#bc that is not how it should’ve ended

[jambamthepaperman]

I have made the executive decision that because Agatha’s dead, she is with Rio and Nicky in Death’s realm.

[coconut530]

COME BACK TO MEEEEEEEEEEE LENOOOOOOORRRRREEEEEE😭😭😭😭😭

[farosdaughter]

Welp, here is TBOSAS’ lead editor admitting that they cut down a lot of the romance (including a pre games kiss) while editing the movie🥴

Apparently they thought the love story worked too well in the first 2/3 and made Coryo’s turn in the third part of the movie seem too sudden. After all, it’s not like the romance between Coryo and Lucy Gray being believable and 100% true was at the heart of the story, right?? It definitely didn’t make Coryo’s eventual betrayal heartbreaking and tragic.

The theatrical version of this movie absolutely doesn’t look like Frankenstein’s monster as a result of too many cuts and edits. I’m sure the book wouldn’t have benefited from being adapted in two movies instead of being condensed into a single overlong one.

[deus-ex-mona]

my five surviving braincells when something remotely good happens:

[zorosdimples]

i’m bleeding a concerning amount

[suchine-toki]

Thoughts about Katsura

Katsura is an amazing character that could’ve been even more amazing. He was always a chaotic presence in the daily life of the series, not for nothing his blood type is AB (according to him). But he has other facets. One aspect to highlight is the dichotomy of his character. He’s serious in nature but is so eccentric that he ends up being one of the funniest characters in Gintama. He’s very smart and a complete idiot at the same time. He can be extreme and measured. He’s a revolutionary.

I remember thinking that it was selfish of him to want to force Gintoki back into the Jouishishi. And he in a way he is. But then I realized that he’s probably just lonely. He lost his parental figures several times. His biological parents, his adoptive parents, his grandmother, his sensei…

That’s another matter. The relationship between Zura and Shouyou is usually not considered, other than Zura (apparently) imitating his appearance. I think this is one of the two most important aspects of his character that should’ve been explored more. At the end of the series, they’d a brief encounter, although it wasn't even in person, in which Shouyou called him his prodigy student. While it's an important acknowledgment, it's striking that this type of bond hasn't been shown before and that Shouyou never calls him by his name.

The series puts much more emphasis on Gintoki and Takasugi's feelings towards his sensei. In fact, the main reason they were fighting the war was to save Shouyou. However, while it's acknowledged that Zura was there for that reason as well, it wasn't the only one. He was more idealistic, and his goal was beyond rescue. He seeks political change in his country. Although the historical component of the series was never very developed, it presented enough elements to create a comprehensible story for the characters.

It’s here that I must mention another important aspect of his character that should’ve been explored further: his political career. In the time skip Zura is shown as prime minister. However, this gets involved with Utsuro's plot, missing the character’s initial goal. Certainly, one could argue that he wasn’t seeking a political career and that it’s okay to step aside once the changes have been set in motion. But there’re a couple of things to consider.

Although Zura starts out as an extremist, part of his development is that he realizes that taking a violent path can hurt people he cares about, like Ikumatsu. This opens the way for moderation, and pursuing change through institutionalized political avenues makes sense for his character. The other point has to do with the fact that it’s absurd to step aside when social changes have not yet taken hold because because they’ll most likely be reversed.

This is why I feel that Katsura's character is great, but it could’ve been better if his bond with Shouyou had been explored more and if at the end of the series he had been allowed to grow. To become a masked vigilante on the run is to end pretty much the same way he started, without much sense.

[introvertgoat]

hc that throughout the years, jude takes leaves of absences form being high queen to go spend a couple months w vivi heather n oak !!! madoc too ig while he’s still exiled lol. ( vehemently ignoring the stolen heir’s canon sorry not sorry.) family bonding time, far away from the hubbub n chaos of the folk, n also the realization that jude doesn’t mind the mortal world all that much. yes it’s not faerieland, but it’s smth alright n she finds it soothing at times. she’s less unhinged n paranoid compared to when she was younger n the ptsd from her past has decreased in its intensity thanks to heather-mandated therapy ( heather only had to hear a couple times abt the duarte sisters’ fucked up childhood for her to plead jude to go to therapy—vivi alrdy has— n jude relented after 5 yrs of honest-to-god begging. big slay heather our mental health queen 🫂) and so that’s why she can even leave faerieland in someone else’s hands. these visits aren’t too frequent but they r long in their duration. 3-4 months tops. sometimes cardan comes along bcs the bed feels empty w/o jude n— Okay he’s js lonely w/o his wife. sue him. some poor hapless councilor advisor is forced to be in charge in their place (they send letters weekly. ‘please your majesties, when will you be returning home ?’ #urgent LOL) one day jude (age:37) notices grey hairs appearing on her head n she sort of freaks out. not in an entirely vain way either. more like:. oh fuck aren’t i supposed to not age as long as im in faeirieland ?? 3 long discussions later w cardan n the royal folk-human specialist, the conclusion that is reached is that bcs of jude’s visits to the mortal word, as infrequent as they r, theyve seemed to affect the way her body ages. or more aptly put, doesn’t age lol. jude gets some grey hair n lines on her face while still technically NOT aging. n she feels less panicky abt it bcs hey she’s not aging. sort of. meanwhile, cardan finds himself deeply enamored w jude’s grey hair n the subtle creases on her face that multiply slowly. he tells jude js so n she’s like i am not susceptible to flattery cardan greenbriar. hes Serious abt it tho n tells her that he isn’t saying that bcs it’ll make her feel better or wtv but bcs her aging evidently is actually beautiful to him. cue jude sour pursed lips for a bit as she gets these days when it comes to cardan being unbearably earnest towards her but she feels less weird abt the hair n lines so :)

anyways this was a long-winded niche asf hc that appeals to exactly only 2 ppl on this site n im not even confident in THAT estimate lol

[weneverfreeze]

Bucky!!! Went to the Captain America Smithsonian exhibit to learn about Steve’s past and was instead confronted with the ghost of himself!!!! If you even care!!!!!!!!

[alexturner2005]

i almost didn’t go see maggie rogers at the united center last night bc i already saw her in a small venue this year, and i’m not that into her newest album, but damn, that was one of the best live performances i’ve ever seen.

was not mentally prepared to see my own face 30 feet tall on the big screen for the kiss cam tho sksjdekekd. i didn’t kiss anyone lol

[jemmo]

i watched only friends ep 3 for the third time and i am stuck on nick saying the line “no one dares hurt me”. bc in context it’s nothing, and he says it with this slight smile that’s still a little disappointed but just trying to play it off and you could just see it for what it is, just him trying to act fine that boston is abandoning him or whatever. but where’s the fun in seeing things at face value. bc this is post him seeing the pictures and seeing and finding out who top is and putting the wiretrap in boston’s car and seeing boston talking to top (i don’t think it’s clear whether he actually hears what they’re saying about ray and mew and meeting up later and sticks around to see what happens, or is just generally sus of boston and hangs around bc he’s just sus and so happens to see them). this is post this constituted story he has that was sparked by that tweet about liking someone else and that’s why you can’t become something more. he thinks top is that person (and he’s kinda right), that boston likes top more than him, despite boston constantly calling him his favourite. you can see the pieces falling into place, that while boston’s behaviour serves to keep himself in control and have nick on this leash of always being there and keeping him interested with the promise of more that will go nowhere, for nick, it doesn’t just hurt him in these sad ways that keep him dependent on boston to feel good about himself and thinking he has this special relationship when he doesn’t. it also hurts him in ways that boston wouldn’t have intended, ways that turn nick into someone dangerous, someone that can be boston’s downfall. bc now he looks at top not just with sadness and envy, but with anger and disgust, bc who is this person?? what right do they have to be the person boston likes more than me?? when im the one he goes to all the time, when i have this connection, when our relationship is progressing?? bc the feeling of comparing himself to top, and his inadequate that makes him feel, bc of course he isn’t enough, of course he’s not better than top, of course boston would like him more, that can so easily turn and become something dangerous, bc you lash out at other people instead of lashing out at yourself. it’s that thing of i do everything, so why have i not earned your love?? that’s what he says in the trailer to boston; “i just want you to love only me”. it all comes together to make me think nick is gonna be the one that really starts shit. that idk, either through just telling people or maybe that wiretrap can record what happened, he’s gonna be the reason the whole mess starts to come out. and idk if he’s gonna just let it out and let boston get shit for it as a way to get back at him for hurting him, bc bc of his feelings, bc of that line in the trailer, bc i think he still depends on boston’s affection and validation, i think it’s more gonna be a matter of him doing it to push top and boston apart, so that when it all falls apart, the end of it all he can say to boston i did it all bc i love you, bc top doesn’t deserve you, bc i want to be the only person you love.

and you can see how it would happen, when it all comes out and ray and mew clarify that there’s nothing between them and everyone gets mad at boston for fabricating these stories to manipulate people, who do you think is gonna be the most mad?? top. bc he’s the one being messed with, his relationship with mew, and it’s all just ultimately bc boston wants to have sex with him. the man is ruining his relationship just for a fuck, and at this point we don’t know if there are any actual feelings, or if it’s just so that boston can feel superior and in control still. the whole point is that bad behaviour yields bad behaviour. boston is a dick, but he also doesn’t know that he’s feeding in to his own downfall. and nick is being manipulated and taken advantage of, and that’s horrid and sad, but he’s also not this helpless victim. no, i very much believe he intends to bite back just as hard as he’s been bitten. and it still hurts bc it’s such a realistically human bad relationship, the person that lacks self worth and so over invests in a relationship to give them that worth back, and the person that doesn’t want commitment but also doesn’t want to lose control, and so they dangle promises they’ll never keep like bait to keep someone trapped. and it hurts bc the ways nick will turn and start acting out aren’t just his fault, bc boston played into it and made him believe, only for it to be broken. and this is not victim blaming, but you also can’t baby nick and make out he’s harmless, helpless, defenceless. you can’t not see the grey in him. bc he’s expecting boston to be something he’s not, and so you can’t say it’s fine when he gets mad that boston isn’t that thing he wants him to be. you can’t excuse him being overly invasive of a private space like he has ownership over every part of boston and his life. yes i get it, boston plays into it, but at some point we’ve got to stop using that as an excuse, bc the behaviour is still bad, and i feel like it’s only gonna get worse. im calling it, nick is gonna turn into a mess that boston created and become something he can’t control, and it’s gonna all come back around and destroy him. bc it’s not just a matter of messing with the wrong person, it’s the fact that boston doesn’t think anyone can mess with him back, and he doesn’t realise just how catastrophic the consequences of his actions are gonna be.

[tellie-vision-art]

Oh yeah while I’m being suicidal and making announcements and since it’s relevant kinda bc I’m updating refs: I’m only doing revenges and maybe attacking mutuals on Art Fight this year, I had a terrible time last year and I’m not putting myself through that disappointment again

[controlaltdelete-my-existence]

king piccolo arc is weird because it’s obviously the blueprint for many of the arcs to follow as well as one of my favorites, but narratively this is also the arc where some of db’s writing decisions start getting a little questionable. It starts off pretty strong: Goku’s impulsivity gets the better of him and he pays for it with Tambourine. This is soon followed by a truly memorable (and lowkey satisfying?) beat down by king piccolo (that rock to the back and elbow to the stomach look genuinely painful). Goku’s reduced to quite literally biting piccolo to try and stay in the fight. All of his arrogance that’s been building up since red ribbon is immediately knocked out of him and he’s left unable to move, forced to rely on someone else for the first time in a long time (the beginnings of an idea his character struggles with throughout Z).

Meanwhile king piccolo’s minions force a team split in Kame house, giving us three teams to follow as the dragon balls are collected. King Piccolo has a (what should be) iconic moment of literally kill Shenron. So now he’s young, he’s back, and he’s more overwhelming than any other opponent in the series to date. I don’t think Tao’s attempted murder of Goku hits quite the same highs as King Piccolo’s first assault; imo it hits differently because it’s not just that goku failed to beat him, it’s that all the characters we know and care about are genuinely at risk and even dropping like flies.

I guess in terms of story structure that would now put us at like, the second act low point? And ofc the question is ‘how is goku gonna come back from this?’ Which is how we get to what is imo a somewhat poor plot device: the ultra divine water. I definitely feel like this was something that could have been handled much better, though I don’t necessarily blame the author due to the pressure of having to write a serialized story. Still, at least a little foreshadowing with Korin in red ribbon might have helped the ultra divine water feel like less of a shortcut and more like unlocking a secret goal. The entire philosophy of DB is ‘work hard to improve yourself’. imo the way it should’ve been handled was goku realizing he already has the skills he needs, he just needs to continue honing them, maybe unlock a new technique or two through training, until he stands a chance. Goku’s whole fighting style is letting himself take a beating for awhile to figure out his opponents move set and then coming up with a creative counter-strategy. He’d already fought piccolo once, so it would’ve been a good way to keep the story thematically consistent.

Another way it could have felt less jarring is for him to at least have to overcome himself. Korin remarks in the actual story that Goku is too emotional (after losing Krillen and Roshi), which hurts him as a fighter. Needing to quell his rage when facing piccolo again could have been The Thing for him to overcome. Visiting Korin should have reminded him of his training there and instead of Korin saying he has nothing left to teach Goku he could have said, ‘hey, you know the skills, but you’re not using them properly. your anger and your arrogance is getting in your own way’. Essentially, learning meditation and tranquility, etc. (I know that idea is addressed in his later training with Kami, but it might have been valuable to have Goku meet Kami here instead and start the groundwork of those skills, perhaps set it up as him getting back in tune with himself after his losses until he’s ready to help Tien. Just spitballing here).

If the ultra divine water had maybe been some way of measuring goku’s overall progress since he initially started his journey rather than a mini adventure arc, it might have felt less jarring in a story all about self-improvement. I like the ultra divine water in terms of what it does for the oozaru, with the oozaru as being representative of goku’s inner strength, but personally that’s not enough to completely justify it to me. Imo the same symbolism could have been achieved a better way. As it is I don’t hate the UDW but I do think its general existence and relatively simple method of attainment weakens what is overall a very strong arc.

[deus-ex-mona]

been thinking about how asuna’s [spoiler] scene in the last chapter of idol sengen is oddly underwhelming in the volume version compared to the piccoma release?

i mean l i ke (spoiler reveal under the cut)—

idk if it’s just me but seeing it in colour made the scene hit harder somehow? in some way?

s o . im just. thinking ahead here but…

what if i tried to overlay the colour panel onto the page when i eventually tl it in a few months?

i’m not good at picture editing at all.

b u t still.

i kinda wanna try to go the extra mile for asuna anyway… hmmmmmmmmm…

[bo0zey]

being the oldest daughter raised by a narcissistic emotionally abusive father is just…👩‍🍳👌💋

[pepprs]

ok actually yeah. i really need to do dishes and go to bed and not stay up late mentalillnessposting a little too viscerally on tumblr the night before i facilitate a workshop in front of the literal president of the university and the vp of my division (LOL about that btw. actively shitting my pants.) but oh my GOD. so saying goodbye to lia was actually fine in the moment. neither of us cried and we talked about all the ways we’ll still be in each others lives and reasons we’ll have to interact in the near future. and she gave me an extremely heartfelt thoughtful gift and we left on a very hopeful note and i felt better and content bc there’s still the rest-of-life and we’ll see each other there. but like an hour before that as i mentioned i was HYSTERICALLY sobbing. in full view of people i know AND people i don’t. and i just sat there and sobbed while everything carried on around me. everything carried on around me!!! and i feel like im about to sob again thinking about it.

[hongjoshuaz]

I JUST GOT A 52 ON AN ASSIGNMENT IN CALCULUS THAT WE HAD DAYS TO DO IM SO UPSET