#which would probably mean he would have to be redeemed first and they connect again

[lovecatsys]

I've probably said this before but. What Akihiro unconsciously looks for in relationships (both romantic and platonic) is stability, someone who he can pretend to be someone else, a better person with and have the kind of relationship that is genuinely good for him. And I say unconscious because not only does he not realize he's doing this but he probably gets mad when he realizes he does it, because he goes out of his way to project a certain image about himself and has self destructive tendencies because at first he genuinely did not care about Healing, about changing and becoming a better person. And when he invites people into his life like Laura, Johnny and Gabby they try to get him to change because those behaviors are hurtful to them, and he just can't have that. He and Johnny wouldn't have worked out at the time in his life where they met because he was not in the right place to change himself, so he destroyed what they had while destroying everything he had in his life because he was dying and saw no point anymore. But with Laura and Gabby he actually let them in and let them change him, because he was in a better place in his life (and also who can say no to two little sisters with autism creature eyes). And to me this is why I can see him with people like Johnny, Bobby and Carl romantically and not with people like Bullseye because they will ultimately cause more destruction to his life and he may seek that out, as a form of self harm but he could never fall in love with that. He needs someone who will inspire him to change, and he's had far too many toxic, unhealthy relationships in his life.

[yanderes-galore]

If you're comfortable, could I request a romantic concept for Endeavor (MHA)?

I have mixed feelings about him because I know he's going to horrid to Darling... but at the same time he'd probably try to redeem himself later- This doesn't have much of a plot but it takes place after Rei. The original draft I was doing took place where you replace Rei but I scrapped it for now. Take this as an AU that doesn't really connect to canon.

Yandere! Enji Todoroki (Endeavor) Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling (A section mentions female anatomy, however. This section is in pink), Obsession, Age gap, Possessive behavior, Manipulation, Abuse of power, Lucid yandere, Stalking, Marriage, Mentions of wanting/having children/baby trapping, Isolation, Dubious (forced) relationship.

In an alternate timeline where Enji decides to start anew from his old family, I can see him hesitate for once when he finds a new obsession.

After all, it's clear he's been horrible with relationships in the past.

He's only ruined his kids lives, same thing for his wife.

He probably doesn't even think he'll love again.

Then you come into his life, just about as annoying as Hawks, yet make him feel funny.

It's a familiar warmth... and he dreads it.

You're a new pro hero which means he's going to be dealing with you a lot.

This leaves him conflicted as now he'll have a harder time to suppress the burning warmth in him when he looks at you.

You're younger than him, at least half his age if not a bit older, he knows it would be unprofessional to do anything.

The good news, after his original family and the retirement of All-Might, he's much better than he was.

Unfortunately, if you ever got too close, old habits may make themselves known.

There's times you're so bratty... yet he knows it's just because you're young.

You're overconfident, yet you have a decently strong quirk.

Enji wants to be better, part of him even wants another chance at love, but doing it here would be poor choice.

You look up to him, something he both enjoys yet pities.

Which is why he'd probably stay quiet about his newest obsession for a long time.

He doesn't want to ruin your life.

You have promise, you don't need him to ruin everything.

At the same time... He worries he won't be able to hold back the longer you're around him.

To talk about Enji in general, he's a possessive yandere.

Even when he leaves his old family behind to make them happy, he'd still be bad with you.

Enji no doubt eventually would want to marry his obsession just to be able to show everyone you're his.

He knows marriage didn't go well for him before... but when he looks at you, he can't help but want others to know you're his.

That he's picked you.

To add onto that, if you have a womb... Enji would no doubt try to put a child in it.

I personally believe this man has a thing for strong successors.

Based on past behavior, that is.

So, if you were capable of having kids, Enji would eventually want that.

At first he'd be against it, knowing how his last four kids went, but the thought of giving you his kid...

It just makes him think it's another way to show you're his.

Even after losing his original family he's still possessive.

Old habits die hard, too bad you are on the receiving end.

Enji no doubt tries to be better.

He doesn't want a repeat of Rei.

He doesn't want to hurt this second chance, maybe he's just lonely but...

He wants to make you happy if you're involved with him, it's not like All-Might is in the picture anymore.

Enji may not even suggest a Quirk marriage in this case, perhaps this one he'll take his time with.

But your quirk is an added bonus as a fellow pro hero.

Enji tries his best to stay away and help you from afar.

He shouldn't have you, he doesn't deserve you, he can't ruin another...

Yet you grow close to him and he's trying to put a wildfire out.

I feel most pro heros would take a subtle manipulative approach towards their obsessions.

Things like coaxing their obsession into being involved with them.

Enji would try to stay away from it more due to past experiences.

But you just know he'll snap and start being closer with you.

It's no doubt an abuse of power due to his seniority.

Which is what makes it so manipulative.

You're both skilled heroes and you may even find dating the Endeavor flattering.

At first you think there's nothing wrong.

Completely unaware that being around Enji can get you burned.

Enji doesn't want to keep things hidden when he manages to date you.

He wants other heroes to know he's dating you.

That way no one else can sabotage him.

He wants people to know you for dating him.

When dating you he tries his best to be more amicable.

He doesn't try to hurt you, he's learned.

He's possessive and easily irritated when people bring you up... but never blames you.

He probably buys you what you want, even if you have the money as a hero.

He remembers certain aspects about you, even does it before you're dating.

Enji tries to hold himself back from marriage, but he may use it as another way to show you're his.

It's like a flex to him to say you're engaged. (even if you're not... but that's okay, he can change that.)

Plus, when he eventually gets you to marry him, it feels euphoric to slip on that ring.

He's admittedly nervous to ruin his second chance... which means he does his best to tend to you, even when he has work.

He wants to make things better.

If he notices you're falling out of love with him, or if you notice his more toxic behavior... he distracts you.

Others pity the relationship you two have, even if you are well cared for.

Most of his old family pity you, while Dabi finds it laughable Enji found someone else to torment.

Enji doesn't seem to care about the backlash.

As long as you love him, as long as he has that chance, as long as you're his...

Everyone else can burn.

Speaking of burns, early Enji may have used burns to mark his darling.

This time he refrains from that... but the thought is tempting.

Although... anything to show his mark on you couldn't be that bad, right?

He may not kidnap, but he'd definitely manipulate you into staying with him.

By the time the rose tinted glasses are off, you're in too deep.

If you can have children, you may even already be with child before you realize this... might've been a trap.

Enji likes to show ownership over his obsession.

While he may be caring with you, he's still controlling.

You're no longer your own person, perhaps even forced to give up being a hero.

You're his partner, you'll be known as his partner...

Enji doesn't plan on letting you leave, he'll use whatever means he deems necessary to keep you with him.

He'll lock you away, he'll bribe you, he'll baby trap you... anything.

Enji isn't going to mess this up again...

You're going to be his...

No matter what it takes.

[crooked-wasteland]

i feel like that clip gets worse the more i think about it. like;

1. why does charlie treat baxter like a replacement for sir pentious? why is she treating one of the only patrons she had a connection to (at least a hell of a lot more of a connection then she has with angel,) as if hes easily replaceable? like, i know its supposed to be funny because they roughly fit the same trope of "wacky evil guy who makes evil stuff", and it IS funny.. when i dont actually think of the implication of how charlie is treating sir pentious in memory through the way she talks about him after he was killed right in front of her. its like they thought about how funny the joke would be before they thought about charlie and sir pentious's relationship in s1, and just went with that so they wouldn't have to write charlie acting any different. which sucks, because charlie legitimately mourning him would be a GREAT conflict for the main character to have in s2. tbh they still might do that so they can have their cake and eat it too, but i dont know if itll feel sincere after that scene with her and baxter.

2. does she know sir pentious is alive in heaven? how could she know? nothing about the way she speaks in the clip makes me think so, but at least if she knew he was actually okay and redeemed, you'd resolve the issue of her trying to replace some guy who died defending HER hotel with his life, and the issue of her having no reason to redeem sinners after learning heaven is corrupt and seemingly wont let in even the sinners in that deserve redemption. because replacing someone in a cast whos technically still living in heaven isnt nearly as bad, and his existence alone would probably be proof enough alone to motivate charlie to keep trying to redeem sinners, which would be especially satisfying after her faith in heaven would understandably be broken after the trial and the extermination coming right to her hotels front door. so knowing that, this is probably whats NOT going to happen

3. why is she specifically even trying to replace sir pentious anyway? is it a coping mechanism after her loss of him? its obviously comedic so we're not supposed to take it seriously, which means the writers probably wanted to make a joke about how obviously baxter is going to be the replacement for sir pentious's role at the hotel, god i wish we had seen them interact together at a voxtech con in a competition like in vivs old post pilot series pitch in 2019 but i'd argue its a joke at the expense of charlies character development. the way she acts in that clip is something i'd expect from s1 charlie, but not s2 after everything that happened to her.

i think s1 had the issue in general of making things funny or fun over making them make sense for the characters in context, so its not surprising to see that issue happen again. it's just slightly more infuriating when you remember hazbin was supposed to be the serious show compared to helluva, but now hazbin has way too many mean spirited or dumb jokes at the expense of its own characters youre supposed to automatically care about, just for comedys sake, and helluva became the soap drama nobody asked for.

Absolutely! I side stepped my own opinions as I genuinely wanted to see what others had to say, and @tommycorriander pretty much hit that nail on the head for my interpretation of the narrative. The biggest issue is how the first season elected to prioritize things happening over their characters and their relationships. We never actually see the cast grow close over the season, we are simply told that's what happened.

But by mixing together Pentious and Baxter, my first inclination was that, yes, outside of superficial characteristics, Charlie cannot connect to sinners. They are all the same to her, and based on her character being so broad and general in her appraisal of Sinners, it definitely feels like she doesn't see them as individuals.

And the travesty is that if the show actually went in that direction, I would eagerly welcome it. I would love to see some self-awareness from the writers and a character with a legitimate flaw of personality; not just "she made a mistake, but her heart is in the right place" contrivances that have riddled all of Medrano's work. I would love to see that story of Charlie being forced to change as a person, and I would probably love Charlie as a character as well if the show went this route. Instead, good characters just do bad things but with good intentions. Instead of good people actually being complicated creatures with some genuine flaws of character that they are always working to mitigate and be better.

Characters who are working to be good people feel like good people. Those that just act good with no effort feel conniving or disconnected and apathetic. They feel fake and vapid. Having it be a genuine effort would do so much in giving Charlie some ounce of depth.

[clearcloudlesssky]

GOD I NEED SOMEONE WHOS READ CRIME&PUNISHMENT AND PERFUME TO TALK TO ME

especially about raskolnikov vs grenouille like there's so many comparisons to make and i'm not eloquent enough to spit all of them out

like from the very beginning of c&p raskolnikov is almost uncomfortably human? he tries his best to isolate himself and alienate himself but in the end he's dragged back by a sense of humanity (via sonia?) and that's what redeems him

but on the other hand grenouille is characterized by his inhumanity, from the very beginning he feels anything but, even when he mingles with others (the scene where he goes into town wearing his 'human' scent for the first time) he feels like a wolf in sheeps clothing, and the fleece he's wearing only makes him look more wolfish

OK ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS: raskolnikov is obsessed with the idea of the extraordinary man, the superman, the napoleon. he commits the murder to find out if he is one of those supermen, and when confronted by the evidence that he isn't and probably will never be, his pride prevents him from acknowledging it.

whereas raskolnikov seeks a napoleon or a superman, grenouille almost unconsciously becomes/is one. where raskolnikov must actively seek to challenge and test his theory, grenouille carries it out with essentially no remorse, constantly (unknowingly and uncaringly) taking advantage of the law with absolutely no punishment or repercussion, and eventually becoming the said "napoleon" that raskolnikov may have hoped to become

imo raskolnikov is a man who hoped to become a napoleon, but was redeemed by the fact and realization that he was not. grenouille was a man not even aware of said 'napoleon', but became one of his own admission, transgressing the law as raskolnikov stated that he would have had the right to do, and creating a sense of godliness and greatness. BUT he also proves that raskolnikov's extraordinary man isn't really something to pursue, he feels nothing when he openly becomes a conquerer, rather that is the point where he feels the most empty. i think that that sort of idea is also shown in c&p? raskolnikov almost destroys himself in his pursuit of the extraordinary man, and grenouille shows that the extraordinary man is not such an extraordinary after all. i'm unsure about the thoughts here though haha. i want to come up with some binding statement, but i feel like saying "extraordinary man bad" isn't a good expression of my thoughts (there's also raskolnikov's dream at the end of the novel which connects to the topic but i don't wanna talk about what i've mostly forgotten)

so moving forward

raskolnikov's reasons for murdering alyona ivanovna were totally rational. the reasoning "she was useless/did more harm than good, therefore i can kill her" was coldly logical, and is a awesome representation of how necessary the balance of logic and emotion is (sort of like science? it's a sense of just because you can doesn't mean you should, and the main thing overpowering the "can" is morals and emotion, which combats that cold rationality of the "can")

grenouille's reasons for murdering are very passionate, the first time he kills isn't premeditated at all, he finds a scent he likes, and in a fit of pleasure hunts it down and absorbs it. he's a representative of the opposite end of the spectrum. where raskolnikov represents the evildoing of relying solely on logic, grenouille is the wickedness of only following your emotion, which can definitely also be harmful, maybe even more so

when raskolnikov commits his murder, he's totally overcome by a near masochistic need for redemption (or you can just say he becomes more unhinged/mentally unstable than he already was)

when grenouille kills for the first time he has no such feelings or thoughts, it just happens and he all but forgets about it, and even goes on to repeat the action. he shows absolutely no remorse and given the chance he's definitely kill the first girl again (raskolnikov would not. i'm sort of of the opinion he doesn't feel guilt for killing alyona herself, but he feels remorse for the crime in general and probably lizaveta idk i'll talk about it later maybe)

Raskolnikov's sense of humanity and togetherness? is brought back into him via Sonia&co, and basically the majority of the book is his punishment/start of regeneration. Grenouille is alone from the very beginning, he has absolutely no one and he never gets that redemption. (i loved the ending of perfume so much)

there's a little bit more in my head and this was super scattered and random but i can't persuade anyone else ik to read both of these and talk to me about it and my english teacher scares me so this is the best i can do - please feel free to debate me or say more!!

[pinazee]

The Old and the Restless

The first episode to include another Spencer! Now, granted we don’t get much here other than henry doesn’t seem to get along with his dad and maybe doesn’t like the idea of his son being around him. Plus, I don’t think he’s ever mentioned again. I was hoping the introduction to grandpa spencer would give us some kind of reason for why henry is so controlling. We could possibly infer, strictly based on his personality, that grandpa spencer wasnt the most responsible and that henry, as elder brother, took on the brunt of taking care of the family. I mean, you could possibly even go as far as to say grandpa spencer had some run in’s with the law and thats how henry got interested in it- out of spite of his own father and thus leading to the idea that spencer sons resenting their fathers is like a family curse (i think thats actually a thing? I have a vague memory of someone saying it at least). But again, this is all speculation because we never see him again. Grandpas also act differently with their grandkids than their own kids too so who’s to say what it was like for henry growing up. Either way, this flashback really emphasizes how strict henry was, and the more flashbacks i see, the more saddened i get by how downtrodden little shawn is every time he shows up. Liam visibly shrinks when he sits next to him, its heartbreaking. But im glad his grandpa stuck up for him (which is probably why he never saw him again).

The way they pop up here makes me snicker

I love the fast one they played on henry! Shawn knew there was no way he would help unless he thought he could use it as an opportunity to show him up (because his dads a grade A asshole).

I also have no respect for men who call other men girls as an insult, especially when one of those men is his own fucking son. So you gotta imagine shawns heard that kind of bullshit his whole life, so i kind of give him a pass when he makes fun of gus for not being manly enough, though thankfully that seems to dissipate in later seasons so we can call it character growth (though i think it was just the writers, or maybe james, who decided it wasn’t very funny and just hurt the character). Henry has a lot of ground to cover before he can get redeemed in my book. He’s just the worst. im having a much harder time with henry during this rewatch.

Gus is being absolutely adorable here. This episode really made it seem like Gus was henrys kid too, not only because he’s completely comfortable sleeping on his shoulder (I’ve never felt that close to my friends parents at least) but also because he’s giving shit to henry as much as shawn is and i love it! It makes sense too considering how often gus was at his house, henry practically raised him as well.

This is a semi good shawn vs. henry episode. I wish they would have highlighted better how shawn and henry gather their information in different ways but it was more like Henry got some pieces and shawn got pieces but neither had the complete picture so they ended up just working together instead of against. I think i’d have preferred if henry was seeing all the same stuff but shawn actually came to the right conclusion, or that shawn showed kindness to the right person and got the key piece of info that way because ultimately its how he connects with people that separates him from henry (simply because henry is pretty good at seeing the same stuff shawn does a lot of the times is all).

“Just this time im going to teach you a lesson” just this time??? Thats literally all you do henry! Thats like your whole thing!

The way Henry says this makes it seem like he was struggling to call Gus his life partner haha

Shawn and gus both knew of african gambian pouch rats, so i can only assume they watched a nature documentary together haha Sidenote: i randomly looked up african gambian pouch rat to see what they looked like and they’re being used to sniff out tuberculosis apparently?!? Crazy stuff man.

Lassie just wanted to straight up incarcerate a child. Thank god karen became chief over him- could you imagine??? Shawn would definitely have been locked up in the pilot. Gus wouldve been killed next to mira or something, juliet would still be in miami. Buzz wouldve been fired or killed by that serial killer. So many crimes would’ve been unsolved and so many people would’ve been locked up and innocent. So again, thank god for chief vick.

The indian blood bit gets a pass simply because of the line “they were here first” and gus’ response “im not hating on indians im hating on you” I dont think its terribly offensive but it is a dumb stereotypical joke. It just kind of makes me sigh and shake my head.

Why is gus always trying to get shawn to taste blood?? Does that show up later? Is this a consistent thing? Its just kind of weird considering gus is really squeamish around it? I think its Gus’ way of trying to prank him but he’s like really bad at it haha Also i didn’t like gus’ face there. It made it seem vaguely… nevermind. Its just weird lol

I dont like the B story with juliet and lassie. I think i did at one point because juliet put the fear of god in him and inadvertently that same fear in the others which was fun, but this kids a fucking creep so i don’t think theres any combination of words that would cause this character to suddenly become respectful and it might be the most unrealistic thing to happen on psych, which is truly saying something. Its just one of those scenes you can’t overanalyze so I won’t! Its fun! (But like, thats what im doing here so jk). I did enjoy the “scared straight” subversion moment. Prisons great kids. Its like summer camp. Also his friends name is “white slavery” and idk what to do with that information except point at it with my mouth open in amusement.

I just like how lassie does his “strike two” and im doing that from now on.

Overall its not one of my fave episodes but heres some gifs of some of my fave moments

[salvagevillaintalk]

The Curious Case of Moonfish

When it comes to League of Villains, for the most part you could say that the group was 'usually' handled decently. Sure, not everyone got their due time to super shine, but they at least had a moment to leave a good impact on the story...

All except for, debatably one:

Here's Moonfish - arguably the most 'irrevelent' Villain of the League.

Hold it!

Now when I say that, I mean in a 'least impact' sort of way. Even Moonfish still had his due...kind of. He was the one that allowed us to see Dark Shadow when on a rampage. He got us to learn more of Shoji's quirk mechanics. More lore on how the law system works in MHA - namely death row does exist. So he does have some purpose.

But, the issue lies in if It's truly enough?

Think about the two other members of the defeated 3M trio and their impact on the story.

Muscular is connected to Kota because he orphaned the kid and his defeat signalled the fact that there are people out there that will be his Hero. Muscular, even in defeat, beat Deku to the point that not only could he not help save Bakugo, he had to change up his fighting style to be more leg based. He has a long lasting impact on the trajectory of the manga, and what doors could be opened by Deku now. He was also used to show that, yes, while a good chunkf of Villains are redeemable - Goto is not one of them. (Well, one can argue Deku didn't quite try, but that's another debate down the road).

Mustard also had significant purpose to. His fight showed that, even if it wasn't often, Class B's members would have significant time devoted to them and hold key roles in the plot. He also held a very major role of knocking out the majority of Class B and ensuring the Villains would have reduced numbers to fight overall, alongside his gas being the narratives way of preventing the Villains exit from being readily discovered. So while not on the same scale as Muscular, he's a vital part of the Forest Invasion.

Moonfish...um...he's...not quite the same level as the other two. Sure, we got to know more on Shoji's quirk, but, well, that doesn't really require Moonfish to be the only one to get that info (heck, you could even have Toga be the one to steathily slice Shoji's arms to get his blood to get the same effect).

While Moonfish allowed us to know death row exists, again, it doesn't mean he specifically needed to exist to provide that info either, especially with some focus on Tartarus coming up past Kamino.

But what of his contributions to the Forest arc. Which that is to say...um. Well, Moonfish probably contributed the least to the Vanguard's operations. Even Muscular, who got beat first, went down gravely wounding someone on their kill list. But Moonfish's track record well...

He cut off Shoji's arm...but he could regenerate it so it didn't matter.

He caused Dark Shadow to go berserk, but it only served to get himself taken down next...and again, Moonfish himself didn't need to be the one to cause Dark Shadow to go AWOL in the first place.

He fought Bakugo and Todoroki - but not only stalemated and couldn't really harm them, he was trying to eat Bakugo...you know. The person he was tasked to capture XD Something that would have outright ruined their mission since it was not on the game plan.

It also doesn't help that Moonfish's personality is...really flat as well. He's dedicated to his job, sure, but its constantly overshadowed by his love of flesh and insane nature. He's not a smug loudmouth jerk like Muscular who you just wanna see punched or someone that brings up intrigue like Mustard with his resentment of those with 'one note' Quirks. He's a crazy guy, but its not an interesting crazy that keeps you hooked beyond thinking 'ooh, this guys creepy' for a moment before moving on. As such, it's hard to see Moonfish as human like rest and not unlike a Nomu, which makes it harder for people to really get invested.

So you can see the issue here, Moonfish's contributions either didn't quite need him to really succeed or gain knowledge from, were undermined by the story itself, or were just a detriment to his team overall. He lacks the connection to past characters to really get people to root for his defeat, and he lacks being the opportunity for underused cast to get their time in the sun. He also just doesn't have the personality needed to really get people to think of him beyond just being the brief crazy guy for the League either.

It's a recipe for being the odd one out in a trio that's already underused in the story.

And believe me does his role in the Second War not do him any favors.

Muscular at least had a spotlight as being the one to break other people out of jail and, even if flawed, showed that some Villains don't want to be redeemed or find peace - they just want chaos.

But Moonfish?

All he got was a brief cameo as apart of the Okuto Island Villains, not even mentioned as a League member but 'Jailbreaker'. The disrespect XD! He's been demoted!!! The indignity!!! But, yeah, aside from this cameo in his new spiffy outfit, the story does nothing with him.

He doesn't really reunite or talk with the League of Villains that remain. He doesn't spout anything new or anything that recontexualizes what he already know. He doesn't even get his real name revealed like Goto. He doesn't go down meaningfully, isn't even acknowledged by Toga or Kurogiri. He just...kinda exists? And that's kinda the weird thing about Moonfish that sums him up in story:

He's a Villain that's creepy and kinda exists...that's it. His allies don't care about him (heck Compress REALLY does not give a fuck about him since he left him behind), the Heroes think he's troublesome but not on the same level as the High Ends or Toga, ooc he's not really someone that is given the same level of importance, he's just...kinda the filler villain meant to pad out the story? It's sad but sums him up pretty well.

...And it also doesn't help that in the Yakuza Arc, Horikoshi went about making two characters to 'replace' Moonfish in both Quirk and attitude, respectively XD

The Blade Villain's power under Trigger is essentially a better version of Moonfish attached to a person with a more sympathetic figure (even if he's kind of a dick still XD).

As for the raving lunatic with hunger issues that's also an experience powerhouse, Tabe's also more interesting and likable than Moonfish in that department. He's notable a social outcast due to his Quirk to the point that he legit doesn't care if he dies it it means he can help the one person who accepted him, and has made friends with the Trash Trio to the point that, even in his hungry state, he doesn't want to eat them. Which nets him far better than Moon being showing as uncaring to eating both Villains or Heroes alike.

So ontop of not really being liked or respected in and out of story, the narrative promptly had him replaced twice with one-shot characters who are essentially more positive takes on his power and archetype...

Yeaaaah, its hard being Moonfish. Honestly, had Horikoshi gave him Tabe's whole tribulations, where his Quirk affects him on a dietary, level he could have been received well more...but that also likely steps on Toga's arc. I did suggest back during my League Nemesis post for Moonfish that he could have been abused by his community, likely a cult in this case, to the point it warped his diet and sanity that eating 'meat'/people was his only way out and enhance his love for his job a bit more. It would give him something to stand out on his own two feet instead of just being 'the crazy one'.

But, as of now, Moonfish is pretty much stuck with the most 'irrelevent' League member for a reason

[cienie-isengardu]

Liu Kang somehow thought putting Shang on poverty and Quan Chi in OutWorld's mines(likely enslaved) would make them a good people. How he thought that was the case, I have no clue.

Definitely one of the more questionable aspects of probably would've been easier if they just admitted Liu Kang had a bias and made their lives worse thinking they'd cause less trouble if they were miserable rather than painting it as a nonsensical attempt at reformation since it'd show Liu Kang is human and flawed.

Like where is the attempted rehabilitation? Shao Khan had a better chance of life than they did. I understand wanting to prevent them from getting power but his solution didn't even work. If anything, it just made them bitter and pissed when they found Liu Kang was deliberately making their lives terrible.

When I heard the Shang Tsung and Liu Kang character intro I too did immediately think about the miserable conditions in which Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were put on purpose. Understandably this is the most logical connection to make, however it is worth remembering that Liu Kang hasn’t said anything about wishing to redeem those two in story mode alone. Intro dialogues are tricky as they often refer to events that happened totally outside the main story (Bi-Han freeing General Shao from prison, Kuai Liang's marriage with Harumi to name few examples), so there is still, however small and unlikely chance the punishment mentioned by Shang Tsung and Liu Kang’s wish to reform him may refer to something else than Fire God constructing a miserable life for still innocent man solely because he has the misfortune to share the same name (soul?) with Liu Kang’s supposedly dead archenemy. It could, for example, be about punishing Shang Tsung for his involvement in the crisis as the final of the game did not resolve much about what happened to sorcerers or other villains and we know some bits here and there solely from intro dialogues. And by punishing I mean forcing him to make amends for wrongs brought against people of Outworld and Earthrealm, a people Shang Tsung has no love or loyalty for, which could explain why both characters have totally different views on the matter. 

Personally I do connect the intro in question to the main story but like I said, intros are tricky things by nature of talking about events but not showing us what truly happened, sometimes without a proper context, so I’m willing to give it a small benefit of doubt. However I too would like if the story examine more Liu Kang’s bias and favoritism, as he was after all a human first then Keeper of Time and I would like to hear more about his reasoning why he fucked up some people’s lives (Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, orphaned Tomas/Smoke) and some granted a great deal of power over other (Sindel and her whole Royal family) on purpose and why he tried so hard to get as similar result to old Timelines than like, rebuild it all anew.

I’m not even that mad Liu Kang for whatever reason decided to make Shang Tsung and Quan Chi suffer by giving them meaningless life but I’m furious that Shao Kahn get a chance at true redemption as Outworld’s respected champion that put him again in place of power if objectively speaking, Shao Kahn always personified the biggest Bad Thing to happen. Shang Tsung was no less of a threat to Earthrealm, sure, but he was also a subordinate doing his master’s bidding (e.g. creation of Mileena) and as other timelines showed, for failing a master he would pay with his life - and even when he did not fail, he was killed to give resurrected MK9!Sindel additional power like ages of dutiful service meant nothing. Shao’s BIO says he was born as a sickly child and it was his father that did not accept it and molded him into perfect soldier

Born into a proud military family, Shao was expected to become a soldier. But he was a sickly child who, though brilliant and eager, had an infirm body. Shao’s disability infuriated his father. He dismissed his son’s physicians and designed an extreme program to build his son’s strength and endurance. Years of toil molded Shao into a physical colossus and forged within him an iron will. And as his father had promised, Shao became the perfect soldier. His brilliant tactics and relentless effort won Outworld many victories and him much fame

and to be honest, I don’t have an idea, did making Shao the sick/disabled kid who - in theory - couldn’t carry on family military tradition was the punishment (backfired by a stubborn father) or was it a plan to make Shao work hard to earn respect/fame and by serving Royal Family, make up for past sins? The story mode says Liu Kang meant for Shao to be Sindel’s loyal follower which implies rather making him a soldier?

Shang Tsung’s BIO states he “grew up in Outworld’s backwaters. Too lazy for hard labor and too shifty for honest work, he eked out a living selling quack cures and fake magic. Though his wares were useless, Shang Tsung’s easy charm always closed the deal. Shang Tsung was resigned to this hardscrabble life [...]” which makes it sound like the miserable life was his own fault, for being too lazy and not interested in honest work but the game gives a different impression of him, at least for me. Especially compared to Shao thriving as top champion, while Shang Tsung calls his life “barely surviving”.

What is even more weird, if Liu Kang constructed every character's life, why not just, you know, erase Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Shao Kahn from history and be done with the problem? As the Jacqui Briggs MK11!Ending proves Keeper of Time can erase a person's existence by simple inference in events (Jacqui saving her dad from death at Sindel’s hand in MK9 resulted in Jax never meeting Vera and thus she was not begotten) so why not just meddle before any one of those were born or alternatively, give them different parents or better families to raise them right?

And if Shao could end in a respected family, why not put Shang Tsung between Shaolin Monks and train him to be champion of Earthrealm and like, give him some worthy purpose? 

So, at the end we come back to the question, did Liu Kang on purpose make Shang Tsung and Quan Chi facing miserable hardship under (false) attempt at reformation or just outright to punish them? On one hand, he is not presented as intentionally cruel person (and he did admit being Keeper of Time demands making hard choices) but at the same time, he favors existence of Royal Family (aristocracy) over democracy / equality, he doesn’t seem to mind Umgadi system that forces first born-daughters to be raised as warrior priestesses, who are stripped from any ties to their biological family, are forbidden to marry/be in relationship and whose whole life revolve around serving and protecting Royal Family - and doesn’t Umgadi system resemble the old Lin Kuei before Kuai Liang’s reformation? Generally, there is an interesting contrast between characters serving and seeking power / freedom to not do so, but that is a matter for another time.

Personally, I do not think of Liu Kang as bad person as he stepped from the role of Titan on his own accord and chose to be mere Earthrealm Protector and all, but that does not mean he is above human flaws, and his (and Raiden’s for that matter) life experiences definitely affect to some degree his choices. And let's face it, both Liu and Raiden have never been fond of Shang Tsung.

[evaundertale]

My kingdom hearts ships really just have become yes.

I straight up made this list because at somepoint imma draw these ships whether it's aus or not.

I like Sornami this I don't know why but I always felt Sora have more chemistry with Namine even if it's based off fake memories for the first half. But also I'm still slightly prefer them with others as well.

Love soriku there's no question their I reblog it like alot the ship has stuck with me sense kh2. And hasn't ever left. But other than that I'm a sucker for friends to lovers troop and this was the first friends to rivals to enemies to friends to loves. I'm not one who normally like rivals to lovers or enemies to lovers but this ship opened that up for me especially with how Riku tries so hard to redeem himself for Sora when he doesn't even have to.

Sorkai in kh 1 is great but shaky about it later on especially with reading the novels and looking at the translation of kh 3 also cause I think Kairi deserves better than how Sora treats her sometimes. It's like she's an after thought sometimes and it sucks.

Now Kairi with anyone else is higher then sorkai like roxiri, vankai, venkai, namikai, xion x kairi and sometimes and this is really just sometimes Odette x Kairi. I love all the ships and how their concepts could be.

I love namixi, rokunami, rokunamixi (ot3 like I think it'd be wholesome if they all were together and caring for eachother), rokushi these just are wholesome regardless of how you look at them.

Repliku and Namine I don't really ship Riku in Namine because I think Nomura shot that down instantly by changing the cutscene but also I liked the idea of Riku treating Namine, Kairi and Xion all similar sense he tends to interact slightly similar with each of them. But Repliku and Namine is both sad and wholesome it's probably due to the biased I have for liking the fan made trio with her the lost trio.

Vanami and Vankai so I got a reason for liking these two ships one the concept of Vanitas probably seeing Kairi as weak (in his eyes) or something but growing and interested in her for standing up and facing him despite that. Maybe they'd start off at odds not liking eachother or Vanitas being interesting while Kairi just sees him as a threat. The difference with Namine is I think he'd slightly mellow out not to much but find the fact she can manipulate memories fascinating. Maybe she reaches out wanting to help him even if he's full on darkness she probably would want to help like with Repliku but this time she feels she can is in more control to.

Okay okay the ships Namikai so I liked the aspect of how when they connected they have a light connection not to say that means anything but when Kairi needed someone Namine came in kh 2 and understood her like no one else even if she is technically a form of her Namine develops into her own person outside of Kairi and I just think it's wholesome which ever way you see it platonic or romantic.

Xion and Kairi I think in Xions case this ship is interesting to say the least not that it's bad just sense Xion in that weird grey area, she's Kairi, Sora and Riku at the sametime she develops on her own but still was the memories of Sora of Kairi and possibly Riku as well (cause why else did she experience a memorie only Riku has) so I guess she could have feelings for Kairi off Sora's memories of her but then again as she developed and Kairi slowly grow feelings over her seeing Xion becoming stronger despite her struggles.

I weirdly like Kairi and Strelitzia as a concept it's cute and I feel like wholesome from most comics or people who've talked about it. They tend to have wholesome ideas.

Venkai okay this one is just yes for me while her time away from Sora and training with Aqua she could get to learn not only combat but that she doesn't have to mimic others. From Kairi in Melody of memories in the Japanese translation she seems to blame herself slightly about Sora's death but not only that but from her combat in kh 3 it mimics mainly Sora's but with some of Riku. With Kairi's character constantly trying to catch up to both I feel like with time she lost a bit of herself due to that. From not finding her own way to train or fight that's why I think not only with the training from Aqua could she have time to reflect and think but get advice as well. In that time whether romantic or platonic I think Kairi and Ven would interact alot getting to know eachother and it being healthy to see the Wayfinder trios interactions. It might make her miss her friends but also might make her resolve to grow stronger that much firm. Now to the way I see Venkai sense Ventus is treated as the kid within the Wayfinder trio having someone around his age or also treated could lead to interesting bonding or Ventus mentioning how after all they been through Aqua and Terra still treat him like a kid. Kairi who probably doesn't really mind bring treated like she's younger much but might open up a bit more. Maybe over time they both talk about their worries or the events that happen to find some sort of closure. I think even if Ventus and her I think would he cute I also know full well it can be platonic as well.

Roxiri I will die on this rarepair ship. Okay actual reason I just love the concept the struggle with Roxas not knowing if she likes him for technically being a part of him or if his feelings are his own or Sora's (yes Xion probably go through that struggle to) while Kairi might end up hanging around him for see that he feels left behind to. I know Nomura doesn't address it much but from days and both Xion and him wanting to see where Alex went to when Xion forced a fight on him I do think Roxas should have a bit more struggle with those two events especially with them coming back not saying they wouldn't be friends again I just think they should talk about it maybe there's a stiffness in the air till they interact and in this time Kairi who also feels left behind alot probably talk about it growing a slow bond. From Kairi giving suggestions like Roxas talking it out especially sense thats how her and Axel worked it out. And Roxas letting her know that she doesn't have to face things along or feel left behind and to go at her pace. Maybe they could start having small bit training like he did with Xion in-between her training with Aqua. I feel like Roxas though would probably start off a little bit distant when she approaches probably dealing with the fact now that he's out only to find out Ventus is there and he looks like him exactly. Roxas struggles didn't really get addressed much but I do think if they were Kairi might help him out a bit even if it's just advice. The concept just intrigues me and I love it so dear.

Lastly RokuNamiXi I like Xion and Roxas I personally prefer rokunami a bit more but I also love the concept that they would just date together from me shipping all three pairs of Namine and Xion, Roxas and Xion and Roxas and Namine. I didn't wanna just let any of them be a third wheel. I think it'd be wholesome and sweet to see them all dating eachother from having feelings for eachother.

[yellowloid]

what do u think about louise

LMAO i knew this would happen

i don't really think that much about her tbh. i mostly think that as every other girlfriend she gets a lot of hate for literally just existing which is mostly rooted in misogyny. you have to be deeply delusional as a fan to believe you could ever have a chance with your fave lmao and just because she managed to do it thanks to the right connections it still doesn't mean you get to hate on her just because she's your celebrity crush's girlfriend. be so for real and touch some grass

of course she did some problematic stuff in the past (though still """less""" problematic than what taylor did, at least from what i know), but that still doesn't justify people going on her socials and bashing on her every chance they get. you are entitled to your own opinion about her and obviously you can dislike her - but still, without sending her hateful comments/messages.

personally i don't really love her, but i don't hate her either. as i said, she did some problematic stuff in the past - although cancel culture is a problem in and of itself; she deserves at least a chance to redeem herself, and i want to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe she understood what she did was wrong and learnt from her mistakes. still, that doesn't mean we should forget about her wrongs and defend her at all costs like cringe amtwitter does

but strictly speaking of her relationship with alex... the reason i don't like them that much is that from what we've seen of their relationship it doesn't exactly seem to be the healthiest thing. first of all because of the nasty way it started, and by that i mean him cheating on taylor - which i think is safe to say is probably what happened, and if it is, then that was very very yikes of both alex and louise. also the fact that she used to be a fan and idealised him as well as his relationship with alexa (huge power imbalance + her most likely trying to hide her true personality to fit his "aesthetic") and in general the fact that they really... don't seem to have that much chemistry with each other? they look cute together, sure, but they really don't seem to bring out the best in each other, if that makes sense. there are like three (3) pictures of alex where she's in close proximity and he doesn't look like he wants to be kicked in the balls and die on the spot. they just seem very... boring. and bored with each other, also.

but then again, we really don't know what they're like in private. we don't know them personally so we don't know how their relationship with each other works. maybe it's perfect and straight out of a fairy tale! maybe they're actually in love even if they usually look miserable when close to each other! who knows, right? my point is: alex is a grown man and if for whatever reason he chooses to stay with her, then so be it, regardless of what we as fans might think. if she makes him happy, then as a fan of him that's all i care about.

[phoenixkaptain]

I finished rewatching Total Drama Island (and I only almost threw up five or so times. All on episode 25. I only had to stop watching for, like, five minutes though. Whoever came up with that episode is seriously fucked up, but I can’t help but to respect it.)

I just think that rewatching Island is hilarious with the foresight of World Tour existing. They could not have set up Heather’s future narrative mirror any better if they tried, like, it’s kind of amazing! I mean, I’m sure the creators had some idea that the show would continue, but that had to be near the end right? Otherwise, I’d have to assume that the creators gave so many of the characters nice, happy endings with the intention to fuck them up. Which, the creators did create TDI episode 25, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility, but-

Anyway, none of that’s the point. Heather having to deal with Heather 2: Electric Boogaloo is the funniest thing they could have made happen in World Tour. I know it’s a redemption arc, and I think they couldn’t have given Heather a redemption arc if they tried anything else. Like, if Heather was antagonized and antagonizing Alejandro, who Noah says best is just like Heather only prettier more socially adept, Heather would never be redeemed. Some of the stuff she does in the first season is just cruel for the sake of being cruel. If they tried to redeem her any other way than making her deal with herself 2.0, it just wouldn’t have worked.

(And it wouldn’t have been as funny)

I really liked a lot of the episodes. It really takes me back to my childhood, you know? I was only 6 when Island first premiered. I didn’t understand a single thing going on. I think I liked Leshawna because I liked her shirt. And, Leshawna, I feel, definitely has the least second-hand embarrassmant scenes, so that was probably a part of it. I liked DJ because I could relate to his anxiety. Even at 6. That’s probably a bad thing, huh…

Anyway, point being, I totally watched this show as a kid and I absolutely hated every other moment and wanted to die and understood approximately none of what was going on (as a kid andanadultcoughcough I tended to zone out. I missed a lot of plot in movies and tv shows. I was busy thinking about something else) and I think I only watched the show because I wasn’t supposed to. My brothers told me not to, so I went out of my way to. Success.

I do think the series’ humour peaked in World Tour (“If it’s any consolation, you do get *gestures to Tyler falling down the side of a pyramid*” This makes me laugh every time. The line delivery, the timing, even the animation- everything is wonderful. Not to mention Tyler climbing the fence in Area 51 and getting electrocuted and Duncan and Alejandro going in through the open gate. Tyler is the funniest character in all of Total Drama (that I know of, which is seasons 1-3) and I will fight you on that.) but Island is still very amusing. DJ screaming at Heather, her saying “stop, it’s me, Heather,” he stops, then starts screaming again. A little joke I don’t see people mention a lot is Chef saying “25 of us went in, only 5 of us came out,” twice. The second time always gets me. Chef telling Chris he’s an inspiration while cradling Chris in his arms is only as funny as it is because of Chris awkwardly saying “thanks, dude.”

I really like all the characters. Watching it again, there really aren’t any characters I actively hate. I mean, Ezekiel just isn’t in the show long enough for me to hate him, and even Heather has her most redeeming quality (being very funny). The characters are fun to watch interact. I really like Geoff, who was voted off for being too good of a person. Of course I really like Leshawna, who connected the sewage pipe to the showers while Heather was showering to get revenge, which was just really satisfying. I like Gwen and Owen, especially because they’re just the most unlikely duo of all time and their friendship is kinda cute. Noah is fun if only because he is very obviously a 2007 stereotype of a gay man: calling people “honey,” being sarcastic, his voice, hanging around mostly with girls, not liking traditionally masculine things (sports), limp wrist, the scathing way he talks to people (he did kiss a dude that one time but it was in his sleep, so I’ll give him a pass on that one. Plus, it wasn’t even the only scene of a dude kissing another dude. Owen kisses dudes. Kissing someone’s ear and people’s cheeks, I just don’t know if I buy that being significant in any way other than the creators making gay jokes). Noah was obviously meant to be a gay caricature only for the creators to figure out he was a fan favourite and give him a girlfriend, most likely at the behest of the studio. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Noah’s popularity in the first season stemmed entirely from him being a gay caricature. 2007, man. Things were wild.

I guess you could say that I sort of understand Noah’s popularity, especially coming from seasons where he was not the third person to be booted, but also I don’t? He’s funny, which is enough for me to like him, but I don’t know if others agree. In fact, I can almost guarantee there are people who disagree, because I like Heather for the same reason, and people have claimed that no one should like Heather. Unfortunately, she made me giggle once, and now I will defend her to the death. That’s just the way I am, sadly, and I can’t change it, nor do I particularly want to.

Speaking of Heather, I really enjoyed the running gag of Chef being a good chef who purposefully makes terrible food for the campers. I like when he complains about no one showing any gratitude for him slaving over a hot stove all day. I really like that he seems to hate Owen, because he just can’t gross Owen out, but he also seems to like Owen, because Owen compliments his cooking.

Owen is such a weird character, because he is the butt (pun intended) of so many gay jokes. But my favourite Owen bit is him in the confessional spilling all of his secrets because the confessional makes him want to confess everything. Also, Mr. Coconut. Also also, Owen easily defeating the snake keeping them up in the treehouse and, upon being asked why he didn’t do it earlier, him saying “What, and miss out on all of this bonding?” I love Owen.

I quite enjoyed watching the show. It is nice to understand what’s going on. And to understand the jokes. And to realize how weird it is that Lindsay couldn’t talk about eating disorders or boob jobs but Harold could talk about seeing boobies (on American television). And now I get how weird it is that they aged down the cast, yet kept the adult themes. I mean, the teens very rarely act like teenagers, they more act like college students than high school ones, and the discrepancy between their ages and the ages they were meant to be portrayed as is incredibly funny to me.

All in all, I will continue to watch the show’s seasons. Because it’s either that, or pull my hair out trying to get myself to hyperfixate on something else. I can’t guide my hyperfixations, I can only ride them. And this is what my mind wants to focus on. I don’t really have a choice, y’know? If I did, I think I would choose literally any other show (any other show that didn’t make me almost throw up a dozen times). There are worse shows to fixate on, but there are definitely better ones too.

[icharchivist]

some detailed thoughts about the Relink's ending (a whole post will be dedicated to coming back to the whole game)

where did i stop. ah yeah. Rolan our Princess in distress. Ouh boy.

-first of all, big hype for the game to have this many fake endings. always keeping in on my toes like "what do you mean it's not over"

-The last official island was so fucking scary. The ambiance was really top notch but at what cost. Truly "there's no reason for the skies to be blue" call back.

-Having to fight dark versions of all the big boss primals we fought so far was really cool, it's fun also to see how much more used we are to them now.

Io is so funny.

-ID IS MY BEST FRIEND I WANT TO KISS HIS FACE IM SO AAAAAAAAH. When he came to join us i was crying i'm so happy.

-The reveal about what he is was great though. I did wonder about it before but i thought connecting him directly to Bahamut would have been maybe a little too big. But in the end, that was what the game was going for anyway lmao. But that does explain why Id found a bit of his humanity back by being around Lyria. She probably pulled him out of the mind-restrainer that way.

(speaking of which i mentioned as soon as Lyria appeared with that collar that Id had the same around his neck but no one was bringing it up in game so i thought i was insane about it. So glad i was right. So not glad of how it was confirmed.)

-This is SOOO RAGAZZO CORE THOUGH.

Like honestly Lilith was a great mix of multiple Granblue antagonists: she has a bit of all the astrals in her like i mentioned earlier, the fact her final boss battle was her fusing with a primal in desperation is really like Freesia, stuff like that....... but her relationship with Id in particular was REALLY a lot like Ferdinand and Ragazzo it was chilling to see.

she "adopted him" and immediately put a mind control collar on his neck, in order to lock a god inside of him because the god thwarted her plans, but she taught Id how to use this power, and have him be her son. so when he betrayed her, she played the whole ":) mom is so sad for your betrayal" which is exactly how Ferdinand played off Ragazzo's betrayal.

So like "grooming children into becoming her pawns and not telling them that in her greater plan there is only pain" is sooo Ferdinand coded--

but it's Id's way of, after realizing the abuse and horrors, still loving his mother so much, but in a way where he understands she needs to be taken down, so it's his responsibility as a son at least to take her down for all the horrors..... this is soooo Ragazzo coded.

also the way Id turns into a dragon form reminds me of Ragazzo's harmonized form which adds to the whole thing. + Lilith actually harming him in order to turn him into a weapon she intends to use, only for him to throw her off the island. again, very Ferdinand&Ragazzo coded.

the way they all immediately adopted him is making me cry though, always

Id we have a few people in our crew that started off by kidnapping Lyria and now are our besties. you'll fit right in.

-the two others generals also coming to help us with the bosses + against Lilith waas SO FUCKING COOOOL . I think they're so neat. I love Granblue's insistance on redeeming about everyone.

-amazing line from Vyrn.

-Literally would kill for Id.

-always loving a good power of friendship.

-The boss fight against Lilith was really cool. had a lot of brainworms about astrals' mentality and the way they basically are so self reliant they just see how they get to use others for their own gain, not how they can be helped

-which now makes me think is probably why Rolan felt so ashamed that he did start out "using us" against Lilith instead of just relying on us, knowing that this would be the same result anyway. Like i think it's fine and all but it explains the guilt he felt so much.

-Anyway final fight with Lilith, and she breaks the mindcontrol collar from Id, and if it's manually broken it drives people insane, which, linked to his bond with Bahamut, just unleashes a rampaging Bahamut on the skies. huh oh.

but ofc determined to save Id and all, we go on:

-This made me chuckle and cry at once. Eugen knows so well the suffering he brought his daughter by being such a shitty father and he knows she doesn't want him to fix it and everything, that now he sees any kid with a failure of a parent and he's like "it's okay i can be your parent now too.". What a guy.

-btw next ticket went to Ferry

-cried during this part so took screenshot. Pure quintessential granblue experience.

then we have to fight a rampaging Id and just.

-Id is a good boy and i love him so much

-^this was so funny to me. so real.

-ANYWAY NOOOOO ROLAN

-We really need to do something about Danchou's habit of just, jumping into danger without a back up plan.

-Id and Danchou jumped in an alternative dimension trying to repeal the Bahamut inside of Id, and Rolan came to save us out of it...... but was locked behind in the dimension.

-which is horrible.

-he made sure we knew he's alive though so there's still hope we'll get him back

-here's how Lucifer coming back can still win--

so we're adding Rolan to the list of our alternate besties we need to get back. LUCIO COME BACK HERE AND OPEN THOSE FUCKING DOORS.

-Id, of course, has survivor guilt and feels terrible about it. and since he was our enemy he doesn't get why we're so chill with him.

and this was adorable:

-crying in the club:

-The ending song was fucking heartbreaking i was just crying through it.

-Anyway post game campaign is basically, we're going back to Folca and people are lost now that Rolan is gone, and Id feels so guilty he wants to take over what Rolan used to do, so we decide to help him out, and tadaa. The more we play the game and sidequests to help Id build his reputation as Mister Fix It the more we'll get some plots about Id reclaiming his own life now and everything.

-All in all the game was just perfect and i cried a lot

-the battles were all so, so damn amazing and it was a blast to play through every time

-what a game.

[bisexualshakespeare]

All of Nick Mohammed's season 3 notes from this tweet, now hopefully easier to read

. As before, so much of Nate's story is deliberately unseen, unscripted or dialogue free - even more so now Nate is out on a limb. That feeling of abandon and loneliness were/are great drivers for Nate. In so much of the first half of S3 he's alone.

. Despite what Nate did to Ted, I felt it was important to aim for redemption right from the start of season three, even if it was primarily in the pauses between lines or in the way Nate's posture betrays his confidence. The horror of what Nate's done, of what he's becoming, of how he betrayed Ted, of the specific things he said haunt him throughout season three and no amount of bravado, fancy cars or words of 'encouragement' from Rupert can ever fully hide that.

. Incidentally, Nate's mum is called Maria Shelley - and Mary Shelley gave birth to Frankenstein/Frankenstein's Monster! "What have I become/what have I created!" . We see Lego Nate on the Richmond bench in 301… a sure sign of where things are headed - but we've a long way to go yet! More on the nature of redemption below, but even though that word is used a lot, 'catharsis' is probably a better way to describe Nate's S3 arc. To an extent redemption is in the eye of the beholder and as far as Nate's story is concerned it's more a look into our capacity for forgiveness. For some, there's nothing Nate can do to redeem himself - what he did at the end of season two simply crossed too much of a line. But for others, he will have done enough. Neither interpretation is right or wrong, but the challenge of season three with Nate was to make people question - even if just for a split second - their judgement at the end of S2.

. Part of the difficulty in forgiving Nate is because we believed in him from the start. We're so predisposed into buying a redemption story if we start off not liking them/their behaviour, but this was never the case with Nate - we rooted for him right from the off. Rebecca, Jamie, Colin, Isaac and even Higgins all make very questionable choices at the start of S1 - one may even argue just as bad as Nate's actions in S2 - but our capacity and desire to forgive isn't nearly as seductive as our desire to judge.

. Thanks to brilliant designer Paul Cripps, the first time we see Nate in Rupert's office is almost a direct parallel to when Anakin visits Emperor Palpatine's throne room in Return of the Jedi - a sure sign that Nate will eventually be redeemed!

. So here's a lovely example of Jason being Jason but also how often art imitates life in Ted Lasso… All through season one Jason would toy with a deck of playing cards on set practising sleight of hand. (Jason is a brilliant magician and it's something he and I would geek out over from when we first met and all through filming season one). In season two, because of Covid, there was way less time for this kind of social interaction, not least because we had to stay apart between takes. But just before we shot the scene in the lift in 304 (the first time Ted and Nate see each other following Nate's departure in S2) - and I don't know if it was by design or sheer fluke - Jason started toying with a deck of cards again… and that rush of adoration and connection between us all came flooding back. Even though I'm sure it was purely on a subconscious level, it was honestly so useful to use as a reminder of Nate's deep-seated love and appreciation for Ted.

. In 305 Nate opens up to Jade and says "[my date had to…] be really mean and leave" which is exactly what Nate did to Ted at the end of S2. Even though there's a way to go, there's a tiny moment of realisation here. A flash of the true Nate - which Jade sees.

. In 306 when Ted hallucinates seeing Nate in the diner we did the switch on camera for real (I think it's called a Texas switch and there's some great examples of it being done brilliantly in films on YouTube!) Supporting Artist Harry enters frame just as I dash behind camera. Hats off to the brilliant David Rom and Matt Lipsey for fathoming the choreography of this!

. 307 is the first time we see Nate smile and genuinely mean it/feel it all season (when looking at himself in the mirror in The Taste of Athens). Finally he has a chance to achieve something in his life without trampling on others - and it's no surprise that he ultimately returns to arts and crafts, something that connects us to the S1 version of Nate (and that connects him, specifically, to family). Up until this point Nate deliberately modifies his behaviour depending on what he feels others want to see in him (for better or worse). Jade doesn't want or need any of that. 307 is also the first time Nate refers to himself as 'Nate' - the name Ted gave him. Another sign that he's slowly but surely becoming comfortable with who he is.

. In general, Jade is such a guiding light in Nate's journey. That personal growth, intimacy and the beginnings of a truly meaningful relationship are subsequently enough for him to start seeing things differently… Not dissimilar to how Ted empowers Nate throughout S1. While I remember, I'll share a time-lapse of the wig being put on shortly, but hugest thanks to Chloe Hooker, Sophie, Nicky and team for pinning me in every day! From 310 onwards (more on that ep below) we switched to a much softer wig, which was deliberately less styled. A sign that Nate is becoming more like his old self. Of course he could never go fully back to having black hair - unless he dyed it! - but I like to think of the grey as a constant reminder to what Nate did and has been through. To a degree his tale is a cautionary one: careful what you wish for.

. As with the hair, Nate's suits track his downfall too. It's no coincidence that Nate chose a black suit to emulate Roy following his inappropriate pass at Keeley in 211, which is gross for all kinds of reasons, but shows Nate's toxic and confused mindset toward the end of S2. This suit stays with Nate for much of S3 but the way he wears it changes. I was forever asking Jason when we'd see the grey suit again but Jacky (costume) had a better idea! We do see it, but only the jacket. It's in the montage at the end of 312 when Nate's in the window seat (!) of the Taste of Athens enjoying a meal with his family and Jade. It's important Nate isn't beholden to Ted by this point hence just the jacket and not the full suit. I love that!

. Whilst on the subject of costume, the turtle necks and gilet were all chosen to give Nate a more uptight look while at West Ham. His posture becomes tense and unnatural. Again, it's a tiny thing, but it's another nudge towards him wearing the wrong outfit/pretending to be someone he's not. When you compare to how relaxed Nate is to when he's with Jade (in his own clothes) or to how he is in the gloriously comfy tracksuit that he wears in 312 on return to AFC Richmond! . Nate is fixated on Richmond from 308 onwards rather than himself. His behaviour is changing, he even thanks Roger after the match win rather than rudely dismissing him as per previous episodes. These aren't grand gestures and are less meaningful when viewed individually (Nate categorically shouldn't be praised for not cheating on Jade in 309 for example) but all these things taken together possibly amount to something close to redemption and are signs of Nate developing the emotional intelligence he's been lacking up until this point. This is a side note but Nate writing a text response to Rupert after he's seen Ted and Henry in the stands in 308 and then deleting it/changing it to something Rupert will want to hear is a great way of showing where Nate's heart truly lies despite what he's presenting.

. 309 is the first time Nate rejects Rupert (in Bones & Honey) and - importantly - their last direct interaction. The thought process in the aftermath of that moment is very specific… Nate's reaction goes from shock (did I just say no to Rupert), to have I lost my job (selfish), to where am I/I need to get out of here (realisation). His walk to Jade's (unseen) and their hug in the doorway is ultimately his release. But whilst Jade plays a huge part in Nate's arc (and impeccably played by Edyta Budnik) it's important Nate ultimately takes things into his own hands. But she remains a magnificent guiding light.

. I've already written about the significance of the violin piece used in 310 but just to gush a bit more about my amazing wife...! We first met during an orchestra rehearsal (she plays viola and piano) so to get to play this piece with her for the show was incredibly special. This scene is also special as it's the only scene that Rebecca and Nate 'share' (Rebecca's also my wife's name!) Both Rebecca (the character) and Nate are connected through Rupert - who once had a hold over both of them. And so to underscore her speech with Nate playing violin was such a great move on the writers' part (the intercut sequence was all scripted). A perfect example of 'show don't tell' by colliding their two storylines in this way. . We discussed so many different possible violin pieces. From memory the alt contenders were chiefly Ashokan Farewell, Danny Boy and an arrangement of Come Josephine, In My Flying Machine (which Jack whispers and sings to Rose when they're striking that pose on the front of the Titanic!)

. I asked Jason to be in my eye line when Nate's dad is speaking to him because when Nate aims his words at Ted in 212 those were undoubtedly intended for his dad (I would also try and interchange the words 'dad' and 'Ted' in the script so that I'd say one but think the other but don't tell sound!) The situation in 310 is mirrored. Nate doesn't cry here like he did in front of Ted though (and will again in 312) and it's important that that's not Nate and his dad 'fixed'. It does represent the start of a healing process, though. Similarly, Nate and his dad don't hug... that moment is saved for when he's with Ted and learns of his departure in 312.

. I'm sure that many of you clocked it already, but the lavender fabric softer that Nate secretly adds to the towels at the end of 310 and which Will smells is a callback to 202 when Nate ridicules Will for using it in the first place. Worth noting too that Nate apologises and makes amends in the order that he broke those relationships (starting with Will, then Colin, Beard, Keeley and ending - ultimately - with Ted). . Nate looking up when Jade seemingly disappears in front of Isaac, Colin and Will in 311 is a callback to when Beard seemingly disappeared in Nate's office in 207! . I teased the first two words of this before 311 came out but I'll share Nate's full letter to Ted shortly too (shout out to the amazing props dept, Lizzie and Dylan for having so much fun writing this as it was indeed 60 pages and very Nate!) . Fun fact: I had to stay under the table for 45 mins while they shot all the previously unseen security cam footage of Nate hiding under the table at the end of 212 though revealed to Beard in 311 - including everyone doing a big conga line past Ted's desk! . The decreasing screen time with Ted towards the end undoubtedly points towards his ultimate departure. The last scene I shot on the show was the scene between Ted and Nate in 312 and was - whether by design or a sheer fluke of scheduling - filmed on our very last day. We effectively shot the rehearsal because I was too upset! The picture I accidentally posted on Instagram before realising it was a huge spoiler on the last day was of Nate in AFC Richmond gear but with a clear view of the slate confirming Nate's return in S3 - not my finest hour but attached here for completeness! . Once again, thank you for all your insights, theories, for your love (and hate!) to our phenomenal team of writers and directors and incredible crew. It's been an absolute blast. Now let's go Greyhounds! Yes there will/will not be a season four - delete as appropriate ;-)

[fizzingwizard]

I stayed up till 5:30 am... and finished Wednesday. hey I'm on vacation i can do what i want lol

thoughts thoughts thoughts (spoilers of course)

I really, really liked the show... I liked it SO much... right up until the last episode.

Which, I gotta be honest, was a total let down. Shouldn't start with the negative first, but sorry, the wound is too fresh xD

The last episode was VERY Harry Potter. Not just because of the whole "her blood is the key" thing, or the Dead Principal thing, or the resurrection of the racist icon thing. All of a sudden, all the students in the school were so buddy-buddy, and so On Task. Everyone got a glib one-liner. Everyone got a chance to be "Cool" and have their "moment."

It was cliche. It went too fast. And then the thing with the necklace! I had completely forgotten about it - had we even seen it once since Morticia gave it to her? But conveniently it can also channel spirits and let them use magic healing powers. Not so farfetched when we consider Morticia is familiar with spirits, and as a powerful witch Goody Addams probably did have lots of healing magic. So I would totally let all that slide if the rest of the episode hadn't been such a bummer.

The boys, for instance. I went back and forth wondering if the monster was Xavier or Tyler (seemed pretty clear it'd be one of them). Each time I started liking one, the show gave me a reason to like the other - and if I liked him, he was probably the monster xP But what that means is, I LIKED BOTH OF THEM. Which means I really did NOT like Tyler ending up just some goon who was, I guess, faking everything he felt for Wednesday? I'm going to guess that that's not the case - that if we get a season 2, we'll find out more, that he and the monster are separate personalities for instance, as it seemed when he threatened Wednesday in the police station. So I hope we haven't seen the end of Tyler and he's redeemed, because he seems like a kid who really needs a break and it just sucks for him to end as some murderous monster. That's such a Marvel thing to do, treat characters like cannon fodder.

And speaking of cannon fodder, although I did enjoy episodes 1-7, I got to a point where the number of characters dying just seemed ridiculous. Game of Thrones gets away with it because it primes you to Love No One. But Wednesday was insisting that relationships are valuable. A story which values interpersonal relationships can't callously kill characters. The mayor dying was such a twist but it didn't really have much impact, even though his son is one of the characters. The therapist dying was messed up. The only way it made sense was if it made a serious impression on Wednesday. It didn't, despite the fact that the therapist seemed like a really good kind of person. I get that the angle was "Wednesday's blinded by her own dislike of the therapist and over-eager to crack the case." That's fine, it just wasn't felt enough, because Wednesday cared much more about being wrong than that the therapist was dead.

That's exactly why Thing being stabbed worked. The attacks which mattered the most happened to Thing and Eugene, as well as the failed attack on Tyler and Enid. Why, because Wednesday gives a damn about them, even if she won't admit it. And with Thing of course she did. So those other character killings were unnecessary.

I'm sure I've missed some things, or some things haven't been fully explained because they're set ups for the next seasons. But that's another issue: throughout the show they dropped so. many. clues. So many subplots and hints and connections. I honestly thought, by episode 7, that Goody Addams wouldn't show up again till the next season, because she'd been so underused that I didn't understand how they could fit her in with everything else. And I do think she'll continue to be relevant, even if Wednesday can no longer see her... she might have used the necklace as an opportunity to "possess" Wednesday in the future or something. But anyway, the point is there was so much going on in just seven episodes that it was just impossible for the eighth to be fulfilling. Like Gomez being accused of killing Gates, then it turning out to be Morticia, and then it turned out he was already dying of poison so the fact that he was also stabbed suddenly doesn't matter...? And a love triangle over Morticia, while totally believable, just felt weird when it was so serious instead of comedic...

Thornhill being the master sucks. It felt shoehorned in to make the Gates plot work - which itself felt like a frantic attempt to force a connection between the Gates family and Crackstone (or whatever). I did suspect her pretty much every time she showed up. Her being the Hyde's master isn't the problem - the fact that she went through a total personality change and because Stereotypical Evil Mastermind is.

And of course, Crackstone was just an awful villain. Typical evil baddie who just hates because he can. Don't even have much to say about him, it's just boring to think of.

And Weems! From the start, I liked her so much. I was interested to see whether she was on Wednesday's side because she was Morticia's friend, or despite being Morticia's enemy - or if she was in fact Wednesday's enemy as well. In the end, none of it matters! She's just dead. It's a magic world, so maybe the death won't stick. But they set her up as an interesting player early on with her mysterious shape-shifting into Rowan. At one point I thought she was the monster, and playing multiple roles, including that of the Mayor! Obviously I was way over-thinking it. She's just a principal. Like come on, she's a shape-shifter, use that!!

I expected the Addams family to show up again in the last episode. I expected the mother-daughter drama between Morticia and Wednesday to be a bigger deal. Also stuff that I'm sure will come up again in future seasons. The reason I'm bitter about it is because that stuff coming up NOW might have actually been interesting. I really am so disappointed that the final episode was just Battle of Hogwarts.

All that negativity aside - the reason I feel so strongly is because I loved the show so much until the end! I liked all the characters. I liked that they were building background and complexities for characters like Bianca. Some things did feel forced or confused, but that's okay because there's more time to iron out the details. The best episodes for me were the ones with Addams Family characters: the parents' weekend one, and Uncle Fester showing up. They brought the spooky and the kooky into the show which really helped because without a sympathetic person around, sometimes Wednesday felt less kooky and more just messed up. That's literally why Thing is involved from the beginning.

(Also, I fully expected Thing to be a piece of the mystery. The villain was collecting body parts. What is Thing? A body part. I was initially expecting that when Wednesday solved the murders, it would turn out that Thing was a remnant of someone who was killed decades earlier or even longer by a similar monster or some such. It's not my story so I don't get to call the shots but... felt like a missed opportunity lol)

I loved the dance episode. I loved Wednesday's Wednesday-ness. I didn't feel there was too much romance, so that's something. I loved Enid and wish we got more of her, especially with her cool Werewolf vs Hyde battle, which was the highlight of the last episode. It should have been way more important, imo. Enid should have been more important. The writers clearly knew that, that's why they made her decide to be Wednesday's roommate again without Wednesday even bothering to reach out first. That annoyed me. As much as I support independent Wednesday, she really needed to be the one to make the first move there.

Honestly I could go on and on about all the stuff I liked, if only there wasn't such a bad taste in my mouth after episode eight. XP Sorry to harp on this but it felt like it was written by completely different people who hadn't even seen the show.

What it reminded me of a little was Stranger Things. I was so hooked on the first season. I loved everything about it. Then season two came and the tone was a total departure. It went from horror to sci-fi. I like sci-fi, but I was expecting more horror. So I actually stopped watching. I've been told it's gotten good again, and I keep meaning to watch the rest. But that's what happens when you switch up the tone out of nowhere: people who were watching for that tone disappear.

Wednesday was great because it was quirky with a murder mystery vibe. I didn't expect the action and magic to become so incredibly important in the final episode. It's like the show up and switched genres on me.

I'll end with a few more positives: Wednesday herself is great. (My one issue: torturing Tyler. Yes, he was the monster. But before she figured out it was him, she thought it was Xavier. Would we give her a pass if she'd tied Xavier up and tortured him?? On the one hand, Wednesday is a girl who throws piranhas in the pool for vengeance, so I guess it isn't out of character! On the other hand, that bit was played for laughs. This time, the torture of Tyler, was serious. So it comes off differently. Wait a min, Fizz, you said you were gonna talk positives. *cough) Yeah, anyway, I loved Wednesday and am happy she didn't lose her Wednesday-ness because of falling in love and making friends. Her finale hug with Enid WAS a wonderful part of episode eight. I could forgive the ending a lot of issues because of that hug.

And the Addams family cast were great. Gomez in particular was a hit. Morticia was a little more iffy, but I think it's more due to her and Wednesday having more of a plot to deal with than getting to just be herself. Thing, Pugsley and Fester, loved them.

And like I said earlier, the rest of the characters were fun and promising. I was so happy Bianca didn't turn out a typical mean girl - I just wish she'd had more of a growing friendship story with Wednesday before suddenly becoming all nice with her. And I liked Eugene a lot.

The show just took on soooo much for just eight episodes. Despite that, it was fun almost the entire time. If only it hadn't tripped up so badly in the end. I really wanted to say I loved everything about it.

In sum, I'm not sure if Wednesday Addams deserved this, but... I'm still glad the show exists. xP If there's another season, I'm going to hope the victory of the first season makes the writing staff calm down a little lol and maybe season two's finale will be better balanced.

[zerguette]

In the hv au, June Julying is honestly kind of a jerk. I haven't developed her much, but in terms of personality she's not really the nicest coworker. She also fears Hershell Proctor's position as chairman

I mention this cuz hehe :] I read Herald's personality again and thought about how they'd be siblings. June and Herald probably snarked at eachother alot growing up.... Also, maybe first I wanna know which ministry of the TVOG would he and Nikolai work at?

Also consider them getting paired for Ministry of Education jobs: Stealing historical library books that could potentially reveal the TVOG's true nature? Nooo, that's not what they're doing! They're simply taking the books to store in the TVOG archive for safe keeping! Forever unavailable to read :)

!!!!! -implodes- lore rambling omg here i go hi again,

I think to understand Herald i should do a little synopsis on who is Harold, first of all if iirc Hershell Proctor is the hv version of Major Panzer so thats SO FUN. In my lore, June July is in Panzer's division and she for a time gets sent to Galeforce's division and base where she spends time with Harold and well, has a deep friendship with Calvin Bukowski (platonic!!!!). This being said, who is Harold, he is another random engineer who works alongise the engineering department of the govt (Where you find well, Andrew Cobbler! the Big Boy Engineer :D and Dijonle!). Harold has helped in the making of Big Boy but he suffered a big accident :(, they didnt check very well a rope and one part of big boy fell over him causing my boy to lose the movility of his legs. He almost didnt make it out alive, and June and Major Panzer were checking on his condition as same as my govt doctor twins. These twins are also from the engineering department! working in what is biomechanical/biomedical engineering, while Harold was in process of staying alive, the doc twins and Andrew helped with making a new equipment. It took lot of time but this equipment allows Harold to be able to walk (Very slowly) for small periods of time! is connected to his spine, it works like uh, another spine lmao.

Even tho, Harold got left a bit behind in working, mostly left alone he's always smiled towards others, he feels bored! he can't do much but he at least does something, designing blueprints, systems work and so on. He's really a good man, a real man, he wouldnt think twice in helping a toppat if they were really in danger, Harold has no enemies, he doesnt judge anyone. You can be a criminal but if you truly show Harold you've got a heart and want to redeem, he will lend you a hand. He's also trans! He was able to transitioning but he doesnt have enough money for top surgery so he uses a binder (I hc that he and June are just two sibligns living alone depending on each other! they don't have much money and Harold's priority is seeing his sister smile, he can wait, but his little sister means more than anything)

SO. (The) Herald Julying, hes THE OPPOSITE! not totally, but Herald thinks his accident was done on purpose because i think he wasnt the best worker at the tgovt, maybe actually questioned a lot what they were doing (whatever is equal to Engineering in the ministers is where Herald is gonna be! or just, the same Minister as HV! Andrew Cobbler and HV! Dijonle), and maybe angered the chairmen ^^ who knows. Even tho, i like he and June snarking a lot at each other!, maybe they fight a lot, but maybe thats their new dynamic, i usually write Harold and June being really caring siblings, so Herald and June Julying can be the opposite but they still care about each other. Compared to Harold, who has 0 romance experience (aroace spectrum, Herald has had thousand of ex's! and actually his design comes from young Harol'd design, specially his partying outfit, they share the same tatoo! I FORGOT ADDING, they also share the same eye scar! i didnt draw it cuz im dumb. Anyways, Herald is very troublesome! He gets into fights and angers easily because his paranoia won't let him breathe in peace, he will always think they caused his accident on purpose, now he's sitting on a stupid wheelchair unable to do much, kind of a punishment. Harold when he realized he couldnt walk without using an equipment, he was like ''Damn, anyways, how's everyone doing''. Herald instead, he feels hes prob angered tgovt, i think he'll still use his equipment but maybe it'll be a bit broken so he would fall manytimes, but Nikolai now is 24/7 at his side! (Lewis just visited Harold from time to time), He's gonna take care of Herald until they can escape.

And Herald even if his siblinghood with June is not the best or ends being not the best, he'll still care for her^^ Herald can be really a bitch, a troublesome guy, angry, doesnt trust on anyone, but thats his sister, dont take her away from him. Also Herald wouldnt lend his hand to anyone, he helps! but he also judges a lot, and it'll be more difficul to convince him to help the real good guys (One thing is escaping, another thing is knowing who the real guys are)

Also Nikolai works prob, in the Minitry of Defense or that! he doesnt work on the same department as Herald :3, their counterparts worked on different things, Lewis was a kind of sub-captain who watched over others soldiers. But with how Nikolai is, i think the Ministry of Defense fits him completely, he'll still sneak and run to visit Herald everyday o//

And I've actually imagined Herald working mostly to design weird stuff for the chairmen cuz thats what he does, maybe he designs guns for Victoria Grin :D, but he's mostly everywhere, and he can also if asked erase any evidence that can demolish the tgovt 'fake heroism' from internet or whatever, hes good at any systems as i said ^^[Herald is a nerd just like Harold, he will probably be thinking many years ahead, or he just has deep adhd now who knows idk (And would totally help June stealing books, hes on a wheelchair but dont challenge him, Herald dislikes getting called useless)

[prodogg]

Iroh’s and Azula’s post war reconciliation.

(I newly got Photoshop and I was bored lol) First of all I have to say why I write this post, I write it because after reading some fics with a Azula and Iroh reconciliation I was deeply dissatisfied. Why was I dissatisfied ? I can tell you that, its because everything was made Azula’s fault and it was claimed that Iroh always believed she was good and she just needed to be beaten to appreciate him, and that is just false IMO. Iroh was never shown to speak positively about Azula or that he extended kindness to her, wait before you comment with “what about the doll” Iroh gifted the doll to Azula when she was 8 and it looked more to  be as an offhand polite gesture to an relative he doesn’t know.

Also, Im not going to say how their relationship was during the war, there are enough blogs with excellent metas on this topic, but I want to say one thing, Iroh doesn’t know Azula, he saw her when she was 6 before the siege, then with 11 and after that with 14 and boy the reunion wasn’t good at all.

Anyways, I really can understand the appeal that Azula working at Iroh’s teashop has, also Iroh and Azula playing Pai Sho is also a cool idea and them talking about topics like the military, but if the foundation isn’t right you cant build on it. Let’s start with Iroh, what would need to happen to let them have the beginning of a good bond and have Iroh being involved in Azula’s healing. Iroh would firstly need to admit some stuff for himself, there is that Azula is a victim too, that she is a 14 year old child, that he misjudged her and that she isn’t just some obstacle that needs to be overcome.

Then he would need to make the first step towards Azula because he is the adult in this situation and he would need to make sure to Azula that he doesn’t just care now because she was beaten and “put in her place” no, he would need to probably tell her that he was wrong about her, that he made a mistake in writing her off and no saying Azula couldn’t be helped at that time is not valid, this is more from the viewer view but not Iroh’s reasoning for not reaching out. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything I wanted to mention.

Now too Azula, Azula would need to recognize that Iroh’s attempts at helping and atonement are sincere and are coming from compassion rather then ulterior motives and an attempt to make he a docile shell of herself. Azula would also need to recognize that maybe most of the stuff her dad told her about her uncle aren’t true or really what they seem to be on the surface. Then she would need to start to open up, what I mean is that she shouldn’t shut him down directly. They both probably would need to have a deep talk in which Azula vents off her feelings, e.g the favoritism her uncle expressed towards Zuko. You see I can only see them reconciling or dare I say become even a family if Iroh does the heavy lifting in this one. Otherwise I couldn’t see them ever reconcile, maybe become apathetic or indifferent but not close or on a regularly talking base. I also present a suggestion by the wonderful @juniperhillpatient​ had:

“I think post war It could start with them both wanting what’s best for the fire nation. Perhaps Azula and Zuko reconcile first. they both (Iroh and Azula) want to help Zuko improve the FN. They also both care about Zuko. That could be a start but for them to ever be close on a familial and emotional level? I think Iroh would need to acknowledge that he could’ve done more for Azula in her childhood. This is also again under the assumption we’re talking about a more mature and healed / redeemed Azula who recognizes the flaws in her upbringing. Perhaps under those circumstances they could improve their relationship.”I could see this happening some years later after the wars end. My post addresses more immediately or short time after the war has ended their possible reconciliation or rather how it could come to one. Azula and Iroh are actually rather similar IMO and I could see them connect over that. Anyway I needed to make this post and get this off my chest, because I read to many reconcile arc’s about Iroh and Azula and it always was all Azula’s fault. Anyways I would like to hear your feedback 😊. Also I would be interested in recommendations for good reconciliation fic’s between them, I personally only read one good one.

[king-daenerys]

slight stranger things spoiler:

oKAY so I have A LOT of thoughts about season four but I found the reintroduction (kinda) of the Jonathan x Nancy x Steve love triangle really interesting. I've seen a lot of people dislike and say it doesn't make sense but I think it's very in character when you look at their relationships. Nancy has a habit of gravitating to which ever guy is meeting her current emotional needs. To explain:

In Season One, Nancy and Steve begin their relationship very happily. But after the disappearance of Barb, they become frustrated with each other and end up fighting. Afterwards Nancy finds comfort in Jonathan and they bond after teaming up to fight monsters. Steve does later redeem himself which leaves the option of her choosing either guy. 

In Season Two Nancy reveals that she "waited" a month for Jonathan to make his move, meaning she was willing to give him a chance before she chose to continue a relationship with Steve. She went with someone who was present and willing to make an effort. But Season Two also shows that Nancy is unhappy and that she and Steve don’t seem to be compatible. Once again Jonathan joins Nancy in her efforts to find justice for Barb and they acknowledge their feelings. Upon them returning to Hawkins Steve also realizes that Nancy would be happier with someone else and they break up. 

Season Three provides a break for the love triangle as it focuses more on Steve trying to move on and Jancy’s own personal relationship problems (which they are able to overcome by the end of the season). So I can see why people feel it’s regressive to bring back the idea of Nancy and Steve being together in Season Four. 

But I think it fits the pattern. We knew going into this season that Jonathan and Nancy would be dealing with having a long distance relationship. We see that there is trouble in paradise, with Jonathan lying to Nancy and having doubts about their relationship and Nancy feeling frustrated as well. We also see that Steve has been having a lot of meaningless dates and is struggling to know what type of person he wants to be with. I think him having some unresolved feelings for Nancy is logical as she’s sorta “the one who got away”, and the Vecna situation is probably the first time they’ve really spent time together for a long time. It also makes sense for Nancy to have some feelings possibly reemerge: her current relationship is in trouble and as shown before, she has a tendency to build a connection with someone else when that happens. So her entertaining the idea of reconnecting with Steve isn’t the most wild thing ever. 

tl;dr: The show exploring Stancy again may not be ideal, but I don’t think it is has out of character or random as people say it is. Nancy has a pattern of considering other options when one isn’t working out. I wouldn’t really consider it bad writing, it’s more like a particular character trait.