#and it just gets swept under the rug because it's an animated show

[trashmammal-7]

Guys I won't even lie. I'm absolutely devestated over Lower Decks ending. I'm gonna need 3-5 business days to grieve this show I am not okay.

[iukasylvie]

"Anthy's Just a Middle Schooler" Is Not the Gotcha People Think It Is

I got a message saying Anthy Himemiya from the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena and the Sohma head maid from the manga Fruits Basket "aren't even similar situations lol" because "Anthy is a middleschooler."

Cool, so is Azula from the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. You know, that character who was:

A literal child soldier

Weaponized by her nation

Groomed by her abusive father to be emotionally invulnerable

Never shown real love or support from anyone except her mother who suddenly disappeared

And still? She doesn't get treated like a blameless, helpless victim.

She's a tragic figure, absolutely. She's sympathetic. But her cruelty isn't swept under the rug. Avatar shows how her refusal to accept help and her obsession with control lead directly to her breakdown and downfall. The story acknowledges that her actions have consequences. Even if we mourn her, we still recognize the harm she caused.

Meanwhile, Anthy Himemiya in Revolutionary Girl Utena?

Also young (but clearly capable of choice)

Surrounded by people actively trying to help her (Utena Tenjou!!!)

Betrays Utena's love and trust at the most crucial moment

Enables Akio Ohtori's abuse and cruelty while knowingly playing along

And fandom's response is... "Well, she's just a kid" and "it's internalized misogyny" and "she didn't have a choice"?

Sorry, but you can be a victim and an enabler. That's not mutually exclusive.

We're allowed to have compassion for Anthy without rewriting the narrative to excuse all her actions. Especially when other characters in other stories—like Azula, or even Akito Sohma—get dragged for doing similar or even lesser things at the same age.

Stop using "she's just a child" as a shield when you never apply that same energy elsewhere.

[panlight]

you know, last night out of boredom I was scrolling around tv tropes site and fell into a rabbit hole, and thru that I found entries for the Twilight Saga on the "Unintentionally Unsympathetic" and "Protagonist-Centered Morality" tropes that I found intriguing. Specifically about the Cullens:

In Unintentionally Unsympathetic

They are held up as the epitome of generosity and goodness. Even so, they generally are cold and anti-social to anyone who isn't another vampire or Bella, they are hostile towards the werewolves even though some (for example, Alice) never even met the werewolves before, and they are perfectly fine with letting vampires that do drink human blood hang around the area.

There's a scene in Breaking Dawn where the Cullens invite a bunch of vampires into town and give them keys to their cars so that they can feed on humans from out of town, because apparently their friends murdering people is okay so long as they don't know the people being murdered.

In Protagonist-Centered Morality

And by Breaking Dawn, the Cullens have agreed that they need backup if the Volturi are coming to get their murder on, so they call in every favor they have with the other vampires. Now, the Cullens have sworn to feed only on the blood of animals, these vampires have not, and yet the Cullens are happy to lend them their car to go hunting for humans (and vampires in the setting inevitably kill any human they feed on, unless they're turned) — just as long as Bella doesn't get hurt. Oh, and that they hunt outside Forks so people Bella knows won't die.

Yeaaa,, come to think of it, what was up with that?

My memory of the book is foggy but I did recall some narration where Bella sees the garage empty of some cars and notes that "the vampires had gone off to hunt" (even though??? they can run faster than any car so why bother? ??) and I can't remember if the movie addresses or acknowledges it but.. I DO remember the part where Aro considers having the La Push packs as "guard dogs" and Edward talks about how the idea won't work because the werewolves, being committed to protecting human life can coexist better with them/The Cullens more than the Volturi and now that I read those entries I'm just sitting here like But you're no different letting all those human-eating vampires chill at your place and causing a werewolf explosion?? And being soooo hospitable as to lend your cars for them lol!! At worse you're enabling it!! (facepalm)

Yeah this has always bothered me.

I think in the book it's specifically Edward who is lending out his keys to the visiting vampires. And, genuinely, why would these hundreds of years old nomadic vampires who don't live among humans like the Cullens do even know how to drive??

And also, they aren't even there THAT long? It's like, what? 2 weeks, max? And they don't have to feed that often. Could they really just . . . not hunt during their stay, or try the vegetarian thing to humor their supposed friends? If your vegan friend invited you to their house and you accepted their invitation, you wouldn't expect to be served bacon cheeseburgers for dinner. Or have Carlisle buy more donated human blood as he's been doing for most of the book and offer it to his guests as a 'nice compromise?'

Again, it's like SM didn't actual want to deal with any of the vampire stuff and just kind of swept it under the rug with Bella being "uncomfortable" with their hunting habits. Either a) deal with it! Show us Carlisle trying to persuade people, Emmett betting Garrett, Benjamin, Peter and Charlotte that they couldn't do it, an angry exchange when someone comes back with freshly bright red eyes, something!! or b) explain it away with an alternative like donated human blood, everyone agreeing to try the vegetarian thing, not being there long enough that hunting is necessary, etc.

If you're going to make it not matter you might as well go all the way and actually remove the moral quandary entirely. Instead we're in this sort of unsatisfying middle option when get one paragraph acknowledging that's happening but neither the 'good' vampires nor the shifters (!!) do anything about it because everything is justified in the protection of Renesmee and the furtherance of Bella's happily ever after.

Even though earlier in the! same! book! Sam says: "And inflict the menace on others? When blood drinkers cross our land, we destroy them, no matter where they plan to hunt. We protect everyone we can."

(I mean I GUESS they aren't technically crossing Quileute land but still like . . . c'mon.)

It could have been a cool source of conflict in a section of the book that really kind of needed some! Instead of Bella's little subplot with Jenks not going anywhere and fight training for a fight that never happened, we could have had something more than just, "well I don't like that they're killing people but we need them to witness so, meh."

[mangaloversolar2000]

Enemies to Lovers or Red Flags in Pastels? — A Critical Look at Lumity’s Foundations

Lumity is iconic. It gave us one of the first queer WLW couples in Western animation with actual screen time. But sometimes, people forget that just being queer doesn’t make a relationship automatically healthy—or narratively sound. And when you actually look at the foundation of Lumity, it’s kind of… full of red flags that get painted over in soft lighting and cute banter. (Not hating on Lumity btw, this is completely opinion based with reasons why Lumity seems kinda...complicated in my eyes.)

1. Amity Didn’t Bully Luz—But She Did Try to Get Her Dissected

Yeah. Let’s not sugarcoat that one.

In Season 1, Amity literally tries to have Luz dissected by Principal Bump. All because Luz embarrassed her in front of her Abomination class. That’s not petty teen drama—that’s dangerous.

Sure, it’s played for laughs, but if the roles were reversed, people would be furious. This moment is brushed aside because Luz is so endlessly forgiving and the tone is whimsical. But realistically? That’s not just “tsundere behavior.” That’s genuinely disturbing.

2. Amity Bullied Willow for Years and Never Properly Apologized

Let’s talk about Willow. Sweet, awkward Willow who was Amity’s best friend until Amity cut her off to climb the social ladder (with pressure from her parents but still...). Amity not only abandoned her, she actively bullied her. (though for some reason it seemed like this retconned even though in one of the first episodes we see Amity bully Willow) She let Boscha and the others mock Willow constantly while standing by—or even participating.

Later in the show, the story implies that Amity feels guilty and is trying to reconnect. But the apology scene? It never happens. She gives a vague “I wasn’t strong back then,” and we move on.

Meanwhile, Willow is just… okay with it. Like years of emotional damage can be patched over because Amity looks sad. It’s not fair to Willow, and it reflects a pattern in the show where Amity’s emotional arcs are prioritized over the pain she caused others.

3. Luz Never Challenges This Behavior

This is where it gets extra complicated.

Luz, bless her, is a people-pleaser. She just wants friends and adventure and sparkly magic. But that also means she never actually calls Amity out—not for bullying Willow, not for trying to get her dissected, not for anything. She just rolls with it.

Luz’s entire relationship with Amity is built on her always giving grace, always understanding, and never asking for real accountability. In a way, that makes their romance feel unbalanced. Amity gets the space to grow and cry and be soft. Luz? Luz becomes a side character in her own emotional arc.

4. Trauma Bonding Is Not a Love Story

Another point worth mentioning: a lot of Lumity’s deeper moments come from shared trauma. Whether it’s dealing with their families, Belos, or the Collector, they get closer through chaos. But trauma bonding isn’t inherently romantic—it’s survival. And the show leans on it to create intimacy, instead of giving us scenes where they talk about what they want, what they need, or what they like outside of danger.

What do they have in common, really? Aside from magic and angst? The relationship often feels more like a narrative reward than a fully developed emotional connection.

Conclusion: Cute, Important, but Narratively Messy

Look—Lumity matters. It opened doors. It showed queer girls being brave and awkward and in love. But that doesn’t mean we can’t critique how messy it is under the surface.

Amity hurt people. Luz never processes it. Willow gets sidelined. And somehow, it’s all swept under the rug for the sake of a shippable couple. Queer rep shouldn’t mean excusing harmful behavior just because it’s pastel-coded and soft-spoken.

We deserve better storytelling, not just representation.

tbh I kinda prefered Willuz but I don't hate Lumity, I'm fine with the ship but I felt like it was rushed and could have been better developed.

[fortunelowtier]

There's a misconception among the animation community that the reason why people hate Viv is because of her humor/writing style, when in reality those people hate Viv more because she's genuinely just an incredibly egotistical person who harasses those who disagree with her and has so for several years

Viv is a person who has *several* documented cases of workplace harassment in various forms (crunching, underpaying employees, etc). And every time it's brought to attention, it's swept under the rug soon after, and that's what upsets people

People don't have Viv because her writing style is """cringe""", so fucking what if it is, that has nothing to do with it. People hate Viv because they're rightfully upset that the person who has spent the past 4 years fucking people over is the one who gets a show on Prime it's not jealousy, it's a feeling of injustice

and because I know people are gonna bring up the """corporate mindset""" and how "you gotta step on a few toes to get to the top of the ladder" and all that bullshit but like I don't think those people understand the irony of an *indie* creator developing a corpo mindset. Like how telling is it of Viv's character that the *moment* the HH pilot started gaining traction was the moment her notorious ego started to appear and she started becoming the thing that indie creators hate the most, a shitty boss.

[theoddest1]

with how the fans and even viv being VERY excited with the “visuals” of poison it’s was very clear that the intended purpose of having those scenes was for porn. Why else would viv be excited for SA scenes and make a cum joke? Not dismissing any SA survivors that felt seen or represented through Angel. I think the bar scene where Angel has a breakdown is good I just hate how they kinda swept everything he said under the rug for a musical, with the episode ending on a happy note and were told not shown that he gets better.

That’s why people kept bringing up moral Orel, silent hill 2 and tuca and Bertie as good SA rep because the abuse is NEVER shown were told or it’s heavily implied it was the aftermath that was shown, nurse bendy is hyper sexual in public but she secretly hates, is lonely and regresses into a little girl playing family with stuffed animals when she’s in her safe space. Angela is depressed/suicidal her only hope is to find her mother so things can get better but she never finds her mom and it’s implied Angela dies, Tuca and struggled with her sexuality and sexual trauma even feels ashamed about having intrusive fantasies of her abuser and thinks that after being SA’d but she is complete control of those situations and it’s her way o healing and even if she wasn’t SA’d she’d still be into those fantasies. It’s too early to say anything about Angel character it might change in season 2 and actually talk more about his trauma especially since the vees are gonna be more prominent (which I call bs because they said the exact same thing about Adam and he didn’t do shit, he only showed up in 3 episodes and he was so underwhelming plus he was the 2nd most powerful being in the show, idk what vox and Val are gonna bring to the table expect be stupid wannabe “mean girls”, plus lute is still around and she is by more powerful and interesing villain) but we have to wait and see, right now I’m indifferent to Angel he’s not a bad character but he’s not the best, sir pentious and nifty outshined him and everybody else, they were the best characters, and they were just joke characters

Viv is very, very obvious with what she seeks involving Angel Dust's character arc. She sees it as an opportunity to recreate a similar situation to Raph's animatic, a 3rd person view surrounding Angel's dilemma rather than Vox's. It's paraded around as though it's a tragic "Love Song" but there is no proper or meaningful way to convey the tragedy surrounding it all. It's an elaborate kink video for those who indulge those sorts of subjects. As you've mentioned, some other known media have handled the topic with much care and didn'tshow it, but this time around, this could have been a great time to make useful imagery to show just how awful the entire situation is. But we don't get that. All of it is glamorized in a pop song with neon lights and no subversion of one's expectations. The only time we are shown any blunt and saddening imagery is when Angel is passed around in bindage gear. The colors change and turn red, and we are faced with a strikingly blunt reality of the situation, but we then see Angel dancing in front of his situation, whiplash of the seriousness pertaining to it all. And while the pacing is better in this episode than most, it's still FAST.

So on top of everything we have a rushed pop song that's supposed to engage the audience in a mindset regarding SA to further think and discuss but it only aided in fueling kink culture and no one has had any strong meaningful discussions when it is about that entire sequence but the kinks sure are THRIVING! Imo, the fact that this side of the community got more outta this than those who love to discuss stories reflects on how unserious and sexual Viv saw it to be, and THAT is what makes Viv's shit representation bad. The remix only solidifies what I had assumed this entire song to sound like. It fails to be commentary, only fuel for a kink someone has, and NEARLY EVERYONE in the community is letting it slide cause of that.

[creaturefeaster]

Any tips on raising animals, specifically dogs? Just had a puppy today and named it after Frigus lol.

Long paragraphs below, hiding under a readmore. Also I absolutely love that. There's a real freakin' Frigus out there..... wow...

There's a lot of common sense things you could probably easily find online, but something that I think is always very swept under the rug is pure consistency. That goes with any animal. An animal is not going to be able to learn to be comfortable around you, if it doesn't know what to expect.

If you are tipping your toes around trying to avoid scaring a flighty dog all the time, you best be prepared to do that the entire time you own them because that is what they will learn to work with. Otherwise when you try acting normally, it will confuse and stress them out. If you just behave as you will from the start, not compromising your way of life for the sake of your pet, they will adapt and be happier for it, understanding you at your most you, knowing what to expect.

I grew up around a lot of dogs, big and small. Cats too. My first real pets I raised myself were chickens, ducks, and geese. I have a rescue dog now too. Chickens become very flighty of you and any other human if you don't hang around them enough, touch them, hand feed them. Bother them all their life, they get used to it and sometimes even learn to love it. At the very least they grow up to tolerate it enough for me to be able to look at them when they are hurt. They know what to expect from me, after all.

My geese become agitated around other people, because those people (understandably!) clam up and act awkwardly. They change and stiffen their body language. If there is anything I've learned from my geese it'd be to never waver. Don't aggress, of course, but a lot of animals in the pet world have different levels of "how much can I get away with?". Geese have very high levels, and the second you let them know they've scared you, they take fullll advantage of that. They like to have fun bothering things if they can get away with it. So being consistent in your body language is key. And I'm not going to work around the lot constantly being stiff. I'm going to walk like me, and they understand that because I've never done anything different.

Dogs, for instance, may see you giving into their stubbornness every now and then-- they are sitting down when you don't walk they way they want to walk, so you end up going they way they want, for instance-- and double down each time you try to correct this behavior. If they know they've gotten away with it in the past, they will probably be able to get away with it again. It can be awkward, or boring, but if you're consistent about not giving in (or at least not rewarding them in any way if you can't get them to behave), they won't know that the probability exists to begin with.

Other than that... respect boundaries. Learn their body language in turn. A lot of sites will tell you what to look for in dogs in terms of fear, stress, early aggression, body tension, whatever. They're good starter points, but every dog is different. Every animal is different. Some are easier to read than others, and some tolerate things better than others. Some have different histories and backgrounds and past experiences that shape their reactions. You have a puppy so hopefully this part won't apply to you. But some dogs, they'll show those whites under their eyes even if they aren't stressed. Some dogs are growly but they don't mean it in an aggressive way. Like I said, it can be hard to correctly read some dogs until you get to know them.

Always familiarize and reinforce handling them-- if you want your dog to like pets as an adult, of course you always reinforce petting as a puppy! That mindset goes for everything you want your dog to tolerate you doing in the future, but sometimes dogs also just don't like certain things, and if your dog ends up hating their paws played with no matter how much you've tried, you shouldn't do it more than necessary if you can tell it stresses them out. Or you try and make it fun, which can work (as long as you're consistent, which is basically the theme of this ask at this point)... but it still might not always help. Depends on their temperment. It's good to try offering treats and other fun stuff while enforcing behaviors that are a little scary or stressful for a dog, to see if it helps. But if it doesnt, just learn to respect them if you can't buy their tolerance, lol.

And also if your puppy is a purebreed of anything, I hope you read up on their energy levels and temperments and proper coat care and the like, and that you're prepared to match those needs. It's too sad seeing people get border collies or other high energy dogs, but they live in an apartment or they never give them anything to occupy themselves with. It's sad to see very busy people getting breeds that thrive best in human company. Sad to see dogs with high maintenance coats being neglected the amount of time and care they need.

Okay okay okay very wordy I'll end it here, but those are just things I always wish more pet owners practiced and considered. 🪿🖤

[guiltycorp]

mmm im sort of glad they released arcane survivor jayce skin voicelines in league before act 3 drops because my expectations for it were rising a bit too much lmao... before it i almost convinced myself that yeah, viktor's character arc will lead him to manipulate jayce into transferring his soul to a new mechanical body + focus on a new strategy for 'healing' societal issues that isn't 100% evil and bad (while still having its drawbacks re: will and consent) and fighting noxians would place the zaun side in a better position to bargain with piltover for equal rights and a stop to exploitation (with an open ending sure but still), or even a straightforward revolution with zaun getting its independence through a violent protest that piltover wouldn't be able to curb due to being stretched too thin

but uhm.... all of this looks kinda... sigh

i really doubt they'll have the time in the remaining 3 episodes to develop both his and Viktor's motivations to fit those new ideas, feels like more of the same 'it all happened off-screen, trust that it makes sense' journey saying that Viktor is 'still worth saving' feels especially yucky all things considered, like pls stop trying to save that man and let him act and choose for himself for once in this season maybe? never thought i'd miss the times when Viktor was doing unsafe experiments, getting illegal drugs from evil mentors and accidentally fridging random female assistants, but mmm that sure didn't get a proper continuation for him did it... just like with Caitlyn, or even Mel or Jinx, we just can't seem to get a proper development for the obviously Questionable things the characters choose to do, it's all kind of swept under the rug or cancelled out by magic interference i guess, or they changed their mind off-screen so it's fine now now that i think about it, Jayce is the only one who was allowed to somewhat grow and change organically, and yet this arcane adventure of his might end up ruining even that... well maybe Vi too but she didn't have a concrete focus this season, just more of the same 'should i reconnect with my sister/father or kill them off for good' and lesbian angst (if she still goes back to enforcers after this i just... fml) did Ambessa's warmongering get the best of her or was she cornered by the Black Rose shenanigans with no better way out? did Isha have any purpose aside from giving us false hope that Jinx will get better and have a happy ending? will Mel have any relevance aside from the new magical one and managing her own mother? does Viktor want to 'supersede nature' and get rid of human error element now because of his own character journey or because that's just what Hexcore is leading him to do?... will Caitlyn show that she still doesn't get why Zaun is the way it is or will she also go 'yeahhh i made some mistakes, but now we fight a common enemy yay, and i'll be a bit less strict in the future without making any meaningful changes to the status quo... it was all them foreigners fault' it's just all so... aghhh

and yep now i am expecting that the piltover/zaun conflict is overrr because they have to come together to fight Ambessa and whatever is going wrong with the magic, sighhh social conflict plotlines are a little too spicy for our animated league adaptation i guess... ...this is the only voiceline implication i like and even then i can't help but imagine Viktor the damsel in distress begging Jayce to fix the mistakes they both did instead of like, participating in that himself

bonus points if that promise won't even be to Viktor fghgfhgf

[tamelee]

I think a lot of sakura hate is undeserved. Like ik she's said and done some things that were out of pocket, but then again so did almost everyone else and no one else gets scrutinized as much as her. I don't even like her and her fans are incredibly annoying, but I feel this much is true. I think she'd still be one of the most hated characters in all of anime if her undeserved hate went away, so it doesn't really make much of a difference. I feel like her hate is kinda like sasuke's, sometimes it feels like he gets hated on just for being sasuke bc ik some things he's done would've been swept under the rug if another, more popular character did it (eg when he killed some samurai) for sakura, there are lots of incel fanart memes dudebros made to make fun of her, so it seems like they hate her for just being a woman who rejected a loser man and likes a better man. It's no wonder her fans are so annoying, that's what happens when your fave character gets undeserved constant hate. My fave is sasuke and sometimes even I wanna do some petty annoying shit just to piss his haters off too lol. Also since she's a woman, there's definitely some misogyny at play when her character is being analyzed by men. Or even women with internalized misogyny. It's stupid to deny that, misogyny is the most normalized oppression everywhere. So many ppl don't even realize they're being misogynistic, that's how normal it is. Sure it's not always the case but ignoring it is just being dumb. Her fans using the misogyny card to actual genuine criticism is definitely stupid though. Like it's possible to not like a woman and not be misogynistic ofc. Also when they use that when sns fans ship sasuke with naruto instead of sakura, that's even dumber 😂 how is not shipping a woman with a man and instead shipping him with another man misogynistic in any way lol. But yeah, I'm definitely not on her fans side, or even a fan of her myself, but I can still acknowledge this

+ 2 Asks - long post:

When talking about critiquing characters and analyzing stories, it doesn't really matter who's doing the talking – whether they're fans, critics, or just people who love or don't love a particular show or character. We can't always figure out why (especially anonymous) people feel the way they do and how do we even discern the motivation or background of those who do so? —whether they're misogynistic, incels, dudebros, fans, or critics of whatever other stories, among other factors. In fact, in this case it’s pretty irrelevant? Or only relevant here because you brought it up.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t take away the fact that a significant portion of the 'Naruto' audience finds Sakura's character unlikable. She consistently is found at the center of conversations about the most disliked Anime characters. This is ultimately a reflection of storytelling, rather than solely an audience reaction. And that leads to a broader discussion about Kishimoto’s writing where many blame his lack of skill in writing when it comes to the portrayal of female characters. (Opinions may vary, so does mine.) Dismissing criticism by categorizing critics as incels or misogynists is oversimplifying it tbh because of course they harbor specific biases against a character like Sakura which in itself isn’t fair and would definitely make it ‘undeserved’. (I really wouldn’t use that term for a fictional character unless we talk about the story itself tbh.) You yourself say “not always the case...” So that doesn't mean Kishimoto's portrayal of Sakura or any other character, and the genuine criticism she receives for universally disliked traits, is any less valid. Many perceive her as selfish, and Kishimoto himself has used that specific term (and even worse) to describe her. So, you can’t deny that this foundation of her character exists. Her decisions and behavior make sense even if people preferred to see it differently. 

Though, when analyzing, it is important to keep the Shinobi world in mind, and only our own as reference. And that’s exactly why the hatred Sasuke gets is not the same.... :

The amount of hate/criticism has nothing to do with a comparison though. Sakura's actions are often deliberately misunderstood, twisted to fit certain narratives that are in her favor and even exaggerated to counteract the hate like the first ask said. On the other hand, Sasuke is generally misunderstood and is hated for it. Often not getting even a tiny bit of compassion because some people struggle to see beyond his exterior and just ride the Naruto-verse’s moral/value waves from the narrative. Where the entire point was that those ideals needed change. 

SAVE HIM!? Why is it always so actively ignored that Sakura tried to kill Sasuke twice but him defending himself or fighting back is ‘so incredibly evil’? This ‘resolve’ of hers becomes even more significant to Kishimoto’s message when we consider that she intentionally represents the same ideals that led to the genocide and with that- agreed to eliminate him without attempting to understand him even once. Repeating history in the meantime where, again, that change is necessary. And you start with trying to understand the other, something Naruto had to learn too and actively had to find that answer by himself. Never once did she actually listen to Sasuke when he tried to open up and instead twisted the few words he got out to make it about herself. Not only disregarding his (and Naruto’s) trauma but shitting on it, thinking he, of ALL people, would feel happy with her abandoning her family and friends for him and comparing her feeling lonely without Sasuke to his entire clan being murdered what forced him to grow up alone. I mean, hello? Kishimoto was saying something very loudly there and it’s nothing positive about Sakura and that certainly has nothing to do with a lack of writing skills, the opposite actually. Even if she was briefly a teammate, she rightfully became irrelevant to him, and her decision to get rid of the (in her and the world's eyes) “criminal” was entirely for her own sake because she couldn't bear to see her crush behave like one and deal with her irrelevance.  

She rejected everything Sasuke wanted, needed, and desired, including his central 'why' in the story. She reduced him to a moody handsome boiii with no goals of his own, one she neither could nor wanted to understand. She tried to insert herself into his goals without him giving her any reason to, and when unsuccessful, she wanted to discard them altogether thinking he was ‘too far gone’. Like Sasuke as a person as a whole was her ‘burden’ to bear simply because she wanted to be somewhat relevant. Even Kakashi said it :/ although he thought she did it all out of the kindness of her heart. (Ffs, Kakashi I like you, but no.) Now, please consider EVERYTHING and then think again why Sakura thought of Sasuke as a burden or why she felt burdened by him while lying about her trust in him to Sai? 👀

The importance of Sasuke having a goal is immense because he grapples with survivor's guilt. A goal provides a reason to keep going, a way to carry the pain and blame he places on himself. It allows him to be strategic and have a plan, which is the only source of hope that things may eventually improve. He rejected what Naruto stood for because he found it distracting and hard to trust at that point. OF COURSE he fought so fucking hard against it. No matter his feelings for Naruto, relying solely on effort like Naruto wasn't something he could do. Especially considering how his beloved brother had betrayed him in the worst possible way.

Now, here's a question for you: why would Sakura need to receive compassion or 'deserve' it when, as a character, she rarely demonstrated it herself, especially when it comes to the person she claims to like so much? And if anyone thinks that was out of love in any way, which it wasn't, then what does it all mean for Naruto????

If you genuinely believe there was any point in the story Sakura tried to save Sasuke for Sasuke’s sake then I hope you’re able to read the story again and question this very rigorously for yourself. Not just her actions, but what Kishimoto tried to actually show/tell and use them to measure how it stands against the bigger Themes also.  

Lastly: the whole point of needing to kill Naruto was BECAUSE he cared for him lol, read Sasuke's monologue again if it helps. That his bond with Naruto had too much of an impact on Sasuke. His one and only, his most important person/friend, only bond left that kept him from truly being alone, Naruto’s life in itself too much of a threat to his heart even when separated, blabla- should I go on? 🤔      

[arc852]

 I don’t know how to start this one. Also, four rambles?? I’m happy you actually like these silly little things it makes my heart implode. 

 First off, I was wrong, totally thought it was Scar, but then I read ‘red sweater’ and immediately knew it was Tango. 

 Also, a piece of my first little ramble was right? Jimmy is a tad bit desensitized to the whole ‘humans are big, and have hands’ fiasco, if the getting picked up scene with Jimmy all confused and Tango actually freaking out has anything to say about that.

 Plus, Grian and Joel just dumping all their friends to hang out with Jimmy?? Joel was not having it when Tango knocked on their door, and I liked the added note of “They weren’t expecting to see him”. I find that hilarious. 

 Moving onto a less fluffy note, Joel seems to be a little more mean to Jimmy? Not in a super bad way, just how he didn’t want anyone else to know about Jimmy, even if he’s just worried about his safety. Same with ‘First Meetings’ too. Grian at least tried to coax him out, even if he was treating him like an animal of sorts. Joel, on the other hand, just moved the bed and grabbed him. He even notes how fast his heartbeat is, but even after Grian briefly mentions that means he’s scared, Joel doesn’t really do anything. Despite being in Joel’s hands, Grian is the one to attempt to get him to calm down, even if he didn’t try that hard. When Joel does try to calm Jimmy down, he’s just repeating words that Grian had said earlier. Then, y’know, he interrogates the little guy. He’s changed, obviously, he’s not mean like that anymore, but he’s still a lot less considerate than Grian is, which I guess is a very Joel thing to do. 

 The protectiveness of the two of them at least gives us a good insight to see just how much they [Grian and Joel] actually care about Jimmy though. ‘More Than Just A Drunken Dream’ made me think a lot more about Grian and Joel than the new human and Jimmy, surprisingly. 

 Not much to answer with this one, I answered half of my questions just by talking to myself long enough, so I apologize for that. I like your au, though, it gives my briancells something to think about. :]

Another one!

Yeah, Jimmy is fairly desensitized to it, you were right about that. Being with Grian and Joel has really made him okay with being handled, it's now more so who is handling him that he's really worried about. Once he realized Tango was good, he didn't really see a problem with being held by him.

And yeah...Grian and Joel have sort of just ditched all of their friends. They still hang out with them when they see them in class but they've pretty much stopped accepting invites to hang out afterwards because they don't want to leave Jimmy alone too long. It's, well...Like Jimmy said, he really isn't happy that they have forgone their human friends for him.

I think Joel is a bit more mean to Jimmy, at least in the beginning, just like you said! But also like you said, not really in a bad way. In First Meetings, he's more focused on his own curiosity, so he comes off a bit more off-putting, especially to Jimmy. Grian is a lot better at noticing things and so, while he also kind of swept Jimmy's fear under the rug at the start, he was at least trying a bit more. In Not Just a Drunken Dream, I would say Joel is being more overprotective and maybe even a bit possesive and that comes off him in a mean sort of way. He is very Joel and Joel loves to tease and be a bit mean but that is how he shows his love.

I think it's really interesting how you took so much from Not Just a Drunken Dream about Grian and Joel. That really wasn't my intention when I wrote it but I'm happy about it! You did notice a lot when it came to how I characterize Grian and Joel and I love that you did!

I always enjoy reading these, they make my day! Thank you!

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 20

^ reminder for everyone that this applies to these initial thoughts as well! it was quite the surprising sight to have pop up at the beginning of the episode, though.

... what is Emily's motivation to kill Trevor here, exactly? i guess she took a page out of Riya's book when it comes to pushing gays off of cliffs.

yayyyyyyy, they're finally getting along! :D

does framing people for theft and twisting their already broken ankles count as "working"?

i guess we do know from Aiden in Season 2 that Tom and Jake were the most popular players. it makes sense (especially given the grandparent context Ally goes into), but it was still quite surprising.

i really hope that Tom and Jake talk this out at some point, whether in the finale finale or in the tomjake miniseries, because the truth of the situation is that Tom's absence from Jake's life was contributing to his misery, which was apparently much greater than anyone expected. i know that Tom never intended it to be that way, but i'm also sure that his fooling around with lying about having a boyfriend wasn't doing Jake any favors. i just want to make sure that the inadvertent hurt that Tom caused Jake doesn't get swept under the rug.

haha, it's puns in visual storytelling :)

this is understandable. Riya can and will use your backstory against you.

.......................................sigh

this might sound like an odd critique given how much people love to dunk on DC's writing (especially in All Stars), but i actually think that the ONC writers don't have enough faith in themselves. i mean that in the sense that, across the season, they set up really compelling plotlines and rivalries between both Jake/Ally and Connor/Riya that people will naturally want to see fulfilled.

for Ally and Jake, just being here and being forced to work together after everything they've been through is already enough, especially when Connor's hopes are stacked on top of it as well. we're in it with the characters for the ride. so, we don't need more bits of fake drama, like Jake being petty and shocking Ally out of nowhere last episode, or Ally reacting stupidly to Riya's obvious lie, to keep up invested. we don't need a huge last-minute spectacle to feel like Ally and Jake working together is a big deal, because they've been subtly and slowly convincing us of that through the entire season. instead, diverting from the steady characterization to inject needless drama in is just going to convince everyone that nothing matters.

i don't know if this could be a miscalculated flaw from trying to account for the fact that any viewer could hop in at any time on youtube, or appealing to the youtube/tiktok algorithm, or an internal, insecure standard to insert drama into the show at any cost, but i hope that the writers realize how good they are at using heartfelt scenes to build up character dynamics across entire seasons and stop breaking character for silly plot twists in season 4. i have a lot of faith in the writers. i hope they can find that faith in themselves.

y'know, everyone keeps saying that...

OOH THE MOTION BLUR??? POP OFF ONC ANIMATION TEAM I SEE YOU

the "Ally, you're going there!" sign was so fucking funny

that's not very "i'll never work with or trust Riya again" of you, Grett

i literally said before Riya struck her pose, "i hope that Riya does the 'aren't you gay?' pose when it's her turn" and then she did! it's her signature move for a reason ;D

this is, like, the exact same spot and pose as when Trevor initially found Derek and Kristal kissing. i wonder if that was intentional. also, the Gay Thoughts Montage(tm) was really funny.

why would you do it like that? hasn't Trevor suffered enough...? (/j)

@venus-is-thinking pointed out the hilarity of Jake being the one to say this, as he's one of the two contestants who actually has been in the mines before. i guess it just goes to show how disorienting the bags were.

get his ass!!!

i KNEW Ally was going to make a minecraft reference as soon as Kristal explained the challenge. miiiiiiiiiiiiine diiiiiiiiiiamoooooooonds...

way to keep your eyes on the prize, queen.

we love money laundering!! (i think that's close enough to what money laundering is? also i'm joking, obviously.)

again, what is Emily's motivation here? i know it's technically "get the show canceled to embarass Kristal," but she really believes in that so strongly as to put the lives of six innocents-- including an eight year old-- at risk to do so? idk, i feel like Emily's character fell off the realm of reality into supervillain status. it's sad :(

boy, i sure am glad that we witness Riya and Yul pick up 10 gems in this scene! (/s /j)

very brave, Jake. i feel like this parallels something in s1, although i can't remember what. maybe it's just Alec protecting Fiore? that doesn't seem particularly relevant, unless Jake is also auditioning to be her dad.

James: wait... does that mean Jake and Ally are going to fall madly in love with each other? #rivalstolovers.

they look like paleontological fossils in there. the fuck happened to them?

somebody, quick, give them a miniseries! this is too good of a poster opportunity to pass up!

you have to make sure you strike a slay pose, even as you're dying.

props to the trailer for making it look like Ally was the one who sent the rocks to James' face instead of Riya. that was a fun setup and subversion of expectations!

see, Riya can and will use your backstory against you! i was kind of expecting her to do this to Jake, too, given the setup from earlier in the episode. i guess they might be saving that for the finale proper, though.

(check out the reblog for my thoughts on the ending, i ran out of images)

[sweetchcolate]

Oh boy, where do I start? I'll go with the negatives first I guess? Get those feelings out of the way at least.

One of the things that bother me about this finale is the way it tried to resolve both overarching arcs (the holy beginnings festival sculpture crafting and the Rafael plot), but didn't give the latter enough respect or gravity: the second Anne and Shall return to the workshop, they act as if they haven't just spent 3 weeks as prisoners to someone who could kill them at any moment (and who almost suceeded on the very last day). Their entire experience gets swept under the rug to leave more screentime for Anne to gush about the sugar sculptures and get ready for the festival.

Which... in a way, it is in character for Anne to care about sugar crafting more than anything (to the detriment of her own health or safety: see the duke of Philax arc). But at the same time, I genuinely think the anime could have cut back on a scene or two (like Anne and Elliot asking the church official to move the sculptures in early) to have Anne and Shall reflect on everything that happened and decompress.

[This scene kinda happens later on, when Anne is finalising the biggest sugar sculpture in the church, but it's more oriented towards the future (what Shall wants to do now that he knows he's a fairy king candidate, Anne wanting Shall to be happy and Shall wanting her to be happy) rather than what happened for the last 3 episodes]

Because of that, as much as I enjoyed the moments where everyone at the workshop gets to finally witness the fruits of their hard work and have fun at the festival, there was something... lackluster about the very last scene between Anne, Shall, and Mythril. It felt like a repeat of cour 2 episode 4's ending (or even cour 1 episode 4, the first royal fair), where Shall mentions his desire to follow Anne wherever she goes, despite everything that happened since then. You could have skipped the entire Rafael arc mess and you wouldn't know it from the way Shall and Anne acted.

Where's the growth? What's new in their dynamic that adds to this scene (compared to after the first royal fair or compared to when Anne returns Shall his wing in the second cour)?

tldr; to me, Rafael's kidnapping was treated more like an inconvenience or a 3 episode hiatus from the Paige workshop, and its consequences weren't really adressed nor felt (other than Rafael's 'humans and fairies can't live together' shtick affecting Anne and Shall).

The other gripe I have with episode 12 is that conversation Shall and Anne have near the end, when Anne is putting the finishing touches on the sculptures.

Their whole conversation is clearly marked by Rafael's poisonous words that fairies and humans cannot be together: Shall mentions that he wants to devote himself to Anne's happiness forever (even if that might mean she'll get married to a human and thus distance herself from him), and while Anne is happy at the sentiment, she also doesn't want to be a burden and prevent Shall from chasing after his own happiness. They both have each other's best interest in mind, both want the other happy, but do not realise that they've already reached this happiness by being with each other.

If I were reading the same scene in the LN, I wouldn't mind the angst because I know there will be more volumes to address that plotpoint. But the anime doesn't have this luxury, even more so since this is a finale (with no other seasons in the work so far), so why picture the last moments of their relationship in such a heartbreaking way? Why not have them each think 'I know it's better if the other stayed with their respective species, but for now, I'll cherish the time we have together' or something to that extent, thus showing both their doubts, but also their desire to enjoy the present moment and ending things on a bitter, but sweet, note?

tldr: overall, while this was a really good episode, it didn't live up to the expectations of concluding two major arcs in a satisfying way. One of the arcs's consequences were not given enough weight, and Shall's and Anne's relationship ended on this weird note where it's clear they're set for future angst, yet the anime finale doesn't have the room to resolve this.

[terriluvss]

Growth, and Trauma in Fairytail

I love fairytail with all of my heart unfortunately it’s my special interest so I’ve overanalysed the hell out of this series and one thing I have noticed with mashima’s writing is the way characters process their trauma. (This post will contain anime spoilers) ALSO TRIGGER WARNING FOR S AND VIOLENCE

Aka, non-existent. For the most part at least. However there are some exceptions to this like with Gray. With characters like Gray, it’s very clear to see why and how he copes with traumatic events take what happened to Ur as example. Gray believes Ur’s death was his own fault (my guess is probably because he was the one who brought up the deliora situation to her causing her to come to rescue him but as a result having to nope out if life), as a result he believes he doesn’t deserve to live as it ‘should’ve been him’. His actions show this as early as Galuna island arc with our boy using iced shell against Lyon. And multiple other times, he always tries to dish out that spell as a sacrifice because he believes his life is worth nothing more.

This is proof that mashima can and does write trauma well sometimes however his writing can also pale in comparison like with the death of igneel. Specially in the Alvarez arc. Natsu was absolutely traumatised by what had happened and we can see this with him running off for a year with happy. He needed his alone time and yet once he returns its as if nothing had happened, he’s his same old smiley silly self. If you told me to look for the differences in natsu’s character between the first episode and the final season, I would have a very very hard time. There was no growth to his character apart from getting ‘stronger’, we don’t get to see how he comes to terms with the fact his one life goal is void or how he deals with the aftermath of tartaros. Afterwards he is back to his smiley goofy self again like nothing ever happened. There’s no signs at all of Natsu even being affected by it apart from getting stronger. His one life goal is now six feet under ground and he has no visible signs of being depressed over that. He’s capable of smiling, being happy, and his usual self. Even during alvarez arc he’s just as fearless and unchanged as ever. During the alvarez arc Natsu had come face to face with this killer once again and instead of showing any signs of fear at all he looks acnologia in the eyes and takes him head on as if he were a weaker oponent or something.

Realistically acnologia should have terrified natsu. Just like how natsu had been afraid of gildarts seeing his raw power, and acnologia is ten times stronger than gildarrs. Especially considering that dragon had KILLED natsu’s dad. Ripping him in half right in front of him, someone Natsu probably viewed as the strongest and indestructible torn apart just like paper. I understand everyone processes trauma differently but we’ve SEEN first hand Natsu showing fear to stronger opponents like Gildarts. So why is it that all of a sudden when Natsu is faced with acnologia in person once more there is no signs of fear, no memories of the trauma, no nothing rather this cookie cutter hero moment again. Where he takes aconologia on as if he were a weaker foe, even laughing to himself and making witty remarks. We’ve seen at the face of truly terrifying power Natsu shrivels up into a stuttering sweating mess. So it doesn’t make any sense that he feels nothing seeing acnologia again. Saying he did the healing during the one year time skip through tartaros doesn’t even make sense because he challenged gildarts to a fight during the manga and you can see him shrivel up in fear unable to speak once more as soon as gildarts destroys a mountain to save him.

Natsu can feel fear. Yet why not with acnologia? Someone who should have traumatised him.

This happens so many times throughout the series. Trauma being swept under the rug like its just another tuesday. I dont get why he can write trauma fine with Gray, but when it comes to people like Lucy or Natsu suddenly its void.

I just wish the characters in this series were given more growth but time and time again it feels like im watching the same characters from episode one over and over again.

But anyway that’s just my two cents on fairytails writing of trauma. This is my first real post on tumblr so it’s probably dogwater, but yeah im open to hearing other peoples thoughts on this and thank you for reading this low effort post.

[mynameisemma]

I've been brainrotting about Sonya again (very shocking I know) and I decided to write down my thoughts to get rid of the worms in my head.

I think after 4+ years of hyperfixation I'm able to articulate my feelings on Sonya's ending better. I used to think what I felt was pity for her but now I understand it's actually frustration. I'm not mad Sonya didn't marry Nikolai (and given his occasional emotional coldness with the supposed "love of his life" I don't even want to know how he'd treat the woman he never really loved or appreciated) or Dolokhov or anyone. It's the fact that her mistreatment and emotional abuse by the Rostovs (which isn't even subtext you know; it's explicitly said that Sonya's obsession with sacrifices as the way to show her personal worth stems from her position in the Rostovs' household) given no sympathy narratively that makes me mad; it's the fact that Sonya is constantly compared to a pet animal (domestic cat) that makes me mad; it's the fact that Natasha calls her a sterile flower, a useless person in fact, and refuses her the right to feel things as deep and intense as Natasha herself or Marya would, despite the significant role Sonya played in paving these women's road to happiness, that makes me mad.

Yes, I'm aware Sonya's journey in the novel has its own messages and intentions but in my opinion they come across as this typical "if you're homeless just buy a house UwU" privileged view because a) the narrative, again, refuses to treat the fact how much Sonya's background of living in dependency on the people that have been neglecting her for the most part of her life shapes and maims her personality with any nuance and care (unlike Marya's story of abuse was treated) b) the things the narrative "accuses" and "punishes" her for are extremely dumb and hypocritical.

Like how the narrative implies that she's incapable of feeling emotions (or "poetic feelings" if you will) but earlier in the novel we see her overwhelmed with joy, happiness and even pride and it happens when Sonya doesn't think obsessively about the ways to show her gratitude to the Rostovs or actually receives some recognition from the person she loves. How shocking! (no, it's not).

Or how Natasha says Sonya lacks selfishness but the only time she is selfish and hurt and bitter she's punished for not being able to make genuine sacrifice and still hoping/wanting to be with the person she loves.

And what makes me want to rip my hair off is how Sonya strived for the whole novel to be recognised and seen, her character, her very core is about love, her story is about unrequited love. It's not knocking at the close door but throwing yourself against the wall — here I am, please, see me, notice me, I love you, I love you, I love you, I'm worthy of your love — and it's not her failure to win the love of the people she loves that is tragic and infuriating (Sonya refuses to accept this simple and yet painful truth that you can never be "enough" for people that don't love you, little does she know about unconditional love) but the way her silent misery is swept under the rug in-between this family utopia Tolstoy tries to create.

Because we aren't supposed to think too much about domestic cat's thoughts or feelings

[dorothydalmati1]

Obscure Animation Subject #99: Clerks: The Animated Series

Disney’s first animated show for adults and the company isn’t very proud of having that title however and just swept this show under the rug. Hell even when the show was brand new it had horrific treatment, in 2000 only two episodes aired and they were months apart AND out of order. Then the remaining four episodes got dumped on Comedy Central on December 14th, sheesh I would say I feel bad for anyone out there who happened to be a fan of this show but it did seem to find their audience on the complete series DVD that was released in 2001, so that’s nice.

Well if you’re a fan of the 1994 film Clerks then I’ll think you’ll enjoy this loose adaptation of it. It’s a very character and dialogue driven show which works because in the grand scheme of things, not too much happens in select episodes, the second episode of the show was a fake-clipshow LOL. The jokes that are told in this series are funny and can be absurd, basically everything I’ve been saying so far is just like the movie but now it’s animated 22 minute stories, and more wild. Oh but I can say something about the animation and music which are pretty good especially for 2000. Looks clean and has great cartoony expressions.

Nobody asked for this series, but we got it anyway. It’s a pretty funny show that lasted a very short amount of time but once you discover it, you won’t forget it for a long time. Smith has announced plans for an animated clerks movie for several years now. Don’t know if the movie will ever see the light of day, but if it ever does get made I’ll definitely watch it. This series, while gaining a cult following, is still quite underrated and I highly recommend seeing it, it’s only six episodes after all!

[tatakaeeren]

hi are there instances where u saw ur gif/s getting reposted? may I ask how do you deal with it?

I frequently see my gif getting reposted, I know it's the gif I made because I repeated extra frames to add an emphasis. Though, I forgot to add a watermark. I know I don't own the rights, but i kinda feel bad seeing some random internet user getting credit for it

Oh anon sadly more than I can count, and it sucks 🙃. Most of the time I reach out to the person and ask them to add the credit or delete the post. 80% of the time they do one or the other. The problem is that sometimes it is not only on Tumblr and that gets more difficult to track or people never answer😥. If the person fails to answer (I give three days) then I report the post 👍.

The other 20% are the ones that fight back and say "You don't own the anime, show, video, etc" but to that, I say, "Yes I do not own the source BUT I DO OWN THIS GIF BECAUSE I MADE IT MYSELF!!! I took the time to cut the clip, open Photoshop, reduce the frames, select the timing, add color, contrasts, lighting, PSD, resize, sharpen, blur, etc... so if it is that simple then take a screenshot or cut the video yourself" We don't own the source but we made the gif ourselves so we own that gif!

I feel terribly bad because gifmaking is not easy, it is not as simple as people think. And we take time and effort to make every single one of them just so another person reposts it and makes notes?!?!? no f*cking way, and the worst part!!! Sometimes they make even more!!! it is so frustrating that people who steal get more views and notes, and people who create and share their talent with others get swept under the rug slowly demotivating them to keep making content.

SO PLEASE IF YOU SEE A GIF WITH WATERMARKS MAKE SURE THE NAME OF THE BLOG IS THE SAME! DO NOT SUPPORT REPOSTERS!!!