#i might just end up writing a whole analysis tbh
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
the key to understanding hua cheng’s appearance and how he occupies space is that he’s a transmasc goth who’s committed to red and silver as his aesthetic. ok. the layered hair the outfits the boots the chains. he doesn’t shave off his eyebrows and redraw them only because he is a shapeshifter and so his eyebrows grow the way he wants.
#tgcf#hua cheng#my visions n delusions#my hyperfixation demon#anyway footnotes:#the red is because it’s the colour of the eye he was rejected for. the name his mother gave him. the token of his saviour.#and also because they told him he was unlucky well fuck you. fuck you the colour of luck will always remind you of me now#the silver is interesting bc i read about the miao ppl which apparently hua chengs mother was meant to be member of#and only women wear those extensive silver jewellery particularly the neck cuffs#men wear smal pieces but the cultural practice is in women wearing them#so. trans hua cheng is so real so canon#but also he’s literally just a goth ok my entire vision board for him is just#glam rock and goth icons#i had a whole thing detailing his aesthetic in much longer detail but you’ll have to wait for if i ever finish this thing#tbh i might not end up posting a long headcanon piece because i’m really writing this in bits and pieces#turns out a lot of my headcanons are just extensive textual analysis that i internalised? and now i’m writing details turns out it’s a meta
124 notes
·
View notes
Text
Buddie 613 meta
We now know that the man who risked himself to get Buck out of the line of fire during the shooting arc is Jeshan, which means ‘clear’ (if you’re interested, you can find more name meanings for 911 characters here). So let me just giggle for a second about the fact that 911 had once again reunited Buddie with a character who can be referred to as Captain Clear Me(h)ta. Coincidence? IDK. But I have to admit, it kinda made me reflect back and feel nostalgic. When I first started watching the show, I had no intention of writing meta for 911, but after going ballistic when 309 aired, I knew I would HAVE to use the s3 hiatus to write down all my thoughts about everything Buddie related so far. That’s what I did, I wrote and shared my baby, my first round of Buddie meta. That’s where it was supposed to end, but then people asked and encouraged me to write meta for the eps in 3b as they would air, too. I figured I could try, and that’s how my Buddie weekly meta posts were born. At the time, there was no one else writing proper weekly meta (I don’t mean a summary/review of the ep, or meta posts that stand on their own, but proper analysis on Buck, Eddie and those who matter to them, organized and serialized for each ep as it aired). And now, I’ve been writing them for almost 3.5 seasons. And I feel like they’ve inspired others to do the same. TBH, I can’t actually remember seeing weekly meta posts in other fandoms (maybe they exist and I just haven’t come across them, IDK). So I got all emotional, thinking about how these posts may be love notes to Buddie and the show, but most of all they’re a love letter to the wonderful people who have been supportive and encouraging, who’ve been reblogging the posts, who’ve been commenting on them and telling me that what I do makes a difference for them. Thank you so much, these posts wouldn’t exist without you. You have a much bigger impact on the fandom than you might have realized! So if Captain Mehta is indeed a nod to the meta, it’s a loving, appreciative nod that belongs to all of you. ~~
When Chim shows up to escort Hen to work, he ends up sitting down for a talk with Denny instead, and I really enjoyed this scene, it was lovely, but it also once again emphasized the difference between the firefam kids’ relationship with their parents’ colleagues and the r/s Buck and Chris have. Chim talks to Hen’s son when he happens to come across the kid, but he only sits down for a proper conversation because Denny implies Hen and Karen are up to something intimate, and Chim shouldn’t interrupt them just yet. Consider how different that is to how Buck intentionally looks to spend time with and dedicated to Chris! And then Chim is impressed by how smart Denny is. It’s cute, but it also reveals just how little they interact that this comes as a surprise to Chim. It’s so different to the intimate familiarity of a parent, which is what we know Buck has with Chris (and that Chris has with Buck, which can even be seen in the kid’s teasing, for example regarding the snoring in 414). ~~
You might have seen that, when the promo came out, I momentarily lost my sanity and posted this. I just couldn’t get over the fact that they actually had Eddie correct the chief on the duration of Buck’s death. It was such a spouse thing to do. It was a declaration about the anguish that each single second represented, when Eddie couldn’t breathe because Buck wasn’t. It was a confession of sorts, on how Eddie felt as he desperately NEEDED his husband to live (I’m not even joking when I ascribe him this title, Eddie said with his whole chest, “THAT IS MY IDIOT HUSBAND THAT I HAD TO WATCH DIE FOR THREE MINUTES AND SEVENTEEN SECONDS AND I WILL NEVER FORGET ANY OF THOSE SECONDS, NOR LET ANYONE ELSE DO THAT”). It was a glimpse into how time must have moved differently for him as each second etched itself forever into Eddie’s mind. And yes, it’s a clear parallel to 413, when we witness time slowing down for Eddie. And I mentioned in my post that in both scenarios, Buck is just out of his reach, so close, but simply not close enough. In one case, this forced Eddie to believe he must now accept his own death. In the other, he couldn’t accept the possibility that Buck would die, so he just fought harder, and if he couldn’t save Buck with one course of action, he tried another, Eddie just had to keep going, 'coz the idea of those three minutes and seventeen seconds turning into an eternity? Unacceptable. ~~
But notice in my unhinged post from that day, I used the word ‘counting.’ Eddie counted the seconds, and this is revealed to us at a poker game where Buck is counting the cards. I already noticed that when we saw the promo, but this connection was reinforced in the ep itself when Chief Williams vocalized what Buck was doing. The thing about counting is that it’s reserved for what matters, what’s crucial. Buck is counting the cards in order to win, and he wants to win because it matters to Eddie. Buck wasn’t the one who initiated the search for a poker game where he could use his newfound skills, Eddie was the one to take that initiative. And he could bring Buck along without telling him where they’re going (I would normally scream for a whole separate paragraph just about Eddie telling Buck to dress nice and there being no need for any further explanation or prompting, but we were so well fed, I’ll have to scream about it into my fist for just one sentence) 'coz Eddie was so sure his husband would go along with whatever crazy scheme he’d come up with. And he was right, even though Buck didn’t think it would end well, he still went along with what his husband wanted. Please let me reiterate: Buck’s counting cards because Eddie is so important to him, and Eddie was counting the seconds because Buck’s his vital sign. ~~
Another thing to keep in mind about the poker game is that the only other time we’ve seen Buck playing poker was in 312. In that ep, Eddie was off to meet Christopher’s school teachers (leading to his eventual lackluster r/s with Ana), so having a free evening, Buck spends it with Maddie, Chim and Josh (and is told he unequivocally sucks at Poker). Jokes were made about setting Josh and Buck up, and it was implied whatever Buck’s sexuality was, that was not the reason why Maddie abstained from making the match. What I find interesting is seeing how far our boys have come! In that ep, they were operating separately, and it led them down the wrong paths.
In this ep, Buck and Eddie were inseparable both as a couple (even sharing the winnings from Buck’s new talent, because what don’t these two share? And I was particularly chewing glass when Chief Williams asks Buck how he wanted HIS winnings, but instead of answering her, he looks at his husband. THEY ARE SO FREAKING MARRIED), and as a family unit with Chris (which is maybe a good moment to point out that all of the romantic couples were paired off in 613, and so were Buddie! Now, one could argue that Buck and Eddie were paired off because, well... who else is left for them to hang out with? But 312 is a reminder that when the show wants to, it can push the main cast and minor characters into the same orbit, so it still didn’t HAVE to pair Buck and Eddie off here. It chose to. On top of that, by showing them with Chris as well, 911 reminded us they’re far more bonded than just two best bros hanging out together ‘coz none of their other friends are single). In short, during 312, Buck lost and Eddie was about to be lost on a detour in his romantic journey. In 613, they ARE a family, they work as one throughout the ep, not just in parts of it, and they’re both winning. ~~
Something that gets to me is that when I first shared the BTS pic of Buddie at the poker game, it was clear that Eddie was just bursting with self confidence. He looked like he would be the star of that game. But when we got the promo, we discovered that it was actually going to be Buck who would shine that night. So what makes me slightly froth at the mouth is that all of that sexy confidence we picked up on in the photo? It was real. We weren’t wrong. It just wasn’t confidence that Eddie had in himself, it’s confidence he has in Buck. All of his swagger? Is a reflection of how much he believes and enjoys seeing his husband be a star. I am gonna need 3-6 working weeks at least to recover from knowing this. ~~
Speaking of things that destroyed me forever, everything about the Buckley-Diaz family in this ep falls into that category. I mean, not only did we once again have incredibly domestic scenes, we had one that was very reminiscent of the lasagna one in 601 (Eddie with Chris at the table, Buck fussing around them only to join in once he brings along something to be consumed), reinforcing that this is THEIR NORM, we also had Eddie and Chris being so cute and supportive when it comes to Buck’s new ability (Chris calls him a superhero, Eddie goes along with it, and when Buck’s upset he didn’t get a better superpower, naming some he would have liked to have, Eddie comforts him by saying those other options sound horrible).
And then to top it all off, we had Buck and Chris cooking together. Bobby’s been explicitly acknowledged as basically being Buck’s dad by both of them, and we know Bobby’s been teaching Buck how to cook. Now we get Buck doing the same with Chris, clearly marking them as father and son, especially since this is done with just the two of them, this special time that’s allocated just to their bond together. Eddie is not needed as a middleman. I know that this isn’t news, but every single time the show reinforces this truth, that Buck is Christopher’s other dad, that their bond is that deep, I gain 10 years, so I have to mention it. ~~
For 613, I made my weekly gifset about Buck and answers, but I’d actually like to elaborate on what you see there. In 602, at the happiness center call, we see Buck looking to Lev in search for his own answers on what his happiness looks like. When he still can’t find any, he turns to Hen, because she always has them. Along this season, that’s been his theme. He’s trying to figure out what he wants in order to be happy, which is connected to the couch theme we’ve all been screaming about since 601 (and especially after he fell asleep on Eddie’s in 612). In 613, Buck suddenly finds that he’s the guy with the answers and he likes it. But has he really got them? Buck says these words to Eddie and Chris, and in addition to that, while he utters them, he’s literally captured in the same frame together with Eddie. But it’s also essential that we heard why Chris can’t just be given the answers. It’s in order to learn, Eddie tells him. That’s exactly what Buck has to do, he has to find his answers in order to learn from the search process. He’s not just there yet, but the framing of the whole scene coupled with the ongoing couch theme is very loud. ~~
What gets me maybe most of all in a whole ep of REALLY GOOD BUDDIE CONTENT, is the way the whole thing wraps up. The storyline on Buck’s new abilities doesn’t end with any commentary on those or on his recovery process. His last scene in this ep is the one with Chris. It follows directly the one with Hen and Karen, a scene which reminds us that we’re never surprised at either woman spending solo time with and caring about Denny, even though neither is biologically related to him, because they ARE BOTH his parents. In the same way, it’s only natural that we see Buck spending alone time with Chris, without Eddie around. It is so meaningful that the last shot of Buck in this ep is not about his story line at all, and neither his abilities, nor having died for several minutes is the point. Instead, the last, and therefore most significant shot of Buck in this very Buddie domestic ep, is him smiling at their son. I feel like that says everything about his trajectory.
~~ (my weekly meta posts) (my Buddie gifs) (all of my content)
~~ My tag list will follow in the reblog, please let me know if you wanna be added/removed here.
~~ Thank you so much for reading and for any reblog, like, comment or supportive tag! Also, HUGE thank you to @whosoldherout. On top of real life stuff, she makes her own amazing gifs AND helps make these posts so much better. She’s the one with the real superpowers!
#buddie#911meta#buddie meta#911 meta#9-1-1#evan buckley#eddie diaz#911 spoilers#evanbuckleyedit#eddiediazedit#christopher diaz#wm#911edit#buddie gifs#buddieedit#911onabc#911 on abc#911abc#911 abc
855 notes
·
View notes
Note
Link click yapper here sorry but Im dying to know how many lasts/first did CXS forget/never got to experience again. Like I think that CXS did off himself in the flashback LG has when he got shot so I wonder what changed in that timeline for the ending to change (although the results were the same)
TW for discussions of CXS’s suicide
Oohhh so like what differences there was in this timeline from the last? The things CXS experienced the last time around that he won’t be able to experience in the current timeline for the sake of keeping him alive?
(I am in pain. Also note that plot theories are slightly out of my area of expertise - character and theme analysis - but I’ll try my best!)
Okay so this is partially inspired by @snowpoet123’s amazing fic - three time’s the charm - so I think that CXS doesn’t get to experience becoming close with Lu Guang in this timeline, and there MUST be some things he missed there. Not to say that Lu Guang and CXS aren’t as close in the current timeline because they are close in literally every timeline and every medium they are so queer for each other afjaskdfjasd. (I have a whole essay on the trust between them /exaggeration but not by much). So I imagine that CXS would miss a lot of those ‘firsts’ with Lu Guang like… idk what do normal freinds do… okay nevermind what would these two nuerodivergent sillies do… I imagine they would play a lot of basketball and just hang out before and after a lot before they did the whole ‘moving in together and being business partners thing’ (apologies for my pandering the headache is headaching today).
Like in the current timeline he ‘miraculously appeared in their lives’. So I imagine there would be lots of little misadventures - similar to the chibi shorts - before they trusted each other to such a degree. Paticularly in college and such… and I’ll have to see the yingdu arc to be sure but… hmm I imainge tihngs would be different there as well. And I don’t think it’s needs to be dramatic at all, like it would be wonderous if their first tiem around they are just.. there for each other.
I saw this one headcannon where CXS would speak for Lu Guang if Lu Guang didn’t know what to say (in social situations). And I think it would go both ways tbh. With Lu GUang doing things for CXS if CXS is upset (similar to post-ep 5)
… I feel like I’m not answering this right. mmm i’ll come back to this and add more thoughts… after I nap.
OKay what changed for the timeline to change -
If one goes with the ‘Lu Guang didn’t have powers in the first timeline and CXS passed them to Lu Guang when he died in Lu Guang’s arms (very queer of him)’ theory, then they wouldn’t have had their time travel business in the first timeline. Perhaps CXS went on his own through photos, and one can theorize whether he went back in time for the same purpose of getting information from the photos… because a part of me is like: ‘what if he tried to find his parents?’
But considering that CXS brought up the idea of the time travel business to Lu Guang, one can assume he came up with the idea first… and after sleeping my brain still isn’t working sooo I might come back to this.
But perhaps the time travel business originally was CXS diving into photos on his own, Qiao Ling getting clients, and CXS is still becoming friends with Lu Guang.
Without Lu Guang’s guidance, I do imagine CXS might mess around in time, and wouldn’t know the parameters of what can and can’t happen. ANd perhaps because he went back into time on his own, could not tell anyone and didn’t have much support for how emotionally draining the photos are…. perhaps then he dethatched from the world (See CXS post s1ep5) and did off himself because of that.
Lu Guang is horrified because at this point they’ve gotten very close, and he goes back in time to save him. Ta da ta da!
Thank you for the ask!
(My apologies if this is incoherent, I might write some more on this later!)
#link click#cheng xiaoshi#lu guang#qiao ling#shiguang dailiren#shi guang dai li ren#tw sui implied#tw sui talk#noorie answers asks#answered asks
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello! As the Micah Bell HQ and CEO do u have any hcs/analysis on his dynamic & backstory with cleet + joe? How they met, their interactions, reaction to cleet running off, etc. Have a nice day xoxo
Joe, Cleet and Micah.
As the Micah Bell HQ and CEO, I have a few ideas and headcannons about them and the relationship between Micah, Cleet and Joe and their backstory.
And of course, a warning; spoilers for RDR2 and RDR1.
1. Meeting.
2. Backstory.
3. "Joseph" Joe and Cleet
4. Micah's gang
5. Epilogue.
6. Headcannons and Thoughts.
I'll also add information about the topics I talk about, so you can actually use this as another info post like my 'writing Micah' one.
First things first; my analysis and sum of the canon information.
1. Meeting.
We meet Cleet and Joe in the final chapter as Arthur, which is Chapter 6: "Beaver Hollow" at the start of the mission "My Last Boy".
Around Dutch's tent are Micah, Joe, Cleet and Dutch himself when Arthur interrupts, asking who the two men are. In response, Micah say that "We need guns for what's coming", that Cleet and Joe know how to fight and how "it's lucky Micah bumped into 'em". Arthur's response to this is asking Dutch what's going on and what's happening to them; what's happening to Dutch himself. Micah asks Arthur to "show Dutch some respect", and before things can escalate, Eagle Flies interrupts the conversation to ask Arthur, Dutch and anyone that would like to join in to ride with him into their war—which starts the mission gameplay and ends the cutscene.
We don't find out anything about these two men when we meet them, other than their names and skills with firearms, and that they're needed "for whats coming".
2. Backstory.
Per Micah's word, he only came affiliated with Joe and Cleet recently in Chapter 6, having 'bumped into them' and deemed them good enough to help out with whatever next was coming for the gang. Joe and Cleet however, don't seem very close to Micah at all. They don't talk to Micah in camp, seemingly just doing their own thing and practically ignoring the other man. I think that's a very interesting and overlooked detail, seeing as they're supposed to be at least kind-of close to each other if there really is trust between Micah, enough to invite the two men into the gang, but maybe not.
3. "Joseph" Joe and Cleet.
Joe, full name Joseph, is recruited by Micah for the US army train robbery, like Cleet. Joe was definitely more loyal to Micah in comparison to Cleet, seeing as he stayed with Micah until his end; being shot down by John while he was climbing up Mount Hagen to get to Micah. I don't have much more information, as the two of them are very minimal characters in the game.
Cleet wasn't as loyal as Joe and he had more empathy than Joe did, seeing as he left Micah after the killings of that one family with the little girl he had tried saving. If his whole story about that is true, then we know that Cleet was a lot more 'human' than his companion Joe.
With that out of the way, a small fun-fact to fill a gap;
Cleet and Joe each have a tattoo on their chest which says "tout me fait rire", French for "Everything makes me laugh". Cleets' tattoo is a bit more hidden by his neckerchief, but Joe's is more open. This is very interesting and it actually gives us a bit more about their characters; Joe seems more proud of it whereas Cleet hides it, which makes me think it was the formers' idea to get those, and it also shows that they had a strong enough bond for a matching tattoo. Also, they might know French! So that's really cool tbh...
4. Micah's gang.
After the fall-out of the Van der Linde gang, Micah starts up his own gang which includes Cleet—for a while—and Joe. They commit a mass of crime in their path like robbery and murder, which sometimes included dismemberment. Micah himself has taken a massive amount of lives, estimated to be up to two dozen people. His gang becomes very feared by that time, and you can find newspaper talking about it; saying that Micah's horrid actions "rival that of Van der Linde himself".
Cleet fell out of Micah's gang when he killed an entire family during an attack on a homestead at some point between 1899 and 1907. Upon trying to murder a little girl in that assault, Cleet attempted to save her; to which Micah responded by attempting to kill Cleet himself, before Cleet got away.
At some point around 1907, Dutch Van der Linde joined hands with Micah once more to retrieve the money in Blackwater from the botched ferry robbery in 1899.
5. Epilogue
After finding out about Cleet's whereabouts, Sadie visits John at Beechers Hope and gets him to go with her to finish Micah off. Sadie leads Charles and John to the town of Strawberry to find Cleet, who they interrogate while threatening with the rope. He's made to talk by John and Sadie as they stand close-by the level which leads to Cleet's death, if the player chooses to go down that path. He tells us that Micah is up on Mount Hagen, and how he's got a whole gang now. Cleet pleads his case by telling us he tried to stop Micah murdering a family containing a little girl which let to Micah attempting to murder Cleet, before he 'luckily' got away.
Depending on the player's choice, Cleet either gets hanged in front of a small crowd of Valentine residents, or is shot by Sadie.
With the information from Cleet, Sadie, Charles and John set out to into the snow and mountains once more, where the events of RDR2 start. They ride to Mount Hagen when Sadie and Charles get injured, which then leaves John—the player—to fight off Micah's gang on his own. John is almost immediately confronted by Joe and two unknown gang members. After a short talk, John shoots all three down before continuing his way towards Micah. John climbs up the mountain, shooting down any and all of Micah's gang members in the process until he finds Micah at the top before a cabin, and the two quickly get into a shootout where Sadie manages to surprise Micah from behind and holds him at gunpoint. Micah holsters his guns in surrender, but before anything else can happen, Dutch exits the nearby cabin to reveal himself, and aims his revolvers at Sadie and John. In a moment of surprise, Sadie is overpowered by Micah, and the only thing that 'saves' them is Dutch's betrayal of Micah by fatally shooting him in the torso to which Micah says his infamous line: "You shot me pretty good", before being finished off by the player/John.
By the end of the mission, Micah is shot to his death by the mutual effort of Dutch and John, with the former leaving the scene alive until the events of RDR1 transpire.
6. Headcannons and Thoughts.
Finally, what you've been waiting to hear; my thoughts.
First, I want to start at the background—I have a hard time believing Micah didn't know Cleet and Joe prior to events of Beaver Hollow. It's hard for me to even imagine Micah so freely and carelessly introducing two random men he just met into the gang; which is why I'm even more surprised by Dutch who allowed it. It feels very uncharacteristically stupid and risky for Micah's persona, which is why I feel like he already knew Cleet and Joe, but for some reason kept everyone in the dark about it. Maybe he didn't want to be accused of 'doing things behind Dutch's back' like he did for Arthur once Eagle Flies said so during "My Last Boy".
As far as the backstory between the two men and Micah goes, I think there was a lot more to it than randomly stumbling into them one day in 1899—I personally think Cleet and Joe were somewhat similar to what Norman, known as 'Skinny', was to Micah; old acquaintances he used to run with. The only difference was that Micah knew they wouldn't rat on him like Norman did, and so he probably got them in on his entire plan with Dutch and the rest of the gang, maybe even paid them because he knew that, in the end, things would have gone his way, regardless of what happened in-between or as result of his choices of action.
Another detail, one I already mentioned; Cleet and Joe aren't around Micah much inside camp. As I said in my second point, "Backstory", Joe and Cleet spend little to no free time with Micah like you'd expect them to be. That's another part which confuses me. If my previous theory were true, of them knowing one-another beforehand, then I'd expect them to actually be talking to each other and not doing their own stuff. So, why does it seem as if they're ignoring each other? That's where I wish Cleet and Joe weren't minimal characters, because I'm very curious about them and how their relation to Micah was in the game and story.
As far as Cleet running off and leaving Micah's gang goes, I don't think it bothered Micah too much. His gang was full of strong, capable men—just like he's always envisioned for himself. Losing one member over murdering one person, albeit an innocent little girl, just showed Micah that Cleet was more 'weak-minded', and I think that that was actually a positive in Micah's head; it showed him who was too 'weak' in his gang. You could almost call the action a small test. Again, they didn't seem to be so close to Micah, so both Joe and Cleet running off/dying likely didn't mean so much to Micah, at least not after he knew he had the backs and lives of an entire gang in his hands.
Thank you for the lovely ask, anon! I had a lot of fun with gathering all the information and with sharing my own thoughts about Cleet, Joe and their relations to Micah. It's been a pleasure answering, as always.
Sources <3
Joe and Cleet — Villains Wiki
Joe — Separate Wiki
Cleet — Separate Wiki
"My Last Boy" Mission
#rdr2#micah bell#red dead redemption 2#red dead 2#rdr#red dead redemption two#red dead#rdr1#rdr2 community#rdr2 micah#micah bell rdr2#rdr micah#micah bell fic#micah bell x reader#micah bell iii#micah rdr2#red dead redemption micah#dutch and micah#micah rdr#micah ref#micah bell propaganda#micah#joe rdr2#cleet rdr2#ask#asks#answered asks#ask me anons#08melancholie
13 notes
·
View notes
Note
An ONK question that's been on my mind a lot is that what does ch109 serves to the character of Kamiki. The chapter felt out of place to me when it came out, because it's a (supposed) murder and no at all tied to the entertainment industry. It's criminal activity with no nuance. Many read this as an implication that Kamiki has been killing people left right and center and Ai was one of his victims. But... Now I wonder if this is a retcon of some kind. Yura's death was mentioned once (1) after the chapter and I kept wondering how the heck is it possible for Kamiki, a pretty high profile guy in the industry, to be going around killing other high profile people without anyone noticing. It also doesn't feel like the current ONK plot is leaning towards "Kamiki is a psychopath murderer". Don't get me wrong, I like what we know about Kamiki now and how his past shaped him. It feels more in line with the theme of ONK. It's just hard for me to forget that a woman died on screen! I want to know your thoughts on how this might play out / tie into his character? Your character analysis are always on point & your HKAI posts helped me processed a lot of the 15YL plotline.
NGL at this point I really don't know what to make of it LOL. Back when I was first trying to figure out what was going on with Kamiki, I revisited that chapter and actually came away feeling pretty certain that he hadn't actually killed Yura and the presentation there was a red herring to make him seem more actively villainous to the reader and mislead us as to what his intentions were.
Part of this was because we had gotten the reveal of his victimisation at Airi's hands shortly before this chapter (just shy of 10 chapters before, iirc?) and that reveal combined with Akane's revolted horror in reaction to putting those pieces together had me pretty sure we were heading towards a place of Kamiki being portrayed as sympathetic and someone to emphasize with. Thus, it would be weirdly incongruous with that setup for him to also be a yandere serial killer who was wandering around sniping sparkly actresses.
The other (and tbh, probably more influential in hindsight) factor was that we don't actually see Kamiki killing her. The chapter being set up to make him so overtly suspicious while refusing to show him actually committing murder ironically made me less inclined to think he was responsible for Yura's death. The way I interact with murder mysteries and also just like, fiction in general is pretty much entirely filtered through the ways Umineko specifically and When They Cry as a whole warped my brain and the way 109 was presented read to me exactly like the sort of narrative trick R07 would have used to make a character look suspicious of something they didn't actually do.
Now though… I really dunno lol. Like you said, it feels out of place - not just in Kamiki's arc but in the story as a whole. My best guess is that Akasaka maybe did originally intend to write Kamiki as a serial killer targeting women who would surpass Ai but in the process of actually putting his arc to paper, he evolved into a different character for whom that kind of arc wouldn't make sense. Which I actually prefer! The Kamiki we get in the manga feels a lot more nuanced and human to me compared to the yandere Light Yagami serial killer mastermind people were making up in their heads. But it also means that Yura's death is this weird snarl that I don't think Akasaka knows how to reconcile.
Actually - literally as I was writing that I suddenly realised, this might be why Nino suddenly came out of nowhere and started being written like she was? Akasaka has said in the past that he's had OnK's ending in his head for a really long time and I can't help but wonder now if part of that ending involved the twins' father playing an antagonistic role that ultimately did not suit the character that he became. So the character's antagonistic traits and role in the endgame were grafted onto Nino because she happened to fit the bill.
15 notes
·
View notes
Note
Now that you have read the ZimVoid arc, what are your toughts on Zib and Za2r (Zib❤Zim2[2im{twoim}])?
I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!! alright, maybe I was definitely going to say this all anyway, but now I have a decent excuse to braindump it all at once instead of trying to write, I don't know, coherent analysis.
Yeah, I'm obsessed with this guy. I'm still only just starting to build a proper 3D model of him in my head, so don't take anything I rave about here too seriously, but my god is Zib something else. Also, really cute. No one told me he'd be cute and I wasn't at all equipped to deal with what I got. I was operating under the assumption he was going to be at least a LITTLE cool, but this is the most pathetic wet meow meow of a character I have ever seen, and that is no small statement.
(Also also, is it just me, or does the way Zib's drawn remind anyone else of rubber hose animation like, moreso than the comics artstyle generally does? I can't quite pin down what's making it feel that way, but I like it. Gives him Vibes™, y'know?)
Anyway. Fusions like Zib are always going to be fun, just for what they imply about their component characters and the game of trying to identify what characteristics come from where. And Zib is especially fun for this because Zim and Dib are such similar people to begin with. It honestly doesn't surprise me that the Zimfluence went initially unnoticed by our Dib, not just because he's more prone to cognitive bias than he likes to believe, but because there are so many overlapping traits between these two guys that Zib wasn't so much altered by the fusion as he was exacerbated. They blend seamlessly to the point it's really hard to pick out where one ends and the other begins, and in a different kind of story, Dib might actually be forced to reflect on what that implies about him and his motivations. As is, he's just going to keep fooling himself, though.
Probably the most obvious dichotomy between them, at least where it applies to Zib, is motive, and that definitely brings up some interesting questions. When he chooses to take over the Earth, is that the Zim side disguised by Dib-passing justifications, or does it say a whole lot more about Dib's actual loyalty to the Earth against his loyalty to opposing Zim than anyone would really like it to? How about the total lack of internal conflict when it comes to decimating the Armada and wrecking the Irken Empire? What does that say about Zim's ultimate loyalties?
Granted, I am at this point pretty certain Zib didn't just put on the PAK and call it a day, I think he took precautionary measures to ensure that the Dib half remained the 'dominant' personality, given that in 10 Minutes to Doom we see him completely subsumed by Zim's coding, so this isn't a perfect equal split. But it is still a split—Zib clearly did not have the foresight to account for everything, if he even wanted to—and the fact he prepared himself for this is itself interesting, because it means the decision was premeditated, not done on a whim during some momentary mental break. This might even be why he's half-Irken; instead of the PAK altering his biology, maybe Zib altered his biology so it could survive the long-term integration of the PAK. And isn't it just insane to imagine any version of Dib willingly body-horroring himself like that, stripping away his own humanity? When he accused our Dib of being just another ignorant human, could that maybe be a sign that he didn't want to have anything in common with those people anymore?
None of this is what really gets me about Zib, though. This is.
Admittedly, I'm sort of predisposed here, because I have this whole Thing about Dib's unfaltering belief he can somehow prove himself to humanity, despite all evidence to the contrary, being in essence identical to Zim's delusion that he's already adored by all... that's it's whole own post, tbh, but my point is Dib's ostracization wouldn't be solved by exposing Zim, and it's fun to see that explicitly confirmed.
But it's also more specific than that. Because what Zib was forced to realize here is that he destroyed the only person capable of actually caring about him. And that's why the Zimvoid is the Zimvoid, isn't it? Zib could've used those portals to escape anywhere or lure in anything, but instead he does this. Part of that's the obsessive need to succeed where he'd previously failed and decimate the Armada (+ repeatedly 'defeat' Zim because he's still too emotionally stunted to understand that's not actually what he needs), and I think all of that is important, but there's also something to be said about how deeply driven Dib is by the desire for external validation, and here he went and fused himself with the one person in the universe who might be even more love-hungry than he is. Zib's not afraid of being alone simply because he dislikes isolation—I mean, even within the Zimvoid, he still physically and ESPECIALLY emotionally isolates himself from the other Zims. Being the only person left in his reality means there's no one to admire his greatness, and given who he's a combination of, of course that's his worst nightmare. And ridiculous as it may be, he understands that Zim is the only person who's ever given him that kind of attention. So why not make a whole planet of them? Why not trick them into idolizing him? I mean, who else could even matter besides Zim?
Also? This one's sort of auxiliary to the last point, but there is something deeply, deeply sexy and thematically chewy in Dib wanting/needing Zim so badly that he quite literally became him, and that not being enough. I mean, what is the Zimvoid but a huge collector's display? And it's exactly this that makes him the architect of his own ultimate tragedy. I have a thing for characters who damn themselves not through any single choice, but by passing up a million little opportunities to save themselves, totally confident in their decisions right up til the moment it actually is too late. He could've used those portals to escape to another timeline. He could've designed the Zimvoid as anything other than a ticking timebomb of lies, conflict, and an ever inflating population of lunatics. He could've given up on his destructive plans and just enjoyed the huge fucked up harem he built for himself. He could've quit while he was ahead.
And the really funny thing is, even after the collapse of the Zimvoid, his total isolation is still a consequence of his own actions. I mean, the Zim from his own timeline literally cannot be taken away from him through any method short of murder. He's still right there. But by winning, by possessing his Zim to the point of consumption, Zib defeated the entire purpose of having Zim in the first place. They'll never be separated, and that's exactly the reason why he'll always be alone.
As for ZA2R... hm. I'm not sure if I have much to say about them just yet, but suffice to say I am Deeply Compelled. I'm always weak for that (false) god x worshipper dynamic. It's about someone as lonely and broken and closed off as Zib finding out the hard way that they're still capable of genuine love, no matter how bad they are at it, and there's something very special in every Zim's desire to be someone's favorite being so specifically exploited. I mean, the dynamic of highest subordinate is essentially identical to the one Zim likes to imagine he has with the Tallest, only actually real. Dishonest and exploitative, to be sure, but still real. And hey, important question, but what about #2's personal Dib and the fact Zib is always going to be implicitly competing against the person actually cosmically destined for his partner, because he fucked his own cosmic destiny up so badly? Or the inevitable spectacle of Dib's semi-latent yandere tendencies being brought to bear against himself?
Also! Shameless Homestuck chatter, but I take so much joy in pale ZADR dynamics (black diamond romance my beloved), and the fun thing about ZA2R is that their default pacifier/pacified dynamic swaps. In, uh, normal person terms, they've managed to contrive themselves a situation in which Zim is actually the comparatively sane/stable one, keyword comparatively, and being worked to death about it. There's nothing I love more than a justified role reversal, y'know?
THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT FOR NOW but like I've been thinking about these guys nonstop for 24 hours already, I WILL be losing my mind about them again. I don't know when, I don't know how, but it's gonna happen.
38 notes
·
View notes
Text
Penny Polendina’s theme in V8 and V9 (RWBY)
Heyo !! I wrote this long analysis about Penny on Twitter and thought I could share it here as well o/
So this is a little silly analysis of mine about my feeling about how Penny was depicted in V8 and V9 :]
NOTE : 1) Don't take all of that really seriously, this is simply a "fun" little analysis and my OWN view on the subject. This is just how I feel considering the infos we got on Penny during V9 !
2) This is also probably delusional AND I know it
3) So there's not need to come and tell me "shE Ain'T ComInG bAck >:[[[[[[", we can disagree but please give me your opinion and arguments if you'd like to discuss about it ♥
Anyway, for 2 years after V8 finale I felt probably like most people : "Penny is gone for good, she ain't coming back, this is gonna be a big deal for Ruby in V9 but I guess that's it". I knew that Penny's 2nd death was going to be a big thing for Ruby and I expected it like everyone.
I rewatched Penny's death at the end of V8 and it truly felt like a farewell, a goodbye forever, I mean she got stabby stab from Cinder and chose to ask Jaune to kill her to give the powers to Winter. To me there wasn't any going back after that :[
And even when I'm writing it rn I feel like this thread is probably useless as I can feel how much of a goodbye it felt, and even more with the song "Friend" adding more pain :]] Especially with these lines :
And with Penny's soul linked to the Winter Maiden powers, now linked to Winter's soul, I guess it felt like a point of no return. It *still* feels like it tbh.
But Volume 9 changed my view on all of that and that's not because I'm an Nuts and Dolts shipper aha. I'm truly trying to speak objectively and to take out my ship glasses-
I expected Penny's theme to be huge for Ruby, but I didn't expect it to be THAT huge and present throughout the entiere volume. Almost every chapter we got a reference, an allusion, an element linked to Penny, a vision, and finally an illusion made by Neo.
I'll try to list all of them :
Chapter 1 - It was pretty much expected, but Ruby learned Penny's 2nd death a this moment. The start of her true breakdown I guess-
Chapter 2 - Basically the 1st Nuts and Dolts chapter of this volume lmao One of the main key of this episode was Ruby finding Penny's sword, which added to her pain even if she tried to move on pretty fast after.
Chapter 3 - The guards tell about the swords, the Red Prince ditch the sword and Ruby's not okay with that-
No mention of her during Chapter 4, so Chapter 5 - Ruby finds Penny's sword at the Blacksmith, and there's this weird line and moment I'll talk about later
Chapter 6 - Penny's reflection in the water, related to Jaune's guilt and trauma over her fate
Chapter 7 - Ruby's PTSD striking while the Jabberwalker attacks her, and she sees a vision of Penny hacked at the Schnee manor, right before they helped her and executed their plan for her and Atlas (also, Jaune talked about his feelings about what happened with her)
Chapter 8 - Penny illusion made by Neo, attacking and talking to Ruby And no mention of her in Chapters 9 and 10. So except for Chapters 4, 9 and 10, Penny was mentioned EVERY chapter.
Now I know what some of you might think, this was mostly to set up Ruby's breakdown and make her spiralling because it's such a big deal for her, and you're totally right. Penny was used mostly to accentuate Ruby's pain.
And I know that I said (in another Twitter thread) that I wasn't fully satisfied with the finale because of that theme not being addressed after having her presence throughout the whole volume, I think I needed a reminder about production and budget. I think I'll feel satisfied with V9 finale if Penny's theme have some closure in V10 or V11 with Ruby, Pietro, Jaune and Winter in Vacuo. I imagine that with V9 finale this isn't just “everyone is so happy”, this is just the beginning of healing.
Anyway, if we don't have any closure in the next volumes THEN I'll say that I'm disappointed, but I doubt this wouldn't be addressed at all after such a volume and how much V8 finale was. But yeah, V9 finale had to focus on Ruby.
So, even if Penny's presence throughout V9 is mostly to add some layers on Ruby and Jaune's pain and trauma/breakown, I truly feel like the message from this volume is still in complete opposition with stuff we knew so far.
Tbh until V9 I really thought one of the main message of RWBY was that life AND death were important, and that death was inevitable and couldn't be avoided, like in our world. That death can be cruel and happen anytime to even the most precious souls. And it is in fact, keep moving forward aren't just some cute words, it's a true motto of the show. But the thing is that for Pyrrha, I never felt we had any hope or confirmation that she could come back, and we had a closure for her in Volume 6 with the scene at the statue. And by learning about the Gods in V6 as well, I thought that no one in this show was probably going to be back (except fo Ozma who reincarnates).
The thing with V9 is that we discover that the “Gods”, who set up their rules of life and death without any reincarnation and no dead can come back, aren't actually Gods but made by the REAL RWBY God, in a world where reincarnation is THE thing. 🫠
And again, I know that the theme of rebirth was focused on Ruby this volume, that she had to go through that journey to understand that she's human, she's not perfect, she's enough just as she is and can do her best.
But Penny's theme this volume still kinda unsettled me as I didn't expect it to be so present. Truly when you rewatch the Volume idk if it's because I'm biased or something but I see it everywhere. The thing again is that we didn't get any closure for her. We got so much references and scenes for her, and no closure (idk if it's because of budget or intentional tho).
There are a few moments that also seem pretty weird/confusing to me :
1) It was confirmed by the script that when Ruby wakes up on the Ever After, it was Penny's voices calling her 3 times. But those screams are different from the one when Penny and Blake see Ruby falling in V8 finale. I listened again and while one of them seems similar, the others are different. So are those screams we didn't hear as a viewer ? But it still feels weird to add them as if she remembered them when we never heard them. Maybe those screams were just Ruby waking up and her mind mixing everything, but it's still kinda odd to me.
2) Another weird scene and probably the one that interests me the most, is when Ruby meets the Blacksmith in Chapter 5. I still don't really know how to fully analyse or understand this scene tbh-
We know the Blacksmith is a "representation of the Tree", so why does she have Penny's sword ? How does she even have Summer's weapon ? Why does Penny's blade turn into Alyx' dagger ? Why does Penny's reflection seem real and Ruby actually sees it, meaning it's not just an effect to tell us that this sword reminds Ruby or her ? And most importantly, when Ruby asks her how she got Penny's blade, the Blacksmith answers :
Why does Penny's reflection seem real and Ruby actually sees it, meaning it's not just an effect to tell us that this sword reminds Ruby or her ? And most importantly, when Ruby asks her how she got Penny's blade, the Blacksmith answers : "nothing, no one, is ever truly lost". Truly as a viewer and even when trying not to be a Penny or NND stan, I can't help but think that this opens a lot of doors for interpretation. What does that mean exactly ?
Knowing the nature of the Ever After, does she mean that literally ? That Penny's not lost as we all thought in V8 finale ? Or is that metaphorical ? She then says "And you, are you lost ?" so it feels like the first answer wasn't supposed to be about Ruby but about Penny's sword. Before the Blacksmith asks Ruby if she's lost, Ruby looks at the sword in a pensive expression and she sees Penny's reflection. Almost as if she was thinking about what the Blacksmith just said.
But what is the use of these reflections ? If it's not just an effect for the viewer but also something Ruby can see, what does that mean ? There is obviously a link between weapons and identity/characters here
Another thing that confuses me too is the fact that Penny's sword is changed into Alyx' dagger. So were these weapons only illusions ? Does the Blacksmith really have Penny's sword, of even Summer's axe ?
3) Another thing more subtle that apparently not everyone catched, is the leitmotiv from Ruby's talk about Penny in Chapter 2 that comes back during the finale when Ruby choses herself. I edited the 2 scenes so people can hear it and compare, here’s the link to the video on Twitter :
https://twitter.com/EtincelleArt/status/1652360420462587905?s=20
Why this OST in particular ? We know that Penny is linked to the themes of hope but also choice/freedom. Maybe this is how it is supposed to be a parallel for Ruby choosing to keep her hope and to do her best. But I can't help but think that it is still a bit sus to hear this leitmotiv again in such a big moment during the finale. Especially when we got no mention or vision of her for the last two chapters.
We also had themes that are related to her a lot such a friendship and kindness with Little, souls moving on to their next life (Penny has a soul, "her soul is who she is").
I just have this feeling that so much is related to Penny this volume, it feels like it's on purpose so the viewer is grieving her as much as Ruby does :')) But nothing really felt "conclusive" in the end. Again maybe this conclusion will be for later, once Ruby is able to talk with Pietro, since we know he most likely got to Vacuo with Maria as Amity appeared to be fixed and floating in the sky at the end of V9.
But again it links with other thread I've done about Pietro (I’ll probably post it here too on Tumblr) : what about him ? Would he be able to grieve Penny a second time ? How would he handle the 2nd time losing Penny ?
I'm not necessarily saying that Penny will come back blablabla ‘(still praying and high on hope and copium tho), but it's STILL a feeling and I hope that I get after watching Volume 9 when I basically accepted the fact that she was dead in V8 :'))
After V8 I was (and I'm still in someway) part of those who thought that she shouldn't come back a 3rd time, her arc was completed, her death made sense, she made a choice. Truly I couldn't see how her being back would be a good thing. Most importantly, I was scared that her being back again would invalidate everything that happened during V8 and the fact that she chose for herself. It's still one of the reasons for why I'm conflicted about this whole thing :'))
Depending on how it's done with the writing, NOW that we know what we know about the RWBY lore, the origins, the Tree, the Ever After, the Blacksmith, Ascension, I *could* see it happen. Of course my fan side is like omg yes I'd like her back please please. My writer side before V9 was like "no I love her but it's a bad move". Now I'm more like depending on how it's executed, I might accept it.
I mean, her being back in V7 didn't erase all the pain, suffering and mourning we (as viewers) had to go through with Ruby and other characters. It worked and kept intact all the time we spent asking if she was going to be back or not.
Knowing how much the theme or reincarnation/rebirth is everywhere in the Ever After, it changes my view on the RWBY universe because life and death aren't just the only options there. There are different rules
She might come back, she might not come back, I just wanted to express how this volume made me feel about this specific theme. It gives us such a different message compared to Penny's death in V8 :']]
I mean of course this volume is brighter than V8 but after a volume where a character just can't escape death even after fighting for SO LONG, we finally have some light and hope about a possibility of MAYBE her being alive could happen.
(Just my own feelings again) From the start during her Atlas arc, Penny :
- got framed
- was forced to take the Winter Maiden powers she didn't want
- was attacked by Cinder
- was forced to leave her friends to do things she didn't want to
- was hacked by Watts
- was killed again
Her ENTIERE ARC was tragic and even if Penny's character is optimistic, joyful, friendly, she's a fighter and she has hope, she sees beauty in a lot of things, she *still* never got the chance to truly live the life she wanted to live. So with what we got from V9, I see only two options :
- she's revived SOMEHOW and finally get the chance to live as it was kinda implied in V9
- she stays dead and her character stays so tragic and painful aaaah-
As for *how* she could come back at some point, I have my few ideas but I don't really want to get into that rn, it was mostly about how everything about her felt odd in V9 compared to V8 truly.
To finish on a hopeful and delusional word : "things always come in threes" :p
#rwby#rwby theory#rwby analysis#analysis#penny#penny polendina#ruby#ruby rose#rwby volume 8#rwby v8#rwby volume 7#rwby v7#rwby volume 9#rwby v9#spoilers rwby volume 9#nuts and dolts#thread
53 notes
·
View notes
Text
an attempt of analysis of the bloody karte's eleventh episode; copy-pasted from a discord server
tbh while the gif i have lovingly dubbed "catherine 9/11" has absolutely brought me more laughs than this it has also led to my thoughts on the episode of the bloody karte it is from as a climax of her own arc and how, even if beyond saving of their own measure and faults, the residents of gregory house, in any form, are just as under gregory's manipluation as any regular guest who ends up there by chance. linking the episode it is from just in case and for context's sake while i write;
youtube
while the side-season's setting of a hospital might seme odd at first, it's kind of quickly obvious as well as outright confirmed that it is merely another form of the reality that these little freaks have always been a part of for the main show, just in a different form, a different building. also made obvious by how the last train functions and all but i feel like the biggest tell is actually the opening for the bloody karte sharing exterior decor with the loading screen for gregory house as a hotel from lost qualia; it really is only much different on the inside, which compliments the focus on catherine quite well. speaking of, onto her after all of that.
anyways, the episode's beginning and, abck to what started all of this thinking; the scene of a plane exploding right within her eyes. this is definetly meant to be taken as a sign to her, with the whole dimension being in some way, still controlled by gregory and all. but the sheer time it took from her to lament about her paths that seem exclusive to each other to that sign -- enough to, well, Obviously shake her up a bit ! but i really do wonder if this was intentional signage. to not think about it too hard, and yet, to not let it slide into fate's hands ever so. she does have at least a slight belief in superstitions if the collectable blood horoscopes in soul collecter are a sign as well.
onto what i want to actually get onto dissecting, though. that same issue of not trusting fate -- and her temporary decision to attempt leaving her position in order to seek what she truly wants despite her disturbing nature of aquiring it, the many failed attempts already within the bloody karte to take love into her own hands.
but, of course, the path of no return had been reached long ago by catherine, if not obvious by not only the fact that she is there in such a reptilian form in the first place, and everything else, but by the bloody karte existing as a season in the first place; in a more meta nature, catherine is pretty important as a character i feel to naomi himself -- more appearances than most, at least, as well as being one of few characters with a Name name, rather than a name that is more a title than anything.
and glorious shoutout both to catherine's rather pretty suitcase, as well as dr. fritz' kind of hysterical reaction to all of this being a relief about it. sorry fritz you're kind of stuck with her until the next episode where you get hit by a taxi and all of that can you wait a few minutes....
but also the sheer power of gregory over his own guests is not to be understated; his immediete rejection of her own path. such is the nature of gregory, honestly -- while his own murmoring might be to try and lead somebody somewhere, well. Don't Fucking Go There. but again, we are talking about a woman who's fate was sealed -- her destructive nature to be continued, lest the hotel and the lost world as a whole loses one of its most notable, powerful inhabitants.
and like YEAH gregory kind of has a point with how she already did love her career and these patients she claims to want to help, and YES there can always be both but like. The Cycle. Ohhhhh the Cycle of it all. and the way this love is expressed, well, we already know how abhorrent she is <3 even if i, personally, love her back for it, but maybe it is also the nature of the lost world that i shall never be let in it …
but ALL of this leading to that honestly more main-season esque scene of so, so many of the men, some of which we never see otherwise in the bloody karte, collasped on the hallway, a victim to that sickening love. and even if gregory does remorse about his regret with that, i do feel like such would differ if he just wasn't on the recieving end of it. refer to...catherine's first appearance in the nightmare begins, with the two speaking of leaving the first guest half-alive, half-dead -- he's in on this, and she's in on him.
ok i'm kind of losing steam here and it's not like i'm trying to say ohhhh catherine did nothing wrong because i wouldn't BE here if she did nothing wrong but like. somebody please understand what the fuck i am on about here. There's So Much To Be Said About Catherine Nine Eleven Gif.
#gregory horror show#catherine ghs#gregory ghs#the bloody karte#ghs the bloody karte#dr. fritz#dr. fritz ghs#nephro.txt#nephro.pdf#Youtube
6 notes
·
View notes
Note
🖊️ I remember hatinggg showing anyone my writing back when I used to write consistently lol
📖 (book, not sure if that was the right emoji lmao) Ik atm this fic is its own thing but do you have any one shots or other things you’d like to write for dad!lando in the future? I feel like if I ended up wiring a 100k word fic I’d never be able to stop thinking of more and more scenarios for them lol
Hope you are doing well!
- og dad!Lando anon again :)
🔒 [Lock] Would you let your family, friends, or other people you know in real life read your WIP?
NO ! i'd actually rather poke my own eyes out tbh. the main explanation there is that nobody in my real life knows that i even like fanfiction or participate in fan communities, let alone that i WRITE fic in an rpf fandom. my family is largely rlly conservative and religious and i don't have irl friends who i trust with this kind of info about me lmao. there's literally one person in my whole life who i've known irl and talked to about fandom stuff, and even then, she was into like... canon het ships, so i never got in the nitty gritty of it.
separately, yes, i hate when people read my creative writing. i've never minded sharing my analytical stuff (research papers from college etc), mainly because i think i'm better at it than most people i know? which sounds egotistical, but operationally just means nobody was really in a position to criticize my literary analysis bc none of them knew enough theory to be like 'actually that's not what xyz scholar meant by that.' additionally, i write 27425304284 words every week for work and everyone reads them and idgaf bc again, i think i'm pretty good at that part of my job. sharing CREATIVE work is mortifying. i think if anybody ever criticized it in any way i would burst into very real tears. it's why i don't have ppl proof my stuff or pre-read it, like i actually ONLY want to know people's opinions on my stuff if they are complimentary and through the internet, otherwise i will dissolve into a puddle of self-critical goo. i haven't shared creative writing voluntarily outside of a classroom since i was like nine years old.
📚 [Books] Is this WIP part of a series or standalone?
short answer, yes, dad lando will probably be a 'verse at some point. I'm not planning anything else CLOSE to the length of the main/original fic, but i have at least three or four one-shot ideas that i might write down the line. i talked about enough out-of-scope stuff in early dad lando asks that i have ideas just sitting around about older emma - the second child thing, the emma in the paddock thing, exploring emma and oscar's relationship when it's strong - and additionally there's a landoscar wedding plot knockin around in my brain among other assorted future-y things for lando, osc and emma. not guaranteeing anything bc i have nooooo idea how i'm gonna feel when this is done and out there, but i'd say odds are better than not!
ty dad lando anon <3
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Finished my Mr. Robot rewatch the other night... thoughts
First of all like. God this show fucking rules. It may not be my most favorite show or the show I have the most to say about, but I think it may be the most consistently high-quality show I've ever watched. They had a vision, they knew the story they wanted to tell, and they executed on it and barely ever dropped the ball.
The only thing that I liked significantly less this time was honestly some of the political commentary, and that's more due to the ~changing times~ than the show itself. The grand conspiracy stuff, all the parts about how a shadowy group (led by a Chinese government official) controlled the world and installed autocrats and owned governments, it all just reads very differently post-COVID. Obviously there were conspiracy theories in 2015-2019, but it feels like the show validates them in a way that's kind of uncomfortable now that they're so much more mainstream.
I also am a lot more familiar with DID than I was the first time I watched, so I had a better handle on what exactly was happening between all of Elliot's personalities. The finale, which I remembered being good but somewhat confusing, was much more clear - Mr Robot and Krista pretty much sit down and Explain It All To You, and while the show doesn't use terms like "fronting" and "integration," having that general knowledge made things very understandable. This is a show that learned from the mistakes of Lost (a show that I love deeply) - they make it VERY clear in the last episode which parts are real and which aren't, that what happened in the show actually happened and while there's room for a little ambiguity, it doesn't affect what was real and what wasn't.
I mentioned in another post that I love how every character is a freak, and I stand by that analysis, but I have to emphasize it in particular for the women on this show. The women are so interesting and well-written and fully-realized, and a lot of that comes from the contrast between their strengths and their weaknesses. I love that Darlene puts up a cold front and pushes people away because she's insecure but she's desperately looking for someone to trust. I love that Angela is her foil, someone who's trusting to the point of constantly people-pleasing and being manipulated and tries to make space for her own needs. I love that Dom is a relentless investigator whose brain is always working in overdrive, to the point where she's an absolute train wreck in private, who can't sleep and can't make friends and barely has time to eat or clean. I could go on for every character in the whole show, of all genders, but women are so often neglected in shows like this that it's great to see them full-fledged.
Elliot's closing monologue really got me this time; I've been having a bit of a rough time brain-wise so a good dose of "even when you mess up and make bad decisions and push people away, you are still worthy of love and happiness and the world is changed just by having you in it" was something I really needed to hear tbh. I really love Elliot's character, and especially that he has this optimistic streak that feels so rare for a generally very dark show. Even when his more proximate motivation is revenge or anger, he does everything while believing that he can improve the world, that everyone deserves to be happy and free.
Anyway! I don't have a good way to wrap this up lol, long rambly meta over. I feel like I've drifted away from actually posting meta/general analysis/personal thoughts here because I'm pretty uninterested in engaging in The Discourse, but that just means I end up writing in my Google docs and no one ever sees it, so I might try to start posting more of this stuff again.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
15 Questions for 15 People
@locke-n-k3y thanks for the tag :] ah hm tbh I feel like my answers for these might be a bit boring but let's see...
1. Are you named after anyone?
Yes! (Referring to my legal name- which I still use), I was named after a character from the soap opera "General Hospital" haha.
2. When was the last time you cried?
Last week lol- which was... The first time in a couple months? It was nice but not enough.
3. Do you have kids?
Absolutely not. Never lol.
4. What sports do you play/have you played?
Never did any sports outside of gym class! Not formally, anyways. I do workout (mostly strength/weight training) fairly regularly... But I don't think that really counts here lol. :0 Been thinking a lot lately about picking up boxing.
5. Do you use sarcasm?
Yup! irl I often go for a sort of deadpan delivery of my sarcasm- what I've learned from other people is that I'm a little too good at that (I sometimes say very ridiculous things very convincingly). I won't usually specify unprompted that I'm being sarcastic, but you're always welcome to ask. Not as sarcastic online in general, however.
6. What's the first thing you notice about people?
Irl? Hmm. Hard to say. Maybe: eyes, voice, posture.
Online? Typing/texting style I suppose!
7. What's you're eye color?
Dark brown 👁
8. Scary movies or happy endings?
Not mutually exclusive lol. But, happy endings. I don't "dislike" tragedies but I'm not actively drawn to them either.
9. Any talents?
HM. I mean obviously I have things I'm good at but I'm never quite sure what differentiates a "talent" from a "skill". I suppose a lot of friends have said something to the effect of me being "good at reading minds" haha- also "good at explaining things" which is debatable but sweet lol.
10. Where were you born?
Halifax! Which I feel fine saying cause I haven't lived there for a long time lol. A foggy fishing city that I miss even now.
11. What are your hobbies?
I guess a large chunk of what I do on this blog counts as hobbies? Writing (whether it's fiction or analysis or shitposts), drawing, audio clipping and editing apparently (though much of that I just keep to myself- same for drawing tbh). :] I've also gotten into making iron-on patches. Tabletop and video games for sure but... Neither as much as I'd like these days. I tend to collect a lot of things as well- most notably coins.
12. Do you have any pets?
I've had MANY pets of many different species- but currently just my cat Bok! I do tend to take care of my older sister's bunny a lot too though.
13. How tall are you?
5'4, which all my 6'0 friends love teasing me over 😒. I've been told that I "seem taller from the way [I] carry myself", however. (Despite everything, I'm actually fine with my height!)
14. Favorite subject in school?
When I was completing my bachelor's (in computer science) I was particularly drawn to graphics-related stuff! In highschool my fave was definitely drama haha (gee I miss it tbh).
15. What is your dream job?
I HAVE NO IDEA no idea and that's kind of my issue rn tbh. Plenty of things that seem interesting, but I don't think I'm the kind of person who could have the same job for my whole life, no matter how perfect it is. I'll presumably end up in something programming-related eventually, though it's not what I'm looking for now. OH OKAY ACTUALLY dream job? Probably doing video essays (or possibly let's plays) on Youtube haha.
15 PEOPLE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE TO TAG AND I ALWAYS FEEL SO SHY TAGGING PEOPLE IN GAMES and I have no idea who's been tagged already ahaha UM NO PRESSURE WHATSOEVER!!! @llumimoon @happi-tree @kaseyskat @abeinginsand @nolassolace @goldturnedgray @swiffin @insomaniiiac @meiwks @calamity-unlocked @coolfire333 @supremely-unsupervised @b1gwings @giraffeskull There! 15! Tried to get a few new people in there lol. But fr no stress!
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ayyy, I’m back on my bullshit with my BG3 fic! Just about to hit 86k words. Good god.
Still struggling to comprehend that. And still have about two chapters to go. Eh, maybe 1.5. I’m thinking it’ll end around 95k. Maybe 100k. (・ω・`)………..
Those numbers sound wildly fake. Especially how up until this fic, I’d never written anything longer than maybe 55k.
I can’t believe I’m finally reaching the end. Just a month or two ago, I was convinced I might never finish it with how bad my analysis paralysis was.
The whole reason I even started posting it was because my therapist suggested it as a way to help me out of the OCD spiral it was sending me into. I had fully intended not to post any of it until it was completely finished because I was terrified I’d never finish it.
…def don’t have unfinished shit haunting me decades later from ff.net…
Somehow my most popular fic on there was an InuYasha one from my MAJOR InuYasha brain rot days. God, Sesshomaru lived rent free in my head for fucking YEARS.
I am so fucking distraught with how they decided to handle his character arc. There is SO MUCH Sesshomaru merch out there this day and age. I would have lost my fucking mind as a teen if it had been available then. But I just can’t enjoy it now.
Like, no shade to those who are happy with how he wound up with Rin. I’m just not one of them. I just personally feel like it was a missed opportunity for both of their character arcs and also imho…he was pretty much her dad, so it just doesn’t sit right with me. Especially with how young she was when he took her in…
Would’ve loved to see her wind up with Kohaku like it felt they were going to. I also really loved Sesshomaru and Kagura together too (minus the whole uh…her no longer being around thing).
God my life fucking revolved around that show for literal years. Pretty much all of high school. Maybe some of middle school? I don’t remember 100% when I started watching it.
Idk if it was a special interest or a hyperfocus or what. It doesn’t happen to me often (despite what it might seem like on here). POTO hit me around the same time (when I was 16) and then there was a gap until Pacific Rim with a brief Transformers interlude in between.
The fact it’s happened again recently with BG3, Hazbin, and borderline IWTV is fucking wild to me. Like oh yeah, I get obsessed with shit but there’s obsessed and then there is Obsessed™. It might not look that different from an outside perspective, but good god it is BAD on the inside.
I fucking LOVE IWTV but I’m not hunting down every single microscopic bit of lore I can find for it.
Hazbin and BG3 tho? Good fucking god. I am desperate to consume anything I can fucking find. I am watching interviews, reading veritable dissertations on them, I am thinking about them non-fucking-stop.
You can gauge my true level of derangement by:
1. Have I written fanfic about it?
2. How much fanfic have I written about it?
IWTV is an A Tier obsession for me. BG3 and Hazbin? That shit is S Tier.
Not that I write fanfic for everything S Tier, case in point Stardew Valley, but yeah…there’s a fucking reason I have fucking 7 Pacific Rim fanfics under my belt.
And right now I’ve got a multi-chapter Hazbin crack fic cooking on the side that’s already about to hit 9k words. It is wildly self-indulgent but damn if I’m not enjoying every fucking second of it.
Maybe one day I’ll get back to the modern day Phantom AU I started back at the end of January. It’s got 5k on it. My only real concern with it tho is I worry about drifting too close to Binary, my fave POTO fanfic of all time. And, tbh, a solid contender for my fave fic of all time in general. The number of times I have read that masterpiece.
Fuck. Cannot recommend it enough if you’re a POTO fan. It is a goddamn work of art.
But yeah, being so close to finishing this BG3 fic is such a weird feeling. It kind of makes me want to peel my skin off and flee into the woods? But I think it’ll also be really fucking good for me. And I can’t believe I’m about to do it. It’s fucking terrifying lol. My OCD is NOT HAPPY.
I can take “comfort” in the fact I still have 9 weeks of editing ahead of me tho I guess? (ಥ﹏ಥ) Maybe that’ll shut my goddamn fucking OCD up with its chants of “you never finish anything, you’ll never finish this, best to give up now, easier to give it up than fight through until the end, you should give it up before everyone comes to their senses and realize it’s awful” blah blah blah.
OCD is the fucking WORST.
Weirdly I also have piano to thank for my ability to write again? Because the hardcore fucking OCD spirals that shit was sending me on was what made me realize I constantly have OCD spirals running in the background. It’s making them a fuck of a lot easier to see earlier on too. And that was like…Category 2/3 OCD for me lol. Writing was probably Category 4/5 until recently. There’s other shit that’s solidly a Cat 5 but I don’t ever intend to talk about it on here. That’s what I have my therapist for! Yay, therapy!
It is truly fucking wild seeing an OCD specialist though who is just like “oh, your big scary brain is not as big and scary as it wants you to think.” Like that was one of the biggest “holy shit” moments I had when she was walking me through the stages of OCD spirals and I was just like…I never saw the pattern before. But there it was. Spelled out in black and white on a little fucking worksheet.
Fucking insane.
Tumblr has helped me so fucking much too by making it easy for me journal about it all regularly. I don’t always post what I journal, but it helps me see the forest for the trees regardless. And by forcing myself to “share” shit, I’m chipping away at the part of my OCD that fucking thrives on avoidance and self-consciousness about this shit. Because you’re not supposed to avoid OCD thoughts. That just makes ultimately them worse. So I share them on here knowing there’s like a 1% anyone will ever read any of this, but it’s enough to take away some of the fear/shame/avoidance that would otherwise add fuel to the fire so.
┐( ̄ ヘ ̄)┌
It’s all not as big and bad and scary and awful as my OCD makes it out to be in the confines of my noggin. It’s fucking hard sometimes, sharing some of this stuff because it’s embarrassing and awful and stupid. There’s nothing logical about OCD thoughts and knowing that makes it even fucking worse.
Like… I know the entirety of the internet isn’t going to just show up one day and tell me my writing is shit and I should quit. Logically. My OCD, however… It makes a lot of compelling arguments to my little lizard brain that are a lot harder to ignore.
Like how I almost didn’t sign up for piano classes at all because my OCD told me I’d never practice and I’d be wasting the teacher’s time and if I then quit I was frivolously playing with part of their livelihood and therefore a terrible fucking person. Would I say that to someone else? Absolutely not. That’s all absurd. Did I spend weeks agonizing over it in my noggin? Abso-fuckin’-lutely I did. And it didn’t even occur to me it was batshit until I finally brought it up to my husband and realized “wait one goddamn second, this is an OCD spiral, isn’t it?”
Lololol. The “joys” of mental illness! But hey, at least the therapy seems to be working. One step at a time baybeee!
#hismercy’s musings#my writing#my fics#actually ocd#~ooh I’m mentally ill~#ancient books and horror stories
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hey this is not meant as a criticism of your or others time travel theories, so don’t take it the wrong way, just speaking as a pleb, I do think the timeline thing tho, unless it’s explained in a way that’s super easy to understand, runs the risk of pissing off a lot of people and feeling unsatisfying simply because it’s a very confusing concept to a lot of people in general, and I know in the past a lot of “alternate reality” type “twists” (like it was just a dream, or time travel, or everything was made up in an autistic boys mind—yes that last one happened on an 80s show) have made audiences mad simply because they felt cheated and like a lot of stuff they thought mattered didnt, and for all the people online who are reading theories and scrutinizing things, there are millions more who aren’t and they should be able to follow along as well and feel satisfied (and while I am a tumblr girlie who has followed theories for years, even I didn’t clock time travel and timeline shit till you guys pointed it out here on tumblr so like, even for people in the fandom it’s easy to miss, so i imagine most GA hasn’t clocked it either ) and I’m concerned about how this theory might play out ….
I personally don’t hope it’s about timelines and such simply because of my own selfishness and no matter how i try, while the concept is interesting to me, i find it too confusing and convoluted to understand or enjoy. like i’m trying i wanna be one of the cool kids but it just… loses me completely.
i am PRAYING that if you all are right, and there are these timeline things, that the Duffers really have a succinct, and easily digestible way of revealing this to the audience that won’t take up a whole 30 min of plodding exposition that will leave the GA scratching their heads, but have it be ah OOOH WOW clever and easy to grasp twist that doesn’t leave fans feeling cheated.
I don’t care what the ending is tbh I just want them to stick it and for me to be able to understand it lol
Hey anon! This reply is gonna be shorter than I want it to be simply bc I am super sleepy rn but I just want to toss this post your way where I talked about this whole thing more in depth!
I totally see your concerns, but I actually have seen A LOT of GA folks point out the time travel/timeline stuff (just not as specific/in depth as we’ve done on tumblr), so as far as that part goes, I don’t think there’s too much to worry about. We also have to keep in mind that the duffers, while they ARE trying to write a coherent, cohesive story, are not trying to appease the GA. Many GA members also think that Byler would be “out of nowhere and too difficult to understand”. And also, I say this with Love In My Heart, but I don’t care about “well Everyone should be able to follow it and understand it”/“it would suck,” and i dont mean “i dont care” in a mean way towards you, i just mean it literally. I don’t care. Because my focus, when doing analysis, is “what is the show saying/doing?”, rather than “is the show doing it well/are they going to explain it well?”. Do i think they’re going to do it well? Yes! And I talked about that more in that post I linked. But I’m also not writing my theories around whether or not I think it would be good or bad or easy to understand- I’m writing my theories around the evidence we have & trying to figure out what they’re doing, whether they do it well or do it badly.
Like, I do disagree with “they should be able to follow along and feel satisfied” when it comes to ST & when it comes to that as an argument against timeline stuff. And the reason I disagree is because a.) they WILL be able to, just on a surface level, even if they dont fully comprehend it and b.) I don’t think a show as detailed as ST, is obligated to tone itself down. People can rewatch & figure things out like a puzzle. I don’t think all media needs to be completely, fully easily digestible for everyone. I think it’s fine to make viewers need to think about things!!! And I think that the duffers/the ST team is going to be able to find a happy medium between the more complex stuff & a simpler cohesive surface narrative, especially since the timeline stuff doesnt so much seem to be “going back and fixing things/none of mattered” as it is “the timeline stuff has been causing problems from the Very Beginning and we need to set it right/everything still happened.” I also think that a lot of it us the duffers fucking with the audience’s perception of things & that we’ve already been seeing multiple timelines the whole time, which allows them to tie things up more neatly because they dont have to blast through and show us all the timelines- we’vd already seen them.
I hope this is somewhat coherent bc like I said im half awake right now, so if any of this sounds snarky towards you, it’s not meant to be! <333 I really do think they’ll be able to pull things off in a way that’s complex enough to be interesting/leave more puzzles to solve/make people rewatch to spot things, but also still easy enough to understand that things are wrapped up effectively! And personally, if they ARE going to mess it up (which i really really doubt they will, because like i talked abt in that linked post, the timeline stuff is alllllll interconnected to the main unsolved questions/plot points in ST) there’s nothing i can do about that!!! I’m not in the writers’ room! So, I focus on what I can do- analyzing the information we have & trying to figure out what direction the show is going to take, regardless of whether that direction is good or bad. (and i think it’ll be fantastic!!)
14 notes
·
View notes
Note
So the new Glass chapter. No time for a proper analysis so have my immediate thoughts:
Crime boys fight! I love your fights. They’re always set up so well. The first time crimeboys fight is when they are stuck in their little co-dependent bubble and know each other well enough to have serious ammunition to hurt. I am still obsessed with the way you allow characters to dig and get bloody down to the bones. (I also really love the words as knives and actually cutting open Wilbur’s mouth as he draws blood methapoheres.) I wish I’d known there would be a fight, I would have gotten popcorn. Several of these lines made me winch.
Also, Wilbur’s whole, I’m not a person vs. Tommy caring about him and seeing how much it’s hurting him is very on point this chapter. Same with the co-dependency. Wilbur has spent very little time apart from Tommy. This shows especially in the entire market scene. On both sides btw. Wilbur is very overwhelmed and Tommy helps clam him down just by being there and holding his hand. Wilbur gets more stressed when Tommy is gone.
Also, Tommy’s idea to go out is very stupid, but his plan to prove that Wilbur wants to stay is even dumber and putting them both through so much stress. Like Tommy was very sure of himself, but as he actually left Wilbur alone the anxiety probably kicked on cuz of Wilhur had left, Tommy would be in some much trouble and Wilbur would end up back in his cage. Also, Foolish noticed (and recognised?) Wilbur and might be able to get that info back to Eret. The question is what happens then. Also it was way to risky either way. Also, Charlie finally getting a tooth as bribery.
I’m ignoring a lot for now, but I do want to talk a bit about Tubbo cuz I totally forget Wilbur didn’t clock him as hard-hearing and it made me laugh. Also, Tubbo hops on the bandwagon of “doesn’t fully understand or trust Wilbur, but knows he will keep Tommy safe and is grateful for that’. Also, I like him forgetting his clothes, it makes him feel more human despite the fact that we’ve mostly seen the worst of him.
One more detail, after the fight, Wilbur takes off his blindfold and the narration reverts to just pronouns again. He goes back to being nothing. And that, with the context that he just screams that he’s empty at the top of his lungs, hurts so, so, so much. This chapter really came for our throats, damn. I just remembered Wilbur there’s also the Wilbur (not) deserving better comment. Bee, what are you doing to this poor man.
Actual last comment for tonight: We get vicious Wilbur again! Yeay! I missed him! He’s fun when he’s got bite!
-🌲
SPRUCEEEE <33
YEAHHH the fight was so wild to write because, um, well here's a fun fact about the chapter.
the fight wasn't planned literally at ALL. there wasn't supposed to be a fight in this chapter! it just happened!
literally wilbur and tommy were supposed to just talk about going to the night market and that was it. no arguing. no disagreements even. but the dialogue just ran away from me and next thing I knew they were in the middle of a very intense argument and I was like "well okay I guess we're going with this now" and i had to sit back and rethink my entire chapter plan to see if i could still do it because it was a huge tone shift from what I originally had in store. tbh though it works so much better this way and I'm so glad you enjoyed reading the fight. I love writing fights. it's a constant balancing act of "how far can these two characters push each other before things move past the point of no return?"
oh yeah they're so codependent at this point. wilbur was overwhelmed in general from the night market because he literally hasn't been in public spaces like that for basically a decade at this point. like yes the palace held balls, but those weren't super frequent, and that was just about the only time he was around more than a handful of people at any given moment. so he was going to be anxious no matter what, but the separation from tommy really got to him.
and also yes the second tommy left wilbur to go get the food he was like "what the fuck did I do what did I do I'm so goddamn stupid fuck shit-" because he was terrified wilbur was really going to leave. he'd been acting confident, but their argument shook him way more than he let on. so yeah it was really stupid of him, but it worked!
the funny thing about wilbur is that he's so absorbed in his own problems half the time he won't notice the most obvious shit like tubbo being hoh. tbf both times he witnessed people signing at tubbo or tubbo signing at others he was stressed out about various other things, but still dude c'mon.
the reason I included tubbo forgetting his clothes was bc i realized i had already described him folding his arms over his chest and stuff which he wouldn't have been able to do with clothes in his arms, but I didn't want to go back and rewrite wilbur initially seeing him to say he had clothes in his arms either. plus, I needed something he could say as he left, so I just ended up throwing in the line about him forgetting his clothes bc I thought it was funny lol
:) I have a great time deciding when to just use pronouns for wilbur vs when to call him the pythia. it's something I'm always aware of when I'm writing this fic and it's so fun to play around with. poor guy :)
YES VICIOUS WILBUR I loved writing him being a dick again I've also missed him
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
So, you didn't enjoy Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated? Btw, I like you blog and I wanted to thank you for reblogging my posts of Scooby-doo comics from Holy-Shit-Comics. You actually saved the blog.
omg :o well no problem, im glad to have helped! and im glad you like my blog ^_^
and yeah i haven't really been liking mystery incorporated :/. to be fair, i haven't finished it, but i've seen most of season 1 and heard a bit about season 2 . i understand the appeal of it and i don't blame anyone for liking it, but for me there's far too much that bothers about it and very little i like 🤷
i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for season 1 and stick with it despite a lot of big problems i have w it (velma and shaggy's toxic relationship and the way it was handled, the constant relationship drama, daphnes whole personality revolving around fred, the gang being mean to marcie and calling her 'hot dog water', the show being kind of mean-spirited in general, the writing and mysteries being generally below average of what id expect from scooby-doo esp considering it's probably the most popular show in the fanbase, etc)
but then i got to episode 22 (attack of the headless horror) and the bold-faced racism in that episode that's just kind of treated like a joke and and not condemned at all was the straw that broke the camels back for me... and, insult to injury, fred was my favorite character in sdmi up to that point (the only one i found really likable at all tbh) and they made him hero-worship the racist guy :(
i might still finish it eventually, and im sure there will be some stuff i enjoy if i do, but for me personally, even if i end up really liking season 2 i feel like there's already been too much bad in season 1 for me to end up coming away from it thinking it was a good show overall (and i definitely don't think it's the best scooby-doo show like a lot of people say, not with what's new and be cool as its competitors, which are great from start to finish)
that being said, i enjoy art and media analysis quite a bit and i think if i do finish it, analyzing it and breaking down what i thought it did wrong and what it did right could be a lot of fun and a good learning experience
#but yeah i think it's ok to like the show bc it has its redeeming qualities#but i just wish people would be a little bit more critical of the things they enjoy and ESPECIALLY what (and how) they recommend to people#and it just feels overrated tbh 🤷#it's the scooby-doo show that most people my age and younger grew up with#and then on the flip side so many people hate be cool scooby doo without even watching it because of the art style#a scoobydoozies original#sdmi negative#sdmi critical#but i of course don't wanna make people feel bad for liking it#i like criticizing things and i think it's really important#i've seen plenty of sdmi fans who are critical of its problems and still enjoy the show and that's great#me personally id usually rather watch something else#this is very long-winded and tangential sorry lol
10 notes
·
View notes
Note
I love your bi!Mike reading and analysis, but some of the things you said, I do not agree with them regarding how the writers intended some scenes.
I think Mike not hugging Will doesn't show his crush on Will. I think it was about their friendship falling apart because they both did not reach enough, which was addressed later on during their fight and making-up scene in the bedroom. And Mike is worried about losing El and Will at this point, so that is why he acts that way. He thinks El and Will found a new life and new friends.
I think Will did not actually intend to give the painting present as a romantic present, I think it was actually supposed to be a friendly gesture but then unintentionally when Mike started to talk about his worries and insecurities, Will decided to give that painting with romantic connotations. I also think Will was actually trying to move on from Mike after S3 and during S4 (which he failed, but I think will still try to move on 'by ripping the band-aid bc he doesn't think he has a chance at all).
As for the desert scene, Mike looking at Will didn't come off as him feeling weird due to his feelings for Will to be. It could be about Mike realizing he is no longer the most important guy in El’s life. She has a whole family now. In a way, it might be a freeing realization.
I think Mike doesn't know that he likes Will at this point. I think whatever he said in his monologue to El, he was telling the truth he believed.
What do you think?
Hellooo and thank you for the ask!
so, for some things you wrote I actually do agree with you in a way! I see your point for the hug but what I mean when I say it shows his crush on Will is that the trope of the half hug in this case has inherent romantic connotations because even if the character himself is not aware of his feelings yet, the writers know where the story is going to end and that the two characters are going to be a romantic couple
for example we use the hug between Ron and Hermione when they were super little, I don't think any of us thinks that Ron and Hermione had already a crush on each other in a way in which both of them were aware of it, but the trope is there to show romantic tension and "foreshadow" in a way imo 😊
for the present I think I said the same thing from the start? I think the painting was not intended as him wanting to confess his feelings to Mike, Will was not ready for that in s4 but I do think that when he decided to bring it with him he did it because he felt the electricity between him and Mike in the cool cool scene (where I don't think Mike was trying to flirt consciously but same thing as the hug, it is written to be intimate and full of tension even if Mike is not trying to flirt on purpose — he would not cheat on El consciously) so Will felt that and he's in love with Mike so that gave him the courage to try to bring it with him and give it to him even if he was scared of confessing and was not planning on doing it tbh
Also all the mess with the shooting and the agent dying and then El is in danger and Will sees how worried for El Mike is and how Mike is talking about how he couldn't say something to her... that makes Will in the end just use his own feelings to try to help him and her because he loves them both so much
I think Will was trying to not show his romantic love after s3 but I also think he just couldn't do it and that also shows up in his painting or the fact that he feels bad because Mike hasn't called him in his perspective, I think that's what made Will stop calling Mike, like it was a mix of not trying to be clingy to Mike because he's in a relationship with his sister + being offended because he loves Mike and Mike told him that they would stay friends and then he doesn't call??? lol (but Mike did call in reality)
and that's part of the miscommunication trope! all of this has romantic connotation from a writing perspective in the end and that's the important thing :)
for the desert scene that's a cool interpretation!! I personally disagree, I think it is about Mike feeling confused because he doesn't feel in love with El and in the van had gay thoughts when Will was talking (lmaooo)
so Mike hugs her and then he sees Will and he thinks a passing thought of "I have feelings for him, I feel x when I look at him" and then he looked at El in his arms and that feeling went away, so he was mega ultra confused and conflicted for that moment but I think after that he just kinda wanted to ignore it because he's telling himself "What I feel for Will is only platonic, stop being weird" he wants to convince himself of that imo
I think Mike was definitely telling the truth to El and believes what he is saying, but I don't think Mike is in "true love" with her and they are not endgame because of how Mike acts in his relationship with her
I think Mike started to be kinda aware of his feelings for Will at the end of the season but he's not trying to pursue anything because of many reasons but he is starting to think about it more at the same time
obviously we have to remember that Mike is super scared of things changing in both his relationships with El and Will, he in a way wants to keep the status as they are now, he wants Will to be his best friend and El to be his girlfriend... that's why I think that the one breaking up with Mike will be El not him 💕
11 notes
·
View notes