#like how i think it's actually showing the future

[delicatelystrangepolice]

This is so interesting to me because I think I discovered a personal trauma I never fully realized. From all the PE classes when you would be stuck on benches because you weren't good enough to win the match, through all the art classes when your work wouldn't be displayed because it's 'ugly', down to language classes when your writing is either praised or talked down to shit depending on the teacher's personal taste. I feel like in my youth I always got the message: why do something if you aren't good at it?

I was an average kid who could be doing anything, really. I was actually very physically active and athletic when left to my own devices. I loved writing and loved creating art. I was just not talented enough to ever be encouraged and those hobbies fizzled away eventually because I was told to do only the things that could be profitable in the future.

Getting on the internet later showed me: oh so other people do not live like this? People are doing stuff they actually enjoy for the thing? HOW DID I NEVER KNOW THAT??

Not so long I saw a video of a lady who dances ballet. She was not very good at this, she could only some basic moves and it literally opened a new box in my head, because THE FREAKING BALLET? The most demanding and physically perfect type of dance?! AND YOU COULD JUST DO IT BECAUSE YOU ENJOY IT?? Holy shit, that's a new information.

Nowadays I try to correct this both in myself and in the kids I'm teaching. I hate the grading system in general but especially in things that are just there to encourage development. Not everybody has to be the greatest painter or writer. Nobody has to have all the knowledge in the world. It's really enough if people will stay curious and encouraged enough to keep going. It will literally make the world a better place, I believe.

You’ve heard of “don’t monetize your hobbies”; get ready for "don’t master your hobbies".

Your hobbies are here to help you decompress and have fun. They do not have to be disciplines you toil over for expertise, unless that is something you genuinely enjoy doing.

It’s okay to enjoy language-learning without ever becoming fluent, or even conversational. It’s okay to like playing guitar even if you only know a few clumsy songs. You can read books and never finish them, bowl without ever scoring even halfway to perfect. We’re here to explore and play, and we cannot do that if we’re chasing perfection in everything we do.

[lurkingshan]

Hi Shan

I've been watching your commentary on Peaceful Property with regard to its mishandling of its class conflict themes and I have to admit that I'm coming to agree with you on it.

I had to basically go "Welp, I can't see how they get out of the mess they've made now - I guess I just have to give them a pass on the grounds of found family?" in order to keep enjoying the show, which did let me do that but also left a bit of an icky taste in my mouth.

So I guess I wanted to ask - do you think there's a way they could have handled the wealth disparity and classism issues more gracefully within the show's narrative? And also whether there are any QLs you would recommend that do handle the topic to your satisfaction? I could use something good to watch!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I feel like you always make me consider topics more deeply and reflectively, even when I don't agree with you.

Hi, thanks for dropping in! I feel you on this, and I want to be clear that my criticism of the show is not criticism of people who still like it despite these failures. If you have still been able to connect to the friendship and family themes without this getting in the way, that's great and I'm glad for you. Just because the show is doing one thing very poorly doesn't mean there's nothing of value in it.

That said, you're right, they've passed the point of no return on their missteps with the class disparity themes. Early on in the show, after several episodes in a row of ghost stories involving poor or working class folks harmed by Home's wealthy real estate developer family on top of the class disparity between Home and Peach/Pang, I said I was confident that the show had something to say about this issue. And that was true! Unfortunately, what it had to say was garbage.

To your first question, I actually think it would have been very easy for the show to handle the wealth disparity and classism issues more gracefully, and that's a big part of my frustration. They had all the ingredients--a family history of exploitation, a ghost busting team including working class folks to shed light on the family's sins, and an ignorant grandson uncovering wrongdoing case by case and learning that there was always a price for his privilege. All the show needed to do was allow Home to come to some natural realizations about his family's treatment of others, via both the ghost case work and his relationship with Peach and Pang, and then use the power and resources he has to take accountability in the form of restitution and reparations to the people and communities they harmed. My ideal story line based on what they set up in the first half of the show would have had Home setting out to right his family's wrongs and take real steps to restore the communities they harmed. Even if a full on wealth redistribution narrative was too much to hope for, at the very least Home should have been made to reckon with what his family did and set out to do better in the future, both by Peach and Pang and by his family's countless victims (including Kan).

But that's not what we got. Instead, the narrative tried to sell us on the idea that none of this is anyone's fault, and that any harm that came to people at this family's hands was the result of a "curse" or one bad apple's wrongdoing. Instead of saying anything meaningful about systemic inequality and the responsibility of the wealthy and powerful to avoid extractive and exploitative practices, they painted Home's Gramps and family corporation as benevolent, concluding that they destroyed a bunch of people's lives by accident and without intent or even knowledge. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how utterly absurd and insulting that is. On top of all that, despite Home being the one with the most power in this little friend family and making some very serious mistakes that caused harm to the others, the show consistently centered him and his feelings in all conflicts, including Peach's near death and the death of Kan's father and destruction of her community. It also ignored the very real stakes it set up for Peach and Pang's dire financial situation whenever the plot demanded. The second half of the show became all about the poor people Home and his family have harmed forgiving him without any accountability because they felt guilty he was sad, and then those same people spending their time and energy fighting to save this rich family's reputation and livelihood. That's not me offering an interpretation, that is what literally happened on our screens!

So yeah, it was bad! It was clear weeks ago that it was not going in the right direction, but I understand holding out hope that they'd pull a rabbit out of a hat or look into the camera and say sike. But that ship has sailed at this point, and Peaceful Property becomes another in a pattern of GMMTV shows that try to incorporate class disparity in their narratives and get it very very wrong.

Which brings me to your second question: are there any QLs I recommend that do this better? Yes! Here is a short list for other Thai shows that have genuinely done this better:

Moonlight Chicken: not a class disparity narrative, but the only GMMTV show to date that has depicted working class people with full dignity and empathy

Dark Blue Kiss: the only GMMTV bl to tell a romance story that involves class conflict and not completely bungle it (snaps to TayNew for having another show that did better on this)

My Ride: a slow burn romance between a doctor and a motorcycle taxi driver that gets the way their class disparity would shape their relationship right

Love Sea: this one isn't perfect (I think the working class character in the pair gets too little narrative attention relative to his rich counterpart) but it does take the class disparity seriously and ensures it informs the relationship the whole way through

Laws of Attraction: don't laugh at me, I'm serious! This show is mostly absurd but the core narrative is all about class conflict, and it informs the romance quite thoroughly, too

The Loyal Pin: including this one on the word of @twig-tea because I haven't watched yet, but I understand it's dealing with class very directly in its core relationship (with the disclaimer that it still has two episodes to go so something could go sideways)

I'd also throw in some shows that aren't really about class disparity but do include it as part of the narrative background to inform characterization and plot like I Told Sunset About You, Love By Chance, Khun Chai, and 3 Will Be Free

Outside of Thailand, South Korea is always a safe bet for strong class disparity narratives, and in QL you'll find the best examples in Hwang Da Seul's works (Where Your Eyes Linger, Blueming, To My Star 2, and currently Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo). Japan and Taiwan actually don't do much of this, because most of their shows are about middle class and working people as a rule. Miseinen, a Japanese BL that just started airing, looks to be tackling a class disparity narrative, though, and doing it well so far (not a coincidence that the source material is from Korea). And We Best Love is a classic Taiwanese BL with a significant class disparity informing the romance conflict. Blue Canvas of Youthful Days is a currently airing Chinese BL that is doing a class disparity romance and has been killing it so far.

So there is my incredibly long answer to your questions! Thank you again for sending me this kind note; I'm so appreciative that we can chat about this stuff and still maintain our love for these shows. I hope you find some things you like on the rec list, as well. :)

[lemotmo]

Ok I need your and Ali’s thoughts on some of these Ryan interviews because like I fully get not spoiling things. I do.

But I’m confused how even with that in mind we’ve suddenly gone from gender neutral terms and whatnot to being back in brother and heterosexual and maybe another girlfriend for Eddie hell.

Like there’s not spoiling stuff and then there’s just absolutely crushing out any future hope. And the massive massive course correction by Ryan seems like over kill if it’s just to not spoil things.

Actually...

When I watched the episode earlier, I immediately checked if Ali had contacted me about it and these were her words:

"Even the jurno who did the interview didn't believe it when he said it. And all the jurnos pretty much agreed the last scene kind of felt like a beginning of some kind.

I do think they're going the slow burn route. It kind of sounds like Buck's going to get to have a little bit of single fun while Eddie continues to do his thing."

The journalists themselves are telling people that actors and showrunners lie as to not to spoil the story. This has happened plenty of times on 911 and many other shows for that matter.

The fact that Ryan used gender neutral terms at the end of season 7 might have had to do with the fact that he had no idea how fast his story was going to evolve. I think him and Oliver have finally got a timeline now of when all of this is going to go down.

If this is going the slow burn route, which is highly likely, they need to talk about where their characters are NOW. Not where they are going to be within 8 episodes.

And right now Buck has been broken up with and is single, so he might explore that. Mind you, we don't know if this is true. Just because Oliver would like that, doesn't mean it will happen.

Right now Eddie is finally ready to move on and explore himself. We'll have to wait and see how that manifests itself. But in Eddie's mind, Buck is his best friend right now, nothing more. He can't see it yet.

There is literally no other way for this story to go anymore. Buck's last love interest broke up with him. So he'll be left alone again. Eddie is still single as well, on the road to self-discovery. The show won't have them end up alone like this. It wouldn't make sense in their narratives, since all they've been doing is looking for happiness in the wrong places. They need to realise that happiness has been right there all along. It's been staring them in the face for years now. And they'll get it eventually, but it'll take them some time to get there.

Look... I know that I won't be able to convince everyone of all of this, but I am fully convinced at this point.

The Buddie storyline 'officially' launched last night during that last scene. 🤷‍♀️

[elluminis]

You know what, fuck this. I’m tired and angry, and there is nothing more frustrating to me than fighting against the people with the exact same values and beliefs as me with such a defeatist mentality. The way we get more leftist folks in positions of power is through ranked choice voting. Fight for that! Fight to end the electoral college, which is classist and diminishes the people’s power. Donate and protest and make your voice heard.

You know what DOESN’T make your voice heard? Refusing to vote. When you show politicians that you aren’t worth appealing to, of course they won’t appeal to you! This is how it fucking goes in the current state of the US presidential election. Candidates need to appeal to the broadest population available, and that means that the democrats need to appear to push more central. They are trying to get the votes of the republicans who don’t approve of Trump. Again: WE DON’T HAVE RANKED CHOICE VOTING. IT’S ONE AND FUCKING DONE. WE LIVE IN A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM.

That needs to change. Literally, so much will change for us with being heard when we can actually vote for the candidates our beliefs align with, without fear of throwing our vote away. Like you think I wanted to vote for Kamala Harris? Of course not. Of course she wasn’t my first choice. But I had two choices, and I picked the better one.

Anyway. The revolution isn’t coming, at least not anytime soon. Cast your fucking vote. (Or do so in the future, whatever.)

screaming "we can push them Left!" when all the while they've been pushing you Right.

[amiya-shirou]

Spoilers about Babel and Zwillingstürme im Herbst

I was thinking about Arknights' recurring dynamic of siblings who must confront each other no matter how important the other is for them and realized there are more parallels than I expected between Theresa/Theresis and Arturia/Federico - to the point the latter pair feels like a still growing, less actualized, somewhat inverted version of the first.

Arturia is Theresa: focused on emotion and empathy, has weird mental powers (that interact pretty well with Theresa's, as seen in her interactions with Amiya), her ultimate ideal is a level of connection that goes beyond the scope of her own civilization and in trying to achieve it she's at the same time dooming herself, her halo almost looks like the Black Crown (which I doubt wasn't intended, since the Law is definitely comparable to Civilight Eterna). The contrasts between them are pretty evident too: a white Devil who perfectly looks the part of the saintess and a black Angel who perfectly looks the part of the villainess.

Federico is Theresis: the more down-to heart, more serious, less idealistic brother, who has difficulties expressing emotions to others (or even understanding them in Fede's case) and is extremely close to his sister but also feels he must stop her as her ideals lead her down a dangerous path for others. Theresa/Arturia are going against the will of the Myriad Souls/the Law, and Theresis/Federico confront them by acting as protectors of that will for the sake of the people that would be affected. Even in this case, there are evident contrasts: Theresis is seen as a negative figure, the villain in Theresa's story, while Federico is seen positively and Arturia is presented as the villain in his story.

Despite everything, the siblings know each other best. Federico can tell if a crime is Arturia's fault or not because he understands her more than anyone else; when Arturia's ideals crumble after the discussion with the Witch King and she seeks death, Federico is the one she wants to be killed by. Years of civil war and aiming for the others' destruction didn't put a dent in the trust and affection that exists between the Sarkaz twins, and when they're reunited in Londinium they're once again betting everything on each other like it's the most natural thing do to.

Civilight Eterna chose both Theresa and Theresis as successors for the will of the Sarkaz; they were special, the legendary twins with the potential to change Kazdel's fate. The Law calculated the immense adversities Terra is going to face in future, and chose both Arturia and Federico as the next Saints, essential for Laterano to prepare against them.

The one advantage the Giallos have over the twins is that they're younger, less caged by the collective will of their people. They can still reach a good middle point and work together for a better future without needing to extinguish the other for their ideal to prevail. While Theresa and Theresis understood the value of the other's belief, they were fundamentally opposed because they acted as the symbols of two separated possibilities for the Sarkaz, possibilities that clashed with each other despite their continued survival being the ultimate objective for both. Instead, Zwillingstürme im Herbst shows Federico taking steps towards Arturia and learning to use emotion as a way to understand her even if he can't feel them the same way she does, while Arturia realized the value of Federico's logical approach and that his approach can make her objective more concrete rather than just an abstract ideal.

Federico helps Arturia give footing to her philosophical inquiries, reminding her that it is possible to find an answer and reach a conclusion and that her ideals do not need to remain abstract but she can actually take steps to realize them; meanwhile, for how strong the Kazdel twins' bond is, Theresis will always be an eternal reminder that most of the Sarkaz reject Theresa and her dreams for an hopeful future, and was never able to truly help her sustain Babel. And just as Federico one-ups Theresis on this matter, the same does Arturia to Theresa: she wants to see her ideal realized, she has learned that she also has a role in her utopia and that she shouldn't forget about herself while seeking it, in opposition to how Theresa can only see herself as a sacrifice, the soil upon which the flowers will grow after her death. Theresa and Theresis were doomed by the weight of Kazdel's history and suffering, but the two Sankta's story ends in a hopeful tone as their fate is not yet written, and in fact both of them are less a symbol of the will of Laterano and more clear outsiders in their society, rare different voices in a very conformist state and thus have the potential to change it rather than be shackled by their people's voices.

[orangeejuice]

Analyzing Cole's Reflection (or lack thereof)

This is a bit of an analysis regarding the topic of Cole's reflection in Season 5, which I find really fascinating, especially considering how it was explained in canon (particularly how it was written to be completely insignificant). Despite this, I personally haven't seen it talked about much, even though it has really interesting implications. While I do believe this is in part due to odd/sloppy writing, I also think there's quite a bit to see beneath the surface here, as I'll discuss under the cut below.

As we know, in Season 5, Episode 8, "Grave Danger," the ninja are going through the ice labyrinth in the tomb of the First Spinjitzu master. Within the ice, the ninja are able to see reflections of their future selves. This scene is actually quite important, as it becomes pretty relevant in Season 6 (Skybound), due to Jay seeing himself with Nya in his reflection.

However, what I find to be the most notable in this scene is that Cole does not see any reflection whatsoever. This causes him quite a bit of distress and confusion, although this is quickly interrupted by Morro attacking the ninja. Kai seems to bring up the possibility that the lack of reflection is because Cole is a ghost, but this is quickly shot down by Zane stating that ghosts cast reflections.

Upon first viewing this scene, it's pretty easy to have many different interpretations of why Cole doesn't see his reflection. I personally interpreted it as Cole quite literally not having a future, therefore not having a reflection, which felt quite relevant due to him becoming a ghost only four episodes prior.

Yet, in Season 6, Episode 1, "Infamous," we get our "answer." Cole finds out he can turn invisible and concludes that he couldn't see his reflection because "he can disappear." Thus, this plot thread (or whatever you want to call it) regarding Cole's reflection is entirely dropped, seemingly confirming that this explaination is true.

My issue with this is that not only is it boring, but it just doesn't make sense. For reference, this is what the other ninja's reflections look like.

As we can see, these reflections clearly are not meant to be their near futures, judging by the visible aging on Kai, Jay, and Nya (Zane being the exception, of course). If Cole's reflection really isn't visible because his future self is quite literally invisible, that implies that either his reflection is somehow the exception (by showing his near future), or that for whatever reason, his future self would have a reason to be invisible. Frankly, neither of these explainations are plausible, which is why I really dislike invisibility being the actual explaination. It's entirely possible that Cole only believes this to be the case as a way to cope with the otherwise bleak implication about his future. I prefer to interpret it this way opposed to it being written to genuinely be true.

However, it's also important to note that these future reflections don't seem to be set in stone. In particular (and forgive me if I am misinterpreting this), Jay's future seen in the reflection seems to have been entirely avoided by his final wish at the end of Skybound erasing the majority of the events in that season and thus changing the future from that point. In particular, him gaining the eyepatch during the events of Skybound leads not only us as the viewers, but Jay himself to connect this to the reflection he saw in Season 5.

It's also important to note that Jay's final wish would most likely not change the future reflections of the other ninja, just his own. However, as stated earlier, if it's possible for Jay to change his own future reflection, than perhaps the same logic can extend to the others as well.

With Cole in particular, I genuinely wonder if his lack of reflection was actually supposed to be relevant again in Day of the Departed but was cut for time. As much as I love DotD, it was clearly trying to shove as much content as possible into just 44 minutes. Unfortunately, the story ends up being condensed quite a bit as a result and I think it could've really used at least another 22 minutes, especially if it included stuff like this connection. But this post isn't meant to be about my thoughts on DotD's pacing and content, really, so I'll move on.

My thoughts on this are that perhaps Cole altered his future by going through the rift on the Day of Departed and becoming human once more, rather than fading or becoming stuck and forgotten in Airjitzu temple. I actually really do like this explanation, because it makes sense. Cole fading or being forgotten in a "bad" future are entirely plausible reasons for his lack of reflection in the ice.

Either way, I think it's quite a shame that it wasn't explored more. Obviously Ninjago is a show meant for kids and exploring a character's feelings regarding their possible lack of a future can be a little dark (although I don't personally see it as being too dark for Ninjago). Cole's fear and resignation (at least until his friends get to the Airjitzu temple) of fading away is completely well founded, because of this small scene in Season 5 and it adds even more motivation for him to go "settle his debt" with Master Yang.

On the other hand, it's not explored much in fan content either from what I can see, and I think that it's a huge missed opportunity. Like, can you imagine how scared Cole must've been when he started fading away and "ghosting out," meanwhile the fact he didn't have a reflection of his future self lingered in the back of his mind? Especially if he was coping with this fear by concluding it was due to his invisibility. Even with the events of DotD, I can imagine Cole still worrying about it in the present. After all, for all he knows, that future could still come to pass.

Overall, I found this scene and how it was handled super interesting and I would really love to see it brought up more in fan content (I might even write my own fic relating to this at some point).

Either way, I'd also be curious to see if anyone else has thoughts about this. I may have missed something that the writers/creators have stated regarding this, so if that's the case, you can let me know as well.

[the-pineapple-talks]

Yeah like I said the reason it doesn't work is because the U.S. voting system sucks.

I also think you misunderstand me lol. I am not from the U.S., I am from Colombia, a way more poor and underprivileged country in South America. I grew up to absuive parents and older sister and had to work myself and my younger sister pur of there by myself with no support from my extended family. We are one of the countries, btw, that the U.S. has tried to imperialize but people here are thankfully very resilient and very wary of the U.S. government. This is partly why I have this view of "you can have your own internal problems as long as you're not invading other counties". In case you're not aware, Colombia is a country with a lot of internal violence and organized crime. My family has had to move due to thread from this. Crime is at an all-time high here and our coin is at all time low. We wear about 1.85$ USD for an hour of work for a 48h week with a bachelor diploma and that's if you're lucky enough to get a job, and 1kg of meat is about $10USD. Every time you get on a bus in a busy city you know there's a chance you get robbed at knife point. If you're walking down the street you don't take your phone out or you might get robbed and even then you might get robbet. Because of the problems in Venezuela we noe have a lot of illegal venezuelan immigrants, who cannot get hired because they're not documented, this has led to an increase in petty theft too. And this is from my point of view in a city. Harder to reach areas have to go without electricity, water or food sometimes.

If you go to protests, you know there's a chance you get arrested and you never return home. Still we do it, because we want our country and our people to be better.

We have like 20 political parties, more counting the small ones, and people consider any of them when voting, and every person's vote has actual value. We also have healthcare.

My point is, I don't say this because I'm privileged, working as an influencer in California or something like that, I just have a different point of view. I think not considering third party candidates really limits what you can do for your country. It also sucks that they don't get as well platformed. I also think it shows how divided the country is that Trump won but everyone "seems" upset about it. Yet the majority chose him, so there's clearly a BIG disconnect in the identity of the people, idk.

In Colombia in our last elections also a very... worrying... guy won, but when he won there wasn't this sense of disconnect.

And anyway, you seem to get very defensive about this so I'll also clarify, in the other posts, in tbe replies, I'm just asking. When I say "what are you fleeing from? What is going on?" I'm not accusing anyone of not having anything to flee from, I would just like to know the answer to the question.

In the future, when someone disagrees with you don't assume malice when you can just assume that... 2 people have different POVs.

[lafaiette]

The level of disappointment I feel for the new dragon age game is just so consuming. Like I'll admit that after so many years, I didn't think it would hold true to what the previous game set up. But I hate that I was right, and I hate that a game series I loved so much sas turned into what it is now. I didn't buy it at launch because I wanted to wait for a sale, but with all that I'm hearing I'm wondering if it's even worth it. I'm just so sad for how this all went and I wish it hadn't happened. It even makes replaying the old games feel like scorched earth because nothing I do will have an effect on anything. It never mattered. The game that said my choices matter has now said "actually you never mattered" and I'm so heartbroken about it.

It even makes replaying the old games feel like scorched earth because nothing I do will have an effect on anything. It never mattered. The game that said my choices matter has now said "actually you never mattered" and I'm so heartbroken about it.

This is also one of the most painful parts for me, together with the way they handled - or ignored - a majority of the established lore.

In Veilguard, we learn that the majority of the South is basically gone: Denerim is lost, Redcliffe is under siege, getting help from the dwarves of Orzammar, who are already stretched thin. The ruler of Ferelden is never addressed - what happened to them? Are they still alive? Are they defending Redcliffe? We'll never know.

Orlais is also lost. Val Royeaux and Halamshiral are barely holding on, and a noble faction decided (for some stupid reason) to join the Venatori and spread even more chaos. The ruler of Orlais is never addressed - are they dead? Did the rebel nobility kill them? What happened to Briala's elves? We'll never know.

Kirkwall has fallen, and Aveline has been forced to evacuate the city and move the few survivors to Starkhaven. We know that Varric is dead, so Aveline or someone else will have to take his place, if Kirkwall can even be recovered (doubtful at this point).

The Blight is back in Ostagar and the Korcari Wilds, too, with only some Avvar and Alamarri clans keeping things under control while in a temporary truce with Ferelden.

Everything we ever accomplished in DA:O, DA2, and DA:I is gone. They turned the South into a blank state so they can leave it there, ignoring it, now that the focus will be on Those Across the Sea, as the secret ending slide shows. This blank state will also allow them to return to the South, should they ever wish to, but without the need to take into account the players' past choices, because everything we knew, everything we built and fought for, is gone.

"Oh, Ferelden changed so much in the last twenty years or so, ever since that terrible Blight caused by the elven gods!"

"Orlais isn't the same anymore, there is another civil war because we lost our previous ruler. Who was it? Oh, I don't know, I wasn't born yet, I couldn't care less."

"Pity about Kirkwall. I heard it was a shithole, but the beer at the Hanged Man was apparently pretty good."

^ This is what we will get in the future.

[cyborgsara]

I just finished watching 911 s8ep6 and spiraling a bit.

Look I get that based on interviews with the cast post episode it really seems like Lou isn't coming back but remember the interviews we got in s7 before we knew he actually was coming back? I feel like they had a lot of similarities. And I read that they have only finished filming ep8 completely so...

Maybe the way Tommy left so abruptly after the breakup and his whole reaction to Buck asking him to move in gives us some hope for future episodes. Like this isn't where the storyline ends. Maybe we get to see why Tommy reacted the way he did and get to know his character more. Midseason finale is coming up so we could also get an episode like the one where Karens workplace explodes where something happens to Tommy and they are brought back together this way (dramatic but on brand yes?) Or someone said maybe just like Buck asked for a second chance at the coffee shop maybe now it's Tommys turn, you know parallels and all that. And every couple in the show has broken up at some point.

To me it felt like there was too many things left unsaid for this to be the end.

So picture this:

Tommy wakes up in a hospital room, groggy and a little disoriented and he sees Buck sleeping in a chair beside his hospital bed. Buck was there when his chopper went down and has been waiting for him to wake up and he looks miserable. Tommy gently wakes him and Buck tell him he is so happy he's alive and Tommy starts to say something to him, calling him Buck but Buck stops him and tells him not to call him Buck. That to Tommy he is Evan, always has been and always will be. And then they confess their love to eachother and choose to be together again.

Now how beautiful would that be? I think they couldn't make a better LI for Buck if they made them in a lab like c'mon! Tommy is Bucks endgame. Or atleast I choose to believe that call me delusional if you want.

[unnaturalequilibrium]

Capítulo 6

- Mafin rewatch (Sueños de Libertad)

I like that Luis forces Marta to do the very thing Fina tried to get her to do in the job interview, let the perfume rest on her skin before giving it a whiff. Is this meant to be the thing that tipped the scales in Fina’s favour? Or do we think Fina was always going to be Marta’s first choice as new shopgirl? I wonder when Marta started noticing Fina, I mean sure I think once she got into that uniform she was forced to see her in a new light. But I’m still curious to what it was like before that. It’s clear they knew a lot about each other, but to what extent really?

As I’m watching beyond just the Mafin scenes I’m surprised to see how similar Luis and Marta are and the way their stories are structured. They’ve both got that kind of infectious drive only in different fields.  That strong sense of right and wrong too, with an insane work ethic and a desire to make the world a better place I think. It’s also super easy to imagine their siblings running around as kids, climbing a hill, kicking a ball and Luis and Marta being left behind with an antfarm, an abbacus and a lot of curious questions.

Petra put down the fucking shovel, the hole is big enough for the Titanic without you going and insulting Marta too on top of everything. This isn’t Journey to the Center of the Earth, you can stop digging now. Have I mentioned I hate her? Because I do, I really do.

Marta with a notepad or a folder in her hands is another one of those moments when I sort of feel like the Universe might be catering to me, but I don’t mind.

Marta is especially demanding in this episode, ordering Luz and Luis around - telling them to get their little butts into gear and work work. Watching the episodes back to back it now sort of stands out to me how she showed one emotion last episode and now she needs to be super competent at her work to make up for it. In her eyes at least. It actually makes me really curious about how much background the actors get on their characters and about future storylines. Because it does sort of come across as this is Marta throwing herself into her work to make up for that perceived failure of last episode, that whole business of her not being able to make her father proud through her unconventional marriage and the fact that she is childless. And knowing that she never will be able to as her marriage is mostly a cage and at best an inconvenience. Her behaviour in this episode gives a sense of - if she can’t make her father proud of who she is, then maybe she can make him proud of her achievements at least. Over-achieving daughter of an emotionally distant man, we've all been there, right?! Right?

As a rule there’s a lot of heartbreak and all kinds of personal problems being aired, but there’s always something about seeing Fina, Carmen and Claudia together in their room that makes me happy. Their room feels like a home, it’s soft and comforting despite at its core being a very spartan dormitory.

Fina telling them she’s going out with Petra and at least Carmen has the decency to not say anything, Claudia on the other hand runs straight for the idea that the two of them will be so pretty together they’ll immediately attract boyfriends. Oh Claudia. I love a good running joke so I sort of hope they never tell Claudia about lesbianism. Let her live her life without knowing that is a thing that exists so that we as an audience can keep mocking her forever and ever.

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Veilguard tries to appease new and old fans and in the process I don’t think anyone is truly happy. The early exposition dialogue is clunky and a bit too much if this is your first game. Varric means nothing to you if this is your first game, so the reveal isn’t as heartbreaking. If it isn’t, we haven’t earned Rook and Varric’s relationship, so the gut punch is not as impactful as it would be with a Hawke or even Inquisitor. Varric fulfills the Duncan role from origins in a way, but that works in DAO because you actually meet Duncan and go through the origin with the PC. The beginning is good but discombobulating for new and old players. New players find out a dwarf and their PC found an elf guy and he needs to go down, while old players are left questioning how the hunt for solas played out. The big stinger at the end of Tresspasser solved with no issue.

You get letters from the inquisitor that serve to show new players that things are bad in places they have never been to or seen while following the well known writing rule “show don’t tell,” but are callous gut punches to old players who have been here since day one. Beloved places are tossed aside; and characters like Harding who should show sadness for her home being destroyed says hardly anything about it. I’m assuming the devs want a clean slate for any future games, and I understand not every choice from three games can be accounted for, and yes, I think Veilgaurd is fun. I like a lot of things about it. but as a player for has been here since Origins first released, who enjoys the lore and world, the way it has been shoved to the side is sad and infuriating.

[dreaming-hibi]

KHR Chapters 378 - 379

I've once again fallen into my re-reading habit, I really should stop but I just want to be sure of every decision I make for my fic but anyway.

This time I was on a mission to find that one chapter where Nana was directly confronted with the truth of what was going on (context: Bermuda attacked the Sawada house and saw an opportunity in Nana, therefore he attacked her but Iemitsu intervened and protected her, losing his boss watch just as Bermuda had wanted).

I vaguely remembered this scene very simply as: Iemitsu protected Nana, Nana fainted from the shock, she woke up and thought it was all a dream.

Now, HOWEVER, after re-reading the chapter, the whole thing has gained a new meaning for me.

First of all, Nana didn't faint because of the attack — which was what I thought had happened, after all, this was her first time being attacked and it's natural to faint in the face of that. But nope, Nana fainted because she saw that Iemitsu was bleeding.

Second of all, Bianchi is the one to beg them to lie to Nana about what happened. She goes on to say things like: "Why does Maman have to go through something so painful?!" and "Please, when Maman regains consciousness, tell her all of this was just a dream!", which is something I never expected out of her.

This kind of action from Bianchi is unexpected, and contradictory to what we had been shown of her.

[Chapter 236, Boycott, Tsuna shouting at Bianchi and Bianchi answering: "I haven't told them anything. These girls came to this conclusion through their own will and strength."]

Back in chapter 236, Tsuna suspects TYL!Bianchi of having told Kyoko and Haru about the mafia, because they were demanding to be included in the fighting. TYL!Bianchi is rather calm about the whole thing, while she didn't tell them, she doesn't make any kind of move to stop them from knowing. She doesn't protest against them knowing, actually, she supports their boycott.

[Chapter 236, Boycott, Bianchi saying, "Sorry Tsuna, I'm together with the girls on this."]

TYL!Bianchi supports the girls being included in some kind of way. Had she been against this, we would have known. But she's not, furthermore, she goes as far as explaining why she thinks their boycott is failing. She gives two reasons as to why:

"They don't want you to change" Bianchi explains to the girls that the situation is being kept secret from them because the boys fear "knowledge might change them". That once they know the truth, they will change into someone else. "Thinking that the person they're interested in will never change, that's just a man's fantasy and nothing else." Bianchi herself seems to think the whole notion is stupid, which is a sure sign that she's in favor of the girls knowing. She wouldn't claim the notion as just a "man's fantasy" if she didn't at least think it was a tad bit nonsensical. Bianchi knows the mafia, she knows the kind of power knowledge holds in such situations. Withholding precious information has never done anyone any good (she's literally seen this in her brother).

2. Pride "Those boys think men should protect women. They're betting their prides on not showing you the ugly sides of this world." While Bianchi calls men who think like that "illogical" and "selfish", she also expresses admiration for the men who risk their lives for such pride.

TYL!Bianchi supports the girls' right to know, listening to their side of the story and understanding where they are coming from, but she also offers to show the girls where the boys are coming from.

Anyway, TYL!Bianchi shows a behavior that contradicts what Bianchi will go on to do with Nana. I do understand that their situations are different (the girls are IN the future and it starting to be increasingly obvious how dangerous it could get for them if they don't know at least some of what's going on), BUT

Nana is a fucking adult.

Nana is married and has a child and SHOULD have the damn emotional maturity to be included in the know.

Everyone goes on about, and rather strongly at that, how they CANNOT under ANY circumstances get Nana involved in the fight. But like, that's an adult? That's an adult woman who has a 14 year old child?? Okay, fine, don't get her involved in the fighting, but she should at least know WHAT THE FUCK is going on.

ALSO, she wouldn't have been in danger HAD SHE JUST KNOWN. Ignorance is never bliss for this reason. If you think that not teaching someone about danger is for their safety, then you are a freaking idiot and WILL have that person walking right into danger because of the ignorance you contributed to.

I just think someone should tell Nana about the mafia. Maybe she will take better care of Tsuna and divorce Iemitsu.

[ilikekidsshows]

Not to sure how to phrase this in a way that doesn't sound like Marinette salt, but I was curious about the morality of this option.

Since the show since s4 goes on and on about how unbearable every walking moment as Ladybug is now for Marinette to the point where she can do awful things to people and abuse her powers without ever being asked to finally learn from it and improve bc that's too stressful and horrible to Marinette

Well, at what point is it just the reasonable thing to do to propose Marinette giving up her Guardianship so she can go back to being a normal girl with a normal life?

It would be a loss, but let's not pretend like Marinette is gonna loose 90% of her life. She would loose A YEAR which was supposedly so torturous to her that she now thinks she's the embodiment of Truth and the Queen of Reality?

Just go to Suhan, tell him her job was defeating Hawkmoth and that's done now and she doesn't feel like she's suitable anymore to continue. She wants her normal life back, all she's asking for is that she gets to tell her parents first so they can properly go about this.

Overall, making it happen that the people in Marinette's life think she had some sort of accident (maybe even through being the victim of magic) that left her tragically without memories of the last year is doable. Anyone who claims otherwise is just making up excuses.

What would she even loose besides her status as the new anti-hero Queen of the Galaxy (that is 10 seconds and one disagreement away from her villain arc)? She will keep all her friends, her family will be in the know and take care of her, she will keep Adrien, she has a promising and bright future ahead of her anyway, and she only lost ONE year. Not a lifetime. One year.

The only 'loss' she would have is Cat Noir but season 4 and 5 made it very clear that he has no room in her life beyond being her battle care taker and pet to sacrifice. We saw it the entire time that he and his presence mean very little to her in her real life and she doesn't want him to be part of it. She has no interest in getting to know him either. We saw it in Kwamis Choice, this is not a real loss for Marinette. She'd get over it in a week at most.

So what exactly is stopping her from dipping out when apparently every breath she takes is torture now so she "gets" to take that out on everyone else to make sure SHE is fine before all else?

Just leave. You HAVE the option of leaving it all behind you! Tell Suhan and Alya to watch out for the new Butterfly wanting to drag Marinette back into it and call it a day. At that point Marinette would be of no use for Lila to target anyway if she actually wants to accomplish something with the wish. If Marinette isn't Ladybug anymore and has no memories of anything then Lila will never accomplish anything by going after her. Just LEAVE. At what point is that just the logical thing to propose when Marinette herself has no connection to shit and only makes it worse for the victims?

I don't mean this in the salty way, that's a genuine question. Marinette is not owed to reign the universe as Ladybug and have victims because she had a shit year. And very obviously this role is VERY BAD for her mental health since that's her never-ending excuse for making things worse for other people and not doing her actual job as Ladybug.

Yes she's 14 years old, but that's also it. She's a 14 year old in a position that's now clearly doing herself and the world more harm tham good because she's not cut out out right now to be a super hero guardian leader who has to take care of PEOPLE and VICTIMS before herself. There is no reason for her to continue staying in her position that'll only make things worse. Just leave. UNLIKE MOST OTHERS YOU HAVE THE OPTION.

---

The only thing I can think of is “people are counting on me!” but, like, girl, you're not irreplaceable. Anyone somewhat heroic could be Ladybug and would be more motivated to do it than Marinette “I knew Gabriel was Hawk Moth and intended to ignore it” Dupain-Cheng (although, I’m pretty sure that writers will retcon that dereliction of duty by the time season 6 airs). She only hangs on to her position because it's a pattern for her to just whine about how badly she has it while doing nothing to try to change things even when she's the one with all the power and control.

Marinette clearly doesn't want to be a superhero, she always has complaints about her job and "saving people" isn't exactly a passion of hers. She's far more enthusiastic about doing more mundane favors for people, which is why she actually wants to be and likes being class president. The difference between how Marinette treats her class presidency and how she treats her roled as Ladybug/Guardian couldn't make this clearer. Even pre-retool, Marinette never voiced any kind of enjoyment towards her role as Ladybug, and post-retool, she only brings up having superpowers and the Kwamis as a perk to Alya. Basically, the thing she gets out of being Ladybug is feeling special.

The reasons we can come up with for why Marinette has to keep going on as Ladybug while it's clearly ruining her mental health are all pretty self-centered. She thinks she's so much better at being Ladybug than anyone else that she's irreplaceable. She can't stand forgetting a year of her life because that's her life and her remembering it is more important than the people she's harming, including herself, by upholding the status quo the way she does. That's her title and she should get to keep it because it's hers. She's so important, valued, appreciated and celebrated as Ladybug that she couldn't possibly go back to being just plain Marinette, because she's so blind to how beloved she is and how much people celebrate her mere existence that she probably thinks she’d be left with nothing and no one.

[curio-queries]

I'm genuinely curious, what are y'all thinking about the I Am Still announcement?

Any of you that read my reaction post will know that I was less-than-impressed with the cinematic release and frankly, I'm so not enthralled with this idea of a 'documentary series'. I'm really not trying to be negative about all of the content surrounding JKs Golden project but this addition definitely isn't raising my hopes.

I remember once listening to a q&a of an actor/director talking about distribution tactics and he said something along the lines of "if you create a good product and get it out to the people in a way they can actually see it, you'll make money. If you make a bad product and try to hide it behind strategy, trickery, and gimmicks, people will find out eventually". (Definitely paraphrasing here but I think y'all get the point?)

To be clear: i am NOT saying that the music or behjnd the scenescontent surroundingthe Golen era is a bad product inherently. I just can't help but make some associations with all of the machinations surrounding the documentary. It just seems like so much pomp and not enough substance. I guess we can at least be thankful that it is not being released as another weverse product via digital code sold on a photobook. 🙄

I just really question the decision making that lead to it having a theatrical release at all followed by a repackaged streaming release. And how the partnership with Disney is being handled. At what point was the agreement made to release on Disney? Again, I've not really dug into specifics on the company in years but it's interesting to see them host content that been created by one company with self-distribution capacity, and cinematically released by a another company as the distributor.

HYBE also had to recognize this could potentially weaken their future releases if audiences will potentially choose to skip the cinematic events expecting the content will be available on a streaming service at some point. It's the whole reason the strategy of periodically showing old concerts still has any leverage regarding those VOD rentals or whatever it is they're doing.

Am I the only one thinking along these lines? Truly, i'm curious if any of you have had similar inklings.

[ranfordgallus]

I mean yeah, im not like against people who like him either i just don't like HIM in general, to be honest i very much doubt he'll ever be an ally, again in the christmas episode when Zach pretended to change his views (other villains too) but it was just a trick, the crew actually is ready to fully care for them for changing but instead they were tricked and thats the reason they were left in a small ice berg

Now aviva...aviva i totally agree, she does care alot about ther technologies, there are times where she'd start getting angry and snapped, she always tries her best to BE better, better than zach and they constantly compete eachother to be better, aviva isn't perfect of course, but she is able to change and fix, zach however does not change and rethink his ways, he doesn't care about anyone but himself (said by aviva in the walrus episode, and just in general)

And you know what? Its better for him to STAY A VILLAIN, him being an ally wouldn't make sense whatsoever, not that im gonna get angry if a person thinks he can but I'll be weirded out, Zach is aware of his intentions, he's..kind of like the allfather (odin) in god of war ragnarok, he's a villain because he manipulates and treats the people who care about him like a pet, a dog. He wants to know the future, to know his livelihood so he could control it, he strives for control just like zach except less..god-like and less child murdering ofc, Zach strives for control, to be the best, to be king as seen in the episodes, and like odin, when things doesn't go his way, he blames and hurts everything but himself

I don't feel the same for paisley which she canonically changed her ways and become a better person, she doesn't appear alot of the shows, its almost rare for us to see her.. that may be the reason of she is just a contruction worker, a villain who devistates animal habitats for factories and other buildings, there are times where she used elephants as slaves but other than that she doesn't do much other than pave

But Zach is the villain, THE villain, he not only manipulates and control animals, he also pollutes and destroy habitats and aware of his actions, he tries to be in control, and...despite hating him for years, he's better if he's a villain yk? He is made to be a villain, born with it..he will stay a villain forever i think

Zach being an ally is impossible, and him being a villain is probably what i think makes more sense instead of changing his ways, no matter how much you try to change his mind, he will stay evil, because he can, he knows what he's doing is terrible, yet he still does it because its fun...so theres my opinion

Why do you hate Zach so much

What is there not to hate about him BESIDES being funny atleast

[veil-jumprope]

Speculation Incoming!

OKAY SO

in the new trailer that just dropped the other day(happy late Dragon Age Day!), they show the circles again BUT this time with symbols and narration which confirms they represent the Evanuris

As for what symbols represents who, I'm like 99.9% sure the far right symbol is Ghilan'nain, but other than that, I'm not completely sure who represents who BUT I'm gonna make an educated guess based on this other image

ENHANCE

in this mural, we can see the artifact, which in Official books (Tevinter Nights) has been linked to being the way Solas made the Veil and how he's gonna tear it down. We can ALSO SEE THE LITTLE HALF CIRCLE BOYS LIKE IN THE TRAILER. And some of them are not lit...almost as if they have been destroyed! 5 circles gone...5 arch demons. I think that all the Evanuris, aside from Ghilan'nain and Solas, are actually dragons (like they can shapeshift into other, more elf-like forms, but they are actually dragons. I mean, Mythal LITERALLY says in DA2, "maybe i am a dragon?" MAYBE BITCH. MAYBE). And while they couldnt escape the Veil truly, the Blight was their way to move back into the world, and their physical forms, which Solas couldn't lock away, slumbered under the earth. But when the Magisters breached the gates, the Evanuris were able to unleash a creeping spell that infected all living things and drove those infected to find the physical forms of themselves so they might re-enter the world. BUT THEY WERE FOILED BY THOSE DANG GREY WARDENS. and so they are DEAD. (dead dead? not sure, but dead enough that i don't think they can come back in a way we know. maybe the darkened circles more so represent that they can't operate at full capacity?)

BUT TWO CIRCLES REMAIN.

I'm willing to put a whole 5 doll hairs down that one of the remaining is Ghilan'nain. She's featured in too many stories in the written Thedas-verse, that I'm pretty sure they are building to her making an appearance in the next game. and goddamn are all her stories fucking SPOOKY. I DO NOT want to meet her in a dark alley. But also...scary evil scientist lady...that's so fucking cool.

As for the final circle...I'm just grasping at straws here but I think that because it's at the center and because it's bigger than the other circles and because it would make for SUPER BADASS FINAL FIGHT, i think it's Elgar'nan. The oldest Evanuris. The All-Father.

I mean...it's called DA:D for a reason right?

This mural also shows the two symbols who are highlighted in the other murals and AHH. I want to fight an Evanuris! How cool! Would! That! Be! Especially if it's spooky biologist Ghilan'nain! Gimme the horrible blighted abominations!