#needed to be “improved”. fuck you fuck you fuck you FUCK YOU

[ezziedoodles]

Why Season 2 Of Arcane Felt A Little Off

Let me preface this by saying I adore this show, and I loved this season. I laughed, I cried, and I had a good time watching it. The art direction and animation is a masterpiece. This is probably my favorite show, but I think it's good to critique the things you love and this entire season I felt like I was waiting for something.

For a show titled Arcane, season one had remarkably little to do with the arcane. Yes, there was Hextech and magic, but the show was centered on this class divide between Piltover and Zaun and all the conflicts that stem from this. The very first scene of the show is enforcers killing citizens on the bridge, with Powder and Vi finding their dead parents' bodies. Zilco's reasoning for doing anything he did was because he believed he was helping Zaun, including raising Jinx the way he did. Vi was so passionate about her city and the injustice facing it. Caitlyn witnessing this injustice is what causes her to question the systems she is a part of. Viktor and Jayce (but especially Viktor) created technology with the intention of wanting to improve life for the undercity. Ekko is a revolutionary doing so much to give his people a community and a chance to live their lives. My point is literally every single character is connected by this conflict between the cities.

Now let's take a look at the second season. Where is this part of the story that was so essential to the first season? There's a brief revolutionary beat with Jinx and her followers but once they escape from prison, the show moves on from this and never touches it again. We see Caitlyn's descent into corrupt madness, becoming everything she and Vi wanted to stop. Eventually she realizes how wrong she was but do we see her make any reparations to Zaun specifically for the damage she caused? She gassed the city, poisoning the air even further (with gas that has been confirmed to make people sick in the long run), harming hundreds of innocent people. And Vi, a character so vehemently against enforcers in the first season, goes along with this for how long? Days? Weeks? And only stops when she can visually see the impact of Caitlyn's madness as she almost kills a child in front of her. These characters are flawed and I love that, but we see them get their happy ending without ever truly addressing or helping with what they did to Zaun.

Ekko sees an alternate universe of everything his city could be, everything they all wanted so badly in the first season. Equality, safety, education, food security, and more. He says he is thankful for the reminder and I fully believe he will go forth with this vision in mind, but do we ever see it? And that right there is the problem. We don't know what happens to Zaun in the end, we don't know if things get better. All we see is Sevika on the council but we don't know if that will fix anything since people have stood up for the undercity in council before and it did nothing.

I want to see Ekko rally his people and repair the damage caused by the war. I want to see Vi open up the last drop and make it what it was always meant to be, a place of community. I want to see schools open in the undercity in honor of Viktor and Jayce. I want to see the two cities heal from the damage done to each other. Fuck it, I just want literally any closure on this plotline! Just tack on a 2 minute montage of what happened to this city after the war and I'd feel a little better. But instead this part of the story was completely sidelined throughout the season and ignored entirely in the finale. I'm not someone that thinks every story needs to have a moral, but this show was trying to tell us something! The first season was screaming from the rooftops to beware of privilege, beware systemic oppression, to fight inequality, and I find it really sad that there was no conclusion for that.

I do wish there had been three seasons to give it a smoother transition form politics to magic but it is what it is. Nothing is perfect. This season gave me so much including the best depiction of soulmates I've ever seen in my life so you win some you lose some ig.

[witchezandwonderz]

Aemond x Reader headcanons

The day that you were taken in by the Targaryens was admittedly, one of the worst days of your life. Your parents had been killed, whom were very close friends of Viserys- he made a vow to take care of you and raise you after the brutal attack. You were young, and therefore struggled to be grateful to any of the people who surrounded you- you just wanted your family back.

Aemond kept his distance from you initially, he had tried to comfort you, but you were a child and did not make it easy for him. Your tongue was sharp, and you used extremely colourful language to express how much you wanted to be left alone. He, also a child, did not understand your anger and took it personally.

You watched Aemond get his eye cut out, which disgusted you terribly. You had watched, terrified as he nearly killed lucerys, and then watched, terrified as lucerys covered him with sand and slit his eye. You grabbed Aemond and ran, as fast as your small frame could, while supporting him as you heard him scream in pain.

As you both grew older, so did your fondness for one another. Despite your differing personalities, you took comfort in him. You spent your evenings with each other, neither one of you wanted to admit your romantic feelings but neither of you needed too. You both enjoyed being in the moment too much.

When you heard of Lucerys death, Aemond promised you that he had nothing to do with it. But then the truth came to light, and you found it difficult to look him. He pleaded with you, telling you that he deserved it, an eye for an eye he said, but you did not think that an eye for a life was fair.

You felt selfish to forgive him, but you did. You loved him more than anything, and that all came rushing out of your mouth on one freezing cold evening. You had both finished dinner and retreated to his quarters- unbeknownst to Alicent, who was not fully aware of your nightly encounters. She knew that the two of you were close, however did not realise quite how close. You felt unbelievably anxious when you told him, for you were scared to ruin whatever it was that you had. He did not reply with words, but instead kissed you- softly at first, but when he realised that you wanted it as much as him, the kiss quickly turned passionate.

The night that he first bedded you was magical, he had put candles around the room and made sure that both of your first times would be special. It is funny to think that others would brand Aemond as a harsh, cruel and wicked person, whereas you see him as sweet, kind and thoughtful. You were okay with that though, he was yours, and you did not need anyone else to see the true him.

The day that Aemond told his mother that he wished to marry you was an awkward one. He had barged into one of the council meetings, one that he was late for and demanded to speak to his mother in private. Alicent refused, stating that if he had anything to say he could say it in front of the council- she regretted that. Initially, she refused the idea, but when Aemond announced to the entire room that you had been fucking every night for a fortnight, she had to accept.

You had a kind heart, and he loved that about you. He had a kind heart too, but only when it came to you. Sometimes ignorance was bliss, as you ignored all of the hurtful things he would do to others. It was hard to ignore however, when he killed a man in front of you for looking at you for too long. “You are mine, and no one else’s to look at. Accept that.” He had told you, you felt guilty at the fact that you liked his possessiveness. It was addictive. He was addictive.

——-

A/N- this is my first time writing head canons lol, let me know if you want more, or if I can do anything to improve!

Likes, comments and reblogs are unbelievably appreciated <3

[rtc-spin]

university of memphis rtc yapping

jasne was walked on wearing a white viel holding hands w/ karnak and the choir was standing heads down on blocks

after dream of life jane left and karnak yapped/pos and then he went into his box when uranium suite started

virgil was some old guy with rat ears and a leather jacket

ricky looked so annoyed and misha was on his phone

misha held up his little flask of alcohol when it said "drink some brew join the choir"

they all got spun off and yk it was SO COOOLLL then it started also karnak genuinely seemed like an animatronic it was so epic

ricky seemed excited about the iron maiden shirt then looked disgusted abt the funk of the carny

everyone was so mad at ocean 

MISHA DID BALLET. MISHA. DID. BALLET. (in the "meet misha bachynskyi! catchphrase:") 

MISHA DAPPED UP RICKY

when ricky said "thats nothing! check this out" (or whatever) he like. hit himself to make music do you know what i mean (misha was hyping him up)

jane !! the SILLY GIRL!!!!!! (everyone was scared of her)

jane grabbbed oceans hair during her yap session (when constance is like "ocean shes-")

MISHA , PLAYING OCEANS DAD, PULLED A PIECE OF SHIT OUT OF HIS BUTT (not literally) AND IT WAS ON A STRING AND HE HANDED IT TO JANE (oceans mom) WHO GAVE IT TO NOEL

blue and silver pom poms for what the world needs!!

during wtwn, she yelled at the audience "vote me for president!!" then "clap for me!" and relished in the applause and was like "ok thats enough" and continued the song

ricky was SO MAD at ocean when she talked abt him 

stacked up boxes to stand on

everyone was mad. obv

ocean forced misha to come over to grab his shoulder so she could get off the boxes

OCEAN GRABBED RICKYS CHEEK LIKE A GRANDMA WHEN SHE CALLED HIM LITTLE SWEETIE 😭

jane like grabbed oceans hand when she said she loved her and ocean was disgusted

noel snapping at ocean was so silly

noel was more sad in his monologue and the taco bell sound effect jumpscare 💔

him SCREAMING "NOOOO" at karnak when he tells him to explain the taco bell

noel snapping at ocean again was also silly

RED AND BLACK DRESS, mainly red, short black bob wig

he. pulled a cigarette out of his bra(?)

misha came up at the "i have no idea where to find him officer" part and noel snapped his neck at "ten times in his back" and MISHA STAYED DEAD ON THE GROUND THE WHOLE SONG

the girls were the other hookers and noel was like telling them the story of why he killed misha and he stepped on him it was so silly

and ricky held noel when he said "my child is there any final words to ze lord ud like to say!?"

noel ended it standing on the chair

misha. walked up. AFTER THE SONG. and kissed noel. no explanation he just did

when he said it was natural for two men to kiss noel looked disappointed

mishas voice was always louder than everyone elses he was incredible

esgal was so funny and the improv was too

ocena was like a ballerina with a wand

constande didnt finish her thing, she turned around and saw ocean looking FURIOUS and she just cut off

misha leaning on karnaks box was so silly

he looked so sad when he started taking abt talya

RICKY CAME BACK WITH A ROBOT HEAD AND HUGE FAKE GOLD MONEY CHAIN

THE RAPPING WAS HORRIBLE IT WAS SO FUNNY

NOEL AND OCEAN TWERKING IN THE BACKGROUND 

he kept his shirt on the entire time 

MIC DROP AT THE END

talya was beautiful. also noel played talya (wearing a veil)

misha delivered his monologue to his phone then stood up

I COULD FEEL HIS VOICE IN MY BONES I ALMOST CRIED HE WAS SO GOOD

ended the song w back to audience

noel ran uo and hugged him, then constance and ricky joined and jane awkwardly hugged constances back. ocean did not join

misha walked up to ricky and put a hand on hos shoulder and told him to go

everyones jaw dropped when he started tlaking and misha mouthed "what the fuck?"

ricky was wearing a little birthday hat and was reading a comic at the beginning of the song and he was so confused and concerned abt the aliens

misha and noel were aliens and the girls were cats

misha and noel humping the air 💀

RICKYS COSTUME WAS PURPLE AND SLIVER AND GREEN IIRC AND HE HAD AN R ON HIS BELT HE WAS LIKE A SUPER HERO

his singing was so good. what the gleep

at "making love in zero gravity" noel and misha held up a fabric and ricky and the girls went below it and rickys head popped up and ine of the girls grabbed him and pulled him back down

MISHA AND NOEL GOT DOWN ON THEIR KNEES AND WORSHIPPED HIM WHEN MISHA CALLED HIM SPACE JESUS

jane pulled the lever and no photos came up so she tried again :(

the choir started whispering to each other "do you know her?" "who is that?" and stuff when jane walked to her blcok to stand when the ballerina came out

a ballerina wearing super flowy white fabric came out and danced up until "and from the ground beneath my feet"

jane was like. idk i cant describe it but she was like jerking around and dancing

and the rest of the choir was like dead and moving their bodies like they were broken while sitting

she got a tiny birthday hat :(

HUGE FAKE CUPCAKE OMG

ocena walked over to the band and liked directed them on what to play and seemed very hesitant abt what she was fonna sing

ricky taught her how to eat the cupcake then he took a bite and gave her a thumbs up and she copied him and he gave her a fist bump and she gave her doll a fist bump

jane like waved around her doll and gave the doll to ricky and he made the doll walk and she shook her head and did the motion if like waving around the doll and he copied her and he did it for a while until she took the doll back (she had been like waving around her doll to play with it a lot)

noel drank so much alcohol it spilled down his face and misha did the same (and kept doing so) 

constance left ocean after talking and sat down then ocean was like "my death has really affected me!" she got up and walked over and yk said "yeah me too"

ocean crying in a chair after constance punched her

CONSTANCES MONOLOGUE WAS SO SAD. also misha actually had the tattoo (temporary tattoo but still) that the carny had

noel walked up to constance and put a hand on her shoulder and jane brought her microphone (WHICH WAS BLUE COTTON CANDY??)

sugar cloud was amazing.

ocean whispered "im sorry" and hugged constance

the other side was yellow

the other side stayed open when ocean yapped

when she said "motion carried, democracy rocks" she raised her hand to vote for jane and everyone else raised their hands too so the vote was still unanimous

jane. kept wlaking. i dont know how but she kept walking back for a long time eventually theyjusy lowered the big circle again

there was a countdown before karnak died, and a bunch of different fortunes overlayed each other (like the audio of him saying a bunch of fortunes) before he said THE fortune

the choir all hugged eachother and the theatre went completely dark and the auidenxe clapped like it was over

the lights slowly came back on it was so cool

they finished the song

AND THEN they like got pulled back like they did in the beginning and they got on the same blocks in the same position as the beginning and then the back lit up like a sun for the last dream of life

then they js broke character and did bows :3

oh also jane like. stared down the audience multiple times

OVERALL 10000/10 EXPERIENCE WOULD DO AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

[keyboardsareforcoding]

Yeah that is all fun and good. However this is not even the right reason why they are wrong. The fact we have computers today and that Alan Turing cracked the enigma machine is almost directly linked with a mathematician playing infinity and if there are multiple types of it, a man who seemingly at the time wasted 7 years of his life writing with his partner an undecipherable, for most people, text that proved in around 50 pages that 1+1=2, among others, one of the few persons that actually understood it what the former two actually wrote.

And that last one's work is the one that Turing based his PhD thesis on. Probably the first paper that expensively uses a theoretical model of a computer to prove something.

It will literally take me half a decade to explain to someone who has zero background in mathematics why the first gentleman in the list, Cantor was not completely insane for comparing infinities.

And yet his contributions to math and his effects in theoretical computing are invaluable. However if you would ask anyone in his time period how that is contributing to society in anyway it would be hard to justify that he did.

Researchers of any field should do "stupid pointless research with no real life application" from time to time. A researcher's job is not only to improve lives now. Sometimes you just need to poke stuff to see what they do. Or in better terms, fuck around and find out.

As long as a study is contacted correctly it rarely is completely and utterly useless.

There’s a bunch of right-wing people posting memes about “”DOGE”” making the government more efficient by removing funding from “”dumb bug researchers”” and I am now realizing how little the average person knows about entomology and its importance

Excuse me while I get sad .

[queer-froggit]

i've seen a fair share of posts talking about how the Caitvi scene in episode 8 is both bad rep and bad writing because it's "just fanservice".

first off, with the way us politics is going, that might be the last lesbian scene you see in the next 4 years, so cherish the fact that we're getting some representation.

secondly, looking at this from a writing standpoint, you're just. wrong?

Vi and Caitlyn represent the relationship between Piltover and Zaun.

Vi's oil and water speech illustrates how Zaun will never trust Piltover, and Caitlyn leaving Vi crying on the floor in episode 3 shows how Piltover will always betray Zaun for their own improvement.

Jinx is supposed to be the peacekeeper between the two, except she's not. she's constantly under the belief that she's going to mess it up, and while it's not her fault, in episode 6 it all goes to shit.

so she walks away from them. Vi and Caitlyn are essentially embodiments of the emotions between the two cities, the ones that fuel the cycle of violence, so Jinx is decides to end it by leaving them be.

and would you look at that. Vi did exactly what Jinx told her to- she goes off to be happy with Cait.

the cycle does end, because Vi is (technically) let out of her prison cell, and Caitlyn is leaving Piltover behind instead of digging Zaun into the dirt, hence why she sends all her guards to the Hexgates (aka the biggest piece of progress for Piltover).

and then they fuck. Vi is trusts Caitlyn, Cait trusts her, so they open up to each other.

i get it. i think Season 2 needed a longer run time, as some parts felt rushed or incomplete, and not everybody is comfortable with sex scenes (including me).

but like it's good writing and King Princess is playing so who cares.

[idciminlove]

Take a Slice

Part Five - Casual

f!reader x Tashi Duncan x Art Donaldson x Patrick Zweig

Cinnamonacid on AO3

Warnings- arguments, angst, jealous Tashi, situationship struggles, homoerotic friendship struggles, etc.

You have to deal with making some difficult choices.

Song inspo: Casual- Chappel Roan

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Art paced around the living room, anxious and angry. Tashi stood and watched him, her arms folded, while Patrick sat on the couch. “Wanting to train her professionally? I thought we agreed to put our family first after Patrick retired. I thought you were happy with training the girls at the foundation.”

Tashi sighed. “I am.”

“Clearly, you’re not. It’s never enough for you, is it? What if she said yes, huh? Would you go on tour with her? Lily’s too old for that. She needs stability.”

“What, you think I would just run off with her? She’s not even ready to go on tour yet. She would just be a side project. I’d start off training her twice a week, when I wasn’t working at the foundation, and once she started showing improvement, things would get more serious. I know what I’m doing, Art. You know I love you, and Lily, and Patrick. I take care of our family and the both of you just fine. You need to trust me.” She remarked.

“This isn’t just about tennis, Tashi. I know that. I know you want her, and it’s not a good idea. She’s young, a lot younger than us, and she might not know how to handle this.” He gestured to the three of them.

“What did she say when you offered to train her?” Patrick interjected.

Tashi gripped her arm sleeve tightly in annoyance. “She said that she’d think about it, and that she has people she doesn’t want to leave.”

“‘People?’” Patrick cocked an eyebrow, a little smirk crossing his face.

“Her doubles partner, I’m assuming. She’s pussy whipped even worse than you, if that’s possible. Came in with all these hickeys on her neck, which she tried to cover up with concealer.” Jealousy was clear in her voice, along with her irritation. Patrick snickered quietly.

“I’m giving her an opportunity, a real chance, and she’s willing to give up everything for her. Everything she’s ever done, everything she’s ever worked for. It’s fucking stupid.”

Art’s expression softened, and he found himself locking eyes with Patrick. Maybe he knew you better than he thought. Maybe you could fit into this. Maybe he should give you a chance.

He sighed, running a hand over his face, feeling the cool metal of his wedding ring burning against his cheek, taunting him. “She’s going to need some time. Let her figure everything out. She’ll come back to you.”

“How do you know?” Tashi asked.

“I saw how she was looking at you at the end of the match. She wanted you to see. She wanted you to be impressed. She wanted you…who wouldn’t?” He took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. Tashi smiled at him.

Patrick got to his feet, gazing at the two. “Wait, so you’re in?”

“I guess so, are you?” Art replied.

“..Yeah.”

–

“So, how did it go?” Anneliese questioned as she sat across the table from you in the dining hall. Honestly, you didn’t know how to answer that. There was so much that happened, so many feelings, so many conflicts. Thinking back on it made you dizzy. It was like a puzzle you were trying to piece together in your head.

“I think I blew it.” You admitted.

She furrowed her eyebrows. “What? What do you mean?”

“It went fine, I guess, but she said she wanted to train me to play professionally, and I told her that I need to think about it, and she wasn’t very happy with that.”

“Why?”

You messed with the food on your tray, unable to meet her stare. “I don’t know, it was a lot, and I- I couldn’t give her an answer right away-”

“This is your dream. You worked so hard, and you told her you need to think about it?”

“I know, but doing this means leaving school and leaving everyone behind. It means leaving you behind. It means no more practices or matches together, no more bus rides, no more shared hotel rooms. It means no more us.”

“So you want to give it all up for me? That’s fucking stupid. There is no ‘us.’ We’re not even together. This is just..casual. You know that, and I won’t let you throw everything you worked so hard for away.”

Her words stung. Moving from state to state with your mother made it hard for you to make new friends, and even harder to keep them. She had been your first best friend, the first person that actually stuck around in your life. You loved her so much and you knew she loved you too, but she’s right.

You bit your lip, fighting back tears. She reached across the table, resting her hand on yours and giving it a comforting squeeze. “It’s not like you’re going to be moving across the country, you’ll only be an hour or so away. You can visit me and I can visit you. I’ll go see your matches and you can see mine. We’ll make it work, I promise. But I’m begging you, please don’t give up your dreams for me.”

You wanted to believe her, you really did, but you’ve heard those words too often before. Empty promises that they’ll keep in touch, that they won’t forget you, that they’ll make it work. It never does.

Your heart felt heavy in your chest. You took a deep breath, forcing yourself to look her in the eyes. “Okay, I’ll send her a text and let her know that I’m ready. I’m going to do this.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Good.”

–

You: I thought about it and I’m ready

You: I want to do this. I want to play professionally and I’d be honored to have you train me.

Tashi had been waiting impatiently for that text, checking her phone constantly. She wanted Art to be right, she really did, but she had her doubts. Now, as she stared down at her phone, those doubts dissipated, replaced with feelings of satisfaction and excitement instead.

Tashi: I think you made the right decision

Tashi: Lmk your schedule and I’ll set something up

[dragon-razor-writings]

Clash Of Remnant Is (Not) A Fair & Balanced Game

Matchup: Beacon! Jaune VS Beacon! Ruby

Jaune: *In blockstun against Ruby* "Fuck fuck fuck fuck-"

Ruby: "You can't keep blocking forever, Jaune!"

Jaune: *Activates his Burst, knocking Ruby away*

Ruby: *Instant Recovers before getting put in blockstun by Jaune* "All I need is a single hit!"

Jaune: *Sweeps Ruby before immediately using Find Something, getting a Hammer*

Ruby: *Immediately uses Briar Rush as a wake-up option*

Jaune: "Fuck you!" *Uses Hammer Strike, smacking her out of her super*

FATAL COUNTER!

Note: Ruby's Briar Rush, while an incredible good reversal, is not invulnerable on startup. Meanwhile, Beacon! Jaune's Hammer Strike is a tool to improve his relatively weak combo capability, with quick start up and a decent bit of active frames.

[oscconfessions]

honestly i dont know if this is just autism blowing things out of proportion but OJ AJHDHDJDHDHJFHF. SALT FHJDUDUDHDUUDUD. THEY NEED TO HAVE AN INTERACTION WITH EACHOTHER. like remember in episode 2 of season 1 when salt was yapping to oj. like why did she choose him of all people AND DONT SAY IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE CRUSH THAT DIDNT EXIST UNTIL EP 9. also why did oj willingly choose to just stay there and let her yap. their dynamic interests me. NOT IN A SHIP WAY AT ALL THOUGH DO NOT TAG THIS AS SHIP. tbh i just want them to actually fucking talk to each other and maybe even become friends? if that's even possible? like maybe we can get a salt improvement arc and we can learn more about her. like why oj. like i know it's her code to be in love with oj but i wanna hear her reasoning. also how exactly does oj feel about her like does he hate her is he afraid of her like I WANNA KNOW MORE!!!!! like i want to know just how down bad salt is and if she can be saved. can they be homies. would they hate eacgother like. ii team i am begging you for the deetz. GIVE ME THE LORE. also only partly related but i feel like if salt somehow got what she wanted with oj they would both be fucking miserable. that is a gay man x closeted lesbian ship if i have ever seen one.

also what if saltpep and payjay were narrative parallels/foils wouldn't that be fucked up

.

[tobiasdrake]

hearing you call live-action sonic surprisingly conservative in your post about media moving forward felt like being shot in the heart

i mean, sonic as a character is pretty leftist. his whole deal is being free and setting people free,

beating up enemies in the game is literally breaking the shell that the animals are stuck in

Eggman was an analogy for pollution, with him destroying the environment for personal gain, and later being more of a fascist dictator

and his thing is always turning people into products, into literal machines he can control to do his labor and fight his wars, which would be every capitalist’s dream.

and so i never put the pieces together when it comes to the movie being conservative.

damn.

ouch.

could you elaborate more on it? idk, the conversation hurts but i’d like to know what your thoughts are on live-action sonic specifically

Oh, sure. We can talk about the surprisingly conservative themes and ideas of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films. With the caveat that this is old-school traditional conservatism, not modern nakedly fascistic conservatism. The Sonic movies are conservative in a Home Improvement sort of way, not a Lady Ballers sort of way.

What it amounts to is that Paramount approached the films not with intent to make a Sonic the Hedgehog movie but with intent to make a "relatable" story for an audience that also has Sonic the Hedgehog in it.

Have you ever seen 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters? A film which centers a broken family trying to connect with each other, while also there's a disaster movie happening around them? Like. Godzilla and Mothra and Ghidorah is all stuff that's happening, but what really matters here is whether this daughter can forgive her mother.

It's the of writing a low-stakes personal drama and then stapling the film premise to it. The kind of move that makes sense with something like The Day After Tomorrow where the premise is just "It got fucking cold" so the movie kinda needs something with some actual characters that it can be about.

But when it's an adaptation, it shows low confidence in the IP itself to carry a film. It says, "I don't think a Sonic movie would work, so instead I'm going to just make a movie and have Sonic in it."

And the a movie that they made centers some conservative values. But, like, old-school conservative values, not the hyper-fascistic transphobia and white supremacy and stuff you see around today. Things that were considered commonly recognized conservative values in the 80's and 90's, when white people were still supposed to believe that racism was over and all that jazz.

For one, Tom is a cop. Which is a wild choice for a film coming out at the height of BLM and ACAB. The film, as well as its subsequent sequels and spinoffs, play Tom's policing very sympathetically. A major theme of the first film is that Officer Wachowski is a vital and valuable part of his community.

There is no ambiguity; The cops are the good guys here. They're kind of wacky but we're meant to love both of them, Tom and Wade. They are, however, contrasted by the wickedness of the Feds.

Eggman, in the film, is reimagined from an industrialist to a federal agent. He represents the long arm of Big Government overreach coming for the sleepy town of Green Hill. Which is then further represented by G.U.N., who oppose Eggman once he goes rogue but are still the enemy nonetheless.

Even the Knux series still manages to be about fighting the Feds. The federal government has been the antagonist for 3 out of 3 entries thus far, when Eggman himself has only been the antagonist for 2.

The films leave the environmentalism of the original behind, instead centering family values. Rather than setting out to rescue woodland creatures from industry, Sonic has heart-to-heart chats with Tom about growing up and finding his calling. Knux isn't the guardian of Angel Island, but Sonic's adopted brother. Maddie can ground him for inappropriate behavior.

The first film also features the popular old-school conservative theme of Rural America vs. Urban America. Tom is a small-town cop who yearns for the glamour of the big city. He thinks his calling is there. But, over the course of the film, he learns to appreciate the value of small-town living and his importance to his community, and sets aside his foolish dreams of urbanity.

"I wanted to run away to the city but then learned that my Real 'Murica small hometown is where I truly belong" is probably the single most popular conservative story in decades of film and television.

It's worth noting that the film does feature an interracial marriage, which is something I hear brought up a lot as a way of saying "Actually it's not conservative because...."

But for as much credit as Maddie might warrant... There is the issue of Rachel. A character who exists primarily in the film to be a Sassy Black Woman who reacts with furious histrionics towards Tom for no apparent reason. She just. Hates him. From the bottom of her soul, despises "Relatable Cop Boy".

Like. So far as the film's concerned, it needs no explanation. Her relationship with Tom is just an eyeroll, sly glance at the camera, and "In-laws, amirite?" The second film at least gives her more to do, but the first concludes her subplot by having them tie her up and steal her car.

Like. That's it. That is what she amounts to. Maddie's sister yells sassily until she passes out and then the payoff is that they steal her car and leave her tied to a chair as... I guess her karmic retribution for being so sassy and mean to Tom? It's hard to really say whether this is mean-spirited because we do not know what her beef is. The film doesn't think we need to know. "In-laws are crazy, amirite!?"

When you set aside the cool action scenes of Sonic punching robots and look at what the films center as their emotional heart? You get a story about a small-town cop learning to appreciate his rural roots and build a family with his wife despite her unreasonably psychotic relatives, while the wicked federal government attempts to destroy their home, town, family, and way of life.

[olderthannetfic]

One of the most perplexing (and infuriating) fandom experiences I've ever had was when I shipped the most popular mm ship (AB). And. For some reason, AB haters would try to "protect" (for the lack of a better term) A from B fans and AB fans. 

For context, this ship comes from a franchise with dozens of characters. The creators explicitely states that there would be no romance, so shipping is really a free for all. A is my fave and he's pretty popular, like top 10 according to polls. His story revolves around breaking through his shell and learning that people can love his authentic unhinged self. The catalyst of his character arc is B, who is the first one to truly befriend and properly see A for who he is.

They are always paired together both in universe and irl, so naturally it's the juggernaut ship of the franchise. B is also the top 2 most popular character, which creates haters like nothing else. And so haters do as haters will, they attack anything related to B. The weird part is how they tried to involve A fans on their side.

They really tried to spin it like B fans and AB shippers are our evil oppressors talking over us, that A fans are suffering from AB hegemony. They're not even A fans! They always word it like "I feel so bad for A fans because AB shippers are obviously biased towards B." They're so fucking wrong that it would be hilarious if this shit hasn't been going on for years now. 

Like 90% of the A fanbase ships AB, all of A's BNFs ship AB. And while a good chunk of B fans ship AB, B also has other very popular ships unlike A. I'm guessing it's because B's arc is focused on self improvement while A's arc is focused on how he improves as a person through his relationship with B.

I genuinely don't get what the haters are trying to achieve here. We don't need you guys to fucking defend us, especially not when this "defense" consists of attacking 90% of us. We're acquiring a reputation in the fandom and it's not even our fault! Y'all are stressing us out!

--

[pinkandpurple360]

yikes at that anon lecturing you, but especially at this part

Paying attention to Stolas language in Murder Family, fucked up context aside, he don't bring up consequences if Blitz didn't accept the trade neither mentioned his power to threat him to accept it either, he offered and even asked if it's fair, someone as powerful as Stolas could control Blitz easily, yet he doesn't and it shows a lot about his character, but of fucking course you all don't care about that, Stolas is a big meanie.

what is it with Stolas fans and acting like what he says is the only thing that matters in that scene? saying 'fucked up context aside' is just trying to sweep away the entire problem people have with that scene

the context is what makes it unfair. the context is the threat to make Blitzo accept the deal - Stolas knew Blitzo was in danger and couldn't think straight and kept the call going anyway. there was a literal threat to Blitzo's life that Stolas was leveraging to get him to agree. the context is also where the control comes in - Blitzo needs access to the book therefore Stolas has control over him, because Blitzo has significant reason to agree regardless of whether he wants to or not to be able to keep being able to eat and house both himself and Loona. this isn't that hard to understand; it's no different than a power difference between a tenant and a landlord. except Stolas is worse because he's literal royalty and Blitzo is part of a species considered less than dirt

and Blitzo especially has reason to think there will be consequences for saying no because Stolas is showing him through ignoring all the signs he's in danger on that phone call that he does not care for his wellbeing - he called when Blitzo's life was in danger and he knew that full well. there's no 'yeah but'-ing to get out of that one. saying 'well Stolas could have been way more overt with his control!' is not a defense. Stolas is such a malicious abuser because he's the one person in the cast who isn't a mustache-twirling silent movie villain about it, because he'll do things like say 'sound fair?' when everything about the situation is weighted in his favor. this part is basically saying 'he could have been super obvious about how he was going to force Blitzo into sex but because he tried to pretend like he was being fair (even when he blatantly wasn't) that shows what a good person he is!'

also this:

This misconception you all have that Stolitz fans think all this needs to happen is Blitz to confess, and that Stolas has nothing more to improve is just wrong. Just plain wrong. I love both of these characters and I hate seeing an enormous mischaracterization of both.

I personally haven't seen the (remaining) Stolitz shippers saying this for one simple reason: I avoid their spaces. I don't like seeing posts similar to anon's where anything Stolas does wrong is the result of a misunderstanding or just Blitzo taking it badly because he's insecure or something, or worse where the very obvious signifiers of abuse on Stolas' part are handwaved away. I know that stuff will bug me so I avoid it

but anon clearly doesn't abide by the same rules. they're so bothered by a 'mischaracterization' of their faves that they're marching into people's inboxes to write long screeds about how antis are just missing the point or whatever else.

if there's only one anon or several my advice is the same: stay out of anti spaces. you clearly can't handle it and you need to stop making it everyone else's problem. if this ramping up of pestering people is some strange attempt to shut down criticism of the next ep before it even drops, you're wasting your time. the view counts on helluva show it's turned off a lot of people and you can't debate someone back into loving something that's let them down too many times

just go enjoy the show in your own spaces and block tags/people whose takes you don't want to see. trying to police people's critiques on helluva is both a losing battle and a waste of time

“Stolas is great if you just pay attention to his sad backstory and try not to think about the bad stuff he did. And attribute all the bad stuff to Blitz being a mentally ill tsundere”

Any time I am exposed to a owlizard shipper it’s always against my will despite my best efforts, because they are absolutely everywhere. The creator of the show is one of them, the entire show was thrown out to instead be catered to them and their headcanons. They make up almost the entire fan space and in fact shippers write and animate the very show itself.

But it’s still not good enough? They still have to rant about people that aren’t on their team?

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I hate how now every time a discourse is being had about classic Disney movies, the godawful remakes (or retellings) have to be included in the conversation. It's no longer just the animated movie that is adressed. You can't discuss Aladdin without its 2019 remake, Sleeping Beauty without its 2014 remake, The Little Mermaid without its 2023 remake, Beauty and the Beast without its 2017 remake, The Lion King without its 2019 remake, Mulan without its 2020 remake, etc, etc, etc. I hate how they will be forever attached to these classic movies. It actually pisses me off to no avail.

[mr-ribbit]

ladies, do you hate shaving? you wish you didn't have to go through all that work before every date night? want to wear shorts or a swimsuit or just exist in public without it being a whole ordeal of exhaustion, self harm, and emotional stress? do you put yourself through hell solely to keep up the illusion that you have zero body hair? great news, we have a solution!

"is it to surround yourself with people who don't care about body hair?"

no!!

"is it to improve my personal stigma against body hair by accepting its beauty on others?"

no!!!!!!!

"does it involve me getting to stop shaving at all?"

of course not!!!!!!!!!! ITS AN INSANE ALTERNATIVE SHAVING PRODUCT! ITS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN RAZORS, TAKES JUST AS LONG, AND AND ITS WEIRD! BUY OUR HANDHELD LASER POWERED PINK TAXED MAGIC LEG SHAVING THINGIE FOR A MILLION DOLLARS!! USE IT TO GET RID OF THAT UGLY LEG HAIR YOU HIRSUTE FREAK! YOURE NOT NATURAL YOURE NOT NORMAL IF YOU DONT LIKE SHAVING THEN YOU *NEED* TO USE THIS BRAND NEW THERAPY WAX TWEEZER BEAM RADIATION BLISTER WAND PROCESS!!!! YOU HAVE TO CHARGE IT! IT'LL GET RID OF THAT HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HAIR WITHOUT ALL THE CUMBERSOME STRUGGLES OF HAVING TO SHAVE - THATS RIGHT, THIS PRODUCT GIVES YOU BRAND NEW CUMBERSOME STRUGGLES TO ADD TO YOUR ALREADY JAM PACKED MORNING ROUTINE OF SHIT YOU HAVE TO DO TO YOUR STUPID WOMAN BODY BEFORE YOU LET ANYBODY OUT IN THE REAL WORLD SEE IT

NOW WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

[ihavebeesinmybrain]

haven’t been able to stop thinking about anna garcia as zeke aaron mckinley since the day the episode came out when i watched it immediately. it is. the performance of a lifetime. there was simply no reason for them to absolutely crush that the way that they did. but anna garcia absolutely bodied the role of fourth grade boy made of rocks. the mannerisms? the speech patterns? the sense of humor? the VOICE??? like it’s actually disturbing that an adult can seem that much like a child if you just cover their whole body in rocks. i’ve been losing my mind about his three wishes. those were his biggest priorities, in that order: giant butterfinger, brother home (from war????), BE ROCKS??????? so absolutely insane in the exact way a real life fourth grade boy would be. magnificent. i could not have fewer notes

[s0fter-sin]

insecure soap whose insecurities don't stem from a place of inadequacy

he knows how talented he is, how hard he’s worked to get where he is; that he didn’t land a spot on an exclusive highly skilled taskforce for no reason. he's confident about his skills; doesn't brag or show off, doesn't need to because he knows he'll always live up to and surpass expectations the second someone doubts him

but he also knows he can always be better

there's records left unbroken, mental walls he can shatter; if he just keeps pushing, keeps training he'll be more. he's always trying to beat himself, not in search of validation or outward assurance but because he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that his yesterday self was lesser

slower

weaker

every muscle that burns and tears heals stronger so he dedicates himself to ripping them apart. scarred skin doesn't flinch from heat so he welcomes the burns. he’s strict with his diet and stricter with his schedule, he spends hours in the gym and longer at the range and not a minute of rest goes by without him thinking it’s time wasted when he could be improving, always improving

soap knows he's good

because he knows he can be great

and he won't stop until he is, no matter how many times he needs to break himself to get there

[dukeofthomas]

"Jason just needs to see things from his family's perspective and understand how much they love him (despite them never actually communicating or showing him through their actions)" is out. "The batfamily putting a single bit of effort into understanding Jason and reconciling with him on his own terms" is in.