to handle any mental health issue in stories imo. i also think it’s rare to have abortion portrayed as a neutral choice that is right in certain circumstances so i think it did that well enough (there have been several movies/tv series in recent years that also discuss abortion without bias so it’s hardly revolutionary but i still like the way they went about it). however, i didn’t love the direction the movie went, i was hoping for more horror than that, in fact the only reason i think it’s labeled a psychological thriller is because people aren’t used to seeing pika portrayed and while it’s a scary problem to have, i don’t think the movie as a whole feels like a thriller. it feels more like a drama about marriage and mental health, if maybe a little bit more intense for that genre. like you can tell it’s intended to be a thriller based on the tone and everything, but the story itself doesn’t back that up. also it only really gets at surface level issues, and gives you a clear reason and solution for her problem (reason: guilt about the method of her conception + problems with her home life + pregnancy. result: pika. solution: confront father + leave husband + abortion. i wish it hadn’t been that simple)

which brings me to: the things i would’ve changed about it or liked to see more:

1. they opened the movie with several close up shots of food and i thought that would be a motif that they carried through the movie, which it was with the items that hunter ate, but not with actual food. like i thought in the birthday party scene, they would have a close up shot of the tray of sandwiches she was carrying, for example. i would’ve liked to see that and how by treating both the food and the objects the same way visually it would blur the line between the two, also i just think it would be visually appealing 

2. i’m uncomfortable with the way they portrayed getting mental health help, with the therapist breaking confidentiality and the family of her husband coercing her into checking into an inpatient facility, even though imo that’s exactly where she needed to be (she almost died! she should’ve been in more intensive treatment). i don’t mind the therapist thing as much because it shows how money can open any door and how alone hunter was, but there’s nothing wrong with having to go to a psych ward even if it feels like an extreme step so it kind of felt bad to me but maybe i’m just hypersensitive about that kind of thing 

3. again, i wanted it to go darker. i wanted for her to snap at the end and do something fucked up to her husband or his family. honestly i didn’t mind the ending, i thought the bathroom scene under the credits was a very strong final shot, but the narrative after she leaves the hotel feels like it diverts into soap opera melodrama territory. in some ways i like the ending but i wished it had something else to it

4. i wish we got to see more of hunter’s real personality but i think that’s difficult when she’s so isolated. maybe in some of the therapy scenes she could open up more and we’d see more past the facade (besides when she’s having a breakdown, which is also not indicative of her “real” personality) 

5. the fact that we get to hear from her father and very little from her mother - none of which is positive - is a little bit questionable to me given that he raped her and we see him humanized and her - maybe not dehumanized, but she’s framed as not being a very good mother, at least to hunter, despite what she says about it. but it’s also surprising and moving in unexpected ways to see her confront the real person face to face instead of literally carrying around the image that she has of him and never really dealing with it, and it also shows that what he did and who he was when he did it was truly pathetic and entitled and massively harmful to both hunter and her mother and potentially to the family he has now, and also there’s not some magical line that separates “normal” people from people who do terrible things to other people, they’re also just people, which isn’t to say “we should forgive them and give them another chance! they’re only human,” more like “you are a person who is capable of hurting others so think about your actions and hold yourself accountable for them.” so i don’t know if it works or if it doesn’t work for me, i maybe have to sit with that one a little longer

6. while i think this movie is better, it does feel like it’s potentially getting into promising young women territory with the pastel aesthetic, focus on women, and shallowness of the storytelling (everything in either of these movies stays very surface level imo). i think it’s a much better movie but still there were parts that felt pretty meh in the same ways

that having been said, it’s a movie i think is going to stick with me and i definitely think it’s worth a watch for anyone curious, but if you’re not already curious, i don’t think you’re missing out so terribly much if you skip it

if you enjoyed this movie (or even were just interested in its themes) here’s some things i would recommend checking out: the yellow wallpaper by charlotte perkins gilman (a woman experiences a mental breakdown after being shut away in her room to recover from “hysteria” while suffering from postpartum depression), white is for witching by helen oyeyemi (also deals with pika as well as horror in domestic spaces), the invisible man 2020 (i feel like these movies have a lot of overlap - isolated glass houses on a cliffside, abusive/possessive men that they have to escape both of whom threaten to - or actually do - hunt them down, a woman experiencing a serious problem that no one takes seriously and is threatened with - or actually experience - institutionalization, commentary on wealth and autonomy), wide sargasso sea by jean rhys (after reading jane eyre of course! follows the character of bertha from jane eyre during her childhood, the early days of her relationship with rochester, and the breakdown of that relationship - similar in relationship with her husband, etc)

anyway yeah that’s all i have to say about it for now but i’d love to hear what you think about it!

#swallow 2019 #swallow

[impatient14]

Not to be “annoying on main” but like most things here in the year 2020, a lot of the nuance and reason surrounding the fandom’s fight over Dean’s queerness is lost to the wily temptress that is extremity, and I want to throw some stuff out there in case anyone is thinking the same things and just needs to hear that someone else is too.

To my followers and anyone who dares look through my blog (honestly don’t recommend it), it’s obvious I’m someone who enjoys the Dean/Cas pairing. And when I say enjoy, I mean I absolutely get feral about a wide range of topics that involve their relationship, depiction, and reception. I’ve always kept my opinions within the confines of my blog, though, and I’ve never--not once in the decade of my life on Tumblr--gone into inboxes to send hate or even indirect someone with hate or drama on my blog. That shit just ain’t kosher.

That being said, some of the anti-destiel arguments out there have merit.

Like, for example, Destiel shippers not liking the show. Personally, I did like Supernatural originally, but I also recently recommended new watchers who came for Destiel to just watch certain episodes. I’ve stopped watching Supernatural several times throughout my Supernatural journey (which started in real time with season one), because the writing can be down right awful. There were lots of great examples of writing too, but it wasn’t consistent enough for me to keep watching in real time. So I'd watch a season behind on Netflix. At some point, things got bad enough (the bro-dependence, recycled or unimaginative plotlines, the terrible treatment and fridging of female characters) that I did keep coming back for Dean and Cas only (and honestly, it was sometimes only Castiel). 

Another worthy anti-destiel point for consideration is the fact that other than destiel shippers, a lot of people who watch Supernatural don’t care about Castiel. This seems to be correct. I’d wager to say that the vast majority of Supernatural watchers did not invest even a portion of time, energy, or emotions in Castiel that we did. That’s cool. I’ve been a casual viewer of a show and been blindsided by things that their fanon saw coming a mile away. Everyone has different perspectives, and the idea that Castiel isn’t integral to the plot when you remove the possibility of Destiel is absolutely correct.

However.

Why did they keep bringing him back? It’s true that he could easily be written out when his relationship with Dean is bro-ified, but his deaths never took until the end (and even then it didn’t). Sure, it could be “pandering,” but if only 1% of the Supernatural fandom ships destiel (as stated in one argument), it seems like a strange choice monetarily. Misha, as a series regular, wasn’t exactly giving out his services for free (eyyoo), so producers and the network wouldn’t give a second thought to the vitroil and threats creators and actors would get if Misha were written off. (Side note: I categorically *hate* the social media accessibility that lets people directly interact so negatively with creators to the point of dangerous conditions. It’s the most ugly and embarrassing side of fandom.)

It could be argued they kept bringing him back because they knew hellers and Cas lovers would continue to buy his Merch and what not, but I can’t imagine the small percentage of viewers who are invested enough in Castiel to buy his Merch would compensate for Misha’s annual salary. (But honestly, numbers aren’t my thing so *shrug*) But it could also be argued that the perceived destiel headache for creators, plus the retention of Misha’s salary, would be enough to get rid of him if not for a crucial role he plays in the show. Creators have repeatedly said that Cas’ whole character revolves around his relationship with Dean, so that means the writers felt that the Cas/Dean relationship was important to the fabric of the show--in whatever way you’d like to see it. Does that mean viewers have to see it that way? Definitely not. But that’s not the story the writers are telling you they’re writing--

Oh, that sounds familiar!

All the textual gay jokes, narrative devices, and creator interactions (not just Misha, but writers, producers, and other actors too) created the metaphorical pink elephant, not the shippers themselves. And to be told otherwise is some gaslighting bullshit. I agree some fans take it too far and freak out at the mere mention of a non-destiel reading, but the foundation for a destiel reading is based in text, not just in the shippers heads. The relationship between the Supernatural creators, actors, and fandom is undoubtedly toxic, which is why I think it makes it easier for them to deny various romantic interpretations of Dean and Castiel's relationship, but (and i hate to do it) in their defense, they definitely wrote enough into the text to justifiably claim Dean's a nohomodudebro. However, they've also written enough into the text to legitimately doubt (not definitively deny) his heterosexuality.

IMO (for the maybe two people wondering) Dean became bisexually coded in a very complicated conglomeration of a homophobic “its funny to be gay” kind of way, the chemistry between Jensen and Misha, countless production decisions, and Castiel’s growing and canonical love for Dean---which all makes the matter impossible to ignore. On more than one occasion the writers made choices that welcomed a destiel reading--not confirmed--but welcomed (which is, wait for it, queerbaiting!). I’d be shocked if no one read Dean as being queer coded and secretly in love with Castiel, who btw, is absolutely 100% romantically in love with Dean Winchester. The writers kept making decisions that fed hellers so well because Castiel is in love with Dean. It’s not just Misha who has confirmed it btw, but the writers themselves. You’re allowed to read it differently, just like destiel shippers read Dean differently than the writers have claimed, but you don’t get to tell other people they’re wrong--just like destiel shipping should never have gotten to the point were anyone who didn’t see destiel was reading the show wrong. However, the difference between saying Cas’ love is platonic and saying Dean’s love is queer is the difference between having zero textual evidence for a platonic reading of Cas’ love, and having lots of textual evidence for Dean’s heterosexuality. (Personally? My headcannon for Dean fluctuates between “so closeted he doesn’t even know he’s actually bisexual” and “very much aware he’s also into dudes but is pushing it down because : Winchester ™.” However, I’m more than happy to admit that my headcannon can’t be reasonably confirmed as fact. It can, however and like most headcannons within the destiel fandom, be comprehensively and intelligently argued to the point of exhaustion.)

The only reason to deny that 1.) it’s reasonable to read Dean as being queer-coded, not canonically bisexual, but queer-coded via textual and production decisions, and 2.) Castiel is romantically in love with Dean-- is if you’re someone who can’t give credit to the opposition just because they’re the opposition. Just because I hate Trump and think he’s the spawn of Putin’s asshole doesn’t mean I can’t admit he did *some* good work for criminal justice reform. The credibility of your argument goes to crap when you can’t admit when someone else has a good point- even if you don’t agree with their overarching theory or idea.

Obviously, the state of the Supernatural fandom is pretty much what it will be forever. Getting thousands of people to admit that its normal to find evidence to support an argument you don’t agree with (something philosophers do all the time because there is no such thing as truth and the world isn’t black and white and its shades of grey that make the rainbow bright and on and on and on), is definitely not in the cards for us. But, this is just me, throwing my altogether unnecessary opinion out there. 

(If you’re one of those people that like to troll people just for having an opinion and expressing it respectfully, please consider not doing that. I am but a baby in a trench coat.)

#destiel #destiel meta #destiel fandom #deancas #dean winchester #castiel

[makeste]

so, Heroes Rising.

I saw it. it was exactly as good as I expected it to be. which is to say, very, very good.

this post is going to be chock full of spoilers guys. all the spoilers. and I’m not just talking those “ho hum All Might and Deku work together to beat the villain who could have seen that coming” first movie-type spoilers either. if you don’t yet know what happens in this movie, let me assure you that it is big. like we’re talking some momentous fucking shit. so if you don’t want to know then don’t click on this! but do go see the movie if it’s playing in your area because holy shit! it’s so good! (and so worth seeing on a big screen, too -- it was awesome.)

also there are some manga spoilers here too, because this movie does take place during the later manga arcs, and I did discuss some of those little manga-only easter eggs below. so I’ve tagged this with “bnha spoilers” accordingly, but just wanted to mention that here as well.

so I’m gonna break this down into sections, I guess. first I’ll do a quick-ish summary of the movie just because that’s important for context (and if you’re looking for a real in-depth summary, I recommend aitaikimochi’s very detailed summary here).

a quick-ish summary of the movie

so the kids all get sent to some tropical island in the middle of nowhere because the hero who used to be assigned to that island retired. and so the HPSC thought it would be a good idea to send a bunch of kids to serve as interim heroes until they find another professional who can take over. that’s right, this whole thing is the HPSC’s fault. because they just love their child soldiers. before you can ask, not a single grown-up actually accompanied them there either. it’s just the kids. and just 1-A for that matter, so I guess 1-B all got assigned to their own tropical island and had their own adventures which will never be turned into a movie much to Monoma’s dismay. alas.

anyway this island has a population of like 1k and nothing ever happens there, so at least the decision seems kind of reasonable in that light! like they basically figure that the kids will spend a few weeks helping the island’s population track down all their missing pets (which, this island has like a dozen pets go missing every hour, I’m not even joking. like 90% of the calls the kids get are “HELP ME I LOST MY FUCKING PET AGAIN.” maybe if you all closed your fucking front doors every now and then!! one person lost their parrot. honestly Kouda should just immediately move here once he graduates and they’ll keep him busy 24/7 and he’ll get rich enough to live like a king). it never occurs to anyone to wonder if maybe these particular kids, who are certified villain magnets and literally aren’t allowed to go anywhere without a professional armed guard these days because villains always try to kidnap them, might not need at least one adult to go with them. everyone is just like “no they’ll be fine.” spoiler alert: they were not fine.

the two little kids in the movie are Katsuma and Mahoro. I was worried Mahoro might be annoying, but my fears were unfounded and they are both adorable. but Katsuma is like five and Mahoro can’t possibly be older than seven. and they basically live on the island all alone, because their mom is a Dead Anime Mom and their dad works on the mainland. so these two preschoolers are alone and unsupervised all the fucking time, and so I for one was not at all surprised that they get up to shit like prank-calling the 1-A Hero Squad about fake villain attacks, because that’s exactly the sort of shit you would expect unsupervised five and seven-year-olds to get up to!! geez!! their neighbors supposedly check in on them, but how much attention can they really be giving them if they haven’t even noticed that Katsuma’s been wearing the exact same clothes for a fucking week now.

anyway so the villain is named Nine and he’s the same old standard villain guy who wants to create a new world order with his pals and all their strong quirks. but his base quirk (which I think is the weather-related one, but it’s hard to tell since spoiler alert dude is rocking multiple quirks) makes him get all fainty and weak after a short amount of time, so he goes to the League of Villains to get stronger and Ujiko is all “sure thing bud I’ll make it so you can hold multiple quirks.” and so he’s called Nine because he can hold up to nine quirks. and he can do the AFO thing where he steals quirks from people! which is like a BIG FUCKING DEAL!? guys but whatever it’s a movie!

anyway so long story short he wants a quirk that can fix his whole here-I-go-fainting-again deal, and through a series of events I won’t bother to elaborate on, he figures out that one of the cute kids (spoiler alert it’s Katsuma) has a quirk that can do that, so he goes to the island to steal Katsuma’s quirk. and he and his buddies arrive and they fight class 1-A, and Deku and Bakugou protect the cute kids from Nine, and everyone else fights the other bad guys, and there’s a ton of sweet studio bones action and the kids are all fucking bosses and it’s fucking sick and I fucking love it.

and then in the end, Deku and Bakugou fight Nine but he’s too strong, so Deku has to give Bakugou OFA so that they can double team him with a OFA combo (with Deku using the embers) to beat him. and afterwards they pass out, and OFA is all “back I go into Deku because guess what I can do that!” and it does, and then Bakugou doesn’t remember anything when he wakes up. and then they all leave the island and move on with their lives and none of these events are ever spoken of again. and basically everything in this last paragraph is why some people were a bit “WHAT THE FUCK, MOVIE” about this movie (though that seems to have died down now that people are actually seeing it and not just judging it by the summary). but let me tell you guys I have THOUGHTS about all of this, but I will get to those in a bit.

so that’s the summary. now this next section is going to be some general thoughts and observations which aren’t particularly organized, but which I would like to now share. and then afterwards I will share my thoughts on each of the 1-A characters in this movie since they all got their chance to shine and it was great. but anyway.

general thoughts and observations

first of all this movie reminded me that BnHA appeals to a very wide demographic. there were a ton of kids at the theater (and I know they were there to see BnHA because they were all talking about it), but strangely enough the auditorium I was in was mostly older kids and adults! but what I figure is that since both the dub and sub versions were playing, the majority of younger kids (and/or their parents) opted for the dub. at any rate it was fun to see so many fans there and be reminded that my nerdy hyperfixation anime is actually super popular lol.

for anyone who’s been disappointed with the overall lackluster animation quality of the latter half of season 4, it’s because all of the good animators were working on this. “well whoop de do for them but was it really worth it?” you ask. and honestly... yes. yes it was. holy fucking shit. from the very first fucking scene, that answer is an emphatic, wholehearted “yes.” incidentally if you, like me, failed to do the requisite soul-searching to realize that you needed even more League of Villains car chases in your life, let me assure you that you do, and this movie has got your fucking back.

Hawks is here and of course, duh, he’s amazing. he’s just as sassy and smart as you could hope, and at one point he actually makes an out-of-nowhere deduction that was honestly a HUGE LEAP, but of course it was exactly on the fucking money because it’s fucking Hawks you guys, AND HE’S JUST LIKE THAT.

Endeavor has the scar, but he’s only shown with his Flame Face activated, so it’s hard to see unless you’re actually looking for it. I honestly think a lot of anime-onlies might not even catch it. well-played. same thing with the glove covering the fingers on Tomura’s left hand.

honestly, probably the biggest spoiler in the movie is this one scene where Nine realizes that Deku “is capable of holding multiple quirks.” like, the movie doesn’t actually confirm SIXQUIRKS!!, but it’s pretty damn close IMO. gettin’ cute with it. oh, movie.

also there’s one scene that briefly shows all of the vestiges/predecessors, who IIRC haven’t yet been revealed in the anime other than in that one Shinsou fight where they were all shapeless blobs. so that’s another spoiler I guess. but this is another scene which was only very briefly shown. still when you’re showing it on a 30-foot-tall movie screen you kind of can’t be subtle no matter how hard you try so. hm.

at one point Bakugou is lying unconscious on a futon getting medical treatment, and he’s still wearing his hero costume but his shoes are off, and he is wearing socks. this confirms the answer to the question that probably no one else other than me had, of whether or not he actually does wear socks with his hero costume. because sometimes he has this tendency to not wear socks. anyway so that’s an important fact that I took note of and stored away in my brain so I could write it down and inform you all of it. socks.

the 1-A kids are actually really fucking professional and they have this little call center-type setup with phones and computers where they can take citizens’ calls and coordinate their response teams. it’s legit. unfortunately for them all the islanders ever call in about are lost pets, as previously mentioned. they don’t deserve these kids tbh.

at one point Kaminari calls Bakugou “Kacchan” AGAIN and THEY CAN’T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT. except they absolutely can and indeed, should.

Katsuma is an Edgeshot fan and wears this little pin of him on one of the straps of his overalls lol. it’s fucking adorable. unfortunately Edgeshot is not in the movie so we don’t get to hear his sexy hero ASMR voice. I think this is my biggest regret about the movie.

speaking of Katsuma, he has the bravest moment in the entire film when he charges right toward Nine to stop him from hurting his sister. willing to sacrifice his quirk and his dream to save her and everyone else. and it’s actually the second time he volunteers to do this. he is so brave. I would die for him you guys.

so many people get bodyslammed into cliff walls in this movie but they’re all fine. the fuck are these kids even made of.

at one point a villager asks Shouto to make some ice for him so Shouto is all “okay” and goes and makes a GIANT MOUNTAIN OF ICE THE SIZE OF A FULL DOUBLE FRIDGE. because CLEARLY that’s what this man meant when he asked for “more ice.” this has left a lasting impression on me.

for the most part the movie actually makes a surprising amount of sense! there are actually very few plot holes, and I say this as someone who is very much alert for plot holes! that being said, every so often a scene still comes along that makes you go “really??” while holding both of your hands outstretched all “are you serious” (and I was very gratified to see that I was not the only person doing this at times! MY PEOPLE). but it was mostly just your typical stuff that you would tend to find in the manga as well. for instance, “holy fucking shit Shouto did you really just fucking murder that guy.” (spoiler alert, I don’t actually recall them clarifying whether he did or didn’t, so I’m just going to assume that he DID. Shouto is very sweet but every now and then he just stops giving a fuck and that’s when you have to back off.)

anyway that’s all the random stuff I can think of so now I’m gonna summarize my thoughts on each of the 1-A kids and their roles in the film!

class 1-A 

Satou doesn’t really do much, but his face scares a small child at one point and everyone in the theater laughed. I feel bad about it now. poor Satou. and even though I said he doesn’t do much, I should note before I get any further that every last 1-A kid does get at least a little screentime and some villain-fighting action, and he is no exception. but it’s mostly limited to punches, and of course, being bodyslammed into a cliff wall.

Hagakure doesn’t really do anything except help lead the citizen evacuation. and actually I lied in the previous paragraph because come to think of it, I don’t think Hagakure got any action scenes, so so much for that assertion. she didn’t even get to do her flashy lightbulb move. ah well one day she’ll be revealed as the traitor and then it’ll be her moment to shine.

Tsuyu has some good rescue moments, and this one cool bit where she grabs a villain with her tongue and yanks him into a river and Todoroki proceeds to freeze the entire fucking river (along with like half a dozen waterfalls), villain and all. it was a cool combo and I was all about that. also the kids use her disgusting poison frog snot to paralyze a dude so that was also dope.

Mineta doesn’t do anything egregious and actually has some really cool moments. his best is a combo attack with Sero and Ochako, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Kouda is helping to save all of those lost pets!! all these cats and dogs and fucking parrots and shit. there’s also this one scene where a lot of birds come flying over suddenly and obstruct the vision of one of the bad guys, but I can’t remember if that was Kouda or not. but if it was then that was pretty damn sick, Kouda.

Kirishima does not get a lot of non-combat screentime, but he is there for those fights!! his big moment is also a combo (this movie could have seriously been called Combos Rising) with Todoroki where the two of them slide on a rail of ice similar to what they did in Kamino, and Kiri’s in front and activates Unbreakable to act as a shield for Todo. it’s super cool. also he does a lot of smiling at Bakugou like “oh, Bakugou!” in this way that’s just like. oh that wacky Bakugou, what are we going to do with him. chuckle chuckle. it’s cute and it’s nice to see someone else who is also way too tolerant of Bakugou’s shenanigans and just lets him get away with fucking everything because he adores him. I relate to Kiri a fucking lot is what I’m saying.

Ojiro’s tail is not made out of any substance known to man as far as I can tell. it just bends any fucking way it wants and can do whatever the fuck it wants and withstand all kinds of crazy shit. Ojiro actually has some really cool action scenes in this movie (we’ll get to the big one shortly) so props to him! but the fuck is up with that tail bro.

Shouji doesn’t do much, but he plays a key role in the final battle protecting the kiddos and he deserves your respect! also at one point one of the villains starts taunting him and is all “what’s up with your face I bet people were scared of you as a child”, which was fucking savage and completely uncalled for, and made the guy sitting next to me burst out laughing so hard I swear to god he started crying. smh.

Aoyama has not one but two fights in which he plays a key role! somehow he always seems to be at the vanguard. like his thing is firing off all his lasers until he’s exhausted and seemingly at death’s door, at which point the rest of the kids will show up to take over. he is very brave, and sparkly, and at one point he collapses holding his stomach and moaning “I think a little bit actually came out” which made me say “jesus christ” out loud while the entire theater lost their collective fucking shit.

Jirou does not do much, action-wise, until the very end when she and Ojiro (this is the big Ojiro scene I mentioned earlier) briefly take on Nine while the beaten-up Bakugou and Deku catch their breath and get their shit back together. let me tell you it was a RUSH watching Jirou take on a super powerful villain and I was HERE FOR IT. she blew up a bridge and then was almost immediately bodyslammed into a cliff but boy it was a ride while it lasted. also there is a scene where Momo is lying on a couch exhausted from overuse of her quirk, and Jirou is the one sitting there beside her watching over her, because they are gay, just a friendly reminder.

Iida is the glue holding all of this shit together. when the villains first arrive on the island and all the shit hits the fan, Iida is the one who stays calm and collected and dispatches 1-A to the various besieged parts of the island in teams as though he was Horifuckingkoshi himself. like how the fuck did he just know who to group together?? there isn’t any system to it, the teams are of varying numbers and degrees of skill and getting-along-with-each-other. but somehow it all worked out perfectly and I didn’t even question it. anyway so he also sees plenty of action and zooms around in his hyped-up new and improved recripro mode, and it’s great. I can’t remember if he gets bodyslammed into a cliff but let’s just assume yes.

Momo is right there with Iida calling the shots, and she also teams up with Aoyama in the final battle and makes not one, but two bigass cannons and shoots the fucking bad guys with them and it is everything. she also overuses her quirk in between the two big attacks by making a bunch of emergency supplies for the citizens, because she is too good and pure for this earth and we don’t deserve her.

Kaminari is mostly just used as a walking talking battery who tells jokes. there’s this guy on the island whose fucking tractor keeps dying and he keeps calling the 1-A hero agency to get a jump from them, so they send poor Kami over yet again and he puts up with it with a smile because he’s an angel. he does have one epic moment where Nine uses his lightning attack (he has a lightning attack, in case I forgot to mention that earlier) on Bakugou & Deku and then absconds, only for the two of them to catch up to him a couple minutes later all “JOKE’S ON YOU ASSHOLE WE’RE FINE!!” and he’s all “HOW!!” and it’s revealed that they anticipated the attack and made Kaminari serve as their personal lightning rod. and we cut to poor Kami sitting there in a field all crispy and doing his “whey” thing which got the most riotous fucking laugh in the entire movie because my theater was fucking shameless. Kaminari you poor brave boy I am sorry. god it was fucking funny though.

Mina had a ton of cute Mina moments which I can’t specifically think of now because it’s getting late (ETA: I wrote this up in two parts on Friday and Saturday night which might explain why it is so freaking long omg), but she was so great and I love her. but the moment that made me (and the rest of the audience) gasp out loud was when she was fighting one of the villains in a cave, and running around shooting her acid at stalactites to make them fall off and hit the villain, and being generally badass and such, but then all of a sudden the villain landed a good shot that hit her right in the leg and she gave this little cry of pain. and I swear to god it took everything in me not to leap to my feet and shout “NO, MINA!!!” because no!!!, but in the end it was all good because this moment led to...

Tokoyami losing his fucking shit, as Tokoyamis in dark caves whose friends are injured by villains are wont to do. so then he basically goes ape on the villain and it’s so great. Tokoyami is like genuinely tied with Todoroki as the third strongest guy in this movie, it’s insane. dude is so fucking strong?! also he does the flying thing from the manga too. so that’s another spoiler there for ya. these poor anime kids.

Todoroki exists in this awkward tier where he’s like at the very top of the very next character/plot tier underneath Bakugou and Deku, but he very clearly wants to be in the Bakugou and Deku tier, so he does things like inserting himself in between where they’re standing importantly, and saying both of their names while he is passing out. but in spite of his efforts the movie is all “no silly you’re in this tier” and puts him with Iida and Kiri and Tsuyu, and he accepts it with good grace in the end, but I’m pretty sure this is the real reason why he invited Deku and Bakugou to come intern with him immediately after this. just try and continue keeping him out of the main plot now, you two. anyway while I do understand why some Shouto fans were disappointed with him not having a big starring role in this movie, I think it’s akin to being disappointed that he didn’t have a starring role in Deku VS Kacchan Part 2. this was Bakugou and Deku’s movie from start to finish and that’s just how it is. but Shouto will most assuredly have his moment to shine sooner rather than later. also I seriously am pretty sure he just straight up kills a man in this film. fucking jams his entire arm down the dude’s throat and freezes him from the inside out?! this kid is still zero to sixty in the span of an eyeblink I swear to god.

Sero is ridiculously fucking cool in this movie you guys. like straight up balling out the entire time. holy shit. this kid is going to be a top ten hero and it’s time we were all done sleeping on him. also Bakugou calls him by his name for the first time ever because he straight up saves Bakugou’s life at one point and gets hurt doing so, so that made my fucking weekend, just putting that out there. and he and Ochako honest to god put up a real fight for the title of “sickest combo in the entire fucking movie” and I’m not even kidding, and I’m including Bakugou and Deku in that. but speaking of Ochako,

Ochako in this movie was almost too much for me to handle after reading the Miruko chapter earlier that afternoon lol. so you know that meteor shower move that she did back during the sports festival? she, along with Sero and YES, MINETA, pull off an upgraded version of that same attack in this film, and it is MISSION STATUS: FUCKING SICK. and in between that she’s just constantly floating people so Sero can then grab them with his tape and whip them around so they can do attack stuff mid-air, and it’s all just hype as fuck. and there were some good character moments with her too, but I’ve forgotten them all because it’s getting late now and my stupid brain is starting to prioritize sleep over writing this post. ah well.

so that’s 18 out of 20 kids! I left two out! you know which two! because they get their own fucking section because that’s just how it is.

Bakugou and Deku

well I actually wrote out all of my feelings about the whole OFA transfer, but they turned out to be essay-length, so I’m going to go ahead and put those into their own post. but here are all of my other random thoughts about Bakugou and Deku and their dynamic in this movie, which was fucking amazing.

I really need to get my hands on the fucking script for this thing, because I want to get a list of all of Bakugou’s lines, because I have a very strong suspicion that the percentage of Bakugou’s lines that are addressed to Deku and only Deku like they’re the only two people in the room (even though I assure you they are not) is significantly high.

and the looks. oh my god. he is constantly just watching him and making intense eye contact and listening in on conversations that have nothing to do with him WHATSOEVER because HE JUST LIKES LISTENING TO DEKU TALK ABOUT BEING A HERO AND STUFF, I GUESS.

there’s a scene where he’s holding a popsicle (rip to any headcanons that Bakugou won’t eat anything sweet btw) and sucking on it but then spaces out because he’s too busy listening to Deku talk to Katsuma, and at first his body language is all “la la la pretending I’m not interested” but gradually he straight up abandons the whole pretense and is basically turned fully around watching them for so long that the popsicle melts right off the stick and onto the ground and he turns around and just stares at it like it betrayed him. like, I’m not gonna go so far as to say that this popsicle is the proof of their friendship but it’s LIKE THAT.

Deku meanwhile has not one but two moments where they’re in the middle of a fight and he’s down after taking a particularly hard hit, and then something happens to Bakugou and he’s all “KACCHAN” and gets this fire in his eyes just like that because as usual you do not fuck with Kacchan when you’re around him. you just do not. YOU DON’T. meanwhile Kacchan is perfectly capable of taking care of himself but that’s never going to fucking stop Deku because Deku is ridiculous! ahhh Deku.

they are both good parents to their adopted island children and Bakugou protects them multiple times, and there’s even one scene where he saves them while letting Deku attack the villain, which is both teamwork with Deku AND saving someone, which is basically THE PINNACLE OF BAKUGOU’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. thank you movie.

Deku has a scene with Katsuma where Katsuma reveals that he wants to be a hero but doesn’t have a very good quirk for hero-ing, and Deku tells him he can definitely be a hero. this is the scene that Bakugou listens in on while his popsicle melts away incidentally. anyway, to see Deku telling a small child the one thing that no one ever told him when he was growing up and that he wanted to hear so desperately almost made me tear up, quite frankly, and it was one of my favorite moments in the entire film.

the guy next to me kept laughing every time Bakugou brought up the whole “I’M GONNA BE NUMBER ONE JUST WAIT AND SEE I’M THE GUY WHO’S GONNA SURPASS NUMBER ONE THAT’S ME THAT’S THE GUY” thing, and I honest to god couldn’t tell if this person was a fan of Bakugou or hated Bakugou or what. but he just laughed. every single time. and I can’t stop thinking about it you guys.

Deku totally uses 100% OFA on his bad arm and that’s probably the biggest plot hole in this movie. BOY YOU DUMB. somehow he’s fine in the end though.

Bakugou breaks both of his arms too because OFA gonna OFA. I was actually really impressed/wincing because he kept fighting anyway, and we KNOW how hard his quirk is on his arms even normally. but he kept using it, and long story short I’m not sure how he didn’t manage to Deku his arms even worse than Deku. between this and chapter 262 it has not been a good weekend for arms.

at one point Bakugou decides he’s had enough of being bodyslammed into cliff walls and holds his arms up to the side of the crater(?) he’s in, and just... melts all the earth away until the crater is no longer a crater. or something. it’s hard to describe but it was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen.

Bakugou takes to OFA as naturally as he takes to everything. there was no processing time at all. just instantaneous. this isn’t even a plot hole to me, this is just Bakugou being Bakugou.

even before the OFA combo, there’s another sick BKDK combo where Bakugou grabs Deku’s hand and rotates him in the air using his quirk (it’s similar to what he did at the end of their second fight in Ground Beta) and launches him like a projectile. this fucking movie.

last but not least, the final fight scene with them all powered up is so vivid and colorful and movement everywhere and light and blurs and just ahhhhh. also, Might U at one point is just playing with no background noise. I don’t think a lot of other posts have mentioned that part; that not only is this music playing, but it’s the only thing you hear, no grunts or explosions or any other sound effects. just the music. while you watch these two work together like it’s the only thing they were ever born to do. it is everything.

conclusion

so that’s everything I can think of as far as my thoughts on the movie go, aside from the gigantic essay about Deku giving Bakugou OFA, which I will post immediately following this. so yeah. in conclusion I thought it was amazing, which is only to be expected I guess since it was relevant to virtually all of my interests. 10/10 would recommend, and please consider donating to find a solution to the ever-growing problem of children being bodyslammed into cliff walls.

#heroes rising #heroes rising spoilers #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #bakudeku #class 1-a #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #makeste watches bnha #bnha meta