#the show is bullshit ok?

[lnsfawwi]

Heroism in TFATWS

Let's establish one thing which is that the show operates in a superhero trope, which means there are good guys and bad guys, and the good guys always win. This is not to say that characters are morally clean-cut between good/bad. The Flag Smashers acted out of good intentions; Walker did want to do good things when he took over the mantle. But that doesn't mean they aren't the bad guys in the story, because a person is not only judged by their intentions but also the means and the ends of those intentions.

Sam and Bucky are the heroes in the story, they beat the bad guys (the Flag Smashers) and saved the world. That's how the story ends. That's how all the superhero stories end.

But the show isn't quite that simple, not in the sense that it deals with moral greys, no. Rather, the show really fucks up the boundaries between good/bad, right/wrong, and by extension, the heroism of the show.

Let's say Karli has some vague cosmopolitan worldview, and let's say that's better than the state system so Sam is justified to sympathize with her cause, and sam is rightfully asking the governments to be better. What's the actual, feasible way to achieve Karli's vision? Nice speeches notwithstanding, Sam isn't offering a solution. States aren't going to abandon the system that made them a state just because some hero dressed in an American flag descends from the sky and tells them to. Forced displacement and/or re-settlement happen because the population distribution is screwed, especially in Western Europe where Karli is from. Those states simply do not have the capacity, spatially and financially, to accommodate all the people while the others would be faced with devastating labour shortages. Statecraft is not just about morals, some IR scholars would even argue it's never about morals, you have to do the rationalist calculation. (also sam's speech to the politicians is so.........wrong. it sounds like a 16-year-old wanna-be socialist who spends too much time on leftist tiktok)

Here's the thing, you can agree with the political ideology or not, because it's not about whether it's right or wrong. It's about Sam being a hero who comes from a heavy political background, who represents a set of values that is meant to transcend a single country, advocating that ideology whilst being completely naive about it.

Steve embodies a similar idealism that makes him a hero, but not a leader. He's a leader because he can lead, he assesses the situation, sets a goal, and gives out tasks to achieve that goal. In the show, Sam is not demonstrating effective leadership, although not entirely his fault.

When you have the 'hero' indiscriminatorily endorsing the villain's philosophy, it doesn't mean the hero is empathetic, it means the hero is fucking bullshit. What makes a hero isn't merely stopping bad guys, it's also offering a better alternative even when the villain kinda makes sense. Superheroes are supposed to offer moral lessons through their heroism, which often takes place as they defeat evil. Without that, they're just dudes stopping fights, not heroes fighting for causes. The only moral lesson Sam offers is 'hey maybe radicalization is bad', which is completely ignored by both Karli and Zemo.

Sam's sympathy towards Karli is even more absurd. Even if he agrees with her cause, she's an unrepentant killer. 'Don't call them terrorists.' really, Sam? What would you call them? Just bc the Soviets fought the N@zis doesn't mean they were the good guys.

Furthermore, we see the contrast between her and the other flag smashers. They were invisible victims while her body was gently carried by Sam as phones and cameras were recording. In a show where they tried to make sense of racism, the stark contrast between Karli and the rest of the group happens to be mostly PoC is kinda hilarious.

The problem isn't Sam. It's the terrible horrible writing. You can't take a Watsonian take when it's so obviously a Doylist problem. The show claims to be a lot of things it got wrong is just pathetic.

What about Bucky? His arc is pretty detached from the main storyline and he basically did nothing significant in the show so I don't even know what they want to convey about his heroism. He was literally just running around punching people (not even very good at it too) while being blamed for things he wasn't responsible for. He only told Karli that killing was bad. What a novel lesson. Again, there is nothing from the good guy.

Who is the hero then?

Zemo is the true anti-hero of the show. Throughout the show, Sam and Bucky - the good guys - oppose killing in general, but their method is proven ineffectual and in the end, all Flag Smashers are killed with a majority of them killed after they were lawfully arrested. The Flag Smashers were terrorists, they were the villains, therefore narratively, this makes Zemo's end goal - killing all supersoldiers, in this case, the Flag Smashers - right. His ideology - the desire to become superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideas; supersoldiers cannot be allowed to exist - is positively reflected in the story. His success inevitably justifies his ideology, which stands in contrast to both Sam and Karli. I'm not saying what he did was heroic, but from a storytelling perspective, Zemo is the 'hero' who ultimately eliminated the evil in this superhero trope.

The result is that Sam, the supposed hero of the show, has done nothing. He didn't stop the bad guys, he didn't offer an effective alternative to Karli (or Zemo) practically and ideologically, while Zemo did all that. What does it say about heroism and the idealism that comes with it? That it's nice to talk about but useless when a real battle takes place? That end does justify means? Because that's not what Cap trilogy conveys.

#if you don't agree you don't have to engage. just so you know. #sam wilson #tfatws #bucky barnes #baron zemo #the falcon and the winter soldier #the show is bullshit ok? #cosmopolitanism in itself is controversial #being proposed by captain AMERICA is outright ridiculous #ofc point a gun to ppl's head and force them to leave their home is bad #but it's also too simplistic #just to give her a justification #as long as states exist there will never be free flow of population #not even within the EU not when there's a global crisis #so I'm asking again #dear kari and spellman #how exactly do you propose that to happen? #zemo my man you have done nothing wrong in your entire life xxx #also sam saying 'i'm a black american wearing an amarican flag so i must know all about suffering and discrimination' is just laughable #do the showrunners know that other countries exist???? #bro have you lived in a country where you can be arrested for saying all that to a politician? #marvel needs to stay out of politics #for their own good #also I have classmates who were part of the UN peacekeeping troops. painting them as terrorists isn't doing anyone any favour

[raebonnz]

who up sqlointing they peter rn

apotheosis 12 spoilers below cut

literally finished drawing this right when he died like what the hell dude 😭 im literally so afraid to start the finale tho dude 13 pt2 alr made me cry 😭

#peter sqloint my shining star #he means the world to me actually #jrwi peter #peter sqloint #jrwi exandroth #ur telling me ive been spelling it xandroth this whole time. What the fuck #xandroth is so much cooler #im making my own tag. #jrwi xandroth #that feels right #all this work just to question whether this even counts as Xandroth fanart. who gaf hashtag xandroth jrwi #jrwi apotheosis #just roll with it apotheosis #jrwi fanart #jrwishow #jrwi show #jrwi podcast #jrwi #just roll with it fanart #just roll with it #fanart #digital art #digitalart #doodle #art #my art #i literallt had to redo all my tags and reenact my bullshit which made it feel. Significantly less funny than when it was genuine #but thats ok. tumblr just hates me

[theghostofwilburtheworm]

Matt braly's (creator of amphibia) opinions about the hbo/netflix stuff on twitter

Rant in tags//

#fr tho most of the show WERENT EVEN ADVRETISED!!! and ok ko for example only aired like 3 time per week #then the stupid companyes blame the creators for THEIR mistakes in advreticing the shows this is bullshit #sorry gamers #hbo max #cartoon network #netflix #god fucking damn capitalism #matt braly

[writterings]

Your post about South Park really does hit the nail right on the head for why the hell this show has a fandom that I've never seen anyone acknowledge, at least not on this fucking webbed site. Instead mosts stance is along the lines of "why are you shipping the racist children" which ignores. That they have INCREDIBLY strong characterization, to the point that even side characters personalities are able to be pinpointed with a lot of accuracy, enough for there to be subsets of fans for those guys even. The show is primarily about putting those fucking circle guys in situations and people who like to see them in situations are like. Man. I could totally come up with some situation for these guys to be in. And they don't even have to be weird and centrist about it like the creators. (Not to say plenty of fans don't still land there. If Cartman is included you really have to decide whether you declaw him and either answer gets dicey unless you get him. And some people really don't and it gets. Bad.) It feels a lot more generous seeing someone actually clock the appeal of the show for what it is rather than stopping at Matt and Treys wild ride of very very mixed messages and leaving it at that so thanks

no like literally i only started watching the show as a background noise type of deal after i finished family guy (in my "watching every adult cartoon" type of beat) and then just got. enthralled.

like i genuinely would not recommend the show to anyone who doesn't have the stomach for gross out humor, frustrating political takes, and even satire that often actually is progressive and even straight up anti-discrimination at times but can be packaged distastefully -- especially since i feel like the show can only be truly enjoyed if you watch the entire 26+ seasons and movies and play the games.

but like matt and trey are unfortunately VERY good writers so i totally understand why the show has a legit, functioning fandom with popular headcanons (shoutout to marjorine) and AUs. like oftentimes the fans are also just Putting The Circle Children Into Situations. or they're playing around with the Situations the Circle Children were already put into in the show, like expanding on tweek and craig's canonical relationship via fanart or exploring kenny's canonical trauma of being repeatedly killed and reincarnated as himself.

but yeah happy to provide my input on this when asked! glad you liked my take

#ok so i apparently lied i am posting about this topic once more #but its not gonna be a regular thing #if anyone does need a trigger tag then let me know im happy to tag it #also just as a disclaimer but the claim of the characters being 'racist children' is actually incorrect -- more often than not the kids are #actually pretty progressive and have episodes about them learning to be less shitty #it's legit just cartman doing shit and he does get called out on it a lot #and if the other kids DO engage in cartman's bullshit it's usually from a place of ignorance and them genuinely not know something is wrong #which is somewhat of a cop out claim since they're fictional characters and are controlled by matt and trey #but the point is that they're not intentionally written to be bigots so when people find the show appealing. it's not bc of bigotry.

[skretri]

* disappears again *

#Me showing up to just upload this bullshit? yes. #I have no imagination or creativity or motivation . sorry guys #and everything about the school stuff gots me too tired y #so taek this ok. #simpbur #incelbur #my art

[bitterflames]

M Y LONGEST YEAH BOIIII EVER

#my god. WHAT an intro for hei xiazi #sitting there spinning bullshit disguised as some old geezer for like a whole episode #(ok in all fairness he is genuinely an old geezer) #that's my fucking GUY #dmbj liveblog #li cu's no good very bad day: the show #text post tag

[kurozu501]

anyone else sad we aren't currently in the middle of gwitch season 3.

#i love the show and im ok with what we got #but its so unfair it was only two seasons #it had a great cast great story great writing and animation #best gundam ive seen in years with so much potential #and then its the shortest series ever #wtf #so much of what bothered me about the ending could have been fixed if they'd been given the traditional 50 eps #or at least one more 12 ep season #its so frustrating to have a show be blocked from reaching its full potential #and given bandai's bullshit in the aftermath its obvious bigotry played a role in this #someone in charge was spooked by a gundam with female leads in a gay romance #cut that off at its knees and rush out more het boys looking sad while war criming asap

[flugame-mp3]

what do you fucking mean that's how charlie dies. THAT'S HOW CHARLIE DIES??? i mean i know the show has a penchant for killing off every character who's not a winchester brother or an angel of thursday but good god. what the fuck. charlie was such a good and enjoyable recurring character, and she had such a fandom impact that i've seen, and she's only around for THREE SEASONS?? (sidebar: it's amazing she has the presence she does for only being around for a couple episodes in the long run!) but: was this necessary? and she just dies offscreen after her skills are utilized to progress the plot of decoding the book of the damned?? oh my god. what in the actual fuck. i'm finding myself getting genuinely very upset at her death. she did not fucking deserve that. and i can absolutely see why the fan response to her death is what it is now. completely fucking unjustified and throwaway and useless.

#theo.txt #spn #charlie #spn spoilers #spn 10x21 #almost none of the women who've gotten fridged on this show have deserved it but still #good god this one made me especially angry #why do you use this character for a plot point and then ship her off somewhere. to oz or to the afterlife. so often? #she was such a cool character with a good story that i enjoyed and related to and THIS is what they did with her?? and from my perusing she #doesn't even really come back like bobby occasionally does?? and his death. while devastating to me as somebody who really liked him. still #felt WAY better than this #sorry i ended that episode with my jaw on the fucking FLOOR oh my god. /neg #what did she have to die for? where is that post about female characters dying so male characters can feel sad but it's a gifset of all the #bullshit ass deaths of women on supernatural #i love the show fucking obviously but jesus h christ. #but also you know what. having the context that i have. still a fucked up thing to say but i see why dean says That to sam now during #charlie's funeral. it IS an interesting look into how they respond to the other one violating their wishes/freedoms and into their larger #dynamic actually! but thats not what this post is really about #wow. i am actually livid. poor fucking charlie. #if she was like a sister to the winchesters how about you bring her back huh? how about you revive her? jesus christ #i wonder what her heaven is like. i hope its dnd and movie night with the girls #i took a little break mid-typing this to see if i was just being insane and angry but no the super wiki has a whole section about the fan #outrage at charlie's death and the discussions it furthered about the show's misogynistic tendencies #and you know what? good! #ok anyway. im going to go browse charlie art and feel abnormal now. #supernatural #charlie bradbury

[stillcominback]

I've been writing you letters the whole time . . . reaching out . . . to 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 something. 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. This is my last one -- the last letter I write to you that you'll never see. I love you. I don't see the dead anymore . . . or the ones I lost . . . or the sun, the sky or the water. I don't see 𝚢𝚘𝚞 . . . anymore. I just see what's ahead. Metal rotors and gun oil and 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅. What I have to do -- what I 𝚌𝚊𝚗 do to help save the world, even if you don't know I ever did that. I love you so much. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐, 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉. I tried. Please, just know I tried. I tried . . . but I failed. ( private roleplay blogs for 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆 and 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 from amc's the walking dead + the ones who live )

#NON ROLEPLAY BLOGS PLS DO NOT INTERACT WITH THIS POST PLEASE I BEG OF YOU #// #THESE ARE THE LOVES OF MY LIFE #idk working on my shop got my creativity going more brrrrrr lately so!! #since i'm fully on rick / richonne brainrot ... VOILA! #but yeah idk i'm just emotional and so in love with this freaking sHOW and wanted to make something cute ok! 😌✨💕 #( i haven't made promo graphics or really any for tumblr in a long ass while so kasdfkjsdf i tried!! ) #but yeah hi i'm back fully on my bullshit!! #writing on tumblr probably isn't gonna be a thing but discord 1000000%! so hmu! #00. // DEADLY AS A DILLINGER ( SELF PROMO. )

[permanentreverie]

.

#ok so mini rant session #i am doing a bit better today - little less distraught over getting fired from a job i thought i was doing pretty good at and i was trying #really hard and genuinely enjoying #and just more baffled because truly i had no warning and i was completely blindsided #i was in the middle of a 3 month trial and i would have a review at the end in which i would be offered a permanent position if it went well #and i thought i was making my way towards that! granted i was still making mistakes but genuinely not of such a great scale i thought it #called for my immediate dismissal #that being said i was still VERY MUCH IN TRAINING. i had only been there A MONTH AND A HALF learning COMPLETELY NEW SYSTEMS #and i was told that i had been there a few weeks already and that i wasn’t catching on quick enough. that there were some areas i was #understanding and others i just simply wasn’t #and i asked what areas specifically so that i could learn more and try harder #and they didn’t give me a specific answer. #ok and so. so. i have this insecurity. #that at first impression people will like me. that they may think i’m pretty or kind or funny or whatever #but then they spend time with me or get to know me and realize that that’s all bullshit. #that i’m actually not pretty and im mean and loud and selfish and lazy and rude and etc etc etc #MASSIVE fucking insecurity in that like that’s why i genuinely don’t have friends or a significant other #and that genuinely i’m just a Bad Person #and when i was fired? i was told ‘a persons true colours show after a few weeks’ #so that’s MAJORLY fucking me up. #when i was hired i was boasted to about my boss’s hiring process and how she’s ’only been fooled twice’ #and the morning before i was fired in a meeting my supervisor told everyone that i was doing quite well. #so yeah i truly had no fucking warning. at fucking all. #hurt and confused and angry and baffled and did i mention hurt #anyways if you’re still here i’m sorry i know this is not a good look for me

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

It's ✨ speculation time ✨

See, if Sano grandpa hadn't been there, Shinichiro and Mikey would've ended up in an institution and could've been separated

Perhaps Mikey never thought about it - he had no reason to - but what about Shinichiro? When Emma comes to their home and she talks about her big brother and he goes to see Izana and-

Izana has no family left, and that could've been Shinichiro (it's not a fair comparison - especially not when Shinichiro can come see his mom whenever he wants)

Shinichiro sees himself in Mikey, at least a bit, and knows Mikey will be greater than him - hence he wants to be there to help Mikey no do great mistakes like he maybe did back then during Black Dragon. And once again I'd like to mention Shinichiro only left Black Dragon for Mikey and would have stayed if not for him + would have gone far deeper into illegality - this boy became a delinquent to cope with his father's death and change of lifestyle.

So what if he saw himself in Izana as well?

He went to see Izana with perhaps little to no information on him - we don't even know how he figured out where Izana was. Did he know right off the bat Izana wasn't his (or Emma's) biological brother? The answer to these questions do not matter here, sorry for that.

Did he think Izana thought of Emma the same way he thought of Mikey? He perhaps went to see him after Emma opened up to them and talked about Izana - did he go see Izana for Emma? To make her happy? After all, that's what he says in her chapter-backstory: 'I want to make her smile' and even if Mikey did succeed to make her open up at the end, Shinichiro himself needed to do something to get closer to her.

But then. Izana's main thing is that he (feels) is alone. We don't know how Shinichiro dealt with his father's death+his mother's extended hospitalization+his lifestyle going from 'typical citizen life' to 'living with grandfather, having to raise siblings as a teen, being a delinquent' but it's clear he relied on Mikey('s well-being) a lot. Mikey is the only thing he has left from his previous normal life (aside from Takeomi) and without him he'd have felt way lonelier.

So what did he never make Izana and Emma talk again?

Well first, I won't give you the canonical answer, I don't have it, second — to learn to know someone, you have to share a point in common you can talk about, right?

If Shinichiro thought Shinichiro&Mikey's relationship = Izana&Emma's relationship, what else could he have talked about? He knows Mikey better than Emma, and Izana knows Emma but not Mikey. If Shinichiro wanted to share things about Mikey so that Izana get to know him a bit (even without meeting him) and if he wanted that by doing that Izana will talk about Emma... well that completely backfired we know that, but I don't think that implausible. Shinichiro's not perfect, he messes up – he's human like any other character.

After Izana's 'stop talking about Manjiro, my head hurts because of him', Shinichiro stepped back from talking about Mikey (supposedly). He tries at some point to tell Mikey about Izana ('what would you think if you had another big brother?') but without talking clearly about Izana – he's still not sure about how to do it

He doesn't know if he can talk about Izana with Emma either. She progressively stopped talking about him and the last time she saw him she was 3. Does she remember him? If yes, how much? Not much, right? Emma was the same age Mikey was when their father died, Mikey doesn't remember their father, sure Emma would want to see Izana again, just like Mikey would like to see their father again but at the end of the day they know how to live without them, don't they, because they do not have much memories about them whereas Shinichiro remembers his dad and Izana remembers Emma and and— and next thing Shinichiro knows, Izana pushed someone to suicide and ended up in Juvie.

Shinichiro is Black Dragon's leader and founder, he knows a lot of people and a lot of them did messed up things, because they could, because they had to, because they had no other choice, because they didn't know better... But it's his younger brother here

And it gets even worse after Izana gets out and Shinichiro tells him Black Dragon is first and foremost for Mikey. Izana becomes Black Dragon's leader and twists Black Dragon's essence and image. But Shinichiro doesn't do much to stop it – he doesn't really know how to connect to Izana, and he certainly doesn't know how to make Izana (who doesn't react when Shinichiro tries to talk to him about Emma) connect to Emma and Mikey (especially not with the current situation and the past few years)

But there's something deeper than this

Because that's it, what Izana made of the 8th generation is what could have been the 1st.

Izana acts just like Shinichiro could've acted if he didn't have Mikey (and it becomes even worse after Izana figures out he isn't related by blood to any of them). Discovering delinquency, going in it, getting beat up, trying to find connections, trying to find a way to make the anger and pain stop — without his father, Shinichiro gets into delinquency (he can still withdraw), without Mikey, Shinichiro falls even deeper (he cannot return from it).

And somewhere, Shinichiro doesn't want Izana (whom he failed, and failed again) and Mikey (who only sees Shinichiro as perfectly imperfect) to meet – first of all, because Izana will lose it, and second of all, because you can't convince me Shinichiro would be okay with Mikey finding out about any of his mistakes

Still, Shinichiro loves his brothers and his dream is to take care of S.S Motors the three of them together. If Izana wants a family related by blood, then he'll go find Izana's mother to the Philippines (did he succeed? Most likely not. But he got the two Babus – one for Mikey's upcoming birthday and the other for Izana once he'd have find a way to make up for last time, maybe)

His dreams are cut short as he finds death and karma and one question lingers in my mind —

Where the heck is Izana in the original timeline.

It was ✨speculation time✨

#this is random BULLSHIT that i pulled out of my ass - yes its clumsy yes it still doesnt give an explanation as to why Shinichiro chose to #not bring Izana home canonically and yes if wakui ever gives an explanation it wont be this one #Your takes/headcanons/theories can ofc be different #tokyo revengers #tok rev #tr #tokrev #tr shinichiro #tokrev shinichiro #sano shinichiro #tokyo revengers shinichiro #tr spoilers #tokrev spoilers #tokyo revengers spoilers #i wrote this at midnight so sorry if its all over the place i want to sleep #also Shinichiro showing Mikey delinquency and Mikey going into it with principles and values vs Shinichiro showing Izana delinquency and #Izana going straight to doing most of the crimes he can do #yeah #tr headcanons #im doing my best with this family ok? Shinichiro isnt freaking perfect and ill keep dissecting him as i please #still wishes we knew the year/how old izana was when Shinichiro went to meet him for the first time #also. the best move wouldve probably be to bring Izana home as fast as possible but like. Shinichiro was a teen and you cannot just think h #knew exactly everything he was doing with any of the kids #this post was written by one singular braincell bouncing in my brain at midnight as i wish to sleep if you find it stupid or find loopholes #pls dont be too harsh #sano siblings #sano family #mikey sano #manjiro sano #izana kurokawa

[basswhoisalsoellie]

When it comes to topics such as Black Lives Matter or LGBTQIA+ rights, you simply can’t be “neutral”. One side promotes equality and voices against the systemic oppression while calling for chance. Meanwhile the other side is basically saying “nah there is nothing wrong with discriminating”.

You are not “neutral”, you simply don’t have the balls to admit you don’t care about anything outside of money.

#formula 1 #FIA #lgbtqia #sebastian vettel #lewis hamilton #this new rule about drivers not being able to discuss political matters without being is ok-ed by fia is bullshit #I mean it’s not secret Ofc a giant company only cares about topics like these on paper #but this is just such a shameless act of showing your true priorities

[formulaonedirection]

And your ship may be coming in You're weak, but not giving in And you'll fight it, you'll go out fighting all of them

#daniel ricciardo #i'm literally in my joker era #ok. #ok let's have a frank discussion in the tags #i'm not here to talk about mclaren i couldn't care fucking less about mclaren #they're shite and they've manipulated BOTH their drivers into this fraudulent 'family' bullshit #but god. #i know he doesn't want to be the Punching Walls person sure #or like maybe he doesn't know how to be that person anymore #but GOD. get angry please i'm begging you #it's like I KNOW you care come ON let's fucking FIGHT THEM. Let's fight them. Let's go out fighting. #(them is generic I am not referring specifically to mclaren) #god let's show some aggression. let's learn healthy aggression. competitive aggression. #wanna shake him wanna hug him wanna talk some sense into him wanna prepare him for the worse wanna tell him he's the best etc etc #Nadia and Her Complicated Relationship With Formula 1 Driver Daniel Ricciardo #etc #who else gets one billion tags like this on this blog and yall still say i'm not a daniel ricciardo fan lol #anyway #🥴 #nadia's things

[howldean]

i’m so fucking pissed rn

#my dad was supposed to pick me up at a club where a fundraiser concert was held for the strike group i’m with #and then he said oh yeah i have my own concert that night and i’ll just leave early #which made ME feel bad even though HE forgot so i said oh i can stay for the afterparty #show ends at 10:30 afterparty goes to 11. easy. #well his concert goes long so at 11 he texts me and says the encore just happened. okay. what the fuck whatever #but the other folks on my team are still there so i say alright what’s your eta? #and he says 30-35 minutes. MIND YOU when he mentioned his concert it ‘wasn’t a problem’ because it was close. that’s not close even in la #AND THEN. he says stuck in traffic. like. okay?? #at this point the other folks in my org are leaving but one of our partners is still there so i’m sitting by their table and my dad says ok #12:05 is when i’ll get there. which mind you is an hour and five minutes AFTER the RESCHEDULED pickup time #you will notice it is past 12:05 now and he is still not here and i am stick at this outdoor club with #too loud music and so many cigarettes and vapes and he’s still not here yet. and i’m so. so fucking annoyed #and when he first offered to pick me up from stuff in general i thought that was nice. but boom whaddayaknow #this bullshit. #AND I CANT GET AN UBER BECAUSE THEYRE 70 FUCKING DOLLARS #and public transit is a) dangerous at night b) shut down at midnight and c) would have taken an hour and a half #if you read all this i’m smoochin u sorry

[snow-and-saltea]

i know that in media you're constrained with things like budget, time slots and stuff, but sometimes i'm just like. my god. the insane shortcuts people take to write "smart / intelligent" characters, especially in plot-heavy stories, always pisses me off. they write them like they're sherlock holmes (bbc version, derogatory) but they fail to realise that even sherlock holmes (arthur conan doyle) was written with a lot of thought, suffered his own subconscious prejudices and had to learn from mistakes.

i guess what i'm trying to get at is—"smart" people don't magically get good at things overnight, the only difference between them and others is how much they're willing to go through to hone their mental acuity. which means when they try something new, they're going to make obvious mistakes, not understand how things work beyond the surface level, and make mistakes in judgements (like when you don't understand something well enough, your analogies and metaphors aren't 100% accurate or concise).

but it feels like there's a assumption hanging over our heads that, as readers, we don't WANT to see the smart one go through the entire nitty gritty of the learning process. we just want to see them do cool things, piece the puzzle together with a flourish, and clap our hands at the end. and in some parts, yes! that is what i want to see! but i am also interested in how they pieced it together. the joy of mysteries is, to me, that everyone is exposed to the same pieces of information, and we're given the chance to try to piece it ourselves. but then the smart character comes along and interprets those pieces of information in a not-obvious way to us, and it's cool!! years of living with a mind that is primed to turn things over in their head, to make sense of things, reveals to us how differently we experience the same reality, and it's wonderful. i'm able to learn from someone who sees life differently than me, and interpret information differently than me!

but right now i'm often left out feeling flat and confused in the mystery-type plots i've seen. the smart person will have been exposed to information we didn't even get the chance to see and interpret, and then they piece things together and everyone in the story claps their hands at the artificial pedestal that's been propped up under that character's feet. explanations of in-setting magic that can be retconned in and out at any point in time, so there's no logical consistency for us to nitpick or understand, so there's no basis to stand on that the story should be taken seriously. plot twists that make no sense as a gotcha. so many things!!

like. this particular example just my beef with g*nshin, so ignore it if you don't agree or smth. but the use of red herrings in the stories piss me off. the red herrings are either too obvious or nonexistent. they always use some random guy acting suspiciously and have the other characters react to it, as if we can't understand it on our own? but like. these red herrings, in the real world, aren't even red herrings. sometimes people just "act suspiciously" just by virtue of being human, not because they're complicit in some bigger overarching plot. sometimes people just stutter because of their anxious disposition, not to hide a guilty conscience. sometimes people are just defensive and irritable because they're a defensive and irritable person, it doesn't mean they're the ""bad guy"" who you need to crack down on and interrogate even further, especially if there's literally nothing that indicates this character is guilty other than their outward appearances.

but like. the smart characters/protagonist almost never get proven wrong. the stutterer was guilty all along and they're just a bad liar. the defensive guy is selfish and obnoxious, they're defensive because they're hiding something, not because it's a natural reaction on having one's sense of privacy and personal space violated.

the game sure loves trying to do nuance with "not everyone is 100% good or bad, we're all Flawed" but they can't put their money where their mouth is. everyone who is not guilty acts in completely transparent and "good" ways. everyone who is guilty acts in completely opaque and "suspicious" / "bad" ways. end of story. how the hell am i supposed to think anyone in this game is smart when they don't even have to use their brain to sift through, critique, weigh and interpret information? what use is there to do so? just use your eyes and ears. the stutterer is nervous for hiding a secret. the anxious is guilty. the angry is scornful.

there's also another rant here about how g*nshin fucking sucks at writing unique and flawed characters, because they like to make everyone the Specialest Guy In The World, but that's for another day.

#yuu rambles #☠️☠️☠️☠️ #they got better at writing plots with f*ntaine i have to admit. but im going to expect better from the company that makes millions #every month from character banners. if you're going to be a gacha game that exploits people who are prone to addictive habits #you better have a good fkn story to back up for being a blight on society's moral problems. we have enough of those already #also when i mean they got better with f*ntaine i literally meant i was impressed by the bare minimum #as in they finally followed coherent story beats and had decent pacing #ive also had enough of the bullshit magic explanations using ley lines and shit. its so stupid that they even make their in game characters #explain how ''no one really understand how it works but it doesnt matter here's what happened as a result'' #what a waste of talent and money paying the VAs for that kinda bullshit infodump #ok i think thats enough tags for the algorithm to hide my #genshin impact #tag bc i dont want this to show up randomly to ppl who are just vibing and enjoying the game #im critical for my own reasons but i dont want to be a party pooper. you know what i mean? #anyways yeah see ya #also censored a lotta stuff so it doesnt show up in the post tags LMAO

[change-the-rules]

no offense against baby anthony but riverdale was already being ripped part for it's 'nonsensical' choices that were a feature and not a bug so they should've just ignored vanessa's pregnancy vanessa's a tiny ass lady ya'll had options

just like several episodes of toni just pushing around her motorcycle everywhere she goes with zero explanation

school hallway? motorcycle. vixens practice? coaching from behind the motorcycle. pop's diner? how did you get that motorcycle through the single door. town walkthroughs? the feral dogs avoid me cause i'm a cool cat with.... a motorcycle. town council meeting? in case you forgot i am social working guidance counseling leader of a biker gang -motorcycle *jazz hands* 2bdr apartment with a 3 floor walkup and no elevator? why are you still with the questions m o t o r c y c l e

fangs at some point: yea i don't know how she got it in here either- no i know - it's just yeah no cheryl's still rping sarah winschester-yeah i know -no it's that's her emotional support motorcycle-look it's easier to just not question it

#honestly i dont even think the motorcycle would totally block a pregnant belly from sight vanessa's tiny but not that tiny still #the image amused me and would not leave my brain so it's y'alls problem now #but also outside of my dumb motorcycle jape #riverdale is one of the few shows i would've trusted to do this in the most unhinged way possible [complimentary] #and even without a beloved rivedalian spin #like there are so many in character options for this #not that toni's character being in character was something that was given much consideration throughout the series #but still giant bag not toni's style ok np #we got boxes of student files and alcohol crates both easy to make weigh nothing #we got guidance counselor desks and bar counters friends #hilariously over sized pom poms anyone #giant floral arrangements from her beloved #ooo a giant beehive for her queen of the bees [like the crates not like a natural one] #idfk some literal snakes? will they cover the belly? no will anyone be looking at her belly if toni is draped snakes? #idk i guess some ppl have pregnancy kinks but mostly no cause snakes *makes will smith gesture meme hand motions* #honestly compared to the vast amount of bullshit storylines that have plagued me bc an actress' real life pregnancy was written into a show #i will never complain about giant bags boxes or floral arrangements from runners and writers who are like #yeah ya know what this just isn't right for the character because yea yes thx my undying love and respect #i'm not even saying that toni's pregnancy was bad but i'm chewing through drywall thinking about what we could've had instead #toni topaz #oh riverdale you precious beautiful compulsive piece of trash