#i wanted to like this season so badly

[calcified-fluorited]

Hot take, season 2 feels like piltover apologist propaganda

Piltover has been oppressing and exploiting zaun for who know how long, but the timeline where everything is good, all that had to be different was for hextech to not exist

at several points in the story, including Cait's poison gas mission, enforcers go down there to brutalise people in pursuit of jinx, but all of that unnecessary violence is brushed aside because there is a new Big Bad that we all must unite against. How convenient!

the Big Bad (Viktor) was from Zaun, and we need Piltover's police force to save us from this zaunite. Actually, the previous season's big bad was also from the undercity

zaunites come to help the people who treated them like animals their entire lives AND THEY PUT ON THE UNIFORMS OF PEOPLE WHO OPPRESSED THEM? I'M SORRY WHAT

Sevika who conveniently hasn't spoken a line since what, episode 4? her opinion isn't important, just be happy that she's on the council now.

entirety of act 3 actually

the "dirt under your nails" line. ????? Who wrote this? I want to talk.

[angelfishcake]

I need everyone to see this

[mxrtified777]

sweet as syrup on your honey 🍯

[megaawkwardhuman]

my thoughts while watching the good omens season 2 finale and taking a look at the run time:

[locusfandomtime]

i'm OBSESSED with minister of ministers ren... he is someone who wants SO BADLY to be the manipulative leader in control of everything, never lifting a finger and making others work for him, but it doesn't work because nobody takes him seriously. except, at the same time, it kinda does work because people do what he says, but because they're his friends and find it funnier to do what he wants and be annoying about it, than not do it at all. I like to think he doesn't realise this, thinking his manipulation tactics have worked, not realising that people are mining resources and improving infrastructure for him out of Friendship and Pity. he'd be annoyed they don't take him seriously, but internally think "hm! these PLEBEIANS don't realise they are falling right into my trap!" completely unaware of the trap he's about to fall into due to his own mistakes (exploded by creeper whilst sorting chests + cleo's prank). he never learns though, he just keeps going, the lesson never sinks in for him.

it's an interesting comparison to ren the king - someone who was originally (somewhat) respected but his ego got the best of him and the more he tried to gain power back, the deeper the hole he dug himself into. they both want power but lack it, but in such different ways. king in a country tired of monarchy vs project manager as an anime villain (and both of them are pathetic)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

It's weird to expect lb to be able to read cn mind and called her a bad partner for it. But it's even weirder for lb to ignore cn WHEN HES OBVIOUSLY IN DISTRESS and not called her a bad partner for it because I think called her a bad partner for ignoring it is understandable and justified especially since she consider herself as his boss.

Every time I bring up this conflict, I try to make it clear that I don't think Ladybug was blameless, I just think Chat Noir's writing was worse. Let's walk through the problem to show what I mean.

Season four stars with Marinette extremely stressed by her new Guardian status. In Truth and Lies, the first episodes of the season, we get this:

Ladybug: Will you cut it out with the practical jokes? I could have really hurt you! Cat Noir:(answering while hanging by the yo-yo) M'lady, the only thing that really hurts me is when you make me go on patrol by myself. (sighs, relaxing his posture) I even missed your little angry pout. Ladybug: Sorry, Kitty Cat, I'm a bit over my head at the moment. (pulling him up) Cat Noir: I bet! "Guardian of the Miraculous", big name, big responsibility!

This is also the start to Chat Noir communicating poorly. In this episode, he's straight up told that Ladybug is in over her head and he never once asks how he can help. In fact, we even get him saying this when asked how he feels about the change:

Truth: Cat Noir, tell me what- (interupted by Ladybug throwing a present at Truth) Ladybug: (covering her parasol with foil) ...do you think about my new role as guardian! Cat Noir: If it doesn't change things between us, then I'm good with it!

So not a great start to the season. I know people focused on Adrien's terrible treatment of Kagami in these episodes, but this Ladynoir dynamic was actually what rang alarm bells for me. I kept waiting for Chat Noir to offer his support since it was really, really obvious that Ladybug was in over her head since she was late to patrols, the last season literally ended with her losing her mentor figure, and, you know, she straight up told him that was what was going on?

The next episode is Gang of Secrets in which we see Marinette out her identity to Alya. I get why she did this, she needed support and her partner doesn't seem interested in giving it, but she can't say that for certain because she never asked him directly and she should have. Trusting Chat Noir over Alya would have allowed Ladynette to maintain the security of her secret identity - a thing she claimed was more important than ever - and to honor their partnership. At the very least, she should have told Chat Noir that Rena Rouge was now a full time holder so that he could account for that in battle and to minimize the fallout by owning up to her mistake asap. The longer a lie goes on, the worse the truth will hurt.

To Ladybug's credit, she does eventually acknowledge her mistake after the Scarabella incident:

Ladybug: You... must've been pretty surprised to discover there was another holder! (Silence. She sits beside Cat Noir.) Ladybug: I'm really sorry, Cat Noir. I should've told you. I mean, if I found out that you told someone about your secret identity, I'd... probably be upset, too. I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings.

This is a decent apology. She doesn't try to absolve herself of wrong doing. Instead, she acknowledges that what she did would hurt her, too, if the shoe were on the other foot. The only thing she loses points on is the fact that she doesn't tell him about Rena Furtive.

However, instead of agreeing with her and telling her that she has hurt him, Chat Noir says that she did nothing wrong and never once brings up how their weakened partnership is bothering him:

Cat Noir: You didn't hurt my feelings. You did everything right. Paris will always need a Ladybug superhero to watch over her. It's just... I realized that if one day that hero wasn't you, m'lady, since we don't know each other's identities, that means... I'd never see you again. Ever. And now, I just don't know if I can bear it.

This is the thing that I hate about this arc. The reason why I say Ladybug is blamed for not reading his mind. Especially because, three episodes later, we get Rocketear, which gives us this:

Cat Noir: Everyone has doubts now and then, (looks down) even me... Ladybug: Is everything okay, Cat Noir? Cat Noir: Yeah, yeah. (prepare his fist) Pound it! Ladybug: (fistbumps) Pound it!

Rocketear is the episode where Nino outs that he and Alya know each other's identities while acting like Ladybug said identities weren't a big deal even though that is very much not what happened. You'd think that Chat Noir would want to know the full story, but instead he just lies and says that everything is fine.

So we have two situations where the show allowed Ladybug to give Chat Noir a chance for clear and open communication and both times he turns her down.

What's worse is that he clearly starts making up stories in his head, leading to Kuro Neko, which starts with Adrien avoiding a fight on purpose as some sort of shit test. He then gets upset when Ladybug... doesn't lament his absence on national TV?

Clara: (from TV) By the way, where's Cat Noir? You've saved Paris without him quite a few times recently. Are you two at odds with each other? Carapace, Pegasus, Vesperia and Pigella: (from TV) Pound it! Ladybug: (from TV) Of course not, it's just that... umm, he's a partner like any other! The most important is to pick the best superheroes for each mission, with or without Cat Noir. No matter what, we've got a great team and we'll always be here to save Paris. (Adrien is shocked.) Adrien: (turns off the TV and sighs) "A partner like any other..."

Dude, what did you want her to do here? Complain that you flaked on her? Make Paris feel less safe by saying she doesn't know where you are? Imply that the fight was barely won without you? What are you doing? Plagg, you are completely failing as a mentor right now.

The shit test continues as Chat Noir goes to meet up with Ladybug now that the battle is over, arriving just as Ladybug has finished instructing the team on what to do:

Ladybug: Come on, guys! Hurry up before you all detransform. I'll meet you at rendezvous points. (The heroes jump away in different directions, and Ladybug starts typing something on her Yo-yo.) Cat Noir: Hey! Meow are you, m'lady? Ladybug: Great, thanks, but I gotta go retrieve all these Miraculous. Cat Noir: I could lend you a paw to help save time. Ladybug: Thanks, kitty cat, but it's a guardian's job to do it. Cat Noir: I know who some of them are, remember? I was there when you first gave them their Miraculous! Ladybug: You don't even know where their rendezvous points are, I don't have time to— Cat Noir: Playing cat and mouse is my forte, you know— Ladybug: (yelling) If you wanna save me time, stop wasting it in the first place! (Cat Noir gasps. As Ladybug swings away, Cat Noir clenches his fist.) Cat Noir: And take my Miraculous back when you're done!

So Ladybug doesn't publicly chastise Chat Noir for missing the battle and rejects an offer to help because of very legitimate timing concerns, leading to Chat Noir quitting because she failed his stupid, petty, childish tests. Realistic writing? Yes. Writing that paints Ladybug as the one in the wrong? No.

Going into this episode, Ladybug has no idea that things are messed up between them even though she has actually kept communication lines open. She asks him if things are okay, but he lies. And when he's ready to quit? He plays stupid games and wins a stupid prize. It's really not shocking that the next scene sees Ladybug totally baffled by what just happened:

Plagg: For a while now, you've been neglecting this camembert— I mean Cat Noir, and going on adventures with the all other cheeses! Ladybug: But he should be happy about it, it gives him more time off. Plagg: Cat Noir doesn't wanna have time off, Ladybug! He is in love with you! And your persistent calling on all the other heroes has broken his heart.

And how is she supposed to know that, Plagg? Was she supposed to assume that her partner was lying when he said he was fine? Because she did ask and he said that nothing was wrong. But something was wrong and it lead him to build up a story in his head, reading nonexistent intent into her actions, all of which is toxic and unhealthy communication.

I cannot stress how common this shit is. I've seen it so many times and I will own that I've done it in the past and wound up getting no support when I needed it because I'd directly told people I didn't and they committed the heinous crime of... believing me.

Here's the other thing, there are times when I'm in distress and legitimately don't want or need help. Times when I just need to be alone for a bit. So if someone asks me if I'm okay during those times, I'm probably just going to say, "Yeah, I just need a people break" or something like that. That's why the Scarabella scene is so bad. Ladybug can see that Chat Noir is in distress and he gives her a fully plausible answer: I'm not upset with you, I'm just saddened by the idea of losing you. And she believes him because why wouldn't she?

Same goes for Rocketear. It's reasonable for Ladybug to assume that Chat Noir is just shaken by the fight. She has no idea about the bombshell that Nino dropped right before the fight. She doesn't even know that Nino and Chat Noir are actually close friends, making this fight a lot more devastating than it looks at face value. Her actions here are not objectively wrong. They're only wrong if you know the whole story, including Adrien's needs. Things that she cannot know unless Chat Noir uses his words to tell her things.

I cannot over stress how much season four is a textbook example of denying yourself support because you cannot communicate your own needs. Is it an understandable character flaw for a character with Adrien's background to have? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. But it's still a character flaw. This season desperately needed an arc about Adrien learning to tell people what's wrong. Not because he's the only one in the wrong here, but because things cannot get better when Ladybug has no idea that she's hurting him. (Nino has no idea either, but let's keep our focus on Ladybug.)

One of the most important things you can do for your own mental well being is to dismiss the idea that your needs are the same as everyone else's. Everyone needs different amounts of attention and values different behavior based on things like their upbringing and life events.

I get the feeling that I'm wired pretty similar to Marinette. At least, it influences how I write her because I can go months without talking to my best friends and still call them my best friends, a trait we all share because two of use are artsy introverts and two of us are moms to young kids, which allows for very little free time. Meanwhile, my SO and his best friend spend hours on the phone almost every week. I swear that those two go into withdrawal if they don't talk at least once every seven days. If months went by without them talking? Something would be very wrong, but the exact same time gap isn't even remotely concerning when it comes to my friends. It's something my SO and I had to figure out when we got together because I need a lot less attention than he does. But we communicated and found a balance that we continue to work to communicate about so that he doesn't feel neglected and I don't feel overwhelmed by too little me time.

What I'm trying to say is Marinette wasn't horribly wrong for assuming that Chat Noir was telling her the truth or that he liked having a larger team so he had less responsibility. Those are reasonable assumptions. Especially since he never actually indicated that he wanted more responsibility until he was ready to quit and decided to shit test her by pushing for more to do when she was stressed and on a timer.

I do think that she should have offered it to him before that or - at the very least - the show should have clearly stated why she didn't do that since it apparently had nothing to do with Chat Blanc trauma like we all thought it did. I'm not saying that she's blameless or perfect or that there weren't things she could have done better. It's just really hard for me to look at Chat Noir's behavior in season four and go, "Oh yeah, he's the injured party here. Ladybug holds all the blame and did everything wrong." She did many things wrong, but generally speaking, she owned her faults and tried to keep communication channels open. Chat Noir chose to ignore those chances to talk or otherwise try to express his needs in a clear and understandable manner.

We'll end with one final point to drive this home: You said that she's his boss. Well, if my boss asked me, "is everything okay with the project?" and I said, "yes" while freaking out about the upcoming deadline that I'm probably going to miss because he's given me too much work, the issue is not all on my boss. It's on both of us. Him for overloading me and me for not telling him I'm overloaded. You could even argue that it's mostly on me because I'm the only one who can properly gauge my own ability to do a given workload. As soon as it was too much, I should have said something. And if I don't feel like my boss is approachable? Then I should quit. But that isn't the situation I'm in and it doesn't appear to be the one that Chat Noir was in, either. He wanted to stay part of the team, he just totally failed to tell Ladybug how being on the team was making him feel.

People magically knowing what you need and how you feel is a myth. I promise you, most people in this world do not want to cause you pain, but if you cannot clearly express when someone is causing you pain, then you will continue to get hurt by people who would be very happy to not hurt you if they actually knew that their actions were causing you pain.

[batsplat]

Sepang 2006: Jorge Lorenzo kisses the camera before shaking hands with Andrea Dovizioso.

[ganondoodle]

honestly i dont know how many times i can keep trying to like and engage with things if they always end up disappointing me so badly i cant like what came before it anymore

im not trying to center this around me or something, but im having a hard time coping with arcane doing it too (to me)

few things can catch my attention and all interests in media i have ever had fumbled everything later so badly i often never want to see or think about it again

its happened with transformers (prime specifically, i think the ending of season2? i dont remember everything but after the fucking new guys show up and it killed my hyperfixation on it back in the day), one piece (stopped since whole cake island and anything new i see of it only makes it more clear i cant stand it anymore), zelda (ahah .. totk, fuck that game, basically killed my hyperfixation on the franchise and im only holding on for some projects and cool people i met through it), (edit; how could i forget fromsoft/elden ring and what the DLC did.....), arcane/league (arcane, lore retcons, and now its ending, but it happened before it turned into a hyperfixation so theres that bit of mercy lol) and those were only my super special hyperfixation ones i still clearly remember im sure im forgetting some, its happened with movies and other series i gave a try too (even mob psycho ... the series i thought couldnt disappoint me ...)

i feel so bad about it, i feel like i am somehow wrong to dislike or even hate how media goes, and bc it happens every time i feel like .. theres something wrong with me .. theres gotta be soemthing wrong with me right?.. i SWEAR i do NOT find joy in hating or disliking things, it is not fun for me, i hate hating things, especially when i once loved them, even if it may seem like there is nothing i can ever like i am NOT doign it on purpose, i feel the same, i feel like theres nothing i can ever just like, and i hate myself for it .. but also cant help it, i cant force myself to like thingsi dont either, i just want to rip my hair out and cry

[katierosefun]

modern family is all fun and games until you get to the scenes where you burst into tears because the once-vaguely homophobic dad now refers to his son's husband as family, and also the academically gifted daughter realizes that her dorky, clumsy dad was always really proud of her and just never surprised because he just assumed she could do anything, and also the eldest daughter who eloped comes crawling back to her parents' room and whispers that she still wants her parents to be present for her wedding, and also the anxious queer lawyer character admits that he was terrified that his husband would just leave him alone with their baby daughter, and also that the once-vaguely grouchy dad looks at his stepson and tells him that what makes a family is who sticks around, not who you're blood-related to and anyways what was i saying

[serene-cinders]

Arcane Season 2 Act 3

Honestly, it was always clear that Vi would have to choose between Jinx and Caitlin in the end. They can all accept eachother, but Caitlin and Jinx are inherently opposites. They represent different things within the story. Jinx, of course, is chaos incarnate. She’s what Silco wanted her to be, and then she’s a revolutionary, what the people of Zaun want her to be. Caitlin represents the status quo. She’s a high-born social elite who ‘wants to do good’, but lacks the knowledge to mean anything to the people she’s trying to help. Then she descends into authoritarianism after the attack on the memorial.

Literally the only reason Caitlin and Jinx get along by the end is because of their shared love for Vi, but it isn’t like they love eachother.

Jinx knew all this inherently, hence why she faked her own death in order to leave Vi’s life as quietly as possible. She viewed how happy Caitlin made Vi, and took the choice out of her sister’s hands. And then Caitlin gets everything she wants because she’s rich girl in a class based society, but that’s neither here nor there, I guess.

There’s no universe within the show where Caitlin and Jinx have a steady sisterhood. They will always be Piltover and Zaun, whether they choose it or their people choose it for them.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Me, after watching Yasmine Nolastname aggressively perform heterosexuality for the 3rd season in a row, except now her act is slipping and she's desperately flailing around trying to figure out how the Standard Straight Girl™️ would act around the boy she's dating:

🎶AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD YOU WAKE UP NEXT TO HIIIIIIIIIM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIIIIIIIIIIGHT

WITH YOUR HEAD IN YOUR HAAAAAAANDS, YOU'RE NOTHING MOOOOORE THAN HIS WIFE

AND THEN YOU THINK ABOUT Moon, ALL OF THOSE YEARS AGO

YOU'RE STANDING FACE TO FACE WITH "I TOLD YOU SO"

You know, I hate to say it...BUT I TOLD YOU SOOOOOOO 🎶

[drysaladandketchup]

it's been said but I'll say it again: no matter who takes the series, the oilers have done something incredible this season. the terrible start forced them to regroup and rebuild themselves in such a short time, forced them to look in the mirror, grit their teeth, and find that will to win, strength in the face of adversity, fortitude, and a conviction to reach that 'better' they knew they had. they could have crumbled, but they didn't.

now what have they done? made a historic comeback, broken records, gone on an epic winning streak, fought their way into the playoffs, come back from multiple series deficits, and now this epic 3-0 resurrection. together. always believing in themselves and in each other. and having fun doing it.

they should be proud of this season. no one can say they didn't earn their place in the final. they have proven themselves, not just to naysayers, not just to fans, but to themselves.

[greensaplinggrace]

also i can't believe riley was scoffing at dating buffy whilst watching her at peak weirdo girlfailure. what an incredible lack of taste

[emily-prentits]

i need a touch starvation meredith character study. a touch starvation disorder, if you will. walk with me,

[hanzajesthanza]

dandelion is indeed the worst but if he’s not present in the next book i would legitimately be sorrowful as the whole thing will become a slog . you basically cannot have the “short stories” era-of-the-timeline iteration of geralt without dandelion, it would be like eating unbuttered bread.

though it’s not like season of storms did them dirty, i wasn’t disappointed with it (… with regards to them), but since it’s literally been over 20 years since the saga was finished i’m trying to prepare for any potential reality

[matsui-sinclair]

hello fellow ape-heads today i bring you a humble offering of all the episodes of the short-lived 1974 planet of the apes tv show all on a google drive for free :)

the series is about two astronauts, peter and alan, who accidentally travel forward in time to the 3080s (about 900ish years before the first movie) and befriend a friendly ape named galen (played by roddy mcdowall). the episodes follow the three of them as they travel across future california, running from the gorilla cop urko as he chases them down for upsetting the natural order of ape society.

all these episodes are already up on archive.org but i don't know about anyone else but that website is sooo slow for me so i just went and downloaded all the episodes. but then my laptop didn't have enough space so i moved them to a hard drive and it got tedious for me to reconnect it every time i wanted to rewatch an episode, so i just thought for ease of access i'd upload them to a google drive, and i figured other people would probably be interested in watching so here you go!!

i first heard about this show because the youtube channel ape nation is currently going through each of the episodes so if you want you can watch along with his weekly reviews!

i absolutely love this show so much and i never see anyone talk about it on here so hopefully this means people can watch it and i won't be alone in my appreciation for it anymore 😭😭

so go forth and enjoy the glory of the 1974 pota tv show!!