#oh I thought I might be the tragic fave but I remember now I’m the hot gay one

[shibaraki]

monty my dear. i come to deliver kiss 💕✨ and to remind u that all ur faves know u love them so very deeply. if the roles were reversed they would have themed blogs just for u

my one (1) my only my favourite moda… thank u for the special delivery and the reminder I love you very much. omg so true but all their posts would be like YES KING !! GIVE US NOTHING!! lajskskd

[hanjo-love]

Now I became selfish and I hope the shard is showing Hanji being saved by Kiyomi or something. She go the worst treatment and if Isayama was afraid of the backslash like you said why make it even worse with those parallels with eremika? Is he preparing the Fandom for another levihan moment? I'm tired of EVERYONE surviving but her, Kiyomi's kindness really??? And Onyankopon, while I don't hate him, he survived a plane crash and he doesn't add much yet he is there for being the editor's favorite, Yelena is there after all she did and she adds even less, and the people titanized will revert to human (or at the very least Isayama's favorites will).

Oh anonie, you and me both my friend, you and me both 😔 Beware, a long rant-ish meta is ahead of you lol

I have absolutely no fucking idea why Yams decided to treat Hanjo like shit. You know, after a long time of denying her death, I was starting to accept it, because she was finally free, free of the burden and pain and finally reunited with the people she missed and longed for the most. But then Yams decided to slap us all in the faces saying there's no happy & peaceful afterlife in snk and Hanjo was probs only hallucinating because of her 4 years long depression? Well then, fuck you Yams! What was that even for? Isayama never backed off of showing us the horrors of death in snk, no matter how important the characters and how brutal their deaths really were. Still, he never showed us Hanji's actual death or dead body. He kept it misterious and his vague answers only made it worse. So it's only natural for us to expect a plot twist, right? That's the reason all of us gathered various hints in the manga, anime and his interviews. And lemme tell you, these theories are far more logical, better explained and have less plot holes than the entire final arc smh (yes I'm salty, fight me lol)

I hate to admit it, my inner self is still in denial and fighting, but Hanjo ain't coming back folks. We won't get any background story and the misterious shard will never be explained to us either. Yams had more than enough time to bring Hanjo back, if he truly wanted to. But he didn't. And now with only one chapter and so many unanswered questions left, there's no time for Hange's return. Why would he even do that anyways? Hanjo isn't important to him or to the story anymore. To us she is, always was and always will be ❤️ You know, I'm so fucking desperate to see her again, I'll even take one last panel of Levi remembering her, just like in ch136. Yams just let us see Hanjo one more fucking time 🙏🏻 I need to say my proper goodbyes to my one&only comfort character, who's influenced my life like no one else ever did ❤️

Back to Levihan (I don't think I can answer an ask without my biased and trashy shipper ass butting in lmfao): the question why Yams confirmed Levihan as canon if he didn't intend to bring Hange back and reunite her with Levi to make us him happy again? Well, isn't it obvious? This man is the devil incarnate. THIS MAN HAS NO FUCKING CHILLS lmfao JK y'all before someone declares war on me and my blog haha Well anonie, I feel like Yams really wanted to confirm his initially planned ships as canon, before the manga ends. And he chose the safest way possible. Easy as that. Also he said he is going for a bittersweet ending and what's more tragic (in this literal hell) than separating lovers, ergo Eremika and Levihan.

Now to something else, that's been bothering me for a while now and I'll use your ask anonie to share my thoughts with the world even though nobody asked lmao tbh I'm a bit disappointed with Armin. I love him, I really do. He's my precious cinnamon roll and my fave 104th kiddo. But honestly, I was expecting a bit more of the alleged "hero who will safe humanity". In fact, I'm sure Hanjo only died for Armin to become the new commander. That's it. That was the reason she had to die. Yams glossed over her to make Armin shine. But in fact, Levi's the one who's giving orders ever since Hange has left them. I might me salty, but I really hope the talk with Zeke (and probs Ymir as well, we still might have a chance to see the dialog that made Ymir change her mind) and his titan nuke weren't the only things he did as "humanity's hero" in this final arc. For some people this might me enough, for me it isn't. It wasn't worth Hange's sacrifice. Also what made me really sad was Armin himself glossing over Hanjo when he remembered Erwin Danchou, but not her. Like she didn't just pass away an hour ago to save their pathetic asses. Ugh this is making me hella mad, ngl. Hanjo didn't deserve this treatment! She gave her all for this! To save the alliance, to "pay the price" for her "sins" as the SC commander and to save humanity. I can't deal with how all of them and the fandom apparently forgot about that.

Now on to "Kiyomi's kindness" lol I wasn't really mad at Gabi for saying this as most of the fandom was. I won't go into detail why she isn't really a rationally thinking character (yo guys, you do remember she's a 12 year old kid, right?), but it's a fact that she didn't care for Hange enough to mention her. I mean, why would she? She barely even knew her. Also we don't really know what's gonna happen with Yelena, Kiyomi and her delegation. I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but I feel like Kiyomi accepted her death with saying "that's not enough atonement for what I did anyway". I mean they don't know if the alliance will win (they probably think they won't) and they're in the middle of literally nowhere. So I feel like Gabi said that because Kiyomi sacrificed herself (and the others on that ship) willingly, for Gabi, Falco and Annie getting a little chance of surviving and helping the alliance. But I get the rage of the fandom. Especially because no one, except for Levi, remembered Hange after her noble sacrifice.

As for Yelena and Onyankopon, there obviously has to be someone from outside of Paradis to survive the rumbling, otherwise it wouldn't make a lot of sense, I guess. I like Onyankopon a hecking lot ❤️ precious boi was literally crying for Hanjo 😭 Yelena on the other hand deserves what she got. Death would be too easy and kind for her tbh. She has to live with the consequences, just like Kiyomi, so I'm actually glad they survived. So my guess is, it's not really about who's Yams' favorite and what these people are contributing to the story, but it's rather about a logical ending and a good conclusion of the story.

I agree with you about the ones who have been titanized. They'll for sure revert back to humans. It's not really Yams' style to kill of an important character like Gabi, whose character development he's been forcing on us for quite a while now lol. I'm pretty positive about an ending with the titan curse being broken and bringing the titanized people back to human beings (probs also the millions of colossal titans?). It's only natural for Yams to end the story with the titan curse being lifted. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to end his story at this point. But let's not forget what a big ass troll Yams is lmao you never really know what he's up to, so let's prepare for the unimaginable lmfao

I'll probably never forgive Isayama for what he did to Hange, his best written character, how he completely ruined her and threw her away as disposable, just to make other characters "shine". HER DEATH WAS POINTLESS AND IT DID NOT FUCKING CHANGE ANYTHING! That's the harsh truth y'all. Yams betrayed Hanjo and us AND FOR WHAT?

Thanks for the ask anonie and sorry I turned this into my personal rant lmao hope you still enjoy reading my thoughts on this ❤️

[iheartbookbran]

Anthony, Penelope, Marina and Colin deserved better...

Beware, rant ahead

Ok I wish I didn’t feel such strong need to continue beating this dead horse but oopsie, I will very much be beating it some more.

Like, my fave books of the Bridgerton series are Anthony’s and Colin’s books, so I’m seething about what they did with their characterizations, Anthony and Penelope in particular, because Colin’s only real sin was being boring, and if you remember how funny he’s in the books it makes me wanna fall on my knees and ask Chris Van Dusen whyyyy omg why would you do something like that to such a dynamic character. So yeah, Colin is boring af and a moron but at least he isn’t an asshole the way show Anthony and Penelope are, and I’ve seen people say that they can always be redeemed in future seasons, if we get them, but that’s exactly my problem, because they never had to be redeemed in the books, to begin with. Penelope more so than Anthony but let me begin by defending my boy.

Is he a jerk sometimes? Sure. Is he actively awful and uncaring towards those close to him, especially his family? Hell no, quite the opposite, in fact. Not to be controversial on main but in the books... he was right in not wanting Daphne to be courted by a man who he knew damn right had no intention of marrying her and as far as he was aware was only making her waste her time, and he was right in demanding Simon pay for compromising her honor. Could he have been more mindful of what Daphne had to say and listened to her wishes? Of course, but considering Simon and Daphne (both in the show and in the books) aren’t exactly masters in communication themselves, Anthony doesn’t come off as the biggest offender in that situation.

What he never did was force Daphne, or any of his sisters really, to do anything; if they didn’t like a guy then that guy was out of their lives no question asked, and he loved them enough to always have their best interests at heart, for his sisters and his brothers, to the point that even though he’s traumatized and thinks he’s gonna die young he’s still willing to get past that to do his duty and marry, because he doesn’t want to pass that burden on to his little brothers (so him deciding to leave all his responsibilities to Benedict so he can fck off with his mistress is... like, a choice lmao). In fact all the subplot with Siena felt like a choice on the writers part, like they truly liked Benedict and Sophie’s story so they just slapped it on Anthony so he could act all sad and sexy while they gave us foreshadowing with the subtlety of a warharmer that he’s ending up with Kate anyways (and that Benedict is ending with Sophie anyways too, so they would be using that storyline twice, unless they do make him bi and fall in love with a man, but maybe that’s too much of ask for this show), so what was Siena’s purpose in the story? Who tf knows not me.

Now Penelope, my god. Yes I know I joke Penny has never done anything wrong in her life, and I still love her, but she was wrong. Very much so. What she did was significantly worse than what Marina did, which I still don’t condone at all. Like yes, I still maintain that Marina tricking Colin into marriage was wrong (and I’ll go later on why that whole subplot was racist af), but what Penelope did could have not only ruined Marina and herself and her sisters reputations, but it was basically condemning an innocent unborn child to a life in the streets, that’s messed up. Even if Marina was rose-coloring her potential life with Colin and he might have grown to resent her, at least the baby would’ve been alright. And my problem with that whole subplot is that all of it was resolved so neatly, with Sir Phillip sweeping in to save the day so we don’t have to actually see what Penelope’s actions could have caused, but the implications are still very much there.

And I’m cracking my mind trying to figure out whether the showrunners just... really hate Colin’s book and Penelope as a character so they’re trying to inflict some kind of character assassination on her so they can get away with writing him off with another person without causing much outrage, or if they just thought there wasn’t enough ~drama~ or stakes on their book so they have to add them, and give him some kind of bullshit tragic romantic past to explain why he doesn’t want to marry, whereas in the books, the reason he doesn’t marry anyone is because he doesn’t feel like it, and that’s ok, there’s no need for every character to have a tragic backstory and to be riddled with angst; Colin is that character, he’s an easy going guy who’s just not interested in marriage until he falls in love with Penny AND THAT’S VALID, just because he doesn’t have the most complex motivations out there doesn’t mean he isn’t a compelling character. The stakes in his story after he discovers Penny is Whistledown are, as he points out, that she has insulted so many people there’s no way some of them wouldn’t want to retaliate if word came out, and he cares for her and doesn’t want her to get hurt (there’s also a dumb part about him being secretly jealous of her accomplishments as Whistledown, but thankfully he gets over that pretty quickly).

But while I am on that, it is true that Penelope wrote some uncharitable things about the mean people around her, but she never ever ruined someone’s reputation, let alone endanger the future of a child. Was she a bitch sometimes? Yeah, but she was also kind to a lot of people and her criticism was never unwarranted and never did more damage than maybe annoy a couple of girls like Cressida. I just hate the idea of this needing to turn into some sort of ~redemption arc~ for Penelope because, again, in the books she really didn’t have to make up for anything, definitely not to Colin, who was actually the one who had to do much of the heavy lifting in their relationship when he realized that he literally slept on her for years.

And now regarding Marina, like yes, she was wrong and I stand by that statement (but not as wrong as Penelope), but tbh I find it hard to be mad at her when they gave her such a racist storyline, as the scheming woc who gets pregnant out of wedlock and then tries to seduce the innocent white man, until the virtuous white girl needs to step up to save him. At least that’s what I thought initially as the writers intention, but honestly I’m not so sure anymore, I doubt they will continue to write her and Colin as a couple otherwise they would’ve bothered to show them interacting outside of her manipulating him and him acting like a bumbling idiot, the most sincere moment they had together was when he comforted her about the lie, but by that time this bitch (me) was empty and didn’t give a shit anymore. Literally all their other interactions where shown through Penelope’s POV to let us know she was sad, and Colin’s most significant scenes where again... with Penelope (because it isn’t as if he has a family and his own moments in the books outside of being an object for Penelope to pine after).

And as I said before, Marina had a—relatively—happy ending: married to a man she doesn’t love (just as she didn’t love Colin) but who will treat her right and care for her and her child in comfort. Is arguably a better ending than if she’d married Colin because now she doesn’t have to go through the trouble of explaining things to her new husband and run the risk of him resenting her forever. Phillip may not love her but he knows who he’s marrying and why he’s marrying her. That’s literally the same fate Marina had in the books, and it makes me wonder why, oh why would the writers do that.

Why create such a contrived plot to give a character who appears in one(1) chapter of an 8 books series then promptly dies, all at the expense of the characterization of one of the most beloved heroines of said books series? Why would you write this racist storyline for a character whose fate is dying? And now I’m horrified at the repercussions that can come with Marina committing su*cide like in canon, because the implications would be that Penelope would be responsible for it (and I hate the idea of blaming one person for the su*cide of another, fictional or otherwise, is harmful and we need to be careful with making such implications), which would make her even less redeemable or like, likable in general. Not to mention that would be like putting the final racist nail in Marina’s coffin by giving her that ending.

It makes me wonder, seriously, if Chris Van Dusen hated Romancing Mister Bridgerton that much, if he loathed the idea of writing a fat character finding love and getting sex that much. I just wanna know why lmfao.

[nanso]

Do you think Rhaegar should be seen as good?

Anon, are you trolling me, lol

Sorry, ok, so to begin, I'm not entirely sure what you mean about 'good' so I'll approach two ways. 

Do I think the character of Rhaegar is a good person?  

No. I judge this based on his actions primarily. He made choices that not only set off the events of the war and put his family in danger, but then chose to sit out the near entirety of the war and not reverse any of this. Upon returning to the capital from his "sabbatical" in Dorne, he not only chose to fight on behalf of his father, he left his wife and two children with said father who also happened to be very racist and very violent and very unhinged. 

You could argue that he thought he was doing what needed to be done for a threat that, so far, we're not even sure he really knew what it was. But 1) that doesn't justify anything and 2) basic logic and possession of decent morals would say he did not do anything right. The only way you arrive at Rhaegar doing what he did is acknowledging the fact that this character deemed himself above the consequences. That, to me, is akin to a god complex. When you think about why Rhaegar left Elia and the kids with Aerys, you could argue that he did not think they would be harmed and all would be well because he was going to win. That's the kind of thinking of a man who has never faced the consequences of his own actions.  

In modern times, all of this might also be called white male privilege or unearned privilege - call me crazy! Or call me a gal who is used to watching white men walk away from the consequences of their immoral actions.

To rotate back - alleged good intentions do not make you a good person. When you have privilege, when you have resources at your disposal to help people who have no power - and you do not use your power and privilege to help people but instead use it for your own interests - that is neglectful and corrupt. The reality is that, aside from getting his family killed, Rhaegar's actions also led to a war that claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians. Also war leads to less resources and higher prices, particularly food, and you know who that hits first? Civilians, particularly in this case the smallfolk (I can't remember if this is brought up in regards to the rebellion but we of course see this in the War of the Five Kings. Also there's, you know, our own real history). If Rhaegar was so concerned with a threat that would harm many people, shouldn't he be concerned with saving people in other ways too and not causing them harm now?

Now there is a different question that you may be asking - do I think Rhaegar is a good fictional character? 

I mean, I think we're lacking information on him, foremost. We have a handful of quotes that we can attribute to him and a few kind of tell us certain things, in terms of his motivation 'it seems I must be a warrior, the dragon must have three heads.'  A lot of the fandom tends to....follow what characters like Cersei do which is love a man because he's beautiful and a prince and oh, so tragic. Even with Jon Connington, we don't really hear anything that tells us anything about Rhaegar ('your father's lands are beautiful' - dats it? really, bruh?). But we actually don't know too much about what he was like as a person aside from his (pretty ridiculous!) actions, his good looks and possible hints towards motivation via Barristan and Aemon (motivation is still a bit cloudy tbf). Oh, and I guess people are drawn in by the melancholic and sad pretty guy thing. 

I assume/hope that GRRM is going to deconstruct all of this by the end. (Though do we really need him to when Lyanna is being held against her will when her brother is trying to get to her? When he publicly humiliated his wife and then abandoned her and their children?) I don't find Rhaegar compelling as a character, but that's just me. I do think it’s interesting/hilarious/ridiculous that a lot of readers/fans like Rhaegar because of the very trope GRRM is likely trying to deconstruct

Maybe he did feel like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but honestly - nah. If he did, indeed, believe in a prophecy, he clearly centered himself at it - first as the promised prince himself, then as one of his children - but that still involves him. See the trend? Obviously other people find him incredibly interesting. 

I don't. Womp. There are other characters that are my problematic while male fave.  (Jaime, wassup)

TLDR: When you have privilege and power and do not use it to help people and instead cause more harm (especially because everything centers around you), you lose all moral ground. I do not find that good. 

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep24

This is a buildup ep for the finale. looks like furuba’s tradition for awkward buildup eps continues as this ep is clearly divided into two parts: machi & zodiac banquet.

-Killing the Vibe (furuba style):

Usually when writers buildup an emotional moment, they either go with it right away or if it is not its time, they slowly dissolve it or gradually redirect the story somewhere else. But the most important thing is that you hold on to the feeling they worked so hard to build but know that it will be dealt with later. Usually this is done with minor visuals such as quick flashback to the main event & the character taking deep breath ignoring it. But it is acknowledged that now it is not the time. Furuba doesn’t do that. If they build high moment & decide it is not the time to continue with it, they drop it abruptly, using the ending ost as a closing sign....which is odd cuz this is not episodic eps but continuing plot. They did it twice now: (a) tohru’s nightmare ep 19. it was treated as cliffhanger, but the next, we opened with yuki’s narrative where we see tohru normal. I know tohru’s issues will be dealt with later, perhaps season 3. But the nightmare moment was left hanging weirdly!! we never saw tohru deciding not to focus on it or anything! then (b) the kyo/tohru moment on stage & the symbolic tearing image ep23. Big moment which I  know will be focused on later. But it is so freakin odd that we see them so normal in their daily activities..as if nothing happened. Not a slight visual hint that either one is troubled... I praised how in ep, 23, they showed tohru face worrying abt bits & pieces here & there. These visual hints connects the plot.. For a moment I thought Cinderella play is a filler!! but I don’t think so, since 3 major things happened (Tohru’s near confession, machi’s opinion of yuki, arisa’s recorded outburst) two of which dealt with this ep. I know they want the focus to be on yuki, seeing that his plotline is moving smoothly without awkward breaks, but why not smooth out the other’s plotline with minor visuals without the jarring jumps. Ending ost is not automatic shifts in continued plot. Oh well, it is a minor thing I felt, no big deal.

-Machi pov is here!:

I never expected to see machi today! nice surprise! So machi is not only lonely, she lives alone! that’s odd & tragic! how can a junior high school student live alone? since when was she living alone? & her mom calling to check on her or insult her or scold her! I never wanted a phone call to end this fast. Machi’s monologue was amazingly done. Rather than describing her feelings to us or stating what we are already seeing, the words came cold.. automatic.. slow.. without much emotions. Exactly imitating how machi feels abt herself. DULL. She never thought abt things such as fave color or fave place. never thought abt anything that requires personality or preferences. The imagery they used while she was walking in the street is epic! It explained her mentality! honestly even if she said nothing around that time while she was walking, the image would’ve done enough! Machi was able to see the change in yuki cuz she was able to sense that yuki too was dull/boring or felt he felt so. Now he laughs, jokes, interacts, & joins outside school activities. Negating the dull persona. Now, it is only her. machi questions if she can do the same but her question comes out loaded with her negativity. Instead of can I do the same? it is “ why Am i here? Her bad habits are pulling her back & resisting the change.

- Since they’re deciding to embark into the romantic aspect of mach/yuki & to further add contrast to his interaction with tohru, machi is shown so struck by yuki’s presence, she falls. Typical romantic moment that I appreciate for machi who thinks she isn’t typical girl. but dull girl. Yuki finding the leaf & being happy that she treasures it adds to his self-esteem as it tells him that he is worthy to be treasured. I love machi’s indecisive responses! It gives her personality! as she is reluctant between denying or telling the truth. She was never in such situation, so she doesn’t know what to do!! blushing red like her leaf, machi didn’t only go with friends, she also learned her fave color! yuki, developing the future boyfriend detective sense like kyo, guessed it that machi likes red. You remember things abt ppl you find interesting! Machi felt that perhaps to yuki she is not dull, but interesting enough to want to learn things abt her!

-Tohru is a grown woman!!!

trust me to take 5sec interaction that involves my girl & write a deep analytic paragraph! Call it building sandcastles out of nothing but I don’t care! XD. tohru deserves some spotlight! I’m a bit disappointed that the scene is shown form a far to include yuki & shiggure..(WHY???. They can have their moment later! let my girl have a screenshot for a change!!) & the art quality is the lowest in the ep, lol & but whatever~~~ let’s focus on the positive side! my tohru bought sth for herself!! tohru who spent her hard earned money on buying candy ingredients for the filthy rich sohma’s instead of paying her tuition fees?!! tohru who wore a worn out swimsuit for school & didn’t see the value in buying new one ?! tohru whose school bag have seen better days as hiro said?!! tohru bough herself a scarf with pompom!!& she’s PROUD!! & she goes & shows kyo!!!! cuz she loves him & cuz in SE01 he was mad she doesn't buy herself stuff & cuz she knows he’ll be proud of her & cuz she want show off her cuteness & get his attention & cuz she wanna tease him!! Did you see my girl deliberately hit him with the pompom??? my girl is feisty!! She teases!! Tohru has this feisty, forward personality that she hides but peeks in certain instances!! Like when she teased kyo that he’s still scared of the stain on the wall..like when she calls him cute later this ep!! I’m so happy for every tiny teeny moment of tohru where she is herself & not the worrying mom or friend, when she is focused abt what she shows & what she wants & right now she wants kyo to notice her! GIRL HE ALREADY DOES! you are killing him already tohru..he’d be dead by now if he wasn’t a cat with 9 souls! XD.

-Yuki is leaving Akito’s side:

coming to the big moment in this ep. Akito is loosing yuki. Not only yuki decided by himself to attend the banquet that he avoided last year, he also talked to akito & forgave him for everything before. Yuki is letting go of the past. Forgiveness is a cure ppl! it’s the hardest achieved cure. it cuts the ties to negativity & free the person from the painful feelings. Akito knows she’ll be loosing a zodiac member soon! she reacts the same way she did with hatori! violently resisting change, violently making a statement that I’m the ruler of you. However, unlike when it was hatori, no one came to her. Kureno stopped her. but the rest went to yuki, to the rebel, to the one who caused her pain & rage. Akito is not only loosing yuki...she is slowly loosing all of them.

- Yuki continues the next step in his growth & frees hatori from his sins. By allowing himself to accept that he is not a helpless victim, yuki was able to see the others plain as well. Before, in his mind, he was the only one suffering, others are cruel, but now, he sees the criminal who erased his friends memories was also suffering all along. Perhaps yuki thinks that akito is suffering too? That’s why chose to forgive her & tell her that I don’t hate you anymore or hold grudge.

Side Notes:

I’m so glad kakeru had so little to do with machi & yuki interaction here. He is a character that demands spotlight & if his role was bigger, machi would disappear, it will be another yuki/kakeru moment. Also, since machi/kakeru parallel aya/yuki, you bet kakeru will be more involved between them in order to get closer to his sister & fix the gap like aya did, so I appreciate the moment of only yuki/machi now as it is unique moment without any parallels involved.

After learning of Shigure’s correct line, I can now see how things would’ve been better for akito, if she learned from yuki’s rebellion. loosing one is less painful than loosing them all, which she will. Shigure was eager for her to be spared the pain. or he might be eager for sth else entirely! but he wants this to end.

Shigure sure wasn’t himself this ep! he was restless & his jokes were all over the place, he nearly caused a misunderstanding between hatori & Mayko. I think shigure is hearing the curse breaking!!!!!

Rin & kyo!!!! I never knew I needed this!!! like last ep, I was celebrating hana & kyo, & the return of kyo & haru!! but rin & kyo is unique duo since it is not a teasing dynamics! it is a we-are-too-similar dynamics! XD

Kazuma is luv!! ugh!! my heart! what a man!! so caring & kind & ever so gentle! look at him going to rin to invite her! no kid should be alone in new years! look at him teasing his son!! look at him out polite tohru! just look at him!!!

I appreciate that the boys (kyo,yuki.haru,momiji) have different body types from each other. however, since kyo’s body changing is mentioned in the story many times, they focused on showing him growing since the 2nd ep of season 2 & more so in the beach arc & they steadily continued ever since!!! this ep, even with the low quality they showed his Adam’s apple & he is taller next to shishio. Also his baggy clothes help defy the lanky art style. With yuki, since his beauty is mentioned in the story, they’ve been focused on his face, giving him HD quality beauty all the time, but not much when it comes to his body. but today, he looked a lil bit older in machi’s scene? I duno if it is the new clothes or they’re finally allowing his body to grow?! I hope so. They are still making him so lanky as his legs were only a bit meatier than machi’s in the fight scene, but hey lankiness is the show’s art style, just look at hatori </3. They focused on making Momiji baby as it is mentioned in the story that he doesn’t look like a highschooler at all, but I swear he looks a bit older this ep!! right???

Speaking of hatori, hello there~ doc~ I never knew I needed hatori in Japanese clothes this much! It hid the lankiness & gave him the adult manly look he deserves!! so hot!!! I heard his grunt in my heart as he took his clothes off! XD. Soyou’re attached to the school sensie now~~ a lit bit worried your filthy buddy is putting hands on her..huh? oh!, if only you knew that your goofy pal is the master mind behind your new love story! I think he knows tho~

I never expected machi to be that cute!!! machi/yuki is so cute!

Rin sleeps sitting...like a horse? rin didn’t feel haru? i thought horses are as jumpy as cats! lol

Tohru & kyo are having quality flirting time with no interference from either shigure or yuki. lol.. shishio is amazing! XD

Kureno has the DVD now..let the war begins!!!

[robiness]

hottest of all takes: qrow and fear (my final/main/fave theory, rwby7 spoilers)

(reposted bc all my reblogs became messy :( since this is my last and main qrow/clover theory, i wanted it to be straightforward yay)

Volume 7 Chapter 13: “The Enemy of Trust” (Description: Who will you become when your greatest fears are realized?)

My initial reaction was: oh damn, Qrow. (and ironwood obviously, but whatever) - Qrow.

But HEAR ME OUT: 

Fear.

What if Qrow is still unconscious from the crash?

It sounds like a denial/joke, but I’ve put so much thought into my other speculations (Qrow’s tragic character arc, Raven saves everything + clover’s aesop’s fable c/o @synvamp​ - sorry im tagging u again!, rwby7 themes + time travel support)

and none of them can explain why:

there’s no official confirmation/explanation/reaction from the crew (not even at least a “he dead”, tho correct me if im wrong)

clover suddenly came out of nowhere with that characterization (qrow even notes the out-of-the-blue manipulation using the body of Robyn, who clover Respected)

clover/qrow made the weird decisions they did:

clover focused only on qrow, as if he couldn’t see tyrian a lot of the time

qrow made THAT decision re: tyrian

neither clover nor qrow saw tyrian coming to make stabby on that empty ass tundra

clover dramatically said “good luck” after qrow said he’ll make james take the fall, something that this version of clover shouldn’t be down with???? just seconds ago, he was all about following ironwood bc the general gave him a place blah blah blah?

+++ where was everything else in that last scene with the sunrise/bi flag?

We see Harbinger, Qrow, Clover. 

That’s it. Only the stuff that Qrow would focus on and remember in such a scenario.

This is a really wide shot, and there’s only those elements + bi sunrise? Can’t make me believe that.

If the three-way was real, if it actually happened, where’s signs of the fight? those huge blood stains/splatters? Kingfisher? the wreckage? the pin that should contrast against the snow even a little???

edit: the pin might be near Harbinger when zoomed in actually? is it that dot thing? - in any case, still counts as significant to Qrow in the situation!

Dreams can be irrational once awake (and to us, the audience) and I’m telling y‘all right now, it’s a dream

Everything after the crash is a nightmare in every way. I can believe it’s what Qrow thinks might happen. Because he’s afraid of trust, especially after Ruby’s panicked call and the warrant. Plus, Clover was actually intending to arrest him before the crash/wait until they see the general, which could have contributed to this sudden characterization of the Ace-Op.

Qrow would definitely fear both Clover completely turning against him/them, plus him monumentally messing up, because those are the two worst things that could possibly happen in that exact moment. 

That whole three-way fight was Qrow’s nightmare:

Clover turning out to be a follower turned victim and going against him (chances of them having the exact same history with their leaders? a bit low, they couldn’t be THAT similar, despite being foils)

Qrow’s Semblance causing the worst possible scenario, giving proof that he can never escape it

These sound very much like things Qrow would’ve been mulling over all season, despite (or because of) his increasing happiness and recovery. His confused thoughts would be: Did I get it all wrong? (Most likely also: fuck. But I digress.)

In that short amount of time, he probably still hasn’t completely trusted this current lucky streak (why should he? it’s only been months). Therefore: crash - unconscious - nightmare of worst case scenario.

(Same, Qrow.)

Anyway, this is what I’m holding on to until the end. Good night everyone. Peace.

^ here’s the obligatory shitposting section. WAKE UP QROW, OPEN UP YOUR EYES AND TRUST LOVE

[flowersforvax]

Thank you for tagging me @medusaslover  😚😚😚

1. preferred name - Stephanie

2. birthday - May 4th (it’s tragic that I’m not a star wars fan, honestly)

3. where do you live - Germany 🇩🇪

4. three things you're doing right now - uhh this, getting ready for bed, half-listening/watching to a Hamilton reaction video (😅?? I don’t even remember how I got to that video tbh 😅)

5. fandom - Mostly Critical Role, these days! (I dip my toe into the Witcher fandom every now and then!) and there’s still a ton of Sterek people I follow! aaand I got into Leverage during the CR hiatus but I don’t post a ton about that. Oh! and I recently had my own personal omgcp revival! :D

6. how has the pandemic treated you - I speak from a point of privilege and I know that when I say... it’s been fine. there’s barely a difference for me, honestly. We still have our shop open, and had it open during the lockdown too, because I guess we’re “essential” and.... I’ve been depressed and self-isolated since basically 2011 so my social life was. already non-existent lol

7. song you can't stop listening to - lol okay. so. “Anne Bonny” by Karlienne. I think it was on the The Amazing Devil artist radio? I have not heard a song that gives me the same mix of emotions since.

8. recommend a movie - oh boy. movie, movie. what movies do I like. Have I ever seen a movie???? uhhh idk Megamind.

9. age - 27

10. school, uni, occupation - working in my family’s store, shop, whatever you call it. we sell decoration and houseware and porcelain and tools and screws and shit. a little bit of everything. 

11. do you prefer heat or cold - um. warm. I think. but I might just like the “more than four hours of sunlight” part of summer

12. name a fact others might not know about you - um. because I’m not very creative I’m taking my cue from Jess Medusaslover and talk about a birthmark? I have a birthmark on my arm that’s lighter than the rest of my skin in shape of an exclamation point! (or an “i” lol)

13. are you shy - uhh. more awkward than shy, I think.

4. preferred pronouns - she/her. maybe if english was my first language I’d go for the “they” too? but I have not yet seen a german neo-pronoun that called to me 😄

15. pet peeves - when someone doesn’t open packaging the “right” way; for example when a packaging has a resealable opening but they open it in a different place, or when something like... cream cheese has a lid and an aluminium foil and they don’t completely remove the aluminium thing? I know it’s so dumb but this drives me nuts 😅😅😅

16. fave "-dere" type - ......what does that mean.   ...like “tsundere”?  I’mma be real with you chief, I had no idea there were other kinds. I guess I’m too old for the internet now

17. life rn 1-10 - ....5?

18. main blog - FlowersforVex! (which used to be littleboatfullofwater for ten years. just as a reminder? I guess?)

19. side blog - FlowerforVax! :D the sideblog I made in a flight of fancy when I thought would post a lot of shitty digital art 🤣 ehh, I still might

20. what you need to know b4 becoming my friend - I will not answer your texts for days. or I will answer immediately with triple-quadruple texts. there is no in between.

the idea of evaluating who I’m close enough to to tag without being annoying sounds really stressful rn so, uhhhh I’m tagging whoever wants to! 😅

[quirkless-and-embarrassed]

Regarding the character ask meme: I'd love to see your take on Tamaki!

HE IS ONE OF MY FAVES. As you can probably tell by my icon. I’m sorry this took me so long, but I couldn’t resist beginning the new season as I was working on this, aaand geeking out over the anime took up more time than I thought 😂

Answers under the cut because I could not resist including lots of images and because whoa this really got away from me. Spoilers for season 4 of the anime!

Favorite things about him:

tl;dr adorable+disaster+badass = instant KO

i. He’s never believed that the quirk makes the hero. Granted, it’s from his own insecurity that he believes that, but even when Mirio’s quirk was a liability, Amajiki looked up to him as a great hero. It’s especially refreshing to see because everyone else places so much emphasis on what their quirk can do.

ii. Also, his insecurity. Amajiki describes himself as a plain, boring person so terrified of failure that his brain goes blank when he even considers it. He’s not blush-y or stutter-y or those other tics associated with cutely shy characters—his face is kinda awkwardly inexpressive…he actually looks constipated when he attempts to address class 1-a during his debut…and I get a sense of stillness from him, like someone who freezes up instead of fidgeting. But he’s not fishing for encouragement. He’s likely to bluntly, unhappily shoot down any attempt to praise him because that makes the pressure even worse! No “thank you for believing in me, I’ll do my best,” no, “oh you’re too kind, that’s not true,” he’s like: “no, just…no. shit. what now? I’m not Mirio.”

iii. His relationship with Mirio. What he admires most about Mirio is how, when he goes down, Mirio always rises back up—like the sun—filled with warmth instead of with self-recrimination. He draws people in and fills them with energy. Amajiki painfully believes he isn’t capable of any of that, but he trusts Mirio, and Mirio tells him that there’s plenty of warmth to him even if Amajiki can’t sense it in himself, and even if Amajiki is filled by fear at the idea of failure, he, too, energizes Mirio when he faces his problems anyways. They talk, build each other up, and accept each others’ feelings. Amajiki still wants to be like Mirio (cue “imitation is the sincerest form of…”), but he’s learning that even though he’ll never be Mirio, he and Mirio are alike in the ways that matter most.

iv. it’s as gay as the day is long.

v. How steadfast he is. Given his anxiety, it’s not immediately obvious, but Amajiki’s doubts and insecurities center on his capabilities and self-worth—not on his principles or about what needs to be done. When he’s worried about something, he doesn’t even try to hide it, there’s something very forthright and grounded about the way he struggles to confront the current obstacle.

vi. He’s such a goofball when he’s alone with Mirio. Here he is pretending to sever his thumb. Look at that smile. And Mirio’s habit of pumping his arms when he’s excited is nearly as cute.

vii. His hero name is awesome. Suneater. Talk about names that represent your ideal self…

viii. Amajiki doesn’t win his battle against Overhaul’s thugs by discovering his confidence and whipping out a super move (which, incidentally, he attempts via flashback+miritama feels and it fails resoundingly). He wins with the power of friendship, but it’s not the typical Power of Friendship spiel.

He fights three side-characters whose names I never remember, so I call them the garbage trio: theft quirk guy (similar to how Amajiki “steals” the forms of what he eats), a guy who manifests crystals, and gluttony guy. Funnily enough, the three have terrible self-esteem issues! They’re fanatically loyal to Overhaul because he’s willing to use them as sacrificial pawns, and being a pawn is better than being rejected as garbage (which each has as his tragic past).

So the narrative presents Amajiki with two types of bonds. Will he identify with the trio’s loyalty to Overhaul, founded on their sense of worthlessness? Or will he identify with their loyalty to one another, founded on their empathy for each others’ tragic pasts? Essentially: what kind of relationship does he have with Mirio?

It’s not even a contest. Amajiki immediately and fully rejects the Overhaul-brand loyalty as brainwashing and focuses on the bond he understands, the “friends don’t eat friends” bond.

So Amajiki recognizes his opponents’ humanity when even they couldn’t. Even though they thought of themselves as nothing more than Overhaul’s tools, Amajiki intuited that the bonkers guy who shouts “eat! eat! eat!” wouldn’t bite his crystal friend when Amajiki used him as a shield. In doing this, Amajiki proved that their lives have more value to each other more than they ever will to Overhaul. He explicitly praises them for trusting each other—something they can take pride in because they forged it themselves—and ultimately removes their masks, symbolically freeing them from Overhaul’s ownership.

It was a cool idea because usually I see the protagonist summon up reserves of power he didn’t know he had in order to protect his comrades, but when Amajiki was inspired by remembering how Mirio believes in him, it doesn’t actually work because the garbage trio calls on their own bond to counter his power-up. Or usually it’s the antagonist who turns the protagonists’ love for each other against them, and here it was reversed. Except Amajiki used their friendship against them not out of contempt for their bond, “oh your love makes you so weak and predictable,” but out of respect for it, “love is what makes you strong, and I know that because it makes me strong, too.”

ix. His weird, pointy ears.

x. His dub voice acting: it’s stellar. Props to Aaron Dismuke, highly recommend watching his episodes in the dub.

Least favorite things about him:

His first name, Tamaki. It just never sticks in my mind—Amajiki is much more distinctive. (Apparently I have some sort of big three mental block, because I can rarely remember Mirio’s and Nejire’s last names, either.)

He didn’t really grow or learn anything from his fight against the garbage trio. He was already confident in his bond with Mirio, and the whole reason he volunteered to fight the trio was that he thought he could win, so it was basically a high-stakes training exercise in sticking to his guns. I think the purpose of the fight was to teach the audience that he and Mirio are a positive foil for bakudeku, providing another way Mirio is superior to Midoriya + amping Mirio up before his tragedy-slash-victory, so it’s a shame Amajiki’s most major scene wasn’t about himself.

I wish he had more screen time, I wish he had more development, I wish we got his reaction to Mirio losing his quirk, I wish had scenes with more characters than just Mirio, Kirishima, and Fat Gum, etc. The usual gripes about faves who are side characters.

Favorite lines:

Ch132 – I love how forthright he is lol. No attempt to put up a strong front.

Ch132 – When the thug Amajiki’s fighting shouts at him, his feelings are hurt 😂 also bonus for kiri trying to comfort him

Ch135 – cool as a cucumber

And two I won’t include the panels for…

His badass line in 141, “I might not understand your rage. Your grief. Everything that led you here…but I know all about solid bonds! And my friends don’t use each other! Because friends don’t eat friends.”

and when he collapses after beating the garbage trio:*THUD* Huh…why’s the floor so close to my face?doofus

BROTPs:

Kirishima!! His pep talks to Amajiki while they were on patrol were really cute. I can only imagine how he handles Kirishima and Tetsutetsu! He’s totally the third wheel, and normally he’s happy to be! But sometimes he watches the two hype each other up and gets depressed about it because he’s never that positive and encouraging. Sometimes Fat Gum leaves Amajiki in charge and it seriously stresses him out because Tetsutetsu occasionally charges off to do his own thing and it’s a whole ordeal to rein him in.

And oh shit, Nejire’s personality is just as cute as Amajiki’s, I’d love to see more of the two of them hanging out. (and just…more of Nejire in general, please. Her debut was so funny and then Horikoshi did nothing with her.)

In class-a, I’m curious to see how Amajiki and Yaoyorozu would get along. They’re both gifted students with confidence issues and quirks that depend on eating, so it would be nice to see them hit it off. I’d also be interested to see Amajiki and Bakugo interact, especially with Kirishima there.

Also, since Amajiki has such a preoccupation with exuberant, confident people, I’d love to see him somehow meet Inasa.

This isn’t a brotp, but I’ll bet Nighteye intimidated the shit out of Amajiki… Mirio told Amajiki endless anecdotes about Nighteye but it didn’t work, till the day he dies Amajiki will still get clammy any time he thinks of Nighteye’s glare or the purported tickle machine.

Again not a brotp, but I’d love to see Amajiki vs. Shigaraki. That sounds like an awesome fight. (…ideally before Shigaraki gets all OP and only Midoriya can beat him.)

OTP:

Mirio.

NOTP:

Nobody comes to mind.

Random headcanons:

Most of the food Amajiki eats goes into his quirk; he doesn’t properly extract its caloric and nutritional value, and if he’s not careful, he could accidentally become malnourished. (It also makes it difficult to put on muscle.) So he eats a ton, to make sure he has enough to fuel both his quirk and his body, and he’s self-conscious at how much more he eats than other people.

When Amajiki vomits, his quirk is weakened to the point it’s basically null. He has to take a break and chow down before he can use it again. …Re-ingesting the puke is…not an option.

Clothing is a big issue for his hero work. He could develop a really powerful fighting style, one that involves producing limbs from his back and torso, if he were willing to wear a little less…but that’s never going to happen. Mirio can run around naked, but Amajiki can’t!

I don’t know if this is a translation quirk or fanon or what, but I adore it when Nejire calls Amajiki “chicken-hearted” in fanfiction. It’s a short, cute joke about his quirk and I wholeheartedly hc it. I also think Amajiki is closer to Nejire than Mirio is.

Amajiki doesn’t deal with his self-esteem issues by minimizing his challenges. He doesn’t make cheap compromises like, “ok, I know I can do this because it’s so easy even someone like me can do it.” He goes for broke, for being the spectacular hero Suneater, because even if he can’t perceive his own positive qualities, he believes that they’re there.

One of the (many) reasons Amajiki admires Mirio is that Mirio admires him, and Amajiki wants to be able to like himself, too.

When it comes down to it, his self-worth is nowhere near as desperately poor as the garbage trio because he knows true friendship. Maybe if he’d never met Mirio, Amajiki would have been susceptible to their sort of devotion, but now he never will be because Mirio’s encouraged him to value himself. Amajiki won’t accept a bond that relies on degrading yourself—which is important to know, since Amajiki constantly compares himself to Mirio. But Amajiki’s sense of inferiority is chronic without being proportionately deep. He adopted the name Suneater to declare himself Mirio’s equal, and his climactic line of the garbage trio battle, “friends don’t eat friends,” is one that asserts equality and puts his quirky spin on it to show he’s made the principle his own. Amajiki may not like himself but he doesn’t let it get in the way of taking his place as Mirio’s peer.

Amajiki’s parents are also anxious people.

Mirio is his neighbor at the UA dorms. It’s perfect because Mirio can permeate their the shared wall and they can hang out after curfew. (Mirio keeps a pair of sweatpants in Amajiki’s room for those occasions lol.) Nejire is jealous and always talks about gate-crashing, but she never gets around to it. Even after Mirio loses his quirk, his sweatpants stay in Amajiki’s room because neither of them can quite bring themselves to give those times up.

I am a sucker for making characters’ quirks reflect something fundamental about their hearts, so here’s my take on manifest. Amajiki manifests what he eats, meaning he absorbs from his environment and re-creates it in his own style. It’s not imitation, since Amajiki with one cow hoof and one tentacle, kicking ass, resembles neither a cow or an octopus, but he takes the best from what’s around him and reinvents it. “Suneater”? Thanks to how his friendship with Mirio gave him a stable, nourishing environment, he’s absorbed his favorite of Mirio’s traits and manifests them in his own way, as his own strength, because as even name of his quirk implies—manifestation makes latent qualities visible.

Like Bakugo, Amajiki could have resented Mirio for his strengths; like the garbage trio, he could have let his failures convince him that he’s worthless; but Amajiki consistently makes the best of the cards he’s dealt, even though it involves plenty of doubt and self-flagellation that could lead him down a darker path…but don’t. He’s greater than his demons.

Unpopular opinion:

Amajiki’s shy, but…not that shy. He gets like stiffly shy.

Amajiki still has a ways to go before he’s ready to date Mirio. (Not sure what’s the popular opinion on this.)

I really wish class 1-a versus Mirio had been class 1-a versus Mirio and Amajiki. It would have been so cool to see what amazing teamwork they had and how their quirks were compatible.

Song I associate with him:

Titanium—absolutely. I like the versions by Sia, Boyce Avenue, and Kurt Schneider (I couldn’t choose). Circles by Veela reminds me of his spiraling anxiety. And, I can’t resist, so I’m adding Chasing the Sun by The Wanted on here.

Aaand my ship songs…Appreciated by Rixton, and All of Me by John Legend.

Favorite picture of him:

Ch141 – Ironclad certainty. I’m not even gonna apologize for the dimensions and the fact this is huge, just drink it in.

Ch132 – If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I will never trust your judgment.

Ch152 – Unless it’s because this is the cutest.

Ch152 – When Mirio loses his quirk 💔

I’ve also answered these questions for Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka, Endeavor, Sir Nighteye, and Shinsou!

[bloodyshadow1]

Glitched “Catra”

The more I think about it, the more I start to believe the theory that the Catra Adora fought in the collapsing portal world, the crazy corrupted one, wasn’t the real Catra. Maybe she’s alien technology, maybe Catra go possessed by something in the portal who had a grudge against She-Ra, maybe it’s first one’s hologram technology something like Light Hope’s training sims (will actually be talking about this later). I know people have argued against it since once Catra is back in the prime world she rubs her cheek where Adora punched ‘her.’  I’m not saying this isn’t true, but that seems to be the only argument from this theory and it doesn’t disprove anything.  

I’m going to start off saying that Catra is my favorite character and I ship Catradora, I find Catra far more relatable and likable than any of the main cast and her story just feels more fleshed out to me.  I’m not going to pretend I’m not bias, but this isn’t about me trying to say she did nothing wrong or anything like that, I’m not an idiot, I know what she’s done is bad and definitely wrong, but I can talk about that in another post.   I legitimately think there are some holes in the idea that Catra was the Corrupted Catra in the portal world that was browbeating Adora.  This is also just one of many theories I have, try not to get too wrapped up in it if you believe it or hate my ideas.  When I watched it the first time, it felt wrong I think is the best word I can think of, I thought it was because my favorite was becoming a monster who was unforgivable.  But I think there’s more to it than just the tragic feelings of your fave going insane. 

The first piece of evidence is what I think sparked the theory is that the Catra who got corrupted by the portal knew things that the real Catra shouldn’t know.  Adora came through the portal from Eternia, and Corrupted Catra, CC, uses that to hurt Adora saying if she never came through the portal than everything would have been fine, but Catra shouldn’t know that.  The ‘good guys’ only know Adora’s origins because Shadow Weaver told them, but before that only 3 people knew Adora’s origins, Shadow Weaver, Hordak, and Light Hope, so unless Adora told Catra while they returned to the Frightzone to get her to listen, Catra could only learn about Adora’s past from one of these three people.  Light Hope would have tried to get security to kill Catra if they even tried to talk to each other, Hordak didn’t care enough about Adora to waste time thinking of her, and Shadow Weaver hates Catra, why would she tell her a secret that she keeps from Adora if she bothered to do anything but threaten her?  Not to mention that until Adora mentions the portal in ep 3, Catra didn’t even know what it was or that it’s what Hordak and Entrapta have been working.  She basically laughs it off as a tall tale until she has her breakdown when Adora mentions Shadow Weaver, and even then she just hears that Adora doesn’t want it to be activated.  So how did CC know that Adora came through the portal in the first place as a baby when Catra didn’t.  Maybe this is just a bit of a writing snafu since it’s hard to remember who knows what when writing, but it seems out of place.  Not Catra blaming everything on Adora unfortunately, but she still shouldn’t know that Adora is from another dimension and a first one.  

My second point is more disbelief than anything else, I just find it strange that Catra, corrupted or not, went down with a single punch from Adora.  Now granted it was a high stress situation and Adora is not exactly a lightweight even outside of being She-Ra, but it seems to me like it’s almost unrealistic for Catra to go down in one punch, even if it was to the face.  Catra might be a speed fighter as opposed to a power fighter like Adora or Scorpia, but she’s stronger and a lot tougher than she looks.  She’s taken a lot of punishment in the series from what we’ve seen and the only thing that has knocked her out was being asphyxiated by Hordak’s atmosphere thing.  She’s been blasted by magic, countless times, slammed into mountains by She-Ra, not Adora, been Loki’d by She-Ra when she was in her rage mode and likely wasn’t holding back, fallen from a an unspecified height to land on her face like Wily Coyote, crushed by Shadow Weaver’s magic, oh and blasted away by a magic rainbow of power being used by the combined might of all the princesses, and Bow, which tossed tanks aside.  Through all that she’s gotten up immediately and started fighting again, yet one punch from Adora, again regular still super strong, but not She-Ra super strong Adora, puts her down?  Narratively it makes sense, Adora decides that Catra is her enemy and stops holding back against her former friend (love of her life) and shows Catra what she can do when she’s fighting an enemy.  But it still doesn’t make sense for Catra to go down in a single punch, especially when she’s hopped up on crazy portal juice. You could say that maybe the mountain thing was Adora holding back, not wanting to kill Catra and that falling on her face wasn’t super high up, maybe since Catra has slowly been breaking down over the past few weeks her mental toughness has degraded so she couldn’t get up, maybe these answer the question it doesn’t change the fact that it is out of place.  Catra is one tough bitch, suicidal and mentally broken maybe, but tough all the same. One punch from a super strong normal girl her own age should not put her down. I mean this all could be explained by it being more narratively important for Adora to be the one to put her down and that it’s a cartoon, why am overthinking it, but hey, it’s kind of a thing people do nowadays, at least I do.

3rd point, why was Catra able to come back all corrupted and even more insane than usual?  There were other characters in the false reality, but they disappeared and in some cases reality rewrote itself as if they never existed, yet Catra who willingly fell into the void managed to come back somehow.  Again, it makes sense narratively since Adora and Catra’s relationship is one of the most important plot points of the series and confronting a Catra who blames her for everything and Adora as the hero, realising that she isn’t responsible for Catra’s choices is an important part of her story.  But that doesn’t explain why or how Catra came back, she literally fell into a bright, light pink and purple void, she didn’t have anything to grab onto, no way to return, she didn’t want to come back seeing as she let go of the rock holding her in place, she wanted to die.  Even if she was, why didn’t she fade away with the Horde in that reality, why didn’t she fade away with Brightmoon and Bow and Glimmer, she was still there for no reason other than it’s important for Adora to have this slate cleaning battle with her.  ‘Catra’ came back for some reason, apparently to fuck with Adora one last time and blame everything on her.  I’m not going to pretend like that isn’t a very Catra thing to do, but it still doesn’t explain why she was able to come back and it also doesn’t explain why she was able to control the reality in the portal.  When they fight, or when CC is wailing on Adora, everytime Catra hits her or throws her around, they shift where they are, first at the bar in the Crimson Wastes, then the cold place, then Salineas, then in Frosta’s castle, then in what looks to be the Horde, then Mara’s ship when Adora fights back and they’re finally back to where they started in the crumbling reality.  Adora notices the shifts in reality and it messes with her, but Catra doesn’t, she just does it, disappearing and appearing where she can mess with Adora the most.  Maybe Catra’s just too crazy to realize what’s happening, maybe reality is just shifting around them to places they’ve both been since there are only 3 people left in that reality while it crumbles around them.  Maybe it’s a moment of ‘don’t think feel,’ and Catra who is all rage and passion was able to warp the world into what she wanted because she was in control, but it hasn’t been explained so I’m free to speculate. 

My 4th point is more an interesting theory to compound the already theory.  Mara did something so that portals couldn’t be opened in Despondos, at least that’s what I got out of it, I could be wrong.  Mara was the last She-Ra so that makes her a First One, and probably far more familiar with First One’s technology than anyone in the series, even Entrapta or Hordak, I mean Mara had a ship and everything and was able to strand Etheria into the void of Despondos, so I think that’s a safe assumption.  If she trapped Etheria in Despondos I have to assume she used First One’s technology to do so since it seems to be basically magic and the only thing powerful enough so far that could do that to a planet. Apparently she sabotaged it so that if someone on Etheria opened a portal would destroy the planet, yet when Catra activated the portal, it took them to a new reality, maybe?  Maybe it was explained well and I just missed it, there was a lot of stuff going on those eps, so I’m sorry if I got some things wrong.  Regardless, it’s weird, I know the reality they were in was faulty, it was falling apart, but other than Angella being trapped in there, nothing else happened, at least from what we can see. I mean everyone and everything fades away except for Angella, Catra, and Adora, yet once they’re out of that reality everyone is alive, Catra isn't corrupted anymore, it’s like nothing happened.  It almost feels like it was one of Light Hope’s/the Temple’s holograms but more.  I don’t mean like Light Hope’s Training holograms, I mean when the Temple scanned Catra and Adora and had them relive their memories. Catra and Adora faded in and out of their past selves and memories fluidly, going from observer to participant without realizing it.  It seemed like it reacted to how they were feeling, when Catra and Adora were arguing with each other they shifted from their past selves to their current selves to yell at each other.  Which is similar to what happened when CC started beating on Adora and shifting reality around them, not the same, but similar is enough for theorizing.

  A lot of people have had thoughts about Light Hope not being as good as she seems, from the Promise ep where the memories seemed specifically made to divide Catra and Adora, hence why Catra only saw the sad outcome of the match and was abducted right after that by the spider creature, or that she saw the promise they made when they were kids when Adora didn’t.  Also Madame Razz, she’s kooky and a bit hard to understand, but she remembers Mara as a hero and her friend from Ep 3, despite Light Hope leading Adora to think of Mara as a failure and a traitor, Madame Razz seems to have more going on than she seems so I think I would err on her side.  Come Season 3 (or 2.5) we see that at least from Mara’s perspective she didn’t think she was a hero, but still needed to do what needed to be done.  She mentions Light Hope in her message but it isn’t clear, something about a weapon that can’t be used I think. It kind of sounds like Mara had to do something otherwise Light Hope or someone else was going to do something worse, so Mara chose to strand Etheria in Despondos so there wouldn’t be any other First Ones to pick up the sword and become the next She-Ra.  It seems like Light Hope is incredibly shady or at the very least the ones who created/controlled Light Hope.  I’m not saying the portal was related to Light Hope or her doing, but it made Adora, the current She-Ra, the center of the reality. It’s possible if not likely that it was doing something similar to what Light Hope might have done to Catra and Adora in the Promise, under a much larger scale.  I mean if Mara as She-Ra trapped Despondos for that reason, likely with First Ones Technology, then I mean it might act like Light Hope even if they aren’t the same.  It might want what’s best for the current She-Ra even if it doesn’t really know what Adora wants, sort of like how both Light Hope and Shadow Weaver both claim to want what’s best for Adora despite it not being good for her, what she wants or good for the world.  

Additionally, if the portal reality was a simulation instead of a whole new reality, it would be an interesting bookend to the start of the season.  Season 2 and 3 were written together and were supposed to be watched as one season, the first thing we see of Adora is her in a training simulation against Catra.  It’s revealed that no matter how mean Catra is or what she’s done, Adora can’t bring herself to finish her off, even a simulation of her is too much.  Now at the end of season 3 if the portal reality was a simulation, it was a successful one because it did exactly what Light Hope was trying to teach Adora in ep 1. Now Adora doesn’t see Catra as her former best friend, she sees her as an enemy, an enemy who was willing to doom the whole world and Angella paid the price.  Adora is exactly where Light Hope wanted her to be at the start of the season, just needed to be pushed too far by Catra or CC.

Anyway, this is it, I do realize that I’m probably just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, I’m not delusional and likely the portal talk was just a plot hole, and the rest was just due to be written because it’s a cartoon.  It’s still fun to think about, especially since we don’t know when season 4 is coming out.  The whole thing at the end of this last season just felt to me more like Adora exorcising her demons rather than her defeating her enemy, it’s not always separate, but it felt different. I don’t know, maybe I’m just imagining things, regardless, I thought it would be interesting to talk about.

[amphtaminedreams]

S/S 2020 Fashion Month: A Basic, Uneducated Fashion Heaux’s A-Z of Everything Noteworthy (Part 2/3)

Hi to anyone reading,

Back at it again with the giving my unsolicited opinion on 2020′s spring/summer offering, I’m gonna hop straight into part 2 of my fashion month review!

Sorry to start with an underwhelming few but my compulsive tendencies are making it really hard to break out of this alphabetical structure (cry laughs whilst thinking about how long it took me to face up at my retail job last night because it would give me vaguely homicidal urges and make my fingers tingle every time a customer moved something slightly out of line), so I’m gonna whizz through a handful of collections. First up, Halpern:

Not much to say but I’m envious of the heavy liner (my hooded eyes could never) and I like the colour scheme. As for the 80s style metallic pink dress?

Helmut Lang:

And Hermes:

Of these 3 collections, Hermes is definitely the most interesting. I like the colour scheme and the utilitarian shapes and the tan coloured jackets are an absolute shoot. This is how you make safari look fresh, D&G take note.

Isabel Marant was okay. It’s cute, sure, reminds me of something Mary-Kate and Ashley would’ve come out with/worn in the 2000s, and there’s definitely some things I would wear, but I wouldn’t say it looks all that luxury. Pricey, sure, but like, Free People pricey, not designer pricey. As a collection, it’s not all that conceptual, unless the concept is L.A girl does a Starbucks run after her bikram yoga class. What I will say though is that some of the S/S 2020 commercial trends are becoming clear: white cheesecloth pieces, peasant blouses, cowboy boots, scrappy sandals, neutral tones, and bandana print. 

Now onto the darling of high fashion Twitter: Jacquemus.

As far as presentation goes, this has to be one of my favourite set-ups of the season; a hot pink runway running through a lavender meadow is as canny and serene as those who sing the praises of Simon Porte Jacquemus would have you expect, and the clothes were easy, breezy and beautiful, even if there is an element of getting dressed in the dark going on with the styling which put me off including a few otherwise gorgeous pieces. It might not be 100% my style but you can tell this is a brand of the future which is only going to go from strength to strength.

And everything was beautifully and purposefully crafted on the runway with J.W Anderson this year. The pieces are graceful and timeless whilst still easy to envision as something a modern woman would throw on to (very fashionably) run some errands in the city. This was also one of the handful of shows (IIRC! This might be a case of extreme deja-vu!) where we saw the sandal straps tied over the trousers, I’m guessing to accentuate the ankles, and...I’m surprisingly here for it? Though in a sense it kinda resembles when I accidentally get my work trousers tucked into my slipper socks, it’s an interesting touch and adds a bit of a shape to otherwise billowing bottom halves.

Following Jacquemus’ lead (or vice versa, I’m way too deep into this fashion month haze to work out who went first at this point), Lacoste also put on a co-ed show. Otherwise crisp and preppy as per, the neckerchiefs (even if seeing them all next to one another does give off a bit of a Disneyland Main Street barbershop quartet vibe) and vinyl/wet-look/PVC/I’m still not sure what differentiates the 3 coats were an out of the box touch for them and I really liked it. It’s athleisure, but more like something Hayley Bieber would’ve worn as part of her Princess Diana inspired shoot than anything I’d wear to the gym.

LMAO, as if I go the gym. But you get my point. Next, Loewe:

Delicate, feminine and all around delightful, the S/S 2020 Loewe collection is up there with Chloe and Brock when it comes to most spring appropriate. More chiffon, lace and doily-like detailing, please, the old woman in me lives for this kinda thing made fashionable. Like with J.W Anderson, you can tell the design team wanted to do something different without just throwing shit onto their pieces for the sake of being wacky, and so we end up with these dramatic, slightly geometric waistlines and almost angelic Victorian nightgown inspired dresses that kinda make me wished that 1). ghosts existed and that 2). I lived back in that era so I could die some tragic death wearing any one of the dresses on the left in the top 3 rows and then haunt the shit out of everyone. That would really be an iconic fashion moment. Also wonderful, imo, was Louis Vuitton:

The mix between 60s and Edwardian I never knew I needed, as opposed to Gucci’s forward thinking take on the former decade, Louis Vuitton takes it back even further and throws in late 19th/early 20th century structures and references. I adore the what seems to be a mix between brocade and paisley print and the exaggerated collars are a very cute touch. The jacket on the top left is a highlight, a more neutral version of the similar catsuit seen at the Longchamp show (I couldn’t personally pick enough highlights from that to include it), and I now more than ever really want to try and pull off a sweater vest. The shoes might not be the most exciting thing ever but they’re also a personal favourite, from the knee high boots to the loafers with the LV moniker.

Maison Margiela was very cool and again, I’m in love with the shoes and just the accessories in general, ESPECIALLY those hats. I don’t know if I’m way off base here but this show is almost a modernised, fashionable version of a 1940s period drama about WW2 pilots and evacuees. Yes, maybe I am just getting that solely from the trench coats and the naval influences and the exaggerated collars but I think with that list I made quite a case for that perspective, right? Right.

And completing this holy trinity (appropriating the term I usually reserve for Emma Watson, Emma Stone and Emma Roberts is not without careful consideration) is Marc Jacobs. One of my ultimate favourites of this season, this collection is absolutely EVERYTHING: kitschy, dream-like, whimsical, over-the-top, and totally appropriate for your slightly eccentric aunt who always drinks too much wine and talks a lot of shit every time she comes over for dinner. I really feel like I walked into wonderland looking at this collection, and in the best way possible, it gives me a female Russell Brand in the 2000s’ wardrobe on crack. On the one hand we have these insanely beautiful and ethereal chiffon floral dresses but then we also have fricken top hats. Basically, it’s everything I love about fashion and I don’t know if anything can top it. Periodt (and I type that with a totally straight face). 

Next, onto another personal fave, Marchesa:

Which is as always, beautiful. I was going to write that if Disney princesses came to life and lived in the modern world (so, in other words, Elle Fanning), they would be wearing Marchesa and then I remembered that the film Enchanted exists and had a lightbulb moment and thought OH MY GOD IF THEY REMADE THAT IN 2019, THE DRESS ON THE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE ROW WOULD BE A PERFECT LEVELLING UP OF THE CURTAIN DRESS.

Anyways, favourites of the favourites are the bottom row; I would die for that feather trim. 

BUT where Marchesa is everything opulent, overly ornate and err-ing on “fussy”, Margaret Howell’s S/S 2020 collection is completely stripped back and just as effective, if not as to my taste. Very cool, very current, and altogether effortless (in a good way!), with this show Margaret Howell made mid-20th century utilitarianism relevant. I never thought I’d be praising the combination of bermuda shorts, crew socks and a beanie and yet here I am. Character development.

Next is Marine Serre:

Which I really like! The bottom row isn’t really to my personal taste but I can acknowledge that if I saw somebody wearing any one of those outfits I’d think they looked sick, and as for the first two rows, those mesh tops and the slightly chintzy florals are right up my alley.

Marques Almeida put out a really strong collection, imo. The blending of luxurious silhouettes and fabrics with street wear inspired prints and styling is a really interesting and unique contrast and if Billie Eilish ever decided to stop wearing those tweenie clothes and wanted to actually seduce somebody’s dad (I LOVE BILLIE EILISH AND I KNOW WHY SHE DRESSES THE WAY SHE DOES, IT’S A JOKE, PLS DON’T HATE ME), I’d love to see her wearing something like this. It’s a blend of punk, urban, and 2019 e-girl and has the kind of edge that Topshop has lost over the past couple of years that used to make it so aspirational to my 13 year old self. Of all the shows, it also probably has the most personally wearable accessories, and a shit tonne of cool make up looks I’d love to try if it weren’t for my lack of visible eyelid, lol.

Make up looks were a highlight of the Max Mara show too, for me anyway.

I otherwise wasn’t hugely keen on the collection, it being a little too matronly/Miss.Trunchbull-esque for my liking (wild card fashion inspiration of 2019, apparently?). The light paisley print dresses are very dreamy, though, and I can never resist a good suit. 

As for Michael Kors, dare I say it, but the basic bitch in me loved it. I know as a designer he’s not held in very high regard by the fashion community and I'm not saying it’s at all original but it did what it set out to do well; I mean, it’s quite fitting that he cameo-d in an episode of Gossip Girl because every outfit would be perfect for the Constance attending incarnation of Blair Waldorf, which is probably why I like the collection. Like yeah, it’s a bit of a Polo Ralph Lauren/Lacoste rip off but it’s daintier and more feminine and so I’m not gonna lie, I’m on board with it. 

Next, Miu Miu.

One of the collections I was most excited for, I was a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the collection, but I have never once disliked anything Miu Miu and I usually love it. There are things I love about this line too: the cream, floral lace-up boots, the off-the-shoulder cardigans, the houndstooth oversized coats and of course the fur-lined gilets. My mum used to buy me similar ones when I was a little girl and so they give me childhood nostalgia in the best way possible. I mean, the collection is as girly and eccentric as ever. I think it’s just a little too on the primary school librarian side for me, this time round. Sorry Miu Miu xoxo

Now I’m just gonna speed through a couple, starting with MM6 Maison Margiela, the younger sister to the more expensive regular Maison Margiela line:

And Monique Lhuillier:

So that I can get to one of my other ultimate favourite collections for S/S 2020: Moschino.

Oh my god, where to even start. Firstly, I might be reaching, but if this show is even remotely to thank for art nouveau mesh tops showing up in the Urban Outfitters new in section, then a very sarcastic thank you to Jeremy Scott. You just made ethical shopping a lot harder. HOW am I supposed to not buy an Alphonse Mucha top? HOW!? I mean, I’m sure I’ll manage (I’m on month 3 without a shopping spree I can’t actually afford now and yes, I am very much patting myself on the back), but HOW!?

But on a serious level, if renaissance was the print of 2019, which I’m still very much into BTW, bring on modern art as its 2020 replacement. The Pablo Picasso inspired show not only livened up a generally pretty predictable fashion month but it’s also got me searching up other times art has met fashion on the runway and thrown me down a particularly aesthetically pleasing wormhole I’m not sure I ever want to escape from (https://frontrowmagazine.ca/art-inspired-looks-were-all-over-the-runways-of-fashion-week-a74e8bc7ff0d and https://www.vogue.com/article/spring-2017-ready-to-wear-fine-arts-trends are good starting points!).

Mugler was also up there with the best of them, imo:

See, if the Moschino collection was all about dabbling in art class, Mugler’s S/S 2020 collection is its more mathematically inclined sister, all about sharp lines and deconstructed silhouettes and symmetry all whilst looking hot as fuck. So very Mugler, basically. 

Now, this reference might be slightly off because I haven’t actually SEEN Ex-Machina yet but I imagine if Kim Kardashian were to channel that movie for a costume party she’d end up wearing something from this collection. That sounds like a roast because Kim has worn some questionable outfits but I blame Kanye for most of that and I’m referring to her on a good fashion day, alright!?

As for Off-White, it’s obviously a lot more commercial than most of the lines I’ve reviewed so far. Like, I can see a lot of these outfits on a mannequin in Urban Outfitters (no, I am not being paid to namedrop them, about 3 people in total read this Tumblr so any kind of sponsorship money would be severely wasted on me). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I love all of these looks; it just seems unfair to compare them to the the Mugler or Moschino collections, for example. 

The stand outs for me are all on the bottom row: I would buy the utility vest, leather blazer and the all mesh turtleneck under washed-out tie-dye on the spot if I saw them in a high street store. Unfortunately, I feel like that’s kinda where they belong. You just expect collections to be a bit more conceptual, and this one is a little watered down, as much as it’s my style.

Oscar de la Renta was beautiful, of course. Not like I’m shook by how beautiful it is but kinda just what you’d expect from a brand with a name as poetic and fun to say as Oscar de la Renta. The silhouettes are dreamy and the details are as fit for a fairy princess (lmao) as ever. Plus can I just say how happy I am to see butterflies on dresses for adult women again!? And dresses worn by Blanca Padilla nonetheless!? Very here for it.

Next up is another on one of my fashion month highlights: Paco Rabanne.

LOOK AT THIS SHIT!

I mean, don’t get me wrong, something about this collection (I’m pretty sure it’s the knee high coloured socks) is giving me primary school teacher vibes, but I'm not mad about it. It’d be the kind of teacher who’s actually really good at their job and has loads of cool hobbies and a really hot boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband who you secretly want to be then you grow up/and or have a huge crush on. 

Like with Marc Jacobs, there’s obvious flower child elements here, and whilst on the whole the former took my breath away slightly more, this is a lot more wearable. My favourites are the paisley print dress and cape on the left in the very bottom row and all the chainmail pieces (which remind me of the dress Naomi Smalls wore in that whole club ninety-sixxxxx skit on drag race), plus that floral cut out dress with the trailing flute sleeves, which is absolute PERFECTION. 

The 70s influence was clear in Peter Pilotto’s S/S 2020 collection too from the abundance of tie-dye to the knit v-neck dress, zany colour and print being the very on-brand focus. That being said, this is definitely more of a street-style inspired collection than usual and whilst the floral suits and dresses on the 3rd row down are very typical Peter Pilotto, the tie-dye corset and combat trousers on the far right, second row from the bottom, are very Jaded London. As for the reoccurrence of the bucket hat, I’ve remained steadfastly against them for several years now (even when our Lord and Saviour Miss Robyn Rihanna Fenty started wearing them) but the way they’re done in this collection even I could definitely get behind; all in all, the show surpassed my expectations.

The same goes for Ports 1961, which was a lot more eccentric than I gathered is the norm from a few google searches. Honestly, I hadn’t really heard of the brand which, upon reading up on it, I feel very dumb for considering it has been around since (in the shock twist of the century) 1961.

Yes, I know how that sounds! But forgive me, I’m still learning:)

Anyway, the fishnet detailing alone pretty much sold the looks I picked out. Seriously, I got a pair of those bloody tights, like, 2 years ago when they became a thing again and now any outfit where I have my legs out feels incomplete without them. 

Next is Prabal Gurung, which, as far as presentation goes, was fucking STUNNING:

I mean, you could say that I’m easily impressed and that the presence of the bouquets won me over (and you’d definitely have a point there), but it’s also this year’s Givenchy haute couture-esque feathers, the trailing pearl necklaces, the exaggerated shoulders, the dreamy colouring, the everything looking like it could’ve grown off a very fashionably-inclined tree. Like, there’s a lot to love here, from the naturalistic elements, to the context behind the show, an ode to American fashion history and those cast out of it (and the notion of “being American” in general) for so long. 

Going from a high to a (personal) low, however, next we have Prada:

I don’t know, I get that it’s supposed to be simple and stripped back and dignified and whatever and I like the looks I picked but it’s just a bit blah for me. The bonnets that kept cropping up just didn’t do it for me and almost ruined what is an otherwise nice skirt suit (top right). Nonetheless, I like the silhouette of the sheer black dress and the the brocade print suit is really luxurious looking, even if the pattern is a *little* Wetherspoons carpet. 

Anyways, here’s a quick overview of Rag and Bone:

So that I can stop moaning and get onto a collection I REALLY liked: 

I am of course talking about Ralph and Russo. See, this is kinda what I expected from, like, Chanel and yet it’s Ralph and Russo that delivered. Also, it gives me Alessandra Rich vibes which is very much a compliment considering how much I love her designs. I mean, if Valley of the Dolls were to get another film remake in 2019, this is exactly what I’d like to see the female leads wearing, from the pastel suits to the satin kaftan style dresses. The yellow feather trimmed dress is practically a copy of something Marchesa has already done but it’s cute all the same. In my top 10 collections of the season, for sure.

Rick Owens was another strong collection; it goes without saying that it’s not the most wearable but that’s not really what Rick Owens is known for, so I wouldn’t expect anything else. If you want fashion on an alien planet, or something Lady Gaga would’ve worn in 2010, he's your man.

Next, Rodarte:

Obviously the dresses are beautiful and the set is magnificent, BUT...I’m really not a fan of the whole celebrities filling in for high fashion models thing. I like Lili Reinhart and I adore Kirsten Dunst, she’s been in a load of my favourite films, but in a similar vein to Dolce and Gabbana’s influencer show, it’s just distracting from the actual garments, if even worse because I don’t WANT to be distracted here (the same can’t be said for the D&G show, lol).  If anybody has read this far, let me know your thoughts! 

Roland Mouret was nice, and I always like a coed show, especially when a designer isn’t afraid to blur the lines of masculine and feminine. It’s fresh, lightweight and luxurious looking, Cannes film festival street style eat your heart out, and I love the colour palette.

Similarly, colour was my favourite thing about Sally LaPointe’s S/S 2020 collection. 

I would never think that teal and burnt orange would work together, let alone in some kind of faux leather, and yet here we are. Orange is in itself always an interesting colour choice, perfect for the summer with a tan, and I really love monochrome outfits, even though they’re something that ends up being quite pricey to put together; slight differences in tone are okay but if you just randomly throw together a few things and they’re too off, it really doesn’t work and you’d have been better off wearing contrasting colours. For that reason, I’m just gonna admire that all-pink outfit from a distance. 

As for Schiaparelli, it’s one I always look forwards to for the sheer weirdness. RTW isn’t quite as kooky as haute couture but still, the interesting choices are still there; what at first glance appears to be flame print is actually coils of hair, and paired with a water print suit is a sequinned jacket emblazoned with a paradisiacal mirage. Ornament-like facial decorations as seen in the over-exaggerated glasses worn with the pony hair suit are also one of my favourite new things to happen in the high fashion scene in the past couple of months and I can’t wait to see how they get watered down to become more approachable for us...regular, non-structurally blessed folks who can’t pull off anything and everything.

Simone Rocha was STUNNING. Romantic and ethereal, it’s druid goddess crossed with upper class Victorian woman of leisure, equal parts delicate and grungy, like a modern, fashion version of Lady Gaga’s Scathach in the Roanoke season of American Horror Story. You know, in the flashbacks, not in present day when she was all gross and like...scalping people and shit. Each dress is so ornate and has such an interesting structure, and the fabric choices give off an organic kinda vibe that create a handmade feel; the collection is, imo, really worthy of being shown under a haute couture heading. When it comes to my favourite element of the show, I’m torn between the petticoats and the hair accessories. I’m just gonna give a cop-out answer and say both. 

Stella McCartney on the other hand, is very much a clear ready-to-wear collection. 

It’s pretty, for sure. The pastel blazers paired with delicate white mesh tops underneath are a gorgeous combination for spring and I like the reoccurrence of the chain glasses (Gucci, right?). But I mean, when you go from Simone Rocha to this, it’s a bit anticlimactic. Plus, if I’m honest, kaftans are always going to remind me of Honey Mahogany from season 5 of Drag Race. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she’s a lovely person but her runway looks aren’t really ones I look back fondly on, and you’re lying if you say you enjoyed them for anything other than meme purposes.

Temperley is equally meh, though the return of the Erdem-style boating hats is getting me excited that high street retailers might actually pick up on the trend and bring out some cheap ones for me to embarrass myself by wearing. 

I also love a good 70s suit, the neckerchiefs are cute and there are some really delightful prints here that are a more unique approach to florals for spring.

Coming towards the end now, next is Thom Browne:

I LOVE this. Like, don’t get me wrong Rick Owens was cool but I adore how on the nose the concept is here; time to bring back all the Marie Antoinette puns I didn’t get to use in my Versailles Instagram post. I don’t know if it’s the history buff in me or the Sofia Coppola Stan but I will always be willing to sign any kind of treaty for anything related to the excesses of the 18th century French monarchy, and this is that turned up to 1000 infused with a dash of the Teletubbies, which sounds like a nightmarish concept, I know, but as high fashion it WORKS.

Tory Burch was very commercial, seemingly half inspired by Monterey yoga moms and the other half by Hamptons socialites. 

And then there was Valentino, which was fucking exquisite, imo. LIKE, CALLING DOCLE & GABBANA: THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE TROPICAL PRINT INTERESTING. YOU MAKE THE VELVET MONKEY’S ARM THE FRICKEN WAISTBAND. 

Seriously, though, I am enamoured with this colour palette; all the whites and golds are angelic and fr, I didn’t know until now that you could make neons this elegant. I’m also getting an almost clerical feel from a lot of these looks, with the plaited waistband on the black dress that’s 7th row down in the middle, the stunning red cape and the multitude of exaggerated neck ruffs. I think I’ve mentioned before but I always love religious references in clothing-I don’t think I’ll ever get over the 2018 Met Gala-and so whether I’m reading too much into it or not, this collection really did it for me.

Whilst it’s probably as far removed a collection from Valentino’s S/S 2020 contribution you can get, I also loved Vera Wang this season. It might purely (I PROMISE THIS IS MY LAST GOSSIP GIRL REFERENCE) be because it gives me Jenny Humphrey vibes and *controversial* she did have my favourite style of any of the main characters, but sue me, this is just the right amount of late 90s/early 2000s grunge. Deconstructed trashy goth it girl is an interesting concept to see on the runway and I completely support it. 

Versace on the other hand was very hit or miss. The looks I picked out I really loved but ultimately, for one of the household name brands, a lot of the actual garments were a bit pedestrian. I will say though that for me, it’s a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The slicked back mermaid hair and the pops of colour in the makeup and the interesting necklines meant that when it was good, it was GOOD. However, overall, still a bit too 80s Miami businesswoman, and please GOD, can we leave that hideous J-Lo dress in the past, it should really not be the climax of the show in 20-fucking-19!

As for Victoria Beckham, I liked it, but it’s a bit of a Gucci copy, no? And no way near as interesting?

And on that note, I’m gonna have to cut this off. Super annoying but with only 5 collections left that I want to talk about, Tumblr is being a little bitch and will not let me add anything more to this post. So, see you in 5 for the final post!

Lauren x

[87devices]

QOAAD

*SPOILERY REVIEW/THOUGHTS* 

I finished QOAAD a couple days ago and I’ll say I have some mixed thoughts on it. I am somewhat disappointed tbh but it also DID have its moments.

I have to say I felt this book had too many POVs. I didn’t like that. I didn’t feel like they were all necessary. All the POVs only ended up with me feeling very disconnected from the story as a whole, and the characters, even my faves at times. I think the POVs where one part of the problem, the other I am not sure. Maybe Cassie has too many projects on her plate or idk but something impacted her writing. Not just for QOAAD but I felt it in Ghosts of the Shadow Market stories too. It had a few exceptions but compared to The Shadowhunter Academy short stories overall, they just weren’t as good. :/ As much as it pains me we gotta wait like 4 yrs for TWP maybe its a good thing? The onslaught of books may have passed and TWP will get more focus. Im just gonna tell myself this to get through the waiting time OTL. 

I will start with thoughts on Emma and Julian as they are the main characters. 

I like both Julian and Emma’s characters, but I think they lost me somewhere at some point in this series as a couple. I can’t say exactly when but reading QOAAD I realized I didn’t care for them as a couple. I’ve seen this is the case for many others too. Was I very intrigued where the parabatai curse would lead? Yes, but that’s it. Now the parabatai curse, I wasn’t too satisfied with how that played out. I kinda was and I kinda wasn’t. I guess I was expecting something bad to happen some consequences but the rune just burned away and that was that. I loved when Julian got his emotions back and went all into head of the institute since I was a child mode. Like I know my shit I know what I’m doing. Then Dru being like “good to have you back, I missed your lunatic schemes” xD I love Julian scheming ok, lol but like with emotions.

I gotta say one of my favorite things about TDA and what I felt like was one of its strong points is that togetherness the Blackthorns had as a family. My favorite thing about Julian was his love for his kids cause they are his kids!! BUT I just didn’t feel it in this book. When looking forward to QOAAD I was looking forward to how they were all going to deal with Livvy’s death. The kids where gonna need Julian so much but he just wasn’t there for them ALL throughout the book which was my BIGGEST disappointment. At first he wasn’t there because he took away his emotions and separated from them, then he got back and because he was emotionless he couldn’t be there for Ty when Ty reached out to him clearly troubled and broken. Now, I don’t blame him. He was emotionless after all, but after he did get them back I feel like he didn’t make the effort to be there for them. It was like he didn’t remember the way Ty reached out to him before and the things he said to him about his plan. After he got his emotions he was all busy with the Horace-Cohort situation and his situation with Emma but what about the KIDS JULES?! ;_;  It was Ty who again sought him but he didn’t really try to pay attention to what was going on with him, during and after their little convo. It felt like 

Jules: oh btw you good? 

Ty: yeah sure 

Jules: ok im here btw 

Ty: K

Jules: K 

And that was it. He never found out about the necromancy or biting and just *sigh*. At least the biting is something he should’ve and would’ve noticed as Dru pointed out. Everyone was on their own basically and then in the end he and Emma are going on a travel vacay. Like what?! There was Helen but Helen is not Julian. She is trying to get to know them but Julian is the one who is basically their parent. There are 2 things I loved about Julian best, one was his willingness to do what needed to be done, and second was his care for his family and like I said, I did not feel it here. :[  I’ll say I do love Julian’s character, and more than Emma’s actually. Emma is just fine, but there is a lot more going on with Julian. Though neither are my faves in this series. But I love Julian xD 

THULE: ok so I was sobbing during this part. I couldn’t control my tears. All this broke my heart when we found out about how everyone’s fates turned out. I felt so sad for Livvy all alone there. Everything was just so tragic ;_;. I do found myself wanting for the POV to switch to see their friends and family freaking out about what happened to Emma and Julian. I’ll say it didn’t make sense to me how Ash went into Thule only like 5 minutes before Jemma and he aged up yrs yet Jules and Emma where there for a pretty long time too and nothing?? It was another reason I wanted the POVs to switch I was wondering if yrs where passing by in their world or what. I’ll say I did enjoy the pain and hurt Thule gave me lol. It was one of those moments where like I didn’t felt disconnected with the characters at all. I was very much feeling all the feels but it also felt like I left QOAAD and was thrust back into CoHF. It felt too much like TMI it was kind of a whiplash, like from TDA i went back to TMI then TDA again. 0.0  

Now to my faves

Ash!: He was one of my favorite things of this book! His character was so interesting. I have high hopes for his character. He is probably not all good or all bad but what I’ve seen of him from boy to teen he is more good and human than meets the eye. Cassie Cassie Cassie! Do we really need a 3rd evil Morgenstern? No, No Nope! He deserves the chance Sebastian never had! </3. ;_;

The way he shook when he was holding that sword with the Unseelie King when he was trying to make him kill Kieran. He clearly didn’t want to and not only that, he questioned WHY, like he thought you can’t just kill someone just because. Then in Thule we had Thule Dru talk about how she noticed he didn’t want to be there for Thule Sebastian’s executions, among the rest of things that happened there.

Now Ash and Dru, omg PLS I ship already! I cant wait for them!  

Ty and Kit!: My other faves, my babies. I am the most invested in them! I just knew they were going to be separated at the end of this. I had a feeling. Then they made that “To never being parted” declaration in the campfire and I knew for sure oh no, they are gonna part. ;_; Their fight in Lake Lyn broke my heart a little bit, tears were shed. It particular broke my heart how while they were both physically fighting, they were crying about it and the whole situation. Though I’ll say I also did like that Kit went to live with Jem and Tessa <3. I feel like he is in the process of finding himself as a shadowhunter and just as a person too. I love that Jessa will be like his family. I cant wait for Jessa being parents! Also the arc of them separating only to meet again yrs later with so much unsaid ugh I cant wait for them either OTL. I could drown myself in feels thinking about all the different scenarios in which they might meet again. ;_; Oh! When they were in the campsite and Kit was wondering why Ty didn’t went inside the tent with him right away was everything. His mind was just reeling with TY scenarios it was the cutest. 

I have to say I hope TY, KIT, and DRU, as they are our main characters are given priority in TWP no 10+ POVs PLS. (Ash gotta be in the POVs though ofc.) We only have 3 books with them. They deserve the focus so we can connect with them the most. Heck if there is no more than 4/5 POVs even better. We can get to know other and new characters without being in their heads as we got to love Ty without his POV in TDA. 

Mark, Kieran, Christina: Other characters I love too. What can I say? I love that this threesome happened. I think the initial delivery coulda been better, but I loved their ending. When I say their initial delivery I mean their coming together as 3. I LOVED that spark they had in LOS when we first could see that there could be something between the 3 of them like ‘OMG what?!’. But in QOAAD I feel like I didn’t get like a full understanding of how and why Kristina and Kieran came to love each other. We could all see the love, feelings, and intense connection between Mark and Kieran since LOS. Also the connection between Mark and Christina, but with Kieran and Christina I feel like it needed more development. They were suddenly very into each other when they hadn’t spent much time together after LOS events and Kieran left with Diego. I’ll say what did help that a bit was that it was actually pointed out by Christina herself, saying how what they might have (Kier+Tina) is probably not close to the connection Mark and Kieran do. Despite this I love how it eventually concluded with the three of them. It was bittersweet, like Kieran my boy <3 ;__; but I liked it very much. Have I said how much I specifically love Kieran and Mark because I do!!

Lastly, woah I did not see that coming with the clave leaving Idris. I’m shocked  they even agreed to that considering how prideful they are of their home. It is also like a safety cocoon for them. Im still processing, this is a huge change. It will be so interesting where the shadowhunter world goes from here. 

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 034: “Sorry... I Overdid It”

Previously on BnHA: Deku was brainwashed by Shinsou and almost lost the match, but managed a comeback with the help of some weird mystical intervention from what appeared to be the previous users of One for All. Anyway, he broke his fingers and used the shock of that to snap himself out of it, then ran over and basically just tossed Shinsou out of the ring. It was all a lot more entertaining than my description makes it out to be.

Today on BnHA: Shinsou is revealed to be a nice guy who took a quirk that was all but tailor-made for nefarious purposes and was like, “eh but I kind of want to be a hero though.” Deku asks All Might about the mysterious One for All bullshit that went down in the previous chapter and asks if it’s important, and All Might says no. You know, like a liar. Todoroki’s dad picks a fight with his son in the hallway. This annoys Todoroki, so to blow off steam he goes out and casually freezes half the fucking stadium.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 70 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

damn what a cool cover though

my poor lukewarm son

looks like Shinsou is getting a Tragic Villain Flashback!

does it count as a Tragic Villain Flashback if you weren’t really a villain to begin with though

and honestly he might have shown enough here to still get placed in the hero course after this. but like, in class B’s hero course. class A is still tops, you’re not kicking any of them out. well, Mineta though

Shinsou’s old classmates all seem really nice. “you can brainwash people? how cool!” instead of “you can brainwash people? [slowly backs away and never speaks to you again]”

good kids. good, overly trusting kids

aww, he looks really sweet here actually

and he’s thinking that with his ability everyone half-expected him to become a criminal

like, I feel bad for thinking the same now lol. but you can’t blame people for being overly cautious though, what with this kid having an ability that could so easily be used to manipulate people and they’d be helpless to do anything against it

and here we are back in the present, and he’s lying on his back looking frustrated and Izuku’s standing over him triumphantly!

LMAO Kaminari

he sure did, Kaminari. he suuuuuure did

and now here’s another shot of Shinsou being what seems to be way more than just four inches taller than Deku

now Deku is flashing back to the dialogue from last chapter where Shinsou was saying that Deku was naturally blessed

and he’s asking Shinsou why he wants to be a hero

yes Deku! go jesus that son of a bitch! you’re in the big leagues now!

awwww I really like this response from Shinsou

so basically he didn’t decide that he wanted to be a hero, he just does

Deku is empathizing with him something fierce now, but he doesn’t know how to respond

just need to stop overthinking, Deku. that always seems to be your biggest problem with these things. when you’ve got those main character instincts, it’s okay to go with your gut

now the gen studies kids are giving Shinsou props and saying how great he was just to make it this far

Shinsou stop I already have three teenage sons, I can’t fucking afford this

everyone is talking about how great his quirk is. did they all understand what was going on? if that’s the case, honestly Izuku should be getting even more praise for managing to throw it off

I WONDER IF HIS MOM WAS WATCHING, INCIDENTALLY. IS SHE PROUD?? DOES SHE REALIZE YET THAT HER SON SOMEHOW HAS A QUIRK THAT HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE. OR ARE WE SAVING THAT REALIZATION FOR THE TODOROKI MATCH

whenever and however it happens, I can’t wait to see it, because I feel like there’s no way he’s making it out of this without her finally realizing. to hell with the oblivious parents tropes, she’s been supporting him all this time and she deserves to know. but more importantly, past a certain point it’s going to be impossible for her not to know. even All Might’s going to have to realize that eventually

(ETA: ugh so he apparently did tell her that he had a quirk now. but he lied about how he got it. I mean, it’s nice that she knows that much, though. but it’d be great if she could be more in the loop about just how important he is. even if it’d probably give her a heart attack lol)

anyway I got sidetracked by suddenly remembering that Deku’s mom exists

now Shinsou is giving a speech about how he’s not going to give up. just put this boy in class B already, U.A. just admit your entrance exam is broken

LMAO

LOL THIS SHOULDN’T BE SO FUNNY, BECAUSE SHINSOU IS GRINNING AT HIM RIGHT NOW AND SAYING IT’D BE EASY TO MESS EVERYTHING UP FOR HIM, WHICH IS PRETTY DISTURBING. BUT SOMEHOW IT IS FUNNY. HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAFE

anyway, thankfully Shinsou isn’t That Much of a Dick, and he just asks Deku to promise that he won’t lose pathetically

I’d call that a successful shounen jesusing, wouldn’t you? “SHINSOU HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY”

and now Deku’s in Recovery Girl’s office

“I couldn’t smile at all” loooooool. it’s true. actually he doesn’t really seem like a smiling hero type so far tbh. All Might keeps telling him to do it, but whenever Deku gets really fired up, he gets this crazy face thing going on instead. which is terrifying, mind you

All Might begrudgingly says he understands why Deku didn’t manage to smile, given all of the shit talking coming from Shinsou’s end

looks like Recovery Girl did heal Deku’s fingers. so what was all of that bullshit back in like chapter 7 about how he’d run out of stamina and die if she kept having to heal him? or was she just trying to put the fear of god into him so that he wouldn’t keep fucking himself up every two chapters. because if that’s the case I’d understand tbh

now RG is turning and like backhanding All Might because somehow all of this must be his fault lol

YES now Deku’s asking All Might about that FREAKING WEIRD THING that happened back there with OFA

“one of them had your hairstyle” fucking how did he pick that out? I went back and looked at it myself and couldn’t make out a damn thing

(ETA: it’s clearer in the anime, but if you’re trying to Where’s Waldo him from the manga panel good fucking luck)

but anyway he’s asking if it was the souls of the previous people with One for All

and the answer is obviously yes... right?

“what the? that sounds scary?” ARE YOU SERIOUS

okay he says he did see them once when he was young, and that it means Deku’s getting used to the quirk

apparently they’re “the traces of the quirk’s past bearers”, but they can’t directly interact with Deku or influence him or vice-versa. sorry Deku, I guess you don’t get to go into the Avatar State or chitchat with Vongola Primo today

also this apparently means that Deku did in fact overcome Shinsou’s brainwashing with his own strong will. ...like, okay, so part of me is proud of Deku, but on the other hand it should have been impossible! and also, what a weird freaking coincidence then!

unless All Might... is lying :’D

“yeah I’m still not really convinced.” me neither Deku. that was way too disturbing to just be a one time thing that never comes up ever again. and All Might really is being way too dismissive of it and telling him not to dwell on it at all

but why is he not telling Deku the truth though

now Deku is leaving

and All Might is having a private conversation with Recovery Girl

ooooohh

IS IT A BAD THING FOR YOU??! IS THAT WHY YOU DIDN’T WANT TO TELL DEKU??? HOLY SHIT I’M FUCKING TERRIFIED ALL OF A SUDDEN

NOOOO damn it we’re cutting to something else. fuck

it’s Shouto and his garbage dad

"you disgrace me, Shouto.” by what, coming in first place? not being a massive turd of a person at every conceivable opportunity?

of course not! the “disgrace” is that he didn’t use his left side

lol this is exactly what Shouto wanted, honestly. gets to win and piss off dad? fucking great

"remember, your duty is to surpass All Might.” hahaha. hey Endeavor, remember when I told you, “fuck you”? fuck you

-- ?!!!

um. what

Shouto do you have brothers whom I also need to take into protective custody

(ETA: in the anime the word Endeavor uses is “niisan”, so it’s an older brother(s). oh my god. is this like a GotG Vol. 2 thing where Endeavor just went out and did it with a bunch of different people until he finally got the right combination. jesus christ)

(ETA 2: so yeah he apparently has a lot of brothers and some sisters as well. and it’s pretty much exactly like GotG, except that Endeav didn’t actually murder all of his “failed attempts”, at least. so... that’s something? not really, though? like he’s still such an asshole omg?)

ALSO, WOULD IT KILL YOU TO JUST PICK A CHARACTER TO BE LIKE, SHOUTO. ARE YOU HIBARI? ZUKO? SANJI? WHO EVEN KNOWS

come to think of it, Endeavor doesn’t actually look all that different from Sanji’s dad

the rest of this conversation is just stuff we already knew, but damn Todoroki is looking fairly pretty here

in like, you know, a ~dark~ way

now Deku’s joining Iida and Ochako in the stands!

Todoroki’s fight is starting!

poor Sero is so fucking screwed

OOOHHH

SON OF A BITCH THIS KID DID NOT COME TO PLAY!!

HE’S STILL SCREWED BUT I SURE DO ADMIRE THAT FIGHTING SPIRIT

HE’S PULLING SHOUTO OFF HIS FEET?? HE ACTUALLY HAS A CHANCE IF HE COULD JUST GET HIM OUT OF THE RING BEFORE SHOUTO’S ICE POWERS TAKE EFFECT

UH OH

LOOOOOL SHIIIIIIT

I think this is the first time he’s made this face! I always enjoy seeing faves just snap for a sec and go totally fucking nuts

OHSHIII

is my boy Sero fucking dead now

even fucking Aizawa and Mic jesus christ

everyone’s like... just give him the championship belt now lol

THE ICE LITERALLY STOPPED LIKE SIX INCHES AWAY FROM DEKU’S FACE AND HE WAS IN THE STANDS

POOR SERO IS JUST WEAKLY MUTTERING, “THAT’S OVERKILL...” OH MY GOD

WELL I’D CALL THAT A WIN BY IMMOBILIZATION

LMAO EVEN MIDNIGHT IS HALF FUCKING FROZEN

“SERO CAN YOU MOVE?” “YOU’RE KIDDING RIGHT”

SERO, YOU TRIED AND THAT’S ALL ANYONE CAN ASK

EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT HE NEVER HAD A CHANCE. I HOPE THEY DON’T HOLD THIS AGAINST HIM

awwww Shouto is apologizing and says he overdid it

he was just annoyed

literally can anyone possibly stop this child? [LOOKS AT DEKU]

MEANWHILE DEKU IS WATCHING TODOROKI CLOSELY AND OBSERVING THINGS THAT NO ONE ELSE IS NOTICING AND THINKING THINGS LIKE “SOMETHING ABOUT HIM SEEMS REALLY SAD”

EXACTLY HOW MANY RIVALS ARE YOU GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH, DEKU

THIS LOVELY CROWD IS RALLYING AROUND POOR SERO IN THE SAME WAY THAT PEOPLE APPLAUD ENCOURAGINGLY WHEN AN INJURED PLAYER MANAGES TO WALK OFF THE FIELD UNDER THEIR OWN POWER

TODOROKI MOTHERFUCKING SHOUTO MOVES ON TO THE SECOND FUCKING ROUND

BONUS:

why would you wear a jacket that’s so ridiculously small on you

here’s another one whose favorite thing is cats. you and Aizawa should get together and visit one of those cafes

I like that Horikoshi’s whole inspiration for the character was “give this guy a power that is Obviously Meant for Villains and then have him be determined to be a good guy”

honestly, it’s a good move. I hope and assume we’ll see more of him after this arc

[ursae-minoris-world]

KALTENECKER: Who is your favorite Voltron character? (part 2 : Keith)

...and, my last answer for @ashrayus‘s ask for the Voltron ask meme ! As a follow up to that one about Hunk !

Thanks a lot for tagging me, by the way, I’m having way too much fun doing this !

Sooo. I didn’t think I would get that much attached to that guy that fast. Oops.

(Me : “oh, you think you’re cool ? I’m not impressed. No way I’m getting attached to a character like that”. Narrator’s voice : “it didn’t go as planned...”).

So yeah… the one that really grew on me was Keith, to the point that I think he’s probably my fave now (well I love him different ways that I love Hunk, if that makes sense ; it’s hard to compare). This is funny because when he was introduced, for some reason, I really wanted to hate him (lol).

He had this epic introduction scene and I just thought “Ok, here comes the cool guy, he’s gonna be the leader and overshadow every other character... and I liked the others, damn ! So annoying.” Which is funny considering it was Shiro who first was set up to be the leader and it became explicitly so pretty soon. But, even without the leadership, he had this sort of Main Character aura. Well I thought he would be the 80’s hero stereotype, and the others would be kinda reduced to side-kicks, and it rubbed me the wrong way. But then he kept surprising me.

His soft, worried expression when he saw Shiro caught me off guard. Then, when Lance interrupted, and he wasn’t able to recognize him despite having been in the same class, and clearly trying honestly hard to remember, got me chuckling despite myself : “OMG, not good with people, are we ?” lol.

And him begrudgingly saving the garrison trio along with Shiro, and then being salty when they had the guts to complain about  how he did it was… more relatable than I expected. Also, it was pretty cool to see him using the fact that his hoverbike was overloaded as an advantage to gain speed. And when he excitedly drove of that cliff, it was kind of endearing.

Then he brought them to that shack in the middle of the desert when I expected to see his family or at least a somewhat decent flat, and I started getting intrigued. Added to that heartfelt dialog with Shiro (“good to have you back”) and when he then admitted how lost he had felt when booted from the Garrison…  How his voice breaks, the sad look Shiro and him exchange… I started connecting the dots about their past. And getting really invested in it.

But a voice in my head was still saying “well of course the cool hero has a tragic back-story ! Don’t fall into this trap !”. I don’t even know why I was so stubborn about NOT liking him lol. But I couldn’t help but being fond of this emotional and vulnerable side I was starting to see in him, and that I really didn’t expect (same goes for Shiro, but I really liked Shiro from the start).

(you all took that decision together as a team, Keith !)

And the moment I let go of that curious mindset of “I don’t like the stereotype so I’m determined not to like this character” was when, at the Castle of Lions, out of sheer provocation, Lance tells Allura that them being attacked has to be Keith’s fault. Keith starts sarcastically “Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better.” And, as much as I actually enjoyed the reply, I was still thinking, a bit annoyed “yeah of course he would be more mature and not react to the provocation”. But then… Keith explodes. And I realized that he was not being mature, but trying to appear so by bottling up his emotions and that they had just...blown up on him. And that was such a good character flaw that it completely scraped the “cool guy” stereotype I had seen at first. And I started really liking him.

And he just kept growing on me.

Basically, what really got me with Keith was this struggle he has, with desperately wanting to belong… But also being terrified to let himself get attached, because then it would hurt too bad if he gets rejected again. And how that ends up being a self-fulfilling prophesy. Because the way he keeps a distance by trying to protect himself doesn’t allow him to grow deeper bonds with others, or communicating properly with them. Which, in turn, results in misunderstandings and conflict. He ends up running away (come on, it was not the only reason why he left, but I bet this was at play too), isolating himself from the people he cared for.

(Canonically his greatest fear is being rejected by Shiro...)

(...and of course it ended up happening… or well, not really, it’s complicated, but it must have felt pretty close to him)

And it makes complete sense that he struggles like that , it all comes from his childhood trauma ; and honestly he keeps getting traumatized  again, like losing Shiro not once but twice already, and being there not only for Ulaz’s death, but also for Thace’s after having fought alongside with him, and Regris’, who was his teammate and with whom he had at least been on several missions ; that doesn’t help ! And the growing tension with Shiro after finding him again ; and the gap that has been slowly widening between him and the team (his “found family”), culminating in his decision to leave. Heck, even having to leave Red, with whom he had such a great bond, to pilot Black in season 3. And then, leaving Black too for Shiro’s benefit. So far, the story keeps feeding his narrative of “I’d better not let myself get attached” : it seems each time he bonds with someone, they end up separated, or, in worst case scenarios, that person even dies.

It just breaks my heart and I really, really need him to solve this issue. He deserves to be loved, and for that he needs to learn to accept that love, too. Because more than once, we see him dismissing it or misinterpreting it when others try to show concern or support. I kind of hope the tide will turn now that Krolia is in the game. And I really cross my fingers for Kolivan to not being killed off, and forging deeper bonds with Keith as well, although I’m really worried about how that will turn out.

Also, I like how deeply emotional he is, but how he tries to bottle it up, and how that doesn’t work at all. Please Keith, please open up to others.

I’m also extremely curious about all the secrets that surround him. We found up about his galra origins, we finally met his mother, but there is so much more I want to know. For instance, I’m dying for his back-story with Shiro. I need to know more about his family history, how his parents met, what happened to his father. I wonder if Acxa could, indeed, be related to him. I want to know more about this weird connection he seems to have with magic and quintessence. I want to see if those visions of galra invasions (both in his dream in “the Ark of Taujeer” and in his visions in “the Blade of Marmora”) could be repressed memories, like some theorize.  I want to know what happened between his father’s disappearance and the garrison, did he hop from foster family to foster family like many of us headcanon ? How did he get into the garrison ?

(I don’t thing that’s what Kolivan meant by “undetected”, Keith !)

Another thing I like with Keith is how he is balanced. Yes, he is extremely talented in some fields. He’s an amazing pilot and a great fighter, and it’s really cool to see him improve in those domains. He’s also pretty good at improvising on the spot in dangerous situations. He’s extremely focused, loyal, dedicated and resourceful.

But at the same time, he can be pretty awkward in social situations. He has a hard time managing his feelings. He might be really good with blades and in close combat, but struggles when he has a gun. He gets caught almost every time he tries to be sneaky, which is both endearing and worrying, considering the risks of this while he works with the Blades. He is the worst liar ever and it’s hilarious (I hope Kolivan has given up any expectation to make him go undercover, that would be a disaster).

Anyway, some characters are well balanced by being moderately good at everything and being a jack of all trades (Lance for instance). But Keith… he’s amazing in a few domains (flying, fighting with a sword…) but pretty bad in others.

So despite his obvious talents, he is quite far from the cool, flawless character  that I first thought he would be.

Although he has a quite eventful and compelling arc, I don’t feel he overshadows the other characters as he’s often (and sometimes painfully) out of focus… We barely saw him at all in the last two seasons. And honestly at this point I’m invested enough in his story that I wouldn’t even complain if he hogs the spotlight a bit more at times.

I ended up getting way too attached and it’s hard to watch him getting hurt by the story all the time. I really hope he gets some good comforting moments soon (same goes for Shiro, by the way).

Yeah, I also love Shiro very much, I think he’s an amazing character. Honestly, there is such a good cast of characters in this story, including really charismatic side characters (Kolivan ! Matt ! Krolia ! Shay !). So it’s really hard to pick a favorite.

[rebrandingplsstandby]

VOLTRON ASK GAME

I was tagged by @silverineontherun (thank you so much) and immediately knew I had to do this!

How did you discover the show?

Back during the summer it first came out, I remember seeing it come up on Netflix a few times and I remember feeling like I should watch it, but hesitating because it seemed like any y-7 Western version of a mecha-anime...which at that point I wasn’t sure I’d be into. But I love animation, and I may have seen a thing or two about it on here, so eventually I was like ‘eh, why not? I’ll put it on while I work on my own animation project.’ And so I did :)

Was it love at first sight or did it take you a while to get into the show?

Yes and no! I was immediately drawn in by the characters and the animation but the plot did take some time to grow on me. I knew I’d stick with it from the first season, but it wasn’t until the third season that I was stuck. I think it was at that point that it became clear to me that this show had a carefully laid plan for each of its characters and the story as a whole, and everything was really starting to take off. 

Do you have a favorite episode?

This is a difficult one...because with me there’s never just one episode! Taking Flight will probably always be my fave from s1, and the eps introducing the BOM and Keith’s backstory are my faves from s2, but after that it gets harder because I love pretty much all of s3, s4, s5 and s6 equally (and A LOT).

Do you have a favorite Paladin?

Weeeellll Keith has been my icon for a while. But if there’s anything I love about Voltron, it’s that it’s so easy to love and care about ALL of the characters for different reasons! So if I HAVE to pick one, then Keith for the first half of the show. But you know what? I have a feeling that from now on it’ll be Lance because I feel his story starting to take off and I’m actually so ready. But, as I said, these two are just barely my faves--I truly love them all. 

Do you have a favorite Lion? (If it’s different from your fave Paladin, why?)

I never really thought about it before but I have to say Blue. She’s been there from the very beginning, and I love that she’s like the ‘mother’ lion. I trusted her with our boy Lance and now I trust her with our girl Allura <3

Do you have a favorite villain?

Lotor lol. Zarkon was boring AF (except in the flashbacks from before he turned) but as soon as Lotor came in I was so ready for whatever he was going to bring to the show. Admittedly, I did have a tiny bit of hope that he wouldn’t be as bad as he turned out to be, but as a villain his story is equal parts chilling and tragic and that works for me. I’m hoping Haggar/Honerva steps it up though, maybe it’ll be her soon.

Do you have a favorite Alien Race (Recurring and/or minor)

Hmmm...not really? I find them all pretty cool but I’ve never considered what my favorite would be. Maybe the Balmerans though, since they’ve been around from the start.

Favorite side/other character(s) - Rebels, Generals, Blade of Marmora, Garrison, etc?

Krolia. I mean we’ve only had two episodes somewhat devoted to her so far, but  I already know I’d die for her. And I love that she’s on the team! I’m actually excited to see how both she and Romelle will work with the others. It’s always wonderful to see more female characters join the crew! Aside from that? Matt, of course! He’s so fun. 

How/Why did you join the fandom?

I blogged a little about Voltron before s3, but I didn’t actively engage in the fandom until s3 and beyond. By that point I couldn’t help it! I was too invested to contain myself. And I also think that it had to do with the fact that I had fully accepted Keith and Lance as probably LGBT rep and I needed to see what other people were saying about that possibility. And actually I got more into the fan theories in general by that point. So, yeah! No matter how messy the fandom might seem, I figured I’d be able to find what I would enjoy and ignore what I wouldn’t. 

Care to share your favorite headcanon?

Hoo boy. I don’t make a lot of headcanons because I’m very invested in canon, but I do like headcanons that I think work exceptionally well with canon. That being said I don’t really curate them so nothing specific is really coming to mind? Maybe the one that Hunk cleaned Keith’s paladin armor while he was away because that’s so cute and I can see Hunk doing that. Oh, and just for laughs, I love that we call Keith’s dad Texas to the point where I kind of hope we never find out his real name.

What do you think is the best part of the show?

The characters and the animation! The fact that both are as well done as they are is what makes Voltron such a fixation for me. I truly feel for and care about every single character, and I love that none of them are perfect and that you can track their growth! That and the fact that the show lends itself so well to theorizing!

Any hopes and wishes for future episodes/seasons?

LGBT rep is a big one, but--as I referenced earlier--I think that’s in the process of happening, and you also know which character(s) I think that’ll be! Other than that, I want to see more dual-wielding Keith, Lance with his sword, I want to see Lance and Hunk’s families on earth, and I want Allura and Romelle to bond! I also just want Romelle to become part of the team in general because I think that’ll be an interesting dynamic. 

Do you think you’ll stick it out until the end of the show?

No question! I, for one, am more excited than ever about where the show is going, and it would take a lot for me to drop it. I’m not worried about being disappointed though--I’m not saying it could never happen, but that’s not something I think about. As much as I love theorizing and reading other people’s theories, I’ve gotten to a place where I’m very content to wait and see what they throw at us. 

All righty, now to tag someone! I haven’t really gotten to know many of you on here, and I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to participate if they don’t want to, but I’ll tag @lanceprance cause you’ve been around for a while! But literally anyone who sees this pls feel free to do it I’d love to see what you all have to say!

[stargazerdaisy]

11 Questions x 3

I was tagged by @kyliafanfiction, @trinitea-fics, and @skyeward-otp forever ago, but there’s no way I can come up with 33 questions.  So I’ll answer the 33 and come up with a new 11.  Theoretically.  We’ll see.

From Kylia:

1.) Favorite Trope To Subvert?

One of my favorites that I (think I) pulled off was in Please Don’t Make Me! , where Skye is all whispering in Ward’s ear about them sneaking off and finding a way to ~entertain~ themselves, and it certainly seems like sexy times are about to happen.  And then...it’s Mario Kart.  I love twisting people’s expectations for the sake of comedy and fun.

2.) Favorite Trope to ‘Play Straight’, as it were?

Bedsharing.  I am weeeeeeak for bedsharing.  GImme gimme gimme.  I want those  punks to wake up spooning and entwined and then the awkward to set in, but actually push them to deal with their feelings.  Yes please I need it now.  

3.) What is that one character that, no matter how much you might like to be open minded about other fans having their own opinions and whatnot, when you see people defending them, you just cannot stop rolling your eyes and being at the very least somewhat angry, if not raging?

Melinda May and Phil Coulson....

4.) Favorite Thing To Put Ketchup On?

The garbage can.

Haha, just kidding.  I’m not a huge ketchup fan.  I prefer bbq sauce or ranch for most things you’d use with ketchup.  But ketchup on a burger or hot dog works well (if bbq sauce isn’t an option).  

5.) Cake or Death?

Cake.  

6.) Is there a Spoon?

47 of them to be precise.

7.) What is the Average Airborne Velocity Of An Unladen Swallow?

African or European?

8.) Did you get the references in questions 5, 6, and 7 without having to look them up?

5 sounds familiar, but no.  6, not even in the slightest.  7, my answer should explain that one.

9.) Silliest name you’ve ever heard for a person/thing/group?

Oh, oh, oh, I know I have some doozies of nicknames, but I’m drawing a complete blank right now.

10.) What is a book series that is nominally completed that you’d like to see more installments of?

I’m a big fan of the Jack Ryan books by Tom Clancy, but well, Clancy died a few years ago, and none of the co-writers can match his original style and quality (honestly, neither can his own later books).  So while that verse could easily accommodate more stories, and I could love them, it’s not going to happen with the quality I want, so I wouldn’t want people to try and subsequently fail.

11.) Song you both hate but sometimes can’t stop listening too?

There was an *Nsync song back in the day that I hated.  But I listened to it enough times that I ended up learning all the lyrics and singing along with.  That’s happened with a few others too.  There are some One Direction songs that I like and it pisses me off that I like them.  

From Trini:

1. A song you are listening to on loop right now

Actually no, I’m not this week.  Which honestly is kinda rare.  Then again, I’ve been listening to a couple of playlists with The War on it and that song always gets to me, so it’s back in my mind again.

2. What is a popular show/book/movie/podcast could you not get into/have no interest in?

I’ve never gotten into Supernatural.  Just never had that much interest, despite having a big fondness for Jensen Ackles.  

3. What is the last movie you watched?

Thor: Ragnarok

4. Opinion of Valentine’s Day?

It’s nice to have a day where you make an extra effort to show your love for others.  It’s just as lovely to do so with family and friends as it is with a romantic partner.  And I definitely prefer, low-key, thoughtful gifts/activities.

5. A show, book or movie that you consider “Your childhood”

Inspector Gadget was one of my absolutely faves when I was a kid.  Also, totally loved Ghostwriter and wanted to start my own crime-solving group.  Alas, we did not have a ghost to aid us.  Magic School Bus was also watched a lot and I can still remember the ending bit with all the kids making phone calls.

6. Favourite Youtuber/what you do watch on Youtube?

I mostly listen to music on YouTube.  I don’t follow any particular person.  I’ve been enjoying mashup videos lately.  Imagine Dragons are great for mashups.  (There.  Happy Megan?)

7. What do you need to buy?

A new battery for my laptop.  It would be nice to use it when it wasn’t plugged in.  After all, that’s a big part of the whole laptop thing.

8. What merch are you close to impulse buying?

At this moment, nothing really.  But I had strongly considered buying Chloe Bennet’s Fight Like A Girl shirt.  If I had had the money at the time, I probably would have.

9. What’s the weather outside?

Right at this moment, overcast, grey, cool (low 40s), but happily, not raining.  Typical late March weather in this area.

10. A thing that you recently accomplished that you are proud of?

@mframe and I spent a good chunk of a day (or was it a couple days?) and built a form within the test environment of our database.  Built it from the ground up, adding groups, creating custom fields, making them calculated fields, setting up a bunch of codes in order to make them calculate correctly, etc.  And it works really well.  I really like it.  Now if only the assholes that I work with would shut the f*** up and get on board, we could actually use it.

11. Movie/book/Tv show/podcast coming out soon that you’re excited for

I NEED TO BUY MY TICKETS FOR INFINITY WAR.  Also, The Incredibles 2.

From Gilly:

1. If you won $1,000,000 dollars, what’s the first thing you’d do?

Pay off debt.  

2. A movie/tv show that you always go back to whenever you’re bored or don’t know what to watch?

Friends, Community, Brooklyn Nine Nine are all great standbys for when I can’t decide on what I’m in the mood for.

3. Most meaningful book you’ve ever read.

That’s an excellent question.  To Kill A Mockingbird is one of those books that’s always stuck with me.  I need to re-read it again, in fact.

4. Have you ever gotten anyone to get hooked on a tv show? How did they feel about it?

HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH.  Yes.  I mean, nothing on the scale of Megan getting me hooked on AoS.  But I’ve convinced a couple friends to try Doctor Who, I got @evieoh to watch Community, and then she and I ganged up on @airaze-blog and made him watch all of Alias.  There was a lot of screaming.  We won’t talk about Orphan Black.

5. Has anyone ever gotten you hooked on a tv show? How did you feel about it?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Yes.

As referenced above, Megan was the one that really pushed me to try AoS again.  (I’d watched the first 3 or 4 episodes when it first aired, but lost interest and was always having to watch it later b/c of committments those nights.) There was another friend of ours at work, who pushed along with her, and my bff watched it as well and encouraged me.  I was kind of hesitant, didn’t care a whole lot, but I was getting into the MCU as a whole, so I decided to give it a shot again.

Amazingly enough, while I knew Hydra comes out of the shadows and about Jiaying’s evil turn, Double Agent Ward wasn’t spoiled for me.  I was SHOCKED at that.  And I’m so glad, because it was SUCH A GOOD TWIST.  

But yeah.....that may have just slightly, dramatically changed the trajectory of my life.  I wouldn’t have had an Aussie live on my couch for the last 6 months and that would have truly been tragic.

6. Where’s your dream vacation?

Croatia.  I’ve been dying to go there for years and it gets more intense every day.

7. Favorite social media app/site.

Tumblr.  I get the most interaction and the widest range here.  

8. Dream job.

Stay at home mom would be my preferred occupation.  For a profession, lactation consultant is my dream.  We’ll see if I ever get there.

9. Favorite genre to read/write.

Uhhh.....in terms of fanfic genres/tropes, I love enemies to friends to lovers (on any scale).  

10. Favorite genre to watch.

I love spy shows.  Gimmes spies anyday.  

11. Favorite quote at the moment.

CHICKENS!  (just for you, Evie)

My questions - sorry dudes, only doing 11.

What is your favorite season?

What are your feeling on A.I. (the concept, not the movie)?

What is the oldest piece of technology in your home?  Do you use it?  Do you know how?

Hummus.  Thoughts?

Tell me about a favorite birthday or holiday present.

What pair of shoes do you wear the most?  Are they your favorite or just the most functional or something else?

What’s your dream fanfic?

How easy is it for you to unplug?

What is a hobby/activity/something that you have an absurd amount of supplies/tools for?

What is your guilty pleasure snack food?

Are you more a dialogue or song lyrics referencer?

I tag: @evieoh, @mframe, @agenthaywood, @airaze-blog, @helloimthedoctor, @agentsofsunnydale, @queermageddon, @livesindaydreams, @orlissa, @vesperass-anuna, and @in-the-moving-castle

[penroseparticle]

I wasn’t going to do it, but Diebrarian said she was tagging ME and called me handsome and as a true Leo that’s all I needed. Meme time!

Name: Colton

Gender: Tragically a dude.

Star sign: Leo, as the legends foretold.

Height: 6′1″

Age: 27

Sexuality: The gayest of bi’s.

House: Huff Pride

What image do you have as your wallpaper [phone lock/homescreen and laptop]

Lockscreen: I’ve been agressively called out by this meme, all three are default backgrounds. like factory reset defaults. I gotta personalize my stuff.

Homescreen: I’ve been agressively called out by this meme, all three are default backgrounds. like factory reset defaults. I gotta personalize my stuff.

Desktop background: I’ve been agressively called out by this meme, all three are default backgrounds. like factory reset defaults. I gotta personalize my stuff.

Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?: Sadly, tragically, yes. Literally how I found out I liked dudes. SAD.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years: I actually like where I’m at? But with more vacations. Ideally I’m married, and maybe I have kids.

If you could be anywhere else right now where would you go: Chicago is probably always where my heart is. But maybe something like Washington State.

What was your coolest Halloween costume?: I’m really lazy with halloween costumes- I pretty much go as a lumberjack every year. I did go as a cop once but everyone thought I was a stripper cop because the costume barely fit. I was not amused. Josh put a dollar down my pants.

What was your fave 90s show: Friends, Family Matters, and Legends of the Hidden Temple. Oh also that Carmen Sandiego game show.

Last kiss: *sweats nervously* uh two days ago?

Have you ever been stood up?: Yeah actually. You get used to it.

Have you ever been to Las Vegas?: Nope! Too hot, not planning to.

Favorite pair of shoes: I literally own about 30 pairs of shoes and I cycle through what I like best but right now it’s my blue and leather Creative Recreation casual shoes. Ask me tomorrow and it might be a pair of Converse.

Favorite fruit: Uh... maybe strawberries? maybe mangoes. maybe kiwis. maybe raspberries. One of those 4. I’m getting more into fruits as I get older.

Favorite book: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I used to have a first print run copy of it.

Stupidest thing you’ve ever done: I got myself locked in a locker in middle school once. It was during gym class.

Last movie you saw in theatres: Love, Simon. it was great.

Relationship status: So, so single. Hit me up!

Favorite color: Purple

Something you just remembered: The monthly quests for April just came out in FEH I should get those done

Last song you listened to: Handlebars by Flobots

Last movie I watched: Love Simon. If we’re talking not in theatres, it was 4th Man Out again.

Top 3 bands/singers: My current top 3 is Young Empires, Glass Animals, Beyonce. This is of course open to interpretations.

Top 3 tv shows: I watch Grey’s Anatomy with my mom and you’ll pry that from my cold dead hands. I really love The Good Place right now as well- other than that, maybe New Girl?

Books I’m currently reading: I’m still working on the 2016 O Henry prize winners collection. I’m also partway through American Gods, and am always rereading Welcome to the Monkeyhouse (The collection, not the garbage short story)