#isn't she the best ? Yes she is

[maxphilippa]

i think that the major misinterpretation that people have with taco is that she didn't get attached to mic because of her sad face in the end wanted to show regret because "she hurted her friend". like. no, she wasn't sad because she regretted what she did. she was sad because she's alone again, but she knows very well at the end that she had it coming. the reason as to why taco was so desperate of wanting mic to tell her that she did gain something is because. she SAW pickle in mic, but of course their situation is very different. "Oh but Taco couldn't have done what she did to Mic to Pickle, Mic was fully aware" but she did do that. Mic herself says it. That is pretty much what II is telling you. Taco isn't a good friend, and is not exactly a good person either. Mic was aware that Taco was/is a bad person, but Mic's nature makes her believe in whoever acknowledges her. Taco made Mic feel like she needed her, just the way she made Pickle feel back in s1.

she didn't really change thanks to mic. her faces of "regret" aren't her actually lamenting all of the stuff she did to microphone, but rather just her realizing that she proved what everyone said about her as a result. i will give it to that she might've tried to change, but not because of mic. she wanted to win the prize so she could prove others wrong on her being a loser and a coward, by being a loser and a coward. if anything, mic made her realize that she hasn't changed. she pretty much just ruined everything for everyone who saw her as a friend, and for herself.

taco's whole arc is constantly just downgraded to questionable takes and listen. i do agree that she is heavily flawed as a character. she is morally gray, but ii doesn't portray her as a good person with good intentions, nor she should be really be treated as if she was. neither she had those good intentions with mic at all, i mean, their "friendship" pretty much started because of taco wanting the prize money, taking a part of microphone's prize if she made mic won, you know, an offer. she would get the prize and mic would get recognition. but everyone seems to forget that probably, the main reason as to why she's doing all of this, is because she does regret how she acted on s1. she doesn't exactly regret doing all of that to microphone, and even if she does, it's for the wrong reasons. (that's because she did the exact same thing to you know, pickle, her once best friend, the only person she truly ever cared about)

people do tend to forget that taco keeps sending letters to pickle, and that's often just used for pickle angst and making it his only character trait, but. it's not that. it's the fact that taco keeps on writing those letters, despite fully knowing that she did hurt pickle because of her actions. taco's biggest flaw is that she can't accept that she has ruined everything and wants so desperately to be back on pickle's life because she ended up caring about him deeply as a person. as a friend. but she was never there at all, either.

taco can't seem to understand that she has hurted people badly. sure, she seemed like a "friend" to microphone, and you can argue whatever you want but a fact is that taco IS smart, and she knew that the only way to possibly keep mic by her side is pretending to want to be better, you know, the same way she pretended to be just a odd fella so pickle and her could remain together and have an advance at the game. she played with both of them. because both pickle and mic believed in her but were just used by her for the game.

however, taco does seem to regret the way everything went during-post s1. you can see how she yearns for another chance and is saddened about not getting it, but that's not only for comedic purposes, but that's because the writing is telling you that she won't get a second chance. at least not here.

what i want people to understand is that, yes, taco is a complex character, however trying to sugarcoat what she did is pretty much missing the point of her writing as a whole. she isn't a good person neither was she a good friend. she hasn't grown because she was never able to let go of something that she thinks that she can fix with some words and a prize. she thinks that she can still fix her friendship with pickle, she thinks that she can clear her name (even if she was the one who tainted it), but she only ended up proving knife right. she proved everyone right. she hasn't changed. a morally gray character is that. they're not exactly fully bad or fully good, but it's taco's actions that speak a lot. words are cheap, and taco's title is "The Liar", and that says a lot, because she kept on lying to microphone and to pickle on both of their games. she won't heal unless she lets go.

and i want to be clear here: i do think that taco can go through redemption. i do think that taco can become a better person, but not in the way people portray her to do so. because it just pretty much goes against what her arc has settled in for us, and the other arcs that were involved in hers as well.

taco's arc is meant to be somewhat a parallel with nickel's in a way. hell, even with knife's arc if anything. she treats knife as a simple bully, but when she saw that he became smarter and way more emotionally aware than what she had expected, she felt attacked by that, because he was stable. he became a better person and he was rubbing that on her, and it made her feelings of anger way worse regarding him, but it is true. knife is pretty much everything that taco wants to be, but here's the thing that made them so different:

knife stayed. taco didn't stay.

knife is accepted by everyone in the hotel because meanwhile he hasn't explicitly said that he had a change of heart, he has shown it through actions and a big difference too is that he was there for pickle, even if they weren't close in s1, and taco is on the woods because deep down she is aware that she can't go back. not if she doesn't have something to offer as an direct apology, but here's the problem. whether or not she got the prize, she still wouldn't get forgiven by anyone due to what she said that day.

again. her problem is not being able to let go and to accept when she has messed up badly. she has been lying to everyone but she has also been lying to herself as a whole. she can't keep on doing this because it's just hurting everyone and herself. keeping grudges and holding onto past friendships that were doomed to fall is just hurting her. she is not on the state to keep on trying, she wasn't at all ever.

taco's arc most likely will have closure on a way that fits her character, and i feel like that would be with her letting go of inanimate insanity as a whole and of what she can't fix anymore. her trying to find herself after years of lying to everyone and to herself. she's not a good person. but she can become one. only if she knows what she did was wrong and that her second chance isn't there, and never will be, and if she recognizes that meanwhile she did that damage, she can still become a better person. just not there.

pickle and mic don't owe her anything, especially pickle. taco does owe them an apology, but they won't accept that. the least she could do is to accept their wishes, understand that she needs to leave them and grow to be a better person. maybe, if she does that, she would actually heal.

she doesn't need anyone to fix her. she needs to fix herself.

#inanimate insanity #ii #inanimate insanity invitational #ii 2 #ii 3 #inanimate insanity taco #inanimate insanity microphone #inanimate insanity knife #inanimate insanity pickle #and no. this isn't to bring ship discourse or anything. get that away from my character analysis. #i feel like taco is a really interesting character. it is pretty sad that even if she's popular people don't get her #“she's a complex fem character” yes she is. however you are pretty much missing the point. a character regardless of the gender can do bad- #-things and have a good intention/or a way to try to make up for that in their actions. however she is a case where she can't get closure w #-ith anyone because of the way she is written/the way she was given that complexity. she won't get closure with anyone in the cast at all #because they won't really forgive her since she kept on lying and using them as puppets. she had a change of heart. sure #but that doesn't erase all the pain she has caused #i genuinely do hope she gets her eventual closure by letting go. she does deserve to be okay but not with the cast. #i feel like the best way to put is. she had a good wish (wanting to become friends with pickle and showing that she changed) #with bad intentions and bad actions (using mic to get the prize + lying to her + other bad stuff she has done to the contestants such as h #-arming them without a motive/just because.) #max does analysis

[unicornofthemidwest]

the fact that David Ghost Quartet is punishing himself because he thinks that the Gods think that humans don't treat music as holy enough...and then the climactic song, about forgiving yourself, is called Prayer? Wild. Incredible. I am tearing out my hair and chewing on the furniture

#ghost quartet #screaming crying throwing up #this musical is...boy howdy #It's been years and I'm still absolutely irregular about it #no god isn't real but she's your mother and your sister and your daughter and your lover and your best friend #and yes i will try to forgive myself #dave malloy #dave malloysicals

[ghostlygraphist]

i swear im not a john gaius apologist but what if gideon is still dead because they weren't sure how much, if any, of her was still in harrow and instead of potentially harming harrow gideon chose to be a construct as a middle ground

#nona the ninth #ntn #nona the ninth spoilers #tlt #the locked tomb #tombposting #gideon nav #harrowhark nonagesimus #kiriona gaia #john gaius #i know he's not the best guy but i feel like theres a reason kiriona came to be as she is #yes john makes bad decisions sometimes but until proven otherwise i'd like to believe she had SOME agency here and she isn't a sloppy job

[abrahamvanhelsings]

"why is van helsing always presented as the vampire hunter" oh im sorry originally being the only person with the knowledge to kill them and having the guts to put himself in mortal danger by 1) standing outside a vampire's tomb in the night while there's another vampire hunting in the same city and 2) travelling with a woman who is slowly turning into a vampire and starts to view him like prey and persevering despite his fears to see the hunt through to the end does not qualify suddenly

#dracula daily #yes i understand wanting more jonathan action but also it's not like vh is standing around doing nothing #like do you realise how intense it is that he would split off with mina and journey through the countryside alone #he knows how to kill vamps but he has to let his guard down and sleep sometime #there's no one for him if she turns enough #her staring at him gives off predator still too shy and unsure that she can best him but very willing to try #she can still think rationally but she also isn't fully herself anymore either #like the vamp part already starts taking over by night and giving her less time to be herself by day

[lacallemojada]

So all this time, ever since you were demoted from Captain, ever since you started losing, the three years old part of you has been desperated for your attention, screaming at you to stop losing, trying like hell to save your life. It’s the three year old who can’t stop running, Maya. It’s the three year old who won’t let you sleep, it’s the three year old who pushes everyone away, who tried to tell you that you had to stop.

#station19edit #station 19 #station 19 spoilers #maya bishop #diane lewis #the wisest words ever spoken to maya #she needed to hear that #isn't doctor lewis the best? yes she is #love that maya could finally see what was happening </3 #by apf

[possamble]

realizing im kind of a weirdo about laios and marcille

#possramble #ignore this im just babbling but #the thing is that like. i don't ship laios and marcille together. their relationship is so so important to me in that laios comphets himsel #and THINKS that he might be in love with her but he isn't and that's my insane obsession #platonic soulmates for real but they're so sweet together that i fully expect them to be shipped together #like i get it. that's almost the appeal for me. if dungeon meshi were any other series there'd be an epilogue where they get married #convention dictates that they're meant to be together as the male protagonist and his beloved female deuteragonist #but dungeon meshi DOESNT do that and i love it so fucking much they're the comphet besties ever for my strange little brain #like if i ever did an arranged marriage au it would absolutely be laios and marcille having a platonic political marriage and then just #the most insane mutual pining with marcille and falin while laios and marcille struggle their way into becoming best friends #the imagery of the king and his beautiful court mage being tender to each other and everyone thinking they're in love is like catnip to me #like yeah they'd be like that and have no idea people think they should be together and the subversion makes me so obsessed #the more people ship them romantically. the more i enjoy their platonic dynamic it's like some sort of weird comphet fetishism idk #people think they're in love and im outside the window like YES... YES!!! #but also the second i see stuff of them kissing on the mouth or fucking im like oh god no i went too deep in here i gotta get out #don't wanna see that. i'll go feral over the idea of laios and marcille being arm-in-arm like king and queen but they would not fuck. #i want marcille to be his default comphet beard and dance partner/plus one at official royal events but they're not kissing. #she's there on his arm because he's scared of the other noble women tryna get him and being a baby about it #and people see them muttering to each other and laughing and generally being very sweet and think that they're dating but they're not. #she's actually covered in hickies from falin underneath her dress and is gonna get dragon dicked right after the party is over #like she's in her bedroom and falin's helping her take her ridiculous dress off while listening to her complain about politics #and falin is the person she goes home to the person she falls asleep to and wakes up with #they're a triad of utter devotion to each other but only farcille's side of the triangle is romantic #it's almost like an open secret because they're not trying to hide it at all but people assume and are surprised to find out #like people are so right about her relationship with the toudens but with the siblings' roles switched #love of her life & irreplaceable life companion. does anyone get it #anyway. i don't know what's wrong with me #it bothers me that they're not the undisputed most popular het ship for marcille on ao3 #it's unnatural. marcille being paired with any other man should be a fringe case.

[craycraybluejay]

ik people like to act like sex and imbalanced sexual dynamics are uniquely traumatizing (moreso than any other kind of power imbalance, abuse of power, or just flat out abuse period) but from personal experience not really. there's nothing inherent to sex and sexuality that makes it traumatizing. there's nothing inherent to sexual trauma that makes it more traumatic than any other trauma.

and chiefly trauma is never really about the intentions of any party who made or let it happen. someone who wants, intends, and tries to hurt you might bounce off you just like that; because they simply failed to psychologically damage you, because what they did didn't bother you a lot whether it be mental physical or sexual. conversely someone who does not want, intend, or try to hurt you may scar you for life with something either they don't understand is harmful or isn't even inherently harmful and is uniquely that way to you.

i just. i'm annoyed at the narrative of trauma being taken away from the survivor themself. if i say this was traumatizing and you think it's not a big deal, too fucking bad, listen to me. if i say that wasn't traumatizing at all and you think it's the worst thing in the world upon hearing what it is, too fucking bad, you don't get to tell me what my trauma is. i'm sick of seeing people put words in each others mouths and tell someone's story for them without that person's consent. idk like? it makes me so angry that whenever i used to talk about things people would blatantly disregard the most horrific times of my life and instead focus on stuff i was neutral or even positive toward as a big terrible thing that ruined me.

nowadays i'm very grateful to have people who are chill and don't jump to conclusions no one asked them to. people who listen when i tell them "i know this sounds bad but it wasn't actually" or "i know this sounds stupid but this was world shattering." people who i get to laugh with. the RIGHT people who extend me the same kindness of knowing their strange "good bad things" and "bad fine things."

life just isn't as simple as "this is always terrible for people" and "this is always fine for people." PEOPLE aren't a monolith. yes, even that thing that you think must be the worst thing possible. yes, even that thing that you think no one could possibly be hurt by. it's hard to involve myself in serious discussions about abuse because there is a very clear Narrative people want to follow and if you as a "victim" don't follow it then either it didn't happen or you're wrong about your own experience.

hopefully I can consult my therapist about this phenomenon in discussions of abuse and trauma. and also about the specific thing that made me think of this. it irritates me quite a lot when others pity me for something that i knowingly chose-- and in retrospect never hurt me either. like what are you fishing for. why are you looking at me like that. i'm fine, maybe you're the one that needs counseling if my talking about this creates such a visceral reaction in you.

#listen to trauma survivors #listen to victims #listen to people who say they AREN'T that when you say they are too #the only person who knows their life best is that person especially in retrospect #ask to tag #trauma #the narratives surrounding trauma are regressive and ignore anyone who does not fit them #mental health culture critical #mental health #i consume [one] weed and then have sex and its immediately rape. pls touch grass jfc #idk everything surrounding sex is this mystical thing rife with potential evil #and i'm tired of it #the anti sex culture #the whole: there's nothing more traumatizing than someone 2 years older asking you out #pls stop #sex is not inherently more evil or potentially evil than literally any other thing that can be used to abuse #and abuse isn't as simple as 2 neat boxes labeled abusive thing and not abusive thing #for example you cant claim a karen yelling at you in a store is abusive. rude and mean yes but shes not abusing you #but if the same person is yelling at you all the time and has power over you so you cannot stop them thats a diff story potentially #idk people have this #black and white thinking #that never fails to irritate me #and we are never going to get anywhere in understanding these difficult topics if we cannot disconnect the narrative from our ego to always #always be right. to always know what is one thing and what is the other

[clumsycapitolunicorn]

it's been nearly 6 months since the ted lasso finale and im still pretty much:

#ted lasso #messing with us tedbecca shippers and giving rebecca some rando...ruining a canon ship...trying to girl boss a character- #-who you didn't even let have her own work plot when it was time... #making two men who had a beautiful relationship growth fight last minute over said girlboss and making them grossly misogynistic #leaving one of your characters in an ab*s*ve relationship was an awful woman and all the mentioned ab*s*ve moments were- #-just for sh*ts and giggles #ohhh and also making it mandatory to forgive even the sh*tty people when it's ok not to #taking your lead away from a place he was most stable and maybe or maybe not having him get back with his ex who told him he was too much.. #-got with their therapist (and you never dig deep into that mess) and maybe cheated... #yes to be with his son but there were options for him to stay in london and bring his kid and ex so they could both parent or show a- #representation of these kind of situations and maybe have henry living with each parent 6 months each and getting the best of both worlds #also your boss is more rich than she started and was providing for you your kid and ex #instead we get ted only deciding to leave after his mother told him his kid missed him (as if that isn't obvious) such a weak way to go- #-about it and tbh ted leaving his kid far away to go to london instead of like half an hour way is kind of stupid all round really #they wanted a mary poppins situation except mary poppins made some roots of her own and had connections so it didn'twork #yeah i am still...feeling a lot

[coquelicoq]

i like the natsume dub, but i'm glad i watched it with subs first. for one thing, the japanese voice acting simply cannot be beat. for another, the dub translates nicknames into english - for instance, the little tatsumi that hatches from an egg, turning natsume into a teen dad, is called "eggy" in the dub instead of "tama" (which unless i'm mistaken is a shortened form of the japanese word for "egg") - which isn't a bad thing, but it does end up creating the possibility of a little misunderstanding once you get to taki's first episode. because if you couldn't hear the japanese, and you were accustomed to characters getting jokey english nicknames like eggy, and you heard that a character who hadn't talked for almost a year was named something that sounded phonetically like "talkie", would you assume that she had a completely different name in japanese that was a pun on the japanese word for "talk"? because that's probably what i would have assumed lol. but luckily i watched it in japanese with subs first, so. crisis averted!

#natsume VO: everybody talks‚ but for nearly an entire year‚ that 'talkie' girl tried not to. <-what it sounds like he's saying in the dub #you can practically hear the air quotes #especially because when it's her first episode you have no idea that she's about to become a recurring character #she could be another one-off guest character natsume meets once and maybe encounters a second time three seasons later #as opposed to his new best friend. you don't know that in her first episode #so given that this could be her only appearance...it wouldn't be that crazy for her to have some novelty name For The Lulz #like i probably would've watched the whole show thinking ah yes here is Natsume & his friends Tanuma Nishimura Kitamoto and Talkie #i would have come on here and made a total fool of myself spelling her name like that #people would have been like tf are you talking about dude #i'd be like you know‚ the girl with the spell circles? #and they would have been like DO YOU MEAN TAKI????? #i would have had to retire. never show my face here again. #natsume's book of friends #translation #names #puns #my posts #natsume yuujinchou #taki tooru #watch me write this whole thing about how the dub makes it possible for you to think her name is a pun when it obviously isn't #and then have a japanese speaker come on here like 'actually 'taki' IS a pun in japanese. the dub perfectly translated this joke' #that would be so funny. what if

[zeivira]

Well, maybe not literally, but you get the memo.

Wilhelm, do you think she decided to go to the Whale Hunt because she wanted you to be a DICK

#the best ifs are those in which wilhelm gets erased #this isn't an opinion #it's a fact #yes i'm posting all the low effort edits i haven't posted in 2 years #re: zero #rezero #re:zero #re zero #theresia van astrea #reinhard van astrea #heinkel astrea #wilhelm van astrea #she is basically an otome isekai mom #she dies and BAM husband decides to be shitty to the child

[salmondot]

I know I'm taking a swing at the hornet's nest with this one - but Astarion fans need to shut up, tbh. You're annoying little blorbo isn't that special, he's got the same shit going on as everyone else. "b-b-but, he was abused by Cazador for 200 years and he was turned as a little baby :("

yeah? Shadowheart was kidnapped as a child and physically abused. Lae'zel was literally born into her abuse. Karlach and Gale are physically bound to their abusers. We literally watch Wyll be disfigured by his evil and extremely powerful master.

This is an ice-cold take, I know - but like, could we not condense the obnoxious simping to the most tropey character, please?

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #YES this is about that stupid “his eyes dart around expecting threats” post #Karlach and Laezel are hardened warriors and stare dead on - Karlach especially #your annoying little leech isn't cool #I am also mad that Laezel gets no love either #there is so much potential for Laezel simping but no #the tropey vampire gets all the love #because Laezel is “just so mean :(” #more tortured angst for the woman with a burning determination and compassion that perseveres through the horrible cult she was born into #filled with dreams so much bigger than herself #but still compelled to throw it all away because IN SPITE OF IT ALL her principles best Vlaakith and her principles are KINDNESS

[bestmothertournament]

#female tournaments #Best Mother Figure #ann possible #kim possible #disney #bambi's mother #bambi #carmen diaz #cobra kai #chicha #chicha the emperor's new groove #the emperor's new groove #fa li mulan #fa li #mulan #jack starbright #alex rider #yes i know Jack isn't alex's mum but she is his guardian so she deserves credit #jade dixon-halliday #mi high #m.i. high #ccbc #jenny franklin #anya petrova #in from the cold #kala tarzan #kala #tarzan #kanga #kanga winnie the pooh

[a-wins-a-win]

unpopular opinion?? maybe?

Matt & Ivy have a really interesting dynamic!! both pre- and post-canon!! with or without romantic undertones!! either reciprocal or one-sided!!

and obviously it has to be handled with a particular level of care/respect BUT I think if we allowed them enough grace there is space to explore a really interesting possibility for that relationship.

#obviously Matt is not ENTITLED to Ivy - im absolutely not saying that at all #and he definitely did a lot of things extremely wrong and Ivy doesn’t HAVE to forgive him - she doesn't even have to *like* him #and in many stagings she actually doesn’t at all! even pre-canon she isn't into him on a *platonic* level - which i love for her #but I also think that - misguided & clumsy about it though he was - Matt is genuinely trying his best to see her as a person. #an idealized version of a person yes. but a person nonetheless. #which is what Ivy wants from Jason (and tbf he sees her as a person also but it’s an obviously different situation) #and while you can't force romantic compatibility (that was like. the whole point.) in some versions of the show they're not-quite-dating #- in varying types of “situationship” with varying levels of commitment. so it's not insane to me to say hey #maybe they need time to stabilize themselves and figure out who they are again after the events of the show. but maybe a couple years - #- down the line they reconnect and they're both in a better place & maybe this time it can all work out. #idk I think I just see a lot of people write it off entirely - and they’re well within their rights to do so don’t get me wrong #but I don’t think it’s fair necessarily to put them in the ‘doomed to fail’ category #wow okay I care about them as a pair more than I realised #tldr; give Matt & Ivy and their relationship dynamic the grace + complexity they deserve #mouse talks bapo #bare a pop opera #Ivy Robinson #Matt Lloyd #[as a side note - sometimes I think about queer Matt & transmasc Ivy & the interesting concept of their potential boyfriendism]

[marivanilla05]

Erased AU sketches

#dcmk #erased au #shinran #ran mouri #kudo shinichi #sonoko suzuki #kogoro mouri #yes they tag along on kogoro's cases #it happened coincidentally and ran realized it would help with finding people sonoko was searching for #shinichi tags along bc of course he does #kogoro: do your parents know what you're doing? #shinichi: what they don’t know won't hurt them. #shinichi does suspect that ran is hiding something but can't piece together what it is #he is a smart kid but after all he's still a kid and the truth is too outlandish for it to cross his mind #he feels like there's something strange about how she acts but sice he doesn’t know what he can't successfully confront her #ran on the other hand thought that sonoko was the one she should be worried about since she knew her back then #she quickly finds out that shinichi is the bigger threat because of how perceptive he is #she initially thought that he had time travelled like her but she later finds out that that isn't the case #sonoko learns to adapt to her best friend's new hobby #and to tolerate shinichi

[lith-myathar]

I really have no patience for people who hate Mayrina, she's like 20 and her husband is dead and she's having a baby I don't think she even necessarily wants, like can we cut the poor girl some slack??

#it's going to a hag for help stupid? yes. but again: she's baby. #the worst thing you can really say is that she's choosing to bring another hag into the world by giving Ethel her baby #and we don't even know if she knows how that works #she probably just assumes the infant will be killed which isn't great but like...i can see her thinking that's better #than the life she could give the child #from her perspective i get why it seems like the best option

[tmsstellison]

Stella, what?

#the morning show #stella bak #stella x cory #stellison #tms s03e07 #look at her #isn't she the best? #(the answer's yes) #(the number of best characters in that show though) #look at our new icon too #we're still tms stellison #also #if you have the opportunity to look at our tumblr from a computer: #we changed the layout #new theme who dis?