#but in the most recent episode he does in fact go ‘i can simply tell this assassin priest will not kill me. bc of his vibes ­:)’

[mumblesplash]

[trigun stampede episode 1] why the hell is that guy named Millions Knives?????

[trigun stampede episode 3] oh i see

[tinkerleaf]

Once Again

Hi guys! :) This wasn't exactly how I meant for it to turn out, but I don't hate it. In my head it makes sense. Synopsis: chuuya sees reader for the first time since they left the mafia. gn reader Genre: a lil bit of angst Words: 720 Pairing: chuuya/reader Warnings: emotions, some violence/toxicity? not well-proofread

✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

In the Port Mafia, documents do not lie. If they have something on file, it must be absolute. This is what concerns Chuuya the most when he sees your name come up in recent files. You’re titled under the Armed Detective Agency, and he can’t help but groan.

It had been about a year since you disappeared without a trace, and Chuuya knew that Dazai had to have something to do with it. Instead of dwelling on the thought, he simply pushed it into the back of his mind, only for it to return in the dead of night. He doesn’t always think about you, but he definitely does. And when he does, he has to do something to distract himself from the fact that you are gone from existence.

When he picks up your file, he almost throws it out. He doesn’t want to go through another episode where he frantically searches for you again, as it’s bad for his image. However, he wants the closure of knowing that you’re at least alive. Opening the folder, he winces at your photo. He's thankful he's alone in his office where no one can see him be so vulnerable.

Dazai was still nowhere to be seen, and he was fine with that. He wanted nothing more than to rip him to shreds for everything he’d done. Everything had changed due to his absence.

Your status was labeled as “alive”. He stares at the lines for a few minutes before letting go of the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

Knowing you were safe slightly relieves him, but the fact that you joined the enemy pisses him off. What business could you possibly have with them? He knew it wasn’t because they were somehow better or stronger. But just like the other pesky thoughts that haunt him, he pushes them away.

-

Three years later, your file comes up again. This time, however, with Dazai’s. The reason is that Kyouka captured both of you, even though Dazai was the main target. However, having both traitors couldn’t hurt.

He hated using that term for you, but that’s what you were.

When he passes Akutagawa in the corridor, they have a brief conversation about the situation. “Did they say anything useful?” Chuuya asks the man.

“Of course not. They’re just as infuriating as they were before.” He walks away, his steps echoing through the hall.

He knew what he was walking into, but that doesn’t change how he feels when you make eye contact with him. Dazai gives his usual sly grin that annoys him to no end.

“So this is where you’ve been all this time?” Chuuya scoffed.

You really don't know how to approach this scenario. You can cut the tension with a butter knife. You don't want to answer him. Dazai decides it's a good time to provide some input, which the redhead simply ignores.

A glass shatters against the wall beside you. It doesn't hit you, but it's enough to get his point across. “Don’t ignore me like you had nothing to do with me!”

You swallowed hard. He crept towards you like a snake. Dazai glanced over at you to see if you had been hit. “Come on, Chuuya, go easy on-.”

“I’ll get to you when I’m done,” he growled at him. He grabbed you by the face and forced you to look him in the eyes. “I hate you.” He lies. It's the biggest lie he’s ever told. But in a way, there is some truth behind it. He hates the way you possess his mind. He hates how you had enraptured him all those years ago just to drag him down to hell when you left. He hates you for letting his guard down, something he vowed to never do again.

The look in your eye and the single tear that slipped through it seemed to tell him everything you needed him to know. He let go of you and sighed.

In the end, you can’t change the past. You can’t change your mission or motives. Whatever caused you to leave him wasn’t his business, and he knew that. He couldn’t forgive you, not yet. But now that he has you within his grasp, he won’t let you go again. Not that easily.

[lightaflametoburnmethrough]

Suddenly dropping in with another lengthy post because I want to ramble about something before the year ends and it just so happens that I finished My Happy Marriage (私の幸せな結婚) recently which was so ✨GOOD✨

✨GOOD✨ as in the romance is actually well-written. It doesn’t just portray a couple in a way that revives your belief in love, it also gives respect to the characters within that relationship, too.

This is what advanced romance looks like, imo.

Not about the chase, not about the fluff, not about the angst, not about idealizations beyond our reach (although there are plenty of moments of those)…

It’s simply about a couple doing their best to navigate through a life they’ve chosen to spend together.

So warning for spoilers cuz no cut.

That’s right, no cut because it’s almost 2025 and we all have to raise and lock this in as an example to follow (cuz most people’s standards have been absolutely abysmal of late) 😤

The premise isn’t anything extraordinary. It’s very much like any Cinderella tale you’ve ever heard of where the heroine suffered abuse throughout her life at the hands of her toxic family. Then she meets Prince Charming, things change for the better, happily ever after happens, we pack up and go home.

Except it’s not quite like that for Miyo. Our heroine does not enter her engagement in a sparkling kimono with her beauty and virtue ready to dazzle her fiancé into falling head over heels in love with her. No, she comes into another house with the air of someone who has already been thoroughly defeated. So deeply broken by all the trauma she experienced growing up, Miyo has no hope for happiness despite the fact that she’s no longer living under the same roof as those who used to torment her every single day.

She is resigned to the thought that she can be disposed of at any time, even by her new husband-to-be, because she doesn’t have the bearing that a daughter of a reputable clan should have. Nor does she possess any Gift that noble families are looking for in a bride for the sake of continuing their bloodline (there is a supernatural element but it’s a narrative-supporting aspect, not the main focus).

Miyo has nothing but her old raggedy clothes, skills she acquired as a servant at her old home and mental scars that were never given the chance to heal.

She is no princess, no Cinderella or Ella. She is a pitiful pile of cinders, a poor young woman with nobody to rely on in this world.

And Kudou Kiyoka, her fiancé, is no Prince Charming either despite certainly having the looks of one.

Even for a military officer, he’s gained a reputation for being very strict, cold and harsh outside his job. However, before meeting Miyo, all his previous fiancées were only in it for the wealth and status attached to his family name so it’s no surprise why he’s so distrustful of Miyo at first.

But once he realizes that she’s not there to “poison” him, he quickly backpedals his initial behavior towards her. What’s remarkable is that he apologizes the very same day for his callous attitude rather than taking a long period of time to admit he was wrong because of some stupid pride.

And if that already tells you a lot about what kind of character he is, then what he does next for the remaining episodes will floor you.

Kiyoka soon deduces that there must be a reason why Miyo acts the way she does, why she has such crippling low self-esteem. He investigates her background and discovers how the Saimori family had been treating her this entire time ever since the death of her birth mother, causing him to feel anger on Miyo’s behalf. But he wisely chooses to keep that information to himself because he understands how much Miyo has been hurt already and doesn’t want to add more to her pain by revisiting her past.

He doesn’t force a confrontation from her. Instead, he does his best to help Miyo put distance away from anything related to her maiden clan. He buys her new clothes and accessories befitting of a person of her status, takes her out on dates when he has days off, tells her that she doesn’t have to constantly apologize for everything and encourages her to smile more.

Meanwhile, he confronts the Saimori family himself so that Miyo never has to. He lambasts her parents for their horrible abuse of Miyo and essentially cuts them off for it.

“You threw your own daughter away like trash, what right do you have to get any benefits from this marriage?”

Kiyoka wants everyone to know that Miyo is his fiancée now, that she is part of his family and he will do whatever it takes to protect her. Something her own blood relations should’ve done but failed to do.

But he also doesn’t leave without allowing room for possible amends. He demands that the Saimori family apologize to Miyo but he doesn’t use his powers or superior position to intimidate them into giving one because it would be meaningless if it wasn’t sincere.

All his words and actions are full of emotion for his fiancée but at the same time, they’re carefully thought out for what’s best for her sake as well.

Kiyoka wants justice for Miyo…but more than that, he wants her to heal and receive the happiness she deserves so he would never subject her to anything that could undermine that.

The way Kiyoka treats Miyo with such gentleness and understanding, gives great attention to her needs, doesn’t judge her for her circumstances and goes to many lengths to make sure she’s always in a safe environment, repeatedly reassuring her that she doesn’t have to be afraid anymore…

It fills my heart with…I want to say joy but I don’t think that word is enough to describe it.

I think there’s also an immense sense of relief and satisifaction mixed in as well. Because wow, FINALLY. An author who doesn’t only know how to write a good couple as a couple (and not a ship) but also knows how to properly address the topics of trauma and depression and not just mess with it before blowing it up for drama.

It shows through Kiyoka’s character and it’s exactly what makes him an effective love interest.

After all, when Miyo was thrust into this engagement, she was in no state to be a proper wife because the one who needed help and support was her.

And Kiyoka answered to that. He has a solid head on his shoulders, can balance his work and his home life and doesn’t dismiss feelings but doesn’t let them control him either. He is a person who is capable, who can be trusted to carry both their weights when his partner doesn’t have the strength to stand on her own.

“I know you’ve been through a lot but it’s okay now. I will take care of you so don’t hesitate to rely on me.”

And thanks to all his efforts, Miyo was able to become strong enough to escape the cage storehouse where her old, weak self was mentally trapped in.

Yea, her emotional scars will never fade because for a survivor, it’s impossible to forget those awful memories. She will still have her moments of doubts, fear and insecurities.

But the most important thing is that she knows she can overcome them now because she has someone she can fully trust by her side to help her get through them.

It’s amazing, watching Miyo transform from “I’m no good at anything so nothing matters” to “I want to improve, I want to get better” and believing she can.

She started taking lessons on how to be a lady because she wants to be a suitable match for her fiancé who’s done so much for her. She wants to be worthy of the love he’s shown her.

She learned to say “no” at the most pivotal moment because all her life, her evil stepmother and half-sister kept taking away the things that were important to her. But when they tried to force her to cancel her engagement to Kiyoka, she adamantly refused because the joy, comfort and security she found with him is too valuable to ever give up.

“I don’t want to lose this. I want to be his wife. I want to stay with him and be able to find happiness together.”

It’s no wonder Kiyoka is so taken with her, softened his heart and changed for her and will come running whenever he hears Miyo’s in trouble. He’s been through many engagements, each ending in failure because none of those marriage candidates wanted an actual marriage with him.

But Miyo…Miyo is genuine.

Just like how Kiyoka was willing to brush aside the ashes to reveal the beautiful her, Miyo melted through that icy exterior others only could see to cherish the real and incredibly warm him beyond it.

That’s why they work so great as a couple. They bring out the best in each other and their relationship is based on the people they respectively are, not the extras that come with.

Of course, even good couples are not immune to obstacles but during the one “fight” they had so far in the anime, you can tell that these two argue and get angry out of concern for each other.

Not because they’re not living up to expectations but because “I’m worried about you! Can’t you see that?”

For a pair who seem almost idyllic as them (it’s all the frequent flower imagery and yea I love it lol), communication is difficult as it is for anybody else. Miyo’s anxiety about needing to measure up resurfaced and Kiyoka misspoke, which made her cry and caused him to start having second thoughts if Miyo would truly be happy with him.

But none of that ever came close to ruining how they feel about each other. They still wanted to be together.

When Miyo’s maternal family came to claim her, Kiyoka loudly resisted giving up his fiancée (“Over my dead body, she’s my wife!”). Not even losing a duel and being forced to separate from Miyo could stop him from wanting to see her again so that he can try to reconcile her.

And whenever someone spoke badly of Kiyoka, trying to widen the rift that formed between them, Miyo would always be the first to defend him (“Don’t say that about my husband!”). The longer they were apart, the more she realized she had to return because she also didn’t want to be anywhere but with him.

Everybody who approached Kiyoka or Miyo wanted something out of them, whether it be Kiyoka’s high standing in society or Miyo’s suddenly emerging super rare power.

But for them, they just wanted each other.

“I chose you because only you can make me feel this way. No one else can take the special place I have for you in my heart.”

The reason why I call this “advanced romance” is because it’s a romance that explores the relationship after the couple get together.

Granted, it may not be considered normal from a modern perspective since it’s about an arranged marriage set in the Taishō era. But it still checks off a lot of the major points behind the idea of an established relationship, which is less common than narratives that emphasize the development before a pair of lovers become official.

Pre-relationship is fine and all, depending on what kind of story it is, but there’s a big difference in how both types present love. (Most? Some?) Pre-relationships make it seem like the hardest thing to do is confess and have your feelings reciprocated.

*shakes head* Uh-uh. Sorry, it ain’t. 🙂‍↔️

It’s keeping the relationship that is.

Because let’s be real here. Love is overrated.

It takes a lot of work and commitment for two people to stay together. Real love isn’t a shoujo fairytale where you’re set once the final chapter is done and sent to be published.

As a couple, you’re going to face so many challenges, some that will push you both to your limits where you might even consider breaking up. You will have fights, you will have disagreements because you are two separate individuals, after all. None of that “my better half” or “my (significant other) knows me better than I know myself” bullshit. You are two separate persons with your own respective personalities and ways of thinking, figuring out how to walk the same path together.

And even if you try your best not to get into any complications, life will laugh “aha, you thought, you dumb bitch” in your face and make things difficult for you anyway.

You’ll ask yourself repeatedly “Is this worth it? Am I making the right choice for us?” just like Miyo and Kiyoka did in episode 10.

The answer then is how much you’re willing to work for it.

To be honest, I don’t think there really is a right or wrong choice when you come to that crossroad because people aren’t omniscient so they have no way of knowing the absolute. They can only try their best to not let things end up in the worst state possible.

But if you love someone and treasure them as much as Miyo and Kiyoka love and cherish each other and want to be the best version of yourself that you can be when you’re with them…then it’s no longer an issue of being afraid of those hardships that come with the relationship.

You’d be afraid of the regret you’d feel when you look back and say “ah, I wish I stayed and tried”.

They (Miyo and Kiyoka 👆👆) are still trying. They’re so happy together but they are still doing whatever it takes to make it work between them and that’s what makes them a good couple.

Not ideal but good.

Good is doable, good is not impossible.

Good is what we need to be 👍

Alright, I’m done yapping but looking back through this post, I realized I also came a very far way from how I watched romance 20 years ago (lol my age is showing 😝).

And honestly, I’m happy for it. I’m glad that I grew older and matured a little and that my values evolved with time. I now understand why a lot of things in anime and manga no longer appeal to me (not as much as before, anyway) but on the other hand, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the series and characrers that I do manage to find resonance with.

My Happy Marriage is one of those.

So I highly recommend it if you’re looking for the same thing.

Second season is going to air in a week (January 6, don’t miss it 😉) so if you haven’t already, marathon the first season and the OVA.

That’s all, wishing everyone ✨GOOD✨ fortune ahead. See you in the new year! 👋😊

[lady-corrine]

Why do anti’s claim that Daemon doesn’t love Rhaenyra when everyone from the show-runners to the cast and crew say he does. Matt Smith has said it multiple times. He even said it at the London Con this summer when they were in the middle of filming season two.

It's because they hate Rhaenyra. This is a tale as old as time, anon. Trust me when I tell you it did not start with the show.

The headcanon that Daemon did not love Rhaenyra appeared ever since Fire and Blood was published. I couldn't quite put my finger on why this idea surfaced and why it was pushed around with such force. Recently I did. The fandom simply could not and can not stand the idea of Rhaenyra being loved by Daemon.

Laena and Nettles stans especially have this fixation. You can go anywhere: to tumblr, to twitter, to reddit and beyond, and you will find all sorts of frustrated people bemoaning the fact that Daemon was portrayed as genuinely loving Rhaenyra.

It goes hand in hand with the fact that Rhaenyra is not all sweet and pure and demure as a female character — traits that they somehow, for whatever reason, decided are the "epitome" of femininity, even though Rhaenyra herself is extremely feminine. It's also the fact that in their vision Daemon is someone that must be "tamed" (whatever the hell that means), and since Rhaenyra herself urged him to kill people at her order and do her bidding, they placed the self-insert into other female characters that fit their agenda more.

Now, I don't usually offer much relevance to what the showrunners have to say, because many times they contradict themselves. But Ryan did say repeatedly that Rhaenyra is the woman Daemon truly loves, and the person he particularly loves, Geeta Patel said that in episode 8 Daemon and Rhaenyra mirror Geeta and her own husband that are very much in love, the costume designer for episode 7 did say that theirs was a wedding for love. Heck, even Sara Hess said that Daemon loves Rhaenyra.

And Matt himself who has been the most consistent, of course, and always made it clear how important and essential Rhaenyra and Viserys are for Daemon's character — the only two people to be so.

But for the antis is ultimately irrelevant because they just don't care. They simply ignore the things that don't fit their agenda. It's a way to portray Daemon as completely black, incapable of love, and Rhaenyra as someone unloved/unlovable.

[nika-vincent]

Some of our reflections on the development of Halsin's personality in Bg3. Long post warning.

I can say that this post is something like a continuation of my previous one, which was devoted mainly to romance with Halsin. This time I gathered some more thoughts from my recent discussions with the guys who love this wonderful character, but this time the main topic will be the development of Halsin's personality in the game. Some things about romance will also be mentioned here a little, the moments we found in the game files, and a few more facts from the datamine. So if you haven't completed the game and don't want to get spoilers, then I suggest skipping this article for now. We will be very happy if this review can also help Larian to see some points that could be supplemented or repaired with patches and also look at how the players perceive our beloved bear and what they would like to see with him in the future.

I would like to start by saying that if we compare Minthara and Halsin in terms of the degree of personality development throughout the game, Minthara is prescribed better and even has her own different ways: to change herself for the better or to remain a bad girl. And I'm not gonna say that she doesn't deserve this because most players choose the path of good and there is no point in investing in the development of her character. Not at all. On the contrary, it shows that it is important for developers to take into account every detail in the game, and if players want to play the game differently for a change, they will discover a lot of new things and say: "Oh, dude! Minthara turns out to be not as bad as she seemed at first glance!". And this is really a wonderful move by Larian, which doesn't allow players to get bored and makes them look at situations and the characters themselves differently. (And by the way, if some character is in the minority according to the preferences of the players, this does not mean that it deserves to receive poor development.)

As for Halsin in this case, at the moment not only his romantic content is missing, but also his very development as a character and a full-fledged companion. This can be explained by the fact that he was probably recently added as a companion, and there simply wasn't time for him to prescribe more things that would reveal his character and potential to the fullest. Considering Sven Winke's recent post on Twitter, where he announced that Larian will again involve voice actors to record new content, there is a chance that these flaws will be fixed in patches and Halsin will get more interactive scenes than those he has now. (As far as I know, Minthara is also suffers from a lack of romantic content, as does Halsin, so I suggest waiting for now and following the official news from Larian …)

It's sad to see that new players who don't experience early access called Halsin a rather boring companion compared to others. However, players from early access spoke about him much higher and more positively, otherwise he wouldn't have become one of the popular characters of the community. So, why did this happen? I can explain this by saying that at that time Halsin was just something like an episodic character that we just had to rescue from the goblin camp and he would tell us everything he knows about our parasite and where we should go for further answers then. (And for an episodic character, that would be enough.) After that, we witness how he scolds Kagha because of the rite of thorns. And I think a particularly strong point was that in the case of Arabella's death, Halsin says in raised tones: "As for the Idol? It's nothing compared to life! A mere object, next to one nature's creations! You showed no pity, no remorse. I cannot absolve you!" I've seen people write admiring comments like: "Until that moment, I thought I couldn't love him even more!". The way he expresses his thoughts, shows concern, compassion, or regret and disappointment mixed with anger (because of the death of a little girl that Kagha allowed) - all this showed us the traits of Halsin's character and caused emotions among the players. Someone thought he was too soft, and someone admired his kindness. And that's how it should work, so that the character evokes different or even contradictory emotions in people, anything but boredom or the feeling that something is missing. This is what makes the character interesting, we want to learn more about him, see how he will behave in other situations and especially how he will react to the Baldur Gate City itself. And I can also note that we were particularly interested in his story with Ketheric Thorm, which he tells us about after the Tiefling party, as well as what he feels guilty about and what unfinished business he mentioned.

Unfortunately, much of what concerned Halsin's personal growth in the release version of the game remained not fully disclosed and seemed unfinished, especially in act 3. His quest during act 2 was challenging from a gameplay point of view, but from a story one it was quite touching and helped us learn a little more about Halsin's past and that the spirit of the land named Thaniel was his only childhood friend. We also learned a little about his parents, as well as the reason why he became the archdruid.

But the story of the shadow curse still remained as if unsaid, and also we didn't see any of his interactions with Ketheriс Thorm, which I think deserved to be realized, and were not limited to Halsin's stories only about Ketheric if we ask him. An interesting fact is that for a long time there were hints in the datamine that Ketheric's daughter Isobel died because of Halsin (correct me if I made a mistake somewhere, please). And I remember, I saw there that Isobel was killed by the spear 'Sorrow', the same spear that we can get in the secret vault in the emerald grove. Not to mention that in Halsin's room we can even find his diaries, in which Isobel was mentioned several times. This would have added a lot of intrigue and special opportunities for Halsin's interactions in the plot of Act 2 itself, but for some reason it remained behind the scenes and even if we ask Isobel about how she died, she cannot remember her killer. Although there are some special dialogues between Halsin and Isobel in the game files themselves at the moment, but there are none of them during the gameplay. I dunno why it was necessary to cut or change these things, and it is not for me to decide what to do here after all. But in my humble opinion, it would have added fire to Halsin's plot in act 2. I would regard this as a fact that even such a good and kind character as Halsin can make mistakes, has his own shortcomings and even dark sides. Therefore, before the release of the game, I had high expectations that Halsin would play a much bigger plot role in Act 2 because of these intrigues between him, Ketheric and Isobel than what we have in the game at the moment. The feeling of the whole story being left unsaid is still present in Act 2, but who knows, maybe it can be improved in patches?

When Halsin became our full-fledged companion in the game, we got new options for the dialogues, but very few of his interactions in the future. It's as if the development of his personality in the second act ended along with his quest. Remember what wonderful scenes with companions in Act 1 we watched over and over again when we stayed overnight in the camp. It helped us to get to know them better, to love someone or hate someone. Halsin definitely should not be deprived of this, we still want to get to know him so that later we can draw conclusions about him in Act 3 and help him find his own path, as it was with the other companions. We got to know our companions during acts 1 and 2 to see the end result of what we experienced together in act 3.

What confuses me is that the developers seem to have paid more attention to his sexuality than the development of his personality instead (not to mention that scandalous story of his sexual slavery to drows in his past, and he only tells us about it after we sleep with the drow twins in a brothel in his company). This looks especially sad for romance, because it looks like Tav fell in love with Halsin more for his sexy muscular body, and not for what kind of person he is. After all, even in real life, we fall in love with someone not for having a fine big booty, but for how a person presents themself to the world and how they treats us. I want to add here one quote that I just remembered: 'Personality is much more important, because the external beauty of a person is taken away by old age, but the beauty of the soul will remain forever.'

In act 3, at the moment, Halsin reveals much less, but we can still see some hints. After he appoints a successor to the Emerald grove in his place, and after we help heal the lands from the shadow curse, Halsin apparently has a conflict with himself about finding a new goal. He notes that he does not like the city of Baldur's Gate, he is saddened by the fate of orphans here, he would also like people to see a friend in nature. And there are also curious moments in his reasoning about shadow druids and their methods. But all this remains so far only at the level of discussions and comments that pop up sometimes. And we can only find out at the very end that he decided to find a new goal in helping people and orphans from the city in Thaniel's world. And you know, it's a really great idea, but I have this feeling again that in act 3 we missed a lot before he came to find this goal in his ending. The idea of his personal path still remained unfinished to the end. I also heard that he was supposed to have some kind of quest with a druid circle in the city, well, let's see if we'll have a chance to see it in patches.

Сomparing Halsin with the rest of the party, he still looks pretty unfinished in terms of development by the end of the game. Because each companion has their own personal options for the path of development, which we are able to influence, and we can notice the difference in the change in the character of a certain companion comparing with what they were in act 1 and what they became by the end of act 3. We can see what Shadowheart can be like if she rejects Shar, or what she will be like in the future if she becomes a dark justiciar. Astarion can remain as a spawn, but at the same time preserving himself as a person and not turn into the likeness of Cazador, whom he hated so much. Or we can help him become a Vampire Lord and the power will intoxicate him so much that he will even begin to dream of taking the city itself in the end. Even Minthara, the companion opposite to Halsin, also has her own personal path of development. But with Halsin himself, unfortunately, this is happening pretty weakly at the moment...

We have been discussing a lot lately what would help for the development of Halsin's personality, so that he could be on a par with the rest of the companions. And I'll start with an excellent thought from my dear friend @merrinla, which would give an excellent opportunity for the development of his personal path, which at the moment in the game looks somewhat unfinished (but I still believe in the power of patches, official writers and the love of fans!❤).

Considering that his background is labeled 'outlander', this makes him a person who grew up in a wild environment, wandering a lot, living in harmony with nature, free as the wind. And even his best friend is the spirit of the land, not from the ordinary people. In his youth, he lived this life, unencumbered by responsibilities, exactly before the crisis moment happened, which was a shadow curse that abruptly changed his usual life. And for 100 years, his goal was to heal the lands from this curse. Plus, his duties as an archdruid piled up here and he didn't have time for his own desires at all. "I was forgetting who I was," as he once told us. After the events in Act 2, he does not seem to be eager to return to the emerald grove, but keeps in touch with Francesca to find out news from there. He speaks quite critically about the city of Baldur's Gate, but he has a desire to help people here and make life in the city better. And I think it would be appropriate here to let Tav tell him something like: 'You know, Halsin, it's not for nothing that people say that everything can be found in Baldur's Gate. Maybe you can find yourself here too?' and also try to change his views on the civilized world, because at the moment he is not familiar with this world too well, and we could help him adapt, convince him that the city itself is not so bad, and find himself here. Even the romance with him will look great with this option.

So it would be a suitable solution if Halsin also had his own development paths: 1 - if he trusts our advice and assistance in adapting to the city, which will allow him to become more civilized. 2 - we agree that he is right in his critical views on the city and civilization, and ultimately he decides to remain an outlander.

I think that even his ending with the orphans could also look different depending on the choice of his personal path, as well as in the case of the romance with him. This is a really great idea, and thank you @merrinla so much for sharing it with me!🙏❤

I would also like to give my comment about Halsin's role in our party. Considering that we have often witnessed conflicts between our companions, in Halsin I see something like scales holding the balance. Someone like the 'father' of our party, an adult wise mentor with whom we could consult about our experiences and ask for his advice. And I would also be very happy to see how he will try to calm our companions in case of any conflict.😂 His wisdom and mentoring experience just have to play a role in our party. If we go on a romance path with him, I would really like him to let us know that he will always listen to us at any moment and support us. Maybe we could even unobtrusively take his hand in return for a while to show how much it means to us. It would also be nice if Thaniel could communicate more with Halsin in the camp, and, in the case of romance, in a dialogue with us, he would notice that Halsin cares about us. These cute moments and his modesty suit Halsin much more than excessive sexual innuendos.

I dunno if Larian will do something about the fact that in the game files Halsin should have received more interactions with Isobel. But I think it would be great and intriguing. And interactions with Ketheric would also be perfect here (Girls, don't start a fight until I find my popcorn😅). And it also seemed strange to me that Halsin had no reaction to Zevlor's betrayal. Maybe it's a bug or just another flaw, who knows. But it would also be good to get this scene, even if he was at our party at the time of the showdown with Zevlor. Maybe it would be nice to organize some kind of his reaction to Nightsong, too, given that Halsin learned about her from Aradin, but he thought she was an artifact, not a living angel. Some interactions with our pets in the camp, I think they should be for Halsin too. (Let him stroke Scratch's belly, haha) And also… the arm wrestling scene of Minsc and Halsin when? Just imagine how funny it might look, 'cause even the dialogue with Minsc about it was hilarious.😁

That's all for today! Thank you guys for reading this review to the end, and also join us in discussions in the feedback about Halsin of the official Larian's discord club! I wish great success to Larian and I thank them for creating this wonderful game for us, which unites people and allows us to discuss many things. We love you and hope that you will also succeed in your future projects, and I also wish you good luck and inspiration in working on new content for BG3!❤🙏

[consultingfujoshi]

I'm absolutely bonkers over the commentary that ofmd s2 is giving us on morality and redemption actually.

specifically what ed's conversation with hornigold after realising he's in purgatory says for the wider messaging this show has on the idea of retribution. because when he asks "who decides whether I live or die? you?" and hornigold says "no (...) this is on you" it kind of really does call into question a lot of big ideas about the stance this show is taking on what makes someone a good person, or more specifically, what makes someone worthy of being able to live, and ultimately be happy.

it's not like hornigold is some kind of arbiter or higher power with the ability to dictate ed's fate. no one sent hornigold to judge him. ed brought him here himself so they could talk it through and he could decide for himself what the answer is, whether he knows it or not. it's not about god or anything else like that choosing who gets to live and who gets to die. morals don't come into it. it's not about who deserves to live.

it's about who has the strength to try.

and for a show that deals with a cast whom the majority of are objectively bad people, that's such a fucking interesting and actually really enlightening position to take. if this was the kind of show that concerned itself too much with morals or trying to define objective goodness or badness, it'd get very stuck when trying to flesh out a fully realised development arc for its main characters, and they were very smart to not spend too much time trying to answer those questions. in fact, I'd argue that it actively rallies against the notion that only certain kinds of people are redeemable or deserve happiness.

both ed and stede have lived for most of their lives believing they are irredeemable, even that they deserve to die, but they both in turn later have to contend with the truth that they actually don't want to (stede first of all when he kills nigel, then later on faces the firing squad and literally breaks down at the sudden certainty of his death, and ed in the most recent episode). they want to live. they just have a hard time believing there's any reason why they should be able to. it's like they've been waiting for permission. but permission has nothing to do with it. no one's going to decide for you. there's no higher power that tells you an absolute "yes, you deserve another chance" or "no, you're beyond hope". you have to make that decision for yourself.

when stede is first faced with death, that's the first time we hear the question that now echoes across the entire series again and again.

"do you want to live?"

and stede is, in that moment, contending with the realisation, for the first time, that he might be a terrible person. and in that moment he doesn't know how to answer that question, because in that moment he realises he might not deserve to live. but oluwande is asking him, plain and simple, do you WANT to? and he says yes. despite everything, he wants to live. and so our story begins. a story not necessarily about redemption, but about rebirth. about choosing to live, even if you don't think you've earned the right.

and in the first three episodes of season 2, we see ed go through the same motions as he contends with everything he's done. like, hornigold is literally a manifestation of all the terrible things ed's done and the things he hates about himself! and he looked ed in the eye and told him "I don't dictate whether you get to live or die. you have to decide that for yourself. not based on what you think about yourself, or whatever you think you deserve to, but based on if you want to or not".

he's literally faced with the human embodiment of every evil, reprehensible thing he's done, and it tells him that it doesn't decide. that's not what this is about. they don't weigh up what ed's done, about where he crossed the line, about what he can and can't take back or undo, not even about what ed likes about himself, but very simply, what ed likes about living.

like, answering the question "at what point does someone become irredeemable" is an extremely difficult line to tread, and this show could have so easily slipped up whilst trying to answer that question, considering that the majority of its main cast are, yknow, thieves and murderers. ed more than any of them. and yet he's the romantic object of this season. and they make that work by not concerning themselves or anyone else with tricky moral lamentations about goodness or evil. what they ask instead is, "is any of that a reason to give up?"

dying is not a victory. dying is not even necessarily retribution. dying is the only reason things will never get better. even if you think trying to put things right and live a better life is impossible. and it might be impossible. but you will never know unless you try. you might fail but you have a 100% better chance of making things right and doing better if you choose to live than you would if you chose to die. and that's absolutely the journey ed's going on this season.

one thing in particular I'm so glad they've abandoned is that thread about ed not killing people. because it unnecessarily complicated the moral framework of the show and put a kind of expectation on ed's actions that were too hard to maintain with the direction they wanted to take his character this season. they knew it would only muddy the waters when it came to paving out his journey to something better, and I'm glad they took the time to establish that ultimately it was only something that mattered to him, not the narrative. to him it was like he could maintain some semblance of being a half decent person if he only ever killed one person. but now that's gone. he's broken the one rule he had for himself, the one thing holding him back from going off the deep end. and the question remains, can he still come back from this? can he still put things right and fight for a better life for himself? when quite literally all is lost, can you still find it again? and ultimately, the answer is going to be yes. no matter what he's done.

I don't know how much exactly if at all of this is in response to some pushback they got last season about how their main cast are, when all is said and done, pretty bad people, but either way they came out of the gate this season saying actually yeah, you're right. they are bad people. but that doesn't mean they don't deserve a chance at happiness. that's our thesis, actually. it fucking threads that needle and embroiders itself perfectly into the stede-centric narrative last season that told us reinvention was always possible and it was never too late to start afresh once you know what you want from life and it's fucking beautiful. I can't believe they took the moral ambiguity of its principle characters and turned it into the POINT. and I cannot stress this enough, it did this in THREE episodes. I love this show so so much we are so fucking back.

[bellabrady]

Hey! I want to say absolutely no hate here, you can think whatever you want about characters, I just want to make some points for you to consider! If it makes you change your mind, cool! If it doesn’t, well that follow button doesn’t need my finger on it since we clearly have different views :)

I am not going to be commenting on Chim begins since I haven’t watched it in a while, but I just finished rewatching Hen Begins and was discussing Bobby Begins Again with someone, so here we go.

In Hen Begins, Tommy is never hostile towards her. He doesn’t defend her from the captain, but he’s also a young gay man who is probably terrified of that same hate being turned to him. When Hen is doing her speech on the fire truck most of the crew has tightened jaws and seems mad, but Tommy seems relaxed and thoughtful. And at the end of the episode he tells Hen: “We would’ve done a sweep of the area eventually, but eventually would’ve been too late. Good job.” with a smile and then proceeds to shake her hand and pat her on the shoulder. It is also heavily implied that he was one of the people who left a complaint about the captain and his treatment. Everything about this episode screams a man who was keeping his head low and trying to slip under the radar, not a man trying to be hateful.

In Bobby Begins Again, they throw him a nice going away party. I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to buy assholes who are rude to me a cake.

Then later Chimney is able to call him up and ask a favor that Tommy does without complaint, which makes it seem like they’re on good terms.

And in the most recent episodes, he steals a helicopter and lies to higher-ups, something that could easily get him fired and cause him to lose everything. Once again, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t risk my job and my life (they were on a dangerous mission after all) for people I’m not good friends with.

Lastly, Buck does not strike me as the type to date someone who doesn’t like his friends, his family

Again, no hate, just giving you my observations

thank you for being so nice about this!

i do disagree, however. tommy was 100% hostile to hen in hen begins. ('new york bitchiness is a compliment?' for example, or him throwing gear at her feet so she'll tidy it up and barely sparing her a glance)

i also am simply not a fan of giving characters' past actions depth when it's very clear that back then, they weren't written with that depth in mind. i can promise you the writers did not write hen begins & chimney begins while thinking of tommy as a gay, closeted man. (yes, i'm aware there was that one jacob twilight joke but personally i think you might be giving the writers a little too much credit if you think that was planned forshadowing or something. it was just a silly scene)

furthermore, even if we do run with the whole 'tommy was afraid to speak up because he was afraid and closeted'...standing up against misogyny and racism has nothing to do with being closeted, since neither of those things are related to sexuality, so standing up against those things won't make anyone assume that you're gay. tommy being closeted isn't an excuse, in my opinion.

i'm also aware that the characters have forgiven tommy but i just...don't really care about that because in this show, everyone forgives everyone, constantly. buck forgave his parents and they have a good relationship now — that doesn't mean i have to forgive the buckley parents now too.

as for your last point, i'd argue taylor definitely wasn't the biggest fan of buck's friends and family and they weren't a huge fan of her either. but i also don't think that really matters here, since it's been established that tommy is good with hen and chim, so buck has no reason to assume there's bad blood. it once again boils down to the simple fact that i, as a viewer, do not have to forgive a character's actions simply because other characters did.

anyway, once again thank you for not being rude about this and i hope you have a nice day :)

(i hope my response doesn't come across as rude either)

[dreamsy990]

so 358/2 days, amiright? heres my thoughts

this game is just. god its an emotional rollarcoaster

i guess ill start with the things i dont like!! which is mostly the gameplay. i dont really mind the mission structure shockingly (i like being able to roam around but having a clear goal makes things easier for my adhd ass, and i think the miniature storylines are very good for the most part) but i simply could Not get into the combat. especially coming off of kh2 it feels so stiff and unfun to play the only part of the game where i enjoyed the combat was fighting riku at the very end. i think the panel system is okay but i dont like that levels take up space. why did they do that.

story-wise, i dont like the retcons!! a lot of the ones i take issue with are very minor but things like roxas only fighting riku once instead of the implied multiple times (even the dialogue doesnt make sense when you change that, why does roxas say 'how many times do i have to beat you' when theyve only fought once?) are the kinds of inconsistencies that just annoy me.

im also a little bit annoyed at the very concept of this game at all. i think roxas worked just fine as a character without this game. it feels sort of unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. also, xion. i love xion, dont get me wrong, but i dont think she adds anything to the series over all. thats not to say she doesnt add anything to this game because shes a great character and i love her, but shes just. kind of like this game in that if you got rid of her i dont think it would really change the narrative so much.

BUT DESPITE THAT ALL!!!!!!!! i fucking ADORE this game. it is genuinely so full of charm and soul that i just cant bring myself to dislike it. i think this is one of the best written games in terms of dialogue. every scene (at least for me) hit exactly as emotionally hard as i think it was meant to. i was laughing at demyx's antics and crying at xions death and yelling at saix and i think thats exactly how the game is meant to be seen.

days at its heart is a slice of life. its working a 9 to 5 its going through a depressive episode its losing friends its grieving its making fun of your coworkers its living. its a game about life and i love that.

this game really did make me forget that axel roxas and xion dont get a happy ending. i spent so much time looking forward to them making up that i forgot that roxas ran away. hell i almost forgot that xion died.

days is emotional and its story and its characters are just so fucking good. the conflicts all felt very real and you can tell exactly where everyones coming from. the way axel roxas and xion fall apart hits so fucking close to home. but god damnit if axel had any good communication skills like half of this could be avoided

its also one hell of a love letter to axel's character. hes always been one of my favorites (he recently earned first place) and i think this game does him a lot of justice. hes trying to do good. he wants to keep everything together he wants to be there for his friends he wants to make things right but he just cant. its just AUGH its so fucking good

that thing about axel's characterization really also applies to roxas. i dont have much to say about him beyond the fact that i think it does his character very well. also tism. hes so autism.

i kind of like the very limited graphics too. sue me i enjoy low quality games. the hands are not animated and they all have two expressions (blinking and not blinking) and their weapons are flat and im living for it. the very few fully animated cutscenes are good too!!

the (real, i dont count riku) final boss is unfortunately very easy. you can just stand directly in front of her and mash a she wont hit you its too easy but vector to the heavens did mess me up a bit. also earlier scene but "ill always be there to bring you back" with the other promise playing over it? fucked me up man. yoko shimomura is once again killing it

i cant believe roxas didnt get to go to the beach.

i have to give this game a 9/10. its writing is incredible but the gameplay could use a lot of work. its just not fun to play. but again the characters, emotions, and music all make up for that tenfold.

[princeescaluswords]

How Many Times?

So, very recently, the fandom has come back around to Master Plan (2x12) once again, as it will until the end of time. Scott's decision to deceive Derek and his pack in order to save their lives while simultaneously deceiving Gerard in order to stop him from killing everyone (and becoming an alpha werewolf in the process) is one for which parts of the fandom will never forgive Scott. In consequence, they have described Scott alternatively as "manipulative," "self-absorbed," "full of himself," and most recently as "passive-aggressive." This novel approach has been explained as Scott disliking direct confrontation with others and so he works behind their backs for the greater good. (This tactic allows them to dislike Scott while acknowledging that he was the hero in the story).

The problem is that none of those descriptors are true. In fact, they're bullshit, and a very clear example of a fandom technique I've talked about before: Editing. This is where members of the fandom simply pretend certain scenes or parts of scenes didn't happen in order to justify their interpretation.

Because Scott did directly confront Derek and his pack on many different occasions during Season 2 in ways that were neither manipulative nor passive-aggressive. Don't believe me?

From Shape-Shifted (1x02):

Derek: Get in. Scott: Are you serious? You did that. That's your fault. Derek: I know that. Now get in the car and help me. Scott: No, I've got a better idea. I'm gonna call a lawyer. Because a lawyer might actually have a chance at getting him out before the moon goes up.

Also from Shape-Shifted:

Derek: Everyone wants power. Scott: If we help you, then you have to stop. You can't just go around turning people into werewolves. Derek: I can if they're willing. Scott: Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?

From Ice Pick (1x03):

Scott: Two's not enough for Derek. I know he needs at least three. So who's next? Erica: Why does there have to be a next when we've already got you? Scott: Who's next?

Also from Ice Pick:

Scott: Boyd. I just wanna talk. Hey, come on, Boyd, please. Did Derek tell you everything? And I don't just mean going out of control on the full moons. I mean everything.

From Abomination (1x04):

Scott: Derek? We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents. Derek: You trust them? Scott: Nobody trusts anyone! That's the problem. While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger and faster than any of us, and it's killing people and we still don't even know anything about it.

From Venomous (2x05):

Scott: Uh, I can talk to Derek, maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her.

That's six separate occasions in four episodes that Scott went directly to Derek or a member of Derek's pack with concerns about their behavior, warnings about danger, or pleas to work together, and I'm sure I could find others if I put more time into it. And every single time, Derek or a member of his pack responded with a refusal to even listen to Scott or actual outright violence, once which ended up with Scott having to seek medical treatment after coughing up blood.

How many times does Scott have to reach out to Derek and his pack before his decision to act on his own principles is justified? This question is mostly rhetorical, because I know, you know, and God knows that there's no upper limit to that number for parts of the fandom. Scott is not entitled to make necessary decisions for the common good. After all, he's not white.

I can say with confidence that if Scott was a white male character, he could have. After all, they don't like Scott for 'going behind' Derek's and Stiles's backs (even though there is no evidence he went behind Stiles's back and that Stiles didn't know of Scott's Master Plan), but it only applies to him. Derek is entitled to hide the very existence of the alpha from Scott in Season 1. Derek is entitled to bite Jackson, the white male character who blackmailed Scott and sold Scott out to the hunters, and not tell Scott, who had to figure it out for himself. Stiles, himself, is entitled to conceal the fact that the message luring Allison to the high school in Night School (1x07) was sent from Scott's mother's e-mail account as well as directly lying (it's on the screen!) to Scott about his plan to get to the bottom of it. None of these things make them dislike Derek or Stiles the way Scott's Season 2 deception makes them dislike him.

I know the fandom standard is that all interpretations are valid, but I think I'm justified in arguing that if an interpretation is inconsistent or relies on pretending certain scenes didn't happen, it has to be recategorized not as interpretation but as a reaction. Calling Scott 'manipulative' or 'passive aggressive' is not valid.

The key, of course, is Entitlement. Derek and Stiles are entitled to behave like that because of what they've gone through and that they are putatively acting for Scott's own good. This makes them someone for which parts of the fandom can understand and empathize with. For some reason, Scott is not entitled to behave like that even after what he's gone through and that he's acting for other's good. This, in turns, makes Scott unlikeable, as he is 'full of himself' and 'self-absorbed.'

BUT THAT REASON ISN'T RACISM.

[sailormew4]

Fanfic Writer Interview

Thankyouuu to @earthtodora for the tag!!

Tagging: @m34gs and @vulpixen

wow this one is a bit long oops.

How many works do you have on ao3?

I have 28 works currently on ao3!

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Outside In: One, if not the first BNHA fic I uploaded. I'm honestly surprised this one is the one that made start to get known in the BNHA fic atmosphere. The plot is based on that one Teen Titans episode where Beast Boy and Cyborb go into Raven's mind. This time, Bakugo, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Iida go into Midoriya's mind. This is BakuDeku Fic. Fun Fact: This is actually the first time I did something like this, in fact I did something similar for the Voltron fandom right here on Tumblr. Status: Complete

Add Water: THIS IS MY SECOND MOST KUDOS FIC? So context: This is an H2O: Just Add Water x Voltron crossover fic. The premise is Lance is the grandson of Cleo and Lewis from the original H2O series. It's still canon compliant so he's in space trying to hide his mermaid secret from everyone. Gosh, this right season three I wrote this, I haven't touched this fic since 2018 (Voltron Depression am I right?). I might actually go back to my VLD fics. This one does contain Klance. Status: Ongoing.

Mariposa: A MIRACULOUS FIC? DAMN I DIDN'T TOUCH THIS SINCE 2019! So, typical Marinette gets akumatized cause GOD DAMN IT I STILL NEED THIS! I want her to reach her villain era lowkey and give Chat Noir the spotlight he STILL deserves. Status: Ongoing

Friendship in Flames and Curses - OHOHO! Now this one I hoped would be in top five. This is simply a crossover between Blue Exorcist and Jujutsu Kaisen. Rin gets taken by Sorcerers by mistakenly being seen as Curse User. Him and Itadori becomes BESTIES! The comments in this became so crazy, I recently finished this not too long ago on 11/18/24. No focused romantic relationships until the sequel (currently in the works). But I love this fic SO MUCH. Status: Complete

Forget About Love: - Oh my gosh, I'm exposing my Klance Days. This is probably one of the few Klance fics I finished. The premise is after Keith leaves for the Blade of Marmora, Lance is hurt and misses him to the point he takes a potion to make him forget the hurt which makes him forget Keith and his love for him - which fundamentally changes for the worse. Fun Fact: The title comes from an Aladdin 2 song, but the premise is inspired by an episode from the show of Once Upon a Time. Status: Complete.

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I LOVE responding to comments. I used to reply every chance I got to them, but took only replying after I update the fic. I got tired of constantly getting comments to update. But, I always screenshot my favorite comments.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angriest ending?

... define angry ending? Cause I can tell you which fic I wrote with the most anger? I always strive to have happy endings, maybe bittersweet. But the only one I can confidently say I wrote in anger was my fix-it fic for Voltron Season 8 End to a Beginning. That shit I wrote almost 22k words from spite from the finale. I still plan to update it cause I was really excited but uh chapter two is still kicking my ass.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Well, almost all of them have a happy ending. I would say the most happy would be either JJK x Blue Exorcist fic cause its a happy note and had a pretty humorous ending, but there is also my UsaMamo fic Homey Touches where Mamoru realizes Usagi makes his home.

Do you write crossovers?

HA! Did you read my top five? Two of them ARE crossover fics, well they're more AU adjacent kinda. You'll see what I mean. Some others ones I've written are

Legacy of the Moon: A Sailor Moon X BNHA fic. After the death of Sailor Moon, another thousand years passed and Luna finds Bakugo and says he's Sailor Moon, but he refuses to believe it. A BakuDeku focused fic as well. It's still ongoing and the latest chapter is currently being written

An Alien Device: A BNHA x Ben 10 fic. In the summer before the last year of middle school Midoriya is forced to go on a vacation with Bakugo and his Dad. On the first night, an alien device crashed landed to reveal the Omnitrix and stuck itself upon Izuku's wrist. This is also BakuDeku.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

... have I? This is a genuine thing. I'm mostly bad with social cues, so I could never tell if something was out of hate or confusion. I probably did, but just don't remember it or simply ignored it.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I.... do not. It's mostly because smut itself to me is kinda just... there. Maybe its the demisexual in me, but when I read fics that have smut. I do kinda just... skim it over. Like I'll read it for the genuine emotion but not the actual well physical stuff.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I did, I do not know. I do know that I have a now long abandoned fanfiction.net account (I should move some of my How to Train Your Dragon fics I had there to Ao3). But if I did, I don't know about it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

... I have been offered. One of my fics was offered, but I had to turn it down cause it wasn't going to be published on Ao3 but a different sight. I just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of having it out there without me knowing what's going on.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, why with @vulpixen with a Gravity Falls fic. I was in high school, so I couldn't write as much as I wanted and since I was using her OCs we decided to just co-write together. She did most of the heavy lifting while I did most of editing and stuff. I'm always open to now co-write more often now, in fact I did have a fic being written with Codi ( @collisiondiscourse ) for a BNHA fic. But they're busy with Uni. They do draw me the most amazing cover art for some of my fics tho!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

... Soooo this is kinda a loaded question. See, I don't have a singular OTP that dominates. I have a Mount Rushmore where I will eat any content of them like its the most delicious bowl of curry ever and it influences all future ships. Those being UsaMamo aka Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon and Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask. This was the start and I will always think of them when comparing any current ships I have. Next would be of course BakuDeku aka Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku from BNHA. I don't think I need to explain this one. This sucker got me by the neck when Kacchan got kidnapped and I ain't ever leaving. Next is Klance aka Keith and Lance from Voltron Legendary Defender. By god, if you see me now and think "Wow she's super into BakuDeku"... you have not seen me at my most FERAL and potentially insane. In fact, I did not realize how much this ship STILL holds me its claws until the recent news of it being taken off of Netflix. And the final one *drumroll* is MadoHomu aka Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi from Madoka Magica. Now this ship, while I don't talk about as often as I like is because their story is still going and I want to see how it ends. Doomed Yuri at its finest.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Any fic, I haven't updated before 2023. I love all my fics to bits but sometimes, hyperfixations come and go. I do plan eventually especially with my resurgence of Klance love, but it might be a while.

What are your writing strengths?

I think its dialogue. I often say my own dialogue aloud when writing to get the tone right. Plus, I'm very much a word person. So I think is my best.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably a lot. I know I'm my own worse critic, so I'm harsh. One that I try is conveying words through actions or setting the scene essentially. I can't quite get the tension right in my opinion, but maybe that's because I know how it ends. I haven't really asked what it could be from others.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

So I watch anime and read manga. So my thought process is write how the character would think, so for example in my anime fics, I use honorifics if the character does in speak, but in thought its just the name. When there's multiple language at play like say my Voltron fics where I make Lance use Spanish, I just use the Spanish and give translations at the bottom.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

So damn, can I say any of the ships I have yet to write for or ones that have like "dead" fandoms. Take Tokyo Mew Mew for example, I want to write an IchiSaya (Ichigo Momomiya x Masaya Aoyama) fic so bad because back in my middle school days THAT was the rare pair despite being canon.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh definitely Legacy of the Moon and Friendship in Flames and Curses. I love Sailor Moon and BakuDeku so much and that one is still so fun to write. As for my JJK x Blue Exorcist Fic, that one is simply fun to just write and have fun with no boundaries, like its purely self indulgent. You can probably tell how much I enjoy a fic by how fast I update.

[coraniaid]

OK, but what is the point of retconning Jenny Calendar’s background in Surprise/Innocence?

Setting aside for a second all the reasons it’s a bad idea - the lazy stereotypes about the Romani people and their supposed links to magic and fortune telling and curses it perpetuates, the fact the script has Jenny’s uncle explicitly say that the Romani are not like “the modern man”, the fact that the Kalderash are a real group of human beings (though not a “tribe” as the show insists on calling them), who probably shouldn’t be treated as fodder for a silly fantasy television show, the fact that later in the season (in Passion) it becomes apparent that the writers don’t know the difference between Romani and Romanian, the fact that neither Robia Scott nor Vincent Schiavelli actually have any Romani heritage, the fact that the show itself doesn’t ever use the word “Romani”, prefering instead to use a word that was recognized as a slur even in the 1990s – what does it actually add to the story that the show is trying to tell?

The “Janna of the Kalderash” retcon comes completely out of nowhere, so there’s nothing intentionally odd or ambiguous about her prior behavior that it can be used to explain.  Surprise briefly fakes that Jenny is going to try to do something to hurt Buffy, but no: she’s just taking her to the Bronze for her surprise party in a slightly weird way.  Jenny encourages Angel to leave town with the Judge’s arm, but: (1) this was actually a good idea which everyone agreed with and he should have done it and (2) he didn’t.  

And it’s made very clear over the course of these two episodes that Jenny doesn’t know anything about the curse’s loophole until after the fact.  The first thing she does on finding out the curse has been broken is to rush back to the school and help to save Willow’s life.  So her entire “betrayal” of Buffy (a girl she’s known for less than nine months and who she hasn’t ever been allowed to have any emotional connection with beyond both knowing Giles anyway) boils down to her doing … what, exactly?  All those times she tried to break Buffy and Angel up?  The ones that never happened?  Not telling Buffy that the people who cursed Angel to suffer for eternity secretly wanted him to … still be suffering in the present?  Not sharing her family tree unprompted with a teenage girl she doesn’t even know and who doesn’t seem to ever attend her classes?  I genuinely don’t understand exactly why Buffy is meant to be upset at her. 

Literally the only things I can see that this twist sets up are:

Providing another excuse for Giles and Jenny to break up (an excuse which we simply didn’t need! They only got back together at the very end of Ted, which was the most recent episode Jenny was in!  Just drop that subplot if you want to keep them separated!  Is it really so important that this time it’s Giles breaking up with her and not the other way around?)

Allowing for a scene where Buffy attacks a teacher in a crowded classroom, something that – while certainly a memorable and striking moment – is never followed up on despite the multiple witnesses and the fact the school’s principal is canonically always looking for an excuse to expel Buffy

Giving Jenny a reason to want to try to restore Angel’s soul later in the season, a reason that she 100% does not need.  You’ve already established that she knows magic!  That was part of her characterisation in her very first episode!  She could just be trying to help!  You know, the way Willow will do later on?  Why does she have to be doing this as some weird form of self-imposed penance? (Why does she not do any magic this season before the retcon?)

Introducing a means by which somebody can explicitly spell out to Buffy (and the audience) exactly how Angel’s curse was broken (first in her conversation with her uncle and then again in the computer lab with Giles and Buffy)

You don’t need to do the first three of those things at all, and you can do the fourth in practically any other way.  Have a flashback!  The Buffy writers and costume department love flashbacks!  Let Buffy learn about it in a dream – this pair of episodes is full of prophetic dreams!  Have somebody find something hidden away in the library – that works for literally every other bit of magical nonsense, doesn’t it?  Have Jenny find out by digging around on the internet, if it’s so important she be involved.  Use the fact she’s meant to be good at that!  Hell, have “Uncle Enyos” turn up and deliver his own exposition directly to Buffy, if you really must include a Romani character in the present day.

What does Jenny Calendar not really being “Jenny Calendar” add to the episode or the season arc or the wider show?  Why give her an uncle for Angelus to kill if she’s never going to mourn him or mention him again?  Why have her buried under the name “Jennifer” -- a name she never actualy uses while alive -- if you’re going to make a point of telling us it isn’t really hers?

(The frustrating thing is that I think that Surprise and Innocence are both very good!  Innocence in particular is probably the best episode of the show so far.  Maybe the best episode of the whole show.  Almost everything about these two episodes is really really good.  And then there’s … this.)

[ye-it-is-skeet]

2003 Gio✨✨

Recently started watching 2003, but the website I was using only had up to season 3, and then the other seasons are wonky and missing episodes.. Let's say I know mostly up until Leo returns from training with the Ancient One and that whole fight with Karai. Besides all that I've adapted my Rise OC Caravaggio into 2003.

I don't mean simply drawing him in the 2003 style, no, I worked with my friend to adapt mostly his personality into 2003 (as the teetlez often have different personalities in each iteration).

It was a draw between "Paranoid Survivialist" and "Emo" and Emo won the draw, I'll explain more as I go along.

I did research and here's the "Emo" parts overall: Gio feels sectioned from society as a mutant turtle (obviously), and instead of allowing any personal connections and positive emotions he's decided it's better to expect the worst and try not to build too close a bond with anyone in his family. He loves his brothers and Splinter but he pushes away from them to remain in misery of the fact only bad things can happen (it gets weird to explain but I hope people get the jist), and the rest of his time when not fighting is spent lamenting pretty much everything. It's never that he's always moping, he's always ready to help fight the Shredder or whatever is threatening New York. And even if he thinks always expecting the worse prepares him for the worse, when really bad things happen to his brothers.. the emotions hit him harder than he thought they could.

2003 Gio is passionate about a few things, he loves coffee.. and waffles. He doesn't really do video-games or watch television since they are, "mere empty distractions for the miserable reality of existence" as he puts it. On the other hand, despite him trying to push away he has his relations with his brothers✨ Leo is the one who tries to reach out to him the most, he wants Gio to know somebody is there and everything's okay and all that. It does get rough when Leo gets all moody and angy. They begin to fight because Gio tells Leo, "You're being an idiot with your emotions." and Leo just.. that's an infodump for another time. Bottom line Gio doesn't like Leo trying so hard and is repelled by his positive persistence. Donnie likes to spend time with Gio and doesn't mind their three-word conversations. When Gio is bored he watches Donnie work and lets Donnie explain how everything works in whatever he makes. Gio is curious and likes to know information. Raph hangs around the most because Gio doesn't mind Raph's energy and I will say Raph is kinda the sweetest brother. Raph hangs around Gio mostly because he also doesn't mind Gio being more pessimistic but will still try to bring a silver lining. And with Mikey.. Mikey has no idea what to think of Gio based on Gio's attitude and interests. Gio feels indifferent about Mikey. While he would be repelled by Mikey's energy Gio almost feels pity that Mikey seems mostly oblivious to "the inevitable" and Gio maybe grows protective of that. Gio will always go on about never being accepted by anyone or anything and he can't relate to anyone or anything. His brothers have tried but in the end Gio's still right because he's the only one who feels this way about their situation.

Other things I guess: It's not uncommon for Gio to get lost somewhere new. He's curious and will wander off to look at stuff. The Gio constant has Gio also being able to somehow sense when someone is leaving their rooms at night so he wakes up and either finds them or waits until they return (it gets REAL bad when Leo leaves for 2 months. It's a way he's worried for his family, he stays until they return because he doesn't know if they're safe while they're gone and if they return then it's okay to sleep). Some Gio-in-an-episode details: In the first Shredder attack, that's how Gio got the scar on his face. The Shredder swiped and Gio moved but got that scar. And in "Tales of Leo" Gio tells a story about how when he was younger he was VERY reactive to emotions (insane tantrums, throwing stuff, etc.) and for the most part Splinter would just leave Gio until he was done, but Leo sat there and said he's wait and then Gio would actually talk through his emotions with Leo. Gio closes with, "I'll wait for you too Leo. Until you're ready." And ye✨ In the episodes where the brothers are all in different dimensions, I've planned that Gio ends up in the genderbent dimension (but a drawing will be shown of that only later). In the season 3 finale Shredder fight Gio gets both his wrists either fractured or broken, and (it's a Gio canon event) his shell is cracked. Fixed up with some Utrom Plaster. He just doesn't have sensation in his legs until his turtle power fix up the nerves (because turtles can regenerate nerve tissue apparently).

This is just to show 2003 Gio lamenting and the difference of Rise Donnie and Gio, and then 2003 Donnie and Gio✨

And this drawing shows Gio being "Emo" I guess. Some more expressions and twitchy fingers when unhappy stimulation.

A big 'ol infodump in between many doodles of 2003 Gio.

And yes I HAVE drawn all the 2003 boys. So ye

I like 2003✨

[dizzybojack]

on penny and bojack

Recently replied to a reddit post about penny and bojack that was basically trying to pin most (if not all) of the blame on Penny for what happened after her prom. This was basically my reply (edited for tumblr). Also if you find my reddit, no you didn't!

Spoilers below.

The first time I watched this episode, I also thought that Penny was being stupid during this part and was partially to blame for what happened. She definitely needs a little lesson on taking a "no" and consent, but I came to realize that Bojack was also, once again, being selfish and wrong during this storyline. Remember, Penny is JUST over the line for sex with a major to not be considered statutory rape. Bojack at the time is in his 50's. That's pretty disgusting. I concede, Penny definitely shouldn't have kept pushing and accepted Bojack's no. Her behaviour isn't excusable either and shouldn't be simply written off, but we have to keep in mind that Penny is only 17. She isn't aware of the implications of this sexual encounter. She clearly needs to relearn a bit about consent and accepting rejection, but she is a TEENAGER and the fact is that she shouldn't be in this position in the first place.

Bojack isn't stupid. When he dances with her on the top of the water tower and tells her she looks like her mom, he knows he still has feelings for Charlotte. He knows his history of sleeping with younger girls that he is a father figure to (ie: Sarah Lynn) and making terrible shitty decisions. [OP said] it was common sense for Penny to know where this would go, because Bojack has a crush on her mom, but Penny didn't know that at the time. In fact, I would flip it around and say that it's common sense for BOJACK to know where this is going to go. Bojack knows that he still wants Charlotte, he knows that Penny is young and vulnerable and willing. And very similar to her mother, as he says on the water tower. He knows his history, his feelings, his recklessness better than anyone.

I also don't believe Penny was ever "playing the victim" or trying to ruin Bojack's life. We see when Bojack goes on the bender with Sarah Lynn that Penny almost has a panic attack when she sees Bojack. One of her first questions is, "Did you come to find me?" It's heavily implied that Bojack literally gave her a panic disorder. And this is all without even being able to see how Bojack has affected her relationships and ability to trust people! Bojack was a father figure or at least an older man that Penny looked up to and trusted. I'm sure him wanting to have sex with her has affected her future relationships and caused her to be deeply mistrustful of anyone who shows interest in her.

Although he refused the first two times, that's just proof that he knows how fucked up it is when he eventually accepts. He knows he shouldn't and he knows exactly how wrong it is, and yet he does it anyways. There is no excuse for this. If Bojack weren't so self-centred he would have gone straight to Charlotte to tell her what Penny had done immediately to make sure it doesn't happen again. But he doesn't, because he's selfish and a coward. He wants to stay here longer, please, just a bit longer, away from LA and from the mistakes he's made and the people he's hurt and the consequences of his actions.

If anyone disagrees or wants to discuss anything I said, please do. I've lately come to realize more that Bojack is actually just a really shit person as a whole (not to say he can't be redeemed or he isn't deserving of love) so this post is more Bojack-negative. Will tag Bojack neg with #bojack neg so anyone can mute if they don't want to see it.

[mdhwrites]

Arcane Episode 3 Review: The Necessary Concessions for Change... Including My Opinion

An episode I’m not sure I liked and it was the one that my Discord told me explicitly to tell them when I’d watched it. I... don’t know how to feel about that.

Now to be fair, there’s plenty of good here. Anything with Vander is good. And... That’s about it. This actually does include trying to break Vander out but what it doesn’t include is the final scene or the stuff with Jayce and Victor.

Let’s get probably the less controversial element out of the way first: Jayce and Victor’s stuff is just kind of lazy which is bizarre for this show. The stuff with the counselor in the dark is good and I love Victor going “What, this isn’t his bedchambers” but the actual experiment is... Odd. There’s a good moment of Jayce channeling the mage he saw before but before that...

Well, the scene of them first turning on their new version of his machine is one of the laziest and fastest versions of this sort of scene I’ve literally ever seen. The device barely is started before Jayce like it’s threatening to go nuclear and it’s not really doing a lot. I know it doesn’t need to with how dangerous the crystals are but where’s the spectacle to this? You know, the thing ANYTHING trying to sell this moment of an experiment being on the knife’s edge of success of failure always manages to sell?

The almost jokey tone to the resolution doesn’t help. There’s some wonder to it, I’m not going to say it’s bad, but for being the creation of Hextech, it feels like it was tacked on. Filling the time that the rest of the episode couldn’t fill with how they wanted to do it.

And admittedly, I wouldn’t want them to change a lot. The opening scene of Vander saving Vi from imprisonment, temporarily, is great. The horror shots, the willingness to not show the monster, etc. like that is just golden. You can feel the mistake being made by Benzo. You feel the horror and then grim determination from Vi. The pain that will lead them into a trap.

Then everything between Silco and Vander has a wonderful flavor that truly sells how much of a madman Silco is. That this is someone to fear because he didn’t go crazy. He simply lost his humanity when he lost his eye and he lost that eye due to a moment of inhumanity from Vander. It shows the cyclical nature of violence that is very clearly going to be a part of this show and that Vi theoretically tried to stop by owning up to her crime.

And the fight Vi has here? Fucking. Incredible. Even the jumping attack you know will fail is pitch perfect. The brutality but also simplicity to it paying off the fact that people have always been talking about how good Vi is in a fight, but their first never really paid that off. The boy with the goggles frankly seemed to hold his own similarly, if not better since we got scenes of him fighting two on one and surviving. Here we really see what Vi can do, especially since those gauntlets must have been throwing off her balance. Vander’s fighting is similarly great and the explosion that happens before it helps explain why the Shimmer monster isn’t moving nearly as fast as he was in the intro (as well as suspension of disbelief for the sake of just getting a good fight).

But... Okay, I need to preface this. I think the scene with Powder and Vi is... Not perfect regardless of my feelings but that it hits the mark close enough to work really well for most people. If you don’t have problems with this stuff, you’re probably to get this scene fine.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I have a brother. A lot of shit has been happening with him recently. Well, that’s not new for him. Almost a decade ago, he was actually somehow worse. To the point where me disagreeing with him on an opinion caused him to disown me for a few months. That’s not a joke or the like or exaggeration. He disowned me and treated me as less than a person during a time where I was damn near catering him on hand and foot and missing days of work because he’d reach out to me claiming to be suicidal. One of those days, he even then left with some buddies an hour after I got home, let his cellphone die, and when he got home to me being a terrified mess who thought he’d let his twin brother go kill himself, only briefly had his smile fade as he apologized and explained. And he doesn’t have stories like mine. Like this one, or when a disagreement about media caused him to storm off but I couldn’t leave because I had work soon. I noticed he’d left his keys, found him on my way to work, bawled my eyes out as I apologized, but he didn’t slow or even look at me. He just asked if the door was unlocked and it wasn’t. I knew he didn’t have his keys on him after all.

So, I might be a little harsher to a character disowning their sibling than other people might be.

With all of that taken into account, I still think this is flawed. Not entirely out of character but claims like this being a trauma response ignores that in the first episode, we saw Powder’s trauma response. She gets scared, small, and runs. She doesn’t plead, she doesn’t breakdown the same way, she runs.

Instead, she reacts like... Well, I’m not really sure. She doesn’t feel like someone from the Lanes, someone who understands that death happens, mistakes happen, etc. like that, she doesn’t feel innocent enough to be someone from Piltover but she also doesn’t also feel like herself because she’s not apologizing or the like despite showing self hate, despite showing that she questions herself, etc. like that.

I talked about this in my first episode review that Powder feels too innocent. She feels like the sacrificial child... But they need to ACTUALLY DIE FOR THAT. She dies in spirit, yes, but partially because she doesn’t beg for forgiveness from Vi. Because she breaks down like a normal embodiment of innocence instead of a real character.

And seeing as the Title Sequence for the show itself, explicitly shows that a major part of this show is going to be about the clash of sisters... I don’t know if I want to watch that now when the catalyst for it feels shaky. And only shaky on Powder’s part because Vi is fucking PERFECT here. She gets angry, she talks with her body as much as her mouth in general, let alone here, and she’s just been through a fucking nightmare. She is ENTIRELY justified in being angry at Powder because Powder just killed their dad, something Powder seems to entirely shunt out when again: She’s from the Lanes. She knows what death is, bare minimum conceptually. She is not some innocent schoolgirl.

So when she goes, “I have no sister” I reacted EXCEPTIONALLY poorly to that. I just immediately was like “I don’t know if I’ll continue this. Period. I don’t know if I can” because this moment sours the entire show for me just by association.

But again, that is a me thing. Is this episode bad? No, but it’s absolutely the weakest of the first three because it’s the first time things feel... Well, more like a story. Like you can feel the characters being actors on a screen getting the job done, rather than purely living in their universe, but that’s still mostly not there so calling it purely bad just doesn’t work. It just is especially a jab into me because of my personal experiences.

And while I’ve definitely had to pay the necessary violence for change, I can also attest that it sometimes leads to nothing. It didn’t for my brother, even if it did for me, and... I don’t know if the show CAN payoff this violence enough for me to ever be okay with it.

[adultswim2021]

Squidbillies #49: "Reunited, And It feels No Good" | July 20, 2009 - 12:00AM | S04E09

The Cuylers have a dang old family reunion, and guess what? Extended family actually shows up to it. They are significantly wealthier than the Dougal County Cuylers, what with owning a modern car with DVD players and refrigerated air.

This is the family of Durwood Cuyler, who stands upright like a man, shoving most of his tentacles into a pair of shoes. He’s a yuppy, an outdated term that I don’t feel like updating. He is also a family man; he married a blonde human woman with a Karen hairdo, a recently outdated term that is actually too modern for me to be using about a show from 2009. They also have two kids who never speak because they are glued to their devices. I think we can all agree on one thing: Durwood simply gave up. 

The episode is basically about the two Cuyler clans clashing, slightly. Early hints at the fact that they could use some of Durwood’s money. His wife is steadfast against them even associating with Early’s family altogether. Early reveals his investment plan: a plushie from that Cheyenne Cinnamon “movie” that Burger King is showing, which according to my tepid googling hasn’t actually happened yet. I’m referring to the "Big Uber Network Sampling", an event where, if I recall correctly, a bunch of Adult Swim pilots that were available on a Burger King website. I think the idea was the pilots were pitted against each other in various matches, and the winner got to, as it turns out, continue being a rejected pilot. Cheyenne Cinnamon was one of those pilots. We see a little more footage of that playing in the headrest screens of Durwood’s family Durango. 

Durwood is so horrified by the treatment of Rusty (who has lockjaw from running barefoot through animal feces), that when Rusty shows Durwood his art project (which is just a glitter drawing urging Durwood to help him get the fuck away from Early’s abuse), Durwood decides to take rusty off Early’s hands for “a couple days”. As they speed away, Durwood tells Rusty he’s never going back there again, and that they’re going to set up a cot in the garage. Early is ecstatic to be rid of Rusty, but when he’s reminded that his government checks will stop coming he becomes incensed. TO BE CONTINUED. 

A common response I have to Squidbillies is that I’ll watch it for a few minutes and think “hey, I think I like this show, actually”, but then I'm ready for it to end and it’s not even half over yet. That’s sorta where I was with this one. Lucky for me, it’s technically not over. This is a bonafide two-parter. When it originally aired they played both episodes back-to-back, but as far as I can tell they were always considered two separate episodes. I will be considering them two separate write-ups. Okay!

EPHEMERA CORNER

Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode II DVD (July 21, 2009)

I'm stubbornly sticking to my stated mission of making you aware of every DVD release from Adult Swim in a rough chronological order compared to the Adult Swim television timeline. As such, I wind up spotlighting releases that I have nothing to say about, and no significant feelings felt for. This one has 90 minutes of extra features, which I'm pretty sure is longer than the special itself. I also believe this is the extended cut of the special (or at the very least the DVD includes the extended cut), which I think aired on TV too. I forget. I don't like thinking about this show, or the intellectual property known as Star Wars. Thanks.

MAIL BAG

Kon komes through with a fact I did not allow myself to learn:

The God guy on the Squidbillies episode was voiced by the very guy who played Jesus on the Rising Son, and also starred in many Superdeluxe-brand FARK sketches that you and me really love and both are huge fans of

YES! Thank you Kon. Point of fact- the IMDB page for this episode doesn't credit who played God, but does list Sean Watkins on the cast list. But they linked to the wrong Sean Watkins, which left me scratching my head. I looked like a fool

[astronnova]

because why did she say that "hunter's importance to the story and even his personality is entirely a fabrication of the fandom" and she suggests the only reason people care about hunter is because he's white.

people care a lot about hunter because they can see themselves in him, and his personality is there, it's just dana terrace did a thing called "show dont tell" so he isn't staring at the camera or the audience-surrogate and explaining his mental state. he's behaving naturally. people also really latched onto amity at the beginning and stuck with her because, news flash, people like the archetype! the snarky/mean rival character is nothing new and has always been loved by fans. amity became more mellow throughout the seasons and that's why a lot of love was sparked for hunter, because he started the same way amity did: like a snarky, condescending asshole. people like that kind of character.

in pokemon swsh, the reason people latched onto bede so much compared to hop is because, even though he's watered down, he's still basically the "jerkass rival" character. which, like i said, is something people like, especially in pokemon! the most popular characters are red and blue! and blue was an asshole, that was the whole point! yeah, bede was. really bland. but compared to happy go lucky friendly travel partner #6, its much more fun to have a pokemon battle against somebody you want to beat instead of someone you feel bad for winning against, especially if that someone is your game rival.

the reason why people commented so much about lois lane's suicide baiting in my adventures with superman is because its a new time period. the last superman origin that was widely seen was like. 2013 ish with the synder reboot of superman or something around then. where women's actions in stories were usually just played off as "oh, haha! silly girl love interest, you're so crazy!". but now, especially with the audience maws has, people notice that kind of behavior and aren't trying to slide it under the rug. the audience respects lois' character a lot because she's well written! and they treat her with respect by wanting to see her held accountable, just like how people want to see clark held accountable. the only difference is that clark in the show does own up to his mistakes while lois never owns up to the suicide baiting. especially in a show that takes a lot of effort portraying clark as clark, and not this emotionless guy like movies have been recently, you'd think they'd have an emotional conversation about it. hell even jimmy in the next episode says something emotionally intelligent about the situation while lois never even acts or thinks about apologizing for scaring clark to death.

and then the amber from invincible thing is. augh. because no one would have a problem with amber for being reasonably mad that her boyfriend keeps ghosting and leaving her. what ruins the audience's view on amber is the fact that she says "ive known you're a superhero". she knew, so she knew that mark wasn't ghosting her, he was off saving the world, or saving a city, or helping real people in a real way since she's very adamant about helping the needy. by having her know, it makes her seem like an asshole for still putting mark under emotional stress knowing he was being a superhero. no one would have cared this much if she just didnt know, but still dumped him. because thats reasonable on her end! what wasn't reasonable was her acting high and mighty because she already knew and still acted as if mark was just simply ghosting her and not. saving an entire city or something.

i wont comment on the other characters, because i dont know about the other pieces of media she's referencing, but god going off of what i know about the shows that i watched she is not making a good case here

and that sucks because she has a point, there is a lot of racist undertones in fandom that favor fairer skinned characters. but literally all of these examples aren't it.

lily orchard continues to prove she does NOT know what she is talking about dawg