#the incredibles meta man

[winterprince601]

i don't know how else to say it: jon snow comes from two long lines of reckless magical bullshit and is basically a melting pot of feral royal blood but that's less important than the fact that he was raised by ned stark.

#jon snow #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #house stark #ned stark #asoiaf shitpost #eddard stark #best dad #a song of ice and feels #maybe #i think it's incredibly important that rhaegar and lyanna created jon #i think their legacies will be influential on him and his status as targaryen-stark has magical significance #but they didn't PARENT him #congrats to ned for making the chosen one a levelheaded anxious man who cares more about his little sister than the existential threat #and a GREAT haggler :)

[intermundia]

i think one of the most infuriating things about using the Force would be the fact that in order to reach out, you have to instead open yourself up and let it in. you must make yourself passive, in order to be active, you know? to see what is really out there, you have to allow yourself to look, which means pausing and offering up your attention non-judgmentally in order to take in the world before you act upon that information. you have to get yourself out of the way, because when your thoughts and anxieties are in the way, you cannot see past them. they are a shield blocking you from seeing the moment, and a filter that leads to motivated reasoning, seeing what you want to see instead of what is really there.

so in a high stress environment, when there is much on the line (fear) or innocents are being harmed (anger), the ability to actually take a second and put aside those feelings in order to understand the situation better and actually be able to fix things is no mean feat. you have to be able to simultaneously detach so that you can focus and act in the best interest of everyone with full awareness of the risks and benefits, while remaining deeply engaged and compassionate for everyone involved. it's not easy, it's not about ego and glory and pleasure, it's about loving the world enough to be an agent of peace no matter the cost. that kind of altruistic discipline would take a lifetime of study, and i think is so deeply admirable as a concept.

#i love the jedi man im in my feelings again about this ideal of service and harmony #it's beautiful and difficult and not for everyone #but such incredible things are possible with the force #jedi order #sw #sw meta

[jennycalendar]

THIS IS SUCH A LINE. especially considering where she goes next! like, without the context of the later seasons, willow's effort to lose her virginity to oz in amends comes off as this really earnest attempt to express her devotion, but i am looking at this line -- "how to make oz trust me" -- and really really noticing how her immediate approach is to try and circumvent waiting for him to come to that trust in his own time. she gives him the opportunity to have sex with her because she feels like that will be the band-aid fix that will make them go back to normal. she is always looking for that band-aid fix and she always thinks she's smart enough to find it.

#celia watches btvs #meta #willow rosenberg #MAN what an incredible arc. #and that we're seeing it start to flower as early as s3! #and consistently!!

[kenobihater]

thinking about how rdr2 is about redemption yes, but also about loyalty to what matters, love of family, and the consequences of both. arthur loved dutch, loved him enough to follow him to hell and back, but not enough to remain blindly loyal when dutch betrayed him and john. he put his love of his brother above the love of his father, because his father taught him well, taught him the importance of family. if not for dutch and hosea raising arthur to believe in the importance of loyalty to what's right, if they had just raised arthur as a mindless outlaw, if they hadn't instilled in him the meaing of family, he likely wouldn't have cared about john enough to betray the man who saved him. for example, bill and javier weren't raised by dutch and hosea like arthur was, but they were loyal to him all the same. they weren't treated like dutch's children like john and arthur were. because the values of family and of right and wrong weren't instilled in them alongside the value of loyalty, they sided with dutch despite his fall from grace and remained blindly devoted to a man who no longer deserved it. but because dutch and hosea taught arthur and john the importance of thinking for themselves and choosing what was truly right as well as the importance of family, they realized that dutch was going down the wrong path and causing senseless deaths with his recklessness, and arthur and john decided they had to leave. arthur knew he was never going to get out, but he at least wanted his little brother to have a semblance of a life away from the gang. he wanted him to have a chance because he loved him, because they were raised together, and because they were raised as a family. dutch had a huge hand in his sons betraying him, not only because he drove them away and betrayed them himself, but because he and hosea raised them right!!

#this is incomprehensible i apologize i'm just incredibly emotional over fictional cowboys today i guess! #len's meta #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #john marston #tag as ship and i steal your kneecaps and block you <3 they are brothers #hosea matthews #dutch van der linde #you can tag as their ship tho imho it's practically canon they're in tragic old man love #rdr2 meta #red dead redemption two #red dead redemption 2 meta #this is really a mess but i doubt i'll be able to distill it into anything more coherent so i'm posting as is #mayhaps i'll be able to write up another rdr2 meta post later that is less messy so stay tuned ig

[yea-baiyi]

i’m actually obsessed with pei ming and yushi huang so much. like this aromantic misogynistic man slut with a string of broken hearts behind him is rescued by a quiet, humble woman who doesn’t think about him at all and he suddenly cannot cope. he’s shaking in fear hes choking on his words he runs out of the room whenever she’s near. he wants her to fuck him so bad it makes him look stupid. insane that mxtx just pulls this bit of characterisation at the last moment and then does not elaborate. i’ve got him in my head like this

#tgcf #pei ming #yushi huang #tgcf meta #sorta #meta stuff #i’m sorry like he’s just. i’m obsessed with him he’s so incredibly funny #pei ming is an absolute asshole and you think you know him as a character #and then mxtx just pulls this bit of characterisation at the last minute and it’s HYSTERICAL #the way he gets soooo overwhelmed once yushi huang is in the vicinity #he doesn’t even explain or try to make excuses he just leaves immediately #disaster man #i should get back to reading tgcf so i can do a meta on him #they’re the equivalent of cumplane for me in tgcf in terms of how hilarious and insane

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trigun Thoughts Vol. 1 Pt. 2

So now that I've finished with volume 1, I just wanted to write down a couple thoughts I've had and neat things to point out so far

When I was watching Stampede, I took note of a few kind of textbook avoidant behaviours Vash engages in, and lo and behold, here he is in the manga displaying even more of them. I'll list out a few here.

In order, we have:

Casually asking for a time limit on the interaction (ie. "How long do I have to keep this up before I can leave?")

Attempting to lose people in a crowd

Leaving without saying anything (and as a bonus, dreading being recognized in public)

Over-indulging or over-involving oneself in social events to create a viable excuse to leave suddenly (in this case, he uses alcohol as a reason to "pass out")

Sleeping to avoid unwanted conversation

Escaping to the bathroom to get away for a bit (and also to grumble about it haha)

Playing off sincere reactions by deliberately allowing them to be misinterpreted to avoid personal questions

It's really obvious, even this early in the manga, that Vash is intentionally avoiding prolonged interaction with people, and only involving himself in situations by necessity. He doesn't like attention on himself - the only reason he intentionally draws it is to divert it away from others.

The reason for this is a bit muddy though. It does seem that Vash doesn't particularly enjoy being caught up in drama, and it is also very likely he wishes to get in and out of places as quickly as possible to avoid them getting caught up in his drama too. It may even be that he finds prolonged socializing kind of tiring; that he needs a certain amount of time to himself.

But then there's also this bit, shortly after the celebration, where he pretends to pass out.

This brings in a bit of a guilt aspect to it. It likely has to do with July, or maybe it's due to something else (at this point, we can't say), but I think it's notable that Vash cuts things off shortly before they become intimate. He can play along to make others happy and to share in their joy for a bit, but the second things get too personal or focused on him, he will quietly slip away. Now this is specifically an instance of physical intimacy, but I think it'd probably hold for emotional intimacy as well, given the continuous avoidance and misdirection he does to prevent too many questions.

I made some commentary on Stampede Vash's self-punishing behaviours - specifically, the way he denies himself food. I don't want to get too into it because I don't know if everyone reading this has seen Stampede, but food is framed as something to be shared in the show - so, denying himself food is denying himself the right to share with others, which is denying himself belonging, which is denying himself any semblance of intimacy. (It means other things too, as food-sharing is associated with Rem, but I don't want to get too into it here.)

Vash in the manga doesn't seem to have the same issues with eating, but this is a similar premise - he's denying himself intimacy out of a sense of not being deserving of it.

So, then, there are probably many interwoven reasons for Vash's avoidance - he's sick of the chaos that follows him around, he doesn't want others getting hurt, he gets tired from having to "play it up" all the time, and he seems to also feel that he doesn't deserve that closeness. I'm intrigued to see how Vash's avoidance will be tackled going forward (I'm assuming it will?), and I suspect, more than there being one right reason for it, that all these reasons are actually true to an extent.

On a completely different note, this panel here is the biggest mood. I feel it in my bones.

#me looking at vash's avoidant strategies: ha ha ha. i do that. #me: ...wait. no. that's bad. #meryl says 'vash stop getting into situations' and vash says 'i am trying to get OUT of the situations! i don't want to be here either!!!' #i do think there's a lot of... exhaustion to his character we don't see as much with stampede vash. manga vash looks TIRED man. #it makes sense. we know vash isn't... happy. to say the least. #playing it up all the time when you are not happy - i can tell you any social interaction becomes flat out exhausting #you're always acting. you feel like you have to be so careful with what you say. it's far less draining to just leave the room. #trigun #trigunbookclub #vash the stampede #trigun meta #storyrambles #if i'm just saying what is incredibly obvious or repeating what others have already said i'm sorry. #once i'm caught up i'll follow the book club tag and read what others have written!

[descendant-of-truth]

Personally my main complaint with Side Order was that there wasn't enough horror in it

Like I don't have a good frame of reference for how dark Splatoon can get (still haven't watched the story modes of 1 and 2), but the advertising for the DLC made it seem like we were going to spend a lot of time with just... the desolateness of the area, with an Eight who is probably very scared but also a little closed-off and doesn't really understand what's going on.

But with Pearl at our side from the very beginning, it's... kind of impossible to be frightened, or for the oppressive mood of the location to really set in. It doesn't help that she and Acht basically tell us what's going on immediately, so we don't even get to be confused for very long.

It's sweet that Eight gets to have friends, to not have an opportunity to be lonely and frightened, but. it seems a little at odds with the art direction, no?

I get that Splatoon is a fast-paced action game first and foremost, but you can't advertise something with these kinds of shots - putting this surreal, claustrophobic, cold tone at the center - and not give us any time in the actual game to experience it.

The story we got is good, and the fun, colorful boss fight at the end with the boppin tunes is absolutely what Splatoon is all about, but I think it would've hit a lot harder if we actually had to work our way up to it. Start us off with no companions, so that when we do find them after ascending some floors/completing runs, there's a substantial difference in how it feels to be in this place.

The elevator, once terrifying to stand in alone, becomes a safe haven between floors where your friends can chat among themselves. Replaying the floors over and over again starts as a sanity-reducing loop, but becomes a fun game to challenge yourself with. And with Marina's help, the climb can become less grueling, the enemies easier to handle with Pearl at your side.

It's easier to sell a message about not just the power of friendship, but of the value of change and building a community, if you start us off without any of those things for contrast. Also the implied tone of the concept art is such a vibe and I just really wanted more of it in canon okay

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatoon side order #splatoon 3 side order #analysis #meta #spoilers for slimes #Started thinking about this again after seeing more fanart that leans more into the surrealist/unsettling tones #Incredible work they're getting up to but MAN I wanna PLAY IT

[evilkitten3]

one of the most frustrating things about reading naruto meta is that every now and then you'll run into a post that's absolutely brilliantly thought out, has stupendous points, and pulls out all the stops on almost every level....

and you just have to stop and wonder how someone can simultaneously be so good at media analysis and so fucking bad at accepting that sometimes authors just cannot and/or will not write female characters on any level

#naruto #naruto shippuden #fandom crit #like how do you manage to process so much multi-layered political ninja stuff #and yet fail to comprehend that sometimes media has misogyny in it #sometimes male authors are simply sexist #bc there are people in this world who can understand the intricacies of the political minefield #but not the concept of women being human beings with the same levels of complexity as men #how do you write so much genuinely incredible and well-thought out meta #and yet still manage to come to the conclusion that a fictional 12yo girl is responsible for how a real life adult man wrote her #like. ????????? #''why didn't [insert girl here] just do [insert thing here]'' bc the author fundamentally does not view women as people next question #like out of all the things in the world of media that are hard to understand #how is ''sexism exists and you see it sometimes'' so high on that list #like ok it's been a while since high school but i thought ''the author's views color their work'' was media literacy 101

[nanomooselet]

Episode Eleven: To a New World

Deep breaths. Uh, pre-emptive apologies; I keep the tightest grip I can over my tone, but this ep sliced me off at the knees. There's a lot of anger in it.

I like Wolfwood. Lots of people do. And I like Knives. Besides Vash himself they pop up on my dash more frequently than any other character. Maybe I like Knives more than Wolfwood because I enjoy poking his horrible trash brain with a stick, but Nick's certainly got his charms.

But I can't get around it. This is the episode where Knives... violates Vash. And this is the episode where Wolfwood turns his back as Vash is screaming in pain and despair, reliving all the worst moments of his life. For reasons (I'M WORKING ON IT and they're not that Meryl is The Girl), Wolfwood was never going to be the one to save Vash from his agony. Back in the initial watch, before I knew anything else, I knew it just wasn't going to happen.

So, sorry, Nick - you’ve had a rough time, but I still giggled when Meryl kicked you in the shin as you tried to pretend you didn't give a shit. I needed the levity. Off you go, brood over your sins and the whatnot. I'm sure Vash is gonna be just fine.

And you, Millions Knives. Today it's the tire iron.

This is the first time we finally see him fully revealed - full face, cloak discarded, even his thoughts themselves laid bare. (By the way, he's not actually naked; that's just a very, very tight bodysuit. I think he wears it so he looks like his idea of what a Masculine Plant is, like an Italian Renaissance sculpture. Also pretty sure he made it himself. Without it, he'd look just as human as Vash does.) Knives spends a lot of time talking, often very passionately... but you still cannot trust anything he says to be the truth; not about himself, not about Vash. At best, there might be a tiny sprinkle of truth prettying up a great big lie. Or he genuinely believes what he's saying; it's just that he's confidently wrong. I don't doubt, for instance, that Vash really is motivated by a lot of guilt over the Fall, not least because Knives was the one who put that guilt on Vash and left it to slowly consume him. Nonetheless I always think back to the line, "Does their praise cure it? The loneliness?" because, well, no? It doesn't? Because that’s not the point. Vash doesn't do what he does for praise or to avoid loneliness. If you try and tell him he's good at something he brushes you off - "just lucky!" and then he's vanished through the backdoor before you can thank him.

Similarly, we see a moment where Knives just straight up changes reality to suit his narrative - when poor Rollo called for Vash, he said that he wanted to live. In Knives's world, he begs Vash for death.

When Knives says these things, it's not accurate criticism of Vash, or of his philosophy, or even anything to do with the Plants. It's not the truth. It's not an argument. It's a probe.

Especially in this episode. Knives is trying to rip Vash open. He’s searching for the points where he can apply pressure - the most efficient means to break him down. How true his words are is not relevant. Only whether or not they hurt Vash, weaken his resolve, undermine his ego and confidence - which he already barely has anyway because of Knives.

Why the hell would he do this? I mean, as much as I can be sure of anything with this guy, I’m sure that Knives loves Vash very much. His brother might well be all that he loves - all that he has left. We can argue about what kind of love (though it's really not a debate I want to get into, so I’ll capitalise the words Very Normal and leave it at that). But it is love. Forget about the higher plane and the dependent Plants (which is to say I'll try and find a way to get down my thoughts on them, but not at this time). Knives is doing what he’s doing because he loves Vash.

Specifically, he’s doing it so that Vash won't leave him.

Imagine how the moments before the crash must have felt for Rem. Every second counts in an emergency, and yet she took the time, perhaps selfishly, to ensure her children escaped before anyone else. I think she'd already decided to go back for the sleepers, but the longer she went without doing so the less possible it became and the harder it got to keep her resolve. Still she took those precious moments, the last they ever had together, for the love of her boys. A chance was all she had to give them, but her work was done too soon.

And Nai. With the knowledge of the rest of the series he was acting so calm because he planned this, and it went just the way he expected it would – until the moment he reached out his hand, and Rem said no. We don't see his face, but we do see Vash, pleading desperately, thrown hard back into his seat, and it was Nai who did that when Rem refused him.

Remember? Nai offered Rem a choice.

So to Knives, that left Vash to be only thing in the world that matters as much completing his crusade. I suspect he views the two as the same goal – having Vash back means killing the humans, and killing the humans means Vash is his. His and Vash's safety, togetherness, and freedom means there must be absolutely nothing left of humanity.

Even if it's the intrinsic humanity of his brother. (And of him. But he's not going to acknowledge that. Nope.)

So Knives didn't simply want Vash without his memories. Knives is a perfectionist - he hates to even admit to the possibility that he might have made a mistake, to the point where he assigns all blame for his actions to Vash. Vash's emotional development under his total control would be too unpredictable, too likely to fail. If given a choice, Vash could make the same choice that Rem did (again), and that risk is simply unacceptable.

So what Knives wants is for Vash to be without autonomy, devoid of independence - a shadow that he casts, empty of agency save that which Knives enacts through him. A graven image. Depending only upon him. Needing only him. If it means he'll finally be first before humanity, rather than alongside or behind them, he won't be all alone. It's only together that they can be perfect, because it's obviously what Vash is for.

After all, they're twins. Vash was born to be with Knives.

I'm sure he's just happy to be useful.

#trigun stampede #tristampparty #meta: tristampparty episodes #trigun meta #yet no matter how comfortable chains are still chains #so many layers to his hypocrisy!! #he says rem built a silly fantasy #as he is creating a fantasy to stick vash in to keep him pacified #i never yell at the screen but i did when That happened to the other plants #already in tears over vash begging for rem #but by the end i saw the shape of rem and knew #knives DID make vash a better plant and it was the second biggest mistake of his entire life #tesla also looks like vash! i don't have time to unpack that but hooooo boy #tw incest #just to be safe #this man is incredibly normal about his brother #also feel like the english dub leaned into the evangelion vibes? #“i need you” says vash #these are too many tags #let me off kenji muto's wild ride #mother is the name of god

[time-is-restored]

btw this might be me swinging a bat at a hornets nest but like. absolutely none of my disappointment from the tl finale comes from ship baiting or any relationships that didn’t happen (though to be clear, i think the tedbecca fake outs were meanspirited and served no narrative purpose - in noted contrast to the season's earlier jamiekeeley fakeouts, for example, which were explicitly there to demonstrate jamie's growth + maturity)

tedpendant is a really fun concept for me, and i LOVE the characterisation + thematic potential there!

but as someone who personally resonated with a lot of ted’s struggles, the idea that ted could leave richmond so… seamlessly, for lack of a better word, really doesn’t sit right with me. the thesis of the shows entire first season - assuming it can be said to have only one - was about how everyone needs the love and support of a community, whether that comes in the flavour of someone who hypes u tf up or someone who will relentlessly call u on ur shit (or, as happened quite frequently, both!).

rebecca, roy, jamie are the clearest examples as the characters with the most screentime: they were all deeply isolated and disconnected from the people around them, and that was making them miserable. the connections they made with the team, the vulnerability they finally allowed themselves to express (the ghost banishing ceremony comes to mind!), and them going on to want *more* out of their life are what made their arcs about *progression* rather than *regression*. without that clear theme of compassion + community inspiring positive growth in everyone who encounters it, there is, frankly, no season one.

my personal favourite scene from season one comes right after michelle walks away from ted, when they’ve agreed to get divorced. ted sits down on the bench looking gutted, and a little shell shocked - and beard sits down with him. hands him the drink, and they sit there together. silent, but together. to me, that scene is an implicit promise from the episode, to the audience: ‘it’ll be okay. it’s going to be hard, but ted isn’t alone, and his friends won’t leave him behind.’

it also makes it clear to the audience that ted isn’t the saintly-giver-of-grace who needs nothing in return, as one might assume on first brush, but rather that he’s Also struggling with his own shit (as is everyone, always, in real life!) and he has something he needs from the people around him too.

and looking at the text of s3, and the conclusion to his arc in the finale, i just don’t believe that he got it. he wasn’t just sad that he was leaving (which would be understandable!), he was completely closed off. unresponsive to the people around him reaching out, borderline confused as to why they were trying so hard!

(side note, while i completely respect the read of ted and trents last interaction being rather rude + ooc on ted’s part, i personally read a different motive into it. for me, it was more like… he didn’t understand where trents enthusiasm was coming from? like, he read that as trent being too invested in what other people think of him, and responded in a way that he hoped would emphasise that ted doesn’t *need* to laugh at everything trent wrote, bc trent Already Knows that he’s done something really cool and kickass, and he shouldn’t value anyone else’s reactions above that. basically, based on his demeanour in the episode, i genuinely don’t think it would’ve even occurred to him that trent was more invested in HIS reaction than he would’ve been with anyone else.)

again, looking purely at the text, the show had already established that ted has really strong depressive + avoidant tendencies, as well as panic attacks (largely triggered by his fear of not being ‘good enough’ in various roles, ie: a father). we saw one area he was able to calm HIMSELF abt these fears (worry for henry, which is a Hell of a choice considering the ending…), but in literally every other heightened moment, he had to rely on his support system to help him make the choices that he WANTED to make, rather than ones inspired by avoidance and fear (ie: confronting michelle abt jake, talking to his mum abt why she was visiting + his dads death).

and to be clear, this is a GOOD THING! we’re not supposed to go through life alone, no matter how bad OR well we’re doing. rebecca and keeleys friendship isn’t worth less for all the scenes where they’re both in good places. if anything, the opposite is true - it’s lovely that they both have someone who want to celebrate the achievements in their life!

and fuck it, we’re sure as hell not supposed to go through life with exactly one (1) person whom we expect to fulfill ALL of our emotional needs at all times either! like, im sure i don’t need to labour my point here, but tying everything to one (1) person in ur life doesn’t make u any less isolated than if u were going it completely alone, whether it’s a family member, a friend, or a partner. i won’t pretend to know the first thing abt what it’s like to be a parent, but i don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that no parent would be at their best if they had absolutely no support/camaraderie/general love provided to them from Anyone other than their child.

so when ted is SPECIFICALLY shown to be in a bad place, over and over again (did he come to terms w his fear to be close to henry overnight???????), and then removed from his community? of COURSE the audience is left feeling unsettled, and like the rug has been pulled out from under them. there was no time in this finale dedicated to how ted would still be in contact with anyone from richmond. no promises of visits, or phone calls - fuck, nothing about emails!! according to the text, we might as well assume this is a clean break (and the maybe-dream-sequence does Fuck All to assure us otherwise. if ted doesn’t go to beards wedding, what WOULD he go to????). and since the show has ALSO completely failed to give us even an IMPLICATION of who/what ted’s support system would be in kansas, there’s… a reasonable argument to be made that this is It for ted. that, after two seasons doing NOTHING but attesting otherwise, the audience is supposed to suddenly believe that ted can (and SHOULD!) pull himself up by his bootstraps, and cope entirely on his own.

that, to me, is a betrayal of the show’s premise. we were promised a show about how, no matter how dark things may get, none of the characters would be left to struggle alone. and then they ended the show with ted alone.

i don’t know. i guess if i had to give this post a tldr; if anyone has any gen fic/meta/Literally Anything in the pipeline, i would absolutely love to be tagged/directed towards it. i’ll be endeavouring to write something myself, as well, but it might take a while before i can return to my WIP, lol.

#this is the most measured version of this post i was capable of fghjskdjhgfdgjhsfd #the least measured one is just the aromantic flag with the ‘we are going to beat u to death’ meme overlaid #look ik this is hardly impartial wrt very small + insular communities like nuclear families #but its fucking impossible to go into media analysis and not bring Anything from ur real life in there w u #so im trying to forgive myself for being a little hashtag Vulnerable + Opinionated on main #in the spirit of what this show could’ve been lol #if not here then where etc etc #Ted lasso spoilers #Ted lasso meta #Ted lasso critical #also just to be clear here im being dead serious abt that last point #im spiritually doing the jamie run to demonstrate to u all how badly i want gen shit #please. p l e a s e . #okay wait last ramble here but. this is also why the lack of information we got on trent was so crushing to me #like ur telling me this man went through the incredibly painful + harrowing process of breaking out of his (comfortable! safe) shell + #cynical journalist persona. came out to someone VERY important in his life. and has done nothing but face the music wrt acknowleding #his past mistakes + endeavouring to be better and kinder. and we never get to know if he has ANY support through all that? at all? #is he dating? what's his family situation like? does he have full custody? any friends from work? any friends period????? #like i can should must and will die on the beard + roy + higgins + colins are trents best friends hill but #its like the premise of the show stopped mattering just in time for him to be left in a legitimately depressing limbo #like 'yes everyone needs love + support bc life is rlly hard. but we're tired of making a show abt that so This Is All Ur Getting #+ screw anyone's personal life that u didn't already see in s1. You Know Enough.' #anyway i love u all this is a very silly show and im gonna go play t.o.t.k for a few hours o/ <3

[margueritestjusts]

when adaptations stop watering marguerite down and actually let her decisions have the same impact and emotional weight as percy’s is the day i will know peace.

#especially since she is the protagonist of the first book #like... that is HER story. #HER decisions impact the story #HER decisions set the stakes for everyone else #and yet... she's always tethered to both chauvelin and percy #being chauv's lover and then percy's #(which has always bothered me but that's for another day) #and also... margot is actually very intelligent imo #she's incredibly keen and observant and emotionally intelligent to an extent #she's also incredibly brave - despite her recklessness #i mean... she literally went to france to save percy and could've died #i just want her to have substance man... #stop shoving her to the side in favor of the male characters please! #the scarlet pimpernel #marguerite #marguerite st just #marguerite blakeney #meta #txt.

[utaite-mun]

[NOTE: this is not to be used as any evidence towards any anti-bakugou/bakugou hate rants, this is neither the intent behind its creation or its posting in a public space. I know these words will mean nothing to some people, and I will block you as is my right. Thank you for understanding.]

i wouldnt say ultra impact provides anything of major substance to any of bnha, and of course you run into any issue of arguing its canonicity.

but i do feel very strongly that it is very good at portraying the characters, like the writers get the essence of a character even if nothing of bombast is being done with them.

yes this is entirely because i am consistently happy with what materials the game provides for 1B, we got a 1B monoma-centric event which understands both that he is a competitive little prick who really would like to stick it to 1A, while also being intensely aware (in a very humble way) that he is NOT better at utilizing the quirks of his classmates after pulling off a fairly complicated strategy

Of course, he immediately undercuts himself by going back to his, "and with this we will be better than 1-A" schtick, but that too is part of his character.

#bnha #kiy must scream #monoma neito #bnha meta #im also very fond of tetsutetsu's trust story which goes into how he feels that he needs to train harder after the villains raid on the cam #it backs up a lot of trains of thoughts i had about his almost non-existent exploration of his personality outside of loud scream man #that part of him that wishes to be the strongest protector who can protect those he cares about #but i do ultimately feel that monoma is the best written of 1B across all official materials canon or otherwise #he's this joke of a character and then you get just one chapter in the joint training that uses previous concepts started with shinsou #and it just clicks into place as to why hes LIKE that and why the behaviors we see as his “comedic relief” couldve formed #and the side materials like the light novels does a wonderful job at continuing to explore that with how he doesnt WANT to do real harm #hes not trying to wound or maim any of 1A #he just thinks theyre all like bakugou as of sports fest that type of arrogance and all and hes learning its not the case #monoma as a character is INCREDIBLY intriguing to me #and before anyone says anything hes intriguing to me exactly the same way that bakugou is

[novelconcepts]

Doing a bit of a Santa Clarita Diet rewatch, and while I don't know intentional any of Abby's queer-coding was (and how much was just Hewson's vibes), her relationship with Eric has such teenage comphet energy. Like whenever Abby's like "I really care about you, more than anyone, but it's hard for me to pretend I'm into the physical; this has maybe a 2% chance of working out," my lesbian ass is just nodding so hard. Like, yeah! Exactly! You don't know you're gay yet, or you sense it in yourself and try to veer away, so what's the easiest option? You find the soft nerd boy, your best friend in the world, someone you absolutely trust to have your back no matter what, and go, "Yeah, uh huh, sure. I'll try that one." You absolutely look for the most non-threatening dude in the vicinity. And then it's improved by Eric's whole thing being like "yeah, this is absolutely someone I am down bad for, but if she doesn't wind up digging me that way, she's still my best friend." It reads so true. No idea if they were ever going to actually walk down that road, but in my heart of hearts? Here for it.

#santa clarita diet #i do not have a meta tag for this show and...i do not think i need one #but i get this a little more every time i revisit the show #some of it is almost definitely hewson's powerful queer energy but like. looking at the awkwardness of the sven thing lends to it too #you're trying really hard not to see yourself as a lesbian so what's the OTHER natural option to cling to? #the popular pretty boy #and it's just so awkward and uncomfortable #and then you get the winter friendship where there's so much chemistry and that just dumbass teen recklessness #that is innate to abby as a character but also SO present in first relationships for queer kids who are just incredibly excited to be In It #and then all the lil rainbows and shit in the costuming #yeah i'll die on this hill. lesbian vibes all the way for abby hammond i love this character so much #fun fact: my soft easy-cling friend of choice also happened to be gay #and while we literally never talked about it until we were adults i know we both clocked each other in like middle school #so shoutout to my buddy alex for being a safe 'yeah sure that can be a crush i never have to do anything about' person #a true legend of a man

[pretty--in--purple]

congratulations to daniel faraday for harnessing the power of bisexuality for its true purpose: time travel

#anybody who says he's not in love with desmond fucking LISTEN to how he says his name in s5e1 #lost had 1 canon gay character and somehow it wasnt the man who essentially wrote 'mrs daniel hume' in his notebook after ONE conversation #i KNOW a constant isnt automatically romantic but it was LITERALLY introduced THAT EPISODE #the ONLY example of a constant (up to s5 bc i havnt finished the show) is desmond's One True Love #so you can forgive me for looking at the incredibly abrupt 'desmond will be MY constant' as being gay #i can make lost as gay as i want bc all 2000s media needs to be minimum 500% queerer #you already know how i feel about bocke #lost #daniel faraday #desmond hume #lost meta #< the meta is in the tags but it counts

[theoestofocs]

but the thing is, melanie hates jon because he is so very much like her.

they work in adjacent fields, they've got such similar temperaments - they both run straight for whatever supernatural horror they need to understand, they both suck at planning ahead (poisoned coffee, melanie?) and they both lash out as a primary defense mechanism - and jon wasn't qualified for his job, and martin's only "degree" was in paranormal psychology, so clearly the Institute was hiring from a broader pool than "qualified archivists." i can't imagine ghost studies are all that lucrative as a field. if melanie hadn't made it as a youtuber, what would she have done? we don't know a lot about her educational background but - she knows what it's like, to need to know. she walked into the Institute and got a job because Elias saw that he could use her.

If she'd had a legitimate encounter sooner, if she'd started her quest a few years early, if she'd come to the Institute to give her statement and stayed to use their library before Gertrude had died -

Or even if she just couldn't survive on a youtuber's salary, if she'd gone looking for job postings in relevant fields -

It could have been her. She looks at Jon, and she sees exactly who she could have been. It's only luck that it wasn't.

And that's the kicker, isn't it? It's luck, that she's in her shoes instead of Jon's.

And is she supposed to feel lucky? To feel thankful that she's had to suffer through attack after attack, Elias showing her how her father (her dad, who called her his little moth) died screaming, her body torn open by things that don't exist, her sense of self slipping as she ripped into flesh with no recognizable form, her trust violated as she woke up to two of the few remaining people who are supposed to be on her side cutting into her against her will - to feel lucky, because she had to gouge her eyes out just to have her body back in her control -

Is she supposed to be happy that she lived through all that? Is she supposed to be glad, just because she could have been Jon?

Nobody told Melanie she needed to feel sorry for Jon, or give him her sympathy, or any other kind of pity. She just wants to give it, because God, what he'd gone through -

(Thank God it wasn't her -)

- Fuck that, she isn't lucky.

She hates Jon, because she refuses to feel grateful for the horror show her life has been. (Because she's grateful, that it wasn't her; and she's furious, because - yes it was. she paid the price of the apocalypse in blood and scars and trauma, too. She wasn't Jon, and could have been - but fuck it, she was still Melanie. and the hell that she has lived through isn't nothing.)

It's just bad luck, that it was Jon of all people. It's just bad luck, that it was Melanie.

No one here is lucky.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma meta #melanie king #linden's originals #i just have a lot of Feelings ok #tangentially related but one of these days i'm gonna write the post abt basira #bc i love to joke abt jon relying on the local lesbians to make good decisions! it is very fun. but also #incredibly inaccurate. jon made bad decisions (mainly due to a dearth of information and a wealth of fear) #but he didn't make better decisions when he let the wlw take charge! #basira was the one who convinced(/coerced? definitely pressured but details beyond that are lacking) jon into performing surgery #on melanie's leg. left to his own devices idk what jon would have done but it sure as hell wouldn't have been #''roofie my coworker to perform nonconsensual surgery'' #if only bc that is Not something that would occur to him. & idc man it's a messy situation all around #there was no good choice there (there never was) but that? that wasn't the right one. and i think that's the other piece at play here #melanie didn't forgive him for that. i sure wouldn't. and she gets it - she does: there were no good choices - #but how is she supposed to care about the suffering that guy of all people went through? when it feels like it invalidates her own? #how are you supposed to feel about your reflection in a face that stars in all your nightmare memories? #melanie hates jon because he never gave her a reason to like him; and because he violated her (no matter how necessary it was); and #because she could have been him. because it's luck that it wasn't. #except there is no good luck in this world. not in this apocalypse - the one that's been going on for much longer for her - for them - #than since that final ritual. she's been living an apocalypse since she saw that monster in a hospital. and that matters too. #not one of them has been free in a long time. maybe ever #melanie can't pity him because feeling ''pity'' requires a level of distance she doesn't have #pity means ''there but for the grace of God go -'' but what grace? #there but for the grace of god go i? is she meant to thank someone for giving her the lot she got in life? #how is she supposed to feel glad about that? #she cannot pity him. and she cannot commiserate; those bridges have long since been burned. all that's left to feel #is a guilty kind of hatred and resentment. because in another life she might've been him; in another life still they might have been twins #linden in the tags

[astudyinfreewill]

yes yes widower arc for sure. yes yes divorce arc. mixtape scene etc etc. but can we admit r/supernatural is making some points here with the whole ‘jack replacing chuck as a stand-in for dabb replacing kripke and the show actually suffering for it’

like. i know this is a relatively unpopular opinion but i DO agree later seasons were taken over by jack and i simply don’t care much for him. yes haha born yesterday trope baby boy so cute. ok. but are you telling me he’s an interesting CHARACTER?

i promise you the solution to ‘god is not answering your prayers and life is filled with unfair suffering’ is not ‘actually you just need a better god!’. like that HAS to be the opposite of a nuanced, interesting take, but that’s what the later seasons were peddling.

we went from ‘god is a selfish, absent, flawed father who doesn’t really know what he’s doing and is not all that invested in his creation’ (compelling! three-dimensional! humanising the divine!) to ‘Old Bad God is a cartoonishly evil villain who wants to destroy the multiverse bc he’s throwing a tantrum but luckily we have New Good God who is rosy-cheeked and innocent and will save us all!’* in fact he is SO Good and Pure and Innocent that everyone else is a big old meanie by comparison, including characters who have been established for a decade as protective of children and innocent people!!!

*and the thing is it doesn’t even really work btw. it still is largely down to the humans around him. and then he becomes god and nonsensical tragedy immediately strikes - to the point that 3 years later we’re all still here theorising that Chuck Must Have Won because there was no way that could have been a good ending.

#and before you hit me with the ‘but what about CAS being a DAD!!!’ argument. is claire novak a JOKE to you? #spn #meta #dabb critical #not a kripke era or gamble era or carver era truther but a secret fourth thing (spn was only good until season 8 when bed edlund left) #just casually starting fires on this sunday morning but listen. jack’s whole concept as a character is incredibly whack #‘son of lucifer and a pro-life republican aide becomes most important little meow meow while every character around him becomes caricature’ #nah man. nah. miss me with that shit i don’t care that he has big blue uwu eyes