#And they say this show is badly written…

[quantumbutterflies]

CW: soft yandere Phainon, kidnapping, implied stockholm syndrome, a bit emotional, female reader, mention of pregnancy/having children

Phainon was like a sun in a cloudy sky.

You don’t mind being his captive, secured to his home and Phainon being the only person you ever get to see. If your presence, or your sacrifice, can comfort or help him in any way, you were happy to stay here with him.

“I love you,” Phainon whispers the confession into your shoulder, the air of confidence melted away to show how uncertain he really was about everything. “I may… not know where the future is going to go, or if we’re… doing the right thing, but I do know one thing for certain. I truly love you.”

In the prophecy you are known as the bride of the one who is destined to inherit Kephale’s coreflame, the girl carrying the fate of the world with her soon to be husband.

You nod slowly, your expression growing flustered at how close he is. “I know, Phainon. You’re always doing your best, it’s okay to be unsure.”

You gently comb your fingers through his hair, and he melts at your gentle touch.

He feels like he could break at your kindness.

In the beginning, it was true you struggled against him, even tried to run away like Cipher. Eventually you gave in to your destiny, Phainon was always so heart meltingly sweet to you it was hard to stay upset about fulfilling your role by his side for very long.

“The Flame Chase Journey is almost over. We’re getting married soon,” He sounds incredibly excited, like he is looking forward to the idea of making you his wife even more than becoming a god. “Are you nervous?” “A little,” You admit. “It’s just… a lot, I don’t want to disappoint anyone…”

Phainon’s expression shifts to one of total seriousness. He rolls you over so he has you pinned underneath him, and he quickly climbs on top of you to hold you in place. “You could never be disappointing.” He tells you honestly, the shadows on his face only adding to his stern expression. 

“I mean, look at you…” He says, leaning in closer and gazing at you with a lovestruck expression.

“This cute smile.” His thumb traces along your bottom lip, tilting your head up so you’re forced to look him directly in the eyes. “Those beautiful eyes…” He trails off for a moment, getting lost in his fantasies. “I really hope our children have them.”

Your face feels warm, and you’re stunned by his words. His admission that he wants you to bear his children leaves something new stirring inside you, and you quickly realize you’re warming up to the idea of loving him too.

The only thing you can do is stare back at him.

“You’re perfect.” He says in awe, gently dragging his fingertips along your cheek in a loving caress. “In every way, you know.”

He lets out a sigh, rolling you over again so you’re now the one laying on top of him. It makes you giggle a bit, Phainon wrapping his arms around you, hugging you so close to him.

“I love you so much it feels unbearable,” His voice is barely above a whisper, “You have no idea how badly I want you. How badly I need you.”

He smiles at you, practically beaming, the love in his eyes still evident.

“If it was a choice between you and the world, or even the fate of Amphoreus itself…” Phainon melts in contentment as you snuggle closer, embracing him just as tightly.

“I would pick you every time.”

Most people who look up to Phainon see him as courageous to a fault, but they don’t know of the times he sobs into your arms. Restless and with tears streaming down his face, apologizing to you over and over, the ghosts of the past written all over his face.

You know he tries to carry himself with an optimistic aura in everyday life, but you see the sadness behind those weary blue eyes of his.

Sadness he only shows to you.

You think you may know him too well sometimes. You aren’t sure if he wants you to see him so vulnerable, or if he’s showing his scars to the only person willing to actually listen.

You’re glad to be that person for him, the only solace in a life full of worries and expectations.

In all the time you’ve known him, Phainon’s smile has never reached his eyes. Those depths of shining beautiful blue are so deeply haunted, with daylight as endless as Okhema’s. Eyes that are like the sky if it were an abyss of pained regret.

How badly you wish to grow wings and soar into that beautiful sky. You swear you would part the clouds for him. Rain judgment on everything that ever hurt him.

Phainon deserves clear skies.

How happy you would be to see the sun for the first time, without anything obscuring it.

[delicateperspective]

The truth is I’m not great at expressing myself. I’ve had a thousand thoughts running through my head for quite some time now, but I’m going to try to put into words what I feel. English isn’t my first language, so please be patient with me.

There’s been one question I can’t stop thinking about: why?

I think in this fandom it’s necessary to stop for a second and ask ourselves if we might be wrong. And that’s okay. I’ve always liked to look at all sides, even the ones I don’t agree with. I think it’s necessary to understand the full picture.

I’ve chosen to support two boys who, I believe, loved or love each other, and who are in the closet. Not because I want to believe it, but because even after hearing the antis and seeing their “proof,” I still find more truth in what’s being hidden than in what’s being shown.

I’ve been in the fandom for about five years. I didn’t live through 1D in real time, but I’ve done my research. And even though in recent years Louis has been presented as a strong, straight man, a father, a family guy — I can’t ignore everything that came before. The signs are there. They’re not made up. They happened. They’re real.

So why so much effort to deny something that once was so obvious? Why deny it so aggressively? Why erase such an important part of his story?

I understand that if you only look at the last three years, all of this might sound ridiculous. But you can’t just erase the rest. You can’t deny a whole decade of glances, lyrics, silences, symbols, gestures.

You can see how far they’ve stretched this stunt. Louis commenting on Z’s post triggered all kinds of reactions — people saying he’s never been so emotionally open, that he was never like this with Eleanor. So why now? Why like this? Why so many denials of Larry lately, and done in such an aggressive, defensive way? Why did his team — I think it was the hair stylist, I don’t remember her name — speak badly about Larries? Why did his sisters deny it too? Why so much effort to erase something so big?

I understand that some people only see the recent image, but I can’t. And I believe many of us can’t either. You can’t erase what’s happened over more than a decade. You can’t reduce everything to “Louis is straight and the best dad ever” and just keep pushing that endlessly, because it doesn’t make sense. Social media exists, and whether we like it or not, everything is documented (even if some things get deleted).

You can’t tell me he’s dating a reality show influencer and also say he hates that whole world.

You can’t paint him as the straightest man alive while he sings “It’s a church of burnt romances and I’m too far gone to pray / It’s a solo song and it’s only for the brave,” surrounded by flags, saying he feels safe, wearing coded clothes.

You can’t say he hates Harry Styles and that the fans destroyed their friendship, and then watch those glances, those stolen touches, those songs about a love he met at 18 and a lasting relationship.

You can’t sell me the idea that his son is his top priority when he hasn’t even protected his privacy, when he hasn’t been there in key moments.

And you can’t say he’s homophobic or uncomfortable with gay rumors when he’s been in gay bars, has a triangle tattooed on his skin, and has written “be proud” on a flag.

You can’t erase who they’ve been. Who they’ve been for more than a decade.

You can’t just cling to what’s convenient now and forget what once was so evident.

Stories don’t disappear just because no one talks about them anymore.

Gestures don’t lie. And sometimes songs scream what voices stay silent about.

You can’t reduce someone full of layers and nuance into just one thing.

You can’t say it’s all black and white when there are thousands of colors in between.

Maybe this message doesn’t make much sense, but I needed to let it out.

Thank you for reading. And truly, thank you for creating a space where we can think with calm, with critical thought, and without losing empathy.💞

oh my heart — you say you’re not great at expressing yourself, and then you go and write something that’s so clear, articulate, and deeply moving. ♥

i agree with you 100%: it’s crucial to stop and check ourselves sometimes. to ask if we might be wrong. to stay open to being wrong. to look at every angle, even the ones that don’t match what we want to believe. that’s how we stay grounded, and that’s how we keep our integrity.

the truth is, we probably are wrong about some things. that’s just the nature of piecing together a story we weren’t meant to see. there are things we missed. things we misunderstood. things we only understood in hindsight. but at the same time — as some details have fallen away, so many more have been confirmed or made clearer with time. blocked interviews, old footage, behind-the-scenes leaks, deleted clips, unreleased lyrics — they’ve only made the picture sharper.

so when people ask, why the cover-up? why so much denial? — the answer is, because they never had another option.

this started in 2010. long before they were ready. long before they were famous enough to push back. and once the narrative was in motion, it had to keep going. the more their fame grew, the harder it was to untangle. one direction was the first social-media-made boyband, and that changed everything. before that, hiding things was easier — call up a tabloid, pose with a girl, plant a story. but as tech evolved — camera phones, twitter, stan culture — the control had to evolve, too.

and when you’re dealing with artists who can’t speak freely — who are bound by contracts, management, NDAs, and brand deals — sometimes the only option left is to erase the past and replace it with something easier to swallow.

and the truth is: most people don’t remember

they weren’t here for the beginning. they didn’t see the shift happen in real time. they’ve only seen louis post-2019. they don’t remember the glances, the lyrics, the tattoos, the interviews, the way he lit up next to harry. they never saw the subtle rebellion, the patterns, the coded language. they don’t see the full picture — because they were never given the full picture.

and unfortunately, context does disappear. media gets deleted. clips get scrubbed. narratives change. and unless you’ve spent years watching, researching, connecting dots — you’ll probably miss the nuance. and most people don’t want nuance. they want simplicity. they want red carpet kisses, instagram stories, public drama. they want what’s entertaining — not what’s true.

when your career depends on a public image, and you’re not allowed to tell the truth — you give the public a truth that works. and right now, that version of the truth is: louis is a straight, grounded solo artist dating someone who’s relevant and visible.

is it real? no. is it frustrating? absolutely. but is it strategic? without question.

if you're part of louis' team, and you're trying to keep him in the media, keep his name trending, or build a “palatable” narrative for the GP — you lean in to the image that works. and if you’re family or friends, you might go along with it (or stay silent like mark) because you know it’s not your story to fix. you know he can’t say what he wants to say — not yet. and maybe not ever. but like you said: you can’t erase a decade of truth just because it’s inconvenient now. you can’t erase the glances, the lyrics, the silences, the symbols. you can’t reduce layered, complicated people into one flat narrative.

and you absolutely can’t convince someone who’s been watching this unfold for 10+ years that their instincts, their memories, and their research are completely imagined.

[proudslytherinlover]

now I'm all indigo...

I have finally written a fic! As you know I have posted a rather big bit of videos on my tiktok account @proudslytherinlover and if you haven't checked them out please do! Anyways... as promised my first ever written piece, hope you like it my loves!!

Warnings: none. If I have made any mistakes please let me know... english is not my first language!

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You fiddled with the thick metal ring hung around your neck, your fingers instinctively tracing the swirls adorning it. The chain felt heavy against your neck, your stomach burned and the feeling of nausea was steadily building. You felt like you’d be sick, the pain and anguish in your heart, the nausea in your stomach and the burning feeling of Harry's hand on your thigh. His touch was unfamiliar to your body and even though you focused on the feeling of the cold metal in your hand - everything burned. Your heart, your mind and your body, it burned so badly that you winced out loud, unable to handle the anguish tearing your heart to pieces.

Harry was a nice guy, one who fulfilled his duties as a good boyfriend. He knew everything he was supposed to- your favourite food, your favourite show and even how you liked your waffles. He was nice to your friends and always included your family. Harry was the definition of boyfriend material, the nicest there is. And though your heart warmed when he looked at you, when he spoke to you in that sweet tone that made you feel like the only girl in the world, you couldn’t let yourself have this moment of joy. Not when he used to look at you that way… not when he used to talk to you like that… not when you’re still wearing his favourite ring around your neck.

The gnawing in your stomach and the urge to be sick only grew as your friends laughed loudly at a joke Harry had made, Ron giving him a proud grin. You hated how they found him funny, how they had all moved on and included him in the group like nothing had happened. As if he never happened, as if he never existed. It was mean and cruel- how he was constantly on your mind, how everything reminded you of him…

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”Oh shit…” you giggled like a little child as the glass jar hit the floor, the red paint splattering against the floor and walls. The splatters of red paint looked like a crime-scene in a cheap horror movie and you looked around the room, hoping that no one saw or heard the horrible noise of the glass shattering. “Who on earth pushed that jar to the floor?” you said, desperately trying to contain your laughter.

”I believe you are the only one close enough to have caused this, my love.” Mattheo's smooth voice filled your ears, causing your heart to flutter and your body to grow warm. You turned around and met the eyes you had grown to love so dearly and when he smiled… when he smiled so sweetly at you, you felt sparks shoot up your spine and your heart did an extra leap.

”We both know that’s not true… you’re here with me so perhaps you knocked it over.” you mused, looking at the mess under your feet. The whole situation caused you to giggle to yourself. You should be embarrassed for knocking a glass jar, filled with paint, over, but you weren't. How could you think about such a small thing when you were with him, the love of your life. You grabbed some paper from your desk and gave him one last sweet smile.

”Of course, my love… whatever you say.” you didn’t miss the teasing smile on his face, how could you when you couldn’t even look away? When all your attention was constantly on him? In moments like these- when it felt like the world around you stopped, when it felt like you and Mattheo were the only people on the planet, you found yourself wondering if this was too good to be true, if this was all some vivid dream.

”Would you, my sweet Matty, please help me clean up this mess?” the sarcasm was evident in your voice and a teasing yet sweet smile grazed your face as you looked at him. You fiddled with the buttons on the sleeve of your shirt and cradled the soft piece of paper in your hand.

Mattheo was smirking at you in adoration, and he dropped his head to hide the grin on his face. He was grinning like a love-sick fool, causing his dimples to make an appearance. The light in the room shone just right to make his warm, brown eyes shine a little extra. He looked truly beautiful, ethereal, the love of your life. Mattheo huffed out a small laugh and you rolled your eyes at him, but you couldn’t hide the grin on your face, matching his.

”Don’t laugh! Now come and help me please…” the furious gazes of the other people in the store didn’t go unnoticed, causing a pit of shame to form in your stomach. Mattheo knelt down to help you clean up the mess you had caused, though you would never admit that out loud. As the two of you cleaned the floor of the art store the glinting sun pierced through the window causing the thick metal band on Mattheo’s hand to shine brightly, like the moon in the night sky. And the black swirls tracing the ring looked like dark smoke, swirling around on the big sky, tracing the millions of constellations made by the stars.

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The memory burned your heart like a fire burning down a dry forest to it’s very root, the pain nestled so deeply, and the churning in your stomach only worsened. Your friends laughed loudly again, and Harry’s hand gently squeezed your thigh, causing bile to rise in your throat. You wished that his touch would be comforting to you, but how could something so unfamiliar ever bring you comfort? You shakily reached for your butterbeer, desperate to wash everything down. The drink only added to the burning sensation in your throat. Though it slightly numbed the burning in your body, it didn’t numb the burning anguish in your heart. Only him, only your Mattheo could do that.

You felt so cruel but you hated how everybody, your friends and family found Harry to be so funny and sweet, how they had all made him part of your group, how they all moved on like nothing had happened, how they all replaced him. You knew that they didn’t forget him, how could they ever? But it truly felt like they did. As if he never existed in their lives, in yours. It was mean and cruel- how you blamed them, how all the mundane things reminded you of him, your Mattheo, your heart and the bane of your existence.

You felt Harry’s gaze burn into the side of your head. You didn’t have to face him to see the worry on his face, to know that he was seeing right through your facade. Your facade that was slowly breaking and crumbling, just like your aching heart. You turned your face slightly towards him and gently smiled. The smile you put on didn’t reach your eyes, it wasn’t bright and loving like it was supposed to be. It wasn’t right, he’s not right… He’s not Mattheo…

You muttered something along the lines of “I need some air” to Harry, your voice a mere whisper, before standing up. The shakiness in your voice, the sadness and regret it held was evident, something that he definitely picked up on. And as badly as you wished to tell him the truth, about your pain and loss, you simply couldn’t. How could you ever bring yourself to tell him? You simply couldn’t… Not today, not ever. Not when you have to tell him that the love of your life is gone. Like a gust of wind blowing cold air over your skin, gone in a second but for long leaving goosebumps, traces.

You felt bile rise in your throat yet again, the gnawing in your stomach more than you could bear. You made your way through the mass of students chatting in the great hall and continued into the halls. All the students around you were celebrating, having the time of their life, because tomorrow... tomorrow is the day of the annual Yule ball. Oh how you wish you could look forward to it, be one of the many students dancing late into the night in the arms of their love…

You reach the astronomy tower, not even remembering walking there, and lean against the railing. The astronomy tower was your spot, yours and Mattheo's. It's where you would go in the dark of the night, when you wanted to be alone. Your hands grip the railing tightly, the wooden surface rough underneath your hands. It reminded you of him… just like all the mundane and simple things did. The cool evening air blows through your hair and across your skin, leaving goosebumps behind. It fills your lungs, pushing the bile and nausea away. You close your eyes, just for a second, and simply just feel. You feel the rough material underneath your hands, you feel the cold air on your skin. You breathe in and smell the cold winter air, the smoke from the fire in the courtyard and your perfume. The perfume you always wear, the one he loves… loved. It was mean and cruel- how he was constantly on your mind, how everything reminded you of him…

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“I’ll marry you one day…” you almost miss it, his voice is so low… like he’s whispering a secret into the night. His voice is warm and soothing, like a fuzzy blanket on a stormy night, causing your body to warm and your heart to flutter.

”Yeah? I might hold you to that…” you can’t help bit smile, despite your tired stage, at the thought of marrying him. Your darling boy, the love of your life… You look up into his warm chocolate eyes. He’s smiling gently while looking down at you, like he’s looking at his whole world. He laughs and throws his head back against the pillow, the rich sound spilling from his lips causes you to grin like a lovesick fool.

You study him for a second, memorizing every little detail of his face. His freckles, his scars, his lips and his eyes. Him. You carve his face into your mind, into your memory, not that it would be necessary. After all you would marry this beautiful man. You would make him yours, officially, for the rest of your lives...until death.

You leaned up and placed a short yet sweet kiss on his lips. Your hand caressed his cheek and you whispered into the night... "I love you Mattheo Riddle..".

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It was mean and cruel- how all your memories with him was slowly beginning to fade, how you were slowly forgetting the way he smelled, the way he talked and what his eyes looked like in the glistening sun. How you were slowly forgetting him.

Your hand instinctively found the ring that was hanging around your neck, tracing the swirly pattern on it. You knew the pattern by heart, etched into your very being.

You took a shaky, yet deep breath and the bile in your throat slowly made it’s way back down, the nausea following. You no longer felt like you’d be sick, you no longer felt that terrible weight on your chest, the one you couldn’t carry on your own. Maybe you weren’t… maybe he was there, your Matty, helping you carry it.

Your eyes find the night sky. The stars on them remind you terribly much of the freckles adorning Mattheo’s face and when you see them, the thousands of constellations and patterns you think of him. Just like always, the most mundane things remind you of him, only this time it doesn’t make you sad. This time it warms your aching heart, instead of making it bleed. This time it doesn’t feel mean… or cruel. It is as if your body, your soul and heart has finally accepted it, the pain.

It’s a funny thing- grief, how it can cause so much pain and suffering yet be comforting. It’s mean and cruel, but it also gives us a feeling of relief. That it will all be okay, that our suffering will end and we will find ourselves somewhere nice and warm. Though Mattheo probably isn’t somewhere warm, he always hated it. He hated when the sun was burning his skin, when he had to squint his eyes in order to see anything at all.

The memory makes you laugh, and part of the weight lingering on your chest eases. You take a deep breath, finally able to do so, and once again look at the beautiful night sky. You murmur a quiet “thank you” towards the sky and for a second you think that maybe Mattheo heard you. That maybe he was there guiding you, making you feel okay again. Making your heart ache just a little less, making the nausea a little less overwhelming…

You turn around and walk away, your hand clasped tightly around his ring. You walk away from the balcony with a heart that aches a little less, with a body that doesn’t feel as heavy. You walk away from the balcony, but you also walk away from him. You’re finally letting go, finally allowing him to find his peace… just like you finally found yours.

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I hope you liked it my loves! I will try to write more but at the moment I'm also trying to make a video so that I can post on tiktok as well.

[angelshizuka]

Seeing someone on YouTube refer to Stolas as “Bojack Horseman if his habit of playing the victim was validated by the narrative”

First of all, Bojack Horseman is a six-season long COMPLETED series that everyone looks at fondly, one because it is a great show, but two because we SEE where everything was leading to because the show is DONE and has been done for YEARS.

Helluva Boss is STILL ONGOING, and we are 20 episodes into a 50-episode-long story, barely over a THIRD of the way done.

But also the claim that the show “validates his victim mentality” it literally DOESN’T???

I could see this argument being a thing when Apology Tour was still the latest episode to have come out, but now that the season is done, the narrative has literally forced Stolas into a situation where he has to address the problems he has put off and address the ways he has fucked up with the people he loves.

He took a gamble at freedom, he fucked up along the way, and his recklessness cost him EVERYTHING. If the narrative validated his “victim mentality” he wouldn’t be estranged from his daughter right now, who called him out on how badly he hurt her.

Is it because the show still wants us to feel bad for him, because not to pull a “back in my day” like a boomer, but I thought people used to understand that a show can ask you to feel bad for someone and STILL hold them accountable for their actions?

Us feeling bad for Stolas doesn’t mean we don’t get how he fucked up. Blitz comforting Stolas at the end of Sinsmas doesn’t mean he thinks Stolas handled things correctly.

Is it because Stolas spent Sinsmas “whining” and not doing anything about it? Because first of all, the guy is off his meds, he’d be homeless if it weren’t for Blitz, he has no money, his daughter hates him, and his abusers got everything they wanted from him.

He is at the lowest he has ever been, so YEAH he’s gonna whine about it!

Second of all, this is what we call a character flaw. Stolas has grown up on a silver spoon never having to worry about basic necessities because it was all handed to him. So to go from that to living in a cramped one-bedroom apartment where the bedroom is already occupied is probably gonna make him a little bratty, and Blitz gently but firmly shuts that down: “You know what’ll fixed that privileged little attitude of yours? Paperwork!”

Third of all, to reiterate my first point, the show is STILL ONGOING! Stolas is in the MIDDLE of his character arc, he’s not gonna snap his fingers and become a better person just like THAT, and S3 is going to begin with him in a place where he needs to rebuild his life and learn from his mistakes.

I swear to fuck these people would never have survived ATLA with Zuko’s redemption arc.

I've never seen Bojack Horseman, so I can't comment on that, but everything else you said is definitely correct.

These "critics" have made up their mind on Stolas long ago, making up whatever arguments they feel justify their hatred for him, and even now that the narrative has full blown debunked their arguments, they're too stubborn to let them go.

These people need to understand they don't have to make themselves look media illiterate just to hate a character, sometimes you just don't vibe with them and that's okay. I have plently of HH/HB characters I find overrated, but just don't bother with, because people are allowed to have fun with them.

But yeah, it's like saying Zuko is a godawful character when we were only 1 season in, or just got to the s2 finale. I get being worried about a character not being written well, because I definitely have my fair share of getting emotionally invested in a character with so much potential, only for the conclusion to be literal ass. But when a show has a clear finish line in sight that we're clearly still building up to, you need to acknowledge your arguments on the matter can change when new information/developments are presented.

(The main reason I said "a clear finish line" is because one of the reasons I salt about Miraculous so much is because it just keeps going and going and going and going, so there's never a satisfying conclusion, because "there's always more to come".)

Speaking of, just imagining ATLA airing in modern day and the discourse that would've come with it... I mean, it already happened when it came to the US Netflix some years ago. I'm so happy I just peacefully watched it as it aired on Dutch TV and even if there was online discourse going on, I wasn't aware of it.

[problemswithbooks]

They aren't really comparable.

First off, Himiko was not kicked out by her parents--she ran away after killing an innocent boy at her school. Yes, her parents were cruel to her because they didn't understand her Quirk and that was wrong on their part. But we never get anything that shows anyone else was mean to her because of her Quirk or she was ostracized. In fact, she was apparently pretty popular and well liked, which was why her classmates were shocked when she jammed a straw into a boy's jugular and sucked him dry.

Past that, she continued to kill people and drink their blood after fleeing. She was introduced to Shigaraki as an experienced killer--essentially a serial killer.

She never shows any remorse or guilt for killing her classmate, or the strangers she used to get her next blood fix. It's not even implied she internalized her parents "monster" comments and fell into the trap of thinking she could be nothing else, but deep down feels badly for killing people she clams to 'love' so much.

Also, if it's implied that Enji raped Rei, I think it's important to bring up that Himiko's Quirk being tied to her sexual attraction to others (she sees it as kissing, and the blushing, almost Hentai-like faces she makes, make it clear it's not Platonic) is essentially implying she is sexually assaulting people too--then killing them, making her on par with sexual sadists like Ted Bundy.

This isn't even bringing up all the people Machia kills as they ride him (while upset about how mean Hawks was for killing her one bff). Then doesn't care and goes along with AfO who continues to throw all of Japan and it's millions of citizens into extreme danger, and makes it clear he wants to rule the world as the most evil person who ever existed (seriously that's his entire goal, and he never shuts up about it). She does so after seeing how much he's hurting Shigaraki, someone she claims to care so much for (but not enough to look more than mildly concerned for a second and sit on her hands, as does the rest of the LoV).

The main thing though, and what I think Hori must be talking about when it comes to "had to die to atone for her sins" is actually her stabbing of Ochako. This is the only thing Himiko shows any remorse for, and only after Ochako tells her everything she wants to hear. Himiko dies due to her own choice to try and kill Ochako despite Ochako never doing anything wrong to her, and validating her. If she'd been less willing to go for the kill, or thought about how her actions affect others, perhaps she wouldn't have needed to give her life to save Ochako. She couldn't atone any other way because she did not give a shit about any of the other terrible things she did to get to the point of fatally stabbing a girl who genuinely wanted to help her.

And that's the main difference between Himiko and Endeavor, and why he survived and she didn't. Endeavor, whether it was written well or not, was shown to care about his past wrongs and want to fix them and help those he hurt. He wasn't the same abusive shitbag he was at the start of the story. While Himiko never really got the epiphany that her actions were wrong and harmful--only understanding her stabbing of Ochako as wrong, and only because Ochako was unrealistically nice to her. In fact, she chooses to die because she specifically did not want to pay for her past and current crimes by being locked up (she says this).

And you can still be mad at Hori for writing it this way. He could have had Himiko and the rest of the LoV show remorse, or refuse to side with AfO and helped the Heroes stop him instead. He could have made Shigaraki more moral than AfO and reject him, rather than showing him choose to side with him again and again no matter how bad he's shown to be or how much he personally fucked him over. Likewise, he could have had Touya care more about his siblings, instead of having him nearly get Natsuo killed and not care. There were so many opportunities to make these characters better and therefore give them genuine atonement/redemptions like he gave Endeavor. But he never did, and by the end saving them wouldn't have made any sense because they never showed the capacity or desire, or remorse enough to be better people.

Meanwhile, Enji did, for the vast majority of the story. Yes, it has issues, like Hori having him stall out at times or not showing that he is doing something that he must be doing (like finding Touya post reveal--there is zero way he's not also looking for Touya, when Touya would be a lead to finding AfO), or focusing too much on his pain rather than showing his victims'. But the one thing the story makes clear over and over is that he does feel guilt, and he does work toward changing.

That's why he lives and Himiko dies. One actually was written as remorseful and wanting to change, while the other was not.

I'm sorry Horikoshi what do you mean Himiko "had to die" to "atone for her sins?"

One of the biggest criticisms of MHA for the past few years has been people saying Endeavour shouldn't have a redemption arc and every single time someone makes that critisism someone else responds "it's not a redemption arc its an atonement arc."

Why does the man who spent years abusing his family, is responsible for the creation of the villian Dabi, and is implied to have raped his wife get to live so he can "atone" but the teenage girl who was abused and kicked out of her home by her parents simply for being born with a quirk they didn't understand have to die?

Every day, my patience for Horikoshi grows smaller.

[ninadove]

hi!

i’m so sorry if you’ve already made a post or answered an ask like this before, but i remember you saying a couple times how the lovesquare is queer-coded.

i think that’s such an interesting observation, and i was wondering if you’d be willing to elaborate on that a little more?

i’d love to hear your thoughts!! and thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

Absolutely Anon! Thanks for dropping by! ❤️🖤

I’m sure there are a lot of wonderful, more complete posts on the topic out there — my Sentikids tunnel vision means I don’t always grant other characters/relationships the attention they deserve. That being said, here are some things that popped into my head:

1. Secret identities

You know ‘em, you love ‘em. Secret identities are the core of the show — the very reason the Love Square is a square! Hiding part or the entirety of who you are for safety reasons is a theme most queer people unfortunately relate to, and the great thing is that we get two very different perspectives on the matter from our two protagonists.

For Adrien, Chat Noir means freedom: being away from his father’s grasp (read: from a power structure that tries to sculpt him into something perfect and bland — more on that later) allows him to become bolder, funnier, more like himself or at least more like the person he wants to be — which very prominently features being in love with Ladybug, aka exploring romantic connections outside of Kagami, the only acceptable option for Adrien.

And yet… Chat Noir is also something dangerous. When Chat Noir gets rejected, Adrien tries to renounce his Miraculous, aka to bury this part of himself as far down as possible; when Chat Noir gets unmasked by Ladybug, the object of his affections, IT’S THE LITERAL END THE WORLD (twice and a half now). There’s an entire post to be made about Cat Walker and Aspik and Adrien folding himself into what he thinks Ladybug’s perfect partner should be.

The point is: Adrien being himself puts him (and the people he loves) in harm’s way, both emotionally and physically. You see the themes, I see the themes, we cry together and hold hands.

Marinette, on the other hand, fucking hates being Ladybug for most of the series. She wants to be a normal girl (!) with a normal life (!!) and it’s just not happening. The reason? There’s something about her that no one knows yet (!!!) ‘cause she has a secret (!!!!).

If anything, being Ladybug keeps getting in the way of her romantic shenanigans: she can’t be with Adrien/Chat Noir because Apocalypse, she can’t be with Cat Walker because her Lucky Charm doesn’t like him, she can’t be with Luka because she has to lie all the time! Not only that, it endangers her friendships as well, as seen in The Gang of Secrets. Look at the wording of her talk with Alya in this episode:

“I won’t try to figure it out our force it out of you. If you can’t tell me what’s in your heart… it’s your right.”

“Will we still be friends?”

“Marinette, I’m your best friend, and I’ll always be. That’s why it kills me that I can’t help you with whatever’s making you feel so alone.”

[…] “You know why I broke up with Luka? Not because I don’t like him! He’s amazing! It’s because there’s something that I can’t tell him. You know why I have to forget Adrien? For the exact same reason. You’re right! I keep secrets, I lie all the time, I lie to my friends, to my parents, everyone, and the worst thing is I can’t do it any other way. […] I tell you, things will never be the same between us again, it will mess up everything — maybe even destroy it!

“Marinette, I’m your very best friend.”

“And I… I’m Ladybug.”

If this isn’t a coming out scene, I don’t know what is.

Of course, Marinette progressively steps into her role as a superheroine and learns to navigate her relationships accordingly — but she’s still carrying this secret that sets her apart from the rest of the world. It’s the othering, isolating part of queerness, and it’s really well portrayed throughout the seasons.

2. The Adrigaminette-to-Lukadrinette pipeline

I cannot not mention it, because what the hell was going on here.

Adrigaminette felt less like a love triangle and more like the girls voting themselves out of the polycule in quick succession. We got an entire episode of the three of them running around, holding hands and jumping in ballpits together. Both Adrien and Kagami went heart eyes over Marinette’s loose hair.

Then André came in with his cart and clown shoes and said “Nah you can’t all share the Magical Ice Cream Of Romance. :( Yeah sorry my ice cream is for two people and two people only. :( Also I guess I could serve Marigami and Marigami only but the flavours would taste gross together. :( Don’t look into the subtext too much” HE JUST HAD TO RUIN IT FOR THEM DIDN’T HE

I’m really happy he ruined it for them, for bird reasons, but still. Adrigami is also the one time we get to see Chat Noir ruin Adrien’s love life, and most of the fuel for my aroace Adrien thoughts, but I digress — LUKADRINETTE

Luka is in the unique position of knowing both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities, aka the most secret part of their souls, and immediately went in repression mode in Wishmaker upon finding out his two crushes were basically soulmates. It pays off in Migration, when he becomes their de facto safe place, the one person they know has both of their backs no matter what. Just look at the way they all look at each other:

With Marinette knowing she does not have to lie to him anymore and Adrien being Adrien. I’m sorry but in my mind they both independently proposed to him right then and there. This is the timeline I live in now.

Parenthesis over. Let’s get back to business:

3. Feligami Adrinette

By which I mean the themes explored throughout their relationship.

Adrinette’s story has always been about rescuing Adrien from the abusive environment he grew up in, as Marc and Nathaniel so helpfully drove across through their delightful storyboards:

(Note the gender role reversal here, blurring the lines between Marinette and Ladybug as she takes on the role of the knight in shining armour, while Adrien is the princess locked away in her tower… Adrien’s gender deserves another other essay in itself, but for today, let’s just agree that he is Not Cis.)

In S5, this theme escalates into a full-on Romeo and Juliet situation. Gabriel and Tomoe are of course the main obstacles to Adrinette’s happy ending: given A. Gabriel’s history of forcing his son into a mold, B. the strict expectations placed on Tsurugi women and C. the oppressive, uniformly white world they want to create through Perfect Alliance (Perfect!!! Alliance!!! Rings!!! Marriage!!!), it’s not a stretch to see them as the messengers of a certain vision of masculinity, femininity and relationships. You see it, I see it, Marinette doesn’t see it because she’s too busy sobbing on the floor, which finally brings me to my favourite thing ever:

“But Nina!” I hear you protest, “you’re making everything about Feligami again!” To which I reply: first of all, yes I am. Second of all, you can’t stop me. Third of all —

Third of all, characters don’t exist in a vacuum, and this is particularly true of the Adrinette & Feligami quartet. Kagami’s name literally means mirror; Felix is a foil to Adrien, of course, but also to Marinette (and Gabriel and Emilie and a bunch of other characters and I love him so much but let’s not stray too far from the point). Of course Feligami is going to parallel and contrast Adrinette, especially since Felix is Aware of the Themes and Motifs and has decided to make it everyone’s problem.

So in June (!) 2023, a little thing called Representation (!!) aired.

There are sooo many things to say about the queer-coding of the Senti-lore in general and of Felix and Feligami in particular. Today, though, I want to draw your attention to the way the kids talk about themselves at the end of the play, drawing clear narrative links to the Love Square (and most specifically Ladybug):

“You know what it’s like to not be able to love the one you want.”

“To constantly fight to save the people you love.”

“To have to lie all the time and never reveal who you truly are.”

[Wipes a single tear away] They grow up so fast…

At the end of the day, this is what both Feligami and the Love Square are all about: embracing who you are and the love you feel, no matter its form, in a world that perpetually tries to enslave and/or kill you for it. I don’t know about you, but I find it hella queer in nature.

Thank you for coming to my DUUSUTalk! 💙🦚

[slypstream]

i think quite a few people actually missed what the original midnight episode of dr who was about! the creature made everyone turn their backs on each other. this was the first interaction it had with any kind of life, and the message it learned was that power to one comes when people are divided. the first time it met the Doctor, the lesson it came away with was that the way to gain power is by making others turn on each other. the people become monsters, and do the work for you. it became what it is precisely because of what they did to each other, and the original episode was intended to highlight exactly this concept. also, likely why the doctor was so incredibly haunted by it originally. he's seen the best and the worst of the universe, and yet, life doesn't change.

[raggedy-spaceman]

Why am I seeing people suddenly saying Good Omens s2 was actually badly written? It was a fun little journey into the lives of Crowley and Aziraphale with lower stakes than s1, it was a lot of fun and that’s what it was supposed to be, fun. Does the fact that the plot is simple and a little goofy means it’s badly written now? Why? Not every show has to be mind blowing high brow super deep and meaningful, sometimes they can just be silly. 

Hell, What We Do In The Shadows is 5 seasons of dumb vampires doing stupid stuff with no plot whatsoever and it’s one of my all time favourite shows, sometimes we can have just that and it’s ok!

[maritteknewtheenemy]

The three quotes about propaganda that are the foreword of SOTR are the strongest condemnations of it present in the novel btw and they aren't even SC own words

[sludgekludge]

can you elaborate on your feelings on vassago?

this blogs becoming what i use to kill time while i wait for my laundry to finish hi. first thing i did today was spill my entire water bottle on my bed. i think vassago is, at best, introduced too early, and at worst, shouldn't exist.

best case is that i think they gave him a poor introduction with functionally no personality outside of 'are you winning son' 'OMG STOLAS!' i genuinely don't get what people like about him. he doesn't do or say anything substantial. it's bc he's yaoi bait and that's it

worst case i think he's just a bad character for the plot. it seems like this dude has some history with stolas (if we ignore that stolas awkwardly does not acknowledge the weird fan behaviour whatsoever lmfaoooo) when stolas was like…established to be living this miserable lonely friendless life. no one likes stolas and he's not respected by his peers. he seems to have pretty bad people skills, and that's being generous. the one real light he has in his life aside from his affair partner (an affair of which should be motivated by that loneliness), allegedly his daughter…and fucking guy we've never heard of until now hiii vassago hi!!! i'll eat my words if i'm wrong but i can't really fathom how stolas having 1 guy who's been in his corner this whole time aids in his narrative, like, at all.

utterly baffling introduction. it's awkward and bizarre. it acts like we should already know who this guy is, almost. if he's going to be important later, fine, but he should've been introduced later then. mastermind was basically nothing. it's barely an introduction at all. equivalent of like, someone asking me to introduce myself, and all i say for 5 minutes is I UFUCKING LOVE THE COLOUR YELLOW, like ok. what else man

[dellinah]

You know what. Who wants a damn ramble.

These two pieces of media are very unrelated but I promise they make me feel similar things in opposite ways

Maybe bc i watched both in the same week but anyway

I've seen both Mufasa 2024 and HB several times having their writing and plots compared to "fanfiction" and obviously it's an insult and people never go any deeper than that but I'm tired of accepting that fanfic-y plots aren't hella cool sometimes and that it's all the same bc it's really not and also man it's really not that deep in the end oh my God

Bc you know what. We write/read fanfiction bc we want silly guilty pleasures that we rarely see in "professional" writing and we want to see those cool tropes happening. But then when those tropes do happen people complain that it isn't professional enough??? So what the fuck do you want then

Like Loona having a demon feral wolf form is PEAK deviantart 2012 furry fanfic headcannon but also. That's so fucking cool man. I love her. People ask oh why does she have a demon form but man why should she NOT. Yeah you'd see it in fanfics but isnt that bc we want it. It's in character and in universe and it's cool and I love it bc it's so random but it doesn't destroy the universe and it's COOL it really doesn't go deeper than that man

Meanwhile Mufasa writing is fanfic-y in the way that it has a lot of tropes that you see in TLK fanfiction (white lions, made up lion biology, etc) but it's also BAD bc it's sooo badly connected and the pacing is terrible but also they don't even DO anything cool with it. It doesn't do anything new or exciting with the wacky ideas they decide to use. It doesn't do anything cool with white lions. It doesn't do anything cool with Mufasa being adopted. All comes and goes and leaves no impact.

It'd be the same if they'd randomly introduced Loona's wolf form while she was on the phone or smth. Literally nobody would find that cool the way we are now bc it's hella cool THE WAY they did it

Like fanfics can be bad or good and that's fine bc the only reason they exist is to be self-serving and I give them all the right to be as dumb and as badly written as they deserve and for some people it's just stress relief and some people are literally 11yos having fun. Do whatever you want

But when you have some kind of production then yeah, we expect some level of quality. I just don't think that being "fanfiction level / fanfic-y" is inherently bad you know. It's about how you use it

Both Loona being a feral demon and the whole Mufasa movie have a lot of fanfic tropes but one of them used it in cool ways and the other used it in dumb ways but the tropes themselves aren't the problem you know

I just don't think that fanfic tropes are inherently bad and I'm tired of acting as if they are. Fuck I love THE LION GUARD over Mufasa because The lion guard actually does cool stuff with whatever they did and embraced it being as insane as it is while Mufasa just threw random stuff and didn't do anything with the tropes they used. I would be SO INTO Mufasa having white lions and ghosts and magic and fights and lion monarchies if they bothered to do anything cool with it.

I don't know man. It's not that deep. Sometimes stuff can be silly but also cool. Media can be silly and fanfic-y as long as they write it in a cool way. Which Helluva Boss did and Mufasa didn't and that's the point

Have a great night

[kingsragesqueal]

stolas asking blitz "have u ever apologized to anyone?" is literally so fucking wild because yeah, yeah he has actually?? have *you* ever apologized to anyone? i can only think of two times u've apologized and both of them were to octavia, after you fucked up majorly and ignored her needs and made her feel unloved and alone. also did u ever apologize to blitz for *takes out comically long scroll*

coercing him into a sexual relationship (he admitted it was wrong, but never apologized)

using him as an object in more way than one, including putting out a cigarette on his horn (99% sure that imps have feeling/sensation in their horns. he didn't seem to be in any pain but tbf we know he's into some freaky shit....but STILL)

calling him an "impish little plaything," "itty bitty imp," "blitzy," etc

embarrassing him in public and dirty talking to him on the phone with your daughter in the same room

treating his entire race as a whole like complete and utter trash then denying it and basically saying "UM i don't see color (species) uwu~"

trying to make him feel guilty for not rescuing you when he was taking his daughter to get a very important shot that literally prevents her from dying which she is five years overdue for already, a daughter who is also terrified and needs his support (being a supportive dad? what's that lol)

so many other things i can't even think of rn

no? no. then shut the fuck up u ugly ass bird

[goemon-fan]

This was easily one of the best Lupin episodes

[twilight-deviant]

Just gonna put some BA 1x04 Fisk thoughts down. Honestly, don't even read this.

I wish I had more to dissect in Born Again, but so much of it is very surface level, innit. Like yeah, Vanessa moved closer on the couch in therapy, and now she and Fisk have the short side of the table between them instead of the long. She's making an effort. They're becoming close again. Blah, blah, blah. Very apparent symbolism we all noticed. I feel like I'm being starved of anything nutritious.

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

I hate you therapy plot. I hate you so much. You're so dumb and unnecessary. (You won't see me reblogging gifs of it or anything because I don't support this filler trash.)

Also Heather's kind of a not great, not at all impartial therapist, isn't she? "Vanessa, tell me what interested you about another man right here in front of Wilson." It's kinda clear Heather doesn't like Fisk, and considering how much she's listened to her boyfriend talk smack about him (before even meeting), I'd question how she ever could be impartial. Girl, maybe recuse yourself? I still can't believe we wasted Heather Glenn's name on this nonsense. (◡_◡)

And I feel like no one mentions how dirty they're doing Vanessa by making her have an affair. You can tell how desperately they want to justify their own decision by constantly bringing it back to Fisk's mental breakdown absence and even having Vanessa condemn her mother's behavior in a similar situation. (Do two women's wrongs make a right, or does BA just hate women?) I'm sorry, I think I just lack patience for writing that wants a bad plot and then bends over backwards and breaks characters to force them into it. And still there is no indication of why they're doing this to Vanessa and the relationship, and I assume whatever payoff they have in mind will hardly be worth the destruction.

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

Love to get a, "When I was a boy." Followed by Fisk not answering a question for 3-to-5 business days. BA doing something right. ............Hate how they didn't stick the landing. Guys, the topic was domestic abuse. All you had to do was have Fisk mention the violence he learned from his father, but the one thing he did not learn to commit was how the man treated his mother. You came so close. 🤏 I'm actually quite angry they didn't mention Marlene at all in that moment (making the subject of abuse about the abuser and forgetting the victim), but I'm holding it in so well. 👍

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That said, I kinda look forward to that basement being where Fisk keeps Adam and Rabbit in a Snowstorm. Since we know from trailers that this scene exists.

Considering Fisk's return to wearing white and us seeing Vanessa attend the gala, thus being active in Fisk's political life, I think it's safe to say one of both of them will kill this man. Also, Vanessa obviously doesn't care about Adam. Never did. She just wants to see Fisk be himself again, with her. Something we could have arrived at in multiple ways without making Vanessa have an affair.

At least now we know the identity of the long-haired guy Fisk was fighting in that basement in the trailer.

I truly, genuinely wish I cared more, but that's all going to depend on if they can write/direct this with any sort of competence. I'm keeping my expectations on the ground.

But I would like to thank shipperfiendobssesser for bringing a very obvious fact to my attention. It's now canon that Fisk is perfectly at ease keeping another man imprisoned in a cage for his own pleasure. ლ(╹◡╹ლ) I will take this vindication to heart as I continue writing said plot with Fisk/Matt. 🙏

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

And then... I do think BA fails at making Fisk smart. One of the most clever things he said all of 1x04 was knowing that Heather asked Vanessa about her safety when he left the room. (This would notably be from one of the scenes they reshot after changes.)

The whole thing at the docks, I uuuugh. Yes, he's new to politics, and no, he is not college educated. But he's also one of the most aggressively self-taught characters imaginable. Someone who has read political science books since he was a child. He would especially learn as much as he could in the months before becoming mayor. Fisk does not suffer his own ignorance. (Remember in S2 when we see him in prison and he fills notebooks learning every single thing going on inside the walls??? Then he's running the place within months. That's Fisk!) But they want to paint him as entirely ignorant of bureaucracy so they can portray a slip in composure and a build of frustration. They want to lay the groundwork of him falling back into his old ways because he can't accomplish anything "the right way." Baby girl, I got news. Someone can have implicit understanding of the system and still not accomplish anything. That's politics. You didn't have to make Fisk ignorant to get the point across.

I dunno. It just sorta feels like... Well, you know how people say something along the lines of "you can't write a character smarter than yourself"? I feel like we're trapped in that. I wouldn't necessarily say the BA writers are dumb. Because I don't know them. (Not that I would dismiss it either.) I can say their writing is dumbing Fisk down. Because it is.

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

And now that they confirm one dirty cop isn't responsible for Hector's death, I have to live in fear that writing will try to turn it around to pin on Fisk. (Due to a lack of other options right now. It's not going to be Frank, Bullseye, or Muse.) Even though it makes no sense whatsoever and contradicts everything established. I've already rambled about why. So even if it doesn't come true, I have to worry that it will. I'm tired.

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

I kinda don't want to touch on the whole singing joke. It's whatever. More filler. Meh. But I guess I will. First off, Fisk loves kids, so jot that down. I would have loved a little something more than him mentally scratching at the door to leave. Second, they're being so unbelievably sloppy pushing a narrative of, "Fisk doesn't care about the people. He just wants to rule New York as a king." Especially apparent playing him not caring about the Latvian photo op versus Matt knowing/talking about Latvian Heritage Day. Seeeeeee? Villain versus hero, yes?

Sometimes I want to believe people understand Fisk. I thought by making him a co-lead character, BA would take the time to show his dimensions. But they're not interested in that. It's too much effort to say, "Fisk is a bad man who also cares about the people," and they can't be bothered. Too few writers are immune to the two-dimensional villain trap.

I think about the genius of DD S1 and how they had the forethought to introduce his kinder, human side with Vanessa first and then show the villain. I don't think we can ever have understanding like that again. I don't think we'll even get something like the comics where he's sided with heroes multiple times to protect citizens because they're what matter most.

⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍⨍

Born Again is writing my favorite character wrong, and I'm being so brave about it. 🥺 (Yes, there are aspects I still appreciate and maybe even adore, but they sure do feel outweighed.)

That's okay though. I already decided none of this is canon to the original series. Daredevil ended with 3x13. This is another reality in the multiverse. 👍

[purpleshimmer]

I know Arcane is good because despite there being two characters that I hate (marcus and finn) it feels wrong saying I hate them because they're such well-written and interesting characters

[itspileofgoodthings]

okay but just thinking about how dark it is that Anthony’s kind of ultimate fantasy isn’t marrying Kate —it’s being married to her sister while lusting after Kate, his honor about to SNAP