#I'm aware he's still not popular I just think it's cool there's so many fans of him here

[billiuspendragon]

It's so funny because when I had just watched Saiki K I had the impression that Akechi was a really unpopular character. I never really saw him mentioned anywhere, and when I did see something about him it was people saying how annoying they found him. I thought I was in the tiny minority.

Then I logged into Tumblr.

[maxdibert]

I wished lily wasn't the reason for Severus' loyalty. The revelation of his love for her (platonically or romantically) was truly important. You have the incident that kickstarted the prophecy. Severus' switch to the order. Voldemort giving Lily a chance to choose. Severus playing an important role in the second wizarding war. All because of a friendship of two people from spinner's end.

JKR should have developed it more. I understand that she went for the twist, but when the thrill of the discovery is gone there are so many questions that are unanswered.

first, I do not like Lily as a friend. She forgives the marauders for the years of bullying, see her 'best friend' being hanged upside down and threatened to have his genitals exposed. Who the fuck does that ? Also when Harry asked if his mother knew that James still bullying Severus in the seventh year, remus answered with "she did not know too much." so she knew something...

I do not like Lily as a sister, why did she not let James know that vernon probably doesn't know anything about the wizarding world before they went on dinner. I mean wth is Petunia supposed to say to Vernon ? "Oh yeah my sister is a witch and she went to this magical school". Not the best way to make a men fall in love with you. Is Petunia even allowed to tell Vernon all of this under the secrecy law? (I'm aware that restaurant scene is not canon, but that's what I thought when I read it on the website).

I don't like the way she uses her other friends opinion of Severus and their friendship, who clearly don't like Severus, as an argument to why Severus should stop hanging out with his Slytherin friends. Why are your friends even discussing Severus?

Also, I don't like the way she idolize Albus Dumbledore. Severus' got bullied for years, and Dumbledore did nothing. Severus was nearly killed by a werewolf and Dumbledore made Severus swear to never talk about it. What did he do, he made James head boy. Yeah if that happened to me and this man was the leader of the order, I might have asked for the death eater sign up too. Ridiculous.

By making his love for her so pure and selfless, it makes me wonder why he loves her so much. We know nothing, and the things we know just make me go "bruh really.... her ? .... she would not spare a thought for you if your funeral was announced in the papers".

Listen I was never part of the cool kids, so perhaps I don't understand her. But then again, for a Gryffindor, she really is a social coward.

It makes everything so bloody tragic. I sometimes wonder if I'd wished Severus stayed a death eater in the story but then one with guilt because he started caring about the professors and children through the years of working there.

It was honestly funny to read all of this because it feels like listening to myself when I was 16 or 17. I mean, even before I was a fan of Severus—because that came with time—I had a pretty neutral opinion of the character. I didn’t dislike him because I understood his motivations, but I wasn’t particularly a fan either. And if I wasn’t a fan, it was precisely because of everything you’re talking about.

A lot of people say Severus was an obsessive incel who spent 24/7 thinking about Lily, but I never saw it that way—I just thought he was an idiot. I thought, Wow, what an absolute moron. Like, did he really sacrifice his entire life for a woman who was actually kind of a piece of shit? Did he really give up everything to protect the son of his bully and the woman who married said bully? Could you be a bigger loser? No, seriously, could you be more pathetic? Because that woman not only let him be bullied for years, she almost smiled at his bully while he was publicly stripping him. She practically blamed him for her lack of popularity because she was seen with him, and somehow, he was supposed to be grateful. She gaslit him when he tried to tell her about what his abusers were doing to him. She literally told him he should be grateful to one of his abusers. Like, this woman was a piece of shit who was just looking to climb the social ladder. She loved being Gryffindor’s golden girl, just like she was the golden girl back home, and she hated that she had a weird, ugly, nerdy friend with questionable associations who tainted her image. On top of that, she loved having Gryffindor’s rich, pureblood king fawning over her because it was yet another symbol of status—but, of course, she had to play hard to get because good girls always resist bad boys.

That’s how I saw Lily Evans (and honestly, how I still see her), and it seemed absurd to me that Severus would have given so much for her when, honestly, I would have told her to fuck off. Like, if I were Severus, I would’ve dropped her the first time she gaslit me about my abusers. But if for some reason I had still stuck around after that, the moment I saw her almost smiling at my main abuser while he was stripping me in public, I would’ve beaten her so hard she’d have lost all her teeth.

That was my mindset when I was younger, before I learned a lot of things. Back then, I didn’t know what toxic friendships were or how easy it was to fall into them. I had no idea what codependency was, nor did I understand what an attachment figure was. At the time, I grasped some of these concepts vaguely, but over the years, I not only understood them more deeply but also experienced them—both personally and through people around me.

As I got older, I realized that the fact that Severus came from a home where he felt terribly unsafe, and that Lily represented his first safe place as a child, played a huge role in his cognitive development and psyche. In some way, he was always going to be grateful to her for probably being the only good thing in his childhood. And those childhood attachments are some of the strongest and hardest to break because they’re so deeply ingrained in a person. On top of that, Lily was his friend for years, during key developmental stages, and he probably didn’t see all of her flaws—he had her idealized. He grew up in a house where violence was the norm, and his classmates at Hogwarts also treated violence as normal. Lily was different, so he simply wasn’t capable of recognizing problematic behaviors that anyone with a healthy upbringing and healthy role models would have seen immediately. Because he didn’t have those things.

We’re not talking about a character who had examples of healthy behavior, affection, or attachments—we’re talking about someone who had the opposite. So, of course, he wasn’t capable of seeing anything bad in Lily. To him, she was the good in his environment. She was his moral compass, a kind of lighthouse to guide him when he wanted to know if he was heading in the right direction. It’s even possible that he never blamed her for marrying James, and instead, just thought it was normal that she gave in—because she was so good that she could see the good in even horrible people like James. Or maybe he believed James had somehow deceived her.

Severus’s attachment to Lily is kind of like a child who idolizes their mother and is completely unable to see her flaws—even when she acts like a complete asshole—because she’s their mother. And if she does something bad, well, it’s probably the fault of the people around her, not her. That’s exactly how Severus saw Lily.

When I understood all of this, I felt like I finally understood the character and his motivations better. I think it’s important to look at it not from our perspective as outsiders forming opinions, but from his perspective as someone inside the situation—someone who was emotionally dependent on her and either didn’t see the truth or didn’t want to see it.

Over the years, I’ve toned down my discourse about Lily, but my opinion of her hasn’t changed all that much from when I was a teenager. The only difference is that now I rationalize it better. But I still think she was a self-centered social climber. The only thing that’s changed is that before, I just thought she was a shallow, frivolous person—now I give her a little more credit and think her behavior was based on an inferiority complex stemming from her working-class background and her Muggle heritage.

But that doesn’t change the core of the issue. And honestly? I think she and James Potter were a perfect match—two absolute assholes who deserved each other. In fact, I’ve never been bothered by Jily because I’ve always thought they belonged together. Equally insufferable.

[hulknussen]

Why is everyone moving on from haasbands I feel like you’re the only account I see that still talks about them regularly

maybe that's just me but it was very much inevitable and obvious to me. the haasbands hype and surge we saw was shortlived, and it was simply born out of being the thing f1blr liked at the time. we saw this with both kevin and nico (and haas) themselves, too

kevin always got shit for being aggressive. always. from other teams, and especially from fans. but then he got the race ban and suddenly it was cunt and diva and iconic. and then he impeded lewis in qualifying due to a team error and then we went back to people wishing him the worst (and actual death threats and "no one will miss you"). because none of those people talking about the race ban were actual kmag fans, they were going with the trend.

the people in the notes of my haasbands posts were largely not actual haasbands fans, they were talking about the divorce and how much these two drivers they never thought about before mean to them because suddenly it's so sad and tragic and everyone is talking about it and they want a piece of that pie for themselves

we saw it with haas, too. haas was always the clown team, the cringe team. it was always "haas has fans lol", all the way until the end of 2024, but suddenly it's 2025 and the cool thing. suddenly you're the odd one out if you don't want to support haas, and suddenly we've forgotten about every bad decision that team has ever made or every distasteful comment or every way they've fucked their own drivers over. we were always the losers people made fun of and now it's cool and they are the underdog team, while none of the new fans ever spared them a second glance while they were struggling the most.

haasbands, and kevin and nico, were never anything but the cute thing to coo at in passing without looking at it deeper. my posts got a ton of notes but I was still one of the few people creating. we got a few more fics but no one who actually stuck around long term. my fics got a lot of attention but no one else who wanted to create with me.

and all of that is fine. I'm not saying any of that to gatekeep or to be bitter. it's within everyone's rights to talk about whatever they want and however they want, and if that's the popular thing right now and next week the next popular thing that's fine. it's the nature of how short lived the internet is nowdays.

I have multiple unanswered gabico related asks (not fic requests) in my inbox right now. they're unanswered because I don't care about the ship enough to turn this blog into a gabico hub. gabico's the next cool thing, and that's great, and I think there is so much there and I will continue to write them fic. but the short livedness of such things makes me want to do it at my own pace, and put on this blog only the gabico content I personally care about, not what people who will leave the moment it's no longer cool want to see. and yes, it's also because haasbands is simply the nico ship I care more about. hell, hulkstappen probably still ranks higher for me than gabico does at the moment.

and I say all of this not with the intention of diminishing any new fans or new nico fans or people who are only looking at him now and turning into fans. I welcome all of that and everyone new. and again it's perfectly fine to only be casually invested or be more invested in other drivers. but it can be frustrating when you know that so many people don't actually respect your driver (or your ship) and only view it as worth paying attention to when it's the cool thing to do. and otherwise it's cringe and wasted time and just something to diminish as silly little overinvested fans to roll your eyes at

if you're committing to haasbands and the drivers it's inevitable to become aware of it eventually. especially when just six months ago I had people in my notes hating on nico for what he said about ollie bearman and those same people are now in my notes gushing about gabico and how cunt it is of nico to drag that sauber into p7. people don't look deeper. and it is completely within their rights to do so - but that's why everyone moved on from haasbands as quickly as they did. because they were never committed fans in the first place. they were only here because it was the cool thing to do at the time, and they didn't actually care about nico or kevin as drivers, nor did they care about their shared history or them as a ship.

[msdrprofessorjessica]

Alchemists Apathy Character Bio: William Afton

Some of you may forget this guy exists, and that's because The Mimic is cooler, but really, who cares? ... me, I do.

Ah yes, William Afton. That one guy that many people mischaracterize so heavily I think it has probably become a sport at how much people mischaracterize him. It's sad but hey, what are you gonna do? For those who have lived under a rock or are like "THEY GAVE PURPLE GUY A NAME?!?" William Afton was the series antagonist for the first six games and even now, there are people still suffering at the hands of William, thanks The Mimic... asswipe. William Afton was once known as The Purple Guy because back during the first four games, Scott didn't really bother to name him. Why would he? The story back then was pretty simple to follow, guy kills kids, kids haunt robots, and then there's a bunch of fire everywhere. Nowadays, Afton is known for having honestly a really good personality that many people just overlook it and don't care. Such is the way of the fandom I suppose.

A lot of people tend to just not give William a motive. "Can't a girl have a hobby?" they would say. Now, I think that's true... if you are telling a more simple story. With a story as complex as Fnaf 1-UCN, the guy should have a motive instead of just "Uh oh, I fell down into the sewers, guess I'm evil!" (this is a funny reference no one will get). It's what differentiates him from a lot of other murderers, it actually gives him character. Yes, I am well aware that irl serial killers do not have motives and just go on mass killing sprees to get off or something, but this is fiction with a funny blue rabbit that is a boy but has a girls name, give the guy a motive. In this AU, Afton's motives are very similar to his canon incarnation (because there was nothing wrong with canon William y'all are just haters) but since fangames are canon, I sprinkled in some fanon elements to the character as well.

William Afton was born in an unspecified date in the good ol town of, and you guessed it, Oklahoma. Why Oklahoma? I don't know I just thought the name sounded cool. William was born into a fairly rich family that would eventually lose their fortune to unknown circumstances, with the father later dying out of shock. William was raised and loved by many because he was rich, but it wasn't the money that went to William's head, it was the attention. William grew fascinated by the attention, he had many friends that weren't exactly his friends, they just wanted his families money. His parents fed into his delusion, leading him to be the man you see today... William met up with Henry around high school as they both shared a love for old Disney movies and cartoons, in fact, they both went on a trip to Disneyland at one point, witnessing a traumatizing event with one of the mascot performers. William never kept up with Disney after this, apparently he heard they had a track record for strange occurrences (something about an island? He didn't really care), but this event somewhat left and impression on William. William eventually met Melody sometime around the sixties, with them eventually having sex in a storage closet at some theater and that was the deed that had Michael. When William found out that Melody was pregnant, he didn't know what to do. He never had something like this before, he was more angry that it happened rather than shocked. He married Melody because Henry said he had to. "It's the right thing" Henry said, so William did it. This wasn't the start of the facade of William's "perfect" family, but it was a small factor.

William had noticed that everything wasn't like the way it should be when it was a child. He didn't have many friends, he had coworkers, Henry had many friends, Henry was popular. Just to be clear here, sorry Willry fans, it ain't happening. They have wives, though, if it helps anything, William is pansexual and Henry is bisexual. I do joke that if it were to happen, it would either be doomed yaoi or VERY toxic yaoi so take that as you will. Back to the character, William viewed Henry's love for robotics as a threat to himself, William and Henry both studied robotics, but Henry had a deep fascination for it unlike William, who studied it to get a degree like everyone else, he wasn't in love with it. But the way William saw Henry's passion when making the Fredbear and Spring Bonnie characters, the fascination Henry would do to make other mascot suits that could be used for the springlock endoskeletons. It was like... William couldn't describe it. He has three journals filled with mad praise and wild jealousy over Henry. William deemed it unfair, he should be like that. When Henry married, William was not the best man. He should have been, he should have been a better man than Henry ever was. William tried as he might to be viewed the way Henry did, eventually Melody would have twins, and William was okay with this. Most families had three children, William would have his own, be better than most families, be better than Henry's family, which had two children. Twins as well.

As you can tell, during the early parts of the timeline, I play more into William's fascination and jealousy of Henry. The Silver Eyes has always called this out and I always found it super interesting that it did. William was clearly fascinated with Henry, whether that be because he could love and William can't or something else, I always liked that about William's character. So during the early parts of this universe, I see William being more infatuated with Henry and later on, trying to do something else. To step out of Henry's shadow. William's first murder is the fifth friend of Michael's friend group, Lily Brooks. Lily was an accidental murder, just happened to be in the backroom at the wrong place at the wrong time, when William was taking out his frustration. William did everything he could when he was Spring Bonnie, he wanted to one up Henry in terms of theatrics, possibly his true calling. His anger overflowed him one day and he took it out on the first person he saw, who just happened to be a girl who wandered into the backroom by mistake. She was murdered and when William realized what he had done, he was afraid at first and took the body, stuffing it into one of the first ever prototype Fredbear animatronics. It was an accident, but he realized that she might be alive inside of the Fredbear prototype. Even before The Puppet had awakened Lily, the prototype Fredbear had been alive via different means. Maybe it was his anger? His jealousy? William didn't know, but it reminded him of that one time at Disneyland. William began to experiment with emotions, mainly fear. He used some money to secretly start up his own testing chambers directly under Fredbear's, would be easy to have his own victims. It took two months to create the chambers, and William did everything by hand.

The man used his youngest son as a test subject, probably the only thing he was good for. He manipulated his son as well using the Fredbear plush, trying to continue to make him fear everything around him. Michael's torment was the perfect motivator, and of course, those new Freddy Fazbear characters. When The Big Bite happened, William was mad at Michael, but for different reasons. He lost a family member, and now everyone gave their condolences and looked at the family with pity. William didn't need pity, he needed praise, he needed love. He needed to be the man everyone loved. William had killed Charlotte and his wife prior to The Big Bite so everyone already looked at him and Henry with pity, but now it was doubled. William also lost a test subject, and with Fredbear's closed down William was at a loss to continue his experiments. But he realized something, the souls of his wife and Charlotte were alive, Lily was now truly alive inside of The Prototype. There was something to this, and now William had a new goal. His ego, his theatrics, they would all come into play to make William Afton the immortal man he should be.

William's experiments continued with Michael and Elizabeth flip flopping sometimes. As for William, he would go on to continue working for Fazbear Entertainment and eventually go on to kill six children at the local Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Gabriel, Fritz, Susie, Jeremy, Cassidy, and Zoey. This incident was viewed as a huge hit and the suit used for the murders had seemingly disappeared. The bodies were never found, but there seemed to be a trail, and just as the police were picking up on this trail, the animatronics were shipped off to the sister companies facility. They did inspect William Afton, finding everything except for a confession labeled I did it. But they found the Spring Bonnie suit, which had been used for the murders. But due to the lack of bodies being found, William was let go. It was around this time that Fazbear Enterprises fired both William Afton and Henry Emily as they felt like they needed a break. William wouldn't take this lying down, how could they fire him? William's ego blinded him from the firings, Henry would move on, try and rebuild his life using his own copyright free characters which William would call "The Mediocre Melodies". William would make a rival company called "Afton Robotics" and start up his own restaurant... that didn't even open. It had one test run and shut down after that. Everyone was confused why and then it was found out that Elizabeth Afton had been missing for a few days. William kills five more children at the next Freddy Fazbear's Pizza location, with them going on to possess the animatronics. It was around this time William had realized something, when in the Spring Bonnie suit, the children he had killed were none the wiser. They were alive yes, but he could masquerade as one of them, manipulate them. It worked and he basically made a brand new family, one that respected him, listened to him.

With The Puppet in the picture, they stopped listening to him.

The main five were now thorns in his side, naughty children that deserved to be punished. The new set of children he killed didn't last long as Toy Bonnie would end up committing an event known as "The Bite of 87". Jeremy would live, but the animatronics were scrapped. Furious by this, William knew he was at a loss, Michael was off at college, Elizabeth was Circus Baby and anytime he was down there, she was just as annoying as ever, Timothy was gone, and his wife was always foiling his plans. William snapped, he lost it. He broke into Freddy Fazbear's one night after it had been abandoned and destroyed the animatronics, teaching them a lesson. In the end, William was taught a lesson as the ghosts of his past came back to haunt him, scaring him into the Spring Bonnie suit he once used. William laughed as the children still seemed afraid of him, but those laughs loosened the locks just enough to snap back into place. But William didn't mind in the end, he was alone, alone with his newfound immortality.

When brought to Fazbear's Fright, Afton had a sort of love hate relationship with the building. The attraction was all for him, he walked around it, he relished it, it was all about his murders, his legacy, all in one place. William had seemingly got everything he wanted, sure, they might have feared him, BUT, he was looked at. He was popular. They loved him, and when it all burnt to the ground, he was a little sad, but hey, it's better than calling him Springtrap. He was found after the fire and brought to a facility, a facility he knew fondly. At the end, when the facility was rubble, Afton survived once more. He never once thought that he got here through luck, he believed that he truly was immortal. Despite the scratches and scrapes from the facility, Afton was alive. He then heard of this new fangled restaurant, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place. He knew who owned it, he knew who worked there, and he knew what it was. He survived one fire, he survived a facility being turned to rubble. Afton was immortal, and he needed to let them know that he was. His ego blinded him once more. He walked right into the trap, and it worked. The remaining souls were freed, and Afton was sent to deal with his consequences. When William first saw UCN, he realized how WONDERFUL it was. Being surrounded by his own creations, the ones he made, the ones he loved. It brought a smile to his face, but Cassidy knew that. So she when she saw the smile, she brought in others. Afton's legacy had created many murderers, many creations, some linked to Fazbear Entertainment, some not. William would be tormented by it all, going through different loops of torment, going through all the bad memories he made people go through. Some of them revolved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, some of them involved Fazbear Enterprises themselves, and some of them involved other companies. And it's still going, Cassidy isn't satisfied until William's ego is non-existent... and then some.

William's theatrics and ego blinded him to the blindspots he made, he lied about Circus Baby being based off his daughter (which is mostly a lie with a tiny hint of truth to it) and didn't think for one second that she would disobey and see the murder machine, because William's ego blinded him to it. William had always left a trail, he left everything, he just got lucky. And for once, he didn't stop to think that. With Afton suffering for all eternity, there are still parts of him that exist out there, The Mimic's first look at him was through the emotions Afton imprinted on the Spring Bonnie circuit boards. The Simon Endoskeleton has parts of Afton in his code, with Fritz Glade none the wiser. Project "Clean Slate" made Afton into a caring father who just wants his family to be immortal, and that's how William was remembered. No one knew the real Afton, no one knows that his legacy lives on, or that he's suffering for his crimes. Fazbear Enterprises covered it all up as a desperate attempt to stay in business. But no matter how many times they find a way to cover him up, he will come back.

He always does.

[halliescomut]

My Beautiful Man and the Plight of Celebrity....

I've been watching My Beautiful Man, and while it's kind of not for me as far as the romance aspect, at least in the first 2 seasons. The movie I actually enjoyed quite a bit, likely because my issue with the series was the CONSTANT misunderstanding between Kiyoi and Hira. I've very much enjoyed the films commentary on celebrity and fan culture. Once we get into season two and the film, Kiyoi is now like a full-fledged celebrity, and we are also given insight into Anna, his colleague and coworker.

We see sort of the struggle between following artistic passions versus what will raise an actor's status with Kiyoi auditioning for stage roles, while his manager encourages him to pursue TV dramas. I think it's easy to forget sometimes that actors come into these careers for love of the art and not in the pursuit of fame or fortune. Which I think is a conversation that doesn't often happen. Even if you are well-versed or aware in audtioning politics and all of that, it's not always as simple as it seems to get the roles that you want, especially as a newer actor like Kiyoi, talent aside. And many management agencies focus more on public perception and popularity rather than an actors skill or talent.

The 'fandom' problem that we've seen so often in real life is shown here as well, with fans being on set, showing up on location and being disruptive. It's nothing as extreme as we may have seen in real life, but it very actively reminds me of fans showing up at airports and being invasive and disruptive in those spaces. We've sadly seen an unfortunate level of these situations happening and moving beyond being simply overwhelming and intrusive to 'fans' putting hands on people, which is not okay. And while there are occasions where fans are invited, some companies announce their departure and even set up an area for fans to say goodbye, we've seen things happen when actors are travelling for personal vacations, and just essentially are off the clock and should not be disturbed. (Also, I'm clearly not talking about those that just happen to run into these people, I'm talking about those that are purposely turning up places they know they will be.) It's a conversation that's been addressed by many in fandom, but I've not seen much in the way of real change, likely because those who are doing these things don't feel they're doing anything wrong (What? I can't be in a public place?) or simply don't care (I'm allowed to because I know them and love them).

And the unfortunate thing that is actively touched on in the show is the lack of agency that celebrities really have when it comes to fandoms. When there's fan backlash over dating rumors, it's generally not allowable for a celebrity to respond "It's not your business, fuck off." When fans cross boundaries it's difficult for celebrities to respond without risking alienating fans. In some cases you will have people who are at a level where they don't have as much concern for reprise, from either fans or management, like Jung Kook's response to people sending food to his residence. He has a level of influence that brings him more autonomy than newer idols or celebrities would have. On that same note, when 'fans' met Mile and Apo at the airport (while they were traveling for personal and not professional reasons) and put their hands on them, he could not respond as many people would ("What the fuck is wrong with you??"), but instead had to simply smile and play along. And there's a difference in some ways, since in one case you are face to face versus over a livestream, but it's still addressing boundary crossing.

But moving to the more extreme, what I would call sasaeng or stalker level of everything shown through the movie. We first encounter the fans of Kiyoi and Anna and they're presented as mostly cool if a little extreme. The Kiyoi-fans shunning of Hira is more in relation to him behaving so different from how they do, and it's honestly not unreasonable for Hira to gain the nickname 'suspicious man'. But in general it's an amiable atmosphere. The introduction of Anna's fan is where things really do become suspicious and more than a little creepy. I posted a little throw away here about how I specifically found it disturbing that he kept describing Anna as 'pure'. And the reason I found it so off-putting is because that type of language speaks to an unhealthy level of obsession and is an indicator that his 'affection' for her has requirements. But these are things that she has no awareness of. He has placed her on a pedestal in his own mind, and should she fall it sets up a situation where she could be in real danger. Because of the dating rumors that begin to go around her 'purity' comes into question and he instead turns his wrath to Kiyoi as the one who 'defiled' her in his mind. And hilarity aside of him tying him up with red ribbon tied in bows instead of knots, he presents a very real physical threat, and because of his obsession would not see himself as the villain at all because he is simply defending Anna.

Now, in the story we know that the villain will be vanquished and that our intrepid Hira will get his happily ever after with Kiyoi, because this is a love story and that's part of the agreement. But real life situations have existed for as long as specifically visual media have existed of fans going too far and causing harm to the 'objects of their affection'. The point that always comes to mind for me because of my age is Selena, who died at the hands of not just a fan, but someone she truly thought was a friend and that she trusted. It's these stories that lead me to be extremely nervous to see fans approaching celebrities when they shouldn't be. The video of the recent encounter involving Jackson Wang when he was out with his parents for dinner literally makes my blood run cold because that is a person that got close enough to cause real physical harm if that was their goal. It seemingly wasn't, but we can't ever know people's intentions. And it becomes incredibly unfortunate for any type of fan because as the few begin to violate these boundaries set by both society and these celebrities, they will have to institute more and more safeguards for their own privacy and wellbeing. It's pretty well known that Jackson is an incredibly friendly guy and often happy to chat with fans that he encounters in public when he has the time, but these types of intrusions when he's clearly on private time are probably going to put an end to that.

But I was particularly impressed with how these different aspects of celebrity were handled in the film. It's made clear that the fans are a consideration, but not always a priority (which is as it should be) and that can be possible to have a happy medium. While we don't truly get to see fan reaction for the reveal of Anna and Hiriya, we do have the privilege of both of them coming to the realization that they don't have to make their 'celebrity' the center of their world, and also that they don't have to sacrifice their careers in order to be with the one they love. Now it's of course very much different for them as a straight couple than it would potentially be for Kiyoi and Hira, but that's not quite as much a of a concern for them. To me it looks like all they might want is to be able to be known or out to the select few around them, not to the whole world. Hira doesn't want to announce to the world that he loves Kiyoi, he simply wants to stand next to him when he can. Personally I would predict that their future holds something more akin to Hira accompanying Kiyoi to private industry get-togethers and not to public appearances. People would know of their professional relationship, but not have interest in their private one. Also realistically, because of his age here, it would be quite a while before we would see fans or media speculate or comment on Kiyoi's single status, meaning that if they did ever choose to make their relationship known they would be very comfortable and stable in that relationship.

IDK, this was quite the ramble, I don't know how interesting anyone will find it, but if you read this far I appreciate it.

I wish I had enjoyed the show more, but sometimes it's just not your bag, but I will say that overall it's a very well made and well acted drama, and I very much appreciate the time and effort that went into it. Please enjoy this picture of Riku and Kusei being cutie patooties

[aqua-dan]

World's Finest: Teen Titans #1 Review

Now that the first issue of the series has been out for a while and I'm less concerned about spoilers, I felt like now would be the time to say a few things about the start of the series and get some of my opinions out there. There's a lot to say, so I suppose I'll split it up into pros, cons, and general commentary.

Pros

On the positive side, it's genuinely nice to see the Fab 5 + Karen together in a group again! No matter how much time goes on and no matter how many interpersonal issues the group has, they're still my favorite team.

It's nice to see all the different little references to the original series -- from one of their fights being against the Separated Man to the picture of the Flips up on the wall of their base, it does feel pretty nostalgic to someone who is a big fan of Teen Titans vol. 1!

The art is overarchingly pretty nice (although I wish I could hit the colorist over the head and scream at them that Garth's eyes are purple! NOT BLUE!)

Despite my nostalgia for the original series, I am finding myself being more ok with the changed lineup than I originally thought I'd be. Now, this obviously messes with some Titans history that I'm reluctant to give up, but it is nice to see Karen highlighted especially! I also think the inclusion of Golden Eagle was nice! He's probably one of the lesser known Teen Titans, so even seeing him show up was surprisingly pleasant.

Despite the fact that I do also have a slight complaint about it, I do think it's nice that they are leaning into popular slang and what is "cool and hip with the teens." To be honest, I think it could even be dialed up a notch! Bring out your inner Bob Haney!!

The ending to the first issue was also interesting! I like that they are setting up the major conflict but keeping it vague for right now. I'm genuinely excited to see how that progresses!

Cons

On the more negative side, there is also a lot to say. Some of it might be nitpicking, but I feel it's worth putting out there anyways. My biggest issue with the series thus far is that it feels too self aware. I know it's only the first issue, and I know that I just praised the references to the original series in the "pros" section, but in many ways I can't help but feel that the series is superimposing later versions of these characters onto their younger selves despite the story-beats that would cause them to act that way not having happened yet.

Just for example's sake, I think the way Batman is acting is a decent showcase for this. Not to say that he entirely wasn't strict before a certain time, but the extremely controlling and closed off way he's acting is far more in-line with post Death in the Family characterization, and not the time period in which Teen Titans vol. 1 would take place.

Not all of the characterization in that regards is bad -- after all, those traits need a base to develop from -- but in some cases it really feels too aware of how these characters would later become. Because of that, a lot of the dialogue and interactions feel sort of hollow and don't allow for much natural or nuanced progression.

Besides that, this series has really made me confused on the DC comics timeline. With the constant mentions of social media, livestreaming, and modern slang, it reads like it should be something set in present time aka 2023. But considering how this is a flashback, shouldn't this be set in the time of, like... Myspace? Shouldn't the slang be ever so slightly dated, and social media NOT be such a ubiquitous thing? Maybe I'm wrong and the current DC timeline is actually taking place in the future, but still, the over-modern nature of the writing feels a little bit jarring to me.

Speaking of jarring, there are a few details that felt super weird throughout the issue. Roy's comment about Ollie "taking him in from the streets" is jarring since I guess that means they're sticking with the N52 backstory for Roy, which.... ugh. The other things I find jarring are honestly just nitpicks. Without going into it too much, there were just a lot of small details that make my brain go, "hey! That's not how that happened! That's not correct!" Regardless, I need to remember that this isn't a part of the old continuity, so changes can be made whether I like it or not.

General Commentary

All in all I don't think it's a bad start to the series. As it continues, I really hope that things start to feel more authentic so that the series is actually able to develop both its own identity and develop these characters further than they have been before without feeling redactive. I sort of miss the small, homegrown feel of the original series, and how going from smaller missions to world ending events was genuinely a big change for many of the Teen Titans. I'm hoping that there are some more small moments going forward that keep it from getting too big too fast.

I think it's too early to judge the series more heavily, so for now I'm just eagerly awaiting the next issue so we can see how it's going to hold up in the long run.

[thechangeling]

1, 2, 20, 22 for the tsc ask game

(Although I’m already pretty sure 20 is Ty for you)

1. Fave tsc series: Definitely tda. I love kitty and kierarktina. I like Emma a lot in LM (less so in the others,) I like Julian in places. I think the plot of the first two books is cool. I've found a new appreciation for Livvy. I like Dru. I really love the Blackthirn family dynamic. Honestly I could go on.

2. Least favorite series: tmi definitely. There's just so much yikes about those books and I really am not the biggest fan of Jace. Granted the plot was actually pretty solid, but tmi just annoys me.

20: Character you relate to the most: Honestly a year ago I would have said Ty without a doubt. But now idk. I definitely still relate to him, but I also find myself really relating to Matthew, even though I dislike a lot of the way CC chose to write his character. As an alcoholic and as someone who struggles so deeply with emotional and personal relationships, I see a lot of myself in him. I also know a lot of ppl who have bpd in the fandom have brought up him potentially having it, and to me that makes sense. I'm also someone who has a lot of those traits even though I've never been formally diagnosed.

I also heavily relate to Kieran, my fellow enneagram four.

22. Popular character you dislike: *gets up on my dyke soapbox* I don't like Jace Herondale. Yes I am aware he is traumatizedTM and probably has cptsd. As someone who is also vv traumatized and has terrible coping mechanisms, I get it. I can sympathize. But I still don't like him. I really don't love the way so many people obsess over a character who, if he was a woman, would be getting so much hate and vitriol. And this shit is gendered, I'm sorry. The way society responds to disability and mental illness is very gendered and you can't ignore that.

Anyways, I have compassion and sympathy for men like Jace. But my compassion can only go so far when I need to be worrying about myself and other people of marginalized genders first. Not to mention how men like Jace (white, straight, cis) rarely seem have compassion and sympathy for me.

Also not to mention a lot of my problems with Jace aren't even disability related. Sometimes he's just a dick. And yeah I get it, growth and evolution, character development blah blah blah. I don't care, I still find him annoying. Not to mention how I have IssuesTM with the way that's handled as well as the trauma of other characters but thats a whole other thing.

[bornonthebreakofdawn]

Now that it's been over two weeks since the Narutop99 poll results were announced, what do you think about the rankings?

Personally I'm okay with the fact that Minato won, he's such a cool guy haha. And Sakura being placed so high made me happy too. And of course, Hinata getting into the top 10 😇. That was nice.

But I can't help but think that many characters in the 11-20 rankings should have been in the top 10 over Shisui and Sakumo. I mean, really, they're ranked over Gaara? Seriously? I'm sure that many of the votes for them (and Minato) were driven by wanting to see a manga for them. If that incentive wasn't there, I don't think they would have placed so high.

(Also it is kind of strange how many fans collectively just decided to vote for those three specific characters...like was there some social media influencer telling people to do that? Why a manga for those three characters over...I don't know, the Sannin, or Anko, or whoever?)

While I'm glad that Minato won, I still don't consider the Narutop99 poll results to properly determine the popularity of the characters. And I agree that if the manga incentive wasn't there, we'd certainly be getting different results. The poll was more like, "Which character do you want to be featured in a new manga" rather than measuring the popularity.

And about the top 3... I'm not sure if you were aware of the issues related to the poll but I'd rather not discuss those further.

Anyway, I'm still looking forward to what we'll get for Minato's manga; hopefully we'll see something related to Kushina, Jiraiya, and/or his old team.

[beevean]

Top 5 most overlooked Castlevania characters

I don't know if I can answer this properly - I'm still a new fan and not quite into the Deepest Lore, nor am I super aware of who's popular and who's not 😂

Honorary mention to Juste Belmont: while he is one of the Greatest Five, I feel he's the most neglected of the bunch. Granted, it's because he only defeated the Dracula Wraith, and also because the fandom has no taste and doesn't appreciate HoD :P but yeah, Juste is super OP, he has a funny personality, and he also is tied to the theme of fate and the burden of his legacy.

5) Brauner: I think? Brauner is quite the tragic antagonist and I didn't see many people talk about him. He went insane after the loss of his daughters and got convinced that two random girls were their reincarnation? And vampirized them so that they wouldn't die again?? And also he has art powers??? He's cool and compelling! Probably my third favorite non-Dracula villain after Barlowe and Isaac.

4) Rosaly: ROSALY IS THE CUTEST THING AND SHE DESERVED THE WORLD. HECTALY OTP. THERE.

But seriously, I am so glad that she was fleshed out by the two prequel mangas. I hate how in CoD she simply gets namedropped and we never see her, much like Elizabetha before her (who is also overlooked but... there is... very little to say about her in canon). But Sasakura-san and Kojima-san, bless them, took this plot device and turned her into this adorable, optmistic young woman who is brave enough to pick a stranger from the streets and take care of him without asking for anything in return, accepting his very obvious oddities. I love her. Isaac you're my babygirl but also fuck you so much for what you did to her.

3) Julia: well at least Rosaly got to star in two well written mangas! Can't say the same for poor Julia, who is stuck in CoD. I said my piece about her already. She needs a hug and a shoulder to cry on. In my heart, Rosaly lived and she and Julia became BFFs <3

2) Christopher Belmont: the first Belmont who defeated Dracula alone, defeated him twice, and he even rescued his son while at it - with all my respect for Juste, he should also be remembered. I understand that his main game is a waste of a cartridge, but his feats are nothing to sneeze at... and then there's the implied tragedy of Soleil, which speaking of...

Soleil Belmont: man, what's with all these underappreciated Belmonts? :P well, in his case, he has the dubious honor of being the first "possessed rival" in the series - and not a good friend like Hugh, Maxim, Isaac and Albus, but the protagonist's son, his legacy. Imagine how much it would hurt if BR was remade with proper cutscenes. Interestingly, Soleil being possessed by Dracula didn't affect the Belmonts' relationship with the VK, unlike Richter's own possession... maybe because the possession wasn't based on his hidden weakness? It's worth trying to think about how this would fit into the actual lore.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

What do you think about Bakugou's redemtion arc, if I'm honest I dislike it not because I don't want Bakugou changes but because Horikoshi didn't do a good job. I don't say Horikoshi is a bad writer but when it comes to Bakugou, he just another fan and leaves this ruins the plot. During all the manga we see that actions have consequences if a character makes a mistake later that mistake comes to bit his or her ass. For example, we have Shoto and Inasa, Shoto gave him a bad impression and later that costs him his license, Izuku called Shoto a kind person but Natsuo heard that, the plot is always punished the characters for their mistakes but with Bakugou this never happend, Bakugou is everything that a heroe shouldn't be but people still praise him, he is violent and mistreat his classmates but he is still popular. So, I can't see how his arc is well written when his actions are ignore or dismiss. Besides, at this point I wonder what is Bakugou's role in the manga, what is his rol? Like a character he doesn't have nothing for himself, he doesn't have a villian and his motives for being a heroe are generic.

I know Horikoshi says that Bakugou's going to have a big moment but at this point I don't care for his character because he doesn't add nothing to the plot.

Hi, anon. I made analysis about Bakugou's redemption before (in here, here and here or other posts.) and since then, my thoughts about him still didnt change.

Its obvious that Bakugou gain more self awareness and act more sensitive compared to beginning but thats it.

I dislike the way author handled his character arc. 'Bakugou do mean things but he is not actually bad guy, yknow. He is amazing!'. This is not well written redemption arc, this is not good character development. This is not 'his wrong actions are adressed' sitution. This is what we call 'justifying someone's wrong actions'. And thats what happens during the whole story.

And someone actually facing their wrong actions doesnt mean 'sometimes being calm and self aware', thats what every abuser/bully do. They dont always jerk to you. They will have good days, calm days, they will be in good mood and be even nice to you and you are supposed to feel gratefull about it? Sounds like Bakudeku relationship.

Someone actually facing their wrong actions means never repeat the same awfull behavour. Actually spendin a lot of time to think about it, about how he treat other people, all those moments. Of course, change is hard and there will be times where you can easiely repeat same mistakes, ok but where is the guilty? Because i dont think he has much.

And one of the most important with redemption arcs. Actually facing consequences of your actions. This is not someone necessarely dying or getting hurted. This is just 'ah i did this, thats why this happenned' moment and again, this never happens with Bakugou. Him getting hurt in war or being kidnapped has nothing to do with bullying. Those things are still consequences of his actions but it has nothing to do with bullying.

What could've happenned? It would be so cool to see Bakugou was defeated by villain who used to be one os the people whom bakugou hurted and eventually, Bakugou realized that he should save that person cause he is also responsible for him becoming villain. But again, it doesnt happen.

Almost all Bakugou-Deku's 'lets face moments' are all about Bakugou, his feelings, his thoughts. Deku just listens, endure and try to help him. Even when Deku talks, Bakugou doesnt properly listen to him at all. And Deku's constantly reacing out to him, victimizing Bakugou, justify his actions, trying to 'fix' him, it sounds like a typical toxic relationship. Not some kind of redemption arc.

I mentioned before in my many analysis (for example; in here, here and here.) that i am completely okay with empathy, change or/and forgiveness. As long as person actually make effort for it, actually desire to change, they definitely deserve it. Its okay their victims forgive them and of course they can move on life. I definitely dont desire to anyone suffer forever, people deserve to move on but i am also tired of waiting Bakugou's getting that point.

Bakugou's whole character arc isnt really about changing and being better, its mostly about justifying his abusive/wrong actions since day one. And i am sick of pretending its not. This is what narrative/author do and i really dont know how many people think its not. Look if things ever change, i am ready to change my opinion but i heard that story will end soon so again, i dont have much hope about it. All author did seems like he is trying to make us like/accept Bakugou and forcing his redemption arc on us while there is not a sign of good redemption arc at all. And this is so tiring and i am sick of it.

Thats what i think about it.

[lemonhemlock]

So it seems that the executive producers/writers couldn't agree on certain things (evident in Alicent's characterization being all over the place). Perhaps Helaemond falls here. One side wanted to make them a thing and the other didn't. They included some hints but still ambiguous. Up in the air for s2. Just like Daeron's inclusion (it's obvious they initially hadn't decided if they were going to keep him or cut him). If I had to guess, Helaemond was probably an idea from Miguel's faction (apparently his wife came up with the Alicent and Rhaenyra same age/best friends storyline). So I don't think it's gonna be a thing in the end.

so this question made me go fishing for this old ask i didn't get a change to reply to about an helaegond love triangle (see below). in the meantime i already went more in-depth into the helaegon portayal on my blog and i do agree with the anon below on that & the fact that our aegon is not a clone of aegon iv

i do think it's possible that the aegon/helaena/aemond dynamic took its inspiration from the infamous aegoniv/naerys/aemon situation, not in the sense that it's meant to be a 1:1 recreation, but bc it would be a pretty rich playground for a lot of angst and pathos. it's not as likely we're going to get a whole show about aegon iv - it would be a "problematic" adaptation, so to speak, because a lot of his story is rooted in pretty lewd misogyny and i'm not really sure if modern audiences would necessarily enjoy a revolving door of mistresses while aegon iv terrorizes naerys in the background. the market is quite saturated with henry viii content as is (the same story at its core) - as we know, The Tudors was already a very popular show that went on for many seasons and there's also the more recent The Spanish Princess.

so i can see them thinking that they might as well extract the love triangle aspect of it and use it for HotD

disclaimer: i have no way of fact-checking which faction decided to include helaemond, but to relate this back to the ask above, i don't think ryan should be sidelined as a contender for introducing helaemond either. i say this bc he says he's been a fan for 20 years, so, as opposed to miguel, he would be more aware of the aegon iv / naerys / aemon dynamic than miguel would have been. unless this decision was just a huge coincidence & no one bothered to open TWOIAF at all. though i remember ryan saying he made everyone read FB + the 5 ASOIAF books, i don't know if he included TWOIAF on the reading list

Anonymous asked: Obviously a ton of speculation for there being a love triangle between the green siblings stems from a claim that the writers wanted to apply the Aegon4/Naerys/Aemon triangle. And there's definitely the fear that because of that they'll just end up making Egg2 just as bad as Aegon4 and continue to heap abuse onto Helaena when she's already the victim of so much violence. buuuuut the more hopeful interpretation would be that the writers are only planning to apply the love triangle in its bare bones. Since in the books it's never implied that a love triangle was present, the fact that a set up of "older brother and sister married unhappily plus younger brother being close to sister" exists at all for Egg2/Helaena/Aemond is already clearly taking a page from that pairing without needing to stick to the details. Basically the green siblings don't need to be a 1:1 parallels to the other love triangle for the similarities to still exist, nor do they need to end up exactly like them. In fact, their show characterization is significantly different than that of Aegon4/Naerys/Aemon, so if the writers want to smart and original I think they should resolve the helaegond drama through dysfunctional polyamory. I don't think that's been done yet in Targaryen history (except for maybe the conquerors themselves, but then that would give the green siblings even more parallels to them which is cool and sexy!) Also Helaena doesn't seem terrified by Aegon at all, just pretty indifferent. And considering how Alicent reacted to the Dyanna situation, if Aegon was as bad to Helaena as Aegon4 was to Naerys I don't think she would just slap him, she would've beaten him within an inch of his life. So like, besides the sex aspect (which neither of them seems to be into so it's like... Mutual non-con?) there's nothing in their relationship that implies severe abuse or even an escalation to that, because they both seem very disinterested in each other.

love the suggestion of dysfunctional polyamory though!!!

[pedropascalunofficial]

Pedro Pascal and Lena Headey

Head to head interview

Hunger Magazine, Issue 6. Released December 28, 2014. Photoshoot October 15, 2013.

Thirteen million. That's the number of people, on average, who tuned into each episode of the third season of Game of Thrones. Among them was Chilean actor Pedro Pascal, who was as enthralled by the sex and slaughter as the rest of us. But little did he know that within a few months he'd be pitching up on the shores of Belfast to join the cast as Oberyn Martell, affectionately known as the Red Viper. Sound ominous? It is. The Red Viper is GoTs newest anti-hero, “sexy and charming but driven by hate”. Sounds like he'll be right at home.

Pedro, on the other hand, though he looks good on paper, wasn't the obvious choice for the role. Expecting a big name to ride into King’s Landing, the show's fans took to forums to express their concerns as soon as the news broke. So is he worried? Like hell he is. “The fans had the part cast in their minds already. They knew who they wanted and it certainly was not me. But I'm not stupid, | presumed that people were going to say ‘who the fuck is this guy’. Since I anticipated the reaction it didn't throw me off.”

“There are so many different ways to go into battle with yourself when you're trying to get a job. I felt a certain amount of pressure because I wanted to make everyone happy. The fan base is so specific and, as a fan myself, I understand the relationship that they have with the show. The Red Viper is the best part I've ever played, and in season four shocks come at the most unexpected times. You might think you know, but you have no idea,” he explains.

Looks like the Red Viper could be in line to fill a Walter-White-sized-hole in television, but to test the theory we pit Pascal against Lena Headey, aka the Queen. Because if you can come away from Cersei unscathed, you can handle anything.

LH: So, Pedro, you come into Game of Thrones in season four, playing a pretty major character. Does that fill you with joy or dread?

PP: I'd say it fills me with joy because it’s a really fucking fun part. He’s a badass. He comes up against a lot of the main characters in the show. I'm very aware of the show. I watch it like a fan.

LH: Were you a fan before you arrived in Belfast?

PP: Yeah, I was a proper fan. I was caught up in the drama of it before I even auditioned for the part. I was already up to speed.

LH: I remember meeting you and thinking, “he fucking loves the show’.

PP: I kissed your ass.

LH: Well, it worked. We're friends now.

PP: I was like a tourist visiting the set, and yet I had to act with you and be in a scene with the characters that I had such a specific association with already.

LH: So you’re saying it’s boring?

PP: No, it wasn’t boring at all. It was extremely, relentlessly surreal.

LH: And who were your favourite characters up until that point?

PP: Not you.

LH: I realise that!

PP: There are too many characters to have a favourite, but I was fascinated by the Lannisters because they're so frightening. They scared me and then you would come in and pull sympathy from your audience somehow, and I found that rather fascinating. The Northerners were so easy to like or get behind, but it was quite something to see people sympathise with a Lannister, after you made people see things from their perspective.

LH: Speaking of being slightly ambiguous as a character, you come in as a major player and a very well-loved character in the eyes of people who read the books, and he’s somewhat of an anti-hero. Did you base him on anyone?

PP: What does an anti-hero mean exactly?

LH: It means he doesn't wear deodorant, doesn't it? [Laughs]. Someone you shouldn't champion, but you do, like Walter White in Breaking Bad.

PP: No, | didn’t really base him on anyone.

LH: Did you take anything from classic movies that you thought you could use and spin to your advantage playing the Red Viper?

PP: God, that’s a good question. I probably did subconsciously. Now I feel under the spotlight because I need to think of somebody, and I have so many in my mind! I think that’s something that is happening a lot in TV today: the anti-heroes are central to these television shows, and people are really getting behind them, even though they're not necessarily the most moral characters. So I'd say that ‘ve become more familiar with the character who's obviously very flawed but gets you on their side — you have complicated feelings about them. But I think I saw the story too much from this character's perspective to perceive any flaws.

LH: He has some.

PP: I know, from the outside. But I don't see any of them. What are his flaws?

LH: His flaws? He's a dirty bastard!

PP: Why is he a dirty bastard? He likes to fucking fight, for sure.

LH: Back to you as an actor. You've done it for a long time and, as we all know, the path is not always golden, and sometimes you think, “fuck it” and you want to leave it and do something else. Have there been moments where you wanted to give up?

PP: Yes, there have been moments where I came very close to giving up. But I never had anything to fall back on. I think you can understand that.

LH: Because were stupid?

PP: We're stupid.

LH: I can't even make pizza!

PP: We don’t have any other skills.

LH: None at all!

PP: And that’s the odd conundrum. You get to a point where you think, “This isn’t going to happen. This isn’t sustainable. I'm too exhausted, and it can't be good for me.” There were moments where I truly did try to formulate an idea of what I'd do. I thought I'd go back to school, start pre-med again and go to medical school or something like that.

LH: But that didn't happen, you just thought about it?

PP: Yes, I'd have thoughts, but it was still fantasy really. But at the time it felt like a practical life plan. Do you know what I mean?

LH: Yeah of course, you need to pay the fucking rent.

PP: Exactly. You just try to escape from the chaos of what you're feeling by trying to create order in your life. Order seems like a solution to save you from the pain of acting!

LH: It's a mental pain. Who was the first person you called when you got the role?

PP: My sister.

LH: Does she watch the show?

PP: Yes, she does.

LH: Pedro Pascal... or Pablo as I called you when I had too much wine, which was deeply insulting.

PP: Even family members have done that to me! Do I look more like a Pablo? Because it happens with about ninety-five percent of the people I meet.

LH: No, I think I’m just an ignorant drunk person.

PP: No, you were an ignorant drunk person that night is what you're saying.

LH: And now I’m educated.

PP: [Whispers] But | want you to call me Pablo.

LH: Ok, Pablo! When you first arrived on set in Northern Ireland, what was your feeling showing up to a bunch of British actors? Did it feel different to doing an American project?

PP: Yes, but I loved it. It wasn’t intimidating. I found it surreal because I’d watched and loved the show. I hadn't had the opportunity to work on something that I was really familiar with before, so it was overwhelming. But it was far more delightful than intimidating. Also you guys were really cool. Everyone was friendly.

LH: Oh, that’s just fake.

PP: Well, you guys were good at it!

LH: We know Game of Thrones is very popular obviously. Do you have any thoughts, or fears, about what this is going to bring you in terms of exposure?

PP: I have hope.

LH: Oh, God. I don’t mean to shatter that, but give it up.

PP: I don’t know really. It’s all been filmed, and now I'm back to my normal routine, so I haven't really thought about it. I remember when we finished filming and we were on our way to the airport, you asked me, “How does it feel you're all done?” and I couldn't really answer.

LH: You were quite emotional that day.

PP: I was very emotional because I’d had such an amazing time doing the part. Also just being there immersed in the experience... You described it to me best. You told me how I'd be feeling.

LH: We don't know your character's backstory when you enter the show, and you have some rather brutal scenes. Anyone who has read the books will know what I’m talking about.

PP: My character comes in, he stirs a bunch of shit up, and then he makes this fucking enormous exit. Now can | ask you a question?

LH: What is it? I’m not going to sleep with you. Give it up.

PP: Oh, come on! This has gone to shit and it’s your fault, so good luck to whoever has to edit it! But anyway, sometimes I'd hang out with the cast members and we'd go to dinner and they would get stopped constantly. There was no denying who they played because they were so recognisable, but you got away with it because you have this beautiful blonde wig on in the show, and in real life you are...

LH: Grey?

PP: {Laughs] No! You have beautiful chestnut hair! Is it liberating to not be recognised the way some of the other cast members are?

LH: Yes, it is liberating.

PP: Liberating being able to walk down an alley in Dubrovnik without being stopped?

LH: Yes, except sometimes | get recognised in the weirdest places. A woman was emptying my bag at Heathrow Airport's security gates and just went, “Are you the Queen?” while rummaging through my underwear. It was so fucking weird.

PP: It seems they're more respectful to you?

LH: Because they're frightened. Wait until they meet the Viper.

PP: Well, that covers it.

LH: I think we're going to get our own show out of this, you know

Interested in learning more about Pedro? Check out Pedro Pascal Unofficial on Pinterest!

[meggannn]

i'm interested in hearing your thoughts on garrus being shoe-horned into the best friend role if you want to talk about it!

I may not be able to talk about it as much as some people who are super Garrus-critical, but yes I can try!

this really becomes a problem in ME3 more than the other games. basically my understanding of Garrus’s writing in ME3 is that they were well aware that of the fact that he was a fan-favorite, and didn’t want to threaten that, so they made it his crux. they took most of the fandom’s feelings for Garrus and decided to reflect that in Shepard’s relationship with Garrus, but by doing this, they basically ended up pretending a relationship had been there throughout ME1-2 that existed in some player’s heads. of course, Mass Effect is an RPG (well, sort of) so in theory... your best friend could be whoever you want to be, so with that in mind, it’s a little strange for a dev team to go “your best friend is this one character and we will write all of his scenes around that assumption.” unless they really want to play up the fanservice, I guess.

when he’s introduced in ME1, people joke about how they would never not recruit him, but it is a possibility—you could run through the entire game having only met Garrus in the Citadel Tower and never spoken to him again—in which case by meeting him again in ME2, it is a little strange to see that guy you barely remember from the Citadel in the last game show up, but not entirely unwelcome, because at least you, like, recognize him. it’s a little odd how you banter like old friends by making fun of his scars, but what is straight-up bizarre is how in the next game, ME3, Garrus talks about how he was there with you fighting Reapers from the beginning. of course, not a lot of people would specifically go out of their way to avoid recruiting Garrus in ME1, and very few people probably naturally avoided him standing by the elevator in ME1 (which is the only way to not recruit him if you don’t find him in Dr. Michele’s clinic), so the odds of someone not recruiting him in ME1 are low unless they intended to, but it’s still possible.

come ME2, I think they chose to forget that. a few lines have changed in 2 if you don’t recruit him in 1, but not many. remember in ME1, Garrus was an optional squaddie, who had an optional side quest, and his relationship with Shepard there was very much superior/subordinate, or as some people interpret it, more mentor-like. the most personal they get is when they talk about their jobs, the difficulties they face making moral choices, a bit about their families, and Spectrehood. it’s a nice introduction to Garrus’s character but the lines are drawn pretty clear between their roles; by the end of ME1, given the canon dialogue, the closest I’m personally willing to believe of their relationship from helping him deal with Saleon is “subordinate I am fond of,” or post-Saren after Garrus leaves the Normandy, “ally I can call on later.”

and then Shepard dies and is gone for two years. by ME2, when you meet up with him again, I actually find this jump from “subordinate” to “ally/friend” works for my Shepard, but it might not for people who never really engaged with Garrus or even liked him on the SR-1, or those who weren’t thrilled with the idea of him... basically running off to kill as many people as he could on Omega after Shepard got themselves spaced. if you don’t romance him in ME2, he has so little content in ME2: his recruitment mission, post-recruitment convo, loyalty convo trigger, loyalty quest, and post-loyalty convo. if you romance him, you get several more scenes, but compared to other romanceable companions like Miranda or Jack—whose attitudes toward you change the more you talk to them—or even Samara, who you can just chat with while looking out at the stars, Garrus’s platonic relationship with Shepard seems to stall after the Sidonis quest: you gain his loyalty for the suicide mission and then you’re assumed to be all cool. realistically, they could’ve given us a lot of reasons why Garrus might not want to talk—he’s probably still reeling from getting his face blown off and confronting his betrayer again, or if you don’t let him kill Sidonis, maybe he could’ve gotten pissed at Shepard and confronted them—but that’s me trying to justify a lack of content. truthfully there’s very little non-romanceable Garrus content in ME2 to build up that “best friends” angle they want to sell in ME3.

in ME3, you DO get more content that shows how naturally “at ease” he feels working with Shepard: his recruitment mission, longer conversation trees when he joins, more banter from squaddies—including Garrus—on missions, him inviting you to go bottle-shooting, a scene with him after every main mission where he asks you how you’re doing, if you miss Ash/Kaidan, mutual struggles over the burden of leadership, worrying over his family, etc. by this point though, if you didn’t romance him, he’s treating you like his best friend even though he basically ignored you all of ME2. again, you could rationalize that time as his social awkwardness on a Cerberus ship, or him dealing with trauma, but in my friend’s words, it’s really more of bioware telling-but-not-showing that they really wanted you to like this guy but waiting until the last game to give him consistent scenes with the player that reflected that closeness.

on paper, Garrus makes a lot of sense to be close to Shepard, because assuming you recruit him in ME1, he’s been fighting Reapers with Shepard in every game, but also... so has Joker or Chakwas or Tali, for the same reason; so does Ash or Kaidan, for being the only Alliance teammate who was there at the beginning and end (assuming they didn’t both die); so does Liara, for being there every game and only abstaining in ME2 because she was still dealing with the fallout of saving your life (there’s lots of criticism of her being “forced” on the player too and while I agree with some of it, that’s a topic for another time lol). Bioware does introduce Garrus early in each game—I don’t know if this was intentional, because they knew he was so popular so they wanted to give him to the player early—but then he has so little to say in ME2, the game about building relationships, that introducing him early just means he stands around for half game talking about calibrations. a lot of fandom, especially shakarian fans, end up filling the gaps of ME2 with their own headcanons, myself included, to make the relationship development feel a little smoother, but the trouble there is when we start treating it like it was always canon for everybody.

I know it seems weird to complain that such a popular character should’ve had even more content—there are lots of other characters just as or more deserving who got really screwed over (coughs Ashley)—but in my ideal world, they all would’ve had more content lmfao.

[dani-halfa]

Danny phantom season 3 rant

So i have been thinking about writing and explaining why season 3 felt so weirdly paced and why i think it's writing is mixed bag.

I'm aware this has been covered hundred of times. Despite this i would like to share some of my thoughts.

Firstly, i thought about what people like when they talk about this series. The conclusion i came up with it's:

Characters and character development

The worldbuilding

Episodes about mature and dark themes (Think about The ultimate enemy)

Good and funny antagonists

Ghosts and ghost dimension

Then i thought what made season 3 fail and the reason why it didn't work.

So for starters:

Characters

One of the main highlights of Danny phantom is strong characterization and character arcs. They may be not perfect.. Nevertheless,the characters are well defined and each one feels unique.

What went wrong in season 3?

The answer to this, I believe, it's the lack of internal conflict. In all of the 13 episodes which this season has maybe only 2 of them the characters really change.

I'm talking about D-stabilized (Valerie and Dani) and Forever phantom (About popularity and how gaining too much attention can be dangerous)

The rest of them is main conflict it's beating the bad guy of the week. Not too much else.

This is when i talk about Danny and Sam.

I have nothing against this pairing. They have decent chemistry together. My issue is that in season 3 is the only relationship that seems to develop and many episodes which focus on Danny are about this.

It would be fine if it was a subplot or there were other things happening in the same episode.. but when it's your only arc.. it felts empty.

Antagonists

Other thing that i like about danny phatom is the villans. Every villain has their own personality, design, motives, likes and dislikes. No one it's like the other.

Some of them have backstories and actual explanations of why the choose to attack Danny. Like Ember, Vlad, Valerie...

Then season 3 came and the main antagonists became forgettable.

Their designs are really cool. The problem was that they lack motivation beyond destroying the world. The were more like big monsters which existed for Danny to show his powers for rule of cool.

I don't remember too much about them except for design and powers.

The only new antagonist i liked was Amorfo. He was someone who didn't have his own identity so he copied others to gain attention.

Mature themes

Now what lessons did season 3 have?

Because if you leave D-stabilized and Forever phantom.. you have nothing worth of analyzing here. Maybe.. Eye for an Eye, about how we can get carried out with pranks.

Still the lessons and themes weren't as interesting as season 1 and season 2.

Think about Danny learning to overcome his insecurities. Think about Valerie falling for Danny. Tucker and his phobia of hospitals.. Season 3 didn't have these things.

Worldbuilding and ghosts

The worldbuilding in this season it's actually not that bad. There are few new cool interesting concepts that were introduced. First, the ghost core and second, the infinity map.

In "Boxed up fury" we get to know about the pandora box. It's a shame it only was for one episode.. i found it's lore very mysterious. They could have written an arc with this.

I wasn't very fond of Danny being "the chosen one". He is great because he fights without having a destiny. He knows he can use his powers to stop evil ghosts from hurting innocent lives.

I forgot to mention the detail that some ghosts consider Danny as a hero for freeing them from the Ghost King. That's nice continuity.

Vlad's characterization

One of the main reasons i really like Vlad is for his motivations. He isn't your generic villain that wants to conquer the world or power.. he has already all those things and more.

His wants Maddie and Danny to be his family. He wants to get revenge on Jack. Even if revenge it's a little cliche.. i prefer this over "generic bad guy".

For him, it's very personal. He thinks Jack ruined his life with the ghost portal accident. He was his friend and Jack "betrayed" him in his mind.

And in season 3... he's nothing of these things.

Like, his motivations are changed. Suddenly he's a different character who only cares about power and money.He becomes a dull typical saturday cartoon villan

Some fans believe he snapped after "Kindred Spirits". I think it's a good explanation for this change. The problem is that is never justified in the series.

First he makes pranks on Danny, then he wants the infinity map, after that gaining popularity and then he wants to create more Danny clones...

Not saying it's bad he has more than one goal.. but make up your mind,please!

Conclusion

So there you have it, i explained my points of why this season is a bit weak in comparision to Season 1 and 2. I didn't hate Season 3. It's decent at least. It just is not as well written as the previous seasons.

[doppelnatur]

the ragnarok anon: oh yikes, I didn't notice it in the umbrella academy, one would think that people would talk about it more since it's that popular, but I haven't seen anything 😬 also I think that I'm just. more blind to this stuff because I never really thought about stereotypes, so thank you for pointing it out!

I still don't think that in ragnarok it was done with a malicious intent or anything and that it's supposed to be antisemitic, probably just a very unfortunate coincidence, most likely someone else who just doesn't know. which is not great, but I don't think they deserve to be cancelled. and I do agree that it's the whole system that is rotten and needs to be brought down but I also think that on television it's probably easier to portray with a concrete bunch of people.

and I absolutely agree with the fact that it'd be much more interesting if loki was the main character/the gods explicitly bad. but with the way it is rn, I do think it makes sense that thor is the main character and I think they Are going to make him go against the gods, or odin at the very least, I don't think they're going to make ragnarok play out the way it's written. I have a lot of thoughts about this djdjdj

thank you for talking to me, I think I understand things more now :)

Yeah you would think right??? Idk there's a few tumblr posts about it and an article. But it's not much. I'm super invested in finding critiques of shit i currently consume or writing them if i can't find any, so i have read those, and people are appearently saying that UA is worse in the second season???? Which makes me go insane, I've not seen it but s1 does not need to be topped on this? Like they could have amended it but i guess they didn't.

I don't think anything needs to be done with bad intentions to be bad ever. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Idk people are hardly ever aware that what they're doing is discriminatory to a specific group, which is why it's important to point out, to be aware of potential issues going in and to hire sensitivity editors. This is my super broad thing about like basically whenever fans or content creators get defensive about a piece of media or a tweet or whatever being discriminatory. No one is saying the intentions are bad or the ppl doing the thing are doing so in a way that's malicious, just please hire sensitivity editors lol. Cancel culture is not real and me criticizing a show mildly to my audience of like 5ppl who have not seen it is not gonna get it cancelled lol. Personally i think it's really revealing about what people think cancel culture is when it's always brought up when anything or anyone ever is even mildly critical of smth for sjw™ reasons aaaa. Idk this is not meant to be criticizing u u just got me going about this topic I'm invested in i guess.

I think I'm just annoyed about another thing centering Thor? Like not to be rude but he's not that central. Like he's kinda cool but Loki and Odin are both much more interesting and their conflict is super neat. I need the odin/loki blood brothers romance content 😩😩😩 Idk might as well focus on Freya which would be cool too? And she's a Vane which is the nature gods ppl so it would thematically make sense? And Frigga as a central character also makes a lot of sense as like a fertility godess... Idk so many choices, why's it the marvel approach again :( Thor makes sense as a super hero with the powers but less as a protagonist in a show trying clearly to be critical of power. Also it feels like he doesn't even care about the environmental issues he's just using those to harm the jutuls which is shit. Idk. Maybe I'm just not a fan of magne as a character.

[casually-inlove]

Hello. In one of your responses, you wrote: "I also have things that I don't necessarily agree with." Can you tell us about it? I am very interested in your representation of this manhua. What do you think is written well in the story, and what is not? What would you add or remove? What is missing and what is too much in history? I would very much like to know your TianShan headcanon. I have too many "wants". I'm sorry if I was rude.

Dear anon, this was not rude at all. Indeed, you have many questions, so much as I try to be concise in my posts, this one is going to be very lengthy. Let me start with a little disclaimer. Everything below is entirely subjective. It is in no way meant to undermine anyone's enjoyment of the series, nor is it supposed to be an attack against the author. I value the comic's episodic nature and light-heartedness myself, otherwise, I would not have stuck around. It is also true that for the past half a year my interest in it waxes and wanes. Besides, I am well aware that certain groups of fans grow dissatisfied with the manhua direction. That said, I must state once again, OX has every right to write the story as they please, while the fans, no matter how displeased they may be, do not have the room to make demands of the author. So then, without further ado, some of my quibblings follow below. Beware of the wall-of-text.

1) The plot and characters get stagnant at times — these two go hand in hand. I suppose it is a prevalent gripe with 19 Days, and I am sure everyone has experienced it at least once. Some of it stems from the very way the story is told: the manhua timeline moves slowly in comparison with the readers' timeline. It works for depicting slow-burn relationships and subtle changes in the characters' outlooks. The problem is, more often than not, the latest chapters are inconsequential to either plot or character growth. They do not have the substance or the conflict to them. When OX had introduced the characters, while undoubtedly charming and loveable, they were practically walking tropes. Jian Yi, the bubbly airhead. ZZX, the stoic childhood friend. HT, Mr Popular. As time passed, OX did the clever (and the right) thing — they have subverted these stereotypes, by showing us that the characters are not who they appear to be. Thus, we learned that Jian Yi is a lonesome, affection deprived kid who on occasion dreads going back home because it's empty; his bright grin is there to hide his sadness.  We also learned that HT had a dysfunctional family and had been exposed to violence since a tender age; we also learned that he used to lead an empty life devoid of close interpersonal connections and passions, etc. I am not going to write about Mo because it is obvious and self-explanatory.

That sudden change in the perspective is what made those characters fascinating. A few of these developments co-occur with the addition of the “darker” mafia/gangster subplot. Indeed, the introduction of the criminal legacy theme (which is true for Jian Yi, He Tian, and Mo to an extent) allowed to show the wounds and troubles these characters had to face. It also dangled the prospect of an intriguing plot direction — a mafia-related story that is disguised as a school-themed slice-of-life. It was the underlying gangster plot-line that hooked me up; I kept asking myself: Are they connected (the Jian family, the He family)? Were they responsible for what happened with the Mo family restaurant? Will their backgrounds converge at some point? How does Jia Yi's kidnapping fit into all this? That sort of stuff. Alas, right now that subplot seems to be put on a backburner, which is a shame because this is the plot-line that leads to future events, such as Jian Yi's disappearance. The kidnapping is still going to happen and the threat looming over Jian Yi is still real, yet OX does very little to explain anything about it. Naturally, revealing everything at once is out of the question, but if it were me, I would have opted for unveiling bits and pieces now and then. To start with, it would have propelled the plot forward. Apart from that, it would have given the readers some food for thought and kept the intrigue fresh — they would have been cracking their heads to piece the puzzle. Finally, the characters' darker backgrounds provide the opportunity to give them development. For instance, how would Mo's view of He Tian change, if he learned that the latter had to face his warped father to save Mo (ch. 245 and further on)? Or how would Mo react, if he learned that He Tian lost his mother (presumably) due to his family shady dealings? Would it make him understand the other boy, relate to him on some level? Etc. 

The comedy and fun, light moments are precious, but I miss those moments when the manhua challenged my impression of the characters. Right now, the plot stagnates in the sense that we know that someone is threatening Jian Yi, but we aren't being given any clues or updates on the matter, as if the whole thing wasn't important. So, in response to your question “what would I have removed”, I would say that I would probably drop quite a few school-centric chapters in favour of “criminal” subplot. Just a bit: maybe show Mr Jian's messages, or Jian Yi's mother discussing the situation with him, or He Cheng receiving some reports on the situation.  

The character recent portrayal also disappoints me on occasion. They started as stereotypical manga characters, then they were given some depth, and now they are close to becoming yet another set of stereotypes. Yeah, I get that Mo is a tsundere and enamoured He Tian is an idiot in love — OX has been depicting them as such for the past year. It would be cool to take a look at other facets of their personalities now and then too. While it’s understandable that only a few weeks have passed since the beginning of the story, OX should remember that years have passed for the readers; keeping the audience engaged should be among their priorities.

I suppose I do have a bias here because as an adult I have little interest in all things school-related, and in general, I am not too fond of slice-of-life (I typically avoid reading it).19 Days attracted me because it had some universal themes, like dealing with past and legacy, finding your path, healing from the old scars, learning to handle difficult relationships within a family, and of course its low-key “mafia” subplot. It could be that OX truly doesn't have a meticulously chapter-to-chapter thought-out plot, hence why the manhua meanders at times, or it could have something to do with Mosspaca's internal agenda. Perhaps, it is the latter and the company somehow insists its artists stick with simplistic plots for the sake of keeping their target audience. Even so, there's a catch here, which was brought to the attention by @agapaic: the original reader audience has aged up already so to keep them hooked it would be wise of OX to “mature up” the comic as well. Not in the sense of 18+ content, but in the sense of introducing more mature subjects alongside the comedy and slice of life. Perhaps, they are not looking to keep the fans but to attract the new, younger ones. Who knows.

2) Drama and comedy imbalance. It is a pet peeve of mine which I consider to be one of the prominent manhua flaws: there is lots of slapstick comedy which ends up being out of place on occasion. I do realize the comic is humorous, however, there is no denying that OX introduced themes and topics that are no laughing matters. Jian Yi's and He Tian's loneliness, bullying and ostracizing, extortion racket, absentee parents, youth gangs and violence — just to name a few. There is a lot more, but you get the picture.

It is also obvious that three out of four main characters carry the remnants of childhood trauma with them, which directly affects their present selves. All the same, these topics practically fizzle out as soon as they get introduced, or get swept under the rug with comedy. Considering the humorous nature of the comic, it is given that dispersing some grimmer topics with playfulness will be used now and then. To my mind, however, OX relies on that abrupt drama-to-comedy switch too heavily, which makes the transition steep and often out of place. At times, it creates an impression that the author does not take these issues seriously. There have been numerous episodes when emotional moments were subverted and then dropped, without gaining climax and closure. For instance, the moment that sticks out to me the most is when He Tian attempted to tell Mo why he liked him. The visuals made it clear that it wasn't easy for He Tian to say out loud, yet OX never gave the intense moment the needed closure.

Mo brushed He Tian off and the latter just rolled with it, as if it never took him any courage to say those words, and then everything was swiftly engulfed by slapstick humour (the ball-slapping scene). A panel showing a glimpse of He Tian's face sinking to indicate he was somewhat let down by Mo's nonchalant response would have been appropriate — in fact, it would be natural for someone to get hurt when their confession is taken lightly. Likewise, I half-expected OX to show a bit more of He Tian's reaction towards Mo's story about his meeting with She Li. We got to see his expression darkening when he learned that She Li gave Mo the ear piercings, yet this time — mind you, when Mo suggested that She Li might have murdered someone — we never see He Tian react much. For the record, it was He Tian who asked She Li a rhetorical question about being able to take responsibility for taking a life.

Furthermore, I believe that someone romantically invested in another human being would have naturally shown more inquisitiveness upon hearing a story like that. Sure enough, some would say that Mo would not have liked talking about a traumatizing event, and that is fine as well — just show it. A single panel of He Tian being concerned and trying to inquire further and Mo refusing to talk would have been a very neat detail that could have potentially smoothed the transition into humour, while keeping our heroes in character.

3) Sometimes there is too much focus on the couples. The manhua has introduced several reoccurring supporting characters which are directly linked to our main quartet. For example, Mo had bonds before meeting our boys: his henchmen, the Buzzcut. Likewise, He Cheng was the one to raise He Tian; he shaped the boy's outlook on life.  These characters all played important roles in making our boys the people they are today, and yet we know so little of their bonds. Maybe the Buzzcut is unimportant in the larger scheme of things, He Cheng, however, is not only linked to He Tian, but he also plays a part in the underlying mafia/gangster subplot. It would have made sense if he was the one to shed some light on the situation with Jian Yi and He Tian's traumatic past. I would have loved to see our boys interact with other people as well — it would have served to show the variety of relationships out there: friendships, familial bonds, mutual respect between the leader and underlings, etc.

Anyway, I am going to stop now. I could name a few more, but this text is already more than 2000 words long. I have made some posts with my nitpicking before, so if you wish you can read them here.  

link & link 

Once again, this is all entirely subjective and it is not meant to be perceived as me saying that the manhua is poorly written and no one should enjoy it. Writing and creating compelling plots is a tough job, especially when it comes to long pieces. It also goes without saying that the author should keep their target audience and marketing goals in mind. 19 Days appeals to a great number of people of all ages and that means that OX succeeded in creating something compelling. Their writing is indeed flawed at times, but there is no way around it. It is impossible to excel both at being a great artist and a good writer. While there may be things that each of us would want to change (when comes to characters or the plot), it is still important to remember that it is not our creation. We can only decide whether to keep reading and enjoy what we get or move along. There is no point in attacking the author or generating constant pessimism.