#this one is less controversial than the first one but I feel like an angry mob's gonna form anyway

[lilacsandlillies]

I was going through the anti Jason Todd tag because I hate myself and want to understand where people who dislike him are coming from and one thing I kept seeing was annoyance at Jason fans who claim that Jason is female coded and realized that the term “female coded” might not be the best term to describe what we mean.

A female coded character in literature and media typically means a character that has no specified gender or otherwise does not have a gender but is obviously meant to be a stand in for a woman or female. Kind of like how Starfire has no specified race (due to being an alien) but is still obviously black coded based on the way she’s drawn and treated by the narrative.

This is slightly different than what we mean when saying that Jason is female coded. It’s not that Jason is literally supposed to be a stand in for a female character, it’s that the way a lot of characters treat him and a lot of the tropes used on him are things that usually saved for female characters, not big buff men like Jason.

To start with, being Robin is narratively (or at least was) very similar to being a woman in a story. Robin is a role made to complement Batman (who we all know is basically the ultimate male power fantasy). Robin’s role is to be an accessory to Batman. Robin can be smart, but not smarter than Batman. Robin can be strong, but not stronger than Batman. Hell, Robin is often kidnapped and used as a literal damsel in distress, a role often regulated for women as a whole.

What sets Jason apart from the other robins (except for Steph) in this regard is that they were allowed to be characters outside of Batman. Dick might not have been the “man” of the story when he’s with Bruce, but when he’s with the teen titans suddenly he’s the smart one who has all the answers. Jason’s Robin was never really allowed this.

Then we get to the most, controversial, part of Jason’s female coding. The fact the he was effectively fridged. Fridging is usually only referred to as frigding if it’s a female character, but Jason’s death checks pretty much all the other boxes needed. An incredibly brutal death that was more about Bruce’s feelings on it than Jason himself.

This is especially apparent when compared to the other Bat characters. For all the female coding, the only other Robin to actually be fridged was Steph (and we all know about the misogyny surrounding her death). Barbara was also kind of fridged during the killing Joke. The only female character to escape this is Cass (to my knowledge). When you look at it through this lens, the fact that the only other characters to be permanently damaged like this for Bruce’s story are female, it’s not hard to see where the idea that Jason is female coded comes from.

You can even find this in Jason’s origin story. Poor little orphan is saved by benevolent billionaire is a role usually saved for little girls, like in Annie.

Despite what you might think, this even continues after Jason’s revival. Jason is still used less as a character and more as a motivation for Bruce. He’s regularly called emotional and hysterical (terms usually used to refer to women).

Jason is first and foremost a victim. A role performed by women in most media. Men are expected to be stoic and “rise above” the things done to them as to not be victims, as continuously shown by the way characters like Nightwing are not allowed to be effected by the horrific things they go through. The fact that Jason is shown the be angry, and sad, and emotional, constantly, and the fact that he’s punished and vilified for it puts him in a place much more similar to a female character.

There’s a reason that so many Jason fans (that like him for a reason past “antihero with guns”) are female. For most characters, when you swap their genders there would be a pretty clear and big difference in the way their story takes place. If you swap Jason’s gender, the story takes place identically.

A lot of this is best shown in men’s reactions to Arkham Knight’s version of Jason. In that game, Jason is similarly angry and emotional, albeit for slightly different reasons. He is also still unmistakably a victim. You���d think the men playing would like him. After all he’s a big cool angsty guy with a lot of guns and muscles. Instead, a lot of men’s thought that he was whiny. That his feelings were annoying.

There’s also something to be said about how his autonomy is regularly undermined by Bruce (specifically in Gotham war) and how his decisions and feeling are constantly treated as if they’re worth less than Bruce’s, but that’s a discussion for another day.

[azulaaaaaaah]

rating every zuko ship (cause that mf is shipped with everyone)

CLICKBAIT!!! this isn’t every zuko ship just the main ones i immediately lied lol. idk if any of these are hot takes or not but please don’t crucify me (might do a part 2 where it’s azula ships)

Jinko - Zuko/Jin

6/10

awwww it’s cute (for what it is)

and what it is was one singular date that was never really mentioned again

i really appreciate how jin is so unperturbed by zuko’s awkward angst and just genuinely likes him

howevvver she’s kinda one dimensional (as she’s only in like an episode) and i just don’t see this going anywhere longterm

less a ship, more a vehicle for zuko’s character development lol

Jetko- Zuko/Jet

3/10

jet being zuko’s first gay encounter is canon in my eyes

don’t ship them however cause i hate jet with the fire of a thousands suns

similar issues to jin as well where their interactions are extremely limited so personally have no clue how this could be a long term thing

Maiko- Zuko/Mai

5/10

i am so impartial on this ship it’s not even funny.

i get that it’s canon. i get that izumi looks suspiciously like mai so it’s endgame. i just don’t see HOW?? it feels as if the writers realised zutara was becoming popular and were like ‘OH SHIT WE GOTTA DEFUSE THIS SITUATION SOMEHOW’

their relationship is basically just mai being a cold asshole and zuko being an angry asshole and there’s no change or development between EITHER OF THEM

however when they’re cute they’re cute !!!!

‘i love zuko more than i fear you’ COLDEST LINE EVER

however again it’s like - you had a crush on him as a kid. he was BANISHED. you dated for like a month as teens. you argued the whole time. he left again- and shortly after you saved him from prison, but then you were imprisoned partly due to his actions. you get back together again, he becomes the ruler of a country, and then you’re surprised it’s isolating him/making him even more of an asshole???

on the other hand we as a society need to admit that zuko is weirdly possessive of her (ig that’s a positive if ur a booktok romance girlie but im not). like if i was mai i wouldn’t put up with that toxic shit either

at the end of the day, i honestly don’t care that they’re canon lol- but i think they’d probably best as a bitchy best friend duo

Zukaang - Zuko/Aang

1/10

not round here partner. not round here

my first issue is the age gap is objectively extremely weird if examined in canon. leaving it at that

i get that this is grumpy x sunshine in a way the other ships aren’t to me- but we’ve only ever seen these two characters interact with each other when there’s (again) A WEIRD AGE GAP

they are bros in the least homosexual way possible

the cherry on top of this situation is: isn’t aang the reincarnation of his great grandpa? isn’t that giving slight, uh, inc*st vibes??? imagine if people shipped korra and jinora isn’t that just WEIRD???

Zuki - Zuko/Suki

8/10

is this my most controversial take ???

i am a sucker for bodyguard x royal family dynamics guys

and the fact that this is girlboss x malewife is even BETTER

suki seems the most competent at handling his pissy ass in a way the other people on this list aren’t

like she’s real. she’s not sugarcoating his situation, BUT SHES COMPASSIONATE !!

i don’t like throuples typically but suzukki is even eliter than this, which removes the whole ‘going against the bro code’ element that arises from them being together

also i feel like if you haven’t read the comics this doesnt make sense At All so please do

-2 points for the lack of tangible reason to ship them lol

Zutara - Zuko/Katara

7.5/10

okay this one makes the most logistical sense to me within canon (solely examined as a zuko ship not overall)

it really seems as if they were gonna make this canon and swerved circa book 2

LIKE CMONNNN OG ENEMIES TO LOVERS WHERE THE GUY ACTUALLY HAS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND ISN’T JUST EVIL? FIRE X WATER? ITS INTRIGUING

something about this makes me uncomfortable though. (despite the age gap which again a little weird)

something about katara potentially becoming the fire lady is so… icky. she’s a waterbender. the fire nation tried to systematically erase her kind. her mother is killed by the fire nation because they think she’s a waterbender. and katara…. what, becomes part of the royal family? it just seems wrong, and like something she wouldn’t be into

also i feel like their arguments would be a little too NUCLEAR. there’s like, a 50% chance of divorce

she deserves a better ending than that is all i’m saying

to paraphrase the hunger games: katara has plenty of fire herself. SHE NEEDS THAT DANDELION IN THE SPRING MAN

(i’m a kataang truther)

Zukka - Zuko/Sokka

9/10

my zuko related otp!!!

bros to lovers guys, where zuko falls first but sokka falls HARDER !!!

ik this will never be canon and im happy with that. i know there’s not even a whisper of romance between them in the show, but i just think it’s c u t e .

sokka (like suki) is very likely to call zuko out on his shit, but less likely to lose his own shit (like katara)

this in my heart of hearts is 10/10 however is still problematic in a similar way to zutara

his mother is killed by the fire nation and he (presumably) becomes consort ?

however though, i would still say it’s not as ruhroh as zutara bc firstly, sokka isn’t a waterbender, and secondly, ‘consort’ is a lot more open to interpretation than i think fire lady is. in my opinion a consort ≠ a fire lady, just like irl a consort ≠ a queen. it kinda means he can still be ambassador to the southern water tribe/a leader of his own people, while just so happening to be married to the fire lord.

overall i can’t help but stan a friends to lover ship cmOn now

[katiemccabeswife]

Illicit Affairs

Alexia Putellas x Reader|| Alexia is pulling away from you and thinking back on all the memories, good and bad, you finally snap.

T Swizzle because I saw her live yesterday 🤗 I feel bad doing Ale like this and it’s my first time doing something like this so please nice 🤍

You sighed as Alexia pulled away, instantly reaching for a shirt to cover herself with. You turned away from her, not wanting her to see your crestfallen face after realising that this time was not unlike any others. Recently.

You hadn't noticed when it started happening, when Alexia seemed to detach and the possibility of the 2 of you going public seemed to vanish into thin air. You would come over and maybe watch a movie before the two of you would have sex and then she would dress herself and turn to face opposite you.

Make sure nobody sees you leave, hood over your head, keep your eyes down,

Sometimes she would remind you to make sure that no one saw you leave her apartment and to keep your hood over your head in case paparazzi or fans saw someone leaving her house and decided to take photos.

Tell your friends you're out for a run, you'll be flushed when you return,

If she didn't immediately turn away from you she would occasionally make a joke, asking you how your 'run' was. The joke stemmed from the time Mapi caught you leaving the bathrooms flushed and you had to come up with an excuse, claiming you had just finished running.

Take the road less travelled by,

Ona lived on the way to Ale's house and had noticed you driving past one too many times and questioned you about it, non-threateningly and unsuspecting of anything of course but Ale got angry at you claiming that you did it on purpose so you started travelling the back streets to and from her house to keep suspicions low.

Tell yourself you can always stop, what started in beautiful rooms,

You knew you weren't being treated the way you should be but you could stop if you wanted to, end the relationship and move on from Alexia and be happy. The only thing stopping you was hope, you used to catch her staring at you, dazed, from across the room and she used to make beautiful candle-lit dinners for every important date or milestone now, you were lucky if she offered left over takeout.

Ends with meetings in parking lots,

You wanted that Alexia back, you didn't want the one who drove you into a random car park to fuck you before driving you home.

And that's the thing about illicit affairs

If people knew Alexia was dating you people would definitely have some not-so-nice things to say. You were, what some would call, her controversially young girlfriend being 9 years younger than her which was the ‘whole’ reason your relationship was kept secret.

And clandestine meetings and longing stares, it's born from just one single glance,

Looking back on your relationship and how the two of you used to act was like looking at an entirely different couple. You used to enjoy sneaking around with Alexia, the adrenaline it used to bring you. It reminded you of when you first met her, it was your first day at Barca and Alexia took the time and effort to greet you out the front and guide you around the training centre. You knew once you saw her standing out in the cold with that stupid, awkward smile on her face that you liked her and you couldn't help it if you wanted to.

But it dies, and it dies, and it dies, a million little times,

The age gap became evident when Alexia would call you 'kid' in front of the team and your cheeks would burn red from embarrassment, knowing it was you girlfriend, who had sex with you, that was calling you ‘kid’. Every time the nickname slipped from her lips you could feel part of your relationship dying, and your heart breaking further, into a million little pieces.

Leave the perfume on the shelf, that you picked out just for him, so you leave no trace behind like you don't even exist,

You used to enjoy doing small things for Alexia, like buying a perfume you knew she would like when she burrowed her head into the crook of your neck but something that small would be insignificant and go unnoticed now. That perfume sat on your shelf staring at you teasingly, unopened, you didn't want to wear it anymore.

Take the words for what they are a dwindling, mercurial high a drug that only worked the first few hundred times

Alexia used to do the same sort of little things, buying you flowers randomly or bringing home a little treat for you every once in a while. She continued the tradition for a year before the unpredictability of the gifts that once filled you with the warmth of love started to slowly fade away every time she told you she couldn't go on a date with you or didn't want to spend time with you.

And that's the thing about illicit affairs and clandestine meetings and stolen stares, they show their truth one single time but they lie, and they lie, and they lie, a million little times

Alexia used to be the one to plan the secret meet-ups and dates, you used to be the one catching her staring at you and now she was the one standing you up and calling you out for 'acting like a child', while she would continue to fuck you like she loved you and lie to you like they were truths.

And you wanna scream 'Don't call me "kid"'

"And I fucking hate it when you call me 'kid', Alexia! I'm supposed to be your girlfriend!" You screamed at her as tears fell down your face.

"Baby-" She tried to reach out to you.

'Don't call me "baby"', look at this godforsaken mess that you made me

You took a step back and raised her pointer finger at her, "Don't fucking call me baby either," You wiped at your tears aggressively before giving up as they kept falling, "God Ale! Look at me," You sobbed, "Look at what you made me, I'm a fucking mess!" It was clear to anyone that you hadn't been sleeping or eating if someone were to walk in the room they would assume you had been punched in the eyes due to the smudged mascara surrounding your eyes.

You showed me colours you know I can't see with anyone else,

"I don't even know who you are anymore!" You could see Alexia trying to get a word in but you were filled with such sorrow it just kept flowing out of you, "You don't treat anyone in the team half as bad as you treat me and I'm your fucking girlfriend!"

"Baby-hey, we agreed that we would keep it private," She tried to reason.

'Don't call me "kid", don't call me "baby"', look at this idiotic fool that you made me, you taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else,

"I told you don't call me baby!" When you agreed to keep things private you thought that meant steering clear of PDA not keeping your entire existence a secret, "God, I am such a fucking idiot," You had learnt to dissect Ale's words after she started coding them, you could find the deeper meaning in 'compliments' and find the insult when no one else could, you could find hidden meanings behind sugar-coated words and it pained you that you were the only one who seemed to do so.

And you know damn well for you, I would ruin myself a million little times,

"I haven't slept, Ale," You looked back at her, "I haven't eaten, I've worked out more times than I can count, I have been ruining myself trying to be perfect for you. I'm trying to change myself just so you would like me again! And the saddest part is, is that I would do it a million times over because I love you!"

You had to pluck up the courage to leave as soon as the words slipped out of your mouth because you knew for the first time in almost a year, she had heard you when you told her you loved her, really heard you and you didn’t give her a chance to say it back.

[eddiegettingshot]

i know everyone ignores 6x14 because their favorite white boy wasn't the centre of attention for once but. - not to be controversial on main but I think a lot of takes come from either people who genuinely haven't watched some of the eps/entirety of season 1 and watch via gifs and those who are so deep in the ao3 sauce that canon has kind of become null. Just look at how people still talk about Chris as a little kid or the Diaz parents. Eddie, despite functioning fine by himself, has been attempting to put himself out there because we know its not what he wants. He's a "nester", he likes being married etc. Thats what makes this sl more fucked. He's messy but has at least been attempting to move forward.

no i fully agree lol i feel like people have been consuming the show solely through gifs and other people’s meta instead of actually watching it, which is why “eddie’s trying to check the boxes” and “eddie’s relationships haven’t worked out because he’s been trying to recapture what he thinks he had with shannon and subconsciously replace her since she died” - the latter being an internal issue that he has literally never even recognized as being a thought pattern let alone a problem - has turned into “eddie is actively and knowingly hunting down (a large number of) women and pursuing them with the sole intent of making them christopher’s stepmother, then discarding them when it doesn’t work out that way, to the extent that christopher realizes that this is happening and feels shame and anger over his father’s behavior.”

like this is not what’s happening! at all! if you actually watch the show and pay any attention to his interactions with people who aren’t buck this is very clear! this is also why it annoys me so much when people try to make his panic attacks over ana about him being gay - HE WAS PANICKING BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY DIDN’T WANT ANA TO BE CHRIS’S MOTHER AND HE DIDN’T WANT HER TO BE HIS WIFE, HE JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS THE EXPECTATION HE NEEDED TO MEET (AGAIN, SUBCONSCIOUSLY, AFTER NO LESS THAN 3 PEOPLE PUSHED HIM INTO THE RELATIONSHIP)!!!!!! HE SAYS THAT OUTRIGHT TO BUCK WHEN HE SAYS HE’S NOT READY FOR A READYMADE FAMILY!!! i know the show likes to rewrite some things but what is happening right now?

that’s also why i’m so confused about people acting like buck’s (and even chris’s) first instinct should be to get angry and turn eddie away and call him out for being awful - maybe that would be the response if eddie did have a habit of going through women and cheating and leaving them for the next pseudo-shannon. but actually the fact that eddie is lying to his best friend and cheating on his perfect girlfriend and risking putting his kid in a bad place is indicative of a real crisis-level issue with his grief and trauma (which buck has had a front-row seat to) in an unbelievably fucked up one-in-a-million situation. cheating is obviously fucking horrible and wrong - eddie is doing it because he’s being self-destructive and not thinking rationally! ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS HIM WILL KNOW THIS!!!

i literally hate this storyline and i understand that it’s controversial and that’s fine, but genuinely some of the takes i’ve been reading suggest unironically that a lot of people DO actually need to watch the show. because wtf do you mean eddie needs to learn to be alone?

[anpanman95]

God DO I have things to say about this one here…

CONTROVERSIAL REVIEW AHEAD

Last Twilight: why Day’s character is a major RED FLAG 🚩🚩🚩

DISCLAIMER: I do not have anything against him as an actor. He’s a beautiful sweet talented cutie pie that is doing such an amazing job it causes me to hate the motherfluffing guts of this character.

To make this easier I’ve broken down this to five points.

Day’s personality sucks: first of all, he is a rich, spoiled child (I hope all of us agree on this one) who’s clearly full of himself, and only cares about himself. This is demonstrated in several ways, but the most blatant one is in how he believes that his tragedy is the worst possible scenario anyone could be in, and fails to have a single ounce of empathy for anyone around him unless, of course, it has to do something with him. Yes. What happened to him was horrific, and traumatizing, but he is not the only human being in the world who has problems. Which brings me to my next point.

Having a disability does not give you the right to be an asshole. “Oh but every person deals with their own stuff differently” Honey, no. The whole point is that having a disability does not make you any less than any other human being. Question: Doesn’t Day want for people to stop feeling pity for him? to not treat him differently?. Well guess what darling: that implies you also still have to be and function like a decent person. Yes, again, I’m very sorry about what he has to go through, which is a horrible and unexpected experience, and I could never imagine what that’s like, but literally no one in his life wished this upon him. He acts as if everyone around him is to be blamed for what happened.

Spoiled part 2: He has a roof over his head. A fancy one might I add. He lives comfortably. He has healthy, unlimited food, done by a professional chef, might I add AGAIN, and he does not appreciate his family and what they do for him, not even once. Does he not understand that his life could be much, much worse? I’m not saying he can’t be angry or depressed or deal with his trauma however he needs to be able to heal, but there’s a difference that he doesn’t seem to understand: being angry at a situation that is out of anyone’s control, and being angry or directing that anger to people who just want to help. Which brings me to my last two points:

Day’s crappy behavior towards his family: Lets start with the mother. She is, of course somewhat at fault for what Day has to go through. But only because she is being unreasonably overprotective, something that could have been solved anyway without Day being an absolute prick about it. (Also pick one of your children to give all your love and attention to and abandon the other? what is wrong with you). Now to his brother Night. Oh God. I don’t think you understand how angry I was when Day said “I forgive you for everything”. Bitch what the f? Forgive Night? for treating him like absolute garbage, as if he had never been your own brother? Like he planned the whole fiasco? He gets mad after the accident because his brother TRIES TO CHANGE for the BETTER. And accuses him from TRYING TO STEAL THE GOOD SON TITLE FROM HIM??! Be for real bitch. This circles back to point one: He only cares about himself. Night has been traumatized almost as much as Day because of the accident. It is obvious he blames himself and probably will never forgive himself fully for what happened. On top of that he gets an awful mother and brother? Nah. Count me out. I would have resigned from that family and go live with beautiful sweet Porjai to a small village and never be contacted by those people again.

Mhok: Oh dear. Oh dear. He is literally the greenest of green flags out there. Sure. He’s a little volatile. Sure, he has done violent things. But he would have NEVER hurt Day or any of their friends/family. My boy was just trying to do his job, cause, mind you, HE HAS NO MONEY OR FAMILY TO SUPPORT HIM LIKE YOU DO, DAY. The money and family you disrespect every single day. And what the f with telling him what to do with his life? Who the f do you think you are? Mr. Righteous? Mr. Perfect? More like Mr. Red Flag 101. Day basically broke Mhok’s heart because Mhok didn’t want to be away from him. So, first of all, I don’t believe for a second Mhok’s intentions were out of pity. Maybe they came from a place of WORRY and a little bit out of infatuation because he liked him so much and didn’t want to be away from him. But never pity. EVEN SO. IF Mhok felt “pity” for Day, the correct thing to do, as two fluffing functioning adults, is to TALK. Why did you have to go and tell him all this horrible things just so he’d leave? Why not tell him you’re proud of him, and ENCOURAGE HIM to take the job, ENSURE that it’ll work out between you? But nooooo, Mr. Red Flag had to go and break his heart cause he lacks basic decency and human empathy, only for Mhok, bless his heart, to come back after three years AND FOR SOME REASON, still manage to be in love with this awful person. And he tells him no? Break his heart all over again only for Mhok to have enough emotional intelligence for the both of them to actually come back after YOU GAVE UP ON SEARCHING FOR HIM AT THE AIRPORT LIKE A WEAK MEDIOCRE BI— ugh. If I were Mhok I’d gone and kicked his sorry ass and married a handsome Hawaiian.

Okay.

Also Day only coming to his senses after his mother tells him THE MOST OBVIOUS THING THERE IS.

“Oh Mother what was that? Loving means taking risks? It’s all about trust? and communication? Oh my, that would have never crossed my mind because I am such an idiot. Thank you mom I’ll go look for the love of my life now because you told me so”

like seriously what is up with these boys and their mommy issues? I swear the exact same thing happened in Hidden Agenda. Bro.

I love P’Aof, and his work. Loved Bad Buddy, loved Moonlight Chicken. I had super high expectations of this and, overall, the show is good. But I simply did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and it’s all because I couldn’t sympathize with one of the main characters.

In conclusion:

Fluff you Day, you do not deserve Mhok. sorry p’Aof I love you and will continue to support you until the very end.

oof. I needed to rant this out. don’t yell at me please I cry easily.

peace out!

[batsplat]

Do you have any thought on the podcast that vale just did with Mig. I had never come across someone that had the Marc fell on purpose in Sepang narrative but I’m just wondering how much of what he’s saying now aligns with what he’s said over the years and is anything new information that’s he’s never bought up before? I also saw that he mentioned Casey and Dani apparently but I haven’t seen that bit yet.

I'd say it more or less aligns with the stuff he's said previously, but he's expanded on some points. him kinda implying there was something fishy about marc's fall itself was a pretty popular theory at the time, enough to be referred to by journalists, though as far as I can recall valentino has stayed clear of it (always getting handlebars caught up in inconvenient places in controversial racing incidents, eh). as for the other stuff:

argentina: valentino hasn't spoken much about pre-sepang incidents in general, at most referring to them with half a line (including races that usually aren't integrated into the timeline of the 2015 collapse, like silverstone and misano). I've talked about it here, but valentino's line about marc's riding there should be read in context of another past comment - that valentino was told marc believed vale had cost him the title, which you would assume to be a reference to argentina (more on that in a moment). while it was obviously deemed a racing incident, it should come as no surprise that narratives accusing one or the other of ill intent were discourse points at the time (see here). both valentino and jorge seem to think that marc felt valentino deliberately crashed him out (here). if they are to be believed, it leaves you with a version of argentina where both parties thought the other was deliberately attempting to make them crash. this version positions argentina 2015 less as a precursor of things to come and more as a breaking point neither party ever moved on from

assen: valentino has spoken about this as a turning point before, saying back in 2016: "at assen I realised he was only my friend when he beats me"; plus in october 2015 saying more broadly that marc was "angry about assen". he hasn't spoken about a direct conversation between the two of them before, though the words he attributes to marc do broadly align with what we have footage of marc saying in the actual press conference (for instance, marc feeling he had won the race, see here). so yes, the stances they both take according to valentino basically match up with the stances we know they publicly took at the time, but again: this is the first time he's talked about this conversation, and we have no evidence for it occurring (certainly not in parc fermé - my best guess is that this would have happened when they were at race direction). all of this is in line with reading assen as essentially the point of no return as far as that relationship was concerned - from then on, the collapse is locked in

alzamora: his involvement is something I've been wondering about for ages now (here, here and here). as is discussed in those posts, valentino said way back in october 2015 that alzamora had told him after sepang that marc "behaved as he did because I caused him to lose the world title". this had always felt bizarre to me, because the description made it difficult to judge the tone of the encounter - surely, you would have to have good reason to harm your charge by running your mouth like that. valentino's version presented in the podcast, which now explicitly attributes active malice to alzamora, does make more sense than alzamora just... randomly approaching valentino to worsen the conflict. the notion that alzamora spoke openly in the paddock about damning valentino's championship bid, as well as this getting back to valentino via spanish friends, is also new. alzamora did have a troubled reputation of his own, as a lot of these managers tend to, not least as a result of the honda in-fighting he was involved in (see here). he has at times been seen as... overeager in getting mixed up in his charges' business - see also how he dealt with reporters and photographers. reporting of valentino's alzamora claim in the immediate aftermath of sepang 2015 mention "yet another disagreement between crew chief santi hernandez and alzamora", the "questionable" role played by alzamora, and alzamora's "very different priorities than honda" (see here and here). alzamora's alleged insistence on being at the meeting, even when valentino thought it was not his place to interfere, does seem to gel with his general conduct. to my eye, there are no obvious inconsistencies between how alzamora's influence was discussed at the time and what valentino is saying now, though the detail of this confrontation including a verbal fight at race direction is also new

at race direction: the details of the look exchanged between marc and alzamora are new too. valentino has spoken about a conversation between himself and marc where marc stared blankly at him, and just based on my own conjecture I did think race direction was the logical place for this conversation to take place. this is in large part on the basis of two media scrum answers marc gave in late 2015 that make explicit reference to this conversation, which I should probably get around to uploading (and valentino likewise spoke about it at the time) (so we can be reasonably confident that it happened and that marc was not best pleased by what valentino said). but the smile is new, yes

that was all I saw in terms of additions! other stuff like uccio's involvement and how valentino describes marc as a rider are basically what he's been saying for years. the most interesting bits to me personally were the alzamora comments because, again, that element of the story was odd enough that I was kinda hoping someone would eventually expand on it. much obliged

[whoiwanttoday]

Hey guys, I am posting Jessica Nigri and I am not entirely sure why other than some days I guess you're just in the mood for blonde with big boobs? Like, maybe it's as simple as that, she's hot, she wears nice costumes, that's enough. I don't post her often, in part cause her legal team is famous for take downs, even though all of this is from her instagram so I am not really hurting her sales of anything, but also I don't have a ton to say about her in general. I remember one of the first times I posted her one of my followers (who it hurts me to say but I am glad is off of tumblr cause he was annoying and weirdly needy but also had some really problematic views that came from a place of just being convinced he was life's biggest victim) said he was surprised I hadn't addressed how "controversial she was". I told him I was unaware of any controversy even though I damn well knew what he was talking about, I just wanted to make him say publicly what it was, which was that some people think she's a fake nerd. In my opinion this does not make her controversial, it just exposes the fact that "real nerds" hate women. Real Nerds of course are white men who don't have a lot of luck in social spheres and boy I would like to say I feel bad coming down on the nerds but the truth is I never do. I grew up with you guys and it was toxic, racist, homophobic, and mystification and nerds were the worst bullies I ever met. I often think about that scene in the Social Network when Rooney Mara tells Jesse Eisenberg he tells himself people don't like him because he's smart but they actually don't like him because he's an asshole. I know some people were picked on and no one brought that on themselves but the truth is most adult nerds I have known who swear the world is against them tend to be deeply unpleasant and entitled people. Which is the real reason Jessica Nigri was and is "controversial" in increasingly small and isolated internet communities. Is she a real nerd or not? I dunno. I am inclined to think she must sort of like the stuff she dresses up as cause she could just be a hot girl and charge money for hot girl pictures. Either way I don't care much because I know the real issue here and that is that she and other cosplayers have flipped a misogynistic dynamic on it's head. Objectifying a woman is supposed to diminish her, you get to leer and she gets to be made less than she was before. She is soiled and loses power. But once cosplayers started making money from their work the same voices online that fucking hated them were forking out money for pictures of them and only saw themselves diminishing in their own eyes while the cosplayer got richer. It wasn't how it was supposed to work and it made those people angry. Which is why I don't have a lot to say about Jessica Nirgi cause she's just someone who puts on a costume. I don't think it's a great feminist moment or some moment of deep shame. It just is. But she's hot. Today I want to fuck Jessica Nigri.

[donnerpartyofone]

We are now entering the holiday season, more or less, which starts early for my family due to a birthday, and I wish this didn't fill me with ambivalence. I like my family, they have interesting things to say, they're great hosts, they can create an idyllic sort of environment; but meanwhile, there is the exhausting obligation to somehow promote oneself, to find something to take to market, and I don't have anything like that and it causes problems. I'm the only person in my family who isn't outrageously accomplished. I had all the same opportunities as everyone else, it was just never going to happen, I'm not good enough. Which sounds self-pitying but honestly it only sounds that way because our ears are conditioned to hear it as some kind of criminal admission of an unacceptable circumstance, instead of a casual acknowledgement of a completely normal circumstance. I think I would feel a great, cathartic relief if it were socially acceptable to just concede that you're a loser, that you're not going to amount to anything due to personal limitations. I mean, I feel like this should not be controversial actually, but it seems to make people feel frightened and confused and angry and if you even come close to saying "This is about it for my personal potential, nothing really worked out"; anyone who hears this will immediately go to great pains to try to force you to take it back, even if they believe it themselves.

I think this might be more true than usual in my family. I think they're embarrassed to know me, but admitting such a thing could make anybody feel like a bad person even though they shouldn't, they have a right--but to avoid feeling guilty (about something they shouldn't feel guilty about), there has to be this endless, exhausting game of make-believe where we all pretend to like me and to be interested in what's going on with me. So I have to like "bring something to the table", I can't just say I have nothing going on; I have to describe one of my dumb little hobbies that I kind of just nominally get paid for once in a while, and they don't understand what it is or what is the context or why any normal person would care, is so I have to describe it in a lot of boring detail, and then by the time I finally get through clarifying what the service/product is everyone's eyes are totally glazed over but they still have to find the energy to respond as if they are somehow impressed. And then the next time it comes up, we have to do the whole entire process over again because no one ever remembers what I said because they didn't really get it the first time, and it's really something they wouldn't even have to know about if it weren't for me, and it's at least as exhausting if not more so.

Recently I tried out a strategy of just saying less. I thought that if I just clammed up and didn't draw attention to myself, then that would put everybody at ease. (Asking other people about themselves only gets me so far, they always seem a little annoyed, like when you're trying to explain fashion to your uncool aunt or something) Sometimes it's like I'm not really there anyway; when I got engaged they threw a dinner for me, and there was about twenty minutes of discussing the wedding before the rest of the evening was devoted to someone's restored, vintage BMW and the drama of where to park such a beautiful and valuable object. Then there was the birthday outing where nobody asked me any questions, the whole afternoon was devoted to someone else's brand new Audi, which distraction prevented them from attending a super important professional event I had actually-on my birthday. The deflection to someone's fancy car whenever I require attention has become a private joke between me and my spouse, who frankly I sometimes think they are not nice enough to because he's married to me. He's an interesting person with a serious career that tells him a lot about how the world works, but sometimes I think they kind of see him as another stunted child because marrying me reflects poorly on him.

Which could totally be a projection on my part, but anyway. The point is I tried out my policy of only speaking when spoken to, or at least not saying anything personal, and everything indicated that this should have worked out, but it seemed to just make people even more mad at me. Admittedly there was an extenuating factor, that someone's famous friend came over and immediately challenged me to say that I was a professional writer like everyone else, and when I confessed that I was just unemployed, he kept trying to put words in my mouth about how successful I must be in some other way, and it was mortifying for me but more importantly it was mortifying for him that I couldn't reward this behavior. Meanwhile, another relative asked me exactly one question about myself--a career question--and when I didn't have an answer, that was the end of all conversation until we were all departing and she accused me of refusing to commune with her even though she missed me and was dying to talk to me. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do.

I feel the need to defend these people. I'm certain it's true that they care about me in that deep-down, fundamental, blood ties way. That's a lot more than many people get from their families. And it's mostly true that they have not been openly hostile or insulting; I mean this is absolutely not true historically, some pretty fucked up things have been said to my face and in front of groups, but this hasn't happened in long enough that I think it's right to try to let it go. In some ways it would be easier if everything were just bad enough that we could all give each other the finger and part ways. What I'm grappling with is this feeling that if I don't work really hard, I'm going to become estranged, which I think would be bad both spiritually and strategically, if you have a family who doesn't actively harm you I think you should keep them around for many different reasons. But it's an established thing that if one family member pulls away, there's a loving conspiracy to draw them back, whereas if I seem to become a little distant, I'm going to get accused of something, like even in writing sometimes. So I have to be on my best behavior all the time, and I have to keep playing this game where I pretend that big things are happening for me and I have to do a whole marketing presentation on this total lie even if everyone is bored to death and not a little embarrassed. I don't know, I guess it's nobody's fault. There's no way we would ever know each other if everybody weren't forced to be related to me, I might as well try to make it easier for them. It's just hard because there is nothing about me that would make it ACTUALLY easy for them to be associated with me, so I'm dutybound to kind of just laboriously smile and make shit up for the rest of my life in order to keep clinging to the fringes of our existence.

It just sucks because I love the fall, I love Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's. And it's not NEVER fun to be with my family. But the season I love is just tainted with this anxiety because it's like illegal to admit that you're just sort of a loser, and my family could never admit that they just basically kind of dislike untalented, unsuccessful people, because there's a cultural prejudice that that's a moral failing--which it isn't, it's just a personal preference, but I guess we're all saddled with the same baggage. Everything would be so much more relaxed and intimate if we could openly accept the way things really are, but it's definitely never going to happen. Stress.

[good7luck]

Adding more to my post about Noe in VNC manga latest chapter 61.5

(more under the cut)

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First, thanks to all the people in my previous post! I didn't expect to get more than just a few notes, I feel honored ;w;

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I considered re-writing the entire post at that time, but I think I'll just leave it as it is and make this additional post instead :P

I must say, this - especially the latter part - would be more subjective and controversial, probably? ^^;; maybe even unnecessary. I know it's just my personal imperfect view from my limited experiences for now, in the end.

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In VNC so far (~ch 61.5), the Dham (racism) matter was (almost) brought up a few times:

1)

Noe got to hear about Dham for the first time here. But he couldn't get to learn more and deeper, because the kidnapping incidents were so urgent and dangerous. I suppose, Noe could've asked "Why would the kidnappers let go of you just because you're a dham?"...but it'd be very inappropriate and rude, as if Johann should've gotten kidnapped lol?

A LOT of things happened in this arc, especially in regards to Vanitas, so maybe Noe couldn't think of getting to know more about Dham specifically. (Or, more like, MJ-sensei thought it's not time to go further with Dham yet XD)

2)

This is just a moment, but it shows some glimpse of how tough to live as a dham and how Johann (truly) feels. And...Noe was NOT here, and it's unlikely that Vani bothered to tell him about this.

3)

This is probably the closest one where the word Dham was used like a slur (on thin ice) by Vani. And, again, Noe was NOT here, and honestly there's no way Vani has ever talked about this to him.

4) Not animated (which is a big shame, indeed), but in ch 40, Dante remembers when he got bullied for being a dham and when he first met Vani who hates all races equally. Only Johann was around him, and I'm sure Noe couldn't (properly) hear Dante far away: he was with Vani and JJ to find the Book and save Chloe, who started to completely lose herself and destroy things.

(sorry if I missed some ^^;)

My point is - Noe really didn't have a chance to learn about Dham and the discrimination properly. He even never witnessed one himself. Besides,

the Dhams never looked like they're suffering from Orlok or in his office to Noe.

So, I think it's very understandable that Noe in the latest chapter couldn't even guess that such a horrible and systematic oppression has been happening to the Dhams then and now. It's all news to him, literally. Of course he hasn't noticed it yet that his words and actions aren't being (practically) helpful for the Dhams, much less he's making Dante angry for real.

That's why I feel it's quite unfair to (seriously) blame Noe for his (innocent) ignorance and the (gonna-be-unfortunate) outcome. It'd be rather unrealistic and OP, if Noe manages to immediately comprehend everything "right" and take "right" actions on his own lol

.

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To be more personal and controversial...

I know it might be merely that some people hate / mock Noe and try to make anything he does (not) a problem / joke "just for fun", but...

Some seem to genuinely believe Dante should kick Noe or such, and idk, I must ask - what did they expect from Noe there, exactly? What do they think Noe had to do in that situation "instead", then? Is there a "good" "solution", even?

It's been only a few weeks (or months) since Noe arrived in Paris, and he's still almost a stranger in regards to the Dham matter. It's even not that he came to study Dham. Noe didn't even jokingly agree with Manet / Nox. It's pretty clear that he simply wanted to do something to make the messy situation better (and sincerely cared about Dhams), even if he didn't understand what's going on in front of him.

Noe is one mere individual, not even officially a powerful, high noble like Domi. Count Orlok is not rude to Noe but still casual to him, while he's much more polite to Domi cuz she's "higher". It's praiseworthy that Domi realized she's also participating in the racism, but somehow it's terrible that Noe consequently called out the racism and tried to help the Dhams? Which let Domi notice her own racism?

I wonder if they wanted Noe to "just shut up and stay still", but tbh..I feel...even if Noe actually didn't do anything there, they would've still easily accused him for doing nothing but "heartlessly" watching the racism (and so siding with the oppressors and so being a racist), with "silence / neutrality = consent / approval !!!", perhaps lol?

.

To be very honest - I admit it's still quite hard for me to fully understand why Dante is THAT angry at Noe, even after reading some fandom posts / comments.

Like, I get it, Noe is probably making the situation worse for the Dhams (which is utter tragic), or he sounded too un-serious to him. Dante sure didn't expect to see Vani there, much less suddenly hear some burdensome demand about Machina he hates, the whole Dham "lecture" (why and how they've been discriminated for years), and all the various / explicit insults to him and his family. I sincerely feel so sorry for him and Dhams. I really do.

But like...honestly and strictly speaking...Dante chose to get mad at Noe of all people there, NOT at the obvious oppressors (Manet, Nox, and Count Orlok), even in front of the very oppressors. As if Noe was clearly "worse" than them. This happened basically because Dante thought it's "okay" to throw his anger on Noe, unlike on the real oppressors.

"OMG of course Dante cannot lash out at them, he and Dhams will get only harmed worse by them later!" Yeah, while "nothing bad" will ever happen, even if Dante pours his rage on Noe "instead". Noe is "kind", "not oppressed", and "not socially high enough", so Dante should feel free to use him as a punching bag, "right"? Sorry to be "cruel", but...would Dante have been able to do the same (or unable to hold himself back), if it were not Noe but Luca or Antoine?

I mean, I genuinely cannot fathom why some people try to demonize Noe and "cheer" Dante that much (to "call out" Noe and/or get violent to him, idek), as if Dante is about to perform an act of "justice" towards Noe. Especially when the actual oppressors are right there without feeling any guilty or threatened lol? :/ I'm aware one cannot always rationally think and do perfect, but seriously...it's NOT a good look (for Dante) in any way? Do they "prioritize" seeing Noe get bullied thaaaaat much lmao? ://

It's also "funny" that I've (at least personally) never seen any criticism towards Vani about this. He's the one who forcedly and carelessly brought Machina and Dham stuff in front of the (aggressive) oppressors, even if he understands pretty much everything. He also should've seen what could come, especially when he himself openly gets discriminated by them as well for being a human and the kin of the Blue Moon.

Vani gave Noe all the explanations he needed, sure, but he wasn't polite in general (as always, I know). It also implies Vani never told any of his plans to Noe beforehand again. He blamed Domi for Noe's ignorance, but he didn't provide enough info to him, either lol Vani didn't particularly discriminate Dante or Dhams, but honestly he (and Domi, too) didn't try to stop the racism in the office, either - actively or indirectly, in any form.

I obviously don't mean Vani / Domi is to blame for the racism, much less worse than Count Orlok, Nox, and Manet. I'm glad the fandom rightfully got disappointed in the Orlok trio, calling the bigots out! Still, I don't get why some are overly harsh on Noe and only him lol Did he do THAT wrong and worse? Apparently, maaaaaybe he should've just "quietly" accepted and "wisely" gone with the racism, like Vani / Domi (low-key) did, not "wasting" his energy and kindness only to get hates lmao? ://

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I think Vani should've been more patient and just made a private future appointment with Dante to ask for the Machina matter later, for example. But I guess this might be OOC lol

I feel it would've been great if Domi calmed down the people in the office, using her social status (ex. clapping and calling their attention to return to the subject - which should've been Orlok's job...).

I believe I would've taken it better if Dante simply tried to quickly silence Noe (to not make things worse) and/or talk to him (even get angry at him! though preferably not XP) in private later.

Of course, none of this would've mattered, if only the Orlok trio wasn't racists / the racism didn't exist in the first place...

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Thank you for patiently reading my long and incoherent opinions!! Sorry if I was being too dramatic or such OTL

[super-hero-confessions]

I've seen some discussion on Homelander's character duality and have been doing a lot of thinking about it lately. I find some of it strange and some intriguing, and I just wanted to share some thoughts on it.

There's some ideas that Homelander is who the character wants to be or is proud of being currently, but I think it goes much deeper than that.

There's an implication in the Diabolical series with Homelander's debut and first mission as well as the episode with 'Mirrorlander', and of course they don't cover everything. But I do think they tell quite the story.

The other thing is the often missed duality in Homelander's character, not to say that people don't notice he has more than one side to him, but more like they don't realize just how divided he is from the inside out.

He used to be a boy named John Gillman. Which Vought then tortured, never allowed to grow up, and convinced to be their chosen god puppet and 'perfect creation'. The Homelander.

But I think what people forget is that becoming Homelander was never really a choice for him. It was the path they set before him and told him he was going to be, while creating an image he not just wasn't prepared for, but couldn't possibly meet the standard of with the upbringing they gave him.

And this might be controversial, but I don't think Homelander is the real him.

I don't think John Gillman is the real him either.

I think they're both vital parts of him we see in the episode where he speaks to himself in the mirror. I think John Gillman is the little boy forced to be in a body far too powerful for even himself, that was able to admit that he wanted to be loved and does, more than anything. And I think Homelander is the part of him created by what Vought forced him to be that was yelling at him from the mirror, and is angry at the world for his circumstances and wants to take that feeling Vought stole, of having power and control back, through fear.

I think the real him is caught somewhere in a limbo between these two parts of him as there were a couple things that really struck me when I took a second look.

Annie January, or Starlight has a conversation with her mother at the end of the first season where she screams out, "No wonder I don't know who the fuck I'm supposed to be!".

The conversation is about Compound V and how her mother controlled every tiny little aspect of her life, down to her daughter never getting a real choice on what she wanted, based on a lie she was told.

Obviously, this isn't to say that Starlight went through anything close to what Homelander did, but the parallels of the situations can be seen, if much less severe, and there is still validity in the grief she has.

And that's the thing. I think Homelander doesn't know who the fuck he's really supposed to be. He wouldn't admit it, but I don't really think it's reasonable to think that with how badly Vought fucked him up, that he would somehow be certain of who and what he wants to be. And that just makes it worse.

When we see him in Diabolical during his debut, he is bewildered and in absolute awe. So far, only seeing the adoration from people. Something he's never had before in any capacity most likely. And those people understand him to be The Homelander, to be a new superhero that is there to save them.

There's even an immediate reaction of jealousy when the attention is switched to Black Noir because up until that point, Homelander has never had those feelings from people. Just fear and disgust.

Already, he's preconditioned to think extremely lowly of himself due to what Vought has done to the boy named John Gillman. And he doesn't realize he is a victim and that John never deserved those things, which works perfectly to manipulate him into being enamoured with this new persona that Vought created for him. Because it's new. It's different. And so far, it's not painful.

Understandably, his first mission goes terribly wrong. Especially when he is called a 'monster' as 'The Homelander'. Suddenly reliving his memories as the feelings against what he never chose to be come boiling up to the surface. He completely loses himself and kills every single person he is supposed to save, despite having initially tried to help. So we know that he wanted to be good, he wanted to be the hero, and he wanted to be loved. Even before being The Homelander, it was John Gillman who wanted all of those things.

But what happens instead? He is manipulated, first by Madelyn Stillwell into fighting Noir when he knows he's messed up and believes Noir will terminate him, and then Noir turns it around and makes him realize he can and will be loved by everyone as long as they never know he's imperfect.

And The Homelander is supposed to be 'perfect'.

So he latches on to that image and 'god' created by Vought while simultaneously using it to protect the and bury the boy he used to be.

And it continues like this. Eventually he begins to embrace the 'monster' that he can keep veiled while he takes power back through fear, and he can be loved so long as people never know about that 'monster'. Solidifying his path and duality of who he is from that very first mission. If he can get away with anything, why wouldn't he? Vought never taught him different.

The internal conflict won't simply disappear, but his comfort is having his cake, and eating it too. Even if he knows it will never be real...

[zombiejette]

BIG THREE TIME!! 🌙🔮✨

Hey there Non/Disney peeps! I know how much we all love to choose beloved characters that represent ourselves, whether its for personal or roleplay reasons, so I think it's time we expand this trend even further. I thought why not shake things up and combine this side of tumblr with my favorite form of self-insert...

Astrology!!

you know y'all want to. So what are your Big Three signs represented by animated characters?? I will start with mine:

☀️ SUN: Aries ♈️ 🐏

I know it's a bit on the nose, but I can't think of anyone more like the Ram than Merida. Stubborn, impulsive, firey, playful, passionate... it's all her baby. Even has the red-ass wildwoman hair. For me, she is most like how I behave on the surface, especially when I'm having a good time. She loves fiercely, plays recklessly, and isn't afraid of a bit of danger in the pursuit of living fully. Everything about her is loud, proud, and in your face- and just like the sun, you can't tone her down even for a second. Especially when she's angry. But that anger is a good thing too- it reminds us to stand up for ourselves, for the injustices we see, and to fight wholeheartedly for what's right. She shows us that our emotions are our greatest allies, and if you befriend them, they will help guide you towards your truest path. All this boldness and authenticity allows her to be a truly fearless leader, and one who isn't afraid of breaking traditions to do so.

🌙 MOON: Virgo ♍️🏺

Helga, for me, is the epitome of my Moon sign. She's no-nonsense, likes things to be efficient and effective, and is constantly scanning for problems to fix. She can also be intimidatingly scary and judgmental when she's pushed into a corner, and then all of those analytical skills can easily turn into weapons of mass destruction. But the more healed way it usually manifests for me is through her tough-love Mommy energy. She has a "right way" in mind, and knows what works and what doesn't. It's not that she's trying to be cruel, or too abrasive, but she sees when someone needs that push and won't hesitate to give them it. She's often the best person for advice if you don't mind being torn to shreds in the process lol.

↗️ RISING: Cancer ♋️ 🦀

Now if you were scared at all by the hard-headedness of my first two signs- fear not! My rising sign is here to make me less of a dick lol. Might be a controversial choice, but Genie is definitely a cancer rising. "You've never had a friend like me" is sort of an inside joke of mine, and it's because I truly seek to be the most authentic and loyal friend you've ever had. I'm not just here for a good time- I'm here to change your life! Emotional intimacy is the hallmark of this goal, and I love to really "see" someone, to bear witness to all their ugly and do away with the surface barriers society imposes upon us. I know how crushingly lonely it can be to feel like no one really understands you, or even tries to, and so my bleeding heart takes up arms against this strongly. The way Genie bends over backwards and selflessly grants wishes- even ones he didn't have to- and genuinely wants the best for Aladdin despite the sacrifices it costs him, is the heart and soul of what this sign is for me. Not that this is always a good thing- I've definitely given away way too much without proper boundaries and gotten burned by it- but the way I feel for someone's situation, and want to do everything in my power to make it all better for them, is what Genie and I have in common. The shackles around him often feel how this type of empathy feels too- knowing you care so much and so deeply about someone, trying your best to "poof" their problems away, but having to free yourself from helping them or else it will drag you down as well. It's a big lesson this sign often has to learn the hard way, and boy have I learned it. But still, when it's used correctly and for the right person- nothing feels better than knowing you helped someone feel a lot less alone in this crazy world, and made a positive impact on their soul.

So those are mine! Please reblog with yours, and let me know why you chose your characters! I love pop-psychology through animation, and just in general lol, but either way, it was super fun to do. 🥰✨

[obsessivefangirl]

WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT STAN BEING THE DUMB TWIN

OK SO

The fandom gives him quite a bit of credit, which I'm grateful for. They see him as capable in street smarts. Sure, he's a controversial guy, but in the end he can sweet talk and is good with giving people what they want. He can read a person in and out.

But that's where I see the "Stan is smart/talented" nod off. Ford is seen as not savvy with people and Stan is only savvy with people. But people don't notice how much of an idiot Ford can be, because he does it in a science way.

Ford pretends to be the calm, collected and reasonable one but he has just as bad of a temper as Stan. He doesn't think ahead, giving away mind control devices to children (which btw, someone pointed this out but... Ford was more than happy giving the same intrusion to his brother's mind that made him so paranoid. He didn't even get a reason why and he just offered it) and doesn't even think about those warnings about Bill while considering him.

Another thing is Ford is given credit where McGucket or Bill was the one doing the heavy work. Ford is very knowledgeable, he's a genius, but some people think he's on Rick Sandriz's level, but he's not. Rick is a genius that can make devices Ford couldn't dream of. Bill was the one to create the portal, and he needed Fiddleford for construction. He's smart, but he's not an engineer like Fiddleford. He can probably whip up inventions, but that would be through software and hardware and just being able to understand certain reactions, instead of Fiddleford's more nuanced designs.

Ford is also incredibly childish. His brother (in his eyes) sabotaged him in a science fair, which made him not defend Stan when he was kicked out. He saw Stan essentially being promised to leave their lives forever and ignored that. Of course he had every right to be angry, but he didn't even try to help him before or after. Then he doesn't look back until he needs help, and even when depending on Stanley he looks at him as someone less. In the journal he refers to Stanley as someone could be of use. When Stanley says he's been through hell including kidnapping— possibly trafficking— he screams about his dream school. After 30 fucking years, he punches Stan and doesn't even apologize, planning on pulling a Filbrick, ignoring the fact that Stanley is the reason the house is still standing. The only way to get through him was losing his brother in essentially death.

Finally, we have the big one– intelligence. Now, here's the thing. I fully admit that Stanford wins in that situation. But. BUT. Stanley taught himself from nothing, being a high school dropout, and did most of the work needed with the first book only. Ford acts as if he was just bashing it until it worked, but that's because he's a stubborn bastard who can't admit any good out him. He's not stupid, and although he learned very specific types of things in that, it shows he's an incredible learner who just doesn't care enough to learn the other stuff.

Obviously Stanley has idiot moments. I've only been singing his praises and criticizing Ford in this when they're mixed bags, but my point isn't to analyze every nook and cranny. It's to break down beliefs already internalized. In the end, Stanford isn't the idol of perfection some think he is. Stanley is rash, childish, his ego can get in the way, and is OK with crimes. But Stanford is too.

How did this turn into this, I was planning on just talking about the book smarts but–

[my-mt-heart]

I think I mentioned before that the love triangle is my least favorite trope. It just feels very YA to me, less mature, which definitely doesn’t fit a relationship like Daryl’s and Carol’s, nor their individual characters who are so careful with their hearts. Creating foils for them on the other hand has been very illuminating in some instances. 

Even though I don’t like Carol and Ezekiel together at all, I do like seeing Daryl’s jealous side. It’s not a typical jealousy because nothing about Daryl’s character is typical, but it causes him to turn inward and weigh his worth against Ezekiel’s. He knows he’s no king, he isn’t charming, he isn’t a leader, so in his mind, he can’t possibly be good enough for Carol. 

But we as an audience learn through the different interactions between all three characters that he could not be more wrong. Daryl understands Carol in ways Ezekiel never could, always putting her needs before his own, respecting her boundaries and her independence. He’s the one who has Carol’s heart, the one who immediately makes her smile when he gives her a gift, the one she’ll say “I love you” to. 

The “triangle” if you can really call it that, only takes a wrong turn for me in S11. Carol and Ezekiel do not need to get closure from each other ten times over. They don’t need a long shared arc with far more screentime than the relationship we’re actually invested in, and we don’t need the question of will they/won’t they [get back together] hanging over our heads so close to wrapping the series. Knowing how to use foils also means knowing when they’ve stopped being useful all together. 

The same can be said about Carol’s foils. On one hand, Daryl’s and Connie’s dynamic shows us how much Carol is struggling to love herself for who she is. She thinks she’s a bad person, unworthy of Daryl’s love, despite loving him so much she’s ready to sacrifice her own chance of happiness so he can be happy with someone she perceives as “good.” 

The romance she keeps pushing for never actually happens though, which in itself reminds us Daryl isn’t an alpha male. He can’t pursue every woman who happens to interact with him. He can’t test the waters with someone he likes or respects. He needs to fall in love first, he needs time, he needs depth, he needs Carol. And that’s all really sweet, but the longer the “Connie” arc drags out, the more superficial it becomes, accomplishing nothing for any of the characters and leaving every viewer unhappy. 

Speaking of which, adding Leah to that mix is probably one of TWD’s most controversial writing decisions that everyone (rightfully) resents. It didn’t have to end on such a bitter note though. Unlike killing off Glenn and Carl, which there is absolutely no walking back from, risking Daryl’s character integrity for a random relationship could have at least been the catalyst for Daryl and Carol to finally go canon. The set up is there. We get the parallels between Carol and Leah to tell us who Daryl really chooses and why, but it ultimately goes nowhere. Carol and Leah don’t even get to interact. [Insert long, angry rant about that here]. 

I’m not looking for a do-over on any of these arcs or for any new ship to take their place (for the love of god, stop with the ship baiting). The more love interests Daryl and Carol garner, the less they feel like themselves and we’re already teetering on the brink of unrecognizable with this ridiculous France premise. But, if there’s more to come for Caryl, some acknowledgement would be good. It only takes a few lines of dialogue to explain to the characters and to the audience why Carol didn’t return Zeke’s feelings, why it wasn’t like that with Connie, why Daryl really got together with Leah. And if handled with care, it could be very impactful 

[biblioflyer]

Alien Romulus thoughts (minimal spoilers)

What I liked:

The characters are reasonably intelligent and make decent choices given what their knowledge and the situation. They weren't outrageously dumb given their backgrounds and situational awareness: I'm looking at you Prometheus.

The first 2/3rds has great ambience. It genuinely felt like an Alien movie.

The character of Andy.

The "gore" felt appropriately dialed in. There was really only one scene that I felt was over the top and unnecessary. It felt appropriate for an Alien movie. Its R rated, but the sort of R rated where I wouldn't feel that weird about seeing fourteen year olds in the audience.

The presentation of the Xenomorphs is about right. They're neither omnipotent nor have they suffered much in the way of villain decay.

I saw a lot of complaints about the CGI used for [redacted] comparing it to other deep fakes and the airbrushing of Henry Cavill's mustache. I didn't find it jarring personally.

What I didn't like:

The final act suddenly starts shotgunning callbacks like it was a Marvel movie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Marvel movies, but Marvel movies are Marvel movies.

The world building feels a bit half baked. The number of plot contrivances just seems a little much. The scheme of the heroes seems a bit of a Hail Mary and unlikely to work or be within their competencies once you start thinking about it. As my partner pointed out, Ripley was a seasoned spacer. Very little of her competencies were out of step with what she was doing, albeit under a lot more stress than the norm. Andy's "magic finger" being the keys to the kingdom for a top secret space lab doing all kinds of dangerous and nefarious stuff is probably not the silliest instance of an evil corporation having lousy OpSec but its up there.

I'm not inherently opposed to a through line of [redacted] being a MacGuffin with no clear rules because its inscrutable Clarketech and we are trampling in the garden of an angry god, but I feel like each attempt to utilize it in this fashion buries this subtext.

I don't necessarily approve of movies force feeding us their theme, so I'm prepared to take the word of characters providing exposition with massive does of salt. Yet the final act feels less like a story of hubris and more of an attempt to provide a crude logical substrate to lore that has gone a bit off the rails while, as mentioned, doing lots of callbacks in the process. Some of those callbacks are likely to be a bit controversial depending on where one stands on some of the entries into the franchise that are fashionable to hate on.

There's no particular reason for this film to act as an explicit retcon by virtue of being a direct sequel to Alien in the style of some of the other popular thriller - killer franchises out there that have rebooted themselves by returning to the beginning and starting over from there. However, it does introduce some potential plot holes with Aliens that need some hand waving.

Also the audio mix at the theater I attended was really bad. I do feel like I missed a lot of dialogue that might have tidied up things a bit more. I legitimately am still very confused by at least one major plot development.

[beekeepercain]

I'm making the weirdest comeback to this blog today, solely because I have no other blog I actually can post in the tags on but am NOT followed by people who know my partner.

Hi! How's it going? I've been absent from here for years, and by years I mean it's been at least 5. Lots have happened! But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here because I am haunted by some ace discourse I had here when I was like... 22.

Back then, I wrote something about how asexuals can still participate in sex for reasons that are unrelated to sexual attraction, such as baby-making or a desire to bond with a partner even if they themselves have no desire or drive for sex. It got a mixed response, for a controversial subject. Mostly positive - but some VERY angry individuals also told me that either all sex that an asexual goes through is rape, or they're a fake asexual.

So - fun fact - I've been on a journey here. For a good few years, I actually agreed with the latter points; I am asexual, and stopped being able to imagine situations in which I'd be comfortable having sex. I couldn't imagine it anymore and came to the logical conclusion that I'd been confused before and the rhetoric about inherent asexual nonconsent might actually be true.

The very concept of sex has been a very frightening, horrible burden on me since it became something that was within the realm of possibilities for me. I did not want any and I was despairing because that made me feel unlovable, like I'd be trapping a potential partner in an unsatisfying situation.

Then I grew up a bit more again, and began to realise it was less the concept of sex overall that was the problem - the problem is specifically that I don't want any. Period. However, the concept of giving my partner pleasure has always been an open question for me. On one hand, I am curious. On the other, the taste and consistency and smell of human fluids and crotch... frankly makes me want to puke. But what if said crotch was well-washed, with mild odor? Not something you've kept in your pants since last Saturday. What then?

I became familiar with the concept of stone butches. I felt... awed. That's a thing you can do with a partner? Give, and not want to be touched, and have both parties be okay with that? What if getting off is not the point of it, but being close and having fun instead? And I don't have to do anything I don't want to? A wild concept.

Another couple years - I met a person who was unbothered by my difficult relationship to sex. A person who was open to exploring and experimenting but had no huge ambitions for sex as a part of our relationship, and didn't care either way if it was going to be or not.

So, at the ripe old age of 31, after getting vaccinated for HPV for my own sake and going through a pointless set of STD tests to meet my partner in the middle with trust and safety, I felt comfortable enough to do science in the field.

And you know what I found out?

First - I am so incredibly, boringly, utterly asexual. Arousal? I do not know her. In fact, I barely know her name. This is now an undeniable, inescapable fact of me that I have proved in every single way a person can. And it's fine. Do I still kind of wish I wasn't? Sure. I do feel like I'm missing something, but on the other hand, I have a thousand other things I derive my basic animal pleasures from (like head rubs, or ice cream.)

Second - sex as a giving, not receiving, party is the exact same feeling as giving someone I love (in this case, a life partner) a massage. I don't get shit from giving a massage to them, and my arms will hurt after, but it's fun and it's intimate and it's nice because my partner likes it and it makes them feel good. Sex is the same. It was not groundbreaking, it was not degrading, it was not painful (other than for my muscles, my poor fucking muscles dear GOD), and it was fun and it brought us closer. It was fun enough to keep at it for four hours one day, but I'd again rather eat rocks than do that every day. The same way I'm not just available to rub your shoulders all day long, I have other things I want to be doing, but as an occasional thing - yeah, sure. Why not.

Third, it is a REALITY that I can exchange sex for massages. I can get a massage. I can leverage this whole getting my partner off into receiving nice physical pleasures for myself that I like and actively desire. And it's particularly nice after I've destroyed both of my wrists on the altar of their enjoyment.

So like.

Yes, sex repulsed asexuals are real and there are no circumstances under which one should be forced or pressured into any sexual act, or made to debate or defend their desires, wants, wishes, and lacks thereof. This is all sexual coercion, and at worst, it is assault. If you push ANYBODY who is not interested, you are a disgrace and I hope you eat yourself in your sleep.

However, sex neutral and positive asexuals also, apparently, do exist. I was right about at least one whole thing when I was 20. Look at that.

As a final word on this update nobody expected - I'm sex neutral. Sometimes the whole subject makes me feel like throwing up, most of the time I'm whatever about it, sometimes I'm curious about it the same way you're curious about trying a new dish or touching a fabric you don't know beforehand what it'll feel like. Unfortunately my own body is permanently disinterested and I'd throw up out of discomfort and spite if anybody tried to push me into receiving "pleasure", however, as long as my partner accepts this about me, I'm free to enjoy the science of it all, and the togetherness of spending time with my partner in a manner that is... deliciously heavy on trust and good intentions. It's nice. Having my boundaries respected is like. Extra nice.

That's it. Hopefully this puts my mind at ease about the angry reblogs from a decade ago. Probably not. You will haunt me to my grave, strangers on Tumblr.

[kitkatopinions]

Fuming cause I’m so fucking annoyed that queer rwby fans are going to just eat up Bmblbee when it becomes cannon ignoring the several years it took, the harmful stereotypes that came before it, and try to put it on par with shows like SU or ToH while RT/Crwby didn’t struggle or have to drag their feet for nearly as long as they did

Yeah, not to rain on anyone's parade because I'm honestly in the camp of 'people (especially queer people) being excited about a queer ship being canon is one hundred percent valid and understandable even if the company and/or show is bad and bigoted and even if the meta surrounding the ship paints a bad picture and even if I personally dislike the ship,' but like.... It's so weird.

I don't have ANYTHING against people that like Blake and Yang as a ship, are excited when they see content surrounding it, will celebrate if they get together, or post gifs of every 'bees moment' that makes it on screen. As someone who has freaked out over characters I ship standing close to each other or looking at each other too long and is currently still hoping that Merlin might come back some day and might confirm Merlin and Arthur as a ship more than a decade after the show ended, I truly truly get it. But at the same time, some of the bees fans... Are really pissing me off. Because some of them are not just excited about the fact that their ship will likely get confirmed in a month, they're also praising RWBY and RT for being 'progressive' when they're behind the curve of queer representation with no censoring (unlike things like Adventure Time, which took about ten years to confirm Marceline and Bubblegum I think.) Not only are people like 'omg bees kiss this season maybe?' they're also sitting there yelling at other queer people for saying they're unsatisfied with RWBY's lackluster attempt. Not only are people hyping themselves up over a ship they've waited years for, but they're also completely dismissing and forgetting RT's huge and recent controversy including massive homophobia and transphobia to do so, and getting angry when other people say that the company and the show (partially created by and written by Miles Luna a former RT higher up with a history of misogyny and sexualizing and fetishizing a bi-woman) might be intending to use Blake and Yang as a ship to get in the fans good graces again and try to smooth things over.

Also, people were pre-emptively celebrating the definitely-gonna-happen confirmation that Blake and Yang were queer before the end of volume five, and before the start of volume six, and before the end of volume six, and before the start of volume seven, and before the end of volume seven, and before the start of volume eight, and before the end of volume eight, and now again before the start of volume nine. And I think it's going to happen in volume nine, I really do (though tbh the trailers and the plugging have made me a bit more hesitant because it seems like they're again being like 'look guys they've both got their eyes closed in seemingly the same plaaaaace isn't that making you think they might kissssss,') I think they'd be stupid to not confirm it, it seems like the only logical thing. But I thought the same thing about the bees reunion in volume eight and then fans freaked the heck out claiming that a cheek-caress was canon confirmation and now we're back to people sending hate anons being like "We're all gonna laugh at you bees doubters when they kiss in volume nine." It feels like Disney introducing their seventh first gay character except with less confirmation. Idk, it's a lot.

But yeah, the thing is, some bumblebee fans just have to realize that nobody (especially not queer people) has to like or be excited for their ship, nobody has to (or tbh should be) congratulating the writers for doing the bare minimum of including at least one actually confirmed queer main character after ten years of no queer main character, and after having promised queer characters since volume two, which was filled to the brim with heteronormativity, and after Arryn Zech called Blake straight as late as 2019, and after the RWBY Arrowfell writers had Yang refer to Blake as like a sister to her less than a year ago, and after a massive controversy involving massive queerphobia, and tbh tons more. We don't have to respect the company or the show for their 'slowburn' when they were trying to sell pride-month shirts with all four main characters despite the fact that at the time not a single one of them had any line of dialogue confirming they were queer, and they still don't.

Blake and Yang will likely be confirmed as queer in the next season this year, and despite the fact that many critics of the show have been actively pushing for that, we're likely going to get told 'I told you so' and have a bunch of people gloating at us and calling us (the majority of us living real queer people,) homophobes for not jumping and down with joy that this web cartoon from a bigoted company with sketchy at best content finally did the bare minimum after ten years with no censorship. And meanwhile Miles fucking Luna with his Ruby-Rose-At-Sixteen body pillow and his 'funny' story about getting turned on by watching his ex make out with another girl and his former position as head of animation in the same company that treated the voice actress of one of four queer side characters horribly for years and years... He'll probably get praised to the skies for being such a trailblazing cool progressive guy despite the fact that he and the other writers are the ones who took ten years in the fucking first place, when Yang could've been confirmed as interested in girls since episode two of this show. It's annoying, to be honest. It gets my goat.