#There's a little bit of disconnect between what's happening in my head vs what's happening in reality

[idledreams4]

anyone else know the struggle of trying to force a normal expression on your face because you're like... In public... But in your head you're off in some fantasy world doing something else entirely?

[batsplat]

sooo, you bring up casey/vale dinner quite a lot right. and you always empathize how the rivalry was very different from their povs and how it obviously was so much more for casey. how casey doesn’t really know vale as a person and how it’s more like casey vs the consent of valentino rossi he has in his head. that at the same time vale kept the distance in their rivalry and was ‘cold’ about it not emotionally driven.

anyways, in your version of that dinner, do they reach some kind of REAL understanding of each other? on a competitive and personal levels. is it possible? or is there’s always gonna be a disconnect between these two?

hm lovely ask. yeah I like the dinner conceptually because it's just,, easy shorthand for a central tension of their rivalry: this gulf between the two of them that cannot ever be breached. I've been talking enough recently about the similarities between them, let's get back to the unbreachable, the unreachable, that which is impossible to resolve. to quickly include what casey actually said:

obviously this was an off-hand comment from casey and not something he put a massive amount of thought into, but it still captures something about that rivalry in a way that's really stuck with me (hence me referencing it every other day). like you say, anon - the disparity between the pair of them, in terms of how they were experiencing the different stages of the rivalry, the significance of it to them, the emotional investment. how valentino enforced a certain amount of distance, how he played the game as he wanted without wrestling with anything more complicated, no moral dilemmas or hand-wringing or capacity to get hurt. and how casey had to reckon with this.... just, lack of care, this thoughtlessness, this empty malice from his main rival. casey's desire to be understood is key to getting his whole deal, I reckon, and this quote really is an expression of that. it's almost like... I don't know, I just find something really compelling about the idea that this mutual lack of understanding bothers casey. as if there's something that casey could say to valentino that would make him get how shit the whole thing was for casey, that would prompt some kind of moment of self-reflection from valentino, of realisation even. maybe there still is a little bit of casey that's still searching for a little bit of catharsis

anyway, I think the crucial thing about the dinner is that it never happens. like, the key detail here is that casey would like to have this kind of conversation, whereas valentino is decidedly uninterested. this is the whole problem, right, because valentino really hasn't spent much time unpicking this rivalry or figuring out what his feelings are or trying to make his peace with it or any of it. to him, that rivalry very much ended when casey retired. he doesn't even harbour any particular ill will towards casey, because as far as he's concerned the things they did to each other all existed within the realm of what is 'acceptable' for a rivalry. there's not really anything to discuss here. so in that sense, some kind of post-mortem simply... isn't something valentino would be all that interested in, I don't think. but let's just play with the thought for a little longer, let's say that somehow valentino can be convinced to engage with this whole dinner scenario. some combination of politeness, curiosity, lack of animosity towards casey, nostalgia for the good old days... let's say he goes along with this idea, what does that conversation look like? I did give my general take as to the vibes here:

that's the starting point, right: the mismatch in emotional investment between the pair of them means they also have a very different conceptualisation of what the list of grievances even is. with most of the things casey could bring up, valentino's likely response will be 'hm when did that happen' or 'don't think it was that bad' or 'actually that bit was fine'. the british crowd thing would be a classic example: you'll get some combination of valentino pointing out casey could be his own worst enemy and probably pissed off the brits all on his lonesome, minimising what actually happened with the fans, and also fundamentally believing that a little bit of psychological warfare is basically fine. this does not feel like a divide that can be crossed, y'know

laguna, of course, is the big one. I'm quite glad I waited with posting this to let my thoughts marinate a little longer, because it meant that podcast thingy came out and provided a new valentino take on the laguna 2008 situation (first proper one we've had in ages):

(very grateful for the transcription, taken from here)

now, look, this quote does deserve more thorough attention, I will eventually get to the laguna 2008 post - but this is obviously a stance that is fundamentally incompatible with casey's approach. valentino straight up says he was willing to make them both crash if that's what it took, which, yes, you can tell from watching the race... and as far as casey is concerned, this is a line that should never be crossed. this is not something the two of them could ever find any agreement about. given casey's furious aversion to any suggestion his mental game might not be up to scratch, valentino emphasising the... psychological dimensions of that race would also extremely not be appreciated. it's not something where communication would really help, because... well, they do both know where the other stands here, right? there are some parts of the rivalry where one or both of them does fail to understand the other, but this is categorically not one of them. if casey pointed out his objections to what happened at that race, valentino would not be surprised by casey's opinions or be forced to reflect or anything like that - he just fundamentally would not care. it's not simply a difference in racing philosophies, it's a mismatch in moral values. the best dinner in the world couldn't solve this

maybe it's not entirely a lost cause. like I said, there are issues where they fail to understand each other in ways that - in an ideal world with perfect communication - they theoretically could clear up. casey's assessment of valentino's assessment of him, for instance, feels pretty off base at times. it's worth pointing out that valentino does in the podcast quote call casey his most talented rival, an opinion he has expressed before and probably believes and that would presumably be well-received by casey. (obviously the second half of that sentence goes in a direction casey would be less enthusiastic about, but let's try to work with what we've got here.) the eternal bike vs rider debate and some of the more circumstantial nastiness they levelled at each other to discredit the other... you'd assume that wouldn't be impossible to talk over. even some of the thornier aspects of their respective relationships to fame, to publicly performing, all of it - hey, maybe they really could tell each other what their 'challenges' there were. there are some things valentino sincerely believes that casey could probably benefit from hearing directly from valentino's lips. maybe casey could gain something just from knowing what valentino truly thought of him

really, though, at the end of the day, what is fascinating about the dinner is not as much the hypothetical meal itself (which would likely be deeply unsatisfying), but instead the fact that casey even wants it. like I said above, casey's desire to be understood is a key motif in this rivalry. it is the reason why he has to copy valentino's media tactics - because otherwise, he is doomed to being hated without being known. he needs to become a better communicator as a result of just how frustrated he is by how the world perceives him. casey has ended up using those same tools he learned from valentino against him, both when he was still a rider and since his retirement. and he wants to be understood by valentino... is there a part of casey that thinks valentino would have been kinder, gentler, if he had simply understood the effect he had on casey? does casey want to hear valentino's side of the story to finally make sense of how valentino behaved towards him? what answers exactly is he looking for here? none that would be easily forthcoming, most likely. perhaps he would at least get some kind of closure, the knowledge that valentino was exactly what casey thought he was all along. to the extent that casey has built up an inaccurate version of valentino in his mind, it probably is not one that he can tear down in a single dinner conversation. in some ways, he is already primed to believe the worst of valentino - and he is generally not a character predisposed to look for the best. his issues are often so abstracted from 'valentino the person' that he would not always find it easy to articulate a specific grievance at all. there's just too much to disentangle, here, and not all of the indignities he has suffered could reasonably be addressed by even a well-intentioned version of valentino. and if casey is looking for an apology... well, that just isn't happening, is it. maybe valentino really would find a little more empathy within himself for some of casey's struggles, maybe time really has mellowed him a little in some regards. maybe he would understand casey a little bit better. maybe it'd fill in a few for the blanks as far as his own conceptualisation of casey is concerned, explain a few things he never bothered to find out about. but there's only so far he would ever be willing to go. and he will almost certainly never feel particularly sorry for any of it. which means that there's a yearning here from casey for something that seems impossible to resolve... how can you fail to be compelled by that

all that being said. not to sound arrogant, but I do fundamentally believe that if anyone could make this dinner work, it's me. as a brave advocate for peace and harmony and love and all that stuff in every walk of life, I'm willing to take one for the team and volunteer to moderate their conversation. perhaps none of this is fixable, perhaps some divides simply cannot be crossed, but I believe it is my solemn duty to try. valentino, casey: call me. let's make this happen

[cyb-by-lang]

man, i really dig your jason characterization in the kei-hayate crossover fic— the crime boss aspect feels like it’s being played very Right to me, if that makes sense? i also really really really like the disconnect between where hayate is as a chuunin of konoha with how that looks in… if not “normal” society (cape comics usual suspension-of-disbelief aside) then close enough, lol. and kei bridging the gap… the hayate pov bits are probably my favorite, though, for said aforementioned reasons. it’s just really funny.

the joker like, lurking in the background due to his relevance to jason todd in general and occasionally being referenced but not appearing directly reaaaally has me 👀 though dkdjjdjd obviously whether he takes the stage himself or never shows is yet to be seen…! excited. THIS is a genuine question though: has hayate actually run into any costumed villains yet? the league of villains are like… pretty comparable to what he’s got plenty of experience with, and organized crime is organized crime, and shinobi can of course be extremely flashy as well, but costumed supervillains as a category of person at least to me seem like they might make him look twice a little. at least the weirder ones.

My main rule of thumb when writing Jason's mob boss tenure is that even a criminal organization is an organization. They have a hierarchy, and logistics issues to solve, and occasional staffing problems. Jason's more involved here than he seems to be in the Under the Red Hood movie, but that's because he has to be. You can't just (literally) decapitate part of upper management and expect things to run smoothly without finding some new people to do the job.

That, and Jason does genuinely care about keeping his boot on the throat of the criminal element within his territory. Crime Alley has been a neglected sore spot on Gotham's map for longer than he's been alive. And if he gets to clear out some of the actively deleterious elements of Gotham's crime scene in the process, starting with Black Mask, then that's a bonus.

Hayate has run into exactly one member of the costumed supervillain crowd. It's his roommate. XD

On a less flippant note, Hayate's been kept from even most information about supervillains primarily because the Red Hood vs. Black Mask mob deathmatch is occurring during a Rogue lull. Most of the big players are either keeping their heads down (Riddler) or stuck in Arkham/Blackgate right now (Joker). If they were actively causing problems, either Jason would have to tell him some things, or he'd go look up the info on his new phone. But thus far, that hasn't happened.

I'm glad you're enjoying the ride!

[smytherines]

Honestly I'm so delighted by this conversation. This will probably sound weird, but I'm a big admirer of your art, and you are one of the handful of people who I really feel aligned with in terms of how we view these characters, so it's been amazing to get to talk about it with you!

And I think you're right. I think Curt is careless, and cruel. Even before his big trauma, he is consistently kind of an asshole in A1P1. There's also the tendency for the fandom to minimize or ignore Curt's alcoholism in a way that really undercuts what makes his character so full and real and fascinating to me.

I see him as being very ADHD, leading to him being overly defensive and showing off as much as possible to 1. Prove to himself he is good enough, and 2. Prove to others that he doesn't care what they think about him (even though he obviously does). I also see him as having this... I dunno, masculinity crisis?

Maybe I'm just too in my head because this is basically what the next chapter of my fic is about, but having that push and pull between being what a super spy should be (this like ideal cold, cruel, brutal, cocky Bond-style masculinity) and being a man who loved another man and has more sorta... femme traits (?) than he wants to admit to himself.

Like he's spent so long sanding down all those soft parts of him to be able to be a spy (aka be a killer on the payroll of empire- totally agree that he is utterly brainwashed by the US govt and has a black and white sense of morality) that he instinctively rejects care and tenderness from others, and when he finds himself caring about something or someone too much he cuts them down just as brutally.

I think Owen was the one person he allowed to see him as he really was, so when he kills his own safe harbor it really destroys him. Not just because he loved Owen, but because Owen was the one person who actually knew him and accepted him. And in some horrible tragic cycle, when Owen comes back into his life he kills him again. I think it's an impulsive choice that comes from pain and anger and confusion. But it also reads almost like he's killing off that part of himself that can love another man, if that makes sense?

It's hard for me to look at the staircase scene and not think about this being a gay man killing his ex-lover ostensibly on behalf of a government that would put him in prison or otherwise ruin his life if they found out he has relationships with men. It feels like Owen has long since accepted this reality and is now ideologically committed to Chimera because of it, but Curt can still only see in that Good guys vs Bad guys mentality. Owen's trying to explain that the surveillance network is happening regardless of whether Chimera controls it or not, but Curt just hears "I'm the Bad Guy. Here's my Bad Guy scheme."

Anyways during the show he gradually starts to become... not exactly a better person, but to at least let people in a little bit. He's still obsessed with winning (him going rogue and telling Barb "I need a win here" is such a big character moment to me), he is still desperate to be The Guy, but he's a little less hostile about it. Which is why what he does on the staircase feels emotionally disconnected to me, because it feels like when he's with Owen again he becomes the guy he was at the start again.

And if that's the way the show ended that would honestly be fine. Sometimes you just stay an asshole. But A2P7 very much tries to imply that actually he's fine now. Yes he's drinking whiskey in his coffee at 9am but he's fine. He's going to go take Chimera down on his own, but he's fine. He's asks his mom to restock the bar, but he's fine. I mean, even TCB have said that they added Spy Dance at the end because otherwise it's kind of a bummer ending. And while it's a bop, that basic issue is still kinda there.

It's just... I don't know, I'm getting so far in my own head that I feel like I'm not communicating clearly anymore. So before I ramble any more I'll just end it here and say that it has been an absolute pleasure to talk about this with you, thank you!!

this screenshot lives in my bones I swear. Like... Owen looks so devastated and uncertain, and Curt looks so determined, and I just want to stop that bullet Max Jagerman style and send them both to therapy

[hwrryscherry]

The one where Harry & Model Y/N do a interview together.

NOT MY GIF

blurb: Harry and Model Y/N do their first ever interview together on the Late Late Show with James Corden and they play "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts".

word count: 2.12K

I loved this concept SO much!!! And I really hope you guys like it too. Thank you anon for requesting this😍😍😍

The Late Late Show with James Corden producers called you and Harry trying to book you both to be on the show and to an interview together. You have to admit it that you got nervous; of course you had been through tons of interviews before but to do a double interview with Harry is a whole new level. You both are really private about your relationship and it's kinda rare to actually see one of you talking details of it, and it also had something to do about the larries fans. You were really concerned about them, you never want to disrespect them or even upset them in some way, even though some of them made fun of your relationship, they're still Harry's fans and you respect all of his fans without exception. But anyway, after a lot of talking between your management and between both of you too, you agreed to go and also felt a lot more comfortable because it was going to be with James, that was already friends of you guys.

It was set up that you both will be playing a game in the show called ''Spill your guts or fill your guts'', which actually worried you a little because of the hard questions but besides that, you were really calm, Harry made you calm. He was so great at calming you, I think it's the fact that those past 2 years you both had been through ups and downs and you got quite great at calming each other. And by the way, your man looked SO nice! You were kinda matching actually, as you both were wearing grey. You were in a grey suit and Harry had a grey sweater on looking stunning.

James called both of you on stage and you entered smiling and waving to the crowd as yoi walked towards James's direction. Harry gave him a big hug and you followed by hugging James as well. You both sat in the couch besides James's desk as the crowd got more silenced.

— It's so great to have you here! — James said to you both as he sat down on his chair — Honestly, I really thought you wouldn't accept!

— Oh, Y/N didn't want to! — Harry said quickly making you give him a slightly slap on his arm — Sorry, we had to discuss it! — Harry corrected himself making the crowd and James laugh.

— I never said I didn't want to! I said WE HAD to discuss it! — You corrected him making an emphasis on the ''we had''.

— Alright that's acceptable! Anyway — James looked at the papers on his hand and then back at you — How are you guys doing? I feel like I haven't seen you both in months because you always disappear!

— We've been good! — Harry said while playing with his rings in his hand. You crossed your legs as James stared at you. You couldn't help but start laughing a little because he was fixedly looking at you at that made you a little nervous!

— Yeah, we're pretty good! It's been a nice year! — You answered honestly — And we don't disappear! We just... I mean, I feel like there are times when we actually kinda get away from the world a bit. I truly don't know why. We just focus on spending some quality time together as a couple because we both work so much and we spend a lot of time traveling so it's something really important to keep the relationship stable. And we do it specially in the begging of the year, because that's when we celebrate our anniversary, so I guess it's just a habit that we have to disconnect and enjoy our time together so we can just focus on us and what we expect from the relationship on the following year. And it's the best time to do it because the holidays just happened and he have a little no work time to really be just us.

— Oh right! And how long have you been together by the way? — James asked, he actually knew the answer of that because you're all pretty great friends and you and Harry actually hangs out a lot with James and his wife.

— It's been two years now! — You answered.

— Yeah, it's been a bit now! — Harry completed.

— Oh so, you both weren't dating on the VS Show 2017? Because there were a lot of rumors by the end of the show! — James asked.

— We were not! We actually met at the VS, we took a long time to actually start dating, we started dating in early january 2018, I guess — Harry answered as he slided his hand on his perfectly styled hair.

— Oh, I see... And do you guys plan the future? — James asked making you and Harry exchange looks while smiling at each other — Oh, I like that look... Marriage? Kids? We ALL want to know!

— I mean... yeah! It's almost impossible to be this long in a relationship and not plan it! — Harry said — And I feel like we enjoy a lot of the time we spent together, it's been quite a journey and it's nice to have someone that you really care about and you want to have a future with by your side at some of the most important moments of your life, but I think we both agree that we still have a lot of things to experience before taking this step, you know, the marriage step. But yeah, I can't wait for a time when this is going to be a thing for us! I'd marry her in a heart beat and she knows it! — Harry said. He looked focused while talking but as soon as he felt your gaze towards him, he blushed and started smiling like a little boy who just got his favorite candy.

— So, you won't pop the question anytime soon? — James asked teasing Harry about his reaction over your gaze. As James were close friends with you guys, he knew how much you loved each other and actually everyone could see how Harry kisses the floor you walk by. He is head over heels for you and he melted anytime your hand touched him and anytime you smiled or even looked at him. Everyone who was close to you guys would know that you're the one for him and he's the one for him.

— I mean... — Harry had a cheeky smile on his lips — Who knows.. The year is just starting, 2020 it's a new year!

— And what's your thoughts on that, Y/N? — James asked looking at your blushed and smiley face.

— I agree with whatever he said! I was actually too distracted admiring his beauty to hear what he said. — You joked making Harry blush even more. You were head over heels about his man and this man only, totally in love with him.

— Alright so, on the next block we'll "Spill your guts or fill your guts'' where you'll see Harry Styles and Y/N Y/L/N answering the most crazy questions! We'll be right back! — James said to the camera that stopped filming immediately. You both stand up and walked with James to the other spot in the stage where the game was set up. It was a big rounded table with some of the most disgusting things you've ever saw and smelled. Apparently James wasn't going to play with both of you, but you could also see there was bull penis, cod sperm, chocolate cockroaches, hot sauce, 1.000 year old eggnod and banana smoothie in the table. But anyway, you just chatted with Harry and James until it was time to start shooting again.

— So, we're back, and we're about to start playing ''Spill your guts or fill your guts''. — Harry said as the camera started filming again — And apparently, I'm going to host this part, unless you want to? — Harry asked looking at you across the table.

— No, you can do it! — You answered as you sat straight in the chair looking at the things in the table — I'm nervous I've never done this before.

— Oh yeah, you've never done it! Well that's exciting! — Harry said before letting a small evil laugh leave his lips making you laugh as well and roll your eyes — Ladies first! — Harry said and you took a deep breath before taking a paper card in your hands. — So what am I eating? — Harry said as you both looked to the table.

— I guess...hum.. you can stay with the hot sauce! — You said cheeky smiling at him spinning the table to put the hot sauce in front of him.

— You know how much I hate hot sauce! — Harry said frustated while looking at the sauce.

— I know! — You said right before you whispered a low ''oh god'' before reading the paper — I love this! — You said laughing a little — Alright, Harry explain to the world the meaning of ''Watermelon Sugar'' — You said laughing as you watched Harry's face goes red when he listens to what you asked.

— Well... — He took a deep breath before laughing a little. He's face went completly red as he thought of explaining it — I guess it's about, hum.. Giving pleasure...to your significant other...hm.. by eating a watermelon! — He said pausing a little containing his laugh. Of course everyone knew the real meaning of Watermelon Sugar but neither of you had ever actually defined it with the exact words about the meaning.

— Alright! That was good!...Very convincing! — You looked at him with a slightly mocking expression as you saw Harry trying to decide on what he's gonna make you try.

— Let's go with the banana smoothie! — Harry said with a huge malicious smile on his lips.

— No fucking way! — You said immediately. Harry knew how much you hated banana, actually you'd rather die than eating a banana, so he just laughs — Harry...

— It's a game! You gave me the hot sauce, I'll give you the banana smoothie! — He said and you tried your best to do your pity face, even with the doggy eyes basically begging for him to chose everything else except the banana smoothie. — Alright, alright — Harry sighed making you smile as he now changed the banana smoothie to the bull penis. It was bad, but way better than banana. Harry got a paper card and laughed a little when he read what was written — You're one of the most notable supermodels on your generation and also are friends with some of the greatest models from your time. Rate Kendall, Gigi and Bella to best to the worst catwalks.

— Oh god! — You covered your face with your hands making Harry laughs out loud. You looked at the bull penis quietly and then at Harry again — I feel like I could answer, right?

— I feel like I could answer! — Harry completed putting an emphasis on the ''I could'' making you laugh and then slide your right hand through your hair.

— We've talked about this before, I know, but it was a healthy gossip between a couple... — You said staring at Harry's face thinking — I'd say... — You started but then stopped as the crowd cheered a bit.

— Just eat the penis! — Harry says quickly after letting out a long breath and making you laugh a little by the controversing of the words of your easily jealous boyfriend.

— If I might say, I'm very surprised you're asking me to eat another penis! — You answered quickly seeing Harry's eyes widen at you as he had a big smile on his face.

— I mean, it's just bull penis! — He said and you just agreed looking at the penis again — I mean, I could help you answer this.. Blink twice if the worst one is...

— I'M EATING THE PENIS! — You shouted getting one of them in your hand and just throwing it in your mouth chewing it slowing with a very ugly face because you knew Harry would actually say it, he can be the next gossip girl. — This is disgusting! This is probably the worst thing I've ever putted on my mouth.

— That's funny I thought you liked a penis in your mouth! — Harry said lowly making you literally choke and spit the bull penis in the small bucket you had in your hand and then drinking water as you tried to contain your laugh — But I mean, how much horrible things have you ever put on your mouth, right?

— That's not the point! Focus on the game! — You said as you looked through the rest of the things in the table — As I ate the penis, I'll give you the cod sperm so we can match later. — You said positioning the cod sperm in front of him — Actually, how did they got the sperm out of the cod? — You asked and Harry laugh looking at it as he said he had no idea. You picked another paper card and let out a loud laugh — I LOVE this game! Between Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn, rank their solo careers to best to... — You laugh at the exact moment Harry covered his forehead with his head. He got the napkin beside him and wrapped it around his neck, then he got the fork with the cod sperm and stared at it quietly.

— Just put it in your mouth and swallow. Don't look at it! — You said innocently making the crowd laugh and Harry to look at you with a mocking expression while trying to contain his smile.

— Right, because ''don't look at it, just swallow'' fixes everything. What are you gonna tell me now? Should I spit or should I swallow? — Harry joked making you laugh realizing what you actually said.

— I mean, I'd swallow it! — You said joking back while holding back your laugh. Even though you were actually shy, you and Harry were used to always making sexual jokes so it was normal to you, and very funny too as you'd do it all the time. But Harry did as you said and threw it in his mouth, but he spit on the bucket beside him. It was your time again and he chose the chocolate Cockroaches and read the last question.

— Who is the most surprising celeb to ever slide into your DMs? — Harry asked making you smile thinking if you should tell it or not even though you knew exactly who it was and so did Harry. You'd always tell each other when someone flirted with you because this helped a lot to deal with all the being extremaly jealous story — WHO IS HE? — Harry joked making you let out a laugh.

— I mean.. I'd say you, for sure! I was really surprised! — You said making him smile because even though he knew you were very excited when he answered your DM, he was definetly not the most surprising celeb to slide into your DMS but he accepted the answer either way.

— Alright, this was fun! — Harry said finishing the game and then the camera came back to James and the new guest of the show.

You and Harry left the studio of The Late Late Show in NYC and grabbed dinner at a french restaurant in the city exactly like you both said you'd do in the end of the night. In the restaurant, you basically talked about the game and how fun it was to do this together and how much you loved going through new experiences together and how much you wanted to see what the future will bring to both of you, because even though the future was uncertain, you both had 100% of certain you wanted to spend it together.

[haleigh-sloth]

Hi 🙋‍♀️ my friend thinks that Dabi is going to be put down(killed) and Endeavor will be the one who’s going to do it as an act of atone. I told her that it was a horrific take because that would be a horrible way to atone and two your essentially saying that Endeavor should re-kill the son he failed and basically killed by his actions of neglect/abuse as a parent which would not be a good path to take! I also stated that three villains are being set up to be saved. She still doesn’t believe me, and asked if I could get a better perspective. So I’m here begging 🙏🏻 🥺 for your input please? Your definitely a lot more perspective and have a better eye than I!

Hey! So I’m going to answer everything, but first ask your friend to provide evidence of this, and to also explain how any of that would be even remotely acceptable to portray in a story that is aimed toward a very large, young, impressionable audience, in which a portion has undoubtedly experienced abuse in their own lives. How would those people feel reading that? What kind of message does that send? Horikoshi isn’t like a writing genius or anything, but he is not THAT incompetent. I mean...do give him credit where it’s due. He’s been building up their redemptions for a long time and he’s already established that as the next narrative challenge for Shouto, Ochaco, and Midoriya. I’m not going to say anything about your friend’s way of thinking because I can’t tell by the way your ask is worded if she believes that’s how it SHOULD go (which is....not good) or if she just has no faith in the writing (which is understandable but I’m gonna try to relieve some of those anxieties). In order to remain polite and civil I’m gonna go with the ladder and assume she just has no faith in Horikoshi, which is understandable, but not necessary! I hope you’re comfortable because this is probably going to be longer than I am anticipating, but oh well. 

Anyway, I’ll start with establishing what is deemed acceptable in the world of BNHA as far as killing goes.

*clears throat* It’s not fucking acceptable. Never was, never will be.

Look, please pinpoint to me where a pro-hero in the story has killed a villain and it was viewed as acceptable. And before you point at Hawks, I’m going to direct you here, here, and here. And there are so so SO many more posts I could find and link you to that explain my point further on that matter, but I won’t do that unless it’s asked of me. Regardless, Hawks murdering Twice was not acceptable, it was not portrayed as such, it was not viewed as such by the characters within the story. Therefore, it was not acceptable. And I’m fairly certain Hawks has a really rough road ahead of him because of his terrible choice, so prepare yourself for that.  But where was I? Oh yeah, establishing whether or not it’s acceptable to kill:

I mean there are more, but I don’t have all the time in the world. Tell her to read the story from the beginning and pay attention to what the story is telling its readers  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Now, we’ve established that heroes in BNHA do NOT kill. That is not what being a hero means in THIS story. Now, what else is something important in BNHA that has repeatedly gotten focus?

Family.

To me personally, the most important callout to the importance of protecting your family is here:

He’s calling out all heroes, but he’s saying this in front of Endeavor. Important. Note that. There’s an entire subplot dedicated to the importance of portraying that putting your family first is the utmost responsibility of a parent. Outside of that subplot, we are shown the very dire consequences of what happens when parents abandon and reject their children.

Exhibit A: Toga

Exhibit B: Toya, or Dabi

Exhibit C: Tenko, or Tomura

These adults are the result of parents who failed their families.

Look, regardless of what people want to say the story is about: whether it’s about heroes vs. villains (it’s not), or about Midoriya graduating UA and becoming the number 1 hero (it’s not), or about Midoriya mastering his quirk (it’s not), there is no denying that BNHA is about heroes SAVING others and parents protecting their FAMILY. 

Horikoshi made it a point to establish a clear difference between the adults and the children in BNHA. He also made a point to show ALL THREE VILLAINS’ origin stories and showed us that all it took was ONE BAD DAY when they were CHILDREN. There is literally a chapter titled “All it takes is one bad day” specifically to drill this into your head. Toga’s life went downhill after attacking that boy in middle school from suppressing her biological nature for so long. Toya’s life went downhill when his flames nearly killed him. Tenko’s life went downhill when his quirk activated and killed his whole family. All it took was one bad day in these children’s lives to completely ruin their futures and take any and every chance away from them at a normal life. 

So with the strong focus on heroes saving people and parents failing their children, why why WHY would it ever be acceptable for Enji to KILL his SON? That not only repeats the first mistake made (Toya’s death), but also negates ALL of the narrative focuses of the entire story. I just...that’s a very very deep disconnect that I can’t force closed unless your friend chooses to look deeper than surface level reading. And it’s not just BNHA that has narrative themes and focuses throughout the story. That’s ANY story you read. Well, any good story at least. I’m not a writer by any means but even I know the basic rules of story telling: 

Leave a message for your readers. Give your story a goal. 

Otherwise it’s just words and pictures on paper that don’t mean anything. 

So I gave you the basics of what BNHA is about, now I’ll give the specific moments that directly tell you that Toya, Toga, and Tomura are going to be saved and redeemed. 

Toya:

Toga:

Tomura:

Now....does your friend really think these panels up here just mean nothing? Because that’s not how manga works. The panels have meaning, especially the ones given the most attention to drawing detail, the ones given the most space on a page. All of these were given their own big moments in their respective chapters. Toga is going to be saved by Ochaco, Toya is going to be saved by his baby brother, and Shigaraki is going to be saved by our main character Midoriya. It’s clear as day right there. 

Now I want to take it back to the Todoroki family for just a bit once more. Their entire subplot revolves around reunification. That has been the established endgame since Shouto’s origin chapters. And honestly? You don’t even have to be smart to figure this out. Like when you see Rei in the hospital, you already assume that she’s going to get out and come home at some point within the story, making the family whole again. THEN you learn about Toya and you learn that he’s ALIVE after ten years of being presumed dead. You really think HE isn’t going to be brought home just like his mother was??? Fam, that is the established goal of the Todoroki Family Subplot. There is no denying this, it is there in the text, and it is not even a little bit subtle. Horikoshi is not subtle. At all. With anything. Ever.  

However, no matter how much textual evidence we are given, there are still people living in denial because it’s either A. Not the direction they want, or B. They really just aren’t grasping the writing. Either way, the redemption set ups are there, whether they like it or not. At this point I’m convinced that the only way to shut villain-haters down is to wait til the last chapter has come out and the villains are fine, Toya is reunited with his family, Toga is alive and well and finds community with the other kids (at least that’s what I predict), and Shigaraki is alive and well and surrounded by people who care about him, a family if you will. Other than just waiting for that moment, idk what else it’s gonna take for the bad takes to stop. 

Now here’s my reality check disclaimer:

Horikoshi could screw us all and just kill the villains off. But that would be bad writing and also ruin the ENTIRE STORY. And believe me I will bitch and bitch until I am six feet under and I will continue to bitch about it in whatever afterlife awaits me. But seriously..he won’t do that. Not to mention I have a million other reasons somewhat unrelated to the writing but more so to Horikoshi himself as to why I believe with all of my being that the three villains are going to get a happy ending, but that’s a different discussion for a different time. This post is already long as shit. 

I hope your friend will look a little deeper at the story so she can enjoy it for what it is. The story has flaws, the Todoroki subplot is definitely a MESS right now because of the focus on Endeavor 🤢, but I believe it will clean itself up and be great in the end. The redemption arcs of the villains are the most interesting thing about BNHA and I know I speak for a lot of others and not just myself when I say this but, the villains are the only reason a LOT of people are still even invested in the story to begin with. If it weren’t for them? We’d all be ghost. So, do with that what you will. I hope this helps ease your anxieties a little bit and helps your friend understand what to pay attention to in the writing.

[seraphtalks]

I always feel like there's a crucial difference in the way akira's changes after merging with amon are covered in the manga vs crybaby, and how this makes me feel. [Sidenote: text written from scratch and without planning, delete or edit later]

"I can change however I want" is a phrase that, previously, akira has already uttered. "There is nothing wrong with change." And now he says it again, confident enough, quite proud of his new self. After all, we already know that merging with a demon does have an impact on the person's mind.

He doesn't hesitate about giving coarse answers, or speak his mind now. He just takes his motorcycle and heads to the hospital, where he reveals to ryo how he feels about his changes.

... And he's delighted. Akira feels better, with a lot of energy and now able to do things he couldn't do before. However, that doesn't mean that later on we won't see him showing signs of concern for others. That's still there, and sometimes it's mixed with his pride and desires.

But if we take a look at crybaby! Akira:

There's a surprise, separating himself from his body. And then, there are doubts but also remarks. Both by others and by akira himself.

For example, miki jokes about whether he's doping, but akira denies it. Their conversation maintains a respectful and casual tone, but the main topic remains: the constant disconnection between akira and his body. I quote "this body gets so hungry. You talk like it's someone else's."

"You sudden change surprised me."

Akira's answer:

"Me too. I still don't know how to use this body. My body turned into a devil." Sorry for all the screenshots, but it's essential to get my point across. Akira's surprised. There isn't any "I feel better" response. It's just confusion, his body is radically different now. At some point, I can understand it.

Then, after a few scenes, he decides to go to the hospital in search of ryo for answers. Akira shows concern and ask about what happened at the sabbath and the rest of the people who were there, so ryo assures him that he saved everyone, giving way to an explanation of akira's nature.

It takes fudo a few seconds to process the concept of a devilman and everything that it implies. He attaches it to a simple coincidence. Afterwards, this is what he states:

... A great contrast between manga akira's desire to fight and crybaby akira's display of honor. "If I start hurting people like a devil, kill me right away." It's extreme, and emphasizes the heroic qualities attributed to akira in this adaptation, preferring death rather than harming someone.

Slowly, he becomes more comfortable with his new self, but the verbal separation between me and body remains in the scene. This body is great.

And that's where my problems and mixed feelings begin. I don't particularly mind to see akira questioning his new abilities and shape, but the constant separation between his body and his person does, interrupting me a little bit the continuity of events, but at the same time makes me feel like paying attention to these... different characters. There is no assimilation like in the manga, a pride that's expressed "there's nothing wrong with change", quite the opposite— And I can't help but see it as an extension of the flaws that crybaby falls into later on: making a dichtonomy between akira and ryo that doesn't exist in the first place, polarizing both characters instead of exploring in a more natural and human way the differences that this adaptation decided to add between the two.

[craziigamerchick]

Tommy x Grace - Tommy x Lizzie Anti-Parallels

I wanted to make a breakdown post about how both relationships have the same things happen (baby, marriage, May, working for Tommy) but have totally different outcomes. This is really long. Just warning you.

lets start with season 1:

The church confession vs sidewalk pickup

Similarities

He sets them both up for failure. “You’re a good catholic girl aren’t ya?” and “That’s 8 bloody pounds.”

Offers them a job. Grace - book keeper and Lizzie - prostitute (she’s supposed to have quit). They both accept.

They both get upset when they realize he is calling them out. “you pull a pint like someone who’s thinking about it” “John will make his own decision but he will have all the facts”

The face caress. This actually what made me realize how similar these scenes were.

Differences

He takes Grace from the street to a church while with Lizzie he just stays on the street.

He’s happy Grace accepted the offer but upset Lizzie did.

When Grace gets upset and goes to leave he stops her but with Lizzie he lets her go.

Him and Grace kiss after the face caress where Lizzie slaps his hand away.

In the scene with Lizzie he constantly has the upper hand but with Grace, she knocks him off balance a bit “and perhaps mine”.

END RESULT: GRACE - Tommy leaves first and both are feeling pretty good. LIZZIE - Lizzie leaves first and both are upset

season 2:

Sex scene with Lizzie vs sex scene with Grace

Similarities

SEX. I think this is the only similarity but I could be missing something.

Differences

L&T are almost fully clothed where G&T are naked 

L&T have groaning. G&T there is only music.

Lizzie does most the talking afterwards in their scene. Tommy does most of the talking with Grace.

Tommy leaves Lizzie right after and stays the night with Grace

The lighting is more warm with L&T and more cool with G&T

Pays Lizzie money and not Grace.

END RESULT: GRACE - he stays the night with her  LIZZIE - he leaves right away

First scene after both women have accepted the job

Similarities

Tommy wants a letter delivered

Differences

Tommy tells Lizzie the information of the letter and she is actually the one that writes it. With Grace he doesn’t let her in on the details of the letter he wants her to deliver.

Grace is brought up in the scene with Lizzie (her letter from NY). Lizzie is not in G&T scene.

Tommy and Lizzie are together when scene ends. Tommy leaves during scene with Grace.

Grace asks questions. Lizzie none, just relays information.

Lizzie seems to be awed by who the letter is to (churchill) and Grace comes off as suspicious of him having her deliver a letter to his sister.

Grace over steps her bounds with the champagne and Lizzie does everything pretty much perfectly

END RESULT: GRACE - Tommy leaves and Grace is upset with him. LIZZIE - Tommy stays and him and Lizzie are in good spirits with each other

Using Lizzie at the end of s2 vs using Grace with Kimber (both are at the races)

Similarities

Tommy uses both women. Grace to close the deal with Kimber and Lizzie to get Russel alone.

He instructs them about their apparel. Lizzie to undo 2 buttons. Grace to wear a red dress.

Neither lady is too pleased with him and both let him know it.

Differences

Tommy makes it in time to save Grace from getting raped but not Lizzie

He never planned on saving Grace but did where as he planned on getting to Lizzie on time but didn’t

Once he seen what Kimber was doing to Grace he rushed in but when you could clearly hear what was going down with Lizzie and Russel, he kept at the same pace till he made it to them (wtf though. this will never fail to piss me off. like you can clearly hear Lizzie in pain and he can’t even run to her)

There was dancing and flirting with Grace but none of that with Lizzie. Lizzie tried to convey her feelings to Tommy but he wasn’t even paying attention.

Grace kept her voice a whisper when told what to do even when pissed. Lizzie raised her voice and even threatened Tommy.

Tommy kills Russel but not Billy Kimber (not then)

He tried to comfort Lizzie (she ain’t having it) but not Grace

Tommy made it to Grace because he came early where with Lizzie he would have made it in time even though he had to go around if he wouldn’t have went to Campbell to just to gloat about Grace’s feelings for him. 

He put his plan in jeopardy to save Grace and put Lizzie in jeopardy to gloat to his enemy.

MY THOUGHTS: There has to be way more that I’m missing but these aren’t just one scene each and there is so many layers behind all of the scenes.

END RESULT: GRACE - Doesn’t get raped and leaves with Tommy. Lizzie - Gets raped and leaves separately from Tommy

Season 4

Lizzie with May and Grace with May

Similarities

both women have little snark fest with May over Tommy

May comes to the area both are already at

The women that start the snark are the ones that Tommy favors the least at that moment

Differences

May is the aggressor with Grace in her scene whereas Lizzie is the aggressor in her scene with May.

Grace wins/has the last word with May whereas May gets the last word with Lizzie

After L&M had words Tommy still tried to hook up with May but after G&M had words Tommy never tried to hook up with her again (while grace was alive)

Tommy is pissed with Lizzie about it but we never find out what he thinks about G&M

END RESULT: GRACE - Has the last word and May leaves instead of waiting for Tommy. LIZZIE - Lizzie doesn’t get the last word and May waits for Tommy

Pregnancy announcement  

Similarities

both announce to Tommy they’re pregnant when he has other things on his mind

both tell him he’s the father and he believes both of them.

“a baby Thomas” and “a little you and me”

Differences

At first he tells Grace to pass it off as her husband’s but implies to Lizzie to get rid of it 

He’s shocked with Grace and lost for words but just stone faced with Lizzie

Grace tells him I love you but Lizzie never says anything like that

He tells Grace he will figure out what to do later whereas he tell Lizzie how it’s going to go down right away

He gets lost in the moment with Grace but with Lizzie his mind is still stuck with what happened (killed 3)

He plans on Marrying Grace (after he doesn’t die) and plans on just giving Lizzie a house and Money

He leaves WITH Lizzie but leaves Grace to keep with his plan

MY THOUGHTS: Tommy isn’t in a good headspace for the news with either one. He seems happy about it with Grace but to me it’s more happy that she loves him than that she is pregnant. I don’t think he came across as unhappy with Lizzie but more like oh ok we’ll deal with it. I definitely think it showed the disconnect between Lizzie in Tommy this scene but more on that during this next section.

END RESULT: GRACE - He’s happy and the scene ends with them going separate ways with future unknown. LIZZIE - He’s not happy (not mad though) and the scene ends with them leaving together and future plans known

Garrison murders aftermath vs I killed 3 (during pregnancy announcement)

Similarities

Tommy is in a bad mental place because of what just happened

Both try to give comfort (Lizzie the handhold and Grace the hug)

Differences

Grace is able to bring comfort to Tommy (the closed eyes when they are hugging) whereas Lizzie tries but it doesn’t work. 

Grace seen what Tommy did but Lizzie only heard about it

Grace brings Tommy comfort because they just saw each other murder someone and can understand what the other is feeling whereas Lizzie hasn’t done that yet and can’t connect on that level

Grace and Tommy are interrupted by Moss whereas Tommy breaks it up with him and Lizzie

Grace kind of puts Tommy in that situation whereas Lizzie has nothing to do with it (not directly at least but it did all start because she was dating Angel)

MY THOUGHTS: Grace brings Tommy comfort for this sort of thing because she’s seen him at his worst and vice versa and she understands. They just get each other on a deeper level. Lizzie tries to comfort him with the handhold but when she bends down to him they bump heads (ouch) and she doesn’t know what to say to bring comfort. They also don’t keep the forehead touch going on like G&T do. She brings up the baby but that’s not what he needs right at the moment. It’s telling right before she goes in to tell him, he is looking at Grace’s picture. Longing for comfort from the person who gave it to him before. This scene is where Lizzie also tells Tommy if he thinks she would get rid of their baby he doesn’t know her (showing he doesn’t really know her. which is also shown in the “WTF was that” scene about May). Yet, he’s told Grace they “know each other”. 

END RESULT: GRACE -  Moss breaks up their hug and Tommy is still upset and not hiding it. Then he walks her home and they share a cigarette (showing they’ve become closer as it’s more intimate).  LIZZIE -  Tommy breaks up the hand hold and pulls himself together even though he is still upset and drives her home but we don’t see it.

Season 5

Lizzie shoots gun vs Garrison murders

Similarities

Both women are wearing maroon

Both walk out with the gun and start shooting

Tommy is stunned both times

There are 2 other men involved

Tommy’s life is threatened both times when each woman comes out 

Both shoot twice

Both save Tommy’s life 

Happens at night

Differences

Lizzie doesn’t shoot anybody, just in the air but Grace shoots and kills one of the men

Lizzie speaks and then Tommy. For Garrison murders, Tommy speaks and then Grace.

Lizzie keeps the gun pointed at Tommy but Grace never points it at him (towards him at Byrne but not at him)

Tommy looks hurt that Lizzie is pointing gun at him and upset with Grace for shooting when he told her to just point

In the pub both men are IRA and at the house both men are Gypsies

Both men live with Lizzie but both men die with Grace

Happens inside with Grace and outside with Lizzie

Grace and Tommy get hurt but Lizzie and Tommy are both fine

Tommy and Lizzie help both men (Lizzie calls ambulance for Aberama and Tommy helps Johnny inside) whereas Grace and Tommy kill both men

Lizzie walks inside during scene and Tommy heads that way too but Grace and Tommy both just stand there till the next scene

Lizzie was shaking holding the gun but Grace was steady (she has training)

L&T sex scene in bedroom vs G&T sex scene at Ada’s

Similarities

close up on their faces at the beginning

the lighting is similar in color

the kissing is very audible in both scenes

the hand gripping the furniture

Differences

Lizzie lays down how things are going to go whereas Grace is trying to figure out

Grace touches Tommy’s face but Tommy is the one touching Lizzies face

Tommy focuses mainly on Lizzie’s body but focuses only on Grace’s face

the music is loud during G&T scene but low on L&T

heavy moaning during L&T during the sex but music takes over during G&T

G&T kiss most of the scene but L&T there is only a bit of it

Tommy throws Lizzie on the bed but walks Grace to the couch carefully

bed vs couch

there is some stripping in L&T but putting the clothes back on for G&T

Grace wants to make sure there is nobody else and Lizzie is ok with their being others as long as he follows her rules

MY THOUGHTS: The Lizzie and Tommy scene also reminded me of the May and Tommy scene from season 2. Lizzie and May are both wearing the same color of nightwear and they go the desk then the bed in both scenes. Which could also parallel the wedding episode where Grace and Tommy start kissing at the desk but move to the bed also. He is more gentle with Grace than the other two and there is more kissing. Grace is also wearing purple where the other 2 appear to be wearing light pink.

END RESULT: LIZZIE - Her and Tommy seem to have a deal in place about how their relationship is going to be going forward. GRACE - Her and Tommy’s future is still uncertain

Lizzie’s Birthday vs G&T Wedding

Similarities

A big party with lots of people at the arrow house

they keep guests waiting while they have sex

enemies are in attendance

someone gets shot

Neither woman knew about the enemy until the party

Tommy does business during the party

after sex we see both ladies pulling up their stockings on one leg

Differences

Tommy doesn’t want the Russians near his house but invites Mosely there

Worries about Grace being embarrassed and threatens his people over it but let’s Mosely embarrass Lizzie and says nothing (she has to save face by saying Mosely fell asleep early even though Lizzie just told Polly they fucked)

Polly is friendly with Lizzie but not with Grace

G&T dance but we watch other people dance (swans) instead at Lizzie’s party

the person that gets shot at the wedding dies but Linda lives 

Lizzie interacts with the enemy whereas Grace doesn’t

Tommy tries to hide the stuff from Grace but doesn’t Lizzie

L&T have sex once whereas G&T have sex twice

Loud moaning during sex with L&T, none with G&T

Sex is fully clothed with L&T but with sex scene we do see G&T are completely naked

Tommy warns Lizzie about the enemy beforehand but Grace has to get the information out of Tommy after it’s started going down

Enemy has ties to Lizzie but Russians have nothing to do with Grace

END RESULTS: LIZZIE - Tommy gives her more information about what’s going on and gets comfort from her (they end the scene together). GRACE - Her and Tommy get interrupted during sex and he goes to take care of their son and look out the window (a sign of worry/anxiousness)

So that’s all the scenes but here are some other details where they are the same but opposite:

Had a child with Tommy. GRACE - a boy and named after a real actor. LIZZIE - a girl and Ruby because she might grow up to be an actress herself according to Polly (also Ruby is red and Grace was wearing a sapphire which is blue and we all know red and blue are opposites).

Tommy asks Lizzie if she wants to fuck (also uses that vulgarity on other women) but never uses that vulgarity with Grace. 

Lizzie has threatened Tommy with a Gun 2x even though they have never been enemies but Grace who was his enemy never did.

In S5 Lizzie represents the black swan (she has it on her coat in episode 1) and Grace the white swan (there is an article about it). Now go look up the ballet Swan Lake....

Tommy has insulted both of them (”I still pay for it in my head” and “you’re used to be undercover”), Lizzie takes it while Grace smacks him.

Both are/were his wife. Lizzie is alive but Grace is dead.

His wedding ring with Lizzie is a plain one but a special one with Grace (can anyone tell me what’s engraved on it?).

He makes promises to both of them and breaks them. Lizzie gets angry and storms out whereas Grace says something about and Tommy makes her come with him (scene with RIP Charlie)

When the women order drinks, Grace ordered the champagne and Lizzie the Vodka tonic. 

He’s given them both gifts. He gave Lizzie money as a gift in 4x1 and Grace the sapphire in 3x2

RANDOM OBSERVATION:

When Tommy introduced his wife to Mosley he called her Elizabeth (he calls her Lizzie right after that). Her and Polly are both standing there and both of their names are Elizabeth. It felt like that was on purpose by the writers (Polly’s actress even says she is like his wife but without the sex). His work wife (who he is related to) and real wife share the same name...ughh gross. I know Mosely already met Polly and everything but the writers love to show us about how Tommy and Polly are the Head of the family. It just felt wrong. 

Which I also think the only reason Polly likes Lizzie for Tommy is because she knows she’ll never lose him to her. She knows Lizzie has no sway over Tommy and she can stay his true wife/partner. I say “true” because Tommy does tell Lizzie things but as we see in S5E1 he tells Polly more (and Lizzie is not happy about it).

[oikawasass]

I’m in the mood for some really sad angst so take this.

final goodbyes.

‣ pairing : bakugo x fem reader.

‣ oneshot.

‣ synopsis : after a messy and unexpected fight during a training mission, katsuki finds himself forced to say one last goodbye.

‣ wordcount : 2.3k+

‣ warnings : pure angst, swearing, character death, minor gore.

It was supposed to be an easy mission on that cold winter day, one that was simply for training purposes so the students would be able to begin learning what to do in tough situations from experience, rather than a lecture. A quick sweep of a few thugs in the area assigned to the pair and approved by Aizawa himself. 

The two were confident in the mission given to them, knowing that with their combined strengths It would be a breeze, taking them a few minutes tops. Neither Y/n nor Bakugo had expected things to take such a turn the way they did. The simple thugs they were sent to deal with had brought much more of a punch than either of them had expected. A simple battle with a couple of wannabe villain lowlifes, ( in Katsuki’s words, ) had turned into a 2 vs 16, one of those sixteen people being an extremely dangerous and wanted villain in the area who was called “Pressure.” Despite the rather incredible amount of power the teens had combined, the odds weren’t in their favour from the start.

They were outnumbered, and the sheer strength of not only one of the most wanted criminals in the city, but all of his goons backing him up, it was too much for Bakugo and his girlfriend to handle alone as much as they both hated to admit. The two heroes in training held their ground as best as they could, hoping to buy themselves enough time to call for help, or some sort of backup. Even Katsuki knew that their chances of making it out of there on their own weren’t very high at all. 

It was when Pressure had set off an ear ringing, blinding explosion that things really took a turn for the worst. Y/n and Bakugo had been violently thrown away from each other due to the amount force the blast had administered. The last thing they saw before their vision went white, was the couple’s red and scarred hands desperately reaching out for each other. But they were too late. The villains had fleed before the explosion went off, leaving the couple to presumably die. 

Bakugo’s eyes slowly blinked open, a light fog of dust and rubble from the debris of the explosion clouding his vision. His body tried so desperately to pull him back into the sweet lull of sleep as the pain of his injuries and aching body slowly spread throughout his limbs and joints, but the blonde refused to lose consciousness another time. His injuries were nothing severe or fatal, so there was no excuse for him to stay down any longer. How was he supposed to become number one if he allowed a simple blast to knock him down, after all?

With a sharp inhale and a loud groan, Katsuki pushed himself up off the shredded concrete and into a sitting position, allowing himself to come to his senses a bit more before he forced himself to his feet. The boy leaned back on one of his palms, catching his breath for a moment before a single thought overtook his mind, sending him into a panic.

“Y/n.”


He shot up to his feet, not caring to try and balance himself before frantically running to all the large piles of rubble that littered the snow-covered ground around him. He was throwing metal scraps, large rocks, tree branches, anything and everything in his way while he searched for her.

“Y/N!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Bakugo shouted, in hopes of hearing some kind of response from her in the distance. His heartbeat only grew quicker, hearing the fast pulsating ring through his ears as his panic grew. His determination and will to stay calm in situations like these were long out the window by now. All he cared about was finding his girlfriend.

“Y/N!!” Another heart-wrenching scream of her name left Bakugo’s dry throat. She had to be here somewhere, it's not like she just went and vanished into thin air. 


Bakugo rose his forearm to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the blinding light the setting sun was reflecting off the snow in hopes he would be able to see more clearly. That was when he spotted a shadowed human figure lying dead centre in all the rubble surrounding them, there she was.

He bolted over to the frail-looking girl as quick as his legs would carry him, crashing down onto his knees beside her. She looked absolutely horrible, Bakugo felt himself cringe at the sight of her blood-covered face. She had large scratches covering each of her limbs, as well as a small bump that seemed to be poking out of the inside of her chest, showing she had definitely broken a few ribs. And to top everything off, there was a large metal rod piercing through the lower right of her abdomen, and it was in deep.

“Dumbass, you look like shit.” Bakugo said to her, supporting her head with one hand while using his other to mess around with the small intercom jammed in his ear, attempting to get some kind of reception so he would be able to call for help.

Y/n slowly lifted her gaze to look up at him, a pained chuckle falling from her bloodied lips. “J-just. . cause I-I can't move d-doesn’t mean I w. . won't kick y-your ass f-for that.” She choked out through her raw throat. Bakugo tsked quietly and shook his head, amazed at how she was able to crack a joke despite being so wounded.


“Like you could ever kick my ass anyway, shitty girl. Now stop talking, save your breath.” Bakugo continued to mess with his earpiece, finally hearing some static and the voice of his teacher on the other side.


“Ground zero reporting in, (hero name) severely injured. We need help.” His tone was panicked while his words were rushed out of his mouth. The blonde was willing to waste no time in having help arrive, not with his girlfriend's current state of suffering and deformation. 


“Yeah- I'm at location 23AZ, just hurry up and fucking find me, we don't have time to sit here waiting.” Once Aizawa disconnected, he returned his full attention back to the girl who was practically withering away beneath him.


Taking a strong grip on the sleeve of his costume, he tore off the fabric, ripping it into something similar of a cloth to push against her stomach wound, a desperate attempt to stop the crimson blood spilling out of it. A small cry of pain escaped Y/n’s throat at the pressure to the gash, and Katsuki felt himself flinch at the sound. It pained his ears to hear such an anguished sound come from the h/c haired girl he called his, but her bleeding out was absolutely not an option, he wouldn’t allow it. Not now, not ever. It appears the amount of stress Bakugo was under was evident on his face, his furrowed brows and bottom lip caught between his teeth not able to slip past the observant gaze of Y/n.

“W-worried. . .isnt a g-good look o-n you. . .” She smiled sadly, weakly reaching up an unstable and jittery hand to softly cup his right cheek, using her thumb to try and pull the edge of his mouth into a small smile. Y/n knew her time was running short, and she wanted to see him smile in her final moments, not upset. Though she knew her reaction would be the same, if not worse if their roles were switched, so she understood his concerns.


“What the hell else am I supposed to do, idiot? You’re-You-re bleeding out in front of me goddammit.” Bakugo’s words caught in his throat, a small crack in his voice accompanying the evergrowing agony and worry he felt in the pit of his stomach.

“I-its ok-okay, Katsu. . .It hardly. . .e-even hurts anymore.” She was slipping away quickly, her dazed and tired state of mind disabled her from feeling as much pain as she was actually in. It wasn’t good, she would lose consciousness soon, and that couldn’t happen. Bakugo could see her eyelids struggling to stay open, fluttering open and shut every so often as she tried to stay awake.


Bakugo felt his heart sting in pure fear. Katsuki Bakugo never got scared. He was always confident in his ways and knew that losing would never be an option for him. But right now, he was completely and utterly terrified. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t. “Hey, keep your eyes on me, okay? You-You’ve gotta stay awake princess.” That was a pet name she always loved so much. He felt himself leaning into her touch against his ash-covered cheek. The frigid, bitter winter air and lack of blood flowing through her system caused her to be cold to the touch, her normally warm, comforting hands were practically frozen.

“I kn-know. . .but. . .s-so. .tired. . .” Y/n’s lids fell halfway shut, failing to flutter back open like they had been before.

“No. No, you need to keep your f-fucking eyes open, you hear me? Don’t go to sleep. Just-Just a little longer okay?” Bakugo was surprised at his own stuttering and cracks in his voice, but he was even more surprised to feel a drop of blood trickle down his chin. When he raised his hand to wipe it away, he saw no colour on the skin of his hand. It was a clear, shiny liquid.


Bakugo was crying.

Y/n weakly moved her thumb to wipe away another drop that fell from his tear duct. “d-don’t. . please don't cr-cry. . “ her voice was nothing above a whisper now, the little bit of strength she had left to speak leaving her body. “I-I lo. . love you, ‘kay?” she felt a tear roll down her own cheek. “I love y-you so m. . uch.” She was being forced to say goodbye to someone she knew was her first and only love. Her heart was breaking during the exchange. Katsuki and her had planned to spend so many more years together, make so many more sweet and beautiful memories with each other, cross so many more milestones and hurdles life would throw at them, all while they were one. 

Now the harsh reality was, they would never get to experience those years, memories, nor milestones together.

This was their final goodbye.

“I love you more, stop talking like that.” Katsuki’s jaw was clenched tightly shut, his words slipping out of his mouth through gritted teeth. “You’re not gonna fucking die here, goddammit! You can’t fucking leave me behind!” 


Katsuki’s choice of words was important. Y/n was the only one besides Kirishima he allowed to get close to him, it was true. But Y/n was the one who Bakugo was truly able to open up to, without fear of seeming weak or being judged. She was the only one he allowed to really see his true feelings and emotions every moment of every day, even at his weakest points. She was helping him to grow into the great hero he strived to become, she couldn’t leave him. 

“I-I need you, you idiot! How am I supposed to be satisfied with being number one if you aren’t there being a close number two?! You’re supposed to do this with me!” Bakugo was shouting now, trying to get through to her weakening body as he felt her slowly fade away in his arms.


“I-I I know. . you can do-do it. . without me. . .” her eyes fell closed a final time, the hand she held up against his cheek slowly sliding down his skin as her body went limp. Katsuki quickly removed his hand from her abdomen to hold her it up and keep it from falling. No. She couldn’t die here, not like this, not when she deserved to live such an amazing and fulfilled life as a pro hero, not when he had never taken every moment he got to express just how much he did care about her, not when he couldn’t apologize for things like all the fights he’s caused in the past. 

All the lighthearted bickering they shared, all the secret sleepovers they had in Bakugo’s dorm, Y/n hiding from Aizawa in Katsuki’s closet when he had shown up unexpectedly, the sweet words of encouragement she would speak to him ever so softly when he was feeling low, he wasn’t ready for that to end. Katsuki would never be ready for that to end.


“Y/n. . .” Katsuki’s strained voice choked out, waiting for a response. He didn’t receive one.


“Y/n. Answer me.” He spoke more stern this time with a shake to her body, hoping this was some sick joke and a serious tone of voice would force her into an answer.


It didn’t work.

Katsuki’s body fell on top of her, head resting atop her chest as he felt like he was about to be sick to his stomach. There was a sharp, yet empty feeling in his gut, it felt like someone had just stabbed him.

No more calls of her name left his lips, no more shaking her body while trying to wake her up, it all stopped. Now he was left alone, shattered into what he felt was a million pieces. She was gone. And here he was, laying on top of the near mangled body of his first love, still holding her cold and limp hand to his cheek while he felt something build up and sting deep in his throat.

As his hearing went fuzzy, and all he could hear was his own racing heartbeat in his ears, Katsuki screamed.

Katsuki screamed out of the sheer ache and torment his body felt as she lay lifeless in his arms.

[evakuality]

Druck s5, episode 8 - belated thoughts

Well, poor Nora is really struggling with this whole business of trying to act like everything’s fine, isn’t she?  And Josh.  I mean, he’s trying to help but he’s just a young kid so his thoughts are obviously ‘this helps me so it will help her too’ rather than what she actually needs.  It’s good that he knows there’s stuff going on with her, but this attempt to help her is so awkward and cringey.  It’s a real shame the doctor didn’t help her because now she has some odd things in her head about what’s wrong and thinks that sheer will and acting the way she always has will help her.  But it’s obvious that it’s getting worse and that she’s not feeling well at all.

I do still really love all these visually metaphoric ways of showing how disconnected and out of focus Nora is.  We’ve stopped getting as much ‘boxed in’ Nora and started getting a lot more of these ‘behind glass/foggy/out of focus shots.  Even when it’s not the ones designed to show her in the middle of the episodes, there’s still this ever-present sense of how this is.  Even when she’s ‘okay’ she’s really really not okay.  And I guess that’s the point of this clip - that she wants to connect but can’t.  Even in a time when things should be feeling ‘normal’ for her, she’s incapable of breaking out of the way she feels.  And it’s actually quite chilling to see the warm, almost approving motherly look Zoe gives her when she asks to drink.  Zoe!!  I know you’re also a young kid, but this is Nora!  She’s been so adamant about not drinking that you should perhaps try to find out why she’s changing her tune here.  This isn’t good!  This is no way to try to feel something again, and the way she knocked that back is really concerning.

‘I wasn’t focused enough’ - interesting way to tell the truth while obfuscating what she really means.  Literally she wasn’t focused/concentrating.  But of course the girls will not get the real meaning out of this.  I understand Ava here, too.  I haven’t seen any social media but I assume since she knows about the drinking and hanging out with Kieu My that it was posted somewhere.  So of course it looks bad.  Nora is trying very hard to keep herself together but she’s trying in all sorts of destructive ways.  Again, like Zoe, there should perhaps be some questions about WHY Nora has suddenly changed her tune.  But this anger is so understandable given the way Nora has been acting with them vs what was (presumably) put on social media.  All these people (Josh, Zoe, Fatou, Mailin and Ava) have noticed that things aren’t quite normal with Nora but none of them has hit quite onto what’s really happening.  Which makes sense.  Nora is very practised at putting on a face and she is still trying very hard to do so here.

This whole little series of shots while they’re walking is really interesting.  @sun-undone​ said in her series of videos about s3 (which you should all definitely watch!) that when Matteo and Sara were shown walking together the shots were framed in a way to cut Sara out of the frame often, showing the disconnect between the two of them.  And we have the same thing here, though for a different reason.  Nora feels disconnected and aloof from Josh and so when they’re walking he’s trying to make these connections right down to the things he’s saying (that class is bad without her, effectively that he’s finding space for her in his life) and she’s just ... cut off from it.  Literally in most parts of this.  He’s cut off or even out of shot for a lot of this walk.  She’s still really in denial about all this, isn’t she?  Josh is concerned enough to look up therapists for her to try to help her make sense of it all, and keeps trying to make those connections and she just pulls right back.  And I get that it’s really tough for her rn, but this isolation while she tries to hold herself together while saying she doesn’t need therapy is quite difficult.  The way he pushes to try to talk to her is well intentioned but it obviously pushes her too far (tbh I think she was looking for an excuse), but what’s really interesting is how she moves from ‘I don’t feel anything’ (the literal truth) to ‘I don’t feel anything for you’ (also the truth but a very very small part of it, and designed to push him away so she can go back to denial)

And we go straight back to the drinking (and to wearing makeup, showing a ‘face’ that once again isn’t her real one).  Zoe starts off enabling Nora’s drinking with the way she slides right along with the ‘this isn’t as disgusting as I always thought’ comments, but even Zoe has noticed that things aren’t quite where they should be with Nora and asks her about it.  But interestingly, she knows when Kiki calls that Nora drinking will set Kiki off so she tries to lie about it.  Of course, Nora seems to be already drunk and so she’s not hiding it super well. But again we see that for this group, lying about what’s going on is such second nature that they all fall into it.  But Nora’s feelings here are quite interesting - she quite literally wants to be told that the things she’s feeling (having feelings one minutes, none the next) is normal because she doesn’t want to have to go to therapy.  I don’t know for sure, but I suspect there’s some feelings there around becoming just like her mother and trying hard to avoid that.  But watching this slow motion train wreck with Fatou is super hard.  Nora’s so hyper and not herself and she’s not used to drinking so she’s just spilling everything and really just burning some bridges hardcore for herself.  I guess at least Zoe has finally properly woken up to the fact that this is reallllly not good and Nora is realllly not doing so well.  That whole last bit is really hard to watch, but at least Zoe found her and they definitely all know there’s something wrong now.  But it’s super hard to see her say she’s just like her mother when she’[s tried so hard for so long not to be.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - this family dynamic is probably the most interesting part of this season for me.  I’m interested to see where things go from here.

[sir-huffman]

tagged by: @songzhong​ (hello, here’s a wall of text, and I enjoyed reading about you Mao!) tagging: @you on the dash - aka you see this you’re tagged.

———  BASICS!​

Name: Duke ( any pronouns, but most use masculine  )

Face Claims:       - Itsuki Kamiyama from GOTH (professional like above)       - Suga from Night of Drizzling Rain (general)

———  THREE  FACTS!

1) I am an ISTJ and a Taurus...so take that what you will. I’d like to say I’m friendly, but tend to put a very large wall (of text) up so people know what they’re getting into with me and to give an explanation for my actions...as such I am very introverted and only have so much energy for interaction. This leaves me seldom to contact people in the RPC unless I have a specific idea in mind for our muses...which honestly I never do. The best is for me to just chuck a meme at people and see how our muses vibe. After that, well uh...yeah. I’m one of those RPers who have more people I interact IC than OOC cuz OOC interaction takes a lot out of me unless we somehow vibe well.

And by vibe well, I mean our muses generally interact well and aren’t apathetic towards each other. There are so many muns that I respect and consider friends and admire from afar, but we’re not close due to just our muses just not vibing as well as others (which is totes fine it’s just how things sometimes go, ya know?).

( you’ll find that I write a lot hence the read more )

2) I am very stubborn and have a little bit of tunnel vision in my own HCs and world crafting. My muses tend to be people who hold an authoritative and demanding presence where their opinions are stated as truth...which is the complete opposite of my own personality. But I’ve learned that I have to kinda draw my lines and I feel like I can probably give people whiplash between my timid and nervous nature and when it comes to defining my muses. Honestly I’m just very flexible with molding my muses to help fit for interaction, but I do have hard lines and like to make it clear if I’m bending my characters vs how they would naturally act...I tend to make my muses push overs unless I’m like 100% comfy...and even them I make them push overs...hence the amount of my crack threads because I have no sense control and just wanna have fun...with my tight assed muses.

3) That said...I’m just a meme. My main reputation is just being that one mun who RPs a Team Rocket OC with 6 Magikarps. But I truly just have two sides. The very crackish side where (1) I’ll just throw our muses in ridiculous situations and (2) the very angst heavy side that usually only talked about due to my muses handling trauma and very apathetic and nonchalant towards breaking hearts. And as I write this out I feel like I’m giving people whiplash on whoever is reading this since they see Huffman here and is like “oh, how cute what a soft boy” and then I bring up Morax who is just a monstrosity of a muse where I’m toning him down 99% of the time because...well...(*looks at hands*) he’ll end up killing a muse 99% of the time if I don’t stop him and that isn’t fun to RP.

———  EXPERIENCE!

My first experience in RPing in general was on an old website called TinierMe and also a mobile app called VampiresLIVE (lol). However I officially started RPing on Tumblr in 2014 as a Gijinka!Groudon blog originally known as theruleroftheland. After that I’ve slowly branched out of the Pokemon RPC but hold a strong connection with the friends I’ve made there (or kinda, I’m horrible at keeping contact with others since I disappear for months/years at a time). But I’ve found I’m most comfortable writing on tumblr due to the amount of formatting and organization that comes with RPing on here.

I’m slowly branching out to Discord (thank you to my dear RP partners over there who are patient with me because I’m slow) and becoming more accustom with being social over there.

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE!

Gender:��100% male to RP as. I find that I gravitate towards males since I have disconnection with male muses from myself and I like having that wall. Writing females get a little too personal for my own comfort so having that extra layer of distance really helps. Also it helps me look at things differently.

Multi or Single: 

I prefer single-muse blogs to run as I like keeping things strictly relating to my muse on one blog and another muse on another. Over the years I’ve been interested in throwing my old muses onto a multi-muse blog but honestly I can never bring myself making a multi-fandom multi-muse blog due to my own heavy need for organization.

As for shipping, I work under what I call a Quasi-Single shipping (aka multi- and single- ship). I operate under the impression that my muses are in an overarching timeline of their life that is heavily affected by their relationships. As such the MULTISHIP aspect is prone to have cheating and relationship overlap. I’m into having muses naturally engage in threesomes, foursomes, lying, cheating, misunderstandings, fights, break ups, get back togethers, etc. with all muses and muns participating together in the joy of it all. Jealousy and questioning of my muses’ relationships and actions are welcomed as I like having the sense that my muses are human and things aren’t so cookie cutter.

That said I am also SINGLESHIP in the sense that most of my muses are not polyamorous and are very much interested in having an end goal relationship where they settle down and marry. With who and how that happens really depends on both my muse and my partner’s muse. So whoever my muse is really shooting to get married to and actively advances will be my main single ship partner...or really whoever is going to influence my muse the most and I can see my muse actually yearning for (which honestly isn’t that many muses *cries*).

That said...Huffman in particular is going to be really hard to single-ship with as he is 100% dedicated his entire life to his lord and savior Lord Barbatos and this is the thanks he gets to Mondstadt and he will betray his own lover and such for Mondstadt.

He is also a(ego)romantic so he has a huge disconnection with serious relationships as he will honestly treat them just like he treats every other citizen in Mondstadt and it can slowly get to any of his partners since he just thinks is just apart of his job as a partner...which is the same job he has with the people of Mondstadt.

fluff/angst/smut:

Fluff: Generally I don’t find myself interested in fluff, but I realized that is only because of my previous muses couldn’t handle fluff at all. For this particular blog (Huffman) fluff is honestly the only thing that I can offer due to the nature of his character. Fluff with the undertone of angst is going to happen a lot, it’s not going to be sugary sweet fluff but just a result of Huffman’s very grounded and relaxed nature. He is calm and level headed, very rational (a little too rational) and very determined to make sure everyone is happy...and as such angst won’t really happen because Huffman tries to avoid such things naturally.

Angst: I enjoy angst, I’m that person who loves crying and my favorite tropes (especially in shipping) is unrequited love especially when it’s with a character who has so much love and dedication to one person. As such, I find that I’m more inclined to talk about angst than actually RPing it. I’m very slow (really really slow) when it comes to RPing unless it’s crack or relaxed banter. So when it comes to angst, I like to set time aside and fully write it out...making me having to respond weeks to months later...haha sorry. Also I naturally have muses who are apathetic towards angst and other muses feelings that is hard for me to write because I’m the opposite and I get heavily invested...it takes a lot out of me.

That said...most of my angst comes from very slow burns rather than actually writing it out. It’s more of the anticipation of the heartache, breakup, betrayal, cheating, etc. that I’m more inclined to talk about than actually RP...as stated above my muses are generally cold hearted and very accepting of any consequence to their actions...they tend to be planners and expect karma to creep up on them someday.

Smut: I am very particular about smut. I personally like talking about it but actually writing it takes a lot more time for me to do. There are some words that I refuse to write (which happens to be a lot of the smutty words lol) due to how I read them in my head irks me and doesn’t flow right (my worst subject in school was English so I don’t know many words okay). As such, it takes time for me to fully write smut and even then the way I tackle it is very action oriented rather than immersive (I like to think) so uh...RIP my rp partners who want to write smut since I usually respond when I’m half asleep and have no filter and probably stare at me like “wtf did I just read?”. I’m sorry my smut partners who have to deal with me.

plot/ memes:

Memes: I’m more inclined to send memes than actually get around to responding to them. I like keeping my thread count low because I’m slow and usually memes require immediate interaction (something that I may or may not have the time for). However, most of my threads come from memes that will fizzle out over time and I eventually drop without warning- it just how it goes.

Plots: I like plotting and defining pre-established relationships. Having to start everyone off with a blank slate isn’t something I like unless it just seems natural for our muses (ie. for Huffman he probs doesn’t know many Liyue characters, but he definitely is close to Mondstadt characters at least on a name basis). As such, I tend to like establishing relationships and then going from there so I know how Huffman will interact with them.

Plotted threads, however, take a lot out of me as I like coining an idea and then having a starter be written and then go from there. If there are checkpoints to happen, I get awkward because my muses are 95% certain to shift the narrative based on what is being written and the situation that arises. So heavily plotted threads isn’t good, but defining the trajectory of a relationship is something I’m down for...mostly because I’m a quasi-single ship and 99% of my muses relationships are going to fail naturally - which is something hard to bring up when there is ship talking happen.

[lukeyhughes]

so the other day i reblogged a post and vagued about my issues with gk’s framing of iraqi tragedies in the tags, which was then replied to and that reply was circulated. while the reply was awesome/insightful/interesting i feel like my original point sorta got lost in the shuffle. i wasnt going to make a post about this for a bit but i feel like its been consuming my thoughts all day so i’ll elaborate what i meant under the cut! 

gen kill is david simon show, so like all david simon shows the thesis is “people exist in inside of a broken system.” in this case, the broken system is the marine corps chain of command and the people are the marines who have to carry out senseless orders. this is shown in many ways, including pointless dangerous missions (see: the bridge, danger close, etc.), how capable enlisted men are vs. most officers, how the “only good officer” nate is punished for rational choices, and how the marines have their spirits crushed because they are forced to senselessly kill iraqi civilians.

when i was in first year of undergrad i took an african studies class that in one seminar problematicized coverage of the Rwandan Genocide: how many times have you heard/read a Romeo Dallaire interview/account? how many times have you read/heard an interview from a genocide survivor? how many times have you seen pictures of bodies/skulls of genocide victims? the answer for the average person is a lot, hardly ever, a lot. with the iraq invasion, the questions would be: how many times have you heard the accounts of coalition soldiers about the iraq war across media types? how many times have you heard accounts of it from the iraqi civilian perspective? how many times have you seen statistics regarding the amount of iraqi civilian casualties? a lot, hardly ever, a lot.

that is all to say that in western media/society we are very comfortable listening to white narratives and just seeing brown bodies, which translates into only hearing white narratives of the tragedies of the deaths of others in foreign countries. in generation kill, iraqi civilian casualties/fatalities/tragedies are framed so that we feel sympathy for the marines that caused them as opposed to those suffering. that is not to say that we as the audience do not feel sympathy (i certainly do!) but it is because of our own internal empathy, not the narrative framing of the show.

let’s take a look at three of the biggest cases of iraqi civilian tragedy and how they’re framed in the show:

first, when rudy goes up to the roadblock and sees the dead little girl in episode 4. we get quite a few shots of the father’s shell-shocked face, but just as many are shots of rudy’s horror/sadness; we watch him walk away from behind from rudy’s perspective and we see that rudy is unable to look away from them. rudy didn’t actually have anything to do with it (aside from abetting i suppose), but even when he gets back to camp the show makes sure to illustrate how affected by it he is, ignoring brad and ray who call out to him. this one is actually surprisingly gk’s best example of eliciting sympathy for iraqi casualties; however, the focus of the scene is still on rudy and the father’s reaction is still mostly used to contribute to rudy’s guilt/horror.

the next scene is the little shepherd boys who were shot by trombley while out with their camels. we see the mom crying over her son, but its basically background noise and is if anything used to further the marines’ (particularly brad and doc bryan to a lesser extent) guilt at causing the situation. we know this because her actions don’t exist independently: they are used for the marines to react to. we also get considerably more shots of marines looking on in horror than her crying about her son. brad’s guilt/sadness about the subject is dwelled on for about twenty minutes over the next two episodes, longer than any of the actual victims’ screen-time dedicated to their feelings combined.

the worst scene is the man in the white car, which sets off the main drama for the next episode. we get why walt did it- the show goes out of its way to make sure that we do- but at the end of the day a man is still dead, likely for no reason. in the aftermath we get about a hundred heartbreaking shots of walt’s shocked face, with a few of brad thrown in as well. on the other hand, we get no shots of the people in the car being horrified at seeing someone they know lobotomized. we just see them run away, no sadness no horror no nothing: from the show’s narrative perspective, this man’s death has no impact on anybody except for walt and the other marines. to make matters worse the man’s face is only shown when the marines notice how horrifyingly disfigured his body is; to me this is robbing the real man of his dignity even in death. 

let’s take a step back and look at gen kill’s general portrayal of iraqis. we don’t really get to see the marines interact with civilians until they reach baghdad when they go into rundown neighbourhoods. here, the iraqi men are portrayed as greedy and dumb, cutting in front of children and not understanding that there are other types of government. that’s not to say that that didn’t happen in real life- i’m sure it did- but it’s essentially the ONLY view of iraq civilians we get: ignorant, greedy, backwards, etc. deadass the only sympathetic iraqi characters in episode 7 are children, where we get a couple of UNICEF-esque shots of doc bryan holding crying kids to drive home that guilt factor. i bring this up because it means that the iraqi characters are not written so that you feel bad for them or empathize with their terrible situation. instead, the narrative wants you to empathize with the marines (in this case, particularly nate) who feel guilty for causing this chaos that they can’t do anything to fix it. 

the only other time iraqi civilians even have lines is when a refugee women tells brad about how he is destroying her home, but even then the point of that isn’t really her pain but how brad feels guilty/ashamed about what the usmc (an institution that is part of identity more than anyone else) is doing that; also she’s attacking brad who really had nothing to do with the baghdad situation and already feels guilty about other things, so its just creating more material for brad’s identity/guilt crisis and our sympathies for it.

all of this to say is that in basically every single case civilian tragedies don’t exist in the narrative on their own: they are used for the marine main characters to react to: the village. the truck crew. the men at the roadside. even the syrian student.

also @sunnygreys replied to some tags i made alluding to this issue. you should read what they wrote bc it’s a really interesting counterweight to what i’m saying and offers a different perspective. but anyway basically they mention certain lines where people are like “no ones forcing us to be here.” particularly notable was when godfather says that no one is forced to be here because they’re all volunteers in episode 3. my view of this has always been that saying that is ignorance on his part and another symptom of the broken command system. godfather chose to be career military,  he chose to accept the mission, he chose to change the ROE, etc: there was no gun to his head. for the enlisted men, the ones on the bottom who actually carried out the mission that injured the boys, they are pretty much being forced to be there by their circumstances. out of all the marines we interact with in the series, im pretty sure brad is the only enlisted man who comes from wealth and by extension had other options, while most others either implicitly or explicitly grew up in impoverished/unstable households: poverty is the new draft. thats sorta between the lines, but i imagine david simon knows that because of his previous work on poverty. what isnt between the lines is that the command system DOES force men in lower ranks to “be there” and carry out order: they can get NJPed for disobeying, they sign contracts that they’ll be dishonourably discharged and lose their benefits if they break, etc. there’s no gun to their head physically but metaphorically its pretty close. to me at least, those lines are not narratively placed to make us sympathize less with the marine main characters but instead to make us sympathize with them even more, because it shows how disconnected command really is. david simon is a huge dick irl but he’s a really clever writer.

again, i reiterate that we as the audience likely feel sympathy for the iraqi population because for most people its naturally sad when people die/get injured/etc. i think a lot of points i made and ones made by @sunnygreys can be mutually true, but the main difference being that i really don’t believe that gk’s intention was to make us step back and reflect on our sympathy with the “oppressors:” i really do think that’s who the show intends for us to sympathize with most based on their choices in camera shots, who says what, etc. that doesn’t mean we can’t step back and reflect, as i hope many of us have, i just think that was an unintended consequence. (if i’m misconstruing what you said please lmk and ill edit!)

that being said, can’t think of a way that generation kill could have done better in this regard based on the book/characters it had. the marines ARE the main characters and by conventional standards its their narrative/feelings/growth that matters. but just because there may have been no other way doesn’t make it unproblematic. its another example of western media using violence against nameless, distant foreigners for their own horror. 

there are people wandering this earth who are dealing with the loss of the man in the white car, the little girl at the roadblock, an entire village. those little boys, if they’re still alive, probably have to deal with the severe injuries they got when they were shot by marines. those slums of baghdad may still be in unstable today and have likely lost community members due to sanitation/hunger/violence. imagine knowing that there is a show out there where you or your loved ones are being used as a plot device to make viewers feel sympathy for the ones who put you in those positions. i sympathize deeply with the marines of GK, but i can imagine how hard it would be to be in the iraqi population’s place watching yourself and your experiences interpreted in a way dissociated from your own suffering so that the primary victimhood can be placed on the ones who did it to you. 

in conclusion, i love gen kill a lot. i love the story and the characters, and i think its an effective story in terms of achieving what it seeks to achieve. i think it’s okay to love something and be critical of it. also if western media companies weren’t cowards and weren’t scared of losing american military financial contributions they would make a miniseries about the iraqi people who were terrorized by american invaders, including the ones we love in gk!

[gretchensinister]

So I watched Color Out of Space yesterday because I thought it would be bad and batshit and something that would serve as good knitting background.

Only it wasn’t bad.

(Still batshit and still good knitting background though.)

I don’t really know where to start talking about this but since I’m doing this for free, I’m going to talk about eggs benedict first. I love eggs benedict. If you don’t know what it is, the standard is an English muffin, with Canadian bacon on top of it, with a poached egg on top of that, and the whole thing topped with hollandaise sauce.

I can poach an egg sort of successfully most of the time. But my standard grocery shopping doesn’t include English muffins or Canadian bacon, and making hollandaise is a whole thing with raw egg yolks and either getting your blender dirty or whisking until your arm falls off and like…if I have enough time to make a breakfast of more than one step for myself (or if I feel like having breakfast for dinner) I’m also probably trying to chill that day. Also I’m already poaching a couple of eggs and that’s where the anxiety has to go.

So when I want eggs benedict at home, it’s going to be made with: whatever kind of bread thing I have, topped with whatever kind of meat I have in the fridge (I have used a sliced-up hot dog for this), topped with a poached egg, topped with not hollandaise, but something that will work for the purpose, made by stirring up mayo with lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper. I’ve never been disappointed with my results, maybe because I’m a gremlin? I wouldn’t serve any of this business to a chef, but I don’t make this to serve to a chef, I make this to eat it.

Maybe that will help you understand what I’m feeling about Color Out of Space. Some spoilers below.

In the first half-hour or so of the movie, I was flip-flopping about whether the movie was “self-aware” or not. Like, is the weirdness unintentional? Should I wince with secondhand embarrassment at the filmmakers?

I think the answer is firmly NO to these two questions. In fact, I think that the filmmakers were WILDLY SUCCESSFUL in what they intended to do.

There were several different things that convinced me that they were doing whatever they were doing on purpose, including all their deviations from the H.P. Lovecraft story the movie is based on.

1. Right at the beginning, there’s a bit of flirting between the hydrologist and the daughter of the family that lives on the farm where the meteorite will soon land. Yeah it’s heterosexual nonsense, BUT. The hydrologist is Black and the daughter is white. H.P. Lovecraft’s head is suitably exploded, now we can do whatever we want.

2. The dinner scene with the family where there’s a short conversation about how the daughter is always wanting fast food. Now, in context this is just to establish that she’s missing living in the city vs. in the middle of nowhere. But importantly, she’s the first character we see in the movie and so is kind of our gateway into this situation. And she doesn’t want the home-cooked meal, she wants the fast food, even after her mother points out the questionable ingredients. “I know,” she says. “But it tastes like heaven.” Sometimes you want fast food even though you know very well that it’s not gourmet. Not every horror movie has to be a perfectly balanced tour-de-force of suspense, mystery, and social commentary. You can relax. Come into the movie.

3. The first creepy phone call. The hydrologist is at his survey camp (? IDK why he was outdoors at night in this scene actually, mumble mumble fieldwork?) and he gets a garbled, static-filled phone call on what is obviously a modern smartphone. But when he disconnects, there is the clear sound of a DIAL TONE. To me, this is too bizarre to be an accident, especially because there are a number of other phone calls and disconnections in the movie, and none of them end with a dial tone. I think the filmmakers do know what it’s like to use a phone. (Though there is a scene where the daughter is trying to call 911 and tells her father in a panic that she can’t get a dial tone. IDK what that’s about. A genuine error? A moment that might as well have a label that says “nitpickers take pot shots here”?) Back to the hydrologist. At this moment, as a viewer, I’m still thrown off by the dial tone. It’s nonsense, and that makes it a “bad movie” marker, I guess, but someone had to decide to put the sound in. It couldn’t have happened carelessly. And then the hydrologist has to block a glare of light. He uses the book he’s been reading, which is “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood—which was one of Lovecraft’s favorite supernatural stories. It’s very clear to the audience—not a lingering shot, but still something that’s not supposed to be an Easter egg.

And this is where I say, okay. The filmmakers know their source material. They know their audience. No one in the movie is winking at the camera, and the movie is yes, kind of funky, but it’s not made in a careless way or in a way that you feel that the filmmakers are inviting laughter. It’s horror—and believe me, they’ve got some practical effects in this one are truly ghastly—but it’s horror that exists very clearly in its genre and feels playful because of that.

Three things that show that playfulness to me: the name of the hippie squatter’s cat. The cat is named G-spot, which, in the movie itself is explained as an immature joke “a pussy named—” but even as I was groaning and thinking “that’s a terrible name for a cat” the part of my brain that knows more about Lovecraft than I care to is like, “but not the WORST name for a cat!” and I don’t know if the filmmakers expected anyone to be like “well at least the cat isn’t named ———” but that was part of my reaction.

The casting of Nicholas Cage. Nicholas Cage is/was kind of a meme on his own, and in this movie he plays the dad of the family that lives in the house the meteor lands by. And at a certain point in the movie, his accent goes a little weird and he starts acting more like the stereotypical asshole horror movie dad. I dismissed this as just a disappointment at first, like, this is bad acting and bad acting choices and bad writing happening to move the plot. But then he switches back to his previous established character, and after it happened again I realized that this was happening because of the alien color messing with his mind! Even after accepting that the movie was being purposeful, I was still caught up in the idea of Cage as a bad actor and the movie as a bad movie that I was fooled into missing the first signs of alien mind control! That’s meta.

The kid going full creepy child like, immediately after the meteor hit. Obsessive drawing, staring off into space, invisible friends, the works. But it’s not even a main thing. We never even get a full good look at what he’s drawing. There’s no scene where either parent stops and dramatically stares at it and we wonder “oooooh is it really real?” It’s definitely real and it’s causing worse problems by the minute. The kid has gone full creepy child, but there is OTHER SHIT that is ALSO URGENT. It amused me to have this trope be present but not central.

What else do I want to say? Overall this movie had very little downtime. It didn’t waste a bunch of time with people denying that anything weird was going on, or trying to make the viewer wonder if all this was real. It’s real and it’s fucking up your alpacas! The movie assumes that viewers know “The Colour Out of Space” and doesn’t tease us with any “what-is-happening-if-anything” tension. Of course it’s happening. Show us what we came to see.

I think what made it successful for me were the same kinds of things that make good fanfiction successful, which only makes sense as it is essentially a “The Color Out of Space” modern AU. The willingness to play with tropes, the assumption of viewer familiarity with the source, etc.

The effects were used judiciously, and if some of it just seemed like a light filter or two I have to say I don’t really care.

And I think that’s all for now. Oh, except that I want to mention, only the Black guy lived. The hydrologist was the one to narrate the opening and the closing, the only voice that spoke any words from the original short story. Whaddaya know.

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update 60

Dragon Ball - While Tambourine is still on his serial killing spree of martial artists around the world, King Piccolo is turning his attention towards seeking out the Dragon Balls and the Pilaf gang is starting to realize more and more just how out of their depth they really are in serving this guy. The most notable part of the episode is how Piccolo creates his new spawn, Cymbal. I knew how that would look before he did it but it was still disgusting and shudder inducing to watch.

Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions - The incident of Yuta saving Rikka from falling off the school rooftop pushed them a little bit closer together and a little bit further in how they process their feelings, with Rikka being the first to confess (I guess Dekomori’s a better help with these things than Sunohara is). But then Toka goes and puts Yuta in a spot where he has to get Rikka to finally face reality and give up on her Chunibyo since Toka’s made plans to go off to Italy and leave Rikka to take care of herself. What ended up frustrating me was that for some reason we weren’t actually shown the immediate aftermath of Yuta asking Rikka to take off her eye patch. It just cuts to the end of the cultural festival where Rikka sings her late father’s favorite song before removing her eye patch to reveal her eye looking normal (after the credits!), though I will say the idea that they had to substitute a Yuta VS Rikka performance with a Nibutani VS Dekomori performance (with very real hitting on Deko’s part) was amusing and felt right. I’m also finding that while I like Yuta as a character, I really don’t care much for his voice acting in the dub. He has this tendency to speak too softly and mutter his lines in serious scenes that just really bugs me and makes him sound way too disconnected from someone who ever had Chunibyo himself. In a mostly solid dub cast, Leraldo Anzaldua is easily the weak link.

My-Otome - We seem to be finally inching away from the “stuff happened” section of the series and getting into the real plot action that the show’s been building towards since the start. Arika and her two gal pals (y’know, her two gal pals who aren’t Nina and Mashiro?) are now actively striving to all become Meister Otomes while Mashiro is finally starting to get shit done from her throne. With Nagi casting aside Azwad and accelerating his work with the Schwartz, a stronger Otome response from Windbloom and Garderobe is required to quell the unrest and warring in Romulus and Remus. I did get a kick out of seeing that after sparks flew between Nao and Shiho earlier on in the show, Shiho has now gotten the last laugh as she’s been granted a crucial diplomatic role while Nao is saddled with a job that she doesn’t like because it messes up all of her life’s plans; sucks to be you, Nao! Arika wants her mystery benefactor (who we all know to be Sergay) to see her when she graduates to a higher Otome level and meet her in person. But evil is rearing it’s ugly head first in the form of Tomoe, who Arika beat in a dance battle at the start and for some reason wants to end all of Arika’s prospects, so she tries to fucking drop a dangerous acidic substance on top of Arika and would’ve succeeded had Erstin not got in the way! What is this psychotic bitch’s deal? And then by the very end, Nagi’s coup is underway!

Assassination Classroom S2 - Watched the two-part “Reaper Time” story arc that takes place some time after Bitch-Sensei’s birthday, which was on October 10. We found out more about Bitch-Sensei here; try as she might, she’s not someone who can totally put aside emotion for the sake of her line of work, whether that be in academics or assassination, which leads to some heartbreak thanks to Karasuma’s emotionally disconnected, strictly professional approach. Wanting to revert back to the heartless spy and assassin she used to be, Bitch-Sensei plays right into the hands of the Reaper, and from there we get to get into some of her backstory, how she lost her family in a war-ravaged nation, lived on her own in poverty, and was offered up to Lovro to train her in being a killer. While she and Karasuma seem both willing to turn on E Class and side with Reaper in the hopes of finally killing Korosensei, neither of them prove willing to let this go on to the point of risking the kids’ lives. Karasuma turns first, but Bitch-Sensei takes a while because Reaper has her convinced that she’s the same as him, even when she very clearly is not. I loved how it’s set up like we’re going to get the cliched “she’s gonna aim her gun at him but won’t be able to go through with it ‘cause she loves him too much” scene only for Reaper to very abruptly push a detonator and bring the place down on Karasuma and Bitch-Sensei before that point is even reached! And while Bitch-Sensei might have seemed a bit too easily forgiven for her betrayal, the kids did make a good point that backstabbing and working around lethal force fired by someone who was a comrade just a while ago is kind of part of an assassin’s life, so they’d be no good at what they’re being taught and trained to be if they couldn’t handle it well. I’m just glad she and Karasuma are back together.

My biggest quibble here, surprisingly, would be the Reaper himself. On one hand he’s a very creepy character, so seemingly ordinary and friendly that he can slip right in and catch his prey unawares, and his methods for trapping and killing were as sadistically slow and methodical as they were effective. He reminds me of Nagito Komaeda in Danganronpa with how, unlike Takaoka, his cheery demeanor and affable personality is legit a product of his insane mind, and Ian Sinclair’s voice acting for him was perfect. But on the other hand, he’s the weakest of the series’ four major antagonists for a number of reasons, a big one being that he just doesn’t live up to his own in-universe hype. He didn’t really kill Lovro (as we’ll find out later), he didn’t get all that close to killing any of the good guys (Itona honestly felt like more of a threat to Korosensei than him), and he ends up going down ridiculously easy in a fight with Karasuma. After losing his false face and revealing his true form to look like freaking Red Skull! It’s easy to loathe him, but the fear of him diminishes and it becomes increasingly difficult to take him seriously. He might improve a bit upon his inevitable return, but right now he’s a major letdown. Then again, he’s really just a copycat of the guy who killed his father and inspired him to kill in the first place, a man of mystery who Korosensei regards as a low-life fool, and for good reason...

Vinland Saga - This episode was more than a bit strange, as I didn’t even know where I stood on what it was doing. For a lot of time the focus is on the family of this girl named Anne and how...Christian they are. And when I say that I mean that they’re written almost like a Ned Flanders-esque parody of Christianity, with lines like “Jesus told us to pray, and Jesus is always right” and fearmongering about how sinners are damned to Hell to the point where poor Anne fears for her own soul due to having stolen a bracelet from the market some time back. But then Askeladd and his merry band of Vikings come along and ransack the snowy village for supplies right at a time where Anne is away, and this is when Askeladd finally crosses the line into straight up unredeemable monster territory. He assures all the frightened villagers, who are pleading for him to leave half the food with them so that they may survive the winter, that he won’t let them suffer from starvation...because he’ll have his men massacre each and every one of them. And that’s exactly what happens! It was a horrifying moment, but possibly even more horrifying is Anne’s response to having witnessed it - she prays to God, showing that she still believes in Him, but expresses her feelings of eustasy over knowing that He can bring such punishment upon the virtuous from men who don’t fear His condemnation, and spare a sinner like her. And then she passes out in the snow. Damn. I guess this marks the start of her path towards a life of sin, vice, villainy and....huh? Wait, she’s not going to factor into any future story? What the Hell!?

Magic Knight Rayearth - Just as the girls were finally reaching the point where they could revive the Rune God, Ascot corners them in person with the biggest, baddest monster he’s summoned yet, which was good ‘cause I was growing weary of waiting for this to occur. While I made fun of Ascot for this before, he really is a great character for playing with the typical high fantasy RPG disposable monsters trope, giving us someone who actually cherishes those creatures as friends and is emotionally devastated when the heroes slay them without a second thought. But of course the flaws in Ascot’s view of friendship are made apparent too as he’s not valued his friends’ lives enough to not send them charging into danger and the monsters don’t respect him as an individual to the point where they’d ever make any sacrifices for him. This is cleverly contrasted with the test that the Rune God gives Umi, and how she chooses to help her friends rather than obey the Rune God’s insistence. Now that Ascot’s retreated and the Rune God, revealed to be a giant robot, has been brought back out into Cephiro, Zagato notes that “they revived one of the Rune Gods.” So wait, there’s more???

A Place Further Than The Universe -  Who knew that becoming eligible for the Antarctic expedition was as simple as getting in the good graces of a high school girl who was already set to be on it? That’s seriously what happens here - Shirase and her friends luck out when a teen celebrity named Yuzuki tries to get Shirase to take her place, and then they end up having to convince Yuzuki to go on the trip with her mother in exchange for being granted permission for themselves as reward. Granted it’s not TOO simple since Yuzuki really wants to stay in her hometown so that she may attend school and make friends, even though her celebrity status has only ever barred her from having a single true friend in her whole life. The part where Kimari, Shirase, and Miyake all show up at Yuzuki’s hotel room door to get her up and go with her to Tokyo, making her feel what it’s like to truly have friends and reduce her to tears, was incredibly moving, as was the “was it just a dream?” moment before where Kimari and co. reached out to her from outside the window. (This anime’s style, characters, group interactions and sentimental heart have been giving me a lot of Love Live! vibes and this was just pure Chika and Riko shit here.) I’m very interested in seeing where this goes now. Like, who was that woman with the picture of Shirase and her mother who showed up after the credits? The plot thickens!

AND

When They Cry: Higurashi - Re-watched the remaining arcs in the first season. To give my brief opinions and assessments on them:

Cotton Drifting arc - While the first arc was a great stage-setter for the rest of the series, this is the arc that really solidified it’s staying power. The horror factor of Oyashiro’s curse and all the going-ons around it is still present but rather than a ghost story, it takes on a more murder mystery approach, and unlike the blurry stream of paranoia that was the previous arc, in this one there turns out to be a true villain behind the events, one of the best in the series. It also gives a lot more depth to Mion, Rena and Rika (with Rena being one hell of a badass competent super sleuth), has Ooishi come off as just a little bit more reliable than he was before, and ends on one Hell of a jump scare. My two issues are that it has two different climaxes that both rely on Keiichi making the absolute dumbest choices that gets him nearly killed by the same person twice and drags the arc out more than it needed to be, and that it’s the only Question Arc that doesn’t stand on it’s own well - once you’ve seen it’s corresponding Answer Arc (Eye Opening), it’s impossible to not think of it when you go back to this one. Like the Sonozaki twins, they’re inseparable. 

Curse Killing arc - This one was and still is my least favorite arc in the series. While I appreciate what it does for Satoko and Keiichi as characters and how well yet subtly it sets up the true mastermind of the curse, the subject matter of child abuse and how fucking terribly that issue is handled in Japan is so uncomfortable, the sheer amount of “adults are awful” instances (Teppei, Dr. Irie, Mrs. Maebara, Takano, and especially Ooishi are just the worst here) gets tiresome, the fallout of killing Teppei that Keiichi finds himself dealing with is screwy and unpleasant even for this series, and I think showing us a little girl’s mangled, disembowled corpse being feasted on by crows was taking just a step too far. It’s not a bad arc, just my least liked.

Time Wasting arc - Another one I’m not super fond of, but it’s only two episodes long and is at least something very different; set years before Keiichi moved to Hinamizawa, starring a new character, showing how things were like when the dam conflict was still looming large and Oyashiro’s Curse wasn’t an annual thing yet, revealing stuff about Rika that changes our perspective of the character, and serving as the main springboard for the entire rest of the series’ plot. The final scene where Akasaka remembers how Rika had predicted the course of the next couple of years’ deaths on Cotton Drifting night, ending with her own death and the quarantine of the entire village, was the one that really made it clear to me how invested I’d become in this story. I needed answers, the answers still yet to come.

Eye Opening arc - Possibly my favorite arc in the series and while not the scariest, it’s absolutely the darkest and most sinister. Shion Sonozaki comes out as a protagonist you never knew you wanted to follow, and as her story goes on we watch the state of her mind and her moral compass deteriorate, her spiral into madness, hateful feelings and vengeful intent warping her into the most diabolical and depraved villain to threaten Hinamizawa. It gives us more insight into Satoshi Houjo than the previous arcs to heavily factor him in as a plot device, raises so many possibilities for what might be the real truth behind the curse via Shion investigating into the matter only to definitively dash them all in the end, presents some of the most iconic, most gruesome, and most uncomfortable moments in the series (Shion getting three fingernails removed, Rika headbutting a knife ‘til she drops dead, Satoko getting crucified and stabbed to death), and it really tests the limits of how much you can stay behind your lead character and root for her in her fight against perceived injustice as her actions and behavior grow less and less excusable. It’s 6 episodes (the longest running arc in the first season) and it’s last episode is still really difficult to get through, it’s so horrific. My one quibble is that the anime really botched the ending. It feels like they ran out of time in the episode to actually properly conclude the arc so they just drop Shion to a super anticlimactic death. WEAK.

Atonement arc - Also possibly my favorite arc in the series! This more than any other chapter is a major turning point in the narrative, as it finally unveils some clear-cut truth about the long-standing mysteries of Hinamizawa (Oyashiro was a human medical healer rather than a wrathful deity, the “demon’s blood” that rises up in people is actually a parasitic virus from the Onigafuji swamp, and there’s some unknown group working within Irie’s clinic that is actually behind the killings and disappearances of the so-called curse during Cotton Drifting and who want the truth to stay covered.) It also tells a great character-driven story with Rena that ends up tying back to the first arc and blowing everyone’s minds when Keiichi actually gains memories of that arc’s events that turns everything we’d seen and thought we knew in it on it’s head. The climax is my favorite climax in the whole series, with Rena going completely batshit and holding her whole school hostage with even a fucking bomb threat, everyone working together to thwart a common threat, and an awesome Keiichi VS Rena clash on the rooftop that ends up bringing the arc to, for the very first time, a good end (and for a series called “When They Cry”, it hadn’t made me cry until the last two episodes, first with Keiichi’s Heel Realization and then with Rena’s.) It feels so much like setting a new standard and a new stage for the following season, making it an ideal first season finale.

[itsclydebitches]

Three different topics

Hi! Sorry to bother you again. Jist wanted to know your opinion on 3 RWBY topics that have been swimming in my brain.

Ironwood was fine with it

I find it hilariously sad (maybe even ironic?) that the RWBY writers tried so hard to frame Ruby&Co as completely in the right for not saying anything to him because ‘who knows how Ironwood would react?!’ But in the end, they’re still wrong. He reacted just fine. Better than, even. No yelling, berating, or mental breakdowns in sight. So they proved themselves wrong. While trying to prove themselves right. I’m torn between laughing until I can’t breathe or screaming until I can’t breathe. 

Whitley 

With the way the writing is going, I’m kinda worried that they’ll end up playing the 'Whitley is like his father’ thing seriously. Because if they don’t, then Weiss would have been wrong about him. And in this pro-protagonist dystopia that they’ve created, that’s not allowed to happen. But in order to make Weiss the righteous one, they’ll have to demonize Whitley to prove that Weiss was correct about him. And I’m incredibly uncomfortable with the notion that they might just end up doing that. Because while they haven’t been so far, I don’t trust them to stick to their story the way it’s been written. They haven’t stuck with anything else after all. (Except hating Ozpin. Seriously, did the voice actor or the character do something to them? At this point I’m wondering 'did Ozpin run over your puppy? Steal your significant other? Call your mother fat?’ This level of hatred seems a bit obsessive..)

The Grimm and Salem

I don’t know if both the writers and the characters have forgotten, but… do they understand that the Grimm still exist separate to Salem? Like, she can control them, sure. But she didn’t bring them into existence. She dived into a Grimm pool that already existed and gained her abilities. Do they realize that the way the story is setup even if the main characters defeat Salem, the Grimm don’t just cease to exist? One of the biggest 'Ozpin is evil!’ arguments that I’ve heard is that he was sending people to die by going up against Salem, but he was sending them to fight Grimm. The things that she did not create. The things that will still be roaming around attacking people with or without her. I don’t know if that was intentional? (I doubt it.) But this is a major problem with the narrative. 'Ozpin was sending people to die!’ Yeah. Against the Grimm. The things that you already signed up to fight and potentially die to. As far as I can tell the only ones who were actually supposed to be doing anything involving Salem were Qrow and Raven. And they were just supposed to be surveillance. 'We just have to take down Salem!’ But there will still be Grimm. The terrible nightmare creatures that like to tear people apart. Remember them? 'Just collect the relics! That’ll solve the Grimm problem!’ And then you’ll have to deal with uniting people. Everyone. Like Jacques Schnee. Unless you plan to kill everyone that presents a problem to you. It just feels like the show is focusing way too heavily on the 'Salem’ part of the story, when the other two problems are just as bad, if not worse. Salem at the end is one person (simplified down). The Grimm are much bigger in numbers, can show up anywhere, and don’t go down by taking out one. Uniting humanity is another problem because there’s always going to be someone who thinks of themselves as 'better.’ But, you know, Salem. Sure.

************

RWBY topics, hell yeah! Putting the rest below a readmore to save dash space. 

1. Oh my god don’t get me started on that. The real kicker is that I agree with them. In that I agree that EVERYONE should be very careful about who they reveal this information to. I’ve never once thought that Ruby and company were in the wrong for being cautious, only in their and the writing’s insistence that only they can be cautious whereas Ozpin and Ironwood are horrible, flawed people for doing the exact same thing. Regardless of that though, the group was indeed proven wrong this last episode whereas Ozpin was proven RIGHT:

Ozpin: I don’t want to tell you this because I’m afraid that you will betray me and lose hope in our mission

Group: [Proceeds to betray him by stealing the relic, stealing Jinn’s name, ripping his whole past from him, denying him any sympathy or support, physically assaulting him, driving him off, losing hope for a stretch, and continually painting him as a convenient scapegoat to all their problems]

Ozpin: [Hanging out in Oscar’s head] Oh wow look at that, I was totally justified in being cautious with them. They handled that horribly.

vs. 

Group: We’re going to do to Ironwood precisely what Ozpin did to us---only with more stakes attached---because who KNOWS how Ironwood might react. If we went on drinking binges and attacked a kid over this, imagine what a man with real power would do

Ironwood: [A level-headed adult who, unlike the group, has actually proven his trustworthiness in the past, who is not inclined to blame others for bad situations or physically attack them] Wow this is horrifying. Astoundingly though I’m not going to punch you over it. However, I am going to jump straight to blaming Ozpin and absolving you because heaven forbid anyone acknowledge the hypocrisy around here 

tl:dr yeah I’m still salty 

2. Oh man I hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility... but yeah. It’s far from impossible based on a) how we’ve seen RWBY treat male abuse victims in the past (not well) and b) RWBY’s endless ability to straight up ignore things they’ve established. Meaning, we saw in The Lost Fable a huge amount of sympathy for Ozpin which was then completely erased to make him the thematic antagonist. In the same way, we may have seen Weiss coming to that realization that Whitley needs her help... but in RWBY’s writing that means absolutely nothing. We can’t bank on them following up on that because they haven’t bothered to follow up on so much else. We may very well get an evil!Whitley arc and a heroic!Weiss arc to contrast him, leaving the viewer wondering, “What happened to that epiphany you had with your mother about how Whitley has little to no chance of change unless he receive support from someone other than his father?” and the answer will be, “Wait, you thought RWBY was consistent?” 

3. Perfect example of this: literally everything you’ve laid out in regards to the grimm. That has frustrated me for volumes now, ever since the group (and the fandom) started painting Ozpin and his connection to Salem as the sole reason for why things are bad in the world. As if there isn’t, as you say, literal monsters running around devouring people entirely disconnected from her and her spat with the gods. The group willingly signed up to risk their lives to fight grimm. They knew they were fighting an immortal enemy in the form of the grimm. They know they’ve done important work by protecting people from grimm. They know the grimm will still be there even if the Salem threat is taken care of... but no one ever acknowledges this. The writing has forgotten its primary antagonist. Is Salem a super big danger that they need to take care of as soon as possible? Absolutely, but getting rid of her doesn’t solve every problem like the group seems to think it will and it certainly can’t act as a convenient excuse now that things have gotten harder. “You had us risking our lives to kill an immortal woman!” This is what I mean when I say that RWBY’s writing and much of RWBY’s fandom literally just makes stuff up. That is not what happened. Everyone go back and watch Ruby begging Ozpin to let her into Beacon because she, of her own agency and free will, wants to fight the very real monsters that are threatening her world. Salem only makes that problem worse. 

[ninavarelas]

my books....

this is rly so wild. that’s my name on there!

everyone has been so excited about the IRON HEART cover reveal, i’m stunned. i get in my head sometimes and forget i am not on a little island where i’m the only one (other than my friends and family) who cares about this story. it’s so strange putting something out into the world and seeing people take it and care for it in ways that have nothing to do with me, if that makes sense. like it comes alive and takes on a new and different shape for each person. that’s so neat and i’m so happy and honored i get to witness it. i can’t put into words (haha) my gratitude for the people who have read and thought about and loved CW and are now so excited for IH.

lovely beautiful rory powers posted on twitter about how as a debut it’s important to distinguish between what you think you want bc it’s a status symbol vs. what you actually want. i’ve been thinking about that.

tbh i’ve kind of always been weirdly unambitious about certain things. i feel disconnected from the publishing world in general bc so much happens in NYC/the east coast and i’m in LA, so i rly haven’t met very many writers or industry people at all, just talked online. (i’m excited to meet people at yallwest this year though! i’m not there in any professional capacity but you bet i’ll be attending panels to hear those cool folks talk!). and honestly, having a 9-6 day job on top of writing is a bit tiring, as my weekdays are just work>writing>sleep and my weekends are all writing. it’s very easy to feel, as i said, like i’m on a little island, separated from the real world. time moves around me and i’m not always aware of it, or an active participant. i don’t rly keep track of what awards are about to be announced or what lists are coming out, etc. which is bad bc I Should Pay Attention To Career Things but good bc there’s nothing about the reception of my first book i’m not satisfied with. the things i see are: people talking about her on social media, people making art and memes, people with CW @s and quotes in their twt bios, people posting cool bookstagram photos, people telling me when they see her in libraries which is my favorite thing.

this is kind of morbid (?) but in terms of career ambitions, i was never rly able to imagine an adult future for myself, so the fact that i’m here and writing is so nice and i want to keep doing exactly this for a long long time. i have sort of vague, generic aspirations (hitting NYT list, being financially comfortable) but the thing i like most is the process of writing, like the physical process of sitting down and writing words, and if someone wants to publish the product of that, and people want to read it, it feels like a wild bonus.

i think my ideal life is like, i live in a little cottage in the woods and write all day and i have a rly nice bathtub and lots of windows. and sometimes my agent calls me and says hey guess what we sold the thing, you can keep your cottage for another year! and i’m like wow! thank you! and also in this scenario i’m magically good at making bread and the local birds do my laundry and i pay them in birdseed and shiny trinkets and we have a cool symbiotic relationship type thing going on. ALSO all my friends live nearby so i can cook them dinner whenever i want.

HMM what else... what other thoughts.... i’m starting to draft my 3rd book now and am thinking about my 4th. i’m not sure when i’ll be able to give more detail about 3rd book (probably not for a while 😭) but i’m excited about it. she’s weird and spooky and very me, even more me than CW. i like her a lot.

ok i think that’s about it... i’m bored at work and i like talking into the void here. 2 many thoughts head full!!

anyway i hope all y’all are doing well, i hope february is kinder than january, i hope you’re reading or watching or eating good things. ok love you bye