#I'll be having a grand time

[xxplastic-cubexx]

if i said i picked up this issue for anything but drunk erik i fear i'd be lying

(Wolverine (2020) #3)

[yikes-ajax]

I dont have a clever and witty sarcastic comment tonight, I just think she's cute

[syntheticsystem]

throwback to my first attempt at needle felting. he is heating up by the lamp like a lizard (an ysalamir?) and missing eli. he has also been skipping leg day but we don't talk about that. I stabbed him innumerable times to make him, but he said it was artistically done so I get a pass.

[nikkipettt]

紅の戦士

[stoneypony17]

HIHI ALMOST FORGOT TO MAKE DIS BUT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE1!11!1!1! ^w^

[mozzaremi]

[harbingersecho]

PALLA GRANDE - charred saints

Saint Deja takes the stage

skeletal sculpting done by nikifor aka zdisław inspired by the catacomb saints

[200grandbeaverave]

It's a bit of a shame that the Dada Dog isn't a child of Lila. Considering the motif of the suffering dog and the thematic topics of abuse and lack of agency, and considering the fraternity's intentions when "creating" Lila, Garage Heathen could have incorporated the puppy mill practice as another symbol. A dog maintained by its owners just enough so that it may be indiscriminately bred and provide its owners with offspring, for the owners' benefit— certified Who's Lila moment

[shadow3142]

AVENGE THE PAST. LIVE IN THE PRESENT. BELIEVE IN THE FUTURE.

[bayofwolves]

Me when I remember that average height is determined by nutrition and medicine, so in a world like Erdas my 6'0 Abeke and 6'3 Shane would be pretty unlikely...

[la-galaxie-langblr]

Year abroad declaration of intent due in 12 days and I'm kind of freaking out about it 😭

[gintama]

drawing my jp 120s to celebrate the fact i did this 3 times for some reason

[pileofsith]

Nameless Part Twelve - Apostate Page 6/10 The Pau'an temple guard's little wasp friend is a throwback to one of the first pages. The comic is also available here on AO3.

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[waitmyturtles]

Last Twilight, episode 11: reflections

Okie-dokes. Just finished this now-infamous episode and my thoughts are rolling, especially with what I've seen posted throughout today. I think this is going to be more of a musing than a concrete Big Meta, because I am ultimately not going to be surprised if a lot of what was left on the table here will be addressed in episode 12.

One theme that I think an episode 12 will NOT be able to address, is the sudden change of Mhon from episode 10 to episode 11 in regards to her accepting Mhok. As we recall, episode 10 started off REALLY HEAVY. Mhon IS the reason why Mhok leaves as a caretaker in episode 10 and has to find a new job -- that's a fact.

Last night, I reblogged some important and interesting commentary on Mhon from prior to today's episode, especially in terms of examining her actions from an Asian/non-Western lens. I think this commentary was super important to understand her mindset as a work-first single mom up to today's episode. I think an Asian lens absolutely contextualizes her actions up to episode 10, 4/4. But I don't think today's episode helps to offer further context of her actions from a non-Western lens.

Mhon states in episode 11 that she doesn't want to be a "silly mom" who keeps her son from dating; when, unfortunately, she was depicted as doing exactly that in episode 10, to the point that Mhok was in fear between episodes that she'd break them up after seeing them at Christmas dinner.

This a bad plot hole -- and her words, her past, anything, could have been used to save that inconsistency.

I think her sudden acceptance of Mhok in today's episode came off as soapy. And her doubts about Mhok being able to take care of Day without the family's help were a touch condescending. I don't think this episode does enough to place Mhon's last monologue in a place of accurately relating to others. It was clunky and not good.

Aof Noppharnach, I feel, knows how to bridge Mhon's changes better. If episode 12 DOES address these changes -- please, let it be with context and grace. I don't want soapy tropes here, especially because we know that Noppharnach shows have done parenting so much better than this.

Here's one bit that I think the episode did well. While I see a lot of the internet protesting the break-up: in my opinion, I think Day made the right decision for himself at this moment in his life.

Day's life paradigm in 2/4 is repeating itself: as his past caretaker in his mom was the same, his current caretaker is a chef who works morning to night, and Day is alone in his room, eating by himself.

However, Day revels in being in a relationship, finally, where someone isn't taking pity on him, and he can be seen as a potentially self-determining person.

Day's recognizing that he has a path of self-advocacy and self-sufficiency to work on here, as he gets himself out of his hotel room with the use of the cane, and ends up playing with children. Yes, this is happening while Mhok is battling his fears about caring for Day while leaving him alone during work -- which, we learn, is something Mhok cannot ultimately bear if they're together.

A lot of the discontent I'm seeing about the episode on my dash is about Day's not empathizing with Mhok in the moment of the break-up. But Mhok doesn't previously reveal to Day his panic attacks -- the car accident, the search for Day before finding him on the hotel grounds. Mhok only explains to Day his panic reactions regarding Rung at the moment of the break-up. Bro. Communication is a dance for two in a relationship.

What motivates Mhok to be near Day now? Number one: the caretaking, which was a job. Number two: the current nearness, which should now be a relationship, but Mhok's motivation isn't quite the relationship alone, as we learn with his story about Rung. In my opinion, vis à vis Mhok, I think that's a touch disingenuous for Mhok to only be talking about this now to Day, on the cusp of a break-up. This is heavy!

Mhok's motivation is ALSO, now, his being consumed with his perceived economic need to support Day, along with the reality that while Mhok works, Day will be alone... which is something Mhok clearly will have difficulty handling anyway. I'm not sure what the difference is here, between Mhok working a hell of a job in Thailand vs. in Hawaii. Day will still have to learn to be self-sufficient in a relationship with Mhok. Day says this himself.

Day calls Mhok out on exactly this, and breaks up with him. I would argue here, for Day's perceived path to learn to be self-sufficient, that dumping Mhok was the right thing for him. Day is seeing a cycle repeat itself -- someone who is going to "sacrifice" their life for him, and keep Day in a stasis. Day only needs an equal partner to live a blossoming, broader, and independent life -- as we see happening between Aon and Pla. I did not appreciate Mhok's lying, and I agree with @bengiyo's Stray Thoughts on this very much (in which he says this FAR more succinctly than me, ha).

While I think Day made the right decision... I think the execution of all of this was just so clunky. We can do better than this, the tropes, the lying, everything. Imagine an episode of Mhon reflecting on her past, with her monologue reflecting on lessons she's learned by caring for her boys while figuring out the vagaries of an adult needing to be loved in the context of life's complications. Imagine Mhok telling Day about Hawaii right away -- as an equal partner who doesn't PITY his partner would do. Imagine Mhok telling Day about Mhok's panic attacks as they're happening -- and Day, as an equal partner, helping Mhok through that pain.

At least between Mhok and Day, those are growth patterns that can certainly be explained in the long-term course of a relationship. Not everything gets solved in love right away.

But. BUT. We did NOT see this side of Mhok in previous episodes. In previous episodes, Mhok WAS Day's strong and equal partner. In previous episodes, Mhon WAS struggling with her demons. What happened to all of that?

This episode 11 threw too much new and non-contextualized... stuff in the pot, to reach a climatic episode 12. This is heavy family and love stuff that I know past Noppharnach shows have handled deftly, and I'm just a little deflated by it....

...ESPECIALLY because Day's self-advocacy journey is a hell of a storyline that doesn't need scripted curveballs thrown at it by the need for a drama to be "dramatic."

[pvrrhadve]

coping with the second freak death of a dog in just over a month by trying and failing to construct an elaborate joke about betting on losing dogs

[inconsistentlywrittensoul]

I want to talk about Buffy and Angel's relationship in Ted (and, I guess, Bad Eggs as well, a little). And I think it's a good time to look at them together - for one thing, at this point, post-What's My Line, I think they are definitely in a relationship, rather than the weird murky situation they were in for most of the early season. And in two episodes time, Angel's going to lose his soul - this is basically the peak of their Season 2 relationship, and also of what I see as Angel's pre-'Surprise' arc, of him gradually becoming less of a complete fucking disaster.

So now in Ted, we see them together as boyfriend and girlfriend, and... well, the scene starts with her talking his ear off complaining about Ted and him clearly bored. It's not as bad as it sounds - he's pretty good in this scene, and gives Buffy some sensible advice. (Ignoring the fact that Ted turns out to be abusive and also a robot, which isn't a factor yet.) This might be the first time in the series that Angel actually seems more emotionally mature than Buffy, and he uses that maturity to be a good, supportive boyfriend helping her through her issues...

But...

This is also a scene where Buffy is very much a teenager and Angel very much isn't. (This is also in an episode partly about Buffy's parental issues, which seems relevant to their relationship but I'd like to ignore for ick reasons.) His maturity is an advantage here, but there's also a clear disconnect between them, and that becomes more apparent as Angel gradually works his way towards being a functional person.

Bad Eggs is similar. Again, we see the positive side of their relationship, in the form of fun makeouts, but we also see the shadow of deeper problems in their relationship from a long-term perspective - the fact Angel can't have kids, Buffy's immaturity and inability to think about the future (for both normal teenager and doomed slayer reasons).

I am glad we get this period of them being mostly happy together, of their relationship mostly working - it's not just all-angsty- melodrama-all-the-time, a common failure state for their relationship and for Buffy as a whole. But even at the best of times, the issues in their relationship are always present - not the grand, dramatic problems that are the focus of Season 2, but the mundane issues that are the reason they ultimately break up in Season 3.