#the show overall wasnt really what i was expecting?

[sparrowlucero]

i enjoy ur bird abode thoughts! I was a genuine enjoyer of the show when it was airing, I’m no die hard fan though and love to see ppls personal takes on the overall story/plot. Im curious if you also would agree or have any thoughts on the impacts The Mouse’s cancellation had on the shows ability to be more than it was? srry im not super eloquent with my words, but basically ur response to that ask got me wondering if part of the reason the show like genuinely wasnt all that ground breaking or unique in the end plot wise (other than the villain faces consequences in the end ig) as far as YA/Teen animation goes, was because of The Mouse’s inability to let the writers flesh out the show before gutting it? i have a negative bias toward The Mouse franchise and obviously dont know anything about how writing a show under the eyes of a franchise that big would work, its just smth that rattles around in my head and wanna know what u think!

Well to an extent, but I think it's much more the effect the studio had on how the owl house started out as rather than it not getting a full season at the end - It didn't escape my noticed that the show was initially announced as being a "horror comedy" when it doesn't really seem like either, especially by the second season, and yeah, the original pitch bible is obviously aiming for that much more than the show proper is as it goes along (and is honestly seems quite a bit more funny, weird, and dark, with an overarching plotline about a giant bug being used to religiously suppress people, eda able to cure her curse by killing luz, and one of the major characters being a teen boy awoken from a sleeping curse who ends up being a weird little bigot because he's from the 13th century, among other things)

(side note, i just noticed they actually specifically describe the thing i assumed the show was gonna be about here. huh.) but ultimately the bulk of the show that was actually made seems very influenced by a writing team that was genuinely interested in making a tropey YA fantasy story rather than just being mandated to. I mean even in what aired you can see the show sort of settle in ways that feel less like studio interference and more like, you know, art students creating their ideal fantasy show, like how King is clearly Eda's roommate who's funny because he looks like and sounds like a little dog despite being an adult man at the beginning but by the end they've made him her adopted sad backstory son who's explicitly a child. While I think a third season would have made the show as it existed better, because they clearly didn't get to finish the plot they wanted to (frankly to the point where some major aspects of the show are a bit confusing, I'm still not sure what a grimwalker is), I don't really fault the show for that but also don't think that hypothetical season (which pretty clearly would have been mostly about the magic school teens going to normal school) would suddenly flip around into something that I personally found interesting and subversive. Nor should it, really; again, it being Queernorm Harry Potter thing is clearly the intended appeal of the show, it's not really a flaw but just not a genre I'm personally interested in when compared to what I initially expected the show to be.

HOWEVER I will say they robbed little weird girls of their representation and that can't be forgiven

[twobitzz]

i started watching a murder at the end of the world and i wasn't really vibing with it until things picked up at e3. then things got juicy at e4

[writingoddess1125]

Over Achiever

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x FemReader

This is just Corny Corn Fluff!

Enjoy!

Next Part >>>

Support me on Ko-Fi!

Sitting on your couch you stared at the stack of papers before you in total shock- it was suppose to be a simple checkup.. not something like this.

You especially felt unsure since your husband wasn't here- He should have been here for something as important as this.. However his missions were important for the world- That and its what you signed up for when you married Simon 'Ghost' Riley.

You and Simon had been married for 3 years and dated for nearly 5 before then, Meeting at a resturant you owned when he showed up during leave to grab some take away. That was the humble start to a beautiful and gentle relationship the two of you shared.

You two had every conversation in the book about what you both expected in life and what the plans were.. This however was not one of them..

"Fuck- I've got to tell him.."

It was still a good month out till he returned and didn't use his phone while out on missions so you knew it was off in his pocket- he needed to know however.. so you figured a letter would be fine- it would be a cute and easiest way so he wasnt surprised with a heart attack when he got home and saw you like that... jumping to your feet you grab the car keys quickly and rushed to the closest store and then the post office- How bad could it be anyway?

WEEK LATER

On the other side of the world Ghost leaned against an outdoor wall, they were just back from their latest mission and had a cool down before the next one.

He missed you- terribly.. he missed his home and truthfully didn't want to be sweating his arse off when he could be with you. It surprised him in truth, before he used missions to escape the idea of a home- However now he was excited to return home... to you.

Simon was still highly secretive however so no one knew he was married, besides Price who had been invited to the wedding. He had to protect you, his little slice of sunshine in a overall dark life.

"Riley, you've got a letter" Price called out snapping the man from his thoughts, Ghost surprised to hear this- He never really got mail even from you since he insisted it was emergency only to avoid any information leaks.

Stepping forward quickly he grabbed the pale blue envelope- Soap now also curious as he peaked at his Lieutenant.

"Oh? Someone special?" Soap teased, however curiosity burning in his gaze.

Rolling his eyes Ghost opened the letter and saw a tiny plain card, a spike of anxiety hitting his chest as he slowly opened the card and felt the air suddently sucked directly from his lungs.

The team watched Ghost eyes widen like big blue saucers, worry now blanketing the group as Ghost closed the card and then opened it again like to confirm.

"Eh, Lieutenant?.. You alright there?" Soap said softly as he stepped forward to touch the man's shoulder. Price and Gaz also getting closer to see if the masked man was okay-

"Y-Yes I'm fine.. move" He grunted out, the men stepping back as Ghost went to step forward before passing out misstep and falling into the dirt.

"Holy Fuck!!" They all yelled as Ghost fashionably face planted into the dirt and Soap and Gaz scrambling to help the man to his legs which had seemed to suddently turn to jello- Ghost wobbling up as his mass seemed to suddently be too much for him, dropping the paper into the dirt which Price quickly scooped up to keep from getting damaged.

"Take him to the medical bay" Price said quickly as they could hear Ghost muttering something about a van and other random shit- worried their hardened killer had finally lost his mind as they dragged him off to the medbay.

Price holding the card in hand and cracking open to take a peak at what just laid out his Lieutenant-

Congratulations!

You Over Achiever!

Si I'm pregnant and they are triplets!

You over achieving Ass-!!!

I love you and can't wait to see you home!

- Love (Y/N) ♡

The ultrasound picture with the clearly labeled 1,2,3 in red over the black and white images. Price couldnt help but crack a smile and chuckle softly as he closed the card- Looking as he saw Ghost still being rushed to the medical bay.

"I'll be damned-"

A tiny cornerstore card had knocked out one of the world's best solders.

[crossthread]

Okay I swear to God I hope the directors of avatar (the alien movie) sees this post somehow but the whole reason the way of water flopped so badly is cause it was written over 10 years ago. So I like avatar. I thought it was a cool concept and good characters and overall a solid action movie. But the characterisation is just a dacade old man. It's really outdated. It instantly turned me off when Jake was seen to be a 'hardass' to his kids, and having them call him Sir, and have Neytiri taking kind of a secondary role as the 'peacekeeper' parent who goes 'but your dad loves you, he just wants you safe' bullshit trope that's just really not what this generation is looking for rn.

Emotionally mature parents is what's on topic rn. Dad's that step up and know what they're doing and don't have the 2000s 'military hardass emotionally distant' bullcrap. Just look at all the other movies and shows with family themes that did really fucking well. The Last of Us. Ultraman: Rising. Nimona. Even Maleficent, which I think is one of the earliest movies of this trope that's well known. They did well for a reason. You can't make Jake Sully a bad father and think the current audience will dig it. All of his kids, one way or another felt the pressure of living up to their dad's expectations, and im sure, whether he really loves them. And I assure you for all intents and purposes it felt like Neteyam died thinking he wasnt enough. You can't have those 'your dad loves you but he just doesn't know how to show it' bullshit anymore and expect the audience to like or even relate to that character cause a lot of us don't take that shit anymore from our own parents. A lot of millennials are actively trying to be present and good parents to their kids. So yeah. The way Jake Sully, and to a certain extent, Neytiri were characterised is probably one of the biggest reasons this entire movie flopped. It could have been great. But it isn't. And I kind of hate it actually.

My point is: if there's gonna be a third movie, the best bet to make sure it doesn't follow the way of waters footsteps is to overhaul a lot of the characterisation and plot. See what the audience wants rn, and what they audience relates to. It was clear the writing to that movie was old as balls and gen z or gen alpha don't take that shit man. Give us good parents

Edit: okay as someone pointed it out it wasn't actually a 'flop' flop because they grossed by over a billion or smth in the box office I think but to be fair half this post has been sitting in my drafts for like 2 years and I wrote this soon after I watched it back then, and a LOT of people werent that happy with it. But yall know what I mean. I waited for this movie for 10 years and all I felt was this low simmering disappointment because it could have been so good, but it wasn't.

[haroldthehuckleberry]

desperate for money

CW-mpreg

i was absolutely desperate for money, id do anything. ANYTHING. i was doing tones and tones of jobs anything i could find but rent was expensive especially near my college, id gotten to the point of desperation where anything was on the table.

i saw an instagram post advertising for young guys ready to undergo a highly-risky surgery for a huge pay-out, £5,500! that was enough for rent for the rest of the time i was in college plus some!! i jumped at the opportunity and immediately replied to the ad not really thinking about the emphasis on the riskiness of the surgery.

after a few days of anxious waiting i got a reply informing me of where to go for the surgery and what time, it was later that day. before my appointment, i decided to shower and put on a nice t-shirt and pants. when i arrived to the surgery room a cute male-nurse with a nice plump ass showed me the way to the waiting room where a much older doctor described the procedure:

they would place a fully functioning vagina into me, uterus and all, and place the vulva between my balls and asshole, theyd leave it there for 5 months and track the changes to my body.

i have to admit it was more than i expected but i was on the verge of eviction and expulsion so i signed and agreed, before i knew it i was on the operating table breathing in anaesthetic and falling asleep…

i woke up in a different room in a different gown, there was a strange warmth coming from between my legs, i let my hands glide towards my new vagina it was already wet in anticipation, i let out a soft moan as i explored it, id never been into woman so id never felt one before but it was magical as i started tantalising the clit my cock stood on end, i grasped my cock with my right hand and began to finger-fuck my boy-cunt with my left, it was pure bliss. id been fingered in the ass before but this was unbridled ecstasy.

after id came and squirted i stood up and cleaned myself with a sink in the corner of the room before getting into my robe and leaving, i was met by the cute nurse again who handed me my clothes and an envelope of the cash, i was so overcome with my new pussy id forgotten about the cash! i was in ecstasy again as i ran back to my apartment to pay my rent and celebrate with some more finger fucking!

~5 months later~

honestly having a vagina as a college boy didnt change my experience too much all that had really happened to my body was my pecs had swollen somewhat, my thighs had grown with my now fat-ass (i wasnt complaining about!) besides turns out college kids are freaky! soon id been fucked, sucked and used by every boy, girl and inbetween on campus! sadly the day for my removal came so i drove to the same place the appointments (the original surgery and the weekly check ups) happened before, i saw the same cute nurse who seemed to be flirting with me, i blushed at his subtle advances as he showed me to the doctor’s room.

i sat opposite the doctor and he made sure i was ready for the removal- to be honest it saddened me, sex with both organs in use had been beyond belief - but i said yes, when i was taken into the surgery room the doctor explained that due to my high sex-drive hed need to check for a baby i explained that all the sex had been protected but he insisted. a good job he did.

i was 2 weeks pregnant.

he offered me the original sum again if i saw it full term.

i had to agree, not out of want for money but out of want for more ecstasy and unfathomable sex.

~3 months later~

the first few months of my pregnancy went as about as expected, explaining it to my school was…confusing but eventually they understood. morning sickness was a bitch but overall relatively easy, and yes i still was a massive man-slag. recently i noticed the first sign of a bump with a slight bloat under my abs- how exciting!

~2 months later~

im growing beyond control, the doctor says due to my male hormones my vagina is pumping more feminine hormones causing the baby to grow rapidly, my roomate has become a sort-of-boyfriend to me, hed fuck me or get fucked by me depending on my sexual needs, hed help me through morning sickness, to be completely honest i doubt id be able to do this with out him, at 5 months i looked at about 7 my belly was like a bowling ball attached to me, my pecs had become 2.5 sizes of proper bitch-tits my ass had plumped out my thighs had become that of thunder as my hips widened in preparation for birth.

~2 months later~

as my belly continued to expand at its rate getting to class was near impossible, my belly now looked like four or five pillows stuffed under my skin, none of my shirts fit properly and all clothes that would where too feminine so i had to waddle to class pathetically in hoodies that left my belly exposed from the belly button down, but simply i didnt care, technically anyone i walked past had equal chances of being the father, so no one gave me a hard time, including my teachers…

~1 month later~

at eight months pregnant i couldn’t possibly go from class to class and so i joined them all through a teams call from my dorm, the laptop resting on my beach-ball sized mid-section i was completely exhausted and uncomfortable constantly, my tits had now started to ooze milk whenever they please all my shirts either didnt fit, rubbed against my sensitive nipples or both thus i spent my time shirtless eventually giving up on underwear and becoming a nudist, not that my roomie complained we fucked like rabbits, it only being mildly inconvenient with my mountain of a stomach but we managed.

~1/2 a month later~

me and my now official boyfriend where right in the middle of him fucking my cunt raw while tugging off my cock when my water broke and soaked him completely he screamed in panic as he pulled out my hole. he fumbled for my phone to call the doctor who arrived in a matter of moments, eventually it was time to push…

after hours of painful, sexual, intense pushing i had birthed 2 beautiful baby boys the birth was not only painful but also very sexual as my most sensitive areas where forced beyond recognition, i had cum and moaned through most of the births, before the doctor left he gave me an envelope of the money and a date for the removal of my uterus and vagina, i told him i wanted to keep it, i think he understood.

hours after birthing my first children i was ready for my boyfriend to fill me with his, i wanted all of the pregnancy again…

[twost3ps]

I'm really tired right now cuz I finished exams, but I was thinking about Micheal's possible appearance in hazbin and like...

What if he defies all expectations and is actually this punk, loud, aggressive, unprofessional guy. Still a short stack, but he's a rock star.

These are all ideas being pulled out of my butt but it would actually be kinda funny if Micheal, instead of being this stoic and very professional angel, is like Adam - hes deranged arrogant rocker band guy (???)

Lucifur and Micheal are twins, but in the beginning, Micheal is the party going fun, loving loud mouth, while Lucifur has to play as the responsible twin. Micheal would start a ruccus, but his ideas never strayed further from god, so he was never punished for his wrong doings- he's just seen as a troublesome angel that meant well. Mciheal did think Lucifurs plans were stupid, and he made a point of telling him so. Eden was Lucifur's escape from responsibility and Micheal.

Micheal still gets Lucifur sent down to hell but does not feel pity but rather irritation as now lucifurs old responsibility falls to him. He's loaded with work because Lucifur worked closely with God in the creation of eden.

So time flies, eden Yada Yada Yada. (Little guitarhero hints because I'm not well) Adam is put under Micheal's guidance after dying and ascending (this totally does not have negative consequences 🙄) and Micheal guides Adam in his first years in heaven. Adam gains a lot of his personality through this Micheal- his arrogance, his hate, and what whatnot.

This Micheal is an enabler. And he fuels the angry fire inside of Adam against Lucifur, Lilith, and even Eve.

Micheal, not feeling pity om his brother, let's Adam hate Lucifur, feeds into that hate, and let's it fester. While not on purpose, he aides in Adam developing his misogynistic mindset through blaming them for why paradise had to end. It's partially also because he really blames them too.

"You never ate that apple Adam. They did. It's the woman in your life that did you wrong. And maybe it's just woman in general."

Something to that degree.

There are good aspects to their relationship. Micheal helps build Adam's confidence. He teaches him how to fight. As this Micheal is a lot less professional he shows Adam rock and metal and even gives him his guitar axe. It was made out of Micheal's old sword.

Micheal praises Adam a lot. They have this dude bro thing going on (for my guitarhero brain it was borderline gay sometimes. Micheal has slapped Adam's ass a couple times as "a joke" like how "straight" guys do when playing around. Insanity) But Micheal was Adam's best bro in heaven, and he really craves his approval, so he becomes like him.

They don't interact much as time goes on because Micheal has a growing responsibility as population rises but they hang out enough.

They party, drink, and don't really do ummm.. what's righteous.

And Micheal is usually the one who suggests it.

And maybe that's why the heavens judgemnt is so skewed because Micheal kinda just sucks as judge and justic overall. He has his moments of professionalism when it calls - he's better than Adam at being straight laced - but he has a giant bias over his judgment that sways every ruling.

He and Lucifur meet again and Micheal goes onto egg Lucifur at every notice.

It becomes very apparent to everyone watching where Adam got his personality from, because if he wasnt like this in Eden, then he surly got like it in heaven and everyone can guess by who.

For what he'd look like, it's probably some unkempt general's cothers that are ragged and torn but in a cool way that makes him rugged. His hair is long and never kept, it's crazy and wavy, but has a charm to it.

But I do hope though that- if he appears- Micheal has the fandoms stoic and formal personality. This is just a funny thought

[aspoonofsugar]

What are your thoughts on the yorkshin arc? My main issue is the arc never really lingered on Kurapika's feelings that much. I honestly didn't feel much for it. We were shown how angry and vengeful he was, but we never really got to see or feel just how hurt Kurapika was over losing his family, friends and home.

Maybe it's my own perception problem. This may sound mean but Kurapika just seem to be this badass arrogant cold-blooded chain bastard. After killing Uvo, he remained stone-cold. He wasnt bothered. He doesnt feel guilty at all. Was he supposed to be like this in the manga?

I still like it overall but i kinda wish it was more emotionally compelling just as Chimera Ant Arc. Chimera arc was super long so it has it's highs and lows. But I would say the highs of Chimera ant are higher than Yorknew.

Hello anon!

I love the York Shin arc tbh :)

I think it is not fair to compare it to the CAA, though, because imo its role in the narrative is more similar to the Zoldyck short arc for Killua, the Celestial Arena's arc for Nen, Greed Island for Gon and the Election Arc for Leorio. These are all set up arcs, where you are not expected to see all the conflicts solved.

The zoldyck arc introduces the main family members and dynamics, but it does not solve them

The Celestial Arena introduces nen, but it doesn't show its most interesting powers or applications

Greed Island sets up Gon's flaws, but it does not really deconstruct them

The Election Arc sets up Leorio's arc and potential as a politician, but it ends with Leorio losing the elections

Similarly, York Shin doesn't solve Kurapika's arc, but simply introduces its major themes together with the Spiders. It is the current arc (the Succession War Arc), that is supposed to give Kurapika and the Spiders the major characters development. Exactly like the CAA does for Gon and Killua. Notice, for example, that it ends in an anti-climax (like many HXH arcs that postpone conflicts). There is no final showdown between Kurapika and Chrollo, really.

That said, I disagree with with your reading of Kurapika as stone-cold. I would say the arc actually makes clear he is going through a huge emotional turmoil. Here are some examples:

Kurapika gets angry at Uvo and Pakunoda because they refuse to betray their comrades. That is because they go against Kurapika's ideas of the spiders as inhuman monsters. Senritsu even comments on this by saying how deep down Kurapika is starting to have doubts about his revenge, as he sees the spiders as humans.

He completely loses its cool and basically runs after them recklessly in a way that makes him easy to find. He is 100% ready to give in to his anger and to foolishly die in a 1 vs 3 fight. The only reason he survives is that Gon and Killua let themselves get caught.

In general, Kurapika is shown clearly suicidal, as he feels that without the Spiders he has no real reason to live. He even says so, which is why Gon telling him to look for his comrades' eyes helps him.

In the end, he temporally gives up his revenge to save Gon and Killua because he realizes that saving his friends that are still alive is better than avenging his dead ones. We even get a little foreshadowing of Pairo there.

Finally, Kurapika is so consumed by everything he literally sleeps for days and everyone is worried sick for him

So, his behavior is not really something I would call cold. Quite the opposite really. He is angry and desperate and at the same time the person he hates the most is really himself. So, he is sacrificing his life and his sense of self in a revenge, which will only lead to his death. I have written more about his arc here, if you are interested.

In short, I understand you expecting a more emotional narrative, but York Shin is not a climatic arc and in general Togashi's style tends to show in subtext much more than saying :) I am expecting more emotional outburst in the current arc, though, even if so far it is incredibly complex and a lot of time is given to explaining everyone's strategy.

Thank you for the ask!

[heavensinhell]

‘keefe has changed so much!’ what did you expect? for the majority of his life, he’s always felt what other people felt. he always had an idea about how they were feeling, about how they felt about him — and then suddenly he didn’t just had an idea, he just knew. he straight up knows — and then, he lost it. he lost the ability to feel other people’s feelings overall. that’s it, he doesn’t know shit anymore.

he knew he could trust his friends because if he holds their arm, holds their hand, even brushed their hands together, skin on skin, he’d feel how much they love him, how much they trust him, all that stuff. and sophie? he doesn’t even need all those extra steps. he just needs to be around her and he knows already how she feels — and that’s so important because sophie wasn’t like anyone else. she was covered in shit that could burn her skin off and she wasnt even screaming or crying. ‘isn’t she amazing?’ you’d think. he did think.

sophie means so much to him. i can’t put their entire story into one post because (cough cough im lazy as hell) and he ran away from her. guys. he ran away from her. and ykw happens when he comes back? he can’t feel what she feels. not really. in the entire time he knew her, her feelings were always there, he always knew how she felt. and for the first time in the entire time he knew her, he wasnt sure about how she felt. like of course it wont feel like how it did the first few books. hes broken, hes ruined, hes scared, and he cant trust his own guts. hes pushed past a point he didnt know he could past guys guys guys of course hes gonna be different. from the moment he found out his mother was a part of the neverseen hes changed you know that. but he just never showed it because hed always known one of his parents were that kind of assholes. he had kinda expected that you know. then it got worse and worst and worst and of course. guys. he was bound to break one day.

[celestialorcas]

Doctor Who S1/14 E3: Boom Spoilers Thoughts:

WOOOOOHOOOO Fuck me that was GOOOOOOOD Loving the anticapitalism stuff as always hell yea doctor you fucking tell them. Caught on with the stuff about the truth of the war around half way through and enjoyed it, Susan Twist was the ambulance! Girl is everywhere fr God they really crafted this episode perfectly so you could feel the stress, i was trying to calm down as the doctor was everytime a free moment was got something else happened- Can see him thinking "REALLY?? JUST LET ME BREATHE AND RELAX" "it is killing you just the right amount to keep you buying more" goes SO HARD Next weeks is looking good fr fr wont say much about it here in case some people dont watch the next time (dont blame you theyve been spoilery in the past but so far they dont show too much i dont think) but yea im real excited for next week Reminded me of oxygen a bit, obv god im a sucker for capitalism, ai and algorithm hate, was such a clever episode though, combat activated the ai, so the ai kept them buying weapons and killing them the right amount to meet its quota, anything for the shareholders am i right Really seeing the range of emotion with the doctor here too which i love, hes crying at companions "dying" and him being in a VERY bad situation Didnt see the dadbot taking over as the ending, what I thought was gonna happen was the doctor would explain to the ai that if he blows up, it'd cost the Villengard (loving the call back btw, RTD and Moffat are good at that) AI and algorithm a lot of money, and itd actually be more cost effective to keep them alive, but to be fair that would have been very derivative of Oxygen so, fair. Overall....wow, think it was better the The Devil's Chord which I wasnt expecting, loved it

[inamagicalhallucination]

natsuo not forgiving his dad but making peace with his past and moving on was actually really great; and i liked where endevour ended up -- even now its hard to say everyone's fully moved on from his abuse -- becuz thats not how it works, i think ive said it before but endeavors redemption arc always confused me becuz compared to characters like bakugo, his was so weak -- and that i thought (and still do) it was done on purpose

bakugo's growth is shown at a very slow and gradual process, when he apologizes to izuku, he's not only realized he was awful, he's already been actively better and he's already grown -- also bakugo's pre-arc self doesn't compare to endeavor who literally abused his entire family, leading his wife to a breakdown, his son to death and then villiany, along with many other things -- im only comparing them becuz they both had redemption arcs written by the same author not becuz i think theyre comparable

bakugo's actions werent good by any means but he, per every arc, gradually changed over and over, not only how he treated izuku but how he thought of him and how he acted overall (all the while retaining his loud personality lmao)

endeavor on the other hand essentially got what he wanted, realized he was a piece of shit and /then/ tried to make it up -- it wasnt like bakugo who was already being better when he apologized -- who was waiting to apologize -- endeavor's arc, in that way felt insincere

altho the scenes where endeavor tries to be a better father and todoroki ignores him are funny, they also show that endeavor just kind of tries to flip the switch -- there's not gradualness, no process, one day he's just like "well enough of being awful" but the thing is, why would siblings who have been hurt their entire life not want some aspect of love? of course it makes sense that even tho natsuo was the least likely to be willing to forgive endeavor, some times u thought that maybe... but natsuo could never forgive him, could never pretend that nothing happened and that they were family now, and that was perfect for him becuz he didn't owe endeavor anything

even when the dabi-touya reveal happens, endeavor fails to actually take action/responsibiltiy over his abuse of his family -- he's vocal about wanting to change, he tries to play up some reselblance of a father, but he fails to genuinely show growth most of the times (not to say he's never had moments where his regret is obvious, just that there are a lot of moments where he should be doing something but doesnt)

endeavor's arc is a show that sometimes u regret what u've done and u try to change, but u fail at it, sometimes apologies dont account for anything, sometimes people dont forgive u -- its a show that no every character arc is meant to end with the character forgiven --- endeavor says that he'll continue apologizing and give reparations for his crimes for the rest of his life, he accepts that that means nothing to natsuo and that natsuo wants to move on w/o him, he says he'll take the blame, that he chose to dance, so he'll take the consequences -- its a very bleak ending but it fits his arc the best -- endeavor was not able to really fix anything -- he did not fix his family, he did not save touya, he did not earn the love of his children, but he finally became ready to actually repent, without expecting anything in return

to clarify, i dont think that endeavor's regret is insincere, by the way, i think he does regret what he did to his family, however his regret for the abuse he forced hsi family through does not dictate how his family should react, no matter how sincere the regret, the apology, or the love, no one is required to forgive and move on -- and natsuo could not do that, but at the very least, becuz of endeavor's change, he was finally able to have some peace with it all

finally, the touya situation

the todoroki family is genuinely hell for me, the touya/dabi-shoto interaction killed me, i think ppl forget that touya's so called hatred for shoto is stemmed from the endeavors actions and abuse, touya is able to recognize that its not really shoto's fault but he cant /help/ but have all that anger in him anyway becuz of endeavor -- all of touya's siblings were born for the sole reason of being his replacement

in another life, the todoroki siblings would have loved and cherished each other, in another like touya would have been shoto's big brother and shoto would have been his little brother, they would have had soba together, they would have trained together, they would have all been a family

the "shouto im sorry" and touya crying was the worst and best thing horikoshi has ever done

[larks-birdhouse]

GENLOSS FOUNDERS CUT THOUGHTS

i want to make it so so clear i don’t want to dunk on genloss. this is my braindump and i LOVED genloss. please support young creators as they grow and improve i beg of thee

im putting this under a cut because i expect it to be long 😭

❤️ - negative

💚 - positive

💙 - neutral

💚 once again reminded how much ranboo’s acting has improved since dsmp <3

💚 AND a fantastic reminder of how great the other actors are!!!! all the deaths still hurt and the security officers did SO SO GOOD

💚 i love that hetch is more evil now. hurts even more watching hetch manipulate ran even harder up to his death

💚 ranboo has survivor’s guilt :’[ god him slowly accepting it was his fault (even though it WASNT) broke me

💚❤️ i think redubbing certain parts makes sense, but for some reason it was just really obvious during niki’s intro?? it felt so jarring

💙 ngl i paused the premiere to catch the qr code. in my defence i was about half an hour behind already :’]

❤️ GOD i wish we saw more of the carousel folks. so much time spent on setting up mousetrap, so little on them. is that in of itself a commentary? genuine question i do not know

❤️ also i am so sad we didn’t see more of austin’s “hey what the fuck is happening.” there was plenty of it but i want MORE

❤️💙 and i wish there was a little more time on ethan’s fashion show simply because it is funny

💚 the play on words with austin being the straight man is still fantastic

💚 someone else pointed this out (i’m not sure who i saw it from first but i’ll find them) but hetch near exclusively calling ranboo “hero” is such a good detail. not their name, but their character

💙 i forgot about the charlie stream! but honestly i would fully believe that is something charlie would just Do

❤️ I WANT MORE SNEEGGGGGG WHERE WAS HE

💚 the ART!! the DESIGNS of the devices!! adds so much to the story and i’m so glad they were shared. such fantastic art too!!

❤️ the create-a-creature kinda came out of nowhere, i was so confused and i wish there was a bit more buildup

💙 about hetch saying they aren’t themselves anymore: how many times can the actors get tortured and brainwashed before they stop being themselves? how much of them can be taken and replaced before it stops being them? (theseus’s ranboo)

💚 I LOVED THE SQUIGGLES ANIMATIONS!!!! SO GOOD I NEED TO FIND MORE OF THE CREATOR’S WORK

❤️ i might have missed it so correct me if i’m wrong but i don’t think we had the wide shot of the hero-kill-inator or whatever and i WISH we did because it goes so hard

💚 in terms of ending changes, i loved both endings!! both so good for different reasons, and the “thank you” KILLS ME IM SO SORRY BOO I HOPE YOU CAN JOIN YOUR FRIENDS IN THE CANON AFTERLIFE

💙 actually only hell is canon. maybe heaven just Doesn’t Exist. only suffering

💚❤️ at some points i thought the gore was great and at some points i wanted MORE. all the blood seeping out from under the doors, the room they haven’t “reset” yet, the guts instead of food were all great. but i wanted more of surgery charlie’s suffering to contrast the absurdity and just generally more carnage

❤️ i also wish there was more audio gore with austin & sneeg’s deaths. the wall just kind of Stops with no indication of them being crushed and its not apparently obvious that they died

💚 gen zero preview!!! i’m so excited, wondering who will be brought in for that one

💚 hearing the echos of “just let me die” in the beginning was haunting, fantastic stuff loved it

💚 HOW DID I FORGET THE PHOTOS THAT WAS SO GOOD ARE THOSE REAL BABY RANBOO PHOTOS?? INCREDIBLE

💚 overall i quite enjoyed the founder’s cut! can’t wait to see what comes next and i’m so proud of ranboo!!

💙 what is it with media about content creator self inserts that suffer immensely with little to no comfort that draws me in so? why has this happened so many times??

[thrileikur]

you know what? maybe it is a detriment to the rummaging values that season 1 tried to seep in to the watchers that the carmy richie freezer argument was when the show really started to tip over. it is melodramatic even if my overall opinion on it hasnt changed.

but one thing i dont think thatll budge for me is richies side of the whole story. like, carmy had sent him to stage to ever to get some formal experience and it did way more for richie than i think either had expected, since not too long in the show we see him at his lowest point and brushing off the idea that he would be anything without the beef, and it was all being taken away from him because the rest of the staff wanted a true change of pace. i dont think we like the richie arc because of how differently it flipped his values on high end dining just because of carmy, it was the fact that it wasnt late for him to do better at his old age of 45 which is what im trying to get across here. so when they started arguing like in season 1 in a much higher stakes environment (basically without facing each other), he was doing it because carmy wasnt practicing what he was preaching to him at the start.

i think him being so unadulterated in the scene, with his remarks his old impotent patriarchal-like character couldnt replicate earlier on in the series had to have been caused by his lifelong frustration with him for having more of a ordered reaction to incidents he couldnt afford to have because how he was brought up. carmy is the youngest of three siblings which mustve put him in some place growing up that richie couldnt since we wouldve known if richie even has one by now (probably not). that makes me think, even though carmy was chewed out and became the one thing he wasnt enthusiastic at all to become, at least he had become a different person who inadvertently knew how to bring together people once upon a time, to which in richie's eyes, if he was able to do it in an environment no one would naturally want to work at, even carmy, then maybe, just maybe he'd look up for once and have some fucking self-awareness of the situation hed put everyone he thinks he cares about in. the donna comparison was very shittily delivered when you give it context but like richie said, someone had to tell him, and he was dry out of options at that point

does this make sense? its very stream of consciousness and is almost a direct reaction to some of things about season 3 ive been seeing lately, but i just cant let the argument scene in s2e10 be caught in the crossfire with people saying that it was the start of the fall of the series or whatever. imo it was written exactly how it shouldve been within the timeline of things

[tuliippaws]

nobody asked but i am here anyways

was talking with some friends abt charlie :3 and ended up somewhat analyzing her as a character and her and mav's relationship!!

i have a lot of thoughts about her

the scene after mav quit and charlie confronted him was GOOD it was good it showed how fundamentally incompatible they are and thats okay they dont have to be compatible

i really like how charlie has a short temper thats very obviously shown shes frustrated that mav wont let her in, and she tries to be patient but ends up lashing out because she cant get through to him which honestly makes sense. she cares about him but she cant understand that what he needs is not the same as what she wants him to need.

but the way she approached it was incredibly forceful and focused on what she would have done and what she wanted instead of what MAV, the person whos best friend just died and whos death he feels responsible for, needs at that time. he doesn't need her to tell him it wasnt his fault or to keep trying, by constantly forcing her expectations onto him shes making him feel more isolated and alone than if she had been there for him and respected his choices.

the fact that they get together in the end, or its implied that way, is honestly a really interesting choice and it shows how not okay mav is lmaooo. hes rebounding into an unhealthy relationship with someone who doesnt particularly careeee about him that much and who is very guilttrippy!! wow so fun!!

hes not over goose's death, he can't get over goose's death and so hes finding momentary comfort in a relationship which is incredibly interesting to me as its implied hell get into a bunch of short term relationships that crash and burn immediately after but thats a different essay for a different time.

overall, mav makes poor decisions and charlie is one of those.

now that im thinking about it shes a complex character like all of the topgun cast (holy fuck why do they make them so complex im jawslacked i love these movies), and shes not a good person which is very interesting to me!!! her execution could have been better i think that they somewhat viewed her as a good person when they wrote her as a bad one. anyways all in all i like charlie as a character, hate her as a person, and shes very pretty godbless!!!!!!! i love mean women thank u america 🙏

[liesmyth]

hi i wasnt following u when ted lasso s3 came out so im curious to know what your general thoughts on the season were, i thought there were some rly good moments but i dont think im ever gonna forgive them for half-assing and giving up on ted's depression storyline amongst Many other things

OH MAN, unfortunately my opinion overall is pretty negative. Which, don't get me wrong, can be very good for fandom because the "fix it" impulse to fix what went wrong always gets my fic brain going, but... it really felt half-assed in so many ways, which is a double let-down considering that the whole time it was airing, the production wouldn't commit to actually saying it was the last season, wasn't marketed as such, and it generally felt like the whole show fizzled out vs. having what should have been a well-deserved send-off.

My main gripe is that it felt like... the writers had Points they wanted to hit and didn't care what they wrote as long as they got there. Genuinely all of the characters were paid dust in different ways (nobody more than Roy IMO who got flanderized beyond belief). The pacing was very uneven, so much crammed into the series but at the same time very little that had actual emotional resonance happened; it feels like a sharp downhill from how well-crafted the earlier seasons were, especially season 1. Someone should have really told JSuds "No" at least once or twice or two hundred times.

Strangely enough, the actual final episode was really alright for me, because it was self-referential and #meta as hell but never pretended to serve an actual narrative purpose beyond being a bookend; I much prefer that to the whole middle-of-the-season arc where the show tried to juggle so many plotlines and fumbled everything. I also don't especially care about things I've seen other people get worked up about (Ted's arc / his ending, Dr Jacob, Jamie's dad etc) just because I never expected much from that front to begin with & I don't really want media to teach me stuff — like, I get why someone may be bummed by "bad mental health storyline rep!" but to me it's just another example of bad storytelling to go with all the others. I totally get having a visceral reaction to it, though! But I don't really think any screenwriter sits at a table saying "I'm going to make a show about mental health that handles it correctly." They sit at the table and think about how to fictionalise a story of a guy going through it, using his mental health as a hook, among others. I care way less about characters being therapised and stable and healthy than I do about a story being good, you know? The issue with TDS3 is that it was simply boring. To me.

I will say, I actually liked the season a lot more while it was airing that now that it's over; week-by-week I kept having hope they'd course correct things, I had fun speculating, and I decided what to pick and choose to enjoy from the new episodes. I think S3 is WAY better when consumed in a weekly format than looked at as a whole. Some of my favourite fandom moments were writing fic about an episode that just aired while waiting for the next

[sonknuxadow]

spoilers for dark beginnings

maria my friend maria .... i really wish she had more screentime here consideirng how little she has overall and how rare it is to have the chance to give her more. and i honestly Was expecting more considering her name is in the episode title. but . what we did get was good her and shadow are so cute .. also the fakeout at the start where it looks like we're gonna see her death again but it turns out shes actually just so excited to show shadow the aurora borealis ........ . .. . also shadow commenting that that wasnt a normal nightmare. is that implying hes had nightmares about this before . im going to pass away

[joelletwo]

wrestling with the 4devas bitchslap again to convince myself its fine if graveyard wins the best ep tourney: it's not the other bloggers who are wrong, it's me

not a complete response to but definitely in conversation with and asking some of the same questions again as @reductionisms's 4devas essay, which tries to square gintoki's "life doesn't need to be fun, i just need you to live" being a series-sanctioned message he's given to villains as an arc-concluding moral continuously up until 4devas with it here being an incorrect worldview that needs to be (physically) corrected by shinpachi, the straightman tonal signpost of gintama

a conflict i have been perplexed by ever since i got to this line on my first watch a year or two ago, since i've seen this line before! all over fandom! as part of the general "dont [bottom text] kill yourself" motivational messaging of gintama that i love!

and, briefly, when i hit 4devas i was also in the middle of being really frustrated by the new arc pattern i was seeing crop up: i loved the villains-turned sympathetic-turned someone worth saving by gintoki tune of the first half of gintama, but it fell massively flat for me in Yoshiwara in Flames, where i was never convinced to be on housen's side but had to watch him get a heartwarming redemptive death at the side of the woman he abused anyways.

then shortly after i had the same exact experience in Red Spider with jiraia, and i thought, if this is what gintama is gonna do with its shitty dudes from now on im gonna quit the fucking show. and then shortly after that i met jirochou and saw him cut down otose the woman he loved (under a raining sky!!! the fucking sky motifs!!! the signpost im about to watch a dude be shittily violent to women and be expected to feel sorry for him about it) and saw too much red to really take in the rest of the arc level-headedly or care about anything in it lol.

so it was written off in my mind as the 'otose almost gets fridged' arc until i rewatched it this week. then i had to remember, oh yeah, there's a ton of political maneuvering fakeouts in this arc that i never actually squared back with how the plot presented itself prior to the reveals, so i'd still been thinking about the "fakeout" plot. then i read the manga version with all the "truths" in mind from the start, and finally i felt like i could understand what this arc is doing a little better.

(way) tldr (4.4k words. sorry): do i love this arc? eh. do i still hate it? eh. but it's doing stuff!

first, i was able to see an echo in all the "actually i was planning to betray you the whole time" "actually i was working to help you the whole time" plot beats of what sorachi does with the larger edo/universe story further into the back half of the manga. if i ever sound like i didnt enjoy or wasnt convinced by the execution of these "reveals," it's because i didnt and wasnt, lol. but it's fun that he had fun with them i guess.

the arc starts with pirako ingratiating herself into yorozuya, then having a classic "bump into you and pretend to be injured to extort you" encounter w her dad's gang. to resolve this without escalating into violence, gintoki... does it back to them, which is really funny. but thus the tone is set for the arc of: DISHONEST APPROACHES TO CONFLICT.

pirako isnt honest about her overall intentions the, like, seven different times that she "admits her real ones." kada plays at peacekeeper in the devas while being the ultimate person scheming to get the upper hand over everyone else in the end. (she's also secretly harusame, evil amanto outsider who acts as a unifying force for the kabukicho fighting itself to band together against and expel: sorachi's favorite move! the problem was never internal, it's the shadowy REAL antagonists who infiltrated us)

jirochou and otose are ultimately doing a pantomime of conflict to try to keep temperatures down and escalations from breaking out, so no one they care about has to get hurt. gintoki doesn't know this until the end, but he follows in their footsteps after his encounter with them in the graveyard: he plays at having given up to the rest of yorozuya so they'll leave and escape the coming kabukicho war, the same thing otose was trying with him. it fails both times. i'm really not sure why gintoki and otose thought it would work, honestly. they should know their kids are stubborn as hell.

but gintoki is in a bind because of the things he needs to protect, and all of his actions are primarily in service of that, to the detriment of how he'd prefer to act if he were less restricted. he is unsurprised and unoffended to hear saigou is only willing to warn them, not help them, because her son is in danger if she acts directly. all four devas are, seemingly, being mutually restrained this way, holding back even when blatantly manipulated to do so. the other constant of this arc: everyone is dishonest, and no one wants to risk losing what they have.

gintoki understands that! of course! he's had to make that calculus before, after all :)

and this arc is just one big cliff scene echo: the entire graveyard scene pushing gintoki to emotional regression because he thinks he's losing another parent figure, one he's just seen the Gintoki Figure of the arc cut down, no less (takasugi stolen valor when he goes berserk against him and only ends up uselessly bleeding out on the ground about it, honestly). otose goes into this willingly so gintoki can live. he accepts this decision because he values protecting her values (her kids living on) and is briefly broken by it (the story says, before giving him shinpachi to "put him back on track"). prior to the bitchslap, after saying he just wants them to live, even if it has to be without him, he says:

i dont have a good understanding of when we start getting reveals of gintoki's backstory versus foreshadowing because i went into gintama already knowing most of it, but definitely by the recent red spider where we get our first real look at (or really, first listen to) shouyou. but here we actually get some of what gintoki felt about it, which he keeps closely guarded even when the whole truth comes out: he's done his best to survive having lost, but it was so unbearable he can't face losing again.

(also, honorable mention backstory echo, the person calling him a brother sets his home on fire to drive him and his parent figure out of town. as i liveblogged: this one would really hurt gintoki if gintoki cared about anything oboro ever did!)

but with the shinpachi story-rerouting, they get the good end, keep everyone (otose, yorozuya, all of kabukicho, even pirako and her dad - everyone but kada) safe without having to sacrifice a single thing, even keep gintoki hopeful for this outcome. so, as goose points out, we are left to understand that there could have been a good end on the cliff, that something is different here than there, and, skipping a lot of math, that that is the people around gintoki.

which i do find really funny to imagine as a slam on takasugi and katsura. sorry you kids suck too much, your teacher dies bc u were cringefail. but lets look at it.

everyone is dishonest, no one wants to risk what they have: gintoki rallies himself to keep fighting but is determined to do it alone. kagura and shinpachi fight him on this; they can't leave because they don't want to lose their home, they can't let him fight alone because they don't want to lose him. they're just as restricted by what they have to keep safe, but their only option is to act where everyone else's is inaction. shinpachi says:

if i may skip over the bitchslap itself for now, gintoki does consent to let his allies fight with him after it. yorozuya stands alone against saigou, who's heavily demoralized but resigned, strongarmed into fighting them by the threat to her son. but on seeing their resolve to keep protecting their own precious home and family she says:

and, to skip straight to my thought, i think this is what turns the tides back in their favor. there are more twists and turns to the fight. pirako equates what binds saigou, which she herself equates to what binds the yorozuya, to what binds her:

(with an intentional distinction that she's willing to actively destroy the others', as opposed to their purely self defensive fighting, which is echoed at some point in her distinguishing gintoki from jirochou in the same way, that jirochou not only lives to protect like gintoki but is willing to destroy in the process. i don't find that part as interesting, but it's more fuel to the power of having something to protect as a driving force as an arc theme.)

so now all three stand on the same ground, absolutely unwilling to give up what they hold dear, but all their cards are on the table. they aren't dealing in 12 dimensions of tricksy defensive pre-emptive moves anymore. they know it wouldnt work, anyways, since they all know their drives to protect are the same and no one will be talked into backing down. now they can directly duke it out and let the winner be determined that way, on strength of will. even before the actual circumstances change, the fight somehow feels freer seeing how inevitable it is. and with everything out in the open, yorozuya can now protect each other and saigou's son, taking out one side of the conflict.

(and with everything out in the open, the ultimate 4devas villain can become the single person who continues to betray the others, kada, whose further machinations - with everything out in the open! - saigou (and later yorozuya) can choose to protect pirako from. everyone wins! because everything was out in the open! do you see where i'm going)

and so we come back to the question: gintoki is corrected, the arc is rerailed to the better outcome. so is the correction justified?

what does the correction accomplish outside of its moment? most convincingly to me of goose's presented options, i also think it's done as a thematic shift, a, okay, just live was a strategy that worked before but now doesn't suffice, so we need something more.

as to why this is needed now and not earlier or later...tldr bad planning <3 but like.

we have, prior to this, a consistent thrust of arcs where gintoki teaches people to lose. as well, while we meet the harusame and we visit space and we get the barest glimpses of takasugi's weird shadowy background moves there, largely we're dealing with kabukicho characters and kabukicho stories. we see or only hear about the shogun for short comedic moments only. we've largely dropped the series intro focus on things like the shinsengumi or hasegawa acting as foreign diplomats. it's a local series, a hometown series, a kabukicho and not even an edo at large series, a personal story about gintoki making personal connections with his personal experience as a flawed person with a flawed approach to life that has let him, chronic slacker, get by on the bare minimum.

at this moment, chapter 300, we have a slow trickle of gintoki backstory starting to come out to us. we've recently expanded the story focus to include yoshiwara, which gets a callout in this arc by kada to keep it relevant. we have an arc of sorachi testing out plot beats that he'll use again for the endgame, in all the political maneuvering and alliancing and betraying and shadowy outsider space governmenting, where he's also doing a lot of echoing of that backstory that only becomes clear later. so it's possible he's thinking about shifting gears and setting up for the eventual endgame, which means getting out of the episodic cycle so things can stick.

and after this arc, to my opinion and memory, we stop getting the classic gintama flavor sympathizable'd antagonists. a lot of the bigger arcs don't even have clear Big Shot antagonists anymore, being more about the shouyoucore theme of characters fighting against themselves, or if there is one they're always explicitly part of the Shadow Government now, a unified and more daunting force than someone they can win over with an inspiring gintoki interaction.

so 4devas does act as a turning point at least in some way. and it's not possible to say this definitively, since all gintama arcs are ultimately never going to be about gintoki or his friends Actually losing something instead of beating the odds, but it does feel like theres a different flavor to, say, dekobokko with its direct look at how chars lives could be different and better and they will still choose to keep struggling as themselves. and Kintama arc definitely doesn't feel like an early days arc, like it can only resolve the way it does with a gintoki who is now able to face his past and the possibility of losing again and again and again (now with, natch, his faith that yorozuya will by his side when he does).

why now, after 300 chapters of letting it sit ignored in the back of his brain working out perfectly fine except when it doesn't (the very reminder of shouyou in a fight making him go Demon Mode, which is like regular gintoki but worse at fighting, bc he is so unprepared to think about shouyou)? well i personally am in big favor of the "take a decade off" strategy for facing problems. it worked for me too. realistically watsonianly its nice to let things percolate in the brain and do some of the processing behind the scenes until its less immediately painful. and he's made many bonds over these 300 chapters, shown in this arc when the whole town rallies behind him, that are there to support him when he needs it now and weren't there before.

realistically doylistly eh. bad planning.

and so we come back to the question: gintoki is corrected, the series as a result is rerailed to a writing space where things can start changing (leave the episodic, as you guys say, sazae-san format). it's useful in the future. so is the correction justified in terms of what comes before it? was the correction needed?

thinking about the bitchslap leads to thinking about the cliff scene leads to (sorry kagura and katsura, you guys arent really relevant here) pitting shinpachi and takasugi against each other in how they act with something on the line they can't bear to give up.

i don’t need the lesson of 4devas to apply logistically to the cliff scene. once they were set up on that chessboard, frozen in their assigned places as a backstory, it’s not like takasugi could’ve power of friendship’d his way out of being physically retrained if he decided he wanted to. it’s set up as a forced choice, it has to play out as a forced choice.

but we see that even before it’s asked of him, takasugi is willing, prepared, unbothered to give up his own life for shouyou’s. this is, goose lays out in the sequel, the cardinal sin in gintama - a teacher shouldn’t outlive their student. it would have been especially egregious to shouyou, whose whole desired life’s purpose is to raise students who can outlive him and outgrow him, take his lessons and go out into the world and do their own thing with them. takasugi doesn’t expect to do this and doesn’t seem to see a point in the possibility if shouyou isn’t back with them.

though we can also think of shouyou as a little too quickly willing to give up on the cliff - sorry, gintoki, the suicidal guy has thought about it for .02 seconds and decided the best outcome is for you to kill him even though he could get out of this no problem. maybe its no wonder gintoki gave up too. can we ask katsura what he would’ve done?

and is takasugi different from shinpachi there? he rejects the mentor’s attempt to exchange his own life for his. he’s not willing to consider a life without him.

but shinpachi is convinced no one is going to die. because they’ll be there together. incredibly naive - shinpachi and kagura, restricted to one option by what they need to protect like everyone is in 4devas, have acting as that one option because they are still free in a way gintoki and the other adults aren't. they’ve never actually experienced the impossible choice that forces you to give up, so they can act as if there isn’t one - what else would they do? why would they think to give up?

but gintoki is defined by having lived the impossible choice. its built into the foundation of him as a character and leaks out everywhere. he couldn’t have relied on his friends on the cliff because they were quite forcibly removed from the picture as an option, not by his or their choice. its written as an inevitability, logistics we find out later be damned.

if we refocus to 4devas, we can look at the Gintoki Figure for a different angle. jirochou, after he and gintoki resolve the arc conflict by being able to team up because they - say it with me - put everything out in the open, tells gintoki about his impetus for abandoning his family and coming back to his wayward life in kabukicho, the death of otose's husband.

it's, um, another now really obvious parallel to gintoki, lol. characters talk about how jirochou does everything he does in this arc to try to atone for his failure to both otose and tatsugorou, and i guess thats true bc he was written that way but he has an odd way of showing it, but anyways he resolves that, despite his guilt over this, all he can do now is keep living and keep protecting what they loved together. he's come to the usual gintama message all on his own, reinforcing that this is the correct way to live in this series. he had his own unavoidably shitty situation, and he came to terms with it.

so then where did jirochou go wrong, in the narrative's eyes (other than abandoning one woman and their child to deal drugs in the town of his other woman while ignoring her)? was there a point he could've changed how their trio's story played out? but he loved and trusted tatsugorou, and he was happy to step aside and let him be the one by their otose's side. i doubt he would have been happy stealing her away even if it were possible.

but if we look at the resolution tool of 4devas... he never put everything out in the open!!! everyone knows he loved otose, but in more of an open secret way. in classic romance plot, he never confessed for second male lead rejection closure. indeed, in the closest we ever get to a main character having a romantic plot in gintama, the very ending of the arc flirts with him doing just that now that he's made a little progress with the arc message, with the entire cast of the arc expecting him to (and interrupting before he can).

but if he had when they were young. if he had been honest with his friends. could it have opened up other options that weren't available on his own, that they didnt know to offer? i have a preferred one lol. but u can get creative with all sorts of life paths that avoid tatsugorou dying that way or, at the least, jirochou feeling chained to a shameful life (living in a town he doesn't go out in to protect a woman he doesnt talk to and feeling like he doesnt deserve the family he abandoned for this) because of it.

and then if we take this and rewind back to the cliff... we get to grind my favorite ax, "shouyou shouldve told literally anyone literally anything about his deal." if gintoki knew more about shouyou, they could've faced his horrors together, the whole time. he couldve known that shouyou was being literal calling himself a demon and not internalized his own identity as one for life just because shouyou bonded with him over it. i truly genuinely think the logical conclusion of all of gintama's big messages are that shouyou and gintoki should have been more open with each other.

but i don't think sorachi thinks that. and, you know, by 4devas rules, the unriskable precious things he was protecting by staying silent were his students' humanity, and secondarily his own fragilely newly hopeful heart that literally couldnt stand another 10 millionth round of rejection (killed himself and then went on a 12 year rampage over it. girl i would too).

and takasugi really isn't dishonest about what's going on in his head when he tells us he expects to die for shouyou. that's as cards on the table as i could ask. gintoki is, a little bit, by omission. he does what i'd want him to here - tells takasugi try just not dying - but doesn't give him a reason to, and doesn't tell him he has no plans of letting anyone die for shouyou.

so what goes wrong on the cliff - shouyou is happy, gintoki is happy, oboro's even kind of happy, katsura is irrelevant - is that takasugi is blindsided (whoops) by their silent agreement that betrays the one he thought he and gintoki had. and then ruins everyone's party about it and spends the next ten years doing so for good measure.

which is also, basically, what shinpachi is going through that prompts the bitchslap, too. he thought they were a team, that they had each others backs, not that gintoki is a one-way protector of them. he is blindsided by gintoki lying to and tricking them and hiding things from them. he is hurt by gintoki feeling hopeless all by himself when he could share that with them and be encouraged by their endless child optimism.

and would it need to have changed anything on the cliff? in the moment after the bitchslap, what contributes to gintoki changing his mindset is tama telling him, we trust that you're capable bc youve always shown us that, can you trust us this time? when, later in the arc, gintoki seems to regress by sending kagura and shinpachi away, he asks them to trust that he's still trusting them, relying on them to help shoulder his burden, and in return they know he's staying alive, not self sacrificing. maybe it would've helped just to feel on the same team and not shut out, to be able to trust gintoki like gintoki was trusting shouyou?

so. two paralleled instances of gintoki making a bad situation worse by keeping to himself and being too self sufficient. that feels clear cut that feels fine im okay with that as a takeaway. do i think its exactly what sorachi had in mind while writing this, as opposed to just a good series 'hey lean on your friends' moment to read cool and tug at the heartstrings? eh lol. i think theres definitely room to read takasugi into this arc (i still need to refind the takagin 4devas post...) but its not so baked in that i think he was a PRIORITY in the plotting.

but is the shinpachi SCOLDING necessary is the scolding justified... and yes its in response to life doesnt need to be fun i just want you to live. still a confusing framing i can't immediately square. but/and more immediately its directly responding. to gintoki opening up to them about his insecurities!!

which, as said, he doesnt do!! he doesnt talk about his failures! its basically like, here and to hijikata that one time and otherwise even when we know all the facts about what happened we still never hear gintoki himself talk about it. (so he really DOESNT learn the lesson here either. he stays dissociated and triggered every time utsuro comes up. he tries to solve the altana baby problem on his own. he doesnt talk to his new friends OR his old friends. bwah. gintoki. silver soul.)

so this is like. its just in the wrong order!! its just in a baffling order lol. if you want gintoki to share his burden do you need to punch him when he shares it. does it also need to sound like you're blaming him for not being capable of upholding his promise to protect anyone when thats the insecurity thats got him all discombobulated this arc in the first place (a whole set of notes i took on this that i didnt find a place for in this post)?? its so weeeeiiiiiirddd lol i dont liiikeee itttttt. theres plenty of things shinpachi can validly punch gintoki for but this is such a weird one.

so i guess. having a clearer understanding of this arc do i hate it less? YES honestly. i hate fakeout plots generally they irritate me but everything... more or less makes sense by gintama standards now that i have the whole plot in mind.

do i hate jirochou less SORT OF? i enjoy him. in his individual relationships. i like his shitty dad deal i love shitty dads. i like him pining for otose who genuinely likes him but also brings up her husband every sentence she says to him just to keep him down. i like his parallels with gintoki that they both explicitly acknowledge and find macho comfort in. hes still not theeeeeeeee most well-developed gintama antagonist but you know? i at least think otose and pirako would want to be around him after this.

do i feel like i have a clearer understanding of the bitchslap moment. NOT CONVINCED I DO. i feel like its going to be one of those things that slips in and out of my understanding like sand in cupped hands. i have a tentative understanding of it that i dont think sorachi actually had in mind. so i dont think ive solved it lol.

will i be cursed to think about 4devas forever? god i hope not. am i okay with it beating farewell shins in the polls. god i fucking hope it does. in the horrible timeline where i have to see 305 make it all the way and then lose i guess id rather it be to this one than to hijigin. consider this poll propaganda?