#now that he's blowing up remember who the og stan was..

[newwavesylviaplath]

jack schlossberg for vogue (2024)

[ushys]

Hiiiii!✨️

Could I request a Floyd with a S/o who's one of their og fans? Like- the reader is such a big fan that they'll do covers of older brozone songs and some of Floyd's newer work at their own concerts sometimes.

The reader is singing their heart out and Floyd is in the crowd like "Wait a minute- I RECOGNIZE THAT SONG-" and after the show he starts fangirling with his s/o bc they actually like his music.

(Bonus points if he gives them a lil smooch at the end-)

TYSM!✨️

𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐆 𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐆𝐍! 𝐒/𝐎

AN: OMLL THIS IS SUCH A CUTE IDEA 😭💕 this is a big bonus for me since i am a floyd (and branch) stan myself so this is a win win

content: fluff, floyd being a cutie, gn! reader (they/them pronouns used), singer! reader, head cannons with a little one shot at the end, not proof read so sorry for any mistakes (might recheck later!

- you considered yourself to be a die hard fan of brozone like if anyone were to ask you anything about any member, you could have an answer in a blink of an eye

- you were the so proclaimed "#1 floyd stan" however, having tons of merch and knowing interesting facts about him

- i mean, how could you not stand him? he was the cutest member in your eyes

- "oh yeah i'm def going to get with floyd, he's literally the same age as me hello? he wants me so bad." - you | "[Y/N], you're delusional. be for real." - your friend

- whenever you had money saved up, you would always use it to go to their concerts

- yeah people called you irresponsible with your money but who cares? all you needed was to see them again!

- floyd and the rest of the group basically inspired you to start singing as well!

- you never admitted it, but your music was heavily inspired by brozone so that’s kinda how it got the attention of your favorite member!

- being a star wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it seeing people’s faces light up every time you would sing or just having fans who loved you in general

- one of those fans being floyd (👀)

- that’s basically how you guys met

- he got special permission to go back stage and you almost fainted seeing him this close to you and ACTUALLY talking to YOU!

- a few months after that, you guys started dating and you couldn’t be any happier (beat that, *friend*)

- he was literally the best boyfriend ever

- he always has a gift ready for you and treats you so preciously

- goes all out on special occasions like your birthday, anniversary, etc

- he found your whole floyd collection of merch, cds, posters in your room and he likes to bring it up any chance he gets

- “remember that collection i foun-” “anyways.”

- he was always your #1 supporter and always at your concerts

- once, you decided to do a little something special at your concert

You just finished your last song and the crowd erupted with cheers and screams. Everyone thought that your show was over when they saw you walk out, waving and blowing kisses towards everyone until someone on the speaker came on. “Give it up one more time for [Y/N]! Don’t leave yet though! They have prepared one last thing for you!”

You suddenly come out with a completely different outfit, and everyone in the crowd started cheering again. Floyd, being one of the people in the front, was simply admiring the beauty in front of him, taking polaroid pictures of you that he would definitely add into your shared scrapbook.

You grabbed the microphone and moved it up so it would be at your mouth level. “I just want to say thank you for all the love and appreciation you guys have given me these past few months. It means to w world to me. Now, I’m going to be dedicating these three songs to the most special person in my life.”

You smile, as you make eye contact with your lover, who wipes a tear away from his eye and gives you a warm smile in return.

The music starts playing and you tap your foot to the beat. Floyd furrowed his eyebrows and nodded his head to the beat, getting a familiar vibe from it. ‘This sounds so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on what it reminds me of’ he thinks to himself.

You then start singing, letting the melody take over and losing yourself in the music. It finally clicked. “Wait! I RECOGNIZE THAT SONG! THEY’RE SINGING MY SONG!” He yells out, “fangirling” by jumping up and down realizing that you covered one of his songs.

When the song ended, the crowd started cheering for more, which you gladly obliged and started singing old brozone songs, to which people were freaking out with excitement. Their favorite artist singing songs from their favorite band? Oh yeah, that’s perfection. You can’t even phantom how much happiness Floyd was filled with.

After the concert, you met up with your boyfriend backstage and he came running to you with his arms wide open, his eyes closed, and with a big smile on his face. “[Y/N]! You did so good out there, my love! I really enjoyed the songs that you chose, it really warmed my heart." He wrapped his arms around you and spun you around. “Thank you, babe! I’m glad you liked it, all I had in my mind during those songs were you.” You say, as you softly put your hands on his face, admiring his features.

He give you a big dorky smile and a big loving kiss on your cheek and then on your lips. “I love you so much, *nickname*”

“And I love you more.”

note: omg guys the floyd brainrot is getting out of control i wanna throw him around like a ping pong ball he’s so cute 😮‍💨 also hopefully you liked this and enjoyed it !!

@USHYS content - Do Not Copy.

[lonelylittledot]

Wicked

~ a Wicked scholar's thoughts on the movie

Okay. I had detached myself from any feelings about the movie truly years ago, and so I walked into the movie theatre with really low expectations.

My overall opinion: it was not a bad adaptation. I'd expected to give it 3/10, it turned out as a solid 6.5/10.

Here are just a few things that stuck out to me:

The landscapes - didn't hate them but didn't like them.

The costumes - amazing. Pretty much every outfit slayed. I feel like they could have been even a bit more extravagant, but they were great as they were. - As for Elphaba, I think my favorite outfit was the first Shiz dress and the post-Popular outfit. - Glinda's bubble dress was exquisite, and I really liked her Emerald City ensemble, although I do miss the yellow dress, I feel like it doesn't get enough love

I liked Ariana's G(a)linda surprisingly a lot. Maybe it's because I know she's a huge Wicked fan, but I felt like her love for the source material really showed.

I wasn't really sold on Cynthia. Don't get me wrong, she has a truly fabulous voice, and she absolutely did shine in the big, loud parts - but overall, I wasn't a fan of her versions of the songs. She looked and acted great, though.

Michelle Yeoh, the woman you are. Fantastic casting, no notes.

Jonathan. Oh, dear, Johnathan Bailey. Looks? Hot. Vocals? Gorgeous. Vibes? Flawless. I wish he'd played the role a decade ago, because he does look forty and not college-age, but I think everything else about him truly makes up for it.

Speaking of - I liked that Fiyero got just a few tiny little additional scenes/lines, really helped to flesh out his character more.

Grammar-nazi Elphaba, my beloved.

Listen, I have shipped Fiyero and Elphaba since I was 14. And I'm not going to stop now. I stan them, I loved their chemistry in the movie, I will ship them until the day I die.

The direction on G(a)linda/Elphaba - hella gay. But I didn't quite feel their chemistry, neither friendly nor romantic. It was okay, but didn't blow me away.

IDINA AND KRISTEN???? love love love love my og queens

The movie dragged on. A lot. This is my only really big criticism, unfortunately it's a really important one. I think they could easily have made the whole musical into one 3h long movie, and it would have been much better for the pacing. - there weren't even that many added scenes; and a lot of the additions were pretty good, actually - some were totally unnecessary though. like the guards chasing Elphaba and Glinda and the whole balloon shenanigans? - similarly, many scenes were just unnecessarily stretched out; with the camera staying too long in one place or one moment being dragged out way too long - some of the songs just had slightly longer (like 2 bars?) breakes between the choruses added for no reason

Defying Gravity. This is the same thing as one of the previous comments, but I feel like it deserves its separate mention. The pacing in that scene (or, here, more like a collection of scenes) was extremely off, the song losing all of its momentum by being chopped up into pieces. And the way they made us wait for the iconic vocalization at the end; I honestly thought I'd die of boredom.

Sometimes I felt like the movie couldn't decide if it wanted to be more stage-y and theatrical, and lean into the whole campy vibe, or more cinematic and "naturally" acted; and sometimes it switched weirdly between the two.

There was one single thing that looked way better onscreen than onstage. The Lion cub. In the movie, he looked extremely cute, tiny little adorable darling baby kitten. Way better than the creepy-ass puppet they use in the show.

There were many more tasty little details that I simply couldn't remember/write down, or else I wouldn't have been able to pay any attention to the movie. Once it's available, maybe I'll rewatch and dissect it in more detail (I should also finally watch the 1939 Wizard of Oz, it's a CRIME that I still haven't! I'm sure people who know it well could also see many references in the new Wicked - even I noticed the ruby slippers in Popular, for example!).

Summing up this unnecessarily long rant:

It was not a bad adaptation; although I doubt it will make many people into Wicked fans. At the end of the day, it's clearly a story made for the stage, and even though it was transferred to the big screen fairly well, I think it still belongs in the regular theatre, not the movie one.

[commenter2]

The Boys last season ideas

I thought I posted this already on here? Oh well, here is a post about "The Boys" I made a few months ago. Long post warning is in effect.

Last year I got into the Amazon show “The Boys” a VERY M rated show based on the VERY M rated comic book about a world where most superheroes (called Supes) are selfish assholes, with Homelander (AKA Evil Superman) being the worst of them all. Supes also act as mascots for the evil Vought International company that has secretly MADE all the heroes by using a drug called Compound V to give people powers. Though the public has no idea to how corrupted the heroes and the company are, a vigilante group called “The Boys” make it their goal to bring them down. The team consist of Billy Butcher who hates all Supes especially Homelander, M.M., Frenchie, Hughie, and even some good Supes like Kimiko and Vought Supe employee Starlight, and though they are the protagonist of the show they can be just as dirty as the people they want to take down.

Though very late I wanted to post some ideas for what I hope could happen in the upcoming last season, regardless of what has already been confirmed. Beware of major spoilers for the series and some M rated content I'll bring up. I’m also not going to explain every detail about the show unless it’s important to my ideas. I’m also going be all over the place when it comes to idea, since there are a lot of connections here so sorry about that in advance.

Last season ended with “The Boys” aiming their sights on Victoria Neuman, a lady who pretended to be their ally but was in reality the secret daughter of former Vought International CEO Stan Edgar, and who is now running for vice president of the United States. This will be hard since she is also secretly a Supe that has the power to blow up organic matter (usually heads), and it doesn't help that Billy Butcher only has a little over a year to live so they got to be quick, but I have an interesting idea for what they could do to go after her.

Personally I loved how season 3 had "The Boys" trying to find ways to fight the Supes on equal grounds whether it be temporarily giving themselves superpowers or having Soldier Boy (another former ally) use his Compound V destroying power, and I want this to continue in the upcoming season somehow. Last season gave The Boys several scenes when they got access to Compound V and worked in one of Vought's lab so one idea I like is that they try and find another way to destroy the compound on their own, but since they don’t have access to the whole formula or its creation process, this leads them to trying and find Stan Edgar. Another idea I’d be okay with is that while trying to find dirt on Victoria at her office, they find a lead to a file that Edgar has that is all about the Supes, leading them to looking for him.

While searching for Edgar I can see several storylines happening like Billy going all out while still using his time to make amends with people such as trying to reach out to his dead wife’ son Ryan (the son of Homelander) and making him remember his good side, the team finally killing Nina (Frenchie’s evil ex-employer) and gaining some new allies like A-Train (who last season started going through a redemption arc) and maybe Black Noir. TLDR, Black Noir was "killed" last season and there is a confirmed Noir 2 appearing in the last season but I like this prediction I saw some time ago saying the OG Noir would come back as a RoboCop like cyborg and Noir 2 SHOULD be that, heck make him the DC equivalent of Cyborg. It would be cool to see Noir regain his humanity and FINALLY seek revenge on Vought for all that the company has done to him, even when he was loyal to a T. We could get a proper Homelander vs. Noir fight too!

Maybe there is one storyline where M.M. meets up with his ex-wife who is scared of her new husband Todd as he (as shown in last season) has become one of Homelander’s biggest MAGA like followers, which the writers say was intentional. Though he wants to be with her again after discovering Todd gets info from Homelander personally, M.M. tells her to be strong but sadly uses this to bug Todd so The Boys can get info about Homeland's plans. Yeah stuff like that happens a lot in "The Boys" for those that don’t know however since it’s the last season, maybe Monique finds out but understands what he does is important and tries to help him? I mean what are they going to do if this results in lowers ratings, cancel the show XD. After finally finding Edgar (who maybe wanted The Boys to find him or is grateful as they get him out of a situation) they get a lot of info whether it be how to destroy the Compound V in Supes or Batman like files on all the Supes containing their weaknesses and past misdeeds that Vought has covered over the decades, which The Boys use it to their advantage this season.

Meanwhile we get stories based around Victoria and Homelander going after each other as the other keeps ruining their goals and dreams, plus it doesn’t help that later in this season Homelander learns Victoria was the one that was ordered killed his evil ex-girlfriend, as her death was a bit too coincidental in my opinion. Victoria is using her status as the new vice president to help pass laws that suppress Supes and what they can do as well as laws on business and corporations that benefit Vought, all to make her dad happy but nothing seems to work as Edgar keeps getting disappointed in her and it doesn’t help that The Boys, Homelander, and her actions from last season are the reasons for this. I could see this eventually leading to her coming up with her own plans that would either sting her adopted father a bit OR ruin him and Vought. Heck maybe she kills Edgar so she can do her own thing but again, more on that later. I also could see a subplot where a member of the president’s circle expect Victoria of having superpowers and works with The Boys to expose this, which plays off later.

Homelander on the other hand is living it up as since people accepted his real, evil self last season, he is no longer holding back and is just causing chaos wherever he goes and doesn’t care about the consequences. This in turn is ruining Vought’s image as the other Supes get less popular and since they have to focus more on trying to cover up Homelander’s misdeeds, this has made it impossible for the company to cover other Supes misdeeds and thus Vought and its people suffer consequences while Homelander doesn’t care even though he is the CEO. This could be another reason why A-Train helps The Boys along with making others like the true CEO Ashley and the superhero The Deep slowly fight back against Homelander. Eventually the big jerk gets his just desserts as while his status with the public is good, his relationship with his son Ryan gets worse especially as Ryan starts acting against Homelander by acting like he does. This hurts Homelander as not only does he realize being a parent means actually doing some responsible parenting, but it hurts his ego since he is use to people doing what says. I also could picture a scene where he sees the irony on how this is how he usually treats everyone but of course he doesn’t care and just acts as a bad father to Ryan, who in turn starts to miss Billy even though Ryan left him last season.

Things finally start coming together when after The Boys do something to expose how Supes are useless in an actual dangerous situation, as Victoria has had enough of the Supes society (to a point she starts to hate herself a bit) and plans to put Supes in their place. After bringing up how all the tragedy that has happened over the past few years is because of the lack of discipline and regulations towards Supes, she proposes a bill that parodies of the Marvel Comic’s Civil War Registration Act where all people with superpowers need to be registered on a public, easy to access database and those that wish to use their powers to aid the community or for a job (such as a company mascot) they need to go through proper military training and various test to get a hero license that allows them to do so. Those that don’t will be considered as a criminal/terrorist and will be dealt with, and a hero could lose their license if they are unstable in some way such as what Homelander is doing. She also throws in a thing about companies that use Supes for profit will have to pay higher taxes just to piss off Vought/her dad. While The Boys still don’t trust her, they try and get this bill passed if it means hurting Supes and aid her by doing more to expose the superhero community. Homelander is angered by this bill and tries to stop it, taking his anger out on Ryan while doing so. At some point during a televised meeting with Victoria and Homelander, Ryan takes his anger it out on Victoria’s daughter (who was given Compound V last season) and they have a fight which is seen by everyone, if such a thing is legal to have on a show.

If it is, I see the fight having Ryan causing a lot of property damage and hurting/killing innocent people while Victoria’s daughter makes him look weak due to her powers (which could be something similar to her mother’s like giving people vertigo) that gives the already under practiced Ryan a hard time. This incident makes more people see that Victoria’s bill is needed to prevent more chaos (Victoria also covers her tracks saying she never knew her daughter had superpowers and uses fear mongering to say that anyone could be one) and the bill gets closer to becoming a law. Of course Homelander is mad about this, but he’s even more angered that his own son made him look bad and slaps Ryan. This FINALLY makes Ryan realized that though Billy wasn’t perfect, he is leagues better then Homelander and runs back to Billy, which makes Billy happy. Ryan running away was the last straw for Homelander and we finally get to the finale where like in the comics, he declares that Supes like him and his followers should rule the country and the world and leads a Supes insurrection on Washington, DC. Before anyone ask, this is something that actually happened in the official comic series and could happen given all the MAGA symbolism from last season.

We finally get a lot of action as we see the heroes, villains, and those in between (whether Supes or regular people) fight each other and we get scenes like

Homelander killing Todd and several other of his non-Supe followers when the latter tells him bad news, and showing Todd regrets his life choices and that M.M. was right.

Mallory revealing her secret weapon, which is revealed to be a brainwashed Soldier Boy who uses his powers to fight Homelander’s Supe allies.

Noir’s cybernetics/armor protects him from Victoria’s powers, allowing him to harm her where maybe she gives some touching words before Homelander kills her.

Its eventually Homelander vs. The Boys and their allies and eventually Billy does something that knocks out Homelander a bit before he collapses from exhaustion. When Homelander gets up, Soldier Boy appears showing he got over his brainwashing but after seeing all that Homelander has done (and because he doesn’t want to go back to sleep) he finally does something heroic and sacrifices himself to kill Homelander. The death of Homelander stops the insurrection and all the bad guys and Supes are taken into custody while The Boys and Ryan say their goodbyes to a dying Billy who dies happy.

We get an epilogue to a decade later where we see what has happened since then, such as how Victoria’s bill has become a law and Supes now have to follow unique rules in order to actually be Supes. Vought was acquired by the U.S. government but I can see Edgar (if he is still alive at the end) being secretly hired to run to produce anti Supe tech, making him happy as he got what he was aiming for in season 3. I could see Ashley getting a pardon and now does something crazy like manage actual celebrities or plan jerk celebrity weddings, which to her is leagues better then managing Supes. Vought or whatever it is called now also produces an antidote for Compound V so those that get superpowers can get rid of them whether they like it, or not in the case of illegal Supes. We can see M.M. get back with his ex and couples like Frenchie X Kimiko and Hugie X Starlight have started families of their own and though they are no longer part of The Boys, they do their part on handling Supes that get out of line like Hughie works as someone who give Supes test where he can proper give or deny them a hero license.

Sadly Homelander has since become a "religious" figure in the country, as a cult worships him for his ideas and wait for his missing son Ryan to bring in a new age for the world. Unknown to them Ryan isn’t missing but has changed his name to Ben Butcher and dyes his hair black, to be more like his "real father" Billy and paying a bit of respect for Billy and Billy’s deceased younger brother Lenny. He runs the latest generation of The Boys who deal with illegal superheroes that are out there, maybe there is a joke/reference about the movie "Project Power" which is about a drug giving people temporary superpowers (unless you count temp V as a reference to said show). We also see that though with all this power, he restrains himself from using them (especially his heat vision) and actually does care about protecting others, becoming a real hero like Billy and his mother always wanted.

The ending might be a bit too happy for a series like this, but hey it's better then how the comic ended its story. What do you think about my ideas for the last season of The Boys? What do you hope will happen in it?

[life-in-the-monster-haus]

Monster High the Movie Review Part 2

Spoilers ahead!

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I have always wanted to see Cleo in white! white linens were Egypts main export for thousands of years, it was weird that she was never shown in white so I really like this outfit! However, there has been a lot of griping about the casting of Jy Prishkulnik who is Mexican to play Cleo who is Egyptian. I understand it might not be super easy to find a teenage Egyptian actress in California where this was shot on a Nickelodeon movie budget, She probably should have at the very least been Black. But I'm putting this in the same category as Draculaura, if you're mad at her ethnicity then you are mad at the wrong thing. you SHOULD be mad at the fact she has very little on in terms of wrapping, she's a Mummy! she needs more than just a patterned dress & gold shimmer moisturizer.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS!

I don't know why, Deuce a reptile has hair but I don't like it... the copy I'm watching is a leak SO the VFX are not done yet so we don't know what his snakes will look like but Deuce underwhelms me. His wardrobe isn't even skater or greek or reptilian, it reads as kid who was home schooled. I don't love it but his actor fits nicely. Heath is the total opposite, his look is on point but his actor is a grown ass man whose 27 and looks out of place amongst the rest of the actors who are actual teenagers.

I would talk more about Lagoona, but I have, at length already talked about her in previous posts. but that commentary was just on her looks, lets discuss her personality. Up until THIS point she doesn't seem to have her own personality, she seems to just play second banana to Cleo which is...fine?... but it's kinda weird since that was Ghoulia's job and it's also not in Lagoona's character to be so tame and sheepish. I'm not a fan. Outfit and accessories are on point though.

Cleo was being a little snot, she called Frankie a puzzle and dissed her hair so Clawdeen growled at her. flawless execution. it's been such a long time that a lot of you may not remember that OG Cleo was a HUGE BITCH! that was her entire personality for awhile. She lies to the Headmistress, Tries to Break Clawdeens leg, Black balls Frankie, screws up Draculauras make up, takes advantage of Ghoulia, steals her fathers amulets and this is just off the top of my head from Volume 1 of the Webisodes. I’m confident there are far worse things she has done that I am just forgetting ATM. but over the years, very slowly and gradually she became softer, like a sharp stone being worn away by the river. She went from being mean and conceited to just kinda high maintenance and don't get me wrong, I love that growth for her - we stan a queen who works on her character flaws, BUT it was also nice to see this harsh, rude & straight up vile Cleo again.

*whisers* Why are there streetlamps, inside of the building? Also: Peep Heath and Abbey!

Look at Deuce trying to check out our Clawdeen! Now, I KNOW a lot of y'all are mad about this for 2 big reasons and here are 2 big reasons why you shouldn't be. 1.) "But Deuce is with Cleo!" - As of this moment? no he's not. we just saw him blow her off, they broke up over the summer! time has passed, he's allowed to move on. Some of y'all forget this is High school and love is fickle as a teen. 2.) "But Clawdeen is a canon lesbian!" - No, she's not. I wish she was but she's not. it has never been confirmed in canon and I am so tired of saying that, because when I do? I get brushed off as some homophobe. But it's true. Garret confirmed she was never intended to be a Lesbian, HOWEVER he did change his mind on this, years later, after fan pressure and after he left Mattel that she is gay... but at that point his word didn't mean anything because she wasn't his character anymore. I don't wanna get into it, but here's a better explanation of it. so, just to summarize: Deuce is Single and Clawdeen isn't a lesbian. we gucci? lets move along.

Deuce explaining that his glasses prevent him from turning people to stone, this will be important later.

Bloodgoods ethnicity isn't really relevant to her because she is an ancillary character, so I don't think anyone was really mad about this casting choice (surprising!) but can we talk about how dope her office looks!?!? Marci T. House brings a command of authority to the character while at the same time acting like a regular teacher (being concerned with funding) However I am gonna knock off some points because Nightmare isn't in her office. But then I'm going to add some points because she has little horseshoe earrings.

Part 2/?

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

k i woke up to thirteen unread messages, so let’s just do a fucking blanket text post covering everything so that i can go curl up by the fire with my aus and pussy eating fics in peace, yeah?

spoilers under the cut

hi, yes, hello, i’m still chill and hype

“but diz,” you say into my ask box. “how can you still be hype when kang has clearly demolished everything we’ve worked so hard for?”

because she hasn’t.

“but aren’t you tired of kang doing all this crazy, inconsistent writing? aren’t you sick of her doing everything for the shock value and not being true to the characters?”

sigh.

y’all.

don’t come for my girl like that.

call me delusional if you want, but to me all of this fits perfectly within the same narrative, which has been leading to canon from the day she took the helm. 

i have already done a thousand and one breakdowns as to why carol getting with zeke was caryl-positive, so i’m not gonna go there again, but the leah thing is too.

“but diz--”

shh, i’m still talking. 

picture this: you are a lonely, lonely man who has gone through hell and back, and it took you years to open up to your found family, only for your best friend to explode and the love of your life to go marry a guy who probably worked at medieval times to pay for college, and now you’re all alone in the woods trying to figure out wtf to do with yourself. 

you tell yourself you can keep visiting your niece and her mom now and then, but that kind of sucks bc of the aforementioned best friend exploding, and also you and your niece’s mom had to murder a bunch of small children and that tends to be kind of traumatizing to remember, so it’s not the ideal situation

but at least you still have your girl, even if she is in an indefinite LARP game for the rest of her life. 

but!

then she says, “actually, i can’t come visit you much anymore, what with the whole community, and husband, and child thing,” 

and then you are actually Alone.

and it’s for the first time, because every time before that you at least had your brother, who might have been a piece of shit, but at least he was there. 

so you meet some chick on the road. you’re sad, no longer feel like you have a family (after it took you so long to get one that you actually loved), and you’re more alone than you have ever been, and you meet this chick who is a loner like you, and you’re wary at first. the two of you don’t trust each other, bc you don’t trust easy. but over time you start to build that trust, and she offers you companionship that you are so desperately in need of, and maybe you wouldn’t usually be into it, but given the Literally Everything Else going on, it’s like, why the fuck not? you have N O T H I N G left.

so she gives you an ultimatum--her or what little is left of your family. well, your family is scattered to the wind and being around them only hurts you more, and this person is offering you a chance for something new (and when things get rly bad, hasn’t your go-to move always been to run anyway?) so you say okay. you say you’ll go.

except nvm, she ditched you, lol, you’re all alone again! sucks to suck.

skip ahead, you’re back with your family, and your og girl has dumped the LARPer, and maybe things can be good again, except there’s a bunch of people going full hannibal lecter wearing other people’s faces on their own and murdering everyone, and your og girl is actually insane rn due to years’ worth of unresolved trauma, and you’re suddenly a dad, and you’re being asked to make nice with the guy who literally tortured you, and honestly? it’d be hard enough as is to trust again, but this whole situation is NOT HELPING. 

so by the time the war ends you are tired, and you are hurt, and you are wary, because you keep losing things that matter. and you got back the one person in the world who mattered the most, except she did some super questionable shit, and you’re having a hard time reconciling it, and finally you just Lose It, bc goddamnit, you’ve earned it, mkay? you are entitled to a little blow up. if she gets to literally blow shit up then the least you can do is yell a little, like damn.

but. 

she’s the one person in the world who matters most. a rebound fling over the course of a few months =/= ten years of being soulmates. you’ll forgive her, she’ll forgive you, and the two of you will ride off into the sunset together, almost as if you were suddenly in your own spin-off show. 

what a concept?

/fin/

“alright, but diz--”

OH MY GOD HOW DO YOU STILL HAVE OBJECTIONS?

listen. here is what daryl/leah teaches us:

-daryl is willing and capable of having intimate relationships

-that being said, daryl being in a relationship has been a Big Thing for everyone, regardless of who they ship him with, since s1, so if it was supposed to be The Most Important Relationship Ever to him, the juicy parts would not happen off screen. there’s a reason the sex is only implied. they’re not showing it until it’s the Real Thing

-we now know daryl has had sex in the past ten years, so maybe he’ll actually last more than six seconds when he bones down with carol! very good!

-this also teaches us that hoo buddy, y’all have some mixed morals when it comes to these characters. the “daryl would only be in a relationship if he rly loved them, so how could he possibly love carol still?” thing is like. dude. carol is MARRIED during this, and he doesn’t get to see her much anymore. is he supposed to just walk around jacking it while crying for the rest of his life? the man tried to move on, and the tragic thing is that he got screwed over. i do not think this is out of character at all. i think daryl fell in love with carol, she got married, he was lonely, tried to move on and convince himself he could be happy with this other chick (who might be rly cool, who knows??), and then he got his heart broken again, before it ever really healed to being with. the boy is a giant bleeding heart who is getting stomped on constantly, and y’all better stop yelling at him for trying to feel better or i’ll come for you. this is like carol having rebound sex with zeke. if you want your characters to be realistic then you have to let them do human things, holy shit

this is getting excessive, let’s tie it up.

the main takeaways here are:

-no it’s not out of character

-yes it fits the narrative, kang isn’t just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, it all has a purpose, which is why i’m totes fine with it

-leah might not actually die, which thank god, i thought it was douchey of them to kill off another woman for Man Pain. i’m glad i’ve been wrong about her and connie both

-oh yeah, connie...i have no new feelings on connie

-daryl now has sexual stamina, so we can all update our headcanons now

-“i can’t believe they end the episode on such a sore note! their friendship is almost destroyed, how will it ever recover??” ...how are you surprised? that was...that was literally the description of the episode, my dude. that one didn’t exactly come out of left-field. it’ll be okay, they’re gonna make up. hopefully through a bunch of hyperbolically tragic misadventures. it’ll be a good time, calm down

-there is a FUCKING SPIN-OFF coming, how can you think they won’t reconcile?

-actually it’d be super funny if they were just giving each other the silent treatment throughout the entire thing lmfao

-“have you seen that new caryl show?” “yeah, it’s fucking weird. there’s no dialogue??”

-anyway

-does it help if i said i secretly thought they might fuck the whole time, specifically for the reasons stated above, and i’ve been kinda into it since the promo but didn’t say so bc i didn’t want to get hanged? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-idk y’all, that’s all i got. drink up ig?

i just found out that i’m literally anemic, and y’all are still more exhausting than anything else. it’s okay to just like. enjoy things. i promise.

now if you’ll excuse me, i have aus to dive head-first into. i’m not gonna say a whole bunch else about shit unless it gets rly necessary. i think i will make this blog relentlessly positive out of spite, and will just post fics and shippy gifs. i have a photoshop free trial (thatigottomakeaberniememe), mb i’ll make sappy caryl gifs as practice and bombard you all with them. feel free to come by for cheering up, but i’m not gonna repeat myself six thousand times, either

stay hype, STAN KANG, and get daryl to call carol sweetheart 2k21,

-diz

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Alright, and I am back with another update! But first, some stuff a friend noticed in the first few pages and mentioned to me that I didn’t take in when I went over them on my own the first time:

The park they’re in as kids is pretty close to the apartment complex Izuku and his mom live in! Considering that said apartment complex is right there in the background. Which probably isn’t a huge thing, but a neat thing to note.

The age these kids manifest their quirks at seems to be more preteen / teenage years, though I don’t know whether that’s just because it is later activation or because there were (subtle) quirks before that, with the glowing baby just being the one that had people sit up and realize something was actually going on.

Endeavor ad! And it has the time of that event that day, too - 8:14 AM! I wonder what he’s advertising… or perhaps it’s a news report? An interview of some kind? It might just be a ‘breaking news, we got Endeavor on our channel’ sort of thing. The only part that I can read is the first three katakana for the biggest text, which is ‘E-n-de’ and matches the wiki’s katakana for ‘Endeavor’. If anyone can get a good enough look at the smaller text in order to tell me what the rest says, I would appreciate it!

Just a few things, but obviously I need to up my observation game if I want to catch all this stuff!

[No. 1 - Midoriya Izuku: Origin]

So now we’re at Aldera / Orudera Junior High, with Izuku’s class being in their last year before high school. Since Japan’s schools start on the second week of April, we know this has to be that first week of school, because Katsuki’s still 14 and his birthday is April 20th, which would almost always be the third week of April / second week of school. 

What is that writing stance. You are going to have an old man’s back by the time you graduate high school. I mean, I wouldn’t know anything about that personally, cough cough…

Anyways! We get a look at Izuku’s class and their quirks, and what a collection. Also, with an attitude like that, no wonder this school is seen as bad, like, what the fuck dude. Not exactly a competent homeroom teacher, are you?

The ones that I can see, from leftmost row to rightmost row, are [1] floating hair, stretchy fingers, dark matter, [2] smokey arms, spike fists, stretchy eyes, frog throat, some sort of flash/illumination quirk, [3] rocky body, ???, stretchy neck, flamethrower arms, extra arms, [4] sharp hair, big chompers, wedge face, [quirkless], mouth face (seen in the next panel and holy FUCK new sleep paralysis demon), [5] horns, telekinesis, [explosion], buff bod, ???, [6] wind control, ???

WHY.

But yeah, this also establishes the first rule of ‘don’t use quirks in school’ thing that… also gets promptly ignored the several other times we see stuff set in this school. Which, what a shock, people sort of sliding around inconvenient rules.

Anyways, Katsuki has proven that he hasn’t changed since those first few childhood panels way back (checks) ten pages ago. And Izuku is being… very shy and trying to avoid drawing attention. But no shaking, particularly, just… wallflower mode, more like.

But yeah, Katsuki is not exactly on great terms with the rest of the class, who are rightfully pissed off at him treating them rudely and calling them extras. Though honestly, I’m surprised that they’re surprised he’s aiming for UA, it’s not like he wouldn’t have been obvious about that for, like, years at this point. You’d think they’d all roll their eyes and be like ‘yeah yeah we’ve heard this spiel before’ or something. IDK.

Oh man, and Izuku already KNOWS what’s coming, look at how he’s hiding his face!

Katsuki is, of course, Fucking Extra and hops on his desk, and gets right into bragging, where, AGAIN, this should have been stuff this class has known about for ages, why are they so shocked?? And huh, interesting, he’s not only interested in surpassing All Might, but also in being one of the richest people in the world. Wow, I cannot even with him, especially knowing he lives in this house in particular:

Which, it should be clear, is an EXPENSIVE lifestyle when most families live in modest apartments because of space being so valuable in Japan. 

God this is a fantastic image. I wanna frame it on a wall somewhere. Hori managed to convey all the emotions in one face and I admire the man for it. 

With the whole class laughing, there’s a thing I want to note that fandom seems to not pay attention to: they note that Izuku gets good grades! I’ve seen fics that basically have him forced to sabotage his own grades to avoid getting backlash, but like… no, I don’t think that’s actually a thing. 

[Also an aside, we finally see one more class quirk, which seems to be some sort of bulked up arm? It looks a bit like mummy bandages, as far as I can tell.]

Izuku gets into defending himself, saying there’s no precedent, but he IS defending himself against them, so again, he’s not cowering as much as some people seem to think he does based on fics, and clearly he’s still willing to stand up for himself to some degree. 

...then of course, Katsuki blows up Izuku’s desk and sends Izuku sprawling. And is pissed that Izuku apparently thinks he, who is quirkless, can somehow be on the same level as Katsuki. Izuku swears up and down that it’s not about Katsuki, that he just really wants to try, and this somehow pisses Katsuki off even more. 

I want you all to remember this image - save it on your computers, bookmark this post, whatever you need to do. We’ll come back to it in, oh (checks watch) about 284 chapters. Or maybe sooner in a separate post where I can put it under read more and avoid spoiling people more than this does. Because DAMN can I gush on this moment.

Anyways, we have a change of scene, right after noon, with a thief with a sludge transformation and,,,,,,,, legs and pants,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Where the fuck did those pants go, sir. Sir. What the fuck, sir.

Also, we get our first meeting with the OG dad, the sunflower man himself, who blooms into 255 kilos of muscle in one panel. Also, man I forgot about the fucking giraffe neck Hori used to draw him with, holy heck, why are you so l o n g.

L O N G.

...right, anyways, back to the school, which is apparently over for the day. The rest of the class is heading out, and Izuku’s back to his chipper self, even humming a happy note as he grabs his notebook-

Before Katsuki nabs it from his hands. There are a few people who’ve hung back who notice the title and pick fun at izuku, so I guess Izuku actually… doesn’t talk about his desire to be a hero that much in middle school, if the others are all so surprised about it. He apparently doesn’t even make his notebooks obvious to them, since this is the first time any of them seem to be seeing it. Which I mean, it makes sense if the class will tease him for it, but like. Even with Katsuki stealing the book, Izuku’s not super panicked or having a nervous breakdown.

But yeah, Katsuki just blasts the book, but! It’s just the cover singed (and edges) when we know he could have demolished that book entirely. Again, he’s definitely being a bully and a jerk here, but he’s got way more self-control than fandom likes to assume. 

Izuku’s upset because of his damaged notebook, and Katsuki just huffs and throws it out the window while saying he’s gonna be the only kid from Aldera to go to UA. And Izuku, EVEN WHILE STRESSING, thinks of him as vain for thinking that way! That’s not the first thought of someone too terrified to do anything.

Edit: As pointed out to me in [this post], it was Katsuki’s crony who was thinking of him as vain, not Izuku. My bad!

Also note the lack of damage to Izuku’s school uniform. I know I’ve seen fics where there’s a hole made and a burn scar left that Izuku has to tend to, but Katsuki, again, has not directly used his quirk against Izuku. We’ve never seen it, just the smoke and flash used for intimidation. I’m getting more and more confident that Katsuki has never actually used his quirk against a person, which I’m probably gonna get a bit more into during the battle training in a few chapters.

But yeah, the cronies / extras basically call Izuku lame and that he can’t face reality. And then we get this scene:

That’s not the face of someone afraid. That’s Izuku’s determined face.

Izuku is about to stand up to Katsuki again. The way he always has, the way he always will. There has never been a point in the series where Izuku has NOT stood up to Katsuki when he feels it matters, and that’s part of the reason Katsuki is so pissed with him every time he does - because Izuku REFUSES to see his place! Not once!

(Please, for the love of god, respect the Izuku who didn’t need a quirk to stand up to others. Who isn’t ‘broken’ or ‘terrified’ of Katsuki or anything like that. He’s a stubborn kid and we Stan That.)

Izuku, however, is not confident enough in this situation to want to press the issue, so he relents and says nothing when Katsuki prods him to escalate things. And then we immediately get to the ‘you idiot, don’t fucking suicide bait!’ but you can tell it’s been a stressful few moments for him. 

So yeah, the summary of this section is ‘Izuku is not an uwu suffering babey, and Katsuki is way more restrained than people seem to think.’ 

I’m cutting it off here since, again, we got a lot of info and character examination, and honestly this whole chapter is a long ass one (55 pages!!!!) and it’s establishing the entire setting from the ground up. And honestly, I’m just vibing in being Right about how I’ve been viewing the characters at the start of the series… even if i am guilty of sometimes playing with fanon for my own means…

Still, this is fun! Hopefully y’all are having fun too!

[usermaha]

Red ask game (Taylor’s Version)

from @catefrankie​

1. favorite song off of red?

this album’s especially difficult for me to choose a favorite from, but right now i’ll go with state of grace, for the way it absolutely blows me out and pulls me in this world of whirlwind romance and heartbreak.

2. favorite simile in red?

fighting with him is like trying to solve a crossword and realize there’s just no right answer

3. which songs are you most looking forward to seeing rerecorded?

4. favorite red-era music video?

ikywt. the drama. the grunge rock visuals. the pink highlights in the ruffled hair. the intro spoken lines. waking up stranded in the festival. the scene in the motel the next morning, the guy is shirtless. (12-year old-me: can’t unsee the implications) taylor in the bathroom wistfully touching the light bulb. borrowing his hat. he gets a tattoo. the camera shots at the concerts as he’s dancing with the other girls. obsessed since 2013. 

5. favorite lyric from “all too well”?

the delivery of ‘im a crumpled up piece of paper lying here’ she’s clearly screaming crying. it like dashes my skin open every time. 

6. are you feeling 22?

no :(( i feel 19 and on fire its too hot here

7. what did red mean to you when you first listened to it?

it really intrigued me. i looked up the lyric videos on youtube in a random order, but i loved the variety of one song from another, that between the pop anthems there  were mellower tracks with depth and nuance and storytelling. this (along with speak now) were the first albums i heard from taylor, and she obviously won me over to be a stan.

8. what does it mean to you to have red coming out again now?

over the years this have been the OG 4 (cause there were 4 when i joined) im the most in love with so im mad hyped. fall and winter are my favorite seasons, and while i would love to jam to a summer bop lately i’ve been feeling very melancholic (more than usual hahaha im a sad bitch always) with the grief of 2020 and graduating school and starting college. so i can’t wait to slip on a cardigan, order some coffee and get gutted at the feels

9. favorite vocal moment in the album?

i almost do, the part after the chorus she changes everytime, it sounds so sweet and heartwrenching

10. what item/outfit in your closet reminds you the most of taylor’s fashion during this era?

i have a grey hat similar to taylor’s that i bought on a whim but never wear anywhere cos you cant just wear a hat in public. i thought i’ll wear it when i see her on tour :(( delusional girl she’s never coming here :(

i just remembered, one of my pandemic impulse purchases was a gorgeous red flower crown. will be sure to bust that out for release day

11. who do you want to see taylor collaborate with in the vault songs?

considering the vibe of the era, lorde for a melodrama pop anthem, and lana for a more wistful track

12. the hat in the original album cover or the hat in the taylor’s version album cover?

i have some qualms with the new cover :)) so old hat for sure, absolute icon. i know i probably had that hat as a pfp in evermore era, but now i only thing i can think is it must be so warm

13. favorite thing about autumn?

temperatures getting lower :) it always seems like i have to wait too long for an actual significant temperature drop, and in halloween i dont have candles i have the fan on. 😡 so when it finally happens its like magic, the mood is wonderous, even when exams are drawing closer. i get really hyped around halloween for a few years, not for anything legitimately scary but to pull out the Dark Academia color pallete, and i watch a not-super-scary movie with my bff so wholesome times :)

14. which of taylor’s other albums do you most consider to be red’s sister album?

folklore. the sad times are back, but it’s not cute anymore, it’s darker and more existential. also, theory, the relationship referred in ‘the 1′ and further explored and romanticized throughout is the one from red.

15. favorite bridge from the album?

the last time, the drama reaches the cresendo in intensity, and it ends with the harmonizing ‘oh-oh-oh-oh’.

16. do you have a lot going on at the moment?

there’s the college thing, but it sure feels like not a lot when you’ve spent the entire summer in your bedroom. the release of red TV is that cool thing im anticipating, *prepares* i have to prepare 

[vonlipvig]

Ok, I’m in the mood to rant about some AA stuff, specifically some of the Big Baddies. Not an angry rant, by any means. I;m just full of AA Love right now.

(Spoilers for all games except both DGSs!)

Under a readmore cause it got LONG

Ok, so I’m replaying AAI2 right now, and I’m playing through case 4, and I honestly had forgotten how MUCH i hated Blaise Debeste (hate as in “You’re so fucking despicable”, not in the “I hate him as a character” way, I delight in hating him, as we all do, I suppose). And I guess that set me thinking about all of the Big Villains of AA, and how exactly I feel about them.

So I asked myself, “who are the scariest AA villains?”, and I think the answer to that--at least for me, of course--is Damon Gant and Blaise Debeste, with Quercus Alba nipping at their heels.

Now, hold your horses, let me explain. I think those three--but those two to a more certain degree--are the most terrifying antagonists in the games, and that’s because of one thing: power. These guys have the institutional power they need to do whatever it is they want, and that’s really fucking scary. And yes, you can have power and not use it for your own, selfish needs, but these guys do exactly that, and to perfection. Gant, for one, is terrifying just from his appearance, cause everything from his stance, to his stare just says “do not dare cross me” and that’s spine-chilling. I guess what’s also very scary about him is that somewhere in his mind, at the very beginning of his career, maybe he did want to do good? But I think his own selfishness overtook that from the moment of the Darke and Marshall murders. I don’t think he cared at all that he was killing an innocent person. he just cared about his own reputation.

And Blaise...god, talking about Blaise makes my skin crawl. just as Gant, Blaise also has a LOT of power (and I’m talking a LOT, this man has affected the lives of so many others), and he sees people as mere objects to use and discard as he pleases (I’m replaying AAI2 so my memory is not that fresh, but like, he made people disappear, even his wife I think). And what’s even scarier than Gant is that he truly looks as if he enjoys tormenting others, so it’s not just that he sees others as things, he just truly delights in causing others pain. AND SPEAKING OF CAUSING OTHERS PAIN, he also straight up abuses Sebastian, his own son. He fucking went so far as to ORDER HIS SON KIDNAPPED. I’m about to cry cause I just HATE HIM SO MUCH, OH MY GOD.

Ok, like the AAI stan that I am, I have to say that I also really enjoy Quercus Alba. I don’t know, I think he’s not as developed or as interesting as these others, in a way, but to me at least he seems like a really cool and really scary villain as well. Selfish, uncaring, and almost unbearably proud (GOD THOSE GODDAMN EXTRATERRITORIAL RIGHTS), I really loved the whole smuggling ring plot point from AAI, so I guess your enjoyment of him hinges on if you liked that or not. I did. Oh, and I just love his sprites, what a fucking tree bastard.

So I gotta talk about our friend Manny von Karma now, oh boy. THE OG bad boy. The thing with Manfred is that his “evilness” kiiiinda pales a bit once you know the events of AAI2. He got vital information kept away from him during the IS-7, courtesy of Blaise, so you get that sense of “oh, there was someone above him in the command chain”, and yeah, there was. But the man was still ruthless, and he was still not above forging and cheating to get what he wanted. In that respect, very much like the other guys. But what separates him from the others is that his big crime--the murder of Gregory Edgeworth--was much more passional than anything the other guys ever did. He didn’t murder Gregory because of money, or to keep his mouth shut, and it wasn’t even something he planned. The opportunity presented itself, and he was so full of rage for his wounded pride that he murdered him. In a way that makes him less scary to me, because I understand emotions, but I can’t understand cold, psychopathic calculation (ok, but he gains a lot more Evil Points with the whole “adopting the child of my enemy and raising it to be all that he despised” thing, YAKNOW?).

Morgan Fey, too, is another villain that is very passionate yet still cold and calculating. Her pride is everything to her, and the blow that was dealt to her by being cast aside as a “branch” member of the clan was devastating to her, and made her into the woman she is. What’s really interesting about Morgan is that we see the character of the doting mother at first in her with how she treats Pearl, but then we see that that could not be further from the truth. I think maybe she tries to convince herself that what she does, she does for her love of Pearl, but that’s not true at all. It’s great to see this side of the “mother” archetype.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. None of them are actually my favorite villain. The one who I believe is the most compelling, entertaining, thought-provoking of all the AA killers is Simon Keyes. I mean, what does it tell you, that when I’m talking about a manipulative murderer the first that comes to mind is sadness because he got dealt a very bad hand in life? This is not me justifying his actions, because none of the things he did were justifiable in the slightest. But this man, this kid, had no-one (He had Dogen, actually, but hey, a great role model to have, right?). He felt betrayed by the ones who were supposed to be his closest protectors and friends, and that turned him sour. He’s as cold and calculating as the other baddies, but his story just shatters your heart, especially because it is paralleled so well by other AAI2 characters, in Sebastian, in Miles, in Kate Hall, etc. Basically, AAI2 best game.

And I could add Dahlia in the same category as Simon, I think. it’s...not the same, granted, but Dahlia’s background are incredibly interesting to mull about. She was born in the Fey Clan, so from the day she was born she carried an enormous burden on her shoulders. The whole thing with Misty and Morgan, which ended with her father taking her with him, left her very jaded and hateful (and betrayed, I believe, deep inside), and that set her on the path she would then take. Then she gets foiled my Mia, and that absolutely devastates her, and driver her to seek revenge. I think not only revenge because Mia managed to finally expose her crimes, but Mia also represents that “Main Branch” of the family, that which had been taken from her, and that which caused her so much pain. I really love Dahlia, I think she’s a bit more over the top than Simon, but I really enjoy her character.

An then there’s...well, the Phantom. I don’t know what to say about them, they really don’t have the depth that other villains have, as we don’t know anything about them except the “feels no emotions” thing. And I don’t know if I like that, as a character train. I don’t mean to say I don’t like characters that feel no emotions, cause hey, see the guys up top, but to make it such a gimmick was...meh. Oh, but I will say, that part where Aura says that one phrase and then you feel a deep chill in your spine because “oh my god i know who the phantom is”? Very good.

We also have Kristoph and Matt, and.......come on, I love them to bits, Farewell My Turnabout is one of my all time fave cases, and I think Turnabout Trump is SO GOOD for a first case, but...these guys are absolute clowns, they’re so fucking stupid, ok? At least von Karma was just like “OH HE’S UNCONSCIOUS THIS IS MY CHANCE”, these dudes went back to their sad lairs and concocted some dumbass plans. Ridiculous djfdhfjdhf.

And then there’s Ga’ran and I gotta say I don’t remember a single thing about her, The End.

[skamofcolor]

I know you probably don't do discourse, but even after all the backlash with the whitewashing of sana and erasing mahdi, skam italia now had the even counterpart say the n-word in one of the clips 😬😬😬

Oh boooooooooooy lol. 

My response became extremely long so I’m gonna put it under a Read More:

Okay, so I when I first heard this happened after the SkamIt clip dropped, I was thinking about doing a post on this here, but ultimately decided against it. I did post a bit about how ludicrous the situation was on my personal blog, though, lol. But since we’ve gotten an ask on it, and it’s been a few days so I’ve had time to collect my personal thoughts more, here’s a long post about the entire situation.

Context, for anyone who doesn’t know yet: In one of SkamIt’s latest clips (the og equivalent would be that scene in S3 where Isak and Even hang out, listen to rap, make food, smoke weed, etc. and then Isak discovers Even has a girlfriend) Italian!Even - Niccolò - says the n-word. 

I actually did watch this scene to get a full idea of it, so here’s how the framing of it happens: Martino (Italian!Isak) and Niccolò are talking about music. Niccolò is like, “one of my fave artists is Earl Sweatshirt, let’s put some of his music on.” So he gets up to do that, and then goes back to the couch. They’re both holding these weird puppets that Niccolò owns, and Niccolò is like, “let’s play fight with the puppets.” As the opening line of the song comes on, he says something like, “let’s go, my n*gga.”

So this caused a bit of a fandom blow-up. Where on one side, there’s folks who aren’t horrible are rightfully mad that this show had a white boy said the n-word. And then… there are stans who have been using every excuse under the sun to defend it, including: this is Italian culture, this word has a different meaning everywhere except for English speaking countries, Americans have no right to be mad because this isn’t for them, and it’s only a word, who cares. The showrunner also put out a… charming… defense to the whole thing, which although it’s since been deleted off of Instagram, a kind Tumblr user has translated. 

So this all being put out there, here are my personal thoughts on the matter: to be honest, I’m annoyed that Niccolò said it but that’s not my big issue. My big issue is that I hate the framing and consequent defense of it. Here’s what I mean by that:

1) Yes, white Europeans, the n-word, in all it’s forms, is a racial slur. No, it doesn’t fucking matter if it “means something different” in your country. And no - you can’t fucking say it.  

First of all, I’m gonna have to call bullshit on it “meaning something different.” 

A lot of the defense I’ve seen has been people claiming that it’s “U.S.-centric” to be mad that Niccolò said the n-word. And my response to that is… And So???? Lol?????

Look. The word comes from a U.S.-context. So you cannot have it both ways. You can’t talk about this word and claim in “means something different” in your country and then not want to talk about the ROOTS of it. If this word doesn’t come from your culture, then why are you so quick to defend it as part of your culture? 

Furthermore, Italy is not free of systemic antiblackness. When Italy (as well as every other country in the world) has a derogatory term for Black people, has a history of colonization in African nations, and has seen an increase of violence and murder of Black people in this year alone? Y’all can’t pretend like just because this word is in English that it’s meaningless in a country full of racism, xenophobia, and antiblackness. 

And if you’re trying to claim that Italian teenagers are using it willy nilly because they don’t know what it means… I just… I literally can’t believe that. I just can’t believe in this day and age that folks, even outside of the U.S., do not know what the word means or where it comes from. But what I do believe is that folks do know what it means, and yet don’t care. They appropriate it for themselves because everyone loves Black culture while simultaneously hating Black people. And that’s facts. 

In a globalized world where specifically Black American culture is commodified and distributed like candy, you’d have to be living under a rock to not understand the violence behind this word. And if you are living under a rock… you never would’ve heard it in the first place. 

(In case you are one of those living-under-a-rock people, there are a thousand and one articles on why it’s okay for Black people to say the n-word and why non-Black people shouldn’t. Here’s just one of those videos in case you didn’t know. The fact of the matter is, it’s not just a word. It’s violence. And regardless of if Black people wanna use it or not, that’s NOT up to anyone who’s not Black to decide.) 

2) We have to remember that this is a FICTIONAL television show. And that every single thing that the characters do/say was CREATED by an actual human.

Okay, but fine.

Let’s go with the defense that white teenagers all over Italy are using a racial slur casually cause no one knows the violent context behind the n-word and it’s all in good fun (Sounds fake, but okay). 

So Niccolò says it because that makes it realistic, and SkamIt is going for realism. Okay. Then the big issue of this isn’t that he said it; it’s the framing of it that it’s a-okay that he’s said it that’s my issue.

Because this all has to do with the SHOWRUNNERS, who are grown ass people, knowing the context and meaning of the n-word. Because as adults creating media for young people, I damn sure will be holding them responsible for what their characters say and do. And honestly? If non-Black teenagers in Italy are really running around saying the n-word with nary a care in the world, then it’s your duty as the adult to show why that’s wrong.

 Including someone doing/saying racist things isn’t inherently bad, because I agree. It is realistic. But never showing a resolution to it or calling it out within the framing of your show just lets your audience know that A) you don’t care about People of Color and/or B) you don’t think the oppression we face is a big deal. And both, when you’re making a show for young people, is dangerous. 

Because it perpetuates the idea that racism is okay or it’s not as bad, particularly when it’s done in a casual, “not intending to cause harm” kind of way. Racism isn’t always direct intentional malice; it can include anything that perpetuates the normalization of systemic oppression. Which was the big issue with how Julie portrayed Vilde’s racism all throughout og Skam but that’s another rant.  

It would be one thing if Niccolò said it and Martino recoiled a bit or was like “bro, wtf?” But he doesn’t do any of that. Niccolò says it and then the two play with their puppets. And that’s the thing - I personally feel, that as a showrunner, if you’re going to depict the normalization of racial slurs (which you inherently do, when you have someone casually saying the n-word) then it’s your DUTY to frame it as bad. Because it is bad. Regardless of how “realistic” it is, it’s still racist as fuck. Again, especially because of the rise in xenophobia, racism, and specifically antiblackness in Italy. 

But that brings us to Ludovico’s ridiculous statement, because it’s obvious that he doesn’t agree that using the n-word was at most racist as shit and at the very least, in bad taste. And his statement, altogether, shows a very basic lack of critical thinking and comprehension as to why what happened was not okay. 

3) Ludovico’s reasoning for having Niccolò say the n-word, quite frankly, is bullshit and the most cringey white person thing I have ever read in my life, ever. 

And I think by breaking down his… non-apology… this addresses a lot of the bullshit defenses that SkamIt’s stans have been throwing at folks, too. 

“What is happening? Niccolò listens to American rap. He listens to Earl Sweatshirt. A black rapper. People who are criticising me, do they even know who this artist is? How does he look like? Do they know his father was a  South African activist and politician? Do they know his lyrics and his thoughts? Do they know that in those lyrics he always talks about the black community’s condition? And when he does that, he uses that word, that word you’re all worrying about. Niccolò, who loves Earl, is singing one of his songs, like anyone would do with a song they like.

Oh, my God.

First of all, it’s… ironic for him to pull up Earl Sweatshirt’s lineage and his music in order to defend this white boy saying the n-word. Because not only was his father a Black South African activist who was raised during apartheid and then was exiled to the U.S., his mother is a Black law professor who specializes in critical race theory! This man… is really trying to say that someone who had these parents would celebrate a white boy… using a racial slur… let’s use some critical thinking… 

Second of all, and I can’t believe I have to say this, a Black person reclaiming the n-word and using it conversationally or in their music is not the same as a non-Black person using it. If you’re not part of a marginalized group, you do not have a say in the conversation over using slurs within that group. 

Earl deciding to use the n-word, particularly in order to talk about “the Black community’s condition,” has meaning. It has power, it’s reclaiming a tool of oppression. A white Italian - who a lot of people are claiming don’t know anything about the origins of the word and thus the plight of Black Americans - using it is, at best meaningless and at worse intentionally racist. Ludivico wrote Niccolò as a character who just loves Earl Sweatshirt so much. But he wrote him as a character that loves him just on the surface - just enough to think it’s okay to use this racial slur and to “understand” the message of violence against Black people but not enough to not use a derogatory word that is actual violence against his favorite artist. Sure. 

Third of all, to me, it really didn’t seem like Niccolò was singing along to anything. He literally just says the line and then stops talking as him and Martino do their puppet fight. But that might be another argument, one that… is quite pointless. Because it would have cost him (Ludivico writing him) nothing to not say that line. To skip the n-word, to play a different song, to do literally anything else in that context. But it was, apparently, so central to Italian culture and so important for Niccolò to use this word that it had to be included. Alright.  

Are we really trying to attack Skam Italia for something like this? Do you really think we’re racist or insensitive? After all we’re doing? After all the work we do every day so we can bring values and themes that - for now, in Italy - have always been touched in such a superficial way?

“After all we’re doing”

Ludivico, what exactly are you doing for Black people and other People of Color? 

Like… he really fixed his wretched fingers and typed this out as if he literally had not made the choice to A) cast a white Non-Muslim woman to play literally one of the most iconic Muslim WoC in media history B) erase one of the few Black characters because “he didn’t have a large role,” instead of, you know, CREATING a larger role, as is his right, as a SHOWRUNNER WITH CREATIVE POWER, and casting a host of white boys instead C) has probably whitewashed their version of the Balloon Squad as well. Because yah - I’ve seen enough GIFsets of the “Martino watching a video of Niccolò playing piano” to see that there’s a bunch of white boys in the background laughing and joking with him. And it’s true; you can’t tell someone’s ethnicity by how they look. But the evidence so far is pretty damning. 

This is all to say that this a show… that has consistently refused to work with People of Color across the board. Not only in hiring actors, but it’s obviously not hiring non-white crew members and refusing to engage with fans of color. His constant excuses about why PoC cannot be involved make zero sense. He acts as though these characters are sentient beings that he has no control over instead of fictionalized people, wherein he and the other showrunners have the power to cast whoever they want, make them say whatever they want, and make them do whatever they want. 

And it’s obvious that him and his stans are the ones who are interacting with this entire situation is a superficial way. People who are calling it out, from what I’ve seen, are saying hey, this isn’t cool. Maybe we should have a nuanced dialogue for why this white Italian shouldn’t be saying the n-word. While he and his stans are crying white tears and saying this is our culture! Shut up if you don’t understand it!

In Salvini’s Italy, do you think that the main problem is a boy who loves American rap and sings a song with a word that people don’t like? Amazing.

This sarcastic deflection, I think, is exactly part of the problem. No one is saying that this is the end all and be all of racism in Italy. But using a word that is inextricably linked to physical, emotional, and spiritual violence is a part of the problem. It’s not “just a word”; it’s dehumanization. And that dehumanization of white people using it against Black people is exactly what has lead to issues in “Salvini’s Italy.”

The lyrics from American rap songs are full of inappropriate words. Shouldn’t we use them? The characters can sing them, but should they stop before that word? 

That’s… no one is saying not to use Black music lmao. But literally exactly what people are asking for is to not have non-Black people saying the n-word. If you’re not Black DON’T SAY IT. Why is that so hard.

These attacks don’t hurt black people, because they are smart enough to be able to appreciate the fact that we’re giving space to a rapper who’s really good and pretty capable of talking about their condition. 

The absolute condescension of this, honestly, makes me think that he has never interacted with a Black person in his life. Ever. And I’m not even trying to be funny. 

Look. I’m not claiming to speak for all Black people, especially in a globalized world. Our diaspora is huge and complex due to our histories of enslavement, colonization, imperialism, and violence. I’m sure there are Black people who literally don’t care about white people singing/saying the n-word. I’m sure that the decontextualization of it makes a lot of folks think it’s no big deal. And that’s fine. But again - that’s an intracommunity issue.

To have this white Italian proclaim to speak for Black people - not only here but also in proclaiming to know what Earl Sweatshirt is and isn’t okay with - is another form of dehumanization. Because it’s a catch-22. If we’re “smart enough” to not be mad at this racial slur being used, then what does it mean for those of us who are mad? That we’re unintelligent? That we’re not focused enough on the “right issues”? Once again, the lack of critical thinking is astounding. As if folks can’t understand that this is a big deal along with other forms of violence that are being enacted. 

But having this white boy say the n-word has nothing to do with “giving space” to Earl Sweatshirt or his art. It honestly just feels like a self-insert fantasy. It feels like a moment wherein these white people, once again, feel like they have claim to Black culture and language without having to reap any of the repercussions of that culture. And now once they’ve been called out, they want to be defensive. They don’t actually care about our communities or struggle. Idk how many ways I can say it but a marginalized person speaking truth to power and reclaiming a word is not the same as an oppressor using our language. 

They hurt me. You don’t know how much.

Ahhhhhh, the icing on top of this shit cake. 

Because this is the real root if it, isn’t it? Ludivico doesn’t like that he’s been called out. He doesn’t like that people are angry and that they have something to say about his racism. He doesn’t know how to just take the L and admit that he’s done something that’s messed up and has hurt people. Because in his mind, this is a personal attack. 

This is… this is Vilde dropping out of the bus because everyone “hates her” after her obnoxiously racist and Islamophobic “Muslim gangster world” monologue. But the funny sad thing is, this is a grown man. This isn’t a fictionalized teenager who doesn’t know how to confront her own prejudice. This is the root of why I’m so annoyed; because once again, we have a white person centering their own feelings over the heart of the issue. 

I’m sure I have more to say, lmao, but I am getting tired. 

TLDR; IMO, Niccolò saying the n-word with no repercussions was bad and Ludivico’s obnoxious “explanation” only made it worse. 

- mod Jennifer