#AND VIBE. AND UNDERSTAND THESE CHARACTERS AND GIVE THEM THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AND SHIT THEY WERE ROBBED OF!!

[phantomchick]

Naruto and being the Underdog

Okay so recently I was discussing naruto's characterisation in the comments section of a fanfic and the author was explaining that they don't like/never vibed with Naruto's character (which is totally fair). But then they explained how they felt the supposed underdog setup was contrived and didn't really work because Naruto never actually starts at zero thanks to his jinchuriki powers and being the yondaime's son. (And so here I am, on my soapbox to discuss how Naruto and the concept of being and underdog relate.)

On a physical level perhaps this applies, but Naruto places an equal (if not larger) amount of focus on the emotional action as it does on its plot action.

On an emotional level he has to work for each and every one of his personal relationships.

He wants to be hokage a role he can only take if he is both respected by his village and powerful enough to protect it. It''s a twofold goal. And in terms of the social aspect this is clearly stacked against him due to the hatred and exploitation of jinchuriki as well as shinobi in general, achieving emotional connection and dialogue between people who are used to might makes right or who are pre-disposed to look down on him or want to kill him puts him firmly at a disadvantage narratively.

With the notable exception of Hinata whose love is unconditional, whether it's Tsunade, Neji, Sasuke or Gaara or even Kurama the respect and attention that naruto craves are things he actively pursues in both good and bad ways and he earns them through his own effort.

He does this both by striving to understand these very different people and where they're coming from as well as surviving all the shit the world throws at him. Emotional and physical tasks.

In terms of being a jinchuriki and getting the rasengan easily thanks to his shadow clone bullshit / birthright connections to the yondaime It must first be acknowledged that the jinchuriki power is more of a disadvantage than a boon to him at first. First, because of kurama actively going out of his way to mess with his chakra control as a kid while doing the leaf exercise he was unable to learn the regular clone jutsu; it also results in him experiencing the trauma of discrimination and isolation from a young age which could easily have led to festering self-hatred and alienation if not for Iruka's intervention, it results in multiple S ranks who are fully capable of killing even shippuden level Naruto targetting him, and while the trade-off of boundless energy and survive-ability is immense those same boundless resources have the potential to burn him alive if he loses emotional control/gives into his most negative emotions - that's basically making the subtext text at that point, the story is about his emotional development and growth, something his "OP buffs" don't earn for him. Let's talk about boundless chakra resources for a moment. At the end of the original series, he only knows the rasengan; the rasenshuriken, the shadow clone justu and sage mode/yinyang mode by the end of the series and that's like 5 justu tops if we're counting yin/yang/bijuu mode and sage mode as jutsu. The majority of what he learned from jiraiya for three years seemed to be taijutsu only with a side of failed bijuu control. Naruto has his jinchuriki chakra from the start but that doesn't translate to an ability to use it, he has to spend hours working out how to do the shadow clone, he did not figure out how to do the jutsu because of his chakra even if that was the reason he was able to use it at all, and when it comes to the rasengan I will cite [someone who deleted their reddit account] here:

Naruto completed the first stage in three days and one night. He figured out how his chakra needed to move to burst the water balloon (thanks to a cat) but because he didn't have the necessary chakra control, he improvised by using another hand. He completed the second stage in three weeks or so. The next day(?), Jiraiya gave him a hint to improve his focus which allowed him to finally complete it. And the third stage was completed seven days later to win his bet with Tsunade. Once again, Naruto didn't have the control to focus his chakra the correct way despite his continuous efforts. It wasn't until he came up with another improvised method by using a shadow clone to focus the chakra that he was able to complete the final stage.

Meaning he is the one who comes up with unorthodox methods, such as also using his other hand, or using a shadow clone to focus the chakra, to learn it in four and a half weeks but he still had to figure out how to do it all himself. The shadow clone would've been useless without his understanding of the jutsu or his ability to do the individual parts of the jutsu. He earns the jutsu and could conceivably have learned it the old fashioned way were he not under an artificial time limit as both Jiraiya and Kakashi, both without jinchuriki power, know it and can use it.

Now I'll talk about his supposed privilege as the yondaime's child: Sasuke gets chidori and later kirin thanks to HIS connections but that's never remarked on in the same way. And in fact most people in the naruto-verse learn a big jutsu from their clan or parent; see Might Gai, the genius of hard work, learning the eight gates thanks to his father. The rasenshuriken is something he's only capable of learning thanks to his chakra and shadow clones I hear you quote Kakashi, but it's again, something he couldn't do without actually putting the work in to learn the jutsu. Naruto is on a time crunch because of Akatsuki, the fact he is capable of learning the jutsu once he has advice on wind chakra from Asuma and has practiced forming the rasengan and doing windblades enough means he didn't need the extra chakra to do it, having the chakra didn't automatically make him capable of the rasenshuriken all it did was speed up his chakra control practice exponentially, it would have taken him more time practicing but he could have learned the jutsu eventually even if he wasn't a jinchuriki. Now summons. Being the Yondaime's child might get him an in with Jiraiya to let him have the toad contract, but Sakura and Sasuke also get summoning contracts thanks to personal connections with Tsunade and Orochimaru and Jiraiya only gets him the opportunity. It's Naruto who has to use his willpower to stay on Gamabunta's back and it's Naruto who has to form relationships with his summons like Gamakichi, (a bond that becomes instrumental toward the end of the 4th war). Additionally learning Sage mode wasn't just a result of Naruto getting the contract because neither Sasuke nor Sakura achieved it despite both having contracts (and despite Kabuto managing it where Sasuke didn't) Sasuke with the Hawks as well as the Snakes. And importantly Naruto was unable to use clones or his extra chakra to speed up his training in this. In fact the clones only come into it after he has successfully mastered sage mode and function as a limited extra resource that's can't go beyond three shadow clones meditating and this doesn't function as more sage powah but as a means of extending his sage modes duration, a workaround that's only needed because his being a jinchuriki gets in the way of him gathering sage mode in real-time with the toads on him. In conclusion while his chakra lets him practice jutsu to learn them faster, this is not the case in either his sage mode or the yin yang release and only applies to the shadow clone, rasengan and rasenshuriken - all of which he had to actually learn and understand the mechanics of otherwise the jutsu wouldn't have worked no matter how many shadow clones he had try it and that with the exception of shadow clone he demonstrably could've learned them without being a jinchuriki. And in the case of rasengan and rasenshuriken he is under artificial time-limits imposed by Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.

So that's shadow clone, rasengan, rasenshuriken and sage mode covered but what about bijuu mode. An overpowered special mode he only gets for being a jinchuriki, that B only bothers to teach him because he's a jinchuriki, surely that's LEGIT op bullshit. No? No. At least not in comparison to the Sakura's forehead seal from Tsunade, Sasuke's Mangekyou abilities like izanagi, giant purple warrior and amaterasu, Obito's mokuton, Madara's sage of six paths abilities or the rinnegan's everything, anyway. Not to mention what the edo tensei are capable of.

The only reason bijuu mode works is that he earns Kurama's regard on an emotional level, it's not something which being a kage's kid or having jinchuriki chakra levels actually does fuck all to contribute to. He was that all along but Kurama still hated him and tried to take over his body. It's Naruto himself who has to reach out and make that effort to understand this person who he's always seen as a burden or a curse or an annoying tenant who doesn't pay rent, a monster who tries to kill him and take his body. It's Naruto who has to put in the emotional labour and see Kurama as a person, no matter the harm he's done.

Naruto is the underdog in spite of being "the chosen one" and having the strongest bijuu and a kage father because emotional labour is never easy and in a world like his it seems insane to even try. It's why everyone except him was prepared to give up on Sasuke, Naruto recognises his anger at Itachi and desire to avenge his family as valid, Naruto when he finds out the truth about Itachi from Danzo tells Sasuke he gets it, why he wants to destroy the village, why he's so angry, when Sasuke changes his mind and decides to become hokage instead of destroying it so he can change it, Naruto understands WHY even if he still wants to be kage himself. The problem with Sasuke is that his anger is self-destructive and self-isolating, not that it exists, it's when Naruto fights him one last time and makes Sasuke realise that he's only hurting himself and his loved ones at this point, that "talk no jutsu" finally works and Sasuke is able to listen to Naruto and come home.

It's also why Naruto earns being hokage; in a world full of killers, someone who is capable of acknowledging the harm done and not ignoring or forgetting it (like how he tells pain he can't forgive him), but who is also capable of looking past that and understanding the motivations and feelings of the person he's dealing with and talking to them on that level as equals hits so hard. It just felt like a fantastic set up for a diplomatic hokage capable of dealing with other kages and achieving a peace in spite of the fact they're all to the last, untrustworthy ninja mercenaries who are generally very ends justify the means. In a world of kill or be killed Naruto is still willing to kill, but he's also willing to understand and to talk. And he wasn't born with that, he worked for it and failed often, especially with Sasuke, it was never easy, it often appeared hopeless but he kept trying.

And we rooted for him because of it.

[dacrekayd]

Sorry I'm gonna rant a little in ur inbox...

So much ro//nance bases around Nancy and her development and growth, while completely neglecting Robin's character all together. "The great way for Nancy to finish off her arc is to get with Robin! She doesn't need a man(but apparently can't end without a love interest)!" It's often paired with "Nancy is not a prize for Steve/Jonathan" but then turning around and treating Robin as a prize for Nancy. It's frustrating! I agree that, even if Nancy was attracted to girls and liked Robin, Robin has probably not even thought about Nancy as a romantic prospect because she was 1) dating Jonathan the entire time they knew of each other 2) was the ex of her very best friend, who was the first person she came out to and accepted her whole heartedly , 3) broke said best friend's heart pretty badly (whether or not he told her or knew all the details himself) 4) she has a crush on Vickie who has shown interest in return. Nancy isn't a prize for a male character's growth, but Robin isn't a prize for a female character's growth either! Even if Steve only wanted her to be happy would support that happiness even if it was with his ex, Robin herself wouldn't go for it as she's far too wrapped up in Steve. A lot of r//nance hc etc ignore this part. That Robin loved Steve first, and that a fundamental part of her is this love between them. Idk I feel like they just. Make it all about Nancy and not about Nancy AND Robin...(often argued that a man does not belong in a relationship between two women but. Steve is Nancy's ex and Robin's best friend. He's already THERE. Pretending he doesn't exist doesn't make for a solid characterization of either of them)

Also Your tags "also me gives of homophobic if a girl liked her vibes"....yeah. do agree. I'm sure she'd tell herself and everyone that she isn't and that she supports equal rights and all that. But if she saw two boys holding hands her face would pinch and she'd look away or two girls kissing look down and speed up her walking. She wouldn't be overt but she gives off vibes that she'd say "haha okay Robin...you're not into me though, right?" when Robin is telling her she's dating Vickie. (If Robin ever told her). Very much "I support you but I don't want to see it"

YES YES YES HOLY SHIT you absolutely hit every single point of why i hate that ship so much!!

i just don’t understand the obsession with smushing the two main women on the show together when 1.) vicky (and for fics, fuckin chrissy!!! hello?????) is right there and 2.) robin deserves better!!! someone who doesn’t roll their eyes at her in disdain when she rambles or gives her that stupid fake eye squinty smile!!!!

and look i’m sorry but nancy was clearly jealous of robin and steve’s relationship because she can’t stand not being the only woman steve loves!!! you all can deny it ALL you want but it’s so goddamn obvious

she’s not jealous becaus she’s into robin she’s bitter because to her it looks like steve is moving on!!!

and i maintain that’s why she was flirting so heavy with him and giving him those damn eyes!! be in denial all you want, call steve weird and creepy for his six nuggets dream all you want, but nancy was ALLLLL UP in his koolaid!!!! she was leading him on!!!!!

in conclusion,

‼️ROBIN DESERVES BETTER‼️

[myimaginarywonderland]

My live thoughts on episode 7x05

Station 19 actively ruining the team is wow.

Where is Travic? You want me to believe that Beckett after everything that happened wouldn't maybe keep an eye on her? On the other hand the amount of care you can hear when Beckett ask her "Hughes" to bring her back? I am melting.

I still don't like Maya (probably never will) but Andy/Maya is truly the friendship that keeps on giving.

I could not care less about Sully and Ross and this whole marriage storyline. I am just so over it. They annoy me. I don't even hate them but this is dragging on so unnecessary for so long.

Ben self medicating??? Hello? What the hell is this storyline? Why is it here all of the sudden?

I love Jack apparently working in dispatch but would it have killed the show to maybe show how he got there? It's the last season and he is one of the main characters and we haven't gotten like anything since two episodes ago.

The amount of people that don't understand Beckett's frustration when Maya actively blackmailed him and funded his addiction is stunning. Let Beckett be pissed! But yeah he shouldn't take it out on the job. That is bad on his part. But then everyone has done that so I am not suprised. I just wish they hadn't gone that way because it is like slowly regressing his character development. Beckett showing that character growth? The whole talking it out? This is what I wanted. I needed to see Beckett talking to talk anyone besides Vic and Sully.

I love that they are showing Travis and Warren sort of in a parallel way to how Warren had to leave Travis injured. And Travis bringing him back? This is the team content I wanted to see.

I am also sort of living for the Warren/Sully friendship but I would just love some more focus on other relationships.

That scene with Jack/Warren and Sully? I am dying. Uncle Jack continues to live on and I can't wait for it.

Also Andy rushing to get her team? That is the shit I wanted to see. That is the captain she is capable of being. I just wish that they show this the whole rest of the season.

Vic obviously having a public breakdown will hopefully finally kick start things but even then, nothing of what she said is false or even bad. She has just been through a hell of a call, probably is traumatized or at least had some PTSD flashback and the legacy of her dead best friend is publicly being taken away even when it clearly has helped and supported probably hundreds of people.

As soon as I praise Andy she fucks shit up again and openly ignores warning signs. She is making the same mistake as all the other captains with not helping someone who clearly needs help. I can not believe we are seeing the same storyline multiple times and nothing changes. What is this shitty writing?

Also Theo's character flip flopping the whole seasons is just wow. What are they trying to do with him? I guess he is at least trying to reach out which is seemingly more than can be said about most characters.

I adore the flashback but I am still not Andy's biggest fan and I just wish we had some more I don't know, scenes of the OG family?

Overall I don't like the episodes this season. It just doesn't feel like a final season? Too many storylines for too less episodes, characters and relationships all over the place. Characters having sudden 180 with no development or explanation? The vibes since Miller's death have been off but I feel like since the end of season 6, they are just so weird. It almost feels like the set up is too split up the time and regress like 90% of the characters. Travis has been going downhill, they have ruined one of the most important relationships (Travic), random story arcs are dropped etc. It almost feels like a set up to actually resolve things in season 8.

[redshcdes-archived]

Yes, I hate and denounce Homestuck. Yes, I run three Homestuck rp blogs. No I will not take questions. <3

[yelenassecretlover]

youtuber au hcs [sfw] pt 1

anime: attack on titan

characters: Yelena, Levi, Mikasa

a/n: I love the idea of aot characters being youtubers so I might write a oneshot too…..we’ll see hehe

Yelena:

Didn’t even watch YouTube/twitch before she started streaming, Zeke just begged her to do it so he would have some quote on quote youtube mutuals, whatever that was

Blew up quickly, didn’t understand why because they would just play the game and occasionally make a comment. Quickly understood people were thirsting after her, because she made a comment on how she was 6’7

Now constantly posts thirst traps on her social media, flirts with the audience (Zeke is pressed she got more popular thanks to her height)

“Maybe show your abs and you’ll get more than just me as a viewer” “fuck off”

Gatekeep, Gaslight, Girlboss

Does everything in her power online to remind men she hates them, Did a hot tub stream just to piss men off and had their partner join them (got so many subscribers from it was tempted to do another one)

Plays video games, doesn’t have a specific game just plays mostly first person shooters (like Valorant) and whatever game is trending.

Hates peggle

Loves meeting her fans and their astonished faces when they truly see how tall she is

This woman is addicted to praise and reads every single comment, hate comments do not bother her she’s just too confident to ever care about an anonymous opinion

“If you really have a problem with me, let’s meet I can assure you if we do there will no longer be a problem :) ”

Levi:

Partner suggested they start streaming to develop a hobby and it surprisingly worked

No face streamer, thinks his face and scar would scare viewers away

Channel growth was slow and steady, but what brought them a lot of fans was their voice reveal. The internet really loves deep voices 0-0

His dry humor and sarcasm really appealed to people as well. He doesn’t consider himself funny at all, but his audience loves how unintentionally hilarious he is

“ I’m enjoying the character development in the game so far, but shit would It kill them to include a shower feature, I can see all the shit stains from here I don’t care if it’s the zombie apocalypse or not”

Nocturnal streamer, streaming gave him something to do when his insomnia won’t let him sleep

Extremely aesthetic layout, think study aesthetic, very pretty, dainty and organized

He streams horror games. He plays practically but also has a severe lack of priorities in the game (looking for the windex rather then freeing himself from the prison)

People dislike him due to his vulgar and upfront nature, they deem it rude he doesn’t put on a fake smile and act like the world's butterflies and rainbows

Despite that he’s never been in a scandal, has no racist past and is fairly unproblematic

Is not afraid to call big creators on their predatory/bad behaviors. On the same note cuts anyone off who exhibits that

Mikasa:

Her scarf is an iconic staple to her persona, sells merch of red scarfs

Started because Eren wanted the trio to have an activity they could do as a group

Got “cancelled” because people thought she had a boyfriend, but ended up getting a ton of support from other female streamers and her channel grew

Her partner comes into her streams to bring her hot chocolate, during these breaks she chats with her audience, she calls it chocochat time

Her office/computer space has the ac on at all times so besides the scarf she’s wearing a very comfy onesie, it changes every stream

Doesn’t like getting recognized in public as she is very socially awkward, makes her partner buy her all her necessities, and never leaves the house without them

took a break from her streaming after her partner was revealed and harassed online :(

“If you guys can not respect my partner, who’s apart of me, you do not get me. Learn to behave because she is not going anywhere, while I can go from you guys anytime”

Did not move to LA after fame, doesn’t like the city gives her bad vibes

Does a lot of YouTube collabs and only collabs with female identifying streamers on her YouTube channel. On twitch she collabs with men (Eren and Armin lol) but not on her YouTube channel.

Broke the internet after accidentally posting a bikini pic on her Instagram ( an anomaly to her usual aesthetic posts that don’t include her)

[elsecrytt]

So feel free to ignore that, this is my ramblings in obey me in general.

I FEEL YOU. Like with each lesson writing gets shittier and shittier. Character development died with MC in lesson 16. The only reason i like Belphegor is because i completely separated Val's story from the canon one and gave him personal growth myself(since devs refused to)

The saddest part? I would be fine if the writing sucked in general, we have headcanons for a reason. But the writers can actually put out some good shit??? Butler Lucifer card is so cute and dorky. Almost all of Mammon cards give me heart issues. The DEVELOPMENT Satan and Asmo get in these little stories??? Delicious, more of that, please.

My favorite series of cards is "Seven rulers of Hell", the ones you get from earlier lessons. I think it is supposed to act as introductions to the general vibe of the brother you want to romance and it's SO GOOD. Lucifer actually made blush and Asmo screamed ace positivity in his.

It proves that there are writers in the development team who can write good, who actually have fun with that. But the actual story? Idk about the inner workings but it feels like the lessons and cards stories are written by completely different people.

It is just sad to see what lesson story could be like. Again, sorry for the rambling just glad to see someone raging for the same reasons^^

NO I'M SIT DOWN I GOT MY POPCORN LET'S GOOOOOoooOO

(anyone reading this - this is, as you might have guessed, a lot of critical analysis and some more negative opinions on the game, pls skip if you don't want to see that.

also SPOILERS. for almost everything tbh. if spoilers for ANY kind of om! content will bother you, DO NOT LOOK. i don't know any leaked content but everything else is fair game.)

HONESTLY IT'S SUCH A MOOOOOD literally the devilgrams are so enjoyable most of the time. It's one of the main things that keeps me playing.

I despise Belphie, but I actually like him a lot because... well... *gestures to horror/gore* take a wild guess kshfdjlhg.

I know it's too extreme for other people, and that's perfectly understandable, but I found this one fic where MC is pretty clearly Going Through It and they get Belphie to "cuddle" in the attic with them, start taking off clothes... and uhh. well.

Suffice it to say, they were taking off their clothes and Belphie's to make sure there were no bloodstains. It was a bad time for Belphie. MC's lines are chilling and they're obviously traumatized, and Belphie can tell and feels so guilty, repentant, he wants to help them work through it... jkdlghsg anyways that's my take on it.

I'm simply too vengeful a person at heart, I think. If I don't feel like I've gotten the better of Belphie somehow, whether it's by hurting him or even just icing him out and making him watch his family be happy knowing that he can never have the same.

God, I feel you on like the. It has potential. There's some good stuff in there. A lot of the devilgrams are great.

Chapter A/Chapter M devilgrams are pretty neat. Like the Memory cards have some fun family bonding from the brothers, it's just so nice to see them being family and not... whatever they are in Season 4.

Butler Luci was so cute and exhausted and I want to help you take a break babyyyyy. And the braids Luci UR? Luci being submissive and breedable??? Delicious. And getting to tease Lucifer in the diner card? I loved it~

Other faves include my all-time fave "A Teasing Gesture" with Satan (it's the one where he's taking his shirt off heheh) - "May My Baton Reach You" has the brothers organizing a relay and Lucifer actually agrees to join, and Satan is surprised, gets all competitive and they actually compete in a wholesome way,,,

Oh, and Satan's SSR from the Leisure Pop Quiz was cute, too! You get to go out on a date with him, come back to everyone throwing a fit at the hotel,,, it just feels like a normal day with the family.

Enchanted Pudding with Diavolo was really neat. OH, and Mammon's Ears, but also the Abundant Accessories card with Mammon was SO genuinely sweet and like... fun.

I GOTTA check out that Luci Seven Rulers card hehee I had Satan's as well, but I do think I grinded for Mammon's, too~

Memory cards are full of fun ones. Ones like The Escorts, Let Your Hair Down, Asmo Night, they tell you so much about the relationships between the brothers.

It's interesting to hear you talk about Asmo getting development - I looove a lot of the Satan cards but I never checked Asmo's out because his character wasn't compelling enough for me. But he does have his moments of being so absolutely and utterly charming... ksdfghfg I just need more story keyyyys

There were a lot of story arcs I liked too! Satan and Lucifer's body swap had a bunch of neat things happening.

The Gold Hellfire Newt Syrup stuff? HAH it's a stupid excuse plot but it's GREAT and I LOVED IT! Putting on a play in season 2? Very neat. And getting to command the bros with the pacts. hehe.

Season 3 had some fun stuff. The brothers in the human world. Celestial realm memories. Sorcerer training and getting characters who were impressed with us.

It's just like... all of these things were fun to read. They were enjoyable. But post season 1, all of these fun scenarios that happen in the plot are all just that - fun bits and pieces that pop up here and there.

I'm a huge s2 enjoyer and I did like the dramatic turn it took near the end. Amnesia Lucifer was a GIFT. But it's not something the story's ever done again. It wasn't even willing to take it's own threats seriously.

Like, what if we'd already severed all of our pacts before Solomon told us that we needed the Night Dagger to make it work? What if, from then on, we would need to rely on our relationships formed with the brothers to get them to listen to us?

Like I love getting to order them around but also it would work really well with the current events where they confess their love for us but we somehow never have pacts or anything to order them around with >.>

There are story beats that hit well. There's good ideas here and there. The thought of s4 being about MC gaining acceptance from the Devildom? Interacting with a wider audience of demons, getting to know more about Devildom politics and culture?

It could have been BOMB and you see shades of it here and there. But my god it just doesn't hit. Season 4 just feels like so much empty filler.

A fight between Satan and Lucifer could have been EPIC. I don't have problems with them fighting as long as the issues feel different - maybe Satan's frustrated with himself for not being over this, maybe Lucifer needs to start taking Satan's issues more seriously and stop assuming Satan always understands what he means - but it just felt so generic and unfulfilled and just. Augh.

But hey, that's what we're here for, yeah? I am in awe of all the amazing writers and artists I get to see going around, people create such amazing content for the characters,,, better than the writers do sdkhfglhg

Still, it's worth it for me to hang in for Devilgrams, to see what the heck is going on with the next chapter, and the occasional neat event.

Hopefully,,, they find some way to inject. A smidgen of drama and life into the storyline in L75 XD

[foramomentonly]

3.08 Alex Meta

I don't usually do meta and maybe all of this will be a very, "Duh, Nat!" moment for you. But 3.08 was a huge Alex episode for me. I feel like I understand him on a totally new and deeper level, and I'm seeing a direct character line from S1 and to some of the questions and issues many of us had in S2.

Spoilers for RNM 3.08 below.

As I might have said ten thousand times previously, I relate to Alex a lot. His compartmentalization, his emotional distance, his seeming inability to correctly identify and name a damn feeling. Like, same, man.

But 3.08, in my opinion, completely blew that all up. Because Alex is pretty clear in his story: he has all the emotions, he just no longer feels safe acting on them. And when I think about Alex in the flashbacks we've had, that totally tracks. Teen Alex is a walking ball of emotions and he is not afraid to act on them. His whole vibe is "pissed at the world," which, valid. He's angry, so he punches Kyle. He's moved by Michael and his situation, so he offers to help. He unapologetically feels and acts on those feelings. He's in love, so he keeps seeing Michael even after the events of the shed (Rest on a Bloody Bed of Rusty Nails, Jesse Manes). Alex is brave and bold with his emotions and even though Jesse and others are no doubt giving him hell for it, he doesn't stop.

Cut to S1 Alex, who vacillates between wildly passionate, closed off, angry, ice king. He pushes and pulls with Michael and we don't really know why and it's an emotional whiplash that carries over into at least the beginning of S2. I always understood this as Alex not knowing his own feelings, acting in the moment on what he wants and later talking himself out of it, denying himself out of fear.

But that's not it, is it? Alex is fully aware of his feelings, apparently, he just doesn't see acting on them as safe anymore. He gets home and he runs into Michael and everything, all that love and desire is still there and his impulse is to act on it and he does, but his experiences have taught him that his emotions are dangerous. And if all he's ever done is try protect Michael, he does that by trying to lock his feelings for Michael away, pull back when he loses control and acts on them. He's still learning how to do this in S1, and that pull toward Michael is strong (cosmic, almost?) and I think that's where that back and forth comes in.

None of this is that new, though. What's new to me is the understanding that hiding/feeling/repressing emotions isn't instinctual for Alex! It's learned behavior, and not even from his time with Jesse, but this experience in war.

And let's talk about that story, huh? A lot of us assumed (myself included) that Alex's rigidity, his tendency to bulldoze over other people's boundaries and take charge is born of stubbornness, of believing he's always right, that he must be in control to feel safe. But what I heard Alex tell me in his story is fuck, no, he's knows how wrong he can be, he's failed on a massive level already, caused hurt and pain to himself and others. He's not a hero. He's a mess. (We all knew that. But a lot of us operated on the idea that Alex didn't know that about himself.) Everything he does is to avoid causing further harm and chaos in the future.

Obviously, he still does. I don't want to discount that. And he's still accountable for it. But I think it's significant that Alex isn't operating from a position of superiority after all (I mean, he probably still is a little, he's Alex, his class privileges are still there), he's operating more from a place of knowing how completely and utterly he's fucked up before and wanting desperately to avoid that in the future. And to him, a man who lives his whole life in extremes (fucking drama queen, I mean lol), the way to avoid that happening is to go in the total opposite direction. To push down his natural emotions, ignore his instincts because they can't be trusted (Which, hey, maybe that's why he's got Kyle on speed dial every time he has to make a decision!), and strategize the shit out of everything. And it scares the fuck out of him that Michael, the person he most wants to avoid experiencing harm or being put in danger, acts on feeling and instinct and all the things that Alex believes caused his own epic failure that cost literal life and limb.

I used to think Alex and Michael were opposites, one a live wire of emotion and instinct, and the other the keeper of approximately three feelings and he hates them all. But I think now that they are extremely alike. They're both driven by emotion, instinct, heart, but Alex has forced himself to ignore all that and think like a computer, and Michael still lives his life by his them, still inherently trusts them. I've always loved and admired that about him, and I think that's part of what Alex loves, too, even though it scares him.

There's a whole nother meta's worth of stuff in the episode of how Alex's journey to trusting and working with Michael as an equal parallels Liz's storyline with Rosa (Liz and Alex are so alike, I die!) and yet another about the phenomenal pattern of growth with see from Malex, and especially Alex, throughout the episode. For a literal, step-by-step breakdown, ask the incomparable @adiwriting very nicely, who went OFF in the best way about it last night in our DMs. Like she could draw you a diagram.

This episode just gave us so much. Damn. It wasn't perfect, of course, and I would have liked to see Alex and Malex's development and growth happen over the course of the season, not jammed a single episode. But I love what we got and what it's taught me is I didn't know shit about Alex, but I had a lot of fun learning.

End meta.

[cherry-pop-soda]

I know nobody asked but since i’m now officially an upperclassmen (with a wonderful set of undiagnosed mental health issues and neurodivergency, might I add) here’s my tips on how to vibe through the school year (or, at least things that really help me vibe through the school year)

those popular kids who have everyone convinced they’re hot shit? They genuinely aren’t. as a junior I can tell you it’s anarchy after freshman year bc nobody gives much of a shit about popularity anymore. Those popular kids just haven’t had middle school wear off yet. This doesn’t mean some people still won’t be cliquish, they will be, but it’s less common after freshman year. But keep in mind, if someone is cliquish and judgy to you, they probably weren’t worth your time anyways.

you don’t have to fit in. I KNOW it’s so fucking cliche but you seriously don’t have to. You are not less than anybody else just bc they have a shitton of friends they barely know or are rich or anything like that. You are not less than anyone else period. And those people who act like they’re so cool really probably don’t think they actually are that cool. that’s why they try to maintain a high social status.

Your self worth has nothing to do with what other people think of you. If someone is going to judge you for everything you do they aren’t worth your energy anyways. As long as you’re happy being you, that’s what’s important. You should NEVER feel ashamed of being yourself. you do not have to change who you are to be important to this world as a whole.

this is specifically for group projects when you don’t know anyone in the class (I really really needed to hear this as a freshman): just straight up ask people. I know it can be hard but chances are nobody is going to be like “ew no” or something shitty like that. The worst case scenario is really that their group is full so they have to decline in which case you ask other people. And if somebody really IS like “ew no” I would bet money that they would be a horrible person to be in a group with anyways. It’s just weeding out the trash. And honestly, everybody usually just wants to get the assignment done so they don’t have to do it later so they won’t mind you being there.

for homework: USE TIMERS!!!!! THIS SAVED ME!!! Estimate how much time it’ll take you to do something, set up a timer, get some music playing if that helps you, and hit start. Then just work on the assignment until your timer rings. If you need more time set another timer!! And set your phone in a place where you won’t look at it! with the timer going, you’ll feel the urge to try to get the work done before the timer goes off, kind of like when you’re trying to finish work really quickly before the end of class so it doesn’t end up as homework!! It makes work go SO much quicker and it makes it much easier to focus.

for when you have homework in a bunch of classes: make a priority system. I’ll give mine as an example. I do homework in order of when it’s due. If I have an assignment due tomorrow and another due in three days, I do the one that’s due tomorrow first so if I get tired and can’t finish the rest I still have time and don’t have to force myself to do extra work while being super uncomfy. And then if stuff is due at the same time, do the shortest things first. Long assignments are much more tiring, so then when you finish them it’s hard to have energy left to do the other stuff. But if you knock out the short assignments first, it gets you in the roll of doing your homework and is still less tiring.

If you get tired, stop. I’m not kidding at all. If you have some assignment that’s just a ton of work, see how much you can get done, but if you get tired, take a rest and either work on something else or be done. I know that it seems counterintuitive but you can get way more work done when you aren’t on the verge of a breakdown.

pretend. your life. is a movie. this is general life advice honestly but this vastly improved my mental well-being. pretend your life is an indie coming of age movie and you’re the one that’s coming of age. keep in mind that you get to pick the soundtrack!! something’s bothering you? that’s part of the plot and working through it is just part of your growth as a character. That doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to be upset about it, it just serves to remind you that it will pass and as you fight through it you’re growing as a person. romanticize everything that makes you happy (so long as it is appropriate to do so and doesn’t hurt anybody else or you). Driving down the street listening to your favorite band?? romanticize that. Studying late into the night? romanticize that. it makes everything a little bit brighter and it’s really nice

remember: you are still growing and developing and learning about life. You are still trying to find where you belong in the world and grow into yourself and learn how to feel comfortable in your own skin. You are still trying to understand who you are and who you want to be. You are learning what it means to be YOU, and you are learning how to stop being ashamed of that. And all of that is a process that takes time. Do it at your own pace.

[ziracona]

The thing people don’t understand is that Mission Impossible is unequivocally one of the best franchises just ever.

You think it’s just a popcorn action flick if you haven’t seen them but you’re so wrong; it’s a found family of the best people ever, amazing writing and dialogue and characterization, full realization and development, and amazing execution for a character-centric spy series that absolutely dazzles on the stunts. The cast is better developed and written than most full length /shows/ with 29x the runtime. Ethan is introduced as a baby having the worst day humanly possible at like age 20 and then it just gets worse until he snaps and is like “Fuck you im going to win I don’t give a fuck you killed everyone I love infucking hate you you betrayed us I fucking hate you so much you’re awful and you need to go down” and straps a hellicopter to a bullet train he’s /on/ as it goes into a tunnel. Then literally smacks a bomb to its windshield while making eye contact w the person who ruined his life. Fucking love that funky little man; there’s literally /nothing/ he won’t put himself through to protect other people. Literally the only reason Ethan Hunt ever survives period is he does the wildest balls to the wall shit you ever saw and /God/ goes “Oh worm? 👀” Ilsa is /the/ best written blockbuster fighty lady I’ve ever saw. Her character intro in Rogue Nation alone *cheffs kiss* MI /invented/ “Put on a Cruise Ship”—the much better sister trope to “Put on a Bus,” where instead of sending them away, a character written out of their previous role is sent to personal fulfillment, happiness, growth, and still loves and is connected to everyone from before.

PLUS you have a great cast, incredible comedy moments, and the added horror of watching Tom Cruise actually do shit like hang off the Burj Khalifa for real, or hold his breath for six minutes, or halo jump, and you cry because not even the people who /built/ the Burj Khalifa should have ever been on the outside of that thing it’s fucking BIG. If the item is high enough you can fall and recite a whole Shakespeare monologue before you hit the ground it’s too fucking high. You can watch Tom Cruise break ribs in real time. Ethan runs like a man /going/ somewhere that alone. Never seen someone I was so sure I could never outrun. The whole Russian spy enemy-to-bro in Ghost Protocol, Carter’s whole getting the tragically fridged love interest tough spy character as a lady. MI3 is like a Romance I love and I don’t even fucking like Romance as a genre. But I cry. Fuckinnnnn GOOD movies. Ethan’s always ping-ponging between kicking ass and getting his ass kicked someone help him, but the only person qualified at all is Luther the Team Mom and Ethan sadly can’t be stopped. It’s so cute. Ethan gets traumatized at age 20 and then is like “I LOVE my friends and would never hurt them” but as a still really effective spy and the weird dichotomy there. He’s so good. Man drinks respect women juice too; never loved a man like I love Ethan Hunt. And Benji, Brandt, Luther, Ilsa, and Julia are all so good. The lack of a need to do /anything/ to up the ante or make it darker or lighter and instead just strict adherence to the story they want to tell? Benji Dunn alone??? The Vibes the family of spies has?? It’s just—It’s so good I don’t have words. I got dragged to MI Rogue Nation in theaters and it was the first I ever saw and I was expecting it to just be American James Bond, but instead I got a thoughtful, brilliant, wonderful work of art

[eurydicees]

top 10 ouran manga-only arcs

this is going to be such a long post i apologize in advance. the ranking system has absolutely no criteria other than "does this pass my vibe check.” bonus points were awarded if i could think about tamakyo while reading it; points were also awarded every time tamaki did something cool. this was a delight to make. anyways, without further ado, here are my personal top ten favorites, and no i will not be taking criticism.

1. THE TAMAKI EXTRAVAGANZA

(vol 16 chp 73 - vol 18 chp 80)

PLOT:

So much happens here that I couldn’t think of an actual name, and uh does it count as a single arc? Probably not, but I’m counting it as one because it has a single thread: Tamaki. My beloved. So. First, Tamaki finally, finally, finally moves into Suoh mansion #1, but when he gets there, he gets told that he’s only allowed to study the Suoh business and go to school and nothing else— meaning he has to quit the host club. Shizue threatens to out Haruhi as a girl and ruin her reputation— possibly losing her the scholarship— if Tamaki doesn’t break off all ties with her.

The Host Club disbands. Kyoya begins an Investigation™ into Tamaki’s mother— she had been incredibly weak and unhealthy when Tamaki was a child, but when Kyoya met her, she was pretty healthy. After some sleuthing, the hosts minus Tamaki discover that she probably had Bisco Hatori’s fictional version of lupus, which was cured by a mysterious foundation— which they discover was run by the Grantaine family, funded by the Suoh corporation, and actually researched by the Ootori conglomerate. Literally everyone is in on it. It’s fucking wild. Like. Huge “holy fucking shit I need to stop and take a breath” moment.

This information is suddenly released to the public, and then the Suoh corporation all vote Shizue out of her position, saying that she’s no longer fit for the job. She locks herself in her room and refuses to speak to anyone, breaking Tamaki’s heart. But now that she’s no longer top dog, Anne-Sophie can come to Japan— Yuzuru is super hyped and expects Tamaki to be as well, not understanding that Tamaki’s family fantasy includes his grandmother. Tamaki stops going to school and plays piano every day in order to cheer up the house, eventually luring Shizue out to listen to him play their shared favorite songs from J-dramas.

They begin to bond and Shizue sees that he’s not a failure because of his parentage, but it’s too late because Anne-Sophie is about to fly back to France. All is hopeless.

EXCEPT THEN. All of the hosts and all of the clients realize what’s happening and rush to help him get to his mother. They all adore him so much, and give their all into getting Tamaki to the airport. Shizue finally encourages him to go, realizing— with the help of Haruhi— that she has been bitter and selfish and Tamaki deserves better. They rush to the airport, and through a series of shenanigans that are no match for the combined power of the hosts and every single girl at Ouran, Tamaki makes it to the airport. They make it there JUST in time, and Tamaki gets a five minute reunion with his mother. Haruhi finally confesses to Tamaki that she loves him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

oh my God oh my God oh my GOD. Like. This is just. So much. So Much. We all know that I’m like. The #1 Fan of Tamaki Suoh. Like. President, vice president, treasurer, and secretary of the fan club, all at once. I love him so much, and this just gives him so much development. There is so much opportunity for him to grow and you not only really see who he is as a character, but you also see how much he’s grown as a person from his first introduction. You also get more of a glimpse into the world of Rich People, and the way that all of their families interact with each other, and then also with the way that they interact within their families. It’s just such an intense arc and it’s so beautiful and I love it so much.

2. THE SPORTS COMPETITION

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 11 chp 49)

PLOT:

This one is HARD to rank, because I love it, but it also Hurts. Like. I genuinely cried over this one, though that’s not actually saying much because I cry at everything. So. Here’s what’s up. Tamaki gets into this idea of a sports festival, and then Kuze wanders in to fight Kyoya again, so Tamaki suggests a competition between the two of them. This is a very Tamaki thing to do, but Kyoya gets fed up with it and refuses to participate— until Kuze accuses him of being “Suoh’s pet” and that he’ll always let Tamaki win, and then Kyoya gets fired the fuck up.

But he’s still bitter at Tamaki for starting this, so the two of them stop talking and my heart breaks. This does not stop Tamaki from having heart eyes for Kyoya 24/7. Hikaru and Kaoru are assigned to competing teams, and begin their Very Long Journey into not being so codependent— Hikaru is on the red team with Tamaki, Haruhi, and Kuze; Kaoru is on the white team with Kyoya and Honey.

Essentially, each team goes through rounds of races in different areas that are like. Complete bullshit games, but whatever. It’s Rich People World. The white team gets ahead; the red team performs a scene from a Shakespeare show to rally their losing team together and begins to win, until they’re on even footing. The final race is between Kyoya and Tamaki.

There’s a heartbreaking series of panels of Tamaki just… thinking about Kyoya. I cannot get enough of it. Then there’s an even more heartbreaking series of panels of Kyoya just… thinking about Tamaki. You realize, alongside the other hosts, that Tamaki pushed for this race not really for benefit or fun, but to give Kyoya a chance to compete in something for real, without having to set it up so that Tamaki wins (as we see in the race for the central salon). It’s a chance for him to win and not put his family first. Tamaki still tried his best, because Kyoya would hate him if he threw the race, but he lost because Kyoya fought with the intention of winning for HIMSELF, and not just playing support to Tamaki or impressing his father.

Finally, in the last panel, it’s revealed that the class trip will be to France.

WHY I LOVE IT:

God it burns so good. So Good. The Tamakyo, the Hikaru & Kaoru character growth, the Kyoya development, the Tamaki being so so so good, the Kyoya being so brilliant, everything oh my lord. This is really one of the biggest points of Kyoya’s character development, and it’s the first place I’m going to point to when thinking accurately about who he is as a person. It shows who he is, and who he believes he is, and who he wants to be, and who other people see him as. It’s also just a Tamakyo goldmine, even though they don’t ever actually talk. It’s so beautiful and it makes me cry.

3. THE ORIENTEERING RACE

(vol 14 chp 66 - vol 15 chp 68)

PLOT:

In an attempt to make Tamaki realize that the hosts all love him just as much as he loves them, the hosts sans Tamaki put together an orienteering race. There are six checkpoints, each one with a task to be completed in order to get an ingredient that will make the best meal at the end of the race.

Hikaru and Kaoru play the return of the “Which one is Hikaru?” game, knowing that Tamaki has been able to tell them apart for a while by now; Nekozawa’s checkpoint is a quiz on cursed items, knowing that Tamaki is familiar with Beelzenef; Honey’s checkpoint is a game of whack-a-mole with little mini Usa-chans, knowing that Tamaki isn’t afraid of making him upset over a game, though all the girls are; Mori’s is a sword slicing thing to show that Tamaki will never give up on something; Haruhi’s is a “tell the truth or never pass” kind of thing; and Kyoya’s is a crossword puzzle of all the answers made up of things from previous club themes.

Tamaki pairs up with Konoya— who is in love with him and is the “perfect Haruhi” trope— and realizes that she’s incredibly different from Haruhi, and that he loves Haruhi for who she is and not who he thought he wanted her to be. He also realizes that— because the hosts have gone through all of this for him— they do love him for who he is, no matter what, no matter the bad parts of his personality, and they’re never leaving him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Look. We know that anything about Tamaki is gonna make me happy. I am a simple woman and so easy to please. This is literally just three chapters about how much all of the hosts love Tamaki and want him to be happy. I cannot express in words how rewarding it is to watch Tamaki realize how important he is and how much he’s loved— because he is loved, he’s so loved, he’s so so so loved. This is also the arc with the building block / building a home metaphor, and it destroyed me both physically and emotionally (vol 14 chp 66). This is where the found family is really solidified, and we all love a good dosage of found family.

4. RACE FOR THE CENTRAL SALON / THE SCHOOL FAIR

(vol 6 chp 22 - vol 6 chp 26)

PLOT:

This is where the anime diverges from the manga, and I have to say that this version of the school fair is just so much better than the anime version. Like. Just So Much Better. Basically, the club is setting up for the school fair, and the best spot to set up— essentially, the spot that will get the most foot traffic form the parents— is in the central salon. To figure out which club is going to get the spot, they all compete in a literal race, both mind games and physical games and it just slaps overall.

The b-plot is that the Host Club is getting threatening letters telling them to drop out of the race, alongside blank papers that are sent with the notes; the hosts have to figure out who is sending the notes and confront it. This is the arc that introduces both Kuze and Yuzuru Suoh for the first time. Kuze is captain of the football team and Kyoya’s rival and also definitely his secret ex-boyfriend. Chairman Suoh is… just. A lot. Just. That’s it. A Lot. He’s A Lot.

Anyways, part of the winning race is capturing this crown that’s hidden on campus, which turns out to be at a swimming pool. The football team gets there at the same time as Haruhi, and Kuze pushes her into the pool and goes for the crown. Kyoya and Tamaki reach her at the same time— Tamaki’s instinct is to go for Haruhi, but Kyoya tells him to get the crown and thus the glory of winning, while Kyoya rescues Haruhi.

Later, it turns out that Yuzuru was sending the blank papers with harmless messages written in invisible ink as a prank to emphasize the literal hate mail that the hosts were getting. The follow up to the race is the actual school fair, where we meet Yoshio and Shizue. Fuck Shizue, not even going to get into that right now because I WILL cry, but just know that it’s even worse than it is in the anime. Yoshio, though, is eons better in the manga than in the anime— he is genuinely proud of Kyoya and says that he actually wouldn’t mind appointing Kyoya as heir.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Volume 6 does SO MUCH for Kyoya and Tamaki and we all know that I’m ride or die for the two of them. Kyoya finally gets a chance to shine as team leader and it’s what he deserves! Tamaki takes a little more of a backseat, which I don’t even mind, because Kyoya does such a good job of pulling attention here. The scene at the swimming pool is just so good— it really shows the huge amount of trust between Tamaki and Kyoya, and does a good job of setting up the relationship they need to have as Rich People, outside of their friendship, which is something that we don’t see a lot of. Overall, it’s a very Kyoya-centric arc, and it does amazing things for the development of his character and personality. It’s one of the biggest insights into how he functions as a kind of mastermind for the club. We also finally get Tamaki’s full-ish backstory, which genuinely makes me cry every time.

5. THE HITACHIIN FAMILY

(vol 10 chp 45 / vol 11 chp 51 - vol 12 chp 53)

PLOT:

So this is technically two plot lines, but I’m going to count it as one because it’s all about the twins, my loves. In vol 10 chp 45, we get a little insight into the life of the Hitachiin family and why the twins are as fucked up as they are. Quick rundown— their parents can tell them apart but pretend not to for whatever godforsaken reason; Kaoru admits he’s in love with Haruhi for the first time and Hikaru remains oblivious; Kaoru begins to realize how unhealthy he and Hikaru’s relationship is and how, one day, they aren’t going to be able to have all of the same things; there’s a cookie metaphor; Tamaki gets lost in the Hitachiin manion; it’s all a good time.

In volumes 11 and 12, we begin the actual split between the twins, where they realize that they can’t stay the way that they are forever. They can’t be one person forever. They realize this in a fight over Haruhi, where Hikaru suggests they “share” her as a sister, and Kaoru rightfully thinks this is bullshit. They get in their first— and only— genuinely real argument. Hikaru breaks down in Mori’s house, Kaoru breaks down at Honey’s place, literally no one is happy and I am crying.

Kaoru asks Haruhi out on a date, and then ends the date by explaining that he could never date her knowing that it would be hurting Hikaru. Haruhi is, understandably, very confused by this whole thing, and no one is telling her anything.

Kaoru then makes up with Hikaru, saying that he’ll give up on trying to pursue Haruhi, but tells him that they actually do need to live separate lives at some point— and that point might as well be now. He wants to break apart entirely, but Hikaru explains that while they need to break apart in a lot of ways and find their own identities, they can never fully forget each other. They agree that they can influence and love each other without depending on each other for a personality.

They keep up the incest ACT at the club, though. Bisco Hatori couldn’t manage to write her way out of that one.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So this one just. Really hits home for me. It’s a genuinely heart wrenching arc, and the progression of the whole thing was just so slow and so steady and it was so well done. The twins are two of my favorite characters in the show/manga, and their relationship is something that I can analyze for days, and this arc is a huge part of why it’s so interesting. It does amazing things for both of them as developing characters, but it does even more amazing things for their character growth as people. It also provides a nice catalyst for the Hikaru/Tamaki/Haruhi love triangle. Anyways, it made me cry and apparently that’s my only criteria.

6. THE FRANCE ARC

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 12 chp 56)

PLOT:

On the Ouran 2nd year school trip to France, Kyoya decides he’s going to spend the trip searching for Tamaki’s mother, rather than spending it with the other students. He works himself to death trying to find her— he ends up literally falling asleep on the ground because he’s so exhausted from searching and taking literally no breaks. Kyoya finds her eventually, and has a really nice conversation with her— she has a bunch of photos of Tamaki, and clearly is constantly thinking about him. When he gets back to Japan, he tells Tamaki about her— about how beautiful she is, about how she smiles, about how she thinks of her son every day.

We get more of Tamaki’s backstory, and his close relationship from his mother and how his mantra— living life in Japan to the fullest and being as happy as he can be every day— all comes from his mother. She told him that she’s happiest when he’s smiling, and so when he leaves her behind in France, he decides to be smiling every day and make everyone around him smile as well.

While Kyoya is in France, Tamaki stays behind in Japan— he gets closer to his father, who offers to begin to train him to take over the Suoh business. He visits Haruhi, and tells her a little bit about his life in France, and Haruhi’s love for Tamaki begins to make an appearance for the first time.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So I went into this list thinking that this would be my favorite plot, so it’s wild to me that it didn’t even make the top five. It’s kind of weird and I didn’t expect it, but I’m still satisfied with this list. Anyways, I really love this one, even if it’s not the top five. It’s like. The ultimate Tamakyo story, and there’s just. There’s just so much to unpack there. Like. We don’t have time for me to go through the whole thing and analyze every part of it because there’s just so much of it. It’s so good, and it makes my heart grow three sizes. It’s another brilliant development piece for Kyoya, and shows his softer side, as well as just how much he loves Tamaki.

7. MORI AND HONEY GRADUATE

(vol 15 chp 71 - vol 16 chp 72)

PLOT:

Honey and Mori announce that, after graduation, they’ll be splitting up and going to different universities. This proceeds to emotionally destroy literally everyone except for them. Mori is challenged to a series of duels at the Kendo club in which he has to fight every underclassman who wants the honor of fighting him before he graduates. He’s exhausted and worn down, and he loses to a second year, which is bad for like. Honor reasons. RIP. Anyways. He reveals that he’s just been really worried about something but before he can tell anyone, he has to duel Honey. It hurts.

They start preparing for the fight— which Kyoya is capitalizing off of via movie rights and betting rings— and scare everyone that they’re going to never speak again. When the fight comes, they fight on the Windswept Hill™ at Ouran (the same place that Chika and Honey fight on way back when). They go for it and pull no punches, until Honey tries to do a flying kick and Mori catches him and gently places him outside of the boundaries of the fighting ring, thus winning the duel.

Because he won, he pulls out a sheet of paper in which he’s written down all of the things that Honey needs to do in university because Mori isn’t going to be there to take care of him: brush his teeth, cut down the cake by 90%, and stop bringing Usa-chan to classes. Mori felt that he didn’t have the right to tell him these things until they were on equal level because he had won the duel.

They make up and everything is okay— they graduate, everyone cries, including me. Kasanoda gives Mori flowers, it’s all very cute. Haruhi makes cookies, and when Tamaki goes running down the hallway to find her, they bump into each other and drop all of the cookies. While they’re picking them up, they share the classic ~accidental kiss~.

WHY I LOVE IT:

This is one of the only Honey & Mori-centric plotlines that gets fully fleshed out and like. More than a chapter. It really does lovely things for their relationship, and it’s the end of an era. Even though it’s the end of an era, though, the resolution is incredibly satisfying— Honey and Mori’s stories are wrapping up, but it’s really well done. It’s sad, but it’s a really rewarding ending. They’re such sweet boys. Also, it’s not like they’re gone forever, so it’s all okay.

8. REIKO x HONEY

(vol 10 chp 41)

PLOT:

Reiko is part of the Black Magic Club, and falls in love with Honey when he gives her a hand in getting up after she trips over Usa-chan. However, she believes that falling in love with Honey is equivalent to him “stealing her soul,” and so she uses “curses” to steal his soul back. These curses are basically just love spells. 

In the end, Honey tells her to just, like, be herself. Talk about her interests. Get to know him. Be honest. Then she won’t need love spells to make him like her. Even if she messes up or is awkward or says something weird, he’ll still like her because she’s being true to herself. This is one of the only Honey-centric chapters, and Reiko is one of my favorite side characters.

WHY I LOVE IT:

They’re the OG goth x pastel couple. The blueprint for all other couples. Icons. I love them so much. This makes it on the list just because I love their relationships. I also love the whole Moral Of The Story, in that it’s important to be true to yourself. It’s so sweet it hurts.

9. HARUHI AND TAMAKI’S FIRST DATE

(vol 18 chp 81 - vol 18 chp 82)

PLOT:

So. Right after the two of them confess their love to each other, everyone expects them to get together and be a couple right away, but Haruhi is just kinda chilling. She’s not super stressed about dating, it’s just a relief to have said it out loud. Meanwhile, Tamaki is kind of a mess, stressing out over their first date and trying to make it as perfect as he possibly can. Seeing him so stressed, all of the hosts band together to help him out in planning a date. When Tamaki finally gets up the nerve to ask her out, he falls in the fountain and Haruhi has to fish him out. She’s then the one to ask him out to the amusement park.

In true Tamaki fashion, he gets incredibly stressed out again. He gets fashion advice from a series of unfashionable people. The hosts sneak around the amusement park and follow them around, finding out that it’s actually going really well, as long as they’re not interfering. After the Lobelia girls show up and try to sabotage the date, Tamaki and Haruhi run away— while Kyoya Handles™ the situation— and they go to her mother’s grave. There, it’s revealed that Haruhi will be going on an exchange program to America.

WHY I LOVE IT:

It’s just. So cute. Like. I’m Tamakyo for life, but I do adore them so much. It’s lower on the list because of the sheer amount of second hand embarrassment, but overall, I loved reading this one. Tamaki is just so genuine and earnest about everything he does, and I think these chapters do a lot to show why the two of them work as a couple. It also does lovely characterization points for Haruhi, and begins to wrap up the ending. Bonus points for a jealous and heartbroken Kyoya.

10. PRINCESS MICHELLE

(vol 9 chp 38 - vol 9 chp 39)

PLOT:

Princess Michelle comes to Ouran to do a week of school in Japan. After meeting her, Tamaki essentially puts him and the Host Club at her beck and call, doing anything that he can to make her happy, no matter how insanely extravagant her demands are. Everyone else finds this infuriating, until Kyoya points out that Michelle looks similar to Tamaki’s mother, saying that the last time Tamaki saw his mother, she was crying— and if he sees Michelle smile for real, it might help him picture his mother smiling again.

Overall, it’s just a very soft arc that begins to unfold Tamaki’s family-related trauma. It also kickstarts Tamaki’s realization that he’s in love with Haruhi and doesn’t actually have paternal feelings for her (that’s the whole next chapter, but make it funny rather than introspective); and it’s one of the moments that Haruhi realizes that Tamaki is genuinely just a good person.

WHY I LOVE IT:

I wasn’t sure that this one would make the list at all, but I do really love this story. It’s pretty short, just two chapters, but it’s overall really sweet. I like Michelle as a character a lot— she seems a bit like a bitch at the beginning, but she gets fleshed out and given an actual personality as the chapter goes on. It’s a really good example of Bisco Hatori’s writing.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

Mei (character): probably the most significant character in the manga that doesn’t appear at all in the anime, which is pretty tragic, but I think that the anime really wanted to emphasize that Haruhi doesn’t really have any female friends / friends outside of the hosts. But anyways, she’s Misuzu’s daughter and Haruhi’s friend; she’s lowkey transphobic but she’s getting better! Had a brief crush on Tamaki but she ends with being the #1 Tamaharu stan. Great friend to Haruhi.

The masquerade ball: Haruhi's going away party, and the reveal that she's a girl.

Haruhi gets kidnapped: Haruhi is kidnapped and held for ransom, the hosts find her and break down doors to get there.

[bon-nii]

There's literally no stakes in the anime at all. Its so bland and emotionless. I don't feel anything for these characters. Everything is being handed to them. Give me back my son, Adam. He is far more intelligent than any of these anime characters. They all drank stupid juice.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I'm just watching to see where this ends up at this point (and also to shitpost lmfao)

Every Thursday me and two of my friends (one has read most of the manga, the other is anime-only) watch it on discord, or talk about it on discord and man... my friend who is anime-only is like "yeah, this sucks ass, I need to just read the manga" and is confused with stuff. We just kinda clown on it at this point. It's basically just someone's shitty canon-divergence AU playing out on screen.

Random assortment of thoughts:

I can sympathize with Manga Norman. I can understand WHY he is doing what he is doing and what his motivations are. It is, quite frankly, completely disgusting what he wants to do, but I can get why he wants to do it and I don't hate him. He is a very complex character, trying to make sense/live in a very complex world. Anime Norman on the other hand? I feel nothing for him like, I just Do Not Care. Norman is, imo, the best written out of the three mains and my personal favorite, but they've completely squandered his writing... ugh

I've held strong by this belief: If you are going to adapt TPN, there are 3 major characters who you *cannot afford* to mess up. Isabella, Yuugo, and Norman. (I'd even throw Peter and Leuvis in there as well) Well, Yuugo's gone and if they *do* decide to have him show up his character is completely different (i.e. the out of character note he leaves at the bunker). Norman has next to none of the depth he had in the OG story (I can't remember, but didn't Cislo or Barbara say that he saved the kids at the mass production plants? Uhhh, what?!?!). And Isabella is being built up as the big villain YET AGAIN which does not align with her development at all (though I do think they will still pull a bait-n-switch on us like in the manga) so there goes that.

Peter and Leuvis oh where do I start? Leuvis is my personal favorite villain of the story for multiple reasons (I think I will write an entire post on him sometime) and Peter is the epitome of everything Emma stands against and is essentially the Big Bad. Leuvis is gone, Peter is in the op but has had ZERO screentime thus far, not even any fucking hints to his existence at all. There's 5 eps left so he has to show up at some point, right? He's in the opening soooo... where the hell is he? How are viewers supposed to give a shit about him? He's pretty fucking dangerous and has been influencing the plot since day ONE, but whatever I guess??

Anime Ray is the only one I vibe with rn, and even then he's meh. Anime Emma is on thin fucking ice, and Anime Norman can be fed to the Dropkick Murpheys for all I care.

Infodumps. My god. These bitches be talking like they're reading a wikipedia article.

The literal butchering of Emma's character. Goldy Pond would have been the ep 19 of Demon Slayer of this anime season if they had adapted it, and I stand by that. The amount of HYPE on social media that would have happened after Emma pulls herself from the brink of death to challenge Leuvis would have been insane. There are so few strong, well-written female shonen protagonists... damn shame that the brilliance of Emma is relegated solely to s1 and the pages of the manga, she is a husk of herself in this season.

No character growth. Trio is separate for 90 chapters. That's literally half of the entire manga. There's no feeling of separation, no feeling that they are wildly different people now. These three have spent their entire lives together. Ray and Emma have to struggle without Norman, and Norman has to struggle without Ray and Emma. It's so important. This dynamic *literally* dictates how they grow as characters. When they are finally reunited it is so emotional and amazing, but also a bit unsettling because Norman is *clearly* not the Norman we remember... but in the anime we don't feel any of the impact of those 2 years.

Yuugo and Lucas. Contrasting the love Isabella gave to the kids with the love these two dads give to them. Adds a lot to the story. RIP.

Also RIP Adam and the Gold Pond kids... jeeeeeze there was so much potential.

Anime sacrifices extremely hard-hitting and emotional moments for cheap shock factor (namely, bunker raid and the trio reunion)

Speaking of the trio reunion, why the FUCK does Anime Norman not give a shit about Anime Ray? Hes completely ignored, and it's not like in the manga where he came in later no, like... he's there, seeing Norman at the same time Emma is. There's like, a solid minute and a half of Norman and Emma crying over each other while Ray just stands in the back like 🧍‍♂️and then is added as an afterthought. Emma's like "oh yeah, I brought Ray" GIRL??? And Norman is like "oh hey Ray.." BITCH?!?! YOU KNEW HE WAS GONNA FUCKING KILL HIMSELF AND HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING WHETHER OR NOT EMMA WAS ABLE TO STOP HIS SUICIDE, FOR 2 YEARS??? AND YOU JUST IGNORE HIM?? AND THEN ACKOWLEDGE HIM AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT?? I--okay!

Manga Norman: Emma and Ray are my best friends and I love them more than anything in the world, but Ray understands me in a way that Emma doesn't. They are both important to me.

Anime Norman: who the fuck is ray

Zero suspense. Minimal world building. Very minimal lore building. No mystery.

What the fuck is up with the William Minerva part of the plot like... uh, that's pretty important??? He's been completely dropped and there's zero reason for us to connect him with Norman. Like, he had his phone call in ep 3 and then any mention of him dipped. Disappointing as hell. Don't get to see the parallels drawn between him and Norman. Man...

Yeah idk what else... am I being too critical? Honestly, not sure. I think my criticisms and frustrations are well-founded, but I am definitely basing most of this off of the anime's failure to adapt the manga. Though I suppose, looking from an anime-only standpoint who has no idea just how much of the story has been axed, it might be okay or it might not be? Or it might depend on the person... in any case, I cant fathom how anyone could look at this season and go "Yeah, this feels like the same show as season 1!"

[ayoalex]

I didn't expect for me to do a rant about bumbleby but I've been rewatching RWBY while me and my friend wait till February for the next chapter and holy shit, there's a lot to talk about.

Maybe it's because the first time I watched RWBY was all together without needing to wait like all the fandom but I'm pretty sure bumbleby was either a thought, a path they had as one option or being something it was going to happen no matter what since they started writing RWBY.

All the hints, subtext, etc were there, since the first moment Yang and Blake meet.

We all know RWBY doesn't have all the time neither the budget to make a 30min or 1h long for every chapter, so all the faces, the details, body movements are there for a reason and not to waste time and money.

Yang sees Blake and it's immediately interested, Ruby tells her she knows her and what Yang do? Uses Ruby as an excuse to go closer to Blake and talk to her + this will help Ruby to come out of her shell.

Now, before I continue I want to say that I personally head canon Yang as a lesbian because I relate to her as one but it's perfectly fine if y'all head canon her as bi or pan, what we all know it's that the girl is NOT straight.

Let's continue, Yang try to start a conversation and Blake was not vibing with it until Ruby started talking about books. It's quite a funny moment for me because Yang is so used to people wanted to be with her or wanted to flirt with her that she gets awkward and her confidence start going low the moment she is the one actively going for it and not the other way around.

Yang is quite an interesting character because at first it looks like she's a flirt and knows clubs and illegal stuffs, she's really cool, confident and really attractive. But then as the series progress we see how damage she is, such a low self-esteem she has in certain stuffs, how she's really smart, she doesn't actually flirt and when it's someone she likes she gets all awkward and stuff.

Then you have Blake, we see since the beginning the strong sense of justice she has, how passionate about it she is, she's lowkey most of the times, serious but then we see all her issues, her low self-esteem, how scared she is and how humorous she is as well, assertive and direct. If Yang is not there then the person making the jokes is Blake and I find that really cool.

I mention this because the Blake we see in Emerald Forest is assertive Blake.

Yang gets into the forest and start looking for Ruby while Blake seems to have been following her since they landed in there. She's in the shadows keeping an eye close to Yang, she sees her fighting the Ursas and took advantage of that to help her and appear in front of her. Purposely smirking while looking her directly at her eyes.

Now, why would Blake choose Yang? Why not Phyrra? Or Ruby? Well, because Blake is attracted to strength. It's the same thing that attracted her to Adam, she sees the similarities but there are so many differences as well.

As they continue their journey to find the relic Blake seems to enjoy Yang company, smiling and smirking at her. We basically see a different Blake than we saw when Ruby and Weiss were around, this is more direct, assertive and flirty.

At this point Blake is attracted to Yang, smiling at her jokes, smirking, going all sassy, the way she walks or behaves around Yang.

The best part? She loves it.

My favorite part of bumbleby between v1 and v3 is absolutely when Yang tells her "I love it when you are feisty" and Blake smirks and it's loving it.

Blake loves when Yang gives her attention. It always been there, I'm so sorry y'all can't see it.

But between v1 and v3, while she absolutely loves being around Yang, she's still feels the weight of her past, which makes her still closed and not as free as she would like.

Before I talk about v4 and 5 and the end of v3 I want to talk about Sun.

He's important for Blake's growth and I feel a lot of people don't like that but this is what the media does every single time with women, they present them in the narrative only to make the main dude to growth so, it's actually nice seeing it the other way around + Sun does get a bit of growth and he has some plot in the books I think (I still need to read those but I can't find them 😭).

Since the moment Sun sees Blake he's attracted to her, understandable, she's hot. He tries to catch her attention by helping her, etc.

Blake does not shares the same sentiment until like v3 or something, in some funny way Yang is the one that pushed her to Sun by making her go to the dance and spent time with Sun.

But Blake goes to the dance because of Yang and she specifically tells Sun, in a really smug way btw, how her first dance is reserved for someone else. In the dance she constantly smiles to Yang and then we see her having an amazing time with Sun and Neptune which helps her to relax and making new friends!

At this point Blake seems to be attracted to both Yang and Sun or at least she's a bit attracted to Sun in a sexual way and not romantic wise. Blake loves the attention them both give her, is not in bitchy or selfish way(?) It makes her confident and tbh that's such a human like reaction, knowing that really attractive and amazing people are attracted to you? Please, I would be worst than Blake.

Then we have the end of v3, where Adam appears and everything goes to shit.

It's interesting how they decided to animate and write Blake, Sun and Yang in the Fall of Beacon.

Blake is constantly worried about Yang, specially after what happened, Yang calls Blake and wants to be sure she and Ruby are ok.

Later Blake goes after a Grimm and Sun and Yang are finally in the last place Blake was before disappearing.

Instead of Sun going after Blake it was Yang, he just stays there, behind Weiss.

Is in this volume that we find out that Adam wasn't Blake mentor, they were together in a romantic sense (which is disgusting because it means Adam not only abused her but groomed her). Adam tells her he's going to destroy everything she loves and in that exact moment Yang comes into scene yelling for Blake and poor Blake is mortified and Adam sees this which for him means that the blonde girl is someone that Blake loves.

The freaking meaning of all this is AMAZING, the narrative presents Yang as someone that Blake loves.

When Yang lose her arm it's when Blake gets out of her black state to protect Yang, she could have died but she didn't cared because she needed Yang to be alive, that's her partner and someone who she has confused feelings about.

Because that's the thing, yes Blake knows she's attracted to her but what does that mean? Adam is still around and she knows Yang is vulnerable and can't take much emotional damage.

So Blake leave because at least without her around Yang can still be alive because Adam is looking for her not Yang.

Here's something important, bumbleby of v1 to v3 is something fun, is a teenager thing but then bumbleby of v4 till now is more important, is deeper and goes beyond a crush.

Sun stalks Blake which was pretty bad specially cuz Blake was paranoid about Adam which makes her react violently (she slaps him which is bad as well).

Blake character development in v4 and v5 is really important, not only Sun helps her a lot but spending time with her parents help her heal some stuffs.

But it's in v5 that everyone should have got the confirmation needed for black sun.

There's a moment when they are talking about Adam and Blake tells Sun that she's thankful that he helped her and that's what she wants to do, she wants to be that friend to help Illia, the same thing Sun did for her.

This implies so much and the most important one is that for Blake, Sun is a friend, a very dear one btw, and that she wants to be a friend to Illia as well, she wants to be that safety net that Sun and her parents were for her but with Illia. This is so powerful because Sun is more than ok with that, he only wanted to help Blake and if she ended up falling for him? Cool, and if not, cool as well.

Sun already knew this, since the beginning.

In the end of V3 he saw it and came to terms with it.

You know who were looking out for Blake and Yang when Yang was unconscious and Blake was taking her hand while crying and apologizing? Ren and Nora, who were both tired. And in front of them was Sun, looking at them like "oh", like he understood that Blake eyes we're always on Yang and not on him.

That's why in all the conversations of blacksun in v4 and v5 Sun always brings up Yang and how she may feel because he knows that's the person for Blake, not him.

Because if not, tell me why no romantic business happened? It was perfect to expand their relationship! But they didn't.

Later he was the one pushing Blake to go with her team, he knows, Sun knows how important is for Blake to be with her team and to be with Yang. At the end of the day, the person Blake felt safe with after Adam was Yang.

Now, v6.

Listen, Ruby and Weiss don't get why Yang can't seem to forgive Blake but... Blake does, back in Beacon Yang had an heart to heart with her about her family, Blake knew about what leaving would be for Yang and that's why she so angst about Yang in v4 and v5.

So she tries her hardest, and while I agree that there's some parts that should be written better and they need to TALK about it... V6 was good for them.

The Apathy mini arc was amazing but it was the end of V6 that settle bumbleby to be canon.

Blake finally understanding that they need to be equals in their relationship, them both going against Adam, Adam rage to see how much they love and respect each other, the final blow, Blake break down...

But the most important of all was the beginning of the second part of Blake and Adam fight, because Yang listen everything that Adam said to Blake and it clicked for her.

Blake didn't left because she wanted, she left because she loves them. And the moment Yang hug her, comfort her and reassure her they are fine it's the moment she forgives Blake and a new stage in their relationship starts which lead us to v7.

V7 bumbleby is v1/v3 bumbleby but mature. They talk more (as we see with the scene about Robyn), they want to be more close and close to each other, etc.

Assertive Blake is back! She keeps flirting with Yang, keeps making Yang to compliment her, to pay attention to her, she giggles at Yang's jokes, she goes to a club!! Blake doesn't usually goes to clubs!

In V2 we see Blake can dance but in V7 she doesn't seem to find the rhythm... Ohhh the classic "please help" You give to your crush to make them get closer to you so you can flirt with them and maybe make a move. And Yang? She goes with the flow, because is what Blake wants and Yang wants Blake to lead because Adam is still fresh.

That's why she gets worried about what Blake thinks of her in V8, what they have is new, they are aware of the attraction and the feelings but haven't done anything about it.

I love making it seem they are clueless but they aren't, they are smart and observant young women, Blake knows Yang find her attractive, she encourages Yang to watch her, to flirt, to get closer.

There's a scene in V7 when Yang is watching Blake through the mirror and Blake purposely gets flirty when putting her make up on.

They know they are dancing around each other.

It's so great seeing an wlw couple being like this, I love it. Bumbleby is a slow burn and it's a really cute and adorable one, it's a shame people hate it or claim is queerbaiting.

Yeah, maybe there's some stuffs that could be written better but overall? Bumbleby has been here since the beginning and the development is beautiful to see.

Highly recommend to rewatch RWBY with all this subtext in mind so you will find Bumbleby since day one lol.

Btw, ship whatever you want guys, blacksun is a cute ship, just stop being dicks to the VAs and the writers of the show for something that's your fault, like... Literally, your fault, all the signs were there.

And sorry for making this so long and all over the place, I hope you enjoy this rant tho lol

[stennnn06]

if the show were to bring sam back, what would you hope to see?

besides the obvious, and that is andrea/sam staring across the room at each other with HATRED in their eyes? jk. (im not kidding.)

no but seriously, if we ignore odie’s scheduling issues and pretend we could have her back on the show, sam is like... the perfect CHARACTER plot hole filler. ignore actual plot, because like - what even IS going on in this show ever? but i’m talking like emotional, DEEP, character plot holes that i just wish we could have more exploration with. [and i know, we have too many characters, there’s Crisis which makes no sense, etc. but lets just...indulge me for a sec. you asked! lol]

sam gives the perfect excuse to dive further in lena’s past - have some flashbacks, make some shit up, do whatever. show more about their connection prior to Reign.... with her, lena and jack back in metropolis - it doesn’t even have to be gay, it can just be like... giving lena more substance besides her family drama (which i LOVE, and you all know i love). but we also know sam and jack gave lex and lillian THE BUSINESS too, and i wanna hear about it. i wanna see lena-sam’s first meeting. i wanna see sam’s reaction to lex’s bs. i wanna see lena tell sam she’s moving to national city and have sam make fun of her for it but ultimately support her. i just wanna see more reasons why lena is so GOOD.

sam also gives MUCH more weight to andrea and lena’s relationship as well. rojascorp is already pretty great with what’s implied, but if i can’t have true previous-history reigncorp (which we know happened, but for canon we’ll pretend it didn’t), then i picture something like from @i-am-robie ‘s wedding date AU where sam and jack are just like Team Lena forever, and the shade they throw against Andrea after her betrayal would be HUGE. sam, who we know has been ACHING for a real reason to hate andrea the whole time would be all OVER it. and so it makes andrea more well rounded than just the weird (ex)girlfriend vibe and nonsense with leviathan...and is just so JUICY. so then you’d have this present day tension where sam wants to defend lena, and andrea is reeling with how to put their relationship back together, and she hates that lena loves sam so much enough to save her life...and lena is just like -- i’m a luthor i don’t have friends (but literally you have just as many as kara at this point). and they’d go round and round and i’d get my sam-andrea hatred, but they’d probably be forced to work together to help lena against lex, and it would be SO FUNNY and delightful. andrea having to listen to sam? sam having to follow andrea’s lead? oh GOD.

plus then, it also puts kara in this weird position of like.... where do i stand with lena? oh god i HATE my boss but i have to pretend to like her....and SAM is here, and she REALLY hates andrea, and i really like sam.... and oh boy this is uncomfortable for everyone. like i could watch a show that just revolves around that for.... more seasons than i’d like to admit, lmao.

and then there’s also alex and kelly. who i REALLY want to be invested in, but i struggle when im just handed a relationship that took 2 episodes to develop. BUT if you insert sam (NOT to break them up) just to have a conversation - like imagine she meets kelly? and she feels all these weird feelings about what she almost had with alex, but she realizes kelly is so amazing, and she sort of has to deal with stepping back and allowing alex to be happy. that’s some DRAMA right there, but its in a good way. and it gives dansen more weight, because its just this added thing that makes you think. idk that’s just one suggestion out of many.

then, because everything is fake and time doesn’t matter and we retcon things in canon anyway simply due to laziness, i think they could dive deeper into her story overall as a kryptonian - make some shit up and have her actually have some kryptonian background, and her and kara can go down that entire path of really figuring themselves out and sharing this history together. it can be the friendship we always should have had for kara, where there’s an equal who struggles and UNDERSTANDS and has to come into their own. even if sam doesn’t keep her powers (i’m ok with either one, just explain it - although i’m always down for her to have SOMETHING).... it would just be great growth for kara without it having to be about a love interest. and maybe lena helps her figure out her powers or develops a weapon or two for her - OH AND BONUS - maybe she joins alex to fight some serious street crime. WHO KNOWS.

anyway, thanks for coming to my Why We Need Sam Arias forever Ted Talk.

[jesterofinaba]

new ask meme I see-- fdfjkghfdg Jokes aside, what does murder mans see of himself in our favorite little reverse-furry mascot boi that is Teddie?

Adachi projects onto people a lot and talking about it is a fun character development exercise - Still Accepting ig @bear-tastic come get y'all juice

[Okay it's no secret that I adore Teddie and Adachi's dynamic, and will talk your ear off about them whether in replies or in discord, so I will try my best not to ramble - tho tbh I am gonna talk a lot about sotfd but i can tell you more about fool&magician in discord bc i don't want this to be 8 pages long

Admittedly, during the events of P4G and at the beginning of SoTFD, he really didn't see anything of himself in Teddie. Though, to be fair, Adachi also knew next to nothing about Ted - probably got off vibes about him bc. shadow, but really nothing else. Just thought he was a goofy dumb kid who liked to wear a bear suit.

In SoTFD, though, they actually kind of learn more about the other, and that's when they actually connect and Adachi starts to project. Of course, it all started when Teddie reveals to Adachi that he's a shadow and that his emotions were amplified by Ameno-Sagiri. This is the only other person Adachi knows that's been influenced with like that, especially by the same entity they both hate, and it makes Adachi... regretfully relate. He completely understands being unknowingly manipulated to feel the most depressed and furious he's ever been, each of his negative emotions ramped up to 11 by the gods to make him act and to see what he'd do. He hates that he was manipulated like that, and just knowing that Ted went through the same thing... makes him not as bad in his eyes.

He also relates to the sense that Teddie hides all of his emotions he doesn't want to discuss behind a smile, but hates being isolated. The same with him having this childishness but being smarter than people give him credit for. Though Adachi likes to think he has these feelings with much more subtlety, he sees a lot of it in Teddie, but for some reason, seeing Teddie be upset by things that aren't his fault and trying to hide it or secluding himself to avoid people getting hurt (like Adachi does to avoid getting himself hurt) makes him feel... kind of bad. So he lets Teddie give him snacks and shows him magic tricks and teases him a little just to make him cheer up.

Really, Ted is the kind of friend that Adachi needs to have to better himself, and I say this completely seriously. Ted is very emotive and very clear with what he wants and doesn't want, and Adachi needs that. He's good at reading people, of course, but Ted is easy enough to get a clear reading on that if Adachi does something to upset him, Adachi will immediately know (and, after a while, tries to be nicer to not upset him as much). He also is nice to Adachi, which completely baffles him, but also doesn't take Adachi's shit when it matters. Sure, they mess with each other a lot, but when Adachi's clearly doing it to be instigative or mean, Ted's pretty good at shutting him down.

That combined with the fact that Adachi can relate to Teddie with their most emotionally vulnerable moments makes Adachi kind of care. So he's trying to be a little bit better, but he will never, ever admit that or that he gives a shit about Teddie's well-being.

But, judging by the fact that Adachi bought Teddie ice cream after upsetting him (even if it was melted because he debated doing it for so long), it's easy to see that Teddie's made a huge impact on Adachi's growth as a character.]

[we-rate-tmnt]

I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?) 

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

[offtopicoverload]

Howdy there!! Who are the li’s you fancy the most from LITG??

hi! thanks for the ask!

i honestly dunno who’s my top answer, cuz they’re all interesting in their own way

I’m only going to talk about female LIs cuz the only male routes I’ve finished are Bobby and Jake, and I tapped through most of Jake and only ended with Bobby on my first run cuz I never unlocked Marisol, so I’m not the best source lol

Talia:

She’s just so chill but has no problem standing up for MC, she has her back no matter what

Which, like, what a queen

She’s the original and only one of 4 LIs, which maybe it’s just me, but for a game based on an incredibly heteronormative reality show, allowing representation for queer audiences from launch is such a big deal and so cool to me, so Talia’s kind of special in my mind

She was also my first LI so nostalgia points

And she’s such an easy LI, not much drama on her route outside of Lucy, just her having MC’s back as the boys make themselves look like idiots

And she has so much potential, like I know some people think her only personality trait is fancying MC, which I mean, is a little fair, but there’s so many opportunities for her in fics and headcanons to develop the good amount of information we got on her in 13 days

I absolutely love how self-aware and confident she is

She just went for what she wanted, struggled a bit with commitment at first, because who wouldn’t, but after that it was smooth sailing

Like obviously what she said in the Beach Hut at the beginning of the season wasn’t great for MC, but she knew exactly what she wanted out of her time on the show

She was confident in herself and her sexuality so much so that she was just down to have a fling with a girl and not worry about how it would effect the show

And then she *coupled up* with that same girl, not even giving a shit about the rules or anything

A queen

Allegra:

I know she’s not an official LI, but her arc is what got me into writing so she gets a million points for that

I love what could have been done with her progression if she was given an actual route, I’m a sucker for some good enemies to lovers, but alas, she’s canonically a bad bitch with a lot of internalised homophobia yet enough confidence to ask MC out

I still love her

Marisol:

I know so many people hate her, and I get it, but I do really like her growth

Maybe it’s cuz I’m pretty analytical too, but her analyses never bothered me or anything, and now that I’ve played her route so many times, it’s pretty obvious that that’s a defense mechanism, and I understand that

She very much so has a “figure their weaknesses out before they have a chance to figure mine out” attitude, and I’m 99% positive it’s because of the ex that Elisa reminded her of

So not only has she been burned in the past, I’m willing to bet it was by the only woman she’s been in a serious relationship with

I really have no problem with her commitment issues, it’s understandable, and I can really empathise with her fear of coming out, it’s absolutely terrifying even if you’ve accepted it and bought a flag, saying the words can be really difficult

My biggest issue is her entitlement and immaturity, I guess?

Like her using Graham to make MC jealous just feels like an excuse to crack on with him and still have MC available for when she’s ready

I understand her being scared to couple up, but playing games to distract herself just made things with MC worse

And unless youre on her route, and sometimes even when you are, it’s clear to me that she expects things and has no problem saying what they are, but going after them is a problem?

Like her going after Lurik even though they don’t have a connection, or Gary even when he’s with Hannah

But then it never works and she gets sad and I melt because I’m weak

ALSO, can I just say how awful it is that Lucas and Henrik don’t pick her unless they have to???

Like cmon she deserves MC after that

And when they finally couple up? And she’s all soft? The GROWTH ohmygod

Anyway I love who Marisol became, maybe not everything she started out as, but definitely the person she ended the season as, more confident and self assured and willing to be vulnerable

It’s precious

Elisa:

I still haven’t done an Elisa route

I tried to a couple months ago, but dumping Marisol felt so cruel, what the hell was Fusebox thinking with that?? 

I do really like that they learned from their mistake though, even if they went in the opposite direction

From what I’ve seen of Elisa, she can be pretty sweet, I’ve seen her described as a Lucas-Bobby hybrid, and while that’s not the most interesting personality to me, I will say that she’s a really cool character that FB messed up on

Why did they make her a straight up villain???

And why ONLY her???

None of the other female LIs have been villains or had such a complete 180

Like her going from shouting at Chelsea, who is literally meant to be MC’s ride or die and the person outside of your LI that youre supposed to want to defend and avenge, to “i cant even sleep because im pining so hard”

I know the treatment of black women has been discussed before, specifically in regards to Hope and Erikah, and it is by no means my place to speak on it, but I definitely think something’s going on with Elisa

Anywayyyy, I love her archetype

The celebrity and influencer has so much potential, to the point that I wrote a one shot without even knowing her lmao 

And she’s so confident in a way that’s so different from Marisol

She doesn’t even care if MC’s happily coupled up, she WILL get in her pants and I respect that

In conclusion, Fusebox did her dirty and I’m probably going to try and retcon some canon for her in the future

Lottie:

Ohmygod

Lottie

A goth babe

Lottie

Yeah, anyway, so I love her

Her growth is just unbeatable in my opinion

Yeah, she still has her flaws by the end of the season, but she went from ready to rip everyone’s throat out to biting her tongue around Hannah

And her and MC???

And the development between them??? 

Ugh

No matter what way you swing it, you’ve either got best friends to lovers or enemies to lovers and I adore both

And her aesthetic is one of my favourites, I’m alt myself and having a character like that is just so cool

My Runaways MC is a ball of sunshine with some hidden darkness specifically because Lottie’s such a dark cloud but can start shining with the right person, and that’s my absolute favourite trope

But man were the wedding episodes a cop out

Why couldn’t they give her the Noah treatment? Or the single treatment? Where they just get together after the show? Same with Hannah, why are they giving such an intense confession after who knows how long of literally nothing, like no communication even????

Don’t get me wrong, I kinda simultaneously love it for the angst and yearning, but it just… makes no sense?

So yeah, amazing bat lady that I seriously vibe with and wish my MC could have wifed up

Hannah:

I know this is a little controversial buuuut

I fucking love Hannah

But only OGHannah, Returning Hannah was butchered and I will never let that go

And it was such a toxic message too, that she needed to change herself and her appearance just to get a guy to like her?

Fuck that, Original Hannah was amazing and perfect exactly as she was

I love her trope, too, the naivety and how obvious and clear it was that she’s still learning about the world and relationships, to the point that it’s going to get her in trouble

And her obsession with fairy tales? 

Fucking adorable ohmygod

I started a fic a while ago that I think I’m gonna scrap, that just indulged in the fairy tale metaphors and stuff because I just love how cute it is lmao

If she wasn’t dumped, I think she could have had amazing growth alongside Lottie, and their friendship/kinda, probably, most-definitely-if-MC’s-not-there-more-than-a-friendship growing together would have been so good

In an alternate reality Hope was dumped instead, and that helps me sleep at night

I firmly stand by the fact that Noah should have been the deciding factor between Hope and Hannah/MC, where Lottie said something that screwed with his head earlier in the day to make sure her friends were safe

Noah should have saved Hannah/MC and Hope should have returned with Rocco, hellbent on revenge and proving herself

That would have been so good for Noah stans and such good drama, that actually made perfect sense

Hope was fully expecting that she’d get picked by Noah because they’d spent three days attached at the hip and then to just… not have that happen. It would have driven her insane and if there was then a scene with MC where she just like, gives up

Like she’s spent the past two days grafting Noah but he won’t make up his mind and she’s just done and MC can comfort her or fight with her and you just get to humanize her make her vulnerable and hurting and I fucking WISH they did something like that, even for RHannah

And Hannah’s growth in the Villa would have been so amazing

I think her idea of a perfect guy is definitely too much, and I’m not advocating that she settles by any means, just that she could have learned that there are things more important than money

That conversation on day 1 where you choose between money, kindness, and intelligence still baffles me

Like why are you a gold digger Hannah?!?!

Why don’t you just want a Prince/ss Charming???

Her and Hope should have swapped and I don’t understand why they weren’t

I mean, I do really like Hope, but Hannah’s just so cute and has so much to learn and her struggling in the Villa just to have a lightbulb moment with MC would have been precious and now I want to write it dammit

Anyway, Hannah is adorable and had so much potential and she never should have returned if they were just going to scrap everything that made her Hannah, except for snooty literature

I wanna listen to her rattle on about Belle and Mulan and every other Disney Princess and what they meant for representation and progress in media and then compare them to their original stories like a dweeb and I would have melted on the spot

Like yes, please tell me more about how gruesome Cinderella is

She should have shown up at the finale and hugged MC and been innocent and sweet so I could have just lost my shit for like a half hour

But stan OGHannah, burn RHannah

AJ:

Adorable, precious, denied an arc outside of coming out

I am not exaggerating when I say that I cried at 4:30 in the morning at her blushing face when playing the first two days

It’s just so fucking cute and I’m a sap and I don’t know why it made me cry, but it did okay?!

And her coming out was such good representation!!! By far the best thing in Boat Party, and I’m so proud of the progress FB’s made in queer representation at the very least

I know she’s pretty one dimensional, but most of S3 is unfortunately

Her being available right off the bat was also such a win, I’m positive it’s the reason she had so many stans

If her and Yasmin had switched or her and Lily, they would have been the ones that were dominating Reddit polls and stuff

And I know she’s written as masc but I just can’t really see it? Like I can’t see her in a dress, but outside of a few clothing items, I guess I just can’t see it? Maybe androgynous is more the word for my image of her, like definitely a mix

She’ll wear a skirt under the right circumstances, but never a dress, a crop top with a flannel, her prom outfit that’s like a frilly jumpsuit, stuff like that? idk im not a lesbian

Her route for me was so glitchy, but I know that if MC’s stolen from her by Yasmin, Tai, or Ciaran, she has some really cute scenes and I wish I could have seen them

And I know some people were ragging on her for the eyelash at the end of the scene but I thought that was just a perfect callback - maybe it’s the writer in me

Basically, AJ’s adorable and why did Ciaran have to split her and MC up, not cool dude

Yasmin:

I forgot I was doing a Yasmin route a while ago, but from what I’ve seen and played, she’s really sweet 

I hate that she’s almost nonexistent outside of her route

Give us a mysterious musician friend, you cowards!

I saw that she sings to MC on the final date and damn is that cute

Her eyeshadow kinda throws me off, but her stuffed animal makes up for it

And I’m salty that Yasmin the Lamb disappeared too, that was such a nice detail that made me start a Yasmin route

She’s distant and self-assured, but has a soft, gooey, nostalgic center and I wish we saw more of that, even if we weren’t on her route

My final thoughts on Yasmin: An artsy indie icon that I really need to stop getting distracted from and finish her route

Lily:

Again, don’t know much about her, but she seems really cool

Her shaving her head between the finale and Boat Party is such a flex and I wish she did it right before Boat Party so we could see her in all her bald glory

She’s into cars, right? And… architecture?

Idk, I barely remember my own name, let alone a 10 minute date from months ago

But I’ll definitely get around to doing her route at some point, maybe just to write for her, we’ll see

Elladine:

I know she’s not an LI, but MC so should have been able to run away with her

I missed that option in S3

I kinda get why they didn’t do that, but Boat Party’s just so messy in general

And I would include Genevieve here, but she’s so cute with Seb that I’d feel bad splitting them up

But Elladine had actual problems with Nicky!!!

Why did they mention it for it to never pay off??

And I’m so mad that the hype around her died when it was revealed she wasn’t an LI or the badass of the season, because I still adore how sweet she is

I also want to brag that before we got a name I was calling her Emma and that’s just on example of my almost psychic-ness

But yeah I wanted Ell to be a run away option and I’m salty that she wasn’t

Know what, fuck it, Viv too, she’s smart and cool as hell, let us love these awesome women FB, you cowards!!!

I have no idea who would be my number 1 based on canon, but if we’re talking hypotheticals, I think my answer, as strange as it is, is Hannah.

I just love what she could have been, but by no means what she is. 

It’s so awkward to know her for three days, not see her for three weeks, then spend a couple more days with, a couple weeks at most, just for her to write a whole ass book about MC?? And tell her about it with that hair????

No thanks, I’ll stick with closeted sapphic horse girl nerd Hannah because I guess that’s somehow my type??? Oh god what the fuck I swear I’m not a total weirdo