#so these ideals still mean something to him even tho he says they don't

[our-hextech-dream]

i haven't seen anyone fully articulate what i personally felt disappointed by wrt viktor's s2 persona and ending so i guess i have to do it myself even tho i'm bad at talking!! can someone who is better at this just read my mind and say it fancier and more coherently?

agency, the loss of

i have seen people already mention the way disability came into play at the end and what a wild choice it was for jayce - born able-bodied and healthy - to be the one to tell viktor - trapped in a body that was actively killing him - that actually your disability is a part of you and made you who you are and you owe everything to it. ... huh? jayce (by which i mean the writers), do you think without his disability, viktor wouldn't have still been a genius? yes, viktor is disabled - that's not even remotely what makes him a compelling character and power player. it is his mind not his body that makes him who he is. the fact that he had to waste almost his whole life fighting against that body to achieve anything is the entire crux of his frustration - imagine what he could have dedicated his mind to if he weren't constantly struggling to find a way just to survive another year, another month, another week, one more day. have you thought about it? because he has. so yeah that whole conversation, trash. bruno mars just the way you are ass one direction that's what makes you beautiful ass argument. viktor was not going crazy over cosmetic surgery, he was trying not to die.

but it strikes me as just one more expression of an overarching theme for s2 viktor - that of the complete and total loss of his agency. (more on a meta level than in the show itself, but also in the show!) i said after act 1 that viktor had died in that explosion and jayce was going to be chasing that corpse until the end, and i was correct. viktor bounced from one mindset to another, never seeming to have any consistent ideology of his own that couldn't be changed as soon as the plot demanded it. at any given point he was just kinda... wandering around, doing some random shit with the powers that worked through him. gone was the viktor who used his own hands and mind to influence the world directly, to bend it to his will. i always always felt this and i stand by it - taking viktor's abilities as an inventor and scientist away and turning him into some arcane mage jesus figure was a mistake and a disservice to his character. arcane said no this boy wasn't smart or determined, his ability to build and invent and seek and learn don't matter and never mattered, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and as soon as the arcane got its goop on him he just became the most specialest magic pixie dream boy to ever live and his own goals, dreams, ideals, morals, talents, skills, and hard work ceased to matter in any meaningful way. he never had to work to master magic to be able to use it to further his goals, because he immediately stopped having goals.

viktor became a non-character. he became whatever ideological and technological threat level the show needed to challenge to heroes and never more. he ceased to have any control or understanding over what was happening to him, rather he just gave up and decided to use his magic indiscriminately for whoever made the most convincing argument, a choice that would have been completely antithetical to his character up to that point if he'd still been alive. 'fuck zaunites, sure i'll turn them into robots so a foreign power can use them to attack and take over piltover and zaun, who cares. it's not like these are the people i've spent 30 years of my life trying to protect and save.' <- something viktor would never ever ever have agreed to! ever! no matter what! they have played us for absolute fools.

ambiguity, the loss of

the thing i wanted the most and was expecting because of the way viktor's original lore was set up was that the series would end with viktor and jayce unreconciled and with mutually exclusive worldviews, both fully believing they were right and the other was misguided but not evil or irredeemable, setting them up for future conflict. this felt like what was being set up when arcane made it a plot point that jayce was being convinced to turn hextech into weapons while viktor started getting unethical and unhinged with the experimentation. they both had good reasons to do what they did - and i'm absolutely not going to insult jayce's intelligence by claiming he was just manipulated into it by anyone, give me a fucking break - but the point was that both of them were doing something the other thought was misguided and dangerous. and they also felt that if they could just make the other person see their completely logical and rational pov, they could fix the divide between them and make up and be best science buddies again.

but then at the end arcane completely gave up on viktor having any belief in his own ideals. it just turned into 'aw actually he was just lonely all along and none of that science stuff or difference in morals or worldviews mattered bc he's got a buddy now and he's completely unequivocally on jayce's side. :)'

it was like. insanely selfish. as in, self-centered, concerned *only* with the self. the viktor i liked, and the one i wanted to flourish and hoped arcane would canonize, was someone who was entirely dedicated to zaun, to righting the wrongs of piltover and helping the people in the way he thought best - no matter what jayce or piltover thought about it. an ambiguous villain, just like all the other really well-written ones in arcane.

accountability, the loss of

viktor killed people. not sky, who was an accident despite his fixation on her; i'm talking at least a hundred or more zaunites during his stint as the machine herald. he ripped their minds out and made them play house with him, then turned them into weapons of war for ambessa's siege, and all of those people - primarily sick, desperate zaunites - died. this was always the entire crux of the conflict between (league) viktor and jayce giopara. viktor was willing to destroy people and use their bodies for his own gain unapologetically because he thought what he was doing was a blessing and the people were better off under his control because they would never feel fear or anger again. agree, disagree, depends on your view of free will and human nature, but the fact is that everyone who came to viktor hoping for a chance to be healed so they could pursue their own dreams and lives had those dreams and lives ripped away from them and they never got justice or even a single scrap of acknowledgement from the narrative.

in arcane, the horror of viktor's actions just... fade away into the background. viktor and jayce waltz off into magicspace together, leaving viktor's dead, ruined victims for piltover and zaun to deal with. he doesn't return their minds or bodies, he doesn't even seem to remember or care about what he had just been doing to other sentient living human beings. he's not sorry, he doesn't feel regret, he got what he wanted (a friend) and fuck everybody else.

because the narrative just shrugs and handwaves and says no no forget all that it doesn't matter it was just the hexcore or whatever, viktor becomes a flat, uninteresting character. he loses the depth that villains like ambessa and silco had, villains who had their victims validated by the story, who faced challenges in their arcs specifically because of the people they had hurt despite thinking they were doing the right or noble or most important thing. and not just the villains! even the heroes had to wrestle with the people they stepped on on the way to their lofty goals. but not viktor. he just floats away scot free, completely blameless, having no affect on the world and the world having no affect on him.

on arcane's status as the new canon lore and the Implications™

reminder that arcane is somehow supposed to tie into the world of runeterra at large, but now viktor and jayce both have been seemingly entirely removed from it. if it only mattered that they knew the people we'd already seen them interact with, okay, i guess. but that isn't the case. they both have a ton of connections to other champions - from regions other than p&z even - that haven't been introduced and don't have any plausible explanation for how they could have met in the past, which means they should have been set up to meet somehow in the future. implying that jinx escaped and has gone traveling the world is the perfect way to incorporate her in-game relationships with people like lux - she could have met her while traveling! but jayce and viktor don't get that plausible continuation of their story and development of further relationships - they just disappear out of existence. (ambessa also has this problem because they killed her, but unlike jayce and viktor she does have a huge amount of unexplored backstory where she could have spoken to (for example) swain and hwei and shyvanna at some point.)

note 1 - jayce and viktor are so old that they don't have any voice lines in game when meeting other champions. but other champions who are either newer or who have had voiceover updates do talk to them, which is how (aside from the old lore) you can infer that they do have relationships with other champions including ones who weren't in arcane.

note 2 - maybe riot actually doesn't care and none of the champions are really supposed to know each other or be involved in each others' lives canonically, they just have random quippy voice lines that imply that. which would fucking suck. having the lore of the game have no impact on the game itself and vice versa would objectively suck. if the characters talk to each other on the rift and say something interesting, i want that to have meaning. i want to be able to extrapolate the state of the world and the relationships between the characters from the things they verbally say with their mouths. i'm not arguing about this. the voicelines should be seen as the most high irrefutable canon that there is for the game because it is the ONLY source of lore in the game itself.

anyways there's my bible i guess. i miss evil laser robot viktor i want him to perform unethical brain surgery on me (fixing my adhd but also turning me into his personal puppet attack dog) and then give a weapon to a child so they can kill their bullies.

[changbinsboobs]

haii can you do skz ideal types? like physique and personality. thank youu

Hi:) since i want to do those readings properly im gonna do them one by one and since i already have some for individual members i'll use this ask to start with chan:)

So, i originally started doing an Ideal Type reading but it got hijacked😅 so i guess im reading on his current energy. I'll try to still add something about his ideal type if i manage getting past the bitter energy but i think ill have to redo it some other time since i believe his opinion would be very influenced by his current feelings right now.

Take it with a grain of salt!!!

Chan's current energy / Ideal Typ

For his physical type i got pretty weird cards ngl, 3 of them are the tower, 5 of cups and 5 of wands, the 4th one's queen of pentacles. Tbh i didn't really get any hints about anything physical. He seems angry and bitter.

I think this reading is gonna be hijacked by something else he wants to talk about. I sense he has had a bitter experience thats still fresh in his mind, i think he got dumped tbh!

Like im seeing a situation with lots of bickering. Ogmg ok wait i have so much to say about it this situation has so many layers!

He feels like he lost something great and regrets his stupid actions.

At the same time tho he thinks its that persons fault and if they were better he wouldn't have acted in a way that would get him dumped.

But then again he feels like he's at fault and regrets it a lot.

But he's also so angry cuz they kept having fights, and she kept exhausting him and he kept not being enough. He feels horrible when he's not enough! He doesn't want to feel like that. He wants to live up to her expectations, to peoples expectations. But he just couldn't in this situation with that person.

It seems like he actually got himself a high quality girl - the he couldn't keep obviously. And he's in so much distress with all his conflicting feelings and thoughts. Im sry but im getting a bit angry at him here🙄 its that male stupidity with lack of accountability whatsoever! You cant expect to give the bare minimum, to be an excuse of a "man" and except to get all the perks real man and masculinity gets you! Deal with the consequences bro🙄 -> not necessarily meaning him, im just seeing the picture from his view, so idk how "horrible" he actually was, i was rather talking about the general population of useless men that just have the audacity to expect the best when they themselves aren't worthy of it and then get mad when they can't keep it.

Anyways back to chan - im also getting mommy's boy vibes here omg its getting worse😩😭 i feel like with this situation he's like "forget her bro, she's not worth it. Your mom used to cook and clean, and take care of 3 children and do everything by herself and she didn't whine and was always so giving. I want a woman like that! This girl wasn't lie my mother - she's not worth it, get over her and stop feeling guilty." Don't take that monologue word for word i was rather training to paint the feeling behind his thoughts.

So yeah we have that...tbh i didn't expect him to have a reaction like that like with the comparison to his mom. The rest i expected, but this? Damn🥲

Also this whole situation seems very dramatic, but what I've noticed in the male population overall is that they tend to blow things way put of proportion, and so knowing chan and his tendencies for a victim-complex, pick me, delulu and stuff - im pretty sure this situation might've been not dramatic at all. Just 2-3 little discussions (not full blown arguments and fights as he depicts it) or even just opposing opinions, where he just felt attacked in some way just by her disagreeing or something...and then after a few dates or weeks of dating she politely told him she doesn't want to see him anymore cuz they don't see compatiable and he broke down.

Again idk how things are for real cuz i haven read the other girls energy nor have i read just the energy itself, im just reading HIS energy and perception, but it feels really needy and excagerated so thats whats leading me to believe that it might not be nearly as bad.

So i managed to get some cards on his ideal types personality only and i got those: 3 of cups, 6 of pentacles, page of cups & king of wands.

His types a younger, more innocent and inexperienced girl he can take care of and teach and lead.

She likes a girl that's social but shy. Someone he can take with when meeting his friends and show of. But as i said - social enough for him to be able to do that - but but also shy so he stays sure that theres no risk of her "going wild" (goddamn bro u forreal?🫠)

Im actually getting something about physical appearance - slender, middle hight, like just a bit shorter than him, prefferably forreign with lighter skin and ginger or light brown or dark blonde hair. Im also seeing big head? Like yk this type of body with very slender narrow shoulders, long lanky arms and legs, but a bigger head where it also seems disproportionate to the body? Its so specific i almost think thats what his last girl looked like.

And he also wants a girl thats submissive and will see up to him and make him feel like a boss or a king or a ...daddy (🤢 im sry i just cant hold in the cringe)

In conclusion - i think this ideal type i got from the cards isn't his true ideal type but rather something that came out of spite. Like if i had to guess he's describing the girl he lost, but without her empowering qualities so that he doesn't get hurt.

Judging on the energy of this reading and previous ones ive done i think he has had a think for strong dominant women because he's fascinated with inner strength and power and always wanted to conquer a woman like that because in his head it meant he has that amount of power and strength the said woman had and even more - since he has managed to tame and conquer her. Now that he's tried tho he got met with the cold reality and got a slap in the face realizing he might not be fit for the task just yet and is just sour about it😃

As weird and unexpected this reading was i really enjoyed it cuz it was really shocking to me actually and even gave me a bit of a slap in the face, reminding me how he's just a man...and that he apparently does stupid things like any other guy too.

[beastblade69]

ain't much today because I don't really feel like drawing. still this part of the sketch I was working on looks pretty cool ig. I mean it's wonky n shit but for fucks sake IF ONLY I CARED!! (me college starts in a WEEK so I'm trying to sketch max ideas I get because when I'll be back at college... boy I ain't drawing for myself)

so as long as I've cropped the image (because trust me, the other part is HORRIBLE) I have to explain the idea. not much to explain tho, it's just a "what could have been" if liam and shay actually fought. UBISOFT FUCKED IT UP BAD!!! I remember when I was 13 and was playing rogue for the first time I thought there will be something dramatic when shay comes to take liam's soul. or at least I hoped. but honestly when I saw liam's death I was like 🙃🙃🙃 bruh b fr??? I'm currently playing ac black flag (one sequence left til finale!) and EDWARD'S REACTIONS TO HIS CLOSEST PEOPLE'S DEATHS ARE SO?? HUMAN COMPARED TO SHAY'S. now look, Ik they are different people with different personalities, shay's been thought a lot and is probably depressed (and depression is numbness) but bro b fr. now okay maybe it was easier for him to kill those who wasn't so close to him but liam is literally said to be the closest person to him (in assassin circles at least). ubisoft really fucked up liam's death, I would rather see shay and liam fighting, liam blinded with rage and shay rejecting to fight someone who was once so close to him. I'd say my ideal outcome would be haytham shooting liam when his blade is several centimetres away from shay's throat. and shay just lays there staring at liam's corpse, into his lifeless eyes; he lies this way until haytham gives him a hand and escorts him to the ship. now THIS would be perfect, for me at least. because shay didn't even sit there trying to realise what's just happened when liam died. now I'd get it if he was in the middle of the battle or had urgent business to attend to but haytham literally had achilles covered and shit like my man that's unrealistic af. I've broken down SO BAD because my beloved cat died and you are saying that your EX BESTIE WHO'S DRAGGED YOU OUT OF BINGE DRINKING AND "THEY WERE INSEPARABLE SINCE THEN" JUST DIED IN FRONT OF YE EYES AND UR LIKE "okay I guess, I have to go now". LIKE MAN COME. ON. I did get why ratohnhaketon didn't really react to his best friend's death (he was in a hurry, + he ain't an emotional character himself, it just felt in character for him. it was obvious that he's hurt inside but just hasn't got time to react) but shay. man like it was out of character at most. he did even grief hope for a minute BUT AS FOR LIAM HE JUST STOOD UP AND WALKED AWAY?? NO WAY MAN NO WAY

[dropthedemiurge]

Boys Be Brave [EP.3] // Translation notes

Alright, I got prompted by @turndon100-blog @okiedokie2216 @lurkingshan and the ending of Ep.3 gave me hype boost so I'll try to write some clarification and translation for the scenes from my phone while I still remember everything xD Sorry if this is not going to be as well formatted as my other language posts tho...

Kiseob wants to prove to Jinwoo that he perfectly fits his entire "My ideal type" checklist and he lists all the things he nails. This might've been confusing to many in subs, but the thing is - 첫눈 (chot nun) in Korean can both mean "first sight" and "first snow". So Jinwoo immediately argues that Kiseob failed to achieve being perfect in all to-do points because Jinwoo hasn't fallen in love with him at first sight (as he mentions it in the beginning of the episode). But Kiseob confidently argues that no, there was no first snow this winter yet and shows the December article that says first snow is late this year and might only fall in January.

So technically Jinwoo can still fall in love with Kiseob at first snow and achieve perfect 10/10, therefore no failure yet! Poor Jinwoo can't argue with that logic... (That frustrated little jiggly stomping lmao)

This message also said that he better pay that credit back until Friday, otherwise there will be extra fee.

He said "Choi BalgEum. Look at me" (or focus on me) 🥺

눈치 없어 (nunchi opseo) is a phrase that literally means "have no sense" (it also was formed from 눈 - eyes, as I can guess), but it's used in the context of being perceptive (눈치 있어/nunchi isseo, having sense), feeling the subtext or nonverbal clues - and, well, the lack of it on the opposite, like being clueless.

So Balgeum actually means "Can't you see? Don't you understand the implications?"(of him holding Kiseob's hand) "I asked, don't you realize?" Stop following me around like a clueless fool" (he said that "having no sense" phrase 3 times in a row, who are you trying to fool here yourself, my guy lol)

Balgeum also curses twice at his piano not-friend-situationship. Here he says after asking to stop following him: "It's fucking embarrassing". Probably, the fact that he keeps showing up and asking to talk to him, but can also mean doing this while he obviously "has a boyfriend".

When they meet in evening, he also curses again "why the fuck do you keep appearing?" Balgeum is just definitely trying to hurt him as much as possible :(

This translation works but just to clarify - Kiseob says "Why do you often hide?". So he doesn't just ask why Jinwoo were still hiding under bed while he was talking to him, he was asking why Jinwoo was running away and hiding from him all the time (while he likes him).

"I hated you back then and I hate you now, that's why I run away."

And I just love the phrase 아니잖아... (anijanha) that he gets in response. Because it means "That's not true... (and you know it too)". There's literally a grammar point in Korean that lets you insist on something you know that the other person also should be aware of. So Balgeum angrily claims he ran away in the past and he runs away now because he hates Inho (I hope that's his name, forgive me if anything), and Inho counter argues that no, he doesn't hate him. And implies they both know it. That's why Balgeum resorts to less angry "Think whatever you want".

And the fact that even after this, Balgeum kept playing up his masquarade and saying he wants to vomit even thinking about that they had something, that he regrets it every day - no wonder Inho finally snaps and calls him an asshole/scum when he didn't use cursing before, unlike Balgeum, and so the i-dont-wanna-hurt-you-but-i-am-emotional "fight" begins.

But here we have a silver lining!

"- Meet me only three times... - I got it (what you want), so... (let go of me)"

알겠다 (al'getta) literally means "I know/I understand" but (going with my intuition) it's used naturally in cases that you understood the information you were given, received instructions and will follow them.

I'm not sure what Ep.4 will bring, but I won't be surprised if Balgeum and Inho actually will go to 3 dates because Balgeum sounded like he was giving in, after letting out his anger/fear/frustration/etc through wrestling with Inho. His final verdict for Inho pleading him to go on 3 dates with him is: "Let me go. I told you, I understand (your request and I will consider it most likely in a positive way)"

Here you go! These guys grow on me more and more with every episode. I am fascinated to see Jinwoo ditching his perfectly planned schedule, Kiseob finally refusing to follow where other people drag him, Inho fighting to make his love exist despite brutal rejections and punches, and Balgeum's carefully crafted defense walls breaking as he lets a glimmer of hope and love return to his life.

This show isn't deep at all, it's foolish and yet I'm starting to see layers and development and I'm intrigued where they all will go.

If you've got any other questions about this or previous episodes, let me know! (With timecodes preferrable)

[hardlyinteresting]

Can I request an Aaron x f!reader story based on the song “One of Us” by ABBA? Like they’re together but going through a tough time and separate. They get back together in the end tho 😊 Completely up to you if you wanna write it!

PS I love your Aaron stories, you write him so well hehe

One of Us

I am so so sorry this took so long. I am also so sorry to Aaron Hotchner because he is in a constant state of sleep deprivation in all of our fics.

Warnings: none that I'm aware of As always Request here! | Masterlist

Each decision he’s ever made has been made with someone else in mind. After a year of tremendous heartache, and life-altering losses, Aaron had been convinced that a life of simple joys was not in the cards for him. 

His relationship with Haley had been tumultuous towards the end of their marriage, but they had both been young and optimistic in the beginning. He had thought then that marrying his high school sweetheart was the perfect way to rail against his mother's expectations, but in hindsight, he had only met them. 

Despite the reservations his mother harboured about the social status of Haley Brookes's family, a wedding was a surefire way to get her off his back. He loved Haley, just not as he should have or maybe even could have if his life had been a little kinder. 

Her idealism and compassion were admirable but quickly began to clash with the realities of the life they had built together. A life he could not afford to change. Yet, Haley was who paid the ultimate price. It's a debt he knows he cannot repay. 

He had not expected to find another love in his life, and certainly not as soon as he did with you. Right place, right time. it's too good to be true; like a real love he's undeserving of. Worse perhaps, even still, it might be a love he's had too much of already. 

There's a warmth in his chest that refuses to shift when he's around you, it lingers after you leave. New smile eyes form by the corners of his eyes, and he'd hate them if you didn't love them so much. 

You are a beacon of a life that has not been his to live in many years. He thinks about Haley; how it had felt to fill a similar void in his life with simple kindness and gentle joys. History repeats itself in his mind's eye and he wonders if this might just be a warning. Maybe it is too soon. Too good to be true. He works too much anyway, he tells himself. 

And so he breaks your heart. And he breaks his own too. 

Half his bed is too cold. His apartment is so silent it's unnerving; he yearns for more than he misses, the sounds of dinner or baked goods being made in the kitchen. Uncontrollable laughter is never heard on the nights he's alone. The warmth he carried in his chest started to ache. 

He knows he's made the wrong choice, and berates himself for it as he stares up at the ceiling every night. He curses himself for thinking he deserves a second chance to make it up to you.

The knock at the door in the middle of the night should startle him. The sudden interruption would usually have him reaching to unlock his gun safe before heading to the door, but something about the hesitant knock, knock, knocking is too familiar. He pads slowly to his door, unlocking it without hesitation. You’re a sight for sore eyes, the very picture of everything he’s been missing the last few weeks. Like himself you stood in the doorway pyjama clad, and weary with a lack of sleep. Your name is a whisper on his lips, some kind of prayer, a near-silent plea. “you need to let me in, Aaron,” You tell him.

He knows you don't just mean into the apartment as your hand reaches, resting on his chest right above his pounding heart. “I know,” he says, “I will”.

[smdevisp]

Thoughts on 0903 relationship during T1

It's just my thoughts on 0903 friendship in Minigram and Milgram (probably Minigram can be considered T1 as there are few illustrated timelines). I decided to write it because I had seen some people who thought that their relationship is about hating each other— or only Fuuta hating Mikoto, which is obviously wrong statement.

Firstly, I want to start with Mikoto's birthday timeline from 2021. Fuuta came to him on his own will, just to chat. And his first phrase is oftenly mistranslated.

In Japanese he says:

はぁ？知らねぇよ、お前の誕生日なんて。

Which is pretty derogatory and also can be translated as “I don't care”. But なんて itself also has meaning of excitement when it's put in the end of the sentence. So that Fuuta's statement means “I didn't know it was your birthday”, which also can serve as an answer to Mikoto's statement. (like: “Did you come to celebrate my birthday?” — “Huh, it's your birthday today? I didn't know.”)

Fuuta just wanted to chat, and their conversation despite being rude from Fuuta's side (he talks like that to everyone actually) is still kinda friendly— because they're talking about mutual understanding. And it's the first and only time when Mikoto (not John) uses pronoun “omae” (お前) in the dialogue. He usually calls everyone by their nicknames or uses “socchi” (そっち) towards his mother and Haruka.

There is another point. Nicknames. He hadn't given Fuuta a nickname, probably because Mikoto considered him as a childish person and a person with whom he could hardly get along. But it's strange, because there are Muu and Haruka, who also have childish behaviour, and Kotoko, who doesn't even trying to hide her disgrace towards Mikoto— and they do have nicknames, which Mikoto considers “useful” towards right people.

I thought it could be also about respect. No one likes when they are disrespected, and Mikoto clearly understands it, and it can be another tactics of making friends with people around. In their first dialogue Fuuta mentioned that he hated shitty nicknames given by Mikoto to everyone else, and it could be possible that Mikoto had taken it into account. “So, he doesn't like nicknames? OK, no nicknames. Maybe we will become friends if I don't use any.”

Returning to the birthday timeline, I can name few reasons why Mikoto used “omae” (which as I said he didn't use towards anyone else).

His T1 voting started, and he was kinda nervous about it. He also mentioned that he was tired of something (no surprise, it's hard to act like he does all the time). So he could use “omae” because he got tired of his friendly mask and accidentally showed his true self.

Trust. It's what their dialogue is mostly about — having a person whom they could understand and trust. And it's not that usual for Mikoto to talk about his tiredness so directly (in T1), and in this dialogue it seemed that he got awkward of his own words (“It wouldn't become better if I just say it to you”). And yet Fuuta got the point and continued without even noticing the difference (perhaps because all the dialogue started when he noticed Mikoto's strange behaviour).

It was John, not Mikoto. It's kinda stupid idea but it could work, if they accidentally switched. But it would make things far more complicated, so it's meaningless (from my point of view).

There is no right answer to this, tho. None of them can be right as well as all can be right at the same time.

In Minigram they also don't show any hatred. They do talk to each other and do stuff like playing shiritori with Yuno and drinking coffee together (they don't have a lot of interactions, which is pretty sad).

Also not to mention John's words about the person Mikoto wanted to be, and this ideal portrait really fits Fuuta's description. So there is not actually hate, but envying each other's particular traits— and I won't talk about it because there is a good post about their opposite traits (read it, if you haven't!).

So, can we think about their relationship as of friends' one?

Yes, why not?

Okay, it's not that strong bond as between Mahiru and Yuno, Muu and Haruka, but they have friendship potential at least, despite there are a lot of things which they're annoyed by (Mikoto smokes -> Fuuta hates smoking, and other stuff). They're quite opposite, which is obvious, but it doesn't imply hate for sure.

And it would be cool to see them interacting more. (At least in Minigram because I have no hope in T3. It will be super hell.)

It went kinda messy, but well, it's the way as it is. Feel free to argue.

[dontbesoweirdkira]

If you don't mind yandere Vito alphabet please 🙏

A/N: This isn’t the full Alphabet but here’s a little teaser. Doing the full Alphabet in one go is difficult but if there’s a specific one you want let me know😭😭

Warnings: toxic and abusive behavior

Requests: open 24/7

Masterlist

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Every single person from the mafia Trilogy is willing to get their hands dirty. This is absolutely ridiculous to even consider.

Like if Vito killed for not only his country but for some random dude named Falcone, don’t you think he’d kill for you? His precious heart. I think he’d be more brutal than the rest tho….our soldier boy definitely knows a gnarly way to take someone out.

He refuses to do this in front of you though. He doesn’t believe a pretty lady like you should ever taint your eyes with seeing him slit that dude’s throat. That’s for him to handle downtown while you stay all cozy locked away in his apartment.

Probably will beat up a guy in front of you though but first he’d tell you to close your eyes or to go get in the car.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

I don’t think Vito wants children and all that yip yap like the Salieri men want.

Marriage is on the table tho.

Ultimately he wants to play the game a little longer so he’ll have more than enough money to take you out of Empire Bay and give you a better life. He wants a beautiful home in someplace nice quiet where there’s no chance of running into another mobster.

He’s going to give you everything that he couldn’t give to his mother before her passing. You’re going to have a beautiful life, even if you don’t actually want it with him. You have no choice. Vito hand picked you to be his companion. You should be grateful

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

He definitely does get very jealous, it’s just not always easy to tell. He keeps the same resting bitch face at every occasion, so is he actually upset or is there no thought happening?

There are thoughts and it’s about which way he should dispose of the body.

I’d argue and say he gets more up in arms about you looking at someone or interacting with another man than the reverse happening. You’re attractive and he knows men look at you, doesn’t mean he’s okay with it but for you to look sends him in a spiral. Yeah it doesn’t matter that you just glanced in his general direction and you weren’t even looking at him….he’s pissed.

“Aye! What the fuck are you looking at, princess? Huh? You think he’s cute or something? Well let me tell you a cute little secret, you’ll be cleaning his blood off of my shoes tonight.”

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Not exactly? He is Vito no matter what but maybe with you his heart is worn on his sleeves a little bit more? Like he grew up around a mama's boy he undeniably has a soft spot for the women he loves. You can get away with a hell of a lot.

More than most can with him. Your snarky comments and fighting doesn’t phase him. Neither does your immature and other kinds of behavior.

He still wants to spoil and take care of you the best way he possibly can. He especially loves physical contact with you. The times when you’ve yourself worn down enough to curl into his chest are his favorite times.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

He’s actually incredibly patient with you. Vito is rather patient in general, well compared to how he could be. His emotions are usually kept well under wraps and he does fair with stressful situations. This was something learned from being in the military. When you have other men's lives on the line, you learn to keep it light.

There are sometimes where this patience wavers and it’s usually during the times when you’re being incredibly difficult.

Having another meltdown after trying to escape for the fourth time this week. This man is becoming increasingly more frustrated and he couldn’t help but to snap at you.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

Hell naw! That man don’t give a single fuck.

Why would he? He’s delusional about this entire situation, there is no rational thought happening!!!

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

The screaming and crying he expected. That’s all his sister did growing up lol. Jk.

The isolation tho,,,that would get to him. When he comes home from a long day, ideally he wants to be greeted with open arms and loving words. Not to be searching the house, only find you curled up in the closet.

This shatters his delusion for the moment and Vito absolutely hates it. Seeing you waste away in this isolation kills him. He has to literally drag you out and force you to do basic tasks. Why can’t you just love him like he loves you??? You can’t even just pretend? Why is this so hard for you?

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling?

He thinks of you like this pure little angel who could do no wrong. You’re absolutely innocent to him, even when you’re guilty.

You could spit on the mayor and he’d defend you to hell and back.

Very old fashioned in his thinking where he doesn’t believe women should do or be around certain things. He keeps his business very private, doesn’t share anything about the military unless it’s a lighthearted story, doesn’t kill or be overly violent in front of you.

He also even tries to not curse or smoke so much in front of you too but…he can’t help it.

With this said tho, Vito has limits and he will flip if you ever cross a line. He has some unspoken rules for your “relationship” and it can get rather complicated if you break them.

[tanukitsuneko-suki]

build episode 33 thoughts:

- they're STILL in active contact with each other?!?!?!

- "find it within 24 hours" oh even bloodstalk knows we are speedrunning the plot

- i've really warmed up to gentoku. look at him walking awkwardly in the opening song. he's just a guy

- i would consider dying if it's for eiji akaso

- "the evol driver was made in order for evolto to assume his ultimate form" GREAT!! he can do that!! as long has he stays 5832489874 feet away from banjo ryuga

- 𝓶𝔂 𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼

- I NEED YOU DEAD. FUCK. FUCK. STAY THE FUCK AWAY!!!!!!!! UGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

- bloodstalk's actor is really good. the whole multiple souls in one body plot can and would go awry if the actor sucks at it because it's gonna look cringe, but i'm in no way taken out of the story whenever i'm watching bloodstalk/soichi. the swap is so obvious and seamless

- MY PRINCESS.....

- OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH "get out. we're escaping." there's something left in that small, shriveled heart of his <3 gentoku nice one!!

- i'll have to say, this is a nobler ideal than whatever the fuck dan kuroto has LOL

- gentoku... he's fun now xD i always love a good redemption arc

- hmm maybe he should've succeeded in killing utsumi that time on the bridge. when i rewatch i'll make sure to tell early season night rogue that

- this is his second time getting hit by the Down Boy switch because instead of tucking it somewhere in his suit he just throws it off the side and hopes the problem solves itself, and i really don't wish to victim-blame but Jesus Christ, gentoku

- oh nvm i was too mean there's just another one LMFAO

- MY POINT STILL STANDS!!!!

- they're making fun of him 😭😭 so what if he just wants nationwide peace!! he's trying his best over here!

- BABYGIRL????????? I...OH....BABYGIRL YOU'RE SO BOYGIRL I LOVE YOU!!!!! THIS PLOT TWIST IS SO CUTEEEEEEEE. LOOOLLLL WAS HE JUST FAKING IT THE WHOLE TIME BECAUSE HE'S ALREADY SAID TOO MUCH AND HE'S LOWKEY EMBARRASSED BUT IT'S EVEN MORE EMBARRASSING NOW THAT HIS EMO PHASE WAS OVER BUT HE STILL REMEMBERS EVERYTHING HE DID SO HE JUST KINDA ROLLS WITH IT HAHAHAHAHAHA GENTOKUUU PLEASEEEEEEE

- i can wife him. i can fix him

- i still think it's the pinnacle of humor that sento has had disastrous friendships broken down by dealbreaker reveals rife with betrayals and they still apparently have each other on speed dial. sure bloodstalk murdered my previous identity and strung me along for a year pretending to be my family while i have amnesia, but i'm not gonna block his number or anything just incase he wants to give me a little kidnapping tip-off. gentoku kept trying to kill me on multiple occasions and has harmed people that i love in both physical and emotional ways, but it's not like i have to delete his number in my silly custom phone now do i

- oh my god he just wants to save his father :(

- i think it would be fun to have a kamen rider season where it's just old men. age 45 minimum

- wait... i get it.... bloodstalk x nightrogue...i get it now....

- the dynamic initially having nightrogue as the leader and boss above bloodstalk that he can't defy, only for it to be revealed that stalk has been stringing everyone along... gentoku being shoved into literal mud, his name sullied and dirt on his tongue... suffering the atrocities borne from his ruthless ambition.. only to lose said ambition but having to stay strong anyway, with nobody to talk to, and now bloodstalk doesn't even offer him a single glance nor a shred of respect, his view focusing on greater heights, unilaterally obsessed with sento's genius as fodder solely to push banjo to his limits.....but gentoku faces him anyway because he doesn't give a shit about powers controlling the universe or ones that could end planets.... he's got a bone to pick with fucking bloodstalk and he's gonna make sure to land a good punch on that ugly fucking mug

- the clown-ass music as they wind up the evol driver...lmao

- THE ACTUAL BGM IS SO COOL THOUGH

- HIS DAD IS DEAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

- omfg evolto needs to die you guys

[theninthdoor]

hello! can u do a reading about garagon cause he's finally back after that long 7 years hiatus. can u do a reading about his ideal type, plans for settling down if he has a partner, what he thinks of his fans and the koop industry? and his goal for his comebackkk? please i hope u read this cuz no one has ever done these questions

I'm not doing ideal type readings anymore, so I'm answering all but that question.

Plans for settling down + Does he have a partner right now? || cards: page of pentacles rx, the hermit rx, death rx, eight of swords rx

Honestly, I really feel like at some point in the recent past he actually thought that he was going to settle down with someone or was planning to go in that direction soon. However, this Page of Pentacles rx is suggesting that those thoughts/plans never came to fruition, and now that's (almost) completely in the background. This just feels like a relationship that didn't work out how they were expecting it to, but the solid potential and those wishes must've been there for sure. As for his current love life, I do think he is with someone, but their status isn't super clear. With the Death rx here, I'm assuming they have been together (to some degree) for a while now, too. Back and forth; on and off. - not sure if it's the same person that he was planning on settling down with, tho! could be but, still, I don't think that, as of right now, they have any actual plans to settle down together.

His thoughts on his fans and on the kpop industry || cards: three of pentacles, eight of cups rx, nine of wands rx, the devil

As I was shuffling the cards I heard "loyal, but also a dangerous weapon". "Fierce" is another word that came through. GD is for sure very thankful for his fans' love and loyalty. Many have stuck by him through all the craziest ups and downs of his career, and have chosen to believe him and defend him even when the rest of the world was against him. In a way, though, I even see him being in disbelief that there are people out there who care that much about him, and so he can't help but be filled with gratitude for that. On the other hand, as I said, he knows that they can be very fierce and, at times, hurt him more than the people that aren't his fans. "A dangerous weapon", I think, is then referring to both their unwavering loyalty towards him, to the point of obsession + what they are willing to do to defend him, but also, when they turn against him or begin to assume that they have ownership over him.

As for how he feels about the kpop industry, the first thing I heard was "an absolute shitshow" (and him laughing). lol It's a shitty industry filled with shitty individuals, to put it simply. So many people (trainees, idols, staff, fans, etc.) are taken advantage of; there is no real freedom; there are no morals. "It's all for the sake of making money and entertaining/distracting the world. It's a massive cult." I don't think he hates his job, and I certainly don't see him regretting where he has been and what he has done, but he does recognize that there are plently of flaws in this system, and those have to be pointed out. However, I also feel like he had some sort of awakening in these past few years, which led him to not only make peace with certain things, but also to change his mindset about the whole business. He's definitely in a much better place now than he was a few years back, I'd say, as he doesn't seem as angry or heartbroken about the state of it all. "Business is still business, and this is not the worst of it." - and by that, I think, he means to say that there are worse places to be and worse things happening, and this industry isn't even all that bad in comparison. Whoever comes in and signs that contract, know what they are up for. These dreams are very costly.

His goal for his comeback || cards: six of cups rx, the devil rx

Something I have noticed from the beginning: he just seems really detached from his past and whom we knew as "G-Dragon". It's like he's a completely different person; like he has/is completely disassociated. (I don't mean it in the literal sense. I'm not diagnosing anybody!!) So, in regard to his comeback, I just feel like he is trying to start again and find himself, and open up a new chapter in his life with this. This energy reminds me a lot of The Fool card, but in a heavier (or even darker) way, if that makes sense… It doesn't feel as lighthearted. It's like he doesn't know the industry anymore; he doesn't know the public. The world he left behind isn't the same he's stepping into right now. "I just want to try" is what I heard. He wants to try; experiment; see how it feels. He wants to see if he can find an audience that matches his current mindset, too. It almost feels like attending a high school reunion after 20-30 years, you know? Everyone has been through so much, everyone has changed. Some reputations may not be the best, and there might still be some grudges that people have been holding from stuff that happened in the past. And then the gathering may go well, super well, or really bad. Or alternatively, it may just feel like a waste of time altogether. - That's how it feels here.

(Disclaimer: All is alleged and for entertainment purposes only. Based on current energies.)

[thelunarfairy]

Hii! I really love ur analysis and theories I've been following you since last year!

Idk how to say it but I always had the feeling that tsukasa know that deep down his twin love him, because after all tsukasa is a very smart and observing person , his only reason to go back to his home when he was 4 is to know more about amane , so I'm sure that he know amane more that anyone, I mean if tsukasa was the one who hurting why would amane forgive him and let him even tho i can't even imagine how painful it would feel like for amane after looking at his blue and scars and rope burns . I realized this more in that one panel from when they were alive tsukasa asked amane if amane want him stay or to disappear and he blushed a bit will smiling when amane didn't respond him, if he tought that his twin really angry he would be upset thinking that the response is that amane want him to disseapear since he didn't even respond but tsukasa know that his brother is a 'weirdo' and have a very complicated personality and mentality

(sorry if you don't understand that , English is not my first language also out of topic, am i the only one who doesn't like to call amane tsukasa's big brother? It really make me feel weird and wrong since they are literally twin and are just some minutes different)

Awwww thank you dear 🧡🧡🧡🧡

Yes, Tsukasa is very intelligent, and he has the ability to see people's wishes through their hearts. You don't have to tell him directly what you want, he knows.

And that's where the problem lies, if Tsukasa has this ability, and yet he believes that Amane hates him, there's something wrong, isn't there?

Maybe Amane's love isn't the "ideal" love, but quite the opposite. Would you kill the person you love?

It's a questionable love, isn't it? So I know, people will justify Tsukasa's murder with the premise "it's because of the entity". But you see, even Amane regrets it. Even Amane is afraid of himself.

Amane's love must have something suffocating and wrong, a love so forbidden that Tsukasa might not even consider it as love. That's assuming the story is well written, because Tsukasa knows how other people feel.

Because, even though Amane's love is the wrong kind of love, Tsukasa still treats him with kindness, with love and affection, as if he truly accepted what Amane had to offer him, even if it wasn't ideal.

Still, what Amane has to offer isn't enough for Tsukasa, and you know, he loves when people show how they feel, he wants to see that.

Amane thinks the love he offers Tsukasa is good, it's enough, the same love he offers Nene, but it's not.

There's something about their relationship that's still mysterious. Hanako is so evasive, his behavior around Tsukasa was that, distant, without showing deeper emotions, many people blamed Tsukasa for different things to explain why Amane treated him like that.

And the truth is this, he doesn't know if Tsukasa is really his brother. So, there is the love that Amane feels for Tsukasa (which he considers to be true) and at the same time Tsukasa's fear and contempt for the entity.

We don't know what these two have been through together, but believe me, if Tsukasa feels that Amane's love is not enough, he's probably right. He's the guy who reads what you want and how you feel, and he'll want to make you show it.

So, what I'm saying to you is that we still don't know for sure, not until we find out more about both of their sides. We've seen a lot about Tsukasa, but what about Amane?

Oh, well, yes, haha ​​since they're twins the age difference is small, but it exists. After all, there's no way they could be born at the same time (for their mother's sake).

But, I get what you mean, it turns out that people like to differentiate by age, even if it's by minutes, it's symbolic. Amane being the older brother gives him the burden of being the more "protective and caring" brother.

While Tsukasa being the younger one gives him the burden of being the "cuter and more irresponsible" one.

Typical role-playing stuff in the story, to give more depth to their natural relationship.

[was-theoretically-theo]

Twenty questions that he has to answer.

How is your sleep schedule like? Don't mess with Theodore's. I annoyed him for a year about it and finally he got it right. Tho I am sure he got it right because of someone else. (Aka you) 😏

What are your friends like? Explain in brief. Treat this like a three marks question.

What is your ideal way to spend weekends? Will you take Theodore to museums or not? Will you stay in and cancel your plans if Theodore doesn't feel like going? Without blaming him?

Do you know your love language? Do you know how to convey it? (You don't have to tell me what it is just say yes or no)

What's your favourite thing about dating my best friend? Treat this like a three marks question too.

What are some things you and him have in common?

Will you give all your chocolates to him if he asks?

What's your favourite movie?

Favourite way to relax?

Will you say sorry after an argument even if it wasn't exactly your fault? I believe that saying sorry doesn't mean that you are wrong it just means that you care enough to keep your ego aside and take accountability.

Do you like Spiderman/Percy Jackson? (Very important question)

Hobbies?

Any new hobbies you want to pick up?

Will you read a book just because it is Theodore's favourite?

Favourite poet, if any?

Will you get Theodore roses?

Will you help/ask whether you can help Theodore with his chores without him having to ask you?

Extroverted or introverted?

Most played song on your playlist?

If you could master any instrument than which one?

That's it. I guess. Hope you have a wonderful day, take care of yourself and him. Also, nice to meet you, I am Eleanor. Theodore is my best friend, I am his casual friend. I am from India. Eleanor is not my real name but that is what you can refer to me, for now. Any queries? Message me. Take care of my best friend for me. Give him hugs from my side. Time to time, lots of hugs. Theodore, give him a handshake from my side. Thank you.

passing the phone to him

Shalom!! Eleanor (can I call you Ellie?  Oo or even Elea ~pronounced Ella??~ if not that’s groovy too)

I’m very excited I’ve heard lots about you! All good don’t worry babes)

I try to sleep about seven hours a night but sometimes I sleep 8 but I couldn’t do anything less unless absolutely necessary I physically could not lose a day of beauty rest of it would ruin me

Friends….all pretty diverse actually and there are several different personalities.. I’ll give you my ride or dies so okay we All went to an alternative school not because we had disciplinary problems but because we had different problems that made normal schools challenging. Like I for example have dyslexia and ADD. Anyway my best friends and I sorta bonded over this and I’ve been friends with Elton since grade five and we still keep in touch even now but he decided to go to college and I did not he’s a literal fashion icon and the sweetest smartest cinnamon roll you could meet but if he’s not doing his work you need to get on him because he procrastinates like crazy. So now we only see each other on weekends. Kaleb on the other hand went overseas and we FaceTime every morning except Sundays because of church and she’s really into anime and I can’t tell you much about that stuff except the seven deadly sins is better than demon slayer and bleach is something Kaleb rewatchs every few weeks so you best expect that it’s going to be playing when you visit but my life really doesn’t have interesting drama thank goodness. (No offence starshine👀)

I love to spend my weekends exploring I used to hike a lot but Arc is not a fan of the outdoors though we’ve found he has a knack for gardening and does very good on the family farm he just really doesn’t see the point and I don’t really blame him I suppose it’s not for everyone and I know Arc is more of a moon person. Yes actually we do go to museums and no I wouldn’t ever get mad at him for that we all have our off days

Yes and yes but ours is not the same so it’s good to keep of communication in our relationship so we stay afloat. We really haven’t had any problems though as words of affirmation is something Arc is good at unknowingly because of his poetry addiction and I’ve always been a really touchy person

My favorite thing about dating Arc is his ability to express himself though body language for example we’re at a party I don’t have a ask in front of everyone if he’s tired from all the human interaction he just shows it with expressions or posture..or whatever he chooses to convey but I never have to ask. This can be a problem on the small occasion that I can’t see him because I cannot rely on him to tell me because I usually know.

We’re people pleasers and that’s one of things we sorta bonded over when we first met we feel horrible égéen if the thing wasn’t our problem or responsibility because it made whoever upset. We don’t have very good people skills I’m overbearing and him not enough which has lead a lot of people to sorta stay away unless of course you’re also like us. I’ve found that we both share an appreciation of art mine is more in fashion design and makeup while his is writing and visual sorta stuff

Without hesitation(I’m not a huge fan of chocolate)

Geek charming (I’m not sorry)

Meditation.

Yes because I will feel bad for making him upset though he’s probably right anyway as he’s more logical than me…but one cannot always choose mind over morals so maybe I might be right on the off occasion

Not really l…sorry..but I think wonder woman is cool if that’s the same fandom? 

Crocheting, sewing, working out, and I love to sing but I’m not very good at it despite what Arc says but I do want to get into photography 

I would if he asked me but I don’t really read them because he likes to tell me about them and I love hearing about them…he also probably wound be very happy at my reading for him because he knows reading is a struggle for me

Oh this is a good one! Probably the Edgar guy I like when Arc recites them especially Anabel Lee

No because he prefers Aster white aster to be exact..

Of course! Most our chores are mutual so we don’t have it set on who does what but if he’s doing something I’d definitely help him finish whatever it is

Extroverted

Teenage dirtbag by weetus I honestly have no Idea how I’m not tied of it yet and a close second is  in this shirt by the irrépressibles which I listen to while designing 

Definitely guitar it’s just so pretty but Theodore might get me into piano he plays like a dream

I do Hope your next three days go spectacularly well and this was really fun I definitely might consider this app or the website at the very least thank you.

[lastweeksshirttonight]

I've listened to this almost four times at this point, so I better write some thoughts on it. (Did you need them? Probably not but humor me.)

This whole podcast talks deeply about the emotional toll of COVID and the pandemic, so be advised.

Interview starts at 16:10.

To start, I think a thread that runs through this entire episode is Marc being more cynical or bitter than John about a point, and John pausing to realign himself with what his actual level of cynicism is. You can tell that Marc and John like each other a lot, but there is also a tension to some of their discussions that I find really interesting. Like a mental chess match where Marc has a clear POV and John is trying to subtly spin the response to be closer to his own ideals.

The interview opens with the two of them talking about microphone levels and people not being closer to the mic and how irritating it is when people don't know how to use microphones. I am weak to John talking

I haven't watched Rachel Maddow in a while, is she really doing radio shows about Spiro Agnew? What? Why?

John speaking about context and contextualizing our current dark reality. The way he viewed the pandemic and the extent of society's flaws, and how nothing was fixed was really interesting. For as much as he's said that he's allergic to sincerity, that's just plainly untrue. He really does want to believe in the best of everything around him - he later talks about how he loves his children so much it's painful, and I had the same thought. Marc's darkness is something else though, I would laugh helplessly too at being reminded that 30% of the country wants to kill me specifically (help)

"It will eat your messages and shit them back into your face." I truly enjoy when John goes this blue, it always surprises and delights me.

John wants everything to have a system. He really likes the John Wick coin-based hotel system. I don't quite know how the two of them got from the comfort conspiracy theories can provide in dark times to John Wick but hey.

Marc being mad about having no awards and John being like "you really didn't need to say your bitterness out loud bro" killed me.

John has no idea why LWT was moved into another category. He doesn't even know who he's competing against. The Emmys basically afford him the right to be left alone with his show. I think he values that more than anything in regards to LWT - this topic comes up multiple times in this podcast and John stresses that having no sponsors to be beholden to, no commercials, and seemingly little to no oversight makes them able to do things that just can't be done on commercial television. There are more details to mine about this later, but it seems like, for all the absolute chaos of HBO and Warner and Discovery (something John likens to continually having new fathers around and wondering if he even has to bother learning their names), he's still relatively free to plug away at LWT the way he and his team envision it. Which is a relief to hear, honestly, the delayed announcement of LWT being renewed really made me concerned that Discovery in particular was done dealing with him.

I like how John, when given questions, will often ask clarifying follow-ups in this. He's not one for vagueness as it seems - the one that particularly stuck out to me was Marc relaying how he struggles with pulling his thoughts together on current events, using the Gaza crisis as an example for him before asking how John settles on topics. John's response is to ask if Marc means in general, or om Gaza specifically. The conversation moves into the general and how LWT is made now that it's ten years in (John calls the research department a machine and I can tell Marc is hoping that John literally invented a research machine from his tone of voice), but those are two very different conversations that could be pulled from that one question.

I also love John and Marc taking the piss out of John's show. Truly, if John leaves his desk, you obviously just sat through 30 minutes of the worst human misery possible.

-

Marc: "Because of your innate Britishness and your sense of humor, that... you do irritate -"

John, sounding like something just activated in his brain and as darkly as I've ever heard him: "I love to."

Marc: " - the right - ???"

-

My new favorite running theme in John's interviews is his apparently very tense relationship with his lawyers. The nitty gritty of the legal needs of the show, and how John views his lawyers and the frustrations that come with trying to do hard-hitting topics while having lawyers drop out from conflicts of interest, always fascinates me.

John also delves into the security he requires because of the breadth of people he's pissed off. He doesn't seem to care at all and enjoys pissing these people off, despite his wife's concerns. (I'm so sorry Kate you married a deeply weird man) John derives such pleasure from irritating people that it outweighs, say, never being able to go to Thailand without being arrested.

I cannot believe the Sacklers tried to come to the LWT office. Jesus Christ the entitled gall of these people.

Marc offends John with his assessment of England having many destroyed buildings, which leads into him saying, in a way reminiscent of the long-lost American from the Bugle, that he "enjoys the castles". God I miss the American. "How old's this wall? Holy fuck!"

-

Marc: "What are we gonna do about the futility..."

John: -cracks the fuck up-

Marc, finding his point: "...of..."

John: "Let it hang. Feel free to let that hang in the air. Let's just all enjoy the fact that we're all filling it in and coming up with different, equally valid, depressing ends to that sentence."

-

John is so severely offended and killed by Marc's suggestion that he did a Q&A tour. The absolute lowest form of entertainment in both of their minds. John mentions that he emphatically told people they could leave before the Q&A they hosted at the John and Seth stand up show I was at because he feels so strongly about this. I wrongly assumed this was because John hates himself and can't imagine people sticking around for him, but in my defense, that's usually the reason he tells people not to do something/shits on his bangs/etc.

(We still have like 30 min of this podcast, why am I like this)

The question of "what's gonna happen" is a pretty dark one, as John notes. He fears the worst but hopes people will work hard to stop the path we're on. Marc wanting to illustrate where we are is pretty ridiculous, as John points out - just look around.

I think Marc talking about what "all right" means to people gets to something that deeply concerns me about what the future of this country will be for me. I don't want to be that cynical but there is a deep well of selfishness in the US (rightfully identified) that does keep the country from uniting and fighting for survival in times like this. We're definitely at that turning point and I really want to hope we don't drive off the cliff.

I am not really emotionally prepared for jokes about John being in prison, I was genuinely a bit concerned about that The Last Time. That's my own problem though.

I didn't expect to get more information about John leaving The Daily Show on this podcast, but that's one of the most interesting things discussed. Marc asks if John left TDS because he felt the freedom he has with HBO wasn't there, and John says that wasn't the case - his contract expired at the end of 2013, after his summer hosting gig. Ideally, and Jon and John had discussed this (!!), the goal was to have John do TDS in the summers so John could, you know, rest. Sleep. Not be beholden to the horrors all the time. But Comedy Central, in John's blunt words, "didn't really care", so he went to HBO. The way that John mentions that "they would have probably kept [Jon] longer" if they'd actually tried to keep John around sounds just a tinge bitter and honestly, yeah. I'm annoyed hearing that we could have had this magical 2-host version of TDS and CC just... sucks. God I hate them. They gave me most of my worldview as a teenager because of TDS, but fucking A man.

Also interesting to hear, however vaguely, that John had some other offers. Wonder what those were. My best guess, based on what else was going on at that time, is TBS (who later made Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and were building around Conan) might have made a play.

I'm not a parent, but I do appreciate the discussion of parenthood, particularly how anxiety-inducing it can be. Hearing John talk about his worries regarding his prematurely-born son definitely resonated, and I'm glad his son is doing well now. ❤️

The brick joke in the middle of the parenting discussion is the hardest I've ever laughed at Marc Maron. Truly. Masterful brick joke.

I don't have an elegant tag for this - there's much more than what I touched on here in the podcast, and I appreciate how deep the conversation gets. It was really nice to listen to this multiple times during my hell day, and to hear John talk deeper about things that he's rarely asked about.

Also I'm sorry I wrote like fucking too many k words on this, I clearly had thoughts

[chevvy-ryder]

*Ding Dong* Guten Tag, Boro mein Name. Haben sie vielleicht ein paar Minuten Zeit, um über ihre Blorbos zu reden?

One for everyone, but just answer those you like, no pressure!

Vijay: 43 // Jaysen: 49 // Ryder: 2 // Thyjs: 41 // Hizumi: 32 // Falco: 20 

:D

43. Do they prefer day or night?

Vijay prefers day as he feels he gets more private stuff done even though he's not an early bird (wakes up mostly around 1pm). Nighttime for him means mostly work — merc work. There are day work exceptions tho. You can say he's comfortable with both but still he would always prefer daytime over night time.

49. What's their favorite store to be in? Least favorite?

Jay's favorite store to be in is practically any store that sells awesome cars. He will be inspecting every car and even think about what could be the best way to steal one of them. His least favorite store is anything that sells healthy products.

2. A sound they find irritating

The sound deers are making. They are such cute and even majestic creatures and then they do this.

41. What kind of exercise do they most enjoy/need?

Thyjs needs his daily dosage of Militech soldier training. When he gets up first he does is go jogging. Also trains with a box sack to practise his dodging but that isn't enough for an Ex-Militech and KCT soldaat! So either he goes alone or with Ryder or even Arki and does some assault course he and the boys built up in an empty industrial site to stay fit. Often they train together and exercise so they stay skilled and fit for merc work. Thyjs though is the one who trains most and each day.

32. What is their ideal work environment in terms of light, sounds, other people, etc.?

Hizumi's ideal work environment is definitely not down in the streets. They prefer to work and operate from roofs and other higher points so they can overlook everything. It's mainly because they don't feel safe on the ground in Night City. Rooftops give them some shelter so whenever Hizumi works on something (also counts for training) they do it on a rooftop. Light is not really needed and sounds are less noisy on the roof as well. They are not in need of other people but they do enjoy when e.g. Ryder joins them for sword fight practise as both use blades (Ry is only mantis tho, while Hizumi wields katana/tanto).

20. A song that instantly transports them back to a certain memory.

That would be this song:

Falco is, like Ryder, a Techno(ise) connoisseur and he went to his first techno(ise) party in his teens already (unlike Ryder) and this song is one of the first one that sucked him into this world for real. It made him start wanting to create his own music and in general he's got lots of good memories of partying in Cologne to this song. Even today it's on his playlist as the last played song before he goes off the stage.

[le-trash-prince]

OF Episode 6 Thoughts: Top/Mew

I finally got to watch this week’s ep and there is SO MUCH TO UNPACK. I have too many thoughts so I’m splitting them between posts.

First of all: What a fucking episode. I was either laughing or screaming the entire time. I love this shit so much. Everyone in this group sucks!

Mew's bi momma! 🙌

When Mew said “I want you to meet my parents at the end of the year” and then “But don’t count on us still being together” I was like “What the fuck Mew?” LOL. Like Mew, I know you will probably never understand this, but just because you are not seeing anyone else doesn't mean that you are emotionally committed to this relationship. You keep pulling back and giving mixed signals!

“I think the reason I was fine without a relationship was because I got enough love from family and friends” Mew how about you recognize that you’re demi instead of psychoanalyzing your slutty friends!

Tbh tho, I know it's really hard to come to terms with your own sexuality, especially when it's so different from everyone around you. We try to come up with reasons as to why people are different, rather than being able to accept that these differences can be inherent to who we are as people.

I think this episode showed more than any other just how genuine Top’s feelings for Mew really are. And of course this had to be the episode it all came crashing down.

Like the notebook of drawings he gave him? That was super sweet and thoughtful as a gift—ppl prob expect someone like Top to just throw money at his lovers but instead he put time and effort into his gift. You can’t draw someone like that without really looking at them. There wasn’t anything in that gift that said "fuckboy" or “I’m doing this just so you will sleep with me.”

Felt like there was an intentional parallel between Top kissing Mew’s forehead while he was asleep and Ray kissing Mew on the mouth.

I feel like I need to rewatch to process “Mew and Ray get in a fight” and “Ray gave Mew the audio file and Mew believed him”

When Mew and Top got home, I loved how the change and tension felt tangible. Like something about Mew going into the bedroom by himself and leaving Top in the living room spoke to a barrier between them

Mew pinning Top to the bed did a lot of things for me thanks 👍

“I love the way you sound in bed” honestly some cinematic poetry, I was hollering.

As much as I feel like Top was coerced into sleeping with Boston, what can he even say to defend himself with? “I didn’t want to sleep with him?” Well it sure sounded like you did. “I did it because I thought you lied to me?” Yeah that’s not gonna make Mew understand. Lol. Again, I don't know if Top even knows if he's allowed to not want to have sex with someone.

It’s a hard situation with a lot of grey area! And even tho we kind of knew this was how Mew was gonna find out, it's the worst way for him to find out.

Of course Mew is going to be hurt. This is like the worst outcome for him, and it revealed a lot of his insecurities around his lack of sexual experience. Especially after talking big at the beginning "My senses are always correct and I know everything there is to know about love."

I wonder if he even blamed himself for being bad at sex as to why he didn’t enjoy his first time with Top all that much, rather than it simply being that he might not really get much out of sex at all. It's okay if you don't want sex, Mew, or if you don't enjoy it, or even if it takes time for you to enjoy it!

“I’m not worth enough for you to love only me.” Mew. Mew. *shakes him* First of all, Top thinks Boston is a pile of burnable trash. He does not love that man! Second of all, please don’t tie self worth to romantic love or to ideals of monogamy. It is never going to end well.

Again, "I think the reason I was fine without a relationship is because I got so much love from family and friends." Mew are you being honest with yourself? You even said yourself that the reason you slept with Top was because you were worried about him getting bored with you.

I may have mentioned this before, but I think the reason that "mastermind Mew" was so popular with the fandom at the beginning of the series is because people wanted it to be true, because if Mew had seen this coming, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. I don't think it came from "we think Mew is evil or manipulative or whatever," I think we just didn't want to watch a person as naive as Mew get hurt. Because that's what happens the majority of the time in real life. People get hurt.

Sad lonely himbo Top in the bathtub 👍

Overall, I really enjoy watching their relationship. It's very complicated; it's nowhere near as straightforward as a "fuckboy cheats on his virgin boyfriend" plotline could easily be. I don't think they had a solid foundation for their relationship. They enjoy their dates, but there hasn't been a lot of great communication between them, which as I mentioned on a previous post, is very normal, especially for a first or second relationship. And for both of them, I think this is their first real attempt at a relationship, and neither of them know what they're doing.

In the preview, we see a clip of Mew in the bathtub where his expression changes, and it really looks like a symbolic transformation to me. Whether we get revenge era Mew or "let's try this again with more emotional transparency" Mew, I'm here for it.

[oneatlatime]

Season 1 Zuko & Iroh Thoughts

Zuko

zuko is a villain when he's trying, an asshole when he's not. He's not even very effective! He's bad at being a bad guy, and when he isn't actively being a bad guy, he's just an unpleasant person. -Do I have enormous sympathy for him? Yes, especially after The Storm's backstory revelation. -Is he in an enormously awful situation? Yes, although he's not the only character in an enormously awful situation, and others in situations as bad are doing far better. -Do I like who he is as a person? Nope. Not at all. He's an unpleasant scoundrel. He's an ass. He does have some useful and arguably good qualities - he's driven, has (some) planning ability, is bonkers at swords, and occasionally remembers not to be a dick to his uncle or his crew.

I don't deny that a lot of what I dislike about him is caused by the difficult extenuating circumstances that apply to him. But, even if all those difficulties disappeared, I feel like I wouldn't find his base personality appealing either. That being said, I don't know if I've glimpsed the "real" Zuko yet. I don't think there has been an episode yet where he doesn't have a reason to be on high alert. But in episodes when he's not actively pursuing the Gaang, he's yelling at his crew or his uncle.

He does seem to have a (deeply buried) inner core of decency and lines he won't cross, unlike Zhao. After Sokka and Katara helped Aang escape Zuko's ship back in episode 2, he didn't go back and destroy the southern water tribe. Zhao would have. Zhao never would have accepted Aang's deal to protect the tribe in the first place. But rather than making Zuko an appealing character, this inner core of decency just makes him a less effective villain. It's too small to make him someone to root for; it's just big enough to have enough of a restraining effect on his villainy to make him seem pathetic compared to other Fire Nation villains.

At the end of season 1, my question regarding Zuko is this: why does any fan like him? You can't root for him as a villain, because he's not callous or suave enough to be a badass, crazy enough to be entertaining, or competent enough to be a threat. You can't admire him when he's not actively in villain mode, because he's a disrespectful shouty little butt. My very limited knowledge of this show before I watched it did include the tidbit that Zuko had a big fanbase. Why tho?

Iroh

Iroh obviously has something deeper going on. Which I find confusing. He obviously doesn't have the same 'burn the world' zeal as Zhao, and in fact is more interested in defending the world as a whole than advancing Fire Nation interests when the chips are down (see him defending the moon fish). I think he still supports the Fire Nation cause; I think he would be more actively discouraging Zuko's Avatar hunting if he didn't still support/believe it.

It was Zuko's ship they were on, so Iroh doesn't have command over or responsibility for Zuko, which means that he can't just tell Zuko what to do. But he's shown himself to be someone capable of subtlety (at least the amount of subtlety required to get something past Zuko). And he's shown himself to be capable of teenager wrangling. So I'm forced to conclude that the 'something deeper' that is going on with Iroh is the fact that he is either currently on the fence about, or slowly drifting away from, Fire Nation ideals. He can't actually disapprove of what the Fire Nation is doing, otherwise he would have taken advantage of the last three years of totally uninterrupted contact with his nephew to start steering him in an anti-war direction.

So either Iroh has only the slightest anti-war leanings at the moment, or it took literally every second of Zuko's last three years at sea to recover from getting half his face blown off. While I can believe that the injury was slow to heal (especially the psychological side), one of the first lines that Iroh says in episode one is cautioning Zuko against getting his hopes up about having found the Avatar because there had been countless red herrings previously. Which implies that they've been actively Avatar hunting for a while.

So my question is this: if, as I am being led to believe, Iroh does not fully support the Fire Nation war, why has he not, at any point over the last three years at sea, attempted to sway Zuko into thinking the same? I could understand not wanting to rip the rug out from under Zuko if they were a few months into their banishment, but after three whole years, is it not borderline irresponsible of a guardian-ish figure to allow their charge to keep believing in something they suspect may be untrue? Surely in the three years since banishment, Zuko has seen enough destruction caused by the Fire Nation for him to start putting the pieces together himself?

That being said...

I'm meh on Iroh; I actively dislike Zuko. But Zuko + Iroh? That's good stuff. Their dynamic is exponentially more than the sum of its parts. Their interactions are believable and entertaining. Of the first ten episodes, my favourite is The Winter Solstice Part 1: The Spirit World, in part because of their odd couple dynamic. Zuko is only tolerable when he's bouncing off Iroh. Iroh is at his best when he's in Zuko wrangling mode. I forget that I dislike Zuko when he's having a non-shouty interaction with Iroh. And then he goes and talks to shouts at someone else and I remember why I dislike him.

I do think Zuko is an ass on a very fundamental level, but I also wonder if he plays that up when he's around people he's not comfortable with. Take Zuko and Iroh's interactions when Zuko is stowing away on Zhao's ship to the North Pole. Quiet, controlled, genuine, almost as much left unsaid as is spoken aloud. They obviously have a deep understanding of each other. And they have mutual respect, although Zuko would never admit it. Now compare that to Zuko and Katara interacting in the Spirit Oasis when Zuko is trying to kidnap Aang. The jerk tendencies are turned up to 11. Which wasn't actually necessary, and probably detrimental since Zuko's one liner announced his presence and took away the element of surprise.

So maybe Zuko isn't that much of a jerk deep down. But since Zuko is not the main character of this show, we're pretty much guaranteed to only see Zuko in the context of interacting with others in the cast, where he will be a jerk. So whether or not he is as much of a jerk as he appears will be irrelevant, because we'll only see him in contexts where he is at maximum jerkiness, if that makes sense?

Honestly I don't even know if Zuko and Iroh will be in season 2. Zuko is on the box art for my season 3 DVD, so I guess he comes back at some point, but by the end of season 1 he and Iroh are no one and have nothing. The days of them being a threat, even a nuisance, to the Gaang are over. What can the writers even do with these characters now? Where can they possibly go?

[olliegolliegee]

1. ideal date location?

2. favorite mlm song?

3. what makes you feel loved?

4. are you single or taken?

5. how many crushes have you had?

6. what's your type?

7. do you develop crushes quickly?

8. best show or movie for a date night at home?

9. what are your favorite flowers?

10. what would you give as a gift on an anniversary?

11. what's your favorite album?

12. what's your love language?

13. what are some pet names that make you blush?

14. do you read fanfiction?

15. any fictional crushes?

16. loud boys or quiet boys?

17. any characters you headcanon as mlm?

18. what's your comfort food?

19. last song you listened to?

20. best compliment you ever received?

21. kiss on the lips, cheek or forehead?

22. scalp massage or back massage?

23. any celebrity crushes?

24. what's your guilty pleasure?

25. do you like PDA?

26. how do you prefer to be comforted?

27. favorite way to express affection?

28. big spoon or little spoon?

29. fav love language?

this one spot on a trail in my area. a bunch of rocks on an cliffy thing next to the trail. that sounds perfect. laying down or sitting on or hopping across the rocks, under the open sky, hiking up and down and putting flowers in your hair

not sure if it's aaaaaactually an mlm song but "good old fashioned lover boy" by queen. my goofy answer is "lookin good" by dixon dallas

being sought out. that's how i feel i know that i'm actually valued

single

idk man i don't count

i don't even know if i have one. i always end up crushing on friends tho

really depends. sometimes it's an "OH SHIT THEY'RE REALLY COOL UHM wait shit this is a crush" and sometimes it's a really, really slow realization with a hell of a lot of denial

something fun that we both love. OOH maybe princess bride!! quote at each other, smile, laugh

any and all flowers are amazing. i will also take a bouquet of random branches and leaves and shit (honestly that's better)

something small that's really something they'd like. searching the local little antique store for cute little things would be pretty great. also deeeeefinitely a cheesy date night

ARGHHHHH uhhhhhm i've gotta say, stadium arcadium by red hot chili peppers has a really special place in my heart

quality time and physical touch, i think

god, i really don't know yet. gonna have to find out

yeah. im on tumblr ofc i do

luka couffaine. AAAAAAAAA HE'S SO SWEET. a relationship with him would be the absolute healthiest relationship ever and i am HERE FOR IT. and he wants to be a luthier. MY STRINGY LITTLE HEART IS SCREEECHING RN

both are great, but usually loud boys. like damn, ask for what you need. make them goofy ass comments with me. YELL WITH ME

saying this because a new kotlc book came out but. cmon bro ravioli is canon. alvar is the gayest. also entirely ship fedex (we got the best ship names)

annie's mac n cheese

gonna guess "ophelia" by the lumineers? don't remember what songs were playing on the radio or in the cvs

having someone who i thought didn't like me send me a card in residential saying she thought i was really cool and wanted to be friends with me. she even printed out and sent pictures of goat statues she found and thought of me. for my birthday she gave me a trip to house of bagels, which is where we had our first real conversation. all the little things she do make me feel so valued, she's amazing and thoughtful. still gotta figure out how to actually text her, my computer's acting up

lips :)

BOTH PLEASE

i mean. does stravinsky count. THE FUCKING SWEETEST DUDE WITH THE BEST MUSIC

watching american housewife. it's like one of those shitty tv shows but it's actually really good. it's awesome. dude why is it so good it makes me smile and it has a happy loving marriage it nearly makes me wanna cry

some. hand holding, arm around shoulders, all of that is amazing. kind of uncomfortable with anything long and overly intimate. most i'd be comfortable with is a quick kiss towards the sides of wherever we are

cuddled.

saying happy, sappy, genuine things and seeing them starting to actually believe what i say

both. either. both

physical touch and quality time