#and its interesting seeing it in different lighting

[cquackity]

[catboybiologist]

One of the most interesting facets of the human body is the way our brains sometimes "generate" information. The brain can't stand being unstimulated, so lacking sensory stimuli, it invents or exaggerates stuff on its own.

It's like the blind spot in your eye, which is filled in by the brain. But it manifests in so many other ways too. Think about getting up in the middle of the night, let's say to get a glass of water. It's dark, and silent. So your brain desperately tries to fill in gaps of perception.

As you slide off the bed, you'll swear your ears are picking up the sound of your own footsteps, even if you're stepping lightly and without any kind of footwear. In this case, there's very real senses that your brain is amplifying, and maybe even misinterpreting- the pressure of weight on your feet being "misread" as something different.

The kitchen is a place with so many smell-heavy memories associated with it. As you enter it with your empty cup, olfaction centers in your brain will start going wild trying to create something from nothing to fill in that gap. Usually, the experience of this is a faint, almost metal-tinged scent, kind of what you smell on the metal slide of a hot playground.

Your vision is not exempt from this as well, especially in areas of high contrast. If the interior of your apartment is dark, and there's soft light coming in from nearby windows, your neurons cling to that. At the periphery of your vision, you might start to notice the light "dance" a little. Shadows will blend just a tad as your sensory neurons try to keep up with changing lighting conditions. Sometimes, your brain fills in this "movement" as familiar shapes.

The burble of water coming from the sink is a comparative sensory feast for your brain, and it almost dispels all other "false" inputs.

When the sink is shut off, though, your brain is going into overdrive. It just got what it needed, and it now expects that level of stimulation- so it's gonna start inventing all sorts of things. You might start to see those dancing shadows in areas for smaller contrast now- lights from kitchen clocks, color changes or art on your walls, indicator lights on computers- coalescing into strange, thin humanoid shapes that dispel the moment you look at them. Makes sense though- humans are what we see moving around the most on a day to day basis, and our brains just work on pattern recognition. They fill in what you know, and when you add more information by taking a peek, your brain settles down.

Walking back to your bed, you might notice that the footsteps that once seemed so loud now don't seem loud enough, as if the sound is falling dead before it can carry. The floorboards, which used to make you jump when they creaked, now make no sound. Your brain is slowly normalizing, and doesn't need to fill in those gaps anymore. Hopefully that will help you get back to a restful sleep.

You lie down back in your bed, take a sip of that water, and for a moment look at the room around you. As you slowly fall asleep, the last errant "misfirings" of your brain will come together in more "comprehensive" ways. The dancing shadows from your peripheral vision might start showing up in your direct line of sight. They'll probably look like a figure coming towards you, as those shadows occupy more of your vision. Pattern recognition is a powerful thing!

The last moments before you fall asleep are where your mind is going wild, trying to put together so many different inputs, both real and false. You might feel chills, or even a cold hand on your leg. It'll pull from memory as well. As darkness falls across your vision, the shadows may contort into the face of a loved one you left behind long ago, sitting atop a wiery, inhuman body.

Make sure to get a restful sleep, and ignore these stimuli. Ignore the feeling of breathe in your neck when you close your eyes. Ignore the feeling of your blankets parting as you drift away. Ignore the figure that was formed from those shadows. They'll be gone come morning.

They'll be gone come morning.

They'll be gone come morning.

They'll be gone come mo

[diangelodork]

OKAY HERE IT IS FOLKS!!! - thank you to @chaotically-gay and @paraphwrites for giving me permission to quote them :3

(i couldn’t figure out how to get the actual word doc in here without doxxing my email and real name so sorry for the shit formatting lmao 🧍- also let’s hope my prof doesn’t decide to look through my page and figure out who wrote this 😟😟)

also, the end is a bit EUGH bc i was nearing the deadline so pls pls don’t judge me too harshly 😬

also also, it was meant to be 2-3 pages… it’s 5 🧍 LMAO DONT ASK ME TO WRITE ABT MY POOKIES IF YOU DONT EXPECT THIS LEVEL OF COMMITMENT 😭😭

Sociological Concepts as They Relate to Netflix’s “Dead Boy Detectives”

Netflix and Steve Yockey’s Dead Boy Detectives is a TV show that effectively addresses several different sociological concepts such as sexuality and gender, race and ethnicity, and deviance, in a very refreshing and enlightening way. This program was released for streaming on April 25th, 2024, and its popularity skyrocketed among adolescents and young adults in particular, as it follows two boys who are eternally 16, living their afterlives as phantasmic detectives with a strong and diverse supporting cast. One of these protagonists, Edwin Payne (played by George Rexstrew), was alive in the mid-1910s whereas the other, Charles Rowland (played by Jayden Revri), lived in the late 1980s, yet they navigate the modern world as they interact with people from the current times, such as the primary supporting cast, Crystal Palace (played by Kassius Nelson), and Niko Sasaki (played by Yuyu Kitamura). 

This show not only has a supernatural aspect to it, but it details stories of love, loss, and goodness despite the bad that must be faced. These themes hold significant relevance to the current times as we actively witness human rights lying up for debate. This show helps to teach people to remain kind in spite of the evils of the world.

One such example of the use of sociological concepts is the majority of well-represented queer characters. Many fans have reported feeling a sense of accuracy in the queer representation within this show far surpassing that of other queer content in media, as Tumblr user @diangelodork states, “this show exemplifies queerness through a queer light, and it’s very clear who the intended audience is for dbda” (dbda being a shortened form of Dead Boy Detectives commonly used by fans). Another user, @chaotically-gay, added to the sentiment within the same thread, writing, “i don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s like hs and rwrb have QUEER characters, while dbda has queer CHARACTERS,” when discussing this sense of representation in comparison to shows in the same vein of queer stories (hs standing for Netflix’s Heartstopper, and rwrb referencing Amazon Prime’s Red, White and Royal Blue, being a rather popular queer show and movie, respectively). It is very evident that the fanbase feels strongly about the importance of this show. It represents several different queer relationships, attractions, and identities whilst also never labeling a single one. One of the primary protagonists, Edwin Payne, has several different love interests, all of them being men, and he very clearly struggles with the implications of that, having been born in a time that oppressed him so heavily that his cause of death was, undoubtedly, his queer identity. Edwin was sacrificed to a demon for his lack of conformity and is even called an offensive term from the time period whilst being sacrificed, even though his queer identity is not given an explicit label. The Cat King (Lukas Gage) is another character that effectively plays with both his sexuality and gender presentation, acting as a symbol of desire within the show and wearing a skirt in nearly every scene he appears in. It is important to note that we see him acting as a symbol of lust and desire for Edwin, despite also having a romantic subtext with the female antagonist Esther Finch (Jenn Lyon). The difference here, once again, is the way that the show never forces stereotypes or conformity onto these characters, providing a more genuine and honest feel to the queerness exhibited within this show. 

It also has a rather large focus on feminism, with a significant portion of the characters being strong and willful women who have explicit motivations that drive their characters rather than being considered flat supporting characters to the protagonists. There are several subplots that follow themes of female justice, power, and vengeance, especially within the character of Crystal Palace. In one episode of this show, episode 6, “The Case of the Creeping Forest,” Crystal enlists the help of all of the women in her bloodline, tapping into the feminine and mystical powers of all those women she descends from. Furthermore, the primary antagonist, Esther’s power, comes from a deal she made with a Goddess of wronged women to take vengeance upon those who harmed her in her past, harming young girls in her desire to maintain her power. She is then defeated in the name of justice for the young girls she took advantage of, which tells us that the focus on feminism is prevalent in both the motivation for the antagonist as well as in the protagonists and their eventual success.

Another sociological concept addressed within this show is the implications and mistreatment of individuals based on their race and ethnicity. One of the most prevalent characters, Charles Rowland, died because of his decision to stand up for a person who was part of a racial minority group. He saw a boy of Pakistani heritage being berated and physically assaulted and stepped in, the bullies redirecting their abuse onto him. He eventually died from his injuries. He himself states that it “Just didn’t seem right. Letting that kid get beat on ‘cause he’s from Pakistan. I mean, I’m half-Indian. Why am I so different?” To which Edwin replies that this is “…a fair point. They were the same country back when [he] was alive.” In this exchange, we see the boys break down the barriers of ethnicity and showcase how unimportant a thing like ethnicity is in relation to a person’s character when it can change in a matter of decades. Despite their generational gap, they can still connect and understand the lack of importance of their backgrounds. Furthermore, of the main four characters that we see, Niko, Crystal, Charles, and Edwin, only one of these is a Caucasian person; although, like how they treat the sexual and gender identities of the characters, they never play into any racial stereotypes. Their ethnicities make a small impact on their characters here, too, never shying away from the fact that Niko was born and raised in Japan, that Charles is half-Indian, or that Crystal is Black, but it never affects the plot in a significant or archetypal way. They are very clearly and adamantly racially diverse, but it is never made a spectacle or a show. Another Tumblr user, @paraphwrites, said, “he's lonely because he attends a boarding school [with] rich racist pricks. he's lonely because never once in his life has he admitted how the intersection of all his identities puts him in a situation where he is completely alone,” in reference to how Charles deals with the aspects of himself that isolate him. They touch on a very important aspect of his character, which is his intersectionality. The main topic of their original post was how this show caters to the lonely, discussing several instances in which the characters feel isolated and alienated from the world, Charles’ race and ethnicity are one of many reasons of this within his character in particular. They also discuss the parental abuse he faced and the subtext of his mother not doing anything to stop it. There is some subtext that the abuse he and his mother faced from his (White) father may have to do with his mother’s heritage and that they also faced suppression of expression of their culture by their father and husband, respectively. 

Finally, the concept of deviance is represented in just about every aspect of this show. Edwin was murdered for his deviance from the norms of masculinity the times forced onto him, further deviating when he escapes Hell not once but twice, defying the institution he is forced into and having to resocialize into society. Charles deviates not only from the racial norms of the school he is in but also in his style, wearing punk clothing and an earring and refusing to follow the rules placed onto him by the Afterlife institution. Crystal is a deviant because she is neglected and ignored by her parents, causing her to lash out and cause problems for herself and others. Niko is a deviant because of her interests and her more childlike and whimsical nature. Jenny Green (Briana Cuoco) is a deviant because of her style, donning a neck tattoo and dark clothing in this somewhat conservative town. 

All of these different concepts and ideas are well represented within this show. Marx’s conflict theory would have interpreted the show to be an indicator of the social change that happens through societal conflict. Had deviation in the same vein that the characters Charles and Edwin exhibited not occurred, society would be far more regressed than we see now through the more modern lens of characters like Niko and Crystal. Marx would say that all of these different characters, especially Charles and Edwin, experienced inequalities and that these inequalities gave power to the individuals who placed these boundaries on them, allowing for their groups to be pushed down even further. Postmodernist theory would likely have a stronger focus on the differences between Edwin and Charles in comparison to the characters like Niko and Crystal, looking at the way that they interact and especially at the way that they were/are treated in their respective time periods. Postmodernist theory would highlight the differences in the treatment and identities of the boys in comparison to the girls because of the times in which they were born, also looking at the differences between Edwin’s time period and Charles’ and how their different identities would have affected how they were raised. 

Overall, this show successfully represents several different sociological concepts and is reflective of both this time period and the ones represented by the characters in the show. This provides for a very sociologically active show.

References

holy shit guys.

my assignment in my sociology class is to fucking write an essay on the sociological aspects of a favorite piece of media of mine.

THATS LITERALLY WHAT I DO EVERY NIGHT. I GET TO WRITE ABOUT THE IMPACT AND WAY THAT HUMAN SEXUALITY, GENDER (the emphasis on the feminine characters being well-rounded and dynamic as well as tck’s gender non-conformity), THE WAY RACE AND ETHNICITY (mainly charles’ death/the bullying of the pakistani boy that he stood up for), AND DEVIANCE (edwin going to hell for his orientation and then escaping hell which is an institution and how he has to resocialize into society as well as the way that the antagonists are presented) ARE REPRESENTED WITHIN DBDA. FOR A GRADE. I DO THAT SHIT FOR FUN ALL THE TIME. THIS IS THE BEST ASSIGNMENT EVER I LOVE COLLEGE 🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️

[nebulamorada]

please sit with me and listen to me talk about a Marshall x reader where he has spent almost half of his life getting to know you through "dreams"

Marshall has known the woman he loves since the 2000s.

Well...since a dream that he remember in those years.

He knows it was during a performance, during a song he couldn't hear but admired vaguely in his memories. He remembers the way your hair looked good with whatever was the style you have, the bright eyes that kept your attention on the audience and parts of your body in a slight glow that came from the sweat illuminated by the stage lights.

Did he know what the song said? No. Did it sound like pop music? Yes. Did he care? No.

During awards and events he had been discreet in looking for you, thinking that maybe you were an emerging artist who had gone unnoticed due to his lack of interest in the genre he believed you were dedicated to.

Why weren't you anywhere, damn it?

He didn't have a name, a melody or a damn physical reference that was useful to find you somewhere, maybe the consumption of some things made him imagine you?

Things got more real during his time in rehab, where things got tough at times and he had started to hear your voice saying his name or your little giggles in his head.

Marshall had jealously kept your memory in the most private place of his mind and heart, only letting out small fragments in the lyrics of his songs, many of the most personal ones still kept in his home where the light of the public's eyes will never reach them.

With the arrival of the years following 2010, you no longer appeared and he didn't expect you to, the market wasn't promoting the things he had dreamed of you doing.

(he didn't know if he could say he saw you in his dreams, but it was better than thinking he was going crazy)

Beyond the years that passed, in which he had thought of you intermittently, his life continued its course normally, letting go of the desperation and obsession to meet you.

Until his performance at the VMAs with Houdini.

He heard your voice that time, so clear that it scared him of the power of the mind until he noticed that you were actually in the same place, physically, not as an echo inside his head.

The performance was just as he remembered it, now all the fragments fit together perfectly. An artist new to the industry who came from outside the American market who wonderfully fused the old bases of pop together with moments where the track seemed more like a rap base, your voice in high and low nuances crossing through different parts, almost as if they were different people in each one, with a stability in the singing and dancing that accompanied it that had not been in the industry for a long time.

You were there, he was seeing you, he was hearing you perfectly clearly, the problem? You were the young woman around 20 and he was now 50...

[shydroid3000]

On the subject of Light Yagami, Misa Amane, and guilt (guilt as in culpability and guilt as in the internal experience of feeling guilty): [Rambled about this as part of a response to an ask game but decided I'd pop it into its own post too 'cause I ended up writing a lot on the topic lol]

The question was: was misa just as guilty as light? Ooh, guilt in relation to Misa and Light is interesting to think about. On the one hand, I do think that they're both culpable for their actions at the end of the day. I have maybe some more grace to extend Misa in terms of her having an understandable reason to go down that path, what with her parents being murdered (and almost being murdered herself). Like, that's a level of trauma that makes you go, 'yeah, I can understand why she was all-in on killing criminals with the death note, even if I don't agree.' Light, on the other hand, had this good, stable, pretty privileged home life, in addition to him being a top student, talented, handsome, etc. He's got less of an excuse, you know? The fact that Misa's drawn to Kira's ideals out of lived trauma, whereas Light is drawn to those ideals largely out of ego is sort of a meaningful distinction. (By ego I don't just mean the belief that he's exceptional, but I mean -- the way he is so desperately driven to protect his conception of himself as a Good Person. That's a tragic and heart-rending manifestation of ego, but it's still about protecting his ego). But I also think there's 'guilt' on the level of the actions and choices you make regardless of motivations, and I'd see them as more equal on that front. Misa was an enthusiastic DN user and participant in Kira's plans/ideology. She's motivated by different things than he is, but she makes her choices knowingly. I think it would be diminishing of her agency and complexity to say that she's less responsible for her actions than Light is, if that makes sense. (Also, there are things Misa is guilty of that Light isn't, and vice versa. E.g., Misa pushes Light's boundaries in a way that can be very uncomfortable; Light uses Misa/others without real regard for them).

Now, beyond all that... the question is obviously about their culpability for their use of the DN. But it also makes me think about each of their *experiences* of guilt internally, and that might be even more interesting to me. I think that their relationship to guilt is one of the things that makes them so divergent from one another. Because... running away from guilt is such a huge part of what propels Light to go all out with the Kira thing. So much of his psyche is shaped around that black pit of guilt where whispers of "I did a bad thing. If I did a bad thing I'm not a good person" come from. He diligently tries to cover over that and barricade it off. He crafts an ideology that makes his murders righteous, and commits to making a New World(tm) where the meaning of 'good/right' is reshaped around that. He makes himself a God so that his actions are beyond judgment, or at least he is, because his murders are divine - they're acts of creation, even of love and self-sacrifice. And then Misa... well, guilt doesn't seem to be as obvious a factor for her, whether as motivation or reaction. I mean, I could imagine a reading where there's some well of underlying guilt about the death of her parents and her survival -- I think that would make sense given the circumstances. But... we never actually see that kind of Bruce Wayne -esque psychology peeking through, so that feels more like headcanon territory than direct analysis. Obviously she has deep feelings about the murder of her parents, but she has a very different relationship to guilt than Light. She usually comes across as very free from guilt. She knows what she wants and what her priorities are, and she pursues those without shame. She's impressed by Kira so she becomes the second Kira; she decides she loves Light and wants to be with him regardless of whether he even likes her, so she pursues that undeterred by his response to her. It feels like Misa is always calmly pushing forward toward what she wants, whereas Light's sprint forward toward his New World is really a running-away-from. But at the same time... what kind of underlying emptiness would make someone so completely devotional in the way Misa is, wanting to devote themselves to someone who mostly loathes them, to the point of not even seeming to be hurt by that person's disdain for them as long as they can still have that person in their life? I think there's definitely beneath-the-surface stuff with Misa, but it comes across like guilt is a colour that just doesn't exist in her world. Whereas with Light, every shadow in his world is the colour of guilt. If goodness or righteousness are the rays of the sun, Light Yagami is the moon that reflects the sunlight while trying to create a reality in which those rays are his -- are him -- a reality in which he becomes the sun. And yet he's a moon, and the dark side of it that he disavows is guilt, is 'I did a bad thing', is 'what if I'm not a good boy?' (Wow, went overboard with the metaphors there but too lazy to edit lol).

[dawnxd]

I see Epic the Musical and Greek Mythology are both interests of yours! Therefore I would ask- how and why do you feel about the latest Vengeance Saga ending song? I have mixed thoughts because I strongly adhere to being divine should mean something particularly among titans, gods and goddesses from Greek Mythology where they're the biggest threats to each other what with the demonstrated coup etc and the power scaling is highly stratified.

Epic is of course its own thing but if you have advice to offer on reconciling its events with precedent from myth in some capacity I'd appreciate any wisdom you have to offer!

A big part of my dissatisfaction is how Calypso was recognised as a goddess and rightly then treated by Odysseus as futile to violently throw himself at in terms of where his efforts could get him. Zeus being awarded such gravitas also feels comparatively unfair compared to Poseidon going from a similarly powerful force of nature to be withstood and survived mainly to... well,😅, mildly underwhelming despite his brother getting to be a narrative juggernaut that remains unvanquished.

I'm also intrigued by animatics that help contribute in some way to justifying the events by what they show on screen having been not entirely won over by the livestream visuals, divine intervention in favour of Odysseus shown or implied etc would be in the realm of what I'm meaning (... or just getting literal physical distance between the ocean and Poseidon too as a basic trick).

There's no pressure, naturally, but I figure it couldn't hurt to ask civilly in light of your bold claim you could ramble about it for some length without much preparation!

The song itself is okay, though obviously not my favorite in the saga. However, my thoughts on the happenings in the song are kind of iffy. I definitely agree that divinity is treated oddly in Epic: The Musical: that it's quite inconsistent when it comes to the different gods (as you have put, Calypso and Zeus are treated much differently than Poseidon when it comes to the power they have over Odysseus), and that Odysseus straight up besting Poseidon doesn't make much sense if you think about it too hard. But I feel that this choice was made simply to drive home the point that Odysseus is willing to do anything to make it back home to his family. That he's even willing to fight a god he previously feared in order to see his son and wife again. Whether it was a good choice or not is completely up to the consumer, though.

[the-ghost-rat]

NO BUT LITREALY lumity is legitmently such an utter mess the more i think abt it that it lowky reminds me of catradora in a way(but not as bad) i would far rather they have willow and luz be end game, im not even a willow fan but its less insulting then luz instantly dating a girl who bullied her friend for years

Yeah i remember the song doing that n its still so weird to me how some ppl keep defending it-i highly doubt ppl would try to defend it if g1 did something like that

Oh yeah she was definitely implied to be Aboriginal, Aboriginal or Māori due to the tattoos on her dad, granted she would be biracial Indigenous & white due to her mom(her mom is a water nymph so greek) its weird to me how ppl keep insisting she was just a white girl in g1 cus of dumb reasons like her being blonde, having green eyes & “light skin”(shes just blue😭) when its obv she’s not , some ppl argue shes still implied Indigenous in g3 which while yes true Indigenous latines & Aboriginal/Māori folk arent the same and acting as if any representation of an Indigenous person is representive of all Indigenous cultures is weird af 😐 (also yeah your spot on about Brazilians-as a Brazilian myself its so frustrating how there is little to no representation for us likely due to us not speaking spanish, i was actually excited at first for lagoona being latina now cus the creature from the black lagoon is specifically located in the amazon which is in Brazil but turns out she wasnt)

My friend did note that both the mummy & the frankenstein monster in the classic universal films were played by the same actor which i think is a cute detail about clankie but i just overall cant say im a fan of it or at least how its tackled (the fans make the pairing even less enjoyable their so damn insufferable)

Yeah i agree about nefera shes such a nothing character now, it feels like they wanted to do helga & olga but didnt get why that one worked so well, the whole point of clawdeens siblings vs cleos sister was to show the differences between a healthy relationship between siblings vs a toxic one i mean hell clawdeen even had a big sister like cleo

Honestly g3 cleos voice is so damn funny to me cus its litrealy just amanitas voice😂

G3 toralei is so weird cus they obv wanted her to be punk w her first doll but were too scared to actually go there so instead they went more 80s glam and rave which just dont rlly work for toralei, i mean her band is litrealy called hissfits a pun on missfits a punk band yet like you said she just sings pop-rock songs, g1 toralei was definitely punk the only character & doll in g3 id say are actually punk is venus & welcome comittee frankie which is weird cus g3 frankie is supposed to be “DIY punk” yet they only ever dress in prepy fashion , g1s punk characters were based on a more toned down verison of punk yeah but they were still punk regardless

Tbh im canadian too n i dont rlly mind ghoulia being canadian not being mentioned much-mainly cus idk what they couls do to mention it 🤷🏽‍♂️ i also dont think a voice actor needs to perfectly match the characters appearance unless the character is disabled or has an accent cus we wont see them but also cus i care way more abt how they eruased her being autistic coded & had her speak, yes she “technically” spoke in g1 but not only are not all languages verbal ones(such as ASL) but also to the audience she was mute , alot of nonverbal autistic ppl noted that they communicate in a similar way she does besides she displayed other autistic traits like hating change , needing a schudule, having a special interest , struggling to express herself etc, only to now have all of that gone in g3 not to mention even her implied physical disability is removed in g3, she doesnt have a hunch n moves just like everyone else does most we get is “oh she needs a skateboard to move around better” which is such a dumb way to represent a mobility aid - i do fully understand foxford & bunny tho , i do think they should have done a better job at estiblishing them ceing icelandic n welsh at least give them an accent, but for bunny her having an actor w down syndrome is extremely important, down syndrome does effect someones speech pattern its important to make sure her voice actor has the same speech pattern as a neurotypical/able bodied person cant do that, granted i also am just in general burnt out on wereanimals in MH 😅 thats all we get now n its so damn lazy n boring, i would far rather if they picked an entirely different welsh folklore monster for bunny n made foxford something like idk a kitsune(just as an example) just anything but a wereanimal

Monster high G3 rant

Watching the TV series and I’m kind of disappointed.

This will be my second watch of season 1, I’m rewatching after the current season 2 episodes.

the show feels very flat in my opinion. They’ve given the characters a lot of cool traits, but they’re used for like one episode and then never brought up, or they only use one specific trait 24/7. Like Frankie in this generation, they have the ability to electrocute, extend their body parts, and they get visions from the people they’re made out of. Specifically they get visions from this one recurring doctor/ scientist. The idea is cool, but the vision literally is there to give exposition about something conveniently. Like when they are trying to solve the puzzle of clawdeens mom, Frankie’s vision just conveniently tells them what to do and how to do it.

In that same episode, we see manny taur. A Minotaur character. And right away we are just told that he’s good at puzzle solving, and so is draculaura! They’re rivals! But this is the first time I’ve ever seen or heard about draculaura being into puzzles, let alone her one sided rivalry with manny. And as the episode ends, she’s like “well you can be the rightful puzzle master” but it feels so flat. There has been no build up to this moment.

Another example is lagoona. In her designated episode, she is rooting for torelai to win the fear-leading captain over draculaura (another thing that has no build up as to why it’s important to her) lagoona explains that torelai is holding a secret over her head, and if it gets out she will lose her status as the fiercest monster in school. But this is the first time we have heard this!! In previous episodes there’s no mention of her being scary or fierce. Or even her super fast swimming skills. It’s just brought up and glosses over with a “be who you are, it’s okay to like what you want! We all have secrets 🥹” but there’s no real character development.

My last example will be the way draculaura is presented in this series. From what she tells us, she has high standards to live up to as a vampire. She needs to look good for her day so she studies endlessly and is striving for perfection. But she also has a love for witchcraft, which is banned in monster high due to its connections to humans. This can be a cute premise, but they NEVER show draculaura compared to any other vampire to show how she’s supposed to act. They never give us episodes where she blows off her friend’s shenanigans because it makes her look bad, and they never really show her dad being so overbearing. They don’t show us WHY humans are hated. And even though witchcraft is banned, whenever anyone finds out about it they’re just cool with it? No push back or anything. The only character to challenge draculaura was torelai.

This all may be very nitpicky, but MH is a character driven franchise. Character relationships with each other and their surroundings are very important to me. I want to feel the so called pressure these characters are being put under. It doesn’t have to be ultra serious 24/7, but issues get resolved within one episode and then rehashed a few episodes later with no further development. Especially with characters like Cleo and lagoona. They have been benched as side characters in this show, and side characters get much worse treatment.

‘The general episode progression is like this - introduce an issue, introduce a high stakes situation that involves the school, have all or one of the main 3 engage in a sequence of fights against this issue(or rapid solving of said issue through convince) - issue is resolved and lesson is told to viewers-characters reset for the next episode.

I know this is a children’s show, but that doesn’t mean it needs to have bad writing, not all kids are high off cocomelon. Kids deserve good writing in their media!

My next rant will be about clawdeen and her story this generation

[jez-bez]

unpopular opinion: Korn is not the baddest of bad guys

Is Korn a good guy? No. Definitely not. He, without a doubt, accepts his place in the gambling/money laundering part of his father's company. Does he have a choice, though? I don't think he does.

I've seen people talking about Korn being the bad guy, who takes advantage of Ton Kla, their Sugar Daddy arrangement, cheats on him with Fasai (which imo is NOT something he enjoys or even wants to do. I think he's being forced into it but that's for another time I guess) etc etc but I see it differently

Korn loves Ton Kla. Plain and simple. He loves him. Korn just unfortunately, like a lot of people getting raised by shitty excuses for parents, is acting and reacting in the only way he knows how. By control.

It's so clear to see.

The scene where Korn comes back to Ton Kla after two weeks, to me, speaks volumes of Korn's feelings. He's an open book right there.

"How about I fill you in on what happened, okay?"

You can see the hope on his face. He's been gone for weeks, feels guilty about it and now he really wants to tell (his lover) where he was and what happened. I mean, he did just get promoted too (even if its into a fucked up money scheme wth). But he wants to tell Ton Kla because he's finally got time to see him again, he wants to share his hardships and joys. Like normal couples would, right?

But then when Ton Kla doesn't want to listen, doesn't want to hear any of it, Korn gets disappointed.

he then makes the stupidest mistake ever by assuming a fuck would fix everything. Give the boy what he usually wants and the boy will forgive him, right? right?

Wrong.

Ton Kla doesn't want to have sex , which tbf, after being ghosted for two weeks (and having found another toy to play with) isn't weird. I wouldn't either. Go Ton Kla for pushing him away.

The face of realization because Korn is losing control. Not that he's had any control over anything the last few weeks, because not even his subordinates listened to him when he ordered them not to hurt Nan. In fact, I'd even say Korn is naive for believing they'd follow his order.

And then Ton Kla drops a massive, all left over peace shattering bomb because 'his brother was killed and Korn wasn't there, Korn didn't know, Korn let him down.' <- aka Korn's inner monologue probably.

"Who did it, Ton Kla?"

Baby tries so hard, to come up with something to do, to help. Suggesting the only things he's knows, the only things that's probably helped him: his connections through his father. And here's where people bitch about 'he didn't even ask Ton Kla if he was okay!'

listen, I know, I understand. But the man has also been through some shit, he's just reacting right now. He needs to know what happened, so he can help. So he can get that control back that he lost and desperately needs back.

"You don't have to help me. Someone else is already helping."

And once again he gets rejected by his lover, shattering the already shattered pieces of whatever's left of his heart and patience.

Korn so badly wanted to come back to his love, his boy, to share with him what happened in the past two weeks, to finally breathe and calm down. But unfortunately, a lot has happened to Ton Kla too, who just can't handle Korn's absence and random appearance.

"Just go."

Another rejection. Shot straight through the heart.

Ton Kla is not playing around, that's for sure. And honestly, good on him. This is not a pity party for Korn. Both are just reacting to their feelings. Poorest little meow meows. Stuck in their own dysregulation.

"You dare chase me away?"

That right there, is the look of a man who is hurting. Who can't believe what's happening. Knowing he fucked up and won't be allowed to fix it.

He even stumbles out of the house! Poor Korn. I feel for him.

Korn may not be the best character, is very morally gray, but I think people shouldn't forget the home that brought him up. You become what is preached to you, and if you don't know that that is wrong, you can't change. Nothing.

[nashvillethotchicken]

I wish there were more black people who were into iwtv so I can talk about how Louis's class and race interests intersected

[poorlemons]

the funniest part of having an oc who's been with you for like- five years is that I can look at him and say he was inspired by reigen arataka and also snufkin- which would be wildly confusing and bizarre if not for the context of him existing for five fucking years

[sysig]

Do I know you? Do I know you? Do I know you? (Patreon)

[good-beanswrites]

Hello 🎬👋!! Haha, I’m glad you enjoyed the thoughts, I loved these so much! Thank you!

LMAO I think a few of them would have real good taste in song titles, but others… not so much 😅 I actually think Yuno would have some pretty solid ideas. Though Haruka has some nice thoughts too, I heard both his titles are specific plays on words that I don’t think he’d come up with himself…

Omg yes! The prisoners would have such a good time planning mv outfits! I can definitely see it being bittersweet for Fuuta – exasperated by, but also homesick because, they all remind him so much of his sister ;-; Mahiru is devastated she's not getting a new outfit for I Love You and so she enjoys styling vicariously through helping the others. Shidou’s outfit was even more painfully Dad before the group helped tone it down. Before the mv color scheme was decided, they cycle through a few different colored marching band uniforms for Amane. Muu doesn’t quite understand the flower dress, but the team promises her it will all come together to look great.

>:O The birthday art can be au canon!! The previously mentioned fashion crew makes everyone dress up like their cake, and designer Mikoto photoshops them into a pic of it aww. Even after watching the t1 videos, it would be the nicest they've seen everyone get dressed up. They're shocked seeing the boys clean up so nicely in their suits, and the girls are just shining in their fancy dresses and heels. And maybe Es’ “birthday” pic was a pre-experiment candid shot of them chillin with the bunny off set :’)

On a slightly darker note, I wonder if those pv shots of the restraints are canon too. Milgram had a few ideas for worst-case restraints and took a few shots for reference during an early fitting…

ADFGGH rip Haruka 😂😂😂 I love the idea of a whole group of them sneaking around looking for tasty goo and fun props, and instead stumbling upon The Mannequin Room. And waait I'm so emotional over Kazui loosening up and having a bit of fun with his tricks :’D With all the themes about certain characters growing up faster than they should, it would be so lovely to see them giggling and messing around in a blooper reel! I’m imagining someone trying to twirl Amane’s baton as well as her and epically failing at it.

Yeah, I have a lot of different predictions for Amane’s t3 changes – but no matter what happens, she starts accepting help just a little bit more behind the scenes >:) It’ll still take her a really long time to break away from the cult’s beliefs (no one in the cast/team really knows proper cult deprogramming strategies at this point, but they start looking into it as soon as the experiments ends.) Still, she finds a balance of keeping most of her religion and also realizing that the others genuinely care for her. 

And oooh I really like that 👀 I always pictured the prisoner Es hints to be leading toward them being a prisoner in the future (accused of executing prisoners), but that would add so much more drama if it relates to a past imprisonment. The ten would make a perfect heist team, hacking the system, snooping around, and charming facility members in order to find paperwork detailing past experiments featuring Es. And Kotoko would certainly be leading the investigation – I love how closely she’s monitoring everything, it would fit so well if she were the one to see the truth first. Between the realization that Milgram hasn’t been fully honest, and the threat that Es may be there for even longer, the jailbreak would erupt much quicker than the current timeline. Although the au is nicer overall, I really like keeping Milgram a pretty shady organization hehe 

[welcometoteyvat]

jing yuan and yanqing are giving zhongli and xiao if the latter’s canon relationship was Actually fanon’s made up father figure/adopted child dynamic

[skullzy20]

Because of that drawing actually I wanted to share my operator and drifter with you guys so here I'm handing them to you

[waywardsalt]

there is undeniable opportunity to make bellum x linebeck fucked up but i dont have it in me. im a sucker for it just being fine with a side of like. light nautical crimes against nature but i cant make it toxic or w/e after a certain point. theyre chilling

[infizero]

every time i so much as think about that scene where light looks at porn magazines while scowling i go into hysterics its genuinely the funniest thing i've ever seen