#walt just does something to people lol

[izzythehutt]

It's in-universe canon fact that you don't ever "get over" Walter White, the best you can do is survive him

[otogariado]

i get why people would opt to say walter was a terrible person since the beginning, but i think that's like, the most boring takeaway you can get about his character. he was already insecure and prideful from the start, and it's what would hurt him and keep hurting him. but like, being insecure and prideful are regular traits any regular person can have. the actions that he makes because of these traits, which in turn keep fueling his ego more and more, are what makes him an interesting character. and he was already pretty capable of hurting other people, but he wasn't doing it out of malice, but more because of careless selfishness at first. what makes walter terrifying is that the more he does it, the more he becomes aware of what he's doing, and the more he keeps going and keeps being more and more meticulous and deliberate about what he does that hurts people and even to the point when it was specifically to hurt people.

i think the traits were there in walter from the beginning—the pilot did a pretty good job of establishing how powerless he's felt all his life and just how susceptible he is to letting this newfound perceived power get to his head so easily. he even says this explicitly in 5x06 "Buyout" when he tells jesse "i'm not in the money business, i'm in the empire business". but saying he was this monster from the start kind of implies he didn't undergo through a character arc throughout the show when it's quite literally what he did. he got worse. so much worse. through mostly the fault of his own fragility.

[tragicstarz]

My in depth psycho-analysis on Gus fring and why he is one of the most complex characters in the show even with the very little background he is given. Lol enjoy for all who read :3

Gus fring since the very beginning has been one of the most compelling characters in the show. For some people it’s his cold and calculating demeanor and for others it’s what actually goes on underneath it all. (For the record this is not me woobifying Gus- I’m just going deeper than most into his actual personality and life lolol).

Loyalty

Anyways, the first takeaway I had when I finished breaking bad was that Gus gave out his loyalty like a kid running a lemonade stand even though he claimed to not trust a lot of people. (even though it only took a short talk about family for him to be loyal to Walter and Jesse) But, this loyalty kept coming to bite him in the ass. Because of this loyalty, he deals with betrayal and incompetence harshly. He claims loyalty to the right person/s is crucial to maintain order and efficiency in his operations but it’s the very thing that leads to his downfall. His trust and respect for Jesse led to him not ‘taking care of’ Walt which in the end was the one factor that ruined his goal of defeating hector that he was THIS close to completing.

Public persona

I also feel that his involvement with the public and the community is a genuine aspect to his character. I feel like it’s more than a mask to shield his illegal activities. I’ve analyzed it through various psychological lenses and it reveals some deeper motivations and insecurities. In the drug world, Gus is like an outsider even if he IS their highest earner. He will never be one of them. This is kind of emphasized in brba/bcs with his non-Mexican origin and his orientation (through slurs and jokes) he was and never would be fully accepted or respected by his drug peers. In the Albuquerque community, when he’s not working with drugs, his philanthropic persona, I believe, is Gus trying to compensate for his lack of genuine respect and acceptance in the cartel. He’s basically playing dress up with an identity where he valued and respected, which he doesn’t receive in his criminal life (because even Jesse and Walt kinda hate him). Gus is building and creating a psychological space where he can fulfill his need for social acceptance and respect- closeting himself because he knows that something like that can ruin what he’s got. So even in his make believe world of the public entrepreneur/benefactor, he’s not actually himself. But obviously it helps him take his mind off of the disrespect he faces in the drug trade

Max Arciniega

Obviously, if you’ve studied Gus’s character and payed at least a little bit of attention to brba/bcs you can see that Gus’s relationship with Max was more than just a silly partnership. Max’s murder by Hector was a pivotal moment for Gus, sparking his need for control and vengeance but also a set back in his business and giving him a deeply personal wound. In the hyper-masculine and homophobic environment of the cartel, Gus’s sexuality could easily be seen as vulnerability. Hector does say at one point “I know what you are” and the Salamancas are quick to make jokes on the matter so if we’re going the route that they DO know about his sexuality, it only further proves why he doesn’t fit in or isn’t respected as much because the only reason he is, is because of his role in Chile as “big generalissimo” and the amount of money he brings in for Eladio. As a way to counterbalance this vulnerability and insecurity, his meticulous public persona paints Gus out as someone who is deeply respectable. Something I am sad about when it comes to Gus and his character is the way we see quite a bit of his drug and community life (not as much as the other characters) but basically none of his personal life. I believe Vince did this to maintain his villainous coldness which in the end made Gus one of the best TV villains of all time but obviously quite a bit of people would have given an arm and a burned off face to see more of Gustavo not just Gus. His compartmentalization of his true personality in both of his worlds I believe is a coping mechanism to manage the complexities of his identity, including his sexuality. Because even in the early 2000s it still wasn’t as accepted as it is today and obviously he realized if he shared this aspect, his respect would deteriorate (in his mind at least) I couldn’t speak about the other characters but I just know Walter would have had a field day if Gus was more open. Gus’s fear of scrutiny and judgment play a big role when studying his efforts to protect his true self through his need for control and precision.

Moral code/sexuality

Gus’s actions are driven by a personal moral code that includes loyalty and retribution. The murder of Max, his lover, becomes the catalyst for his meticulous, long term plan to dismantle the cartel from within. This mission of his is both a professional vendetta and a deeply personal quest for justice and respect for Max’s memory. But even me just looking at Gus, in my humble opinion, I don’t believe Gus to be one who cares about the money- I think he only cared about being greater than that cartel and the Salamancas to prove them wrong or ya know at least roll in their graves. Gus’s sexuality and the trauma associated with Max’s death I believe contributes deeply to his complex interplay of empathy and ruthlessness. The only times we ever see Gus become ruthless is when his operation/plan to avenge max is in danger. With a lot of characters, he contributes a lot of compassion and empathy. (Ex. Mike, Gale).

Public persona (Pt 2)

Gus’s efforts to gain public respect can be interpreted as attempts to seek validation and acceptance that may have been denied in other aspects of his life (private and cartel). His respectable identity in the community contrasts with the potential stigma of being open with his sexuality in the same environment. I also believe that his construction of this positive legacy through his community work is a way Gus has found to honor Max’s memory. His philanthropic activities and support for the community, I can see as an extension of his affection for Max, reflecting his desire to create something good.

WALTER WHITE

What I said before “if Gus was more open about his sexuality, Walt would have had a field day” I stand by this because to me Walter is the epitome of toxic masculinity a real sigma male if you must. I just know for a fact that if max were still around Walter wouldn’t have been able to even breath the same air as Gus. I feel like if Walter ever did find out about Gus’s sexuality he would have exploited it. Walters need for control and his need to assert dominance would have probably driven him to undermine Gus. Obviously this might have been helpful to Gus in some ways because if Walter perceived him as “weak” and let his guard down even a little Gus would’ve eradicated that bald bastard. Anyways, I was ranting sorry LMFAOOO now onto the family aspect between the two. We have to first look at Gus’s core motivations which I got into earlier with Max and all that. When Walter begins to talk about his motivations being rooted in providing for his family, he presents himself to Gus as someone who is driven by authentic and relatable goals. For Gus, this authenticity and vulnerability stands in stark contrast from the rest of the deceptive and self-serving cunts in the drug trade. Family, loyalty, and providing for a loved one are all values that resonate deeply with Gus and Walters emphasis on these values creates a common ground between them. Gus sees in Walter a reflection of himself which made him more inclined to trust and respect Walter.

Why Walter was so pivotal for Gus

Gus sees potential in Walter. By Walters talk about family, this leads Gus to believe that he can invest in Walter. He thinks he is inventing in someone who is dedicated and motivated by the desire to secure his families future. Because by doing this, Gus would also be investing in the continuity of his own operations. A partner, who is driven by family values in Gus’s eyes is likely to strive for stability and longevity, which aligns with Gus’s vision for a lasting legacy. Sadly, Walters talk about family also makes Gus believe that his actions are not driven by ego or recklessness, but by a deeper, more relatable motivation. But in reality, Walter is exactly what Gus was hoping he wasn’t. However this moment in the booth creates an emotional connection between him and Walter because Gus mirrors it as the loyalty he once had with Max. Ugh it makes me so upset.

I can’t think of anything else to put here at the moment because I still have so many thoughts to gather but I’ll definitely be adding to this in the future

Thank you for reading :)

[eros-thanatos89]

Some more random headcanons, cuz why not?

Some of them appear in my fics, others are just rattling around in my brain lol.

Lacho:

Nacho learned how to modify cars from his dad's friend Raul, who he also developed a crush on as a teenager. Which is how he realized he has a Thing for older men. (His Daddy Issues are obvious. But also, he just thinks older guys are hot, ok? leave him alone). Lalo's love of cars is a passion they share and something they genuinely bond over. It now means that Lalo is also tangled up in associations with his first older man crush. Which could mean nothing...

Nacho speaks Spanish, but pretty much only at home with his Papa or with customers at A-Z. He doesn't really know any Mexico-specific slang. And he kind of talks like an old man in Spanish, because he's used to speaking with his Papa and acting as his English translator. Tuco and Lalo of course bully him for this.

Lalo's mother is a Caucasian American who was a model and actress. She didn't really approve of her husband's cartel career, but preferred to turn a blind eye. His parents were killed at his cousin Aurelia's (sister of Marco and Leonel) funeral [[shout out to @el-michoacano for creating Aurelia! Sorry I stole her for my headcanons haha]]

Random, but: Tuco's sister's name is Soledad, nickname Sole. She met Gonzo at a lowrider convention and she also enjoys souping up and racing cars. Abuelita Salamanca's name is Serafina, but she either goes by Sera or just accepts that Nacho and everyone else in the cartel is going to call her Dona Sera. She was a fearsome Dona (sorry no tilda!) in her time, but as an older woman, she became more religious and is in denial over her beloved grand children and son Hector's criminal activities. Nacho's mom was Gloria---a waitress in Galeana who danced folklorico competitvely, which is how she met Manuel at a competiton in Zacatecas. In the US, she managed the books for A-Z, because although she only attended school through 11th grade, she has a natural proclivity for math. ((We really needed more women in the cartel/Lacho side of the story, ok?!))

GusMax

While they both grew up poor and often hungry, Max's response to hunger is to overindulge and eat as much as he can when it's available. He had a food hoarding problem, hiding food under his bed and around the house as a kid, but he outgrew it with some help from Gustavo during university; meanwhile, Gustavo's response to hunger was to conserve food and ration to make it last as long as possible

Gustavo doesn't really enjoy cooking, but he is technically skilled at it and he does it to impress or intimidate people (like when he had Walt over for dinner) or to honor the memory of Max or his family members in Chile. He really only enjoys making specific dishes like his mother's Paila Marina or Max's favorites like pollo arvejado stew.

Max was originally planning to go into pharmaceuticals after studying chemistry, but he and Gustavo figured that making a fortune with meth first would be faster and he could always go legitimate afterwards

Ok that's enough for now :3

[wishcamper]

Heavy Lies the Crown: Rhysand, greatness, and the pressures of power

Or: the librarian’s daughter, former playwright, licensed counselor mashup of my nightmares dreams because I am vast, I contain multitudes.

No content warnings and no real HOFAS spoilers, I don't think, other than that he's in it but I feel like you know that by now. Spoilers for Breaking Bad (lol).

---

In working on my current fic (on ao3 here!) I've been thinking a lot about Rhysand and how he really goes off the rails in ACOSF and HOFAS. It's easy to chalk it up to poor writing, but I like the challenge of trying to make it make sense. What are Rhys’ motivations, truly? What would explain the vast array of heinous shit he does the text tells us is justified?

Rhys is shown over and over to be quite Machiavellian ('ends justify the means' dude, who was maybe writing satire). It's easy to list the times he shows this. The 50 year Velaris hostage situation. The bargain UTM with Feyre. The Weaver's cottage. Stealing the Book from Tarquin. CLARE BEDDOR. Infiltrating people's minds. Torture. Assassination. Allying with Kier. Concealing his wife's medical information. Being an ass to people in general. According to Mr. Machiavelli, any action is warranted if it the goal it achieves is morally important enough.

It seems like Rhys can justify anything to himself if he believes it will serve the greatest good at the end of the day. He does so many things with the air of “it’s for your own good” or “you’ll understand why one day” but that day never.. comes? Not yet anyway, which begs the question: is he that unself-aware, or is there a longer game he’s playing that all of these minor skirmishes are leading up to? What if he knows what's coming? And what kind of cause or threat would feel so great he could justify everything he does up to this point?

Okay I'm gonna talk about Aristotelean literary structure, please don't leave me.

The idea of a tragic hero is a character whose downfall is inevitable but who fights against it anyway. Hamlet is a classic example of a tragic hero, Oedipus being the de facto first, Walter White from Breaking Bad a more modern version. We see Walt learn he’s going to die in the first episode, in the middle he does a bunch of stuff to prevent his physical death (cancer) and metaphorical death (failure/obscurity), and then both his body and reputation die in the last episode as a direct result of his attempts to avoid fate. It’s blissful Aristotelean symmetry. *chef’s kiss*

Every tragic hero has hamartia, more commonly known as a ‘fatal flaw’. In Hamlet, his fatal flaw is procrastination, and his delays create space for all kinds of the fuck shit he was trying to prevent. It’s important to note that hamartia is by design a neutral term - not so much a flaw, but a trait, motivation, or decision that sets off the chain of events the character is trying to avoid. Tragedies have occurred equally from too much love as too much hate, and doing nothing is just as much a decision as doing something. The word itself comes from the Greek for ‘to miss the mark’. To try and fail, the backbone of tragedy.

One of the most common hamartia is hubris, a modern synonym for arrogance but which more specifically means an outsized belief in one’s ability to affect and control the future. Well-known tragic heroes taken down by hubris include our boy Walter White, Tony Soprano, Viktor Frankenstein, Achilles, Jay Gatsby, Kendall from Succession. It exists in real life, too: Lance Armstrong is a perfect example of a modern tragic hero brought down by hubris. And what do all these men have in common? Power, via money, fame, strength, the state, intellect, violence etc.

I’ve been enjoying looking at Rhysand through this tragic hero lens because while it doesn’t really make him more sympathetic, it does make his actions easier to understand logically, which is its own kind of humanization. If Rhysand is aware of a prophesied or fated event sometime in the future and is pulling the cosmic strings now, it must be incredibly important, like annihilation-level important, which is so much pressure. 

So he grows to maturity with an understanding that he will one day have to face this intense evil that could completely destroy his world, and it plants in him a hubris. He believes that his immense power grants him a certain amount of influence automatically. And honestly, is he wrong?

And this is where it’s important to think about how power makes people weird. Power gives people a false sense of confidence in their actions and choices, because their status and privilege protect them from so many more consequences. In this way it’s easy to see how someone can get a big ego - no one is stopping me, so I must be doing well! Or: everything is going well for me, so I must be really killing it! I know I feel that way in the first tingles of hypomania, but hypomania is fundamentally a distortion of reality and I believe so is power.

Power not only gives people confidence but also access to make decisions for others. They begin to think they should share the success they’ve found by leading and guiding others to see how great it can be if you do what they say. Just look at one of those cringe 'billionaire morning routine' videos to see what I mean. It’s a very patronizing form of altruism, because the leader genuinely believes they have the people’s interest at heart. And I use the word patronizing intentionally - leaders have often referenced feeling paternal towards their people, Winston Churchill + FDR, 'God the Father'. Power and fatherhood have been linked for a long time. And direct from our girl Wikipedia, "paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good".

I was talking with a girlfriend of mine recently about how I think some men don’t have the experience of other people depending on them in a significant way until they get married and/or become fathers. Like, afab and femme people learn very early to be considerate of others, to think about how others feel, to act in ways that keep others happy, etc. This plants in us a sense of duty to perform in ways that please others, to smile, to create comfort and provide caretaking in every environment we enter. So by the time we get to marriage and motherhood, we already know how to put others’ needs before our own because we’ve been doing it from the jump.

For men, however, this can be a completely novel experience. And it seems like it's SO HEAVY FOR THEM. George ‘Father of his Country’ Washington just wanted to go back to Virginia the whole time he was President. So many men talk about the pressures of being a provider and their families depending on them in a way women don’t, and I think it’s because for the first time others truly depend on them and they don’t know how to handle it.

In response, they either shove down their emotions as patriarchy demands and have a midlife crisis, or they abdicate that responsibility and go completely absent physically and/or emotionally to continue living for themselves. (Obviously there are good men and dads out there, and bless you if you’re lucky enough to know, have, or be one.)

And this aspect of power feels relevant because from the text it seems like Rhysand is unraveling. Between Feyre, the baby, the Trove, Nesta and being threatened by her power, Koschei, Bryce, the whole High King shit - I think he’s starting to crack under the pressure. And honestly, I’m kind of surprised it didn’t happen before now.

According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must:

Be significant (virtuous/capable/powerful/important etc.)

Be flawed

Suffer a reversal of fortune.

Rhysie boy definitely ticks the first two. I wonder what it would look like to get to three? I don’t think Sarah has the balls, but it’s definitely enhanced my reading experience and given me a lot of interesting things to think about.

Okay that's all I've got. Love ya, see ya soon xx

[clippy]

How did you become so interested in iasw? I’m genuinely curious and I would love to learn more about it! Also, what’s so special about… 𝐓 𝐇 𝐄 𝐂 𝐋 𝐎 𝐂 𝐊 .

Would you believe me if I said it was literally an accident LOL...

Like okay. I grew up going to WDW and Disneyland (as well as other theme parks but those were the main two; my dad grew up going to WDW so the obsession has spanned generations I guess lmao) small world was always a must-do, but my main theme park interests as a kid lied within everything Epcot-related (and it still does)

Anyway, my last trip to WDW prior to getting the Disney parks as a special interest was in 2014. I went with my high school band and it was kind of a whole thing (high school drama shit + spring break week + having to do performances in band) so we didn't get the most park time possible. We wound up skipping small world which makes me Wonder if this interest would have been kick started sooner if we didn't skip it. But anyway. Fast forward to 2018. I am visiting my friend (and now roommate) who is watching a bunch of animatronic and theme park videos and I, a clueless man, decided to watch with her and it literally awoke a sleeper cell in my brain or something because I've been *nonstop* obsessed ever since 🧍

Like literally during that session of watching videos I designed my objecthead version of Clockboy. My life has not known peace ever sense, and tbh has drastically been altered (I'll get into that later)

But yeah the Autism(TM) made me have an insatiable hunger for knowledge about everything small world-related... I still don't know EVERYTHING about it, as there are lots of variations and history, etc. involving the installments of the attraction outside of Disneyland, but my main focus is the original world's fair & Disneyland version of the attraction (since they're the same thing... Mostly) as well as IASW facades in general...

There are tons of people who have equally as niche interests within the attraction's history which I think is SO cool. Like the fact that this nearly 60 year old ride has enough meat on its bones to have whole sub-groups of what people like about it is endearing

The history about it is what has drawn me into it (aside from the funny clock) because it almost didn't happen! There was a near missed connection between a Pepsi exec and Walt Disney himself that, had that not happened, we wouldn't have gotten the ride at all. I don't want to relay the entire history here (the Imagineering Story & Behind the Attraction episodes about the world's fair attractions get into it, as well as a plethora of YouTube videos documenting the ride), but that story about the beginnings of it is so dear to me, and I can't explain why.

But anyway, since my primary focus is the original attraction and facades, I've done some reading about imagineers Mary Blair and Rolly Crump, who have become two of my favorite visual artists and large inspirations for me. Crump has a few books and interviews out that have been interesting to read, but admittedly I've had a hard time finding firsthand accounts from Blair herself. I'm sure some art out there but finding them has been tricky since I don't get a lot of time to do research in general (the stuff by Crump was all found on accident, and he also had the benefit of being alive until 2023 so getting firsthand accounts from him was easier)

Otherwise I am just... Constantly googling stuff and looking for old pictures and merchandise related to IASW. It gets me a lot of answers, surprisingly. I go to Disneyland at least once a month to go ride it and visit my boy.

Still not entirely sure WHY my brain fixated on IASW and the clock specifically, but that's just the hand I was dealt I guess 🤷 don't get me wrong, I still love Epcot stuff and have other silly theme park guys I love (RX-24.... 🥺) but the small world clock has such a stronghold on my brain and I genuinely don't think he's leaving any time soon LOL

It's so funny to me because 6 years ago, I would never have guessed this would have been my next special interest. I was working at a job I liked decently enough. I was still dropped out of school and had no urge to go back, and I was considering moving to Seattle... But now I work in a theme park doing a job I never saw myself having (which is fine, I like my job!), I'm back in school (pursuing a degree I hope I can spin into a career in theme park design 🤞), and I live in California now. Wild how that happens.

The small world clock may not be special to most people (I mean, a lot of people DO like him, I see tons of people taking photos in front of small world with him as the backdrop!) but he is extremely special to me. I treasure him so so so much, and do genuinely think my life has been better with him in it... It's silly that a funny clock face has done So Much to my brain and life but :'-) I love him so it's okay!

Anyway sorry that this is long and sappy LOL, you happened to ask this close to the 6 year anniversary of me getting into small world (it's on March 31 to be exact 😊) so it made me reflect a bit lol

TL;DR sources for more IASW info:

The Imagineering Story Episode 1: The Happiest Place on Earth (1964-1965 New York World's Fair stuff is about 35 min in) -- on Disney+

Behind the Attraction Episode 8: "it's a small world" -- on Disney+

"it's kind of a cute story" by Rolly Crump (interviews; written down by Jeff Heimbuch)

Defunctland's 1964-1965 NYWF video talks about it a decent amount if I remember right

any pictorial souvenir guides about the attraction (currently, and slowly, working on scanning mine in, and will share them once I do, but they're up on eBay a lot if you collect that sort of thing)

Sorry I don't have 🏴‍☠️ links for the D+ stuff or the book but I currently don't have the spoons to search for them

[unhinged-summer-fun]

IM BACK AND I READ IT. These wo idiots hitting on each others like: PLEASE JUST FUCK ALREADY. No seriously like it’s so obvious from both sides y’all take one for the team one of you. Stretching while make full eye contact isn’t subtle 🤭. Don’t even get me started on the boxing bit like imagine if someone was coming up the stairs like what would they think is happening. All you hear is grunts (cuz she’s boxing) and Q yelling “C’mon. That’s it. Good girl.” and “Fuck yes. Don’t stop, show me.” THE KISS (to her knuckles ok ok). Osha’s do-something-stupid impulse is the best impulse she should indulge in it more often. Another kiss to the handdddd. Does he know you can kiss people other places? She’s gonna call him Qimir now ❤️‍🩹 also the manic energy of the spar was extremely well done, it really felt like you were in it. Ok it got serious again. Indara ratting on Sol feels so good. He can’t be trusted ever. Also I think it’s interesting that Vernestra was Qimir’s parent and exploited him to the point of injury and abandoned him because Sol did basically the same thing. Indara knows how similar Osha and Qimir are. Osha grew up in this place and was similarly exploited, injured, and tossed aside because she wasn’t useful anymore. Them teaming up is V’s worst nightmare and also thinking thoughts about canon Sol’s ending and this AU. Random but is this set in nyc? I’m thinking about the mayoral investigation going on rn. Ok ok now she has to go see him fight and try not to spill the beans. Why am I scared? Something feels ominous 😭

THANK YOU FOR THE EARLY POST. I was actually so happy to see it, it gave me sm motivation to finish up with work. I LOVE YOU TOO ❤️ thank you for writing I hope your jeans fits you perfectly and your pillow is cold on both sides 🫡

(this is from ch13 common grounds and now that 14/15 are up i am finally answering ty for ur patience ily aaaaa)

the two of them are seriously the hugest idiots everrrr like on his side, the only thing keeping him back is his sense of self-loathing, that he'll "dirty" her by making that first step toward her - bc until now he's been leading her to him and letting her choose to make those steps. on HER end, she's got a hundred thousand different reasons not to do this being screamed at her from anyone she talks to, so Osha is too inundated with things like Logic to make any horny decisions!! a tragedy.

i love your train of thought commentary it makes me so happy, it's my favorite kind of comment, like i'm going on an adventure with ur consciousness <3 your theories are also making me want to mobilize the sniper unit omfg like i love teasing yall with pieces of the truth and seeing everyone put the pieces together i'm LIVING FOR IT

as for ur question about the setting, i kind of get into the geographical setting some more in later chapters, but no this isn't an "on-earth" au. it's not necessarily in the GFFA, either. i am imagining it's the kind of story that could happen in "any" city so that's why i haven't given it a name. however, the "FDO" stands for the Federal District Orphanage, the Federal District being a district on the city-planet (ecumenopolis) of Coruscant (and where the Jedi Temple is!). outright calling the city "coruscant" is kind of a turn-off to me, though, so i'm just calling it "the city" and using generic names for streets, etc.

that said, starbucks and looney tunes and emoji and the black keys and walt whitman and brazilian jiu-jitsu and two-shot americanos and the concept of OSHA and calling one's calcaneal tendon "achilles" and teddy swims and .HEIC image files are also in this fic so it's not not an earth fic. LOL

thank u for my jeans blessings i am very very appreciative 😔🙏✨

and thank you for your ask and your lovely comment on 13!!

[nicomrade]

i didnt read nearly as much this year (2023) compared to last, i mostly re-read my faves that ill maybe post about one day and i read non-fiction from libraries. I am a Communist by Park Kun-Woong and Ichi-F by Kazuto Tatsuta are the two that id say stood out the most in that regard, but i kinda wanna keep these retrospective posts to fiction only so lets go for my actual 6 picks naow

Poison City - Tetsuya Tsutsui (2014-2015) opening with my favorite author, poison city is about art censorship- specifically of mangas in japanese libraries- how it happens, why, by and for whom, who it affects, how it shapes the publishing industry and so on. it was written after tsutsui found out his own work (manhole) had been banned in a prefecture, without him ever being notified. its only 2 volumes but the most nuanced discussion of the topic ive seen. like all tsutsui work it is in my brain forever like a worm and if i see it IRL i get an urge to reread it right there right now. which happens often cuz french libraries (justifiably!) love it

Gekiga-Yose: Fallen Words - Tatsumi Yoshihiro (2009) i got into a little gekiga rabbithole sometime last spring that segued really nicely into a rakugo moment for me. Fallen Words is neatly at the junction of the two and maybe the best way to experience rakugo stories if you cant watch performances? its not rakugo but it tries really hard to make the original jokes work in a new medium. fascinating project that i really enjoyed and laughed outloud at while reading. it also helps other rakugo-based fiction have more context and depth for a non-rakugo liker audience

Blood on the Tracks / Chi no Wadachi - Oshimi Shuzo (2017-2023) "this is not a work that wants to teach you how to heal, how to cope, or give you catharsis, or tragedy." chi no wadachi is about parental abuse and keeps to following the protagonist for as long as his mom has influence over his life, in all of the ways that she does, and nothing more. its heavy, its hard, and its something you need to meet halfway. not the oshimi shuzo work id necessarily start with but its the one i read fully this year and also the one i got into comment fights on mangadex about lol

Billy Bat - Naoki Urasawa & Nagasaki Takashi (2008-2016) billy bat is about art and its about making art and its about what if there was a bat on the moon that gave you catharsis. its got historical fiction its got protagonist changes its got walt disney its got an insane amount of historical research put in. its got two bats. its art as an universal language, as something its artist owns but that also belongs to everyone who's ever connected with it, art as the root of humanity, as the lense through which people view and shape the world. and its about a japanese-american artist named kevin.

Bokurano: Ours - Kitoh Mohiro (2003-2009) bokurano is about kids who are roped into a mecha war for earth's survival. it questions whether you can live without harming others, the nature of remorse, childhood trauma, and so on. its dubiously a death game- i count it as one but its also explicitely interested in this very question- "is this a game?". is bullying a game? Is csa a game? Is parental abuse a game? Neglect? Sibling violence? War? Is that what a game is? anything that children do?

Undercurrent - Toyoda Tetsuya (2004-2005) its easy to say reading undercurrent feels like youre drowning because the water motif is already omnipresent but this really is a piece where the story and the artistic motif are just in symbiose. undercurrent explores one woman's life managing her bathhouse almost on her own at the same time as she's dealing with more personal issues, and my first instinct upon seeing the cover is always to hold my breath. cannot say anymore just read it

+ bonus mention to Gantz - Hiroya Oku (2000 - 2013) for ruining my whole life. i didnt start it in 2023 but i was overcome by some sort of fever in january that made me finish this fucking manga and it hasn't left me since. don't read gantz. you can watch the live action movies they cut out 95% of the manga and make it actually good also akagi's actor (kanata hongo) plays my fave character in them. but whatever you do, don't read gantz.

[scoobydoo-andnancytoo]

Reading Secrets Can Kill but I Share My Every Thought Chapters 1-4

- holy diet culture - hunk hogan is the worst thing ive ever heard - generally hate hearing the word hunk this often - i get that they don't show nancy in the games but the video of her w bess and george preemptively threatening her would've been such a cool and creepy touch - huge focus on cars for no reason - nancy and daryl flirt with each other by revving their engines - daryl gray is described as gorgeous, beautiful, the likes and then they made him look Like That in the game. lol

- him being her contact and the principal describing him as "a good kid, totally trustworthy" just makes it obvious it's going to be him - right before she's like awooga daryl bess or george, i forgot which, says something about how she's not going to be looking at boys because of Ned and yet - the face i made when daryl referred to his porsche as "my favorite toy" 🥴 - made the same face when nancy felt a "delicious tingling sensation" when daryl touched her 🥴 - seriously how is daryl meant to be this attractive and cool in the book but he looked Like That in the game. how did that even happen - hulk sanchez = WALT hogan and people call him "hunk hogan." you cannot be serious. no Walt has ever been hot - i guess hot hectors are p nonexistent too but i still think walt is worse - Jake Webb -> Jake Rogers? i get why they'd change walt to smth more modernish but would be curious to know why they make little changes like that for some characters and not others - Jake threatens nancy bc she overheard him and Walt arguing but also runs a finger up her arm to her neck and then her lips and im just. confused. like imagining that and nancy just standing there is so. weird - i soooo wish nancy got to meet Jake in the game like it would've been so exciting to meet him and then find his body and shit and have a simple case escalate so much like u guys remastered it and u couldn't add that in there ??? - OK then nancy was tempted to bite Jake's finger sksksk imagine if in the game this scene somehow happens or he just sticks his finger in her face and u get to choose between biting him and just pushing his hand away God that would be so funny. - THEN nancy gets tempted to push him down the stairs!!!!! now i want an alternate universe nancy drew game where nancy fr kills someone and then uses all her knowledge of sleuthing and how she's caught people in the past to cover it up. would never happen but would be so entertaining - instead nancy leaves and says "why don't you just crawl back under your rock?" and i think it's meant to be some sick burn - daryl shows up and Jake goes "well, well it's king cool" the dialogue in this is so so interesting - God this book is so weird - refers to Jake as a "candidate for the psycho ward' which is. eh. - daryl asks nancy to the dance and man she's gonna be so devastated when she know what's up w him!!  - she says she's "too curious to turn down" his "intriguing invitation" girl just say yes - nancy keeps fantasizing about daryls arms around her, who knew revving your engines at each other was prime flirting - Connie has an "art deco bracelet that looks like an antique" that was a gift that she's weird about so I wonder if Jake is forcing her to date him in this one too, i hope she’s a super cool judo champ in the book too - nancy is very angry in the book compared to the game which is interesting - nancy does a flip in gym and fumbles and is heading for the floor and then,...gasp...the chapter ends

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Well, this SHOULD prove to Disney that there is just no pleasing these people. It's a forever losing battle, so they should just quit it.

Incoming fascist-in-chief is completely unaware of not only Ike Perlmutter's former role within The Walt Disney Company as the former CEO/Chairman of Marvel Entertainment, and likely doesn't care, but just anything in general about how the company is currently operating... Neither does the rest of his cult.

Disney has spent many of the past 8 or so years trying to appease MAGA, whether it's their current bullshit (dequeering INSIDE OUT 2 and WIN OR LOSE, neutering HOPPERS), or their initial donating to Florida's horrid Don't Say Gay tyranny, or all the other suck-up things they've done. MAGA doesn't notice, MAGA doesn't care. They only start paying attention when a nonbinary character appears for a split second in the far background of a cartoon. All of a sudden they're wide awake! Woke, I mean!

So, Disney... Iger... The board... Quit it. This is who you're trying to appease, and it's clearly not working lol.

Also, a little bit about Mr. Perlmutter. While he was still top dog at Marvel, he didn't allow much creative freedom at Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige initially had to answer to him and a sort-of think tank of other executives, and as a result made many of the movies into these nightmare productions, such as AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. And others, where the directors walked away - see THOR: THE DARK WORLD and ANT-MAN. Feige eventually had the studio answer exclusively to Disney heads a little after CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR was completed.

Perlmutter held up the development/production of BLACK PANTHER, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and BLACK WIDOW, as he was *sure* that audiences wouldn't go see black and women-led superhero movies... How wrong he was, right? Not like BLACK PANTHER and CAPTAIN MARVEL weren't successful movies or anything, right? Right?

Lemme check and see, oh-

And not like BLACK PANTHER also spawned a hit sequel and there's a third movie on the way.

Sure, some weirdo will bring up BLACK WIDOW (released a little after COVID vaccines started slowly getting out, as a theaters/Disney+ PVOD same-day release) and THE MARVELS, but that's besides the point. People *flocked* to BLACK PANTHER, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and WAKANDA FOREVER. BLACK PANTHER 3 will probably make a boatload of money, too. All three of those movies are pretty political to some degree, too. All movies that, despite being PG-13 action-fests, had a lot of kid audiences too.

After Marvel Studios stopped answering to Perlmutter, it's not like anything changed. From 2017-2019, it was a streak of uninterrupted massive hit movies... Including BLACK PANTHER and CAPTAIN MARVEL. The highest-grossing THOR movie of all, THOR: RAGNAROK, was released during this period and was about how Asgard had a long sordid colonialist history. Like, c'mon. Things have only been wobbly post-ENDGAME and post-COVID outbreak, but that has less to do with who is headlining these movies and their messages, and it has more to do with other things. Any halfway-smart person could tell ya that!

Anyways, moral of the story: These freaks are not gonna notice when you bow to them, when you remove trans characters from cartoons, when you dial back environmental messages, when you sideline different groups of people... They'll only notice when you do something benign that offends them.

Funny how they say that about anyone on the left, eh? These weirdos are the ones who sound like they're the "easily offended" ones, even when they get everything that they want! Because it'll never be enough.

So Disney... Ignore them, will ya? Make THAT your New Year's resolution. Happy New Year everybody.

[dorothydalmati1]

Obscure Animation Subject #124: The 7D

A re-imagining (not spin-off) of the title characters from the 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and their adventures prior to the introduction of Snow White, the series is about the titular characters that’s help to protect Jollywood from the evil Gloom couple (and other minor threats) whenever Queen Delightful sounds the alarm.

This show isn’t good, which is surprising. There are a lot of big names such as Maurice Lamarche, Dee Bradley Baker, Billy West, a ton of animaniac writers like Tom Ruegger, Mr. Warburton, and much much more talented people. So it’s a mystery why this show ended up the way it did. The humor just falls completely flat, the line delivery has the most stale execution imaginable. It’s rare when the show has a joke that is actually well thought out and funny. It's also one of those shows that does the "three strike formula", you know, one, two, three, YOUR OUT! Another form of comedy is the “lol random” humor that will just pop up occasionally, and while I don’t mind this type of comedy myself, this feels out of place here. The randomness does not mesh well for this kind of series.

The show isn’t terrible though, there are good qualities that do save it. Grim and Hildy Gloom can be fun enough antagonists even if some of their humor has the same issues listed above. In fact most of the characters would probably be fine if the show didn’t have such poor writing. There are a few jokes that can make me laugh such as someone taking something too literal (a simple joke nonetheless but still a good chuckle) but yeah most of the time the show is just dry. That being said, season 1 isn’t bad in terms of quality, since some of the humor does save it. Season 2 on the other hand is actually pretty bad. For some reason they changed the animation and made it way too bright. The episodes themselves are more unfunny than the ones in Season 1, and it feels more childish. This may explain why the show was moved down to Disney Junior in some countries, though in the US it was on Disney XD throughout its whole run.

It’s mostly harmless and may have its moments every once in a while but it’s not worth your time. Maybe watch some season 1 episodes if curious, but don’t watch season 2 because it made it jump the shark.

[toonbly]

20 or 21 for the ask game :3

20.) your ocverse just got a movie trilogy a la hunger games style. how have they horribly mangled your message/theme so that the movies are now a showcase of what the original was condemning?

OH GOD THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. ferrymen has a pretty basic theme-- that being identity, namely "you are the only one who can decide what makes you you." i genuinely struggle to think of how anyone could warp that into "letting others define you is good, actually" without completely obliterating every aspect of the plot and characters.

i do think a Lot of tip the ferrymen would get sanitized in the hands of hollywood though. it's not a gruesome story by any means but it doesn't shy away from things like nathan's suicidal ideation and ptsd, the abelism autistic people face and how that warps our senses of identity, abuse inflicted by those in power, etc. especially since one party at the receiving end of this criticism are basically me making fun of the walt disney company lol. don't think that would fly in hollywood beyond a tongue and cheek "isn't capitalism bad, fellow kids?" joke that execs put in to get a million posts of the clip on twitter or whatever.

21.) you have been given unlimited funds to make your story idea a reality. what are you sparing no expenses for?

if i had time, energy, and resources i would go full on homestuck with ferrymen. animations, playable games, music, the whole nine yards. i'd LOVE to push the bounds of what defines a "webcomic" in the way that homestuck does, creating a story that could only exist within the context of the web.

i think i'd also LOVE to have an audiobook version of ferrymen produced, it's a great accessibility tool and having voices given to these characters would be incredible. ive considered doing a low budget version of this myself-- essentially novelizing the comic and doing a narration of events in a youtube video or something-- but i think i'll wait to do that until after i have the recoloring of the first ~114 or so pages done

ocverse ask game!

[becomingpart2]

I haven’t watched killing eve so I can’t comment on villanelle but I get the sense that she’s humanized less than a character like Walt/don/tony. also doesn’t she share the role of protagonist with eve? i also get the impression that eve is more of a protagonist than villanelle is, but I could be wrong. and I’ve only seen a bit of barry, but I’ve been spoiled about much of what happens over the course of the show and the writers definitely want us to like and sympathize with him even though he’s still framed as problematic and a bad person. like villain protagonists are still protagonists and we’re still meant to like them on some level even if they’re framed as villains. so yeah the writer acting shocked that people like Barry is annoying. the only other example I can think of is shiv from succession but I don’t count her because even though she’s one of the main characters Kendall is the central protagonist not her, also while she’s a terrible person she’s pretty much on the same level of terrible as her siblings, and she’s a better person than her father, which is different than the way male villain protagonists are the worst of the main characters and harm those in their inner circle. like the story of succession isn’t shiv’s, it’s Kendall’s and arguably logan’s (and Logan is shiv’s abuser so…).

Yes, exactly. I haven't seen succession but I know of shiv and yeah in the last decade or so, there have been a lot of "morally dubious" female characters taking up important roles in tv shows. There are prestige dramas centered around complex women like big little lies and sharp objects, too, but it's not the same thing because they usually aren't as toxic and destructive to those around them as those male protagonists are (well, except in sharp objects but neither of those two characters are the protagonists, it's camille).

Better call saul promised me that with Kim but didn't exactly deliver it lol (not saying they should, though, I guess I'm happy Kim is her own character and not "female Walter White" or whatever and there's also something to be said about that kind of destructiveness being very particular to the straight male experience but anyways)...

I guess villanelle was the one character I could think of for a few reasons: she's very clearly a "bad person" and someone who intentionally destroys others lives; she is a fan favourite and people love her despite being a "bad person"; despite being a co-protagonist, the story does sort of revolve around her and in the later seasons, they do start to humanize her more and more from what I've seen (I've only seen s1), her feelings take center stage and who she is seem to swallow eve's presence in the show... But yeah, it's not a perfect analogy, it was just the closest one I could think of lol

But yeah despite everything that I said, I really think we should have our own terrible female protagonists who just fuck everything up by now lol

[corgoship]

Such a cool post that hits on something I haven't been able to put into words.

With Walt, it's clear why he keeps doing what he's doing... He gets a taste of power and being respected and he gets addicted to it. It's very simple, but what makes it interesting is that he will bend over backwards to deny this up until the finale. It's reprehensible, sure, but all the posts on tumblr about how he could just "not do all of that" aren't seriously engaging with the show's material. Which is fine for jokes but not great for analyzing his character - something people do a LOT more of for Jimmy.

So then we have Jimmy, and it's... harder to see why he keeps conning. It doesn't feel like self-punishment to me - he does it for fun and profit. As illustrated by the slipping Jimmy story in the very first episode, and his escapades with Marco. And he keeps doing this even after Chuck's death, just... because he can? Maybe Chuck has convinced him he cannot change, and he feels obligated to keep to his conning ways, it's easier to make money that way after all. But we're also shown how determined Jimmy can be to get the things he wants. Like with the Sandpiper case. Or his various scams - he puts so much time and effort into these things that they could be used in better ways lol.

So... is there no virtuous excuse for his behaviour that he believes in?

Maybe? If I could define it, I'd say he takes these shortcuts because it makes his life & the life of others he cares about easier for him. Like the Mesa Verde thing, which is a two fold thing anyway - one so that Kim gets the job she's been dreaming of, and two so that he can effectively fuck over Chuck and Howard. So does Jimmy feel that as long as he gets away with it, as long as he doesn't face consequences, everything will be alright? That he can lie and cheat to make people like him? Kim seems to reinforce that idea, when she just... gives him a slap on the wrist and says not to do it again?

And that's the problem I have with Jimmy and the way the fandom perceives him, I think. Instead of analyzing how morally corrupt his choices actually are (which is never a problem with Walt because the atrocity of HIS actions is like, the most talked about aspect of him), they just feel sorry for him. And that's fine, I feel sorry for him too, at times, but no one seems to talk about how... he does rightfully deserve some of the punishments he's given in the show. He definitely should not be a lawyer - and this is not me trying to emulate Chuck, but common sense! - he disregards the rules, breaks the law, and hurts people all for his own goals. Sure, sometimes he uses his skills for good, but you can't deny that a person like that has no place being an attorney. But the fandom never really talks about this, because they're too wrapped up in pitying him and saying how wronged he's been by his brother and society.

That's what I'm thinking, anyway. I like Jimmy as a character but this has always irked me in the fandom. They afford him slack they don't give characters they dislike - which does make sense, from an emotional perspective - but it still bums me out a little, lol.

Saul Wrong?

I have many controversial BrBa/BCS opinions, but the one that I always come back to is that Saul Goodman worked way better as a comic relief supporting character than as a protagonist of his own show.

I actually found him more likeable when he was an unapologetic sleazebag, it was when they tried to make me feel sorry for him in his own show that I lost sympathy. His pathological criminality brings out my inner Howard/Chuck, I guess. It's like....dude...why are you like this? And I don't necessarily feel like the show does a very good job of explaining it. At a young age he sees his father getting taken advantage of by conmen, and apparently accepts the (deeply morally cynical) attitude that the world is separated into hustlers (wolves) and marks (sheep.) His parents seem to have been totally normal people for whom he felt affection but no respect, because he can't stand rubes, and that's what they were. His brother Chuck is not a rube and is the family member whose affection and respect Jimmy seems to covet the most, though it's not clear whether he has any awareness that the very quality that makes his brother's esteem worth having (his commitment to an objective standard of morality—the fact that he can see through Jimmy's bullshit) is the one thing that prevents them from understanding one another.

Somehow the fact that Walt lived a (basically) normal life until his cancer diagnosis, and everything he does is predicated on his awareness of his own mortality, makes the character's moral fall from grace...more understandable to me? He obviously has a bunch of bottled up petty resentments and a sense of having wasted his potential, but I find his pathology way more coherent than Jimmy/Saul's. I think this is really because he was always the main character of a show, and Saul got a gigantic retconned deep backstory for the spin-off which, while enjoyable, was very obviously not the point of that character when he was created. BCS had to answer the question, "why would someone become like this?" but I wonder if there really is a particularly satisfying way to explain why a comic relief criminal lawyer would choose to work with a person like Walt.

I think BrBa did a better job of showing how Walt self-justifies his awful behavior (compartmentalization, projection, guilt) but Jimmy/Saul seems to have something missing (a sympathy chip? He's capable of feeling compassion for people he relates to, but no sense of seeing value in any abstract principle.) Why are you so obsessed with breaking the rules, dude? His brother is basically correct in their final conversation when he assesses Jimmy as behaving like a child who refuses to acknowledge the consequences of his actions beyond how they hurt him. Every moral consideration is made in terms of his subjective feelings. Him feeling entitled to a high-profile job at his brother's law firm when his brother had to bail him out of serious legal problems is really kind of insane.

Maybe the real problem for me is that Walt is obsessed with gaining respect and Jimmy is obsessed with being liked, and at the end of the day as a motivation for villainy in a man, I.....kind of find the latter more pathetic than the former.

[feroluce]

Ingo attending some festival or celebration at the main pearl clan settlement in the icelands. It's more a thing for younger people but he's curious about their customs and goes anyway. Some of it involves people dancing and he starts to look really deep in thought, so Irida asks what he's doing. Ingo says he thinks there was something similar where he came from, but it's kinda fuzzy, especially since it was a two-person thing and he can't really reenact it himself. Irida doesn't want him to miss the opportunity of a memory, they come so rarely, so she asks him to dance with her and show her.

Ingo has Irida stand in front of him, and then pauses while he tries to remember. Finally he awkwardly directs her to put her hands on his shoulders and settles his own on her waist (Ingo starts to blush like a maiden at this point because he'd forgotten how close you're supposed to be for this- Irida gives zero shits lol). Ingo tries to take a few steps and Irida tries to follow his lead, but it's hesitant and awkward and Irida starts to get miffed after the third time Ingo accidentally steps on her foot.

Ingo finally just huffs and gets over his embarrassment, lifts Irida up and sets her standing on the tops of his own shoes so he can do the steps himself without having to try and direct her. Less distraction means the memory comes a little easier, and he starts to finally move less hesitantly and awkwardly. Irida had been looking at their joined hands, and she looks back up at Ingo to say something about how his people have odd ideas about dancing, but when she sees him she nearly bites her tongue off in an effort to stop herself. Because Ingo has his eyes closed, looking content for once, he's even humming some strange tune to himself, and she can tell he's not really present right now. He's here physically, but his heart is obviously elsewhere, and Irida would rather take a tumble down the cliffs than interrupt it. So she just kinda lays her head on Ingo's shoulder, listens to his humming through his chest, and lets Ingo whirl her around for a while longer.

Eventually Ingo kinda comes out of it and loudly apologizes before setting Irida down back on her own two feet again. Irida tells him it's unlike any dance she's seen in Hisui before, it almost just feels like walking at some parts? And Ingo gets all thoughtful again, mumbling to himself, "Walking...walk...? Wal...t. Walt. Waltz. Waltz!" and makes his frown that means he's proud of himself. Irida asks what else he remembers, since he seemed so into it. Ingo cocks his head at her. He doesn't get what she means. Irida cocks her head right back. Does he not realize he was spacing out the whole time???

And somewhere, somewhen, miles and centuries away, Emmet dances in circles around his living room, long black coat clutched against his front, humming his and Ingo's wedding song.

[mpregeminem]

i know i joke about being a walt girl and all but really it's always so baffling when people here watch breaking bad and their main takeaway is "oh, so walt was always bad" because...he wasn't. i get where people are coming from, because he did jump at the first opportunity to start selling meth lol, but before his diagnosis he was considered a loving husband and father, and a respected chemistry high school teacher with too much potential and too many ruined opportunities. not just by his family, but by their neighbors and community as well. which is why it's surprising when people seem to refer to this inherent evil that's been with him his whole life

even if something inside him had been rotting for years after a lifetime of being a doormat (plus in more recent years pre pilot, the fear of not being able to provide for his family with a teacher's salary, as he felt a man and the head of the family should do), none of his actions reflected this in any significant way that would hurt the people around him. no one saw it coming precisely because he was never like this before the show started. he did become the devil as the show progressed though, but before that? just having pent up feelings of frustration about your life and being mildly judgemental doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. blowing up an elders' home certainly does though