#i just cannot care about him in that specific plotline i feel like it just makes everything worse

[butterflydm]

2x8 - some thoughts this morning (mostly about rand)

The contrast for Rand between this and last season's finales.

Facing Ishamael alone in the dark vs alongside his friends in the light.

Going off by himself after the confrontation (with no one in Fal Dara being aware of his actions) vs being heralded by all of Falme.

Moiraine willing to kill him because she doesn't trust him not to fall to the dark vs being willing to do whatever it takes to support him because she does trust him.

And within this episode itself, we have Lanfear telling Rand she's the only one who cares about him (manipulative technique to try to keep Rand emotionally isolated and dependent on Lanfear) vs that beautiful ending of him being supported by all these people who genuinely care about him (and not the guy that he was 3000 years ago).

I loved the placement of where the heron is on Rand's palm. I always thought it was in the middle and it felt kinda awkward to me but it looked really good the way that they did it.

book spoilers through the shadow rising are below

I am sad that the /wot subreddit freaked out over Rand's power progression getting smoothed (just like they did last finale) because they were doing so much better for most of this season. Alas, sigh. /wotshow is somewhat better, at least.

But, yes, about Rand's power progression. One of the big things about book 4 is that Rand is desperate enough to learn the One Power that he is willing to use one of the Forsaken as a teacher. That means that Rand needs to not be a powerhouse badass. The books mostly handled it by powering Rand up at the end of each book and then depowering him back at the start of the next one, but a lot of that was buyer's remorse on Jordan's part, imo, as he realized he'd accidentally made Rand too strong for the next part of the story. If Rand had already had those big power moments from the books, then it would be jarring that Rand is desperate enough to let one of the Forsaken that close to him (especially after everything with Lanfear); this isn't a book so we can't get Rand's internal justifications for the choice. The viewers need to believe that Rand NEEDS Asmodean. We've seen that Rand has raw strength, but his control is shaky and he doesn't have anyone to learn from.

The show turning Rand's growth into something more steady is good, imo. Right now, even as untrained as he is, Rand can run circles around non-channelers without thinking about it (killing Turak and his entire squad), but he's unprepared for facing other channelers because he lacks finesse and control. So... he needs a teacher and Logain didn't work out.

Enter Lanfear's way of contacting Rand while not contacting him. This actually feels like a clever way to handle it -- that Lanfear might use Asmodean as her proxy to stay informed about Rand while covertly helping him out, since she's kinda in time-out right now.

Also -- I've had a thought about the plotline that Ingtar didn't get... what if it goes to someone else? Mostly, I am wondering this because Lanfear specifically said, "Light protect you, Rand al'Thor" at the end of the episode. There are none who walk so long in the dark that they cannot seek the light?

I've also had a thought about Siuan. I know there are a bunch of theories out there that basically boil down to "she wasn't acting the way she really feels in her heart" and most of them don't really do anything for me. I just don't feel like the evidence is there and Siuan's actions are reasoned out and clearly explained in the episode.

...and then we learned in this episode that Ishamael did not want Rand in Falme. Not yet.

So everything that Lanfear did in 2x7 was entirely of her own design. The only thing she did on Ishamael's behalf was deliver Mat to him. But she and Ishamael were not working together to bring Rand to Falme.

So I think that there's real potential that Ishamael has continued screwing with Siuan's dreams this season; because we can reasonably guess that he was the one who gave her the idea of Moiraine taking the Dragon to the Eye of the World, and we've seen both Ishamael and Lanfear playing around in TAR this season, and compared to the tiny bit we got about Compulsion, we have gotten a LOT of exposition about TAR and multiple scenes set there.

Rand believed that Ishamael wanted him in Falme, but he was wrong. Ishamael didn't think he was ready yet.

...but if Rand is locked up in the White Tower for months? Shielded from the One Power and helpless? Completely isolated from anyone he cares about? Maybe then making a deal with the Dark One would start looking a lot more tempting.

And all of sudden... we've got motive (Ishamael wants to break Rand emotionally), means and opportunity (TAR/dreams, which we know he has access to), which were things that were missing from the other theories that I've seen.

Briefly: the 'it was all a ruse by Siuan' theory lacks proper motive imo -- attempting to trick Rand in this way is just as likely to backfire and make him unwilling to ever trust Moiraine again and Moiraine should absolutely know that by now; and the 'Siuan is under compulsion' theory lacked proper opportunity because we saw how Siuan brushed Liandrin off in 2x6 and she's been traveling all season so Traveling or Skimming to find her in order to Compel her would be more difficult, for the same reason that Lanfear didn't Travel when she was trying to chase Rand in 2x5.

I am also thinking about how the various changes that the show made will affect some storylines in the future. Renna, Seta, and Suroth's early deaths definitely impact a storyline later on and I definitely want to unpack that at some point (did Suroth die? I will double-check when I do my rewatch).

I really want to talk about how much I deeply loved the choices they made with Mat's storyline but I think I want to do my rewatch first, because I'm pretty sure my brain blanked out for parts of it because I was so happy. Everything about Mat in this episode was just so beautiful.

But there has been so much Mat foreshadowing for Rhuidean and certain other future things that I do find it confusing when people say that the show is going to skip those things for him. Maybe the fact that Ishamael's 'past lives tea' was confirmed to be a lie will make some of those people think twice about their assumptions?

Oh! The glorious contrast of Ishamael, LTT's BFF in his past life, being the "betrayer of hope" and then Perrin giving Mat the Horn and telling him to take it to Rand, saying, "you're his only hope". That's so good, that's so tasty, I can't wait to dive into the Ishy-Mat compare-contrast.

I plan to write up a post about my thoughts about where we might go in s3, and I'll post that next week sometime. This weekend is for my rewatch and my deep dive, and I'm really looking forward to it. So much happened in the episode that I know there's a lot that I missed talking about last night.

#wot 2x8 spoilers #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot s2 spoilers #wheel of time s2 spoilers #wot show spoilers #wot prime spoilers #wot book spoilers #the shadow rising #butterfly watches wot

[pikahlua]

hello! i read your meta about “control your heart” and it has some interesting elements but i think the notion that “izuku controlling his heart means suppressing emotions and is bad” is not something that many bkdk’s have the opinion of.

we understand that he has to be able to control his anger and that it’s as good thing; our beliefs of this “control your heart” plotline as it relates to katsuki is us wanting izuku to explicitly acknowledge that katsuki is a trigger and why that is for him - some deku introspection if you will. katsuki knows it, AFO knows it (so much so he told katsuki to his face about it), deku possibly knows it as well but it is not acknowledged by him both on his own or in a talk with katsuki. is it some unspoken accepted thing? would there be further discussions on katsuki specifically being a trigger that makes him lose all control? will they talk about that?

But Izuku does acknowledge it on his own.

Unless you mean you want him to specifically acknowledge that his being mad at Monoma for Katsuki's sake is what caused Black Whip to go berserk. It then sounds like the thing you're focusing on is that conversation after the Joint Training Arc in which people seem to assume Izuku is "lying" or withholding information, to which all I can say again is "I don't think they were even talking about that." I explained what I think they're talking about.

Now, I don't fault anybody if what they want is Izuku to talk about his feelings for Katsuki working as a trigger out loud, but I'll be honest--I think the time for that has long since passed. I can't imagine a way he could say this now that would sound natural or meaningful. It's as you say; he and everyone around him and the readers all KNOW this is the case. His actions proved it. Katsuki's treatment of Izuku's rage since then proves he understands to some degree too. TomurAFO himself knows this is the case and he even says so lol. It's very much in the Japanese style to let actions inform everyone's understanding such that no one needs to talk about it, such that talking about it would be seen as clunky and crass.

A lot of MHA characters and especially Izuku are meant to be read on their actions rather than waiting for their words. I've seen this desire for a verbal acknowledgement manifest in ways that seem like people just want to be told explicitly what's going on rather than being shown, like for instance some people think Izuku still hasn't acknowledged Katsuki's apology. Izuku answered it pretty loudly if you ask me, by letting his guard down and apologizing back and thinking from Katsuki's point of view and accepting Katsuki's help via allowing Katsuki to catch him. If he were to stop the story just to talk about this with Katsuki, it would probably end up sounding like exposition and not really take us anywhere other than to destroy the pacing of the story.

What I want is to encourage people to trust their interpretations of the characters' actions. Just because a character doesn't talk about something doesn't mean the thing didn't happen, that the character didn't feel important things we as readers were supposed to pick up on.

So yeah, sure, you can want that sort of verbal acknowledgement, but be careful about expecting it. You cannot deny there are plenty of people who do expect it.

#anon ask #ask pika #my hero academia manga spoilers #final arc spoilers #i mean this in the nicest way possible and i hope that's coming across

[ewesless]

I have the flu. I Crave Death (Thirteen) So it is time to post my fav Thirteen cards!

Double Hide and Seek

The outfit I would sell a kidney to see again 😫 She may be a punk rocker, but she wears Goth so beautifully! The thigh high lace ups fuel my fire and nourish my soul. This artist without compare draws the most beautiful Thirteen 🤌

Diavolo's Diner Dash

THE BOOB WINDOW!! I did not have optimism about fanservice even though Thirteen was specifically included to appeal to the audience who want to date women! She is the most flirtatious and only newbie who actually like likes MC and wants to spend time with us. NB fed us well and you can view any of her interactions as platonic, but in my opinion they are unambiguously her asking us out on dates and even though she's a harsh woman, a bit of a drama queen with a short fuse she is kind, protective and cares about supporting us. Characters who are mean or "mean" to everyone except one special person are my thing. She also equipped us with an item that could oneshot Lucifer. Why else would the guys get huffy and jealous if they didn't feel like she was a threat? 😂 I'm disappointed we couldn't return to the scene at a proper time and promise her our soul the way that MC can make promises with other characters. :/

Matching Costumes

MY FAVE OF FAVS!! The cutest of all! I pretend the men don't exist and that she is holding her skirt up and flashing her thighs like a showgirl. You literally cannot stop me.

Western Showdown (Not my pic, I don't have the access to my side account anymore 😭😭😭)

THE CORSET. THE CORSET. The worst plotline with Thirteen. MC behaves jealously and Thirteen serves as an "antagonist/rival." WHY. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE FUN WITH HER NOT BE PETTY AND JEALOUS. I can't think of any other card where MC could be 💩y to a character and behave possessively over their preferred partner. I like him, but I would have thrown Diavolo under the bus so fast if it meant I could choose Thirteen. The cute artwork and Yeehaw!Thirteen save it for me though hehehe.

Thirteen Thoughts

I think they messed up the opportunity to give Thirteen a navel ring. She has her midriff exposed and with her style, piercings and tattoos it makes NO SENSE for her not to have a belly button ring. I headcanon she does and has other body piercings.

I hope we get Candy next season. I have so many unanswered questions about Thirteen and her sister. It feels like they just scratched Lilith off the list, but I thank them with all my heart for fleshing her out more and giving her a non-passive personality. That she wasn't just attached to a brother the whole time or her human lover and that she had a bold, outspoken personality which is what I treasure about Thirteen too. Thirteen is allowed to be dumb, make mistakes, be rowdy and rude just like the male characters are which I ALSO treasure! I believe that too often women are othered as "too good to do any of that so let's leave them out of the fun". Thirteen and Mammon and Thirteen and Barbatos have some of my favorite interactions, she is far from boring and that she includes us and thinks highly of us despite being such a standoffish loner who prefers solitude...man she is TSUNDERE.

Her history and the Reaper Realm are overdue especially since she's not just an active member of the cast, but one who seeks MC out. She crosses paths with us way too often and "coincidentally" to be anything but intentional since Reaper Realm is described as far from the Devildom. A rant about Michael and Raphael is for another day though. 😒

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me thirteen #obey me 13

[babybluebanshee]

I bought The Bad Guys on blu ray, time for nonsense

I find it very funny that all the fluffyvenom art and fics and playlists cast Snake as the emotionally constipated one who has trouble telling Wolf how he feels, when Wolf canonically Cannot Spit It Out even when it looks like he and the rest of the gang might literally die in moments. Snake knows that’s what he means, but Wolf still can’t force himself to say it.

Snake - in his own grumpalump fashion - is much more emotionally open than Wolf. He’s still guarded, to be sure (no one in the gang knew the reason behind his “weird hatred of birthdays”), but he’s actually pretty okay with the whole emotional labor and communication thing. He freely (and queerly) compliments Wolf, calling him an artist and a genius. When he overhears Marmalade telling Wolf to ditch the others and is afraid Wolf might abandon him/the gang, he talks to Wolf for reassurance. Part of the reason he’s so damn upset during the prison scene is because not only did Wolf screw up the Dolphin heist and their lives, but he did it for the exact reasons Snake was worried about, and he basically lied to Snake’s face about just going along with Marmalade’s experiment so it’d be believable. He’s upset that Wolf didn’t communicate with him. 

Snake has abandonment issues and his self-esteem is in the toilet, but Wolf is the one who is terrified of being vulnerable in any capacity - to the point where he can’t express love to someone he cares about as much as Snake - hides it behind a smokescreen of a smooth-talking, suave master thief, and I really, really want more fan content about this aspect of his character.

And for any potential sequels to focus on it in tandem with that plotline in the books where Wolf is mind-controlled into a mindless beast destroying the city and his friends (Snake specifically) have to talk him down because their love for him is just that strong, please Pierre, I want it so bad.

#the bad guys #mr. wolf #mr. snake #fluffyvenom #i don't expect anyone to even care about this #but i had to get my feelings about these chumps out of my system before i exploded

[tired-gay-wreck9]

i have not slept for at least a day or two? but i did go on a dancestor binge and they are??? so interesting???

so here's my take on Cronus, kankri, their friendship, and attention

To understand Cronus and Kankri's friendship, and how it does, you have to understand their individual characters. You would've never guessed that.

Kankri Vantas was raised in a world where he was regarded as a second-class citizen. He was culled because in Beforan society certain individuals were deemed unfit to care for themselves based on incorrect criteria, and Kankri was one of those individuals. Or in simpler terms, Kankri was raised by trolls who believed that he was not mentally or physically capable of caring for himself.

Because of this, he does everything he can to convince his friends that he is just as much a troll as they are. He refuses any help or 'coddling' from anyone who offers. If he accepts what does that say about his ability to care for himself? He goes off on long essays that must've taken effort and thought, and presents them in an easy-to-understand way. If he can't prove that he's mentally capable, is he?

Kankri scorns pity and accepts annoyance and dislike. They're more 'trollish' emotions. Wrigglers need help, need pity. This is another reason he is celibate. He cannot accept the help and 'coddling' that would come with a romantic relationship.

Not counting his own insecurities, Kankri does what he does to be taken seriously. He is cruel and takes no shit. But he's specifically cruel and condescending to disabled and lowblooded trolls, trolls that would be culled. He is trying to be accepted by the highbloods, by the ruling class. He ignores any other forms of bigotry and focuses only on changing the Hemospectrum because it is the only thing preventing him from joining the ruling class. He may say that he cares for other oppressed trolls, and while he's not an inherently bad person and wants to do good, he would stab them in the back just to be accepted.

That's what Kankri's character really comes down to; a desire to be taken seriously and to be accepted.

Cronus Ampora is another troll who craves acceptance, but most importantly, attention. He does everything he does for attention. He has admitted that he fakes the humankin thing for attention. He hits on everything with a pulse for attention. He acts like he doesn't care about the Hemospectrum for attention. He fakes mental health issues for attention. He does all of this because he has been again and again ignored by his friends, even before they all died.

He pretended to have a majestic wizard plotline and a tragic backstory because no one would pay attention to him, not even his friends. He does what he does to Mituna because Mituna will accept it, as his disability makes him easy to manipulate, and because Mituna has the attention Cronus craves despite his blood color and disability.

Cronus is friends with Kankri because he gives Cronus the attention he craves (as long as Kankri gets to feed into his white knight complex).

Kankri is friends with Cronus because, despite everything, he's finally been accepted by a highblood.

Neither of them cares about the other. Their relationship is solely based on what the other can offer. They could change and grow and possibly become genuine friends if not for one thing: the Hemospectrum.

We've already discussed how the Hemospectrum affects Kankri's ability to be vulnerable, but I suspect that Kankri will never feel accepted by Cronus because of his blood. He can try to pretend that he feels at home with him, but until Kankri fully accepts that his blood color does not make him lesser than everyone around him, then he cannot be friends with Cronus. And since Kankri avoids vulnerability like the plague, that's gonna be hard.

Cronus can never see Kankri as an equal until he rejects the Hemospectrum. Cronus has failed again and again in almost everything he tries. No one likes or respects him. Why would he give up the one thing that makes him feel like he has power and worth?

To sum it up, ily them so much! I love this dynamic, it is so interesting! They should both go to therapy tho.

#cronus ampora #kankri vantas #hemospectrum #beforus #homestuck #homestuck in 2022 #alpha trolls #they are so stupid <3

[zedxspacess]

Went to see Dynamite (and subsequently the taping of Rampage) on 12/27 and it was such a fuckin blast!! Some thoughts and ramblings under the cut

I did NOT expect to see a 4v4 match between the Acclaimed+Scott Taylor vs Daddy Magic+the Gunns/Bang Bang Gang, and it was just the preshow! And I’m here scratching my head bc pol would’ve eaten that up if it were live! What the hell. But I’m glad I had the opportunity to chant “Scissor me Daddy Ass” and “Ass Boys” with the crowd.

Swerve v Mox v Jay White was so much fucking fun. My love for Swerve and Mox specifically went up because of their back and forth. Jay kinda felt like the odd one out, and I do feel he’s been underutilized/misused recently, but that only opens up the opportunity for a comeback for him. The crowd absolutely loved Swerve, and so did I, bc we all could not stop chanting Swerve’s house lol. Kinda sad he didn’t win but Mox v Eddie is so appropriate for their history and stories, I cannot wait

And speaking of, Danielson v Eddie was soooo tense. Like, the chants for Eddie won at the end but being in the crowd, I feel like support was split between them. I really didn’t know who’d win or who to root for bc I felt like they both had a decent shot. But at the end of the day I sided with Eddie bc 1) he lives in Orlando now and 2) he’s 100% the underdog in this situation and he’s long overdue to win a title like this in AEW. I’ve also grown to really love Eddie after looking back into his past work and interviews, he’s so real. I really hope he wins this tournament, he needs this.

I don’t have much to say about the Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara stuff, because I don’t really care about them? They don’t really compel me tbh but it was fun as fuck to shit on Don Callis and chant “Shut the Fuck Up”, even tho I saw families with young children in the crowd looking uncomfortable (along with the other times there were chants with curse words) but come on…what did y’all expect in a pro wrestling show

And finally. Guys…I love MJF but this devil storyline is not hitting. I can’t blame them bc I’m sure plans got really screwed up when Adam got injured, but they could only do so much to try and salvage/adjust the plotline. But even then, I wasn’t a huge fan of the masked devil angle to begin with. The whole plot with Adam and MJF started bc of their match and then a tournament, and telling a story through that is much more compelling and entertaining than “oh no who are these mysterious people trying to get to MJF behind the scenes”. I also believe a HUGE part of MJF’s face run is because of Adam and their chemistry, and without him, it’s not as effective, you can just feel Adam’s absence throughout this whole thing. Which just goes to show MJF still needs to improve more on standing up by himself as a face, but I believe he’s got it in him. There’s still glimpses of face MJF being good by himself but it’s not where it could be right now bc…the writing isn’t very good currently lol. Still glad I managed to record his entrance into the ring and chant his name with the crowd, but I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to see a good, real match from him live

#txt #wrestling #a long boi post underneath the cut

[tal-vez-o-quizas]

I like all characters but honestly, i think Mike is the only character who literally has nothing going for him at this point in the show (in the text i mean). It feels like he is usually defined by El and other times his friendship drama with Will. Like I really cannot count anything Mike has individually or personally storywise for his character. Even Dustin is given individual and personal arcs of his own (and I am saying 'even' because Dustin's usually seen as the funny comedic guy kind of character). He's given relationship dynamics with Steve, Robin and Erica. He's got his own relationship exploration with Eddie for all S4 and literally Eddie died to specifically further Dustin's character. Lets not lie that Eddie will have anything to do with Mike in the next season. It was basically all about building Dustin's grief for him for S5 and furthering Dustin's role in clearing up Eddie's name and helping his uncle. Lucas got his own basketball plotline and wanting to stop his bullying by playing up his popularity and struggling with being a nerd versus jock. I don't even have to talk about Max and El. Will's got his own gay sexuality storyline and his supernatural plotlines. Nancy got journalism and gets to fight and be in action. Jonathan even if he's sidelined has personal storylines aka his parentification, daddy issues/Lonnie and his fear of becoming like his father and college/family struggle, etc.

Of course I ship byler because i want it to happen in the narrative for good writing reasons but i also think it would really help Mike's character to be fixed because his character right now can be described as El's sidepiece and it is annoying as fuck. Sorry but I'd even prefer Will and Jonathan being sidelined any day than spending any more time on Mike talking/thinking about El.

ALL FACTS ANON!

And people need to realize we feel like this because of how the character have been written.

I do think Mike has had some personal struggles unrelated to El though, like how he stood up to the bullies in Season 1, twice (which was something he decided to do for himself, even without the subtext), how he's part of Hellfire in Season 4 and how he's able to take accountability for his own actions.

Is a fact that all characters have something going on for them related to other characters, but Mike seems to be the one whose arc is heavily intertwined with El (and Will). We've analyzed how Mike's plot is always heavily related to Will and El since the first episode, which I have no issues about and I'm pretty indiferent to it, but it would add a richness to his character if we could see him struggle with something related to his own persona.

Hopefully we see Mike with something pertaining to him that makes people realize he's not just El's boyfriend. I mean, look at how people (not us, lol) hated Max in S3 or didn't care about her, but Season 4 showed us how she was struggling with her survivor's guilt and people felt for Max and rooted for her.

Still, we can come up with our own conclusions after S5 premieres but Anon... you were spitting!

#ask #anon #byler #blame the Duffers #my post #tal-vez-o-quizas #st analysis #st5 predictions

[sexyman-sentral]

So I'm officially finished school for the year because I've got to have a lot more time to focus on Fighting the End. This will most likely range from talking more about the lore to more consistent updates to me being more active on this blog. Although, for a while now, I have also been thinking about doing a series of one shots to go along with the fic. The one shots most likely wouldn't add anything to the story, rather, they would do more for the world building and background characters. Think of them as the non-plot motivated episodes to your favorite sitcom.

However, along with exploring different background characters place in this universe (and maybe the past of this universe that led up to the current plotline), I would also like to focus a bit more on world building.

And since no one really follows me on this blog nor do people really read the fic, me being more active on this blog is also going to mean a lot more rambling to basically no one.

That being said, something I really want to explore in this weird world that I've created is how relationships work. Because the thing about all of the characters that reside in this universe is that they are all originally from a different universe that they can get back to. (Most of them, anyway.) So obviously the relationships that they make in this universe are going to affect them outside of this universe. And I think of this as a really weird thing because, essentially, one character is going to act one way in the main story AKA their original universe but then the relationships that they form and choices that they make in their own solo story AKA the Sexyman universe are going to change them as a person and then further change how they appear in their original universe.

Furthermore, there's also the rules of whether or not people outside of this universe are allowed to know about this universe. And for the time being I'm kind of going with the idea that no, they are not. This is also going to lead to a pretty big disconnect in relationships that this character has in both universes.

For example, Sans has this found family in the Underground. But he also has a found family in the Sexyman universe. Specifically, he is really close to his brother, Papyrus. And for the sake of there being a character to mirror Papyrus in the Sexyman universe, let's just say that Sans and King Dice are really close friends like it was implied in the original drabble.

Papyrus is not going to know anything about the Sexyman universe. To him, it's just going to appear as if his brother is becoming more and more distant and therefore more and more concerning. For King Dice, though, he gets to know about Sans' other life. He gets to know about Papyrus and Undyne and Frisk through stories that Sans tells him. Something that is a little less visible at first sight, though, is that through Sans' relationship with King dice he is changing as a person. Maybe he's becoming less depressed, maybe he's telling less corny jokes, maybe he's not viewing life with such a pessimistic view anymore, who knows. The most important part is that Sam's is changing and papyrus does not know why. All he knows is that his brother is different and his brother may not care as much about him anymore. And if he were to ever approach Sans about it, Sans couldn't answer because he's not allowed. This would then create even more of a disconnect because Sans realizes that the Sexyman universe is affecting him in his universe not only positively, but negatively, and Papyrus's thoughts about the situation are reinforced.

This could then lead to Sans being forced to make a decision between both universes or not being able to make one because of the people he knows and cares about in each universe and overall feeling miserable because of it.

And then there's also the fact that certain characters cannot go back to their original universes. One character that I mentioned has this problem in the first chapter is Bill Cipher. Because he was, for lack of a better word, killed in his universe, he cannot go back to his universe. The Sexyman universe has now become his permanent home. And as we all know, Bill Cipher is the villain of Gravity Falls! He is a terrible person, if you can even call him a person, who kills people for fun, lives for the chaos, and either wants to rule the world or destroy it in the process! But then, after everything is said and done in the Gravity Falls universe, he finds himself being "reborn" in the Sexyman universe. The relationships with other people that he forms in this universe end up changing him as a person/character/Chaos God. And even if it's not by much and he's still a terrible guy with homicidal tendencies and doesn't see anything wrong with allowing an eldritch horror into a universe where it doesn't belong just for a little pranking spree, he has still changed. And this could lead him to being spiteful towards the world instead of not caring about it. Because if he had been given access to this world earlier, there's a chance that he might have never gone through with his plan and he might still be allowed in that universe. Even if he has come to accept the Sexyman universe as his new home, his metaphorical heart is always going to belong to the universe of Gravity Falls.

And then finally there's also the mismatch of characters who have a universe to go back to and characters that don't. The only thing stopping certain characters from becoming friends or lovers or family with other characters is themselves (with some exceptions, like if you're a child and someone else is obsessed with killing children). So, for example, Bill Cipher and Alistor. While my plans for them are to eventually at least imply that they are in a QPR, I have no clue if that's actually going to happen because it might not fit into the story or I might not get around to writing the one shot on that. Either way, I'm going to try and it's always going to be apart of this universe's lore in my heart. No matter what ends up happening though they're still the fact that Alastor can go back to his universe and Bill Cipher can't. And obviously they are going to be very important to each other, most likely being the leading cause in the changes that each person ends up going through. And even though they are going to be extremely important to each other there is still going to be some sort of layer of disconnect because Alistor is going to have all of these stories of his home universe and is constantly going to be flip-flopping between the two universes and Bill Cipher is just kind of left there. And with a relationship as close as theirs, they are obviously going to find some sort of way around it, but it's still going to hurt. At least for Bill Cipher, anyway.

I feel like this post/rant is becoming less of some sort of analysis and how relationships work in the universe that I created and more of a post/rant on one of the biggest reasons why there is something deeply wrong with how this universe works, with or without someone or something actively trying to destroy it.

Is any of this going to end up impacting that actual storyline? Maybe, maybe not. Do I have any idea why I just spent 45 minutes making this post/rant? No, not really. Either way, I'm still kind of glad I finally voiced all of this the abyss of Tumblr.

(Also, if you have any questions, please ask me. My asks are open. I do really like answering asks, especially on the subject of Fighting the End and just Tumblr Sexymen on general.)

#tumblr sexymen #fighting the end #bill cipher #alastor #sans undertale #king dice #long post tw

[perceabeth]

I've been meaning to ask this for a while now but I could not remember your current username on either of your blogs lol

I don't know if you ever answered this but if you ever feel like, i would like to know what about andrew!peter specifically makes you... Hyped I guess? I just like your opinions and had time to catch up ur spidey au and got curious

lol this is actually such a funny question like i'm beyond myself that u asked but also i'm giggling a bit just bc i know u didn't expect my response lkdjflsdf. also wanna be crystal clear this is about the tasm movies and has nothing to do w my spidey fic lol

andrew garfield, for starters, is such a great actor. he was like 27, 28 when the first film came out but i think he did such a good job capturing what it's like to be just a regular teenager. i know his peter specifically gets a lot of hate for being too "cool" or "attractive" but the thing is. school isn't really like that is it. he wasn't a complete loser but he also was clearly not accepted in social circles bc looks and skateboards aren't everything. he was just a boy that's all he was and then when he got his powers instead of immediately using them for good he uses it to humiliate Flash. he's childish, impulsive, easily angered. he's not a hero. he's kind of a dick.

but the thing about andrew's peter is that he is always growing. and more importantly, he's growing because he faces consequences to his actions. he acts out with flash so ben can't pick up may. he selfishly chooses connors over his family and fights with ben. he's offended by the store clerk and refuses to help him. all of those contribute directly to ben dying. and the thing is. he doesn't even fully learn his lesson because the movie ends with him choosing gwen stacy (selfishly) because he's human!!!!!!!! he's come a long way. he's become a hero. but he has yet to learn sacrifice.

it ties in well i think with tobey's spidey in SM2 where he also undergoes such a powerful arc where he learns that as spider-man he can't have everything. he makes his peace with that without anyone getting too badly hurt, but andrew's peter learns that lesson the hard way because he also wasn't as willing to give things up as tobey was.

and this is all just about andrew!peter. which, by the way, is NOTHING without bringing up THEEEE gwen stacy.

look i know she's diff from the comics. i know she has a bit of MJ in her. but the thing is- she works. she works fabulously as a character and she's better than both, MJ in the raimiverse and MJ in the MCU because she's a fully fleshed out character. not only is it GREAT to see gwen have friends, family, ambitious outside of peter- it also really helps propel peter's own journey.

gwen's dad cares deeply for gwen. he wants his daughter- his child- to be safe so much so that he uses his last breath to ensure it. peter's entire motivation is to find a father figure in his life because he hasn't yet got to tobey's level of acknowledging ben parker but we move on and he wants what gwen has. gwen is a brilliant scientist and he needs her help with making the antidote. gwen isn't just a pretty thing on his arm, she's his partner- it makes her a real character and she grounds him, which is something peter in this universe absolutely NEEDS.

but that's all, of course, because of mr. marc webb. sorry for nerding out a bit but u cannot talk about why tasm works well despite what people say without bringing up marc webb of 500 days of summer, gifted, and only living boy in new york fame.

the man EXCELS in interpersonal relationships. he's absolutely undefeated in creating beautiful, complex dynamics which is exactly why tasm works!! was the lizard a bit strange? sure. was tasm 2 an absolute trainwreck of fucked up and superficial plotlines? ofc. HOWEVER. what was at the absolute heart of the films?

it's about peter and gwen. about how they fell in love when they knew better and it SHOWS!!!!!!!!!!!! webb uses this lens of like. an innocent teenage romance that everyone knows is dangerous-- he uses it to navigate what it means to be a hero in this world.

speaking of worlds. it did smth specifically to set itself apart from the prev. film. it's grounded in a reality. it's not campy, the vibe is very much that this could happen to you and me right here, where we stand. it's different! it's not a dystopian world; it's not aliens it's just- science, even if it's science too good to be true. i like that. im something of a sciene nerd myself. it does well for me.

and being rooted in our reality- it rly rly helps that they used these brilliant sets to shoot. that andrew garfield got to swing through nyc in his suit and that all the explosions and car crashes were real. it adds an extra layer of like. it just constantly grounds you i think. that's it.

unfortunately i can go on for even longer but i have to hit the gym so here's ur answer: i like andrew! peter bc he's entertaining. long answer: i like him because of the films he's in

#spidey #tasm #stevie #q&a #also if this is bait to be like 'ha why do u think ur au is any good compared to the films' #girl i know #i dont want to hear it lol

[radfae]

plz give us your opinions on the new toh ep queen <3

okay i apologize in advance bc i’m like almost done writing this while i add this disclaimer and i’m realizing it’s VERY ramble-y and my adhd brain keeps rapidly switching topics but i hope this makes sense HAHA

IT WAS GOOD! it wasn’t nearly as gut-wrenching as the last one but i do appreciate some good ship action (raeda and huntlow tugging on my heartstrings fr). a lot happened this episode and i feel like a big theme was character development and personal exploration, we saw that a lot with hunter, but most of all luz and willow! it makes me really happy to see luz get her palismen (palisman??) finally and string bean is so adorable! i was team snake btw so i’m happy with this outcome. a lot of people say that boscha was really annoying this ep but honestly i didn’t think so? i mean, she was a bit, but she’s clearly not a villain here; she’s just a traumatized mean girl teenager handling things badly. she’s developed some pretty bad abandonment issues from losing her grudgby team to the collector, and ended up taking those out on amity, which isn’t…great, but people are treating her worse than belos this episode lmao?? but ANYWAY i’m very happy to see hunter again <3 and i’m happy that his development is moving in a positive way. not everyone is happy about him having magic from flapjack, but i think it’s nice; it reinforces that flapjack is still with him, even if he’s not physically present, which is a nice sentiment. and like i am sorry he is going thru it or whatever but i MISSED him being an annoying angry boy,, and OH MY GOD “you mean a lot to me too” “cool, happy to help” KILL ME NOW?!?! THEY’RE SO ADORABLE.,,,, and i’m glad they focused on willow here too because it made me like her a lot more than i did previously. and ok going back to raeda the “i just like to come out and see raine” i don’t remember if that’s exactly what she says but eda literally risking being caught by the collector who still thinks she’s the owl beast just to see raine,, AND RAINE’S LOOK IN THE BEGINNING WHEN SHE GOES INTO HARPY MODE…… omg they’re in love. and i’m choosing to say raine is a lesbian bc it makes my heart happy. switching gears completely to camila,, just,,, in general,, her being a mother figure to so many of the kids and her conversation with luz to amity saying “you and luz are a lot alike”,, i love her so much i cannot believe there was a point in which she was controversial in the fandom. i’ve always been a camila defender. OKAY BUT THE ACTUAL EPISODE ANYWAY the collector is obviously being set up for a redemption arc of sorts; they’re really pushing the idea that he’s just a kid and doesn’t want to really hurt people, and it’s clear that he really did care about king (defending him from the coven head i forgot her name sorry lol, respecting his boundaries with his rabbit and not touching it, calling him his best friend, immediately not trusting belos when he said king has it out for him) and that’s why he’s taking his ‘betrayal’ so hard. i did NOT expect him to team up with belos ngl, i thought that this episode would be them defeating the collector and next ep would be belos, as like a first and final boss type of thing, but this is like. so much better lol. AND SOMEONE ON TWITTER POINTED THIS OUT BUT belos is ALWAYS looking down on people, specifically at hunter; there’s always a specific camera angle to showcase it, but in this episode, in his weakened state belos finally looks up at someone: caleb. belos has always been in a position of power in every relationship we’ve seen with him so far, EXCEPT for caleb. caleb is the only situation in which he’s been the dependent. which is really being showcased here and i liked the imagery,, and i’m curious as to why belos chose raine in particular? like obviously this is going to be used for some raeda plotline which i personally don’t mind actually but like. obvious excuse for ship angst is obvious. but i hope there’s some other reason than just “let’s make eda upset hehehehe” u know what i mean. oh and raine mullet,, pretty. if i had a nickel for every time belos possessed someone and they got a mullet i would have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice right.

i’m excited to see how things go with the collector next episode (new noceda sibling real?) and i’m excited to see king, eda and luz’s reunion! i really need eda and camila to meet like NOW. i also really hope that hunter is the one who gets the final blow on belos, like sorry to luz or whatever i know ur the protagonist and that’s your moment but he DESERVES it. and obviously luz isn’t going to stay in the human realm indefinitely but with her mom i’m wondering how they’ll work things out; maybe there will be a more stable portal and luz and camila will be able to pass through both worlds and visit as they please? or will camila just stay in the demon realm with luz? idk!!! i can’t wait for next episode but knowing we’re officially on our final hiatus and that the cast just finished recording for the last episode is also :’D a bit miserable. sad to see it go but excited at the same time

#tumblr literally cut me off bc it said my paragraph was too long. rude #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers

[buscemifan]

sopranos szn 2 thots!!! (spoilers ofc)

• when i was watching the penultimate episode i was like “why was this not the season finale considering richie and janice were like the main antagonists of this season” and then i saw the actual season finale and i was like “oh ok. wow”

• i fucking hated richie so bad i really did. great terrible character. i was so proud of janice

• watching with my dad is definitely a slightly different experience, he’s real good at letting me know lines that are funny/important (and also telling me who every actor is every 2 minutes) but i enjoy it a lot

• i kind of didn’t like the lull in dr. mefli’s character of her being afraid of tony, slipping into alcoholism, her own depression … i imagine it’s to parallel how tony isn’t invincible, showing that she isn’t either, but tony shines best when he’s facing that wall of professionalism, so i’m hoping she’s back on the straight and narrow for at least a little while

• i liked the addition of davey as an interesting show of what tony will do to his friends in the name of his business, which of course sets up a good precursor to the season finale

• christopher getting shot was not only very mean to me specifically, but then having him in no episodes for like four episodes felt like a war crime

• tony was such a good dad in this season (by his standards anyway) i really enjoy watching him care about his kids openly and honestly. especially touched by him drunkenly telling meadow he loves her and making her sit with him to do so

• carmela’s “affair” was an interesting twist i think i saw coming. i wish we saw more of tony and carmela getting along because i think they have a really cute relationship when things are good and i hate to see carmela framed as the unreasonable, nagging wife

• junior realigning himself with tony on the basis that richie couldn’t sell his hit is both incredibly funny and incredibly insightful. junior being so old allows him a certain wisdom to the inner workings of the families and it was nice to see him using that knowledge over his own ego

• oooook let’s talk about pussy. i mean sal bonpensiero.

• this season was really good at misdirection in terms of how pussy was used. you knew he wasn’t gonna survive being a cooperator, but being so preoccupied with richie you kind don’t care for a while. especially because it seems to us that he really hasn’t gotten anything of value while wired yet, and he had the whole emotional conflict of being wired at aj’s confirmation, it’s hard not to feel sympathy and hope for him

• of course though in the penultimate episode pussy really leans into the government, using them as a crutch which is a (somewhat unsubtle, i’ll admit) reminder to the audience that pussy cannot be trusted and is in direct conflict with tony.

• the entire boat scene was so good. the fact that paulie and silvio had been told before tony had even confirmed it for himself was just such a good example of how much tony trusts them and how much tony trusts himself. the swelling of the camera to mimic the rocking on the water, the way they never say once what’s gonna happen but they all know once pussy outs himself, the quiet tragedy of tony losing one of his best friends and his subsequent inability to process it…all of it was so good. a lot more tension than i’ve seen in the sopranos before i loved it a lot

• and then christopher got promoted (got no spleen, gene!) i love him i’m so proud of him

• i’m curious if meadows actually off to college this next season and if they’re going to use her sparingly or force in another “omg your dad is tony soprano?!?!?!?!” plotline or two

#meta #sopranos liveblog

[thatndginger]

HAPPY STS!

If you were to do an “Anniversary Story”, for a (insert number of years of writing stories, songs, ETC), what would your “Anniversary Story” be about? What would you include in the story?

RAMBLE ABOUT IT!

Hi and thank you so much! This weekend was a lot for me so this is kinda late ;-.-

Oooh so I have a few of these, actually. All of them for Shapeshifter because that's an inescapable brainrot (and I'm also currently listening to dramatic KDrama playlists so the vibe is here lmao)

Kerr McKay and Adrien Montrose's wedding. That's the big one. I cannot begin to describe how much I've thought about this. It's not an event I plan to write about for the main series, because honestly it would feel kinda out of place there. I have an entire folder dedicated to Kerr and Adrien's outfits, what their rings would look like, what song would play during their first dance, the flower arrangements and decorations. And, well, you said to ramble...

Honestly this would probably be a novella-length story, because I'd want to go through the entire start-to-finish of wedding planning and the actual event itself, or at least the highlights of it. Neither Kerr nor Adrien really care about having a big wedding, but Adrien would absolutely use the opportunity to show off and make sure everyone knew Kerr was his.

The specific events I would have to include would be:

1) Suit shopping. Adrien practically lives in tailored, expensive suits, but Kerr would usually rather chew his own arm off than wear a three-piece. He'd drag Jay and Warrick with him to help, but Warrick would end up being more of a problem than a solution and eventually get kicked out - by either Adrien or the store proprietor. He'd eventually settle on a black suit and vest, with a burgundy shirt and gold bowtie+buttons. Adrien's would be a burgundy suit with a silver shirt+buttons and black tie.

2) The to-the-death fight over who gets to be Kerr's best man/maid of honor between Warrick and Jay. Warrick and Jay's reasoning is that they're Kerr's siblings, and would (lovingly) viciously fight over who was the better sibling and more deserving of the role. They'd eventually agree to settle on an arm-wrestling match, only to be told that the position has already been given to Carlisle - Kerr's pseudo-dad.

3) Adrien and Kerr being sickeningly cute and weird around the wedding planner, florist, caterer, literally everyone. Their relationship is a unique one, and while Adrien immediately comes off as the dominant one, the decision-maker, the man with a plan, it quickly becomes obvious that he'd much rather just sit back and watch Kerr go. He'll veto anything outlandish, and has specific requirements, but Kerr's the mouthpiece. It turns out later that Kerr and Adrien have already discussed everything in detail at home- with Adrien bringing the majority of the ideas - and agreed that Kerr should be the one explaining everything. He's far less scary.

4) The wedding itself. An rooftop greenhouse venue. Through ridiculous amounts of money and a fair bit of magic, it's been transformed into a garden with a goddamn stream running through one side and ending in a pond. Blossoming white magnolia and osmanthus line the edges of the rooftops, draped in impossibly delicate and sheer black and burgundy silks. The stream and pond have lotus plants with white blooms, and floating gold and silver globes of light. Bouquets of black hellebore and dark red camellia flowers, more silver and gold light-globes floating overhead, a dancefloor that looks like it's made from gold leaf (it was). Despite the fact that one of the most terrifying crime families is in attendance and nearly every guest is a criminal of some sort, it's a good time. Everyone has fun, things get a little rowdy, and good vibes are had by all.

I could honestly probably include the proposal scene in if I wanted, but that could also be an 'exclusive' too! The romance part of Kerr and Adrien's plotlines doesn't get to be explored nearly enough sometimes, but it's a good one.

If I may sum up the two's thought processes during this whole shebang~

Adrien: Putting everyone important in one room is risky but only an imbecile would attempt an attack. Showing everyone that I'm confident and competent enough to ensure their safety in such an event will help our image. And publicly claiming Kerr as mine (and as a Montrose) would better ensure his safety. Nicole will be mad I'm marrying before her, so that's a plus. And it might do well to forge connections between my associates and Kerr's...

Kerr: hell yeah expensive booze and food and I get to smooch Adrien in front of everyone

#storyteller saturday #i honestly could have gone on so much longer #i love these idiots so much

[pocketramblr]

Many people claim second is either time traveling Bakugou or like fore father or smth because... Well look at him. Whats your take on it?

The worst thing about Tumblr is that the search blog function is so non existent that I can't even be sure you didn't try to see my opinion about this before asking, so I can't even blame you, but... Well:

This was my reaction to people continuing to suggest Bakugo was Second after we learned Yoichi's name

This was my reaction to a "reincarnated second" Bakugo ask

This was me making fun of the time travel theory by explaining that Ponytail Uraraka could actually be Third

And this was a post where I mentioned that I'm basically neutral on Bakugo as a whole because I really like some of his arc and his interactions, especially the remedial course arc, but that I really don't like him involved with the OfA plot line and feel it detracts from both he and Izuku

Ok. Let's go deeper then, and hopefully make this the last post I have to make on this subject.

tldr of the read more: I don't like Second as Bakugo and I actually think that the chances of Second as Bakugo's ancestor went down after the events of this week's chapter

So, I did see a lot of bak-u-go and I finally put my finger on why I hated it so much, (BESIDES the fact that I just do not think Horikoshi has done the set up for time travel in general or Bakugo in particular. Look, izuku should have told us already if Second was Bakugo. It just doesn't make sense for him to be, functionally) and instead of posting it on tumblr and dealing with people actually, like, seeing and reacting to it I just told two friends why I didn't like it thematically in a group chat. The text of my message is pasted bellow:

"So, like, even if Bakugo grows up and yeets back in time and somehow izuku doesn't recognize him with a little face scar which seems VERY UNLIKELY to me EVEN IF, then it COMPELETELY makes First's supposition pointless

the thing WASNT "second extended a hand to someone connected to and hurt by afo and freed first even tho he was nemisis, which is why izuku should extend a hand to tomura"

INSTEAD it was "Baku2 extended a hand to first because he ALREADY KNEW afo's brother was a hero and it would help all might and co and there was ABSOLUTELY NO FAITH, NO GOODWILL, NO OPTIMISTIC COMPASSION involved because baku2 KNEW what would happen and wasn't even really making a CHOICE so much as following the plan"

ahem. anyway thematically it is bad As Well as being functionally bad

is,,, bad theory,,,, i have nine very good Seconds, why would i want no Second and just dealing with bakugo more,,,

So yeah, that's my take on Baku2- it replaces the potential actual character of Second (who is someone I love exploring in many different ways) with a character we already have. And I don't hate the character, but when I'm thinking about OfA Stuff? I don't want him there! I just can't bring myself to care about Bakugo as Second. If I want to have fun with Bakugo, and I sometimes do, I have him go train and develope menteeship with Nejire. I give him some Dadzawa. I have him develop friendships and better himself with the remedial team. Getting rid of a character I like to cast Bakugo in Second's place? The least fun thing I can think of! I just don't want to do it. Have fun, write it yourself, and tag it properly so that I don't have to see it.

Ok. You also mentioned Bakugo as Second's descendent. Honestly, it's possible, but I think it's less likely now. Second has spikey hair but it looks just as much like Dabi's as it does Bakugo's. It's just how Hori draws spikey hair. They don't even have the same style, since Second has an undercut and his hair is shaded darker than Bakugo's. I also don't think that Second is going to have an explosive quirk, because Third just got one! Third's Fa Jin quirk "builds up kinetic energy and use that energy to release an explosive burst of power."

What would be the point of Izuku getting an explosion quirk from Second? It wouldn't make sense with the actual quirk lineage Bakugo has from his parents if they were trying to go that route, and frankly it's just like the Baku2 Problem: I already know how Explosion works! It's not interesting to me! I don't want to miss out on a new fun quirk just to see one I already know again.

I want Second to have a mental quirk, that's my first pick. A lighting quirk would be fine too since I really wanted Sixth to have one but then he got a stealth one so I guess I don't need Second to have a stealth quirk anymore. *Glances at Vaneer.*

Anyway so maybe Third with spikey hair that actually matches Bakugo's color is his ancestor. Maybe Second is. They both have the build of their costumes in a way that reminds of Bakugo's summer and winter hero costumes. Maybe neither of them are. I don't really care that much, because... I don't think Second likes Bakugo. I don't think he liked him at the start, and I don't think he likes him now. I'll quote a friend who actually brought this topic up before I could, and whom I agree with:

Friend: Someone asked me "Okay but what about Second being Bakugou's ancestor?" So, I had to refrain from answering "Well, if you want, but Second would probably be disgusted by Bakugou. He is a guy who sacrificed everything so some asshole with a strong quirk wouldn't do whatever he wants. What do you think he would think of Bakugou?"

Me: you're stronger than me i would have answered that and then gotten a dozen angry messages back like 'uhhhh but but hes CHANGED now if second can 'forgive' a toothpick of a man who never actually did anything to hurt him and was only considered a target because of a relative, aka bc of his genetics, then surely he'd forgive bakugo for uh activlely harming izuku bc of his genetics and openly mocking the past holder's pain, fight, and strength in a meeting he acted too good for!'

So I don't think Second would like Bakugo for those reasons, but also another one- he's naïve. Second didn't like Izuku trying to "save to win" Shigaraki, he thought it was foolish. I don't think he'd like Bakugo's "fight to win" focus either, because to him it wasn't "fight to win." It was "fight to survive" and I don't think that for a single moment he thought he'd 'win' because he was 'a hero' and 'heroes always win and villains always lose and that's why I want to be a hero.' there's a reason he didn't want Bakugo to keep OfA either, and it wasn't just because of a very circumstantial theory some vestiges have based off a sample size of two with absolutely no way to check other variables said that maybe it would kill a holder if they had another quirk.

Has Bakugo grown since those views? Sure. Do I think he's still naïve? Yeah. Do I think Second would see that growth of his, or even care? No. I don't.

I don't think Second hates Bakugo. I just don't think he likes him either. His opinion, I think, probably is similar to my own: "he's a kid who can really grow and be great... And I just don't want him anywhere near OfA buisness."

#it's funny i got an ask on Thursday the twentieth #going 'ugh i hope no one makes this chapter about Bakugo' #and i thought '?? no there's no way? it's dadmight and third right? #anyway. i underestimated the amount some people just want him to spotlighted with OfA i guys #*i guess #i can't relate #i just cannot care about him in that specific plotline i feel like it just makes everything worse #it like. warps the story #but I'm done #I'm done talking about Bakugo in ofa plotlines now ok #ask me something else about him if you want me to care #id love to try to convince you all why Nejire is the superior mentor character for him #and by that i just mean id link to my Hand-Picked chapter where she does just that while they spar together #id love to link you to my fun little piece about him being friends with Mina and Shoto (who should also be good friends but that's a #seperate post) #id love to brag for another week about how i was right on his hero name #I've been using Dynamight for a very long time lol #just. please. don't ask me about this again #i just spent two hours getting all the links and formating this ask. i do not want to spend any more brain energy or emotion on this #i can't bring myself to care enough to anyway #thank you for asking anon. i hope you find someone who can give you content or answers you actually want so you can have fun then #anon #pocket talks to people #ugh i have to tag this as spoilers but. #let's just hope it's not in the main tag #bnha manga spoilers #caps

[heretherebedork]

I feel like I’m in a similar boat with GramBlack. I never read the book, so if they had left it out entirely and had Gram go for Eugene, I wouldn’t have cared.

What I don’t like is purposely being tricked. I haven’t seen anyone explicitly say this, but I think it’s time we all acknowledge it. The writers set up the GB arc to purposely trick us into believing it was GramBlack. And I don’t like that at all.

While the show is not obligated to follow the novel plotline, everyone knows that at least a portion of the audience will have read and probably enjoyed the novel. Essentially baiting the readers with the canon plot of the novel and then pulling the rug out from under them is cruel.

I feel like the writers are just teasing me like “haha you thought GramBlack was a thing. Got you, stupid”.

Like to be 100% honest? It feels mean spirited. I realize it’s not, and I’m not going to accuse the writing team of anything. But it’s feels like it was done maliciously. And that’s why I don’t like it.

If the show had gone for Gram and Eugene from the start and not tried to play with it, I wouldn't have cared at all. I never would have complained because, eh, why not?

They did. I've basically said as much because I've seen explanations involving casting issues or time issues or filming issues and I just want to be clear that none of those explain the very deliberate way they'd been pushing the idea of Gram and Black.

But, for me, even more than that is just... the ruin of their friendship. Because if you watched that last episode and tried to explain the relationship between Black and Gram 'best friends' would not be your thought. Would anyone assume they were even friends at all from that scene?

And then the reunion where not a single person asks about Black or where he was or why White replaced him?

They baited us and teased and set up expectations specifically to knock them down.

And, to top it off, we lost that friendship and any sign that anyone cared about Black besides White and maybe Gumpa a little. But the idea that he had friends? Out the window.

I cannot imagine the Gram we saw in episode 12 greeting Black by flinging his arm around his shoulders and sniffing him. I cannot imagine him flopping on a bed and grinning up at him. I cannot imagine him taking Black on the back of his bike and lifting his arm to remind him of what he taught him. I cannot imagine him rushing to help Black with a minor injury after a fire.

And yet Gram did all of that. He did. Canonically he did all of that. We've seen him! But I would never believe that after episode 12.

#not me #not me the series #not me series #thai drama #thai series #gramblack #gmmtv #gmmtv series #gmmtv drama #there are so many scenes i can't imagine any more #because they don't make sense

[busysavingtheuniverse]

may i ask you to elaborate on tua season 2?

hell yeah dude

for an easy answer @deer-time's tua salt tag is a really good starting place (though they've moved most tua-related stuff to their sideblog @salty-coffee)

but if you don't want to go through that basically, in no particular order:

it felt they were just shoving in scenes for the music and the soundtrack just wasn't as memorable as season one

the time skip ensured that we missed out on most of their development. i have a lot of beef with the time skip

i cannot stress enough how much the handler should've died in season one lol

WHY WOULD NONE OF THEM KNOW WHERE KLAUS WAS HE WAS LITERALLY A CULT LEADER

luther, at the very least, should've seen vanya's ads in the newspaper. diego allison and klaus i can understand because one was in an asylum (i have my beef with that don't worry lol), the other wouldn't read white newspapers, and the third was traveling

vanya's amnesia plot felt like it was just there to smooth her over? she got no meaningful interactions with the siblings because she didn't know them and the conflict they set up at the end of season one ('we need to fix her') never went anywhere. we love wlw representation but was vanya really ready for romance after all the shit that went down? she needs time to process and grow not forget everything and latch onto the first woman that takes her in. we got no exploration of her trauma. also why can she just automatically control her powers now? no trauma recovery narrative for vanya i guess. she spends the entire season as essentially a side character with no real agency in the plot? also where did the new powers come from hello

speaking of the romance literally none of it was executed well. why did raymond assume his WIFE was a government plant before at least hearing her out? vissy was written so shallowly it's not even funny. liego happened way too quickly and diego forgot about eudora too fast. klave was okay i guess lol idc abt them

why did diego and lila face no racism? why were they in an integrated asylum in the south? why did they actually show diego being helped genuinely instead of them just making his situation worse? i don't think therapy was that genuinely developed. diego felt like a completely different character

why would luther, known goody-two-shoes, work for the mob? also why would he not ask jack ruby to look up his siblings' names for him before? he went back to the alley so he at least had the thought that they landed in the same spot at different times right. also he was way too dumbed down and made into comic relief for the benefit of the luther haters

klaus was literally made irrelevant? he had nothing to do, his relapse was treated as a JOKE, his addiction wasn't explored, and he was basically just comic relief like luther

allison's plotline felt it was just there to get her out of the way, she totally forgot about claire, her trauma was ignored for the second season in a row, etc. she wasn't even mad at vanya like this woman slit your throat and incinerated your daughter i don't CARE that you treated her badly i think that's a pretty good basis for some friction? (screw the amnesia plot obviously)

five and ben were left pretty intact specifically because ben's personality isn't there and five didn't get a time skip

why did they forget that drugs suppress powers when vanya was with the fbi

very sexy of tua to introduce the concept of an evil corporation that's essentially the root of all their problems in season one and then redeem it but just giving it new management? and have five of all people look into the faces of herb and DOT, WHO LEFT HIM IN THE APOCALYPSE AND DIDN'T PUSH FOR HIM TO GET EXTRACTED, and say 'yeah guys totally! :)'

also he should've eaten carmichael i don't make the rules

NONE OF THE SIBLING BONDING FELT REAL BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THEIR DEVELOPMENT. NOTHING VANYA DID FELT REAL BECAUSE OF THE AMNESIA

the swedes were legitimately not necessary. screw the swedes all my homies hate the swedes. why did they stay all the way until the finale

where did the five+allison jfk plot go that was so good

why did lila automatically know how to control their powers

elliott wasn't necessary either they should've just made their home base hazel and agnes's house with no unnecessary fridging please. that's where they could've gotten a briefcase too

the atmosphere felt completely different? season one was dark and slow and had the vibes of a gothic horror, almost? it was watching a train wreck in action, seeing all these plot threads inevitably combine for one hell of a finale. there was nothing like that in season two. aside from the obvious atmosphere change, it didn't feel like there was any direction to where the story was going? the only two highlights of the finale i care about are diego deflecting the bullets and five rewinding time. that's IT. and compared to season one's finale, it's utterly disappointing

idk it just felt like a popcorn flick/marvel movie and those are fine! those have their place! but the entire draw of tua was the darker themes and focus on childhood trauma/abuse, and they just completely failed to follow up. those have their place, and it was not here

all in all the writing just felt weaker

there's more in the 'tua salt' and 'tua s2 salt' tags

anyway tua is a ten-episode-long miniseries

#tua #tua salt #tua s2 salt #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #number five #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #sissy cooper #raymond chestnut #lila pitts #hazel #agnes #the handler #the swedes

[blockmengobrr]

Giving my favorite c!DSMP characters oddly specific ratings and explaining why I like their arcs — a post:

c!Sam: A once noble man becomes slowly obsessed with the concept of justice through gaining power as a prison warden, gradually destroying his relationships, becoming colder and colder as he isolates himself away from those he cares about. He tries justifying literally amputating his lover’s arm in the name of “law and order”, yet passively allows his rules to be broken in order to allow his prisoners to be tortured for selfish gains. And yet, he still believes he is a good person, trying to keep peace on the server, and puts his all into it. Overall, 8.6/10. This character makes me angry, which means he is written really well. I love the contrast between how Sam perceives himself and how his actions reveal his true colors. I want to write him a strongly worded letter and send him to the time out corner.

c!Dream: A character that started off as arguably just an antagonist but evolved to become a true villain. He seems to feel completely justified in his many abusive and harmful actions because he feels that they will ultimately help the server come together (under him, of course) and become friends. He systematically isolated and abused a teenager over the span of several months, wearing down at his sanity until he was nearly driven to suicide. (I still don’t understand how they got always with adding a plotline this dark into the block game role play, but damn it was well executed). c!Dream also attempted to cut all of his attachments, which he viewed as making him weak, yet ironically, his last remaining attachment (c!Techno) might end up being his saving grace to escape the persistent and severe torture he has endured in prison. This character also canonically homeless and writes wattpad fanfiction?? Overall, 8.9/10. A very chilling villain that I could understand sympathizing with in the first half of the story, but has since caused nearly irreparable harm. Is he redeemable? I don’t know man, don’t ask me. I just want him to get out of the torture box but also stay far, far, far away from c!Tommy and the other characters that he hurt.

c!Tubbo: An deeply kind and compassionate character that is forced to endure trauma and make incredibly tough decisions again and again, to the point where he cannot properly express his emotions. He finds it necessary to build up walls (literally and figuratively) and create actual nuclear weapons to experience the fleeting sense of safety and security. Despite being pushed around and being dragged into many different conflicts, he has found contentment with his friends and husband… even if they really don’t communicate their feelings nearly as much as they should. Overall, 9.1/10. I would rate him higher but I get too sad thinking about how his character just doesn’t get to deal with his emotions and traumas often. I want to wrap c!Tubbo in a blanket and give him some chamomile tea.

c!Wilbur: A once pacifistic and idealistic man gets hit with tragedy and becomes consumed by his ideals, trapped in a paranoid spiral that leads him to tragically end his life and harm those he cared about, only to come back once again to have a second chance at healing. He cares deeply about the people around him, but has difficulty trusting them and ends up being possessive over those who become close. For his entire time on the server, he has always wanted to build something that will long outlive him. Overall, 9.5/10, I’m always down for some ~~spicy~~ angst and tragedy. I also like how cc!Wilbur seems to be subverting the audience expectations around his character being “evil”. I want c!Wilbur to find peace with himself and enjoy the sunset.

c!Quackity: A confident and charismatic man, once happy and surrounded by friends, endures an abusive relationship and loses his home time after time again. He desperately desires to gain a position of power in order to feel safe and secure, something he hasn’t experienced since the beginning of the server. He is willing to do nearly anything to gain more power — he is willing to manipulate his allies, and go so far as to torture and murder his enemies to achieve his goal of safety. After gaining temporary happiness with his friends and fiancés, he gradually loses each of those relationships over time, becoming more isolated and paranoid as he shifts his focus onto building his new project… a new nation… a new vessel for power. And yet, he cares about his friends. Despite being capable of doing great harm to those around him, he is also capable of great kindness. As of this moment, however, this kindness is reserved towards very few people. Overall 10/10. I just adore this character. I want him to scam people with his casino and fuck shit up!! I also want him to just idk. Relax in a hot tub or something and reconnect with his friends. I just want to see more of him in general please,,,, cc!Quackity is such a good actor and is really convincing in his role!!!

And finally, last but certainly not least

c!Techno: Listen,,,,, I understand that there might not appear be as much depth and trauma to this character. But, have you considered that he’s funny. The deviously sarcastic energy this man radiates is very contagious, I always get a stupid evil little grin when I watch his little block character commit war crimes. He is also one of the few characters that has actually had a positive arc! He went from an isolated, mistrustful, cynical man that seemed to value violence as the highest form of communication to a confident person who has learned to understand the value of forming relationships and develop and spread his ideology through less… war-crime-y means. Watching him overcome his social anxiety just hit different, I loved watching his character develop friendships with the people around him and learning how to express his care for them. I also love watching c!Techno just be an Utter Asshole, willing to completely rock someone’s shit over what would be minor disagreements for literally anyone else. This man is just dangerously committed to his ideology and ridiculously unwavering on like all of his decisions. I want to know why his character values the things he does so much, it seems like through context clues you can tell he’s had some bad experiences in the past and I am intrigued!!! He’s just a pig with character flaws that woke up and chose violence and I love that for him. 11/10 Very funny man who does funny things, guaranteed fun POV. I want him to have a snowball fight with the Syndicate. (and also maybe learn to actually change his mind and apologize to the people he hurt? Maybe?)

Honorable mentions include: c!Tommy (love this character, very well acted, kudos to cc!Tommy! I get frustrated and also sad thinking about him tho 8.5/10). c!Slimecicle (love this character concept and just want to see more. Immortal funny slime man please I need more 8.4/10), c!Ranboo (as someone with anxiety this character is just A Mood. Like same dude lmao hope you figure out your memory and all your personal shit 8.3/10), and c!Philza (all c!Phil knows is commit crimes, love wife, and be immortal 8.2/10 love him).

I basically like all of the DSMP characters but this was just a list of my favs. Feel free to add on!

#i liked assigning aribitrary numbers to characters but don’t take this seriously. all the ccs are great and deserve love! not starting beef #dream smp analysis #long post #technoblade #wilbur soot #quackity #awsamdude #tubbo #character critical #but not really i just like their flaws #dsmp #dream smp #c!dream #c!techno #c!sam #c!tubbo #c!quackity #c!wilbur