#which makes the whole thing even sadder

[transrevolutions]

as much as I can appreciate the interpretation of enjolras as being a naturally kinda quiet and calm guy, I tend to prefer the idea that he had to teach himself to be charming. he isn't necessarily cruel by nature, but he's intense. the force of his passion can scare even his closest allies as well as his enemies so he learns to file the edge of his knife sharper and smaller and sharper and smaller until he can hide it in a bouquet of flowers.

[vaguely-concerned]

just going about my day idly contemplating how some of the ways hawke can interact with a romanced anders are not at all unlike how they interact with leandra (and a bit of carver too, especially with a purple hawke), and then thought about my hawke in the timeline where he romances anders and was hit straight in the face with 'was he ever actually in love, or was he just desperately trying to renegotiate with his mother's ghost in any way he could' and now i need to lie down. this is the power of dragon age 2

[sukibenders]

Suzanne Collins saying that she only writes/will only create a new Hunger Games book when she has something to say, now announcing the release of her new upcoming book AND its film release? Interesting.

[dreamed-for-not]

WHAT DID I SAY???? WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY????????

[fictionadventurer]

Pop culture reduces It's a Wonderful Life to that last half hour, and thinks the whole thing is about this guy traveling to an alternate universe where he doesn't exist and a little girl saying, "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings." A hokey, sugary fantasy. A light and fluffy story fit for Hallmark movies.

But this reading completely glosses over the fact that George Bailey is actively suicidal. He's not just standing there moping about, "My friends don't like me," like some characters do in shows that try to adapt this conceit to other settings. George's life has been destroyed. He's bankrupt and facing prison. The lifetime of struggle we've been watching for the last two hours has accomplished nothing but this crushing defeat, and he honestly believes that the best thing he can do is kill himself because he's worth more dead than alive. He would have thrown himself from a bridge had an actual angel from heaven not intervened at the last possible moment.

That's dark. The banker villain that pop culture reduces to a cartoon purposely drove a man to the brink of suicide, which only a miracle pulled him back from. And then George Bailey goes even deeper into despair. He not only believes that his future's not worth living, but that his past wasn't worth living. He thinks that every suffering he endured, every piece of good that he tried to do was not only pointless, but actively harmful, and he and the world would be better off if he had never existed at all.

This is the context that leads to the famed alternate universe of a million pastiches, and it's absolutely vital to understanding the world that George finds. It's there to specifically show him that his despondent views about his effect on the universe are wrong. His bum ear kept him from serving his country in the war--but the act that gave him that injury was what allowed his brother to grow up to become a war hero. His fight against Potter's domination of the town felt like useless tiny battles in a war that could never be won--but it turns out that even the act of fighting was enough to save the town from falling into hopeless slavery. He thought that if it weren't for him, his wife would have married Sam Wainwright and had a life of ease and luxury as a millionaire's wife, instead of suffering a painful life of penny-pinching with him. Finding out that she'd have been a spinster isn't, "Ha ha, she'd have been pathetic without you." It's showing him that she never loved Wainwright enough to marry him, and that George's existence didn't stop her from having a happier life, but saved her from having a sadder one. Everywhere he turns, he finds out that his existence wasn't a mistake, that his struggles and sufferings did accomplish something, that his painful existence wasn't a tragedy but a gift to the people around him.

Only when he realizes this does he get to come back home in wild joy over the gift of his existence. The scenes of hope and joy and love only exist because of the two hours of struggle and despair that came before. Even Zuzu's saccharine line about bells and angel wings exists, not as a sugary proverb, but as a climax to Clarence's story--showing that even George's despair had good effect, and that his newfound thankfulness for life causes not only earthly, but heavenly joy.

If this movie has light and hope, it's not because it exists in some fantasy world where everything is sunshine and rainbows, but because it fights tooth and nail to scrape every bit of hope it can from our all too dark and painful world. The light here exists, not because it ignores the dark, but because the dark makes light more precious and meaningful. The light exists in defiance of the dark, the hope in defiance of despair, and there is nothing saccharine about that. It's just about as realistic as it gets.

[zyk1ng]

I was gonna make this post way way earlier but I forgot lol but Uhm

I have played through the splatoon 2 story fully and am replaying it (for a future post bc a lot of the dialogue is rlly funny) and honestly while I absolutely loved it it makes me even sadder that splat 2’s story mode was kinda tossed aside (for valid reasons ofc) because it’s so Cool.

Excluding the gameplay, I think they did marie so well, because she sells the desperation of someone who’s got nobody she knows by her side. While she of course keeps the sassy attitude of sneak dissing her best friends (agent 3) and also telekinetically telling you to fuck off if you talk to her too much it’s very clear she genuinely cares so much about agent 4 and is so grateful they’re doing what they do.

these are only two screenshots of 8(?) of Marie randomly being really sentimental to 4 because this stranger chose to help her in her time of need rather than just ignore this GROWN WOMAN hanging out on a sewer drain

It’s like heavily emphasized multiple times that Marie could not be more grateful for 4’s help in retrieving not just the zapfish but also her cousin.

But then revealing that 4 knew about Callie the WHOLE TIME (I have a lot to say about this part but it’s mostly hc so) which is so KIND OF THEM???? this random woman recruits them into a secret military agency and hides the fact she rlly misses her cousin but they help anyway bc they WANT TO. (They didn’t even know either of them were famous btw) Marie shows a lot of gratitude toward 4 ESPECIALLY after the big reveal.

(You could make arguments for 3 being similar bc an old kook made them do it but this isn’t about them..)

And it’s not just being grateful for the one time, she genuinely enjoys 4’s company and wants to be better friends with them and chat after the zapfish and Callie are saved 😭😭😭

It’s so cute too, because 100%ing the game and even just being a little nosy is something that Marie picks up on, and remembers way later in the game. (More abt this later)

god I love this socially inept squid woman and her adopted child soldier that likes finding pieces of paper

Speaking of said soldier! I think the way they characterized 4 via the actual gameplay rather than art/statements/whatever is so cool

4 doesn’t have many illustrations besides the chaos splatfest and that one group photo where they’re being funky in the corner (and the apartment) but I feel like the reason for that is the fact that a lot of Marie’s dialogue as well as how splatoon 2’s hero mode is structured/designed speaks a lot about how they wanted to represent 4.

From a realistic standpoint, of course splatoon 2’s story mode has to be more creative both prompt wise and secret wise. But it feels like the reason its that way is because both 4 and Marie are separate types of people from Craig and 3.

The bosses help a lot with this too, being more gimmicky and weird (subtracting stamp.) Octo shower and samurai being bosses where you have to either react well or change your positioning to effectively beat them. (Octo shower is my fave btw I loved fighting it the first time)

The level design also shines in this aspect because if I’m honest I remember none of the splat 1 levels significantly besides the few octoling ones. Splatoon 2’s levels are very detailed (and also insanely pretty) and have some rlly fun puzzles in a handful of them and even the more fast ones are a blast to play through

And then all the little extras (sardiniums and scrolls alike) are hidden so well and you usually have to go out of your way to find them and even the secrets that aren’t either of those things have substance

Small note, a lot of extras are also made so that it flows well with the levels design (like the first dualie request mission) which is also extremely fucking cool.

the way marie touches on those little discoveries is so smart too because it (as I said before) characterizes 4 as someone who loves to look for things even if it’s on a whim especially since the sunken scrolls in the game are so much harder to find than in splat1.

And the fact that unlike splat 1, you can (technically) 800% the game by playing EVERY SINGLE LEVEL WITH EVER SINGLE WEAPON TYPE. to me it feels like it deepens the fact that 4 likes to be really thorough. marie goes “you have a problem.” When you break like two hidden egg crates in this one level and it’s so great.

I love what they’ve done with 4, whether it was intentional or I’m over-analytical.

Nothing gets past them, looking in every nook and cranny whether or not there’s secrets to be found. They’re too nosy and thorough and they like to be around marie after completing missions, they don’t know who the squid sisters are, hate balloons, may or may not be ok, have impulsive secret finding, partake in many extracurriculars, can be needy at times, go with the flow and they apparently smell better than agent 3.

Agent four, of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

A fluffy/ mild angsty valentines fic with Bucky where reader gets HIM flowers ( because of the whole guys don’t get flowers thing :((( ) maybe there’s some mutual pining and sweet confession? Like she gets the flowers for him because he makes some joke about not having had a valentine for nearly a century and she’s just like “absolutely not will not allow that >:(“ but he thinks it’s just a joke at first :(

Anyway thanks! Love you!

Bloom.

bucky barnes x female reader

warnings - none

valentines masterlist. inbox. masterlist.

“Are we almost done?”

Bucky looks so miserable, you can’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, we are. We just need flowers, and then we have everything on the list.”

He grabs the shopping cart and pushes it across the grocery store, determinedly marching in the right direction. You’re practically running to keep up with him.

“Which ones?”

You look at all the flowers, touching some of the petals gently as you decide.

“I’m not sure. What’s your favourite kind of flower, Buck?”

He looks at you with a blank expression.

“I don’t have one.”

“What?”

Now it’s your turn to look blankly at him.

“I’ve never been bought flowers. Why would I have a favourite type?”

You frown at him. The idea of Bucky never receiving flowers makes you much sadder than it should, but you’re trying to play it cool.

“Oh. Well… which of these do you like the look of the most? They’re going to go in the middle of the table in the kitchen, so they need to be bright. Give the room some colour.”

He circles the flower display a few times, looking around carefully. Eventually, he picks up a bouquet of tulips, all pinks and oranges and yellows.

“I like these.”

You smile softly, nodding your head.

“Good choice.”

You’re somewhat distracted as the two of you check out. You put the tulips in the bag carefully, glancing at Bucky every so often. He catches you looking, and can’t help but wonder what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

You’ve been standing outside Bucky’s door for the better part of fifteen minutes.

He knows.

He heard your footsteps, can hear your chest heaving, lungs working overtime. He’s just waiting for you to make your own decision.

Eventually, you do. After thirty minutes, you decide to just do it. You’ve got nothing to lose.

You knock.

Bucky swings open the door as if he’s been waiting for you, standing patiently on the other side.

“Breathe, honey.”

You didn’t even realise you’d been holding your breath. You exhale, never breaking eye contact with the man in front of you.

“Hi, Buck.”

“Hi, you.”

“I got you something.”

“You did?”

You grab the bouquet from where you’ve leant it against the wall, holding it out to him.

He stops in his tracks, brows furrowed in confusion.

“They’re… for me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

You inhale deeply, willing yourself to find some temporary courage.

“Because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. And no one has ever bought you flowers.”

He’s smiling now, soft and knowing.

“You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met.”

He says it so sincerely, so genuinely, that it makes you want to cry. You hand the flowers to him, grinning as he admires them up close.

“They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

That takes you by surprise.

You and Bucky have always had a careful, consistent friendship. Ever since he first barrelled into your life, you’ve thrown tender smiles his way, nodding your head in acknowledgement every time he passed you in the hallways. He warmed to you, slowly but surely. Your kindness, your generosity, your genuineness - you’ve charmed him delicately, somewhat accidentally.

You’ve also been in love with him since day one.

You never thought to mention it - he’s healing, learning, growing as he goes, and you don’t want to halt his progress. So, you’ve pined from a distance, gently and quietly.

“Buck… will you be my valentine?”

He beams at you, the most luminescent smile you’ve ever seen from him.

“Oh, sweetheart. I’ve been working up the courage to ask you that every year since I met you. Knew you’d beat me to it.”

You laugh, stepping in closer to him. He puts the flowers down carefully, reaching out to cup your face in his hands.

“Can I kiss you, my valentine?”

You nod, already leaning in. He presses his lips to yours, and he swears he feels flowers bloom in his ribcage, bright and alive.

[mummer]

just saw asteroid city last night, pls explain the proposed significance of the kiss!!

answering this publicly hope thats ok! cant do a readmore im on mobile *****asteroid city spoilers below beware*****

i dont remember anyones names so this is gonna sound partly unhinged. okay so the edward norton playwright and jason schwartzman actor (not character, in the black and white parts) are lovers right. tbh i thought this was kind of a gag and forgot about it. but later we find out that the playwright died 6 months into the production. i didnt make the connection that THAT’s why the actor-jason has to suddenly leave the stage and freaks out backstage about how he’s not sure he’s Doing it right. hes not talking about acting!! because he himself is literally grieving his lover while he’s playing a character who’s grieving his wife written by his lover so obviously it’s too much!!! actor-jason is trying to find meaning in his death through his writing but there isnt any meaning in death [gerris drinkwater voice] which is what the play is trying to say anyway. he doesnt think he’s performing grief right even in his own life!!! (and tbh it’s the 50s so he wouldnt be able to perform grief publicly anyway!!!!) the play starts with a car accident… anyone would search for some hidden meaning there, some sign…. so when he talks to margot robbie outside it’s not really about finding the CHARACTER’s motivations it’s about the actor himself being able to process the playwright’s death! and adrien brody director was probably also dealing with that too (him and norton seemed to be good buddies) so the whole “sleeping backstage” thing gets a bit sadder maybe? maybe everyone else got this in the theatre and im just stupid lol but crazy making stuff to me!!! the whole story is about sublimated gay grief that cannot be expressed?!?!

the tweet that caught me onto this was here which posits that the playwright’s death was a suicide but i think that’s pretty stupid and unnecessary because the whole thing about the play asteroid city is that death is random and meaningless. im pretty sure that’s what the alien represents— a shocking and absurd event that isnt outright evil or menacing, not something anyone can predict or make sense of, it’s just a thing that happens to you out of nowhere, it doesnt mean anything. he’s a little black figure, he’s death! giving and taking! aagh

[autistichalsin]

If you're curious, this is what Halsin's letter says in the epilogue if you fail to break the Shadow Curse:

My friend, I was truly heartened to learn of your success in the fight against the Absolute- the whole of the Sword Coast and beyond owes you a debt that can never be repaid. I dearly wish I could have joined in your moment of celebration, but the Shadow Curse remains, and so my vigil must continue. Perhaps I shall yet discover a way to restore light to this place, but until then, the memories of my time traveling with you shall sustain me through all manner of hardships. If the Oak Father is kind, one day I shall feel the warmth of the sun and know the joys of your company once again. Yours until the end, Halsin

So... there is a LOT going on here. A lot. One, obviously, the heartbreak of Halsin resigning himself this way. "If the Oak Father is kind," he'll feel the warmth of the sun again?

The way he sees the player's company as something he longs for just as much as the sun. While confining himself to darkness and despair, what he longs for most- even more than nature itself- is sunlight and the player.

Which brings me to... you can feel the pining here. This letter was what finally cemented it for me: Halsin is, canonically, in all "good runs", in love with the player. Not "holds a lot of affection for the player that may or may not become romantic" like the others. This was what finally made me decide, beyond a doubt, he is ALWAYS in love with the player so long as they don't raid the Grove. This is just too much pining, too heavy of a romantic coding, too much he sees in the player, to be anything else.

He puts the player on par with sunlight. The thing he uses as a metaphor time and time again to explain as a basic need, something no life can live without. Something whose absence chokes the nature he loves so much into nothing. A need. That's what he considers the player.

And that's not even getting to "yours until the end," which is so obvious, I think it speaks for itself. With all the "I'm glad to be had"s and the "I am your servant, my love"s, Halsin is someone who- despite loving to be "unbound in nature"- considers a form of "being had" to be something of a love language. And here, knowing he will very possibly never see the player again unless a miracle happens or the player goes on a borderline suicide mission just to visit him, he still calls himself "yours". Even when he devotes himself to the land he couldn't heal, he still sees his heart as belonging with you, first and foremost.

And that's the happier explanation. The sadder explanation is that he's so tormented by the shadows and everything else that he's making up a fantasy in his head, of the player being his tragic, could-have-been love, just to cope. Just to convince himself there's something, someone, waiting for him should the curse ever be broken, so that he can imagine better is waiting for him, to give himself enough strength to endure the shadows for however long it takes, because the alternative is surrendering. And he can't let himself do that as long as he's needed. So, as he has done before, like when he convinced himself he liked being a sex slave to survive being a prisoner in the Underdark, he indulges in fantasy to survive- but instead of enslavement, it's solitary confinement.

Both are HEARTBREAKING options, in a scenario that was already beyond heartbreaking just before the epilogue.

[xclowniex]

Something which really bothers me is the whole "jews are white" thing is genuinely racist. And not even jew specific racism.

To give context before getting into the meat of the post, it's important to understand that jews historically have not been considered white. Even white passing jews or jews who are viewed as white in the modern day were not seen as white historically. Whether or not a white passing/European jew calls themselves white or not is up to that jew. No one else can make that decision.

Moving past that, we can acknowledge that non white and non white passing jews exist. Black jews exist, Asian jews exist, arab jews exist, native american jews exist and Pasifika (or Polynesian for my US folks) and Māori jews exist as well as many other types of jews.

Is it not anti black, anti Asian, anti arab, anti every non white group I listed above and more to say that jews are white and that Israel is made up of white colonizers?

Like when a person says that jews are white and/or that Israel was created by white colonizers, they are erasing jews and Israelis who are non white/non white passing.

You are essentially going, "black jews don't exist, Asian jews don't exist, native American jews don't exist, arab jews don't exist, Pasifika and Māori jews don't exist, etc".

And that's honestly bonkers to me. You are now willing to be racist towards all poc because "jews bad white people"?????

Like that's just straight up racism. Assuming that poc can't also be Jewish is racist. You are limiting poc to your stereotypes which in this case means not being jewish.

I already know that most people who say that are antisemitic. But if you ignore the antisemitsm of it, it's just straight up racism.

But I guess now racism is fine if it's against jews who are also "traditional" poc.

Which as an arab jew, it makes me even sadder for the wider implication of the increase in antisemitism

[lovebugism]

☄. *. ⋆ --- Idiots

summary: eddie makes a mean joke. it's hard to be mad at him when you share a bunk on a tour bus. pairing: band au!eddie muson / f!reader word count: 1.2k warnings: slight angst at first but there's a happy ending, barely proofread a/n: brb getting lost in the universe of the trials and tribulations of being in corroded coffin with eddie munson </3

You know you’re being irrational, but Eddie never should’ve made that stupid fucking joke in the first place. It wasn’t even him so much as the cheap beer and the post-show high, but it stung nonetheless. Now that you think about it, you can’t even remember what he said — something cruel about how he feels like he’s missing out when the rest of the band picks their share of groupies backstage when the concert's over.

He was playing and you know that but it doesn’t mean it hurt any less.

You’re sitting around the booth at the front of the bus. Gareth gets done lamenting about his latest feat with a busty redhead from Denver, a foot taller than him with legs that went on forever. You saw the girl, she was a model no doubt — at least you hoped she was because a girl like that shouldn’t be working some nine-to-five in the middle of nowhere.

Gareth talks like he’s ready to conquer worlds after being with this girl, but that he still can’t stop thinking about the shy brunette he met in Nashville.

Jeff is trying to give him some wholehearted advice and that’s when Eddie makes his dumb joke. “Damn. You’ve had a groupie every show and I haven’t even had one. I’m starting to feel like I’m missing out over here.”

Everyone knows it’s a joke, it’s just a not a very funny one. Eddie doesn’t realize this until he notices that no one’s laughing at it.

“Missing out?” you scoff from beside him, suddenly as rigid as the tension surrounding him.

“Babe—”

“I’m sure there’s groupies still waiting at the bar who’ll be happy to fuck you. I’d hate for you to miss out,” you spit and storm off, not getting very far because the bus is only so big.

You guys argue like children behind the thin partition that separates the bunks from the main area where the rest of the band is forced to listen to your squabbling. He tries to tell you that he was just kidding around and you tell him that joking like that when you have a girlfriend is a little psychopathic. He gets angry that you’re not listening to him and you’re angry he would even say something like that in the first place and both of you are angry at each other for being angry at each other.

It’s just a big, scrambled mess that would be easily remedied if you guys were just mature enough to apologize.

“I’m sorry for making that joke, it wasn’t funny. I don’t want any stupid groupies, I just want you,” Eddie would say. You’d plant a big fat kiss on his cheek and confess: “I know you were just saying you felt like you were missing out on the whole ‘rockstar fantasy’ thing and I was being a little pissy about it and I’m sorry, but if you talk like that again, your ass is grass, Munson.” And that would be that.

But no.

God forbid any of you act like adults and talk out your feelings.

Eddie storms back out while you’re in the middle of snatching your blanket and pillow from his bunk. You shut off the lights and bathe in pure darkness and anger while you hear the boys talk muffledly in the room. You convince yourself they’re making jokes about you — about how you’re probably just on your period and that Eddie should definitely fuck one of those pretty girls back at the show rather than stay cooped up with you all tour. 

Just, you know, things none of the boys would ever actually say. But for whatever reason, you want to make yourself sadder and it's working.

Your bunk is empty and doesn’t feel as comfortable. Which is strange considering you spent the entire tour sharing a twin-size mattress with a five-foot-ten boy, but still. The bed doesn’t feel like it belongs to you even though you got first claim on bunks. It makes it that much harder to sleep. You spend hours staring into the side of the bus and willing yourself not to cry, both feeling bad for yourself and for getting so angry at Eddie.  

With the curtain pulled closed, you don’t see Eddie enter the back of the bus but you hear him. You swear he’s the loudest person on earth. His sock-clad feet thump, thump, thump against the carpet while he tosses his clothes into a heavy pile onto the floor. His arm bangs into the wall when he stumbles while taking off his pants.

At least, that’s how you imagine it because he’s so terribly clumsy. It almost makes you laugh. Almost.

He climbs up onto his bunk — the one on top of yours. You hear the shutters pull closed and the light click off and then silence. You’re not sure how long it lasts. It feels like another few hours, but maybe it’s just because being without Eddie makes time pass so agonizingly slow.

You wait for him to break, to cave and apologize so you’ll come up and sleep with him. You know he has as hard of a time sleeping without you as you do without him. But he hasn’t yet and you’ve convinced yourself that he isn’t going to. Until—

“Baby?” his voice fills the empty silence, filled only by the sounds of the road and the video game Jeff and Gareth play on the other side of the bus. “Baby, you awake?”

You debate on whether or not to answer. To be stubborn or to cave.

You cave.

But not without a sarcastic remark. 

“No.”

He doesn’t reply. You just hear the squeak of his mattress and his feet hitting the carpeted floor when he jumps off of his bunk. The curtain of your bunk pulls back and you turn to find him with a blanket over his shoulder and a pillow under his arm. “Scooch,” he demands.

You comply with a smile and choose not to continue the ruse of being angry because you weren’t — at least, not anymore — and Eddie was the one to break first, after all.

The two of you return to your usual positioning on auto-pilot. The one where Eddie’s just about completely on top of you and clutching you like your his personal teddy bear. You’re on your back with one hand twisted in his hair and the other tracing absentminded shapes on his t-shirt covered back.

The boys have always said they have no idea how that can be comfortable, and you and Eddie aren’t sure either, it just is.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers after a few moments of silence. His breath fans against your collarbone and makes you shiver. Your heart aches a little at the way his voice breaks. He clears his throat, as though to clear the fragility from it. “Sorry.”

You don’t know if he’s repeating himself or apologizing for feeling his feelings.

“Don’t be,” you tell him. “It was stupid.”

“I was a dick.”

“You were a dick and it was stupid,” you correct. He can hear the smile in your voice even though he’s not looking at you. “We’re just idiots.”

“Yeah… Love you, though.”

“Love you too, loser.”

You feel him deflate against you and the sigh of relief flicker across your skin. Like now that he’s heard you say the words, he can finally relax. “Good. Now, go to sleep. I’ll make you a poptart in the morning, ‘kay?”

You breathe out a laugh and plant a kiss to the crown of his head. “So romantic.”

have any thoughts about band au!eddie? or just thoughts about my writing/requests in general? leave them here if you want!

[oneeyedoctogod]

Gods this fandom sometimes, I swear. I'm sorry I read two deeply bad takes back to back, and I have to rant. I'm sure others have said it better than I, but really. Come on. I actually have to wonder if people who talk about the extras actually read them because...

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji didn't leave the cultivation world in canon. They elope, and then they come back. The fact they're not involved in the bigger politics is... pretty much to be expected, but they very much do participate in the day to day lives of the Lan sect. They go where the chaos is to night hunt, they teach, Lan Wangji comforts his brother in his seclusion, and Wei Wuxian meets some new Lan disciples.

As for the cottage fantasy... Again, I honestly have to wonder if the people talking about it actually read the extra it's in? Because it's just that. A fantasy. A dream. It's basically a representation of Wei Wuxian's wants for a domestic life, something he definitely has now! He's always been characterised as someone who wants to help others and who loves cultivation. Why would you think the dream is to be taken literally?

And the idea that Wei Wuxian has 'several important relationships just floating there', that he's not dealing with... Where? Which ones? He teaches the juniors and grows closer to Jin Ling. He doesn't exactly interact with Lan Xichen, but he asks after him. He meets Mianmian again and wishes her well. He asks after Wen Ning after Lan Sizhui comes back then has some father-son bonding moments with him!

Nie Huaisang and Wei Wucian aren't close. They were friendly once, but they didn't ever meet after the lectures. I don't see how that qualifies as an "important" relationship, especially with Nie Huaisang never openly admitting to his part in Wei Wuxian's resurrection. But even then, Wei wuxian says he'll be keeping a close eye on him, so one can imagine they meet again at some point.

As for Jiang Cheng... what more do you want Wei Wuxian to do exactly? Even if you want a reconciliation, why can't Jiang Cjeng be he one to actually grow up and do the work for once? He's the one who never apologized. He's the one who is still openly hostile in the extras. If Wei Wuxian wants to move on and not interact with him, he's well within his right to do that, given how Jiang Cheng treated him. Hell, he's more generous than most since he encourages Jin Ling to talk to Jiang Cheng. If I'd been treated by someone like Jiang Cheng treated Wei Wuxian and saw him hit our nephew several times, I certainly wouldn't encourage them to meet. (But that's Wei Wuxian for you, the moral ideal and better than all of us.)

Anyway, I really don't understand why people insist on making Wangxian have a sadder ending than the one they actually did. It's a HEA for them, sorry guys. And yeah, maybe Wei wuxian has some trauma to work on... but the whole point of the character is that he doesn't let his trauma define him. That he wants to forgives, forgets and moves on.

(Also, just because he doesn't have a breakdown or the cultivation equivalent of therapy in the extra doesn't mean he's not working on them? He finally is at peace, with a solid support network. Maybe he does talk about his past hurts with Lan Wangji - Lan Wangji certai ly knows when to comfort him when he needs it. But the narrative point of the extras is to show they're moving on from the past! And you know what, sometimes the beat thing to do to heal is to do just that. They're living their best lives, deal with it.)

And finally... shit did you really read the whole book and come to the conclusion Wei Wuxian should have 'learned to accept help'? Who the fuck offered help? Who did he refuse?

(Don't say Lan Wangji. 1) I love him, but "Come back to Gusu" is very much not an obvious offer to help, and when Wei Wuxian understandably misunderstands him, he never manages to correct it.

And 2) once Wei Wuxian tells him explicitly he's not leaving the Wen remnants behind, Lan Wangji understands and backs off. He approves! I'm sure he'd do more if he could, but just like Jiang Yanli, he can't!)

Jiang Cheng literally said, 'No one will help you, no one is on your side' (and then made sure that was true by saying Wei Wuxian was the enemy of the cultivation world). Jin Zixuan chose to ask the one who was ambushed to disarm rather than the 300 cultivators attacking him and lunged at him when Wei Wuxian refused to comply (because he'd be killed if he did!!). How is that help?

Who else tried to help? Whose help did Wei Wuxian reject?

Wei Wuxian was presented with a series of bad choices and took the best he could, the ones aligned with his principles, accepting he'd have to face consequences at some point but also knowing it was still worth it. He's not the one who failed or made a fatal mistake or betrayed his word.

Rant over. Sorry about that.

[onesidedradiostatic]

I can't work out if Alastor genuinely considered Vox a friend or thought of him more as like. A cute pet that dotes on its owner and does little tricks. And then he shows off his cute little pet to Rosie and Mimzy. I don't think he ever viewed Vox as a threat to him in any way, but it makes me wonder about Vox's whole smooth, smart, scary and competent side we initially see in episode 2. Was that something he picked up from Alastor, or was it something Vox already had that might have sparked Alastor's interest? Did he actually mentor Vox in any way or did he just think it was fun to watch him try to build a tiny version of Alastor's empire.

we don't have a whole lot to go off of right now, especially when it comes to alastor's side, but personally I find it more interesting if alastor did genuinely consider vox a friend. even if in his own alastor fashion, there were probably certain walls he never let down. I think it's interesting in that, we know alastor has more of a soft spot for women, so in this pre-husk era, vox could've easily been one of his first few male friends. which kinda makes it sadder it didn't work out. it's like it just proved to alastor "right this is why I don't trust men".

things we know rn are:

alastor calls vox "old pal" at the end of episode 2

alastor allowed vox to take a picture with him at some point

alastor, who is perfectly capable of killing overlords, has not killed vox

also seen this pointed out before, but in the initial commercial alastor filmed in episode 1, although shitty, he did do some actual editing

I wouldn't expect alastor to already have knowledge of how to do this beforehand on his own, question is: did he learn it himself? or did he learn it...

...from someone else in the past?

not to mention he seems to just instinctively already know how to set up shit for filming near the end of the episode. he must have gotten some experience from somewhere.

I think this post describes what they could've learnt from each other in the past best

I like to think alastor saw him as more than just some cute pet, at least back then. it adds more depth to their relationship. obviously there's stuff like the toxic homoerotic stalker-like obsession I feel is one-sided on vox's part (points to my url), but that doesn't mean I think alastor's side of their general relationship is completely non-existent. them having a genuine past friendship that affected both of them in different ways is what adds layers to their relationship I think. they were clearly both affected by their falling out in that they both developed irrational hatred of the other's medium as a result. and honestly? really need to see more of alastor's side of this, I think it'd be really interesting. even though, he hates vox now, and I don't believe he wants him back as a friend, is there any sort of sentiment left from their past friendship? is there a reason why he hasn't killed him? or was the time he almost beat vox an attempt at that? (though I like to believe it wasn't)

obviously, all we can do now is speculate based on the evidence we have in season 1, but for me personally, I like to think they were legitimately friends at some point.

[realmsalot]

I've been obsessed with Relativity Falls au for some reason lately so of course I've been turning around my own version in my head lately. And with Fiddleford I keep flip flopping on who I would switch him because there are many good options. Like

Fiddleford <> Pacifica:

This seems to be the most popular option, I've seen many old woman Pacifica designs, but I personally cannot see McGucket be the snotty rich kid that Pacifica was at the start. I CAN see how he could be rich (Tate McGucket probably invented something and got a lot of money for it) but CAN'T see him be anyway snotty about it. I think the best way to make Fiddleford fit this role is through a series of misunderstandings. He is trying SO HARD to be nice to these twin brothers who are spending their summer in Gravity Falls and he just keeps messing up. He tries to make a robot to help them out but it end up turning evil and they assume that it was ment to sabotage them from the start. He tries to have a nice conversation with them but because he's rich he's just out touch enough to come off rude and show offy. FIDDS IS TRYING TO BE NICE FROM THE START!

Fiddleford <> Candy

It is easily the second most popular option here. There really isn't much to say with this one it's probably the one that makes the most sense. I can easily see Candy going to Backupsmore and telling Dipper/Mabel about the weird things shes seen in Gravity Falls. The idea that Stanley and Fidds became friends first before Ford and Fidds is interesting. My main grip with it is that if we're going with the version where Dipper is swapped with Ford, it implies that Mable and Candy never really became friends in this universe, which I find really sad. Honestly I think that the main reason this swap exists in that context is because of that one episode were they go on a road trip and Candy got crush on Dipper mixed with fact that many people ship FiddleAuthor.

Fiddleford <> Soos

Hear me out, hear me OUT! I've seen a few versions where even when Soos' Grandma is swapped with Soos, they also add Fidds as a handyman at the Shack anyways. But why not go the whole way, ya'know? Soos was a friend that Dipper met and shared a dorm with in Backupsmore. Soos was still older than Dipper. Soos and Melody were already married with a kid on the way, and Soos was also Gravity Falls' local handyman. He decided to get college and get like a mechanical engineering degree or maybe a trade in something there because even in the small town of Gravity Falls technology was only getting more and more complicated and Soos wanted to be able to keep up so he can keep making money for his family by fixing things. During their time at Backupsmore, Soos would tell Dipper about some of the crazy things he's seen living in Gravity Falls, and that inspires Dipper to go study it after college. And then the rest of that rolls out predictably. I can easily (and sadly) see Soos becoming the local kook. I imagine that it will also be much sadder for the locals to see Soos acting up because many of them have memories of him coming to fix their microwaves and stuff. And as for Fidds, he's the Mystery Shack's handyman. You can make him around the same age as the Stan twins, we know that in cannon that Soos started working there around that age, so he doesn't have to be Soos' cannon age. I think this works best with Dipper and Ford switching places because in cannon Dipper and Soos were friends, so it kinda easily transfers, ya'know. I've put a lot in this one.

And uh yeah that's my incoherent ramblings...

[riririnnnn]

TW: Bullying and SA mentioned.

After Kaiser's backstory, I have zero to no hope about Sae's Spain backstory being a happy one.

What surprised me the most about Kaiser's backstory was how graphic everything was.

You might argue that there are many other mangas with way more graphic things which you aren't wrong at all. There are many other characters with sadder backstory, but you need to keep in mind that Blue Lock is of sports genre. Honestly, for a sports genre manga, the topic of 'physically abusive father' is itself a very heavy thing.

And considering Snuffy's backstory too, we can surely say that Kaneshiro-san is surely not shying away from throwing light on lesser talked topics of the sports industry and the athletes themselves.

Which brings two things in my mind: Bullying and Sexual Assault/Sexual Abuse.

To be honest, even as a kid, Sae doesn't seems like a person who will quietly tolerate any kind of bullying. Like, if you were to pour something on his head, he'll shove your whole face into a nearby wall.

You getting me?

However, I can't say the same thing about the adults like a coach or an official of PIFA who has a direct control on his soccer career. If something were to have a direct influence on his future, then I do think he'll force himself to seal his mouth shut, you know.

But why would any adult even bully him when he was invited to play in Re Al not the other way around of him requesting or pleading to play in that team..??? Besides, he cleared the tryouts, became a regular, and then once scored a hat trick too! Then why would any adult bully him? Also, how will changing your playing position help with bullying at all?

Unless, of course, nepotism is involved, but for that, all he had to do was change teams! And suppose, even if there was really no way out, he wouldn't have been so passionate about giving a pass to the world's best striker.

Doesn't make sense.

Personally, I don't know how common grooming/sexual abuse is in sports industry, but it just doesn't seem like a plausible explanation for his sudden interest in being a midfielder. Further, if he were to experience something this traumatic, then I do think that he would've left the soccer industry as a whole.

And suppose, if he would've still decided to stay, then I do think that he would've preferred taking a revenge on the whole industry rather than switching his dream.

Besides, his hate for his own country, Japan, just seems to come out of the blue. I mean, Pre-Spain Sae didn't exactly appear patriotic, but, at least, he wasn't openly bashing his own country.

I do have a theory for the above statement, so I guess I'll make another post for it.

[warblogs17282]

Helluva Boss and it's usage of music, why the sound design is so important and how the music connects things together.

So, I've discussed this subject before but I've been thinking about it again recently and I'd like to go a lot more in depth about it, just so we're all clear, I am not mentioning songs in this at all, things like All 2 U and Two Minutes Notice for example.

Let's start with s1 e7, the scene after the date goes horribly and Stolas is talking to Blitz. Notice when the music piece starts here, it starts right during Stolas' line of "We could... talk.", more specifically starting right as Stolas says the word 'talk', which is one of the most important words in that scene, and the purpose of starting the music piece right at that word is to emphasise that word more, and there's another example of the show doing that to prove this point.

So, Blitz gets home, the music has completely stopped by this point, then the music piece starts up again the moment that Blitz scrolls onto that picture of his mother, which is obviously a very significant thing to Blitz, and us, the viewers, showing once again that they've used that music piece to bring emphasis on specific details, this time it being the picture of Blitz's mother.

That music piece is so great at placing more emphasis on details and being a great mood setter for the scene as well.

Now, let's head to the ending of s1 e8, that one scene where Blitz is talking to Loona on the couch. The same music piece as we just discussed starts up again, after Blitz says "Fuck, Fizz was right.", starting the moment that Blitz's lip starts quivering because he's obviously extremely upset about everything right now, yet again placing heavy emphasis on Blitz's emotions, and the statement he just said. Plus, setting the mood of the scene excellently as well.

S2 E1, but first, keep in mind the specific music piece titled 'Stolas Speaks', first shown during this scene in s1 e1, as it's used three different times if I'm remembering correctly.

Now, let's look at Paimon's introduction, and pay close attention to the music piece used, if you compare that and Stolas Speaks, it becomes obvious that Paimon's theme here is a variation of 'Stolas Speaks', which makes complete sense as Paimon is Stolas' father, and is probably a reoccurring theme across the Goetia as a whole as well.

Quick detour here but, pay attention to the music piece when Cash is talking to Blitz, and also pay attention to how the music piece almost instantly changes when Cash does the fake sadness face, the music piece now giving off a sadder tone compared to before Cash did that face, placing even more emphasis on Cash and his fake sad face.

Anyways, Stolas has just woken up from his drinking session, and we hear what I believe is 'Stolas Speaks' once again, but this time, stripped down to just it's bare bones, the piano that's normally there being completely absent this time. With the piano starting back up again right as Stolas takes the 'happy pills', which is also most likely done to bridge more naturally into the song, and to place more emphasis on Stolas taking the 'happy pills'.

S2 E4, we all remember this scene where Stolas is being wheeled into the hospital, and what we also know is that the first piano note of 'Stolas Speaks' plays right at the scene where the screenshot is taken, time slowing down as Blitz sees Stolas on the stretcher, all to sell the impact of the scene more to you and to place more emphasis on the rapidly approaching realisation to Blitz that Stolas can indeed get hurt.

S2 E8, the moment Stolas starts to place the Asmodean Crystal on Blitz's glove, the same music piece from s1 e7 and s1 e8 starts again (that or the general melody is quite similar), and this is most likely done to compare and contrast the car scene in s1 e7 and this scene in s2 e8.

One more thing I noticed, I may be overthinking this connection but the sparkles in the song that starts right after Stolas says 'be who you are.' really reminds me of that one scene in 'Stolas Sings', like the melodies sound so similar, and the show does that to specifically take you back to that moment in the song, to make you compare and contrast that moment in 'Stolas Sings' to what's happening in the current scene in the full moon.

Now, moving onto the argument, (I'm at the 10 image limit so I'm just gonna have to give you timestamps now lmao), go to 21:52, and notice the music piece starting right after the view you have of the scene changes, right when Stolas' face becomes visible.

Then the piano kicks in, just after Stolas becomes in the focus instead of Blitz, and when his face becomes even more visibly upset.

(Timestamp, 22:05), the piano ends, shortly after the show focuses in on Blitz again and does a close-up on him, the final note timed for the exact moment when Blitz's eyes and face shrinks, the exact moment when Blitz has realised just how badly he's fucked up, with the final note being the heaviest note of them all, to sell the impact of the scene even more, and to place major emphasis on showing you, the viewer, Blitz realising that he's fucked up big time.

S2 E9, pay attention to just how much the music changes when Blitz goes to the different people on his list during his 'Apology Tour', it changes to match specifically who and the area which Blitz is apologising to. But during the two times Blitz checks his phone, both times it being opened to his messages with Stolas, the music piece appears to change, sounding and feeling a lot less upbeat and much more saddening, most likely to reflect Blitz's feelings during those moments when he has his phone open to his messages with Stolas.

In conclusion: I have listed plenty of examples to show just how important the music pieces in the show are to the scenes they're in, and to also show just how interconnected those music pieces are within the show as well, some melodies showing up in multiple episodes throughout the show.