#like they put the whole scene in. literally for that parallel alone

[imminent-danger-came]

I'm sorry not Captain Barbosa's curse monologue only being here in Kh2 because it's a nobody parallel

[king-crawler]

HEY HI HELLO

Sorry for the random message here In the asks, it's ok if you don't see this or answer it since you probably got a lot already and I understand if you don't see this!/gen

But first of all, I just wanna say

I CANT BELIEVE I HAVENT WATCHED YOUR ANALYSIS VIDEO SOONER IM SO FUCKING LATE MAN

It's so well done and so fucking funny, I was literally smiling and cackling through the whole thing, it's shocking how similar our humor is

NOT TO MENTION THE END SCENE AREE YOU KIDDING HOW DID YOU MATCH THE LYRICS SO PERFECTLY TO THE FUCKING LORE ITS INCREDIBLE 😭💜/GEN, POS

It's insane how much dedication is put into it, let alone singlehandedly feeding turbo fans as myself

Genuinely thought it's so nice seeing more content for a hyperfixation I've had since 2012, and the fandom coming back along with this video Genuinely brings me so much joy as someone who's loved this movie since I was a kid

Sorry for the ramble but genuinely thank you for making that video, I can't wait to see what other stuff you do, wreck it ralph or not I WILL be tuning in/gen, pos

Okay second of all

The main reason why I'm sending this is because of sometning I noticed while rewatching a scene in the movie

Now, this might be me over analyzing as I usually do but it feels TOO. OBVIOUS.

SO

IN the kart bakery scene where vanellope and ralph go to bake a kart, they obviously make their way into the building and into the main room

You see all the Karts of course, and It pans to the one vanellope chooses

Which, at first glance you wouldn't really pay too much attention, especially when watching it for the first time, she's just picking the model she likes

..but looking back at the scene

Vanellope's kart model, how it was supposed to look, looks very

Familiar

Because the kart she chose..

...is a red and white kart

With stripes down the middle, with a very similar shape to a..certain persons kart. Now this might just be nothing, it's probably just like I said, and over analysis on my part

But the kart the chose looks WAY too similar to turbo's, not to mention the stripe is down the middle, just like turbo's car on the cabinet art of him

And vanellope could've chosen ANY kart

But it was that specific kart she chose, out of any of the karts

Not to mention in some of vanellope's concept art...

(Art made by Lorelay Bove)

..Vanellope's concept design and turbos designs strike SCARILY uncanny resemblances to each others designs

From the helmet and colors

All the way down to her GOGGLES having the SAME. YELLOW. TINT. that candy's have in the movie, which have the same effect here. There's no way that this didn't have the intent to mirror turbo purposefully

So with that in mind, the kart vanellope chose in the kart bakery scene being turbo foreshadowing, wouldn't be too out of place, nor would it be too far off

Turbo's foreshadowing was always prominent, even in the smallest details you wouldn't focus on, just like he's infecting this world as a virus, little by little, everywhere. You. Turn.

Aaaand that's basically all I have to really say

Sorry for the long ramble, I've been thinking of submitting this for awhile now, especially after I told a friend about this and they mentioned that this should be submitted to you

So I decided to go ahead and just do it, no matter how wild my comparisons might sound-

Anyways, I hope you have a good day, night, or what time it may be, and keep being awesome! I can't wait to hear back if you see this! Bye-bye! ❤️🏎🏆

P.s

I've been quoting these since I watched the video and haven't stopped

Thanks for destroying my humor even more-/pos

Okay bye bye now-

-skitters away-

NO YOU'RE SO FUCKING RIGHT OH MY GOD VANELLOPE WAS ALWAYS A TURBO PARALLEL??? CHAT IS THIS TRUE. IVE NEVER SEEN THAT CONCEPT ART OF HER TEEHEE THANKS FOR SHARING

also God. This is 99% just a coincidence with zero merit because its such a common gesture- but Ralph and Vanellope doing their thumbs up.. maybe Turbo parallels ?? and like the EXACT same poses too:

Vanellope having one hand on the steering wheel and the other doing a thumbs up while facing the camera.

Ralph hunched over doing the double thumbs up with the visor tinting his face yellow. EXCUSE ME HMMM?? WHAT THE FUCK??

NOW COULD I BE CHERRY PICKING? PERHAPS. but when Turbo has barely a minute of screentime, there's not a lot i can pick from, and things SURE ARE LINING UP... (I'm cherry picking)

SO SHHHHHH... ❤️❤️❤️❤️ LET ME HAVE MY LITTLE CONSPIRASCY

[mishy-mashy]

I said this in a whole reblog, but just copy-pasting to a separate post because I think it'll give some reading comprehension and reblogs don't show up in the search feature.. again, I'm reiterating what I said in another post.

Go check out @demidokuriya 's post for this; OP's post made me put this all down in like. 20 minutes. Mind went vroom vroom cuz HEY THEY'RE ONTO SOMETHING.

(They also reblogged the post with some hint to some behind the scenes of what led to the ideas if you wanna check that out)

Look below at how, when Mineta told AFO to spare Tokoyami, AFO specifically went "..."

He remembers Jirou and thinks, The braying howls of the weak...

He was going to take Tokoyami's Quirk. He took Hawks'. But after Mineta pleaded with him, AFO just straight-up left and didn't take anyone else's Quirk.

AFO saw Yoichi in Mineta.

These scenes are near-identical to each other.

Mineta and Yoichi (at that time) are both much smaller than the normal person at their age

They're both hurt, yet dragged themselves up from the ground to throw something at AFO, to get his attention and make their voice

Both are considered weak, even if they have a Quirk (Mineta's Pop-Off and Yoichi's undeveloped Factor)

The fact that Yoichi got AFO's attention here by throwing a can at him, while Mineta got his attention by throwing a Pop-Off ball; and it stuck.

Mineta's call for his attention landed and actually stuck to AFO. This is unlike when Yoichi and his can bounced off, and AFO kicked him, not listening to him; AFO listened to Mineta and left Tokoyami alone, technically doing what Mineta wanted—to not hurt this person.

AFO just went on to hurt more people away from Mineta's [Yoichi's] eyes so the small weakling wouldn't see.

Yoichi and Mineta both cried to AFO to not hurt in his ways, when AFO was intent on stealing people's Quirks

AFO even stole Hawks' Quirk during this time.

He had time to steal Hawks' Quirk, and though he could've tossed him to the side, he let Hawks stand in his way.

He had the energy. Right after this event, he flew off and left the scene. But he didn't go for Tokoyami immediately.

And this let Mineta play his part, and remind AFO of Yoichi.

"A putrid, festering Quirk Factor."

That sounds like Yoichi, AFO.

".. such garbage."

Hey hey hey, what did Yoichi throw at him when they were kids?

A discarded can. Garbage.

This chapter (385) where AFO listens to Mineta is literally called [A Youthful Urge].

Mineta told AFO to take his Pop-Off (hurt him) instead. But last time, AFO hurt Yoichi by kicking him; this time, AFO not only listened to Mineta to not hurt Tokoyami, but didn't touch Mineta at all.

Even though this time, Mineta [Yoichi] offered to take that place of suffering.

Yoichi didn't do that back then. AFO just turned on little Yoichi anyway.

Yoichi through his whole existence is literally [the braying howls of the weak]. AFO acknowledges he's weak and idealistic, yet he still loves him.

Side note about this panel, I think it's interesting that in this vision, this was the first time we saw Yoichi's eyes: when he was being defiant, despite being pushed down by someone much stronger than him.

Really characteristic of him, honestly. Yoichi's soft-spoken and frail, but it's always reiterated that Yoichi had a powerful will against his stronger big brother.

Mineta at this moment reminded him too much of Yoichi, because the two scenes are near-identical to each other. Parallels, really.

Reiterating something from OP's post that I reblogged this from;

"The reminder of his brother made him uncomfortable, so he hurried away."

AFO didn't want to hurt Yoichi again.

[gachagon]

I don't think Kaiser and Ness would be good together

Which is why i think about their relationship constantly despite that, i love these freaky little soccer dudes and their obsessive codependency

If there's one ship in bllk that I absolutely adore the content for and think about constantly besides Kunigiri, it's Kainess. And it's not because I think "Oh they'd be such a wonderful couple" or "They look good together", this is one of those ships where if they ever got together I feel like they'd actively make each other worse because they have so much internal stuff to work on alone first, you know? And just thinking about that potential train wreck of a relationship is enough to keep me entertained for weeks on end.

I've said before that Kaiser and Ness are a Bachira and Isagi parallel in that they show the toxic bad sides of a codependent relationship, but I think there's more to it than that. Like Kaiser and Ness are reliant on each other for both ego and attention, but they're also both deeply lonely people at the end of the day. Even in the scenes where it's just the two of them, they never let up the act of trying to surpass everyone and be at the top.

They have no silly banter or back and forth, even in this panel Ness looks more like Kaiser's personal servant than his friend or partner.

Where as everyone else in the Blue Lock compound has some healthy way of destressing after a match, these two weirdos (affectionate) sit in dark rooms and watch the same matches over and over again while plotting like saturday morning cartoon villains on what to do next game. I mean, even Itoshi Rin has a destress activity he does that's NOT soccer related that helps him not morph into some soccer obsessed monolouging freak, so to see these guys just constantly always planning and thinking and practicing it really puts into perspective how much of the time that they spend together is them not having a fun time casually. And if you compare what they do on their down time with what the other "partners" in Blue Lock do, this difference becomes even more apparent.

And I don't know, I find that to be a really interesting aspect of their relationship just because even though they are so clearly missing all of the key elements meant to make a healthy partnership, it still works on the field anyways because they're both equally obsessed with the same thing. Kaiser loves football and wants to be the best. Ness want's to see Kaiser become the best because he loves football. Their devotion to the game drives them closer to one another, but it's clear only one side holds any real "affection" for the other directly outside of the game.

Now, I do NOT think Kaiser hates Ness which I think people assume if you say "Kaiser doesn't hold a lot of empathy for Ness, or cares for him" that it translates to "Kaiser hates him".

I think Kaiser keeps Ness around because deep down he knows that at the end of the day the only person who would be willing to follow him even if he couldn't become the worlds best is Ness. And I think that's because Ness loves soccer in a different way than Kaiser does. To Ness, soccer is a really magical sport and one where amazing things can happen. And Kaiser is the only character who has done the most insane feats in the manga so far. Kaiser does things on the field that seem impossible until he pulls it off, which is the whole crux of his ego anyways: Making the impossible, Possible.

So as long as Kaiser plays that way and does all of the amazing things he's been doing, Ness would follow him literally anywhere because that's what drives him.

But Kaiser is different, it's clear that to him soccer/football is not something that is grounded in the fantastical, but something that's tangible and real to him. He takes it seriously even if he goes about it in the most dramatic and campy way possible. Looking at old chapters of Blue Lock when Kaiser was first introduced is so interesting to me because I forgot about Kaiser's whole "king" attitude where he pretty much talks and acts like some nobleman with a crown and scepter.

He even makes Ness "bow" to others or makes Ness physically lower than him like a king does with some peasant. You could chalk it up to him making Ness "apologize" in the Japanese way by also bowing, but I don't think that's why he does it just because his entire character is just so "king" coded.

It's worth noting that he also makes Ness "bow" whenever Ness seems to lose any kind of faith in them winning. Which is why I don't think the above two times was him making Ness apologize, but that its something he does to ground himself or make Ness fall more in line with how he's thinking at the moment. Notice how he seems to only do it when Ness isn't sticking to the right "script" or seems to show the wrong reaction openly etc.

But anyways, Kaiser and Ness love soccer but they don't love it for the same reasons and that is what ultimately conflicts with their relationship in the end. That, and they've both got their own issues to work out.

I feel like if they did ever get together, it just wouldn't work because in order for it to work, Kaiser has to first realize that he can still be an amazing player and have people regard him as the best without obsessing over where he sits in the rankings. That he can perform things nobody else can and never will and that is the thing that will separate him from the rest of the crop, not a trophy saying "Number 1" on it.

Maybe before when they first met things could've worked out well, but even still I think Kaiser was dead set on his goals of becoming number 1 long before he ever met Ness. We will definitely get to see the extent of that next week for sure I hope, when we learn more about Kaiser's past.

[katsu-curry835]

Why Bisexual Jon Snow Could Work /srs

Jon Snow is bisexual and here's why.

Aight, I'm aware the queer rep in asoiaf is pretty eh for the most part. Sweets is cool, and Loras and Renly have a nice implied relationship but Dany and Cersei having gay sex scenes felt way more fetishized than actually meaningful representation, especially since neither character considers a romance with a woman. Because of this, I'm gonna say that while I think this could be a valid direction to take the story, I'm like 50% sure that GRRM won't write it. Then again, it's been so long between books that times have literally changed and FnB seemed to have a ton of queer relationships so who knows.

Ok, ok, so I've laundered my argument; we all know why we're really here. Jon Snow could be bisexual and that could be really important for the story. Why?

First and most obvious is that it's another parallel with Dany. Jon and Dany have had storylines that directly mirror each other, especially in books 3 and 5. Dany is confirmed bisexual by the narrative, since she has regular sex with her handmaiden Irri, although because of her position of power over her, she tries to limit them. And, as already mentioned, she never gets to be romantically attracted to a woman. Maybe that's coming in future novels, who knows, but all that to say Dany and Jon mirroring each other on the bi front is not inconceivable, especially when you consider that there is already evidence for Jon being bi.

I'm sure most of you deep into this discourse(?) have probably predicted that I'm going to talk about Satin. And if this story does go in the 'Irri' direction, Satin is definitely the candidate for Jon's male love interest. He's a former prostitute from Oldtown, which mirrors another of Dany's handmaids (Doreah I think) and he's Jon's steward, like Irri is to Dany. Other characters also seem to think that Satin has kinda slept his way up the ranks to being Jon's steward, confirming at least that this idea is in GRRM's head. I wanna take a look at a few scenes and see how they could imply a future relationship between Jon and Satin. Take a look at this fight scene between Jaime and Brienne (I promise this is relevant.)

"'Give me the sword, Kingslayer.'

'Oh I will.' He sprang to his feet and drove at her, the longsword alive in his hands. Brienne jumped back, parrying, but he followed, pressing the attack. No sooner did she turn one cut than the next was upon her. The swords kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. Jaime's blood was singing...

...The dance went on. He pinned her against an oak, cursed as she slipped away, followed her through a shallow brook half choked with fallen leaves. Steel rang, steel sang, steel screamed and sparked and scraped, and the woman was grunting like a sow at every crash, yet somehow he could not reach her."

To me this scene has always read as implicitly foreshadowing Brienne and Jaime's future romance. Words like "kissed" or "grunted" or "pinned her against a tree" feel implicitly romantic/sexual, even the way the scene is described as a "dance." Jaime even says at a later point "Might I have this dance my lady" to mock her. Of course there is plenty more in the story as a whole that foreshadows Brienne and Jaime having a relationship, but I use this as an example because I want to point out how GRRM sometimes writes a fight scene as romantic and sexual foreshadowing, or at least that can be how some scenes are interpreted. Now I want to look at the scene where Jon trains Satin.

"It's too heavy," the Oldtown boy complained.

"It's as heavy as it needs to be to stop a sword," Jon said. "Now get it up." He stepped forward, slashing. Satin jerked the shield up in time to catch the sword on its rim, and swung his own blade at Jon's ribs. "Good," Jon said, when he felt the impact on his own shield. "That was good. But you need to put your body into it. Get your weight behind the steel and you'll do more damage than with arm strength alone. Come, try it again, drive at me, but keep the shield up or I'll ring your head like a bell . . ."

This scene reads similarly to me. Words like "jerked," "rim," "get it up," even the one word sentence "Come," can read as sexual foreshadowing in a similar way to Jaime and Brienne if you are given context that Jon and Satin do end up together. In particular, "ring your head like a bell" reminds me of a scene where Gendry gets approached by a girl but rejects her advances.

"I'm named Bella," the girl told Gendry. "For the battle. I bet I could ring your bell, too. You want to?"

I would be remised if I didn't mention that Jon calls Satin pretty three times in the chapter where he's supposed to be engaged in a battle with the wildlings. Like yeah, that's a bit weird, why are you thinking about that now Jon. Or I could mention the fact that he described Satin’s voice swearing his words as being like song and that he could smell the fresh sweet oils Satin rubbed into his beard. Jon… buddy you got something you wanna say? I’m joking of course: you don't have to be queer to recognize another man's beauty. What I think puts this into perspective is if you compare this to how he describes Val, someone who it's generally agreed upon that he takes an interest in.

Here's a quote where Jon describes Satin:

"The boy claimed to be eighteen, older than Jon, but he was green as summer grass for all that. Satin, they called him, even in the wool and mail and boiled leather of the Night's Watch; the name he'd gotten in the brothel where he'd been born and raised. He was pretty as a girl with his dark eyes, soft skin, and raven's ringlets. Half a year at Castle Black had toughened up his hands, however, and Noye said he was passable with a crossbow."

Now here's Val:

"Val stood on the tower roof, gazing up at the Wall. Stannis kept her closely penned in rooms above his own, but he did allow her to walk the battlements for exercise. She looks lonely, Jon thought. Lonely, and lovely. Ygritte had been pretty in her own way, with her red hair kissed by fire, but it was her smile that made her face come alive. Val did not need to smile; she would have turned men's heads in any court in the wide world."

I mean, the fact that "pretty" is a word used to describe both Ygritte and Satin is a connection that I shouldn't need to point out the significance of, but I digress. If you actually compare these quotes, both look like neutral descriptions of someone's appearance in isolation, however in context, you have to ask why the author shows you this stuff. Why does Jon comment on how good looking both of these characters are so often? It doesn't seem like there would be any other purpose to these, again, repeated descriptions of both Val and Satin other than to highlight that the fact that Jon finds both of them attractive is important.

Again, none of this proves anything outright. I mention this because this is the sort of thing where if you reread the books with this lens, suddenly more things start to jump out at you, and it can read like obvious foreshadowing you missed. Like when Catelyn sees her reflection in some armor and comments on how "drowned" she looks. It doesn't mean too much on a first read, but when you know what happens to her, it's some clever foreshadowing.

Another big reason I think Jon getting with Satin might be important is that you can see it as a pivotal part of Jon's character arc, specifically Jon's sexual awakening storyline. When Jon first has sex with Ygritte, she's the one who initiates the interaction. In fact she has been doing that the whole time he's had her hostage, teasing him with advances and mocking him for his inexperience. In the famous cave scene, Jon's thoughts are how he wants to bang her, but also about how it would be in conflict with his vows. That's the main reason he never has sex with her until she incites it on her own; it's not because he doesn't want to. It's because he thinks it would violate the words he swore at the weirwood.

So Ygritte begins this part of his arc, and Jon discovers that he likes having sex, how original. But he still feels reservations about it, during the act and afterwards. After all, his people resent him for being able to openly take a woman to bed with him, while they have to go to Mole's Town to dig if they want to get any action at all.

My view on this is that the story is heading in a sex-positive direction with respect to Jon. There’s plenty of theming about this “why is it a sin if it feels so good” etc etc. The books are full to the brim of people feeling needlessly guilty about having casual sex, Jon especially. Where I think this is headed, therefore, is probably something like a wildling understanding of sex; Jon has to view sex as Ygritte did, because that was always the healthiest way for him to go about it. Except this time, to complete his arc, he is going to need to take the initiative himself and embrace his desires like Ygritte did. Her teasing him for not doing this was trying to get him to come out of his shell. It would feel strange to me if this went nowhere. Jon needs a future romantic/sexual partner so that he can feel no qualms with taking the initiative with them. How he learns to do that is up to George but suffice it to say, however uncertain I maybe that this partner will be Satin, a future romance is in the cards for Lord Snow.

So Jon's in a bit of a bind here from a meta perspective. If we want him to complete his sexual awakening storyline, he's going to have to take the initiative himself with a partner without feeling any inhibitions. But he can't do that if he's still a brother of the Night's Watch because of the aforementioned conflict with his vows. But he's not going to stop being a crow, his vows are important to him. So how do we reconcile the fact that Jon's character arc about his sexuality needs to be resolved, but he also needs to keep to his words? Simple: make his next partner male so it doesn't violate anything.

I've actually thought this could work as a plot point for anyone either in the Night's Watch or the Kingsguard. One of these men surely has to consider at some point the obvious loophole of "so I can't bed a woman, but what about a man?" and how that affects their honor or whatever. It just slots kinda nicely into Jon's storyline here. Another reason it really works is that Jon is looking to socially progress the Night’s Watch: unity with the wildlings, defending Satin from homophobia etc. Him realising the obvious flaw of the vows for not considering that men can be romantically involved through his own experiences as a bi guy can help him begin to dismantle the outdated nature of the customs. He’s framed as this sort of reformer, and being a queer bastard (who is also probably the lost heir to the Targaryen dynasty) makes this thematically poignant. He’s an outcast, but also a king.

Of course, he’s always been an outcast, being queer would just help add to that. And this is just one way of writing this arc; I’m not married to this take on this basis alone.

I can so imagine a scene where Jon is having sex with Satin and the lit hearth is positioned behind Satin's head from Jon's POV and it looks like Satin's been 'kissed by fire.' Also, Jon considering how Ygritte would feel about him doing this and coming to that conclusion that she would be proud seems like a great way to end a chapter about the two hooking up because Jon's arc would be basically resolved.

This final part is something that I feel should not be left merely implied: Jon being canonically bisexual would be great representation. This is one of the most beloved and famous heroes in all of fantasy, hell, in all of modern fiction. Making him queer would be a really important step forward for queer rep that should not be underestimated. Verity Ritchie (VerilyBitchie on yt) did an excellent video essay on bisexuality in reality tv, a point from which I'm going to paraphrase: it's really hard to effectively depict bisexuals because any confirmed relationship with another character would look like they 'picked a side.' But in order to continually show someone's openness to sexual attraction to two or more genders, you risk going to far the other way, falling into the bisexual sex demon stereotype. This is a really difficult needle to thread, and is why we have characters like Nick Nelson constantly having to remind us that they're bi, rather than having us just assume they could be. Put simply, we need better bi representation, especially with men and Jon Snow is excellent casting for the role. His relationship to Ygritte is constantly referenced throughout the narration as something he treasures and misses, so there would be no doubt that he was not 'gay the whole time.' But, if the Satin story goes ahead, there can be no doubt he's not queer either. Literature is a great place to put bi characters, I think, since an internal monologue can remind you of past relationships with other characters of different genders and how they mean something to the character in question, but never undermining the integrity of the current relationship.

Me personally, I'd be buzzing for Jon Snow to be confirmed as bi. Really interested to see people's thoughts on this.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#20: I Don't Have A Problem (S3E12)

Clear. 🤩 One of The Walking Dead's best episodes for many reasons, but especially for the beautiful seeds it planted between Rick and Michonne. The fence is where their lives became interlocked, and Clear is the start of where their hearts became interlocked. And in this scene right here, Richonne became absolutely inevitable...

This whole episode is something special, and I love Rick and Michonne's every interaction, with an honorable mention to their “the mat said welcome” scene. 😋 From the moment they met, these two had some romantic tension brewing, and it nearly boils over in this scene that just had to make the top 20.

Rick has brought Carl on his first run and decided to bring Michonne along to help and to see what she’s about. It'll forever be telling to me that Rick felt comfortable enough to have Michonne on this run alone with him and his kid.

Despite some arguing that Rick was strictly skeptical of Michonne during this era of their relationship, I think the fact that he brought her out here to his former neighborhood and then, even more, let Michonne go out unsupervised on a crib run with Carl showed that there was some level of trust here that I don't think Rick would give to just anybody. Like while Rick initially tried to fight how drawn he was to Michonne in season 3, his behavior with her still painted a clear picture that to him...

And Michonne shows both Rick and Carl just how special she is and proves that she’s the real deal in all aspects throughout the episode. Especially in this scene here. 

So what I love about this scene is that in a moment where Rick is feeling visibly frustrated and disappointed, Michonne’s regal calm spirit practically tames his defensive energy. He asks if she has a problem with the new approach they have to take, despite her showing no signs of having an issue. And Rick asking this will just always make me amused because no one got him hot and bothered quite like Michonne just existing.

Like she was silent for a literal second, but that was enough to evoke a reaction from him. And Andy, to me, found the perfect way to ask where it was defensive without sounding overtly challenging or particularly offputting.

And then Danai just makes all the right choices in this scene cuz Michonne knows that she doesn’t need to match that testy energy. Instead, she turns slowly and looks right at Rick and sets the tone by gently saying, “No Rick, I don’t have a problem.” 👏🏽👑

Something about even just her saying his name has some weight to it. And I love that this is the approach she takes. This is genuinely me every time I hear Michonne perfectly deliver that line...

Michonne had been a bit quieter and apart from the group prior, and this line is her elegant offering to let Rick know she isn’t his opponent and wants to help - that she isn’t a problem and doesn’t have a problem, not with his approach, or just doesn’t have a problem in general that he has to worry about.

And then to make that verbal offering of her alliance even more physical, Michonne hands Rick the lone bullet she picked up. Rick takes it and the way they focus on their hands again feels like it’s an important exchange. It’s like their first peace offering. And it’s one of the first of many things Michonne and Rick will hand each other, including a very special pack of mints that parallels this scene a bit. 😊

I love that Carl is visible in this scene and noting this exchange between his dad and the woman who will become his mom and his best friend. Carl knew something was up here and that something was different about this. He was still skeptical of Michonne at this point, but I think it was at this moment he began to tell that Michonne has some sort of unique impact on his dad. 

This scene is also special because this is Rick in the freshest stage of being a single dad. He has to raise his son, who went through the trauma of having to put down his mom, and he also has a newborn to take care of, who he knows is actually Lori and Shane’s baby. And he has to deal with all this madness with the Governor. The weight of the world was on Rick's shoulders, and you see him really frustrated that the lack of guns at the station is yet another L. But Michonne is just so calm about it which is the energy he truly needs in his life. 

She just asked if there’s a new solution cuz she only envisions winning. Even just when hearing Rick earlier explain how he was the police in this small town and there are other places to check and all that you can tell that he’s used to being second-guessed and challenged by people, and having to prove himself...But Michonne isn’t other people. She gets him, and she’s not rattled by their situation, so he doesn’t have to prove himself.

I also love how, even as they speak, it’s tense but not harsh. There’s just always this passion pulsating between them, even as strangers.

There’s so much power in the fact that Michonne wasn’t hostile back, but rather calm, collected, and compassionate. The way she looks at him here just says she sees Rick in a deeper way than most. Even that early in their relationship, she understood him.

So even with Rick bugging out, it doesn’t intimidate her or put her off, Michonne gets it and she handles it beautifully. If Rick and Carl didn’t know they were rocking with a queen before then, they knew now.

And y’all, I know Rick knew they were with someone special because of his reaction after this exchange.

Rick’s reaction to Michonne after she hands him the bullet and looks right in his eyes with that soft knowing expression before walking away is the cherry on top of this golden scene because homeboy looks like he’s been fully enchanted. Like Rick's whole energy is giving...

Rick pockets the bullet and takes a whole moment to collect himself after the way Michonne looked at him. His look up to the sky was a 'dang, can Lori see me falling for another woman in just a few short days?' look. #DirectMindQuote 😂

Rick and Michonne felt a spark right then and there. I know it. And no characters would have an exchange like this unless it was a seed toward something romantic growing. 

Even deeper than that, I love that this moment was an insight into so much of what makes Rick and Michonne's relationship special. They can speak to each other and reach each other in any state. They can be a calming presence. They can enchant each other. They are so clearly the exact type of person the other needs in their life. They have such a unique and positive influence on each other, and this was the beginning of many moments that show that. 

I love that it was this moment that had even Danai wondering if Rick and Michonne were endgame and that it was then confirmed that for Gimple, Richonne really was in the works during this episode. I mean after an exchange like this, the road to Rick and Michonne falling in love was pretty much guaranteed. 

So I love seeing Rick and Michonne in this early stage, especially knowing they will go on to become beloved family to each other in the fullest sense. #Husband&Wife 😌

[i-dont-talk-for-days-on-end]

I was reading the first part of "The Blanched Soldier" and helllllllp! I'm really tired and I doubt I can make a coherent analysis out of my thoughts - BUT it is so tempting to try and see if the story can be read as a Holmes/Watson analogy!

Holmes dropping not only the "The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action which I can recall in our association" bomb which could be read as an ironic/humorous remark, but also the devastatingly plain and honest "I was alone" right afterwards.

Holmes then telling the story of a client moving heaven and earth looking for his soldier friend who disappeared, constantly stressing how close their friendship was.

ALSO during the flashback scene the client is, in the logic of the narrative, literally in the position of the detective, trying to find out what happened to his friend!

His search being hindered by an oppressive and stern father figure - something something about authority and control and societal norms (and perhaps Watson's marriage as a necessity because two bachelors living together for so long might be a bit suspicious in the eyes of the public)

"'You must put it down, sir, to my real love for your son.’" Whaaaaaat?? Putting aside the question whether or not one wants to read this story in a romantic way, this is a story about friendship and devotion and loss and oh my god just kill me, just give Holmes his friend back please

Client then has to have dinner with the parents which must be incredibly awkward, but instead of trying to make conversation he claims that he "was so bored by the whole proceeding that I made an excuse as soon as I decently could and retired to my bedroom". Bored?? Now I'm reading too much into it, but this also reminds me of Holmes who is NOT a fan of smalltalk and would rather sneak off to his bedroom to meditate over the clues than to make polite conversation with people he dislikes (although the mother seems to be okay)

On top of that a nice His Friendship and Courage Saved My Life *cough* Devil's Foot *cough* parallel: "There was no braver man in the regiment. He pulled me out once from under the rifles of the Boers, or maybe I should not be here." (Yes. Now I'm hopelessly overthinkink and overanalysing.)

Aaaand as a bonus, Holmes in the beginning practically admits that it was necessary for Watson to write his stories in a way Holmes often criticised, AND behind the whole charade of "I don't have a companion because I LIKE him" he literally says that "Watson has some remarkable characteristics of his own to which in his modesty he has given small attention amid his exaggerated estimates of my own performances", indicating that Watson downplayed his own role in the cases he wrote up.

I hope Watson returns soon, because his absence CLEARLY puts Holmes into an overly dramatic mood.

(I'm joking about this, but I actually feel very sorry for him. I can feel the "I was alone" keenly, because haven't we all been the best friend who was abandoned for a romantic partner at some point? Please tell me it wasn't just me. )

[chaikachi]

I think we can possibly get rg crumbs with Neo teasing Ruby as Oscar even more🙏 let's pray for the crumbs 🙏 it's been 84 years 🥹

I literally JUST wrote an analysis of this and threw it on twitter like 2 days ago. I had been meaning to put it on my personal blog but you, dear anono, have given me incentive to put it here instead.

The Interesting Pattern of People Using Oscar Against Ruby

This kicks off primarily in v7, which makes sense since Oscar and Ruby are thrown into conflict as early as episode 2. The conflict is a result of Ruby lying to Ironwood in an attempt to protect him and the rest of their team... But it's clear from the start not everyone agrees with that decision.

Of those that don't agree, the loudest seem to be Oscar and Yang. The latter of which - who is our first example - chooses to bring it up with Ruby in front of their whole team when they're on their first mission with the Ace Ops. Except Yang doesn't just voice her own thoughts or feelings, she makes a point to to ask Ruby how Oscar feels about it. Which was not the fairest way to go about it if you ask me. Especially seeing how Ruby reacted. It's also VERY INTERESTING how that scene directly parallels what it transitions into: Oscar posing those same concerns to her. Except unlike Yang, he found Ruby when she was alone so they didn't have an audience to witness their conflict.

From there, we have a slightly more subtle example: Ironwood. And by 'subtle' i just mean he doesn't say it as directly with his words or actions as the other examples we're discussing here. We do know that their conflict for this volume is centered on their disagreement of what to do with Ironwood... and the show reminds us of that by constantly framing the two separated by him.

Whether it was Ironwood's intention or not, he did manage to drive a wedge between the two of them. And while this conflict does keep them apart for a while... it doesn't work as well as it could have. The first example of this is in episode 7 where Oscar and Ironwood are having their talk near the winter vault.

Ironwood: Do you believe in me? Oscar: I do believe in you. But not only you.

It is very clear Oscar is talking about the other leader in this situation: Ruby. Showing that despite their disagreement, he still does stand by and respect Ruby's decision. Even in this photo, while they are still separated by Ironwood, they are agreeing with each other about what to do:

That scene is then directly followed by the infamous "Schnee Manor Fumble" where the the two finally agree to tell Ironwood the truth and regain some trust in each other.

And as much as I would love to analyze this scene in even more depth, it will have to wait for another post.

For now the next example: Cinder

In V8 when she sabotages their portal plan, it's literally the first thing she says and I still don't know why. Cinder saw the vision of them making this plan, but it was a group endeavor. And the only things we saw Oscar say were the technicalities of how Atlas would fall when using the staff... So what exactly was she referring to? and why did she mention his name specifically?

And then last, but certainly not least: Neo.

We saw this back when the v9 teaser clip first dropped however long ago and it was a topic of BIG DEBATE. Many argued there was no significance behind why she chose Oscar of all people to turn into... but I have to disagree.

In tandem with all these other examples, there is a narrative pattern formed of people specifically using Oscar as a way to twist the knife at Ruby. Yang, Cinder, and - depending on if you view his contribution as intentional or not - Ironwood. Which makes Neo the 3rd or 4th person to do this.

Neo has a vendetta against Ruby. We know this. We know that Yang was an easy choice to hurt her because they're sisters. We know Penny is a good choice because they're close friends and Ruby already lost her once. But Oscar? Why Oscar?

Why did she pick him first? And why did she specifically use a mirage of him when he's covered in bruises and burn marks when she has seen him cleaned up multiple times? To that I have two answers.

The first: because she was there at the Schnee manor and saw them interact in the entryway.

And what she saw convinced her that the two of them were close. Close enough that using Oscar's face against Ruby - especially one battered and bruised - would be an easy way to hurt her.

I'm not trying to use this argument to say that Ruby has feelings for Oscar. I think in canon she is largely too preoccupied with the weight of the world on her shoulders to think about that right now. But we DO know that Oscar feels some type of way about her.

And that even if it's not established in canon as romantic yet, Ruby and Oscar are close. That they do have a relationship built on mutual trust, respect, and understanding for being in similar situations. As clearly displayed in show as well as backed up by Miles in this cameo.

But at the end of the day, there is a very strong emphasis on her connection to Oscar since his debut, which characters within the narrative are noticing! (just look at Nora's face here)

But that brings me to my 2nd point as to why Neo chose the characters she did: Because the writers wanted us to see that.

Animation is expensive and so much meticulous detail and intent goes into everything that we see. They wouldn't have just chosen those characters arbitrarily. They chose those three characters on purpose and I think it largely has to do with how those characters relate to Ruby's arc for Volume 9. So lets go down the list in more detail:

Yang

Once again, it is a bit self explanatory. Her and Ruby are sisters with unresolved conflict that has been building for a while now. Some of it from their upbringing, but a lot of the more recent struggles being Yang's habit of calling Ruby out or disagreeing with her in front of groups of people. It was mentioned at the start of this post, but there are two other examples that come to mind. The beginning of v8 and more recently, v9e3.

In the first, she is arguing with Ruby in front of a room full of people and they all get to see her leadership called into question. The second, we see Ruby's patience around this habit starting to wear thin. I'm not trying to say Yang is wrong to express these things, but the way she goes about them is often not very considerate of Ruby's feelings. Especially her feelings tied to leadership, which is a big theme for this volume.

As mentioned in the v9 trailer, someone says "You seem to be carrying a rather large burden". However, we can see very clearly Ruby's not carrying it well at all and that she is well on her way to breaking under that pressure. A pressure and insecurity that Yang has unfortunately contributed to even when she's trying her very best to be supportive.

Two brief side notes:

Blake and Qrow are also guilty of hurting Ruby in this way unintentionally, but I don't want to touch on them in this post so it will have to wait for another meta

VERY INTERESTING that right before this shot, Yang says "My plan for mantle didn't work out either... but we got Oscar back". Which is a very nice callback to the last time she brought him up to Ruby at the beginning of v7.

But back on track to the next illusion Neo uses:

Penny

We know this one is a big one. The two have always been very close and Ruby is quite protective of her in light of having already lost her once. We saw Ruby admit to this for the first (and pretty much only) time on screen when speaking with Oscar in the Dojo during v5. (yet another scene I would like to dissect more in detail in a later post)

Ruby: When Beacon fell, I lost two of my friends. Penny Polendina and Pyrrha Nikos. (...) Ruby: Pyrrha... Penny. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. That I didn't think about them every day since I lost them.

We also see Ruby passes out when she hears that Penny didn't survive the fall. Then later she gives a eulogy of sorts over the sword that she got from Jinxy. So this plot around Ruby's grief towards Penny is going to be very prevalent this volume.

And lastly:

Oscar

Why him when he didn't fall with them? Well, because we already had a parallel setup between him and Ruby in relation to "The Girl Who Fell Through The World".

Oscar: She brushed off her bumps and bruises, for nothing hurt worse than the loneliness in her chest. Oz: I recognize that. The Girl Who Fell Through the World. Oscar: I shouldn't be surprised you're so familiar with fairytales. Oz: I've lived through my share of them. How are you holding up? Oscar: I thought the idea of falling through Remnant into a new world was... exciting. I never understood why she was so sad when she finally made it back home. But now it makes more sense. Oz: She wasn't the same girl anymore.

Oscar relates because of how he was thrown into this adventure and how it's changed him... and the same can be said for Ruby. Except instead of the call to adventure choosing her, she chose the path herself and then fell into that fairytale first hand. Literally. Into an arc that seems to be telling her that in order for her to grow, survive, and to rise up from the fall she just had: she needs to change. Just like Alyx did. Just like Oscar did.

Unkown Voice: What if you could leave Ruby Rose behind? Shed like an old coat. What might happen... if you don't?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's all i've got rn. there are so many crumbs i have built myself a damn loaf of bread, my friends. and i have very few doubts that Neo won't try and use a mirage of Oscar against Ruby again. if you got to the end, thank you for reading and let me know if you'd like to see more of this stuff or if you'd prefer I keep it on my non-art blog @gatheringkeepsakes. Until then... RG CANON OKAY BYE.

[loving-family-poll]

Ultimate Incest Tournament - Round 2

Propaganda under the cut:

Charlie/Charlie:

Literally the blueprint. it's implied that charles once had a quasi-incestuous relationship with his sister (charlie's mother) and once she got married put all his affection into the child that was named for him

She tries to get him convicted of murder, he tries to kill her. the whole thing is wrapped in a metaphor about growing up and sexual maturity and the rot at the center of the normal all-american family. their final conflict takes place on a train which is. uh. if you know anything about hitchcock. that's. that's a phallus. whatever they have going on is so much weirder than if they just fucked nasty.

They parallel each other and understand each other to a point where there's some unexplained telepathy happening and they are framed by the camera as love interests, whereas her scenes with her love interest are shot as if something's off about them

Uncle Charlie says she's the thing he loves most in the world and gives her a ring

They have a folger-esque 'no, I don't need any presents, you're here' scene

She's very happy to have her friends see them together and both act jealous when the other is being approached by someone else.

They beat the Hays Code and walked so Stoker and House of the Dragon could run

They repeatedly say they're more like twins than an uncle and niece

"Because we're not just an uncle and a niece. It's something else."

Catherine/Heathcliff:

THEE quintessential toxic fucked up siblings. Raised as siblings, potentially also half-siblings by blood, they would kill the whole world so they could be alone together. The whole world could die but Heathcliff and Cathy would be happy. The blueprint.

The og claustrophobic, insane, toxic-to-everybody forbidden codependent incest of ambiguous degree

Minor acts of necrophilia

Brönte was obviously influenced by Shelley's depictions of sibling incest as an ideal form of love

"You said I killed you - haunt me, then!"

"Because he is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

[ananke-xiii]

"The Born-Again Identity" is one of those SPN ep that I like despite the fact that there are so many things in it that drive me a little bit insane (truth be told, in part it's only my fault cause I can never completely turn up the "suspension of disbelief" volume and I go to a default "but why?" mindset everytime I see something on screen, so okay it's a *just me* problem). However, I do think that S7 was not that bad and it had some quite intriguing and original ideas while the execution was... well, let's say clunky. So, all in all, I think this episode is kinda cool.

the things that drive me a little bit insane:

the imagery of sam desperately running alone in the night along some tracks in a supposedly dangerous part of town. The "derailing" and "going off the tracks" symbolism was a bit on the nose; him buying drugs from the "tweaker" and sleeping with the guy in his car: mmm I feel like that was, like. a lot. to be just thrown away like that.

sam being admitted to the hospital with no mention of said drugs use and the whole scene with the doctor telling dean that they had to put sam in the locked psychiatric floor. I don't know, it also feels like.a lot. and.all of a sudden. they could ease into that way better, it's too ham-fisted as in: we have to find a way to put sam in an horror asylum-like facility in less than 5 minutes for the ep to make sense. so that what feels like to me.

daphne. everything about her drives me insane. I have a whole story where she has to clean up the mess dean has made and hide the body of the demon or something. she'll later start her own private hero's journey to find emmanuel and bring him back to their white picket fence life so perfect and so based on manipulation and stockholm syndrome.

the demons showing up at the grocery store. like what? it was established just a few scenes before when dean told the demon that he was "hands-off" or something and that the demon was actually looking for emmanuel. so why oh why would the other demons look for dean when there's emmanuel.alone.in.the.car. nonsense.

that one demon torturing sam with the electroshock. what was the point? why were demons there anyway? weren't the brothers hands off? maybe i missed something here but to me just felt like "asylum ep= electroshock scene is a must" and meh.

sam leaving the hospital.just.like.that and "swapping place" with cas. i'm sorry, what? i won't even comment on meg being suddenly hired as a nurse cause okay i want to give the writers that, but wtf? oh okay, this guy that has just showed up here (and has definitely possibly murdered 4 or 5 people at the entrance) is maybe not okay, let's not call his wife or someone, let's just lock him up. whaaaaat?

the quite intriguing and original ideas:

the cas/sam parallel: they are both evidently mentally unstable for very different reasons. cas has, in a way, "left the life" and dean, of all people!!!, is not 100% cool with him regaining his memories because what if he leaves???? sam is quite literally very close to leave life in general because the trauma is affecting his body in an irreversible way. they are both "born" again identities at the beginning and at the end of the episode. Very cooooool.

sam and lucifer interactions: the actors really did their job well in this ep cause everytime I watch it I'm exhausted, like I can't bear to hear Lucifer talk and talk and taunt and I definitely feel worn out like sam. I think Jared works very well with Mark Pellegrino, too bad that the whole Lucifer storyline was a mess in later seasons cause the actors had great chemistry.

meg. every scene with meg is just joy for me. and her storyline? left alone looking for "friends"? sure, she totally plans to use cas as her ally but what's new? (jokes aside, there's a whole pattern of women manipulating and using cas, am i the only one seeing it???).

marin. first of all, hello abigail????? (hannibal memories flooding in). second of all, cool MoTW-Not-So-Much-MoTW story. ofc she's a sam's mirror used to basically explain what happened to sam but the ghost who's tormenting her is also her brother and he must die-die-die because he won't let her go. hello??? paralleling sam's hallucinations with sam's issues with dean was super intriguing and too bad that the MoTW was Not-So-Much-MoTW cause marin's story was maybe not even 8 minute long.

bonus: "Peace of Mind" from S14 echoes this ep brillianty, they even cast one of the same actors (the doctor/the mayor) and they used the same surname for sam (sam smith/justin smith). cool cool cool (although unrelated to s7).

[parachutingkitten]

Okay, this has been bothering me, and I'm gonna go into it, cuz I feel like being mad that the fandom didn't get better is friggin valid, so imma get negative here at some serious missed potential, if that's not your jam, 100% get it, please scroll past.

We have a season with 20 episodes, each of which are 20 minutes long. That is an unprecedented amount of time for a ninjago season- I would argue maybe too much time, but that's not what we're getting into here. Even just the first half is the length of your standard ninjago season back in the day. There is no excuse for not taking your time with ideas that deserve time. You've got time. You've got too much time.

If you're gonna do a mystical mind prison that traps you in your worst fears, you gotta do it! You can't do this wimpy half commit thing you're doing here. What is this cop out that's like three minutes long? This is a top tier trope! Loads of stories do this- for a good reason, it's a great way to get lots of new insight into your characters, not to mention have fun with environments, hypotheticals, bend logic, and do some creative filmmaking. And here you are, inventing a whole weird fictional animal to facilitate your nightmare state, and it legitimately takes up so little screen time that it hurts! What? Did you not have enough to say about your characters to fill out a full subplot? You thinking that surface level about things? Or was the basketball tournament fake out with the dragons so important to the story that you couldn't cut it out for some character introspection?

It's so short and pointless, it doesn't functionally do anything except tell us very directly "Here's what this character fears, and will have to get past this season!" No looking into why or making some progress/losing progress on the issue in the dream state. We don't even get to see everyone's visions, let alone see any interconnectivity between them. It's just such a waste of a classically exciting set up. And why on earth would you place this concept at the beginning of the season? Put it at the turning point man! That's what this scenario is made for! Literalizing characters overcoming mental challenges so that it's interesting to watch! Using the nightmare dream sphere for exposition in the most boring possible version of the trope is just dumbfounding.

I mean seriously? The black void? That's all you've got? You gonna go the Cars 2 route and set our supposedly deep nightmare sequence in a black void? No symbolism to the void even? No distorting of visuals within the void? Nothing? Can you get any more basic? Did you really put that little creativity into this? Like, the whole point of the nightmare dreamscape is to get creative! So much symbolism and messaging that you can easily tie into things! the possibilities are literally endless! But yeah, I guess Arin running in place is pretty meaningful too, I'm sure it took you a while to come up with something so profound.

There's a reason this story beat usually makes up at least half the plot of any given episode it's in! There's so much room to explore. The potential for crosscutting between nightmares is so high, drawing parallels between characters. Maybe they're all interconnected, and the mentally strongest of the team breaks free to help the others in their nightmares. Maybe it's a revelation point for the rest of the team as they see a dark past of another character they didn't know about. Or maybe it's just the audience who gets new insight into a sheltered corner of a character's mind, or a way to reveal to them a dark secret someone is hiding. You can also have fun subverting expectations, maybe one of the nightmares is just objectively pretty funny. And, the best thing about any dream environment you're creating, you can have the characters get involved in insanely creative fights and action scenes where they literally beat up their mental roadblocks with cool looking and symbolically important powers or tools.

Like, I know the fandom is losing their mind over this scene because 'omg Nya's gonna be so sad cuz of the memory loss(that hasn't even been revealed in narrative yet, so the irony doesn't even really work)' but I just need you to understand that the full fledged angst, character growth, and introspection y'all are speculating could have theoretically happened in Kai's plot is what we could have had for everyone. For a full episode. Like it deserved to be. And it would have been really cool, and really satisfying, and beautifully and symbolically stunning, because countless other people have done it, it's honestly not too difficult. Stop freaking out like they did a good job with this- they didn't do a good job with this. They couldn't even bother to give everyone a vision, they just gave up on the concept halfway through.

Not to mention how accessible and valuable this type of storytelling is to kids! Literalizing some of the big abstract issues these characters are supposedly battling this season would be a great way to get kids to grasp these ideas, but instead it's literally like two and a half minutes of slightly ominous stuff to bate us before we move on.

Stop teasing us with interesting stuff and then not actually following through! This is not how you do storytelling!

[professionallydeadinside]

Hey babe what the fuck are you talking about <3 you can’t give us all the context and NOT go into more specifically

OKAY BUCKLE UP I AM READY TO TALK WKSKSKDK

So the manga is called "Ookumo-chan Flashback" and the basic premise is that the main character Minoru occasionally has flashbacks that show him memories his father had when he was Minoru’s age. The memories are of his father falling in love with his mother (Ookumo chan). So Minoru struggles with his feelings towards his mother because he’s literally experiencing his father falling in love with her. (Oh I forgot to say but the father is dead he passed away when Minoru was like 5ish? Somewhere in that area)

BUT while he’s getting these flashbacks he started to realize that his classmate Ninomae starts to be a “trigger” for memories (the memories happen when Minoru does something similar like for example if his father had a memory of eating food with Ookumo then that memory would trigger in Minoru if he was eating with his mother.)

Now the whole thing is that some people only see the fact that Minoru gets flustered thinking about his mom and take it as fucking gospel but you have to remember that Minoru is a 16 year old boy and all of the flashbacks are from his 16ish year old father as he literally falls in love with Ookumo!! Of course that is going to affect Minoru and how he sees his mother!!!

But also a huge thing is that he is literally the man of the house. He takes care of meals when he has to and he makes sure his mother stays on track with things like work. A lot of his affection for his mother is just him feeling an extra responsbility to take care of her.

(Context of the scene is that it's Ookumo's birthday and she says how Minoru will probably stop celebrating her birthday with her because he'll have a girlfriend to spend time with so Minoru makes the excuse that he's not popular with girls.)

Before this scene, Minoru has a memory of when his mother and father celebrated her birthday when they were teenagers and Ookumo says how she can't wait for them to celebrate many more birthdays together and grow old with each other. Minoru then reveals that his father died being only 27. MINORU CLEARLY FEELS LIKE ITS HIS RESPONSIBILITY TO BE THERE FOR HER BECAUSE HIS FATHER CANT!! He feels like he can't leave his mother because he doesn't want her to feel alone!! He cares about his mother and with his father not there combined with Minoru experiencing his memories, that's enough to explain why Minoru gets so flustered sometimes thinking of his mom/Ookumo chan

BUT..... NINOMAE... SHE CHANGES ALL OF THAT....Minoru uses what his father’s memories are showing him and also seeing how his own mother reacted to his father and he begins to get closer and closer to Ninomae until he stops feeling conflicted about what his feelings towards his mother are because he feels more deeply for Ninomae. It stops going from "oh I should do this because that's what my father would've done for my mother' and more "I did this thing and it turns out that its what my father did for my mother". The things Minoru starts doing for Ninomae is because it just seems obvious for him to do for her. BECAUSE HE LIKES HER THE WAY HIS FATHER LIKED OOKUMO!! THE WHOLE THING IS THAT THEY ARE PARALLELS TO EACH OTHER!!

AND THEN THIS!!! THIS WAS A TURNING POINT TO ME!!! Because Minoru begins to see that his love life is differing from his parents' and he'll need to make his own moves! His parents were in the same class their second year but him and Ninomae are in different ones, so he asks her to hang out because he still wants to be close to her!! And this is the first time he puts Ninomae above his mother (his mother asks him if he and Ninomae want to do something in celebration of the first day and he turns her down) AND THATS WHEN HE STARTS TO REALIZE HE LIKES NINOMAE MORE!!!

THAT'S THE TIPPING POINT!! That's when Minoru starts to understand what his fathers memories were doing for him! They were showing him how to act with Ninomae and when Minoru finally goes out on his own to fully pursue Ninomae, he starts to act like how his father did with Ookumo

AND!!!! AFTER HE CONFESSES HE REALIZES HE DIDN'T GET A MEMORY OF HIS PARENTS BECAUSE HE CONFESSED IN A DIFFERENT WAY!!!

HE'S GOING TO STOP SEEING FLASHBACKS BECAUSE HE DOESNT NEED THEM! BECAUSE HE HAS NINOMAE!!! It's truly a more serious look at the Oedipus complex because Minoru very much falls in love with someone that resembles his mother but its not BECAUSE Ninomae acts like his mom. It's because Minoru sees that he can love Ninomae in the same way his father loved his mother.

AND THEN THE ENDING WHEN WE SEE OOKUMO CUT HER HAIR SHORT!!! AND IT TURNS OUT IT WAS SHORT WHEN SHE WAS IN HIGHSCHOOL!!!!! IT ALL LEADING TO THIS PAGE (Minoru has that amulet on his bag and inside is a photo of Ookumo in highschool with short hair, she looks a lot like Ninomae)

BECAUSE THATS ALL IT WAS!!!!! IT WAS JUST MINORU'S FATHER TRYING TO GUIDE HIS SON INTO FINDING A GOOD WOMAN TO FALL IN LOVE WITH BECAUSE MINORU'S FATHER LOVED OOKUMO SO MUCH HE WANTED HIS SON TO BE AS HAPPY AS HE WAS!!!!!! IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HOW MINORU FELT ABOUT HIS MOTHER. IT WAS ABOUT HOW HIM SEEING HIS PARENTS RELATIONSHIP HELPED HIM DEVELOP HIS OWN. The very end reflects this too because the final panels are Minoru calling his mother pretty, when previously we see him struggle to say a lot of things to his mother because he's afraid of his own subconscious. (There's a scene where Minoru gets invited by his mom and his mom's editor (Ookumo works as a mangaka) to go to the pool and even though Minoru wants to, he declines because he thinks it'll be weird if he says that he wants to go to the pool with them because of the implication his mother would be in a bikini.) But because he has Ninomae now, he doesn't fluster or get embarrassed. He's able to be more open and genuine with his mother because he's no longer worried about the possibility of his father's feelings intertwining with his.

Anyway. I'm Normal :]

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Your thoughts/response to this?

https://www.tumblr.com/andromeda3116/86439828788/what-would-you-have-done-differently-with-mai-if

*cracks knuckles*

"Mai only turned against Azula for Zuko"

Way to prove you don't know shit about the character. Like, even the line "I love Zuko more than I fear you" already shows Mai's problem with Azula isn't all about her boyfriend. It is not healthy or normal to be afraid of your friend.

And Mai HAD been rebelling against any authority figure she didn't like/respect LONG before she started dating Zuko. In "Return To Omashu" we see her being annoyed at the life her parents expect her to have, and then gladly, willingly joining Azula - but before it she said "Please say you're here to kill me." Sure, it's a joke that Azula appreciates, but still demonstrates Mai is aware that her friend is very dangerous and that while Azula is her friend, the princess is not. She also goes out of her way to ask what the hell Ty Lee is doing there since the circus was "her calling", and as a response she gets "Azula called a little louder", once again confirming to Mai that if she, for whatever reason, had decided to stay in Omashu, it would mean trouble with Azula.

We then have "The Drill" in which Mai openly refuses to obey Azula during a military mission that could mean early victory for their nation in a war that has lasted a whole century. She even said "She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me." THAT'S how little fucks Mai gives about putting herself in danger just to prove NOBODY can force her into anything she doesn't want to do.

We also have Mai side-eyeing Azula in "The Headband" when she interrupts her date with Zuko and basically orders her to leave, instead of waiting for their date to be over or just kindly say "Mai, I need to speak with Zuko in private. It's really important, can you give us a moment?" Just zero respect, which obviously bothers her. And let's not forget her yelling at all three of her friends to leave her the fuck alone in "The Beach" - the same episode in which she broke up with Zuko because he started crossing the line.

The Boiling Rock is just the inevitable pay-off to what had been set up since Mai's character was introduced to the audience. She has to pick between her dysfunctional friendship/subservient dynamic with Azula, or save the flawed but still loving boyfriend she loved and that actually corrected some of his bad behavior after their first break up. The choice is OBVIOUS. It's not "Friendship VS Romance" or "What I want VS What my boyfriend wants", it's not even "Selfish love VS Selfless love" because Mai turns on Azula BOTH for her sake and Zuko's.

On Mai not speaking out in defense of Ty Lee

You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped. Ty Lee had tried to say no to Azula exactly once, and it led to threats of physical violence or even death. Naturally that scares her into keeping quiet - Ty Lee's seeimgly blind support and obedience to Azula was directly shown as a parallel to Mai's acts of rebellion. Once again, even in the first scene of the three of them together, when Mai demonstrates concern for Ty Lee, she basically gets a kind, cheery, bubbly "Sorry, forbidden topic! Talk about something else and pretend everything is fine!"

It's not unlike that Mai believed that, if she tried to defend her friend, all she'd accomplish is have both Azula and Ty Lee herself turn on her. It isn't until Ty Lee has to choose between the two of them in the Boiling Rock that Mai realizes there were still lines her friend would never allow Azula to cross.

"He didn't even consider taking her along when he left the Fire Nation! She could have helped a lot!"

In Zuko's own words as to Sokka as to why he left Mai behind "I couldn't drag her into this." Zuko and the Gaang were not friends, and he literally offered to be Aang's teacher and prisoner. He also knew he'd be hunted down both for his treason to the Fire Lord and because of the people he was no associating with.

He knew Mai could handle almost anything (hell, when she says to a guard that she doesn't need protection, he smiles proudly and AGREES). But that doesn't mean he'd be totally okay with asking her to throw her whole life away for him and potentially be imprisoned or killed if shit went wrong.

And once again, let's get back to the "You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped." Mai CLEARLY didn't have a problem with imperialism and war - again, she joined Azula willingly, and both her and Ty Lee had a lot of fun being the Gaang's worst nightmare during "The Chase." She even argues with Zuko that he is not saving his country, he's betraying it.

Mai changing sides just because she trusted Zuko, even against everything she had been taught to believe her whole life, was not at all something Zuko saw coming - hell, MAI didn't see it coming - of course he did not think that she'd agree to leave him.

On Mai and Ty Lee not escaping the Boiling Rock on their own

Can't believe I have to point out that since that was the main point of that place, but THE BOILING ROCK IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE. The Gaang were literally the first to accomplish that, barely. It's not that surreal that Mai and Ty Lee either couldn't do it, or felt they had to wait a little longer to even try since all eyes would be on them since they were the newest prisoners AND one of them was related to the Warden which could make him decide to facilitate their escape somehow.

"Zuko didn't even try to rescue her!"

He was teaching the Avatar firebending. His life-changing field trips with his new friends were not vacations, they were missions. They were VERY close to the day his father was gonna burn the Earth Kingdom down. Aang, their only hope. fucking disappeared during the big day due to spirit shenanigans beyond his control. Zuko then also had to fight his own sister in an Agni Kai and nearly died.

Needless to say, he was a little busy.

"Zuko doesn't even remember she exists when she's not around!"

Oh the irony of a ZUTARA shipper saying that. Literally the only time Zuko remembered Katara was because of water from the spiritual oasis that could have possibly brought Aang back to life - aka it had nothing to do with her as a person because, at that point, even after the Ba Sing Se thing, Zuko saw her as nothing more than another obstacle/enemy on his way to regain his honor.

Meanwhile, in "Zuko Alone", when he has not seen her for at least three whole years, he remembers the prank Azula and Ty Lee pulled on him and Mai as kids because of her crush on him. In Ember Island he is going nuts with jealousy (not healthy at all, but still, proof that he WANTS to be with her). On the day of the eclipse he leaves behind a letter explaining himself to her and even says "I'm sorry, Mai" even though there's no one around to hear him because he just never wanted to leave or hurt her. And on the first part of the Boiling Rock episode he is gushing about how much he loves her - we know they're about to be reunited, but he doesn't.

If that is indifference, I can't even imagine what love looks like.

About the letter and "Mai just taking him back after it"

Definitively not a nice way to be broken up with, but totally understanble given the context. And even with that, Mai still calls him out for it, says she's "saving the jerk who dumped me", and in the finale she brings it up AGAIN as they are reconciliating. Typical Mai stuff: forgiving and understanding, but never taking shit from anyone.

About them only seeing each other again in the finale

THAT was a plot convenience - but it does not apply solely to Maiko. Sokka goes to free his dad, but doesn't remember Suki has ALSO been taken prisoner, and then very next episode Hakoda left him and Katara for really convulted reasons and somehow they didn't go after him. Zuko also didn't think to tell Iroh he was gonna take him out of prison so they could go join the Avatar on the day of the eclipse, and didn't try to go looking for him until the last episode. There's also the random "Katara is confused about her feelings for Aang" plot that is introduced in "Ember Islands Players" and goes nowhere.

It's the typical "forced drama that can only be resolved when the writers feel it'd be epic enough" stuff. We have to take it with a grain of salt.

"Ty Lee joining the Kyoshi Warriors makes no sense, and Mai hated the Fire Nation nobility so she shouldn't have ended up with Zuko"

Ty Lee not wanting to be part of a matched set, then finding true happiness by joining a group and learning that she can still be an individual is the classic "ironic ending" Avatar likes - see Zuko and Aang becoming friends when they started out as mortal enemies. The only problem was the lack of development taking us from point A to point B, but the idea itself was fine.

As for Mai "hating" nobility... WHAT? She didn't like being told what to do, sure, but she never resented the perks that came with being in the "elite" - she and Zuko spend half of "Nightmares and Daydreams" bossing people around while making out on her couch, and she even suggested doing that again as a way to cheer him up when he was sad.

And even if she DID hate everything Fire Nation nobility USED to be about - the whole point of Zuko becoming Fire Lord is that he will change everything. How is Mai supporting him, regardless of their romantic relationship, in anyway a contradiction? It makes perfect thematic sense!

Conclusion

Zutarians, please stop talking about things you clearly don't understand to pretend your OTP is the only thing that would ever make any logical sense.

[alchemocha]

that certainly puts Robotnik in a different light in my eyes, that makes so much sense, i never thought about how nuanced his backstory is, thank you so much for sharing, im saving this so that i remember

Movie Robotnik is such an incredibly nuanced portrayal of Robotnik, it’s genuinely become one of my favourites! I’m happy I could shed some more light onto him for you!

I really do have a lot of thoughts about the whole thing, in both movies even just watching them as they are, if you really pay attention to Robotnik’s scenes, he’s an asshole, sure, but his words aren’t… villain-like really at all, not in any literal sense. When he’s being the bad guy everything is played up to fit that role, because it’s the one everyone else has cast him in.

A lot of his dialogue is actually really sad when you look at the lines more isolated? The brief looks into his childhood, the implications that he expects to be alone in the end not because he leaves but because everyone leaves him. The parallels he draws between him and Sonic, about not belonging, the way that everything points to him being lonely. The way that him and Sonic are two sides of the same coin but he never get’s anything for his struggles. That he became so bitter and jaded because he never had any shred of love or care given to him his whole life. And if he ever did receive any, it always ended bad.

These aren’t the actions and words of an evil man, honestly, I think he’d be content just building robots if he didn’t feel the intense need to prove himself and do things so big and vast to finally be seen by someone. He wants to be recognized, to be praised and to be acknowledged, but at the same time he’s determined to make himself more unapproachable and unlikable than he actually is, because if he cuts everyone off first, he can claim it’s his doing, that he’s the one that needs no one, instead of living with the fact that no one wants him around. It’s very plainly obvious that no one’s ever given him a chance. Not even Sonic gave him a chance, and it’s really shocking and sad because he’s really just holding up the biggest facade I’m sure could be broken down if anyone bothered to look past it for even a moment.

No one’s ever looked his way for anything but the fact he builds crazy machines. His ‘scheme’s’ growing bigger and bigger make sense in the perspective of him wanting to do something so grand no one will be able to look away from him finally. It seems more like a desperate attempt to be seen in a twisted roundabout way, rather than a genuine desire for world domination, given all the nuance you can pick up on him

I personally really enjoy viewing his character this way! He’s a jackass and will absolutely cause problems on purpose, but I think in universe he gets way more hate than he really deserves.

[eriexplosion]

Echo just left and I already miss them :c onto watching Omega have an emotional breakdown in The Crossing!

The way Omega looks immediately miserable coming out of the Marauder. Honey :C

Hunter sensing the storm and trying to determine what direction its moving: Reasonable Hunter for some reason needing to touch dirt about it: WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?

Did the dirt tell you what the storm's direction is?

All this time we thought Hunter's enhancement was his enhanced senses turns out that it's actually just talking to the dirt.

Hunter literally refuses to adjust for being a man down, Tech and Wrecker are trying to act like they ARE DOWN SOMEONE SURE but it's fine they'll deal, and Omega is just So Deep in her teenage depressions

"What's with you?" WRECKER WHAT DO YOU THINK? And just telling her she'll get used to not having Echo around. Wrecker IS the most emotionally intelligent of the batch, but it's a bit like being the tallest at the gnome convention isn't it?

This mineral is highly unstable and destructive. We need the child to drill for it.

Omega is pulling out the sass for this and I do love it, it's the first time she's let it out on anyone but Cid. She's TIRED, she MISSES ECHO, everyone is acting like it's NO BIG DEAL, let her be angry and pissy actually.

Hunter sensing someone stealing the Marauder like Lassie

Tell me Wrecker :) How exactly did you miss our ship being compromised :)

The way that Tech and Omega have the same external reaction to stress and it is turning the sass up 3000 times. Their processing may be different but good god are they similar in some ways.

Tech knowing Echo disabled their communication device because presumably he tried to call too, this is fine, I'm fine.

LITERALLY LION KING BEHAVIOR I STILL REMEMBER THE VAGUE MEME FOR THIS. THEY PUT DYNAMITE ON SIMBA.

"You must protect the ipsium case!" "WELL WHAT ABOUT PROTECTING ME :C"

I will protect you Wrecker don't worry

"Why don't you carry it?" "FINE!"

I'm sorry their dynamic is so funny when Tech gets extra spicy

And lest it be thought he's only being casual with Wrecker's safety his reaction to being saved instead of the ipsium is literally THE CASE!!!!!!

"So, now we are trapped. AND we have lost all of our ipsium. >:T"

Tech must be a NIGHTMARE to vacation with if even one thing goes off the itinerary

Nightmare Family Trip To Space Arizona

I'm just. Echo is gone for five minutes and their HOUSE gets stolen. THEIR WHOLE HOUSE. WITH THE FAMILY DOG INSIDE.

Tech looked at his dialogue options and literally it was like

[Persuasion] Assure Omega that while things are changing it will be alright and she will adapt *Rolls a nat 1* THIS SQUAD EXISTED BEFORE ECHO WAS A PART OF IT, AND IT WILL EXIST AFTER. WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE?

Everyone looking at Tech like WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Tech is so sincere when saying "She... said she wanted to be alone?" he genuinely does not process like this and the thought that she'd say she wanted to be alone if she didn't fully mean it DOES NOT OCCUR TO HIM.

Just slap those extremely volatile tubes into the satchel to roll around it's fine nothing to worry about.

THE WAY THAT TECH JUMPS AFTER HER IMMEDIATELY STILL GETS ME BUT ESPECIALLY THAT SHE DISAPPEARS INTO FOG WHICH HE JUMPS THROUGH WITHOUT HESITATION. He doesn't know what's down there and it doesn't matter, he is GOING AFTER HER.

(Plus parallels to the season finale again, and another example of just how much they can survive.)

Hunter sensing that something, somewhere is wrong. Because their day hasn't been hard enough already.

I love the small details like Tech having to shake water out of his goggles.

Just crawl down into this dark tunnel, carrying the extremely explosive material, throw yourself into the raging rapids, and get thrown into our cavern. Also if the vials touch each other too hard you die <3

Wrecker has the right assessment, this planet sucks

GODDDD THIS SCENE BETWEEN OMEGA AND TECH. Tech having to take a long moment to try to think about his replies, trying so hard to make sure that he's completely understood, because it's important that this in particular get through. Explaining how he feels the losses, intensely, but that he focuses on adapting to the change. I'm WEAK.

And god Omega's little "We're more than that. We're a family. Aren't we?" gets to me every time too but especially since I saw someone suggest the final two lines that sum everything up might be "We're more than that. We're a family." stated with utmost confidence, and like, I would absolutely shatter, I would BREAK INTO A MILLION PIECES, I would CRY like an INFANT.

Following up this wonderful soft moment with [WRECKER SCREAMING]

As we know, the fact that they hid Hunter's wet hair from us is a fucking crime.

Setting up that Tech is good at making precision shots in preparation for the finale. I see you writers, and I hate it.

This conversation with Cid is SO fucking funny like it's awful she's completely unhelpful, but also I feel like the Empire is definitely there, because this is the start of her entire vibe towards them Changing.

[ieatadoptmepets]

So I just finished gauridans of the galaxy volume 3, spoilers ensue

I cried three times. I don't wanna watch it again and put myself through that agony but I can't wait for it to be on disney+ so I can properly experience that. I can't exactly scream in terror and agony in a crowded theater.

The whole shit with the flashbacks with rocket's friends made me so sad. It was the most gut wrenching thing in any marvel film. Only black panther 2 compares to the emotions of this film

And the music was fucking great. It's always been amazing but the music goes hard. It opens with an acoustic version of creep by radiohead playing and rocket singing alone which is the best. And it ends with the dog days are over playing and everyone is dancing and it's so cute because it paralleled to the dance off in gotg volume 1 and it was so sweet. Drax cried and he danced with the kids my heart melts.

Rocket saving all the baby raccoons and accepting that he is a racoon made me sob all over again like once I started I couldn't stop. There were so many animals there to save and they saved them all because that's what the freaking gaurdians of the galaxy do

Peter freezing in space directly parallels to that scene in volume 1 or 2, we all know it and adam saving him is literally anything. Did anyone else notice when he put his hand out, it looked exactly like that adam and god painting? I mean his name is literally adam, they did that on purpose.

And cosmo, I love her so much. She's such a good dog she's a baby and she's mine I love her so much. I wish she was real because you know what her and krypto would be besties

But again the music because I forgot it was the fourth time I cried. The first end credit scene with rocket and the new gaudians, him asking the little girl what her favorite artist is and her saying britney spears and korn was hilarious. But then rocket saying his favorite song is come and get your love made me sob all over again ajdydjaixjchch. And god the fucking end credits having pictures from volume 1 and 2, my heart can't take this

But enough with the praise, the criticisms:

Why was literally the only Black character the one that reeked of nazism? Why did the entire conflict, all the villains of the movie feel like they drew inspiration from nazis, the holocaust, concentration camps? That shit isn't to be played with for hollywood fun, it's history to be taken seriously. And literally the *only* Black character was the big nazi guy. He's trying to create a perfect society by experimenting on hundreds of species and keeping them trapped in cages. And he does it because he saw the racism and bigotry on earth. So that's fuel for the conservative's fire

It's a good movie but the "subtle" racism just ain't fucking it