#(much worse literally the next episode) it was still the episode that had me pissed off the most towards him idk why 😭😭

[frostluvrs]

it’s kinda funny that the angriest i ever got at ray in this series was in ep 7

[spinji]

I NEED TO YAP ABOUT THIS MOVIE MY GOD-

YOU'RE NEXT SPOILERS UNDER CUT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaokayokay-

Can I just say I DO NOT recommend seeing this the same day as watching the new episode because I have had a DAY-

Unfortunately, the theater I went to didn't have the booklets or promotional cups but not a huge loss. It's the price I pay to have my boyfriend by my side; worth it. ♡

As with all my other MHA theater outings the screening was packed with delightful weirdos (dubbed, if you happen to care). One guy had an extensive set of custom MHA lego guys (very cool) and two very enthusiastic Toga cosplayers were so kind and kept me from feeling like a dork going out in public in a Deku wig. All the love to them, fr.

The movie itself though ohhhhh MY~

If I'm being honest this one didn't surpass World Heroes Mission or Heroes Rising for me, but also I don't know what you could do to beat out the movies that gave me such extreme brainrot it got me to be a part of this fandom in the first place. Personal rankings for the movies, best to "worst" is 3, 2, 4, 1.

Maybe it's because I had higher expectations instead of being given the best character in the franchise suddenly with no warning but I did still really REALLY love it. The highest point I can give it is easily the animation. Absolutely zero scenes in this movie feel like they fell to the standard of the anime. Everything was fluid and detailed and so fun to look at. And yes, of course it made every attack flashy as fuck. I was giddy every time Bakugou let out an explosion.

The premise did sound insane going in, and it is, but it's an anime side movie. Caring about the plot is a bonus, not a requirement. I guess my only real gripe is that it felt a little too fast? Very few scenes had time to breathe and unlike the other movies there wasn't really any slow establishing opening. If you come to MHA exclusively for the action, I think this one will be your new favorite.

Okay- I'm gonna just bullet point my highlights because I'm barely restrained enough to sit down and type.

First of all GIULIO!!!

Listen- I knew I would love this guy but oh my god babygirl~

He responds to literally everyone approaching him by pointing a gun at them. No comment this is just great

When Deku tells him to stop shooting at someone, he just pulls out a SECOND GUN and points it at him too

His motorcycle also has guns. Ngl I have expected his eye implant to also have a gun for a moment there.

He is SUCH an asshole to Deku in the first half and I love it. Their dialogue exchanges were so funny.

And in the second half he just,,,,cracks under the pressure so hard,, Man is having the WORST day of his life fr. It's really nice to know he and Anna are safe at UA rn. Poor things deserve it.

Anna and Giulio are really cute romantically, Giulio is definitely adult but he's going in the Deku harem anyway. You can't stop me, I am capable of worse.

Anna herself unfortunately doesn't get much time since she spends most of the movie mind controlled but she's harmlessly sweet and adorable. Anna they could never make me hate you.

I want to smear Dark Might across the side of a wall and given how much they overanimated his expressions, I believe this is the intended effect.

Am I the only one that hopes he sees the Mech Might livestream just to rub salt in the wound? Don't you dare let All Might's name fall from your mouth again, you bag of scum.

I really REALLY wanted Izuku to get pissed off and start naming off inconsistencies between how All Might and Dark Might look: "His eyes are SKY blue, not ocean blue, and while his broad features don't make it obvious, his chin was actually much slimmer, also you got the silver age colors wrong-!" alas... you know he was thinking it though-

Big tiddy mind control gf Deborah my beloved- she has pretty privileges for everything

Actually a lot of the lesser goons of the family were kind of dorky and odd. I loved the energy! Why was one of them literally a D&D nerd that put on a wizard robe OVER HIS SUIT. Most entertaining movie villian group for sure.

The personal dreams everyone had under the mind control? Kill me. Kill me right the fuck now!

Shoto literally just wants a happy childhood with his family??? Where Touya wants to play with him????? And Rei was still happy????? UUGAHWAAAAAAAA

Tenya and Tensei being heroes together STOP-

Shoji with the little girl he saaaaaaved,,,and he didn't have his face scars anymoooooore,,,

So glad they didn't show Ochako's because you know they would have just animated that what if pixel animation of her and Toga being childhood friends and I would have vomited in sorrow.

Absolutely infuriating they broke continuity to have Katsuki call Izuku "Deku" and not "De-Izuku". Never forget what they took from us.

"Beat it, cool side character!" is the best line in the movie. Katsuki does not forget what happened with Rody and he does NOT forgive.

Followed closely by "I'm falling down crotch-first!" And you wonder why I write the fics I do about you, Deku-

Deku being a legend as a jailbreaker hunter is so amazing?? Yes baby, they're so scared of you! You're doing amazing sweetie!

I might think of more but tldr: YOU'RE NEXT IS A REALLY FUN TIME AND YOU SHOULD WATCH IT!

[loulovingho]

i'm pissed right now about a lot of personal things and I'm gonna take it out by talking about 911 shit and how people refuse to let tommy grow as a character but take up for literally all the other screw ups on the show. under a cut so you can avoid:

going on instagram is always a mistake but i went on there anyway and people are just being absolute pieces of shit. i do not know a single character on 911 that hasn't fucked up in some way but tommy is the only one not worthy of redemption. i know why, we all know why, but i do not understand why the dipshits that ship buddie so fiercely are so stupid as to not recognize that their little babies are fucked up too.

eddie left his wife and reenlisted because he couldn't handle being a dad, especially to a handicapped kid. then he got pissed when his wife asked for help, asked to go see her family. honestly, do not blame his parents one bit for wanting custody of christopher. they fucking raised him! eddie still relies on the people around him to take care of his needs. he had a one sided friendship with lena, asks buck to babysit more than hangout, was getting flights to vegas out of tommy, and used his girlfriends as glorified babysitters as well. also cheated on his girlfriend with a dead wife lookalike???

hen cheated on her wife for no fucking reason, then spent the next episode all smug when everyone else got their karma for being garbage, and they had karen take her back after like one episode apart?

bobby got his entire family killed.

athena regularly abuses her power as a police officer when it benefits her or her family.

chimney basically lied through the first relationship we ever saw him in, and was a horrible captain.

maddie doesn't know the meaning of staying in your lane and getting the fuck out of other peoples business. she should have been fired a few times over.

buck cheated on his girlfriend, asked her to move in instead of being honest with her, and basically trapped her with him. he also stole firetrucks to go have sex while at work, which he very much should have (permanently) been fired for.

they're all screw ups and that's the whole point!! that they're trying to be better and do better and learn from their past. Everyone gets a free pass but tommy. maybe it's because I relate to him so much, because I once was the old version of him (probably worse tbh) and I worked really fucking hard on myself to be better and do better. i guess it's personal for me because I honestly relate to him more than any of the other characters, but it's also really fucking stupid to be so hateful toward a fictional character and real live person because you want two specific characters (one of whom's actor has said REPEATEDLY is straight) to kiss.

and for all the assholes who want to claim that lou is racist or whatever the fuck you've decided he is this week, I seriously suggest you research a certain regular actor on the show a bit further before you come to me with that shit.

in conclusion, ship whoever you want, i don't give a shit, but stop pretending your character is an angel when in reality they all suck because all humans in general suck!

[inf3ct3dd]

01. BAD LIAR

warnings: none!!!

authors note: going cray rn guys….sorry if this is a bit long 😓😓

previous chapter. next chapter. masterlist.

the rest of summer break was….depressing.

as they say, lesbian heartbreak hits hard.

ellie must’ve texted you a thousand times, and you couldn’t reply because every time you saw her name on your phone you started bawling.

and your daily stalks of her instagram had you completely salty-faced.

you were so obnoxiously upset, that everything that had anything to do with her made you upset. you worried that if you even saw her face to face, you’d fold on the floor and drown in your own tears.

which was what made being in your room even worse, because it was covered in HER.

open your closet? her old hoodie.

sit at your desk? a framed picture of the two of you.

vanity? polaroids taped to the mirror.

even your BED. which held the stuffed animal she bought you, mr pickles.

mr pickles might as well have been a real pickle from how salty he was from being covered in TEARS during one of your very frequent breakdowns.

you basically lived in your room, your sister having to literally drag you outside to do anything. the only thing that worked was bribing you with food.

“cmon, i made pasta.” was her best excuse to get you out of your self inflicted prison.

ellie showed up at your house a few times, and each time she did, you hid in your room. at one point she actually came upstairs, and you crawled out of your window and hid on your roof until she left.

you did not want to talk to her.

after a while, and constant berating from all your friends and your family, you got over your extremely dramatic episode. well….not really? but at least you weren’t in your room sobbing over a tiktok you saw because the girl “looked like ellie.”

the days leading up to the first day of school basically consisted in you being in a constant state of panic.

what if she talks to me?

what if i have to sit next to her in class?

what if she-

“DUDE. CAN YOU STOP BEING A BATHROOM HOG AND LET ME GET READY?”

you heard your sister yell from outside the door, interrupting your thoughts.

you had been pacing in the bathroom for thirty minutes, losing your fucking mind.

you shouldn’t be this stressed out. it happened almost a month ago. you’ll be fine girl, calm down.

you give yourself a final once-over in the mirror , fixing the two plaits on the sides of your head before adjusting your glasses, and swinging the door open, revealing your pissed off sister.

“fucking finally.”

she muttered under her breath, before dramatically slamming the door behind her.

you gave your dad a hug goodbye before walking over to your car, twirling your keys in your fingers. you had just gotten your license last year, (too scared to get it when you were 16), and you still weren’t very….good at driving.

you opened the car door, making your hand wet from the raindrops , and sat down inside the car.

you watched your sister walk over to the car, with a fucking helmet.

she swung open the door and sat down in the passenger’s seat, setting her bag on the ground.

“…..are you serious?”

you looked over at your sister, a look of disbelief plastered on your face.

“with the way you drive? very much so.”

you roll your eyes at her before pulling out of your driveway, making your way to school.

after you got to school, you really wished you would’ve stayed home.

or transferred schools.

to one in a different country.

because when you walked into your first period, ellie was there.

and your second.

and your third.

and your fourth.

the first half of your day was spent basically hiding from her. sitting as far as possible, making your presence seem non-existent.

it was definitely a chore, but you’d rather do this than actually have to confront her.

even during passing periods, you practically speed-walked to your next period classes, avoiding the brunettes persistent attempts to talk to you.

it was hard to focus on anything in class when you could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of your head.

lunch was….once again, very depressing. your usual lunch table was just full of ellies friends, and of course, ellie herself.

you looked around the cafeteria for a while , scanning the large room for one of your friends. and yet, you turned up empty.

do i just have zero classes with them?

you finally gave up, walking to the courtyard outside.

the courtyard was fairly empty, given that it was still soaking wet .

you walked over to a bench that looked fairly dry, sitting down and slinging your backpack off your shoulders before sitting it down next to you, grabbing the lunch you packed for yourself.

you started to eat , biting into the quesadilla you made yourself , looking around the courtyard and nodding your head to the music blaring in your headphones.

the noise cancellation blocked out the sound of a door swinging open, and footsteps quickly approaching you.

you continued eating your lunch, this being the most calm you’ve been all day, slightly kicking your feet back and forth as they dangled off the bench.

you don’t notice ellie walking over to you until its too late, and shes standing in front of you, repeating your name.

“hello???”

you look up at her, slightly jumping at her presence and pulling your headphones onto your shoulders.

“uhm….hi.”

you utter, meeting her eyes.

“are you just never gonna talk to me again?”

ellie responded, a disappointed look on her face.

you avoided eye contact with her, staring at your hands in your lap.

“i don’t really…..have anything to say to you.”

you mutter, still avoiding her gaze.

“nothing? you don’t have anything to say about what happened?”

“what do you expect me to say?”

“….i don’t know. i just want to talk to you.”

she looked away from you, fiddling with her rings the same way she did the last time you saw her.”

“are you alright? you haven’t really been posting or anything lately.”

she was looking at my account??

“i’m fine. just haven’t been on my phone much.”

you lied, staring at her shoes.

“i can tell….i must’ve texted you 1000 times and you never answered.”

she anxiously rubbed her arm, trying desperately to hold eye contact with you.

“ ‘m sorry.”

“its fine, i kinda deserved it.”

she lets out a dry chuckle, rubbing her arm with her opposite hand.

theres an awkward silence between the two of you, both fidgeting with your hands and looking everywhere but at each other.

“so… are you and dina like, a thing now?”

you boldly questioned, crossing your legs in front of you.

“no- we were just drunk. we’re just friends.”

“real friendly.” you mumbled under your breath.

“are you uh…seeing anyone?”

ellie asks, slightly bouncing on her feet.

ellie only asks because she knows you aren’t. she wants an ego boost. she just wants you to say it.

she doesn’t expect you to say yes.

and neither do you.

“actually? who is it?”

the realization of what you just said hits you like a truck, the false confidence disappearing and replacing it with fear. you think, maybe for a bit too long, about what to say.

and then you finally utter-

“abby.”

ellies look of confusion is replaced with anger at your answer.

abby anderson. the one girl you knew she hated.

constant bickering and dumb fights, arguments that meant absolutely nothing that lasted their entire high school careers, and the constant competition between the two of them brewed your perfect opportunity for jealousy. your thoughts moved as fast as your mouth.

“cmon, you’re joking right?”

ellie asks before scoffing, readjusting her feet and crossing her arms in front of her.

you shake your head before packing up your things, starting to leave.

you don’t notice that you left your class schedule on the bench.

“you’re not fucking with me?”

ellie was practically fuming, the tips of her ears turning red as she dug her fingers into her arms.

you give her a nod before walking away, quickly turning on your heel.

“are you serious?”

“dead.”

your best friend mina was staring back at you, mouth agape in shock as she listened to you recall what happened during lunch.

your heart beat speeds up as you run around the track, even though you were already basically having a heart attack before you started.

having gym outside was already brutal, and the fact that it was extremely foggy and depressing-looking outside made it ten times worse. usually, you would’ve tired out by now, begging the gym teacher to let you inside because you had a “headache”, but for some reason you were feeling extremely bold today.

as you and your friend slow your pace you feel someone running behind you. you take a deep breath, expecting ellie to pop up behind you, but you’re suprised when you hear an unfamiliar voice call out your name.

you turn around to face her, and you look up and see abby.

your heart hammers in your chest while you try to catch your breath, simultaneously trying to calm your nerves.

“um…hey.”

you reply, staring up at her.

your eyes move to her hands, and you notice a piece of paper in one.

“is this yours?”

abby reaches her hand with the paper towards you, realizing its your class schedule.

“oh yeah, thanks.”

abby smiles at you, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket. you subconsciously mirror her actions, slipping your hands into yours.

“welcome. we have pretty similar schedules actually.”

“oh really? i didn’t notice.”

you smile at her, and she offers the same smile back.

mina makes her hands smooch, making an obnoxious kissy face behind abby.

“yeah, you seemed like you were kinda staying to yourself today.”

you give her a death glare before looking back to abby, slightly shifting on your feet.

“i guess, i’ve just been….avoiding someone.”

you look away for a second, and see ellie angrily storming towards the two of you, all her anger and eye sight directed towards abby.

shit.

abby looks in the same direction as you, watching you get anxious as ellie walks over.

“you okay?”

you redirect your attention to abby, watching her eyebrows quirk at you in concern.

you give her a quick nod, but the look on her face remains unchanged. she doesn’t believe you.

you feel ellie get closer to you. you run through the thousands of scenarios that could go wrong if she gets over to the two of you.

ellie would think you’re a pathetic weirdo, and abby would think you’re an insane person.

however, your body moves faster than your thoughts, and you choose the absolute worse option to get out of this.

you slightly stand on your tiptoes and smash your lips onto abbys, holding her face with your hands.

her eyes widen in shock, blind to you as you shut yours as hard as possible.

surprisingly, she doesn’t pull away.

ellie sees the sight in front of her and scoffs, staring at the two of you in disbelief.

“guess she wasn’t lying.”

taglist:

if ur name is crossed i cant tag u :((

@rimaybank @nickiminaj689 @ leomcshizzle @planetflorxa @teawithnosugar @sawaagyapong @how-to-disappearrr @vsselz @pepperispicy @chrry1ovr @ 4yn1y4h @lottienatfinalgirls @honeycinnamonenthusiast @heartrobynn @ibatman @sugarbag @arizvla

[lover-of-mine]

Lady Whistledown.... Baby.. The dumpster is on fire!!!! Let's go to the upside down world because I don't know if we should laugh or cry.

First things first. I have never been able to accurately track what OG Buddies made their prominent burners on X and Insta. It was like June when Oliver started blocking them that they were created. And they just vanished. All gone. So much traffic and propaganda gone. Also some of them now pretending they want back on the Buddie train like they never trashed it.

Two. Huge conspiracy that this was all out of nowhere. I mean he mentioned Eddie on an anniversary date and sure this shit just fell out of the sky. But the election, the Buddies the all of it just became to much and Tim cut it prematurely.

Three. They have always hated Oliver but now it's worse. Lous words make it seem like poor him, he wanted the story. It was evil Oliver and his crush on Ryan that ended it all. He basically became a martyr to them.

Four.. they are going nowhere. Don't think you are getting a break. They hope it's the beginning of the rom com slow burn. Buck will realize he needs to fight to get Tommy back. Or just hate watching. Hating on all things Buddie and Ryan and Oliver.

Lastly everyone should just watch their in boxes. They have always false flagged and pretended to be "Buddies" to create chaos. It won't stop. It will be a long hiatus after next week.

But back on grass. Honestly it's the OG Buddies that switched ships that are the most pissed. They didn't even get an angsty break up. It was literally so boring. And they hate he called him Buck after they spent months making a big deal about Evan. It's like they think it was designed to wound them on purpose.

I will keep you posted if anything more interesting happens. I feel like it's going to be a long weekend.

Hello baby. This is... wow. I can't even say it's unexpected, because it is very expected. I actually watched a bunch of those accounts disappear. Turning on Oliver is literally the most obvious thing they could ever do, I literally read a post saying they wish the show had written off Oliver instead. The idea the show filmed different ending and the episode was edited because Trump won is literally the most insane thing I've seen coming from them and that's saying something. And honestly, I was bracing myself from them not to go anywhere anyway so. I did giggle when he called him Buck, I mean I was giggling the whole scene because green, but that was a highlight lol. The relationship ended as uneventful as it happened, and it was brought on by Abby of all thing AND highlighted the way Buck is very much still on the hamster wheel. Anyone who's been here before 704 caught on the way that was a repetition of patterns, I can only imagine how mad they are after jumping ship and creating all this chaos. Please do keep me posted, it's definitely gonna be an interesting weekend.

[xf-cases-solved]

S2E2: The Host 😔

Case: In what is an episode I have purposefully avoided rewatching for at least a decade—because it is DISGUSTING—we find ourselves off the coast of New Jersey, bc of course this hellscape of an episode takes place in fucking New Jersey. A Russian kid on a ship gets pulled into a septic tank (ew) by A Creature, and his body is discovered in a sewer (ew) a few days later. Skinner gives this case to Mulder, and Mulder is pissed about it, for which I don't blame him for a second bc it is, quite literally, shit work. (This does, however, lead to a very funny confrontation where Mulder throws a tantrum at Skinner, only to then discover he's currently in a meeting. I did lol at that, I'll admit.) 

Anyway, Mulder reluctantly continues with the case, secretly recruiting Scully on the side to do some autopsy(!!) work and to pick her brain for science, even though the bosses said they aren't allowed to sit next to each other in class anymore. The episode just gets worse and worse and fucking worse from there, when Scully discovers a flukeworm (ew) in the dead kid's body. More evidence continues to compile, soon making it clear that what they're dealing with is something much larger and much grosser than they could have ever anticipated. 

People keep walking around and getting covered in sewer water, making me want to scrub myself so clean all the skin comes off my body; a man coughs up a worm and it is Horrible; Deep Throat is gone, but it looks like he might have a successor (!!!); Mulder and Scully have a friend in the FBI, I wonder who it could be 🤔 (hint: he's bald); and Mulder briefly considers quitting, but somehow THIS fucking episode is the one that convinces him to stay. (Like, I get it, learning he has an ally in Skinner is all well and good or whatever, I GET IT, okay? But look. If my boss was claiming to be my ally and then forced me to chase after a giant man-eating sewer worm—requiring me to BE in the literal sewer in the process btw—I would quietly set my badge and gun down on my boss's desk, walk out the building, and get on the next flight to New Zealand. Fuuuuuuck that, and fuuuuuuck this episode.)

Does someone die in the cold open: Yes, and it is the worst way any person could possibly die.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: He no longer has anyone to present slideshows to. 😔

Does the evidence survive the investigation: If it did, they should fucking burn it.

Whodunit: ☹️ worm man ☹️

Convictions: Chris Carter, for the crime of writing this and then making it exist in the world where I had to watch it with my eyeballs and process its contents with my brain.

Did they solve it: Yes, I suppose they did, in the sense that they figured out what killed that guy, and had a semi-reasonable explanation for how the horrible monster worm was able to come to be. Whether or not the horrible monster worm is still out there being horrid and monstrous? Well, that part remains an X-File.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Bleach. Pour it in your eyes and also over your whole entire body and forget any of this ever happened.

Oh, and also sponsored by this funny text I accidentally sent my sister:

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 13 (first solve of the season. unfortunate that it had to be this)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me": 6 (told you it starts to go up rly fast)

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 6

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 8 

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 8

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 13 (nothing overt, but they did have a nice conversation together, and mulder said something to the effect of being able to work with scully was the only reason he could think to stay at the fbi at this point)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 4 (and there was a worm in the body ☹️)

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 16 (i was too grossed out watching this to properly appreciate it, but X has entered the chat!!!!! my favorite informant!!! i will get into more detail as to why as we make our way through the season, but eep!) 

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Times Someone Correctly Guesses a Password: 3 

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 3 (you know what? i'm upping this stat. why did he go to the sewer in a suit???)

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 3 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 3

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 2

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 8

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 1

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 0 (but i can hear his slow approach...)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 9½ (of COURSE it's new jersey) 

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 5 (unfortunately i paid attention to the whole thing ☹️)

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

Oh my god, that wine is 100% poisoned.

And they would poison her in front of all these people who are either in on it, or will go out of their way to cover it up 🤮

***

SMART GIRL, MINGLAN!

DRINK NOTHING SHE GIVES YOU!!

***

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

GU TINGYE ISN'T EVEN AT HOME!! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING FOR THE THIRD FUCKING TIME???

***

I am beyond pissed off here but honestly, I blame Minglan for this one. She set the precedent by taking in that last bottom feeder to appease these villains so why would they not try this bullshit again?

***

Smh.

Just as I thought.

Minglan really needs to stop with the people-pleasing shenanigans and start murdering the bitches shitting on her doorstep.

***

I started watching this episode last night and had to stop because my head was absolutely pounding, and then it continued to pound all day today. It is now 18:10 and the pain has been persisting for at least 24 hours at this point, but I am momentarily medicated and feel like I can hold my head up straight if I don't move around too much, so I want to see where this bullshit is going. The righteous fury on Minglan's behalf will either heal me or transform the headache into complete agony. There can be no middle ground.

***

"Best temperament" is code for "she lets us walk all over her and mistreat her in every way imaginable without fighting back and still begs for our approval" in this society from what I've seen.

Fuck that. Minglan, give them hell! Who needs a reputation for being a doormat? Your evil aunt is apparently out murdering people and no worse for wear, so you may as well tell them all to fuck off and live to see another day. Also, Gu Tingye will be proud!

***

OMG, Minglan, please start showing that shiny spine!

It is episode 59, it is time to put this shit-stirrer in her place.

***

LMAOOOO, GO OFF, MINGLAN!!

Nanny Chang wasn't enough for her, she had to come back for seconds, so let her have it!! 💪💪

***

I am fascinated that she keeps murdering people and just... getting away with it.

And apparently, everyone knows and nobody does anything about it.

***

LOL, Minglan has decided that today is the day to air ALL the dirty family laundry 🤣🤣

Take note, Madam Qin, if you don't get your act together, you're next!

***

LMAO, now they are accusing Minglan of lying.

Too bad for them that this time, they've bitten off more than they can chew. Minglan will end them all.

***

LMAO, where is this girl's father?

Concubine-born or not, how can she just kick her out of the house like that? Even if she were to marry Gu Tingye as a concubine, surely there must be some kind of process? At least have her pack her things and lend her a cart to carry them over? This just makes no sense, she went out for lunch at the neighbours' place with her stepdaughter in tow and just decided to dump her there. Who does that? Who allows it?

AND THE GROOM ISN'T EVEN AT HOME TO CONSENT TO ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT.

There is no chance any of this is above-board.

***

Bitch, shut up.

Minglan should let more of you die and maybe you'll learn.

***

MTE.

On the one hand, I feel sorry for the cousin, she is clearly being abused in her family home, but on the other looking to Minglan to fix it by SHARING HER HUSBAND WITH HER, OF ALL THINGS, AND ALLOWING HER TO SPY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT TO LITERALLY KILL HER is just beyond.

***

Oh, shut up.

I see Nanny Chang is there. I trust Nanny Chang.

***

Seriously.

Whether or not Cousin dies is not Minglan's responsibility, especially since they are asking her to resolve it to great personal detriment. Again, I ask, where is this girl's father? Also, is there no law whatsoever here protecting this girl? That fisherwoman accusing Gu Tingye's buddy of rape got a whole trial so there are definitely laws in place here and places to appeal to.

Aunt Kang is getting away with all this bullshit because people are letting her.

***

Words to live by 💪💪

***

OMFG, THEN GO AHEAD AND DIE.

YOU AND EVERY SINGLE OTHER ONE OF YOU WHO HAS TRIED THIS SO FAR.

***

THIRD DAY, THIRD ATTEMPT TO FINISH THIS EPISODE 💪💪

I made it maybe 15 minutes last night before I had to turn everything off and rock back and forth in a dark room as I suffered. I eventually ended up vomiting, which was completely WTF. I've heard that this happens with migraines but this was my first time experiencing it and honestly? I don't think that this was a migraine either because the pain was not the stabbing agony with an aura they describe, but more like a constant throbbing pressure in my entire head. I get headaches often, and yes, they sometimes go on for two or three days, but I have never had one that was this intense, this long and so pain-killer resistant that I ended up vomiting because of it. It is now day three and I can still feel it throbbing in the background. My body is definitely trying to tell me something but I a not sure I am ready to listen 😔

***

Minlgan is too kind.

If it were me in her position, I would not feel one ounce of guilt.

[charmedpruehalliwell]

Hey, I need the lore on the Wil Wheaton national TV fiasco. I'm intrigued.

I apologize for letting this sit in my inbox for a hot minute, being an adult with responsibilities and stuff is stupid 😒 (especially when you have an uncontrolled chronic illness on top of it, but anywho)

my time has finally come

okay I lied just a little because it wasn't technically Wil Wheaton that made fun of me, but you'll get what I mean in a moment

So about ten(ish) years ago, Wil had a short lived series on Syfy called the Wil Wheaton Project and for those unfamiliar, he would basically discuss the geek news of the week (like, I know Gotham was airing at the same time, so he would often talk about the latest episode) and there were sketches and guest stars and things of that nature.

But, let me give you some context on me ten years ago, so I can really paint the picture of how batshit this was for me. So, I would've been around 19, maybe 20, at that time, and I had just watched Next Gen for the first time and instantly fell in love (it was actually the first star trek series I had seen, and it's what got me into it). But, not only did I love the show and characters as a whole, I was OBSESSED with Wesley in particular (and Data, but that's not relevant to this story), and at that point in my life I was so much worse than I am now in the sense that, when I was fixated on a certain character, I was FIXATED. Which made me want to look up what Wil was doing in the present day. (it certainly didn't help that i developed a brief little crush on adult Wil). Like, I bought and read his book, I watched and rewatched every movie of his I could get my hands on (Toy Soldiers and Stand By Me in particular were practically playing on a loop), I would rewatch the Wesley episodes like. It was bad lol

So, when I found out he was going to have a new show on Syfy, ofc I was super thrilled and my ass was SEATED from day one when it first premiered. I would faithfully watch it every single week while live tweeting. But, obviously the only episode I ever missed live ended up being the one where I was mentioned lmao I can't remember exactly why I couldn't watch it right away, it's been ten years lol But, I think I was just out or something so I had my DVR set. Normally I would've just watched it the second I got home, but my Mom really enjoyed it as well so I promised I would save it until the next night so we could watch together. As soon as I said good night to her, I logged onto twitter and. all these random people were tweeting me and retweeting a couple of my tweets and I was like "????" I used twitter a lot back then, but I still like. my following was very modest, and I was only involved in one (1) fandom on there, so things like that did not happen to me. And what's worse, the first few people that tweeted at me didn't really explain why?

BUT THEN. I got to one that I still remember it to this day both because it's when I was sort of clued in to what had happened and also because the tweet itself was kinda funny to me. It said something like "just watched the wil wheaton project and immediately had to run to twitter to see if you're real, I'm so glad you are. Have a good evening!" and that's when the adrenaline kicked in. I saw a few more tweets mention the Wil Wheaton Project so at this point I'm literally shaking lmao and I ran into my Mom's room to show her and to freak out a little so she's like "alright, let's go watch it"

And we're watching it, and everything's normal, Wil's just talking about the nerdy stuff that happened that week and I'm just getting more confused as to what I had to do with this BUT THEN

(as a sidenote, they obviously showed my twitter username, but I'd rather not repeat it here because I started it when I was a very young teenager and I no longer have access to it and I'm sure there's stuff on there from past me that would get me doxxed and killed on the "we piss on the poor" no nuance website)

Anyway, he had this segment with Skeletor where Skeletor would read mean tweets, and since this was the season 1 finale (which, unfortunately, also turned out to be the series finale), Skeletor was reading tweets disparaging the Wil Wheaton Project. AND THEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN, MY TWEET POPS UP ON THE SCREEN BEHIND WIL AS HE SAYS SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF, "I happen to know a lot of people like watching the show. For example, [REDACTED] said, 'My Tuesday isn't complete without a new episode of the #WilWProject :)'"

and that's about where I burst into (very excited!) tears lmao my mom had to lovingly shush me because she was trying to hear what was being said but I was too busy crying

So, then Skeletor made comment about how I must be a woman of sophistication before he pulled up another one of my tweets that read, "I love sitting on countertops and I don't know why" and then he said one or two more things making fun of me and my love of sitting on countertops and that was about it lol

But the thing is, those two tweets were not back to back. I was a young millennial on social media, I was posting every damn thought that popped into my head lmao and idk when they started planning out the next week's show and writing the jokes, but there's about a 50% chance that either Wil himself or someone on his team saw some of tweets where I talked about how adorable I thought Wesley was in his uniform 🤦🏻‍♀️ (I like to imagine my absolute nightmare scenario where Wil and maybe a few writers are all sitting around some table and my tweets are just projected onto a screen in the front of the room or something. I don't want to be corrected if that's not what happened, I'd rather just live with that image forever 😂)

Anyway, I can't remember exactly how long it was after that happened, but I believe it was at least a few days, Wil posted on his website that unfortunately, the show had been canceled. Except he titled that particular post with "if you like sitting on countertops..." which was so bittersweet for me. Like, I was obviously super bummed his show hadn't made it but it was so exciting that I wasn't just a blip on his radar, like I was still a part of the running gag! And, as I said, it's been a decade since this happened but I still think of it at least once a year on the anniversary, if not more often, because it was legit one of the top 5 moments of my life lol

I've always hoped that I would get to go to a convention or something and meet him so I could be like "I'm the countertop girl!" but sadly, especially with COVID, that hasn't happened yet. Perhaps someday :)

[squishyteri]

More DFF (after ep 10)

So, I waited until the next day ... and it didn't help, I'm still disappointed from the episode.

First of all, this episode was really short (about 35 minutes if we cut the intro and the end credits) and it gave us even less than any of the previous ones. I wonder where to even start.

Let's start with my general issue for this ep and that being the uneccesary, immersion ruining flashbacks. I have no idea if BOC thinks we're dumb idiots with negative IQ who can't remember what happened previously, even when they showed it to us in the intro sequence, but I don't need flashback smacked into my face when character is admitting something hurtful to other character(s) and the main point is the reaction to the reveal. Just have the character say it, with emotions, with tears, let them yell it out! It applies to both PheeJin telling the truth to each other and Tee confessing what he did.

You know how much better would the scenes come out if Phee just teary eyed told Jin everything, in a dialogue, with us being able to see Jin's reaction to every word he speaks, every new information he learns? Same goes for Tee's confession. Instead of the flashback, make the man cry, admit what he did and beg Fluke for letting White go after every sentence.

Trust me, we viewers remember what happened, and even if not, the character saying it would be enough for us to remember.

Moving on to the PheeJin part of the story. If we turn a blind eye on the fact that they managed to walk in circles for so long (too gay to walk straight ig), we absolutely need to look at their talk before that painful part happened.

I was looking forward to this episode mainly because I wanted to see how Jin will react to Phee admitting he's been lying to him for 3 years and that he was just using him (including the sex). But Jin has like zero reaction to it. He seems confused and shocked for a second before saying: "You know what, I did something worse so ... yeah, it's ok."

And then admits he posted the video of KengNon (which like, why making all the effort to make us believe there's a chance Jin didn't do it, when he just spills it like that ... the suspense of the uncertainity was totally ruined like ... you could've just showed us he did it, it wouldn't change a damn thing if he admits it just like he did) AND PHEE'S REACTION IS LITERALLY:

Like he seemed pissed, but then he saw the axe and everything was forgotten just like that?????? Hello????? Is this the Phee we knew until now???? The same Phee who told Non to get lost and die???? Like I get it there could've been some character development behind the scenes, but still, he should be pissed much more because the video absolutely destroyed the man he once loved.

Also, I don't know if I forgot anything, but did Jin hurt his foot/leg? I remember him falling and hurting his shoulder, so I was kind of confused why he can't walk suddenly and Phee has to support him.

But as my friend Dante (@tbhimnoteasyonmyself) said, man who has secret knowledge of Non in his ass, might as well have functionality of his two feet hidden in his shoulder...

Now another thing I want to point out is how they ran out of this little hints that will make a big reveal later and now they are just dumping REALLY obvious stuff on us.

Like PheeJin leaving the axe behind? I can tell someone (most likely someone unexpected, possibly the ninth person) grabs it and smashes someone with it (someone we would not expect to die in that situation).

And the moment I screamed at my screen and banged head on my table. THEM GIVING THE GUN TO WHITE. FOR A SECOND TIME. TO THE ONLY PERSON WHO IS SO EASY TO DISARM THAT A TODDLER WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE THE MF GUN. AND FLUKE BEING THE ONE TO TAKE IT AGAIN! I'm at loss of words. Like did we run out of ideas there? Did the writing team take a day off and someone else had to write this ep? Like that was so predictable and it pains me that they are this stupid.

Another question to the writing team. Did we forget which character is the doctor there? Why did White suddenly pulled a drug knowledge out of his ass, while the character you told me was a to be doctor and a medicine student was sitting there saying that hallucinations are not a thing. Either we are missing some White background knowledge (which like, we do, tell me something about him pls) or the writing team got some absynth from Tan as well.

And lastly, Tan hurting Por. I know this part might be just what Phee thinks happened, but I wasted my good ten minutes watching his thoughts so... I believe we agreed that Tan had an alibi for the time of Por's injury. Yes, he could've set the trap earlier, but he had to make sure Por is the one to get lured in there (since we're following the script) so he had to be there lure out the right person. Not to mention that Por got cut with the knife (which was after he impaled himself most likely) and I have hopes that others are not such idiots to not question Tan if he had been gone at the same/similar time as Por after they found him hurt. And I'm not saying he had to bring out a brick solid alibi, just one line of them asking: "Hey, but you were gone too, where were you?" and Tan saying: "Oh, I went to the bathroom, my stomach was upset." would be enough, because they wouldn't suspect Tan and as a viewer you wouldn't suspect him either, because he might as well have been doing just that.

Now for the next ep, I wonder what is White. I hope they had a good reason to keep his backstory hidden until now, because right now, he has nothing going on for him. Top doesn't have anything about him either, but he at least has interesting plot in the present time, but all White did was cry, whine, let manical Fluke took the gun TWO FUCKING TIMES and ... oh, yeah he fixed the radio ... that was still useless, but at least he tried ig. Like I'm trying to like him, but there's nothing about him to like so far ... like yeah, he's cute, but that's not enough to make me care about him if he's in danger or the right opposite, make me wanna help the killer slash him. So I beg you, give me something to work with.

It also seems that we will get more Perth in the next ep and I'm so interested what he's about.

And Tan making Phee shoot someone? Oh boy, that's going to be interesting.

That was way too long, thank you for making it through.

Love y'all and see you next week again.

[whatchuwaitinfor]

Warning; Rant.

Yeah… I thought the Helluva Boss fandom was going to understand finally that Blitzø isn’t the main bad guy in the ‘relationship’ of stolitz.

So the eighth episode of Helluva Boss’s season two came out and no surprise there… everyone hates Blitzø but no one is even mad at Stolas. God dammit, I should’ve expected this.

If you are NOT 18 or older, you might take offense to this. But understand I’m not insulting anyone. I’m just pointing out the things people tend to ignore.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a Stolas slander post. I’m just pissed that all I see is “fuck you Blitzø” and “oh no baby Stolas”

Oh boy, so let’s have a rundown of the Stolitz relationship. And why Blitzø isn’t the only asshole in the relationship. Specifically Stolas in the episode that we just saw.

Blitzø is owned by Stolas because Stolas’ father, Paimon got Blitzø for Stolas on his birthday to make him stop crying. Blitzø is owned by the Goetia family and specifically Stolas.

About 25 years later, Blitzø steals the grimoire and had sex with Stolas to keep him from noticing that he stole it.

They have that type of relationship later one every full moon and yadda yadda yadda.

Stolas never once acted like he cared for Blitzø and Blitzø doesn’t really know how to talk to people and be vulnerable. We saw when Blitzø and Moxxie were tripping balls early in the show; Blitzø saw Stolas and gained chains on him; indicating he’s a sex slave because he technically is. He saw Stolas as higher than anyone in this world, the most amazing thing on throne at the top of a large staircase right outside the gates of Heaven. Stolas is untouchable, an Angel to Blitzø. He loves him very much.

Fast forward a bit, Ozzie’s place; when Ozzie and Fizz were making fun of Blitzø and Stolas’ relationship, Blitzø desperately looked at Stolas, hoping he’d say something to help and Stolas looked away embarrassed, communicating that he’s embarrassed to even be in the same place as Blitzø. That’s how Blitzø took it if that’s not what Stolas, but even I would believe what Blitzø believed if that happened to me.

So Stolas makes it clear every time as Blitzø said, that all Blitzø is is a sex toy. Don’t make me have to remind you guys that Stolas always called him “my little impish play thing” that’s not a sweet, romantic, sexual nickname, that’s a red flag. That’s a dick move.

Fast forward a little more; Blitzø could not go to the hospital that Stolas stayed at. If he did, that’d be bad and dangerous for the both of them. I’m pretty damn sure that Blitzø wanted to visit him because he almost died, did you guys forget the look on his face when he found out Stolas almost died? He was so distraught and sad, worried even that he was the first to text that time; mind you, he doesn’t know how to read or spell, he can’t even spell Moxxie’s name right as we see in the recent episode.

Moxxie even commented about that episodes earlier saying something like this, “we’re not going to get clients with a poorly written and spelt flyer”. It may not be word for word but he did comment about Blitzø’s lack of knowing how to spell. It’s even in the backgrounds everywhere.

But anyway, he couldn’t go to the hospital because that would cause paparazzi to make things worse that an imp; the lowest of the low in hell, is visiting a Goetia in the hospital. You know, the people who are RIGHT BELOW the DEADLY SINS in the hierarchy chart of Hell in this show and Hazbin Hotel. Yeah, no. Blitzø didn’t wanna do that which is understandable. And then he can’t even text Stolas because he’s looking for his sister in literally the next episode who is an ungrateful bitch that hates him for something he didn’t do on purpose! Yeah, like he has time to text Stolas, who again he thinks still uses him for sex. Which again is understandable with all the shit that Stolas did.

Alright, fast forward again… catch up to this episode… yeah, Stolas got him the gemstone so he can start fixing what he caused; but it would’ve been nice if he texted or called him to warn him that they’re going to have a chat when he gets there. Also would’ve been nice if he didn’t react interested to what Blitzø was showing him and then dump the conversation on him. Also would’ve been nice if he would’ve let him think and understand what Stolas is saying. Have a conversation about it, let Blitzø see that he is apart of the conversation. So obviously Blitzø is going to react how he does because again, Stolas only cared about himself and how he’s affected. When having a conversation about something like this, you need to pay attention to the other person you’re talking to. Understand what they say and try and come up with something together and not just throw them out your house when they’re blowing up because you didn’t let them think, claiming that you always thought of them highly, when you never showed that you did and had them understand until just then. Stolas didn’t even let him process.

In short, both Blitzø and Stolas are assholes, they’re lovable assholes, but their assholes. But this time, one (Stolas) was more the asshole than the other (Blitzø). Talk to your partners, let them have their moment too if you want them to know you care. I expected them to break up and take a break from each other, because they needed it. I’m just trying to say that Blitzø wasn’t the bad guy this time. Think of what you’d do if you were in his shoes throughout the entire time of this ‘relationship’ they had. You would blow up to and you know it though you don’t want to say it.

If you hate Blitzø in this scene, it shows you didn’t pay attention to what he said.

In conclusion, I was just saying that Blitzø isn’t the bad guy every time. Please stop putting Stolas on a pedestal just because he’s more attractive.

End of rant.

[knowlessman]

bnha prepare to cry edition (s2e10-12), with Todoroki: Origins

huh, new OP. bit of a different vibe, but I'm not complaining; sounds familiar tho - …oh. I clicked on the previous episode by mistake, this is the outro

ahem, yes, complexes n abuse n stuffs

still same old OP. the animation is nice tho, I'll say that much

oh shit here we go

"with your arms like that, you can't fight any more" the human body has four limbs, zuko. granted, deku has already committed a lot of healing to what's essentially an overvalued pissing match

…eh? why'd that one work? -- he can cash in each finger twice now??? 'XD at the rate he's going, he's going to cash in all the potential he had and have nothing to put on his resume just to have a resume -- "there's a limit to how much cold your body can take" yeah, and it's a lot fucking higher than your limits; zuko doesn't need a new arm every fight -- "you haven't put a single scratch on me yet" says the guy who's only been keeping himself in the game by sacrificing lands every turn and who doesn't even seem to have a wincon

"endeavor is shouting encouragement now, such a doting father" get. the fuck. off. the mic.

endeavor's gonna be unwatchable after this, I think. he's gonna think all his dreams came true. imo, deku shoulda let todoroki limit himself. there are worse responses to being born with power/privilege than "I refuse to use it."

ooh, iida's up next

(todoroki to endeavor) "for a moment, I forgot about you." damn straight.

oh, who invited mineta? fuck off.

wonder if they ever call back to this "your arm will never be the same" stuff later. I guess I couldn't blame them too much if they don't, but they are making a big deal out of how much deku keeps sacrificing for momentary advantages in fights that ultimately don't really matter. heck, even when he doesn't damage a limb more than usual, he's ostensibly using up his body's lifetime capacity for healing (I think they implied that last season anyway).

(iida showing plant girl the door) 'XD only the most gentlemanly of ring-outs. typical of iida; old-fashioned, but exceedingly polite while somehow not sacrificing effectiveness.

meanwhile, back in the world…

I love the metapod bros, they're great 'XD

iida did good tho; gotta admit, the jobbers are jobbing (including all the girl characters bc patriarchy -_-), but they are at least getting to have A Plan that Could Have Worked, they're not just showing up and getting shutout

(iida's brother got got) hm. shame. -- …like. I mean this isn't being overdone or anything, it doesn't feel cliche or out-of-nowhere or whatnot, but part of me still wants to joke about iida going edgy and going on a revenge quest and getting a sword and shit. I don't know if I hope that actually happens; mostly I'm thinking "it's gonna be a helluva moment when he finds out." : / the show has managed to avoid killing off any named characters so far, but we didn't know ingenium (?) that well

(bakugo vs tokoyami) dangit. I hate it when dickheads figure things out

"do you have a moment to hear about our lord and savior Facepalm-sama?"

there are 25 daggone episodes in this season, it's a good thing they're such bangers

(flashback to last season) "I'm gonna beat you, deku, and I'll do it wearing my two-sizes-too-big delinquent-style baggy pants!"

"I AM… KICKING THE DOOR IN LIKE A DICKHEAD WITH A CHIP ON MY SHOULDER THAT CAN BE SEEN FROM OUTER SPACE!!!" -- "you knew midoriya when you were kids. has he always given a shit about other people?" 'XD

bakugo and endeavor are literally the same person except endeavor acts like he can read

…this annoying butt-60's-superhero music thing just said "be a fuck*ng superstar." they bleeped out the i in -ing. …anyway

(muffled explosions) mineta: "w-what's that sound?" leave this show mineta, every single frame you are in could be edited out with no other changes and the show would be improved for it

"the stronger the quirk, the more imprecise the attacks" says the guy who definitely didn't watch todoroki's fight with iida

no, bakugo, as a matter of fact you don't deserve the world and everything in it just because your mother told you so -- good timing with the knockout gas. seriously, if bakugo even got hired he'd be a massive liability to anybody who tried to either manage or team up with him. guy needs several tons of high-impact character development before he'll be anything else.

give bakugo a golden dunce cap because they only paired him against people who had type disadvantages to him and one person who would have hated having to look at the trophy anyway. …oh yeah he did fight kirishima; I guess that one was decided more through stamina than by anything else

'XDDD holy fuck bakugo looks like the Ram from Dead Island -- …no yeah there's just no talking to bakugo for awhile I think. I mean, hell, there usually isn't anyway

weirdo bakugo still has the medal in his mouth

(ingenium died I think?) harsh

(todoroki visits his mom) hm

eh, seems like a good stopping point for now I think

[trickarrows-bishop]

i genuinely get so angry at s4 of stranger things like im p like over it and have come up with aus and stuff to combat it but like. goddamn does THIS line

piss me off. what do you mean she said this and then the very next episode had steve saying he's been fantasizing abt having six kids with his ex from two years ago.

they'd still b treating robin like shit if she was straight, but it's a spit in the face that she's queer and they still have her deliver this dialogue. they're basically saying that us queer people? yeah, our stories aren't important as straight ones. unless, of course, like will, your love is used to instead boost a straight couple!

s4 was just such a horrible season overall

honestly season three has been its peak so far for me. season four was alright to watch for the first time ( not that fucking finale tho. fuck that finale was horrible. ) but when you look back at it all they truly couldn't have written a worse script.

i get that yeah, its the 80s, queer people aren't exactly accepted that well. but fuck they very much existed AND very much had a love lives. robin's story is JUST as important as steve's is.

also. i want to deep dive into how they did queer rep in season four with vickie. we see how robin acts around vickie and its all nice and sweet like aww look robin's panicking over a girl thats cute !! but. they really fumbled the bag with the fact that vickie at the end of season four's finale literally mirroring robin's like. every mannerism. like. okay. say in season five we have vickie and robin set up to be a couple. cute. cool. but are you telling me that they're then being like "oh yeah this is exactly how EVERY sapphic and woman liker acts when they have a crush on a girl" like??? lol weirdly enough. NO ??? like that acc really pissed me off the way they just copied and pasted the way robin acted around vickie to when vickie acts around robin. i get and understand fully that the chances are they're trying to tell us in season five there's a chance vickie is going to be romantically interested in robin- but WEIRDLY enough they're so many other ways of doing that and to show her having a potential crush on robin. like the literally could've had. ONE. shot of her just taking an extra second to look at robin in that finale and that would've sufficed. pissing me off. season four really did piss me off their representation for queer media has literally dropped sm like they should let someone else write season five atp

[zuko-always-lies]

Unpopular Opinion: Zuko’s treatment of Mai is deeply toxic.

Mai is a character who is often maligned in the fandom, with it even occasionally being claimed that she was “abusive” toward Zuko. Any objective analysis of Mai’s behavior in her relationship with Zuko will instead find that she was, in fact, a shockingly good romantic partner, generally treating Zuko very well and being loyal to him far beyond reasonable expectation.  Claims that Mai behaved toxically toward Zuko seem to be instead founded in misogynistic expectations that women be perfect caretakers for the men in their lives.

That is not to say that the Zuko-Mai relationship isn’t still deeply toxic. However, its toxicity stems from the manner which Zuko badly mistreats Mai, often in ways which devalue her. Much more under the cut.

Our story begins in the first half of Book 3.  The vast majority of episodes there don’t show anything particularly toxic going on in the relationship. The most you can say is that they suggest that Zuko tends to dump his problems on others and doesn’t have best understanding of his girlfriend.

However, inevitably we must turn to “The Beach,” the episode which, by far, gets the most into the Zuko-Mai relationship. To say that Zuko doesn’t behave well toward Mai in this episode would be an understatement. I don’t speak here of Zuko’s unsuccessful attempts to please Mai early in the episode, but instead how badly he starts treating her beginning at the party:

Ruon Jian: Hey, first ones here, huh? Zuko: (cut to shot of Zuko and Mai walking side by side) Pft. He thinks he's so great. (to Mai) Well, what do you think of him? (they stop walking) Mai: I don't have any opinion about him. I hardly know him. Zuko: You like him, don't you? (Mai sighs and walks away, as Zuko looks angrily in the direction of Ruon Jian. The camera zooms in on Ruon Jian)

And

(Cut to shot of Ruon Jian leaning over Mai. Zuko rushes toward them angrily and pushes Ruon Jian away from her. Cut to shot of Ruon Jian straightening his hair.) Ruon Jian: Whoa. What are you doing? Zuko: (close-up shot of Zuko, angry) Stop talking to my girlfriend! Ruon Jian: (Ruon Jian approaches Zuko) Relax, it's just a party. (Zuko pushes Ruon Jian hard, sending him flying across the room, breaking a giant vase.) Mai: (Mai stands up and grabs Zuko's shoulder. He turns towards her.) Zuko, what is wrong with you?! Zuko: What's wrong with me?! Mai: (angrily) Your temper's out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're so impatient and hot-headed and angry. Zuko: Well, at least I feel something...as opposed to you. You have no passion for anything. (raising his arms is the air) You're just a big "blah". Mai: (turning away from him) It's over, Zuko. We're done.

 And:

(Zuko follows her and the camera pans down to the handprint, left alone on the porch. Cut to wide view of the camera panning down Ember Island Beach. Zuko and Azula are walking side by side toward Mai and Ty Lee. Close shot of Zuko looking toward Mai and then looking away. Close shot of Mai looking angry and a bit sad.) Mai: Hey... (Interrupted) Zuko: (close shot of Zuko) Where's your new boyfriend? (Mai turns away angrily. Zuko comes and sits next to her) Are you cold? (he puts his arm around her, but she slaps it away)

Zuko is acting in a massively controlling fashion toward Mai, motivated by his violent and rage-filled jealously.  She literally can’t talk to a boy without Zuko flying into a jealous rage, trying to separate her from the person she’s talking to, and accusing her of emotional infidelity. In real life, this is considered a warning sign for an abusive relationship(although I don’t think Zuko has crossed the line into abusive yet).

“The Beach” also gives us this:

Mai: Oh, well, I'm sorry I can't be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you. (Cut to over-head shot of the four teens. Zuko walks closer to the fire and Mai.) Zuko: I'm sorry, too. I wish you would be high-strung and crazy for once, (Close shot of Mai looking away and Zuko standing over her) instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy. Are you gonna take that?

Zuko tries to provoke Mai into having a fight with her best friend Ty Lee just so he can watch her express strong emotions.  Zuko very much wants to Mai to be and act like someone she’s not, which has its own issues.

Overall, Zuko treats Mai quite poorly in “The Beach.” The episode ends with this:

Mai: I know one thing I care about... (Cut to shot of Mai smiling at Zuko) I care about you. (Mai and Zuko kiss. Azula claps, causing them to separate and turn toward Azula. The camera pans left to include her.)

Mai forgives Zuko and accepts him back without him acknowledging his behavior was wrong, apologizing for it, or giving her any guarantee that he will treat her better in the future. That’s unfortunate, as Zuko soon ends up treating her far, far worse than he ever did in this episode.

Zuko’s disregard for Mai cumulates with the manner he commits treason on the Day of Black Sun. Let us start our understanding of what he did wrong from the beginning. Breaking up with Mai via a letter which didn’t give her a real explanation was a real asshole move, but it’s not at the core of what he did wrong.  For that, we need to turn to this conversation from “The Headband”:

Zuko: Can't you see we're busy? (He and Mai resume their "business".) Azula: (not to be put off) Oh, Mai... Ty Lee needs your help untangling her braid. Mai: (complaisantly) Sounds pretty serious. (She gets up and leaves. Walking past Azula, towards the camera, she shoots the princess a quick, poisonous glance behind her back.) Azula: So...I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower. Zuko: (standing, incensed) That guard told you. Azula: (smugly) No, you did. Just now. Zuko: (sitting back down) Okay, you caught me. What is it that you want, Azula? Azula: (solicitiously) Actually, nothing. Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him. Just be careful, dum-dum.

Zuko has proven his loyalty to the Fire Nation beyond doubt, yet Azula is still very worried that him spending time with Iroh will get him accused of treason, because having a close association with traitors puts oneself under almost automatic suspicion of treason.

“Day of Black Sun, Part II”:

Zuko: First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me. Fire Lord Ozai: Why would she lie to me about that? Zuko: Because the Avatar is not dead. He survived. Fire Lord Ozai: (alarmed) What?!

Zuko deliberately throws Azula under the bus, hurting her and reducing her status with Ozai as much possible while effectively accusing her of deliberately committing treason. He also deliberately pisses off Ozai as much as possible.

So where does this leave us? Mai is Zuko’s known girlfriend and extremely close associate. Automatically, the suspicion of knowing of Zuko’s treason ahead of time or being involved falls upon her. She’s in grave risk of being imprisoned, tortured, or executed, especially since Ozai seems not the type to be strictly concerned with ensuring those he punishes are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The Fire Nation seems like a society which might have collective punishment(as historical East Asian societies, Nazi Germany, and the Stalinist Soviet Union did), and Mai might be under risk from that direction.  Finally, Ozai might hurt her simply as way of retaliating against Zuko.

Normally Azula would almost certainly be able to protect her friend, even under these trying circumstances, given Azula’s prestige and accomplishments.  However, Zuko has deliberately undermined Azula as much as possible and effectively accused her of committing treason herself, dramatically reducing the probability that she will be able to protect Mai.  In fact, Mai stands risk of being accused of being involved in Azula’s effort to “conceal the fact that the Avatar survived,” given Mai’s close association with Azula and her close involvement in the events where the Avatar “died.” She’s thus under danger from two different directions.

“But Zuko had to betray his father and become good through aiding Team Avatar.” Yes, it’s a good thing he did so. But Zuko had other options than the course he adopted. He could have avoided confronting Ozai at all and instead focused on rescuing Iroh(interesting AU idea right here).  He could have confronted Ozai but not thrown Azula under the bus, and that alone would have vastly reduced the risk to Mai(and also made Zuko out to be a better person, because deliberately throwing your younger sister under the bus and then abandoning her to the mercy of your abusive father is not a good look).  Zuko could have killed Ozai right then and there during the eclipse.  He even could have tried to lead Team Avatar to the bunker and tried to end the war right then and there.

“Zuko didn’t understand that he was placing Mai in danger.” Quite possible, but Zuko being so self-centered that he is unable of understanding that his actions can have negative effects on other people is a mark against him, not for him.

Now we turn to the Zuko’s behavior toward Mai in the rest of the third season.  Let us start with “The Boiling Rock, Part 1”:

Sokka: (emphatically) I think your Uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard. Zuko: It wasn't that hard. Sokka: (Cut to a side view of the basket) Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about? Zuko: Well I did have a girlfriend. Mai. Sokka: (He goes closer to Zuko with a surprised look on his face) That gloomy girl who sighs a lot? Zuko: (Cut back to show Zuko grinning goofily) Yeah. (his face turns serious) Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it. Sokka: (Cut back to Sokka who leans back on the basket) My first girlfriend turned into the Moon. Zuko: (looks up) That's rough buddy

There are two things to unpack here. First, Zuko claims he “couldn’t drag her into it,” yet he already did, as I’ve illustrated above. Second, Zuko seems to expect that Mai would have followed him into treason if he asked her, that she would be willing to betray her nation, ideology, family, and friends just for the sake of her love for him. That’s an insane and pretty toxic expectation for Zuko to have for her relationship with him, especially since he wouldn’t do the same for her.

We also get more confirmation that Zuko doesn’t care at all about Ty Lee or Azula.

I don’t have a lot to say about the Zuko-Mai conversation during Boiling Rock, Part 2. The only things I would like to note are that Zuko is not very sorry for what he did, not very empathetic toward Mai’s pain, and doesn’t give Mai a real apology for his actions.

Of course, Mai proceeds to save Zuko’s life through committing treason in front of dozens of witnesses at Boiling Rock, something which places her own life in serous jeopardy. How does Zuko react to this?

Zuko: (Cut to a shocked Zuko) It's Mai. Azula: (Cut to a furious Azula) What is she doing?! (Cut to the backs of Azula and Ty Lee as Ty Lee shrugs and makes a "I don't know" noise. Cut to the gondola as it reaches the outer part of the crater. Cut to the inside of the entrance tower as the door opens and Suki rushes out followed by Sokka, Zuko, Hakoda and Chit Sang. Hakoda turns towards Chit Sang and points to the inside of the gondola. Chit Sang proceeds to throw the warden back in.) Hakoda: (Cut to the back of Hakoda's head looking at the warden lying on the floor) Sorry Warden, your record is officially broken. (Hakoda walks off screen while the warden continues to struggle on the floor. Cut to a front shot of the group as they run up a rocky incline.) Suki: Well, we made it out. Now what? Sokka: (Sokka stops and looks back at Zuko who pauses in his tracks, thinking) Zuko, what are you doing? Zuko: My sister was on that island. Sokka: Yeah and she's probably right behind us. So let's not stop. Zuko: What I mean is she must have come here somehow. (He runs to the edge of the rocks and looks down) There. (Cut to an area looking up at the edge of the cliff) That's our way out of here. (Camera pans down to reveal a Fire Nation zeppelin docked at the shore.

Zuko says Mai’s name once and then abandons her (to die?) with zero hesitation.  This is probably objectively the correct decision. It would probably be extremely difficult and dangerous if not outright impossible to save Mai.  The prison-break crew do have access to an airship, but it’s difficult to fly an airship over the lake’s thermals.

Yet that’s not my point. Zuko abandons Mai with zero hesitation, with zero anguish, with zero angst. He doesn’t even to seem consider the possibility that he should save her.  Something tells me if Iroh had just saved Zuko’s life under identical circumstances and then was in imminent risk of harm, Zuko would act very differently, that Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda would have to drag him off that island.

Zuko’s complete disregard for Mai continues for the rest the series. Remember this exchange from “The Cave of Two Lovers”?

Zuko: (losing his patience) We're not taking any more chances with these plants! We need to get help. Iroh: But where are we going to go? We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom, and fugitives from the Fire Nation. Zuko: (musingly) If the Earth Kingdom, discovers us, they'll have us killed. Iroh: But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.

Zuko considers being captured by Azula a worse fate than death!

But do we see Zuko worry once about Mai’s fate? Do we see angst about what might have happened to her? Do we see him make any effort to even discover her fate, much less rescue her?

No. In fact, Zuko launches a sophisticated operation to infiltrate a Fire Nation information center so that he can gain intelligence in order to help Katara murder someone so that she’ll like him, but he doesn’t even consider doing the same to find out about Mai’s fate so that he could potentially rescue her. Zuko doesn’t even mention Mai once after Boiling Rock until the very end of the series finale, even though she sacrificed herself to save him. Remember this exchange(“Sozin’s Comet, Part 3”):

Zuko: Sorry, but you're not going to become Fire Lord today. (jumps off Appa) I am. Azula: (laughs) You're hilarious. Katara: (standing beside Zuko) And you're going down. (The fire sage motions to crown Azula, but she raises her hand, signalling him to stop.) Azula: Wait. You want to be Fire Lord Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai! Zuko: You're on. (Katara turns to Zuko, surprised. Cut to a close up of Azula's lips as the curls into a smile. Cut back to Katara and Zuko.) Katara: What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both so she is trying to separate us. Zuko: I know. But I can take her this time. Katara: But even you admitted to your Uncle that you would need help facing Azula. Zuko: There's something off about her, I can't explain it but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt. (Fade to a shot of the courtyard from the side. The camera pans from Zuko kneeling on the right end to Azula kneeling on the left end. Cut to a shot of Zuko rising and turning around, then cut to a shot of Azula rising. Each can be seen behind the other. Cut to a shot of Azula from the front turning and removing the Fire Lord robes.) Azula: I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother. Zuko: (in his stance) No, you're not.

Notice something? Zuko doesn’t demand to know what happened to Mai! It’s almost like he forgot she existed!

Now we turn to the final infamous exchange(“Sozin’s Comet, Part 4”):

Mai:(off screen) You need some help with that? (He looks up surprised and moves aside to reveal Mai leaning against the doorway. Cut to a close up of Mai as she walks towards Zuko.) Zuko: (Cut to a delighted Zuko) Mai! (Walks off screen) You're ok. (Cut to an area behind Mai's back as Zuko opens his arms out in a hug) They let you out of prison? (Mai walks behind Zuko and lifts up his empty robe sleeve.) Mai: My uncle (Zuko puts his arms through the sleeve) pulled some strings, (she proceeds to fasten his robe) and it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your boyfriend. (She walks in front of Zuko and places a hand on his chest) Zuko: So does this mean you don't hate me anymore? Mai: (she blushes) I think it means... (Cut to a close up of the couple) I actually (places a hand on Zuko's cheek) kind of like you. (They lean in for a kiss and part a fewseconds later, looking into each other's eyes happily) But don't ever (She jabs a finger into Zuko's shoulder and Zuko's eye traces the movement of her finger) break up (She lifts her finger into the air and Zuko's eyes still follows it) with me again. (She jabs her finger into Zuko's shoulder one last time and Zuko smiles goofily. They embrace and the camera zooms out slowly.

Zuko seems surprised to learn that Mai is OK, almost like he made no effort to find out her fate once he took charge of the Fire Nation. And indeed, his first acts as leader of the Fire Nation were not to find out what happened to her or, if he actually knew, to get her released from prison.  Mai only got released from prison when her uncle and his connections got sufficiently confident that Zuko had been completely accepted as the new leader to release a massive traitor completely on their own initiative.  This was quite possibly weeks after Azula-Zuko Agni Kai, yet he made no apparent effort to get her released. It’s almost like Zuko completely forgot about Mai, even though she sacrificed herself to save him.

And, of course, Zuko doesn’t accept responsibility for any of the awful ways he treated Mai, much less apologize to her or offer any guarantee he will behave better in the future. Mai still forgives him anyways, just like she did in “The Beach,” only for Zuko to continue to screw her over. There is something deeply depressing here, as there’s every reason to believe that Zuko will screw over Mai over, devalue her, and disregard her well-being, desires, and interests again the moment it’s convenient for him to do so. He certainly has not recognized that his toxic behavior here is something he needs to stop doing. Ironically, the comics get this right by having Zuko try to use his power as Firelord to order Mai to stay his girlfriend.

Ultimately, Zuko loves Mai and cares about her deeply, yet he still treats her as a tool and acts like she exists to serve him. It reminds me how show! canon Ozai genuinely loved show! canon Ursa, but still used her as a tool and threw her away.  Honestly, I doubt 16-year-old Zuko is really ready for any romantic relationship at all, given his often toxic behavior, his trauma, and the incredibly stressful position he’s placed in at the end of the series.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 311: Hand Gun

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “thinkin’ about dropping in some woke analogies of the very real and very presently relevant issue of racial profiling idk what do you guys think” and then shrugged and did it without waiting for an answer, and ngl it was a bit sudden, but I’m here for it. All Might was all “DEKU YOU NEED TO EAT” and Deku was all “OKAY” and took his hero bento and went to go stand dramatically on a tower in the rain whilst having some highly anticipated Vestige flashbacks. OFA II was all, “sup, I guess I’m not Kacchan... OR AM I,” and ngl I think he is?? Alternate universes anybody?? Hello??? But anyway, so OFA the First a.k.a. Yoichi was all “remember that time you guys rescued me from my evil brother and Two took my hand and we Had A Moment?”, and Two and Three were all “ahh yeah good times”, and it was very nice and very, very gay. The chapter ended with it being very unclear if Two and Three have actually lent their power to Deku yet or not lmao. Y’all need to get your shit together dudes.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “what if I gave a random bad guy a fucking tommy gun that shoots nails” and jesus christ calm down son. The Hawksquad, a.k.a. SQUAWK as per @hotchocolatier​, are all “time to drive aimlessly around town acting like Deku has a restraining order on us because that’s literally the best plan to combat the League we could come up with,” and I have no further comment. Hawks is all “idk about you guys but I want to know more about AFO and Tomura’s whole deal” and I can’t remember the last time I identified so strongly with one of these characters. All Might is all, “[EXPLODES???]”, and the chapter ends with that mysterious hot girl from the Tartarus breakout being all “HELLO I CAN TURN INTO A GUN AND I LITERALLY DON’T GIVE A FUCK” and (1) WOW, and (2) IT’S TRUE, SHE CAN, AND SHE REALLY DOESN’T. GODDAMN.

(ETA: so this wholly escaped my notice on the first go, and also has nothing to do with the chapter itself, but I only just realized that this chapter was scanlated by a new group, TCB Scans. they actually did a very good job, and I’m curious if they’ve found a new RAW provider, because the quality this week is actually crazy good in comparison to what we’ve been dealing with for the past few months. I’m gonna have to get caught up on what exactly happened here lol.)

so what will it be this week? more Vestige antics? more of Sad Nomad Deku standing on buildings and pretending like he’s some cool aloof antihero, as if he could fool us when we all know his hero backpack is secretly stuffed full with his nerd diaries and the remnants of all the hero bentos that All Might keeps giving him?? or, just putting it out there, just a crazy thought, but you don’t suppose we might actually cut back to U.A.? mmm. side-eyes emoji

maaaaaan I’m starting to get tired of this trend of beginning chapters by dropping in on random power-tripping civilians and/or Shindou lol. just once can we get a chapter that opens with someone I actually give a fuck about

oh at least Endeavor is here

A WHAT SUPPORT ITEM!??! HOLY SHIT DDLKJSLFKJL

lol somehow that’s more terrifying than bullets for me?? like I’m fully aware that bullets will fuck you up way worse and that in real life nail guns probably don’t work like this AT ALL and only have a range of like... hold up let me just google... up to 100 to 150 m/s and distances of up to 500m wait WHAT

okay wait. hold up. like I was expecting google to tell me nail guns only shoot a few feet at most, and instead the first search result is some CDC blog article that’s “dispelling” the “””myth””” -- please note my repeated sarcastic quotation marks -- that nail guns can fire 1400 feet per second, by explaining that actually they can fire anywhere from 315 ft/sec to 1,295 ft/sec, and that “it is in the pneumatic nail gun user’s best interest to handle these tools as if they were a firearm despite having a lower velocity” dlkjdslkjflkl

SO THAT SCENE IN IRON MAN 3 WHERE TONY RAIDS A HOME DEPOT AND BUYS A BUNCH OF RANDOM TOOLS AND SHIT AND GOES ON TO STAGE A ONE-MAN INVASION OF AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST’S FLORIDA MANSION HQ IS ACTUALLY TRUE. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE FILM “HOME ALONE” IS ACTUALLY A DOCUMENTARY. “the Discovery Channel television program “Mythbusters” compared the penetration capacity of an airborne projectile shot from a pneumatic framing nail gun to that of a 9mm hand gun” HELLO YES AND A MERRY “WHAT THE FUCK” TO YOU AS WELL

anyway, so. there’s apparently a reason why the Number One hero, who can burn people with the intensity of a sun going supernova, is hiding here behind this concrete support column making frowny faces. nope. nuh uh. he ain’t about that. I don’t blame you buddy

so now he’s barrel rolling out of his hiding place and setting this dude THE FUCK ON FIRE because HELL NO. BAD ENOUGH I HAD TO WATCH THAT FUCKING MUSHROOM EPISODE LAST WEEK! YOU TAKE THAT SHIT SOMEWHERE ELSE

LOL look at his face

I know the context is actually him being all “I know I’m responsible for basically everything that happened and so that’s why I’m so grim and serious about this mission to set things right piece by piece,” but in my mind this pissed-off face is 100% all because this dude tried to shoot his eye out with a nail gun. look at that. you made him go full flame face again. beard and all. protecting his face so that it can hopefully melt any stray nails that get too close. nope nope nope

good lord. so what’s up next. let me guess the guy fighting Best Jeanist has like an atomic chainsaw or some shit

lol nope we’re just cutting back to Hawks and Jeanist chilling in the Jesla after they’ve wrapped things up

Jeanist has got some serious Groot energy you guys jesus christ he’s like 12 feet tall

oh snap someone threw a pipe at him now

today is just the chapter of Endeavor being assaulted by random DIY tools I guess

I mean, I get why they’re pissed at him obviously; I would be too lol. but tbh I also don’t really understand the “get out of here we don’t want your help” attitude that all of these people suddenly seem to have?? like it if were me, I would be fucking DEMANDING for him and the other heroes to be working round the clock to fix their stupid mess. I mean who else is gonna do it?? it’s their mess, I sure don’t want to be the one to clean it up instead. anyways but whatever lol

oh shit?

so they haven’t dropped the whole “OFA secret potentially gets revealed to the world” thing yet after all. that makes sense I suppose, it did seem like that whole thing wound up playing out a bit too easily

anyway so yeah

the locals are definitely none too happy. well at least Dabi’s got something to be cheerful about I guess

so now we’re cutting to the interior of the Jesla and they’re chitchatting about the current investigation

oh wow this actually makes a bit of sense now. so there was a reason they were keeping their distance from Deku

please note that even in this abstract Endeavor’s-Mental-Image-Of-Him panel, Deku’s eyes still don’t have the light in them anymore :( my poor son

also ftr I still think using Deku as bait in this particular sense is the shittiest idea ever ngl. like sure, let’s let the sixteen-year-old run around battling miscellaneous escaped prison convicts while we stay several kilometers away ON PURPOSE despite the fact that you’re using him as bait to draw out the Big Bad, who just a reminder can destroy anything with a mere touch and who you were all basically helpless against. what exactly are you all planning to do if Tomura or one of the other League VIPs actually shows up to retrieve him?? are you even keeping tabs on him at all in real time?? jesus

(ETA: well that escalated quickly lol.)

Horikoshi is all of a sudden dropping whole pages of exposition here and I can’t be bothered to summarize this lol so just,

a big fat YES to what Jeanist said, though. that’s why imo they would have been better off laying a trap at U.A. rather than just wandering around out in the open. I assume they’re trying to cut their potential losses because U.A. is full of students (and civilians), but those students also happen to be more capable than pretty much anyone else in the manga at this point. and tbh they’re already in life-threatening danger regardless of how things play out from here on, so they might as well at least try to use the few advantages they have right now. U.A. is almost certainly going to come under siege at some point anyway, so they might as well prepare for it

lol I don’t think I’m explaining this very well because I don’t have the patience right now to break it down point by point like it really ought to be, so for now I’ll just say that imo “U.A. siege” stands a good chance of being the eventual endgame even now, and so this whole “Deku runs around being bait” arc is really just killing time until then lol. like and subscribe for more rambling nonsensical takes such as this. maybe next time I’ll even put it all into one single sentence for maximum meandering senior citizen rant value

well it’s nice that they’re finally talking about all of this I guess

we readers have known all of this for months now but this confirms the heroes are finally caught up. ALSO, Hawks is so fucking smart, as always. kinda wonder if things would have played out differently if All Might had let him in on the secret a bit earlier. probably that’s why Horikoshi made damn sure they didn’t find out until after the War arc lol

OH MY GOD YOOOOOO HAWKS OUT HERE ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS

“anyone else wondering why AFO bothered to raise Tomura as his fake heir for fifteen years when he was secretly planning on taking over his body the whole time” YES, [raises hand] lmao Hawks where the hell were you when I was debating this “AFO is the final villain and Tomura is just his pawn” thing on multiple occasions over the past several years lol

lmao seeing them debate the metaphysics of OFA and all of its mystical bullshit is seriously surreal you guys

JEANIST HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT MY META TAG I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY ESSAYS. I ACTUALLY WAS PLANNING ON WRITING ANOTHER ESSAY ABOUT THE THING THAT I’M PRETTY SURE HAWKS IS ABOUT TO BRING UP, BUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT WHOOPS, BUT MAYBE I WILL NOW LOL LET’S SEE HOW IT GOES

yes!!

WHICH AFO FUCKING ENSURED HE WOULD BE BY LITERALLY PLANNING OUT EVERY LAST DETAIL OF HIS FAMILY TRAGEDY, FROM SECRETLY GIVING TENKO THE QUIRK TO MAKING SURE NO CIVILIANS OR HEROES WOULD HELP HIM UNTIL AFO FINALLY STEPPED IN. I’M 1000% CONVINCED THIS IS THE CASE YOU GUYS. NOT JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT A FAN OF “THE WORLD IS A FUNDAMENTALLY SHITTY PLACE, ACTUALLY” TAKES BECAUSE MISTER ROGERS TOLD ME TO ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE HELPERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT LITERALLY JUST DOESN’T MAKE A LICK OF SENSE OTHERWISE. THEIR ENTIRE HOUSE CAVED IN FFS, YOU’RE TELLING ME NONE OF THE NEIGHBORS FUCKING OVERHEARD THAT SHIT AND WENT “UMMMMMMMMM” AND WENT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON?? “DIDN’T THERE USED TO BE A HOUSE HERE, AND LIKE A WHOLE FAMILY, AND SHIT?”

LIKE I’M SORRY, BUT IT’S ONE THING TO SAY IT’S REALISTIC THAT NOT A SINGLE PERSON WOULD ATTEMPT TO HELP THE WANDERING TRAUMATIZED CHILD AFTERWARDS (WHICH I DISAGREE WITH AS WELL BUT AT LEAST THAT’S MORE SUBJECTIVE), AND IT’S A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ARGUE THAT IT’S REALISTIC THAT NO ONE WOULD BE FUCKING NOSY. LIKE THAT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL OF “THAT’S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS” ENTIRELY LOL. anyway tl;dr AFO is a piece of shit and Tomura’s entire worldview is based on a magnificently intricate and savagely cruel lie more at 11

anyway so after all that ranting it looks like that wasn’t even what Hawks was talking about after all lol. I just went off for absolutely no reason lol oh well. instead it seems that Hawks is suggesting that Tomura’s carefully cultivated hatred might not yet have actually reached “can defeat OFA” levels even after all of that trauma. interesting!

don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here while my brain furiously scrambles to put together all the parallels between Hawks and Tomura that it never noticed before until exactly this second. like I’m not even sure that was the intent here at all (I need to check out another translation or two lol), but regardless my mind decided that now would be the perfect time to make the connection between these two twenty-somethings who both had horrific childhoods and spent years being molded by their respective manipulative guardians, and developed eerily similar “laugh at everything because what else can you do” coping mechanisms to deal with it all hmmmmm

anyway so they were talking more about their strategy, but now all of a sudden Jeanist’s phone is beeping??

AND NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO ALL MIGHT AND HIS MIGHTMOBILE DAMMIT so that means the call to Jeanist was actually something important then!! WAS IT BAKUGOU OMG. DOES YOUR INTERN WANT A WORD FFFKLFSJK please it’s been so long I just need a little crumb or two to tide me over lmao have mercy

anyway so All Might’s following the GPS tracking device he’s apparently got planted on Deku (which in my conspiracy headcanons he’s actually had for a long time now, like since before DvK2 lol because HOW ELSE WOULD HAVE HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE FIGHTING EACH OTHER IN GROUND BETA, PEOPLE) and thinking angsty thoughts about Deku’s sucky life

AND NOW ALL MIGHT’S PHONE IS RINGING TOO?? BAKUGOU HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU CALLING. “WHERE ARE YOU HIDING THE NERD GODDAMMIT”

OMG

lol is he under attack or is he just finally giving All Might the slip like we all know he SECRETLY PLANNED TO ALL ALONG oh my poor dumb angstmuffin

OMG AHHHHHHH WHAT

DID ALL MIGHT JUST FUCKING DIE LMAO NO OF COURSE NOT, BUT WHAT

WHAT IS HAPPENING OMG

THE FUCK IS THAT. AT LEAST IT’S NOT A NAIL

OH IT’S A SPEAKER!! OMG DID THEY TAKE ALL MIGHT HOSTAGE

“THEY’RE HERE” WELP, TIME TO SEE JUST HOW SHITTY THIS SHITTY PLAN REALLY IS LOL

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE!!!!

omg. AND OVERHAUL JUST CHILLING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND ALL “WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO DO I’VE GOT NO FUCKING ARMS” YEAH GOOD RIDDANCE LOL

DOES THIS GIRL HAVE ONE GIANT LEG OR WHAT, LIKE WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE

-- HOLD UP WAIT, THE GUN IS HER ARM, HOLY SHIT SHE CAN TURN INTO A GUN -- OKAY HOLD UP BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY THAT IN BIGGER TEXT BECAUSE !!!!

YOU GUYS, THE COOL TARTARUS GIRL IS BACK AND HER QUIRK IS “CAN TURN INTO A FUCKING GUN.” THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! MY BEST GIRL MT. GUN IS FINALLY BACK ON THE SCENE WITH HER QUIRK “CAN DO ANYTHING A GUN CAN DO.” “I HEARD Y’ALL WENT AND NAMED ONE OF YOUR HEROES ‘GUNHEAD’ EVEN THOUGH HIS HEAD ISN’T EVEN A GUN, LIKE WTF IS UP WITH THAT LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE” DANG OKAY

lmao only fifteen pages this week, and STILL NO KACCHAN (THEN WHO WAS PHONE!!!), but man I don’t even care because finally we’ve got a cliffhanger that’s actually deserving of being a cliffhanger! hot dog. okay then

[moonstone27ls]

Chucky season 2 premiere ....

Spoiler alert...

ONE....

WARNING.....

Read after this....

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Sorry not sorry don’t even looking it up if you hate spoilers 8B, haha.

Soooo first part a mix. Mostly it was the moving Chuckys, I mean if I had to be honest the three looked wonky... were they CGI? I’m not saying “OMG this is a piece of shit” more of its obvious a bit off. But still whatever budget Mancini was given not bad.

Story itself, pretty good. Not on edge of my seat. Just more questions than answers. Is Andy dead? Is Kyle REALLY dead? I feel like Jake bringing that up is for a reason. Why has Lexy literally LEARNED nothing. Yes we can say she’s a kid. Yes we could say she got traumatized.

Not being the homophobic bully, Lexy hasn’t really changed. Her paranoia’s made her worse even as a sister which I didn’t think was possible. I mean lord surprised her mother didn’t send her to mental facility for giving Caroline that knife. I mean yes we could say Caroline didn’t tell. But its a freakin’ knife those are HARD to miss.

Kinda hoping this season is her getting better character development.

Uhhh more of question why or which Chucky keeps his memories... cause I’m so confused how some didn’t remember Tiffany/or Andy but some did(aka the bomber). In addition while I’m not shocked he’s pissed about Tiffany’s two-timing... he does know to a degree that she still followed his plan? I mean I’m sure/or hoping that’ll get explained later. But for the next series of “Oh I don’t need Chucky” etc.... why did Tiffany get so pissed Andy ruined their plan? If she was done with Chuck then she really didn’t care if the plan worked. Plus why would her own doll help? In addition... how did that doll get her memories (human body one) unless she was there? 

Although it was an okay episode. I do admit it had me on the edge a bit. But then it made me think “God these kids are a mess BD;; “... or that they get dumber? Again yes know its a horror show, know they’re just kids. But yeesh Gary’s death felt avoidable BD;... as did for that matter Chucky getting into Lexy’s home. Not the point, I’m not expecting these kids to go “Hey watch out KILLER doll”. But I mean yeesh Jake and Devon were missing for two days. And even if Gary was... I dunno a kid? most people teach these kids “Don’t go off with strangers”. 

I dunno felt like the writers dumbed this kid down extra or the storyline for that scene’s sake. I kinda would had liked Jake to have a foster sibling. Like a nice ref to Kyle & Andy.

Hmmm guess time to reinstate what I want for this series. For Andy and Kyle to be alive, I won’t lie I will be super pissed at Don Mancini if he kills off both. From what I hear Mancini gets along with the actors, so I don’t see it being “behind the scenes” reason to kill them off. And Hollywood does not give older actors much love unless they’re like the Beyonce of acting. Sooo if he just wants to retire them and go “Jake take the wheel we’re tired”. Than fine but I don’t want them killed off.

Like I said last season I honestly would like Andy to adopt or foster Jake. Be the family both need. Even if its bonding over a crazed killer doll 8B.

FREE NICA. FREE HER DAMN IT. I don’t wanna hear these crazed shippers, Tiffany’s not a victim. She’s just as much a guilty party as Chucky. She LITERALLY amputated her. Either get Chucky out of her head and I’m sorry to say this but kill Tiffany off. I love Tilly I do but her character’s despicable. If he still wants the Tiffany doll then just let her inhabit that doll again. Which I’m not gonna lie feels like they’re foreshadowing that a LOT in this first ep.

I want the kids to be okay but that goes without saying.

I’m curious where Tilly is to end in this series. Its not that Mancini doesn’t love her, everybody LOVES Tiffany. But depending on if Mancini wants (or plans) for another season... I just don’t see him killing her off completely.... I’m sorry to say or not sorry to say. I just honestly see her going back to Chucky. Question is as what....

A rival only depends on if he can write a story for it. And I’m sorry if this offends people, but I just honestly see back as Chucky’s partner. Again I GET why Mancini broke them up... AGAIN. He did not want bad press or want to be seen as the “Joker/Harley” toxicity.  And if Tiff had Harley possibilities I’d say “yeah go with it”. But Tiff only had that one possibility in Bride. From Seed on up, Tiffany’s been a killer. She enjoys killing, she’s never stopped killing and she’s had (depending on their twins ages) years to AVOID Chucky. Literally what she did to Nica does not scream “Victim” or “Hivy”, it screams a deranged sociopath.

 My bigger question is.. what does Mancini have planned for Glenn and Glenda? Note to LGBT readers, the writing left me confused on their preferred pronouns. So until their debut not gonna use them for this one. From what we saw in Seed, Glenn is literally the “good angel” while Glenda followed their father’s steps. Even as a child, its clear Glenda enjoys killing and Tiffany either encourages or helped as much. I wanna know more about them... is Glenda still a killer... do they both know about their father? 

Is Glenn still “no killing”... if so does that mean Glenda’s stopped or has Glenda/and their mother found better ways of hiding it from Glenn. I’m curious on their relationship. While I can see them both loving Tiffany... with Glenn being so anti-killing dunno how psychokiller Glenda gets along with Glenn.... I STILL wonder why Glenda hasn’t tried to seek out Chucky or “bond” like they normally do. I shouldn’t sound so casual about that. But its a horror show/and you can blame Seed/Bride for making a horror comedy.

For that matter how will the twins fit in this story? Will they be allies or enemies to the trio?

[princess-of-the-corner]

Thoughts on how Chloes redemption arc was ruined?

Buddy I've talked on this A LOT but here we fucking GO! I'm putting this under a readmore because it's getting long!

Honestly it really just came down to TA deciding not to go through with it but not even putting in the effort to make it make sense.

Season 1 had setup, showing that she did genuinely care about people like Adrien and Sabrina. Yeah she's a jerk and doesn't seem to know /how/ to be a good friend but she cares about them.

Season 2 had more of this. And her actually apologizing and taking responsibility for things. Then we also see why she's a bitch(her mother's emotional abuse) and we do see her become a Hero for real! Someone Ladybug legitimately chooses to work with.

By Season 3, Chloé was getting better. It was taking time and she wasn't getting much help from others on /how/ to be nice other than being told to be nice, plus accidental sabotage from Mari telling her to get along with Audrey.

But there was still progress. The biggest episodes I point to are Miraculer and Startrain.

In Miraculer, she is the first person to ever fight off Hawkmoth's influence once he had actually begun speaking to her. We have had a few moments of people calming down or cheering themselves up when the Butterfly was aiming for them(both on accident and on purpose). But here Hawkmoth was already in her head and infecting her with his Magic.

Chloé was still upset and pissed and feeling ignored and neglected by her Hero. There was no one cheering her up. She just said 'no, I am a Hero, and I will not let you use me. I am not taking your power'.

Later she would go one on one with Mayura who is trying to manipulate her to the darkside, and Chlo tells her to go fuck herself. She is trying to be good and isn't going to help the villains just for little tastes of power and all that.

At the end, when told she can't be Queen Bee again because her identity was revealed, she takes that with grace and accepts it.

Next is Startrain!

Chloé was great in this. She saw a disaster and took charge, evacuating the train car and keeping people safe. She did this despite having no powers, and did what she could in the situation.

It's really just. While she wasn't perfect the rest of the episode, this is a big step. It's great.

Then we get to Miracle Queen......

There was just.

There were legitimate reasons for Chloé to be upset and venerable. Her parents were Akumatized. Hawkmoth confronted her directly and had her trapped. Ladybug seemed to have abandoned her, choosing a Hero who also should have been benched as their identity was also known to the public.

Her going along with Hawkmoth, either out of fear out out of anger, should be justified. The situation is fucked.

I would have been fine with her fighting back anyway of course. I would have been fine with her complying to save herself. Hell, I would have been fine with her lashing out because she was hurt and having a tragic fall into being worse and worse because of that.

But TA has decided that none of the context matters, she did it becuase she's 'an evil spoiled brat who can never change', despite the fact that she was changing.

Now we're in Season 4 and just.....

They're trying to emphasize the bad. Making her almost comedically worse than she was before any development. Making her do things that are incredibly ooc(like trying to get Adrien withdrawn from school despite getting him in in the first place).

They go out of their way to replace her with Zoé, emphasizing how sweet and kind and uwu she is compared to Chloé. But that's her only purpose. Literally anything she does could have been done by Chloé if they had kept where they were going. I like Zoé fine! But she only exists to fill that spot left when TA decided to take Chloé out.

And it's so wildly frustrating for so many reasons.

The biggest one I harp on is how Gabriel is still portrayed as a sympathetic person worthy of redemption with noble motives, despite being a grown adult supervillain. Even if Chloé never had any of the development in the first place, she is a 14 year old girl.

There's also the fact of how there was so much time spent on her that feels wasted. We had several episodes dedicated to her learning and growing as a person. But none of it matters. Why not take those episodes and give them to other underdeveloped characters?

Then we have the message it sends. Because there are kids out there who related to her in ways, and who want to be better people. Telling them they can't change is awful.

It's a hot mess and its frustrating every time. I sincerely hope that it eventually gets turned around, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.