#bc this always happens !! they’re all so unreliable :

[alittleemo]

was in my forgiveness era now I am out of it again. GIRL WAKE UP WE HAVE PLACES TO BE !!!!

[briebysabs]

Lu Guang is a hypocrite and that’s okay (great even)

I must stand ten toes for this man because I’m noticing the slander that went on in September and I cannot allow it. I know I’m six months late but just bear with me. We are introduced to Lu Guang as a rational, stoic, sort of wise protagonist. The brains of the operation if you will (although Cheng is clever in his own right but that’s a whole other discussion). Qiao Ling and Captain Xiao describe him as more mature. Shiguang’s relationship is strong but it’s structured, especially for their work, to where Cheng has to depend on Lu Guang. Should only do as he says and not do anything impulsive.

And it gets to a point where Cheng doesn’t know what to do without him and when LG isn’t there he relies on his past words to guide him. The thing is, we’ve seen that CXS can come up with great plans and make good decisions without Lu Guang’s voice in his head. Like how he caught Min Liu or planning how save Lu Guang from Li Tianchen. But the story has built LG up so much to be a reliable character so it can’t be untrue. But then the s2 finale happens, Cheng gets shot and Lu Guang loses his mind.

And then the ending basically tells you that he’s been winging it and gambling this whole time. Experimenting with god knows how many timelines, simply using his knowledge from the previous one to see if he’ll get lucky this time. Lu Guang has been playing a crane game. So in a story that is all about mistakes, guilt and regrets. Of showing the imperfections of people. Of showing the struggles of moving forward, of being satisfied with the present. Of sacrificing your sanity, your voice, your desires, and happiness for the people you love. How is this bad writing?

Link click has been tricking the audience to believe Lu Guang is an infallible character.

But Link Click was never about perfect people.

What he’s trying to do is no different from Li Tianchen, one of our antagonists. And I love CXS to fucking pieces but this show raises the question of a life’s value. LG is trying to save Cheng and so refuses to change the past for anyone else. Bc it may alter things and doom CXS in the process and ruin all he’s worked towards. But then you ask yourself, is CXS’s life worth more than the twins' mother? Is it worth more than Chen’s mother? Is it worth more than Emma?

It doesn’t matter because it is to Lu Guang. It’s like the question if your sibling and a mailman are trapped in a burning building but you can only try to save one. Unless they’re the absolute scum of the earth, chances are and possibly even despite that, you’re going to pick your sibling. That don’t mean it’s objectively more valuable than the mailman or you didn’t have sympathy for that person, they have loved ones, hopes and joys too. “Lu Guang is a hypocrite, selfish, unreliable, and a liar” yes he is. Because there is something called ‘flawed characters’. It’s okay for your protagonist to not be the best person. It’s okay to write a protagonist whose trauma has defined some of their actions.

If you’ve been forced to have someone you love die in your arms over and over, why is it surprising that you would lie to them? How is it surprising that you’d try to keep secrets? That you’d set things up to be in a position to control the situation? That’ll force you to plan better so maybe, just maybe things will be different? You think Lu Guang lacks self awareness and doesn’t know what this makes him? Of all things you can call LG, he’s not delusional. He knows the weight of his actions.

Link Click has and always will be a story about people. Where our emotions and choices take us. Lu Guang isn’t a robot so why would he be an exception?

Plus everyone should’ve been knew Lu Guang was sus anyway. Idk how that’s mischaracterization, there’s proof of him lying and keeping secrets from CXS in s1. It doesn’t ruin anything it recontextualizes what we were shown back then.

[dekusleftsock]

Don’t y’all love it when a popular tiktok creator is analyzing a character and interpreting it so, so wrong, and him and his dumb ass take is spreading.

Like it was one thing for you to be wrong

ITS ANOTHER THING FOR YOU TO BE WRONG AND MAKING OTHER PEOPLE MORE WRONG

If one more person says that Izuku is “underdeveloped” and that he’s “uninterested in all of his other relationships” and that he “has a power imbalance in his relationships with other characters bc they care more about him than he does them” STOP. PLEASE STOP.

A fundamental part of Izuku’s character: He is an UNRELIABLE NARRATOR. Most of his character is, therefore, told through SUBTEXT.

Izuku doesn’t say that he feels ashamed about his feelings for Katsuki.

But he does say that he thinks they’re gross.

Izuku doesn’t say that he thinks that Toga and her feelings aren’t human

But he does say that she is the “perfect counter to this quirk”.

THE LIST COULD GO ON.

Izuku is an unreliable narrator in a third person omniscient story (though sometimes mha acts more like a third person objective story? Anyway). That means that the way we do not understand the story is not through a retelling of what is happening to you, the viewer, unreliably—instead it is not telling you the full extent of his character and his thoughts.

To say “izuocha’s relationship is underdeveloped because it’s one sided” is NOT the same as saying “bkdk’s relationship is underdeveloped because it’s one sided”.

Izuku has always been obsessed with Katsuki. At some point the rhetoric being passed around was that it was Katsuki who was underdeveloped and uninterested in the dynamic. Now that rhetoric has been reversed since we’ve seen so much of Katsuki’s POV.

Ochako has always been obsessed with Izuku, NEVER THE OTHER WAY AROUND. In fact, Ochako’s arc even surrounded letting go of those feelings… as literally said in the text. Because that is a textual statement that she makes.

Izuku does not understand how or what Ochako loves in anybody, especially him. She loves a unique sense of personhood, which Izuku has always carried, and of which she saw in the entrance exam.

Izuku does not know how to view things he deems as “girly”, and Ochako very personally CANT be in a relationship with someone that she has realized is very repressed. Her friendships turn from friends to fascination very quickly, into her heroic form. (Think her few moments with Katsuki in that extra, or how disinterested she became of Izuku as she saw him run away from help, and not know how to respond to an apology. Or, hell, how much more interested she became when Himiko was honest with her feelings in their second real confrontation. She even says that she “admires how she can love so freely, and say it with her whole chest”)

LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS. THIS IS WHY IZUOCHA ISNT DEVELOPED. That’s a purposeful choice in genius writing, at least in my opinion.

Bkdk is a result of Izuku being uninterested in acknowledging said feelings, and this is shown to be different because of the amount of times he has had that imply a deeper emotion or thought that we are not told. Think black whip, controlling your heart solely surrounding katsuki, “my feelings are gross”, the ear piercing scream when katsuki was kidnapped and the “this was a total loss” line, relaxing into katsuki’s arms after the apology, only coming home because of Katsuki, comparing romantic feelings toga had for him and admiration to ALLMIGHT and not katsuki who was “actually in his life”, I COULD GO ON FOR HOURS.

This is absolutely NOT underdeveloped, this is called SHOW NOT TELL. Horikoshi is so purposeful in what he shows vs what he tells. He tells you that ochako and toga are the same, he tells you that katsuki is worried about Izuku, he tells you that katsuki is there to step in when deku can’t handle it on his own, he tells you that ochako has a crush on Izuku, and he tells you that Katsuki is Izuku’s “closest person”.

But he also SHOWS YOU SO MUCH MORE. Unreliable narration is such a key part of Izuku and his character. Izuku doesn’t understand Izuku as much as the audience doesn’t understand him. It’s why I genuinely think most interpretations of his character are wrong, because you really can’t take him at his word. It’s the same reason no one understood katsuki for the longest time, he was in the same circumstances of a character who is only showed to you, not told.

I know i named so many god damn references so if anyone is curious as to what specifically I’m talking about with what, I’ll gladly show what scene I’m referring to. Apparently I can’t remember a damn thing but this manga anyway.

[threestripeslider]

okay i got this comment on the new OMO chapter a while ago and i was positively GIDDY at the question since im such a fan of nifty worldbuilding!! idk yet if this will ever come up in the fic in detail so im just gonna smack it on here bc i have several ideas!!

How do Yokai and Mutants differentiate from eachother?

in my mind, i believe yokais have a way easier time when it comes to picking out mutants because there are several factors that they can use to their advantage;

1. Scent Mutants, especially when mixed with some sort of human DNA, tend to smell a lot more human than Yokais. obviously, it gets a little trickier when mutants don’t have any sort of human DNA, which brings us to;

2. Awareness Mutants with no human DNA tend to more animalistic and instinctual, not unlike the mythical creatures in the Hidden City – even if a yokai cant correctly dub them a mutant, they will write them off as a mythical creature, so it’s usually a simple 50/50 on them.

3. Social Behaviors the best and most obvious way to spot a mutant for a yokai is how they behave in a typical yokai social setting – obviously, having been previously human or similar, mutants tend to flounder a lot in their new environment, unfamiliar with specific customs or basic social etiquette in yokai culture. by no means are they malicious, but mutants are pretty clumsy at first, which makes them easy to spot in the crowd.

4. Non-Mystic this one’s a little more unreliable but can be a way to spot a mutant; in general, mutants typically have little to no mystic abilities. i believe most yokais have some sort of mystic ability to different degrees, but mutants do not. however, there can be outliers, such as the turtles, but their mystics is also a point of contention since it isnt really “yokai” mystics but more of a generational human mystics ability. however, it still gets categorized as mystics so they remain the outliers of this, which is why this route of detection isnt always 100% reliable.

on the flipside of it all, the poor mutants arent really that adept at differentiating who’s mutant and who’s not – i think only with time they start to take note of the little differences, but generally speaking it’s a little harder for them to immediately spot a fellow mutant.

Do only Yokai wear Cloaking Devices?

yes and no. generally, cloaking spells and devices are a lot more wide-spread within the yokai community than the mutants, only because it happens to be a yokai invention. that, and they can be rather expensive, depending where you get it from, who made it and the strength of the spell/device. that’s why it’s usually safe to assume 98% of the time the person wearing some mystic cloaking device is a yokai of some kind. mutants arent really aware such things exist until they’ve lived under the yokai for a while and hear about it. and while they arent super accessible, mutants can get their hands on them too if they wish to do so.

Do Yokai view Mutants differently?

that varies from person to person. generally speaking, mutants arent being discriminated against in the Hidden City, however some yokai can be rather distrustful at first since mutants used to be human, especially yokai who initially were born from human effects (eg. curses and other spirits). the non-human mutants tend to be just like their regular creatures so they’re usually seen as a mundane headache when they tip over some poor yokai’s trashcan again. many mutants tend to seek refuge in the Hidden City as they no longer believe they fit in with their human kin Topside, so a good chunk of the Hidden City’s population are mutants – its safe to assume that there are also mutant-yokai offspring popping up.

so yeah!! here are my worldbuilding ideas that i’ve been thinking about!! honestly i cant wait to write about the Hidden City in general bc i just LOVE the concept of it so much OAAAAA

[flfverse]

CTL chapter 13 was crazy!!! I'm curious, what made you decide on the limited/unreliable narrator situation we have with Katsuki? Like were you considering other povs or switching povs, or was this what you always had planned? It was a really good way of writing, I'm just curious if the process to get there was complicated. Also, do you have plans to backtrack and show other povs in the next chapter, or forge ahead and let the questions be answered in the future. Also also, do you have any plans to show what the media is thinking directly, or just through the lenses of the main characters? Because either way could be very interesting. I'm inherently nosy and am very curious what people thought of Deku's less than coherent interview, but I also really like the ways you filter information like that through the experiences of our very traumatise characters. Seriously this chapter was so good! Exactly the high stakes action I was craving after all the tension and recovery!!

ahh thanks! the ending scene (from roughly izuku talking to the reporter on) is one of the first things i wrote actually bc i was so excited about it. i did not expect it to take this long to get there and i’m happy i finally did!!

i kinda made the decision about katsuki’s pov on the fly—i knew i wanted the villain to somehow frame him, but it was only once i was writing the opening that i had an epiphany. i wanted to dart him as kind of a mirror to the first chapter with deku to bring it even more full circle, and then it was pretty clear i had to make him go feral.

from there, i thought about how i wrote shouto back in, what, chapter 3 maybe? and i just kicked that up a notch. i really really love writing/reading that kind of disjointed, weird, unreliable narration, so whenever i see the opportunity i like to lean into it. and i just love the trope of a character being so distracted they dont realize they’ve been hurt until, whoops, that leg doesn’t work. it’s so fun.

also, i really hate writing fight scenes, so the more vague i can make a battle, the better!

small tangent, that kind of writing like i did with katsuki is actually something i mostly picked up from bnha fic—i have a headcanon about todoroki and dissociation that i’ve written about once or twice, and i read a lot of dissociation fics for research purposes (and bc it’s just a good brand of angst). so it’s just kind of a thing i have in my back pocket now.

about future plans—i’m not aiming to have any other povs besides katsuki and izuku, but i do want to show some more news reports and twitter posts like i did in the beginning! as well as have other characters explain what happened a bit. i am also toying with the idea of combining chapter 14 & 15, since rn i’m afraid they’re both going to be small, so rather than delaying both to scrape together enough material i may just do one longer ending? i’ll have to see what happens.

[the-technicolor-whiscash]

I fucking called that it was some kind of fuel issue tho like usually when missions are scrubbed (from what I’ve seen) it’s almost always something to do with something related to the fuel tank and this scrub was due to a valve that’s supposed to keep pressure balanced that was fluttering so they cycled the valve and they’re going to see if they have to replace it

The history of the Atlas is interesting bc it was (as many rockets of the age were) originally created as an ICBM but saw very little use and thus was adopted into the space program (“we have all these slightly unreliable rockets, let’s just launch them into the air and see what happens!”) and was used to propel all of the Mercury orbital flights (the combo being dubbed Mercury-Atlas) and then again during Gemini being used to launch the Agena target vehicle (dubbed Atlas-Agena) and it was. Shall we say not the most reliable. Like for the human-rated Mercury-Atlas it worked like a charm but it frequently ran into issues during Gemini and throughout its history, some of the issues stemming from the fact the rocket’s walls were so thin that without being stabilized in some way or fueled, it would collapse under its own weight. The Atlas V, to be used to launch Starliner, also needs to be pressurized or stabilized to support its own weight. Great job, guys. Glad to see that hasn’t changed in 60 years.

Another fun fact about the history of the Atlas, WD-40 was actually invented to help stop the rocket from rusting and corroding. So it’s thanks to these shall we say shitty rockets that I was able to get my shower head off the other day so I could install a filter. Thanks, Atlas!

[amaltheatarot]

All sign reads quick to the point messages. If y’all want some clarity on these messages hmu and I’ll try my best to help you out! Thank you to everyone who has liked my posts I appreciate you all so much💜💜💜💜

Aries ♈️ : DEATH, KNIGHT OF WANDS REVERSED. You need to release some situation that you thought was gonna progress but hasn’t. They’re not worth it yes I’m talking about that air or fire sign on your mind. That’s all I’m gonna say bc that’s all you need to hear.

Taurus ♉️ : WORLD REVERSED, THREE OF WANDS REVERSED, definitely more delays and disappointments you may even be having discomfort within a friend group. There’s a cycle ready to be completed here but are you gonna complete it or keep holding on? Because I think you’re HOLDING ON TO SOME BULLSHIT

Gemini ♊️ : EIGHT OF PENTACLES, SIX OF PENTACLES REVERSED, okay first of all if you’re dealing with a person there’s no equal give and take within this relationship I’m sorry to be the bitch to tell you but it’s true bookie. The bright side is I see another person trynna come through with a stable foundation to grow a relationship or a possible family AYE FINALLY NOT SOMETHIN DEPRESSING!

Cancer ♋️ : EMPEROR, SEVEN OF CUPS, damn cancer you’ve been looking good as hell to some people I think you’re the new favorite flavor people are starting to notice. Maybe you should make some moves, be bold for a chnage! Try and stay as balanced as possible and use your intuition; it will tell you when to cut bitches off or keep them in your life.

Leo ♌️ : Okay Leo now why do you have the Lovers upright and the Two of cups reversed. Are these two different people? Maybe. You may have to make a decision about someone is what I’m getting but lemme clarify if this is one person or two different people. This is ONE PERSON WHAT? Okay I guess this person is indecisive I guess bc wtf. Idek what to think of this tbh I guess it could go either way?

Virgo ♍️ : SIX OF WANDS AND PAGE OF SWORDS REVERSED. Somebody is stalking you and maybe talkin some shit OOOOOP but the talkin shit is maybe talking about someone within a group of people maybe an outsider telling your person some lies about you. But with the six of wands I don’t think your person cares I see y’all as a power couple honestly, someone who matches your energy. If this hasn’t happened yet you’re about to feel some victory.

Libra ♎️ : THE CHARIOT AND ACE OF WANDS REVERSED. Contradicting ass bitch is what I smell in the air. Some bitch wants to race towards you but they stop themselves wtf??? I think they’re scared because you intimidate them Libra. But maybe this is you being hesitant towards a person. I say you should give them a chance and see what happens but ONE WRONG MOVE YOU CUT THAT BITCH OFF.

Scorpio ♏️ : QUEEN OF WANDS AND PAGE OF WANDS REVERSED. Okay this unreliable ass earth or fire sign can kiss my ass. This is a CHILD LITERALLY A CHILD and no one likes babysitting when it comes to love. I also feel like they make you feel unworthy which pisses me off bc you’re a QUEEN and they’re a PAGE. Make it make sense, you need to cut this bitch off asap.

Sagittarius ♐️ : EIGHT OF SWORDS UPRIGHT AND KNIGHT OF PENTACLES REVERSED, I think you’re feeling trapped as hell in a relationship. I think you’re scared to walk away maybe bc this person has scared you into submission. I honestly think you need to leave this person but before you do confront their ass and call them out on their bullshit. You deserve respect and the truth.

Capricorn ♑️ : FIVE OF CUPS UPRIGHT AND NINE OF CUPS REVERSED. I feel like you’re feeling a lot of grief and disappointment from a situation a wish that you really wanted to happen turned out to be someone that it’s not. I’m sorry Capricorn but I think you’ve been dealing with an arrogant ass bitch that doesn’t deserve your time. Allow yourself to grieve, there’s always hope remember this.

Aquarius ♒️ : KNIGHT OF WANDS REVERSED. THREE OF WANDS. Okay okay okay you’ve maybe met someone recently through a group of friends or you’re going to. MOVE YOUR ASS AND PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. I see some travels maybe coming up but let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Why do you doubt yourself? Just because there’s bumps in the road sometimes doesn’t mean that the road isn’t drivable. If you’re dealing with delays these are happening for a reason.

Pisces ♓️ : THE SUN REVERSED. FOUR IF SWORDS REVERSED. Sometimes it’s a hard thing to deal with when things are changing and shifting. I think you’ve been struggling with pessimism and confusion but it’s okay everything will happen when it needs to happen. I also see that you make someone restless, someone thinks about you hella at night. I think this person is a slow mover but I think they have alright intentions. I say give them a chance!

[vacantgodling]

on veronica:

i already know full well and ahead of time that people are gonna get up in arms about how veronica is treated and portrayed throughout darren’s story. so i’m just gonna address it now it bc i can and to no one in particular

this story is from darren’s point of view, of course it’s going to be biased: this should be a no brainer but the fun thing about first person perspective is that you can inject a LOT of bias from the pov character into the narrative. their story should always be taken as understanding that this is THEIR pov and bc they’re a person, it’s not always going to be accurate and it’s not always going to be kind to people who you think it should be nicer to. now, i wouldn’t go so far to say that darren is an unreliable narrator—he definitely tells things that happen as is with his own personal flair—however he is not removed from his biases. he doesn’t like veronica, so her actions get vitriol and higher scrutiny than other characters; he loves his father (dave) so even things that he does that are questionable are met with a level of understanding and sympathy even if he doesn’t agree with them. that’s what first person perspective is ALL ABOUT so like. you shouldn’t read any first person pov if you can’t handle that people are biased frfr.

veronica isn’t a good person tho fr: i already have the feeling a lot of people are going to put more focus on the fact that it’s not fair for veronica to be in a relationship where she’s not valued and put first, also it’s not wrong of her to expect HER MAN to want to marry her. so i’m gonna address a lot of that. bc firstly you’re definitely right to say it—even if she isn’t a great person to me/darren doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve respect in her relationship! her taking matters into her own hands and eventually leaving dave is totally within her right and i’m not gonna disparage her for that. actually i ENCOURAGE the fact that she does leave bc it’s better for both of them. however, that doesn’t mean i think she is a Saint in this entire situation. why? bc of her actions outside of dave specifically towards olice & darren which mainly boil down to (1) her white savior complex regarding olice’s mixed-ness (ie: never letting her meet her father or interact with her heritage bc she just “didn’t see the point of it”) (2) how she never liked or treated darren well bc she didn’t like the idea of dave having a child that wasn’t “hers”. this isn’t just a recent point of contention it’s been one since she entered darren and dave’s lives when he was 12; she never liked how dave doted on and cared about darren or how he always put him first bc. that’s his kid lmao. there was even an entire fight about darren not moving out immediately when he was 18 so. idk feel like darren has ample reason to dislike her

[batterygarden]

Sassy bf Denji...

(sfw relationship headcannons; gn afab reader)

I feel like Denji is sassy without meaning to be once you guys get close. 

He’ll be like oh my god are you okay what happened to your skin?? & you’re just wearing foundation that got a little patchy. 

Any candid life advice from Denji is not only unreliable as hell but also delivered harshly. Despite his best intentions! It’ll sound gentle in his head till he’s like “If a person with no balls tries to fight you just fucking run baby you are not taking them… zero coordination and ya wouldn’t even have somewhere to aim :/“ 

Will air ur business to everyone unless you specifically tell him not to. “Oh don’t worry they’ll be here! They’re trying out a Diva cup for the first time and it leaked all over while we were driving so they had ta turn around.” (He feels wise and mature saying this having just learned what a diva cup was that morning) 

If he has a small grievance with you that for whatever reason he doesn’t mention right away, he’ll just incorporate it into your next nickname. Like you leave the fan on one (1) time when no one’s home he’s like ahh there’s my lil electricity vulture 😍. One time you forgot to clean up after breakfast and Denji literally said “hey dirty dishy! What is up 😁” 

If you offer to take over his video game for him while he pees he’s like “hmm I dunno if.…uhhh…” He trails off then never gets up.

“Geez baby, I think you need a good night’s sleep tonight. Like at least eight hours dude…”

He doesn’t really care what you wear but prepare to receive the stink eye if u ever try out a new/different style bc Denji will be lost and confused. Babe what’s up with the fit 🤨? What do you mean, do you not like it :(? Uhhh im not sure if it’s good or not but I don’t get why you’d ever wear that in the first place. Will give honest fashion advice if you ask, too. it’s not always helpful but it’s certainly unfiltered. 

“Shorty.. the poems you write do not make sense…” 

Denji will occasionally give backhanded compliments 😔. “It’s kinda smart how ya hit the curb every time you park next to the sidewalk like that… Keeps you nice ‘n close!” “Thanks for correctin’ the waiter for me, it’s so cool that you aren’t scared to come off like an asshole.” “I like how you look all messy today!! (senses malice from your glare) Like. It’s hot, babe. I mean you look hot!” 

He learned of One food that you don’t care for and he’s had the unwavering assumption that you’re a picky eater ever since. “Guess who scored some chocolate chip cookies at work today! Wait… I wonder if you’d even like these 🤔” 

Usually always sassy by accident! but if you wake him up in the night he’s sassy on Purpose. Like if it’s for a good reason maybe less so but if it's just to show him a funny video he is whining and moaning and insulting your sense of humor in one breath before turning over and snoring again.

Link to a more sweet & wholesome Denji work

[don-quixotine]

PIGELLA CAN STEP ON ME ANY TIME OF THE WEEK.

OK BUT THE MIRACUCLASS WAS SO CUTE IN THIS

Mari goes like "who's dora? another one of your imaginary friends like in the 6th grade"

Rose explains Dora is the last name of the dr. that keeps up with her headaches

MARI PUNSSSS

"Send a kiss to mary from me... To the infirMARY"

Hawkmoth akumatizes Juleka basically on the same grounds that had Mari breaking down at the beginning of the seaason and I-

ADRIEN FLUSTERS A LIL BIT AND I--

Adrinette interaction before finding juleka

Mari apologizes for being a clutz and says that she's really worried about juleka and that's why she's all spacey

Adrien says that the things Mari says not always make sense, but they're never cruel, so he understands

The strategies Mari and Adrien use to handle crisis are SO different and SO interesting and I'm def gonna be ranting abt this.

So as you all can tell, Rose used to have a bad illness when she was younger and Juleka is scared that she might fall ill again. She doesn't want the others to treat her differently and so the miracuclass promises they'll keep their cool

Spoiler alert, THEY DON'T, lol

Adrien tells Juleka that he understands why she kept the secret but that it is not necessary to do it anymore because it's better to talk about these things instead of dealing with them alone (SUPER ROUGH TRANSLATION)

That's when mari says "That's what friends are for"

Also the miracuclass just having absolutely no chill ahahahaha THEY ARE SO CUTE THEY GIVE ME SO MUCH LIFEEEE

GUYS ROSE DOESN'T NEED THAT MANY APPLESSSS

Also the WAY Rose is literally MEANT to be a miraculous holder ahfakfhakjdagh

Rose says that Juleka shouldn't feel guilty, it's her fault she kept the secret. So she says she will clear everything out so that everyone stops treating her like she's made of glass

"I never told you because it's not the problems that matter, it's (how you overcome them). I always want to be that Rose, I want to be able to joke with you guys. I don't want you to worry about me because there's no one happier than me, alright?"

"See? I told you everything would be alright"

THE WAY ADRIEN IS TRYING TO KEEP EVERYONE UNDER CONTROL WHILE MARINETTE IS THE ONE INCITING EVERYONE AHAHAH

Mrs. Mendeleiev really said "I'm a science teacher, not a super hero" lol lady WHO HURT YOU.

Ivan: Everyone was captured because of me

Nino: I CAN'T HELP MY BEST FRIEND CONFRONT HIS FATHER

EXCUSE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Chat: Oh, Nino.... This is all our fault. If we had defeated Shadowmoth already they wouldn't be here.

LB: Oh no, this can't be happening

Chat: Cataclysm :))))

BOY R EALLY WAS GONNA KILL HIMSELFFF HELPPPP

Lb: You are right we couldn't defeat such a powerful akuma and sentimonster alone

Rose: This was all my fault, I shouldn't have told Juleka, I am a bad friend... No. I shouldn't think this way. It's good that I told her, they are my friends.

LB @ CN: Chat Noir think positive! You're the best partner anyone could have!

CN: You really think so?

LB: Yes! I know I don't always say it, but I could never do the things I do without you! Besides, it would be a lot less fun to be Ladybug without you!

CN: That's meowrvelus m'lady! I have to say you are also perfect, m'lady.

Rose has the power of joy/positivity

OF COURSE SHE DOES SHE IS THE BESTTTT

PIGELLA COULD STEP ON ME AND I'D CRY OF JOY

The power word is "Gift" and Juleka's biggest wish is to see everyone treat Rose normally

sgjkahgakj I AM CRY

IGHAG I NEED A FUCKING MOMENT OK

CN: Aren't you going to follow her to get the miraculous back, m'lady?

LB: She already did

CN: That girl is amazing!

LB: She didn't need a miraculous to be a heroine

Marinette: You're going to get your cushion for your birthday, you'll have to wait like everyone else. What? she's not made of glass.

Rose: Oh no, this is going to make me faint, can someone take me to the infirmary??

Chloe: Why does no one laugh when I complain?/when i insult (something like this)

Adrien: Because in your case, you always mean it

Chloe: true.

WE LOVE A SASSY KINGGG AOHFAHGAIHGIA @sugarcube-stinkysock @pegasus-anarchy @sketchy-panda @thesquipproject @inimoo @unreliable-trash @sparklylovegiverYOU ARE SERVED MY QUEENS

AND I AM AN IDIOT BC I POSTED THIS ON THE WRONG BLOG

[crossdressingdeath]

"Boys will be boys" logic is interesting since WWX himself basically uses that exact excuse in the book when he tells LWJ not to take JC's homophobic rant/assault seriously in the ancestral hall bc that's just how JC is, as if WWX himself wasn't furious when JC targeted LWJ in that scene. A lot of WWX's famed unreliable narration is rationalizing the crazy shit JC does but sometimes people tend to take it at face value.

Yes, exactly! That is such a huge thing. WWX spends so much time telling himself (and through himself the audience) that oh, it can’t be helped when JC mistreats him, JC is just like that, it’s totally fine, he doesn’t mind, and we see how that viewpoint was encouraged and strengthened by the people around him, especially JYL (sorry Shijie but it’s true). Hell, you could argue that this particular aspect of his character was entirely her doing, given YZY just thinks he should be subordinate to JC in all things and JFM mostly ignores JC’s behaviour; it’s just JYL going for the “oh boys will be boys, you’re strong and always smiling, you can take it” angle.

...Actually, let’s go into that a bit more because it very much gets buried under the “best sister” shit; I am prepared to argue that JYL consistently taking JC’s side did serious damage to WWX. Like, she was the only Jiang who consistently showed him affection and support and he convinced himself that it was unconditional! But the “unconditional” aspect was an illusion entirely based on his ability to consistently and convincingly pretend that JC wasn’t hurting him. WWX isn’t stupid, I don’t doubt for a second that he knew JYL would take JC’s side if it came down to it. She always takes JC’s side from day one. Literally; she hears WWX say he’ll take the blame for JC chasing him out of Lotus Pier and getting WWX’s leg broken while all JC did was come out looking for WWX personally (instead of doing the smart and more helpful thing and getting adults to help) because he was scared he’d get in trouble and he got a little scrape because he was running through the woods like an idiot because, again, he was too scared of getting in trouble to GET ACTUAL HELP THAT WASN’T A CHILD and she’s like “Yeah, that sounds reasonable and fair and not like a really, really bad precedent to set with a kid whose safety relies on my family liking him”. ...There’s also an aspect of “Sure, it can’t hurt to let the kid my mother very clearly hates take responsibility for something that he could be punished for by someone with a motive to take everything possible as a wrongdoing on WWX’s part”, but to be fair at this point she doesn’t know YZY will whip WWX for literally anything she can even slightly suggest is any sort of wrongdoing on WWX’s part. And let’s not pretend WWX wasn’t punished for JC getting hurt; come on, it’s YZY, she punishes him for sunbathing.

This is a running thing going forward in their dynamic, too! JC does something horrible, JYL immediately starts in on the “Oh, boys will be boys, A-Cheng might get upset if you call him out on his shit” shtick if WWX shows the slightest trace of dissatisfaction with being treated like garbage, WWX smiles and forgives JC for whatever he did without question, there’s a period of calm, the cycle repeats. JYL very much teaches WWX that he cannot EVER show any unhappiness with JC’s threats and insults. If he ever shows so much as a shred of anger or sadness or generally being upset at the way JC mistreats him JYL takes JC’s side. At most she’ll tell JC that maybe he should back off a little while basically telling WWX to grin and bear it because JC might be slightly upset if anyone ever calls him out on being horrible to literally everyone. And don’t even get me started on the whole “Oh you’re always smiling” bullshit, talk about teaching a mistreated orphan that he has literally no right to look sad about anything ever. Like, let me put it this way: WWX doesn’t even feel he can go to JYL about JC TRYING TO KILL HIM. That’s a lot? It’s a lot? And it never really gets discussed in any way? WWX doesn’t feel like he can tell his supposed sister who supposedly loves him unconditionally that her brother tried to murder him like three times and when the third time comes up JYL takes JC’s side because JC’s arm got broken in the process of the staged fight where JC stabbed WWX in the gut and that’s fine and healthy apparently. Stan WQ, the actual best sister (god I love WQ).

Anyway, now that I’m done enraging the fandom with my tangent about how much JYL sucks as a sister to WWX... Yeah, WWX insists that JC’s attitude can’t be helped because JC’s just like that even when he very clearly doesn’t buy that? He’s obviously pissed when JC goes after LWJ to the point of genuinely going after JC for it... but when they get away from JC he goes into the “Oh, he can’t help it, don’t get mad at him”. And in this particular case part of it is him panicking because JC’s homophobic ranting (and LWJ’s clear anger at it) left him questioning his and LWJ’s feelings and the mutuality thereof, but it also... really does throw every other time he insists JC’s behaviour is fine into question. Like, we know he’s not buying his own line in this scene! He was furious at JC! He’s still furious and upset! But he feels the need to cover for JC. Even after he’s realized that JC’s behaviour wasn’t okay, he still feels like he has to protect him from anyone else getting angry at him. WWX knows JC’s behaviour isn’t okay and that it’s not fair that JC treats him the way he does and I’d argue (especially at this point in the story) that he deserves better than JC’s treatment... but he still insists that JC is just like that and it’s fine.

That throws every single time WWX smiles through JC’s mistreatment into question, I’d say; we know he’ll react this way even when he knows that JC’s behaviour isn’t okay, so who’s to say he ever isn’t aware that JC’s behaviour isn’t okay? In CQL XZ does an excellent job of showing that at least in that continuity he is extremely done with JC’s shit even from when they’re fifteen; the novel is as far as I remember a little less clear, but it’s still pretty obvious that he’s not enjoying the way JC treats him. He knows that the way JC treats him is hurtful and upsetting and sometimes even frightening (think of the times JC threatens him with dogs and he’s clearly scared, which is a whole other thing because either he’s so scared of dogs that even the threat terrifies him or he has zero doubt that JC for sure would set dogs on him, which is a big thing either way and also I’m still not over how CQL JYL laughs when JC threatens WWX with dogs even though WWX is clearly scared and she totally would’ve laughed if that happened in the novel too but showing it so blatantly and then never actually getting into how messed up it is is just unnecessary), but he feels like he has to smile through it and cover for JC, just like when they were nine.

Anyway yeah, for a fandom so obsessed with WWX being an unreliable narrator the MDZS/CQL fandom sure does miss a lot of times where WWX is actually being unreliable, huh.

[sweetsmalldog]

Scott for the empires characters bc I've always felt like his fanon rep is very different than his canon rep,, so I wanna see ur opinions :]

Also, the Sausage and Jimmy dynamic specifically bc they're both unreliable narrators and both masterfully edited their videos to basically portray the same dynamic but flipped. Now, thats kinda gone out the window because Sausage is very much evil but that dynamic is still very interesting to watch as a viewer

Scott is so very chaotic but also recently incredibly stressed. He openly admitted that he enjoyed dipping into mortal politics to kinda start some fires then disappear and eat popcorn in the background as it all goes wild. But he also values his allies. He wants peace for himself and doesn’t care what happens to those he isn’t allied with. Rivendell is Fantasy Switzerland. Scott’s chaotic but measured and has a major tendency to ignore his problems. But also he’s done nothing wrong, I am a Smajor apologist

At their cores both Jimmy and Sausage are both to prideful to back down or admit when they’re wrong. The Wall War exemplifies that. Jimmy got mad that Sausage was building a wall and now they’re intentionally building higher and higher because. Sausage has always had more power and better political skills then Jimmy. During the first war he allied or made sure that every empire near he and Jimmy would stay neutral, that’s literally why he allied with Kathrine. Jimmy is all talk, Sausage is mostly talk but he can back up his threats.

[interlagosed]

So, instead of doing work today I read Revolucion! I have no regrets haha. I absolutely loved it! I’ve said before how AUs werent my thing, but god damn you’ve changed my mind! First HGIFTBN and now this! I will never be able to understand how you created this world, everything is so fleshed out and it all seems so real! You’re talent for writing is mind blowing. As always your characterisation of Carlos and Lando was amazing! I loved everything about the way you wrote them and how the relationship went. I loved reading it all through Lando’s perspective too, seeing everything through his eyes was so good. I adored his friendship with Alex and George. I have to say, I especially loved George’s bits, he honestly made me laugh so much. And omg the break up bits actually made me sooo sad. My heart actually broke. I was thinking to myself, everything is going so perfectly, they’re so happy and then bam. Heartbreak. Loved their reunion as well. You did such a great job, can’t express that enough! Can’t wait to scroll through the Revolucion tag now!

this is literally my favorite kind of comment, when people say they don't like aus but like my aus. I'm so SO happy you have revolucion a chance, it means sooo so much to me. lando is such an utterly unreliable narrator, he's so much fun to explore romance through, especially because he shuts his eyes to everything. it's what makes the end of chapter 5 so confusing bc you as a reader are like ? what is HAPPENING what is GOING ON but lando is literally having a panic attack himself he literally can't process what's happening and it makes it even worse to read (i was crying writing that scene) because you want to understand but you CAN'T.

thank you so so so much <3 i hope you enjoy the snippets! i'm always happy to get revolucion-related prompts so you're welcome to send those if you're interested in more from this universe!

[janiedean]

ooh so linked to the Brienne ask re: the kingsguard part. What are your thoughts on Aerys’ kingsguard, especially like Arthur Dayne who Jaime from what I remember has complicated feelings for but pretty much idolises him. And they’re so loved by almost everyone in universe!!! Like idk how to think about them really my feelings for them are also complicated

+ okay good because I honestly don’t see why people love them so much like most of the things we’ve heard about them are like. Objectively bad. And like yeah the idea of them is cool but well that can only go so far. also I’m sorry if these asks are a mess I’m exhausted!! ALSO I think you’re amazing for answering all of us anons with such detail I always love coming on to your blog

(putting both asks in the same place uu)

in order: the fact that they're loved by everyone in-universe and fandom actually likes them (or at least arthur dayne hahahahaha god) is like... some of george's best trolling because guess what the entire point is that they're supposed to look like amazing people/the real deal when instead they're all terrible the end - except again for the poor martell prince whom we don't know enough about and I'll give him a pass bc martell people are usually not stupid af but in order:

as I said george has made a point of stating that knighthood is a rotten institution and the kg especially aerys being like... what should be the highest honor for a knight is equally as rotten as knigthood in general and is made of people who do Not Deserve The Title - I mean again hey it's orders so marital rape is fine, hey we're leaving the 15yo to man an entire castle? WHY NOT, the king is mad? WELL WE SWORE TO SERVE HIM, like not counting martell prince there isn't one single person in the aerys kg except jaime who actually upheld the oaths they swore ie protecting the innocent so make of that what you will

the fact that jaime aka the fifteen year old is literally the only one who gets the job and then goes there like 'hey we're basically covering for marital rape what the fuck' and no one else bats an eyelid should already say everything there is to say about these people's moral standard

the fact that none of them actually stuck up for the fifteen-year old who was obviously not ready for the job nor tried to idk do anything to make it easier on him or whatever also says everything about their moral standard because honestly fuck you

the fact that everyone thinks they're amazing jaime included when they're all pretty much shitty is like... well, same as fandom does, which means that the readers bought what people in-narrative do... except that the moment you scratch the surface it's really damned bad

and I'm saying barristan is on thin ice because from his chapters you can see he's like... not a bad dude but like his reaction to jaime being in there still when he saw aerys is 'ah that fucker who killed the king and was so proud he had to try and get into it at fifteen'? like??? fuck you?? honestly the fact that all of them literally served a dude who put people on fire and was a menace/danger to the realm and then have the gall to think that jaime is the worst or who didn't like try to help him or anything while he was obv struggling with his vows and the fact that he was serving a madman says all about their moral standards, again

and honestly arthur dayne is the literal worst of all of them because like - first of all oh you knight the 15yo who goes along with you slaying bandits and you don't try to dissuade him from joining the kg? what the fucking fuck am I supposed to think - second of all you don't even warn him of what is expecting him when he joins when you've been there for a while? - but third of all which drives me insane and I hate that fandom sleeps on it and goes around happily like ARTHUR/LYANNA THE SHIP OF DREAMS... okay listen like I have literally zero investment in lyanna as a character or in r + l and I don't necessarily think he did everything - I think they had a mutual infatuation and eloped and she sorely regretted it and then it was on r. who shouldn't have like acted on it because he happened to be the 20+ year old with a wife and kids, but there's the whole tower of joy situation - in which sorry but we have arthur fucking off KL with other kg people and leaving all the others in the literal shit bc they'd have to deal with aerys and it'd be less of them than they should be, to go with rhaegar to the tower of joy to help him elope which whatever, and then lyanna was left there after r. had to go back... when her brother and father were burned alive and like if she knew that then I doubt she'd have wanted to stay and if she didn't then they withheld fairly important fucking information, so like he stayed there guarding a pregnant 15-16 yo who most likely did not want to be there and who is pregnant by his best friend whose family oh accidentally murdered half of hers........ and lyanna was there even after rhaegar died so I mean it's not like the moment he happened this dude goes and says 'hey maybe we should actually go back and see if we can solve this mess' no he kept her prisoner there anyway - on top of that... here I'm wildly speculating but: he had to know rhaegar was dead and when ned showed up if we are to believe him and idt he was unreliable on that... ned didn't want to fight him or kill him he just wanted to get his sister and leave and like he was most likely in love with ashara aka arthur's sister so why the fuck would he want to kill him right, and like rhaegar's dead and arthur has nothing to lose by letting ned up especially knowing that lyanna is fucking dying in childbirth like she's dying her brother's there just let him up and solve it later esp when the dude doesn't want to kill you....... but no ned had to kill him because he wouldn't budge and why the fucking fuck wouldn't you budge at that point? your side lost the war, the guy you were friends with that you did all of this for is dead, the girl is about to die at least let her die with her family, why? - only thing I can deduce from it: that rhaegar told him that the baby's survival was the most important thing because third head of the dragon blah blah blah and that if the war was lost to just grab the baby and lyanna if she survived and fuck off to essos until he grew up, except that lyanna didn't survive so the conclusion is that he tried to stop ned from going up there bc he'd have found out about the baby and tried to stop them and at that point who gives a fuck if lyanna died or not but he'd have liked... let her die and kill ned in the process and done that most likely, and sorry but when they knightly vows are, I would like to remind everyone, In the name of the Warrior I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent. In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women…. like... what, what exactly has this dude done that would qualify as that? because lyanna would be young and innocent and a woman and he basically is letting her die, that behavior does not qualify as bravery and he'd like... deny the kid a chance of growing up with his family period if he killed ned and he didn't seem to particularly give a fuck las we checked, and that's like not counting the whole 'oh I won't tell the 15yo who idolizes me that he's signing

his life away to trauma nor I will support him for shit when he does' part of it, but the tower of joy stuff is shady whichever way you look at it and honestly the more time passes the more I'm convinced this guy is just a complete pos and the worst of them all except gregor when it comes to like 'people thinking you're a good knight and you're actually a pos instead' and I'm dying on that hill until george proves me wrong

and on that the thing is that... I ranted about it once here but basically jaime idolizes the shit out of him because he never saw that even if his subconscious kinda knows because when he had the weirwood dream his greatest fear was confronting the former kg and everyone was accusing him of stuff he couldn't have physically prevented (more ranting on the weirwood dream here) and he's there like 'ah I wanted to be arthur dayne but I became the smiling knight instead' but like... actually he is more of a true knight than arthur dayne can ever hope to be? because like in the above meta I was talking specifically about how to pia he's like... better than arthur dayne, but like not to be that person but jaime who thinks he's the gregor clegane of his time and not arthur dayne, while arthur dayne was... doing the shady toj thing with lyanna - saved an entire city from aerys blowing it up - risked his neck for brienne even if he didn't even like her as in he got himself kicked in a healing stump when he couldn't even stand up for himself so she wouldn't be raped - risked his neck going back for her at harrenhal and jumped into the bear pit without even knowing how he'd manage it - was actually being a decent person to tommen until c. forced him to leave - the moment he saw what happened with pia he gave her her rapist's head when she's like a commoner no one gaf about and took her into her service - when his squire wanted to bed her he like told him to be kind to her jfc - is per tyrion the only relative who actually loved him/freed him/actually stuck up for him (and tysha is on tywin thank you all very much and jaime feels so great about it he doesn't think about it until he can't anymore) (also he was the one chasing the bandits away in the first place so he was probably there like oH I HELPED A MAIDEN too lmao god fuck tywin) - actually stuck for his cat vow bc he took riverrun without bloodshed - sent brienne after sansa with the magic amazing sword because he wanted to upheld their shared vow to cat going against his own family - the moment brienne shows up like hey wanna blow this joint and leave the army you don't wanna lead to find sansa he didn't even like blink before saying yes and I'm supposed to think that in between him and arthur dayne he isn't the only one who actually stuck to his vows as well as he could/knows anything about them/is actually a trueknight™? because lmao the fact that jaime doesn't fancy himself one because of aerys when everyone fancies arthur dayne one when the latter did absolutely fucking nothing beyond slaying bandits to put his money where his mouth was while jaime didn't even like brand himself like that and still did all of that and half of it was acting on instinct not even like doing the math before and *he* was the one wanting to be knighted at fifteen and took his vows seriously when oh wait knightly vows are basically the epitome of selflessness is like again grrm trolling the hell out of everyone characters included but it's clear from the narrative imvho and I can't wait for the moment he serves the just desserts and a) jaime realizes it b) everyone else in-narrative realizes it c) bran timetravels to the fucking toj and we find out what actually went down there and this saint arthur narrative is burned to the ground because honestly no

there, I think I spat out almost all of my venom XD

[iamanartichoke]

[please blacklist spoiler tags: #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, #loki spoilers]

Yes, I did just watch episode 2 at 5:30 in the morning.

No, I am not sorry. Not at the moment, although when I inevitably crash later this afternoon, I will be.

Just some very, very quick - and scattered and messy - thoughts: That is a straight up lie; they’re definitely scattered and messy but not very quick at all.

Under the cut for spoilers and length.

I’m going to start with Loki’s characterization. My honest opinion is that Loki’s overall characterization feels like a fic characterization. He definitely is not Avengers Loki, like, at all. I don't know if Tom just, like, forgot how to play that Loki or ...?? That, or Loki was so much more mind-controlled than we realized and getting hulk-smashed just completely reset him back to zero but also fucked him up a little bit and affected his personality, kind of like how some people completely develop weird new personality quirks after a traumatic brain injury.

… yeah, I think that’s where I’m gonna land for now. TV series!Loki feels like a more-or-less canon version of Loki, but if that Loki got hit in the head really hard and now he’s just a little bit fucked up but overall no worse for the wear. Which - it may be that it’s so early in the morning, but that’s actually really fucking funny to me, lmao. God, I kill me. It’s not funny.

No, but, that’s pretty much how I feel. He’s ooc but he’s also ic, and the reason I’m not particularly bothered by the inconsistency, for lack of a better word, is because that’s what pretty much every fic Loki already feels like to me? (Including my own, so I’m not, like, saying that in a derogatory way.) Which is why I say Loki feels like a fic!Loki and to try to explain it better - there is always, for me, a little suspension of disbelief that I employ when I read fic. The reason for that is because the context, the plot, and the dynamics of the fic are usually pretty different than what we ever get in canon, so it becomes a matter of taking film!Loki and, like, bending him a bit in order to fit him into the perimeters of the fic.

The result ends up being that I don’t see the exact Avengers!Loki or TDW!Loki, and thus by definition the portrayal is ooc, but the version that I do see feels like a genuine extension of the canon version, possessing enough of Loki’s overall traits and characteristics that he feels authentic, albeit a bit pretzeled for the new context.

I honestly think that’s something that’s unavoidable, just due to the fact that in fic - and now, in this series - there are a lot more variables at play than there are in the films, wherein Loki is not just a supporting character but also the villain/antagonist and is therefore very limited in what he does/what the narrative allows him to do. When those limitations are taken away, what are we going to see? Probably a lot of different things, and yeah, a lot of them are going to feel a little ooc. And, like in fic, even if the characterization mostly lands, there are definitely bits and pieces (some fics more than others lean this way) where the author didn’t stick the landing or got carried away or otherwise probably forgot for a while that they were writing Loki, not their own OC.

That’s the point where it strays into cringe territory for me (and where the ‘heh, he’s Loki but with a brain injury’ aspect comes in), but while I had to consciously decide to just ignore those moments, overall the tone in this episode felt a bit more balanced between the new, the old, and the cringe, and less whiplash-y from the beginning of the episode to the end.

… I have no idea if that makes sense, but what I’m basically saying is that while I am enjoying this version of Loki, I do recognize all of the ways he’s ooc but, unlike how I feel about Ragnarok!Loki, the ooc-ness feels genuine and unavoidable rather than just a fundamental and careless misunderstanding of the character altogether. In other words, I feel like any ooc-ness here is happening despite the writers taking care to do their best, and isn’t just a result of Loki being lazily written by a person or persons who just doesn’t want to bother with him at all.

Again, I don’t know if that makes sense, but fuck it, there we are and I’m moving on.

I liked all of the little details, including again, things that felt straight out of fic, like Loki asking Mobius why he has the jetski magazine. (Also, if any of my thorki friends read this, was I the only one who noticed that when we see Loki reading the magazine, it just happens to be open to a page with a picture featuring a jet skier who looks like Thor? l.m.a.o.)

Loki interrupting things to explain the difference between illusions vs the other power (I can’t remember which one, off hand, and if I stop writing to go look it up I will lose my train of thought and not finish this) was great, but his overall input and contributions to the missions inspired very mixed feelings for me. On the one hand, I loved that the narrative, via Loki, is reminding us of all these things that he’s capable of that the films generally left out or brushed aside or ignored - but, every time he spoke, he was met with eye rolls and sighs and just a general feeling of “someone please shut this guy up” and I didn’t like the narrative treating him that way.

But also, it’s understandable bc none of the people on his team are actually on his team. None of them want him there (story of Loki’s fucking life), none of them trust him, and none of them are particularly interested in hearing what he has to say. So it’s like, I understand why they reacted the way they did, and I don’t think their reactions are meant to support an overall narrative undermining of Loki’s skills and input - but, the tone is hard to read for me bc I am very defensive and protective of Loki. I can’t quite determine the line between the TVA agents being unreliable narrators (ie, they’re annoyed by Loki bc of who he is to them, but that doesn’t mean the audience is supposed to feel the same) and the TVA agents validating that Loki is just being a nuisance (and, thus, the audience is supposed to feel the same).

That is, I know how I am consuming the narrative (that they’re unreliable narrators), but I’m not sure if that’s how tptb are intending for me to consume the narrative - and I guess it doesn’t really matter, but it’s worth mentioning.

In general, I really liked, again, Loki existing in his own space and watching the way he carried himself. I especially found it interesting that his hands were almost always in his pockets - for one thing it's a stance I tend to imagine him taking often in fic, but also it’s kind of a weird choice bc pockets don’t seem to be a thing in Asgardian clothing. It makes me feel like Loki is the kind of person who never knows what to do with his hands but is always conscious of them, as is common among anxious and self-conscious people, and I just find that relatable on a weird level.

I am really kinda torn on Mobius in this episode; when not interrogating Loki, he’s much less antagonistic toward Loki and therefore I’m more inclined to take-him-or-leave-him but I’ll go ahead and take him I guess. Yet at the same time, bc he’s not interrogating Loki he’s also not trying to put on a show for Loki and when you take that away, he really doesn’t seem to like Loki at all. It supports that Mobius only wants what Loki can do for him and doesn’t actually particularly care about him as a person, which is fine and more or less what I figured, but it contributes to me not really being able to decide how I feel about him in general. Idk, though, I kinda like their dynamic? Like I want them to end up friends?

Regardless, Tom and Owen have amazing chemistry and it’s really funny to me bc (not to be a jerk) I honestly didn’t know Owen Wilson could act. Like, I’ve never seen him in a role where he wasn’t just playing Owen Wilson. So for him to not only be playing Mobius so well but also having such chemistry and a sense of holding-his-own against Tom Hiddleston is like, color me surprised but pleasantly so.

I like B-15 a lot, even though she obviously hates Loki, so idk why I like her but I do. I like Renslayer less, but meh. (Side note - when I was in undergrad in Syracuse, I took the Amtrak from Syracuse to Boston and back more than a few times, for reasons that aren’t relevant, and that route always had a layover at Albany-Rensselaer and every single time I see Renslayer’s name, I want to call her Rensselaer instead.) Shout out to the guest appearance by Casey, sorry Loki stole your juice lmfao.

The moments from the trailer that were very cringe were less so in context (though still kinda cringe, tbh). I think we’ve seen most of the content from the trailers in the first two episodes now, though, which means going forward, it’s going to be like 95% previously unseen material (aside from the brief apocalyptic shots and so forth).

One thing I fucking loved was how Loki, reading about Ragnarok, was visibly affected and even teared up a bit, and you could tell he was in his feels about it, but then later when Mobius expresses sympathy, Loki is just like, “Uh huh, very sad, but anyway.” It was a subtle (well maybe not that subtle) but effective way to remind us that what Loki presents to other people is more often than not a mask and he keeps his true feelings close to the chest. It makes last week’s breakdown have even more of an impact, I think, bc clearly Loki was at the end of his rope to allow himself to show that much raw emotion and vulnerability, but also - for me - there’s a niggling little doubt there that wasn’t there before, in that there was probably more performance in it than I thought.

By which I mean, I think his reaction to the film of his life when he was alone was genuine but, while I previously thought his admission to Mobius later was also genuine, I now think was probably half genuine and half performative. I know others already figured that out, but I’m a little slow and, also, I don’t mind changing my opinion and interpretation from week to week.

Along the same lines, I wasn’t exactly surprised to see that Loki is “undercover” in the TVA, but it was nice to see it acknowledged fairly quickly. Not sure I buy that Loki wants to overthrow and rule the TVA - it’s still a little too “Loki only wants a throne” for me, but again, just because that’s what he told the variant doesn’t mean that’s actually what he’s after.

And, finally, I like the variant, I love Loki’s reaction to seeing her, and while I realize that the show has acknowledged Loki’s gender fluidity and we’re meant to assume that Lady Loki (I guess? Not sure if we’re going with that or not here) is Loki, I saw a theory somewhere about how this is actually not Loki-Loki, but - I wanna say her name Sophie but that’s the actress, again I can’t go look it up bc I will lose my train of thought - but it’s a character who is similar to Amora and who was created by Loki and models herself as Loki but she’s actually someone else.

Ugh I can’t remember the details of the theory, but I am kinda going with it bc I don’t think that Loki would look so - not surprised but just kind of “oh, well, I wasn’t expecting that” if he were seeing the female version of himself. Like, he doesn’t seem to recognize her the way I assume he would recognize himself, male or female. Not only does that make me feel like she’s actually someone else, but also not recognizing her as the female version of himself doesn’t necessarily mean Loki doesn’t recognize her at all. He may very well recognize her as this other Amora-similar character and, if so, I really want to see how that character fits with MCU Loki (as I think she’s a comic book character but, again, I’d have to go back and find that theory).

Edit: I found a version of it here.

Overall score, B-. Mostly solid, but needs moar Loki breakdowns and tears. (That's just me, don't fucking judge me.) Also, I really hate that we have to wait a week between episodes. I wish they were following Netflix’s method of dropping the entire season at once but, then again, if they did that, I’m not sure any of us would survive.

I gotta get ready for work and I deleted and rewrote so much of this and it still seems nonsensical to me, lmfao fml. Anyway feel free to interact/send me asks/whatever, it’s going to be a long fucking day with all of this on my mind. I’ll be working my way through my dash as best as I can.

Oh, also! Loki is so fucking pretty in this episode! The TVA suit is ugly, but he makes it work, and his hair's combed nicely and he looks like he finally got an opportunity to sleep and shower and eat something and, yknow, it's working for him.

[jostenneil]

i know u don’t ship them but talina?

ok this is so funny bc a month ago i was like idk why these two would ever get along :/ and now i'm like the parallels. . . the contrasts. . . the unique experience of being a girl bruce feels compelled to save but bc of his unreliability they always end up saving themselves. . . there's so much potential there dc isn't using omg but ANYWAY

doesn’t listen to music. ever. / thankfully they're both cultured women who realize music is good for the soul and tag team to get bruce into impromptu dance parties held in his living room while they all get drunk on wine and eat those crackers with rich people cheese while laughing like idiots

has never had a pomegranate / selina asks talia if it counts if she's had pomegranate juice bought from the grocery store

is a tax evader / SELINAAAAA. she'll drop dead before she gives money to a government that doesn't give a damn about people like her and talia's story about how she fucked over lex completely in part due to some cleverly crafted tax evasions makes selina smile

is against legalizing marijuana / neither bless their hearts

gets computer viruses the most / these are smart women they know better than to indulge in the internet to the degree that something like this would actually happen and when bruce complains about damian learning to hack the batcave computers from his conversations with dick the two of them cackle

fell for an email scam and lost a lot of money / neither see above

hooked up with someone in a gas station bathroom / selina absolutely but she robbed the guy when it was over bc he was a dick and talia can't help but smile at the tale

has a peanut allergy / neither

has an account on reddit / neither that's stuff for babies

is sexist / neither

knows how cryptocurrency works / talia she's gotta know all about it if she's going to have any chance at destroying it after all!

seasons their food exclusively with salt and pepper / selina can deal with eating bland food like she doesn't care care but if she's not short on time or having an existential crisis she'll head over to the grocery store and make something fancy for herself so like. this is selina but not always

doesn’t remove the lint in the dryer before turning it on / neither

is a cheater / i mean we know both women know how to cheat the games they play and frankly i respect them for it! they know you have to get your hands dirty sometimes to reach the cleaner end goal and that's totally something i could see them acknowledging each other over