#just completed episode 2

[cuteteacakes]

As I'm going through my... what is now at now... seventh? Sixth? rewatch of Yuri On Ice while I notice a lot of similarities between me and the main character, there are two little differences. One, I don't drink. :3

(two being drunk subsequently got him the love of his life which I have yet to find but will I since I don't drink?? orz)

[abrahamvanhelsings]

the terror (2018) requires a rewatch not only bc it is so good it will settle in the core of your brain and grow and spread there like a fungus until you die but also bc it is a show about a hundred something bearded victorian white men on a ship in the same clothes and by the time you start figuring out what name is attached to which guy half of them are already dead

[gunsatthaphan]

#full circle.

[turtleblogatlast]

I am once again reiterating that Leo could and should be a figure skater because what are ice skates if not twin blades? What is dual blade swordsmanship if not a dance-like performance? Using the skates as blades themselves could let Leo make portals be his ice rink no? I rest my case. ⛸️

[side-of-honey]

They're exact opposites it's so funny to me

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Average fma fan talking about 03 positively: Man, it's such a miracle that the 2003 anime is written even halfway decently! After all, the writers who, as we know, have never written anything in their lives before [citation needed], they had to work while locked in individual underground cells [citation needed], only fed scraps of fma lore by Arakawa herself [citation needed] while her story was actually fully formed by the first printing of her manga in Monthly Shonen Gangan [citation needed] but they were adapting the initial first volume of manga and oopsy-daisy shot past it [citation needed], so they made up every plot beat, character arc, storyboard, and lore change completely on the fly and very randomly [citation needed]. Even though they tried to 1:1 adapt her story [citation needed, contradicted by existing sources], they fumbled the job and butchered her story, characters, and lore. Arakawa sagely forgave them [citation needed]. But somehow it's a cohesive story?! Wow! Even though the story is sad, dark, scares me, makes me cry, violent, gorey, and my fave ships aren't endgame, so -50 demerits. Still, good job team! A treat! A treat for the monkeys working the typewriters at Studio Bones circa 2002-2004! #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

[alma-artts]

Crowley witnessing the abuse aziraphale has to suffer in heaven (cus bodyswap yk) is destroying my brain just a little bit.

[radiocity]

The L Word | S2E01

[niuxita21]

No one:

Absolutely no one:

Meiji: Why would I sit on a chair/the couch when my girlfriend's lap is literally RIGHT THERE

[peak-dumbass]

Shoutout to the furry transformer fans this one’s for you

[just-a-toast]

II 17 SPOILERS UNDER CUT

So I have a LOT of thoughts on this episode but there’s one that has been weighing on my soul since watching it.

Mephone is stuck with Cobs. For good.

After telling everyone the truth. They all hated him. Even MePad told everyone to get behind him because he thought mephone just wants to hurt the contestants for amusement.

While what mephone did to them was unfair, mephone admits to not seeing the problem because that’s how HE felt. He never knew how that would affect a person. He’s known NOTHING ELSE

He felt broken. And all of them were broken as a result. It’s like when I kid grows up in an abusive environment, they assume everyone has the same experience.

Kids make up silly gags with basic stereotypes because they don’t think how that could affect someone. Mephone was still mentally a child/had childlike innocence when he first thought of the contestants.

This could also be taken in a meta stand point with Adam, Justin, and Brian making the characters stereotypes for jokes and not seeing how that directly effects the character. They’re characters so why do the childish authors care?

Back to my point, now that everyone knows, why would they help him? They have been helping him every season! 1 4s sacrificed himself for him, marshmallow killed bow to help mephone! S3 balloon, cabby and silver campaigned for his life! And he had to be saved from being thrown into a volcano!

Now that they know their lives weren’t theirs in the beginning, why should they help the person they’ve been saving, but made them broken? (I’m not saying they never had their own lives it’s just they don’t feel like they had any control over their lives. This is a whole post in of its self)

So even if the contestants came back as ghosts, none of them would help him.

Neither would MePad.

After everything MePad has done for Mephone, MePad doesn’t have any good feelings towards him anymore. MePad borderline hates mephone.

So … mephone is.. completely alone. Not a single soul will help him.

The only people would would WILLINGLY help him is toilet or bot but either probably won’t work

We still don’t know if toilet is real or not. We didn’t see him at the end so we could assume he disappeared with everything else. And Bot is in S3. They could come back because everyone there might be disappearing too and needs help but once they find out mephone made the contestants and that test tube and fan died.. it’s really a 50/50. I don’t know they will be coming back to help him.

Another possibility is the shimmers but mephone is still a Meeple product so even if he knew he was a shimmer (which I don’t think mephone even knows he’s a dead shimmer) they wouldn’t trust him enough to help him.

So. Mephone has no choice but to take the one hand that is given to him. He has nothing else.

There’s no where to go, no one to call, nothing. Just him, his abuser, and the cycle of abuse.

Everyone might live, and get a semi happy ending with them being free in the afterlife but mephone.

There’s no happy endings without him, but none for him.

It’s time for him to go home. Start over from the beginning.

[oneatlatime]

Want to get your thoughts on something you've touched on in a couple places. A pretty popular idea in the fandom is that one of the (in-universe) reasons airbenders have gone so hard into the peace-and-love monk thing is a self-awareness that, if they didn't, there's not a whole lot anybody could realistically do about it.

Like, Southern Air Temple pretty strongly implies that Gyatso solo'd a room full of comet-roided firebenders. It killed him but he did it, and while he is a master Airbender, we're not given any real indication that he is uniquely so, right?

I have many thoughts on this! Sorry in advance for the long post! And sorry if this goes a bit off topic!

Short answer: I don't agree.

Long answer:

We've seen that nations' cultures tend to reflect their native bending styles. Or vice versa. It's probably a chicken and egg scenario. The Fire Nation chose to spread (like wildfire) and is full of hot headed, impetuous roid-rage sufferers who can't see or plan for the long term. Fire itself easily becomes ungovernable and is at best muzzled/leashed, always waiting for the next chance to bubble over in unplanned / unpredictable / generally unhelpful directions (Hi Zhao!). So an element shapes a culture shapes and element until you've got a positive feedback loop (or in the case of the Northern Water Tribe, a negative feedback ourobouros due to outside pressure). Importantly, neither culture nor element develops in isolation; I think they develop simultaneously.

The Earth Kingdom is probably the most rigid and unchanging, even when it would benefit them to change/innovate. We see rigidity and humourlessness in response to change or the unexpected (see Toph's parents) and we see an inability to let go of a bad idea, or mitigate the consequences / think on the go when things that were clearly bad ideas go bad in ways anyone with a non-earthbender brain can see coming a mile off (think The Avatar State episode). Earth digs in when it should retreat, stands solid when it should duck and weave. It is grounded to the point of stupidity (unless you're Toph or Bumi, although even Toph seems to be unbending so far). It's linear to the point of being unable to deviate from that line.

This is me guessing, but I figure since fire and water are opposites, air must be the opposite of earth, right? So while we'll never see airbending culture in a non-shrunk-down-to-one-person form, we can look at earthbending culture for its dark reflection. Well, probably not dark, but you get what I'm saying. They'll be opposites in world view. We can extrapolate.

So if earth is grounded, humourless, aggressively traditional, linear, then air must be constantly fluctuating, unchained, lighthearted, bonkers-all-over-the-place. The heaviness of earth would dictate that problems should be faced by digging in and facing them head on until the problem blinks first. The lightness of air would dictate that problems should be faced the opposite way: blinking first i.e. removing yourself from the problem entirely. The linearity of earth dictates that fights are solved by fighting - you punch me, I punch you. The non-linearity of air would seek to recontextualise a problem until it's no longer a problem because we all forgot what we were fighting about in the first place, i.e. throwing pies at it or busting out the marble trick. The heaviness of earth would cause excessive earthly attachment; the lightness of air would cause excessive detachment from worldly concerns.

To start violence is to make a statement that you wish to be involved. It's rooting yourself to a particular dispute, choosing a hill to die on. It stems from attachment. This is earthbendery behaviour (and Zuko-y, but let's not go there). To never start violence is to never invest, never dig in your feet and make a stand. To be detached. (I'm oversimplifying here.) It's clear from in-show examples that Aang's pacifism is of the "ladies don't start fights but they can finish them" variety; he's got no problem with self-defence (caveat: we have no idea how typical an air nomad Aang was). But he never attacks first that I can think of.

Violence is a very direct tool. If someone starts a fight with you, and you decide to continue it, you're choosing the most obvious action. Since when is airbending direct or obvious?

All this to say, I think that pacifism, peace and love, monkiness, etc., was more likely a natural and inevitable outgrowth of air nomad culture, caused by constant culture / element interaction, rather than a conscious choice.

So I think airbenders "have gone so hard into the peace-and-love monk thing" because the nature of their element creates a culture that discourages the traits required for effective offensive violence, and the inherent detachment and ever-changing nature of air naturally encouraged spiritual (i.e. monkly) pursuits rather than earthly ones, like whatever the conflict of the week is. I don't think self-awareness of the dangers of their element factors into it. Not to take away from Gyatso's accomplishment, but I think air is nowhere near the most dangerous element. From what I've seen so far that would be Fire or Earth, though I'd give the edge to Fire because they self-generate, and also because they've spent a largely successful century dominating the other elements. Waterbenders and earthbenders can be neutralised by taking away their element; airbenders - due to the very nature of their element - probably can't get past that initial avoid and evade instinct to become legitimate offensive threats.

As for Gyatso, I think he's an outlier. We know little about him so far, but we do know that: a) Aang says he's the best airbender (in I think the Southern Air Temple?); b) he's good enough that he was granted a statue while he was still living, learning, improving; and c) he's good enough that the monkly council (of which he is part) granted him the honour/responsibility of being the quasi-dad of the Avatar. These things tell me that Gyatso was the Spiders Georg of the Airbenders. I suspect Bumi is the same for the Earthbenders, and at least as far as the philosophy of bending is concerned, Iroh may be so for Firebenders. Even the example of Gyatso nuking the comet-enhanced firebenders is a case of defensive action in ultra extraordinary circumstances: he was staring into the teeth of a genocide while mourning the disappearance of his quasi-son and the likely loss of the world's only hope / chance at stopping the war. That's how far you have to push an airbender before they'll take a life. Unless the Avatar world pre-war is a lot more godawful than Aang has implied, airbenders probably wouldn't have been taking lives frequently enough for them to get to the point where they would have to start questioning whether they should consider pacifism.

I think what this fandom idea ultimately is, is a desire for the hidden badass trope. Everyone loves it when the most peaceful character in the story is revealed to secretly be a Rambo-level fighting badass, right? Who didn't love it when kindly grandpa Roku manifested in his temple and unleashed a volcano? But I think this trope fundamentally takes something away from the appreciation of Airbending, Air Nomad culture, and the concept of Pacifism as a whole. This is just my interpretation, but applying the "secretly the deadliest all along!" trope to airbenders undermines their commitment to pacifism and makes it performative rather than earnest. It's a cop out; an acknowledgement that violence actually is the answer, and even those head-in-the-clouds monks know to use it when the chips are down. This show goes out of its way to show that non-combatants have value and a place in this world that's worth fighting for, that fighting goes way too far pretty frequently, that non-violent solutions are valid, even preferable. It would kind of undermine that message if all of the elements were easily weaponisable.

Something I've loved so far about Avatar is the show's earnestness. There have been no Marvel-style fakeout bathos plots. I feel making airbending secretly the deadliest element or similar would be exactly that sort of thing. Can't my pacifists be peaceful not because they're secretly untouchable badasses who carry the biggest stick, whom the rest of the world leaves alone out of fear, who are not a threat only because they have chosen not to be, but because that's just who they are?

On the other hand: Aang's been a one-man-army plenty of times. We've seen that; that's undeniable. So air is stupidly powerful as an element. No denying that. Gyatso did murder a bunch of people trying to kill him, so air can be deadly. But I don't think your typical airbender could be deadly. If you gave a can of airbending to a firebender, an earthbender, or even a particularly provoked waterbender, I don't doubt that they could kill people with it. But the culture that the element generated - rather than a conscious choice by that culture's participants - prevents them from taking the direct, violent, solution. And I think that culture developed in tandem with airbending, so there could not have been a time when airbenders were deadly as a rule. Air shaped airbenders as much as airbenders shaped air, and it shaped them into non-violent people.

There's a lot of power in the idea of consciously choosing, and sticking to, something that is perhaps not in line with your natural abilities. Styling airbenders as deadly-but-choosing-peace is a great way to explore themes of agency, identity, strength of character, morals, maturity, etc. But, to me, there's also a lot of power in the idea that some people just can't - not won't, but CAN'T - fight their way out of things, and this doesn't make it any less wrong to genocide the crap out of them.

If the fandom wants to headcanon airbenders as secret badasses who consciously choose nonviolence, I say a) go ahead! there's more than enough evidence to support that conclusion; b) I respectfully disagree; and c) is Iroh not enough?

tl;dr in my opinion, air's pacifism was a natural outgrowth of, and restriction imposed by, the element rather than a conscious choice; airbending can be deadly but airbenders aren't; Gyatso is not representative; 'speak softly and carry a big stick' is all well and good as a philosophy, but those who speak softly and don't have a stick are of value too.

[lunalikestowriteanddraw]

I need to point something out about the Krew’s conversation with Torbek in episode 19.

Kremy—a man who likes to keep up appearances and appear larger than life, who relies on his silver tongue to spin his words into lies and half-truths—let himself appear as vulnerable to Torbek as Torbek was after the fight.

Because Kremy took off his coat and his tie (Richie made a point to both say that and make the motions as he was describing what Kremy was doing), before getting on Torbek’s level and seeing if there was anything on Torbek’s person that could explain what just happened, before noticing everything else that was off.

Kremy taking off his coat and tie is actually kinda significant, considering that shortly after, he (eventually) agrees to tell Torbek the truth about what happened, and even willingly spoke up to fill in what Gricko was missing in his explanation. Kremy was, metaphorically, letting his walls down and letting Torbek see him in a way that I imagine even Frost and Gricko rarely see (maybe outside of sleeping or bathing).

I mean, of course, Kremy immediately puts his walls back up the following day, and then acts like he is somehow above Torbek for the remainder of the season (which I hope he cuts it out early S2), but…it’s a step. It’s a step in the right direction for Kremy’s arc, and I can’t believe I didn’t even take too much of a notice in this—or anything the gator did—until I started rewatching the series and genuinely started looking into Kremy’s character more.

And of course Kremy’s whole interaction with Torbek this episode isn’t the only significant one, and i promise I’m not ignoring the others (in fact, I’m actually quite interested in the way Frost handled the combat, as well as the way he separated himself from Torbek afterwards, and it will be making me pay extra close attention to Frost for the next few episodes), I just…don’t hear a lot about Kremy in particular this episode.

[wobblyjellyfish]

i love that the terrans get their Dad 2s through shared interests and bonding activities

meanwhile Hashtag took one look at Starscream and decided he's her Dad 2 now, even if he kicks and screams the entire time about it, and that he needs a hug. and it worked.

[monicaeidolith]

my OLBA MC, Sunny Last ☀️

(his backstory + close ups below)

Step 1 -

Sunny is a very shy and nervous boy, who's easily afraid of strangers (when he first saw Cliff, he ran away) and easily worried. Sunny hates getting in the middle of a conflict and will avoid taking a side if he can. He loves spending time at the beach, collecting seashells, reading books and going to the library, things that will never die down growing up.

When he met Cove, Sunny was initially worried about him, as Cove was crying all alone. Sunny gets fond of Cove and befriends him quickly. As "selfish" as it may sound, Sunny did wish Cove would never go away from Sunset Bird and stay with him.

Sunny doesn't have any romantic feelings towards Cove during that Step though, he only starts developing a crush on him some time before Step 2.

Step 2 -

Sunny remains a nervous person, in fact, it seems he has social anxiety, though he developed a more teasing and snarky side growing up. Whenever he is openly snarky depends on how close you are with him... or how pissed he is at you (side looking at Jeremy), otherwise he keeps whatever he's thinking for himself, like he often does for what he's truly feeling actually (unless your name is Cove Holden (doesn't apply to the subject of romance)). Ironically, he struggles to understand when a stranger is being sarcastic or not. Despite all that, he's someone you can rely on if you need.

His love for literature grew and he kinda wishes to be a writer. In fact, he writes some things sometimes, such as poems or songs that his cousin Lee could sing. While he isn't particularly a sporty guy, he loves surfing, swimming and playing volleyball. At 13, he started getting interested in jewellery specifically, to Lee's greatest joy.

During Step 2, Sunny starts feeling insecure about his physical appearance and doesn't like showing his body that much (but summer is kind of the "worst" season for that specific part). He thinks he's too "scrawny". Also doesn't he look weird for blushing for anything?

He's also conflicted about his feelings towards Cove: during this gap of 5 years, Sunny's feelings for Cove grew into something different than friendship and he doesn't know what to do about it. He never felt this way before, not with anyone else either. He's too scared to say a word about it to Cove directly, he doesn't want to mess up their friendship (classic.).

When it comes to romance in general, concepts like "love at first sight" don't really make sense to him. How can you fall for someone you barely know? Sounds like a myth.

Step 3 -

At 18, Sunny manages a bit more with his social anxiety, though he's still a bit uneasy around people he doesn't know. His snarkiness hasn't tone downed growing up... and sadly for him, his insecurities about his body haven't that much either.

18 years old is probably the age where the contrast between his clothing style and his name is the most ironic and the object of many jokes (none of them are ill-intended of course). But wearing black clothes won't change the fact he's his moms' little sunshine!

His interest for jewellery turned into the hobby of making hand-made jewellery, mainly with seashells, sea glass or pearls.

During Step 3, Sunny is now afraid of the future. He does have some projects for the future: going to college, specifically for studying literature and hopefully working in the writing industry (not necessarily as a writer like he wanted to at 13, just as long as he can write). And he was happy to find a part time job in the library he always loved. However, all of that means leaving Sunset Bird one day, and he's scared of that. He always lived in the same place, with his moms, with Cove as his next door neighbor, ... And Elizabeth leaving for college was already something... How much will things change?

About his relationship with Cove: Sunny knows for certain he's in love with him. But God forbid he actually tells him how he actually feels.

He also figured out his sexuality: he's gay and demiromantic (oooh so that's why love at first sight felt like a complete myth...)!

Step 4 -

His personality hasn't changed that much since Step 3 but one thing that changed is that he managed to outgrow a little bit his habit to hide his negative feelings from others, at least to a less extreme level. His social anxiety is still present of course, but he learned to live with it. He also learned how to love himself and feel comfortable with his body! It was hard but he did it!

Living away from Sunset Bird was also hard, very hard at first, especially since Cove confessed his love for Sunny at the end of the summer and then they had to be separated for long times. But it seems nothing could break their bond.

Sunny got a 4 years English literature degree and works pretty much on freelance writing now. (I'm not sure myself yet tbh, that may change in the future.)

the close ups!

listen the fact Sunny is kind of similar to Athena (my OLNF MC) is completely involuntary lmao

this is what happen when you keep on projecting bits of yourself onto your OCs

[harbingersecho]

... and however hard I try to integrate Iʼll always remain alien

lowkey inspired by thiss