#and i think there's 1 1/2 redeemable women in the cast maybe?

[homosociallyyours]

Bummed myself out on Instagram looking at posts about the VPR drama. Too many people take pleasure in shredding women apart when there is a perfectly awful man RIGHT THERE who they could focus on instead. Or additionally, even? I'm in such a bad mood now 🙃

[justsomethough]

I was writing a uhm, let's just say a fic on 911 and I was like hmnn lemme see what emergency would require you too call 911, ouh okay an allergic reaction right??

Made some quick Google search in regards epiPens and was like okay some US state require paramedics to have them on hand some don't, some are illegal I think anyways, this is only from Google, I might be wrong.

Aight bet, let's go with bees cause they haven't had any bees yet on the show. And lo and behold... (not saying it would be an allergic reaction, it could just be about a man who likes bee keeping and something goes extremely wrong and they have to save him or something lmao) Anyways. I hope only certain things from these prediction are right 🙃:

1. A wild MMA fighter season 3 Eddie appears again 👀👀.

2. A wild thang Eddie (S1 Buck equivalent) spawns, cause he let's loose since Chris isn't around. (would be a good arc for him to idk find himself imo, I know, I know, he doesn't need to do this to be himself, but idk, why not?? Maybe he tries and find out he's queer.)

3. But with all things considered about Eddie, the whole 118 will probs help him deal with it. I hc him and Buck go on a road trip to Texas to get Chris in the middle of the season, idk, why not lmao. Angst Eddie on a road trip with Buck 👀👀 ehehehhe. Him fighting with Buck ehehehe hehehehe (I like chaos) and maybe figuring things out a little lmao.

4. I hope we see Marisol again, cause I need to know what happens to her pleasee, she was a sweet girl, EDDIE STOP TERRORISING THE WOMEN IN LA GOD. I think everyone agrees on the fact that Eddie needs to not date this season, he needs to figure himself out, before he starts dating again.

5. Gérard either dies or get kicks out one way or another. I hc him dying because of a heart attack, cause come on, look at the dinosaur, doesn't he look like he'd have a heart condition 🤷 anyways, he dies by mid season while buck and Eddie is on a road trip. Personally don't want to traumatised any of the main cast by saying they'd be the one to trigger it cause... I'd hate that, so let's just say unfortunately, it happens during an alarm. Okay maybe he doesn't die, but he is just forced to retire after that, let's minimised the death toll a little.

6. The council women, I think they are going to cash in huge drama and sad points there. I hc the council women just gets sacked cause of something she did, I mean she bound to have some dirty laundry which Hen and Karen will probably try to dig around, but then decided not too use it against her. Or idk, i want to see how they can redeem her as a character. Maybe she'll use Gérard as an advantage or something idk lmao, just throwing a limbo here.

7. I have nothing on Madney tho, I just hope they get to live in peace and harmony for the season, CAUSE THEY DESERVE IT OKAY. Bathena, I like that people are sharing theories that Buck will stay with Eddie, so Bathena will be staying at buck's loft for the time being. I also think maybe they'll stay at Micheal's old place?? Maybe??. I hope we see more Amir too? I kinda like him.

8. RAVI AS A SEMI REGULAR CAST. let's me put it out there!! We WANT MORE RAVI cause he is super lovable and charming. LOVE HIM!! Ravi begin episode maybe?? Want to know more about him ehehehe.

Honestly these are just prediction or just thoughts I have!! What are yours??? I personally want no. 3, 4 & 8 to be real, cause i want a healthy, safe, sobbing Eddie. I don't personally want him to get hurt. I'm begging please!!!!! And I want Gérard GONE. But I doubt that's going to happen. They probs making him stay for a few episode lmao. I also want to see more ravi pleaseeee he's witty and funny.

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Oh my god the Mandalorian s3 decisions being a push to make Bo Katan more marketable for women makes so much sense.

I’ve been watching the flames of season 3 for afar wondering what possibly possessed them to sideline the wildly popular duo of Din and Grogu in favor of this Bo Katan stuff, aside from the obvious future content advertisement… it’s because it’s popular with women…

Like it’s a known pattern that corporations hate when something they’ve created aimed at men is disproportionately popular with women because they strive to keep a very distinct line between Boy things and Girl things. Anything Star Wars is for men, except the acceptable Girl Things like Leia and Padme and Asoka. But then the Mandalorian became wildly popular with women and they can’t just cancel a cash cow like the Mandalorian without milking everything they can from it so they’re like “well let’s bring in Bo Katan she’s for the Women now start making the toys”

I am so late to this but that meant time to simmer and seethe over Disney's decisions before and lately, and things I've read over the years about how corporations market to their target audiences, and how little things have changed.

I saw rumors and theories that KKKennedy (y'all sorry I keep calling her that but iykyk) meddled a LOT with The Mandalorian and Jon even threatened to quit, but at the end of the day the Mouse House has the final say and we're stuck with their decisions. I really don't know how the final numbers will look, how it'll affect their merch sales, and what it means for the future seasons of The Mandalorian. Maybe the hard pivot to redeem Bo-Katan for the bajillionth time will be the new cash cow or the canary in the coal mine (for The Mandalorian; I'm sure Ahsoka will be a hit no matter what). Maybe they gambled right or they've lost too many viewers who wanted Din and Grogu to be the heart and soul and center of this particular show. It's called The Mandalorian after all. If they want to claim that it could be any Mandalorian who's The Mandalorian of these season, then maybe Season 2 should've followed a different Mandalorian and established this before scamming us with Season 3. They were already trying that with TBOBF before having Din and Grogu steal the show.

But now that I've seen those rumors and theories, I could not fucking stop thinking about what happened when the ST was rolling out and when Rogue 1 and Solo came out. I could not stop thinking about the casting choices for Rey, Jyn, and Qi'ra, could not stop thinking about how white and brunette they were. I could not stop thinking about KKKennedy and others talking about how they wanted to bring more female fans to Star Wars, acting like Star Wars was exclusively a male space, which, what a fucking insult. I could not forget pictures of her wearing "The Force is Female" shirts and pushing this message so fucking hard that it would keep showing up in critical reviews of TLJ/TROS/ST as proof that Disney didn't know what it was doing.

Rey, Jyn, and Qi'ra were lucky to not have the kind of long history that Bo-Katan already had in the gffa by the time she made her live-action debut. It didn't take much to google her involvement in TCW and Rebels, and see what she'd done. I've seen commenters say she redeemed herself in Rebels by rallying the Mandalorians but are you sure about that? Are we still having trouble with writing redemption arcs after the fucking horrible one Disney put Kylo Ren through to the detriment of every other character not named Rey?

I wouldn't have minded Bo-Katan having greater involvement in Season 3 if she didn't basically take charge of not just the COTW but also the entire show. Watch out for the new merch of her with the Darksaber now. Probably the most we'll get out of Din is whatever happens to him in the season finale because Disney gotta make more money, amirite? Grogu got a new accessory so that Disney can sell new versions of him, so why not Din?

I truly envy the poeple who are having a good time or don't need to have these thoughts constantly in their heads while watching. I didn't have a good time and I can never turn those thoughts off. I don't have the luxury so I'm never shutting up about this.

ftr I unfollowed Okiro after the billionth time he called Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan "Clan of Three". what the fuck had she done to earn equal footing?

[windslar]

People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

i was tagged by @druidberries. Thank you!!

Tag under the cut because I went on a whole spiel about a popular novel that catches a lot of flak online and I don't know how to shut up (spoiler: it features 20-something-year-olds who open up brick-and-mortar businesses in downtown Boston like it's nothing, and trash in the form of a man named Kyle with an R).

Last Song: From the Start - Laufey

Favorite Color: Sage Tint by Benjamin Moore

Currently Watching: Only Murders in the Building and Modern Family (I watched the first couple seasons but never finished it. It's such a good background show).

Last Movie: Last one I watched in the theatres was Oppenheimer, but the last one I watched on streaming was Disenchanted (lol). I need more James Marsden in my life, especially after his performance in Jury Duty.

Currently Reading: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. Before you get the pitchforks, I'm only reading it because of the ~discourse~. Besides, I had it downloaded in my Kobo long before it really blew up on tiktok and my curiosity was reignited after I saw the uproar about the casting. I have a lot of problems with this book: (1) it's not well-written and I should've put the book down the moment she started writing letters to Ellen Degeneres and thought she was a good celebrity for being charitable, (2) it doesn't delve into the systemic issues that play a role in why women stay with their ab*ser, (3) the marketing for this book ain't shit for categorizing it a romance novel. BUT, all my problems aside, I don't think the story itself romanticizes domestic ab*se and I think most readers recognize this (see this Slate article that talks about it better than I could). Here's an excerpt:

It seems like this part of the novel’s plot could be read in two very different ways: one, which the Mary Sue seems to pursue, is that Lily doesn’t react to ab*se in the appropriate way, and the book endorses all of her choices, and therefore both deserve condemnation. The other is an exercise in empathy: Hoover wrote an imperfect book on domestic violence, but if we require all of these narratives to be morally unimpeachable, there’s no room to acknowledge that there is no such thing as a perfect victim.

I haven't finished the book, but I read Kyle with an R doesn't get a satisfying comeuppance proportional to his actions. And while it would be nice to see the trash taken out, isn't this ending plausible and representative of a common experience among families with a history of ab*se?

I think my big criticism with the backlash surrounding this book and others like it is the assumption that their readers are "impressionable young girls". Not every work of fiction needs to portray the protagonist as a hero in every sense of the word. Not every positive quality assigned to a villain is "making the character redeemable". Not every work of fiction is meant to be didactic and scrutinized as if it were instructions on how to live a perfect life. Maybe I'm giving more credit where it's due, but I really think most readers are able to think critically. People love reading about complicated characters in messy situations. And while I think the characters in Hoover's book could be written better and fleshed out a lot more, that is neither here nor there. My point is: stop assuming women are stupid and incapable of forming their own opinion. Enjoyment of fiction is not endorsement of the actions exhibited by deeply flawed characters.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Savory. But after writing all that and posting it here on tumblr, maybe SPICY.

Last Thing I Googled: That Slate article so I could link it and before that I googled Blake Lively and learned that she has 4! children.

Current Obsession: Rowing! But only if I have an episode of Modern Family playing.

Currently Working On: TJOLC posts, Lightflower is kind of on the back burner right now on account of I-hate-posing-sims and the next few scenes require a lot of it. I just wish there was AI that would pose my sims for me based on dialogue I've written. I would betray my principles, climb up the paywall if I have to.

I'm tagging anyone who sees this and

(ETA: look at me getting cut off by my own self. Sorry I was distracted and heating up some food while typing this, but yeah, I tag anyone who sees this.)

[deviljho]

oh ok but yeah my six of crows thoughts are

- the worldbuilding & magic stuff was fucking awesome. like yea maybe it’s a bit cringe steampunk YA edgy bullshit but idk it’s epic enough i can forgive that. i also think the politics and dynamics between the countries are really interesting too even though it has the all too common problem in fantasy settings where they’re like “here’s [FANTASY ASIA] and [FANTASY (vague nondescript middle eastern country)]” which is so reductive and boring lol but again unsurprising also :/ but anyways sorry i’m trying to not be a hater here so yeah like there was this specific moment where nina is walking through the fucking…nordic palace sorry i already forgot that country’s name and she clearly recognizes the architecture of the building as being magic manufactured where she speculates abt how different, historically, the relationship between them and other places might’ve been back before they started hunting and killing magic users and i was like damn. hell fucking yes bro. like there’s just a level of detail but also restraint to it

- um okay also i liked most of the characters but especially nina and inej and kaz. idk what else to say about them but yeah i really liked them

ok my hater moment incoming

1) it wasn’t really gay at all maybe i misunderstood but i thought it was? but also it sounds like future books are gayer so whatever *drops the rock i was holding*

2) i really hated matthias & nina’s relationship like i just hate when the whole dynamic between a guy and girl character is that he like actively thinks she’s disgusting and perverse and evil and subhuman and that he’s disgusting for being attracted to her like no amount of lore reasons could make it better for me every time they had a moment i was like 🤢🤢 GROSS….he kind of redeemed himself A LITTLE at the end but i’m still mad that this was the main romance in the book like please….straight women this is your teen fantasy?

3) in general i think it was wildly unrealistic for the characters to be fucking. 17 years old like sorry i’m just rejecting that entirely they’re 25 in my mind now

4) the last one isn’t rly about the book but i’m mad as fuck that nina is explicitly written as a fat character like ACTIVELY described that way multiple times (not negatively or anything but like….it is very much there in the text) but for whatever reason they cast some random skinny white girl to play her in the show like. be fucking for real rn!!!!! WHAT THE HELL

i give it 4 out of 5

[darkveracity]

Sexiest TLT Ladies Survey Results

About 3 months ago I ran a survey asking the locked tomb fandom to rate the attractiveness of each member of our large and varied cast of lesbians, necromancers, and necromancer lesbians on a scale of 1 to 5. Now it’s time to publish the results! The credit for most of this writeup goes to @misanthropicacegirl who applied a little of her data science expertise to analyzing your answers.

Preliminaries

The survey ran for 3 months and received 357 responses. The overwhelming majority of those were in the first two weeks but a slow trickle continued to come in over the remaining time it was open.

Section 1: Averages

One way to rate our girls is to look at their average rating.

Average Ratings

Gideon    4.25 Camilla   4.22 Harrow    3.80 Pyrrha    3.68 Corona    3.31 Alecto    3.30 Dulcie    3.28 Pal       3.20 Wake      3.15 Abigail   3.06 Ianthe    2.99 Cytherea  2.65 Mercymorn 2.61 Marta     2.57 Judith    2.32 Aiglamene 2.17

Gideon and Camilla are the only ones with an average above 4. Clear stand out winners here. At the bottom of the pack are Marta, Judith, and Aiglamene.

But it’s not all about averages. What are our other summary statistics?

Median Ratings

Gideon    5.0 Pyrrha    4.0 Camilla   4.0 Harrow    4.0 Dulcie    3.5 Alecto    3.0 Wake      3.0 Abigail   3.0 Marta     3.0 Pal       3.0 Corona    3.0 Ianthe    3.0 Aiglamene 2.0 Mercymorn 2.0 Cytherea  2.0 Judith    2.0

Gideon and Harrow both benefit from the median! The absolute middle of the road voter ranked Gideon a 5/5.

Difference Between The Median And The Mean

Cytherea   -0.651026 Mercymorn  -0.609971 Judith     -0.322581 Corona     -0.310145 Alecto     -0.298817 Camilla    -0.219020 Pal        -0.197059 Aiglamene  -0.174041 Wake       -0.151335 Abigail    -0.061584 Ianthe      0.011561 Harrow      0.198847 Dulcie      0.216374 Pyrrha      0.317507 Marta       0.425220 Gideon      0.748555

The difference between the median and the mean tells us a bit about the range of feeling, and how much outliers are influencing the average. Most people have an average fairly close to their median. Gideon, Marta, and Pyrrha all move up in the median – they have a couple of detractors who dragged them down. Cytherea and Mercymorn both move down in the median, because their average was raised by a couple of pro-lyctor fans. Surprisingly, Ianthe, who I would have thought would be very affected here is our most centrist/stable. She’s a 3 and she’s staying there.

First Quartile Ratings

Camilla   4.0 Gideon    4.0 Pyrrha    3.0 Harrow    3.0 Alecto    2.0 Wake      2.0 Abigail   2.0 Dulcie    2.0 Marta     2.0 Pal       2.0 Corona    2.0 Ianthe    2.0 Aiglamene 1.0 Mercymorn 1.0 Cytherea  1.0 Judith    1.0

What about on the low end? Whose popularity is most stable? Answer: Camilla and Gideon again. Even down to the 1st quartile, they were still getting a 4. (E.g., at least 75% of people gave them a 4 or higher.)

Standard Deviations

Camilla   0.978607 Gideon    1.017420 Judith    1.120026 Harrow    1.167082 Marta     1.182399 Pyrrha    1.216243 Corona    1.238687 Aiglamene 1.243601 Dulcie    1.274022 Pal       1.356506 Abigail   1.363070 Mercymorn 1.375335 Alecto    1.389682 Wake      1.426035 Cytherea  1.486678 Ianthe    1.491963

Looking at the standard deviation, Camilla has the lowest score too! Closely followed by Gideon, and surprisingly, Judith. No surprise that the bottom of the list features Ianthe, followed by Cytherea, Wake, Alecto, and Mercymorn – all fairly polarizing girls with a wide spread of potential takes.

Section 2: Ratings by Character

This is one more way of thinking about the distribution of answers each character got. I would have expected Ianthe to be mainly 1’s and 5’s, but she’s actually fairly neutral all the way through – nobody really has much of a bimodal distribution. Ianthe does have equal numbers of 1’s and 5’s, however. In contrast, Alecto’s 5’s outnumber her 1’s at a 2:1 ratio, and Gideon has nearly 20x the 5’s as 1’s.

Section 3: Ratings Given Ratings

Are Ianthe girls really so different from everyone else? Maybe a little. The people who rated Ianthe highly were also higher on Dulcie, Cytherea, Mercymorn, Pyrrha, Wake, Harrow, and Alecto– pretty much every morally gray girl on the list. Judith, Marta, Camilla, and Gideon don’t see much of a difference – and Pal goes down!

Here’s one way we could look at this up close to see the change.

This is the same chart from a Gideon perspective! As you can see, Gideon’s rating doesn’t really change Harrow or Camilla very much – their ratings are pretty high across the board without a lot of change. Pal has a stronger connection: if you rate Gideon a 1, chances are you rated Pal pretty low too. The reverse is true with Cytherea: the people who rated Gideon a 1 rated Cytherea more highly.

Section 4: Correlations

This is a correlation matrix! Each cell in the table represents the strengths of the relationship between the row and column character, between -1 and +1. +1 represents a relationship that totally corresponds with each other, 0 represents no relationship at all, and -1 represents a relationship that goes the opposite way. Each character has a perfect relationship with themselves, so there’s a diagonal of “+1’s” going from top left to bottom right.

Section 4A: Top Positive Correlations

They go together, like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong

Top Positive Correlations

Judith->Marta       0.63 Pyrrha->Wake        0.58 Dulcie->Cytherea    0.47 Wake->Alecto        0.44 Cytherea->Mercymorn 0.41 Alecto->Aiglamene   0.39 Dulcie->Abigail     0.34 Judith->Aiglamene   0.33 Ianthe->Cytherea    0.32 Cytherea->Wake      0.31 Abigail->Mercymorn  0.31 Marta->Aiglamene    0.31 Mercymorn->Wake     0.31 Wake->Aiglamene     0.31 Corona->Wake        0.31

Our second house girls go together! Yes, mostly people both voted them 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s, but people generally ranked them the same.

Our next strongest pair is Pyrrha and Wake. Most people put them both at 5, but people who were negative or lukewarm tended to be similar on both. Probably because they are terrifying warrior MILFs.

This Dulcie and Cytherea one is funny because we have 3 very different points happening. People who hated both, people who loved both, and a minor contingent of people who loved Dulcie but hated Cytherea. That last contingent is significant enough to show up, but not enough to throw off the correlation.

What do Gideon and Camilla look like here? There’s nowhere for us to draw a line–almost everyone put them both at a 5. True, some people rated one a 4 and the other a 5–but not enough for us to see a pattern from it.

Section 4B: Negative Correlation

Opposites…. repulse

Top Negative Correlations

Corona->Pal       -0.14 Ianthe->Pal       -0.13 Gideon->Mercymorn -0.12 Gideon->Cytherea  -0.08 Harrow->Pyrrha    -0.05 Pal->Cytherea     -0.05 Pal->Mercymorn    -0.03 Harrow->Marta     -0.02 Harrow->Wake      -0.02 Harrow->Pal       -0.02 Gideon->Ianthe    -0.02 Ianthe->Camilla   -0.01 Gideon->Abigail   -0.01 Camilla->Cytherea -0.00 Gideon->Dulcie    -0.00

Basically, this correlation exists because there are two different groups – the people liked Pal and put her at a 5 or 4, tended to rate Corona a 3, and the people who liked Corona (who put her at a 4) tended to rate Pal a 1 or 3.

Pal and Ianthe are also kind of opposites! In this case, there’s a VERY pro Pal contingent (3-5) that all rated Ianthe a 1, and a generally pro Ianthe faction (who rated her 4-5) that was pretty lukewarm on Pal.

Lastly, a totally different pattern: Gideon and Mercymorn. In general, everyone was very positive on Gideon and very negative on Mercymorn, hence our major dark spot at (5, 1). This correlation isn’t as strong, since most people loved Gideon regardless of how they felt about Mercymorn. But there were just enough contrarians who loved Mercymorn and disliked Gideon to give us a negative relationship.

Section 5: Clustering

What if we pretended to do some fancy machine learning, and tossed these into a clustering algorithm?

Two Clusters

Abigail & Aiglamene & Cytherea & Ianthe & Judith & Marta & Mercymorn

Alecto & Camilla & Corona & Dulcie & Gideon & Harrow & Pal & Pyrrha & Wake

If we tried just two clusters, we can see a split like this. I’d call this line the conventional heroines VS the meaner, more frightening and military women.

Three Clusters

Abigail & Alecto & Corona & Dulcie & Ianthe & Pyrrha & Wake

Camilla & Gideon & Harrow & Pal

Aiglamene & Cytherea & Judith & Marta & Mercymorn

We can see a pattern here too:

Supporting characters with some redeeming features and some problems

Main heroes

Mean older women

Four Clusters

Abigail & Cytherea & Ianthe & Mercymorn

Alecto & Corona & Dulcie & Pyrrha & Wake

Aiglamene & Judith & Marta

Camilla & Gideon & Harrow & Pal

Breaking this down into 4 gives us similar slices again.

Older and/or Dangerous women

Bitches horny for revenge, probably

Military women

The Camilla/Gideon/Harrow/Pal quadrilateral of friendship

Five Clusters

Cytherea & Ianthe & Mercymorn

Alecto & Corona & Pyrrha & Wake

Abigail & Dulcie & Pal

Aiglamene & Judith & Marta

Camilla & Gideon & Harrow

Last one! Rolling around 5 clusters we get:

Morally dismal lyctors

Women who’ll try killing the emperor in book 3

Friendly but dead nerds

Military women again

Our heroes

Bonus: Harrow or Gideon?

Can we bring back the simple times of the Twilight fandom? Can we be divided into team Harrow or team Gideon? We turn to the data to find out.

Gideon vs Harrow isn’t a very big divide either, as it turns out. The biggest effect it has is (drumroll)…that people who ranked Gideon higher than Harrow had high rankings for Gideon, and vice versa. Everyone else is fairly similar, and I wouldn’t put money on them being statistically significant.

Though there is a slight preference for Ianthe from the Harrow faction, and for Corona from the Gideon faction, which is definitely funny.

We can also observe some slight team Gideon preference for Judith, Marta, and Pyrrha.

[palmviolet]

hii! may i just ask you why/how the mom steve meme is sexist?

thank you for asking so politely!! i’m happy to talk about it (and i think it ought to be discussed).

okay, so let’s talk about mom steve.

steve is a teenage boy. the foundations of his character were set as the stereotypical 80s high school douche, a kind of foil to jonathan, whom nancy was always ultimately going to choose over steve - regardless of how steve’s character developed later on. then the duffers met joe keery, and decided to take his character in a different direction. he starts the series as your high school bully, though the take on the trope is more nuanced than it was originally, but by the end of season 1 he’s starting to redeem himself.

this is all good. it’s more interesting, actually, than the more typical archetype fulfilled by billy in season 2. the duffers are all about nuance.

so let’s go to joyce in season 1. joyce embodies another archetype - the stricken, frantic, hysterical mother. the narrative could easily dismiss her, but instead a large proportion of the series is from her perspective: we see her use of the christmas lights not as a delusion but as a rational, logical experiment. we as the audience are desperate for the others to believe her. so here, too, there is another subversion of a trope - and when her beliefs are validated by hopper, literally part of the institutions that dismiss her (he is ex-army, the police chief, a man), she is still a fundamental part of uncovering the mystery and finding her son. he doesn’t take over. without her, they never would have succeeded.

all this she does in aid of her child. she gets called crazy, delusional, a mess even by her own son, jonathan - but she doesn’t give up.

to summarise so far - in season 1, both steve and joyce subvert tropes. joyce overcomes institutional sexism by her strength and belief as a mother.

onto season 2. the crisis - the monster du jour - isn’t so glaring this time, but creeps up on the narrative. will is present and for a while joyce can be more relaxed. she has a boyfriend now - bob - and they seem happy together. we learn than she and hopper went to high school together. we discover she - and the other characters - are still heavily traumatised by the events of season 1. nancy is too, and she’s struggling in her relationship with steve. but instead of framing their breakup around her trauma, around how they simply don’t work together anymore because they’ve both grown to be different people, the show seems to favour steve and make it less than amicable. we are made to feel sorry for steve, poor, dumped steve, instead of placing the two on equal ground.

@jancys-blue-bayou made a good post about this a while back, when the teaser for s3 came out. in it they discuss steve in season 2; ‘they began […] by making him “a loser” through his relationship with nancy ending in a way that humiliated his frail male ego and then king steve losing his crown to billy, so he’s not popular in high school now. just like jonathan’s never been.’ essentially they begin to shape steve into what jonathan used to be - a loner, an outcast, someone the audience should sympathise with. the kind of character stranger things has always been about.

meanwhile the whole mess with will begins, and joyce has no other focus once again - her relationship with bob falls by the wayside, unless he becomes relevant to will again (calling him up about the tape, inviting him in to help them solve the map). within the narrative this is perfectly understandable - her son is going through something horrible, again, of course he’s all she cares about - but we lose any sense of joyce the person, again. she’s just joyce the mom. contrast this with hopper, who is treated very differently by the narrative. he has multiple plotlines, emotional beats. as @nancykali puts it, ‘the duffers didn’t want to deal with their only main adult female character having a storyline outside of will and hopper. oh but wait - hopper could get his storylines as joyce’s love interest, a support for will, and an adoptive parent to el though, couldn’t he? that’s unbalanced and sexist storytelling.’

so, to recap - while joyce is reduced down to just the Mom (which was fine in s1, because of the urgency of the situation and the fact that this was a new show, none of the characters had been developed much yet, but starts to become alarming in s2) which by default makes her less relatable, less of a figure for the audience to connect with, steve is deliberately cast as a multi-faceted, sympathetic character. joyce’s ‘story is no less than hopper’s but it’s treated as lesser by the canon because she’s a woman and her role is Mother First, Human Second. but if a man decides to be a father he deserves to be lauded, where for a mother to adopt a little girl, that’s too predictable to some people.’ this last bit is in reference to hopper, but it works for steve too. steve giving attention to the kids and acting protective over them for what amounts to one afternoon is celebrated far beyond anything joyce has done, because it’s breaking type. and sure, that can be a good thing. when the series first came out i really enjoyed babysitter steve.

but that’s all he is. a babysitter. joyce is a real mom, and yet because she’s a woman, that’s her job description. but because steve is a teenage boy, who used to be something of a bully, he gets praise far beyond what he might deserve.

being a mother is what drives joyce’s narrative arc - and that’s wrong, and misogynistic, because she deserves to be fleshed out and given other plotlines too - and her character would literally have nothing without it. it feels like a slap in the face, then, for it to be steve who is labelled ‘best mom’ - steve, who has multiple facets to his character, steve who is a teenage boy, steve who is affluent and male and up until recently embodied the trope of 80s highschool bully. joyce is quite literally a single mom and we are shown that she often struggles to make ends meet. she’s had nervous breakdowns in the past, she works weekends and nights and holidays, she relies on jonathan almost as a co-parent to will. she’s a flawed mother, but she does her goddamn best because her life is hard - and despite all this she finds time to actively know and engage with her sons’ interests, to play with them, to have jokes with them. this is being a good mom.

‘mom steve’ is perpetuated by fandom, but it is rooted in the show. take the first s3 teaser: ‘they have him work a menial job that has fans of the mom meme write stuff like “steve got a minimum wage job to take care of his five kids”’. both joyce and jonathan work/have worked menial jobs to support their family, possibly both at minimum wage - while steve is very notably and explicitly affluent. in fact if any character in the show who is not a mom deserves to be called one, it’s jonathan, who is in all but name a co-parent to will. i think @jancys-blue-bayou and @nervousalligator have written on this in the past.

however, applying the term ‘mom’ to these male characters at all is sexist by itself. it promotes the idea that only women can be caregivers - that parenting is only the duty of the mother, and is nothing to do with men. this is highly misogynistic, links back to age-old gender roles that it’s high time were erased, and yet the meme perpetuates them. steve is male. if anything, he should be called ‘dad steve’ - but people won’t run with that, because it’s all a joke. because motherhood is a joke. joyce is defined by being a mother and yet she gets no recognition for it, while steve is not a mother, has multiple plotlines and facets beyond that meme, and yet is lauded as the best mom of all.

it’s actually a manner of woobifying him. he’s not a perfect character, not of them are, yet this ‘mom’ caricature somehow strives to paint him as such. it’s the same with hopper, in his parenting of el - his obvious flaws are dismissed across the fandom because of sweet father-daughter moments. i love hopper as a character, and i can appreciate steve, but often people simply don’t understand them. as @paris-geller-was-straightwashed puts it, ‘y’all will soften the males of this show all the way down until they literally don’t have any sharp edges anymore.’ the male characters become perfect, can do no wrong, while the women are criticised for their every mistake (see the treatment of nancy post s2).

it’s a cycle. the show began it, when they tried to promote steve the best way they knew how - by shaping him into a prototype of jonathan, except without any flaws and much, much richer - and the fandom picked it up and ran with it. this led to fanservice, with the scoops ahoy teaser and the stranger things twitter (don’t think i’ve forgiven the mothers’ day tweet). with any luck the fandom will wise up a little or the creators will stop pandering to them, but we’ll have to see the outcome of s3. regardless, it’s time to stop calling steve a mom. if anything, he’s a big brother to dustin - yet another role that was somewhat snatched from jonathan (see the scene at the end of s1 when jonathan comes down to mike’s basement at the end of the d&d game - he’s a big brother figure to all the boys). people call steve a mom because he gave dustin advice - horrible, sexist advice (‘treat ‘em like you don’t care’) - and put a tea towel on his shoulder. that’s it.

so maybe appreciate steve as his own character, a babysitter at most, because you’re doing him a disservice by woobifying him and calling him a ‘mom’. appreciate joyce, who is an actual mom, and maybe start lobbying the duffers for more development for their female characters rather than for more sexist memes.

TLDR; joyce is defined by being a mother and yet she gets no recognition for it, while steve is not a mother, has multiple plotlines and facets beyond that meme, and yet is lauded as the best mom of all.

[pastorralffriedrichs]

9 Examples of Thanksgiving in the Bible

With promises of really great deals on Black Friday littered between college football timeouts, the meaning of Thanksgiving sometimes gets missed. We pause to give thanks for the food, family members and friends gathered around the table in the midst of preparing elaborate meals and navigating family relations. But giving thanks isn’t a practice reserved for a single day each year. It has deeper spiritual significance and benefits that ring true long after the leftovers are consumed.

Gratitude is a heart tenderizer. It keeps our eyes focused on God, the source of all good gifts. It keeps our hearts open, and with open hearts, the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control—have ample room to grow.

Here are nine examples of thanksgiving in the Bible that have nothing to do with pilgrims or Native Americans, turkey, or touchdowns:

1. Thanksgiving When Something Big Happens

The Red Sea just parted. Pharaoh’s army disappeared in its waves. And the Israelites stand in awe on the other side of slavery — free at last, free at last. Moses and his sister, Miriam sing a song (the “song of the sea”) about the victory, including these lines from Exodus 15:2 (NIV):

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The song of the sea is one of the oldest surviving texts describing the Exodus, possibly written as many as three thousand years ago. When something significant happens in our lives, it seems embedded in our DNA to celebrate with song. Songs become landmarks in our memory, resurrecting decades later and returning delight to our eyes, thanksgiving to our hearts.

The Song of Moses and Miriam

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. “The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy. “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, LORD, until the people you bought pass by. You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. “The LORD reigns for ever and ever.” When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.”

2. Thanksgiving in the Face of the Unknown

In times of uncertainty, it may seem strange to turn to gratitude, but think about it: when else do we need to rely on God most except when faced with the unknown? Mary’s song, recorded after her encounter with her cousin Elizabeth, is a perfect example of the kind of praise we can give when the future looks uncertain. For being pregnant out of wedlock, Mary could have been shunned. Mary could have been cast out by her family. Mary could have been condemned to death. And yet Mary gives thanks for this new thing, this unexpected gift. You can read her song in Luke 1:46-55.

Mary’s Song

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

3. Thanksgiving in Lament

Over and over again, the psalms show us what it means to be thankful, even in times of fear, sadness, and grief. Gratitude draws our eyes away from the pain, terror, and anxiety of loss and helps us focus on the gifts of this world, moving us forward along the healing process.

After he loses his family, his wife, his property, and his health, Job, the sufferer of sufferers, cries out, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21, NIV)

Psalms that demonstrate this include Psalm 22 (which is what Jesus quoted from the cross when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) and Psalm 69.

Psalm 22 starts in anguish and suffering, but takes a turn toward the end when David writes,

"I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help."

Psalm 69:29-36 reads:

"But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves. The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live! The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there."

4. Thanksgiving When You Don’t Feel Like It

Sometimes God feels distant or silent. When this happens in my life, the full emotions of joy, empathy, grief, and anger seem to level out to monotony, routine, and boredom. If God seems distant, the desire to praise him and give thanks for the routine just isn’t as exciting as the other seasons, when things are good, life is full, joy is easy.

Yet again, the Bible shows us thanksgiving as a response to God, even when he’s silent, even when we don’t feel like it. This sacrifice of thanksgiving — and it is a sacrifice, mustering up the habit of praise if your heart isn’t in it — drags you, step by step, back into the presence of the Lord.

Read Psalm 13 if you’re feeling distant from God.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.

5. Thanksgiving in Contrast to Our Current Circumstances

There are also times when life just doesn’t seem like a season for gratitude. Maybe you have a chronic illness. Maybe you’re caring for an elderly parent or a special needs child. Thankfulness for these circumstances - even when each day brings fresh challenges — helps us to find hope and meaning. Paul writes to the church in Rome, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Similarly in Philippians 1:12-21 Paul wrote from prison,

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is

Christ and die to gain

6. Thanksgiving as a Community

Gratitude collectively as a family or a community is a tremendous equalizer — when differences of political or religious or cultural opinion and stance are present, gratitude helps us to focus on the areas of our relationships that matter the most. It’s hard to be grateful for each other and still wield our theological, political, and cultural weapons.

The Jewish tradition includes several feasts as a form of remembrance. The Passover meal with Jesus and his apostles, the Feast of Tabernacles, and more are all examples in Scripture of the community of believers coming together to remember the past and respond in gratitude to God. Read about the Last Supper in Mark 14:

The Last Supper

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?” “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

7. Thanksgiving for Others

At the start of each of the letters from Paul sent throughout the first century following Jesus’ resurrection, Paul expresses his thanks for the people. “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world,” Paul writes in Romans 1:8. “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus,” he writes to the church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:4. “I thank my God every time I remember you,” he tells the church in Philippi in Philippians 1:3. “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus,” he says to the folks addressed in Philemon 1:4-5.

There’s something about expressing your gratitude for a person — not just saying thank you when they do something, but saying thank you for just being — that forms a bond of trust in your relationship. It acknowledges a particular characteristic about a person that raises their esteem in the way Paul says we ought to encourage one another or build one another up. Gratitude for another person may be one of the most impactful and practical ways we can build one another up.

8. Thanksgiving Rituals and Touchstones

After Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground, Joshua instructed the chief priests of the 12 tribes of Israel to gather up 12 stones from the Jordan. They set up these stones at Gilgal. Then Joshua told the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over” (Joshua 4:21-23).

The traditions we enact with friends and family are perhaps one of the most obvious forms of thanksgiving. Traditions performed together spotlight seasons of our lives in which we’ve seen God active and present in our lives. They hold the record of years past, when the children were younger, when we all were together, when great-grandpa was alive, and so on. They provide opportunities to reminisce.

When we “always” do this particular act (praying together before a Thanksgiving meal, eating together at Aunt Sue’s, stating what we’re grateful for, making the traditional turkey meal or partaking in grandma’s passed down recipe for pumpkin pie), we create a spirit of unity, one that connects us to the past and manifests thankfulness.

9. Thanksgiving in God’s Presence

And then there’s Sunday morning. Then there are the times we gather together as a community of believers. Then there are the times we walk in the woods, wander along the coast, stare into the sky, watch the leaves shift in the trees, and wonder, awe, and joy bubble up. Wherever you find yourself deeply connected to God — in nature, in a chapel, in your backyard, in silent meditation — is an opportunity for gratitude.

When the Ark of the Covenant is brought back to Jerusalem, the whole population of Israel sings its thanks. “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34). When we are in alignment with God, walking in the Way, it’s a time to give thanks. Life is full, life is good, and his love endures forever.

Revelation 7:9-12 points forward,

The Great Multitude in White Robes

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

#takeyourlifebacktodayshow

[heartavenged]

THINGS I LOVED ABOUT AVENGERS ENDGAME

SPOILERS.

Based on the amazing post by @saieras (21 things I loved about endgame), anything pushed by blockquotes (the little line on the left), and some of the titles, come directly from said post --DISCLAIMER -- and means I agree completely.

1. THE FIRST 20 MINUTES

Expectations? Chuck them out the window. They weren’t kidding when they said all promotional material came from the first 20 mins!!! I loved how they got right into the thick of things, cameras blazing, completely no nonsense. And CAROL omg. Also I did NOT expect Thanos’ death to be, Just Like That.

CAROL, again.

2. THE TIME JUMP

Very, very smart move. I liked everything about the time jump. It lets us view the event with a lens of a world shattered, a world that has had the chance to come to its senses and reel from the catastrophe.

3. TONY CONFRONTS STEVE

I have firmly been Team Iron Man since Civil War, and Tony is my favourite character (I am not okay), so suffice to say that I loved how, even weakened with malnourishment, he got in Steve’s face, and everything he said.

4. THE LANGS

Just. Every joke he made. Fantastic.But also I did not expect to shed my first tear at his and Cassie’s reunion. That was great.

5. DOMESTIC TONY

Tony and Morgan. Such a real, cute father-daughter relationship. ‘Mommy send me to rescue you’ and ‘Love you three thousand’ filled my heart with joy.

6. INTERN

Tony and Peter’s photo (...)  AND THAT PHOTO WAS HIS. In HIS HOUSE. FRAMED. I REALLY wish we got more but that moment was very powerful. Still, I was unsatisfied. I wanted Tony to cry. I wanted Morgan to also know about Peter. Basically I want more canonical proof of Irondad Spiderson. Like, listen, this is the one loss that haunts Tony to this day. Peter’s death was the kind of pain that made Tony terrified of going again, for fear of losing Morgan

7. THE NYC SCENE

ALL of it. From Tony the security guard, to him talking shit about his own deodorant, to him giving himself a cardiac arrest to cause a diversion and being like this is fine, nothing to see here. And Hulk vs stairs. And STEEB. OMG STEEB. “Hail Hydra.“ “I’ve got visuals on Loki.” “I can do this all da–“ “Yeah. I know. I know.“

“Bucky… Is… ALIVE“

And butt jokes. So many Steve buttjokes. I don’t ship stony, but that is the closest y’all will get to a stony suggestive scene.

ALSO LOKI just yeeting himself outta there. That’s ma boi!

8. FRIGGA AND THOR

Nuff said. Mama Frigga is the best.

9. TONY AND HOWARD

It’s really great how adorable Tony was throughout this scene. And… while Howard was NOT redeemed, it’s nice to know he did love his son. And it’s great that Tony got some closure.

10. PEGGY AND STEVE

Out of the Big Three’s scenes with their “significant past people”, this one was the least impactful for me, as they didn’t even talk, BUT in retrospect it set the scene for later perfectly.

Also because I don’t much care for Steve.

11. GAMORA

This is GREAT and showcases her character very well, who she really is despite who Thanos raised her to be.

True, the minute she realizes Thanos’ plan is to wipe out half the universe, she is so clearly appalled (I don’t think she really knew what he planned for after he gathered all stones), and immediately starts to reconsider her position on the whole thing.

12. CLINT AND NATASHA

Their friendship was on full display during this film. Their scenes. And how it was all platonic. The entire audience knew, as soon as they landed on Vormir, that one of them wasn’t going to make it.

- I knew it would be Natasha , though, Clint and his family, and Natasha and her whole “I need redemption, I’m still trying to be a better person” -

Back to the Vormir scene: it was amazing, and heartbreaking, the lengths they were willing to go to make sure they were the sacrifice, like, how they were willing to injure if it meant the other were alive at the end. Clint and Natasha were never my favourites (except around Avengers), but I will forever applaud Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner for their outstanding performance.

13. THE BIG THREE FIGHT THANOS

Thor’s lightning and Tony’s Iron Man tech combining to kick purple ass, all of three of them holding the titan back while the others tried to crawl out of the rubble. Still, the “big three fight” was mainly focused on Steve, in my opinion.

Like previously stated, I’m not a greeeat Steve fan, but even I have to admit that Mjölnir zapping to his hand at that precise moment was awesome. I cheered right along with everyone else. Which also justifies Thor grabbing it along from the past and possibly, maybe, most likely, leaving his past-self without it?

Anyways, cue tears at each shard of the shield.

14. THE ENTRANCE OF THE HEROES

If I was crying before, the moment that Sam hails Steve, and Shuri, Okoye and T’Challa walk through that first portal I was outright sobbing.

Words don’t do justice to the emotion I felt at seeing ALL my heroes assemble for the last time. At each new face I cried harder. They didn’t forget anyone and that made me so fucking happy. 

I felt as if I could climb into the screen and fight alongside them, I felt powerful enough and fired up enough to do it too. And that’s the magic of that scene, thank you cast and crew. Thank you MARVEL for the incredible build up, I thought it was worth it.

15. PETER AND TONY

How Peter goes straight for Tony and cute rambling mode is already turned on, but Tony can’t even speak, and just falls into the hug in a parallel of their “hug” in Infinity War.

“Oh, this is nice!”

The moment is essencial since Peter, and not really any of the other tens of trillions* that vanished in the snap, is the reason Tony embarks in the time travel venture, even when it could’ve cost him so much. So it validates his choice, besides his being, you know, a true hero.

16. CAROL’S ENTRANCE

I missed her in this movie. I mean, I thought she would be in almost every shot, but maybe that was just because I think she’s fantastic. Her entrance, tho.

“What are they shooting at?” “Something just entered the atmosphere”

And then blast! Singlehandedly destroying the mothership (Thanos’ looks so fucking offended and we can see any conviction of victory waning from his expression), and kicking some ass. Way to establish dominance early on girl!

I mean, I played with the idea of Infinity-War-Thor being equal to Carol, (and maybe, maybe, he could’ve come a close) but now? She’s so clearly in another level... No words except: goddess.

17. PETER IN THE BATTLE + CAROL

Instant kill mode

So proud of him. The way he flips in, and is instantly like Woah this is a Big Fight!!

“Hey Peter Parker. Got something for me?”

CAROL. CArol listen. You are his mom now. That’s how it works with that damn kid. (...) It be like that sometimes.

I don’t think Carol would ever be around enough for anything close to parental relationship (plus, May is Peter’s mom), but that boy will worship the hero-shit out of Captain Marvel.

18. MARVEL’S HEROINES

If my crying had eased a bit from the general assemble moment, I fucking cracked again here. They are so tough, and powerful, and beautiful.

As a woman, it was so damn empowering and important to see all of them up there, together, each with their own background and their own strengths. I love how we had all kinds of women - warriors, mothers, princesses, generals, wives, captains, businesswomen, scientists, girlfriends, assasins, friends, witches - and all of them fighters.

I also can’t wait for the gifset and the final still - it’s gonna be my background for about everything.

Also RESCUE. OMG. PEPP. And the battlefield fighting side by side with Tony.

19. TONY’S SEND OFF

His death. I was glad Pepper was the last one there, to tell him it’s okay, they’ll be fine, he can let go.

AND PETER. Peter was there, trying to talk to him, sobbing and breaking down. This is what I wanted, going in, if Tony were to die. And this is what I got. You just know this is going to haunt him in FFH.

And Tony himself. His immense sacrifice, the moment he knew what he had to do, the moment Strange held up that finger. One way. UGH.

Of course I knew Natasha wouldn’d be the only one to die, but damn, I’m still feeling the hole his amazing fictional character left/ is going to leave in my life. Literally the only one (Peter was of course safe with Far From Home around the corner) I didn’t want to die. I loved him before my heart was inflated with Stark-family feels.

The lake house was so peaceful and I loved how it showed that after all his trouble, his PTSD, Tony had found a home and a family (even if somethings haunted him).

The picture, and how devastated Peter is can only mean that between Homecoming and Infinity War they grew closer, which had always been what I wanted. But I wanted to see it! Fanfiction will have to continued to lull my pain, I guess.

Speaking of fanfiction, Harley being at the funeral is all the proof my little fanheart needs to claim they’ve not only been in contact through the years, but had a mentor/parental relationship as well.

The question for me now is: how well do the boys know each other?

20. AND FINALLY, TONY. RDJ.

Thank you. Beyond all words, Thank you.

This has been one hell of a ride.

FOREVER IRON MAN

[breanna-lynn]

Breanna, I am looking for advice that isn't judgmental or self-righteous and you are the only one I can think of who I can go to. My new husband and I are having problems with intimacy--I am terrified of being physically vulnerable with him and haven't been able to do much other than kiss him without feeling embarrassed. He feels like he's doing something wrong but I know the problem is mine somehow...how do I push past the fear in moments like this?

Thanks for writing me and trusting me! You definitely are not judged or going to get some self-righteous crap from me. You are loved and accepted

There are a lot of reasons you may be feeling the way you are; I personally don’t know the root of why you feel embarrassed or terrified, but God does and He can reveal to you what this is coming from and heal you from it so it no longer hinders your intimacy with your husband! Also, it’s so common to feel this way for a lot of women, so don’t feel embarrassed about how you feel. You’re okay.

We hide out of fear when we feel naked, exposed, shameful. Just like Adam after he gave into sin in the garden (“And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:10 ).

But sometimes the enemy tricks us into feeling shameful about our nakedness when we have nothing to fear. If you have been forgiven and your sins washed by accepting Jesus as your Savior, then this is your truth:  

 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1. 

The enemy brings shame, condemnation, and is the accuser- he makes what God designed to be holy and beautiful something quite the opposite. God wants us to enjoy each other and to have full intimacy. He made sex to be enjoyable for us, not just physically, but emotionally and relationally as well. (“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2:25).

I don’t know your personal reasons of why you feel this way, or why it is hard, and I wouldn’t be one to guess- but I can confidently encourage you with the truth and pray for you and share what God put on my heart when I lifted you up in prayer to Him.I spent some time praying for you and your husband and seeking God, listening to the Holy Spirit. Here is the encouragement I received for you, in three parts:

1. I believe God wants you to be vulnerable before Him and learn how to receive love. He is going to break down every wall of fear that has been built up inside you.

Play “Come out of Hiding” by Steffany Gretzinger. Just let it play and listen, let the Holy Spirit minister to you. Allow God to speak to your heart and hold you. Just be still and receive.

Receive God’s love. That’s all I want you to do. Lay your heart bare before Him and let Him love you.

He loves you.

Receive His love for you.

“I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.” Song of Songs 7:10

Jesus’ love for you is safe, perfect, pure, secure. In His love, there is no fear. His love will cast out all fear. Allow Him to love you with His perfect, good love for You, and let it cast out all your fear. He is not here to punish you. He is here to love you as valuable and precious to Him. He saved you because of His lovingkindness.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”  1 John 4:18  

The enemy works overtime to challenge any notion that we are valuable and loved by God. He knows that our behavior, lifestyle, calling- everything we do flows from our identity. He puts up accusations against the simple truth that we are loved by God. “To embrace your identity as the beloved of God is the embrace that you are chosen, desired, and deeply valued by God.” - A.N.  When you are grounded in God’s love for you, lies are replaced with truth. So first you must receive and believe God’s love for you. No rebuttal against it. No doubts of His love or that He could love you. You are His beloved- He chose you, pursues you, and you are His, and He loves you completely and fully. 

You are loved by God.

He is going to set you free in His love, so you can fully enjoy the intimacy He desires for you to experience in every good and perfect way.

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 

Turn to His love and let Him unveil your face to behold and see the beauty of His love for you. He is continually sanctifying you and transforming you with His love- just fix your gaze on His love for you and receive it. Let Him remove the veil so you can see the love that is ready for you to receive. 

And as you receive God’s love for you, He is showing you how to be free and receive love from your husband and greater intimacy. Your husband is supposed to love you like Christ loves the church- laying Himself down for you, loving you as he loves his own body, washing you in the truth of God, and treating you as holy and pure, nourishing and cherishing you. May he treat you “with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as a fellow heir of the gracious gift of life.” (Ephesians 5:21-33 + 1 Peter 3:7) And you, as a wife, submit (entrust) yourself to your husband as you see that he would give everything for you.

2. Reconcile.

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but wordly sorrow brings death.” - 2 Corinthians 7:10

Perhaps something was broken for you. That breaking would have caused you pain and an opening to create distance between you and another/others.

Intimacy is restored by forgiveness. If there was a conflict or pain that you have been through, something may be left unaddressed. Take time seeking God about forgiveness- for yourself, your husband, between you and God, between you and another person, etc. Acknowledge sin and confess it; extend forgiveness and receive forgiveness. Maybe you have already confessed a sin but haven’t truly allowed yourself (or someone else) to receive God’s forgiveness in your heart. Receive it. If there is someone you haven’t forgiven yet- Jesus paid the price so we can reconcile and restore what was lost because of sin previously, and so He can give you peace where there once was pain. I am praying God restores your intimacy, that it would be richer than you ever experienced than before, and that He would heal all and any pain you may have endured during a period of emotional and physical separation. Jesus draws us closer. God knows and loves us. Whatever is causing distance, seeking to reconcile in Christ. Beyond making peace or settling difference- God will restore your friendship and intimacy. God made a way for you to enjoy intimacy with Him, and with your husband. He will reconcile us to Himself and to one another. 

If you have been feeling a barrage of shame and guilt that is not of God but rather the enemy’s lies accusing you and making you feel condemnation, that is not from God and you are going to rebuke it and take authority over it. But first, seek if there needs to be a time of repentance between you and God, or you and your husband. Know the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the condemnation of the devil. 

“Often it feels as though our sin and failures are permanent marks against us. We walk through the halls of our lives and are continually reminded of our shortcomings. The evil one will pour gasoline on the sparks of our internal guilt until our minds are consumed by the flames of condemnation instead of holy conviction.

Conviction is a work of the Spirit that helps us see the wrong we’ve done;Condemnation is a work of the evil one that tells us we are defined by the wrong we’ve done.” (Adam Narciso)

Satan tries to accuse and condemn you; Jesus took away your sins and has clothed you in His righteousness ( Zechariah 3:1-5 ) 

3. I believe God wants you to rebuke shame in the name of Jesus and take authority over it in Christ. 

You are going to tell shame to go.

I believe God wants to set your free from lies of doubt, lies of insecurity, lies of dirtyness, lies of shame and lies of fear. 

Ask God to reveal why you are terrified of being physically vulnerable with your husband. 

Ask God to show you the root of your fear.

What do you fear? Do you fear rejection? Do you fear showing your body to your husband? Do you fear trusting yourself to your husband physically? Write down what He shows you. Be honest with yourself and with God.

Ask God to reveal to you why you feel embarrassed.

You don’t have to “push past” fear- especially sexually. You need to feel safe and comfortable sexually with the person you are with. Don’t ever feel like you have to push past anything or force yourself to do something you aren’t yet comfortable with.

Do not believe the lie something is wrong with you.

Rebuke each and every lie that you have believing: the lie you are not beautiful, that you are flawed, that you are unattractive, that you can’t share your body the way it is, that you will be rejected or your husband won’t love you if he sees you. Whatever the lie is, rebuke it. Tell fear to go in the name of Jesus. 

I want you to know that you have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing you need to cover or hide, nothing you need to keep to yourself. You are the beloved, you are fearfully, wonderfully made; you are beautiful, you are pure, you are His; you are loved, you are accepted, you are desired, you are clean; you are

What Christ has done for you in redeeming you and making you His is not something that can be undone.

Command any accusatory or condemning voice to be silence in Jesus’s name. 

A good way to tell the difference between God’s voice and the enemies is this comparison:

God’s voice calms, comforts, convicts, encourages, enlightens, leads, reassures, and stills us. 

The enemy’s voice obsesses, worries, condemns, discourages, confuses, pushes, frightens, and rushes.

Do not listen or give power to the voice that is not from God. Rebuke it in Jesus’ name and take authority over it. Declare God’s truth over yourself, over your husband, over your marriage. 

“I sought the Lord, He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” - Psalm 34:4-5

Here are some verses to meditate on as you bring your heart to God:

Genesis 1:26-27  -  Psalm 139:12-18    -   Titus 3:4-7    -  2 Corinthians 5:17    -  Ephesians 1:7-10   - Ephesians 2:13-18 -  Ephesians 3:14-19 -  Ephesians 5:31 -  Colossians 1:13-14 -  Romans 3:21-26 - Romans 5:10-11 - Romans 6:6-14 - Romans 8:14-16 - 1 John 3:1-3

You are amazing and wonderful, a beautiful creation of God; You are treasured and precious. You are safe in His love and protected by His great, perfect love for You. There is no fear in His love. You are safe and secure. You are free and you are forgiven. You are allowed to trust your body with your spouse. You are safe to open up. 

Sharing physical intimacy and giving yourself to another is actually such a beautiful, powerful act! It’s meant to be pleasurable and enjoyable. There’s nothing shameful about desiring your spouse sexually or him wanting you. Opening up and entrusting your full self to the one you love, who loves you, is is an amazing act of intimacy and trust. Trust your husband loves you, cares for you, desires you out of loving who you are, and wants to be with you- and yet respects you with patience until you are ready to give yourself fully to him. Whatever fears have held you back, whatever shame once had a hold, whatever brokenness that built walls within you, whatever lies you believed- those are all going to be torn down and taken away by the powerful, tender love of God. Everything that once stood in the way or kept you in hiding is going to be removed and God is going to be the safety and security you can let your guard down and become free to receive love within the truth of the fact that this love He’s given you is a gift from Him for you to enjoy. 

I hope you write me back and that somehow God speaks to you through this and you experience a breakthrough in this area so you can enjoy the intimacy He created for you to enjoy!

[grifalinas]

I guess I’ve decided to delurk so have some thoughts I threw at the wall about my hypothetical screen adaptation of the Jeeves stories. Literally copy-pasted from Dreamwidth because no one has time to type things twice

If I were ever to do an adaptation of Jeeves and Wooster, I would have so much fun with the relationship between Bertie and Honoria. I've always loved (and sort of treated it as subtle canon) that Honoria is as gay as Bertie and her main interest in marrying him was in setting up something convenient for both of them, and it would be fun to do something with that in a setting I have control over. Other ideas: 1. Bertie is a mildly successful writer of short stories, mostly partially fictionalized stories about his and Jeeves adventures. This would not only cover the way the stories are written, ie, as though Bertie and occasionally Jeeves were writing them themselves, but it would also cover any differences between the source material and the version being shown. 2. There would definitely be scenes of Bertie randomly waxing poetic about Jeeves, preferably adjacent to scenes of Bertie calling his friends out on their waxing poetic about the girls they fall in love with. 3. More scenes that show how utterly fond Jeeves is of Bertie, since the books don't always make that easy (being from Bertie's point of view, and Jeeves moving around off-screen most of the time). The show did pretty good at that, since we were able to see more from Jeeves' point of view (and because they cast someone capable of recognizing homoerotic subtext when it's waved in front of him), but I think I could do better. 4. Somehow contrive to get Honoria more screentime. Idk how I'd do it, but I'd manage somehow, because I love her. 5. Cast someone a bit young-ish to play Spode. The books never give his age at all and the show went with making him a bit of the older set, and all of that in conjunction with him loving Madeline since she was "so high" is kind of, hm. Unpleasant to contemplate. I could probably get away with it if I made him just a bit older than her- maybe late teens while she was early teens, or something. Just... sort of remove the implications that he was a fully grown man in love with a child. Alternately, I could just remove the "loved her since she was so high" angle, since middle aged men marrying younger women was fairly common to the setting. (Basically, "loved her since she was so high" is cute and romantic between people with a relatively small age gap and creepy and predatory when you make it as big as the show implied.) 6. Do something with my idea that Bertie is ridiculously popular with service staff because he treats them like people doing a job to earn a living rather than furniture or his entitled right. He's not perfect (the whole "feudal spirit" thing) but I like the idea that deep-rooted classism aside, Bertie just really gets on with people, and people who aren't trying to control him or get something out of him really like him. 7. All of the women would be portrayed far more sympathetically. Bertie's views are understandable given a variety of factors, but all of them are just trying to seize what control is available to them in a setting designed to keep them from having any, and Bertie, as an agreeable good-natured chump, is a perfect target for gaining that control. While I don't disagree that they can all make themselves dreadfully unpleasant, so can Bertie, and they should definitely be given a look-in that doesn't treat them as having no redeeming qualities just because Bertie sees them a specific way. 8. Actually, going back to that first point about Bertie writing down his adventures as semi-fictionalized stories, is there any reason I couldn't just hypothetically present it as a love story? 9. I would definitely find some way of getting blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from a bald little man and his friend who are subtly implied to be Poirot and Hastings because uhhhh well I want to, I don't have a real reason for this. 1o. Like Honoria, Bobbi Wickham is going to get more screentime. I don't have any particular love for her, but Bertie seemed to consider her his go-to when he wanted to get married for the sake of having kids, and her stories imply a degree of closeness he doesn't enjoy with the other young ladies of his acquaintance. So they're going to be bros and he occasionally floats around the idea of marrying her because that's what love is, right? When you like being around someone? This fondness is what men are always going on about, right? That has to be it. It's love. Obviously.

Anyway someone hire me to head up a screen adaptation of Jeeves, I promise I’ll make them good

[yumeka36]

Tangled the Series season 2 review

Just finished watching the season 2 finale of Tangled the Series (a.k.a. Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure). Since I wrote a thorough review of season 1 here, I wanted to express the thoughts I had on this season too.

While I had some issues with the ending (which I’ll get to later), overall I enjoyed this season maybe even a bit better than the first. There were some episodes in season 1 that I liked more than season 2, but I thought the season 2 episodes as a whole were more interesting, creative, unpredictable, and had a better balance between drama and comedy. Maybe it was because season 2 had the cast on a journey, which lent itself to a more variety of wacky and fantastical adventures, plus the fact that the main cast of characters was already introduced in season 1 so no need to spend time establishing them, only developing them. Among my favorite episodes was “There’s Something About Hook Foot,” which I thought hit the blend of drama and comedy well, and I really admire it for ending on such a bittersweet note, showing to all the kids watching that romantic relationships don’t always have happy endings. “Rapunzeltopia” was also a favorite that developed Rapunzel’s character even further and was just an overall great idea for an episode. “Rapunzel and the Great Tree” and “Rapunzel: Day One” were good as well and featured plenty of touching and suspenseful moments between Rapunzel and Cassandra.

I loved the songs in the first season, and while I liked some from this season, overall they’re shorter length-wise and a few like “The Buddy Song” and “Livin’ the Dream” are a bit too silly for my taste. But “Next Stop Anywhere” is a wonderfully catchy tune, and Cassandra’s solo “Waiting in the Wings” was an unexpected treat. One thing I did want to point out before I discuss the finale is that maybe the creators did go a tad overboard with magic-centered plot points this season, like tea that can turn people into birds and a random house that creates evil mirror people. While it was all interesting and made for some fun stories, I kinda felt like they were milking the idea that “it’s magic so no need to explain anything and have it make sense.” This isn’t really a nitpick since it didn’t hinder my enjoyment, just an observation of how the show threw one crazy, all-powerful magic element after another only to pass it by. I kinda wanted to learn more about The House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow…maybe we will in season 3?

And speaking of what’s upcoming in season 3, I unfortunately did have problems with the season 2 finale. It of course had its share of good scenes, but the thing with Eugene just seemed rushed and lacked explanation solely for the sake of dramatics. What exactly is Edmund trying to do? By preventing anyone from contacting the moon stone, he and his ancestors can protect the world from the black rocks? By doing what exactly…sacrificing themselves? But the black rocks are spreading regardless so whatever they’re doing isn’t working. Does he know this and yet still tries to keep anyone from reaching the stone? If it’s to protect them from the stone’s power, it doesn’t matter because the black rocks are already on a path of destruction, so either way they’re screwed unless something different is done. Eugene or Adira or someone should have explained this to him. So how can Eugene help with stopping the stone? Edmund seemed intrigued by Adira’s blade and implied it can stop the moon stone. If that’s the case, Eugene should have happily told Rapunzel, “hey, this blade should be able to destroy it so no need for you to risk your life doing that.” Or if that wasn’t the case, then what exactly did Edmund think Eugene could do? Just stop Rapunzel from touching the stone and try to come up with another way that won’t lead to her demise? (it was implied that Eugene’s mother died trying to stop the stone, but again, exactly what happened was really vague). And there was no reason Eugene couldn’t have told Rapunzel this other than just to make it all more dramatic. I know Edmund wanted Eugene to stop Rapunzel to protect her, but then what? The black rocks will still destroy everything, and if Eugene has the ability to prevent it (again, I was confused about this) why doesn’t he just do so and then be happily reunited with everyone? Or if doing so will kill him instead, why did the song he sings imply that his life was a lie and he doesn’t know who he is…it should instead have been about how he’ll make the ultimate sacrifice for the women he loves. This whole storyline really needed more explanation and less vagueness.

And of course, there was the sudden betrayal by Cassandra. I don’t want to say much about this since it will likely be explained in season 3, but I didn’t like the fact that it was used as the season finale cliffhanger, especially since it took 6 months to air the rest of season 2 and I’m expecting season 3 to take a long time to come too. So for who knows how long, we’re left with this bad impression of Cassandra, one of the most popular characters from the show. I’m hoping she did what she did for a noble reason (based on what she saw beyond that door) and her final line was from the stone’s power controlling her and not because she was actually “evil” the whole time. The episodes in this season spent a lot of time building up her friendship with Rapunzel so it would be a slap in the face if we find out it was all for nothing and she ends up being a begrudged enemy like Varian. But this sudden uncertainty about her character will likely make fans more upset rather than excited as they wait for season 3.

So yeah, I liked this season of Tangled a lot overall, I just thought the season finale was weak and tried to cram too many dramatic plot points for the sake of shock instead of conclusion. But we’ll see what season 3 holds. Hopefully the wait for that won’t be a long one and the writers will give us a good redeeming story for Cassandra (and Varian, eventually!)

*Crossposted from my main blog, Yume Dimension*

[tellywoodtrash]

Did you like it (Mirzapur)? What did you think of the show, esp. its female characters?

It’s been about a few weeks since I finished it, and I’m still kinda… torn on how I feel about it. I was in a weird place in my head and that’s why I picked it (coz this genre is not my cup of tea. At all.) I found the gore and sex to be unnecessarily gratuitous. I’m no prude but it was truly too too much. Like, this kinda stuff works well when used sparingly, not in every damn episode. It really felt like they were just like oh ho online hai, koi censorship hi nahi, toh chalo har doosre scene mein ghusaa detein hain, bada mazaa aayega. It was like the creative team of men nikaalofying their own armaan and seeing how much they could push the envelope, than it serving any actual purpose in the larger narrative of the show. I feel like someone (from Excel maybe?) needed to oversee it and tell them to tone it down.

Lol, the female characters were terribly written. Absolutely terrible. First of all, there’s hardly any women in the show compared to the sausage-fest that is the male roster. What few women are there, only exist as a crutch for the male characters’ motivations in the role of wife, daughter, sister, love interest, etc. Through the lens of their relationship with the men in the show, instead of actualized characters. (I’m trying to think real hard, but I’d say the show fails the Bechdel Test miserably.) The only kinda interesting female character was the boys’ mother (Sheeba Chaddha, top-notch as always) coz she isn’t the usual dukhiyaari sanskaari maa who’s against her sons going into such a dirty dhanda, but instead revels in the power and clout it brings. The most annoying to me was Rasika Duggal’s oversexualized character. Like….. She’s a good actress, and the way she was talking up her character and the way its written in pre-show interviews… I was expecting so much more. But she had ZERO complexity to her (why do men think that all a female character has to do to “be powerful” is want/have sex??? Yes, sex-positivity is a good thing, female desire is a good thing, but not if that’s THE ONLY THING THERE IS TO HER PERSONALITY.) In the end, her sexuality served no real purpose, and she too was just a hapless victim to the mindless violence of the men. I’m hoping her character regains some agency and redeems herself in the next season (but not at all counting on it.) Overall, the show has written women with all the class and grace of a B grade 80′s/90′s movie, which is to say…. THERE IS NONE. Which is to be expected 1. in a show of this genre (North Indian hinterland violence), and 2. from a writing team of all men.

Writing was…. simple. Like, idk if they THOUGHT they were writing some big complex drama or what, but it was very straightforward plot-wise. A buncha men in a power struggle from a buncha different angles. There’s someeeee minimal amt. of subterfuge and all, but like… Not really. Not in an INTELLIGENT manner that surprises you in any way whatsoever. I kept noting chote-mote clues here and there hoping they’d mean something more towards the end but… nope. Bas ainvayi mein the.

But overall, I’d say it was a compelling one-time watch for me. The cast made it worthwhile. Especially Ali Fazal and Divyendu Sharma, who were playing extremely against type. (Who would have expected this kinda darkness from their cherubic faces????) Pankaj Tripathi and Vikrant Massey were the reason I went into this in the first place, and they were reliably good, as expected; but their roles weren’t anything special or challenging for actors of their calibre. It’s stuff they could do in their sleep. Shriya Pilgaonkar was radiant and gorgeous and a joy to watch (whatever little we got of her.) Shweta Tripathi was underused af (but her chemistry with Vikrant was really nice.) Where the show really showed promise was the screenplay and dialogue. Some scenes really had me on the edge of my seat with my heart in my mouth, some really had me empathizing even with some truly terrible characters. Dialoguebaazi was amazing so I really enjoyed all the meme-able gems. (But they’re very much of the lowbrow variety. This kinda bullshit appeals to the dumbass monkey half of my brain that enjoys the ghaati songs from the 90s; not my classy and intellectual and analytical side.) So yeah, I still don’t quite know how I feel about this show. Everything about it seems wrong and like I shouldn’t like it, but I kinda sorta did, despite myself (because of the cast.) Blame it on the apathetic state of mind I was in.

[enixamyram]

Otherwise known as:

No. These are not plot holes. Seriously. It’s amazing how many of these are not plot holes. Do you know what a plot hole is? I can get the definition up for you if you’d like.

This is - at most - an unfinished story. Not a plot hole. And if you’re gonna complain about THIS unfinished story, then you need to complain about a whole other unfinished story. And even then, Ruby’s story is much more finished than say: Leroy & Nova’s, Lily’s, Mulan’s, Graham’s, Kathryn’s, Lancelot & Guinevere’s, pretty much most of the cast from Season 1 and so on...

A somewhat arguable plot hole. The writer points out that Regina cloaks the town from others after she has already encountered Owen and his father. The reason I say this is arguable is because this is very true, but there are also two easy explanations at the same time that debunk it as a plot hole.

For example, Storybrooke pretty much appeared on top of Own and his dad and it was only after they left that they could no longer return. Or otherwise - and the stronger argument - we have seen there is a small touch of magic in Storybrooke even if everyone claims otherwise - Regina’s ring of Daniel, her vault of heart’s, Malificent’s dragon form underground, Regina even creates a memory potion to forget who Henry is right after she adopts him. So there’s clearly some magic, just a limited supply of it. Meaning she could have used a chunk of the magic to cloak the town after Owen left.

Agreed. This is either a massive plot hole or a character issue telling us that Regina never really redeemed herself. And since it’s clear the show wants us to believe that Regina is a good person now, it is a major plot hole that she still has her vault of hearts so casually that she even mentions/shows them to WishRobin in Season 6.

Agree and disagree. This is why Uniting the Realms didn’t work because not everyone would be happy to leave their home and live in Storybrooke. However the writers reason doesn’t work for me.

“A few of them might be happier in their original spaces, where at least they wouldn’t have to hide who they are,” They don’t have to hide who they are in Storybrooke? After the protection spell was cast they all went about their normal lives without any fear or hiding? I mean... Did you miss Ruby’s whole episode about how she casually turns into a wolf to go running at night because she knows she can here?

“and wouldn’t have to deal with all of Storybrooke’s drama.” Because the Enchanted Forest was drama free? Dude, it’s literally Fairy Tale stories in that place, with women getting pregnant and having secret babies and witches cursing people and bandits having to fight back against Royal Rampage against the poor citizens. I’m pretty sure Storybrooke is actually LESS dramatic than the Enchanted Forest.

“Although it’s possible that they’ve become attached to sliced bread and flushing toilets, it seems silly that nobody thinks to bring these conveniences back home and make a mint on sandwiches and plumbing.”  So not only did you say it yourself by saying they’ve become attached to their new lives. But those things you listed would most likely eventually run out? Or otherwise they’re not so easily transported without magic? And anyway what’s the point? Why take turn the Enchanted Forest into Storybrooke by taking all the things you love there with you when you can just stay in Storybrooke where it’s already there?

Addressing the one and only example they give of this:

“For example, in season 2, episode 12, she misses the fact that the stranger lied about what he saw prior to the crash. This seems like an easy get for someone who can sense a lie.”

Again. This isn’t necessarily a plot hole. I never believed Emma’s ability to detect lies was actually magical. She had it before she went to Storybrooke (in a land without magic remember) and I think it’s just that, after her hard life, she’s become good at reading people. Which means she’s bound to make one or two mistakes every now and then, especially when she’s nervous and when a lot of things are happening at once (like when Greg came over the town line - right after Belle lost her memory, Hook was captured, they were still dealing with Regina and Cora, as well as adjusting to all the fairy tale characters being here and so on).

The only example of a heart turning truly black was Rumplestiltskin who had been alive and doing bad deeds for HUNDREDS of years. Maybe if Cora lived as long as Rumple then she would have a blacker heart, but as of now, it’s entirely possible that the black in her heart is there and we simply couldn’t see it. I don’t think we ever really saw a complete shot of her heart close up like we did Snow’s.

Another running theory is that the blackness of your heart depends on how much you acknowledge what you’re doing as wrong. Rumple did bad things and he knew full well they were bad. Cora was more the type to always insist she was doing the right thing and probably truly believed it.

I want to agree because “all magic comes with a price” is a very inconsistent detail in the show... But again, the writers reasons don’t quite sit right with me.

“We meet one when our heroes use forbidden magic to save Robin’s life, and the ensuring fracas is something of a big deal. After all that drama, you’d expect a Fury to appear every time someone’s brought back from the brink of death, or especially from death itself.” You said it yourself. The fury came after Robin because “forbidden” magic was used to save his life. How many other times is the Dark One magic used to save a life? Well Emma used it to save Hook, but not quite and even if it is the same, Hook paid the price by becoming the Dark One. Correct me if I’m wrong but how often was a character saved by Dark magic?

“The storybook is a convenient plot point that’s never explained, and thus becomes a plot hole.”

Okay and I know this is the excuse everyone hates and doesn’t like and blah blah blah but...

Magic.

That is literally the answer. I know it’s normally a cop out but in this case it’s actually genuine. Magic made the book appear in Mary Margaret’s closet one day (like she says in the show) and yes, there’s not a reason given. Maybe it was Merlin influence in the world, maybe there’s a natural magic in the world that gives good people happy endings, maybe Henry’s belief brought it to existence and then set it in place to find its way to him.

Again, it’s not a plot hole. More of an unexplained/unfinished plot but it’s very clear the show is using their “Magic” card on this one. And just because it’s not spelled out to you, doesn’t make it a plot hole.

Agreed. This is a plot hole that really made no sense since it was made clear that August was made of wood right now. Maybe if they had it burn him (have the others acknowledge a blackened burn on his chest or something) but we’re supposed to believe he was electrocuted from it???

We’ve seen Storybrooke. It’s a whole town with farms and other buildings and places. So there is obviously more to it than the main sets (aka, Granny’s). It’s a community that basically learned to live off each other.

Otherwise, and I know I keep using this excuse but it’s a legit excuse in this show: Magic!

Magic made the day repeat for 28 years so it’s a safe assumption that once the day restarted, surely magic must have kept/made a certain place for supplies or restocked the homes to keep anyone from suspecting anything. And then after the curse was broken, everyone could plan out the rest either by once again using magic or otherwise by creating their own sources.

I just have a problem with everything they say on this one.

“Aside from the impossibility of importing goods into Storybrooke, there’s no way that everyone in town has a job.” ... But surely if they can’t have goods imported to them, then they need to make do on their own which would GIVE people jobs.

“There are probably four businesses that we see throughout the show, counting a dwarf-run farm.” ... Again, as you just said, this is only what we SEE. This is where the main characters hang out but we know for a fact there’s a pet rescue place, a carpenter, a mechanic, and so many other places we haven’t seen. Like I don’t understand the assumption that there are no other businesses apart from what we are physically shown.

“If Regina’s capable of casting the original curse, then why go to all of this trouble in the first place? Why not stay home and dominate there?” ... This is a troll question right? 1) Casting the curse was an incredibly hard feet that included killing the thing she loved most. 2) She went through all the trouble because she couldn’t hurt David or Snow - the objects of her revenge - in the Enchanted Forest. 3) She tried dominating her home. It didn’t work. That’s the exact point and reason why she cast the curse!

Agreed. It’s pretty obvious the Zarian storyline actually came to them only AFTER they had brought already Marian back.

*Sigh* You know, I’m getting real tired of Mulan and Aurora always appearing on these lists. Because most of them is just whining that they didn’t happen rather than legit points. Case and point:

“The first time Once Upon A Time flirted with the idea of two girls flirting with each other, it was when Aurora and Mulan nearly became girlfriends after Phillip’s passing.” They never nearly became girlfriends at all. They became friends but Aurora showed absolutely NO signs of returning Mulan’s SECRET feelings for her. You people need to drop this idea that this ship would of happened if not for Philip because that’s simply not the case.

“What really doesn’t make sense is that Mulan and Aurora have no more history at all. After the intensity of their nascent feelings, it doesn’t make sense that the show would just forget about them as a couple.” Again, they WEREN’T A COUPLE. They were friends. and ONCE AGAIN. A dropped/unfinished storyline is NOT a plot hole. And I actually think it wrapped up their story nicely (not actually nicely but you know what I mean). Mulan loved Aurora, Aurora didn’t return her feelings. When Mulan went to finally confess, she found out Aurora was pregnant and realised Aurora was happy with her family so Mulan bid her farewells and joined the Merry Men. That is their story! Just because you don’t like the direction it took, doesn’t mean it’s a plot hole! Learn the definition of a plot hole before you make great big lists about them!

I’m gonna leave this one. Just because ages confuse me and so does the timeline so I can’t really judge how accurate the writer is on this one.

I’m gonna agree but for different reasons to the writer. And simply because The Evil Queen is built up to be one of the worst enemies that the heroes have ever faced. But really think: What did she actually do while she was free running around Storybrooke for so long? Having her back was meant to be a great threat but aside from occasionally get in the way/slow other stories down, she really wasn’t all that good at being Evil.

Agreed. Just, agreed.

Well, when I think about it I originally agreed except that it didn’t actually defeat the Dragon. He showed up not long after perfectly fine (which to me, is a bigger plot hole than Tamara’s taser stunning him).

“Imagine how confusing and traumatizing that hospital stay would be for the already confused and traumatized Belle.” Imagine how confusing and traumatizing it would be for Belle to walk down the street and run into Ruby mid transformation? Or imagine how confusing and traumatizing it would be for her to run into Cora on a bad day? Like. They kept her in hospital BECAUSE she was so confused and traumatized and they needed to keep an eye on her until she calmed down and they could trust her to take care of herself. Like... Of all places to freak Belle out right now, I actually think a hospital is the LEAST likely to do so.

Uh, again... This isn’t a plot hole. It’s a character trait. Cora was determined to rise to the top ranks, which meant making her daughter Queen! Not just a Princess, but an actually QUEEN. This is very firmly stated in the show and it is very clear that Cora did not give a shit what Regina wanted anyway. She didn’t care that Regina had an easy life, she wanted her daughter to be Queen because she was determined to be top dog (through her daughter).

Um, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean Rumple should know about it. As far as he was aware, it is impossible to bring back the dead and it is certainly out of his power to do - which was what Regina was asking to learn.

Also, your examples of people brought back: Emma - When was she dead? Do you mean at the end of S6 because, fair enough that was a deus ex machina thing they wanted to throw in for dramatic affect. Phillip - Wasn’t dead, his soul was just trapped in another place Hook - God’s trump Sorcerers. Henry - His heart had only just stopped when Emma used TLK, so that’s kind of like doing CPR. Maleficent - I’ll agree her’s is a plot hole. It’s stated she died several times and yet they bring her back relatively easily, but at least with her you can claim she’s more of a zombie since if she leaves the town she’ll crumple back into dust.

Here is the definition of a Plot Hole:  an inconsistency in the narrative or character development of a book, film, television programme, etc.

An incomplete story is NOT a plot hole. Which is what a lot of these are. Because it wasn’t spelled out for them, they claim plot hole but that isn’t the case. A plot hole is a factual information that was already stated in the show and was then changed without explanation later on (not to be confused with a retcon).

Off the top of my head, an example of two major plot holes are Season 7.

1st - Drizella apparently only needed Regina’s “magic” to cast the curse which is a complete plot hole because it is made very clear at least 3-4 times that you need to sacrifice the heart of the thing you love most to cast it. In fact later, Regina talks about everyone sacrificing a piece of their heart in order to cast the curse again. 2nd - Time travelling should have changed the entire course of history like it did in S3, yet at the end of S7, when they time travel, no one seems to mind talking to their past selves or running through Storybrooke. By any rights, the whole of S7 should have changed completely by the time they were done.

[femboycloudstrife]

I watched Endg*me . spoilers are right here . theres a break in text before the spoilers so close the app if u dont want to read them

i was going to do a list of the things that i thought were stupid, dumb, unnecessary, or badly acted but there was a lot of that so i boiled it down to two (im looking back now its gonna be 3) (as i was writing this i found a 4th item) things  spoilers are under this line im not doing a readmore because i forget how to those were only popular on this site like 5 years ago

t*ny stark would absolutely think its fine to leave his toddler around military grade weapons playing in the woods by a lake by herself in a universe where people are not only out to kill him specifically but can open portals anywhere in the universe and jump through them and jump back with no one knowing, his character as huge idiot bastard remains intact through this final av*ngers movie

bl*ck w*dow gets fridged 1/2 way through the movie and its very uninspiring and emotionally lacking because she dies to save h*wkeye who is the 1. the only person present for her death and 2. the worst av*nger and has the actor with the least acting ability behind him it just was a flat moment that foresight could’ve saved in a movie about time travel 

the end battle scene has whats supposed to be The Big Feminist Moment where all of the women in the mc*u are together to beat up th*nos and its literally the most laughable attempt at inclusion in film because across a 22 part superhero franchise theres only like 10-12 women on screen in a 20 second fight montage . 22 massive budget movies over 8 years with maybe 11 women 

no joke th*r wears a fatsuit and no h*msworth didnt gain the weight for the film they put a long lacefront beard on him that covers his neckline and two arm bands that cover the sleeves of the fatsuit, almost every scene he’s in there’s an uncomfortable amount of bodyshaming and the cast is disgusted because he’s fat and it’s 2019 and we still have to sit through hearing love handles and arms that aren’t made of steel are inherently bad and we should be ashamed of ourselves 

im going to talk about the thing i thought was good and stuck out here : 

K*ren Gill*n is a phenomenal actress. N*bula is lightning in a bottle, her arc of overcoming child abuse that continued into her adulthood and redeeming herself by saving the fucking galaxy is done very well and I dont know how to explain how she is consistently the part of this franchise that they always get right because the cast members who surround her most of the time are not up to par with her performance in these movies 

[96percentdone]

☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕ (no particular theme XD Maybe more about Danganronpa?)

many much dr wisdoms coming your way

1) oumakokichi disappearing correlates with the sudden rise of obnoxious Ouma is a woobie who’s never done anything wrong and it’s totally unreasonable for the cast to not like him for any reason meta.

2) y’all are really victim blamey when it comes to Ouma ngl. I hate it. the killing game is a terrible situation that encourages the worst in people, so yeah it’s not fair when people are cruel to Ouma. I’m not here to say their cruelty is correct. But you have to fucking stop with these hot takes of “everyone is wrong for not trusting or believing him at any point” when he was actively out to manipulate and use them for his own ends.

I hate to compare killing game dynamics to abusive relationships, because as I said before, no one is at their best in a killing game, but generally speaking the bad treatment Ouma gets is in backlash to his own cruelty towards them. Y’all have it ass fucking backwards and I hate it. Yes, Momota decking him all those times and Saihara and Harumaki opting not to do anything about him bleeding out on the floor are bad. I agree. Was it cruel? Yes. Was it also reactionary to some manipulative, insensitive fuckshit Ouma was pulling? Also yes. 

Were those instances fair? No, they weren’t. Many times when people are being treated poorly and are getting toyed with they act cruel in return. But there’s a fundamental difference between reactive cruelty and intentional cruelty. And not to be that guy Ouma stans, but Ouma is completely guilty of the former. 

Yes, Ouma is reacting to the killing game, but his reactions to it are purposeful. Ouma saw the awfulness of the killing game, and decided to deal with this awful situation by being as terrible as possible to everyone else so he can end it. These were choices he made, and the cast is reacting to those choices. Stop acting like they cornered him into acting like that. They didn’t. He did that all on his own. Fuck off.

And once again because y’all Ouma stans are fucking annoying, no reactive cruelty is still not good. I just want y’all to get your fuckin shit straight on who’s the instigator here because it is NOT fucking “everyone else.”

3) All that being said, Ouma still is the best and most interesting dr character ever fight me.

4) Aka//matsu would have still been a low tier protagonist even if she got to be protagonist for real unless they did a downfall arc. No I will not apologise I’m right.

5) Kodaka honestly doesn’t know how to write protagonists even when he has good ones on paper like he pulled off hinata and naegi works in dr1 by virtue of being static but damn otherwise Kodaka can’t do this for shit. idk why you expect Kodaka to be good at this.

6) Y’all are way harsher on the girls in dr than the boys and you need to check your fandom misogyny a little because it’s not a good look. Yeah there’s something to be said about how Kodaka either writes waifus or trash women. Kodaka can’t write women without being sexist, but odds are you hating a woman kodaka wrote is because Kodaka wanted you to hate her, and not because she’s actually bad as a person. But hey y’all will take any excuse to not think about your opinions huh?

7) Yonaga Angie is a great character. Y’all just took the racist/misogynist hate bait.

8) Yonaga should have lived to be a survivor because it’d be cool to see her have some kind of arc where she learns she can protect everyone and herself without being manipulative, and that her own needs are her own and she doesn’t need to justify them by pretending they come with a higher purpose. 

9) dangan ronpa hasn’t been good on social commentary since dr1 and just because kodaka throws you more gays doesn’t make his writing of those gays anymore progressive. 99% of them are dead. most of them are morally ambiguous or comic relief or both. this is not amazing rep. and he’s still high key sexist. also racist since yonaga happened like that

10) dr3 has no redeeming qualities other than Kirigiri looks great and the briefest kirihina interactions.