#its somehow cute. despite all the things that happened in this episode.

[anemicjellyfish]

Octavia has Blitzø's phone number saved as

Dad (calling from shitty boyfriend's phone)

[bobbydagen24]

someone else on here suggested the idea of a Bro zone story where Branch gets turned back into a little Kid and the Brothers consider the idea of leaving him like that and starting again and I just wanna talk about this idea a little more.

like imagine it as an episode of a Tv show or something yeah I know its probably a bit too heavy and serous but hey its fun to imagine lol.

cause this idea has some sweet emotional potential like for whatever reason Branch is somehow magically turned back into a little kid and he's lost pretty much all of his life memories.

so he's well and truly naïve innocent and carefree again and Despite them eventually figuring out a way to turn him back to normal there's a bit of a divide as to Wether they should.

maybe early on in the episode Branch has a big argument with his Brothers yet again probably due to one of his paranoid or overcautious tendencies annoying them so much finally causing them to call him out on it.

and Branch hits back at him only being this way in part because of them because he had to be to make himself feel safe and have piece of mind since he had no one else and he storms off into the woods.

which is where he gets affected by something that transforms him back into a child with no memories.

I imagine JD would be the first one to suggest the idea of leaving him this way as in a way it'd give him a chance to fix one of his biggest mistakes.

as they could stick around and be there for Branch growing up like they weren't before and he could get a chance at a normal childhood without the Burden of Grandma's death traumatising him throughout his life.

not 100 percent sure about the other's reactions I feel Floyd would be against it at first feeling it isn't their place to make such a life changing choice for him.

but who knows maybe he'd be Tempted after JD guilts him over his broken promise.

maybe Clay would also be against it but Bruce to everyone's surprise actually sides with JD secretly showing a bit of deeper guilt over the whole thing.

being a parent himself and thinking no one should have to grow up that quickly by themselves and thinking of it as if it were one of his children and how he wouldn't want that for them.

so yeah it leads to a nice bit of Drama between the brothers btw I wouldn't have poppy involved in this story as its obvious what she'd choose and I kinda feel like she wouldn't even allow a Debate as far as this is concerned.

given she loves Branch and likely wouldn't even entertain the idea of permanently changing him from the man she's with currently.

anyway in the end of the story obviously the Bros do change him back after tearfully saying a final goodbye to the young innocent Branch who they hadn't seen in decades and who they'll never see again.

with Grown up Branch not having any Memory of anything that happened and the episode ends with maybe something like all the Bros sat around having dinner.

and one of the Bros out of somber curiosity asks Branch if he ever thought about changing the past so things could have been different for him.

but Branch actually kinda surprises them by saying that he has thought about it but he realises that just isn't the way life is meant to work ultimately your experiences do help shape who you are.

and he doesn't think its really helpful to look back on the past at least not anymore given the amount of time he used to spend doing that and he just thinks its better to accept the past and make the best of the present.

making his bros all hug him while sobbing in an over the top way because of how wise their baby bro grew up to be while Branch is just confused as to what is happening 😂😂😂😂

like I said I feel there's some very cute emotional potential with this little story idea.

[matthyeu]

blanket ― shb.

pairing ⇢ sung hanbin x gn!reader 

genre ⇢ pure fluff

warnings ⇢ none

word count ⇢ 690

synopsis ⇢ in the depth of the night, you’re awoken by screaming, but not from your boyfriend who’s still awake. 

notes ⇢ i wrote this for a friend as my first piece so enjoy bestie

you didn’t know when you had fallen asleep, or even how. it wasn’t like you to fall asleep before your boyfriend. one moment you were telling hanbin about how you came across a really fluffy blanket to replace the one you two have been using, and the next, you were awoken by some incoherent screaming. 

eyes trying to adjust to the almost dark room–the only thing illuminating it being the light from hanbin’s phone–you squinted to see what the screaming was.

it sure wasn’t his, unless he somehow became a middle-aged woman in your sleep. it was probably a video, but the real question was why he was watching a video of someone screaming late at night in the first place. 

“hanbin?” you asked, which noticeably caused his shoulders to jump. 

“oh, you’re awake. sorry, i tried to mute it as quickly as possible,” he explained as he adjusted the blankets for you, which had dragged down while you were sleeping, probably due to you kicking around in your sleep. 

“mmm…why is there…a middle-aged woman…screaming on your phone?” you asked, pausing between words as your vocal cords forced themselves to work after being jolted awake. 

“gyuvin sent a video into our group chat, and i opened it without much thought. but it’s gyuvin so i should have expected no less. sorry again,” he apologized yet again, angling the phone in the opposite direction when he noticed how it was burning your eyes, “you should head back to bed.” 

“you…should too. it’s…getting really late.”

had you been more awake, or if the room was lit properly, you may have caught how hanbin gave a small smile, the kind where his eyes would still crinkle ever so slightly, at your sleepy expression. still, your ears were able to pick up the small chuckle that left his mouth, which kicked your brain awake a little to see if you were hearing right. 

“why are you laughing?” you asked, a small pout forming on your lips as if that would do anything for your situation despite the room barely being lit enough to see your silhouettes. 

“it’s just…” he began as he shut his phone off, placing it on the bedside table. 

“just what?” you asked once more, watching him melt into the blankets next to you, shuffling around to get comfortable under the blanket that definitely needed to be replaced after so many years of love poured into it. 

though, you wouldn’t throw this one out. it carried too many memories, too many memories of the memories of your relationship, to just throw away. the blanket he bought the first time you stayed over because he was afraid his own wasn’t soft enough. the blanket you two would make tents with to watch the latest episode of the show you were watching. the blanket that had stains from when you two were too busy laughing to notice how you spilled some of your ramen on it. the blanket he would only use if it involved the two of you. 

it was ironic how the blanket that was bought for its soft properties became rough as the years went by. that was what happened when things were used as love. even then, you couldn’t admit that it was becoming less warm as the years went by. even now, you were shivering under them, the body heat between you two barely accommodating. you would replace it, but you would keep this one as a memory of your relationship. who knows? maybe you’ll even have a blanket collection with all the ones you’ve shared with hanbin by the time you’ve grown old. 

“just that you’re cute even when you’re half-asleep like this,” he finished once he found comfortability close to you. 

“oh you,” you scolded, pushing his shoulder at the cheesy comment, “i don’t think i’m half-asleep anymore because of that comment.” 

“well, you better sleep. it’s getting really late,” he mimicked your earlier words. 

you rolled your eyes. of course he would play that game with you. “okay, fine. goodnight my wonderful boyfriend who woke me up in the middle of the night.” 

“goodnight lovely.” 

[kingboohoo37]

KBH RANDOM RANT

I'M BACK... at least I try to post more often. Streams will also come more regularly (surely...).

I'm slowly getting back to work so my time is still very limited. I thought this was a good time to bring back my random rants about fandoms since I just revisited an old classic from my childhood.

YEP we're talking about Kim Possible one of the most ludicrous fictional universes I've ever seen... In a good way!

First up: This show is FUDGING 22 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR... I'm really getting old...

The funny part about that is it was made during the peak of the 2000s... and you really notice that. The language that most teenagers use in this show is so stereotypical for that time it feels so nostalgic even watching it XD

Anyway, let's get the obvious out of the way. I know this is supposed to be a kids cartoon and I know that I'm an adult man but that doesn't stop me from watching it.

So, why is this show so great?

Good question! Its primary charm probably comes from its simple comedic attitude of telling a story.

The characters are so ridiculous that you should never be able to take this show seriously simply because most of their actions or the situations around them don't even make sense. This show just requires you to take in its vibe and go with the flow. I mean... a teenager knowing 16 forms of Kung Fu and saving the world on any given occasion is nothing that can possibly make sense. Don't forget: "Anything's possible for a Possible!"

Let's get into the characters:

Kim is your basic teenage girl, and she's here to save the world. You can't stop her 'cause...

Okay I'll stop xD

Apart from her being an ass-kicking girl boss, her main character traits are kinda the things you expect from a main character. She saves the world out of sheer will to stick to her morals. In short: she wants to help people. That obviously doesn't always work out and she sometimes ends up judging people by what they are instead of who they are. On top of that, she gets jealous easily.

BUT she is brave, smart, and makes usually good choices in the heat of the moment (except when it comes to love xD), and is otherwise very mature for her age.

Well... the opening song didn't lie. She really is your basic teenage girl. That doesn't mean she isn't cool xD

Well, obviously I can't end it without talking about the man and his very smart and hungry naked little friend.

What makes this show so funny is well... its ability to deliver comedy simply by a character existing and Ron Stoppable plays a big part in that.

He is pretty much a normal guy who just happens to be Kim's childhood friend and later somehow steals her heart xD

He is an absolute doofus. He is silly and rarely takes anything seriously. He is also lazy and loves his favorite junk food joint Bueno Nacho.

Despite all that he still cares for his friends, his naked mole rat Rufus, and usually learns a very important lesson after an episode.

He accompanies Kim on pretty much every mission and is usually more of a hindrance than a help. Despite all that Kim still loves him in her own way. And he also saves the day a couple of times, so it's not like he is a complete slob.

Rufus is just the cherry on top. Both of these guys are hilarious and I was honestly surprised by how much I laughed watching this show.

I could go on and on but I'm gonna try to finish up this post here before it gets too long xD

Even though every episode has kind of a similar structure, it never gets boring. The villains, the side characters... all of them add something very unique to the table. You just throw some characters together and boom the story kind of writes itself XD

Season 4 was my absolute favorite part of the show since guess what ... that was when Kim and Ron started dating and BOY DO THEY MAKE A CUTE COUPLE.

Ahem... anyways. I do not regret watching all 87 episodes in the last 2-3 weeks. If you're looking for a comfortable. goofy and funny way to escape reality for a moment I can only recommend this old classic.

[lurkingshan]

Intergenerational Trauma Challenge - About Youth

I have a confession to make: when @so-much-yet-to-learn first suggested this show for the generational family trauma list, I was skeptical. About Youth? That cute little Taiwanese bl with all the singing? My memory of its plot was vague but I just recalled a feeling of warm fuzzies (and of course, the OSTs, which are excellent and catchy as hell).

But @bengiyo backed him up and since my pals insisted it belonged, before I finished the list I decided to give it a rewatch. And from this rewatch I took away three main things: 

This drama is just as cute and warm and fuzzy as I remembered

The soundtrack still slaps

Despite 1, it absolutely belongs on the generational trauma list

If you have not seen it yet, About Youth is primarily about Ye Guang, a very popular, kind, smart and profoundly lonely student at the top of his class, and Qi Zhang, a kind, quiet nerd (who is somehow also a secret rock star, just go with it) who has a crush on Ye Guang. They meet briefly at a very low moment in both of their lives, and then reconnect and become friends. There’s also a side romance between Qi Zhang’s friend Ray and bandmate Ah Jian that is very cute but a little underwritten. The entire drama is only 8 episodes that add up to about 2.5 hours (which won’t stop them from playing the OSTs at least 20 times each, and you’re not even gonna be mad about it). And the tone is light–definitely the lightest of the dramas on the trauma list–despite delving into some pretty deep subject matter.

So where does the intergenerational trauma come in? With Ye Guang’s parents, who have put him under extreme pressure to perform academically, in large part because his dad is a famous academic specializing in supporting youth educational attainment and feels his son needs to live up to his reputation. When our story begins, Ye Guang is feeling stressed and isolated and unloved and beginning to crack under the pressure, and his friendship with Qi Zhang is both a much needed support and a way for him to rebel against his parents (not because there is anything wrong with Qi Zhang, but simply because they don’t believe Ye Guang should have any life outside of studying).

Ye Guang’s parents are not warm; they treat him coldly and leave him home alone most of the time while they travel, and put up roadblocks every time he makes a connection with someone. Their son is crying out for love and attention and they just keep telling him to suck it up and hit the books. Ye Guang finds solace in Qi Zhang’s company and easy companionship, and they bond over their struggles (Qi Zhang is mourning the recent death of his father).

The drama’s treatment of Ye Guang’s parents is interesting; his dad is the more rigid parent (and also seems to have some anger management issues) while his mom is a bit more affectionate toward Ye Guang (but not enough to disagree with her husband or give her son the explicit affirmations of love he is seeking). They are controlling–they monitor Ye Guang and want to dictate how he spends his time–but they also have little interest in actually spending time with him. They seem to see being top of the class as Ye Guang’s natural duty and what he owes them for raising him, and they are absolutely unprepared to deal with his emotions about it. This is contrasted in the show with Qi Zhang’s mother, a much kinder and gentler parent who supports her son’s passions and only wants him to be happy. 

And the thing is, Ye Guang is a good kid who clearly feels the pull of filial piety–he wants to honor his parents and fears what will happen if he doesn’t live up to their expectations. He works hard in school and he is very well liked by everyone, not just Qi Zhang. But he has grown weary and he clearly carries the instinctual knowledge that his parents don’t love him unconditionally.

This is something I have discussed quite a bit with @waitmyturtles and @neuroticbookworm, the conditional nature of love between parents and their children in many Asian households. It’s a hard thing for me to wrap my head around as a westerner, but I see that dynamic coming through so strongly in the way Ye Guang questions if his parents even love him at all, let alone if they can accept a version of him who is not exactly what they want. It’s heartbreaking. 

Over the course of the show Ye Guang tries a few times to communicate with his parents, first via his actions, then by telling them he is struggling and asking them directly if they love him, and finally by turning in a blank exam paper and sending them an emotional video explaining that he can’t take it anymore. Naturally, it is only the failed exam that actually gets through to them. Here is where the show falters a bit, because the parents do a sudden heel turn and decide to cut him some slack. A highly unrealistic resolution! But I put this down mostly to the limited run time; the drama didn’t have screen time to build to a more authentic ending that would comport with its overall light tone. 

Even despite the lackluster ending to the family plot, this drama offers a window into the academic pressure young people feel and how it interacts with values of filial piety. It takes a pretty thorough look at the psychological effects conditional parental love can have on a child. And it does it all while delivering a pitch perfect high school romance and great music that will stay with you for days. It’s the perfect place to start if you want to ease into this challenge!

[sailorsally]

I just wanted to stop by and say that I've been on tumblr since 2010 and have been intimately aware of supernatural and its fandom despite only having watched a handful of episodes, I am becoming invensted in the real life relationship between Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins purely through your blog

So funny you say that! Because the very same thing happened to me in Nov 2020! I have been on here since 2011, always knew about SPN because I was part of the other two fandoms from Superwholock but I had never watched SPN.

Fast forward to Nov 5th 2020 when this site is burning post Cas' confession. At that time I am a Black Sails blog following other Black Sails blogs mostly and a couple of multifandom people. But suddenly a lot of people on dash start posting SPN stuff. It's mostly memes though. But there is this one beloved Black Sails mutual (shall remain anonymous lmao) who in addition to posting SPN now decided to spam my inbox with cockles stuff. Everything from cute pics to panels. Mind you I am vulnerable at thisbpoint because I had jokingly started making SPN memes to keep up with the times prior to this and somehow got invested in Dean & Castiel's relationship. So far I have seen only the confession scene and it made me sad so I gladly watch all those Jenmish panels my mutual is sending me because I now have a need to see those two men happy and smiling. That's ehat I did, I devoured all their Interviews, bts vids, panels . I watched virtually everything I could get my hands on on YT. And it was glorious! They made me so so happy, I laughed so much and so hard. To this day I have no fucking clue why I didn't got my usual seasonal depression that winter - if it was because I was getting free serotonin regularly watching these two men interract or because I was on a new food suppliment lmao.

Anyways, in addition to vids I made my way through the famous cockles masterposts and the the more I read the more fascinated I became with their relationship and the deeper I fell into the dumpster.

And then eventually I went "I gotta watch this damn show now don't I" and I did!

So, for me, Destiel is Cockles' fault indeed.

Anyways, I hope you are enjoying watching these two men be enamoured with each other as much as I do. They legit make me so happy. I do make a lot of crude jokes I know but at the end of the day it's really about seeing two men love and care for each other 💕

[jeannedarkterraguard]

HoloAdvent Debut Reactions

So we're finally getting another HoloEN generation and Lisa and I decided to fuck up our sleep schedule (I mean not that there's gonna be much of a sleep schedule left once BG3 comes out next week) to watch the Debuts live and I'm gonna write down my thoughts about them so lets get to it...

first up Shiori Novella

-this loading screen is somehow comfy and spooky at the same time... weird

-wow... not the voice i was expecting from that model

-"Age: eye-don't-know"... oh god we have another Ina

-well that was... certainly a story...

-i literally never heard of any of these books... but to be fair i only ever read like 15 books if you don't count the ones that i was forced to read in school

-hey, i recognize some of these cartoons... well i recognize blues clues... and I've heard of courage and south park

-so she likes harvest moon huh

-i also don't recognize any of her husbandos, anime or games... am i old or are these just very niche (I'm old... the answer is I'm old)

-eating with scissors... why?

-story-driven games... that's interesting could we finally have another Kiara?

-would you look at that... my phone finally got the notification that her debut stream is starting... thanks YouTube...

-Lisa: "oh god she dresses like me when i was 16"

Me: "well, let's be real you tried that for like a week before you decided it was too much work and went back to wearing sweatpants and t-shirts"

-everything at 9pm CST... sometimes i hate living in Europe...

Koseki Bijou

-so will Shiori do the intros for all of them?

-she already sounds like a gremlin

-okay, cool little animation

-140cm? So we continue the tradition of every hololive member being short...

-dislikes mushrooms... i can relate

-what the fuck is interactive food?

-oh ok she means annoying food...

-man i really have no idea what any of these anime are... then again i haven't watched any anime that hasn't aired on TV here in Germany... and we only really got the absolute most popular ones like one piece, dragon ball and naruto...

-long streams... by what metric? Kiara long or Kaela long?

-oh 3+ hours... that's... just regular hololive numbers

-play as herself... pretty sure holocure will take care of that

-okay I'll admit it... i don't get this joke... are gems one of these things that people want to eat despite them being non-edible like cattails or sea-foam?

-interesting segment...

-those times are not better... why can't we have someone in hololive stream at European times?

So those two were pretty fun now back to sleep and then the other two Debuts tomorrow...

Nerissa Ravencroft

-okay I like her voice

-is it just me or can her model turn around pretty far compared to other vtubers... it almost seems like that already is a 3d model

-175cm... we have a new tallEST Hologirl... we still don't have a TALL Hologirl...

-pepperoni + pineapple pizza... i'm okay with either of those on its own but not both of them together you should never mix savoury, sweet, sour AND spicy (wait I just remembered americans mean salami when they say pepperoni... that's fine)

-doesn't like underwear... artist are gonna have a field day with this...

-doesn't like mushrooms... likes Zelda, Mario, FF7... she's quickly becoming my favourite

-she's also the first one where I know at least two of her favourite anime, Naruto and sailor moon

-i mean who doesn't like binge watching (if I have to wait a week for the next episode I will forget what happened in the last one)

-500.000 subs... well she's already halfway there...

-ah Keffiy-papa should have known

-aaaand there it is... 7 pm CST...

The Twins

-not sure about these overly cute voices

-okay maybe it's the sleep deprivation but i'm having a hard time following what they're talking about

-fuwa likes cute girls... I can relate...

-mococo also likes cute girls... oh and black licorice... again I can relate

-IT'S THE BGM! THE BGM IS TOO LOUD! That's why I can't understand them...

-okay what's a pon-de-ring?

-nice song... but that's all I can really say about that... i'm not really a big music girl

-wait 16:00 GMT... that's... almost a good european time... no wait that's just their morning streams not their main ones... Fuck

Well that was fun. Out of all five girls I think nerissa is my favourite but we'll see how that works out in the future... kinda hard to tell in just 45 minutes... anyway i'll need to get ready for work now so I can't write anything more detailed...

bye

[derfisch]

okay, I said I was gonna do it! below the cut:

a brief review of every anime I watched this season (no battle shounens, guaranteed)

there are 11 that I watched! wow!

to start with, I watched some less recent anime:

Fruits Basket (2019)

I can see why this one is a classic. if the original is anything like the new one (I haven't watched that either), this is held together by excellent, deep character writing and a fantastic sense of place that never falters. the main character, whose archetype of "ditzy genki girl" would usually be written as very one-dimensional and fluffy, has loads of interesting facets of her personality, and goes through plenty of character growth along with everyone else around her, all without feeling the need to make her less girly or compromising her agency in any way.

for negatives, the humor fell flat more often than not, and the melodrama felt a little heavy handed, especially toward the end when they need you to know The Stakes Are High. I'm also unsure how I feel about how it decided to portray some really incesty relationships? but as a CCS enjoyer it's not like I can complain too much there, lol

despite those flaws though, I would still absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a good drama. I found it pretty good for sleepytime watching too, if you need something like that.

My Roommate Is A Cat

while I did like it a lot, there's not a whole lot to say about it. I like all the characters, even though they don't go too deep. it's fun, it's cute, and it's funny. there's a cat. I like the bits where we get to see from the cat's point of view, and they totally misunderstand the situation. it's not the prettiest anime out there, but I'd still give it a watch if you have the time for a short one

Love Stage!!

absolutely gutted by this one. as a BL anime from about a decade ago, there's a genre-required sexual assault scene. I cannot recommend it to anyone on that basis alone. this is not a triggering subject matter for me, and I was made deeply uncomfortable by it

which really, really sucks, because outside of that I'm super into its characters and its scenario. the tonal whiplash between the sexy seme raping the innocent uke and a few episodes later when he's genuinely regretful of it, and they actually have to work through their feelings over what happened, I appreciated it so much. and even outside of that, the relationship between the two is really interesting. the character writing is super strong, and the conclusion is satisfying and somehow feels earned

if you're absolutely sure you can handle the uncomfortable stuff, maybe give it a watch. otherwise, there's much better gay media out there for you that doesn't subject you to uncomfortable shit like that

Oshi no Ko

I literally cannot tell you anything about this other than you have to watch this. even if you don't give a shit about idols. I'm serious. watch the entire first episode (and I mean the whole thing! don't quit halfway through), and you'll probably know if it's for you or not. but it is gorgeous, and the storytelling and characters are phenomenal. there's a reason no one will shut up about it. I am chomping at the bit for season 2, and the only reason I'm not going to read the manga is the anime is so beautiful

A Herbivorous Dragon of 5,000 Years Gets Unfairly Villainized

[kenny lauderdale voice] is chinese animation anime?

I remember my roommate watching the first episode of this with me around when Dragon Goes House Hunting was airing, to compare the two, and he ultimately passed on it. with that no longer fresh in my mind though, I went back and gave it another shot, and I'm glad I did

it's really short, the usual 12 episodes of a season being made up of 15-minute episodes. the characters don't have a lot of room to breathe, and the story doesn't have enough time to build on its premise for the climax to feel justified. but despite that, I loved the characters themselves, and their interactions with each other. The humor was pretty good, and I found the main duo super endearing. It's not much of a time commitment, so you don't have much to lose by giving this one a shot. oh, and watch Dragon Goes House Hunting too when you're done

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years Of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?!

[kenny lauderdale voice again] is live action drama anime?

I saw this recommended a lot when I went looking into popular BL drama. maybe I expect too much from my media, but I wasn't really into this. the main character has barely any personality beyond "anxious wreck," and his love interest comes across as a bit creepy, but otherwise not very interesting. In fact, it takes a flashback for us to really have any hint of why the love interest likes the main character at all. this is also peak "why do japanese dramas have such ridiculous acting"

I couldn't really bring myself to finish it. I made it about 2/3 through, seeing if it got better, but I just really couldn't go on any longer

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

another drama! this one was much, much better. it starts with the couple already together, and focuses more on how they cohabitate and work on their relationship. the characters in this feel very real, and their scenarios never feel particularly contrived or unnatural. also, it features characters who are properly middle aged, which is pretty rare for Japanese media in general, let alone BL

this was the hardest one to watch though, because it's only available on Netflix and it's blocked in my country! I couldn't find a good site to pirate it either, so I had to use a VPN. I hope it becomes more easily available some day

now, into the newer stuff:

My Happy Marriage

what interested me about this is it billed itself as a "historical drama," which is surprisingly rare for a culture that seems to have no problem commodifying its history. unfortunately, that's only half true. the setting seems to have one foot in meiji-era japan, and the other in a poorly explained fantasy setting with nonsensical magic powers

I could put up with that, except I really can't stand the characters either. the main character is Tradwife Prime, who's incapable of mustering an ounce of agency except to simp for the man she was forced to marry by her very abusive parents. said husband is nice, but bland as they come. she has a sister who is a huge jerk seemingly just to mess with her.

it has two things going for it: there is some catharsis in seeing husband guy treat this poor woman right, and also it's drawn and animated really well.

maybe it gets better after the first half, but I dropped it about halfway through. if you are the straightest, most misogynistic man, who only sees value in media that reinforces your pitiful worldview, and think all women should exist to be subservient to their husbands, maybe watch it. except even they probably shouldn't, or they'll risk feeling inferior to the most boring man on the planet. but maybe watch it if you like pretty pictures, and don't have a functional brain? or just watch it in a language you don't understand, I guess. make up your own story! you'll probably do better than the writers

Yohane the Parahelion

I watched this because, I kinda liked love live when I watched it a while back, and I thought putting the girls in a fantasy setting sounded neat. also, there's a cute dog, and I wanted to see more of the cute dog

unfortunately, the story is too busy expositing about the characters themselves and their nothing personalities to tell us about the setting, which feels underutilized. every few episodes, there's a hint at some spooky magic stuff happening, which is then stopped after a couple minutes to go back to light drama and fluff

and I started out liking the dog, who kinda feels like a big sister character, but that's literally her entire personality, and I got bored with her after a while, and the show itself just as quickly. it feels like a story yohane (the one in the love live world) wrote herself while she was bored, without consulting an editor or anything. can't recommend unless you really like looking at the cute dog

Sweet Reincarnation

this is a bad anime. I can't believe I watched it all the way through

the premise sounds fun. a patissier gets sent to the shadow realm and then gets isekai'd into life as a prince in generic fantasy world (do all these isekais take place on the same world, you think?), and is totally unhinged about turning the world into a sugar utopia under his command

what are the implications of this? the consequences? we'll never find out, because instead he just does really boring political drama shit. also he's like really good at diplomacy and negotiation for some reason? I don't think candy makers normally have to do that

it's kind of a shame because there are brief moments where the anime remembers what its stupid premise is, and those are genuinely fun. dude bankrupts the treasury buying fucking apples or whatever. uses his OP isekai power to invent irrigation and scare the shit out of everyone in the surrounding area. super fun stuff. but it lasts like 3 minutes every episode, and then it goes back to boring shit

also more arranged marriage, and this time it's with 10 year olds! no commentary whatsoever on how fucked up that is either, main character who is mentally about 30 years old at this point, totally stoked about his actual 10 year old wife to be. real normal shit

you already know it's shit though, right? you don't watch isekais to see a good anime anymore, right? you'll watch your garbage anime and you'll enjoy it anyway, right? okay

The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today

I love this anime. it follows the lead that Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill took of living life with a gruff, much more capable giant animal domestic partner. but instead of a cool magic wolf, yukichi is the masterful cat in question, and he fills the role of what I can only describe as the perfect house husband, with some sass and kitty antics included. he's also a big soft boy, which naturally gets bonus points from me

the series is pure slice of life. I haven't read the manga, but you can feel where the chapters begin and end within episodes, which makes them feel like short vignettes, rather than full stories. that's all this anime needs to convey its characters though! everyone feels well fleshed out, and their interesting personalities shine through

I do have 2 content warnings though: one, the main character ends up drinking alcohol a lot. you might know this is a trigger for me in certain scenarios, and this did make me uncomfortable. I was able to manage because the scenes in question are so short and tend to avoid portraying it as much more than an annoyance for yukichi, but if you're more sensitive to it than me, you're gonna have a rough time. second, probably less serious, but in an episode, the main character gains a bit of weight (which you would never guess by looking at her, but you'll have to trust the writers lol) and they make a big deal about her having to diet and exercise. might be kind of uncomfortable for some people who are used to having their weight pathologized, so feel free to skip that bit.

aside from those two complaints though, I really recommend this anime! it's super fun and really sweet

I ended up really watching a lot this season! I hope next season has some good ones too

[inventedfangirling]

I want to continue this using the example of Pat and Pran from Bad Buddy because its the Pran fell first but Pat fell harder discourse that prompted that mini rant.

Pran as has been established in the initial episodes of the Bad Buddy series had been harboring a long drawn secret and seemingly unrequited crush on his next door neighbour Pat. Despite being from "enemy" families, taught to hate the other, they never really put each other in actual harms way at any point in their life. Pran has had a whole has crush on Pat for more than half his life. After he is sent off to boarding school those feelings still dont go away because the very day he sees Pat once again, he takes out his watch (the one that Pat had returned to him after he saved Pa) and wears it again. The return of the watch is a reminder that his feelings had never really gone away and he was still very much besotted with his fierce eyed neighbour.

Meanwhile Pat seems to be viewing Pran quite suspiciously at first, based on all the lies he had been fed as a child. But nevertheless he continues to lend a helping hand and a listening ear to Pran throughout school, oblivious to the other's feelings for him. Post start of their college life, due partly to the promise he gave to Pa he doesn't want to encourage or participate in any fights with Pran. But the steps he takes, going above and beyond to ensure that doesn't happen, that no harm comes to him just shows how he has cared all along. Whether he had feelings or not was immaterial.

But things begin taking a turn when Pat decides to help Pran even where he really didn't need to be helping him. The idea of Pran being upset with him somehow urging him to take action to remedy it immediately. And thats how he helps him with the bus stop sponsorship and then the design process. Along the way he is more than pleasantly surprised to find that Pran actually smelled fricking great.

He discovers the joy in teasing and pulling the others leg, except at some point the line had been crossed over to flirting territory and Pran didn't seem to be having a problem with it. He returns the guitar he had been saving for so long. A purely platonic act by a long running platonic frenemy you geddit (yes okay but maybe they had a crush on eo all along we never really know do we) and then before he knows it he wants Pran's dimples for himself. Its funny because at first glance yes he does want the dimples objectively for himself, because he finds it so cute.

But as subsequent events reveal, his jealousy wrt Pran's and Wai's close friendship, his uncomfortable reactions to Ink Pran interactions and the eyes that never lie and the immediate reaction on touch and the not being himself around Pran, all of it just revealed what he seems to have known all along, he did actually want those dimples, but what he really wanted was the boy who flashed them at him.

And once that hits him, he quickly arrives at the very obvious conclusion and the tension post the Freshy competition and the incredible WaiPatPran spat scene leads to all the feelings bubbling out and eventually leading to the most epic of all scene, the rooftop kiss scene.

And at that moment, when their lips are devouring each other, their hands tangled in the other's hair, Pat is Pran and Pran is Pat, their equally intense and fervent feelings for each other fuelling their makeout, giving us one of the best if not THE best first kiss scene of all time ever.

I found it particularly important that the scene takes place at a neutral location. On that rooftop of the building they both stayed at, neither at Pran or Pat's house/dorm. At a place where they're equal, and where their love would be rendered equal.

And then throughout the course of the rest of the show we get glimpses of the various ways both Pat and Pran are devoted to the other. Pat is more of a loud declarations kinda guy, while Pran's is a more quiet yet nourishing love, the kind that feeds, assuages and gives Pat a place to rest and be vulnerable.

Because of the loudness of his actions people misconstrue Pat to be more in love with than Pran who isn't big on putting words to his feelings. He is more of a 'i will make you your favourite dish', 'leave cute notes', 'massage your sore muscles' albeit sometimes with persuasion kinda guy. The boy has been scarred far too much. I still dont think anybody truly understands just how world shattering that whole move in 10th grade was for him. That too for a sensitive soul like him who never confided much to anyone in the first place to be deprived of the familiarity of school friends and family was cruel. Ofc his self preservation tendencies got strengthened. Ofc he found it difficult to trust and believe that things would work out. That he could actually have what he wanted. Ofc it wasn't easy for Pat to deal with an emotionally closed off Pran in addition to un supportive parents but he still had a strong support circle that Pran never got.

Pat shows through his actions how committed he is to Pran, how he's there for him and Pran despite all that he has been through bravely takes one, two several steps towards Pat. "I can be anywhere as long you're there." And the whole of "Our song", my boy Pran didn't put his whole heart and soul out there for yall to call him the passive one. He is a product of his circumstance like all of us are. And he did what he knew best. But he also bravely ventured into uncharted waters because he found that on the other side, standing right next to him on the same level, was his fierce eyed neighbour whose eyes now only shown love, his hands outstretched, ready to embrace him, no matter what weather, sun, rain or storm.

Pran fell first, sure (probably), and Pat fell harder, he recognised his feelings almost a decade later and that too all at once in mere days. But they found each other at the same spot, on that rooftop, with conflicting but simultaneously equally intense feelings.

Ultimately tho like Pran says in the Bad Buddy Thousand stars crossover episode, it doesnt matter who fell first, all that matters is that they love each other and they are equally committed to making it work for and with each other.

But like i said, my whole point is that, that commitment comes from a place of love that's equal.

The end.

For the love of all that's good in fandom, fic-dom and the world, I need everyone to understand that the A fell first, but B fell harder trope doesn't mean that B is more in love with A than A is with B.

It just means that while A developed feelings first and they gradually progressed to a point X in time T, B remained oblivious. Until one fine day when it strikes B just how unaware and idiotic they've been cos A is frigging amazing (and smart and funny and sweet and caring and brilliant and sexy and hot and what not) and how dare did that not come to notice and then BAM B reaches point X in next to no time.

A and B are both at the same level of feelings but B just so happened to have had a steeper fall so as to reach the same level in a shorter time. This is what the fell harder phrase means. Ofc nobody can measure feelings and the intensity of emotions and all that logical stuff but it annoys me to no end when people use this trope to imply that one of the characters is more in love than the other. No. Not if I can help it.

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Sentret Line

Because Rattata was overpowered

DESIGN: 

Sentret does a perfect job of being adorable, obvious, unique, and full of personality all at once. You can tell at a glance that it’s some sort of normal small woodland creature, but you can’t pinpoint which one, because it’s a smooth amalgam of squirrel, meerkat, tanooki, rabbit, and really whatever. It’s a small woodland creature. It raises itself up on its tail to look larger and to be able to see more. While Rattata was just a rat, Sentret is only Sentret. 

The shift to 3D ruined it though. Modern Sentret stands on its feet rather than its tail, and it really loses a lot of its impact. Silhouette is an important thing for creature design, important enough that “Who’s that Pokemon?” used to appear in every episode, and without standing on its tail Sentret loses that. A lot of Pokemon got their iconic stances altered in the move to 3D, but putting Sentret on its feet is just a travesty.

Furret I’m much less impressed with. That’s just a cute weasel. Or ferret, but honestly, they’re very closely related. It’s a very cute weasel-ferret, mind, and the stripes definitely help a lot, but I’m not intrigued by this creature. I immediately identify it, and I forget about it because it’s just a weasel. I’m not even sure how you copyright Furret and Rattata. Can nobody else make a cute striped weasel or a purple rat? 

ECOLOGY:

Sentret and Furret live primarily along the southern border between Johto and Kanto, though small populations exist elsewhere. They are extremely social animals, and though they’re only active during the day, many Sentret will stay awake all night to guard their nests. Furret will wrap around young Sentret to protect them and will dig deep nests that are difficult for predators to enter.

Sentret are omnivores, but they are not strong hunters. They primarily eat small insects (which exist according to the Pokedex despite the player never seeing them) and berries, though they may also steal eggs or even Exeggcute. Furret are much stronger hunters and primarily hunt Rattata. Rattata, in turn, frequently hunt young Sentret, but their largest danger is Hoothoot. While a Sentret keeps a lookout to keep Rattata at bay, it leaves itself vulnerable to Hoothoot or Noctowl attacks from above, which will happily attack either of the two Pokemon. While Raticate will eat Sentret given the opportunity, their large size makes attacking a Sentret burrow impossible.

Local noodle warms her potats  by Sifyro

TYPING:

Normal. It’s only good on bulkier Pokemon that can leverage a lack of weaknesses, which this isn’t.

STATS:

Sentret is slower and weaker than Rattata. Maybe people were complaining about Rattata’s high speed stat as the first enemy in Gen 1, but Sentret is just sad in comparison.

Furret is on par with Raticate, but we’re still talking about a Pokemon whose best stat is its 90 speed, with a stat total of just 415. This is good for gameplay, but is extremely weak competitively. Its stat spread isn’t inherently bad, but 90 Speed doesn’t go a long way when your better attack stat is a 76, and 85 HP isn’t enough to save defenses of 64 and 55. 

Floof by Cynderela2001

ABILITIES:

Run Away has no effect in trainer battles. Moving on.

Frisk enables you to check the item of an opposing Pokemon. While this isn’t nothing in competitive battling, it’s usually not that strong an ability. Many items are obvious as soon as a turn happens, and only a few will relevantly change your strategy by knowing about.

Keen Eye prevents Furret’s accuracy from being decreased and allows Furret to ignore Evasion boosts. Once again, it’s not nothing, but it doesn’t really matter, either. Frisk is probably the better option, because you can take moves to leverage it.

Hypervoice by Koui

MOVES:

Let's pretend somebody forced you to use Furret competitively or they’ll kill your wife. Otherwise, not sure why you’d try. There isn’t a tournament tier low enough for Furret to be viable, unless you somehow illegally snuck it into Little Cup.

Furret is a Normal Physical attacker, so our big hit SHOULD be Return, but that might not exist anymore, so Double-Edge it is, even though you have to breed for that. Hope you weren’t hoping to keep this Furret up for long.

For coverage, you can take Brick Break or Focus Punch to hit Rock and Steel Types, and you can take Shadow Claw to hit Ghosts.

Using Frisk to know what an opponent’s item is, you can use Thief, Knock Off, or, with careful breeding, Trick to get rid of troublesome ones. 

Then… U-Turn. So your Furret doesn’t get attacked because it’s not exactly one of the more durable Pokemon, even in its stat tier.

Furret suffers from a serious lack of good moves, even via TM.  Weirdly, it DOES get a lot of good special moves, but its Special stat is so low that it’s still better off using its sub-par physical attacks. 

Finishing Blow by Mark331

OVERALL:

Sentret and Furret being weak for gameplay is fine, but it’s weird that they seem so much worse than Rattata and Raticate. They’ve also gotten absolutely no love over the years, while Raticate has better abilities, stronger moves, and an Alolan form. It’s actually kind of wild to me just how rare Sentret is, with Rattata being not just in many more games, but being far more common throughout Johto. The move selection via TM and Breeding also keeps a player from doing anything with a Furret even in the post-game or in doubles, when things like Hidden Abilities and obscure moves allow a decent number of weak Pokemon to still be useful.

Sentret is such a perfect design that I wish they’d figure out a way to use it more, even if Furret remains competitively useless. Of course, a third form or a regional form could go a long way, especially if it made Furret more interesting and unique instead of just being… cute weasel.

[absolxguardian]

Andor and the freedom of metaphor

Disclaimer: I have not watched any of the Bourne films, but I have listened to all of the Kill James Bond episodes on the series.

Tony Gilroy, as you might have seen in some of the trailers, is the showrunner of Andor. He also co-wrote Rogue One, the first three Bourne movies, and wrote/directed the Bourne Legacy. The Bourne films exist in a constant conflict between depicting the CIA (accurately) as evil, the antagonists who operate an illegal CIA death squad that birthed Jason Bourne and are now hunting him while also staying within the pro-American imperialism party line of mainstream Hollywood. The Bourne Legacy is the film where this comes to ahead, where it is revealed that inside the CIA there is a second evil CIA that actually did all the Treadstone stuff.

Given what we’ve gotten in Andor, I believe that Tony Gilroy himself is not conflicted in this way. He has a clear conception and hatred of imperialism in all its forms, as shown in the well crafted analogies and real world similarities in the show that many other people have written about. It is implicit or explicit executive interference that has muddled the themes of the Bourne films he has been involved in. Despite Andor being as mainstream as the Bourne films in its production, Tony Gilroy has been able to write something a lot less compromised because on its surface it isn’t about the evils of the American (or British, or whoever) state. 

This is one of the powers of speculative settings like Star Wars. Not only does working in metaphor and similarities to the real world allow you to present unique angle and address a different variety of topics than you could with a single story when only using the real world (or think about how many different people could relate to the Dhani when they aren’t just one real world group),  it also lets your work have a wider reach. Somehow Disney didn’t object to all the themes present in Andor, but they sure would if it was about America and a real mega-corporation. While the ISB hasn’t really done any intelligence work on screen yet, they are the space!CIA, and unlike in the Bourne films, there is no equivocation required. You’ll also avoid the controversy that would otherwise emerge if the anti-imperialist themes in your work were explicitly anti-American. This could perhaps help your message reach some more people, people who when you aren’t making them start on the defensive by criticising “their team”.

If you want to make even a subtextually anti-war film using real world militaries, that isn’t going to happen in Hollywood anymore. The studio is going to want to get the free sets and props and rather than hire an consultant so that you can actually depict everything accurately, they’re going to bring on the DOJ who while they will help keep things accurate in the technical sense, the involvement of the government will turn your film into propaganda. But there’s no easy financial carrot when the military you’re depicting are a bunch of stormtroopers instead.

And this isn’t the first time this has happened with Star Wars. George Lucas could have never made a film where the heroes team up with the Viet Cong and then drive America out of their country. Except, he did. It’s called Return of the Jedi and the Viet Cong are also cute little teddy bears. And that’s only one example. Andor is just contiuning the long tradition of using an sci-fi fantasy setting to depict anti-imperialist themes while still being acceptable to executives and embraced by a wider audience, even if many of them don’t pick up on the subtext.

[courtney-deserved-better]

Scotney Duncney Gwourtney

scottney - don’t ship it

why don’t you ship it? 

i project too much of myself onto courtney to not see her as a lesbian lol. also when i first watched all-stars i was a diehard duncney fan who was pissed courtney was dating another guy

what would have made you like it? 

maybe if their interactions in canon were less cringe, i have major second hand embarrassment and honestly can’t watch much of it

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

though it feels like a crackship that somehow became canon it’s actually kind of a cute ship. i enjoy reading this series about them. the girlboss x malewife is pretty fun too

duncney - don’t ship it

why don’t you ship it?

i used to when i was like 12, even after world tour and all-stars happened and everything. i was unhealthily attached to their relationship and so shipping it stopped being fun. also it just ended super badly. and now im gay.

what would have made you like it?

if tda/tdwt hadn’t happened id probably still be a duncney shipper tbh. there is a reason why its like the most popular td ship. it just developed so badly after island.

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

its a fun little dynamic! its cute how theyre seemingly opposites but bring out the softer/more rebellious sides of each other. basic straining is still a great episode imo (except for courtney getting eliminated rip)

gwourtney - ship it

what made you ship it?

i was really obsessed with total drama when i was figuring out i was a lesbian and i got really attached to their friendship. i was literally writing elaborate fanfics in my head about them saving each others lives and living together with a child and thought this was completely straight. this was also happening while my dunceny obsession was fading so i latched onto this. im a sucker for complicated friendships/enemies to lovers too

what are your favorite things about the ship?

gotta love goth x prep, especially when courtney is more passionate and gwen is more laid back. gwen’s personality is so inconsistent season to season but i think s1 courtney and gwen couldve had a great rivals to friends to lovers potential. i enjoy their chemistry

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

hmm i dont really know any popular gwourtney opinions? but one opinion (or more of a hc really) that i do have is that courtney realized she had a crush on gwen during the 1st half of s3 and that’s why she was so upset about the gwuncan thing, while gwen didn’t even think they were that close. then gwen realizes she likes courtney sometime in all-stars and courtney still has lingering feelings for her but plays hard to get because she’s hurt and that’s what she did with duncan in s1. i think she also made the chart bc she knew she and gwen weren’t gonna make it to the finale together and she wanted to make sure that it was her who made it all the way. yeah this is definitely less of an opinion and more of a hc but idk what else to put lol

[captnjacksparrow]

Sasuke is the other Dad for Boruto.

I recently re-watched Boruto - Naruto The Movie to enjoy some SNS fight. But I’ve noticed some little things which felt immensely gratifying to see. And I’ve never seen anyone discussing about these things so far. Or I might have missed them.

First of all, the movie opened with an interesting silhouette.

Younger version of Sasuke and Naruto (when they were 18) & Little Boruto. It looks somehow cute with Sasuke’s coat flailing in the background. But why is Sasuke is drawn very taller? I wonder. Somehow, it gives a family photo vibes.

Then during Momoshiki fight, 

I found one Gem of a Scene which made me cackle a lot. However the scene goes like this,

After Naruto and Sasuke fought Momoshiki, they got pretty exhausted, especially Sasuke. 

Gaara (in his mind) : Damn!!!! I must kill Sasuke to take that place.

Meanwhile Momoshiki got powered up again, thanks to that Scientific Ninja Tools developing guy. Momoshiki started to attack everyone again and then this happens.

Despite being exhausted, Sasuke’s body moved on its own to catch Boruto in a very similar fashion he lifted Naruto when they were 12 in Land of the Waves. 

And you may wonder what Naruto was doing? Geezz!!!! LOLLLLLL

It was so funny when I saw this because Naruto never thinks about himself, and he always puts his life on the line for others. Here, he looks like he was saving his own ass. But that’s not the truth, because he must have known Sasuke would go for Boruto because Momoshiki’s target was Naruto and Boruto should be kept out of the front lines. It’s just that it looked like he was saving himself initially and I find it funny. 

The Gif version of that scene.

Even in the recent Boruto episode, Sasuke showed his Dad instinct just for a moment. 

Jigen : I have no interest in you at all. But your Son on the other hand, is a different story.

Naruto : What?

Sasuke : ***Shocking look intensifies***

Well, first of all, In the Manga, Sasuke will not be in this scene. He left using his Transportation Jutsu before this conversation happens. The Anime team made Sasuke to be in this scene and listen to Jigen’s intention. And Jigen was clearly pointing Naruto’s (Your Son) Son and Sasuke also looks at him as if he was talking about his own Son, LoL. 

Heartwarming to see such scenes!!! 

And, that’s why I feel Sasuke is the other Dad for Boruto.

[citrina-posts]

Avatar: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?

I love Avatar: the Last Airbender. Obviously I do, because I run a fan blog on it. But make no mistake: it is a show built upon cultural appropriation. And you know what? For the longest time, as an Asian-American kid, I never saw it that way.

There are plenty of reasons why I never realized this as a kid, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few reasons. One is that I was desperate to watch a show with characters that looked like me in it that wasn’t anime (nothing wrong with anime, it’s just not my thing). Another is that I am East Asian (I have Taiwanese and Korean ancestry) and in general, despite being the outward “bad guys”, the East Asian cultural aspects of Avatar are respected far more than South Asian, Middle Eastern, and other influences. A third is that it’s easy to dismiss the negative parts of a show you really like, so I kind of ignored the issue for a while. I’m going to explain my own perspective on these reasons, and why I think we need to have a nuanced discussion about it. This is pretty long, so if you want to keep reading, it’s under the cut.

Obviously, the leadership behind ATLA was mostly white. We all know the co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (colloquially known as Bryke) are white. So were most of the other episodic directors and writers, like Aaron Ehasz, Lauren Montgomery, and Joaquim Dos Santos. This does not mean they were unable to treat Asian cultures with respect, and I honestly do believe that they tried their best! But it does mean they have certain blinders, certain perceptions of what is interesting and enjoyable to watch. Avatar was applauded in its time for being based mostly on Asian and Native American cultures, but one has to wonder: how much of that choice was based on actual respect for these people, and how much was based on what they considered to be “interesting”, “quirky”, or “exotic”?

The aesthetic of the show, with its bending styles based on various martial arts forms, written language all in Chinese text, and characters all decked out in the latest Han dynasty fashions, is obviously directly derivative of Asian cultures. Fine. That’s great! They hired real martial artists to copy the bending styles accurately, had an actual Chinese calligrapher do all the lettering, and clearly did their research on what clothing, hair, and makeup looked like. The animation studios were in South Korea, so Korean animators were the ones who did the work. Overall, this is looking more like appreciation for a beautiful culture, and that’s exactly what we want in a rapidly diversifying world of media.

But there’s always going to be some cherry-picking, because it’s inevitable. What’s easy to animate, what appeals to modern American audiences, and what is practical for the world all come to mind as reasons. It’s just that… they kinda lump cultures together weirdly. Song from Book 2 (that girl whose ostrich-horse Zuko steals) wears a hanbok, a traditionally Korean outfit. It’s immediately recognizable as a hanbok, and these dresses are exclusive to Korea. Are we meant to assume that this little corner of the mostly Chinese Earth Kingdom is Korea? Because otherwise, it’s just treated as another little corner of the Earth Kingdom. Korea isn’t part of China. It’s its own country with its own culture, history, and language. Other aspects of Korean culture are ignored, possibly because there wasn’t time for it, but also probably because the creators thought the hanbok was cute and therefore they could just stick it in somewhere. But this is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things (super minor, compared to some other things which I will discuss later on).

It’s not the lack of research that’s the issue. It’s not even the lack of consideration. But any Asian-American can tell you: it’s all too easy for the Asian kids to get lumped together, to become pan-Asian. To become the equivalent of the Earth Kingdom, a mass of Asians without specific borders or national identities. It’s just sort of uncomfortable for someone with that experience to watch a show that does that and then gets praised for being so sensitive about it. I don’t want you to think I’m from China or Vietnam or Japan; not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I’m not! How would a French person like to be called British? It would really piss them off. Yet this happens all the time to Asian-Americans and we are expected to go along with it. And… we kind of do, because we’ve been taught to.

1. Growing Up Asian-American

I grew up in the early to mid-2000s, the era of High School Musical and Hannah Montana and iCarly, the era of Spongebob and The Amazing World of Gumball and Fairly Odd Parents. So I didn’t really see a ton of Asian characters onscreen in popular shows (not anime) that I could talk about with my white friends at school. One exception I recall was London from Suite Life, who was hardly a role model and was mostly played up for laughs more than actual nuance. Shows for adults weren’t exactly up to par back then either, with characters like the painfully stereotypical Raj from Big Bang Theory being one of the era that comes to mind.

So I was so grateful, so happy, to see characters that looked like me in Avatar when I first watched it. Look! I could dress up as Azula for Halloween and not Mulan for the third time! Nice! I didn’t question it. These were Asian characters who actually looked Asian and did cool stuff like shoot fireballs and throw knives and were allowed to have depth and character development. This was the first reason why I never questioned this cultural appropriation. I was simply happy to get any representation at all. This is not the same for others, though.

2. My Own Biases

Obviously, one can only truly speak for what they experience in their own life. I am East Asian and that is arguably the only culture that is treated with great depth in Avatar.

I don’t speak for South Asians, but I’ve certainly seen many people criticize Guru Pathik, the only character who is explicitly South Asian (and rightly so. He’s a stereotype played up for laughs and the whole thing with chakras is in my opinion one of the biggest plotholes in the show). They’ve also discussed how Avatar: The Last Airbender lifts heavily from Hinduism (with chakras, the word Avatar itself, and the Eye of Shiva used by Combustion Man to blow things up). Others have expressed how they feel the sandbenders, who are portrayed as immoral thieves who deviously kidnap Appa for money, are a direct insult to Middle Eastern and North African cultures. People have noted that it makes no sense that a culture based on Inuit and other Native groups like the Water Tribe would become industrialized as they did in the North & South comics, since these are people that historically (and in modern day!) opposed extreme industrialization. The Air Nomads, based on the Tibetan people, are weirdly homogeneous in their Buddhist-inspired orange robes and hyperspiritual lifestyle. So too have Southeast Asians commented on the Foggy Swamp characters, whose lifestyles are made fun of as being dirty and somehow inferior. The list goes on.

These things, unlike the elaborate and highly researched elements of East Asian culture, were not treated with respect and are therefore cultural appropriation. As a kid, I had the privilege of not noticing these things. Now I do.

White privilege is real, but every person has privileges of some kind, and in this case, I was in the wrong for not realizing that. Yes, I was a kid; but it took a long time for me to see that not everyone’s culture was respected the way mine was. They weren’t considered *aesthetic* enough, and therefore weren’t worth researching and accurately portraying to the creators. It’s easy for a lot of East Asians to argue, “No! I’ve experienced racism! I’m not privileged!” News flash: I’ve experienced racism too. But I’ve also experienced privilege. If white people can take their privilege for granted, so too can other races. Shocking, I know. And I know now how my privilege blinded me to the fact that not everybody felt the same euphoria I did seeing characters that looked like them onscreen. Not if they were a narrow and offensive portrayal of their race. There are enough good-guy Asian characters that Fire Lord Ozai is allowed to be evil; but can you imagine if he was the only one?

3. What It Does Right

This is sounding really down on Avatar, which I don’t want to do. It’s a great show with a lot of fantastic themes that don’t show up a lot in kids’ media. It isn’t superficial or sugarcoating in its portrayal of the impacts of war, imperialism, colonialism, disability, and sexism, just to name a few. There are characters like Katara, a brown girl allowed to get angry but is not defined by it. There are characters like Aang, who is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity. There are characters like Toph, who is widely known as a great example of how to write a disabled character.

But all of these good things sort of masked the issues with the show. It’s easy to sweep an issue under the rug when there’s so many great things to stack on top and keep it down. Alternatively, one little problem in a show seems to make-or-break media for some people. Cancel culture is the most obvious example of this gone too far. Celebrity says one ignorant thing? Boom, cancelled. But… kind of not really, and also, they’re now terrified of saying anything at all because their apologies are mocked and their future decisions are scrutinized. It encourages a closed system of creators writing only what they know for fear of straying too far out of their lane. Avatar does do a lot of great things, and I think it would be silly and immature to say that its cultural appropriation invalidates all of these things. At the same time, this issue is an issue that should be addressed. Criticizing one part of the show doesn’t mean that the other parts of it aren’t good, or that you shouldn’t be a fan.

If Avatar’s cultural appropriation does make you uncomfortable enough to stop watching, go for it. Stop watching. No single show appeals to every single person. At the same time, if you’re a massive fan, take a sec (honestly, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve taken many secs) to check your own privilege, and think about how the blurred line between cultural appreciation (of East Asia) and appropriation (basically everybody else) formed. Is it because we as viewers were also captivated by the aesthetic and overall story, and so forgive the more problematic aspects? Is it because we’ve been conditioned so fully into never expecting rep that when we get it, we cling to it?

I’m no media critic or expert on race, cultural appropriation, or anything of the sort. I’m just an Asian-American teenager who hopes that her own opinion can be put out there into the world, and maybe resonate with someone else. I hope that it’s given you new insight into why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show with both cultural appropriation and appreciation, and why these things coexist. Thank you for reading!

[leejungchans]

— dance with me?

word count: 1.7k

pairing: dino (svt) x ateez oc (juliet)

warning(s): none!!

genre: an overwhelming amount of fluff bc i love lee chan

set on february 11, 2021

summary: during a late-night date on dino’s birthday, he asks juliet a special question.

juliet’s masterlist

minnie 🐭❤️ [22:16] i’m heading down now!! (◕‿◕) don’t drive off without me please ur so sexc 😩😩

From where he is, parked a street down from the building where ATEEZ’s dorm is in, Chan shakes his head fondly, looking out the window from the driver’s seat for any sign of his girlfriend.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, Juliet emerges from the building’s entrance, glancing down the mostly empty street before spotting the familiar car.

Under the light of the street lamps, he can see that she’s wearing a huge puffer jacket with a scarf wrapped around her neck, purple hair stuffed under her beanie to avoid catching the attention of prying eyes. With all the layers she has on, she reminds him of a waddling penguin as she speed-walks towards the car.

Cute.

Chan unlocks the door as Juliet approaches, her eyes smiling while she settles into the passenger’s seat before leaning over the console to hug him. “Happy birthday, Channie,” she beams, taking off her mask to nuzzle the bottom half of her face into the thick material of her scarf.

“You already said that,” Chan teases, also smiling as he watches her fumble with the seatbelt for a bit.

“That was from almost twelve hours ago at 12 am! I think it’s illegal if I didn’t wish you a happy birthday again,” Juliet protests. “Sorry for being late, by the way. Have you been waiting long?”

“It’s only a few minutes, don’t sweat it.”

“Okay, but there’s actually a good reason! I was about to leave the building when Mingi-oppa called me because I left your present on the table, and I had to go back up to grab it! So you have him to thank that you have a birthday present.”

Juliet takes out a small gift bag, its handles tied together with ribbon so he can’t look into it, and hands it to him with a sweet grin. “Don’t open it now, though,” she warns half-jokingly.

“What? Why?” Chan whines. “I can’t even open my own present on my birthday?”

“No, because if you open it now then I’ll have to explain the meaning behind your gift, and if I do that I might actually cry. There’s a card inside explaining it.”

“What if I want to hear it from you?”

“Then you can call me when you get home,” she responds cheekily.

Chan relents. “Fine, you win. But you didn’t have to get me anything, I hope you know that,” he adds the last part seriously.

Juliet smiles reassuringly. “I know, but I wanted to. I hope you’ll like it, though.”

“I know I will.” It’s at that moment when he finally gets a good look at her face, the light from the street lamps hitting it just enough for him to note the dark circles under her eyes. “You look tired, baby. Don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful no matter what, but is everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.” As though on cue, Juliet brings a hand up to cover her mouth as she yawns. “Just a little tired from comeback preparations and practising for Kingdom. I’ll be fine, though, don’t worry.”

“I’ll always worry about you,” Chan admits. “You shouldn’t have come so you can rest.”

Juliet frowns. “No, I wanted to see you. Plus, it’s your birthday.”

“Okay, but you have to promise that you’ll take care of yourself.”

“I always do!” A pause. “Okay, sometimes I don’t, but I’ll try,” she promises genuinely.

Chan smiles. “Good. Let’s go, then. Seatbelt on?”

“Mhm!”

“Um, where exactly are you taking me?” Juliet asks suspiciously, noting that they’re currently driving up a hill away from central Seoul.

“Patience, Minnie. You’ll find out soon,” Chan says with a mischievous smirk. “We’re almost there.”

She feigns an offended gasp. “I am always patient! I’m just asking because I’m too pretty to meet my end now.”

“If something happens, I’ll protect you.”

“Nice try, but don’t think I haven’t watched that episode of GOING SEVENTEEN with you guys in the haunted house,” Juliet teases with a raised brow. “If anything, we probably need to call Wonwoo-ssi or Minghao-ssi.”

Chan groans. “Can we not talk about my members when we’re on a date?”

This only earns a laugh from Juliet. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“You’re going to tease me even on my birthday?”

“It’s how I show affection!” she defends while the car comes to a stop at the side of a dimly lit road. “Are we here?”

Upon his nod, she unbuckles her seatbelt to hop out the car, snow crunching under her boots. Immediately, harsh winds whip at her face and she shivers, the temperature even lower due to the higher elevation.

She hears a lighthearted tsk from behind her before feeling her jacket being draped over her shoulders. “You left it in the backseat, silly,” Chan says softly while he helps her into it, referring to when she took it off during the car ride. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

“No, I won’t. I have you to remind me,” Juliet says cheekily, earning herself a light flick on the forehead. She follows Chan to a clearing a few paces away from where they parked and immediately realises why he took her here.

Seoul, with its sparkling lights, is captivating at night when you’re in the heart of the city, but perhaps even more so when you’re looking at it from afar. She can’t help but admire the stark contrast between the tranquil hillside they’re at that compared to the vibrant city centre it overlooks.

“I sometimes come here with the members when we want to be away from... the loudness of it all,” Chan explains quietly as they move closer to the railing. “To think. Or just to take our mind off certain things.”

Juliet leans closer to his side to link their arms, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. “It’s beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Don’t come to places like here often?”

She snorts. “I don’t just let anyone drive me to a dark hill in the middle of the night.”

Chan laughs, gently resting his head on hers. “You have a point. Does this mean I’m the only person allowed to take you here?”

“I’d like that. I also have a horrible sense of direction, so I don’t think I can remember the way here even if I tried.” Despite her quip, something in Juliet feels fuzzy and warm at the thought of this place being one only they know of.

It brings a sense of giddiness, the same one she felt when she was much, much younger; when she and her friends first decided on a secret hideout at their school back home in Sydney. Only this time, there’s more to it than just childhood innocence.

Juliet doesn’t know much about love. She’s had crushes here and there throughout her life, but none of them ever developed into something further. Of course, until she met Chan.

She doesn’t know much about love. But this feels like it.

And that’s more than enough for her.

His voice cuts through her thoughts. “I actually have something to ask you.”

At her hum, he continues.

“I was wondering if you’d want to be on Danceology. You know, like for a collaboration. We can choreograph and dance it together... anything you want, really.”

Juliet looks up at the boy with wide eyes, not knowing if she heard him correctly. “You’re sure?”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Or you don’t have to decide now, I know you’re really busy these days. No pressure at all.”

“No, no,” she clarifies. “I meant if you’re sure you want to do one with me?”

The look in his eyes is so tender that she feels like crying. “I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

Something tells her he’s not only referring to Danceology.

Juliet leans her forehead on Chan’s shoulder to hide her face from him. “You’re going to make me cry on your own birthday,” she mutters.

“Is that a yes?”

She nods against him while blinking away the hot tears prickling at her eyes, feeling his lips press against her temple.

“That’s the best present you could’ve given me.”

“Yah, you can’t say that!” Juliet says, somehow finding it in her to crack a joke. What can she say? Humour is one of her many coping mechanisms. “You’re only supposed to say that if I didn’t give you anything! What does that make the gift I got you?”

“Best of the best?” At her laugh, Chan presses again, “am I still not allowed to open it?”

“No, you’re not.”

[00:05—Outside ATEEZ’s dorm]

“Okay, fine, you can open it.”

“What made you change your mind?” Chan grins, already reaching for the small bag in the backseat.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Juliet admits, smiling as she uses the dimmest setting of her phone’s flashlight to illuminate the dark interior, the overhead light being too risky to turn on at this hour lest they want to draw unwanted attention to themselves. “I guess I want to see your reaction.”

She stares quietly as he undos the ribbon tying the handles together before looking into the bag and taking out a small box. Despite her shyness and the sudden urge to jump out of the car and run back up to the dorm, Juliet continues to hold up her phone as he takes out the silver band within it.

It’s simple, minimalist, inconspicuous enough to wear during the day but at the same time uniquely his due to the custom engraving on the outside of the band. A snowflake.

She bites the inside of her cheek from nervousness as Chan silently reads the small card that came along in the bag, subconsciously tracing over her neat handwriting with his finger.

“Like a snowflake, I fell for you hahahaha (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) You asked me to be yours during the first snow of the year. I hope that is only the start of many more years to come. Happy Birthday, always be happy and healthy ❤️ And don’t forget to take care of yourself!! (♡`Д´) If you forget I’ll come over and nag you, but maybe you’d like that more than not ㅋㅋㅋ — 🐭❤️”

Chan’s eyes are glossy when he finally meets her curious and worried gaze, trying to gauge his reaction. He beams brightly.

“Told you I’d like it.”

find their collaboration here!! 😼

a/n: blessing you guys with this gif bc look at him go!! ;-; stream dino’s dancelogy to be sexcie 😼 pls don’t let juno flop </3 also i thought it’d be too mean if i didn’t tell you what the present was bc i definitely considered not saying anything about it 👀👀 anyways let me know what you think about this chapter 🥺 personally i am <///3 bc bwhehwhs i want what they have but also i’m not very good at writing fluff whjehdhw i cringe at myself sm when writing it 🤡

thank you so much for reading 💕 please do consider leaving feedback whether it’s a reblog, a reply or an ask, it would mean the absolute world to me as feedback really motivates and supports creators 🥺 and feel free to chat with me about juliet or anything else through my asks!! as always, take care and have a good day!!

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. Are death gods like a class lower than Olympian gods? Minthe says that Hades can buy all the suits in the world and still stink of death and Apollo refers to Thanatos as Poor Man’s Heremes and also reeks of death. Do they smell bad, or do people just hate them for existing? You’d think they’d be a little more fear controlling death/underworld

2. for the person saying "come on, persephone being a self insert isn't bad" completely misses the point.  As a young writer I used to have self inserts until I realized that my favoritism overshadowed the narrative and didn't allow for my characters to experience consequences or be in the wrong.  This is how creator's pets get made, and no one likes those because they ruin the story and take away attention from other (more interesting) characters!  (1/2) 

We are clearly seeing this in LO.  Persephone is essentially a perfect little goddess who keeps getting powers, is probably going to be revealed as one of the strongest goddesses, and her issues (sans the two giant ones we know what it is) almost never personally affect her.  No one gets angry at her in a meaningful way unless the narrative wants us to demonize them, and when they suddenly "see the light" and go to her side, they're rewarded!  THAT'S why persephone as a S.I is bad

3. Ok. I think Daphene and Thanatos are the best ship. I would read this story...also,Thanatos is the grim reaper...how metal would be if he take down LO Apollo and LO Hades? Yes, I'm aware this would be impossible in the.original myths but HEY why not? RS is not caring for the source material

4. RS’s writing is such a mess of contradictions between actuality and intent it’s hilarious: 1) Hades is supposed to be seen as a good guy yet is portrayed as a tyrant who somehow still manages to be a Gary Stu. 2) Persephone is simultaneously overpowered (fertility goddess powers) and powerless (is just a college kid) to the point where she’s viewed as a spoiled rich brat living consequence-free and destitute young woman left with no options but to marry to get out of trouble 

3) Artemis is supposed to represent a separatist feminist yet is depicted as foolish, British and out of the loop for humorous effect by the poss poor excuse of a comic which calls itself ‘a feminist feeling’. 4) The lack of time skips coupled with RS’s need to give HxP as many ‘cute’ moments as possible makes the comic’s progress feel slow for the reader when it’s actually progressing at breakneck speed if you go by the character’s timeframe. 

5) Wants to treat SA with nuance and sensitivity (RS almost manages to do it at first) but then uses Persephone’s rape as trauma porn, a means for pushing her closer to Hades while reminding the reader of his differences from Apollo and a means of furthering the side plots (Artemis’s descent into depressed confusion, Eros and Psyche’s romance, Hera’s quest to get the mains together).

5. i genuinely do not want to see whatever reason rachel thinks up to have zeus and demeter not like each other because it's either going to be a "shock" incest twist (unlikely) or it's going to be something akin to how she made apollo to persephone and maybe zeus stole her "fertility" and thats why she couldnt have persephone naturally and why demeter isnt a fertility goddess but persephone is. like no writing choice is good in this so i guess brace for the worst from her in this regard.

6. i honestly get sad looking at old LO art because not only is all the charm gone, but the colors also got way worse. hades used to be this subdued, rich dark blue with icy blue hair while persephone was a nice shade of pastel pink with magenta hair, but now theyre all one shade of neon. there used to be choices put into the art but now its just lazy. like hades looks like a blue highlighter, and persephone like her personality is only one nauseatingly bright shade and thats it 😞

7. i feel like if at least the writing in LO was good the art would excusable, you know what i mean? and the same can be said in reverse, but both are just so bad (or was never good to begin with) that it just seems inexcusable? like at least put effort into one, not half assing at best for both.

8. i mean for all we know bc thats how how psyche normally looks the braids are just a nymph disguise that basically pops away once shes human looking again. regardless the whole thing is nasty once you think about it and idk what we expected from a white woman to begin with. she thinks persephone revolving her whole world and being dependent on hades is feminist and making a canon bi god a r//pist is groundbreaking too like ....

9. lets add to the psyche is black-coded discourse: anyone want to mention how nasty it is she was literally sold off to a WHITE MAN for eros to save her from (ignoring the fact he proceeded to lie to her while having a sexual relationship), made her loving parents into abusive assholes, and psyche just happens to be the only character who is illiterate despite being a princess? the whole thing reeks of internalized racism on rachel's part, and her now giving her braids kinda makes it worse, tbh. 

-----FP Spoilers-----

10. Is it me? Or in the fast past episode were they showed one of the muses Polymnia (or Polyhymnia)  they mixed her with Clio??? Because Zeus calls her "the goddess/muse of history" but Polymnia is acutally the muse of hymns, CLIO is the muse of history, how did they get that wrong? Her name literally means "a lot of hymns"! And why is there a muse in this??? Even she says that she shouldn't be there because she doesn't work in anything similar to law, did Zeus really asked her to make a POEM in a TRAIAL??? For what exactly? Make Persephone look bad?