#but it IS a very complex scene

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

We could have had it all...

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[divorceblogger]

it’s the fantasy of submission!

[sentrysapper]

[mayabishopgold]

Maya & Beckett | Station 19 - 7x07

I'm a horrible person.

Maya, you did what you needed to do.

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[bisexualfbiagents]

You of all people should realize that sometimes motivations for behavior can be more complex and mysterious than tracing them back to one single childhood experience.

THE X FILES GIF MEME [2/9] SCENES from Oubliette (3.08)

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Broke (2016): BBC Sherlock is a phenomenal piece of media and anything that seems like a flaw just hasn't been fully explored yet

Woke (2020): BBC Sherlock is an incredibly flawed series run by an egotistical writer, it never deserved the hype and is actively bad on so many fronts (especially representation)

Bespoke (2024): BBC Sherlock is flawed and bogged down by increasingly poor writing, which many fans refused to see while it was airing, leading to hugely misplaced expectations (particularly for the final series), AND it has the seeds of some compelling characterizations and portrayals, some genuinely solid performances, and touches--albeit imperfectly--on complexities that are still being discussed today (particularly as it relates to the relationship between Sherlock and John). The huge cultural impact of the show has created a massive pendulum effect in its public perception, leading to most people today remembering a caricature of the show (whether positive or negative) rather than appreciating its nuanced merits and failings...that being said Season 4 sucked

[fallcolorspringrapid]

hi. if you like weirdly intense mentor-protégé relationships, War of Faith (追风者) might be for you.

the protégé: Wei Ruolai, a little potato, a poor, brilliant, idealistic boy whose n:o 1 ambition in life is to... work for advisor Shen Tunan of Central Bank. apparently. as his personal assistant.

"My life is not worth much anyway," Wei Ruolai says,

wow. ok.

and this is Shen Tunan, Wei Ruolai's boss and mentor. here he's looking at Wei Ruolai who has just said something very smart.

i'm going to eat that little potato for breakfast —Shen Tunan, probably.

people. these two have Chemistry. Shen Tunan keeps looking at Wei Ruolai like he can't quite believe his luck at having found such a sweet potato and can't make up his mind about which part to bite into first. and Wei Ruolai is just *incoherent noises* he's just so earnest. he's quiet and smart (and also very stupid) and tenacious and a tiny bit of a brat, and he lights up under Shen Tunan's attention.

Shen Tunan: "You spoke well earlier."

Wei Ruolai, having looked bashfully away:

ahem.

praise kink, anyone?

[mags-writes]

me, 14 and reading the end of mockingjay:

me, 24 and reading the end of the ballad of songbirds and snakes:

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

"See you tomorrow"

MDZS Disco Elysium AU part 4 [prev parts]

[bookshelf-in-progress]

If I could write stories as quickly and vividly as I can envision them, I would have written at least three lovely novellas in the last week. Two of them this morning.

[evie-doesnt-write]

Unsure if this is an unpopular opinion but I think Viktor’s writing in Arcane s2 is just all over the place

[sapphiretanto]

Try Harder

“‘Try harder?!’ I always have to find the solution! You’re leader, Leo. You find the answer!”

Two Quick PSAs:

Because I feel people will think I’m taking Leo’s side, or justifying his actions. I’m not. I don’t think he was in the right for saying that.

This will be very Leo focused— not because he’s my favorite or anything— but because Donnie’s side has already been understood by a majority of people.

Whenever I come across this conversation— whether tiktoks, fanfiction, or fanart— Leo’s personality that’s presented always rubs me the wrong way. He usually gets written or drawn as some haughty asshole that doesn’t give a shit about Donnie’s feelings… ever. That is simply not true. Or that Donnie is the only one to get them out of problems. That isn’t true either. There are plenty of times that Donnie turns to Leo to have the answer or plan when his go awry. He also depends on his older brother’s outward bravery and confidence.

Leo and Donnie’s argument in “The Fourfold Trap” can be built on two things Donnie and Leo are at constant odds with:

Pressure

Limitations

Both Donnie and Leo have the same kind of pressure where they are multitasking and are having to switch tactics in battle almost always.

Donnie is a genius. He’s knowledgeable in mechanics, technology, math, science, biology, history, etc etc. and has also mastered learning some technology of the Kraang as well as creating a way to translate their language. He often lacks the resources to accomplish projects or time to calmly dismantle weaponry and machines and get him and his brothers to safety during battles.

Leo is intuitive and strategically intelligent as well as very disciplined and focused. However, his pressure lies within his leading abilities. Not only must he plan battle strategies with his brothers, he also has to keep an eye on them in battle, be ready to change tactics should something go awry, figure out an exit strategy and this is usually done all while fighting with the enemy. Leo also has to keep a level head and keep his emotions in check. While in the beginning, he often wasn’t respected, his collectedness kept the team together and functional (Raph leading the team in “New Girl in Town” and struggling as well as Leo panicking in “Panic in the Sewers” are good examples of when the leader isn’t collected)

The burden placed on both of their shoulders is very heavy, draining, and a lot to take on as a teenager and they do their best to keep it together, but the built up pressure will sometimes put them at odds when planning during larger battle (i.e. “The Invasion”).

Now, as with anything and everything, there are always limits. Leo and Donnie both struggle with accepting that they have their limits, though, Donnie tends to accept his more than Leo.

Growing up and being the way they are unfortunately puts limits on what they can have or use. Donnie uses a lot of scrap metal and junk to piece things together for the brothers and himself to use and has to be careful with what he does have, since he doesn’t have the access to go into a store and get what he needs.

All of this frustrates Donnie as it limits his abilities, but it has helped him accept it and understand that he can’t push himself to do everything he would like to for himself and to help his brothers. It has also taught him to be resourceful and he has put together amazing mechanical machines. And despite being outcasts in society, he and his brothers do get accepted by some humans. He grows into it becoming enough for him, becoming at least physically confident in who he is.

I don’t think I have to explain just how much Leo ignores his limits. Just woke up out of a coma and his leg is fucked? This idiot goes off in the woods to fight a mutant made of vomit, tree bark, and nightmares. He doesn’t rest it as much as he should be— both because a conflict is happening and when nothing is going on, he’s training on it. Because of some of the lessons Splinter taught him—

“We choose what holds us back and what moves us forward”

“It doesn’t matter that the burden is heavy. It matters that you carry it!”

“With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission, no matter what you have to sacrifice. Or whom.”

— Leo develops a complex to keep the world and his family safe no matter what happens to him, as well as to suck it up and keep going. Him complaining or ranting about his frustrations doesn’t get him sympathy.

“I just think you guys should be a little better at following my orders.” (Leo)

“Aww, it’s too bad I can’t play my violin while I drive.” (Raph)

“They have no idea what kind of pressure I’m under, and all they do is complain! Is it too much to ask for a simple ‘thank you’?” (Leo)

“Of course it is! Leadership is not about being appreciated, it’s about responsibility.” (Splinter)

Unfortunately, either out of resentment or something else, he holds this same principle for Donnie and pressures him until Donnie snaps at him.

“Donnie! You said you could do this! … They’re aliens from another dimension, what did you expect: a big round ball with a lit fuse that said ‘bomb’?!”

“You gotta fix the Shellraiser fast. Like, yesterday fast!”

“Donnie, you’re gonna have to speed this up.”

There is one other factor that drives Leo to pressure Donnie, and that is his guilt for Karai’s mutation and his lack of skill and knowledge to get her back to herself. Even though there was nothing he could have really done— after trying to stop her or even go with her as back up in “Vengeance is Mine” and coming very close to freeing her before Shredder attacked— he more than likely plays scenarios over in his head where he saved his sister or even took the fall into the mutagen instead of her.

“You should be celebrating your victory. You did a brave thing tonight, Leonardo. You saved everyone.” (Splinter)

“Not everyone. I tried to get Karai out of Shredder’s control. …I failed, Sensei.”

He becomes rebellious and risks his safety—his brothers’ safety also is toyed with if they choose to go along with him— to rescue her and reunite Master Splinter with his daughter and have her be with her family.

The building of his guilt towards Karai’s mutation, the pressure he’s feeling to rescue her from Shredder’s control, and the fact that he is at a limit that he cannot go past altogether drives him to snap at Donnie the way he does.

Was it right and justifiable? Absolutely not. But do I understand that it was a build up things from within and that he didn’t say it just to be an asshole? Abso-fucking-lutely.

[lgbtlunaverse]

So I watched A Silent Voice with some but minor knowledge of the story going in. And right at the beginning when Shoko's bullying started I had the nagging worry that while Ishida would be redeemed they'd leave Ueno and Kawai as one-dimensional bullies. Painting the girls as the "real villains" while the male protagonist got to have depth. Anyway I just finished the movie and I would like to formally apologize to Oima Yoshitoki and Yoshida Reiko I should never have doubted you.

[schnee-gheist]

dp fanfic ideas are getting to me again goddammit

[too-many-rooks]

Yassen and the Morons he works with; Martin Wilby edition, Part One; threatening him at all opportunities! <Prev Next>

So I've been making gifs based around Yassen's connections to the people he works with, and quickly realised I'd need like three seperate posts for Wilby. But staring at these scenes so much has given me thoughts about what their interactions say about Yassen, (and tangentially, his potential connection to Ian.) Anyway rambly meta under the cut.

Although Yassen treats most of the people he works with, with a similar sort of disdain, it's pretty clear that he hates Wilby. Aside from evidently relishing threatening him with double-meaning assurances about 'taking care of him', and how Blunt might not buy the cover but 'we' (as in, SCORPIA), will be fine, Yassen's also more violent with him than other characters.

When he shoots Wilby, it's one of the few times we see him injure someone directly without immediately killing them. Yassen doesn't mess around, he shoots to kill *instantly.* When he does kill Wilby (gifs upcoming) it's one of the most intimate, visceral, and involved murders we see Yassen commit - he uses his hands in the kill in a way we don't see again.

So much of this additional complexity is in Levin's performance; there's a way he just... settles his jaw when looking away from Ian's dead boy to Wilby, transitioning from this look of regret and grief to what reads in my mind as a flash of quite visceral hatred. Is this a hypocritical resentment for his involvement in killing Ian, for allowing Yassen to kill him in the first place, a way for him to displace his guilt over killing Ian? Yassen can rationalise his own involvement as a professional, following orders; he regrets what he has to do, but it's not personal. But, contrastingly, Wilby betrays the partner that trusts him for self-centred motivations, for greed.

There’s the way his face tightens before promising to 'take care of him' that suggests a genuine desire to kill Wilby, the suggestion that Yassen might enjoy getting rid of him, once he's served his purpose.

But the summary of all this is that I don't think Yassen would have such complex emotions about Wilby if he didn't have some meaningful connection, and personal relationship, with Ian.