#at least it’s a BS made up department

[nodirectionhome-ao3]

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in the cabinet ahahahahahahahahahhahaha I am going to walk into the ocean!!!!

[thorias]

SEASON 2 WISH LIST:

-Madelyne is resurrected as a Horseman along with Gambit: I think there's a better story to tell with Madelyne being brought back (at least temporarily) than staying dead. The X-men having to fight her too would give Cyclops and Cable a more personal stake in this Apocalypse storyline, not that they really needed one, but still...

I said in another post that I wouldn't want to dilute the "Saving Gambit" story by making a bunch of other X-men Horsemen as well, but if it's just Madelyne, then I think it's okay. And I wouldn't expect Madelyne to survive this story anyway, since, aside from tying up a couple loose threads with the Summers family, her arc is basically finished now.

Plus, I just kind of like the idea of giving Deathbit a buddy in the spurned lover department; that could be fun.

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-Sabretooth returns. Logan (sans adamantium) has to fight him... and loses: I've always liked the idea that Sabretooth would probably beat Wolverine in a fair fight, (dude is like 3x Logan's size after all) but it's never been a fair fight since the adamantium basically made Logan unstoppable. But take the adamantium away and suddenly Wolverine is the underdog for a change, which makes the match-up a lot more interesting. And what's even the point of doing the bone claws story if it's not to see how Logan deals with being in a weakened state like this?

Granted, I want to see this for selfish reasons since Sabretooth is one of my favorite villains, but come on! Victor is long overdue for a W against Wolverine, and if he can't get it now, then I'm calling BS lol.

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-Mystique returns, working for Apocalypse: I think Demayo shot down the Val-Cooper-is-Mystique-in-disguise theory, (correct me if I'm wrong about that) but it would be pretty ridiculous if we didn't see her in season 2 since she worked with Apocalypse in XTAS on multiple occasions.

Plus, there's a ready-made story there with her and Rogue. In the 90s cartoon, Mystique wanted to get Rogue back as her daughter so badly that she was even willing to turn Rogue into a Horseman to do it. So just imagine if Mystique had a hand in convincing Apocalypse to resurrect Remy as Deathbit, or at least helped him pull it off, because she saw this as a way to get back into Rogue's good graces. That would add some really interesting pathos to a story that's already super emotionally charged.

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-Costume changes: I get that Marvel has toys to sell, but the different suits the team got in season 1 ain't it. Sorry, they're just not. The only one who pulled it off was Storm. Everyone else got a serious glow down. I actually felt low key embarrassed for Scott and Jean trying to make those retro costumes from the 60s/80s eras work; there's a reason those designs stayed in the past, you guys.

And I even like Rogue's green & white suit in the comics, but in the show it just looked awkward with the gloves being a different shade of green than the rest of it. I'd take just about any of her other costumes over this one.

Either change the suits again or go back to the old versions because I'm not feeling these current ones at all.

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-Magneto has a reunion with his kids... and it doesn't go the way he wants: We saw in the season 1 finale that Mags' separation from his children is something that's at least been bothering him, (though not enough for him to lift a finger to save them from being killed along with everyone else on Earth if he succeeded in destroying the planet's electromagnetic field, but I guess we're blaming that on bad writing) so I want him to meet his kids in season 2... only for it to go as horribly as it possibly could.

It would be both ironic and hilarious if Magneto is hoping to patch things up with his kids, only for Pietro and Lorna to try to fight and arrest him the instant they see him (X-Factor doesn't seem to be a thing anymore, but let's say they're still government employees and have the authority to arrest criminals/terrorists) because he did after all murder millions of innocent people with that EMP AND try to murder every other living thing on the planet, including them.

I mean, let's not kid ourselves, there's no way this family reunion is going to be a happy one after what he did. SOMEBODY has to hold Magneto accountable for that, and his own children doing it is about the most fitting thing that I can think of.

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-A big story arc for Gambit: Romy fans got gipped in season 1, and even if you're just a Gambit fan, you still had to settle for scraps with him only playing a major role in one episode, which coincidentally was the one where he got killed off. Yes, the stage is set for Deathbit to have a really compelling story in season 2, but that's going to depend on how it's done and frankly, after I got burned so many times in the first season, I'm skeptical that the writers will give this the care and attention it deserves.

Demayo said it was "key" that Remy died thinking he didn't deserve to be a hero and that Rogue had chosen Magneto instead of him. These things have gone unaddressed in the show since then, so I'm going to assume they're being saved for the Deathbit story and THE PAYOFF FOR THIS BETTER BE DAMN GOOD.

I want to see all of Remy's low self-esteem, self-loathing and resentment over the Rogneto debacle get twisted into a dark rage that Deathbit throws back in everyone's faces. AJ himself said that Remy didn't feel valued by the X-men or Rogue when he died, so use that! Make it part of the story! Make them own up to it. Force Rogue to confront her own feelings about how she handled that situation, (so far, she's been avoiding doing this) so it can factor into how they bring him back.

I know a lot of us assume that freeing Remy from Apocalypse's influence is going to come down to Rogue finally telling him that she loves him. And, yeah, that should be a big part of it, but it shouldn't be the only part. That's fine as far as Rogue is concerned, but Remy needs an arc too, and I just want it to be worth the wait after they put us through all this.

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-Deathbit vs Magneto: This needs to happen. Aside from the fact that Romy fans will have been clamoring for it for a long time, frankly, both characters are going to want it too. Mags will no doubt view Deathbit as the reason why he can't get Rogue back, and Deathbit... well, we all know what his reasons are; he'll likely want to take Magneto apart just for the pure satisfaction of it.

Now since Magneto's so OP, Gambit wouldn't stand much of a chance in a straight fight under normal conditions, but we know Apocalypse evolves/enhances mutants' powers when they become Horsemen, so imagine if he unlocked Gambit's Omega potential, so Remy has his New Son powers now, or at least a heightened version of what he had before. So Magneto goes in brimming with confidence that he's going to wipe the floor with his rival for Rogue's affections, but then in a shocking twist, Deathbit breaks out his newly enhanced power set and turns the tables on him.

Do I really want to see Mags get taken down a peg and humbled by Gambit? Sure. But narratively, this makes a ton of sense to do. Since Demayo loves Magneto so much, I highly doubt it will happen, (certainly not with this outcome at least) but I think it would be super satisfying for fans.

[omgthatdress]

Oh, look, another blonde hair, blue eyed doll from AG. I watched the cute little stop-motion short film AG made for Courtney, and I have to admit, it was fucking cute and her charm won me over.

There’s *some* actual historical engagement with the popularization of video games. The biggest thing is that her mom is running for mayor of their fictional town in California (because of course Courtney has to be a Valley Girl) and faces a bunch of sexist BS on a TV interview. It covers the space shuttle era of space travel, Challenger disaster and the emotional impact that had on the United States.

In her second book, Courtney has a classmate with AIDS. I’m glad that was included, because putting AIDS and HIV-positive kids in schools was a huge fight in the 80s. Here in Tampa, the mother of Eliana Martinez, a disabled girl who had contracted HIV in a blood transfusion at birth, went to court to get her daughter into school, and a federal judge ruled she could go to school as long as she spent the day in a glass cage like an animal. It was that bad. Eventually, Eliana was able to attend school without the cage because her mother, Rosa, was amazing.

In spite of everything I like about Courtney’s story, let’s be real. AG’s 80s doll should have been Latina. A Cuban-American girl living in Miami, with at least one parent who’s an Operacíon Pedro Pan adoptee, and with relatives who came over during the Mariel Boatlift. And I’m not just saying that because my parents were living in Miami in the 80s, I’m saying it because Miami was an incredible place in the 80s.

Operacíon Pedro Pan was a program by the U.S. State Department and Catholic Church for Cuban children to be sent to America when parents feared they would lose their parental rights and their children would be sent to communist indoctrination camps. It was a chance for their kids to be raised as Catholic in free America instead of atheists under the brutal Castro regime. About 14,000 children were removed from Cuba to be mostly re-settled in Miami.

You may be familiar with the Mariel Boatlift if you’ve seen the opening scene of Scarface, which actually sums up the situation pretty well.

Now, granted, Mariel only happened between April and October of 1980. Even after the boatlift officially ended, people seeking to flee Cuba continued to come on boats. The “wet foot, dry foot” policy meant that anyone fleeing Cuba who managed to set foot on American soil was guaranteed asylum. However, they had to face the US coastguard trying to intercept them and turn them back on the water. Refugees from Haiti fleeing the Duvalier regime also flocked to Miami, but since Duvalier was right-wing, Haitians weren’t granted the same protections as Cubans were and it was absolute bullshit.

On top of all that, Miami also had thriving African-American, Afro-Caribbean, Colombian, Jewish, and gay communities. There was just SO MUCH incredible stuff going on in Miami in the 80s, and I mean, hello, Miami Vice was a whole aesthetic!

You could include all the stuff that’s going in in Courtney’s books and STILL pack in so much more amazing history. The overall vibe I get with Coutney’s collection is that even though there’s some good stuff in her stories, it’s more about selling 80s nostalgia than actually teaching 80s history, which is a travesty. I know it’d be hard to engage with 80s politics and Ronald Reagan without pissing off a *lot* of people, but you can still engage with some serious 80s history if you just look outside of the blonde hair, blue eye box.

[jenerousjenocide]

Familiar Face

Fifty years had passed since the Netherbrain was defeated; it took Astarion five years after to become the lord of Baldur’s Gate. Within that timespan his old companions departed from the city, following new adventures in quiet hope their paths would never cross again. Only one agreement was made among them, set by the leader themselves that carried the entire team on her back single handily.

“Keep it within Baldur’s Gate.”

A warning, no less, a boundary they set to ensure the entire realm wouldn’t be overrun by vampires, although Astarion would be lying to say the thought didn’t cross his mind every other day or so.

The temptation was always there, and it would be so easy.

As much as Astarion would never admit it, he did respect his dear old friend more than he let on. A/N Nobody asked for this, but here it is I'm back on my BS. Also this is basically a WIP, its eventually going to be sexy. It'll be fine. Feedback is encouraged, I have written anything in eight years and it probably shows. AO3 Mirror - Next

Baldur’s Gate, once a city of innovation and progress, stood as the capital of Faerun. For centuries it was built up from the ground with those in power struggling with balance between right and wrong, the noble and the peasants and ensuring the Upper City and Lower City remained as separate as can be in terms of gold and assistance from guards or authorities.

It was no longer the case after so many decades of building it up, only for it to come crashing down one evening.

Citizens had believed their troubles were over the moment the Netherbrain was defeated, in fact they did have a few months of peace, and all seemed so bright and hopeful for the future. Festivals and parades crowded the streets for days, cheering on the heroes that rescued the city from destruction and the lives of all the innocents threatened by the damage caused.

Strangers worked together to rebuild, fix each others homes and offer food, aid or supplies to anyone in need. Nobles made large donations to better assist the poor struggling to get by and for a while it all seemed too good to be true.

Something in the shadows was lurking, bigger than anyone could have imagined and somehow the true secrets were kept hidden from the citizens for years.

Authority figures began stepping down from their roles seemingly without an explanation, providing vague answers for those with questions that one could only deem reasonable. This continued until only one remained, a new figure that seemed to have risen to power overnight yet was able to make his name and reputation known as one of the heroes that saved Baldur’s Gate all those years before.

Lord Astarion Ancunín.

It was a slow transition at first, but it felt as though his coronation as Lord was the shifting point in which everything seemed to come together. For his benefit, at least.

It began with smooth talking his way into meetings, debunking rumours spread among residents that he was a vampire spawn because why or how would a feeble vampire be able to walk among the living so freely? He saved Baldur’s Gate from disaster; it was easy to gain the trust of majority of the population.

The plan really kicked into gear after inviting each noble he could come across to a private dinner. A bite to eat with life altering consequences, and they soon became his loyal subjects one by one.

Like a puppet master stringing together a performance of a lifetime, they obeyed his every command and retreated to his palace to no longer serve as the nobles they once were, but as servants and spawns as Astarion deemed fit.

Just as the city was changing under his thumb, the palace once owned by Cazador Szarr also changed. The gaudy paintings taken down and replaced with marble statues or fine antiques. Some of which found by servants during their evening hunts for more followers to fall under their master’s spell.

Astarion swore he was nothing like Cazador, the wretched bastard was cruel and unforgiving, embarrassing and torturing those he turned for his own cruel entertainment and ensuring he was able to strike fear into every one of them. No, Astarion didn’t punish his servants for no reason, and he didn’t force them to feed on vermin the way he did for two centuries.

That isn’t to say he didn’t have his rules, and when punishment was due it was carried out carefully and with a message along with it. If the punishments were met with resistance, Astarion wasn’t above himself to deal the final blow, ending the insubordination in it’s tracks before it can pick up traction and spread through his coven like a filthy disease.

He knew they would never be able to overpower him if they somehow managed to lapse free from his command, but keeping the peace was within everyone’s best interest to keep invasive thoughts and memories from clouding his mind.

Fifty years had passed since the Netherbrain was defeated; it took Astarion five years after to become the lord of Baldur’s Gate. Within that timespan his old companions departed from the city, following new adventures in quiet hope their paths would never cross again. Only one agreement was made among them, set by the leader themselves that carried the entire team on her back single handily.

“Keep it within Baldur’s Gate.”

A warning, no less, a boundary they set to ensure the entire realm wouldn’t be overrun by vampires, although Astarion would be lying to say the thought didn’t cross his mind every other day or so.

The temptation was always there, and it would be so easy.

As much as Astarion would never admit it, he did respect his dear old friend more than he let on.

She picked him up from the side of the road after he pulled a knife on her, didn’t immediately drive a stake through his heart when he attempted to bite her while she slept. She listened to him prattle and complain about his troubles and concerns, his trauma and story behind the ugly scars that adorned his back.

She promised to stand by his side and help him take down his cruel master in the place he called home. She fought battles that weren’t even hers to fight and with obvious hesitance helped Astarion ascend into the powerful lord he was. Even within his power drunk mind that day, he knew the dynamic of their relationship changed completely and would never be the same again.

He could see it in her eyes when they would speak following the ritual. A look that once projected adoration and love now turned fearful, pleading and cold.

With an offer of immortal life by his side, their relationship ended completely.

Of course, he was insulted by her rejection, but he had no real need for her any longer if he were to become as powerful as he needed to be to bring the city to its knees. He thought she was in it for the long run, but he ended up getting exactly what he wanted in the end.

Perhaps his initial plan of seducing her to ensure she never turned on him worked too well, but with the consequences of their actions it was obvious that becoming a vampire spawn was not a life she wanted to live. Even if it meant being by his side for all of eternity until the world came crashing down around them.

It didn’t hurt entirely, but the sting was still there as he pondered what could have been had she said yes.

Nonetheless it was too far gone in the past to even bring it up anymore, the golden days were long gone and so were his companions. Astarion couldn’t spend his time pondering what everyone else was up to, they wouldn’t dare return to Baldur’s Gate, and he decided to keep things slow and steady while building his coven from the ground up.  

It had been so long, surely she was old or dead by now, judging by human lifespans.

The idea of it was enough to make his usually composed expression cringe with a slight pang of his dead heart. She could have lived forever young, but the possibility she was long gone did bring up a familiar sting.

Not that she was his anymore, he internally scolded himself for allowing himself to linger on the memories and possibilities for too long.

There were more pressing matters to focus on, especially with his ascension anniversary coming up and the grand extravaganza he did annually for the mortal citizens of the city to commemorate the day he gained true freedom and power.

The preparations were going smoothly, his spawn working endlessly to ensure everything was perfect down to the last detail. Roaming the halls, Astarion could only give his directions and opinions regarding where things should be, he wouldn’t dare lift a finger to help decorate.

The sound of his footsteps echoes through the ballroom hall, vampire strung about doing their job to get the preparations completed and keep their dear master content with their efforts. He pretended not to notice how a few of them wince when he walked closer, chalking it up to pure respect and that a little reminder of who’s in charge doesn’t hurt.

Everything was falling into place; the stage was set and soon the ballroom will be filled with people immortal and mortal alike. A subtle feast for those less fortunate to be cast under his vampire spawn’s charms, but a night to remember for the remaining attendees to keep face as lord of the city everyone loved once before.

-------

The Golden City stands before you, imposing and tall like all those photos and stories you’ve heard before. It didn’t quite live up to expectations, a menacing storm overhead unmoving, as if warning those trying to enter to turn away and never return.

There had been no news of Baldur’s Gate for years. Everyone you spoke to mentioned it was still populated and ruled over by one man, a man who helped saved the city from destruction long ago, but regarding progression or innovation there had been little word. You always dreamed of seeing the city with your own two eyes, but as you stand before it you can’t help but feel a sense of dread tug at your heart.

You draw in a deep breath, as if preparing to hold it in your lungs to avoid any toxic fumes the air might have lingered around. Despite the darkness, you do see citizens wandering about and going on with their daily business.

Perhaps you spend too much time reading and listening silly fairy tales.

You travelled a good way to get here, fleeing from your home in Waterdeep and avoiding any questions regarding your adventure. You’re positive nobody witnessed your escape due to the lack of yelling and restraint being placed on you.

For the moment you’re free to explore, get your fix of the city and get back home before anyone is the wiser.

The first step into the city was easy, navigating was a whole other ball game.

One big difference between your hometown and the city is how big it makes you feel. Waterdeep was familiar, you had your family and friends and somehow everyone knew everyone’s business at some point or another- In the City it’s the complete opposite, the feeling of being so small and insignificant imposing itself on you until it feels like it’s the only thing you do know.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such an awful idea to turn back.

 “Don’t forget the Palace doors open at sundown! Our Lord would be honored to have any and all citizens come join the festivities taking place. A night of dancing, drinking and mingling with Baldur’s Gate’s finest.”

The voice was coming from the center of town, a well-dressed man standing in the middle handing out invitations to residents walking by. The practiced smile on his face greeted everyone who made eye contact with him, he was charming to say the least.

Before you even realized your feet were already moving you towards the center, reaching out as the young man offered a warm smile and the invitation. Noting the smile didn’t reach his eyes, you take the invitation and read the contents.

Midnight Masquerade Come one, come all! Lord Astarion invites you to a night of dancing, drinking and dining.

It couldn’t hurt to have at least one night in the city, in fact you were taught that it was rude to decline invitations. You could pop in for a little food and wine and leave before the night was even over.

You tuck the invitation into your pack and adjust it steadily on your back. You needed to find an outfit to fit in, and quickly before the party was ready to start.

[delphinus-dancer]

Why Mihaly’s [spoiler] form is different, and what it could mean

Sorry for the clickbait-esque title, but I’m not sure on the state of the Jd 2024 storymode spoilers with the fandom, so spoilers for the storymode ahead (including images)!

It’s also a bit long because I’m back on my bs of overanalyzing Mihaly

I’ve already made a post about Mihaly in the 2024 story mode with elements of their journey and uniqueness of their interactions with Night Swan- which grants them a lot of depth, in terms of their dances and character. With Night Swan’s corruption at the end of 2024 altering the costumes of Wanderlust, Brezziana, and Sara as well, the refs posted via the YouTube short allow for several details to become clear. (Shoutout to the costume department- they’re gorgeous!!) As pointed out in another post by @phoenixriaartemis , Mihaly’s headphones become the belt in their Dark form, and without the earbuds, Mihaly would be unable to connect with their headspace. I initially thought this was the case as well, since Mihaly’s maps both begin by placing them in their ears to enter their space of contemplation, practice, and growth. (More on that in a moment.)

As I noticed when I did the other post, Mihaly is the only one of the corrupted dancers to maintain elements of their original outfit. I initially thought it was only the leggings and wraps, but after comparing the concept art, those parts have changed too- the pants are shorter with rips cutting up, and the wraps come up further. While part of it could be chalked up to a different dancer portraying Mihaly in their dark form and requiring an alternative costume even for similar pieces, I think those elements are more deliberate. Looking at the headphones, pants, and wraps, they can be viewed as something Mihaly retains, but is twisted by a vision of perfection- just to a lesser extent than the others, who don’t retain any aspects like that.

It wasn’t until a Rather Be rewatch that I noticed something that I completely overlooked: the details of Master Panda’s design.

Although Mihaly’s design mimics his closely, there are some notable elements where they are different. There are two small ones of note: the piercings on his left ear, and the headphones. When Mihaly assumes the panda form in Never Be Like You, they gain almost all elements of his costume, barring some colors. Their hair color is retained in his hairstyle, and while their pants lighten to dark blue, they become looser to match his. However, there are two elements unique to the panda that they do not gain: the headphone belt and the two piercings. (Sorry for the image quality below.)

Instead, in its place are two over the ear headphones, which seemingly combine those elements into one- the headphone component and the piercings/ear adornments. As a result, the headphone belt and piercings are absent, even in the form where Mihaly seemingly achieves mastery of a milestone in their training. While this could be chalked up to Mihaly’s individual understanding of the Flow, its commonality seems more significant.

Let’s consider the Panda’s costume to represent mastery of the Flow. Since the headphones are used as a belt rather than their practical purpose, this indicates that instead of needing the headphones and the music they provide to connect with the Flow and be transported to that higher plane, it can be done by mastering the Flow within oneself. After all, the Master Panda appears in both maps independent of Mihaly’s music, and appears/disappears on his own time. Even when Mihaly gains the Panda form, they still keep the over ear headphones, binding them to the music, even in their supposed ascension.

Going off of that, let’s look Mihaly’s Dark Form again. (Sorry for the same photo again!)

It’s easier to see in the art than the photo, but since the headphones have become a belt, Mihaly has also gained the earrings in their left ear. Between this and the dark feather elements being the least prominent out of all the corrupted dancers, including Jack in Treasure, Night Swan’s vision of perfection is not very present.

Instead, Mihaly’s Dark form is ‘tainted’ by Night Swan’s influence with the creeping feathers on their robe and the alternations to their leggings and wraps, but the overall costume is Mihaly’s own idea of perfect: a master of the Flow. With the headphones as the belt, this represents their goal of connection beyond the confines of music, and piercings of the Panda could possibly symbolize mastery of the spiritual and physical realms they inhabit in their maps.

By gaining both of these elements that they have yet to achieve and lacking as much of Night Swan’s influence, it seems to imply that Mihaly has retained a degree of control over their identity that the others lack. In the other post, I speculated this could be because of how they were initially corrupted. Rather than passively falling to the smoke Sara brings in, the smoke comes from offscreen (presumably from Night Swan herself), and they send out the message to Jack while actively losing their color. They also have a degree of control and agency throughout their part of Swan Lake that Wanderlust and Brezziana lack, since Sara does not actively defeat Mihaly or control any smoke during their part. Night Swan also may not have subdued them as much, with the short interval between losing their color and the Dark forms appearing, causing the perfection imposed on Mihaly to have more elements of their own than Night Swan intended.

Going off of that, as I said in the last post, Mihaly could be the easiest coach to return to normal, as they have presumably retained the most of their former self. While they could be reached through the usual method of dance fights/battles, they may also be brought back by the true, pure Flow they aspire to practice. If they are returned to normal before the other coaches, maybe they could achieve the true mastery they’ve sought after by freeing them.

Whatever the story mode holds for Mihaly and the other coaches, I have a feeling the true mastery of the Flow they’ve sought after is somewhere in cards for their future appearances, both literal and physical.

If you’ve read this far, then thank you for listening to my rambling! Hope you have a great day/night and feel free to fire back with any ideas or questions!

[loving-family-poll]

i fear we are departing from incest but i love to hear myself talk so i shall tell you about my sister's complex about me. first we have to establish some things: my sister is older than me (the oldest of us all, i'm second oldest, just mentioning it bc me not being the youngest feels important here), my sister has an inferiority complex that stems from me being the successful one (probably will come up later but i was a very smart kid and ended up skipping so many grades that i started college at 15), and that my sister has always had bad anxiety and is very very sensitive to rejection

so. let's start from the beginning. our father left us young, didn't pay child support, was generally an asshole, but most importantly he would visit for one reason: me. i was the favorite because, as i mentioned, i was a smart kid and he is very success-oriented so naturally he took to me (and off-topic but this happens so often. like very very success driven people have been weirdly into me since i was a little kid. weird shit but i've used it to my advantage cough cough getting a kid flunked and almost expelled) so anyway our father visits us just for me, even tells me about all the women he was cheating on my mom with before they got divorced. and my sister? my sister has bad anxiety, she's sensitive to being left out. and more than that she has very very strong rejection sensitivity. so how do you think it'd feel to be the oldest child and yet be ignored by our father (this did not affect my other siblings they were too young). so this puts me above her in her mind

she fails a lot in school and this wrecks her confidence, especially since i've always been greatly successful in school. she's pushed aside by her father for me, she's pushed away by her teachers for me (to the point that i would have a teacher for a short time before i'd test out and they'd still call her my name no matter how long she had them). she also has very poor social skills so she was never liked by her peers while i was funny and i was smart and i was such a goody-two-shoes brat but teachers adored me to the point that i could get away with anything i wanted (yes i was pulling shit i think i had a habit of attacking one of my teachers and everyone was cool with it) and she'd be scolded for any little issues because she wasn't as liked + she was more frustrating (she had untreated adhd for a hot minute). keep in mind that most of this was happening while we were both under 10/11

so. you'd think that she would have some deep-seated resentment against me. and you would be correct! now idk what you know about psychology and chances are it's bs anyway (<-psych major that does not trust the field in the slightest) but there's this nifty little concept called reaction formation. it's freudian so. take that as you will. but basically it's just when a strong emotion switches from one to another. for example: hate to love, love to hate… resentment to adoration?

so that's my theory for the basis of this. she has an inferiority complex and a sensitivity to rejection and i was everything she wasn't and for whatever reason her kid brain said hey, why not love my sister instead. and honestly this wasn't that like. prevalent until we teenagers, because i became very neurotic and anxious and developed some disorders you know how it is. and now we see something new in my sister: she likes to take care of people. if i couldn't do something she would do it for me, if someone was pushing my boundaries she would enforce them. i basically spent all of middleschool hiding away in our home (i was homeschooled atp) with only her for company since i'd hide in our room. so she;s taken on the role of being my protector. probably because if she would never be better than me, at least she could be the one protecting me. it made her important. it made her necessary. it made her feel needed. and that is when i catch on. i encouraged her a bit, started praising her, thanking her for any little thing she did, calling for her anytime i needed help because she just loves to feel needed so badly. and yeah maybe that was manipulative and maybe it was wrong but i was also like. 14 or 15 when i started doing this

anyway so she has this whole complex about needing to protect me so that she can feel needed and it's all fueled by her inferiority complex that honestly drives so much of what she does. i find it highly amusing.

so yeah. she's basically a dog to me. tell her she's good and give her a treat and she'll do what you want. and if she does something that makes me upset she folds so fucking quickly it's wild. it's that fear of rejection. she could never stand for me of all people to drop her

and to the person who wanted us in the tournament together sorry but we are just weird about each other in a not-so-incesty way but the vibes are kinda there

The way I was glued to this ask reading SO intently. What you two have going on is so much weirder than if you'd just fucked (complimentary)

[kiirotoao]

Guys.

I think I cracked the case to why many people (namely the GA) don’t like Mike. And it’s because his character arc is external, rarely internal, compared to other characters.

In season 1, one of the most memorable things to me that stood out about Mike was his ability to communicate. He was straightforward, very level-headed, and tried to reason with the unknown. He made his thoughts known, and they were often pretty understandable to those around him, namely Lucas, Dustin, and especially El. His ability to advocate for her really helped bridge the gaps between their world and the Upside Down. Even in just the really small details, Mike prioritized good communication, like when he told/reminded Lucas to end on the Walkie-Talkie with “over” when he was done talking. Mike is also incredibly emotional this season, and we see clearly times of his frustration, sadness, and joy (all of which are very often due to Will, but I will hold off on going in depth in that department lest I ramble about Byler more than I already do). All of this to say - Mike’s focus is on 1) keeping that group mentality, 2) helping El, and 3) finding Will, all things outside of himself.

Then, right off the bat, what’s the problem that Mike faces in season 2? Lack of communication with El. He doesn’t know where she is and he can’t - and arguably doesn’t ever - see her, not even in the void. I can imagine that it’s tough not knowing if a loved one is even alive, so of course Mike is stricken with worry until he sees her again. I think that in season 2, right from the start, we see his mental health take a toll on him as he starts to worry about things going wrong with d’Art, with Max, with Will, with the tunnels, everything. I just think that from a general standpoint, Mike has become more irritable and anxious because he’s lost someone before. And here’s where his attachment to El starts to get much stronger. When he finally sees her again, he’s already scared that he’s about to lose her as she goes off to the gate. All season long, he’s attached at the hip to Will, frustrated about not being able to see El, and generally pretty easily upset by others. All things that I think are a result of internal struggle, but we only see it manifest outwardly. He does get that shed scene moment with Will, but honestly, that’s about it when it comes to Mike’s transparency that season.

Now enter season 3. The conflict right from the start with El is… painful, to say the least. He lies to her, doesn’t try to explain himself until it’s been far too long, and he even calls on Lucas to defend his bs. He’s hiding something, and it’s no longer grief-related. Maybe it is, but we don’t see it. Mike continues to work with the group mentality and he comes up with the sauna test, assumes the worst with the Mind Flayer (and is correct about the spreading of its power), and kinda a throwaway detail, but I can even assume that it was his idea to push the car over using the metal posts in the last episode based on that random comment, “Told you. Physics.” So here’s where things get interesting. Mike is smart, he still is, and he still uses a lot of good communication and strives to connect gaps where they’re needed, and he still often wields the Walkie-Talkie. But when it comes to his relationship with El, Will, too, he falters. Before this season, he was completely in line with the two. But now, in season 3, we never see a clear reason why he thinks what he’s thinking, especially considering the sloth/speed in which he reconnects with El/Will. It is impossible to pinpoint any direct emotional moments from Mike this season because besides the ending scene overlayed over Hopper’s letter, we never truly see Mike let down his guard like he did before. Nor take the leap, like he did in season 1. He’s closed off and we cannot fully see why, not until you begin to interpret down to a deeper, inferential level. Here’s where I think the roadblock especially begins for Mike’s character, because we don’t know what he’s thinking anymore.

Carry this into season 4. Mike seems completely closed off to us, the audience. Now’s a good time for me to say that Finn’s a great actor, though, because truly, we get to see a large array of emotions in Mike’s expressions. And by all means of art and creative media, we don’t necessarily need to hear Mike’s thoughts to know his thoughts, sometimes. But it still goes to show, based on how he behaved in prior seasons, his connection with others and his drive seems completely lacking. He’s falling behind in school, he seems so emotionally distant from El, and, come to think about it, he’s emotionally distant overall. Even with his family and Lucas. I think that a simple explanation to why he’s acting this way is because he’s forced to grow up and grow up apart from his girlfriend and best friend. He’s not happy. And seeing that manifest externally often causes the isolation of internal things. Think about Max’s story but in Mike’s shoes - except we don’t get to see Mike’s struggles. His one emotional outlier is with Will, however, who he openly expresses his thoughts to and even finds a chance to smile again with. And even though he’s largely not in Hawkins anymore, we still see him use his ingenuity. He figures out the Nina number. He knows where Suzie lives. He can hone in when he’s needed. But even then, no matter what he does, he’s unmistakably hampered. He can’t keep up communication when he’s separated from Hawkins. He’s separated from El. Once again, he’s miserable. His one constant is Will, but even then, he buys the lie in the van scene. So, in the words of Finn Wolfhard himself,

(Caption: “He’s just such an idiot.”) I really think that Mike is trying his best. But ever since the start of season 3, so, essentially, half of the time we’ve seen him onscreen, he’s been closing himself off to the audience. And he might just be an idiot, but that doesn’t translate to how he thinks under pressure. Emotionally, perhaps, he’s an idiot. But is he a total idiot? I don’t think so. His seeming idiocy simply comes out so strongly in the later seasons because we cannot draw reason to his behavior like we could before.

Compare this to Lucas who has several dear moments where he opens up to Max season to season. Compare this to Dustin, who doesn’t ever really hide his thoughts. Compare this to Will, whose life we’ve seen the ups and downs all the time. Compare this to Max and her beautiful arc from introduction to depression. Compare this to El and her entire story of finding who she is. Hell, compare this to Steve, who has several glimpses of his life and struggles season to season. Compare this to Robin’s coming out and her struggle with Vickie. Compare this to Jonathan and his talks with Nancy and Argyle. Compare this to Nancy and the constant dilemmas of love and respect. I could go on and on. The characters are written with an emotional story in mind. So if Mike is one of them, who’s to say that his struggle isn’t something to be revealed for season 5?

And now, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t bring this all home with Will. Who has been a consistent source of emotional vulnerability for Mike? Who does Mike let his guard down around? Who does Mike consistently pursue and amend any wrongs with near as soon as possible? Who considers Mike to be the heart? If we’re gonna complain about Mike being closed off or annoying, I get it. I want to see more of his thoughts, too. And the remedy? It’s none other than the one right beside him. The one person who’s never going to give up on him. I think that the only answer to melt that heart is Will Byers.

(So yeah. I can’t wait for Byler to be endgame and for all this discourse about Mike’s true character to end because of it ☺️)

[destinygoldenstar]

My headcanon on the ninjas ages throughout the series. (Feel free to disagree with me or if you think my logic is off)

Pilot/Rise of the Snakes/Legacy of the Green Ninja

Lloyd / 9/13

Kai / 16

Jay / 16

Cole / 17

Zane / 60

Nya / 14

Starting off, the ninja are definitely teenagers at the beginning of the show. I’m splitting this up based on how many seasons do I think can realistically happen in the span of one year. Also, this is obviously not the case in the movie so this applies in the show only: I don’t think Ninjago has a ‘middle school’. My idea is Elementary School, High School, and then you graduate, not counting optional college. So it’s at least a few months after Nya had graduated school by the time the Pilots happen.

So with this logic, Kai could be old enough to run a blacksmith shop. That, and another headcanon of mine is that he didn’t go to high school due to money problems, and he sacrificed his education for Nya’s. Canon that there’s a two year age gap between Kai and Nya. And I have Jay be the same age as Kai so that his relationship with Nya doesn’t become creepy from some huge age gap. (Sailor Moon, in the books, Usagi is 14 and Mamoru is 16. In the show Mamoru is 19 and… WHY?!)

Everyone says Cole is at least a year older and I do agree with that.

Lloyd is a kid. I kinda put both ages here. Because again, canon, Lloyd is the youngest, even with the potion. Spoiler, but by Sons of Garmadon has he never been aged up, he’d be twelve. Old enough for his voice to hit puberty. Now I’m not a man, I’m a cis female, so I can’t tell you how accurate man voice puberty is. But I did have a classmate in chorus class in middle school that was dormat due to vocal puberty, and he was twelve, so I’m going off of that. Again, sorry if that’s not accurate.

Zane… Ngl. I BS’d this one. There is NO WAY you can make a reasonable age for him. It just can’t be done. We don’t know how old Julien was when he made Zane, we don’t know when he died of old age, we don’t know the gap between that passing and Zane being found by Wu. There could be several years of a gap. So I most definitely got this wrong. I don’t care though. Robots don’t age. He has no canon age.

Rebooted

Lloyd / 14

Kai / 17

Jay / 17

Cole / 18

Zane / 61

Nya / 15

This season is just its own year. Gap between season 2 and 3 with the teachers career. Gap again after Zane’s death, as the ninja got all these jobs. You could argue there’s more years in the gap because of the bs technology renovations, but my argument is that Ninjago is not Earth. Earth is our world. Ninjago is its own world. Ninjago has smarter more advanced intelligent humans (Lego creatures). Earthlings are slow learners/morons.

Tournament of Elements/Possession/Skybound/Day of the Departed/Hands of Time

Lloyd / 15

Kai / 18

Jay / 18

Cole / 19

Zane / 1

Nya / 16

There’s really no significant time gap I can see. I can see all this happening in one year. You could argue Wu’s Teas makes it a year gap between Day of the Departed and Hands of Time, but Possession established the tea shop and that’s pre-shorts. If you consider Shadows of Ronin canon, I’d still say this. The whole thing is a story being told by Kai over a pizza night, so he could just be making that stuff up. It’s not clear, honestly. The only difference here is Zane. He died. He’s in a new body now. The body is what’s aging, not the soul. I almost DON’T consider Pilot-Rebooted Zane and Tournament-onward Zane the same character. But I think that’s just because of the writing quality for this character.

Sons of Garmadon/Hunted/March of the Oni

Lloyd / 16

Kai / 19

Jay / 19

Cole / 20

Zane / 2

Nya / 17

This is very obvious that the Oni Trilogy is one year. I don’t think anybody’s going to argue with this. And again, Lloyd, age potion or not, would realistically hit puberty at this time. And the others wouldn’t.

Plus, this works because they said that Kai and Jay were 'still teenagers' but 'grown up teenagers'. And 19 fits that description. The only other questionable thing is Nya, as Jay proposes to her. On Earth, the marriage qualified age is 18, unless you’re pregnant or stupid, which is obviously not the case here. So again, Ninjago is its own world with different rules. If you can graduate school at 14, you can probably marry at 17. Not that unreasonable. Can I just say that I love the vibe of the Oni Trilogy? It allowed the ninja to grow up with the audience. We get to see them transition into adults in this trilogy. And I LOVE IT.

And they become mentors to Wu?! Golden.

I wish the Wildbrain era didn’t revert back to the status quo with their dynamic with Wu. I wish it was a follow up to their new chapter of their life and Wu was retired. Doesn’t mean you have to get rid of Wu, but the ninja would be well independent at that point. No, they didn’t de-age, but the narrative acted like it to silently push the ninja back into the teenager attitude they had at the start of the show. Because the show is for children and children can’t relate to young adults. Therefore we must keep the ninja under the roof of a sensei FOREVER.

Until Dragons Rising, anyway.

Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitsu/Prime Empire/Master of the Mountain/The Island/Seabound

Lloyd / 17

Kai / 20

Jay / 20

Cole / 21

Zane / 62

Nya / 18

I can’t see much gap between the Wildbrain era minus Crystalized. It’s all kind of one collective story if you put these together, as they act as build up for the Finale Season. Again, the only change is Zane, because canonically he’s been in the Never Realm as Ice Emperor for DECADES.

Don’t ask me how the ninja get to the Never Realm in the present but Zane was taken several years back, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitsu LOVES its plot holes. As if this show needed any more plot holes than it already had.

Crystalized

Lloyd / 18

Kai / 21

Jay / 21

Cole / 22

Zane / 63

Nya / 19

Canon. Year has passed. The reason I didn’t give Nya the treatment I gave Zane is because she returned to her body. There’s a difference between returning to your body and reforming into a new one.

I think.

I live on Earth. Idk how reincarnation works.

Pre-Merge

Lloyd / 19

Kai / 22

Jay / 22

Cole / 23

Zane / 64

Nya / 20

Arin / 8

I do think there’s some gap with the end of the main show and the prologue for this show. Can’t tell you how big of one so I’m just gonna say a year.

Dragons Rising

Lloyd / 24

Kai / 27

Jay / 27

Cole / 28

Zane / 69

Nya / 25

Arin / 13

Sora / 13

Then again, we don’t know how many years have passed since the Merge. But long enough for the ninja to be considered adults.

Keep in mind I am very weary on Jay and Cole, because they have not appeared in the show yet. We could get another Zane situation for all we know. I kind of see Arin and Sora as the same age as post-potion Lloyd, because of their attitudes being similar to Season 2 Lloyd in my opinion, especially Arin. There’s nothing YET that confirms to me that they’re different ages, but if there is something in the future, I might say Sora is a year older. (Sora’s a queen btw)

And if anyone else joins this new Ninja team, like Wildfyre or that wind girl (forgot her name), then I’ll include them.

Wow, we went from Gen 1 having only one girl in a team to Gen 2 having only one boy in a team. We’ll see. I am on board for that if that’s the case.

[stardustizuku]

I have to ask out of curiosity, on the TVTropes wiki page, the Miraculous Ladybug page says that the show is a Magical Girl/Superhero genre hybrid of sorts. If you believe that is the case, since I believe it might be just speculation, would that change or impact what the rules can be established or removed in either of these genres?

The reason why I made the essay with Magical Girls at its focus - was simply because I’m more well versed in Magical Girl stories than super heroes. As well as the fact that it hurt me deeply as a fan of that genre.

But let it be known. Miraculous Ladybug suck ass as a Superhero story too.

For mostly the same reasons as I stated in the Magical Girl Analysis because…

Well, Magical Girls ARE superheroes.

Like, sexism has sort of wrapped peoples’ idea of what Magical Girls are but despite all the frills and cuteness - these are girls that fight evil on a daily with super powers and secret identities.

You see, Japan and the USA have very different ways of marketing their animated show for children. Japan has a very gendered demographic, you have Shoujo and you have Shounen. They’re aimed for different audiences. While boys have stuff like Kamen Raiden and Super Seitan, girls have Pretty Cure. They serve the exact same purpose they’re just - gendered differently.

The USA has…also! Gender. Just. One.

It’s supposed a nebulous “kids” with mass appeal, aka unisex of sorts…? But no, really it’s just boys. And maybe girls to get them to buy toys.

When it comes to superheroes in particular, that’s the main difference.

It’s not a Magical Girl with Superhero thing, but American Superhero for girls with Japanese Superhero for girls.

The real issue MLB has when it tries to shoehorn in the Superhero theme is that…it sorta sucks?

Like, if it’s lagging behind Magical Girl adjacent takes in the western hemisphere, it’s outright losing in the SuperHero department.

While Anime has been sort of mainstream for the last 20 or so years (maybe less), which leads to maybe 15 years worth of Magical Girl takes in western cartoons…

There’s almost a century worth of Superheroes before MLB.

Everything that could have been done by MLB was done by superhero stories at least in the 1970’s.

Even the idea of “girls superhero” is something seen before. Like, we have the powerpuff girls, we have wordgirl, we have Kim Possible, DC superhero girls, totally spies…

It’s not a new concept. In fact, superheroes are such a common concept that blockbuster movies are running out of ideas. So they’re throwing everything they can at the board to see what sticks, creating something so Goddamned convoluted no one has the brain energy left to keep up with it.

Sounds familiar?

It’s obvious that the creative team took heavy inspiration from magical girls to make their superhero story. In their head, and at surface level, this makes sense.

BUT as I’ve stated above, there’s a cultural difference between Magical Girls and Superheroes each baked into the identity of each genre.

This is the rough equivalent of trying to mix English Mythology with Japanese Mythology, knowing only about yokai and fairies in regards to each…if you know nothing it sorta makes sense but if you KNOW

Then it’s total BS

Which by the way, American and Japanaese superheroes mixed in, with Chinese culture as powers made by a French guy who knows next to nothing about any of these cultures…

Do you get why I keep calling Thomas’ weird attitudes towards his project a “fetishization”? It’s because it is.

To summarize, even if you take this show as more of a Superhero story, it still sucks. My points would (for the most part) still stand. With the added caviar that it’s not only shameful for its lack of interest in its own genre - but the fact that every single person and their mother would see the story as 100x more uninspired. Because at least 5 other comics from 70s would have done smth similar with either powers or identities.

The only redeeming quality it had was it target towards little girls and doing so by borrowing the Magical girl aesthetic.

Which it fucking spat on and I’m still pissed about it.

In regards, and trying to answer your question - it’s complicated.

This would essentially be a massive cultural exchange challenge.

For example, the reason why superheroes in the USA have powers given to them as failed experiments and radioactive waste, while Japan has magic or aliens… is very much tied to their history and cultural identity.

The values that each have reflect on their superheroes too - American Superheroes may value individualism more than Japanese superheroes do.

And again, there’s the whole gendered thing. Superheroes stories in the USA tend to lean more gender neutral for mass appeal, Japanese superheroes are very heavily coded as in what they’re meant for. (Cough the reason why there’s so much queer subtext in magical girl stories cough)

So, asking the question “what rules should it make so that it’s a hybrid between these two genres”, while a valid one, I’m not sure I can be the one to answer it.

Because it depends. On what the creator saw, what they wanted, what they intended to say by mixing these two.

This is not something you ask AFTER you’ve your show. These are the questions you ask BEFORE it.

To properly create a hybrid, you ought to have a vision. And take parts of each to create what you wanted to say.

MLB borrows (or should I say steal?) aesthetics and surface level aspects of both genres. It broke as many American superhero rules as it did magical girl ones.

In specific, The Alger Ego and Theme stands as something it fucked over in BOTH. But it also failed superheroes. In what way, I really wouldn’t be able to tell.

I’m not a fan of superheroes. I don’t know why people like them, I don’t know why they watch them. I have a mild understanding of them but trying to tell you in the same depth as I did in the Magical Girl Essay what exactly they did wrong…would be an impossible task to me.

But if Thomas thinks that we, the magical girl fans, are mean to him…oh boy. Wait till he tells a Marvel Stan he thinks he’s made the best superhero story ever.

I would pay money for that

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

I've been listless for too long, wasting my life by following the path of least resistance, but I've decided to take initiative and go back to school to get a degree that isn't worth less than the cardstock it's printed on.

Math was my passion growing up. It was fun and exciting to me, like solving a puzzle, and I wanted to be an unspecified brand of Scientist™ someday; my mom wanted me to be a mechanical engineer like my grampa. She decided my natural aptitude for math wasn't fast enough for her liking, so she skipped me ahead from algebra straight to AP calculus without geometry or trigonometry. I was completely out of my element, miles behind every other student, so she made me take two year-long homeschool courses in one month to help me catch up before I flunked out. It didn't help, it just made my existing course load even harder. I was burned out and I barely coasted by with a C- and a newfound hatred of math.

I never managed to grok calculus, and promptly forgot everything about it the second I graduated. When I learned that the major my mom wanted me to take in college would require more calculus and physics, I said fuck that and settled for something easy. I bounced around for my first two years, got my AA, and finally chose to pursue English (the greatest mistake of my life) because I had vague ideas of becoming an author, but my university had a shitty English department that didn't teach me anything. All they offered were glorified high school courses, "read a book, write an essay, take a multiple choice test, repeat. Congratulations you're an English major." I never learned grammar or style, I still don't know how to punctuate certain clauses, I completely wasted my final two years taking the most bare bones credits I needed to get a degree with no real goal after graduating. I went to college because it was expected of me, but my plan evaporated in high school because my mom pushed me too hard and even though I passed all my classes I feel like I failed miserably.

I want to go back. I want to retake the high school math I missed in my own time then reapply to my alma mater for another bachelor's program. I want to go into astronomy/astrophysics because all the science classes I took as electives in school were as fun and exciting as I'd hoped they would be, and I remembered that I loved to learn. I want to go back and try again with a real goal this time, to major in astrophysics so I could get a job, a career, doing what I'm good at and enjoy. It's not going to be easy, but I've been taking it easy my entire adult life and I'm trapped in my home town working as a cashier at a side-of-the-highway tourist trap motel at 26. I need to apply myself. I need to live up to the potential I had in high school. I need to go to the moon in this d'cade and do the otha things, not because they are easy, but because they are hahd!

Astronomy and earth/space science were my favorite classes in college, but I never took any beyond the 1000 level, and the suggested semester plan for a BS in astrophysics requires advanced 3000 and 4000 level calc, physics, mechanics, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, stats, and differential equations to name a few, so I have my work cut out for me. I need to buy some textbooks this summer and relearn prerequisite math before I can even hope to jump into this field. I'm not gonna enjoy it, it's not gonna be fun and exciting all the way, I'm gonna wanna give up, but I need to prove that I'm capable. I need to push myself to do what I don't want to do. I don't need to be a savant, I just need to pass. Cs get degrees. My little sisters are in college now, and both of them are taking a relaxed schedule, part time credits, only a couple classes per semester, however long it takes. The full astrophysics major requires 120 credits, but only 62 are critical, the other 58 are gen ed, and I already have my BA so I can skip those. 62 credits is 2 years of full time work (year and a half if I take a summer semester, though that's four months of work in half the time, so I'd once again risk burnout), but I could bang it out as a part-timer in 3 or 4 years. Hell, if I went back full time I could take a bunch of fun gen ed classes for a minor, or even a double major, but I'm getting WAY ahead of myself.

Start small.

I need to brush up on

Algebra 1

Geometry

Algebra 2

Trigonometry/Pre-Calc

Calculus

It's too late to apply for fall semester this year, and I wouldn't want to anyway because 5 high school math classes are a lot to get through in 3 months. They don't allow spring applications either, so the earliest I could start is fall 2024, 10 years after I started college in the first place. That gives me over a year to master the maths I missed. That's plenty of time! I'm fairly competent in algebra and geometry, so I'd only need to relearn trig and calc.

This is doable.

It's never too late to start over.

[nightglider124]

Titans: Season 4 - Ep7 & Ep8 - Thoughts

Okay, now that I have watched the episodes multiple times (actually just the good bits tehe), I have overall thoughts and I thought I would share them!

I’m gonna try and focus on the stuff non dickkory related buuut if you catch me slipping, soz. I have always been very vocal about my priorities in this show and they are in the main three.

Episode 7: Caul’s Folly

The bit at the beginning where they like said bye to Jinx, I found kinda sweet. I still feel like she is going to pop up again. I don’t feel like she is proper dead... Maybe I am wrong but I haven’t seen anything to say the actress wasn’t returning for part 2 or anything. I would personally prefer if they kept her dead moreso cos I don’t feel she has any more of a part to play in the rest of it but yeah. At first, I didn’t think they were even gonna mention her and then Rachel did and I was like lmao okay cool. Glad that was cleared up. XD

Honestly, they’ve done such a good job of getting the vibe of bonkers cult for the Church of Blood like it’s so full of whackos but it all feels so believable tbh. I like Sebastian; he’s an interesting character and villain. I’ve always liked the Brother Blood storyline in all media forms through the years and this is no different.

I AM MISSING GAR TERRIBLY ALREADY. I proper felt his absence and I HATED IT. Like I get it, we’re gonna be getting a whole ep for my boy but like I miss his cute little face. Gar woulda been a mood if he was in the town with them. GOD. I can’t wait to see him again soon.

Conner... my guy. I fucking hate you this season. I get the Lex thing and what they’re going for and Joshua Orpin does phenomonelly as he makes it believable but FUCK ME. I am tired of his superieor bullshit XD. Like when he started blaming Dick for the plan going south, I was like are you for real and then Dick being like well fuckface we had a good plan but it went to shit cos of your dumb ass. I was like FUCK YEAH, TELL HIM DICK! I need Conner to not be a douche for much longer cos it’s grating af.

In addition to that, it was cool to see Mercy again. I was surprised since I don’t think anything had mentioned her making an appearance. Still hate her character but it was a cool little moment.

MY GOD. The whole interaction with Roberta was my absolute favourite. When she like inhaled Kory, I was cracking up and I peeped Dick’s smiling eyes ever so slightly when she did it. Hilarious. I loved it and I loved Roberta. 

I really REALLY love the clothing department for all the outfits but... my baby girl. Every outfit was a slay. OH! AND THE FUCKING JACKET!! IT SAYS WE <3 GAR AND OBVS THATS A NUDGE TO THE ICONIC SHIRT?? I really adored that little easter egg to the comics. Muchos appreciated.

I LOVE TIM AND BERNARD. They’re little idiots trying to figure shit out and I’m a sap for it tbh. AND GUUURL, they gots their own motel scene. I was like Yaaas TIM, go get your boo. I really like their relationship tbf. I was smiling through like all their scenes, especially at the motel.

Dick getting the shit kicked out of him in the police station made me physically wince; the fight-acting was amazeballs but ugh my boy, I was like bro, you’re getting fucked up. I get he obviously does not have the Nightwing suit with him but dang man, you got knocked about like a ragdoll.

I like the pace in this first episode; it brought me straight back into the flow and action of the season rather than acting as filler bs, at least I felt. 

-----

Episode 8: Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory

This episode killed me dead because of the dickkory; I just wanna get that out straight away cos... my god. It was glorious. These thoughts will be including DK cos how can I not; half the episode was them.

That frickin bedroom scene... them freaking and then Kory being like did we sleep together? And Dick is like NO. No? It was so funny; I was cackling. The comedic and the seriousness and the romance as well... it all worked surprisingly very well? Like it felt in the middle of chaos but it works?? I loved this episode more than maybe any other episode in the show. 

THE WEDDING RINGSSS. I just wanna say, they got changed. They didn’t need to keep them on. Maybe yes because they’re keeping up the appearances but PLS they both looked real comfy with wedding rings js. Some of the shots also really felt like they were intentionally showing them off. Maybe I was imagining it but some of the shots felt very pointed. Loved it.

Their outfits. THE OUTFITS. Barbieland could never. I just... they were so opposite to Dick and Kory but they looked so fucking cute. I wanted to die. It was the best thing ever. 

OH! THE MUSIC IN BOTH EPISODES FUCKING SLAPPED. The town knows how to do a playlist, ite? I was vibing for a lot of the time to the point I had to rewind bits cos I wasn’t paying attention. 

The scene with Sebastian cutting Rachel had me raging. Like, bitch lemme cut you and see what you think. Step away from my GURL. 

The scene where Dick has bought the recorders... I found Kory hilarious with her ‘Peak daddy bullshit’ line but aw, omg I felt bad for Dick like his poor face he was like, I’m just trying to save us :( It’s rare Kory proper loses her shit with him so I was like oh, this is not nice. I got her but also like he trying. 

Inhale... guys... them recording their memories... Kory’s had me sad. Anna’s voice was so sad like it was great. 

In addition to that... my poor heart when Dick came downstairs and Kory had turned into Carol like full pelt... I was like noooo. His face is like no.... no no no. Brenton does Dick’s facial expression just so damn well. 

POOR CAROL!KORY. She was so fragile all like oh im sorry, did I do something wrong. And, I really love how Dick went from yelling at her cos boy is frightened and frustrated but then softens and is like no, it’s not your fault, its mine. And yes, I adored the hand holding and promising not to leave her, even if it was her Carol self. But, I agree with others on that; Dick’s face was sad cos he knows its not Kory doing it.

KORY HEARING WHAT DICK SAID ON THE TAPE AHHHHHHHH. Im so mad tho. Like he loved her since season 1 what the actual fuck man. Which, actually makes sense why he backed off in s2 and s3 cos like Kory was the one who put it out there about them figuring themselves out before they attempted anything romantic so maybe Dick took that as she wasn’t into it as well as like the not going to San Fran with them? Which makes me sadder. Like giving her space and time but really being like i luv you Kory. UGH. IM SICK.

The radio room was grim; Dick just walking around in these blood pipes like its nothing like even Rachel was like gross dude. Dick just walks out after like nah its fine; I’m covered in some randos blood but its all good.

TEHE the last bit where Kory says about it not being the painful memories. He 10000% now knows she listened to his tape and knows he loves her. Like pls.

Ugh Conner... what are you doing and why do I feel like you’re gonna fuck shit up again, ya little douche. He best not cause any harm to the other Titans with his stupid ass antics. I swear to Jesus. 

That’s all of my long winded thoughts for both episodes! Can’t wait for next weeks and we get to see baby Gaaar!!

[999-roses]

@niteshade925 :

Because sinophobia is now fused with political scapegoating. A very dangerous combination. Now that we are seeing deliberate genocide in Palestine, I do wonder how long it will be before the camps start opening for business again #:)#i mean internment camps were a thing. there is a precedent for this kind of bs.#sorry to op for taking it there#but I do think some things need to be said. before it's too late.

in all seriousness, while I don't want to completely dismiss internment as a future possibility, however, imo there are marked differences between modern-day aapi/sino diaspora landscape and previous forms of yellow peril, which would make a revival of some kind of internment project unlikely, at least on a large and public scale. (of course there's no telling for secret disappearances and/or trussing up the ol' sinophobic trope of spy accusations - which have in recent times prompted some reversal of brain drain at the very least)

between now and then was McCarthyism and widespread systemic project of anticommunism... like literally, the PRC wasn't even established yet when the last japanese internment camps were closed.

The form of assimilation we see today is the project of "diversity & inclusion" - in the American project. In similar hypocrisy as idealizing "free speech" (in which only acceptable speech is tolerated in narrow parameters regardless of factuality), inclusion is predicated on alignment to US American interests. The diaspora (not just Chinese) who openly denounce and make a show of "I left my home country because it was communist which is bad" get platformed in mainstream media. I can't remember the last time I heard of anyone who says "I love my motherland [not the US]" spread in mainstream media (or films propped up and lauded in the west), it's completely unheard of. Films made in China that remotely have a message of national pride get smeared as "propaganda" (laughs in Top Gun & other DoD hollywood), and often do not receive screenings in the US. This is essentially a requirement now in order to assimilate into the predominant US culture. As an Asian diaspora you can opt out of "yellow peril" by denouncing it yourself, thereby aiding in legitimizing "yellow peril" as a real threat to "real Americans" or capitalism or whatever. (This isn't to say it won't bite people in the butt, but by and large, the victims of hate crimes are marginalized folk like elderly or [assumed] sex workers, and not the ones who make a show to be anti-China/pro-USA who are more likely to come from backgrounds of relative privilege.)

the american empire wouldn't need internment camps anymore, in fact it would be detrimental to their optics and mythos (from "land of opportunity" to "melting pot"). over 70 years of effort put into converting would-be sympathizers of communist kinsmen into staunch supporters of liberal democracy - a different type of cage if you ask me - wasted

borrowing from from "Can the Chinese Diaspora Speak?" (recommend checking out the whole article wrt overseas chinese history btw) ::

In an era of renewed Cold War aggression towards China, historicizing the workings of multicultural empire and the strategic inclusion of the Chinese diaspora therein reveals the justifying discourses of U.S. imperialism. ... By the mid–1950s, the State Department and CIA had both identified the overseas Chinese as a strategic target for psychological warfare and anticommunist propaganda. .... Identifying the “critical importance” of overseas Chinese to U.S. Cold War efforts, ethnic Chinese in the United States were mobilized to produce and disseminate testimonials of U.S. exceptionalism to encourage Chinese diasporic allegiance to their host countries and not “Red China.” For instance, the USIA launched a popular Chinese-language magazine called Free World Chinese, which featured success stories of Chinese and other Asians in the United States as evidence of free world liberal exceptionalism. ... In differentiating “friends and enemies,” Cold War Chinese American inclusion was premised on a binary between “model minority” anticommunist allies and “yellow peril” communist sympathizers. While Cold War racial liberalism afforded new opportunities for civil inclusion for Chinese Americans willing to embrace the legitimizing fictions of U.S. imperialism, it also created conditions for state-sanctioned anticommunist repression for those alleged to have the wrong international sympathies.

[kitkatt0430]

There is a new episode of the Flash where apparently they're doing a mold inspection instead of just doing air quality testing on their own? Seriously? I know I'm not the only one going O_o at this setup.

Maybe the actual episode will make it work somehow? Time for me to find out.

And we're starting in 2123, so a hundred years from now. STAR Labs is the Flash museum with a statue of Barry out front. I can't tell from the angle of the opening shot but I assume the building's exterior still has not been repaired.

someone is poking around with flashlights, dressed mysteriously and headed for the weapons vault. This is clearly fine and normal.

There's an actual security response. Oh my gosh. I mean, its still ineffective, but wow. STAR Labs is gonna have security one hundred years from now. Finally.

Sorry, I think my sarcasm level may be extra high today, please bear with me.

The intruder escapes through a breach of some kind. And the camera closes in on the date the episode is set, which is foreshadowing the mold inspection going wrong, i guess.

It's weird that this is being sold to us as a mold inspection, though? The inspection certificate with the date on it is specifically having to do with the Department of Energy. Why they need a DOE inspection, I have no idea. Are they finally gonna use the pipeline to generate energy for the city or something?

I should just... watch, I guess.

Barry painting Nora's crib and getting all excited about being a dad is adorable. He's also super happy about getting Iris whatever food she may be craving, in this case ice cream. And then it turns out Iris tracked down a magazine that had once featured Henry Allen on the cover - science and medicine journal - and that's just so sweet of her. Barry has so little left from his parents after his mom's death and his dad's arrest...

This is West-Allen at it's best right here. Barry and Iris taking care of each other and showing how much they love each other. (Proof that when they work, they really work.)

Okay, so the mold inspection is because Barry is over-reacting to the whole wanting to make everything safe for Nora now, now, now. What a mold inspection has to do with the DOE is... *shrugs* I think I'm just gonna have to handwave this connection.

Apparently Khione is headed off to spend time with Carla, who wants to get to know this iteration of her daughter. Khione deserves to make family connections, so I hope this goes well. Carla messed things up with Caitlin, but did make inroads in fixing it, so hopefully she'll accept Khione for herself and get some catharsis over Caitlin and Frost's deaths. Khione is afraid of botching things, because she isn't Caitlin and not being Frost already made things go sour with Blaine. I wonder if we'll actually get to see their coffee meetup or if it'll just be discussed afterwards so we know it went okay.

Anyway, the mold inspector brings friends because asking for an inspection set off code alerts or whatever? I'm calling so much BS. That is not how things work. And since STAR Labs hasn't been operating as an active research lab, it doesn't really matter what else is or isn't up to code.

Bet Barry's regretting letting Chester have the day off now.

Iris shows up to join in the fun and rescue Barry from his bad decisions. And it's becoming more and more clear that these inspectors don't know what the hell they're doing. I mean, the electrician doesn't know what the breaker box is called?

At least Barry and Iris lampshade it.

And the temporal anomaly kicks in, herding everyone back to the speed lab repeatedly where a rather nice grandfather clock has appeared. Ticking loudly and ominously.

Barry - I can run to the future and find out how we fix this and then come back and... fix it. Iris - This seems like a bad idea. Barry - TIME TRAVEL!! What could go wrong? Iris - Everything, but whatever. Just bring me back a snack.

Barry once again jumps to time travel as the answer. *sigh* He never learns, does he?

So I want to like Allegra and Chester's date, but the jokes over scrabble feel forced. No one says 'za' instead of 'pizza'. Allegra's concerns about being found out as a meta are just kinda... not treated seriously before segueing into Chester rambling about how amazing Allegra is and how he's in love with her. Which freaks them both out. There isn't a second of that scene that isn't awkward or uncomfortable.

Back with the main plot, Barry uses the speed lab to get up to time traveling speed and some kind of wave changes Iris' outfit into this pretty blue dress with gold accents. She looks great. Barry's attempt to reach the future fails and watching him smack into a wall is hilarious.

Nice try, Barry. Fix this without cheating.

Looks like everyone else got new outfits too. Barry's is kinda Star Trek TNG/DS9/VOY era uniform looking, with a Flash symbol where the combadge would go. That had to be a deliberate choice. :D

And now Barry's been outed as the Flash to four new people. Secret identity made of swiss cheese.

At least the inspectors reactions are funny. Especially the guy who faints. And after some technobabling, we get the conclusion that one of the inspectors is the time traveling thief from the start of the episode.

My money is on the electrician, but she could also just be like me and sometimes just has words disappear from her vocabulary. I have definitely forgotten words I use every day before because my brain just blanks them out for a bit. But this is a tv show, so it seems more likely she's the culprit than the red herring.

Meanwhile, game day at Cecile's continues to be boring. This is the most awkward game of Catan I've ever seen.

Cecile - I'm gonna escape to the kitchen. Chester - No, actually you stay. I shall flee away, away.

Thankfully we're now back to the main plot and they're all speculating on who the time thief could be. Iris is having fun playing with the tech to clear everyone. And then one of the inspectors got replaced with a statue. Whoops. No closer to escaping yet, and the statue is one of those nude statues with the fig leaf.

Electrician is definitely the bad guy, she accuses Iris.

Inspector Dude #2 - Not Mrs. Flash!

lol, he's adorable.

Allegra's trauma flashbacks to Nash and Esperanza's death... *sniffle*

Show writers baiting me making me think that Cecile is gonna talk about her first marriage that failed... and then she doesn't. Hissss, I want back story, that's more interesting than the Allegra/Chester shilling.

Iris and Barry finally having that frank conversation they pretended to have in the first episode of the season is great. And I'm glad they're having Iris talk so frankly about how uncomfortable being pregnant is for her and how distressing it can be. She doesn't regret it, but the way it messes with her body and brain makes it tough on her in a way Barry can support her through, but not totally understand.

And their talk gives Barry the Eureka moment he needs to figure out who the time thief is.

Hehehe, Mrs. Flash, I love it every time he says that.

Barry - Blatantly making up bullshit about the electrical in the building. Electrician - Uhhhhh O_O I don't know enough to call bullshit because I'm not really an electrician.

Awww, two more inspectors down. :(

Lady Chronos... I can't get over her face. The makeup decisions were... interesting.

Barry - Oooh, I'm a lightning generator. I can power your belt. Lady Chronos - Working with the Flash. Ewwww.

Yay, resetting the time magnet reset the inspectors, this time with the real electrician. And the inspectors don't seem to remember what happened. Probably for the best they don't remember Barry's the Flash.

Khione - I could have told you there's no mold. Barry - ............ *expression says he feels dumb now*

So confirmation we don't get to see Carla and that Khione's coffee meetup with her went well. Carla managed to do what Blaine failed at, by wanting to get to know Khione for herself. Good job Carla.

At this point it seems like they're never gonna pick up on that plot thread with Carla gaining ice powers or her own frosty alter ego, which is a shame. But at least she's in the background trying to do right by Khione.

Allegra tracks down Chester to make things right. If nothing else, though I may not like their ship, I do hope the show will end with them happy.

Vibe-accinos. I'm so glad Cisco has a Jitter's drink. He deserves it.

The ending is more cute, domestic West-Allen.

While not the best episode of the season - either the heist episode with the Rogues or the previous episode focused on Iris and Nia are currently that for me - this was a solid and fun episode. It did much better with the temporal anomaly concept than the season opener and did a much better job of addressing Barry and Iris' different ways of dealing with their current circumstances, giving Iris room to voice her feelings without invalidating her or otherwise kicking the can down the road.

Since we're stuck with the Chester/Allegra ship, even though it's forced to the point of awkwardness at all times... Chester is adorable when he's happy. He's got such a lovely smile. And Allegra does deserve to have a relationship where she loves someone and not have it end with that person dying. I do like that the big loves of her life mentioned prior to Chester are all platonic/familial, making it clear that her non-romantic loves were just as important to her as her current romantic one.

The trailer for the next episode makes it look like the breather episodes are over and we're moving on to the final arc of the show. Bloodwork is back, as is Wally, Dig, Oliver, and the multi-verse.

Barry - *hugs Oliver* Oliver - I'm allergic to feelings, you're giving me hives. Stop it. Barry - *hugs more*

I'm guessing this final arc will have Khione come into her own as a hero? I mean, they haven't done anything that justifies killing Caitlin to create her yet, so they've gotta do that before the season ends. And this is a short season, right?

Finally... Barry's birthday was previously established as being in March, but now they're celebrating it in April from the looks of things in the trailer? *heavy sigh*

[bizlawbolds]

Time Management :/

Time Management??? When first introduced to the concept I said this is bs! I couldn’t have been more wrong 😑. You won’t get me to say that often.

So the goal of time management is to maximize your efforts through strategic planning to do better work in less time.

When I first started implementing this into my routine it was daunting. Then I realized how much free time I really had.

I initially used this free time for day dreaming. If you haven’t tried day dreaming you should cause it’s really exciting. This post isn’t about that though 😅🥲.

I never really procrastinated I just didn’t complete task cause I would say there’s plenty of time until time ran out. I learned if I did small pieces of assignments leading up to a due date it’ll get done easier and made me more excited about the task.

My dad tells me all the time that he thinks I use my time way better than most young men. He applauds me for having a part time job doing something that may shape my future into what I want it to be. My mom thinks I work too much and that I’m not enjoying life because all I’m doing is working. Most of my family sounds like my dad or my mom. I’m neutral because I do most things because what else am I going to do with my time?? Work helps me have fun outside of work and keeps me out of trouble while there 💡 💡💡

I’ve been working on making a better schedule to do actual workouts because walking is great it’s very easy. I need to do some weight lifting to have strength endurance. Even as an athlete I hated workouts 😩.. as a coach I hated them twice as much 🤣🤣🤣

I dedicate a lot of time to day dreaming and planning trips for the future. I have to see at least 90% of the planet before I depart to the next life. If death is really even real but that's neither here nor there. I often day dream that if this life is cool the next has to be even cooler but we still talking about time management.

I could use more of my time to keep planning my departure from education into my next phase of life. I will own a cleaning service(commercial &residential), an estate planning firm, and adult beverage line (wine, mezcal, & spiked tea) and still figuring everything else out. If nothing else ill be running and loving my family!

[sunshinexlollipops]

edit: I talked to some of my coworkers and they were surprised that I'm leaving. several said I'm a good worker but I'm shocked bc how management was acting, I felt and thought the opposite in spite of trying. wild shit. but in gen I hope I can at least get SSDI squared away. maybe I can go half/half or something else. I'm not sure. but I still feel like I needed to move to something else bc my body and mind have been wrecked like a drunk w an 4-150.

it sucks because it's almost like once I go to leave as I need to everyone is like "but wait :(" and giving me puppy dog eyes. 😭

//

been researching lawyers but so far feeling good about the direction I'm heading. in gen put my notice in yesterday and kinda grateful I have because people in my department have been losing their shit this morning and the vibes are wowza bc of it. I'm sad things didn't work out here in some ways, but I'm glad to be done with the environment here. what's wild is even their reddit was toxic ASF and I had people acting on there as I've experienced here at the store. so it seems corporate koolaid and ableism are internalized hard at this company... otherwise, it's the usual BS.

I also am glad that I've got one fellow disabled coworker, who is also ironically also planning on leaving bc shit has been bad here for us as openly disabled people. they said they have also felt like accommodations aren't actually made, and trying to be a part of the team just feels like you're constantly stepping on everyone's toes, and they take it personally. it's been an annoying mix of "I don't think you're disabled" and "you need to be babied so hard and we cannot have you do anything on your own." I couldn't find a happy medium of general respect and understanding and in gen, the morale is crumbling back there bc things have been piling up and not getting done properly, and ofc, the disabled employees are at the heart of it all in their minds. I've only seen managers pull us aside for corrections or instructions whereas everyone else is allowed to run loose like the wild west. I'm glad I'm stepping out of it.

better things are to come. imma figure it out but at least I gave this place a shot, I guess. 🤷

hoping I can plan to find another mode of work or income once I get my SSDI case sorted— whether that is getting disability or being told to fuck off. I plan to definitely go for something way more realistic for myself.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Trump Ascended To The Highest Office In The Land

Donald Trump has just been fined $354 million for fraudulently lying about his assets and business worth when getting loans from commercial banks. Despite a history of very dodgy behaviour Trump ascended to the highest office in the land. Yes, he is an officer of the United States of America. Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, thanks to property developer dad Fred Trump. He is not a self-made man or the second coming of anything worth waiting for. It seems in America the only law with any real teeth is that of money and civil suits. “Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the former president and the Trump Organization to pay over $354 million in damages, and bars Trump "from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years," including his namesake company.” (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/ny-fraud-case-damages-pay-millions-judge-engoron-rcna135283)

The Trump Criminal Indictments So Slow Out Of the Blocks

The criminal indictments Trump is facing have been so tardy in coming from the justice departments that many folk have forgotten about the seriousness of the crimes. The obscuration and lies peddled by the GOP and Fox News have muddied the waters, as so desired by these nefarious organisations. Only money talks in America, which is why it is such a f***** up place. Will the $354 million fine and the $93 million libel suit to E. Jean Carroll put a clamp on the puffed up momentum of Trump to get back into the White House? As an observer of the goings on in Washington and around Trump it is hard not to be discouraged by American justice.

Former President Trump Fined Nearly Half A Billion The public support for Trump despite his criminal activities does not fill one with hope when it comes to the character of these Americans. Nobody in their right mind could be so blind as to the multiple character failings of Donald Trump over many years. It suggests that win at all costs gazumps the rule of law in the minds of many Americans. It indicates that at least a third of the country are in favour of a white supremacist, blow hard, compulsive liar for their President. It reflects very badly on the state of this nation. Perhaps, these are the death throes of the dirty rotten scoundrels who have inhabited America for far too long. The descendants of slavers and their confederate insurrection. Fat entitled white folk who have held up the global efforts to deal with climate change for their own short term benefit. Parties like the GOP who appeal to voters via the politics of grievance are only holding up progress. Either we move forward and be more inclusive or we all go down with the ship. The time of special benefits for white folk is over. Trump is the champion of all that is wrong with America. This anti-elite stuff is all BS. Who is going to save the world? A bunch of overweight, poorly educated, selfish SOBs? I doubt it. ©WordsForWeb Read the full article