#anti to the rescue

[the-badger-mole]

She knows

She knows

She knows

Zuko had thought his feelings for Katara were his secret. He'd never spoken to anyone about them, and he hadn't been treating her any differently since he'd figured himself out. His feelings were his burden alone, and he intended to keep it that way. Still, she knows ricocheted through his mind. His heart seemed to beat in time to words in his brain as he tried to process everything. The clamoring of the soldiers rushing up the stone stairs; the sound of the stolen air ship coming up behind him; the feel of Katara's lips on his.

Her fingers were clenched tight around the collar of his shirt. Zuko had just come to his senses enough to reach for her waist, intent on pulling her closer, when suddenly Katara shoved him backwards off of the ledge of the broken balcony. An airbender would've caught themselves and vaulted back onto the stone legdge. Zuko was no airbender, though. Their airbender was...someplace else. Zuko wasn't entirely sure of where. So when Zuko landed on the deck of the airship with a bone rattling thump, shock kept him there for the time it took him to refill his lungs. By the time he scrambled to his feet, the ship was already pulling away. Zuko had just enough time to see Katara turn from him to face his father's soldiers. She was outnumbered by at least a dozen, but she stood tall and firm, and even from behind, Zuko could see the determination in her stance. She would fight and die to make sure that he got away safely.

"No!" Zuko shouted. He threw himself at the railing, intent on getting back to her by any means necessary. He would leap from the deck and figure out the rest on his way back. Two sets of strong hands kept him from enacting his plan.

"Let me go!" he demanded pulling against the hold on him. "I'm not leaving her!"

"Zuko!" Sokka shouted. He and Suki pulled hard throwing him against the wall of the ship. "Stop!"

"Turn back!" Zuko half demanded, half pleaded. "We have to go back for her!" He was met with Sokka and Suki's twin grimaces.

"We can't," Suki said, grimly. "We have to get you to safety."

"I don't care about my safety!" Zuko insisted. "I can't leave her behind! Sokka, she's your sister! How can you just-oof!" Sokka's punch didn't hurt so much as it caught Zuko off guard.

"Don't you dare!" Sokka growled. He stood over Zuko, rage radiating from him almost tangibly. "Don't you dare imply I'm not just as worried about Katara as you are. If it wasn't for the fact that we need you to survive the war, I would've thrown you back to them to save her in a heartbeat. But the next best thing I can do is make sure my sister's sacrifice isn't in vain. That mean's getting you to safety and making sure you don't do anything stupid like trying to take on a whole troop of firebending soldiers.

A thousand arguments flew through Zuko's mind. They were superimposed over the image of Katara facing those same solders in his mind. Everything in him was demanding they turn around that instant and rescue Katara. His gambit for the throne was meaningless in comparison to Katara's safety. So what if she had willingly sacrificed herself? So what if he were summarily executed by his father, or even his sister? His own life meant nothing if Katara weren't in it.

Sokka was right, though. Zuko was loathe to admit it, but he was right. Katara knew what she was doing, even if Zuko was certain she didn't understand the full consequence. She'd saved his life. Again. Impotent and helpless as he felt watching her do it, she'd done it willingly. She'd done it strategically. His heart railed against it, but his mind knew why she'd done it. He had the best claim to the throne, after all. They'd talked about it to exhaustion. He'd told Katara all his worries, and she'd calmed them with her certainty that he was the Fire Lord his nation deserved. He'd never gotten the chance to tell her that he though she was the Fire Lady his nation needed, though they didn't deserve her by a long shot. He'd never told her that though he didn't deserve her, he needed her. Like he needed water.

She knew, though. She knew his weakness, and she'd used it. Zuko could still feel the pressure of her lips on his. Could still feel the way her hand tightened on his collar as she prepared to shove him away even while she was pulling him closer. She knew what she could do to him even in the midst of battle.

"They probably won't kill her," Suki said quietly. Both Sokka and Zuko looked up sharply.

"What?" Sokka gasped.

"They probably won't kill her," Suki repeated. "She's too valuable a prisoner. The daughter of the Southern Water Tribe chief? The... the friend of Prince Zuko? She's useful. If she surrenders, she will have a fighting chance." Suki's mouth was pressed into a thin, grim line. She was upset, too, Zuko realized. Maybe almost as upset as Sokka and Zuko were. Only almost, though. Zuko couldn't imagine his future without Katara in it, and Sokka had always been his sister's protector. As Zuko met Sokka's eye across the deck, he knew the Water Tribe warrior had made the same decision he had. If Katara was alive, neither would rest until she was safe again. The details of their rescue mission would have to wait until they could discuss them in private, but they would be going after her.

Part 2

[peachi-blossom]

More shows that have a better color palette than Hazbin Hotel

[ihazyourkitty]

Hogle Zoo is an AZA accredited facility, opening up a new area 3 acre area called "Wild Utah" to feature various native Utah species. 3 of those animals are going to be orphaned cougar cubs that were rescued and unable to survive in the wild on their own.

Note that 2 of these cubs have shortened ears and tails because of frostbite. They were rescued in Nebraska where the weather conditions were severe, and again, these cubs were unequipped to handle it on their own.

This would be a very positive story about giving orphaned cubs a second chance at a good place where they will receive all the care that they need... or so you would think.

Instead, multiple people on the comments were asserting that they were just going to prisons, one even going so far as to say that it would've been better to just let them die.

Wonderful. Nothing says "I love animals" than explicitly saying that they're better off dead than at an accredited zoo. Again, you will note that 2 of the 3 were suffering things like frostbite when they were rescued. There is nothing humane about letting animals that are within your power to help die like that.

I cannot, and will never, understand the "logic" behind this kind of mindset. Yes, baby orphaned animals die in nature all the time. No, we cannot save them all. But for those we can help... why not help them? And why is a life well cared for at an accredited zoo somehow worse for them than suffering a slow and painful death from starvation and exposure?

These animals do not have the same concepts of freedom vs. prison like we do. All they knew was that their mother is gone, and they were cold and starving.

Yes, bad or less than ideal zoos exist. Hogle Zoo is not one of them. Zoos and aquariums are not universally prisons, and if you think that, then let me just ask... what kind of prisons have you been to!? Seriously, all of the animals I've had the privilege to work with eat better than I do, and are treated vastly better than human prisoners are. How privileged must you be to think that all zoos and prisons are equivalent to one another!

Here's the reality: the zoological industry is a complex, nuanced thing that is ever improving and expanding. We're not stuck in the 1970s like you are. Stop judging animal welfare based on vibes, and stop drinking the PETA, HSUS et al. kool aid, because they're lying to you.

[janiedean]

I have a few problems with Brienne's character.

1. Shouldn't she be bitter to world for someone who went through what she went through like Tyrion? Isn't it boring this way?

2. Brienne believes in rules. Why does she support Renly? She should have supported Joffrey first because she didn't know about incest. She should have supported Stannis after she learned incest.

3. If she doesn't care about the rules, why is she angry at Jaime for killing Aerys? She says he shouldn't have killed him even though Aerys was cruel. She never says I don't think you killed Aerys for the right reasons, she just says you shouldn't have.

weeell

1 she could... and most people would have been, but if she became then that she'd be sandor or tyrion or jaime, not *brienne* - like the entire point of her character is that she manages to *not* be bitter and cynical even if a bunch of shit happened to her and that *even* after she gets through her whole affc ordeal which does give her even more of a wake up call when it comes to how bad things are around she still doesn't become cynical or bitter and she still believes in her vows, which is why brienne is gonna eventually become the best knight in the realm™️ recognized by everyone and not just by the readers, because she's the only one who embodies all the knightly virtues AND lives by them AND even if she went through experiences that could and might have turned her cynical and bitter that's not gonna be what's in store for her

and btw my pet theory that she's gonna kill lady stoneheart for jaime in front of him is also because I think it's fundamental that a jaime who's back on his track to be honorable and found some peace can coach her through what happens when you kill your liege lord who went insane and might help her not turn out the way he did, more on that in answers two and three

2 she doesn't believe in *rules* though, she believes in honour and the knightly code and she's also in love with renly - like, the thing is: renly is the only person who treated her decently in her eyes (for her standards which is BAD - like again I love my girl but she was ready to die for him because he danced with her and didn't tell her she was ugly to her face which is a very fucking low standard), he's obviously her type, she fell in love with him, she swore herself to him and wanted to be in his guard, so unless renly did something like exceedingly HORRIBLE or dishonorable or something nothing was stopping her from siding with him - also when it comes to current westeros kingship..... I mean maybe but if you want to split hairs then the baratheons in themselves could have been seen as them being usurpers if one thought targaryens had the right of it. also if renly visited tarth and renly has storm's end technically she's already sort of sworn to him or anyway more in his orbit (he went to visit tarth for the political trip not stannis), also like the incest thing was something *stannis* said to corroborate his claim but it's not like cersei or anyone else ever owned up to it so she could care about it or not, but tldr if there's a crown crisis and people secede knights are free to side with whoever they think has the best claim. now I don't think renly had the best claim and as everyone and their walls know I'm everything but renly-friendly or anything like that (like I frankly dislike canon renly a lot for various reasons tho I think he could be a decent person in modern au) and that I think he should have sucked it up and supported stannis... but to her if she's not sworn to stannis first, if renly does his thing and if she loves him then nothing stops her from siding with him without it being a problem for her. like she wants to be a knight following a honor code and choosing a lord/lady/whatever to serve and then doing it to the bitter end is also that. she happened to pick renly but idt that's like anything that is particularly not coherent given the situation.

3 the problem with jaime killing aerys isn't the *rules*, it's the *vows*. now in general so it's out of the way: I was one of those people who was ride or die for jaime from the second he showed up in story and I already had a feeling from the get-go that whichever reason he had for killing aerys he most likely had done everyone a favor even without knowing the specifics, but like... no one knows why jaime did it and the fact that everyone thinks he has shit for honor because he's a knight and killed his liege he swore a vow to and he has zero patience to correct them when he actually did it for a very good reason is half of the reason why everyone has an unwarranted bad opinion of him and why the only person who actually likes him is tyrion bc he knows he's a decent person but no one else got as far as noticing it. now we can discuss to hell and back why jaime just went like fuck that who gives a shit and then decides maybe not but that's not the point.

the point is that a) the way you put that question doesn't take into account a lot of things which I'm getting into in a second, b) that literally no one knows jaime as a person beyond tyrion also bc he doesn't gaf to let others close beyond cers, so like for everyone in the realm that's the guy who killed his king when the ultimate knightly oath is serving your king. now not going into the fact that grrm is showing that knighthood is a rotten institution etc, from brienne's pov when she meets him

a) she's ugly, she doesn't think she has a chance to do anything except dying young while fighting and have ballads written about her while she tries being a knight a thing she knows she's good at and put all her chips on because she has literally nothing else going for herself

b) she's a woman so no one takes her seriously even when she's obviously good/better than 99.9% of her peers and it doesn't happen even after she wins a goddamned kingsguard spot after beating people who bet about who was gonna take her virginity first and the only thing she wanted was being in the kingsguard of a man she loved that she hoped to see on the throne

c) meanwhile jaime has everything from her pov - the name, the looks, the skill (because like everyone talks shit abt him but no one doubts he's good at his trade), got accepted into the kingsguard at *fifteeen*, could have had any woman he wanted had he chosen to not be a knight, while being a knight he's sworn into the highest possible position he could reach in westeros in that role like idk how to put it on paper if you wanna be recognized as a bonafide true knight ™️ no one would ever laugh about being in the KG is what makes it... and what does he do he kills his king and is absolutely unapologetic about it and doing the ultimate wrong thing a knight should never do and he gets to stay in the KG anyway when according to outside view he should have been kicked out while she had to eat dirt to get where she was and no one took her seriously anyway

d) she's also at almost her most naive and she still thinks the world works like vows so she doesn't even consider the fact that he might actually have had a reason to do it, so when

She says he shouldn't have killed him even though Aerys was cruel. She never says I don't think you killed Aerys for the right reasons, she just says you shouldn't have.

... yeah she says she shouldn't have killed him because that = spitting on an institution she thinks is the highest honor to be in (which ofc isn't true but other problem entirely) and it doesn't matter what reasons he might have had to do it, bc at that point she presumes that if he had any he'd have said back in the day and since he never bothered to do that then it doesn't matter. he shouldn't have because he's an anointed knight and it's dishonorable to kill your liege, end of story...

but there's the fallacy with your question because yeah... that happens in the beginning of asos before they get their trauma bonding road trip. if you read asos carefully she starts calling him ser or by his first name only without insults or the kingslayer the second he saves her from being raped the first time, she takes care of him at his worst, he ends up not having any fucks to give anymore about pretending he doesn't care about aerys and after they come through almost dying together and end up in the bath she's ready to hear why it happened and he's ready to share it for the first time period. he does it with her, not with anyone else, and on the spot she probably can't process it but after *that* she basically puts him back on his feet and takes care of him and gets in the way anytime someone else wants to get close before they meet roose, after he saves her from the bear pit she stops calling him names or anything but ser, when they meet and he gives her oathkeeper she tells him the white cloak becomes you so she obviously changed her mind... and in her affc chapters when people talk shit about jaime and his oathbreaking she stands up and leaves the premises because she can't bear to hear it and she tries to justify him to lady stoneheart (good luck) and she doesn't think he's wrong for that anymore. like yeah she doesn't go and tell him straight after he shares his story but she has no reason to because he knows she knows and they trusted each other at that point and when we get into her head she only thinks good of him and it's obvious she changed her mind which again... is another point I never managed to meta about even if I wanted to back in the day but like

tldr

if you notice when you read his pov and then hers and you see how they interact with each other he sounds way younger than his actual age (because he emotionally got stuck at when he killed aerys and only started moving on since he gets chapters) while brienne reads way older than she is because she got through enough shit even if she's barely nineteen that it makes sense she would have matured way faster, but when it comes to their ideals he is way more cynical and jaded because he got through ALL that crap at seventeen and he saw that things suck and he just went like fuck it while she is all idealistic and her-actual-age about it because of what I said in 1 - other than being younger and not having had ptsd level military trauma at his age she is also set apart because she's that devoted to being a knight in a way that reminds him of himself when he was young... so after they get past their crap he remembers wanting to be like her back in the day and tries to get there again and get back his honor while she becomes more mature and less naive and realizes the world isn't black and white so they actually hone each others' sharp edges out in that sense and they get better/learn from each other and that's another thing that's compelling about them, but like if you gotta get there then it makes sense he starts thinking she's a naive idiot who's gonna get jaded the second she finds out how the world works and then he's shocked when she doesn't and she thinks he's a pos who spat on the thing she wants most in the world and she can't have because people don't take her seriously and then she realizes he's actually not like that at all and that he did it for the most noble reason to the point she's willing to die for him later.

like again you can find those things not coherent or whatnot or you can just not vibe with brienne but question 3 hinges just on the beginning of their relationship and doesn't take into account the fact that she misjudges him harshly, openly admits it and regrets it and that post road trip and his hand loss it's obvious she only thinks good of him, question 1... well, yeah, there's that person in the books and it's sandor (and jaime too), if she were the same now she wouldn't be primed to become the new galahad now wouldn't she, and question 2 I answered but like again I still think following renly is the only stupid thing brienne ever did but didn't all teenagers in love at 16-17 do something exceedingly dumb and stupid and then grow up? because that was how old she was when they met (if not 15 actually) and it still didn't clash with the knightly code given she wanted to give him fealty.

anyway for extra clarity wrt my thoughts on most of this stuff that I've given through the years: why brienne in the kg makes no sense, why brienne gaf about renly post affc is preposterous and why the show version killing stannis made no sense (delved into the renly aspect), why brienne's pov is important and why she's primed to be best knight in westeros ™️, jaime's rship with both b. and c. and how it's all courtly love deconstruction which went into the knightly stuff which i couldn't possibly recap rn *flies away*

[secularprolifeconspectus]

My book Rebuilding Pro-Life Nonviolence has dropped!!!!

I wrote this with my mentor John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe. It's only $8 for print, $1.50 for Kindle!!

Purchase here on Amazon!!!

I am deeply curious what will stand out to folks, so once you have read it, send me an ask featuring your favorite quotes and passages!

[raisedbythetv89]

I genuinely don’t understand how people can watch the body swap episode and enjoy seeing Faith inhabit Buffy’s body and WORSE objectifying (Faith)Buffy being like “omg she’s so hot she slayed so hard I love Buffy in black leather”

Not only is SMG’s FRIGHTENING thinness even more apparent in Faith’s traditional wardrobe showcasing just how much she is practically skin and bone due to her being under immense stress and being so overworked which always just tears at my heart in so many ways but we are witnessing the WORST violation of Buffy’s body and autonomy!!!! I’m genuinely just sick the entire episode.

Bad enough she almost gets Buffy killed and finally gets her wish of (temporarily) stealing Buffy’s life which she has wanted to do since her arrival in season 3 (only to STILL not understand Buffy’s perspective until she does it again in a far less invasive way in season 7 after Buffy allowed her back into her home and she still never properly apologizes she’s like hehe turns our your life is actually pretty miserable and I don’t want it because I can’t handle the stress and constant pressure you’re under…. Oops!🙃) but unlike when Willow takes Buffy’s free will and autonomy away (where she at least still retains all the memories after the fact of everything that happened so she doesn’t have to wonder and can process them when she’s ready) Buffy has ZERO CLUE what all Faith allows to happen to her body while she’s not in it. And Faith isn’t unaware or passive about the power she holds and the things she can do to Buffy’s body in the position she’s in - she literally tells Riley, BEGS HIM - to do all of the nastiest things he’s ever wanted to do “to this body” she WANTS Riley to do things to Buffy’s body Buffy herself WOULD. NOT. ALLOW. it is one of THE MOST insidious lines in the entire series to me because not only is that an absolutely stomach churning, bone-chilling thing to say but then after the fact when angel asks what Faith did to upset Buffy so much she’s like “I slept with her boyfriend” like UMMMM WHAT??? EXCUSE ME???? That is literally the absolute LEAST of your crimes bitch be so fucking for real. This horrific violation is minimized down to oh well Buffy is just insecure about sex and especially sex in comparison to Faith like GROSS GROSSSSSSS. The entire thing is SO DISGUSTING and misogynistic AND it is part of why I genuinely do not give A FUCK about the events of seeing red as far as my love of spuffy goes because while that was absolutely the most traumatizing to watch not only was it so completely out of left field and out of character that it just doesn’t make sense in the narrative and is so obviously joss whedon coming over the loud speaker and going “women who enjoy sex with men I don’t approve of should and always will be punished” but it is the ONLY time someone hurts her in this way and PROPERLY APOLOGIZES AND MAKES THE PROPER AMENDS!!!!

So until EVERY. SINGLE. violation of Buffy’s body is treated with the same level of outcry seeing red is by all the anti-spuffys I genuinely DO NOT CARE. I DONT CARE because I’m just so done with spuffy girlies having that thrown in our faces by the morality police who are listening to the tiny white male puritanical cop in their head.

ALSO the fact that Riley not only doesn’t think ANYTHING is off about Buffy (when Faith is doing an absolutely HORRIFIC JOB of acting like Buffy) so he not only sleeps with her BUT TELLS HER HE LOVES HER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!??!?!?!? WHILE SHE IS LITERALLY PINNED BENEATH HIM?!?!?!?!? AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! RILEY FINN I WILL KILL YOU IF IT IS THE LAST THING THAT I DO.

[fair-art]

We started this blog to find and support a human artist in the face of AI taking over the Dragon Age art tag some months ago. Through community effort, we managed to fund a commission of a stained-glass Blackwall portrait from a human artist, and also hopefully inspired others to create authentic human art in this style!

In a fandom brimming over with talented human beings, it was a tough choice settling on just one person that would reclaim the artwork concept from AI, but at last, our artist reported back to us with finished work! We are very excited to see it come to fruition! Be sure to support this gorgeous piece, and others like it, as an affirmation that passion and enthusiasm for genuine human creativity will always prevail.

The artist has also provided a high-res image, so if you are one of the lovely people who backed the Ko-Fi goal, expect Mod Judith to reach out to you, once her irl obligations allow, and arrange for a postcard with the artwork to be sent to you, as a permanent reminder that you contributed to supporting human-made art.

Thank you for taking with journey with us!

Mod Zefirka (and Mod Judith!)

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

what bothers me about horde prime, more than his lazy characterization or his lack of impact on the narrative, is the fact that he is such a bad representation of a cult leader. like,, this is not how cults work. they don’t just insert a chip into you and make you follow their every directive like a robot. real life cults are a lot more terrifying because they use manipulation as a tactic to convince people to join them. it’s not a digital chip that you can remove from your system and suddenly you’re in complete control of yourself. cult survivors have talked about how hard it is to actually unlearn that mindset and start thinking for themselves, how many years it takes to stop feeling guilty for leaving their cult or seeing the toxicity in the leaders they so religiously followed.

sure, hordak and catra have some trauma tied to their experience with horde prime, but most of that is because of the physical torture they went through, rather than their experience of being brainwashed. and it’s fine if horde prime was just some villain and not a genocidal cult leader. but it’s clear that he was written to be a religious authority figure, the execution is just so off.

i know he’s a character in a fantasy world, so he had to use his powers for something. but instead of turning people into robots, he could have shown them a “better world” through his tech, talked them into joining him and forgetting about all their current worries, and then used them as weapons against etheria.

it would have been a lot more impactful and angsty if catra had willingly joined horde prime’s cult so that she could repress her guilt. in fact, it would have been really interesting if horde prime had convinced catra that he would help her repend for all that she did, if she joined his cult. this would have been a lot more comparable to religious guilt and trauma in real life, and it would show that catra actually felt bad for what she did, instead of just looking sad for a while and then continuing to be a shitty person anyway.

[badninken]

😂😂😂oh law.... "screaming on the stealth mission" is such a straw hat modus by now WE'RE used to it. poor "everything is serious look how serious i am i put DEATH on my actual fingers I wear this hat constantly and without a shred of irony. my bit is to absolutely think i am never funny ever" is having a hard time.

Everything suddenly got put into perspective with Law entering the group dynamic with his really for real serious and personal and life threatening shit he needs help with. and when things start to get real, his allies are all bumbling about like screaming children, taking off in all directions and walking straight into the very obvious traps Law tried to warn them about.

And then he predictably ends up alone and superfucked from multiple directions while the others are off playing gladiator, or trying to get laid or talking to toys or shoving fairies down their shirts. This arc so far has been Law asking for cover and backup for the plan they all agreed on and getting absolutely none of that.

The others are playing around with talking toys and little fairy people on cute flying beatles while this goes on:

Serious guy with serious problems.

[codyburnshusband]

idk ,, catboy cody ueueu

little suggestive ????? not rlly but yk / cody x charlie implied ⬇️

[average-sewer-rat]

⚠️PLEASE SEND IN A COMMENT TO HELP ALL ANIMALS IN CHINA ⚠️

It is the upmost importance that we all band together to help stop the torturing of innocent cats and dogs alike. Please take 5 minutes out of your day to help. You do not have to use a real legal name/phone number. Please please please share this message with anyone you know.

[aurora-313]

I was having a chat on discord and it spawned this post. So I largely thank the discord group for spawning this discussion point.

Bleach critics like to state Ichigo didn't have a goal. And for the first part of shinigami substitute arc, they are absolutely correct. Ichigo didn't really have a goal. He did the job out of obligation, he screwed with Rukia's own mission and took her powers largely by accident, so now he's paying off that debt by doing her job for her.

However, I would like to posit the opposite.

From Chapter 22 onwards, Ichigo did have a goal. But it was forgotten. That goal was revenge on Grand Fisher:

However, did Ichigo ever bring up Grand Fisher again? Or how much he self-professes to hate him? Did Ichigo ever dedicate himself to training to kill Grand Fisher after chapter 22? Was there any indication that Ichigo knows Grand Fisher dead and lost his chance for revenge? Did Ichigo even mention the hollow's name ever again?

The answer to those questions is no.

The duality of Ichigo's motivations are established in this declaration. A desire to protect and a lust for vengeance. But one half vanishes for the rest of the manga.

In canon, Ichigo went from diehard 'I will avenge my mother! I don't care if my intestines are spilling out! I'm slaughtering that fucker, even if it kills me!' to 'I want to protect a mountain of people' in 22 chapters. Every other shonen would have that character arc take 10-20 times as long.

Or rather, they've actually HAVE an arc for it. In Ichigo's case, a switch is flipped. Vengeance against Grand Fisher is completely forgotten.

But.

Imagine if that was a foundational pillar of Ichigo's character journey throughout Bleach: Learning to navigate the balance between his desire to protect and his wrath and vengeance.

As with any person, Ichigo will stumble and fall.

With this in mind: pretend we're in a world where Kubo allows his characters to simply breath and decompress after huge events (instead of time-skipping and off-screening.)

After the Grand Fisher battle, Rukia steps in. Ichigo's passions are appreciated but he needs to reign in his zeal. She attempts to tutor Ichigo, introducing the notion of balancing revenge against his sense of duty/desire to protect. Doing so in a way she couldn't with Kaien's own revenge streak (further tying the cousin's parallels together).

Naturally, this lesson doesn't initially sink in.

With Grand Fisher finally giving Ichigo an outlet for his self-hatred, he jumps on it. He trains vigorously to that end, at times to the detriment of his own health. When Ichigo's finally convinced to start taking it easy again, Uryuu starts his Hollow bait contest, kick-starting the chain reaction towards the Soul Society arc, which forcing Ichigo to put hunting Grand Fisher aside for the moment.

Ichigo's experiences in Soul Society then becomes his first lesson in putting duty over revenge. However its not applied quite the way we would hope.

As much as Ichigo is going there to protect Rukia from an unjust ending, part of him is screaming for payback against Renji and Byakuya for attempting to murder him. But all's well that ends well, the arc concludes and things go back to normal. Even Ichigo's revenge boner as simmered down because other things have occupied his mind.

We return to Karakura. Rukia saved, all that good stuff. Shinji shows up and approaches Ichigo, putting on his creepy cult act while inviting Ichigo to the Visoreds. Etc etc.

But then, when they sense the two powerful reiryoku signatures ducking it out in the City, Ichigo immediately recognizes Grand Fisher. That hollow's presence lights a fire under his ass.

Ichigo ditches Shinji to pursue. All thoughts of Visoreds and Hollows forgotten in favour of killing the monster that murdered his mother. Ichigo has become stronger, fiercer and more prepared. He has the respect of the shinigami, he has a bankai now. He's leagues and miles more powerful than he once was, and if he kills that hollow, it can't hurt anyone ever again.

Surely, Ichigo can finally, finally avenge his mother.

But Ichigo can't.

By the time Ichigo arrives on the scene, all that remains is a rapidly decaying corpse that he vaguely recognizes as Grand Fisher (if he was a giant humanoid behemoth).

And Ichigo is positively livid.

Sure, Grand Fisher is dead, and Ichigo knows he should draw solace from that, but he's left thoroughly unsatisfied. That anger and frustration simmers in the back of his mind while his thoughts whirl; who killed him? Who was strong enough? Why? And it leaves Ichigo's emotions and focus permanently divided for the rest of the arc.

Its a deep dark pit that festers through the rest of the story, eventually leaving nothing behind but a soul-deep dissatisfaction and emptiness that he has no idea how to fill.

Then, many arcs later, Ichigo is told about Yhwach. About the role he played in Masaki's death. With that knowledge, that vengeance reignites with a burning passion when granted a new target.

An attitude reflected in his sword's reforging, which can now only be described as cataclysmically violent. Not merely drying out the ocean used to quench blades like, in canon - violently destroying the forge itself. As his soul has been accepted in totality, honed and refined into a razor sharp blade with the determination to tear out Yhwach's throat.

In that arc, as much as Ichigo is still Ichigo, he is driven by a pathological zeal to murder Yhwach as repayment for his murder of Masaki. However, he also has a presence of mind to observe the war around him. A war ultimately born of revenge; its a churning bloodbath that's tearing people apart.

As Ichigo flies through the battlefield, he sees Humans, Quincy, Shinigami and Hollows. All of whom are either throwing their lives away for their own personal vendettas, or are innocent bystanders simply being caught up and slaughtered as collateral damage.

All of this coalescing and crystalizing in Ichigo's mind in a horrific realization: this is what he will become if he lets revenge consume him, the same way it consumed the Quincy and Shinigami.

This development culminates in the final confrontation. By the time Ichigo gets his showdown with Yhwach, he's decided to kill Yhwach, not out of personal hatred but duty.

In that moment, like they've done many times before, Rukia's words echo in Ichigo's mind, reaffirming the importance of balance between duty to protect others and vengeance for himself. He deliberately sets aside his hatred, instead embracing a desperate desire to simply save what's left because the war has fundamentally decimated people on every level of reality. And to do so, he must kill Yhwach.

Ichigo still gets his vengeance, and he can draw satisfaction from that, but the meaning and rational behind why he kills Yhwach shows he's finally learned to navigate that balance.

Once the battle's done, Ichigo realizes just how much of a burden everything's been to him. How damn tired he is. And with his role - his duty complete, Ichigo quietly leaves. Soul Society can deal with the clean up by themselves, leaving Ichigo free to simply go home and finally rest, having washed his hands of the business.

I know Kubo does has an ongoing theme about revenge. However, the theme isn't that that revenge is bad, per se, but those who wholly dedicate themselves to vengeance to the detriment of everything else are fools.

[boundlessentity]

According to Maimonides, mullets aren’t kosher.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Why Helluva Boss Failed With Stella When Villainous Succeeded With Sunblast

I would like to describe them as first impression hate sinks/assholes. In their first appearance they are supposed to be hated in order for you to cheer for the protagonists they opposed. They are also shown to be abusive towards the people they targeted in the past and make their lives a living hell.

For Sunblast, he in the pilot is shown to be a bully who uses his status as a hero beat up Penumbra who is trying to plot out the sun because of a condition she and several people in her homecity have. Despite this, it is shown he doesn't really care and just wants the fame and recognition of being a hero. You then cheer when the Villainous trio shrinks him and hands him to Penumbra for her prisoner.

For Stella, our real first impression in the actual series is of her having a strained marriage with her husband. She in the episode is shown to be a rather awful parent by making Stolas go to Octavia alone while hogging the covers. She isn't any better in the present where she throws things at Stolas and yells about him sleeping with an imp which emphasizes how much of a classist she is. From what we are hinted in this episode, she has been a toxic presence to her husband but from her daughter's perspective it's only got started recently when Stolas hints it's never been sunshine and happiness between them. As a result, we are left with strong hints of why Stolas had no hesitation of cheating on her.

Now let's see how they develop over the series in contrast with one another. In episode 6 of Season 1, we see Stella is revealed to have hired Striker to put a hit on her husband regardless of what their daughter would feel. It does show how despicable and petty Stella it also kind of contradicts how the episode of "Murder Family" where it was the same premise for imp to kill a family due to the mother sleeping with a client's husband. As a result, it feels like a confused mix of morals and a case of protagonist centered morality where it's bad if other characters do it but not the main ones. One could say at this point this should have been an indication where Stella goes downhill as a character since they will just vilify her and just make her into the bitter ex-wife who was scorned.

However, one thing that no one expected with Sunblast that he actually would change from being held captive by Penumbra. From here he doesn't stick to being a hate sink like Stella does but instead he gets a new perspective and we get more development as a character. He stops thinking only about himself but also sees how he actually has been hurting a whole community by just pounding on a woman trying to fix a mistake that affected them all. From there on out, we see Sunblast focusing on the journey to become a true hero which is someone who does things because they care for others not because they get a reward for it.

I do think these above images sums up the cemented direction both characters were intended to go in by their creators. Stella's childhood picture is meant to cement she was always bad from the beginning and she wouldn't be given any sort of depth to her as a character except as a one dimensional hate sink who lives to make Stolas miserable. Sunblast's image after Penumbra was kidnapped by Miss Heed is that of someone who has grown to see someone he used to torment as the person he wants to protect the most. It's a case of someone who has the ability to change and also is someone who isn't just a carboard box, but someone who can see the errors of his way and has become a better person. This isn't the case with Stella nothing about her shows she is capable of it and she only gets worse from there, while Sunblast gets better.

This one statement cements what she is all about which is being an obstacle of torment for Stolas. She is not Octavia's mother or anything else, but just Stolas' chain and ball. She can or cannot change because the writer's refuse to give anything but be a horrible spouse to Stolas. As a result, it blatantly show how the attempts at grey morality is more bs and that favored characters only get that view, while also not making sense at all. Stella could have been explored more on her side of being forced to marry someone she doesn't love, but that would mean caring about stuff other than Stolas rather than treat him as a cant do no wrong sad bird. And in an attempt to try address female on male domestic abuse it comes off flat, because of the fact that Stolas had more resources to get away from her and how he could always have her sent away. There is also the factor of domestic abuse being treated by comedy the protagonists which makes this also fall flat. It doesn't jive up when you don't give a reason why she would be able to hold such power over him. It just makes less like a way to depict abuse but more of a reason why we want to hate a character.

Their different developments are a showcase of how both shows actually tackle the themes of grey morality in a setting that seemingly should skew black/white. Helluva Boss has been stated it wants to show grey characters out of hell, but fails when the scorned wife is written to just revolve around tormenting her husband and not given any other expansion on her character and no interaction with her own freaking daughter which could given more insight into her personality besides being a scorned wife. While I was ready for Stella to be bad, when it comes down to it there is nothing you can mine from her character except she fits in those ron the death eater fanfictions you find which derails a canon love interest of a pairing the writer likes.

However, Villainous goes into the grey territory by not just making things black and white by portraying one side as totally good and the other side as devils. It is instead showing how grey the world of Villainous is by sometimes good people forced to become villains due to circumstances in life or at least have redeemable qualities that prevent them from being totally evil. However, even the show admits a lot are still villains and deserve to be stopped. While the heroes have many who are less than good people, those like Sunblast truly have the ability to really become true heroes if they let go of their selfishness and protect those they care about like what happened in "Shrunken Rescue".

That panel right there sums up what development that Sunblast went through in order to come to the realization he hates his past self for hurting Penumbra due to basically using his status as a hero to be a bully. He is shown to regret it and wants to show it by not fighting her directly. Again that is how you get a grey character someone who realizes that they have done wrong in the past and wants to correct it. Sunblast unlike Stella was allowed to reflect and grow, while also going out of their way to see to it that their former victim turned friend is not used by someone who only seeks to abuse them in a different way. Sunblast's developments as a whole shows that an asshole doesn't have to stay static and that they can grow when they either learn of circumstances or learn that their actions have consequences on people. As a result, it really is a heartwrenching scene where you really see how far he has come and understand he deserves now being a hero where no one else would know it because he only cares now she is free and doesn't no longer wish to see her in pain like she was before.

All in all Stella and Sunblast are a great example of demonstrating of how to portray a first glance jerkass character the right and wrong way. Since Western Energy, Stella is just going downhill especially with the fact that the narrative wants to portray her as dumb while her brother is the real brains which again emphasizes the fact that there is nothing more to her character but a device of torment for Stolas. Meanwhile, everything after the pilot shows Sunblast strives as a character who goes to a journey of self-reflection and discovery while understanding the meaning of a true hero. The former comes off as a character who has little to no substance, while the other you see happy he goes from one point to another. As a result, it shows what good/bad writing does for a character like both of them.

[secularprolifeconspectus]

Fetuses are people, abortion is murder, and I am one of the radical left extremists of your nightmares. This week I did an Opportunity Rescue with the "grandfather" of Rescue, John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe, a fellow leftist.

When I said "abortion is murder and I'm going to act like it," I meant I'm dead serious that I'll nonviolently invade killing clinics in order to offer mothers roses with a helpline attached.

And I'll invade yours next.

Rescue puts our bodies between the harmdoers and their victims, even if only temporarily. Rescue is message and resistance. Rescue is rational and radical. Rescue is sacrifice. Rescue is nonviolence. Rescue saves lives. Rescue is love.

Solidarity with the preborn forever.

[lilia-arts]

Guuuuuys

What the hell is that.

It's second time when I see proshipper in transformers rescue bots community.