#I still adore this show but man

[adh-d2]

Ok. I'm going to need to wait for the next episode to truly decide how I feel about this, but right now I'm like, pretty pissed off at Hunter and Wrecker?

You'd go to the ends of the galaxy for your sister, spend the rest of your lives searching for her, stop at nothing to get her back...yet when she returns with your long-lost brother you look at him like this?

Look, you've been on thin fucking ice since he told you he'd had his chip removed and you just believed him. The guy that you know had a mind-control chip in his brain. The effects of which you've seen and felt and know for a fact are impossible to resist. And you just believed that the people who put it in him in the first place voluntarily took it out? No follow up questions? No doubt?

How little did you care about Crosshair to begin with that you'd so readily accept that he was of sound mind and acting of his own autonomy?

Just for fun, let's review what you know about Crosshair right now:

His chip activated. He was forced to say, think, and do horrific things; and these things were outside of his control.

Those horrific things included trying to kill you. He's shot at you multiple times. He's an unparalleled marksman. He's always missed.

You left him behind on Kamino. It was the right choice at the time. He was literally trying to kill you, you didn't know why, and you couldn't have safely extracted him. But he still got left behind.

He has expressed how painful this was for him every time you've interacted since ("we didn't have a choice" "and I did?" | "They don't leave their own behind...most of the time").

He also said some really mean things to you.

He was horribly injured while under the Empire's control.

He rescued Omega from drowning.

He maybe had his chip removed? No need to confirm, I guess.

You left him behind on Kamino. Again. But he asked for it this time, and he said he knew what he was doing, so...

He became a prisoner of the Empire. In the facility that houses dissenting, disloyal clones.

He managed to get a message out to you while imprisoned. That message wasn't a cry for help, but a warning. Go to ground. They're after Omega. Protect yourselves.

Omega just told you he helped her escape the Empire.

AND, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, YOU LOOK AT HIM LIKE THIS?!

I'd say I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed...except actually nah I'm pretty mad.

Episode 5 is going to have to do some serious work to salvage my opinion of these two. Or at the very least stop framing them as the moral centre of the show.

[turtleblogatlast]

Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.

For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.

And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.

I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"I think this is the most inhuman; and human, that I've ever felt.." MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR. IN FIVE YEARS. A DECADE. imagine how much can happen in a century. just ONE (1). How will you grow? what phases do you find? even in 5 years, you will find patterns.

[landwriter]

watching dead boy detectives when you've lived in coastal bc

i love that they have a ship that services a metro area of 2.4 million people & all of southern vancouver island, to depict the ferry to (checks notes) port townsend, wa, pop. 10,388. cannot overstate how incredibly funny the scale is. on a regular day that route has more passengers than the entire population of port townsend. like a title card saying our beloved characters had to take three trains and a regional bus line and then smash cutting to a red london double-decker

that being said. bc ferries both as a crown corporation and as individual vessels is DEFINITELY haunted so this tracks actually

[nemmet]

thinking about be cool scooby doo fred on this delightful evening. he's afraid of widths. he gets emotional over a drumkit. he knows how to apply eyeliner perfectly. he's a sleep deprived, paranoid, manic danger to himself and others. he becomes enemies with a goat. his shoulders are so tense that they can break a chair. he goes to jail twice. where on earth did he get the funds to give the mystery machine all those high-tech upgrades. he hired a guy to make his epiphanies look more dramatic. the exterior of his house is an affront to god. he cannot take care of himself to save his life. he is a middle aged dad stuck in the body of an eighteen year old. he has childhood trauma related to halloween. he accidentally parked his van on a space shuttle. he is consistently aggravated by daphne’s commitment to the bit. he really needs to let go of those tiny red shorts. he's a court jester. he represents the order to his criminal father's chaos. he has control issues stemming from this but tries to overcome them for the sake of the gang and always apologises when he goes too far and knows that even when they wind him up it isn't a threat because he loves and trusts them so much and they care about him in turn even before he fully opens up to them about his childhood and—

[lilfriezatyrant]

✨I dub thee King Roach! ✨

[machneherald]

final arcane thoughts: super good, my show of all time. would rewatch forever. gorgeous love letter to animation. i can’t wait for more league shows

final arcane thoughts as a viktor enjoyer: what

[nicoscheer]

A bit of shirt shopping with Ellis

I can’t properly deal with the way he went from I to [] like he got BROAD

[epickiya722]

It's always so funny to me to get those anime AI trash ass ads (just give me the ads that show me how to play the game wrong and then my coins) and if a MHA character is being used it's either Bakugou or Todoroki. Like, I get in canon they have like fangirls or whatever but stop.

[astersofthesky]

I am currently watching the Death Note Drama (2015) and I couldn't help but notice how the characterization for drama!Light seems a lot closer to the manga than in the anime in a sense that both manga and drama Light have not developed the "god complex" yet early on in the series.

Expanding just because. Manga!Light did lose weight and sleep for five days when he did the killings. He hid himself in a blanket when he realized he killed two people. He was willing to sacrifice his life because it's already a "point of no return," meaning he can't stop even though he wanted to.

You know, very like his drama counterpart. Yeah, Ryuk actively manipulates drama!Light into the continuous use of the Death Note though, BUT even that feels a lot more closer to the manga because if you've read this analysis post about Light, you'd understand. Here's a TLDR tho, Light told Ryuk he'd be "god of the new world" because of three reasons;

(1) Ryuk is looking for entertainment.

(2) Ryuk could very much kill when he wanted to. What better way to entertain a bored shinigami by doing something unexpected?

(3)-this one is of my own opinion- Light was offended.

Anyways, back to the manga, we see Ryuk appearing and then proceeds to tell Light he dropped the note cause he was bored and that probably was like an ice cold bucket poured in Light "admired by all" Yagami's head. He thought he was "chosen" yet Ryuk denies this. Yagami Light is a prideful man, he has to make himself feel he was chosen because he's "special" as it always has been the case for him. He starts developing this idea in his head that "you're wrong ryuk, i am special because i am the only one who can do all these 'sacrifices' to enact justice. I will be someone special! I will be the new god of this world!"

Which makes you realize why he tells Ryuk that in what qualification does he see himself deserving the title, it's because he's the top student of japan! Yagami Light is so prideful he thinks he's doing something heroic and altruistic, when in reality, his pride was the biggest factor why he started this "kira" thing.

That's why i said drama!Light is closer to manga!Light in this regard. However drama!Light is just a lot more genuine and good in his intentions, but with people screaming in his ear "Kira is our savior! Kira is kami!" it's so easy to indulge to in the voices until you start to believing in yourself that what they say is real. Like waking up the pride and arrogance lying sleep in his subconscious.

This is why the anime differs slightly at Light's origin. Anime!Light is already a man with a "god-complex."

Imagine anime!Light trekking up a huge mountain of praises and he was just one step closer to the peak when suddenly he can't find any stone to further advance in his steps so he just stays there, dormant and bored because maybe this is the only height he can climb with his limited resources but suddenly, a magical rope appears and he uses that to pull himself towards the upmost top. The magical rope was the Death Note. The one thing he was waiting for so he can reach the higher heights.

So when he claimed "I will be god of the new world." you CAN see that this man REALLY believes he is higher that all humans, that he was a "god" over them, and the Death Note was a testament to that.

Meanwhile, manga!Light and drama!Light took its time to actually solidify their god complexes over the course of the series.

Short mention for movie!Light!! A man who had an extremely high sense of justice that actually believed in the justice system so he was heartbroken to know the truth that the system is very much flawed. He gets the Death Note and decides to do what the law can not. So I think he had also developed his "god complex" much earlier than the manga and drama Light because the very reason movie!Light started killing is because "The law is useless, the police is incompetent. My judgement is better and it actually BRINGS results." is a perfect recipe for feelings of superiority over the others.

It's really interesting, how these Light's vary from one another.

[citree]

I saw the new fallout show!!!!!! Had a great time watching it. Burst out laughing way too many times. Everyone losing their minds over timeline consistency and swearing off the show are missing out. Twas a fun romp and a good time 👍 I actually ended up loving several brotherhood of steel characters which was a total surprise to me. Probably had something to do with how wet and pathetic they were

Also Maximus & Lucy are such dorks ❤️ I didn’t even know there was a whole third character besides the dog. why is the entire tag just her and Cooper

[downtherabbitholewithlucy]

Fred looking Sweet in S O U R

[medicinemane]

I don't know... horrible things happen all around the world and it's not a competition

Atrocities are committed against multiple groups in multiple parts of the world at the exact same moment, and none of them erase each other. They all matter, all the people in this world who are being brutalized matter. There shouldn't be any line you draw where one group doesn't actually matter as much as another

You're welcome to prioritize your energy towards helping one group or another, but what's not ok is invalidating or dismissing people who are actively being harmed

Same goes for trying to figure out which social group has things worst (and lets be honest, always using a US lens)

Like... maybe the important thing is to prop each other up and help everyone get on their own feet rather than trying to... pick fights about if physical disabilities or mental illness are less respected (I'm trying to pick a more absurd example but sadly I've seen exactly that argument happen before). Maybe it doesn't really matter and what matters is helping who we can when we can

I'm tired of it, I'm just fucking tired of it. Support people, champion them when the world is just brutalizing them, but you don't need to throw a single other person under the bus to do that

Which seems to be an absolutely impossible lesson for people to learn

[crime-scene-psychic]

Truly did not think I would be half drunk, explaining to my father how to work an Xbox 360 controller in the parking lot of a bar at midnight today but that is certainly how my life goes I suppose

[problemswithbooks]

More Dain Stuff

So I'm still thinking about Dain and more so, who he might end the story with.

Now, I'm 98.9% sure Violet will stick with Xaden. Not saying it couldn't be interesting if, after the whole Venin thing and their already rocky relationship they broke up, but at the same time that's not how romance novels are written. The story might have dragons, but it is primarily a romance book. Xaden has always been the main focus of Violet and they got together in the first book--just like other fantasy/romance books; think Edward/Bella or Alina/Mal. Plus, most of her audience really like them together; not having them as end game would be alienating her readers.

So Dain's not ending up with Violet. To be honest he could end the story single if he survives, but I'd be a little surprised. Many authors even outside the romance genre have a habit of pairing up their characters at the end. It would be nice if the series didn't go that route, especially if it didn't have a time-skipped epilogue, but I'm expecting at least the main side characters to get paired up to some extent since it is a romance book.

That leaves the question of who he could be paired up with. It's hard to say at this point because he hasn't had many interactions with anyone besides Violet. The few times other characters mention him, most don't really like him. They're are Violet's friends or Marked, so they already have a poor opinion of him or hate him for Liam's death.

I'm not saying that Yarros couldn't have those characters change their opinion of Dain in later books (I really hope they do) and then pair him off with one of them. The issue is that I think most of Violet's close group have been given hints already to who they'll end up with. Sawyer is crushing on Jesinia, Imogen on Garrick. Rhiannon is with Tara, who will hopefully get better established as a character in later books. Though brief Sloane and Cam have some flirtation and in a lot of ways it would make a lot of sense to have them end up together, particularity if Cam becomes King. It would fully show the Marked ones are apart of the kingdom again and fully trusted.

Now, Ridoc is a possibility, but only if Dain is established as bi (which isn't impossible). The biggest hurdle there is that Ridoc is the exact opposite of Dain in a lot of ways. He's the goofball, while Dain is portrayed as a strict. Ridoc doesn't like him. It's really doubtful they'd get along. That could change as the series goes on; Ridoc could show a more serious side, while Dain could lighten up. Violet said he used to smile and laugh a lot, be less of a rule follower. Maybe Ridoc could bring that back out. I think it could be pretty cute and honesty it'd be cool if Yarros put an end to a love triangle by pairing up the spare with another guy.

One possibility though that I really find interesting and I could see is Cat.

First of all she also needs paired up as that failed third wheel of a love triangle with Xaden. There is a man in her Gryphon Flier group that likes her, so that might be who she gets put with in the end, but if that does happen I hope he gets a bit more screen time given how important Cat has been at least during Iron Flame.

Second, their powers complement each other. Dain can see memories (pretty much read minds to an extent) while Cat can manipulate emotions as long as they're present. I could easily see these two using teamwork to get stuff done. Cat could get someone upset enough that they lower their shields so Dain can read them, or Dain could read someones memories and give Cat the best ammunition to get them into the state of mind she needs to manipulate their emotions. Physical fights wouldn't change much but in intelligence work they could be really good as a team.

Third, I want a Flier/Rider romance and Cat's the most prominent Gyphon Flier we have as of Iron Flame. She's third in line for the throne which is interesting and could mean she ends up as Queen. Giving her a dragon Rider partner could be a good way of showing that even once the Venin are gone Navarre and Poromeil are still allies. Also would be interesting to see how a relationship like that was seen by the dragons.

Fourth, it'd be a bit funny. Cat is Xaden's ex, while Dain was Violet's first crush and childhood friend. I doubt Xaden would care much, since he never cared about Cat, but I think Violet would have many conflicting feelings about it which would be fun to see her stress over. By the end of Iron Flame she seems to have grown to respect Cat and Cat respects her in return, but I it wasn't that long ago she hated her. Meanwhile, although she was furious at Dain, he was her best friend for fifteen years.

It'd just be funny to see Violet struggling with that sort of roller coaster of emotions and perhaps catching herself thinking similar things Dain said to her about Xaden. I mean I could see her first thought being Cat is getting close to Dain to mess with her, since she can't get to Xaden anymore. Having her catch herself and realize she's making snap judgments could lead to some interesting conversations with both Dain and Cat or even Xaden talking to her more about his past with Cat. Just cool character interactions all around!

Fifth, character development. Dain is seen as Mr. By the Book, and although there probably isn't some rule against Flier/Rider relationships (because they've never worked together before) it could still be seen as wrong. They might be working together but they were enemies for hundreds of years. Dain picking Cat despite it being seen as against the spirit of the Codex continues his growth as getting over his issue of putting rules before people he cares about.

Meanwhile Cat, although tackling her anti-Dragon Rider hate and working with Violet has another flaw the one that was probably the biggest reason her and Xaden broke up. She wanted a crown. Now, I actually don't think this is a terrible thing for her to want given what we know of her and her situation. Poromeil has been essentially left to die by Navarre for hundreds of years. Frankly it makes sense Cat would want political power so she could use it to form an alliance with a Kingdom that might be strong enough to save her home.

Still the story makes it appear to be a flaw--that she wanted a crown over love. So, in that sense picking Dain, someone who isn't a prince or king, and has very little sway with anyone with power (Xaden hates him, and he deserted the army so he doesn't have any allies on that front either--dude is not getting a good job no mater whose in charge) shows she'll pick over over a crown. Even if afterwards she still gets the throne of Poromeil for whatever reason, it'd still prove she picked Dain over power.

So, that's my essay on possible end ships for Dain. I sort of still think he'll die--I'm always prepared for a character I like to die. But if he does live and get paired up I'd say it'd be Cat, with Ridoc as a runner up.

[diredeliverance]

I do keep thinking about how the end of gate game 3 somehow turned into being about BG1/2 for me and cackling. Let Jaheira do the High Hall speech because I hated the dialogue options and she dedicates the battle to Khalid. Fucked off from the city and went to Candlekeep. Spent the epilogue getting a list of Ismene's companions to visit. Most concrete plan Kas made for post game was begging Jaheira to let them travel with her, heavily implied to be joined by Minsc. All the other companions drift off and do their own thing and Kas just fucking. Sets right at recreating Ismene's party and fitting into the life she left for them. Truly BG3 is a game about getting me to appreciate BG1. What a time. And yes this IS part of why I think that it would be perfect for Ismene/clone Ismene to crash the party in the epilogue. We're building into this ouroboros thing anyway, it's high time the original death cheating Bhaalspawn hero(ine) herself showed up and ruined everyone's good time all over again.