#'this ship should get you jail time bc it's a thought crime'

[saltcherry]

I just realized that in current fandom (internet) parlance when people say “go to therapy” (haha semi ironic but really they’re bullying someone about their preferences) what they mean is “go to jail” (haha semi ironic but really they want you to experience personal distress and/or social punishment).

good to know I never have to give a fuck about THAT again

[jovenshires]

another quick note for the theater ep:

the 23:16 comment had me react in the exact same way as tommy bc like- oh my god 🙊

the lil fist bump after was really cute tho 🥹

also spencer later going "we are gonna give birth" were two mpregs not enough for our guy?! 😹 (sorry)

mild spoilers:

Angela is canonically Ian's daughter now ig 🙏

sadly the question of "Will Tommy and Spencer ever get paired up for a single one of these improv scenarios?" has once again been answered with "No" :/

nevermind I wrote this before spencer took matters into his own hands. truly the spommy nation king 🙏

also spencer's line at 32:23 + their interaction had me immeditaly go 👀😹

sorry this is getting long but like:

the fact that based on the comments being read out, we got lowkey moments for several of our fave ships??

like 2 shaynse comments; 1 for amangela and then the heavy hitter for spourtney?!

they were truly feeding us with this episode 🙏

no bc when i tell you i literally made this exact tommy face

hand over mouth, eyes glazed over, shocked. anyway the fistbump was everything to me but im sure we knew that

stella i hate to tell you this but this is actually his fourth instance of mpreg crimes (he and tommy did an implied mpreg ad for utm. no i am not kidding i wish that i was.) and he should be in jail for them. actually smosh in general should be jailed for mpreg crimes.

ian mpreg ending in angela birth is actually... i was gonna say a sentence i never thought i would type but honestly it checks out

well hey we got the 'he's actually a brilliantly talented comedian' line so i digress!

spencer, the og spommy nation founder, said, "my people are starving. i shall provide." and then he fucking did. florida boy to florida boy.

i DID NOT expect THE spourtney moment of all time holy shit. someone check on kit. ARE THEY OKAY. anyway yeah two comments about chanse read by shayne and one by amanda about angela? fucking crazy. we won today boys!!!

[driftbending]

i keep writing and rewriting my reaction to vincenzo because there are a lot but also i'm not certain i articulate everything i hated about the ending.

i will say that i knew no matter what that i wouldn't like the ending because murdering a character as punishment for their misdeeds is not something that appeals to me. i grew up watching kirikou et la sorcière, avatar: the last airbender, lilo and stitch, and (more recently) moana. all of these are stories that say "here is an evil character that we'll stop in a way that doesn't involve jail/murder," and the only exception i make for this is light yagami's death in death note and that's because ryuk killed him as a way to end their relationship, not as a punishment for his crimes. (and gothic lit is exempt bc they have to be resolved with murder.) so, whatever happened, regardless of how much violence the babel four did, none of their deaths would have held any emotional satisfaction for me. yet i prepared myself to be unimpressed by the finale since this is what the set up has always been: vincenzo will kill hanseok, and maybe myunghee, seunghyeok, and hanseo.

i knew this from the beginning. the narrative repeated it so often i got annoyed. there were so many close calls with vincenzo pulling a gun on hanseok that that got boring. by the time ep. 20 rolled around i was just fed up and wanted someone to die because this show had already failed me so many other times with their set ups that i wanted at least one good payoff.

lo and behold, they did end up killing the four characters i thought would die. hanseo died, and though he was my favorite character, and though i felt sad he didn't get any funeral scene or help while he was fending off his brother and that his death served as a sacrifice for vincenzo instead of literally anything else, i didn't cry or even get mad about it. he died and i felt free to stop caring about the rest of the story. yay me! i do understand the fans who hated that he was killed and that he should've survived bc abuse victims don't deserve the storyline hanseo got, but this is not a show i expected to actually care about victims. despite what it says, i knew i wouldn't get this for hanseo waaaaay back in ep 8 when they brought up the victims of that gay banker and just used it as a way for us to root against the banker. they didn't treat those victims with any respect at all and so i was already prepared for them to do it all over again. and they did and it sucks, but again for me i couldn’t get as angry as i normally would about this bc i always knew that the deaths from this show would never mean anything to me bc there was just so much of it it became meaningless.

another thing i knew that was going to let me down about this show is that it didn’t have a single “good” character for me to root for. mr. hong existed, but he was murdered early on. every other character on the show is too corrupt to be the ones i would want handling a reconstruction project for a more ethical world. yes, they made hanseo go through a redemption arc, but they didn’t let him stay did they? they focused so much on deconstruction they never cared about reconstruction. so when they got to the ending where vincenzo just leaves, chayoung and the tenants are thrown into a familiar cycle of court cases and defending their plaza from it being redeveloped, vincenzo just goes on to be a mafia boss again, and the guillotine file is back in the hands of the corrupt intelligence agency that created it on the orders of their president. the only thing that changed was babel group was destroyed bc their two ceos were murdered and the lawyers of their legal rep. were also murdered.

and yet, despite my expectations being so low they were basically non-existent, i was still disappointed. they didn't let chayoung do anything (which i knew would happen because i knew something about her characterization never felt fully fledged to me the way it did to fandom, so i wasn't surprised when they delegated her as a damsel-in-distress/love interest.), they killed myunghee the way we used to burn witches (which how fitting for a female character that is cunning and cruel), and the way they killed hanseok literally made me feel faint and nauseous (i wish this was an exaggeration; the second i saw the drill pointed at him i started feeling this way and i couldn't listen/watch his death scene because it was so brutal).

so, the ending satisfied nothing for me. if people who shipped the main characters were satisfied, whatever. i was never interested in them as a ship (i tend to ship vincenzo and chayoung with other characters), so the ending was even more disappointing bc it really held nothing that mattered to me.

i was also not a person that liked the way each character idolized vincenzo because i preferred his relationships with other characters to be filled with more tension* and the narrative just told me that the writers didn't, that vincenzo's word was what mattered, that the other character's conflicting needs were meant to be eclipsed by vincenzo's needs. so when the characters were all looking into the horizon hoping that vincenzo would some day come back (for what, i ask you?) i was just like :|

(*what do i mean by tension? i mean my favorite version of chayoung/vincenzo was the early eps when she hated him for being liked so much by her father that her flaws as a daughter were highlighted more and chayoung's own hesitancy with murder bumping up against vincenzo’s lack of hesitancy. mr. cho/vincenzo were most interesting when mr. cho wanted the guillotine file to use for his own purposes. the tenants/vincenzo were the most interesting when the tenants wanted to take the gold and vincenzo was trying to stop them. even hanseo/vincenzo was the most interesting when they had the "will you kill me? will you betray me?" tension as they worked together to get rid of hanseok. these dynamics added layers to the characters and reminded us they had their own motivations that were as equally important as vincenzo’s, but not enough of these tensions lasted past a few episodes and almost always would vincenzo's needs prevail with most of the other characters going along with his plans in the end.)

and this is all without mentioning how fandom sort of ruined a lot of the show for me, too. they took the characteristics that made the myunghee/hanseok dynamic one of my favorites and gave it to chayoung/vincenzo to the point where i was always left baffled and feeling like i was watching a different show. (a good point about the end for me is that i feel vindicated watching the scene where chayoung was basically like "i don't like your methods, vincenzo, but i needed to use them as the lesser of two evils to destroy hanseok," bc it did sort of reinforce for me my own reading of chayoung which was that she doesn't mind being corrupt and blackmailing people or scaring them into compliance, but that she was not going to get her hands covered in blood or dance over the corpses of her enemy. those traits belong to myunghee who accepts her role as a villain in a way that is as cool and collected as vincenzo. and lord, imagine what a show it would've been if the writers had made the kings chayoung/hanseok, the last ones that should ever be taken, while the queens were vincenzo/myunghee who would be the ones that would make all the moves, kill all their enemies pieces, and try to destroy one another first as the two most powerful players in the game? imagine if fandom had been able to read chayoung and myunghee accurately enough that i wouldn’t have to read post after post talking about how they needed to see myunghee brutally murdered/tortured by chayoung because they would understand chayoung’s character isn’t going to do that, posts which i hated seeing bc, as i said before, violence for violence’s sake means nothing to me? imagine if the writers cared enough about chayoung/myunghee to develop them more fully? sigh.)

i feel like i'm going nowhere with this and that i'm repeating myself a lot or not making much sense. but i'll end with this: i knew the last two episodes were going to be garbage when they all gathered at toto's restaurant post-fight in ep 19 and all they were talking about was vincenzo this and vincenzo that instead of worrying after the ones that were momentarily kidnapped/injured. like thanks show, for instead of pushing the narrative along we get a vincenzo fan club meeting and another round of "i never had anything to fight for until you came along" which is a convo we've had plenty of times before.

(footnote: i edited this on may 6, 2021 for clarity.)

[chojimaru]

@officer--dimples

First thing first. Making a new post because of how insanely long the other one is. I apologize for not replying sooner. I will attempt to be civil with you here because you obviously put a lot of work writing this.I also won’t reply to every single topic but I will try to cover what the main points are.

First we must define Assault Rifle. An Assault rifle is capable of automatic fire, uses detachable magazines, uses an intermediate cartridge, and is used in the act of assault. Assault is a verb. A comb can be an assault comb if you attack someone with it. Intermediate cartridges are rather low powered. The rounds themselves are pretty bad at killing Human sized animals because of this. The M16 when first used in the Vietnam was hated by soldiers because it would poke holes in the enemy while the M14(which used a much stronger, heavier bullet) would kill a man in 1 or 2 shots(more on this later). Automatic weapons are extremely regulated in America. More regulated than all guns in Australia and Britain and most countries you are likely to see cited for their gun crime rates. Unpaid parking tickets, unpaid child support, a pending trial, a divorce, and even being put on trial and found innocent are all possible ways to be kept from owning an Automatic weapon. Many things can result in your weapon being taken away. You must always have the physical license from the ATF with the gun at all times. You can’t have it in the car in the parking lot when you are at the gun range. The ATF can inspect your house and take it away for no reason. You must have an approved gun dealer in your will who will take possession and usually destroy the gun when you die. You must destroy the gun under certain circumstances. An AR 15 is not an assault rifle. An M4 or M16 used in combat is.

Let me explain why the AR 15 is one of the best guns for self defense.

This is 5.45 bullet that has been cut in half. It’s not the bullet commonly used in AR 15s but it operates in the same manner. It has a hollow cavity in the tip. The basic function is that this bullet travels very quickly and the tip breaks as soon as it makes contact with anything. Whether it be a wall, an animal, a human, or a tree branch that tip caves in when it makes contact and the bullets flips like a kicked American football. This decreases the energy of the projectile by a lot. This means that a 5.56 or 5.45 are the best rounds to use in neighborhoods, apartment buildings, or in homes with children around. This bullet will hit drywall and be less deadly. A 9mm pistol bullet can go through an entire house. a .30-30 bullet commonly used to hunt deer can go through multiple apartments. You could hit a home intruder and a shotgun slug can go through him and into the neighbors house.

On the topic of hunting. AR 15s chambered in .300 Blackout are the premier way to dispatch our wild boar invasion in farm lands. Pigs can destroy millions of dollars in property, crops, and livestock damage. They are an enormous problem. AR15s are needed because they are light, quick, and not too bulky so a farmer can have one in his truck and use it as soon as he sees boars. AR15s in 5.56 are great for hunting other animals like skunks, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, and rabbits to name a few.

Moving on to the topic of fear. Fear is an emotion and is therefore relative. Right now I am feeling cold. If someone in a colder area like Alaska or Norway is standing in front of a warm fire place covered in thick blankets while a blizzard rages outside does it mean it is warmer in Alaska than in Texas? Of course not, it just means I need to put some socks on. You feel safe, good for you. I do too, good for me. I am not living in fear, I am hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I have canned goods because I once went with limited food for weeks during and after a hurricane. I drive a car with lots of safety features because I know people who died in car crashes. I brush my teeth because I know people in their 30s with dentures. I have a gun because my people were unarmed when they were murdered by their government. It’s one of the reasons my family came to this country and it’s one of the reasons those problems did not.

Regulations are great. I used the regulation that says food products need to be labeled with expiration dates today. I would have had some bad milk and been sick for hours without that. I don’t mind a government, but I do mind a lot of government. The police do not prevent crime, they arrest criminals after they have committed crimes. Look up what the average length of time it takes for police to arrive on scene in your area. The answer, no matter, what is too long. In the time it takes you for to pull out your phone, dial, the operator to respond, and the police to drive is less than it takes for a human to be beaten, kidnapped, murdered. 5 minutes may be ok if you call them because someone was spray painting a wall, but that is not ok if your friend is bleeding out. Literally in this recent case that no doubt inspired OPs post, an armed policeman stood outside of the school mere feet from the shooter and did nothing as people died. Your government does not care about you and they do not protect you. They try, but they fail too.

“Please educate me, if I get this wrong: you want to defend yourself with a gun. Why is that? Because you fear that one could attack you with the gun they are allowed to carry, right? You want a gun bc others have a gun”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUk3HEqjf8c

This is Dutch MMA fighter Alistair Overeem. He is 6′3 and in his prime was 3% body fat and weighed 280 pounds. He is famous for his ability to get knocked out in devastating fashion. He’s a good fighter despite this, but hitting him in the right spot just puts him to sleep. Him and his brother(a less skilled, less fit mma fighter who has more knockout losses than some UFC champs have fights) once beat the living shit out 5 security guards armed with clubs. The five guards needed emergency care, Allistair hurt his hand because he punched a guy in the face and cut himself with his victims teeth. In a different incident he pushed a lady and with one hand sent her flying and she was injured after hitting some poles. Would you fight this man? I know it’s a extreme, he’s bigger and more well trained than 99.99% of the world but a guy even half as big and half as skilled and with twice the ability to make a punch would you say with confidence you could fight him off? Let’s think of someone else. Do you have an elderly person in your life or a very young person? A 5 year old nephew, a 70 year old grandparent? Not to mention any disabled people in your life. Maybe even people who are currently sick with the common cold or have a stubbed toe or pregnant or dealing with period cramps right now. Do you think you could beat Allistair Overeem in a 1 to 1 fight? Do you think every single person you care about could beat him at any given moment? If a man that big and even a fraction as skilled came into your home would you be ok? Would the police respond in time? The answer is no because even if you managed to call the police before he was face to face with you he has choked people until they fainted or knocked them out in less than a minute despite them being his size, strength, nearly his level of skill, and fully prepared to fight him. On the opposite end of the spectrum, do you think you, barring any personal thoughts and restraints could stop him if he attacked you and you had a weapon whether it be a gun or a taser or pepper spray? Which would you pick? Should training martial arts, taking steroids, and lifting weights become illegal?

“Let me tell you a secret: if the other isn’t allowed to own a gun, you don’t need a gun” Allowed is the keyword. Allowed is very different than has or owns or uses. In America we are a free people. My government doesn’t allow me to do things. We allow the government to do things. We allow the government to tax us, we allow the government to operate, and we allow the government to arrest and punish people who do certain actions. You have defined what freedom means to you. That is not freedom but you are free to think that way and to desire your life be that way.

On the topic of race and countries of origin and all that let me just go on a little tangent here. My Dad’s side is white, Norwegian mostly but I have a great grandma who’s ancestors were in the original US Navy under the great John Paul Jones. The cannons on said ship were privately owned as were all the small arms. They even had a gun that shot multiple bullets in a row. It wasn’t as advanced as an M60 machine gun but it was considerably faster than a musket. These people knew inventions were coming that would do things more effectively. Whether it be better ships, better guns, or better way of communication. You believe the change of technology should effect the right to bear arms. Do you believe the government should restrict speech? Do you believe people should be incarcerate for speech? If so, what kind of speech? Do you think it would be ok if in 20 years you holding that opinion became illegal and that put you in jail?

Finally let’s talk about guns and swimming pools and cars. Swimming is a recreational activity, exercise, sport, and therapy. Cars are transportation, sport, and hobbies. Guns are also used in sports, hobbies, exercise, recreational activities, and therapy. Earlier this month a friend told me a child in her neighborhood(a three year old) fell into a swimming pool and drowned. Last year a guy in a truck ran over and killed a lot of people in London. Last week a guy with a gun killed a lot of students at a school and at that same event a policeman with a gun stood outside without confronting him. Should we attach floaties to every child? Should we outlaw trucks? Should we outlaw guns? Sorry for any spelling errors.

[mikanrulz]

gundam ibo s02e24 what is a mcgillis fareed, what is ibo anyway

Short answer: a total failure of a villain wannabe character.

I’ve remarked time and time again there’s a discrepancy on who McGillis is supposed to be, and how he actually comes off in the show. I thought by the time S2 starts, his writing would get fixed somehow, but nada. As a villain, he comes off so one dimensional that I feel *Todo* has more substance than he does, which totally says something about just how bad McG’s writing is. As a character, he’s so all over the place it infuriates me to no end bcs gdi what a waste of such great potential.

He is supposed to be GREAT. The show certainly thinks he’s PRETTY GREAT, considering how much they invest in animating his scenes and faces, for all the good it does him (no rly gaelio’s scenes would like a word w/ the budget allocation).

MCGILLIS FAREED, GUYS

Luls look how he’s still so confidently arrogant even after all those loss.

Rather than a confident leader though, his words here sound more like a pitiful man who’s too prideful and blind to acknowledge he has lost the war.

Of course, you could argue he’s just trying to instill boost into the remaining of his followers, assuring them that their effort would not be a waste and that he has actual chance at winning.

He does NOT have a chance. These men knew that. Which is why they’re taken aback when he says this, bcs they probably expect to go down in battle glory together with him.

And yet despite that, none of these men *stay*. Can you say they’re leaving him bcs they’re trying to spare his feelings? Bcs it just seems that way to me.

Like, ‘let’s just leave the man to his daydream, it’s his last moment so just let him live the dream’.

It’s just pathetic at this point, and these men know it. They’re trying to be *kind* to McG.

In another story, in different circumstances, this may be true, but this statement is totally NOT true in the world of ibo.

Just look at the leaders in this show: Rustal, Orga, Kudelia, the boss of Teiwaz, Naze… even young leaders like Carta, Iok and Gaelio (before Vidar). These people are never alone, and they’re not solitary. They *choose* to not be solitary. And their ppl, the ppl who look up to them and rly care about them, would not let them be alone/in solitary.

Look at Todo’s face. His smile is *kind*. He’s like, okay if you really think that way.

Bcs even Todo realizes McG’s words are just that: words to console himself of his solitary, how he’s the only one actually ends up really alone.

It’s possible McG also really believes the things he himself says, causing him to purposefully push ppl away.

But if we could take the Triage cards as canon, then it’s not rly true. Bcs the random Gjallarhorn soldiers and officers interviewed for the cards say the same thing: McG is a ‘suspicious’ character who eclipses other ppl (e.g. Gaelio) bcs his presence is just that overwhelming. This implies most Gjjallarhorn ppl at best only being polite to him, or at worst, tolerating him out of necessity since he far outranks them. One going so far to compare him to a snake.

Way back in ep25 review when I said Todo was McG’s Cinderella, I was only kidding. But lmao can’t believe this relationship’s still alive, Todo is still living his dream of being important and dressed in nice clothes, and McG + Todo is actually the only one of all McG’s relationships that isn’t creepy (Almiria) or that he himself thoroughly destroys (everyone else).

Srsly WTF is Montag Company???

Speaking of Almiria… poor girl needs some serious therapy. Gallus papa pls take her away from there.

McG: I keep my promise of making Almiria happy.

I wonder, does she look happy to him? she certainly doesn’t look happy to me.

He’s srsly fucked up if he thinks letting an 11yo old girl shoulder his sins can be called happy.

Almiria calls McG’s actions “his sins”. Despite all McG’s sweet words and fairy tale description, she holds no illusion that what McG’s doing is wrong wrong wrong.

Srsly what kind of man or adult are you to make a child feel this way? To feel like she has to shoulder the whole world hating/punishing her for crimes the person she loves did?

How could you still call yourself a man after make a girl no older than 11 to realize it? to realize this is the reality she chooses and has to live in?

Just… god.

Also why is this almiria scene put in between McG’s fight scenes like showing us this scene would make him sympathetic?

IT’S NOT. Showing her only make him look CREEPY.

He’s only trying to make her happy, he says. He’s protecting her, he says. Then in the next scenes he’s shown touching her butt (ep13, 25) or touching her butt AND positioning her in a pose that’s inherently sexual (s02e09).

It would be different if she’s an adult, but the fact in those scenes she was only 9 and 11 makes it UNBEARABLY CREEPY.

He should be in jail for those scenes alone, not be thought of as ‘romantic’ WTF.

He says this, but he’s prejudice against ppl different than him just the same.

Him and Isurugi, but then Isurugi got his ideals from McG, so I guess we could cut Isurugi slack.

If what he says is true, then he should also give Sevenstars ppl a chance. After all, not all of them corrupt/abuse powers. In fact, other than Iznario, no one else from the Sevenstars is shown ‘actively’ abusing powers.

Even Rustal and Arianrhod, they’re not ACTING so much as REACTING. They do NOT instigate things/wars. Only once a rebel/chaos already started would they appear.

He says this, but he totally thinks those born to power are useless, while at the same time holding those born to be unfortunate in high regard.

LMAO this is said by the same guy who never once wins a fight fairly.

Weekly reminder McG gets knocked out by Mobile Armor after ONE HIT and only lays there feeling sorry while Isurugi and Julieta show more resilience by getting back up and charge at MA again.

Updated version of McGillis’ battle record so far: Ep5 (Schwalbe Graze): he *assisted* Gae, was a middle range shooter, worked fine together with Gae, yet somehow mika only praised McGillis. Ep19 (Grimgerde): assisted Mika, doing fine against Carta’s men who were all lower ranked compared to him. Ep25 (Grimgerde): managed to defeat Gae and Kimaris. It should be noted this fight was highly unbalanced in McGillis’ favor bcs Gae was too overwhelmed by emotion. S02e07 (Graze Ritter): got easily overwhelmed by Takaki & Aston, despite him supposed to be much more experienced and skilled than two ragtag kids who had no formal military training S02e12 (Graze Ritter): got defeated by MA with, like, a single kick. S02e18 (Bael): did nothing but pose in front of cameras. S02e21 (Bael): got his ass kicked by Gae & Ein in Kimaris Vidar, before being saved by Isurugi dying. S02e23 (Bael): somehow managed to win against multiple foes (none of which is a gundam), one was Iok in an UNARMED Reginlaze. S02e24 (Bael): destroyed several Reginlaze suits and also HalfBeak class ships before getting his ass handed to him by Gae & Ein in Kimaris Vidar, severely damaged Ein in the process.

It’s funny how he’s only great in his last moment, almost like he’s only strong for the sake of *dramatic* ending. /rolls eyes

He says this like he truly purposefully lets Gaelio live in ep25, and I find that hard to believe.

Bcs, for what purpose??? That just means he’s so stupid he thinks it’s better to let a threat live in order to gloat rather than make sure the threat is completely and utterly eliminated so as not to pose any problem in the future.

Also, what a face.

And yet the animation is still so smooth like staff-san, just how much do you guys love him anyway I’m jelly

No srsly, all his face animation is pretty splendid??? I wish my boy would get the same nice smooth animation but alas

Also, does he say those words unironically do you think?

Like does he really believe what he’s saying?

Bcs, just a minute ago, Rustal literally tells all his men to ‘hold’ bcs he wants to see the result of McG vs Gae’s fight.

So the men are just following Rustal’s order and not bcs of McG.

So like, I’m just amazed at McG’s ability to somehow twist unrelated facts into centering around his person.

OH THIS SCENE.

Yes, this scene, where his hair is so artfully untidy, and the camera is caressing the line of his face lovingly… UGH.

First of all, fuck you McG.

Gae’s [you’re not even looking at me, look at me damn you mcg] I think refer to 2 things, 1) the fact that McG never sees him as a person, just a tool; 2) he wants McG to see him, see the person he killed is now fighting and winning against him in a fight, see that he’s stronger than McG thus proving McG’s theory wrong. Most of all, he wants McG to see he’s not just a victim, he’s an avenger too, one stronger than ever.

Second of all, fuck you McG.

McG says this, but the things he says is not in line with how he acts, re: him saying he thinks of gae as a friend. Case in point: S01e04: when Gae gets strangled by Mika, he doesn’t lift a finger to help; instead, he only gets out of the car once Sakura holds Mika at bay/Gae’s no longer in danger of dying. S01e09: he purposefully plays w/ Gae’s feelings by changing the topic to one he knows is a sore spot for Gae. Gae goes from smiling up to McG to subtly avert his eyes from McG w/o changing his expression much or turning his head away. He’s hurt and trying not to show it to McG.

S01e17: McG does nothing as Gae is ganged up by both Gusion and Barbatos, despite hovering nearby in Montag’s ship. S01e19: McG does nothing as Barbatos is about to stab Gae & Kimaris to death. S01e22-23: actually says aloud w/ a bored expression how Carta should’ve just died. (the fact he’s alone and has no need to put up a show means he *means* what he says.) and then he actually sends Carta to her death w/ a smile.

He says Gae is his only friend, then what is Carta to him? Someone convenient???

He says Gae is his only friend, but this makes me wonder about the definition of ‘friendship’ to him.

Bcs as I see it, he is protected by Gae (ep11, 13) and keeps getting the advantage of his relationship w/ Gae without him having to do anything for Gae in return.

Even when Gae calls him about Ein, he helps Gae not bcs he *cares* but bcs he needs Gae to put Ein in Alaya-Vijnana for McG’s own sake.

Meanwhile Gae keeps going out of his way to do anything to ease McG’s way or spare his feelings.

Gae admires and worships him too much to ever realize their relationship is truly one-sided and greatly unbalanced.

This is exaggerating it but I truly think getting McG’s smile is worth getting trampled over for Gae.

MCGILLIS NEVER ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT GAELIO OR CARTA.

He only cares about their uses to him, nothing more.

Of course you could argue this is bcs he doesn’t know what friendship is, he always suffers, he never got anyone to show him yadda yadda.

That doesn’t excuse him being a total asshole to them.

This scene does nothing to me except make me want to throw things at him more.

Also worth noting, the ppl McG willingly chooses to surround himself with are the ppl who totally adore him and never go against him in any way. Todo: Todo is the kind of smarmy that would do as he’s told as long as it is benefits him, and he calls McG ‘master (danna)’. He’s a total asslicker who would not ever oppose McG, esp not after McG puts him in a pedestal like that. Isurugi: he does what he’s told. No uestion, no nothing. He’s entire role is to be McG’s assistant or something. (the show attempts to make him seem parallel to Ein and it fail so spectacularly, but that’s another different matter) Almiria: a sheltered girl who’s too naïve and is easily influenced. Gallus: he’s kind to McG, telling him to relax and take his time and all. Also I think when McG tells him ‘I’m your son too��� McG actually means it – he wants Gallus to be his father – and it’s not only said as a blow to Gallus. Gaelio: in the scene above, I’m pretty sure Gae’s only agreeing with McG just bcs he’s that desperate for McG’s approval. Carta: this is the reason McG doesn’t much care for Carta; bcs while she does validate his existence, she does so by ‘opposing his view’. She tells him he’s wrong. She’s the only one who ever does; even Rustal doesn’t say directly to his face he’s wrong.

All of the ppl mentioned above adore McG in a way, and all of them are ‘useful tools’ to him, but Carta differs from the rest bcs she tells him he’s wrong. Todo’s also different from the rest bcs he’s the only one who stays until the end (sort of) w/ McG, and the one McG never abandons. (He fucking just up and left after Isurugi gets stabbed; that’s cold.)

For the record, McG already made both Almiria and Gaelio cry twice in front of him.

What a guy.

Also, Gae’s saying this line is totally the most unsurprising thing this whole season.

He says ‘might forgive’ but he totally already forgives McG tho.

You can’t go admiring someone for 15years without trying to excuse it when said someone deliberately hurts you.

This is basically the same thing Almiria says to McG in s02e19.

Can we say this is a Bauduin thing then? Bcs Gallus actually has similar reaction when faced w/ McG saying “I’m your son too.”

The three of them trust McG only for him to betray them all in the worst possible way.

Hooray for Yamazin’s reappearance.

I kinda gave up on hoping she appears more but then voila! Here she is! telling Rustal where Julieta is!

I love my manic mobile suit otaku mechanic girl okay.

(I realize she’s probably closer to Rustal in age than to Iok, but whatevs)

I DIED

LOOK AT GAE’S SMILE

Oh Ein, you did good, you did very good indeed.

Can I still have hope that after he’s done as Graze Ein, Rustal would pull a miracle and restore Ein’s human body even if half of it is mechanic for Gae’s sake?

CAN I, PLS? ;____;

I wish I could say more about this scene, but I’m still trying to recover. Gae softly caressing Ein’s ‘eyes’ there obliterated me ;__;

SPEAKING OF RUSTAL ELION...

To think McG would be crazy enough to go against this guy

I mean, just look at the pics above.

Notice how Rustal stays rooted to the floor by the sheer force of his will

Seriously, he’s standing in low gravity and somehow doesn’t seem to ever be shaken by ship turbulence and whatnot

I mean. He’s just. Standing. Without even gripping/holding the handle bar to his right side.

Also considering the handle bar is located beyond reach behind him, he’s clearly confident enough he wouldn’t need such thing to stay upright.

Also, that cloak/coat/jacket is, while looking stylish draped in such a way, it technically hinders his movement. With his cloak/coat/jacket in the way, there’s no way he could move fast enough to grip the handle bar should he need it. (not that he’d ever need it…)

Even during that moment when Shino nearly shot the SkipJack’s bridge, while Iok moves to the front and is shaken from the force of the near-miss, Rustal still stays mostly standing upright, w/ the only change being his eyes widening.

I just. How???

Look at pic #7 in particular. He’s standing on the plank-like floor and without proper support, a slight movement of the ship would logically have him topple down about 3m to the floor and yet there he is, majestically standing upright.

This is such a silly thing to obsess over but I can’t stop thinking about this. pls tell me I’m not alone

Even gravity *follows* his orders. And McG thinks he has a chance? Pfft.

The thing that I kinda admire but also fear about Rustal is how so open he is with his ppl. He’s *honest* with them.

He’s like, here’s the thing I’m gonna do. Watch and learn, then judge for yourself how I’m doing. His smile suggests this isn’t the first time they have this kind of conversation where he reminds her he’s not *exactly* a good person even if he has (somewhat) good intention, and she somehow still thinks the world of him. He basically tells Julieta not to put him in pedestal, and he doesn’t hold illusion what he’s doing is morally right – which is the opposite of what McG’s doing.

In s02ep20, he shows Iok how to build a winning strategy, even if said strategy can be called sly and downright ruthless. In s02ep23, he lets Iok in on his conference w/ Nobliss. He’s basically letting Iok knows it’s not that he was wrong in collaborating w/ a shady character like Jasley, but more like there’s a time and place for that kind of shady deals, and Iok’s deal was exactly that: not in the right time or place.

He’s, essentially, telling them: if you want to attack me/expose me/bring me down, this is the way to do it.

The same with Vidar/Gaelio. Rustal lets Gae do what he wants freely, so long as he follows Rustal’s instruction when the time comes. And even then, Rustal still lets him free, going so far to indulge him in pursuing McG in 1 on 1. Of course Rustal also does it for his own plan’s sake, but I still think it’s important he lets Gae have the stage he’s prepared and just, er, let him have at it basically.

About the Vidar mask thing, it’s from s02e18, it’s clear the mask is totally Gae’s own idea and not one proposed by Rustal. I really, really want to know the look on Rustal’s face when Gae said he wanted to wear a mask ‘in order to hide his identity’. Like, Skipjack & Arianrhod is completely devoted to Rustal – one word and none would open their mouth about a supposedly dead Sevenstar member living among them. In a way, it also suggests that Gae doesn’t trust Rustal’s crews. Rustal probably just thinks it all amusing, and, again, lets him do what he wants.

Let’s face it, The Mask ™ is ridiculous and Gae rather implies that he only wears that bcs he wants to understand McG’s feelings, someone who he says always wears a mask his whole life.

That’s so extra but who am I to judge :p

This pic is here bcs I just really like Rustal’s face and also this smile seems to be his default when dealing w/ his children’s antics (Iok, Gae, Julieta).

It’s really interesting how he always has a smile ready for those three, even when they’re being totally stupid and putting the entire Fleet’s reputation at risk (Iok /coughs) yet he loses his smile when it comes to McG. Most notably in s02e08 and this ep, his face is totally serious with no hint of amusement whatsoever.

I’m so very curious to the extent of their relationship before Vidar. The show gives us only the barest minimum, and they won’t even show us a flashback of how exactly Rustal saved Gae or how Gae felt about being saved in such a way.

Gae used to be pretty vocal about his opinions and Rustal’s always so patient that he must have been so unbearably infuriating to Gae. Yet is S2 they’re shown trusting each other with Rustal seeking Gae’s counsel on a couple occasion and Gae obeying Rustal’s order and showing actual respect for the man.

…I really want to know what happened between them in those two years period between S1 and S2.

I just want to express what a waste opportunity it was not to show Iok’s reaction to the news that Gae is pretty much alive and kicking. Like, was he shocked? Or did he pretend he knew all along Vidar was Gae? Did he feel weird seeing how Gae was much calmer now? And more importantly, how did he address Gae? His given name? His family name? or his former rank maybe?

How did it work anyway, as a Family Head he was above Gae who was still an heir, but rank-wise, pretty sure Gae technically outranked him. This is, I think, one dynamic that would be interesting to explore.

Also lulz Iok looks small compared to Gae, who is still smaller in width than Rustal.

CONCLUSION

I read somewhere that Tragedies are essentially about a hero who happens to be in the wrong story. This is to say, it’s not bcs the hero makes a mistake/has a flaw or two, but rather, no matter what the hero does or doesn’t do, bad things would still happen to the hero. It’s about having the hero’s strengths be useless and make him powerless and his struggle to overcome this.

Is IBO a tragedy? The short answer: YES and NO.

Judging just from the 1st ep and the latest ep (s02e24), yes, IBO should count as a tragedy. But I feel calling IBO a tragedy is giving too much credits to the writers, since the amount of asspulls and plot holes and general inconsistencies are phenomenal.

All the things IBO did have been done in another gundam shows and they handle it much better (e.g. thunderbolt for physical disabilities and both thunderbolt and unicorn, to a certain extent, for Alaya-Vijnana/direct connection to the gundam be it physical or mental).

All the plot twists in this show are done purely for shock values since there’s no follow up or any explanation (Lafter and Orga’s deaths, Mika/Ku/Atra pregnancy talk thing (wtf), Almiria/McG’s whole relationship (WTF SRSLY), Mika’s paralysis, McG’s entire characterization… I could go on.

One of the show’s success (Gaelio) seems to happen by accident and not by the writers’ design.

Gaelio actually has a Hero Journey narrative; from situation normal to getting his world slowly shaken until he gets killed by his best friend slash enemy only to turn the table on said best friend slash enemy after a self-searching journey to figure himself out and defeats him. He *wins*.

Gaelio’s entire subplot (McG’s characterization aside) is much more fulfilling than the protags’ entire plot. This is also esp bcs the show decides to roll every character development from the protags side by killing them. We follow these characters for NOTHING.

e.g. oh hey look Aston finally accepts himself as part of a family! Time to kill him! Oh hey look Orga finally realizes violence is not always the answer and sometimes it’s better to pull back and surrender! Time to kill him before he’s given chance to act on his development! Lafter lost her number one support and the constant pillars of her life. Instead letting her have her character development by exploring this, they kill her. Hush finally getting the recognition he wants from Mika; wonder how he’ll develop from this… never mind, he’s just got killed.

THE SHOW. NEVER. LETS. TEKKADAN. DEVELOP. THEMSELVES.

All those deaths are pointless and shocking bcs of how irrelevant they are to the supposed plot, particularly Orga’s. This late in the game, what are they trying to achieve by killing him??? If they want to explore Mika’s codependency and how he can’t think for himself w/o Orga, they should’ve just explored that during early eps of S2. Nothing would change in just 2 eps. Nothing would get resolved.

GOD I’m so angry and I don’t actually like Mika or Orga. This plot point is so beyond ridiculous I just. Ugh.

back to McGillis....

to me McGillis is so infuriating bcs I can never be sure whether to blame *him* or the writers for his actions. I want to like him so bad, but something about the way he’s written just keeps making me angry.

I've liked plenty problematic characters before, but I don't think McGillis can be categorized as 'problematic'. He's, at best, a half-baked character born out of an ambitious concept the writers are too half-assed to bring out in the show. Rather than a charming Char clone, with his ever present apathetic smile and his delusion of grandeur McG just seems like a sociopath who thinks the world owes him something and he expects respect and obedience for almost nothing.

this is all my own opinion and I apologize if this seems rather cluttered. I keep wanting to add misc things every time I reread so I figure I better post this before this gets even more unreadable :p

[loregoddess]

do all the defense attorneys sans grossberg bc who gives a shit about him

Oh damn, tall order okay, here we go…

(this got long so uh…under the cut)

     Phoenix Wrightgeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang(I have a lot of mixed feelings regarding the aesthetic attractiveness of Phoenix, and most of them are mixed because of his hedgehog hair)hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Cares about his friends a lotworst quality:  His amazing ability to bottle up and not deal with his problems from the AA4 eraship them with: Edgeworthbrotp them with: The WAA, Maya, and Pearlsneeds to stay away from: Things that should kill him, like poisoned glass pendants, burning bridges, and cars driving wildly in the night.misc. thoughts: I love Phoenix, he’s a good man, and I honestly hope he deals with some of the shit from AA4 at some point.

     Mia Feygeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Excellent mentor, good big sister, excellent person overallworst quality: She deadship them with: I kinda like the Lana/Mia ship even though it’s tragic because Mia winds up dead and Lana in jailbrotp them with: Phoenix, Mayaneeds to stay away from: Clocks shaped like famous artworksmisc. thoughts: I’m actually really glad Mia’s character was expanded on as much as it was, it really made me care for her even more, and made me sadder that she was dead.

     Godot (technically a lawyer at some point in his life)general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor??? | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Probably…has a good…coffee brew…worst quality: *sigh* Where do I start? Chauvinistic, doesn’t think things through, doesn’t have a good plan for vengeanceship them with: N/Abrotp them with: I suppose he got along with Mia when she was a rookieneeds to stay away from: Making decisions regarding the Fey family, and Phoenixmisc. thoughts: I occasionally forget he exists.

     Apollo Justicegeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff(one of these two houses, not sure which)best quality: Everythingworst quality: I…can’t…think of any?ship them with: Lowkey w/ Klavierbrotp them with: The WAA, Clay (Clay/Apollo would have made a nice romantic ship too though if, y’know, the writers actually cared)needs to stay away from: His life? I don’t know how to word this, this boy has been suffering for three games straight, he needs a break.misc. thoughts: Another awesome, lovely character. I hope he was a nice singing voice because with how powerful his voice is he’d make a good singer, and then he could perform duets with Klavier. Also hope he learns the truth about his mom and sister someday.

     Kristoph Gavingeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: …his aesthetic attractiveness is the only thing he has going for himworst quality: WHERE DO I START? Everything except his aesthetic attractivenessship them with: N/Abrotp them with: N/Aneeds to stay away from: Phoenix, Klavier, Apollo, the WAA in general, the law world at largemisc. thoughts: I had no idea he was going to be as evil as he was when I started watching AA4, and I felt so betrayed. And then I learned a little bit more about him, and he’s just? Such a terrible person? That said, Capcom needs to resolve the loose ends from AA4 and that includes a one Kristoph Gavin.

     Calisto Yewgeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: 10/10 disguise skillsworst quality: Betrayed the Yategaresu, and killed Kay’s dadship them with: N/Abrotp them with: N/A (I guess she got along pretty well with Lang though)needs to stay away from: Smuggling ringsmisc. thoughts: Not a bad villain overall.

     Ray Shieldsgeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff?best quality: Has a lot of good qualities, but A+ theme song, and I love his dedication to the Edgeworth Law Officesworst quality: Eh…was unfairly mean to Edgeworth at the start of AAI2 for something Edgeworth had no control over, and the offering to hug women all the time is a bit sketchy.ship them with: N/Abrotp them with: Edgeworth, Kay, Gregory when he was aliveneeds to stay away from: I dunno?misc. thoughts: He’s grown on me honestly, I was a bit iffy about him based on how he treated Edgeworth at the start of AAI2 and the weird hugging habit, but he’s grown on me.

     Gregory Edgeworthgeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: EXCELLENT DAD, VERY GOOD PARENTworst quality: Deadship them with: N/A currentlybrotp them with: Ray, I suppose, when Gregory was aliveneeds to stay away from: Manfred von Karmamisc. thoughts: Look, I didn’t think about him that much, but then BAM, AAI2 comes along, and suddenly he gets a metric ton of characterisation and I’m very, very upset now that he’s dead, because he was such a good dad, and a gentle soul in total, like he did not deserve that.

     Athena Cykesgeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Everything about her is great honestly, she is goodworst quality: Lacks confidence in the courtroom, and this plays against her more often then notship them with: N/A but sorta Trucy after the SoJ DLCbrotp them with: The WAA, Blackquill, Juniperneeds to stay away from: Nahyuta Sadmadhi and his inability to treat her with respectmisc. thoughts: I love Athena, she’s such a wonderful character honestly, and I hope she’s able to get enough confidence to stand in court on her own, and overcome every difficulty in her life.

     Aristotle Means (you said everyone except Grossberg)general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: N/Aworst quality: His smileship them with: N/Abrotp them with: N/Aneeds to stay away from: Schools and studentsmisc. thoughts: When you said every attorney, I took it as every major attorney, but forgot he counted until I grabbed a list to cheat off of.

     Ryuunosuke Naruhodougeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Literally everythingworst quality: Too nice for his own good sometimesship them with: Sorta lowkey w/ Asougibrotp them with: Asougi, Susato, I guess Sherlock and Irisneeds to stay away from: White people trying to frame him for their crimes, and racist white people in general–he doesn’t need that in his lifemisc. thoughts: I love him so much literally he’s a ray of sunshine and goodness who does not deserve to deal with the shit he has to deal with in DGS, he’s such a wonderful person.

     Kazuma Asougigeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff(one of these houses, I’m leaning towards gryffindor)best quality: He’s such a good friend to Ryuu, and is fiercely passionate about being an attorney and helping his friendworst quality: Why a mop, of all hair styles?ship them with: Lowkey w/ Ryuubrotp them with: Ryuu…eh, I didn’t see him interact with too many other charactersneeds to stay away from: Vague body langue that might be misread by anxious peoplemisc. thoughts: I love him so much, but the thing is I wasn’t expecting to care about him this much? Like, I had one full chapter of characterisation for him, and the next thing I knew I was and still am in utter denial of the events of Ch2, and that reaction doesn’t occur unless I really care about a character. I came up with an elaborate theory the other day regarding Asougi, and I hope it’s true.

There’s one more major attorney aside from Grossberg, but they’re a spoiler and if you really want to know my thoughts, you can ask me after you beat SoJ.